Disclaimer: Don't own or claim rights to Buffy or Stargate
Dawn flew into the lounge room and looked around quickly. Focussing on Faith, she dashed forward and clicked her fingers to get her attention. "Now," she urged. "We've got to get to the gate."
Frowning, Faith stood, and walked over. "Why? What's the big deal?"
Dawn waited for her friend to catch up before turning and walking out of the room. "Spike's at the front gate. Can you believe it? The girls on the gate don't even know who he is!"
"So we're going down there for what?" Faith asked.
Dawn sighed. "Yeah. What I didn't tell you is that Spike is – shit! – he's uh, he's carrying Wes and Gunn's ashes. From the big thing that happened. Back in LA."
They walked in silence for a while, Dawn glancing at Faith every so often. Finally, Faith cleared her throat. "So, uh, why's he here?"
"He brought the ashes to place in our Memorial Garden," Dawn explained.
Faith cleared her throat again, and nodded curtly. "It's a good thing."
"Yeah," Dawn murmured. "You okay with seeing him again?" she asked after a moment.
"Yeah," Faith dismissed. "He say anything about Fang?"
Dawn grimaced. "He saw him dust. Was pretty cut up about it," she added softly.
"So he's been carrying Wes and Gunn around with him ever since?" Faith frowned. That's been a few years, now."
"Maybe he couldn't bring himself to do it until now," Dawn suggested.
Faith grunted in response, and they fell silent until they reached the gate, where they found Spike smirking at the frustrated Slayers. She rolled her eyes at the half-trained warriors and brusquely ordered them to open the gates.
Dawn flew to the vampire, and engulfed him in a hearty hug. "Gods, Spike, it's been so long."
Spike lifted the woman off the ground as he returned the embrace. "Been years, Bit," he agreed roughly. He cleared his throat. "So what's this I hear about Harris and his girl going missing?"
"How about we take this inside," Faith frowned. "Don't need the whole world hearing our business."
Xander looked at the path doubtfully. They'd just managed to dodge yet another patrol, and he could only see it getting worse the closer they got to the Gate. "So how straight does this thing run?" he asked absently.
Jack frowned, and tilted his head, curious. "Not very," he decided. "I think they generally start out as animal tracks, then villagers start using them. That sort of thing."
"So if we were able to take a straight line to the Gate we might be quicker and safer than taking the path?" Xander asked.
"Well, yeah," Jack shrugged. "Of course, we don't have a way of aiming straight for the Gate. But, yeah, if we did, it would be ideal."
Xander turned to Gwen, who shook her head. "Sorry, Xan. Can't sense it this far out."
Xander turned back to Jack. "How far away do you think it would be?"
Jack turned to his team, then suggested, "Four, five miles?" When the others nodded, he continued, "Less, straight line."
Xander turned back to Gwen. "You've tracked over greater distances," he urged.
"No," she shook her head. "I haven't tracked over greater distances, and the … signals were stronger, anyway."
"It's possible, and may be our best bet," Xander argued.
"Fuck this," Gwen growled as she turned and stormed off into the forest.
When Sam went to follow her, Xander held up a hand. "She won't have gone far. And she just needs some time to think."
"What about?" Jack frowned. "Just what's going on here?"
Xander sighed. "I'm asking her to something she doesn't want to do." He worked his shoulders to relieve some tension, then dropped to sit on the ground. The others took the hint, and also sat down. "Okay. Giles gave you the 'World is older than you know' speech last time. What we didn't go into is that actual creation of the Slayer line. All you really need to know is that the original Slayer was a girl named Sineya. All Slayers derive their power from the portion of her essence that lives in them. It empowers them to do what they need to do, and is demonic in origin.
"Something we found out after the mass Calling and the formation of the Hunter teams is that when Slayers go on extended hunts, they tend to … lose themselves in the First Slayer, in Sineya. She takes over totally. It takes about a week, ten days, but the Slayer is… It's like multiple personality disorder, or possession. Yeah, I guess possession is the best explanation, since Sineya's essence is demonic."
"We don't have a week," Jack reminded Xander.
"No," Gwen agreed quietly from the edge of the clearing, "but we do have the Scythe, the focus point for the spell that called all the potentials. Xander's plan is that I will use the Scythe as a focus point for my meditation, to draw Sineya out."
Danny frowned, concerned. "This worries you."
Xander hunched his shoulders. "She's worried that one day she won't come back." He stood and walked over to the blonde, cupping her face. "You know I'll always call you back, don't you?" he murmured.
Gwen wrapped her arms around Xander, and buried her face in his neck. "I trust you, Xan. I don't like this, but I trust you. You really think I can do this?"
"It's a form of a permanent portal," Xander explained. "That concentrates things."
"I didn't notice it back on Earth," Gwen reminded him.
"Were you hunting for it?" he prompted.
"Well, no," she admitted.
Xander smiled. "Well, then. So do you think this is feasible."
Gwen huffed crossly. "No. I don't know." She kicked at the ground. "Okay. It's possible. Happy?"
