A/N: Had this done halfway after finishing the previous chapters. So thought I'd finish it before going on my hiatus. I hadn't partially completed Out into the Light, or A New Life, after the previous chapters. So new chapters for those stories would be coming back at the end of my two-month hiatus. Cheers.
Kobol, 1030 hours.
It was a bright sunny day as the Puddle Jumper carrying two Earth officers including Major Neely, Starbuck and one of the Colonial scientists, as well as a Cylon Number Three and Tessa arrived at the site of the first Colonial camp. The name of the site was something that Starbuck didn't care about as her body slightly shook while the Jumper landed on the clearing were the camp had been made. Getting up from her seat as the ramp opened, she stood alongside one of the Colonial scientists who opened their eyes wide once they saw the destruction before them.
"By the gods," said the Scientist while Starbuck mumbled a prayer as they looked around while walking out of the ship.
"My God," whispered Tessa as she and the other Humanoid Cylon, with Major Neely and another officer behind them, along with two translators looked at the destruction. It was Starbuck who stepped on the soil which gave off a disgusting squelching sound. She looked down at the soil which was devoid of grass, instead it was soaked in blood from the bodies that lay among the tattered ruins of tents, or among the strewn pots of food and coffee that lay on the ground.
"We… we are missing one of our brothers," said a shaken Tessa who was staring out into nowhere while looking around the camp while she walked. The other Cylon was holding on to her shoulder to comfort her, and herself as they looked at the broken bodies around them. Tessa then shook her head before turning her head towards her Cylon sister, and then to Major Neely. It was one of the translators who then told Major Neely of this development before hearing Starbuck say that they were missing someone else as well, Gaeta.
"The vampires can't come out in the sun light," said Major Neely according to the briefing he had received from the Commander of the Odyssey soon after his medical was completed, and before he arrived back down to the planet once again, "we should be safe. Search for those two, don't stray off too far. The Odyssey's still conducting life signs scans… they said that they're almost done so… so.. we look around. Let the people upstairs finish what they need to finish."
Starbuck and the others nodded their heads before looking around once again.
There was blood and body pieces everywhere. As the group looked around with their eyes wide open in terror at the grisly scene before them, they saw bodies that were gutted open, as well as half eaten insides thrown in many places. There were other bodies that were pale, their blood having been drained out before parts of their flesh had been ripped off.
Walking around the camp in groups of two, the Colonials, Cylons, and Earth officers wondered if what they were seeing right was similar to the other camps. It caused a shudder to go through they bodies as they imagined the possibility.
'I wouldn't be surprised,' thought Major Neely while he glanced over at the two Cylon who were doing their best to keep from throwing up. The smell of blood and guts permeated the air, and it was affecting all of them, even Starbuck and the scientist who were covering their noses. Glancing back at the broken and mauled bodies of their fallen… Major Neely glanced at the humanoid machines hanging their heads and offering a prayer, before glancing over at the two Colonials who were speaking in Colonial Standard, asking the Lords of Kobol to take with them the souls of the humans lost this day. The man then looked over at the Earth officer before they continued their rounds.
They were at the edge of the ruins that the camp was supposed to be investigating; it was said to be a massive temple complex to the god Apollo. Surrounding the temple, that was now just ruins with grassy overgrowth covering the collapsed roof.. of which large chunks could still be seen, there were several party standing buildings, columns that were standing while others lay on the ground with the side of a mountain range just several hundred meters away.
Major Neely and the officer from the Odyssey, a Lt. Mars, was heading for the ruins when they received a radio message from the Odyssey. They had found a life sign at the far south side of the ruins. The Major looked at Lt. Mars, and then back at the group of people before getting on the radio and acknowledging the receipt of the message. The Major then contacted one of the translators and told him to relay the message to the Cylons and the Colonials in Ancient Greek.
"Tell them that we're going to check whoever this is, and we'll bring him or her back," said the Major.
