Disclaimer: They're not mine, more's the pity. The original ones are mine though.
Distribution: Sure, if you want to; but let me know where it's going.
I apologize for the long delay and many thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes life just has a mind of its own.
After dinner the party had moved on to The Ether. A table had been set up for the group at the back of the room. There were even more candles than usual and holly and mistletoe hung everywhere. Buffy noticed that the patrons seemed different on this night; this wasn't the usual bar hopping crowd. After Rebecca greeted many of them by name Buffy realized that most of them were witches. She should have known, they had that look people get when they know what's in the shadows.
Buffy leaned back into her comfy chair and sighed softly. It was turning out to be an odd trip. She still didn't know what to make of The Three. She wasn't even quite sure that she should trust them. She turned her eyes to the bar where Spike was mixing drinks. He was having a conversation with a small wizened man in an overcoat too large for him. Morgan and Lindsey sat down on either side of the little man and Morgan clapped him heartily on the back. Buffy winced, sure the little man would fall over but he seemed unaffected. She turned her attention to her table companions who were having an animated conversation about Christmases past. When she looked back at the bar a moment later the little man was gone. She looked around but he had disappeared completely. Another mystery to add to the growing pile.
Morgan and Lindsey came to the table bearing trays of what looked like wine. Buffy sniffed the contents of the goblet for it didn't smell like wine, not exactly.
"It's a wassail bowl," said Morgan. "Wine, spices and ale. It's a traditional Solstice drink to be enjoyed with friends."
Buffy sipped a bit and thought it tasted nice and spicy, warming on a cold night. And it was very cold out. When they had walked over after dinner she had wished she had brought mittens.
Spike called out to Rannilt that he had to go to the back for more of something and he disappeared through a door. Less than a minute later Morgan and Lindsey cried out and clutched their heads. Their glasses shattered on the tile floor, the wassail spilling out.
Morgan pulled himself together and managed to say, "Rannilt, the store room."
She didn't hesitate but ran out through the door. Angel was right behind her. They came back a moment later, Rannilt wearing an agonized look.
"He's gone," said Angel.
Morgan nodded. "We're cut off. We can't feel him. There is some serious magic behind this."
"We'll find him," said Angel. "They can't have gotten too far."
"But how," asked Rannilt. "You won't be able to follow his trail for long in this city. Even vampire senses get overwhelmed here."
Morgan shook his head. "We need better tracking than that."
He shoved several tables out of the way and stood in the middle of the cleared space. Raising his arms wide he shouted, "Cerrnunos! Cerrnunos! Hear me now. I need your power."
Buffy whispered to Rebecca, "Who's this Cerrnunos?"
"He's the Celtic horned god of the hunt. I think Morgan and Rannilt's mother was associated with him somehow."
Dark shapes began to swirl around Morgan, antlers, fangs and eyes flitted in and out of sight as if the shades of animals were moving through the vortex. A glow began to surround Morgan, then suddenly winked out. He turned to the group, his eyes darkened by the power flowing through him.
"Rannilt, you will stay here, keep everyone safe. Angel, Buffy, you will come with us."
There was no arguing with that voice and Buffy followed Morgan, Lindsey and Angel out the back of the bar. Morgan stood in the alley for a moment and then headed out into the street.
"We have to back to the house. We're going to need our swords and a car."
They ran all the way and less than half an hour later they were driving up the West Side Highway. Buffy peered at the speedometer and was not surprised to see the needle hovering at 90 m.p.h..
"Where are we going," asked Lindsey.
"To the Bronx."
They drove in silence until they got off the highway. Morgan wound through side streets and finally parked on a corner. There were two buildings separated by a wide alley filled with trash. They piled out of the car and Morgan stared up at the buildings.
"This is as close as I can get. It's one of these two, but I don't know which. We'll have to split up. Lindsey and I will take the one on the right."
Buffy and Angel cautiously entered the building. Buffy could feel the hair on the back of her neck standing up but didn't know if that was just the cold, or something much more unpleasant. They slowly made their way up the stairs of the abandoned building, checking every floor. Finally they emerged onto the roof. The building had been totally empty, not even a lone homeless person hiding from the cold.
Angel shook his head and looked over at the neighboring building.
Suddenly the door on the opposite roof opened and Lindsey came out. He saw Angel and Buffy and shook his head. Nothing.
The door to the roof slammed open and demons came pouring out. One dozen, two dozen. Buffy grabbed Angel's arm.
