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~Part: 41~
Amy slipped into the mansion, thinking over Spike's words. Not just the part about incinerated minions, but about ancient assassin orders, about hiring them to maybe kill Buffy and all the violent vampire things that dragged in. Spike wasn't a normal guy, didn't think like a normal human, didn't react like a twenty something man would. Gorgeous as he was, could she deal with something like that? Did she want to get involved with someone who considered hiring assassins as an acceptable distraction?
She sighed, leaning against the wall. Spike was trouble. everything tonight had reinforced that. She was starting to understand why Willow had said that a relationship with Spike would be awkward at best. He was devious, and had a violent streak, and didn't look at people the same way. and utterly sexy, and oddly charming, with this voice. She was definitely attracted, in all defiance of common sense.
Slowly, she made her way back to the main hall, where they'd had s'mores earlier. Faith - who they would be calling Caitlynn - was sitting there, ripping a stack of paper into bits and feeding the bits to the fire, looking unhappy. None of the others were in sight, although she thought Willow was probably asleep. "Hey. Where did everyone else. where is everyone?"
Faith-Caitlynn looked up, smiling just a little. "Amy. where's Spike? Willow was tired, so Angel took her to bed." She paused, a small smirk crossing her face. "Not that anything's happening up there with her out like that. Wes went to make a couple phone calls and has been hiding in the kitchen. Xander left with you. is he with Anya now?"
Amy shrugged a little as she sat down. "I don't know, we left him and Buffy still researching. Giles separated us after. well, Buffy and I yelled at each other. Spike said a burned minion may have had some useful books and went to check. That's just about everybody. oh, we did find a little in some of Giles old books. It sounds like the shadow-man is something called the Most Ancient of Hungers, and it's a bigger, scarier nasty thing than we'd thought. End of the world bad. if it gets here. It was sent away by some sort of barrier thing. We don't know what the barrier was, how it's made, or what happened to let the thing look through, but it's not here yet."
With a wince, the disguised Slayer looked over at Amy. "That doesn't sound encouraging. What's being done?""
"Giles went to make phone calls to anybody that might be useful, including the Watcher's Council. Spike's thinking about checking with the Order of Turaka to see if they know anything. Basically, nobody knows enough to say more than it's bad, it might get worse, and it's very old and scary. We're all trying to find more, but. Where do we even start looking?" Amy leaned her head on her knees. "What are you burning?"
"Angel had a copy of the Slayer Handbook. I'm ripping out and burning everything that sounds stupid." Faith-Caitlynn smirked just a little. "So far, that's most of it."
"Ah. So. what's going on with you and Wesley?" Amy smiled cheerfully, wondering if Faith even realized the way they looked at each other.
"Me and. but. Amy! There isn't anything. we're not." She paused, taking a breath. "You mean the tension. Right. he was supposed to be my Watcher, I went evil, he got chewed out by almost everyone for letting me go bad, got fired, bailed from here, met up with Angel, I tortured him, which I really shouldn't have done. wish I hadn't, but.. I was supposed to trust him, to let him help me. It never worked, and now. I don't know."
"So, like everything else in Sunnydale, it's a complicated mess." Amy shook her head. "If we survive this, I want to move to Virginia. You never hear about near apocalypses in Virginia, or Mouths of Hell, or any of this mess."
"Thought Whistler was trying to have you work for the forces of good?" The little smile was purely teasing. "And me and Willow."
"I can work for the forces of good someplace saner. Anywhere would be saner." Amy found herself smiling just a little. "And maybe me and. well. maybe I wouldn't have to go alone? Maybe we won't always be fighting evil all in a big group?"
"Dreaming about having that toned vamp to lean on? He's pretty easy on the eyes, I'll give him that, but. " Her voice trailed off, as if she wasn't certain how far would be too far.
"But he's a vampire. Killed lots of people, part of the Scourge of Europe, well known for torture, mayhem, violence. tried to kill Buffy repeatedly, which actually doesn't sound bad right now, and. It's ridiculous, frightening, I should be running away." Amy looked at the flames, staring as if they held the answers to everything. "But I'm not running from him. Guess I'm not all good and flawless. and if I had him with me, I'm not sure that I'd care. I'm also not sure how good I'd stay."
"Does that bother you?"
"Not as much as it should." Amy reached out, capturing a palmfull of fire, using her magic to remain unharmed. "Spike is like playing with fire. I just don't know if he'd end up burning me."
"Damn, Amy, you should know better than asking a question like that here. Nobody gets to live happily ever after with a snuggle-bunny. They die, or turn psycho, or fuck around on you. It's not going to be when you get burned, it's going to be how bad." Faith shook her head, poking a scrap of page into the fire over Amy's palm.
"Don't remind me. I want to pretend that if we survive this big scary evil, things will be. the sort of thing that's supposed to be normal. Where the biggest problem is transportation and getting a good boyfriend. Not preventing the apocalypse, or fending off hordes of demons." Amy tossed the handful of fire back into the fireplace. "And I don't even have any way to try to help gather more information. I'm only marginally more useful than Buffy. Wait. didn't Willow say that Xander's girlfriend Anya used to be a demon? Would she know anyone that might know something?"
Shivering, Faith-Caitlynn nodded. "Yeah. that was one of the things that happened while I was away. Anya used to be a Vengeance Demon - you don't mess around with those. I don't know if she really likes any of them besides Xander, but I can't see how asking her if she knows anyone who might know something would be a bad thing. Go ahead, call her. If I'm Willow's cousin Caitlynn, I probably don't know all the demon stuff yet, and certainly not the personal details. If I'm Faith, I'm supposed to be dead."
"Umm.. Good point. I just hope she's not. " Amy sighed. "I know, I can chase Wesley out of the kitchen to use the phone there. You two have to start talking again. Even if he is just your Watcher."
"That's all there is! And barely even that!" Faith's protest seemed a bit forced, as if she was trying to convince herself, not Amy.
Grinning, Amy made her way into the kitchen. Maybe it was a bit juvenile to think of it like this, to take such glee in it, but the words kept going through her mind. 'Faith and Wesley sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, second comes marriage, then comes Faith pushing a baby carriage.' Deny it all she liked, but Amy was certain that Faith had a crush.
