Chapter Fourteen

Black

The Next Evening – 10 pm

The still body with cold blood suddenly comes to life; the heart beats once, twice, and again… The heart beat steadies out, and comes to life again. His lips part and drag air into the dry cavern of his mouth, his lungs gulp in the oxygen, his starved body consuming everything.

Black’s unconscious mind starts to function again…

* * *

10:05 pm

The forests surrounding the catacombs were deathly silent. The night was inky black, and the air was holding its breath… waiting.

A strange, and inhuman laugh echoed through the forest, causing a slight rustle of movement that soon dies when the laugh is suddenly cut dead. The sound came from the south end of the catacombs, the closest end to the small town of Sunnydale, a town that was use to the unusual goings on in the area in and around them.

A fisher in the side of the rock that had built up into the catacombs looked as if it had been torn away, creating yet another gaping opening into the tombs of the earth. Beside this new entrance to the bowels of the earth stood the Master, the vampire that was thought long dead, now walked the earth once again. His ashes returned to him, and his barrowed blood settling back into his newly formed corpse.

Instead of the full leather suit that had adorned him for centuries, the Master now sported jeans and a t-shirt… purely for disguise purposes of course. Normally, he wore a tailored suit. He found them quite comfortable.

The Master stood looking down at a pathetic human, her blood hair stained with blood and her blouse ripped, and exposing her. The Master cared for none of this; of course, he was concerned with only one thing, and one thing only.

The young woman moans in her unconscious state, trying desperately to come back to wakefulness, however, it will come all too late.

The Master smiles, a vicious, malevolent smile that would put any grown man at his feet, any lesser demon to the ground if it knew what was good for it.

The smile is ripped from his face when it contorts in pain as his body is suddenly thrown into convulsions, the occurrence so often, that it doesn’t send him to the ground.

His legs lengthen, and almost double in size, diameter. His foot doubles, and brings him up onto the balls of his feet, his knees bent.

His arms lengthen as well; his long gray nails grow into hard black claws.

The Master’s ribcage groans as it expands, doubling in size and diameter, as the rest of his body grows and changes; his bones fuse, making them almost like steel.

When all is said and done, the Master is clearing seven feet tall with claws for nails, and blood red eyes, blood from the heart that glowed. His face, the face that had been stuck in the same wrinkled state for centuries was now smooth, and clean of the blood stains. His teeth were clean, and long, sharp as a newly made dagger.

He stretches up over the unconscious woman and lets out a howling call of triumph. The call is inhuman, distorted, and almost sounds like a scream.

The woman at his feet suddenly comes awake, the noise startling her as she had been in a state of sleep instead of the unwilling unconscious of minutes before. The woman blots up right into a sitting position and lets out a blood curdling scream that has the creature in front of her cutting his yell of triumph short.

The Master looks down at the woman, a sinister smile spreading across his lips. He bends down and reaches out, grabbing a hold of her when she would’ve moved away. He pulls her close and growls, “Mine.”

Seconds later, a scream rushes through the forest, and then is suddenly stopped, as if the thing that was making the noise had dropped away…

* * *

The Catacombs – 10:15 pm

Cornelius didn’t like this one bit. He knew that as he watched the Master in his new form practically devour the helpless young girl. It was wrong to do that, even if he were a vampire, he that was wrong. It was a waste, a loss of a resource that could’ve been used at a later date.

It screamed to Cornelius that he had indeed gotten in with the wrong crowd. These dead vampires were stupider than he had originally thought. Now he knew the reason for slayers of the undead, they had no respect their food. As the saying goes, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

Cornelius turns from the scene, almost sickened by the sight.

His stride was graceful, quiet, and undetectable by any other vampire in the area, unless they knew what to look for. And Cornelius knew that none of these dead vampires knew what to look for when looking for one of Cornelius’s kind. He had a good hunch that the undead, dead vampire knew nothing of his kind.

Just from his short time spent with them, he knew that they knew nothing of honor or respect, it was take all, and damn the consequences.

No wonder they didn’t live very long, he thought with disgust.

He walks through the forest wondering how he had gotten himself into a stitch such as this and not even realizes that the beings that he had associated himself with were morons, and idiots.

He shakes his head, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it now. It was too late to repair the damage he had caused…

As the thought crosses through his mind, he stumbles, a little ungracefully over a human shaped lump.

At first Cornelius thinks that it is one of the many corpses that the Master’s minions had left lying around as per usual. However, on a closer look, he realized the things chest was rising and falling.

He gently sniffs the air. His eyes widen at what the sent tells him. It couldn’t be, he couldn’t have made it. He smells deeper, analyzing the air, and the complex sent memories. It was then that he realizes that the being hadn’t survived, but merely come back after a few days.

Cornelius was glad that his king didn’t rot; he hated the smell of rotting flesh. Strange as it was for a vampire, but that was totally off the subject.

Bending down, Cornelius lifts him onto his shoulder, easily lifting him as he stands. Settling the weight on his shoulder, he finishes straightening and heads toward town. He wanted to clean him up…

A plan was forming in his mind, and it sounded very beneficial for both him and the slayer… if she is willing to listen. Then he would just cut his losses and leave this hell they call Sunnydale…

Hmm, Sunnyhell? He thinks with an amused smirk as he moves further off from the catacombs. Has a nice ring to it.

He smiles when he hears the man moan against his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Mr. Black, all have you cleaned up in no time,” Cornelius’s voice is but a whisper that is quickly swallowed by the deathly silent forest.

* * *

The East Cemetery – 10:30 pm

A black army boot kicks at a stone as the body it’s attached to moves through the plots.

