Summary: The Senior Partners are sending assassins after our intrepid heroes friends and family. Unexpected help arrives.
Crossover: Highlander, Stargate SG-1, Charmed
Notes: Yes, I've gone and done it. I've gone and added another fandom to this mess! Oi! Add that to a truly MASSIVE case of writers block (silly lil' muse, anyway), and I was commencin' to wonder if I was ever gonna get this update out. All Hail the Goddess Willow!
Disclaimer: The various fandoms mentioned herein belong to so many other people that if they decided to sue me they'd get all of about ten cents apiece. 'Course, some of those nickel-and-dimers out there would probably think it was worth it...
DID SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING ABOUT NOT FADING AWAY? PART VII
By screaminheathen69
... Angel suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and let out a loud groan. "Gaaahhh, not another one..." He sat down heavily on a nearby chair as the vision overwhelmed him. A minute later, he shook his head and opened his eyes, fear and worry written plainly on his face.
"We need to get to LA. Now. The Senior Partners are sending more of the Sarrkahn assassins after our friends."
Buffy jumped to her feet. "Friends, as in..."
"Lorne. Anne. A few others in LA." He looked Buffy in the eye. "Your aunt and her family. Willow's mom and dad."
"Oh, God, we have to-" Buffy trailed off at a strange, almost musical sound that accompanied a sparkling white light in the room. As the light faded away, the room was suddenly very crowded. And a stunned crowd it was, too. Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, Giles, Xander, Gunn, Illyria, Faith, Robin, Nina and Connor all stood there, staring bug-eyed at Buffy. "Okay. What the frilly heck was that?"
"Not what, dear; who. And that would be me." The voice came from behind her, bringing the realisation that her friends weren't staring at her, but at someone behind her. She turned around.
And at the sight of who was standing there, her eyes bugged out too.
Joyce Summers grinned nervously and gave a little wave. "Um, surprise?"
Buffy quickly pulled herself together. "Oh, look. The Taunter's back. Isn't this just swell. Couldn't stay away, huh? Had to come back and give us some more grief?"
Joyce's face was a study of confusion. "Huh? Oh, right. No. I'm not the First. Buffy, Dawn, it's me. It's Mom." Buffy started to retort, but stopped as Angel shook his head.
"It's her, Buffy." Buffy stared at Joyce, unbelieving. Joyce walked over and stood in front of her, holding out her hands.
"It really is me. Honest." Buffy tenatively reached out to her mothers hand, finding it to be solid. Eyes shining, she drew Joyce into a hug.
"You're here! You're really here!" Dawn ran over, nearly bowling them both over. For the longest time, they held each other, blissed on joy, happier than they'd been in years.
"How?" Buffy sobbed out.
"I'm a White-Lighter now. I thought Daniel told you."
"He said something about it. Haven't had a chance to find out what a White-Lighter is. Been a little busy."
Joyce laughed. "Explanations later. We have plenty of time."
Finally, Joyce stepped back, wiping away a stray tear. She started to say something, but was almost bowled over yet again as Willow, Xander and Giles immediately filled the space her daughters had just vacated. She hugged back, whispering greetings to each of them, before finally pulling away. "It's so good to see you. All of you. But we should put off the reunion for a while. We have a problem to deal with first. Several problems, actually."
Buffy couldn't stop grinning. "Gee, thanks ma. Cause, like, we didn't already have more than enough to deal with."
Joyce rolled her eyes. "Nice to see some things never change. Actually, this has to do with the problems you already had." She turned to Angel. "You just had a vision, right?"
"Um, yeah..."
"Haven't had time to tell the rest of them?"
"No."
Joyce nodded, then turned back to the group, No-Nonsense-Mom-Face in place. Buffy fought back another outbreak of tears. She'd missed her so much. "Okay. Angel just had a vision. The Senior Partners are the ones that sent the assassins after Willow and Dawn. They're not finished. They've decided to take out Angel by whatever means necessary. Apparently, they've decided that if they can't take you down directly, then they'll go the long way around. They're going after friends and family. They've targeted Lorne, Mr. Gunn's friend Anne, my sister and Willow's parents." Willow gasped. Kennedy wrapped her arms around her, trying to keep her calm.
