Part 6:
Dawn groaned as she glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. Six in the evening. She, Buffy and Amy had been holed up in the Magic Box for 7 straight hours, combing through Giles books, journals and scrolls looking for anything that might assist them against this Dante guy. {What a way to spend a Saturday. All in a days work for the sister of a slayer I guess.}
"Ok, let's go through what information we have again." Amy said as she slammed shut another one of Giles's musty old tomes.
Buffy sighed inwardly. {Even Giles was not as anal as Amy is.} "Oh, yes, let's, Amy. just in case any of us have forgotten anything since we discussed it the last time, which was barely an hour ago."
Amy didn't catch the sarcasm in Buffy's voice. "Ok, we know that Dante has somehow escaped Merlin's prison and is currently in Sunnydale searching for the Alastor. What we don't know is where the Alastor is."
"But the good news is that this Dante guy most probably does not know where it is either." Buffy piped in.
Amy nodded before continuing. "Assuming that Dante manages to pinpoint the whereabouts of this sword, he would still need to unbind Merlin's spell. To do this he would need. . ."
"The blood of the righteous, the blood of the repentant and the blood of the tortured. The blood of these souls would have to be pure or the power of the Alastor would be lost from this world forever. Any ideas on who these people could be?" Dawn said as she finished reading from the notes she had taken down.
"Oh, just about anyone in this world." Buffy answered ruefully. "Maybe we'd have more luck searching for this White Knight guy. At least we know that this guy has to be in Sunnydale. Wouldn't he have some cool demony superpowers, Aims?"
"I'm afraid not, Buff. Merlin implanted the powers of Sparda into this man. . ."
"Or woman." Dawn interrupted.
". . .into this PERSON," Amy accentuated her voice during the last part "in a dormant form. So it would be safe to assume that these powers would have to be activated, somehow. Unfortunately, there is no mention in Merlin's scrolls about how we could go about doing this."
"So in other words, we have zilch, nada, a big fat zero when it comes to leads on Dante. Can you say, square one? So, anyone have anymore ideas?" Buffy said as she got up from her chair, straightening out the kinks in her neck.
All three of them were quiet for a moment, trying to think of a solution to their problem.
"I've got it!" Dawn suddenly shouted excitedly.
"What is it?" Buffy asked.
"Well, it's like this. . . uhm. . . ok, ok, I don't got it." Dawn said sheepishly.
Buffy gave her sister a patented death glare before starting to pace back and fourth.
Suddenly, an idea hit Amy. "Drusilla!" she shouted a bit to loudly.
Buffy instinctively got into a defensive stance as her eyes darted around the room, trying to search for any signs of the psychotic vampire. "Where, where?"
"No!" Amy continued. "Didn't you find it weird that Dante was protecting this Drusilla person last night?"
Buffy finally caught on. "You think that Drusilla and Dante are working together?"
"I'm not sure, but she is our only lead at the moment."
"You have a point Aims. Now the only problem is finding Drusilla."
At that point, the door to the basement opened, revealing a disheveled looking Spike. His hair was in a mess, and his shirt was full of bullet holes. He grunted a greeting toward Amy, Buffy and Dawn before walking over to the kitchenette. He took a packet of blood out of the fridge, placed it in a mug and placed it in the microwave.
Both Buffy and Dawn eyed Spike the whole time, a knowing smile on their faces. "Looks like we have our very own Drusilla sniffer."
This caught Spike's attention. "Oi! I'll have you lot know that I haven't done any Dru-sniffing for quite a while now. In fact, I've been clean for nearly two years!"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Spike, even though that's where it belongs." Buffy said, trying to suppress a giggle. "I'm going on a Drusilla hunting mission tonight, and I need you to track her down for me."
"Oh yeah? And what makes you think I'll help you slayer?"
Buffy's face grew serious for a moment. "Spike, I want to make sure that you're with us a hundred percent on this. You and Drusilla were. . . close, and if you're to emotionally invested in this, then it would be better for all of us if you sit this one out."
