Finding the Way Home
by Sandy S.
Chapter 14
L'Gant was on top of Jenn before either Spike could react.
For such a large demon, he moved pretty quickly, and Spike reassessed his opinion of him. Apparently, L'Gant had been working on his sluggish tendencies since Spike had last seen him. As the two Spikes leaped at L'Gant, Spike's ears detected a familiar and surprising sound from Jenn.
And it was far from the screams that he expected.
Both Spikes stopped short, stumbling from their own momentum as they did so.
Jenn was hunched over and laughing wildly as the demon's fingers danced over her ribcage. "S-stop!" she managed.
Spike exchanged an astonished look with demon Spike and then, with a smiling Charlie who was calmly mixing more drinks. He glanced at the other bar patrons. Most were ignoring the spectacle although a few afforded the situation a fleeting look before returning to their drinks and small talk.
"No!" L'Gant continued tickling the helpless Jenn until she was gasping.
"P-please!" she begged, sinking to her knees on the dirty bar floor and attempting to push his arms away. The effort proved futile.
"Magic words," L'Gant demanded with affection in his voice.
"N-no! No m-magic!"
L'Gant moved to tickle her legs and neck. "Yes."
Spike tensed further. Was L'Gant attempting to hurt Jenn? He couldn't tell. He could hardly see Jenn underneath the demon's massive body.
"F-fine!" she replied, sounding almost like she was in pain.
L'Gant immediately ceased his tickling and stood back, crossing his arms. "Okay. I give in. Now. . . magic words!"
Jenn peered up at the demon with her lower lip sticking out. "Fine. I'll bring you the kittens I owe you next time we play."
L'Gant was doubtful. "That's what you said last time."
"I kn. . ."
Spike couldn't stand in silence any longer. His disbelief was stronger than L'Gant's, and his expression showed it. "What? You play poker with him?"
"Apparently," demon Spike answered. He was less surprised than Spike, but then, he knew Jenn better than Spike.
"Of course!" L'Gant sounded annoyed.
"Why?" Spike asked Jenn who was struggling to stand, still reeling a bit from the tickle session.
"B-because it's fun!" she replied.
"And *she* actually plays fair and settles her debts. . .most of the time," L'Gant added, looking pointedly at Jenn.
"Well. . . most of the time I play fair," Jenn corrected, accepting vampire Spike's assistance in steadying herself. "I find it fun to play with demon rules. Helps me understand them. Kitten poker is a fascinating part of demon culture." She caught Spike's incredulity. "I study demon culture. I guess you could say I want to eventually be a demon anthropologist of sorts."
Demon Spike shook his head as if he knew Jenn all too well. "I never know what you're going to get into next, pet."
She grinned at him. "I know! Like to keep you on your toes."
"And that you do. You're worse than Dawn." He smiled at her, his eyes softening. Spike's thoughts flashed to the Dawn of his dimension. All he knew of her was that she was studying archaeology at university. Regret seized him. He wished he had kept up with her better. His counterpart had done a better job of maintaining his ties with her.
"Well, you know her studies inspired me."
"Looks like it."
Raising his large hand, L'Gant interrupted their exchange, not with words but by closing his meaty fingers around demon Spike's throat and slamming him against the top of the bar. Again, the bar regulars didn't even flinch. They were probably used to L'Gant's shenanigans.
Licking his lips as if relishing the sign of aggression, Vampire Spike laughed in L'Gant's face. "Was wondering when you were going to do that."
Spike took that as a cue to move, and he leapt at L'Gant, jerking him back and attempting to throw him to the ground. However, the demon's mass was too great, and Spike only succeeded in tugging him back from his twin. L'Gant's hands remained twisted in the other's clothes.
Demon Spike grabbed L'Gant's hand, snatching one of Charlie's drinks and throwing it in the demon's face. L'Gant hissed as the alcohol began burning his eyes, and he loosened his hold on vampire Spike to bring his hands to his face. The two Spikes then wrestled the demon into a chair at a nearby, vacant table. One of them punched L'Gant in the nose to keep him from struggling too hard.
