Chapter Thirty Nine: Demons and Dreams
"What are they?" asked Dawn as she stopped beside Kennedy. Kennedy who was leading the way through the city back to the witch HQ had come to a stop. Up ahead at the end of the street were a number of large indistinct figures. Even at this distance they didn't look to be particularly human.
"They're demons," said Connor who remained beside Dawn. "I've seen their sort before. I can take out one or two but you don't want to mess with that many."
"What sort of demons are they?" asked Kennedy.
"Does it matter?" asked Connor impatiently. "I don't know all the silly demon names but they're demons alright and they're hunting for prey. We can't hang around here."
"Just one more time," said Kennedy turning on Connor. "You get in my face just one more time and I'll..."
"They're Sk'rank demons," said Anya. "They generally operate in large groups. They usually work as mercenaries rather than on their own account."
"So how do you kill them?" asked Kennedy. "What are their weaknesses?"
"They're just general strong arm types," said Anya. "Break their necks, chop their heads off, sword through the heart, the usual sort of thing. All their vital organs are approximately in the usual place."
"Well they're skanky enough," said Gwen. "Phew!" By now there was a strong smell wafting towards them from the other end of the street. "But where have they come from? You can't exactly hide a bunch like that, not where there are a lot of witches about. Or anybody with a nose really."
"Somebody with power has brought them here from their own dimension," said Anya. "They have a world of their own. Anybody who wants to employ them has to be able to pay them and have enough power to bring them through. I've never had any dealings with them myself, too smelly."
For the first time one of the demons became aware of the group of people stopped down the street. It put its head back and began to howl. This attracted the attention of the other demons who started gathering around it. Others came out of nearby houses and alleyways to join the gathering.
"Let's try another route," suggested Kennedy with a glance at Dawn. I wouldn't mind a fight but Buffy won't be too pleased if I let anything happen to little sister she thought.
At that moment there was an explosion from behind them, in the north of the city where the main fighting was taking place. This was quickly followed by a series of lesser explosions.
"Sounds like the battle's getting closer," said Gwen with a glance behind her. "We can't go that way."
"No, but we've got to get back to the intersection and work our way round these demons. Follow me!" said Kennedy. She started off at a fast jog but almost immediately came to a halt. The intersection behind them had now started to fill up with more demons of the same type, doubtless attracted by the howling.
"Over here!" said Connor. "Climb up here. If they try to climb up after us we'll have the advantage of being above them."
Connor had ducked into a nearby alleyway. A dead-end which led nowhere but was at the bottom of a metal fire-escape construction leading up to the roof of the four story building. The others hurried to join him as the two demon groups started to move towards them from opposite ends of the street.
Gwen sent electric discharges towards each group of demons to discourage them while the rest of the group of travellers jumped or were helped up onto the first level of the fire escape. Gwen now turned and rushed after them. After replacing her glove she jumped up and Kennedy caught her hand to pull her up to join the others.
"OK, lead the way up to the roof. Try to find a way down on the other side if it's clear of demons," Kennedy called up to Connor who was already doing just that. Dawn, Anya and Gwen followed him upwards. "Go on," she added to Sergeant Rees who was waiting beside her on the first level. "I'll bring up the rear."
"Let's see if these things are bullet proof before we do any bringing up the rear," said the sergeant. As he spoke several demons turned into the alleyway and he cut loose with his automatic weapon. The demons were far from bullet proof. They might or might not be able to survive a burst of gunfire but it could certainly damage them. In no time at all, the alleyway was clear as all of the demons fled.
"Thought so. Nothing living can stand up to one of these," said the sergeant tapping his gun. "That'll discourage them from dogging us."
"Thanks for that," said Kennedy. "I hope you've really discouraged them and they're not looking to hit us somewhere else. They've probably gone looking for easier prey but we'd better stay alert. When we've got Dawn to safety I'd like to do a bit of hunting myself."
As Kennedy set off up the ladder the sergeant gave her a puzzled look before following. Hunting demons? Is she another one of those witches? She doesn't look that much older than Dawn and she's not so big but she seems to have something going for her.
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Piper searched through the two supply packs that she had with her, her own and the one carried by Faith. It didn't take long to make the preparations for yet another time travel spell so she checked once more that Faith was breathing easily and set out to search the dungeon area to see if there was anything useful lying around.
Piper's search produced an old chair in one of the side corridors but nothing else of any use. For want of anything else to keep her busy she then spent some time cleaning the chair and the room of the worst of the layers of age old dust. Finally she checked once again that Faith was breathing easily before sitting down beside the still unconscious Slayer who remained lying on the table in the middle of the room.
I'll need to find somewhere to top up our supply of drinking water before long she thought. I suppose I could do a little spell if I have to. If Faith stays unconscious for much longer I'd better try to get her to drink something. Slayer or no slayer she needs food and water. Finally with nothing else to fuss about for the time being Piper had started to nod off herself when she was woken up by Faith.
