Sacrifice
by Danii
Buffy pulled back the sword to strike. She
didn't want to do this; God, she didn't want to do
this. To have him come back, only to send him into
eternal torment. But it was that, or have the world
sucked head-first into hell.
God, she didn't want to do this.
"Close your eyes"
God, she didn't want to do this.
She could hear a voice. It spoke in a language
which she didn't know. It was pleasent enough, but
unfamiliar, so she didn't give it any notice.
God, she didn't want to do this.
She put her head down.
A blur.
Buffy plunged the sword into Angel. Tears ran
down her face, and she raised her head to get a last
look at the one she loved. But to Buffy's great
surprise, it was not Angel into which she had plunged
the sword, but a tall, blonde man. The man smiled, a
sad smile, as Buffy stepped back to look around. On
the ground next to the stranger was Angel, nursing a
cut in his arm, who looked up at Buffy.
"What..." Buffy began, but stopped when she saw
a light. The light was brightening just above the
unknown man, and the man, despite the sword in him,
looked up.
"Natalie?" asked the man. It was then that
Buffy realized that it was his voice she had heard
speaking only a few moments before. Buffy and Angel
both stood spellbound watching the man, the light, and
the portal.
"Yes, Nick" issued a pleasant, female voice from
the light, "You've earned your place here. You earned
it long ago, my knight. Come now."
"Yes" answered the man who was obviously Nick,
and then a spasm of pain hit him from the portal to
hell behind him. But just as it seemed he would be
sucked into the wormhole, a light left his body and
joined the one above him. The eyes of the man, once a
sapphire blue, went blank and white as the light left,
then the body was sucked down into hell. The portal
disappeared, as did the light, and Buffy and Angel
were left, shaken, but alive.
"What-" began Buffy, but Angel shushed her as he
stood up.
"Let's just be grateful" Angel said, walking
over to her, "Yes, I've remembered what happened. I
am so sorry..."
It was at that point that Angel embraced her.
Buffy returned the embrace gratefully, holding onto
him for dear life for fear that she would fall down
from sheer exaustion.
"But, who was he?" asked Buffy, pulling her head
up to look at Angel's face, "Do you know who he was?"
"I didn't get a good look, but there was
something familiar about him. I might have seen him,
but I can't remember where." Angel's look of
wondering turned to a smile, "But, I wish I could
thank him. For all he has given me back."
At that point Angel's mouth met Buffy's in a
kiss, which they continued for a bit. When they both
came up for air, Buffy asked.
"Can we get out of here? I'd really like to see
how Xander and Giles are doing."
Angel was nonplussed for a minute, but then
remembered.
"I forgot all about them! Yes, we'd better find
them. Make sure they're all right!" Angel answered,
starting to make for the exit. But as he walked over,
he tripped on something lying on the floor.
"What the-"
Buffy walked over and picked up the item Angel
had tripped on. It was a set of keys, with a note
attached. Bufy read it out loud.
"Green caddy outside. Check the trunk if you
want answers"
Buffy looked to Angel. Angel shrugged and held
his hands out for the keys. Buffy handed them over,
and put her arm around Angel, whose own arm had
already healed.
"Let's go home."
When they got outside, they found Xander and
Giles (well, mostly Giles) resting on the very car the
note was about. Both men looked up when they heard
the foot steps, and both tensed up when they saw
Angel.
"Is he evil?" Xander asked, with his usual
intellegence and tact.
"What do you think, Xander?" answered Buffy,
hugging Angel even closer to her.
"Just checking" answered Xander, ignoring or
perhaps entirely missing the note of anger in Buffy's
voice. Buffy then diengaged from Angel and walked
over to Giles, who looked to be in a bad way.
"You okay?" she asked simply, her hand resting
lightly on his shoulder in the event that he should be
injured there.
"I am fine, Buffy" Giles said, waving her
concern away, "However, to be honest, I don't believe
I will be able to walk all the way."
Buffy smiled. "You won't have to. We happen to
have the keys to the car you're sitting on. Well,
actually, Angel has the keys"
The terror that had found it's way to Giles
battered face at the idea of Buffy driving erased
itself quickly. Curiousity took over.
"And how did you aquire those?" asked the
Watcher.
"The owner saved me" answered Angel, "He took
the sword instead of me. His body was sucked into
hell to stop the world from being sucked in."
"But how is that possible? Only the blood of the
one who opened it..."
As Giles spoke, Angel looked at the cut on his
arm. Perhaps what Angel had thought was a slight
mistake was actually a highly important, calculated
part of the stranger's plan.
"The guy was saying something in Latin before I
tried to stab Angel..." Buffy injected.
Giles looked at both Buffy and Angel. "It is
possible that he transfered the...whatever... to
himself to the point where only the blood, and not the
death, of he who opened it was needed."
Angel nodded. That made sense.
"But who would VOLUNTEER to be stabbed and sent
to hell in Angel's place!?" Again, Xander astounded
everyone with his lack of tact. Buffy figured it must
have rubbed off from Cordelia.
Angel pulled out the keys and showed the two
others the note.
"Let's find out..."
Giles, who was more curious that hurt, got up
from the bumper so that Angel could open the trunk.
Angel slipped the key in as soon as the Watcher got
up, and turned it. Almost surprisingly, it worked.
The trunk mechanism was obviously well taken care of,
for some reason, and didn't require any further effort
to open it.
Inside the opened trunk was some packages,
ranging in size from that which could contain a
toaster to that which could comfortably hold a decent
sized television. On top of the parcels, was a
manilla envelope with the words "Read me first"
scribbled upon it. Angel reached in and took the
envelope.
All were focused upon Angel as he opened the
manilla envelope to find a large bundle of papers. A
sticky note on the top of the stack had a few
directions. It read:
"If you are reading this, then you must be alive
and moderately well. The contents of this are very
important. I think it would be better if you drove
the car to the hospital and read it all together with
the others, Cordelia, Willow, and Oz. You can take
the car, as I stated above. The gas tank is full.
Safe driving."
Xander, who had been reading over Angel's
shoulder, even though the vampire had been reading
aloud, was impressed.
"Wow" he said with an impressed 'huh', "This guy
had it ALL planned out."
Giles gave him a withering look.
"Let's just get in the car and find out who the
bloody hell this person was!" exclaimed the Watcher.
Buffy and Xander agreed and piled in. Angel
waited so as to help Giles into a seat. He then
plopped into the driver's seat.
"Angel" Xander asked, a hint of fear in his
voice, "How long since you last drove?"
Angel gave him a disgusted look. "Two weeks"
Buffy was surprised. "In what?"
