CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
The Stand Against the Fire Demons
Just as they were finishing dinner, Anya and Xander came in with Jonathan in tow. Jonathan was dressed in dark comfortable clothes like the rest of them, but he did not look happy. To lighten things up, Xander was about to make some witty remark about smoking out the Fire demons. But when he saw Dawn's friend Zachary he thought better of it. He didn't want to be the one responsible for scaring off the nice normal young man. There seemed to be so few normal people in their circle.
As promised that morning, Zachary and Dawn took William off to the drug store to see if they could find him some kind of spectacles. William was so happy at the prospect of being able to see clearly again, that he hardly wondered about everybody gathering in the livingroom. He chattered happily with the two teenagers as he walked out and down the street.
Buffy looked after him longingly. She could have used his strength against the Fire demons that night. But it was more than that. It was him she missed, his wisecracks, and his insistence on giving his opinions. Who would watch her back tonight? Who would dive in when needed without waiting for instructions from her? She complained about Spike's interference, but he was the one person in the Scoobies that she didn't feel she had to keep an eye on. And now she had Jonathan to watch too.
Buffy and Willow fetched four crossbows from the weapon collection and handed one to everybody but Tara. "You all shoot whatever Fire demons the Shadows can't take out," Buffy said. "They're not the most physical of fighters, so they'll probably retreat after you wound them. You don't need to shoot to kill. Hit them anywhere. It'll get the point across. Tara, I need you to perform a spell to give us some light in the area. That whole block seems to be without electricity now."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Jonathan said, holding up his right hand. "I totally object. "I don't know how to use one of these." He held the crossbow out away from himself as if it might bite him. "And I'm not sure I want to go up against a whole load of Fire demons."
"It's like I told you," Xander said, clapping his arm strongly around Jonathan's back and looming over him. "Your friend Warren took out our second set of muscles. So, till he gets better, YOU are gonna be taking his place."
"But . . . Demons that can shoot fire jets?"
"I'll take out as many of the jets as I can and switch them over to the tamer fireballs that the Shadows can dematerialize around," Buffy said. "Then the Shadows will take it from there."
"How are you gonna do it?" Jonathan asked, looking at her empty hands. She was the only one standing there without a weapon besides Tara.
"Oh, almost forgot!" Buffy said. "I have to get my gun. Thanks for reminding me. Jonathan, you have a choice. You can either shoot the crossbow, or you can help Tara maintain the magical lighting. You know your way around a spell, if I remember correctly."
"Sure, magic I can do. But this crossbow thingy . . ."
"Fine, you hang back with Tara then. But bring the crossbow just in case."
While Buffy ran upstairs to get the ray gun, Anya gave Jonathan a short course on firing a crossbow. "The most important thing to remember," she said, "is to replace the arrow as quickly as possible. Otherwise the bad guys have time to reach you before you can shoot again."
"I'm not feeling comforted here," Jonathan said.
"Don't worry. The Fire demons can't move when they're shooting out fire jets, which makes them easier to hit. And when Buffy makes the jets go out, they'll be surprised and probably won't attack you directly. If it does come down to actual fighting, you'll be fine. Fire demons are rotten fighters, like Buffy said. You can take 'em out with a couple of punches."
"Really?" This thought was almost attractive to Jonathan.
"You'll be fine," Anya said. "But just to be sure, stay behind me."
When Jonathan saw Buffy come down with the ray gun, his eyes widened with fear. "What are you going to do with that?" he said backing up.
"This is what I'm going to use to take out the fire jets." Buffy hefted the gun from one hand to the other, enjoying its weight. "Willow fixed it to transfer the new Fire demons powers into the diamond and then back out at the Fire demon, thus canceling the spell."
"Speaking of the diamond," Willow said, "do you have it?"
"Right here," Buffy said, fishing it out of her pocket. She held it up to the light for everyone to see. "I kinda like how it sparkles."
"You shouldn't be holding that!" Jonathan said. "It's got a curse on it . . . doesn't it?"
"Indeed it does," Buffy said, putting it back in her pocket. "Your friend Warren proved that. But it can't hurt me."
Anya leaned in close to Jonathan and whispered, "That's cos she's not mortal anymore."
"Oh," Jonathan said. It was sort of a breathy exclamation. He was feeling lightheaded, as if he might be about to faint.
"Let's go!" Buffy said. And they filed outside to Xander's car.
They parked several blocks away from the building where Masichuvio and the other Shadows were making their last stand. The window she had broken a couple of days before had a Shadow sentry standing next to it when they climbed in. Masichuvio stepped out of the darkness as they entered.
"Mas," Buffy said, stepping up to him, "I brought some friends to help me tonight. Have you heard anything from the Fire demons?"
