Chapter 15

Waiting in the Wings (part 2)

Buffy peered over the top of the lounge couch to find another monster in a 'tragedy' mask as the first one hit Angel again. She grabbed the straps of her dress and pulled them back over her shoulders.

"Okay. So. They were probably interrupted by this Count Kurskov, or his lackeys, right? So we're done with the.." Buffy started. Angel came charging at her and Buffy shot her hands up over her face to shield herself as Angel launched himself over her and tackled the tragedy monster.

Buffy stood up and released a sharp side kick at the comedy monster. The thing went flying back. Buffy started to throw everything she could find at the monsters. The comedy monster pulled out a sword and started to slash at Buffy.

"A little help!" Buffy called.

The tragedy monster pulled out a dagger and stabbed Angel in the heart.

"Thank you." Angel said. He pulled out the dagger and punched the monster in the chin. The thing fell to the floor and Angel stabbed it through the heart with its sword at the same time throwing the dagger at the comedy monster, stabbing it through the throat.

"You alright?" Angel asked.

"Yeah. We gotta move."

Angel looked from one monster to the other. "You think they're not dead?"

"You just looked really hot doing that."

"Oh."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah."

"Run."

Angel grabbed Buffy's hand and they ran out of the room. Buffy grabbed the sword from one of the monsters as they headed out. They rounded a corner and found Fred, Gunn, Cordy, and Dawn standing from behind a crate.

"You guys alright?" Angel asked.

"Charles got stabbed." Fred said.

"Yeah. A couple stitches worth." Gunn said as Cordy checked his wound out.

"The same guys attacked us." Buffy said.

"Any idea where we are or what the hell?"

"Yeah. Buffy and I hit kind of a mystical hotspot back in one of the dressing rooms." Angel said.

"Well, it seems the prima ballerina had a lover back in the day. And there was this Count Kurskov, who owned the company, and I guess he had a thing for the girl and they were mightily afraid of him." Buffy said.

"He had powers of some kind."

"He was a wizard." Wesley said. The all turned to find him standing on the threshold of one of the corridors archways, a sword carried loosely by his side. "He was obsessed with the girl. When he found her with the other man, he went insane with jealous rage, pulled her out of time out of any reality beyond his theater, his company. He swore she would dance for him forever."

"How do you.." Dawn asked.

"I, uh, I hit a hot spot too."

"And now we're stuck here?" Gunn asked.

"Well, ah, this kind of temporal shift can't just exist. It has to be maintained. That requires power and concentration. If we can overload him somehow, we might be able to slip back to the real world."

"The man with the plan!"

"Well, I'd imagine THAT requires some energy."

They all turned to where Wes was indicating to find one of the monsters slowly getting up, begin to shake, then split in two, one wearing a tragedy mask and sobbing, the other wearing a comedy mask and laughing. Angel grabbed them both in a headlock under each arm and broke both their necks. As soon as they hit the floor they started shivering and splitting, each into a new pair of theater minions.

"The more we kill, the more he makes." Fred said.

"Look!" Cordy said.

For a moment the wall of the corridor wavered, revealing another reality behind it.

"And that is draining his energy. Angel, Buffy, try and find a way to the stage. The count will be watching." Wes said.

"Cordy, take care of Dawn. Don't let her out of your site." Buffy said.

"I will." Cordy said.

Angel and Buffy started to walk away, Angel muttering under his breath, "I bet he has a box." and Buffy smacking him for saying it.

They walked for a little while, the walls flickering around them. Finally, Buffy got agitated and punched at one when it flickered. Her hand went through and she popped it right back against her side. Angel and Buffy looked at each other for a moment then turned back to the wall. The next time it flickered, they jumped through and landed in the wings off the stage. They saw the ballerina standing there, watching from just off stage, waiting, at the same time the ballerina also came dancing off the stage, her image shivering and dissolving as she passed from the view of the theater audience.

"Hello?' Buffy said.

The ballerina whipped her head around to stare at them. "Who are you? There's no one.. You're new." She said in a Russian accent.

"I'm pretty old, actually." Angel said, slowly walking closer. "I've seen you dance."

"Everyone sees me."

"It was Giselle then, as well."

"Always."

Buffy looked past the ballerina and saw Kurskov up in his box. Buffy grabbed Angel's arm and he looked at where she was staring.

"I know what's happening. Count Kurskov, he's punishing you." Buffy said.

"He made me. He owns me. And when I dance it is only for him." The ballerina said.

Beside them, the air shivered as a row of dancers materialized and passed out onto the stage.

"Do you believe that?"

"It really doesn't matter. I'll dance. I'll wait here. And then I'll dance again. That's all."

"A hundred years doing the same piece every night. Is that enough? What about Stephan?"

"I waited too long. I should have gone when he asked me, I should have disappeared, but.. I wanted this. This dance, this.. I hesitated and.. I lost everything that mattered. Now all I do is wait."

"You dance." Angel said.

