Chapter 9 - Sunnydale Revisited
Buffy had drowsed in the coffin. The initial panic when she had felt the lid close had gone and she had started to enjoy some time alone to remember the happier times of her life. She was convinced Spike would never hold her again. She knew he was trying to save her, but she couldn't see how he could fight his bond with Dru. She could sense his helplessness and despair when he arrived at the flat too late, and shortly after that, she felt only peace. That confused her at first, but she sensed some sort of magic. She couldn't perceive that he was in any danger, so she forced her thoughts away from him.
She remembered a day shortly after they had arrived at the croft which had been their home. It was late August, and the days were still quite long. They had found a cave which stayed dry most of the time and they had used it as a base. The car Spike had stolen was large and had plenty of room in it too, especially when they had managed to black out the windows.
That day, they had spent daylight in the cave. She and Spike had spent the previous night cutting down some trees, and they planned to start roofing the croft when it was dark. After some sleep, they found a deep pool at the back of the cave. It was very dark inside - if it hadn't been for their enhanced night vision, neither would have been able to see at all. The water was icy cold, but when you are cold blooded, that isn't important. They spent hours in the water, swimming and wrestling with each other.
Of course, they also made love several times - both in and out of the water. It was the first time since before her sixteenth birthday that she had spent a whole day simply having fun. There was nothing she needed to slay, and no impending apocalypse. She didn't have to take her mom to hospital, and she didn't have to report to Giles. There was no school, and no papers to be written. She felt completely carefree. Spike revelled in showing her the advantages of her new lifestyle. Certainly, not having to breathe was a distinct advantage when swimming. She loved so much about her new way of life, but top of the list was Spike.
As the Slayer, she had always dreaded the prospect that one day she would become what she had fought for so many years. Yet, when it happened, she embraced the new life she had. Part of her acquiescence was due to the fact that there was very little conflict within her. Her demon seemed to be so repressed that she had yet to feel its presence significantly. She suspected it would only come to the fore if she or someone she cared about was in danger.
She spent some time that day, trying to let her face change, but found it took a great deal of concentration. Spike found the whole thing highly amusing. He told her she was very unusual. Most newly risen vampires had problems maintaining a human appearance, and some never managed it. The only thing which routinely forced it to the front was hunger. She had fed from Spike that day, as she had regularly since she awoke. He took upon himself the job of taking blood from their small flock of sheep.
The amusing thing was, that during their flight from California, one of the ships they had taken had been full of cattle being transported from Argentina to Europe. On board that ship there was a huge cache of veterinary supplies. Spike had raided them and armed himself with what seemed to be a lifetime supply of tranquillisers. They used these to subdue the animals before draining some blood from them. Even the needles and other equipment they used to take blood from the animals came from that cache. There was an element of trial and error in knowing how to use them, but Spike showed he was able to turn his hand to most things, telling her there had to be some advantages in his longevity. It seemed that there were times when he was with Angelus, when he had decided to travel without minions. When that happened, it fell to Spike to do whatever needed to be done for Angelus and Darla. Bringing herself back to the present, Buffy was saddened when she realised she might never feel so happy again.
She started working out how she could get out of her current situation. Nothing in her training as a Slayer or what Spike had told her about Angelus had prepared her for the level of barbarity she had seen in his treatment of Dru. She knew it was only a matter of time before she was treated in the same way, and she desperately needed a way out. Her mind wandered to the obvious - sunlight, stake - but it was a question of opportunity. If she spent all her time tied hand and foot, it was unlikely either would be available. She hadn't had another injection, and she hoped it wouldn't happen again. She knew she was still suffering from its after-effects.
Having thought around her situation too many times, she drifted off to sleep. After a while, she was aware that something changed. She seemed to be dreaming. She was somewhere dark - well, that fitted with her memory. She was in a coffin. But, she wasn't constrained. She felt she could move, but it was different somehow. Looking around her she could see her own face a few inches away. Still thinking she was dreaming, she didn't let the vision of her own face worry her. It was such a long time since she had seen her own face, it was good to look at it, even if the darkness was so deep she couldn't see it in the detail she wanted. As time went on, she began to wonder whether she was dreaming. Dreams normally had a little more action that this, didn't they? Becoming more confused, she tried to work out what was happening.
