Chapter 14: "Not a critique, just an observation"
Everything was in place, almost. And time was running out...
Late late morning, way too early, and everyone was still up anyway. Faith guessed they couldn't sleep much either. Wound tight.
She watched Wesley putting final touches on things he'd already finished hours ago, yesterday even. Flipping idly through a thick book without seeing anything. Abby had had coffee and breakfast on the move, jittering, and retired to the range to lose herself in her bow and music. King fiddled with stuff on his gun bench, bounced up to pace, plopped down to fiddle some more. Faith prowled restless and itchy, then sprawled out to flip idly through channels on the satellite and stared unseeing at images and movies as she flipped past.
Even Blade, sunk deep and boneless into a recliner with a mug of coffee. She could see a definite twitch to that upper lip every time King would, predictably, bounce up to circle the room again.
Faith caught his eyes once and grinned, rolling hers slightly, and got a slight "Heh" back. Then she lurched up to prowl again.
Fourth time she bumped into Hannibal on their respective orbits and got a snarl followed by a muttered 'sorry', she screamed inside and outwardly said, "Oh for gods... " sigh "Enough, jeeze." She clapped her hands together.
"Ok, listen up, everyone." Ok, that at least got everyone's attention... "We're all going buggy here. Enough."
Hannibal opened his mouth to say something, probably sarcastic, and shut it at her glare. "Hannibal and I are going to kill each other if we bump noses again. Wes, you've put 'finishing touches' on that six times now since you've been up - and it's only been up an hour and a half." Abby wandered back in removing a bracer and heading towards the kitchen, "Abby's about to crawl out of her skin." She grinned at Blade's relaxed sprawl. "Even B-man there: he's about to strangle both me and King."
She nodded at Blade's micro-nod. "Dawn was right: pre-game jitters. We've already done everything we can reasonably do... nothing left now except to wait, and waiting's not anyone's real gig right now. So..."
"So what you got in mind?" King folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Relax. Do normal shit for awhile." She paused, "Errr.. normal for this crowd, anyway." King grinned.
Faith pointed at him: "You: go get laid. Read. Start a flame war in a vampire forum. Browse Blade's zombie porn collection. Don't care."
She whirled on Blade, who was still sprawled bonelessly in his recliner. "Relax. Chill. All that hyperactivity and tension's is going to give you a coronary." Abby almost did a spit take on a mouthful of milk and glared at Faith.
Who fixed her with a speculative look, and Abby stepped back. "You, me, Wesley: we're going out for the day." She drove over Wes' startled 'Me?!' and flattened it. "Yes, you. Normal shit. Shopping, lunch, conversation, movie maybe. Out. Away from books. C'mon, you two."
"Hey! How come I get stuck with Blade and he gets to go out with the babes?" King asked, wounded looking.
"Because you already spend all your time with Abby, and you and I will strangle each other in five minutes just from sheer smartassery," Faith cocked an eyebrow. "And if I leave Wes here, you and Blade will dissect him for information on me." She grinned, "Entertaining, maybe, but not relaxing." She noticed that neither he nor Blade made disavowing noises about that.
"Damn right," She grabbed Wes' jacket and hauled him out of the chair. "Don't worry. It'll be fun."
"I seem to recall that the last time I heard those words," He straightened himself and gathered what was left of his dignity, "was from Angel. Just before the last time I was shot."
"Was fun right up until the bang, wasn't it?" Blinding grin. "C'mon. We're gone. Wasting daylight."
She dragged her troops out with a muttered 'we'll be back' over objections and after a bit, sounds of motorcycles starting.
Hannibal looked at Blade, who looked back. "So. What do you wanna do?"
...
Everything was in place, almost. And time was running out...
Faith stood in the place they'd selected and felt the power there. Old power, long since forgotten by everyone except the fragments buried in Watcher's Journals. Long since paved over and buried by progress. There was something deep under the ground there. Ancient burial ground, lair of ancient new world demon, old Celtic circle. Or all of the above.
Didn't matter now, except that it was a Place of Power, and a weak spot in the world that something from Elsewhere wanted to use to step elsewhere again.
They'd taken Blade's Charger to get here, as Faith hadn't wanted to risk not being in condition to ride her bike afterwards, and Wes' stuff and all the hardware was too much for anything without a boot. Trunk. Whatever. Now they stood around examining the area they'd chosen for their end of things. Not in the actual nexus but nearby: she didn't want to be where the other ritual was going to take place and have to deal with even the shade of a power that had once created an enormous wasteland as a mere byproduct of a duel.
