Chapter 8: Hush

Lucy

Lucy was going to tear apart every scientist in the Initiative with her hands and teeth, human hands and teeth. That would be more painful than claws and fangs.

When she, Giles and Jenny had finally undone Willow's accidental animal transformation spell, with a lot of help from Jenny's online coven, the surgical sutures on Cinna's head became prominent. Her daughter Julia took one look at her and burst into tears. Her eldest child Avery had the same idea as Lucy and would have run out of the house to do violence on the first Initiative agent they could find if Lucy hadn't stopped them. Cinna wouldn't have been happy if they got hurt.

None of them knew what the Initiative's experiments would mean for Cinna long-term. Willow had dug up their files on her but the most they could get from that was an educated guess. Mut'mayer brains weren't the same as human brains, and even if they had been none of them were neuroscientists to begin with. The Initiative had been trying for control. It hadn't worked, but the lesions they'd left behind could still be damaging.

Giles had kicked Spike and Lucy out before Willow had gotten into Spike's files. Lucy was trying not to hate him for that, but only because he was Buffy's.

Then again, knowing what the Initiative had done to him wouldn't have helped much. It wouldn't undo it.

The boy Lucy had been talking to in the Bronze barely waited for them to reach an alleyway before he pushed her up against a wall. "How about that sneak preview?"

Lucy smirked. "Don't you know that patience is a virtue?"

"I didn't take you for a tease," the boy said.

Lucy tilted her chin up and kissed him. She bit his bottom lip, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to distract him. The boy's hands tightened around her upper arms.

"Was that good enough for you or do you need a second watch?" Lucy asked.

"I'm not quite sure I understood the whole thing," the boy said. "I might need a third watch."

This one could speak cleverly when he wanted to. It was almost a pity he didn't have much longer to live.

There was a faint rustling sound from the roof above them. Lucy smiled. "That can be arranged."

She raised her hands and snapped his neck. Spike dropped down lightly beside her and caught the new corpse by the arm.

"The roof? Really?" Lucy asked.

Spike grinned. "Not like anyone cares to look. Share?"

In answer, Lucy bared her fangs and bit into the corpse's neck. It was a few steps up from bagged human blood but they had to finish drinking quickly before the veins collapsed and the blood congealed. Normally neither of them would ever kill their prey before drinking from them. The Initiative's machinations made it necessary.

Spike finished drinking a few seconds before Lucy. "I hate this bloody chip," he grumbled.

Lucy tried to suck out a bit more blood and failed. She dropped the corpse onto the ground. "I'll kill them all for you."

Spike smiled and kissed her forehead. "Appreciate it, luv. Why don't we head home and then you can do your plotting?"

That was exactly what Lucy wanted to do.

They walked back to the factory at a leisurely pace. One upside of stopping the heart before drinking was that they didn't get even a drop of blood on their clothing, so they could afford to take their time. Having to change out of bloodied clothes was so inconvenient, not to mention the difficulty of getting blood out of lace.

"What do you think the odds are of Willow giving me the files I want?" Lucy asked.

Spike scoffed. "Bloody impossible. You're sure I can't threaten her?"

"They know by now for sure." Lucy sighed. "I'll have to see if she's thinking about anything from them tomorrow. I'm not doing brain surgery without diagrams."

Vampire brains were human brains, with the conscience turned down. She could figure it out.

"Kitten, I love you and I trust you, but I'm not letting you cut into my head," Spike said. "Especially not with whatever Red happens to remember guiding you."

"I'd be careful," Lucy said. "But fine, we'll try something else first." Kidnapping and threatening one of the Initiative's scientists, for example.

"Sh—" A white mist flowed out of Spike's mouth, carrying away what he was going to say. His eyes widened.

Lucy didn't even get out a squeak before mist floated away from her lips. She looked up but couldn't track its path.

What the bloody hell was that? Spike thought. His lips moved, out of sync with his thoughts as speaking was for most people, but no words came out.

Lucy tried to reply and didn't succeed in making a sound.

Well, that was new.

When Lucy and Spike got home the factory was in a state of chaos that was somehow made worse by the near total silence. Dalton and Andy were trying to keep the minions under control, but brawls kept breaking out when they turned their backs. Harmony stood against one wall, watching with a look of horror on her face. Lucy thought that they were better organized than this, but apparently losing their voices was too much for the minions to deal with calmly.

They were handling it worse than the people she and Spike had passed by on the way there, and that was really saying something. Lucy had never seen tears flood a street before.

Normally, Spike would have yelled to get the minions' attention. That wasn't an option. Lucy clapped her hands as loudly as she could. The sounds echoed through the factory like shots. Most of the minions stopped and turned towards her. The ones who didn't got manhandled (vampirehandled?) into position.

