The Witch, The Warrior, and the Vampire

Chapter 19
Big Evil Thing

Tara couldn’t sleep. Being in the sleigh bed with her lover in her arms was not where she had planned to be. She knew though, with a certainty she had never felt about anything in her life, it was where she belonged. The big evil thing Willow had been so frightened of was out there. She could feel its presence tickling the edges of her awareness. It was doing something to the woman mewling in her arms. Had been doing something to her for some time now. The edges of her aura were stained crimson. A color that did not belong on her Willow.

She tossed her head from side to side, fidgeted, and called out in her sleep. Willow had always slept so quietly and peacefully. Obviously, whatever it was, found it easier to torment her in her sleep. The Dream Catcher that used to hang over their bed was gone. Another item of importance Buffy had removed from the house to keep Willow from magickal temptation.

She couldn’t change what had happened between them in the past. She couldn’t forget that Ww haw had raped her mind. She couldn’t forget the cruel words that had fallen so easily from her lover’s lips. She couldn’t forget her beloved had embraced the darkness with open arms. But she could forgive. And she had, almost as soon as every violation had occurred. What Willow needed now was love, support, and help from her friends and loved ones.

Tara concentrated her power until it was a ball of white light blinding in its intensity. She exhaled, whispered an incantation and the ball became a net. With one corner of her mind she tapped Dawn’s energy from the next room. ‘I’m sorry Dawn, next time I’ll warn you before I use you.’ With a flick of her wrist, the net enclosed the house; Willow calmed, and the crimson slowly drained from her aura. The witch smiled. For tht aht at least, everyone in the house would have a peaceful night’s sleep.

~*~

It was late, too late for an old man like him to be awake. Awake, and drunk no less. But here he was, drunker than he had been since he couldn’t even remember. The love of his life beside him, skillfully playing his guitar. They hadn’t had a night like this in over twenty years. He closed his eyes, rested his head against the couch cushion and finally relaxed, Morgaine’s voice lulling him.

When Giles had fallen asleep, Morgaine put the guitar away, kissed him on the forehead, cast a protective spell, and slipped away to the mansion. She needed her rest as well; tomorrow would be a long and trying day.

~*~

Angel made his way back to the Hyperion. He had staked the vampire that had raped and killed the prostitutes; he only wished he could have gotten there in time to save them. He felt unclean and wasn’t sure why exactly. There was something niggling the edge of his mind. Something important had happened in that alley. He just didn’t know what.

Angel headed straight for the shower and spent over an hour trying to wash the mysterious filth from his body. He dried off and slipped into his favorite pair of silk pajama bottoms and crept silently into bed. He reached for Cordelia but she wasn’t there.

Alarmed, he extended his senses. Cordelia wasn’t anywhere in the Hyperion. Forcing himself to remain calm, he followed his senses and retraced Cordy’s last steps in the hotel. They ended in the lobby. A scorched circle on the floor was all he could find. He grabbed the nearest phone to call Wesley. A sleepy voice finally answered.

“Wesley, it’s Angel, Cordy’s gone. I think she’s been taken.” He blurted out.

“Angel, are you sure? Was it vampires, demons?” Wesley said, slowly coming out of his sleep fog.

“I don’t know, Wes. There’s a scorch mark on the floor. We’ve got to find her!”

“Wake the others, see if they know something. I’ll be over as soon as I can.” Angel was off the phone before Wes could even finish his sentence.

Angel ran upstairs to wake Fred and Gunn. He headed towards his son’s room, but then decided to let him sleep. Morning was soon enough to discover your mother had disappeared.

‘Might as well call Lorne, he might be able to pick up something as well.’ Fred, Gunn, and Angel waited in the lobby for Wesley and Lorne to arrive. Lorne got there first. He took one look at the evidence and knew he couldn’t help.

“Where’s Ryvr? She might know something about this.” The Host looked enquiringly at Angel.

“I gave her the week off.” The vampire answered helplessly.

“Well, take it back and get her here. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

~*~

Cordelia blinked. Looked around, blinked again, and rubbed her eyes. She was most definitely not in the lobby of the Hyperion. Wherever she was, they needed to discover a new concept called color. Everything was white. Not that she could see much of anything. White walls, white floor, white ceiling, no furnishings of any kind, just a huge white room.

