In the Space of Desire
Chapter Fifteen
The Medical Clinic
There was a loud crash as Oz's body hit the wall and slid down to the floor, unconscious for the time being. Sonya wanted to go to him and make sure he was alright, but first she had to deal with Angel, or Nathan, or Nigel... or whoever the hell he was now...
"If you've seriously hurt him, you'll regret it," she warned the sorcerer, her voice filled with menace.
Angel/Nathan laughed heartily. "I sincerely doubt that, my dear." He smiled a cold, cruel smile that looked very unnerving on Angel's normally-friendly face. "After all," he continued, taking a slow step toward her, "the only reason you're even able to stand up on your own two feet is because *I* made it happen. Without me, you'd still be trapped in your wheelchair, unable to do anything for yourself. The poor, helpless cripple that *used* to be someone important. What a waste. It must be hard knowing that all your so-called friends feel for you is pity and loathing." His eyes gleamed. "Join me, Sonya. Then you can show them all how powerful you really are. You can make them pay for how badly they've treated you." His voice softened to a conspiratorial whisper. "You know they've never really cared for you, Sonya. They'd turn on you in a heartbeat. And that's why you have to turn on them first."
For a split second, Sonya felt all her insecurities threaten to overwhelm her. She remembered how Amy had insulted her time and again. She remembered how it felt to almost be raped by someone she'd trusted with her life. She remembered Oz's face when he'd walked out of the library and left her alone, and his cold words to her later, at Buffy's house. But then she felt the reassuring presence of Buffy in the back of her mind, giving her strength. And she remembered how Oz had believed in her, even when everyone else hadn't given a damn. And she looked up at the sorcerer in Angel's body, realizing that the vampire had been out looking for her, risking his life for her own, when Nathan had found and captured him. Sonya's eyes narrowed and she impaled Nathan with her steely gaze. Smirking, she commented, "That was the wrong tactic to use on me, Nathan. I know that my friends really care about me, even after all of this. And I'll never knowingly betray them for the likes of you."
Nathan shrugged. "Maybe not. But that doesn't matter. If you don't join me willingly..." He reached out Angel's right hand and grabbed her by the collar, catching her off guard and dragging her forward on her toes. "Then I'll just have to do this the hard way."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy flinched. Jenny knelt down next to her on the couch. "What's happening?"
"It's started, but Nathan is in... Angel," Buffy murmured. She couldn't spare much energy for conversation -- not that she had scads of energy to spare right now -- but she was using most of what she had to keep Sonya calm and in control. Nathan was cold, cruel and calculating. His words lanced through Sonya's heart like a poison-tipped spear, and Buffy felt everything. But distance gave her perspective, which she shared with Sonya. Together, the two girls stood up to the emotional blackmail, and survived.
When Nathan/Angel grabbed Sonya, Buffy's eyes flashed open. She looked at Jenny. "It's started. We have to be ready."
Jenny nodded and gently guided Buffy to her place in the circle, where Buffy sat and closed her eyes again. Joyce and Amy took their places on either side of Buffy while Jenny lit the thick, pure white candle on the table in front of them.
"Tell me when, Buffy," Jenny whispered. "Just tell me when."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonya wrenched herself free from Nathan's grasp and took a step back, putting a little distance between herself and the sorcerer. Then, before he could say another word, she thrust her leg out in a perfect side kick, her foot catching him in the stomach and knocking him backwards. He stumbled over a nearby chair and landed hard on the floor. Sonya moved in closer, watching as he scrambled to his feet to meet her. When Nathan threw a punch at her, she ducked, coming up underneath his arm and grabbing it. Then she used her leverage to flip him over her hip and onto the ground again.
Smirking, she called out to him, "Now what was that you were saying about doing this the 'hard way' before?"
