Disclaimer: You know how this goes, I don't own Angel, Spike or any other characters from Buffy or Angel yada yada yada! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R, I need to know that people are reading this!
Chapter 7: When the Smoke Clears
The next night the crew split up into three groups to search the abandoned warehouse that was Mara's base for operations just as theirs was their hotel apartment. Kitty, Taft, Clarissa, Nab and Seth were on the first floor while Trixie, Della, Darla, Lani, Asa and Blaze were on the top floor just above Angel's group, they would take the second floor of the warehouse.
--
The stairwell was pitch black as Angel, Spike, Zev, Ena and Bren made their way slowly up the stairs. Normally Angel would have insisted on taking the lead but in this case the twins were more experienced. Another fact was that even with the enhanced senses of a vampire, he and Spike were having difficulty seeing. Although Bren and Ena were leading their small group perfectly the going was slow as they were having just as much of a problem with seeing the next step as everyone else, they just knew what to expect better than the others.
When they reached the door that led out of the stairwell onto the main room of the second floor they paused to make sure everyone was present and accounted for. When they were sure that all the three males in their group were behind them they turned and Bren carefully opened the heavy door.
She warily stepped out holding Ena's hand in one of hers while her other hand rested on one of her many hidden throwing knives. Looking around she scanned all that she could see, finding no one Bren left the relative safety of the stairwell closely followed by Ena, Zev, Spike and Angel.
"She's on this floor somewhere," Ena whispered to her twin, "I can tell."
"I know," Bren replied, "We'll find her."
"Would it help if we flipped the light switch?" Zev asked in a slightly louder whisper.
Still looking around for any sign of life other than themselves Bren looked back at Angel and then nodded her blonde head. Spike turned on his booted heel and flipped the light switch, sending the lights of the large room into a feeble glow. In the dim light cast by the long unused incandescent lights on the ceiling the five companions searched the room for any sign that Mara was there. The only movement was the dust resettling itself about their feet in a thick carpet. Taking in their surroundings they noted the many doors leading out of the room, all of them shut.
"She's here alright," Angel muttered, "But behind which door?"
He looked around at the four members of his divided crew his eyes lingering on Spike, the younger vampire noticed, "Well don't look at me," He said in his usual bored tone, not bothering to keep his voice down, "My hearing and smelling are just as affected as my eyes, you should know that, yours are even worse."
Angel growled at this but returned to his search for an answer as to what they should do.
Looking uncertain Zev spoke in a hushed tone, "Should we check to see what's behind the doors? I mean, how else are we going to know who's behind them?"
"Good point," Angel said, his cheeks colouring a little at the fact that it was the simplest answer to their problem and he hadn't even thought about it, "But there's no knowing what's going to leap out from behind them."
"Well in the name of Ra why on earth are we all standing about when we could be checking doors," Ena hissed and set off cautiously towards the first door with Bren a step behind her.
They both paused in front of the large heavy door, then hesitantly Ena reached out a delicate hand, placing it on the handle and Bren put her bony shoulder to the door, pushing on it when Ena turned the knob. As soon as the door opened wide enough that the twins might be exposed to an attack from within they leapt back away hiding on either side of the door. Carefully they looked around the door frame to find the room empty of all but a large piece of strange machinery in the far corner. Spike gave a snort of laughter at the twins' behavior and shook his head.
Bren blushed and sheepishly bit her lip while Ena glared and shot a comment at him, "Better to be safe than sorry, especially when Mara's involved, her name means bitter and she lives up to it."
With that she and Bren moved on to the next door, treating it with the same caution as the first. They continued carefully opening doors around the room until there were only two left closed. Looking at each other they each went to a door and signalling a count down with their fingers, they leaned against the doors.
Three they tensed and looked back over their shoulders at the three males a few metres behind them, ready to charge forward at the first sign that the girls were in danger.
Two their hands moved to the door knobs, shaking slightly at the thought of what lay behind the doors.
One they twisted the knobs and charged into two seemly empty rooms.
