Reset

By PSUBrat

Surprise

Halfrek glared at Giles menacingly. "I suggest you lower your weapon. I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"And I suggest you give me the answers that I'm looking for and I won't have to hurt you."

The silence hung in the air. Each stood their ground staring at the other. It seemed like hours had passed since either one had spoken but in reality, it was just a few seconds.

"I don't have the time nor the patience for this waiting game," Giles said tiredly, "There are people out there that need my help, and I have this sinking suspicion that you know something that you're not revealing to me." He took a step closer to the demon.

She sighed, "Fine, you're right! I do know something, but it would be against the rules to tell you. Anyanka has broken the rules. She is probably suffering the consequences of her actions."

"You mean to tell me," Giles scowled, "that you're willing to let your friend die? What kind of friend are you?"

Halfrek looked at him and then looked at the floor. She shifted nervously on her feet. Anyanka was her friend but if she told this mortal what he needed to know, she herself would pay the price for breaking the rules.

"Damnit woman! Answer me," he shouted, bringing the crossbow to her chest.

"If you kill me you will never know where they are, and I certainly don't think you want that to be the case," she said putting her hand on the crossbow and moving it away from her person. If he was right, and Anyanka was in trouble, she wasn't sure she could live the rest of eternity knowing that she could have prevented the death of a friend.

With a sigh she said, "Fine. I'll help you."

A look of relief spread over Giles face. He threw his weapon down on the table and folded his arms across his chest, "Thank you. Now. Tell me what you know."

***

Warren and Amy had disappeared from the cave about ten minutes ago and hadn't returned yet. Buffy wasn't sure where they had gone or why but it couldn't be good. They were toying with them. Since the duo had left them alone she figured she would use the time to explore her cell more thoroughly, looking for any hint of a way out. There wasn't any. Frustrated, she kicked at the back of her cell hoping to find a weak spot in the wall but her foot just glanced off the rock. "Definitely slayer-proof," she said aloud and sighed.

Xander paced in his cell. "What's the plan? I mean, we're not going to just let them kill us, right?"

"We'll think of something," Buffy said quietly. Her mind was racing through all of their options. They didn't have any weapons, but they did have two powerful witches and a vengeance demon, not to mention that she was Slayer. That had to count for something.

Dawn stood up in her cell, "Tara, Willow, you can do a spell, right? Maybe get us out of these cells?" She was scared. She wished that Spike was still in town. He would have helped them. The thought of him being gone for good was too overwhelming and she tried to push it to the back of her mind so that she could concentrate on the now.

"What about a teleportation spell, Will," Buffy asked hurriedly.

Willow looked at her friends and then looked over at Tara. "I can't do any spells," she stammered, "I don't trust myself. I'm sorry. Maybe Tara could do a spell to unlock the doors."

Tara looked at her lover. She could see the fear in Willow's eyes. "Willow," she said soothingly, "you don't need to worry about me leaving you. This is a different situation. You'd be using your magic for a good reason. I'm not as powerful as you are. I don't think I can do much to help us."

"I just can't," Willow gulped trying to hold back the tears, "I can't."

The pleading in Willow's voice was hard to miss. Tara could feel how afraid Willow was about using magic. Something definitely wasn't right. She had given Willow her blessing to use her powers but her lover had flatly refused. Now she knew that there was something else holding Willow back. Something big.

"Okay, Buffy said taking charge, "We need to think of something else. Fast. We're not going to bully Willow into doing something she can't." She gave her friend a small smile to reassure her that it was okay that she was standing firm in her convictions not to use magic.

"Anya," Buffy continued, "what kind of powers do you have now?"

Xander's head snapped up and he stopped pacing his cell. He glared at his former fiancé. "Yes, Anya; why don't you tell us all what you can do..."

***

Warren pulled his shirt on and buttoned it. He and Amy had gone off to another part of the cave to let the others stew for a while, and to relieve the tension that was building in his body. The thought of killing the slayer and her friends had excited him. So much so, that he was afraid that he would kill them all too quickly. He wanted it to last and he wanted the slayer to suffer. The power that was coursing through his veins had put him on edge. He had felt like a tightly wound clock that was about to explode. Thankfully, Amy had calmed him down and he began to refocus. "A guy could get used to job perks like this," he thought to himself with a wicked grin.