"No. It has been quiet," the Shadow said in his moany voice. "But we did not think they would come last night. Tonight or tomorrow perhaps. Maybe both."
"You still have that downstairs door locked, right?"
"Yes. But their fire jets will burn through it after a while."
"Maybe we should go down and meet them on their way up."
"No. The passage is long and narrow. Their fire jets will cause more damage to us as they bounce off the walls. We are better off out in the open." He gestured to the wide lobby area around them.
"Then I guess we wait here for 'em," Buffy said with a nod. She turned to her crew. "Tara, you and Jonathan stay to the back and be ready to give us light."
Tara nodded and pulled Jonathan off to discuss what spell they would use.
"The rest of you scatter around just behind me and start shooting when I say." Buffy took out the diamond and pushed it into place. "OK. All we do now is wait."
- - - - - - - - - -
The glasses in the display case at the drug store all had wire frames. Zachary patiently helped William try on one pair after another to see which one worked. Dawn watched them, feeling fonder of her new boyfriend by the minute. He was treating William with such gentleness and understanding. All the discomfort he'd felt around Spike was gone and he had fully accepted this new rendition. Zachary was just so wonderful, with his curly brown hair and the cute little freckle near his upper lip and the rosy cheeks. She sighed the deep sigh of a teenager falling in love.
It occurred to her as she watched the two men together that Spike's hair was curlier than usual, more like Zachary's. William didn't believe in hair gel the way Spike did evidently. He obviously preferred the natural look.
"This is the pair," William exclaimed. "These are absolutely perfect." He picked up a box of band-aids that was on a nearby shelf and read the back. "These are practically as good as my old pair. Even small print, will be no problem in these."
"Would you like to see how you look in a mirror?" Zachary said, reaching for the hand mirror that was lying on the counter for just that purpose.
Dawn was about to jump in with an excuse, but she didn't have to. William was not interested in his looks. "Oh, no. Not necessary. I'm sure they look perfectly fine."
"Well, then, I'll buy them for you," Dawn said. "My gift."
"There's one of your mother's books that I am especially looking forward to reading," William said excitedly. "And she had a wonderful book of poems."
"Well, you can look at them both tonight," Dawn said.
"Yes. Yes, indeed I shall."
As they walked back to Buffy's, the two men discussed further the narrative poem that Zachary had written for composition class. William was impressed with it. He was convinced that the young man should become a writer and he told him so.
"Not everyone has such a facility with words," William said. "It is a rare gift. And if I were you, I would certainly plan on taking up writing as your life's profession."
Dawn hardly said anything. She just basked in the company of the two men she loved best.
When they reached the porch, William discreetly said goodnight to Zachary and slipped inside, leaving the young couple to themselves.
"Well, goodnight," Dawn said, expectantly.
"We're still on for the movies tomorrow, right?" Zachary asked, scraping his sneaker along the ground.
"Absolutely. Thanks an awful lot for being so nice to William. I appreciate it."
"No problem. He's a nice guy. Funny he's so different than Spike. I kinda hope he stays like this."
"Yeah, well, I don't know if my sister would agree with you," Dawn laughed.
Zachary's eyes lighted on Dawn's smile as he tried to memorize just what muscles moved when on her lips to make it happen. Before he knew it, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, gently at first, then a little more insistently. Like William the night before, he was startled at the pull he felt.
"Good night," Dawn said.
"Yeah," he said not moving.
She gave him another smile and then went inside.
William was waiting right at the door for her. "So, your sister asked me to help you with your composition for school. Shall we get to work, then?"
"What?" Dawn asked. She was still lost in Zachary's kiss.
"That composition. Zachary is quite beautifully prepared. But yours is not. I think we should begin drafting some ideas." William traveled to a grouping of pictures in the livingroom and picked up a framed one of Joyce and her two daughters. "Is this your mother?" he asked holding it up.
"Yes."
"She was a very beautiful woman. Why don't you write about her?"
"What?"
"Well, the composition is supposed to be about something or someone important to you, is it not?"
"Well, yeah but . . ."
"Young Zachary's is a patriotic send up of your revolutionary war, written from the viewpoint of a young soldier. It's very realistic with all the blood and dirt. Yet still he is able to find the nobility in the battle. You can find nobility as well. But in this case, in the woman whom you knew so well."
"I don't think I can do that."
"Nonsense, of course you can. Let's go in now and make up some notes. We'll both talk about our mothers and tell each other what we loved best about them."
"William, I don't know . . ."
But he would brook no opposition. He firmly directed her into the livingroom and fetched the big three ring binder that she kept most of her homework in from the place on the floor in the corner where she'd left it. "Here we are," he said as he opened it in front of her. Then he took the seat where Zachary usually sat and leaned forward over the table. "Now what is your favorite memory about your mother? Mine is just after my father died. She was faced with many adversities at that time. But she never complained. She remained stalwart through it all and never wavered in her patience with me, even though I know now that she was under enormous strain."
