Disclaimer: Not mine, no money, Joss Whedon's, yadda yadda.
As promised, The End.
No one seemed to know what to say. Wesley was perfectly still, waiting for their reaction.
At last, Kearm stood suddenly, sheathing his knife with a grin.
"About damn time," he announced, revealing rows of serrated teeth. "Run the plan by us again on the way."
Lilah broke into a smile, unspeakably relieved. Nikki sprang to her feet with a cheer, Jenna flung aside the curtain concealing the group's ancient but well-maintained weaponry, and Lindsey grabbed his coat, speaking as he selected a sword.
"We'll need to abandon out 'united we stand' theory," he told Lilah, handing her a crossbow.
"Obviously. Wesley will have to go with you after Sirk," she replied, checking the alignment of an arrow. "Jenna and I will thin their ranks as much as we can. Nikki, I want you working on breaking down any illusions that might still be set up, especially around the perimeter." The little girl nodded curtly. "Kearm, you-"
"Find my best friend. Got it."
Wesley watched, the smallest of smiles playing about his face. It was almost the way it used to be; sharp, crisp orders, even sharper responses, everyone knowing each other so well they could anticipate each others' movements, a dangerous, suicidal mission, a plan that had remained hidden until the last moment. Unwittingly, his mind supplied the thought; Damn, it's good to be back.
He shook himself. He wasn't back. These were different people, different times, a different city. Lilah was giving the orders in the Slayer's place, the Watcher was not only reckless and practically a punk, but an outcast. A demon was the Watcher's best friend, a little girl was the source of almost all of their information, the Seer was a teenager with a past, and Lindsey, Lindsey of all people had snapped into the role of a hero, suddenly risking everything to help a Slayer he'd never met.
Because that's what it was about now. Until five minutes ago this fight had been about taking out Angelus and Sirk, and the Slayer and her Watcher were casualties of war. Now, since the arrival of Wesley, with Ivane's insane plan in the open, there was hope. Only the smallest, barest scrap of it, yes, but immediately that hope was expended on saving their friends. They didn't need hope to fight evil; that they would do no matter what. But, with hope, they would risk death or worse to save two lives.
He wondered how long it would last.
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"You have a plan?" Carlotta tapped her foot on the floor, hand on her hip, looking at Ivane as though she wasn't sure whether to hug him or disembowel him. "And you didn't mention it an hour ago because…"
"I told you," Ivane answered, standing up and pulling something out of his pocket. "Sirk could easily have had a magical means of keeping an eye on us. It would entirely defeat the purpose of having a plan if he and Angelus found out about it. But they shouldn't be listening now, so I'll explain."
A bloodcurdling scream suddenly echoed through the sunken passageways. Carlotta jumped. Ivane smiled.
"You see this?" He held up a small, unevenly-shaped, glowing object, continuing as though nothing was wrong. "After you… disappeared, I went to see Wesley."
"Hold on." The Slayer looked suspicious. "Wesley, the traitor, friend of Angel's, worked for Wolfram and Hart, that Wesley?"
"He has just as much reason for hating Angelus as the rest of us do. More, perhaps, as Angelus killed Faith. And I couldn't think of anyone else who could have pulled off a spell like this. Mr. Pryce happens to know more about magical defenses than anyone alive," Ivane continued, "except perhaps Rosenberg's apprentice. In order for the plan to work, we needed to shut down at least some of Sirk's mystical weaponry, and the spell on this," he held up the glowing stone, "acts a magical neutralizer. From the moment I was captured it's been working on destroying a specific mystical signature, which-"
"Ivane! I'm sorry, but you're doing that Watcher thing. Gimme the short version."
"Right. Sorry. This thing takes apart spells."
A smile spread slowly over Carlotta's face.
"Giving the others a chance to get in and attack."
"Exactly. Some of them will be after Sirk, most likely Mr. Pryce and Lindsey, as they're our strongest wizards. Knowing Nikki-"
"She'll be helping from the outside. I'm assuming that little rock won't take apart all of Sirk's spells."
"And she'll reinforce any magic Pryce and Lindsey try to use. Lilah and Jenna will probably attack any guards they can find, to even the odds, and Kearm… I told Mr. Pryce to make sure Kearm is the one who comes looking for us. In the first place he can pick any lock on the planet, and in the second he's been looking for a way to pay me back for years."
"He has?"
