Chapter Twenty – Two: Friendly Fire

'It's amazing.' David stood in the large cavern like room, in the centre of which a large chasm stretched down deep into the earth, an ominous smoke pouring from it. He turned, his arms folded as he regarded the bound vampire that was chained to the wall. Spike's wounds had healed but he still looked sickly, and he didn't struggle against his chains. Angelus stood a few feet from them, a wicked grin on his face.

'What's amazing?' The brunette vampire asked, raising an eyebrow.

'He is.' David gestured to the trussed up blonde. 'He was born with a purpose – destined to become a vampire with a soul. Destined to bring about the destruction of his own kind. Depending on which way you look at it, really. From my point of view.' He smiled, looking at Spike. He took a few steps forward, looking up at the vampire. 'I kind of envy you. I was a warrior when I was alive, selected for my fate. You had a purpose your whole life and you didn't realise it.' He shrugged. 'Bit late now.'

'This won't kill him though, will it?' Angelus asked, frowning at David. The other vampire shook his head.

'I only need his soul. It's the sacrifice required. Afterwards you can have your fun with him.'

'Oh, that girl is in for a world of torment.' Angelus muttered, gazing at the blonde with malicious intent. He looked to David again. 'What do you mean, his soul is the sacrifice?'

'Well, the basic gist of it, is that he was born an old soul. He's an original. My demon…well, my demon is the original, but the last to be cast from this dimension. The Valkyrie, upon resurrecting my clan, will open the conduit, through which I will be able to sacrifice his soul and channel the magic's through my own demon, which will in turn, make me, pure.' He thought about it for a second. 'You might not want to be around when that happens.'

'Why not?' Angelus asked, his gaze returning to Spike.

'Have you ever seen a pure demon?' David scoffed. 'I'll still be me, but I'll be stronger, more superior to any of you.'

Angelus nodded and then yawned. 'Sounds like fun. When do we start?'

'We have to wait for the moon.' David turned back to the chasm, sighing loudly. 'Then we can start.'

Buffy stood at the window of her bedroom, watching the sun set over the horizon. She had been searching all day, trying to look with her heart, but dream Spike's advice hadn't helped and she wasn't any closer to finding the blonde vampire. The mansion remained deserted and she knew time was running out.

She yawned and turned away from the window, jumping when she saw Spike standing across the room from her. He smiled softly and she moved towards him.

'You're here.'

'At the moment.' He looked at her, emotion boiling in his blue eyes. She threw her arms around him, holding him tight. Their lips met in a frenzied battled and they remained together for a few seconds before Buffy pulled away.

'I love you Spike. I needed to tell you so bad, but I couldn't find you, and everything is going wrong.' She bit back tears. 'I need you with me.'

'Buffy, pet..' he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, smiling fondly at her. 'I know. And you can tell me to my face. But right now…I'm beneath you.'

'Huh?' She frowned. 'No, you're not. You're all I could want. A normal life, being normal is out of reach. I'm the Slayer. I want you.'

'You don't understand, luv.' He smiled, shaking his head slightly. 'I am beneath you and I'm going to hell.'

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself with her head down at the table in the library. She bolted upright, eyes wide. Giles looked at her from across the table, his brow furrowing at her distress.

'I had another dream.' She whispered. Willow appeared from the office, cradling a book, Xander seconds behind her. Buffy looked at Giles. 'I had another one, about Spike. He said he was beneath me. That he was going to Hell.'

'The Hellmouth.' Giles said, standing up as Buffy did the same. She headed to the book cage and opened it, grabbing an axe. 'The earthquake…the ritual must be tonight.' He mumbled, frowning at the implication of his words. Xander stared at the both of them.

'So they're doing it now?' he asked. Giles turned to him, ready to reply, when the earth began to shake again. Buffy fell against the cage and crawled backwards, watching the other three run for cover as books fell and shelves collapsed. The ground wasn't just shaking, it was tearing apart. A huge crack appeared in the middle of the room, light and red mist pouring through it. Buffy pushed herself backwards as the crack widened and collapsed.

It seemed like forever before the ground stopped shaking. She closed her eyes tightly and then opened them again, standing up shakily. Giles, Willow and Xander appeared from behind the counter, looking at the hole in the floor gingerly. Buffy edged closer to it, an axe gripped in her hand. She placed her feet apart, standing firmly on the ground, and peered over the edge. She could feel the heat coming from it, but couldn't see down into the pit below. She looked up at Giles.

'Anyone want to hazard a guess?' She asked, before a shadow exploded from the ground, and Buffy was flung back into the book cage. She grimaced and looked up as twelve more followed the first one and they flew straight up, crashing through the ceiling and into the night sky. Rubble and plaster rained down on the four humans and Buffy scrambled under the table for shelter, while the others ran into the office.

'Did you see those things?' Xander yelled.

'Were they the Valkyrie?' Willow asked and Buffy ran to join them, jumping over a part of the hole. She looked around.

'I think they're gone.' A noise alerted them; a screeching that got progressively louder. Buffy peered out of the door, looking up through the hole in the roof. Giles followed her and Buffy pushed him back inside roughly as the Valkyrie flew back down and rushed through the hole again. One stopped behind the others, landing deftly on the edge of the chasm. It looked steadily at them, sneering through razor sharp teeth. It's body was shaped like a woman's, uncovered, whilst long hair flowed down its back. Long leathery wings protruded from its shoulder blades and its eyes pierced Buffy's with a blue to rival Spike's. She stepped forward, raising the axe in defence and it screeched at her, raking the air with sharp talons. Then it dived back into the hole.

