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Spike
was worried, well maybe not quite worried, more like irritated actually. He was a demon. He didn’t get worried, he got irritated. He told himself forcibly, scowling for good
measure. It was all Red’s fault, she
knew she was suppose to bring him some blood while he hid-out in the old Kelly
Street mansion from the commando boys looking for him. It wasn’t like he was going to go back to
the Crawford Street mansion, too many memories of Dru and Angelus for his
taste, and the crypt had proven somewhat unsafe.
“Where
is she?” he growled prowling the main
room like a caged tiger.
“She
should have been here by now.” He
added, continuing to stalk through the lower level, trying to contain his
growing ‘irritation’. It wasn’t that he
cared for the girl. She just served a
purpose for the time being while he had the chip in his head. She brought him blood and helped to keep the
commando boys away from him, and for that she would get to live once he got
that annoying piece of metal out of his head.
Well maybe not exactly ‘live’, he would have to turn her once he broke
her in properly; make her into his little plaything for all of eternity.
He
had such big plans for his little Red, couldn’t wait to introduce her to his
brand of affection…sure he’ll keep her mortal for a few years or so- just until
he had her well trained to his touch, and then…then they would rule the night. He could almost taste all the things he
would do to her; as he stripped away her sense of self and remade her into his
favourite little fuck toy.
Pushing
aside such thoughts, he focused on Red’s continued absence from his side. Time enough to punish her later once the
chip was out of his head. He would have
plenty of time then to express his displeasure of her willful acts of defiance
and of her association with the Slayer twit.
Some things would not be tolerated, and once she was his, the Slayer and
the moron being two things that would immediately be removed from his
presence.
**********************
Faith
wearily climbed off of the out-of-town bus, trying to restore some kind of
circulation to her right leg that had fallen asleep somewhere outside of Los
Vegas. It was just her luck, the only
nonstop bus from Vegas to Sunnydale had to be the oldest, if not the most
useless, bus in the history of modern transportation. But it had been worth the nightmare ride to get back to Sunnydale. She couldn’t explain the sudden need she had
developed a few weeks ago to return to the Hellmouth. A part her had hoped to never see the misleading little town -
with its barely closed gateway to the neither world, or it’s endless supply of
vampires and other night creatures - ever again.
But
fate and two nerve-wrecking prophetic dreams convinced her that
she
should give up her soul-searching journey and get back to Sunnydale as fast as
she could. She just wished she hadn’t
of been in
Southern
Florida when she had gotten the first of the aforementioned prophetic
dreams.
Shaking
her head as she collected her one battered duffel bag, she recalled Red’s last
email. The one recounting the latest
and somewhat undesired addition to the Scooby Gang: one bleached blonde vamp
named Spike. Faith wasn’t too sure if
she liked the thought of a bunch weird of commando groups running lose over the
Hellmouth. There was too great a chance
of Red being picked up by one of the soldier boys one night while she was out
saving the world with B. She would just
hate to have to break into a highly classified government installation to kill
a bunch of people because they had hurt Red.
She’d do it, but she was sure she would have at least one or two sleepless
hours because of it.
‘Red,’
she thought shouldering her duffel and setting off for Giles’ flat, no one knew
she was coming back and the walk would do her some good. At the very least it would get her leg to
wake up before dark. Before she’d maybe
have to do a little slaying. ‘Eight
months on the road and I still haven’t figured anything out regarding
her.’ She said to herself, shifting the
duffel on her shoulder a bit. Shortly
after graduation, the dark-haired Slayer had left town, after talking things
over with Wesley, something that she was still a bit in shock over.
She
had actually gone to her Watcher for advice and the Hellmouth didn’t open and
suck the entire world into hell. Who
would have thought it? Although, there
was no way in heaven - or the Hellmouth - that she was actually going to admit
that Wes had given her some pretty sound advice. It would offset the whole Slayer/Watcher dynamic for generations
and B would never forgive her.
