Hey, all.
Well, it took me long enough! But I got one out, finally.
Hope you enjoy it and I will do my best to get the next bit out next Tuesday.
Thanks! And feedback is always appreciated.
Cheery Vibes Nimue "Though she be but little, she is fierce." William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night's Dream
www.livejournal (dot) com/users/nimuetucker/ AlwaysEveryday (at) HowtoMakeaVampireSundae (at)
Title: Second Floor Travelers (Chapter Thirty-eight - Meant to Be)
Author: Nimue
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Spike/Buffy (Most major characters included)
Feedback: Yes, please NimueofAvalon71 (at)
Disclaimer: All characters belong to someone other than me; they belong to Mutant Enemy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, Fox, UPN, WB, their affiliates, lawyers and all sorts of other folks that aren't me. :::sigh::::
Summary: Tara has been taken by the Master, but manages to get a last- ditch warning off to Willow. Willow tries to help those fighting in the mansion, as well as get Buffy and her family to safety. Spike and Emma are still traveling and meet who they think may be their next of kin. Angel and Co. make a gruesome discovery.
Second Floor Travelers
Tara walked silently, the cold hand of the Master clutching the back of her neck. Breathing evenly, she tried to steady her heart. Tried to open her mind.
There was only one chance that any of this would end well – and even then, nothing would be right ever again. Flashes of Cordy's crumpled body on the courtyard stone filled the quiet Witch's head with crimson and fear.
She had to try.
A physical manifestation of thought would be far too obvious. Tara couldn't exactly send a message to the crew in the mansion like that without the Master killing everyone he came in contact with, including her, from this point forward. But Willow... Willow she could contact just by thought.
If she could remain calm.
Closing her eyes for a moment as she walked, the Witch poured all of her concentration into one line of thought. One mantra. One woman who might understand. 'Drop the ward. Get out. Send message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Get out. Drop the ward. Get out. Send message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Trap."
Over and over again, Tara thought the words. Thought them into existence. Thought them along some invisible communication line in her mind. Thought them down streets and sidewalks and wished them there faster than her. Pushed them with the power of her will and forced them though the ward of the house and screamed them into the corridors and rooms.
'Drop the ward. Get out. Send a message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Get out.'
Spike studied the girl for a long moment, head tilted to the side. The little girl looked at her bare feet with such untarnished innocence. Such sweet grace and quiet timidness.
Stars, this is what she was like? Gentle and kind and quiet.
And this was turned into....
The girl blushed crimson and looked down at her feet again as if some part of her could read his thoughts. Some part of her knew what she had come from. Knew what had happened. But she didn't. At least that is what Emma was whispering in Spike's ear. She didn't know. She was just a little girl and by the strength of her human soul, and the love of those she left behind, was granted a clean slate in the World of the Sky Queen.
She would never have to know that pain, Spike thought, watching the girl trace patterns in the brown sugar soil with a toe, her leg stretched like a ballerina's from under her gold-white dress.
Spike crouched, rocking back on his heels and coming to eye level with the girl. "You all right, Pet?"
The girl looked up at him with enormous eyes, blinking. "I died."
The Vampire nodded. "I know. So'd I."
The little girl nodded. "Sky said my brothers and sisters aren't here anymore. But if I go and come back, she'll make sure I see 'em."
With a soft smile and a glance at the Queen, he nodded. "I'm sure she'd let you wait if you wanted."
"Of course," the Queen agreed, crouching down next to the child and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Although," she began again in a voice full of temptation, "You'd have a brother and sister there too."
The little girl spun her head towards the Sky Queen. "Like before?"
"Yes; although they are different people, they would still love you," the Queen answered.
Spike turned his head and looked at Emma for a moment. "There's one," he commented.
"She's old," the tyke answered, looking at Emma who chuckled.
Spike echoed the laugh. "Just here, Pet. At home, she's 'bout your size. Things here aren't always what they seem, apparently."
The little girl looked confused and then nodded. "Will they play with me?"
Emma smiled. "Of course. Will and I would both play with you."
Again the girl nodded, turning her attention back to Spike. "You'd be my dad?"