She had heard of having an out of body experience, but didn't know if that was possible for vampires. It was strange, and in some ways comforting to be floating there, apparently inches from her body, and she started to wonder if she could move further away. She tried, and found herself in what she assumed was the baggage hold of a plane - surrounded by other people's luggage and two more coffins. She tried to move further, and could feel she was somehow still attached to her body as if on an elastic cord. Pulling it gently, she moved to the smaller of the other two coffins and went inside. She saw Dru, apparently asleep. She tried calling to her, hoping to give her some comfort by knowing she was near, but Dru didn't seem to notice. Her curiosity now piqued, she left Dru and went to the larger coffin. Inside she saw Angelus. He was not asleep, and his face was a mask of frustration. Spike had always told her he hated inactivity. She wished she could do something to him, something that would stop him hurting Dru further, but even though he was awake, he was completely unaware of her presence. She allowed her tether to drag her back to her own coffin while she did some thinking.
As she tried to understand, she knew he was there. She could see nothing, she just knew Spike was close. She felt him surrounding her, making her feel safe. Straining every sense in his direction she could just make out what he was trying to communicate. He had some friends and together they were trying to rescue her. They had separated her body from her spirit so she couldn't be broken - regardless of what Angel did to her. He would be with her until he needed to go back to his own body. The rest of the flight passed with them both wrapped in each other in a purely spiritual conjoining which mirrored in many ways their first physical coupling on the night he had killed her.
They were both aware when the plane landed, and when the coffins were unloaded. They both knew that the coffin was placed in a car - a hearse - and moved through streets which were familiar to both. They were both aware when, several hours later, the coffin was opened, and they both saw Angelus' leering face as he looked inside.
"Aw, she's asleep," he started, his voice a parody of concern. When there was no response, he started to shake her roughly. At her lack of reaction, he snarled and lifted her body out of the coffin, throwing it across the room. Buffy felt herself follow her body, glad she couldn't feel the pain such a landing must have caused her. She could feel Spike's anger at how her body was being treated, and she tried to console him, to make him feel better about it. When there was still no reaction, Angelus moved to the other, as yet unopened coffin and pulled off the lid. He yanked Dru out and threw her towards Buffy. She screamed softly as her head hit the floor, but lay where she fell, as always, submissive to her Sire.
"What's the matter with the bitch?" he yelled, lifting Dru by the shoulders and pulling her closer to the other body. Dru stifled a sob of pain and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they had a strange glazed quality and her voice had become sing-song.
"I smell magic, good magic, magic from the green land. She's here, but not there, I can feel her, and"
Spike knew she had sensed him and hoped she would not pass on the information. Dru smiled wickedly to herself. That she could do. There were so few ways in which she could defy her Sire, but she could do that. And if it meant she could feel her darling William close to her for a while, however vaguely, it would be worth the punishment if Angel ever found out.
"And what?" Angel demanded.
"And she's not part of her body any more. Something has separated them. She can't feel her body's pain."
Angelus growled in anger. He had planned in minute detail how he was going to break her. It had filled his thoughts during his enforced inactivity on the plane. Unable to contain himself further, he roared once more and went out to bring mayhem to the streets of Sunnydale.
The building was full of minions. Spike's spirit wandered at will through the old factory, recognising minions who had been there before he left Angelus. It seemed that Angelus had kept the place going while Spike had been gone - apparently making it his base during the intervening years.
Wandering further, he found what had always been Angelus' room. He entered through the closed door with trepidation even though he knew he was safe for now. This room had so many memories, and none of them good. The bed was large and covered in red silk. The chest in the corner was as he remembered it. He knew it held the implements Angelus used on his childer. Minions were normally taken to the basement. This room was for 'family' only. His spirit returned to Buffy and hers comforted him in the sadness he felt in knowing that nothing had changed.
Angelus' mood was no better after a night spent rampaging around Sunnydale. He'd killed, not just to feed, but simply to assuage the demon in him which was furious at being unable to bend the ex-slayer to his will. Angelus' demon was not in the habit of being denied. The only thing which could ever control it was his Sire, and she was gone.
In a part of his mind which he tried to pretend didn't exist, the man who now shared his body with Angelus regretted that. He could see the carnage created by his demon and knew he had to be stopped. But the only remedy that ever existed was gone. Darla would have taken him in hand, would have punished him for such unnecessary excess - not out of any altruistic motive but simply because of the danger it brought to the family. It made the existence of all vampires more precarious as it showed that humankind no longer had anything to lose by fighting back.
Just before dawn the next morning, Angelus lurched back to his lair. Minions scattered before him as they saw him, tattered and blood splattered. His demon face was in evidence. Arriving at his room, he spotted Dru asleep in his bed. She woke when she heard him enter, quickly getting up and awaiting instructions. The demon wanted to rend her. The man managed with a major effort to banish the demon temporarily and the human face returned.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
"I .. I put her in my room, Angelus. I didn't know what to do. Didn't think you'd want her left there."
