Chapter 23
Exposed
"There aren't many of them," Faith noted warily in a low voice. She then nodded to her companions who scattered on cue. Spike, Angel, Giles, Robin and she walked away separately.
The circular shape of the cavern after they went down the stairs allowed them to spread across the room to assault its occupants. The plan agreed upon a little earlier was to eliminate their enemies by using the height that the lair gave them. In this way, they could move gradually while having the advantage over their adversaries. They were to meet downstairs, in the center of this immense stone room before heading towards the room where the necklace was and that Angel had shown them.
Thanks to the small number of demons that evening, their task was easier and the bodies quickly piled up around them, littering the floor with demonic corpses in addition to those of half-devoured humans. Despite this apparent ease though, everyone kept in mind a much less cheerful thought. Indeed, if the hiding place became less crowded and the human corpses were no longer everywhere, it was probably because the demons were now plenty and they were no longer so concerned about multiplying. They were certainly too busy spreading throughout the city…
Faith skillfully avoided her attackers. She raised her scythe with agility before bringing it down without hesitation. All of them then succumbed to the precision of the single blow and the dark-haired Slayer armed her weapon against her next enemy. The young woman felt in peak condition thanks to her mystical weapon and she appreciated the feeling of strength and power that it gave her. This weapon was definitely that of the Slayers.
Faith quickly reached the center of the room and got rid of the few remaining vampires and demons. She then glanced at Robin and noted that he also seemed doing great with his enemies. The two vampires joined her after a few moments and she looked up at the room where the necklace was supposed to be.
"I'll go get the necklace," she said. "One of you can come with me and the other stays with Giles and Robin here. Other demons could come through an exit we haven't seen yet."
"I'm coming with you," Spike replied, walking towards her, "I know this necklace."
"Good idea," the Slayer agreed. "Angel, we shouldn't be long but keep your eyes open."
The vampire nodded and headed towards Giles to help him get rid of a demon while Faith and Spike rushed towards the room above.
In front of the room, Faith glanced cautiously inside thanks to the hole in the stone that served as an entrance and exit door. Just like Angel had said, the place was less luminous but a strong light illuminated two demons facing an equally bright object. The necklace.
She waved at Spike to indicate the number of opponents they needed to fight before walking confidently while twirling her weapon. She cut off the head of her first enemy who had not bothered to face her, busy with his ritual. The light that was bursting out of him went out instantly while his head rolled on the floor. For his part, Spike drove a stake in the heart of one of his fellows who immediately turned to dust before disappearing definitely.
Faith examined the necklace from a distance, wondering if she could grab it so easily. In the end, she gently approached her hand but immediately withdrew it, slightly burned. A protective field guarded the precious treasure, she deduced with a wince. The young woman turned to the blond vampire, annoyed.
"What are we supposed to do now?" She groaned.
"Maybe only a demon can touch it," Spike suggested, walking forward. Unfortunately, his theory didn't prove correct and he removed his hand before it burned completely. He then wrapped it in his tee-shirt for a few moments to smother the flames that had started to devour his skin, leaving a small trail of smoke around.
"We know that vampires with a soul don't have access to it either," Faith noted as she grabbed her scythe. "Let's see if mystical weapons are luckier!" The young woman was about to hit it with all her might but the vampire stopped her.
"Don't!" He exclaimed, "If you break the spell and touch the necklace, we don't know what it could do!"
Faith stopped then lowered her weapon, disappointed, but understanding Spike's reasoning.
"I'll call Willow; we need her," she decided then. The young woman closed her eyes and focused on calling the witch. Willow had explained how to reach her by calling her mentally in case of a problem or a message to convey. Thanks to telepathy, the group remained in contact at all times in this way.
Willow heard Faith's call as she checked for the hundredth time that no demons were trying to come back up outside. Only two of them had appeared since she and Andrew had strategically positioned themselves in a recess halfway up the stairs that would take them back to the exit. This way, they prevented any attack for Dawn and Xander who were watching the entrance from demons who wanted to go down and they were also ready to be called in as backup by those who were retrieving the necklace. Willow could also hear everyone's calls if needed. Which is exactly what Faith had just done.
She answered in her mind and Faith briefly explained the problem she and Spike had to face to retrieve the necklace. In doing so, the witch continued to carefully observe her surroundings while Andrew anxiously stared at the black maze of stairs going into the bowels of the earth.
He felt nauseous at the memory of what Xander had said about the demons that fed on still warm human bodies. He cursed himself for accompanying the group but he hadn't been able to stay behind while everyone took part in the action. At least, he would have wanted to stay outside with Dawn but Willow had wanted him to stay with her so as not to take any risks. He knew that he was not the best when it came to fighting, far from it, yet he really would have done everything to protect Dawn.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the witch who snapped her fingers in front of his eyes.
