Transitory Evils

Title: Transitory Evils
Author:Saladin
Rating: R for Gratuitous explosions and lots of violence
Pairing:Wi/Sp
Disclaimer:All the BtVS characters and the locale of Sunnydale are owned by Joss and the other usual suspects. If I owned 'em they'd stay in my toybox *grin*
Feedback: Continues to be wonderful and is frighteningly addictive. "I'm STILL not satisfied!" Tom Lehrer, fr "Smut" 1965
Author's notes: 1) Spike will sling the bat more than usual in this piece. ie use more and a greater variety of Pommie slang 2) The point of divergence is 5.06 "Family" Tara elects to return home. 3) all thoughts are enclosed in { } 4) Thanks as always to My bodacious beta slave, kaz for her untiring work to help Me.

Dedication: To Kaz, as always, for being the love I've always sought, and now found.



Part 1 Illusory Enemies


Three months after the conclusion of "A Very Ordinary Evil"


"Damn it Spike! I can't research like this!"

"Why not pet?"

"Because I'm butt naked!"

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that. Now let me get dressed first. Then we can go research."

"Sorry kitten, Giles said it was urgent and we had to be there now. I didn't even look as I came in."

Willow collapsed back on thd, rd, roaring with laughter. "Honestly, Spike," she gasped out between guffaws. "At times you're so Victorian it's frightening!"

Spike mock-glared at his diminutive lover. "You're a brat. I'll deal with you later young lady."

"Ooooh! Promise?"

Spike glared and pointed towards the walk in robe. "Get thee to a dressery, wench!"

"Wench?" Willow asked, plaintively. "Do I look like a buxom wench? I'm not getting fat am I?"

Spike chuckled. "Kitten, you're not gaining any weight at all. You're as slender now as the first time I saw you."

"Really?"

"Yes pet, really."

"Well, that's good." Willow walked off to get dressed, twitching her hips enticingly.

* * * *

As Spike and Willow walked into Giles' apartment, they saw him struggling with blueprints all over the table. He looked up as he heard the door open. "Oh, I'm sorry about this. The plans for the new Magic Box are being ... difficult."

Willow's lips quirked as she asked, "That's not why you asked us over is it Giles? To fight evil blueprints?"

"Well, er ... no. It's more to do with the sightings of some rather peculiar ... demons I suppose we'd call them."

"What kind of demons?" Spike asked, his interest piqued by Giles lack of knowledge.

v "Well, that's just it. Everyone who's seen them describes something quite different. The only point of consistency is the number. There are always five."

"Well, perhaps there are more than one group." Willow suggested logically.

"No, Willow, you misunderstand, or I wasn't clear. I'm talking about witnesses who describe the same group. Seen at the same place and the same time. Two of the witnesses are very reliable--Anya and Xander."

"Oh," Willow said. "That changes things then, doesn't it. What did Xander and Anya see? I'm wondering if they were at different angles and saw the same thing."

"I already checked that Willow. Xander said he didn't know what the demons were, but that they were at least eight feet tall, naked, deep blue skinned and had four large curling horns and were unarmed. Anya said they were a light grey, about six feet tall, hornless and carried swords. And Xander and Anya were next to each other when they saw the demons."

Willow looked puzzled and thoughtful. "Did they have mouths?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you remember, Giles, about the telepathic demon that gave Buffy telepathy? Could these be another group of telepathic demons? Ones that somehow ... project images to people, making them see different things?"

Giles looked at Willow. "That's an excellent thought. Now we have a line of research. Shall we start?"

Willow smiled and immediately headed for the database she had established over the years for Giles, while both Giles and Spike turned to some of the volumes on the shelves.

Research had become easier, especially since Spike had taken the disorder of Giles' library in hand six weeks earlier. All the books that had been scanned into the database were consigned to the basement, packed carefully into boxes designed to avoid damp and mildew. The books that had been partially scanned were placed closest to Giles' computer, while those that had not yet been dealt with lined the other walls.

Both Giles and Spike both selected books from the far wall and began to read; while Willow accessed the database she had created and began to search for demons which met her criteria. The trio worked in an amicable silence until the door burst open. "So, G-man, found out what I accurately saw yet?"

"What you accurately saw? Xander, you're so annoying. I know what I saw, and you didn't. So there." Anya responded hotly, if somewhat illogically.