"Get out!" was all he managed. Dru ran. She had expected him back all night and had expected to suffer for what had happened with Buffy. She knew she still would, but she was glad of the respite. She ran to her own room and crawled into bed beside Buffy's still body, holding her and through that contact, feeling her William. For the first time in many years, she felt something close to contentment.
Spike spent the day hovering close to Buffy, and they both did what they could to bring Dru comfort. Dru could sense both and was surprised that they seemed in many ways like a single entity. She started to realise the bond which existed between Spike and Buffy and understood how she had lost her childe. Happy as she was to feel him close again, she knew she had lost him finally, and with that knowledge, came the understanding of what she had to do.
When they reached the hotel in Sunnydale it was midday. Alasdair and the rest of the team managed to get Spike's apparently dead body onto a bed. Stephen had agreed to meet the Slayer and left the others to try to put Spike back together again.
Two hours later, Grianne's attempts to recombine Spike had failed. She was exhausted by a combination of jet lag and the magic, and had returned to her own room to sleep. The others waited for Stephen's return in the room which currently housed Spike's body. When he arrived, he looked bleak.
"What happened?" Giles asked, his face showing his concern.
"I met the Slayer and spoke to her Watcher. I'm going to patrol with her tomorrow night. She already knew Angelus was back. Sounds like he was a mite angry last night. The death toll attributed to him is thirty from last night alone. We've got to come up with a plan. Meantime, we should all get some rest."
Almost as soon as the sun had set, Angelus was up and showered. He had called Dru to his room earlier and she had seen to his immediate needs. She didn't mention the ex-slayer. She knew better. Angelus went out to meet someone. He needed some clarification on the ritual he needed to perform, and he had left that job in the hands of some minions who lived, not at the factory, but in an apartment close to the local library. These were rather special minions. They had been hand-picked for their knowledge of the arcane. They rarely visited the factory, and each remembered previous visits in their nightmares. They understood their job, and they were very good at what they did.
Angelus had considered making both his childer, but realised that would take too much of his time. To subdue a childe took time. The power they took from their Sire could be used against him unless he subdued them completely. They were both too intelligent. He could never trust them - not even with the bond. If anyone could break that bond, it was these two.
Walking into the flat, he greeted them. One appeared to be middle-aged, and he sat at a large table surrounded by ancient tomes. The other looked younger, and sat at a computer screen.
"Good evening, Quentin, Joanna," he began. "I've come to see how your research is progressing. What news have you?"
Both had started at his entrance. The fear showed on their faces, and Quentin started to speak.
"Sire, we didn't know you were back. Please sit down and we'll show you what we have learned."
Smiling at the fear on their faces, Angelus sat, waiting.
"If I might start by recapping," Quentin started. "The basic prophecy - the one held by the Council of Watchers has some gobbledegook about sharing good and one part being claimed by the agent of evil. Now, that was the original information, and we've had that, well, since you changed me. Now the other prophecy we've come across recently is more important to us."
"The agent of the Powers will be claimed for the dark, but the dark will not bury her light.
Her soul will be retained and shared.
To open the Hellmouth requires a warrior who has been taken by the dark. The Key to the Hellmouth is her blood. It must be given freely before her life is ended at the opening between dimensions."
"That's where we were when you last visited. Now, part of the prophecy seems to refer to Spike and Buffy. This was not accepted by the Council until very recently. The actual ritual seems less specific. It may not actually have to be Buffy you use - it could be any Slayer who has been turned, but I'm not so sure. There are so many specific references to those two, that I know they have a major part to play in this. It would certainly be the most prudent course of action to assume that it refers to Buffy throughout."
He paused, waiting for permission to continue.
"Get on with it," Angelus told him. "You always liked the sound of your own voice. Maybe we should do something about that. You don't really need a tongue, do you?"
Quentin gulped rather noisily. "Well, that's where my colleague came in. She found something interesting."
Joanna looked at Angelus. "Sire, I've been monitoring the information from the Council. It seems they are at last convinced of the danger of your getting your hands on the ex Slayer. They have sent a team to Sunnydale. And there's one more thing. They believe that Spike took part of the Slayer's soul as he changed her. There is no precedent for this, but it is what they believe. It would explain some things. Like the fact that .."
Angelus interrupted. "Dru can't sense him. Of course, she can't sense him because his soul interferes with the bond. So, does he have a part to play in this?"
Quentin took over at that point. "Insofar as he has the other half of the soul, yes. You must keep them from reuniting the soul."
Angelus was thoughtful for a moment or two. "They've found some way to take her spirit from her body. How do we get it back?"
