Chapter 25
“What if I say I shall not wait?/What if I burst the fleshly gate/And pass, escaped, to thee?/What if I file this mortal off,/See where it hurt me,—that’s enough,—/And wade in liberty?/They cannot take us any more,—/Dungeons may call, and guns implore;/ Unmeaning now, to me ,/ As laughter was an hour ago,/Or laces, or a travelling show,/Or who died yesterday!” ~Emily Dickinson, “XXXIV”
Spike had arranged to meet the Slayers outside the warehouse, giving them strict instructions to wait for him before going in. Thinking about it now, Spike wasn’t sure he trusted either one of them to wait; both girls could be hotheaded, especially Faith.
There was nothing he could do about it at the moment, however. When Spike had called Buffy earlier to make arrangements, she had indicated that Giles knew about their relationship. Spike wanted to be sure that Giles wasn’t planning on staking him at the earliest opportunity.
It wouldn’t do to make an enemy of Giles for the same reason he’d spoken to Joyce. Spike wanted to enjoy the rest of his unlife.
When he arrived, however, the library was in a shambles, and Giles was nowhere in sight. “Spike?”
He turned to see Willow coming through the library doors, followed closely by Oz. “What happened?”
“Was hoping the two of you could tell me,” Spike replied. “When was the last time you saw Rupert?”
“He was having a discussion with the new Watcher about an hour ago,” Oz said, his tone suggesting that “discussion” was probably a euphemism for “fight.”
Willow grimaced. “We didn’t want to get in the middle of it, so we left.” She frowned, worried. “What do you think happened?”
Spike shook his head. “Dunno, but I would guess we’ve got the Eliminati to thank for it. No one else is rearing their ugly heads in Sunnydale right now.”
“You think they went after the amulet?” Oz asked, having been filled in on the details by Willow .
“As good a guess as any, I suppose.” He went into the Watcher’s office, gathering a few weapons, including a crossbow for Oz and a sword for himself. “You two up for a bit of violence?”
Willow brightened considerably. Buffy had discouraged her from accompanying them earlier in the day, even though Willow had made her own protection pouch. It felt good to know that Spike trusted her to be able to take care of herself, even if Buffy didn’t. “You bet!”
Spike nodded. “I want you two to keep your heads down, you hear me? Do your best to stay out of the line of fire. That said , I’m counting on you to provide enough of a distraction so the Slayers and me can go in and get Rupert out.”
“No problem,” Oz replied easily.
Spike smiled. “Good. Willow ?”
She frowned, then dashed into Giles’ office herself, coming out with a handful of magical supplies. “I’ve been working on setting things on fire,” she said helpfully.
“Good enough, pet. Let’s go, then.”
~~~~~
Buffy really had planned on waiting for Spike before going after the Eliminati or Balthazar. She and Faith had done some reconnaissance, and it was obvious that they were outmanned. Spike’s presence was definitely required to even things up.
Faith had even been marginally friendlier. Apparently, whatever Spike had done the night before had slightly straightened out the other Slayer’s attitude. Buffy wondered why he hadn’t pulled rank before, and if it would last.
Somehow, she doubted it.
What they hadn’t planned on was getting attacked by a group of the Eliminati who had noticed their presence. It turned into a nasty fight. The vampires were good fighters, certainly a match for a Slayer. The combination of sword and dagger made it difficult to get in under their guard, and it was all either girl could do just to stay alive.
Buffy grabbed Faith’s arm. “We need to retreat!”
“What?”
“I’m thinking a change of venue is in order.”
Faith seemed to agree, because she rushed the knot of vampires at the end of the alley, managing to surprise them. Faith dusted one as she passed, Buffy close on her heels. That left half a dozen vampires to follow them. Buffy realized that the vampires weren’t just going to let them go.
What was worse, they were getting farther and farther away from the warehouse, which was where Spike had planned on meeting them. That left her and Faith on their own .
