Chapter 8: Spy Games and Mind Games
"So you want me to pull up any information on the Prophecies of... what was that again?" Dawn asked, still sitting at her computer.
"Aberjian," Cordelia said, pulling up a chair next to her.
Anya was less than reassuring in her responses to everything. "Well, if you do happen to find it, which will be hard, it will most-likely be in another language. It's going to be hard to translate it. I'm surprised you got as far the first time," she said, waving her hand in the air.
"Anya, could we be a little bit more gung-ho about this? You're so skeptical," Willow said. "I don't understand why you're so timid." She walked over to behind Dawn. "I don't mean to be pushy here, but I think it might be faster if I used a little magic," she told Dawn.
Dawn looked Willow straight in the eye, unsure about her offer. "Are you sure you want to? I mean, it's still..."
"Dawnie, it's... Please, let me try," Willow asked. Dawn slowly stood up and let her take her seat. "Okay, let's see if I can still do this right," Willow told the rest of the group. She placed her hands over the keyboard and concentrated. A bright light could be seen emanating from the small laptop. Everyone was looking at her with their head tilted to one side, wondering what she was doing, at the exception of Dawn, Xander, and Anya of course.
"What is she doing?" Fred whispered to Xander.
"It's like mystical hacker stuff," Xander whispered back. "She's going through info. She can see it through her mind."
"I see some stuff. There's no complete versions of it though. Not on the 'net. The are just passages, which are in different languages," Willow explained. "Oh, wait. I just found something. It's a version of it. Not complete, but most of it is there." She suddenly snapped out of the little trance she was in and typed something on the laptop, which conveniently stopped radiating light. "Okay, there it is," she said, pulling up something on the computer.
Everyone huddled around the computer. Anya was right. This thing was in a completely different language that any one of them has seen before.
"So now that we have this, what do we do now?" Gunn asked.
"Translate it," Anya said, shoving herself to the front of the crowd to get a good look at it. "This is going to take a long, long time."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buffy quickly made her way to the high school, in through the doors, and down into the basement, and intent on finding Spike.
Angel kept a good distance between himself and Buffy. Spying on her wasn't the best of things to do, but she wasn't letting him in on something. Something sparked in her during that whole conversation about the Prophecies and the Shanshu. He had to find out. She had left the house in such a rush, not even saying she was leaving. He was starting to worry about her.
She really didn't know where she was going. She was just trying to find Spike. She knew she was being careless about this, but that was the last thing on her mind. The same phrase kept repeating itself over and over in her mind, "The vampire with a soul will reach Shanshu... will turn human." It was unbelievable, and inconceivable. Angel wasn't the only one with a soul now either, which made the prophecy more perplexing. Weren't prophecies supposed to be a bit more descriptive?
Buffy continued to push her way through the confusing corridors, with Angel keeping a steady pace behind her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"We need brains like Giles," Anya moaned as she tried to read the copy of the prophecy on the computer. She had a pieces of paper sprawled around the dining room table with etchings of translations on them.
"Or Wesley," Cordelia added, examining a paper with Anya's handwriting. "You're apparently not writing in English. What *is* this?"
"Some demon-language I know. I'm trying to match up any of these symbols with it. It may be easier for me to begin to translate this thing," Anya explained. Then she looked over to Willow and asked, "Do you know any magic so that this scroll would just go 'poof it's translated' for us?"
Willow raised her eyebrows and answered with, "We can do a lot with magic, but we can't just translate text." Then she joked, "If we could, I'd actually understand half the things I was chanting."
Xander and Dawn found that less than funny.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Angel was getting a little worried. He was afraid Buffy didn't know where she was going. The corridors of the school's basement were like a labyrinth. It was like they moved every time he looked back.
"Spike?" she called out suddenly.
*Spike?* Angel thought surprisingly. Why was she calling for Spike? Was he down here? Well, obviously he was down here, but what was he doing here? He focused more on his surroundings, and more on Buffy.
She wasn't getting anything. No movement, no nothing. Was he even still down here? It seemed like he wasn't. Not anymore. "Spike?" she called out again. And again, nothing. "Spike, if you're down here, please come out. I need to talk to you."
Then, like he just materialized out of nowhere, he was behind her and said, "You're here again. Why are you here again?"
Startled, she turned around. "Where... No, that's not the question. Spike, I need to talk to you about something. Are you... Okay to talk?" she asked apprehensively.
Spike looked around, and then back at her. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe for you here."
"When is it *ever* safe for me?"
"They keep telling me, you shouldn't be here. She shouldn't come here anymore. It's not time yet. She will come here when it is time," he started rambling.
Buffy was intrigued. Did Spike know something? "What are you talking about?"
"It says that you're not supposed to be here," he told her. "I can't talk to you here. They tell me that you... No. You can't be here." His eyes were suddenly ripe with fear.
