Buffy thought waking up in a coffin had been bizarre and disorientating however, this had the potential to be almost as peculiar.
She knew for a fact that she was not in Sunnydale. The last thing she had remembered before appearing in these unfamiliar woods was facing the demon Chronozon with Spike. She had been standing in the middle of the cemetery with the vampire when suddenly; she materialized into a strange place with no memory of having been whisked away. Her first thought upon arriving was to investigate and in the course of all that, she had come across a group of men fighting for their lives against a cadre of vampires. Naturally, whenever anything pesky or tedious was going astray with her existence, Spike was almost always in the thick of it. If things were not complicated enough, it appeared that somehow in this mess that she had yet to unravel, was Angelus, the vampire her former lover Angel had been prior to the curse that had seen his soul returned to him.
"Stop hitting me!" Spike barked at her.
"Stop being a pain in the ass!" She returned sharply. When she was confused, she was particularly temperamental. "Tell me what’s happening?"
"If you bloody calmed down, I would Slayer!" He snapped.
"Jesus Christ," Buck Wilmington groaned in exasperation at the display by too seemingly adults. "You two sound like you’re married!"
That silenced both of them immediately.
"Chris you want to handle this?" Buck stared at the gunslinger that appeared in the midst of trying to sneak away without being discovered.
"Not really," Chris sighed, suddenly having this massive headache coming over him. "I was kind of hoping to ride to Purgatory and go on a drinking binge for a couple of days to forget any of this is happening."
"Oh great, so we’re getting the lush to explain things to me?" Buffy stared at the men impatiently.
"Let me get this straight," Chris glared at her and offered Spike a wholly sympathetically look. "This is the girl you’re in love with?"
"What are you the town crier? Do you have to tell everybody?" Buffy threw her hands up in frustration. "What’s next, a full page ad?"
Spike started to swear a litany of curses under his breath and walked away before he said any of them aloud since it would probably get him punched again for it. As he drifted away, Buffy was certain she heard him curse ‘bloody women!’
"This is the Slayer?" Ezra said not at all impressed because the girl for all her physical abilities was rather shrewish, although he had to confess that she did sort of remind him of Maude. That alone was enough to make him want to accompany Chris to Purgatory for that drinking binge. "This is my descendant?"
"What are you talking about?" Buffy groaned. "Are you telling me that this is for real? that I’m in the past?"
"Yes Buffy," Giles stepped out of the darkness, having come to discover the welfare of the others once Vin had taken Tara to safety and stumbled upon the rapidly deteriorating discussion the slayer was having with the seven men. "That’s exactly what’s happened."
An amazing thing happened when the slayer saw the Englishman. Her discontented expression evaporated and her face exploded into a radiant smile that reflected the beauty and the heart that the vampire Spike so obviously loved. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Giles with nothing less than sheer delight. "Giles? Is that really you?"
"Yes," Giles returned her ecstatic expression with one of gentle caution.
"Oh Giles!" Buffy did not hesitate to run to him, wrapping her around the Watcher in a warm embrace that reeked of joy and gratitude. She hugged him hard, never thinking it could be so good to see her old friend again and in some respects the man who was more her father to her than her real one every tried to be. "I knew you’d come back! I knew you’d come if I was in trouble! I’m so glad to see you!!"
"Buffy," Giles was rather taken back by her display. By definition, Watchers and Slayers were meant to be close but not so close that the girl should be this happy to see him. However, Giles did recall what Spike had told him about his counterpart’s relationship with his slayer, that there was almost paternal affection in how he regarded the Slayer. It was evident in her reaction to his being here that the vampire had not lied about that and their feelings for one another ran very deep.
"Buffy," he pushed her gently away, "I’m not your Giles."
"What?" She stared at him in bewilderment, unable to process it at first. "What do you mean?"
"Perhaps we ought to discuss this in the house," Giles cast his gaze at the other men present. "We certainly don’t want Angelus and his minions to return and catch us unawares."
"Fine by me," Chris replied, "I could use that bottle I’ve got hiding away about now."
***********
Spike wondered if he was better off in that world where Master was alive and he was the Big Bad once again. Certainly, it would be more dignified then remaining by the Slayer’s side, accepting the crumbs she threw at him occasionally and breaking his heart every time he gave her the chance. He had been so happy to see her again that he had forgotten how it was with them. That to her, he was merely a convenience, not someone that could ever care about him the way he did her. When she was gone, all he could think about was getting her back and now that she was returned to him, he realized that she was never his to get back in the first place and it hurt remembering that.
"You okay?" Chris asked quietly as Giles explained things to Buffy much to her astonishment.
Spike met the gunslinger’s gaze, somewhat surprised by the inquiry. "Yeah, I’m bloody charming."