"Well," Dawn said slowly. "When my parents split up, my mom was a lot like that. Course, my dad didn't die. But considering how often we see him he might as well have . . ."
- - - - - - - - - -
It was almost one o'clock in the morning when the Fire demons began to attack. The Shadows heard them first. Their sense of hearing was very acute and they could hear their enemies yelling in the tunnels below before Buffy and the Scoobies could. Soon the fire door to the basement was under attack. It took a while, but the door finally gave way under the fire jets. Then a small army of gray and orange demons pushed their way in.
Buffy gave the order for Tara and Jonathan to use their lighting spell. Over the heads of the advancing Fire demons a greenish light appeared in the form of a cloud. It wasn't a bright light because that would have hurt the Shadows.
"Shoot!" Buffy called as the first group of demons came charging in.
This immediate round of arrows gave the Shadows and their allies a much needed advantage. After the first three Fire demons were hit, they immediately tried to turn back. The demons coming behind them were thus thrown off their game. Buffy was able to turn off one fire jet after another. Then the Shadows ran in and fought them hand to hand.
Several waves of Fire demons tried to charge in from the stairs. But they were all turned back. The Scoobies had to do a little of the fighting. After Buffy negated most of their fire jets, the Fire demons decided to try rushing their enemies. Buffy had to maintain control of the ray gun because she couldn't risk letting it get captured. So, it was mostly Xander and Jonathan who found themselves fighting. Jonathan wasn't happy about it at first, but the Fire demons were such rotten fighters that he soon found himself rather liking it. Tara was able to maintain the magic lighting by herself because the dim lighting didn't require much power.
Finally, the Fire demons retreated back down the stairs and off into the underground tunnels beneath the avenue. Buffy and Xander helped Masichuvio and his people move several pieces of furniture and scrap metal in front of the basement door to act as a barricade.
"They won't return tonight," Masichuvio said. "Like us, they tire easily. And their fire jets seem to use a lot of energy. They will come back tomorrow, though, of that I am sure."
"Then we will too," Buffy promised.
Meanwhile underground, the Fire demons were making their way towards the basement of the warehouse at number 666. They were grumbling and unhappy. It was the first battle they had lost to the Shadows in a long time. They knew it had been the Slayer's help that had made the difference.
Ledic was there as well. But since he was one of the older members of the group, they had made him march to the rear. His main job was to collect the wounded and bring them back to the basement of the warehouse. Since the Scoobies had shot arrows at the first Fire demons that came up, there had been casualties very early. Ledic never actually made it to the fighting before the retreat was called. But he had been able to help three of his wounded comrades away to safety so that those trained in the healing arts could tend to them.
So many injuries, Ledic thought. And there would be more. This was where their support of Doc and Rack would lead them. He knew that. The Fire demons would do the fighting and the dying and those others would reap the benefits. Unlike the rest of his kind, he did not delude himself into believing that they would share in the power of Doc and Rack. He knew they considered the Fire demons to be beneath them. So instead they would become their servants . . . their lackeys. Nothing more. To Ledic, this new power they'd been given was not equal to the loss of their freedom.
Even now, their masters were excluding them. Rack and his coven were in the process of preparing the warehouse for the Imbolc celebration in two and a half weeks. They were cleaning and purifying the area. As a result, the Fire demons were not allowed in the warehouse proper anymore. That was just one example of how things were going to be. Ledic's people were not considered clean enough to walk within their temple.
Originally, Ledic had objected to this alliance. He reminded the others that the Fire demons were a proud people who had always been independent. He told them that they should remain so. But no one had listened to him. Now what he feared was coming to pass. There were many injuries that night. But there would be more. So far the Slayer had only used arrows against them. But soon Rack would raise the great Imbolc fires against the night sky. What would the Slayer and the humans of the city do then? How many Fire demons would die in that great battle? And even if their side won, the Fire demons would still be nothing but slaves.
Ledic realized that it was time to seek out the Slayer.
- - - - - - - - - -
It was very late when Buffy, Tara, and Willow got home. Dawn had been in bed for hours and William was asleep on the couch. They tried to be quiet, but the extra weapons they were carrying kept hitting against things in the semi-darkness. Buffy was forced to switch on the hall lights, which roused William.
"Who's there?" William called in a shaky voice from the couch.
"It's OK," Buffy answered. "It's just us."
"We'll put these away," Willow said, referring to the two crossbows that she and Tara were each carrying. "Then we'll go to bed."
"You sure?" Buffy asked. "I could use a snack. You wanna join me?"
"No, I don't think so," Tara said.
"OK. I'll see you in the morning then."
"Yeah, good night."
