"I Love Ya...Truly..."
PG-13
Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .
Or direct to story at .
Part XXXVI...
LA...Outside the Doublemeat Palace HQ of Wolfram-Hart, Inc...(Anne Summers, acting CEO)...Evening...
Anne, in the midst of her new minions, beamed at her newly arrived guests...Dawn, William, Xander... "Grat o'ya ta cum, guys...Will, I wuz gonna go afta ya but dis is so neat..."
Ummn... "Ya know Dawnie and Xanda are ded if ya don' surrenda, ri?..."
"Xanda!..." an emerging Lieutenant of Anne's Army of Evil, Harmony, called happily from the Palace back door... "Ooo...Xanda, I been waitin' for ya!...I gots a guy for ya ta eat ri' away..."
Ummn...Thanks?...Xander eyed her... "Tak'em, guys..." Anne waved to her staff... "But if deys gets hurt, you get hurt..." she glared as the group advanced on the three...
"Go, Dawnie, Xan!..." Will stepped forward, attempting to take defensive stance as the W-H minions displayed admirable caution in their advance... "She won' kil me..."
"Hey...!" the new Queen of the Damned frowned, a bit hurt really... "I said we wusn't gonna hurt nobody...Doncha b'lieve me, Will?...Aw..." she pouted...
"Geesh, you clowns..." she frowned at her foot-dragging followers...But then, mostly human, devoted to the self-preservation philosophy of W-H, Inc, and suffering from a tradition of defeat...
"Deys only threea dem...Go and get'em!...Now!..."
"Cumere, Xanda!..." Harmony called... "I wanna mak ya my forever guy!..."
"Cover your eyes, fellas!..." Dawn cried...
OW!...Anne, Harmony, and the wavering minions howled, rubbing their eyes as Dawn threw out a blinding pulse of energy...A little something grabbed from the vault, she explained as Will staggered backward...And tried to tense again for the rush... "You guys get movin'..." he turned to them...Trying to squint his eyes to see anything
"No, Will..." Dawn pulled at him... "You're the one to go...She won't do anything to us while you're out and about...Get back to Angel and the others!...Go!..."
"She's right, Will!...Go!..." Xander picked up a board and pulled a cross from his pocket...
Harmony likes me?...he thought...Well, dead Harm likes me...Preferably dead...
"But Dawnie..." "Anne would catch us even as she is...Go!..." Dawn shoved him back... "Yeah, but I cana see!..." he noted...
"Just run!...Use your..." Dawn shrugged in frustration as William whanged into the alley wall... "I'm ok...O...K..." "Stupor senses..." she groused... "Just go straight till your vision clears...Run, Will!..." He headed off...Tripping over several garbage cans, banging off a fire escape...But generally headed for the main street beyond...
"Get 'em, you stups!...Or yous all ded!..." Anne howled, stumbling in her temporary blindness... "Dawnie, I's real mad at ya...You betta start minding me!..."
"Xanda!...Whers ya at?...Don' go!..." Harm called...Feeling in the air for the wall or...Oh, sor'...she apologized to a large demon... Not at all, ma'am...he politely replying...
"Come on, Xander..." Dawn pulled him back toward the main street now... "We might be able to..." Whoops...she pulled up short as Anne hopped over them to block their path...Demon-faced, snarling... "Ya betta quit it, Dawny...You too, Xanda...I can smell ya ifen I can't see ya..." she growled, voice drunken and wobbily...Yet quite sufficiently menacing... "Xanda?...You dere?..." Harm groped her way over...
"If you kill us, William will..." Yeah, yeah...Anne waved a hand...And resumed human form... "I didn't say I wus gonna kil ya...Yet..."
"Annnne...Ya said I could have Xanda!..." Harm growled as she came up... "Xanda?...You ok?...Ummn...Sor' 'bout Anya...I brung ya a card for her..." she pulled out a somewhat battered card, waving it...
"Anne..." Dawn eyed her...She blinking her eyes clear...Ohhh...Dat stuff hurt, Dawnie...she groused... "Wha?...Oh, ri'...No, Harm...Yous gets Xanda later...I needs him live for now..." she dismissed her passionate lieutenant with an airy wave...
Grrr...Ahhhh!...Harmony's aching heart had however been waiting about as long as she was prepared to...And though her vision was still blurred, her other senses were about as good as the demon brew could leave them...She went for her Queen, while attempting to eye her intended...
Lookee wha' I's do for ya, Xanda...
OWWW!...Anne slammed her back... "Demmit, Harm...Sidown!...Yous gets him later!...When I..." Another charge knocked her down...Harm looking up in triumph at a now dimly-visible Xanda...Waving...See, I's cuming for ya, babe!...
I suppose...Xander noted to Dawn as they stared at the two vamps on the ground... "I should be..."
"Running!..." Dawn shoved him...
"Geesh, ya moron!..." Anne shoved Harm off... "Deys gettin' away!...Dawnie, cum back!..." she called, a tad wistfully...Harm looking over her...Xanda?...
"Cum on!...And yous vamps...Leave 'em live or I'll dust the twoa you!...And yous uda jerks get movin' too!..." Anne glared at the moaning, in some cases pleading for mercy from the victors, W-H staff as they continued to stumble about in blind panic...
Geesh, wha' day...she groused, throwing Harm off to the side and hurrying off...
OWW!...As she banged into the same fire escape Will had hit...
"Dawnie!...Cum back!...I ain' gonna kilya yet...!...Ummn...See i's all a trick...I's still ya Buffy!...Jes foolin' da bad guys!..." she tried...
Aw...Gee...
Wesley's rather packed car...Downtown LA...Late evening...
"I suggest..." Joseph noted from the back seat where he was squeezed against Andrew and Angel on opposing sides...Lilah rather contentedly in his lap... "That we open our assault with a tactical diversion, then have our main force strike the rear to gain access to the prisoners...Once reinforced, we can determine the situation and continue against our objective or pull back and regroup as required..."
"In other words..." Wes noted from the driver's seat... "You and Lilah will make some noise out front, run like hell when they come out, and the rest will kick in the back door and try to get our people out...?"
"Exactly...Glad to see our evaluations concur..." Joseph beamed...I like your summation better...Lilah whispered to him...
"Slaya's reddy..." Kennedy raised a wavering fist from where she sat on Andrew's lap... "Yous still gay, Any?..." she hissed to him... "Cause I thinks Dawny likes ya..."
Gay?...Andrew blinked...Why, whatever...
I mean, true...I was rather close to our former fiendish leader...And at times in the past have perhaps displayed what some rather narrow types might see as typical stereotyped...
But I've become way more manly thanks to Mr. Giles' excellent training...
"Ya wanna see if ya bi?...Ya can practice a lil' wid me while we're goin'..." Kennedy kindly noted... "Cause I thinks ya nice and Dawnie should hava nice guy who knows stuf about da demmens and all..."
Ummn...
"Slayer, focus on your mission, please!..." Wes came to the rescue... "Yas, sir..." she nodded... "Slaya's reddy!..."
Doublemeat Palace #10002...Late evening...
A frowning Queen Anne led the newly captured Dawn into the main dining area...Gotta do everythin' meself...As usual...she glared at her sheepish minions...A sulky Harmony following...
No Xanda...Bet she let him get away...Bitchy Annie da Queen...Rotten, lousy...
"Yous grounded for tanight, Dawn..." Anne groused, pointing her to a chair near Giles... "Jes be glad I needs ya for bait or I might not even vamp ya...Just throw ya to dem..." she indicated a few of the handful of surviving W-H demon and vamp staffers...
"Dats for her...Any of yous get any ideas and I rip ya heds off...!" she glared...The non-human minions sighing...Yes, ma'am...
"Dawn?..." Giles eyed her... "Giles, guys...Sorry about this..." Dawn sighed as two of the human staffers began tying her up... "Don' ya hurt ma sis..." Anne growling as they carefully did so...
"Afraid my intentions exceeded my abilities...I really should've brought some more effective weapons from the Occult Storage...But Xander and William did make their escape and the others should...Hopefully...benefit from their information..."
Giles eyed her narrowly... "Yes..." Dawn sighed... "I've been exposed to that brew as well...With a rather unique effect...As with our Drusilla..." she nodded pleasantly to Dru...Who smiled kindly back...
"By the way, I'm Dawn Summers, Buffy's sister, in case the spell about me never worked on you..." "Oh, I quite remember you, Ms. Summers..." Dru nodded pleasantly...
Very sorry about the time I nearly ate you... "Just your nature, Ms...?"
"Waverly..." Dru beamed at the first person to ask in over a century... "Drusilla Alice Waverly..."
"Very nice to make your acquaintance...And welcome to the Light side..." Dawn smiled...
Whas happened to Dawnie?...Willow hissed to Giles... "She's talkin' funny..."
Yeah...Anne had come over... "Dawnie, yous talkin' funny...Willa says so too...You ok?..."
Did any of ma guys hurt ya out dere?...A hard glare round at the staff... "No, it's that demon brew..." Dawn explained...
Brew?...Anne glared... "Dawnie, you been drinkin'?..." Her eyes narrowing as she looked at the others... "Willa!...Who let Dawny drink?..."
"I dunno..." Willow stared at Dawn...
"It was an accident, Anne...I spilled some on me..."
Ouch!...Hey, watch the... "Arrgghh!..." she and the others watched in shock as Anne snapped the neck of the staffer who'd accidently banged her ankle with the chains he'd been securing...
Tole him...Anne glared...Waving in another...Far more cautious...fellow...To finish...
