Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Angel/Buffy. Any characters that are not from those shows belong to me. Just realized I hadn't put that, so there it is!
"I don't believe this," Spike grumbles. "What the bloody hell is going on?"
"No idea," Buffy snaps back. "But I can't move." The others try to move and realize she's right – they're rooted to the spot.
"What is this, some kind of sick joke?" Connor asks, watching as Taywen spins faster. "I hope she doesn't hit us."
"Yeah, how incompetent would that make her look." Faith snorts and glares at the girl.
Spike runs the options through his mind – he will stab Angel with the pitchfork, of course, if he is chosen, but with the metal part so it wouldn't kill him, then leave him to die. He doesn't really know the Connor kid... He has a strange smell, that of a normal human, but something fainter, hidden beneath... Power. That's what it is. Almost like Buffy and Faith.
Buffy. He would throw her out the window, a bit out of spite... Ok, mostly out of spite. But who to carry out? Connor, Angel's son... Angel's son. How the bloody hell had that happened? No matter right now. Or Faith? Admittedly, Connor had the fact of being related to Angel against him, but Faith had tried to kill Buffy, several times. He shook his head. He'd decide if he was picked.
She begins to slow, her eyes still closed, then gradually comes to a stop pointing to...
Connor.
"All right, it's decided," Taywen drawls cheerfully. "Have fun y'all." She pauses a moment, then adds, "Oh, and if you so much as try to change the rules or save more than two people, I'll be back and this'll start all over again. And you've only got fifteen minutes." She gives them a mocking salute and disappears.
There is an uneasy moment of silence as Connor tries not to meet anyone's eyes while everyone else stares at him expectantly. Spike can see the boy looks... angry. His face shows nothing, but his stance, the flashing of his eyes... Definitely angry.
Beside Spike, Buffy clears her throat loudly. The blonde vampire notices she is wearing a watch. When had that happened?
The Slayer was looking pointedly at the watch. "Thirteen minutes left," she says gravely.
Connor's eyes snap to the Californian, but he says nothing. The uneasy silence resumes, until Faith finally growls, "Well? Kill me if you want, but just say something!"
The child of two vampires glares at her. "I will kill... Angel." Another moment of silence, this time shocked, then Spike bursts out laughing. Angel looks stricken.
"What did I do?" the first vampire with a soul demands as his son goes to pick of the pitchfork. He tries to move but finds himself once again rooted to the spot.
"Do you remember," Connor says quietly, hefting the pitchfork easily despite his deceivingly lithe form, "When I sunk you to the bottom of the ocean?"
Faith, Buffy and Spike exchange confused glances. The blonde vamp has certainly never heard of this.
Angel nods slowly, a look of understanding dawning on his face.
"I figure this is the chance to correct that crucial mistake that I made a year ago: Not killing you. So here's the second chance... Better not blow it, right?" He looks at his father. From his tone, he should be smiling but he's not; his face is blank, a shapeless mask behind which his true feelings hide. An unforgiving stone wall protecting those within. Only his eyes show any signs of emotion, windows that allow glances inside, small glimpses of what really goes on in there.
The dark-haired Irish vampire's face is equally emotionless; he has decided to take his fate with dignity. Spike's lip curls into a sneer. He always was such a bloody fool.
"There's got to be another way," the Slayer says desperately, trying to get to the man she has viewed as her saviour ever since that fateful day... Faith struggles to move, Spike can see it on her face, but her efforts are futile; she's just as stuck as any of them, except for Connor.
"Faith," Angel says quietly. "Let it go."
"No can do boss," the brunette grunts, still struggling, her eyes glaring daggers at Connor. If looks could kill. The words rise unbidden in Spike's mind and he almost smiles.
Connor doesn't even spare the second Slayer a glance as he snaps the wooden handle of the pitchfork over his knee, creating a makeshift stake. His hand snakes out, stabbing the vampire before him straight in the heart.
Silence. Angel's face registers anguish, then... Dust. Spike feels a small, minute, tiny, hardly-there-at-all pang of pain at losing his grandsire. The emotion quickly passes. Not so for Buffy or Faith. They look as stricken as Angel had when Connor announced his intents.
They are all free to move again. Spike walks up to Buffy and seizes her wrist. She tries to jerk away but can't; he looks at her watch. This little drama back there has taken all of ten minutes. What a waste of time that stupid ponce was.
"Three more minutes," Spike mutters to himself, releasing her arm. "Who're you gonna save, my new psycopathic friend?" he asks Connor.
The boy shrugs, studying each in turn. "Faith," he replies. "But I can't decide between you and the other Slayer."
"Pick me, mate," the vampire advises. Screw his soul, he'd rather live than play the chivalrous hero. "I've got a better sense of humor, and I'm smarter, faster and stronger."
Buffy doesn't comment, apparently too caught up in her grief to register what her former lover had just said.
"Perhaps I can throw you both out at the same time," Connor remarks under his breath, glancing around. Spike suddenly remembers that the barn is on fire. It certainly doesn't feel like it. Come to think of it, the fire hasn't spread at all. It seems content to just lick at anyone who got too close.
"Sure, do that," Spike mutters. "But make it quick. Only a minute left."
Connor nods and goes over to where Buffy is standing. He picks her up easily in one hand despite her protests at being able to carry herself. Then the strange human walks over to the vampire and picks him up just as easily as Buffy.
"Hurry," Spike says urgently, then laughs in spite of himself. This is insane.
Then he's flying through the window, Buffy a couple of inches away. The ground looms up...
And they're back in the barn. Angel is there as well. They're back in that stupid circle, and Taywen is glaring disapprovingly at them. Or trying to; it's hard to look at people standing behind you.
"Did I not make myself clear?" she demands, looking annoyed. "No changing the rules and all that! Now I'm going to erase all of your memories of the past fifteen minutes and you're all going to have to redo this again!" She waves her hand as if swatting some bugs out of her face, then she closes her eyes, sticks out her arm with one finger pointed and begins to spin.
"I don't believe this," Spike grumbles. "What the bloody hell is going on?"
"No idea," Buffy snaps back. "But I can't move." The others try to move and realize she's right – they're rooted to the spot.
"What is this, some kind of sick joke?" Connor asks, watching as Taywen spins faster. "I hope she doesn't hit us."
"Yeah, how incompetent would that make her look." Faith snorts and glares at the girl.
She begins to slow, her eyes still closed, then gradually comes to a stop pointing to...
Author's Note: I'm happy with this chapter... I hope you liked it. I got mostly good comments... 66 percent, at least... a C... Anyhow, please review!