Chapter Fourteen: In the Dark


"Argh!" Spike looked around for something to throw, but there weren't any objects.

"William, don't get upset," The voice said.

"Don't get upset? I'm way past upset you bloody... voice!" His lip quivered. "I'm going back, so sod off and leave me alone!" He roared.

"You can't Spike. It'll throw everything into turmoil. Your existence will only bring the worst evil ever."

"What are you talking about? Worst evil? We defeated the First. I sacrificed myself."

"This is new William. An evil brought on by your gift. They will fight this evil. And she will die."

"Die?" Spike glanced back at Buffy. She was still sitting there, next to him. His heart ached. He sat next to her, "Buffy."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


"Buffy." The blond slayer turned around. She heard the whisper. But there was no one in the room except her, and Spike. She wasn't sure why she was there, she had actually been looking for Angel. But she found herself here, and after... persuading the guards, she was sitting and talking to Spike. He was tan, not as pale as usual, he looked human. His hair needed to be re-dyed, his brown roots were showing. He had deep, purple bruises covering his entire body and the doctors had covered up a huge scorch on his chest with the white gauze they use. She wanted to touch him, but she was afraid. Afraid that if she did, she wouldn't touch anything, that he was a figment of her imagination and she was dreaming all of this.

She wasn't dreaming though. She knew she wasn't. Dreams never seemed this real, except for that one with Angel. Angel. He was behind her.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you." He nodded at the unconscious one. "How is he?"

"Same. Dying." She left the room. Angel followed her out. She took one last glance at Spike. "Angel, I don't know what to do. This is too much." She laughed. "Why do people keep coming back from the dead?"

Angel chuckled. "Got me."

"Did Faith talk to you?" She asked, hoping for a subject change.

Angel nodded. "Yeah. Buffy, there's something I have to tell you. It's mine."

"That's not funny," she said.

"I know." They walked along. Angel looked at her. She was in pain, he could tell. He should've just told her when they all arrived. "I should've told you." He said.

"It's okay." She shrugged. "You had your reasons. Besides, this way it hurts a whole lot less." She said slightly sarcastically.

"You don't have to be sarcastic, about it." He mumbled.

"Don't I?" She faced him. "Why didn't you just tell me, Angel?"

"Like you said, I had my reasons."

"Planning on telling me those reasons?"

"Nope."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


"Andrew, what are we waiting for?" Dawn asked impatiently. "I want to go see my sister."

"Hush, young one!" Andrew said. "You could blow our cover."

Dawn rolled her eyes and shoved Andrew. "Then at least give me a little more breathing room." The two of them were crammed inside a tiny closet. Andrew had convinced Dawn to come with him on a 'mission'. That tall and rugged looking English guy had cornered Andrew earlier and asked him to find a document concerning someone named Lilah. Dawn didn't know who or what she was, but she was sure she wasn't on their side.

"I want the numbers on the Shanshu matter immediately. The sooner the better," Lilah walked into her office followed by three young looking assistants who were all scribbling every word on yellow legal pads and were hooked up to ear buds. "And I want you," she pointed to the female, "to set up a meeting with the slayer. I'd like to get to know her a little better."

"Uh, which slayer?" The female asked.

"The slayer," Lilah said. When she got a blank stare from the young woman she yelled. "Buffy! The Summers girl, the blond."

"Oh," they all furiously wrote on their pads.

Dawn nudged Andrew, "What do you think she wants with my sister?"

"I don't know," Andrew replied. "But it can't be good."

"That's all for now," Lilah said. "Get," she waved them away and they all left quickly. The phone rang and she answered it. "Hello?" Andrew and Dawn watched from the crack in the door. "Yes," Lilah continued. She smiled. "Perfect. I'll be right down." And she left, locking the door behind her.

"C'mon," Dawn pushed Andrew out.

"Hey!" Andrew fell on the floor.

"Sorry," Dawn stepped over him. "But I wanna know what she wants with Buffy." She rummaged through Lilah's desk. "Check those files," she said beckoning to the stack of folders on the desk.

"Dum dum dada, Dum dum dada," Andrew hummed the Mission:Impossible theme under his breath. He flipped through the documents, skimming for anything that read, 'Contract' like Wesley had said. Nothing. "Did you find anything?"

Dawn shook her head. "No, just a bunch of stuff that makes no sense. It's like, it's all written in code and in another language. Something about Shanshu, prophecy, evil, I can't make any of it out. Oh! Champion, it doesn't make sense."

Andrew thought quickly, "Take it anyway, maybe Mr. Giles will know what it means."

"Okay. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No. Maybe it's in another office..." Dawn suddenly clapped her hand over Andrew's mouth. "Mphhaa!"