Amy was still smiling as she evicted Wesley from the sanctuary of the kitchen. "Hey, Wesley. I'm throwing you out of the kitchen. Need to call Anya, and I have no idea how it will go. go talk to Fa- Caitlynn, she can tell you how our researching went. And Giles will probably be trying to call you."
~Part: 42~
"Maybe I have been to hasty in this. Maybe we all were. If all that happened was Willow turning Amy back human. if there wasn't an affair." Buffy's words were low, quiet and tight with tangled emotions.
"Then you and Tara broke what there was, and things will never be quite the same. Maybe you can fix something. Willow and I managed to be friends again after the fluking, maybe you and Willow. or Tara and Willow." Xander's voice trailed off, and he looked at Buffy.
She was sitting on the floor, her legs covered in pink sweatpants as she sat cross legged on the floor. A shirt in white with a pink and gold heart didn't quite meet the pants, revealing a hint of toned stomach. She looked beautiful, but. but there wasn't the same sort of warmth to her that had been so attractive when he'd first met her. That warm, hopeful, human-ness that had made him fall hopelessly in crush with her. When had it gone away? Had it been a gradual thing, or was it an effect of dying? Had he missed Buffy changing as much over the past six years as he had?
There was something lost in Buffy's eyes as she looked at him. "We really messed this one up, didn't we?"
"It sort of looks that way. But I hope we can fix it. Spike. he pointed something out that all of us should have been able to see for ourselves. That spell. when Willow brought you back? We knew it was big, but. it was dangerous. She could have died trying to bring you back. And for some reason, you've just been angry at her." Xander shook his head, wishing that life didn't have to be so hard. "Whatever had you so mad at her. we need to figure out how to not get eaten first. If we defeat or banish or rewall this ancient hungry shadow, they you and Willow can sort out your issues."
"Do you really think that I'd let something like that get in the way of stopping an apocalypse?" Buffy looked shocked, almost hurt by his words.
"I'd hope not. The Buffy that I went to high school with. you'd try your best not to." Xander sighed, leaning on a thick book, trying to force the muscles of his chest to go back to normal instead of feeling like they were too tight. "But you're different now, angrier, and farther away from us inside. Five years ago, you would never have questioned me really being me when we were researching. Three years ago, you would never have been about to rip someone apart for treating our helpful vampire like a person. Even when Willow started dating Tara, you wouldn't have accused her of having an affair in your house. What happened, Buffy? Because. the new you doesn't seem to work well with others."
"I didn't want to come back." Her whisper was barely audible. "And I knew that only Willow would be powerful enough to have done it."
"We were getting our buts kicked." Xander's words were low, almost bitter. "Everybody was pretty beat up, and we'd even reprogrammed the buffy-bot to do patrols. It wasn't enough. And Faith was in jail, so she wouldn't be here or dead to let a new Slayer come. and I don't know which would be better of those two."
"Faith is trouble, Xander. Was it bad enough that you'd be willing to have her back again?" Buffy was looking at him, her eyes wide and shocked. Her fingers traced over the tooled leather binding of the book.
"Yeah. It was bad enough I'd have welcome Deadboy with a smile." Xander managed not to shiver. "And Giles was gone. He went back to England after you. well, after."
"Things had to have been bad for you to be willing to work with Angel. Even Spike." Buffy's voice was low, almost thoughtful.
"Yeah. I don't like him, but in certain circumstances. I trust him. He's a good fighter, tough, and he likes Dawn. He won't let the town get overrun by rampaging demons if he could stop it." Xander sighed. He missed the olden days, when Buffy was Good, Spike was Evil, and there was no impending apocalypse. at least, nothing like this.
"So.. We look for something on the Ancient Hungry Shadow thing?" Buffy opened the book, looking like she was facing some horrible fate.
"Yeah. Unless you know someone to call for information, we check the books." Xander frowned, knowing that his stomach would be tied in knots and his head throbbing by the time he finally crawled off to bed from this. "Spike's right, I don't want to be an entrée."
"Xander? Do you know. have you seen Willow lately? I really. I do need to apologize to her. But I can't do that unless I can find her." Buffy glanced at him, her eyes looking sad and lost and shimmering with unshed tears.
Xander looked at her, part of him wanting desperately to believe that she was the Buffy they'd all known, the Buffy from before, that he'd been willing to do anything for. But if she wasn't. if she was Buffy the jealous wench that would have a cow about Willow staying at Angel's mansion, have a cow about Willow talking to Angel. If the remorse was just a clever, convincing act. He didn't want to believe that of Buffy. "Doesn't she have classes in the afternoons? Why not try to catch her at the campus?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll have to do that." Buffy smiled a little, and then turned back to her book. "That's just nasty. Why did I have to grab a book with illustrations?"
Xander tried to hide his smile. The prayer went upwards, a bare little thought - Please let Buffy be herself again, let her be making her way back to the hero I loved instead of this cold and distant person. Let Buffy be right again. Let the world be right again.
~Part: 43~
Anya was frowning as she unlocked the Magic Box, running through a mental checklist of everything that needed done to prepare to make money for the day - must sell twenty nine dollars and fourteen cents worth of merchandise to cover the daily utilities, another seventy eight dollars worth to cover her salary for the day, another eighty to cover the taxes and medical coverage for herself and Giles. She was also running a mental list of complaints about the long research session last night. She hadn't attended, but Xander had, which had made a definite reduction in their time together, costing them both cuddling and orgasms, which she'd been told it was bad form to try to give a price tag to. They had probably left a mess in the back room as well.
As she tidied the display of semi precious crystals and stones for sale, Anya wondered if they'd been researching and referencing for that tree prophecy, or if Buffy ha encountered some sort of baffling demon on her patrol last night. She was still debating who would be the best person to ask when she went into the back, discovering a pile of research books on the table or unpacking newly received shipments, and more books scattered over the table in the research room. Why had there been things out in both places? Why hadn't anyone picked up anything? She didn't get paid to clean up after them. Although maybe she could use that as a negotiating tool when asking Giles for a raise.
That was when Anya looked at one of the open books on the research table. Written in Middle English, it spoke of the formation of the Council of the Watchers, to protect Mankind from the dark and terrible dangers of the night, the vampires, the demons, and even older unspeakable evils. She paused, wondering why they had been looking at the history of the watchers. Maybe the other books would have a clue.
