Disclaimer: Not mine. Never was, never will be.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the following reviewers –Ladymirth, Spike's Real Lover (you are awesome!), Spike's the BIG BAD (you rock!), Whiteinfinity21, MML, Nosurprises, LadyReno, KittenofDoomage and Make-War-Not-Love.
Thank you so much for your praise. Reviews make me want to sing songs from Grease II (yeah- I dunno why not Grease, but it is always Grease II).
CHAPTER 4
(aka Chapter 3 part II)
They had split into two groups and Buffy speculated if Big Ugly (his name was Bert, she preferred to think of him as Big Ugly) would notice that their numbers had been reduced by a good third. Either Big Ugly also went by the names Stupid Oaf and Ignorant Buffoon or he just didn't care. Either way, Buffy relaxed when the anticipated "Where the hell did the others disappear to?" observation and conversation failed to take place.
She was (almost) embarrassed for him. Almost.
Big Ugly took his group through the front doors while Buffy was in the group that was to guard the exits to make sure no one got out. Including herself, there were twelve vampires outside. As Big Ugly's group walked up the stairs, Buffy's group split; half went right and the others went left to circle the building.
Buffy walked slowly to the left, her mind racing. For her plan to work, she had just a few precious minutes to dispatch the remaining vampires or get them inside the school. She rounded the corner and saw a burly blonde vampire guarding it.
"I've got this exit," said the vamp, "the others just went around to the next one." He shuffled his feet. "Is it me or shouldn't there have been more of us?"
Without breaking stride, Buffy pulled the stake from the small of her back and the unsuspecting vamp exploded into ash before he could react.
"It's not you." She called over shoulder to the dust that was sprinkling the ground.
One down, ten to go.
"Bitch!" Spike exclaimed when he pulled on the locked door. He heard muffled laughter from the other side. "Sheila, open the door."
He gritted his teeth in frustration. Since he really didn't want to give Snyder yet another reason to hate him by breaking the door, Spike turned to make the trek around the exterior of the school to the front entrance. He was certain that by the time he got inside, Sheila would be long gone.
Thinking of a few more choice names for the lazy brunette, he strode angrily towards the front of the school. As he turned a corner, he walked right into a group of three vampires.
"See Frank…I told you I heard something!" One tall, thin vampire said immediately, pointing toward Spike.
"That you did Roy. Here I just thought you were excited, this being your first fight and all."
"Well, well…looks like we got ourselves a White Hat." The third vampire spoke, eyeing Spike with recognition. "He's that pest that has The Anointed all agitated."
"The pest?" Roy looked at Spike doubtfully. "Him? Can't be…he's just a kid."
"Yeah, doesn't look like much, but he did take down the Master." Frank took a nervous step back as Spike stepped toward him.
"Anybody ever tell you blokes that it is rude to talk about someone right in front of them?" All three vamps looked at Spike as he spoke. Simultaneously, they vamped into their game faces and Spike felt the adrenaline surge through him.
The night was looking better.
They attacked and Spike grinned.
Xander and Willow left the library together. They discussed cutting through the courtyard to get to the administrative offices, but decided against it. Both were reluctant to be outside, in the open and vulnerable in the darkness.
Instead, they took the staircase in the east wing so they could cross over to the other side of the school through one of two overhead walkways. The staircase at the other end would take them right by the common room where Spike would be cleaning up. Giles wanted them to bring Spike up to speed on Father Tom's plan.
They arrived just in time to see Sheila scuttle out of the common area and into the hallway.
"Finished already?" Willow asked. She frowned when she saw the leftover food containers stacked on the one remaining table. Obviously, there was still work left to do and Sheila was going to leave the rest of the cleanup for Spike to finish alone.
"I am." Sheila grinned and walked past them.
Xander looked at Willow, her brow wrinkled in worry. "If we are having guests, should we let her leave?" she whispered. Xander sighed and turned back towards the rapidly disappearing teen.
"Sheila!" Xander called. She answered him with a two-finger salute and did not look back.
"Oh very nice!" Xander said, sarcastically.