Spike was feeling very depressed, although, he was very proud of himself, he had yet to reach for a bottle of liquor. However, he couldn’t say that about his cigs, he had burned his way through three packs in the last forty-eight hours since he had told Buffy.

He didn’t know what she thought as usual; he wasn’t whether he should just skip town, and find someone else to take up his time, or just let her end here and how.

Might as well let her, she already defeated me, he thinks a little dramatically. You poof! He chides himself.

It was just like her, always running off, and not offering a bloke one ounce of assurance. He really hated it when she did that. He knew that other shoe had to drop sooner or later...

In a way, he was glad it had been before anything had started between him… Well, his fevered thoughts had been leading him on, telling him that she was thinking something that hadn’t been there before, something he had been wanting ever since he had had that bloody dream.

He stops suddenly. His scared eyebrow and he tilts his head to one side, listening to the quiet of the cemetery… something was different.

A smirk plays over his lips. “Now this seems familiar in a flipped way… Come out Slayer… I know you’re there.”

Spike turns as he hears movement at his back. As he turns, he sees the Slayer step out from a grove of trees. She was breath taking after the absence of two days… Only two days?

She silently walks up to him, looking at the ground as she does so. Spike frowns; this was very unlike her. She usually looked at him with defiance and did as she pleased.

She looks up at him… “I’m sorry for walking off the other day, but I wasn’t sure what to say. You caught me off guard… I though you were going to tell me that you had seen Angel or something like that.”

Spike stands there, unsure of what to say. She had never apologized to him before. It was new… and if he was thinking correctly, he actually liked it in a sadistic sort of way.

“Spike?” Buffy says, when a weird smile spreads across his lips. It was a little disconcerting.

“Sorry, could you say that again?” Spike says.

Buffy laughs at him, knowing fully well what he wanted her to repeat. She mind in the least. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off.”

His smile turns tender, “Thank you.” He says.

They stand there in silence for a long while, just watching the other. It was different for them. No bitter or bantering words, although, that had its perks as well. The moment was light hearted and filled with positive energy. The situation soothed Spike’s fears that things had reverted to the way they had been for so long.

“I also wanted to tell you that I’m not angry, and that I won’t be shoving a stake through your heart,” they both smile at that. “And the reason I didn’t come by sooner is that things got very hectic at home. Dawn’s school had a parent teacher conferences, and they were testing the trains at the center.”

She pauses as she looks at him. “Have you killed anyone since the chip was taken out?”

“No,” he answers simply.

“Have you bitten anyone?”

“No.”

“Do you want to?” She asks, not sure why she had to know.

“Yes… but not in the way you’re thinking.”

She leaves that one a lone, which in itself was a shock to him. Before, she would’ve questioned until one punched the other. It was nice to have a conversation and not be told you were wrong for thinking or feeling that…

“Spike, can I ask another question?” She asks quietly.

He looks up from his appraisal of his cigarette. “Of course love, ask away.”

“Are you staying?” her voice was quiet still, like she was unsure of herself.

He looks at her for a long time before he answers. If he said yes, getting his hopes up that she wanted that and then be told that he had to leave, he didn’t think he could deal with that. If he said no, and she was hoping that he would stay, he would blow any chance he might have had with her the second time around.

Bullock the consequences, he thinks. “Until you tell me to leave… or I get dusted, which ever comes first,” he says just as quietly.

Before he knew what hit him, he was in Buffy’s arms, her body pressing close to his. He stiffens at first, thinking that this had to be some cruel trick of his brain.

He starts to loosens up when his numbness of shock wear off, and he feels her arms tighten around him.

Slowly, so as not to scare her off, he raises his arms and wraps them around her… A slow coming smile follows as he buries his nose in her hair. Vanilla.

* * *

A tall dark man, with short black hair stands on the makeshift road of the cemetery observing the embracing foes. His eye brow raises at the curious sight. Something was not right.

Early he had found another strange and unusual happening in this small piss ant town. He had found the remains of a human, but it was like nothing he had ever seen… or wanted to seen again.

He turns and walks away…

* * *

Spike pulls away when he suddenly remembers that he had been meaning to tell her something else. He looks down at her and smiles. “Since I’m in to confessin’ and all, here’s another. That guy I’ve you with, the tall dark guy?”

“Yes? You mean Black?” She asks with a curious frown.

“Yes him…” he says, “Black isn’t what one might think, Black’s immortal…”

“You mean a vampire… no, I’ve seen him out in day light,” Buffy says shaking her head.

“No, I mean immortal, cut his head off and in a week, you’d seen him tossen back beers like nothing had ever happened.”

“Immortal, immortal?” She says, looking away with awe. She looks back him with a slight frown. “You sure? How do you know?”

“Yes I’m sure, besides his father, he’s only one of the most infamous hit men in the underworld … he’ll kill anyone for the right price.” Spike’s voice was laced with something a kin to jealousy.

“Ok,” she says, and starts to drag him off toward the entrance of the cemetery.

“Ah, slayer, not that I’m complaining, but can a bloke know where he’s being dragged off to.” Spike asks.

She laughs. “Sure.”

“Cute. Where?”

“My house, Dawn made me swear when I found you to bring you back so we could watch movies… plus, I like dragging you around.” This was said with a coy smile shot over her shoulder, directed straight at him.

Spike didn’t know what to do, he was so shocked, and all he could was laugh. He was one happy vamp…

Magic Box

Buffy and Spike walk in the door, and let it swing shut behind them. As they walk down the two steps into the main part of the shop, Spike leans a little closer to Buffy and whispers into her ear, “Tell me again, why are we here?”

Buffy smiles and says, “Because Anya may know something about Black.”

The past two days had been a blur of everything and nothing… Buffy, Spike and Dawn had been doing nothing but trying to find Black. They looked through all of the books, amid complaining from Anya, and came up with nothing.

