Twist of Fate: Chapter 29
by Lisette
Legalese: See Chapter 1 for disclaimers and ratings.
As the blood-red sun began to set over the horizon, six people climbed from the dark van and made their way across the bulldozed plot. Warily, Miss Parker wrapped her long coat tighter around her slim form, her eyes darting around their small group. "I feel like we're being watched," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else as her eyes continued to take in the desolate landscape.
"That's because we are being watched," Jarod said quietly beside her, nodding his head slightly towards the dark sedan that was parked further up the road, one of the men already on the phone and most likely making contact with her brother.
"Yeah, but it's not just the Centre," Xander added, having overheard Jarod's words as they finally stopped in the middle of the lot, what would have been around the kitchen of where the house once stood on Revello Drive.
"Xander's right," Giles confirmed, joining in the conversation as he dropped one of the large duffels that he carried. "Ever since Buffy's disappearance, Sunnydale's demon population has been.. well, celebrating her absence almost nightly. The same can be found at the site of the old high school, where the closed door to Hell itself stands."
Still unable to completely hop on the demon bandwagon, even after witnessing her first vampire, Miss Parker slowly nodded nonetheless. "When I first arrived the other day, those were two of the locations I drove past," she said, a frown pulling at her lips. "It was pretty obvious that there was something different about them... something wrong."
"Which is why we have these," Xander explained as he dropped a matching duffel to the ground at his feet. Kneeling down as though this was almost ritual for the Sunnydale crew, he quickly unzipped the bag and proceeded to unload various deadly weapons, from axes, swords, crossbows, as well as a few stakes and bottles of holy water. Snatching up a small sword, he moved towards Miss Parker, and with a big grin, seized the weapon by the blade and pushed the handle towards her.
For a moment, Miss Parker could only stare at the absurd choice in weaponry, one slim brow arching as she cast a pointed glance from the sword and back to the teen. "You've got to be kidding me," she scoffed, shaking her head firmly. Still, the teen didn't take the hint as he reached forward and seized her hand in his and forced the sword into her own. Grimacing now, Miss Parker eyed the weapon before quickly pushing it back at the boy, reaching to the small of her back and withdrawing her ever-faithful semi-automatic.
"Yeah, like that worked so well last time," Xander snorted, eying the gun before he finally took note of the stubborn turn of her chin. Sighing dramatically, he acquiesced and backed away, returning a moment later with a large crucifix. "At least take the cross," he pleaded, smiling as the stubborn woman finally relented.
Meanwhile, Jarod stepped forward and began pawing through Giles' bag of toys and surprises. With a childlike grin on his face, he finally found a weapon to his tastes as he backed away, a long broadsword in hand. Then, to everyone's amazement, he twirled the sword expertly in one hand, his eyes dancing with delight. "I got to be pretty good with one of these a few years ago," he stated absently. "I was doing a pretend as a knight in a traveling carnival. King Arthur taught me everything he knew in return for some help in getting legal ownership of the outfit."
Amused, Miss Parker carefully made her way to the Pretender, her eyes sweeping over the heavy sword. "I don't remember that one," she murmured, drawing his attention away from his new toy at last.
"You didn't think that I gave you hints to follow on all of my pretends, did you?" he asked, a small smile lifting his lips. "Besides, that one was mainly for fun," he admitted with a sheepish grin - a grin that quickly vanished under a hard mask as three dark cars pulled to the curb before the house, releasing Mr. Lyle, Mr. Raines, Willie, Buffy, and ten other sweepers - fourteen adversaries in total as the two men on surveillance quickly joined the rest.
"Well that was quick," Oz muttered, summing up the thought on everyone's mind as the Sunnydale crew lined up side by side, facing the onslaught of Centre personnel.
It was the first time that any of the teens had seen Buffy since her disappearance over five months ago, and Giles felt their shock ripple through their line. "It's not her," he murmured, hoping his words would reach their ears. "It's not her," he repeated as he took in her deadened green eyes as she made her way to them.
"I know, Giles," he heard Willow murmur from down the line. "Buffy would never willingly wear her hair like that," she continued, causing a small smile to lift his lips as the group came to a stop a few short feet opposite them, finally meeting the cold eyes of none other than Mr. Lyle himself.
"Well, what do we have here?" the man asked, his smile malicious as he took in the group that dared to oppose them - six to their fourteen. Seriously, what did they hope to accomplish? "Not the best of odds for your team, for starters," he summed up with a charming grin that did nothing to hide the hardened look in his eyes.
"I wouldn't count on that," Giles muttered quietly, unable to stop himself as Lyle's eyes turned until they noticed Jarod's sword for the first time.
Obviously amused, the grin broadened as he really looked at the Sunnydale crew, taking in the assortment of primitive weapons. While it was true that each looked deadly in its own right, they would have to get in close to use them - a possibility that wasn't likely when faced with the guns that each of his people held. That, and the Slayer that stood by his side. Shaking his head, he allowed his gaze to settle on a slender redhead that stood between Jarod and a dark-haired boy, a girl so thin that it seemed as though the slightest breeze would blow her from her feet. Willow, he remembered, his eyes narrowing as he locked gazes with her. "I hope you know how to use that, little girl," he murmured, eyes raking over the crossbow that she held in her small hands.
Biting down on the fear that was beginning to consume her, Willow forced her chin even higher as she quickly cocked a wooden arrow into place, the sharp report echoing in the deepening night. Locked and loaded, she thought to herself, forcing her eyes to meet his.