"She’s quite something," Chris remarked, glancing at the spirited young woman briefly before turning back to Spike. "I guess things between you aren’t mutual."
"Only when she feels like it," he said bitterly but was not about to elaborate any further. He could have easily told Larabee that he and Buffy had made love, that they had shared a night of searing passion only to have her discard it and him the morning after. She had vowed to kill him if he told anyone, never thinking that the mere suggestion had hurt him as much as the rest of the things she had said to him. "I’m a moron for wanting her, a bloody, lovesick moron."
Chris took a swig out of the bottle he was holding and handed it to the vampire. "I think you could use some of this."
A little smile crossed Spike’s lips at the gesture and he accepted the bottle and took a deep gulp and handed it back to the gunslinger. "Sooner we get back to our time the better. At least things make some crazy sense there. In this time, we’re displaced. I can’t help looking at who I used to be and not feel a little sad that it’s all gone. I envy William a little I guess, he’s got it all too look forward to and I," he paused a moment to collect his thoughts, "I don’t."
There was real pain in his eyes and Chris wished he knew the words that might make it all better but in truth, this vampire had lived a life longer than his ever could and he doubted that there was very much that Spike could not handle, even this. However, there were times when what one needed most above all else including advice or sympathy, was just one person who was willing to listen and understand. When Sarah and Adam had died, Buck had been that person for him. Unfortunately, it would take more than listening for Spike to feel better, it would require the young slayer admitting something she found utterly unimaginable at this time, if she even felt it at all and that she might care for Spike.
"So you’re telling me that Chronozon’s revenge on Spike is erasing me from existence?" Buffy exclaimed with no small measure of dismay.
"If what Spike tells me about him is true, yes." Giles nodded. "In the world I’m from, you were never the Slayer or born for that matter. The slayer that came to Sunnydale was Kendra and Spike killed her. At least the Spike from our world."
Despite how unbelievable it sounded, Buffy believed Giles when he explained the reality of her situation. Had it been anyone else, she would not have accepted it but something inside of her was incapable of distrusting Giles. Even though he was not from the world she knew and had never laid eyes upon her before this night, Buffy still thought of him as her Giles and she could not believe that he would ever lie to her. However, if this was real, if she was indeed in the past, then Buffy was facing an entirely new threat and she was uncertain how to handle it.
"Spike didn’t kill her," Buffy countered once her thoughts returned her to the present conversation. "Drusilla killed her when Angelus tried to awaken Acathala."
"That’s not how we remember it," Giles explained, aware that in her mind many things would be different. A part of Giles had difficulty believing that Angelus would become his trusted friend and protégé but apparently, Buffy’s memories of Angel’s time in Sunnydale were very different indeed.. "A great deal differs from your reckoning and ours. However, we do know that it all stems from Mr. Standish not being killed approximately two nights ago."
"My grandfather’s name was Ezra," Buffy muttered, staring Ezra in the face for the first time since Giles had told her the truth about whom the gambler was. A part of her wanted to rebel at the thought that she was related to this man who sounded like something out of a Gone with the Wind movie but she knew it was the truth. She looked into his eyes and she saw Joyce. It was almost painful to do so because it reminded her that Joyce was gone and she could never look into her eyes again. "He died when I was about ten but it’s supposed to be a family name I think." She offered after a moment, her head spinning a little.
"Well I’m grateful some members of my future progeny had sense in naming their children," Ezra retorted feeling just as uncomfortable by the way she was staring at him and could only express himself with a glib remark.. "Might I ask what sort of a name is Buffy?"
Buffy shot him a venomous look through narrow eyes, "you know I can still break your bones, I don’t have to kill you for that."
"Mind your elders luv," Spike who was still seated next to Chris remarked sarcastically.
Buffy turned on him remembering that he was the cause of all this and was the appropriate person upon whom to vent her anger. "This is entirely your fault! If you didn’t help me, none of this would have happened!"
"Oh bloody hell, not this again," Spike groaned in exasperation and rolled his eyes, wondering what he had been thinking when he had embarked upon this insane quest to save her. It was not as if she would be grateful, just her usual antagonistic self.. "If I hadn’t help you kill him you’d still be wondering whether or not it was right to kill a human and Chronozon would have caused hell on Earth! Did it occur to you that my being able to kill him means he wasn’t bloody human any more! He was a bloody demon! Once again, I show myself to be the biggest traitor in the demon world by killing him and all you can do is bitch about it. Who knew that bastard was going to take it so personally? I thought if he was going to take revenge on me he’d do something less extreme, like killing me! Although biting the big one would sure as hell be better then listening to you bitch like some stupid cow!"
"I’ll have you know that cows do not bitch and you’re not the only one who was wishing he didn’t kill you either!" She shouted back angrily. However, Buffy was unable to deny that perhaps she was feeling a little guilty about taking out her anger on him.