Attention had been gotten. Lucy was unsure what to do with it for a moment. She couldn't yell at the minions either. It was Dalton who came to her rescue. He ran up to her and carefully showed her a page in a spellbook. He held the book so that Spike was the only other person in the room who had a hope of seeing it.

That looks like it'll work, Spike thought.

Lucy nodded. Luckily, the spell Dalton had found didn't require her to speak. It needed pure force of will but that wasn't something she lacked.

I'm disappointed, Lucy thought. Andy and several of the minions jumped, so she knew the telepathy spell was working. Such a little thing and you all panic? Unfortunate.

The thoughts of the minions were filled with tumultuous fear. Lucy was thrilled by how cold they found her tone to be.

Stay inside tonight, Lucy ordered. I don't care if you haven't eaten yet. We have blood in the fridge. Something weird is going on and we're not going to save you from it if you leave.

A few of the minions nodded. A few more frowned and would have been grumbling if they could speak. Lucy glared at them until they agreed. The cowed minions slowly scattered throughout the factory when Lucy told them they could go. Five of them headed straight for the communal fridge.

This is going to be a problem, Lucy thought to Spike.

Spike grimaced. Especially the longer this goes on. I haven't got a clue what's happening. You?

Lucy had a few vague ideas. She'd have to do actual research to be sure. Of course, the actual research would be easier if she had more to go off of than white mist carrying voices away. And Buffy and the others would be all over this mess in the morning. Should Lucy even bother?

Then again, she wasn't getting anywhere with getting the Initiative's pain-inducing chip out of Spike's brain. A break to work on something else could be good for her.

You have books to look at, don't you? Spike smiled. Should I expect you in bed after sunrise or noon?

Lucy rolled her eyes. Very funny. She wasn't that bad.

Dalton was already searching for books in his office that might be useful. Lucy had her own collection that she'd built in New York City that lived in a trunk at the foot of her and Spike's bed and a few bookshelves worth that she'd gotten since returning to Sunnydale. She went for the bookshelves first. They had several of her more obscure texts that were usually relevant in Sunnydale. The Bezoar from her last year of high school was one such thing that couldn't be found in the common magic, occult and supernatural books.

Lucy gave up on research a few minutes before sunrise. She had found a lot of voice-stealing demons and tongue-tying curses, but she couldn't narrow her list down without more information. She piled the books she'd used neatly on top of the dresser and climbed into bed. Spike had already fallen asleep. She smiled and kissed his forehead. He didn't stir.

Dreams were a lovely, bloody escape. Lucy felt almost relaxed while tearing through a legion of men—the same man, the man who killed her dad—with a gun pointed at her. Even though this was a victim she wanted but would likely never get to have, killing him but not having him dead definitely wasn't as frustrating as what she was dealing with in real (un)life.

She almost hoped their voices were stolen by ceceliae. Beating up some octopus people would at least be a fun way of solving the problem.

Everyone in the factory was drinking bagged blood for breakfast the next night. Lucy calculated that they had enough to last another night and then they'd have to let their vampires go out and hunt or they'd start making trouble.

Well, there was no point in delaying the inevitable.

Stay in groups and you can go out tonight, Lucy announced once she'd gotten Spike's agreement. Don't be total idiots and get yourselves dusted.

The factory was nearly empty five minutes later. Lucy sighed (no voice required for that) and sat down at the table on the factory floor.

The Slayer's people had better figure this out soon, Spike thought.

Lucy could have argued that she and Dalton might figure it out first. She didn't. She'd be happier when this issue was solved, no matter if she and Dalton or a Scooby research party were responsible. She had other things she wanted to research, number one being how to let Spike be able to harm humans again.

They will, Lucy thought to Spike instead. Devon must be nearly insufferable by now.

The laughter that Spike couldn't let out rang in his mind. Your Dev's a nightmare without his songs, ain't he?

Lucy smiled. Absolutely.

It took less than an hour of fruitless, pointless research for Lucy to decide that she should go see what Giles had turned up. If she was lucky, he and Jenny hadn't uninvited her yet. Then she could walk right in and compare research with Giles until he forgot that she wasn't supposed to be there.

In the spirit of no one going anywhere alone, Spike walked with her. Sunnydale was dead silent. They passed more than one corpse in an alleyway that had been thoroughly torn to shreds. There were some demons out having a lot more fun than usual. At least someone was benefiting from this.

Then there were the sounds of a frantic heartbeat, heavy breathing and running feet hitting pavement. Lucy tilted her head and listened for something else. When she heard the runner's mental voice, she turned and headed in their direction. She knew that voice and she didn't want it snuffed out.