He wasn't worried about leaving the Scooby gang alone. He had separated the witches so that they couldn't grab hands, plus, he had electrified the cell bars. Even Buffy wouldn't be able to deal with that. He had been concerned about Willow since she was pretty powerful but Amy had convinced him that the witch wouldn't use her powers. She had given them up. He didn't understand that, having all that power and not using it. How stupid could she be? And as for the other three humans, they were just that, humans. He had them all right where he wanted them. There was nothing and no one that could stop him now.

***

Anya looked defiantly at Xander. She was getting tired of his hurtful comments and glares. "I cannot do anything to Warren or Amy. In fact, I'd have to grant Warren's wish if he asked for one. That's the way it works."

Xander stood facing her and laughed. "You're joking, right? Whose side are you on?"

"It's not that easy," Anya said with a sigh, "the call for vengeance is coming from Warren and directed at all of you. Not the other way around." She knew that Xander wouldn't understand but there was nothing she could say or do to change that. She knew that now. Several seconds later, she realized that there was something she could do to help.

"I'll be right back" Anya shouted and then disappeared.

They looked at her empty cell in shock.

***

Anya appeared inside of the Magic Box and went to the weapon cabinet. She didn't notice Giles and Halfrek standing by the front door looking dumbfounded. Her only thoughts were to get as many weapons as she could carry and teleport back to the cave before Warren and Amy knew she was gone. She was so absorbed in her task that she didn't hear Giles come up behind her. A hand fell on her shoulder. She dropped all of the weapons to the floor as she spun around to see who it was.

"Oh my god," she gasped, "Giles? Is it you?"

"Yes. It's me."

She was so relieved to see him that she almost forgot what she was doing. "You're not here to take the store back are you? Because even though I'm a demon again, I don't want to give up the money..."

"Anya, no. I'm not here to reclaim the store. I'm here because Cordelia had a vision that Buffy was in trouble…"

"Buffy," she gasped. Suddenly, she bent down and started picking up the weapons. "Hurry! There's no time! I have to get these weapons to Buffy before Warren knows I'm gone. I don't think he knows that I have powers again."

"Anyanka," Halfrek asked in amazement, "are you seriously going to help these humans, again?? Do you have any idea what D'Hoffryn is going to do to you once he finds out? And he will find out you know!"

Anya looked over at Halfrek and then at Giles. A look of determination crossed her face. "I'm going to help my friends," she said emphatically. "And if you're my friend, you'll help me."

One look at Anyanka's face said it all. There was no way Halfrek was going to be able to talk her friend out of this suicide mission. She threw her hands up in the air and grabbed an axe. "Alright," she sighed, "Let's go."

***

"She's not coming back, is she," Dawn asked with tears in her eyes.

"She'll be back Dawnie," Willow stated trying to comfort the distraught girl, "She wouldn't leave us here like this. She may be a demon again, but she's still our friend."

"We haven't exactly acted like her friend lately though," Tara said flatly and with downcast eyes.

Xander leaned up against the back wall with his arms folded across his chest. He was tired and his head hurt. Not to mention the fact that he was hungry. Hadn't Willow said something a couple of weeks ago about him always thinking about food? He laughed softly to himself. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen to him and his friends. He didn't want to die this way, like a caged animal. Out of the blue the thought occurred to him, what if Anya had left them to their fate because of the way he had been treating her? What if she really wasn't going to come back? "It's my fault," he said repeatedly.

"Xander don't say such a thing," Willow shouted at him. "It's not your fault that we're here. It's stupid Warren's fault."

"No Will. It's my fault that Anya's not coming back. It's my fault we're going to die."

Buffy had heard about enough. "That's it Xander. Get off the pity party train. We don't have time for this. Anya said she'd be right back and we have to believe that she will be. But until then we have to think positive and figure out a back up plan."

