jesterladyfic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jesterladyfic) wrote2008-11-13 12:59 pm
jesterladyfic) wrote2008-11-13 12:59 pm
Spiked Faith With a Touch of Nerd: Chapter Four
Chapter Four:
Faith stepped off of the runway into Vi’s waiting arms. Faith was still uncomfortable with the nervous redhead’s eager, touchy-feely-ness, but she understood that Vi had been through a lot in the Sunnydale experience and was anxious to be with anybody who had known her there and who could help her to feel comfortable. Vi was obviously less anxious to see Spike, who she had been majorly scared of during their training time. However, being a Slayer had matured her confidence amazingly and she gave him a shy wave and accepted Andrew’s hug.
“So, you guys couldn’t-couldn’t find Buffy?”
“No, but we’d appreciate a good sleep before we do find her,” Spike said a bit shortly.
Spike’s nerves were drawing taut over the dead ends they kept finding. Good fights, oh yeah, traveling the world, that too, but not finding Buffy, not good. He couldn’t take it and he was about to snap. Faith could tell, having had some experience with snapping herself, and she knew that one mis-timed word from Andrew would have the nerd at the bottom of the deep ravine she and Spike had spied from an airplane window and thought would be a good place to hide Andrew’s body.
“Let’s just get Blondie here back to the house and pick up again in the morning, ok, Vi?”
The Slayer nodded and led the way to the car.
They drove through the silent streets with occasional sounds of a brawl drifting in through the open windows, capably being taken care of by their sister Slayers. Five Slayers lived there permanently with others dropping in. It was sort of a home port for them, a chance to learn and grow with Faith and experience a lot of demonic activity not found in other parts of the world, unless one were in Eastern Europe.
They pulled up to the two-story house that Faith rented with the other girls; it was a bit cramped for them, but they managed with the money the new Council paid them. Spike stalked thankfully into the house and dropped into the first chair he saw.
“Boys, there’s a basement you can share.” Faith showed them the way to the stairs.
“Why’s it always the ruddy basement?” Spike asked, sounding frustrated. “I mean, why can’t people stash me in the attic or the shed or something? How about a laundry room, then? They’re nice, I hear.”
Faith laughed heartily.
“Don’t worry, boss. This basement’s got all the creature comforts a guy who used to live in a crypt could want.”
They descended the stairs and found an ample living space with actual beds there. It had been converted to be a room for the girls who were passing through and was quite comfortable. Spike and Andrew relaxed and Andrew flung himself onto a bed, testing its bouncing capabilities.
“Pillow fight, Spike!” he said excitedly.
Spike shot him a glare and like a true vampire, lay himself on the bed with his hands across his breast and slept like the dead.
Faith shook her head.
“Sorry, Andy, looks like you’ll have to hit yourself with that pillow. Just don’t make any noise.”
Andrew nodded, hyper from all the time-change, and settled himself quietly into his bed before shooting up again and asking the departing Faith,
“Wait! I need a tooth brush. With all the excitement my teeth haven’t been cleaned properly since Rome!”
***
The next morning they sat down to breakfast, Spike enjoying a mugful of steaming blood mixed with Wheatabix he’d intimidated Vi into running to the store for. Faith was wolfing down bacon and eggs like no one’s business. Vi sipped a protein shake slowly, turning up her nose at the flavor, but stubbornly getting it down anyway. Andrew maneuvered toast toward his mouth with a casual precision and then ruined the effect by making loud yummy noises upon the taste. The other Slayers were still in bed, resting from their labors of the previous night.
“So…what are you guys gonna do?” Vi asked.
“We could use your help, Vi,” Faith told her.
The red-head nodded.
“Of course. But you guys know what’s going on, not me. So what do we do?”
“Where’s the exact location of the Hellmouth, Rogue?”
“Under a dinky little market off Fifth and Quarterly,” she answered.
“Well, second Hell means second Hell, so let’s start there. You got sewers - good ones - here?”
“Not quite like the vamp playground you’re used to. Cleveland didn’t have quite the visionary Sunnydale did.” Faith’s face twisted up a little bit at this oblique mention of the Mayor, but she shook it off. Spike noted it like he noted everything, but he ignored it. Everything took back seat to finding Buffy.
“You think we could go there now or should we wait till nightfall?”
“We should wait. There’s a blocked-in area in every direction around it for a mile. Somebody’s idea of containment. Not vamp-friendly.”
Spike sighed, but nodded.
“You guys should rest,” Vi put in timidly. “I don’t know what you guys have been through, but it looks like it was rough.”
“Tell me about it.” Faith gingerly put her hand on the still tender bullet wound on her right arm. “Rest sounds fab right now.”
“Then tonight we’ll be five by five and ready to kick some demon ass, right, Faith?” Andrew asked eagerly.
She stared at him for a moment and then laughed.
“Spike, you and I are a bad influence on him.”
“Hey!” Andrew shot back. “I am way worthy of my own influencing. Buffy taught me how to defend myself and Giles showed me how to shoot and I am eighty percent more manly than before. Which is really good and cool, like a movie where the underdog rises up through hard work, perseverance and a montage to beat the bully terrorizing his old neighborhood.”
Vi almost looked impressed, which was unusual, considering she knew all about Andrew and had lived in the same house with him.
Spike and Faith just looked at each other and walked toward the basement to train. There wasn’t much room down there, but it would be enough to warm them up for whatever the night would hold.
“Whatever happened to resting?” Andrew asked in bewilderment.
***
Later that day a knock sounded on the front door and Vi went to answer it. As she pulled it open there was a whooshing sound and something flickered in her sight, but when she turned to look, no one was there.
Vi shivered, but forced herself to relax and reach out with her senses. Something had been there, some force, but it was gone now. Looking down, she spied a crisp white envelope addressed to William the Bloody. Frowning, she picked it up and carried it downstairs.
Entering the basement, she saw Spike fly to the other end and hit the wall with a smash. Vi gasped, thinking an enemy was around, but all she saw was Faith, panting and laughing.
Then there was a whirl of motion and she saw Faith with her arms stretched out behind her clenched in Spike’s grip, his right leg draped across hers keeping them from moving and his teeth buried in her neck.
“Dude, so against the rules,” Faith snapped, body relaxed.
Vi relaxed too.
“And so was that stunt you pulled back there, luv,” he replied, letting go.
“You asked for it, Blondie,” she told him, grinning.
“Been around a lot longer than you, pet. I know that game.” Spike looked up and saw Vi standing there. “What’s up, ducks?”
“S-somebody left this message,” she answered, blushing. “But I think they have the wrong house. Do we know William the Bloody?”
Spike laughed heartily.
“Why, Flower, I’m surprised at you, not knowing one of the most infamous vampires in recorded history! Tsk! Somebody gets a bad training award, Rogue.”
Faith shoved Spike hard.
