Author's Notes: Hey. After finding no decent fics to read – sorry guys – I decided to try and finish this one. Again, I will remind readers that this fic does not contain the characters Riley, Anya or Tara. And Willow will be missing for the majority (if not all).
Dedicated, as always, to Pippa. Love you.
Plus Hex – cause she's cool.
"I've got something!"
Angel gave a short sigh of relief upon hearing Giles' words. It had been a long night, searching through Giles' many books of demons and folklore.
The gang had been searching with renewed energy, having a purpose and some idea of what they were looking for. Angel, Spike and Giles had been driven yet further by their previous knowledge of the subject in question. Spike looked as relieved as Angel felt.
"Oh thank sweet-bloody-Jesus! I ought to be restin' in case Lug-nuts carts his arse back over 'ere instead a bleedin' researching." This last word was spoken with malice.
"Spike, might I remind you that we could have chosen to simply throw you out of my apartment. Now, back to what I've found."
Xander always found it funny when Giles dissed Spike. Maybe it's because he can come up with more intellectual insults than "Dead Man Walking."
"There are references in this text to an amulet of sorts, 'Vatus's Jewel'. I believe we can somehow use this to destroy Ropen."
At this point Angel interrupted. "Where exactly can we find this amulet?"
"Ah, yes, well I do believe I have it somewhere in my apartment."
The others stared at him.
"Lemme get this straight, you want us to go back to Sunnydale, where he is?!" Xander cried, only slightly hysterical. Giles looked slightly sheepish.
"That is exactly what I propose."
Angel seemed to agree.
"As long as you're here, you won't be safety isn't guaranteed. Ropen is ruthless - he will track you down. The best thing to do is to try and disable him."
"Disable?" Buffy repeated. "You make him sound like some kind of robot or something." Giles nodded in agreement.
"As far as we can tell, he is at least part machine. He has built in sensors which enable to him track, anticipate and exterminate Targets with ease. Not much is known about what can kill him – those who have tried have all perished. He is rather like Adam, in several aspects." Buffy shuddered at hearing the name.
"Oh yeah...Adam. I completely forgot about him. I got so wrapped up in this that I overlooked him. He may have murdered people and it's on my head."
"If it's any consolation, I believe Adam will lie low until this is over. I suspect he will have heard rumours of Ropen and, rather than face a possible risk, will simply wait. After all – he has forever." Giles tried to reassure the anxious Slayer. Spike snorted.
"I hope they do run into each other. Maybe they'll do us all the great favour of killing one another."
"Wanna take bets? I got 5 dollars on Adam." Xander joked.
Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Time to get organised.
"Right. Buffy – you and I will go back to Sunnydale. We have no direct dispute with Ropen as of yet." Angel was about to protest when Giles continued,
"Angel cannot accompany us because he has no way to avoid the daylight. This will be a long journey. Spike should stay here because he is the only one of us in immediate danger. Xander, you should also stay behind."
"No fair! Why do I get to miss out on all the gory-death fun?" Xander whined.
"-Because you are most vulnerable to Ropen and in a fight Buffy will be unable to protect you." Xander grudgingly accepted this.
It was at that point Buffy noticed a slight flaw in the plan.
"Uh...Giles? Does that mean we're leaving Spike, Angel and Xander alone together for several hours?"
Giles nodded.
"With weapons in the building?"
* * *
The drive back to Sunnydale had been uneventful and tiring. Giles pulled wearily up to his apartment. He turned back to Buffy.
"Remember, if you see Ropen – run. He is unlikely to attack humans unprovoked but if you get in his way he'll kill you."
Buffy nodded.
Silently they approached the apartment. Giles took in the destroyed door, and held up three fingers to Buffy. He lowered one, then the second, and on the third they both swiftly entered.
Buffy quickly checked in both directions. She sensed no demonic presence anywhere in the apartment. She gave the clear signal to Giles. He then quickly crossed the room to a bookcase. Bending down, Giles removed the panel from the bottom, to reveal a box. He slid the box out and held it out for Buffy to see.
Inside was a beautiful light blue emerald, with a dark purple centre. It glittered in the morning light.
"Vatus's Jewel." she whispered. Giles seemed to share the same awe.
"Yes...now let's only pray we can find some way to use it against Ropen."
They began to head for the remnants of the door. When...
"That option has become unavailable."
Giles heard the voice from the other end of the room. Still facing the door, dread entered his voice.
"Gabriel Ropen..." he whispered, his voice quivering. "Created to be a hybrid of human and machine. The perfect Hunter. Unstoppable. The harbringer..of...death..." He slowly turned while saying the last part.
"Giles..." Buffy didn't like this.
"Run." Giles spoke this single word in a low, intense voice. Buffy looked up at him and gasped at his eyes. They were flashing with feral yellow.
She'd seen those eyes before.
They belonged to vampires.
She instantly realised that Giles was somehow using dark magick. She turned and started for the door, but suddenly there was a flash of movement. Ropen was there in front of her.
How the hell did he move so fast? That's impossible!
"You will tell me where to find the vampire by the name of Spike. If you fail to tell me the location you will be destroyed."
* * *
The three sat silently in the office of Angel Investigations.
Xander started to tap his fingers against the desk.
Spike, meanwhile, had found a very interesting piece of wall to stare at.
The silence stretched.....
"So..." Xander broke the silence. "Anyone seen any good movies lately?"
* * *
"Spike?" Buffy stammered. "Who's Spike?" She put on what she hoped was an innocent looking expression and hoped Ropen was dumb enough to buy it.
Ropen, however, was not fooled.
"I know you have made contact with this creature, I sense your presence was with his at this location." Ropen grabbed Buffy by the neck and held her up.
"Tell me now or I will cause decapitation to occur." Giles snapped out of his funk and ran at Ropen, helplessly trying to pry his arm off Buffy's neck.
"Unhand her this instant!"
"Silence!" Ropen backhanded Giles against the back of the sofa. Buffy struggled with her remaining oxygen, but her efforts were useless. Her vision began to swim and go black before Ropen's eye caught on something. This object which had interested Ropen so much caused him to seemingly forget Buffy, and he dropped her. Buffy and Giles both looked up to see Ropen holding Vatus's Jewel, examining it intently.
"Is this Vatus's Jewel?" Ropen asked them.
"Uh..yes, it is." Giles informed him, confused. Wasn't this Jewel supposed to somehow repel or destroy Ropen?
"Then at last my search is over!" Ropen cried, in a complete change of character.
Buffy approached him with caution.
"What search?"
Ropen turned to her. He closed his eyes for a few seconds.
"You...I sense great power from you, little one."
"Little one?! Hey, just because you're like 7 feet tall...and that might be because I'm the Slayer, dumbass." Ropen seemed shocked.
"A Slayer...helping a vampire? How can this be?"
Buffy sighed.
"It's a long story." Ropen returned his attention to the amulet.
"All my time on this planet, I have been searching for but one thing: how to get home. Back to my dimension. This amulet is my key."
Giles stood up and walked over to Buffy. They were both unsure of where this was going.
"Although I could simply kill you and steal it, there is no honour to be gained in that act. So I must ask if you are willing to trade for this."
"Well, yes, I would be prepared to trade. You may keep Vatus's Jewel in exchange for the life of the vampire, Spike."
Ropen only considered this for a second.
"Done."
Giles saw no need to waste such an opportunity.
"And what's more, I want you to go back and kill whoever sent you on this task."
"Done. Is there anything else you wish in return?"
"Well, I suppose I could do with a new door..."