Chapter Ten
Angel roared as he slammed his fist into the nearest tree. "This is not acceptable! How can they be one step ahead of us when we're supposed to be the ones one step ahead?"
"Patience," the First said as it slipped out of the shadows. "We're still ahead of them. They just don't know it yet."
"I have no patience left! I should've just killed them when I had the chance!"
The First, still wearing its true form, stepped in front of Angel, stopping him from sending another punch to the tree next to him. "I have a plan, Angelus. One I'm sure will get them right where you want them. I just need a different body to wear, one that isn't so obvious."
"One that can slip inside that little group of theirs, take them out from the inside?" Angel asked, grinning as he realized the First's plan without needing to hear anymore. "Who did you have in mind?"
"You'll see. And once the slayers are out of the picture, you know what that means."
"The fun begins," Angel grinned, turning his face up to the sky, soaking in the sun he hadn't felt in over two hundred years. This was only the beginning and he couldn't wait for things to really start to heat up and once the slayers were out of the picture, the First's plans to open every last Hellmouth around the world at once would finally happen.
And only the truest evil would walk the earth. Just the way it once was eons ago.
"You can't leave!" Buffy said to Giles as he headed for the front door. "You said nobody can leave the house!"
"There are a few things I need to get," Giles said calmly. "I won't be gone longer than twenty minutes, I assure you."
"You couldn't have thought about bringing anything with you before you came here?" Xander asked, joining Buffy and Giles by the front door. "You knew about this spell before we came here and now you're leaving after you told us we can't?"
Giles sighed heavily, shaking his head as he reached for the doorknob. "There are a few texts that I need. Faith brought something up while we were down in the basement about the spell Willow used on the scythe before. If we're going to be holed up in this house, I want to at least further explore our options and use the time we still have to make sure we all survive the coming fight."
"I thought the scythe is useless?" Willow asked as she joined them in the front hallway.
"Not entirely. Angel was trying to throw us off, thinking we'd fall for his lies and not try to get it for ourselves," Giles replied. "I'll be twenty minutes, hardly enough time for Angel or the First to get to me."
Giles left the three of them standing there speechless. Buffy wanted to run after him, but she knew it was useless. Giles had his mind set on getting the books he wanted to get and when Giles had his mind set on something, not even a slayer could stop him without using brute force, something Buffy really didn't want to do or found useful in this situation.
Buffy growled in annoyance and joined the others in the living room. She sat down next to Faith on the couch and crossed her arms with a huff. "I can't believe him," Buffy muttered. "He tells us we can't leave and then he just leaves!"
"B, what's the worst that can happen? It's not like Angel or the First is gonna be at his place waiting for him, right? Besides, Giles wouldn't go unless it was important. You know that. Just relax, okay?"
"Maybe you're right," Buffy sighed and she relaxed a little bit, watching as Xander and Dawn fought over the remote for the TV. "This is going to be a really long week, isn't it?"
"There's a bright side though," Willow chipped in, smiling as she sat on the other side of Buffy on the couch. "It'll kind of be like a mini-vacation only without the whole actual going somewhere for said vacation. We'll just hang out here, watch lots and lots of movies we've seen a hundred times. It'll be like old times!"
Buffy saw Faith roll her eyes and she just shrugged as she leaned into her side and pulled Faith's arm so it was around her. "I guess it could be worse," she said and she looked at Faith who wasn't paying attention to her. She was too busy watching the tug-o-war for the remote, clearly amused by the whole exchange.
"Guys?" Willow said as she used her foot to nudge Xander in the back as he sat on the floor still struggling to wrestle the remote from Dawn. "Guys?" She said a little louder, really kicking Xander in the back until he let go of the remote.
"Aha!" Dawn laughed as she leapt up and held the remote up into the air. "Victory!"
"No fair!" Xander grumbled as he rubbed his back. "Did you have to kick me so hard, Will?"
"Sorry," Willow said, trying not to laugh.
"That was more entertaining than any of the shit on TV," Faith chuckled. "Thanks for ruining the entertainment, Red."
"Anytime."
"Where's Tara?" Buffy asked Willow, not having seen Tara since the basement.
"She's upstairs in the spare room resting. I should probably check on her. The spell kind of wore her out. I didn't think it would. I barely felt it and I know Dawn barely felt it too."