"Andrew? Are you listening?" The young redhead repeated.
"Uh…"
"I need to go help Faith and Spike. A spell protects the necklace. You can go down with me or go back up and join Dawn and Xander."
"I'm going back up!" The young man replied immediately, only too happy to get out of this dark and damp hole.
"Andrew…"
"I won't do anything stupid, I promise!" He exclaimed as he rushed towards the exit.
Willow watched him disappear and shrugged. She was about to tell him to be careful but he was already gone. When he wasn't putting other people's lives in danger and relatively silent, the young woman was starting to appreciate his presence. Or at least get used to it.
The witch didn't take any more time to worry about Andrew's fate though, and she rushed down the stairs.
When she arrived in the room, Spike was still holding his hand and Faith was angrily walking around the necklace. "Nothing works; I can't reach it!" The Slayer was furious.
"If it's a magic barrier, you can't touch it without using a counter spell," Willow explained as she approached in turn. "I'm gonna make a diagnosis…"
She brought her hand closer to the necklace until she felt the magic barrier surrounding it. She studied it for a few moments to test its strength and power as well as its nature. In the end, she withdrew her hand and sighed.
"It's a dark magic barrier. Exactly what you'd expect here…"
"Can you destroy it?" Faith asked immediately.
"I can, but…"
"Great! Do it!" The young woman exclaimed.
"I'm not sure it's a good idea," the witch murmured, uneasy.
"Why?" Spike asked.
"This dark magic is directly connected to the First, I'm sure. If I touch it, it'll know."
"But we need this necklace!" Faith reminded her.
"I know, but I don't wanna make a mistake and let the First know we're here… I need to talk to Giles," she decided before leaving the room.
A few moments later, Giles and Willow came back with the other two fighters around the necklace. A few demons had emerged from the underground galleries that Angel and Robin had gotten rid of.
"Willow is right, we need to be careful," the Watcher said. "Maybe we'll attract the First's attention by destroying this protection."
"But you're the one who said we had to get this necklace back!" Faith exclaimed, "We've come this far, we can't back out now!"
"We won't back out, but we need to put all the chances on our side for the future," Giles explained. "We need to find a way to destroy this barrier without using Willow's white magic. It's too easy to spot."
"Let's look at our options then," Spike said.
"Well, we could call on another wizard but that'd take too long… We could also use a neutral host to transfer the magic or a weapon…"
"I guess the Scythe is too noticeable," Faith sighed.
"Indeed, it's even the most noticeable weapon," Giles agreed.
At that moment, Willow heard Xander's voice in her head. The young man warned her that several demons were coming in their direction because they had not been able to repel them all. There were more of them now and Dawn, Andrew and he were having trouble holding them back.
The witch immediately informed Angel and then turned to those around her. "Demons are coming towards us. There's a lot of them now. We must make a decision quickly or we're gonna have a problem!"
"What about the neutral host?" The blond vampire asked, "What are they?"
"It's a person with enough powers for a short time," the Watcher explained. "It should cover our tracks. Willow would only have to 'charge' this person."
"I can do it!" Faith immediately suggested as she stepped forward but Willow shook her head. "You're a Slayer, Faith," she reminded her, "You're as noticeable as the Scythe…"
"I can do it," Spike suggested in turn. "I'm not the Slayer and I'm still a vampire. I can go unnoticed."
"Maybe." The witch sighed, "But you wore the necklace and… Well, you know." The young woman got embarrassed.
"What's wrong?" Faith asked. "Why couldn't it work with him?"
"Willow, you need to tell us everything you know," Giles urged her, "We really don't have time to waste."
"The thing is, I'm connected to the First and of course it could feel it through me," the vampire explained then.
"Connected?" Giles repeated, frowning.
"Spike is connected with the First," Willow explained. "He can feel it, so we assume it can do the same. It must be because of his resurrection."
"Great," the Slayer groaned.
"Why didn't you say it sooner?" The Watcher stared at her in disbelief, "This is crucial information!"
"We weren't sure, I'm doing tests," the witch brushed aside. "What is important is to make a decision now! Time is running out!"
"We can't take such a risk!" Giles exclaimed, "It's best if Angel is the host."
"Alright, I'll ask him to come," Willow said, closing her eyes before quickly reopening them. "He'll be here any second. Spike, replace him and stay with Robin."
The vampire nodded and left the room. A few moments later, Angel entered and was informed of the situation. Willow approached him and took his hands.