"Now, both of you calm down." Giles said sternly. "Willow has an hypothesis which could well explain what you both saw. So if you would like to sit and listen, I'll get her to explain it to you."

Willow reduced the screens and turned in the computer chair to look at the young lovers. "We aren't sure yet, but I think that the demons, or whatever it is that you saw, have some kind of telepathic ability to project images that each person interprets differently."

"And in English?" Xander asked, a little acerbically.

"You see what they want you to see, and they want everyone to see something different." Willow explained.

"So we were both wrong?" Anya asked, obviously disappointed.

"No," Willow said. "You saw what they made you see. You both reported what you thought you saw. I'd say you were both right, rather than both wrong."

"Both right? All co-operative? Isn't that a bit socialist?" Anya asked accusingly.

"This is demons, not politics Anya," Willow said in exasperation. "Politics aren't involved with demons ... well unless you count the Initiative and Spiro Agnew."

"Well, since you're here, you can help with the research." Giles added, smiling. "There are still a lot of books you can access without having to use Willow's computer."

Xander sighed while Anya rolled her eyes. "But I'm a capitalist," Anya stated. "Shouldn't I hire someone to research for me?"

Spike was in front of Anya instantly, using his vampiric speed, holding a hand out in front of him. "Only thirty bucks an hour." He said, grinning.

"What! That's extortion!" Anya squawked.

"No, it's capitalism," Spike responded.

Anya glared at him, and then went to the bookshelves. She snatched two books, seemingly at random, and sat down with Xander to start helping the group find out what was happening.

* * * *

Willow sighed as she shut her laptop down. "There's nothing in the database so far." She said tiredly. "Once things calm down, Spike and I'll do some more scanning for you Giles. For now though, we're going to have to do it the hard way."

"Thank you Willow. I know I may not show it, but I do appreciate the work you and Spike have put in."

Willow smiled a little wanly. "It didn't help this time though. Sorry Giles." As she spoke, she rose and walked to the bookcase, also taking down a book to help discover the origins of the demons.

The work continued, until Giles' ormolu clock pealed out the time at two in the morning. Both Anya and Xander had succumbed to sleep. Giles was beginning to nod a little, and Spike noticed that Willow looked pallid. "Giles," Spike began, "I think we should turn it up for the night. The moron and yoyo knickers are ... OWWWWWW! What was that for pet?"

"I told you not to call Anya that."

"Damn it luv, that hurt."

"Good, it was meant to. Now, what were you saying?"

"Just that everyone's tired and we should knock off for the night. Do some more tomorrow night."

"Ah, okay then. It makes sense."

"Well, all right then," Giles responded, stretching as he did so. "I'll wake the sleeping beauties and encourage them to seek their own bed. Why don't the pair of you head off home?"

Spike nodded. "Okay Ripper. Get some rest why don't ya?"

Giles nodded tiredly as Willow and Spike departed.

* * * *

Spike held Willow close as they sat at Giles' table the next night. The news had been horrific. Five young women had been slaughtered during the day; and the details were enough to turn the strongest stomach. In addition, although the killers had been described very differently, all five women had been mutilated in an identical ritual manner.

It was this last fact that haunted everyone; surprisingly, even Spike. The obvious inference was that the demons that Anya and Xander had spotted were the perpetrators of the atrocities, and all, to some extent, felt as if they had failed. Cordelia--who had not been present the previous night--was there and equally upset. Two of the victims had been Cordettes in their high-school days. Even though she had grown apart from the essentially shallow girls, she still had fond memories of them.

Giles sighed, and looked over at Willow. "Do you think you can get into the coroner's files? I need to know if there was anything the women had in common, other than their age."

Willow nodded. "I can do that, then maybe the database will show something when we have all the details of the killings," she said as she went to the computer desk.

Willow simply went to her bookmarks and used the back door she had found years ago to enter the coroner's site. It took her only moments to locate the details she needed. "Giles, I have all the details, and there is one thing we weren't aware of. All five girls were virgins."

Giles looked up. "That'll limit what we have to hunt for. Virgin sacrifice isn't the Modus Operandi of most demons."

"I always thought it was a bloody waste," Spike interjected. As the others all looked up in shock, he continued. "Virgins are over-rated. There's nothing special about their blood. When I was that way inclined, I'd rather have seduced than killed a virgin."