"Hey..." she beamed... "Ma furst kill...Oh, Buf's gonna suffa now!..." Oooops...she paused...Wasn' posed to kil humans...Yet...Imperils the master plan, damn it...
Uh...Dawnie?...she eyed her sis...
"You'll tell Willum I did it to saf ya from the bad guy, ri...?"
Please?...
"Really wuz ta help ya, ya know?" an earnest, if bleary look...
"Ok...Well..." Ummn... "...Cuse me if Im bein' rud' cause Im a lil' off wa' should be ma evil edge, Gil's..." she apologized to Giles...Who frowned...As Dawn continued to stare at the dead man on the floor...(Hey, gets da guy outta here, ma sis shouldn' be seein' it...she hissed to Fred...Who'd come over to report he was ready to make contact with Hell...) "I wanna get dis strait...And cause Im off ma edge...It ma tak a lil' bit for me to get dis strait...But no har' feelin's...O...K...?" she gave a smile...
"Let me explain it to you, Anne..." Fred tried...A hard glare his reward... "Shetup, you..." she frowned...
"Sos..." Anne paused... "It's like da TV show I member Xanda was watchin' last wek..."("Xanda?...Where's he at?..." Harmony lifted her sad and wobbily head...Willow looking round as well... "Xanda?..." Both calling...) "Where the stuf made the dum..." she looks at a frowning Dawn... "guy smarta...And the smartest guy..." she beams...
"A lil' less on the edge o' da smarts..." she eyed the trapped group...
Yeah...I sa da one...Willow nodded vaguely...It wa cool...Smartaistheduma...Duma is the smarta...
"I hardly think that scenario applies here..." Giles shook his head...Eyeing Anne...
"I agree, Rupert...It's obvious my condition is due to manifestation of variance in the field matrix I was formed from affecting the solutionemployed..." Dawn nodded...
"For myself, I rather prefer to think the Blessed Virgin is saving me from the dark horror enshrouding my poor essence..." Drusilla noted contentedly...Dawn eyeing her...
"As for Sister Drusilla...I think we must go with a variation of Anne's scenario...craziest person gets saner consuming the solution..." Dawn noted...
Yes, I concur...Giles nodded...
"I Love Ya...Truly..."
PG-13
Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .
Or direct to story at .
Part XXXVII...
Wes' car...Pulled over two blocks from the Doublemeat Palace nerve center of Summers-Wolfram-Hart, Inc...Evening...
"Alright..." Wes looked round the car at his...God help us...Team...
"Lets..." His cell phone buzzed... "Yes...Xander?...Where the devil...?"
Uh-oh...Joseph blinked, looking for a moment a bit like Angel and Kennedy under the brew... "Joseph?...You alright?..." Lilah nervously scanned his face from his lap, reaching to feeling his pulse...Wes shaking his head slightly at the sight...Unbelievable...Never would I have thought I'd find an image of Lilah in her boss's lap to be both bizarrely touching and utterly innocent... "Ummn...Yes, fine...But... Mr. Wyndham-Price?..."
"A moment..." Wes put up a hand... "Xander, we're two blocks from the Palace on Evans?...Can you?...Oh..." he looked to see Xander tapping on the glass... Hey, Xan!...Angel waved to him, lowering the window...
"Mr. Wyndham-Price?..." Joseph tried again... "I'm afraid we have a new problem...Anne seems to be attempting to call in support from my comrades in Hell..."
I'm still plugged into the network...he explained...
Hmmn...Wes thought...Would have thought he'd keep that one secret and exploit it to his benefit later...Anne's really thrown him...
Or maybe...He smiled faintly and wryly at the thought...Love has...
"Can they do much for her from Hell?..."
"How's Dawn?..." Andrew stepped out of the car... "Anne's got her, I think..." Xander noted... "We got separated when they nearly caught us outside...Not much choice but to run...But Will's gotten away too..."
"You left her with Anne?..." Xander blinked at Andy's harsh tone and stern look...Whoa...
"I tried to stay with her...But she led them off deliberately..."
"Their powers are limited right now..." Joseph shrugged at Wes from his seat, Lilah still feeling pulse and watching him carefully... "Though if they wished to and were willing to drain their strength, they could blast us...Doubt they'd do it for Anne right now though...She's too independent, ungrateful..." he groused a bit, then sighed...
"But they could help her with the brew cure and advise her about our activities to some extent..."
"Den, ma Slaya sis and vamp soul bro needs us!...Les go!..." Angel raised a fist, threw his door open, and started off... Whoops...He came to a sudden halt..Forgada seat bel...Ooops, think I brok it...He cautiously pushing the broken belt back down into the side of the side...And rising successfully this time, headed out...Determined, if bleary look in his eye...
"Angel! Wait!..." Wes called, hopping out... "Angel, it's not that way..." Xander hurrying to him... "Slaya's reddy!..." Kennedy stumbled out from her side... "I's cuming Willa!..."
"Lilah, please help Ms. Kennedy!..." Wes turned to her as he reached Angel, Xander already taking him in hand...Hold on, big guy... "Hang on just a sec, boss...We're heading right out..."
Well, the boss may be a bit out of it but good to know that our ex-Sunnydalers are seeing that the heroic heart's still in the right place...Wes thought proudly...
Just don't fall on your face in front of them...And our temporary allies...
I coulda spent an evening gettin' to know Crudgins...Lilah thought, sighing as she got out and headed over to Kennedy...
Instead, here I am, about to die in most embarrassing fashion with the incompetents of Light...
This damned well better entitle me to one of the tonier corners of Heaven...
Well...She eyed Joseph as he came to her side... "Whos you?..." Kennedy asking from the other... "It's alright, Kennedy!...They're working with us!..." Wes called... Maybe I could pass on Heaven...Lilah smiled wanly at the little Senior Partner...Her lil' Senior Partner...
Couldn't leave the little guy alone to face the other Partners...Sure to be pissed at the latest string of disasters...Unless this little disaster gives us both a shot at Purgatory?...
"Alright..." Wes sighed... "Lets try and get near the Palace without too much noise, shall we?...Everyone stay together..."
A crash..."I'm...Ok...Jes' fine..." Angel noted as Xander pulled him away from the trash can he'd stumbled into...
"Slayer?...If I may..." Joseph went round to Kennedy's other side...Offering a gallant arm...Thanka...Kennedy nodded...
"Look, Andy...I did my best..." Xander sheepishly explained to Andrew's frown as they set out...
O...K...William thought as he crept as carefully as brew imbalance would allow over the roof of Doublemeat Palace #10002...
Made it in one piece...Managed to avoid tripping over every garbage can in sight...Safely up where I can spy the goings-on without...He looked down through the plexiglass roof panel to where poor Melvin still dangled helplessly from his rope harness...Hmmn...
My Annie trying a human pinata party?...Dru and I did that a few Xmases...Whack away to reveal the chewy goodness within...
Further below he caught a glimpse of his possessed beloved's body...Oh, ma poor lil...he sadly whispered aloud...Say, nice suit...Apparently engaged in conversation with a chain-and-rope bound Giles...Willow next to him, also secured...Dru...Hmmn?...In chains as well, just next to her...
Guess what the Tara soul said was true...
Two young women likewise chained...Hmmn... Slayers called in by good ole Giles?...Kinda nice to know the new girls can't match my Buf...She'd've been out of that so fast...
Anyway, potential reinforcements...However Anne seems to've collected a fair bunch of minions, several fairly well-armed...Best to take things...Ooof...He slipped and slammed on the plexiglass...Hastily pulling back...
"Was' dat...?" Anne and a number of W-Hers looked up...Nothing...But the Queen's tactical skills remained unimpaired... "Gos and check it out!..." she waved at several...A demon, the female vamp staffer and would-be Xander beau Terry, and a human... "Now, stoopids!..." They hurried for the rear door...
"Gotta be one or bothada guys, ya think?..." she looked at Giles...Then up again...Nope, nothing... "Hey? Willy?..." she called happily, looking straight up... "Or Ange'?...Or whoeva?...Hey?...Cum on down!..."
"Aw, cum on down...Willum?...Hon'?...Ya dere?..." she repeated... "Annie wansa a lil makin' out!...Cum on, hon'y, doncha wanna mak out?..." she fussed...Aw...
Ummn...She blinked, looking back down at the staring Dawn nervously...Not wishing to give little sis the wrong...Well, ok the right... idea...But still not wishing to make the wrong impression...
Demon or no, she's still a responsible big sis/mystic clone mom...
"Wes married...Kinda, Dawny...I's ok..."
"So William told me..." Dawn replied...With admirable calm, considering the subject, Giles noted..."But wouldn't that only count for Cicely?..."
"I's Cicely's demmen too...I's ok...I'm tellin' ya..." Anne fumed a bit...Giles eyeing Dawn...Caution...
"Damn time ya minded me, Dawny..." she groused... "And I can mak' ya, ya know..." a harsh, if drunkenly slurred edge...
"Well, I guess it would be ok...If William says so..." Dawn tried... "Oh, ya...He's gonna be fine wid it..." a happy beam, followed by slight cloudiness... "Well, mebbe not wid me..." a sigh... "He lik's da soul betta...But I got yous guys so he'll hafta...Yeah..." spirits lifted, the Queen awaited reports...
Giles blinking slightly at Dawn...Ok?...If William...? She sighed, turning to his staring face... "I'm sure the story's true, Rupert, it explains a great deal of Buffy's behavior with Spike these last years...We can check your archives later but I think one must accept realities...And Fate..."
Mmmn...Though I have heard of a Cicely Addams among the Slayers, I think I'll want a couple of weeks in the Council archives before I'm quite ready to swallow this one merely on Anne's and William's drunken words...Giles thought...
