Chapter 18
“Fifteen, Slayer,” Spike shouted cockily over his shoulder as he dusted his next vamp.
“Shut up, Spike!” Buffy was pissed. She’d only killed ten. Stupid bragging vampire! She did a back flip to gain some momentum as she advanced on a group of vampires, kicking two in the face and she twisted her body to land on her feet, staking them simultaneously. “I’m catching up! Twelve!”
There were so many of them that neither the slayer nor the vampire had time to determine where Angelus and Dru had gone, though it was obvious they’d run off, leaving their minions to make short work of the blonde team. However, Buffy and Spike were having too much fun with the brawl that they didn’t seem to care that they were highly out numbered. Until the second rank came barreling through.
“Fall back,” Spike shouted as he neared the tunnel they’d come through. As Buffy moved to meet him, she punched a vampire in his face while she twirled around and staked the one coming up behind her.
“A little crowded over here!” She was surrounded and Spike wouldn’t be able to get to her through the mass of snarling demons so she used the crowd to her advantage, jumped in the air and placed one foot on the shoulder of a vampire, hoisted herself up and shouted, “You better be ready to catch my ass if I fall, Spike!”
He turned towards her just as he’d twisted off the head of his sixteenth kill and realized what she was about to do. “Just like a Minor Threat concert, luv! Don’t be afraid to body surf through the mosh pit!” He laughed, but she wasn’t amused as she used vampire heads and shoulders to run across, kicking a few in the nose when they moved to grab her. When she came to the clearing, she jumped to the ground, not missing a beat and ran towards Spike.
“There’s too many, we’ve gotta jet. NOW!”
They ran as fast as they could back through the tunnels, Buffy carrying a torch she snagged from the wall to illuminate her path, picking up speed when they heard the vampires pressing forward behind them.
“We’ve got to find Dru and Angelus,” Buffy said as they leapt and darted through the tunnels. An idea struck her and she pulled something out of her utility bag.
“Right you are, luv. But now, I’m a bit more concerned with the mass of vampires on our tail!”
Buffy stopped just as they got to the cavern where they’d dropped in. “You go ahead and get your harness on. I’ll hold them back.”
“Buffy, don’ be an idiot. Now get your cute lil’ ass in a harness an’ let’s go!”
“Spike, just trust me!”
“There are hundreds of them, Buffy! Come on!”
She smiled wickedly and said, “I’m about to win this contest.” She held up an empty gas can, one she’d been leaking behind her as they ran. Spike’s eyes grew wide as she raised her torch in the air. “Now get moving, Spike!”
“Oh, shit,” he said and frantically began climbing his rope. “You crazy bitch! I love you!”
Buffy smiled and turned around, waiting for the vampires to get closer. She saw their shadows dancing on the tunnel wall just to the side of the open cavern and she quickly put her harness on and tossed the torch onto the trailing puddle of gasoline, igniting it instantly. The flames quickly moved towards the tunnel and just as the pained screams of vampires echoed through the cavern, Buffy attached her harness to the rope and started climbing.
“God, I love that noise,” she grinned, quickly catching up with Spike.
“Never knew you had it in you, Slayer, I’m impressed.”
“Don’t fuck with me when I’m trying to save the world!”
Spike laughed loudly at her rare usage of the f-word and found himself incredibly turned on by it. He looked down at her and frowned as he saw her swinging from side to side. “Buffy, mind tellin’ me what the sodding hell you’re doin’ when we should be gettin’ out of here?”
“Hang on…just a little further…” she strained to say as she swung towards a cavern wall, her hand outstretched. Once she’d claimed purchase on what she was reaching for, she yanked something loose and shouted, “Got it!” She hurriedly climbed up the rope, taking Spike’s proffered hand and let him hoist her out of the hole.
“What were you doing?”
She held up a large purple crystal. “Souvenir for Willow,” she shrugged her shoulders and furrowed her brow, as if he should have known better and pushed past him to undo her harness.
“Strange bird,” he muttered and lit a cigarette as they ran to the SUV. Once they were inside the car, Spike revved the engine and peeled out.
“Where are you going?”
