Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.
Summary: Post AtS and BtVS, Faith and Xander are approached by a secret government agency. Surprises all around.
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 5: Offspring
Spike and Connor watched carefully as Eve painted the pentagram on the floor of her apartment. Harmony, standing by them uneasily, made a derisive noise under her breath.
Spike glanced to her. "You don't have to stay for the fighting," he said, probably the kindest words he'd ever said to her.
"What?" she said, uncertain he really meant it.
"Just get us into hell, and then you can go run away, find some corner of the world." He frowned at her. "Just...don't ever get caught by me, or the Slayers, all right? We'd have to kill you then." She stared at him. "You haven't earned a get out of jail free card, but you've earned a chance to run, all right?"
She smiled, accepting this, the only bit of genuine attention he'd ever given her. "Thanks," she said. She then began to say something else, something that had the potential to utterly ruin the moment, but Spike cut her off with a shake of his head, knowing all too well what she was likely to say next.
Connor cleared his throat. "I'm picking up some radio chatter on Riley's headset," he said.
Spike smiled. "Terrific. Are they going to try to stop us? I look forward to that."
"No, they're waiting for Riley. He's bringing, uh, specialists."
Spike's face fell. "Oh, no," he said blankly.
"My arch nemesis!" squealed Harmony, quicker on the uptake than most people would have thought.
"Yeah, the bloody Slayer is coming to town," muttered Spike. "Probably bringing Faith, and possibly a whole cadre of Slayers. We're so dead."
Connor sighed, reaching into one of the cargo pockets on his pants and bringing out a wallet. He began thumbing through it. "Still have the cell phone?" he asked Spike. Spike fished it out of a pocket in his duster reluctantly, and Connor took it, finding the card he was looking for in the wallet.
He dialed the number carefully. "Hello?" he said, a little trepidation in his voice. "Hi, yes, it's Connor."
"I don't believe we're doing this," sighed Spike.
"No, we're about to open a doorway into hell," said Connor. "Yes, sure. Of course we'll be careful! We have a problem. Yes, they're on their way up to stop us. No, I don't see—well, yes, okay. Give my best to your mom. Thanks." He turned off the phone. "Well, that's it, I've set it in motion."
Spike took out his lighter, playing with it. "We don't have any allies," he noted. "That bloody nit you just called will probably tell the Slayers everything, including our little hideaway."
"You can't really blame Lorne for that," said Connor, a bit defensively. "He lost a lot in the fight. He wouldn't even be helping us if you hadn't threatened him!"
Spike sighed. "It's just as well," he said, his voice dripping with moroseness. "This is suicide. Angel would kill me if he could see what I'd dragged you into."
"Hey, Spike, lighten up." Connor punched Spike's arm. "I feel like I could actually take Angelus, right now."
Spike sighed, a happy smile curving around his face at a happy memory. "Yeah, that was fun," he admitted, thinking of the moment so long ago when he'd betrayed Angelus in order by allying with Buffy. The smile vanished. "Business. We're going to finish this. Harmony, are you ready?"
"Oh, as always," said Harmony nervously. "I just hope I'm evil enough for this. It'd really suck if they won't let me in because I spent all my time white-hatting with you."
"You'll be fine. No soul," said Spike. "All the good deeds in the world can't change you if you've got no soul. Trust me on this one."
Harmony made a face. "You soul-having vampires are pretty pushy about that whole soul thing, you know," she noted.
Spike carefully adjusted his forearms. "You have the weapons?" he asked Connor. Connor nodded to a duffel bag in the corner. "Good. If the Slayers show, we'll just hold them off till we can make the jump."
Eve looked up from her work. "Slayers?" she asked nervously.
"Not to worry," said Spike. "Being human, they'll just rough you up. Me, on the other hand, if you should happen not to finish that spell before they show, I'll do far more than just rough you up, eh?"
She went back to work grumpily, scowling at the pentagram.
--
Dawn leaned back against the hard metal seat, trying to make eye contact with Xander. "Hey, earth to Xander. Are you in there?"
He shook his head, coming out of the half-daze he had sunk into. "Sorry, Dawn, was I roaming? Bad, bad Xander."
"Feels a little weird to be heading out against Spike, doesn't it?" asked Dawn. "I mean, you never even liked him, and I can tell its wigging you out, too."
Xander made a face. "Do we have to talk about the bleached wonder?" he asked plaintively.
"I think we do," said Dawn. "Why do you think he's doing this?"
Xander shrugged, looking away. Faith, sitting beside Xander, poked him. "Ow!" he said, rubbing his shoulder where her finger had hit him. "Ordinary mortal here, no Slayer healing powers!" he reminded her loudly, scowling at her.