"Understood," replied the translator before relaying the message to Starbuck and Tessa. She could see that the two women weren't happy, and so the translator told them that they still had to identify the bodies before more people were sent down to put the bodies, and the scattered remains, into body bags which would then be transported back to the Odyssey via Jumper.
And they would repeat the same process on the other two sites.
"Any news on Lee?" asked Starbuck for the second time; the first time being on the Odyssey after their medical check-up.
"Nothing yet," said the translator before Starbuck nodded her head, and then they went to identifying the bodies. The truth was that they did know what happened to Apollo, Major Neely had found out after his medical during the briefing that Apollo was turned into a vampire, and that he was being held prisoner on New Kobol. Before the Major could say anything, he was then told that the SGC had ordered that the planet not be bombed, at least not yet. Their orders were to simply take the survivors, and the body to New Kobol and Eden before transporting SG-1, a few of the Colonials, and the vampire Apollo back to Kobol at a later date following some discussions.
Major Neely weren't sure of what the discussions were that were supposed to take place, but from what he had experienced on the surface of the planet… he was certain he didn't want to find out. The Odyssey commander then told the Major that it would be the responsibility of Commander Adama and the Colonials to tell Starbuck what happened to her friends, that if she found out what happened right now.. then she may object to searching for any survivors first.
And Major Neely simply nodded his head.
It would be twenty minutes of walking later that Major Neely and Lt. Mars raised their weapons and scanned the area around them. The two of them walked through the undergrowth and the ruins for several minutes before stopping suddenly. The Major and Lt. Mars looked at each other, before looking at a pile of rubble in the distance.
They could hear a voice; a very soft voice singing.
"Hey!" yelled the Major before ordering Lt. Mars to contact the translator who was with the Cylons and Colonials. He told him to relay a message, that he needed Tessa and Starbuck here in case this was one of their people. While the lieutenant was on the radio relaying the Major's orders, Major Neely then ran to the pile of rubble and circled it. He could hear the song coming from the rubble, at least from under it. He leaned on the rubble and tried to push it away.. but it was simply too heavy.
"Hey!" yelled the Major while leaning, his two hands pushing against the rubble, as he looked down at the ground, "I know you don't understand me! But help is on the way!"
It was then that the singing stopped, and the Major heard a shout from underneath the pile of rubble. The man thought that whoever was stuck under the pile was in a ditch of some sort, and that the rubble was piled on him. Or something must have happened to cause the column behind him, sections of which looked similar to the rubble on the ground, to topple over and trap the poor man.
"Help me!" yelled the man.
The Major, seeing no other alternative to getting the man out for underneath the rubble, took out his Zat.. as did Lt. Mars. They activated the weapons and aimed them at the rubble while the translators, the Colonials, and the Cylons were running toward their location. With the reluctance of the Earthers to show off the teleportation technology at their disposal, Major Neely knew that this was the best way to remove the rubble that was covering the man.
"Fire!" he ordered as he and Lt. Mars fired their Zats. The blue energy crackled over and around the piles of rocks multiple times through three shots before they vanished one by one. The voice was getting louder the more the rubble was disintegrated until they reached the smaller pieces which they could simply pick up and then throw to one side by their hands. It was a few minutes later that, after throwing aside the last few pieces of rubble, did they come across a dark haired man who was covering his face with his arms… keeping his eyes away from the bright sunlight.
"You're alright, you're alright," said the Major as he leaned forward and patted the man's shoulder.
"I…. I'm Lt. Gaeta, of.. of the Battlestar Galactica," said the man, his voice as he looked at the Earth officers through a gap in his arms, "help… blo… blood demons… help."
Sub-basement, BPRI, Sunnydale, 1700 hours.
Kathy felt dizzy, in fact she felt as if she was going to throw up. Opening her eyes to the dull throbbing at the base of her skull, and on the throbbing that went along the length of her entire arm, Kathy leaned her head back against the back of the seat she was sitting on. Shaking her head before looking down at her arms, Kathy saw that there were shackles that connected her arms to the floor. There was just enough slack on the chains for her to place her arms on the arm rests comfortably. She was even able to reach behind her, and feel the area at the base of her skull that was throbbing. Kathy's eyes went wide when she felt the scar, and then her hands were turned into fists before they slammed into the armrests with a dull 'klang' sound.