L'Gant raised both legs before either Spike had a chance to dodge, and he sent his assailants flying in opposite directions. Spike crashed into a table occupied by a couple of vampires who slid into vamp mask as he broke their table.
Spike groaned at the wood digging into his flesh. For once, he was glad he wasn't a vampire any longer. "Sorry to interrupt your cocktails," he apologized without feeling much sympathy for them. Ignoring the pain shooting through his muscles, he bounced to his feet and sprang back toward L'Gant who was headed his way. . . it didn't matter that his foe was three times his weight and four times as strong.
The vampires he disrupted looked as if they wanted to snap his neck, but their eyes lingered on L'Gant. They obviously didn't want to interfere with L'Gant's business, and they hurried to join the now retreating customers. Maybe they weren't used to L'Gant's fights causing this much of a ruckus.
L'Gant was headed toward Demon Spike who was lying in a heap near the wall. The vampire was slow in getting to his feet, tentatively touching his wounded head. Blood welled between his fingers, and a curse slipped from his lips.
Using his body as a miniature torpedo, Spike tackled L'Gant at the center of his back, causing the demon to stagger forward.
Growling, L'Gant whirled on Spike, grabbing him by the shoulders.
Spike thought the wall might crumble behind him with the amount of force L'Gant used to smash him against the plaster with his calcium-filled breastplate. L'Gant's breath smelled of the raw flesh that he regularly ingested.
"Hey!" Jenn waved a finger and used magicks to throw a tray of half-empty glasses to the ground. The shattering glass disrupted the flow of the fight, and the two Spikes and L'Gant stared at her. Jenn frowned at them, hands on her hips. "You done with the macho crap now?"
Spike's twin smirked from his position on the floor. He braced himself against the wall as he stood. "We're barely getting started, love."
"Well, stop *now.* We *are* actually here to get L'Gant's help, not beat him to a pulp. I don't know what happened between the two of. . . er, among the three of you, but I don't appreciate being dragged in the middle of it when all I'm trying to do is help."
L'Gant didn't release Spike, but he seemed curious. "What could these vermin want bad enough to come to *me* for help?"
Neither Spike said a word.
Demon Spike didn't because he was stubborn, but Spike didn't because he couldn't get enough air to make an audible sound.
Jenn changed tactics and appealed to L'Gant, "Let Spike go. Let him go, or I'll start breaking things, and you don't want that."
"A little late for that, pet," demon Spike observed, nodding to the glass shards and alcohol-drenched ground.
Jenn glared.
Spike gathered the small amount of air he had left and whispered, "B-buffy."
Startled at the sound, L'Gant stepped back.
Clutching at his throat, Spike gasped for air but uttered, "We need your help to find Buffy."
Confusion crossed L'Gant's face. "The Slayer? She's dead."
The emotional pain that Spike felt at L'Gant's words was sharper than any physical pain than his rival could inflict. Spike sought vampire Spike whose eyes were cloudy with his own hurt.
His twin's voice was hoarse and low, "He means the Buffy here."
Jenn was calmer with her next words, trying to move the conversation away from the obvious source of the two Spikes' pain, "What happened between you two. . . er, three?"
Before anyone could respond, the door to the now vacated bar slammed open. All eyes flew to the blond in the doorway. "I did."
L'Gant growled and said with an angry hiss, "Harmony."
Demon Spike snorted and muttered, "Things just keep getting more interesting."
Her hair up in a tight bun instead of loose over her shoulders and a grim expression on her face, Harmony trotted into the bar, and an entourage of vampires dressed in solid black filed in behind her, arms filled with crossbows and sulphur-tipped arrows. . . the only element that could kill demons of L'Gant's variety.