"Er… long story."
"Is there a short version?"
Ivane hesitated.
"Kearm used to be a slave," he explained after a moment. "In a place called Gar-Gabelle. It's known for the brutality of its gladiatorial arena, and once when Kearm was hurt I… took offence to the fact that he was going to be forced to fight anyway. I offered to take his place, his master maintained that humans were too weak to fight in the arena, and I made a bet with him." He shrugged. "That's pretty much all it is."
"You made a bet," said Carlotta with a grin.
"Yes."
"That if you won, Kearm would go free."
"Yes."
"And did you win?"
A pause.
"No."
Carlotta crowed with laughter.
"You have to tell me the rest of that once we're out of here."
"Ask Kearm. He's better at telling stories."
"So once we're out of here, where do we meet up to fight Angelus?"
"We… How-"
"Oh come on. I'm not stupid. Once the two magicians have taken out Sirk and the enemy's defenses are down, where do we meet up to fight Angelus?" She winked. "I may not have gone to school, but tactical is my specialty."
"Heeeeeeeey, they're not fighting. Alert the media," came a voice. The two teenagers jumped as a series of scraping noises began on the other side of the door. "I really expected you to have killed each other off by now."
Carlotta beamed and the door swung open. Kearm bowed dramatically.
"And I got weapons," he announced, tossing a pair of knives to Ivane and a dirk to Carlotta. "Am I good, or am I good?"
"You're great," Carlotta assured him. "Where are the guards?"
"Dust, mostly. There's a whole bunch a few tunnels back, which is where I suggest we go, 'cause Jen and the Lady Morgana can't hold 'em all off by themselves. And Jeffy-"
"Don't call me that-"
"We're even."
"Obviously."
"Let's go then." Carlotta tested the weight of her favorite weapon, a familiar and dangerous smile baring her teeth. "We have work to do."
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"I won't even say how strange this is," Lindsey muttered as he and Wesley ducked through a half-collapsed doorway into yet another dark, empty tunnel.
"There is honestly no need to," Wesley replied. Whenever their eyes met, it was with undeniable, unfiltered hatred.
"But who would have thought," Lindsey continued, glancing over the words of a spell that he carried in his pocket, "that the two of us would end up united against Angelus. Not even Angel, mind you. Angelus. And fighting alongside Lilah, of all the âmes damnés, and a Slayer, who's her friend. Not to mention the fact that Lilah's pretty much second in command here. I mean, second, not first. Didn't you always figure she'd be running the show, whatever it was? And it would figure that it would be Sirk who came back to haunt me." He gave a small laugh. "At least it's not Linwood. So the Watcher's Council made a comeback, huh? I guess after Angelus killed that Buffy character, they had to do something. To bad they couldn't take care of him for us. But then again-"
"Will you shut up?" Wesley hissed. "Whatever happened to stealth, we're infiltrating enemy territory, literally, and you're babbling on! I thought you weren't going to say how strange this is!"
"So sorry." Lindsey tried and failed to smother a grin.
"Just one thing," Wesley demanded after a moment, steadfastly ignoring Lindsey rolling his eyes. "A question. Why is it that… that we are seen as traitors, and yet you… you and Lilah…"
"Oh, we're seen as traitors," Lindsey responded, squinting into the vast darkness ahead from atop the cracked platform. "It just depends on who you ask. Lilah really thinks you guys were traitors. So do the others, I think. Lilah and I were bad apples to begin with, so no one actually expects us to do anything good. You guys were the white hats. You were all for save the world and redemption, and then you get hit in a weak spot and pow! Suddenly you're working for Wolfram and Hart?" Lindsey turned to face him. "Everyone knew it. They just wouldn't admit it. What you did? That wasn't an opportunity to do good, you weren't fighting from within the belly of the beast. You were giving up."
Almost too quickly to be seen, Wesley grabbed Lindsey by the collar of his shirt and pushed him violently up against the wall.
"What right do you have to preach to me about conviction?" he spat, his voice low and scornful, echoing ominously through the abandoned tunnel. The moment stretched interminably, both pairs of flashing eyes daring the other to stand down first.