"You should be okay. Maybe a little dizzy."
With these words, she concentrated on giving the vampire the right amount of magic he would need to destroy the barrier. She didn't want to overload him because he would have trouble controlling this element he didn't know, but she couldn't underestimate its power and take the risk that Angel would burn out if he was not able to break it.
When she removed her hands from his, the vampire staggered back.
"You're gonna be okay," she reassured him. "You just need to focus on the barrier. Think about what you have to do and the rest will follow."
Angel raised a trembling hand to the necklace and gathered his strength. His vision was blurred and his body filled with a feeling of intoxicating heaviness. He focused on the witch's instructions so as not to be overwhelmed by his senses intoxicated by magic. He visualized an invisible barrier and felt a power tingle his fingers. He then imagined making it explode and a red whirlwind instantly rose, hitting hard the protection. He fell to his knees from the shock and heard Willow encourage him to hold on.
Angel had been struggling to keep the magic swirling for several long minutes and the barrier still hadn't fallen. Willow was starting to worry because it should have been broken by now and the dark-haired vampire was running out of breath. She glanced anxiously at Giles who was watching the scene carefully but before he could answer her, Spike burst into the room.
"We gotta leave now! The First knows we're here and all the demons in the city are rushing towards us!"
"How do you know?" The witch asked, stunned.
"It's this connection," Spike explained hurriedly, "I feel what it's doing! And I can tell our cover is falling apart, we need to get outta here and fast!"
"But he's close!" Faith noted, glancing at Angel who continued his efforts, "That's too bad!"
"Forget it!" Giles decided, "We have to go!" He grabbed Angel by the shoulders and it destabilized the vampire who collapsed on the floor, weakened. The Watcher helped him get up and Faith came to grab him on the other side. For his part, Spike had already left to join Robin who was trying to push back the flood of demons already there.
As they walked past the door, Willow abruptly turned around and headed back toward the necklace. "Willow!" Giles exclaimed, "We don't have time!"
"I won't be long," the witch whispered, focused. A bright red whirlwind shot out of her hand and hit the stone the necklace was resting on, shattering it. Willow then approached the rubble, hoping that it hadn't been too much and that the necklace wouldn't be damaged. Fortunately, she picked it up a few seconds later among the smoking stones. It didn't look like it had suffered. She carefully put it in her pocket and ran to join her friends who were beginning their retreat.
Their climb back up the stairs was complicated by several demons and vampires who had managed to escape the vigilance of Dawn, Xander and Andrew but who Faith and Spike took care of quite easily. As they reached the last third of the immense staircase, Willow heard Xander's voice again. This time, he seemed completely panicked.
"Will, we got a huge problem. Dozens of demons are heading straight for us, we're not gonna be able to hold out! We're coming down towards you!"
"Don't! We're going back up right now and we need to leave! Get ready, we're not far!"
The witch quickened her pace a little more and a few moments later, the group was finally outside. It was then that they became aware of the situation they were in: hundreds of demons were running towards them at full speed.
"Climb!"
Faith yelled as she began to scale the small shops in the dead end to take refuge on the roofs and everyone did so as quickly as possible. Spike and Willow climbed first, then Giles and Angel who had somewhat regained his senses. Willow and Faith then helped Dawn and Xander to hoist themselves up, then finally Andrew.
While the latter thought he was out of trouble, a creature grabbed his leg and violently pulled him back. Surprised, he clung to the hand of the Slayer who braced to resist the push. The young man began to scream when he felt Faith's hand slip away and he struggled even more, only accelerating his fall. In the end, he fell back to the ground with a thud while Faith was thrown backwards onto a chimney.
Immediately, Dawn grabbed her stake and jumped alongside her boyfriend who was trying to defend himself against the enormous demon that wouldn't let go of him. She rushed at the demon and hit it hard in the face while Willow tried to push back as many of its fellow creatures as possible with a continuous stream of magic in order to isolate them. The large demon easily pushed back the young woman though, and he tried to hit her just as hard. Dawn wanted to get up but her legs were still shaking from her last fall. As she braced for impact, she saw the demon writhing in pain, a metal bar piercing its abdomen. She then stared in disbelief when it collapsed on the sidewalk.
The young woman sighed in relief when Spike took the TV antenna out of the creature's body with a horrible sucking noise. He then made sure that his opponent was dead by crushing his head against the ground. In the end, he approached Dawn to help her up and she stood up as best she could. She quickly thanked the vampire before rushing towards Andrew who was lying unconscious.
"Dawn, you gotta come back up!" Xander yelled, "Willow won't be able to hold on much longer!"
Indeed, the witch seemed to be weakening as she continued to push back the rest of the demons with her magic.