“Spike, are you sure you don’t know his first name?” Dawn asks as she closes some pages off the laptop window.

“No.” He says.

“Any luck?” Buffy asks as she comes around the table to look over Dawn’s shoulder.

“No,” she says. Dawn is going through the Internet now. “There’s nothing on this guy. His doesn’t exist.”

With Anya behind the counter, all three look up when the bell over the door rings when a tall, dark colored man walks in the door. His skin is like coffee with creamer and his sky blue eyes contrast nicely with the hue of his skin. His dark hair is cut short to his head, and he’s wearing black, unmarked clothes.

“Hello, may I help you spend your money?” Anya says as she comes out of her reprieve.

The man pays no never mind to Anya, and looks directly at Buffy and Spike. The young looking man steps down into the main part of the shop and starts to move towards them.

Spike steps closer to Buffy. They briefly glance at each other as the man comes to a stop a few paces from them.

Looking directly at Buffy, he asks, “I’m looking for Black? Do you know where I can find him?” His voice is average, all except for the Spanish lilt to his tone.

“Why do you want to know?” Spike asks.

The pricing sky-blue eyes turn to Spike. “I’m Dennis Black… his son.”

“We haven’t seen him for a week,” Buffy replies.

Dennis turns back to her. “Two reasons I can think of why that would be… either you killed him, or…”

“Or what? Because she sure as hell didn’t kill him. Like she could,” Spike mutters under his breath.

“Or he’s been double crossed… again.” Dennis says in a monotone.

“Again?” Spike asks.

“What do you mean ‘like she could’?” Buffy asks as she looks up at Spike.

“Does that happen to him often?” Spike asks.

“More than you would think,” Dennis says and looks around the Magic Box. His eyes land on a little girl sitting at the table that sat in a corner by a latter that led up into a loft. She’s staring at him as if she had never seen a man before.

“This Dawn, and that’s Anya behind the counter,” Buffy says, still glaring at Spike. Turning her attention to Dennis, she says, “Since I didn’t kill him, he might’ve just left town.”

“No, Black wouldn’t do that. He would’ve called me if his business plans had changed and his room has his stuff in it, and since you didn’t kill him, his been double crossed again.” Dennis shakes his head. His eyes go back to Dawn. She’s still watching him. She mustn’t be anymore than 15, maybe 16 years old.

With that thought, he remembers something. He turns to Spike, “How old are you? The paper’s in Black’s hotel room were incomplete in that area.”

“I’m 130,” Spike says. “What bout you, your father?”

“My father is 443,” Dennis says, “And I’m 30.”

They spend the rest of the day talking and trying to figure out what had happened to Black. During their conversation, Buffy realizes that Black’s job to kill her had been nothing against her, but just a job.

Buffy looks up, the others were talking to Dennis with Anya monopolizing most of the conversation, and she smiles at the little play between the four people… a creatures?

Her eyes move over to Spike as he gets up from the table with a book in his hand and walk into the back of the shop. She looks back to the other three people still in the room with her. All three are engrossed in their conversation.

Putting her book down, Buffy gets up from the table and moves to the back of the shop, following Spike. There she finds him looking over the books that are kept hidden from the customers. They would be too dangerous if they fell into the wrong hands.

She moves closer to him, and pretends to look at the books with him.

“How do like this Dennis fellow?” Spike asks softly.

Neither glances at each other.

“He’s ok, but not my type,” Buffy says playfully.

“Oh, too blue eyes, I see?” Spike asks.

Buffy turns her head to look up at him and smiles, if not a little coyly, “No. I love blue eyes,” Buffy says, hoping that he would get her double meaning.

“Really?” Spike says, turning fully away from the books to lean his shoulder against the shelf. “I thought you more for brown.”

“Things change,” she says as she turns her eyes back to the books. She hoped she was doing this right or she’s going to embarrass herself to death.

“So I see,” Spike remarks absently. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see that he’s watching her.

“Spike?” she asks softly.

“Yes, love?” His voice is low.

“Can I do something?” She asks quietly. “I’ll stop if you want me to.”

“All depends.”

She turns to him then, deciding she liked directness better then come on’s.

Spike looks at her and notices the suddenly change in her demeanor. “What are you about, love?”

His question is answered when Buffy leans up and wraps her arms around his neck, and presses her mouth to his. She just stays there, letting the stiffness leave his body, and then she runs her tongue over his mouth…

Spike comes out of his stupor, and wraps his arms tightly around her. He groans as he feels her tongue over his lip. He opens his mouth and pulls her tongue into his mouth, and slides his tongue along hers.

Turning them, Spike presses Buffy into the shelf, and growls when she moans into his mouth.

Wanting more of her, he moves his mouth down her jaw line, and then to her neck. Barely noticing her marks from the pervious vampires, Spike presses his blunt teeth into her neck, and enjoys the shudder it sends down her lithe little body.

He could claim her now if she’d let….

Spike pulls back with something akin to a cry of pain. “No. I don’t…” He turns away from her, and looks down at the floor. He didn’t want be put back in that same, heart killing situation. He may be love’s bitch, but he isn’t going to let himself get walked all over again.

“Spike?” He feels the gently brush of her fingers over his shoulder, fleetingly, and then she’s gone.

“I’m sorry Slayer, but I’ll need a reason,” he says and walks away, back into the main shop.

Tears sting her eyes, he hadn’t called her that every since he came back… I really screwed things up…

“I’ll need a reason…” His words echoed through her mind and she knew exactly what he’s talking about…

* * *

Buffy looks remorsefully at Spike’s back as they walk up to her house. Dennis and him seemed to have quite a bit in common. She rests her head on Dawn’s shoulder, their arms linked as they come up the front steps of her house.

