Part Eleven
Buffy sat at the kitchen table with her head in her hands and the phone propped up next to her ear. Spike sat beside her, sipping idly at a mug of coffee. He listened with half an ear as a din of indistinguishable voices chattered at the other end of the phone line. He raised his eyebrows as Buffy tried, for the fourth time, to get everyone to stop apologizing and hand the phone to Giles. She shot a look at Spike, who grinned an "I told you so" smile. Finally the phone must have changed hands, because Buffy sat up straight and began to speak. "Giles? Is it you? Is it just you?"
"Yes yes, it's me. Xander, go DO something. I can't hear Buffy with you chattering in my ear like a hyperactive monkey. Spike grinned again and scooted closer to hear better. Buffy shot him a dirty look but turned toward him a bit so he could hear. "Buffy, what's wrong? Is Angel there?"
Buffy looked confused. "Angel? No, he's not here. I thought he was with you. Spike's here."
"Oh wonderful. I should have tied him to a chair. I'm sorry Buffy, I know he was the last thing you needed to deal with."
"Hey! I was a bloody prince I'll have you know." Spike threw the phone an affronted look and pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth, digging in his jacket pocket for his lighter.
Buffy reached out and snatched it out of his mouth with a pointed glare. "Outside if you're going to spread toxic fumes please."
"Fine I'll just go outside and smoke. Won't even need a cigarette, my head will go up in flames all by itself."
She glared briefly and then turned back to the phone. "Giles, can the others hear you?"
"Well no. They're in the other room, I don't think they can hear me. Though I can, unfortunately, hear them quite well. Why?"
"After Spike and I talked this morning, I sorta fell asleep. I didn't wake up till Dawn came home and started yelling at Spike for not letting her watch TV because he was watching some stupid soap. But . . . I had a dream Giles. It was . . . powerful."
"You think it's a vision then? Just a moment, let me get up to my bedroom where it's a bit more quiet . . . . Cordelia, could you please NOT use the five hundred year old book as a coaster? No, the seven hundred year old book is not an improvement. Perhaps you could use an actual coaster? Or just put it on the table, fine." Buffy smiled slightly as Giles gave a sigh of longsuffering and told her to hold on. She heard the fading footsteps as he walked away, then moments later the click of a second receiver being picked up. Giles called down the stairs for someone to hang up the downstairs phone and after a brief argument over who had to do it, the receiver was replaced and Giles and Buffy could talk. "What was your, ah, vision about Buffy, and what is Spike still doing there?"
Buffy sighed. "It's a long story, but I needed someone to talk to, and Spike was here, and it worked out. Things don't look quite so grim now. They're not exactly cheery, fluffy-bunny, happy or anything, but I'll get through it."
Giles hesitated a moment, unsure of what to say, then simply plunged in. "Buffy, we're all horribly sorry about not being more . . . supportive. We were just all quite shocked and unsure of what to say. We've all been sitting here kicking ourselves. I, in particular, should have been better able to deal with the situation, but I used poor judgement and lost my wits, and I am truly so-"
"Giles!" Buffy had to raise her voice to cut into her Watcher's heartfelt apology. "Giles, it's alright. I know what you all meant. It just didn't come out the way you meant it. Well, it didn't come out at all, but you know what I mean." Buffy cleared her throat and thought a moment. "I was . . . . upset when you all weren't there with the hugs and the kisses and all, but I'm over it, and I understand."
Giles sighed. "Alright then, let's put it behind us, shall we? Do you want to tell me about your vision now, or are you coming over? Or I could come there if you prefer?"
Buffy hesitated. "No, I'll just tell you now. I'm come over later. I only remember bits and pieces Giles, but things are . . . something's wrong." In slow and hesitant sentences, Buffy told her Watcher of her dreamy meeting with the Oracles, and as she spoke, more and more of it came clear in her mind. She slowly pieced everything together until she had remembered it all. Spike sat, quietly eavesdropping throughout the conversation, and Giles was silent, save for occasional thinking noises.
As she finished, Giles remained silent for a long minute, and when he spoke it was in a puzzled and uncertain voice. "They said that you must protect someone from an enemy of Angel's? The same enemy that destroyed them in the first place. And then they must help you defeat that enemy?"
Buffy nodded, which earned her a snort of laughter from Spike, who quickly pointed out that Giles wasn't likely to see her affirmative nod, seeing as how he was on the phone. She ignored him again and spoke into the phone. "Yes. But they didn't say who. Only someone who 'will possess the power to clear minds and erase memories.' I got the feeling that it was someone I knew well. Someone who maybe didn't already have powers. It's just a feeling though, it could be wrong."
"I doubt it. Good of them to be so cryptic when the fate of the world is on the line though."
Buffy smiled a bit. "Actually, I think the fate of OUR world is on the line. They wouldn't like it if it got blown up, but I think they may just shrug it off and find a new toy in a few days."
"Well, do you have any idea who they meant? And what of this enemy of Angel's? They say Angel's enemy, not yours, so perhaps it's someone or something that he's encountered since he left us? I can go talk to Cordelia, find out if they know who killed the, ah oracles. If that's what they are. It seems in keeping with recorded teachings about them though. I suppose talking to Angel about it will have to wait until he decides to reappear."
"Giles, where did Angel go?"
He hesitated a moment. "I'm not sure. I believe he may have gone after Katerina though."
Buffy cringed inwardly. "Where is she Giles."
He sighed heavily. "I haven't the faintest idea Buffy. I wish I did. She may prove integral to the coming events . . . in one way or another."
Buffy stared accusingly at the phone, as if by staring hard enough she could see the man on the other end. "You think she may be on the other side?"
"I think anything's possible Buffy. I've lived on the Hellmouth too long to think anything else."
Buffy dragged her fingers over the table, idly tracing a pattern over a dent in the table's center. "Giles . . . . when the Oracles spoke to me, I was the only one there. But . . I FELT someone else. Whenever I spoke, every question, every answer I gave, it was like someone else was saying the same things at the same time. And when we left, the female, she said 'Farewell SLAYERS.' As in plural. More than one."
"You believe Kat was there as well?"
"Who else could have been? She's a slayer, it's natural she'd have dreams like mine."
"Perhaps Faith."
"It wasn't Faith. I've dreamed of . . or with Faith often enough to know. I'd have recognized it if Faith was there. She wasn't. It was Kat."
The sound of creaking bedsprings came as Giles plopped down on his bed to sit. "Then it's perhaps even more essential that we keep our allies on the same side. No one is willing to trust her very much right now. But . . . I trust your instincts Buffy."
Buffy felt her eyes tearing. Long gone were the days when Giles questioned her every move. He treated her as a full grown slayer and woman now. She wasn't always sure that was what she wanted, but the gesture meant a lot to her. "Thank you Giles. I'm going to find her. Find them, I guess. Talk to everyone. We have to work this out. And then I think we have to consider changing our travel plans."
"What do you mean."
She stood and walked over the window, looking into the front lawn, where Dawn stood, talking with her friend from across the street. "If this enemy of Angel's is what we have to fight, than where do you think we'll wind up going."
Giles sigh was easily audible over the phone line. "I hate that damn city you know."
Buffy grinned. "Don't worry Giles. We'll take you shopping at all the best shoe stores in LA after we avert another Apocalypse of course."
"I can't thank you enough. So very kind of you."
"Don't mention it. I'll be over after I find them." Buffy hung up the phone and walked back over to the table. She looked out again at Dawn and sighed. "I guess I could ask her to stay over with her friend for a while."
Spike was lounging with deceptive casualness in his chair. "You're going after her then? Now?"
Buffy nodded. "Yeah. The sooner the better. We're going to need her I think."
Spike stood. "Let me find her."
She turned to him, and odd expression on her face, as if she'd bitten back a sharp remark and didn't like its taste. "It's daylight Spike. And if you find them, what makes you think they'll listen to you?"
He shrugged. "Angel won't. But he'll come back on his own. Kat might. I'm the first friend she ever had slayer. I'm willing to bet she might give me a moment of her time. And I've got ways of getting around in the daylight, as you well know."
She hesitated. "Alright, we'll both look. If you find Angel first, tell him I asked him to meet me at Giles. And if you find Kat . . ." She trailed off uncertainly. "Just . . . just tell her to come back. That they'll understand in time." She suddenly looked at Spike, a new thought obviously lingering in the back of her mind. "Spike . . . . you're not going to blame her for anything are you? I'm sure if Angel found her, she's already had an earful."
He shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to say luv. I just want a chance to say it." He
turned and left without another word. Buffy heard his pattering feet outside as he made a mad
dash to the nearest sewer entrance, black jacket pulled over his head. Buffy turned and
pocketed a nearby stake and a small knife just in case, and then went outside to talk to her sister.
****************************************************************************
"Planning on ending it all by walking in front of a bus then pet? Not the most glamourous way to go out. Think I'd rather have a nice stake. Or maybe a prolonged sunbath. Something a bit common about a vampire squishing beneath a bus wheel. You might live through it too, you know. Death by bus hasn't been tested by the Undead very often."
Kat turned, her black hair blowing in front of her, obscuring her face from all but fleeting glimpses of silver eyes and pale cheeks. "You found me."
Spike watched her quietly for a moment. "Always find you, don't I luv? Found you in a glass coffin while you slept, dreaming of princes and ponies, or whatever bloody things dames like you dream of."
She turned away, shifting away from him from her precarious perch on the edge of the bus stop bench. "Not always. There was a long time when no one find me. When you and Angelus and Drusilla were just vague ideas in fate's future. No one found me then. No one tried, except for those I had no desire to see."
"I'm sorry pet. Can't help it when I wasn't even born can I?"
She turned to him finally, sweeping her hair away from her face and staring with huge eyes. "I missed you when you weren't there. One time. Hundreds of years of life and you were there to greet me only one of those times, and I missed you when you weren't there this last time. How did I become so accustomed to having someone there so quickly?"
"It's human nature to want to be with others Kitten. You just didn't know you were missing it for so long, then got hooked when Mr. Wonderful finally made an appearance in your life."
She stared down at her hands. He watched with a strange sense of sadness as she scraped a piece of wood she'd pried from the bench down her palm, watching it bleed for only a moment before it began to heal. "I'm not human though, am I? And neither are you. My nature shouldn't be like theirs."
"We're still human Kitten. Just a more highly evolved version, with more specific dietary needs." He waited for the smile he'd always been able to con out of her. It never came.
"What do you want Spike?"
He sighed, slouching more firmly into the tiny porch that hid him from the sun. "I want a place a little more cozy for us to talk in for one. Bit sunny here for me."
She didn't turn. "Go then."
"I didn't mean to have a conversation with myself. Frankly, I find myself a bit boring these days. All fangs, no action."
She turned finally and stood to face him. "I'm done with talking Spike. I'm done with doing my duty and following the rules. I'm done with being the Slayer and making decisions no one else has the power or ability to do. I'm finished with being chosen, and long since tired of being special. I made a choice, right or wrong, and now there's an heir to my throne. There's NOTHING I could do that she is not capable of. I'm no longer needed, and I'm fading into the sunset. So go. Heart to heart talks from someone whose every look bleeds isn't going to change my mind."
"What are you talking about? What looks do I have that's bleeding?"
She laughed, an odd hollow sound utterly lacking the usual uncomplicated music of her voice. "You think I don't know how much you want to hate me for turning her? Like Angel does? Like her friends do? You loved the Slayer, in all her insurmountable humanity. A part of you's just dying to loathe me for taking that away from her, and from you. Well go ahead. Blame the world and all it's troubles on me. Maybe I'll take them with me when I go."
"I don't hate you Kitten. And I don't love Buf-"
"Just be quiet. You used to be HONEST Spike. William the Bloody, the consummate observer, who makes words into blades. You've never missed a thing and have never failed to confront someone with the bitterest truth you could offer them. You never had to lie, honesty was always a better weapon in your hands than any lie could ever be. So don't lie to me and don't try to lie to yourself. That's Angel's territory."
Spike started to speak, then hissed in pain as a stray shaft of sunlight hit him in the face. He raised his coat and shifted away from it, swearing loudly. Kat growled in frustration and swept forward, pushing him bodily back into the small post office whose porch he'd been standing on. He led her quickly through its appallingly well windowed interior and into it's tiny basement, with it's hidden sewer entrance. "There WERE people in there Kitten. Might not take kindly to us marching past them into their basement without a by-your-leave."
"They'll get over it. Goodbye Spike."
He reached out and caught her by the shoulder as she moved to leave. She spun to face him again, yanking her shoulder away with bruising force and a feral snarl. He stepped back, for the first time realizing what she was capable of. "What do you want Kitten? I'm here to get you? I want you to come back. Buffy, whom I think you should be worrying about more than anyone else, seeing as she's the one you gave the big kiss to, wants you with her. She doesn't blame you. What do you want from me. Want me to do a happy little jig and tell you it's wonderful? I'm not gonna do that luv."
"I don't want a damn thing from you Spike. I want to be left alone."
"I think not. You may be ready to lay it all out and take your final bow, but the rest of us aren't ready to let you go yet."
"You don't understand."
"Then tell me. Make me understand."
Kat blinked in astonishment as her own words, the ones she'd thrown at Angelus as a challenge were parroted back to her. She stubbornly pushed away the sudden comparison that arose in her mind at the nearly identical demand Spike had made of her. "You cannot understand. It's not in you."
"Try me."
She shook her head. "I was born more than human. I was born the protector of humanity. I made the decision to abandon the human in myself, to become something more. But I never went against that basic thread that wove all that I was into one. I was a vampire, but not really. Not truly. But when I fed on Buffy, when I went against my own nature and CREATED another vampire, I betrayed everything that I was. And now . . . ." She looked down at her own hands as they ran nervously over the cracks in the wall beside her. "Now I feel that other part of me, the part I've worked so hard to control. It's . . . . awake. Every moment I have to fight to control myself, to not give into this new, primal desire I have." She looked up at him, the dim flourescent lights of the basement giving her eyes a strange almost blue tint for a moment. "It's getting stronger, more insistent. What happens when I'm too weak to control it? Will I become a vampire super-hero? Able to drain humans in a single bite, outrace speeding victims?"
Spike bit back a smile at her comic book comparisons. "I've never met anyone stronger than you Kitten. Nothing's going to overpower you unless you let it."
Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear it. "What if I want it to?"
He stared at her. "Do you?"
She sank onto an overturned crate that lay against the wall. "Sometimes. I'm just so tired. And now the only bright bits of my life are gone."
He frowned. "Angel?"
She nodded. "Angel, Buffy . . . you. I lived to protect my slayers, and now I've betrayed one." She raised her hand against his attempts at contradicting her. "No matter what anyone, me and Buffy included, tries to say, in the most basic form, I've betrayed her. Angel will never get over what he feels for me. He will hate me for centuries. And you . . . . you try to hide it but there's accusation in you as well. Admit it Spike, a part of you wishes you could kill me for what I did." She smiled a bit. "You always were the chivalrous idiot, eager to protect your little woman from the big bad world. Even when the little woman was a certifiably insane vampire who was actually older than you."
He didn't try to deny it. "Maybe I do. But there have been a lot more times when I wanted to kill Buffy than times I've had the urge to do YOU in. It doesn't change anything. I don't know if I love Buffy. Maybe it's just this bloody chip in my head. I'd like to think so. I'm not usually so dense as to develop a ridiculous CRUSH on a girl who'd stake me without thinking twice. I don't know what Buffy is to me . . . but I know what YOU are. I know what you mean, and that I DO love you."
She looked at him, and for a moment she seemed so . . . . human. "But not like Buffy."
His eyebrows shot upwards in astonishment. "No, I suppose not Kitten."
She looked away. "Why?"
He yanked another crate from where it lay beside her perch and tossed it down opposite her, plopping onto it and rummaging through his pocket for a cigarette. "You know why."
She shook her head. "No. I don't. You and Angel are so hopelessly in love with her . . . and she's so much like me. There is something so desperately similar in us, it's almost eerie. So why her? Why didn't either of you ever think of looking at me the way you look at her? Because I'm a vampire?"
He shook his head. "I ran 'round the world with a vampire for a hundred years, and loved her with all my heart. What makes you think you being a vampire had anything to do with it?"
"You didn't really love Drusilla. She was just an idea to you. You're savior, you're beautiful evil princess who saved you from the mundane world of humanity."
Spike sat forward, giving up his quest for a cigarette. "What do you know of love?"
Kat met his eyes and he saw again that bleak despair in her expression. "Nothing. I know nothing at all."
He blinked at that. "Well . . . . maybe you know something. Maybe you're even right. What I feel for Buffy is . . . different from what I felt for Dru. But I thought I loved her, I still do think that."
She nodded her head dully. "I wish I knew what it felt like."
"Kitten . . . . you never wanted to know." Her expression turned startled and she began to speak to contradict him. This time, he halted her with a wave of his hand and continued. "I may have already been spoken for Kat, but do you think that you didn't turn my head? There's something in you, something primal and beautiful. And you think Angel didn't watch you walk across a room? Think he didn't have little souly vampire dreams about you? You're mistaken luv, we love you as a friend . . . as a companion. And the reason we never thought of more than that was because YOU NEVER LET US." He continued with a sigh when she didn't interrupt. "From the first day I met you, it was clear that you didn't want that from me. You smiled and made friends, but you pushed everything and everyone away with both hands. Ever the one in control, always with a smidgen of distance between you and whoever you were with." His eyes fell on a packet of cigarettes stashed on top of a nearby pile of boxes. He grabbed them and settled back onto his crate, lighting one with a silver lighter and sighing contentedly as he began puffing away. "You wonder why we didn't love you? Why we love Buffy instead? Buffy's what you might have been, but more. She's got what you had, but she's also got something about her that's utterly unique and intoxicating and overwhelming. You can't look away from either one of you bloody women, but when you watch Buffy . . . it's like looking at the sun. You feel warmer afterwards, even if your eyes burn a bit. You're like watching the moon. No matter how much you stare, no matter how large or small, you're always distant and cool." He smiled a bit at her. "She tries hard to push us away, her friends, her enemies, her lovers. But in the end she can't do it, and she uses us to become stronger instead. That's what's so addictive about her. When you're with her, it's like your contributing to greatness, to something bigger and better than this bloody half-assed existence I'm stuck in now." He leaned forward and twisted a lock of her hair around one pale finger. "When I watch you, I'm with you, I feel like a spectator, watching something amazing from the cheap seats at the top of the stadium. When I watch her, I feel like I'm standing in right in the pit, and she'll reach down and pull me on stage now and again."
Kat watched him twirling her hair, not speaking. He waited, seconds turning to moments, each one feeling like it stretched longer than the last. Finally he spoke again, hating the tension of the silence. "Kat, you know me. I just talk, sometimes I'm wrong." He grinned. "Not often, but sometimes."
She shook her head violently. "No . . . you're not wrong."
His voice was quiet and his eyes searching. "So what are we doing here Kitten? If you know the problem, can't you change it?" He hesitated. "Do you want him that badly luv? Does it bother you that much to know he loves her?"
Her eyes widened. "No! It's not like that. I want her to have him, and I don't feel like she does about him, I never could. I just . . . wanted to know what I lacked."
"Nothing luv. You're just different, despite all the similarities. Buffy's a pack hunter, always will be. She may be the top dog in her pack, but she has to have that group backing her up. You, you can lead, and you do it well. But at heart, you'll always be a solitary beast."
"No matter what she did, no matter how she sinned. He could never hate her."
He smiled again. "He doesn't hate you either. It's not in him. He's just angry and all . . . . why don't you go stake him though. Just in case he doesn't get over it."
She snorted at that. "I was wondering when the spell of sensitivity would fade. It took longer than I expected."
He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm off my game."
She smiled for the first time. "I still don't want to stay Spike. I don't want to go back. I don't want to be the slayer anymore."
He pulled her to her feet and flung an arm over her small shoulders. "So don't be the slayer. Just be my Kitten, and Buffy's helper, like the rest of us. She needs you. And whether or not the silly git knows it, Angel needs you too. And so do I. No one knows how to have any fun around here, I desperately need you to help alleviate my boredom."
She shook her head. "She doesn't need me. I gave her everything she'll need. She already has more natural strength than I do. With time, she'll be my equal, and then she'll quickly be my better. I'm not needed. Not anymore."
He arched an eyebrow upwards. "So . . . not been having any dreams then, have we? No strutting around with blue people in the middle of fog with an invisible Buffy?"
Silver eyes glared at him. "I take it Buffy told you?"
"No. I called Miss Cleo." She gave him a blank look. "Never mind. Remind me to introduce you to the wonders of psychic phone lines later."
She sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll go back with you. And I'll help and be a good little Twilight, like I've been for my entire overlong life. But promise me. If I start to . . . . change. If I lose control, you'll stake me. Finish me. No hesitation, no second chances. Promise me Spike. I'll go and I'll trust and I'll fight, but only if you promise."
He stared at her. "I don't know if I could do that to you luv. I'd still want you around, no matter what you're cuisine preference."
"Then I can't go."
He hesitated, trying to imagine himself destroying her. Finally he slowly nodded his platinum head. "Fine. You start looking like you'll take a bite out of one of the little Scoobie clan, I'll stake you before you do. Think I could wait till you take out that Xander boy though?"
She smacked him lightly on the shoulder and followed him as he led her, grumbling about his
wounded shoulder, to the sewer entrance.
"Well-umm . . Oh! What about Riley? He's just normal now." Willow nearly dropped the heavy book in her lap in her excitement.
Giles rubbed his tired eyes as the words on the page in front of him began doing odd little squiggle dances while he tried to read them. "It's certainly a possibility. Buffy seemed to feel that it was someone close to our, ah, circle. Someone with no discernible powers. So that takes you and Tara and Buffy out. Cordelia is already a seer, so isn't a likely candidate either, and Anya is a former demon, not likely to be it."
Tara stretched and pushed the straggles of stray blonde hair that had escaped from the knot she'd tied it into at the nape of her neck. "Mr. Giles, you know a-a lot about magic and Willow said you summoned some kind of a-a demon when you were young- I mean when you were younger." Giles slammed his book shut, muttering something about not being a bloody dinosaur. Tara blushed and continued. "So that probably means it's not you, either. Who does that leave?"