"Shut up, bitch!" Nathan snarled at her, awkwardly getting back to his feet. He was obviously still not used to fighting in an unfamiliar body. But Sonya knew that soon he would be and she wanted to end this battle long before then. Pulling a stake from her jacket pocket, she cast a side-long glance in Oz's direction, wondering if she'd be able to make it close enough to him to get the orb out of his pocket without Nathan catching her. Then she turned her attention back to the sorcerer in front of her.
"Don't move one inch, or I'll put this stake right through your heart, Nathan."
Nathan laughed, looking rather smug. "But my dear, how could you do anything to harm poor Angel? He's your friend."
Sonya snorted disdainfully. "Obviously you haven't been paying much attention."
At Nathan's confused expression, she clarified, "I don't give a damn about whether or not Angel lives through this. Looks like you picked the wrong hostage, Nathan!"
Nathan's eyes narrowed. "You'd like to believe that, wouldn't you, Sonya? But regardless of your own personal feelings on the matter, there is one thing you're forgetting."
"And what's that?"
"Your little boy-toy, the Pseudo-Slayer. He cares about what happens to the vampire. And since you care about Harris, you'll have a mighty big problem with killing one of his best friends."
Instead of answering, Sonya punched Nathan in the jaw and followed up with a punch to the gut. She was about to nail him again, with a kick this time, when Nathan surprised her by catching her foot mid-kick and twisting it around, sending her to the ground in a crash of limbs. Before she could even attempt to regain her footing, he launched a viscous kick to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her gasp. Then he moved his hands in a complicated series of movements and a strange wind picked up, throwing Sonya back against the wall on the other side of the room. Her head hit the wall with a loud crack, and Sonya felt the warmth of blood in her hair. She tried to open her eyes, but everything blurred. She heard Nathan's laugh and his footsteps and tried to scoot away.
"Get away from my daughter!"
The sudden yell took everyone by surprise. Sonya knew that voice. "No, Giles!" she protested weakly. With a new sense of urgency, she willed the dizziness and pain away and squinted until her vision cleared in time for her to see Giles running toward Nathan/Angel, spike and sword in hand.
The problem was, Giles had yelled too soon. He was still halfway down the hall, but his rage had been so great he couldn't hold back.
Nathan looked at Giles with a raised eyebrow. "Who do you think you are, old man?"
"The only way you'll hurt her is over my dead body," Giles yelled, vaulting over Oz's crumpled form. He was almost close enough to swing the heavy sword, but Nathan didn't look worried.
"No!" Sonya tried to rise, but the world spun around her again, and she fell, her eyes riveted to the scene before her. "Giles! Get out of here!"
"Over your dead body?" Nathan asked, pretending to ponder. Then Giles swung the sword and Nathan ducked. "Those are acceptable terms, Englishman!" Nathan extended a hand, and Sonya knew what was coming -- it was his favorite trick.
"Watch out, Giles!" she yelled. "He's got telekinesis!"
But it was too late. Sword and stake clattered to the ground, and Giles went flying backwards into the wall. But Nathan didn't stop there. Another gesture sent Giles flying into a second wall, and then a third. But his attention was off of Sonya for a crucial second.
As she slowly climbed to her feet, Sonya's eyes landed on Oz, who still lay in a crumpled heap near the door. She noticed with more than a little worry that his leg was bent at a strange angle behind him. But she didn't have time to think about him right now. She had to do something, or they'd all three be dead.
Finally she came to a decision. She needed the orb now. Sonya grabbed a potted plant that was sitting on a nearby table and threw it at Nathan with all her might, causing him to duck away and lose his concentration on Giles. The Watcher fell to the floor. While Nathan was distracted, she swallowed her lingering dizziness and made a break for it, dashing to Oz's side and reaching her hand into his jacket pocket in search of the orb of Kessla. Her fingers brushed over something smooth and round and she grinned with the realization that she'd found the orb. But suddenly, she felt rough hands grabbing her by the hair and pulling her away from Oz and the orb, which she hadn't managed to get a hold of in time. Sonya tried to get free of Nathan's grip, reaching her hands up to claw at his face, but he just shook her roughly, causing tears to leak out of her eyes when she felt patches of her hair ripping loose at the roots.