He debated splitting away from Willow, but Spike seemed nowhere in sight and he was loath to leave her alone. Willow waited to see what he would do but he could read her big brown eyes that pleaded with him to get the other girl to safety. Sheila turned a corner and suddenly the hallways echoed with cat calls and malicious laughter.
"Sorry Will." Willow was the most important person in his life and he wouldn't forgive himself if he put her in danger, even if it was to save another. He grabbed her arm and guided her towards to the door to the teacher's lounge nearby. After stepping through the door, he locked it behind him. Together, he and Willow appraised the room before them. Neither teen had even been in the lounge prior to this night.
"I gotta say, Will, I admit that I am a little disillusioned." Xander wasn't sure what to expect, but a quick survey of the room proved to be a let-down.
"This is the Teacher's Lounge?" They glanced at each other, disappointed.
And then there were six Buffy thought as the dust settled. Only six more vamps to go and then she could go inside. She had to admit, it was a lot easier to dust them when they thought she was one of them. Each dusting so far had been straight forward, as had the first...simply walking by them and thrusting the stake in and pulling out.
Fortunately, things were going smoothly. She continued walking along the walls of the building at the same steady pace she set. No more than a few minutes had passed since she'd separated from Big Ugly and she didn't want to linger.
With a burst of speed, she ran down the long wall of the backside of the school. What would take a student a few minutes to walk only took her fifteen seconds. She rounded the corner and was halfway down the far side of the school when she heard the grunting and telltale sound of skin striking against skin.
She tightened her grip on her stake.
She froze when she saw him. He had knocked down one vamp and was kicking the second while spinning and dodging attacks from the third. His actions were fluid and once again she could see how exhilarated he looked when fighting. She just stopped and stared. She even forgot to breathe. Then, with a mental smack, she remembered she didn't breathe anyways. She shook off her moment of stupidity and girlishness as Vamp #2 went down and vamp #1 got up.
The kid was good, she could admit that, but he was apparently weaponless because he was only fighting with his fists. Then, she realized that he was outside and she growled with annoyance.
She'd been counting on him to be inside. What was the point of staging a rescue if the victim was not around to be rescued? Another burst of speed and she reached vamp #1 and staked him in the back before he could attack.
"What in the hell are you doing outside?" she demanded looking at the bleach blonde fighter. Then she staked vamp #3, spun around, went down on one knee and staked the remaining vampire.
"Bloody Hell!" Anger flushed his face as he stared at her. His hands clenched into fists and he tensed, anticipating an attack. Moving forward once more, she continued on her path toward the front entrance of the school.
"Come on then," she said over her shoulder, "We need to get inside and there are three more left out here."
He rolled his eyes. "Like I would follow you into such an obvious trap."
"Kid" annoyance flashed across his face at the term and she filed the reaction away for future reference, "do what you want, but I feel it is only fair to warn you that it's not my friends trapped inside the school with twelve fanatical vampires. Personally, I could care less if they lived or died."
She walked away. Grudgingly, he followed and she hid her smile.
"Wrong. This is so wrong." Spike thought as he followed the petit, curvaceous form in front of him. Every instinct told him to attack her and take care of the vampire before she could do any more harm but he restrained from taking action. If this was a trap and he played along, perhaps he could get some kind of idea of what the bitch hoped to gain by jerking him around. Then he would get his weapon and stake her.
He hoped she deceived him about the vampires inside the school. Most of the teachers and parents had already left, unwilling to linger too long into the evening. However, he couldn't be certain that there were not a few stragglers remaining. He thought of his friends and was glad they were still in the library with Giles. His uncle could defend them against an attack until Spike arrived. He hoped.
With an expert twist of her wrist, the vampire flipped her stake in the air and caught it in her left hand as they neared the corner. The clean and expert way she extended her arm as she rounded the corner filled him with dread (not admiration) as she staked an unseen vampire. There was no caution or stealth in her movement – only confidence.
The very act itself was unnerving. And once again he questioned her motives.
What is her game?
Why was she killing vampires?
Better yet – Why wasn't he looking for ways to kill her?
She continued on with the same purposeful stride and Spike followed, his eyes darted around on the ground as he looked for something to use as a weapon. However, it was clear that in an effort to impress the parents of the student body, Snyder had some the school grounds freshly mowed and cleaned up.