Giles began ticking them off on his fingers. "Off the top of my head, Riley, Wesley, Joyce, Dawn, and Xander."
Xander rolled his eyes. "It's probably soldier boy. Some cosmic attempt to make him stop whining about the loss of his super-powers."
Giles shot him an annoyed look. "He does seem to be a top candidate."
Cordelia glanced up. "What about Gunn?"
Xander paused in his reach for another book. "Who?"
Wesley spoke up. "Gunn works with Angel and us. He IS human, and has very little knowledge of the arcane. However he's not in Buffy's immediate circle, so that seems to eliminate him."
"He's in OUR circle." Cordelia pointed out. "And we're in Buffy's. Maybe it doesn't have to be immediate. Maybe it's like, six degrees of Buffy."
Giles slapped the table in frustration. "It's possible that it is him. It's possible that it's MANY people. It's too difficult to isolate one person when we haven't the vaguest idea what the powers we're looking for entail. And when they most likely have not even been 'awakened' yet. Until we know more, this is all fruitless speculation."
Tara and Willow glanced significantly at one another, Tara nudged Willow pointedly. Willow gave in and cleared her throat nervously. "Giles, um, what if there was, ah, a way to wake those powers right up?"
He peered at her over the edge of his crooked glasses. "What are you talking about Willow?"
She fidgeted nervously. "Well say, hypothetically speaking, that I'd happened to somehow come into possession of a copy of an old Egyptian spell book you absolutely refused to let me buy for the store when it came on the market. And say, just for laughs, we'd read the book and seen a spell to find and bring out latent talents. And we . . . don't look at me like that. It was entirely an accident. The book just jumped right in my bag one day when I drove to LA to buy it with Tara . . . wait. That's not what I meant to say."
Giles was scowling by now. "Willow, do you have any idea how dangerous that book is? It has spells that could destroy entire cities! How did you manage to afford it?"
She was looking decidedly uncomfortable. "It's probably best that you don't ask."
He glared. "Fine. Don't tell me. But if I suddenly find that Sunnydale's been blown up, you know who I'm going to blame."
She frowned. "That's not fair. People try to blow this town up all the time. What if some demon sends it to smithereens, through no fault of mine."
"Willow, focus please. Do you have the book with you?"
She nodded and went over to where her bookbag was carelessly slung over a table. She removed the book and handed it to Giles, who stared at it as if waiting for it to bite. "It's on page 86."
He flipped the book open. "How dangerous is the spell?"
Tara spoke up. "Not at all from what I can tell. The authors call it a simple and risk free spell. Of course, you do have to consider the source . . ."
He grunted in reply as he read the spell. It DID seem fairly straightforward. "Do you have to cast it for each person we suspect?"
Tara shook her head. "I-I don't think so. If we focus on the people we think it might be . . and Cordelia or someone chants the spell with us and focuses on Gunn, since we don't know them, I think it might act on all of them."
Giles hesitated, then glanced toward Wesley. "What do you think?"
Wesley look astonished that Giles was asking for his opinion. He walked forward and read the spell quickly. "I think it's our only chance. It seems to be relatively safe. If the girls feel they can perform it, I think we should give it a try."
Giles nodded and Willow and Tara immediately began setting up supplies and preparing a large and complex chalk pattern on the floor, to Giles dismay. "Couldn't we have drawn the symbols OUTSIDE and not on my living room floor?"
Willow looked at him like he was crazy. "Giles, it's HOT outside." He sighed and walked into
the kitchen to get another cup of tea. Behind him, Willow began to teach Cordelia the spell and
Xander laid his head down on the table, lost in thought as he watched the preparations from the
corner of his eye, wishing there was something he could do to help.
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Buffy walked with hurried steps toward Giles house. She was anxious to find Spike, see if he'd had any luck finding Kat, or Angel. Buffy had searched the graveyard and Angel's old mansion, and the factory. She'd even checked the old high school, but found no trace of either of them. She hadn't really expected to find Kat anywhere except the graveyard, but she had been fairly confident she'd find Angel. Now, despite her best efforts at staying apathetic, she was getting worried for both of them. Visions of them attacking one another, stakes in hand, were beginning to show up with alarming frequency in her mind. She finally sped into sight of Giles and flung the door open, looking quickly about, her survey coming to a quick and startled stop when her eyes fell on Tara, Cordelia, and Willow, kneeling in the middle of a large chalk drawing of a pyramid and some strange symbols and chanting in a language Buffy couldn't even begin to understand. Her hand unconsciously went to the stake in her pocket as she looked around, checking for enemies.
The three girls voices rose suddenly and all three flung a handful of shining purple powder into the eye drawn at the peak of the pyramid. Their voices fell silent and a strange keening sound filled the room, suddenly, with a whoosh of suddenly expelled air, a wave of purple tinted energy spread over the room, Buffy was knocked to her knees as, was anyone else standing in the area. Books fell from tables with sharp thuds and stray papers scattered across the floor in a windblown mess. As suddenly as it appeared, the purple force was gone. Buffy pulled herself to her feet and look around as everyone else began doing the same thing. She considered her words and then spoke in a perfectly even tone. "Could someone please tell me what that was?"
Willow climbed to her feet, pulling Tara up beside her a moment later and offering a hand to Cordelia. She pulled the other girl up as well, than turned to face Buffy, smiling widely. "Hi Buffy! We missed you!" She ran forward and wrapped the slayer in a fierce hug."
Buffy hugged her back and then pushed her away, smiling in confusion. "Thanks Will. But what did you just do? Should I be afraid."
Willow shook her head, still smiling. "I don't think so. It worked perfectly. I think. Did it work? Anyone feel any different? Wesley? Xander?"
Buffy spoke before the others could reply. "Different how? Could someone please tell me what's going on?"
Willow quickly told the slayer what they had done. When Buffy understood, they both turned to Giles. Willow spoke quickly. "What do you think? Did it work?"
He nodded. "It seemed to work just as it should. Perhaps someone should call Gunn and Riley, see if they notice any new abilities."
Cordelia pulled her cell phone out of her purse. "I'll call Gunn!"
Giles turned to Buffy. "You'll call Riley then?" Seeing the look on Buffy's face he backpedaled quickly. "Or I could call him. It's probably better if I do anyway . . . . isn't it?"
Willow glanced from him to Buffy and back again. "Why? Buffy, did something happen with Riley? Is everything okay?" She pulled the other girl away and spoke to her in hushed tones. "What happened? Is Riley mad about the whole vampire thing? 'Cause maybe he just needs time to adjust and-"
"Will, it's not that." Buffy sighed and turned back to Giles. "I'll call him." She looked back at Willow, who stood waiting with wide eyes. "Will, it's a long story and I don't want to go into it, but Riley and I . . . well, we're not Riley and I anymore. We're just Riley and Buffy, two unrelated topics. He doesn't even know about the vampire thing yet. I'm sure that would just tip the balance further in the 'relationship difficulty" way."
"I'm sorry Buffy. If you need to talk or anything, I'm here." Willow hugged her friend quickly and then left Buffy alone to make her call.
She picked up the phone and dialed Riley's number. She listened in steadily mounting dread as the phone rang and rang. Finally she gave up with a sigh. He either wasn't there, or he wasn't answering. "No good. He's not there."
Giles looked as if he were about to ask her something, but was interrupted by Cordelia. "Guys, I just talked to Gunn. He says nothing's different that he knows of."
Giles cleared his throat. "Well, it might not be instantaneous. Or it may be that Riley was the one affected. We'll just have to wait and find out. Xander, perhaps you should go over to Riley's dorm? See if he's home and just not answering the phone?"
Buffy shook her head. "No. If anyone should go it's me. Let's give him a little while. If he doesn't answer in half an hour I'll go there."
Giles nodded. "Why don't we all just get a little rest then. It's been a long time since we all slept."
Everyone nodded in agreement and began finding somewhere to settle down or stretch out. Buffy settled back in the small recliner next to the bookshelf. Her thoughts wandered randomly before settling on Riley. She thought of all the time she'd spent with him, and how, sometimes, he just made her so happy. She offered him a silent apology, knowing she'd been less than fair, but that it was the best thing she could do. Still, she would miss him. Especially at night, when she was cold. It had always felt so good to lay in his arms and feel the world slip away and just focus on him and what he-
"Buffy, none of us is interested in the details of you and Riley's life, thank you. I'm sorry you broke up and everything, but I really don't want to hear about it. It's . . . icky."
Buffy jerked up and stared in astonishment at Xander. "What did you say?"
He looked up at her from his slouched position on the sofa. "I'm sorry if I'm not Mr. Sensitive, but maybe we could talk about your love life later? Things aren't exactly peachy keen for the rest of us either, and gratuitous stories of bedtime cuddling is not lifting the spirits up, thank you."
Willow traded a silent glance with Buffy. "Xander . . . . . Buffy didn't say anything."
He grimaced. "She did so. She was going on and on about her and Riley. Not that it's not a FASCINATING topic, but enough is en-"
"Xander, she didn't say a word . . . . are you saying you heard what she was thinking?" Giles was almost owl eyed with surprise.
"No . . . . she didn't say anything? Really?" At everyone's silent head shaking, Xander suddenly grinned. "Then I guess I did. Say, Tara, Willow, why don't you do some serious thinking about your relationship while we're here. . ."
Willow glared and Tara grinned and Giles looked at Buffy. She looked back and smiled. "Someone who 'will possess the power to clear minds and erase memories.' Odd, but I don't remember hearing anything about READING minds."
Xander grinned again. "Fringe benefits?"
Wesley was already rifling through books, searching for references to mind reading. "This could have serious repercussions. And untrained mind-reader . . . these powers usually develop early in life and grow in strength, so they can be controlled by the time they develop fully. Sudden possession of these . . . abilities could be dire."
Giles nodded in agreement. "Yes . . . we all remember what happened when Buffy could suddenly read minds. She nearly went mad."
Buffy paled suddenly. "Is that going to happen to Xander?"
"Most likely not. You're powers were unnatural, and could not be controlled. Xander's seem to be more along the lines of a talent, granted by The Powers That Be. He should be able to control them, but I doubt it will be easy." He glanced at Xander, who was staring intently at Cordelia, who was blushing bright pink.
Xander, a grin still on his lips shook his finger at Cordelia. "Why Cordy! I never knew!"
Giles sighed, wondering why Xander of all people had to be granted the power to see inside
people's minds. Xander turned to him and smiled. "Because God has a sense of humor after
all." Giles agreed silently as Xander settled back in his chair, a clown grin painted on his face
and his eyes closed. Everyone else sat back uneasily, trying, without success, to avoid thinking
of things Xander would love to hear.
Everyone was privately relieved to have a distraction present when the door was flung open and Angel ran, lightly singed, through it, kicking it shut behind him and lowering the jacket he'd held over his head. He looked around, his eyes settling on Buffy. "Hi everyone. What did I miss." He smiled faintly, suspecting that he'd missed quite a bit and not at all sorry for missing it.
Buffy glanced at Xander, who was peering at Angel in obvious frustration. She grinned inwardly, glad she'd never mentioned to him that you can't read a vampire's mind. "Well, the short version is Kat's gone, you're here, and Xander can read minds. The long version is much longer."
Angel glanced at Xander in confusion. "Xander can read minds?"
Xander nodded. "Yup. But I don't think you have one."
Buffy laughed out loud at that as Angel scowled. "You can't read a vampire's mind Xander. It doesn't work."
"Because it's empty?"
Buffy snorted and ignored him as Angel's scowl deepened. "Angel, we'll fill you in on all the gory details, but I want to wait for Spike and Kat to get here, so we don't have to repeat it." She saw Angel's face go stony at the mention of the other slayer's name. She frowned at him. "Angel, what did you say to her? They told me you went after her."
He looked away. "Nothing. It's between her and me."
Buffy's frown turned to a full fledge scowl and her hands went to her hips, obviously about to demand that she be told the truth, but Xander interrupted, his brown eyes puzzled. "Hey Buf, if I can't hear vampire . . . . why can I hear you?"
Buffy looked at him in startled realization. "I-I don't know. Giles?"
The Watcher shook his head, his face as puzzled as everyone else's. "I don't know Buffy. It must be some other complication of you being a slayer as well as a vampire with a soul."
Buffy turned to Angel. "But you said it was the same reason we don't have a reflection . . and I don't see myself in mirrors. So why would this be different?"
He shrugged. "I don't know Buffy." He watched as she turned to Giles, talking animatedly as he paged through a thick book. He was filled with such a rush of emotion, guilt, pain, anger, that he felt like someone punched him in the chest. He apologized to her silently, for bringing so many terrible things into her life.
Suddenly Xander leapt to his feet with a loud "HA!" He pointed at Angel, grinning in triumph. "I heard that! You're sorry! I heard it!! I CAN read your mind. Take THAT Deadboy! Score one for the Great Swami Harris!"
Buffy turned back slowly, rolling her eyes at the Great Swami. "Why now and not before?"
Angel looked away. "Maybe because I wasn't feeling anything strong enough?"
Xander shrugged. "Maybe."
"Mind readers have never been able to read the thoughts of a vampire Rupert. What do you think this means?"
Giles looked appraisingly at Xander. "I don't know. It could be that Xander has a type of power not before seen. Or it could be that it is simply a very powerful talent. There's no way of being sure."
"It is because he is the only one."
They all turned to face the door. Kat stood there, holding the door open. Spike dashed through a moment later, complaining loudly about the burning sunlight. Angel's face turned to emotionless stone, and Xander's grin disappeared, his brown eyes going hostile. Cordelia took a step back without thought. Giles simply stood staring. He was the first to speak. "Because he's the only one? What do you mean?"
Kat stepped away, letting the door slam shut. Her gaze was tentative, shy, totally unlike the confident and powerful slayer they'd met only last night. "When first we had to erase knowledge of the spell, we had a number of mind readers of different abilities. Now there is only one, and he has to do the same task. It stands to reason that he would be gifted with much stronger powers, which would grant him additional abilities, such as being able to divine the thoughts of the Undead, as well as the living."
Giles nodded in understanding. "It makes sense. Or at least as much sense as anything else in this whole bloody mess does. So I suppose the question is, what do we do now?"
Buffy spoke up. "Let's make sure we're all on the same page, and everyone knows everything that's happened. We'll go from there." Slowly, with help from Kat, she told again the story of her dream.
When they'd finished, Angel nodded in agreement. "You're right. It sounds like those were the oracles. I assume they were talking about Xander? He who must be protected?"
Buffy nodded. "So it seems. What enemy of yours could they be talking about?"
Angel stayed silent. Cordelia looked at him in frustration. "Angel has A LOT of enemies. Not really a people person. But our biggest ones are Wolfram & Heart." She told them quickly of their history with the law firm and it's evil tendencies, finishing with the story of how they'd brought Darla back to life.
Buffy's eyes widened. "Darla's back? How come you never told me?"
Angel stared at the floor. "I didn't want to worry you. I can handle Darla on my own."
Cordelia snorted. "Sure, you've done a bang-up job so far of MOPING her to death too." He shot her a quelling look which she ignored. "And now she's not human anymore. Another old friend dropped by and brought back vampire Darla." She glanced at Spike and fell silent.
Buffy missed the significant glance and pressed on. "Who turned her?" When the failed to answer she turned to Wesley, who avoided her glance. Finally, with a flash of insight, she turned to Xander. "Who?" She asked him briefly.
He sighed and answered. "Drusilla." He looked quickly away as Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. "You knew already didn't you?" He looked everywhere but at her. "You did! You knew about Darla and Dru. And you didn't tell me! What, am I too fragile to handle the truth all the sudden?"
Xander spread his hands helplessly. "Cordelia made me promise not to tell. She knew Angel wouldn't want you to know."
Buffy glared at all of them wordlessly. Xander squirmed as he caught wind of a few of her thoughts on their silence.
Giles spoke into the quiet. "Why don't we continue where you left off. After Buffy's vision, Willow, care to take it from here?" Willow outlined the spell they had done for those who didn't already know. When she finished, the hush of the room resumed. Each of them looked equally lost and confused. No one seemed to know quite what to do.
Kat stared at her feet, trying to gather her thoughts into a coherent whole. Her entire life, she'd never let anything bother her. She kept everything far away, distant. Nothing was ever close enough to hurt her. Suddenly all that had changed, and she wanted desperately to belong with this group, to have what Buffy had. She'd thought for so long that this was all she wanted, to know that a slayer was able to live this kind of life. Now she knew, and it wasn't enough. She was selfish, she wanted this for herself. The easy camaraderie and shining love that they shared with such ease. She lifted her eyes and met Xander's eyes. She flushed and looked away from the understanding in his gaze, appalled as she realized he'd 'heard' her. The seething hatred didn't shine in him every time he glanced at her now. Instead there was a wary resignation and a glimmer of sympathy. She looked back at him and drew a deep breath. "I don't know what we can do, but I know that Xander's gifts will grow, and will become difficult for him to control. I'm no mind reader, but I know more about it than most. I can help you, if you let me." The last she spoke directly to him, her voice almost shy.
Xander stared at her for a moment, then nodded his assent. "I'd like that. It's already starting to give me a hell of a headache."
Buffy suddenly looked around, her brow creasing in confusion. "Xander . . . . where's Anya?"
He sat back wearily. "Somewhere else. She . . . . decided that she didn't want to go the same way I was going anymore." He shrugged. "She doesn't want to spend her mortal life in constant danger, or watching me run off into mortal peril every week. She wants something calm and normal and human, like most people have. I can't give her that, so I left."
Buffy knelt next to him and hugged him, Willow doing the same from the other side. "I'm sorry Xander."
He laughed a bit emptily. "It's okay, look at what I get instead. Two girls on their knees at my feet." Both of them slapped him lightly and his smiled became a bit more genuine. "Willow! You have such a dirty mind!"
Willow blushed a bright pink and smacked him again. "Shut up Xander." she muttered, looking to see if anyone had been listening and sighing in defeat when their wide smiles said that they had. She saw Spike looking at her with great interest and couldn't help but grin a bit.
Spike returned the grin and glanced at Buffy. "Maybe Soldier Boy and Demon Girl should get together for a little commiserating." His grin faded as Buffy glared. "Or not."
Cordelia looked from one to the other slowly. "Alright . . . . so where do we go from here?"
Buffy turned to Angel and, with a sideways glance toward Kat. "On to La I suppose."
Angel hesitated, clearly unwilling to let her into his private war. Finally he nodded in agreement.
Buffy stood. "Let's all rest today and tonight then. We'll leave tomorrow first thing." She smiled at Angel. "I've heard your place has plenty of room for us all."
He smiled back and nodded again. "And then some."
"Good, we'll stay there and then have a nice friendly consultation with our new lawyers. Wesley, why don't you stay here? If that's okay with Giles of course? You can have a little Ex-Watcher slumber party. Drink tea and talk about 'the good old days' when Slayers jumped when you told them too." Both men glared at her, though Giles nodded in assent. "Cordy, you're welcome to come stay with me if you want. Up to you. Kat, you can come with me as well if you want."
Kat opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted before she began by Xander. "Why doesn't Kat come with me? We can start my Jedi training."
Buffy glanced at Kat to see if the other Slayer had an objections. Seeing none, she smiled. "That sounds good. I will see you all tomorrow." She left, Cordelia trailing after her. Kat gave Spike a smile and a wave goodbye as she followed Xander out the door.
Giles glanced around the room at the three other occupants. "Right then. Wesley, I'm off to get some sleep. You're welcome to the couch, as I haven't another bed. Spike . . . there's always the bathtub."
He glared at the Watcher. "Right mate. I remember how bloody comfortable your tub is. I'll stick with my own crypt thank you."
Giles glanced at Angel. "I've only got the one sofa. Perhaps you could sleep in the recliner?"
Spike grinned and slung an arm around Angel's shoulders, which Angel promptly shrugged off with an angry jerk. "Grandad can stay with me Watcher Man. Family matters ya know. Lots of catching up to do."
Giles bit back a smile at Angel's appalled expression. "Fine. Play nice then you two." He
turned and trooped up the stairs, leaving another former Watcher stretched out on the sofa,
already asleep, and two vampires glaring meaningfully at one another.
"Focus and concentrate."
"I AM focusing and concentrating."
"No. You're not. People who are focused do not fidget. People who are concentrating do not hum the tune to some inexplicable song about a dragon who smokes."
Xander looked thoroughly annoyed. "I TOLD you. It's PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON, and I heard it on the radio this morning. It's stuck in my head now."
Kat smiled. "If you were focusing, your head would be too full to think of the song. Now close your eyes."
Xander sighed and settled himself Indian-style on the sofa, legs crossed beneath him, thumb and forefinger meeting in a circle while the rest of his fingers were outstretched, looking like nothing so much as a meditating hippie. Kat gave a frustrated sigh and reached forward and pushed his hands down and pulled his feet out from beneath him so that they hung to the floor as they were supposed to. Xander yelped in surprise as he nearly slid from the sofa to the floor. He glared. "What did you do that for?"
She mimed his position from a moment ago, managing to make it look more ridiculous than he had. "THIS is not focusing. THIS is posing. Focusing and concentrating has nothing to do with sitting funny."
Xander considered than nodded. "Alright. I getcha. Teach on Yoda."
"For the last time, STOP calling me that. It makes me sound like a type of cheese."
Xander looked grieved. "As soon as this is over, I'm tying you to a chair and renting a copy of the holy trilogy and force feeding you some quality cinema."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine. You do that. But for now, let's get back to the task at hand. I'd like to make SOME progress before you keel over from exhaustion, okay?"
Xander opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and settled for a quick nod. He settled himself back comfortably on the sofa and closed his eyes. Kat heaved a sigh of relief and began to speak. "Try to clear your mind of all unnecessary thoughts and emotions. Use that part of yourself, that new talent and reach out. Can you hear what anyone is thinking?"
Xander cocked his head as if listening to a faraway voice. "Yes. I hear a couple down the hall."
"What are they thinking about?"
He made a face. "She's thinking about him, pretty much yelling at him to come and talk to her."
"And the husband?"
"He's thinking about football. And the cheerleaders. It's not pretty."
"Tell me, do you hear their thoughts as if they were speaking them, or is it more of an image?"
He thought a moment. "Both I guess. I can see them as they see themselves, or as they see what's around them, and I can hear their voice . . . . like a voice over saying what they're thinking."
