Chapter Fifteen

Self Help

Shinji watched from his position where he was seated on the floor, his legs folded neatly beneath him as Grachus paced back and forth across the hallway outside the office door. There had been something wrong with Grachus recently. He'd been restless and agitated, far from the things Shinji had taught him. Calm and collected, that was the way of things. To be anything else was simply a waste of precious energy.

"I don't like this Sire." Said the scarred vampire, his voice rasping quietly as he nodded in the direction of the office door. Shinji knew what he meant. Beyond it lay his master, and while Shinji had known all along that a soul would be no bar to his master's feelings, Grachus was suspicious, and maybe even a touch jealous. He was used to being the foremost in Shinji's estimations and to have another come along and turn that on its head seemed to be aggravating to the younger vampire. Shinji smiled. Like an only child, he hated to share his toys.

"What is not to like?" said Shinji finally, turning to face the row of crystal balls that were arrayed before him. In them he could see the two Slayers and in the third his master glowed. He frowned slightly.  He had been sat in that office staring out of the window for hours now. Even Shinji had to admit he was disappointed. His master was hollow, the passion he'd once taught and led with seemingly drained away, leaving only the shell of something that had once been great behind.

"Our King has returned to us, and we have the blood of the Slayer." He continued, trying to convince himself that he wasn't wrong. "The ritual approaches and soon the vampire race will be in ascendancy. We shall walk the night as gods once more, and nothing on Earth will stand before us." Grachus nodded.

"I understand Sire, but something doesn't feel right. I don't trust him." He said nodding toward the crystal ball that glowed with King's image. "And I think you underestimate the Slayers. The one you defeated is already awake and moving again. Even vampires aren't so quick to heal." Shinji smiled slightly. Grachus had always had a touch of Slayer phobia, but that was to be expected among the young. To the young, the Slayer was something to be talked of only in hushed whispers and dark corners. To the old, the Slayers and those who aided them were nothing more than jumped up humans who thought that by killing mere children, they were helping save the world. Many had no idea of what it was that really walked in the darkness, what true terrors sat watching humanity from the shadows.

"He will be our salvation." He said, his voice ringing with a confidence he didn't feel. "He will deliver us from this plague of Slayers, and as for these two, when they come they shall be dealt with."

"What about the blood?" Shinji frowned again. Now there was a problem. The bleeding had been interrupted and they had very little fresh blood with which to perform the ritual. There was some concern among his followers that they didn't have enough. The rites were surprisingly unclear about jut how much was needed.

"Let me worry about that." The two vampires glanced up to see King stood in the doorway to the office, watching them. "All I need is the ritual prepared and ready. The blood is my concern." Shinji nodded.

"As you wish my King." He said. There was something there in those eyes. A touch of the vampire he had once been? Shinji hoped so.

"Now the two of you should work. The ritual must be prepared before the moon reaches its zenith." The two of them nodded again, Shinji moving to his feet and secreting the crystal orb around his person as he did so. As they began to walk away, King called out to them.

"Grachus." His voice was low and threatening. The youngest of the three turned to face him.

"Yes King." Shinji was amazed at the complete lack of respect in his voice. If he had ever addressed Shinji in that manner, he would never have lived past dawn rise. King, on the other hand, simply stood calmly in the doorway.

"Come here." He said. Grachus' eyes flickered to Shinji who smiled darkly. This was the Sire he remembered. Warily, the young vampire moved across the room.

"Kneel." Said King, his voice held an almost silent command. Grachus shook his head.

"I kneel only to…"

"KNEEL!" King's roar seemed to shake the room. "KNEEL OR I WILL MAKE YOU!" Grachus' bravado buckled and he collapsed to one knee. Without warning, King's hand shot forward and caught the youngster by the chin. With no effort at all, he squeezed and tilted Grachus' head back so he was staring up into his eyes.

"Do you see how easy that was?" he whispered harshly, "How easily I humbled you? A vampire should be strong, confident and proud. Never forget that." He shoved hard sending Grachus reeling onto his backside.

"Now get to work." He hissed as he turned and strode back into the office. Grachus scrambled hurriedly to his feet, his eyes still blinking in surprise.

"Yes, my master." He said, sounding a trifle embarrassed by the whole thing. His answer was nothing more than the door to the office slamming in his face. Shinji chuckled softly as they walked away. It was the master he remembered!

Without a word he produced the crystal sphere that held the image of King and regarded it for a moment. He smiled briefly, then squeezed. Splintering cracks scattered across its smooth surface, angling the light sharply but still he squeezed. He squeezed tighter and tighter until the ball exploded in his hand in a shower of glass.

"He will be our salvation." He said again under his breath.