Lucy didn't mean to collide with Tara, but it ended up working out well enough. She steadied her and then swept her out of harm's way, which happened to be the roof of a nearby house that was easily accessed via tree. On the street below, the two eerie floating demons with neat suits and faces like skulls that had been chasing Tara looked at each other. The rag-wrapped minions in front of them lurched at Spike, who darted out of the way of one and punched the other in the eyes. He paused for a split second and then a grin flashed across his face.

The demons seemed to decide that they were more trouble than they were worth when Spike thoroughly beat both of their minions and literally tied them in knots. Lucy couldn't know for sure—their minds were closed to her—but they floated away without even looking at Tara.

Tara sat down on the slope of the roof without actively deciding to move. She froze in terror.

Spike looked up at them. Did you see that? I can hurt demons! The bloody chip only works on humans! He sounded almost giddy.

Lucy smiled at him and then looked down at Tara. She was still petrified. Her mind and heart were racing. It was hard to tell if speaking to her telepathically would do more harm than good. Humans, even witches, were so delicate. Lucy settled for gesturing.

It took some time to communicate to Tara that Lucy was going to get her back down to the ground. Tara finally accepted a piggy-back ride and Lucy was able to climb back down the same tree that had gotten them up to the roof. Lucy wasn't entirely sure how she'd managed the climb before while carrying Tara in one arm, but she decided not to question it. When they got their feet on the ground, Tara clung to Lucy's hand. It was then that Lucy realized that despite their display of inhuman abilities, Tara wasn't afraid of her and Spike. She was sure that they were vampires now. She was a witch. Witches recognized vampires. But she wasn't afraid.

Lucy didn't know if Tara was brave or foolish. Given her family, Lucy was leaning towards brave.

Deciding to risk the telepathy spell, Lucy asked, Do you want to come to Giles and Jenny's with us? We were hoping they'd know what's going on.

Tara's eyes widened. After she'd processed the telepathy, she nodded. Lucy and Willow had both talked about Rupert Giles and Jenny Calendar before. She knew that they knew magic, so this situation seemed perfectly in their wheelhouse.

The rest of the walk was uneventful. The demons that had been chasing Tara seemed to have gone hunting far away from the wrath of William the Bloody. There were a few sharp-clawed shadows that peered out at them with gleaming red eyes, but they didn't move to get closer.

Lucy knocked on Giles and Jenny's door. When Giles opened it, she smiled.

Giles rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling. Dear lord, why?

Tara, this is Rupert Giles. Giles, this is Tara. Any idea why it's dead silent around here? Lucy asked.

Giles only questioned the telepathy for a second before deciding that it was either magic or a side effect of Dr. Capson's experiments. Then he stepped to the side to let them in. Lucy and Spike crossed the threshold easily. They definitely hadn't had time for the uninvite spell.

There wasn't a full research party going on. There were a few towers of books on the table and Jenny was working on her laptop. Cinna and her kids had been staying at Giles and Jenny's since she and Spike had escaped the Initiative. Avery was paging through a kid-friendly book on the couch, while Cinna and Julia were sleeping on the second floor. Cinna's tumultuous dreams were leaking through the floorboards. Jenny looked at Lucy and Spike with suspicion but didn't try to throw them out or anything, which was nice of her.

Have you narrowed down any options or are you here solely to pester me? Giles though.

I don't solely pester. My pestering always has a point. Lucy picked up one of the books on the table. Ceceliae, Riya's Music Box, that weird whale heart spell from the fifteenth century, and about a million other possible things. You?

Giles took the book from Lucy's hands and turned a few pages further than where she was reading. Buffy had a dream indicating that we're dealing with the Gentlemen.

The illustrations on the page were familiar.

We saw those. Tara, these were chasing you, right? Lucy turned the book so that Tara could see it.

Tara grimaced and nodded.

Spike looked at the book over Tara's shoulder and raised an eyebrow. They cut out people's hearts while they're still alive? That's no fun.

It was also one of Angelus's favourite finishing moves, one he'd though about using when Lucy was very human and very at his lack of mercy. Lucy appreciated Spike looking down on it.

Tara wondered if the spell she'd been looking for Willow's help with would still be able to give them their voices back when they'd been stolen by the Gentlemen. She'd lost the book with the spell in it while running from the demons. Lucy made note of the title. Then she handed the book with the section on the Gentlemen to Giles and went searching through the other books on the table. It didn't take her long to find Giles's copy of the spellbook that Tara had lost.

Tara had an idea, Lucy told Giles.