Writings in an Indian dialect of the formation of an ancient and honorable group of scholars to protect the life of the world from unspeakable evils. Mention of the Great Balance, and the ancient barriers to protect from the Darkness that Devours.
Another book, in ancient Chinese, something that she couldn't read. Latin writings about a circle of ancient druids, watching the stars to make certain the cycle of life continued undisturbed. Writings of the Etruscans, and their own priest-astronomers, who had spoke of the stars recording the binding of the most terrible enemy of the gods and of mortals, an enemy that would have returned the world to the formless waste that it had been before the gods came.
This was bad. Not the idea of looking at why there were Watchers, but what had caused it? Why the sudden interest in the origins of Watchers? What terrible danger was looming over Sunnydale now? Anya began to feel something tight and cold and bad in her stomach, like an anti-orgasm almost. Instead of something warm and good building, it was. bad. This being Sunnydale, it was probably only going to get worse.
There were definitely times when she hated being a mortal again.
Anya brought the other books into the research room, noticing that they were also about the formations of the Watchers organizations. Definitely a pattern, and she didn't like where it was going. She had to figure out what was happening, and if there was anything that she could do about it.
The bell rang, despite the fact that it still wasn't quite time for the store to be open. Soft footsteps moved across the floor, hesitant, moving closer to the back. "Anya? Are you. there you are."
Looking over, she saw Amy. "You do realize the store isn't open yet?"
Amy shrugged, looking unrepentant. "I didn't come here to buy anything."
"Why else do people go to stores? What sort of witch doesn't buy things, anyhow?" Anya frowned, feeling a surge of indignation. Then, remembering the stacks of books, she looked at Amy. "Why did you come here?"
Amy smiled, looking far too cheerful. "I wanted to talk to you, of course. I've been having Willow catch me up on the past three years, and she mentioned a little about your past. How you were a Vengeance demon. To me, that says you might have known things, might be able to help figure out something about the current impending disaster."
Blinking, Anya could feel a little smile forming. She was being considered a potential resource for saving the city again. She faced Amy, focusing all her experience at reading people on this young woman. "What exactly is going on anyhow? All I know is that Xander's been looking for Willow, and there was clearly research on the formation of Watchers Councils."
"Well, Willow and I are alright, we just. moved. That's not the point. We. Willow an I, that is, we've been having bad dreams about something coming. A shadowy thing, that eats.feeds on something in people. That's why we came here, trying to find a name to the thing in our nightmares." Amy paused, licking her lips a little and fidgeting nervously. "Apparently, Buffy encountered a demon of some sort on her patrol that mentioned hungry shadows and said the Hunter has been awakened."
That bad feeling started to get worse. Anya began to hope that Amy wasn't meaning what she thought she was meaning, and started to pray to every power that she'd learned to call on in her Vengeance days that her foreboding was just a weird human trick. "Did you say Hunter?"
"Yeah. Buffy's suicidal demon said the Hunter had Awakened, something ancient that had scared people so badly they created the Slayer. Something evil and hungry that was never human." Amy shivered, looking at Anya with frightened eyes. "It wants to come here and eat us all."
Anya felt oddly funny, like her body wasn't quite responding. There was a dull roaring in her ears, and her vision darkened. She swore creatively in Russian, Arabic and Turkish before fainting for the first and only time in her entire history.
~Part: 44~
Amy really wasn't quite certain what to do when Anya turned pale, her eyes wide. When she started spouting strange but vile sounding words, Amy felt a little better, until Anya started to sway. Right about the time Anya collapsed, she realized that everything was not alright. Fortunately, she could use her magic to catch Anya before she hit her head on the floor. She floated her over to the bench in the research room, laying her on that before going back out and locking the front door.
What exactly was she supposed to do now? Anya had fainted, and she was inclined to think it was a reaction to the news of what they'd been researching. Considering some of the things that Buffy and the others regularly fought, and the idea that Anya had spent over a thousand year dealing out excruciatingly painful and disgusting forms of vengeance, what did it actually take to make her faint from shock and fright? How long did someone stay out when they fainted?
Sitting on a chair facing the unconscious Anya, Amy shook her head. "Best wake up, because I am not trying to kiss you out of it, Sleeping Beauty."
She wasn't quite certain how long she waited. It felt like a long time, long enough that she moved over to look at the books again, all of them now piled on the table. Her attention was caught again by a faint noise, sort of a whimper, from Anya.
Slowly, Anya sat up, touching the back of her head as if to make certain there were no lumps. "Please tell me that I just. fell asleep? Had a horrible dream?"
"Sorry, but you fainted. Do people dream when they faint? I've never actually fainted, so I don't know." Amy shook her head. "I've been spending too much time with Willow, I'm starting to babble. We were looking at the early history of the Watchers councils because of something that a suicidal old demon that Buffy ran into said. Something about Hunters awakening, and ancient evils. It's bad, it's scary, it wants to come here and eat us. We. nobody likes this idea, so we'd like to find a way to stop it. Since you're a lot older than any of us, maybe you know something that could help?"
"Isn't it supposed to be rude to bring up a woman's age?" Anya grumbled a little, rubbing at her arms. "Why is it. what woke up the Hunter?"
Amy looked at Anya, realizing that she was definitely nervous. "I don't know. Is that it's actual name? Spike found something about a Most Ancient of Hungers that sounded like the same thing. But. we don't know enough to get rid of it."
"It has many names. A lot of the ancient cultures knew about. the oldest and most terrible powers. Some cultures called them gods, or demons. Some gave them strange names, or names that would inspire fear. Demons had names for them too, and when someone becomes a Vengeance Demon, they get a course in Demon history." Anya looked unhappy, as if it bothered her to be afraid. "It covered some of the assorted powers that we can call on, the Vengeance hierarchy, and a few things along the lines of never, ever mess with those things or entities. The Hunter is one of the things we are told to never ever do anything that would bring it here. To never do anything that might weaken the barriers and bindings that keep it locked away."
"Barriers and bindings.. That's plural. So, if something happened to one layer, it might. try to make it's presence known? Could it. could the layers. were they interconnected, or independent?" Amy felt a bit unsettled herself, her stomach filled with cold fear. Just how big was their problem, how good were their chances to find a solution?