“As if she needs to know about your sorry-ass past.”
“It’s y-you?” Vi asked, blushing even harder, especially over her new name.
“Absolutely, pet. Let’s have it then.”
Vi handed him the envelope and he opened it to reveal an ornate flowing script that read:
‘William the Bloody,
What you seek will not be found the way you think it will. Bring the Slayer and the Watcher to me and we shall see if we can’t arrange something better. Lendham’s Studio. Seven o’clock. Make no mistake; I will carve your flesh from your bones and this time, you will not escape.’
There was no signature.
“Where’s this?” He showed it to Faith.
“North part of town. We going?”
“Yeah, let’s stop with the stumbling for answers and get some.”
“Okay. Vi, tell His Geekiness what’s up, k?”
“Sure.” Vi turned and hastily went for the stairs, the other two's words fading away.
“We ready for a big, honking trap, boss? Not exactly your smartest move.”
“What can I say? I’ve never been the smart one.”
***
Spike opened the door to the studio, gesturing Vi and Faith through. Andrew hurried up out of breath,
“You guys left me behind on purpose! No fair using the Slayer and Vampyre speed!”
Faith snorted. They moved through the hallway, all senses alert.
“You know,” Spike commented absently, “it’s nice going into a fight with weapons.”
“With you there, Blondie. The last two were annoying that way.”
“Whatever happened to Buffy’s magic scythe/axe thingy?” he asked. “Be handy about now.”
“B didn’t think it was fair to keep it. Said she wasn’t the only Slayer anymore and everyone should have the right to wield it.”
“So what, it’s the circulating Slayer Scythe of Doom now?”
“Something like that. Each Slayer gets it for a short while. I got it first. I think it’s in Peru now.”
They entered a well-lit training room. Nobody was there.
“Dead end, boss.”
Spike turned around and sniffed the air experimentally. A slow grin spread over his face.
“No, something’s here. I can smell it.”
“Then where-“ Faith began, but something hit her and she flew across the room and slammed head-first into one of the mirrors, shattering it.
Spike spun around and tackled whatever it was. It turned slippery in his grasp and he was kicked off easily and lay stunned.
The creature whirled in a blaze of light and then separated into two separate forms. The first was a man in his late thirties with brown hair, longish features and spectacles. The second, a demon, was covered in muscles that bulged under its black skin, its webbed feet gripping the floor with razor-sharp claws that had their twins on its scaly hands.
Fanatical hatred and primal anger gleamed out of both their eyes which shared the color of glowing scarlet.
Andrew screamed and then hustled Vi toward the fallen Faith.
“Get her! Get her! Spike, get up!”
“I’m fine.” Spike rose to his feet and started toward the evil pair. Andrew struggled to hold him back.
“We have to get out of here. You can’t fight that!”
“Why the bloody hell not?”
“Tell you later, just trust me.”
Spike hesitated, then nodded. Andrew ran toward the door and held it open for Vi who was carrying the unconscious Faith. Spike played rearguard.
The two forms laughed simultaneously and in the exact same way and let them go.
***
Faith awoke outside and Vi set her down and they all ran. The minute they set foot in the house, Spike wheeled on Andrew.
“What was that all about?”
”Yeah, Andy! Whatever happened to being eighty percent more manly?” Faith asked weakly, pressing her hand to her bleeding head.
Vi rushed to the kitchen to get medical supplies. Every Slayer’s kitchen was well-equipped with such things.
“That was something that can’t be killed, Spike,” Andrew explained. “It’s a joined summoning. Muy locomo.”
Spike was confused.
“Locomo? What?”
“Very crazy. Don’t you speak Mexican?”
Faith rolled her eyes. She’d dropped out of high school, but even she knew that it was loco, not locomo.
Andrew continued. “I do, ever since I became one when Warren left and Jonathan and I fled to-“
Spike moved closer menacingly.
“What is that thing and how do I kill it?”
“It’s two separate beings joined as one, absolutely un-killable until their bond is broken. I know cause I’m an expert on summoning demons. I read about it in this book where this cool vampire hunter-“
“How do we do the breaking thing?” Spike asked, visibly calming a bit as he spied a possible solution.
“Together they’re invulnerable and wield at their command every witchy cool power that you’ve ever seen in a superhero movie, but apart, they’re only as strong as themselves.” Andrew thought hard for a minute. “I could try to reverse the summoning which would break their bond.”
“Can you do that from here?” Faith asked, busily cleaning her wound.
“No, I’d have to be in the same room so I could get the right signature and pitch, and so that he’d hear me.”
“So we go in full guns, you do your magic mojo and presto, Rogue and I kick the demon all the way back to hell?”
“Theoretically, a sound notion, Captain,” Andrew said, obviously trying to sound like Data. “However, I should mention the probability of success is…” He turned sheepish. “Well, I’m not sure of the numbers at this precise moment, but be assured they’re low.”
“Just get whatever gear you need ready,” Spike answered and then tromped off to the kitchen.
Andrew looked startled, as if that part of the equation hadn’t occurred to him before.
“I don’t think I have the proper- wait! Behold, the last vestiges of my former power,” and so saying, Andrew brought forth from his coat pocket a small set of panpipes taken from the rubble of 1630 Revello Drive.
“Gee, cool toy. Wish I had one,” Faith said, unimpressed.
“With this power, with this tool, with this ring, I shall rule them all and restore order to the Galaxy,” Andrew said, making his voice deep.
“Hate to break it to you, kid, it’s not a ring.”
He looked flustered.
“Must you always ruin the moment? I meant, using fictional examples, that this would break the joining and reduce the Minetti beast and his Master to mere pawns to be played with at our will.”
“You talk too much. Just say what you mean and be done with it, will ya?” Faith gathered up her medical supplies and walked into the kitchen.
Andrew sighed and started preparing his notes of music. Vi offered him a small smile and said she was going upstairs to relate what had transpired to the other Slayers, whom they would most likely need in their upcoming fight.
***
“Got to hand it to the boy,” Spike remarked ruefully to Faith in the kitchen. “His info’s coming in handy. He hadn’t gotten us out of there, we’d probably be dead.”
“Guess you’re right. He has changed. Well, a tiny bit,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t ever tell him that, though.”
“Why not? Let’s treat him with more respect, see how he handles it. Might push him over the edge,” Spike suggested with a persuasive grin.
“Little bits of bad still left, I see. Deal.”
“Get set then, we’ll need all your baby Slayers for brute force. And lots of weapons.”
“Now you’re talking my language.”
***
“Just breathe now, Andrew. You’re gonna do a real bang-up job. Remember, we’ve all got your back and you’ll have two baby Slayers watching out for you,” Spike reassured Andrew on the way back to the studio.
He was looking slightly green, but resolved, though he did shoot Spike a quick double-take upon Spike’s tone and words.