With a chuckle, Spike answered. "Looks that way, Love."
"My mum?"
"Her name is Buffy," the Sky Queen answered. "And she is the strongest, bravest mum in all the land. And she'll love you more than anything."
"That she will," Spike agreed, a hint of concern in his thoughts. He knew Buffy would love this child, no matter what. Would protect her through any crisis or apocalypse. Would never let her down.
But how would she feel... how would she react when she found out...
This wasn't the same person. This was the human version, as Will was his own human soul.
"She will love her," Emma answered in his mind. "There will be no hesitation. This is not who you knew, just the soul of a girl who was taken too soon."
A silent nod and Spike looked at the Sky Queen, who confirmed Emma's thoughts. This was the soul of a young girl stolen from her life. One who deserved to have it made right again. One who deserved to hear the stars sing once again.
"Would you like to come home with us, Pet?" Spike asked, holding a hand out to the young girl.
She looked at him, all wide-eyed innocence, for a long moment. Her raven hair spilled over her shoulders and made her small face look waifish and lost. But those enormous eyes shone with hope, blinking back tears. With a nervous hesitation, the girl raised her hand and placed it inside of Spike's. "You will love me?"
"'Course, Tot," Spike answered, lifting her up to his hip. "You sure you want to come to us? Things get a bit strange from time to time back home."
The little girl looked at Emma. "Will they really love me?"
Emma smiled. "More than the world."
Willow sat on the couch downstairs, flipping through tome after tome, looking for clues on this Master. Buffy was upstairs, watching over Spike and Emma as they journeyed. Oz had taken Loki and Kali to Xander's house to play. It was just her and the travelers on the second floor.
A little time to do research and...
The front door creaked. Then rattled. Then shook with earthquake force. Then burst open with a crack.
Tara's voice flooded the room, a scream of wind in the otherwise silent house. "DROP THE WARD. GET OUT. SEND A MESSAGE TO XANDER. TRAP. TRAP. GET OUT." The mantra repeated over and over in a deafening scream until a stunned Willow leapt to her feet in a rush and shut the door, her heart racing a mile a moment.
Was this real? Or just a different sort of trap? Real? Different sort of trap?
Trying to still herself, Willow used her power. She extended her senses, searching for her mate. Seeking her out in the darkness and fog and fear.
There she was. Walking solemnly down an empty street, a hooded darkness behind her, guiding her with a frozen hand on the back of her neck. As Willow probed, a set of beautiful, familiar eyes popped open and stared ahead, parted lips mouthing 'Drop the ward. Get out. Send a message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Get out.' before falling still and silent once again.
Real.
And Tara was in danger.
In a flurry of movement, Willow ran to the basement, lighting a candle and beginning a spell that would alter the ward to cover Xander's house but fall away from this one. Hurrying through, she made the choice to seal Xander's shut completely, hoping she'd make it back to open it again once the situation had been set right. In the meantime, no one was touching those kids. Not hers. Not anyone else's.
As soon as the ward was re-set, Willow took a deep breath, calming her mind, and meditated. Xander had never been very good at the whole telepathy thing. Dozens of failed attempts proved that he had way too many trains of thought chugging through his mind at once to quiet it enough to receive a message. For a brief moment, the Witch thought about contacting Wesley, but the pair didn't know each other well enough to be sure he'd get the right message from her panic addled mind.
But would Angel believe the perennially fearful Xander if he screamed to him to get out, to fall back and realize it was a trap? Or would the Vampire just assume it was the same scared boy of old, wanting to turn tail and run?
Time to use a little bit of Tara's tactic, Willow decided, and combine it with a light show.
With a deep breath, the redhead began a chant. A series of non-contiguous spells wrapped into a growing ball of sunlight in her hand. Words and images and sparks and screams and pleas and hopefully, a little fried Vampire.
It wasn't likely Angel would buy this anyway. But Xander would know. And it would freak Gunn into believing. And Wesley might just convince Angel it was time to run...
With a torrent of energy and a strong wind behind her, Willow walked to the basement window, opened the glass, and sent her creation into the night.
