Complement

XXV - Sympathy For The Devil
(Part B)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't think so...." came the sickly sweet voice from somewhere in the room behind them.

They didn't even have a chance to react as they went flying through the air in opposite directions. Ripping gashes in each other's palms with their nails as their hands were torn apart. They each hit a wall with equal force, cracking the logs. Their heads smashed into the unyielding walls. Both felt blood trickling down the back of their scalps as they bounced off the walls, to land in heaps on the floor face first. Echoing each other's thoughts of 'ohgodnoohgodno' over and over as they remembered the last time they had pissed her off. They had been so intent on escape that they had been careless. They could feel her presence's now and....... another's? Though the other set their Slayers senses tingling, there was something different about it, something that somehow felt familiar to Faith.

"Get up! NOW!" Glory snarled at them in that same fucking sickly sweet voice.

They rose up to trembling legs, both of them shaking in fearraidraid even to raise their eyes from the floor. Silently they reached for each other in their minds, each trying to soothe the other's terror. Each seeking comfort, solace in the feel of being entwined in their mind with the other. Both bit through the gash under their bottom lips, feeling the pain, the ghost of the bite of the other, the blood tasting coppery, bitter on their tongues.

Deep inside of themselves, they felt the rumbling of something ancient, something in their blood, something that recognized the same thing inside of the other.

Maybe it was the taste of their own blood, or the ghost feeling of the other biting through their own flesh in an effort not to whimper witar. ar. The sensation, the almost taste of their mate's blood thick, somehow familiar upon their tongues.

Maybe it was the inner strength that each had found in themselves and within each other. Maybe it was their refusal simply to just submit.

Maybe it was just who, and what made them the Chosen One's, the Chosen Two, and simply Buffy and Faith.

Maybe it was all of it, or some of it.

Whatever it was, it would not allow them just to stand there cowering like cornered frightened animals.

Whatever it was, it would not allow them to stand there with their heads hanging low, as if they were ashamed of who and what they were.

Whatever it was, it would not allow them to play the bottom to Glory's top any more than they would with Johnny.

Whatever it was, it was smart enough not to throw caution to the wind and have them attack an enemy they could not defeat, not yet, nor would it let someone or something else define who, what, they were.

Whatever it was, it was them and they were it, both familiar, new, forgotten and ancient all at the same time. And each Slayer found its mate inside of the other.

Within a second of rising from the floor, all this and more flashed through both of the Chosen One's minds. They came to a silent understanding. Together they raised their heads; chocolate brown eyes stared into hazel for but a fraction of a second. They straightened theirs spines, standing tall, strong and proud. Still terrified, still trembling, but no longer cowering, they turned and locked their defiant eyes on Glory, waiting for the wrath they were sure was to come.

Their respite from Glory's anger came from the beautiful angelic looking man - Demon? - who stood next to Glory. Faith was seeing the angelic man clearly, while Buffy was flashing between seeing the demon he was so often portrayed as, and how Faith saw him. It was confusing and a little dizzying. They both heard the deep rumble of a chuckle come from him, though Faith could swear she heard him gasp first. Could almost swear the chuckle was to cover the gasp.

He clapped his hands faking a delight he didn't feel. "Bravo Glory...." He almost sighed in relief when Glory dropped her hand, staying whatever it was she was going to do to the Slayers. Glory turned and smiled at him. "I always knew you were a smart one." He placed hisd lid lightly on Glory's arm and felt her vileness creeping along his skin. Feeling what Faith felt every time the Demon Goddess touched her. He made the shudder of disgust that ran through him look like a ripple of desire, by sensually tracing his lips with his tongue. He lowered his voice, letting it become husky, and looked at her through his incredibly long thick, black lashes. "So clever of you my dear not to break them. The despair, desolation, the pain, the fear is so much sweeter, so much more exquisite if they still believe they have a chance at escaping, or defeating you. Why even I could not have come up with such a sinfully wicked evil plan!"

"Yes it was, wasn't it!" Glory wasn't about to admit that it had never been her plan, but now that she thought about it, it most definitely had possibilities. Time enough to think on that later, now she was enjoying too much the attention of this delectable demon-man. She shivered a little as the lust raced through her. She so wanted to devour him.

"Although........" he returned her smile, letting his eyes roam over the human mask that she wore, purposely not allowing himself to see her true face.

"Yes......" She was practically preening under his stare, the Chosen Two all but forgotten. Glory ran her fingertips down his arms, her nails raking the skin, almost breaking it. She smiled again as she felt his muscle's quiver with what she thought was lust.

Seeing Glory's attention diverted Faith cautiously made her way over to Buffy, careful not to make any move towards the front door. Glory might be distracted but neither Slayer was stupid enough to think that they would make it out the door with her in the room. She made it to the other side of the room without incident or drawing Glory's gaze to her. Both Slayers kept their sighs of relief to themselves; instinctively they moved their hands towards the other. They stood taking comfort in the feel of the backs of their hands touching lightly against the other's. They watched the scene playing out before them.

Buffy kept blinking her eyes trying to get him to stay in one form as he seemed to shifted back and forth. She wondered if her head had hit harder than she thought. She knew that Faith was seeing just the man. Why were they seeing different things? It was like this with Glory too, only the opposite, sort of. Buffy only saw Glory's human mask, while after that first day, Faith now caught vague glimpses of what lay beneath the mask.