Faith had suddenly sat bolt upright and looked around the room. "Piper? What's happening? Where's everybody else?" she asked.
Piper, now wide awake, stood up. "Prue and Paige have taken Lissie to try to get hold of the Key," she replied. "Are you alright? You've been out for a few hours. You were too close when that bomb went off. You might want to take it easy for a bit."
"I'm fine, which is more than I can say about this outfit," said Faith examining the damage to her clothes. She swung her legs around and jumped off the table.
"Don't worry about me. This is the way I usually wake up from life threatening comas," explained Faith. "I spent more than six months in a coma once and was healthy enough to take on Buffy only a day after I woke up. There aren't any vampires around that need a good kicking are there? It's been a while since I slayed anything and I'm feeling...um itchy."
"Uh, no," said Piper. "Just me, so you'll have to find some other way to uh scratch."
Faith, on getting off the table, had stalked around the room, full of energy. Suddenly she stopped and put her hand to her head.
"Are you sure you're alright?" asked Piper. "You'd better sit down and I'll tell you everything that's happened while you've been unconscious."
"I'm fine," said Faith putting her hand down. "I was just remembering."
"Remembering what?" asked Piper.
"Slayer dreams," said Faith. "Slayers have these special jumbled up dreams. They're meant to be prophetic, to give some sort of message about the future. Only they don't generally make much sense of anything until after it's all happened."
"Dreams huh, like Phoebe's and Cordy's visions eh? There's a lot of it about. So how do you know which dreams are prophetic and which are just dreams," asked Piper.
Faith shrugged. "I just know," she said. "They're different somehow. See what you make of all this..."
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A search of the upper floors of the Wolfram and Hart building finally produced what they were looking for. A large, blank, suitably prepared book which could be used to imprison a demon. It had been found in the bottom drawer of a desk in an office on the second floor.
"Don't you think it's suspicious that we've found just what we need?" asked Cordelia. "This is Wolfram and Hart. There's always another plot within the plot. I mean why was a book like that just sat in somebody's desk drawer waiting for us to find it?"
"These books have a number of uses for somebody doing magic," said Giles. "For one thing spells can be copied into them. When properly prepared they don't wear out and they keep on expanding. You never use up the last page. You want to speak to the Halliwells about their Book of Shadows sometime."
Cordelia looked at Tara. "Remember we discussed this," said Tara. "You were going to start a spell book of your own."
"Oh yeah," said Cordelia. "I remember. Right after I bought my cauldron, big black robe and pointy hat." Cordelia has resisted some of Tara's advice about the sort of things a witch should be doing. It was the twenty first century for goodness sake. Shouldn't she be able to put together a 'PC of Shadows?'
The three searchers arrived back at the entrance where they met up once again with Angel and Drusilla. "The fighting seems to be getting closer all the time," said Angel who had spent the time with Drusilla reconnoitring around outside. "The Kallistians seem to be losing ground. We'd better get out of here unless you want to take part in the fighting. Where do you want to go to next?"
"Somewhere quiet," said Tara. "Somewhere we can do magic without being interrupted by demons, battles or anything like that. Our first priority is the demons. That's our business and I can help with it. After that you can think about what to do about the Goa'uld." And maybe I can get back to Willow she thought.
"Perhaps the library of the witch HQ would be best," said Giles. "That should be quiet enough. As soon as we..." began Giles but he broke off from what he was saying because, without a word or any explanation of what she was doing and why, Tara disappeared in an orb. Tara herself seemed to be surprised judging by the expression on her face as she faded from sight.
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Buffy and Teal'c were now using the same Jaffa and prisoner scam that the Scoobies had used when they first came through the Stargate onto Marduk's ship. This time of course the role of Jaffa was played by a real Jaffa. Xander, Phoebe and Willow followed a little distance behind them down the corridor, Willow now being strong enough to walk without assistance.
The group had succeeded in moving up to the second deck level and were now approaching the room where Teal'c suspected there would be an active Stargate. This, not surprisingly, turned out to be a busy part of the ship.
This worked in their favour since everybody they met was rushing one way or another, presumably busy on various errands connected with the battle going on down on the planet. Nobody gave the group a second glance since they, like everybody else, seemed to know what they were doing and where they were going.
Finally Buffy and Teal'c turned the corner into the corridor which contained the room where Teal'c thought the Gate would be located. There were two armed Jaffa on duty at the other end of the corridor in front of a door so it looked like Teal'c was right. Doubtless other Jaffa were inside the Gate room, if that is what it was. The group were all prepared for their play acting.
Teal'c, with his hand on Buffy's shoulder, followed the Slayer along the corridor towards the door. Suddenly, behind them Xander came around the corner in a hurry, looked at the guards and stopped dead. "Rats!" he exclaimed before turning and running back the way he had come.
The guards reacted as expected by starting forward after Xander. But they had forgotten about Teal'c and Buffy who had continued walking towards them. The guards didn't know what hit them. Buffy allowed the first to pass by and took out the second with a single punch. At the same time Teal'c used his elbow and then his fist on the first Jaffa to knock him unconscious.