"In a car, in MY car!" exclaimed Angel, "I do
have a car. It's a '63 like this one, but black.
Great trunk space in one of these. I use it to hide
when I get caught out in the day. Just open the
trunk, hop in, and fall asleep until dark. I'd be
surprised to find that no other vampires do it."
"So, you're saying, some guy just pushed Angel
aside, took a sword to the heart, got sucked into
hell, and he left you a car?"
That would be Cordelia. The little group had
arrived 5 minutes before, and upon entering, explained
the whole story.
"And the spell worked?" asked Willow from her
hospital bed, "He got his soul back?"
"Well, Angel hasn't tried to tear our throats
out, so I'm guessing it worked..." answered Buffy.
"Wow" gasped Willow, "I did it."
Buffy leaned over and hugged her wounded friend.
"Yeah, Will. You did it."
"So" exclaimed Xander, completely destroying the
moment, "Let's check out the envelope!"
"Indeed" said Giles.
Angel handed the envelope to Giles, who opened it
gently and pulled out the large bunch of papers
within. His first look went to the stationary.
"DeBrabant Foundation?" Giles asked to the
general public, "Isn't that one of the largest private
charity foundations in the world?"
No one else had any idea what he was talking
about, except for Angel.
"Yes" he answered, "And didn't you mention to me
that it also gave money to the Watchers?"
"Right!" Giles said, "1 million a year towards
our work. None of the Watchers ever knew why he would
chose to do so, or even how Mr. DeBrabant knew of us."
"Hmmm."
"Yes. Anyway," the Watcher continued, "Let's
get on with it and find out some more about our
mystery man."
Giles read the letter aloud:
"My name is Nicholas DeBrabant. That is the
name I was born with, and that is the name I wish to
die with. If you are reading this, I am no longer in
the land of the living, meaning everything worked
correctly. You are probably wondering who I am, and
why I would chose to do as I have done. All this will
be explained in the following pages. I would guess
that Mr. Giles would be reading it now, and if my
guess is correct, I would wish that he would continue
to read it till I state otherwise.
"I will begin at the beginning. As I said
before, I was born Nicholas DeBrabant, in the year of
1196-"
"1196?!?!" exclaimed Xander, "That isn't
possible! That would make him 800 or something!"
"I am sure he will explain in due time" said
Giles, trying to quiet the boy, then he continued to
read:
"My home was in Belgium. My family ruled the
duchy of Brabant. I was the first son of a brood of
12, though 10 of these died from a sickness that swept
through the area at the time. It left my youngest
sister, mother, father, and myself. But I soon left,
for I was required, as a man of stature, to train as a
knight.
"After I finished my training, I was sent with a
missionary group to the land of the Celts, in an
attempt to convert them to Christianity. However, I
was also sent there for another reason. News of a
young girl with immense talents in the arts of
fighting had come to me, and I had to investigate, for
I was, as you are Mr. Giles, a Watcher."
There was considerable brow-raising at that last
sentence, especially from Giles, whose look could not
be described, but was akin to one worn by those who
have found out that their new room mate is a psycho
killer escaped from jail. Well, similar, but a little
different.
"A Watcher?" aksed Buffy, as if Giles had made up
the last part as a joke, "You sure?"
Rupert gave her a withering look. "That's what
it says..."
"Well then," said Xander anxiously,"let's move on
instead of getting stuck on the Watcher thing, eh?"
The entire room looked at Xander, but it was
Buffy who actually voiced the group's thought.
"That is the most intellegent thing you've said
all day."
Xander just gave her a dismissive glance and
bobbed his head at Giles, urging him to move on.
"I was, as my father was, a Watcher. I was
ordered to find the girl, and if she turned out to be
the Slayer, I was to be promoted to the place of
active Watcher, an honor my family had had only once
before.
But on the way there, at one of the towns at which we
were to spread the message of Jesus, I met a young
woman names Gwyneth, with whom I fell in love.
"She was a priestess of the Celts. We were two
different types, but in love, we saw only the
similarities. We weren't going to hurt anyone,
merely run away together, but my commanding officer,
who saw our affair as dangerous, killed her, and
shifted the blame to me. As penance, I was sent to
the Crusades, and for blowing my operation, I was put
down on the list of Watchers. I fought for a year in
the Crusades, was captured and held for two more, then
was freed in the year 1228.
"The higher ups in the Watchers needed me for
something, for I was one of the only noble born
Watchers, and sent for me to come to Paris. I was so
overjoyed at seeing the city once more, my friends and
I decided to celebrate. We went to one of the better
inns and got completely drunk on the city's fine wine.
It was at this time, a beautiful woman approached me
and asked me this question, the question I have
replayed in my mind so many times that I could never
forget it. She asked me: 'How much do you want me?'
"I never remembered what I answered, but it was
definately something good, for she brought me to the
back room. There we made love, as she whispered to me
of power, youth, hunger, darkness, and the night.
Then, almost as quickly as she came, she left. She
returned however, with a man. His hair was
white-blonde, short, and his eyes were like ice. He
was tall, and commanding, as if he were the leader of
a great army. He once had been. His name was
LaCroix. Once a general of Caesar's army, it was he
that made me what I am, or was: a vampire. He brought
me across. He became my master that night, and it was
at that point that my life became a living hell..."
"Hmmm.."
"Oh dear.."
"Hmmm.."
"Sucks for him..." The members of the little
group gave their respective death looks to Xander, the
speaker of this comment. When Xander got a clue and
noticed the angry eyes on him, he nervously tittered,
"Well, continue..."
"Well, actually" said the Watcher as he removed
his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "It requests here
that Angel take over reading. Angel?"
As Giles spoke this last part, he neatened the
papers and held them out for the vampire to take.
Angel solomnly took the bundle, and began
reading. It went on for a while, for it told of
Nick's life as a vampire. None in the group
interrupted, not even Xander, as Angel read aloud the
life of the vampire, no, the man, who had saved them
from so much grief. And none knew weither it was the
words themselves, or the way that Angel spoke them,
but each was touched in some way. They all had felt
as he had felt a some point.
Buffy knew what it was like to be something she
never wanted to be. She lived with being a Slayer
everyday, without choice. Willow knew what it was
like to be persecuted for being different. For
believing things, and acting differently. Angel and
Oz knew the pain of having a monster inside you, one
that could hurt people, the people you loved, even if
you didn't want to. Giles and Angel knew the pain of
guilt from heinous acts which could never be washed
away. And Xander, Xander knew the pain of abuse. Of
abuse from a parent who was supposed to love you and
protect you, but instead caused you pain and misery
like no one else. Xander, the joker, who's only
defense was to laugh, knew how that man had felt, and
for 800 years no less, constantly trying to escape the
pain, but always feeling a yearning to come back, to
please, to submit the one who hurt him because, no
matter what, he was your father.
