Author's Note: Alright people, this is the finale of Season 2. I went ahead and made it all one chapter. Next time, I will be entering Season 3, where I will have tons more original scenes once we make it past Season 2, promise. Until then, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though I have borrowed many ideas and yes, the episodes from the brilliant people at Mutant Enemy. Veronica is all mine, though!
Chapter 6: Being Made (Based on Becoming Parts 1 & 2)
Spike and Ronnie were sitting in the mansion atrium a few nights later. They hadn't talked much since the night Spike found Ronnie in the basement. Every day while the others were sleeping, Spike would go to the basement, pick her unconscious body up, carry her to her room, and clean her wounds. She would wake up hours later, completely healed.
They were silent right now because Angelus was sleeping in his room, and they didn't want to risk being caught plotting against him. Drusilla walked in and immediately had their attention.
"Nice walk, pet?" Spike asked. She grabbed her stomach like a sick child.
"I met an old man; didn't like him. He got stuck in my teeth. But then the moon whispered to me, all sorts of dreadful things."
Just as she leaned her head back, Angelus walked in. "Well, what did it say?"
"Oh," Spike looked Angelus' way. "Look who's awake." Angelus bumped Spike on the head with his fist as he walked past him. Spike winced a bit, and Ronnie rushed to his side and started rubbing his head soothingly. She always tried to protect Spike, but it just intensified since he began taking care of her after Angelus' "sessions".
"What did the moon tell you?" Angelus asked as he walked up to Dru. "Did you have a vision? Is something coming?"
"Oh, yeah." She smiled. "Something terrible. Psst, psst, psst, psst, psst, psst…"
"Where?" He asked.
"At the museum, a tomb…with a surprise inside."
"Museum?" Ronnie asked curiously. Whatever this plot was, Angelus knew about her gift and she knew she'd be involved.
"You can see all that in your head?" Angelus asked delighted.
"No, you ninny. She read it in the morning paper." Spike said as he handed Angelus the newspaper. Ronnie gently pinched his shoulder to remind him to keep his anger in check.
Angelus read the headline aloud. "'Mysterious Obelisk Unearthed: Excavators Discover Ancient Artifact' Well, Ronnie," he said facing her. "Looks like we're gonna go get you a new toy."
"That's what's been whispering to me. Sh." Dru said.
"Oh, yeah." Angelus faced Dru. "Don't worry, though. Soon it will stop." He turned back to Ronnie and Spike and smiled evilly. "Soon it will scream."
Later in the mansion, Angelus and two of the minions had brought the obelisk in and set it in front of the fireplace. Upon first glance, Spike snickered.
"It's a big rock. I can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a rock this big."
"Spike, my boy," Angelus answered, ignoring Spike's sarcasm. "You never did learn your history. Ronnie, dear, why don't you enlighten him?" He said gesturing with his arm towards the statue, "Do your thing."
Spike tilted his head confused at her, how would she know? "Let's have a lesson then."
Ronnie walked up to the huge obelisk and gently laid her hand on it. She gasped as the history of it flashed before her eyes.
"Acathla, the demon, came forth to swallow the world." Angelus smiled at Spike, and Spike was trying to figure out where all of this information was suddenly coming from. "He was killed by a virtuous knight, who pierced the demon's heart before he could draw a breath to perform the act. Acathla turned to stone, as demons sometimes do, and was buried." She turned to face the men, "where neither man nor demon would want to look."
"Unless of course they're putting up low rent housing." Angelus quipped, and then turned to the minions. "Boys."
Two of the minions pried the tomb open to reveal Acathla with the sword in his abdomen. Drusilla began to sway.
"He fills my head. I can't hear anything else." Dru said.
"Let me guess," Spike began. "Someone pulls out the sword."
"Someone worthy," Ronnie interjected.
"Mm," he continued. "The demon wakes up and wackiness ensues."
"He will swallow the world." Drusilla predicted.
"And every creature living on this planet will go to Hell." Angelus said as he walked up to Acathla. Suddenly, he turned to face the other. "My friends, we're about to make history…end." He smiled manically.
Ronnie and Spike faced each other and shared a look. They knew it was time to see the Slayer.
A few hours later, Spike was pacing in Ronnie's room as she sat on the bed.
"We've got to warn her!" Ronnie entreated.
"She won't trust us." Spike reasoned.
"She trusted me before, with the Judge." She threw back.