"Who's preaching?" A dry, brittle voice broke off Lindsey's reply. Instantly on guard, the two of them spun around, finding themselves face to face with an elderly man so innocuous-looking that they never would have given him a second glance had they passed him on the street. But an aura of power shimmered around him, and something in his bone-chilling, withered smile made him more terrifying than any horde or legion of hell that he might have summoned.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the man continued, advancing slowly out of the dark. "Neither of you really have a right to preach, you know." The man kept moving forward. Lindsey met Wes's eyes. They flicked almost imperceptibly to the left. "I suppose I don't either, but…" The old man stopped, less than thirty feet away. "At least I'm not trying to. I just want to get my daughter back."
The explosion shattered the very walls of the tunnel, sending ancient tiling and shards of concrete ricocheting off the walls. Anybody caught in it would have been torn to pieces. But Lindsey had set up a magical shield of the strongest order in the time it took Sirk to cast the spell, and Wesley was already attacking from under the shield's protection.
Sirk's long, thin arm reached out calmly and caught Wesley's small fireglobe as though it were a no more than a baseball. His mouth stretched into a sardonic grin.
"I'll remind you that this little spell could barely defeat Vail, never mind me. Is this really the best you have?"
Sirk experienced a brief moment of consternation as Wesley's face twisted to match his own.
"No."
Then the fireball exploded.
Lindsey's shield was torn away, and both men were sent flying backwards. Simultaneously leaping to their feet, they shielded their eyes against the receding flash of light and tried to see through the thick screen of smoke. A movement behind them caught Lindsey's eye, and a pulsing blue flash met Sirk's sudden attack from behind as he spun around and combined the spell that was on Wesley's fingertips with his own. For several long seconds the two spells fizzed and burned as they clashed, filling the air with a smell like burning ammonia. Then, with a superhuman effort, Sirk pushed the combined spells away and threw Wes and Lindsey off what was left of the subway platform, dashing them bodily against the far wall.
There was silence for a moment, broken only by the hissing away of the titanic spells that had just been cast. Wes and Lindsey lay immobile under a dense could of smoke, not daring to move. Above, they could feel Sirk's gaze searching for them, darting through the fumes. Their eyes met.
Lindsey shook his head. Magic ain't gonna cut it, he seemed to say. We can't beat this guy. Wesley thought for a moment, his lips pressed tightly together. Then an old familiar gleam struck his eye.
We don't have to.
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Sirk stood on the edge of the platform, exhausted but exhilarated. If he continued like this, soon he wouldn't need Rosenberg's apprentice to bring his daughter back. Let that Connor boy fend for himself – there was a new power on the rise. But first he had to get rid of these two. No power tolerated threats.
Flames licked up his right hand, burning the very air around him, but not his flesh. It was fitting, he supposed, for Pryce to go down under his own favored spell. He would have done the same for McDonald, but he had already stayed well below his radar by using the same runes he had taught him, so there was irony enough.
A flash of movement danced across his sightline, directly across from him. That was where they were. Hiding like vermin under the slowly-dissipating fog. The smoke swirled again and a terrible, ghastly smile deformed his face. He took aim.
"I'm sorry boys," he called. "It seems I've stolen the honor of your deaths from Angelus."
A raspy voice behind him.
"Not quite."
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Wesley dusted off his hands as the smoke settled once more around Sirk's still-sparking body.
"Nice push," Lindsey commented, draping an arm amicably across his shoulder.
"Thank you. It's nice to know the third rail is still working, isn't it?"
"Very. Come on. I think Lilah still needs our help."
"About Lilah…"
"Don't ask me, dude. I saw her for the first time in six years last night. For all I know, the girl's married."
"I doubt she's gone that far."
"True. Ready to fight the most dangerous vampire ever to have lived?"
"At the moment I feel ready for anything."
They walked back through the tunnels, looking for all the world like lifelong friends.
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Kearm, Ivane, and Carlotta reached Jen and Lilah just as a fresh wave of vampires entered their tunnel. There were less, however, than Carlotta had expected.
"How come there's so few of them?" she shouted to Lilah, taking her place at her side and daring the undead to come. They hesitated slightly at the sight of these three new fighters suddenly coming to the rescue of the first two.
"We think they were keeping in contact through magical means," Lilah replied as the vampires charged. "Wesley's spell seems to have-" She paused a moment to reload her crossbow. "-to have cut off their communication, and instead they have to run through all the tunnels to tell each other what's going on."
"All the better for us. Where's- Hey. Speak of the devil."
