Part 6: Lying with the Lion
The tea kettle screamed as the hot steam was pushed through the small opening, telling Joyce that it was ready. Quickly, she fixed the three cups of tea to each of the person's liking; she had learned long ago how each of the Scoobies took their tea. Dawn would want two lumps of sugar, while Willow, like Joyce herself, would want just a tab of honey. When they were prepared, she picked the tray up and headed back into the living room where the girls were waiting.
Dylan was asleep in her play pen, her little arm draped over her stuffed dog while her mouth hung open. She looked a lot like Buffy had at that age, and Joyce had to shake the feeling of déjà vu she got from the sight.
In the few minutes that Joyce had been gone, Dawn had spread out on the couch and had also fallen asleep. Her mother shook her head as she set the tray on the coffee table, and handed the steaming cup to the witch who looked as if she were fighting sleep off as well.
"Thank you," she said, savoring the smell of the liquid before consuming it. The red head seemed to perk up from the beverage.
"So, were you able to find out what's going on?" Joyce asked, taking her seat with her own drink.
"Not much," Willow shrugged. "Hopefully Buffy and the others will come back with more information."
From the play pen, Dylan began to whimper in her sleep and cuddle close to her stuffed animal. Her grandmother knew another one of those bad dreams was attacking the child, so Joyce placed her cup of tea on the coffee table and bent over to try and sooth the child with her touch.
"What's the matter with her?" Willow asked cautiously as she watched the two.
"A bad dream, I think," the middle-aged woman answered, the child not calming any. When she still had no luck in calming her, Joyce sighed. She couldn't wait until Buffy and Spike got back, Dylan always calmed for them. Dylan looked as if she were about to start crying, and Joyce ran her hand over the side of her head. "Shhh, baby. It'll be okay. I promise."
**********
Buffy backed away from the car and unconsciously moved closer to her old friend. She couldn't believe it. Oz? Oz was the one that sent this Eric guy after them? But Oz wouldn't ever hurt them, not intentionally. That was about like believing Xander or Willow would. But, still…
"Oz?" the slayer asked, her voice sounding horse.
The fellow Scooby came closer to the group around the car. Spike's grip on Eric loosened from his surprise of seeing 'Red's mongrel' being the one behind all this distracting him from the young man he held. Eric scrambled away from the vampire, choosing instead to head over in Oz's direction for a small sense of safety. At the same time, Connor gripped a little tighter on the crossbow, but Angel held up his hand to tell him it was all right.
"Sorry about all the sneakiness," the werewolf apologized, digging his hands a little deeper into his pockets. "But we couldn't let ourselves be seen."
"Oz, what's going on? Why are you here? Why is he here?" Buffy asked, eyeing the blond-haired man that stood nearby before turning her attention back to her old friend.
The red-headed young man sighed deeply before telling her, "There's something bad in your group, Buffy. A demon."
"We know we got demons, Wolf Boy," Spike snarled. "Me and Peaches here are two of 'em."
"Not that kind of demon," Oz answered with a shake of his head. "This one's a lot sneakier than you two can ever hope to be."
Buffy swallowed hard. This cannot be good. Oz was the quiet contemplator of the group. Yet, in the past five minutes, he had said more then he had in the whole two and half years that Buffy knew him. If Oz is chatty, then it must really be bad.
Eric looked to his 'boss' before taking up the story himself.
"See, this demon is an infection, a parasite. It feeds off negative emotion, so it creates as much as possible in the host. It is, however, extremely intelligent, and knows when it's in danger. That's why we had to be so covert with you. I am sorry about that. But if it knew we were trying to kill it, it would have done something rather rash." He sighed deeply. "The thing is the person infected doesn't even know it. And, once we're able to get rid of it, she won't remember what happened."
"She?" Angel caught.
Oz pressed his lips together, forming a hard straight line. "Buffy, these parasite demons only live in one place, the Shadow World."
The slayer blinked once, then took off for home.
**********
"Or, maybe she's afraid," Willow offered approaching the woman and child.
"Afraid of what, dear?"