She staked the next two vampires in the same straightforward manner, reached behind her back and slid the stake in the space between her pants and the small of her back.
If I can get it, I can use her stake to kill her.
Suddenly, she whipped her head to the side and Spike wondered if she read his mind. However, she looked towards the building and stared at the walls as if she could see through them. Which was impossible, of course.
"They found someone." She said and with a burst of speed she disappeared around the corner.
Willow! Xander! Giles!
His heart lurched at the thought of his friends in the hands of a gang of vampires and Spike started to run.
Sheila was freaked…scratch that. She wasn't freaked, she was Freaked- with a huge mother-fucking capital "F". She didn't know who the weirdos with the unfortunate facial deformities were but she was beginning to suspect that she wasn't hallucinating (she had hallucinated from drugs before, but the surreal visions were never accompanied by the foul stench these guys emitted). Her buzz from earlier in the evening (she and Meat had lit one up in his Pinto when he dropped her off in front of the school just before Parent Teacher night started) had been wearing off and she was feeling the effects – the beginnings of a migraine and something she could only describe as Panic (yep...with a capital "P").
One large, filthy hand had gripped her arm and she gave a terrified squeak. Bad weed mixed with unidentified substances was one thing, but this was something else entirely.
Roughly, she was pulled toward a large, hard body and she cried out when her whipped back as she collided with him.
"Dude, you are killing my buzz." she whispered. He just laughed.
Buffy raced through the doors and broke the glass on the emergency fire hose, working fast to unravel its length. She tossed the hose to the kid when he followed behind her.
"Tie this around the door. It won't hold for long, but it we only need something to stall them." He held the hose and snorted. "Secure the exit doors of the school and prevent my friends from being able to escape from a vampire? In your dreams Goldilocks."
She pointed at the small black duffel bag that was barely concealed by a plant in the corner of the hallway, near the door.
"Use those and work fast." She hissed. "The other doors should have been secured by now. I am going to get them together." She turned and then looked back at him. A small object flew towards him and he caught it. Then she was running down the hall. "Consider it a loan," she echoed Father Tom's earlier words and her voice trailed behind her, "I'll want that back."
Spike looked down at the object and his eyes widened in surprise.
It was a wooden stake- which would have been surprising enough- but it was the designs that decorated the surface of the stake that dumbfounded him. How was she able to even hold it?
"How do you know this plan of yours will work?" Giles and Father Tom had tied up the last of the back emergency exits from the school. Father Tom looked at his watch.
"I don't." His reply caused Giles to a do double-take and he shrugged. "I have faith though."
Giles glanced quickly at the priest's collar Father Tom wore around his neck and nodded in understanding. Father Tom hid his smile and wondered how the Librarian would react if he had finished the sentence. I have faith that the teenaged vampire is helping and won't betray us…all on the word of a nine year old girl. Giles would have questioned his sanity and, not too long ago, Tom would have agreed. A lot had changed in the last year though…
8 Months Ago…
His footsteps echoed as he walked across the hard wood floor of the chapel, his thoughts troubled as he tried to make a decision. It was not the first time he questioned his decision to become a Priest, but it was the first time he seriously considered leaving Priesthood.
As he placed the bibles along the pew, he chewed his lip.
As a Priest, Tom knew he was a failure. In the ten years since he had taken his vows he had been placed in as many parishes. He tried his best to be virtuous and compassionate, but something would inevitably happen and he would find himself being "transferred" to another parish, another state.
It wasn't acceptable when a Priest resorted to violence. Yet, he was unable to stop himself from interfering when he saw or heard something that he thought was wrong. If a woman confessed that she felt her husband was justified in beating her unconscious because she burned the pot roast, then he was supposed to offer counseling and prayer. He was not supposed to find said husband and engage in a little "quid pro quo".
If a person confessed that they wanted to hurt someone, then as a Priest, Father Tom should offer prayer and counsel – and encourage the person to turn themself into the police before someone gets hurt not call in a tip to the police naming the confessor and the person's fantasy playing sharpshooter at the mall.
