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 Sixteen
They'd been going through volume after dusty volume for hours with no luck. Sighing dejectedly, Buffy silently shut the huge tome she'd been trying to read. It was no use, the words were starting to jumble all together, looking suspiciously like a foreign tongue. Suddenly curious, Buffy turned the book to its side to reveal that that was indeed the case. She shook her head, she really needed to get some sleep. Jealously, she peered over at the slightly snoring Xander and the perfect as always Cordelia, both fast asleep for the past hour. Well, it could be worse, she thought, glancing at the increasingly agitated vampire sitting across from her. While the two teens slept peacefully he'd been casting nervous glances at the graying skies out the window, knowing full well that soon enough he'll be trapped. Got to hand it to him, though, Buffy thought, he didn't once complain or try to run away. She piously decided to ignore the fact that at this point there was really nowhere to run.
She jumped slightly as a soft hand rested gently on her shoulder. "Watcha thinking?" Willow asked quietly.
Buffy shrugged, "just how it's all coming together, how everybody's here to help." Well, almost everybody.
Willow gave her a reassuring smile, "he'll get over it, Buffy. You're too important to him for him not to."
"Yeah, I just hope it happens before," she motioned towards the books spread around the mostly burned out candles, "this does."
"This is hard for him," the redhead replied, "but you know Giles, he always pulls through." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, "besides, it's almost morning. Nothing bad ever happens in the morning."
"Besides school," Buffy reminded her.
"And waking up early," Xander added. He yawned and sleepily scratched his tummy, "anybody got food?"
"Not to mention turning into a smoldering pile of ashes," Spike said. They stared at him. "Things that happen in the morning, right?"
"A total solar eclipse," Giles said quietly from the doorway. They gaped at him.
"Um," Xander tried, "things that happen in the morning?"
"Giles," Buffy whispered softly, reverently.
He didn't look at her. She could see the tension in his body as he moved further into the library. Had he been out all night, she wondered then shuddered at the thought. If something had happened to him that would have been her fault too.
"There's going to be a solar eclipse later on today," he told them all, "I can only assume that's when it's all going to happen."
They stared at him. "T-today?" Willow echoed.
Spike's eyes narrowed dangerously as he slammed his book shut, "how do you know?" The blond vampire demanded.
"I'm a Watcher," Giles replied, "I can read the portents in the sky. It took me awhile, but I finally looked up," he added at their blank looks.
"How do you know it's going to happen then, you bloody wanker?" Spike hissed.
"Let's see," Xander supplied sardonically, his features visibly pale, "a major earthquake, a solar eclipse. Nope, just a coincidence, nothing wrong with that picture."
"Mom!" Buffy suddenly cried out making everyone jump, "I've got to tell mom to get the kids out of here!"
"I'll do it," Willow volunteered, she glanced out the window at the rapidly brightening sky, "it's going to take the parents awhile to get the kids ready, but I'll have them out by the time the sun rises." Buffy nodded her thanks as the redhead quickly left the library.
"I'm bloody well trapped in here till this thing goes down," Spike growled, his eyes glimmering a dangerous gold.
"Yes, you are," Giles confirmed callously. "But there's something you can do about it."
The vampire and Watcher locked eyes as understanding flowed between the two sworn enemies. In the end it was the golden eyes that broke away, "I'll go teach the minions the curse," Spike said softly, his demeanor seemed cowed somehow. "Should have made brighter minions," his grumbling voice wafted through the swinging doors, "it'll probably take a lifetime just to pound the words into their thick skulls."
"Giles, I," Buffy started when the library doors stopped swinging.
He raised his hand to stop her, "Buffy, if we get through this..."
"You know," Xander cut in, "some optimism right about now wouldn't be of the bad."
"When we get through this," the librarian corrected, "I promise we'll have a nice, long discussion about the virtue of honesty, especially where your Watcher is concerned."
Buffy swallowed hard, "by discussion you mean you'll talk and I'll listen, don't you?" She asked ruefully.
"And I'll probably repeat myself several times," he deadpanned, "loudly. But right now we have more pressing issues to consider." He looked around at the serious young faces, "it's all coming together sooner than we expected." He glanced at the burnt out candles and the books scattered across the floor, "I take it you haven't managed to come up with anything new."
"If by anything new you mean something that could get us out of this in one piece then I'm rooting for a big no," Xander grumbled.