"What if Angelus catches us? He'll go after you even worse. He said so."
"I'm not worth the world, Will."
He turned to face her about to argue that statement. "Ronnie…"
"Ronnie? Spike?" Dru called from the other side of the door. Spike rushed to his chair and just made it as Dru opened the door and stopped in.
"My sweets, the fun's about to begin."
Spike wheeled himself out, and Ronnie followed. The minions were dragging in a young man, shirtless with his hands tied behind his back. They dropped him to the floor in front of Spike, Ronnie, Dru, and Angelus. Angelus started walking towards the man.
"I will drink…" Angelus began the incantation. "The blood will wash in me, over me, and I will be cleansed. I will be worthy to free Acathla." He looked at Spike and Ronnie. "Bear witness…" He looked at Dru, "as I ascend…" Then he faced Acathla, as he went to game face, "as I become."
He grabbed the man by the hair and lifted him up, holding his head at an angle to expose his neck. He roared and bit the young man hard and fast on the neck. He drank deeply, brought up his hand to brush it against the man's wound, and then let him fall to the floor dead. He looked at the blood on his hand. He lowered it and started to walk slowly toward Acathla.
"Everything that I am, everything that I have done, has led me here."
As he said that, Ronnie flashed back to the gypsy village in Romania.
1898, Romania
She was lying on the ground out of breath and confused. One minute they were tearing the village apart trying to figure out why after visiting this village last month, Angelus suddenly disappeared. Veronica was about to make her first kill of the night. Then, the woman had started mumbling something in Romani or Latin, Veronica wasn't quite sure. Suddenly, some force of magic crashed down on her, and she was kneeling before the gypsy.
"What did you do to me?" She asked frightened.
"I have bestowed a blessing to you." The gypsy woman told her calmly.
"Is this what you did to Angelus? Is this why he left us?" She asked frantically.
"No, child. You have a great future in front of you. We cursed your elder for killing our most loved daughter, but you, we have blessed."
"Why? What's so special about me?" Ronnie asked clearly confused.
"You retain your humanity even after being turned, as does the other made by your Sire."
"William? Are you going to do this to him, too?" Ronnie stood up and walked over to the woman.
"No, he will get his gift on his own and play a different part. But you shall fight the odds with our blessing."
"So, what is this blessing exactly?" She squinted curiously.
"Your sire has the gift of future sight. We have given you the gift of past sight. At first you'll think it's the same as your elder's curse, but it will help achieve your purpose."
Over the next several months, she learned all the stipulations of the "blessing". How she would be consumed with guilt when she killed, and how her sight made a museum tour no longer require the use of a tour guide.
Now, she stood behind Angelus and tried not to cower in fear of the fate she knew would happen if Acathla was released.
Angelus approached Acathla, still vamped out. "I have strayed, I have been lost." Ronnie suddenly missed Angel. "But Acathla redeems me. With this act, we will be free."
He grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands. A blinding bright light emanated from it. Angelus held the sword tightly and tried to draw it out of Acathla. It wouldn't budge, and a moment later, a bright red flame burst form the sword, throwing Angelus back and forth onto the floor.
"Someone wasn't worthy." Spike sing-songed.
Angelus scrambled to his feet and screamed in frustration. "Damn it!"
"This is so…disappointing!" Dru moaned.
Angelus started pacing. "There must be something I missed. The incantations, the blood…" he turned to face Ronnie. "Ronnie? What did I miss?"
"No idea. I don't see the rituals, Sire, that was the minions' job to research." She shrugged.
Spike tried hard to suppress a snicker, hiding his mouth with his hand.
"What are we going to do?" Dru whined.
"What we always do in a time of trouble," Angelus told her. "Turn to an old friend."
Hope flickered in Dru's eyes as Ronnie turned to Spike with fear filled in her eyes.
"We'll have our Armageddon. I swear!" Angelus promised as he grabbed a vase from a shelf. He heaved it at the far wall, smashing it into hundreds of tiny pieces making Ronnie flinch in fear.
After Angelus kidnapped Buffy's watcher, Giles, Ronnie and Spike had finally decided it was time to go find the Slayer. They were walking around the town when they noticed a cop approaching the Slayer. They rushed to her and just as Buffy was raising her hands in surrender, Ronnie jumped in kicked the officer in the face and then the shin. Spike grabbed him and threw him onto the hood of his car, where he laid unconscious.
Spike stepped into Buffy's line of view. "Hello, cutie."