For Faith, Glory's human mask seemed always to be shimmering, shifting. Although Glory's hands were always, the claw-like things with razor-sharp nails she had seen that first day. Faith never saw them any other way, they had sliced through her flesh, and Buffy's too many times for her ever to be fooled by the mask hiding them again. He, she knew from the echoes of Buffy's, wore a mask too, but she never saw it with her own eyes, only with Buffy's. For some reason Faith was convinced that it was she, not Buffy, who was seeing his true face, she just didn't know why. Something about him was nagging her, and there was absolutely no fear, or any sense of evil about him for some reason accompanying her Slayer perception of him. Faith however was careful to keep both the familiarity she sensed from him and the fact that she didn't fear him away from the surface of her mind, from Glory and even Buffy for now. She Glo Glory would smell, sense it and somehow something was telling her that would not be a good thing for any of them.

"Well not to be....... It seems however that if we weren't here they may have gotten away. Or was that your plan? A hunt perhaps? A little entertainment for us?"

Glory waved her hand and Luc held his breath thinking she was once again going to do something to the Slayers. He bit back the sigh of relief when nothing happened to them; he turned around when he felt another presence in the room behind him.

Johnny stood in the doorway, his head lowered, his body trembling slightly. A trail of blood ran down from somewhere under his scalp over his ear and down his neck. The terror radiating off him was the equal if not more powerful than both of the Chosen Two's together. Even Buffy and Faith could feel it and both were quick to hide the grin of pure satisfaction it brought.

Glory folded her arms across her chest, and glared at Johnny, her eyes flashed yellow for a brief second, "Care to explain?" Her whole body thrilled by all the terror in the room at the moment. Oh, this was so much fun!

"I...... ah...." Johnny raised his eyes to look at Glory and his terror increased a hundred-fold. "I, ah slipped and fell in the cage, they locked me in before I had a chance to get up?" He gave Glory his most boyish, charming smile, hoping that she had not been watching. Hoping that she had been distracted by the presence of Luc at the time. Johnny knew he would be punished for this anyway, he was just hoping to lessen the punishment.

She looked at him trying to decide whether he was lying to her. She decided he wasn't, he was too stupid to lie, too frightened. "Stupid much?" She sneered, and decided to be gracious since she did have company after all. She would rather be spending her time with Luc instead of spending the next few days punis Joh Johnny. "If it ever happens again...... Well, let's just say you will be spending a few days with me, getting some first hand experience. Oh the things I know..." She turned her gaze to the Slayers, "You two on the other hand, well...... I might just have to put on a little demonstration for my guest here......" She left the threat hanging in the air. She got a little dizzy, and reached out to grasp the back of the couch to steady herself. The terror coming from the Chosen Two had escalated a million times after she finished speaking.

Johnny couldn't believe his luck! The fear receded quickly and excitement took its place at the thought of what Glory would do to the Slayers, he loved to watch her work! He smirked at them in unadulterated joy, his eyes glittering with lust, glee, triumphant over them once again.

When Faith saw that smirk, saw the message in his eyes, something just snapped a little inside of her.

'FUCK THAT! Fuck you Johnny! Time for a little pain of your own for a change!'

The part of Faith that threw caution to the wind, that never worried about the consequences, came roaring out in full force. How she managed to keep what she was going to do from Buffy she never knew, but she did.

"LIAR!" She snarled as she rushed Johnny no more then a blur of motion.

It was over before Buffy had even taken more than a step to help her mate. She stopped abruptly, standing deathly still. The man/demon who shifted between what Buffy imagined an angel looked like and what she imagined the devil himself looked like had snagged Faith easily by her waist. He stood holding a thrashing Faith quite easily against his body, as if she were no more than an agitated infant.

Faith kept right on struggling trying to get out of the man's surprisingly gentle embrace around her waist. Somehow, instinctively, she knew he would not hurt her.

"YOU FUCKING LIAR!" She reached out for Johnny wanting to tha that fucking smirk off his face. "WE THREW YOU ACROSS THE CAGE, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT DIRTBAG LIAR!"

Glory had a look on her face like she was amused, lustful, delighted, and stoned all at once.

A wave of fear shot through Buffy when Faith moved towards Johnny in a blur that was almost even to fast for her to see. A second wave of fear hit her when Faiad bad been captured so easily by the man/demon. Buffy's fear was only matched by the fear Faith waelineling at the thought of what Glory would eventually do to her for throwing her little temper tantrum.

Glory was grinning like a crazed lunatic the room was practically flooded to overflowing with fear. She felt like she was literally bathing, swimming in it! This was all too delicious and it looked like it was only going to get better!

Johnny stepped up close to Faith, though not close enough for her to reach him. He smirked at her, knowing that Glory would never believe her. He thought he had the advantage as he saw the amused expression on his Demon-Goddess's face.

"Right! As if you two pathetic excuses could! You're the liar baby girl you were always the liar!" he snorted out, chuckling to himself.

It took a second for Buffy to realize that the fear Faith was feeling had nothing to do with the man/demon who was holding her. With that realization, he stopped shifting and she saw him exactly as Faith did, with his true face. When Johnny smirked aaughaughed, something in Buffy snapped. Like Faith, she threw caution, along with any consequences right into the face of the fucking wind. This time the blur shouting at Johnny crossing the room was her.

"FUCK YOU SCUMBAG! YOU'RE THE ONE LYING! NOT HER!"

Luc was now holding a thrashing Slayer in each arm, having caught Buffy just as easily as Faith. 'Fuck!' he thought to himself, 'How the hell had everything gotten so out of control?'

"And...... we're supposed to believe you Runt 'cause..........?"

"LIAR! YOU KNOW YOU'RE LYING!" Faith started thrashing again, just wanting to get in one good shot. At this point, she could give two shits if she broke her hand on his face. She was furious at herself, irrationally blaming herself for them not getting away, for having somehow fucked up their, Buffy's, chance at escaping. She could care lwhatwhat Glory did to her for this, it terrified her, but she wanted to make sure that Johnny shared in that pain. Faith's mouth pulled back in a rabid snarl, she was growling low in her throat like the panther that Buffy had so often compared her to.