*****

Buffy couldn't help but notice how much Faith had changed in the last two years. Oh, physically she looked the same, a little gaunter perhaps as a result of prison living, and her hair was a little longer, but it wasn't those things she noticed. The young brunette Slayer was a different person to the one she remembered. She seemed smaller some how, her manner now less large and overwhelming than before. Her eyes were sadder, and some of the life and sparkle that she remembered so well seemed to have faded. She seemed so tired now, so sad and so tragic. Buffy almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

The rogue Slayer was pacing, somewhat stiffly, around the room, one hand pressed lightly to her side and cupping her wound. She kept glancing furtively out of the door, as if she expected someone to walk in at any moment, as if King was coming back. Buffy couldn't believe how attached the two of them seemed to have become over just a matter of days. It was unreal.

"It can't be true." Said Faith shaking her head. "King wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't do what?" Said Buffy sarcastically. "Play us? Switch sides on us then laugh while we twisted in the wind? Oh I think he would."

"I know he wouldn't betray us like that, not after what he promised me. Angel, you know I'm right? King wouldn't betray us right?" Said Faith still shaking her head in disbelief. Buffy glanced over at where Angel sat his shoulders slumped tiredly.

"I…" He began then faltered slightly. "I don't know." He said finally.

"You don't seriously think he could do something like this?" Faith said, her voice ringing with disbelief. "I mean he helped us rescue Buffy! He fought with us in the alley!"

"He's also tried to kill me twice Faith, and done a damn good job of it on both occasions." Buffy said, trying to remind Faith of what they were dealing with.

"Buffy's right." Said Angel dejectedly. "If even half the stories I've heard are true, he's capable of just about anything." Faith shook her head again.

"I don't believe that for a second." Buffy gave a long groan.

"For God's sake Faith! King isn't a nice guy; he's not a charity worker or some puritan priest! He's a stone cold killer!" Faith shot her a dark look.

"I know exactly what he is." She said and the venom in her voice took Buffy aback.

"Good." She said, a slight feeling of unease in her stomach. "Then you'll help us."

"Help you do what?" Buffy regarded her for a moment. Could she trust Faith? Okay, she might be trying to reform but that didn't make her immediately Buffy's favourite ally. The girl was never certain which side she wanted to fight for.

"We're going back to Wolfram & Hart." She said finally. "Tonight's the full moon, and they'll be readying the ritual. We're going in and we're stopping it any way we can." Faith stopped pacing and stared at her, disbelief shining in her eyes.

"You're going to kill him." She said numbly.

"If killing him will save the world, then yes." Faith continued to watch her.

"No." she said at last.

"What?" Said Buffy, her voice rising dangerously.

"I said no. I won't help you kill him. More than that, I won't let you kill him."

"Are you retarded or something?" Buffy snapped angrily. "He's trying to create an army of demons Faith, and killing him is the only sure-fire way to stop it!"

"Then think of another one, because you're not going to kill him."

"He's a vampire Faith, a ki…"

"Don't you dare say he's a killer!" Faith snapped viciously. "Don't you dare judge him the way you do everyone else, the way you judged me! He deserves better than that!"

"Faith, would you just lis…"

"No Buffy, for once you're going to listen to me! You gave King a soul, you gave him a second chance, and that means you're responsible for it! You gave him humanity and that means the whole package; anger, happiness, fear, confidence, hate and love and you can't just take all that away because it's more convenient for you! You're just giving him a life to lose, and I won't let you! Do you hear me?" She paused briefly, her breathing heavy from the effort of shouting.

"We're Slayers." She said, her voice suddenly sounding so full of understanding, an understanding Buffy never thought she'd see in Faith. "Not murderers." And with that she turned and walked out of the room, the wound in her side seemingly forgotten. Buffy sat for a moment or two, trying not to let her mouth hit the floor.

"Faith!" she yelled finally, clambering out of her seat, about to pursue the other girl.

"Faith!" she yelled again.

"Let her go Buffy."

"But Angel…"

"Let her go!" Angel snapped at her. "She needs this." Buffy turned a disbelieving stare on the tall vampire seated next to her. He was protecting her again! What was it with Faith and coming between her and the people she loved? The girl was turning it into an art form!

"Angel, this is the end of the world as we know it. Again! Armies of Hell unleashed on Earth. It's no time for coddling and self help groups!"

"I know what the stakes are Buffy." Angel said. "The amount of times we've saved the world, I'd have to be a fool not to, but maybe this time it's not about us. Maybe this time it's about her." He glanced up at the door where Faith was just visible, arguing animatedly with a hospital orderly who was trying to get her to return to her bed.

"Maybe this time it's Faith's turn." Buffy turned and followed his gaze to where the brunette Slayer stood. She gave a soft sigh.

"I hope you're right." She said finally.