"Let go of me, you... you... caveman!" Sonya screamed. But she knew that would do no good.
Nathan snapped his fingers, and suddenly, he held a long, gleaming knife with a hilt Buffy recognized through Sonya. "You know, Slayer," he said thoughtfully, "I've changed my mind about that blood..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Oz awoke to the sounds of fighting and opened his eyes groggily. He pushed himself up on his elbows and shook his head to clear his hazy vision. The last thing he remembered was being flung harshly against the wall and then pain in his leg and darkness. Oz quickly took stock of the situation around him. Nathan had Sonya trapped at knife point, and Giles was in a bloody heap on the floor, looking more horrible than Oz felt. Oz tried to get back to his feet in order to help Sonya, but when he put too much weight on his left leg a sharp, lancing pain shot through his body, causing him to fall back to the ground in a heap. His leg was obviously broken. Oz closed his eyes and took a few deep, even breaths to keep from crying out from the pain. He was a big believer in the element of surprise -- his only weapon against the powerful sorcerer in the powerful vampire's body.
After a few seconds, the pain became a little more bearable and Oz gave a sigh of relief. He shifted his weight to keep from pressing too much on his hurt leg and was surprised to feel something strange in his jacket pocket. Then he remembered. The orb! He had to get this orb into Nathan's hands so that the others could perform the spell! Oz pulled the spherical, rose-colored glass from his jacket and looked up at the scene before him. And he had to get Nathan and his knife away from Sonya. She was trying her hardest, but it looked like Nathan/Angel had the upper hand, for now.
Bracing himself against the pain he knew would be almost unbearable, Oz used his good leg to launch himself in a flying leap toward the combatants. When he was close enough, he thrust the orb into Sonya's flailing hands.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One second Sonya was at Nathan's mercy, and the next second Oz's surprise attack knocked her free. And she had the orb! She scrambled to her feet, unable to spare the boy a glance where he lay crumpled on the ground. Nathan was glaring at him with murder in his/Angel's eyes. She had to distract him!
"Hey, Nathan!" she cried, hiding the orb behind her back. "Did I hear you say something about wanting my blood? Looks like you missed!"
Her taunts enraged the sorcerer, and he lost interest in Oz. He stepped toward Sonya and started to chant. She felt the unnatural wind pick up again, but this time she was glad. Seconds later, the wind blew her straight into Nathan's grasp.
Sonya pulled out the orb and laid it in his hands. His expression of triumph faded into pain as the orb began to do its job. Pink flashes of light played in the air around them. One of them hit Sonya on the shoulder by mistake. She grunted, but held in the pain, using it to re-enforce her concentration on Nathan. He tried to drop the orb, but Sonya held on to both it and his hand with all her revived Slayer powers. Nathan began to scream...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When she saw Sonya get the Orb of Kessla into Nathan/Angel's hands, Buffy's eyes snapped open. "He's got the orb. But Giles and Oz... I don't know if they'll make it!"
"It's time," Jenny replied. "We can think about them after we do this spell."
"Oh dear," Joyce murmured, but she dutifully linked hands with Buffy and Jenny.
"Don't worry," Amy whispered to her from across the table.
Joyce smiled in gratitude, and then focused on the burning white candle on the table. She didn't know what was going to happen, but it had something to do with that candle. Buffy squeezed her hand comfortingly, and Joyce squeezed back. Joyce hoped she was ready for anything. She knew her line -- now she just had to remember when to say it.
At the head of the table, Jenny began to chant. The words were familiar to Joyce on some instinctive, primitive level, but her mind didn't understand them. Then Jenny said the cue line. "May the North Winds beat down in fury and destroy the abandoned soul with whirling might."
