Chapter 5
A/N: This long neglected continuation of this story came of inspiration in the form of Tango's story Landslide Principle and procrastination over The Burdens We Bear. Enjoy!
-Angel-
I knock on Giles' front door. It's odd and uncomfortable to be in this position again, but for Buffy I can deal with it. Giles answers looking a bit blurry and tired. I can smell the scotch he's been drinking.
"Angel, does Buffy know you're in town or is this about another vision?" Giles asks.
"She knows and it's not about a vision. Can I come in?" I ask.
Giles nods and steps aside. I stand in the center of his living room with my hands in my pockets. "Buffy won't tell me what's going on but I know she's in serious trouble this time. I've been doing some snooping around and the demons here are all excited about something."
"Yes, that would be Adam." Giles says. "Perhaps you should have a seat."
This must be good if Giles is suggesting I have a seat for it. I listen with rapt attention as he tells me the details on Adam. When he's finished I am left once again marveling at the stupidity of humans.
"What did she think she was doing?" I ask.
"We believe Professor Walsh thought she was creating the perfect solider. She didn't realize Adam would get out of hand. She foolishly believed she could control something like Adam." Giles says.
I growl. "Her foolishness put Buffy in danger."
"If it's any comfort Dr. Walsh has disappeared. Given Adam's violent tendencies I strongly believe he killed her." Giles says.
He's right about one thing, it is a comfort. "How do we stop him?" I ask.
"We've been researching that and I believe we've come up with a plan. We have thrown everything we have at Adam and it wasn't even enough to make him pause. He bats Buffy away from him like she's a gnat. Weapons either don't affect him or they feed him. We've surmised that the only way to defeat him is magic. The problem with that lies in the fact that most offensive spells require the caster to be in the room with his or her target. Adam won't allow that. I've found an enjoining spell. It will join all of our essences into Buffy. She will possess all our knowledge, all our strengths. She will be able to cast offensive spells that Willow is even now learning. The combination of our essences together will make her stronger, more powerful then we can imagine."
"What can I do? I want to help." I say.
Giles sighs and takes his glasses off. He rubs at his eyes. "Have you spoken to Buffy?"
I know what he's really asking is Does she want your help? "Yes, I spoke to her earlier. She's fine with me being here, Giles. It's not like last time." I try to assure him.
"Alright then, we have a mind, a heart and a spirit to enjoin, having a soul can only make the spell stronger."
*
The Initiative headquarters have completely broken down. Chaos reigns. There are demons running all over the place, ripping into the humans and in some cases each other. The room we have to get to is just across the building, but the space in between very closely resembles something Dante might have described complete with fire. It seems most of the initiative is burning. We take off in a sprint across the room. Buffy is in the lead, clearing a path for Willow, Xander and Giles. I'm in the back making sure nothing attacks from behind. I see Buffy launch a side kick at one demon, knocking him out of the way. I grab another and give him a quick twist to the neck. His body drops to the ground. We're almost to the door when Buffy shouts "Down!" as a solider fires a machine gun into the air. A staccato round of bullets slams into my shoulder. I shake it off and keep moving toward the door with 314 on it.
Once we make it inside we begin to barricade the door. Buffy looks around the room.
"This okay for magic central, Giles?" She asks.
"It should do." Giles says.
Buffy nods and opens up a set of double doors. "Ok, once I go in there, barricade this behind me."
Willow is setting out the magic supplies with shaky hands. Her face is marked with worry even I can see. I grab Buffy by the hand and pull her to me. Her hand rests over my injured shoulder.
"Are you okay?" She asks. She presses slightly on the wound, allowing my blood to stain her hand. I take that hand and twine the fingers of my left hand with hers, blood staining both our hands. My blood, her blood it doesn't matter. I tilt her chin up to my face with my other hand. "I can't lose you now, not when I just got smart enough to know I need you." I raise the hem of my shirt to wipe the blood off the palm of her hand.
"Don't, leave it." She smiles at me. "I'll be fine. I'm not worried."
"I am. Are you sure I can't go in with you?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "You are going in with me. You'll be of more use here, helping with the spell."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Deadboy here. I don't like the idea of you going in there alone, Buff." Xander said.
"I won't be." She says and then steps through the doors. Giles and Xander close the doors and move a cart in front of them.
We move to the center of the room where Willow has set things up. We sit down in a circle. Willow looks at Giles and nods.
"Mind," Giles says.
"Heart," Xander intones.
"Soul," I breathe out.
"Spirit," Willow says.
Giles lights a candle and Willow begins chanting.
"The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient
first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength.
Accept us in the power we possess. Make us mind and heart and soul
and spirit joy. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will. We enjoin
that we might inhabit the vessel—the hand...daughter of the Sineya...first
of the ones. We implore thee, admit us, bring us into the vessel, take
us now."