But, what balanced it, what obviously kept the
man, no, Nicholas, from going insane, was his hope.
His faith in a better tomorrow. That unbreakable
confidance that it couldn't get any worse, only
better. That he would find the answer. That he would
find joy, and love, and happiness. That he would find
a way out. And, as they reached page 21, it seemed as
if Nicholas had found his happiness, at least to some
degree.
"I awoke on a slab in a morgue, hungry and in
pain. I got up, much to the surprise of the young
coroner who was to autopsy me, and took a plastic
container of blood from the fridge. My fangs were
bared and my eyes were glowing from the pain of the
explosion. To my amazement, the young lady examiner
didn't run. As I prepared to drink, she asked me what
I was, and I replied simply that I was something much
different than her. She approached me, tried to touch
me, but I grabbed her hand. I then touched her hand
to my cheek. The said I was cold. I replied that I
was dead. She countered that I was not. I then
hypnotized her, as I explained my kind can do, to make
her forget me and what I was, then left.
"A few nights later, I decided to test the little
coroner. I brushed past her in the street. She
didn't pass. She remembered. I told her she should
forget. She didn't wish to. Then she did the most
remarkable thing. Without fear, or requesting for
payment, she offered to help me. And the world was
turned upside down."
"She decided to work on a cure for me. A cure for
vampirism. But she also became my best friend. Her
name was Natalie-"
"That's the name!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Of what?"
"That's who he was talking to. The voice in the
light!"
Angel nodded. "Yeah, before he died, he called the
name 'Nat' or 'Natalie'. I don't remember exactly,
but I bet that's her. Notice the past tense..."
"Go on" said Giles, obviously curious for the end of
the man's tale.
"Lambert. I worked in Toronto as a police detective,
homicide division, for that time, so my frequent
visits to the morgue were at least justifiable. It
was one of the many jobs I had taken over the years,
as you know, trying to atone for all
the pain I had cause. And it seemed, that just maybe,
I had been given a blessing. Her. She helped me so
much, not just in looking for a cure, but making me
see that I wasn't an evil monster. That I was
seperate from the beast inside me. That there was
hope. And then, gradually, we fell in love."
"So, did he have the gypsy curse thingy you have,
Angel?" interrupted Xander, "I mean, the whole thing
sounds awful familiar..."
Angel looked at Xander, disgusted. "Didn't you
listen. His kind is different. They already have a
soul. He explained the whole thing!"
"You see," Buffy interjected at this point, "I still
don't get this vamp-with-a-soul thing."
"Let's try it again" said Giles with a sigh, "In the
beginning, when a vampire was first created, it had a
soul. It's first vampiric child, a sorceress of some
power, did not want her actions as a vampire to affect
the statis of her soul. And so she gave up some of
her vampiric powers so that her soul would be judged
then, instead of after she had been a vampire for
some years, and replaced her soul with a demon. After
that, all the vampires which she made were like her,
souless and completely demonic. It was then that the
Slayer was created."
"And?"
"Nicholas is the descendant of the first vampire,
and if this testimony is correct, specifically the
name of the master's master's master, then he just
might have a very close relation indeed! All the
other children of the first became like him, with
those extra powers and complete with souls."
"Whoa..."
"Yes" he sighed once more, "'Whoa' indeed."
"And his kind can do all that extra stuff? Flying?
Hypnosis? That mind thing?"
"That is what he claims..."
"There are tons of that other type of vampire?"
Giles simply glanced at her.
Buffy looked at Angel. "Continue"
"But we could never consumate, for if we did, then my
master, LaCroix" Xander grimaced uncontiously "would
kill
her, or bring her across, and I didn't want that to
happen to her. Not only that, but there was a chance,
a very large chance, that I would loss my control
during our act of love and kill her from bloodlust.
I loved her far too much to let either happen. So we
stayed platonic, much to the wonderment of our
co-workers.
"And we had our success and our pit-falls. I even
found a cure for a day, but it was only a fix. It
only suppressed the symptoms for so long, and it was
highly addictive. But just as it seemed all hope was
lost, my vampiric sister, Janette, of whom I have
told, came to Toronto. She was trying to avenge the
death of the man she had loved, a man who had saved
her life in a fire. Surprisingly, that man had been a
mortal. And even more surprisingly, she was mortal."
"What!"
Every set of eyes in the room turned and looked
at Angel as if he had grown a third head.
"That's what it says..." he defended, pointing
at the paper, "She had become mortal."
"Okay, okay, now this is wild!" Buffy exclaimed
franticly, "Vampires can't turn back! The-they just
can't!"
"Read on, man, read on!" That was Giles, trying
to find out the how and why of the situation.
Angel nodded at Giles, then began where he had
left off.
"Through controled feeding from the man she
loved, and a major trauma, she had regained mortality,
the one thing I had wanted for so many years. She
told me that, despite her prior teasing, that I had
been right to search for mortality. However, due to
circumstances concerning her revenge, I had to take
away her mortality in order to save her life. I don't
believe she ever forgave me...
"After these events, there was more backsliding,
as my control deteriorated and my love for Natalie
grew. I knew I would have to move on soon, so that no
one noticed I wasn't aging, and I was torn about
bringing Natalie with me. But, it all came to a head
one night, when Natalie told me that she couldn't wait
any longer. She said that she loved me, and that if
we didn't admit our love soon, it was over. She told
me to try Janette's cure, to drink from her.
"But, despite my love for her, I couldn't contain
the beast inside of me, and I drank too much of her.
My master, LaCroix" (another uncontiouse motion from
Xander) "came then, telling me to bring her across. I
said that I would not subject her to the hell I had
tried to relieve myself of for the last 200 years.
Then, I asked him to kill me. So that I could be with
her in death.
"I held her in my arms, her dying body still
warmer than my own, and awaited the stake that would
bring me to judgement. But it never came. And I had
promised, once, never to commit suicide. So, I was
stuck here, alone, and with nothing to guide me.
"I had to move on, and I contacted the person who
forges the documents. He told me that a good place
would be California, not in LA, but a little town
called Sunnydale. Said that there were always alot of
houses open there to buy."
"And the ancient Watcher was unaware that the
little town is right on top of the hellmouth?" (do I
need to tell you who this is? Or what happens
afterward?)
"Ahem. Now, I knew that the hellmouth was in
Sunnydale. Any Watcher, undead or alive, worth his
salt knows this. But, I saw his suggestion as a sign,
a sign that this might be the way I could help the
world again, through my Watcher roots. So I came to
Sunnydale as Nicholas Fynn, and moved into a house
near the school.
