As the person I wrote this for started complaining about
the whole "Why does this have to go into action now", I'll rephrase a quote from
the movie Speed... "Relationships built under extreme circumstances rarely last"
or some such mojo.
I do promise good romance. And I promise good fights. One of the two is going to hit
Chapter 13, which is a lucky number for me and I decided to dedicate it to one of the two.
Bet you can't guess which one. Okay, stupid monacer. I do hope you enjoy this.
Chapter 14 will follow on Friday, with a bit more of the whole sequence thingy.
POV's for 13: Willow. Giles.
POV's for 14: Anya. Xander. Spike.
Chapter 13
Answers
* * * * *
"What a sign for an apocalypse!" I yelled at the clouds.
"Willow? What are you yelling at?" I turned and shielded the rain gliding down my face to see Giles walking down the steps, an umbrella twirling over him.
"The rain," I mumbled, trying to find a justification for the humiliating experience of yelling at the clouds. "Why are you so..." The words died from my mouth as I saw a second figure behind him. Walking with just a small limp, Buffy stepped out from behind, the umbrella twirling over Giles' head coming to a dead stop.
"Willow."
"Buffy."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Finally Giles spoke up, muttering an apology about the situation. He felt it was safer to bring Buffy to his house to stay the night, considering both of their lives were still in immenent danger.
I had to smile at that. So that's what it was called. Danger. Ha. "Okay," I said slowly. "But I thought you said you wanted me to come back here because we had a lot to talk about regarding the end of the world?"
"Right," Giles said, leaning over and gently pushing Buffy under the awning next to me. He handed her his keys and she fiddled with the lock while he turned his attention to me. "How was research mode?"
"We hit the books first," I began. "I had Xander look up the ancient texts that have forseen the coming of the age of darkness, in which the armies of the undead would circle the Earth, humans would die and everything would fall to nothing. It's never happened before obviously, but it did give detailed accounts on these demons. They've existed in our reality for over a decade, Giles. They work by manipulating their way to their prey. They work first by betrayal and cunning deceit. Then they go for the kill."
"Hmm," he said, watching as Buffy opened the front door and he lead us inside. "What about the past decade?"
"I went to the net for that," I continued. "The demons are the reason the Initiative existed after all. There was also an organization founded by those who worshipped them called the Anti-Initiative. You'll never guess who they found as their own hostile 17."
"Spike?" Buffy asked, sliding off her coat and taking a seat on the couch. Giles sat right next to her, their shoulders lightly brushing.
"Correct in one," I said, a trace of a grin splitting my serious demeanor. "After he was chipped, the Anti-Initiative took him in and performed all of these undead rituals, right down to him fighting these horrid creatures. They look and walk like regular vampires, but they are much harder to kill. They call them the ubervamps."
Buffy sat up very straight. "That's what Glory said. She said there were ubervampires, which are the next step. They had some rather technical name, but that's what she called them."
"They do," I replied, my tone turning grave. "And they've been killing certain females all over the world. Their masters are known as Bringers. You might recall them from the time that Angel was trying to kill himself."
Both Buffy and Giles averted their gazes away from each other. "Of course," Buffy echoed silently, the sound bouncing off the walls.
For a moment, all I heard was the raindrops on the roof. They finally glanced at each other, their eyes meeting tentatively, almost as though they were apologizing.
For what?
Finally, they both turned back to me. I cleared my throat and continued. "The Bringers gather the ones they've been sent to kill and the ubervamps take care of the rest. There have been seven suspicious deaths in the past three weeks alone, all overseas, except for one in rural Iowa three days ago. A girl was found stabbed to death and her body was... cut up into pieces and fed into an incinerator. Only when the girl's mother had noticed that these two men were doing it, she called the police. She later describes them as appearing as monks and says they had no eyes."
Buffy closed her eyes. I imagine she was turning back the clock to three years ago, when Angel had to face the Bringers, and how Buffy had reacted to them. She opened her eyes again. I met her gaze and could see into the past, the great fear she had of these beings.
She began to tremble and bit her lip, turning her gaze away from mine. Giles reached across and took her hand.
It was the first time in as many years as I'd known both of them that I'd seen this gesture.
