Q & A 7

There were more of them now and the weight of them was crushing. She could think of anything else couldn't feel anything else but them. It was like she was in a room with no air and loud sounds of every kind. Her breathing was labored and her breaths came in ragged pants. She felt like half of Mount Everest was sitting upon her chest. All of their emotions were the same as the first she had felt. They were so in union that she didn't know where one monster's feelings began and another one's began. All she did know was that she had lost all the liquid her body contained. To make matters worse the stomach acid that had come up was no assaulting her nose. She fought to drown out the feelings she felt her efforts showed in the slickness of sweat on her skin. The front of her shirt was soaked with it and the more time that passed the dried sweat made her shirt stiffen. "Not yet!" Through the mass of emotion pressing in on her Quinn was able to concentrate on the hushed tone of the man that had placed her in her prison. His tone, she thought, sounded agitated and annoyed.

"Why not? Look at her master, she can barely stand. She poses no threat to us now." Even as far away as she was both mentally and physically she heard the smack and the thud as one of the vampires was thrown to the ground.

"Your insolence will get you know where, Redrick. For questioning my leadership I should stake you where you sit." The master turned his back. "But I'm in such a good mood right now." Quinn could feel it pulsing from him into her. How his plans of pitting her against Angel's son was making him giddy. She heaved. Nothing else came up she was left with an aching gut and a throat that was on fire. "I will answer you this once you futuristic pile of dust. We must wait, we must follow the events chronologically if we have any chance of the prophecy unfolding as it has been written. In order for her to wipe out the Destroyer we must be patient." Having learned his lesson Redrick stayed quiet with a small sadistic smile curling across his features. He clamored to his feet and looked at Quinn as he rose. Quinn could feel her time trickling by if she didn't do something soon if someone didn't come for her soon. There would be no hope for her. The pressure on her head became too much to bare. Blackness came and eased the pain if only for a little while.

The sound of feet trudging through the water graded his nerves like a block of cheese through a shredder. Try as he might he couldn't block out the swooshing of the water. His gaze settled on the red sweater that fell to the back of Willow's knees. Angel remembered a time where he would have done anything to see red. He shook his head not allowing himself to sift through the memories of his alter ego. He had more important things to worry about. "Can't you move any faster?" Angel asked. Willow turned her neck glancing behind her.

"Angel." Buffy spoke softly. Angel craned his neck to look off to the side where she was walking off to the side behind him. "She's moving as fast as she can. We will find Quinn, just let Willow do what she does." Angel heaved a stressed sigh. Seeing a look of gratitude pass between the witch and the slayer. Buffy smile slightly.

"We aren't that much farther a few hundred feet maybe." Willow finally spoke. The farther they delved into the sewer the dimmer the ball of light they were following got. Willow urged Angel not to panic that it was doing what it was supposed to be doing. Her efforts were futile. Angel stiffened slightly. Having noticed Buffy watched him trying to figure out what would elicit such a reaction. As they neared a corner of the deeper dwellings of the sewyer Angel's skin tingled with familiarity. The way it does when you walk into a room full of people you know.

"There are others here." Angel breathed. Buffy scrunched up her nose as she looked to figure out what he knew.

"I feel them too. I can't tell how many of them there are though." Spike spoke out. A few more feet and the ball of light completely extinguished. Willow paused and turned around.

"This is it." She spoke preparing herself for the use of her power should she have need. The lowered themselves into the lower depths of the sewer. The lower they sank whispers could be heard. They sank to the ground and defined voices that did not belong to Angel's missing bride could be heard. Angel peeked around the corner seeing dozens upon dozens of the undead gathered there. His eyes kept searching. Desperately they flicked from face to face until finally they found a steel cage in the back corner. What he saw inside made his blood boil. He spotted Quinn laying in the dirt on the inside of the cage. He squinted harder he could see the subtle rise and fall of her chest. At least he knew she was still breathing. He pulled away from the edge. Buffy looked at him expectantly.

"So?" She whispered.

"From what I could see there looks to be about fifty vampires. Quinn is in a cage in the far right corner." Angel glanced from Buffy to Willow.

"How many can you take?" He asked.

"As many as I have to." She replied with a small grin. They all nodded and on the count of three they let the dust fly.