A knock on the door and Buffy started, staring at the wood with a mixture of annoyance and fear. They were not to be disturbed. Not until her love and her baby were back and awake. Buffy needed all of her concentration for that.
Like a feral cat, she stared at the door, eyes glowing with protective anger. "What?" She hissed to the offensive piece of wood.
"Buffy?" The familiar voice from the other side whispered just loud enough to hear. "Something's gone wrong, Buffy. Tara sent a message. Something's really wrong and we need to get out."
At the sound of her long-time friend's voice, part of her calmed. The rest digested the message and her body started a new wave of fear and anger.
"What happened?"
"I don't know yet," Willow answered to the closed door. "But the Master has Tara. Angel and the others are walking into a trap, and I think that Tara's being forced to bring the big guy here. She told me to drop the ward and get us all out."
Heartbeat pounding, Buffy looked down at her sleeping, defenseless family. They weren't back yet. She didn't know how long they'd be. No one could know. But until Spike could protect himself and their daughter, Buffy wasn't going anywhere.
"Let them come," the Slayer hissed, staring at the door.
"Buffy?"
"Spike's not back yet. I'm not leaving them..."
"We could take..."
"They might not be able to return if they can't find their way, Will," Buffy replied before the Witch finished her sentence. A sharp intake of breath as the word brought back other thoughts. "Will. Where's my Will?"
"Warded up in the other house with the rest. It's just us here. They're okay, Buffy," Willow answered, finally finding some good news. "But you know that this Master is..."
"Get out, Willow," Buffy interrupted. "Find a way to get Xander and the rest out of the mansion. Find Giles and put that big brain to use, and find a way to stop this big jerk. But I'm not leaving."
"Buffy..." A last pleaded sigh.
"Go. "
Willow closed her eyes, touching the closed door. "He's got Tara, Buffy."
The Slayer looked down at her own mate and remembered all the times one or the other of them were missing or lost or in some kind of peril. Seemed like every Tuesday. And every time, it was just as terrifying.
Because one of these times would be the last.
"I'll get her away. Just... find a way to help us."
Another deep breath from the Witch. "Be careful, Buffy."
A soft smile crossed the Slayer's lips. "I will."
The four men halted at the top of the cellar stairs as a howling started low and deep in the entryway. Even the Vampires turned to take a look at the source of the screaming. A wolf? Too loud for just one. A pack? Werewolves? If so, and they weren't of the Oz variety, all of them were in a boatload of trouble.
The sound grew, rattling the house, making pictures fall from walls and silver clatter to the stone as it came ever closer. Haunting screams, like banshees on the warpath, wound their way like ivy through the entry hall and into the great room, catching everyone's attention and stopping what seemed like unending fisticuffs.
Wesley cocked his head as a small, round, glowing ball screamed around the corner, howling and mewling and stopping dead, floating at about his eye level. It stilled, apart from a sort of ethereal bounce, and fell quiet, ending the screeching noise.
The Vampires circled the ball, as Xander recognized it. Willow. It had her... sense of humour. Something about it was all her. And he knew her work pretty well by now. "Back up," the boy whispered, "Away from the stairs."
Gunn nodded, moving back into the great room and flattening himself against the wall. The rest followed suit as the Vampires inspected the floating white ball.
"What does it do?" Gunn asked.
"I don't have a clue," Xander answered as Wes slid up next to him. "But it's Willow's, and it's big, so get ready to ..."
The ball burst open in a flash of dazzling daylight and a familiar voice screamed out parts of Tara's message, mixed with Willow's own. "GET OUT. IT'S A TRAP. MASTER ON WAY TO BUFFY'S. HE'S GOT TARA. GET OUT!"
The light beamed from the once solid ball and it dawned on Angel that Willow and Tara had somehow figured a way to generate all of their spells against Vampires with an extra instruction to detect and avoid souls. The sunlight beamed, frying every Vampire in the room, but Angel stood only ten feet away and watched the show as if it were part of Pink Floyd live.
Hunh.
Must have had a lot of practice with Spike and his shared soul in the mix.
The Vampire was startled back to attention as Wesley grabbed his arm on the way past, running for the entryway and the courtyard. Xander chugged along in front, Gunn just behind. The Master had one of their own. And that was not happening on Xander's watch.
