The Night Remembers - Part 36
"Where are we going?" Giles asked for the umpteenth time while he was
following Dawn back through the tunnels.
"I already told you, I don't know." She was slowly getting annoyed with him.
Adults, she thought inwardly. Always needing rational explanations. And
watchers. The worst of all. "*You* were the one who said I couldn't go on my
own," she said.
"And rightfully so," he replied, fighting for breath. No, he wasn't eighteen
anymore and the fact that he wasn't working out with Buffy anymore hadn't
helped to improve his condition. "This *vision* you were talking about
doesn't seem to be very clear."
"I didn't have a vision," she said angrily. "And I told you that already
too. Someone was speaking with me. It was... weird. But the voice said it
would lead me and here I am or rather we."
"Yeah, we," Giles frowned at her back. He sighed inwardly. He wasn't just
getting old, he was getting senile, and gullible. Here he was, a rational,
well-trained watcher, soon to be a member of the mighty Council and he was
following a 14-year-old girl that was claiming to hear a voice. A *voice*!
Dawn had gone pale all of a sudden, and then backed to the wall. They had
heard a whimper coming from her mouth, her hands flying to her head as if
she had been crying. Only five minutes later, she had declared there was a
voice and she needed to follow it. Someone was in need of help, in danger.
But of course she couldn't say who was in danger, nor could she explain
where it happened or what the danger was.
Now they were rushing through the sewer tunnels following some *voice*. And
the hellmouth behind them was wide open and pulsing with energy. It was so
strong now that even Giles had been able to feel it.
He was so deep in thoughts that he almost bumped right into her when she
suddenly stopped. "Wait," her voice was only a whisper now. "It's here.
Somewhere," her eyes darted around wildly.
"What and where?" he asked.
"I don't know," she hissed angrily. "But I will, as soon as I've found it."
"Oh great," he muttered.
"I heard that. Just so you... Oh!" excitedly she was almost jumping up and
down. "It's there," she pointed towards a heavy door mate of iron.
"There?" Giles raised a brow. "Behind that door?"
"Yeah, behind that door. Come one."
****
It was like walking in the clouds, Spike thought. And for a soulless vampire
the very thought of heaven was quite irritating. Not even his preternatural
vision was helping him this time. The mist around him was so thick he had
problems seeing his own hand. And if this wasn't enough, he couldn't hear
anyone - not even himself. And badass vampire or not, this was mighty
frightening. You didn't lose your ability to speak every day.
He stood still, his arms spread wide as he tried to grab something.
Anything. But there was plain nothing. What had happened to the others?
Where were they? Not that he cared, he said to himself quickly, but you
should at least know what was around you.
The good thing was little bit wasn't around. The slayer would never forgive
him if something happened to her and... he really didn't give a damn what
Buffy thought or if she forgave him or not. She was with the poof now,
hadn't spared a second thought for him. His darned grand-sire just had to
step through the door and good old Spike wasn't important anymore. No time
he'd helped her counted as long as she could jump the bugger's bones. Oh
well, then she could have him, for all he cared.
Besides, Faith was all the slayer he could take. This girl was a whole lot
of woman, with stamina to be admired. Their little interlude this afternoon
had been more than surprising for him. Not that it happened at all. She'd been
sending out signs from the first moment, at least for a vampire who was a
little bit more sensible towards those things than humans. The surprising
part had been the act itself. Surprising and satisfying.
And that meant something coming from a more than 200 years old vampire. Not
that he was the connoisseur his grand-sire had been. He rarely cheated on
Drusilla, not because of lack of opportunity. There had been more than one
woman - vampire or human - who had been attracted to him, but Drusilla could
be furious if she was jealous and her punishments hadn't always been
pleasant. Plus, he'd been so helplessly in love with her, like an idiot he'd
even taken her back after she'd thrown herself at Angelus' neck some years
ago.