Giles nodded wearily, "I thought as much. It's probably just as well anyway." They stared at him. "Angel was the one predestined to defeat Cirta," the tired Watcher explained gently, "we can't do anymore than is humanly possible, and that would be locking her out of human consciousness for as long as we can." He peered at the shocked young faces, his determined expression discouraging any arguments. "Go, be with your families. There's nothing you can do here now."
"You are family," Buffy murmured quietly.
Touched beyond words, Giles hastily took off his glasses and concentrated on rubbing at the lenses vigorously. He could feel tears forming in his weary eyes, but quickly blinked them away unsure whether he would be weeping for himself or for the children he had come to care for.
"Buffy, your mom wants to see you before she leaves with the kids," Willow said as she stepped into the tension of the library. "What'd I miss?" She asked accusingly as she glared into her friends' troubled faces.
"Nothing, Will," Buffy replied, giving the redhead a reassuring smile, "I'll see you in a bit." She called softly as she left the sanctuary of the library to say goodbye to her mother.
Buffy glanced out the window at the sparkling blue sky for the umpteenth time that morning.
"Are you sure you didn't misread the stars, Giles?" Xander asked casually making the Slayer grit her teeth irritably. Xander had been asking that question almost as many times as she'd been glancing out the window.
"Yes, I'm absolutely sure, Xander," came the Watcher's testy reply.
"You don't have to get all snippy about it," Xander retorted, "all I'm saying is mistakes happen. I mean you've been busy watching the ground for so long looking for creepy crawlers that you probably didn't get a chance to look up at the sky too often. People do get out of practice, you know. It didn't even have to be your fault," the boy hurried on as the Watcher's gray eyes narrowed dangerously, "it could have been a celestial version of a typo."
Buffy sighed as she let Xander's voice wash over her. The ordeal of saying goodbye to her mother had left her feeling emotionally battered and in desperate need of chocolate. They'd both wept, as was expected, and told one another the truths they both needed to hear. They spoke of love and acceptance and forgiveness. They embraced with a closeness only mother and daughter can share and in the end Buffy felt her heart shatter yet again as she watched her mother leave.
"This one time," Xander was saying, "I misunderstood an entire test because I didn't flip the page over. I'm just saying things happen."
"The sky does not flip over, Xander," Giles said coolly.
Buffy wondered idly if that was what postal workers sounded like right before deteriorating into their fully understandable, and somewhat expected, killing spree. With a sigh she went back to staring at the clear blue sky.
"But space is curved," Xander argued.
With something that sounded suspiciously like a growl the reserved librarian threw his hands in the air in frustration. "I wish it would bloody well start already," he grumbled, glaring furiously at the sky as if it was purposefully mocking him.
Buffy fervently agreed with him. The waiting was becoming unbearable, driving their tension to unexplored levels. Cordelia had managed to pick a fight with just about everyone in the room while Xander busied himself by annoying those who refused to acknowledge the May Queen. Oz and Willow had fought and reconciled three times and Buffy was fairly certain that Oz wasn't even aware of at least two of the three arguments.
She sighed and stared out the window once again. "Oh, just go ahead and eclipse already," she grumbled.
"Is that even a verb?" Cordelia inquired.
Buffy glanced over at the brunette's less than innocent expression, "I am so not taking grammar lessons from you," she snapped irritably. "Why don't you go do something productive," she hurried on as the May Queen opened her mouth to deliver a scalding retort, "and keep Xander busy. I hear there's a utility closet that's just become available." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth at the sound of the small gasp coming from her best friend. She turned around sharply to catch the furious blush creeping down the redhead's usually pale features. So that's how they made up that last time, Buffy thought to herself, I was wondering what took them so long.
"I think I've pretty much done my share around here," Cordelia's sharp voice cut smoothly through the Slayer's reverie. "What with the slaying when you ran away, and the getting Angel out of hell bit. It took me an hour to get the reek of those stinky herbs out of my hair! Not to mention my sheep speech! I'd like to see you try to get by without that."
"Um, guys?" Oz asked quietly.
"What on earth is a sheep speech?" Giles asked Xander in exasperation.
The teenager merely shrugged in reply.
"Guys." Oz tried again.
"I mean without that," the angry teen pushed on, "it'd been just us mumbling words nobody understood. How pathetic is that? Everybody would have laughed their asses off right up until we all got sucked into a fiery hell."