Joyce continued. "Some, uh, friends of mine are protecting my sister. Willow, do you know where your parents are?"
"Yes. If they're still going by the schedule they sent me, they should be in Milwaukee."
"They are. You need to get to them, now. And take back up."
Kennedy spoke up quickly. "I'm in, Red." Willow squeezed her hand gratefully.
"Me too, Will," said Xander.
Giles finally managed to pull his eyes away from Joyce. "Er, yes. Willow, why don't you pick a few Slayers to take with you. Just in case, Jon, have you still got those Asgard communicators with you?" Jon nodded and handed one each to Willow, Kennedy and Xander. They headed for the armory, Willow calling Vi, Anise and several other Slayers through the meld.
Joyce turned to Gunn next. "Mr. Gunn-"
"Gunn. Just Gunn."
"Sorry. Gunn, Anne is at the shelter. She doesn't have a clue about what's coming her way."
"Right. Let me go load up 'n recruit some muscle, and I'll be ready to go." There wasn't any way he was going to let his friends suffer for what he'd done.
Spike laid a hand on Gunn's shoulder. "I've got your back, Charlie-Boy." Gunn nodded gratefully. Spike turned to Illyria. "What about you, Blue? Feel up to a spot o' violence?"
Illyria cocked her head. "Indeed. We will make trophies of their spines."
Spike grinned. "Right. So how we gettin' to LA then?"
"I can get us all there as soon as you're ready," said Joyce. She turned to Angel. "Angel, I know where Lorne is. I can drop these guys off at the shelter and then take you straight to him."
"Good. Buffy, I could use some back up."
Buffy nodded. "I'm there."
"Me too," said Dawn. "Just try going without me."
Buffy smiled, then addressed the room. "Okay, let's gear up and get our respective groups together. We meet back here in ten minutes and head out. Got it? Good." She jogged out the door, followed by most of the group.
Spike stopped at the door, then turned and walked back over to Joyce. "Can't tell you how good it is to see you, luv. Missed you somethin' awful." He gave her a quick hug, then turned and quickly made his way after the rest.
Joyce sat down, completely unable to wipe the huge, stupid grin from her face. Things were bad, and worse things were coming, but she couldn't bring herself to be too concerned right then.
She was home again.
Chapter the Second
In the alley behind the shelter, Champions appeared in a bloom of white light as Joyce orbed them in. Gunn glanced around. "You sure she's inside?"
Joyce closed her eyes, concentrating. "Yes. Her and about a dozen others, all human."
Angel laid a hand on Gunn's shoulder. "Get her to the Hyperion. If she isn't safe in a hotel full of Slayers, Watchers and witches that's protected by Willow's wards, then there's no place she will be safe."
"Right. Luck to all y'all." With that, he, Spike and Illyria made their stealthy way inside.
Joyce turned to Angel. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
Joyce smiled reassuringly, then orbed them out. They reappeared in total darkness.
"Oh, neat. Always wanted to know what it was like to be blind. Thanks, Mom," Dawn chirped.
"You know she's gonna smack you as soon as she can see you, doofus," Buffy said drily. Dawn chuckled and created an orb of green light, then let it float above her. Joyce promptly smacked her in the arm. "Toldja."
Dawn rubbed her arm and pouted. "Sheesh. Take on a Hell-Goddess and save the world, but do I get any respect? Nooo. I get smacked. Whatta world..." Joyce gave her an insufferable grin.
Angel rolled his eyes, but couldn't help grinning. He'd missed Joyce too. "Where to now?"
Joyce pointed off to her left, further down the tunnel. "That way. He's definitely there, and he's not alone." The group set off at a jog. Lorne had been through so much already, Angel wasn't going to be the cause of any further grief for his friend. A few minutes later, Joyce halted in front of a door that at first glance looked to be pure rust. "In here."