"The Bringers have no weapons," I said, continuing my thoughts in a low voice. "They can be killed just as you could kill a human being. But, the ubervamps are deathly strong. No one has faced one and survived."
"Until now."
I nearly gasped at the grim determination in Buffy's voice. I turned to look at her. She had risen to her feet, although her hand was still locked inside Giles'. Her eyes had a cold, detached look to them I recognized as a hunger to kill. Her eyes scared me a bit. I swung my gaze to Giles and saw a completely different look in his eyes. Respect, awe and something else. Was it interest? Intrigue? It was something.
"Anything else?" Buffy asked, an edge to her voice. I was beginning to suspect she was up to something, because suddenly she couldn't stand still.
"Yes," I said, dropping my voice. "The ubervamps are going after the potentials. Once they have them all, they will go after the Council. And then your friends, Faith and finally you. They will force you to watch your friends die. And an email I got from an Indian monk speaks only of the truth, that someone you know and love will betray you."
Buffy stopped moving and crossed her arms. "Why?"
"Because the demons and Bringers work in mysterious ways," I said sadly. "It took us about three hours to find that out. What we spent the last three on is our game plan. We've already decided we need to go to Los Angeles, and break out Faith."
Buffy started laughing. "You expect me to break the law?"
"Faith had a point, Buffy," Giles said, finally speaking up as he rose to her height. "You are the law. When it comes to this, it's too dangerous to face alone."
"For all I know, these assassins have already pinned Faith to betray me," she replied, gesturing toward the door. "This is a risk I cannot take, Giles. It could mean both of our lives and you know I can't lose you."
"And I you," he said gently, before turning back to me. "After we rescue Faith?"
"We give her a special assignment to stay away from California," I replied grimly. "Anya has already provided good contacts for demon-human inbreeds who are willing to travel and gather the other potentials. Faith will lead the group and take them to safehouse. After that's done, all we need to do is concentrate on protecting both of you."
They looked at each other again. "It's risky," Giles said.
"Almost too risky," Buffy replied, but turned to me with that familiar gleam in her eyes. "I like it."
"Great," I breathed with relief. "Because I need to send someone else with her."
"Who?"
"I was thinking of sending Spike," I began uneasily. "He's been in league trying to hurt us before and now he knows he can betray us."
"He won't," Buffy said softly. "I know he won't hurt me or Dawn. He promised."
"Under the guise of being ruler of an everlasting hellworld, I'd imagine he'd do anything, Buffy," Giles replied gently as they both sat down again.
"Spike is not going with Faith," she finally said. "I need the best warriors here, Giles, with the hellmouth and everything."
"There's something else," I hesitantly spoke out. "This will put Faith in serious danger. If she's killed, then the next slayer who is called will also be in danger because she has to complete what Faith is already doing. It's time to change the rules. What if we had the power to do something about it?"
"What do you mean?" Giles asked.
"I'm not really sure," I replied. "Can you give me a few days to figure it out?"
"I want to make one choice now," Buffy said, interrupting my thoughts. "If we're breaking Faith out, we should do it soon. I'm not going to ask either one of you to help me."
I could tell that both Giles and I were going to protest this to the end. She could see it too and sighed. "Fine. You're coming. I was just going to have Spike burn it down or something."
I stifled a chuckle. "When do you want to do this?"
"Why do I feel like I'm part of an assassination plot?" Giles moaned.
"Tomorrow," Buffy blurted out.
"Tomorrow?" I echoed. "Why tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is Wednesday. Can you find a more boring day for a prison breakout?"
I rolled my eyes, and I could see Giles take off his glasses.
"We're going Wednesday."
It was final. Just hearing the decrescendo is her voice was enough to put the topic to rest. "When?" I finally asked.
"Tomorrow night, we'll leave for LA around dinnertime," Buffy said. "We'll leave Anya's demon friends here. We'll hit LA and the prison right at midnight or just a bit after. We'll need weapons," she said, automatically swinging her gaze to Giles. She dropped her gaze. "We should leave Dawn here, with Janice or someone."
"Tara and I could stay behind," I offered.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "We might need magic."
