Rebuilding
Ch 25 – Another Night, Another Battle
"I'm sure," Xander said worriedly into his cell phone as he glanced at the tear-streaked face of Janice Moore. "We've paged her over the P.A. and I've been in every shop… even the girly-underwear place."
"Damn it," Willow said furiously. The last thing they all needed was another 'rescue Dawn from herself' mission. This was interfering with her getting Buffy back from Hell. "Your damned boyfriend already took off as soon as the sun dipped. Of course, you haven't gotten him a cell phone," she complained.
"Will? Focus… we need to find Dawn. You and Tara are best, uh, suited to, uh, to doing what you guys do with that, uh, finding thing."
"Smooth, Xan. Tara is already setting up in Dawn's room for the locator spell. I'll call you back as soon as we have her position."
The Hellmouth continued making it a nightmare to find her with spells, but Willow and Tara had worked hard in the past month looking for a way around that. They'd found they could just barely get a reading if they surrounded themselves, literally, with things that shared her aura… like her bedroom full of stuff. But it still took a lot of effort and was a general pain in the ass.
"Rick has an A.P.B. out for her and Jan is going to help him with visiting the usual teen hang outs these days," he told her. He walked away from Jan several feet, glancing around to see to it he wasn't overheard.
"I'm going to enter the maintenance tunnel here… see if I can find anything," he told her.
"Xander, please be careful… we don't need to lose two of us in the same night. Don't go wandering into the town's tunnel system. Some of the natural formations and the Hellmouth's energy create mystical 'blind spots'. Listen, I gotta go, Tara is ready. I've sent the Buffybot toward you; she turned out fine after thawing. Giles decided to go with her. They can start a logical search pattern with the mall as its center."
"Okay… wish we had the Faithbot. We could have used an extra pair of sensors. We'll round-robin when any of us has news, yes?"
"You know it. 'Bye."
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Dawn groaned, her head slamming with the worst headache she'd ever had. She tried to rub her head, but found that her hands wouldn't move. Her attempt was met with the sounds of rattling chain.
Opening her eyes she glanced around but didn't recognize her surroundings. It looked kind of like she was in a castle. Assuming she was still in Sunnydale, that meant the old B&B that Dracula had once used as a base.
She looked around, scared, but not panicked. If whoever the girl was that stuck her with a needle wanted her dead, she would have been already.
"Speaking of which," Dawn whispered on seeing the same girl now. She was lying very still on a dusty table. And given her pallor and the two holes in her neck, apparently she'd been bitten, too. Which means, I'm in a lot of trouble… again. Spike is going to be livid.
"Your little friend will be joining us soon," a woman's voice said from behind and above her. She tried to turn her head around enough to see who spoke, but she was bound to the wall that was part of a set of stone stairs and she could only see the woman's old, clunky shoes and part of a dark gray skirt with black stockings covering the calves above her head.
"I-I don't even know her," Dawn said. She immediately had intuited that the girl on the table must have been vamped, not just bitten.
"I don't mean her, dear. Although she'll be joining us again soon, too. Or some version of her, anyway. No, I'm speaking of William… your protector. Bet you didn't know you were hanging around a Hellbeast this whole time," the voice continued as the legs continued to climb down the stairway.
Dawn remained silent. When the woman… or demon, actually, made it to the same level as her, she looked her over. She was smallish and thin… even delicate looking. She wore a dark gray suit-type outfit. Her shoes were two inch heels and looked outdated. What really drew the eye, however, was the luxuriant red hair that tumbled around her shoulders. Her eyes were currently yellow and her face was distorted making it impossible to see what she'd looked like alive.
"I've been curious about you, Dawn. And since we have some time, I'd love to know just what your relationship is with my Sire. He brought me over to the night and then left me like yesterday's garbage. Can you imagine how that feels," she said as she crowded the frightened girl.
She continued, "And now, after eighty-some years I find him co-habitating with you. A silly, mortal, little girl. Did he turn on the charm… tell you that you were special? Was he gentle the first time, making you think he was some sort of prince? He's evil, you know. A real monster among monsters."
"Uh, I really think you got the wrong idea. I mean… really, really. And I'm s-sorry if he did some bad stuff to you, but like, that has nothing to do with me. So, uh, maybe you could just let me go?"
Vanessa glared at her, "You're not going anywhere. You're my special vengeance on William, dear. You and those other whores he's watching over. I don't know what the hell he's doing with you all, but if he won't vamp you, I will. And I'll make him watch, when I do."
