Title: The Face of Danger
Series: Angel and Spike: the Reunion Tour
Author: CindyCindy
Feedback: I will admit I am behind on my thank you notes. Please keep the feed back coming. It gives me such a boost!
Rating: R
Summary: Angel, Spike, Illyria, Kennedy, and the new slayer battle Drusilla and her insane clan in the Black Forest.
Disclaimer: All hail Joss Whedon! He has the mind from which the Buffyverse sprung, much like Minerva.
Author's Notes: The next chapter is it, folks. I should have it up in a week.
Author's Notes II: This might get somewhat weird. Weird and gross.
Spike immediately stepped in front Gretel to shield her from Drusilla, but to no avail. The young woman was nearly as tall as Angel was. Behind him, Spike could hear the girl's breath quicken and her pulse race. Kennedy took a step back and stood beside Gretel.
Drusilla moved a few feet closer to where the group was gathered. She cast a long wild-eyed look around the five of them and at last settled on Angel. She lowered her lids and began to sway. "Angel," she cooed, "you seem both bigger and smaller at the same time." She smiled sweetly and began to rock her head side to side in rhythm with the sway of her body. Lazily she moved toward Illyria until they were standing eye to eye. "My, what a pretty shade of blue you are," she said as she gazed deep into Illyria's eyes. "She is all hollow on the inside." Drusilla said to no one in particular. "Tell me dear, what are you made of?" she asked Illyria.
"Greater and more terrible things than your feeble mind could comprehend," Illyria began.
Kennedy who had been staring silently, for once, at the group of vampires behind Drusilla interrupted Illyria. "I hate to interrupt you in diatribe mode Illyria, but I have to know. Am I crazy or is one of those vampires wearing a tutu?"
Angel had also been observing the group that stood sentry behind their leader. Drusilla had put together a motley crew. The group wore assorted costumes ranging from a lab coat to a fur coat.
Illyria did not miss a beat. She walked quickly and stealthily over to where the vampire in the tutu stood, seized the bun on the top of her head, and quickly removed the whole thing from her neck. The vampire crumbled to dust. "You are not crazy." Illyria stated.
As Drusilla and her group stood in wonderment of the force that was Illyria, Spike saw an opening. He turned around and gave the slayer standing behind him a little shove. "Run." was all he said.
Gretel did not seem to need any further encouragement. She took off running.
The sound of the slayer scuttle through the wood's undergrowth seemed to rouse Drusilla from her daze. She held her hands above her head and clapped her hands twice in rapid succession. "Quickly my dears," she said. Her vampires scattered in all directions.
"Should be right quick, poodle," Spike said to Drusilla as he rammed a steak in to the heart of a vampire who had been stupid enough to run in his direction; but Drusilla was gone. Spike took a quick glance around to locate the others. Angel and Illyria were nowhere in sight.
A few feet away Kennedy was making quick work of small vampire with red hair. As soon as she dusted her opponent, she looked at Spike. "Why didn't Drusilla send them all after Gretel?" she asked. "They all ran in different directions."
"Dru is daffy as all hell, but not stupid."
Kennedy nodded. "Divide and conqueror."
"Got it in one. Take out as many of them as you can, I'm going after the girl," Spike said.
"Got it and gone." Kennedy took off into the dark woods.
Spike headed off in the direction he saw Gretel run. He moved quickly and quietly through the forest's thick undergrowth. He stopped a moment in front of a large tree with a thick tangle of branches that hung so low they hit the ground. His nostrils flared, as he smelled the air around him. Gretel had come this way and Angel had been nearby. He raised an eyebrow, some one else had been this way also. Spike looked at the tree in front of him again. This time Spike saw movement amongst the branches and the dense leaves.
Spike flexed his fingers around the steak he was loosely holding. "Come out, come out, what ever you are," he said in a singsong voice.
Spike took a step back. A vampire with a garishly painted face shoved his head through the twisted branches. A shoulder, then an arm clad in brightly colored silk worked its way out through the branches. The vampire extricated him self completely from the tree and stood in front of Spike, in full clown make-up and attire. A set of razor sharp fangs filled in a grin painted from ear to ear across the vampire's face. In the clown's left hand was a razor sharp skewer.
Spike clutched the stake in his hand a little tighter. He found the overall effect of a clown in game face somewhat unsettling. "What on earth possessed her to turn a piece of work like you?" He asked.
"I have a trick," the clown/vampire replied in a chipper tone.