"One night, as I was flying back to my home, I
saw something strange going on in the library. It was
late at night, and all the lights were on. Curious, I
stopped, watched and listened. That's how I found out
about all of you. And as soon as I realized the
situation, I decided that my work would be to help
you. So I did."
"What? I don't remember seeing that guy before
tonight!" Buffy exclaimed.
Giles looked at Buffy, then at Angel. He didn't
even have to say it any more.
"I worked in secret, staying hidden. Your Slayer
and Watcher senses don't pick up my kind. It's one of
the reasons I ended up as I did. But I was there,
picking up the extra bad guys when you wouldn't
notice. Leaving strategically placed bookmarks for
you. Things like that. I even bought The Bronze so
that you would never be fined for property damage
(that and so you always had a table) and used the
profits to pay the school for it's damages. And I was
reasonably happy with what I had done.
"I was happy for Angel and Buffy, a couple
similar to Natalie and myself. For Giles, who had
conquered who he had been before. For Willow, who had
become so much more vibrant. For Xander. For Oz. I
watched and I worked, and I grew to know and love all
of you from a distance. Then, when Angel lost his
soul, I had to help you even more.
"I'm so sorry I never saved Ms. Calender, Giles.
I didn't know Angelus was after her, and for that, I
am eternally sorry. But, despite how much it hurt to
do the work now, I did it. Then came tonight.
"I decided I was going to finally join Natalie
this night, saving the world and your love in the
process. I looked into my old books and found a
shifting spell, that would shift the burden of
sacrifice from Angel to myself. However, for the
spell to work, I still needed Angel's blood to be on
the blade. I worked it out in my mind. And now, I
guess it worked if you are reading this. Nicholas De
Brabant, Watcher, Crusader, Detective, Professor,
Doctor, Sinner, is gone, finally dead. Thus ends my
testamony. And I say to you all to never fear love,
and be true to your feelings. Don't wait, and don't
give up. "
"That it?"
"Well...wait, here's some more papers..."
Epilogue
Giles was fixing up the library. With all the spilt
shelves and the such, there was a great deal to be
done. Not to mention the new books. Nicholas, in his
great kindness, had left Giles the entirity of his
occult book collection, which was an admirable one.
The ancient former Watcher had possessed books which
were thought to be imaginary, books which hadn't been
discovered, and a great deal of first editions. He'd
already gotten a commendation for the "find" from the
Watcher's Council, even when he explained the source.
That had lead to even more praise, for findind a lost
watcher. All in all, it hadn't been a bad week on the
Hellmouth.
Not that the money wasn't also a treat. DeBrabant had
left each of them a sizeable chunk of his money,
though the foundation still had the majority and
continued it's charity work despite it's leader's
demise. The leadership of the foundation had been
left to Angel and an unknown banker. Giles wished the
vampire luck with the work, and hoped that directing
the charity would help Angel to get rid of some of his
considerable guilt.
They'd each been left things like that, things which
fitted them, other than the money. Buffy had received
a cross which had once belonged to Joan of Ark. It
did quiet a wammy on the vampires, and seemed to work
even better than a normal cross did. Xander had
received DeBrabant's car, and a duck lamp which
obviously had sentamental value. Xander took to both,
and wouldn't let anyone move the lamp from it's sacred
spot at his seat in the library. Willow now had
several more artifacts, spellbooks, and other such
things than she had had before, and her boyfriend, Oz,
had received a entertainment/sound system which the
werewolf assured them was the finest money could buy.
Not to mention the motorcycle. Cordy had gotten a
number of dresses and the phone numbers of several
exclusive designers, which a note attached had assured
were genuine and gotten from "a trusted friend". All
in all, a very good week.
It was just as he was inserting "Rodgetter's Spotting
Guide for Fyarl Demons" that Giles felt an itch. It
was the sort of dangerous itch one usually gets
between the shoulder blades, but this one seemed
focused on his neck. Moving very slowly to disguise
the grabbing of a stake, Giles turned around.
Standing a few feet away was a stranger. He certainly
wasn't a student. The man was dressed in a black
Armani suit, which was held at the neck by a silver
dagger pin. The face above the suit was pale and
hard, and contained two gleaming pieces of blue ice
where one usually finds eyes. His hair was cut short,
and was only slightly more pale than his face. The
stranger waited a second before speaking.
"Are you Mister Rupert Giles?" he asked in a smooth
voice which rang with control.
"Yes" answered Giles as he stood. He kept the stake
behind his back, but managed to look calm.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Lucien LaCroix. I
am sure Nicholas informed you of who, and what I am?"
"Indeed he did, sir" replied Giles, trying to keep
his cool. If what the man said was true, he was
dealing with a 2000 year old master vampire. His
survival chances were similar to that of a lemming, or
rather, a lemming within 2 feet of a cliff. "And if
you are what you say you are, sir, I doubt that
meeting you is a pleasure. At least that is what I
have found."
The man who called himself LaCroix laughed. "Please
stop with that piece of wood behind your back. If I
wanted you dead, you would be dead. I am here to talk
only. I don't want anything from you or anyone in
this hellhole."
"Hellmouth."
"Whatever."
"Alright" said Giles after a moment. He dropped the
stake to the floor, "What do you wish to speak to me
about?"
Lacroix looked a bit out of sorts, but answered
quickly. "I simply want you to answer a question."
"And what is that?"
"Did he meet her? Did he have a smile on his face
when he went? Did he go with her?" The questions
were asked in an anxious rush which bellied the cool
exterior.
But then, Giles realized, it didn't. The exterior was
a mask. The coldness a defense. Those hands, which
he had assumed were clenched in power were actually
white at the knuckles, and clenched in an effort to
hold in his emotions. That face, so pale, was pale
from weariness, and grief, from holding it in so hard
that not a trace of the his pain would squeeze out
into view. And that was what filled this creature:
pain. Pain so intense, multiplied by the need for
controling the emotion. It was not whimsy which had
made this LaCroix come, but a deep seated need to ease
his pain, fear, grief, and even his guilt.
"I am told" answered the Watcher slowly, "That he was
taken into the light by a female spirit which he
called 'Nat' and that he did indeed breath his last
with a smile on his face."
Giles felt the release even if there were no signs on
the outside other than a curt nod. He had no time to
ask anything, though, because the figure disappeared a
second later. Giles stared after him for a second,
then turned around and slowly kneeled to the ground
once more and pushed in "Rottinghamton's Occult
Annecdotes" with a mechanical movement.
"All in all," he said to himself after a minute "a
very good week."