They ran through the house at break-neck speed, skidding into the loose stone of the courtyard to swing by and collect...
'If the Master had Tara, and Tara was with Cordelia...' Xander suddenly thought.
A few more careful steps into the courtyard and the full impact of that thought hit him as he came into the moonlight.
Xander stopped dead, his hand slapped over his mouth, eyes wide with fear and anger and horror. Gunn looked at him for a moment before cautiously stepping up next to him.
"Oh God."
Xander dropped his hand from his mouth and ran towards the girl, as Gunn spun to try and locate Angel and somehow, someway, prepare him for this. The Vampire was just running out of the house, Wes at his side, and coming straight at the courtyard.
"Xan, she...?" Gunn asked, his back to the sight.
Xander could feel the tears well as he knelt in the blood next to her body. With a shaky hand, he tentatively dropped his fingers to her neck and turned it, looking for bite marks.
Nothing.
All this blood. And he didn't even take her.
"Dammit, Xander. Is she...?"
Pressing down on her neck, Xander closed his eyes and prayed. Prayed for that thump, thump, thump that kept them all alive. That he listened to every night as he laid his head on Takina's chest. As he listened to River in peaceful sleep.
Nothing.
Xander pressed his fingers harder. He heard Gunn intercepting Angel and Wes, trying to prepare them for what was behind potted plant number three.
Nothing.
Pressed a little harder.
Thump.
Too long a time.
Another thump.
"Gunn! Help me! She's alive, but she's... Oh God."
"She?" Angel asked, looking around Gunn. "She?" A sudden realization smacked into him as he watched both Gunn's and Wesley's faces become solemn.
With a shove, Angel pushed Gunn out of the way, searching beyond him until he saw Xander crouched in a pool of blood.
"Xander?"
With a start, Xander turned and stared wild-eyed at the Vampire. "We have to help her...."
Angel's eyes dropped to the ground and saw her, spread out in a pool of crimson, her dark hair matted and her pretty eyes closed.
"Cordelia..."
To be contd.
Well, it took me long enough! But I got one out, finally.
Hope you enjoy it and I will do my best to get the next bit out next Tuesday.
Thanks! And feedback is always appreciated.
Cheery Vibes Nimue "Though she be but little, she is fierce." William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night's Dream
www.livejournal (dot) com/users/nimuetucker/ AlwaysEveryday (at) HowtoMakeaVampireSundae (at)
Title: Second Floor Travelers (Chapter Thirty-eight - Meant to Be)
Author: Nimue
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Spike/Buffy (Most major characters included)
Feedback: Yes, please NimueofAvalon71 (at)
Disclaimer: All characters belong to someone other than me; they belong to Mutant Enemy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, Fox, UPN, WB, their affiliates, lawyers and all sorts of other folks that aren't me. :::sigh::::
Summary: Tara has been taken by the Master, but manages to get a last- ditch warning off to Willow. Willow tries to help those fighting in the mansion, as well as get Buffy and her family to safety. Spike and Emma are still traveling and meet who they think may be their next of kin. Angel and Co. make a gruesome discovery.
Second Floor Travelers
Tara walked silently, the cold hand of the Master clutching the back of her neck. Breathing evenly, she tried to steady her heart. Tried to open her mind.
There was only one chance that any of this would end well – and even then, nothing would be right ever again. Flashes of Cordy's crumpled body on the courtyard stone filled the quiet Witch's head with crimson and fear.
She had to try.
A physical manifestation of thought would be far too obvious. Tara couldn't exactly send a message to the crew in the mansion like that without the Master killing everyone he came in contact with, including her, from this point forward. But Willow... Willow she could contact just by thought.
If she could remain calm.
Closing her eyes for a moment as she walked, the Witch poured all of her concentration into one line of thought. One mantra. One woman who might understand. 'Drop the ward. Get out. Send message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Get out. Drop the ward. Get out. Send message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Trap."
Over and over again, Tara thought the words. Thought them into existence. Thought them along some invisible communication line in her mind. Thought them down streets and sidewalks and wished them there faster than her. Pushed them with the power of her will and forced them though the ward of the house and screamed them into the corridors and rooms.
