Chapter 19 Performance

The factory smelled of old fuel oil and rusting metal. It had been a munitions plant during the war, but now it was a rat's nest of discarded wire and stuff not even a desperate ghoul would bother carrying off.

The slayer stepped out onto the platform overlooking the old factory. She had a sword; I was carrying the insurance. It was freezing inside and sleet was trickling down the back of my overcoat. The sun sure wasn't gonna come out today. The snowy light from outside hadn't made a dent in the grimy windows. It was damned dark inside, but someone had lit a blaze in a floor pit and there were figures moving in the murk.

Turn her loose, Angel.

Why, darlin'. Right on time. We've been hoping you'd drop in. He laughed low and unrepentant, hidden away in the shadows.


I might surprise you, Angel. She lifted a long sword and swung it in a glittering circle. I stayed hidden in the doorway with my doctor's bag full of goodies while she leaped halfway to the bottom.

Below us, more dim figures materialized in the light. Drucilla appeared, clinging to Angelus. She was wrapped in diaphanous black silk, delicate as a fairy--an evil fairy. Drucilla was followed by a half dozen vampires...and Spike. I couldn't make out any of the big bugs from earlier at the mansion, but I doubted they'd all been zotzed.

I like surprises, darlin',' he drawled, But I'll tell you what I like better. Watching you suffer. He motioned and one of the hard boys dragged Dawn forward. She was battered, her skirt ripped up one side and her face bruised and bleeding, but she was alive. Dawn's hands were chained behind her and leashed to an iron ring driven into the concrete floor. Angelus pulled the girl into his arms and ran a damp tongue down her throat.

Tell ya what, Slayer. I'll give you a fair chance to get her back. He smirked and ran a possessive hand along Dawn's flank, You against your Lover-boy.

You'll give her back?

Sure, baby, I promise. I could see a dark line of blood trickling into the collar of Dawn's orange sweater and I hoped Buffy didn't believe him. She didn't have much of a choice, though. Angelus could break Dawn's neck in an instant.

Drucilla wound herself around Spike, whispering and stroking his face. Dawn was struggling to get loose, but Angelus had her in an iron grasp. Drucilla flicked out a talon-like fingernail and slashed a fresh wound on Dawn's shoulder, then brought her dripping nail to Spike's lips. Angelus roared with laughter, but Buffy's face was unchanging.

Spike's gaze fixed on the Slayer and he unleashed his demon.

I guess I'd never seen them fight, full out, before. It was beautiful in a scary sort of way. They were perfectly matched, two powerful bodies flickering in the half-light, almost like dancing. She spun her sword and went in for the kill, but he was gone. He'd found a length of rebar and met her barrage of slashes with the spinning metal.
I don't know how long it went on. It seemed like hours. The vampires below were cheering and applauding the battle as he chased her upward into the hanging catwalks and metal stairways that lined the place.

Finally, everything seemed to stop. Buffy's sword hit a concrete abutment and her blade shattered, the pieces hailing down.
She braced herself and then he was on her, pressing her body into the cold steel of the catwalk. They struggled for a time, and she seemed to give up. He didn't hesitate, but went in for her unprotected throat.
He had her in a lover's embrace, bent backward and pinned beneath him. Seconds passed, then just as suddenly, she slammed him backward with a flurry of kicks and devastating punches. He tumbled down a flight of stairs and disappeared out and over into the dim clutter below. She stood up and gave Angelus a crooked little grin.

Well, looks like I win. Now give me back my sister. Maybe I'll let you live.



God, you're dumb, he laughed. Rich, lazy....forgot everything you knew about being a Slayer. His caramel sweet voice twisted the words like a noose. You said you loved me, Buffy. Didn't have any problems latching onto the next cold body you could find, though, did you? He absently waved his remaning minions in to attack.

From somewhere in her dusty black jacket, she pulled a pair of stakes and disposed of the minions like so much trash. I used the confusion to slip inside the doorway, creeping into the dark tangle of rusty chains and stacked oil drums.

Buffy leapt to the main level and strode forward, Looks like I win again. Give me my sister.

Can't do that, sweetheart. He stepped backward, dragging Dawn with him into the chaotic dark. He crackled out something in an alien tongue, Besides, I've got a little insurance. The Cockroach Boys scuttled out of the shadows. They'd brought along a few dozen pals, too.