"We have to get over there. He won't be able to take them all, even with his fancy sword."
"I know, but even I can't make that jump. We'll have to go down and then up."
"He'll be dead by then!"
Lindsey seemed to reach the same conclusion about his chances. He turned from the demons and ran toward the edge of the roof. He leapt up on the wall and taking one last look behind he stepped off.
Buffy and Angel ran to the wall and looked down, fearing the worst.
Halfway down the building Lindsey dangled from Morgan's arm which was sticking out of a window along with the upper half of Morgan's body.
Buffy and Angel looked at each other, mouths hanging open.
"Now that's trust," said Angel.
They didn't wait to watch Morgan pull Lindsey inside but ran full tilt down the stairs and into the other building. Part way up the stairs they met the other two coming down.
"Into the basement," said Morgan. "I can feel them now."
The basement door was open and a faint light could be seen coming from below. The foursome crept down the stairs although Buffy was pretty sure they'd lost the element of surprise. And she was right.
When they reached the bottom they could see that they were expected and the sight across the room made Buffy gasp.
A very large silver cage dominated the room. In it, Spike hung from a hook by his arms which were tied together at the wrists. Blood dripped from a dozen wounds on his body down into a large pool of water, sizzling for a moment when it hit the dark surface. Mercifully, he appeared to be unconscious.
"It's holy water," Angel whispered in her ear.
The largest demon stepped forward and smiled from ear to ear. "Welcome. We've been expecting you. First of all, let me say what a great pleasure this is."
"Not for us," replied Buffy.
"Ah, Slayer. You and Angel are merely a bonus, the icing on the cake. You'd do well to keep your mouth shut." He turned to Morgan. "I want your swords. Now. Or Spike takes a very hot bath."
A small demon with a knife sat on top of the cage poised to cut the rope securing Spike's wrists. He too wore a big smile.
Morgan and Lindsey unstrapped their swords and laid them on the ground. As he was rising from a crouch Morgan's hand whipped out and the demon on the cage fell with a knife in his throat.
The demon leader sighed and shook his head. "Oh well. No big loss. He was rather a pest. I have lots more where he came from" He waved and arm and two small demons scuttled out to take the swords.
"Now, into the cage, all of you. Quickly, I haven't got a lot of patience."
Buffy trailed behind the others into the cage the door slamming shut behind her. They stood in silence as the demon hoard filed out, their leader's laughter echoing up the stairwell.
When they were all gone the foursome turned their attention to Spike. Fortunately Morgan had another knife they could use to cut the ropes. Buffy climbed onto Angel's shoulders so she could reach while Morgan climbed into the pool to support Spike's body. After what seemed an eternity they had Spike down.
Angel looked deep into the pool. "There's a lot of blood in the water. He's going to need to feed."
Morgan nodded. "Buffy, sit here so you can support him. We need to get him sitting up."
Buffy sat down on the floor and held Spike up as he leaned against her. She wound her arms around him and laid her cheek on his head. He seemed even colder than usual.
Morgan rolled up his sleeve and slashed his wrist open then waved it under Spike's nose. The demon responded, coming to the surface to drink. After a minute Morgan pulled his arm away and Lindsey offered his. Lindsey started to pull his arm back and then stopped short. He looked up at Morgan who looked back, eyes widening.
Instead of wrapping his wrist Lindsey offered it to Morgan who took a swallow and then offered his own wrist to Lindsey.
Buffy looked up at Angel who shrugged. She felt her throat tighten as she watched the exchange. Why would they drink each other's blood? It made her stomach turn.
Spike was fully awake now, the demon gone. Lindsey and Morgan each ran fingers through Spike's blood and licked it off. Then they just stared at each other.
Morgan broke the silence. "It's always blood."
The Three stood up and faced the door of the cage.
"I think it's time to leave," said Spike. "I don't like these accommodations."
Buffy grabbed his arm. "It's magic remember, makes you weak and sick."
Spike didn't bother to reply. The Three stepped up to the door and kicked it across the room where it shattered leaving only fine silver dust.
"Right," said Morgan. "Time to do a little cleaning."
Without a backward glance The Three ran up the stairs and out of the now deserted building, Buffy and Angel close behind. They stood in the street for a long moment.
"It's not tonight. But soon," said Lindsey.
Buffy demanded, "What's not tonight?"
"The Coming," answered Spike.