The girls almost bump into Spike and Dennis when they come to a complete stop. Both Buffy and Dawn look around the two men, and gasp…

For lying on their front porch is a crumpled form, and not just any crumpled form, but Black’s.

It’s A Tell All

Black talked for what seemed like hours on end after he came around and got cleaned up. It was understandable after he got past his reasons for being where he was now.

The question had come flying at him.

All five of them are crowded into the living room with Dawn one end of the couch with Dennis on the center cushion and Black on the other end of the couch. Spike was sitting in his favorite chair with the burgundy colored upholstery. Buffy was sitting on the air of said chair, much to Spike’s shock and delight.

“I had originally came here on a job to…”

“Please,” Spike says, “We know. Get on with it.”

Black nods curtly. “The vampire that hired me had a minion deal with when I was paid, and then again when I was…” He glances over to Dawn, and then looks back to Buffy and Spike, “Dealt with the fist time. The second time, I was taken from my motel room to the catacombs and tortured there by this vampire called Cornelius and the minions.”

“Sorry,” Buffy says, “You say ‘Cornelius and the minions’? I thought this Cornelius was the Master vampire?” She looks at Spike quickly, shrugging her shoulders.

“No. I got the feeling that Cornelius was a… hired hand or thug.” Black says before he continues where he left off.

“I’m not sure how long I stayed there, but after what seemed an eternity, Cornelius order’s the minions to clean me up. He leaves and I take my chances and got out of there. From the cave I was kept in, it’s nothing but a blur as I moved to through the catacombs. Next thing I knew I was falling to the ground.

“The next thing I knew I woke to find myself in this polished place, I’m not sure where. And there was Cornelius, leaning over me with a rag. My shirt was open, and he seemed to be cleaning me up.

“I fell back to sleep at his command, and then I woke when he was placing me on your porch. He had said, ‘Worry not, you are at the Slayers residence.’”

He shakes his head as he focuses in on his memory of that time. “I never even realized.”

“Never even realized what?” Buffy asks.

Black’s head comes up at her question. “I didn’t realize it until then, but when Cornelius brought me here, the sun was up.” He said, thinking that that answered her question.

“Wait a bleeding second.” Spike says. “I thought you said that Cornelius is a vampire? How the hell did he pull that trick without burning to dust?”

“Because Cornelius is a living vampire.” Black looks at their incredulous faces and asks, “This can’t be new to you?”

“Yes, it is. And how come I’ve never seen any, or caught any of them in the act?”

“Because they’re not the same as undead vampires, like Spike. Living vampires have warmer blood than humans, a heartbeat, and in most, they have the ability to communicate wit telepathy. They have a reflection, and they can walk in the day. The reason you don’t catch them is because they don’t kill their pray.

“Undead vampires are the opposite, all except that undead vampires are all made, and their taken over by a demon when changed. That’s why so many are very different when they’re brought over.”

“I don’t believe, because I’m a vampire and I’ve never even heard of such a thing.” Spike says as he gets to his feet and starts to pace behind his favorite chair.

“Of course you wouldn’t. They don’t like what your version of the species has done to their reputation.” Black says.

Spike turns and glares at him.

Buffy says, “We still don’t believe you, how…”

Before she can finish, however, the front down bursts open and in walks a tall, dark figure of a man. A cultured, smooth voice almost floats to their ears. “It’s all true.”

None of them are able to see what the man looks like, until he steps more into the living room. He draws back his upper lip and they all watch in amazement as his eyeteeth grow into incisors like that of cats. There are no other changes to his features.

As he closes his mouth, his teeth are all ready reforming into their human look. “I’m Cornelius, a born vampire.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” This came from Dennis as he stood from the couch as starts to make his way toward Cornelius.

Undaunted, Cornelius simply says, “Now is that any way to speak to the person who brought your father back to you?”

“He’s right Dennis.” Black says.

The house falls into silence as Buffy, Spike, and Dawn try to come to terms with what they had just learned. In the silence, Cornelius closes the door, and then comes back to stand in the entrance into the living room.

The silence is finally broken when Spike suddenly asks Black, “Why would you kill the Slayer and let those vampire’s take over?”

“There are other slayers, they could have come and take care of it. It’s not like she’s the only one, and I knew that the vampires… didn’t… know that…. And from the looks on your faces, I’m guessing you didn’t either.”

Turning to look at Buffy, Black says, “What has your father been teaching you?”

“My FATHER?” Buffy exclaims. “Don’t you mean my Watcher?”

“Oh, I see. That damn Watchers Council.” He goes onto to explain that before the Council had come along, that like other slayers, it’s a family affair with the father teaching his daughters how to slay, and all the things they need to learn.

The room falls silent again…

The New Big Bad

The room is silent for a long time after Black gets done with his explanations of the whole thing.

To say the least, Buffy is in a bit of a shock. Just hours ago she had thought that there is supposed to be, always was just one slayer.

And now she’s being told by an Immortal for Gods sake, that there are ‘living’ vampires, and that the council is just some power hungry cowards that wanted all the credit for themselves.

It surprises her as well because, instead of being mad like she thought she would be, she was just a little surprised that she hadn’t found out sooner with all of the other carp that she’s found on the council.

Shaking her head, she sighs as it starts to sink in. As she sat there on the arm of the chair, her mind on idle for most of the time, a thought starts to tickle the back of her mind.

All of this has to have an upside to it right? She thinks. I mean, why look at it from an… angry way. She stills her mind as the rest of the idea falls into place.

Is what it means is that I don’t… have… to be the Slayer anymore… Her thoughts are interrupted though when she hears:

“Slayer?” It’s Cornelius.