Buffy started to kick the door in, but Angel stopped her as he caught sight of something. "Wait. Look." He pointed up at a word that had been painted above the door. Caritas. He grinned. "I shoulda known." Painted around the doorway were signs in various languages, all of them about the anti-violence spells that protected the place.
As Angel reached for the handle to open the heavy door, to his surprise, it swung open. "C'mon in, boss. Lorne's been expecting you guys." Harmony stood there, smiling her Harmony smile. Angel stood there looking like a gaffed fish. Harmony looked behind him and threw a wave at the Summers women. "Hi! You ladies wanna come on in? 'Cause, kinda stinky out here, ya know?" She waved a hand in front of her nose.
"It is kinda ripe," Dawn said as she nudged Angel through the door.
"Yeah, sewers, who knew?" quipped Buffy. Joyce just rolled her eyes. Dawn was trying to brush some crud from the duster Spike had given her, trying not to think about what the crud might be.
As they walked into the new, but empty, Caritas, Harmony shut the door behind them and flounced over to the bar. "So good to see you again Mrs. Summers. I know I tried to kill all of you a couple of times, but I really am better now. So, no hard feelings?" She raised her eyebrows hopefully.
Joyce shook her head, grinning. Buffy shot Harmony a glare, then sighed. "Maybe. We'll just hafta see." Harmony shrugged good-naturedly.
Angel finally regained his bearings. "Um, yeah. Harmony. Is Lorne here?"
"Be out in a sec. He's on the phone. We've known you were coming for a couple of days, he just wasn't sure when."
Buffy hopped onto a stool at the bar. "How'd you know we were coming? We didn't know 'til about an hour ago."
"I was singing. Lorne read me. Very handy." Harmony went behind the bar and poured herself a drink. "Mmmmmm, otter. Anyway, he saw that there was trouble a brewin', and that you guys were gonna be here in time for it, so he cleared the place out and started beefing up the sanctuary spells. Whatever he saw scared him pretty bad." She handed Angel a mug (pig and otter, just the way he liked it), and poured a Coke for Dawn. "Can I get you two something while we wait?"
Buffy passed, but Joyce's eyes lit up. "Could I get a cup of coffee?" Harmony nodded and poured her a cup. Joyce held the cup in both hands and inhaled deeply, an expression of pure bliss adorning her face. "You cannot imagine how much I've missed coffee up there." She took a sip and groaned appreciatively.
Buffy and Dawn exchanged amused glances. "Geez, Mom, you two need a room?" Dawn asked, smirking, while Buffy giggled. Joyce chose to ignore her.
"Now, that is one happy angel." They turned to see Lorne standing in the door to his office. At the look on Angel's face, Lorne waved a hand. "No, not you Angel-Cakes. Her. The lady in love with the java." Joyce glanced up from her coffee long enough to smile at Lorne, then went back to happily sipping away.
Buffy, Dawn, Angel and Harmony were staring at Joyce in confusion. "I thought you said you were a White-Lighter," Buffy stammered.
"White-Lighters are angels, Buffy-kins. Just angels with a mission." Buffy and Dawn couldn't help themselves and started looking at their mother's back, trying to spot hidden wings. Joyce went right on ignoring them, still lost in her first cup of coffee in over three years.
Lorne walked over to Angel, who was standing there uncertain of himself. He'd fully intended to do as Lorne had asked and leave him alone, yet here he stood in his friend's new club, trouble following on his heels as usual. Lorne looked him up and down, obviously lost in thought. Lorne finally shrugged, then drew Angel into a hug. "Glad to see you made it out in one piece, you big lug."
"You too. Missed you." They stepped back, grinning. "I did what you asked. I stayed away. We wouldn't be here if-"
Lorne waved dismissively. "I know. Big Bad types, coming to cause trouble for lil' ol' us." He gestured at Harmony. "I knew they'd come after us eventually. Kinda surprised it took 'em this long. Who are they, anyway?"