Buffy went off to the kitchen while the other two went upstairs. She left the ray gun on the sideboard, switched on the light, and started rummaging in the refrigerator. Meat. That's what she wanted right then. There were a couple of pieces of roast beef left over from dinner.
As she was making her sandwich, William toddled in from the livingroom, a sheet wrapped modestly around his shoulders. He had worn clothes to bed, yet because he was using them as pajamas, he considered it improper for them to be seen by Buffy. "Where have you been?" he asked, nervously eyeing the gun on the counter. "You came in with so many weapons."
"We had a job to do," Buffy said, cutting her sandwich.
"What kind of job needs crossbows?"
"Yeah, well. It was sort of a peace keeping job." She took a bite of her sandwich and then sat down at the counter island.
"Peace keeping? What does that mean?"
Buffy looked at the fearful blue eyes on the other side of William's new glasses. At that hour of the night it seemed silly to carry on a pretense about social work. William was going to find out what they did sooner or later. "A peace keeper is sort of a policeman. We keep the peace in the demon world."
"Demon world?"
"Yes. The group we fought against tonight call themselves Fire demons. We were helping this other group of demons called the Shadows to keep their home."
William's eyebrows knitted together as he tried to understand. "That sounds like horrible work for a woman. Shouldn't the police be handling that?"
"I wish they would. But it's my job. I'm what they call a Slayer. I'm stronger than ordinary women. I can't be killed as easily and I heal faster. We're in a town where there's a large amount of evil, see?" Buffy took a deep drink of her soda and moved on to the second half of her sandwich. "It's my job to keep it in check. All my friends help me."
William pushed his glasses back up his nose and tightened his grip on the sheet. "I can't believe you'd do such things. No lady should do such things." He stressed the word lady in an odd tone.
For the first time Buffy really looked up at him. She saw the stiffness in his stance and the expression of revulsion on his face. He seemed to want to run away from her. She knew gentle William would be taken aback by all this demon fighting, but she never expected him to be disgusted by her.
"And . . . you can even eat? I . . . I'm going back to bed now," William said, desperately breaking away.
Sitting alone in the quiet kitchen, Buffy felt the sting of hot tears rush to her eyes. She realized then that it was the vampire in Spike that had always fought at her side so fearlessly and that understood her appetites so well. It was probably the vampire also that came across with the witty remarks and the annoying opinions. She'd sort of suspected that. But seeing the more human side of her boyfriend look at her that way, as if he were almost nauseated by her, that hurt terribly. Somehow, she couldn't finish her sandwich.
Upstairs in the master bedroom, Willow and Tara were facing some things of their own. Willow was getting ready for bed, avoiding her lover's face because she knew what was coming. Tara was still dressed, sitting in the chair next to the bed brushing her hair. Her feet were drawn up under her and her hands felt cold and clammy as she thought of what she needed to say.
"I haven't mentioned it yet tonight," Tara said, "but that doesn't mean I've forgotten . . . about Warren."
"I didn't kill him, I told you," Willow insisted, closing the drawer of Joyce's old bureau just a little too hard. "I didn't use that much magic."
"Maybe you didn't mean to hurt him. But Willow, whenever your emotions go on overload you become dangerous. You stop thinking and you just force your will on everybody who gets in your way. That forgetting spell was like that. Bringing Buffy back from the dead was too. Killing Warren. It's all part of a pattern. You're not addicted to magic so much as you let your emotions get out of hand and then you use magic to solve everything. The way you handled Eric and his henchmen was much more controlled because at least then you weren't emotionally involved."
"So I care about things. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing unless you let it get out of hand. And you were definitely out of control when you killed Warren. You let your anger at him boil over and you acted without thinking." Tara rubbed her hand over the hard bristles of her hair brush. "I don't think I'm quite ready for us to get back together yet. I think you still have some things to work out."
"I've cut back on magic," Willow said, whirling around. "I don't know what else you want."
"It's not the magic, it's you. It's you you have to control. The magic is secondary. You use it to force your will on people, like a bully on a play ground using his fists. Only what you do is a lot more dangerous."
"I'm not a bully."
"Yes you are. What you did to Warren . . ."
"He was going to shoot us with that ray thing. I stopped him. That's all."
"You didn't just stop him. You killed him. You've got to start thinking before you act. You can't just let your emotions guide you."
"Fine. You want to leave again. Be my guest. But I didn't kill him."
"I'm sorry," Tara said.
"So am I," Willow said, slipping into bed. "I just don't know why you can't believe me. I've changed. Honest."
Tara didn't answer. She couldn't understand why Willow wouldn't admit that she'd gotten carried away. That was why she was leaving again.
Willow turned off the light. Tara remained sitting in the darkness. Somehow she didn't want to join Willow in bed.
