Summary: When an unforeseen evil once again threatens to destroy the world,
Buffy and the gang, along with some unexpected help, join together to
release a reluctant champion from the clutches of hell. But will he be the
prophesized savior or will he destroy them all?
Notes: Contains spoilers from BtVS seasons one through three.
Feedback: Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.
Chapter Two
Buffy leaned against the school's brick wall for support. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air, her face tilted up directly at the high afternoon sun.
The sound of her own aching lungs was in her ears, and a myriad of dancing colors played behind her closed eyelids. Her mind reeled, forcing out any thought but one: Angel.
His name played over and over in her mind; the way she had whispered it with reverence the night he told her that he loved her, the way Giles had hissed it with contempt ever since Jenny died. The way she had screamed it with ecstasy the night they had...
"Buffy?"
The Slayer jumped, whipping her eyes open. "God, Will! You scared me!" She snapped at the timid hacker.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to see how you were doing."
"Oh, I'm just peachy!" the Slayer retorted, peeking over at her best friend she decided it was a safe a place as any to dump her frustrations. "Why him, Will? Why should HE be so important?" To anyone but me, her heart whimpered. "Why should the world literally rise or fall depending on his being there?" Her voice was as plaintive as a child's, her eyes wide as if seeking the simplest of answers.
Willow shook her head, there were no simple answers. "I don't know. We should have suspected something when we realized the demon Acathla depended on him in order to wake up and try to suck the world into hell, but we really had no way of knowing." Chalk it up to a divine joke, the clever hacker thought bitterly. A man's work is never done, not even after he's tossed into hell by the woman who loves him.
Buffy sighed like the sound of her soul tearing apart, "I think about him in there, Will. I think about the centuries he's been spending in torment."
"It's been four months, Buffy," the pretty redhead reminded her gently.
Blond hair flew from side to side, as the tiny Slayer shook her head violently, "No. Time passes differently in there. A few days out here is like a person's lifetime in hell."
Willow gasped, her face a deathly pale, "That would mean four months is like..." She left it hanging seeing her friend's eyes snap shut with remembered pain.
"I thought it would last forever," Buffy whispered through clenched teeth.
"What would?" Willow asked as gently as she could.
"Everything!" The Slayer began pacing restlessly. "Our love. His life." She stopped abruptly before the already dizzy hacker, "Our hell."
Willow began to wring her hands nervously, her silky hair effectively hiding her face like a curtain. Oh God, the Slayer thought, there's more.
"Buffy, there's more." Willow said hesitantly, missing Buffy's almost amused expression as she rolled her eyes heavenward searching for the propagator of the huge joke being played on her.
"Yeah, I kind of figured that." Willow stared at her with almost caricature question marks in her eyes. "Never mind. Go on."
The pretty hacker stared at her long and hard. "We have no idea as to how to get him out," she finally blurted, leaving Buffy to choke a bit on that one.
Buffy's mind suddenly conjured up the image of a capsized boat. So much for smooth sailing, she thought miserably. She shook her head to clear away the metaphor. "But the book," she finally managed to sputter. "Giles said it was so clear."
Willow nodded ruefully, "It was, as far as to what we're supposed to do. It doesn't say anything as to how we're supposed to go about doing it." She winced at the remembered frustration she and Giles endured as that little revelation popped up. Talk about hell in hardcover. Sometimes Willow just hated those musty old books.
"But there's always the net, and..."
Willow shook her head, "I've been searching the net for the past two months, ever since you came back and told us what happened. There was nothing about a person being brought back from hell."
"But they're always being brought back in the movies," Buffy argued lamely. "That's got to be based on something."
A smile flashed briefly on Willow's lips at her friend's warped reasoning, she did hit close to the truth, however. "It is. It's based on demons being summoned. He had a human soul when he was," she floundered for a moment, "sent."
"It's alright, you can say it. When I sent him to hell." She raised her hands quickly to ward off the hacker's denials, "I've dealt with it, Will. So what happens now?"
"Now it's Giles' turn. He's just started his research so it should take awhile." She peered into the Slayer's green eyes sympathetically, "Something will come up, Buffy, it always does."
"Yeah," she murmured sarcastically, "that's what I'm afraid of."