Buffy smiled, Me too.
I figured that was my cue to step up to the plate. I swung my bag out carefully and tried to look fierce. Angelus gave her a contemptuous glance.

Now that's just sad. You didn't even know he was a vampire, did ya, babe?

Told you I had a surprise for you, honey. Xander?

I started flinging the bottles of soup. They exploded with a wet smack and a deafening boom. The filthy windows shattered and broken glass spattered on the floor. The soup was a potent mix of nitro I'd conned off a yegg I know. Just the thing for bug extermination.

The Roach Boys snapped and crackled as the fireworks hit the creepy-crawlies. Blasted em into slime and little buggy bits. I grinned. It was a good plan. Thing was, I'd forgotten about Spike.

He pulled himself up onto my landing and fixed me with a yellow glare. Oh shit. I cocked back a fistful of nitro to let him have it, when he hissed at me.

Can you get Dawn out of here, Harris?

I always wear my jaw open with this outfit. I shoulda seen this sweet double-cross coming.
I nodded dumbly and shut my flap.
Get it done, then, if you're goin' to. I nodded again. He seemed satisfied and slid back over the edge, creeping around the edge of the battlefield to the Slayer.

Well, yeah, I could do that if I didn't get my ass chewed up first. I stumbled down over the edge and crept forward, ready with the last two bottles of nitro. I slung em hard at the demons and ran to where Dawn was chained. Knew that lock-picking was gonna come in handy some day. She gazed gratefully up at me with her baby blues and I gave her a big grin back.

Nobody much was left to fight. I'd splatted the roach-creeps into bug jelly, Spike had wrestled Drucilla over near the fire pit and it was down to the Slayer and Angelus. Icy rain blew down through the broken windows as they faced off.

Well, darlin', we both knew it'd come down to this.

Yeah, me taking you out.

You can try, he sneered. Angel started forward, but stopped, distracted by Drucilla's shriek.

My Spike! Be a good dog or Daddy shall be cross.
Doubt it, Dru. Always cross, aren't ya, Dad?

Spike? What the hell is this? I told you to...

Told me a lot of things. Fraid your mojo lost it's juice, Dad. Spike twisted Drucilla's hands behind her back and held her tightly. I'm not your dog. You're on your own.

Buffy laughed, then slammed into Angel with a combination of kicks and punches that knocked him off his feet. He shook his head and rumbled toward her, but she leapt over him. He moved like an injured bull as she dealt him blow after devastating blow. Drucilla screamed and struggled, but Spike was relentless. I finally got the last lock open and helped Dawn to her feet. She leaned on me and we limped toward the ladder.

We looked down to the hellish scene. Fire was spreading into the piles of oily barrels and stacks of old wood. It was gonna light up like a furnace.

The Slayer had Angelus pinned down and he was clearly beaten. Her tiny figure stood above him, the raw power pouring from her in waves. How in the hell had he ever thought he could defeat her? He tried to crawl away, but she strode closer, shaking her mane of blond hair away from her cold eyes.

Buffy, he murmured, You and me... we were...

It's over.

His eyes were blurred and I couldn't tell if it was tears or the sleet falling through broken glass. You and I...we could have gone places...the world would have been ours...I've seen things you couldn't imagine...

I've seen things, too. Ugly, monstrous things. Sick games and torture.

He kept crawling backward to where Spike held Drucilla prisoner, his dark eyes flickering, searching for a way out or maybe a weapon.
Things began to happen all at once.

Spike gazed into Drucilla's mad eyes and stroked her tangled hair. Poor Dru, he whispered as he pulled a stake from his jacket.

Drucilla pulled away, her clawed hands leaving bloddy furrows in Spike's flesh and staggered toward the fire pit. She gathered her strength and pointed a hand at Spike, muttering the beginning of a spell. Her long trailing draperies swirled in the breeze from the shattered windows... directly into the hungry fire. Drucilla screamed in agony and reached out a burning hand for help, but she went up like a Roman candle before anyone could move. It was sickening.

Angelus groaned and looked to Spike for help, but those blue eyes were merciless.

He gave her a despairing glance, but she looked upward to where her sister stood bleeding and drove the stake through his heart.


tbc
Music: Bjork, An Army of Me / Crystal Method, Weapons of Mass Destruction