Before Spike could stop himself, the words tumbled out, "Let's see it then."
The clown smiled even bigger and held up the metal skewer. Spike could now see there was a rag attached to the end of it. With his other hand, the clown reached into his pocket and produced a lighter. The clown lit the rag on fire and held it up to his mouth. In a swift move, he closed his mouth around the fire. The clown looked at Spike with a smug grin on its face.
"That's all," Spike said. He was not impressed. "Dru turned you because you're a fire eater?" Spike took a step closer to the clown, stake in hand.
The clown held up his finger indicating for Spike to wait. Surprised, Spike stopped. The clown then took a deep breath in and opened his mouth. The next second there was a loud "whoosh" sound and the light of the fire that rushed from the clown's mouth illuminated the forest. Spike felt the heat against his skin. Almost as soon as it happened, it was over.
Spike put his hands up to his face to access the damage. Satisfied that his face was not a mess of bubbling flesh he curled a lip at the clown. "Too bad you're a one trick pony," he said. He advanced towards the clown again.
"Hardly," the clown retorted as he shoved the long metal skewer through Spike's abdomen.
Spike winced as he stumbled backward. The clown stood a few feet away looking entirely too satisfied with himself. Spike gritted his teeth and there was a sucking sound as he pulled the piece of metal from his stomach. Spike looked down at the offending piece of metal and smiled at the clown. "That all you got then?"
This time the clown did not look so smug. He looked at the grin on Spike's face and started to run.
The clown did not make it more than a couple of steps before Spike landed on his back. Spike grabbed him by his frilly collar and wrestled him to the ground. The sounds of ripping chiffon and silk accompanied the ensuing tussle. Spike quickly took the advantage and had the clown pinned to the ground. Spike plunged a stake through the clown's heart and watched as it turned to dust beneath him. A pair of familiar leather boots entered his field of vision. Spike looked up to see Illyria standing in front of him.
"I saw the fire," Illyria said.
Spike nodded, stood up and brushed the dirt off his duster. He began to walk in the direction he believed Gretel to have gone. Illyria walked along side of him. The two of them walked quietly through the woods. The sound of running water Spike had noticed earlier was growing louder. Spike listened for other sounds in the forest that would indicate life, or some one moving despite the lack of it. All he heard was the running water. The pair soon came to a rock wall. It was about 20 feet high.
"The topography has changed," Illyria said.
Spike rolled his eyes. "I can see that," he said. Sometimes Illyria's penchant for stating the obvious could be wearisome. "The question is do we go up it or round it."
Illyria was not paying attention. She had her eyes fixed upwards. "Creatures are moving up there."
"Look's like we go up then," Spike said moving over towards the rocks. He began to climb. The wall was vertical, but Spike climbed it without difficulty. When he reached the top, he stopped and listened. He did not hear a thing besides the running water. No one was here. He called to Illyria who had scrambled effortlessly up the wall and was now a few feet in front of him. "Nobody's here but me and you Blue."
Illyria scowled at him. "My hearing is superior to yours, vampire." She pointed to another rock wall. "We must continue our ascent," she said. She walked over to the wall and began to climb.
Spike followed suite. He climbed the wall and came to another clearing. Again, he heard no sounds of life but the sound of rushing water was growing louder. He looked at Illyria was already half way up the next wall.
"I will meet you at the apex,' she called.
Spike hoisted himself over the edge of the cliff. To his right he could see the water he had heard. He was climbing a waterfall. He walked towards the next wall and began to climb again.
The waterfall fell over many stages. By the time, Spike reached the sixth stage the sound of the water pounding against the rocks drowned out everything else. His hands were sore and bleeding. He had climbed nearly two-hundred meters. He sighed as he came to yet another wall. He looked up to the top to gage his climb. There was a figure up there waving its hands wildly. Knowing the end was in sight he scrambled up the last twenty meters or so.
Kennedy was waiting for him. The sound of the water was deafening. Kennedy tried to shout over the roar, "She's over there".
"What?" Spike yelled.
"She's over there," Kennedy shouted again.
It was no use. Spike could see Kennedy's mouth moving but could not make out her words. Illyria had not been kidding when she said that her hearing was superior to his. Spike threw his hands in the air, using the universal sign for "What the fuck?"
Kennedy pointed to a clump of trees where Angel sat next to Gretel. Illyria stood a short distance away. Kennedy started walking towards them and motioned for Spike to follow. She then sat down on the other side of Gretel.