"Honestly, I'm not sure. Most of my vengeances were easy enough to work. Only a few of them ended up requiring any sort of alternate dimensions or cross dimensional travel. I know that if you aren't careful with dimensional portals, it can do very bad things to spells. If that applies to those ancient barriers. I hope it doesn't, but I'm not quite sure." Anya sighed, looking even more unhappy. "Maybe if I ask D'Hoffryn, he can tell me some more. He's not well known for just granting helpful favors though."
"If this Hunter manages to come here, will D'Hoffryn be in danger as well?" Amy looked at Anya, wondering just how the whole Vengeance demon ting actually worked. "If he's preventing something from being able to endanger himself, then it's not quite the same thing as a real favor, is it?"
"Well, no, I guess it isn't. I can try to ask him, although I don't know how much good it will do." Anya looked over at her, and then frowned. "Why were there books out in two places? Why not just stay in one room?"
Amy could feel herself blushing. "umm. Giles decided to separate me and Buffy after we started screaming at each other. I'm blaming the Hellmouth."
"What were you yelling at Buffy about?" Any looked curious. "Oh, come on, you scared me so badly that I fainted, the least you can do is share the story."
"Well, we were researching, and Giles asked Spike to open a crate of books, and he made this comment that Giles was just using him for his manly vampire strength. He was just teasing, really. And then Buffy did this 'just stop, Spike' thing, and. well, I know that she's been having sex with him. I don't know if they've stopped, I hope they did, but it just seemed so. hypocritical." Amy looked at Anya, hoping that she would understand. "And then we were screaming at each other like a pair of angry cats, or something off of Jerry Springer - is that show even still on? Umm. I threatened to turn her into a rat again, and Xander and Spike were just sort of trying to get out of the line of fire, and then Giles separated us like a pair of naughty children."
"Jerry Springer is still on. It's rather amusing sometimes, and I'm sure some of those episodes lead to Vengeance wishes, but. I wish I'd seen that fight." Any looked almost wistful. "Here, you can help me in the store today, and I can try to get some assistance from D'Hoffryn."
Amy smiled, feeling incredibly nervous. "Help in the store? Only human again for a week and I've got a part time job. Let's just hope I do alright at it."
"You smile with insincere charm at the customers, and take their money for things that they want to buy. It's not that hard." Anya grinned, perhaps thinking of running the store, or maybe thinking of D'Hoffryn and her days of Vengeance. Amy wasn't quite certain.
What she was certain of was that this would be a long day.
~Part: 45~
Angel woke up, feeling oddly comfortable. That was when he realized that he was still on Willow's bed, with the covers half tangled over and around him. Willow had just left eh bed, apparently the cause of his awakening. He felt like smiling at the idea that he'd slept with Willow, snuggled up in her bed, with her warm body curled up against him. And while nothing else, nothing sexual had happened, it still felt oddly personal.
Willow was combing her fingers through her hair, looking through a drawer for something. The image was oddly comfortable and alluring at the same time, and Angel restrained a sigh, telling himself that he was perhaps a bit overly focused on sex right now. He'd dreamed of Darla last night, and it had brought up. all sorts of ideas. Naked ideas.
"Willow? I hope. I didn't plan on falling asleep here." He wasn't quite certain what to say. Granted, he hadn't meant it, but he'd enjoyed every minute of it, so he had no intention of apologizing.
She blushed.
Angel tried not to groan at that. Blushing made all the blood rise so temptingly to the surface, a rich seductive call begging for him to touch her, to kiss her, to taste her lips and her blood. Granted, he probably only reacted like that because he was a vampire, but it was definitely there. Combine that with the dreams that he'd had while he slept. He wanted her. Right now. Unfortunately, that really wasn't an option.
"Angel. I didn't think you'd be awake yet." Willow was still blushing, looking at him through lowered lashes. It was an oddly seductive glance, and he wondered if she knew that, or if it was just his own overactive passions..
"I felt you get out of the bed." His voice was soft, with a hint of the older Irish accent, legacy of those dreams. He almost winced when he realized how that sounded, feeling something inside him stir at her small gasp, the way her heart sped up a little at those words.
"I. umm. thank you. For keeping the nightmares of the shadow thing away." She wasn't quite meeting his eyes, and her gaze seemed to slide down, over his chest, his arms. "Are you. should I see about getting you some blood?"
Angel blinked, images flickering through his mind of wrapping Willow in his arms, kissing along her throat, sliding his fangs into her flesh gently, suckling at the sweet red flow. He wasn't even certain if those images - and they were very tempting images - could be blamed on his demonic hungers or his more physical lusts. "That. might be nice."
Willow made her way out the door, looking entirely calm, with no scent of fear about her despite the increased pulse. Angel found his eyes lingering over the line of her shoulder blade, the curve of her hip, a lock of red hair as she slipped out the door. For a moment, he wondered if she had learned some spell to mask fear, and then a little voice whispered, composed of equal parts hope and temptation - what if Willow wasn't afraid? What if. what if she'd liked the ideas and images that his suggestive words had raised?
Angel licked his lips a little, more suggestive images of himself and Willow dancing through his mind. Would Willow be afraid of the vampire side of him? Would she gasp and pull away in fear at his yellow eyes and ridges, the sharp fangs? Or could she accept all of him, be with him as she'd been with Oz the werewolf and Tara the female witch?
But maybe now wasn't the time to dwell on those images, those hopes. They had a very big problem to worry about first, this shadowy hunter thing. Maybe someone had learned more while he'd slept. If they defeated it or prevented it from coming, then he could think about the possibility of a relationship with Willow. Of kissing her, feeling the curves of her body pressed against him, of leaning the taste of her. Definitely later. Assuming they both lived through this.
Carefully, Angel made certain that his clothing was in order, and located his shoes. Looking around at the room, he smiled. Willow had chosen as her own the very same room that he'd used when he lived here. Had that been coincidence, or deliberate?
Shaking his head, Angel walked downstairs, shoes in hand. Things seemed quiet, and the house felt almost empty. He could feel Spike in the house, although it was much too quiet for Spike to be awake. Concentrating, he could hear three heartbeats. Willow, and two other people were here, but who would those two be? The other two were slower, as if the people were asleep, and it came from down the hall.