She scowled back. "Dawn's right. He has a soul, he was a good guy. Why's he trying to do this?"
Dawn smiled, glad somebody else was listening to her. She glanced back to the other side of her, out the small window at the clouds speeding by under them. Buffy, sitting behind her with Giles, leaned forward into the aisle.
"Maybe," said Buffy quietly, "he's more insane than evil."
The others all considered it, eyes wide. Riley, sitting opposite Buffy and Giles, behind Faith and Xander, shook his head. "He's not that crazy," he supplied helpfully. "He's a little rambling, and maybe he sounds crazy, but he's got it together."
Xander shook his head, glancing back at the tall soldier. "Except that, of course, you're basing that opinion on a faulty assumption."
"What?" said Riley.
"Spike," said Xander. "You're assuming he thinks somewhat like a human. But he doesn't."
Dawn scoffed. "Of course he does!" she dismissed.
"No, he doesn't," said Buffy thoughtfully. "He's so alive sometimes that we forget, but he is a vampire, with all the weaknesses vampires have."
"Like megalomania?" said Dawn, still dismissively. "He's different. He proved that time and time again—he got a soul, remember? That's not something a vampire can just do, is it? We forget just how different he is. Which is why I'm asking, why is he doing this? He fought to keep the mouth of hell closed, right alongside everybody else here! Sorry, Riley, long story. But he did it! He fought! Why did he join the other side?"
"Why did Angel?" asked Buffy, her voice low and thoughtful.
"Exactly!" said Dawn triumphantly. Faith was nodding.
"Angel wouldn't have," she said. "I mean, I know we know what he did, but I can't believe it!"
Giles cleared his throat, putting a hand on the back of Dawn's chair. "I think that perhaps there is a question here that needs resolving. Perhaps one of them might break, but both? And why? You're right, Dawn, that we do need to understand this better."
"We're not talking about mind control," said Xander finally.
"Why not?" asked Faith.
"Because..." Xander stopped to think about it. "Uh, because I've never seen Spike be controlled. Except for the First. And I've never seen Angel be controlled...except for the First. Hey, the First is dead, right?"
"Wrong," said Giles, frowning. "We couldn't destroy the First, only its army. This could be the First."
"So we chain him up?" asked Dawn hopefully.
"If we can," said Faith cautiously. "There's this Destroyer, too."
"He looked like a kid," said Xander, remembering the boy.
"And he didn't set off any alarms," said Faith. "I mean, no tingles, no buzzing, nothing. Nada. Just, boom. He hit like...well, harder than anything I've ever felt. And the way he fought—it was like..." She trailed off as it hit her.
"What?" said Dawn, impatient.
"He fought just like Angel!" said Faith, frowning. "Or Angelus. Both of them. The same moves, the same way of moving, the same speed. Exactly like him."
--
Connor carefully laced his fingers together, gazing up at the portal in front of them as it grew and began to flicker, a light show in its own right. "That's about perfect," he said.
Eve scrambled back from the portal. "It's a hole in reality!" she snapped. "And you do realize that the Senior Partners aren't in Quortoth, right?"
"What, they aren't?" asked Harmony.
"Nope," said Connor, his voice steady. "That's phase three. We figured you were better off not knowing that part."
"Better off? Say no more, I'm just shutting right up. Zip. I do my part, right?"
"Right," said Spike.
A huge demon stepped through the portal, a black demon with red horns jutting off his head, and long talons decorating his arms. "Who would enter my realm?" he boomed.
"Not me!" said Eve, backing away.
"Oh, it's me! Me!" said Harmony, waving her hand like a kid trying to get the teacher's attention.
The demon frowned at her. "What? Oh, come on, kid! This is a serious gig. I mean, it takes at least a level three hell clearance to open this portal, and you? If you have the lowest level, I'd be surprised. Are you just fooling around?"
Harmony blinked. "No. Of course not. I have my credentials here."
He glanced around, glaring at Spike and Connor. "No, I mean seriously. What is this? Summon a demon, get your whole D & D clan to watch?"
"Hey!" said Spike. Connor glanced at him, smirking.
"Hey!" said Harmony. "I'm a very important vampire, I'll have you know. This is just my...retinue. They're my minions."
Spike's face reflected how much he would have liked to have punched Harmony for using that word. Connor's face also fell. But the demon just shook his head with a sigh.
"Man, back in the day I used to get respect!" he said, his tone despairing. "Proper chantings, virgin sacrifices—now it's down to Blonde-blonde-ella and her 'minions.' Great, yeah, you can come in. But I warn you, there's a price."
Harmony nodded eagerly. "Yeah, okay, fine! Can we get done!"