'Sides it is kinda romantic...William fighting his way out of Spike to salvation for love of sis while she held her stake, sensing vaguely who he was...Sort've like my Andrew beating back his dark side and the First's influence while I gradually came to sense the beautiful soul within that awesome...she sensed Giles watching her...Ummn...
"Andy?...Beatin' his wha?..."Anne stared at her, then Giles..."Giles?...Andy been messin' wid ma sis?..." A narrow glare...
"Uh, no...Certainly not, just a minor romantic fantasy, Anne...Sorry...Had no idea I was speaking aloud..." Dawn sheepishly looked round...Several of the Wolfram-Hart staffers looking at each other...Here and there, a tear hastily wiped...Gee...
But, after all...Tucker's brother...One noted to her colleague...
"You know...Just got carried away a bit...Like with RJ..." Dawn eyed her sis' demon's angry face... "R...J...Yeah...I 'member dat clown...He's gonna be sor' ya bet!..." A dark look... "Wai'a mo?...Car'ied wheres?...Willa!...You been lettin' Andy mess round wid Dawn?..."
I been ded one day...she fumed... "And ya let dis happen?..."
No ways...Willow waved a swaying hand... "She wuzn't lone wid him taday...Gil's you tella..."
Hmmn...Demon brew or no, Anne's actually no slouch when it comes to watching over Dawn's safety...In certain matters, at least...Giles noted... "It's fine, Anne...Andrew's been a perfect gentleman..."
"Perfict?..." Perfect...Dawn nodded...
O...K... "If Gil's says so...But I's gonna be watchin him, even if I kil'im...Giles, yous da Watcher...Ya gotta Watch him too, ya know..."
Indeed I will, he thought...
"We're ready, ma'am..." Fred called her over to where he'd set up the implements for summoning the Hell-confined Partners... "H'ok, get movin'..." she nodded to him...
'Bout time we get dis showona road...And I hadda lil' talk with Andrew Wells...a frown...
"What are they doing there, sir?..." Allyson called over to Giles, indicating Fred and his helpers...Willow, then Dru looking...Hmmn, clearly some foul and unholy rite...Dru noted...Guy looks stoopid...Willow hissed, eyeing Fred, busily engaged in a chant... "I believe the fellow in headdress..." Giles nodded to indicate Fred in rather elaborate feathered headpiece... "... said they'd try to summon the assistance of the Senior Partners...This could be a serious problem if they're willing to help Anne..."
Willow?...he hissed... "I still got nuthin', Giles...That thing's holdin' me down..." Willow eyed the orb in front of her...
Ah...Well then, determined measures are called for if one is to prevent Evil's triumph, Dru thought, tensing...It might not be possible to break through the holy circle round her chair, but no reason one can't offer a little distraction...A quick prayer to the Blessed Virgin for strength and fortitude and...She snapped her handcuffed wrist free with a savage pull...Snarling in sudden demon face at the nearest guard who blanched and fell back... "Hey, fellas!..." he screamed..."
Limbo...Evening...
Where Cicely was now feeling a little of the shock Anne had expected over her first human kill...
No matter that it had been some worthless minion of Wolfram-Hart...A human being...
"I thought..." she stared at Nast and then Tara-Dru's floating Tara head... "I was sure Anne wouldn't...For Will's sake..." she confessed...
"She's a monster, Cicely..." Tara shook her misty, shifting head... "Whatever she feels for William, it's her nature to kill..." "And you must be prepared for more, Slayer..." Nast added... "Lots more, maybe..." Tara-Dru sighed... "Of the same...Including..."
My friends...family...Buffy nodded slowly...
"It was foolish of me...I thought I could do this, experience this, without real consequences...God knows I should know what my dark side's capable of...But..."
William will stop her...she firmly insisted, getting hold of herself, as she noted Angelus carefully watching in the distance...
Tara's and Nast's faces non-commitally polite...He will...she tried again...
Well...At least, she'll watch it with the guys while he's around, to keep him happy...Buffy's floated head attempted a shrug...
Guys...You could show a little more faith in my guy...she groused inwardly...Just to be polite...Heck if it were Willow, Tara...
"He's up to something..." she indicated Angelus... "He's always up to something when here..." Tara's head shook slightly... "Kinda functions as a miserable little errand boy for the Dark Powers...Hoping for you to lose heart most likely..."
"We could drive him off if you wish, but we think it's best to have him where we can watch him..." Nast noted...
"Sure, you're right...And I'm alright...I...We...Can deal...I came because I had to, I'm sure of that...If I'm to move on in my work, I had to see and go through this...Reach a new understanding of those I fight...Reconcile my past as Cicely and my fears regarding my future as Buffy with Will..."
A future that's gonna happen...At last...she firmly insisted... "After all, I gotta a husband and a daughter waitin'..." she smiled...
But it's still...Unnerving...To know some part of me is capable of this...she sighed... "Though I suppose...From their pov..." she eyed Angelus in the distance as he in turn observed them carefully... "I've always killed rather causally..."
"Well...I wouldn't say that..." a familiar voice perked up... "Just maybe once in a while on really busy days..."
"Anya?..."
"Hey..." Anya's smiling face formed... "How's things, Slayer?..."
Outside Doublemeat Palace #10002...
"You smell somethin'...?" the demon among the three sent out by Anne to check for intruders turned to the vamp among them, W-H staffer and Xander fan, Terry...She paused, concentrating...Nothing strong...Wait...
"I smell blood...Human, I think...Yeah, up there..." she pointed...
Human?...Don't suppose maybe?...It would be so like his reputation as powerless, yet insanely heroic human...she thought...Picturing the courageous Mr. Harris in James Bond suit preparing to take on countless foes from his precarious perch above...Looking back towards the rear door...Great, no Lieutenant Harmony...she beamed...
Damn...Will sighed...Pulling back in the shadowy corner of the roof by the air vent he'd found...
Dawn and her newly brilliant ideas...Lit up with blood scent like a beacon to every vamp in a mile...
"Can you get up there?...Cause I sure can't without a ladder..." the human staffer noted to Terry and Maxwell, the demon...Maxwell noting his large and ungainly form shook his massive, bony-ridged head...
Such gallantry, guys...Terry glared... "Well, gimme a boost up anyway...I'll pull you up..."
Unless of course the amazing Mr. Harris were up there?...In which case he'd probably courageously overwhelm her too quickly for her to gather aid...No choice but to take him, if she could...Or surrender to his tender mercy, and allow him to save her poor lost soul...
Then, in either case, run like Hell both before Harmony heard...
Inside, Fred was proceeding with the ceremony...Mist emanating from his pot...
Hope this doesn't set off the sprinkler system...One of the staffers noted to a companion...Our insurance rates'll hit the roof if we summoned the fire department again...
A face rather like the Wizard of Oz appeared in the thickening mist... "We are the great and powerful Directors of the Board...Who summons us?..."
"Cheney, is that you again...Look, we've done all we could for your company?" another slightly different appearing to the back of the first...Both heads facing outward, back to each other...
3-D video...Anne noted, pleased...Moving Fred aside... "Me, I's Anne, da new Queana da Damned...Hiya..."
"Buffy Summers?..." the second face stared... "Transformed a few hours ago..." the first head noted...
Geesh...No one tells me anything...the second grumbled...
In Limbo, a rather guilty-looking Anya...Well, head and upper torso of Anya...Faced a fuming Buffy head...
"You knew?...Anya?...You knew about me?...Ummn, Cicely?..." she morphed to Cicely form...
"Betrayer!...Vengeance demon whore!..." Ummn...Back to a sheepish Buffy... Ummn..."Really sorry..." she noted, embarrassed... "Cicely's part is a bit uncomfortable regards the past and all..."
"I'm sorry, Buffy...I knew from Haly that William'd been involved with a Slayer in his life back then...But honestly, I never guessed it was you..."
Hey, Tara...she waved...An...Tara-Dru's head nodded, smiling...
"Are you trapped here, too?..." Buffy eyed her friend... "Actually...This is a jump up for me...I've been mostly in Purgatory..." Anya noted... "With the occasional visit here to check on some former victims, Xander and you guys, and catch up with a few friends like Tara..."
A lot to atone for in 1,000 years of vengeance-infliction...What with my soul involved and all...she explained, sighing... "Though everyone's been very nice, thanks to my work with you guys..."
Sorry...Buffy stared... "Anything I..?"
"Actually...A boatload of prayers and a signed petition to the Powers of Light testifying to my fitness for rebirth or passage to Heaven wouldn't hurt...But I'm basically ok, earning my points..." "You got it..."
"Thanks..." Anya eyed her friend's face carefully... "But I kinda wish you'd thought your own lil' trip here over more carefully...It's a dangerous thing to play with Death, kiddo...And God knows you've played with him a few times..."
Jerkoff is back, I see...she noted to Tara-Dru, indicating Angelus in the distance...
"I suppose he's up to the usual?..." "We think so, but focusing on Buffy and Cicely this time..." Tara-Dru nodded...
"Well, watch him, Buffy...He's almost powerless but he still has that silver tongue...And his bosses in Hell, particularly his latest, are determined to give you more grief still if they can...You or your Cicely half, whichever..."
"Who's he workin' for?...The First, huh?..." "The First..." Anya grinned at Tara-Dru... "Has gone a leetle wacko...In fact...She thinks she's you...Or did, last I heard..."
"Me?..." "Her defeat sent her over the edge...And she has a tight link with you...Your Slayer power came from her originally..."