Spike recalled the events of the previous night when he tried to stop Buffy from killing Dru. Even though he loved Dru, he was happier with his current situation now then he ever was with her. {Though I'd first crucify myself before admitting that to them.} "Yeah, I'm with it Slayer. Don't worry about me."
"Good. Meet me at my house at ten tonight. Speaking of which, I really need to shower. Come on Dawn." With that, Buffy got up, grabbed her purse and headed toward the exit, motioning for Dawn to follow her.
"Need any help with that shower slayer? Olde William The Bloody would gladly scrub your back!" Spike called out.
Amy ignored Spike's irritating outburst. "If you need anything, I'll be here doing more research, Buff!"
"Ok, Aims. Bye guys." Buffy and Dawn gave a final wave goodbye as they exited the Magic Box.
"So what are your plans for tonight, Dawnie?" Buffy asked as she and Dawn walked down the street to the Summer's residence. She was feeling very guilty for leaving Dawn alone for two nights in a row.
Dawn tensed up immediately. With all this business about Dante and the White Knight, she had totally forgotten about her meeting with Xander tonight. She internally debated whether to tell Buffy about Xander's sudden appearance.
"Dawn? Are you listening to me, honey? What are you going to do tonight?" Buffy repeated her question.
"Oh, same old I guess, Buff. Popcorn and Brad Pitt." Dawn's voice was shaky when she said that. After the whole Spike fiasco, Dawn and Buffy made a pact never to keep secrets from one another. Dawn was relieved that the slayer did not catch the guilt in her voice. {I guess this Dante thing has her more worked up than I thought. Maybe it is best that I not reveal this bombshell about Xander yet. I don't want to put her under even more stress than she is under right now}.
Dawn checked the address one more time to make sure that she was at the right place. {A warehouse? What the heck would Xander be doing in a warehouse?} She entered the building through an unlocked side door. The spacious inside of the warehouse was dimly lit, with most of it shrouded in darkness. From what Dawn could make out, the warehouse was sparsely furnished with a table and some chairs, a television and a bed.
"Dawn." Xander's familiar, yet alien voice called out to her, as he stepped out from the shadows. "I see you decided to come."
"Way to state the obvious, Xand. This isn't really me, but an evil robot clone of me that's standing in front of you." Dawn tried to cover her sense of uneasiness by babbling. "What's with the warehouse, Xander. You couldn't afford decent living space? And what's with the lighting? If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were living with a vamp. . ."
"Dawn, what the hell are you doing here?" Dawn was cut off by the voice of one very angry slayer stomping towards her, followed by an equally pissed vampire. "Is this your idea of popcorn and Brad Pitt? How many times have I got to tell you, it's not safe to go out alone in the middle of the night. Especially with. . ."
Buffy stopped short when she noticed the figure standing next to her sister. Surely her eyes were playing tricks on her. It couldn't be him, could it?
All four of them stood there, each too surprised to say a word. Spike, who was as equally dumbfounded as Buffy, was the first to speak up. "Bloody hell! Harris?"
Buffy's eyes suddenly widened when she noticed someone sneaking up behind Xander. The figure was decidedly feminine, wearing a beautiful medieval nightgown and had long, brown curly hair.
"Xander, look out!" Buffy shouted before flipping over Xander and catching Drusilla with a drop kick to her chest. Drusilla landed on her back, and Buffy gracefully landed on top of her, stake raised and ready for the kill.
For the second time in as many days, Buffy's stake was inches away from Drusilla's chest. Before the killer blow was delivered however, Buffy felt cold hard steel pressed upon the back of her head.
"Hey Buff, long time no see." Xander said nonchalantly as he undid the safety on his weapon with a click.
Dante looked upon the goings-on inside the warehouse with great interest. {The White Knight is protecting the Drusilla from the Slayer? Intersting.} But what was even more intriguing was the aura that surrounded the White Knight.
Dante remembered the aura that emanated from his father as being blindingly white. This White Knight's aura, however, was dark, with only a minute spark of white light struggling to survive at the core.
"This might work in my favour." Dante spoke to himself as he turned around and disappeared into a shadows, whistling an unrecognizable tune.