'Drop the ward. Get out. Send a message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Get out.'
Spike studied the girl for a long moment, head tilted to the side. The little girl looked at her bare feet with such untarnished innocence. Such sweet grace and quiet timidness.
Stars, this is what she was like? Gentle and kind and quiet.
And this was turned into....
The girl blushed crimson and looked down at her feet again as if some part of her could read his thoughts. Some part of her knew what she had come from. Knew what had happened. But she didn't. At least that is what Emma was whispering in Spike's ear. She didn't know. She was just a little girl and by the strength of her human soul, and the love of those she left behind, was granted a clean slate in the World of the Sky Queen.
She would never have to know that pain, Spike thought, watching the girl trace patterns in the brown sugar soil with a toe, her leg stretched like a ballerina's from under her gold-white dress.
Spike crouched, rocking back on his heels and coming to eye level with the girl. "You all right, Pet?"
The girl looked up at him with enormous eyes, blinking. "I died."
The Vampire nodded. "I know. So'd I."
The little girl nodded. "Sky said my brothers and sisters aren't here anymore. But if I go and come back, she'll make sure I see 'em."
With a soft smile and a glance at the Queen, he nodded. "I'm sure she'd let you wait if you wanted."
"Of course," the Queen agreed, crouching down next to the child and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Although," she began again in a voice full of temptation, "You'd have a brother and sister there too."
The little girl spun her head towards the Sky Queen. "Like before?"
"Yes; although they are different people, they would still love you," the Queen answered.
Spike turned his head and looked at Emma for a moment. "There's one," he commented.
"She's old," the tyke answered, looking at Emma who chuckled.
Spike echoed the laugh. "Just here, Pet. At home, she's 'bout your size. Things here aren't always what they seem, apparently."
The little girl looked confused and then nodded. "Will they play with me?"
Emma smiled. "Of course. Will and I would both play with you."
Again the girl nodded, turning her attention back to Spike. "You'd be my dad?"
With a chuckle, Spike answered. "Looks that way, Love."
"My mum?"
"Her name is Buffy," the Sky Queen answered. "And she is the strongest, bravest mum in all the land. And she'll love you more than anything."
"That she will," Spike agreed, a hint of concern in his thoughts. He knew Buffy would love this child, no matter what. Would protect her through any crisis or apocalypse. Would never let her down.
But how would she feel... how would she react when she found out...
This wasn't the same person. This was the human version, as Will was his own human soul.
"She will love her," Emma answered in his mind. "There will be no hesitation. This is not who you knew, just the soul of a girl who was taken too soon."
A silent nod and Spike looked at the Sky Queen, who confirmed Emma's thoughts. This was the soul of a young girl stolen from her life. One who deserved to have it made right again. One who deserved to hear the stars sing once again.
"Would you like to come home with us, Pet?" Spike asked, holding a hand out to the young girl.
She looked at him, all wide-eyed innocence, for a long moment. Her raven hair spilled over her shoulders and made her small face look waifish and lost. But those enormous eyes shone with hope, blinking back tears. With a nervous hesitation, the girl raised her hand and placed it inside of Spike's. "You will love me?"
"'Course, Tot," Spike answered, lifting her up to his hip. "You sure you want to come to us? Things get a bit strange from time to time back home."
The little girl looked at Emma. "Will they really love me?"
Emma smiled. "More than the world."
Willow sat on the couch downstairs, flipping through tome after tome, looking for clues on this Master. Buffy was upstairs, watching over Spike and Emma as they journeyed. Oz had taken Loki and Kali to Xander's house to play. It was just her and the travelers on the second floor.
A little time to do research and...
The front door creaked. Then rattled. Then shook with earthquake force. Then burst open with a crack.
Tara's voice flooded the room, a scream of wind in the otherwise silent house. "DROP THE WARD. GET OUT. SEND A MESSAGE TO XANDER. TRAP. TRAP. GET OUT." The mantra repeated over and over in a deafening scream until a stunned Willow leapt to her feet in a rush and shut the door, her heart racing a mile a moment.