"Hello, Gantie." With her hands behind her back, she circled the demon with a confidence Spike had seen her possess only once. . . when she kicked him out of their bed with a stake. "Long time, no see."
"No skin off my breast plate. I'm guessing you aren't with this idiot anymore."
Harmony rolled her eyes. "Please! I wouldn't be with him if someone *paid* me."
"Why the change of heart, Harmony?" L'Gant asked, remaining calm despite the imminence of his situation. "You certainly didn't mind it before."
Looking down her nose at the two Spikes, Harmony narrowed her eyes, "It's different now." Her chin lifted. "*I'm* different. He. . . they. . .you didn't appreciate me like Michael. He believes in me. . . believes I have something to offer the world other than twisted sex games."
"You need to get a new tune, love," Demon Spike commented from Jenn's side.
Harmony clenched her jaw at his words. "And I have a mission now."
L'Gant jumped to conclusions, "So you're here to exact your revenge on me?"
She regarded L'Gant as if he were stupid. "Um, no. I'm here for the, er. . . Spikes."
"Then, what's with all the weapons in my bar? You can have them." L'Gant took the opportunity to shove the still recovering Spike forward.
"Hey!" Spike managed.
"I'm not here to kill them," Harmony clarified. "I'm just here to get them to help."
"Help you what, Harm?" Spike asked, rubbing his throat and giving her his most helpless expression.
Harmony threw her arms up as if she couldn't believe how inane his question was. "Well, duh! Help me get the Slayer out of Stephanie's fortress! We have to stop Stephanie. She's destroying everything Stephan and Michael worked for!"
His heart nearly stopped. Buffy was with Stephanie. . . a prisoner in Stephanie's fortress. Finally, he had some bit of information to grasp onto. Spike found himself offering Harmony a genuine smile. Maybe he hadn't given her enough credit in the past.
Spike's sudden warmth toward her took Harmony aback, and she returned his smile.
"Wait a minute." Demon Spike stepped forward. "How did you say you got here? And how do you know where his Buffy is?"
"Stephan has spies in Stephanie's lair. He wasn't stupid. She had them spying on him, too."
"How did you cross dimensions?" Vampire Spike repeated.
Spike saw them standing in the shadowed doorway behind Harmony's vampires before anyone else did. "Kranooks. Stephan said they escaped across the dimensions."
"That's right." Michael emerged from the crowd and joined Harmony, his arm circling around her waist and drawing her close. A jagged cut sliced down his cheek, and his clothes were torn and dirty, but he was smiling. "Just because Stephanie treats the kranooks like slaves doesn't mean they're stupid. Forming an alliance really wasn't that hard."
As Michael touched the wound on his face, Spike heard a faint slithering in the background reminiscent of the battle in the forest. Spike shivered in remembrance of the fray. Even with Buffy and Angel at his side, he'd felt inadequate to fight off the hordes. After killing one or two, he had been so tired that he could scarcely stand. If he had been alone, he would have been killed. A fight with the kranooks wasn't something he wanted to repeat.
When Spike re-focused, Michael was still talking, "It took some. . . negotiation, but I wish we'd have done it sooner."
"Right." Harmony beamed, not taking her eyes off Michael. "I'm so proud of you, honey." She deposited a kiss on his lips.
The youthful vampire gave L'Gant the once over. "This him?"
Harmony nodded childishly. "Uh huh."
"Okay." He snapped his fingers at the mini-horde of vampires and kranooks behind him. "Kill him. Tear him to pieces."
The demons hoisted their weapons, and L'Gant bellowed, "Wait!"
Harmony sniffed and moved away from Michael's embrace. "What?"
"I thought you weren't here to kill me." The vampires aimed their crossbows at L'Gant.
"Well." She waited a heartbeat. "Maybe I changed my mind. A girl has a right to change her mind, you know?"
"Wait!" Spike and Jenn shouted at the same time.
