Two of A Kind
Chapter 11: It's Time to Throw Down
By: Rogue-Slayer13
Disclaimer: The characters of Btvs and Ats belong to Joss Whedon, not myself. People wonder where I get some of the straight from the show dialogue, and just so everyone knows, anytime I have any, it comes from Buffy-vs-Angel. com.
Summary: See previous chapter
All italics are thoughts, while only partial italics or emphasized.
A/N: I've decided to change this fic up a bit and have it go more along the lines of the show. This could be for the better or it could be for the worse, not really sure yet.
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"Buffy, this is would be one of those times that I might actually want you to tell me to run and hide," said Dawn as she looked up at the dragon that was circling high overhead.
"I would if I thought it was any safer in there then it is out here," replied Buffy, never taking her eyes off of the sky.
"Wow. This is worse then when Glory had all the portals opening up in Sunnydale," said Xander.
"I think we should stop staring and start fighting," said Lindsey.
"Why do you say that?" asked Angel.
"Because I'm looking at a huge ass demon horde charging toward us," replied the former lawyer.
Angel and the others followed Lindsey's line of sight to see a demon horde twice as big as the one Angel and Co., fought the night before.
"I'm getting a little sense of deja-vu here," commented Gunn.
"Tell me about it," said Spike.
"At least the odds are better," commented Wesley as the demons drew closer.
"Okay, we need some sort of plan before they get here," said Willow.
"Start swinging," said Angel.
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Buffy walked out onto the roof of the Hyperion. It'd been three days since the last battle, and most of Los Angeles lay in ruin. Several buildings were either burned down or in the process of burning down, and earthquakes had torn up several of the streets. The only thing cheerful about the whole situation was that the raining fire had slowed to a sparse drizzle.
"I wondered where you'd gotten off to."
Spike turned around to see Buffy standing a few feet behind him.
"I don't like being cooped up," replied Spike as he lit a cigarette.
"I don't blame ya." Buffy took a seat next to Spike. "You could cut the tension with a knife."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes, neither one wanting to interrupt the rare moment of calm.
"It's kind of pretty in a strange way," commented Spike as he looked out at the skyline that was dotted with fires from the burning buildings.
"Kinda looks like fireflies."
Spike nodded as the two continued to look out at the city.
"Y'know, if we make it through this, you're always welcome back in Rome."
Spike turned to look at Buffy.
"I don't know if it'd be wise to go back down that road just yet."
A look of hurt crossed Buffy's feature, but was replaced with one of understanding.
"How bout as a friend then?" asked Buffy.
"That would be nice."
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Giles had his nose in an unusually large book and was frantically taking notes when Buffy and Spike came back inside. Wesley was also going through some books, but not as urgently as Giles was. Andrew looked like he was reading, but Buffy was ninety-percent sure that the book was upside down, although it was hard to tell which way the writing went.
"What's so interesting?" asked Buffy as she peered over Giles' shoulder to get a look at his notes.
"I may have found a way to stop all of this," replied the former watcher.
"How?" asked Spike.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure, but this book mentions on several different accounts a tool being summoned by the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart, but unfortunately, it's only a summary of a much larger tale," Giles stopped reading and looked at Buffy and Spike.
"Is there a way we could get a hold of this tale?" asked Buffy.
"Well, this book says that it was given to an order of priests in a demon dimension and that it was further separated so that no one person could have the whole tale."
Just as Giles said this, Lorne, who happened to be passing through stopped and turned to the group.
"Are you okay?" asked Wesley, looking over the top of his book.
"Yeah, but I'm thinking back to the last time we dealt with books written in trionic. I do believe it was during our fabulous visit back to my homeland," Lorne said the last part sarcastically.
"How could I forget," said Wesley as he laid his book down on the table. "The holy books from Pylea."
"You wouldn't happen to have those would you?" asked Giles.
"Well, I did bring them back with us. The problem is, I'm not sure where they've ended up after we took over Wolfram & Hart."
"Way to go Percy," said Spike sarcastically. "Our one shot at saving the world and you lost them in the move to Hell Incorporated."
"They might not be lost," Wesley got up from his seat and began to pace the room. "They could be at my apartment . . ."
"Which I'm sure has miraculously escaped the pillaging and destruction," it was Buffy's turn to be sarcastic now.
"Or, they might've never left the hotel," finished Wesley.
"Let's hope for the later rather then the former," said Giles as he began to clean his glasses. "I think we should look for these books. They might be our only hope at stopping this."