Then it was Buffy's turn. "May the South Winds bake and burn the soul out of its foreign host."
Then Joyce. Her voice trembled as she hurried through the scripted line she'd been given. "May the East Winds send the unnatural thief back into beyond."
And Amy finished with, "May the West Winds bind the spirit from ever reinhabiting said host forever."
There was a bright flash of light and the candle flame roared and grew unnaturally huge for a split second. Joyce could feel the magic flowing around her. Suddenly the noise and light all combined into one wave which poured into a surprised Buffy. Joyce felt a shock through their joined hands as massive amounts of power flowed through her daughter.
"What's going on?" Joyce demanded, looking at Jenny. The senior witch watched Buffy with a calm demeanor.
"It will be fine," Jenny reassured her. "The spell was calibrated for the Nigel body, so when Nathan showed up in Angel, I had to rework things. There wasn't enough time for a whole new spell. I had to use the link between the Slayers to get the magic there. Keep concentrating."
The light finally vanished, and Buffy looked mostly all right, though woozy. She shut her eyes and whispered, "It went through me to Sonya..."
"Did it finish?" Jenny demanded. "Did it go through Sonya to Nathan?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The searing pain from his leg almost sent Oz back into unconsciousness, but he knew he couldn't let that happen. He had to be alert in case Sonya needed help. There was no other choice.
Bringing all of his vaunted control to bear, Oz pushed back the pain a little bit at a time, until it was locked in a manageable corner of his mind. Then he opened his eyes.
Sonya and Angel were locked in a lurid embrace of magic and hatred, surrounded by flares of pink lightening. And then their joined hands began to glow. Suddenly they were both enveloped in a white/purple light. A smaller bit of power, black in color, then flew out of Angel, only to be trapped by the violet-hued power. The black was extinguished by the violet.
From the room in the back where Oz supposed Nathan's former body to be there was a horrible scream, echoed by Angel and Sonya. Their hands came apart and the Orb of Kessla crashed to the floor, breaking into a million rose-colored pieces. Then the power vanished as suddenly as it had come, and Angel and Sonya's bodies crashed to the floor.
With his arms and his one good leg, Oz began to push and pull himself to their sides, through the debris from the shattered orb.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
With the spell over, the four women released hands. Joyce hurried over to Buffy, who sat with her eyes closed. Suddenly, Buffy jerked several times, and then she opened her eyes. Clutching her mother's hand, Buffy looked at Jenny.
"Sonya passed out. I think the power went through her to him, but I'm not sure. She was unconscious before I could see."
"We have to go there," Jenny said decisively. She began grabbing a few things and stuffing them in her bag, just in case. Amy helped her.
"I'll drive," Joyce said when they were done. Joyce and the two witches helped the still-shaky Buffy out to the van and they all piled in. Soon Joyce was zooming toward the medical clinic at twice the legal speed limit.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How is he?" Hannah asked when Nurse Esther came back from checking on the recently tranquilized Mr. Harris.
Esther looked puzzled. "Mostly fine, but not quite normal."
"What's wrong?"
"For awhile, he reacted normally," Esther explained, "but then, just a few minutes ago, his vitals really started taking off. They aren't dangerous, but they are unusually high for someone under the effects of that tranquilizer we gave him. We've got to watch him carefully, and make sure he doesn't have a bad reaction."
"Yes, ma'am," Hannah replied, making a note of it on Mr. Harris's chart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander didn't know where he was. Everything was dark. It felt like he was floating. Something held him. Something hard and unyielding. Then there was a big flash, a blinding flash, and the thing was gone. He was free. He was himself again, completely and fully. But he was still in the dark. He still could not wake up.
"Buffy!" he cried, but whether it was with his mouth or his soul, who could say. But somehow he knew something was going on, and that Buffy needed him. She was hurting, and he had to find her.
Xander began to swim, up and up. Eventually he would have to come out, right?
