All I own is Carma

"We have to find Carma. If we're going to have any hope of defeating the First without turning Sunnydale at least, possibly the whole of California, into atoms we need the power of two Triumvirates, and the three of us are going to need as long a time as possible to get back on our feet. And then we have the problem of actually trying to figure out what we're going to do."

Spike was standing in the doorway; energy seemed to radiate from him, as though he just wanted to run out the door and start looking for her. Angel was nodding from his position on the floor sitting against the wall, legs straight out in front of him. Angelus was seated beside him, one leg curled underneath him, the other hooked around William who was leaning into his Sire's body. The younger vampire's arms were wrapped around Carma's slender shoulders, her head resting in the crook of his neck, her legs resting on the armchair nearby. Making Xander who was seated on the chair feel very uncomfortable as whenever he shifted his weight he brushed against her leather clad legs Angelus, William or both growled at him, and occasionally Angel and Spike joined in, all of which just made him more nervous, and the more nervous he got, the more he shifted around on the chair.

The vampires made a strangely threatening picture, you would have though that all spread out on the floor like that, curled together like little children they would have looked less harmless, but it was the exact opposite. They looked like predators resting in the shade, until the time came for them to spring and bring down their prey.

Colin was sitting on the other side of the door, protected from glares by Faith on one side and Willow on the other.

"I could do a locater spell but I don't think just pulling her out of wherever she is and into here is such a good idea. No offence Carma but I think she might react a it violently no matter what any of you say."

Willow's voice grew progressively quieter as she spoke, and a fierce blush stained her pale cheeks. Carma just grinned wickedly and stretched out, drawing the eye of every male in the room, and a few of the girls too, eyes flashing brightly.

"If you can send me to where she is, I'll bring her here."

After a minute pause Willow nodded, her eyes flicking momentarily to Angel and back was the cause, checking to see if he minded Spike inferring that he was going alone. Which of course he did, in a way, but he knew that there were issues between Carma and Spike that needed to be sorted out before he was even in the same building as her, otherwise he'd be dust before he could even say hello.

"I'm going too. What? I know be, from what he said, he's not exactly her…my…whoever's…favourite person at the moment, and they're going to need a buffer zone. Besides, it'll be interesting."

Her voice was ingenuously simple and sugary, a sweet smile befitting a young girl of her time, eyes demurely downcast, but there was a wicked glint in them that no one could see, but everyone knew it was there.


About an hour later it was all set up, the main room had been cleared of furniture and potentials. A circle formed of black sand was in the centre; white tea lights were spread evenly along the sand, little flames merrily burning away, Willow was kneeling outside the circle, knees two scant millimetres away from breaking the circle. Carma and Spike stood in the centre of the circle, hands clasped, fingers laced together. The other vampires stood as close as they could without being in the spell's 'splash zone', the hordes of potentials had flattened themselves to the walls. Giles had given a speech (for once it hadn't been Buffy) about the dangers of magic, and how if they were too close they could get dragged along. The Scoobies and Angel's gang were in a far corner, catching up on old times, recounting tales to those who hadn't been there when they took place, again Faith and Connor were a little on the outside. Angel thought he had heard his son mention Quor-toth, thinking that he should he was about to go over, see if Connor was finally ready to open up to him. Put a look from Carma stopped him, she may not know what was going on, and she may not have spent much time around the boy, but she could see when someone needed to talk someone who wouldn't judge, both of them did in her humble opinion. The blonde slayer was standing off in a corner, arms folded, doing her best to look like the pillar of goodness and light her twisted mind thought she was, but seeing as how she'd fucked two vampires, shamelessly using the second one, Angel didn't really se how she could think that.

It was so, except for strange dreams that he could never remember when he awoke he hadn't thought of Carma in nearly a century, Spike had merely been the annoying childe who had threatened his Buffy, and the Triumvirate had been buried under the mountains of guilt he had for what they had done at that period. But all it took was one insulting word and he was turning his back on Buffy, the woman he thought was his soulmate, returning to his childer, that is if Carma would have him.

"Are you guys ready?"

Willow's voice betrayed none of the nervousness the vampires could feel rolling off her in waves. Face resolved, eyes set. Two answering nods and she began.

At first she was muttering under her breath, even the vampires' enhanced hearing could barely make out the words. Gradually though her voice rose, the words, which sounded like a hybrid of Latin and at least one demon dialect, rose to a thundering shout. A small gale rose within the boundary of the sand circle. The watchers could see Spike's duster flapping madly and Carma's hair being blown around her face as though it were a loving thing. Then, with an anticlimactic pop, the wind died down and they disappeared, Willow seemed to collapse as though there were no bones left in her body.

Xander and Kennedy rushed forward, gently lifting the witch and depositing her on the couch. The red head was awake but obviously exhausted, that spell had been harder than the one that called the Triumvirate. That had been set within the town limits, this one had covered the whole planet, and if she was entirely honest she wasn't completely sure that it had worked properly. Not that she was planning on telling anyone else that.


Meanwhile, half way across the world a cylindrical tower of compressed air blinked into existence, white smudges blurring the surface. Then the misty walls seemed to waver, the condensed gale died down and then disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared. In fact, the only sign that it had ever been there were the two windswept strangers that had been ungracefully deposited in the middle of the dark, dank Parisian alley way. The woman had landed on her back, one arm caught under her, the other at a right angle to her body, her black hair was wrapped around her face, and none of her features were visible. A man with unnaturally blond hair that was wild and curly, like popcorn plastered to a skull, was sprawled across her, the two bodies forming a cross.

They didn't stay that way for long, instead the woman flung the man off her, sending him flying into a wall, and then proceeded to struggle with her face shroud formed of black hair. Once she was free and the man had managed to stand and walk over to her, holding his ribs.

"Paris. The smell never changes."

The woman's nose scrunched up in delicate distaste, while the man just looked amazed, then ecstatic. He actually started to jump up and down, receiving very strange looks from his companion.

"Spike what the bloody hell are you doing?"

Realising that he was making an idiot of himself he'd stopped but he kept running his hands through his hair again and again, head turning from side to side, eyes darting around, thrumming with energy.

"Paris, Carma, we're in Paris!"

"I know that you twit, I'm the one who told you. What the hell is the matter?"

But he'd already run off, leather cat flapping around his legs, a few words came drifting back to his bewildered friend.

"Paris at Christmas Carma, Paris at Christmas."

A change came over her then, the corner of her lips curling up in a smile, and a peal of laughter rang out before she disappeared after her friend. She went past a bundle of rags as she ran, paying not attention to them whatsoever, and so consequently didn't see the grizzly old man wrapped up in them. Grey hair fell wildly to his shoulders in odd patches, bald skull showing in between the islands of hair, eyes watery and yellow, skin red and this, veins and arteries perfectly visible beneath the tissuey material. Gnarled fingers wrapped around a half empty bottle.

"Cela était différent."

And took another swig of whiskey as his gaze followed the path the two had taken, before his eyes swept up to the dominating silhouette of the Eiffel Tower.

I finally updated something! I've had so much to do recently I've neglected all of my stories. But I finally did it! Having said that I hope you actually liked it.

SpikingJennsAngel: hope you liked this chapter too.

Garett: sorry it's been a while.

Scary Vampiress: there'll be lots more tag teaming between the vampires, I hope hope keep liking it.

Vdarkangel88: hope you liked this chapter too.

Please review everyone, I love getting them. :)