Carefully, he walked over, pushing the door open a little. An unfamiliar red haired woman was curled on the bed, on top of the covers, with Wesley's jacket draped over her slumbering form. Wesley had curled up in a soft armchair, wrapped in a blanket, apparently watching the woman before falling asleep. Faith's new disguise was very effective, he'd not quite recognized her without the dark hair and sense of Slayer that she'd always had. Amused, Angel lifted Wesley, placing him on the bed beside Faith, who would be calling herself Caitlynn now. They looked cute together.
He made his way downstairs, sitting on the leather couch facing the fireplace. Bits of charred marshmallow still clung to the wires, carrying the peculiar scent of burned sugar. The fire had burned out, leaving only ashes and the charred ends of a few logs. Definitely less of a place designed for a seduction, so things should be better, safer.
Willow came into the room, holding a mug of warmed blood in her hand. "Here, Angel. I thought that you might like it better if it wasn't so cold."
He looked at her, smiling a little. "Are you trying to spoil me? I know human blood when it's in front of me."
Willow blushed again, temptingly. "Well, what could it hurt anyhow?"
She sat down on the other end of the couch, curled up and facing him. "Amy left a note, with come comments about the research session last night. There was apparently a demon that freaked Buffy out, something about the Hunter has awakened, and then the demon killed herself on Buffy's stake. They were looking into the origins of the assorted Watcher's organizations - did you know that they weren't originally or sort of at all a single unified group? But there was a lot of things about watching or maintaining some sort of balance, or barriers to keep out ancient and unspeakable dangers. Spike found something about a Most Ancient of Hungers, and he was going to check on some books that a minion used to have. Giles is supposed to be calling everyone he can for information. It's bad enough that he's even calling the Council in London, and Spike might be calling the Order of Turaka for information. Amy was going to go try to talk to Anya."
"We must be pretty desperate then." Angel couldn't quite keep the words from slipping out.
"Yeah. things are pretty desperate." Willow sighed, looking at her bare toes. "But at least we aren't alone in this."
~Part: 46~
Willow closed her notebook, trying to resist the urge to scream at the Professor. The programming class could have been fun, or interesting, but this guy was trying to put them all to sleep out of pure boredom. It was even worse that since this was a basic and required prerequisite, she already knew all the stuff, or at least the important parts. Did it really matter where a programming language developed? She rested her head on her hands, trying to remember that she had wanted to come to college, and that the rest of the people in the room didn't know that everybody might be dead if they couldn't figure out a way to save them from this. latest big threat.
By the time the room had cleared out enough that she could actually leave without bumping into anybody, Willow had calmed down some. They didn't know, and they were probably happier not knowing. She sighed, feeling the burden of this knowledge, of knowing just how dangerous things could be when all around her were people in blissful ignorance.
She was making her way out of the building, thinking that it might be nice to just sit on the grass and try to focus on life, on living and all the reasons why it was good. Sort of but not quite like meditation. Of course, the fact that she stepped out the doors and almost ran into Buffy was something that she hadn't planned on at all. She just stared for a few moments, feeling the weight of her backpack resting just over her waistband. Buffy was standing right in front of her.
"umm. Buffy. Hi. Umm. nice day, isn't it?" Willow knew that the words sounded terribly awkward and uneasy, but that was how she'd felt. Buffy. things hadn't been the same since she'd brought her back, and then that whole thing with Amy. Why was Buffy even here?
"Yeah. I guess it is." Buffy looked almost as uneasy as Willow felt. "I was wondering. umm. can we talk?"
Willow frowned slightly, wondering exactly what had gotten into Buffy. The Slayer had been so convinced that she and Amy had been. which they weren't, but Buffy had used that as another reason to make Willow's life less pleasant. She made her way over to a picnic table, dropping the backpack onto a bench. "I suppose we can talk, but. I just don't know if there's really much point."
Buffy flinched, one hand raising as if to catch Willow's arm. "Don't say that. I'm. I. shouldn't have accused you of that. I should. I should have had more faith in you."
"Well, it would have been nice." Willow sighed, one hand running through her hair. "Of course, you haven't been very happy about anything I've done since you came back."
Buffy opened her mouth, and then closed it again, glancing at all the people around them. "There was better than here."
"If it's worth anything now, I. we didn't know that at the time." Willow's words were soft as she tried to figure out why Buffy was here. Was this some sort of peace offering? "And Dawn missed you a lot."
"I hadn't even considered that part of it." Buffy sat down with a heavy sigh. "God, this whole thing has got so messed up."
"Total agreement with that part." Willow offered a little smile. "So. does this mean you don't hate me anymore?"
"I didn't hate you. I was just. hurt, and angry, and I felt sort of betrayed, but I never hated you." Buffy looked at her, her eyes gleaming with tears.
Willow blinked, part of her wanting to believe Buffy so badly. Another part wondered if things could really be made better so easily. But if she could be sort of friends and adopt Faith as her cousin, couldn't it be possible that Buffy's offer of reconciliation was genuine? That she'd had some time to think and decided that she'd over-reacted? "I didn't mean to make things worse for you. I only wanted to help."
"I realize that. I mean, I do now." Buffy offered a little smile.
"Good. Because. it didn't feel good thinking that you hated me. And. I think this new big problem. I don't know if we can deal with it if we're all together, but I'm pretty sure we couldn't apart." Willow sighed, lifting her backpack up. "I got to go. My cousin Caitlynn's here for a while,, and I promised her we'd go out for burgers for lunch."
Buffy blinked. "I didn't know you had a cousin. Why is she here? Sunnydale. not exactly the tourism capital, you know."
"Well. her mom is my mom's sister, and Sheila and Aunt Niobe are a lot alike. Caitlynn wanted to take a little time off before college, her mom had a fit and decided that she needed more family time to instill. well, I think in the hopes that we'd talk some sense into Caitlynn, only. my mom doesn't do family very well." Willow shrugged.
Buffy shrugged as well. "Can you keep her out of trouble?"
"Probably." Willow smiled, trying not to laugh. Keeping Faith-Caitlynn out of trouble. she really doubted that. But maybe out of some types.