"From what I hear, she's running around Hell every chance she gets, trying to stake every demon in sight and redeem every vamp..."
Or sleep with 'em...she kindly did not say...Buffy blinking at her...
"So who's...?" she looked over at Angelus, now trying to keep distance from the watching Harmony to avoid suspicion...
"You're gonna love this...Though Tara?...You might not wanna hear this..."
"Oh, God no..." Tara-Dru stared... "Not him...I'd heard he'd scored with them down there but..."
Those poor guys...she grinned...
"Well, what with the First's institutionalization...And the Partners not knowing Buffy so well...He's kinda filling a vacuum..."
"Who?..." Buffy looked at her friends... Mmmphf...Tara-Dru giggled...Anya chuckling now as well...
"Buffy-Cicely...Angelus...Former Dark Prince of Evil...Is now more or less working..." Mmmphf...Hah-hah-ha!...her friends began howling...Nast allowing a grin to spread as well...
Ah, sensing their impending doom are they?...Howling in panic at the thought of the Earth in the hands of Evil...Angelus thought contentedly...Ooops...He felt a summons...
Harm...ony...he called to her spirit telepathically...Hopefully in unbreakably encrypted code... Gotta visit with my...Partners...In Hell... Back in a mo...Keep a watch and stand ready, my girl...Our time of vengeance is at hand...
He vanished...
"Look..." Anya's head nodded in the direction of the spot Angelus'd been... "Guess the...ummn...Big Boss...Mmmphf...Wants a report on progress..."
"Well, nerds...They gotta know every detail...It's the anal thing..." Tara-Dru chuckled...Ummn...she paused... "I don't mean all nerds are like him...A lot are great...I love one...Ummn..."
Not that my Wil's a nerd so to speak...she tried...
"Who the hell are we...?..." Buffy fumed...Then stopped... "Wait?...Him?...You're kidding?...They made him their...?"
"Not leader, really...More...Chief geek and Buffy expert..." Buffy expert?...Buffy stared... "Well, he did get to know you a little ...And I'd guess Hell is getting a mite desperate for help these days..." Tara-Dru chuckled...
"Warren Mears?...Angelus'...Boss?..." Buffy choked...
"God...I'd never have thought I'd feel sorry for the Dark Side...Or Angelus..." Tara-Dru shook her head, grinning...
Meanwhile, in Hell...
"How come I'm not getting a clear picture...?" Warren's spirit fumed at his imp aide, the former Tucker Wells, as they fussed with a large crystal ball in the First's temporarily-vacated-owing-to-illness office... "It's Limbo, sir...We don't get a direct feed..." Angelus standing by, attempting to maintain the bearing and look of an equal...
Hmmpf...Mears fumed...Stupid, miserable, crappy excuse for equipment...And to think I took this job voluntarily when the Partners asked...
"Angelus!...What the hell was going on up...Or wherever...There?..." Warren turned to him...
Well?... "I'm waiting?...What do you have to report?..."
Lord, have I come down to this?...Angelus sighed inwardly...The last guy the Dark Powers put over me on my last Earth trip was bad enough...Now I gotta answer to this pudgy clown?...
Still...He's in charge of this one while the First's gone Buffy-batty...The Partners having little experience Summers-wise...Besides being no match even for my counterpart, dorks...
Arggh...Enough to make one seriously consider Redemption...
"I've been working on Buffy's trapped soul in Limbo...In particular the guilt and rage buried in Cicely..."
"Cicely?..." The Tucker imp waved a file into existence and handed it to him...Oh, right...Warren nodded... Always knew the bitch must have had at least nine lives...
"And?..." he frowned at the tall vamp essence...Just the kind of hunky pea-brain he'd've expected Summers to go for...It must have been her dead Brit half that had gone for lil' ole Spike...
"Not so good...I mean...Anne is not exactly wreaking havoc on Earth, and Buffy knows there's a good chance for her return..."
"Damn that dumb, lazy blonde vamp!...What the here is she thinking?...Does she think Summers' lil' gang is gonna take her on as a team member?..."
I coulda tole you Buffy's demon would be a sentimental idiot without me to guide her...Angelus frowned...What I coulda done for that one, if she'd had a few brains, he sighed regretfully...Well...
"I do have a possible back-up..." he noted... "A possible back-up...?" Warren repeated...
"A possible back-up?...Minus what missing token of respect?..." A glare from the new Number One...And a sign to various imps and demons who closed round...
Ummn...Angelus looked round... Closing his eyes and sighing again...
"A possible back-up...Sir..." "That's more like it, pal..." Warren nodded... "Details...?"
"A soul in Limbo with a grudge against Buffy...And a vamp host on Earth..."
"Not bad...But what's he or she gonna do...Hey, are they laughing at me?...I distinctly heard that Tara call me a nerd!..." Warren glared at imp Tucker, whacking the crystal ball as the muddied image sharpened then clouded again...The faint howling laughter of the girls persisting... "Damn Dark Ages technology!..." he whacked the ball again... "This is why you people never stood a chance against Humanity...!"
"Do you know what the science budget down here was when I first came?..." he turned to Angelus... "Zip...Nothing...Total reliance on mumbo-jumbo and Prophecies by brain-dead-even-before-Death guys...What a buncha idiots..."
No wonder that blonde bimbo's been walking all over Evil and ersatz Buffy's flipped her...
The First suddenly materialized...Waving stake... "Oh, Christ..." Warren sighed...
"Here's the deal...!" she shrieked at the various minions...Catching one with a rather deft throw...
Thought she wasn't corporeal...Angelus hissed to Warren... "On Earth, you moron!...Didn't you ever study Metaphysics...?"
"Quick...Before she gets that stake out of that guy...Tell her you're Angel, here to help...While I get her attendants..." Warren shoved him towards her...
Now wait a...Angelus looked round...Warren and a number of the attendants had vanished...Ummn...
Guys...?
"Hey, Buffy..." he cheerily called, hastily wiping the panic from his face... "Angel's here to help out..." She looked up, wild-eyed from where she was pulling stake from her victim's corpse...Doomed to regenerate in hours of course, but still agonizingly dead enough for all that... "Angel?...Nice to see you...We're got demons and vamps all over the place...Grab a stake and get started...But save the redeemable ones!..."
Certainly...he beamed...Looking round...Ah...He pulled a wooden arm from a desk chair...And gave a hard stare to one of the minions left behind...
Well, this might be some fun at that...he thought as he staked the terrified minion...
"No sign of redemptability in that one, Buf!..." he happily called...
"I Love Ya...Truly..."
PG-13
Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .
Or direct to story at .
Part XXXVIII...
Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002...Night...
The beginning of Anne's negotiation with the newly summoned Senior Partners was abruptly interrupted by Dru's sudden break...However, though she'd unchained herself, she was still trapped by the holy circle placed round her chair...
"Guys!..." the hapless Melvin, still swinging from his harness about ten feet up, awaiting his fate as potential vamp/Lieutenant Harmony's significant other Xander's first meal, shouted and pointed as several of his colleagues looked up at him...
"Help!..." the panicking W-H staffer who'd been watching Dru, fell back in shock at her snarling...Blessed Virgin forgive my regression to the ways of violence...Attack...
The lady'd been so sweet til now...Politely asking about his family and interests and all when he'd hesitantly asked if she really was the famed Drusilla...
Slayer Allyson now saw her chance as her guard moved to assist her colleague and rose quickly, snapping her chains...Poor Brenda the other Vampire Slayer still blank, in Anne's thrall grip...
"Hurry, Allyson!...Destroy that orb and clear the circle by Dru!..." Giles called..."Yeah!..." Willow chimed in... "Brek dat!..." she tried to kick at the occult energy-draining orb in front of her chair...
Allyson slammed the orb away and moved for the scattered bits of sacred matter about Dru's chair...As a few human and the other remaining demon and vamp W-Hers at hand rallied to engage her...
"Hey!...Wha' da?..." Anne raced over in towering rage...A hasty "'Cuse..." to the Heads...Just as Allyson managed to clear a path for Dru...
And just as Lilah and Joseph began their tactical diversion at the front door...With two large rocks...
Unfortunately only occupying the attention of the three staffers nearest the door...All the rest now hurrying to support Anne in the rear section...The outside door of which Wes' team was now moving on...
The roof of Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002/new HQ of the battered Wolfram-Hart firm...
"All right!..." Terry the vamp staffer called into the rooftop darkness, squinting as she stood up after struggling up, her human and demon companions still below... "Who's here?...I smell you, human!..." Rather overpoweringly, too...Fella or lady must be gushing from somewhere...Oh!... "Mr. Harris, are you hurt?..." she called... Ummn... "I mean...Whoever you are, surrender!...I have orders to bring you in alive!...You..." Hmmn...She sniffed again... "And your vamp buddy...C'mon guys, lets make this easy!... Ms. Anne doesn't want you hurt..."
Mr. Harris?...Will thought...As he crouched, looking for any possible escape route...Not really being in the fittest mode for a charge just now...
Below...
The human and demon supporting Terry from their safe post aground found themselves, much against their inclinations, forced to deal with Wes' attack...Wes, Xander, Andrew, with a determined if staggering Angel and a confused and weaving but willing Kennedy in tow...
Sensibly concluding that since their orders had been to capture the whoever on the roof, not to die heroically defending the rear entrance, the two W-Hers followed standard Wolfram-Hart procedure and saved their necks by diving for the door, locking it behind them...
Only to have themselves tossed back at the locked door by a freed Drusilla, Allyson covering her back...Anne, her tactical skills as intact as always, having focused on securing the potential chief threat to her reign...