Lindsey and Wes appeared unexpectedly, making their way through the mass of vampires from behind. It was seven against fifteen. They had finished in a matter of minutes.
"Hopefully not too many of them got away to sound the alarm," Kearm remarked. "How's the Great Whodunit?"
"It's Houdini," Jenna muttered.
"Dead," said Lindsey with a grin. "I know it's been said before, but I love the fact that the third rail's still working."
"Third rail?" Ivane looked confused.
"The electric one," Carlotta whispered.
Lindsey looked around.
"You know, at this rate," he mused. "This could actually go pretty well. How's the injury status?"
"Almost perfect, actually," Lilah told him.
Carlotta's head snapped up.
"What did you say?" she demanded.
"Um… almost perfect. Hardly any injuries, Sirk's out of the picture, the minions can't get to us all that quickly, plus this tunnel's too narrow for many of them to make their way through…" She stopped as it hit her suddenly. "Oh."
Carlotta looked grim.
"Sounds too perfect, huh?" She looked around. "Case in point: has anyone seen Angelus yet?"
No answer. They all understood at once; he was playing with them. He probably hadn't meant for Sirk to die, but Carlotta was right. This was too easy.
A child's terrified shriek tore suddenly through the tunnel. Kearm went white.
"Nikki!"
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They followed Kearm, who was able to track Nikki's scent through the damp, crumbling tunnels. They met with no more vampires. It was clear now, that Angelus had been toying with them. Kearm was nearly foaming at the mouth, letting out explosive oaths in his native tongue whenever they came to a dead end, oaths which Ivane refused to translate.
Carlotta was sweating, but when she put her hand to her forehead she drew it back cold. Would they blame her if Nikki died? She hadn't had any control over it, but Kearm… Kearm might not draw that distinction. He would be devastated. And Angelus was capable of anything.
"There," said Kearm suddenly, knife drawn. The tunnel ended at a platform, still spotted with peeling advertisements for ancient Broadway plays. A stone arch with the number twenty-three stood at its end, and through it dim light filtered, with the promise of open space.
"Grand Central," Lilah muttered. "Plenty of room for us to be surrounded once we're in there."
Carlotta's eyes narrowed, her mind working. As she had said before, tactical was her specialty.
"I don't know if there's any way for us to get in safely," she muttered. "Angelus can't miss an opportunity like this. Rushing in there is out of the-"
"Kearm!" Ivane yelled, interrupting her. The blue demon was sprinting for the archway, too enraged to wait for the Slayer. Afraid of losing his friend, Ivane ran after, hoping to stop him from doing anything suicidal. Exasperated, Carlotta followed suit, and Jenna, seeing her role model throwing caution to the winds, rushed off down the platform as well.
The three adults looked at each other.
"We lost the kids," said Lindsey after a moment. Lilah shrugged.
"Oh well. Nice seeing you two. Sort of." They ran after the others.
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The archway opened almost directly onto the Grand Concourse, as wide and open as ever. The group burst in, dangerously exposed. There was absolute silence. The walls were lined with vampires, coming up from the lower levels and perched on the crumbling stairs, watching them greedily and licking their lips. But no one moved. Carlotta glanced up. The blue-green ceiling was chipped and lined with a spider's web of cracks, but the outlines of the constellations that had once been this building's glory were still visible. It made her shiver.
"Well, well, well." Angelus smiled down at them from the raised end of the room. Not a breath of air disturbed the silence between his words. "Look at that, Nikki. They're here at last."
Kearm made as though to charge forward, but Ivane held him back. Nikki, half-strangled by Angelus's hand round her throat, swallowed a squeak. It was a pitiful thing to see; this little girl, trying to be brave, but with her face as white as a sheet and her eyes like dinner plates.
"I'm going to let my vampires kill you in a few minutes," Angelus announced. "But I'd really rather like to kill you all myself, so… any volunteers for a one-on-one? I promise, the minute I'm dead, these guys'll leave you alone. Cross my heart." The wicked smile widened.
"Once you're dead, there will be no one to control them," Wesley countered. "So even if we beat you we would still die. We aren't complete idiots."
"Is that so, Wes?" The vampire's icy voice shivered down their spines. He let out a small laugh. "Ha. Old Wes. Got a present for you." He released his hold on Nikki for a moment to toss something across the floor towards the humans. Wesley flinched back automatically, then stiffened as a cascade of silver coins rolled out of a torn paper bag. "Thirty of 'em, Prycie. Count if you like."