Willow smiled as she pulled her friend into an embrace, only to be joined a moment later by another set of arms.
"Xander!" Willow protested loudly, as his bear threatened to choke the life out of her.
"I saw group hug potential, and couldn't resist," he explained as he pulled the two girls into an even tighter embrace.
"More like copping a feel potential and your hormones couldn't resist," Cordelia informed him from not very far away.
A quick peek over Xander's shoulder showed the gang was all there. Buffy wondered idly how long they had been standing there. Oddly enough she found to her surprise that she didn't mind even if they had heard the entire conversation. Secrets were a long lost thing among these people whom she considered to be her best friends. Even Cordelia.
"Since we're all here," Buffy said as cheerfully as she could after gently disentangling Willow and herself from Xander's bear hug, "we might as well go Bronzing." She glanced up at the early evening skies, "I'd say we got about three hours before it opens."
Giles frowned, but that was expected. "Bronzing? Buffy, I don't think..."
"Oh, no mister." Buffy said as she wiggled a parental finger in front of the librarian's face. "No Bronzing for you. Not until you finish all your school work."
The Watcher smiled at her weak attempt at humor, as always amazed by the resiliency of her soul. "I meant that I would need help. Willow and Oz to swim the net..."
"Surf." Oz corrected absently.
"You and Xander to help read the books," he went on, ignoring Oz's computer speak. "Cordelia to," he floundered, looking at the May Queen's expectant face, "to bring refreshments." Her expression darkened as she muttered something about librarians and their ungrateful ways.
"What language are the books?" The Slayer asked patiently.
"Well some are in Gaelic, others in Greek, and..." He sighed with resignation, already aware this was a loosing battle.
Buffy smiled winsomely, "Well there you go then. All languages neither I nor research boy can read. As for net-swimming, somehow after two months I doubt Will and Oz will be able to come up with anything new."
The librarian turned to slowly face the redheaded hacker, his complexion pallid. "You've been searching for two months?" He demanded.
To their overall surprise she lifted her chin defiantly, "Call it a personal project," she said quietly, daring him to challenge her.
He blinked at her unexpected resolve, "And you found nothing?" He asked, deciding maturely to confront her on the issue on another, less sensitive day.
She shook her head as Buffy went on blithely, "As for refreshments, there's always the donuts Xander and Cordy got from before." She paused to look at the pretty brunette, "You did leave him some strawberry jelly ones, didn't you?"
"Nope," Cordelia said spitefully, "I finished them all up." With her little revenge all played out, she turned to leave in a huff.
Buffy shrugged as she looked at the forlorn librarian, "Sorry Giles. Good luck on the research, though."
*
The Bronze was packed to the brim that night, but being the only decent place to hang in all of Sunnydale that was no great surprise. What was a surprise, however, was Oz's ability to get them in free of charge.
"The band has certain advantages," he said cryptically when asked how he managed to accomplish that particular half miracle. It was rumored that the Bronze owner didn't even let himself in for free.
They found themselves a nice semi-private booth for Cordelia's benefit, in case any of her friends decided to show up. "It's not that I'm embarrassed to be seen with you," she told Xander. "It's just that I don't want to be not embarrassed just right now." Buffy chuckled softly to herself. By the time Xander's mind would finish working that sentence out, Cordy would probably give him another impossibility to mull over.
Xander had gotten the last laugh, however. He had managed to drag Cordy out onto the dance floor, where she was bravely teaching him how to move in what she referred to as "normal human being dance". From Buffy's point of view she was having little to no success, as Xander's arms and legs waved about like something from a National Geographic mating ritual flick.
Willow was chattering happily to a half-zonked Buffy and a very interested Oz about the latest pagan sites she'd found on the net. The band, which was currently making the most noise at the Bronze - although in Buffy's opinion Cordelia's yelling at Xander came a very close second - abruptly stopped playing once they'd finished their song. Oz excused himself and walked up to center stage.
"What's he doing?" Willow wondered aloud.
Buffy rolled her eyes. The girl couldn't possibly be that naïve. This was the exact same scene as in every sixties teen movie ever made. "I don't know, Will." She said, unwilling to ruin her friend's surprise. If Willow didn't watch the right kind of movies, that was her problem.
