Disclaimer: see chapter 1
Death Awaits: chapter 11 - Showdown
"I bought a chainsaw."
The voice makes me curl up and wish I were invisible. There is a thud as a box is dropped on the floor, and then a pause, followed by, "Will?"
"Hey," Spike says.
I open my eyes. Angelus is back, a large box on the floor by his feet. But he is staring at Spike in what looks like genuine astonishment. Spike scratches his ear.
"All we need now is Drusilla, sire," Luc Tarpeau puts in. "Spike heard you were back."
"And came to betray me, again?" Angelus says, sarcastic. "Like last time? Want to go and tell Buff I'm here, eh, William?"
"Nah. No," Spike repeats, "I've come to join you. Look, I'm sorry about the Acathla business . and the Gem of Amara business too," Angelus raises an eyebrow. Spike hurries on. "But I've turned a new leaf, all right? I'm with you on this one. Honest."
Angelus regards him silently for a moment, and Spike waits. Finally, the older vampire nods. "One move, Will, one single thing, and you're dust."
"Yes, sire." Spike actually sounds submissive, and I don't know why that surprises me - should anything surprise me now? "The bloke, he's Council."
"Is he?" Angelus says.
"Yeah. The Slayer came to get my help, the other day, he was with her."
Angelus swings round and regards me, a smile on the corner of his lips. "I knew it." He crosses the floor to Spike and puts his hands on the shoulders of the blond vampire. "Welcome home."
They exchange grins, and then Angelus turns to me again. "I hope I didn't waste a kill on that chainsaw," he muses aloud. I clench my fists, willing myself not to move, not to show fear, though even as he takes one step towards me I know my heartbeat has accelerated.
I try reaching Willow and Tara again, even as he bends down and opens the box and takes out a brand-new, shiny chainsaw, and takes hold of the handle to start it up. Nothing. There is nothing. The connection has gone. Angelus starts to pull the handle of the saw, and then something happens.
The bolt embeds itself in the sofa even as the curtains are whipped aside, and a voice says cheerfully, "Hiya, honey!"
Buffy. The Slayer. I breathe a sigh of relief. She has a crossbow in one hand and is wearing a sword on her hip, and behind her, the massed forces of Giles, Riley, Xander, Willow and Tara. Now we outnumber the vampires, just.
Angelus glares, and does not start the chainsaw, instead shouting, "Darla! We have company!"
Buffy frowns, but the aim of the crossbow does not waver. "Will, go and help Mike," she says, glancing at me and smiling reassuringly. Willow and Tara break from the group and hurry over to me, leaving a large circle between them and Angelus. Sensible girls. They look at my chains, and look at each other before joining hands and hurriedly chanting something over them. The metal tingles, but nothing happens.
Willow looks panicked.
"Iron," Tara says.
"Can't magic iron," Angelus says. "Who's the other witch, Willow?"
Willow's face is set, but she does not respond.
"Hey!" Buffy says. "You're here for me, aren't you?"
Angelus flicks his gaze back to the Slayer, and he smiles. "Of course I am, lover. Who else would I be here for? Why else come to Sunnydale, if it wasn't to kill the Slayer?"
Buffy grits her teeth but does not move an inch. Behind her, Riley peels off and hurries over to Tara and Willow, pulling something out of a pocket as he does so.
"The Slayer and her little gang, of course," Angelus continues. "Still with the boyfriend, I see?"
Next to me, Riley is working on my manacles with a skeleton key. His expression tightens. One of the manacles drops free.
"How's that working out?" Angelus asks, stepping towards Buffy. "Or are you still hoping you'll wake up and find he's me?"
Giles looks ready to stake Angelus now, but at the same time he is watching Luc Tarpeau and Spike in the background and remains ready behind Buffy.
"He's way better than you," Buffy says vehemently.
"You mean you'd take a snivelling human over my boy?" Darla questions, emerging from one of the back rooms. She is wearing a red dress cut to show off her figure, and comes across the room to stand next to her partner. "She's pathetic, Angelus. Hurry up and kill her, I'm bored of waiting for you." She glances round. "Spike."
"Darla."
The second manacle is off now, and I can move my hands around - or my left arm. My right is too stiff too move. Tara sends me a comforting look, and pats it gently. "We'll soon have you safe," she says softly.
Angelus's head snaps around, and he seems to notice for the first time exactly what Riley is doing. Before any of us could have reacted, before even Buffy can react, he is over to me, and Riley has gone flying to land in a heap over on the other side of the room. The Breton goes to make sure he is properly knocked out. Willow and Tara have scrambled to their feet and are backing hurriedly away.