"Like anyone here is gonna believe Faithy the white-trash-whore and her little slutty Runt lover, over me." Johnny spat out with malicious glee, then laughed right in Faith's face.

His laughter was cut short when she jabbed him square in the mouth, splitting his lip, and loosening his front teeth. He pulled his arm back balling his hand into a fist, not caring at all if he broke her bones. He aimed for Faith's jaw, tired of hearing her words, tired of not hearing what it really was that he wanted to hear.

None of them saw it happen. One second he was holding a Slayer in each arm. The next, Luc had both Slayers in one arm, and Johnny's fist captured within his own. "I believe them........."

Nobody moved, nobody blinked, at Luc's calmly spoken words.

Johnny felt sweat beginning to drip down the back of his neck. He had forgotten a major power the man in front of him possessed. Luc had the ability to read the truth in men's hearts, in their words.

Johnny knew he was fucked.

Glory was the first to move, she was next to Luc in the blink of an eye. "Are you telling me......?"

Luc saw her eyes glow yellow with anger, and was glad because it was for the lowlife Johnny and not for the Slayers. "You know I am. It is one of the many things I have the power to do, to know wit a t a shred of doubt whether a human is lying or telling the truth. It's what enables me to do my job so well! While lying doesn't bother me per say, and I, just like you, my beautifully wicked Goddess, enjoy the pleasure of a good beating, which by the condition of these two, the idiot here seems to be good at, though not as good as you, my dear, of course. There is one thing I can not abide." His voice grew hard, and mentally he thought to himself; he couldn't stomach or abide men like Johnny period, they made him physically ill. "One thing I do not, WILL NOT abide, WILL NOT allow, even if it interferes with my own pleasure. And may I be so bold as to say, that I am sure that we are alike in this Glory. I DO NOT, WILL NEVER, tolerate or let one of my minion's go unpunished when they LIE TO ME! "

Though no one saw it, they all heard the sound of bones breaking as Luc crushed Johnny's hand within his fist. The sound seemed to go on forever as Luc made sure to crush every last one. He smiled with satisfaction, his most famous faked - though not this time - evil grin spreading across his face, as Johnny screamed out in wordless agony and pain. Luc's grin grew even wider as he heard for his ears only, the low, soft purring of approval of his actions by the Chosen Two.

"Lying is so not good. Not good at all." Her eyes flashed yellow again at the dumb fuck.

Johnny's fear was only equaled by the pain running up from his hand through his arm, throughry cry cell in his body. It had been a long time since he had felt pain that wasn't accompanied by pleasure. He felt blood dripping from his hand, which was still being squeezed in Luc's ironclad fist. A surge of anger ran through him, he just barely restrained himself from lashing out, and smacking the pleasure filled smirks the Slayers were giving him off their faces.

Unable to restrain herself, Faith lashed out with her fist again, breaking Johnny's nose, practically squashing it flat against his face. She giggled with pleasure, a little crazy right now, and not really giving a shit that her knuckles were bleeding, or that she had probably broken her hand on his face. The adrenaline rush at finally giving back just a little of what he had been giving to her numbing any and all pain. She giggled even harder as he howled in pain.

"You fucking little bit......."

Johnny never got to finish, because Buffy, who was feeling a little crazy herself, lashed out with her foot. Dead on, dead center with every ounce of strength her little Slayer-runt, as he was so fond of calling her, body had and a little bit extra from only god knew where, she kicked him in the groin. "Ooops! So sorry!" Her own laughter joined in with Faith's and surprising them both, Glory and Luc laughed with them.

That ancient remembered thing that ran deep inside, in both their blood, purred with its mate inside the other in satisfaction, satisfaction at returning just a little bit of the pain, the humiliation that Johnny had inflicted upon both of them.

This had been one of the most entertaining, most delightful days since she had returned home. The fear, pain, terror today had been even thicker than the day the Chosen Two had tried to attack her. She was reeling, drunk, stoned like never before from all of it. They would have to do this more often! Why she hadn't laughed like this in eons, this whole thing was borderline ridiculous. That he was here just made it all the better.

'Now what to do, what to do, hmmm? All around punishment, or punishment and reward?'

She stopped laughing although the amused smile remained on her face. All eyes turned towards her. Johnny's were filled with hope that he still might get out of this with his skin intact. The Chosen Two's were a mix between fear of what she would do to them, defiance, and glee over what had happened to Johnny and their part in it. Luc's eyes were hooded, with what she imagined was lust for her.

She made her decision, turned her gaze at Johnny her eyes glowing yellow. "I think it's time you learned a few new things firsthand. Things only I can teach you..." She smiled as the sweat reeking with terror began to drip from Johnny's brow. "Go! You know where to wait for me. Don't even think of disappointing me!" She shooed him away with a queen-like wave of her hand.

Johnny scurried from the room like the rat he was, cradling his broken, bleeding hand to him. The snide laughter of the Chosen Two trailing in his wake. If he got out of this alive, he was going to make them pay a million times over for humiliating him like this. It would be a long time before they forgot who was master here; he'd make sure of that. Comforting himself with thoughts of revenge, he closed the door behind him.

Glory started to turn her body and her attention to the Chosen Two and Luc. Before she even finished turning, Luc had deposited the Slayers onto the couch, and had pulled her onto his lap on the recliner. Glory giggled delighted by this little turn. Oh she was going to have so much fun dominating him later! She turned her attention to the Slayers huddled together on the couch; they really were a beautiful sight to her, light and dark, black and blue. She chuckled at her own thoughts.

"Hmmmm.... now what to do with two two......" She pretended to think about it already having made her decision.