"The Order of Sarrkahn."
Lorne turned pale green. Yeah, yeah, I know, he's already pale green. We're talkin' pale green here. "The Sarrkahn Assassins? Coming after me?" He staggered over to the bar, where Harmony already had a Sea-breeze ready for him. He downed it in one gulp and gestured for another. "So, what's the plan? There is a plan, right? Tell me there's a plan!" He stared at the new arrivals, desperation written all over his face.
Angel shrugged. "Sort of."
"Sort of!"
"Well, yeah. Get you guys someplace safe, then figure out the next move." He shrugged again.
Lorne began thumping his head on the bar. "We're toast."
"Hey, cut us some slack, we only found out about all this an hour ago!" Angel huffed indignantly.
Thump - "Great warrior of the people - thump - Dark Avenger - thump - Averter of the Apocalypse - thump - here to save my gorgeous green hiney - thump - and he doesn't have a plan!"
-Thump-
Dawn winced. "Dude, doesn't that hurt?" Lorne shot her an acid look that just screamed 'duh!' and went back to his thumping.
Harmony wrapped an arm around him. "Oh, now, come on Lorne-y Toons, it's not that bad. And that's gonna leave the hugest bruise..." Lorne held out a hand, which Harmony promptly placed another Sea-Breeze in, and which Lorne promptly guzzled.
Finally, he straightened up. "Okay, sorry, didn't mean to get all melodramatic there." He pasted a smile on. "How's about we get outa here, huh? Just got this place set up, it'd be nice if it didn't get trashed. Like the last one did." He stared meaningfully at Angel. Angel was staring at a spot on the floor, trying to hide his sheepish expression.
Joyce was staring off into space. Buffy waved a hand in front of her eyes. "Mom? You in there?"
Joyce shook her head to clear it. "Huh? Oh, sorry. We need to go. There's a group of assassins tracking Gunn, hoping we'll show up. We should go straight to the Hyperion."
Lorne reached under the bar and grabbed an axe, which he handed to Harmony, and a sword for himself. "Let's go." Joyce had everyone hold hands and orbed them out.
Seconds later, there was a flash of light as the sanctuary spell around Caritas collapsed, and the door was kicked in. Two dozen Sarrkahn assassins stormed into the now empty bar.
The leader turned to the rest. "They're not here. We go to the hotel. Now."
Chapter the Third
If one happened to be standing on the street in front of the old Hyperion Hotel on this particular evening, one would find oneself taking in some interesting sights.
Starting with what some might call a white glow-ball suddenly appearing twenty feet in the air and bouncing off of an invisible barrier, then ricocheting to the ground.
Followed by a rather disgruntled group of people appearing, well, magically (not to mention painfully), from thin air.
And then one would have a rare opportunity indeed, as one Buffy Summers, Immortal and Slayer Extraordinaire, proceeded to turn the very air blue with a long, drawn out line of invective (with rather a heavy British influence, right down to a rather familiar accent) pertaining to just how much such a landing hurt.
Which is to say, a lot.
One would then witness a blushing White-Lighter, a giggling Key, two very impressed vampires, and KrevLorneSwath of the DethWok Clan, who for the first time pretty much ever was at a loss for words.
Of course, there were far more interesting events yet to come, but one wouldn't know that yet, now would one?
Buffy finished her tirade with a particularly scathing epithet that had Dawn's giggles turning into snorts and Angel's eyebrows disappearing somewhere above his hairline. Joyce walked over to Buffy, who was standing there rubbing the recently offended portion of her anatomy, and quirked an eyebrow. "Done?"
Buffy shot her a smart-alecky look that had Joyce flashing back to high school. "I suppose I can save the really good stuff for later. What happened anyway?"
"Willow's wards," Angel said as he started walking toward the hotel. "Apparently they can stop people from orbing in, too. Good to know."