"Good. Now I want you to focus on the woman. I want you to try to block out what the husband is thinking and focus on her. People never have a single thought in their minds there's always a multitude of things running through their heads. What you are hearing now is only what they are mentally shouting. The subtle things, the half finished thoughts, the wistful moments- those aren't coming to you yet. I want you to try to get past those exterior thoughts and hear what's underneath them. Do you understand?"
Xander was squinting in heavy thought. "Yes . . . . I can't stop hearing him though . . . UGH! I like to consider myself a fairly kinky fellow, but . . . .ewwwww. Granted, cheerleaders are fairly limber, but I still doubt the logistics of that particular . . . " His eyes popped open and he grimaced and gave a melodramatic shudder. At her raised eyebrows and deadpan expression, he slammed his eyes shut again. "Okay, okay. Sorry."
She shook her head, a smile going unseen by him. "Try harder to push him away. It's not easy. You have to shift your attention and push him away at the same time."
"He's starting to fade. He's not so loud now, more of a background hum."
"Can you hear anything different coming from her?"
"She's still thinking about him . . . but she's also thinking about someone else. Someone named Danielle. I think it's her daughter. She wishes she would visit. Whoa! Just got a really quick image of a doctor's office. I think she's worried about an appointment she has tomorrow. Yeah, now she's thinking about it more. She has a lump in her . . . . umm . . . chest area. She's worried it's something bad."
Kat smiled excitedly. "Wonderful!" He cracked an eye open and gave her a dubious look. "Oh I didn't mean about that poor woman, I meant you. You're doing very well!"
"Thanks. What now?"
Kat pondered a moment. "Now I want you to reach out further. Block both the man and his wife and reach further away. Try to hear someone from a further distance."
He craned his neck a bit and his forehead crinkled. "Okay . . . . There's someone . . . I don't know how far. She's just thinking about where she is now. Okay, now she's looking out the window. She's a single mother . . . . Hey! I know where she is. She lives like five blocks from here! Yeah, long distance mind reader now."
"Focus Xander."
"Oh right."
"What is she thinking about?"
"Umm . . . she's thinking about flowers. Dead flowers. Oh . . . dead flowers on her husband's grave. She can't afford to buy anymore flowers and the ones she planted on her husband's grave are all dead. She's . . . upset about it." His expression was sad.
Kat hesitated. "Xander do you . . . feel what she's feeling?"
He hesitated and then nodded. "A little bit. Like . . . sunlight. It's just a touch of warmth or cold from far away. You know it's not coming from you but you still feel it."
"What is beneath the flowers?"
"I told you. Her husband's grave."
She bit back a sharp reply. "I meant her thoughts. What THOUGHTS are beneath the thoughts about flowers?"
"Oh. I knew that." She smiled faintly again. "Umm . . . a little girl with red hair. Her daughter I think. She keeps thinking about her crying. Something about her not doing well at school. Oh wait, the daughter just came home. She's upset, thinking about a boy. Oh, a mean boy. He said nasty things to her. She doesn't want her mother to see her crying again. She's going to her room."
"Okay Xander, focus on the little girl."
"She's still crying. Thinking about that boy and his friends."
"Can you tell me the girl's name?"
He was silent for a long moment. "Noooo . . . she's not thinking about her name. I can tell you the boy's name. It's Ryan Gardner. Write that down. I plan on kicking his ass later."
She grinned. "Duly noted. Now I want you to try something Xander. I want you to focus hard on that little girl's name, and I want you to try and communicate to her that she needs to think about her name."
"You want me to try to tell her what to think? Like telepathy?"
"No. Not exactly. I wish I had a bit more of your talent, it would make it easier to teach you. Some few mind readers have the ability to . . . direct other people's thoughts. Push them to think about the information they need to know. Say a man knows where a treasure is buried, but he is familiar with mind reading techniques and knows how to shield his thoughts. It's difficult to do, but some people CAN thwart your kind with such tactics. One with the ability to direct thoughts, could defeat their shielding by forcing them to think about the information they need."
"Okay . . . I think I understand. I'll try." Minutes passed and Xander stayed silent. Kat surveyed the living room of his apartment, privately surprised that the boy could afford to live in such a nice place. Suddenly he spoke, startling her. "Katie. Her name is Katie." His face broke out into a wide smile and his opened eyes twinkled a bit. "I got her to think her name, and then I had her think of what color her bike is. It's blue."
Kat grinned back. "You sir, are more gifted than you know."
He closed his eyes again, his chest puffing out in a show of manly bravado. "Oh I know. Believe me, I know." She snorted at that and he laughed a bit.
"Okay, now we're going to try one more thing."
"What's this we stuff? I'm the one doing the mind reading here. You're just a glorified cheerleader." He opened his eyes and smiled again to show he was kidding.
She raised a dark eyebrow and spoke in a haughty voice. "Moi? I am Gouda, the mighty Jedi puppet. You are nothing without me."
He picked up a pillow from the sofa and buried his face in it. "It's YODA. And MUPPET. As I told you the first time you told me to stop calling you that."
She waved a hand airily and pulled his pillow away. "Gouda, Yoda, whatever. Now close your eyes and focus on Katie again."
He complied, grumbling. "Slavedriver."
She smiled. "Is she still thinking about what those boys said?"
"Yes. She's very upset."
"I want you to focus on those thoughts. Make her focus on them and hold them in her mind. And then I want you to try to take them away."
"Whhhaaaat?"
"Take them away. Pull them from her memory and into your own."
He bit his lip. "Isn't that some kind of moral no-no? Depriving people of their memories, even if they are bad ones?"
She lifted her hand helplessly. "It's something that's not exactly a wonderful thing to do . . . but you have to learn. And it IS a relatively minor thing we're taking from her. And an unpleasant one at that. I'm sorry, but there's just no other way for you to learn."
He nodded in resignation. "Okay, I'll try . . . ." Minutes passed that felt like hours. Kat stretched, realizing how bone-tired she was. She waited with heavy eyes. Finally his eyes popped open. "I did it! I think."
"What is she thinking about now?"
"Something about homework and her mother. She thinks she was rude to not say hello to her mother."
"Try to make her think about what happened."
He closed his eyes again. "I can't."
She smiled. "Than it worked. Congratulations Xander Harris. Thanks to you, we will be able to ensure that the raseri av fortid is never cast again. Unless they find the spell somewhere we didn't look, of course."
He made a face. "Of course." He held a hand up to his head. "Ohhh, I've got a headache THIS BIG." He held his hands three feet apart. "And Excedrin ain't gonna do the job. You wouldn't have any morphine laying around would you?"
Kat shook her head. "Sorry. The headaches will go away as you get better controlled."
Xander nodded, then looked at her. "Kat . . how come I haven't been hearing what you're thinking? I wasn't really thinking about blocking you."
She smiled. "Mind-readers were more common in my time. Aggie taught me to shield my thoughts from all but the most skilled."
His expression took on a decidedly evil tint. "Soooo . . . I could get around that if I wanted to, right?"
She gave him a sour look. "In time, yes. You could."
He grinned. "And I can hear everyone else now, right?" At her nod he rubbed his hand together and appeared to be planning things that were not altogether wholesome.
She laughed at him, surprising him. He looked at her questioningly. "You look like Mr. Burns, plotting some evil scheme." At his blank look her grin widened. "You know. 'The Simpsons'? Mr. Burns? Evil leader of the local nuclear plant? Can never remember Homer's name? Any of this ringing a bell?"
He nodded. "Yes. I know very well what you're talking about, Ms. 'I sleep for fifty years at a time and have never seen 'Star Wars'.' How come you know what 'The Simpsons' are?"
She laughed again. "My tutor was a fan."
He shook his head. "Comic books and 'The Simpsons'. I would have gotten along disturbingly well with your vampire tutor. He winced and clutched his head again. "Okay, bedtime for Xander. Why don't you stay in the guest bedroom? Bathroom's down the hall if you need to take a shower or ah, anything."
Kat smiled. "Thanks. You have an alarm or something in case we oversleep? I feel like I could sleep for . . . well fifty years."
He groaned at the joke. "I'll wake you up if you're still sleeping. I have an alarm." He hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Goodnight Kat . . . and thank you."
She smiled. "You're welcome. And thank you." She gave him a significant glance whose meaning was not lost on him. She knew he had not entirely forgiven her, but she appreciated the gestures he was making. She walked away toward the guest room.
He turned toward his own room than stopped. He went into the kitchen and pulled out the phone book he kept beneath the counter. He thumbed through it quickly until he found what he was looking for. He dialed the number and waited as a perky receptionist answered. "Gardener's Heaven Flowers and Plants, this is Irene, how may I help you?"
"Hi Irene, I'd like to order some flowers . . . . the kind you plant in the ground. Seedlings. That's what they're called right? Not the ones you put in the vase. Do you carry those?"
"Yes sir. We do. What types are you looking for?"
Xander gave the phone a look of absolute blankness. "Umm . . . . pretty ones? I need them for a friend to plant on a grave. What do you think would be suitable?" He held a brief conversation with the receptionist and then gave her his credit card number and, after a brief moment of focusing on the woman and extracting her address, where the flowers were to be delivered.
"Would you like a card sir?"
He thought a moment. "Yes. Just say umm . . . . 'From a friend. Thanks for all your help.' You won't release who paid for these will you?"
"No sir, not if you don't want us to."
He sighed in relief. "No, I don't. Thank you Irene."
"Thank you Mr. Harris. Please shop with us again."
"I'll do that." He hung up the phone and then walked into his room. He kicked off his shoes and collapsed with a relieved sigh on his bed, still fully dressed. Within a minute, he was deeply asleep.
From her place in the back of the hallway, Kat smiled fondly. She turned and shut the door to
the guest room with a soft click before she took sank onto the bed and into sleep.
****************************************************************************
A look of sharp disgust crossed his face as he gazed in firm dislike around the dark crypt. "You actually live here? You traveled the world for how many years with Darla, Dru and I, you tasted the lap of luxury and decadence . . . and you live in a dark dank crypt. Did that chip damage more than just your hunting instinct Spike?"
The blonde vampire flung himself onto his small couch, flipping on the TV with the remote control he dug out from between the cushions. "Sorry I don't have a bleeding hotel to offer you mate. Some of us make do with what we have. I am after all, in dear old Sunnydale. There are limited options." He feigned a look of tearful sadness. "I just couldn't bring myself to go back to your mansion or the factory. Such poignant family memories after all."
Angel glared. "I don't know what possessed me to agree to stay here."
"Lack of options? A burning desire to renew old family ties?"
He ignored Spike's interjections and made his way over to the bed. "Just do us both a favor and shut up Spike, before I stake you. I just want to sleep."
"I'm trembling mate. But if you want to sleep I suggest you do it elsewhere. I'm bloody well not sharing that bed with you and I'll be damned if I cramp myself onto this tiny couch." He flipped the TV off and stalked over to the bed. He threw a pillow at Angel. "There. Go fetch. Sweet dreams."
Angel reflexively caught the pillow and resisted the childish urge to chuck it back at him. A stray image of a full blown pillow fight, complete with flying feathers and game faced vampires briefly struck him. He bit back a smile and made his way to the sofa, knowing damn well that he wouldn't be able to trust Spike enough to sleep with him around. Spike should feel the same way about him. But Spike always had been a little too trusting. He didn't know why he'd agreed to come here. Some strange idea of warning Spike away from Buffy perhaps. Buffy could take care of herself, and any warning he gave Spike would only serve to heighten the other vampire's interest in Buffy. He'd known Spike long enough to know that to him, forbidden fruit was always the sweetest. And the harder it was to climb the tree to steal it, the more he wanted it. He stared at Spike, a feeling of intense loathing rocking him. He hated the way he looked at Buffy, hated the knowing smirk when she wasn't looking. Hated the vague feeling of ownership the vampire projected whenever he was with her. He hated more than anything the fact that if he staked Spike, Buffy would be furious. He growled faintly and lowered himself onto the couch, twisting his tall body to fit in as comfortable a position as possible.
Spike glanced up from his position on the bed. "If that was your stomach there's blood in the fridge. You can't have it though. Just thought I'd tell you it's there."
Angel grunted in response.
Spike rolled onto his side, contemplating his grandsire's prone form. He spoke after a moment, knowing the topic was bound to elicit a less than pleasant response. "Say Angel . . . what did you say to Kat?"
He didn't even look over, though he went tense and clenched his fists. "None of your business."
"Fine. Play the stoic vampire hero, all holier than though and shaking finger. I just thought you might like to know where I found her."
"I know where you found her."
"Okay, then HOW I found her."
"I know that too. Leave me alone Spike. Just shut up."
"You know? You know she was about to fling herself on a stake or some other grand gesture of self-annihilation" Spike's face hardened as he took Angel's silence to mean that he HAD known. "You knew what she was going to do? Because of you? And you didn't do a thing. What the hell did you say to her? You honestly think she deserved you telling her off, you bloody selfish wanker? So busy riding your high horse you don't notice the bodies you trample on the way, do you?"
Angel leapt off of the sofa and crossed the room in two steps. He gripped Spike around the neck and pushed him hard against the headboard. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Twilight had her own reasons for what she wanted to do. It had nothing to do with me. And what I said to her I had every right to say. And YOU Spike. You only care because you think caring might get you somewhere with Buffy." His face twisted into a cruel grin. "And you and I both no that no matter how hard you bang your head against that door, Buffy's never going to open it up for you. It must KILL you that she gave me a key." He released Spike, letting him slump onto the bed, his hands massaging his bruised neck.
Spike looked up at him with utterly emotionless eyes, his face like an alabaster statue, expressionless and unreadable. "Maybe it does mate. But for someone with a soul, you don't know much about being a friend. I may still be the merciless killer, pending chip removal, of course, and you may the soulful redeeming champion, but I would never turn my back on Kat. And she never would have turned hers on you." He spat at Angel's feet. "You don't deserve either of them, as friends or anything else. You're running around LA all 'avenging hero' and 'champion of goodness' but when someone asks you to forgive them, someone who bloody well helped save your life when you were desperate and clueless about what to do about your unfortunate newly souled state, you condemn them, and turn your back as they walk away to kill themselves." He yanked away from Angel, settling back into the bed with a show of nonchalance. "You're an ass Angel. If I didn't already hate you, I'd hate you now. As it is I'll just have to let my hatred sink to new and interesting levels."
Angel walked away, his voice tinged with disgust. "And I'm so wounded by your dislike Spike. Cut to the bone."
"Go to sleep Soul-boy. I'm tired of hearing you talk."
"Likewise." Silence filled the crypt and Spike drifted off into a semblance of sleep. Angel lay
wide-eyed and awake, every now and again his eyes traveled to the sleeping form of his
grandchilde, and he considered what Spike had said. Part of him automatically rejected every
word on the basis that it's speaker was Spike, but the other part, the part he was working to
ignore, wondered if maybe some of what he'd said was right. Angel felt doubts twisting his
insides apart, and knew that sleep would not even be an option tonight.
****************************************************************************
"So this . . . demon guy died and gave you this vision thing?" Buffy wrinkled her nose in confusion as she sat cross-legged on her bed, Cordelia perched opposite her in an overstuffed chair at the bed's foot.
"Half-demon. And I didn't even KNOW that 'till right before . . . it happened. He was a nice guy." Cordelia's face fell into an expression of sadness Buffy had rarely seen on the face of the formerly vacuous beauty queen.
"You still miss him?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Cordelia answered anyway.
"Yes. Wesley and I are good friends, and Gunn's . . . well . . . Gunn. But none of them are Doyle. I just wish I'd been a little more clued in to what a good guy he was before he decided to kill himself playing the noble hero, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry Cordy." Buffy sank back against the pillows piled on her headboard. "So what do your visions feel like? And what do you usually see?"
"They feel sort of like a flash of lightning sent directly into your skull, only way more painful. And what I see is never the same, usually a jumble of images. The . . feeling I get as I watch is usually the more coherent part. The images are too tangled and quick to sort through, but I usually get flashes of intuition about where and when and what things are. Sometimes they're harder to figure out than others times. Half the time we only figure out what they really mean way after the crisis is over."
"Must have been a hard thing to suddenly deal with, suddenly being an actress with a direct linkup to the powers that be."
"Probably not as hard as suddenly becoming a vampire slayer at fifteen." Cordy paused and reflected a moment. "Hey, we're bonding here!"
Buffy grinned. "Yup, look at us with the girl-talk and bonding over Oreos." She popped a cookie into her mouth.
Cordy took a cookie as well and stared thoughtfully at it. "So . . . you're doing okay right?"
Buffy looked up, cookie crumbs falling from her fingers. She swiped ineffectively at the bedspread and nodded her head. "I'm fine. Five by Five and all." Her voice fell and her smile widened in an unmistakable, though woefully inaccurate, impression of Faith.
Cordy started. "Don't do that!" She laughed then. "She's doing better ,though, Angel says. Think you'll ever forgive her?"
Buffy considered. "Yes. I think so. Faith never had it easy, and everyone makes mistakes. I don't know how long it will be before I'm ready to trust her again- it may be never. But I think I've already forgiven her."
Cordy climbed to her feet. "Well, you're a bigger woman than me." At Buffy's raised eyebrow she grinned and added. "Figuratively speaking, of course. It will take me a long time to forgive her. And I won't EVER trust her." She yawned and said goodnight to Buffy, than made her way down the hall to the guest bedroom. She fell quickly and deeply asleep.
Buffy lay for a long time, her tired body and over-active mind having a silent war over whether
to think or sleep. When at last her body won out, she sank into a deep and dreamless sleep and
was more than grateful for the release from her minds constant thoughts.
****************************************************************************
"Willow, come to bed. Otherwise you're going to be too tired to be of any use to anyone tomorrow." Tara watched in frustration as the red-haired girl rustled endlessly through tomes thicker than her waist, looking for something she would never find. "Willow . . . you're not going to find anything in there to make Buffy human again."
Willow looked at Tara, her tired eyes flashing with brief anger. "How do you know? With all these horrible things that we've seen happen, don't you think it's the tiniest bit possible that we could find this one good thing?"
Tara shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "Willow . . . I can't know that for sure I guess. But I kn-know that even if you found it, she might not want to use it."
Willow slumped into her chair, her voice was quiet and muffled as she spoke. "I know. It's just so unfair."
Tara wrapped her arms around Willow as the other girl pushed listlessly at the books. "No. It's no-not fair. It never is. But may-maybe things had to happen this way. Maybe this is the way it's supposed to be."
Willow tilted her head, a ghost of smile playing about her lips. "The way it's supposed to be is rotten then."
Tara smiled back. "Yeah, it is. Remind me to run things differently when I have my own universe." She leaned forward and read through a page Willow had marked. Her eyebrows shot up and her voice filled with genuine laughter. "Willow!! You weren't even trying to find a spell for Buffy!"
Willow stammered as she spoke in her own defense. "Ye-yes I was! I mean, not right then. I sorta, got sidetracked onto a different topic. But I was looking for a spell for Buffy, and I was about to start looking again when you told me to go to bed."
Tara yanked the book away. "Here I was offering all this sympathy and you were busy looking up spells to block your thoughts from Xander!!" Her voice fell into a deeper tone of mock-seriousness. "Willow, I'm so disappointed in you."
Willow tried without success to stifle a laugh. She reached up and yanked her book back from Tara. "Oh be quiet. It's Xander . . . . you know what he's like with the inappropriate comments and all. And I keep thinking all the things I don't wanna be thinking . . . it's not good. So I thought I'd get a little magical assistance." She glared jokingly at the other girl. "Oh just go to bed. Otherwise I won't let you see the spell and you'll have to have a Xander crawling around in your head all the time."
Tara laughed and lay down on the bed, Willow following her after she'd turned out the reading lights. She put her arms out and pulled the red headed girl next to her, resting her head on Willow's shoulder. "I wouldn't get your heart set on that spell working. Xander's pretty powerful if he can even read a vampire's mind. You might not be able to keep him out with a little chanting."
Willow smiled and turned and kissed Tara goodnight. "I know. But it's worth a try. Otherwise poor Xander's head might explode."
Tara laughed again and they both settled down to sleep, a small bundle of black fur climbing up
onto the bed to settle itself in a purring ball against Willow's stomach. Carefully pushing away
thoughts of what might soon come, they fell asleep.
****************************************************************************
"Can I get you anything sir? A beverage or pillow? Some head phones?" The perky flight attendant smiled too widely, revealing overlarge gums and imperfectly capped teeth.
The passenger lifted one hand in a wave of rejection, ignoring the way the woman's eyes immediately went to the plastic fingers of his missing hand. "No thank you. How long until we land?"
The woman smiled again. "We'll be touching down in Sunnydale Airport in less than an hour
sir." He thanked her again and then waited till the woman had made her way further down the
aisle. He reached down and pulled his large briefcase onto the small table in front of him.
Checking to be sure the man next to him was truly asleep, Lindsey opened the case and looked
again at the smiling faces of the two people within. He read through the files for the hundredth
time, his gaze thoughtful and his forehead wrinkled in tension. He shut the case again and sat
back with a sigh. He reached down and pushed his chair into a reclining position, closing his
eyes. In a moment, he had dozed off into a void of vivid dreams.
">
Giles stared aghast at the pile of luggage sitting with palpable menace in the center of his living room, as if daring him to try and stuff it all into the trunk of his stylish, horribly impractical car. He looked from the pile to the women who'd brought it. "Willow, Tara, are you planning on MOVING there? We're traveling to LA to avert an apocalypse and confront an unspeakably evil law firm, not walk the bloody catwalk in a fashion show of clothes we brought from home!" He studiously ignored the smaller pile of luggage that already waited by the door, the largest of which was missing a handle because it had broken off when he made the error of trying to lift the immeasurably heavy bag.
Willow smiled. "You bring every book in the house and a change of underwear. We bring every spell component we own, and eight pairs of sensible shoes."
Tara grinned. "Guess we just have different priorities Mr. Giles."
He sighed. "Fine. We'll bring the three incredibly large suitcases the two of you brought, and then you can ride on the roof while the bags sit comfortably in the backseat."
Willow's face suddenly lit with an excited glow that immediately filled Giles with dread. "Oh! We've been working on this levitation spell and flying ourselves around our room. Granted, it's a lot further to LA, but I bet we could do it if we stopped for bathroom breaks, and no airline food or cramped car to get there!"