*****

Spike stood in front of Angel's weapons rack, silently perusing which of the vicious looking axes he was going to take into battle with him. Nearby, the others were preparing too. Buffy was seated at the couch in the centre of the room, sharpening an assortment of stakes, each a different shape and size. The other girl, the one called Faith was stretching, seeing how far she could push herself before the pain in her side became too much. She'd been lucky to make it out of the hospital. Even with her Slayer strength and healing, that wound was not just some paltry little scratch. It had nearly killed her. Harris was busy stretching a crossbow string taught across his weapon of choice, a row of small wooden bolts aligned neatly at his side. Red was assembling herself a little bag of tricks and Angel was busy dragging a whetstone along the blade of his broadsword.

How had he ever got himself into this? He was the big bad, killer of two Slayers, now neutered by a secret government agency and about to march to almost certain death alongside a weird assortment of freaks, Joe normals, Wicca and super humans. It was like something off the telly! How had it happened to him, to him of all people? He knew the answer of course. It was an answer that buzzed around inside his skull like an irate insect, bouncing back and forth across the surface of his mind, a single repeating word. Buffy. That damned Slayer had him ensnared the same way she'd trapped Angel. She was like a spider to pussy whipped vampires drawing them in and twisting them round to her point of view, and now she'd done it to him and he absolutely hated it.

If he'd had the choice, he'd have gotten this bloody chip out a long time ago and gone on hunting her. In the end he realised it didn't matter who killed whom, who won and who lost. What would matter is that it would have been right. It was the way things were meant to be, vampire versus Slayer. None of this pissing about in the shades of grey that lurked in between. It was such a simple dynamic it was beautiful.

He gave an inner groan. What was he doing? Mulling over things like this, the great unanswerable questions of who he really was and what his purpose here served were the kinds of things he'd done when he was human, the kinds of things he'd become a vampire to get away from. He'd wanted a simpler life and he'd got it and loved it. Now look at him. He was a twat and a twat in love at that.

What about Dawn? To claim that all his current problems were based solely around Buffy wasn't entirely true. Her sister played a role in it as well. Yes, if he hadn't gotten this chip in his head he probably would have killed her, killed her and drained her dry, or at least he would have if she'd existed then. He rolled his eyes in frustration. Yet another example of just how complicated his life had become. In the good old days he wouldn't have had to worry about how none existent fifteen year old girls, made up of ancient mystical energy that was the key to the myriad dimensions and planes of existence, felt about him. Not real she may be, but when she looked at him recently, with those innocent eyes full of silent accusation, it hurt more than he could bear.

He snagged one of the axes by the handle and lifted it, his wrist flicking the wicked half moon blade gracefully through the air as he did so. The blade was finely crafted, well balanced. He gave it another testing flick and nodded as it arced round with little effort. This one would do nicely. He turned and looked across the lobby. Dawn was stood talking to the nervous girl with the heavy Deep South accent. Cautiously he made his way across the room, trying no to let her see his approach. Slowly he moved up behind her, tucking the axe into his belt loop as he moved, his long leather coat covering it excellently.

"Wish me luck nibblet?" he asked the young girl. She turned to look at him

"Don't talk to me." She said, her voice carrying an edge of sharpness to it. "Just leave me alone." Spike rolled his eyes.

"Aww c'mon Dawn. I did what I had to. You can't still be thinking I enjoyed torturing that vamp."

"It's no good lying about it Spike. I saw what you did to him." Spike looked at her sadly.

"Dawn please," he began, "my life's already hit the bottom rung. Don't do this to me, don't kick the ladder out from under me just because of some vampire who isn't worth the bother." Dawn looked at him sadly.

"He's no different to you Spike. Does that mean you're not worth caring about either?" Spike was interrupted by Buffy's shout over the heads of the others. He wouldn't have been able to answer even if she hadn't shouted.

"Is everyone ready?" Buffy said when she had everyone's attention. A round of nods greeted her. "Good. If anyone's got anything to say they should say it now, because we're leaving."

"If anyone touches King they'll have me to deal with." Spike glanced at the Slayer called Faith. She was stood staring defiantly at Buffy from the middle of the lobby. The girl had a pair on her, he had to give her that.

"Okay then." Said Buffy, ignoring her. "The sun's down and its time we got moving." Slowly the group began to file out one by one, Spike moving between Angel and Willow. He was almost at the door when he heard Dawn cry out.

"Spike!" she yelled. He turned to see her dashing across the polished lobby floor, just in time to catch her as she threw herself into his arms, hugging him fiercely. For a moment he was stunned, completely unsure as to what to do, then he did something he never thought he'd have ever done. He returned the hug, squeezing the girl tightly in his arms.

"Don't die." She whispered in his ear and then pulled herself free of the embrace. Spike smiled devilishly at her.

"Already have done." He said, then turned and strode out of the hotel toward the waiting cars.