While
she was no closer to figuring out her relationship with Red, she had found a
few answers. Like Oz’s death hadn’t
been her fault. He’s the one that chose
to side with the nut mayor damn near getting Red killed in the process. That she had been defending herself that
night she had gone to reason with him; trying to get the cure for whatever it
was he had poisoned Fang with. It had
taken her six thousand miles and one hell of a barroom brawl to sink that
little fact into her thick head. If she
had known that was all it would take, she would have stayed in town and torn
apart Willy’s a few dozen times.
However, she was still no closer to figuring out just where she stood
with Red, the one person who had ever took the time to really get to know her,
warts and all. She accepted Faith like
no other ever had. If she thought Fang
and/or B wouldn’t have nailed her hide to the nearest wall, she would have been
chasing after Red form the moment she had first seen the quiet redhead in the
library. “Oh god, I’m beginning to
sound like B!” She swore to herself
with mild disgust, deciding that the bus ride had addled her mind somehow if
she was beginning to channel the other Slayer.
***********************
Two
hours later, Faith found herself at Giles’ front door, patiently waiting for
someone to answer her knock. The walk
from the bus station took a bit longer then she had first thought, but that was
only because her leg had refused to wakeup for the first ten minutes.
She
pulled her wondering thoughts together as the door opened and she found herself
standing before B’s Watcher…well former Watcher. Although it really didn’t matter, G-man would always be B’s
Watcher, just like Wes would always be her Watcher…rather she liked it or not.
“F-faith,”
Giles said by way of greetings, covering any other discomfort he might have had
at her unannounced appearance on his doorstep.
“G-man,”
she replied, once again pushing down her irrational fear of librarians. Every since the fourth grade when her class
had gone on a field trip to the public library back in Boson, she had had an
unexplainable fear of all librarians.
It wasn’t something that she could easily explain, but librarians
creeped her out more then vampires or demons ever did. And there was no way in hell she would ever
admit to said fear. Although she was
certain that G knew all about her little fear, ‘He probably has it written down
in that damn Watcher’s diary of his,’ she ruefully thought for the thousandth
time.
“Oh! Would you please come in?” Giles replied
after a moment, stepping aside to allow her to cross the threshold his mind
already working. Taking in her overall
appearance as he followed her into the living room, he noted the worn duffel
bag over her shoulder, “I take it you are back from your road trip?” He asked trying to make small talk.
“Got
to Florida and ran out of coastline,” Faith replied dropping onto the couch
with a tired sigh. “Figured I’d head
back here and see if the place was still in one piece or not.” She couldn’t help but add with a smirk. Running a hand though her dark hair, “I’ve
been having a few dreams that pretty much say I have to be here.” She added after a moment, suddenly finding
something of real interest on the floor to study.
The
reaction was almost immediate as Giles shifted from host to Watcher in the
blink of an eye. “Really? Just what have you been dreaming
about?” He asked his total attention
focused on her, his mind racing. ‘If
Faith is having prophetic dreams, why isn’t Buffy?’ he asked himself wondering
if there was something he may have missed with his own Slayer.
Taking
a deep breath she collects her thoughts for a moment. The dream images still making little sense to her even after
having two weeks to think about them as she made her way back to California. “Its confusing, I see Red, Fang, and who I
think has to be Spike. I just know it’s
a bleached vamp with them and…Red is feeding off them.” She says raising her head to stare into his
eyes. “But she’s not a vamp…I don’t
know how but she’s not.”
For
possible the first time in his association with the dark Slayer, Giles found
himself looking into her terrified eyes.
Not even when faced with the snake-like mayor trying to kill her, had he
ever saw such an emotion ever enter her eyes.
And then it struck him: she was not scared for herself, she was scared
for another…possibly the one person she held above all else - even
herself. She was scared for
Willow. “Tell me exactly what you saw.” Giles commanded in an even voice, already
well into full research mode.
“Not
much to tell. I’m in one of the
underground lairs, not sure where…but Blondie is with me. I think we’re there looking for Red…but
I’m
not sure.” Faith begins; suddenly
getting up to pace the living room restlessly.
“Fang and the cheerleader are there too…we’re fighting a bunch of vamps
trying to get to Red. And there is this
human there, never saw him before, but he’s….” she continued, stopping and
turning to the still seated Watcher.
“He’s the one hurting her…the one I’m going to kill.” She finished coldly, her eyes hard and
determined.