“He calls us baby Slayers one more time and I’m gonna slay him!” a short, brunette Slayer named Felicia muttered to Vi.
Spike’s hearing caught it and he laughed.
“Welcome to try, Wonder Girl, but warnings in advance, yeah?”
Felicia glared at him, but subsided at Faith’s nudge.
“Blondie here’s just a touch above us lowly mortals, gotta give him his due,” she said dryly.
Spike gave her an eyebrow lift before shifting his eyes quickly to Andrew and back. She got the point.
“Andy, don’t be nervous. We’re all behind ya and you know this demon’s gonna wish it never got up today.”
“Are you two drunk?” he asked.
They laughed.
“Nah, just decided to give you the encouragement you deserve there, boy. Big job you’re doing us today,” Spike answered, grinning.
Andrew just looked weirded out.
“Let’s go, boys and girls.” Faith opened the door to the studio and they all ushered in.
***
Faith and Spike separated upon entering the training room. Vi followed left with Spike and Felicia right with Faith. Andrew fell back with Paige and Heather guarding him.
Spike took on the man, who seemed delighted to have him, though, with the demon and man being one, it was difficult to tell they had separate emotions. Spike swore as the man lifted his fingers and fire flew out of their tips, straight for Vi. Spike knocked her to the ground and the fire flew over, searing them with heat as it passed. Spike looked up and saw the man laughing and then extending his fingers again. This time frost flowed out and formed icicles at the tips and then they were shot from the fingers, aiming for Spike’s heart.
“Won’t kill you, vampire! But we’re here to have fun after all.”
The man laughed again maniacally and another set of five icicles headed for Vi. She flipped over the top of them and then gasped as they boomeranged and came flying back toward her. She kicked three out of the way and grabbed the other two from the air, flinging them towards the man. A wind blew up around him and they started to swirl away back towards her. She grabbed them again and smashed them to the floor. Now a white energy came from his eyes and twisted around her, squeezing tighter and tighter as she struggled.
Spike had used his axe to smash the icicles into pieces and then leapt for the man. The man’s hand waved vaguely in front of him and Spike froze in the air and then started to move in slow motion down with his fist raised to punch. The man walked casually out of the way and time moved back to normal and Spike slammed into the floor.
“Not very impressive. Not as good when you aren’t a ghost, I see. Well, let’s give you credit, perhaps I’ve improved with the generations.” So saying, the man picked Spike up and held him over his head and then threw Spike toward the ceiling so he crashed into the light fixtures and then into the wall. “Let’s see if we can’t get you to hell this time.”
***
Faith was having just as bad a time as the other two. Felicia had been knocked out within the first few minutes by a mirror the Minetti had telekinetically torn off the wall and flung at her head. Using the distraction time its gloating gave her, Faith had swung her sword and lopped off its head. Panting, she fell back and watched with horror as its fingers twitched and pointed them at itself and a new head slowly came up out of its body, scarlet flame for eyes still in place.
“Come on, Blackie,” she called, “fight like a demon, use your flesh and bone!”
The Minetti laughed and looked at his claws as they lengthened into ten doubled-edged swords. Heather saw Faith’s difficulty and tossed her another sword. Faith held two and the monster ten. Battle was joined.
***
Andrew frantically drew a circle around himself with some chalk he’d brought from the house.
“Remember, girls, don’t let anything cross this circle.”
They nodded and then had to do just that when the leftover flying icicles headed for Andrew as well as some fragments of the mirror. Andrew sat cross-legged in the circle and muttered a few words. Blue light flared in a circle around the edges and he began to sweat. He got out his panpipes and pursing his lips, began to play them in a slow, halting beat.
***
Spike lay on the floor stunned, then got pissed and flipped to his feet. He whirled to face the man, who was just about to use his white energy to twist Vi’s head off. Spike grabbed his axe lying on the floor and hurled it at the man’s back. It sunk deep into the spine. Casually the man turned and plucked it from his back. The energy around Vi lessened and she dropped to the floor gasping and then started as all the icicle and mirror fragments formed together to make a mini-Minetti beast with jagged sharp edges, all hurled at her.
Wincing slightly, the man whispered two words and the axe sized hole in his back closed over. Spike squinted at the man as he stalked toward him.
“Pavayne?” he asked in disbelief.
Pavayne chuckled and nodded his head graciously.
“The one and the same. Don’t look so surprised, William. I’m an expert at cheating death.”
“But we didn’t kill you! You’re there, in LA, in a box,” Spike stuttered.
“Yes, I am. But I’m also here. You see I knew I would someday be forced into hell. So I devised a way to stay out as well, to lessen the pain of that experience,” Pavayne said and grabbed Spike by the collar and flung him across the room again.
“How?” Spike asked as blood spluttered out of his mouth.
“Quite simple. A little spell. I would be reborn every second son for every generation of my family. I am fully in LA, and fully in my great great-grandson’s body. But I experience both and being shut up in a box is not very pleasant. It’s not quite how I thought it would be, you see, so when I heard about this little opportunity I decided to join and get a little payback. The demon summoning was just precaution. You understand, purely business.”
Pavayne grew his own claws out and slashed at Spike’s chest, who roared in pain and fell to one knee, then brought his other knee up into Pavayne’s groin and flipped backward to his feet again.
“Tsk. Tsk. Spike, will you never learn? I am not to be dealt with so lightly.” Spike’s axe flew to Pavayne’s hand and he bashed it across Spike’s head.
Spike dropped like a stone and he feebly raised his head and whispered,
“It’s not bloody possible.”
“William, the only things in this life that aren’t possible are leprechauns.”
Pavayne’s head snapped around as they heard Andrew nearing the end of his litany.
***
Faith fell to the floor, one knee barely usable, her torso covered in shallow cuts. Stubbornly, she rose to her feet again. She was good, but this thing had more speed and resiliency then she’d ever had and nothing she did to it would slow it down. Faltering wearily, she barely managed to parry a thrust for her ribs. Her arms moved sluggishly and the demon pressed in harder, sensing the kill.
***
Andrew screamed as he felt the summoning begin to break and the magical pressure build up. Pavayne send a bolt of lightening hissing straight toward Andrew and Paige leapt in front of him catching it through the chest. Tears poured down his face, but Andrew sounded the final note and watched in satisfaction as the scarlet flame in their eyes flared brightly and then died.
***
The fragment Minetti burst into light and Vi sighed a huge sigh of relief. Glancing at Spike, she saw him motion her to go help Paige.
Spike tapped Pavayne on the shoulder, who looked down at his normal hands.
“Is it me or do we do this thing a lot, where you nearly kill me and
then I kick your ass? Rules have changed again, bucko.”
Spike slammed his fist into Pavayne’s face and he flew across the room and hit the wall with a loud thud. Spike strode over, picked him up again and tossed him against the other wall.
“How’s it feel this time, mate? Still painful? Oh, good.”