"Now we are going illegal," Giles mumbled as we continued planning the next night. After an hour, I stood up and stretched. "I should get going. It's after ten."
Buffy nodded and stood up, placing her arms lightly around me. "Say goodnight to Dawn for me?"
"She should be home from work by now," I said, touching her shoulder. "And I'll call Janice's mom tonight and tell her that we're leaving town overnight because of an emergency."
"Thank you, Willow," Buffy said softly, her hand dropping from mine. I saw her gaze stretch back to her Watcher's. I wasn't quite sure what to say to him. I mumbled another goodnight and stepped outside into the cool air.
Letting out a long, pent-up breath, I began the long walk home.
A smile flickered across Buffy's face. "I know."
"What is it?" I asked, sitting down again and waiting for her to turn to me. She finally did.
"It's this whole mission. Is it really worth getting caught?" Her words tumbled out so quickly I had problems following her thoughts. "Is it really worth risking our lives just to save Faith? What if she is the one who will betray us? What will happen if we're at her mercy? What if..."
"No more," I said gently, rising to take her by the shoulders. Her eyes widened in surprise as they met my gaze. I gave her a small smile as she dropped her gaze, a nervous smile fluttering around her lips. "No more what's, if's or but's about this mission. Faith's life is in danger and she doesn't know it. You once said you would do anything to save her. Now is your chance."
"Does she want it?" Buffy asked, her voice small. "She stabbed me in the back, Giles. She's used me. In my mind, her betrayal has already destroyed me. She tried to kill me, Giles."
"I understand," I replied, releasing her as she continued to pace. "But what would she do if your position was in that jail?"
"She would do everything she could to make me safe," Buffy replied, an ironic note in her voice. "Imagine that. Faith the humanitarian."
I sat down, watching her pace back and forth. "She would do that, Buffy, because she knows it's the right thing to do."
Buffy stopped. "What would you do?"
"I quite imagine I would be going out there risking my own neck to save someone with my powers," I answered quietly. "This isn't a question of right and wrong. It's a question of protecting the Slayer line, because if Faith dies..."
"It's all over," Buffy moaned, collapsing next to me with a sense of defeat. She sighed, plunking her leather boot-clad feet on the coffee table. "What if I can't do this Giles? What if I'm not strong enough?"
"You have to believe in yourself, as you always have," I smiled. "I've always believed in you, your capabilities. I have no doubt that everything will turn out okay."
I saw her swallow hard as she turned to look at me. "You believe in me?"
"Always," I replied, sighing as I slouched back on the couch. "Even in impending doom, you've always managed to make it right."
She sniffed and dropped her head to my shoulder. "I want to know I'm doing the right thing. I'm risking so many lives on Faith."
"We won't be completely unprepared," I replied. "We'll have the use of magic, weapons, and-"
"Will you be there beside me?" she asked, interrupting my excitement.
I nodded slowly. Her head dropped comfortably back onto my shoulder and she sighed. "I could sleep for a week," she murmured. I could tell she'd closed her eyes. I reached behind me and pulled the afghan we'd been laying against and spread it over her.
"Here," I said, gently wrapping the frayed edges of the blanket around her. "Sleep all you need." I started to rise, but her fingers reached out and took my hand.
"Will you stay here a while?" she asked, a smile on her face. "I just need to feel someone strong beside me."
I nodded again and sat back down as she leaned against me, propping the pillow against my side. Her feet kicked and her boots fell to the floor, clunking loudly as she curled up against me. "I'm so sleepy," she yawned, snuggling under the blanket. I smiled at her.
I watched as she fell asleep. I could see her face ease into a realm of calmness. I listened to her breathing, to the silence beat of her heart as my Slayer slept.
I could feel my eyes starting to water from my own lack of sleep. With a small yawn, I leaned my head back, took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes.
The truth was, I trusted my Slayer. With my life. She had risked her life the night before and had taken the poisoned dart for me. She had risked death for me. Did that say anything? The Slayer only protected those she loved. I knew she loved me, as something of a mentor. But as I sleepily glanced at her and her calm face, I began to realize it was so much more.
Bending down, I brushed my lips against the top of her blonde head and tipped my own until it reached hers and closed my eyes.