This is the last chapter I'll be posting for a month so loads of reviews please!

I'm off on holiday so I can't update for a while but when I get back I should have some good ideas of where to go next.

Oh, and after this fic, I may write another one to make it a trilogy but not right away. I want to write something else completely different first and I wondered what you'd be interested in seeing: a X-Men the movies/Buffy crossover, a Lord of the Rings/Buffy crossover or a post Angel post Buffy crossover. Please let me know!

Thanks to:

Susan

Panther28

Lolly6

Nobody

Dreamer Child

Stemmy

Lost angel92

Anastasia Monroe

FunkyMonkey

Clcountry

Anne-Marie

Mika

Kyra2

CelticHeiressFiona

Chapter 36 – Escape

Buffy awoke groggily, her head was swimming and she couldn't see straight. After blinking repeatedly, her vision swum into place and she found that she wasn't anywhere that resembled a place she knew. Her head pounding, she sat up suddenly and realised she was lying on a bed that most definitely wasn't her own. The covering was rich, red and velvet and the bed was a four poster with rich velvet hangings.
Buffy shook her head to clear it of the fluff it felt like it contained but that made it hurt more so she gingerly swivelled her legs off of the bed and stood up shakily, legs threatening to collapse beneath her.

She sat down again hard and put her head down, breathing deeply until finally the weight on it began to alleviate and she thought it was safe to sit up again.
She looked around her nervously, taking in the red bed and the rich carpets, the dark wooden furniture and the iron bars on the window. Where was she? She stood up again and crossed quickly to the window. She pulled at the thick iron bars but even with her full slayer strength she couldn't budge them. They were magically reinforced; she realised sinkingly and stopped trying.

Flashes of what had happened came back to her, the wedding, she remembered. And the windows, no a glass smashing. And then the windows and the masked death eaters. And running with Sirius and the stars in the garden.
Buffy gasped as she remembered someone grabbing her roughly, her arm. She looked down at it and touched the pale bruises lightly. And Sirius staring at her in horror when he realised she was being taken. And being whirled away in colour and landing….here.

There was a heavy wooden door and Buffy moved towards it, knowing it to be futile but still attempting to wrench it open. She pressed her ear to it and heard voices, footsteps too, coming towards her and so she quickly moved back to the bed and threw herself on it. The voices were right outside now and she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes quickly, feigning sleep.
An incantation was muttered and the door was opened, an icy gust of wind entering with the people, four, Buffy thought by listening to the footsteps.
"She is not yet awake my Lord," one voice said, a thin reedy voice. One set of footsteps came to her bedside and she felt someone's breath on her face as they peered at her. She kept her eyes firmly shut and her breathing steady.
"I have no need to speak with her, she may sleep," a cold voice that Buffy recognised as Lord Voldemort's said. "Lucius, you are to be in charge of her security. No doubt Dumbledore will mount a rescue mission. It is up to you to make sure that he will not succeed. Bellatrix you are to assist her for the next month with whatever she wants." Buffy heard a soft, barely perceptible sigh.
"Does that displease you?" Lord Voldemort said icily.
"No my Lord," Bellatrix replied hastily. "I am here to do your bidding. It is just, as you said, she will be tiresome. I can use magic to….subdue her?"
"Yes, of course," Voldemort replied. "No doubt she will need restraining. Do not harm her though; what she carries is too important. She will want food, drink, and clothing. You will take care of that, I assumed she would be more comfortable with a woman assisting her. Just remember the vessel she carries." Buffy couldn't stop herself opening her eyes and sitting up.

"That's my daughter you're talking about," she hissed coldly. Voldemort looked at her with an amused expression.

"Ah, Miss Summers, you've finally decided to join the conversation," he said, eyes hard and cold. "I must make introductions for our guest. I believe you already know Wormtail." Buffy stared at the man she'd been trying to capture unsuccessfully. "Lucius Malfoy, your jailer, if you please. And Bellatrix Lestrange, I assume you have heard of her. She will bring you what you need; we want you to be comfortable in your stay here." Buffy noted their faces and then dismissed them as lesser and turned back to Voldemort.
"What if I were to just cut my wrists now?" she said coldly. "Or hang myself from that curtain pole? I think I might just do that." Voldemort chuckled coldly.

"You will not because you still have hope," he said, putting a sarcastic twist on the word. "You believe that your friends will come for you, you believe they will rescue you because they love you. Above all you would not be able to kill your child. How touching. You are a fool."
"So you plan to take my baby?" Buffy said. "You're going to keep me here for the next weeks, let me give birth then take my baby and kill me."