“Hey! I don’t know where I am or how I got here, but how about somebody come tell me… Did anyone hear me; what the hell is going on?” No response. Cordelia stamped her foot in desperate frustration. “Fine, I’ll just find my own way out.”

She searched the entire room, but there was ny ouy out. Sighing, she slid down one wall and sat on the floor. “Well, isn’t this just my life.”

“I don’t know, kid, you tell me.” The voice came from the left. Cordelia leapt to her feet and spun around. She narrowed her eyes as she studied the fashion victim in front of her. OK, fashion victim was a compliment for this guy. More like Neo-Maxie-Zoom-Dweebie.

“What’s going on? Why am I here? Who are you? And who the hell told you that outfit looked good?” Cordelia’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the man.

“Wow, I’ve gotta say, when Angel forgets his blonde fetish he’s got amazing taste in women.” The man in in Cordy appraisingly.

Cordelia stomped to the strange little man in front of her. He was shorter than her, black hair, plaid bowler hat, yellow polyester shirt, brown polyester slacks, and he was wearing dress shoes, with spats.

She grabbed him by the collar, wincing at the scratchy polyester, and shoved him against a wall. “One more time. Why am I here? What’s going on? Who the hell are you? And how do you know Angel?”

“Take it easy, kid, let go and I’ll explain everything on the way.” The new arrival seemed unfazed by Cordy’s anger.

“On the way where?” She said suspiciously.

“We’re going to take a little trip to see the Powers.” He straightened his collar as Cordelia let go of him and took a step back.

A switch clicked in Cordelia’s mind. “You’re Whistler, aren’t you?”

“Got it in one, kid. This way.” He motioned with one arm and suddenly a corridor appeared.

“This better be good.” Cordelia shot him a threatening look before turning on her heel and heading towards the corridor.

“I don’t know about good, kid, but it’s big, real big.”

~*~

No matter how hard she fought, they just kept coming. None of them were especially skilled, or strong for that matter, their sheer number was their only advantage. It seemed that for each one she staked, ten more took its place.

She heard a familiar grunt and spun around. Kendra was fighting with her. Buffy backflipped over a vampire and staked it as she landed.

“Not bad, you’ve been training.” The darker Slayer’s accent was as thick as Buffy remembered it.

“What’s going on, Kendra?” Buffy tossed over her shoulder, never breaking her fighting stance.

“I don’t know, they just keep coming.” The two slayers fought back-to-back, but the vampire swarm kept coming.

“We need help!”

“All ya had to do was ask, B.” Faith joined the fight. “God, nothing I love more than an old fashioned ass kickin’.”

“Slayers aren’t supposed to love their work; emotions weaken us. Didn’t you read the handbook?” Kendra sighed in exasperation.

“We’re never gonna get out of here, are we? I mean they’ll keep coming forever.” Buffy staked two more vampires and directed her question to Kendra.

“It is our duty. It doesn’t matter that it never ends. There will always be a Slayer.” Kendra answered, lopping off one vampire’s head.

“Hey guys, need some help?” The three Slayers jumped at the voice. A young girl with flaming red hair and emerald green eyes jumped into the fray.

“Maggie! What are you doing here?” Buffy looked at the younger girl in surprise; she had completely forgotten about the other slayer.

“I was called, wasn’t I?” Her bottom lip stuck out in a perfect pout.

“B, look out!” Faith’s voice spurred Buffy back into action.

Buffy spun around to attack. Her stake fell to the ground. The vampire was coming for her. It was him: her worst nightmare, greatest failure, the hardest kill she’d ever made.

“What? Didn’t think you’d see me, Buff?” Angelus laughed and ducked to avoid her punch. He grabbed Faith by her hair and sank his fangs into her neck.

Kendra turned to Buffy. “I told you all vampires should be put down.”

Faith’s huge brown eyes appealed to her sister Slayers for help.

“Let her go Angelus, it’s me you want.” Buffy yelled.

Angel took one final swallow from Faith, then dropped her before he turned to Buffy. “It’s not always about you, Buff, haven’t you learned that yet?”

With a yell, Maggie leapt towards Angelus and shoved her sword into his stomach. “It’s always about her! You can’t fool me.”

Buffy ran to Faith’s side; she was conscious, but barely. “Hang on, Faith, we’ll get you out of here.”

“B, listen to me, there’s not much time. You have until Solstice. It has to be done that night.” The brunette slayer wiped at the blood that was trickling from the corner of her mouth.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Buffy furrowed her brow in confusion; she hated riddles.