She was a HellGod after all, one who did not know the meaning of love, compassion, forgiveness, happiness. Any pleasure, joy, amusement, laughte del delight came only from the pain, fear, anguish, helplessness, and terror she rained down on others. Her world was one big Sadist's playground, the difference being that here the only ones who received pleasure were the doers. Here it was not a game of bge, ge, played amongst consenting adults, here it was not a game at all, it was everyday real life. Death was the only safe word that those being tortured ever were given.

Luc leaned in close to Glory; he whied ied in her ear, "Let me first apologize for the incompetence, the disrespectful behavior of the Pet I gave to you. I've half a mind to take him back and send you someone much more qualified than him...."

"No! Thank you, but no. He's too much a part of this whole little game with the Slayers to let go. I assure you, it won't happen again, unless of course I want it to..."

'SHIT! FUCK! So close, almost got him. Should of killed the bastard! Fuck!'

Luc leaned in a little closer to Glory's ear, letting his breath caress it. Knowing exactly how Faith felt when she was this close to Glory. He was glad he had not eaten today; his stomach was churning with revulsion. "You are far too generous, my luscious one!" He was making himself sick, but the dumb insane bitch seemed to be falling for it if her sigh meant anything. "Knowing you and your gentle, forgiving heart I am sure you will only torture him for a week instead the two weeks, if not more, I would.... Perhaps you would be so kind as to let me watch you work......" He snaked his tongue around the shell of Glory's ear, he moaned low in disgust, silently praying that she would mistake it for desire. She squirmed in his lap a little, and he felt relief at her stupidity again. She wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, was she? He doubted there was enough mouthwash in all the realms that could ever rid him of the vile taste of her upon his tongue. Once again, he silently cursed himself for what he had done; his own loathing of men like Johnny had blinded him to the consequences of his actions. You would think at his age that it wouldn't be possible, but like mere mortals, he wasn't perfect either. He pulled himself back to the here and now.

"Of course you can watch. Watch as long as you like." Shid iid in that sickly, sweet voice that grated his last nerve.

"Thank you, you are, as always, most gracious... If I may be so bold? If you would allow me... May I try and guess what your oh so sinfully wicked mind has planned for your little pets on the couch...." He pulled back to look at her, hoping that she would say yes. Already she had played along with the pretense of this all being a game of letting the Slayers think they could escape just to please him. He was hoping that she would go along with his next suggestion. He needed to buy some time for himself and the Slayers s cou could set into motion everything else that needed to be done to free the Slayers.

Glory nodded eagerly. Had he not stopped her earlier today, the day would not have turned out so pleasurable for her. Luc, after all, knew the hearts, souls of humans so much more intimately than she did. She was sure that whatever it was that he guessed was her plan would be infinitely better than what she wanted to do. Sure that it would increase her pleasure of the Chosen Two's terror a hundred-fold.

He leaned in close to her ear once again, making his voice husky, sensual, as if he were her lover and telling her what it was he wanted to do to her in bed that night. "I imagine that you will let them believe that you are going to end Johnny's miserable existence by torturing him over the next week. Of course, having no intention of doing that much as you may want to. Rather you will be giving him lessons, as it were. Some personal instruction, firsthand experience, by your so delicate hand....... Things, that he in turn, can practice on them, knowing now firsthand what it feels like." He nipped lightly at her earlobe, wondering if his teeth would rot and fall out from the foulness of her. "Seeing how delightfully your mind works, I am sure that you will leave them here alone, with of course enough food to help them heal quicker. Leave them to plot, thinking that they have a chance at escaping this place, you. I can just imagine, on the eighth day, their faces when, low and behold, there is the supposedly dead Johnny. How sweet, tasty, stronger than today their fear will be after seven days of recovering and plotting. How much more they will feel the pain he will inflict upon their healed bodies. How much more exquisite their anguish will be when they realize there is no escape, at least not right then...... Tell me my dear... am I right... am I... or... do you have something even more evil planned for them?" He held his breath while he waited to see if Glory would take the bait.

Oh! Oh! He was just so... so... evil... it was the only word Glory could think of to describe him to herself. She knew he was right, today had proven that... oh and to lead them to believe... it was just making her excited thinking about it!! This week would not go fast enough for her... "Luc?"

"Yes my beautiful one?" as das disgusting himself; he couldn't wait to get out of here and shower.

"Did you forget to tell me you knew how to read minds?" Glory smiled engagingly at him.

He grinned widely at her, flashing her his pearly whites. "I was right! Oh you are so clever! I just knew you were!" He doubted he would be able to eat anything sweet for a while. The shit coming from his mouth was so sweet it was making him ill. "Perhaps you would allow me the honor of coming back in eight days and watching with you?"

She nodded her agreement to him. He stood holding her in his arms for a second, before sliding her down his body 'til her feet lit lightly upon the floor. He shuddered at the foulness of her against him, and hoped she took it as a shudder of desire. He wanted with every fiber of his being to jcruscrush her beneath his hands, till she experienced a little bit of what she had done to the Slayers. But he couldn't. He didn't know if he could beat her here on her home field. If he lost to her, there was no hope of any of them getting out. He winked at her and thought, let the games begin, he hoped, prayed that the Slayers were good at reading between the lines. "I can see you are eager to go prepare for your session with Johnny..."

He waited, then waited a little more for Glory to answer him.

'HELLO! Oh hello Glory...... Come on you freakin' insane moron bitch answer me!'

He was getting way too sarcastic for his own good. He needed to work on it sometime real soon. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and almost jumped with joy when he saw that she got it. Someone had finally turned on the light switch in her brain, a dull light, but a light anyway.

"Huh? Oh! Yes! A lot of preparation needs to be done. Um... by me of course... a lot's involved in torturing a demon, even a half demon like Johnny to death!" Her voice rang out falsely.

He couldn't help thinking, 'Yup! Not the brightest crayon in the box this one!' Well he need not have worried about the Chosen Two having to read between the lines to know this was a trick or game Glory was playing.