"Willow, you may NOT fly there. Besides the obvious danger of it, I don't fancy reading about the flying red-head who stopped on I-4 to ask for directions in tomorrow's morning paper."
Willow grumbled something about using a map, which Giles purposefully ignored. Tara smiled behind a hand she lifted to hide a feigned yawn. The girls hefted their bags and went to load them, somehow, into Giles' car. "Maybe we could use Angel's car too. And doesn't Spike have one hidden away somewhere? Or did he pawn it for blood?"
Giles sighed and turned to Wesley. But whatever he had been about to say to the other man, who was smirking over the conversation he'd just heard, was forgotten as the door flew open and two smoking vampires flung themselves inside. One cursed loudly, the other merely scowled as he shook out the blanket he'd held over his head until the flames were doused. Giles surveyed the two with a critical gaze, looking for the bruises he was sure would be there after these two were forced to share lodgings. Finding none, he cleared his throat and walked over to them. "Good morning. I trust you found Spike's accommodation dank and unspeakably unpleasant."
"I resent that Watcher, I do. It's not like you're crashing in a five-star hotel here. Besides my place has . . ." He hesitated, searching for the correct word. "Atmosphere."
Angel glared at him. "Otherwise known as stench and dampness."
"Only for those who think inside the box. Us free-thinkers like a bit more creativity in our housing than a bloody great mansion with two chairs and a bed for furnishings." Spike lit a cigarette and leaned back against the wall. "Besides, good apartments are hard to come by these days. They're all a bit sunny for my tastes."
"Not to mention most of them require rent of some kind."
Spike shot Giles a quick glare for that crack. "That's beside the point."
Wesley smiled. "Yes, I'm sure it is, but ALL of this is beside the point. Buffy called and is on her way with Cordelia. We've not heard from Xander and Kat yet, have either of you?"
Spike shook his head. "No, not a word. Saw the Witchy duet outside shoving suitcases into your car, though. Left a nasty dent in one side when that big blue one banged into the side."
Giles started. "They dented it?"
Wesley ignored him. "Perhaps one of us should go and check on them."
Giles looked over from the window, where he'd hurried over to peer out at Willow and Tara and his car. "No need yet. I imagine they'll be here any moment." He turned and walked away from the window. "I'd rather not see what they're doing. I turned away when I saw a suitcase floating." A crash sounded from outside followed by a stream of feminine giggles. Giles sighed and faced resolutely away from the window.
Wesley frowned at the other man. "Rupert, I wasn't sure it was a wise idea to allow Xander to go alone with that vam- ahem- woman last night. And now I feel we should go and ensure that he's safe and that she is . . . still with us."
Giles made a rude snorting noise. "If you were so certain it was a bad idea, why didn't you mention it last night?"
Wesley flushed. "Well . . . I was a bit overtired and I confess I wasn't at my best-"
A knock at the door saved him from further explanation. Giles frowned and made his way to the door. "This must be Katerina. None of the rest of them bothers to knock anymore." He swung the door open and blinked in surprise at the stranger standing there. "Yes, can I help you?" Suddenly a blur of black leather shoved him roughly aside and grabbed his visitor violently by the neck.
Angel yanked the figure inside and shoved it harshly against the wall, his furious expression and fierce eyes seeming almost on the verge of changing into his vampire face. The man he held pinned against the wall struggled uselessly against the vampire's strength, his breath coming in short gasps through Angel's stranglehold on his throat. Angel's voice was a low growling rumble when he spoke. "What are you doing here Lindsey? Wolfram & Hart making house calls for those special clients now? You're not a fast learner are you?" His free hand yanked at Lindsey's plastic hand, pulling it off and waving it tauntingly in his face. "Didn't I take enough from you the last time we had a tete-a-tete?" He hurled the hand against the adjacent wall, shattering the sturdy plastic as if it were glass.
Giles started when he heard the name of the law firm he'd heard so much about in such a short time. He paled as he saw Angel's nearly overwhelming fury. In that moment, he saw the line between Angel and Angelus grow thin. He shot a look at Wesley, who was looking back at him with raised eyebrows. They traded a look of concern quickly, then Giles looked back to where Angel taunted the man. As Angel flung something across the room, Giles opened his mouth to speak when a voice from the doorway spoke for him.
"Angel." At the sound of his name Angel instantly released the man, his body nearly shaking with tension. He watched as Lindsey fell to his knees, coughing and gasping for breath. Angel turned to the doorway. Buffy stared back at him, her gaze inscrutable. Cordy stood at her side, Willow and Tara peering over their shoulders. Cordy's expression was a priceless mix of resentment and incredulity. One word from Buffy and Angel had let Lindsey go. Cordy seemed to know that she could have wasted breath screaming at him for hours and he'd still have done what he liked.
Lindsey pushed himself to his feet and raked his hair out of his eyes. He glanced around the room, his eyes filled with hate when they fell on Angel. He cleared his throat, testing to see if he'd be able to speak. Buffy stepped forward and he eyed her warily, knowing who she was. Wolfram & Heart's files were extensive and the exploits of the slayers very well documented, this one in particular. She pushed her way in front of Angel and put a threatening hand on a knife she had shoved through her belt. "Who are you?"
To his immense irritation the question was answered before he could speak. "His name is Lindsey Macdonald, and he's one of the Wolfram & Heart's little thugs. He helps do all their dirty work for them. He's a bad nasty person." Cordelia halted a moment, studying Angel speculatively before finishing. "He helped bring Darla back . . and then he brought Drusilla to make her a vampire. Not that pinning him to the wall by his throat should have been your first course of action." The last was directed at Angel, who gave no sign of having heard her.
Buffy's voice was level. "Do you know who I am?"
Lindsey nodded imperceptibly. "Yes."
Her voice was cold. "Then you know what I'm capable and more than willing to do to you if you do anything I'm not happy about." Giles looked at her, surprised at the threat, as did the rest of them save Willow. She seemed to expect it. After a minute Giles realized why. Angel. This man had threatened not only Angel's life, but also his soul and sanity, from what Cordelia and Wesley had told them. Buffy was always incredibly protective of people she loved.
Lindsey smiled sardonically. "Aren't the good guys supposed to wait to offer threats until after introductions have been made?"
Buffy smiled back mirthlessly. "We're a little behind on our etiquette here in little old Sunnydale." The smile vanished and she stepped closer to him. "What are you doing here? And how did you know where we were?"
Lindsey's bitter grin grew. "Let's just say I have friends in high places . . . and in low ones. As for why I'm here . . ." He tossed a file no one had noticed he carried in his hand toward Buffy. The girl caught it reflexively.
She held it unopened. "What is it?"
"What, you're a little behind on your reading skills in little old Sunnydale, too?"
Buffy brought her leg forward in a flash of movement and swept his feet out from beneath him smoothly. He toppled to the floor with a grunt. She smiled nastily. "Yeah, but our ass-kicking skills are top of the line." She flipped open the folder and studied it. Her eyes widened and her knuckles whitened as she read. She slammed it shut and handed it, almost reluctantly to Giles. As the Watcher began to page through and read she looked back at the man who'd brought it. He flinched involuntarily away from her, feeling the waves of anger coming from her. "Is it true?"
He nodded. "Every word of it."
"Why are you here?"
He shrugged as if the answer surprised even him. "Because I want to stop them from doing it."
Angel looked up at Buffy, his anger burning anew. "Buffy, he can't be trusted. I've seen him play the good guy before. It doesn't last." He scowled at Lindsey. "He'll sell anyone out for the almighty dollar. This is just a game Wolfram & Hart is playing at."
Lindsey shook his head angrily. "Wolfram & Hart would kill me in numerous and painful ways if they knew I was here." He shuddered slightly. "And they know how to make death last for years."
Buffy held a hand up and gave her one-time lover a commanding glare. "Angel, be quiet." The vampire looked surprised, hurt, and resentful all at once, but he obeyed, biting his tongue and staring in sullen silence at Lindsey. Buffy turned her attention back to the lawyer. "Now explain to me why you would want to do something like that? 'Cause from what I've heard about you, you're not really a pitch in and help the good guys kinda fella. You're more of a 'wait till the good guys turn their back and then stab them and serve them a subpoena' type. So why the sudden change of heart?"
Lindsey glanced quickly around, his crooked smile fading momentarily. "Let's just say I had a difference of opinion with the firm."
Buffy glared. "And we're supposed to buy everything you say to us based on that? Sorry Mr. Big-Shot lawyer, I'm not feeling gullible or trusting today. Not really open to the idea of another new formerly evil friend, either. So why don't you tell me the real reason you're here."
He shook his head. "It's enough that I'm here. Believe me or don't believe me, I'm telling the truth." Buffy's expression showed her doubt.
Willow watched quietly from her place behind Buffy. She turned her head as a shadow approached the door and smiled. "Xander's here. Kat's with him." Her eyes turned to Giles and the folder he still flipped through. Curiosity about what it contained was driving her batty. She finally gave in and started over to Giles, determined to read over his shoulder. Cordelia was at her heels, obviously entertaining the same idea. Giles hurriedly closed it as they approached, though. He cleared his throat and glanced nervously at them. Willow frowned, now certain that he was hiding it from her, or them. She stopped in mid-thought and spun back around to face the doorway, her expression brightening as if someone had flipped a switch and flooded her face with light. Xander now stood in the door way, Kat beside him, her diminutive form barely reaching his chest. Willow spoke quickly. "Oh! Xander can tell us what Lindsey's th-umm . . ." She cleared her through, it suddenly occurring to her that Lindsey might not know of Xander's newfound talent. "Lindsey's shoe size." She finished lamely.
Xander smiled faintly and turned to face the newcomer to their circle. His face looked a bit pale and haggard, his cheerful expression a bit haunted. Willow watched him sympathetically. It must be hard hearing what people are thinking, she didn't even like to hear what SHE was thinking sometimes. She wondered briefly if he'd heard that. He sent her a tired smile and a nod.
Kat watched the exchange and frowned. "Focus Xander. Weed it out." He made a face behind her back when she returned her attention to the lawyer. Willow grinned and gave the vampire woman bunny ears from safely behind her back. Kat ignored both of them, though a slight smile played around the corners of her mouth. She watched Lindsey, who looked back at her warily. She saw recognition in his eyes, though she had never seen him before. When she spoke it seemed to almost startle him. "Who are you?"
"His name is Lindsey Macdonald. He works for Wolfram &-"
Kat cut Angel off with a look and a frown. "I asked him, not you Angelus." He scowled and turned away from her. She looked back at the man. "Now you speak. Who are you and why are you here?"
He licked his lips nervously, wondering what she wanted of him. Regretful thoughts flickered through his mind. He'd thrown a career away to help people who loathed him. He'd thrown more than that away if he was truthful with himself, he'd thrown his life away. Wolfram & Hart wouldn't let him survive long after this betrayal. He'd used up his get out of jail free cards, and the firm would be around to punish him for his indiscretions. He wasn't sure what to say.
"Oh just tell the truth. You're a big wussy man who's afraid of the big law firm, but wants to stop them from killing some poor kids . . . . hey!!!" Xander's eyebrows shot up so far they looked ready to fly off his head. "Me! You want to stop them from killing me and Cor-" His voice trailed off and he glanced apologetically at Giles, who was shooting him a killing look. Cordelia's face was suddenly furious as she snatched the file away from the former watcher and began to read. Xander shrugged as Kat turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry . . . . no, I'm not. Seemed the appropriate thing to say."
Kat ignored him and watched Lindsey instead, who had gone pale at Xander's pronouncement. "Well, I guess the 'who you are' and 'why you ares' been answered. Now all that remains is the other why. Why do you care about two little deaths when Angel . . . and several other sources I've spoken with in the past, have assured me that Wolfram & Hart thinks nothing of a little murder?"
Lindsey sighed heavily. "Because those two murders are part of a chain of events Wolfram & Heart's been planning for some time. Holland Manners' little pet project actually."
She tilted her head. "Holland Manners?"
"My supervisor, head of special projects for Wolfram & Hart." She nodded in understanding and motioned for him to go on. Suddenly a thought occurred to her and she shot a look at Spike, who smiled back, knowing what she was thinking. She frowned and stepped away from Lindsey, pulling Buffy forward. Buffy gave her a confused glance, Kat smiled and looked purposefully obtuse. Lindsey continued his story, oblivious to the power plays going on within the group. "Not long ago, Holland decided to bring me in to help with this . . . project of his. To get approval for me to work on the case, I had to be approved by the Senior Partners. He took me to meet them and-"
"You met the Senior Partners? What were they like? I bet they were all scaly and smelly and slimy right?" Cordelia, face pale, looked up long enough from the file she held to interrupt.
Wesley rolled his eyes. "Cordelia please. We ARE trying to find out some information. . . . So what DID the Senior Partners look like?" Cordy groaned and several sighs sounded from different points around the room.
Lindsey shook his head. "I never met them. I met their representatives, who were human. They gave me that folder, and told me to gain the firm's trust back, I had to take care of . . . the assignment they gave me. If I did, I would take Holland's place when he was promoted, pending the success of his project of course."
Buffy glanced around and saw that everyone else had found chairs to sit in. She decided to do the same, roughly pushing Lindsey down into a chair at the book-strewn table and taking one opposite him. Kat settled onto a stool behind her. "So what is this project exactly?"
Angel sneered. "Let me guess, the end of the world, right?"
Lindsey laughed bitterly. "No. They've been there, tried that. Didn't work. No this isn't the end of the world. It's a change in the world as we know it." He leaned forward for emphasis, his gaze moving from person to person around the room. "Wolfram & Hart is going to shift the Balance." He seemed disappointed in the general lack of reaction and puzzlement he met in most faces. Only the two slayers and one of the Watchers seemed to understand what he was saying.
Buffy leaned toward him, bringing his attention back to her. For the first time he noticed her silver eyes, twin to those of the other slayer, Twilight. He suppressed a shiver at the inhuman gleam of the woman's gaze. "Okay, gonna need a little more explanation here."
"I don't understand it fully myself. All I know is Wolfram & Hart have a very elaborate plan. They have a former member of the Watcher's Council working for them. The Council and us have always been at odds. They have a great deal of influence, and frequently ruin the firm's plans. They used this insider to plant a second half of a spell called the raseri av fortid. The spell was a fake, but they made sure that information about its 'recovery' and the Council's plans to cast it on The Slayer were relayed to the only ones who would know what it was." He glanced toward Kat and Angel. "The Council's spell was just a feint, designed to drawn the attention of our most potent enemies . . . you all. At the least, you would all be distracted and chasing after rumors. At the best, you would destroy or at least severely limit the power of the Council in retribution for what they attempted to do. Either way, you would be too busy worrying about demons from overseas to pay much attention to what's going on here."
Kat nodded and opened her mouth to speak but abruptly closed it. She was not going to be the one in charge here. It was no longer her duty. She was here to help the slayer, not take her place. Buffy spoke, unaware of Kat's struggles with her own inner control issues. "And what IS it they plan on having 'going on' here?"
"I don't know exactly. I know there's a ritual that has to be performed around the new moon. I know that everyone, myself included, have been ordered NOT to kill the slayers . . . or Angel. And I know that they sent me here to kill . . . or arrange to have killed, which is probably more along the lines of what they expected, two people who never did anything to me. One who reads the future, and one who reads minds." He nodded to Cordelia and Xander in turn. "They want both of you gone, but the main focus is on you." He pointed gestured toward Xander.
The young man paled slightly, an impressive feat considering how pale he already was with weariness and worry. "Why me?"
Lindsey raised his hands in a helpless gesture. "I don't know. I guess you're important somehow."
Xander stared at him, clearly trying to glean more from the man's thoughts. Lindsey stared resolutely back. Xander gave up with a sigh, re-shielding his mind. "Lucky me. I think he's telling the truth. He doesn't know much more."
Wesley's voice sounded from the back of the room. "Does he know who the inside man is at the Council?"
"An Englishman, goes by the name of Richard Barnington. Might not be his real name though."
"Bloody hell!" The curse came from two places at the same time. Everyone turned to face the Watchers, surprised by their synchronized shouting.
"What's wrong . . . . British guys?" Xander searched for a moment for a better title, but settled on the generic one instead. "I'm losing my touch. 'British guys' was the best I could come up with? This is what happens when you can hear too many things at once. You run out of room for storing irrelevant humor."
Willow smiled and patted him sympathetically on the head like an overlarge puppy. "It's okay Xander. It'll get easier to not hear things, and then you'll have plenty of room for your trademarked Xander quips." He looked doubtful and reached up to remove her patting hand. She smiled again and turned back to Wesley and Giles. "So what WAS that about?"
Giles merely snorted in disgust, leaving Wesley to explain. "Well . . . you know that old saying about it always being the last person you'd suspect was capable of betrayal like that?"
Buffy nodded in understanding. "Yeah. So this Richard guy was like a Watcher buddy with you guys? A friend?"
Giles snorted again and answered before Wesley had a chance to. "Not bloody likely. That old adage is the furthest thing from the truth I've ever heard. If I'd been told to pick out the one man most likely to sell out the world for a chance at power, I'd have pointed a large finger directly at Richard Barnington. And I've had delighted in the opportunity to knock him on his arse, as well.""
Wesley nodded in agreement. "Richard was mad for power and dabbled even more heavily in the black arts that most Watchers. He's quite a powerful Mage, but he's also very inventive and experimental. He nearly blew up the entire library trying to perfect a spell once. Very few members of the Council got on well with him."
Xander shook his head in mock regret. "And yet no one saw the encroaching signs of betrayal. Haven't ANY of you people ever been to a movie? It's always that quiet guy with the explosives that wants to kill the world."
Willow grinned. "See? It's coming back already."
Kat ignored them all, obviously lost in thought. From their silent perches in the back of the room, Angel and Spike watched and waited. They knew that expression, it was like a slowly brightening light bulb over her head. In silence, they waited for the bulb to flash and Kat to speak. When she did, it was slowly, her face still thoughtful. "How did Wolfram & Hart know that I would be told about the raseri av fortid?" The question seemed to be a formality, as if she already knew the answer.
"The vampire who met you when you woke up was a plant by Wolfram & Hart. He was brainwashed by VERY thorough means by associates of the firm. They can't read minds, but they can manipulate them." This news seemed to sadden Kat, who fell once more into a brooding silence. She traded a quick look with Angel, her eyes full of regret, his filled with accusation. The both said they same thing without words. "It wasn't necessary."
The silence in the room deepened and everyone shifted uncomfortably in it. Finally it was Buffy who spoke, sounding vaguely lost, a tone no one had heard from her since her change. "What do we do now?" She looked toward Kat, who looked away.
Giles answered her. "I suppose we've no choice but to go to LA and confront Wolfram & Hart in their headquarters. We haven't time before the new moon to make any elaborate plans, this seems to be the only option left."
No one said anything. They all knew that to wade into the heart of the law firm when they were most likely to be prepared and waiting for them may well be a suicide mission. But Giles was right- they had no choice. A soft voice spoke after a moment, startling them all, some of whom had forgotten her quiet presence. "May-maybe that's what they want us to do."
Giles cleared his throat. "What do you mean Tara?"
She continued, gaining confidence as she went, ignoring the suspicious glares she was receiving from the LA part of the group, who had never met her before this current crisis. "Well . . . whatever this ritual is, it obviously requires a lot of power. The new moon is a time of renewal, and is a time of rising power. Many powerful spells and summons have to be performed around it. If it needs the extra power of the moon to boost it, maybe it needs another natural power source too?"
Willow's eyes lit with understanding. "And what better source of power for a dark ritual than Sunnydale's Hellmouth?" Tara nodded, her expression hopeful.
Xander shook his head. "Our town's one claim to fame is a tunnel to hell. Remind me to build a giant roadside ice cream cone here later, give the tourists something new to see when the come to visit."
Kat turned to Buffy. "The Oracles spoke of the Balance . . . . And in her final warning, the female said 'The Balance between worlds must be weighed at the portal that joins them.' Does that mean your Hellmouth?"
Buffy blinked. "I'd forgotten that until now."
Kat smiled wanly. "So had I. I only remembered when Tara mentioned the Hellmouth." She gave the witch a grateful smile.
Tara bowed her head shyly. "So may-maybe this is all just another way to draw us away from where we need to be to stop it?"
Giles nodded. "It seems so. The new moon begins tonight. It looks like we're off to visit our old stomping grounds again."
Buffy smiled. "I could really have done without the trip down nostalgia lane, but I'll survive." She turned speculatively to Lindsey. "So Mr. Macdonald, was this just another way for you to help your firm? Draw us away from where we most need to be?"
Xander stared hard at the lawyer, who seemed to be debating whether or not to reveal something. He started to speak, but was interrupted by the shrill ring of a phone. Giles looked blankly at his phone before realizing that it wasn't what was ringing. Cordelia smiled an apology and lifted her own phone out of her purse as Angel and Wesley each reached into their pockets for theirs. Xander grinned at their matching Nokias. "We've GOT to get us some of those." Buffy nodded in silent agreement.
Giles sighed. "Have you any idea what those things cost a month Xander?
"No, but they're shiny and they make pretty noises. Can't we have one? Please?" He grinned to show he was kidding, Giles ignored him and shook his head.
The ringing continued as the trio from LA looked blankly from one to another. A soft beep and the ringing stopped. Lindsey held a black phone to his ear, his expression uncertain. "Lindsey Macdonald."
"Lindsey, I'm highly disappointed in you. I had such high hopes for you." The familiar voice on the other end was soft with feigned disappointment.
Lindsey's stomach sank to his knees and his face turned white. His voice shook as he answered. "Wh-What are you talking about Holland?"
"Lindsey, I am many things, but I am not a fool. A bit too trusting perhaps, but not a fool. I HAD hoped you would prove more loyal to the people that helped make you what you are."
Lindsey sneered. "Yeah, well maybe I don't much like what you made me into."
"Hardly our fault. We did the best we could with the materials we had to work with."
"Sorry I wasn't up to your standards Holland." He looked up and around the room, who were all staring at him coldly. Finally comprehension dawned and he jumped to his feet. Buffy, startled by his abrupt movement shoved him back into his chair. He fell, sprawling into it, the phone still held to his ear.