Tara looked confused for a second when Lucy gave the book to her. Then she processed the title and her eyes widened. She didn't get a chance to try to get Lucy to tell her why she'd given her that book before Giles gestured for her to show him what spell it was that she was looking at. Well, it was more of a 'please open the book' gesture but the intent was there.

The Gentlemen, Spike mused. Well, we've got our answer. Want to stick around, luv?

Lucy looked over at Tara and Giles, who were 'talking' over the spell in a complicated game of charades until Jenny handed each of them a piece of paper and a pencil. Jenny's online coven was also debating if Tara's spell would work. Furiously debating. Lucy was surprised Jenny's laptop wasn't smoking.

I think we're done here, Lucy told Spike. They can handle this.

But she wouldn't mind sticking around and Spike knew it. He wandered over to Avery and started a conversation in charades that quickly morphed into a conversation in Bean Sídhe Sign Language. That seemed like it would last for a while.

Lucy, Tara, Giles and Jenny bounced around ideas as best they could with their combination of mind reading, telepathy and good old-fashioned writing stuff down. The plan they put together seemed solid enough to all of them. There was no guarantee anything would go as planned but at least they had something to work with.

I ought to make all this understandable, Giles thought as he looked at the notes they had scattered across the table. The children can go and at least attempt to get some sleep.

Lucy checked the time. It was nearly two in the morning. So, those were typical Giles priorities.

As he'd thought, Giles urged Tara to head back to her dorm room and also invited her to join them later that day to put their plan into action. She accepted after a few moments of hesitation.

Spike and I will walk you home, if you like, Lucy told Tara.

Tara nodded.

They were halfway to campus when Tara came to a decision about the vampire thing. Lucy wasn't surprised that it hadn't slipped her mind during all the research and planning they'd been doing. Tara wasn't too laser-focused or too absentminded for that to happen, unlike Giles and Willow.

Save it for when we have our voices back, Lucy told her before Tara could attempt to communicate her thoughts in a way both Lucy and Spike could understand. I'll be easier to argue without having to translate.

Tara seemed like she might argue right then but she had the thought for a split second that if she didn't do as Lucy said her friend might kill her. It didn't last long, and she was still stubbornly not afraid of them, but she ducked her head and nodded.

After dropping Tara off, Lucy and Spike went to find lunch. They didn't have much luck. The vast majority of Sunnydale's humans were scared and hiding inside. The ones they found that hadn't been were already corpses with no blood to give.

I could settle for a deer right now, Spike thought. Wonder if I'd be able to kill my own.

I doubt the Initiative cares about deer, Lucy thought back.

They settled and Spike could kill his own meal.

All in all, not a bad night.

Their voices came back exactly in the middle of the next sunset; a liminal time when the line between worlds was thin and magic could go places it couldn't usually go. Lucy found out that Tara's spell had worked when Spike rolled out of bed, stubbed his toe on the dresser and swore out loud. Lucy sat up and they stared at each other for a few moments before bursting into laughter.

"Your Tara girl has good ideas," Spike said once they managed to stop laughing whenever they looked at each other.

"Mostly," Lucy said. "She thinks we're going to keep her."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Does she? And why's that?"

Lucy shrugged. "The usual story. Girl gets told her whole life she's going to become an evil demon, girl actually meets demons who are nicer than expected, the demons are vampires so obviously they're going to make the girl a vampire. Aging or not, she'll still be a demon. If I ever meet Tara's father, I'm going to kill him. Slowly."

"Ah," Spike said. "He's the one who's been telling her she's evil then?"

Lucy nodded. Her brother and her grandfather and her uncle and her cousins had been too, but her grandfather was dead, so her father was the main ringleader now. Maybe Lucy could kill the rest of the family and leave him for last, to make him paranoid and terrified before he died...but then he'd probably end up in police protection or something and then she'd never get to him. Pity. It would have been lovely to hurt him like that.

"Would you like to keep her?" Spike asked.

His thoughts were carefully edging around his knowledge that becoming a vampire changed people. Of course, that meant that he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it. Lucy had made it through the same at the core. Spike didn't think they'd be that lucky twice. The Tara they'd get if one of them sired her might not be like the Tara that Lucy had befriended.

"She's already mine," Lucy said. "I won't be what kills her."

Although Tara would look beautiful dressed in blood.

Spike sat down on their bed next to her and gave her a kiss. "Whatever you want, kitten."

"What if I want the moon?" Lucy asked.

"Then I'll find a witch who'll put it in a bottle for you," Spike said. "The moon, the sun and the stars."

Lucy smiled. "Maybe leave out the sun. I don't want to burn up."

Spike kissed her again.

It took them a little longer than usual to get out of bed and start their night. Neither of them minded.