Pavayne’s mouth was covered in blood and he could barely speak, but he managed a parting shot.
“I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.” He pulled out a stake from
his sleeve and, as Spike was leaning right over him, it wouldn’t be hard to miss.
“Not now!” Spike’s eyes flared with emotion. “I got my girl to find. I don’t have bloody time for this!”
He had no choice but to pull off Pavayne’s head with his hands. The stake fell from Pavayne’s loosened grip and clattered uselessly to the floor.
***
Faith felt the Minetti’s strength decrease as it backhanded her and the claws retracted to their usual size.
“Oh goody, now I get to kill you.” The beast slashed at her with the claws, she ducked and felt her second wind come on. “This is where the fun starts.”
She planted her left foot solidly in the demon’s stomach and knocked it to the wall. It caught hold of her foot and twisted it to the left, spinning her body so that her right leg came up and over her other one and she landed firmly on it, and then with her original foot, snapped it back and struck the Minetti’s neck, popping it with a loud crack. It slid to the floor, leaving oily, wet ooze down the wall.
Faith smiled and then picked a rousing Felicia up off the floor, admonishing her.
“How many times I gotta tell you to duck? Lucky you’re not mirror-smooshed.” Faith grimaced. “Great, now I’m starting to sound like B.”
***
Andrew rose, shaking, out of his circle and knelt over Paige with Vi and Heather.
“She’s gonna be okay, right? She’s not dead, right?”
“Relax, Andy, looks like she’ll be just fine.” Faith came up, supporting the woozy Felicia. “We should get her to the hospital though.”
“We’ll take her and Felicia,” Vi said and gestured to Heather to help her get the two of them out.
Faith relinquished her hold and the four Slayers left, leaving the three travelers blinking at each other.
“Well done there, Andrew,” Spike admired. “Couldn’t have done it without you and your panpipes.”
“Yup, owe you our lives,” Faith put in.
“Yeah, thanks.” Andrew still looked green. “Can we go home now? I think I’m going to be sick.”
***
The report from the hospital was good. Vi called to say that Felicia had a slight concussion and with Slayer healing should be good as new the next day. Paige was in more serious condition, but with her healing abilities she’d be fine with time. Heather and Vi were being treated for minor cuts and bruises. The story they fed the hospital was that they’d been driving a car and crashed into a power line; the other three had been thrown from the car while Paige had received a jolt from the loose power line whipping around. They were all going to stay the night in the hospital, so the First Slayer Rescue Brigade relaxed and treated Faith’s and Spike’s cuts at the house while discussing their next move.
“Dude, we forgot to look for a new ring-around-the-rosy message.” Faith slapped her head, and then winced at the pain.
“Not to worry, Rogue, snatched it from Spell-boy’s pockets.” Spike put the ragged piece of paper in Andrew’s hands deferentially. “So, where we headed, Andrew?”
Instead of answering, Andrew looked put out.
“Why are you guys treating me so nicely? It’s not funny.”
“What? We just think you deserve it after today.”
“It started before my spell. Is it a joke or a plan to get me to do something stupid? I don’t appreciate it. It’s not very nice.”
“Oh, you want us to treat you mean then? Okay,” Spike said, grinning.
Andrew looked at him determinedly.
“I’m serious. I want you to treat me normally. Whether you like it or not, I’m a part of the team and I have a part to play and I can do it.”
Faith looked slightly abashed.
“We’re just joking with you, Andy. No harm meant.”
“Fine. I know you guys think I’m a geeky loser who wanted to come solely for the purpose of annoying you, but that’s not all I am. Give me a chance. A man can change.”
Those last words caught Spike’s ear and he grimaced, remembering somebody else saying those words and having them brutally rejected.
“I’m sorry, mate. You’re right, it’s possible. You did do a good job today and you earned your right to be here. Let’s try to leave the past behind us, yeah?”
“Absolutely, moi Capitan.” Andrew perked right back up.
Faith nodded in agreement.
“Let’s just figure where all three of us are going, okay? No more tender mushy stuff. Gives me the creeps and Junior here will probably want to hug.” She nudged Andrew slightly and he nearly toppled over.
“So location then?” Spike asked.
Andrew smoothed out the paper and read.
“ ‘Your number now three and your first Slay,
A place for Territory and to get laid.’ “
Faith and Andrew looked at Spike.
He winced.
“What? I’m gonna have to find this bloke and kill him before he reveals anymore of my past.”
“Any of this have to do with writing, boss?” Faith probed.
He ignored her.
“We’ll stay here and get rested up while waiting for the potion Dad is sending us and then it’s off to China.”
Andrew gasped and his hands went to his heart.
“Really? Do we get to relive more of your exciting and adventure-ridden past, whilst braving our way past unspeakable monsters and salivating, revenge-driven, simultaneous ghosts/reborn-sorcerer ex-murderers?”
Spike glared at him.
“Now you’re just faking.”
***
Buffy forced her eyes open, straining to see outside the dull throbbing of her head. She was in a plain, unadorned room that looked like a servant’s room she’d seen in a movie once. Manacles bound her wrists to twin columns and she was dressed in the same clothes she’d worn when she’d gone out to fight the Immortal. She winced painfully and struggled feebly at the chains, no strength in her limbs. What had happened to her?
“You should rest, sweet. Your strength is not what it was.”
“What did you do?” Buffy’s voice was sharp despite the trouble she had in forming words.
“I believe you’ve heard of the Cruciamentum?”
Her eyes shot up and she glared.
“Do I look eighteen to you? Perfect, I’ve been drugged again. What do you want?” Buffy’s eyes scanned the room and finally focused on a cloaked figure hidden in the shadows, seated in a chair by the door.
The figure shook as rich laughter floated out from it.
“Relax, you are my honored guest. After all, this is not about you.”
“I beg to differ,” Buffy forced out. “Seeing as I’m the one in the chains, something about me had to matter.”
“Concession. But all we need from you is the fact that someone else needs something from you.”
“I’m bait,” she stated flatly. “I hate being bait. That’s Cordelia’s job, now let me out!”
The figure leaned back in the chair.
“You’ll soon realize how little a threat you are to us, but consider the chains a compliment. Powerless you may be, but you do possess a certain skill and knowledge that could prove formidable. Precaution, my dear, you understand.”
Buffy rolled her eyes.
“You know what? Unless you have something important to say, I’m gonna get some beauty sleep, seeing as I haven’t been so bored since Dracula was in town.” She closed her eyes and put her head down.
The figure leaned forward again in interest.
“Not even to hear news of your demon lover and how desperately he searches for you?”
She didn’t bother to open her eyes.
“I am so sick of this Angel crap. We are over! Would people just get a clue? I mean, come on! My demon lover, as you put it...” Buffy swallowed hard “...is dead. So let’s leave the condolences for later, I have some sleeping to do.”
“You speak of William the Bloody? So do I.”