Buffy turns to him and says, “Call me Buffy.”

“Buffy, I had originally came here to warn you, not to prove something that you should already know.” His voice is still cultured, if not a little snide. However, Buffy had the feeling his snidness is directed more towards the council than it is toward her.

“What do you mean ‘warn me’?” Buffy says. “I thought…”

“Yes, well, the vampire that hired Mr. Black here to kill is actually hired himself.” Cornelius says cryptically.

“Skip the encoding and get to the point,” Buffy says, getting impatient.

“Very well,” Cornelius says, not sure if he understood what she meant but could hear the impatience in her voice. “The vampire that hired Mr. Black is minion for The Master, who…”

“That can’t be,” Buffy says. “I killed The Master… like four years ago!”

“I know this, but you see, these vampires had ceremony done to bring The Master back.”

“What? You have ‘but’ face.” Buffy says.

Cornelius frowns but continues anyways. “However, the ceremony they had used to bring The Master back is different from your regular resurrection spells, not only because it has to work on an undead vampire, it need as well to combined the ashes from several other master vampires.”

“Wait? What will that do?” Dawn speaks for the first time in quite awhile. “Why do you sound so gloomy when you say that?” She asks Cornelius.

“Not only will he be brought back, but he’ll be stronger, faster, and harder to kill.” Buffy answers.

“There’s more,” Cornelius says as everyone falls quiet again.

“What’s more?” Spike asks frowning.

“The Master, as I recall was always a weak vampire, and, shall we say, stayed the same in shape wise. Well, as it turns out…”

“This guy talks as much as your Watcher, pet,” Spike says to Buffy. “Get on with it mate!” Spike demands.

“The Master has this new ability to morph into something more now. He grows taller, stronger than he is already, and turns into something quiet different from an ordinary undead vampire I’ve seen.” Cornelius says in his usual manner of going about things, lead back and at his own pace.

“Of course,” Buffy says as she gets up and starts to pace in front of everyone.

“What’s the matter, pet?” Spike asks.

“I knew it would happen. Not that it scares me anymore, but it does irritate me to hell. I just knew it would happen, but I had to go and listen to Giles who said, no it’s not possible, the master is gone for good…”

Cornelius and Spike share a look, as he is sure everyone else is doing as well. Turning back to the still rambling Buffy, Spike says, “Pet?”

“I knew it would happen sooner or later but he had to go…” Buffy kept going, not even hearing Spike say anything.

Finally, Spike gets up, and grabs Buffy by her shoulders and turns her to face him. Putting his finger under her chin, he lifts her head and makes her look at him as he says, “What did you know would happen, pet?”

“The Master. That he’d be back. Stronger, and bigger. But I had to go and listen to…” Buffy starts to go onto another rambling fest, but Spike stops her before she could get very far.

“What do you want us to do?” Spike asks.

“Do?” Buffy asks.

“Yes, pet. Do, as in research? Pumping some people for information? What do you want us to do?” Spike asks, trying to take her mind off Giles, thinking that he might have actually prevented a homicide. God, he’s a poof.

“Oh,” Buffy says as she looks down at the carpet as if looking for clues to this new big bad. She takes a big breath, and pulls away as she goes into slayer mode.

Now standing in the entry way to the living room, Buffy says, “I have to leave for work in about twenty minutes, so I’m going to make this quick. I don’t want anyone going on patrol while not with you… immortals included. However, I do want you guys to do research big time while I’m at work. Find any thing you can on resurrection spells concerning vampires and so on.

“Black and Dennis,” Buffy says, “Do you have anyone that you know that could get here by tomorrow evening?”

Black frowns as he thinks, and then says, “Yes, I think one of my siblings is in LA visiting relatives.”

“Good, call them. Cornelius,” Buffy addresses him, “I want you to take Dawn, to Anya’s and protect her with your life… and not a word from you or you get to get your permit, good grades or not.”

Dawn slumps down onto couch with a pout. Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy sees Dennis smirk. “And Cornelius?”

“Yes, Buffy?”

“If anything happens to her, I will kill you, stronger, living vampire that you are.”

Bowing his head slightly, he says, “I have no doubt.”

Clapping her hands together, she says, “Ok…. Spike? Come here.” She says as she then turns and walks into the foyer, and grabbing her coat. She turns back around just as Spike comes up to her.

“Yes, love?”

“Keep Dennis and Cornelius away from each other, I think Dennis would still like to…”

“Gotcha,” Spike says. “What time do you get off?”

“Five, and I should be home about 5:15.” Smiling, she says, “See you then,” and before Spike could protest or have any reaction at all, Buffy rises up on her tiptoes, and kisses him on the mouth.

And then, before he can pull her in for a longer when he realizes what she had done, the front door is closing behind her.

It’s awhile before Spike gets a hold of himself, and other regions of his anatomy, and turns to go back into the living room.

However, his progress it halted when he turns to see Black standing in the entranceway of the very place he was heading. Spike frowns when he thinks he sees something flash through Black’s eyes.

“What?” Spike says after a minute that lasts way to long.

“Where’s your bathroom?” Black’s voice is thick.

Spike doesn’t answer right away but instead, looks over the other man. Finally, he says nodding his head to the stairs, “Up the stairs, first door on your left, mate.”

Without bowing his head, Black says, “Thanks,” as he walks by.

Spike watches him disappear up the stairs. It’s awhile before he turns and goes into the living room to see Dennis giving Cornelius daggers with his eyes.

He could hand the fact that Cornelius just sat in his chair and acted as if the younger immortal was making civil conversation. He really needed to distract Dennis.

* * *

The Catacomb

The cave is large with many off branching tunnels that spread all over one side of Sunnydale, although, she didn’t know that is where she is.