"Goodbye Lindsey." Holland hung up the phone with a soft click and Lindsey hurled it away. He stood again. "We have to go. Now! Get out of here!"
Buffy climbed to her feet, her face a mix of distrust and worry. "Why?"
Xander was already pushing people toward the door. "Go! They know we know!"
Comprehension finally lit the faces of the rest of them. Cordelia's already pale face whitened further. "Wolfram & Hart? But what-how?"
Lindsey grabbed her by the arm. "They must have this house bugged. I should have KNOWN that. We have to get out. Now!"
Buffy surged forward and pulled the door open as she spoke. "Angel, Spike, you'd better find something to cover you and quickly." She swung the door open and then leaped back. She shot a quick glance toward Giles. "Too late." She thought hard at Xander, hoping he'd hear the words she didn't say. "Xander. Back door. Willow, Tara, Cordelia, Wesley, Giles and you. Now!" She saw with relief that he glared at her, but began pushing the others toward the door. She spoke to those at the door. "We weren't expecting company, and we don't like solicitors. Why don't you try next door? They love buying door to door." She noted quietly that Kat had stepped forward to stand beside her, Spike and Angel just behind them, out of the sunlight, the lawyer beside them.
Three cloaked figures stood closest to the door. The one in the center was tall and completely swathed in what looked like thick black saran wrap, flanking that figure were two shorter figures, wearing short, frayed blue robes. From the center of the enveloping hoods stared beady red eyes and claws emerged from the dirty sleeves in place of fingers. Behind the three stood eight men dressed in army fatigues. Confusion filled Buffy's mind as she stared at them. She didn't think she recognized them, but she couldn't be sure. The tall figure raised a slim arm, gloved in the same black material the rest of it wore. It pulled up the hood of its cloak and smiled. Three surprised gasps and two faint curses sounded from those who were within viewing range of the door. Hypnotic dark eyes stared relentlessly into Buffy's and blood red lips stretched into a smile tinged with madness. "Naughty slayer. It's bad manners not to invite a guest inside to play, it is. What would your Mummy say?"
Buffy stepped out of reach of the door way, her eyes darting from the vampire at the door to Spike and Angel. The blonde vampire looked stunned, but Angel looked furious . . . and guilty. She silently cursed him for not letting her know Dru was back in town long before this. She gave the vampire a bright smile. "Drusilla. I'm so sorry. We don't have room for you at the party. You should have called first. Why don't you go on home, come see us some other time?"
The vampire girl shook her head. She stared past Buffy into the room, her dark eyes on Spike and Angel. "It's almost a family party. The nasty lawyers wouldn't let me tell Grandmum I was coming." She gave a short little giggle. "She'll be very cross when I come back. The lawyers were afraid she'd be mad at them for hurting you." She directed the last toward Lindsey. Buffy disgustedly noted that he seemed pleased by Dru's announcement.
Arms crossed over her chest in a deceptively casual pose, Buffy smirked. "Taking your orders from Wolfram & Hart instead of Spike now, huh Drusilla? Whatever happened to liberation? You're just an old-fashioned vampire, aren't you? Need a man . . . . or large evil entity to take care of you?"
Drusilla hissed in anger. "Nasty little Slayer. Grandmum will be upset she didn't get to see you die and hear all the lovely screams you'll make." She looked past Buffy to Spike. She held her arm out toward him longingly. "My Spike. When the stars told me you'd be here, I went to the lawyers to make it right again." She frowned at him. "Your poor little head, they took the blood from your brain." She smiled. "We can put it back again, make it like it was. All the lovely blood and pretty music." She dropped her hood, her voice muffled from behind its folds. "Do you like my dress My Spike? The sun doesn't burn when I wear it." She giggled again.
Spike stepped forward as far as he could. He reached forward and roughly yanked Buffy aside. "It's lovely pet."
She tilted her head, her muffled voice sad. "But you can't come outside because you're not wearing it."
He smiled. "Well then luv, maybe you should come in. Invite the lady in, Giles." The Watcher had crept around to the other side of the room so he could see what was happening. He looked doubtfully at Buffy. The Slayer gave an imperceptible nod. They both knew that Drusilla was the only thing keeping the rest of them from attacking. As soon as she lost interest in her game, the others would attack. The longer they could placate her, the more chance the rest of them had to get clear. Suddenly she looked around with a mighty frown. The rest of them were STANDING there, looking back at her. OBVIOUSLY none of them had ANY intention of leaving. She vowed to give them a piece of her mind later. How was she supposed to protect Xander and Cordelia when they didn't LISTEN to her?
Giles cleared his throat. "Of-of course. Drusilla, why don't you come in?"
Drusilla stepped gracefully inside, into the shadowed entryway. She pushed the hood away from her face and looked around. Her eyes fell on Kat, who had been standing out of her sight. Instantly the vampire's face shifted into its natural fanged state and her eyes lit with fury. Her voice was almost hissing with her anger. "Wretched little sleeping Slayer! It was you who first made my Spike's head fill with thoughts that weren't about me." She stepped closer. "I dreamed of you, bathed in blood and dancing at the mouth of hell. It was evil and lovely and I woke up singing and heard the Earth sing with me." Her face shifted back and her furious eyes flashed. "But it was a lie. You don't dance a'tall. And you're here with my Spike and the Angel-Beast."
Kat smiled faintly, her voice acidic. "Hello to you too Drusilla. Where's your baby doll? Did she go and find a nice sane mother somewhere?" The two eyed one another with undisguised loathing, each obviously preparing to pounce.
Spike stepped forward, his voice soothing. "Dru baby, I know you and Katerina never got on well, but you're always my girl." He shot Kat a half annoyed, half amused glance than slid his arms around Drusilla's waist, to the obvious disgust of several people in the room. "Remember that time in France, luv? Remember how we danced then?"
She giggled. "We danced over pretty girls, who lay on a burning floor and gave us the dancing music with their pleas for mercy and lovely screams." Xander who'd been staring at the mad vampire intently suddenly grimaced and turned slightly green. Kat noticed from the corner of his eye and winced with sympathy. She wouldn't want to hear what Drusilla was thinking either.
He nodded, his head nestled in her neck. "That's right baby. And it can be that way again." He smiled. "Now tell me, what did the lawyers say about the chip in my head?"
She frowned and put her hands on his head, wincing. "My poor Spike. A puppy on a tether, running 'round and 'round the same tree and barking at what he can't have." Red lips curved into an edged smile. "But they can fix it. Can turn a switch inside your lovely head and make it all right again. Can give my Spike back his fangs again." She caressed his head lovingly for a moment, than her fingers bent and her hand, scratched a bloody line down the side of his face. "But they can't take The Slayers from your head." She pushed him away and danced backward as Kat turned, a stake in her hand. "Naughty Sleepy-Slayer. You should have stayed in bed and dreamed of parties and puppies and little boys who taste like sunshine. Now it's too late. She pushed her cloak open and grabbed a crossbow at her belt. Spike leapt forward to take it from her, Kat leaping nimbly out of the way and turning to face the stream of men who were running through the door. Buffy stood at her back and the two began wading through a sea of arms and legs, sending men flying from around them. Together they made their way to the door, where the other two creatures stood with their hands clasped before them. Their hissing inhumane voices were chanting something neither of them understood but they moved in unison and tackled the two as one. The creatures howled in frustration as their spell was interrupted and their hoods fell away, revealing scaled domed heads bulging with hideous purple veins. The Slayers attacked, the small creatures fought like, well, demons. Incredibly strong for their size and damnably fast, their claws glinted in the sun and their fanged mouths dripped something that looked disturbingly poisonous. Grimly, they battled on as the house inside turned to sheer chaos.
The creature fighting Kat knocked her briefly backwards. It was breathing hard and bleeding from a gash in its arm. It seemed to know it was on the losing end of the battle. Quickly it reached into its cloak and pulled a handful of dark powder out. He flung it at Kat, who dodged alertly. The scaly thing murmured a sibilant syllable and the black powder gathered into a spinning funnel and lashed at Kat's face. She raised her hand but cried out as it struck her eyes with a flash of dull light. The funnel dissipated and the creature, making an odd keening sound that seemed like a laugh jumped forward, a long wicked knife in its hand. Kat heard him and danced away, turning her head blindly, her closed eyelids crisscrossed with bleeding scratches. Kat made a quick kick at him but missed. He lunged again and she managed to avoid it by jumping back. She moved toward him again but her feet hit something on the ground and she tripped. She tried to roll as she landed but was only half-successful and she was slow to regain her feet. The little thing chittered again in excitement as it managed to thrust its knife deep into the Slayer's belly. She hissed and grunted in pain but lashed out with the stake she still held. It screamed in pain as she felt the stake bite into flesh. She heard it thud as it hit the ground and kicked at it, feeling the solid feel of a body against her foot, clawed hands closed around her foot and fangs sank keep into her leg. She gave a small cry and tried to kick it off with no success. She thrust at it again with the stake but it kept avoiding her thrusts. After a moment the creature seemed to realize that its poison would have no more effect on her than its knife had. It let go and ran backwards with a limping gate she could barely hear. It began to speak again in that strange language. She tried to attack, but it avoided her sightless eyes.
A new sound came from behind her. The thud of flesh meeting flesh she'd heard the whole time as Buffy attacked the other creature, now it abruptly ended with a high pitched scream from the second demon. Kat heard her light step approaching from the demon's other side. It heard as well and stepped up the speed of its chant. Abruptly a different chant was heard. Two feminine voices chanting quickly and melodically in a language Kat would have recognized, had she taken the time to think about it. The two voices rose in pitch and then shouted out a final phrase and Kat felt a rush of air and heard a crack of lightning. The chanting stopped and another scream sounded. An aroma that smelled like roasted snake, something Kat had eaten more times than she cared to remember in her human days, filled the air and the house was still. She heard Buffy come to stand beside her and felt the other girl's hand land lightly on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Kat nodded. "I'll be alright. A vampire's constitution has its upsides. Those were some tough little lizards."
Buffy nodded in agreement, than blushed as she realized the other girl couldn't see her. "They didn't exactly roll over and beg to be killed. I imagine it would have been easier if you could see them though."
Kat smiled. "Probably. She turned her head toward the door where she'd heard the girls chanting. "Thank you."
Willow and Tara smiled in unison. "You're welcome." Willow abruptly remembered. "Oops,
more bad guys inside." She and Tara turned back into the house, Buffy running after and Kat
following, her steps slow and hands outstretched to find her way.
******************************************************************************
Spike's leap had been halted in midair as Drusilla turned and hurled him backwards with a surge of furious strength. She aimed again at Kat's back as the Slayer made her way to the door with Buffy. Her eyes narrowed and she began to pull the trigger. A scream of frustration split her suddenly fanged mouth as her arm was flung aside by a tall military man. He growled at her. "Bitch! You're not supposed to kill the Slayers or the vampire. Remember? If they die, we don't get paid!" Dru growled and her body coiled to spring. Fear lit the man's eyes and he hurriedly raised his small stun gun, knowing his larger gun would be useless against her. He raised it toward her when two hands closed around his head. They twisted hard and the man slumped to the ground, the life fading from his eyes.
Spike's hands flew to his head, his face tensing as he waited for the pain. It never came. After a minute his face spread into a grim smile. Spike smiled evilly at the corpse. "Sorry Mate. No one calls my Dru a bitch but me." He looked quickly about to see if anyone had seen. They hadn't.
Drusilla stared at him, her voice breathy and tremulous. "My Spike." She smiled and giggled, the effect hideous in her vampire form. "They turned off the 'lectric fence, and now the dogs can chase the cows once more." She giggled again. "Naughty lawyers."
He looked at her. "I've missed you baby."
Her face shifted back into its human appearance and her voice was that of a child. "I've missed you too. Paris didn't sparkle without you. The stars were always sad, and there was no-one to chide me when I dripped blood on my new dress."
"What happened to your slimy fungus demon?" He grinned. "The antlers get in the way too much?"
She smiled. "Miss Edith didn't approve of him, so she pushed him off of a building in London." She mimed his fall with her fingers. "I only had to help her a little bit." She wrapped her arms around him. "Can we be what we were again my Spike? All shiny and happy with dresses of silk and feasts of blood?"
He smiled. "Sure princess, whatever you say." He hesitated, seeing Angel glaring at him as he attempted to disarm an over-zealous soldier. "I love you Dru." He slid the stake from his sleeve and thrust into her back. Drusilla's happy smile turned to a scowl as her face shifted. She growled and shoved him away as his stake bounced off the odd material.
Her fierce face and yellow eyes stared at him in a fury tinged with hatred. "Liar!" She snarled. "All the voices in my head are crying and wailing now because of you. The prince cannot kill the princess, it's against all the laws of story land."
He shrugged. "Sorry luv."
She moved toward him then hesitated as she caught sight of Angel coming toward her from the
back of the room. With a soft little cry of anger she drew her cloak closed. She smiled. "I see
you playing in a pretty fire, all burning and pain and begging." She yanked the hood up. "The
Stars will watch and so will I pretty Spike. The lion cannot lay for long amidst the lambs. What
happens when he's hungry, and a little lamb cries and smells of sweetened meat?" She swept out
the door and quickly past where Buffy and Kat still battled the demons. She slid into the
passenger seat of a small car beside a black-clad human who drove her away with a squeal of
burning rubber..
******************************************************************************
Lindsey watched as chaos unfolded. He saw Spike go after Drusilla as she tried to kill the black-haired Slayer. He jumped out of the way as a stream of army men surged through the door. He watched as Buffy and Twilight sent several flying on their way out the door. Angel took on two as the three the Slayers had thrown slowly regained their feet. He crept around the corners of the room to the door.
Xander pushed Cordelia roughly behind him as sandy-haired soldier came at him holding a gun. He barely managed to fling himself at the soldier's legs as the man fired a quick series of bullets at the place where he'd just been standing. They went down in a tangle of bodies and Xander quickly yanked the gun away. He aimed it at the man's head and then hesitated, staring at the man, his face confused. The man stared back, his expression hateful. He reached quickly for a knife at his belt. Xander fired without hesitation. The soldier slumped to the floor, dead. Xander stood motionless, staring down at the man he'd just killed. A man. Not a vampire, not a demon, not something evil by nature. Just a man. He backed away, nearly tripping over the chair behind him. He didn't see the other soldier coming from his right. He didn't see anything except the corpse in front of him, and he didn't hear anything except the thousands of thoughts spinning around in his mind, his newly learned shielding forgotten. Dimly he heard his name being yelled from behind him, but he couldn't seem to focus on it. Suddenly his world turned upside down and he was shoved violently to the floor. He pushed himself up onto his hands and turned as the sound of a bullet roared into his abruptly wide open ears.
Cordelia stood there, her dark eyes wide, her legs splayed in a stance utterly lacking in grace and bordering on collapse. He realized who had pushed him out of the way, and why as she raised a hand to her shoulder. It came away covered in blood. She looked at him, fear in her eyes now. "Xander?" He turned from her to the her shooter and saw the soldier standing there, his gun raised to finish her off. He tried to climb to his feet, but he was too slow and she was too far away. Time slowed to a crawl as the gun fired.
From out of nowhere a figure shoved her roughly aside. Lindsey's back arched and his mouth
opened in a soundless cry as the bullets meant for Cordelia sped deeply into his chest and side
instead. Xander raised the gun he still held and fired, military skills he'd thought he'd long since
forgotten taking over. The bullet flew straight into the soldier's forehead, and he fell heavily to
the floor. Xander stood and looked down at the two who lay unconscious side by side. One
dying, and one in danger of doing so. The confusion in his expression faded and he turned away.
With cold deliberation he walked toward one of the three soldiers surrounding Angel. Without a
word of warning or a hint of hesitation. He fired his last two shots. Two fell silently to the
bloody carpeted floor. A small part of him observed that Giles would have a hell of a cleaning bill
coming. Angel glanced at him briefly before bounding forward and raising the small metal ax he
held and ramming the blunt end across the man's skull. He slumped to the floor unconscious.
Angel turned to where Drusilla and Spike still stood as Xander stared down at the unconscious
man. Idly, he wished he had another bullet in his gun. After a moment he realized what he'd been
thinking and his face turned pure white. Tears in his eyes, he fell to his knees and was violently
sick.
******************************************************************************
Giles grabbed for a weapon from his chest, Wesley a step behind him when he saw what the chest contained. Archaic weapons seemed useless against the thoroughly modern guns the soldiers sported, but they were far better than bare hands. Two soldiers stood in the doorway, guns leveled at Tara and Willow, who were hurriedly chanting a spell from their place in the corner. The two former Watchers rushed forward and drew the soldier's attention away from the girls. With effective use of the blunt weapons they each held, they each managed to disarm one of the soldiers. The army men turned and smiled almost identical dismissive smiles at the men who opposed them. Obviously the Watchers were not their idea of competent opponents. Unseen by either the Watchers or the soldiers they faced, Willow and Tara rushed to the doorway to help Kat and Buffy. Giles managed to quickly pummel the younger man in the face with the short club like thing he had dug out of his weapon's chest. He couldn't remember what it was supposed to do . . . some kind of focal point for a spell involving an earthquake he thought, but it seemed to be doing an effective job as a club. The soldier fell back in surprise and Giles followed him, sweeping his feet out from beneath him with a well placed kick and quickly crouching to strike him across the back of his head. The man lapsed into senselessness. Giles stood to help Wesley only to see the other Watcher finishing his own opponent off with a large leather bound book, his own weapon having been knocked out of his hands. Giles smiled at Wesley, both men panting slightly. Wesley smiled back. "Well, score two for the Watchers. I do hope Cordelia saw that. She INSISTS on acting as if I can't take care of myse-"
Both men turned to see Cordelia fall, Lindsey a moment behind her as the bullet sprayed into him.
Giles watches speechlessly as Xander shot the soldier. He saw the boy- the young man turn and
raise the gun to some of the remaining military men. He lurched forward to stop him, Wesley
already sprinting across the room to where Cordelia and Lindsey lay. He was too late. The men
fell and Xander dropped to his knees while Angel ran toward an already fleeing Drusilla. He saw
Xander fall to his knees, his shoulders lurching up and down as he gagged. Behind him Willow,
Tara and Buffy returned, a stumbling and blind Kat behind them, the gouges on her face already
beginning to heal. Buffy pushed her into a chair as Angel pulled several lengths of cord from
Giles weapon chest, giving Giles a quick strange glance, wondering why it was there in the first
place. He began to tie up the soldiers who were still alive as Wesley and Willow lifted the slowly
awakening Cordelia onto the sofa, Wesley pressing a dish towel he'd stolen from the kitchen
against her bleeding shoulder.
Giles walked to where Lindsey lay. He knelt and rolled the man carefully onto his back, checking for a pulse. He felt a weak throb at his wrist and looked up to Buffy and Xander, who had come to stand beside him, Xander looking ill used. Angel stood further back, hovering over Wesley and Cordelia with a concerned face. "He's not going to last for long, I'm afraid."
Xander nodded toward Cordelia. "He saved her life." His face showed overwhelming guilt. "After she got shot saving mine."
Buffy put a hand on his shoulder consolingly. Willow huddled with Tara against the wall, looking in horror around the corpse strewn room. Lindsey coughed suddenly, startling all of them. He opened his eyes and looked at them with a dull gaze. Giles pushed down gently at his chest when he began to struggle to sit up. "Don't move. You've been very seriously injured, you should just lie still until the paramedics arrive."
Lindsey took a ragged breath. "I won't last that long." Giles looked away, but didn't dispute the comment. "Help me sit up." The Watcher hesitated, than complied, propping the other man up against the wall. Lindsey squinted toward where Cordelia sat, obviously not able to see her very well. "Is she alright?"
Buffy nodded. "She's fine, thanks to you. But why did you help her?"
Lindsey laughed, the sound ending in a pain gasp when his chest heaved with his own laughs. "Damned if I know. Because they wanted her dead I guess." He stopped for a moment. "And because she always tried to help people." Buffy exchanged a quick mystified glance with Willow, who shrugged her shoulders in reply.
Xander looked quickly toward Buffy, than back to Lindsey. His voice was urgent. "Lindsey . . . tell Buffy what she has to know. What you were going to tell her before."
Lindsey was fading quickly back toward unconsciousness, the blood seeping from his chest was flowing more slowly now. He only had moments left. He turned weakly to Buffy. "The . . . ritual. I don't know why, but . . . they took, needed, the blood of one who loves a soldier."
She looked blank. "Loves a soldier."
"A warrior. For the other side." Lindsey coughed again and then his head slumped forward. Giles checked his pulse again, and shook his head. He carefully laid the man's body back on the floor and stood, searching his pockets for his car keys. The look he gave Buffy was sad. He seemed to know what Lindsey had been saying, though Buffy still did not.
"What . . . what did he mean? The blood of a warrior? They need the blood of a slayer?"
Xander shook his head, his face sad. "No Buffy. They needed the blood of one who LOVED the slayer. Someone who loved a warrior for the good side, to complete whatever it is they're doing."
Her face fell and her silver eyes filled with unshed tears. "Riley."
Xander nodded. "I'm sorry Buff."
She wiped her eyes and looked toward Giles, who was shuffling the keys he'd found between his fingers. He cleared his throat and looked away. "We have to get Cordelia to a hospital. We can't call an ambulance, there's a bit too much here for them to see. I'll drive her."
Buffy nodded, her face carefully blank, her eyes forcibly dry. "We'll get rid of the bodies and do . . . something with the ones that are still alive." Giles nodded and carefully lifted Cordelia into his arms. He walked to his car, Wesley following.
For a moment, the rest of them looked around again. Already they had lost people, and nearly
lost a friend. And they had yet to even try to stop them from whatever they were doing at the
Hellmouth tonight. Silently, each wondered whether any of them would survive tonight. As one
they swept into action, the humans pulling bodies toward the door and gathering, the vampires
roughly lifting the tied men and moving them into a corner and tying them more securely. Only
Kat still sat, her sightless eyes slowly healing, her tired head drooping for a moment onto the table
beside her as she slipped in and out of sleep.
Rough hands shook her none too gently awake. She sat up painfully, glaring at the offending figure through slitted eyes that still saw nothing but a vague blur. "Oww. Severely injured people do not generally appreciate being shaken awake."