She was concerned. What on earth was Spike talking about? She needed to talk to him, and if he couldn't do it here, she would have to take him somewhere else. "If you can't talk here, what do you say we go somewhere else?" she said softly, trying to take the fear away from him.
He stepped back away from her. "Don't... Can't... leave here. I belong here. This is where I'm supposed to stay," he said.
"Spike, please."
He noticed something in her eyes just then. A spark. Was she trying to help, or was she just planning on using him again? He was afraid of her. He didn't mean to hurt her. There was something in her voice, like a gentle lullaby.
She was reluctant to do what she did next. She wanted to comfort him, but was afraid to touch him, since he was so defensive about it. She just wanted to place her hand on him, just to make him feel all right. She was testing her waters when she held out her hand to him and asked softly, "Come with me, please."
Spike was just as reluctant as she was. He didn't know if he should take her hand or not. He reached out and paused, looking back into her eyes. They were such pretty eyes. One could easily fall into them, and he was the perfect example. He shook that thought away and gently touched her hand.
That was when he had a flash. He heard her voice ringing with rage as she said to him, "Ask me again why I could *never* love you," her face streaked with tears. He pulled his hand away. "I can't..." he said, looking away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Didn't want to hurt..."
"Spike, I need to talk to you. This is about... everything," she said. It was more desperate this time. "Please come with me." She never put her hand down. "Look at me, Spike. You need help. No one but Anya and I know, and if you want it to stay that way, let me help you. Come with me."
He turned his head again to look at her. He tried again to take her hand, and succeeded, without the flashes.
"Thank you," she said, nodding her head once, and began to lead him out of the dark and dreary basement.
Angel looked on with curiosity. Spike and Buffy. Were they really talking like this? And what in the world was wrong with Spike? What was it that Buffy and Anya knew about Spike? Something weird was going on here. Spike didn't seem to be all good in the head. Quite frankly, he was acting crazed. No doubt, something had to have happened because it looked like he was afraid of Buffy. He was afraid to touch her.
Angel silently followed the two as they made their way out of the basement, never taking his eyes off of the fact that Buffy had Spike's hand in hers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
Short chapter, I know! Sorry about that. I'm kind of dealing with midterms in three different classes this week, and my brain has been totally fried, hence no creative juices flowing though. It's more like all technical terms floating though this brain of mine. =( Ahhh!!! Stop the madness! Don't worry, more coming soon... (Yeah, I'm starting to ramble. I'm going to stop now.) R&R!
"So you want me to pull up any information on the Prophecies of... what was that again?" Dawn asked, still sitting at her computer.
"Aberjian," Cordelia said, pulling up a chair next to her.
Anya was less than reassuring in her responses to everything. "Well, if you do happen to find it, which will be hard, it will most-likely be in another language. It's going to be hard to translate it. I'm surprised you got as far the first time," she said, waving her hand in the air.
"Anya, could we be a little bit more gung-ho about this? You're so skeptical," Willow said. "I don't understand why you're so timid." She walked over to behind Dawn. "I don't mean to be pushy here, but I think it might be faster if I used a little magic," she told Dawn.
Dawn looked Willow straight in the eye, unsure about her offer. "Are you sure you want to? I mean, it's still..."
"Dawnie, it's... Please, let me try," Willow asked. Dawn slowly stood up and let her take her seat. "Okay, let's see if I can still do this right," Willow told the rest of the group. She placed her hands over the keyboard and concentrated. A bright light could be seen emanating from the small laptop. Everyone was looking at her with their head tilted to one side, wondering what she was doing, at the exception of Dawn, Xander, and Anya of course.
"What is she doing?" Fred whispered to Xander.
"It's like mystical hacker stuff," Xander whispered back. "She's going through info. She can see it through her mind."
"I see some stuff. There's no complete versions of it though. Not on the 'net. The are just passages, which are in different languages," Willow explained. "Oh, wait. I just found something. It's a version of it. Not complete, but most of it is there." She suddenly snapped out of the little trance she was in and typed something on the laptop, which conveniently stopped radiating light. "Okay, there it is," she said, pulling up something on the computer.
Everyone huddled around the computer. Anya was right. This thing was in a completely different language that any one of them has seen before.
"So now that we have this, what do we do now?" Gunn asked.
"Translate it," Anya said, shoving herself to the front of the crowd to get a good look at it. "This is going to take a long, long time."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buffy quickly made her way to the high school, in through the doors, and down into the basement, and intent on finding Spike.
Angel kept a good distance between himself and Buffy. Spying on her wasn't the best of things to do, but she wasn't letting him in on something. Something sparked in her during that whole conversation about the Prophecies and the Shanshu. He had to find out. She had left the house in such a rush, not even saying she was leaving. He was starting to worry about her.