Dawn groaned as she glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. Six in the evening. She, Buffy and Amy had been holed up in the Magic Box for 7 straight hours, combing through Giles books, journals and scrolls looking for anything that might assist them against this Dante guy. {What a way to spend a Saturday. All in a days work for the sister of a slayer I guess.}
"Ok, let's go through what information we have again." Amy said as she slammed shut another one of Giles's musty old tomes.
Buffy sighed inwardly. {Even Giles was not as anal as Amy is.} "Oh, yes, let's, Amy. just in case any of us have forgotten anything since we discussed it the last time, which was barely an hour ago."
Amy didn't catch the sarcasm in Buffy's voice. "Ok, we know that Dante has somehow escaped Merlin's prison and is currently in Sunnydale searching for the Alastor. What we don't know is where the Alastor is."
"But the good news is that this Dante guy most probably does not know where it is either." Buffy piped in.
Amy nodded before continuing. "Assuming that Dante manages to pinpoint the whereabouts of this sword, he would still need to unbind Merlin's spell. To do this he would need. . ."
"The blood of the righteous, the blood of the repentant and the blood of the tortured. The blood of these souls would have to be pure or the power of the Alastor would be lost from this world forever. Any ideas on who these people could be?" Dawn said as she finished reading from the notes she had taken down.
"Oh, just about anyone in this world." Buffy answered ruefully. "Maybe we'd have more luck searching for this White Knight guy. At least we know that this guy has to be in Sunnydale. Wouldn't he have some cool demony superpowers, Aims?"
"I'm afraid not, Buff. Merlin implanted the powers of Sparda into this man. . ."
"Or woman." Dawn interrupted.
". . .into this PERSON," Amy accentuated her voice during the last part "in a dormant form. So it would be safe to assume that these powers would have to be activated, somehow. Unfortunately, there is no mention in Merlin's scrolls about how we could go about doing this."
"So in other words, we have zilch, nada, a big fat zero when it comes to leads on Dante. Can you say, square one? So, anyone have anymore ideas?" Buffy said as she got up from her chair, straightening out the kinks in her neck.
All three of them were quiet for a moment, trying to think of a solution to their problem.
"I've got it!" Dawn suddenly shouted excitedly.
"What is it?" Buffy asked.
"Well, it's like this. . . uhm. . . ok, ok, I don't got it." Dawn said sheepishly.
Buffy gave her sister a patented death glare before starting to pace back and fourth.
Suddenly, an idea hit Amy. "Drusilla!" she shouted a bit to loudly.
Buffy instinctively got into a defensive stance as her eyes darted around the room, trying to search for any signs of the psychotic vampire. "Where, where?"
"No!" Amy continued. "Didn't you find it weird that Dante was protecting this Drusilla person last night?"
Buffy finally caught on. "You think that Drusilla and Dante are working together?"
"I'm not sure, but she is our only lead at the moment."
"You have a point Aims. Now the only problem is finding Drusilla."
At that point, the door to the basement opened, revealing a disheveled looking Spike. His hair was in a mess, and his shirt was full of bullet holes. He grunted a greeting toward Amy, Buffy and Dawn before walking over to the kitchenette. He took a packet of blood out of the fridge, placed it in a mug and placed it in the microwave.
Both Buffy and Dawn eyed Spike the whole time, a knowing smile on their faces. "Looks like we have our very own Drusilla sniffer."
This caught Spike's attention. "Oi! I'll have you lot know that I haven't done any Dru-sniffing for quite a while now. In fact, I've been clean for nearly two years!"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Spike, even though that's where it belongs." Buffy said, trying to suppress a giggle. "I'm going on a Drusilla hunting mission tonight, and I need you to track her down for me."
"Oh yeah? And what makes you think I'll help you slayer?"
Buffy's face grew serious for a moment. "Spike, I want to make sure that you're with us a hundred percent on this. You and Drusilla were. . . close, and if you're to emotionally invested in this, then it would be better for all of us if you sit this one out."