Buffy’s head snapped up so fast she could feel the whiplash.
“Spike? Alive! You wanna run that by me again?”
Faith stepped off of the runway into Vi’s waiting arms. Faith was still uncomfortable with the nervous redhead’s eager, touchy-feely-ness, but she understood that Vi had been through a lot in the Sunnydale experience and was anxious to be with anybody who had known her there and who could help her to feel comfortable. Vi was obviously less anxious to see Spike, who she had been majorly scared of during their training time. However, being a Slayer had matured her confidence amazingly and she gave him a shy wave and accepted Andrew’s hug.
“So, you guys couldn’t-couldn’t find Buffy?”
“No, but we’d appreciate a good sleep before we do find her,” Spike said a bit shortly.
Spike’s nerves were drawing taut over the dead ends they kept finding. Good fights, oh yeah, traveling the world, that too, but not finding Buffy, not good. He couldn’t take it and he was about to snap. Faith could tell, having had some experience with snapping herself, and she knew that one mis-timed word from Andrew would have the nerd at the bottom of the deep ravine she and Spike had spied from an airplane window and thought would be a good place to hide Andrew’s body.
“Let’s just get Blondie here back to the house and pick up again in the morning, ok, Vi?”
The Slayer nodded and led the way to the car.
They drove through the silent streets with occasional sounds of a brawl drifting in through the open windows, capably being taken care of by their sister Slayers. Five Slayers lived there permanently with others dropping in. It was sort of a home port for them, a chance to learn and grow with Faith and experience a lot of demonic activity not found in other parts of the world, unless one were in Eastern Europe.
They pulled up to the two-story house that Faith rented with the other girls; it was a bit cramped for them, but they managed with the money the new Council paid them. Spike stalked thankfully into the house and dropped into the first chair he saw.
“Boys, there’s a basement you can share.” Faith showed them the way to the stairs.
“Why’s it always the ruddy basement?” Spike asked, sounding frustrated. “I mean, why can’t people stash me in the attic or the shed or something? How about a laundry room, then? They’re nice, I hear.”
Faith laughed heartily.
“Don’t worry, boss. This basement’s got all the creature comforts a guy who used to live in a crypt could want.”
They descended the stairs and found an ample living space with actual beds there. It had been converted to be a room for the girls who were passing through and was quite comfortable. Spike and Andrew relaxed and Andrew flung himself onto a bed, testing its bouncing capabilities.
“Pillow fight, Spike!” he said excitedly.
Spike shot him a glare and like a true vampire, lay himself on the bed with his hands across his breast and slept like the dead.
Faith shook her head.
“Sorry, Andy, looks like you’ll have to hit yourself with that pillow. Just don’t make any noise.”
Andrew nodded, hyper from all the time-change, and settled himself quietly into his bed before shooting up again and asking the departing Faith,
“Wait! I need a tooth brush. With all the excitement my teeth haven’t been cleaned properly since Rome!”
***
The next morning they sat down to breakfast, Spike enjoying a mugful of steaming blood mixed with Wheatabix he’d intimidated Vi into running to the store for. Faith was wolfing down bacon and eggs like no one’s business. Vi sipped a protein shake slowly, turning up her nose at the flavor, but stubbornly getting it down anyway. Andrew maneuvered toast toward his mouth with a casual precision and then ruined the effect by making loud yummy noises upon the taste. The other Slayers were still in bed, resting from their labors of the previous night.
“So…what are you guys gonna do?” Vi asked.
“We could use your help, Vi,” Faith told her.
The red-head nodded.
“Of course. But you guys know what’s going on, not me. So what do we do?”
“Where’s the exact location of the Hellmouth, Rogue?”
“Under a dinky little market off Fifth and Quarterly,” she answered.
“Well, second Hell means second Hell, so let’s start there. You got sewers - good ones - here?”
“Not quite like the vamp playground you’re used to. Cleveland didn’t have quite the visionary Sunnydale did.” Faith’s face twisted up a little bit at this oblique mention of the Mayor, but she shook it off. Spike noted it like he noted everything, but he ignored it. Everything took back seat to finding Buffy.
“You think we could go there now or should we wait till nightfall?”
“We should wait. There’s a blocked-in area in every direction around it for a mile. Somebody’s idea of containment. Not vamp-friendly.”
Spike sighed, but nodded.
“You guys should rest,” Vi put in timidly. “I don’t know what you guys have been through, but it looks like it was rough.”
“Tell me about it.” Faith gingerly put her hand on the still tender bullet wound on her right arm. “Rest sounds fab right now.”
“Then tonight we’ll be five by five and ready to kick some demon ass, right, Faith?” Andrew asked eagerly.
She stared at him for a moment and then laughed.
“Spike, you and I are a bad influence on him.”
“Hey!” Andrew shot back. “I am way worthy of my own influencing. Buffy taught me how to defend myself and Giles showed me how to shoot and I am eighty percent more manly than before. Which is really good and cool, like a movie where the underdog rises up through hard work, perseverance and a montage to beat the bully terrorizing his old neighborhood.”
Vi almost looked impressed, which was unusual, considering she knew all about Andrew and had lived in the same house with him.
Spike and Faith just looked at each other and walked toward the basement to train. There wasn’t much room down there, but it would be enough to warm them up for whatever the night would hold.
“Whatever happened to resting?” Andrew asked in bewilderment.
***
Later that day a knock sounded on the front door and Vi went to answer it. As she pulled it open there was a whooshing sound and something flickered in her sight, but when she turned to look, no one was there.
Vi shivered, but forced herself to relax and reach out with her senses. Something had been there, some force, but it was gone now. Looking down, she spied a crisp white envelope addressed to William the Bloody. Frowning, she picked it up and carried it downstairs.
Entering the basement, she saw Spike fly to the other end and hit the wall with a smash. Vi gasped, thinking an enemy was around, but all she saw was Faith, panting and laughing.
Then there was a whirl of motion and she saw Faith with her arms stretched out behind her clenched in Spike’s grip, his right leg draped across hers keeping them from moving and his teeth buried in her neck.
“Dude, so against the rules,” Faith snapped, body relaxed.
Vi relaxed too.
“And so was that stunt you pulled back there, luv,” he replied, letting go.
“You asked for it, Blondie,” she told him, grinning.
“Been around a lot longer than you, pet. I know that game.” Spike looked up and saw Vi standing there. “What’s up, ducks?”
“S-somebody left this message,” she answered, blushing. “But I think they have the wrong house. Do we know William the Bloody?”
Spike laughed heartily.
“Why, Flower, I’m surprised at you, not knowing one of the most infamous vampires in recorded history! Tsk! Somebody gets a bad training award, Rogue.”
Faith shoved Spike hard.
“As if she needs to know about your sorry-ass past.”
“It’s y-you?” Vi asked, blushing even harder, especially over her new name.