Yes, Faith was special. She wasn't like Buffy. Of course he couldn't tell
about the sex-part, his grand-sire would burn his hide if he'd do so much as
think about the blond. No, but otherwise. She was angry, aggressive, liked
the power the job of a slayer involved and had learned to find her way in
this world the hard way. In short, she was a lot like him. She had taken all
of him this afternoon, but hadn't held back either. Yes, he decided, she was
someone he could get used to. Too bad, she would go back to jail in a few
days.
But then, maybe not. It never paid to get addicted to a human being. Spike
knew that better than anyone else. They used you as long as they needed you,
then remembered you didn't have a soul and kicked your butt right to the
moon.
He started when his hand suddenly met something solid. The wall! He'd found
a way to the wall. Well, that was something. At least he wasn't lost
anymore. On the other hand, there was the wall, but try as he might, he
couldn't remember if the hellmouth was to the left or to the right. Damn
it! This was beginning to get annoying.
"Oh," a startled voice said to his right.
A voice?
"Who..." he had to clear his throat, surprised to hear his own voice again.
"Who is there?"
"It's me." The voice was annoyed now.
"That's just my luck. Why did it have to be you?"
Anya narrowed her eyes towards the voice, not able to see the person it
belonged to, but knowing whom it was nevertheless. "Sorry for that. I
wouldn't haven chosen you if I could."
"Why not?" his voice sounded almost insulted.
"Huh?" A vampire feeling insulted?
"I said-"
"I know what you said," she shot at him. "Well for once, I don't like you.
You're a vampire. I've seen a lot of you during my times. And I never met
one I liked."
"Is that so?" he asked acidly.
"Yes," she spat. "You are all evil, without conscience, you-"
"You risk a pretty big mouth, considering you're standing right in front of
a vampire."
"Ha! You have a chip," she grinned, but he couldn't see it. **Damn**
"I do have a chip," he said slowly, enjoying each moment of his reply, "but
I do have friends who don't."
She was silent for a moment, then the meaning of the words sank in, "You
wouldn't do that," she said, but he could hear the quiver in her voice.
"Maybe. Maybe not," he shrugged. Although he could've spared the gesture in
this mist. Or fog. Or whatever was all around them.
"Who is talking over there?"
"Xander," Anya cried. "You are alive."
"So it seems," he replied sarcastically, and then a hand came out of the fog
and took hers. "Anya. At least I can hear you now. And feel."
"It's an improvement, although I'd rather see too."
"Faith," Xander turned his head towards the voice. "Where are you?"
"We're over here. I think at the opposite wall," she said. "Kate is with
me."
"Is she alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. A bit disoriented though," the police officer's voice was
loaded with sarcasm. "God, if I tell anyone how I spent my vacation..." she
shook her head and chuckled. "Where does this fog come from?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," Faith frowned, trying to make a sense out of
what was happening. "Why did we lose our voice? And more importantly, why
did we get it back?"
"I don't know why we lost it, but I would risk betting that getting it back
was due to our little witches," Xander said.
"Willow," the slayer slapped her own forehead. "And Tara. Of course. It must
be their doing. Now, it would be nice if they could get rid of the fog too.
And then show us the way to the others. And then I'd like to meet the
someone who thought we were nice to play with." The aggression in her voice
was clearly audible.
"We could hold onto the wall and just find our way towards the hellmouth
that way," Anya proposed.
"Great idea. If we knew which way the hellmouth was," Spike said.
"I thought you had such a great nose. Can't you smell it?" she asked him.
"Can't you?" he shot back. "Thinking about it. A chip is one thing. But it
has to be rather pathetic, having been a mighty vengeance demon for 1100
years and now being reduced to a mere human. Ow!" he yelped when she hit him
over the head.
"Take it that way. I, at least, can hit you. So, can't you smell it?"
"No," he shook his head, "no smell. It's gone..." he paused, then thought
about it and said, "Which, thinking about it, is rather odd, don't you
think?"
"Yeah," Faith felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Weird."