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"What exactly are we looking for?" asked Dawn as she, along with everyone else continued tearing up the hotel.
"Three books," replied Wesley as he emptied the contents of a desk drawer out onto the floor. "Bond with red leather and they have a picture of a wolf, a ram, and a hart on them."
"On each book?" asked Andrew.
"No, one on each book," replied Wesley.
"How do we know Wolfram & Hart didn't get a hold of them the entire time this place was empty?" asked Xander.
"They didn't. I had this place under lock and key," said Angel as he rifled through the weapon's cabinet.
"Oh and a deadbolt's going to do so much to stop the baddest guys this side of a hell dimension," said Faith sarcastically.
"It was more then just a deadbolt," replied Angel.
"What the hell are we going to do once we find these books?" asked Lindsey.
"Read them and see if they are of any use," said Giles.
"So we're searching for something that may or may not be of any use?" asked the former lawyer.
"Well, it's certainly better then sitting on our bloody arses waiting for something to attack," said Giles as he began to clean his glasses.
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"I think I found something," called Andrew from his spot standing on a table.
"What is it?" asked an interested Giles.
"A box."
Giles rolled his eyes before ordering Andrew to bring the box down from the crawl space.
"Are these them?" asked Giles as he removed three books from the box and handed them to Wesley.
"As a matter of fact they are," replied Wesley.
"Great," said Andrew with a smile. "What do we do now?"
"We learn how to read in trionic for starters," said Wesley. "I know very little about it or the language its written in."
"I can give you a hand with the translating," said Lorne. "I need to feel like I'm of some use."
"Let's get started then," said Giles.
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"I have no idea how to pronounce this word," said Andrew as he looked at his book.
"How do you spell it?" asked Lorne.
"Uh, G-R-O-S-A-L-O-Q-T-Z-V-A-S-K-I," said Andrew as he spelled out the word. "Or at least I think the last one is an 'I', it might be an 'L', or it might be an 'I' with an accent mark."
"Can you tell?" asked Lorne.
"Does it matter?" replied Andrew.
"Yeah actually. If it's an 'I', then we're dealing with a weapon and if it's an 'I' with an accent, then it's a weapons maker," said Lorne.
"And if it's an 'L'?" asked Andrew.
"Then we're dealing with a giant chicken that lays flaming eggs."
"Oh dear Lord," said Giles as he took the book away from Andrew. "It's just a plain 'I'."
"Giant chicken with flaming eggs?" asked Wesley as he turned to look at Lorne. "Is that such an abundant problem that your people have a word for it?"
"You should see the dogs," replied Lorne as he went back to reading.
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"Have you found anything?" asked Buffy.
"Actually we have," said Giles as he put on his glasses. "Apparently, the Senior Partners had planned on bringing forth a weapon that would cause terrible destruction and aide in the apocalypse."
"Do we know what the weapon is?" asked Buffy.
"We believe it's Illyria," said Wesley.
The group turned to look at the god-king who was currently stroking a fern and trying to have a conversation with it.
"I think they should pick a better weapon," said Buffy as she turned back to Giles.
"Illyria is quite powerful when she's at full strength," said Wesley.
"Tell me about it," said Spike as he entered the room. "Blue hits about as hard as a mack truck."
"We thought Knox was the soul person behind Illyria's resurrection, but now we believe otherwise," said Wesley.
"What does she do exactly?" asked Buffy.
"Something about her blood having the power to destroy the Senior Partners or the entire world. It depends whose side she's on," said Giles.
"We have to kill her?" asked Buffy.
"No actually," said Wesley. "Just perform a ritual."
"Can Willow do it?"
"I imagine so," said Giles.
"I'll go talk to her," said Buffy as she headed upstairs.
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"Will said she can do the spell," said Buffy as she came back down stairs. "She's getting the supplies as we speak."
"Great, now all we have to do is convince Illyria to let us do this," said Dawn.
"That'll be fun," said Gunn sarcastically.
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"What if I do not wish to bleed for you and your cause?" asked Illyria as she eyed the group in front of her.
"It's the only way," said Buffy just as an earthquake shook the Hyperion. "And we've got to hurry. Illyria, this place is being torn apart by demons and you can stop it."
"Your mortal battle is of little concern to me," replied the god-king as the Hyperion shook again and small amounts of plaster began to fall from the ceiling.
"Blue, you care, wether you want to admit it or not. If you didn't, you wouldn't have stuck around this long," said Spike.