"Would really rather have known that before we tried. Might've been less, I dunno, painful." Joyce said, falling into step with Angel. He smiled and shrugged apologetically.
Stopping at the edge of the magical barrier, Angel started to say the password, then thought better of it. "Maybe I'd better wait until they get here. If we only open the ward once, the bad guys will have less of a chance to get in." Buffy nodded her agreement and started to say something.
Which is when all Hell broke loose.
The Hyperion exploded, showering the stunned group with flaming debris and sending them tumbling. Buffy was the first back on her feet, followed closely by Angel who started running toward the flaming ruin of the hotel while swatting frantically at the flames trying to burn through the sleeve of his coat.
"Angel, no!" Joyce orbed in front of him and dragged him to a stop. "I'm not sensing anybody. If there was someone in there, it's too late." Angel looked back and forth between Joyce and the steadily growing fire as grief overwhelmed him.
I failed. Again. Those people are dead because of me. Because of what I did. I picked the fight, and they paid for it. His grief transformed into rage as he threw his head back and screamed to the heavens.
Down the block, Gunn and his crew came barreling around the corner, having heard the explosion. Gunn stumbled to a halt, not wanting to believe his eyes. "Damn. I was hoping I was wrong..." Anne put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Spike, turning nervous circles (not that he'd admit to being nervous), nudged the group on. "C'mon then, children, Peaches' lil' campfire's liable to draw a crowd, and I'd just as soon be long gone before the undesirables show up."
He froze at the sound of a voice.
An extremely hated voice.
The voice of someone standing right behind him. "Undesirable, am I?"
He turned slowly, hoping he was wrong.
Nope. Not wrong. Dammit.
Cerephus gave Spike a smile that could have frozen cactus in the middle of the desert at high noon.
"Hello, William." Before Spike had a chance to reply, the Immortal backhanded him, sending him flying into a row of dumpsters, and sent a bolt of energy at Illyria, sending her flying over the heads of Angel and Buffy before landing in the conflagration that had grown from the remains of the Hyperion. Gunn moved to place himself between Cerephus and Anne, but the Immortal threw them aside with a bored flick of his hand.
He turned to face Angel's group. "So. Slayer. Finally figured out you were an Immortal, did you? Certainly took you long enough." He snorted derisively. "Guess you really are a genuine blonde. But then you'd have to be, wouldn't you? I mean, for Angelus, it was always the blondes that held the key to his undead heart..."
Angel spluttered as Buffy held him back, trying to keep Cerephus from noticing Spike, who was trying to sneak up behind him.
Cerephus spun around and grabbed Spike by the throat. "Oh, come on now, William. Did you really think I wouldn't know you were sneaking up behind me? You and Angelus really need to get some new moves." He leaned in closer to Spike and lowered his voice to a whisper. "And just how is Drusilla these days? Still as lively as ever in the sack?" He laughed as Spike went livid, then shook his head. "So predictable, William. It's sad, really. Oh well." Cerephus held his hand out as a stake shimmered into existence.
The Immortal smirked. "Time to put you out of my misery, William." Spike's eyes got huge as Cerephus drew back to plunge the stake into his heart.
Suddenly, the world turned green.
Spike landed unceremoniously on his backside as Cerephus found himself being pounded into the pavement by an extremely pissed off former Key.
As Buffy and Angel dragged him clear, all Spike could do was stare at Dawn. Lord, but she's glorious!
Dawn and Cerephus went to war.
Chapter the Fourth
Meanwhile, back at the hotel in Devon...
Sheila Rosenburg had not particularly enjoyed her first time being teleported. She was currently displaying her non-enjoyment of the experience from a kneeling position in front of the porcelain throne. Willow was stooped beside her, apologising profusely, when she felt it.
Power. Immense power. Closing her eyes, she reached out, trying to sense what was going on.
Oh, crap...
She sent a warning through the meld, apologised to her parents, and, gathering reinforcements as she went, teleported to LA.
... and back in good ol' Hell-A ...
