Pretty Postcards From Hell 5

~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."

~**~