Faith took a wrong turn, winding up in a blind alley. This one was a little more spacious than the last, however, and Buffy managed to disarm one vampire, taking his sword before she dusted him. Faith was busy with two at once, and Buffy concentrated on the other four.
Buffy took the head off one of them, then ran a second through. Unfortunately, the sword got caught on something, and she couldn’t manage to pull it out. Buffy pulled a stake from her waistband, ducking under the swing of the third and putting it through his heart.
She quickly ducked and rolled when she saw the flash of silver descending towards her head. Buffy reached out, blindly grasping for the weapon she’d glimpsed. Her hand closed around the hilt of a sword out of sheer luck and she swung, connecting with the vampire’s legs. It went down with a howl, and she quickly cut off its head.
The vampire she’d stuck through with a sword had managed to pull it out, and he was now staggering away. Buffy ignored him in favor of one of the vampires Faith was still fighting off. The other Slayer was fighting like a wild thing, teeth bared and arms flailing almost wildly.
Buffy dusted one, and the second turned and ran, Faith close behind. “Faith!” Buffy called, hoping that the other Slayer wasn’t going to lead them into a trap.
She rounded a corner, hot on the trail, and skidded to a halt, frozen with horror. “Faith, NO!”
Buffy could see it happening in slow motion, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. The stake hit the man square in the chest, and Buffy could see immediately that Faith had struck true. She stumbled the last few steps to the man’s side. Blood was pouring out of the wound, and Buffy knelt on the ground. “Just—just hold still. It’s going to be fine.” She looked up at the other Slayer. “Call 911 now!”
Faith was in shock, held completely still. “I didn’t know!”
“Faith, we need to get an ambulance!” The stranger’s lifeblood was literally gushing out of the wound, and Buffy knew with a sinking realization that it didn’t matter when the ambulance got there; he was already as good as dead.
“I didn’t know!” Faith repeated, freaking out. “He just came out of nowhere! How was I supposed to know he wasn’t a vampire?”
“I need something to stop the blood,” Buffy said, trying to staunch the flow with her hands, even though she knew it was a losing battle. “It’s going to be okay,” she assured the man again.
It was already too late, however. He convulsed once, twice, before shuddering and slumping against the dumpster. “We gotta go!” Faith said, pulling Buffy up.
Buffy tried to shake the other girl off, trying to figure out what she should do. What could she do? How were they supposed to explain this? It wasn’t exactly Faith’s fault, but there was no way that the cops were going to believe that they’d been out hunting vampires when a human got in the way. “We have to go!” Faith said again, dragging her away.
Buffy decided that Faith was right. They didn’t have a choice. At the very least, they needed to get back to the warehouse and Spike.
Spike. He would know what to do. Or Giles would. Her Watcher would know.
Faith split from Buffy’s side, hauling herself up and over a wall, in the opposite direction from the warehouse. Buffy didn’t try to stop her. Instead, she kept going, climbing the chain link fence at the end of the alley, jogging back in the direction of the warehouse.
Buffy was too freaked by what had happened to pay much attention to the car until it pulled up right beside her. “Buffy!” She glanced over to see Spike’s Mustang. The front passenger door opened, and Buffy saw Oz sitting in the passenger seat. “Get in.”
Oz climbed into the back seat, and Buffy slid inside. She could see Spike’s pale face, worried in the light from the streetlamp that filtered in through the windshield. “What happened, Buffy? Where’s Faith?”
“Fine, Faith is fine,” Buffy said, not really answering his question. “It’ll wait ’til later. What’s going on?”
“The Eliminati have Rupert,” Spike said.
Buffy nodded. “Let’s go.”
“You sure?” he asked. He could smell the blood on her. “You don’t—”
“It’s Giles,” Buffy replied. “Of course I’m sure.”
~~~~~
Wesley was whimpering. Giles didn’t even bother resisting the urge to roll his eyes. The young Watcher had been absolutely useless in the fight against the Eliminati, not that Giles thought he’d have been able to do that well on his own.