Tom wanted to help people, but felt inadequate when too often he thought the obvious solution was a violent one. As a Priest, he knew violence wasn't the answer. Lost in his thoughts, he placed bibles along the pew and mentally worded his speech to the archbishop. Sunnydale would mark his last stop as a Priest.
He paused when he heard soft whispering. He glanced around the chapel, but did not see anyone around. The whispers continued, too soft to make out the words, but the rhythm was repetitious. Later, Tom was relieved that he didn't consider the option that God was speaking to him.
A slight movement in the back row caught his eye and he noted the source of the whispers. His brow wrinkled in confusion and he looked around once more. Cautiously, he approached.
Once he reached the back row, he had a good view of the whisperer. She was young, small and he guessed her age to be seven or eight years old. She wore a blue dress, with a red ribbon tied around her waist. She had blonde hair so pale it almost appeared white
She was alone.
Not wanting to frighten the young girl, Tom spoke softly.
"Are you lost?"
Eyes tightly closed, the soft whispers continued as if he had never spoken. Tom stepped forward then hesitated when his ears picked up the words she whispered.
"…send one to us. This is our most desperate hour. Help us and send one to us. This is our most desperate hour. Help us…"
Father Tom tried again. "Are you looking for someone? Sister Mary Elizabeth is nearby, would you like me to get her?"
The whispers stopped and the child opened her eyes. She turned her body to look at the Priest, eyes narrowed as she inspected him from head to toe. He tried to stand still under her scrutiny.
"You are not a Slayer." She said flatly. She tilted her head and her eyes became unfocused.
Father Tom once again looked around for a parent. Why was this child alone? What if she was here because she was afraid of someone? If she needed help, he was not the right person for her.
"Knight." She said dreamily, then she frowned. "No, that's wrong. Not knight…A warrior?" Her brow furrowed in concentration. "That's not right either."
Father Tom sighed. "I'm a Priest" he said aloud. At least for now he privately thought.
A smile spread across her face and she looked at him again. "Warrior…priest. There's a word for that!"
The girl stood and approached him, her fingers smoothing the lines on her dress.
"You won't leave Sunnydale. Your place is here…Paladin."
Giles reached into the duffel and pulled out another of the long, beaded objects.
"This is quite a stockpile you have." The sound of the British librarian's voice pulled Father Tom away from the past and into the present.
The priest shrugged. "One of the benefits of my profession."
Father Tom looked at his watch just as they heard yelling and whistling echoing through the hallways. "Almost time." He stated. He wondered if the kids had made it to the office yet.
Willow had never liked Sheila. The older student shared a talent with Cordelia in her ability to cut people down at the knees with a few choice words and had no qualms about using a little (or a lot) of physical intimidation.
Willow had once bravely refused to be Sheila's lookout while the brunette lit up a cigarette in the science wing girl's restroom. Of course, Sheila did not take "No" for an answer, so Willow had still been tasked with the job and it had been the most stressful three and a half minutes of her high school career. Willow had worried constantly. What if a teacher showed? Should Willow lie and say the bathroom was out of order? What if the teacher wanted to come inside the restroom? Or was she just supposed to say something if she saw a teacher? What should she say? She sagged with relief at the end, when Sheila slapped her on the back as she left mumbling about giving Willow a "free pass". (To this day, Willow had been too intimidated to collect.)
Willow worried that she had been too quick to follow Xander. Sheila might be unlikeable, but she was still human.
"It's not your fault, Will. Don't blame yourself." Xander said in a low voice. He turned the door knob slowly and inched the door open cautiously, the other hand pressed gently against Willow's abdomen and pushed her behind him.
"I could have tried harder to stop her, Xander. Now, those…" she shuddered slightly, "creatures have her and…th-they are g-go-going-" Quietly, Xander closed the door. He turned and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. Willow burrowed into his arms and took a moment to feel safe. Xander always made her feel safe.
He blamed himself for her distress, but not for letting Sheila go. If chasing after the girl had meant that Willow was put in danger, then he would do it again. But he knew Willow was blaming herself.
"It is not your fault, Willow." One palm rubbed circles into her back while the other stroked the back of her head. She inhaled, her body trembled and Xander cursed the Hellmouth once more. He squeezed her and pulled back slightly.