I feel a tug, like a fishing hook in my belly button. There is
a rushing, falling feeling and then it stops and I'm seeing through
Buffy's eyes. I hear her voice ringing in my ears and it sounds like
all of our voices.
"You can not last much longer." Adam says.
"We can. We are forever." Our voices say.
She, we, begin speaking in Sumerian. My Sumerian is a bit rusty
but I know we are casting a shield spell, a very powerful ancient
shield spell. Adam fires a machine gun at Buffy. The bullets stop
when they get to the force field, almost as if they were frozen. They
clatter to the floor.
"Very Interesting." Adam says.
He continues to advance toward us, determined to try another
tactic, unable to believe he may have been beaten by a handful of
humans and a vampire. He fires a rocket at us. Buffy holds up her hand
and whispers a Sumerian word "Kur." The rocket bursts into four birds.
Adam takes three great strides and tries to hit Buffy with a big right
hook. She blocks it easily. She blocks all of his punches as if it
were child's play, as if she were bored by all of this. She kicks him
in the stomach and he falls.
"How could you?" Adam looks up at her in disbelief and struggles
to his feet.
"You could never hope to grasp the source of our power." We say.
Buffy catches Adam in the jaw with an uppercut and sends him
flying back down into the ground with a meaty crunch. She picks him up
effortlessly and throws him against the wall. She punches him in the
chest with a straight armed jab. Her fist sinks into him. I can feel
her fingers, our fingers, wrap around the uranium core hidden deep
inside. She pulls it out and stares at it.
"But your power source is right here." Our voices say.
Riley walks in. He says her name, our name. She turns and looks
at him with our eyes. I can feel my face shift and a growl in my
throat, but it is my growl, not ours. The uranium power source begins
to levitate. We begin speaking something in Sumerian and the uranium
disappears. I can feel us slipping away and I scramble to hold on. I
can't do it. No matter how much I want to. I feel Buffy faint and I
hope solider boy is there to catch her. I can't stand the thought of
her in his arms but if she falls she could be hurt and that thought is
worse. I fall to the ground. It's not exactly a faint, I don't faint,
but I couldn't move if I had to.
A demon bursts in through the barricaded door. He stands a
moment roaring, unable to believe his luck to come upon such tasty and
obviously helpless morsels. Spike burst in behind him, grabbing his
head and twisting, breaking the demon's neck.
"Nasty sort of fellow there, lucky for you blighters I was
here." Spike says.
I try to work up the energy to beat him senseless. I struggle to
my feet, still in vamp face and growl. It sounds weak even to me.
"Hold up there Peaches. You look like you couldn't go three
rounds with a kitten. Besides, did you just miss the fact that I just
saved your miserable life, you and all the Slayer's friends here?"
Spike says backing away.
"Maybe I couldn't go three rounds with a kitten, it would only
take one to stake you." I growl.
"Whoa, stop bloody hero here." Spike says indigently.
"Your heroism is somewhat marred by the fact that you were
helping Adam start a war that would kill us all." Giles points out.
"Well, there is that. But I've redeemed myself, seen the bloody
light and all that soddin nonsense." Spike argues.
"Yeah, you probably just saved us so we wouldn't stake you right
here." Xander mutters.
"Did it work?" Spike asks.
Everyone struggles to their feet.
"Alright then, saved the day and we all get to not be staked
through the heart. Good work team." Spike says backing toward the
door. "Uhm, men still out there, someone's got to go save them by gum.
Might as well play the hero a bit more." He tucks tail and runs.
Buffy and Riley open the door and walk into the room. She's leaning
heavily on him. I rumble deep in my throat, still in game face. She
smiles at me and I know it doesn't matter that she's leaning on him.
She loves me. That doesn't mean he gets to touch her any longer then
necessary. She slides her arm from his shoulders and limps over to me.
I wrap her in my embrace and take on her weight as she leans into me.
Her fingers trace the ridges of my vampiric forehead. She tiptoes to
kiss me, fangs and all. I see soldier boy grimace and look away. I
smirk. He doesn't understand how she can love me, how she can touch
this face and kiss this mouth. He doesn't understand the love Buffy
and I have. That's okay. He never will, most people won't.
Buffy draws strength from me and then turns to embrace Willow
and Xander.
"Wasn't it amazing?" Willow says.
Buffy nods.
"You were great." Xander says and I know he saw the battle
through her eyes just as I had.
Buffy shakes her head. "No, we were great."
"Not to interrupt, but I've still got men out there." Riley says
stepping forward. I resist the urge to grab him by the throat and slam
him back into the wall.
Buffy nods. "Then let's go save them."
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Willow asks as we all step
through the busted door of room 314.
"I am." Buffy says as she knocks a demon to the ground. That's
my girl. Adverting an apocalypse would put most people down and out,
not Buffy. She feeds on it, it only makes her stronger.