He had some hope, though. Spike had told him that he wanted to speak with him before going to the warehouse with the Slayers. It was likely that the vampire already knew of their predicament. With any luck, he would grab the girls and arrive before Balthazar ordered his minions to torture them.
Of course, recent luck had brought Wesley, so Giles wasn’t going to hold his breath.
“Stay calm, Mr. Giles,” Wesley muttered. “We have to stay calm.”
Giles looked over at his young associate with disdain. “Thank God you’re here. I was planning to panic.”
Wesley stared at the huge, pasty demon wedged into a Jacuzzi. “What is that thing?”
“That’s your dead demon,” Giles muttered.
“There’s no need to get snippy,” Wesley replied, drawing himself up, his panic momentarily forgotten.
Balthazar turned his beady eyes on the Watchers. “Bring them closer,” he ordered, waiting until the Eliminati had done as he asked. “You know what I want.”
“If it’s to scrub those hard to reach places, I’d like to request you kill me now,” Giles said dryly. One of the vampires hit him in the back. “Ow.”
Balthazar fixed them with a look that he probably thought was terrifying. “I want my amulet! Where is it?” There was a moment’s silence. “I want answers! Pull off their kneecaps!”
“NO! No, wait, we’ll tell you,” Wesley babbled as the vampires came even closer.
Balthazar sniffed. “It’s about time. Where is it?”
“I don’t have it,” Wesley said. “But—”
“Shut up, you fool!” Giles snapped. “He’s going to kill the both of us whether we tell him or not.”
“That’s true,” Balthazar admitted. “But you’ll die a lot faster if you tell me.”
“The Slayer has it!” Wesley said.
Giles stepped on his foot. “Wesley! Shut up, man.”
“She gave it to a friend of hers, a vampire,” Wesley went on, ignoring Giles’ pleas for silence.
Balthazar grunted. “Who is this vampire?”
“Name’s William the Bloody,” Spike said, coming out of the shadows. He grinned evilly. “Funny thing about that amulet, though. It was a lot more fragile than it looked. Felt bad when I stepped on it.”
“KILL HIM!” Balthazar howled, immediately incensed, both at the vampire’s words and his insolent manner.
Spike leapt into action, not even paying attention to the vampires on either side of him. One of them burst into flame and the second disintegrated as Oz shot it with his crossbow.
The vampires holding Giles and Wesley released the Watchers to deal with the new threat, not even noticing when Buffy came out from the shadows on the other side of the warehouse. The minion that did spot her was no match for the Slayer, who was heartily sick of the whole mess. She disarmed him with a quick spin-kick, staking him in one smooth motion. Scooping the discarded sword up from the floor, she sliced through Giles’ ropes with an overhanded slice.
Giles turned his attention to getting Wesley free, allowing Buffy and the others to concentrate on keeping the vampires occupied. Balthazar was still hurtling imprecations on his minions, but there wasn’t much he could do from where he sat.
The older Watcher saw the vampire coming at him out of the corner of his eye, and he ducked the arc of the blade, feeling its passage just above his head. Giles brought his fist up into the vampire’s stomach, and then grabbed his arm, bringing the bone down hard over his knee.
The vampire howled and dropped the sword, which Giles quickly scooped up. Now with a weapon in hand much to his liking, he started in on the remaining Eliminati.
Wesley was cowering behind Oz, which was just as well; it would keep the git out of harm’s way. Willow was busy concentrating on setting yet another vampire on fire, and Balthazar was somehow managing to pull Spike towards his tub.
Spike was fighting the pull, but without success. Balthazar had the vampire around the neck, dragging him into the tub. “You’ll pay!” the demon was vowing. “You’ll pay!”
“Spike!” Giles heard Buffy’s call, and he watched as she darted gracefully across the warehouse floor, grabbing one of the lamps near the tub and plunging it into the water.
Spike scrambled out of the way as the electricity boiled Balthazar in his own juices. Both Buffy and Giles headed over to help Spike up. “Are you alright?” Giles asked first.