Surprised at her spunk and starting to see how Buffy had rubbed off on the others, Lyle shrugged casually and turned towards the man that was quickly becoming the bane of his existence. "Well, Jarod, I guess it comes back down to this," he said, eyes flickering over the tall man, the evidence of his beating a few short days ago still apparent on his face. "It's time to come home, and you can do so the easy way or the really hard way. The easy way consists of you coming now, sparing these little friends of yours from getting riddled with bullets, and giving up the location of Sydney and Mr. Broots, who it seems disappeared from the Centre shortly after our own departure-"
"And what about me?" Miss Parker asked, a thin eyebrow arching at the man that had begun as a nemesis, changed to a long-lost brother, then to a thorn in her side... to this. "You're not forgetting about me, are you?"
Sighing dramatically, Lyle turned and finally acknowledged his twin. "Forget you Miss Parker?" he asked, snorting quietly as his eyes raked over her lean form. "How could I possibly forget about the last of the Parker line?" he asked, and by the way his sister recoiled slightly, her eyes growing wide as a gloved hand tightened on her gun, Lyle knew that she understood. "I could never forget about you," he hissed as he raised his gun and aimed it at his sister's heart - which was when a new voice rang out over the littered plot of land just as the sun set below the far horizon.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND EVACUATE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY BY ORDER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!" a deep voice rang out, echoing over the plot.
Startled, Lyle and his men quickly turned, eyeing the group of six heavily armed and camouflaged men that stood behind them, large guns trained on their group. Simultaneously, another group abandoned the cover of nearby homes, long since deserted by their rightful owners, and joined the three groups on the small plot of land. Only this group was much larger and more unusual looking than the others - and very much of the local demon variety.
"Just on time," Xander announced, causing Lyle to focus on the wiry teen. "Evil Centre Henchmen, I'd like you to meet the GI Joes, here on their daily patrol route, as well as the Evil Demon Guys that.. well, that like to party here on any given night," he said, grinning broadly as Lyle's look turned murderous, eyes sweeping over the group opposite of him.
"You planned this," he whispered, eyes narrowing as the man he recognized as Mr. Rupert Giles, the Slayer's mentor, lifted a small gun from his pocket and fired quickly, the dart striking home in his Slayer's neck as the girl began to sway gently before falling to her knees. Furious, his command to fire was drowned out by the roar of the demons as they began to attack all those human, which unfortunately included the Initiative squadron, the Sunnydale quadrant, and his own Centre employees.
Cursing loudly, Mr. Lyle tried to back away, leaving the Slayer where she fell as his eyes swept over what had quickly become a battlefield. The government boys and the Sunnydale crew were obviously quite accustomed to this sort of fight as the two teams seemed to work in harmony, their weapons far more suited to this type of foe. His men, however, were dropping like flies as their small guns did little in the way of damage to the type of forces they were fighting.
"Damn them.. damn them!" Lyle roared, his body quaking with anger as he watched all of his carefully laid plans go crashing around him. Then, his roving eyes caught sight of a familiar figure as he watched Miss Parker fire shot after shot into an oncoming vampire, her weapon barely even slowly its pace before she finally threw it to the ground and withdrew a large cross from her coat pocket. Amazed, he watched as that small token not only stopped the approaching demon, but caused it to rethink its approach before abandoning his prey altogether, moving on in search of an easier kill - a kill that was never found as Jarod moved behind it, expertly swinging the sword and forcing the sharp blade through the vampire's neck, causing the thing to dissolve into a cloud of fine ash. Cursing, he quickly raised his gun and sighted the weapon on his sister's dark head. At least one good thing could come of this night, he thought before a man's muffled words broke his concentration.
"Buffy, I am so sorry," Giles murmured as he slipped seemingly unnoticed to the ground beside his slayer, gently lifting her chin and inspecting her emotionless face. "It was necessary-" he broke off as cold steel pressed against the back of his head, freezing his mumbled apologies to a girl who didn't even know he was there.
"Get to your feet," Lyle hissed, moving around his quarry, his eyes locking on the Watcher's as the man slowly did as ordered, his weapon lying forgotten and discarded on the ground by his feet. "Slayer, up," he commanded, smiling as the girl moved with feline grace to join them. And as his eyes turned back to the older man, he didn't miss the look of utter hatred and revulsion that bled across his features. "Did she ever obey you like this?" he asked, his voice low as the two became oblivious to the many battles that were being fought around them. "Did you ever know the absolute control over your Slayer that I do?"
"I never needed to control her," Giles quickly spat out, his gaze fiery as he clenched his hands into fists at his side. "She listened to me because she respected me and not because of drugs or tortures."
"Then you never experienced obedience like this," Lyle replied simply as he lowered his gun, smiling at Giles' surprise before turning to his pet project. "Slayer, hold him," he ordered, and without pause Buffy was in motion, launching herself at Giles and shoving him back until he was pinned by the base of his neck in the shadows against a neighboring house.
Startled, Giles slowly shook his head before trying to push his Slayer away, only to find her to be unmovable. "B-but I don't understand," he stammered, his eyes frantically searching Buffy's. "The drug-" he continued, his words silenced by Lyle's cold laugh as he joined them in the shadows of the neighbor's home.
"Where did you think that we got the formula to the one drug sure to eliminate her strength?"