Spike smiled, though she couldn't see. He held out a packet of blood. "Here."
She took it, her face mystified as she stared at it. "What's this?"
"It's blood. Drink it."
She pushed it hastily away. "No-no. I don't want it."
He pushed her hands away and refused to take it. "None of that. Don't worry- t's not human. It's just a bit of butcher's blood I left in Giles' fridge."
Her expression hardened. "I don't want it."
"Oh bloody hell!" He reached down and tore the packet away from her, biting it quickly open. He pushed it back into her hands, which had begun to tremble as the smell of blood hit the air from the newly open packet. "Don't be a cow. We both know you'll heal up nice and quick-like if you drink. I've seen you do it before. Don't go all vegetarian on me now."
She raised her hand with the obvious intent of flinging the open packet of blood at him when another hand fell on her shoulder. She stopped, lowering her hand. Buffy smiled faintly at Spike and spoke to her. "Go ahead Kat. We'll need you seeing in full technicolor tonight, alright? I'm sorry, but if you DO heal faster with it . . ." She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders helplessly.
Kat grimaced, but nodded in assent. She took a deep breath and raised the leaking packet to her lips. As soon as the liquid hit her throat she began to swallow rapidly, her face shifting into its vampire form. She drained the packet with a growling gulp and then flung the plastic away. Her injured eyes were tightly shut and she gripped the edges of the chair she sat on hard enough to splinter the wood. Slowly the soft growls faded and her face shifted back into its normal appearance. The people scattered around the room watched in surprised fascination as her wounds healed themselves in moments right before their eyes. Finally Kat opened her newly healed eyes and offered Spike and Buffy a shaky smile. She fingered the hole in her shirt where the demon's knife had pierced, feeling the still slightly tender spot where the knife had gone into her stomach.
Buffy stared. "I've never seen anyone heal that fast. Not slayers OR vampires."
Kat shrugged. "It's much slower when I don't drink."
"Still. It's like some . .. super-condensed form of Slayer-healing and vampire-healing."
Spike grinned. "Comes in handy now and again, right Kitten." She shot him a dirty look and he subsided, a smile still playing around his lips. She gave him an odd look. He seemed . . . different. More animated than he'd been since she saw him again for the first time yesterday. She looked away and dismissed the thought. It was just the after-effects of the battle most likely.
Kat turned to where Xander sat, his head in his hands, his back slumped into the sofa. She watched him sadly, Buffy followed her gaze and nodded. "He's been like that since we finished moving the bodies." She was silent a moment, her face thoughtful as she picked through her own memories. "It's hard . . . the first time you kill a man. It's different than killing a demon or vampire. It hits you different." Another long moment passed in silence before she spoke again. "Some people never get over it. They start down that path and, almost before they know what's happened, they've become the evil they once tried to fight."
Kat looked at her in understanding. "Faith?"
Buffy nodded. "He'll take it hard too."
Kat smiled faintly. "That's because he's a pure soul. I've lived a long time." Her smile widened. "Even if you don't count the times I was napping." She waited for a smile to cross Buffy's lips than continued. "And in all that time, I can't say I've met anyone more honest and genuine than him."
The younger slayer nodded. "I know. He was special even before he learned the Jedi mind trick. HE was the only one that didn't understand that."
"That's usually the way it is." Kat stood and walked across the room, sitting beside Xander silently. He didn't look up. She hesitated then put a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at her, his expression bleak. "What?"
"Are you . . . . alright?"
He laughed bitterly. "Oh I'm just peachy. I just fired bullets through four men's skulls, I'm ready to hit the town."
She lowered her hand, her voice soft when she spoke. "Xander, it couldn't be helped."
"Why not? Giles, Wesley, Angel; they just knocked their little plastic army men out. Not me, I had to spray-paint with their brains."
"They had other options. You did the best you could with the weapons you had. You had no other choice. You may have saved your friends' lives today."
He shook his head. "You know what the scary part is? I didn't CARE. I killed them, and I didn't care. After the first one, I was a little shook up, but then it was nothing. Boom, dead soldier-boy." He smiled a bit. "I didn't throw up because they were dead. I threw up because I was GLAD they were dead."
Kat sat forward, gripping his arm until he turned to look at her. "Xander, everyone has this inside them, the ability to destroy. You weren't glad they were dead, you were glad it was over. You were glad that you'd won. There's a difference." Her expression was deadly serious, her silver eyes glinting with determination. "Now you KNOW that you have this capability. It doesn't have to ruin your life. Just be aware of it . . . and be aware of your own desires." She lowered her voice. "Don't let this one thing rule you. This is a war, sometimes, people have to die alongside the monsters." She hesitated. "Besides, these were NOT good men. They came here to kill people, to kill YOU and Cordelia especially. And Spike heard them say that it was all just to get paid. Don't beat yourself up for too long Xander. Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, they're even human." She smiled. "And sometimes, monsters can have more good in them than the humans that run away at the sight of them."
Xander smiled a bit. "Yeah well, that last one is a rare occurrence. I haven't met many cuddly demons."
Her smiled widened. "There are a few. I'll introduce you someday."
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, that'll be great. Don't call me, I'll call you."
She laughed and climbed to her feet again. She reached down and ruffled his hair in an oddly
affectionate gesture. She turned to see Willow watching her, her expression vaguely suspicious.
Kat smiled at her and idly fingered the large hole in her shirt again. "Anyone got a clean shirt that
doesn't come with air conditioning?"
******************************************************************************
Cordelia lay on the bed, the fingers of her right hand idly tracing the tape surrounding the IV in her left. She glared furiously at the young doctor who stood in front of her, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other. "I don't care what Mr. 'I got my doctorate at a mail order correspondence course' says Wesley, I am NOT staying here overnight."
The doctor, flushed with embarrassment and resentment. "Miss Chase, you've had a severe trauma, it's hospital policy to keep you at LEAST overnight under such circumstances. The police will want to discuss things with you, I'm afraid I simply can't let you leave right no-"
"What is this, Alcatraz? I'm sorry WARDEN, but you can't keep me here. I'm a free woman and I want out NOW."
The doctor sighed in defeat. "Fine. You're right, I can't force you to stay. But if you I hope you're aware that it's against medical advice, and you are greater risk for complications and diff-"
"Doctor Michaelis, we understand. We'll keep a close watch on Ms. Chase, I assure you. If she seems worse in ANY way, we'll bring her straight back." Wesley spoke soothingly, trying to calm both the doctor and Cordelia.
Cordelia smiled triumphantly. "See? Now take this IV out of my hand and give me back my clothes."
The doctor stepped forward and quickly removed the IV, covering the wound it left with cotton and medical tape. Cordelia winced and rubbed at the sore spot while Giles reached under the bed for her bag of clothes. He frowned when he pulled her shredded shirt out of the bag. "Cordelia, they seem to have cut these off of you. I don't think they're wearable."
She cursed faintly. "That blouse was ONE OF A KIND!" She yanked the material away and looked for herself. She sighed in resignation. "Okay, fine. Would you please go down to the gift shop? I know they have shorts and tee shirts there. Would you just get me something to wear home please?" Both men jumped at once, but Giles beat Wesley out the door and headed off down the hall.
Dr. Michaelis stepped away from the bed, making notations on his chart and sending frequent disapproving glances toward Wesley and Cordelia.
Cordelia ignored him. She opened her mouth to speak, but snapped it shut again. Wesley watched in horror as her hands flew to her head and she fell back in a shaking mass on the bed, her eyes squinted shut as she panted in pain. The doctor rushed back to the bed. "She's seizing!" He screamed into the hallway for a nurse. "Nurse, bring me a-"
Wesley lunged forward and pushed away the syringe the doctor held. "N-no!" She's not seizing." He leaned over her protectively as the doctor stared at him in open-mouthed shock. "It's a . . . . condition. A mental condition. She's undergoing therapy for it. When stressed she . . . . sees things. Things that aren't there. She'll be fine in a moment." The doctor stared at him doubtfully, a second away from shoving Wesley aside and treating his patient despite the Watcher's objections when Cordelia's tensed body relaxed and her eyes opened.
Dr. Michaelis surged forward. "Are you alright?"
Cordelia gave him a watery smile. "I'm fine. Did you see all the dancing seahorses? So pretty . . . ." The look she gave him was one of studied innocence.
He studied her doubtfully. "Umm . . . no. You're sure you're fine."
Her dreamy smile widened. "Uh-huh. Take me home now Wesley, the seahorses say to go home."
Wesley nodded and patted her head. "Yes Cordelia. We'll go home now. We'll go home and see Dr. ah- Summers and we'll feel much better." Cordelia nodded and laughed happily.
Dr. Michaelis still looked highly suspicious. "I could have her see a therapist from the hospital, we have some highly accredited individuals working he-"
"NO!" Cordelia and Wesley spoke in unison, startling one another. Wesley cleared his throat and shot Cordelia a quelling look. "No thank you, Dr. Summers is fully capable of dealing with Cordelia's delusions. We'll be on our way as soon as Cordelia's ah-uncle returns with her clothes. We've already filled out the paperwork and signed the forms. You can send the police to our home address if they need to speak with us. Thank you doctor."
Dr. Michaelis left without responding, shaking his head in befuddlement. Giles returned a moment later, holding a pink tee shirt and bright green shorts. Cordelia gazed at the clothes in disgust. "First the getting shot, then the head-breaking vision, then WESLEY decides to tell the doctor I'm INSANE and now neon colored clothes. Its just been a HELL of a day." She stood shakily and yanked the clothes away from Giles, walking slowly to the bathroom, the flimsy hospital gown held firmly shut with her right hand.
Giles looked at Wesley in obvious confusion. "Insane? Why did you tell the doctor she was insane?"
Wesley shook his head. "She had a vision! He thought she was having a seizure, nearly shot her up with God knows what to combat the seizure she DIDN'T have. What was I supposed to say?"
Cordelia's voice floated muffled through the bathroom door. "You couldn't have said I was epileptic, or that I was meditating or something. No, YOU went right to 'reject from the looney bin!'"
"You were jerking around like a fish on a hook, I hardly think he would have believed you were meditating on the meaning of life. Insane was the first logical explanation I could think of." At Giles raised eyebrows he amended that. "Well, somewhat logical in any case."
Cordelia emerged from the bathroom, looking miserable in her neon outfit. "Giles, you couldn't have found something a little brighter? I'm afraid a few people might NOT notice how awful I look on my way out the door."
He smiled. "I'm sorry Cordelia, they had a limited selection at the gift shop. I assumed the pink was better than traffic-cone orange."
She looked horrified. "Yes, pink a big step up from orange."
Wesley was grinning at her in obvious enjoyment. His smile faded as he remembered what had caused the lie in the first place. "Cordelia . . . your vision? What did you see?"
She looked at him with wide haunted eyes. "Not now. When we get back. I don't want to repeat myself fifty times."
They filed out of the room and walked down to the elevator, Cordelia's outlandish outfit drawing more than a few amused eyes. They pressed the button for the elevator and Wesley caught sight of Cordelia's doctor, approaching with a scowl, a wheelchair, and a determined expression. He hurried them into the elevator to avoid the doctor, Cordelia grinning in triumph because she'd managed to walk out of the hospital, despite the strict wheelchair exit only policy. As the doors closed behind them, Giles turned to Cordelia, concern etching his face. "Was it . . . . bad?"
She grimaced. "Oh baby yeah."
"And it's about the situation we currently face." She nodded mutely and the three fell back into
silence as the doors opened and more people got onto the elevator.
******************************************************************************
Angel hung up his cell phone with a soft click. "They're on their way back, against the doctor's advice. Cordelia's doing fine though. She won't lose any use of the arm or shoulder. She lost a lot of blood though, had to have a transfusion." He glanced from person to person, each of whom was absorbed in one of the books they'd dug back out of Giles' luggage, vainly searching for information on the Balance. "She had a vision."
Everyone waited for him to continue. When he didn't, Willow sighed heavily. "What about?"
Angel shrugged. "She hasn't told anyone yet, says she's waiting until we're all together."
Willow nodded and returned to her book, flipping pages faster as she skimmed for information. Tara tapped her on the shoulder and showed her a passage from the book she held. Willow read it quickly, whispering to Tara, apparently translating something. Both girls frowned in frustration after reading it and resumed their research. Angel stared sightlessly down at his own book, knowing reading it was useless. He'd never been much good at finding information. That was Wesley's job or Giles' job, or even Cordelia's job. He felt helpless, useless, clueless, and restless. None of which was helping him focus on the book he held. His eyes kept straying to Buffy and Katerina, who sat side by side, heads bent as they read, occasionally speaking or showing one another a page. Like friends.
Rationally, he could understand it. Two slayers, alike in so many ways, different in so many others, but sharing a common legacy, heritage, and burden. Buffy hadn't gotten along all that well with Faith, or even Kendra, when they first met, but eventually the weight they all shared on their slender shoulders had made them friends. Kendra had died, and Faith had betrayed that trust. Kat was more like Buffy than either of them. It was natural for Buffy and her to fall in together. But the other part of him, the possessive part that loved both women in different ways, couldn't grasp it. What Kat had done had changed everything. Every time he looked at her, he thought of all she'd done for him, and all she'd meant to him. He thought of how difficult her life had been and how much he'd wanted her to have a chance to live a life with SOME semblance of happiness and normalcy. And then he'd look at Buffy and he'd want to tear Kat into little pieces.
Buffy, his shining, strong, utterly HUMAN Buffy seemed a stranger to him now. Always, in the back of his mind, thoughts he never dared acknowledge sat. Thoughts of him earning his humanity, and going back to claim Buffy, where she'd been patiently awaiting him with open arms. Thoughts of a normal life, where they were just two people, not the vampire with a soul and his slayer love. Kat had called him a martyr, searching for a cause. And she was right. He'd lived his whole human life searching for something great to offer his life to. He'd thought he'd found it the night Darla had changed him. He was wrong. He'd lived for a hundred and fifty years as a soul-less monster instead. And much as he wanted what the Powers offered him - and he wanted it desperately- he still believed that he didn't deserve it. At the depths of his heart and his precariously seated soul, he believed he was unworthy of redemption. And in this moment, he admitted to himself that he'd never had any intention of living that longed for normal life. He WANTED to live that life, but he needed to suffer, because he had spent over a century earning his purgatory.
But he'd developed his careful little deception, with The Powers' promise in its forefront, giving him . . . and those who toiled beside him something to hope for. He never faced the side of himself that believed he wasn't worthy. Often in his inner dialogues, the demon in him- the part he kept separate and denied being associated with, the section of his being he always referred to as Angelus- flung the truth of his own beliefs in his face. Forcing him to see the futility of his fight against the darkness, trying to tempt him to give in. He hadn't. He didn't think he ever would, not completely. But he needed the lie, the deception, the distraction, the false hope. He needed it to keep going. And she'd taken that from him. She'd taken the purity from his goals, and she'd shoved his nose in his own mess with brutal honesty. He hated her for that. And, if possible, he hated himself for being too shallow and weak to forgive the woman who'd been his first true friend.
He cursed and threw the book aside, jumping restlessly to his feet and prowling around the room, his eyes always going back to the two women who consumed his thoughts. He spun around to retrace the circuit he'd made of the room and found himself looking directly into Spike's brown eyes and obvious amusement. He growled faintly, obviously not in the mood to deal with Spike. The other vampire didn't speak- he just stared. After a moment, Spike leaned forward, his voice quiet, his tone mocking. "You should tell her you're sorry. You'll feel better."
Angel reached forward and grabbed Spike by the collar of his leather jackets, lifting him off his feet. Spike barely blinked. Angel felt his face on the verge of shifting, and felt the eyes of the rest of the room boring into his back. He released Spike and gathered himself. He leaned closer to Spike's smirking face and spoke, his voice low and feral. "Tell me William, does your good friend Katerina know where you got this?" He fingered the black jacket he wore. "She knows about the first slayer, but what about the second? Do you think she'd be happy if she knew?" His lips curled into a cruel smile. "I think not."
Spike's smile died away and an expression of concern crossed his face. He said nothing, but his eyes darkened.
Kat's voice sounded from behind both of them, startling Angel, whose back had been to her, and Spike, who'd never noticed her coming. "You're both fools. Of course I know."
Spike gaped. "Kitten . . . how . . . why?"
She smiled with an utter lack of mirth. "I read Spike. And I listen. I know of William the Bloody, who's massacred two slayers."
Spike cleared his throat. "Then, ah, why didn't you say anything? Take me to task, smack me around? Something?"
She smiled again, the expression sad this time. "Because it was over and done with, and you've already changed from the vampire I knew then, who was capable of that. Because I wasn't there to stop you, and it was in your nature." She met Angel's eyes. "And because I'd already forgiven you." She turned and walked back to the table.
Buffy watched her approach, her eyes going from her to the two stunned men she'd left standing behind her. She raised her eyebrows and smiled at the two of them before going back to her book, a part of her wondering when she'd stopped thinking of Spike as a vampire and had begun to think of him as a man, as she always had done with Angel. Xander glanced up from the book he held, scowling unseen at Buffy's back.
Both stood there a moment, wondering what they should say. The door swinging open to reveal Wesley, Cordelia beside him sporting a well padded and bandaged shoulder and an appallingly bright outfit in god-awful shades of flamingo pink and palm tree green.
Angel swept forward to fuss over her, helping her into a chair and speaking in a comical whisper. She looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Angel . . . what are you doing?"
He stepped back, his expression funny in its confusion. "Being comforting?"
She shook her head. "Well stop it. You're scaring the children." She pointed to Wesley and Giles, who scowled back at her. The rest of them laughed and the tension of a few moments ago faded. Buffy looked at Cordelia questioningly. The other girl winked back at her. Buffy smiled. Cordelia had changed. A few years ago she wouldn't have noticed the tense atmosphere of the room, much less managed to dissipate it.
Wesley rolled his eyes and settled onto a chair. "Alright Cordelia, now that everyone knows you're alright, and have seen your STUNNING ensemble, why don't we discuss your vision."
Cordelia made a face at him. "I'm still not speaking to you. I'm not capable of it, I'm certifiable, remember? I have to go climb up on the roof and try to fly off. Then go running through the neighborhood naked, screaming that leprechauns are chasing me."
Wesley grinned. "Fine, just let me get the video camera." She stuck her tongue out at him, trying to bite back a giggle.
"Children, can we focus here please?" Everyone turned to Buffy in surprise. "Well, Giles was just standing there, someone had to be a grown up."
"And somehow, that doesn't strike me as being you." Xander grinned to show he was kidding.
Buffy glared. "Like you're a more likely candidate."
He raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I just work here. No grown up leading the party for me. I'll just follow blindly, thank you." Buffy concentrated and thought something surprisingly nasty at him. He grinned and flushed in surprise. "Buffster, been hanging around a sailor's bar lately? Nice use of the naughty side of the language."
She smiled faintly. "You'd be surprised how many vampires have potty mouths."
He nodded sagely. "The Undead have the WORST manners."
"Okay, enough with the comic relief already. Vision girl speaking now. The rest of you shut up. She pointed at Xander. "That includes you. No thought swiping. My mind has a large do not enter sign." She hesitated as everyone stared at her. "This isn't good you guys."
Giles snorted, his nose in the sheaf of notes Willow had handed him. "Really? And our messages and prophecies from the higher powers are usually so bright and chipper."
Cordelia's picked an eraser up off the table behind her and threw it at the former Watcher. He grunted in surprise and glanced around to see where the small missile had come from. "As I was saying, this isn't good." She took a deep breath. "They showed me what Wolfram & Hart is trying to do, and what will happen if they succeed. There's a ritual, performed on the Hellmouth. A tall man with glasses and dark hair is chanting. There's this huge silver . . . . thing. I can't see it very well. He throws a vial of something at it. When he throws it, I saw . . . ." She looked anywhere but at Buffy. "I saw Riley, just this quick flash of him laying somewhere, not moving. I think it was a vial of his blood. I'm sorry, I think he's dead Buffy." She looked toward Buffy finally, and seemed faintly surprised by the other girl's lack of surprise.
Buffy blinked back tears. "I k-know Cordelia. Lindsey told us while you were unconscious." Cordelia suddenly paled. "Lindsey! Is he . . .?"
Xander put a hand on the Seer's shoulder. "He's dead Cordy."
She trembled. "He saved my life. He was awful and terrible and did evil bad things . . . but he died to save me. I can't believe I forgot about him for this long. Why would he do something like that?" No one answered. They knew there was nothing to say. They didn't understand Lindsey's actions anymore than she did. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. There was no time for mourning or wondering why. She knew that. She continued. "He threw some other things on there, I couldn't tell what. And the silver thing . . . shifted. It changed. There was this blast of energy and I saw us, standing beside the silver thing. The tall man was incinerated by the blast, and we were all thrown backwards. A voice spoke, but I couldn't understand what it said. It was . . .inhuman. And then Buffy and Kat stood and looked at us . . . and it wasn't them. They were vampires. REAL vampires. Angel and Spike tried to stop them. Spike said something to Kat and she laughed, and he tried to stake her." Her voice lowered. "She staked him instead. She took his coat."
She looked to where Angel stood, an expression of shock on his face. "And Buffy . . . she kissed you, and hugged you and spoke to you. And you cried." Her voice was incredibly sad. "And you staked yourself. And Kat ate Xander, and I just lay there, watching. Not caring. Willow and Tara tried to stop them . . ." She swallowed hard. They all died. Except me. Because I was still their link to the Powers. Only now, I was working for a different team." Her voice broke. "I saw myself, seeing these horrible things coming- and HELPING them happen. WANTING them to happen. Then I saw Faith, in prison, just turn and kill some girl. No effort, no reason, just destruction. And then I saw Kat and Buffy do the same thing. Random death and killing. And then I saw me, standing behind them. Watching. Laughing." Tears slid down her cheeks. "We all died . . . even those of us who were still alive."
The room was silence. Pale faces and teary eyes. Hopelessness hung around them and leaked into their pores. Kat looked horrified as she heard her worst fear outlined before her. She couldn't speak, couldn't move. It was Buffy who spoke. The rational voice in the madness. "Cordelia . . . did they show you how to stop it."
The girl shook her head. "No. They just showed us losing."
Giles banged his fist against the counter. "The Balance!"
Buffy looked up at him. "What?"