Illyria eyed the vampire for a moment.
"I will help you, but only because my pet wishes it of me."
"We need to hurry," said Willow. "Things are really picking up out there."
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"Why does it always have to be outside?" asked Xander as he gathered on the roof with the others.
"You can't very well open a portal inside, can you?" asked Dawn.
"But, we're so high up, and the world falling apart all around us."
"Be a man Xander," said Dawn with a smile. "You can manage for a little bit."
Willow hurried and finished setting up the spell just as a large winged demon flew over the Hyperion.
"Does the sanctuary spell include the roof?" asked Andrew.
"I don't want to wait and find out," said Lindsey.
"Okay, Illyria, I need your hand," said Willow as she took out a dagger.
Illyria looked at Willow for a moment before holding out her hand.
"Hurry Will," said Buffy as she looked over the edge of the Hyperion to see a large crowd of demons gathering below. "They know we're up here."
"I'm trying," said Willow as she began the incantation and sliced open Illyria's palm.
Illyria quickly snatched her hand away from Willow and glared at the witch. Without breaking the incantation Willow took Illyria's hand and held it over the edge of the Hyperion allowing several drops of blood to drip down.
As the demons began to attack the Hyperion Illyria's blood began to have the same effects Dawn's had for Glory, except there was no portal. Instead, what appeared to be a shock wave went out across the city destroying everything demonic that it touched, but at the same time, it restored the buildings and other damaged parts of the city. As the shock wave passed over the hotel, both Spike and Angel doubled over in pain.
Suddenly, there was a violent explosion that came from the alley beside the Hyperion as the shock wave dissipated, that shot ruble and debris into the air, forcing everyone to duck. At the same time however, the sky cleared, and the sun shot up over the horizon. Neither Angel or Spike expected this to happen, so they came unprepared. In one fluid motion Faith turned around and threw herself onto Spike, effectively knocking him to the ground and out of the sun's deadly ray. Buffy did a very similar thing for Angel.
"That, was freaky," said Dawn as she got to her feet.
"Yeah," agreed Andrew.
Faith lifted her head up to look at Spike, who she was still lying on top of.
"Oh shit," cursed Faith as she slowly got up into a sitting position, so she was straddling Spike.
Spike's face was slightly burnt from the sun's unexpected appearance and he had some cuts and bruises from the explosion, but what worried Faith the most was the nose bleed he had and the fact that he was unconscious.
"Spike. Come on. Spike," Faith gently shook Spike by the lapels, but got no response.
Buffy was having similar problems with Angel.
"Vampires don't get nose bleeds," said Andrew.
"There's a hospital on the north side of town that deals with unusual cases," said Lorne. "We can take them there. I know the owner."
"Get the car ready," said Buffy.
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Faith paced furiously back and forth in the waiting room. It had been several hours since they brought Spike and Angel in and they hadn't heard anything back from the doctors.
"What the hell is taking so long!?" demanded an agitated Faith as she stopped pacing for a moment.
"I'm sure they're fine," lied Wesley. In all honesty, he had no idea what was going on, but wanted to make Faith feel better.
Just then a doctor with small blue ridges along his forehead and on the back of his hands came into the waiting room.
"Faith?" asked the doctor quietly.
"Yes, what is it!?" asked Faith, scaring the doctor slightly.
"Easy, Faith," said Dawn as she put a hand on the slayer's arm.
"Sorry," apologized Faith.
"I understand," said the doctor. "Your um, Spike, he's asking for you."
"Is he okay?" asked Faith, worry evident on her face.
"They're both fine, but Angel's resting right now. I'll take you to Spike if you want."
"All right," said Faith.
"Wow, I didn't know she could care so much," commented Xander after Faith left with the doctor.
"She loves him, what do you expect her to do?" said Willow.
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"Hey," said Faith as she walked into Spike's room.
"Hey Luv," replied Spike from his spot on the bed.
"Are you feeling okay?" Faith came over and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I've been better."
"Did he tell you what's wrong?" asked Faith.
"Seems Angel and I got a little case of humanity."
"What?" Faith stared at Spike in shock. "You're joking."
"Fraid not."
"Holy crap. This is great! I'm so happy for you!" Faith threw her arms around Spike's neck, careful not to hurt him.
"I'm glad you feel that way. Was afraid you wouldn't want me if I wasn't all big and bad."
"I'll always want you," replied Faith as she gave Spike a kiss.
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To Be Continued . . .
She I leave it here or write an epilogue?
Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!