Buffy instantly went into attack mode and punched him twice in the face. He grabbed her by the shoulders to restrain her, but she brought her knee up into his gut.
"Now, you hold on a second." He shoved her away from himself. She reached in her coat and pulled out a stake.
Ronnie jumped in front of him just as he raised his arms in surrender. Spike peered over Ronnie's shoulder just to address Buffy. "Hey! White flag here. I quit."
"Let me clear this up for you. We're mortal enemies. We don't get time outs." Buffy said condescendingly. Just then, she noticed it was Ronnie standing in front of Spike. She dropped her defensive stance and relaxed. "Where the hell have you been? I haven't seen you since Angelus showed up!"
"She's been getting pulverized by your boytoy." Spike tossed out, not liking the already seeming easy camaraderie among the girls.
"William!" Ronnie slapped his arm. She hadn't wanted Buffy to know about that.
"What?" Buffy asked surprised.
"It's nothing." Ronnie insisted.
"Bollucks, it's nothing. Angelus has been beating her since he got here. It's why we came to you. We can't take him on by ourselves, and neither can you." He said accusingly.
"Alright," Buffy nodded. "Let's go to my place, get out of the open."
"Right, let me just kill this guy." Spike began. Buffy cleared her throat, and he looked back at both women giving him reproaching looks. He bowed his head in defeat, and they headed to Buffy's house.
They were walking down Revello Drive, when Buffy's mom pulled up in a Jeep screaming her name. They all turned their attention to her as she got out of the car.
"Where have you been? Are you okay? The police were here, I've been looking for you."
"Mom, let's, let's go inside, and I can explain." Buffy urged.
"Who are these people?" She turned to Spike and Ronnie. "Who are you?" Her head spun back around to Buffy. "Are you okay?"
"Mom!" Buffy tried to calm down her mother. "I'm-I'm okay."
"Buffy, terrible things have happened. What were you doing?"
Spike cut in. "What, your mum doesn't know?"
Buffy shot Spike a look as Joyce asked Spike, "Know what?"
Buffy faced her mom, "That I'm, uh, in a band. A-a rock band with Spike and Ronnie here."
"R-right." Spike jumped in again. "She plays the, the triangle." He stumbled.
"Drums." Buffy corrected.
"Drums, yeah." Ronnie rushed in, "She's hell on the old skins, you know."
"And what do you do?" She asked Spike.
"Well…I sing," he said unconvincingly.
So, she turned to Ronnie with an arched eyebrow. "Keyboard." Ronnie said without missing a beat.
"Mom, let's go inside to talk about this." Buffy tried again.
Just then, a vamp attacked from Buffy's porch. The three worked in perfect sync to dust him. Joyce just stared in astonishment as they acted completely casual about it.
"Buffy…what's going on?"
The three shared a look and Buffy walked up to her mom. "Mom…I'm a Vampire Slayer."
They had all come to sit in Buffy's living room while she was on the phone with Willow. It was a very awkward silence until Joyce finally asked.
"Have we met?"
Ronnie shook her head and began to answer "no" when Spike jumped in.
"Um…you hit me with an ax one time. Remember? Uh, 'get the hell away from my daughter'?"
Ronnie wondered what that was about, but had to commend Joyce for standing up to a Master Vampire like that.
"Oh. So do you live here in town?" Again, Ronnie went to answer, but Buffy walked in and the three formed a huddle as Joyce looked on. "Is Willow all right?" Joyce asked.
"Yeah, she's fine." Then she turned to the two vampires she'd invited into her home. "All right, talk…What's the deal?"
"Simple." Spike said. "You let the three of us skip town, we help you kill Angel."
"Angel? Your boyfriend?" Joyce asked confused.
"Forget about Drusilla. She doesn't walk." Buffy said curtly.
"Buffy, come on, she's our Sire. We need her." Ronnie pleaded.
"She killed Kendra." Buffy informed them.
"Who's Kendra?" Ronnie asked confused.
"Dru bagged a Slayer? She didn't tell me!" Spike croaked excitedly.
"Slayer?" Ronnie turned to Buffy, "But you…"
"Long story, later." Buffy waved her off.
"So you didn't kill that girl?" Joyce said relieved.
"Of course not!" Buffy said offended.
"Did she explode like that man out there?" Joyce wondered.
"She was a Slayer, Mom." Buffy explained
"Like what you are?" Buffy nodded.