"That would be correct," Voldemort replied lazily.

"That's not gonna happen," Buffy said harshly. "When the time comes, I'm gonna watch you die. I've fought worse than you." Voldemort laughed in her face.
"Because you're so tough, sitting here in a big house and letting all your little buddies do all the dirty work," she continued regardless. "Afraid to come out because you're scared of Albus Dumbledore. Everything else I've fought had guts, you, you're just a big loser with serious mental problems." Voldemort's face hardened.
"I was surprised to see the amount of people that are queuing up to be the one to kill you," he replied nastily. "I had decided to sell you to a demon clan; the price they are willing to pay to torture and kill the slayer who has thwarted their plans so many times is great. But now I think I may kill you myself. I must leave now; I have more important things to tend to. Bellatrix, stay with Miss Summers and see if she requires anything. Be sure to lock the door before you leave. And don't turn your back on her."

"Wait," Buffy called frantically, scrambling up from her bed. "Where am I?" Voldemort smiled.
"You are in our current Headquarters," he said. "You need not worry about it; you will not see anything save this room. In fact it will be the last place you see. I hope you enjoy yourself here." He smirked, then turned and swept from the room, his robes swishing behind him. Lucius Malfoy and Wormtail followed in his wake leaving Buffy alone with Bellatrix.
"I will not be your servant," Bellatrix said icily, eyeing Buffy with disgust. "I will not wait on a muggle. You will be brought food three times a day, and fresh robes every three days. There is a bathroom through there." She and Buffy locked stares with intense hatred.

"So cousin Sirius finally found himself a woman," Bellatrix continued coldly. "His mother would be so disappointed, a rich blood line like the Black line besmirched by an American muggle. At least the half blood brat will not live for long." Buffy's hand leapt up of its own accord and gripped Bellatrix's neck tightly.
"I'm going to kill you," Buffy said grimly. Bellatrix lifted her wand and pointed it between Buffy's face and she released her, leaving her gasping and clutching at her neck, her wand still pointed levelly at Buffy.
"You will not live long enough," Bellatrix replied before backing out of the room. She closed the door behind her and Buffy heard her mutter 'colloportus' before moving away.

Quickly Buffy got up and tried the door but it was magically sealed like every other exit.

A table next to her bore a set of clean black robes and a plate of food. She eyed in gingerly but decided she had to eat it; she would starve to death otherwise.
She decided they wouldn't risk drugging her while she was pregnant, it could harm the precious 'vessel' and they would want her to stay healthy.
Buffy took the food over to her bed and sat eating it. She really wanted to sit and cry but it wasn't in her nature to do that. She wouldn't let them see that they had broken her, wouldn't give them that satisfaction. She would wait it out, wait for the rescue that she prayed would come.

A miserable five days passed alone in the red room. Buffy had not seen another human being, save Bellatrix Lestrange who she did not count as human. Even when she did see her, no words were exchanged; she would bring Buffy food as promised three times a day and then leave her alone. She didn't experience any pain, just the impending sense of horror and doom that hung over her every second of the day.

Buffy knew that if she wasn't carrying her daughter, she wouldn't have stuck this out as long as she had. It was only the stubborn life inside of her that prevented her from doing something reckless in an attempt to escape.

The door opened on her sixth morning and a man entered the room, Lucius Malfoy. He was carrying the food she had come to expect from Bellatrix. Instead of immediately leaving like she normally did, he lingered in the doorway.
"You are comfortable here?" he shot at her and she fixed her eyes insolently on him.
"I'd be more comfortable in a card board box," she said coolly. "When I get out of here I'm gonna kill everyone who had a part in keeping me locked up. You included."

Lucius Malfoy smirked, unmindful of her cold attitude.

"The Dark Lord said you were…..spirited," he said, eyes moving over her in a way she really didn't like. She was pregnant for god's sake! She didn't answer, just stared at him blankly.
"Perhaps you will be given to me after the Dark Lord has taken your child," he said softly. Buffy resisted the temptation to spit in his face.
"That would be most interesting," he said pensively. Buffy gave up resisting and spat full in face. His had snapped up and gripped her face tightly.
"Play nicely now," he said, pulling out a handkerchief with his free hand and wiping his face with it. "You wouldn't want something bad to happen to you."