“Absolutely, pet. Let’s have it then.”
Vi handed him the envelope and he opened it to reveal an ornate flowing script that read:
‘William the Bloody,
What you seek will not be found the way you think it will. Bring the Slayer and the Watcher to me and we shall see if we can’t arrange something better. Lendham’s Studio. Seven o’clock. Make no mistake; I will carve your flesh from your bones and this time, you will not escape.’
There was no signature.
“Where’s this?” He showed it to Faith.
“North part of town. We going?”
“Yeah, let’s stop with the stumbling for answers and get some.”
“Okay. Vi, tell His Geekiness what’s up, k?”
“Sure.” Vi turned and hastily went for the stairs, the other two's words fading away.
“We ready for a big, honking trap, boss? Not exactly your smartest move.”
“What can I say? I’ve never been the smart one.”
***
Spike opened the door to the studio, gesturing Vi and Faith through. Andrew hurried up out of breath,
“You guys left me behind on purpose! No fair using the Slayer and Vampyre speed!”
Faith snorted. They moved through the hallway, all senses alert.
“You know,” Spike commented absently, “it’s nice going into a fight with weapons.”
“With you there, Blondie. The last two were annoying that way.”
“Whatever happened to Buffy’s magic scythe/axe thingy?” he asked. “Be handy about now.”
“B didn’t think it was fair to keep it. Said she wasn’t the only Slayer anymore and everyone should have the right to wield it.”
“So what, it’s the circulating Slayer Scythe of Doom now?”
“Something like that. Each Slayer gets it for a short while. I got it first. I think it’s in Peru now.”
They entered a well-lit training room. Nobody was there.
“Dead end, boss.”
Spike turned around and sniffed the air experimentally. A slow grin spread over his face.
“No, something’s here. I can smell it.”
“Then where-“ Faith began, but something hit her and she flew across the room and slammed head-first into one of the mirrors, shattering it.
Spike spun around and tackled whatever it was. It turned slippery in his grasp and he was kicked off easily and lay stunned.
The creature whirled in a blaze of light and then separated into two separate forms. The first was a man in his late thirties with brown hair, longish features and spectacles. The second, a demon, was covered in muscles that bulged under its black skin, its webbed feet gripping the floor with razor-sharp claws that had their twins on its scaly hands.
Fanatical hatred and primal anger gleamed out of both their eyes which shared the color of glowing scarlet.
Andrew screamed and then hustled Vi toward the fallen Faith.
“Get her! Get her! Spike, get up!”
“I’m fine.” Spike rose to his feet and started toward the evil pair. Andrew struggled to hold him back.
“We have to get out of here. You can’t fight that!”
“Why the bloody hell not?”
“Tell you later, just trust me.”
Spike hesitated, then nodded. Andrew ran toward the door and held it open for Vi who was carrying the unconscious Faith. Spike played rearguard.
The two forms laughed simultaneously and in the exact same way and let them go.
***
Faith awoke outside and Vi set her down and they all ran. The minute they set foot in the house, Spike wheeled on Andrew.
“What was that all about?”
”Yeah, Andy! Whatever happened to being eighty percent more manly?” Faith asked weakly, pressing her hand to her bleeding head.
Vi rushed to the kitchen to get medical supplies. Every Slayer’s kitchen was well-equipped with such things.
“That was something that can’t be killed, Spike,” Andrew explained. “It’s a joined summoning. Muy locomo.”
Spike was confused.
“Locomo? What?”
“Very crazy. Don’t you speak Mexican?”
Faith rolled her eyes. She’d dropped out of high school, but even she knew that it was loco, not locomo.
Andrew continued. “I do, ever since I became one when Warren left and Jonathan and I fled to-“
Spike moved closer menacingly.
“What is that thing and how do I kill it?”
“It’s two separate beings joined as one, absolutely un-killable until their bond is broken. I know cause I’m an expert on summoning demons. I read about it in this book where this cool vampire hunter-“
“How do we do the breaking thing?” Spike asked, visibly calming a bit as he spied a possible solution.
“Together they’re invulnerable and wield at their command every witchy cool power that you’ve ever seen in a superhero movie, but apart, they’re only as strong as themselves.” Andrew thought hard for a minute. “I could try to reverse the summoning which would break their bond.”
“Can you do that from here?” Faith asked, busily cleaning her wound.
“No, I’d have to be in the same room so I could get the right signature and pitch, and so that he’d hear me.”
“So we go in full guns, you do your magic mojo and presto, Rogue and I kick the demon all the way back to hell?”
“Theoretically, a sound notion, Captain,” Andrew said, obviously trying to sound like Data. “However, I should mention the probability of success is…” He turned sheepish. “Well, I’m not sure of the numbers at this precise moment, but be assured they’re low.”
“Just get whatever gear you need ready,” Spike answered and then tromped off to the kitchen.
Andrew looked startled, as if that part of the equation hadn’t occurred to him before.
“I don’t think I have the proper- wait! Behold, the last vestiges of my former power,” and so saying, Andrew brought forth from his coat pocket a small set of panpipes taken from the rubble of 1630 Revello Drive.
“Gee, cool toy. Wish I had one,” Faith said, unimpressed.
“With this power, with this tool, with this ring, I shall rule them all and restore order to the Galaxy,” Andrew said, making his voice deep.
“Hate to break it to you, kid, it’s not a ring.”
He looked flustered.
“Must you always ruin the moment? I meant, using fictional examples, that this would break the joining and reduce the Minetti beast and his Master to mere pawns to be played with at our will.”
“You talk too much. Just say what you mean and be done with it, will ya?” Faith gathered up her medical supplies and walked into the kitchen.
Andrew sighed and started preparing his notes of music. Vi offered him a small smile and said she was going upstairs to relate what had transpired to the other Slayers, whom they would most likely need in their upcoming fight.
***
“Got to hand it to the boy,” Spike remarked ruefully to Faith in the kitchen. “His info’s coming in handy. He hadn’t gotten us out of there, we’d probably be dead.”
“Guess you’re right. He has changed. Well, a tiny bit,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t ever tell him that, though.”
“Why not? Let’s treat him with more respect, see how he handles it. Might push him over the edge,” Spike suggested with a persuasive grin.
“Little bits of bad still left, I see. Deal.”
“Get set then, we’ll need all your baby Slayers for brute force. And lots of weapons.”
“Now you’re talking my language.”
***
“Just breathe now, Andrew. You’re gonna do a real bang-up job. Remember, we’ve all got your back and you’ll have two baby Slayers watching out for you,” Spike reassured Andrew on the way back to the studio.
He was looking slightly green, but resolved, though he did shoot Spike a quick double-take upon Spike’s tone and words.
“He calls us baby Slayers one more time and I’m gonna slay him!” a short, brunette Slayer named Felicia muttered to Vi.
Spike’s hearing caught it and he laughed.