He prowled over to his bookcase scanning titles, though he knew well he wouldn't find the half-remembered text among his own books. "I read it once, in passing. In the Council's library." He pressed a hand to his temple, as if forcing the knowledge out. "The Balance is . . the force of things. The fence it's all balanced on, figuratively speaking. In simple terms, which is the only way the Council's library outlined it. I suspect the author knew even less about the truth of it than he pretended to. In its simplest form, there is evil on one side, and good on the other. That's all he knew."
Kat spoke, her voice a hoarse imitation of its usual tones. Spike watched her with concern, while Angel tried not to. "Whatever they're going to do, this ritual. It's going to shift the balance. Which means-"
"That the soldiers go and fight for the other side." Buffy finished.
Wesley spoke hesitantly. "The slayers are the warriors for the side of good. Born with the urge to destroy evil and protect the innocent. If that is shifted."
"Than we would be hell's best soul-less mercenaries." Buffy's voice was grim. She traded a glance with Kat."
Giles nodded. "That must be it. Imagine a world where slayers were born to destroy. Now imagine that Wolfram & Hart managed to create a new way to raise multiple slayers. It would be-"
"Hell on Earth. With the slayers as the tour guides and chief administrators." Xander stared at Kat. Her thoughts were rattling in his brain, and the simple fact that he COULD hear them, above many of the others even, was telling of how much this had rattled her. "We'll stop them. It will be okay." He directed the last toward Kat, his voice comforting. "Cordelia, when is the ritual? Midnight?"
She shook her head. "I don't know . . . but I think sunset." As one the group looked outside at the still sunlit sky, and then toward the clock, whose hands pointed at 4:00.
Xander rubbed his hands together nervously. "Just enough time to gather every weapon everyone has EVER owned."
Buffy looked at him, then she looked slowly around the room at each of them in turn. "You're not going. Any of you." An outcry of protest arose. She ignored it. "You heard what happens if this succeeds. If we don't come back, you know we'll have failed. If we DO come back, you can be ready with weapons if we try to kill you. You'll stay here. All of you."
"No." Xander's eyes clashed with Buffy's. For the first time, he stared into her silver gaze and didn't flinch away. "You don't own us Buffy. We know what we're here for. We're going. You can't stop us."
Her voice was low and menacing. "Can't I?"
He shook his head. "No. Not all of us." He looked at Kat. "And neither can you. No more putting the house to sleep. No more games. We've all known what fighting this war could mean for a long time now. We'll take our chances, and we'll stand with you. And if we have to, we'll die with you too." His lips curled into an irony tinged smile. "Whether you like it or not."
The others stood behind him, nodding in agreement. Buffy turned to Angel, and sighed in defeat. She knew that face. She knew all their faces. She knew their hearts and their courage. She knew they wouldn't stay behind. Her eyes traveled to the bloodstain on the wall where Cordelia and Lindsey had fallen, and a terrible aching fear settled on her. They would follow, and they would die. And there was nothing she could do except try to prevent it all. She met Kat's searching gaze, and a thought passed unsaid between them. Each looked away, knowing the other was wishing the same thing. That they'd been born anyone, anything but a Slayer. She looked again at the clock. "One hour. And then we go back to high school."
They rushed out the door, gathering weapons, components, crosses, anything that could offer protection. Both Kat and Buffy realized that no one left the room unattended, and that they were always watched. They were taking no chances, the Slayers would not be allowed to sneak off and face the lion's den alone. Buffy sank deeper into her chair and laid her head in her arms, trying to ward off the despair she felt clogging her mind.
Kat touched her softly on the arm. "Buffy . . . . they wouldn't warn us if there wasn't a chance we could stop it."
Buffy laughed without joy. "Yeah, but what are the chances of us getting all of them out of this alive? Even if we succeed, we both know we're bound to lose something." She looked at the people bustling about the small house. "Or we could lose everything."
Kat looked about. "I've nothing left to lose. But I won't let you lose anything you love. And I won't lose you. I swear that much."
Buffy stared at her. "How can you guarantee that?"
Kat smiled. "Who's going to take me to task if I'm wrong?"
Buffy was silent a moment, and then she laughed. The two smiled faintly at one another and Buffy squeezed Kat's shoulder in a gesture of affection and kinship. The despair lifted. They would do the only thing they could. They would fight.
Buffy glanced furtively around, than leaned close to Kat, her voice a near whisper as she spoke. "In Cordelia's vision. . . . Angel and Spike tried to stop us."
Kat nodded. "I know."
"Why wouldn't Angel have been changed to the other side like we are?"
Kat shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps because he wasn't born into his duties. He took them onto himself."
Buffy's eyes traveled toward where Spike leaned insolently against the wall, saying something to Giles that was obviously irritating the older man. "Why would Spike stake you? Why would he care that you'd changed?"
"I asked him to."
Buffy's eyes snapped back to the dark haired slayer's face. "What? Why?"
"An insurance policy. In case things don't work out and I become something I don't want to be." Kat was quiet, her eyes too traveling to the platinum-headed vampire.
Buffy was silent for a moment as well, then shook her head. "Why wouldn't he go back to being evil? Even if he still couldn't kill things because of his chip, the Spike I first met would have enjoyed watching us do his killing for him, regardless of whatever promise he had made." She seemed to already know and accept the answer, she just wanted to know the reason for it, and wanted Kat to affirm that it was permanent.
Kat did neither. She simply smiled. "The Spike you first me is not the same man who stands here now. He's not the Spike I knew anymore either. He's someone very similar, but very different to the vampire I spent a year dancing around Europe with." She met Spike's brown eyes and smiled back at him when he gave her his crooked grin. "Someone better I think."
Buffy settled back into her chair, her face set in a thoughtful frown. Kat looked at her from the
corner of her eye and smiled again.
">
"They've posted sentries around the school." Xander wrinkled his nose. "Large, scaly, ugly, DRIPPY sentries that smell like Willow's cat's litter box." Willow elbowed him. He grunted in response.
"How many?" Buffy's voice was terse.
"At least eight. Probably more where we can't see."
She cursed. "Too many to kill without making a noise. There's probably LOTS more lurking around. If we go after those, the noise will bring the rest running."
Xander checked for the sixth time on the weapons in his arsenal, an impressive array of guns secreted about his person with additional ammo and a few knives hidden away. "Too bad we don't have an invisibility cloak." He looked up to see seven people staring at him in confusion. "What, am I the ONLY one who's read the Harry Potter books? Come ON people! Where have you BEEN? Are you capable of reading a book that's less than a thousand years old?"
Kat smiled. "I've read them. The third one's my favorite."
Xander grinned. "Mine too. Let me guess, you're tutor made you read them?" Her smiled faded and her face turned sad. She nodded in answer.
Willow rolled her eyes. "Okay, well we don't have an invisibility thingy, but we have something better. Everyone hold hands." They did so quickly as Willow and Tara pulled a small packet of crushed herbs from the pack Willow had looped over her shoulder. Willow sifted some of the mixture onto each of their heads. They joined hands with each other and with Xander and Angel, completing the circle. Tara spoke, her voice held no trace of its occasional stutter as she cast the spell. "Athene, patron of justice. Aid your children in their cause. Cloak us from the eyes of the unworthy. Shelter us in your wisdom until the time to reveal and attack is nigh." A soft glow of golden light surrounded the group. They looked uncertainly at one another.
"I can still see everyone." Buffy said.
Tara nodded. "Tha-that's the beauty of this spell. Anyone you're joined with when the spell is cast you can still see. No-no one else can see us."
Willow grinned. "And equally important, no THING else can see us!"
Giles frowned. "How do we know that for certain?"
Xander dropped Tara and Buffy's hands. "Like this." He walked around the corner and into full sight of the sentry who stood at the edge of the destroyed buildings. He picked a small piece of debris off of the ground and flung it at the demon. The creature grunted and spun around, glaring about suspiciously. After a moment it turned back with a dull shrug, resuming its post. Xander walked back, grinning. "Guess it worked."
Buffy was fuming. "Of all the STUPID, dangerous, INFANTILE things to do! What if it hadn't worked, huh? The whole place-"
"Buffy!" She stopped and turned to Angel, raising her eyebrows and looking faintly ashamed. "Time is not on our side."
She nodded. "Let's go." Walking as silently as they could, the group began making their way
through the ruined campus to the heart of the school, and the Hellmouth that dwelled within it.
******************************************************************************
"Dear Lord." Giles' hushed whisper was still heard clearly by all of them. Silently, they echoed the statement.
They stood at the edge of what had once been the library, and was currently a massive crater covered with painted symbols. Within the center of the room was a huge glowing sphere of sickly green light. Xander leaned into the center of the group. "Looks like they've been doing some renovating."
Buffy nodded in assent. This place had looked nothing like this the last time she'd been here. Her eyes went to the man who knelt in the far right of the green sphere. His face was pale and he was sweating and shouting words he read from the book in front of him. She heard Giles hiss in recognition. This must be the renegade Watcher. Without thinking, she started forward. A hand on her arm stopped her. She turned to see Kat holding her, staring with recognition at the sphere. The Slayer turned to Tara and Willow. "Do you have any sulphur with you?" The girl's nodded and hastily drew a small packet out of Willow's pack. Kat sifted some into her palm and handed the bag back. She raised the powder to her lips and blew on it, murmuring some unknown syllable. She threw the powder into the circle. It sizzled as it passed through the green light and landed on the other side, glowing a bright cherry red. After a moment the color faded and the powder was indistinguishable from the rest of the floor. Kat turned to the rest. "These are the kind of spells I was trained for more than anything else. Shielding spells, detection spells, protection spells. This is a kind of shield popular with vampires. Nothing living can pass through without being burned to cinders."
Xander looked angry. "So we can't get in there?"
Kat shook her head. "You can't. Buffy, Angel, Spike, and I can." She frowned. "I wish you could. I suspect it will be safer for you within the circle than outside, once the alarm is sounded and we are revealed. The guards will come and you will be here, without us." She looked to Spike and Angel. "Perhaps you two could stay and help them?" Spike's look said there was no way in hell that was happening, Angel looked torn between helping the Slayers and protecting the others.
Giles took the decision away from them. "What happens out here is immaterial. What is going on in there MUST be stopped. All the force we are capable of sending must go in there."
Buffy protested. "It's only one man!"
Kat shook her head. "Look closer." She pointed.
Buffy looked and blinked. Pale, ghostly figures stood at the edges of the circle, barely discernible through the green glow. Wraith like with skeletal faces, they were like nothing she'd ever seen before. There were nine of them in all, arrayed around the circumference of the circle. "What are they?"
"Assassins." Kat pulled her knife out and demanded a three more. They handed them over wordlessly, one from Giles and two from Xander. "Demons call them The Unspoken. To speak their name is to call them to you. No human or vampire has ever heard their true name. They can only be summoned by a pure demon, and are the elite killers of a dimension not far from our own. If someone summons them whom they deem unworthy, they kill him in various nasty ways and condemn his soul into their keeping. There are always nine of them. They are invulnerable to steel, wood, fire, sun- nothing can harm them except silver. Like a werewolf. They can be competent fighters, but usually kill by sucking a demon's life force. They can't do that to humans or vampires." She spun Willow around without asking and dug quickly through her pack, removing a small vial of what looked like shredded flowers. Willow looked faintly offended, but said nothing. Kat rubbed a handful of the stuff along each blade and whispered something else no one but her understood. The blades glowed one by one a dull violet and then glinted silver.
Tara and Willow looked envious. "Yo-you've got to teach us that!" Tara glanced away when Kat gave her a confused look.
Realizing what she was talking about, Kat smiled. "If we all come through this, it's a promise." She handed one of the knives to each of the four.
Buffy took hers. "Alright. We're going to be mobbed by those things once we get in there. ONE of us has to get to the Watcher and stop the ritual. It doesn't matter which one, just stop him however you can. If you have to kill him, kill him." She looked toward Spike. "You keep the demons busy since you can't attack the human anyway." Spike nodded, an odd look on his face. Buffy paid no attention, but Kat noticed. Xander glanced sharply at the blonde vampire, his eyes widening. He said nothing though. Buffy took a deep breath and glanced around. "Are we ready?" They all nodded. "Will, when will this spell fade?"
The redhead's face was pale with fright, but her voice was steady. "As soon as you move forward to attack. Probably as soon as you pass through the circle."
Buffy nodded. "Let's go." She looked to her friends. "Just . . . . be careful guys." She said nothing else, just stepped forward and waited for the others to step beside her.
They stepped forward, faces grim. A faint smile touched Spike's face. He glanced at Kat and raised his eyebrows. "Once more into the breach dear friends?"
She smiled back and shook her head. "'We happy few, we band of brothers.'" She chuckled as both Buffy and Angel looked at them in confusion. "Sorry. Bad time for inside jokes and Shakespeare quotes."
Buffy smiled finally. "'For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.'" Spike and Kat looked at her in surprised pleasure, Angel just in surprise. She shook her head. "What? I read too!"
Angel shrugged. "I never liked the bard much. How about a touch of Byron? 'They never fail who die in a great cause.'"
Buffy made a face. "Yours was depressing."
Angel smiled and shrugged again. "And yours was all sunshine and cheerfulness?"
Buffy grinned. "Good point." The four shared a final smile and then stepped as one through the
sphere, feeling their invisibility fade as they did so. No one said goodbye. It was left unsaid.
Those they had to leave behind watched and prayed to every god they could think of, and a few
they might have made up.
______________________________________________________________________________
They moved impossibly fast. Thin, pale arms stretched nearly as long as their tall bodies and grasped from every direction. They held no weapons, save the long hooked claws and vicious fangs. She'd found out the hard way about the hypnotic eyes, nearly falling to one while another held her spellbound with a gaze. It seemed impossible that there were only nine. They moved so quickly, they seemed limitless. The chanting of the Watcher was barely distinguishable over the high pitched wail the creatures made as they fought, ghastly mouths stretched in smiles and forked tongues rolling over the sounds of their constant noise. It grated along her nerves, making her edgy, careless. She gasped as a razor sharp claw grazed her side, nicking her. She ignored the wound and the creature who'd caused it, spinning instead to attack the two behind her. Her silver knife caught one in the throat, half severing its neck. It gave a gurgling moan and then collapsed. She cursed as a splatter of blood hit her hand and sizzled. She lashed out with the injured hand, wiping the acidic substance on the arm of another of the creatures. The demon howled in pain. Buffy tried to yell over the noise. "They bleed acid!" Only Spike, who fought nearest her, gave any sign of hearing. He lashed out with his own knife and caught one of the demons in the stomach. It howled as the other one had and lashed out with a claw, leaving deep gouges in the vampire's chest.
Buffy bounded after another of the demons that was bearing down on Angel, who already faced two, Kat having taken on one of the two that Buffy had faced. She fought furiously, panting when finally she managed to kill another of the creatures. She took a quick inventory and realized that only four of the things remained. Kat held two at bay while Spike and Angel fought side by side against the other two. She turned to where the Watcher now stood, his hands uplifted, his voice high and painfully nasal, the strange words coming faster than she would have thought possible. She sprinted across the circle at him, her hands outstretched when something pushed painfully into her chest. She flew briefly backwards, landing with a bone-jarring crash. She looked down at her chest. Her shirt was blackened and the skin beneath it felt burned. She leapt to her feet, moving more carefully toward the Watcher, looking for some kind of invisible barrier. She found none.
Instead she flew again, crying out as something grabbed her by the shoulder and hurled her away, burning her skin nearly to the bone as it did. She landed nearly at the edge of the circle, pain racing through her in waves. She held desperately to her consciousness, feeling blackness threatening the edge of her vision. She pushed it away and stood on wobbly legs, looking around for the assailant she couldn't see.
Another of the nine demons had fallen, and Angel moved toward her as she flew for the second time. His eyes widened when he saw her thrown, seeing no trace of what had thrown her. He heard a howling scream and saw one of the creatures Kat had been fighting fall. The Slayer was bleeding in at least two places and the pink shirt she'd borrowed from Willow was shredded down the back. But she moved as quickly as ever as she advanced on the demon. Angel sent another look toward Buffy and made a decision. He ran to where Kat was and attacked the demon opposite her. "Go help Buffy!" Kat didn't wait for conformation, she sprinted to where the other Slayer stood.
She didn't make it. She hit an invisible wall of force and felt hands she couldn't see close around her neck, lifting her roughly off the ground. She screamed as the flesh on her throat began to burn. She lashed out her legs as best she could. She felt her feet connect with something and heard a gasp. She was dropped and fell heavily to the floor, rolling quickly away and toward Buffy. The two Slayers stood side by side, trying to hear the invisible menace approaching over the wailing of the final demon and the nasal chanting of the Watcher. Kat leaned close to Buffy. "The assassins were a cover for this. To hide its noise with their hunting wails."
Buffy nodded, tilting her head as she tried to hear. "It can't be two places at once. We'll
separate- go from opposite sides. Whichever one of us it doesn't stop has to stop the Watcher
from finishing the ritual." Kat nodded and they dashed away, Buffy to the right and Kat to the
left.
******************************************************************************
"Why isn't anything coming? They should know that Buffy and the rest are inside by now, right?"
Giles didn't take his eyes from the battle raging within the sphere. "I don't know Willow. Maybe they have instructions not to come down here, so they don't disturb the ritual. The sphere seems to hold sound, maybe they're not aware we're here yet."
Willow winced as a wraith-like demon tore a strip from Buffy's side. "It doesn't make sense."
Xander stopped his pacing along the sphere's barrier for a moment to shoot Willow a glance of warning. "Just be grateful and don't wish for anything to come."
Wesley glanced toward Giles. "I've heard of The Unspoken. They're not known to be great fighters, though they fight well. They're more famous as demon assassins because they can suck a demon's life force. Why would they choose them to stand guard? Wouldn't a warrior type demon be of more use as a guard?"
Willow frowned. "Maybe they used them for some other reason. What do they do?"
"They surround a demon and torture it if they can. Their voices alone can cause most species of demon great pain. They're well known for their hunting cries. Some creatures can die from the sound alone."
Giles looked at Wesley, his brow furrowed with thought. "Perhaps they're merely a distraction? To cover something else?"
Wesley shook his head, his eyes glued to the sphere. "I haven't the faintest idea." They fell silent for a moment. "Look! Only four are left, Buffy's going after Richard!" They watched as Buffy ran toward the Watcher. "Good Lord! What is that?"
A thing made all of shadow and darkness unfolded its hulking length from the side of the sphere, where it had been well hidden in the shadows cast by the remnants of the wall. Giles called out uselessly to Buffy, but the girl couldn't hear him. The group stepped forward as one as Buffy flew backwards, her face contorting with pain.
"What is she doing?!" Xander stood as close as possible to the sphere, his expression agonized. "She's walking right toward it!" She flew through the air again.
Tara looked ready to cry. "She can't see it! Look, she's just standing there, looking for it!" They watched with the frustration of the impotent as Angel looked about helplessly for the creature before sending Kat to help Buffy. Small cries of dismay emerged from all their throats as the tiny slayer was lifted by her throat. They held their breath as one of her flailing legs connected powerfully with the creature's abdomen. It let her go, throwing its head back in pain.
Giles face looked slightly more hopeful. "It feels pain. That's a good sign."
Xander cursed. "What good does it do if they can't see it? Why can WE see it if they can't?"
"Vampires!" They sent Tara a quick look of inquiry before turning their attention back to the circle. "The-they set up this sphere, made it so only vampires could get in. Then they pu-put these big evil noisemakers in there so the Slayers can't hear anything. Then right in front of the target they put a mo-monster-"
"That none of them will be able to see." Xander watched in worry as the two Slayers sprinted around the edges of the circle in opposite directions. It was a good plan. But the creature was too fast. It darted forward and caught both slayers with one hand each, flinging them backwards and into each other with bone-crushing impact. They fell to the floor, groaning and shaking their heads as they tried to rise. The shadow-thing began to advance again on the dazed Slayers. "It's so strong." Xander's voice was a near whisper, tears in his eyes. He saw Spike and Angel finishing off their demons and running toward the girls, flung aside one by one to land in a heap a ways away from the Slayers. "It's keeping them alive. Intentionally. It doesn't want them dead!"
Giles voice was breaking. "No. It wants them on the other side." He turned his attention to the still chanting Watcher. "And if something doesn't change soon, they will be."
"It's not fair! They shouldn't be able to use something they can't see!" Cordelia's voice was shrill with panic.
Wesley laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're right Cordelia, it's not fair." He left it unsaid that there was nothing they could do.
Xander raised a gun in frustration, taking careful aim at the hulking mass of shadows. He fired.
The bullet sped into the green light and ricocheted off with a metallic ping. Xander dove out of
the way as the others did the same. "So much for that idea." He hated the gnawing sense of
hopelessness and helplessness that was clawing its way through his chest. He was watching them
fight and fail, and there was nothing he could do. Suddenly his eyes widened. He fell to his knees
and bent his head, concentrating with every ounce of his energy.
******************************************************************************
Tears pricked the back of Buffy's eyes as she watched Angel fly through the air for a second time. She tried again to edge her way toward the Watcher, only to be stopped by something and sent sprawling to the floor. She tried to lash out but her questing hands found only air. Her body was a mass of crinkled burning skin and her nerves screamed with pain as she moved. She looked briefly toward the others, who weren't much better off. Her gaze sought her friends, whose hazy forms were barely distinguishable through the green glow of the sphere. She was glad she couldn't see their faces, glad she didn't have to see the horror in their eyes as she failed. She climbed again to her feet, watching as Kat and Angel did the same, Kat reaching a hand down and yanking Spike up, as he'd landed next to her on his last flight.
Kat met Buffy's eyes and tried to smile. She saw defeat in the other girl's gaze and wondered if it was there in hers as well. Whatever they faced couldn't possibly be as big and unmovable as it seemed- but they couldn't see it, and couldn't seem to fight it without being able to see it. It moved almost soundlessly, even without the wailing of The Unspoken to hide its movements. It had no discernible smell. It had felt like flesh when she kicked it, but she hadn't managed to wound it since. She'd tried to go back through the circle to retrieve one of the swords, hoping a longer blade would help. But she couldn't get through. It seemed a one-way door. Easily in but not so out. She cursed herself for not having the foresight to bring those through as well as the smaller silver knives. There hadn't been enough gardenia to turn the sword blades silver too, so she'd thought them useless. She caught Buffy's eye again and motioned for them to try their feint again. Buffy nodded. They had no other option. Kat leaned over and told Spike what to do as well. Maybe with three, one could get close enough to silence the Watcher. She'd already tried throwing her knife. It had been intercepted. The thing really was damnably fast. She started to move than stumbled, dimly aware of Buffy doing the same thing.