"As always, thanks for the lovely mental image," Xander grumbled.
"But no," Cordelia went on, her voice rising in a shrill crescendo, "this way, thanks to ME, we all get to die horribly together. And what do I get in return? No respect, no love. Where's the love, people?"
"Guys!" Oz yelled before Cordelia could catch her breath. "Um," he went on quietly as they all turned to stare at him, "it's kind of dark for noon, don't you think?"
Five heads simultaneously whipped around to stare out the window. They all looked on quietly, each lost in their own thoughts as the dark shadows outside slowly defeated the bright day.
"It has begun," Giles said solemnly, his voice a morbid affirmation to any hesitations running through his young charges' minds.
"Well, finally," Cordelia breathed shrilly, breaking them out of the strange trance that seemed to overtake them all.
Buffy shook herself out of her stupor, her mind automatically drawing on her instincts for survival. "Xander, you, Willow, Cordelia and Oz go round up everybody. Tell them it's time. Giles, you come with me to get Spike and his," she swallowed hard, "friends," she grumbled, satisfied that she managed to keep most of the hostility out of her voice. "We'd better bring stakes," she added as an afterthought.
"You know," Xander muttered as he gathered his things, "it's kind of considered impolite to threaten someone who's on your side."
Buffy shrugged as Giles gathered their weapons, "must've skipped that class in finishing school. Besides," she added, brandishing an evil looking crossbow, "it's just a threat. We're going to need all the lips we can get." She felt a slow flush creep up her face as they all stopped what they were doing to stare at her. "And I am just now realizing how bad that sounded," she muttered. "Meet us in the schoolyard as soon as you can," she said, already pushing through the swinging doors with her Watcher close at her heels.
"Now what?" Willow asked her friend quietly. Buffy simply stared at her helplessly. Everything was ready, they had the eclipse, the curse, the masses of humanity joined with demon kind to fight a common enemy. The only thing missing was the common enemy.
"Something better happen soon," Xander muttered, his feet nervously shuffling the ground, "cause I'm thinking this is kind of anticlimactic as far as fighting big evil goes."
"Not to mention hell on the nerves," Oz said quietly, his face a stoic mask as always.
"I don't know," Buffy said weakly, "I didn't really think about this part. I figured that after all the prophecies and natural disasters, finding them would kind of be the easy part." She raised her hands in supplication under the weight of her friends' expectant looks, "it's not like I thought there'd be a pillar of light or anything," to her annoyance she found herself squirming under their looks. "I mean, would a guiding presence be too much to ask for?"
"They'll be at the old churchyard."
"Something like that?" Oz asked dryly as they all spun around.
"I vote we wait for the pillar of light," Buffy snarled irritably as she glared at the calm Elder. "You've developed this nasty little habit of showing up," she fondled her stake lovingly, "mind if I take care of that for you?"
"How do you know?" Giles demanded, ignoring his charge's implied threat.
The raven haired Elder simply shrugged, "it's where she appeared all those years ago. And to Angelus, coming into power before the church would only mean that much greater a triumph. Besides," he added dryly at their appreciative looks, "the prophecies foretold of that place years ago."
The Watcher frowned at the thought of a prophecy escaping him, "what prophecies?" He demanded, "the Watcher's Council hadn't informed me of any prophecies."
A slight smile appeared on the sensual lips, vanishing before taking any real hold on the regal features, "it just did," Gerrico replied blandly, his blue eyes glimmering as the Watcher swallowed uncomfortably. He looked around at the tremulous mass of humanity separated by the thin layer of the Slayer and her friends from the dozen vampires mulling around their bleached blond leader. He nodded in satisfaction, "we'd better get this army of yours moving if you're still set on doing this."
Buffy stared at him, her eyes going wide as she took in his infuriatingly composed features, "what do you mean 'we'?"
"You didn't think I'd let you go through this alone, did you?" The Elder asked innocently.
He was having way too much fun with this, Buffy decided, "nothing is truly immortal," she reminded him coldly.
"I think it's high time I put that to the test," Gerrico replied grimly, his luminous eyes shining despite the dark reality of his words. With that he turned to aid with the Herculean task of herding the masses towards their intended destination.
Buffy's eyes followed the lithe figure till he disappeared from sight entirely among the undulating throng. She jumped slightly when a slender hand closed around her wrist. "You didn't mention he was a hottie," the cheerleader whispered urgently.