A/N: This long neglected continuation of this story came of inspiration in the form of Tango's story Landslide Principle and procrastination over The Burdens We Bear. Enjoy!
-Angel-
I knock on Giles' front door. It's odd and uncomfortable to be in this position again, but for Buffy I can deal with it. Giles answers looking a bit blurry and tired. I can smell the scotch he's been drinking.
"Angel, does Buffy know you're in town or is this about another vision?" Giles asks.
"She knows and it's not about a vision. Can I come in?" I ask.
Giles nods and steps aside. I stand in the center of his living room with my hands in my pockets. "Buffy won't tell me what's going on but I know she's in serious trouble this time. I've been doing some snooping around and the demons here are all excited about something."
"Yes, that would be Adam." Giles says. "Perhaps you should have a seat."
This must be good if Giles is suggesting I have a seat for it. I listen with rapt attention as he tells me the details on Adam. When he's finished I am left once again marveling at the stupidity of humans.
"What did she think she was doing?" I ask.
"We believe Professor Walsh thought she was creating the perfect solider. She didn't realize Adam would get out of hand. She foolishly believed she could control something like Adam." Giles says.
I growl. "Her foolishness put Buffy in danger."
"If it's any comfort Dr. Walsh has disappeared. Given Adam's violent tendencies I strongly believe he killed her." Giles says.
He's right about one thing, it is a comfort. "How do we stop him?" I ask.
"We've been researching that and I believe we've come up with a plan. We have thrown everything we have at Adam and it wasn't even enough to make him pause. He bats Buffy away from him like she's a gnat. Weapons either don't affect him or they feed him. We've surmised that the only way to defeat him is magic. The problem with that lies in the fact that most offensive spells require the caster to be in the room with his or her target. Adam won't allow that. I've found an enjoining spell. It will join all of our essences into Buffy. She will possess all our knowledge, all our strengths. She will be able to cast offensive spells that Willow is even now learning. The combination of our essences together will make her stronger, more powerful then we can imagine."
"What can I do? I want to help." I say.
Giles sighs and takes his glasses off. He rubs at his eyes. "Have you spoken to Buffy?"
I know what he's really asking is Does she want your help? "Yes, I spoke to her earlier. She's fine with me being here, Giles. It's not like last time." I try to assure him.
"Alright then, we have a mind, a heart and a spirit to enjoin, having a soul can only make the spell stronger."
*
The Initiative headquarters have completely broken down. Chaos reigns. There are demons running all over the place, ripping into the humans and in some cases each other. The room we have to get to is just across the building, but the space in between very closely resembles something Dante might have described complete with fire. It seems most of the initiative is burning. We take off in a sprint across the room. Buffy is in the lead, clearing a path for Willow, Xander and Giles. I'm in the back making sure nothing attacks from behind. I see Buffy launch a side kick at one demon, knocking him out of the way. I grab another and give him a quick twist to the neck. His body drops to the ground. We're almost to the door when Buffy shouts "Down!" as a solider fires a machine gun into the air. A staccato round of bullets slams into my shoulder. I shake it off and keep moving toward the door with 314 on it.
Once we make it inside we begin to barricade the door. Buffy looks around the room.
"This okay for magic central, Giles?" She asks.
"It should do." Giles says.
Buffy nods and opens up a set of double doors. "Ok, once I go in there, barricade this behind me."
Willow is setting out the magic supplies with shaky hands. Her face is marked with worry even I can see. I grab Buffy by the hand and pull her to me. Her hand rests over my injured shoulder.
"Are you okay?" She asks. She presses slightly on the wound, allowing my blood to stain her hand. I take that hand and twine the fingers of my left hand with hers, blood staining both our hands. My blood, her blood it doesn't matter. I tilt her chin up to my face with my other hand. "I can't lose you now, not when I just got smart enough to know I need you." I raise the hem of my shirt to wipe the blood off the palm of her hand.
"Don't, leave it." She smiles at me. "I'll be fine. I'm not worried."
"I am. Are you sure I can't go in with you?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "You are going in with me. You'll be of more use here, helping with the spell."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Deadboy here. I don't like the idea of you going in there alone, Buff." Xander said.
"I won't be." She says and then steps through the doors. Giles and Xander close the doors and move a cart in front of them.
We move to the center of the room where Willow has set things up. We sit down in a circle. Willow looks at Giles and nods.
"Mind," Giles says.
"Heart," Xander intones.
"Soul," I breathe out.
"Spirit," Willow says.
Giles lights a candle and Willow begins chanting.
"The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient
first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength.
Accept us in the power we possess. Make us mind and heart and soul
and spirit joy. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will. We enjoin
that we might inhabit the vessel—the hand...daughter of the Sineya...first
of the ones. We implore thee, admit us, bring us into the vessel, take
us now."
