Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I've created like Mercedes and Audrey.
CHAPTER 33-THE WAITING IS THE WORST PART
The ride to the necromancer's mansion was done in almost total silence, with the only sounds being Wesley flipping through the pages of information on their target and its owner. Faith sat beside him trying to catch a quick nap, with a pair of dark sunglasses over her eyes as she sat nestled in the seat beside Wesley with her head laid back up against the headrest. Shortly after she had fallen asleep Wesley had gingerly taken his coat off and carefully laid it over her as a sort of makeshift blanket. She had half woken up and taken a sniff before going back to sleep. Spike guessed that she had recognized the coat as Wesley's and simply gone back to sleep, happy for the added warmth. For the most part Angel and Spike stayed silent, almost aimlessly staring out of the heavily tinted windows of the limo. They were almost there when Faith finally spoke up, though she didn't move anything but her mouth.
"How much further," Faith asked softly while keeping almost totally still before she yawned deeply and popped her neck.
"We're almost there luv, just a little bit further," Wesley softly whispered back with a sly smirk on his face as he leaned back in his seat and laid his head to the side so that even through the darkness of the back of the limo he could see small stars in her eyes.
"Good, cause while I might look comfortable I'm about this far from getting a bitchin cramp in my leg," Faith whispered back with an uncomfortable smile on her face before she shifted in her seat a little bit, all while trying not to make to much noise.
"I could help you with that you know," Wesley said back with a content tone to his voice as he reached across the small gap between them and laid his left hand on top of hers.
"What did you," Faith started to snicker back with a daringly evil glint in her eyes before Spike coughed loudly and scowled at them both.
"Find any good ways in with all of those maps," Spike asked with an apprehensive look on his face as he pulled a small knife out of the sleeve of his duster and began to slowly turn it back and forth, watching what little light there was in the back of the car shine off of it.
"Yes Spike…I have, there's an air duct on the roof that leads down to a fan that blows air out of the kitchen, if the two of you could repel down into that duct and somehow remove the fan without making to much noise you could enter the house that way and have a means of escape that could provide much better cover for you than simply running out the front gate," Wesley replied with an impatient scowl on his face as he didn't like questions being shot at him while he was trying to get the buzzing in his head to stop.
"Sounds good Wes, a little to good, what's the catch," Angel asked softly with a curious look on his face as he sat up in his seat and then scowled heavily as he checked his watch.
"Well the catch is that all of the vents are computer controlled, if any one of them stops functioning for longer than a few seconds an alarm goes off on the computer and they'd be alerted before you retrieved the stone," Wesley answered softly with an apprehensive look on his face as he half shrugged his shoulders and tried to appear positive.
"So it's just a little catch then," Spike grumbled out sharply with a very sarcastic scowl on his face as he leaned back in his seat some more and soon his face was lost in the darkness.
"Spike," Angel growled with a frayed look on his face, as he shot his grandchild a venomous glare, before he turned back to Wesley and softened his tone. "Is there some way to get around that safeguard, like knock the system offline just long enough for us to get in, get the stone, and then get back out," Angel asked with a very serious look on his face as he took in a large useless breath and then let it back out.
"Genius there Angel, we do that and they'll know something's up, no…you've got the right idea but we have to think of something else," Gwen interjected with a very grave scowl on her face and impatient tone to her voice as she leaned forward in between Wesley and Angel's gazes, breaking the odd stare down going on between them for at least a few seconds.
"What if we…well I, were to start something out in the front yard, draw them all outside, then there wouldn't be anyone inside to hear or notice the little message about the vent," Faith offered up with a tired yawn as she sat up in her seat and joined the discussion, though she kept Wesley's coat wrapped tightly around her.
"Wouldn't work," Wesley started to say with a nervous and anxious look on his face as he shook his head before Faith countered.
"What, why not," Faith snapped with an impatient and surprised look on her face as she glared over at Wesley, almost throwing his coat back at him before he answered.
"Because there are to many guards and not even you could keep them all busy for that long Faith, it'd be suicide," Wesley said back with a stern and honest look on his face, as the whole time Faith stared straight into his eyes, judging for herself if he was lying or not. When she was satisfied that he was telling the truth, and that his reasoning was sound she let out a small grumble and then leaned back in her seat.
"Not if I helped her out it wouldn't," Gwen stated with an excited smile on her face as it appeared that she had more of an idea than she was letting on.
"Meaning," Spike asked with a pointed look of disbelief on his face, as he hazarded a glance over at Faith, before he went quiet as Gwen answered.
"Meaning that the diversion would be larger…and safer, if there was two of us doing it, they wouldn't be able to focus all of their firepower on Faith, they'd have to take me on to," Gwen answered softly with a very determined look on her face as Faith only briefly glanced at her while she spoke, preferring to watch the look on Wesley's face as she believed that the idea was good, she just hoped that he did as well.
"Well," Spike asked with a curious look on his face as he turned to Angel, who had stayed oddly quiet during the brief argument.