Not in the real world, or even anything close to it.
Wes was arranging his components and checking the diagram of the design he'd worked out. Refreshing himself on the makeshift ritual he'd composed from elements and essences of several types of other ritual blended into one. One that they hoped would do the needed thing.
Send Faith's mind and soul elsewhere, and draw in the needed things with them.
She stood to one side giving a next-to-final check of her weapons and gear, grinning as she listened to a sotto voce litany of complaints about not being any kind of a real mage in a very British accent. "You'll do fine, McCoy, even if you are just a Doctor." Heard Hannibal's snicker as Wes glared at her.
"Yes, well." He smiled, "I'll remember you said that, later, when this turns you inside out and scrambles your molecules."
"If you're going to use big words on me, I'm leaving."
"Fine. Be that way."
They felt Power come into the other area then, moving through the night. All of them turned in the direction, watching as a small human entered the nexus area two hundred yards away, translucent. Faith could see scenery through him as he stood and looked around, and thought, 'Good thing I didn't plan on chopping his head off before he started.'
Shaking his head, Wes turned back to laying out his materials and readying his things. "Bloody hell." He began sketching in the outlines of the spell.
They watched his back as he drew, watchful for the occasional minion or vampirling drawn to the gathering powers.
After a bit...
They heard the sound of cars pulling in a short distance away, turned as one in that direction. She listened, ears straining, heard voices. "It's cool - they're friends." And thought 'I hope'.
Leaving the cars, Vince came over at the head of a dozen of his men, all carrying submachine guns and blades of various types. Faith was surprised to see the bartender with them, shotgun and an axe clutched in massive hands. he nodded as they came up.
"Slayer. Sorry we're a bit late." He grimaced. "evidently a few of my 'associates' didn't like our evident good relations, thought they'd have a few pointed words about it. Took a bit to get them to see my point of view."
"Sorry."
He shook his head. "No worries. So.. whatcha need?"
She explained, quickly, pressed for time; finishing with. "Guard our bodies while we do It. Don't know for certain anything's going to try to interrupt us, but it's the way to bet usually."
He was looking at her with a decidedly odd expression. "Sounds insane."
She ignored the snorts of agreement from Hannibal and Wes to that. "Yeah, well... you got a better idea, spill it fast."
"Naw, not a critique, just an observation." He cocked his head, asked "So, what's in it for us? And what's the cost?"
"Usual. Dying slowly and in great pain. Chance to save the world," she paused, grinned. "Chance just for once to see what it's like to walk on the side of the angels, Demon. Your soul, maybe. And a chance to poke the fates in the eye and laugh and piss in their faces. One Hell of a brawl, maybe."
"The cost?" He laughed as she continued, "The Usual: Your life, your fortune, your sacred honor. You'll become a Pariah like Spike: other demons'll know you worked with the Slayer and they won't trust you. Probably be Hell on your business. Powers might take notice and draft you for other shit, fuck up the rest of your life. I wouldn't recommend it."
He was looking at her like she'd grown two heads and was sitting there quietly strangling one of them.
"What the hell, Slayer," he finally managed.
"'Angels' huh?" He looked around. "That'd be you lot?"
"Best we got. Close enough." She met his eyes, fey laughter dancing behind hers. "No blame if you walk. But make up your mind - we're wasting moonlight."
"Didn't plan to live forever. Sounds like fun. Count me in." He suddenly shot her a blazing look with too much heat behind the eyes. "We kinda like the World, Slayer. And Hell on Earth might be good for Evil... but it's just got to be fucking death on business." His hit-things nodded.
"Coolness." She nodded as they began taking places in a ring around where she pointed them, readying weapons. Hoped like hell that the others were readying themselves at their various places, set to join when this fell into place and sucked them in.
Wesley looked at her very oddly, then started drawing in the final parts of design for the spell she'd had him create. She took her place in the center as he filled in around her.
Smaller circles surrounded Wes, Blade, Hannibal, and Abby. He left places in the design for the cards Abby and her'd designed earlier, laid out the words and symbols, lit the candles. Some time later he looked at them, met her eyes and nodded. "Ready."
She sighed and looked at the ampule in her hand. "Gods, I hate this part." She stuck in the needle and injected herself with the vampiric narcotic. "It's time."
Felt it take effect after a time as Wesley chanted, and the world dimmed and sucked her into the darkness. And the Dreams...