“Front entrance, pet. That’s the only way Captain Wanker and Tinker bell could’ve escaped. If they aren’t there, might pick up a trail at least.”
Buffy twisted in her seat and leaned between them to rummage through the back. Spike groaned as her ass swayed inches from his face. “An’ what are you doin’?”
She sat back down with a smile and cocked a cross bow as she rolled down her passenger window. “Picking off the enemy.” She leaned her torso out of the window and aimed her cross bow at a few vampires running out of the caves. Some were in flames, some were just screaming. She aimed and fired, catching one right in the heart and sending him to his dusty end. Spike laughed maniacally and pounded his fists on the steering wheel in excitement. He’d never had this much fun in his un-life, and his girl, his mate, was taking them out like fish in a barrel, easy as you please. He handed her another stake to load her cross bow as he drove up to the entrance. She successfully dusted another and Spike leapt out of the car, leaving it idling in case they needed a quick getaway.
In full game face, Spike jumped into the fray, mindful of the burning ones and focused on the non-firey vampires, snarling and punching everything in his path. Between the two of them, they easily took out the few remaining demons. Spike had stopped counting his kills. No way was he catching up with her last trick.
Panting and winded, they searched the premises for any clues.
“Tire tracks,” Spike said when he’d spotted something on the ground and sniffed the air. “That’s them all right. They’re using the Githyans’ van.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
* * *
“I want to drive, Daddy!”
“Dru, for the last time! Shut up about the damn car!”
“Ooh,” she pouted, folding her arms over her chest, “you never let me have any fun.”
Angelus’ jaw ticked and he squeezed the steering wheel. “Why don’t you have fun in the back with our little friend?”
“He smells like magic and he looks at me with such anger. I don’t like him.”
“You…but…” Angelus roared and slammed on the brakes and pulled to the side of the road. “This is the last time I take you anywhere! ‘I want a Githyan, Daddy! Can we keep him?’ And I tie him up all nice and neat for you and now you don’t even want him?”
Meanwhile, the Githyan in question groaned in pain as he tried desperately not to listen to their bickering as well as guarding his brain from exploding should he dare tap into the mind of the crazy woman in the front seat.
“I wanted the other one with the funny teeth. Reminds me of my Spike,” she said sadly.
“Yeah, well, your precious Spike just claimed himself a slayer.”
“Naughty! Bad doggie! We will make him pay, Daddy. We will bring him home and make him suffer for what he’s done.”
Angelus shook his head. As pleasant a thought it was to torture his child for daring to claim a slayer and lie to him, he didn’t think the capturing would be as easy as Dru thought, not with that blonde bitch at his side. “If you don’t want your toy, you deal with it now. I’m not lugging his scrawny ass all the way back to L.A., so you can just forget it!”
“Ooh!” She huffed and climbed out of the passenger seat and walked to the back of the van, mumbling under her breath. “My dress will get all dirty and Miss Edith will be very cross for having ruined such a pretty tea party dress.” She yanked the back doors open and the Githyan’s eyes grew wide in fear. “Daddy never gets me the right presents,” she grabbed the Githyan by his hair and pulled him out of the van. “You aren’t what I wanted. You smell funny and I don’t like your eyes.” The Githyan struggled to break free of his restraints to no avail as Drusilla dragged him along the asphalt.
“Long teeth, long hair, long arms, long death,” she giggled and coiled her fingers into claws as she snarled at him like a rabid dog. She danced around his body and pulled out a switch blade, skipping and humming to herself. “Your eyes go first!” She carved one out and the Githyan screamed while Drusilla methodically removed his eyeball. “No more pretty lights, no more sad sights. Off with the other one!”
“Dru! Hurry it up out there,” Angelus shouted from the driver’s window.
She pouted and stomped one foot. “But I haven’t made him pretty for the party! He’s got too many teeth and I don’t like his smile.”
“Hurry. Up!” he growled and Drusilla cowered at the commanding tone of her sire.