The Stand Against the Fire Demons
Just as they were finishing dinner, Anya and Xander came in with Jonathan in tow. Jonathan was dressed in dark comfortable clothes like the rest of them, but he did not look happy. To lighten things up, Xander was about to make some witty remark about smoking out the Fire demons. But when he saw Dawn's friend Zachary he thought better of it. He didn't want to be the one responsible for scaring off the nice normal young man. There seemed to be so few normal people in their circle.
As promised that morning, Zachary and Dawn took William off to the drug store to see if they could find him some kind of spectacles. William was so happy at the prospect of being able to see clearly again, that he hardly wondered about everybody gathering in the livingroom. He chattered happily with the two teenagers as he walked out and down the street.
Buffy looked after him longingly. She could have used his strength against the Fire demons that night. But it was more than that. It was him she missed, his wisecracks, and his insistence on giving his opinions. Who would watch her back tonight? Who would dive in when needed without waiting for instructions from her? She complained about Spike's interference, but he was the one person in the Scoobies that she didn't feel she had to keep an eye on. And now she had Jonathan to watch too.
Buffy and Willow fetched four crossbows from the weapon collection and handed one to everybody but Tara. "You all shoot whatever Fire demons the Shadows can't take out," Buffy said. "They're not the most physical of fighters, so they'll probably retreat after you wound them. You don't need to shoot to kill. Hit them anywhere. It'll get the point across. Tara, I need you to perform a spell to give us some light in the area. That whole block seems to be without electricity now."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Jonathan said, holding up his right hand. "I totally object. "I don't know how to use one of these." He held the crossbow out away from himself as if it might bite him. "And I'm not sure I want to go up against a whole load of Fire demons."
"It's like I told you," Xander said, clapping his arm strongly around Jonathan's back and looming over him. "Your friend Warren took out our second set of muscles. So, till he gets better, YOU are gonna be taking his place."
"But . . . Demons that can shoot fire jets?"
"I'll take out as many of the jets as I can and switch them over to the tamer fireballs that the Shadows can dematerialize around," Buffy said. "Then the Shadows will take it from there."
"How are you gonna do it?" Jonathan asked, looking at her empty hands. She was the only one standing there without a weapon besides Tara.
"Oh, almost forgot!" Buffy said. "I have to get my gun. Thanks for reminding me. Jonathan, you have a choice. You can either shoot the crossbow, or you can help Tara maintain the magical lighting. You know your way around a spell, if I remember correctly."
"Sure, magic I can do. But this crossbow thingy . . ."
"Fine, you hang back with Tara then. But bring the crossbow just in case."
While Buffy ran upstairs to get the ray gun, Anya gave Jonathan a short course on firing a crossbow. "The most important thing to remember," she said, "is to replace the arrow as quickly as possible. Otherwise the bad guys have time to reach you before you can shoot again."
"I'm not feeling comforted here," Jonathan said.
"Don't worry. The Fire demons can't move when they're shooting out fire jets, which makes them easier to hit. And when Buffy makes the jets go out, they'll be surprised and probably won't attack you directly. If it does come down to actual fighting, you'll be fine. Fire demons are rotten fighters, like Buffy said. You can take 'em out with a couple of punches."
"Really?" This thought was almost attractive to Jonathan.
"You'll be fine," Anya said. "But just to be sure, stay behind me."
When Jonathan saw Buffy come down with the ray gun, his eyes widened with fear. "What are you going to do with that?" he said backing up.
"This is what I'm going to use to take out the fire jets." Buffy hefted the gun from one hand to the other, enjoying its weight. "Willow fixed it to transfer the new Fire demons powers into the diamond and then back out at the Fire demon, thus canceling the spell."
"Speaking of the diamond," Willow said, "do you have it?"
"Right here," Buffy said, fishing it out of her pocket. She held it up to the light for everyone to see. "I kinda like how it sparkles."
"You shouldn't be holding that!" Jonathan said. "It's got a curse on it . . . doesn't it?"
"Indeed it does," Buffy said, putting it back in her pocket. "Your friend Warren proved that. But it can't hurt me."
Anya leaned in close to Jonathan and whispered, "That's cos she's not mortal anymore."
"Oh," Jonathan said. It was sort of a breathy exclamation. He was feeling lightheaded, as if he might be about to faint.
"Let's go!" Buffy said. And they filed outside to Xander's car.
They parked several blocks away from the building where Masichuvio and the other Shadows were making their last stand. The window she had broken a couple of days before had a Shadow sentry standing next to it when they climbed in. Masichuvio stepped out of the darkness as they entered.
"Mas," Buffy said, stepping up to him, "I brought some friends to help me tonight. Have you heard anything from the Fire demons?"
