ABC Series, Part 8
Frau Hunter Ash
Rating: Strong
R – assault and sex. Character injury.
* * *
Watchers Fitzgerald and Simpson approached the park cautiously, eyes darting all around. They spotted Buffy and Giles sitting on a park table, waiting for them. The Watchers knew that the others had to be nearby, ready to move in at the first sign of trouble, just as Buffy and Giles must know that an Initiative Strike Team was positioned around the park for the same reason.
Buffy felt a growl from Giles and placed a hand on his knee. It felt weird having her former mentor and father figure growling. She could sense his muscles tensing, ready to strike or flee as her own "fight or flight" adrenaline began to speed up in her system.
The Watchers approached the Slayer and former Watcher slowly, their hands in plain sight.
"Okay, guys," Buffy said firmly. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
"What do you want, Summers?" Simpson demanded. "You know we'll eventually capture you and your friends. One at a time, if we have too."
"Shut up, Simpson," Fitzgerald snapped. "I'm not going to apologize for following orders. What the Council had planned was horrible but the ends would have been fantastic and worth the cost."
Giles snarled and Buffy squeezed his knee.
"Worth the cost?" she repeated. "Impregnating me with a genetically altered Slayer so you'd have the perfect soldier and toy from the beginning, that would be worth the cost? You guys are real bastards, you know that?"
"I know the Council has never really cared for the Slayers," Giles growled. "Always viewing them as a means to an end but that plan was reprehensible!"
"Come off it, Giles," Simpson snapped. "The reason you were a miserable Watcher was that you got too attached to your Slayer. Made you weak, weak enough to accept the fangs of a goddamn vampire!"
Buffy held her arm across Giles' chest as he bared his fangs at the Watchers.
"Are we going to argue back and forth over who caused what? You shot him, leaving Willow only one choice to be with him," Buffy pointed out.
"Enough of this!" Fitzgerald yelled. "I assume you want to talk truce, what are your demands?"
"Why are we even listening to this?" Simpson demanded. "We don't deal with vampires!"
"I'm not a vampire," Buffy smiled sweetly but it failed to reach her eyes, which were blazing with intensity. "And one of those vampires was trained by you and is powerful enough to have wiped out your complex. We could just let her go and tell her to ignore all the ethics and good guy stuff and let her fry you."
"
This time Buffy had to jump off the table and position herself between Giles and the Watchers.
"Giles, they've got soldiers
waiting to shoot you if you do this!" Buffy snapped. "
Giles nodded after a moment and shifted out of vampire game face, back to the human face Buffy was more accustomed to.
"I'm sorry, Buffy," he muttered.
"They're trying to push our buttons," she whispered, hugging him tightly for a moment. "I need you strong, Giles."
"I'm here," he whispered back and Buffy turned to the Watchers.
"Enough baiting me and my friends," Buffy warned. "Here's the deal, we know about the other Slayers, we know where they are, who they are and how to reach them. We know where the Watchers are all over the world. You agree to leave us alone and we keep that information quiet."
"I don't believe you," Fitzgerald said slowly.
"What?" Buffy frowned.
"Like every other Slayer, you constantly fought against being the Chosen One but accepted it because you thought you were the only one and the fate of the world depended on you," he pointed out. "It did, many times, I'll admit. But admit this, would you have stayed a dedicated Slayer if you knew there were others to take your place?"
Buffy frowned as she considered his words.
"No, you're right," she
muttered. "Okay, how do we fix
this? I want me and my friends out of your reach and off limits, including the
Simpson smirked and Buffy and Giles gasped when Fitzgerald turned with a stun gun in his hand, jabbing it in Simpson's ribs. The Watcher dropped, twitching to the ground.
"He's such a bother," Fitzgerald complained and held up his hand. "I know you're listening, Captain. There is no emergency, stand back."
Fitzgerald turned his attention to the former Slayer and Watcher.
"I don't know how to solve this," he admitted. "The first chance you get, either you or Faith will inform the other Slayers and blow the entire system to pieces."