She really didn't know where she was going. She was just trying to find Spike. She knew she was being careless about this, but that was the last thing on her mind. The same phrase kept repeating itself over and over in her mind, "The vampire with a soul will reach Shanshu... will turn human." It was unbelievable, and inconceivable. Angel wasn't the only one with a soul now either, which made the prophecy more perplexing. Weren't prophecies supposed to be a bit more descriptive?
Buffy continued to push her way through the confusing corridors, with Angel keeping a steady pace behind her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"We need brains like Giles," Anya moaned as she tried to read the copy of the prophecy on the computer. She had a pieces of paper sprawled around the dining room table with etchings of translations on them.
"Or Wesley," Cordelia added, examining a paper with Anya's handwriting. "You're apparently not writing in English. What *is* this?"
"Some demon-language I know. I'm trying to match up any of these symbols with it. It may be easier for me to begin to translate this thing," Anya explained. Then she looked over to Willow and asked, "Do you know any magic so that this scroll would just go 'poof it's translated' for us?"
Willow raised her eyebrows and answered with, "We can do a lot with magic, but we can't just translate text." Then she joked, "If we could, I'd actually understand half the things I was chanting."
Xander and Dawn found that less than funny.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Angel was getting a little worried. He was afraid Buffy didn't know where she was going. The corridors of the school's basement were like a labyrinth. It was like they moved every time he looked back.
"Spike?" she called out suddenly.
*Spike?* Angel thought surprisingly. Why was she calling for Spike? Was he down here? Well, obviously he was down here, but what was he doing here? He focused more on his surroundings, and more on Buffy.
She wasn't getting anything. No movement, no nothing. Was he even still down here? It seemed like he wasn't. Not anymore. "Spike?" she called out again. And again, nothing. "Spike, if you're down here, please come out. I need to talk to you."
Then, like he just materialized out of nowhere, he was behind her and said, "You're here again. Why are you here again?"
Startled, she turned around. "Where... No, that's not the question. Spike, I need to talk to you about something. Are you... Okay to talk?" she asked apprehensively.
Spike looked around, and then back at her. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe for you here."
"When is it *ever* safe for me?"
"They keep telling me, you shouldn't be here. She shouldn't come here anymore. It's not time yet. She will come here when it is time," he started rambling.
Buffy was intrigued. Did Spike know something? "What are you talking about?"
"It says that you're not supposed to be here," he told her. "I can't talk to you here. They tell me that you... No. You can't be here." His eyes were suddenly ripe with fear.
She was concerned. What on earth was Spike talking about? She needed to talk to him, and if he couldn't do it here, she would have to take him somewhere else. "If you can't talk here, what do you say we go somewhere else?" she said softly, trying to take the fear away from him.
He stepped back away from her. "Don't... Can't... leave here. I belong here. This is where I'm supposed to stay," he said.
"Spike, please."
He noticed something in her eyes just then. A spark. Was she trying to help, or was she just planning on using him again? He was afraid of her. He didn't mean to hurt her. There was something in her voice, like a gentle lullaby.
She was reluctant to do what she did next. She wanted to comfort him, but was afraid to touch him, since he was so defensive about it. She just wanted to place her hand on him, just to make him feel all right. She was testing her waters when she held out her hand to him and asked softly, "Come with me, please."
Spike was just as reluctant as she was. He didn't know if he should take her hand or not. He reached out and paused, looking back into her eyes. They were such pretty eyes. One could easily fall into them, and he was the perfect example. He shook that thought away and gently touched her hand.
That was when he had a flash. He heard her voice ringing with rage as she said to him, "Ask me again why I could *never* love you," her face streaked with tears. He pulled his hand away. "I can't..." he said, looking away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Didn't want to hurt..."
"Spike, I need to talk to you. This is about... everything," she said. It was more desperate this time. "Please come with me." She never put her hand down. "Look at me, Spike. You need help. No one but Anya and I know, and if you want it to stay that way, let me help you. Come with me."
He turned his head again to look at her. He tried again to take her hand, and succeeded, without the flashes.
"Thank you," she said, nodding her head once, and began to lead him out of the dark and dreary basement.
Angel looked on with curiosity. Spike and Buffy. Were they really talking like this? And what in the world was wrong with Spike? What was it that Buffy and Anya knew about Spike? Something weird was going on here. Spike didn't seem to be all good in the head. Quite frankly, he was acting crazed. No doubt, something had to have happened because it looked like he was afraid of Buffy. He was afraid to touch her.
Angel silently followed the two as they made their way out of the basement, never taking his eyes off of the fact that Buffy had Spike's hand in hers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
Short chapter, I know! Sorry about that. I'm kind of dealing with midterms in three different classes this week, and my brain has been totally fried, hence no creative juices flowing though. It's more like all technical terms floating though this brain of mine. =( Ahhh!!! Stop the madness! Don't worry, more coming soon... (Yeah, I'm starting to ramble. I'm going to stop now.) R&R!