"No. It has been quiet," the Shadow said in his moany voice. "But we did not think they would come last night. Tonight or tomorrow perhaps. Maybe both."
"You still have that downstairs door locked, right?"
"Yes. But their fire jets will burn through it after a while."
"Maybe we should go down and meet them on their way up."
"No. The passage is long and narrow. Their fire jets will cause more damage to us as they bounce off the walls. We are better off out in the open." He gestured to the wide lobby area around them.
"Then I guess we wait here for 'em," Buffy said with a nod. She turned to her crew. "Tara, you and Jonathan stay to the back and be ready to give us light."
Tara nodded and pulled Jonathan off to discuss what spell they would use.
"The rest of you scatter around just behind me and start shooting when I say." Buffy took out the diamond and pushed it into place. "OK. All we do now is wait."
- - - - - - - - - -
The glasses in the display case at the drug store all had wire frames. Zachary patiently helped William try on one pair after another to see which one worked. Dawn watched them, feeling fonder of her new boyfriend by the minute. He was treating William with such gentleness and understanding. All the discomfort he'd felt around Spike was gone and he had fully accepted this new rendition. Zachary was just so wonderful, with his curly brown hair and the cute little freckle near his upper lip and the rosy cheeks. She sighed the deep sigh of a teenager falling in love.
It occurred to her as she watched the two men together that Spike's hair was curlier than usual, more like Zachary's. William didn't believe in hair gel the way Spike did evidently. He obviously preferred the natural look.
"This is the pair," William exclaimed. "These are absolutely perfect." He picked up a box of band-aids that was on a nearby shelf and read the back. "These are practically as good as my old pair. Even small print, will be no problem in these."
"Would you like to see how you look in a mirror?" Zachary said, reaching for the hand mirror that was lying on the counter for just that purpose.
Dawn was about to jump in with an excuse, but she didn't have to. William was not interested in his looks. "Oh, no. Not necessary. I'm sure they look perfectly fine."
"Well, then, I'll buy them for you," Dawn said. "My gift."
"There's one of your mother's books that I am especially looking forward to reading," William said excitedly. "And she had a wonderful book of poems."
"Well, you can look at them both tonight," Dawn said.
"Yes. Yes, indeed I shall."
As they walked back to Buffy's, the two men discussed further the narrative poem that Zachary had written for composition class. William was impressed with it. He was convinced that the young man should become a writer and he told him so.
"Not everyone has such a facility with words," William said. "It is a rare gift. And if I were you, I would certainly plan on taking up writing as your life's profession."
Dawn hardly said anything. She just basked in the company of the two men she loved best.
When they reached the porch, William discreetly said goodnight to Zachary and slipped inside, leaving the young couple to themselves.
"Well, goodnight," Dawn said, expectantly.
"We're still on for the movies tomorrow, right?" Zachary asked, scraping his sneaker along the ground.
"Absolutely. Thanks an awful lot for being so nice to William. I appreciate it."
"No problem. He's a nice guy. Funny he's so different than Spike. I kinda hope he stays like this."
"Yeah, well, I don't know if my sister would agree with you," Dawn laughed.
Zachary's eyes lighted on Dawn's smile as he tried to memorize just what muscles moved when on her lips to make it happen. Before he knew it, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, gently at first, then a little more insistently. Like William the night before, he was startled at the pull he felt.
"Good night," Dawn said.
"Yeah," he said not moving.
She gave him another smile and then went inside.
William was waiting right at the door for her. "So, your sister asked me to help you with your composition for school. Shall we get to work, then?"
"What?" Dawn asked. She was still lost in Zachary's kiss.
"That composition. Zachary is quite beautifully prepared. But yours is not. I think we should begin drafting some ideas." William traveled to a grouping of pictures in the livingroom and picked up a framed one of Joyce and her two daughters. "Is this your mother?" he asked holding it up.
"Yes."
"She was a very beautiful woman. Why don't you write about her?"
"What?"
"Well, the composition is supposed to be about something or someone important to you, is it not?"
"Well, yeah but . . ."
"Young Zachary's is a patriotic send up of your revolutionary war, written from the viewpoint of a young soldier. It's very realistic with all the blood and dirt. Yet still he is able to find the nobility in the battle. You can find nobility as well. But in this case, in the woman whom you knew so well."
"I don't think I can do that."
"Nonsense, of course you can. Let's go in now and make up some notes. We'll both talk about our mothers and tell each other what we loved best about them."
"William, I don't know . . ."
But he would brook no opposition. He firmly directed her into the livingroom and fetched the big three ring binder that she kept most of her homework in from the place on the floor in the corner where she'd left it. "Here we are," he said as he opened it in front of her. Then he took the seat where Zachary usually sat and leaned forward over the table. "Now what is your favorite memory about your mother? Mine is just after my father died. She was faced with many adversities at that time. But she never complained. She remained stalwart through it all and never wavered in her patience with me, even though I know now that she was under enormous strain."