"Sounds good," Angel calmly said with a slight nod of his head before he scowled and leaned back into the darkness.
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"You know more than you're letting on don't you," Buffy said with an unhappily curious look on her face as she stood in front of Robin, hoping that he wouldn't try to lie to her again.
"What," Robin said back with a surprised look on his face before he shook his head and turned away, walking back to the couch to pick up his bag.
"You know or at least have a better idea than we do about what's really going on here and for some reason you've been lying to us since you first showed up here in Rome, are we on the wrong side and you're just waiting for us to figure it out for ourselves," Buffy demanded with a very serious look on her face as she rushed over and blocked him from picking up his bag.
"Whatever gave you that idea," Robin replied with an almost mocking smile on his face as he shrugged Buffy off and picked his bag up.
"Because you seem to come and go at will, only showing up when you need help, and the moment that you learn something from us you're gone again, call it a hunch," Buffy declared with a very serious look on her face as she moved in front of the door to the room, hoping to keep him with her until he answered her questions.
"I thought you stopped believing in hunches when your last one didn't pay off, didn't it take like three months for Dawn's hair to stop standing on end," Robin replied with a sly grin on his face as he did his best not to laugh outright at the memory, though he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.
"Four actually…but that's not the point, and…wait a minute, how'd you know about that, you weren't here when that happened, you were supposedly in South Africa," Buffy started to reply back at first with a happy chuckle before she remembered that Robin hadn't been there to see any of it.
"I have friends Miss Summers, we talk from time to time, they tell me of any amusing stories that come up, the story of what happened to your sister gave me a good laugh I must admit," Robin said back with a content smile on his face as he went to brush her aside and leave the room.
"I bet it did, but let me tell you something…Mr. Wood, Dawn didn't find it very funny at all, and it bugs me that you're being so relaxed about all of this," Buffy snapped back with a very serious and determined look on her face as she balled up her fists and leaned back up against the door.
"She wasn't hurt so other than a little bit of cosmetic problems she came through it just fine, now if you'll excuse me," Robin started to say with a slightly more serious look on his face as he laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Take your hand off of my shoulder unless you want every single bone in it broken beyond repair, when my sister is sad I'm sad, now you are going to tell me what I want to know or else," Buffy declared with a deadly serious look on her face as she glared straight back into Robin's eyes, leaving him little doubt of her full intent to do just as she promised.
"Fine…what do you want to know," Robin relented with more of an impatient sigh than a defeated one as he pulled his hand off of her shoulder and walked back into the room, calmly sitting down on the couch.
"Why are you really here," Buffy asked softly, with a bit of a surprised tone to her voice before she recovered her composure quickly, but not before Robin noticed it, and took a step away from the door.
"I think you already know, or at least have an idea about that," Robin casually replied with a confidant smile on his face as he leaned back in his seat a bit.
"To learn what's really going on here and if necessary kill to stop it," Buffy softly mumbled out under her breath with both a shocked and overwhelmed expression on her face as she shook her head and stopped heading for the couch.
"Not exactly…but you're close enough, since I left the council I've bettered myself," Robin started to say with a proud smile on his face as he calmly smoothed out his tie and looked to be completely comfortable.
"You left the council because Faith caught you cheating on her with another slayer, a younger slayer no less, and as for making yourself better…well that depends on how you look at it right, depending on your point of view," Buffy stated back with a very serious look on her face as she unclenched her fists and awkwardly brushed off the front pockets of her jeans.
"I left…because I had outgrown the new council's trappings, my relationship with Faith just helped make the decision to leave that much easier," Robin replied with a small stutter to his voice as he tried to remain looking calm and as if Buffy's questions hadn't faze him in the slightest.
"Funny…she didn't see it that way, she saw it as you running away rather than being a man and facing the music," Buffy snapped back with a clearly mocking tone to her voice as she walked back over to a chair and sat down.
"Faith has a way of messing with the truth, shaping it so that it suits her interests," Robin said back with a sly smirk on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and appeared to be almost bored talking to Buffy.
"The you sleeping with another slayer wasn't a lie Robin, she didn't have to shape that," Buffy grumbled back with an upset scowl on her face as she was having to do her best to keep herself from getting to angry.
"True, however what she has done since then is none of my fault, no matter how you want to see it," Robin replied with a conciliatory smile on his face as he looked to be washing himself of being held responsible for anything that Faith had done after catching him in bed with the other slayer.
"You'd like to think that wouldn't you, but if you hadn't done that she'd probably still be on our side instead of helping Angel," Buffy shot back with an accusing glare on her face as she sat up straight in her chair and looked straight at him.
"She's wild and unpredictable Buffy, you and I both know that, you can't tame her…you can't trust her any more than you can trust a wild animal, she looks after herself first, she's incapable of ever truly loving anyone or anything," Robin stated back with a very clear tone of voice, leaving Buffy to believe that he had probably practiced this answer many times in case anyone asked.