~Part: 47~
She was still smiling as she made her way to the little café where they'd made plans for lunch. Then it would be back to the campus for her other class. Maybe things were getting better. Maybe there wouldn't be so much internal division. Maybe they'd find a way to beat this Ancient Hungry Dark Shadow.
"Hey, Willow." The voice and the wave caught her attention, and there was her cousin sitting there, a smile on her face.
"Caitlynn." Willow smiled as she slid into the seat across the little table. "Did your morning go well?"
"Pretty much." She was blushing a little, looking at Willow as if to insist that nothing was wrong.
"Except.." She could hear the teasing in her voice.
"It's nothing. Really." The denial fell flat.
After a while in which she tried to ignore Willow's inquisitive stare, she sighed, closing the menu. "Alright, it's. something. This morning, when I woke up. Wes was in the same bed. Sort of half curled on top of the covers. I'm just. not used to that."
"Ohhhh." Willow blinked, thinking about that. She could feel the hint of a smile settling onto her face. "So. do you think someone put hem there, or was it accidental?"
"I'm blaming your guy. He seemed to think the whole thing was. too amusing. And Wes started this blushing stammering thing." Faith snickered.
"Was it that bad?" Willow looked at 'Caitlynn', trying to figure out if she was really objecting because she didn't like it, or objecting because she did like it.
She opened her mouth, and stopped, thinking for a moment. There was a small smile by the time Caitlynn took a sip of water. "No, it really wasn't that bad at all."
Willow was smiling now as well. Fa-Caitlynn and Wesley. she'd sent he attraction, but how well would it work out? They might be able to help each other. "So. are you going to try for something there? He's not bad looking, smart, and he already knows. well, about things."
"Maybe." The word slipped out, with a wistful sigh. "So, what about you and your guy? I thought there seemed to be some definite potential there."
For a moment, Willow allowed herself to be drawn into a delightful little dream of happily after. Amy and Spike, Caitlynn and Wesley, Anya and Xander, herself and Angel. It was a tempting thought. But. "I don't know. There are a few. complications. Part of me really wants to, but. I can't loose sight of the problems. Including that sort of. loophole."
Caitlynn winced, as if she'd forgotten about those matters. "And then there's also this. new thing. If we make it through that. if we beat this. I'll make you a deal. We all survive this, and I'll try for it if you will."
"I could wake up in his arms every day." The hopeful whisper escaped before she could stop it. "That sounds. too tempting to refuse."
"Good. I think the two of you'd be great together, as long as he doesn't flip out and go crazy." She winked at Willow. "No big threats and no complaints from you, and pretty much anything else from him should be fine. Even. especially if you can get him into those leather pants again."
For a moment, Willow just felt stunned. Faith was encouraging her to go for Angel? Even if he did go all soul-free again? Well, as long as he didn't try to end the world sort of thing. "He looked good in those pants." She paused again, thinking about the possible implications. "And stop staring at him, you've got somebody else. if you want."
"Take it easy, Red. Just teasing you a little bit." Caitlynn grinned, dipping the tip of her finger in the water glass before flicking the cold droplet at Willow. "So, what had you all lost in thoughts when you came in? Class that interesting?"
"Class just about put me to sleep. I could teach that class. except for a few bits of paper claiming credentials. No, the weird thing was the talk I had after class. With Buffy." Willow looked up, letting her conflicted feelings show. "She said that she'd over reacted, and that she was sorry. It almost sounded like. sort of a peace offering."
"Did she mean it?" Caitlynn looked curious.
"I.." Willow closed her eyes, considering everything. "I really hope so."
"That's good, I guess." She sounded a bit nervous, looking at the table and tracing patterns into the water rings left by the glass.
"I told her about you. How Aunt Niobe sent you here in hopes that we. my mom who is your aunt Sheila and I, would convince you to go to college." Willow looked over, knowing that the girl across the table was uncertain if she would still be welcomed, still be needed if Buffy wasn't angry anymore. "I'm supposed to keep you reasonably out of trouble and safe."
"Really?" That smile made Caitlynn look much prettier. It lit her eyes up, and just. well, it was a good smile. "I guess it's good to have family. So, how much trouble do you think I'll find?"
Willow just laughed. "You delight in trouble. It's not will you find some, or how often, it's can we keep it manageable. I think we can manage that much, between everybody."
Caitlynn chuckled. "Does that mean I'm slipping, or reformed?"
"Let's go with 'reformed', shall we?" Willow smiled, feeling much better about things already.
~Part: 48~
Wesley was looking for information as well. He'd started by placing a call to Lorne, in hopes that the clairvoyant would have something, anything. Even if only a name or place to look for things. Even if only on the thin hope that someone Lorne knew might know something.
He'd followed that up by a few calls to some of the Los Angeles witches, asking if they might know something that could help. Three had known nothing useful, two hadn't answered their phones, although he'd left a message for Candace. Penny had already known something, sounding half petrified. She'd apparently been having similar nightmare-warnings, and had sworn that if she found anything that might help, she'd let him know.
After a cup of tea and some staring, he'd even swallowed his pride enough to call Virginia, asking her if she might have any information. That had been. awkward. Especially since he'd heard some man in the background, someone that she'd called 'honey'. But in the end, she'd agreed to look, saying that she'd pass on anything that she found that might be useful.
Following that call, he'd just put the phone down for a while, taking a moment to sit there, trying to figure out how something could simultaneously be that awkward and not hurt more. He'd felt wrung out, as if he'd been through something demanding and exhausting, not a simple, polite phone call to a woman that he'd dated.
Eventually, he'd stopped feeling quite so wrung out. With a small smile, he concluded that while he still had a soft spot for Virginia, he wasn't in love with her now, if he'd ever been. Right now, he couldn't quite be certain if he'd ever been in love with her. If he was honest, he didn't think that she'd been in love with him, although she'd seemed. well, for a while things had been quite heated. While they'd lasted, anyhow.
But now. he wasn't trying to do this to impress Virginia, wasn't really even thinking much about her during a normal day. When he closed his eyes, there was someone else that he saw. Faith. Although she still seemed so attractive as Caitlynn, lovely, and somehow more approachable. Maybe, if they lived. assuming she wasn't entirely disturbed by this morning's awakening.