“Welcome to try, Wonder Girl, but warnings in advance, yeah?”
Felicia glared at him, but subsided at Faith’s nudge.
“Blondie here’s just a touch above us lowly mortals, gotta give him his due,” she said dryly.
Spike gave her an eyebrow lift before shifting his eyes quickly to Andrew and back. She got the point.
“Andy, don’t be nervous. We’re all behind ya and you know this demon’s gonna wish it never got up today.”
“Are you two drunk?” he asked.
They laughed.
“Nah, just decided to give you the encouragement you deserve there, boy. Big job you’re doing us today,” Spike answered, grinning.
Andrew just looked weirded out.
“Let’s go, boys and girls.” Faith opened the door to the studio and they all ushered in.
***
Faith and Spike separated upon entering the training room. Vi followed left with Spike and Felicia right with Faith. Andrew fell back with Paige and Heather guarding him.
Spike took on the man, who seemed delighted to have him, though, with the demon and man being one, it was difficult to tell they had separate emotions. Spike swore as the man lifted his fingers and fire flew out of their tips, straight for Vi. Spike knocked her to the ground and the fire flew over, searing them with heat as it passed. Spike looked up and saw the man laughing and then extending his fingers again. This time frost flowed out and formed icicles at the tips and then they were shot from the fingers, aiming for Spike’s heart.
“Won’t kill you, vampire! But we’re here to have fun after all.”
The man laughed again maniacally and another set of five icicles headed for Vi. She flipped over the top of them and then gasped as they boomeranged and came flying back toward her. She kicked three out of the way and grabbed the other two from the air, flinging them towards the man. A wind blew up around him and they started to swirl away back towards her. She grabbed them again and smashed them to the floor. Now a white energy came from his eyes and twisted around her, squeezing tighter and tighter as she struggled.
Spike had used his axe to smash the icicles into pieces and then leapt for the man. The man’s hand waved vaguely in front of him and Spike froze in the air and then started to move in slow motion down with his fist raised to punch. The man walked casually out of the way and time moved back to normal and Spike slammed into the floor.
“Not very impressive. Not as good when you aren’t a ghost, I see. Well, let’s give you credit, perhaps I’ve improved with the generations.” So saying, the man picked Spike up and held him over his head and then threw Spike toward the ceiling so he crashed into the light fixtures and then into the wall. “Let’s see if we can’t get you to hell this time.”
***
Faith was having just as bad a time as the other two. Felicia had been knocked out within the first few minutes by a mirror the Minetti had telekinetically torn off the wall and flung at her head. Using the distraction time its gloating gave her, Faith had swung her sword and lopped off its head. Panting, she fell back and watched with horror as its fingers twitched and pointed them at itself and a new head slowly came up out of its body, scarlet flame for eyes still in place.
“Come on, Blackie,” she called, “fight like a demon, use your flesh and bone!”
The Minetti laughed and looked at his claws as they lengthened into ten doubled-edged swords. Heather saw Faith’s difficulty and tossed her another sword. Faith held two and the monster ten. Battle was joined.
***
Andrew frantically drew a circle around himself with some chalk he’d brought from the house.
“Remember, girls, don’t let anything cross this circle.”
They nodded and then had to do just that when the leftover flying icicles headed for Andrew as well as some fragments of the mirror. Andrew sat cross-legged in the circle and muttered a few words. Blue light flared in a circle around the edges and he began to sweat. He got out his panpipes and pursing his lips, began to play them in a slow, halting beat.
***
Spike lay on the floor stunned, then got pissed and flipped to his feet. He whirled to face the man, who was just about to use his white energy to twist Vi’s head off. Spike grabbed his axe lying on the floor and hurled it at the man’s back. It sunk deep into the spine. Casually the man turned and plucked it from his back. The energy around Vi lessened and she dropped to the floor gasping and then started as all the icicle and mirror fragments formed together to make a mini-Minetti beast with jagged sharp edges, all hurled at her.
Wincing slightly, the man whispered two words and the axe sized hole in his back closed over. Spike squinted at the man as he stalked toward him.
“Pavayne?” he asked in disbelief.
Pavayne chuckled and nodded his head graciously.
“The one and the same. Don’t look so surprised, William. I’m an expert at cheating death.”
“But we didn’t kill you! You’re there, in LA, in a box,” Spike stuttered.
“Yes, I am. But I’m also here. You see I knew I would someday be forced into hell. So I devised a way to stay out as well, to lessen the pain of that experience,” Pavayne said and grabbed Spike by the collar and flung him across the room again.
“How?” Spike asked as blood spluttered out of his mouth.
“Quite simple. A little spell. I would be reborn every second son for every generation of my family. I am fully in LA, and fully in my great great-grandson’s body. But I experience both and being shut up in a box is not very pleasant. It’s not quite how I thought it would be, you see, so when I heard about this little opportunity I decided to join and get a little payback. The demon summoning was just precaution. You understand, purely business.”
Pavayne grew his own claws out and slashed at Spike’s chest, who roared in pain and fell to one knee, then brought his other knee up into Pavayne’s groin and flipped backward to his feet again.
“Tsk. Tsk. Spike, will you never learn? I am not to be dealt with so lightly.” Spike’s axe flew to Pavayne’s hand and he bashed it across Spike’s head.
Spike dropped like a stone and he feebly raised his head and whispered,
“It’s not bloody possible.”
“William, the only things in this life that aren’t possible are leprechauns.”
Pavayne’s head snapped around as they heard Andrew nearing the end of his litany.
***
Faith fell to the floor, one knee barely usable, her torso covered in shallow cuts. Stubbornly, she rose to her feet again. She was good, but this thing had more speed and resiliency then she’d ever had and nothing she did to it would slow it down. Faltering wearily, she barely managed to parry a thrust for her ribs. Her arms moved sluggishly and the demon pressed in harder, sensing the kill.
***
Andrew screamed as he felt the summoning begin to break and the magical pressure build up. Pavayne send a bolt of lightening hissing straight toward Andrew and Paige leapt in front of him catching it through the chest. Tears poured down his face, but Andrew sounded the final note and watched in satisfaction as the scarlet flame in their eyes flared brightly and then died.
***
The fragment Minetti burst into light and Vi sighed a huge sigh of relief. Glancing at Spike, she saw him motion her to go help Paige.
Spike tapped Pavayne on the shoulder, who looked down at his normal hands.
“Is it me or do we do this thing a lot, where you nearly kill me and
then I kick your ass? Rules have changed again, bucko.”
Spike slammed his fist into Pavayne’s face and he flew across the room and hit the wall with a loud thud. Spike strode over, picked him up again and tossed him against the other wall.
“How’s it feel this time, mate? Still painful? Oh, good.”
Pavayne’s mouth was covered in blood and he could barely speak, but he managed a parting shot.