They all gasped when suddenly the floor underneath them began to vibrate.
"An earthquake," Anya cried, clutching Xander's hand.
"No, it isn't an earthquake." Spike closed his eyes, tried to feel. There
was a pull. A shift. Something was pulling him. The urge to follow was so
strong he had to consciously avoid following it. He had read about this,
felt it everywhere in Sunnydale. The energy, the magick. But never had it
been as strong as it was now. "We don't need directions or sight," he
announced. "Faith, Kate, come over here, take each others hands. And then
just follow me."
****
Buffy's head snapped around when she heard a noise coming from a door and
only seconds later she saw it open, revealing two faces she'd never have
expected to see. "Dawnie! Giles!" She let go of Angel and threw her arms
around her sister's neck.
"It's good to see you," Angel said a bit more calmly, looking at Giles. "How
did you know we were here?"
"I didn't-"
"I did," Dawn cut him off, freeing herself from Buffy's embrace. "I heard a
voice and it lead me here. It was so cool! It was like having some powers,
being special - kind of like you," she looked at her sister. "Way cool," she
emphasized her point.
Before any of the others could react, she already went on, "And Giles was
running after me, shouting all the time," she giggled when she saw him
glare, "Anyways. Then we came here found the door. And then," she had to
take a breath, "you wouldn't believe it, Giles just pulled something out of
his pocket, wham-bam and the door was open. Like they show in the movies,"
she reported, "In the old movies at least but then Giles is old and so it's
just..." she trailed off when she realized his glare had deepened. "Ooops,
sorry."
"That's okay, Dawnie," Buffy put a hand on her sister's arm, "the important
part is you found us and got us out of here. How are the others? Are they
okay?"
"They're fine," Giles assured her. "At least they were when we left. Of
course we have no way of knowing how things are with Faith's group."
The slayer frowned, "Why not? Haven't you met already?"
"No," the watcher sighed deeply. "Nothing went as planned the moment the
Initiative messed things up."
"The Initiative?" Buffy looked at him quizzically while understanding dawned
in Angel's eyes.
"The first explosion," he said, "they placed a bomb. On the hellmouth."
"WHAT?" the blond yelped. "They did what?" her eyes darted wildly between
Giles and Angel. "Is he right?" she asked finally focusing on her watcher.
"Unfortunately, yes. I'm afraid they had the extremely stupid idea to close
the hellmouth that way and of course, the opposite happened. They opened it
with one blow."
"Did Riley know?" Buffy wanted to know.
"He says he got the orders after we parted at the mansion, and I believe
him, he seemed honestly shocked by the things that happened." Giles reached
towards his nose for his glasses and not finding them, he stuffed his hands
into the pockets of his jacket.
"He had a cell phone," Dawn said casually. When they all turned towards her,
she shrugged. "It was on his belt. I saw it when we met him in the tunnels.
I was wondering why he didn't use it to inform us."
"I for one would be very interested in his answer," Buffy gritted out.
"He was torn," Angel said simply, "between us and the loyalty to his
troupes. Don't be too hard on him. It's a tough choice."
"No, it isn't," she replied stubbornly, not quite sure if she was angry with
him for doing so, or just with the fact he existed at all. She still wasn't
really over all the emotional stuff she and Angel had been through while
they'd been locked up in that room. The discovery of Angel's humanity, his
sacrifice and her actions following it were a burden of guilt on her soul
and somehow Riley was like the personification of her own failure.
Of course Angel had assured her that he didn't blame her, that she hadn't
known, that he'd wanted her to find someone else and be happy. **Yeah, sure.
Could've fooled me.** But that didn't mean she could forgive herself just
like that. At the moment she felt as if she had cheated on the man who had
literally given his life for her. And that, she noticed with an inward sigh,
was her real dilemma.
"If he knew or not," Angel said gently. He felt her tense and put an arm
around her shoulders. "At least we know now what happened. And now we need
to go there. I wonder how successful Willow and Tara have been with their
spell."
