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M'rek had at least temporarily given up on Rose's origins and was trying to understand how things worked at Wolfram and Hart. Rose wasn't sure she understood herself, but she did her level best. The thought of having her tongue cut out haunted her.
"I understand there is even one of those revolting Pyleans laboring there," M'rek remarked. "Whatever sort of value could it possibly have?"
Rose forgot all about meek and subservient at hearing her friend maligned. "Lorne isn't revolting at all," she burst out, thinking that she found his Lordship much more off-putting. "He's very sweet. He heads up the entertainment division, although I'm not quite sure what that entails. And he does employee screenings."
"Screenings?" The jackal-like demon prompted.
"He can tell things about people when they sing for him," she explained. A wistful sigh escaped her. "He loves to hear me sing."
"What is singing?" The more Rose told him, the more lost M'rek felt. He hadn't realized just how far removed their cultures were.
Rose thought of various ways to describe singing, but in the end decided that a practical demonstration would be the most effective method. "'People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one, and we've just begun, think I'm gonna have a son..,'" It seemed fairly appropriate.
&&&&&&&&
Kraj was walking down the hall, muttering to himself in a fit of the sulks. "Not so much as a 'well done, Kraj'," he grumbled. "I cater to his every whim, I acquire the vessel of the prophecy for him and what thanks do I get? None at all. He doesn't even know that I'm here. But that little demon bitch must be catered to and attended to as though she were a member of his household." He stopped dead in his tracks as a long, sharp blade appeared under his chin.
"I believe I've warned you about calling Rose a bitch," Spike remarked, stepping out of the shadows. "Now why don't you be a good dog and tell me where your boss is holding her."
Kraj gulped in fear. "Are you going to kill me?" he whimpered.
"Probably," Spike allowed. "Almost certainly, really. 'Course whether you go fast or slow depends on how helpful you are." He raised the sword blade a little higher, so that Kraj had to lift himself up on tip-toe to avoid having his throat slit.
"That way," Kraj whispered, pointing a shaking finger. "Lord M'rek's throne room is straight down this corridor, and that is where he is keeping her." His fear-glazed eyes slid down the length of the blade, at least, what he could see of it, till they got to Spike. "Please don't..," He never finished his plea for his life.
Spike looked at the gore-covered blade, then thoughtfully wiped it on Kraj's clothing. Now, on to get Rose.
&&&&&&&
"Fred, Lorne, I want you to stay here," Angel said. "I want somebody on this end that can send in the cavalry if something goes wrong."
"Sure thing, big guy," Lorne assured him. He wasn't the number one person you'd pick to back you up in a fight, and he knew it. While he didn't like standing on the sidelines when it was somebody he cared about, he was realistic enough to know that he could be more of a liability than an asset, and that his best shot at helping Rose had already been taken.
Fred didn't look happy, but didn't argue. She stood there silently, watching Wesley opening the portal.
Once the portal was opened, Angel and Gunn went right on through, but Wesley stopped for a moment, turned around and kissed Fred fiercely before joining the others.
As soon as they hit the other side, Angel started issuing new orders. "Wes, I want you to stay here. When we're done, we may need that portal opened in a hurry, and I want you ready to go." Wes gave him the same look that Fred had given him, but nodded. "Gunn, you're with me."
&&&&&&&&
As Spike neared the door to the throne room, he heard a familiar voice, and of all the things, he expected, singing wasn't on the list. He stopped and listened.
"'..,and in the morning when I rise, bring a tear of joy to my eyes and tell me everything's gonna be all right.'" Rose finished the song. She would have stopped after the first verse, but M'rek had nodded at her to go on until she had sung the entire song.
Outside the door, Spike muttered, "Everything's gonna be all right, babe. Promise." He was going to make a grand show and kick the door open, but the size of it suggested that trying would not only be foolish, but painful. He was going to have to open the door and walk in, just like everyone else.
&&&&&&&
"I'd say that Spike has been this way," Gunn remarked, pointing out a couple of unconscious bodies laying on the floor.
Angel nodded. You didn't even have to follow the scent when tracking Spike, just follow the trail of bodies that he inevitably seemed to leave behind.
&&&&&&&
Spike sauntered into M'rek's throne room as though he belonged there. He was a little miffed that he was half-way across the vast chamber before his entrance was noted.
M'rek was lost in thought, trying to digest the information he'd taken in, as well as trying to decide whether or not he liked that love-struck wailing that Rose had referred to as singing. He decided that he did. It might even prove enough of a novelty that it would pay to let her keep her tongue.
Rose was kneeling quietly on her cushion, eyes downcast, wishing, oh so many things. That M'rek would stop quizzing her and leave her be. That she could stop being so scared. That she could be in the one place where, above all others, she felt safe. In Spike's arms.
Spike took in the scene, especially Rose, kneeling there at the demon's feet, looking so servile that if he had started cooling down again, it would have brought him right back to a full boil. No one treated Rose like that. "Bad dog." His voice echoed around the chamber.
M'rek was jerked abruptly from his contemplations. A vampire approaching him with a weapon in his hands? How dare he? Another look confirmed that it was the second of the souled ones. Rose's mate. With a barking laugh, he looped a coil of Rose's chain around his paw, despite the fact that the instant she had seen Spike, Rose had quietly gone to the farthest reaches her chain would allow.
"Stop there, vampire," M'rek ordered, holding up the hand that had Rose's chain twined around it. "Quick as you are, I am much closer to her than you are. Do you wish to gamble with her life? For I will see her dead before I see her pass from my possession."