"Yes, don't I know it. How about you go prepare, my oh so imperceptive one! I will meet you in a few minutes after I get acquainted with your two Pets here. Yes?"

"Um... ah.... sure." Glory walked closer to the Chosen Two who had remained quiet and unmoving on the couch since Johnny had left.

"As for you two... I will be back to deal with you in... ah... eight days... after, ah... I kill Johnny!" She smiled at them, her yellow eyes glittering dangerously.

Unable to resist, she leaned down towards Faith and ran her fingertips along her neck. She pressed into the finger marks left by Johnny, that every day were becoming more like a permanent tattoo. She smiled with sensual pleasure at the gasp of pain that came from the Dark Slayer. Glory gathered up the sweat from Faith's neck, and with a twisted sort of awe licked it from her fingertips. "Delicious...." she sighed; she waved her hand and disappeared right in front of them.

He moved to stand in front of the couch. He stared down at the Chosen Two huddled together on it. He remembered, in his mind's eye, the images of Faith in the Tapestry from when she had her breakdown in jail. How gaunt, frail, fragile, thin, beyond thin, emaciated she had been. She had looked healthy then compared to how she and Buffy now looked. This was all his fault and he wanted nothing more than to gather them up into his arms and take them from here. Only he did not have that power. He wanted to drop to his knees and beg their forgiveness, but he dared not. He did not believe for one second that Glory had really left. Rather he thought she had made herself merely not visible. She was stupid, but not that stupid. HellGods weren't the trusting type, no matter who it was they were dealing with.

Faith moved slightly on the couch, using her body as a shield for Buffy. She did not fear this man in front of her, she did not know why though. What she did know was that just because she didn't fear him didn't mean that she could trust him. That was something he would have to prove that he was worthy of. She realized from the conversation he had with Glory that he had bought them some Get out of jail free time from both Glory and Johnny. Why though, what was his game? He had to be some sort of demon or god in order to be here. To be that familiar with Glory, he had to be. There was though, oddly enough, something so strangely familiar about him. Something familiar about the tingle she got from her Slayer senses. If she didn't know better she would swear that she had seen him somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where or when, or how.

Faith stared directly into his eyes and asked him, "Who are you?"

He felt a slight motion in the air behind him and knew with absolute certainty that Glory was still here in the room with them. He had to be clever about this. He needed for Faith to remember the Fates, there was something the Slayers needed to learn from them, well not learn, but be shown by them, via the Tapestry of course. Which role to play that would convince Glory that he was playing with their minds? He decided on the gallant gentleman, it was the one that always confused people the most when they met him, he was hoping though the Slayers would see through it.

But how to ensure that they would see through it? He chewed on it for a second or two before an idea came to him. A ridiculous idea but it was so ridiculous that they had to see through it. Didn't they?

He knelt down in front of them upon one knee and grabbed up a hand from each Slayer into each one of his. He smiled his most evil smile, while his eyes begged them for their forgiveness. They shrunk back into the couch away from him, from his touch, but he knew that the fear they were feeling wasn't for him. He knew that they both could sense that Glory was still here.

He took a deep breath and began.... "Please allow me to introduce myself... I'm a man of wealth and taste..." First he saw surprise then disbelief and then a hint of amusement in Faith eyes which she quickly blinked away. Surprise when she recognized the lyrics. Disbelief at what he was telling her, them. Amusement that he was half singing, half speaking it to them. He continued, winking slowly at her, trying to make it look more like a leering thing, rather than an acknowledgement. "I've been around for a long, long year stolen many man's soul and faith... Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name..." He smiled pausing, giving them an opening.

"You... you're..." Buffy took a deep breath, fear coming off her in waves. This nightmare just kept getting worse... Then strangely enough, she felt the calm coming to her from Faith. She risked taking a quick peek at her, and saw that while Faith looked afraid of him, in reality Buffy could feel no fear of him coming from Faith in an echo. She decided to play along too, trusting Faith knew what she was doing.

Consciously Faith made her voice tremble with fear, " You're Luc...."

Luc cut Faith off on purpose, "Luc to my friends, but you can call me Lucifer... ah... But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game... That my dear Pets is something best left for another time. Let me just say that today the pleasure has been all mine." He bent his head slightly. Silently he cursed himself for having to do this, and cursed Glory for still being here and making this a necessity. He started slowly to squeeze each of their hands hoping they would catch on and play along. He brought each of their hands up to his mouth and kissed the backs of them. He kept squeezing slowly as he silently mouthed, I'm sorry against each of their hands. He almost sighed aloud in relief when h sth started struggling to pull her hand out of his, whimpering in feigned pain, Buffy was quick to follow. He silently thanked the Creator for not having to make him truly hurt them while playing this fucked up charade. He held onto their hands a little longer, giving his best fake evil chuckle. He let go when Faith finally, gasped out, \ase ase stop it hurts... please..."

Luc rose from the floor, he knew they had a million questions. His eyes cautioned them to hold their tongues and to pay attention.

He locked his eyes with Faith; it was up to her to understand his message, to remember. "Such a beautiful Tapestry of pain your bodies are. I wish I could stay and add my threads to both your Tapestry's weaves of such dark colors of agony.... But alas... right now my Pets a beautifully sinful Goddess awaits me.... Perhaps someday the Fates will allow me to weave a little magic of my own upon both your beautifully bruised, pain filled, body Tapestries... 'Til then."

He began to bow to them.

What they did not know about him was that there had been very few times in his long life that he had bowed to anyone. Even in jest. Bowing was a sign of admiration, of respect, of honor for the person you are bowing to. He had met very few mortals and Immortals alike that he had ever had those feelings for.

The two women in front of him and not just because they were the Slayers, but for who they were as individuals and together, to them he showed...

