Chapter 10
"We're going down, down in an earlier round,
And Sugar, we're going down swinging!
I'll be your number one with a bullet;
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it…"
Ethan ran as he could never remember running before. He expected every second to be accosted by vampires, or Brandi in a murderous rage. He heard footsteps behind him, but nothing close enough to catch him. The little voice in the back of his head that had saved him from many close encounters on the streets of London told him that this wasn't right, but he ignored it. No time. He had to warn them, and he had to be outside to do it.
Rayne finally reached the door that led out of the complex and burst through. The sun was setting on the horizon, and heat waves shimmered up from the red ground. Ethan kept running; he didn't stop until he was nearly a quarter mile away from the complex. Finally he fell to his knees, gasping from the unexpected workout. Here would have to do.
With motions born of long experience, the sorcerer traced six runes in the dust around him, stepped into the circle they created and closed the ring with a seventh rune. The symbols on the ground sprang to life, lights shimmering from them. In the fading light of the sun, Ethan saw a group of vampires burst out of the door of the complex, only to be forced back inside by the dying light. He had only minutes before they would be able to come out.
He took one last deep breath, closed his eyes, and chanted a spell that he hadn't used in over twenty years. "Ego postulo a viator Chaos vel. Gratia servo vita alius, Ego tribuo nonnullus of meus vita ut ut quod veho meus nuntius." I have need of a messenger. In order to save the life of others, I give some of my life to that which would carry my message. Ethan opened his eyes and traced a circle in the air in front of him, and a shining drop of blood spun out into the golden circle from a cut that appeared in the center of his right palm.
The only trouble with Chaos spells was that you had about a fifty-fifty chance on getting an answer from the light side or the dark side of things. Something on the Light side of things had chosen to answer his plea this time. Unusual, but he had no time to think of that. He looked into the shining circle before him and spoke in a clear, commanding voice. "Rupert Giles."
Xander blew out a breath and stood up from his place on the foot of the bed, cracking his neck. "Well, that was another funfest."
Willow made a face and stood as well. "Can't we get a few happy weeks?"
Buffy moved to get a soda out of the kitchen where Dawn and Andrew were hovering, but Giles stayed seated, rubbing his temples. "I only wish we knew what exactly is going on…"
"Wish granted, Rupert!"
Giles yelped at the familiar voice, Buffy spun around to place herself in front of Dawn, and Xander and Willow pointed at the back wall. Giles turned…and stared at an image of Ethan Rayne. It was as if a body-length mirror had appeared on the wall between the hotel beds, only instead of showing the room, the mirror opened into what looked like a desert. Fading sun was casting across Ethan's face. Giles noticed the extra rings around his eyes and the creases that hadn't been there last time they'd seen each other. He also noticed that Ethan's dark blue, long-sleeved shirt was crumpled, his hair was in complete disarray, and (most disturbingly of all, to Giles) he looked completely terrified.
"Ethan-" he growled warningly, taking a step forward as he felt Buffy move in behind him.
Rayne held up an urgent hand, looking over his left shoulder at something. "There's no time. I have to say this now before the portal closes. I don't know how long I have, bloody Chaos rituals."
Giles' green eyes widened in horror. "You used a blood portal to-"
"There's no time, Rupert!" The desperation in Ethan's interruption stopped Giles cold. When he spoke again, Rayne's voice was urgent and intense. "Her name is Brandi. She's southern, I don't know from where. She's the one killing your Slayers."
Buffy's eyes narrowed. "Who is she? Why is she doing this? Where are-"
"Buffy!" Giles snapped. "Quiet." He turned to Ethan again, and the sorcerer continued like Buffy hadn't spoken.
"She's killing them because Buffy killed her brother."