Angelus takes hold of my shoulder, the uninjured one, and hauls me to my feet. "You want him, Buff?"
"Just go, Buffy," I manage to say. "Tell the Council what happened."
"Nuh-uh," she says. "This has been way overdue. He's killed too many of my friends."
"Thinking of Cordy?" Angelus asks, his grip on my shoulder unfaltering. "She went down beautifully. Remember that, Luc?"
The Breton has been occupied in binding Riley's hands and feet, and now stands up and comes over to join his sire. "Elle était si belle, c'est vrai."
Spike follows. "You got Cordelia? Nice one."
Now they are facing one another, the two sides: four humans and the Slayer, four deadly vampires and myself in the middle. There is an impasse. Buffy and Angelus are glaring at each other, and Darla is glaring at both of them. Spike, unconcerned, has lit another cigarette, and the Breton has his hands behind his back and is examining each of Buffy's companions with clinical interest.
Suddenly, Xander moves, clutching a battleaxe in his hand and letting out a roar of fury. He comes straight at Angelus, who reacts almost as soon as I have noticed Xander moving. I hit the ground, hearing a crack as my shoulder breaks, but the momentum of the fall keeps me rolling away out of danger. Buffy shouts, "No, Xander!" and lets a bolt go. Angelus ducks and swerves, and the bolt goes flying harmlessly at the wall. I manage to prop myself up near the remains of my manacles, and watch as Xander succeeds in landing a blow with the flat of the axe-head. Buffy has passed her crossbow to Willow, and draws the sword to hurry to her friend's aid.
"Luc! Sword!" Angelus growls, landing a blow to Xander's stomach. The boy grunts but to his credit keeps standing and keeps trying to hit the vampire with the axe. Angelus catches the broadsword which Luc Tarpeau throws to him, and meets Buffy even as she pushes Xander out of the way. Their swords clash.
Spike sighs, and begins to circle towards the door, and I just hear him mutter, "Déjà-soddin'-vu," before he ducks past Giles and runs, out into the night. Giles shakes his head at Willow who is making to follow the blond vampire, and they let him go.
Buffy and Angelus are still fighting. Buffy is the more graceful as she parries and swipes, but he has more skill, and his height and strength seem to be giving him the upper hand. The Breton is still watching from the sidelines with Darla, but she is clearly getting fidgety. I see Giles bend to say something to Willow, who nods vigorously and passes the message on to Tara, and that little group splits - the girls towards me, Giles towards Riley who still seems to be unconscious.
At that point, there is a cry from Buffy, and a clang as her sword goes spinning away from her and lands on the stone flagstones.
"Fell for that one again," Angelus taunts. "I'm not going to make the same mistake I made last time, though." He smiles. Buffy backs away towards her weapon. I close my eyes, not wanting to see this, knowing that it is inevitable.
In my darkness, I hear Giles shout, "Willow!" A voice I do not recognise for a moment, deep and powerful, calls out three words, and the world goes silent.
I open my eyes.
A bubble of nothingness surrounds the three vampires, freezing them in their motions - Darla, turned towards the door, the Breton, hand on Darla's arm, and Angelus, the tip of his sword a mere inch from Buffy's heart. None of us move for a moment, and then Giles hurries to Buffy, and helps her to her feet, before putting out a hand for Xander. Willow and Tara help me stand, gently, but I cannot help wincing as they hold my arms. Over in the corner, Riley moves and moans, and Giles leaves Buffy and Xander supporting each other and goes to help him up.
"Can we stake them through the spell?" Buffy asks, her face pale and drawn.
Willow shakes her head. "No. Sorry - I couldn't think of anything else to do."
"You did the right thing," Giles says. "Let's go, now. There's always tomorrow." He takes a proper look at me, and his eyes show sympathy. "Mike needs medical treatment."
We take a last look at the frozen vampires, and turn reluctantly away from them towards the door. Buffy collects her sword, and is turning it ruefully in her hand when footsteps approach and the curtain is pulled back.
Charles Gunn, the last of the family, stares for a moment at the bubble containing his sire, and then at us. "What the hell?" he says, and then, "oh man."
"Can I stake him?" Buffy asks me.
"Go ahead," I reply, and she whips out her stake and plunges it into the heart of the young vampire, who mouths a curse before disintegrating into dust.
"Let's go," Giles says, and we hurry out, into the night.