...the admiration, the respect, the honor, the awe that he held for them by humbling himself and bowing low to them, touching his hand to his forehead, followed by his heart; then The Prince of Darkness, Lucifer, or Luc as he was known by to his friends was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello, Anyanka," he said taking off his sunglasses as he walked into the Magic Shop.

Anya spun around. She squinted into the noonday sun shining in through the doorway trying to see who was standing there, but all she could see was a glowing silhouette. There was something familiar about him and his voice. Obviously, it was someone who had known her when she was still a Vengeance Demon, which never boded well.

"Anya.... It's just Anya now."

"Well then hello, Anya."

He moved out of the doorway coming towards her. For a second all she could see was brightly colored dots. "Luc?"

"In the flesh. Miss me darlin'?" He smiled at her; he had always liked her, despite what she had done for a living so to speak.

He knew the reasons behind her becoming a Vengeance Demon and he could understand it. He had always kept a little bit of hope in his heart that someday she would be able to let go of the anger, the hate in her heart. Once she did that he knew, even if she didn't, that she would be abo lio live out the life that she should have had from the beginning, before it was destroyed over twelve-hundred years ago. Destroyed by a man, that was exactly like the man that tried, was still trying to destroy Faith's life.

Luc's smile grew a little larger as he saw the dark-haired young man behind the counter with Anya move protectively closer to her. Like the Wicca's he too could see auras and he could see the love that flowed between Anya and Xander.

Xander moved closer to Anya not liking the familiarity the angelic looking man in the doorway was showing towards Anya. Was this another old boyfriend? Maybe the tip off was him calling her by her Vengeance Demon name which meant.... Xander moved quickly shoving Anya behind him and grabbed up an axe from under the counter. "What do you want?"

Before Luc had a ch to to answer, he found himself flying across the room. Dazed he shook his head and raised it from the floor to see the two Wicca's standing just inside of the doorway. Shit it had been eons since anyone had managed to sneak up, let alone use magic on him in this realm. Him and his smart-ass mouth, he sat up wincing, damn that had hurt.

"I come in peace." First the Stones, now the, shit he couldn't remember what movie that was from.

"Move," Anya pushed Xander aside, secretly pleased at his protecting her. She ignored his hey and ran quickly over to Luc's side. She helped him back up to his feet and led him over to the table. "Getting a little slow in your old age Luc?"

"Honey... I think you may have jumped the gun there a little."

"Well... how was I supposed to know... Xander's being protector-man and all with an axe and everything... it looked... you know... and with Buffy and Faith dea... um... dealing with um... the stuff you know the stuff... oh hell can I just say oops?"

The Wicca's moved over to the counter by Xander. Willow looked at the man and couldn't help but think that he looked like an angel that had somehow fallen directly from heaven into the shop. She smiled wanly at him and murmured, "Sorry? Are you all right? I ah... didn't mean... well I mean I did mean to... but ah I didn't know that you knew ah... know......" She stopped when he up up a hand; the little redheaded witch was making him dizzier.

"It's okay. More surprised than hurt." He smiled at her, and she smiled back at him. This one, in fact both witches were powerful, they hadn't even begun to know how powerful they were. He squinted a little at Willow, he sensed, saw, that she had dabbled in the darker side of magic. That was not good, he didn't want her to end up in his care one day. He didn't want that at all.

"The one who caught you off guard is Willow. Never thought I'd see that, someone catching you off guard that is. That's her girlfriend Tara. And this is Xander my Orgasm Buddy." Anya pointed to everyone in turn; they all waved rather sheepishly to him. "And this is..."

Luc stopped her, "Anya... I'd rather do this myself... Please allow me to introduce myself... I'm a man..." Luc trailed off with a groan. What the fuck was it with him and that song? That was twice now in so many days.

Though no one knew it, he actually got a kick out of the song. When it had first come out, he had run around humming and singing it to himself for days. Now that he thought about, he seemed to introduce himself using it when he was nervous. Who would ever believe that he could be nervous about anything? But he was, what if he couldn't fix this?

Not to mention, eve the they did get the Slayers back, what was going to happen? It wasn't like they had gonevacavacation to Disneyland. There was bound to be repercussions, emotional, physical. Their bond had grown stronger since they had been there; they were united in a fight against a common enemy. Putting aside all of the emotional turmoil, damage in their effort to take care of each other, to escape. What was going to happen though once they were free and they actually had to deal with what did happen, with what was done to them? He pulled himself away from those thoughts; his priority now was getting them free, or rather getting the right people in the right place to help get them free. He noticed that Xr war was staring at him; he could almost see the wheels turning in his head as his words sank in.

"Hey that's a line from the Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the... ohhhhhhh shit..." Xander trailed off, he locked his eyes with Anya's. "Anya? ......... Anya is this ah... is this...."

"Lucifer," smi smiled at Xander, not really sure what the problem was. Surely, they didn't believe all the rumors that had been circulating for all these eons about him. Did they? After all their years of living on the HellMouth you would think they would know better than to just take everything at face value.

Xander reached under the counter and pulled out a cross. He held it out in front of him towards Luc, who just looked at him amused. Luc couldn't help it. "Get thee behind me Satan!" Xander heaved a sigh of relief when Luc disappeared. "It worked? Of course it worked... I knew it would work..." He smiled, puffing out his chest a little proud of himself. Watching all those movies had finally paid off.

"Okay so now what?" Luc asked Xander.

"AH!" Xander jumped about ten feet in the air turning around mid-flight. The 'Devil' was behind him, arms folded across his chest, leaning casually against the wall. Xander thrust the cross out in front of him again at Luc, "Umah..ah... go away?"