"Do you think she's still pretty freaked out?" Buffy asked and Willow half shrugged and nodded at the same time. "Don't you wonder how Anya and Spike are still the same and still remember everything from before and she doesn't?"
"I do wonder, but there's no definite answer. There was just some things, okay a lot of things, we won't ever be able to find out. If Danu was here...she might be able to help us make some sense out of these sorts of things," Willow said quietly. "But she's not here. She's dead because of me."
"She's dead because she offered to give up her life to close that portal," Faith said harshly. "And I'm starting to wonder why nobody else made a fuckin' wish but me. You all knew what she was capable of and yet...I'm the only one that took her up on that offer. Why's that?"
Buffy stared at her, unsure of what to say at first. "Maybe you're the only one who didn't have a selfish wish?" She offered, not too sure about the answer herself.
"That's what I don't get, B! Everything about that wish was fucking selfish when you really break down all the facts here."
"Well, we'll never know," Willow said sadly as she got up from the couch. "I should go check on Tara, make sure she's okay and see if she needs anything. I also think I should talk to her, really explain to her about well...everything. Didn't have much time before when Dawnie and I met up with her to fully explain things. Will one of you guys come and get me when Giles comes back? I want to look over those texts he's bringing back."
Buffy settled into Faith more as Faith stretched out on the couch. The room fell silent aside from the sounds coming from the TV as Dawn flipped through the channels trying to find something to watch. Xander, having thoroughly given up on trying to get control over the TV got up and headed for the kitchen in search of food. Anya just sat in the armchair staring blankly at the TV as she had been doing for the last half an hour, barely flinching at the commotion between Xander and Dawn and looking catatonic. Buffy knew her mother was upstairs on the phone with one of her co-workers, probably trying to convince them she needed a week off work and using whatever excuse seemed believable.
I really can't wait for some real time off, Buffy thought as she stole a glance at Faith. After all these years and all we've been through, we really do deserve a real vacation. Not just downtime, a real vacation.
With a sigh, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling warm and safe in Faith's arms and ignoring that feeling of dread building up deep inside of her. It'd pass just like all the times before, but it wasn't just the feeling of dread, it was the taste of it and it tasted of fear. She leaned up and kissed Faith softly, hoping to ward off the feeling and the bitter taste in her mouth. It worked, but only until Faith pulled back at Dawn's disgusted and annoyed grunt aimed right at them.
Buffy smiled as Faith flipped Dawn off. It was good to know there wasn't a whole lot that had changed with them and it was the small things that counted, that mattered more than anything else did. Yet she hadn't forgotten what Faith had told her earlier while they'd been outside and she was almost glad she hadn't gone too much into detail about what she'd been saying in her sleep while the magical poison was still in her.
"Bad things always happen to me," Buffy said quietly under her breath and she felt Faith shift on the couch slight and she wondered if Faith had heard her. A quick glance told her no since Faith's eyes were closed, her heartbeat steady, her breathing even. "Are you tired?" Buffy asked just loud enough for Faith to hear her.
"Just a bit," she replied. "Little nap wouldn't hurt right about now. Actually a nap is looking better and better as the seconds go on by."
"We can go upstairs if you want?"
"What about the "rules", B?"
"We're just going to have a nap. We're hardly breaking any rules there."
"Giles'll be back soon."
"So?" Buffy said as she moved from Faith's arms and got up from the couch. "If he finds anything important enough that we need to know about right away, someone will come and get us."
"Are you two for real?" Dawn asked as Faith got up from the couch and started to follow Buffy to the stairs. "Do you two even know how to keep your hands off each other?"
"We're just going for a nap!" Buffy exclaimed, rolling her eyes at the sceptical look on Dawn's face. "I'm serious, that's all we're doing!"
"So "nap" is code-word for sex now?" Dawn asked, laughing as Anya suddenly turned her attention to them. "Good to know."
"It's not a code-word for anything, Dawn!"
"B, just leave it," Faith said, urging her towards the stairs. "Let her think whatever the hell she wants to think. Never bothered you so much before."
"We weren't having sex before!"
"B?" Faith laughed as she tried to calm her down. "Come on, babe. It's not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. Dawn is just fuckin' with us 'cause she knows it'll get you all riled up. It's her sick way of finding some entertainment. Ain't it, Dawn?"