"Cordy," Buffy replied exasperatedly, "he's over two thousand years old."
A dark eyebrow raised pointedly, "two thousand, two hundred, what's a little necrophilia between old friends?" The pretty brunette hurried on as she spotted her boyfriend, leaving the mortified Slayer alone to ponder over that little tidbit of reality.
"Stop!" Buffy cried out suddenly. Behind her slight form her makeshift army stumbled to a halt, bumping into each other with disgruntled surprise.
"What is it, Buffy?" Giles asked tensely, his gray eyes nervously peering through the darkness.
"I don't know," the tiny Slayer admitted quietly. The unnatural mix of demons with humans had played havoc with her senses all through their march. Spike, a leader by nature and a vampire master by experience, had quickly deserted his post at the human army's flank by his minions' side and had come to join Buffy at the front, much to her annoyance. As a result not only did the nervous Slayer have a master vampire breathing down her neck, but his suddenly leaderless cronies had neatly immersed themselves deep within the human ranks. Spike was quick to assure her that not a single human would be harmed, but still Buffy's senses were shrieking against the unnaturalness of the situation.
"What is it, Slayer?" Spike demanded harshly from behind, "why have we stopped?"
Buffy turned on him, her nerves standing on end, "if you'd back away from me for two seconds then maybe I could tell you!" She retorted ruthlessly. She turned away, missing the insulted expression on the pale vampire's face. She stared hard into the unforgiving darkness ahead, her eyes forcing, twisting the bleak shadows to form the shapes her other, more reliable senses were telling her were out there. Suddenly, after several long strenuous moments it happened. "That back stabbing son of a bi..."
"Easy, child," came the familiar voice from the darkness beside her.
Buffy whipped around, her fists raised to strike, "you set us up!" She hissed, a sharp stake flicking into her small fist. "I can't believe I let myself trust you again."
A tiny glimmer of annoyance flared in Gerrico's startling blue eyes, but was quickly quenched. "You did so with good cause. If you'd just let me explain..."
"Explain what?" Buffy snarled, taking a threatening step towards the unarmed elder. The shadows in the distance seemed to undulate somehow, writhe together to take on a human shape. Several human shapes. "That this is a trap? That you've brought us here to stop us with your vampire army? You've been against this all along, I should have known you wouldn't change your mind just like that!"
The elder rolled his eyes with disgust and nearly missed the lightning quick lunge the Slayer made at his unprotected chest. He ducked to the side with cat like grace, the sharp wooden stake missing his heart by a hairsbreadth, then whipped around to face his attacker, his blue eyes blazing. "You're making your army nervous, Slayer," he hissed angrily. His fingers grabbed at her stake in a flurry of motion, "a good leader of men wouldn't do that." The long fingers casually smashed the stake to splinters as they closed into an angry fist.
The shadowy shapes grew closer, their footsteps ringing in the hushed silence, signaling the approach of dozens of people. "Buffy, I'd like you to meet my army," Gerrico said lightly, all traces of his previous rage gone from his voice. "They're here to join us."
"I-I don't understand," Buffy murmured as she took in the several dozen stony-faced vampires standing solemnly before her.
"I think I do," Spike snarled coming to stand beside the bewildered Slayer. "What, my lads weren't good enough for you, you had to bring your own?" He demanded, his eyes flashing golden in the darkness.
The elder shrugged, but the mirth returned to his blue eyes, "I'm sure they're fine, Spike. But the prophecy did say 'an army of human and demon kind stood before her'. I'd hardly call the lot you've got there an army."
"So you brought some backup," Giles muttered, understanding dawning on him even as he eyed the demon horde nervously. "They do know they're here to assist us I suppose?" He asked, as a vampire snarled his way.
"They know why there here," Gerrico assured the anxious Watcher, humor still gleaming in his eyes. "Why don't we go join them?" He suggested casually as the human army tittered uneasily.
"It's not my fault there's so few of us," Buffy heard Spike complaining to the elder as they pushed forward to greet the new addition to the vast human army. "It's the Slayer. I kept making minions and she kept dusting them. It's impossible to get anything done when you've got that going against you." She vaguely heard Gerrico's muttered sympathies as the human masses swept past her, swallowed her whole, to follow the master vampire and the former demon.
Notes: Contains spoilers from BtVS seasons one through three.