"Liam! Liam!" screamed Kathy as he looked up at the camera in the corner that was pointed in her direction, "what have you done to me?! You killed me and now you… you.. what have you done! Liam! What the fuck have you done to me!"
Kathy screamed and tried her best to tear the chains off the floor which had a silver shine to it. But Kathy didn't pay it any mind for now. Instead, the vampire turned her eyes yellow, and brought out her fangs while she grunted as she pulled hard on the shackle and chains. She pulled her arms back, and then jerked them hard forward in the hopes that her strength would be enough to break the chains, or tear the shackles from the floor itself. Kathy screamed as sweat gathered on her forehead before she leaned back on the chair. She was looking at the bleeding cuts on her arms from the shackles cutting into her wrist before she looked around at the floor.
Her jaw set in rage, Kathy then glanced over at the door and concentrated. She was trying to use her telekinesis to tear the door open, and then she was going to use her powers on the poor guards that she was sure was on the other side of the door. The very same guards that she could smell, all three of them. Kathy titled her head, confusion etched on her face, when the door didn't move… it never even budged. The vampire couldn't even feel her power reaching out to slam against the door.
"Liam!" she cried out while her body trembled in rage, "Liam!"
In anger, Kathy looked at the door again and gathered her rage. She remembered the Slayers beating her before she lost consciousness, she remembered the redhead, she remembered Cordelia shooting her with a strange weapon and then everything had gotten dark. All Kathy could do now was let her desire to kill all of them rise. She wanted to kill them all for what they had done to her, she imagined biting down into Cordelia's neck and making her a vampire just like her; she imagined murdering the Potential Slayers, and their families that stayed in Sunnydale. She imagined the streets running with the blood of those killed with Angel looking at the devastation around him in anguish. Kathy imagined Angel screaming as Cordelia rose up as a vampire, and then… just as Angel cursed Kathy… the young woman would dust him.
But that was just her imagination; for right now, she was stuck in this room.
"Liam!" screamed Kathy, "Liam!"
It was in a room at the BPRI's sub-basement that Angel, Cordelia, and Spike were looking at the screaming Kathy though the security camera in the new cell. The young woman had been brought back to the BPRI after having been taken out of stasis at the Antarctic base. It was there that, as agreed with the SGC, the NID inserted a small tracker at the base of her skull as well as a similar chip that Spike used to have in his brain, one that caused him pain if he attacked any human. This was followed by the SGC inserting a tracker on her arm bone, followed by another chip on her brain that was specifically created to cancel out her telekinetic and telepathic abilities by using the scans of Willow's mind when she used her powers. With Homeworld not willing to wake up Kathy so that they could test the areas of her brain that used her abilities by pitting Willow against her, General O'Neill authorised use of scans that Willow had completed a few days before the decision was made to take Kathy out of stasis. Even the NID had agreed since they didn't wasn't to risk any other danger in the even that Kathy experimented her telekinesis on Spike.
Now the hope was that the chips would be doing their jobs. Angel was holding a mask that Fred had invented, starting from the day that Kathy was placed into stasis. Angel looked at it in his hands, and then up at the screen. It was meant to prevent Kathy from speaking with her real voice since her super-hypnosis was theorised to be a combination of her telepathy being focused through her voice so that others would do her will. The mask was meant to filter her voice electronically, the voice coming through would sound natural… but with an artificial tinge to it. Angel knew that it was something that they needed to do; it was something he wanted to do since he needed his sister back in his life.
And this was simply the first step. He knew that Kathy was corrupted, that her soul was corrupted. And he wanted to do what he could to help her. The ensouled Vampire was brought out of his reverie by another blood curdling scream from Kathy.