A smile to counter Angelus's slithered onto Wesley's lips. Stepping forward, he picked up a single coin and slipped it into his pocket.
"Thirty was the price for someone of much more importance," he smirked. "All I ever betrayed was you."
The vampire's grin disappeared, suddenly found on the faces of his opponents instead. His eyes narrowed.
"I told you," came the warning. "It's a one-on-one, or a massacre. Take your pick."
Wesley opened his mouth to refuse, but Carlotta caught his arm.
"I say we do it," she whispered. "If one of us kills Angelus, the others might have a chance to escape."
"Besides which," Ivane added, "the vampires may be too afraid to attack Angelus's killer."
"Are you nuts?" Lindsey hissed. "Angelus is the only thing holding them back!"
"Besides, there's no promise of safety for the rest of us while Angelus is fighting," Jenna pointed out, crossing her arms.
"A one-on-one is the only chance we have!" Lilah protested.
"Exactly!" agreed the Slayer. "Do you think we can stand up to all of these guys?"
"The minute Angelus steps away from Nikki the others will attack her!" Kearm refused to back down. "Do you think she can fight them off?"
"Listen, Kearm-"
"Shut up, Ivane. I don't owe you anything anymore."
Ivane went white, suddenly dropping out of the conversation. He knew that Kearm had repaid his debt, but… they had been each others' only friends for years. He had thought they could at least disagree without becoming enemies.
Without becoming…
That was it. Angelus didn't need to separate them to divide them. This had been his plan from the beginning. That was why no one had killed Carlotta while she was in the dungeon. That was why they had been able to regroup so easily. Angelus didn't want an easy kill, he wanted to watch the heroes tear each other apart.
"Er, excuse me…"
They kept arguing in hushed voices, poised to fight the vampires, but, with no enemy immediately forthcoming, unwittingly turning their enmity on each other. The young Watcher couldn't help but marvel at the simplicity of it, the brilliance. This was why no one had ever managed to kill the Scourge of Europe. Even when he lost, he fundamentally weakened his enemies.
"Excuse me."
They glanced at him, but only momentarily. He had nothing to say, so they turned back to those who were speaking. It was genius really. The constant presence of a threat, but that threat never really becoming danger. Genius. It was impossible not to admire it.
"Hello!"
Nothing. Not enough to shake them up. Ivane winced. Time to do what he probably did worse than anybody in the world. Willingly draw attention to himself.
"QUIET!"
The shout made them start, expecting the vampires to attack. But it stopped the bickering in its tracks.
"I can't believe you caught that." Angelus shook his head. Ivane just glared, the others unsure of what the vampire meant. "Well, since you can't seem to decide…" He lifted Nikki by the throat again, watching her kicking and whimpering for a moment before clucking his tongue and holding out a hand, in which the lackey behind him placed a syringe. "Here's a little mystery for you. What makes your brain reverse its cycles, relinquishes your control of your mind and body, and has been known to cause dangerous hallucinations?" His poisonous smile winked at Nikki, and the little girl screamed.
"No… no, please…" she sobbed. "Please…"
"You don't know? Ask Wes again, he can probably tell you. Wave bye-bye, Nikki."
Nikki shrieked in terror, Kearm let out a roar, and the needle plunged into Nikki's arm. At that signal, the vampires attacked.
Kearm fought out of remorse. Nikki was his family, the little girl he had rescued from a hell on earth as deep as the one in which he had grown up. How could he let this happen? The world was insane, nothing but fangs and steel surrounding him, he couldn't see her, he couldn't see his poor Nikki, but nothing could have kept him from hearing her. She was screaming, screaming, screaming, it wasn't fair, it shouldn't be allowed, what had she ever done to deserve this, it wasn't fair… He caught sight of Ivane, fighting by his side out of habit, despite what Kearm had said. No time to regret it, although he would if he had the chance. What a stupid thing to say, to further screw up what he had done to the people who were important to him. But that was just typical; he had gone back to the way he had been in the arena, all but soulless, just for a moment, and now he was going to die fighting, just the way he always knew he would. How had he let this happen?
