After Everything

Chapter 2: The Slayer Army

Buffy couldn’t do anything but just stare at Spike for a moment; he looked so tired and beaten. His favorite coat was in tatters around his shoulders, his white hair was stained pink from blood, and his face was bloody, swollen, and bruised. Buffy could hardly recognize him, but she smiled for his benefit.

“What happened? You get bored with the fight, so you decide to take a nap?”

Spike snorted, then coughed as he spat more blood onto the street. “I wish, luv.”

Buffy went to him then, to help him up. Spike gratefully accepted and had to lean on her once he was on his feet. It was then that Spike looked up and was surprised at the sight before him. Hundreds of girls, slayers, were now fighting the demon army, beating them back. Spike even saw an occasional camouflaged male in the fight.

“Riley?” Spike asked, as he looked at her.

Buffy looked down with grief evident in her face. “Riley was killed about two months back. I heard it from the soldier he had died to save. Sean then pledged, as an honor to Riley, to fight with the Slayer Army whenever the need arose.”

“I’m sorry, luv.” Spike reached out to touch her face, but Buffy stepped away from him. Spike dropped his hand.

“Don’t be.” She turned her sad eyes to him. “Riley died a hero. He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” Her eyes suddenly held a spark of pride in them. “And now we have a powerful ally.”

Spike couldn’t help but agree. As much as the soldiers still creeped him out, he could admire their battle skills. Spike noticed however, the look in her eyes when she talked about the new ally, and he wondered if he was just that or if they had formed an alliance in other areas as well. Spike decided to leave that thought for later.

“You didn’t seem that surprised to find me alive, pet. How long have you known?”

Buffy smiled sheepishly. “I have eyes and ears everywhere, Spike. I knew you were back from the day you showed up in Angel’s office.”

Spike was feeling stronger now that he had a few minutes to rest and he pushed away from her. “I was wrestling with the decision to let you know about me for the last nine months, and you’ve known all along? Why didn’t you contact me?”

“Spike, the truth is, you complicate things for me. I needed to be free from distraction for a while. It was all I could do not to go see you when you were in Italy. If I had, my plan for the Immortal would have fallen apart.”
“ ‘Plan for the Immortal.’ So you weren’t dating that wanker?” Spike seemed surprised.

“I was pretending to date him so I could get close enough to kill him. He was a monster pretending to be a good man, and I saw right through it.”

Spike almost leapt for joy that she wasn’t in love with the Immortal, that it had all been a ploy for her to kill him. Spike was about to ask how she killed him but he noticed that their break was over. A couple of hellhounds broke away from the main fighting and began charging their way. The beasts were huge, all sharp teeth and claws that could shred a man without ever breaking speed.

Spike looked at Buffy, standing next to him with her eyes on the hounds, and knew that this is where he was meant to be. He felt at home when he was next to her whether they were fighting demons, talking, making love, or even fighting each other. “Ready to dance, pet?”

*******************************

All Angel could see was blood. He had taken a nasty hit to the head, causing blood to run down his face and into his eyes. He staggered back to his feet and did his best to glare at the creature in front of him. It didn’t look like much, maybe five feet tall and very skinny, but it was very powerful. All it had to do was cock its head and Angel would feel like he was run over with a truck. He was unsure how to stop this creature, it seemed to be one-step ahead of him. Every time Angel tried to attack it, it would effectively avoid or counterstrike.

“Enough with the parlor tricks, already. You’re just using magic because you know you can’t beat me in a real fight.” Angel spat.

The demon cocked its head to one side and Angel braced for another blow, but it didn’t come. Angel glanced at the demon again and it seemed to be considering what he had said. Suddenly the demon came at him and landed a blow in Angel’s stomach. Angel grunted, sliding back a few paces, and began fighting back in earnest. Angel landed a few kicks and punches but the demon landed more. Angel felt as though he was fighting Hamilton all over again. Suddenly, the demon grabbed Angel by the throat and began to squeeze. Angel felt his throat being crushed, the vertebrae shattering, and his trachea and esophagus collapsing under the pressure. Angel knew the demon was going to squeeze his head off his body, and there was nothing he could do.

As he felt himself give in to the darkness that wanted to take him, he suddenly was jolted back to consciousness by the asphalt hitting his face. He looked up to find that the demon was now staring at something else, something that had shot an arrow into its throat. Angel craned his head around to see who was helping him and he saw Faith with her favorite crossbow trained on the powerful creature. She launched another arrow that hit the heart but the demon didn’t falter. She was trying to reload when the demon got tired of her games and sent a powerful blast her way, knocking her several feet into the air before she landed hard on the street.