He smirked again; eyes roved over her face in his iron grip then turned and left the room. Buffy closed her eyes after he sealed the door and let out a shaky breath, a few stray tears rolling down her cheeks. For what felt like the millionth time in the last six days she prayed to the Powers that be, or whatever was out there, that she would be rescued and could go home to Sirius with her baby.

---------------------

Three days into Buffy's imprisonment, a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix was taking place in Grimmauld Place.
"We have to save her," Dumbledore told the group. "There is no doubt about that, we cannot let Voldemort get hold of that child. But getting into wherever they are keeping Buffy, I cannot see a viable way of doing it. I'm open to any suggestions."

Conversation broke out between the occupants of the room as they tried to find a way that they could infiltrate the Death Eater Headquarters successfully.
Dumbledore sighed heavily, his mind rolling with ideas, each as unlikely as the next. He cast his eyes over the group absentmindedly, noting once again the absence of the Scoobies and Sirius with them, all of whom had come to England following Buffy's kidnap.

The Scoobies were furious, he had never seen these people, normally so easy going, this angry. Their anger was inspired by fear; he could see that they all loved Buffy and were terrified that she would be killed. They were also angry at the Order, for not telling them that something was coming when they had promised to help them protect her. Xander had to be restrained by Giles from shouting his anger out at Dumbledore.

As far as they were concerned, Buffy would've been safer staying in Sunnydale all along, so they could protect her together just as they always had. They thought that they would've been more vigilant if they hadn't trusted the Order to be. Dumbledore wasn't angry at them, he understood what they were going through and though he'd anticipated a death eater attack at some point, he wished they had been more mindful of it.

Sirius was another matter; he was angry, but more at himself than anything. Dumbledore knew he blamed himself for Buffy's kidnapping, he had been with her and from what Dumbledore understood, he'd watched, unable to do anything, as she'd been dragged away and transported. He had been grimly silent and everyone was quiet around him, knowing that the slightest thing could unleash his anger.

Dumbledore turned his attentions back to the group who were all looking nonplussed and anxious. The door opened and Sirius came in, wearing the same tired and pained expression that had adorned his face for the previous few days. Following him though, to Dumbledore's surprise, were the Scoobies who walked straight up to him.
"We have to be together on this," Faith said grimly. "That's the only way we can save Buffy. We've got a plan but we need your help. It's like this……" She stated what they wanted to do.
"It's suicide," Snape spoke out. "You'll be killed, we all will." Faith's jaw was set in a hard line.
"It's Buffy," she said simply. "There's no other choice but to try and save her."

"We must act," Dumbledore said with difficulty. ""It's all we have. We must do it. Faith, go, I must attend to something else at Hogwarts which could be vital."

---------

A few more days passed for Buffy, she felt like she had not spoken to another person in years. Bellatrix Lestrange continued to bring her food, she continued to eat it. Buffy got to the point where she felt she would rather the baby came and she was killed than live much longer in this silence. She began to hope someone would come to see her, even if it were Voldemort to curse her brains out.
Her wish was granted on the twelfth day of her being imprisoned. Bellatrix brought her food and when she entered, Voldemort followed her inside, with another person behind him who Buffy recognised immediately.

"Good Day Miss Summers," he said smoothly, sealing the door behind him with a quick flick of his wand. "I hope you are well and things are coming along nicely. Not long to go now." He stepped aside so that the person behind him could come forward. "I believe you know my guest." Faith stepped out from behind Voldemort slyly.
"Faith came to me after you were kidnapped," he explained looking thoroughly amused. "Apparently she's not as trustworthy as you always believed. You ought to be more careful when choosing your friends in future."
Buffy was breathing hard, looking from Voldemort to Faith. She locked eyes with Faith and then she knew.

"You bitch," she spat furiously. "How could you? I trusted you, I helped you, I let you into my home." Faith smiled coolly.
"Things change B," she said without the merest hint of apology. "I've got better friends now. I told you what he showed me, what I could have. When the time comes, I'm gonna enjoy killing you. Slowly." Voldemort smiled indulgently.
"We must go Faith," he said, glancing at Buffy. "We have much to do. Come." They left the room, Buffy staring after them disbelievingly.

---------------

"I really get to kill her?" Faith asked Voldemort as they walked down the long corridor together.
"If it pleases you," Voldemort said casually, leading Faith into the large central room of the mansion, known to many as the Riddle House. "And I will drink from her child. All will go to plan."
He stopped and Faith stopped too, alone in the centre of a grand hall. She looked up at him curiously and then her insides clenched tightly.
"There is just one loose end to tie up," Voldemort said smoothly. "Crucio."
Faith felt pain greater than any she had ever experienced ripping through her entire being, through every fibre of her body and deep into her core. She fell to the ground, eyes squeezed closed and teeth gritted to stop her screams escape.