Luc took the cross out of Xander's hand and walked around him returning to the table. This was not going well at all, sometimes his own stupidity amazed him, him and that dumb song! He saw that the two Wicca's' were holding hands and chanting under their breath, eedeeeded to stop this before it got further out of hand. "Ladies please... I am not here to cause any trouble... I am..."

"Yeah right... The devil not cause trouble... Good one..." Xander snorted. Okay was he stupid much or what? "Ah... what I mean is... ah... of course you're not... no trouble... we don't want trouble here... nope, not us..." He was starting to sound likllowllow.

"Enough!" Everyone turned and stared at Anya. "Luc is a friend. We've known each other forr a r a thousand years." She stared back at them smiling as if she expected that to explain it all calmcalm their fears.

"Anya honey... I don't mean to offend you or anything... but your telling us he's your friend is not exactly a ringing endorsement... ah... considering you're an ex-vengeance demon and all..." Xander looked quickly at Luc and mumbled, "No offense."

"No offense taken. Completely understandable." This was bordering on the inane. Before he had a chance to continue, Anya held up a hand stopping him. He looked at her and could see that her clearing this up was important to her.

Anya thought carefully before speaking, she knew she wasn't always clear in getting across what it was that she was trying to say. She wanted to make sure that she did this time. "Do you trust me Xander?" She waited for him to answer her; instead he just nodded mutely yes at her. "Do you think I would do anything to hurt you or stand here casually if I thought that Luc would harm you? Friend or not?" She looked at Xander, then Willow and Tara in turn. "Do you think I would do that to any of you? Do you not trust me?" This time he nodded his head no, as well as Willow and Tara. "Well then what's the problem?"

They all looked at Anya and realized that she was right. She was a Scooby just like them, and even more, she was family. Xander felt a little ashamed of himself, they all did. Did they really believe that she would be standing there so calmly if they were in danger even if it was som someone that she considered a friend?

"Sorry... it's just well he's the Devil you know... all grr and evil like or supposed to be and well... we just. We should have known better..." Willow finished lamely.

"I understand but... You would think after living on the HellMouth all these years you would know better than too..." Anya paused tryin thi think of the right words. "Um... judge a boy ity its cover. Or things aren't always what they seem or believe everything you read or..."

"I think they get it Anya." Luc smiled at her, they were getting way sidetracked.

"So then if you're not all grr... evil and stuff then what..." Willow started to ask him, curiosity overriding her fear. Because despite what Anya said, how could she not be afraid? He was the Devil after all. She trailed off when he held up his hand.

"That is a conversation best left for another time. There are those who would be better equipped than me to explain who, what I am then I. In fact you know one or two of them and I have a feeling that you would be more likely to believe them rather than me." He waved her off again before she could question him about who. "I don't mean to be rude but I am rather pressed for time."

"Why are you here then um... ah...?" Willow wasn't sure what to call him. He certainly didn't look like any of his pictures, and as soon as she had tthouthought she realized how ridiculous it was. In fact, she wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming all this.

"Luc. Just call me Luc. It's what all my friends call me. I came because Anyanka, ah... Anya here purchased a certain item through a broker of mine. I've haven't seen her in so long I thought that I would hand deliver it." He had many working for him within this realm. It was a way for him to keep an eye on things. Luckily for him, Anya had gone through one of them for this particular item.

"Is it the Indigo Phallic Idol or the Stone of Perpetual Bliss or the Statue of Aphrodite or..."

"No, Anya... it is a certain Urn..."

"You have an Urn of Osiris?!?"

He felt the air in the room change immediately. They all grew somber; he could see the tenseness in all of their bodies and the overwhelming grief that radiated from them. He hated the fucking rules that said he couldn't just out and out tell them what was going on, instead of having to play these stupid damn games. "Yes... You do know what this is for don't you?" His question was directed at Willow, he knew she was the one who would be performing the spell.

Willow looked at Luc; her face was so solemn it broke his heart. Did she realize the kind of magic she was looking to do? The repercussions to her? He doubted if she would even care. There was nothing she wouldn't do for Buffy and now even for Faith.

"Can I see the Urn before we answer that?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luc produced the Urn seemingly from thin air. He handed it to Willow.

"The Desert Gnome in Cairo works for you? I should have known. He drove a hard bargain, but I finally got him to throw in a limited edition Backstreet Boys lunch box for..." Anya was cut off by Xander's loud cough, "...a friend..." she trailed off.

"Yes the Gnome works for me. Your other item... hrmpf... will be shipped to you in the usual way." Luc said looking directly at Xander.

Xander looked away sheepishly, "You got your somber on, Will. The urn not up to spec?"

It was a second or two before Willow raised her eyes from inspecting the Urn, she looked at Tara and they shared a silent understanding. "It's the one." Willow pulled her gaze away from Tara and looked between Xander and Anya. "Which means it's time."

Xander opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally managed nervously to stammer out, "It's time? Like, time time? With the... timeliness?"

"Are you sure?" Anya's voice quivered a little.

Luc realized that they had forgotten about him. He sat quietly, still as if he were a statue, waiting for an opportunity to join back into the conversation. He looked at Willow waiting for her to answer and was treated to his first ever 'Resolve Face Willow'.

"I am." No hesitation in her voice at all, she was no longer the shy timid hacker, but every bit the powerful witch.

"Mercury's in retrograde, and we have... do we have everything?"

Willow turned her gaze to Tara before she answered her. Her stance, her look everything about her was determined. "Just about."

"But why the sudden rushy-rush? Did the bot blow her cover at school?" Xander was rocking from foot to foot; Luc doubted whether anyone in the room except him could detect the slight movement.

Luc turned his attention to the blonde-haired witch when she answered Xander. He liked her; there was a very bright white aura, an innocence, which surrounded her. She was someone, he knew, who would never willing go over to the dark side. He knew the onling ing or rather person who could ever make her take that step was the redheaded witch beside her. Only though if it meant saving Willow's life. Magic from the dark-side for this one would be a last ditch attempt.

