Chapter 33 - On the Outside
I followed them for as long as I could. I know the van drove into a cave. I waited for a short while, then followed them in, but there was no sign of anyone. Teleporting's a great way to get around, but it has limitations. It doesn't work underground, and that's where I assume they went. With a sigh, I head back to the Magic Box.
I find everyone there in research mode. They're trying to find out about the demon Dawson had with her, but they look up expectantly when they see me.
"Where are they?" Giles asks what they all want to know.
"Well, I sort of know, but I can't go there."
"What do you mean? Is this some sort of rule or something, because, we've got to get them back." Xander sounds irritated, but I know he's just worried, so I try to ignore his tone.
"I mean I can't go there. I think they're underground. There's a cave, not far from here, and the van went inside. When I followed, the van was gone, so I assume there's some way to get underground. I could feel Buffy's need for vengeance, so she's not been spirited to another world. Wherever it is, it's well hidden and I can't teleport through rock."
Their faces all fall, and I don't understand, until I realise they don't know the whole story.
"Dawson's hurt," I add.
That got their attention pretty fast.
"How?" It's Giles this time.
"I don't know for sure. Spike and Buffy were in a van, and Dawson was there, with a couple of armed men. There was a lot of noise coming from the van - I assume they tried something, anyway, there was gunfire. There was a roadblock just outside town. It looked like more of the Defenders, but this time Riley was there. Buffy came out of the van then, carrying Spike. Looked like he'd been hurt pretty bad. Riley threatened Buffy with a gun, and she got into a different van, so I followed. They took Dawson too, and she looked like she'd gone ten rounds with Buffy, which I guess might have been the case."
"But Buffy was ok?" Xander jumps in.
"She looked it," I reassure him.
"Wait," Giles says, holding up his hand. "You say Riley took them at gunpoint? Was there anyone else there?"
"Well, there were a lot of guns around, but only two of the men seemed significant - Riley and another man. Didn't recognise him. If you ask me, he was in charge. Riley had the gun, but I don't think he was giving the orders."
"I knew we couldn't trust him," shouts Xander. "He's betrayed all of us. He's betrayed Buffy."
"Maybe," Giles says slowly. "He hasn't given me a lot of information recently, but he did have the impression that what was done to Spike before was pretty much Dawson working alone. Maybe he got the chance to save Spike from more of Dawson's brand of torture. If that's the best he could do without giving away his true allegiance, then, maybe he's still with us."
"You don't know that," Xander accuses.
"No, I don't. But we don't know it's not true either. Now, I think the priorities have changed. We need to know more about where they're being held. Anya, can you show Willow where this cave is? And Willow, can you find out what you can about what's under it? Geological surveys or whatever there is on the net?"
I nod, and pull a map from one of the bookshelves close to the research table. It takes me a couple of minutes, but I find the area, and give Willow the map reference, then leave her to work her electronic, non-magical, magic. She's muttering something about that area, and something ringing a bell. I leave her to it.
Willow seems a little, I don't know, off? I remark on that to Xander, and he explains.
"When the demon came in, the one that killed magical energy, she lost her new sight. But, she says she wasn't blind, either. She said it was fuzzy, not much more than light and dark, but there was something. As soon as the magic came back, it went again. I think she's .. disappointed or something. I think she's just accepted that she wouldn't see again in the normal sense, and now she's not sure."
I got used to Xander's preoccupation with other women a while ago. I did worry about his feelings for Buffy, but, with Willow being gay, she didn't seem much of a threat, but in some ways, he worries more about Willow than anyone else - especially since the whole 'dark' phase she went through. In view of our slightly indefinite situation, I decide it'd be best if I don't hang around just now. I make my excuses, and go to see what's happening on the vengeance front. It's pretty routine, nothing to even make me think twice.
When I went back to vengeance, I thought it would be just like before, that my time as a human wouldn't make any difference, but I was wrong. The first case I did, she was moving towards asking me to kill her boyfriend. It took a bit of quick talking on my part to come up with something that satisfied her, but didn't result in his death. I told myself at first that it just wasn't the right option for her, but it was more than that. I just can't bring myself to kill these humans.
D'Hoffryn was worried at first. He said I couldn't do the job if I had these 'human morals'. But, with a bit of imagination, I've managed to come up with wishes that really hurt the double-dealing, lying men they're aimed at, without doing anything lethal. Like the man who kept lying to his girlfriend - I just arranged that no one would ever believe him again. The effects of that wish have been surprisingly far-reaching - simple, but very effective. Even d'Hoffryn's pleased.
When I go back to the Magic Box, Willow's showing the others what she's found. There is a huge area under that cave - inter-linked caverns that would be ideal for a secret base. She's also scanned the local paper archive, and she came across reports that suggested there was significant building work going on in the area. Some conservancy group complained that the work was interfering with the life-cycle of a rare orchid, but the whole protest went quiet too quickly, and there's no sign of whatever was built. It certainly has all the hallmarks of something Government instigated - particularly the fact that reports stopped rather abruptly and without any obvious conclusion.
Not that any of that helps us to get to them.
We're sitting and digesting what we've been told, when I hear a strange sizzling sound, and when I look around, I see we've been joined by Jacob and Rebecca. I must say, he looks a lot better than he did last time I saw him, and I tell him that. He seems embarrassed by the attention, but Rebecca silences him with a look and asks what's been happening while they've been gone.