Fin!!!
by Danii
Buffy pulled back the sword to strike. She
didn't want to do this; God, she didn't want to do
this. To have him come back, only to send him into
eternal torment. But it was that, or have the world
sucked head-first into hell.
God, she didn't want to do this.
"Close your eyes"
God, she didn't want to do this.
She could hear a voice. It spoke in a language
which she didn't know. It was pleasent enough, but
unfamiliar, so she didn't give it any notice.
God, she didn't want to do this.
She put her head down.
A blur.
Buffy plunged the sword into Angel. Tears ran
down her face, and she raised her head to get a last
look at the one she loved. But to Buffy's great
surprise, it was not Angel into which she had plunged
the sword, but a tall, blonde man. The man smiled, a
sad smile, as Buffy stepped back to look around. On
the ground next to the stranger was Angel, nursing a
cut in his arm, who looked up at Buffy.
"What..." Buffy began, but stopped when she saw
a light. The light was brightening just above the
unknown man, and the man, despite the sword in him,
looked up.
"Natalie?" asked the man. It was then that
Buffy realized that it was his voice she had heard
speaking only a few moments before. Buffy and Angel
both stood spellbound watching the man, the light, and
the portal.
"Yes, Nick" issued a pleasant, female voice from
the light, "You've earned your place here. You earned
it long ago, my knight. Come now."
"Yes" answered the man who was obviously Nick,
and then a spasm of pain hit him from the portal to
hell behind him. But just as it seemed he would be
sucked into the wormhole, a light left his body and
joined the one above him. The eyes of the man, once a
sapphire blue, went blank and white as the light left,
then the body was sucked down into hell. The portal
disappeared, as did the light, and Buffy and Angel
were left, shaken, but alive.
"What-" began Buffy, but Angel shushed her as he
stood up.
"Let's just be grateful" Angel said, walking
over to her, "Yes, I've remembered what happened. I
am so sorry..."
It was at that point that Angel embraced her.
Buffy returned the embrace gratefully, holding onto
him for dear life for fear that she would fall down
from sheer exaustion.
"But, who was he?" asked Buffy, pulling her head
up to look at Angel's face, "Do you know who he was?"
"I didn't get a good look, but there was
something familiar about him. I might have seen him,
but I can't remember where." Angel's look of
wondering turned to a smile, "But, I wish I could
thank him. For all he has given me back."
At that point Angel's mouth met Buffy's in a
kiss, which they continued for a bit. When they both
came up for air, Buffy asked.
"Can we get out of here? I'd really like to see
how Xander and Giles are doing."
Angel was nonplussed for a minute, but then
remembered.
"I forgot all about them! Yes, we'd better find
them. Make sure they're all right!" Angel answered,
starting to make for the exit. But as he walked over,
he tripped on something lying on the floor.
"What the-"
Buffy walked over and picked up the item Angel
had tripped on. It was a set of keys, with a note
attached. Bufy read it out loud.
"Green caddy outside. Check the trunk if you
want answers"
Buffy looked to Angel. Angel shrugged and held
his hands out for the keys. Buffy handed them over,
and put her arm around Angel, whose own arm had
already healed.
"Let's go home."
When they got outside, they found Xander and
Giles (well, mostly Giles) resting on the very car the
note was about. Both men looked up when they heard
the foot steps, and both tensed up when they saw
Angel.
"Is he evil?" Xander asked, with his usual
intellegence and tact.
"What do you think, Xander?" answered Buffy,
hugging Angel even closer to her.
"Just checking" answered Xander, ignoring or
perhaps entirely missing the note of anger in Buffy's
voice. Buffy then diengaged from Angel and walked
over to Giles, who looked to be in a bad way.
"You okay?" she asked simply, her hand resting
lightly on his shoulder in the event that he should be
injured there.
"I am fine, Buffy" Giles said, waving her
concern away, "However, to be honest, I don't believe
I will be able to walk all the way."
Buffy smiled. "You won't have to. We happen to
have the keys to the car you're sitting on. Well,
actually, Angel has the keys"
The terror that had found it's way to Giles
battered face at the idea of Buffy driving erased
itself quickly. Curiousity took over.
"And how did you aquire those?" asked the
Watcher.
"The owner saved me" answered Angel, "He took
the sword instead of me. His body was sucked into
hell to stop the world from being sucked in."
"But how is that possible? Only the blood of the
one who opened it..."
As Giles spoke, Angel looked at the cut on his
arm. Perhaps what Angel had thought was a slight
mistake was actually a highly important, calculated
part of the stranger's plan.
"The guy was saying something in Latin before I
tried to stab Angel..." Buffy injected.
Giles looked at both Buffy and Angel. "It is
possible that he transfered the...whatever... to
himself to the point where only the blood, and not the
death, of he who opened it was needed."
Angel nodded. That made sense.
"But who would VOLUNTEER to be stabbed and sent
to hell in Angel's place!?" Again, Xander astounded
everyone with his lack of tact. Buffy figured it must
have rubbed off from Cordelia.
Angel pulled out the keys and showed the two
others the note.
"Let's find out..."
Giles, who was more curious that hurt, got up
from the bumper so that Angel could open the trunk.
Angel slipped the key in as soon as the Watcher got
up, and turned it. Almost surprisingly, it worked.
The trunk mechanism was obviously well taken care of,
for some reason, and didn't require any further effort
to open it.
Inside the opened trunk was some packages,
ranging in size from that which could contain a
toaster to that which could comfortably hold a decent
sized television. On top of the parcels, was a
manilla envelope with the words "Read me first"
scribbled upon it. Angel reached in and took the
envelope.
All were focused upon Angel as he opened the
manilla envelope to find a large bundle of papers. A
sticky note on the top of the stack had a few
directions. It read:
"If you are reading this, then you must be alive
and moderately well. The contents of this are very
important. I think it would be better if you drove
the car to the hospital and read it all together with
the others, Cordelia, Willow, and Oz. You can take
the car, as I stated above. The gas tank is full.
Safe driving."
Xander, who had been reading over Angel's
shoulder, even though the vampire had been reading
aloud, was impressed.
"Wow" he said with an impressed 'huh', "This guy
had it ALL planned out."
Giles gave him a withering look.
"Let's just get in the car and find out who the
bloody hell this person was!" exclaimed the Watcher.
Buffy and Xander agreed and piled in. Angel
waited so as to help Giles into a seat. He then
plopped into the driver's seat.
"Angel" Xander asked, a hint of fear in his
voice, "How long since you last drove?"
Angel gave him a disgusted look. "Two weeks"
Buffy was surprised. "In what?"