Was this real? Or just a different sort of trap? Real? Different sort of trap?
Trying to still herself, Willow used her power. She extended her senses, searching for her mate. Seeking her out in the darkness and fog and fear.
There she was. Walking solemnly down an empty street, a hooded darkness behind her, guiding her with a frozen hand on the back of her neck. As Willow probed, a set of beautiful, familiar eyes popped open and stared ahead, parted lips mouthing 'Drop the ward. Get out. Send a message to Xander. Trap. Trap. Get out.' before falling still and silent once again.
Real.
And Tara was in danger.
In a flurry of movement, Willow ran to the basement, lighting a candle and beginning a spell that would alter the ward to cover Xander's house but fall away from this one. Hurrying through, she made the choice to seal Xander's shut completely, hoping she'd make it back to open it again once the situation had been set right. In the meantime, no one was touching those kids. Not hers. Not anyone else's.
As soon as the ward was re-set, Willow took a deep breath, calming her mind, and meditated. Xander had never been very good at the whole telepathy thing. Dozens of failed attempts proved that he had way too many trains of thought chugging through his mind at once to quiet it enough to receive a message. For a brief moment, the Witch thought about contacting Wesley, but the pair didn't know each other well enough to be sure he'd get the right message from her panic addled mind.
But would Angel believe the perennially fearful Xander if he screamed to him to get out, to fall back and realize it was a trap? Or would the Vampire just assume it was the same scared boy of old, wanting to turn tail and run?
Time to use a little bit of Tara's tactic, Willow decided, and combine it with a light show.
With a deep breath, the redhead began a chant. A series of non-contiguous spells wrapped into a growing ball of sunlight in her hand. Words and images and sparks and screams and pleas and hopefully, a little fried Vampire.
It wasn't likely Angel would buy this anyway. But Xander would know. And it would freak Gunn into believing. And Wesley might just convince Angel it was time to run...
With a torrent of energy and a strong wind behind her, Willow walked to the basement window, opened the glass, and sent her creation into the night.
A knock on the door and Buffy started, staring at the wood with a mixture of annoyance and fear. They were not to be disturbed. Not until her love and her baby were back and awake. Buffy needed all of her concentration for that.
Like a feral cat, she stared at the door, eyes glowing with protective anger. "What?" She hissed to the offensive piece of wood.
"Buffy?" The familiar voice from the other side whispered just loud enough to hear. "Something's gone wrong, Buffy. Tara sent a message. Something's really wrong and we need to get out."
At the sound of her long-time friend's voice, part of her calmed. The rest digested the message and her body started a new wave of fear and anger.
"What happened?"
"I don't know yet," Willow answered to the closed door. "But the Master has Tara. Angel and the others are walking into a trap, and I think that Tara's being forced to bring the big guy here. She told me to drop the ward and get us all out."
Heartbeat pounding, Buffy looked down at her sleeping, defenseless family. They weren't back yet. She didn't know how long they'd be. No one could know. But until Spike could protect himself and their daughter, Buffy wasn't going anywhere.
"Let them come," the Slayer hissed, staring at the door.
"Buffy?"
"Spike's not back yet. I'm not leaving them..."
"We could take..."
"They might not be able to return if they can't find their way, Will," Buffy replied before the Witch finished her sentence. A sharp intake of breath as the word brought back other thoughts. "Will. Where's my Will?"
"Warded up in the other house with the rest. It's just us here. They're okay, Buffy," Willow answered, finally finding some good news. "But you know that this Master is..."
"Get out, Willow," Buffy interrupted. "Find a way to get Xander and the rest out of the mansion. Find Giles and put that big brain to use, and find a way to stop this big jerk. But I'm not leaving."
"Buffy..." A last pleaded sigh.
"Go. "
Willow closed her eyes, touching the closed door. "He's got Tara, Buffy."
The Slayer looked down at her own mate and remembered all the times one or the other of them were missing or lost or in some kind of peril. Seemed like every Tuesday. And every time, it was just as terrifying.
Because one of these times would be the last.
"I'll get her away. Just... find a way to help us."
Another deep breath from the Witch. "Be careful, Buffy."