Giles explains, while everyone else adds what they think he's forgotten. I keep quiet. I know they all think I don't know how to do that, but they're wrong. I've always been a bit of an outsider in this group, but I feel it more now than before.
When he gets to the part about the demon that soaks up magic, there's a reaction from the two newcomers. I don't know anything about their physiology, but I'd guess it was their equivalent of going very pale. In fact, their colour actually heightened, becoming redder. The reaction doesn't go unnoticed.
"Do you recognise that species? Are they native to your world?" Giles asks.
"If they're what I think they are, they're not actually native to any world," Jacob explains. "It seems as though several of our legends are more than just legends."
He looks at Rebecca, and she nods, agreeing that he should continue.
"You must understand that what I know, I learned as if reading a very old story. Some or all of it may be erroneous, but I'll tell you how it went. The time scale would be similar to Blar, I suppose, although that wasn't clear. The same general period, certainly, but we're talking about so long ago that a century either way would be considered accurate."
He takes a deep breath, and then continues. "You see, at that time, my people were still in the early stages of peaceful co-existence. Although most people were happy to live in peace, there was one, I suppose you'd call it a tribe, which wasn't happy with things. This tribe had been among the most powerful, and some of its members resented what they saw as their loss of status and influence. They had long prided themselves on their physical strength, and they had, in fact, had the reputation of being warlike - of taking and defending territory in battle. Although they had ostensibly been at peace for a long time, there were some aspects of their history that were remembered, and instead of being consigned to history, they were kept alive by constant reminders in daily life. The most important of these memories, involved the loss of a huge part of their territory to another tribe. Of course, I don't know the truth or otherwise of the story they believed, but it is sufficient to know that among them, to question the facts of such a legend was considered treason."
"The other tribe was very different. They had obtained their influence by a combination of intellectual excellence, and the study of the arcane. Their weapon, although it was primarily a defensive one, was magic."
"A leader rose to power in the first tribe who was particularly fanatical in his belief of the wrongs done to his people. He put tremendous effort into a project which was designed to ensure their success in re-taking that territory. We had, even then, met with many creatures from many worlds, and one of those was known to be able to nullify the effects of magic. That race, however, wasn't able to survive in our world, and so was of no use to them. The project worked to combine the characteristics of that race with that of our own so that the result would have the desired effect on magic, but would have loyalties to its creators."
"The story goes on to tell that a large number of these creatures were made. Their appearance was similar to our own, but they were considerable larger than are we, larger even than your own race. They were used, and the battle was won, the territory was reclaimed. Unfortunately, the rest of my people had to react to such a threat, and steps were taken to disperse the war-like tribe, to mix them among all others, and the racial hatred that was central to their being was gradually eroded. The creatures they had made had, so the story goes, actually been destroyed by their creators when their task was accomplished, because they were perceived as a threat because of their size and strength."
"If Blar was indeed around at that time, or if he came across the details of how these creatures were created, it's possible that he hid them on one of the worlds he used for his own purposes. If they were fertile, there could be many of them by now, and if they weren't, it would probably be possible to use some sort of cloning technique to keep a stock of them available."
There is silence for a few moments, then Rebecca speaks.
"Of course, we don't know any of this is true. It's all just legends and supposition, but the idea that Blar's followers being reality seemed pretty far-fetched to me a short while ago, too, but now .."
I look around the group as they think about what has been said. Willow doesn't look at all well. It's probably due to her experience earlier with her sight and all, but it's obvious she needs some quiet time.
Xander looks fit to explode. He so wants to do something, anything, that he's like a clock-spring that's wound too tight. He just doesn't know which way to jump, and that's when he's going to get into trouble.
Giles keeps rubbing his eyes, his glasses in hand. He's even forgotten to clean them - a sure sign that he needs to sleep.
Jenna? Well, I don't know her that well, and she's even more of an outsider than I am, but she's yawning too. I make a decision for all of us.
"Xander," I say, walking towards him, using the walk that he always used to say drove him wild. "I want you to come home with me. You look like you need company, and I'd like to have sex tonight."
"Ahn," he protests. "We can't just go home and leave them there."
"I suspect we have to, at least for now," Giles disagrees, for once too tired to be embarrassed at my reference to sex. "We'll all be better for some sleep. Tomorrow we'll see if we can work out a way of either contacting Riley or getting into whatever's under that cave. In the meantime, we have to hope that, whatever's happening to them, Riley won't let them be hurt."
"That's a pretty big hope," Xander replies.
"Well, no, it isn't," I counter. "I felt Buffy's need for vengeance as she climbed out of the van. I can still feel it, but it's more muted now. If she was being hurt, or Spike was being hurt, she'd be broadcasting it loud and clear. For now, I think they're safe. So, are you coming with me, or do I have to find someone else."
"Anya!" he says, scandalised. As if I couldn't find another orgasm partner easily. Of course, I probably wouldn't enjoy it so much with someone else, although, Grebben males are considered a pretty good catch for a one-night itch-scratching. No good for long term, though, because of the ..
I stop that train of thought because I realise Xander's said something else, breaking through my thoughts. He's standing by the door, looking at me expectantly, and the others are moving too. Good. Except I don't plan on Xander getting much sleep tonight.