**********************
Angel
had the gas pedal planted firmly on the floor as he drove like a madman down
the highway toward the Hellmouth…or in the very least like a vampire possessed
anyway. Beside him, Cordelia set ramrod
straight in the seat; her eyes focused intently on the road ahead, almost as if
she was willing the vehicle to go faster.
She had not said much since her mind-shattering headache, a little over
an hour ago back in Los Angeles, other then that they had to get to Sunnydale
immediately. Willow’s life depended on
it.
There
really hadn’t been anything else to say, not when she had recognized a few of
the people surrounding the redhead in question. She wasn’t quite sure when Faith had gotten back into town. She knew Willow would have mentioned it in
one of the emails the two of them had been sending each other since graduation
if she was already there. And so as
long as the dark-haired Slayer wasn’t in town, they still had time to save
Willow…and kill Ethan Rayne.
**********************
Spike
was on his twelfth circuit through the lower level of the mansion when he heard
the front door open. ‘Finally!’ he
growled making an immediate course change and heading directly for the main
room; he had a redhead to see. ‘Time
she start learning her place,’ his demon fumed, ‘chip or no chip she will learn
to obey me!’ Only to stop in his tracks
as he stepped into the room and found the Watcher and what felt like a Slayer
stand there, both looking around intently.
“Where’s
Red!” Faith demanded taking a menacing
step toward Spike, immediately recognizing him from her dreams.
“Faith,
calm down.” Giles interrupted; stepping
between the two before anything got out of hand. “Spike, is Willow here?”
He asked turning his attention to the vampire, trying to remain calm for
her sake. Once she was safe he would
gladly let the two of them growl at each other all they wanted too.
“What?” Spike asked momentarily thrown by the
question. “No the little chit hasn’t
been ‘ere all day…she forgot to bring by my blood.” He continued with an offended look.
“You
bleached idiot…Willow doesn’t forget things, she’s missing!” Faith growled trying to push past Giles and
knock some sense into the vamp.
“What!” Spike demanded; his demon pushing forward
and the damn chip going off in his head at the aggressive turn of his
thoughts. No one touched his Red, she
was his…or would soon be once the chip was gone. Then he could claim her and wipeout the bloody Slayer and all her
little friends. Forcing down his demon,
he tries to calm himself, to think things through until he got his Red back,
then he could work on getting back at the dark Slayer. ‘Yes.
Get Red back and kill whatever foolish git touched her in the first
place,’ he firmly decided.
“Enough! This is getting us no where.” Giles roared; effectively getting both the
vampire and Slayer’s undivided attentions.
“Faith tell Spike what you saw in your dreams. Maybe he can recognize the lair you saw.” Giles directed. “And you,” he added letting a bit of the Ripper show through to
the vampire. “Shut up and listen,
apparently you two are suppose to find Willow together. So do it and not another word about your
damn blood or I’ll stake you out to watch the sunrise myself.” He threatened, before taking a seat and
waiting for them to get on with their respective orders and find Willow.
*******************
Ten
minutes after sunset found Spike and Faith prowling the streets looking for
information and ducking any stray commandos they happened across. Giles has retreated back to his flat to
gather the rest of the Scooby Gang and organize the search, once he had been
certain that Spike and Faith had focused themselves on the task at hand and not
arguing with each other. Once the two
of them had gotten down to business they had immediately sensed the other’s
affection for Red and were willing to put they differences aside until they got
her back.
‘At
least, I’m not stuck with the blonde twit,’ Spike told himself scanning the
shadows for anything that shouldn’t be there, like one of the commando boys
trying to recapture him. He had more
important things to do then put up with their nonsense, and since he apparently
had the support of a rather ticked off Slayer, he was pretty sure a few of the
commandos would be winding up in hospital if they did try something.
Faith
and Spike had just finished pumping Willy for information when the black
convertible came roaring past them in a 35-MPH zone, going about 90, only to
make a hairpin turn and coming back up the street to stop beside the two.
“Where
is she?” Cordelia demanded climbing out of the car with a determined look on
her face. Trying to keep the growing fear for Willow’s safety at bay, ‘rescue
Wills first then have the nervous breakdown,’ she told herself firmly.