"In a car, in MY car!" exclaimed Angel, "I do
have a car. It's a '63 like this one, but black.
Great trunk space in one of these. I use it to hide
when I get caught out in the day. Just open the
trunk, hop in, and fall asleep until dark. I'd be
surprised to find that no other vampires do it."
"So, you're saying, some guy just pushed Angel
aside, took a sword to the heart, got sucked into
hell, and he left you a car?"
That would be Cordelia. The little group had
arrived 5 minutes before, and upon entering, explained
the whole story.
"And the spell worked?" asked Willow from her
hospital bed, "He got his soul back?"
"Well, Angel hasn't tried to tear our throats
out, so I'm guessing it worked..." answered Buffy.
"Wow" gasped Willow, "I did it."
Buffy leaned over and hugged her wounded friend.
"Yeah, Will. You did it."
"So" exclaimed Xander, completely destroying the
moment, "Let's check out the envelope!"
"Indeed" said Giles.
Angel handed the envelope to Giles, who opened it
gently and pulled out the large bunch of papers
within. His first look went to the stationary.
"DeBrabant Foundation?" Giles asked to the
general public, "Isn't that one of the largest private
charity foundations in the world?"
No one else had any idea what he was talking
about, except for Angel.
"Yes" he answered, "And didn't you mention to me
that it also gave money to the Watchers?"
"Right!" Giles said, "1 million a year towards
our work. None of the Watchers ever knew why he would
chose to do so, or even how Mr. DeBrabant knew of us."
"Hmmm."
"Yes. Anyway," the Watcher continued, "Let's
get on with it and find out some more about our
mystery man."
Giles read the letter aloud:
"My name is Nicholas DeBrabant. That is the
name I was born with, and that is the name I wish to
die with. If you are reading this, I am no longer in
the land of the living, meaning everything worked
correctly. You are probably wondering who I am, and
why I would chose to do as I have done. All this will
be explained in the following pages. I would guess
that Mr. Giles would be reading it now, and if my
guess is correct, I would wish that he would continue
to read it till I state otherwise.
"I will begin at the beginning. As I said
before, I was born Nicholas DeBrabant, in the year of
1196-"
"1196?!?!" exclaimed Xander, "That isn't
possible! That would make him 800 or something!"
"I am sure he will explain in due time" said
Giles, trying to quiet the boy, then he continued to
read:
"My home was in Belgium. My family ruled the
duchy of Brabant. I was the first son of a brood of
12, though 10 of these died from a sickness that swept
through the area at the time. It left my youngest
sister, mother, father, and myself. But I soon left,
for I was required, as a man of stature, to train as a
knight.
"After I finished my training, I was sent with a
missionary group to the land of the Celts, in an
attempt to convert them to Christianity. However, I
was also sent there for another reason. News of a
young girl with immense talents in the arts of
fighting had come to me, and I had to investigate, for
I was, as you are Mr. Giles, a Watcher."
There was considerable brow-raising at that last
sentence, especially from Giles, whose look could not
be described, but was akin to one worn by those who
have found out that their new room mate is a psycho
killer escaped from jail. Well, similar, but a little
different.
"A Watcher?" aksed Buffy, as if Giles had made up
the last part as a joke, "You sure?"
Rupert gave her a withering look. "That's what
it says..."
"Well then," said Xander anxiously,"let's move on
instead of getting stuck on the Watcher thing, eh?"
The entire room looked at Xander, but it was
Buffy who actually voiced the group's thought.
"That is the most intellegent thing you've said
all day."
Xander just gave her a dismissive glance and
bobbed his head at Giles, urging him to move on.
"I was, as my father was, a Watcher. I was
ordered to find the girl, and if she turned out to be
the Slayer, I was to be promoted to the place of
active Watcher, an honor my family had had only once
before.
But on the way there, at one of the towns at which we
were to spread the message of Jesus, I met a young
woman names Gwyneth, with whom I fell in love.
"She was a priestess of the Celts. We were two
different types, but in love, we saw only the
similarities. We weren't going to hurt anyone,
merely run away together, but my commanding officer,
who saw our affair as dangerous, killed her, and
shifted the blame to me. As penance, I was sent to
the Crusades, and for blowing my operation, I was put
down on the list of Watchers. I fought for a year in
the Crusades, was captured and held for two more, then
was freed in the year 1228.
"The higher ups in the Watchers needed me for
something, for I was one of the only noble born
Watchers, and sent for me to come to Paris. I was so
overjoyed at seeing the city once more, my friends and
I decided to celebrate. We went to one of the better
inns and got completely drunk on the city's fine wine.
It was at this time, a beautiful woman approached me
and asked me this question, the question I have
replayed in my mind so many times that I could never
forget it. She asked me: 'How much do you want me?'
"I never remembered what I answered, but it was
definately something good, for she brought me to the
back room. There we made love, as she whispered to me
of power, youth, hunger, darkness, and the night.
Then, almost as quickly as she came, she left. She
returned however, with a man. His hair was
white-blonde, short, and his eyes were like ice. He
was tall, and commanding, as if he were the leader of
a great army. He once had been. His name was
LaCroix. Once a general of Caesar's army, it was he
that made me what I am, or was: a vampire. He brought
me across. He became my master that night, and it was
at that point that my life became a living hell..."
"Hmmm.."
"Oh dear.."
"Hmmm.."
"Sucks for him..." The members of the little
group gave their respective death looks to Xander, the
speaker of this comment. When Xander got a clue and
noticed the angry eyes on him, he nervously tittered,
"Well, continue..."
"Well, actually" said the Watcher as he removed
his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "It requests here
that Angel take over reading. Angel?"
As Giles spoke this last part, he neatened the
papers and held them out for the vampire to take.
Angel solomnly took the bundle, and began
reading. It went on for a while, for it told of
Nick's life as a vampire. None in the group
interrupted, not even Xander, as Angel read aloud the
life of the vampire, no, the man, who had saved them
from so much grief. And none knew weither it was the
words themselves, or the way that Angel spoke them,
but each was touched in some way. They all had felt
as he had felt a some point.
Buffy knew what it was like to be something she
never wanted to be. She lived with being a Slayer
everyday, without choice. Willow knew what it was
like to be persecuted for being different. For
believing things, and acting differently. Angel and
Oz knew the pain of having a monster inside you, one
that could hurt people, the people you loved, even if
you didn't want to. Giles and Angel knew the pain of
guilt from heinous acts which could never be washed
away. And Xander, Xander knew the pain of abuse. Of
abuse from a parent who was supposed to love you and
protect you, but instead caused you pain and misery
like no one else. Xander, the joker, who's only
defense was to laugh, knew how that man had felt, and
for 800 years no less, constantly trying to escape the
pain, but always feeling a yearning to come back, to
please, to submit the one who hurt him because, no
matter what, he was your father.