"Got it in one," Dawn smirked and Buffy huffed as she marched up the stairs with Faith in tow.
"I just wish she'd grow up," Buffy said once they were in her room. "Why does she think whenever we want to be alone that we're going off to have sex?"
"Probably 'cause we should be," Faith shrugged and ducked out of the way quickly before Buffy could slap her. She fell back onto the bed, laughing as she stared over at Buffy. "Oh come on, can you blame her for thinking that's all we wanna do? We're hot and we're young, in love, all that crap. It's only natural everyone just assumes we wanna get naked together all the time, you know."
"You know who Dawn kinda reminds me of sometimes?" Buffy asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Kennedy."
"Yeah she does a little bit, huh? Damn," Faith sighed and sat up and moved to sit behind Buffy. "You think we'll get Kennedy back? Even though she was a fuckin' brat sometimes, she was still one of my best friends and a damn good slayer."
"I don't know," Buffy replied and she turned to face Faith. "How about we just shut off our brains for an hour and have that nap you were so eager to have five minutes ago."
They settled down on Buffy's bed, lying in each other's arms and letting the warm Californian sun that was coming in through the window warm them as they easily drifted off to sleep together.
Giles tried to hurry, gathering as many books off the shelves in his apartment as he could. It took three trips to his car before he had to stop, the hot Californian sun and the dry heat of the late morning promising a long, hot day, was something he definitely hadn't missed. He stopped at his desk and sat down, knowing it had been well past the twenty minutes he promised the others he'd be gone, but the heat and the couple of trips back and forth with boxes of books had taken a toll on his body and he needed to rest if not just for a moment.
"Had to come alone, didn't I? Couldn't have talked even Xander into coming to help," Giles muttered as he took off his glasses and closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Bloody heat'll be the death of me before anything else."
"Never knew you were one to talk to yourself, Ripper," Angel said as he stood in the doorway suddenly, causing Giles to jump in his chair. It fell backwards and he scrambled to get to his feet. "Not quite the young thing you once were, but you were older just days before so that makes you younger now, doesn't it?"
Angel smirked as he slammed the door shut behind him and grabbed onto the front of Giles shirt. Giles tried not to panic, but he knew this Angel would hurt him if he tried to fight him off. This angel was worse than Angelus, if that was even possible.
"Nifty little spell those witches cast," Angel grinned as he easily tossed Giles across the room. "Too bad it stopped working on you once you left the house, huh? Bet you're wishing you never left alone and for what, books?" Angel shook his head as he moved quickly to Giles' side as he lay slumped up against the now broken bookshelf. "Also bet you're wishing I'll kill you right about now, aren't ya?"
"What do you want?" Giles asked, coughing and spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Well, of course I'll kill ya, well it won't be me per se, but you'll still be dead in a matter of minutes. Why, you ask?" Angel laughed as he pointed behind him as the First walked out of the hallway slowly. "See my buddy over there? He needs a different body to wear. Yours seems like a perfect temporary replacement, don'tcha think so, Ripper?"
"Go to hell," Giles said through gritted teeth. "Buffy and the others will put an end to you, to the First, before you can carry out whatever asinine plan you have."
"Really would love to see them try, but I can't actually see them. Not right now at least, not until my buddy here can reverse the spell the cast and you better believe he will."
"I am not your buddy," the First growled as it took a few steps closer to Giles and knelt down, sniffing him. "He'll do. He's fresh, good but with a hint of darkness inside his soul as well."
"Darkness that will never be harboured for as long as I am alive."
"Good think Firsty here plans to kill you in oh, about thirty seconds. Is that right?" Angel asked, laughing sadistically and he poked at Giles' chest.
"Not quite yet," the First said as he pushed Angel away from Giles. "I need to prepare and I need you to make sure he doesn't try to escape."
"Can I rough him up a little?"
"No."
Giles groaned, barely able to move on his own from the pain of being thrown across the room into the wall and bookshelf. Even if he could move, he'd never make it to the door and he knew he'd never make it to the phone and be able to call for Buffy's help.
"I thought you said we'd get to have a little fun?" Angel asked, almost whining like a child and not a grown man.
"We will have our fun, Angelus," the First said as he moved slowly, the demon aspect of his body large and too slow for what he needed it for, that much was clear. "But patience is key in this instance. We need to get inside their little group, play our games with them, but first we've got to get that spell they cast lifted so you can have you fun."