"May I suggest that it's time for a change?" Giles said slowly. "Obviously, the old system of keeping the Slayers apart and in the dark isn't going to work anymore. We've reached a stage in development that, with modern technology, it was going to come out eventually within the next ten years."
Fitzgerald pondered the former Watcher's observation and nodded.
"Alright, you're suggesting that we tell the Slayers they aren't the only ones? How do we justify taking young girls and training them to be Slayers and getting them killed then?"
"How about totally changing the tactics?" Giles suggested. "Why is Buffy the oldest living Slayer?"
Fitzgerald frowned. "Tell me."
"Her friends and the active
involvement of her Watcher," Giles offered. "
"What are you getting at?" Fitzgerald asked.
"Why don't you send just one soldier out after a werewolf or demon?" Giles countered.
Fitzgerald continued to frown. "There's safety and power in numbers. Good God, man, you're suggesting forming strike teams around the Slayers?"
"Yes," Giles nodded, "Exactly that! That could include older fighters, witches, Watchers and whatever. It would keep the Slayers alive longer, help in the slaying, reducing the evil population throughout the world, and you wouldn't have to keep the Slayers apart and in the dark."
"I like it," Fitzgerald nodded and Buffy grinned.
"We became strong over time,
but even in our Sophmore year we ruled!" Buffy
pointed out. "Xander saved my life
and was always ready to fight beside me,
Fitzgerald frowned again. "If we do what you suggest, then we take away your power over us and those like Simpson will want to hunt you down again."
Both Buffy and Giles were surprised as they realized that Fitzgerald really wanted to work things out with them.
"By the time it's put into
place, I hope the Council will realize that we're not a threat," Giles
said slowly. "Hopefully they'll see
us as the Sunnydale and
"We could say the same for
you," Buffy said slowly. "You
killed my husband, you tortured my best friend for two years, you killed Giles,
forcing
"I didn't have anything to do with your husband's death, Buffy," Fitzgerald said slowly.
"He's dead at your orders," Buffy countered. "You tried to kill Xander and his family. How could the Council order the death of a little boy not even two years old?"
"I don't know," Fitzgerald admitted and nodded towards Simpson. "Too many like him, I assume."
"Those orders had to have come from high up," Giles countered.
Fitzgerald sighed. "Does this mean we're at war?"
Buffy frowned. "Let's say it's an uneasy truce, kinda like Soviet Russia and the
Fitzgerald turned pale at the quiet fury radiating from the Slayer.
"I, uh, can't make that high level of a decision," he stammered.
"Yes, you can," Buffy argued. "You'll make it stick or you'll be one of the first I track down."
"Slayers don't kill humans," Fitzgerald squeaked as Giles smirked.
"I'm not a Slayer anymore, remember? And I've got some powerful friends to back me up, including Faith," Buffy pointed out. "I want to bury my husband and bring my sister home without worrying about you and your GI types ambushing us."
"In exchange for you holding
off contacting the other Slayers until I can convince the Council to accept the
new plan of Strike Teams, we'll leave Sunnydale and won't get in the way of the
group in
"Agreed," Buffy nodded. "Listen close, though. I have to live with the memory of finding Riley's…finding Riley after they were through with him. Don't think that we'll ever work with Watchers or the Initiative again."
"Understood," Fitzgerald nodded. "May I give you something?"
Buffy's eyes narrowed and Giles growled softly.
"What?"
"There was something in your clothes when you were taken into custody at the Initiative complex," Fitzgerald said softly, reaching into his breast pocket slowly. "I thought you might like this back."
Buffy felt her jaw muscles
tightening and fought against her emotions as she reached out for the picture
that had been in her pocket when she had been captured. It was of the Scooby Gang before
"Thank you," she said softly. "Come on, Giles."
* * *
Four days later, so that the
vampire members of the Scooby Gang and the
Dawn, Anya and little Jesse had returned and stood by Xander as they watched the coffin slowly being lowered into the ground. Several of Riley's former platoon mates had shown up; most of them having retired from the Initiative about the same time Riley had. Some of them greeted Buffy politely but coldly and she knew they blamed her for his death. She thought they were right in a way. If it hadn't been for the Watcher Council wanting Buffy for their experiments, they wouldn't have killed Riley.