Buffy moved to speak again and Ethan raised a placating hand. "Don't worry, he was a vampire." His gaze locked on Giles' again. "His name was Laurence, I think. He was trying to negotiate peace between the vampires and the Slayer in southern California, or so this girl insists." His haggard face darkened as lengthening shadows brought out the hollows around his eyes. "She's insane, Rupert. Stark raving mad. And she's strong. I don't think she's a Slayer, but for all we know she could be. I thought that she meant to get revenge on your Slayer by doing in all the new arrivals. And maybe that was it originally, but now she's on a warpath without a reason or a care…"
Muffled voices began to sound from behind Ethan: shouts as if from a distance away. He looked over his shoulder again and cursed. He turned back to them and spoke even more quickly than before. "You have to stop her, Rupert, before she kills every bloody one of you. And she'll do it. We're somewhere in Nevada, an old complex out in the desert." The shouts drew nearer, and the light was almost completely gone. Only a golden glow lit Ethan's figure now, and it seemed to be coming from the portal itself. His eyes looked haunted in the heavenly light, and his next words were much quieter, aimed directly at Rupert. "This is the end of my line, Ripper. Ironic I spend my last heroic moments trying to keep your skin safe."
Rayne gave a weak smile that somehow managed to convey a whole range of emotions that only one occupant of the hotel room fully understood. After another beat, Giles smiled very softly back, and Ethan nodded his acceptance. And then the voices grew nearer, and Ethan pivoted on the spot to face them.
A ball of purplish energy sprang to his hand and he threw it at someone, the ball disappearing out of the frame the Scoobies could see. "There's some fight in this old sorcerer yet!" Ethan yelled, and his face looked almost demonic in the conflicting colors of light that flickered across it. He conjured two more balls of energy, one in each hand, and sent those spinning at his unseen attackers as well.
Giles took a helpless step forward, his eyes glued to the picture of one of his oldest friends, enemies and annoyances in his final moments. Ethan started to laugh, throwing ball after ball of energy at what had to be a group of vampires. Buffy's sharp hearing could pick up the noise of each individual being dusted as the balls hit them.
Rayne was just winding up for another one when a sharp, staccato blast echoed through the portal.
Ethan Rayne fell to the ground for the last time. His eyes dulled, and Giles could see the bullet hole just below his neck. Just before the portal closed, Giles heard the snap of a pistol
round being put into place.
Then the portal closed with a blinding flash that made the hotel room occupants cover their eyes.
Dawn gave a little whimper from the kitchen doorway and Andrew put an arm around her shoulders without conscious thought. Willow and Xander went to her as well, both of them silent, hands on her arm and shoulder.
Giles just stared, dazed, at the patch of wall where the portal had been. Buffy turned to check on her sister before she moved up behind him and placed a gentle hand on his back. When he didn't react, she wondered if her Watcher was in shock. "…Giles?" she ventured in a voice so soft only he could hear her.
After another moment of blankness he turned to face her with a start, like he was waking from a dream. "I never really expected him to die," he said with an almost bemused expression on his face.
Buffy saw the pain in his eyes and slipped her arms around his waist before she gave herself time to think. The others in the room cast each other raised eyebrows, and Xander offered a tiny shrug.
Giles clung to his Slayer, holding her so tightly that anyone else would have had bruises. Then he stepped back, brushed at his eyes just once, and looked at the others.
"I think it's time we took another road trip," he murmured.
Xander made a face. "Nevada, here we come! Am I going to need sun block?"
"I've got a tube in my room," Willow volunteered. She headed towards the door, gently steering a subdued Dawn with one hand and pushing Andrew along with the other. Dawn shrugged her off and waited just outside the door for her sister.
After another moment, Buffy moved to follow them. She stopped at the doorway and looked back at Giles, who was looking at the wall again. The Slayer wondered what he saw beyond the blue flower paper. "You gonna be alright?" she asked, almost fearing his answer.
Giles turned his head to look at her and gave a soft smile. "I'll manage." He held her gaze for a moment. "You should go pack."
She did, shutting the door behind her and reaching for Dawn.
It was a long, long time before Rupert moved from where he stood.
It was days before the sound of that single gunshot stopped echoing inside his mind.
Author's Note: For those of you who actually like Ethan, I can almost apologize for killing him. I'll willingly admit that I'd been planning on killing him off ever since I brought him in. It was a fight to find an end that was both fitting for him, yet was still as in character for him (and Giles) as I could manage. I hope that this came close. Thank you for reading and please do review.
The lyrics belong to the Fall Out Boys. "Sugar, We're Going Down" is a great song, if you haven't heard it yet. It's worth finding somewhere if you've got the time. Chapter eleven will come soon. It's not the end yet, (at this point, I'm looking at a maximum of 16 chapters), but things are going to start coming to a head. In the mean time, enjoy your increasingly warm weather! Cheers!