Looking around the room that she was in, her sapphire eyes narrowed in suspicion Bren suddenly felt a wave of fearful realisation wash over her. She turned and madly raced out of the room, heading for Ena's doorway with a single yell, Ena turned and was about to retreat when the door slammed shut, blocking Bren out. Bren crashed into the door full force, immediately pulling back she began to frantically beat at the door to no avail. The door was just as much in one piece now as it had always been, angered further by this Bren began kicking madly at the door.
Still standing a few meters away Zev murmured, "I think we just found Mara."
"You don't say," Angel sighed as he took a step forward to where Bren had retreated and was now prowling like a caged lioness.
She paused mid step and raised her hand, sending a sapphire ball of brilliant light flying at the door. When this did nothing Bren held out one hand to keep Angel from getting in the way the other balled into a fist as she pulled it back across her chest, light growing beneath her balled fingers with every passing moment. Just as it seemed it would explode in her hand, Bren opened her palm and let the light fly towards the door, giving it a little extra help by pushing her hand after it. The light ball collided with the door, blasting it clean off its sturdy old hinges.
"Remind me to stay on your good side," Spike muttered to the girl as they rushed through the settling dust and small pieces of door into the room where Ena had disappeared.
Bren didn't pay attention to Spike's muttering as she emerged through the settling debris, the remains of the heavy metal door. Scanning the room wildly Bren frowned when she couldn't see her twin.
"Bren?" Angel asked, "Do you know where she is?"
Bren looked back at her unofficial leader a worried and bemused look in her frightened eyes, "I don't know where they are."
Suddenly loud, malevolent laughter filled the air all around them, Zev with his hearing still as good as that of a wolf yelped and sank to his knees.
Spike had been standing closest to the seventeen year old half god and now he walked purposefully over to the cringing boy and hauled him roughly to his feet, "We don't kneel for anyone," He said in a scolding tone, "You least of all, unless of course that talk about you being Dolf's first-born son is nothing but tittle-tattle."
Zev stared at the vampire for a moment and then nodded his understanding, "Not that I believe any of that codswallop," Spike added as an after thought.
The laughter died away although their tension remained, "Well looking on the bright side, at least we know she's still here," Angel said at last with mock cheer in his voice.
"That's not a bright side," Bren muttered in irritation, "There is no bright side where that lousy excuse of a mother is concerned." She raised her voice to be sure that Mara could hear her, "I know you're here so come out, I want my twin back."
"Now, now," The loud voice sounded again, it would have driven Zev to his knees again if Spike wasn't still holding his arm in a vice-like grip, "That's no way for a young Unipeg to be speaking to an elder."
"I give respect when it's earned and only when it's earned," Bren replied, "Come out and talk face to face instead of hiding behind cheap spells you cowardly chicken," Bren yelled.
"You dare call me a coward," The voice roared in anger, this time Spike had to let go of Zev's arm to cover his own ears cursing profusely as Zev sank to the floor howling in pain, "I am no coward."
"Empty words unless you show yourself," Bren said loudly, ignoring the noise her step-mother was making.
"Hey," Yelled a young voice from the end of the room, drawing all eyes upon her, "That's my mother you're talking about."
"Petula, I told you to sit this out," Said the voice this time a body appeared to tone with it.
A woman in her late forties appeared turned side on to the four people standing just inside the ruins of the doorway. She began speaking in a slightly irritated tone to a girl who looked to be about nineteen and nothing special as far as looks went. The thing that caught their attention was Bren's struggling twin, fighting in vain to free herself of Mara's grip.
Bren growled angrily and took two quick steps forward before Mara turned crossly to face her and the three males of her group, "Not another step missy moo," She said menacingly as she raised a knife to Ena's throat, pulling the little girl's head back by her black hair, "Or her throat gets split."
Bren stopped immediately and glowered at the woman smiling pleasantly at her from only a few metres away. Despite the amiable smile on her step-mother's face Bren felt no warmth coming from her, only menace.
"Now I could give you back your twin if I wanted to, I could also kill her," Mara said in a conversational voice as Bren began to grind her teeth in frustration, "But that's too easy, it doesn't suit my purposes at all."
"What do you want from us Mara?" Bren asked opening her arms wide in a dramatic gesture, "Money, you can have all that's in my bank account, you want amusement? I can find you that too. Just give me back my twin."
Mara gave a little mocking gasp, "Brenda dear, so protective, I had no idea you were so passionate about your family."