“Just peachy,” Spike replied, shaking his head to release the cloud that Balthazar’s hold had put over him.
A screech came from the demon’s direction. “You think you’ve won,” Balthazar wheezed. “When he rises, you’ll wish I’d killed you all.”
Silence descended over the warehouse at his last words. “What the bloody hell did that mean?” Spike asked finally.
“I don’t know,” Giles replied, “but I think it’s time for us to get out of here.”
Spike turned to fix the other Watcher with a yellow gaze. “Try to give up the game a little faster next time,” he growled. “That way I’ll have an excuse to bite you.”
They could all hear Wesley gulp as he scuttled out of Spike’s way when the vampire brushed past him. Buffy gave him an equally disgusted look and the others followed suit. Even Willow shook her head as she walked past him, and Wesley found himself flushing deeply.
His first real battle, and he had turned traitor.
~~~~~
Buffy had insisted on seeing Spike home. He’d been dazed enough from his brush with Balthazar that she had wanted to make sure that he was going to be okay.
Spike, however, was just fine. “Where did the blood come from, Buffy?”
She was taken aback by his abrupt question, the hard tone causing her to take a step back. “What are you talking about?”
“I can smell it on you,” Spike said, taking a step towards her. “If you’re hurt—”
“I’m fine,” she insisted, backing away again, then turning towards the door. “You’re obviously feeling better, so I’m just gonna—”
The hand on her arm stilled her words. “Buffy.”
That one word was so gentle, carrying with it a wealth of understanding, and Buffy turned. Spike frowned when he saw the tears in her eyes. “Luv, what is it?”
“Faith—we killed a man, Spike. A human.”
“What?” He frowned, pulling her into the living room and sitting her down on the couch. “What happened?”
The words came out in a rush, and Buffy found herself shaking. She felt dirty, even though her hand wasn’t the one that had been holding the stake. She had watched a man die, and she couldn’t help feeling that it was at least partially her fault.
“I don’t know, Spike. I guess I just panicked. We both ran, and then you were there, and Giles needed me, and—”
“Hush now, pet,” Spike said, pulling her into his chest and rocking her. “Hush now. We’ll get this sorted. I’m right here.”
“What am I going to do?” Buffy asked. “It wasn’t her fault, Spike. He came out of nowhere.”
Spike rubbed a soothing pattern on her back. “Course it wasn’t either of your faults. Accidents happen, luv, especially in the middle of a fight.”
She clutched him, relishing his strength. Buffy had never realized how tired she got of being the strong one. It felt good for someone else to take charge for a while—to trust someone to take care of things.
What had she done before Spike?
Buffy took in a shuddering breath and reluctantly pulled back. “I should get home. I’ve got school tomorrow.”
“Let me talk to Rupert,” Spike urged. “I’d bet the Council has dealt with this kind of thing before.”
Buffy shook her head. “Spike, I don’t—”
“Listen to me.” His eyes bored into hers. “Hiding it isn’t going to do anyone any good. There are ways of getting rid of the evidence, but it’s got to be done immediately, and it’s got to be done right. That’s out of the question now. At this point, all I’m worried about is damage control.”
“What about Faith?” Buffy asked.
Spike shook his head. “We’ll just have to see. I imagine she panicked, just like you did.”
There was something in his tone that expressed his doubt, however, and Buffy stiffened. “What are you thinking?”
“That Faith might be out of control,” Spike said quietly.
Buffy stood abruptly. “No, Spike! You weren’t there, you don’t—”
“I know,” he assured her as gently as he could. Standing and putting his hands on Buffy’s shoulders, Spike cocked his head, making sure she was listening. “I don’t doubt that it was an accident, luv, but Faith—we’ll just see. I’ll do all I can for her.”
“Thanks,” Buffy murmured. “I just can’t help but think that it could have been me there, you know?”
“I do know.” Spike pulled her in, holding her tightly, relishing the feel of her arms around his waist.
He knew all too well.