Oz turned his back to the awaiting crowd, explaining to the band exactly what he wanted from them. They weren't the 'Dingoes', but they'd do.
"Willow," he turned back to the crowd, his eyes straining to view his love, "this is for you," he said as he began to pluck at his guitar.
Willow's lips formed a bewildered O, and Buffy choked back a laugh. Elvis would have been so proud, she thought, wiping away at a mock tear.
"Sitting by my monitor,
Thinking about nothing else but you,
Dunno if it's right or wrong,
Knowing there's nothing else I can do."
"It's really very," monitor? "Good." Buffy whispered over to Willow. The redheaded hacker paid her no mind, as she watched her boyfriend with stars in her eyes.
"The sweat on my face,
Mingling softly with my tears,
I know I should have told you,
About my hopes and dreams and fears."
Buffy sighed and averted her eyes, refusing to look at the love-struck hacker. "It's like staring at the damn sun," she muttered to herself. Her breath suddenly caught in her throat as her eyes beheld someone she thought she'd never see again.
"I'm going out for some fresh air," she told her otherwise occupied friend.
"Ah-hum, fine Buffy," her otherwise occupied friend replied, obviously not hearing a word of what was said to her.
*
Buffy made her way through the Bronze crowd through the Club's back door and out into a dimly lit alley. She savored the cool air on her bare arms for a moment, allowing the beautiful evening to cleanse her body of all the tension she'd been in for much too long. Once that was done she promptly delivered a vicious back kick straight into the groin of the man standing behind her.
She spun around to face him as he rolled to his feet, a pained expression on his pale, delicate features. "What are you doing here, Spike?" she demanded, a stake already at hand.
"Now is that any way to greet an old friend?" He chided her, eyeing her approach warily.
"No, but then again you don't fit that category anyway." She delivered another kick, which sent him sprawling. Still, other than lift himself from the asphalt he made no other move.
He watched her carefully, wondering for a moment how she managed to hide stakes and other various artifacts in her outrageously tight outfit. It's a Slayer thing, he concluded. He shook his head, clearing it of disturbing thoughts before he'd find himself on the wrong end of a stake. "I've got some news for you, pet."
She didn't seem to hear him, "You promised you'd stay away, Spike," she said, grabbing him by his shirt collar. "You said you'd take Dru and never come back."
Spike had to fight back a throaty laugh. She'd been the Vampire Slayer for this long and she still believed promises made by a demon? "It's important, ducks." He tried again as she pinned him to the wall, her knee viciously connecting with his groin. He groaned; she was having a little too much fun with that particular area of his body. "It has to do with Cirta."
She seemed oblivious, too far gone in her own violence to listen to him. "This time you're going down, Spike," she hissed at him hatefully. Her hand moving with lightning speed, fully intending to kill.
He ducked with a yelp, the stake shattering against the wall where his chest should have been. With a growl he punched at her stomach, unwilling to remain the scapegoat to her frustrations any longer, and moved a safe distance away. She doubled over with pain, only to tense back into a fighting stance with a fresh stake in her hand.
Where did she keep those things? One had to wonder. She advanced towards him slowly, her eyes promising murder as she raised the stake. "This has to do with Angel!" he yelled at her, playing his one trump card.
He heaved out an unneeded sigh of relief as the Slayer stopped dead in her tracks. "If you're lying to me..." she began menacingly.
He raised his hands with his palms to her in the universal symbol that he was unarmed. "This is too bloody important for me to lie about, Slayer."
She looked at him, wondering why a century old vamp would want to look like Billy Idol. She leaned against the alley wall, occupying herself by tapping her fingernails against the sharp end of her stake. "Then why don't you tell me all about it," she almost purred, keeping a wary eye on him the entire time.
"I'd rather talk to your Watcher, luv."
The murderous look leaped back to her eyes, "I don't give a damn what you'd rather be doing. You talk to me!"
"What luv, don't you trust me?" he asked mockingly, unwittingly echoing her dream.