Willow...
In Hell, the First having been secured and tranquillized as best possible, Warren and Angelus, with several imp aides were enjoying a view of the developing battle from the First's office via giant crystal ball...At least reception from Earth wasn't too crappy, Warren noted contentedly...
"How's about something to drink and some pretzels, if we gotta 'em?..." he eyed his aide who passed the request on to one of Warren's Buffy form demons, a number of whom had been summoned from his flowery bower home... "This looks like it outta be quite a show..." new Hell C-in-C by default Warren noted to Angelus, now likewise seated rather contentedly in comfortable chair beside, another demonic Buffy tending him...
No pretzels, sir...the former Tucker Wells, now hell imp, reported... "Ma'am prefers healthier food when she eats...We got fruit and vegetables..." he offered... Jesus...Warren frowned... "She's the First, is she afraid she'd gain weight or something?..."
"I think it's mainly her link to the Slayer, Ms. Summers, sir...But actually, here in Hell...She could..."
"Christ, you mean the First herself can't even control her weight?...What the hell good then is being one of the Leaders of Evil?..."
"Well...We do have a fine gym...And the best nutrition and weight counseling staff...Plus access to liposuction and all the latest surgical techniques..."
Utilized for punishment for the general populace here, naturally, but available as a perk to all senior staff...
"I'll take some cantalope and mineral water..." Angelus asked his Buffy pleasantly...She bowed and went off...
"No beer either, I suppose..." Warren sighed... "Oh, sure...Buffy likes beer so Ma'am does..." the Tucker imp happily noted... "Though she tries not to indulge too much..."
"Great...The best you got..." Hmmn...A sudden thought... "Just make sure it's not that demonic stuff..." he put his feet up, waving a Buffy to place a pillow...
"Nice place you got here, Mr. Mears..." Angelus grinned, likewise summoning pillow... "And thanks for having me to view the fun..." he nodded at the ball...
"Eh..." Warren waved a hand... "We who've fought the Bad Fight battling Evil's greatest nemesis deserve a few perks, my friend..." He raised a newly delivered beer mug and clinked with Angelus'...
"We are gonna lose this one, too, I suppose..." Angelus sighed...
"I've little doubt...World-conquering, final victory-wise..." Warren nodded... "But hey, we're not personally the ones who'll be getting our asses kicked in-for once...And any day Buffy Summers has to watch her own Dark Side committing mayhem is no bad day in my book..."
And our team might get lucky...Ya never know...he shrugged...
"Enoufa dis!..." Anne hollered, grabbing Willow, as Allyson and Dru threw back the group attempting to charge them as they moved to help Willow and Giles...The rear door behind them now being pounded on from outside... She sank fangs into the screaming wiccan's neck as Giles cried out to her... "Anne!...Stop!..." " "Get ova dat door!..." she waved several to move round to secure the entrance...And whirled on Giles...A vicious rage in her face now that quite dispelled any thoughts he might have had of counting on the brew to restrain her...
"Enouf, already?...Watcher?..." she yelled...Holding the squirming, nearly unconscious Willow...
"No, Allyson!..." Giles called to the Slayer...She and Dru halting... "Get out while you can!..."
"One move and I's gonna kil'er!..." Anne screamed at the vampiress and Slayer duo... "Yous stay ri' dere!..." She poised herself over the now fully unconscious Willow's neck...A number of W-H staff now struggling to hold the rear door closed...
Dru and Allyson looked to Giles who shook his head... "Alright, Anne...We surrender!..." Dru called... "If you stop, now!..."
"Tell da other guys to stop!...The ones ada door!..." Anne waved at the rear door... Miss?...Dru turned to Allyson...
"I think they'd sooner listen to you..." she smiled wanly...
And this is Drusilla...Giles shook his head a brief moment as he watched...My God, how could I have been so cruel...so callous...As not to do something to help her...
Even if only to insist we hunt her down...And free her...
Never again...He vowed to himself while watching Anne's furious face...Never again will I consider the work done until every last tormented soul is safe, free...
And knows that someone cared...
"Anne...Allyson will go to them...Tell them to back off...Let Ms. Rosenberg go and she'll get them to leave...I'll stay..." Dru eyed her calmly...
"I want Willum...William..." Anne glared... "Tell 'em to give me my Will and then I'll let Willow alone...Otherwise..."
"She's useless to you as a vampire, Anne...Her power will not be retained..." Giles tried...
"Yeah?...But she's still a gud vamp, 'member Giles?...Yeah...Ya do..." a chuckle... "An' mebbe ya lyin'...But ok...Slayer..." she turned to Allyson... "Go ova dere and tell 'em to gimme my hon'...Willum...And get outta here...An' lil' Willow stays human...Fer now..."
Yeah...Lieutenant Harmony, having stumbled over to support her chief, chimed in firmly...Shed up...Anne frowned...Dragging Willow back to her chair, but holding her...
Allyson went to the door...The Wolfram-Hart staffers pulling back at Anne's annoyed wave... Camon ya idiots... "Hello?...This is Allyson Barnett...One of the Slayers..." she called... "Is that you, Mr. Angel?...Mr. Wyndham-Price?...Mr. William?..."
"Walthrop..." Anne called... "...Willum...So..hic...ames...Walthrop...Dat's his name..."
And mine...she beamed briefly...Eyeing Giles...
"I Love Ya...Truly..."
PG-13
Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .
Or direct to story at .
Part XXXIX...
Limbo...
Where an increasing anxious Buffy was now beginning to receive rather grim impressions from Anne on Earth...Tara-Dru and Nast watching her with equal anxiety as she tried to describe what she was sensing...
In the distance Harmony's misty head staring at them...A cold, composed look on her face...
Something tells me...she thought as she watched the Slayer and her friends and heard fragments of Buffy's nervously delivered reports...
My time is almost here...At last...
Outside the rear door of Doublemeat franchise #10002...
"Lemme try..." Kennedy staggered at the door...Trying to move Andrew aside gently...Sor'...she called as he sailed back across the alley... "But I's the Slay...hic...er...An' I'll done it..." she banged on the door, nearly putting her fist through first the hastily dodging head of Wesley Wyndham-Price, and then the door...
"Wachit, girlie..." Angel called...Stumbling over... "Yes, please Kennedy..." Wes began as he got to his feet...Staring at the hole in the door...
Just as Allyson reached the door and called through, warning them of Anne's threat...
"Eh...Lemme giv' a lil' kick-kick...I'll pl...op...it ri' down..." Kennedy shrugged...Moving to give a hard kick...
Which Angel wound up on the receiving end of, as he tried Unmanfully to stop her...Having caught the general essence of Allyson's plea...
Ooof...he went briefly up in the air...And crashed down with a groan...
"People, you've got to pull back and send Mr..." "Wal...throp!..."Anne called... "Walthrop in to us...Anne will kill Ms. Rosenberg and the others if you don't!..." Allyson tried again...
"Kennedy!...Stop!..." Wesley grabbed at her...She blinking at him...Huh?... "We've got to fall back...Come back with me, now!..." Angel staggering back, still groaning a bit...
"But I gots it ope..." the Slayer frowned... "Lemme go in an' get her..."
"No..." Wes pulled her back... "Anne is going kill all our friends in there if we don't stop!...Now come back!..."
On the roof...Vamp Wolfram-Harter Terry now had nearly eased her way to William's hiding corner...
"Come out, I won't harm you...Human or otherwise...I have orders to bring you in..." she tried... "I know you're back there...And one of you seems to be hurt, judging by the blood..."
Though now I smell it up close...Hmmn...Not all that attractive a scent...In fact, it smells like...
"Yeah..." Will decided to give it a try... "My pard...ner here is...hic...kinda...banged up...I can' carry him alone...Couldya come back here an' gimme a hand wid him?..."
"Sure..." Terry gave a sour frown, donning face... What does this guy take me for...?
And what the hell has he been drinking...? She moved carefully to the little air conditioning unit Will was crouching behind...Jumping round...
Hmmn...Nobody...I...A heavy weight crashed down on her...
"Sor' luv..." Will apologetically noted as he stumbled to his feet... "Hated to do dat to a lass but Luv and Dooty callin'..." he eyed the unconscious vampiress he'd just fallen on top of, following his rather desperate leap straight up...
Whoa...he looked round as the roof, not designed for such antics, especially in that section, began to give a bit...
In front, on the street...
Lilah and Joseph, having as he noted, performed well beyond the call of duty...At least Evil duty...In creating their diversion, had fallen back to a hopefully well-concealed spot across the street...She noting the three staffers on guard duty at the front door as they emerged, looking for any signs of further attacks...
"We didn't get too many of them drawn away..." she hissed...Thank God for our sakes...she thought...
"Well, we've done our honorable best...It's up to Mr. Wyndham-Price's team now..." Joseph replied... "I feel confident, given their record..." Against us...Lilah thought... "That in spite of the handicap imposed by our..." he broke off as the three guards displayed astounding courage and initiative by coming, cautiously...Their way...
Geesh our people, and human, all three, to boot...Who the hell are these fellas?...
"Joseph, I don't think they're coming to offer their devoted service to their old, beloved leader..." Lilah whispered...
The three stopped in midstreet to look over the opposite side... "Who's there?..." one called...
"You kids are gonna be spending the night in jail if you don't stop this crap!..." another noted...
Phew...They think we're kids...Lilah sighed with relief...
"Why don't you come out?...We won't hurt you and we won't call the police if you come out now!..." the last tried...All three continuing to move across the street...