Her long greasy hair hung in brown, dirty clumps around her head. Her fragile body is nothing but skin and bones. Dark smudges surrounded her eyes, her lips are deathly blue, and her skin is pale.

Her dark hazel-green eyes look dead, and unfocused even as they dart around the room.

The cave room hid things from her. She knew that, and they’d hurt her if she dared to wander past them. The black corners hid things, and secrets best left undiscovered, she had learned that. Yes, she had learned that.

“Yes, I learned that,” she whispers to herself, “To the creatures in the corners.”

Things, of course, are happening around her as she dazes in her imposed deluded world.

“Is it set up?” A voice bombs, causing her to duck down, and huddle on the floor.

“Yes Master,” the minion says as he keeps his eyes averted.

“Very good. When does it takes place?” The Master asks.

“Tonight, Master.” The minion says.

“Very good, now, leave,” The Master’s voice bombs throughout the caves and tunnels of the catacombs. And then, echoes right back to them.

“Yes Master.” The minion beats a hasty retreat, hoping to the devil himself that The Master wouldn’t call him back. He was glad to get out of there with his head, and heart still intact. The Master had become something of a cannibal, of late.

Minutes pass as the room falls silent; only the distant sound of shuffling feet, and small muffled cries coming from the far off caves, and tunnels where the minions where demanded to stay.

She lefts her head when the strange and foreign noises disappear for a time. She lays there, half wrapped around herself, as she listens foe anymore danger.

Her eyes are wide, unfocused as she listens, a deer scenting for it’s predator.

She jerks back in on herself when another foreign voice comes, again. A whimper comes from her dry, cracked lips.

Soon my dear, very soon.” The voice says.

Nothing makes sense but the dark corners… the hard plans of a muscled chest….

Buffy looks at her pay check as she walks up the front porch and stops short of opening the front door. She had no idea how she was going to pay the land tax for the house. As it is, she barely had enough money to pay for the utilities each month and get the things necessary to live.

Shaking her head, she digs her keys out of her coat pocket, while she absently stares at the paycheck with a frown marring her brow.

Finally getting her keys out, she unlocks the door and goes into the house. As she hangs up her coat, she vaguely notices the quietness of the house, and then places her keys in her coat pocket. She walks into the living room and stops dead still in her tracks.

Everyone was passed out… or this is one major sleeping feast going on.

Black and Dennis are passed out on the couch, one man on each air of the couch.

Her eyes scan the room and come to land on Spike. He’s sitting in his favorite chair, his head lolled back with a book at his feet.

She frowns and looks back at the Blacks. Dennis had an open book and pad of paper on his lap. Black has an open book slowly sliding off of his lap.

Scanning the room again, Buffy finds Dawn at the back of the living room sitting at the table with her head down, lap top open and running, and her arms resting along each side of her head.

Buffy frowns even harder when she notices that one person is missing. Looking around the room more thoroughly, she finally is able to find a dark lump on the floor behind Dawn.

Cornelius is lying on floor with one of his legs up on the chair he must have been sitting on when….

Whatever happened, happened.

Raising an eyebrow, Buffy moves to Spike, and lays a gentle hand on his shoulder. Slightly shaking him, she whispers, “Spike, wake up… Spike?” She gently shakes him again. “Spike, come on, wake up. I’m starting to get major-ly wigged here.”

He finally starts to stir, groaning as his eyes come open and then snap shut.

“Spike, what happened?” She asks.

“Don’t know… me head hurts like a bugger,” he groans as he raises his hands to his head and rubs his eyes with the heel of his hands.

“Can you remembering anything?” Buffy asks.

Was that concern in her voice, Spike wonders absently. “Was researching as you said, then…” He trails off, frowning.

“I can’t remember a thing either…” Black’s voice comes from the couch. Buffy and Spike turn to look over at him.

“Neither can I,” Dennis says.

A whimper comes from the table, and then Dawn’s voice says, “What happened? My head hurts really bad.”

“Yeah, like someone took out my brain and put it back wrong,” Dennis says.

“Gross,” Dawn says with her nose scrunched but immediately regrets doing it.

“Maybe,” Cornelius’s voice comes from the floor as he rises to his feet beside the table. “But a perfect description of how my head feels.”

“Bloody right,” Spike agrees.

“Can anyone remember anything? Like how you all ended up passed out in my living room, and there are no signs of break-in?” Buffy asks, not liking this one little bit. The more she heard, the less she liked it.

“The only thing I can remember is researching, then something like… a…” Black couldn’t finish.

“Like a wave hitting us all at once?” Spike finishes.

“Exactly,” Cornelius agrees for the five that had been knocked out. He takes a deep breath and then stills.

“Smells like a rat,” Spike says.

“Smells like a big, undead rat,” Buffy agrees with Spike. “But how did they get in here, and whammy you all at the same time? None of the minions or the Master have an invite.”

“It was magic,” Cornelius says. “Magic knocked us all out.”

“And how do you know that?” Dennis asks with a scowl.

“Because, I can smell it.”

Buffy looks at Spike, giving him a questioning frown. He just shrugs his shoulders, and they turn back to the conversation.

“Ok, smarty, what does it mean then?” Dennis asks.

“It might very well mean that mind reading spell was cast over us, and the knowledge of such a thing, was wiped from our minds. That would explain the intense headaches.” Cornelius says.

* * *

“So, what do they know?” The voice bombs through the caves again, causing the woman to go to the ground once more. Her body shudders as she hugs herself.

“Not much Master. The only things they do know is that you are somehow different, and Cornelius has changed sides my Master.” The minion from earlier says.

“As I thought he would.” The Master says. “Now leave!”

“Yes,” the minion quickly leaves, and thanks his lucky stars that he had made it out of there for a second time without being eaten.