His pale face drained of what little color it had as she lunged at him with unstoppable speed. He swallowed hard as the stake leveled with his unbeating heart. "Only as far as I can throw you," she said sweetly. "Luv," she added in the most insulting tone she could muster.
He pushed her away with a snarl, well aware he was able to do it only because she allowed him to. "Damn it, Slayer," he snapped, "this is too bloody important for stupid games."
She seemed unruffled, "Yeah, you said that already. Tell me about it."
He looked around cautiously, the moon playing wild shadows against his platinum hair. The alley was satisfyingly empty. He slid down to a more comfortable position on his haunches and rested his elbows on his knees. From his new position he looked up at Buffy urging her to do the same. She sighed mournfully as she perched herself against the opposite wall. This was going to take a while. So much for Bronzing.
"This Cirta chick, your Watcher told you she's for offing humanity?" He asked bluntly, trying to assess the depth of her knowledge.
Buffy shrugged indifferently, "So what's it to you?"
He smiled savagely. The girl was obviously aware of what was going on. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought. "Normally not much," he answered truthfully. Sure he liked humans in general, and they made for good meals, but in times of need he wasn't one to be picky. He could live off some animal if need be. "Only she's got a thing for vampires as well."
He frowned as he watched one delicate eyebrow arch in amusement.
"That so? Now why would anyone have a thing for vampires?"
"Well how the bloody hell should I know what goes on in a demon's psyche?" He demanded, loosing his temper.
This time both eyebrows shot up.
"Other then my own," he amended. "Look pet, all I know is that the last time she was here, a few vampires and humans got together and managed to put her out of business." Her eyes were unreadable. "So now she's out to get the bloody lot of us," he went on, trying to get a reaction out of her.
"Fine," she conceded, staring deep into his feral eyes. "So what do you want?"
His eyes widened in disbelief, "Have you not been listening?" He grated. "Was I talking to the walls here?"
He stopped as she rose to her feet, "You have nothing new to say to me, Spike," she told him as she deliberately turned her back to him.
"I can tell you about Angel," he called after her.
She stopped as he knew she would, "What about Angel?" she asked with flat, even tones, still refusing to face him.
He could see the tension in her back as she awaited his response, "I know how to get him back," he told her quietly.
*
"Oh good, Buffy, you're back." Giles said with a perfunctory glance her way. He leaped from his chair as his mind digested what it had just seen, "Spike!" the librarian gasped.
"It's so nice to be remembered," the tall blond vampire told Buffy in conversational tones.
"Shut up!" she snapped at him as she pushed him further into the library. "He knows how to get Angel out of hell."
"What? How? Why?" the librarian fumbled, edging to keep the desk between him and the ruthless demon.
"See ducks, I told you I wanted to talk to you both together. Now I have to tell the whole bloody story all over again."
"I told you to shut up!" Buffy said as she shoved him towards a chair.
He twisted to face her, his demon rising to the occasion. "And I told you this was too important to play games!" he snarled at her, making very sure his fangs were clearly in her line of vision.
"Fine," she said sullenly, "I'll play nice." His face reverted back to its human facade making Buffy wonder if there were any ugly vampires.
"That's all I ask," he said pleasantly, sitting down across from the very agitated Watcher. "As for your 'what's' and 'why's'," he said, looking directly at Giles, "I think you already know the answer to those." The man stared at him, helplessly clueless. "Bloody hell, man! Remember Cirta?" He held out a hand to ward off the librarian's questions, "You people aren't the only ones with knowledge, you know. When someone who isn't the Slayer starts offing us, we like to know what's going on."
Giles nodded, having regained his wits he sat down warily across from the vampire, "That only leaves the 'how'," he said coolly.
Spike nodded, reaching for his inside pocket he pulled out several folded sheets of paper. "Tell me what you think," he said intently.
Buffy and Spike stared at the librarian as he read through the papers, taking his own sweet time at it. She wondered how anyone could stay so focused, as each minute increased the tension in the quiet room. Finally Giles raised his head stare at Spike with awe.
"Where did you get this?"
"From a friend. Is it for real?" The librarian nodded. "Right then," he said, rising to his feet, "Dru and I'll be here tomorrow night, and we'll all bust the Slayer's ex out of hell." They stared at him, their mouths' agape. "What?" he asked as he reached the swinging double doors, "You didn't think I'd let you wankers have all the fun, did you?"