"Liam!" howled Kathy as she glared at the camera, and then at the door. Angel and the others could see her squinting before she screamed again and tried to tear off the bindings that trapped her. She then glared at the camera before demanding to know what he had done to her. Angel, Cordelia, and the NID Committee were hopeful that the chip in Kathy's brain would work.
And it had seemed that it worked as Angel, Cordelia, and Spike looked at the video of Kathy screaming obscenities at Angel while demanding to know, once again, what had been done to her.
"I know you told me about her," said Spike glancing at Angel before he stared at the screen with his arms folded over his chest, "but it's something else to see her in person. How's it feels to find out your little sis hates you?"
"You have no idea," said Angel who had his arms crossed over his chest while looking at the monitor screen, the mask now just simply dangling.
"Will those chains hold?" asked Spike as he leaned forward behind the young man who was one of the security personnel charged with watching over the locked down vampire.
"Chains that are a trinnium alloy," said Cordelia, "we've been assured that it's virtually unbreakable… well, Angel tested it after it was forged and he couldn't even scratch it. The floors and walls have been electrified; it'll be activated when no one's in the room except for Kathy. There are jets inside the room that releases a sedative that is absorbed through the skin since Kathy can't breathe. She's not escaping again, if the sedative fails in case she does escape.. somehow… then she has to pass the electrified floor. The security personnel have orders to activate it no matter who is in the room… even if it's me."
"That's cold," said Spike.
"You haven't seen what she can do.. or what she could do." Angel said before asking Spike if he actually read the report that he was sent after he and his team in L.A were read into the existence of the Stargate and advanced alien technology that was being made available to the BPRI.
"Telekinesis, some kind of telepathic hypnosis, sharp nails, strength, speed, healing, and her human soul mixed with two demonic ones," recounted Spike while he looked at the calm Kathy on the screen, "those are out too, right?"
"Her telekinesis is disabled," said Angel, "so's her telepathy. Her nails are still sharp though."
Angel then handed him the mask, telling the platinum haired vampire that it was to put her voice through a digital filter so that she couldn't use her hypnosis on others.
"Just put this on her," said Angel as he nodded at the screen, "the President's coming tomorrow night, and I don't want there to be any problems. Well, given what's going to happen to Kathy after you put on the mask, we can be assured nothing's going to happen when the President gets here."
"Fine," said Spike as he snatched the mask away from the vampire. He looked at the device that had metallic straps, with one end attached to a small keypad. He then looked at Angel again who told him that the other end of the metallic strap, make of the same trinium alloy, would be lacked onto the number pad. He told Spike that the number itself would be wirelessly connected to the small bomb in the base of her neck; and that if Kathy tried to force it open, or tried to input the wrong key code onto the pad… then the bomb would go off and she would die.
"A bit too much, don't you think?" asked Spike.
"You haven't seen what kind of a danger she could be," said Angel.
"And you really don't, Spike," added Cordelia as Spike looked at her, "trust me, you really, really don't. She nearly killed Angel, she could have killed everyone here when she escaped weeks ago, before she was placed in stasis. It took Willow, Buffy, Faith, and Kennedy working together to take her down. And that was just before she tried to kill me."
"So she's kind of like you when you were Angelus," said Spike, "an immoral monster that would kill anyone and anything. Someone who wants the world to burn. That kind of a danger then?"
"Yes," replied both Angel and Cordelia together. Spike nodded her head, and then looked at the mask. He knew that what he was being asked to do was cruel, and he also knew that Angel was aware of the same thing as well. He remembered the chip in his brain that nearly killed him, but by that time.. he had already gotten a handle on himself and joined Buffy in her and the Scoobies quest to save the world. The chip was then removed from his brain, and he had been working hard to stay on the side of the light without his soul.
Something that he would have thought impossible in his early years. But now, as he walked out of the security room by himself, Spike turned and headed towards the room that had previously held the corrupted ensouled vampire. He was told that the room was redesigned with a metallic floor that would be charged with electricity whenever Kathy was awake and alone in the room. Angel had told him that there was enough electricity to turn any vampire to dust, and kill any human who was trapped inside with Kathy.