How had he ended up snuggled beside her on the bed anyhow? He'd been quite certain that he'd gone to sleep on the chair. Not that he'd been at all unhappy to wake up beside her. On the contrary, it had felt remarkably good.
"Did you sleep well?" The voice was right behind him, tinged with amusement.
Wesley jumped, startled by Angel's voice. He narrowly missed hitting his head on a cupboard door. "Don't do that!"
The amusement made him think that maybe, just maybe. Turning, he looked at the vampire, seeing the amusement in his eyes. "Did you, by any chance, have something to do with where I found myself when I woke up?"
Slowly, Angel smiled, his arms folded across his chest. "Actually, yes. The pair of you looked cute together. I made a few sketches that you can look at later if you don't believe me."
Wesley shook his head, part of him feeling almost, no, make that definitely embarrassed. Another part wanted to see the sketches, wanting to know if the contentment that he'd felt had been visible. "Did it occur to you that she might not appreciate waking up with someone so close?"
"Not the way the two of you kept looking at each other. Embarrassed, possibly. Confused, yes. But I have the feeling that she enjoyed having you there." Angel looked far too smug.
Wesley blinked, part of him wanting to protest, and another part wanting to dance with joy. The idea was pretty appealing to him. "Well, perhaps we shall see when this current crisis has been averted. otherwise, there shall be no need to worry, and nobody to appreciate your sketches."
Angel shook his head, walking over to the refrigerator. "There is that. I'm rather hoping that it doesn't come down to the end of life as we know it."
"Yes, well. I'd noticed the way you looked at Willow." Wesley tried to hide his smile, certain that he was failing at that particular effort.
Angel shook his head, a small growl emerging. "I can't. we can't. There's still that. clause. Much as I'd like to try something, I don't think that I can risk Angelus coming back."
"You do know that Candace and Penny were both trying to find ways around that clause." Wesley watched Angel, trying to read his reactions.
"Part of that is because Candace's daughter has a crush on me." Angel shook his head, sighing. "Willow could very easily make me happy. Dangerously happy."
"If we can manage to deal with this crisis, then I think the soul clause should be of significantly less difficulty to resolve." Wesley tried to offer a bit of encouragement.
"That sounds good. Maybe overly optimistic, but good." Angel pulled a bottle from the refrigerator, leaning against the counter with a little smile. "Let's just hope you're view of the situation is a bit more accurate than mine."
~Part: 49~
Spike had felt the memories come crashing down as soon as he'd entered the scorched factory. The long table where Dru had insisted on setting out plates, cups, and wreaths and tendrils of ivy for her party still sat in the open area. The ivy had withered, leaving threads and snarls of brown curling over the tablecloth. Some of the plates were there, as well as some cups. As he walked closer, a brown rat scurried away from one plate, ducking under the large bowl that had been filled with ivy, watching him with beedy, suspicious eyes. The floor was covered with dust, ashes, and bits of trash.
The remains of the crates that the Judge had been in. weren't in the ragged heap that he'd left. No pile of jagged wood, and it hadn't fallen and scattered over the floor. That didn't seem quite right.
There had been a few worn mattresses, some of them with blankets, scattered among the rusting machinery. Those were definitely a change. Some shoes were tossed around them, and one mattress had a denim coat, lined with some printed fabric. Picking it up, Spike inhaled, trying to learn what was going on here. The jacket smelled of blood, and death, and vampire. A minion's jacket.
Somebody had moved in to his former lair.
Alright, maybe it wasn't that surprising. Abandoned building, pretty much sun-proofed already, easy to find some decent hunting areas from here. All the reasons why he'd picking it as a lair to begin with. But it was annoying, especially since he had no way to know if they'd found Dalton's books. That became more worrisome as he found the remnants of a bonfire. If they'd burned those books, he'd. well, actually, killing them sounded pretty good anyhow.
Spike began to move towards the small office where he recalled Dalton keeping the books. It had a sturdy door, which had prevented Spike's minions from going inside to bother Dalton or the books. He could hear heartbeats from behind the door as he got closer. Not more rats, no, these sounded like human heartbeats, women or teenage girls, perhaps. He could also smell the blood and fear. The door was locked when he twisted the handle, and he heard a frightened gasp as the door rattled.
"nonono. they're back early. oh please no." Someone whimpered inside, frightened.
With a slight shrug, Spike dug into his pocket, fairly certain that he still had a key to the door. He pulled out his keys, and started searching through them, trying to remember what each key went to. That was the DeSoto, that was the Mansion on Crawford street, this was Joyce's house, this was that house in Prague - why did he even still have that one? Key to a pair of handcuffs - where were those anyhow? Safe deposit box key, and ha! There was the key to this office. Unless they'd changed the lock on it.
Feeling just a little smug, he unlocked the door, swinging it open. He saw three girls, one with tangled blond hair, the other two with darker hair, all frightened, bruised, with bite marks over their bodies. They were cringing away from him. The little clothing that they had was torn, as if it had been ripped off of their bodies and they'd tried to salvage something. One was trying to duck behind the stack of boxes where Dalton had kept the books, the blond was half under the desk and shaking, one fist half stuffed in her mouth. All of them looked too thin, and he doubted that any of them could have been older than nineteen, twenty tops. The blond was definitely younger.
"Right, looks like you've been here for a bit. They didn't do anything to the books in those boxes, did they?" He drawled the question out as he leaned in the doorway, hoping that one of them might be able to gain enough coherency to answer the question.
The dark haired girl crouching near them looked at him, not quite making eye contact. Her words were a badly stammered whisper. "Th-there are b-books in them. W-with d-demons. All th-the b-boxes are f-full."
Spike grinned, feeling pleased. "Good. I was looking for those blasted books. You chits. hmmm..probably can't carry the boxes, what with being half starved and weak. Might as well help me carry them to the car anyhow, make yourselves useful."
He was getting soft. But he had the feeling that Amy wouldn't like it if he left these girls here for the vampires. And if he saved them, then maybe it would make Amy smile, make her think a little better of him. maybe even smooth a few things a bit with his Sire. Wasn't like he could kill them himself anyhow, not with that damn chip in his head.
"Th-they'll c-come back." The girl that had been crouching by the books spoke again, a frightened whisper. "Th-they'll b-be angry."