"Ah...It's Crenshaw, Spears, and Dalyrest...Three of our biggest suck-ups...I think they want to offer Anne a little tribute/night snack..." Joseph noted...
"We'd do in a pinch, I think..." Lilah eyed him... Yes, he nodded...But they're not likely to risk getting physical unless...
"I have a gun here, kids...Now don't be silly and make me think you're someone I should use it on..." the lead member of the three called...
...they have weapons at hand...Joseph sighed...
Hmmn...Crenshaw's yellower than a crayon sun and Spears turns green when he sees a little liquid on his yogurt...Lilah thought...
"Drop your weapon and give it up to the Slayer army!..." she suddenly cried in a loud voice, rising hastily and knocking over two of the trash cans she and Joseph had hidden behind...Tossing two sticks she'd found beside the cans...
"Holy Christ..." Spears ran for the Palace door, Crenshaw, firing his gun off wildly, following behind...Dalyrest, already lacking much confidence in the night's outcome, chose abject surrender, falling to his knees, wailing...
"Please,.Slayers!...I have a wife... " You loathe and tried to have killed twice...Lilah thought... "And kids..." Both of whom you offered to be sacrificed next year to Loki the junior demon lord of Grethus in order to score points with your supervisor... "...At home...!" he whined...As his comrades fought and tore at each other in trying to enter the front door...
As the fleeing two slipped in and relocked the door, she, followed by Joseph, hurried over to Dalyrest...Though, in her case...
"Keep kneeling, prisoner!..." she barked at Dalyrest as he groveled before her, not looking up...
"Lilah?...Are you hurt...?" Joseph hissed, eyeing her as she stumbled a bit, keeping a pencil from her pocket on Dalyrest's throat...
"Boss?...Is that...?" Dalyrest whispered... "Head down!..." Lilah shouted... "Or immediate staking!..." She pushed the pencil point harder into his neck... "I'm human..." he gasped... "No exceptions for enemy scum!..."
"That's right, it's me!..." Joseph growled... "I've formed an alliance with the Slayers to deal with your traitors and your ridiculous Queen and you'll be the first to feel the wrath..."
"I was only following orders, Boss...From my superior...We on G10 middle-management aren't supposed to take initiative without permission..."
"Close your eyes!...Get up!..." Lilah growled... "Turn left!...Eyes front!...Look straight ahead only!...Run!...And don't stop until you reach our holding facility three blocks straight ahead or you're fair meat to the rest of our people moving up!...Go!..." Dalyrest ran off...
"Nice job, my dear..." Joseph beamed as Dalyrest disappeared up the street... "Why did we ever hire staff like that?..." he sighed...
"You wanted them docile and whipped in the junior human ranks..." she frowned, stumbling again...Reaching out for support... "Lilah?..." Joseph took her arm...
"I think I'm shot..." she gasped... "Just grazed my leg...I'll be ok..."
"Let me get you to the others in back...Wyndham-Price has a car..." he carefully led her over towards the side alley to the back...Watching the front door for any signs of returning courage on the guards' part... "It'll just take a minute..."
I...she leaned on him, starting to collapse... "Lilah..." he gasped...Lowering her to the ground as gently as he could...
"Guess Crenshaw's a better shot..." she began...Grimacing...He knelt beside her and eyed her leg, bleeding profusedly now...He pulled off his tie and put it ound, just above her knee...
"That should help with the bleeding...Stay here...I'll get help..." he rose...Eyeing her sternly...
Remember, Ms. Morgan...As my last trustworthy employee, I rely on you to stay at your post here on Earth...he frowned at her...
"Right...Thanks, Boss..." she smiled wanly at him...
Inside the main hall of Doublemeat Palace # 10002...
"So...Lemme..." Hey!...The other Partner's head called from behind... "Ok...Let...Us...Get this straight, Ms. Summers...Fred..." Slight glare at the former vice-president clearly still pushing for promotion under the latest regime... "Angel and William imbibed our idiot colleague Joseph's demon brew...As did your counterpart..." Yeah, yeah...Anne nodded impatiently...Harmony standing beside her, holding the unconscious Willow...
"And instead of Angel and Spike battling it out with Angel weakened by the brew...You three ended up having a little get-together party and your counterpart wound up dead...Vampirally...By her own choice?..."
Dat's wha' we been tellin' ya, pal...
Mmphf...The other head chuckled... "Hey!..." Anne glared... "She done it fer luv!...Wuz a sac...sarcif...She done it fer luv!..."
Is she sloshed?...First Head eyed her...
And he done'nt too...she added...Not wishing to deny Will his role...Oh... "Hey, did dose guys chek out da roof yet?..." she turned to Fred...Who looked back to his staff...Ummn...
"Well, get mor' guys and find out who's it is hangin' round up dere!...Now!...And don' ya hurt ma Willum if he's dere..!..." Fred waved off two more staffers who headed for the rear exit...
"And mak' sure Wes' guys are leavin'!...Tel dat Slayer Ally to tel 'em everybudy here's ded if they don'...And William betta be cumin'...!"
She turned back to the heads...
"And yous guys gimme a cure for dis brew gunk, now!..."
"Listen, lady..." the first Head growled... "We don't answer even to Buffy Summers' demon...You're looking for help from us, you ask politely..."
Yeah...The second Head called from behind... "Shut up, Adolf.." First Head hissed... "Besides, Ms. Summers...How do we know your agenda and ours match up?...Your deposing our dimwitted third Partner while rather hilarious..." Yeah...Second Head chuckled a bit... "Poor ole Joe..." "Can it, Dolf!...Hardly looks like cooperation in Evil to me, miss..."
Hmmn...Clearly diplomacy was called for, Anne realized, her born leader instincts kicking in...
Gotta use the ole wiles...
"Guys, cum on...Lookie at me..." she took demon face, smiling...God, I hate demon face the First Head thought...Especially with such a pretty kid... "Does I look lik I'm onea da gud ones?.."
I's da new Queana da Anned...Damned...And, wid Willum at ma side, I's gonna rule all...
"In da namea Evil, natch..." she beamed slyly at the First Head... "Sos wes really Pardners...Guys...And if ya hep me...I'll tak carea ya and ya guys..."
Hell, could she be any worse than that idiot Joe?...Second Head thought...
"What do you think, Dolf...?" First Head asked... "Considering the current condition of our firm, Mao...Why not?..." Second Head replied... "If nothing else, having Ms. Summers' soul watching the fireworks from Heaven or Limbo or wherever should be ample revenge even if (and when...he kindly spared the W-H staffers scattered about the room his depressing evaluation of the situation) we fail..."
"All right...Ms. Summers?..." Yeah, dat's me...Still waitin on ya...Morons...Anne frowned...
"We'll help you...On condition that we have an alliance and you now take your marching orders from us and our appointed delegates..." Second Head repressed a chuckle...Wait till she sees our new "appointed chief delegate"...That alone will be worth it...
"Marchin fro' who?..." she glared... "Lis' you...I's the demmen a' Buffy Summers and Cics Walthrop...And I don' tak nuthin' fro' no...Body...hic..."
"Fine then...Good luck..." the First Head began fading, Second as well... "Hol' up!..." she called...
Yeah?... The Heads returned...Eyeing her...
"Cum on guys...Sup...Pos...I's go fifty-fifty widcha and I promise to talk things ova?...Yous can advise me...Lika Council of Evil Watchas..."
Oh, please...Second Head thought...The way that Summers kid treated the Council and its Chairman?...If I had been Quentin Travers...And she were my Slayer...
"Nobody hurts William...Or ma udder guys..." she waved at the chained and bound group...
Exceptin' me, course when I kils em all...If I decide ta...
"Sixty-forty..." First Head replied... "And we get praise for our sage advice at every victory celebration...And ritual sacrifice..."
Mao?... "It's Summers and Cicely Walthrop's demon , Dolf...We could actually have a prayer with her on our side...Once she's restored to her full dark glory..."
"Yeah..." Anne nodded eagerly... "Ma ful dar' glor'...Yas right, baldy..."
"Give a moment to consult our sources..." First Head frowned...Then smiled slightly...
"Our delegates will bring the information...And our orders...Shortly..."
"Ok...Geta muv on..." Anne waved...
Hmmn...Harmony eyed the fading heads, then Anne...Wher's ma ful dar' glor'?...And ma Xanda?...Nobody says nuthin bout him...she frowned...Handing the limp Willow to a staffer who carried her over by Giles and the now resecured Drusilla, and began rechaining her at Anne's beheast...
Mebbe Drusie's idee wasn't so...
Everyone...Fred, the hanging Melvin, the other W-H staffers, Anne, Harmony, chained Giles, Dawn, and Dru...With the exception of poor Willow and Brenda...Looked up at a sharp, sudden sound overhead to see a crack develop in the roof near a vent, not far from where Mel's rope was attached...
A foot now appeared...Plaster and paint falling from the ceiling...
"Geesh..." Anne glared at Fred... "Some place ya guys picked...Hey!..." she stared up at the wriggling foot... "I knows dat shoe and sock...Hey!...Willum!..." she called, happily...Oh!...
"Yous guys..." she waved a bunch of startled staffers... "Get a ladda and get my hon' down...Or up, den down...But get 'im...Now!..."
"Ahem..." a familiar voice called, as she whirled... "Ms. Summers?...Hey...I come bearing a message from your new leaders..."
Holy Chris'...she gasped at the floating image in front of her...
"Not exactly..." a second, equally familiar voice chuckled... "That would be my counterpart, outside..."
"Great seein' ya again, Buffy...Ummn, sorry...Anne..." Warren smiled...Grinning at the image of Angelus beside him, both reclining rather comfortably in their Hell office easy chairs...Beer mugs in hand...
