Buffy & The Exiled Ch. 05

NOTE : This story is set within an alternate Buffyverse. Faith has stayed with the Scooby gang and has become Buffy's secret girlfriend. Dawn is now nineteen and at college. Willow and Tara are still together.

++++++++++

Wesley knew the demon was coming for him. He could not see it in the luxury hotel room, but it had taken out Buffy and now would be advancing on him. He cursed himself for not bringing a weapon, but what better weapon was there than an angry Slayer? Unfortunately, she was groaning and lying face down as blood soaked into the plush carpet from the slashes on her belly. He did not think that she was fully conscious.

Inspiration struck him and he snatched up a long floor lamp that was standing near an armchair. It had a wooden shaft about five feet long and its base was a foot wide circle of wood. Yanking the plug from the socket, he spun the lamp horizontal and thrust forward with it. He hit nothing.

Moving with a crab like walk, he sidestepped toward the fallen Slayer, giving quick thrusts with the lamp. Suddenly, the wooden base hit something and bounced off what seemed like empty air. With a shout, he swung the lamp like a club at the chameleon demon. The monster must have swung back because the base and two foot at the end of the wooden stand dropped to the floor as they were sliced off.

An invisible claw slammed into the young Watcher and threw him across the room like a rag doll. As he groaned and staggered to his feet, still clutching the broken pole, he thanked his lucky stars that the beast must have hit him with a closed fist. It still felt like he had cracked ribs, though.

The Wolfram and Hart lawyer shook her head, "Angelus will probably be angry that he didn't get to kill you himself. Apparently he had such fun doing it to Gunn."

The Englishman did not think that he had ever been tempted to hit a woman before. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the broken lamp stand tighter. With a lunge, he stabbed the wooden shaft into the air where he thought the Myragogic must have been standing when it struck him. Again, he hit nothing.

To make himself a slightly harder target, he danced sideways and continued to swing the pole before him, until the back of his legs bumped against the table that the lawyer was sitting at.

Lilah laughed, "Give up, Wesley. You can't beat what you can't see!"

She was shocked when he spun toward her with a grin on his face, "Quite true! Thank you for enlightening me."

Reaching across the table, he grasped her soup bowl and flung his arm around so that the liquid sprayed out in a wide arc. To his near left, some splattered onto the camouflaged demon. A bestial face formed out of nothing as the brown fluid dripped down it. Instantly, the Watcher lunged forward and drove the broken shaft of the lamp into the creatures face. It howled in agony and crashed back as black ichor fountained out of the fatal wound.

Lilah gasped in amazement, leapt out of the chair and dashed for the doorway. Wesley ignored her and hurried over to Buffy. She was beginning to push herself up off the floor with a painful groan

"Next time we fight an invisible nasty, you distract it and I do the slaying, okay?"

He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, "It's a deal." His face hardened as he looked to where her hand was cupping her torn belly.

"Is it bad?"

"Nah. I'll live. Stings though."

She gave him a crooked smile and peeked at the slashes. They were not as deep as she feared and, because she was the Slayer, the bleeding had already slowed. The sound of the rattling door made her look at the lawyer pulling on it. In her panic, Lilah had forgotten that Wesley had turned the lock. Remembering, she twisted it and yanked the door open.

"Shouldn't we stop her?" asked the Slayer, getting to her knees.

Still inspecting her wound, Wesley shook his head, "She won't get far."

Lilah shot through the doorway. There was a slapping noise and she staggered back into the room, out cold before she hit the floor.

"That's for the crack about Gunn," said Cordelia, rubbing her fist.

++++++++++

The iron bound oak door to the back cellar shook and bounced in place as the men inside screamed and pounded on it for help. An unearthly howl drowned out their cries.

Dawn, Willow and Tara flinched at the horrible sounds of the slaughter in the other room. Cries of fear and agony mingled with the werewolf's roaring and the horrifying ripping of flesh.

Sat on a table near the quivering door, Angelus and Spike were in tears of laughter. They giggled like schoolboys at the sound of the cultists' violent deaths.

"Think they managed to make her angry, then?" gasped Spike.

Angelus held his stomach as he laughed, "Not necessarily. It could just be the wrong time of the month!"

++++++++++

Giles and the rest of the group looked up as the front door opened. Buffy pushed Lilah in before her as Wesley and Cordelia brought up the rear. The lawyer had a darkening bruise around her eye. Buffy prodded her into the lounge, "Sit."

