~5~
"Okay, then Cordelia went
all psycho on us briefly, but we got her back. Angel and I were thinking
coffee, but Wesley and Giles don't touch the stuff." Andrea looked around at
the young people gathered in the waiting room of her office. It was Saturday,
and the office was both closed and the only place large enough for everyone
besides the Magic Box, which they didn't want to use because of the connection
with Giles. Joyce Summers was manning the shop so that both Amy and Anya could help
with the current problem. Oz and Tara were there, as well, and of course,
Cordelia, Angel and Andrea. Unity stayed away for fear she might divide
suddenly, since her control was iffy at best. With her Parts as unstable as
they appeared to be, they might hurt someone.
"What do they drink?" Tara
asked, reasonably sure of the answer.
"Tea," Cordy answered in her
"duh" voice.
"Water," Oz said in his
understated way. He was holding Amy's hand. They'd recently begun dating, and
seemed very happy just to be together. He hadn't become any more talkative,
however.
"Well, yeah, they drink
water, but we all do," the May Queen protested.
"Uhm, Cor – I don't," Angel
offered. "My regular liquid diet sort of removes that requirement," he
continued sheepishly.
"And you only drink
bottled," the doctor said, eyeing Cordy with growing understanding.
"So how do you explain my
little 'venom moment' this morning?" Cordelia asked.
"Coffee…" Angel began.
"…Made with tap water,"
Andrea finished. "At least we know what we're looking for now." She smiled
hopefully. "And because of you, we know it wears off eventually. I'll call
Unity."
~**~
"What are we looking for
again?" Oz asked his girlfriend as they both stared at the ground.
"Anything that could be
affecting the water system in the house," she reminded him. "An odd pump, a
freshly dug hole, something that looks recently tampered with."
"How about a tape recorder?"
"Huh?" Amy walked over to
where Oz stood. A camouflage bedecked mini-cassette player was half buried in
the ground, murmuring. She knew Oz had good eyes and ears thanks to his
lycanthropic senses, but she was still impressed he even noticed it; it had
been so well hidden. The witch bent over and listened. "That's not English,"
she confirmed.
"Which means it's probably
some ancient spell-chanting language," the young man guessed.
"Safe bet," Amy agreed.
"Since this," she stomped on the ground right beside the recorder, and a hollow
metallic "thump" sounded, "is the water meter box for Unity's house."
The musician smiled.
"Bingo."
~**~
"I think we can handle the
Parts better, divided. If they do influence her, she'd be too strong for all of
us." Andrea was studying the micro-cassette recorder as she spoke. "The spell
on this tape caused the affected liquid – in this case, the tap water in this
house – to break down the mental barriers on their anger, actually bringing
them joy when others feel pain." She looked up at Angel. "It's something like a
spell we read about in one of Giles' diaries that was affecting some beer sold
on the college campus," Andrea pointed out. "A Watcher would be aware of this
spell. I can't believe your Evil Lawyers would."
"What are the dangers of
prolonged and repeated exposure?" the vampire asked.
Andrea studied the books
open on the table. "It's none too clear – apparently, most victims have either
gotten themselves killed or arrested before that could be studied. All the
evidence I've seen indicates that it wears off after a certain length of time,
if it's not reapplied." They'd come back to the house and opened every tap they
could find. The water had been running for an hour and a half, and with the
tape recorder removed, the group felt fairly sure they'd purged the system.
They were all drinking bottled water, anyway. "I would say it should take a day
or two to get it out of their system naturally." The doctor looked over at
Wesley. The other ex-Watcher was in a chair, neatly restrained by a simple
spell Tara and Amy had placed on him. The first hour, he was loudly and verbally
abusive to the entire group, but he'd calmed some, and was simply staring
daggers at anyone who looked his way, now. "Of course," Andrea said
thoughtfully, "We could see if there's a purging spell we could use to speed
the process with Wesley." Standing, she went over to Amy and Tara to consult
with the other Wiccas.
"So you want me to Divide?"