"You..." she stared...
"Chief liaison and in the temporary absence of our beloved First, owing to some personal health problems, managing director of Hell, Warren Mears...At your service, ex-Slayer..." he grinned...
"I believe you know my assistant, Mr. Angelus..."
"I Love Ya...Truly..."
PG-13
Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .
Or direct to story at .
Part XL...
The rear area of the Doublemeat Palace HQ of Wolfram-Hart, Inc...
A rope and chain-secured, seated Dawn eyed the unconscious Willow chained in a plastic seat next to her, bleeding slightly from where Anne had sunk fangs briefly...Then looked over to where Anne was negotiating, somewhat reluctantly...And thanks to demon brew, wobbily, with the new chief operating manager of Hell, Warren Mears, and his 'assistant', Angelus...Her equally plastered vampiral lieutenant, Harmony and her more or less human, would-be prime minister, former W-H VP Fred by her side...Then over to the rear door of the building where most of the remaining motley crew of the battered remnants of Wolfram-Hart, Inc were now taking up defensive positions should Wes' team outside attempt another attack...And though which door a few more had gone, in order to fetch a currently trapped William from the roof...His foot in shoe still visibly twisting in the hole in the ceiling at the center of the main hall, as he obviously continued to try to extricate himself...
Hmmn...Her eyes now met Giles, likewise scanning the near-disaster scene...
It doesn't take my brew-enhancing intellect to see things are not looking very good for us...And if Anne gets cured of said brew now...
Well, at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that in Heaven when this is all over Mom is sure to back me up in giving sis hell for this latest romantic idiocy of hers...
Letting herself be vamped...Even if she was under the influence...
Of love...A grin appearing...Giles eyeing her...
I mean...Sure I'd do something romantically crazy for Andrew...Er, for love... If absolutely necessary...But something practical in its craziness...
Say like pushing his...er, whoever's...Football team rival down a flight of stairs...(Well, maybe Dungeons-and-Dragons team rival, lets be realistic here)...But something practical, useful, non Humanity-, hopefully even non life-threatening, yet totally deranged...
Say if sis had clubbed Will silly back at the crater, dragged him to the surface, blasted the First into goo at the last minute with the amulet right at the entrance despite the threat to Humanity ...And the danger of having Giles lecture her later on the Slayer's Duty...
Now that I could see myself doing...But this vamp thing...With demon Anne possibly winning and getting William?...Or at least Spike...As her personal lap dog?...Please...
Of course...Annie is a part of Buffy...So I suppose...In a way...Sis wins no matter what...
And risking us all to prove her love is kinda...Another grin...
Hmmn?...Some scheme occurring to her, courtesy the brain-booster effect?...Giles wondered, trying to catch her eye...
Hmmn...No...He frowned now, recognizing that vague, preoccupied look all too well after so many years with Buffy...
Whoever he is, hardly the time or place...
"I'm so sorry I've failed you all, Ms. Summers..." Dru, now herself resecured in her chair with holy circle reestablished about her, on Dawn's opposite side, hissed...
"Hmmn?...Oh, not at all, Dru...No sweat..." Dawn whispered back...One of the three guards about them glaring at her...No talking, she commanded...
Hmmn...Dru looked carefully at her...Human...And not very up on my history, given that she's giving me a direct, apparently intended to intimidate, stare...
Which she, giving appropriate thanks to God for allowing his newly redevoted servant the use of her old dark powers in the cause of Right, returned...In gentle force...
Mouthing a few words repeatedly...As the young woman, a former rather ambitious administrative assistant, continued to stare, somewhat less intimidatingly...
Fortunately the other two guards dividing their attention between the group at the rear door and the weird scene in the center of the room...Where two guys, supposedly direct from Hell, were sitting in easy chairs floating in a little pool of mist just off the floor, surrounded by a fair degree of rather lovely identical attendants...
All of whom looked rather like the famed Slayer, their current queen...Much to said queen's obvious irritation as she frowned at them...
Dawn glancing briefly at Dru's effort, but quickly away, not wishing to attract attention...
Willow moaned softly in her chair...In some degree of thrall now, Dawn realized...Lovely...
Hmmn...She looked down at the floor...In the confusion, no one among the enemy had thought to replace the energy-draining orb by Willow...
I wonder...Thrall vs brew?...Certainly thrall, given its repressive effects is likely to induce a calming effect...And a general degree of suggestibility...
"Willow?..." she whispered... "Willow, do you hear me?...I want you to nod your head if you do..."
A faint nod...More soft moaning...
"I want you to focus, Willow...Your power is slowly returning...I want you to focus on your power..." she paused as one guard turned briefly back to them...
Dru's guard now looking away from her and moving about the prisoners...The other guard looked at her... "They ok, Stepf?..."
"Just checking..." Stepf nodded back...A bit wanly...Coming to halt by Dru...The last of the three guards now also looking over the prisoners...
Giles giving Dawn a brief, hard stare from his seat...She, watched by the third guard, merely blinked at him...
"So..." Warren smiled magnanimously at Anne...Angelus leering at a Buffy attendant from his chair, then contentedly eyeing the infuriating effect on the new demon queen...
"Anne...You need a little help, eh?...Or so I understand from my employers..."
"Tell him ta send da bitches away...Now..." Anne waved an angry hand at Angelus...Who gave an innocently angelic smile...
"Now Anne...I expect a little more courtesy from you as one of our own..." Warren solemnly noted...
But ok... "Mr. Angelus, if you would be so kind as to ask our ladies to take five..."
"But of course, Mr. Mears..." Angelus grinned... "Buffies?...We're on for sex later...Take a break, girls..."
"Where's ma cur' for dis stuf...?" Anne growled... "Ya betta have it...Now!..."
"Gee...Or what are you gonna do, girlie?..." Mears grinned at her...
"Put a hand through my astral projection?..." he chuckled...
"If'n I don' mak' it...I gos back to Hell..." she noted... "An' da first thing I dos, is I comes ta see you..." she eyed him coldly...
Hmmn...He blinked in spite of himself at her raging, demon face...
A very likely scenario...Given his lack of faith in this operation...
Angelus looking a tad nervous now as well...Hadn't thought of that...She would wind up here...With them...
Perhaps it might be best to bend a few efforts to further the common cause of Evil...he noted quietly to his companion...
And at least get her to the point of no particular interest in ever paying either of them a visit...he hissed as Anne turned to check on the efforts to retrieve William from his somewhat embarrassing position...Foot still wriggling, she noted...Great...
Hmmn...As befitting the new, if temporary, commander of Evil's legions, Warren could see the necessity of putting aside past antagonisms for the joint effort...
"We should be able to do something about your condition, Anne..."
Gud...she frowned at him... "Den do it...Cause we got some trouble here and I needs ta be ma bes'...Especially wid Willum cummin' bac' wid' me..." she beamed at the end...
"So les' get on wid' it..." another glare at her new co-belligerent...Warren looking back to where aides out of the misty vision awaited his pleasure... "Bring the stuff, girls..." he waved...
"Look out below!..." the still-hanging Melvin called from his perch near the ceiling...As William's shoe came loose and fell to the floor...Anne looking up...
Hmmn...No bare foot...Just the hole...Demmit...
But naturally she couldn't repress a lil' jot of pride...Bombed or no, my guy ain't no pull...er push-ova...
Hmmn...One of the four staffers now on the roof eyed the rat running from where it had been in Will's empty sock...Providing the wriggling William had needed to convince them below that he was still trapped...
Our new queen is not gonna like this...he noted to a still woozy Terry who'd just recovered consciousness...
"Hey, ya morons up dere?..." they now heard said furious queen yelling... "Did ya get him?...Ya betta have got him!...Or else!...Harmony?..." below Anne turned to her swaying, rather sleepy lieutenant...
Yeah?...
"Go up dere and see if deys got ma hon'...And if dey din't...Kill em all!...Now!..." Anne howled at her...Harm staggering off, muttering a bit...
Don' get no respect...Not even a 'please, Harm, go and kill em all'...
Geesh...Anne looked down a moment...Contemplating Will's shoe on the ground...
Don' Willy wanna be wid one of us?...Heck, he knows I'm Buf/Cics too...If he luvs us he oughta be down here tryin' to trick me inta lettin' Buf back in...
Mebbe dere's someone...Else?...the terrifying thought intruded...She looked hastily and grimly over at Dru...Who was maintaining a quiet and calm air...The guard Stepf still near her, likewise rather quiet and calm...
Nah...He killed Buffy-me for love...she thought happily...An' he's just tryin' ta kep outta ma clutches til he figures out wha' ta do...
Hope Buf in Heaven or wherever is appreciatin' our guy's efforts...
"Ma'am...?" Fred cut in on her ruminations... "About killing another ten percent of our remaining force?...While we're still under siege here?..."
Outside, the rear parking lot of Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002...
Wesley faced his team, thankfully now at least supplemented with one non-brew-stupored Slayer, the escaped Allyson...Who despite said escape was in considerable depression over the failure to rescue the others...
Which was not exactly encouraging Angel's brew-enhanced Brood to lighten...
Failed ma friends...Wha's Ma gonna say?...And Buf's soul is probably talking to her in Heaven ri' now...
"Sure and hard as it is to admit...My Liam's just no good, Buf..." Ma's probably sayin' to her ri' now...
Not ta mention...Pa...Angel sighed...
Joseph, looking rather frantic...Rushing to them... "Lilah's...Ms. Morgan's been shot!...I need some help!..."