"It's on the right!"
She shook her head, sending a look of surprised wariness toward Buffy. The other Slayer returned the look. A wordless question was asked and answered between them. They had both heard it.
"Buffy! Kat! It's on the right. Like eight feet tall and nearly that long of a reach. No fangs or claws! It wants you alive! You can't see it 'cause you're vampires!" Kat's jaw dropped in astonishment, Buffy's mirroring hers. Xander! He shouldn't be able to do this! It took YEARS of training, and only one out of a hundred million were capable of telepathic communication-
"Never mind what I'm capable of! Tell Angel to go after the Watcher, I'll tell you where the Demon is!"
Buffy's face stretched into a slow grin as hope came back into her eyes. Kat's face mirrored hers. She turned to Angel, creeping over to where he was, Spike at her heels. The demon let them move, so long as they didn't move toward the Watcher. She leaned in close to the vampires. "Kat and I can hear Xander. He can see the demon. We're going to attack it. You two go after the Watcher." The men nodded. Kat crept back toward Buffy. The Slayers waited.
"Okay, it's right in front of you. Wait till Angel and Spike go, when it turns go after its back." Kat nodded at Angel. He and Spike took off at a dead run. The Slayers heard a slight swish of movement and advanced toward it.
"To your left! Kat, RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! You're right in between its legs! Jump!" Kat leapt, feeling something solid beneath her hands. She searched for a handhold, groping upwards. Her hands tangled in something that felt like hair. She gripped hard and dug her feet into its back, reaching with one arm to wrap around its huge neck. She reached for her knife with her other arm, before realizing that she'd thrown it away.
"Spike! Throw me your knife!" Without pausing he flung the blade at her. She caught it neatly and buried it between the demon's shoulder blades with a predatory smile.
As soon as it felt Kat on its back the creature made its first audible noise. It rumbled in dismayed pain and lurched forward, sweeping Buffy aside with one long arm. The Slayer bounded back to her feet, able to tell where the demon was by Kat, who clung to nothingness as the thing lurched around. Buffy scrambled toward it, managing to avoid its arms and buried her own knife in its side. Twin rivers of blood ran from its back and side and the thing roared in pain. Buffy looked up at Kat. "Kat! The back of the neck!" As it bled the invisibility was fading, the huge demon flashing in and out of their sight. Kat complied, her face firmly set in its vampire visage. She yanked the knife from its back and slashed it viciously across the back of the neck, passing the blade through several times until the trunk-like neck was half severed. The demon gave a great roar of anger and bucked harshly, managing to fling a blood spattered Kat from its back. It roared and reached for her but collapsed on the way, fully visible and obviously dead. The Slayers traded a look of satisfaction, each a bit surprised to see that the other had shifted their faces into their vampire appearance. They shifted back in unison, looking away from one another.
"Oh God. Buffy, Kat it's too late!"
Xander's voice in their head was the essence of despair. They turned as one. Angel held the
Watcher's book, ripping it viciously in half, his face fully vamped and full of fury. Spike held the
man against his chest, one hand clamped over his mouth. Both of them had their backs to the
center of the circle. Buffy's voice was soft and desperate. "No!" The Watcher was laughing, his
whole body shaking in amusement. The green sphere disappeared, and a solid wall of light
erupted from the center of the circle and rushed outwards in a rapidly spreading arc. Kat and
Buffy were flung backwards, dimly seeing the same being done to Spike and Angel, the Watcher
they held, and the group of friends who had stood outside. The light flashed like a bolt of white-hot lightning through her brain and Buffy screamed at the pain, hearing her cry echoed by others.
She fought against the blackness that came rushing at her with all of her strength, but it wrapped
itself around her and the world faded away. She slipped into unconsciousness.
******************************************************************************
"Let he who has called for an accounting offer up his proof." The booming voice jarred Kat from her senseless state. She opened her eyes slowly, the brilliant silver light sending shooting pains into her already fragile head. She groaned and sat up slowly, her mind disturbingly blank. She finally managed to open her eyes. She looked in astonishment at the center of the room. Looming impossibly large stood a giant silver scale. Perfectly balanced with trays the size of small moons, the size of the room around it seemed to have no limiting effect on the scale. It towered over her, imposing and impossibly gorgeous. A man stood on its right, tiny beside its bulk. She stared in confusion, racking her brain, trying to remember something behind the disturbing blankness of her memory.
She saw the man, his face gleeful, flinging things into the scale. A tiny silver vial flew from his hand into the scale. She heard his high, nasal voice speak. "The blood of one who loved. Unprotected. Unrequited. Freely given in offering."
It came back to her then, with dizzying, horrifying speed. She lurched to her feet, moving on shaky legs toward the man. He continued mouthing syllables, moving things into the scale. She recognized them dimly with some part of her brain. "The ashes of an immortal, freely given in offering. The blood of a man, freely given in offering." It went on and on. A catalogue of horrors offered by monsters of many varieties, to shift the world into one more to their liking.
Kat shook her head to try to clear it as she again almost toppled. She couldn't understand what was wrong with her. She licked her lips, her voice croaking. "Buffy." The other Slayer didn't stir and the rest still lay in blissful senselessness. She tried again, louder. "Buffy!" Finally the blonde Slayer stirred, her movements as sluggish as Kat's, her eyes as fogged. "Buffy. The ritual. We have to stop him. . ." Her voice trailed off as recognition slowly lit in the other Slayer's eyes. She began to push herself up. Kat walked away, forcing herself closer to the scale, whose throbbing energy sent waves of pain and nausea through her body. She saw Angel stirring from his place beyond the Watcher, Spike beside him. She thought hard, trying to use her meager mind-talents to awaken Xander. "Xander! Wake up!! We'll need you!" No response. She prayed silently that he was still alive.
She staggered toward Richard, who saw her coming. His smile was manic. "Too late Slayer! The scales are being weighed!" He began to laugh again, no trace of sanity left in his face.
Kat moaned in dismay. The giant scale was shifting, the side closest to Richard dropping with
stately slowness while the other side rose. The voice spoke again. "Proof has been offered. No
one offers for the other side. The Balance will shift." The shining silver scale began to shift, its
shine turning dark, its color turning black. Kat saw Angel try to stand and fall back down. She
saw Spike push himself to his feet, swaying. His eyes fixed on the howling Watcher. She saw
Buffy from the corner of her eyes, lurching toward her. Then the world slowed to a crawl, and
she screamed and fell to her knees and saw nothing.
******************************************************************************
Spike felt tears run down his cheeks as Kat fell to her knees, Buffy a moment behind her. The screams they made were unearthly, inhuman and ungodly. The screams of souls being ripped apart and unspeakable pain. Fury raced through him as the Watcher danced about, his face a study in madness, the hyena laughter braying forth from his mouth in an unending stream. Spike pushed himself forward and grabbed the man by his collar, his face vamped and his yellow eyes glittering with danger. "Undo it."
The man chittered, his grin still in place. "Can't be undone! The sacrifices are made, the ritual performed, and no one here to play for the other team! Too late! Too late! They lost!"
Spike growled in frustration and flung the man away from him in disgust. He pulled Angel to his
feet and started toward the shaking Slayers, knowing there was nothing left to do. He went and
stood in front of Kat, looking down with overwhelming regret at the Slayer.
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The bars of the demon's cage melted and it flung itself, howling in triumph at the edges of her mind. Kat clung desperately to the vestiges of herself, feeling her strength slipping away, the urge to give in growing with every passing second. Behind her she felt Buffy doing the same. She felt the other girl fighting. She felt them both losing.
Cares began to fade away. She looked the demon in its eyes and saw what she'd always known but never understood. There was no difference between it and her. She was both of them. The demon was just what she could be if she gave up her conscience, her fight, and her soul. The cage had never locked in a demon. It had locked away the carelessness and evil within herself. And now the line between them was disappearing, growing ever thinner with every moment that she cared less and less about the consequences.
She forced it back again, for a moment, feeling her resolve weaken. A dim memory flitted on the edge of her thoughts. She focused on it. A spell, long ago learned and filed away, never used. She pushed with all her strength and earned a second of clear thought. She hesitated, her thoughts turning to Buffy. She felt the other Slayer fighting. Buffy was stronger than her. She would still lose, but she had a better chance. This was the only way. With dry tongue and mumbled pronunciation, she uttered the words to a spell she'd never thought she'd need.
She felt it begin to work, felt her soul gathering itself. She reached with all the power of her desperate mind and shouted as best she could. "XANDER!! Tell Spike! Give him a STAKE! Wake up!!" And then the spell took hold and she slipped away with a sigh of relief, and the demon burst into the center of her mind with a growl of feral satisfaction sounding her fanged mouth. She opened yellow eyes and stared into the gaze of a platinum haired vampire who stared back in utter confusion.
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Buffy heard Kat scream, her mind still fogged, her thoughts slow. She watched as the giant scale began to change and comprehension came in a sudden horrified rush. She stepped forward, determined to do something, when time stood still and a gout of tearing pain and black oblivion overcame her. She dropped to her knees and screamed.
She felt her cares slipping away, her friends, her love, herself. They all began to tear away in a painful group. She held on fiercely, the pain blinding. She couldn't let them go. Tears leaked from her eyes and her clenched teeth bit through her own lips. The flow of blood incensed the other side of her more. It battered her, demanding release, demanding surrender. She held on, pushed it back. She fought, her strength slowly fading as that other side of her began a slow climb to victory. It changed its tactic, cajoling instead of demanding. Offering her peace, immortality, joy. An end to the indecision, to the struggle. She sobbed but ignored it, pushing away its images of her and Angel, arm in arm while the world around them burned. She realized how far she was slipping when the idea looked so desperately appealing to her. She rallied and fought on until her mind grew weary and her strength began to fade. For the first time, she realized she couldn't win, and with a surge of sorrow and relief, she began to let go.
She felt it all slipping away, all the concerns all the cares. She felt herself disappearing, becoming
small and lost. There was no fear, no worry, only relief and a sense of finality. As she slid
further away she felt something change. A surge of strength coursed through her, urging her to
continue to fight. A new presence, one tinged with familiarity. She would have recognized it,
had she taken the energy to do so. Instead she began to climb back out, this new presence
beckoning, aiding, fighting with her, giving her added knowledge. Flashes of information and
experience not her own ran on quick rabbit feet through her mind, disappearing before it could be
caught. She began to fight again, her emotions an odd mix of relief and resentment. The new
strength fought with her, and for a moment, it seemed they could win. Hope came flooding back,
and with it came her resolve and her desire to win. Recognition came as well, as the presence in
her mind became more than familiar to her. It felt like it belonged. She acknowledged it, not
knowing she spoke aloud in a dry mouthed croak. "Katerina?" She opened her eyes as the voice
that was and was not her own told her what she had to do. She pushed herself to her feet, nearly
stumbling into someone in her clumsy hurry. As she struggled to retain control she lurched
toward the scale, knowing this was the last chance she would have.
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"Xander! Wake up!! We'll need you!" The worlds sounded distant. As if his own mind was detached from his body. He sat up, his body feeling bruised and broken in places he didn't even know he had. He winced, than instantly regretted it as his whole body shuddered in pain. He held himself perfectly still, waiting for the nausea and lightheadedness to fade. When it did, the words he'd heard in his mind came back to him and he opened his eyes wide, his brain coming quickly clear.
He took in the gleaming silver scale, saw his friends laying in heaps around him, unconscious and battered. He stood painfully, his legs feeling like overcooked spaghetti. He squinted against the scale's light and looked to where Kat moved in odd lurching steps toward the Watcher, Buffy gaining her feet a few steps behind. He watched Angel try to rise and fall, Spike managing to find his feet a moment later. The Watcher laughed and danced around. He seemed crazed. Xander's eyes widened and a soft cry escaped his mouth as the scale began to change, turn dark. He saw Kat fall to her knees, Buffy a moment behind her, both clutching their heads and screaming. The sound of the screams sent chills up his spin. Without thinking, he started toward them, nearly falling at the first step.
He reached Buffy first. She seemed caught in some struggle he couldn't see. He was afraid to touch her, afraid it would distract her from whatever she was fighting within her own mind. He looked at Kat, who knelt in the same position. He looked back at the rest of them, who were beginning to stir. He knew there was nothing he could do for them. He turned to Buffy and watched as Spike grabbed the Watcher by the collar. He said something to him and the man chittered back. Xander closed his eyes, trying to gauge the slim man's thoughts. He winced as he heard the man's mind. Thought whirled wildly and randomly around. The spell seemed to have made him truly crazy. He opened his eyes again as Spike threw the man aside. He helped Angel stand and they all stared at the Slayers as they fought a battle they couldn't win.
"XANDER!! Tell Spike! Give him a STAKE! Wake up!!" The wild power of the thought in his head nearly made him fall over. He looked to Kat, who still knelt in trembling pain. He pushed him mind into hers, trying to see what she was thinking. This time he DID fall over as the pain and strength of what fought within her hit him. Even second-hand and accidental, the force was stunning. He pushed himself back to his knees, knowing now what she wanted. He pulled a stake out of his pocket and threw it to Spike, who had come to stand before the kneeling girl Slayer.
"Spike! Kat said to give you this!"
The vampire caught it and looked completely confused. Xander opened his mouth to speak when
he saw Kat's tense body relax. Her heard a faint growl and saw Spike's confused gaze snap
downward. Xander jumped to his feet and watched fearfully. At his feet, Buffy's trembling form
croaked out a word he couldn't understand. The trembling stopped and her eyes began to open.
He stared in wide-eyed wonder at the clear green gaze that barely seemed to see him. "Buffy?"
She lurched to her feet and stumbled by him without hearing, nearly knocking him over.
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Spike stared down at a face both familiar and utterly unknown. A vampire looked back, wearing Katerina's body. Yellow eyes and fangs. His heart lurched in his chest and his eyes filled with horror. "No." He whispered, the stake he held seemingly made of pure fire, burning its way through his hand.
The vampire's smile faded, its fangs hidden now. Its face shifted back into the visage of the girl he knew. He stared into its eyes and a jolt went through him. They were blue. Clear sky blue. She smiled seductively and he pulled the stake back. Her smile faded and she began to move, an entreaty shining in her eyes. "Spike . . . no. Imagine what we could be now!" The voice was still hers, so was the slim hand that laid itself against his leg, the arm it was attached to still burnt and battered from the fight. She looked up at him helplessly, knowing she couldn't move fast enough to avoid him.
Tears leaked from his eyes and his hands trembled. "My Kitten." He reached down and gently ran his hand through her hair. "My friend." She smiled, a hint of triumph playing around her lips.
He plunged the stake deep into her chest. She stared at him in shock, her face shifting. For just a
minute, her eyes flashed a dull silver and her fanged mouth smiled faintly . "Thank you." She
looked past him for a moment and her smile saddened. Then the eyes went yellow again and the
fanged mouth opened in a growling scream. He yanked the stake back and she exploded in a
cloud of dust. Spike fell to his knees and wept.
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Angel watched in near slow motion as time slowed and he saw Kat look up at Spike through the yellow eyes of a vampire. Words wouldn't come. He wanted to scream, wanted to run a stake through her heart . . . wanted to yank Spike away before he did the same thing. He saw her face shift. In this moment, he saw for the first time how beautiful she was. Untouched by the concerns and worries that had plagued her for the whole of her long life, her small face was utterly lovely, and completely alien to the woman he knew. Blue eyes stared at Spike and a dull pain shot through Angel's chest. He saw his grandchilde's hand move, knew what was coming. He wanted to shut his eyes, but he couldn't look away. He watched the stake drive deep into her chest, saw her startled face shift.
And then the yellow eyes went silver, just for a moment. He saw her smile, saw her mouth form words, but he couldn't understand them. Then her eyes moved, settled on him. Her smile was sad, a wordless apology. He wanted to run to her. To say he was sorry. To beg his friend to not let it end this way. He did nothing. There was no time. She exploded in a cloud of dust. He pushed away the tears that threatened and watched with envy as Spike wept.
The Watcher shrieked in fury. "No!!! The Slayers can't die!!!" He flung himself forward, a stake in his hand. He moved more quickly than Angel would have expected, his hands extended toward Spike's unprotected back. Angel lunged forward, knowing with dread certainty that he would be too late, and surprised that he was pained by that knowledge.
Angel's eyes widened in surprise as Spike turned with a blinding quickness Angel had forgotten
he possessed. He stopped the man with one hand, yanking the stake from his grasp. His face was
fully shifted and his tear-stained expression dark with fury. "This is your fault, slimy Bastard."
With an effortless shove he drove the man's own stake deep into his belly. The Watcher fell back,
gurgling in pain, blood seeping from his mouth and from the wound in his belly. Both vampires
watched him without sympathy. After a moment Angel looked up and his eyes locked with
Spike's. Slowly comprehension dawned as he looked from Spike's pain free face to the human
body bleeding on the ground.
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Buffy stepped closer to the still shifting scale, green eyes filled with pain as she fought back the darker half of herself. For a moment, she felt that other presence within her fade, and the demon battered harder against her suddenly weakened defenses. Then it was back, stronger, more coherent than before. It stood between Buffy and the other side, taking the pain from her. Buffy's vision cleared and her thoughts began to function again. She turned her head in time to see Spike drive a stake through Kat's chest. Her eyes widened as moments later the other Slayer exploded into dust. The voice in her head spoke, its voice nearly indistinguishable from her own now. Buffy reached out with one hand, seizing a stray handful of the ashes. With trembling hands she flung them into the rising side of the massive scale. She licked her lips, speaking words she hadn't known before Kat invaded her being. "The ashes of an immortal, freely given in offering." She threw another handful, her cheeks wet with tears. "The life of the Chosen, freely given in offering."
The voice spoke again within her mind. She tried to rebel against it, but it was insistent. She gave in with a sigh. She ripped off a corner of her shirt and turned to Spike who had crept up beside her. Without a word she grasped him by his arm and bit down hard. He cursed and jerked his arm away, staring at her fearfully. She ignored him, daubing his arm with the torn cloth and muttering distracted "Sorry." She flung the cloth into the scale. "The blood of one who loves. Protected. Unrequited, freely given in offering." She turned to the other side, saw Xander, already standing there, his arm bleeding and held out toward her. She tried to smile at him, but her battling mind couldn't manage the expression correctly. She tore off another strip of her shirt and wiped it in the blood, glad he'd wounded himself so she didn't have to. She flung the cloth into the scale. "The blood of a man, freely given in offering"
The scale ceased its shifting, its color stopping its slow change. The voice spoke again, the one Kat had heard in the beginning. "The other side has offered. The scales will be weighed." The plates hovered, sinking and rising as a hum began to fill the room.
The voice spoke again. "The Balance will be maintained." With a roar of sound the scales returned to their silver shimmer, the plates hanging even. As they watched in stunned fascination, the massive scale began to shift its shape. The huge plates began to shift, shrink into the shape of hands, the silver chains that they hung from took on the shape of slim arms. The center twisted into a human torso and the foot became a pair of legs. The engraved top transformed into a head. In a moment where the scales had been stood a huge, unearthly silver woman, her eyes covered by a golden cloth, the only thing on her large form that was not silver. She spoke, her voice the same one that had spoken since the scales first appeared. "The Scales have been tested. Do not call for a reckoning until another thousand years have passed into dust. We will wait and we will judge. None will remain who witnessed the Balancing."
A fresh rush of pain filled Buffy's mind as the demon fell back with a sudden raking weakness.
The other voice in her mind disappeared with it, and she felt its loss. The silver figure raised its
arms and disappeared in a thunder clap of sound. A wall of solid fire blew outward from where
she had been, enveloping all those who watched in its burning depths.
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"No!" Willow looked to where Xander stood, Buffy standing beside him, her eyes staring sightlessly at the massive Scales. Willow racked her brain desperately trying to remember a way to stop this. She thought of nothing. She saw Spike's arm flash downward, and watched in horrified confusion as Katerina burst into ashes. "Oh God. Wake up. Get up. We have to do something." She pushed and prodded at the others until they were all at least sitting up. Tara climbed to her feet, leaning slightly on Willow for support. The two witches watched in confusion as Buffy began flinging handfuls of ashes into the rising side of the scales. "What is she doing?" Buffy was speaking, though they could barely heard the words.
Tara watched intently, sudden comprehension dawning on her face. "She's balancing the scales. Offering the same as what th-the Watcher offered."
"Will it work?" Giles voice came from behind them. His glasses were cracked and broken, and he still looked disoriented.
"I don't know." They watched as Buffy finished her offerings and the scale stopped its shift. "I think maybe it has." Tara's voice was excited.
"Wait!" The anxiousness in Cordelia's turn snapped everyone's attention toward her. The brunette continued, her eyes trained on Buffy. "I saw this. In my vision. It was different. The Scales become a-"
A booming voice interrupted her. "The other side has offered. The scales will be weighed"
Cordelia caught their attention again. "It becomes a giant black woman and then there's fire. In my vision, something protected Kat and Buffy and me. Something . . . .evil. If they're not on the bad guys' side, then they won't be protected and neither will we. We're going to burn."
Willow and Tara traded a quick glance and then joined hands, not taking the time to doubt Cordelia's words. They quickly began chanting. An aura of power rose around them, reaching out to surround the rest of them. It began edging its way slowly toward where Buffy stood with Xander, Spike, and Angel.
Giles watched in fear. The voice spoke again, the scales gone. A huge silver figure in its place,
its eyes covered by a flash of gold. "The Scales have been tested. Do not call for a reckoning
until another thousand years have passed into dust. We will wait and we will judge. None will
remain who witnessed the Balancing." A crash of thunder sounded in his ears and the figure
disappeared. A solid wall of force and fire reached out for him and he felt himself flying
backwards beneath a weight of searing heat. He lost consciousness again, silently praying that
Willow and Tara's protection would work, and that it had reached the others in time.