Lilah fought out of outrage. It's not fair! her lost sense of justice cried. You can't do this me; I'm not supposed to die like this! It hasn't been long enough, I haven't… I haven't redeemed myself yet. Tears welled in her eyes as she battled to stay alive and within the circle they had quickly formed. It isn't fair! I can't die before I make up for what I've done. If I die now I'll go back to Hell, please God I can't go back there, don't let me die before I fix what I've done, please, I couldn't bear it if I went back there, please, you can't do this to me, please… She hadn't realized that her thoughts had become words, all but drowned by the screams and war-cries. For the first time in her life, Lilah Morgan was praying.
Wesley fought out of habit. Fighting was all that was left of his life, long abandoned to nothingness, and he was used to the way his mind went blank when he fought to live, the violent emptiness that was so infinitely preferable to the despair that consumed the rest of his existence. So he was surprised, despite himself, to find that he was thinking throughout the battle. It made no sense for him to be thinking now. His thoughts were usually completely vacant when he fought. But something, he was realizing, doesn't add up. If I'm so empty, if I care about nothing, why am I fighting at all? Why did the sight of that syringe full of Orpheus driving into that girl's arm make my heart ache? Why did the thought of one set of young heroes going out to save another, despite the hopelessness of their cause, make me feel like, for the first time in far, far too long, I was home? Something has changed. I have a reason.
Ivane fought out of anger, pure fury. The one time he had been entrusted with something, the one time it seemed he, who had been fighting evil all his life, would truly be able to help the Slayer, the only real hero in which he believed… and now he was going to die with her, defeated by Angelus as so many others had been, as though nothing he had done had mattered, as though he had never been anybody. He had failed her. He was her Watcher, and he had been unable to protect her. And all he could do was lash out in rage. Maybe things can't go well after all. He shuddered. Maybe there isn't any point to hoping. Maybe evil will prevail, no matter what. But even then, convinced that he was about to die, he didn't believe it. Because he knew from experience that good would last as long as hope did. And he had spent his whole life surviving on hope.
Lindsey fought out of curiosity. What would happen, he wondered, if he fought for the side of good? Would he feel any different? Would that conscience he had felt developing suddenly have a say in his actions? Would he regret his days at Wolfram and Hart any more than he already did? Or would he just die? It seemed any of those possibilities were equally likely. Perhaps the dying more than the others, though. He seemed to be waiting, as he fought, for something to occur. It's not quite so crass as "I need a sign," he mused as he decapitated one of his assailants. But if something happens, I'll believe.
Jenna fought out of fear. It was the only thing that filled her mind. I don't want to die! Oh, God, I just don't want to die! I'm only fourteen, I haven't done anything yet, please, I don't want to die! I'm supposed to have a whole life to live, I… I know it! I saw it! But there's no way out of this, oh help me, someone, please, I don't want to die! Mom, I promised I would find you, Dad, I promised I'd be strong, but I can't! Because I'm going to die, and I'm never going to grow up and I'm never going to get a job and I'll never have a boyfriend or learn algebra or drive a car or cook dinner for my kids, and PLEASE, I don't want to die, I'm scared, I don't want to die, please, God, don't let me die, I'm too scared, I can't stand this, I don't want to go! She took a deep breath between attackers. But if Carlotta can do it, so can I.
Carlotta fought because it was her birthright. This is what she was born to do, and to go down fighting surrounded by innumerable enemies was the death she had expected from the moment her first Watcher had recited the ancient litany – "into each generation a Slayer is born." At first she battled like a demon herself, cutting a swathe that the vampires had to rush to fill. But then she caught sight of the others, read the range of emotions on their faces, and her momentum slowed. It wasn't that she no longer wanted to fight, it was just… she didn't want the others to die. Jenna was her friend, Lilah was her fellow-strategist, Ivane was… a little weird, but they had managed to get along just then… then she shook herself. Forget a normal life, Carlotta. Normal girls may have it easy, but I wouldn't trade my abilities for anything in the world. Nora's death, the deaths of my other Watchers, and the deaths that are about to occur have placed too high a price on what I do for me to ever turn my back on it. The only thing that could have been more right than dying this way would have been living.
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Nikki's head reeled. In the mad rush to exterminate the heroes and please Angelus she had been forgotten, dropped at the foot of the stone stairs leading up to where the vampire stood, smiling his cruel smile and overseeing the carnage with nothing short of glee. In Nikki's bewildered state she wasn't sure if he was the enemy or a friend. She tried to remember.
"Wave bye-bye, Nikki."