I feel a tug, like a fishing hook in my belly button. There is
a rushing, falling feeling and then it stops and I'm seeing through
Buffy's eyes. I hear her voice ringing in my ears and it sounds like
all of our voices.
"You can not last much longer." Adam says.
"We can. We are forever." Our voices say.
She, we, begin speaking in Sumerian. My Sumerian is a bit rusty
but I know we are casting a shield spell, a very powerful ancient
shield spell. Adam fires a machine gun at Buffy. The bullets stop
when they get to the force field, almost as if they were frozen. They
clatter to the floor.
"Very Interesting." Adam says.
He continues to advance toward us, determined to try another
tactic, unable to believe he may have been beaten by a handful of
humans and a vampire. He fires a rocket at us. Buffy holds up her hand
and whispers a Sumerian word "Kur." The rocket bursts into four birds.
Adam takes three great strides and tries to hit Buffy with a big right
hook. She blocks it easily. She blocks all of his punches as if it
were child's play, as if she were bored by all of this. She kicks him
in the stomach and he falls.
"How could you?" Adam looks up at her in disbelief and struggles
to his feet.
"You could never hope to grasp the source of our power." We say.
Buffy catches Adam in the jaw with an uppercut and sends him
flying back down into the ground with a meaty crunch. She picks him up
effortlessly and throws him against the wall. She punches him in the
chest with a straight armed jab. Her fist sinks into him. I can feel
her fingers, our fingers, wrap around the uranium core hidden deep
inside. She pulls it out and stares at it.
"But your power source is right here." Our voices say.
Riley walks in. He says her name, our name. She turns and looks
at him with our eyes. I can feel my face shift and a growl in my
throat, but it is my growl, not ours. The uranium power source begins
to levitate. We begin speaking something in Sumerian and the uranium
disappears. I can feel us slipping away and I scramble to hold on. I
can't do it. No matter how much I want to. I feel Buffy faint and I
hope solider boy is there to catch her. I can't stand the thought of
her in his arms but if she falls she could be hurt and that thought is
worse. I fall to the ground. It's not exactly a faint, I don't faint,
but I couldn't move if I had to.
A demon bursts in through the barricaded door. He stands a
moment roaring, unable to believe his luck to come upon such tasty and
obviously helpless morsels. Spike burst in behind him, grabbing his
head and twisting, breaking the demon's neck.
"Nasty sort of fellow there, lucky for you blighters I was
here." Spike says.
I try to work up the energy to beat him senseless. I struggle to
my feet, still in vamp face and growl. It sounds weak even to me.
"Hold up there Peaches. You look like you couldn't go three
rounds with a kitten. Besides, did you just miss the fact that I just
saved your miserable life, you and all the Slayer's friends here?"
Spike says backing away.
"Maybe I couldn't go three rounds with a kitten, it would only
take one to stake you." I growl.
"Whoa, stop bloody hero here." Spike says indigently.
"Your heroism is somewhat marred by the fact that you were
helping Adam start a war that would kill us all." Giles points out.
"Well, there is that. But I've redeemed myself, seen the bloody
light and all that soddin nonsense." Spike argues.
"Yeah, you probably just saved us so we wouldn't stake you right
here." Xander mutters.
"Did it work?" Spike asks.
Everyone struggles to their feet.
"Alright then, saved the day and we all get to not be staked
through the heart. Good work team." Spike says backing toward the
door. "Uhm, men still out there, someone's got to go save them by gum.
Might as well play the hero a bit more." He tucks tail and runs.
Buffy and Riley open the door and walk into the room. She's leaning
heavily on him. I rumble deep in my throat, still in game face. She
smiles at me and I know it doesn't matter that she's leaning on him.
She loves me. That doesn't mean he gets to touch her any longer then
necessary. She slides her arm from his shoulders and limps over to me.
I wrap her in my embrace and take on her weight as she leans into me.
Her fingers trace the ridges of my vampiric forehead. She tiptoes to
kiss me, fangs and all. I see soldier boy grimace and look away. I
smirk. He doesn't understand how she can love me, how she can touch
this face and kiss this mouth. He doesn't understand the love Buffy
and I have. That's okay. He never will, most people won't.
Buffy draws strength from me and then turns to embrace Willow
and Xander.
"Wasn't it amazing?" Willow says.
Buffy nods.
"You were great." Xander says and I know he saw the battle
through her eyes just as I had.
Buffy shakes her head. "No, we were great."
"Not to interrupt, but I've still got men out there." Riley says
stepping forward. I resist the urge to grab him by the throat and slam
him back into the wall.
Buffy nods. "Then let's go save them."
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Willow asks as we all step
through the busted door of room 314.
"I am." Buffy says as she knocks a demon to the ground. That's
my girl. Adverting an apocalypse would put most people down and out,
not Buffy. She feeds on it, it only makes her stronger.