Notes: Contains spoilers from BtVS seasons one through three.
Feedback: Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.
Chapter Two
Buffy leaned against the school's brick wall for support. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air, her face tilted up directly at the high afternoon sun.
The sound of her own aching lungs was in her ears, and a myriad of dancing colors played behind her closed eyelids. Her mind reeled, forcing out any thought but one: Angel.
His name played over and over in her mind; the way she had whispered it with reverence the night he told her that he loved her, the way Giles had hissed it with contempt ever since Jenny died. The way she had screamed it with ecstasy the night they had...
"Buffy?"
The Slayer jumped, whipping her eyes open. "God, Will! You scared me!" She snapped at the timid hacker.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to see how you were doing."
"Oh, I'm just peachy!" the Slayer retorted, peeking over at her best friend she decided it was a safe a place as any to dump her frustrations. "Why him, Will? Why should HE be so important?" To anyone but me, her heart whimpered. "Why should the world literally rise or fall depending on his being there?" Her voice was as plaintive as a child's, her eyes wide as if seeking the simplest of answers.
Willow shook her head, there were no simple answers. "I don't know. We should have suspected something when we realized the demon Acathla depended on him in order to wake up and try to suck the world into hell, but we really had no way of knowing." Chalk it up to a divine joke, the clever hacker thought bitterly. A man's work is never done, not even after he's tossed into hell by the woman who loves him.
Buffy sighed like the sound of her soul tearing apart, "I think about him in there, Will. I think about the centuries he's been spending in torment."
"It's been four months, Buffy," the pretty redhead reminded her gently.
Blond hair flew from side to side, as the tiny Slayer shook her head violently, "No. Time passes differently in there. A few days out here is like a person's lifetime in hell."
Willow gasped, her face a deathly pale, "That would mean four months is like..." She left it hanging seeing her friend's eyes snap shut with remembered pain.
"I thought it would last forever," Buffy whispered through clenched teeth.
"What would?" Willow asked as gently as she could.
"Everything!" The Slayer began pacing restlessly. "Our love. His life." She stopped abruptly before the already dizzy hacker, "Our hell."
Willow began to wring her hands nervously, her silky hair effectively hiding her face like a curtain. Oh God, the Slayer thought, there's more.
"Buffy, there's more." Willow said hesitantly, missing Buffy's almost amused expression as she rolled her eyes heavenward searching for the propagator of the huge joke being played on her.
"Yeah, I kind of figured that." Willow stared at her with almost caricature question marks in her eyes. "Never mind. Go on."
The pretty hacker stared at her long and hard. "We have no idea as to how to get him out," she finally blurted, leaving Buffy to choke a bit on that one.
Buffy's mind suddenly conjured up the image of a capsized boat. So much for smooth sailing, she thought miserably. She shook her head to clear away the metaphor. "But the book," she finally managed to sputter. "Giles said it was so clear."
Willow nodded ruefully, "It was, as far as to what we're supposed to do. It doesn't say anything as to how we're supposed to go about doing it." She winced at the remembered frustration she and Giles endured as that little revelation popped up. Talk about hell in hardcover. Sometimes Willow just hated those musty old books.
"But there's always the net, and..."
Willow shook her head, "I've been searching the net for the past two months, ever since you came back and told us what happened. There was nothing about a person being brought back from hell."
"But they're always being brought back in the movies," Buffy argued lamely. "That's got to be based on something."
A smile flashed briefly on Willow's lips at her friend's warped reasoning, she did hit close to the truth, however. "It is. It's based on demons being summoned. He had a human soul when he was," she floundered for a moment, "sent."
"It's alright, you can say it. When I sent him to hell." She raised her hands quickly to ward off the hacker's denials, "I've dealt with it, Will. So what happens now?"
"Now it's Giles' turn. He's just started his research so it should take awhile." She peered into the Slayer's green eyes sympathetically, "Something will come up, Buffy, it always does."
"Yeah," she murmured sarcastically, "that's what I'm afraid of."
Willow smiled as she pulled her friend into an embrace, only to be joined a moment later by another set of arms.