The realization of outsiders in their midst was immediate. Angel stalked forward throwing punches and kicks as he moved. He danced away from all opposing blows. His anger at having his wife locked in a cage like an animal fueled him. He drove on. He flipped a vampire onto his back and staked him without hesitation. Not waiting for the dust to settle he moved on. Staking another who had stupidly ran up on him from the front. He made his way to the cage spotting from the corner of his eye the platinum blonde no one liked moving closer to the front of the cage. Spike was on him facing the enemy. Chaos ensued before him. All around vampires imploded into dust. Back near the entrance he watched as a circle of vampires gathered around Willow. A small red glow for between her palms and a second later an aftershock sent the vampires sprawling backwards some of them conveniently landed on spikes dusting themselves. The ones that didn't regained ground and started in on Willow again. His eyes flicked from the fiery red to the golden locked slayer. Her foot arced through the air sailing square into one of the vamps jaw. Spike winced slightly that was going to bruise. He watched with some desire as the slayer ducked dived and dodged blows coming from all directions. Behind him he heard the distinct sound of metal grinding against metal and he glanced to the side watching as Angel hammered away at the lock with a bolt cutter he brought with him. Spike saw the lock fall like a lump into the dirt. Wasting no more time Angel yanked open the door of the cage before he could move his firmly planted back foot Spike surged into the cage and dropped to a knee gently moving his daughter's hair to the side. He could see the blue purple of a bruise forming around her eye. Blood covered most of her face either having come from cuts on her lips or drained from her nose. White hot rage warmed Spike as he gingerly lift his daughter from the dirt feeling his quadriceps and hamstrings coil as he stood. "Dad." She choked out coughing. Spike tilted his head down to look at her once more.

"Shhh, baby. It's ok." He cooed like he had when he had held her in his arms when she was an infant. The tension that he had felt seeped from her and she went limp in his arms. Spike looked to Angel.

"We need to get out of here now." Spike swiftly moved from that cage. Angel stopped any advancing vampire from getting at them.

"Willow! Buffy!" Angel called out. At their names they both turned and retreated. Willow faced the enemy letting Spike get Quinn out first followed by Angel and Buffy. With a subtle flourish of her hand…

"Incinerate." Everything and everyone closest to her caught fire.

Spike sat on the edge of the bed one of Quinn's small hands in his. He knew they were deceiving. They looked like small fragile dainty female hands but he better he knew they held strength that even he could never know. He leaned forward tracing the outline of her face with the fingers of his other hand. "You rest now my sweet. Daddy's here." He leaned forward further and set his line ruby lips to her forehead. From the doorway he heard whispers. Spike looked over his shoulder to see Willow speaking with Angel just outside of Buffy's bedroom. He wanted to know what all the hush hush was about but he didn't want to leave Quinn.

Spike sat like stone at his daughter's side for what felt like, well, forever. He looked at the alarm clock on the side table and realized it had only been a few hours. He felt Quinn stir next to him. A strand of her caramel colored hair fell from where he had brushed it aside. Her eyes slowly opened and she squinted trying to block out the bright light. Spike got up and shut out the light. "Dad?" Quinn whispered turning her head to the side she spoke with mild panic.

"I'm here. It's alright I'm here." He took his seat on the bed once more and took her hand into his cold stone like ones.

"Dad they did something to me. They…" She closed her eyes and swallowed trying to remember what happened. She remembered a bright light and then falling into darkness. There was a jewel. The vampire had shown her a jewel. She scrunched up her face trying to remember. She gasped. It wasn't a jewel it was a gem it was the cat's eye! "he threw the cat's eye. I feel everything dad. I feel everyone! He threw the cat's eye in with me." Her words turned into chocked sobs. Spike felt himself breaking as he watched tears roll down her cheeks. He pulled her up to him circling his arms around her.

"Shhh. It's ok. Listen to me baby. Listen to my talk. Don't listen to everything else." She could feel his muscles coil and release in his back as he moved his hands up and down hers trying to soothe her. He felt her body shake as she continued to sob. He continued to talk in her ear telling her sweet nothings. Just talking making sound. Doing anything to take her mind from what she was feeling. Running out of things to say. He settled for telling her a story. He moved into the bed resting against the headboard. She was curled up in his lap. Reassuringly his hands moves of her hair. She tried concentrating on the words he was saying and slowly the screaming feelings she felt within quieted to a distant yell. She felt his body shake as he looked up to see Buffy walking into the bedroom. She looked at her conflicted, she didn't want to drudge up the things she worked so hard to quiet but she was also curious. Curiosity won. She opened herself up a little bit. She was surprised at the warm feeling like the steady heat from a camp fire flowing from Buffy. Buffy looked from where Quinn lay in Spike's lap to meet Spike's gaze. It was not the feeling Quinn was expecting. Out of experimentation Quinn opened herself up further allowing herself to feel into her father. She shutter in his lap in shock. She felt his arms circle around her like steel traps. "Quinn?" Concerned he looked from Buffy. Quinn felt the same warm feeling in Spike that she felt from Buffy except it wasn't like she was basking in the warm glow of a subtle camp fire. From Spike it was like she was standing in the middle of a forest while it was ablaze.