"I think you don't have the slightest bloody idea just how fast a vampire can be," Spike remarked. Even Rose had to admit that she'd never seen him move so quickly. Suddenly, the slack came back into her chain, as it dropped to the floor, still wrapped around M'rek's hand. Except that the paw-like appendage was no longer attached to M'rek's body. Spike was already back in his original position.
M'rek howled in pain, but despite the fact that he was bleeding profusely, he leapt to his feet to go on the attack. He rushed at Spike.
The whole thing moved faster than Rose's eyes could take in. All that she could be sure of was that one minute, she saw the demon charging at Spike, and the next, she saw the point of a sword emerge from the top of his head.
If Spike hadn't been so serious about the whole thing he might have laughed at M'rek's advance. The demon may have thought he could match a vampire for speed, but to Spike, he looked like he was moving in slow motion. Or maybe it was just the adrenaline rush that Spike was experiencing. Be that as it may, Spike merely stood, sword not even poised for action as the jackal-faced creature ran at him. Then, at the last possible moment, he raised it, point up, to go up under M'rek's ribcage and come out the top of his head.
&&&&&&&
"It's Kraj," Gunn whispered, pointing.
"It was Kraj," Angel corrected him. The slit throat explained the pool of blood around the corpse, but where did the bloodstains on his clothing come from? He closed his eyes for a moment, blocking out extraneous information. Then, it dawned on him, and he gave a humorless laugh. "Neatness counts, I guess."
"What?" Gunn was totally in the dark.
"Spike wiped off the blade of the sword." Angel pointed to the bloody trails on Kraj's clothing. "Maybe he just thought I'd be pissed if he let my good blade get etched by blood."
Gunn shook his head. "I don't think Spike really cares about anyone being pissed off right now," he observed. "Except maybe for him."
Angel nodded. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel a little redundant here," he muttered. "Let's hope it stays that way."
The mighty form of M'rek started to topple. And his momentum had been in Spike's direction, and was greater than that of the sword-thrust, so his body continued to fall that way. Towards Spike. "Oh bloody hell," Spike growled. He put some muscle into it and managed to swing the body around so that it fell to the side of him, and not on him. Also, not on the claymore. He could foresee needing it again before he got Rose out of here.
Rose watched, tears raining down her cheeks. From fear, for Spike, for her children and for herself. From relief that Spike was here to rescue her. Other things too, but those were the main ones.
Spike was trying to wrestle the blade out of M'rek's body, but it was wedged in good, having gone through the skull. He was tussling with it single-mindedly, until a hiccupping sob caught his attention. Suddenly, the sword didn't seem important at all, and he was the rest of the way across the room, taking Rose in his arms. Holding her, stroking her hair, raining kisses on her tear-streaked face.
"Everything's gonna be all right, babe," he repeated.
"It is now," Rose whispered back through the tears. She rested her head on his shoulder and just let them flow, since they refused to be denied, and basked in the warm glow of Spike's love for her.
&&&&&&&&
Angel and Gunn entered the throne room, and paused a moment to take in the sights. Angel gave a put-upon sigh seeing where his sword was. The blade was probably going to be all nicked up now.
"Rose and Blondie Bear snuggling," Gunn remarked with a touch of sarcasm. "What a surprise."
Angel at last wrested the sword from M'rek's body, causing the still-warm blood to gush out now that there was nothing there to plug the hole. Then, he spared a glance for the lovebirds and felt his own blood begin to boil seeing the chain that tethered Rose to M'rek's throne. And, since his blade was already dinged up, he didn't have a problem with added a few more nicks to it. He strode past the oblivious lovers and brought the sword down on the chain, severing it. He tapped Spike on the shoulder. "Why don't we get the hell out of here?" he suggested.
&&&&&&&
"What do you think, princess?" Lorne asked. "Do we start panicking yet?"
"It hasn't been much more than an hour yet, Lorne," Fred replied, chewing on a fingernail. She was feeling as tense as he was, but was fighting not to show it.
&&&&&&&
Wesley heard footsteps approaching, and prepared to duck out of sight, until he heard the accompanying voices. Then, he relaxed.
Spike, carrying Rose in his arms like a baby was in the vanguard, with Angel and Gunn trailing behind, Angel carrying the claymore that Spike had appropriated from him.
Rose was mostly past the teary stage, with just the occasional leftover sniffle. "He threatened to cut out my tongue," she mumbled. Both she and Spike were liberally spattered with M'rek's blood.
"Hey Watcher," Spike called. "Do you happen to have a handy spell to resurrect the dead? Because I think I'd like you to raise dog-boy for me. I want to kill him again, 'cept this time I'll do it a lot slower." He cuddled Rose closer, if that were possible. He kissed her forehead and murmured teasingly, "I wouldn't have liked that at all, luv. Happens that your tongue is one of my favorite parts of your body."
As Rose blushed crimson, Gunn muttered. "Will you guys give me a break? That definitely belongs in the too much information category."
Wesley grinned and said, "Sorry, Spike, but I happen to be right out of resurrection spells at the moment. I guess you're going to have to settle for having killed him just once."
Angel looked at his dented claymore and grumbled half-heartedly. "Once was enough. Look what the dumb shit did to my sword."
&&&&&&&&&
Lorne and Fred heaved a mutual sigh of relief as the portal shimmered open and everyone stepped through. Fred ran and threw her arms around Wesley, who put aside his British reserve for the moment to kiss her, despite the fact that they were surrounded by other people.
Lorne knew that he wasn't going to be able to get so much as a hug from Rose the way she and Spike were twined together, so he just settled for beaming benevolently at them all.