The door to the tenement, already off the hinges, was kicked to the floor. Spike turned, an angry look on his face, and was hit hard. A ringing filled Connor's ears, and he gasped, stumbling.
The soldier who'd shot Spike held a gun identical to the one Riley had threatened Faith with. "All right, let's just cool down," he said softly. Another soldier behind him, holding a similar weapon, nodded, touching his ear.
"We're in. There's a portal, and a demon." He fired at the demon, who just scowled at him in response.
"See what I'm talkin about?" asked the demon. He shook his bristling head. "No respect. Everybody ready to rumble?"
The soldiers stared at him uncertainly, then began firing. The demon leapt forward, skewering them both instantly as he landed, tossing their bodies aside with a full-bodied shiver.
"That's just pathetic," he said morosely. "In the old days at least they'd send a Slayer or something to try to close a tear in the fabric of reality!"
Faith and Buffy attacked then, diving at him from opposite sides, using swords to skewer him. He gasped at the impact, glancing at them.
"Two do ya?" asked Faith as nonchalantly as she could, planting a foot on his chest and pulling the sword free. The demon fell down, Buffy's sword still in him.
"'Two do ya?'" asked Buffy. "What is that? I mean, it's not even a pun. Barely even a quip!"
Faith shrugged. "I work with what I've got." She turned to face Harmony, whose mouth was hanging wide open.
"Blondie bear!" shrieked Harmony. "They're here!"
Spike wobbled to his feet. "Wot?" he asked groggily. Connor also got up, holding his head.
"Ow, ow, ow!" complained Connor. "Sonic attack! Soldiers! Slayers! What is wrong with you people?"
Spike straightened up, staring at Buffy. "Oh, bollocks," he complained. "You're here to kill me, tearing me apart like you always do." He made a rude, possibly obscene and definitely British hand gesture with two fingers at her. "And you killed the guardian demon. Harm, through the portal, now!"
Harmony stared. "But the demon hadn't finished yet!" she complained.
"Doesn't matter," muttered Spike. "Never matters."
Harmony shook her head, glancing at Eve. "I don't understand!" She wailed.
"There are other gatekeepers," said Connor. "We'll need you to get by them."
Buffy and Faith advanced, shoulder to shoulder. "We're going to close that portal, right now," said Faith. "Before or after we kick your butts, your choice."
"Now that, that was a good quip," said Buffy. "Definitely Slay-worthy."
"Glad I meet your approval, B," replied Faith.
Connor backed up slowly. "Now, I know this looks funny, but we're on the same side, you know."
"Same side?" asked Faith. She noted that Spike was standing, just watching Buffy. He didn't retreat, and his arms were limp at his sides.
Connor sighed, rubbing his ears. "We just want to finish the job Angel started," he said simply.
"The Angel who killed his friends and brought an Old Demon back to life?" asked Buffy tightly.
Spike snapped, whirling into motion. "Stop that!" he roared, moving forward, advancing on Buffy. "You don't know Blue, so don't you judge her! She didn't belong, she was out of place, and all she wanted was a little love! S not her fault Fred died, that was all Knox! You don't know why she stood with us, you don't know what we did, and you don't even know why she died, so don't you spit on her grave!" His face twisted in anger, and Buffy and Faith stopped advancing. He didn't, invading their space and getting in their face. "How dare you judge them?" he hissed.
Buffy lashed out, knocking him across the room. "If Angel wasn't evil, why was he allied with Wolfram and Hart?" she asked. "I spoke to Giles; there was a man who could have stopped the Old One!"
"Drogyn," muttered Spike, picking himself up off the floor. "Mister no-questions-please."
"And Angel killed him, too!" said Buffy. "It doesn't make sense, none of it makes sense! I don't understand it! Was it the First Evil, Spike? Did the First come back?"
Spike laughed, glancing to Connor. "The First is dead, pet. Haven't seen her in a long time."
Connor was scowling. "Spike, what's the First?"
"Ancient evil," said Spike. "Could take on the form of dead people. Including Buffy, although she never did me. Anyway, she drove me mad once."
"And Angel too," said Buffy.
"But she's all pass-throughy and stuff," said Spike. "Hey, let's look around, take a quick inventory of each other, shall we? Connor, the Destroyer."
Connor scowled. "Now, really, that's biased. Nobody but demons call me that."
"That's the other thing," said Buffy, shifting her pose to an offensive one, getting ready to attack. "We never did understand why Angel allied with you."
"Allied?" asked Connor, offended. "Listen to you. You make it sound like he invited me in, like he was nice to me...well, yeah, he was. And for that, I put him in a box and dropped him in the ocean. Welcome to my life, eh?"