"N-no!"
The vampire just laughed as she left Dawn to check on the dead girl on the table. She then went to the weak fire and added a few pointless twigs to the flame.
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"I'll call you if I find anything," Lieutenant Stein told Xander. He lowered his voice and stepped closer to him. "I need to warn you though; we found a hypodermic in the trash in the girl's restroom. It may be unrelated, but with her disappearance…," he shrugged.
"Adding to the chances she was abducted," Xan nodded to himself.
"Like I said, it could be unrelated. We'll know more when the lab sees what the contents were and looks for any other trace evidence."
With this Rick put a reassuring hand on the elbow of Janice and led her out. Jan was insisting that Dawn wouldn't just leave her there as she followed the detective.
Xander took a moment to see to it that he was inconspicuous and then wandered away from the policemen that were still interviewing mall employees. He knew that another detective was currently looking at surveillance tapes, but the cameras down here weren't working. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering they were on a Hellmouth and near to tunnels the demons used as a highway right up into the town; especially those that could pass for human.
With a sigh, Xan sidled up near the taped off bathroom; the last known place that Dawn had been.
I've got her scent, Hyena suddenly thought at him.
Really?! Which direction? Can you tell where she was headed?
Probably. But why should I share?
What do you mean? She's in trouble, that's why!
She's always in trouble. She's a weakness the pack could afford to lose. And besides, how does helping you help me?
You little bitch! If you know something then share, Xander raged.
Uh-uh. Doesn't work that way. You want my help… I want assurances that you're not going to be drinking whatever that potion is that Tara is whipping up. Here's the deal… you save me and I help you save Dawnie.
Xander grimaced with anger at his animal-spirit/personality. He'd been looking forward to getting her out of his head, but did he really want it bad enough to risk Dawn being hurt or killed in the meantime while everyone was blindly wandering around.
You better decide quickly, Hyena sneered. Who knows what poor, helpless Dawn is going through even as you dither.
Fine! Fine, I agree. Now where is she?!
Hyena directed him toward the maintenance tunnel that he'd been going to check out anyway. When he tried the knob he found it broken. The door opened without him even turning the handle. With a last glance that he wasn't about to be busted, he slipped into the darkness beyond. Leading into the creepy gloom were a string of dim bulbs spaced out ten feet apart from its neighbor.
I should have brought a flashlight, he thought to himself.
I can manage, Hyena whispered to him. And I have another scent. Dawn came this way, but she wasn't alone… another human; a young woman.
"Lead on," Xander whispered in the cavern as Hyena urged him forward into the gloom.
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Buffybot sat in the passenger seat of her Watcher's car as he sped toward the town's mall district. Her optical sensors were scanning people's faces as she passed them by, trying to locate her sister. She seemed to get in a lot of trouble… first school and now this running off at night.
"I don't think I'm being an adequate role-model and fill-in parent," she stated.
Giles didn't know what to say to that so didn't respond.
"It is unfortunate that our mother is absent. When will she be returning from her grave to resume her responsibilities?"
He took a startled glance at the robot next to him, but she was still staring out of the window. "Uh… I'm afraid that's not the way it works. I'm afraid that Joyce will not be returning."
"Oh. That seems irresponsible of Joyce then. Do you think my twin can do better with mothering Dawn when she returns," she asked.
"…." Giles sat with his mouth open for several seconds before clearing his throat. "I-I'm sure that you're doing an adequate job. D-Dawn certainly, uh, appreciates your presence, I'm sure."
"I'm not so sure. She seems to be getting into a lot of trouble. I believe that she needs to be disciplined in some way. However, my programming isn't designed for this function."
"Uh, well… uh, w-when we retrieve her then I will decide on a proper response. I'm sure that Willow and Tara can decide on a proper punishment for not listening to Spike, as well."
"I hope she has not gone away, too. My sister's well being is important to me. Of course, perhaps she will join Joyce and the other Buffy and will be less delinquent in her responsibilities…," she grinned.
"Let's hope that's not the case," Giles muttered to himself.
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"This place is creepy," Andrew complained. "And why do we need 'her', anyway?"
"We can always use more muscle," Warren said. "I just can't believe Buffy's gang left her here like this."
"They probably couldn't free her," Jon suggested.