“Sooner than I thought my dear.” The Master says to his captive.

* * *

“So, they’ll know what we know, and that isn’t much,” Buffy says, addressing her little group a few minutes later. They are all gathered in the living room now.

“Well, procrastination pays off. We don’t have a plan of attack yet so we’re good on that front,” Buffy says taking stock. “Cornelius, you’ll have to take Anya and Dawn somewhere else.”

“Yes, of course,” Cornelius says in his natural courtly way.

“Black, had you called your friend yet?” Buffy asks, holding her breath that he hadn’t. It’d be one more thing that The Master and his nasties won’t be expecting.

“No,” Black says.

“Good,” she says. “Call him now.”

Black gets Dennis’s cell phone, and dials a number from memory. The person on the other line picks up after only the second ring.

“Hey Carder, it’s Black…. He’s good, sitting right next to me…. Listen? Do you know where that small town Sunnydale is? …Yeah, that’s the one. I’m here, and I got myself into… Yes!” He said the word with mock-annoyance.

“You’re not business tomorrow are you?” He listens for a second. “Do you think you could be here…” He looks at Buffy for a timetable.

“Tomorrow, sometime after dark.” Buffy says.

“Did you get that?” Black asks. He’s quiet for a moment longer this time. “Great! I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says and then hangs up. He hands the phone back to Dennis. “Carder will be here tomorrow.”

“Good,” Buffy says. “Dawn? Go pack.” She watches Dawn pout all the way up the stairs, and then turns to Cornelius.

“Could you go watch her and make sure that she doesn’t go climbing out her?” Buffy asks of him.

“Of course,” he says, and disappears up the stairs, not making a sound.

“Spike, can I talk to you?” Buffy asks him.

“Sure,” Spike says then follows her into the foyer. “What’s up love?”

* * *

“Bring her here,” The Master demands.

Six minions close in on the huddled figure in the middle of the main cave. As they latch onto her, a blood-curdling scream fills the air, and echoes through the caves, and out into the tunnels. Most every minion in the cave system flinches from the sound that passes through the catacombs most every night.

They struggle as they try to drag her over to the Master, but even in her weakened condition, the minions have a hard time handling.

Getting mad, the Master finally gets tired of their incompetence, and comes up to them and snatches the girl from their clutches.

Ignoring the minions, the Master, tears open the woman’s shirt to reveal her bitten shoulders.

Smiling maliciously, the Master lowers his head, and sinks his fangs into her sore flesh.

Her scream quiets to a whimper of pain, and then her head begins to loll on her shoulders as the Master continues to drink, and drink…. The room begins to spin for her, and her dry lips part as yet another whimper escapes her.

* * *

“I need to tell you something and I’m not sure how to tell you.” Buffy says.

“You can tell me anything.” Spike assures her.

But, instead of assuring her as he had meant to, she seems to become even more nervous than she had been before he had said something.

“When you first told me that you loved me, I freaked because it scared me, and then I took it out on you because I didn’t feel the hate that I suppose toward you…” She takes a breath.

“Then I died, and I came back hating myself and everyone around me, and you were the only one that would listen to me without freaking out on me, and I really needed that at time. Then I go… and … and screw everything up, and then you leave.

“I thought you were never coming back, and then I realized that reason why I wouldn’t let myself feel… is because it felt weird after all of the protesting that I had done, and now you’re back and… and…”

Spike frowns. “What are you talking about?” He asks feeling a little confused with all of her babbling. A little light headed.

“I want to tell you… that you were wrong… that I was wrong more than anything, and that… I… love you.” She says. Her wide, wet hazel eyes stare up at him…

“BUFFY!” Dawn’s scream echoes down through the house…

A booming sound pounds through the house suddenly, nearly causing everyone in it to go def. The sound is quickly followed by debris exploding from every door and widow.

Spike takes Buffy to the floor, and covers her with his body.

The booming sound swallows itself up, and any other noises close by. The eerie silence is quickly broken as a battle cry is sounded and then something like a stamped follows next.

Quickly getting to their feet, Buffy yells, “Dawn, stay with Cornelius. Black, Dennis, weapons are in the trunk.”

Spike is already there, and tosses Buffy an axe. “Cornelius, get down here.”

As Spike hands Black a board sword, Buffy turns to the first three vamps that come after her. She quickly disables one, and punches the second one as it comes running at her. The vamp quickly gets to its feet and it and the third one start to circle her.

Buffy willingly plays along.

Stepping into the middle of their little circle, she gets into a fighting stance with her axe held high. As the third vamp circles around behind her, she swings the axe around, and effectively decapitates it.

As the axe comes back around in only one of her hands, her leg comes up, and gives the limping first vamp an upper cut with the heel of her foot.

Bringing the axe to full circle, she catches the first vamp with the axe as its head starts to come back down from snapping back.

She suddenly stumbles forward as the second vamp pushes her. She turns and frowns at the vampire, incredulous. “What is this? Some school bully session? You don’t come up and push the slayer.”

The vampire looks confused for a second. “Who says you can’t?”

“I did,” she says, and then punches the vamp in the gut. When he’s still bent over, she brings the axe down and cuts the guy in half.

Dusting herself off, she stands up, and says, “Whose next?”

Her only response is three more vampires coming at her.

In the meantime…

“Hey mate, what do you want…” Spike’s question to Dennis is cut off when the immortal pulls out a gun and points it at a vampire that’s running headlong toward him. “Mate, that isn’t going to…”

Dennis looks at him as he pulls the trigger, “What was that?”

The vampire turns to dust as a strange looking bullet enters the vampire and exits through the vampire back. Dennis smiles at Spike, and then holds up the gun for him to see, “It was a gift from a slayer. She said it’d be a waist if some vamp girl got there hands on me.”