"Wait a minute, we are talking about Melody, aren't we?" Cordelia asked. "Because she had so many boyfriends that she couldn't keep their names straight."

"Perhaps she didn't ..." Giles petered out, unable to articulate what he wanted to say in front of the people he still considered his children.

"Put out?" Anya asked, bluntly.

Giles reddened slightly and nodded.

Cordelia looked surprised a moment and then began to laugh. "It makes sense, given the amount Harmony used to lie about her boyfriends." A thought occurred to her. "Was she alone?"

Willow looked briefly at the reports. "No, she was with Sabina."

"From the forensic reports, is there anything that would suggest that they were ... close?" Cordelia persisted.

"I didn't even think of that," Willow answered, "let me look."

Moments later Willow looked up. "There's nothing certain, but they shared an apartment." She shrugged before asking, "Why?"

"I just thought that finding lesbians might be a good way to find sort-of virgins."

Giles raised an eyebrow. "That's a rather clever thought Cordelia. It's the kind of short cut that some demons would use."

Cordelia smiled at Giles compliment as Willow turned and re-engaged her database search with details of the mode of killing. Spike had already turned to the books, muttering about demons who tried to do things in his town.

Willow looked up only minutes later. "I have the ritual killing here Giles, a precise match. It's attributed to a demon called a Lapsardis. I'll need to cross-reference that though."

Giles nodded and went to some books that he had not perused the previous night. Flicking as rapidly as he could through the old vellum pages, he found the entry he had been seeking. "Ah, the Lapsardis." He said in a satisfied tone. "It says nothing here about any kind of telepathic ability. Willow, has that infernal machine given you any information yet?"

"Yes, but there's nothing here about telepathy either. It describes them though. About um ... how many cubits is six?"

Spike sniggered, while Xander looked at Willow open-mouthed. Giles moved to smooth over Willow's faux-pas. "About nine feet, Willow, but why did you ask?" He replied, answering the question Willow had meant to ask.

"Because that's how tall they are."

"How very odd, this book says they're around er ... five feet tall."

"What? I have an idea. Everyone else, try and find these Lapsardis demons in books," said Willow urgently. "Giles, come here and we'll see how much the information matches."

Willow and Giles poured over the printouts that Willow had generated and the book he had found the information in, comparing notes. In short order, they discovered that the Lapsardis sacrificed twenty virgin women in the month prior to each Lunar Eclipse to ensure their breed's continued fertility. The manner of the sacrifice was very specific, and perfectly matched the wounds suffered by the victims. That however, was the only congruity. The description of the demons themselves was totally different.

Cordelia brought a book over. "These guys are so gross," was her initial contribution to the discussion.

She handed over the book to Giles. As he looked through the book he nodded. "Yes, once again the description of the ritual is identical, but the description different."

"That's what I expected," Willow said. "It's obvious that the Lapsardis are able to project very different images to everyone who sees them. I'd assume that they can also project images of humans, that would be how they can get close enough to attack."

Giles nodded again. "Yes, but that's going to make it very difficult to find them."

"Perhaps not." The voice from behind the three startled them. It was Xander's. "Do your books say anything about smell?"

"No," Giles answered, "there's nothing in any of them about smell."

"Well, this one does, it says that they're accompanied by a smell rather like vinegar."

"Well, that'll help a lot," Spike interjected sarcastically. "We can all wander around sniffing and appear completely normal. And of course, we'll track down every fish'n'chip shop in town."

"Spike, be nice. It's more than anything else we have." Willow said sternly.

"Have either you or Anya found anything?" Giles asked.

"Well ... No. Not yet, but let's be fair, Ripper, the chances of Chubs finding something before me shows it's nothing but chance."

Willow giggled, and at Xander's glare, poked her tongue out, grinning. "The point is," she said, hoping to head off the tangential discussion that Spike and Giles were about to have, "that we need to go through each book and try to get some kind of confirmation about smell. It's the only lead we have so far."

* * * *

Seven hours later, they had finished working through all of the possible volumes. The Lapsardis was described differently in each volume, but three books mentioned the smell of vinegar.

As Giles tiredly pushed the last of the books away from him, he spoke in exhausted tones. "So, we have to try and find these creatures, that look different to everyone who sees them, using only the smell of vinegar. And we have only five days before the next series of sacrifices."