Giles pointed to the book that he had just been reading, "Buffy, we've found out what Angelus wanted with Tara. He needs three types of blood to mix during the ritual to release Mobadon. One of them is the blood of a witch, so I guess he chose Tara for that reason."

A thoughtful expression crossed her face as she considered it. "Angel never met Tara and I didn't tell him about her. How could he know she's a witch?"

The Watcher looked taken aback, "Oh. I just assumed that you would have told him about Willow and er... something like that. Still, Spike knows she's a witch, doesn't he?"

"I guess. Something just doesn't fit. Why would he take Dawn?"

"Presumably she saw him with Tara, or perhaps she got in the way, somehow."

"No. He tricked me into inviting him into my house and then made sure that Faith and I left him alone with Dawn. She was what he was after. I'm guessing to use as blackmail to get me to agree to whatever it is that he needs. Tara just got home at the wrong time."

"That could be it," he admitted. "The first ingredient of the summoning spell is the blood of a Slayer. Angelus would know that you would agree to anything to keep your sister safe." The Englishman frowned as he looked down at the carpet, "Assuming that he has captured our other search party, he now has all three ingredients and so will no longer need your co-operation."

"Hold the phone a minute, Giles. Faith, Slayer; Willow, witch. Okay, got that. Does that mean the third ingredient is werewolf blood?"

He looked uncomfortable, "Not precisely."

"Then what is it?"

"The blood from a female werewolf that has just fed."

It took a moment for the impact of his words to sink in. A look of horror spread across Buffy's face, "Oh, my God! Dawn!" Desperately she spun on Oz, "Will that bitch hurt my sister?"

The small man looked concerned. For someone who rarely showed any form of emotion, that was almost all the answer that Buffy needed. "Ru hasn't learned how to chain the wolf, yet. That's why we are here in the first place; to get her the talisman she needs. I've managed to teach her some influence whilst in the beast; I have seen her stop it from attacking a huntsman in the forest. But she definitely cannot control it like I do."

Buffy moved to stand before him. She was taller than the little man was and glared down into his eyes, "If she so much as touches Dawn, I'll kill her."

He did not break her gaze, "She won't. I trust her."

"Who is the woman?" Giles inquired, to break the tension.

Buffy turned her head to glance over her shoulder at Lilah. The young lawyer had taken a seat on the sofa and almost managed to look as if she were there for a meeting. Cordelia stood over her, scowling down, with her arms folded across her chest.

"Ally Mcbeal? She's going to tell us where the disciples are. Right now."

As the blonde Slayer strode toward her, Lilah regarded her with an appraising eye. She could see that the woman was angry and in no mood to play around.

"If I tell you where to try looking, will you let me go?"

"No. Tell me where the disciples are."

"Okay. You're a negotiator. I can respect that. What deal are you prepared to offer?"

"This one. Spill now or I get Xander to lend his tool belt to Cordelia while the rest of us go and have a coffee."

Lilah looked from Buffy to Cordelia and swallowed, "They're in the monastery on Sherman Drive."

++++++++++

Angelus slid off the table and reached into his pocket, withdrawing three small vials. He handed one to Spike, "You get the She-Wolf's."

As the white haired vampire knelt under the table and removed the tranquilliser rifle from its hiding place, Angelus walked over to Faith and Willow.

"Time for you two gals to donate."

Snatching hold of Willow's hand, he unfolded her fingers and used a small knife to draw a cut across her palm. She winced and took a sharp intake of breath at the brief pain. The vampire smiled at her as he uncorked one of the tiny vials and held it under the dripping flow of blood.

At the back of the room, there was a clack as Spike loaded in a dart and then casually rested the gun barrel over his shoulder. "You think the Shepherd will behave himself?"

The Irish vampire shook his head as he put the stopper back into the now full bottle, "I think that he would be stupid not to try something. All we need is for him to get Mobadon here. After that, he may require a permanent rest, don't you think?"

Harmony skipped down the cellar steps, "I've finished lighting the candles and drawing all the marks that you showed me in that book. Can I have a little drink, now?"

"Not yet. When the ceremony is done you can have the blonde all to yourself."