The ice-blue eyes narrowed. Oh yeah. He was that mean guy.
Her mind still couldn't quite grapple reality. She could feel the Orpheus in her veins – the most familiar sensation in the world to her, and the one she most feared. Nikki had never forgotten anything in her life, and now the memories of her earliest years swooped down on her with a vengeance. It wasn't until several minutes later that she realized she still hadn't stopped screaming.
She forced herself to be quiet. Focusing, concentrating all of her mental power on one thing was the best way she knew of combating the mystical drug's effects, and it had come to her aid time and time again, when by all rights the drug should have killed her. It was only because her mind was so distorted that she was able to withstand the Orpheus at all.
So what were those people doing? Fighting. Turning each other to dust.
Why? This question took longer to answer. At last it came to her. They were fighting… for her. They had started fighting when the mean guy hurt her… so they were good guys… fighting mean guys…
A diabolical smile crossed Nikki's face. Another thought had occurred to her. A memory. Of reading a spell, some time ago. Something about evaporating stone. Requiring extreme mental force behind it… but she had that. Thanks to Angelus and the drug that had been her nightmare, she had that.
Carlotta paused for a moment, finding her opponent hesitant. He kept glancing at the ceiling, along with his companions, shifting nervously, needlessly, as he fought. The Slayer tried to hear what they were whispering.
"Th-the ceiling! Look at the ceiling!"
The ceiling? Kearm wondered, unable to spare a look that his adversary might exploit. What's wrong with the ceiling?
It's cracking, Lilah realized, not really understanding. What the- The roof is cracking.
Where's it going? Lindsey stabbed at a vampire who had taken his eyes off of him for a moment too long. Why isn't it falling?
Similar thoughts ran through the minds of every being in the room. Angelus bellowed orders to his troops.
"If a single one of you backs down I'll make you wish you were never born! Keep fighting, you cowards, it's only cracking, not falling! The ceiling's not-"
A little girl supplied the word.
"There?" she said sweetly, and the last layer of stone hissed away, allowing the sunlight to come pouring in.
The humans ducked to avoid the sudden pillars of flame, although Kearm remained standing, his tough blue skin being rather, well, fireproof. It was some time before the vampire's howls, either burning or retreating into the tunnels, ceased to echo. The friends slowly stood up.
So they trudged on home, squinting occasionally at the sun as though unable to believe that it was really there. Halfway back Jenna burst out laughing out of sheer relief, and once they started it was nearly impossible to stop.
"Hang on a second," said Lindsey, holding up a hand. "You said Jenna had a vision of an invisible man?"
"Yeah," the Seer replied, still giggling.
"Okay… Look, I'm not an expert on psychics, but… that's not how the other Seer saw it."
"What Seer?"
"Years ago, I mean. Cordelia, when she had a vision of me, way back when. She didn't see empty rooms or anything. I mean… these runes are supposed to protect me from magical surveillance, so… you shouldn't have seen a thing. If you had a vision at all it should have been of the symbols themselves, not an invisible man."
"That's right." Kearm nodded. "Runes like that are supposed to protect you from psychics."
"So if Jenna didn't see Lindsey, who the hell'd she see?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Kearm glanced up at Nikki, who was riding on his shoulders.
"Okay, Nikki, once again… we don't have a clue."
Nikki grinned.
"It was Wesley," she replied, spreading her arms as though it were obvious. "That's how he snuck up on Ivane and that monster in the cave."
"Uh oh."
Heads turned again. Ivane looked nervous.
"Now what?" Lilah asked, half-apprehensively.
"I hate to be the one to bring this up, but…" The Watcher hesitated. "Angelus was down at the end of the room. There might actually have been time for him to get out. We did hear some of the vampires escaping, didn't we?"
There was silence.
"You know what?" Carlotta said after a moment. "Let's deal with that tomorrow."
If this were a fairy tale, I could tell you that they lived happily ever after. I can't. Most of them were injured, some burned, and all were exhausted to almost beyond their limits. They all died, eventually, because, after all, everyone has to die. But they didn't die then, and they didn't die the next day either, and maybe "happily ever after" is all in the eye of the beholder, because, at that moment, not a one of them was not happy. It is difficult to be unhappy when one has just survived a situation in which one expected nothing more than an extremely painful death. And while they would never actually call themselves heroes, you would be hard pressed to find someone to argue that they weren't.
The End