Unity said softly from behind him. Angel started – he hadn't even seen her come
into the room. He'd been impressed by this entity – she was beautiful,
apparently superhumanly strong, clever and gentle. She truly was the
distillation of all that was best of the four people from which she'd been
formed. He hated the thought of losing this kind of force to the wrong side.
"Andrea seems to think it's
our best bet," he shrugged.
"Well, you'll need to
restrain all of them until the water wears off, and that spell is fine for
Wesley, but there's no way it's going to hold Willow. It'd be like tying Buffy
up with thread." Unity looked hard into his eyes. "Don't underestimate any of
them. They're not the people you once knew, and this is a powerful spell
they're under."
"Don't worry," Andrea
reassured her, coming back over. "We'll be careful. We have to try. At least
they'll know that you aren't influenced, so we won't have to try and prevent
them Joining. They've discovered that they can't do their mean tricks with you
in charge. One less worry."
Unity frowned, but finally
accepted the logic in that statement. Something just didn't feel right, but
both logic and circumstances overrode instinct, and she shook it off. "I think
I know the best way to hold them all. Let me show you."
~**~
"Okay, we should be seeing
the results of our handiwork soon," Ernst announced to the gathering of persons
both living and undead. Lilah had brought some handpicked vampiric help with
her from LA. And most of them were probably scary enough as humans – as
creatures of the night, they were the stuff the average nightmare would be made
of.
"What do you suggest we do?" Lilah asked. "From the amount of activity over
there, it would seem that something's going on. They may be onto us."
"Or they've had to deal with
Dark Unity, and are nursing the wounds," Travers said ominously. His hatred for
Unity was the driving force in his life, and he secretly held the belief that
once they were through with her, he'd be allowed to kill her. The thought kept
him going.
"They were searching the
grounds earlier – what if they found your additive?" the lawyer pressed.
"It's been there long enough
to be effective," the elder Watcher reassured her. "If Dark Unity hasn't formed
yet, she will, soon enough. The more water they get, the stronger their desire
to do harm will become, but if it's been cut off, we'll just feed her more when
she comes to us. But we need to see that she *does* come to us. Tyler,"
Heinrich ordered, and the largest of the LA vamps stepped forward. "I need you
to go around town, spreading the word with your kind that we're seeking Dark
Unity, and we have much to offer her. I have a feeling we'll see her soon, once
word gets out." One of the special features of the home they'd rented had been
an added access tunnel to the sewer system, allowing the vampires to come and
go regardless of the time of day. Tyler opened the trap door to the tunnel, and
vanished quickly within.
~**~
Afternoon was slowly fading
into the purple and red sunset. Unity sat by the pool while her friends
arranged the temporary prisons for her Parts. While she had suggested ways to
hold the humans she drew her essence from, she didn't want to see the final
arrangements, since it would give them clues as to how to circumvent the
restraints set up.
She could feel them inside
her, struggling to take control. They had so much anger and hatred, but she
knew it wasn't natural. Her Parts were good people that had suffered and
survived many awful things. They'd dealt with this anger, and put most of it
behind them, but now the spell in the water had brought it all to the surface.
And while little of it was unjustified – she held their memories, too, after
all – most of it was seriously out of proportion.
Xander really didn't despise
Angel anymore, she knew. But this version of him did. Buffy's disdain for the
former cheerleader had never been so strong, and her mind was too clouded to
recognize how Cordelia had changed. Rupert had surely resented Wesley and his
attempt to take his place years ago, but it was ancient history, not an open
and festering wound, as he'd been treating it for the past couple of days. And
Willow had never held Andrea responsible for what Quentin had done, before.
And she knew they'd resent
and hate her, too, for her part in this. At least until the spell wore off, and
they were themselves again. The idea of her very Parts, the core of her being,
hating her, saddened Unity beyond measure. Only the knowledge that it wouldn't
last brought her any comfort.
"Unity!" Andrea's voice
called from within the house. "It's time!" She rose and went inside, torn by
the feeling that she was still missing something, but uncertain what it could
be.