But, what balanced it, what obviously kept the
man, no, Nicholas, from going insane, was his hope.
His faith in a better tomorrow. That unbreakable
confidance that it couldn't get any worse, only
better. That he would find the answer. That he would
find joy, and love, and happiness. That he would find
a way out. And, as they reached page 21, it seemed as
if Nicholas had found his happiness, at least to some
degree.
"I awoke on a slab in a morgue, hungry and in
pain. I got up, much to the surprise of the young
coroner who was to autopsy me, and took a plastic
container of blood from the fridge. My fangs were
bared and my eyes were glowing from the pain of the
explosion. To my amazement, the young lady examiner
didn't run. As I prepared to drink, she asked me what
I was, and I replied simply that I was something much
different than her. She approached me, tried to touch
me, but I grabbed her hand. I then touched her hand
to my cheek. The said I was cold. I replied that I
was dead. She countered that I was not. I then
hypnotized her, as I explained my kind can do, to make
her forget me and what I was, then left.
"A few nights later, I decided to test the little
coroner. I brushed past her in the street. She
didn't pass. She remembered. I told her she should
forget. She didn't wish to. Then she did the most
remarkable thing. Without fear, or requesting for
payment, she offered to help me. And the world was
turned upside down."
"She decided to work on a cure for me. A cure for
vampirism. But she also became my best friend. Her
name was Natalie-"
"That's the name!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Of what?"
"That's who he was talking to. The voice in the
light!"
Angel nodded. "Yeah, before he died, he called the
name 'Nat' or 'Natalie'. I don't remember exactly,
but I bet that's her. Notice the past tense..."
"Go on" said Giles, obviously curious for the end of
the man's tale.
"Lambert. I worked in Toronto as a police detective,
homicide division, for that time, so my frequent
visits to the morgue were at least justifiable. It
was one of the many jobs I had taken over the years,
as you know, trying to atone for all
the pain I had cause. And it seemed, that just maybe,
I had been given a blessing. Her. She helped me so
much, not just in looking for a cure, but making me
see that I wasn't an evil monster. That I was
seperate from the beast inside me. That there was
hope. And then, gradually, we fell in love."
"So, did he have the gypsy curse thingy you have,
Angel?" interrupted Xander, "I mean, the whole thing
sounds awful familiar..."
Angel looked at Xander, disgusted. "Didn't you
listen. His kind is different. They already have a
soul. He explained the whole thing!"
"You see," Buffy interjected at this point, "I still
don't get this vamp-with-a-soul thing."
"Let's try it again" said Giles with a sigh, "In the
beginning, when a vampire was first created, it had a
soul. It's first vampiric child, a sorceress of some
power, did not want her actions as a vampire to affect
the statis of her soul. And so she gave up some of
her vampiric powers so that her soul would be judged
then, instead of after she had been a vampire for
some years, and replaced her soul with a demon. After
that, all the vampires which she made were like her,
souless and completely demonic. It was then that the
Slayer was created."
"And?"
"Nicholas is the descendant of the first vampire,
and if this testimony is correct, specifically the
name of the master's master's master, then he just
might have a very close relation indeed! All the
other children of the first became like him, with
those extra powers and complete with souls."
"Whoa..."
"Yes" he sighed once more, "'Whoa' indeed."
"And his kind can do all that extra stuff? Flying?
Hypnosis? That mind thing?"
"That is what he claims..."
"There are tons of that other type of vampire?"
Giles simply glanced at her.
Buffy looked at Angel. "Continue"
"But we could never consumate, for if we did, then my
master, LaCroix" Xander grimaced uncontiously "would
kill
her, or bring her across, and I didn't want that to
happen to her. Not only that, but there was a chance,
a very large chance, that I would loss my control
during our act of love and kill her from bloodlust.
I loved her far too much to let either happen. So we
stayed platonic, much to the wonderment of our
co-workers.
"And we had our success and our pit-falls. I even
found a cure for a day, but it was only a fix. It
only suppressed the symptoms for so long, and it was
highly addictive. But just as it seemed all hope was
lost, my vampiric sister, Janette, of whom I have
told, came to Toronto. She was trying to avenge the
death of the man she had loved, a man who had saved
her life in a fire. Surprisingly, that man had been a
mortal. And even more surprisingly, she was mortal."
"What!"
Every set of eyes in the room turned and looked
at Angel as if he had grown a third head.
"That's what it says..." he defended, pointing
at the paper, "She had become mortal."
"Okay, okay, now this is wild!" Buffy exclaimed
franticly, "Vampires can't turn back! The-they just
can't!"
"Read on, man, read on!" That was Giles, trying
to find out the how and why of the situation.
Angel nodded at Giles, then began where he had
left off.
"Through controled feeding from the man she
loved, and a major trauma, she had regained mortality,
the one thing I had wanted for so many years. She
told me that, despite her prior teasing, that I had
been right to search for mortality. However, due to
circumstances concerning her revenge, I had to take
away her mortality in order to save her life. I don't
believe she ever forgave me...
"After these events, there was more backsliding,
as my control deteriorated and my love for Natalie
grew. I knew I would have to move on soon, so that no
one noticed I wasn't aging, and I was torn about
bringing Natalie with me. But, it all came to a head
one night, when Natalie told me that she couldn't wait
any longer. She said that she loved me, and that if
we didn't admit our love soon, it was over. She told
me to try Janette's cure, to drink from her.
"But, despite my love for her, I couldn't contain
the beast inside of me, and I drank too much of her.
My master, LaCroix" (another uncontiouse motion from
Xander) "came then, telling me to bring her across. I
said that I would not subject her to the hell I had
tried to relieve myself of for the last 200 years.
Then, I asked him to kill me. So that I could be with
her in death.
"I held her in my arms, her dying body still
warmer than my own, and awaited the stake that would
bring me to judgement. But it never came. And I had
promised, once, never to commit suicide. So, I was
stuck here, alone, and with nothing to guide me.
"I had to move on, and I contacted the person who
forges the documents. He told me that a good place
would be California, not in LA, but a little town
called Sunnydale. Said that there were always alot of
houses open there to buy."
"And the ancient Watcher was unaware that the
little town is right on top of the hellmouth?" (do I
need to tell you who this is? Or what happens
afterward?)
"Ahem. Now, I knew that the hellmouth was in
Sunnydale. Any Watcher, undead or alive, worth his
salt knows this. But, I saw his suggestion as a sign,
a sign that this might be the way I could help the
world again, through my Watcher roots. So I came to
Sunnydale as Nicholas Fynn, and moved into a house
near the school.
