Here We Come To Save The DayBy Karen
Chapter TwelveBuffy's head came up as the wall before her disappeared, and then her mouth hung open in astonishment as she watched a huge ugly demon waltz forward and lay a hand on Anya and declare his intention of taking the Scoobs' blood. Behind the demon she saw her sister kicking and yelling in the grip of her ex-honey and, unless she was very much mistaken, Angel's son was crouched down beside Drusilla who was cradling Kit in her lap. And Connor was naked.
Buffy didn't hesitate, she asked the question that was foremost in everyone's mind, "Dawn Summers, what the HELL have you been doing?" Dawn paused in her single-minded effort to get to her family and do Riley as much damage as humanly possible. She frowned, followed Buffy's pointed look at Connor and then abruptly shut her eyes, "Not what you think! I didn't look, I swear. I had my eyes shut the whole time. See?"
Buffy raised an eyebrow at Connor. "And your story would be?"
Connor flushed under the Slayer's frank look, "I didn’t do it, it was him!" He glared at Riley, who at last had the undivided attention of the Scoobs' that he had desired for so long. He shoved Dawn to her knees before him and drew back his shoulders proudly. "I bet I'm the last person you expected to see, right Buffy?"
Cordelia cocked her head to one side, "Who's the hottie?"
Angel growled deep in his chest at the frank appreciation in his lover's voice and then snorted with laughter as Spike said in amazement, "Hey, its Captain Cardboard! What the 'ell is he doin' 'ere?" He turned to Buffy, thankful he could at last see his love rather than just talk to her, and smirked, "Is this some kind of convention for ex-boinkers of the Slayer? If you wanted to remind yourself how lucky you are to 'ave got me, luv, we coulda just 'ad a bit of slap and tickle tonight after the nibblet was in bed."
Buffy, ignoring the faint 'eww!' from Dawn, divided her most poisonous look between the two sniggering vampires and said sweetly, "Looks like I'm not the only one hooking up with an ex tonight, sweetie. Isn’t that your insane dark princess over there?"
Angel and Spike stopped laughing abruptly and both craned their necks to see round the large body of Buonce to where Dru and Kit lay huddled on the floor. The two vampires groaned in unison and then exchanged grim looks, Spike, as usual, got right to the heart of the matter, "Oh bollocks."
Buffy exchanged smirks with Willow, "Not so funny with the comments now, huh?" She shifted uncomfortably on the floor and looked back at Riley, "Ok, what's all this about?"
Riley opened his mouth to respond but Dawn got there first, " He's only completely wrecked Sunnydale and hooked up with this huge demonic power thing to get back at you for ruining his life." She managed to get her feet under her and struggled to a standing position moving to stand in front of Carlos and edge him back to where Connor and the others were by the wall. She continued to talk as they slowly joined the rest of their gang, "He got dumped, again, and then hooked up with tall, slimy, and unpleasant here and they want to bring that demon forth that Connor and I stopped last month at camp." She stopped as she felt Connor lean his head against the back of her leg, “He’s like totally evil now."
Buffy blinked, "Really?" Dawn nodded in emphatic affirmation.
Spike drawled with a smirk, "Is anyone else finding him more interesting now, or is it just me?"
Anya flexed her legs to ease her cramp and nodded, "Oh yes, there seems to be something much more fascinating about him now." She smiled at Riley in a friendly fashion, "You really should have considered something like this a few years ago, we would have found you so much more stimulating."
Riley reeled back as though she'd slapped him and Carlos, who was the closest, took the opportunity to kick out at his legs, sending the former soldier stumbling. Giles frowned in condemnation, "Carlos! That was petty and mean spirited, I expect better of you." Carlos flushed under the stern English gaze and then exchanged a quick smug smile with Connor.
Angel cleared his throat, "Ok, still not seeing why Connor’s naked. Again." All eyes swung to Connor as the dark haired vampire's tone chilled considerably, “Or what soldier boy has to do with that." The silence was deafening as everyone ran through the implications of Angel's statement in their minds and then a lot of wide eyes turned back to Riley.
Spike grinned, "He really has got more interesting, hasn’t he? Way to come out of the closet, mate."
Riley spluttered indignantly as Dawn laughed out loud and then flinched when cold fingers touched her wrists. She looked over her shoulder to see Kit, the only person in the room with their hands tied in front of them, tug at the chains binding her friend and pull gently at them. The Goth girl looked quickly around the room and saw that everyone’s attentions were for the moment focused on Riley, she met Dawn's eyes and mouthed, "Crouch down.” With a cautious look at their captors Dawn did so and then allowed Kit to guide her back until she was back to back with Drusilla.