Faith stayed close to the blonde Slayer, wanting to help and feeling extremely unsure of how to do that as Buffy closed her emotions down. It seemed as if the Slayer had gone numb once it was clear the Watchers and Initiative had left town and the immediate danger was over.
Buffy was grateful for Faith's presence but didn't know how to reach out to anyone, including someone who wanted to be her lover. Especially so soon after losing Riley: a friend, a husband, and a lover.
Shortly after sunset, several others joined the group of mourners and Buffy felt the tension rising among the former soldiers as they realized the newcomers were vampires.
Buffy held Dawn as she sobbed, tears streaking the Slayer's face as they turned away from the grave. Both of them hated funerals, especially Buffy. The Slayer figured she had been to more than enough to last her a lifetime and she wasn't even 25 yet.
Buffy realized that the following few hours didn't require a lot of thinking as people crowded into the Summers-Finn house to express their well wishes for the young widow and to mingle. They reminisced about Riley, hoping that just their presence might help Buffy.
Giles was quiet as they walked back to Angel's mansion. Since returning to Sunnydale they had taken up residence in the old abandoned place, finding it was big enough for both the Scooby Gang and the LA group to stay comfortably even if it didn't have electricity.
"How many losses can we go
through before it becomes too much?"
"I don't know," Giles pondered. "I think it depends on the losses. I never did get over losing you and the changes in Buffy when she came back."
"I remember when Jesse was
turned and killed,"
"I remember, it was when Buffy started school," he said softly, keeping an eye out for vampires and Initiative troops. One thing he had learned over the years, never trust the Council.
"Then the losses began piling
up and we kept fighting back,"
"I remember when your double came through and we thought you had been turned and were evil," Giles nodded. "God, I thought I was going to die myself."
"I remember you squeezing the
breath out of me when you figured out I was alive,"
"You think Buffy will turn to Faith?" Giles asked after a moment.
"I think so,"
"Such a goddamn waste," Giles muttered. "We're being followed, luv."
"I don't think they're Initiative and they aren't vampires," she said after a moment.
"Human muggers in Sunnydale?" Giles smiled evilly. "How quaint."
"Of course not," he agreed. "We can scare them to death, though, right?"
"Of
course!"
With vampire senses, both Giles and
"No gun oil,"
"Good, I hate getting shot," he muttered back.
Giles jumped around with a roar, his face also fierce looking. He bit his lip to keep from laughing as the two teenage would-be muggers skidded to a stop in front of them, their hostile expressions turning to ones of shock and then terror.
The former Watcher ignored the
knives in their hands as useless against him and
The other mugger didn't move as
quickly and
The youth began sobbing in fear.
"Be a good boy, stay in school, stay out of trouble and I might not come back," Willow purred, moving her face close to his, letting him see every detail of a vampire's face. "If I catch you out like this again, I will slowly peel your skin from your bones while my lover over there drinks your blood. It will be nice and slow and very painful. I think a life of crime isn't for you, don't you?"
The boy nodded and cried as the vampire slowly clipped the buttons off his shirt with her sharp fingernails. He howled in fear as she ran a claw down his chest.
"Go home and be a good boy
from now on or your soul is doomed,"
"Scram!" Giles shouted, sending the boy scurrying back the way his friend had disappeared to, stumbling and crying.
"That bordered on evil,
"I think the term is 'scared straight', " she countered. "He'll think twice before reaching for another knife."
"I love you, Willow
Rosenberg," Giles laughed as they continued on their way, knowing Angel
and the rest of the
"Yes,"
"I just wish we could help Buffy more," Giles muttered as they reached the mansion.
"I do too,"
"Me too, it's all that emotional energy running loose," Giles complained. "No one knowing what to say or how to act."
"Kinda
like when Joyce Mom died,"
"I remember," Giles said softly.