Wes stared at the little man... If I didn't know better...And maybe I don't...I'd say that little whatever he really is...Is genuinely concerned for her...
What is this thing called love?...he sighed...Staring at Joseph's anxious face...Spike let himself be driven back to Hell for it...William died for it...Buffy...And Anne...Are ready to risk everything for it...
Above, clinging to the wall of the Palace in a reasonably well-concealed corner, William considered the tactical situation...Several demons on the roof, about three...No, five now, out in the immediate courtyard before the rear door...
Wes' team apparently pulled back after their initial try...
What to do?...Jump the W-H group below in his current somewhat unda da weda state and he'd no doubt be having an audience with a very pleased demon Queen shortly...
Go back to the roof...Likely immediate capture...
Stay and sooner or later one of the demons or that rather pretty vamp who'd come at him before was sure to sense him...If he didn't lose his grip long before that...
Well, maybe it was best to go on and just boldly confront the fiend using his beloved's body...
After all, she liked him...He'd no doubt of that...At the very least he might persuade her to release a couple of the others...
"Spike!..." a voice hissed...A hand touching his shoulder...
Crap...Xander sighed as the startled William fell towards the knot of W-Hers below...
Well, climbing up from further down the back wall out of sight of the Wolfram-Hart types and inching over to help him had seemed like a good idea when he'd spotted Will from the ground...
"I Love Ya...Truly..."
PG-13
Summary: (S8 AU...) With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,.
Or direct to story at .
Part XLI...
On the roof...
Terry, the vampiress leading the W-H group assigned to bring the supposedly trapped William down, had now caught sight of the figure a few feet below them trying to make its way down the Palace wall...A chance to recoup her embarrassing failure...
A cry from the ground below as something large crashed down on top of them...Hmmn...She and the others looked down...Hmmn...Vague dark shapes flat on the ground...Nothing moving, looks bad...Well, nothing to be done about that, just hope it was somebody other than the object of Queen Anne's affection...She looked back to the side...The figure, William?...Was carefully inching along...
"You!..." she called... "Get up here and surrender...We have crossbows on you, William or whoever you are...Get up here, I mean it!...You know we won't kill you, c'mon..."
Fire just past him...And don't hit him or we're all dead...she hissed to the demon beside her taking aim...An arrow whizzed by the figure...
"That's a warning shot, William...Get up here now!..." The figure remained plastered against the building wall...
She shined a flashlight... "I see you..." Vaguely... "The next shot hits you, take your choice...!"
The figure paused and began moving to the fire escape ladder...
"That's right, straight up, whoever you are, we've orders to take you alive or Undead..."
Oh my God…Terry the Vampiress stared at the fantasy taken mortal form in front of her…
"Drop anything you got..." the demon holding the crossbow insisted...
"That's it..." Xander sighed, dropping stake...
"You…You're Xander Harris…" Terry put hand to mouth…Hmmn…Tasty…Must have really cut myself when William jumped me…
Ye…ah…he nodded, staring at the rather attractive brunette in reasonably attractive yet professional suit… "And you're one of Queen Annie's minions?...Undead minions..." he noted, as she stopped licking her wrist with an apologetic look...
"Terry…Ingram, I think it used to be…Yeah…But I work for Wolfram-Hart, Inc…" she noted rather proudly…
"Just another subdivision of Evil, Amalgamated as far as I'm concerned, lady…"
Why is she looking at me like that?...he thought…Do I look like I had beef or something else extra bloody for dinner last night or something?...
"I can't believe I'm actually meeting you…Xander…" she gushed a bit… "Please stay where you are or I will have to kill you…Let Anne know we've got him..." she turned to the human member of her group... "We'll bring him down in a minute..."
"You know me?..." he stared… "What female hybrid human-vamp doesn't…If she has anything resembling a heart…Stopped or no…" she replied…
Uh…Xander blinked at his eager Undead groupie…First Harm, now this one...
Great…And I thought the 'demon magnet' thing was over…
Below, on the ground...
Uhnnn...Will looked round...Phew, fall broken by something now dead...or hopefully Undeader...Ah, good...Demon...He looked round about...
Better, two demons...Looking out of commission for at least a while...Just gotta get moving and link up with Angel and Wes...
Well, things are starting to...
"Hands up, stand up...!" a sharp cry from one of the survivors of the rest of the group he'd fallen among...
In the main hall of the Palace...Jubilation...
A beaming Queen, brew cure and negotiations forgotten in the joy of the moment, racing for her beloved...
"Willy!..." she leaped at him...William looking a bit discouraged as he eyed the other prisoners his guards were leading him past...Sorry, fel...he began...Cut off by a sudden blow to his chest as Anne crashed into him...
"Willum!...Ya here!...Oh, babe!...Uh, sorry..." she apologized, trying to simultaneously embrace him and lift him from where she'd knocked him to the floor...
At the same moment, Terry and her demon assistant returned bearing their prisoner...
"It's Xanda!..." Harmony let out a yell on spying the group entering from the rear door... "Xanda!...Get him ova here!..." she waved eagerly...
"Everybody in the underworld knows the story of Xander and Anya…" Terry was continuing, a tad gushing…Move another step that way and I will rip your throat out…she politely warned him as he tried to slide to the left, considering the odds of making a break to reach the guys, having spotted Willow, Dawn, Dru...Dru?... and Giles secured in their chairs…My job, she apologized…
"Didn't exactly have the most romantic ending, An and me…" Xander noted…Catching sight of Anne and William on the ground...Does not look good for our team...
Oh, no…Terry shook her head… "It was beautiful…The lover leaves to spare his beloved from his family curse…Angel couldn't have done better…And the beloved by her heroic death, is redeemed from a past worse than Spike's…You two have got it over everybody in tragic romance..."
"An died…and I wasn't…"
Oh-oh…Dawn hearing, shook her head…"Xander, this is not the time for an emotional descent into the abyss…" she called..
"…there…" he choked up a bit… "Oh, she knows you would've if you could've, I'm sure of it…" Terry replied, sympathetically…"I'm so sorry to bring it up…I know it must so hard for you…"
"I've tried to deal…" he looked at the wall, shaking his head… "But knowing I hurt her so…Having her gone like that without me even there…"
"Xander…Time and place…" Giles tried…
Wuz the hell's goin' on ova der?...Lieutenant Harmony looked over to where Terry stood with Xander…Why ain't she brung Xanda?...
Did dat vamp-itch jest try ta mak a move on my guy?...she glared…Starting to move…
"Willum...Ya ok?..." Anne helped him to his feet... "I'm gonna kill everybuddy...And I means my buds...If ya try gettin' away from me, ya know...Oh, it's so great to have ya back!..." she hugged him...Uhnnn...
"Ma'am?..." Would-be Prime Minister Fred anxiously fussed at the somewhat annoyed Queen...Hey I'm wid ma honey here...Ma sweet widdle Willy...she beamed...
"Anne..." he tried..."Ya better stop dis..."
And not so widdle, we know, huh Will?...she giggled at him... "Aw, honey..." she patted his arm, waving for a couple of guards to begin chaining him up... "When I gets freea dis brew, lets go in the back and mess around...Buf won' mind...And ain' got nuthin' to say on it anyways..."
"Anne...I'm tellin' ya...I..."
I won' turn Dawny if ya nice ta me...she gave him a beguiling look...
"Ma'am...Your partners from Hell..." Fred tried again, waving to indicate the mist reforming in the center of the room...Ok, ok...she groused...
"I know it must be terrible…I mean…I remember from when I was alive and had a very nice husband…You look so much like him…" Terry tried a consoling tone as Xander looked over to Dawn, she now giving a slight glance toward Willow...
"Whom I killed my first night out…Along with my little girl…But I felt awful afterwards…Even with the link to pure evil and all…"
"I'm not so bad…Really…" she sighed…
"I gots the cure for da brew cumin'...Oh, Willy ya came jest at da ri' time..." Anne noted fondly...Leading, dragging the newly chained William towards the center of the room where the mist was now allowing vague shapes to be made out... "Dat's my hell boys callin'...Cum on, honey...I got everythin' all set..."
"Anne, if ya don' stop..." Will pulled back...Stumbling...Anne, holding one of his chains like a leash, stumbling as well...Demmit, Will...
"Be fair, geesh...Ya lost, and Annie's won, fair and square...But it's ok...Ya did real gud and it's gonna be fine...Most everybody's gonna be ded...But it's gonna be a-ok...I won' run out on ya lik' Cics and Buf did...We's gonna be tagether fureva..."
"Hol' shit..." William stared at the new C-in-C of Hell and his top aide now becoming visible in the mist...
"Hey..." Warren beamed... "How's my best bot customer?..." "William the soul, I presume?...Great day to be Evil, eh pal?..." Angelus grinned...
Gonna kil'…Kil…Kill!… Harmony tensed as she began to hurry toward the rear where Terry continued her efforts to get acquainted…
"I mean…" a pause… "I'm evil, of course…Soulless to the core…"
A wistful look…
"But I could try to be good…For you, Xander…Like Spike for Buffy Summers…"
I know I'm being a little forward... she noted...
Holy shit!...Melvin, still hanging from his harness overhead, made a rather gallant, considering the harsh punishment meted out to him, effort to stem the developing disaster unfolding below... "Hey, guys!..." he called as Harmony's charge now caught several of the earthbound staffers' attentions...
"Willow..." Dawn hissed... "Focus on your power...Feel your power flowing back..."
Ummn…Xander blinked as Terry moved closer and patted him…"But God, Xander...There aren't many like you..."
And a raging Harmony, now airborne with a leap and war cry, crashed into her…