Dawn frowned in confusion and then jumped again as ice-cold fingers moved smoothly over her skin and onto the lock of her chains. She flinched as something sharp poked her harshly in the side of her hand and then concentrated on keeping as still as possible as she heard the scraping of metal against metal. Connor watched over Drusilla’s shoulder as the vampire frowned in concentration and worked diligently with two stiff metal hairgrips to manipulate the lock. Twice she slipped and drew blood when the intricacy of the task proved too much for her to perform with hands tied behind her back and no way of seeing what she was doing, then, suddenly, there came a tiny click and the manacles started to fall apart. Dawn hurriedly grabbed the iron and held it awkwardly in place and then turned to place a soft kiss on Drusilla's cheek before whispering, "Thanks Gran."
Dru gave her a sweet smile and then nudged Kit with her knee to ease round so the vampire could shift and start work on Connor's chains. Willow had allowed her gaze to drift as the baiting of Riley had continued and she felt her mouth drop slightly open when she caught sight of Drusilla freeing Dawn and then turning her attention to Connor.She quickly skipped her gaze away but not before the soldier who had threatened Connor with the gun noticed her sudden surprise and began to turn to see what had caused it. Willow did the only thing she could under the circumstances. She threw back her head and WAILED, "Oh god, I don't wanna die, I wanna live. Don’t let me die, oh god, don't let me die!"
Her companions in arms left off sniggering at Riley and turned to the red head in astonishment as she began to thrash and scream in her chains. Buffy's mouth fell open in horror as her best friend began to lose it and she whispered in excruciating embarrassment, "Willow! Chill out, for god's sake, have a little pride."
Willow tried to catch Buffy's eye and convey that she was perfectly in control of herself despite outward appearances, unfortunately due to the nature of her chosen diversion, the sly winks and grimaces just made it look as though she was in the grip of a severe fit.
Cordelia blinked in astonishment at her former love rival’s contortions and turned to Anya to say seriously, "You had Xander checked for rabies right? I used to have something similar when I first had the visions and now I'm thinking its not much of a coincidence."
Anya shook her head and watched Willow's performance with avid interest, "Xander only foams at the mouth now in the grip of a powerful orgasm, and he almost never twitches like that unless I give him oral pleasure. He’s completely healthy."
Cordelia leaned forward and eyed Xander, "He still does the foaming thing, huh?"
Xander was torn between deep concern for Willow and begging for the first spot on the sacrificial altar at the turn the conversation had taken. He deliberately ignored the considering looks the two girls were giving him and turned to the person on his other side. Gunn. The tall black man stared back at him, "You foam?"
Xander took a deep breath and gave the room in general a look of deep dignity; "I am not going to discuss my sex life with you people."
Spike snorted as he watched Willow writhe and scream on the floor, "Hello? We know about your sex life almost before you do, chubby, thanks to the little demon missus you got there."
Fred popped her head up over Gunn's broad shoulder and nodded affably at Anya, "Charles whimpers, like this.” She tilted her head to one side, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh."
Gunn's mouth fell open in outrage at his girl’s betrayal of their bedroom secrets and then he caught sight of Connor ease along the wall and reach for his pants with two hands that were very unbound. Gunn's eyes shot to the demon and Riley who were both staring at their hired solider trying to restrain Willow on the floor, his face flooded with understanding and he turned back to Fred and gave her an evil smile. "Fred likes to sit on top and pretend she's riding a bucking bronco." Fred gasped as he nudged her playfully and smirked, "Ride 'em cowgal!"
Giles closed his eyes briefly and then snapped, "Will you all please stop it!"
Anya grinned at Fred, "When Giles is stimulated he likes to…"
"Anya!"Spike took his fascinated attention from Willow and swung his head round to stare in equal fascination atAnya, "What? What does he do?"
Anya caught Giles' fierce glare and reluctantly decided that there were worse things in life than being stripped of your demonic powers and condemned to a mortal existence, and revealing Rupert Giles' carnal preferences to a captive audience was one of them. She gave a bright smile, "Nothing, nothing at all." Giles gave her another hard glare before returning his attention to Willow, Anya gave Spike a broad wink and mouthed, "I'll tell you later!"
"THERE WILL BE NO LATER!! DESIST WITCH!"
Their demon captor finally lost all patience and on the floor Willow froze obligingly, "Ok, I'm feeling much better now anyway." The soldier lying on top of her began to push himself off and Willow's knee rose smartly between his legs. The man collapsed back on top of her with a harsh expulsion of air and Willow beamed up at Riley, "See? All better."
The ex-commando's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion and he whirled to see Connor and Dawn huddled up against Drusilla, still securely bound, and looking exhausted. Both were shivering with cold and fear, and the boy's skin above the waistband of his pants was slowly turning blue. The two other humans were apparently passed out from fear, the girl lying on an unconscious Drusilla's legs and the boy curled in the fetal position on the floor, arms still caught tight behind him. He took a step towards the huddled group, slightly uneasy that something seemed off and Dawn flinched involuntarily, Riley smiled coldly, "You've finally realized who's in charge, Dawn?"