Harmony's golden curls bounced as she turned to look at Tara. A warm smile spread across her face at the look of fear on the young woman. It was replaced by a little frown that creased the female vampire's brow when she noticed Spike sliding back the tiny window in the oak door at the back of the cellar, "What are you doing, Snookums?"

He let out a long-suffering sigh and ignored her as he raised the rifle to poke through the tiny bars, settling his eye along the sights as he did so. The unmistakable stench of death rolled over him in thick waves. Inside the back room was a scene that could have come straight from Hell. Horribly mutilated corpses lay scattered in various poses across the floor. Heads, arms or legs were torn from their usual places and rib cages were gaping open. Blood covered every surface and dripped from sodden patches on the ceiling where arterial spray had painted a gory tableau of crimson swirls.

A low, rumbling growl came from the beast crouched in one corner. For a werewolf, it was unusually small; measuring just over five feet tall when it stood erect. Its long, light brown fur was matted and stained with the blood of the cultists. In one vicious claw it held an arm that it had just ripped off the corpse of Brother Judas and was gnawing on the ragged end like a dog with a chew toy. As it ate, its amber eyes flicked up to focus on Spike. A warning snarl reverberated around the stone walls.

"Grrr yourself, bitch," the vampire whispered as he pulled the trigger. A dart spat from the end of the barrel and plunged into the lycanthrope's shoulder. The beast gave a scream of rage and sprang at the white haired man. He jerked backward, laughing as the metal bound door bounced and rattled on its hinges. Ferocious howls of rage echoed throughout the old monastery as the creature smashed and clawed at the wooden barrier between it and its tormentor. Gradually, they faded as the werewolf swayed and then sat down as the drug began to take effect. Quickly, its eyes closed and it rolled onto its side.

"Think I'll give it a minute," he said to himself as he lit a cigarette.

Angelus finished filling his second vial with blood from Faith. She never said a word, but fixed him with a piercing glare. He had to admit to himself that in over two and a half centuries he had seldom come across someone whose eyes promised death and mayhem as surely as hers did.

He turned to Spike and wiggled one of the little containers of blood at him. "I'm going to go and get things started. Send up the other vial when you've finally found the balls to go in and get it."

"Up yours, hair gel boy. You fancy taking the chance the bitch is faking?"

"It's not likely. That stuff will knock out a charging rhino before it even realises that it’s been hit." His long black coat swirled around his legs as he turned and walked up the stairs.

"Yeah?" the English vampire called after him. "Well, Tiger in there is quite capable of tearing the rhino apart while only half awake!"

Harmony had her usual look of puzzlement on her face as she glanced from her lover to the empty stairway. "Spikey, baby?"

"What?"

"Are we going to leave the ritual until we come back, then?"

A stunned look crossed his face and he gave his head a little shake to clear it. Harmony always seemed to reach conclusions that did not seem possible to others.

"What are you talking about, you daft bint?"

"You know. From seeing the rhinos and tigers at the zoo."

++++++++++

Buffy's weapon chest was rapidly emptying as everybody selected the implement of his or her choice. Oz lifted a small battleaxe while Cordelia checked the crossbow she had snatched up. Wesley, Giles and Buffy had taken a sword each.

Hardness settled in the Slayer's eyes as she ran a finger along the edge of her blade, "Remember the plan. Giles, Wes and I will deal with the disciples and vampires. Oz and Cordy have the job of finding our friends and getting them to safety. Nobody try to confront Angel. He's too dangerous and anyway," she set her lips in a tight line. "He's mine."

++++++++++

Spike drew the door open slowly. The inner side of it was drenched in blood. Carefully stepping over the body parts jumbled in the entryway, the white-haired vampire moved toward the werewolf. His eyes never left the slumbering creature; they were alert for the slightest twitch of its muscles that would signal it beginning to leap at him.

The rumbling breathing of the slumbering lycanthrope drowned out the squelching of the gore and entrails beneath his feet. Tapping a head that lacked a face to one side with his foot, he knelt beside an outstretched claw. Gingerly, he prodded the black skin of its palm before taking out a syringe and pushing it into the tough flesh. Veruca curled her claws a little at the prick of the needle, but did not awake.

When he had enough blood, he carefully picked his way back through the slaughter and closed the door behind him. He locked it with the key that Angelus had given him whilst the cultists had their orgy.

Across the cellar, Harmony was pacing back and forth before Dawn and Tara.