Feedback: Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.
Chapter Sixteen
They'd been going through volume after dusty volume for hours with no luck. Sighing dejectedly, Buffy silently shut the huge tome she'd been trying to read. It was no use, the words were starting to jumble all together, looking suspiciously like a foreign tongue. Suddenly curious, Buffy turned the book to its side to reveal that that was indeed the case. She shook her head, she really needed to get some sleep. Jealously, she peered over at the slightly snoring Xander and the perfect as always Cordelia, both fast asleep for the past hour. Well, it could be worse, she thought, glancing at the increasingly agitated vampire sitting across from her. While the two teens slept peacefully he'd been casting nervous glances at the graying skies out the window, knowing full well that soon enough he'll be trapped. Got to hand it to him, though, Buffy thought, he didn't once complain or try to run away. She piously decided to ignore the fact that at this point there was really nowhere to run.
She jumped slightly as a soft hand rested gently on her shoulder. "Watcha thinking?" Willow asked quietly.
Buffy shrugged, "just how it's all coming together, how everybody's here to help." Well, almost everybody.
Willow gave her a reassuring smile, "he'll get over it, Buffy. You're too important to him for him not to."
"Yeah, I just hope it happens before," she motioned towards the books spread around the mostly burned out candles, "this does."
"This is hard for him," the redhead replied, "but you know Giles, he always pulls through." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, "besides, it's almost morning. Nothing bad ever happens in the morning."
"Besides school," Buffy reminded her.
"And waking up early," Xander added. He yawned and sleepily scratched his tummy, "anybody got food?"
"Not to mention turning into a smoldering pile of ashes," Spike said. They stared at him. "Things that happen in the morning, right?"
"A total solar eclipse," Giles said quietly from the doorway. They gaped at him.
"Um," Xander tried, "things that happen in the morning?"
"Giles," Buffy whispered softly, reverently.
He didn't look at her. She could see the tension in his body as he moved further into the library. Had he been out all night, she wondered then shuddered at the thought. If something had happened to him that would have been her fault too.
"There's going to be a solar eclipse later on today," he told them all, "I can only assume that's when it's all going to happen."
They stared at him. "T-today?" Willow echoed.
Spike's eyes narrowed dangerously as he slammed his book shut, "how do you know?" The blond vampire demanded.
"I'm a Watcher," Giles replied, "I can read the portents in the sky. It took me awhile, but I finally looked up," he added at their blank looks.
"How do you know it's going to happen then, you bloody wanker?" Spike hissed.
"Let's see," Xander supplied sardonically, his features visibly pale, "a major earthquake, a solar eclipse. Nope, just a coincidence, nothing wrong with that picture."
"Mom!" Buffy suddenly cried out making everyone jump, "I've got to tell mom to get the kids out of here!"
"I'll do it," Willow volunteered, she glanced out the window at the rapidly brightening sky, "it's going to take the parents awhile to get the kids ready, but I'll have them out by the time the sun rises." Buffy nodded her thanks as the redhead quickly left the library.
"I'm bloody well trapped in here till this thing goes down," Spike growled, his eyes glimmering a dangerous gold.
"Yes, you are," Giles confirmed callously. "But there's something you can do about it."
The vampire and Watcher locked eyes as understanding flowed between the two sworn enemies. In the end it was the golden eyes that broke away, "I'll go teach the minions the curse," Spike said softly, his demeanor seemed cowed somehow. "Should have made brighter minions," his grumbling voice wafted through the swinging doors, "it'll probably take a lifetime just to pound the words into their thick skulls."
"Giles, I," Buffy started when the library doors stopped swinging.
He raised his hand to stop her, "Buffy, if we get through this..."
"You know," Xander cut in, "some optimism right about now wouldn't be of the bad."
"When we get through this," the librarian corrected, "I promise we'll have a nice, long discussion about the virtue of honesty, especially where your Watcher is concerned."
Buffy swallowed hard, "by discussion you mean you'll talk and I'll listen, don't you?" She asked ruefully.
"And I'll probably repeat myself several times," he deadpanned, "loudly. But right now we have more pressing issues to consider." He looked around at the serious young faces, "it's all coming together sooner than we expected." He glanced at the burnt out candles and the books scattered across the floor, "I take it you haven't managed to come up with anything new."
"If by anything new you mean something that could get us out of this in one piece then I'm rooting for a big no," Xander grumbled.