... to be continued
"Where are we going?" Giles asked for the umpteenth time while he was
following Dawn back through the tunnels.
"I already told you, I don't know." She was slowly getting annoyed with him.
Adults, she thought inwardly. Always needing rational explanations. And
watchers. The worst of all. "*You* were the one who said I couldn't go on my
own," she said.
"And rightfully so," he replied, fighting for breath. No, he wasn't eighteen
anymore and the fact that he wasn't working out with Buffy anymore hadn't
helped to improve his condition. "This *vision* you were talking about
doesn't seem to be very clear."
"I didn't have a vision," she said angrily. "And I told you that already
too. Someone was speaking with me. It was... weird. But the voice said it
would lead me and here I am or rather we."
"Yeah, we," Giles frowned at her back. He sighed inwardly. He wasn't just
getting old, he was getting senile, and gullible. Here he was, a rational,
well-trained watcher, soon to be a member of the mighty Council and he was
following a 14-year-old girl that was claiming to hear a voice. A *voice*!
Dawn had gone pale all of a sudden, and then backed to the wall. They had
heard a whimper coming from her mouth, her hands flying to her head as if
she had been crying. Only five minutes later, she had declared there was a
voice and she needed to follow it. Someone was in need of help, in danger.
But of course she couldn't say who was in danger, nor could she explain
where it happened or what the danger was.
Now they were rushing through the sewer tunnels following some *voice*. And
the hellmouth behind them was wide open and pulsing with energy. It was so
strong now that even Giles had been able to feel it.
He was so deep in thoughts that he almost bumped right into her when she
suddenly stopped. "Wait," her voice was only a whisper now. "It's here.
Somewhere," her eyes darted around wildly.
"What and where?" he asked.
"I don't know," she hissed angrily. "But I will, as soon as I've found it."
"Oh great," he muttered.
"I heard that. Just so you... Oh!" excitedly she was almost jumping up and
down. "It's there," she pointed towards a heavy door mate of iron.
"There?" Giles raised a brow. "Behind that door?"
"Yeah, behind that door. Come one."
****
It was like walking in the clouds, Spike thought. And for a soulless vampire
the very thought of heaven was quite irritating. Not even his preternatural
vision was helping him this time. The mist around him was so thick he had
problems seeing his own hand. And if this wasn't enough, he couldn't hear
anyone - not even himself. And badass vampire or not, this was mighty
frightening. You didn't lose your ability to speak every day.
He stood still, his arms spread wide as he tried to grab something.
Anything. But there was plain nothing. What had happened to the others?
Where were they? Not that he cared, he said to himself quickly, but you
should at least know what was around you.
The good thing was little bit wasn't around. The slayer would never forgive
him if something happened to her and... he really didn't give a damn what
Buffy thought or if she forgave him or not. She was with the poof now,
hadn't spared a second thought for him. His darned grand-sire just had to
step through the door and good old Spike wasn't important anymore. No time
he'd helped her counted as long as she could jump the bugger's bones. Oh
well, then she could have him, for all he cared.
Besides, Faith was all the slayer he could take. This girl was a whole lot
of woman, with stamina to be admired. Their little interlude this afternoon
had been more than surprising for him. Not that it happened at all. She'd been
sending out signs from the first moment, at least for a vampire who was a
little bit more sensible towards those things than humans. The surprising
part had been the act itself. Surprising and satisfying.
And that meant something coming from a more than 200 years old vampire. Not
that he was the connoisseur his grand-sire had been. He rarely cheated on
Drusilla, not because of lack of opportunity. There had been more than one
woman - vampire or human - who had been attracted to him, but Drusilla could
be furious if she was jealous and her punishments hadn't always been
pleasant. Plus, he'd been so helplessly in love with her, like an idiot he'd
even taken her back after she'd thrown herself at Angelus' neck some years
ago.