"You see Lord Voldemort knows when people lie Faith," Voldemort said lazily, wand causing Faith's squirms of pain. "You were lucky I did not recognise the lie in you when we first met, you would've been killed immediately. But you could not hide your love for Miss Summers and she could not hide her love in turn. A pity, you would've made a fine ally. You will suffer from your mistake."

Faith writhed with pain, it was blinding, pushing through everything so much hurt.
And then with a loud crash it was gone and she lay loosely on the ground, panting with the release. Footsteps sounded around her and she groaned as she rolled over on the floor.
"About time," she grumbled, getting to her feet. Her eyes widened in shock as a tall, heavily armoured, green scaled demon loped past her, followed by a dozen more all bearing long swords.
"What the f-" she yelped as she pulled out her sword to behead one nearest to her. "Who the hell are these guys?" Chancing a look over at Voldemort, she saw that he was as bemused as she was, firing curses at the demons and yelling for his death eaters to come to him which they did.
It was easily the weirdest thing she had done, thought Faith, swinging to slice a demon in half, stopping it in its tracks. Fighting alongside a homicidal wizard who had been about two seconds from killing her to protect the very woman they all wanted. Demons flowed through the broken window, seventy at least, breaking upon the Death Eaters and Faith.
"Where the hell are my guys?" Faith muttered furiously to herself. Her question was soon answered as a shout alerted them all to Order members spilling in through the door.

Sirius ran to her side.

"What are they?" he yelled, shooting a stunner at one of the demons.
"They're here for B," Faith yelled back, ducking a blow from one and ramming her sword into its gut. "Another lot who want the baby."
"Have you seen her?" Sirius asked anxiously. Faith nodded.
"They're okay," she replied quickly. "But we'd better get her the hell out of here before something else comes after her."
The two of them ran across the room, ducking stray curses. They passed the Scoobies who had entered with the Order and were taking on the demons.
Down the hallway there were more Death Eaters coming to the hall where the fighting was taking place. Faith ducked a stunner and flipped to kick a death eater in the jaw while Sirius took out the other two with curses. Faith led him down the hallway, round the corner and there were six demons, trying to pry Buffy's door open.

"I'll take care of them," Faith told Sirius urgently. "Just get in there and get B the hell out of here." Sirius shot her a look before they both plunged towards the door, Faith leaping into the group of demons with a savage cry.

She hacked at them with her sword, drawing them from the door so Sirius could get to it and mutter 'alohomora,' springing the lock open.
He flung open the door and was punched hard in the face by Buffy.
"Sorry!" she gasped, hands flying to her face. "I thought you were a demon." She wrapped her arms around him and he rained kisses on her face, ignoring the pain in his nose.
"Oh Buffy…you're…..still…..alive," he said, planting kisses on her between words. "I….love….you….so……much. I'm…..so…..sorry…." He grabbed her hand and tugged her from the room but she held her ground.

"It's started," she said fearfully and he stopped in his tracks. "The baby's coming." He allowed a grin to tug at the corners of his mouth before kissing her once more.
"Perfect timing Buff," he said, casting a furtive look outside the door and then pulling her out behind him. She faltered and he turned.
"Faith," she said anxiously, looking at her sister slayer who was still fighting busily.
"Buffy, just go!" Faith yelled, turning her head briefly before ducking another barrage of blows. "Get the hell out of here."

"But I…" Buffy wavered, turned towards her exit but unwilling to let her feet move.
"I'll be fine," Faith shouted, flipping into a kick. "I'll hold them off and you can get out of here. Go now!" Buffy took one last look at her sister slayer and then allowed herself to be pulled along the corridor behind Sirius.

Sirius reached into his robes and pulled out an axe, and handed it to Buffy. He shot a few stunners at some demons that crossed their path before running past the main hall where all hell was breaking loose. Buffy had a brief glimpse of the Order fighting both demons and Death Eaters who were also fighting each other before she was pulled towards the front doors which were being covered by two masked death eaters.

Sirius took out one death eater, duelling fiercely and Buffy hit the other in the face with the hilt of her axe, despite the shooting pain in her stomach.

They ran across the grounds, Sirius leading towards a group of trees on a small hill.
"Portkeys," he panted. "Here." Together they grabbed a broomstick and whirled away from the hilltop.