"One night, as I was flying back to my home, I
saw something strange going on in the library. It was
late at night, and all the lights were on. Curious, I
stopped, watched and listened. That's how I found out
about all of you. And as soon as I realized the
situation, I decided that my work would be to help
you. So I did."
"What? I don't remember seeing that guy before
tonight!" Buffy exclaimed.
Giles looked at Buffy, then at Angel. He didn't
even have to say it any more.
"I worked in secret, staying hidden. Your Slayer
and Watcher senses don't pick up my kind. It's one of
the reasons I ended up as I did. But I was there,
picking up the extra bad guys when you wouldn't
notice. Leaving strategically placed bookmarks for
you. Things like that. I even bought The Bronze so
that you would never be fined for property damage
(that and so you always had a table) and used the
profits to pay the school for it's damages. And I was
reasonably happy with what I had done.
"I was happy for Angel and Buffy, a couple
similar to Natalie and myself. For Giles, who had
conquered who he had been before. For Willow, who had
become so much more vibrant. For Xander. For Oz. I
watched and I worked, and I grew to know and love all
of you from a distance. Then, when Angel lost his
soul, I had to help you even more.
"I'm so sorry I never saved Ms. Calender, Giles.
I didn't know Angelus was after her, and for that, I
am eternally sorry. But, despite how much it hurt to
do the work now, I did it. Then came tonight.
"I decided I was going to finally join Natalie
this night, saving the world and your love in the
process. I looked into my old books and found a
shifting spell, that would shift the burden of
sacrifice from Angel to myself. However, for the
spell to work, I still needed Angel's blood to be on
the blade. I worked it out in my mind. And now, I
guess it worked if you are reading this. Nicholas De
Brabant, Watcher, Crusader, Detective, Professor,
Doctor, Sinner, is gone, finally dead. Thus ends my
testamony. And I say to you all to never fear love,
and be true to your feelings. Don't wait, and don't
give up. "
"That it?"
"Well...wait, here's some more papers..."
Epilogue
Giles was fixing up the library. With all the spilt
shelves and the such, there was a great deal to be
done. Not to mention the new books. Nicholas, in his
great kindness, had left Giles the entirity of his
occult book collection, which was an admirable one.
The ancient former Watcher had possessed books which
were thought to be imaginary, books which hadn't been
discovered, and a great deal of first editions. He'd
already gotten a commendation for the "find" from the
Watcher's Council, even when he explained the source.
That had lead to even more praise, for findind a lost
watcher. All in all, it hadn't been a bad week on the
Hellmouth.
Not that the money wasn't also a treat. DeBrabant had
left each of them a sizeable chunk of his money,
though the foundation still had the majority and
continued it's charity work despite it's leader's
demise. The leadership of the foundation had been
left to Angel and an unknown banker. Giles wished the
vampire luck with the work, and hoped that directing
the charity would help Angel to get rid of some of his
considerable guilt.
They'd each been left things like that, things which
fitted them, other than the money. Buffy had received
a cross which had once belonged to Joan of Ark. It
did quiet a wammy on the vampires, and seemed to work
even better than a normal cross did. Xander had
received DeBrabant's car, and a duck lamp which
obviously had sentamental value. Xander took to both,
and wouldn't let anyone move the lamp from it's sacred
spot at his seat in the library. Willow now had
several more artifacts, spellbooks, and other such
things than she had had before, and her boyfriend, Oz,
had received a entertainment/sound system which the
werewolf assured them was the finest money could buy.
Not to mention the motorcycle. Cordy had gotten a
number of dresses and the phone numbers of several
exclusive designers, which a note attached had assured
were genuine and gotten from "a trusted friend". All
in all, a very good week.
It was just as he was inserting "Rodgetter's Spotting
Guide for Fyarl Demons" that Giles felt an itch. It
was the sort of dangerous itch one usually gets
between the shoulder blades, but this one seemed
focused on his neck. Moving very slowly to disguise
the grabbing of a stake, Giles turned around.
Standing a few feet away was a stranger. He certainly
wasn't a student. The man was dressed in a black
Armani suit, which was held at the neck by a silver
dagger pin. The face above the suit was pale and
hard, and contained two gleaming pieces of blue ice
where one usually finds eyes. His hair was cut short,
and was only slightly more pale than his face. The
stranger waited a second before speaking.
"Are you Mister Rupert Giles?" he asked in a smooth
voice which rang with control.
"Yes" answered Giles as he stood. He kept the stake
behind his back, but managed to look calm.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Lucien LaCroix. I
am sure Nicholas informed you of who, and what I am?"
"Indeed he did, sir" replied Giles, trying to keep
his cool. If what the man said was true, he was
dealing with a 2000 year old master vampire. His
survival chances were similar to that of a lemming, or
rather, a lemming within 2 feet of a cliff. "And if
you are what you say you are, sir, I doubt that
meeting you is a pleasure. At least that is what I
have found."
The man who called himself LaCroix laughed. "Please
stop with that piece of wood behind your back. If I
wanted you dead, you would be dead. I am here to talk
only. I don't want anything from you or anyone in
this hellhole."
"Hellmouth."
"Whatever."
"Alright" said Giles after a moment. He dropped the
stake to the floor, "What do you wish to speak to me
about?"
Lacroix looked a bit out of sorts, but answered
quickly. "I simply want you to answer a question."
"And what is that?"
"Did he meet her? Did he have a smile on his face
when he went? Did he go with her?" The questions
were asked in an anxious rush which bellied the cool
exterior.
But then, Giles realized, it didn't. The exterior was
a mask. The coldness a defense. Those hands, which
he had assumed were clenched in power were actually
white at the knuckles, and clenched in an effort to
hold in his emotions. That face, so pale, was pale
from weariness, and grief, from holding it in so hard
that not a trace of the his pain would squeeze out
into view. And that was what filled this creature:
pain. Pain so intense, multiplied by the need for
controling the emotion. It was not whimsy which had
made this LaCroix come, but a deep seated need to ease
his pain, fear, grief, and even his guilt.
"I am told" answered the Watcher slowly, "That he was
taken into the light by a female spirit which he
called 'Nat' and that he did indeed breath his last
with a smile on his face."
Giles felt the release even if there were no signs on
the outside other than a curt nod. He had no time to
ask anything, though, because the figure disappeared a
second later. Giles stared after him for a second,
then turned around and slowly kneeled to the ground
once more and pushed in "Rottinghamton's Occult
Annecdotes" with a mechanical movement.
"All in all," he said to himself after a minute "a
very good week."
Fin!!!