"Will - I know you are upset, but we need to keep moving. Can you do that?" His eyes pleaded with her to understand. Xander wanted to tell her that he would gladly stay in the one spot and hold her for as long as she needed, but he knew time was running short. It sucked when he dropped his arms while all he wanted to do was…focus Xander.
Willow nodded miserably and Xander wanted to ask if she thought he was a bad person. Instead, he slid his hand into hers and opened the door again. One glance showed another quiet hallway and he pulled Willow behind him as he slipped out of the lounge. They walked as quietly (and as quickly) as they could until they saw the doors that lead into the administrative offices.
Once inside, Xander locked the door. He pointed at the announcement system. "Do you know how to work that?"
His question was unnecessary, Willow was already at the console, flipping switches and hooking up the microphone before the words were out of his mouth.
"We need a tape player." She said.
Xander looked around the room and spied a cassette player/radio on a nearby desk. Within moments, he was connecting it to an outlet near the PA system.
"Tape." Like a surgeon waiting for a scalpel, Willow held out her hand.
"Tape." Xander repeated as he placed it in her palm. She inserted the tape into the player and was about to press play. He covered her fingers with his hand to stop her.
"Not yet. We have to wait for the signal." Absently, he rubbed his thumb over her fingers. He looked over at her but she was looking down at their hands.
"Do you think she is okay?" Willow asked, her voice low. She looked at him and her huge brown eyes were filled with tears.
"I don't know." He confessed, trying to be honest with his friend. Once again he pulled her into his arms. He bent his head to place a kiss on her head but she tipped her head back at that exact moment. He froze as his lips connected with hers.
His scalp tingled like he had just doused his head with bleach (it also reminded him that his roots were starting to show. He needed to re-bleach his hair soon). The vamps were close. The hallway ended at a "T" intersection. He went right, towards the gymnasium. He walked down the halls heard the indistinct sounds of voices. The closer he got, the better he was able to make out the words.
"…the hell? You promised this place would be overrun with walking blood bags and so far the only blood bag I found was this."
Spike heard a cry of pain that he recognized. Shiela.
"C'mon big guy. I promise you that I found some people. They thought they could hide from us…" the throaty chuckle was very familiar and his gut clenched as the feeling of betrayal swept through him. He knew that the female vampire had been up to no good but he was surprised at his reaction. Surely, he hadn't trusted her? It was unthinkable. "Let's go collect them. We can take them out through the sewers, just like we planned. Once we get them to the factory, we'll bathe in their blood."
Once again, the faces of his uncle and friends flashed through his mind. Spike wouldn't lose them…not to the dangers of the hellmouth and sure as hell not to this gang of vampires. The reassuring weight of the stake in his hand reminded him that he had a job.
"I think bath time will have to be postponed tonight." Spike said as he stepped into their view.
Immediately, the gang of vampires surged toward him. Bollocks! He thought. He had never taken on more than four vampires before, let alone a dozen. He just hoped he could bring down as many as possible before they killed him.
He widened his stance in defense, arms raised and stake poised to strike when her voice called out.
"Touch him and you will have to face the Anointed." Buffy said. Most froze, but one vampire, too excited by the thought of being the one to bring down the Pest continued. Spike wasn't sure what happened, but in the blink of an eye the blonde female vampire stood in front of him. She leapt up, wrapped her legs around the charging vampire's waist and had gripped the head of the vamp between her hands and with a vicious twist tore the head off. The vamp exploded into dust and she landed on her feet.
Spike looked at her back and then down at the stake in his hand. Slowly, he raised the stake.
"No one touches him." Shocked at her words, he hesitated.
At that moment an ear-shattering sound erupted over the school.
There are a variety of fire sprinkler systems, each operating in its own unique way: wet-pipe, dry-pipe, deluge, and pre-action were just a few.
The deluge, while not cost effective, was the most efficient system to keep a fire from spreading. Simply put, it allows for simultaneous application of water throughout the entire school. Another type allowed water to be dispersed only in areas where the heat sensors went off, reducing the clean up and replacement costs – in other words, if a fire happened in the gym, then only the sprinklers in the gym would go off, while other sprinklers around the school would remain inactivated.