“Slutty
is at the Watcher’s” Spike replied in annoyance. ‘Just what I need the great
poof and the cheerleader in town.’ He thought in disgust wanting to get rid of
the two and go get Red back.
“Not
Buffy,” Angel growled his game face slipping on. “Willow! Where is Willow?” He
demanded climbing across the front seat to join Cordelia in the sidewalk with
Spike and Faith.
“Fuck
me, you had a vision.” Faith said, slapping her forehead in understanding,
remembering Willow mentioning it in one of her emails.
“Yes,
now where is Willow?” Angel demanded again rapidly losing his patience.
“The
old Master’s lair,” Faith replied with a jerk of her thumb toward the graveyard
they had been about to enter when the others had arrived.
“Okay.
Cordelia, you and Wes...”
“As
if, deadboy I’m going with you guys. Wesley can deliver the messages to the
others.” The ex-cheerleader cut him off; poking him in the chest for effect
before pushing past a somewhat stunned Spike and entering the graveyard on her
own.
“Well
don’t just stand there, lets go get Red!” Faith said after a moment, briefly
wondering when the cheerleader had gotten so protective of Red.
Exchanging
a quick nod with the silent Watcher who had spent most of the trip praying for
his survival as Angel tried to set a new land speed record, the dark vampire
and his favoured childe disappeared into the graveyard after the two determined
women.
Ethan
Rayne delivered one last punch to the half-unconscious girl tied to the
makeshift altar, before turning his attention to his hired helpers. “All right Lads,
as soon as I’m done here all of you can bag yourselves a Slayer!" he
announced gleefully. ‘Stupid vampires, as soon as I’m done here all of you are
going to be fed to my new demon army,’ he thought smugly, an evil light
entering his eyes.
Entering
the corridor leading to the main hall, Spike merrily staked the hapless minion
on guard duty, almost bouncing off the walls in his excitement. At first he
thought he wouldn’t be getting any action because of the chip in his head,
after all according to Willy it was a human that had his Red. Thankfully the
human had a few minions working for him, so Spike could take his irritation out
on them all he wanted to, kind of as a makeup for missing out on his dinner
thanks to that stupid human. He only hoped the Slayer and peaches let him watch
as they beat the hell out of the human once they got Red back.
Behind
him Cordelia moved into the corridor her eyes searching for any more minions to
stake. Thankfully she had gotten her vision while she had been in the gym, and
for once she was actually wearing sensible shoes to go sneaking around tunnels
in. She had also gotten a bit stake happy since moving to LA or it could have
been her concern for Willow’s safety, the after images of her vision still
running through her mind. Unlike Faith, who had gotten pretty much the same
images in her dreams, Cordelia recognized all the players and understood just
how dangerous Ethan could be.
Bring
up the rear; Angel put a restraining hand on Spike before he could go charging
down the corridor. “All right, this is the plan,” he said in a low voice.
“Spike and I will handle the minions, Cordy your job is to protect Willow.
Faith cover her until she gets into position.”
“What
about that mortal git?” Spike hissed, his yellow/gold eyes shining with hate.
He didn’t want to talk, he wanted to kill something.
“Don’t
worry Blondie, he ain’t leaving here alive.” Faith swore, tightening her grasp
on one of the stakes Cordelia had handed to her earlier. Once again wondering
just how in the hell the cheerleader had gotten; fire stakes, a large water gun
- filled with holy water - and two heavy crosses all in her purse without ever
once drawing any attention to herself back in LA from the police. She was
fairly certain that the stakes would be considered concealed weapons.
Back
in the main hall, Ethan had begun the ancient chant that would resurrect a race
of demons, long thought extinct, unleashing then onto the Hellmouth. Soon he
would have his revenge against that annoying little bitch Slayer by stripping
away her sacred powers. He could almost taste his impending victory, already
dismissing the bruised and battered young redhead tied to the altar. He had
hoped that she would survive long enough to watch her precious best friend fall
from grace, but needed her energy to complete the spell. No bother, the little
witch would serve as the catalyst to destroying the Slayer’s power, he could
gloat about it later as he killed the bitch.