"So that's it right, you two were getting close and she freaked…and you couldn't handle it so you found someone new," Buffy grumbled back with an unconvinced scowl on her face as she slid out to the edge of her seat, almost silently daring Robin to try again.
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"I should have gone with them," Mercedes grumbled with an impatient scowl on her face as she sat down on the couch beside Dawn and started to flip channels on the television.
"We went over this, you know to much for the Immortal to let you live, he'd kill you if he got his hands on you," Willow grumbled back with an impatient scowl on her face as it was clear that she was only not dusting Mercedes because of that usefulness.
"So you don't think that I can handle myself, I'd like to see that bastard try to," Mercedes started to declare with an impatient frown on her face before Dawn interrupted.
"That's it you two, you don't have to like each other we just have to stand each other long enough for Angel and Spike and the others to get back from getting that stone thing and then getting rid of the Immortal, after that you guys can kill each other for all I care," Dawn snapped with an irritated frown on her face as she scowled heavily over at Mercedes before she turned her glare up at Willow.
"Dawn," Willow began to say with a nervous look on her face as she tried to keep her cool and not fly off the handle.
"Maybe we should be worrying about how we're going to get that other book so that Wesley can translate the one that we already have rather than about how we're going to kill each other," Nina offered with an anxious expression on her face as she stepped into the room, leaning heavily on the doorframe.
"When they get back we'll just waltz over there and take the stupid book right out from under their noses, they won't even miss it," Mercedes pouted back with a quick roll of her eyes and a scoffing sound as she turned away and stared straight ahead at the television.
"Unless of course they've figured out what we're after and hidden it away, setting a trap for anyone foolish enough…to try and just walk in and take it," Willow shot back with an almost mocking tone to her voice as she glared daggers back at Mercedes, who appeared not to notice.
"I could retrieve the tome, it would not be that difficult," Illyria said with an oddly confused look on her face as she seemed to be almost annoyed by all of the talk that was going on over something that she deemed very trivial.
"No one's going anywhere okay…we have to remember the plan, we stay here and wait until they get back, then we get that stupid book and," Kennedy argued with a tired yawn as she walked into the room, carefully carrying the vase like object that held Mercedes' soul within it.
"Can we talk about something else please…anything else," Nina asked with an eerily fearful look on her face, as she didn't like where the talk was going.
"Not really much else to talk about," Willow mumbled out softly with an apprehensive pout on her face as she shuffled her feet a little bit and turned to look out of the window.
"We could talk about how we're going to convince your sister and the others that they're on the wrong side," Connor announced with a nervous smile on his face as he sat up straight in his seat beside Dawn on the couch and looked around.
"A very good idea, we must have a plan of attack," Groo agreed with a proud smile on his face as he slowly nodded his head while standing guard at the door.
"We can't just attack them Groo, as much as we might want to, if we just rush in there guns a blazing they won't listen to a single word that we say, if we have any chance in hell at convincing them that we're not possessed or whatever they think we have to get proof that what we're saying is true," Kate said with a very thoughtful frown on her face as she kept clicking the safety of her gun off and on, a nervous habit.
"Then once again…we're royally screwed, because the Immortal would rather kill us all than give us anything that'd help convince Buffy or anyone else for that matter that he's bad," Dawn grumbled out softly with an unhappy pout on her face before she smiled a bit as Connor laid his hand on her shoulder and tried to smile at her.
END OF CHAPTER 33
Author's Notes: This chapter starts out with the group on their way to the necromancers mansion and their discussion about how to get in, get the stone, and then get out without alerting the guards any more than they have to. Faith takes the time to try to get some sleep, mostly because all that she has to do is be a decoy for Angel and Spike to give them time to get in and get out. Wesley and the others talk about several options and end up deciding to have Gwen and Faith provide a distraction out front allowing Angel and Spike slip in. Wesley has another painful episode but fights through it.
After that we switch to Buffy and Robin talking about how she thinks that he knows more than he's letting on and she's getting frustrated by the idea that everyone else knows more than her and isn't talking. He tries to act all calm and relaxed and as if he finds her questions funny but she threatens him with her slayer strength and gets him to talk. The topic quickly turns to Faith and we see that Robin doesn't really care what happens to Faith and that he's put his whole relationship with her in the past and wants it left there. Buffy tries to get him to admit that what he did was wrong and he comes close to doing it but then tries to absolve himself of anything that Faith has done since the breakup.
Then comes the talk of everyone else that was left behind at Gwen's apartments and how the wait is driving them crazy. Willow and Mercedes start to go at it before Dawn snaps and yells at them. The topic quickly switches to how to get the other book that Wesley needs to translate the first one. That lasts for a little bit before other talk drowns it out, talk like trying to figure out how to convince Buffy and the others not to trust the Immortal. That bit ends with Dawn basically repeating her view that they're in over their heads and don't have much chance of convincing anyone.
In closing thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing this story, sorry about how long its been to this update but my hours have gotten switched around twice at work and I've had plenty of new video games so my time to type is limited. But they just changed my hours again so hopefully I'll have more time to type now. As always reviews and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank You.