“You know what you have to do. This is just a diversion. If you don’t do it by Solstice, it’ll be too late.”

“Buffy!” Kendra yelled. “It’s too late for her, come back, we need you!”

“I’m sorry Faith.” Buffy caressed her cheek and rejoined her sisters in the fight.

~*~

“What is going on with her?” For the second time that night Xander and Anya stood in the living room, having been awakened by Buffy’s yells.

“She’s having a Slayer dream, kitten.” Spike never took his eyes off the blonde who was writhing in his lap, her features distorted as if in pain.

“Well, wake her up and tell her to be quiet.” Anya crossed her arms.

“It’s best to let her wake up on her own. If we wake her too early she might miss something important.” Spike resumed rubbing the slayer’s back to try and soothe her.

~*~
“Buffy, look out!”

Buffy rolled her eyes, ‘God, when he was going to stop being so over-protective.’ She spun around, ripped the head off the vampire attacking her, and yelled at Angel. “For the last time, I can take care of myself!”

“Sure you can, Buff.” The sadistic tone came from behind her, making her spin around.

“Th-there’s two of you!” She grabbed the stake she dropped earlier, keeping one eye on Angel and the other on Angelus, she staked the vampire that had been giving Maggie a hard time. Maggie moved to another position and fought back to back with Kendra. Buffy watched eyes wide as Angel and Angelus began fight each other. She felt a vampire get too close and turned to stake it, only to see it turn to dust before her eyes. Spike stood, stake in hand, over the vampire’s ashes.

“I’ve always got your back, Slayer.” He met her hazel eyes with his blue, neither wavering under the intensity of the look.

“How can there be two of him?” She turned to watch Angel and Angelus again.

“There always has been, pet.” Spike said calmly, watching theer-eer-egos face off.

“But how can they both be here at the same time?”

“Don’t know, luv.” The vampires they’d been fighting disappeared. The three Slayers ran to their fallen sister and cried over her body.

Spike stood over them while they mourned, keeping an eye on Angel and Angelus. As one, they turned to face him. “You’ll regret the day you turned against me.” They spoke in one voice and advanced towards the Slayers.

“You’ll have to get through me, peaches. I won’t let you hurt them.” Spike’s voice warelarely above a growl, low and deadly.

“You can’t stop us.” Both hefted a sword in one hand a stake in the other, Angel and Angelus advanced on Spike. Buffy looked up just in time to see Angel stake Spike and Angelus chop off his head.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” She screamed.

~*~

When Buffy’s eyes finally opened, she was still screaming. Wide awake and eyes open, all she could see was her lover crumpling into ashes. Tears fell from her eyes and sobs wracked her body. Spike was dead. She didn’t feel the strong arms wrap around her, she didn’t hear the soothing murmurs. She didn’t notice Xander and Anya watching her helplessly.

Eventually she came back to herself, and she remembered. It was just a dream, just like the soothing voice had said. But it wasn’t, not really; it was a Slayer dream. The longest and most intense of her life.

Pulling herself together, she squeezed Spike’s arm reassuringly and switched into full Slayer mode. “Anya, call the house and Giles, get them to call the others. Meeting in an hour at the Magic Box. Spike, do whatever you have to do to get him ready, but we need both of you there.” Everybody moved into action immediately.

“What’s going on?” The blonde vampire looked beside himself with concern.

“We start the fight tonight. We have to plan our attack. Xander, get that map you made and I’m serious, feed a lot. The whole Scooby Gang and the other Slayer, everyone will be there. I’m going home to shower and change. I’ll see you guys in an hour.” With one last longing look at Spike, the Slayer walked out the door.

~*~

“You called me back from vacation for this?” Ryvr demanded.

“Yes, I called you back for this. What happened to Cordelia?” Wesley towered over the elf.

“I guess they don’t teach Watcher’s as much as they used to.” A giggle filled the hall. “But then you’re not exactly a Watcher any more, are you?”

“Ryvr, please, if you know something, just tell us.” Wesley had always disliked the elves. Their sense of humor was almost…offensive.

“She was summoned.” Ryvr said blandly.

Angel was tired of the little elf. His mate was missing and she was getting on his nerves. “Who summoned her?”

“The Powers. That’s their calling card.” The elf looked suspiciously like she was suppressing a grin.