"Well," Dawn said slowly. "When my parents split up, my mom was a lot like that. Course, my dad didn't die. But considering how often we see him he might as well have . . ."
- - - - - - - - - -
It was almost one o'clock in the morning when the Fire demons began to attack. The Shadows heard them first. Their sense of hearing was very acute and they could hear their enemies yelling in the tunnels below before Buffy and the Scoobies could. Soon the fire door to the basement was under attack. It took a while, but the door finally gave way under the fire jets. Then a small army of gray and orange demons pushed their way in.
Buffy gave the order for Tara and Jonathan to use their lighting spell. Over the heads of the advancing Fire demons a greenish light appeared in the form of a cloud. It wasn't a bright light because that would have hurt the Shadows.
"Shoot!" Buffy called as the first group of demons came charging in.
This immediate round of arrows gave the Shadows and their allies a much needed advantage. After the first three Fire demons were hit, they immediately tried to turn back. The demons coming behind them were thus thrown off their game. Buffy was able to turn off one fire jet after another. Then the Shadows ran in and fought them hand to hand.
Several waves of Fire demons tried to charge in from the stairs. But they were all turned back. The Scoobies had to do a little of the fighting. After Buffy negated most of their fire jets, the Fire demons decided to try rushing their enemies. Buffy had to maintain control of the ray gun because she couldn't risk letting it get captured. So, it was mostly Xander and Jonathan who found themselves fighting. Jonathan wasn't happy about it at first, but the Fire demons were such rotten fighters that he soon found himself rather liking it. Tara was able to maintain the magic lighting by herself because the dim lighting didn't require much power.
Finally, the Fire demons retreated back down the stairs and off into the underground tunnels beneath the avenue. Buffy and Xander helped Masichuvio and his people move several pieces of furniture and scrap metal in front of the basement door to act as a barricade.
"They won't return tonight," Masichuvio said. "Like us, they tire easily. And their fire jets seem to use a lot of energy. They will come back tomorrow, though, of that I am sure."
"Then we will too," Buffy promised.
Meanwhile underground, the Fire demons were making their way towards the basement of the warehouse at number 666. They were grumbling and unhappy. It was the first battle they had lost to the Shadows in a long time. They knew it had been the Slayer's help that had made the difference.
Ledic was there as well. But since he was one of the older members of the group, they had made him march to the rear. His main job was to collect the wounded and bring them back to the basement of the warehouse. Since the Scoobies had shot arrows at the first Fire demons that came up, there had been casualties very early. Ledic never actually made it to the fighting before the retreat was called. But he had been able to help three of his wounded comrades away to safety so that those trained in the healing arts could tend to them.
So many injuries, Ledic thought. And there would be more. This was where their support of Doc and Rack would lead them. He knew that. The Fire demons would do the fighting and the dying and those others would reap the benefits. Unlike the rest of his kind, he did not delude himself into believing that they would share in the power of Doc and Rack. He knew they considered the Fire demons to be beneath them. So instead they would become their servants . . . their lackeys. Nothing more. To Ledic, this new power they'd been given was not equal to the loss of their freedom.
Even now, their masters were excluding them. Rack and his coven were in the process of preparing the warehouse for the Imbolc celebration in two and a half weeks. They were cleaning and purifying the area. As a result, the Fire demons were not allowed in the warehouse proper anymore. That was just one example of how things were going to be. Ledic's people were not considered clean enough to walk within their temple.
Originally, Ledic had objected to this alliance. He reminded the others that the Fire demons were a proud people who had always been independent. He told them that they should remain so. But no one had listened to him. Now what he feared was coming to pass. There were many injuries that night. But there would be more. So far the Slayer had only used arrows against them. But soon Rack would raise the great Imbolc fires against the night sky. What would the Slayer and the humans of the city do then? How many Fire demons would die in that great battle? And even if their side won, the Fire demons would still be nothing but slaves.
Ledic realized that it was time to seek out the Slayer.
- - - - - - - - - -
It was very late when Buffy, Tara, and Willow got home. Dawn had been in bed for hours and William was asleep on the couch. They tried to be quiet, but the extra weapons they were carrying kept hitting against things in the semi-darkness. Buffy was forced to switch on the hall lights, which roused William.
"Who's there?" William called in a shaky voice from the couch.
"It's OK," Buffy answered. "It's just us."
"We'll put these away," Willow said, referring to the two crossbows that she and Tara were each carrying. "Then we'll go to bed."
"You sure?" Buffy asked. "I could use a snack. You wanna join me?"
"No, I don't think so," Tara said.
"OK. I'll see you in the morning then."
"Yeah, good night."