"You what?" asked Buffy, shaken. "You did that to Angel?" In her mind she added the accusation, no wonder he went crazy.
"I did more than that," said Connor. "I was ready to kill him. I killed my own daughter for him, did you know that? And Cordelia...wasn't really ever Cordelia. You know something, this conversation is a really creepy recap of how it all went down. But you know what else? After all that, he still loved me enough to give me the happy ending he deserved." Connor carefully clenched both hands into fists. "He taught me, finally, what love and family was all about. And if you think I'm going to forget that just because you can't understand the dark edge he was walking—well, you know, that's tough."
"And I...understood maybe two words of that," said Buffy. "You, Faith?"
"A little more. There was this threat at the end," said Faith.
Spike laughed, a bubbling, insane laugh. "You missed the important part," he said solemnly. "The part where Angel loved the little git." He grabbed Connor's arm. "Don't you see it? The same dour scowl, the same brooding—heaven forbid he ever sings. That'll destroy you, all right, the same way Angel's singing would destroy you. He even fights the same! I know you noticed it." Spike's grin was altogether too happy.
"So, what?" asked Faith. "He stole Angel's soul? Angel's mojo? He killed him?"
"No," said Connor. "Not even close. I don't really like to talk about it, so why don't we just fight?"
Spike nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like the best plan," he admitted. "Except I do like to talk about it. He's Angel's son, you bints!" He yelled the last sentence at Faith and Buffy. "A magical miracle son, come back to kill his father! How did that last bit go, happy ending?"
"A family," said Connor. "He gave me a family, and a normal life. He sent me away." Connor's scowl deepened. "And then the Senior Partners killed him."
"Destroyed him," added Spike. "Are you getting the picture?"
They were. Faith and Buffy gaped at the boy, amazed by the revelation that now seemed all too sheepishly obvious. Obvious in the sort of way that would never occur to you because it was impossible. "How?" asked Buffy.
"Miracle," said Connor shortly, not bothering to reveal the whole story—Sahjahn, Jasmine, and the manipulations of so much evil that was amazing he had been as well-adjusted as he had been.
Basically, he'd only killed a few people, and only been a little nuts. That was just something a teenage boy deserved, wasn't it?
Faith shook her head. "I met you, I know I did!" she said, frustrated with her memories.
"Yeah, you did," admitted Connor. "Part of that happy ending dad gave me was erasing the memory of me from all his friends."
Faith stared. "Angel wouldn't..." She trailed off, uncomfortable with the denial.
Spike snorted. "Angel would, Angel wouldn't, what do you know about Angel? Condemn him, damn him, but don't ever understand him!"
"I understood him better than you ever will!" said Buffy, angry.
"Then why was I there when he died?" asked Spike. "Where were you? Not there. Not with him." Spike's glower was almost unfriendly, and then it melted away, replaced by a look of frustration. "And now you're here to stop me. I wish it could be different, I wish I could just let you stop me, just go back with you, go back to being your sidekick." He shook his head, sighing. "No, this is more important. I still love you, you know." He glowered at her. "But this is more important than you and me."
Buffy, still angry, let out a little sigh. "Come on, Spike. Just stop trying to do this." She extended a hand to him. "We can help you, Spike."
"No!" he screamed, angry. "It's been months and months since he died! Don't you understand? Doesn't anybody understand? His other face is roaming free, don't you know that?"
Faith stiffened. "Other face? What?" She had been silently moving, trying to get close enough to take Connor out.
Connor turned to face her, grimacing. "We don't have time." He ran for the portal, jumping through it.
Spike glanced over his shoulder at Harmony. "All right, Harm, take a powder." He started running at the portal, jumping into it, Harmony right behind him.
"No!" said Buffy, running forward. As Spike jumped through Eve moved forward, chanting a spell to close the portal. "NO!" yelled Buffy again, cocking a fist to throw a punch at Eve.
"If it's not closed now we'll regret it big-time!" yelled Eve.
"You close it, I'll kill you!" snarled Faith, running for the portal. She jumped through, Buffy on her heels.
Eve finished closing the portal fast. "Oh, thank god!" she moaned as it disappeared.
"Aw, I missed them?" asked a smooth voice from the door. Eve froze, turning to face the tall, dark figure.
"Angel," she said, surprised.
He shook his head, sighing. "Look down," he said, sweeping a hand down at about pelvis height. Her eyes followed his hand. "See the leather pants? Dead give away, right?"
"What?" she asked blankly.
"Not Angel," said the vampire, morphing into game face. "The pesky soul is all gone. Dead. Just Angelus, now." He started forward.