"There is a section in the first act, during the courtship dance, where my foot slips. My ankle's turned and.. and I don't quite hold every time. He doesn't notice. He doesn't even know ballet that well. But always, at that same moment, I slip. It isn't just the same ballet. It's the same performance. I don't dance. I echo. Please, can you make it stop?"

"I know the feeling." Buffy said. "On both accounts." The ballerina and Angel stared at her "I'll explain later."

Angel looked at the two girls then put his hand towards the stage and it vanished from view in mid-air. "I can help you. But you have to do something."

"What?" the ballerina asked.

"Change the ending. Dance something new."

"I can't."

"He doesn't control all this. He's losing it. But you have to take the stage. It's not too late. You can change things."

The ballerina looked from Buffy and Angel to the stage. She slowly stepped towards the stage, looking back at them once, then went out and began to dance around the lead dancer, lying stretched out in the middle of the stage, as the rest of the company left the stage. She raised her head from bowing down over the fallen body to look towards Buffy and Angel, waiting in the wings, then stepped back and struck a different pose. Up in his box, Kurskov jumped up out of his chair.

"No!" he yelled.

As the ballerina began to dance again, the body of the lead dancer shivered and dissolved. The ballerina stopped, holding a pose, and looked up defiantly at Kurskov's box. Buffy and Angel ran out onto the stage and with two great leaps, landed in Kurskov's box. Angel grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him close.

"Hey, where is your power center?" Angel asked.

"How dare you!"

"I'll guess." Angel smashed the jewel in the center of the Russian cross- shaped medal hanging around Kurskov's neck.

A wave of blue light raced out, washing over the ballerina on the stage, washing over the minions attacking the gang. Gunn stopped in mid-swing to look around as his sword, the minions and the corridor dissolved into a modern day back stage room.

On the stage the ballerina looked up at Buffy and Angel. Buffy gave her a slight nod and she sank down, folding her body on top of her outstretched leg, in something like a deep bow, before she dissolved away.

"You have no right." Kurskov said.

"Oh, save it!" Buffy said.

"She was my love. She danced only for me!"

"Yeah. You love her that much?" Angel hauled back and clocked Kurskov on the chin, dropping him to the floor. "Start a website." Angel took Buffy's hand and they left the box.

They caught up with the gang out in the lobby and they headed back to the Hyperion. Wes went to his office and took out a first aid kit. Gunn followed and allowed Wes to work on his wound. Fred went in and sat in front of Gunn. They watched each other and smiled.

Angel was watching them out in the lobby. He turned away, a slight smile on his face as he walked to where Buffy sat with Dawn laying on her head in Buffy's lap. Cordy was brushing at her dress by the counter.

"Do you think I can still return it? Because otherwise we're gonna have to take on a lot more cases." Cordy said.

"Buffy?" Angel said.

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"You said you knew how the ballerina felt. What did you mean?"

"I used to dance too. I had to if I wanted to ice skate the way I used to. I liked it at first, but after a while I came to hate it because it was the same routine day in and day out and it got to where it was bruising my feet and killing my knees. All I wanted to do was skate. My dad wouldn't let me quit ballet though. He said that it wasn't going to be a waste of his money. Mom talked to him, but he wouldn't have any of it. He said if I really wanted to quit ballet, then I would have to quit skating too. He knew that I wouldn't ever give THAT up, so I continued ballet. I was so unhappy. It got so bad that I would come home and just cry. Finally, when I was about nine, I was so unhappy that I just gave up ice skating so I could stop ballet."

"You never told me. That picture of you in our room, the one where you're smiling and holding your little trophy, you look so happy."

"That's back when I was happy. I was about five in that picture. It was about two years before I really began to hate ballet."

"You never told me."

"You never asked."

"So that's why you said that ballet wasn't getting to you anymore."

"Yup. And then feeling how that ballerina felt when we were, uh.." Buffy looked down at Dawn. "..investigating.. how scared she was. I just wanted to help her."

Angel put his arm around Buffy's shoulders and kissed her. She smiled. "Are you happy now?"

"Ecstatically!" she said with a laugh.

"I think you really.."

"Gru?" Cordy said.

"Well yeah. I was going to tell her that. Thanks Cor."

Cordy ran past them, not listening. "Gru!"

"Princess!"

They all turned to see the Groosalug coming down the stairs and catch Cordy in a tight hug and swing her around.

"Oh god! I can't believe it." Cordy cried.

"I feared you'd forget who I was."

"Remind me."

The two kissed.

Lorne came to stand next to Buffy and Angel, who were now standing and staring. "He just showed up. Apparently once everyone in Pylea got their freedom, the political situation got a little sketchy. The Groosalug here got deposed and they set up some kind of People's Republic. So, he came looking for his true love."

"Huh. That's good for her." Angel said.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to take Dawn up to bed. She's knocked out cold. Only not literally."

"Ok."

Angel picked up Dawn and carried her to the luxury suit. Then, he and Buffy went back to their room. Angel got in his silk boxers as Buffy changed into one of Angel's oversized shirts. They climbed in bed and Angel laid his head on Buffy's stomach to listen to Conner move around.

As Buffy's stroked Angel's hair, she asked, "Who's Gru?"