Seconds turned into minutes. Time seemed to stand still. Just as Buffy was about to give up on Anya returning, the vengeance demon appeared in her cell. Surprised, Buffy struck a defensive stance until she realized who it was. "Anya," she murmured, "what took you so long?"

Anya shoved a crossbow into Buffy's hands. "No time. Here," she said in rushed whisper, "take this and hide it. Help is on the way."

Buffy smiled at Anya. She took the weapon and put it in the darkness at the back of the cell. Buffy turned to ask Anya what she had meant by 'help is on the way' but the girl had disappeared from her cell and had re-materialized into Willow's.

Anya teleported into each cell, stopping only long enough to hand the occupant a weapon and a say few reassuring words. Xander's cell was last. When she went to hand him his weapon, he grabbed her arm and looked into her eyes. "An. I'm sorry. I've been a big jerk."

His words hit her like a truck. She couldn't believe he was apologizing to her at last. This was what she had been waiting for since he had walked away on their wedding day. She stared at him, not sure what to say. Finally the words came to her, "Well, we've both said and done hurtful things. I'm sorry I had sex with Spike. I didn't mean to hurt you, not that way." Her eyes filled with tears.

Xander pulled her into an embrace and kissed the top of her head. "Anya," he whispered, "no matter what happens. I want you to know that I still love you."

"I love you too Xander," she said fighting back the tears.

Buffy was glad to see that the two had kind of made up, even if it did take their lives being placed in jeopardy to do it. Her thoughts turned to Spike. Where was he right now? Would she get the chance to tell him she was sorry? Or that she cared for him, maybe even loved him? "God," she thought to herself, "Why am I even thinking about him now?" She chided herself for letting him invade her thoughts. As another Spike thought started to take shape, she heard soft footsteps coming their way. "Uhm. Guys. Later with the smoochies, okay? Anya, get back in your cell. Someone's coming."

***

Amy entered the holding area first, followed closely by Warren. He looked around at his prisoners and smiled evilly. This was going to be so much fun. Amy looked over at him and smiled, nodding her head.

He held his hand up and the bars in front of Dawn's cell disappeared. Amy moved quickly to get the girl. As she reached out to grab Dawn's arm, the young girl kicked her in the stomach and sent her flying across the room. Dawn stared at Amy as the girl slid down the wall, unconscious.

Warren glared at Dawn. He ran over to make sure Amy was okay. She was still breathing. He decided that the youngest Summers was going to pay first. "How exciting," Warren exclaimed as he walked in front of Dawn, "do we have a little slayer wannabe on our hands?" He grabbed her before she could reply and pulled her out of the cell, mostly by her hair. "I want you to say your goodbye's to your big sister before I start torturing you. It's gonna get kinda messy and I'm not sure you'll be able to scream, let alone talk."

Dawn struggled to free herself. She could hear Buffy yelling at Warren to let her go. She felt around for the dagger Anya had given her. If she could just get her fingers on that, she could stab him and try to break free. Before she knew what was happening, Warren lurched back with a cry.

"Surprise," Buffy said leveling the crossbow at him again.

Both he and Dawn fell to the ground. Dawn realized her hands were free and reached for the dagger. She put both hands around it and raised the weapon into the air hoping to get enough momentum to make the wound fatal when she connected. But what she saw froze her.

Warren's eyes began to glow a fiery red. With minimal effort, he pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and threw it to the ground. His wound healed quickly. "You stupid bitch," he laughed at Buffy, "Did you think that would stop me? I'm not one of your undead boyfriends." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dawn with the dagger. Suddenly it started to glow with tremendous heat. She dropped it immediately, leaving her helpless against him.

"I'm not exactly sure how you got these weapons," he said turning to Buffy, "But no matter. They're useless against me. I'm indestructible now." He walked over to Dawn and grabbed her by the throat. "And now I'm going to kill your sister."

Buffy glared at him. "As I said earlier Warren, everyone has a flaw."

"Oh please. I don't think so. Stop trying to bait me. You're not going to get out of this. Your sister is going to be the first one to die and there's nothing you can do about it."

"She may not be able to do anything about it at the moment, but I can," said a voice from behind.

Warren spun around with a look of surprise on his face. He knew that voice.

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