Dawn was wailing on Cerephus, keeping him distracted, making it difficult for him to do much more than keep his shield up. And with the amount of Power she was pouring into every blow, his shield was weakening fast. I've got you this time, Dawn thought to herself over and over. It was becoming a mantra in her mind, with her landing another blow on every this. She could see fear beginning to creep onto his face for the first time.
She liked it.
A lot.
I've got you this time...
Which, of course, is right about the time the Sarrkahn Assassins showed up, more than a hundred strong, followed closely by Willow and her seriously outnumbered group of reinforcements.
Chaos ensued.
The two groups crashed into each other, raining death and destruction, the fighting more savage and furious than most of them had ever witnessed, no quarter being given on either side. Willow had hoped to add her Power to Dawn's, but there were six Warlocks with the Sarrkahn, and she soon found herself slugging it out with four of them while Bethany tried to handle the remaining two.
Buffy, Angel, Harmony and Spike were trying to protect Anne while Lorne helped the barely concsious Gunn stagger to his feet. Joyce orbed in next to Lorne with a slightly singed Illyria in tow. Illyria promptly set about dismembering as many opponents as she could get her hands on. Joyce quickly healed Gunn, then turned to Buffy. "I have to go. Be right back." She orbed out, casting a smile in her confused daughter's direction.
"Oh, nice. She picks now to leave?" Ducking an axe, Buffy deftly spun around and beheaded a Baccnus demon.
"Guess yer ma doesn't find a good brawl as entertainin' as we do, pet," Spike hollered, swinging a battle axe and firing a zat, both with deadly precision.
All around them, the fight raged, swords and axes ringing, arrows and bursts of energy flying, all creating a cacophony of sound and light that was at once both grand and terrible.
Unfortunately, a random burst of magical energy hit Dawn, distracting her just enough to let Cerephus activate his ribbon device and throw her off. As he struggled to his feet, Dawn quickly started pounding at his shield again, doing her best to keep him there, unable to teleport away or harm anybody else. Cerephus had his second wind now, though, and was able to fight back. The ground shook and nearby buildings crumbled as they threw everthing they had at each other, and those fighting closest to them were forced to seek cover even as they continued fighting.
In the alley down the block, Joyce and four others orbed in. Peeking around the corner, she grimaced at the carnage. "You sure this spell will work, Leo?"
Leo shrugged. The woman standing next to him quirked an eyebrow. "Well, we think so..."
Joyce turned a questioning look on the three young women. "You think? There's a demon army around the corner, and you think it'll work?" She knew she was being snarky. Didn't really care. Her daughters were out there, fighting for their lives.
"Didn't have a lot of time to research this, now did we," Piper Halliwell snarked right back, but without any real malice. She and her sisters knew the stakes. Joyce nodded, trying to rein in her fears. She had gone to Leo and asked him to help her recruit the Charmed Ones to aid in the fight against Cerephus, Wolfram & Hart and the Sarrkahn Assassins. Once they knew the full story, they had quickly set about coming up with a way to bind or strip Cerephus' powers, knowing full well that it was incredibly difficult to do so to a sorcerer as old and powerful as the Immortal.
Paige was staring around the corner of the building. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her fear. She'd seen some amazing things since becoming a witch, but nothing had prepared her for what they were about to walk into. "No time like the present. Let's give this a shot."
The Charmed Ones stepped out into the clear, joined hands, and began chanting...
To be continued...
Okay, I know, this took for frelling ever, and is really fracking short, but you wouldn't believe the case of writers block I've had. Still have, actually. This part of the story is officially kicking my butt.
I have a whole series of stories called 'The Guardian Chronicles' planned that this one will lead into, but I'm having trouble making up my mind which way to go on a few things. Mostly, I can't decide if I wanna kill off Cerephus, or keep him around to come back and be a pain in the butt in the future. I would dearly love some feedback on this. Let me know what your opinion is, it'd be much appreciated.
My thanks to those who've reviewed!
'To thee no star be dark...'