Giles nodded wearily, "I thought as much. It's probably just as well anyway." They stared at him. "Angel was the one predestined to defeat Cirta," the tired Watcher explained gently, "we can't do anymore than is humanly possible, and that would be locking her out of human consciousness for as long as we can." He peered at the shocked young faces, his determined expression discouraging any arguments. "Go, be with your families. There's nothing you can do here now."
"You are family," Buffy murmured quietly.
Touched beyond words, Giles hastily took off his glasses and concentrated on rubbing at the lenses vigorously. He could feel tears forming in his weary eyes, but quickly blinked them away unsure whether he would be weeping for himself or for the children he had come to care for.
"Buffy, your mom wants to see you before she leaves with the kids," Willow said as she stepped into the tension of the library. "What'd I miss?" She asked accusingly as she glared into her friends' troubled faces.
"Nothing, Will," Buffy replied, giving the redhead a reassuring smile, "I'll see you in a bit." She called softly as she left the sanctuary of the library to say goodbye to her mother.
Buffy glanced out the window at the sparkling blue sky for the umpteenth time that morning.
"Are you sure you didn't misread the stars, Giles?" Xander asked casually making the Slayer grit her teeth irritably. Xander had been asking that question almost as many times as she'd been glancing out the window.
"Yes, I'm absolutely sure, Xander," came the Watcher's testy reply.
"You don't have to get all snippy about it," Xander retorted, "all I'm saying is mistakes happen. I mean you've been busy watching the ground for so long looking for creepy crawlers that you probably didn't get a chance to look up at the sky too often. People do get out of practice, you know. It didn't even have to be your fault," the boy hurried on as the Watcher's gray eyes narrowed dangerously, "it could have been a celestial version of a typo."
Buffy sighed as she let Xander's voice wash over her. The ordeal of saying goodbye to her mother had left her feeling emotionally battered and in desperate need of chocolate. They'd both wept, as was expected, and told one another the truths they both needed to hear. They spoke of love and acceptance and forgiveness. They embraced with a closeness only mother and daughter can share and in the end Buffy felt her heart shatter yet again as she watched her mother leave.
"This one time," Xander was saying, "I misunderstood an entire test because I didn't flip the page over. I'm just saying things happen."
"The sky does not flip over, Xander," Giles said coolly.
Buffy wondered idly if that was what postal workers sounded like right before deteriorating into their fully understandable, and somewhat expected, killing spree. With a sigh she went back to staring at the clear blue sky.
"But space is curved," Xander argued.
With something that sounded suspiciously like a growl the reserved librarian threw his hands in the air in frustration. "I wish it would bloody well start already," he grumbled, glaring furiously at the sky as if it was purposefully mocking him.
Buffy fervently agreed with him. The waiting was becoming unbearable, driving their tension to unexplored levels. Cordelia had managed to pick a fight with just about everyone in the room while Xander busied himself by annoying those who refused to acknowledge the May Queen. Oz and Willow had fought and reconciled three times and Buffy was fairly certain that Oz wasn't even aware of at least two of the three arguments.
She sighed and stared out the window once again. "Oh, just go ahead and eclipse already," she grumbled.
"Is that even a verb?" Cordelia inquired.
Buffy glanced over at the brunette's less than innocent expression, "I am so not taking grammar lessons from you," she snapped irritably. "Why don't you go do something productive," she hurried on as the May Queen opened her mouth to deliver a scalding retort, "and keep Xander busy. I hear there's a utility closet that's just become available." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth at the sound of the small gasp coming from her best friend. She turned around sharply to catch the furious blush creeping down the redhead's usually pale features. So that's how they made up that last time, Buffy thought to herself, I was wondering what took them so long.
"I think I've pretty much done my share around here," Cordelia's sharp voice cut smoothly through the Slayer's reverie. "What with the slaying when you ran away, and the getting Angel out of hell bit. It took me an hour to get the reek of those stinky herbs out of my hair! Not to mention my sheep speech! I'd like to see you try to get by without that."
"Um, guys?" Oz asked quietly.
"What on earth is a sheep speech?" Giles asked Xander in exasperation.
The teenager merely shrugged in reply.
"Guys." Oz tried again.
"I mean without that," the angry teen pushed on, "it'd been just us mumbling words nobody understood. How pathetic is that? Everybody would have laughed their asses off right up until we all got sucked into a fiery hell."