"Mara," Bren said, growling and moodily lowering her head slightly.
"What? Your question?" Mara said still mocking the girl, "My dear girl I don't want money, now amusement maybe but nothing you could find me would be as amusing as this. No, I want you to learn a lesson that you missed long ago."
"So take me and leave Ena be," Bren said imploringly, "She's no where near as stubborn as I am, or as feisty."
"Bren," Spike exclaimed from behind her, "I didn't know you wer….."
"Not now Spike," Bren said, cutting him off mid-sentence.
"True," Mara said after thinking for a moment, Ena swallowed hard looking at Bren with eyes that were scared and yet told her twin that she didn't have to do what she was about to do.
"So let her go," Bren said in a low tone full of warning, hiding her true emotions.
Mara looked the little blonde up and down, "How am I to know that you're not tricking me? You could be luring me into a trap. I know you always have weapons on you, you never go anywhere without at least three weapons."
"This is true," Bren said calmly, "I could be tricking you and luring you into a trap, so you could send Petula there off to your little magic man to get a truth potion or you could send her over here to get my knives, all of them."
Zev, who until this moment had been watching the delicate dance of the two females verbal fighting in front of him suddenly cried aloud, "Bren no, don't."
"Zev be quiet," Bren said, her voice quivering slightly as the nineteen year old Bren had called Petula approached her and began to remove each and every one of Bren's prized knives.
They fell to the floor with hollow thuds and landed in small clouds of dust where they remained, "Let Ena go," Bren said, her voice commanding so that even if Mara had been planning to keep Ena she couldn't have.
"Bren don't do this," Zev said as Mara slowly released Bren's twin, "Don't do this, you don't have to."
He made to step forward pulling at a weapon on his belt but Petula, holding the last of Bren's knives unsheathed one and held it against Bren's throat, "Nice try to save your girlfriend but it's not worth it, she'd be dead before you took three steps, it's advisable to put that weapon of yours away."
"Sounds like you might have hurt your brain Petula," Bren said, her head pulled as far away from the sharp edge of her knife as she could get it, " But don't go to such trouble just for him, he'll understand if you speak in your native language."
The older girl snarled and pressed the knife closer to Bren's throat, Bren pushed it away with an easy movement, looking bored at the thought of Petula trying to fight her. Mara had freed Ena and the girl passed her twin on her way back to the others, gazing at her sister with her light eyes, filled with sad memory and terror. Bren knew that now was her last chance to turn back as Ena paused at her side.
From behind them Zev called out brokenly, as he sank to his knees, "Bren don't, it's not too late, please," his voice cracked as he struggled to stop tears from trickling from his eyes, he was pleading openly now, "Please."
Bren turned and looked sadly back at him with eyes that said so many things, but the most noticeable look in her eyes was the one that said sorry as she turned and allowed Petula to bind her hands together. The older and larger girl pulled her over to where Mara stood and released Bren's bound hands from one of hers as Mara placed one of her hands on Bren's bony fore-arm. Looking down at the floor, Bren suddenly looked back up at Zev and her twin, a look of the greatest love she could ever show in her eyes.
"Good bye," She murmured, and with that all three disappeared in a puff of greeny-black smoke.
--
When the smoke had cleared and the four companions could see clearly again there was no trace of where Mara had gone. Angel stood looking on dumbly at where Bren had stood just moments ago, now an empty space filled only with darkness and air. Spike had narrowed his eyes and was searching every inch of the room for any sign of the young girl and her captors, he found nothing.
"Thought you didn't like little weaklings like us," Ena mumbled wearily.
"I don't," Spike said in answer, "But she wasn't so bad, neither are you I mean but…" His voice trailed off and then returned, "She's not that bad to talk to, at least she could keep a relatively intelligent conversation going for ten minutes."
"Then she's ten times as good as you Spike," Angel said, the irritation showing in his voice, not all of it was for Spike.
Zev wandered over to where Bren had stood and gathered up her assortment of knives, putting them carefully into his pockets he said with hollow recognition, "She's gone."
Ena, having heard Zev's muttering came to stand behind him looking down at her sister's small footprints in the dust, following them to where they ended, where she had disappeared, "Just like that."