"No, she did great. She impressed all the teachers."

"And they still thought it was Buffy?" Xander smiled his goofy smile at the thought and gave a little sigh of relief thinking he had turned the conversation away from what Willow was planning. His relief was short l.
.

"Tomorrow night. We'll meet at your..."

Luc still waited patiently he had a feeling that Xander would draw the witch into a place in the conversation where he could start to plant the seeds of doubt about the Slayers' deaths. Once again, he cursed the rules he was bound by.

"Whoah! Let's apply the brake, and check rear and side mirrors here! This is deep stuff, Willow. We're talking about raising the dead."

"You do realize..." Luc began only to have Willow not only ignore him, but cut him off. So much for this group being afraid of little ol' him, the big bad Prince of Darkness.

"And it's time to stop talking. Tomorrow night, we're bringing Buffy and Faith back."

Everyone stopped, almost like time itself had halted. They all showed fear on their faces, all but Willow who was still in full scale Resolve Face.

"Tomorrow," Anya squeaked out, this was the first time Luc had ever seen her scared.

"I don't know..." Xander began, but Anya cut him off going into total panic babble mode.

"Discovery Channel has monkeys. And our tape machine's sorta wonky..."

"Guys. I need you guys on board here."

"It just... it feels wrong." Xander didn't know why but it just did, something deep inside of him told him it was. Something wasn't right about the whole thing.

"I..." Luc tried again only to be cut off and ignored by the blonde-haired witch this time.

"It is wrong." Willow shot Tara a surprised, hurt, confused look; she hadn't expected that from her. Tara took a deep breath before she continued, and Luc thought maybe he might not have to say anything at all. "It's against all the laws of nature and practically impossible to do but it's what we agreed to. If you guys are changing your minds..."

So maybe he would have to do something, Luc started to open his mouth, but he should have known better.

"Nobody's changing their minds. Period."

At this point, Luc decided to wait until they were done; this was something he thought they should finish playing out.

"Excuse me. Who made you the boss of the group?"

"You did." Anya told Xander, then Tara backed her up.

"You said, Willow should be boss."

"And then you said, Let's vote and it was unanim"
"

"You made her that little plaque that said, BOSS OF US, you put on sparkles..."

Xander cut Tara off he had enough of her and Anya ganging up on him, "Valid points all. But we... I mean, we were just talking then..."

"I can do this, Xander. I promise. But not without you."

"And if something does go wrong.......?" Tara ventured hesitantly looking at her lover. Good, Luc thought, now they might gemewhmewhere.

"I'm telling you it won't."

'Shit!' Luc thought if anything Willow's Resolve Face was even more resolved now.

"Scenario: We raise Buffy and Faith from the grave. They try to eat our brains. Do we, A: congratulate ourselves on a job well done..."

"This isn't Zombies, Xander."

"Zombies don't eat brains anyway. Unless instructed to by their Zombie masters. Lotta peopet tet that wrong." Anya told them almost smugly. This was something she knew about; she was an ex-Vengeance Demon after all.

"Very good..." Luc snapped his mouth closed again. He should have known better by now!

"This isn't like Dawn trying to bring back Mrs. Summers or anything we've dealt with before. Buffy and Faith didn't die a natural death. They were killed by mystical energy."

Two points for the redhead, she was right. It wasn't anything like Joyce, she sadly was really dead. But in either case Willow was right because if the Slayers were dead this was one of their options. Perhaps even their only option to bring the Chosen Two back to life. But in order to use this they had to be dead, which they weren't.

"Which means we do have a shot."

Willow smiled at Tara, silently thanking her for her support.

"We saw their bodies, Will. We buried them."

Shit, fuck, damn it. Now he had let it go too far! He really was becoming a royal screw up. Firse lee let Johnny go, now this. How the hell was he going to fix this now?

"Their bodies, yeah, but their souls, their essences..." Willow's Resolve Face started to crack just a tiny bit, "...they could be somewherse, se, trapped it some Hell dimension like Angel was. Suffering some eternal torment that we can't even imagine just because she saved us and for some unknown fucking reason Faith decided to go with her.... I am not gonna let her, them..." Now there was a big gaping hole in it, she was holding her eye's wide open trying to keep back the tears. Luc couldn't help but feel for her, for them. If only they knew where the Slayers' really were, he cursed himself silently again. "...I'm not gonna leave them there." Willow took a deep shuddering breath. She blinked, holding her eyes closed for a second. When she opened them again, the tears were gone and her Resolve Face was firmly back in place. She faced off against Xander again. "It's Buffy and Faith... "

Luc cleared his throat. They all turned towards him, they looked a little surprised, as if they truly had forgotten that he was there.

"Well I see that you know what the Urn is for. How are you so sure that they are in a Hell dimension and not somewhere else? A better place perhaps? Did you try to find them, contact them? Did you even see where their essences went to? You realize, don't you, that you risk bringing back something other than them if you are wrong. Don't you? They were the Slayers after all. You should be absolutely sure before you do this." He rose from the chair; he had to admire this group of young people including Anya.

He bowed his head to them and spoke again, "I am afraid I have to take my leave now. I wish you luck." He moved swiftly towards the door, a blur really, he opened the door and turned to them, "As Anya said everything, everyone isn't alwayat, at, they or it seem."

Then the Prince of Darkness was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luc silently cursed himself for fucking up again all the way to L.A. He hoped that he had put enough doubt into their minds. If Willow tried to reach out to their spirits, he knew she would find the connection she shared with the Slayers from the Enjoining spell. Then she would know they weren't dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continued in Chapter XXV – Sympathy For The Devil (Part C)