"He's not moving!" Dawn got alarmed when she tried to wake her boyfriend up.
"Climb up there," Spike told her, "I'll carry him."
The young woman hesitated for a second before grabbing the hand that Xander held out above her head. Spike then grabbed Andrew and, helped by Robin and Giles, he went back up onto the roof.
Willow immediately stopped her spell and held on to Xander so as not to collapse. Faith had gotten up and encouraged the small group to move away quickly. Indeed, even if it was unlikely that the demons could reach the roofs because of their size, they couldn't take any risks given how tired they all were. Faith and Robin went ahead to identify the easiest ways, closely followed by Spike and Angel who took turns carrying Andrew, still unconscious. Giles, Xander, Dawn and Willow brought up the rear, the witch still weakened by her last effort.
After about ten minutes of walking on the roofs, Faith and Robin told the group to go down using the fire escape of an old building. The small street seemed quiet and the neighborhood deserted at this late hour of the night. Without a word, they went down and headed towards Buffy's home.
Faith, Robin, Spike and Angel had left, leaving the original Scooby Gang alone after dropping Andrew off. Dawn had dressed his wounds and noted with relief that they were only superficial. Yet the shock of the fall had caused him to faint and the doctor the young woman had called had recommended rest and painkillers. While her friends were talking downstairs, she had decided to stay and watch over her boyfriend for a few more moments.
"It was a close call," Xander whispered as he sat down in one of the living room armchairs.
"But we have the necklace!" Willow smiled, sitting on the couch.
"That was very risky, Willow," the Watcher pointed out, taking off his glasses.
"We couldn't come back empty-handed, Giles," the witch said.
"I wasn't talking about the necklace," the latter continued.
Xander frowned. "What are you talking about, Giles?" He asked when he noticed his best friend's embarrassed face.
"It seems that Willow forgot to tell us everything she knew about Spike's resurrection," the Watcher said. "It could have been fatal for us."
"What?!" The young man choked.
"Listen, Xander, I know I took a risk but it was calculated," the witch tried to justify herself.
"What kind of risk?" He asked suspiciously.
Willow sighed. She knew she owed them an explanation but she was also glad she had trusted her instincts because Spike had proven to be very useful tonight.
"Spike immediately felt that he had come back, let's say… different," she explained. "He came to me and I did some tests. I found that there was a connection between him and the First, probably because he wore the necklace. When we discovered that this object is used to balance Good and Evil, it confirmed my theory. And I also thought that, since Spike seemed to sense what the First is doing, it could help us figure out its plans."
Xander was baffled. "Will, why don't you tell me? Why do you all hide what you know when it comes to Spike?!" He exclaimed.
"That's exactly why, Xander!" The witch snapped, "You hate Spike so much that you would never have agreed to let me do tests or thought he could be useful! And you're doing the same, Giles!" She continued, turning to the Watcher, "I'm not saying I was right to keep it to myself, but I had a hunch and it turned out to be correct tonight!"
A silence fell between the three friends who observed each other.
"It is true that our judgment can be distorted when it comes to Spike," Giles said. "But we also have good reasons to be suspicious, and you mustn't forget them either, Willow. You were right tonight, but your theory could also have been wrong, and if we had known, we could have been prepared."
The witch nodded silently, knowing he was right on that point.
"What do we do now?" Xander whispered, "Do we let him come?"
"He seems to be able to help us for now," the Watcher admitted. "He can still be useful but at the slightest suspicion, we won't take any risks. It is possible that the First was alerted when we began to attack its barrier despite our precautions but Spike may also have given it access to this information, even unconsciously."
"And we still don't know how Buffy is," the young man murmured. "Or if what he said about her is true…" Noticing Willow's annoyed glance, he shook his head. "I know Dawn spoke to her on the phone and confirmed what he said, but I can't believe Buffy isn't back already," he admitted then.
"My sister will come back," Dawn said firmly from across the room. "We can trust her. She'll never let us down."
Willow smiled in front of the young woman's determination. In those moments, she looked a lot like Buffy.
"I think we can trust Spike for now," she continued, walking towards them. "He saved Andrew and me earlier. And he warned us about the demons coming our way. If he was playing a double game, he would have just let us die by not warning us."
Willow nodded to agree while Giles and Xander seemed to agree as well.
At that moment, Dawn's phone vibrated and she glanced at the email she had just received. Her heart skipped a beat as she read it and she then threw her phone to the witch, beaming. The young redhead caught it and a grin lit up her face. Everything would be fine now, she thought sincerely. They had recovered the necklace and Buffy would be among them tomorrow.