A
quarter of the way through his chant, Ethan was interrupted by a loud ruckus
that filled the hall as a very ticked off Spike made his displeasure known to
the entire room. Taking the time to growl at the human before turning his full
rage against the minions stupid enough to rush him, Spike started to make a path
toward the human bastard standing over his Red. Behind him, he could feel Angel
and the dark Slayer making their own paths through the small gathering of
minions, all of who were too young to recognize the two master vampires. If
they had they would have had enough sense to duck out the nearest exit and kept
on running, at least until they met the second rescue team just entering the
old lair, led by the other Slayer.
Cordelia
made it to Willow’s side in moments, only having to spray a few of the vamps to
get them to move into either Faith or Angel’s way for staking, in her trek.
With single-minded determination she took up a position in front of the alter,
water gun in one hand a cross in the other, ready to fend off any stray vampire
that got too close to her or the unconscious Willow.
With
Spike and Angel busy fighting minions, and Cordelia guarding Willow, Faith
heading straight for Ethan, who had stepped up his chanting in hopes of
completing the spell mispronouncing a few words in his haste. Stopping in front
of him, Faith smiles sweetly before kicking him right in the groin effectively
bringing him to his knees. Taking a moment to enjoy his strangled cry of pain,
she swings out a booted foot kicking him in the head and into unconsciousness.
“Faith!”
Cordelia called out, getting the Slayer’s attention. Turning away from the
sprawled out body before her, she moved over to the altar and the cheerleader
frantically pulling at the ropes binding the still redhead they had come to
rescue.
“Son
of a…” Faith growled once she got a look at the battered face of one of her
closest friends. Willow had been beaten repeatedly, her face covered in bruises
with a cut just above her right eye and a split lip. Faith could make out dried
blood on her arms and wrists, Ethan having tied the ropes a bit too tight.
“Fang, get the other side,” she grunted to Angel who had finished off the last
of his attackers and had turned his attention to the women.
Spike
had finally grown bored with beating the hell out of his last opponent and just
staked the minion, when the second rescue party came barreling into the
chamber, Buffy leading the pack with Giles close behind her. “You’re late,”
Spike said smugly enjoying the look of irritation that crossed the blonde
Slayer’s face at his words.
Choosing
to ignore the two, Giles made his way to the altar and the three people who
seemed very interested in it. “Dear god,” he said in a low voice once he got a
good look at what was on it.
“She’s
alive,” Angel said absently, freeing the ropes on his side of the altar with a
quick pull. He could feel his demon trashing about inside of him at Willow’s
battered appearance, quietly entertaining thoughts of slowly torturing Rayne to
death. Which surprised him a bit, his demon was very angry over Willow’s
abduction. Having been screaming of the heads of her kidnappers almost from the
moment he had learned of her disappearance. Then is occurred to him that his
demon had formed a respect of sorts for Willow, since she was the one that had
re-cursed him. The demon wanted to be the one that would kill the little
redhead, not some useless mortal.
Spike
forcibly shoved Angel out of the way as he slide to a stop beside the altar, his
own demon firmly in control and very upset at what he saw. It almost didn’t
look like his Red he raged, the chip sending pain throughout his skull at the
violent thoughts he was having concerning one mortal and several spikes.
Pushing aside such thoughts for another time, he carefully ran his hands down
the side of her ribcage, almost sighing with relief at the solid feel to most
of her ribs, just as the action was being mirrored on the other side by Faith,
although she was frowning a bit over one area.
“I
think she’s got one or two ribs cracked over here,” Faith reported turning wide
eyes to Giles, silently begging him to make her better.
Giles
opened his month to reply when a low groan interrupted him. Turning sharply
Faith and Spike found themselves being stared at by one green eye. “Wills?”
Cordelia questioned, breaking the silence that had descended on the room after
the groan, her eyes hopeful as she leaned over the altar to get a better look.
Angel also leaning forward from the head of the altar one hand carefully
brushing tangled blood matted hair away from her face. Another lower groan
signaled Willow’s slip back into unconsciousness, even as the rest of the
Scooby Gang gathered around the altar trying to get a look at Willow.