“I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.” He pulled out a stake from
his sleeve and, as Spike was leaning right over him, it wouldn’t be hard to miss.
“Not now!” Spike’s eyes flared with emotion. “I got my girl to find. I don’t have bloody time for this!”
He had no choice but to pull off Pavayne’s head with his hands. The stake fell from Pavayne’s loosened grip and clattered uselessly to the floor.
***
Faith felt the Minetti’s strength decrease as it backhanded her and the claws retracted to their usual size.
“Oh goody, now I get to kill you.” The beast slashed at her with the claws, she ducked and felt her second wind come on. “This is where the fun starts.”
She planted her left foot solidly in the demon’s stomach and knocked it to the wall. It caught hold of her foot and twisted it to the left, spinning her body so that her right leg came up and over her other one and she landed firmly on it, and then with her original foot, snapped it back and struck the Minetti’s neck, popping it with a loud crack. It slid to the floor, leaving oily, wet ooze down the wall.
Faith smiled and then picked a rousing Felicia up off the floor, admonishing her.
“How many times I gotta tell you to duck? Lucky you’re not mirror-smooshed.” Faith grimaced. “Great, now I’m starting to sound like B.”
***
Andrew rose, shaking, out of his circle and knelt over Paige with Vi and Heather.
“She’s gonna be okay, right? She’s not dead, right?”
“Relax, Andy, looks like she’ll be just fine.” Faith came up, supporting the woozy Felicia. “We should get her to the hospital though.”
“We’ll take her and Felicia,” Vi said and gestured to Heather to help her get the two of them out.
Faith relinquished her hold and the four Slayers left, leaving the three travelers blinking at each other.
“Well done there, Andrew,” Spike admired. “Couldn’t have done it without you and your panpipes.”
“Yup, owe you our lives,” Faith put in.
“Yeah, thanks.” Andrew still looked green. “Can we go home now? I think I’m going to be sick.”
***
The report from the hospital was good. Vi called to say that Felicia had a slight concussion and with Slayer healing should be good as new the next day. Paige was in more serious condition, but with her healing abilities she’d be fine with time. Heather and Vi were being treated for minor cuts and bruises. The story they fed the hospital was that they’d been driving a car and crashed into a power line; the other three had been thrown from the car while Paige had received a jolt from the loose power line whipping around. They were all going to stay the night in the hospital, so the First Slayer Rescue Brigade relaxed and treated Faith’s and Spike’s cuts at the house while discussing their next move.
“Dude, we forgot to look for a new ring-around-the-rosy message.” Faith slapped her head, and then winced at the pain.
“Not to worry, Rogue, snatched it from Spell-boy’s pockets.” Spike put the ragged piece of paper in Andrew’s hands deferentially. “So, where we headed, Andrew?”
Instead of answering, Andrew looked put out.
“Why are you guys treating me so nicely? It’s not funny.”
“What? We just think you deserve it after today.”
“It started before my spell. Is it a joke or a plan to get me to do something stupid? I don’t appreciate it. It’s not very nice.”
“Oh, you want us to treat you mean then? Okay,” Spike said, grinning.
Andrew looked at him determinedly.
“I’m serious. I want you to treat me normally. Whether you like it or not, I’m a part of the team and I have a part to play and I can do it.”
Faith looked slightly abashed.
“We’re just joking with you, Andy. No harm meant.”
“Fine. I know you guys think I’m a geeky loser who wanted to come solely for the purpose of annoying you, but that’s not all I am. Give me a chance. A man can change.”
Those last words caught Spike’s ear and he grimaced, remembering somebody else saying those words and having them brutally rejected.
“I’m sorry, mate. You’re right, it’s possible. You did do a good job today and you earned your right to be here. Let’s try to leave the past behind us, yeah?”
“Absolutely, moi Capitan.” Andrew perked right back up.
Faith nodded in agreement.
“Let’s just figure where all three of us are going, okay? No more tender mushy stuff. Gives me the creeps and Junior here will probably want to hug.” She nudged Andrew slightly and he nearly toppled over.
“So location then?” Spike asked.
Andrew smoothed out the paper and read.
“ ‘Your number now three and your first Slay,
A place for Territory and to get laid.’ “
Faith and Andrew looked at Spike.
He winced.
“What? I’m gonna have to find this bloke and kill him before he reveals anymore of my past.”
“Any of this have to do with writing, boss?” Faith probed.
He ignored her.
“We’ll stay here and get rested up while waiting for the potion Dad is sending us and then it’s off to China.”
Andrew gasped and his hands went to his heart.
“Really? Do we get to relive more of your exciting and adventure-ridden past, whilst braving our way past unspeakable monsters and salivating, revenge-driven, simultaneous ghosts/reborn-sorcerer ex-murderers?”
Spike glared at him.
“Now you’re just faking.”
***
Buffy forced her eyes open, straining to see outside the dull throbbing of her head. She was in a plain, unadorned room that looked like a servant’s room she’d seen in a movie once. Manacles bound her wrists to twin columns and she was dressed in the same clothes she’d worn when she’d gone out to fight the Immortal. She winced painfully and struggled feebly at the chains, no strength in her limbs. What had happened to her?
“You should rest, sweet. Your strength is not what it was.”
“What did you do?” Buffy’s voice was sharp despite the trouble she had in forming words.
“I believe you’ve heard of the Cruciamentum?”
Her eyes shot up and she glared.
“Do I look eighteen to you? Perfect, I’ve been drugged again. What do you want?” Buffy’s eyes scanned the room and finally focused on a cloaked figure hidden in the shadows, seated in a chair by the door.
The figure shook as rich laughter floated out from it.
“Relax, you are my honored guest. After all, this is not about you.”
“I beg to differ,” Buffy forced out. “Seeing as I’m the one in the chains, something about me had to matter.”
“Concession. But all we need from you is the fact that someone else needs something from you.”
“I’m bait,” she stated flatly. “I hate being bait. That’s Cordelia’s job, now let me out!”
The figure leaned back in the chair.
“You’ll soon realize how little a threat you are to us, but consider the chains a compliment. Powerless you may be, but you do possess a certain skill and knowledge that could prove formidable. Precaution, my dear, you understand.”
Buffy rolled her eyes.
“You know what? Unless you have something important to say, I’m gonna get some beauty sleep, seeing as I haven’t been so bored since Dracula was in town.” She closed her eyes and put her head down.
The figure leaned forward again in interest.
“Not even to hear news of your demon lover and how desperately he searches for you?”
She didn’t bother to open her eyes.
“I am so sick of this Angel crap. We are over! Would people just get a clue? I mean, come on! My demon lover, as you put it...” Buffy swallowed hard “...is dead. So let’s leave the condolences for later, I have some sleeping to do.”
“You speak of William the Bloody? So do I.”
Buffy’s head snapped up so fast she could feel the whiplash.
“Spike? Alive! You wanna run that by me again?”