"Shh!" She shushed him and they ducked down under Lilah's desk as someone jiggled the door handle then inserted a key and unlocked it.

"Mfoo eh zit?" Andrew asked, his voice muffled by Dawn's hand.

"Some guy," she told him. "Wait, I've seen him before. He was down in the infirmary before."

"Wheflee?" Andrew asked.

Dawn shook her head. "He was talking to Wesley." She watched as he walked over to a spot on the wall and pressed a few buttons. A panel opened and he stepped inside. "Let's go!" She said and grabbed Andrew's hand and they ran out the office, not looking back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Gunn had heard two voices in Lilah's office, but disregarded them. They weren't any threat to him. He walked through a long, narrow hall, his heels clicking on the slick floor as he did. He went through an unnoticable door to his left.

A figure wearing a white, lab coat stood fiddling with a syringe and a vial of opaque black liquid. "You're late," their voice cracked.

"I like to make an entrance," Gun replied as he sat in a metal chair. He rolled up his sleeve.

"Entrance or not, you cut it close," they said.

"Whatever, just give it to me," Gunn replied.

The person turned around, revealing a mutated, cat-like face. He was scarred badly and his hands had sharps claws, whiskers grew from his face. "You know what can happen when you don't take your medication on a set schedule."

Gunn was unnerved by this doctor's appearance and nodded exasperated. "I know. And I know if I don't take them at all, I'll look like you. Not a great look for the ladies."

The doctor's pupils narrowed to slits in his yellow eyes. "Yes. And you don't have enough personality to make them overlook it."

Gunn chuckled. "Just stick me already." The doctor tapped the syringe and inserted it into Gunn's protruding vein. Gunn felt the cold liquid course through his veins and throughout his entire body. The doctor pulled the needle out and stepped back. Gunn morphed into a pristine, but lethal-looking, black panther. He snarled at the doctor, who chuckled to himself.

"Feel better?" The doctor asked.

Gunn the panther growled then morphed back into his human self. "Thanks, Doc." He said and left the room.

"Don't be late, next time," the mutant doctor called out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Fred lead Willow into a dark room. "I really hope you can help." She said. "Not that I don't think you can't do it," she said quickly. "It's just nobody's been able to wake her up."

Willow smiled at the pretty young woman. "It's okay. Comas are tricky and when a person gets lost inside their mind, it's hard to find the way back."

The petite, mousy, brown-haired girl half-smiled and walked over to a drape covered window and pulled the rope to let light in. Willow gasped as she saw Cordelia laying there.

"She's been like this since..." Fred choked up. "Since the birth."

"Birth?" Willow asked.

Fred nodded. "She gave birth to a former Power That Be. It was so bizarre."

"Who was she impregnated by?"

"By... By... I don't know," Fred knitted her brows in confusion. That whole ordeal is kind of foggy anyway."

Willow sat next to Cordelia. "She's in there. I can sense her."

"Can you get her out?"

"It'll take time, but yeah," Willow placed her hands on the sides of Cordelia's head. "Cordy?" She whispered. "Are you there?" Willow saw flashes. Flashes of Cordelia at Sunnydale, pregnant, talking with Angel, confused, and she saw Cordelia with a dark cloud around her. "She's there," Willow told Fred. "Where in there, I don't know."

Fred looked at her sleeping friend. "Poor, poor Cordy. We have to help her, Willow.

In an instant, Willow was inside Cordelia's mind. She looked around. It was like some kind of fever dream. Everything around Willow was moving and she wasn't. "Cordelia!" She called out.

"Are you. A good witch. Or a bad witch?" A little girl emerged from the dark. She had long brown hair and big brown eyes. She carried a little straw basket and wore a black cloak.

"Oh, hello," Willow bent down to the little girl's height. "I'm a good witch." She said smiling at the girl.

"You're not. A witch at all," the little girl replied. "Not anymore."

Willow knitted her brows. "Oh. Can you tell me where to find my friend?"

"Cordelia. Not here."

"Where is she?"

The little girl put her finger to her chin and tapped it as though she was thinking. She motioned like she was asleep. "Sleeping. Can't wake. In the dark."

"Can you take me to her?" Willow asked.

The little girl's eyes grew big like she was afraid. "No. Can't take. Guarding."

"She's being guarded? By who?" Willow asked.

"No. Can't show. Can't take. Must be quiet. Or it will come," the little girl looked around nervously.

Willow held out her hand. "I can protect you, if you take me," she smiled trying to be convincing.

The little girl transferred her basket from on arm to the other. "Yes," she agreed. "Take good witch. Can help."

"Good," Willow said as the little girl took her hand and she started leading the redhead into the woods where she had come from. "Where are we going?"

"In the dark," the little girl replied.