Chapter Fifteen
The Medical Clinic
There was a loud crash as Oz's body hit the wall and slid down to the floor, unconscious for the time being. Sonya wanted to go to him and make sure he was alright, but first she had to deal with Angel, or Nathan, or Nigel... or whoever the hell he was now...
"If you've seriously hurt him, you'll regret it," she warned the sorcerer, her voice filled with menace.
Angel/Nathan laughed heartily. "I sincerely doubt that, my dear." He smiled a cold, cruel smile that looked very unnerving on Angel's normally-friendly face. "After all," he continued, taking a slow step toward her, "the only reason you're even able to stand up on your own two feet is because *I* made it happen. Without me, you'd still be trapped in your wheelchair, unable to do anything for yourself. The poor, helpless cripple that *used* to be someone important. What a waste. It must be hard knowing that all your so-called friends feel for you is pity and loathing." His eyes gleamed. "Join me, Sonya. Then you can show them all how powerful you really are. You can make them pay for how badly they've treated you." His voice softened to a conspiratorial whisper. "You know they've never really cared for you, Sonya. They'd turn on you in a heartbeat. And that's why you have to turn on them first."
For a split second, Sonya felt all her insecurities threaten to overwhelm her. She remembered how Amy had insulted her time and again. She remembered how it felt to almost be raped by someone she'd trusted with her life. She remembered Oz's face when he'd walked out of the library and left her alone, and his cold words to her later, at Buffy's house. But then she felt the reassuring presence of Buffy in the back of her mind, giving her strength. And she remembered how Oz had believed in her, even when everyone else hadn't given a damn. And she looked up at the sorcerer in Angel's body, realizing that the vampire had been out looking for her, risking his life for her own, when Nathan had found and captured him. Sonya's eyes narrowed and she impaled Nathan with her steely gaze. Smirking, she commented, "That was the wrong tactic to use on me, Nathan. I know that my friends really care about me, even after all of this. And I'll never knowingly betray them for the likes of you."
Nathan shrugged. "Maybe not. But that doesn't matter. If you don't join me willingly..." He reached out Angel's right hand and grabbed her by the collar, catching her off guard and dragging her forward on her toes. "Then I'll just have to do this the hard way."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy flinched. Jenny knelt down next to her on the couch. "What's happening?"
"It's started, but Nathan is in... Angel," Buffy murmured. She couldn't spare much energy for conversation -- not that she had scads of energy to spare right now -- but she was using most of what she had to keep Sonya calm and in control. Nathan was cold, cruel and calculating. His words lanced through Sonya's heart like a poison-tipped spear, and Buffy felt everything. But distance gave her perspective, which she shared with Sonya. Together, the two girls stood up to the emotional blackmail, and survived.
When Nathan/Angel grabbed Sonya, Buffy's eyes flashed open. She looked at Jenny. "It's started. We have to be ready."
Jenny nodded and gently guided Buffy to her place in the circle, where Buffy sat and closed her eyes again. Joyce and Amy took their places on either side of Buffy while Jenny lit the thick, pure white candle on the table in front of them.
"Tell me when, Buffy," Jenny whispered. "Just tell me when."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonya wrenched herself free from Nathan's grasp and took a step back, putting a little distance between herself and the sorcerer. Then, before he could say another word, she thrust her leg out in a perfect side kick, her foot catching him in the stomach and knocking him backwards. He stumbled over a nearby chair and landed hard on the floor. Sonya moved in closer, watching as he scrambled to his feet to meet her. When Nathan threw a punch at her, she ducked, coming up underneath his arm and grabbing it. Then she used her leverage to flip him over her hip and onto the ground again.
Smirking, she called out to him, "Now what was that you were saying about doing this the 'hard way' before?"