"Xander!" Willow protested loudly, as his bear threatened to choke the life out of her.
"I saw group hug potential, and couldn't resist," he explained as he pulled the two girls into an even tighter embrace.
"More like copping a feel potential and your hormones couldn't resist," Cordelia informed him from not very far away.
A quick peek over Xander's shoulder showed the gang was all there. Buffy wondered idly how long they had been standing there. Oddly enough she found to her surprise that she didn't mind even if they had heard the entire conversation. Secrets were a long lost thing among these people whom she considered to be her best friends. Even Cordelia.
"Since we're all here," Buffy said as cheerfully as she could after gently disentangling Willow and herself from Xander's bear hug, "we might as well go Bronzing." She glanced up at the early evening skies, "I'd say we got about three hours before it opens."
Giles frowned, but that was expected. "Bronzing? Buffy, I don't think..."
"Oh, no mister." Buffy said as she wiggled a parental finger in front of the librarian's face. "No Bronzing for you. Not until you finish all your school work."
The Watcher smiled at her weak attempt at humor, as always amazed by the resiliency of her soul. "I meant that I would need help. Willow and Oz to swim the net..."
"Surf." Oz corrected absently.
"You and Xander to help read the books," he went on, ignoring Oz's computer speak. "Cordelia to," he floundered, looking at the May Queen's expectant face, "to bring refreshments." Her expression darkened as she muttered something about librarians and their ungrateful ways.
"What language are the books?" The Slayer asked patiently.
"Well some are in Gaelic, others in Greek, and..." He sighed with resignation, already aware this was a loosing battle.
Buffy smiled winsomely, "Well there you go then. All languages neither I nor research boy can read. As for net-swimming, somehow after two months I doubt Will and Oz will be able to come up with anything new."
The librarian turned to slowly face the redheaded hacker, his complexion pallid. "You've been searching for two months?" He demanded.
To their overall surprise she lifted her chin defiantly, "Call it a personal project," she said quietly, daring him to challenge her.
He blinked at her unexpected resolve, "And you found nothing?" He asked, deciding maturely to confront her on the issue on another, less sensitive day.
She shook her head as Buffy went on blithely, "As for refreshments, there's always the donuts Xander and Cordy got from before." She paused to look at the pretty brunette, "You did leave him some strawberry jelly ones, didn't you?"
"Nope," Cordelia said spitefully, "I finished them all up." With her little revenge all played out, she turned to leave in a huff.
Buffy shrugged as she looked at the forlorn librarian, "Sorry Giles. Good luck on the research, though."
*
The Bronze was packed to the brim that night, but being the only decent place to hang in all of Sunnydale that was no great surprise. What was a surprise, however, was Oz's ability to get them in free of charge.
"The band has certain advantages," he said cryptically when asked how he managed to accomplish that particular half miracle. It was rumored that the Bronze owner didn't even let himself in for free.
They found themselves a nice semi-private booth for Cordelia's benefit, in case any of her friends decided to show up. "It's not that I'm embarrassed to be seen with you," she told Xander. "It's just that I don't want to be not embarrassed just right now." Buffy chuckled softly to herself. By the time Xander's mind would finish working that sentence out, Cordy would probably give him another impossibility to mull over.
Xander had gotten the last laugh, however. He had managed to drag Cordy out onto the dance floor, where she was bravely teaching him how to move in what she referred to as "normal human being dance". From Buffy's point of view she was having little to no success, as Xander's arms and legs waved about like something from a National Geographic mating ritual flick.
Willow was chattering happily to a half-zonked Buffy and a very interested Oz about the latest pagan sites she'd found on the net. The band, which was currently making the most noise at the Bronze - although in Buffy's opinion Cordelia's yelling at Xander came a very close second - abruptly stopped playing once they'd finished their song. Oz excused himself and walked up to center stage.
"What's he doing?" Willow wondered aloud.
Buffy rolled her eyes. The girl couldn't possibly be that naïve. This was the exact same scene as in every sixties teen movie ever made. "I don't know, Will." She said, unwilling to ruin her friend's surprise. If Willow didn't watch the right kind of movies, that was her problem.