On hearing the sound of falling bodies Xander peeked back round the corner to confirm that the guards had been dealt with. He signalled Willow and Phoebe to join the others.
A few moments later the door to what was assumed to be the Gate room opened and a Jaffa rushed out, in a hurry to get somewhere. He stopped dead as he noticed Teal'c and Xander dragging the two unconscious guards into a nearby room. He went to draw his sidearm but had no chance to do so as Buffy came up behind him. Once the three unconscious Jaffa were out of the way Teal'c used a captured sidearm to stun all three and ensure that they did not regain consciousness any time soon.
"OK, now for the Gate," said Xander leading the way out of the room to join the three women in the corridor outside. They were outside the probable Gate room, waiting for Teal'c who now led the way inside.
The room did indeed have a Stargate in place but to everybody's surprise the room was empty of people. No further playacting was therefore required. There was a desk with a video console and control board in the room. The console was still on, as if the man who had come out of the room had only intended to pop out for a moment. But the attention of the group was at first entirely directed towards the Gate itself.
The Gate was not active, not in the sense that it was connected to another Gate because the inside did not have the watery look of an active connection. But the Gate was lit up by a ring of energy flashing and sparking around the perimeter of the circle. The energy was green and glowing and sent occasional flashes from one side of the Gate to the other. And then suddenly the energy disappeared and everything went quiet.
All of the energy had stopped, leaving the Gate apparently unharmed. The video console and the indicators on the associated control board had gone out. The lights in the room briefly flickered but then steadied and remained on.
Buffy looked at Teal'c who looked back at Buffy. "You're the one who knows about Stargates," she said. "What's happening? Is it meant to act like that or is there something wrong with it?"
"I have never seen anything like that before," said Teal'c walking over to the Dial Home Device. Teal'c began dialling but the DHD did not respond, it was totally lifeless and the dialling had no affect on the inert Gate.
"Does that mean it's broken?" asked Xander. "Do you know any way to get it working again?"
"Major Carter may know what is wrong with this Gate but I do not," said Teal'c. "You are correct that it is not working. That green energy seems to have shut down the Gate somehow." Teal'c looked at Phoebe. "Could that energy be some sort of magic spell? Unless you ladies can reactivate the Gate we shall have to find another way to contact our colleagues."
Willow was in no condition to work magic for the time being. Phoebe therefore was left to try her magic alone. But despite trying several different spells aimed at getting the Gate working again it obstinately remained inactive.
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Wesley woke up and looked around him again. The time loop had restarted once more. But was it different this time? Had their efforts to change things worked? Wesley switched on the light and there it was. On the other side of the room was a desk and on the desk was a PC, a laptop PC. And right next to it was a printer.
Wesley went over to the desk and touched the desk and the equipment on it. It all seemed to be as real as anything else in this world. Behind him Eve entered the room.
"It's there, yes!" she said. "It worked. Well go on, turn it on! What are you waiting for? We only have a limited amount of time in each time loop."
Wesley sat at the desk and switched on the laptop. Over the next few minutes he found that the machine worked in exactly the same way as the laptop he had left in his apartment back in LA. He was able to establish a perfectly normal internet connection.
"Do you think you could send an e-mail to somebody back in the real LA?" asked Eve.
"Well I could try," said Wesley. "But how would I know it got there?"
"Well what you do is..." began Eve.
"I know all about the way e-mail works thank you," said Wesley. "But how will we know that any acknowledgement or reply comes from the real LA rather than from somebody trapped here with us in the time loop?"
"Ask them something only you and they would know," suggested Eve.
Wesley shook his head. "Won't work I'm afraid," he said. "This place is connected to us, to our minds and memories somehow. What we've just done proves that. If it's something I know the answer to then this place might be able to put that answer in any reply that we receive."
"I suppose it's not a good idea to send out something like that anyway," said Eve. "It might draw attention to us. It might make somebody realise we're not locked into the loop the way everybody else is, if they haven't already. Anyway it's not as if anybody back on Earth can do anything to get us out of here."
"They might," said Wesley. "If we could tell them where here is, which we can't. For the moment I'll restrict myself to research. Let's see if I can gain access to all of the demonic database information that we want."
"Wait a minute," said Eve. "What about news bulletins? Have a look and see what's happened in the world since we left. That should tell you if you've got a link through to the real world."
"Will it?" asked Wesley. "Or will it just give us a false impression of what's been happening. Like those newspapers on the street."
"Have a look anyway," said Eve. "If we're still here on the next loop we can see if things have moved on a day in the real world. If it's the same day all over again then we'll know it's just part of the loop world."
"Later," said Wesley. "First I'm going to try to find out what I need to know to get us out of here."
"Well I'm going for a little walk," said Eve. "To see if what we've done has changed anything else at the same time. I'll also look to see if we've tripped any alarms with whoever's running this place."