A soft smile crossed the Slayer's lips. "I will."
The four men halted at the top of the cellar stairs as a howling started low and deep in the entryway. Even the Vampires turned to take a look at the source of the screaming. A wolf? Too loud for just one. A pack? Werewolves? If so, and they weren't of the Oz variety, all of them were in a boatload of trouble.
The sound grew, rattling the house, making pictures fall from walls and silver clatter to the stone as it came ever closer. Haunting screams, like banshees on the warpath, wound their way like ivy through the entry hall and into the great room, catching everyone's attention and stopping what seemed like unending fisticuffs.
Wesley cocked his head as a small, round, glowing ball screamed around the corner, howling and mewling and stopping dead, floating at about his eye level. It stilled, apart from a sort of ethereal bounce, and fell quiet, ending the screeching noise.
The Vampires circled the ball, as Xander recognized it. Willow. It had her... sense of humour. Something about it was all her. And he knew her work pretty well by now. "Back up," the boy whispered, "Away from the stairs."
Gunn nodded, moving back into the great room and flattening himself against the wall. The rest followed suit as the Vampires inspected the floating white ball.
"What does it do?" Gunn asked.
"I don't have a clue," Xander answered as Wes slid up next to him. "But it's Willow's, and it's big, so get ready to ..."
The ball burst open in a flash of dazzling daylight and a familiar voice screamed out parts of Tara's message, mixed with Willow's own. "GET OUT. IT'S A TRAP. MASTER ON WAY TO BUFFY'S. HE'S GOT TARA. GET OUT!"
The light beamed from the once solid ball and it dawned on Angel that Willow and Tara had somehow figured a way to generate all of their spells against Vampires with an extra instruction to detect and avoid souls. The sunlight beamed, frying every Vampire in the room, but Angel stood only ten feet away and watched the show as if it were part of Pink Floyd live.
Hunh.
Must have had a lot of practice with Spike and his shared soul in the mix.
The Vampire was startled back to attention as Wesley grabbed his arm on the way past, running for the entryway and the courtyard. Xander chugged along in front, Gunn just behind. The Master had one of their own. And that was not happening on Xander's watch.
They ran through the house at break-neck speed, skidding into the loose stone of the courtyard to swing by and collect...
'If the Master had Tara, and Tara was with Cordelia...' Xander suddenly thought.
A few more careful steps into the courtyard and the full impact of that thought hit him as he came into the moonlight.
Xander stopped dead, his hand slapped over his mouth, eyes wide with fear and anger and horror. Gunn looked at him for a moment before cautiously stepping up next to him.
"Oh God."
Xander dropped his hand from his mouth and ran towards the girl, as Gunn spun to try and locate Angel and somehow, someway, prepare him for this. The Vampire was just running out of the house, Wes at his side, and coming straight at the courtyard.
"Xan, she...?" Gunn asked, his back to the sight.
Xander could feel the tears well as he knelt in the blood next to her body. With a shaky hand, he tentatively dropped his fingers to her neck and turned it, looking for bite marks.
Nothing.
All this blood. And he didn't even take her.
"Dammit, Xander. Is she...?"
Pressing down on her neck, Xander closed his eyes and prayed. Prayed for that thump, thump, thump that kept them all alive. That he listened to every night as he laid his head on Takina's chest. As he listened to River in peaceful sleep.
Nothing.
Xander pressed his fingers harder. He heard Gunn intercepting Angel and Wes, trying to prepare them for what was behind potted plant number three.
Nothing.
Pressed a little harder.
Thump.
Too long a time.
Another thump.
"Gunn! Help me! She's alive, but she's... Oh God."
"She?" Angel asked, looking around Gunn. "She?" A sudden realization smacked into him as he watched both Gunn's and Wesley's faces become solemn.
With a shove, Angel pushed Gunn out of the way, searching beyond him until he saw Xander crouched in a pool of blood.
"Xander?"
With a start, Xander turned and stared wild-eyed at the Vampire. "We have to help her...."
Angel's eyes dropped to the ground and saw her, spread out in a pool of crimson, her dark hair matted and her pretty eyes closed.
"Cordelia..."
To be contd.