"Shut up, bitch!" Nathan snarled at her, awkwardly getting back to his feet. He was obviously still not used to fighting in an unfamiliar body. But Sonya knew that soon he would be and she wanted to end this battle long before then. Pulling a stake from her jacket pocket, she cast a side-long glance in Oz's direction, wondering if she'd be able to make it close enough to him to get the orb out of his pocket without Nathan catching her. Then she turned her attention back to the sorcerer in front of her.
"Don't move one inch, or I'll put this stake right through your heart, Nathan."
Nathan laughed, looking rather smug. "But my dear, how could you do anything to harm poor Angel? He's your friend."
Sonya snorted disdainfully. "Obviously you haven't been paying much attention."
At Nathan's confused expression, she clarified, "I don't give a damn about whether or not Angel lives through this. Looks like you picked the wrong hostage, Nathan!"
Nathan's eyes narrowed. "You'd like to believe that, wouldn't you, Sonya? But regardless of your own personal feelings on the matter, there is one thing you're forgetting."
"And what's that?"
"Your little boy-toy, the Pseudo-Slayer. He cares about what happens to the vampire. And since you care about Harris, you'll have a mighty big problem with killing one of his best friends."
Instead of answering, Sonya punched Nathan in the jaw and followed up with a punch to the gut. She was about to nail him again, with a kick this time, when Nathan surprised her by catching her foot mid-kick and twisting it around, sending her to the ground in a crash of limbs. Before she could even attempt to regain her footing, he launched a viscous kick to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her gasp. Then he moved his hands in a complicated series of movements and a strange wind picked up, throwing Sonya back against the wall on the other side of the room. Her head hit the wall with a loud crack, and Sonya felt the warmth of blood in her hair. She tried to open her eyes, but everything blurred. She heard Nathan's laugh and his footsteps and tried to scoot away.
"Get away from my daughter!"
The sudden yell took everyone by surprise. Sonya knew that voice. "No, Giles!" she protested weakly. With a new sense of urgency, she willed the dizziness and pain away and squinted until her vision cleared in time for her to see Giles running toward Nathan/Angel, spike and sword in hand.
The problem was, Giles had yelled too soon. He was still halfway down the hall, but his rage had been so great he couldn't hold back.
Nathan looked at Giles with a raised eyebrow. "Who do you think you are, old man?"
"The only way you'll hurt her is over my dead body," Giles yelled, vaulting over Oz's crumpled form. He was almost close enough to swing the heavy sword, but Nathan didn't look worried.
"No!" Sonya tried to rise, but the world spun around her again, and she fell, her eyes riveted to the scene before her. "Giles! Get out of here!"
"Over your dead body?" Nathan asked, pretending to ponder. Then Giles swung the sword and Nathan ducked. "Those are acceptable terms, Englishman!" Nathan extended a hand, and Sonya knew what was coming -- it was his favorite trick.
"Watch out, Giles!" she yelled. "He's got telekinesis!"
But it was too late. Sword and stake clattered to the ground, and Giles went flying backwards into the wall. But Nathan didn't stop there. Another gesture sent Giles flying into a second wall, and then a third. But his attention was off of Sonya for a crucial second.
As she slowly climbed to her feet, Sonya's eyes landed on Oz, who still lay in a crumpled heap near the door. She noticed with more than a little worry that his leg was bent at a strange angle behind him. But she didn't have time to think about him right now. She had to do something, or they'd all three be dead.
Finally she came to a decision. She needed the orb now. Sonya grabbed a potted plant that was sitting on a nearby table and threw it at Nathan with all her might, causing him to duck away and lose his concentration on Giles. The Watcher fell to the floor. While Nathan was distracted, she swallowed her lingering dizziness and made a break for it, dashing to Oz's side and reaching her hand into his jacket pocket in search of the orb of Kessla. Her fingers brushed over something smooth and round and she grinned with the realization that she'd found the orb. But suddenly, she felt rough hands grabbing her by the hair and pulling her away from Oz and the orb, which she hadn't managed to get a hold of in time. Sonya tried to get free of Nathan's grip, reaching her hands up to claw at his face, but he just shook her roughly, causing tears to leak out of her eyes when she felt patches of her hair ripping loose at the roots.