If she did manage to escape, an Ancient shield would instantly cover the only entrance; the metallic door that Kathy had ripped out over a month ago with her telekinesis when she escaped. The shield would hold her in while the floor was electrified. And if she somehow managed to escaped the floor by staying on the chair, a cocktail of sedatives would be sprayed into the room.. sedatives that would penetrate her skin and then she'd collapse onto the electrified floor.
Turning to dust.
It was a room that Spike knew Kathy would have a very hard time getting out off. The vampire nodded his head at the three guards who pressed a few buttons on a panel. Once the green button was lit on top of the door, one of the guards opened it and stood far off to the side. Spike then walked into the room while staring at Kathy, who stared back at him with a smile on her face. He looked at her up and down while the door was being closed again, and then the locks clicked into place. Spike looked up at the camera, and then at Kathy who was simply dressed in a purple shirt, and a pair of black seat pants.
"William, William, William," teased Kathy as she tilted her head, "we meet again."
"We never met before, pet," said Spike as he walked around Kathy, all the while glancing at the chains that were bolted onto the floor, and connected by chains to the shackles on her arms. He then looked up at Kathy's face, and looked expressionless at her yellow eyes and her fangs.
Just as Angel had told him earlier that day after he returned from Colorado Springs.
"Look at you now," said Spike as he walked around the chair while staring at Kathy, who was growling at him.
The growling suddenly stopped when Kathy leapt forward, her nails extended towards Spike who calmly took a step back. The chain attached to Kathy's shackles tensed before she fell onto the floor while growling at the platinum haired vampire. While this was happening, Angel and Cordelia were still watching from the security, with Cordelia flinching when Kathy growled and leapt at Spike.
"You're still a child," said Spike calmly as Kathy glared at him while she shuffled back until there was slacking on the chains. She then stood back up on her feet and retracted her nails while baring her teeth and growling at the vampire, "eh, don't growl at me pet."
"Where's my cowardly brother?" demanded Kathy as she looked at the camera, "come to me, Liam. Come to me!"
"He's not coming," said Spike as Kathy glared at him, "now… I think you feel a bit funny? You know… unable to do the things that you could do?"
"I may have lost my telekinesis," said Kathy, "send the guards in here… I'll show them what I can still do. I'm still unique, William… I'm not like you or Liam. I'm better… better than Drusilla, better than Darla. By the way, where is the dear Darla? I wanted to thank her for being there when I died."
"Angel killed him," said Spike.
"Too bad," replied Kathy as she glared at Spike, "and Drusilla? That crazy vamp… I hear Angelus did her so many times when.."
"You really shouldn't talk, Pet."
"Spike," hissed Angel when he noticed Spike's hands turning into fists. The ensouled vampire knew that Spike was protective of Drusilla, even though they had no idea if she was alive or dead. He knew that Spike would always protect her honour.
"Have you been cuckholded, Spike?" teased Kathy with a pout. Spike shook his head before chuckling at Kathy while he walked around her, "you know, Liam's watching us right now. You could…"
"No, luv," said Spike as he watched Kathy lick her lips, and then bite her lower lip, "your voice doesn't work on vampires, remember?"
"You…"
"Let's not waste time, luv," said Spike as he vamped out, and then dashed forward. He ducked Kathy's slashing nails before grabbing her with an arm around her waist. And then just before she could stab him with her newly extended finger nails, Kathy yelped when she felt her arms being pulled back while Spike was pulling her towards the door. Kathy was struggling to get out of Spike's tight grip while screaming expletives. She felt her shoulders burning while her arms were pulled all the way behind her, and she was unable to defend herself for what came next.
"Hey, Big Poof," screamed Spike who was referring to Angel before he placed the mask over Kathy's mouth, "send the guards in."