Spike recalled the events of the previous night when he tried to stop Buffy from killing Dru. Even though he loved Dru, he was happier with his current situation now then he ever was with her. {Though I'd first crucify myself before admitting that to them.} "Yeah, I'm with it Slayer. Don't worry about me."
"Good. Meet me at my house at ten tonight. Speaking of which, I really need to shower. Come on Dawn." With that, Buffy got up, grabbed her purse and headed toward the exit, motioning for Dawn to follow her.
"Need any help with that shower slayer? Olde William The Bloody would gladly scrub your back!" Spike called out.
Amy ignored Spike's irritating outburst. "If you need anything, I'll be here doing more research, Buff!"
"Ok, Aims. Bye guys." Buffy and Dawn gave a final wave goodbye as they exited the Magic Box.
"So what are your plans for tonight, Dawnie?" Buffy asked as she and Dawn walked down the street to the Summer's residence. She was feeling very guilty for leaving Dawn alone for two nights in a row.
Dawn tensed up immediately. With all this business about Dante and the White Knight, she had totally forgotten about her meeting with Xander tonight. She internally debated whether to tell Buffy about Xander's sudden appearance.
"Dawn? Are you listening to me, honey? What are you going to do tonight?" Buffy repeated her question.
"Oh, same old I guess, Buff. Popcorn and Brad Pitt." Dawn's voice was shaky when she said that. After the whole Spike fiasco, Dawn and Buffy made a pact never to keep secrets from one another. Dawn was relieved that the slayer did not catch the guilt in her voice. {I guess this Dante thing has her more worked up than I thought. Maybe it is best that I not reveal this bombshell about Xander yet. I don't want to put her under even more stress than she is under right now}.
Dawn checked the address one more time to make sure that she was at the right place. {A warehouse? What the heck would Xander be doing in a warehouse?} She entered the building through an unlocked side door. The spacious inside of the warehouse was dimly lit, with most of it shrouded in darkness. From what Dawn could make out, the warehouse was sparsely furnished with a table and some chairs, a television and a bed.
"Dawn." Xander's familiar, yet alien voice called out to her, as he stepped out from the shadows. "I see you decided to come."
"Way to state the obvious, Xand. This isn't really me, but an evil robot clone of me that's standing in front of you." Dawn tried to cover her sense of uneasiness by babbling. "What's with the warehouse, Xander. You couldn't afford decent living space? And what's with the lighting? If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were living with a vamp. . ."
"Dawn, what the hell are you doing here?" Dawn was cut off by the voice of one very angry slayer stomping towards her, followed by an equally pissed vampire. "Is this your idea of popcorn and Brad Pitt? How many times have I got to tell you, it's not safe to go out alone in the middle of the night. Especially with. . ."
Buffy stopped short when she noticed the figure standing next to her sister. Surely her eyes were playing tricks on her. It couldn't be him, could it?
All four of them stood there, each too surprised to say a word. Spike, who was as equally dumbfounded as Buffy, was the first to speak up. "Bloody hell! Harris?"
Buffy's eyes suddenly widened when she noticed someone sneaking up behind Xander. The figure was decidedly feminine, wearing a beautiful medieval nightgown and had long, brown curly hair.
"Xander, look out!" Buffy shouted before flipping over Xander and catching Drusilla with a drop kick to her chest. Drusilla landed on her back, and Buffy gracefully landed on top of her, stake raised and ready for the kill.
For the second time in as many days, Buffy's stake was inches away from Drusilla's chest. Before the killer blow was delivered however, Buffy felt cold hard steel pressed upon the back of her head.
"Hey Buff, long time no see." Xander said nonchalantly as he undid the safety on his weapon with a click.
Dante looked upon the goings-on inside the warehouse with great interest. {The White Knight is protecting the Drusilla from the Slayer? Intersting.} But what was even more intriguing was the aura that surrounded the White Knight.
Dante remembered the aura that emanated from his father as being blindingly white. This White Knight's aura, however, was dark, with only a minute spark of white light struggling to survive at the core.
"This might work in my favour." Dante spoke to himself as he turned around and disappeared into a shadows, whistling an unrecognizable tune.