"I'd be happier if it didn't feel like I was forcing you into this," he sighed.
"You got a better plan?" Gwen asked. When Xander shook his head, she continued. "Do they?"
"You're our best weapon, Gwennie," Xander replied. "Which, calling my wife a weapon," Xander grinned, "not the most romantic thing I could think of."
Gwen stretched. "Okay. Well, you'd better make sure she doesn't just steer you to the nearest group of Jaffa. Though," she added thoughtfully, "could be fun."
Jack watched as Gwen sat cross-legged in the clearing, Scythe resting in her open hands. She had sunk into something remarkably like Teal'c's kel'no'reem, and had already spent a good ten minutes in that posture.
"Any idea how long this will take?" Jack asked quietly.
"Something less than a week?" Xander tossed back, grinning slightly. He shook his head. "We've never done anything like this before. The closest I know of is the joining spell, and that required three other people, including a witch and someone who spoke Sumerian. Well," he added, glancing at Daniel, "we have that, but, sorry, I left my witch in my spare pants."
Jack shook his head, and turned back to find Gwen standing in front of him, silent, but her head cocked. He could feel himself tense, and dropped his eyes automatically. Through lowered lashes, he saw the woman move to her husband, and pause, watchfully, in front of him, before sliding over to Teal'c, knife raised.
Xander hurriedly moved to slide between them, hands raised. "He's an ally," he assured her urgently. "He left the false gods of his youth, and now fights for the freedom of his people, and the greater good."
Gwen glared at Teal'c for a long moment, before sliding closer and raising her knife to his forehead, placing the edge of the blade at the edge of his tattoo. Teal'c immediately pressed closer to the blade, causing a thin line of blood to well up. In one of her lightening quick moves, Gwen withdrew the blade, and brought it to her lips, delicately tasting the blood there. Without further ado, she nodded once, and turned away.
The slender blonde looked around the clearing, scowling. Finally, she glared at Xander, who bowed his head. "We need to find the chappa'ai," he requested politely, "the Stargate. The Powers brought us here to guide SG1 home, and the best way that I can see is for us to trek straight to the chappa'ai, and go home that way. I was hoping you could sense it, and lead us there." He looked up through his eyelashes. "There are enemy Jaffa, and a Goa'uld here, but time is of the essence."
Gwen sniffed disdainfully at Xander, turned, and stalked off. When Xander immediately followed, Jack stared after them, open mouthed, before shaking his head, and urging the team to follow.
They were walking in the Memorial Garden, showing it off, and discussing where they might place the ashes Spike had brought. Dawn had glanced suspiciously at Spike when he had simply entered the Garden, but had decided that Willow must have keyed the Garden's wards to him despite any suspicions Buffy and Giles might have had. She noticed, though, that Faith was also casting wary glances at the vampire, though hadn't yet taken the time to comment.
"Might as well say it, love," Spike said quietly. "Something's got your mind, and I think I know what it might be. So say it, already."
"You've changed," Faith stated. When Spike nodded, she went on, "I remember how you used to feel, back in the 'Dale, and you're different. What is it?"
Spike trailed his hand over a cluster of jasmine blooms. "Remember that little thing Peaches was so hot for? That little prophecy?"
"The Shanshu prophecy?" Dawn gasped. "You're human?"
"Well," Spike drawled, "yes and no. More no. Seems the actual thought was that whoever got it would live until they died, or some such rot. Wes thought that meant Angel would become human, but it turns out that wasn't quite right. Don't know why anyone would want that, anyway," he grumbled. "Become weak again? Not my thing. Turns out, not quite what happened."
Dawn and Faith exchanged glances as Spike fiddled with his lighter. "And?" Dawn prompted.
Spike turned to her, and gave a rueful smile. "Dhampyr, pet. All living and soul-having, as you lot would have it, strong as a vamp, though not as strong as I used to be – Master Vampire, after all – but without all those pesky allergies to sunlight and blessed things. I will grow old and die," he added, "but it will take longer than a human would. Say a couple hundred years, maybe more." He looked out over the garden, then added, "No demon, neither."
Dawn glanced at Faith, who was nodding thoughtfully. "But what about back at the gate? They were sure you were a vampire."
"Vampire, dhampyr, one comes from t'other. Angel's boy – you know him?" he glanced at the younger girl, eyebrow raised. When she nodded, he continued, "He's a dhampyr, too. He'd probably ping against your precious minis, too. Don't know. He was never a vamp, child of one, only. Me? I was one, Childe and Master, for over a hundred years. Leaves a … stain," he frowned.
"So what are your plans now, Bleach?" Faith asked.
Spike sighed, and found a rock to sit on. "Fight the good fight?" he considered. "Other than that, don't know. So what's this about the boy and his girl?"
Dawn snorted, and took up the new direction. "Someone's never going to allowed to touch the Scythe again," she smirked.
"Hell, no," Faith agreed. "Did you see her face? And she was the one that handed it to Gwen in the first place."