While the demon’s attention was on Faith, Angel snuck around behind him. He was planning to attack from behind when he saw something glittering under the creature’s right arm. As the creature was about to send another wave of energy Faith’s way, Angel swung his sword. He caught the creature on the right side, and had enough power behind the stroke to sever the creatures arm and hit the shiny jewel underneath. As soon as the jewel was destroyed, the creature exploded, which sent Angel flying. He hit the building behind him, leaving a dent in the brick wall, and sliding unconscious to the ground.

Faith ran to his side. “Angel.” When he didn’t answer, she slapped him. “Angel, wake up, damn it!”

Angel slowly opened his eyes to look at Faith leaning over him. He coughed and tried to sit up. He winced as pain lanced through him. He looks at her. “Thanks for helping back there. You okay?”

“You know me, five-by-five. But you… man, you look like shit.” Faith took in his appearance. The vamp visage had faded, leaving a human face covered in blood and grime. She noticed his eyes weren’t full of the self-righteous determination that they usually were. Now they were just empty and tired. “We only just got here, but it looks like you guys have had a hell of a fight.”

Angel struggled to stand. “Nah… walk in the park smelling daisies.”

Faith smiled. “Dripping sarcasm from the man dripping blood.” She shakes her head. “Guess you can’t be too bad off.”

Angel tried to smile but it turned out to be more of a grimace. He looked out and saw the girls fighting. “Slayers?”

Faith smiled wider, pride showing clearly in her face. “Yeah, they’re all good girls. Most have been battling nightly preparing for something like this to happen.” Faiths expression hardened. “We came here with 354 slayers, all highly trained and intelligent, but I know only about 100 of them will make it out of this alive. The most important thing right now is overcoming this war, a lot of them will die, but we will win.”

Angel saw the determination shine through Faiths eyes. “I’m sorry for my part in starting this.”

Faith didn’t look at him, just kept staring at the girls fighting for their lives. “It would have happened sooner or later.”

Faith left him standing there, and went to join her fellows in the fight.

************************************

The fight was beginning to take its toll on Illyria. She was exhausted and bloodied from too many close calls, but her ice blue eyes retained their angry fire. She looks upon her opponent and wants nothing more that to feel its neck crack under her hands. The demon resembled a spider, with eight appendages and huge black eyes, but it had a tail. The tail was probably the most dangerous for it was thin and razor sharp and the creature used it like a whip. Illyria already had a gash running down the left side of her face and another one on the right side of her abdomen. The demon snapped it tail-whip again and snarled, baring its needle sharp teeth. Illyria springs at the creature, only to be hit with the tail again. Illyria gasps as another deeper laceration appears across her chest. She struggles to her feet to attack once more, when the demon is surrounded by blue energy field and is lifted into the air.

Illyria sees the witch chanting furiously under her breath before the energy field implodes, leaving no trace of the demon. The witch turns her black eyes to Illyria, and smiles in recognition.

“Fred! Hi! Wow, you look different.”

Illyria studies the woman for a moment and flips through Fred’s memories trying to remember who she is.

“Willow.”

“Hey did you see what I did there with the demon? Pretty cool huh?”

Uninterested, Illyria begins to walk away.

“Fred, wait!”

“Winifred Burkle is dead.” Illyria doesn’t even turn to look at Willow, who is stunned by those words.

**************************************************

“That was fun, eh, pet?” Spike pants, as he tries to regain composure after killing the two hounds.

“Yeah, real fun getting used as a dog toy.” Buffy mutters as she tends to the bite wound on her calf.

Spike watches as Buffy bends herself in impossible angles trying to get a look at her wound. “Here, luv, let me.”

The rain had stopped a while ago, but Spike clothes were still damp. He rips off a piece of his shirt and begins to gently clean the wound. Spike feels Buffy’s eyes on him and looks up to meet them. They stare into each other’s eyes a moment before Buffy looks away. Spike sighs, and stands up, holding his hand out to her. Buffy hesitates a moment before taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. She hisses in pain as she steps on her hurt leg and clutches Spike.

“You gonna be alright, luv?”

“I’ll be fine. Just give me a moment,” Buffy says through gritted teeth. She stays still for a moment, letting the throbbing in her leg subside. Spike waits, patiently, watching the battle.

“Pet, look! I think we’re winning.” Buffy’s eyes shot to where he was looking. The demon army was retreating and the slayers were still taking down as many as they could.

Buffy watched all this with a look of relief and pride. She looked at Spike, smiled, and then surprised him with a celebratory hug. Spike quickly wound his arms around his slayer and pulled her closer, reveling in the feel of her in his arms again.