"Take me to bed, make love to
me and make me feel alive again, Giles,"
Giles lifted his mate into his arms
easily. As he climbed the stairs towards
their room as
* * *
Spike watched Buffy from across the room as Anya and Xander tried to get her to call it a night and the Slayer's stubborn refusal. He knew the look; it was the same look Buffy had when she had returned from the grave. Her emotions were shut down from all the pain and she was no longer thinking and barely reacting.
"Going through the motions," he muttered, making sure to keep out of Angel's way for the evening. He didn't need his Sire's disapproving looks and cautions that Buffy was off limits, especially with Faith around.
One thing Spike had learned as a vampire and that was patience. He waited until the humans finally figured they had been polite enough and left, including Xander, Anya and their brat. Spike's eyes narrowed as he sensed Angel's energy nearby and the blonde vampire quietly slipped down the hall and out the back door. He knew Angel would offer to stay the night with Buffy, him and Cordelia, but Buffy would decline, especially with Faith around.
Spike was patient, he knew Buffy better than she knew herself.
* * *
Faith watched helplessly from the stairs as Buffy nodded, saying goodnight to the last remaining humans from the wake and turned to say goodnight to Angel and Cordelia. Faith kinda felt sorry for Cordelia. You had to admit, the girl was handling things a lot better than in high school. Sex with a vampire, getting visions that came with killer migraines, living with a ghost and putting up with Wesley wasn't something that Faith envied.
Both Angel and Cordy hugged the Slayer tightly, made polite noises and left.
Faith could see Buffy's shoulders sagging as she closed the door and leaned against it. The dark Slayer wanted to rush over and pull Buffy into her arms and make everything better but held back. Buffy had just buried her husband, a husband that Faith had taken to bed once.
Faith held back, unsure how to help.
* * *
Buffy could feel Faith nearby, watching her and wanted to take the Slayer to bed and forget all the pain they had suffered in the last week. The blonde Slayer frowned, wondering if that was really what she wanted, what she should do or what? Nothing made sense.
"I need some air," Buffy said softly and headed through the kitchen for the back door. She didn't hear Faith following and was grateful as she stepped out on the porch. The night air was cool and felt good against her skin, almost making her feel alive again.
Riley had tried to understand what it was like for Buffy during the time he had been gone, including dying and returning from the dead. Unfortunately, there wasn't any real way he could understand all the nightmares that Buffy suffered from. He could understand some of them, having been an Initiative soldier and having had more than one demon come close to killing him but he had never woke up in his own coffin. Riley had never been forced to claw his way out of a grave.
The former soldier had held Buffy night after night when she woke up screaming, sweating and dazed.
As time went on with him, things
had somewhat gotten normal for the Slayer.
Buffy began to actually believe she was alive with Riley.
Now he was dead, everyone was back in Scooby mode and acted as if Buffy should be the Slayer again. Even Dawn was complaining that she had missed out on the excitement and hadn't been there to help when Buffy had been kidnapped by the Council.
Buffy knew who it was without turning around as Spike walked out of the shadows behind her and wrapped his arms around her. The Slayer frowned as he began to nuzzle her neck.
"I can make you feel again, pet," he whispered, pulling her body back into his.
"Don't," Buffy said softly.
"What?" Spike whispered, his voice taunting. "Reminding you of what we had?"
"What we had was casual sex, Spike," Buffy snapped, moving out of his arms. She turned to face him, rage flashing in her blue eyes. "God, Spike! I don't believe you! I just buried my husband and you want to get horizontal with me again?"
"Why not?" Spike shrugged, his own blue eyes flashing dangerously. "I know what you're feeling and the cure for it. The darkness is back; admit it. You don't have a clue what you're feeling. You remember the only thing that made you feel even connected was me."
"Spike, you're disgusting," Buffy snarled. "The last thing in the world I want is to have sex with you! If I was ready for a relationship it would be with Faith! If I want casual sex, I'll hit a bar! Anything but you!"
"You could have been killed or lost forever with those damned Council wankers!" Spike snapped. "I'm not going to lose you and I'm not letting you go again."