Spike glanced from one girl to the other. "Not too proud to say I'm a bit lost here, ducks. Mind explaining?"
"Okay," Dawn began, finding her own rock to sit on. Faith glanced around, then sprawled on the ground near Dawn's feet. "So what do you know about Xander's wife?" she asked.
"Not a sausage," Spike nodded firmly.
"Fine. Well, she's a Slayer. Yes, Xan finally got a Slayer to stick around. She's good, too. One of the best of the minis. She can even take Faith down every so often." Spike glanced at the dark-haired Slayer, impressed. Not many could boast that. "So there was this thing a few months ago, yet another apocalypse, and Faith threw the Scythe to Gwen, 'cause she could probably use it more than Faith could at the time. The moment Gwen touched it, she disappeared."
Spike hissed his concern, but Dawn simply nodded and continued. "Turned out there was a ward around the ritual grounds, which interacted with something in Colorado, which is just as well, otherwise we'd probably still be looking for Gwen and the Scythe. As it was, she ended up slamming into the wall in the most top-secret part of a top-secret Air Force base. Of course, there were further complications – one of the people there recognised her from something that had happened, uh, six months earlier? To make matters worse, Will had to pull her out with magic," she grimaced. "Well, we went, had a big confab, and agreed that we were both too busy with our own stuff, and are leaving each other alone."
"So this time?" Spike asked.
Faith snorted. "We'd just finished a session in the gym, and B decided Gwen and Xan were too cosy, making out in front of her, so gave Blondie the Scythe to put away. She was still touching Xan at the time, so when she blipped out, so did he."
"Just like that?" Spike asked.
"Just like that," Faith nodded.
"So have you talked to these Air Force blokes?" Spike asked.
Dawn sighed. "We suggested that first thing, but Willow wanted to try to find them first. We'll probably call tomorrow morning. You know, something like a reasonable hour?"
Spike frowned, but shrugged his acquiescence. "So Harris's girl's going to be banned from touching the thing?"
"Hell, yeah," Faith chuckled. "Doubt you could make her touch the thing any more, anyway. She don't much like the mojo."
"That," Dawn shrugged, "plus that fact that last time she ended up with two broken arms, and worrying about being the star exhibit in The Initiative, Mark II."
Teal'c looked out of their current shelter of the forest into the clearing that held the Stargate. SlayerGwenHarris, in her FirstSlayer persona, had led them directly through the forest to this clearing, though not at her preferred pace. Several times he had seen her stop to glare at her husband, though neither appeared to have said a word. After several minutes, she had simply turned and started walking again.
They had come across two patrols that he had seen. Both times, the only notice of the patrols, though, had been the lifeless bodies of the Jaffa who had been in her way, along with the Goa'uld larvae, which had been ripped from the soldiers' primtas and torn to pieces. The FirstSlayer was a silent and highly efficient warrior, and he could admit to being impressed, and even a little … concerned. He would have to see her in action to discern just how concerned he should be, though.
Now they were waiting as the FirstSlayer made her moves. She had stopped at the edge of the clearing and examined the area before turning to her husband. She had glared at him for a few minutes before melting into the trees. XanderHarris had simply sighed, and leaned against a tree, obviously waiting.
"So what's the plan, kid?" Jack asked, annoyed by the hold-up.
"Gwen's going to clear the Gate for us." Xander explained. "We just wait here for her to do her thing, and then go home."
"Just like that," Jack clarified doubtfully.
"Just like that," Xander nodded.
"I kind of get the feeling that she doesn't really like us," Danny suggested.
"Nope," Xander agreed genially. "That's actually Sineya we've been dealing with, and she really doesn't play well with others. The first time I met her she killed me. Thankfully it was in a dream, so it didn't take. That was after the joining spell," he added, glancing at Jack. "According to the histories, Sineya never had a Watcher, and was routinely rejected by any humans that she met. Then again, she wasn't really … human, so I'm not that surprised."
"How do you mean, 'not really human?'" Danny asked, his interest quickened.
Xander shrugged. "Well," he sighed. "Okay, she lost the power of speech, and she was really … feral, I guess you could say. She had one thing, and one thing only on her mind, and that was the utter destruction of any and all demons. You've seen the way she acts, and frankly? That's pretty mild. She'll snarl, she'll glare, and when she fights?" He shuddered. "I've seen her rip the head off a demon, then look at it like it's a curiosity, a toy. And then discard it without another thought. She would bathe in the blood of demons, and smile, because it made her that much scarier to other demons."
"But … Gwen, she's still in there, right?" Sam asked, horrified.
"Gwen is … there, but not conscious," Xander explained. "She said it's like floating, like being high on really good painkillers." He shook his head. "I don't know. When I was possessed, I knew what was going on, and was powerless to do anything. She swears it's not like that for her, and Faith agreed, although she said it was more like going to sleep, or dozing on a Summer's day." He smirked. "Who knew Faith could do 'poetic'?"
"So we just wait for, what?" Jack asked.
"Sineya to take the Gate," Xander smiled fondly.