Buffy, having no idea what type of sprinkler system the school had, simply hoped for the best and prepared for the worst.
The timing was crucial. She hoped Father Tom had everything else in place.
Xander is kissing me. It took a moment for Willow to wrap her head around the thought. Her eyes were open, his eyes wide in shock and hers in bemusement. Xander is kissing me. She wasn't sure what it meant. But she knew how it felt.
She moved her hands until they were on his chest and for a moment, she felt him tense as if he was thought she was about to push him away. Her fingers curled into the material of the shirt he wore and as she gathered handfuls of the material she yanked him closer. Eyes open, she watched him blink in surprise and felt his lips curve in a smile. His arms hugged her closer and her eyes fluttered closed.
His mouth parted and she sighed in response.
Then she heard bells. Not the oh-my-GOD-Xander-is-kissing-me-and-I-like-it kind of bells, but honest to God alarm bells.
They pulled apart and at the same time screamed "SIGNAL!"
Willow reached out with a trembling hand and pressed play as water surged from the spigots overhead and rained down upon them.
"Almighty Creator, Lord of heaven and earth, who in holy baptism hast made water to be an emblem of the cleansing of our souls…" the low tones of the priest's voice played over the loud speaker. Somewhere in the school, they heard screaming.
"Holy shit…it worked!" Xander laughed in disbelief.
"Not Holy Shit, Xan…"
"Holy Water!" the both said together, laughing.
Bert looked at the smoking skin on his arm with disbelief and heard the words coming out of the PA system.
"It's not possible." He said as blisters bubbled on his skin.
He saw Buffy fly into action, tearing the heads from the vamps around him and he blinked in confusion. Before he could protest, she had taken down four of their best. Then she collapsed to the ground. The Pest was a blur of action and other vampires exploded as he staked the confused vampire until only Bert and Buffy remained (he didn't count the unconscious form of the girl he had captured earlier, who lay unconsious against a door a few feet away).
The pain was excruciating and he fell to the ground eyes staring up at the ceiling. He looked at the spigots and tried to focus on the object wrapped around the spigot. What was that? He looked over at the other spigots that dotted the ceiling and then heard footsteps.
When he saw the kid kneel down beside him, comprehension dawned upon him.
"Rosary beads. You used to rosary beads and made holy water. That was clever."
The kid frowned and pushed a stake through Bert's heart.
Spike looked at the remaining vampire. She was completely vulnerable and he knelt beside her and sat on the floor. He wanted answers.
"Why were you killing them?" he leaned close to her. A few blisters dotted the exposed skin, but it was not nearly as severe as the other vamps had been.
"They are vampires." She closed her eyes and grimaced in pain. Slowly she opened her eyes again and looked at him.
"You're a vampire." He said this as a reminder of his job. She was a vampire and she needed to be staked.
"Yes. I am." He thought he detected a note of loneliness in her voice. He toyed with the stake in his hands.
"I kill vampires." He said the words softly and she groaned in pain as her skin continued to blister. He raised the stake.
You have to protect her, she can't be allowed to die. The words echoed in Father Tom's mind. As soon as the blessing started, he began to race through the halls, the Librarian hard on his heels.
He saw a teenager with bleached hair sitting beside Buffy and raising the stake.
"Stop!" Father Tom commanded.
In her bed, just a few short miles from the school, a young girl named Cassie opened her eyes.
"They stopped it." She breathed the words and a delighted smile spread across her face. "They stopped St. Vigeous." Her happiness was brief. Her eyes clouded over as she "peeked" into the future. After a few moments, she sighed. It hadn't changed anything. The end was still coming, but as long as Buffy lived, the battle could still be won.
She turned and snuggled deeper into her covers, instantly falling asleep once again.
A/N: I do not know the rules regarding confession. If you noted any errors from Father Tom's advice to confessors, please let me know and I will make corrections.
The idea of making holy water was thanks to an episode of SPN where a mass exorcism took place over a loud speaker. I wanted to see what a mass dousing of holy water would do. I figured it wouldn't vanquish any of them, but it would certainly incapacitate them. I know there must be questions about Buffy and the priest. All questions will be answered in good time.
Until then, stay tuned...