Yes, Faith was special. She wasn't like Buffy. Of course he couldn't tell
about the sex-part, his grand-sire would burn his hide if he'd do so much as
think about the blond. No, but otherwise. She was angry, aggressive, liked
the power the job of a slayer involved and had learned to find her way in
this world the hard way. In short, she was a lot like him. She had taken all
of him this afternoon, but hadn't held back either. Yes, he decided, she was
someone he could get used to. Too bad, she would go back to jail in a few
days.
But then, maybe not. It never paid to get addicted to a human being. Spike
knew that better than anyone else. They used you as long as they needed you,
then remembered you didn't have a soul and kicked your butt right to the
moon.
He started when his hand suddenly met something solid. The wall! He'd found
a way to the wall. Well, that was something. At least he wasn't lost
anymore. On the other hand, there was the wall, but try as he might, he
couldn't remember if the hellmouth was to the left or to the right. Damn
it! This was beginning to get annoying.
"Oh," a startled voice said to his right.
A voice?
"Who..." he had to clear his throat, surprised to hear his own voice again.
"Who is there?"
"It's me." The voice was annoyed now.
"That's just my luck. Why did it have to be you?"
Anya narrowed her eyes towards the voice, not able to see the person it
belonged to, but knowing whom it was nevertheless. "Sorry for that. I
wouldn't haven chosen you if I could."
"Why not?" his voice sounded almost insulted.
"Huh?" A vampire feeling insulted?
"I said-"
"I know what you said," she shot at him. "Well for once, I don't like you.
You're a vampire. I've seen a lot of you during my times. And I never met
one I liked."
"Is that so?" he asked acidly.
"Yes," she spat. "You are all evil, without conscience, you-"
"You risk a pretty big mouth, considering you're standing right in front of
a vampire."
"Ha! You have a chip," she grinned, but he couldn't see it. **Damn**
"I do have a chip," he said slowly, enjoying each moment of his reply, "but
I do have friends who don't."
She was silent for a moment, then the meaning of the words sank in, "You
wouldn't do that," she said, but he could hear the quiver in her voice.
"Maybe. Maybe not," he shrugged. Although he could've spared the gesture in
this mist. Or fog. Or whatever was all around them.
"Who is talking over there?"
"Xander," Anya cried. "You are alive."
"So it seems," he replied sarcastically, and then a hand came out of the fog
and took hers. "Anya. At least I can hear you now. And feel."
"It's an improvement, although I'd rather see too."
"Faith," Xander turned his head towards the voice. "Where are you?"
"We're over here. I think at the opposite wall," she said. "Kate is with
me."
"Is she alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. A bit disoriented though," the police officer's voice was
loaded with sarcasm. "God, if I tell anyone how I spent my vacation..." she
shook her head and chuckled. "Where does this fog come from?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," Faith frowned, trying to make a sense out of
what was happening. "Why did we lose our voice? And more importantly, why
did we get it back?"
"I don't know why we lost it, but I would risk betting that getting it back
was due to our little witches," Xander said.
"Willow," the slayer slapped her own forehead. "And Tara. Of course. It must
be their doing. Now, it would be nice if they could get rid of the fog too.
And then show us the way to the others. And then I'd like to meet the
someone who thought we were nice to play with." The aggression in her voice
was clearly audible.
"We could hold onto the wall and just find our way towards the hellmouth
that way," Anya proposed.
"Great idea. If we knew which way the hellmouth was," Spike said.
"I thought you had such a great nose. Can't you smell it?" she asked him.
"Can't you?" he shot back. "Thinking about it. A chip is one thing. But it
has to be rather pathetic, having been a mighty vengeance demon for 1100
years and now being reduced to a mere human. Ow!" he yelped when she hit him
over the head.
"Take it that way. I, at least, can hit you. So, can't you smell it?"
"No," he shook his head, "no smell. It's gone..." he paused, then thought
about it and said, "Which, thinking about it, is rather odd, don't you
think?"
"Yeah," Faith felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Weird."
They all gasped when suddenly the floor underneath them began to vibrate.