Buffy went off to the kitchen while the other two went upstairs. She left the ray gun on the sideboard, switched on the light, and started rummaging in the refrigerator. Meat. That's what she wanted right then. There were a couple of pieces of roast beef left over from dinner.
As she was making her sandwich, William toddled in from the livingroom, a sheet wrapped modestly around his shoulders. He had worn clothes to bed, yet because he was using them as pajamas, he considered it improper for them to be seen by Buffy. "Where have you been?" he asked, nervously eyeing the gun on the counter. "You came in with so many weapons."
"We had a job to do," Buffy said, cutting her sandwich.
"What kind of job needs crossbows?"
"Yeah, well. It was sort of a peace keeping job." She took a bite of her sandwich and then sat down at the counter island.
"Peace keeping? What does that mean?"
Buffy looked at the fearful blue eyes on the other side of William's new glasses. At that hour of the night it seemed silly to carry on a pretense about social work. William was going to find out what they did sooner or later. "A peace keeper is sort of a policeman. We keep the peace in the demon world."
"Demon world?"
"Yes. The group we fought against tonight call themselves Fire demons. We were helping this other group of demons called the Shadows to keep their home."
William's eyebrows knitted together as he tried to understand. "That sounds like horrible work for a woman. Shouldn't the police be handling that?"
"I wish they would. But it's my job. I'm what they call a Slayer. I'm stronger than ordinary women. I can't be killed as easily and I heal faster. We're in a town where there's a large amount of evil, see?" Buffy took a deep drink of her soda and moved on to the second half of her sandwich. "It's my job to keep it in check. All my friends help me."
William pushed his glasses back up his nose and tightened his grip on the sheet. "I can't believe you'd do such things. No lady should do such things." He stressed the word lady in an odd tone.
For the first time Buffy really looked up at him. She saw the stiffness in his stance and the expression of revulsion on his face. He seemed to want to run away from her. She knew gentle William would be taken aback by all this demon fighting, but she never expected him to be disgusted by her.
"And . . . you can even eat? I . . . I'm going back to bed now," William said, desperately breaking away.
Sitting alone in the quiet kitchen, Buffy felt the sting of hot tears rush to her eyes. She realized then that it was the vampire in Spike that had always fought at her side so fearlessly and that understood her appetites so well. It was probably the vampire also that came across with the witty remarks and the annoying opinions. She'd sort of suspected that. But seeing the more human side of her boyfriend look at her that way, as if he were almost nauseated by her, that hurt terribly. Somehow, she couldn't finish her sandwich.
Upstairs in the master bedroom, Willow and Tara were facing some things of their own. Willow was getting ready for bed, avoiding her lover's face because she knew what was coming. Tara was still dressed, sitting in the chair next to the bed brushing her hair. Her feet were drawn up under her and her hands felt cold and clammy as she thought of what she needed to say.
"I haven't mentioned it yet tonight," Tara said, "but that doesn't mean I've forgotten . . . about Warren."
"I didn't kill him, I told you," Willow insisted, closing the drawer of Joyce's old bureau just a little too hard. "I didn't use that much magic."
"Maybe you didn't mean to hurt him. But Willow, whenever your emotions go on overload you become dangerous. You stop thinking and you just force your will on everybody who gets in your way. That forgetting spell was like that. Bringing Buffy back from the dead was too. Killing Warren. It's all part of a pattern. You're not addicted to magic so much as you let your emotions get out of hand and then you use magic to solve everything. The way you handled Eric and his henchmen was much more controlled because at least then you weren't emotionally involved."
"So I care about things. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing unless you let it get out of hand. And you were definitely out of control when you killed Warren. You let your anger at him boil over and you acted without thinking." Tara rubbed her hand over the hard bristles of her hair brush. "I don't think I'm quite ready for us to get back together yet. I think you still have some things to work out."
"I've cut back on magic," Willow said, whirling around. "I don't know what else you want."
"It's not the magic, it's you. It's you you have to control. The magic is secondary. You use it to force your will on people, like a bully on a play ground using his fists. Only what you do is a lot more dangerous."
"I'm not a bully."
"Yes you are. What you did to Warren . . ."
"He was going to shoot us with that ray thing. I stopped him. That's all."
"You didn't just stop him. You killed him. You've got to start thinking before you act. You can't just let your emotions guide you."
"Fine. You want to leave again. Be my guest. But I didn't kill him."
"I'm sorry," Tara said.
"So am I," Willow said, slipping into bed. "I just don't know why you can't believe me. I've changed. Honest."
Tara didn't answer. She couldn't understand why Willow wouldn't admit that she'd gotten carried away. That was why she was leaving again.
Willow turned off the light. Tara remained sitting in the darkness. Somehow she didn't want to join Willow in bed.