In front of the Trio, the robotized Adam was bracing himself silently for lifting the heavy beam that had pinned the Faithbot. Her hair was covered in sticky, green goop that Warren immediately recognized as her coolant fluid.
"Poor, April," he said.
"Faith," Jon reminded him.
"Uh, guys… should we really be standing in here when Adam lifts this debris? I mean… what if there's a cave-in," Andrew said suddenly as Adam began to heave and the wreckage began groaning around them.
"Uh… Adam, freeze!" Warren and Jon looked at each other wide-eyed. "Actually, Andy… that's a good point," he said. "Uh… Adam, count to thirty seconds and then complete the lifting of the wreckage… guys… let's wait outside!"
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Spike rushed toward the mall where he knew Xander was waiting. He also knew that it was the last place they could be sure that his Bit had been. He was hoping against hope that he'd find some spore of her to trace when he arrived.
And that's why he'd nearly fallen victim to the attack when it came. Just before a crossbow bolt pinned him, he instinctively threw himself to the side. The bolt came so close, he actually felt its disturbance in the air as it whizzed by harmlessly.
Spinning around in game-face, he found himself confronted by two of the vampire women he'd been tricked by before. One of the women stood with an amazed look on her face, her empty crossbow hanging slack. The other also had a crossbow, which she had aimed at him.
"You'll never hit me with that," he said as he took a menacing step in their direction.
"We'll see," Gladys simply said.
Rachel rushed Spike, causing him to lift his arms in a defensive move. He kicked out with a roundhouse that caught the woman in the stomach. She wasn't deterred long, however, and slashed at him with her fingernails. It was an attack which Dru had used on him more than once when they were fighting, however, and he dodged the assault.
Taking a glance, he was just in time to note the streak of movement of the other bolt whizzing at him. He threw himself at the ground and into a role, allowing the missile to also fly off harmlessly into the night.
Unfortunately this allowed Rachel to leap onto him with a screech and he had to grab at her wrists, interfering with his reaching for the stake in his jacket. The woman was only freshly turned, but she'd been in decent shape during life and he found her limber in addition to her natural predatory strength. Of course, he was no slouch himself and in a matter of moments he had her struggling under him.
Before he could take advantage of the fact, however, he was rolling off of her to avoid another crossbow bolt launched in his direction by the other woman. He leaped to his feet, but found Rachel had grabbed hold of his ankles and he tumbled to the ground, kicking out at her and connecting solidly with her face. Again, he struggled to get the stake from his pocket, but again, she reacted with vampire speed and straddled him and he was forced to continue the hand to hand battle while catching frenetic glimpses of Gladys re-loading her weapon.
Spike took a hold of Rachel's wrists again, but this time he also was able to get his feet under her. With a press, he was able to flip her over his head and onto the lawn they were fighting on.
He leaped to his feet again lashing out with a fist as Rachel struggled to her feet and knocking her ass first back onto the ground. Even as she roared at him, he was running in a dash for Gladys. She found herself under assault too quickly to complete her reloading and had to drop the gun while she blocked his thrown punches.
He'd just punched out the woman in front of him when he felt the distinct and quite painful sensation of a missile through his midsection. When he looked down, he saw the blunt tip of a bolt sticking out of him just above his intestines. On it, mixed with the blood he'd drunk earlier in the day was an oozing, yellow and noxious substance.
It was barely seconds after the missile slid through him that the injury site turned completely numb. He reached for the bolt, knowing he had to remove it to fight effectively, but his arms felt heavy and hard to move and his fingers felt nerveless and clumsy.
When he looked up, the woman vampire he'd punched out was grinning widely. She balled a fist and then he was crashing to the ground, a far away and blunted pain spreading from his nose. He watched her as if from a far distance away as she reached down and pulled the bolt completely out of him, but he felt no sense of pain. He realized then that he'd been drugged with something, but when he tried to speak to ask what they'd done to him, he found his lips wouldn't move.
Above him, the other vampire he'd been wrestling with joined the first. And then there was a third who he hadn't seen but who must have been skulking nearby.
"Good shot, Tammy," Rachel complimented.
"It was nothing," she grinned. "You and Gladys did the hard work keeping him distracted."
"Our Sire will be so pleased," Rachel grinned.
"I just hope she lets me torture him before she dusts him. He owes me some pain," Gladys said darkly as she gave a vicious kick to his completely numbed ribs.
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End Chapter 25