"I don't think Angelus would mind if I just took a little sip from her, do you Blondie-Bear?"

The century old vampire winced when she called him that in front of the four prisoners. He had an image of a vicious killer to maintain, after all.

"Harm, if you disobey him and drink her before he has no further use for her he will feed you piece by piece to the She-Wolf back here."

She gave him a little girl pout and stuck out her bottom lip as she clasped her hands behind her back and stamped a foot. "But I'm so hungry that my tummy's growling! Just a little suck, please!"

He shook his head as he emptied the syringe into the little ritual vial, "No sweetbreads. It looks like you can't be trusted to watch over them, so you can take this up to duster-boy and I'll guard the ladies."

The hearts of his prisoners sank when they heard that. They had been counting on it being Harmony who was watching over them. She would have been easy to distract while Tara used her magic to free Faith. Spike was a very different prospect, though. He was savage and cruel, but not stupid. Far from it.

Tara concentrated as she linked their minds in unspoken conference. "What are we going to do now?"

Faith looked to her side at Willow, "Think ya can distract him while your girl unlocks these manacles for me?"

Unable to send her thoughts because of the blood rune on her forehead, Willow shrugged.

"Willow can't do it," Dawn pointed out. "If he's stood beside you, Tara will never be able to float the keys without him seeing. He has to have his back to you guys."

"No way," shot Faith, realising that only left the teenager to decoy the vampire. "Buffy will kill all of us quicker than the leeches if you get hurt."

"Faith's right, Sweetie," Tara added, soothingly. "You shouldn't be involved. We'll think of something."

"Hey! I'm not a kid! And I'm already involved. They're going to kill me just like they are going to kill you three." The teenager gave a stubborn glance at each of her friends in turn. "I can do this. Anyway, you don't have a choice."

Faith and Willow exchanged a grumpy look. The fact that they both thought this was a bad idea was probably the first time that they had agreed on anything.

++++++++++

As they drove toward the monastery in his open-topped sports car, Buffy watched him from the corner of her eye. She was full of conflicting emotions about their relationship. Did she dare risk everything that they had to tell him how she felt?

However, the coming fight would be brutal if Angelus lived up to his usual form. They might not survive at all. This could be her last chance.

"Giles, promise me you'll be careful."

Taking his eyes off the road for a brief second, he gave the Slayer a slightly puzzled frown. "Is there any reason that my safety should concern you more tonight than it has the last several years? Have you had a premonition?"

She dropped her gaze from his to watch her fingers plucking nervously at the hem of her skirt, "No, nothing like that. It's just that I... I think I..."

Even when she had been on the ropes fighting Glory she did not think she had been this scared. Butterflies in her stomach became giant moths as she took a deep breath and summoned her courage, "I want you to know that I lo..."

"How far is this place?" Cordelia asked, leaning forward between the seats.

"About another ten minutes or so, if I remember correctly," the Englishman replied.

"You surprised me, Giles. I didn't think that you would ever get rid of that heap of rusty junk that you used to drive." Her brown hair whipped in her eyes causing her to snatch it aside and hook it behind her ear.

"Yes, well, I had a slight mishap with it while I was a Fyarl demon."

"While you were a what?"

"Fyarl demon. Very strong and entirely suited to being warriors; not so well suited to being drivers. The steering wheel came off in my hands and I ran straight into a wall."

"Were you horny?"

"Pardon me?"

"I mean did you have horns and things?"

"Oh. Yes, I did."

"I thought you might," she said, sitting back between Wesley and Oz with a smug look on her face.

Giles glanced to his right at the Slayer, "Sorry. You were saying, Buffy?"

"Oh, er..." She looked over her shoulder at the three people on the backseat, "It was nothing. Another time, perhaps."

++++++++++

Angelus took the vial of blood from Harmony and passed it with the others to the Shepherd, "That's my side of the bargain. Now do your thing and open the portal."

The elderly sorcerer nodded and carried the three small containers over to a bowl that was on a stand in the centre of a pentagram chalked onto the floor of the large hall. He gave a final look around at the vampires lining the walls of the room before relaxing himself and concentrating on the task at hand.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his arms toward the column of runes chalked on the wall facing him. He began to chant an incantation to the Elder Gods. His intoned words stirred the mystical forces around him and he could feel the power begin to gather.