"Won't be near as much fun as watching you kill them all," Angel grinned and he walked back over to Giles and knelt down in front of him, grabbing onto his face and forcing Giles to look at him. "It's just a damn shame you won't be around to see us rip your precious slayers apart, isn't it?"
"They'll stop you."
"No, but they'll try to and end up getting themselves killed while they do it. But I'll let you in on a little secret here, Ripper. They won't be the first ones to go, oh no. That witch, Willow, and the former Key looks like they be nice and tasty appetizers to start off with. I think I'll save Buffy for last."
"But you're human."
"Am I? Angel morphed into his game face and licked over his fangs. "Appearances are deceiving, aren't they? You know how far magic can go, or at least you thought you did. The magic that exists in the underworld is until anything anyone has ever seen here on the mortal plane. Buffy, Faith, and the others have no idea what they're about to face. I'm their second biggest nightmare, Firsty over there is the big one and when he gathers enough strength, this world will become the way it'd once been long before humans ever existed."
"You plan to open a Hellmouth," Giles sighed, knowing there had to be more to this. The First wasn't going to do things small this time, not after it had failed the last time.
"Not just a Hellmouth. Every single one that exists in this word, even the ones long thought to be dormant."
"Angelus," the First growled. "Do not speak to him of our plans."
"What? He'll be dead soon. It's not like he can actually tell any of them this. Plus don't you just love the smell of fear?" Angel asked, grinning widely as he easily shook out of his game face and stared long and hard into Giles' eyes. "I don't know about you, but I love the smell of fear. Makes me want to take a little taste. Always make the blood run a little hotter, a little sweeter and makes me enjoy it that much more."
"You do not get to taste him! You damaged the body enough as it is. The others cannot be suspicious when I return to them wearing his body as my own."
"Good lord," Giles groaned, trying to stay conscious as long as he could, trying hard to tap into the big of magicks he had stored up inside. If only he could call out to Willow, get her to get Buffy and Faith there to help him before it was too late.
"What's the fun in all of this if I can't eat?" Angel asked and he pulled out a small knife from the inside of his long leather coat. "Just one little taste, somewhere covered, somewhere none of them will see."
"They'll figure it out," Giles said sharply, holding his breath as Angel slid the blade over his throat, pressing just hard enough so he could feel just how sharp it was. "They'll know it's not me."
"Maybe, maybe not, but we're not worried about that right now. We just need to get in long enough to find that spell and lift it so we can really get to work with our plans. Then again," Angel said and let out an obviously unnecessary breath, "using you-not you, just your body-was a part of the plan, that cloaking spell pushed it back just a little bit. Thank goodness the good Watcher can't seem to part from his books for very long, huh?"
"Angelus-"
"I am not Angelus, I am something far greater than Angelus could ever imagine he could be," Angel said, laughing in Giles' face, the smell of blood lingering on his breath. "Besides, only Firsty here is the one allowed to call me that. He did, after all, create me. He's like a father and a mother; one that is far better than the real thing, not like I remember what that was like. Been far too long."
Giles was too weak to tap into his magical reserves and far too scared to try any harder. His death was imminent; he knew that and he knew there was no way he'd get out of this alive. The First could take form of any living being now that Percy Chapman had done a spell, one that was never thought to be in existence. He knew the others would be able to pull through this, that they'd be able to put an end to this without him. His faith in those he considered his family was strong and he would hold onto that until he took his last breath.
"You know, we already tried to get inside the slayers' heads, tried to pull them apart. Turns out they aren't as stupid and gullible as we hoped they'd be. That and their love is pure," Angel said and he pressed the tip of the blade into Giles' chest just above the neck of his shirt. "Pure. Can you believe that load of shit? Buffy and Faith have a pure love, pure."
"They are two halves of the same soul," Giles replied. "Made for one another, made from one another. Nothing can sever the bond they have now."
"But it wasn't always that way between them, was it? Nope," Angel laughed as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "All it took was for Faithy to take a little walk along the dark side to sever that bond they were just beginning to find between them. And before you ask, I know this because he," Angel said as he pointed to the First, "he sees and knows all. Kind of like a God without being God. He spits on that soul that claims himself to be God. Let me ask you something, Ripper. Are you a man of faith? Do you believe in this so-called God? Where is He now, huh? Look at what He's allowed this mortal plane to become. He's weak and the First is strong, stronger than he's been in eons, yet not as strong as he can become."