"As always, thanks for the lovely mental image," Xander grumbled.
"But no," Cordelia went on, her voice rising in a shrill crescendo, "this way, thanks to ME, we all get to die horribly together. And what do I get in return? No respect, no love. Where's the love, people?"
"Guys!" Oz yelled before Cordelia could catch her breath. "Um," he went on quietly as they all turned to stare at him, "it's kind of dark for noon, don't you think?"
Five heads simultaneously whipped around to stare out the window. They all looked on quietly, each lost in their own thoughts as the dark shadows outside slowly defeated the bright day.
"It has begun," Giles said solemnly, his voice a morbid affirmation to any hesitations running through his young charges' minds.
"Well, finally," Cordelia breathed shrilly, breaking them out of the strange trance that seemed to overtake them all.
Buffy shook herself out of her stupor, her mind automatically drawing on her instincts for survival. "Xander, you, Willow, Cordelia and Oz go round up everybody. Tell them it's time. Giles, you come with me to get Spike and his," she swallowed hard, "friends," she grumbled, satisfied that she managed to keep most of the hostility out of her voice. "We'd better bring stakes," she added as an afterthought.
"You know," Xander muttered as he gathered his things, "it's kind of considered impolite to threaten someone who's on your side."
Buffy shrugged as Giles gathered their weapons, "must've skipped that class in finishing school. Besides," she added, brandishing an evil looking crossbow, "it's just a threat. We're going to need all the lips we can get." She felt a slow flush creep up her face as they all stopped what they were doing to stare at her. "And I am just now realizing how bad that sounded," she muttered. "Meet us in the schoolyard as soon as you can," she said, already pushing through the swinging doors with her Watcher close at her heels.
"Now what?" Willow asked her friend quietly. Buffy simply stared at her helplessly. Everything was ready, they had the eclipse, the curse, the masses of humanity joined with demon kind to fight a common enemy. The only thing missing was the common enemy.
"Something better happen soon," Xander muttered, his feet nervously shuffling the ground, "cause I'm thinking this is kind of anticlimactic as far as fighting big evil goes."
"Not to mention hell on the nerves," Oz said quietly, his face a stoic mask as always.
"I don't know," Buffy said weakly, "I didn't really think about this part. I figured that after all the prophecies and natural disasters, finding them would kind of be the easy part." She raised her hands in supplication under the weight of her friends' expectant looks, "it's not like I thought there'd be a pillar of light or anything," to her annoyance she found herself squirming under their looks. "I mean, would a guiding presence be too much to ask for?"
"They'll be at the old churchyard."
"Something like that?" Oz asked dryly as they all spun around.
"I vote we wait for the pillar of light," Buffy snarled irritably as she glared at the calm Elder. "You've developed this nasty little habit of showing up," she fondled her stake lovingly, "mind if I take care of that for you?"
"How do you know?" Giles demanded, ignoring his charge's implied threat.
The raven haired Elder simply shrugged, "it's where she appeared all those years ago. And to Angelus, coming into power before the church would only mean that much greater a triumph. Besides," he added dryly at their appreciative looks, "the prophecies foretold of that place years ago."
The Watcher frowned at the thought of a prophecy escaping him, "what prophecies?" He demanded, "the Watcher's Council hadn't informed me of any prophecies."
A slight smile appeared on the sensual lips, vanishing before taking any real hold on the regal features, "it just did," Gerrico replied blandly, his blue eyes glimmering as the Watcher swallowed uncomfortably. He looked around at the tremulous mass of humanity separated by the thin layer of the Slayer and her friends from the dozen vampires mulling around their bleached blond leader. He nodded in satisfaction, "we'd better get this army of yours moving if you're still set on doing this."
Buffy stared at him, her eyes going wide as she took in his infuriatingly composed features, "what do you mean 'we'?"
"You didn't think I'd let you go through this alone, did you?" The Elder asked innocently.
He was having way too much fun with this, Buffy decided, "nothing is truly immortal," she reminded him coldly.
"I think it's high time I put that to the test," Gerrico replied grimly, his luminous eyes shining despite the dark reality of his words. With that he turned to aid with the Herculean task of herding the masses towards their intended destination.