~**~
"Look at her," Travers
growled at the monitor. "She's just *sitting* there by herself. She doesn't
look angry, or dangerous. She just looks *sad*!" His belligerence was rising,
along with his voice. "We don't have her. She's not going to turn!"
"Shut up!" Ernst snapped.
"It will work, I know it. We don't need you jinxing it with your stupid
obsession. Miss Roberts!" The nurse came scurrying to his side. "Medicate him
before I kill him, please," the older man ordered tersely. He wasn't happy
right now, either. Things were too out of his control. But from his research,
he knew that Wolfram & Hart, the people ostensibly on his side, were every
bit as dangerous as those opposed to him, and he had to at least maintain the façade
of order. "It will work out," he murmured, mostly to himself. "It has to."
~**~
The group was arrayed around
the body of Unity, each aware of their assignment when the Parts reappeared.
Andrea and Angel were going to handle Buffy, having the best combination of
physical strength and magical knowledge to hold the Slayer. She would be
chained, and a restraining spell such as the one that had been used on Wesley
would give added insurance.
Amy and Tara were assigned
to Willow, since their magical strength would be able to counteract hers, and
they, like the redhead, were physically the weakest. Wesley wasn't completely
free of the effects of the spell, but was acting more like himself, and
besides, his ire towards the other ex-Watcher could actually make him more able
to restrain him. So he and Anya were to handle Giles. Both Giles and Willow
were to be held in locked rooms in the basement that would be both guarded and
enchanted, until the water's effects faded.
That left Cordelia and Oz to
deal with Xander. Of the four, Unity seemed the least certain of how to keep
hold of her Heart. He was wily and unpredictable, physically strong and nearly,
in her estimation, a wild animal. The water had tapped an incredible dark
streak inside of him, and released a lot of pent-up emotion that was now
fueling a raging inferno. The few times her Parts had almost wrestled control
away from her, Unity had been certain the Heart had led the charge. They had
latched onto the "wild animal" description, and as they waited for the being to
Divide, Oz clutched a weighted net, while Cordy nervously held the tranquilizer
gun.
At a nod from Andrea, the
figure of Unity began to shimmer, and soon four separate individuals stood
within the loose circle of defenders. Angel threw himself at Buffy, and after a
brief but spirited struggle, a chained Slayer was cursing him from the floor.
Looking around he saw Wesley locking one door, and heard the angry screams of a
redheaded witch from the other room. All present and accounted for, except…
In the corner, he could make
out two fallen figures, and his unbeating heart jumped to his throat when he
recognized one as Cordelia. Before he could go to her, her head lifted, and she
climbed shakily to her feet. He was at her side instantly. "What happened?"
Her voice was tinged with
tears. "Oz had the net ready, but Xander saw him and batted him aside like a
fly. I had a bead on him, and shot the dart, but he was faster than most of the
vampires I've dealt with. He snatched the damn thing out of the air just before
it hit his shoulder, and turned and threw it at Oz, who was about to get up and
try again. Then he backhanded me." She tenderly fingered the bruise forming on
her cheek. "I didn't really see where he went after that." The tears she'd been
fighting won the battle, and she collapsed against Angel's chest. "Unity was
right – he's an animal. That's not our Xander, at all."
~**~
Xander knew the instant he'd
been unable to wrestle control away from Unity that she'd betray them. He'd
warned the others, but only he was completely ready for the attack when they
Divided. A part of him would have gladly killed the Wolf and the cheerleader,
but he had to get away too quickly, and besides, there was still enough of the
real Xander left to make him hesitate at the idea of murdering his friends. He
sneered in disgust at his own human frailty. The instant he escaped the
basement, he made his way to his and Buffy's room. He'd prepared for just this
instance before they'd called Unity. Whatever had unleashed the darkness in his
soul had uncovered not only physical abilities, but also the often forgotten
strategist that lived with Alexander Harris. He'd been ready for every
eventuality.