"Spike I need to talk to you." Buffy urged. Quinn sat up and pushed herself back against the headboard.

"Go dad. I'll be fine for a second." She responded. She watched with some sadness as her dad got up from the bed and walked out the door closing it behind him. She heard their hush tones. Had she been a hundred percent she would have been able to make out what they were saying. She closed her eyes and laid her head against the board. The distance of the people in the house was far enough from her that what she felt was a steady thrum. The door opened and that thrum blew apart like a soldier releasing a hand grenade. She cried out at the sudden pain. She recognized the feeling. It felt the same as Roderick. Except there was no underlying layer of regret. What she felt now was pure unadulterated remorse. It jabbed at her like a thousand tiny knives. Poking her everywhere and all at once. "Stop! Please stop it! It hurts." She cried out. She felt as if those jabs were causing her to bleed. She felt her arm and brought her fingers to her face but she couldn't see any blood. He rushed over to the bed.

"Quinn. It's ok. It's just me." It was Angel. She couldn't stop crying. He took her up into his arms. She struggled against him pushing him away. "Quinn, it's me. It's ok." He said. She looked at him tears streaming from hers eyes.

"I feel everything." She cried. He looked at her wiping tears from her face but not being able to wipe them away fast enough. She could feel that same warmth that she had felt in Spike and Buffy in Angel but the amount of remorse he carried drowned it out. "I can't. Go!" She pulled away from him punching him in the shoulder trying to make him move. He looked at her his eyes feeling hot. His jaw clenched.

"Quinn I don't…"

"It hurts so much…." She cried out again sobbing. She looked at him. "How can take it? How can you bare to stand?" She asked. He regarded her again.

"What?" He asked.

"Your guilt. I feel it! I feel all of it. I can't take it! It hurts. GO! Get out! Get out!" She yelled mortified Angel turned away and ran from the room hearing the sobs and shouts of his wife. He closed the door behind him. His wife didn't want him. Couldn't be near him. What he carried within himself was never meant to be carried or felt by anyone else. It was for him alone. He had hurt Quinn.

Spike and Buffy looked at him when he ran from the room. "Stop this now." He growled before walking off. They both starred after him. Buffy turned back to Spike.

"What was she saying to you?" Buffy asked. Spike shrugged.

"I don't know. What she said wasn't making any sense. She was hysterical." Spike leaned against the wall crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't care how she sounded I need to know what she said." Buffy insisted. Spike sighed.

"She said they threw a cat's eye at her."

"Does she have any tattoos?" Buffy asked. Spike raised an eyebrow.

"No. Why?" He asked. Buffy and Willow found a peculiar looking tattoo that was no larger than four inches by four inches on the top right of Quinn's shoulder when they had gotten her home and cleaned her up. The tattoo was of a cat.

"Will and I found a tattoo of a black cat on her shoulder. If you said she doesn't have any tattoos. Then how does she suddenly have one?" Buffy asked. Thinking of Willow and what she had found in one of her books about the tattoo. "Willow says that the tattoo of a black cat appears when the cat's eye gem has been used. She also says the gem amplifies the power a person possesses naturally." As Buffy explained the things Quinn had been rambling about began to make sense. She could feel everything they felt. Spike glanced down the hall where Angel had walked through a few moments again. Angel tortured himself for centuries of evil deeds committed by Angelus.

"Do you need me for anything else? I need to get back to her." Buffy shook her head. Without saying anything else Spike disappeared back inside the bedroom. She starred after him trying to figure out what to think. Spike has a daughter…Spike raised a baby…A screaming child that cries all the time. As hard as she tried she couldn't imagine William the Bloody raising a child. As she starred at the closed door to her bedroom. Whatever confusion she felt now she was sure of one thing. Spike absolutely loved Quinn.