"What the hell does that mean?" Buffy demanded, moving down the stairs to the back yard, putting a small distance between her and the vampire. "I was never yours, don't you get that? It was just sex. It was a way to keep me from reaching out to the others and a way to conqueror me since you can't even be a decent vampire anymore!"
Spike surprised the Slayer by tackling her from behind, taking both of them to the ground. The vampire spun Buffy over and connected with a right cross along Buffy's jaw line, stunning her.
"You're out of shape, Slayer," Spike growled, taking her wrists and pinning her arms above her head. "You want vampire? You got it!"
Buffy tried to scream as his hand clamped down over her mouth and his fangs pierced her neck. The Slayer bucked under the vampire but he had the advantage of weight and position and the long practice of hitting the vein perfectly.
The blonde Slayer felt her body weakening quickly as she thrashed against Spike.
Spike grinned as he pulled his fangs back and looked down into Buffy's blue eyes.
"Forgot that I can hurt you, did you?" he smirked, thrusting his body against hers. "Don't worry, I'm not going to turn you. I'm just going to claim you as mine."
Buffy whimpered at the madness in the vampire's eyes. She blinked in confusion at the shadow and the sudden absence of the vampire pinning her to the ground. Buffy tried to sit up and saw Faith jumping to her feet as Spike leaped to his.
"I'm gonna kill you, blondie!" Faith promised and Spike grinned.
"I've had her before and I'll have her again," he promised and pointed at Buffy as she fell back on the grass. "Choose, Slayer," he taunted. "Saving her life or killing me. Bye!"
Faith growled and uttered a string of curses that made for some interesting imagery as Spike disappeared over the fence. She turned to Buffy as the Slayer's eyes closed.
"Buffy! Goddamn it, don't you dare die on me now!" Faith yelled as she easily lifted Buffy into her arms. "God, you're so light."
Faith placed the Slayer on the sofa and quickly dialed 911 after checking Buffy's pulse.
"I'm gonna kill him, chip or not," Faith promised as Buffy slipped into unconsciousness.
* * *
"Tara, Tracy!" a voice shouted outside their door, accompanied by pounding. The two witches sat up, blinking.
"What?"
"Buffy was attacked, Faith has her at the hospital," Angel said rapidly. Cordy, on his heels, her hands on his arm, trying to calm him.
"How did a vampire get to
her?"
"It was Spike," Angel said, his voice flat but his dark eyes blazing with anger.
"Oh Goddess,"
"He tried to get close after everyone left," Cordy explained. "He got rough and said he was going to make Buffy his again. He's like totally lost his mind!"
"He's going to lose more than his mind," Angel promised.
"Have you told
"No, it would drive them both into a frenzy and they can't leave the house until sunset," Angel explained.
"We'll go,"
"Thanks," Angel said gratefully and let Cordy pull him out of the room so the witches could dress in private.
Angel turned to his mate, tears threatening to spill out over his eyes.
"How could he do this?" he whispered as Cordy led him down the hall towards the stairs.
"You know, I think you guys forgot something all these years with Spike," Cordy said thoughtfully.
"What's that, my love?" Angel asked.
"You guys treat him like he's
one of you," Cordy said. "Like he's just
like you,
"You're right," Angel nodded. "I let what Angelus felt for him cloud my feelings for him, especially since he was accepted as a member of the gang, like I was. I guess we do forget that he doesn't have a human soul."
"He's still the same Spike, he just can't act on it," Cordy nodded. "Except with Buffy."
"Spike plans on turning her," Angel growled. "He didn't last night but he'll decide that by tonight. It's the only way he can claim her."
"Don't worry, lover," Cordy said softly as
Tara and Tracy found Faith in the waiting room slowly rocking back and forth with her knees drawn up to her chest. Both witches were struck with how young the Slayer looked as tears flowed steadily down her face.
"Faith?"
"She's gonna be okay," Faith stammered. "Buffy's so weak though. Damnit! I should have known! I wasn't fast enough!"
"How could you know Spike
would lose it last night?
"I didn't know there was trouble until he had her fangs in her!" Faith said loudly. "I wasn't thinking! I let my Slayer senses go dull because we've been surrounded by vampires!"