'You guys, get out of here. I'm going down there. That's where Spike is I bet you.' Buffy didn't wait for a reply before charging off and Giles frowned.

'We can get out through the stacks.' The librarian motioned and the three made their way out of the building, avoiding the rubble and debris that signified the end of the library.

Buffy ran towards the basement entrance as fast as she could. The school was deserted and apart from the rumbling and shaking of the foundations, no noise came from her surroundings as she rushed to save Spike. As she entered the basement, she looked around, wondering which direction the Hellmouth was in. She stopped, remembering his words, and closed her eyes, breathing slowly, blocking out the various sounds of the boiler room and rumblings of the earth.

Seconds passed and tingles alerted her to vampires in the vicinity. She blocked them out, focusing on the familiar tingles one certain vampire gave her. The feeling invaded her body, alerting her to him, searching for him in the way only a Slayer could. And then her eyes flew open and she focused on her route. The smallest and roughest passage, no more than a hole in the wall. She moved to it and squeezed through, wincing as she scratched her flesh on rocks.

Beyond the wall was a passage, of rough construction and screeches reached her ears from her left. She turned, facing the direction the noises were coming from. A dim light lit the passage and heat overwhelmed her. She took a breath and ran forwards, everything in her willing the blonde vampire to be alright.

She skidded to a halt as the light was blocked out and Angelus grinned at her. She took an unconscious step back as Drusilla appeared behind him and smiled at her innocently.

'Like a lamb to the slaughter. Our prince shall have a delicious morsel for his awakening.'

Angelus nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving Buffy's. The Slayer clenched her fists, looking past them, hoping to figure out a way to get past them. She didn't sense the vampire beside as he raised the stone and let it fall. She didn't feel the dirt as she collided with it.

She only saw blackness as her consciousness was snatched away.

Giles slammed the door behind them as they entered his flat. Willow rushed straight to the phone and dialled in Oz's number. Time seemed to pass in a daze as the Watcher collapsed again the door, wiping dust from his brow. Xander fell against the sofa, gibbering, his concern for Buffy mounting with each passing second. Willow explained to Oz the circumstances and instructed the werewolf to meet them at Giles' immediately. She then hung up and Giles took his turn, dialling Wesley and informing him of the situation. He grew agitated as the Watcher blabbered on the other end of the phone and then reluctantly agreed to meet them at Giles' so they could formulate a plan.

Then time seemed to stop. They were at a loss of what to do. The action and rush of the past few minutes, running from the school, seemed futile and the three sat together, wondering what to do now.

The silence passed and Willow looked to Giles, her gaze wavering, almost unsure of what she was saying.

'We should resoul him again.'

Xander's eyes boggled and he baulked at the suggestion. 'Why? Buffy doesn't care. She'll want him dead. Spike's all that matters now.'

'No. I mean, so that he will help her. Angel might not see eye to eye with Spike, but he still cares about Buffy. Angelus is more likely to just kill her.' Desperation lit in the young witch's eyes.

'She should be back by now.' Giles whispered. 'We need to go back to the school.'

'And do what?' Willow asked, her dominant streak seeping through her usually meek posture. She ignored the knock at the door as it came, her anger focused on the two men before her. 'We're useless. If Buffy got caught, our best hope is to do the soul spell and help her by making Angel good again.' Xander looked taken aback and silence reigned once more as Giles opened the door. Oz stood on the doorstep, stoic as usual. He nodded at the librarian, moving past him and taking Willow's side without a moment's hesitation.

'Shouldn't we wait for Wesley at least?' Xander asked.

'Wouldn't make much of a difference.' Giles muttered and Oz frowned a little.

'What exactly is the problem? Didn't Buffy go in for Spike?'

'Yeah and we ran to avoid the rapidly collapsing library. Only now, we aren't sure if Buffy is ok.' Willow explained. 'I think we should do it. Do the spell, resoul Angel and then he can help Buffy save Spike.'

The door sounded again and Giles sighed heavily as he reached out and opened it. Wesley stood in the doorway, frowning heavily.

'I think you should come and look at this.' The watcher said, motioning to them. His face was stony, his expression tight and there was no aloofness in his tone as there usually was. Giles frowned and the children followed him as the watcher led them out of the apartment complex and onto the street.

'Oh god.' Willow whispered.

The sky had turned crimson, cloudless, like a blanket of blood lying over Sunnydale. The school in the distance, almost burned red and screams echoed through the night. A funnel of black smoke rose from the school, and Giles turned to Willow.

'I believe your suggestion might have been a wise one after all.'

They moved back inside and Giles began collecting the items needed for the spell. Wesley frantically gathered weapons, as Willow looked for the book with the spell in it.

Xander, however, had turned on the television and remained fixed to it. Images of houses on fire, monsters in the streets, cars crashing and people dead ran on the screen and he looked on in horror.

"No one knows what is causing this strange phenomenon, but our advice is to stay in your homes, lock all doors and windows, DO NOT venture outside. The streets are dangerous."

'Guys.' Xander spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. 'Look at this.' The other turned, seeing the catastrophe playing out on the news.

'We have to do the spell, now.' Giles said and their preparation became all the more frantic.