"An earthquake," Anya cried, clutching Xander's hand.
"No, it isn't an earthquake." Spike closed his eyes, tried to feel. There
was a pull. A shift. Something was pulling him. The urge to follow was so
strong he had to consciously avoid following it. He had read about this,
felt it everywhere in Sunnydale. The energy, the magick. But never had it
been as strong as it was now. "We don't need directions or sight," he
announced. "Faith, Kate, come over here, take each others hands. And then
just follow me."
****
Buffy's head snapped around when she heard a noise coming from a door and
only seconds later she saw it open, revealing two faces she'd never have
expected to see. "Dawnie! Giles!" She let go of Angel and threw her arms
around her sister's neck.
"It's good to see you," Angel said a bit more calmly, looking at Giles. "How
did you know we were here?"
"I didn't-"
"I did," Dawn cut him off, freeing herself from Buffy's embrace. "I heard a
voice and it lead me here. It was so cool! It was like having some powers,
being special - kind of like you," she looked at her sister. "Way cool," she
emphasized her point.
Before any of the others could react, she already went on, "And Giles was
running after me, shouting all the time," she giggled when she saw him
glare, "Anyways. Then we came here found the door. And then," she had to
take a breath, "you wouldn't believe it, Giles just pulled something out of
his pocket, wham-bam and the door was open. Like they show in the movies,"
she reported, "In the old movies at least but then Giles is old and so it's
just..." she trailed off when she realized his glare had deepened. "Ooops,
sorry."
"That's okay, Dawnie," Buffy put a hand on her sister's arm, "the important
part is you found us and got us out of here. How are the others? Are they
okay?"
"They're fine," Giles assured her. "At least they were when we left. Of
course we have no way of knowing how things are with Faith's group."
The slayer frowned, "Why not? Haven't you met already?"
"No," the watcher sighed deeply. "Nothing went as planned the moment the
Initiative messed things up."
"The Initiative?" Buffy looked at him quizzically while understanding dawned
in Angel's eyes.
"The first explosion," he said, "they placed a bomb. On the hellmouth."
"WHAT?" the blond yelped. "They did what?" her eyes darted wildly between
Giles and Angel. "Is he right?" she asked finally focusing on her watcher.
"Unfortunately, yes. I'm afraid they had the extremely stupid idea to close
the hellmouth that way and of course, the opposite happened. They opened it
with one blow."
"Did Riley know?" Buffy wanted to know.
"He says he got the orders after we parted at the mansion, and I believe
him, he seemed honestly shocked by the things that happened." Giles reached
towards his nose for his glasses and not finding them, he stuffed his hands
into the pockets of his jacket.
"He had a cell phone," Dawn said casually. When they all turned towards her,
she shrugged. "It was on his belt. I saw it when we met him in the tunnels.
I was wondering why he didn't use it to inform us."
"I for one would be very interested in his answer," Buffy gritted out.
"He was torn," Angel said simply, "between us and the loyalty to his
troupes. Don't be too hard on him. It's a tough choice."
"No, it isn't," she replied stubbornly, not quite sure if she was angry with
him for doing so, or just with the fact he existed at all. She still wasn't
really over all the emotional stuff she and Angel had been through while
they'd been locked up in that room. The discovery of Angel's humanity, his
sacrifice and her actions following it were a burden of guilt on her soul
and somehow Riley was like the personification of her own failure.
Of course Angel had assured her that he didn't blame her, that she hadn't
known, that he'd wanted her to find someone else and be happy. **Yeah, sure.
Could've fooled me.** But that didn't mean she could forgive herself just
like that. At the moment she felt as if she had cheated on the man who had
literally given his life for her. And that, she noticed with an inward sigh,
was her real dilemma.
"If he knew or not," Angel said gently. He felt her tense and put an arm
around her shoulders. "At least we know now what happened. And now we need
to go there. I wonder how successful Willow and Tara have been with their
spell."
... to be continued