Oz turned his back to the awaiting crowd, explaining to the band exactly what he wanted from them. They weren't the 'Dingoes', but they'd do.
"Willow," he turned back to the crowd, his eyes straining to view his love, "this is for you," he said as he began to pluck at his guitar.
Willow's lips formed a bewildered O, and Buffy choked back a laugh. Elvis would have been so proud, she thought, wiping away at a mock tear.
"Sitting by my monitor,
Thinking about nothing else but you,
Dunno if it's right or wrong,
Knowing there's nothing else I can do."
"It's really very," monitor? "Good." Buffy whispered over to Willow. The redheaded hacker paid her no mind, as she watched her boyfriend with stars in her eyes.
"The sweat on my face,
Mingling softly with my tears,
I know I should have told you,
About my hopes and dreams and fears."
Buffy sighed and averted her eyes, refusing to look at the love-struck hacker. "It's like staring at the damn sun," she muttered to herself. Her breath suddenly caught in her throat as her eyes beheld someone she thought she'd never see again.
"I'm going out for some fresh air," she told her otherwise occupied friend.
"Ah-hum, fine Buffy," her otherwise occupied friend replied, obviously not hearing a word of what was said to her.
*
Buffy made her way through the Bronze crowd through the Club's back door and out into a dimly lit alley. She savored the cool air on her bare arms for a moment, allowing the beautiful evening to cleanse her body of all the tension she'd been in for much too long. Once that was done she promptly delivered a vicious back kick straight into the groin of the man standing behind her.
She spun around to face him as he rolled to his feet, a pained expression on his pale, delicate features. "What are you doing here, Spike?" she demanded, a stake already at hand.
"Now is that any way to greet an old friend?" He chided her, eyeing her approach warily.
"No, but then again you don't fit that category anyway." She delivered another kick, which sent him sprawling. Still, other than lift himself from the asphalt he made no other move.
He watched her carefully, wondering for a moment how she managed to hide stakes and other various artifacts in her outrageously tight outfit. It's a Slayer thing, he concluded. He shook his head, clearing it of disturbing thoughts before he'd find himself on the wrong end of a stake. "I've got some news for you, pet."
She didn't seem to hear him, "You promised you'd stay away, Spike," she said, grabbing him by his shirt collar. "You said you'd take Dru and never come back."
Spike had to fight back a throaty laugh. She'd been the Vampire Slayer for this long and she still believed promises made by a demon? "It's important, ducks." He tried again as she pinned him to the wall, her knee viciously connecting with his groin. He groaned; she was having a little too much fun with that particular area of his body. "It has to do with Cirta."
She seemed oblivious, too far gone in her own violence to listen to him. "This time you're going down, Spike," she hissed at him hatefully. Her hand moving with lightning speed, fully intending to kill.
He ducked with a yelp, the stake shattering against the wall where his chest should have been. With a growl he punched at her stomach, unwilling to remain the scapegoat to her frustrations any longer, and moved a safe distance away. She doubled over with pain, only to tense back into a fighting stance with a fresh stake in her hand.
Where did she keep those things? One had to wonder. She advanced towards him slowly, her eyes promising murder as she raised the stake. "This has to do with Angel!" he yelled at her, playing his one trump card.
He heaved out an unneeded sigh of relief as the Slayer stopped dead in her tracks. "If you're lying to me..." she began menacingly.
He raised his hands with his palms to her in the universal symbol that he was unarmed. "This is too bloody important for me to lie about, Slayer."
She looked at him, wondering why a century old vamp would want to look like Billy Idol. She leaned against the alley wall, occupying herself by tapping her fingernails against the sharp end of her stake. "Then why don't you tell me all about it," she almost purred, keeping a wary eye on him the entire time.
"I'd rather talk to your Watcher, luv."
The murderous look leaped back to her eyes, "I don't give a damn what you'd rather be doing. You talk to me!"
"What luv, don't you trust me?" he asked mockingly, unwittingly echoing her dream.
His pale face drained of what little color it had as she lunged at him with unstoppable speed. He swallowed hard as the stake leveled with his unbeating heart. "Only as far as I can throw you," she said sweetly. "Luv," she added in the most insulting tone she could muster.