Harmony sighed dramatically but held up her hand. The vampires lowered their weapons. She faced the Spikes and Jenn with a little pout threatening to take over. "Whaaat? Can't you people see I'm trying to have someone killed here? And he's someone who did something *bad.*"
"He's my friend," Jenn stated, pushing vampire Spike's restraining hand off her arm and moving to stand between L'Gant and the attackers.
Harmony's expression softened, and she explained, "Look. You don't know what he did to me. If he did to you what he did to me, then you'd want him dead, too."
"That may be true. But he's been nothing but good to me." She frowned thoughtfully. "Just out of curiosity, what *did* he do to you?"
Spike sensed the warmth exchanged by the two females as Harmony told her story, "When I was first turned into a vampire. . . you know, vamped. . . I was really really vulnerable. I didn't know the first thing about being a good vampire because my sire. . . the vampire who made me. . . sort of, well, abandoned me. I hooked up with the first demon who would take me in, and he sucked me in with all sorts of promises about New Orleans and love and sugary stuff." Harmony's lower lip trembled at the memory.
Jenn cast L'Gant a dismayed look. "Go on," she urged Harmony.
"And well, he lied to me. He didn't take care of me at all. He made me dress in skimpy outfits and wear chains and sleep with his demon buddies whenever he lost a bet in a poker game. He was absolutely *addicted* to gambling. He even. . .even. . ." Harmony's eyes flickered to Spike who nodded his assent. "He even bet me in a poker game with Spike once. It was after Droodzilla cheated on Spike, and he came back to the States."
Spike couldn't bring himself to look at Jenn. He was afraid of her disappointment, much as he was afraid of Dawn's. He couldn't imagine how demon Spike, who was closer to Jenn, must be feeling.
Gesturing with her hands, Harmony continued, "And Spike won me from L'Gant. Well, Spike cheated because he used a card from another deck. L'Gant obviously didn't like that, so he attacked us, a-and we barely escaped with our unlives. Of course, Spike didn't treat me much better. . . ." She trailed off and bowed her head. Michael re-positioned his arm around her shoulders and wiped away the tear trickling down her cheek.
The only audible sound was the intimidating noise of the kranooks in the background.
"But demons can. . .*do* change. And it doesn't mean we should destroy a creature who could potentially help us in the upcoming fight against Stephanie," Spike interjected, sidling up beside Jenn. He couldn't see L'Gant's reaction to his statement, but he knew the demon was probably shocked.
Harmony's mouth opened as if she had something else to say, but Michael spoke before she could, "I hate to admit it, but he's right. We'll need all the help we can get."
"But what if I don't want. . .," L'Gant began.
"Shut up, L'Gant," Jenn shushed him out of the corner of her mouth, not bothering to hide her disappointment in him.
Harmony surveyed the exchange, glanced at Michael's ragged appearance, and assented with obvious reluctance, "Okay. But. One condition." She raised a finger at L'Gant. "Don't come near me, or you *will* be dead."
"Great!" Demon Spike said cheerfully from where he was leaning against the bar. "Now that we have that all settled, let's go rescue Peaches and the Slayer."
"And kill Stephanie," Michael appended.
Spike's thoughts went to Buffy, and an image of her bright green eyes and vibrant smile touched his heart. What had his trans-dimensional counterpart suggested? Could it be that because she chose him in his dimension that he actually had a chance with her? Fear that she was already dead settled in his chest, but he covered it with a quiet determination.
They would find Buffy alive and defeat Stephanie, and this time, he wouldn't waste three years waiting for Buffy to get done baking. He'd just turn up the heat.
TBC. . . Next up Buffy and. . . Angelus! Thanks again for the wonderful feedback! *HUGS*!!! :o)
You may have noticed something different about this chapter! :o) It's a lot better because I now have a fabulous beta reader! So, *big hugs* to Sandy (yep, another one…lol) for helping me smooth out the rough patches and making me think! :o) I'm so happy to have a beta!