"Angelus, would you shut up," the First bellowed, its eyes turning crimson red with anger. "I need to concentrate on the exchange of his soul for mine in order for this to work. I cannot do anything with you running your mouth and wasting precious time."
"This might hurt a little, Ripper," Angel smirked as he dragged Giles away from the broken bookshelf to the middle of the room, using one hand to push the heavy couch with ease out of the way. "Last time this happened, there was screaming. Are you a screamer?"
"Go to hell."
"Might meet you down there one of these day," Angel said and he waved off the First before he could tell him to shut up again. "Then again, maybe not. There's a little thing call immortality and to top it off, pretty much invincible here. No slayer is going to kill me. She can have fun trying."
Giles gritted his teeth, knowing Angel was wrong. He obviously didn't know about the spell the coven could cast on him to strip him of that immortality, to sever the ties he had with the First that made him the way he is now. Once that happened he'd be human, or rather vampire-whatever it was he is exactly now. Giles found himself laughing manically, feeling and tasting his death upon him and knowing this was it. This was the end.
He could hear the First chanting as it circled around his body and he could see Angel stepping back, watching with a smile on his face. It hurt as he felt his soul being ripped from his body slowly, and he felt peacefulness wash over, taking away the pain, numbing it. There were no regrets-aside from the obvious one of him being stupid enough to leave the Summers' house in the first place. He might not have gone out a hero, but as his last breath went through him, he knew it could've been much, much worse.
"Are you done yet?" Angel asked impatiently. "They're gonna start wondering where the Watcher went off to and why he's been gone so long."
The First ignore him, continuing his chant as he left the body of his true form. The room filled of bright white light as he pulled the last of the Watcher's soul from its body, letting it flow to the netherworld and allowed his energy to take on the form of the Watcher's body.
"Now are you done?" Angel asked again as the First finished the chant, breathing in deeply and standing up in its newest body. "Looks good, let's go."
"Not so fast," it snapped as Angel turned to leave. "He's been gone a little longer than planned, at least from what I'd overheard. Another..." It paused, taking a few steps, getting use to the feel of its new body. "Twenty minutes, perhaps."
"And a little longer to get the whole persona of him down or else they're all going to know something is up before you find the damn cloaking spell so I can reverse it."
"Anger gets you nowhere in life, Angelus-"
"Patience, I know," Angel rolled his eyes. "I've got your body to," he glanced down at the body of the First's true form, "hide or bury, depends on how fast you start to rot. Fast I'm thinking. Where would you like me to bury you?"
"Take me to the caves. That body will not rot," the First said and cleared its throat. "Always takes a little getting used to, this whole actually being able to wear a real body. Come around sunrise. I'll have the spell reversed by then."
"If it's not, I won't be able to get near that house."
"It'll be done. Now go."
Angel grumbled as he dragged the demon corpse towards the door. He wasn't happy to be taking orders from the First, but it did give him life, created him as he is now, and bestowed upon him the title of a Champion of Evil. Aside from taking care of the demon corpse and moving it for safekeeping for when the First was done with the Watcher's body, he had some plans of his own, another vampire to visit, knowing damn well the cloaking spell didn't work on Spike.
Everyone had a trigger, Faith's had failed when the First had tried to use Buffy against her, but if there was one thing he could count on in this life was knowing that using Spike never failed. Spike was an idiot, just as he'd always been and always would be. The hardest part would be finding a way to get him out of the house where he could get to him.
And that wouldn't take much. Spike would run his mouth, piss off the slayers and end up being kicked out like the dog he truly is. Once he had Spike right where he wanted him, needed him, taking out the slayers' friends and family would be a piece of cake and once they were out of the picture-
"Oh yeah, life is definitely gonna get interesting around here," Angel grinned. He groaned in disgust as he dragged the body to the sewer entrance, checking the surroundings quickly to make sure he wouldn't be spotted.
The last thing he needed was attention brought upon himself. The plan needed to go through and he wasn't about to fail the First. He'd proven to be worthy to be the champion, but he still had a long ways to go before he could truly feel like one.