Spike was no longer included in those warm fuzzy thoughts, Tara realized.
"Is she awake?"
"Not yet. Dawn is in with her. He almost drained her and he was about to…he
wanted to…" Faith whispered and
"We'll stop him, Faith,"
"Doesn't it ever end?"
Faith whispered, leaning into
"I don't know. Maybe it's time for you, Buffy and Dawn to
leave Sunnydale,"
"What?" Faith asked softly.
"Why
not?"
Faith sat pondering as the two witches jumped up when a nurse entered, wanting information on Buffy.
* * *
"See, I told you," a voice crooned in Spike's ear as he rolled off the body under him. "You kill and turn the blonde Slayer bitch and we'll have so much fun for centuries!"
"Dru, baby, why were you gone for so long?" Spike whined as she rolled over on top of him, sinking her fangs into his neck as she thrust down against him, taking him deep inside of her. Spike moaned and felt his demon coming forth again.
"I had to wait long enough for you to come home," Dru answered without answering. "The stars said that you had to be lost and mad like me before we could find sanity together."
"How is turning Buffy the answer?" he demanded as she ran her fangs over his nipple.
"Miss Edith says it will get you over that silly idea that you love the Slayer," Dru said huskily as she rocked against him. "Playing with her for years will burn out that horrible thing they did to you! Took you away from me."
"God, Dru," Spike muttered. "Angel's gonna kill us for this."
"The shadows whisper to me that if we take the Slayer from them that he'll go crazy trying to hurt us and lose his soul again and we'll have Daddy back," Dru promised, using her body to keep Spike just on the edge of release.
"I don't want that wanker back!" Spike growled.
"Just think, Spikey," Dru crooned. "We capture and torture all of them slowly, one by one, and build a family. Red tree losing her soul, she's so primed for it after what they did to her."
"Willow with us?" Spike
asked, suddenly intrigued. "Buffy
and
"Miss Edith wants to play with the red-haired one," Dru sang to her vampire. "She's so much fire and sweet, she'll be a tiger in bed with us."
"I like how you think these days, luv," Spike grinned, rolling over and pinning Dru under him.
Dru screamed in arousal as he pounded into her and sank his fangs into her throat.
Spike
was half way home, she thought.
Giving him permission to go after the Slayer and red-haired witch was
the key, she knew.
* * *
They all knew he was heavily armed for both human and supernatural enemies and he was determined to protect Buffy and Dawn.
"How is she?" Angel demanded as the small group approached the room.
"She's awake but very weak and depressed. Buffy's blaming herself for the attack, Faith is blaming herself for not anticipating the attack and for not killing Spike, and Dawn is blaming herself for everything," Gunn said softly.
"Oh God," Angel muttered.
"What the hell?" she snapped and Gunn looked vaguely embarrassed.
"Tara and Tracy put up a
protection spell around the room, it keeps all vampires out," he
explained, not meeting
"What?"
"Easy, Luv," Giles said softly, wrapping his arms around his mate. "Best thing is to protect Buffy and Dawn from that crazy bastard. Even if it means we can't go in."
"I want to see her, Giles!"
"I know, luv," Giles nodded but kept his grip firm. "We have to think what's best for everyone and everything right now. We can call on the phone until she's ready to be released from the hospital."
Giles shrugged as Angel and Cordelia looked worried.
"She's got a temper," he muttered.
"I remember when
"I think when the Council trainers kept her starved for blood and nearly in a blood frenzy, it affected her patience and temperament," Giles pondered.
"Cordy, tell everyone we're here and we'll be keeping watch outside the hospital for Spike," Angel said softly, kissing his mate. "Tell Buffy we love her very much and Spike isn't getting his hands on her again! This time my childe is going to die."
"Okay, lover," Cordelia smiled and entered the room, her hands in plain sight. She had guessed correctly that everyone in the room was armed and suspicious of everything and everyone.
"Gunn, you know the drill," Angel said firmly as he frowned, thinking of Buffy almost dying under Spike's fangs.
"What are you gonna do?" Gunn asked.
"Giles and