"Then they'll be a little more fun to kill." Spike grinned in anticipation. "The night's been pretty quiet so far anyhow. I just want those books moved before they get back."
"You're s-saving us." The blond's whisper surprised him.
Looking at her, Spike noticed this odd shimmering to her eyes, possibly from tears. It gave him this weirdly queasy feeling in his stomach. "Don't get any ideas. I am not a nice guy, and I'm not your friend. It's just your lucky day that you happened to be in the same room as those damn books."
By the time the other vampires arrived, he was looking forward to it. Six minions, and a leader that couldn't have been a vampire more than twenty years. None of them nearly powerful enough to take him down, but there were enough of them that it was a good fight.
The girls all cringed in the back seat as he got into the car, frightened by the blood and his sharp vampire teeth. While it was refreshing that someone was afraid of him, he had the feeling that these chits would have been afraid of just about anything right now. It was then that the gap in his plan made itself known.
"Now what in the hell am I supposed to do with you chits?"
~Part: 50~
Anya hadn't been able to relax for the rest of the day. Amy's visit, the explanation of just what had everyone so upset and frightened had worked to frighten her as well. This was very bad. The Dark Hunter. she shuddered.
The plans were forming already. First, she would try to contact D'Hoffryn, once she'd gone home to Xander's apartment. While neither of them particularly liked the sort of mess that a conjuration would leave on the carpet, this was too important to worry about messes on the rug. Besides, the kitchen was too small to conjure him in anyhow.
After her talk with D'Hoffryn, she could. well, what? Panic? Figure out how to. well, what to do after would depend a lot on what, if anything, D'Hoffryn had to say. If they were very lucky, and he had an answer, then she would undoubtedly be spending 'after' searching out a few goats to offer in sacrifice to him. If he had some books to search, she would probably be reading them. If he had nothing, she would. probably panic and hope that Xander could help her calm down.
She actually closed the store a bit early, leaving a note for Giles - 'Trying to conjure up some information, will call if he's got anything useful. A' Part of her mind was still worrying about that as she made her way back to the apartment. But honestly, if the world ended and everybody was dead, who cared which account the money was in? Nobody would be able to spend it anyhow.
She began to mix things for her conjuring circle. Salt, rosemary, and verbena, as well as a bit of sage and cedar oil. Nothing to complicated, and at least the cedar wouldn't be an unpleasant smell. Her hands were shaking, slowing the process down. Finally, she was able to put down the bowl and start moving all of the furniture. Once there was enough room, she slowly made her circle, a bit off from the true round due once again to her shaking hands, all the while chanting a plea for protection. Seating herself inside, she closed the circle, and began the chant to request the presence of D'Hoffryn. Since she was trying to ask a sort of favor, it wouldn't do to make him cranky just by contacting him.
There was a shimmer in the air, almost like the heat distortion over a road in the heat of summer, and D'Hoffryn was seated across from her. He ran one hand through his beard, looking at her thoughtfully. "Anyanka. this is a bit of a surprise. What is the occasion? And before you ask, you don't get your powers back just by asking politely."
Anya smiled, feeling comforted by the presence of her old boss. "I didn't call you about my powers. This is. bigger, and worse. I'd rather just be asking for my powers back, actually."
"What is it then? Something more important to you than your powers." D'Hoffryn smiled, as if he was expecting something amusing, possibly simple.
"The pair of witches here, including Willow, you know, the redhead you tried to recruit? Anyhow, they're having nightmares of an old, evil hungry shadow thing eating people. The local demons are also nervous, and one of them told the Slayer that 'the Hunter has been awakened.' She then killed herself to make certain the Hunter didn't get her." Anya looked at D'Hoffryn, hoping with all that she was that he could help.
"The Hunter." D'Hoffryn's smile faded, replaced by worry. "The Ancient Darkness that Devours?"
"That's. what it sounds like." Anya nodded, feeling all tense and afraid. Yet another bad thing about being human. Well, the fear and the shivering all the time. "I was hoping. hoping that you might be able to help. So far, there's been no more than nightmares and creepy feelings in the air. We were hoping that it isn't here, can't get here yet, and that there might be a way to make certain that it can't come eat us all."
"If something breached one of the wards, that would have been enough to draw it's attention. Of course, the sort of thing that would do that. not very simple. Careless portals across dimensions, breaking the life and death cycle, trying to change the laws of reality." He sighed, resting his elbows on his knees. "Which of those has been happening in this area, Anyanka?"
"Glorificus ripped open a portal to try to go home, but she was stopped when the Slayer killed herself to close the portal between realms. Then. The Slayer was resurrected. I don't know which, or if they interacted. I would have stopped her if I'd known what she planned to do." Anya shivered as she thought back to the series of events since last May. Glory, Buffy's death, return, the demon hordes, everything. "The dreams only started a few weeks ago, so they didn't immediately follow either the portal or the resurrection."
"There should be. a guardian over this place. One of those people with a strong will and a desire to protect and do good. If the guardian can help with the ritual, there might be a way to strengthen the barriers, assuming they aren't too badly damaged. But this guardian. there should be a support group, people to keep the guardian safe and to help protect things." D'Hoffryn was chewing on his thumbnail now, frowning.
"A guardian. Anything like that crazy old woman in Bavaria?" Anya was trying to control her emotions. He'd said there might be a chance. they might not all be killed. "How will I know this Guardian person?"
"Not necessarily like that woman. And over a Hellmouth. he or she won't be alone. There will be other thinking individuals to stand with them. One of the things that this guardian does. by their presence and continued health, the Hellmouth can't be opened completely. The guardian would have to be dead first." D'Hofryn sighed. "I will go consult my books and Seers. If there is a way to prevent the Darkness from descending, I will find it."
With those words, he vanished again, leaving a feeling of heat, and the apartment smelling of cedar. She was half certain the smell would never come out of the carpet. But D'Hoffryn was going to help. That was a good thing, and should increase their chances of survival.
Suddenly, something he said dredged up those miserable prophecies that Giles had been working on. Could the guardian that D'Hoffryn mentioned be connected to those Tree prophecies? If it was, if that had a bearing on this. then mending the groups emotional problems could be very important. Unsupported, the Tree would fall, or be claimed by darkness. She'd need to talk to Giles about this.