He pushed her away with a snarl, well aware he was able to do it only because she allowed him to. "Damn it, Slayer," he snapped, "this is too bloody important for stupid games."
She seemed unruffled, "Yeah, you said that already. Tell me about it."
He looked around cautiously, the moon playing wild shadows against his platinum hair. The alley was satisfyingly empty. He slid down to a more comfortable position on his haunches and rested his elbows on his knees. From his new position he looked up at Buffy urging her to do the same. She sighed mournfully as she perched herself against the opposite wall. This was going to take a while. So much for Bronzing.
"This Cirta chick, your Watcher told you she's for offing humanity?" He asked bluntly, trying to assess the depth of her knowledge.
Buffy shrugged indifferently, "So what's it to you?"
He smiled savagely. The girl was obviously aware of what was going on. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought. "Normally not much," he answered truthfully. Sure he liked humans in general, and they made for good meals, but in times of need he wasn't one to be picky. He could live off some animal if need be. "Only she's got a thing for vampires as well."
He frowned as he watched one delicate eyebrow arch in amusement.
"That so? Now why would anyone have a thing for vampires?"
"Well how the bloody hell should I know what goes on in a demon's psyche?" He demanded, loosing his temper.
This time both eyebrows shot up.
"Other then my own," he amended. "Look pet, all I know is that the last time she was here, a few vampires and humans got together and managed to put her out of business." Her eyes were unreadable. "So now she's out to get the bloody lot of us," he went on, trying to get a reaction out of her.
"Fine," she conceded, staring deep into his feral eyes. "So what do you want?"
His eyes widened in disbelief, "Have you not been listening?" He grated. "Was I talking to the walls here?"
He stopped as she rose to her feet, "You have nothing new to say to me, Spike," she told him as she deliberately turned her back to him.
"I can tell you about Angel," he called after her.
She stopped as he knew she would, "What about Angel?" she asked with flat, even tones, still refusing to face him.
He could see the tension in her back as she awaited his response, "I know how to get him back," he told her quietly.
*
"Oh good, Buffy, you're back." Giles said with a perfunctory glance her way. He leaped from his chair as his mind digested what it had just seen, "Spike!" the librarian gasped.
"It's so nice to be remembered," the tall blond vampire told Buffy in conversational tones.
"Shut up!" she snapped at him as she pushed him further into the library. "He knows how to get Angel out of hell."
"What? How? Why?" the librarian fumbled, edging to keep the desk between him and the ruthless demon.
"See ducks, I told you I wanted to talk to you both together. Now I have to tell the whole bloody story all over again."
"I told you to shut up!" Buffy said as she shoved him towards a chair.
He twisted to face her, his demon rising to the occasion. "And I told you this was too important to play games!" he snarled at her, making very sure his fangs were clearly in her line of vision.
"Fine," she said sullenly, "I'll play nice." His face reverted back to its human facade making Buffy wonder if there were any ugly vampires.
"That's all I ask," he said pleasantly, sitting down across from the very agitated Watcher. "As for your 'what's' and 'why's'," he said, looking directly at Giles, "I think you already know the answer to those." The man stared at him, helplessly clueless. "Bloody hell, man! Remember Cirta?" He held out a hand to ward off the librarian's questions, "You people aren't the only ones with knowledge, you know. When someone who isn't the Slayer starts offing us, we like to know what's going on."
Giles nodded, having regained his wits he sat down warily across from the vampire, "That only leaves the 'how'," he said coolly.
Spike nodded, reaching for his inside pocket he pulled out several folded sheets of paper. "Tell me what you think," he said intently.
Buffy and Spike stared at the librarian as he read through the papers, taking his own sweet time at it. She wondered how anyone could stay so focused, as each minute increased the tension in the quiet room. Finally Giles raised his head stare at Spike with awe.
"Where did you get this?"
"From a friend. Is it for real?" The librarian nodded. "Right then," he said, rising to his feet, "Dru and I'll be here tomorrow night, and we'll all bust the Slayer's ex out of hell." They stared at him, their mouths' agape. "What?" he asked as he reached the swinging double doors, "You didn't think I'd let you wankers have all the fun, did you?"