"Look," Spike pulled the girls aside. "This deal works for us one way. Full stop. Me, Ronnie and Dru for Angel."
"Honey, are you sure you're a Vampire Slayer." Joyce tried to reason with her.
"I'll take us out of the country. You'll never hear from us again. I bloody well hope." Spike explained his plan.
"Fine. Get back to the mansion. Make sure Giles is all right." Buffy nodded.
"I…I mean have you tired not being a Slayer?" Joyce tried again.
"Mom!" They all sighed. Buffy looked back at her allies. "Be ready to back me when I make my move." Spike headed to the door, Ronnie on his heels. Buffy called to them. "If Giles dies…" they looked back at her, "Dru dies."
Spike nodded and stepped out. Ronnie was ready to follow when she heard Joyce.
"It's because you didn't have a strong father figure isn't it?" Joyce asked worriedly.
"Will, go on. I'll catch up." Ronnie shooed him away.
"Duchess…" He tried to get her to come with her.
"Go!" She insisted.
"Mom this happened before you and Dad split you just didn't listen." Buffy yelled.
Ronnie came back in. "Ms. Summers, your daughter is an amazing girl, that has saved the world hundreds of times."
"Against people like you?" Joyce spat at her.
A huge fight ensued, resulting in Joyce kicking Buffy out of the house. Ronnie assured her that it was shock and would pass, and if not that she had tons of friends to lean on.
Buffy was in Giles' apartment later, talking to Whistler about how to defeat Angelus when he mentioned Ronnie.
"Yeah, the Powers got it wrong with Angel. But that Veronica, she's gonna be a big help. She'll be around for a long time." Whistler told her.
"What if she turns? Just like Angel?" Buffy voiced her fears concerning the female vampire.
"Impossible. Angel was cursed. Ronnie was blessed, totally different magic. She's safe." Whistler assured her.
The battle at the mansion began. Ronnie fought off a few minions, and then helped Xander carry Giles out to safety. She got them all the way to the door, but couldn't go out in the sunlight. Just as she was coming back, Spike was in front of her with an unconscious Dru in his arms.
"Ronnie, come on." He called.
She looked at Angelus and Buffy fighting. "God, he's gonna kill her!"
Spike shrugged. "Not our problem, let's go!"
She shook her head. "No, sorry, Will. I'm staying, but you promised you'd take Dru and go. I'll see you guys later."
"Come on, Duchess, this isn't our fight!" He pleaded with her.
"Wrong, this is my fight." She kissed Spike on the cheek and ran to Buffy and Angelus. She overheard him taunting her as she approached.
"Now that's everything. No weapons…no friends…no hope. Take all that away, and what's left?"
"Me!" Ronnie screamed as she roundhouse kicked Angelus' head.
The battle ensued, and the girls quickly gained the upper hand. Just as Buffy was about to deliver the final blow, Ronnie saw the light flash in his eyes.
"Buffy!" Ronnie grabbed her shoulder to stop her.
Angel had his soul back. He was confused and didn't have his memories at first. The girls tried to have a happy reunion with him, but they noticed the opening behind him. Buffy told him to close his eyes, that she loved him, kissed him, and then plunged the sword through him.
"I'm sorry, Buffy." Ronnie tried to console her.
"It's okay. Where are Spike and Dru?" Buffy asked suddenly remembering.
"They left. But I couldn't leave you to Angelus alone." She smiled sadly. "I know what that's like."
"Thanks. Well, I'm gonna get outta town for a while." Buffy told her.
"I could come with you?" Ronnie suggested.
Buffy shook her head. "Actually, could you stay here? I'll be back, I promise. But I need someone I trust to watch the Hellmouth for me while I'm gone." She explained.
"You trust me? Why?" Ronnie asked surprised.
"Little birdie told me you're on our side." Buffy smiled.
"I don't have a soul." Ronnie said, as if Buffy forgot.
"I trust you."
"Thanks." Ronnie smiled. "You did the right thing, Buffy. Angelus was a bastard, but Angel was my friend. I'll miss him too." Ronnie explained.
Buffy smiled sadly, gave Ronnie a hug, and smiled. She knew the Hellmouth in good hands. She just hoped her friends would trust Ronnie, too.
A/N: There's Season 2! The next chapter will be almost completely original. Since this story is Ronnie centered instead of Buffy centered, instead of Anne I'll write about how Ronnie earns the trust of the Scoobies to become a permanent fixture.