"Let go of me, you... you... caveman!" Sonya screamed. But she knew that would do no good.
Nathan snapped his fingers, and suddenly, he held a long, gleaming knife with a hilt Buffy recognized through Sonya. "You know, Slayer," he said thoughtfully, "I've changed my mind about that blood..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Oz awoke to the sounds of fighting and opened his eyes groggily. He pushed himself up on his elbows and shook his head to clear his hazy vision. The last thing he remembered was being flung harshly against the wall and then pain in his leg and darkness. Oz quickly took stock of the situation around him. Nathan had Sonya trapped at knife point, and Giles was in a bloody heap on the floor, looking more horrible than Oz felt. Oz tried to get back to his feet in order to help Sonya, but when he put too much weight on his left leg a sharp, lancing pain shot through his body, causing him to fall back to the ground in a heap. His leg was obviously broken. Oz closed his eyes and took a few deep, even breaths to keep from crying out from the pain. He was a big believer in the element of surprise -- his only weapon against the powerful sorcerer in the powerful vampire's body.
After a few seconds, the pain became a little more bearable and Oz gave a sigh of relief. He shifted his weight to keep from pressing too much on his hurt leg and was surprised to feel something strange in his jacket pocket. Then he remembered. The orb! He had to get this orb into Nathan's hands so that the others could perform the spell! Oz pulled the spherical, rose-colored glass from his jacket and looked up at the scene before him. And he had to get Nathan and his knife away from Sonya. She was trying her hardest, but it looked like Nathan/Angel had the upper hand, for now.
Bracing himself against the pain he knew would be almost unbearable, Oz used his good leg to launch himself in a flying leap toward the combatants. When he was close enough, he thrust the orb into Sonya's flailing hands.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One second Sonya was at Nathan's mercy, and the next second Oz's surprise attack knocked her free. And she had the orb! She scrambled to her feet, unable to spare the boy a glance where he lay crumpled on the ground. Nathan was glaring at him with murder in his/Angel's eyes. She had to distract him!
"Hey, Nathan!" she cried, hiding the orb behind her back. "Did I hear you say something about wanting my blood? Looks like you missed!"
Her taunts enraged the sorcerer, and he lost interest in Oz. He stepped toward Sonya and started to chant. She felt the unnatural wind pick up again, but this time she was glad. Seconds later, the wind blew her straight into Nathan's grasp.
Sonya pulled out the orb and laid it in his hands. His expression of triumph faded into pain as the orb began to do its job. Pink flashes of light played in the air around them. One of them hit Sonya on the shoulder by mistake. She grunted, but held in the pain, using it to re-enforce her concentration on Nathan. He tried to drop the orb, but Sonya held on to both it and his hand with all her revived Slayer powers. Nathan began to scream...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When she saw Sonya get the Orb of Kessla into Nathan/Angel's hands, Buffy's eyes snapped open. "He's got the orb. But Giles and Oz... I don't know if they'll make it!"
"It's time," Jenny replied. "We can think about them after we do this spell."
"Oh dear," Joyce murmured, but she dutifully linked hands with Buffy and Jenny.
"Don't worry," Amy whispered to her from across the table.
Joyce smiled in gratitude, and then focused on the burning white candle on the table. She didn't know what was going to happen, but it had something to do with that candle. Buffy squeezed her hand comfortingly, and Joyce squeezed back. Joyce hoped she was ready for anything. She knew her line -- now she just had to remember when to say it.
At the head of the table, Jenny began to chant. The words were familiar to Joyce on some instinctive, primitive level, but her mind didn't understand them. Then Jenny said the cue line. "May the North Winds beat down in fury and destroy the abandoned soul with whirling might."