Buffy's eyes followed the lithe figure till he disappeared from sight entirely among the undulating throng. She jumped slightly when a slender hand closed around her wrist. "You didn't mention he was a hottie," the cheerleader whispered urgently.
"Cordy," Buffy replied exasperatedly, "he's over two thousand years old."
A dark eyebrow raised pointedly, "two thousand, two hundred, what's a little necrophilia between old friends?" The pretty brunette hurried on as she spotted her boyfriend, leaving the mortified Slayer alone to ponder over that little tidbit of reality.
"Stop!" Buffy cried out suddenly. Behind her slight form her makeshift army stumbled to a halt, bumping into each other with disgruntled surprise.
"What is it, Buffy?" Giles asked tensely, his gray eyes nervously peering through the darkness.
"I don't know," the tiny Slayer admitted quietly. The unnatural mix of demons with humans had played havoc with her senses all through their march. Spike, a leader by nature and a vampire master by experience, had quickly deserted his post at the human army's flank by his minions' side and had come to join Buffy at the front, much to her annoyance. As a result not only did the nervous Slayer have a master vampire breathing down her neck, but his suddenly leaderless cronies had neatly immersed themselves deep within the human ranks. Spike was quick to assure her that not a single human would be harmed, but still Buffy's senses were shrieking against the unnaturalness of the situation.
"What is it, Slayer?" Spike demanded harshly from behind, "why have we stopped?"
Buffy turned on him, her nerves standing on end, "if you'd back away from me for two seconds then maybe I could tell you!" She retorted ruthlessly. She turned away, missing the insulted expression on the pale vampire's face. She stared hard into the unforgiving darkness ahead, her eyes forcing, twisting the bleak shadows to form the shapes her other, more reliable senses were telling her were out there. Suddenly, after several long strenuous moments it happened. "That back stabbing son of a bi..."
"Easy, child," came the familiar voice from the darkness beside her.
Buffy whipped around, her fists raised to strike, "you set us up!" She hissed, a sharp stake flicking into her small fist. "I can't believe I let myself trust you again."
A tiny glimmer of annoyance flared in Gerrico's startling blue eyes, but was quickly quenched. "You did so with good cause. If you'd just let me explain..."
"Explain what?" Buffy snarled, taking a threatening step towards the unarmed elder. The shadows in the distance seemed to undulate somehow, writhe together to take on a human shape. Several human shapes. "That this is a trap? That you've brought us here to stop us with your vampire army? You've been against this all along, I should have known you wouldn't change your mind just like that!"
The elder rolled his eyes with disgust and nearly missed the lightning quick lunge the Slayer made at his unprotected chest. He ducked to the side with cat like grace, the sharp wooden stake missing his heart by a hairsbreadth, then whipped around to face his attacker, his blue eyes blazing. "You're making your army nervous, Slayer," he hissed angrily. His fingers grabbed at her stake in a flurry of motion, "a good leader of men wouldn't do that." The long fingers casually smashed the stake to splinters as they closed into an angry fist.
The shadowy shapes grew closer, their footsteps ringing in the hushed silence, signaling the approach of dozens of people. "Buffy, I'd like you to meet my army," Gerrico said lightly, all traces of his previous rage gone from his voice. "They're here to join us."
"I-I don't understand," Buffy murmured as she took in the several dozen stony-faced vampires standing solemnly before her.
"I think I do," Spike snarled coming to stand beside the bewildered Slayer. "What, my lads weren't good enough for you, you had to bring your own?" He demanded, his eyes flashing golden in the darkness.
The elder shrugged, but the mirth returned to his blue eyes, "I'm sure they're fine, Spike. But the prophecy did say 'an army of human and demon kind stood before her'. I'd hardly call the lot you've got there an army."
"So you brought some backup," Giles muttered, understanding dawning on him even as he eyed the demon horde nervously. "They do know they're here to assist us I suppose?" He asked, as a vampire snarled his way.
"They know why there here," Gerrico assured the anxious Watcher, humor still gleaming in his eyes. "Why don't we go join them?" He suggested casually as the human army tittered uneasily.
"It's not my fault there's so few of us," Buffy heard Spike complaining to the elder as they pushed forward to greet the new addition to the vast human army. "It's the Slayer. I kept making minions and she kept dusting them. It's impossible to get anything done when you've got that going against you." She vaguely heard Gerrico's muttered sympathies as the human masses swept past her, swallowed her whole, to follow the master vampire and the former demon.