“Daddy is very angry with you,” she whispered to the Githyan. “I’ll need an axe!” she shouted and ran towards her sire who’d angrily thrust an axe towards her through the window of the van. “Thank you, Daddy.” She skipped back to her victim and smiled sweetly at him. “No more.” And with a growl, she hoisted the axe in the air and brought it down swiftly, beheading the demon. As soon as she’d kicked the head away, a flash of headlights beamed at them from down the road.
“Ohhhh,” she said excitedly, curling her shoulders upwards and giggling, “Daddy will be very cross now.” She twirled in a circle, holding the axe in one hand and laughed.
“Drusilla!” Angelus, now pissed beyond belief, got out of the van and stomped towards her, not paying any attention to the advancing SUV. “Get in the van!”
“It’s coming, Daddy! Coming! Coming! Com—”
Her voice was cut off by a shhhhnickt and she exploded into dust. Angelus roared and turned towards the screeching SUV that was coming to a stop, a blonde slayer leaning out of the passenger window and loading her crossbow with another stake.
“Slayer!”
Angelus bolted towards her and she fired, catching him in the shoulder. He pulled the stake out and smiled wickedly. “Missed.”
“I won’t miss next time,” she said with determination and leapt out the window.
Spike, however, was stunned speechless, sitting in the driver’s seat as he looked in the direction of his disintegrated sire, taking unneeded breaths as he was overwhelmed with loss. Not a loss of his lover, his dark princess who’d been his world for a century, but the loss any vampire would feel should their sire turn to dust. As it was, he couldn’t move.
“You killed my child,” Angelus sneered and punched Buffy in the face.
“And I’m about to kill you,” she retaliated with a powerful kick to his jaw. “Spike! Get your ass out here!”
“Tell me,” he said mockingly as he blocked her next punch, “how was it getting laid by a disabled vamp?”
“Amazing,” she spat and swept his legs out from underneath him with a low kick, “the best night of my life,” she jumped on top of him and pinned his arms beneath her, “and better than anything you’d ever done.”
Angelus used all his strength to roll them over, which he did successfully and placed his meaty hands around her throat and squeezed. His fangs were inches from her face when he said, “Lights out, now, Slayer.”
“Sp-sp…” she sputtered, trying to scream Spike’s name but couldn’t as Angelus bore down on her trachea with his iron grip.
“Sp-sp-sp, what? What’s that, Slayer? It’s like your lips are moving, but I can’t hear what you’re saying. Was that…sp-spare me my life? Or…sp-sp-speaking of dying, I’m about to?” As Buffy’s vision blurred and her lungs struggled to take in air, she saw a black boot come into view and kick Angelus right in the face, sending him flying off of her. She rolled over and gasped for air, watching as Spike roared and attacked his grandsire with a ferocity she’d never seen before.
The two master vampires rolled and clawed, sliced and bit at one another, growling like a pack of wild dogs and Buffy crawled along the grass, reaching for her cross bow, still recovering from the choke hold her ex boyfriend had her in. She lifted the cross bow as she lay on her back, following their movements to make sure she didn’t hit the wrong vamp. Rolling her eyes as they continued to roll around on the ground, she shouted, “Spike! Off!”
He lifted his yellow eyes to her and smiled, quickly pushing himself off of Angelus and Buffy fired, landing her stake right on the money and Angelus was no more. She collapsed on her back and tossed her cross bow aside, rubbing her shoulder that she just realized was dislocated.
“You all right luv?” Spike said as he hovered over her, fresh cigarette in his mouth.
She didn’t know, really. She’d just killed Angel. And she felt… “Yeah. Oddly, I’m fine. You?”
He shrugged a little and helped her to stand. “Was a bit off there for a minute, but I’m ok. Sorry I left you hangin’ there for a while.”
“It’s ok,” she smiled and walked towards the van. “Let’s make sure the stone is here and then we can go.”
“Right,” he said sadly, feeling through the link that she wasn’t being completely honest with him. He knew he’d disappointed her with the Dru bit, but she should know that blood affected vamps more than just a quick meal. He supposed they’d talk about it later, but right now, they had to save the world.
A/N: Oh yeah, character death! (I hate seeing that on stories. It SPOILS IT. SPOILERS!!!)