Death Awaits: chapter 11 - Showdown
"I bought a chainsaw."
The voice makes me curl up and wish I were invisible. There is a thud as a box is dropped on the floor, and then a pause, followed by, "Will?"
"Hey," Spike says.
I open my eyes. Angelus is back, a large box on the floor by his feet. But he is staring at Spike in what looks like genuine astonishment. Spike scratches his ear.
"All we need now is Drusilla, sire," Luc Tarpeau puts in. "Spike heard you were back."
"And came to betray me, again?" Angelus says, sarcastic. "Like last time? Want to go and tell Buff I'm here, eh, William?"
"Nah. No," Spike repeats, "I've come to join you. Look, I'm sorry about the Acathla business . and the Gem of Amara business too," Angelus raises an eyebrow. Spike hurries on. "But I've turned a new leaf, all right? I'm with you on this one. Honest."
Angelus regards him silently for a moment, and Spike waits. Finally, the older vampire nods. "One move, Will, one single thing, and you're dust."
"Yes, sire." Spike actually sounds submissive, and I don't know why that surprises me - should anything surprise me now? "The bloke, he's Council."
"Is he?" Angelus says.
"Yeah. The Slayer came to get my help, the other day, he was with her."
Angelus swings round and regards me, a smile on the corner of his lips. "I knew it." He crosses the floor to Spike and puts his hands on the shoulders of the blond vampire. "Welcome home."
They exchange grins, and then Angelus turns to me again. "I hope I didn't waste a kill on that chainsaw," he muses aloud. I clench my fists, willing myself not to move, not to show fear, though even as he takes one step towards me I know my heartbeat has accelerated.
I try reaching Willow and Tara again, even as he bends down and opens the box and takes out a brand-new, shiny chainsaw, and takes hold of the handle to start it up. Nothing. There is nothing. The connection has gone. Angelus starts to pull the handle of the saw, and then something happens.
The bolt embeds itself in the sofa even as the curtains are whipped aside, and a voice says cheerfully, "Hiya, honey!"
Buffy. The Slayer. I breathe a sigh of relief. She has a crossbow in one hand and is wearing a sword on her hip, and behind her, the massed forces of Giles, Riley, Xander, Willow and Tara. Now we outnumber the vampires, just.
Angelus glares, and does not start the chainsaw, instead shouting, "Darla! We have company!"
Buffy frowns, but the aim of the crossbow does not waver. "Will, go and help Mike," she says, glancing at me and smiling reassuringly. Willow and Tara break from the group and hurry over to me, leaving a large circle between them and Angelus. Sensible girls. They look at my chains, and look at each other before joining hands and hurriedly chanting something over them. The metal tingles, but nothing happens.
Willow looks panicked.
"Iron," Tara says.
"Can't magic iron," Angelus says. "Who's the other witch, Willow?"
Willow's face is set, but she does not respond.
"Hey!" Buffy says. "You're here for me, aren't you?"
Angelus flicks his gaze back to the Slayer, and he smiles. "Of course I am, lover. Who else would I be here for? Why else come to Sunnydale, if it wasn't to kill the Slayer?"
Buffy grits her teeth but does not move an inch. Behind her, Riley peels off and hurries over to Tara and Willow, pulling something out of a pocket as he does so.
"The Slayer and her little gang, of course," Angelus continues. "Still with the boyfriend, I see?"
Next to me, Riley is working on my manacles with a skeleton key. His expression tightens. One of the manacles drops free.
"How's that working out?" Angelus asks, stepping towards Buffy. "Or are you still hoping you'll wake up and find he's me?"
Giles looks ready to stake Angelus now, but at the same time he is watching Luc Tarpeau and Spike in the background and remains ready behind Buffy.
"He's way better than you," Buffy says vehemently.
"You mean you'd take a snivelling human over my boy?" Darla questions, emerging from one of the back rooms. She is wearing a red dress cut to show off her figure, and comes across the room to stand next to her partner. "She's pathetic, Angelus. Hurry up and kill her, I'm bored of waiting for you." She glances round. "Spike."
"Darla."
The second manacle is off now, and I can move my hands around - or my left arm. My right is too stiff too move. Tara sends me a comforting look, and pats it gently. "We'll soon have you safe," she says softly.
Angelus's head snaps around, and he seems to notice for the first time exactly what Riley is doing. Before any of us could have reacted, before even Buffy can react, he is over to me, and Riley has gone flying to land in a heap over on the other side of the room. The Breton goes to make sure he is properly knocked out. Willow and Tara have scrambled to their feet and are backing hurriedly away.