The doors then clicked open as the three guards rushed in, with one of them aiming a Zat at Kathy. The other two rushed to the struggling Kathy who was screaming through the mask which filtered her voice to a that of a robotic sounding female. She was screaming at the guards to kill each other, and her eyes went wide when nothing happened.
"No! No!" screamed Kathy as Spike gripped her tight while the mask covered the lower part of her face, from her nose and mouth, to her cheeks which tapered to the metallic straps. Kathy was moving her head from side to side violently, but all the while Spike held the mask tight on her mouth so that her voice was filtered through. The truth was that this violent way was the only way to get it on her. No one wanted to risk a human being, including a Slayer, coming into the room and attaching the mask onto Kathy's face… even if she was knocked out.
No one wanted to take the risk that she would suddenly wake up, and then use her voice to order people to kill others, or themselves. Back in the room where the walls reverberated with Kathy's digitised screams, there was a click as the guards attached the key pad to the metallic strap, and a light on one section of the keypad lit up with a green light indicating that the device was connected to the bomb.
"Let her go," said Angel into the microphone, his voice coming out of the speakers in the room, as the guards jumped back out of Kathy's range.
"Kill yourselves," ordered Kathy as she looked at the guards, "kill yourselves!"
To Kathy's shock, the guards continued to aim their weapons at her. She then glared at Spike, and then at the camera's, and then back at Spike again. She recalled there was a click sound behind her neck, and it felt as it the guards had placed one of the metal straps into an object.. the very same object that was holding the mask to her face. She reached behind her, to the base of her neck just as Spike said that if she tampered with the device in anyway, then the bomb implanted in the bas of her skull would explode.. and she would be turned to dust.
"You're…"
"It's not a joke," said Angel as he stood out the doorway, in the hallway.
"What.. what have you…. Liam! You… you…"
"We did what we had to do to protect others from you, Kathy," said Angel as Kathy looked back at him with her mouth open in shock, "and to protect yourself from… well, yourself. You have a soul, Kathy… you…"
"What have you done to me.. I…" said a confused Kathy who took a step back, "why.. why can't I…"
"There's a bomb in the base of your skull," said Spike, "and a tracker buried in your spine. You can dig them out, but you'll be killing yourself."
"You have a soul, Kathy," said Angel as he looked at the wetness in his sister's eyes as she was slowly coming to the realization that she was really trapped, "you were corrupted body and soul after you were brought back. And then your soul was joined with two demons, and then.. and then you killed for so long and…"
"You did this!" hissed Kathy.
"I killed you, Kathy," replied Angel as he looked at his sister, "and yes, it was my actions that made you into this. But.. but you're still my sister. And I love you… I…"
"I want you to die," said Kathy.
"I love you either way," said Angel, "Spike's going to help you return to a semblance of who you once were. He's going to help you look past your anger, and your hate. He'll help your human soul shine."
"You…"
"I have no soul, Pet," said Spike as Kathy glared at him, "had a chip in my brain that prevented me from harming humans… just like you."
"No!" yelled Kathy.
"You're in there, somewhere… the Kathy I know is in there somewhere," said Angel who put his hands into his pockets, "and I want her back."
"I am me, Liam," hissed Kathy, "I am the one you killed, I am the one who was tortured because of you, and I am the one who will never.. ever forgive you."
"I can only hope that one day you will," said Angel, "in the meantime, I'll settle for you not being able to kill any innocents while Spike helps you. I hate to say it, but he's done well without a soul.. and you have one. But it's corrupted because of the demonic souls that were forced into it. I know he'll help the human soul shine through, Kathy. I'll look in on you from time to time. But no matter what, I do love you."
"Liam!" yelled Kathy as Angel turned and started to walk away, "Liam!"
"Come on, pet," said Spike as the guards felt the room while Kathy kept on screaming for Angel. She continued screaming for Angel to look at her, even as the door closed. Eventually it was just Kathy and Spike in the room alone as tears streamed down Kathy's face when she realized that everything that made her unique was being taken away from her. She then stared at Spike, who said that it was time they got started.
TBC.