Then it was Buffy's turn. "May the South Winds bake and burn the soul out of its foreign host."
Then Joyce. Her voice trembled as she hurried through the scripted line she'd been given. "May the East Winds send the unnatural thief back into beyond."
And Amy finished with, "May the West Winds bind the spirit from ever reinhabiting said host forever."
There was a bright flash of light and the candle flame roared and grew unnaturally huge for a split second. Joyce could feel the magic flowing around her. Suddenly the noise and light all combined into one wave which poured into a surprised Buffy. Joyce felt a shock through their joined hands as massive amounts of power flowed through her daughter.
"What's going on?" Joyce demanded, looking at Jenny. The senior witch watched Buffy with a calm demeanor.
"It will be fine," Jenny reassured her. "The spell was calibrated for the Nigel body, so when Nathan showed up in Angel, I had to rework things. There wasn't enough time for a whole new spell. I had to use the link between the Slayers to get the magic there. Keep concentrating."
The light finally vanished, and Buffy looked mostly all right, though woozy. She shut her eyes and whispered, "It went through me to Sonya..."
"Did it finish?" Jenny demanded. "Did it go through Sonya to Nathan?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The searing pain from his leg almost sent Oz back into unconsciousness, but he knew he couldn't let that happen. He had to be alert in case Sonya needed help. There was no other choice.
Bringing all of his vaunted control to bear, Oz pushed back the pain a little bit at a time, until it was locked in a manageable corner of his mind. Then he opened his eyes.
Sonya and Angel were locked in a lurid embrace of magic and hatred, surrounded by flares of pink lightening. And then their joined hands began to glow. Suddenly they were both enveloped in a white/purple light. A smaller bit of power, black in color, then flew out of Angel, only to be trapped by the violet-hued power. The black was extinguished by the violet.
From the room in the back where Oz supposed Nathan's former body to be there was a horrible scream, echoed by Angel and Sonya. Their hands came apart and the Orb of Kessla crashed to the floor, breaking into a million rose-colored pieces. Then the power vanished as suddenly as it had come, and Angel and Sonya's bodies crashed to the floor.
With his arms and his one good leg, Oz began to push and pull himself to their sides, through the debris from the shattered orb.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
With the spell over, the four women released hands. Joyce hurried over to Buffy, who sat with her eyes closed. Suddenly, Buffy jerked several times, and then she opened her eyes. Clutching her mother's hand, Buffy looked at Jenny.
"Sonya passed out. I think the power went through her to him, but I'm not sure. She was unconscious before I could see."
"We have to go there," Jenny said decisively. She began grabbing a few things and stuffing them in her bag, just in case. Amy helped her.
"I'll drive," Joyce said when they were done. Joyce and the two witches helped the still-shaky Buffy out to the van and they all piled in. Soon Joyce was zooming toward the medical clinic at twice the legal speed limit.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How is he?" Hannah asked when Nurse Esther came back from checking on the recently tranquilized Mr. Harris.
Esther looked puzzled. "Mostly fine, but not quite normal."
"What's wrong?"
"For awhile, he reacted normally," Esther explained, "but then, just a few minutes ago, his vitals really started taking off. They aren't dangerous, but they are unusually high for someone under the effects of that tranquilizer we gave him. We've got to watch him carefully, and make sure he doesn't have a bad reaction."
"Yes, ma'am," Hannah replied, making a note of it on Mr. Harris's chart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Xander didn't know where he was. Everything was dark. It felt like he was floating. Something held him. Something hard and unyielding. Then there was a big flash, a blinding flash, and the thing was gone. He was free. He was himself again, completely and fully. But he was still in the dark. He still could not wake up.
"Buffy!" he cried, but whether it was with his mouth or his soul, who could say. But somehow he knew something was going on, and that Buffy needed him. She was hurting, and he had to find her.
Xander began to swim, up and up. Eventually he would have to come out, right?