Joyce felt some invisible force wrap its arms around her before throwing her across the room. She crashed hard into the bookshelf, with all the trinkets and pictures and books falling onto her limp body on the floor.
She was barely holding onto consciousness when she head Willow say coldly, "Me."
Forcing herself to stay awake, Joyce watched as Willow walked over to the pen, picked the child up, and said, "Come to your Auntie Willow."
**********
Buffy's legs pumped feverishly under her body as she tore towards her home, Spike, Angel and Connor right on her heels. How could she have been so stupid?! She knew something was up with Willow. They all did. But it was Willow! Her best friend would never hurt them. Would she?
Sharp pains jabbed at Buffy's legs as she rounded the corner and head up her street. She hadn't run this fast since she went to catch Riley, and that had turned out so well. No. She wouldn't let herself think that. Oz had to be wrong. Willow would never hurt them. He just had to be wrong!
The slayer charged up the front stair and burst through the door, nearly tearing it from its hinges. The house felt charged as she skidded to a stop in the living room doorway and saw her sister fast asleep on the couch. Maybe they had been wrong after all.
"Dawn?" she called in a small voice.
A small moan answered her, but it had not come from her sister. Buffy jerked her head towards its origin, and gasped when she saw her mother lying on the floor, the old bookshelf broken and lying on top of her. The two vampires came to a halt behind her, surveyed the damage, then Angel pushed passed her to see if her mother was alright. Funny, Buffy felt like her feet were glued to the ground as she watched him check Joyce over.
He looked up at the slayer, and said, "She's alive."
"Niblet's okay," Spike said, kneeling next to her sister. When had he moved from Buffy's side? "Just can't wake her up."
The slayer blinked as she looked at the two. There was someone else she needed to check on, someone that the stress was somehow making her forget about. There's Dawn, on the couch, Spike kneeling beside her, next to an empty play pen. Dylan's play pen. Oh, God-
"Dylan," Buffy squeaked out before turning around and charging up the stairs for her room. If she wasn't downstairs with her mother, then they must have put her to bed already. She wasn't gone, she had to be here. She just had to be!
A soft sound greeted Buffy at the top of the stairs. It floated into the hallway from her opened bedroom door. Someone was humming gently from inside. Slowly, she went to the door and pushed it open. There was no one inside, but the humming continued from the crib.
Time seemed to slow down as she wandered towards the sound, praying that perhaps she would look over and find her daughter sitting there. Praying that, maybe, right before she looked over, she'd wake up and find this whole night had been a nightmare. Instead, she found the baby monitor was lying gently on Dylan's pillow, making the noise. Buffy didn't know why, but she found herself reaching over and picking the monitor up, her fingers turning white as she clung onto it.
"Wow, Buffy," Willow said when the pretty song she had been humming stopped. "She really is a cutie. But, then, I guess with you as her Mommy and Spike as her Daddy that should be expected. She's going to break a lot of hearts someday. Or she will, if you do as I say. And you might as well not look for me, Spike. I can see you, but you can't see me."
Buffy turned and saw the bleach blond was standing there in the door way, his eyes looking past her into the darkness outside. She hadn't even heard him come up.
"I want the Key, Buffy," Willow continued, her voice having become harder than she had ever heard it before. "You have it. I want it. Just give a shout when you're ready. I'll be listening."
A faint murmuring came over the monitor. "Looks like my sleeping spell doesn't last as long on her as it will the others. All well, maybe a song will keep her quiet.
"Hush little baby, don't you cry,
Buffy can make it all alright.
But if your mommy keeps the Key,
We're going to see what's inside of thee."
Spike snatched the monitor out of Buffy's grip and smashed it into a million pieces on the floor.
The Key? She wants the Key? She wants to trade Dylan for Dawn?!
The air around her was fast becoming thin, and those heavy legs that had been plaguing her all night suddenly felt like they were becoming jello. Her body began to collapse to the floor when she felt Spike catch her and pull her up to him.
"We'll get her back, love," he told her. "I swear we will."
She just wished she could believe him.
**********