Spike chuckles at Dennis’s humor. And then quickly chokes on it as Dennis turns serious, and holds the gun up. “Hey… wait…”

However, Spike never knows what it’s like to turn to dust. The weird bullet flies past him, and into the vampire that was sneaking up on him.

Turning and watching, the vampire falls to the floor to become another pile of dust to be cleaned at a later date.

He turns back to Dennis smiling and says, “Thanks mate!”

“Think nothing of it,” Dennis says as he turns and punches a vampire that was running over to Buffy. It was a good thing to because Buffy was already fighting four vampires.

Spike absently watches Dennis fight as he himself fights a vampire and then stabs it with a stake after the vampire knocks his sword aside. Then moves on to another.

Dennis is fast, and efficient with just his hands and that gun of his. He kicks the vampire back so hard that the vamps back arches out, and his feet slide along the floor. At the same time, Dennis raises the gun and shots it.

Still, at the same time, Dennis kicks his leg out again and kicks yet another vampire that came after him. The vampire stumbles back but quickly recovers, and starts to comes after Dennis again

And the amazing thing was, Dennis is left-handed.

He raises the gun again, but the vampire gets they’re quicker this time and bats his hand away. Dennis steps into the vampires advance and grabs it around the neck with his left arm.

He looks up as a battle cry sounds in front of him. Not even blinking, he snaps the vamps neck. As the vampire in his arm turns to dust, Dennis raises the weird gun, and fires. It’s empty though.

“Dennis,” Spike calls and throws a stake his way.

Dennis turns his back to the approaching vampire and snatches the stake from the air. Just as the vampire is about to jump on his back, he turns to complete a 360 turn, and stakes the vampire in the chest.

As Dennis and Spike continue to fight, Spike asks him, “How old are you again?”

“I’m thirty,” Dennis replies.

“Pretty good,” Spike says. “For a boy.”

“Hey,” Dennis says, and then gets punched. Spike chuckles at his slip up, and then grunts himself when a fist hits him the chest. Turning he throws a punch back into his opponents face.

* * *

Upstairs…. Cornelius throws a vampire out the girl’s bedroom window quit easily, and then turns when the girl screams.

There in a flash, Cornelius picks the vamp up off the floor and says, “I’m sorry sir, but I can’t allow you to do that.” Snapping the last vampire’s neck, Cornelius reaches out and takes a hold of Dawn’s hand.

Smiling, he looks down into her face and says, “Come sherry, your sister awaits us.”

Walking out into the hall, Cornelius stops, and a vampire flies by and rams into the wall when his intended victim stops short. He walks past with Dawn, and as the vampire begins to get up, pushes the vampire back into the wall.

Something, whether it’s the vampire or the wall, crunches under Cornelius’s slight shove. The two keep moving as if nothing had happened; Dawn mainly because if she didn’t, her arm would be taken off.

Soon the two are down stairs and heading toward her sister.

However, their progress is slowed by many vampires, which Cornelius quickly and calmly takes care of.

* * *

Black reaches up and punches the vampire, sending its noise up into his skull. The board sword that Spike had given him comes up and around, taking the vampires head off in a clean cut.

He turns and delivers a backspin kick to the approaching vampire and knocks it into two others. Taking two steps forward, he lunges and drives the sword three all three of the vampires at the same time.

As he comes up, a stack appears in his hand, and is in the vampire’s chest before the vampire even knew that Black was aware of him.

The vampire hasn’t even turned to dust when Black turns away and helps Spike who has six vampires on him at once.

* * *

Some how Dennis finds himself on the front porch.

He blocks the punch the vampire throws… then they’re tumbling to the ground. The vampire lands on his shine.

Gritting his teeth, Dennis shoves the vampire off of his legs. Looking up, he sees what had pushed them off the porch. A vampire had been kicked out the front door by Buffy as she moved through the house.

Dennis sees the vampire just as his foe jumps him again. He fights him off with his hands.

* * *

The battle had taken hours to finish. Spike’s punch is blocked. The vampire he was fighting was giving him a hard time or he was just planning drained.

The vampire thinking it has the upper hand kicks Spike’s feet out from under him. What the vampire doesn’t expect is a little trick he had learned from Buffy.

Going down with movement, Spike brings up his hand with the stake in it, and shoves the thing through the vampire’s ribcage and into it heart.

Spike falls down just as the vampire turns to dust. Sighing he falls back on his elbows.

As the last vampire is felled by Buffy, everyone takes a collective sigh of relief.

When all was said and done, the five of them - Buffy, Spike, Black, Dennis, and Cornelius - had killed over one hundred vampires.

“Well, my house is officially ruined,” Buffy said.

New plans were made, the house was out in good enough order that it would be ok for tonight but no one could stay in it.

Cornelius was to take Dawn to Anya’s place.

Black and Dennis are to go where they want, and Buffy and Spike would be staying at his house.

And everyone is to meet back at Buffy’s wrecked house tomorrow evening.

They were standing outside of Buffy’s now house.

Buffy slightly smirks as she looks at Dennis as he limps after his father. “I take it this is your first fight?”

“I’m immortal,” Dennis says as if that it explained, and Buffy guessed that it actually did, but it made more sense when he said, “Just that was my first vampire fight.” He laughs at the look on Buffy’s face.

“Are you going to be able to fight tomorrow evening?” Dawn asks him, her voice quiet. She still had her hand wrapped around Cornelius’s wrist.

“No problem,” he says. “I heel faster than undead other there.” He nods his head toward Spike who is standing behind Buffy.

“Great, another whelp,” Spike mutters.

They all laugh, except for Spike, as they head off in different directions…

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