Angelus takes hold of my shoulder, the uninjured one, and hauls me to my feet. "You want him, Buff?"
"Just go, Buffy," I manage to say. "Tell the Council what happened."
"Nuh-uh," she says. "This has been way overdue. He's killed too many of my friends."
"Thinking of Cordy?" Angelus asks, his grip on my shoulder unfaltering. "She went down beautifully. Remember that, Luc?"
The Breton has been occupied in binding Riley's hands and feet, and now stands up and comes over to join his sire. "Elle était si belle, c'est vrai."
Spike follows. "You got Cordelia? Nice one."
Now they are facing one another, the two sides: four humans and the Slayer, four deadly vampires and myself in the middle. There is an impasse. Buffy and Angelus are glaring at each other, and Darla is glaring at both of them. Spike, unconcerned, has lit another cigarette, and the Breton has his hands behind his back and is examining each of Buffy's companions with clinical interest.
Suddenly, Xander moves, clutching a battleaxe in his hand and letting out a roar of fury. He comes straight at Angelus, who reacts almost as soon as I have noticed Xander moving. I hit the ground, hearing a crack as my shoulder breaks, but the momentum of the fall keeps me rolling away out of danger. Buffy shouts, "No, Xander!" and lets a bolt go. Angelus ducks and swerves, and the bolt goes flying harmlessly at the wall. I manage to prop myself up near the remains of my manacles, and watch as Xander succeeds in landing a blow with the flat of the axe-head. Buffy has passed her crossbow to Willow, and draws the sword to hurry to her friend's aid.
"Luc! Sword!" Angelus growls, landing a blow to Xander's stomach. The boy grunts but to his credit keeps standing and keeps trying to hit the vampire with the axe. Angelus catches the broadsword which Luc Tarpeau throws to him, and meets Buffy even as she pushes Xander out of the way. Their swords clash.
Spike sighs, and begins to circle towards the door, and I just hear him mutter, "Déjà-soddin'-vu," before he ducks past Giles and runs, out into the night. Giles shakes his head at Willow who is making to follow the blond vampire, and they let him go.
Buffy and Angelus are still fighting. Buffy is the more graceful as she parries and swipes, but he has more skill, and his height and strength seem to be giving him the upper hand. The Breton is still watching from the sidelines with Darla, but she is clearly getting fidgety. I see Giles bend to say something to Willow, who nods vigorously and passes the message on to Tara, and that little group splits - the girls towards me, Giles towards Riley who still seems to be unconscious.
At that point, there is a cry from Buffy, and a clang as her sword goes spinning away from her and lands on the stone flagstones.
"Fell for that one again," Angelus taunts. "I'm not going to make the same mistake I made last time, though." He smiles. Buffy backs away towards her weapon. I close my eyes, not wanting to see this, knowing that it is inevitable.
In my darkness, I hear Giles shout, "Willow!" A voice I do not recognise for a moment, deep and powerful, calls out three words, and the world goes silent.
I open my eyes.
A bubble of nothingness surrounds the three vampires, freezing them in their motions - Darla, turned towards the door, the Breton, hand on Darla's arm, and Angelus, the tip of his sword a mere inch from Buffy's heart. None of us move for a moment, and then Giles hurries to Buffy, and helps her to her feet, before putting out a hand for Xander. Willow and Tara help me stand, gently, but I cannot help wincing as they hold my arms. Over in the corner, Riley moves and moans, and Giles leaves Buffy and Xander supporting each other and goes to help him up.
"Can we stake them through the spell?" Buffy asks, her face pale and drawn.
Willow shakes her head. "No. Sorry - I couldn't think of anything else to do."
"You did the right thing," Giles says. "Let's go, now. There's always tomorrow." He takes a proper look at me, and his eyes show sympathy. "Mike needs medical treatment."
We take a last look at the frozen vampires, and turn reluctantly away from them towards the door. Buffy collects her sword, and is turning it ruefully in her hand when footsteps approach and the curtain is pulled back.
Charles Gunn, the last of the family, stares for a moment at the bubble containing his sire, and then at us. "What the hell?" he says, and then, "oh man."
"Can I stake him?" Buffy asks me.
"Go ahead," I reply, and she whips out her stake and plunges it into the heart of the young vampire, who mouths a curse before disintegrating into dust.
"Let's go," Giles says, and we hurry out, into the night.