Spike walked over and squatted down in front of Gretel. She did not need to tell Spike how frightened she was. She had her arms wrapped around her legs, and if she had sat any closer to Angel, she would be in his lap. When she sensed his presence, she looked up. Her eyes were full of fear. Spike reached out and gave her hand a quick squeeze. Kennedy wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
After a moment, Spike stood up and walked over to Illyria. "Can you hear me?" he shouted.
Illyria nodded her head.
"How many vampires did you kill before you found me?" he asked.
Illyria held up six fingers.
"Do you know how many Angel and Kennedy killed?"
Illyria held up six fingers again. Spike looked over at Angel who guessed the substance of the exchange and held up four fingers.
Angel inclined his head towards Spike. "You?" he mouthed.
Spike held up two fingers. When he saw the little grin on Angel's face, he turned his hand around so that he was giving Angel the British had gesture for "Fuck you".
Angel rolled his eyes and held up all ten fingers, then four.
Spike nodded. Fourteen vampires were down. "Any of them happen to be Dru?" Spike yelled to Illyria.
Illyria shook her head to indicate "No".
Spike looked over at the group on the ground. Clearly, they had decided this would be a good place to camp out since even vampiric and slayer hearing was of little use. Gretel had picked a damn fine hiding place. "Going to make one hell of a Slayer." Spike shouted to Illyria.
Illyria had a look on her face that clearly said she could not care less.
Spike walked back over to Gretel and knelt down in front of her again. This time she reached out and squeezed his hand. She obviously did not know her own strenght yet, because she nearly broke his already battered hands. Spike gritted his teeth and yanked his bleeding hand away from him. Kennedy looked at Spike's bloody palm and grinned. She held out her own smooth palm. Spike raised his eyebrows. Angel tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a railing across the clearing where Spike had climbed up. There was a walking path leading up to the top of the falls. Spike and Angel exchanged a look. Angel then got up and went over to Illyria. Spike turned his head and saw Illyria move towards the the top of the path. Angel went and stood over the cliff Spike had climbed.
Spike sat with the girls for a while. Kennedy etched a tic-tac-toe board into the dirt with her stake. She then drew an x in one of the squares and handed her stake to Gretel. Gretel understood immediatley and drew an o. She gave Kennedy a grateful half-smile for the distraction.
Spike quickly grew restless. He stood up and began to pace back in forth in front of them. After a moment, Kennedy became irritated with his pacing and hit him in the shin. Spike took the hint and wandered over to where the falls began. He looked over the edge and watched the water cascade over the rocks. He stared in quiet reverence for a few minutes. The sight was breath taking, even at night.
All of a sudden, Spike felt something hit him square between the shoulder blades. It did not hurt, but it got his attention. Spike whirled around and saw Angel gesturing widly towards the walking path. Spike ran over to the girls, pulled Kennedy up the arm and pointed her body in the direction of the path. Kennedy took one look at Drusilla's onethousand watt grin and snatched her stake out of Gretel's hand.
Four other vampires and two drooling beasts that looked a little like pit-bulls, if pit-bulls weighed over two hundred pounds and had rows of spines coming out of their backs flanked Drusilla.
The first two vamps headed up the path stopped short when Illyria dropped down from an overhanging branch. Illyria immediatley went into action. Spike and Angel ran heads first into the fray. Punches were flying left and right as the rest of Drusilla's cadre came rushing in. The sound of the water was masking all the usual sounds that let Spike know what his companions were doing in battle. Spike glanced around between exchanging blows with his opponent. Behind Angel, who was tusling with a vampire the size of The Judge, Drusilla stood with her doggy companions on either side of her. Spike managed to put a steak through a blonde vampire. He tried to get around Angel to Drusilla, but never had the chance.
Drusilla, who was watching the battle carefully, pulled a silver chain out of the bodice of her gown. Attatched to the chain was a thin silver whistle. Drusilla blew through the whistle and the creature to her left leapt into action.
One of the dogs bound over Angel and landed on Spike, knocking him to the ground. Illyria siezed the animal by the scruff and tossed it into a nearby tree. Illyria looked pleased. The fight had just gotten more interesting. The dog came roaring back at Illyria with its jaws wide open. Illyria did not notice. She was pointing to Drusilla and her animal, which were stalking towards Kennedy and Gretel. Spike ran towards the slayers.
Drusilla got there first.