Dawn stared up at the bitter man above her and cringed against Drusilla as his hand moved lightening fast towards her cheek. Spike and Buffy shouted with rage as their girl was hit so hard that her head bounced off the stone wall behind her and then she was dragged screaming with fear and pain to her feet. Connor tensed to spring at Riley as Dawn stumbled and was still dragged forcibly across the floor, scrambling to get her feet under her, but Drusilla took the chance of whispering under the furious bellows from the Scoobs and Angel's gang, "No dearie, not yet. The little bird needs to make her nest." Connor looked into Dru's slitted eyes and she blew him a small kiss, "Trust big sister, little one. We shall dance and sing at the party soon enough and Daddy and William will be so proud." Her head lolled to the side as Buonce's head turned their way and she pretended once more to be deeply unconscious.
Dawn was aware of Buffy and Spike screaming her name as she was dragged unceremoniously past them, but her main issues were a) trying to keep the unlocked manacles about her wrists and stop them from falling to the floor and thus giving the game away and b) making a good show of being entirely helpless in Riley's grip without tipping him off that she was for the main hamming it up and concentrating on not letting him pull two many strands of hair from her head. She gave a whimper as she was thrown to the floor and then began to pitifully sob as she was pulled up on her knees and thrown face forward over a low stone altar.
Riley's voice came from behind her, "Sounds like little sis likes it rough, Buff. Think we should let her die without getting laid at least once?"
Buffy screamed with horror and fury as Riley bent to her sister with a twisted smile on his face. Dawn’s eyes narrowed and her head came up as she threw herself to the side. She let go of the iron chain and manacles with one hand and with the other swung the heavy links round to smash into Riley's already broken nose and pop one eye in it's socket like an over ripe grape.
Riley screamed long and loud as his hands scrabbled frantically at his face and Dawn flipped to her feet to spin and roundhouse kick him squarely in the head. She leaned down and snatched up a solid, silver axe that lay at the side of the altar, "The Key has to be pure, dipshit. Getting laid and general naughtiness is a big no-no."
On the other side of the stone room, Connor paused in his efforts to decapitate the demon using just his own useless chains and brute strength, blinking worriedly, “It is?"
Dawn kicked Riley one more time for good measure and then jumped over the altar to land in front of Cordelia, "Duck!" The former May queen obligingly scrunched down as Dawn swung the axe and sliced through the bolt on the wall with a satisfying clang and a shower of sparks.
Cordy rolled stiffly to her feet and nodded to Dawn, "Thanks!" Her eyes took on an introspective look, “Potty break!" She shuffled past Dawn and then broke into a stiff run.
Dawn grinned at Angel as she freed him, "She is so weird."
Angel sprang to his feet like a big cat and flexed his massive shoulders, "That's the way I like 'em." He ruffled her filthy hair as he moved past her to help Connor, "It runs in the family."
Dawn moved along the people shackled against the wall, methodically swinging and hacking with her axe until she reached Willow, who was concentrating on ramming her knee repeatedly into the groin of the soldier sprawled sobbing with pain on top of her. Dawn flipped the axe up into the air, caught it handle first as it fell back down and rapped the soldier smartly on the back of the head. Willow pouted as Dawn pushed the man off her, "I was getting to that!"
Dawn swung her axe, "My way was faster." She pulled Willow to her feet and gave her a quick kiss before moving along to Spike. She beamed down at him, "Hello Daddy."
Spike jumped to his feet the minute he felt his chains give and pulled Dawn hard against him. She sank against him for just a minute, revelling in his hard, desperate hug and then she pushed gently away, "Gotta free the ugly sister."
Buffy scowled, "Hey!" Then she was ducking and jumping to her feet as she was finally freed from her chains. She pulled Dawn to her and whispered, "Are you ok, honey?"
Dawn blinked back tired tears at the loving concern in her sister's voice and kissed the smaller woman’s cheek, "Please, you were worried about me? Ha!" She turned at the sudden scream from Kit and her eyes widened in horror as she saw Riley Finn rush towards them with his arm raised, a stake clasped in his hand and his ruined face creased in an _expression of malevolent hatred as he focused his one good eye on Spike.
Time seemed to slow for Dawn as she shoved Spike to the floor and turned to face Riley for the last time, his arm came down to slam into the space that Spike had occupied moments before and Dawn shuddered with the force of the blow. They stood frozen for a moment staring into each other's eyes and then Riley backed up, staring in shock at the wooden stake embedded in Dawn’s heart.
Dawn looked at the piece of wood that had ruined her second best fightin' top and then met Spike's shocked and horrified eyes. She smiled at him and whispered, "Its ok, he missed your coat." Her eyes lost focus and she crumpled to the floor, Buffy began to scream as Spike threw himself with an agonized roar at Riley.
Dawn blinked at the ceiling, once, twice, her mouth was dry and she tried to swallow but was unable to get her muscles to respond. Her head slipped to the side and then Dawn Summers died.