Quentin looked surprised. "Really? I've never heard of such a thing. Of course, without her spirit, you can't break her, can you? I'll get back to the books and see what I can find."
"See that you do. Come to the factory tomorrow night. If I'm happy with what you tell me, you can have some fun. If I'm not"
They both understood exactly what he had in mind.
Angelus returned to the factory in a pensive mood. He knew Spike was on his way. If the Council had worked out the significance of the ex-Slayer, he was sure they would have taken Spike. It hadn't actually occurred to him that Spike might be working with the Council voluntarily. If Spike was a prisoner of the Council, it would be difficult to get his hands on him. While that wasn't important from the point of view of the prophecy, it was important to Angelus. Spike had defied him in a way none of his line ever had without punishment. It rankled badly with the vampire. It was an affront to his pride and it set a bad example to the others. He could even sense Dru's satisfaction though she did her best to hide it. She, after all, was the one most likely to bear the consequences of Spike's treachery.
When he checked Dru's room, Buffy's body lay where he had last seen it, on Dru's bed. There was no sign of Dru. Still, he decided, Buffy looked too comfortable there. Dragging the unconscious form onto the floor, he removed the clothes she had been allowed for the journey and manacled her wrists to the wall and left her there. He went off in search of his childe.
Dru was eventually found among some of the female minions. He dragged her away while she apologised for whatever she thought she had done wrong. The minions were told to feed and return immediately. When he had Dru alone, he looked at her. She was shaking and apologising. His recent treatment of her had been so severe that she had lost the use of whatever wits she had left. Exasperated, he let her drop to the floor. He could sense something in her had changed. For the first time since he had broken her completely, there was a hint that her loyalty was divided. She had certainly taken to the ex-Slayer in ways he would never have predicted. Given that she had stolen Spike away, Angelus' only concern in that respect was that Dru would have wanted to destroy her rival for herself. It was imperative that he was certain of his childe's loyalty, so he decided on a change of tack.
"Listen, Dru," he told her. "We're going hunting. Just you and me. I know I've hurt you lately, but I've been so angry, and you know I've just got to take it out on someone. I'm going to make it up to you."
She looked up at him, trying to understand the sudden change. "Y..you do still love me, don't you Daddy?" she asked unsurely. Love was not an emotion Angelus cared to consider. He grabbed her by the shoulder of her dress and pulled her to her feet.
"Just get ready. We're leaving in five minutes."
"Yes," she murmured quietly, running towards her room.
"And, you'll be sleeping in my room until further notice, so leave the girl alone. She can have your room for now."
Dru was confused by this turn of events. She inevitably spent part of each day in Angelus' bed, although little of it was actually spent sleeping. He seemed to be trying to be nice to her, and she didn't understand. It had been so long since she had been anything to him other that the sink for all his anger. She hadn't even been hunting for a long time - it was as though she wasn't trusted any more. Confused but buoyed by the possibility of hunting with her Sire, Dru was ready before Angelus.
They left the factory and headed into town. Angelus had been in Sunnydale for long enough that people were more careful than they used to be about being out after dark, but there were always some who either didn't believe the stories or seemed to think it couldn't happen to them. They had both made two kills apiece. It was so long since Dru had been hunting, and so long since she had fed to sufficiency, that she wanted more. Angelus looked at his childe, blood still leaking from her mouth and laughed. It had been too long. They went off in search of further prey.
What they got was more than that. Dru was feeding while Angelus watched. Behind him he sensed another human, and not any human. It was the Slayer. He had never bothered to find out her name. He didn't consider Slayers to be worth consideration. They were normally little more than children, and the fact that Spike had managed to kill three of them didn't persuade Angelus of their ability. He knew Darla encouraged Spike to stalk and kill them, but he had very little faith in his grandchilde's ability. It Spike could kill three, they should not present any difficulty to Angelus.
Not bothering to disturb Dru's feast, he turned to face the Slayer. She was of average height and slight of build. Her dark hair and blue eyes combined with pale skin hinted at a celtic ancestry. She was dressed in black. She watched Angelus as he approached. She was wary but unafraid. She struck first, kicking with a force which belied her size. Angelus staggered back, renewed interest on his face. He hadn't expected such strength.
He retaliated, kicking her to the ground, but before he could follow through on the attack, she had jumped to her feet again. The two continued to fight. Angelus was gaining more and more respect for the girl as they continued. He was so engrossed in the fight that he didn't notice that the Slayer was not alone. His first inkling was the sound of a shot as Dru crumpled to the ground. This noise was immediately followed by a crossbow bolt which hit his chest. It missed his heart, but it was close enough for him not to want to take chances with it. Leaving Dru to her fate, he ran.