He changed quickly into the
camouflage outfit he'd left out on the bed, grabbing his two filled canteens
and his knife belt. He hadn't had any guns in the house, and hadn't had time to
procure them, but that was immaterial. Right now he had to lay low and make a
plan to release the other Parts. There was something stirring inside him that
said he was *this* close to having what he'd always wanted. The fact that he'd
never wanted it before seemed to have escaped his troubled mind. Slipping out
the French doors, he let the night swallow him as he began running his options
through his fevered brain.
~**~
Willy grimaced. All he'd
been hearing about all night was this "Dark Unity." He neither knew nor cared
what it was, but his clientele hadn't been this worked up since the Mayor had
been hiring. Apparently this thing was some kind of demon legend, or Messiah,
or something. Whatever it was, they had their antennae, or tentacles, or
whatever appendages they carried, all in a quiver about it. He wiped the bar
and sighed. He shoulda listened to his momma, and gone into real estate.
~**~
*Buffy?*
*Xander!* she cried out to
him with relief. *I could feel you were alive and had escaped, but not where
you were or what you were doing. I was worried.*
*I think it's a spell
they're using to hold you – it interfered with our mental bond. I've managed to
break through it, see?* She was inside him again, her eyes seeing through his,
her heart beating in time with his. She saw him pause, take a swig from his
canteen, and felt him draw strength from it. *I've been out in some of the more
interesting sections of SunnyHell, hon, and I think we have a big future ahead
of us.*
As quickly as he remembered,
she absorbed all the things he'd heard in the back alleys and crypts of the
town. Then he showed her his plan. *Oh, God, Xander, that's incredible!*
*He ain't got nothing to do
with it,* her lover snickered in her brain.
*Well, yeah. Speaking of
which, you're sure little miss Goodie Two Shoes won't result?*
*Positive. Let me fill in
the others.* His thoughts pulled away from hers for a few minutes, then he was
back. *Let's do it,* he crowed, and three figures in the basement, as well as
one outside the house, shimmered and vanished from sight.
~**~
Lilah had joined Ernst in
watching the outside monitor from the Unity house. He'd picked up a dark figure
moving through the shrubbery, but even the best infrared photography available
couldn't made the tall fellow turn so they could clearly identify him. They
were pretty sure it was male, but that was almost all they could tell for
certain.
"Reinforcements for the
White Hats?" Lilah speculated as they all attempted to figure out the mystery
man's identity. He'd vanished, apparently into thin air, after a few moments on
the screen.
"A really stupid thief?"
Travers said, groggily. He'd seemed calmer after his last dose of medicine, and
had only just awakened from a long nap.
"Maybe one of the Parts –
she could have Divided, I suppose," Ernst postulated, hoping that too hadn't
gone wrong and happened. If she Divided, it would mean the White Hats, as Lilah
had called them, planned to restrain the Parts and let the spell wear off. If
that were the case, he'd lost already. "He had the build of the Harris boy."
A scuffle outside the door
silenced them, and mere moments after they heard it, the door to the study
where they sat burst open, and a confident figure strode in. He was dressed in
black military BDU's and boots. His dark hair had thick auburn streaks that
shone red in the reflected light. He was around six foot tall, and the tight
black t-shirt under his jacket showed in clear relief every sinewy muscle that
banded his broad chest. The man held up in one hand Tyler, the vampire, who
easily outweighed him by around 75 pounds. The vampire was dangling, his toes
not quite able to touch the floor, and a look of panic was on his face. The man
holding him wasn't even straining. "We hear you've been looking for us," he
said, his deep voice carrying a hint of British inflection and his cold hazel
eyes drilling holes in each of the people there. "We had a little difficulty
convincing your guard here to let us in."
"Wh-wh-who are you?" Travers
stammered in fear.
The man laughed humorlessly.
"You summon us, but don't even know us when we arrive. We are…"
Heinrich stepped forward.
"Dark Unity," he surmised.
With a twitch of his hand,
the tall man snapped Tyler's neck, pulling the head off his body without effort
and watching silently as the dust fell. When he raised his eyes from the last
falling mote, his face wore a twisted grin. "You can call us Dark."
~**~