"ALRIGHT KNOCK IT OFF THE BOTH OF YOU!!" Chris Larabee roared in a voice that demanded silence and obedience in immediate proportions because he had just about as much of this bickering as he could take. He had shot people for less in the past.
"That took a lot longer than I thought," Buck remarked with a big grin as he stared at his old friend.
"At least a minute longer than I thought it was," Nathan added with the same flippancy as Chris smouldered.
"I was actually giving him another two minutes," Vin added.
"Boys," Josiah, ever the voice of reason chose to advise. "This might not be the best time for this."
Being on the receiving end of the infamous Larabee glare seemed to indicate that the former preacher might be right and the three men immediately fell silent and allowed their leader to continue his tirade.
Once Chris had ensured no more flippant remarks from his comrades in arms, he turned to the visitors from Sunnydale with an expression that could only be called stormy. Leaning forward, he fixed his steely gaze on both Buffy and Spike. "You, Slayer, calm the hell down and Spike, get back in your corner and stop snaking her."
"Thank you," Giles said gratefully and thinking to himself that Chris could teach Angel a thing or two about presence, "couldn’t have said it better myself."
"Giles!" Buffy pouted feeling a little betrayed by that crack. "You’re supposed to be my Watcher!"
"And I’m being a responsible one by reminding you that at this time, we have bigger problems then whose fault this is. Right now, we have Angelus, Darla, Drusilla and this time period’s version of Spike in Four Corners desiring to get their hands on Mr. Standish because of our determination to keep him alive."
"Got ya," Buffy sighed and had to concede that Giles and the hottie were right. Even Spike seemed to agree and had returned to his corner so to speak, bringing the room to some semblance of order once again. "So we got four of the Big Bads in town?"
"As bad as they can get," JD replied passionately. "The crazy lady one almost took my head off."
"You’re lucky she didn’t take more then that off," Spike added. "Dru can hold her own in a fight."
"And Angelus is leading them I suppose," Buffy mused, venturing a guess. It was hard to equate Angel with the ruthless creature that was now seeking to end her existence without even knowing it. She wondered what he would think if he knew the real importance of Ezra Standish. Would it alter his decision? After all, there were occasions when Buffy had saved his life not to mention given Angelus to emerge when his evil was submerged by the curse and the return of Angel’s soul. Probably not, Buffy decided after awhile. If anything, Angelus would find it highly amusing even if it cost him his existence.
"Yep," Spike nodded watching her closely for her reaction, more than aware of their past history. He told himself to take it easy on her because there was a connection between Buffy and Angel that he could never break, no matter how much he might hate it. It had to hurt her seeing Angelus. "This is his show all the way."
"But he doesn’t know why my great, great grandpa is so important?" She looked at Ezra and still found it difficult to imagine they shared the same genes. The mention of the word grandpa in association to him made the gambler wince with distaste. It was a reaction that made Buffy feel better though because it was nice to know that he was just as freaked out by this as she.
"Not at this time. He only knows that we’re protecting him." Chris answered the girl now that she was asking sensible questions. When she was not being a typically headstrong, pain in the ass woman that is.
"So we’ve got to get them to leave, without killing any of them." Buffy stated again, her scepticism showing in her face.
"Yes," Giles nodded the affirmative. "The timeline must be maintained."
"That’s easier say then done," Spike voiced what everyone was thinking. "He’s gonna be especially interested now that he knows that there’s a slayer here."
"We’ve got to find them first," Buffy announced firmly seeing no other way to proceed but was open to a different plan if either Giles or the handsome man in black had one. "Sure as hell they’ll be making more vamps and coming after him once Angel, I mean Angelus regroups."
"What if I were to leave?" Ezra inquired. He did not much like the idea of leaving his friends but to spare them from the onslaught of more vampires, he was willing to make the sacrifice. "He cannot find me if I choose to disappear. I do know how to make myself scarce."
"No way Ezra," Vin Tanner declared from his corner of the room. "You ain’t facing this thing on your own. Together, we might be able to fight them off. Alone and you’re easy pickings."
"Nicely put Mr. Tanner," Ezra frowned at the tracker for putting it quite so bluntly.
"And he’s right," Buffy agreed. "If Angelus is interested, he’ll track you down. Believe me, I know. Best thing we can do is stay put and fight."
"I...I...don’t think that running would work anyway," Tara declared. Since regaining consciousness, she had been listening quietly to the conversations being carried out by the others. It was her habit in Sunnydale to fade into the background. Those who knew her were aware she would speak when she had something to say. It was nice to know the seven felt the same way about her but then Tara noticed they were an eclectic bunch who were forced to become accustomed to each other’s way in order for their friendship to endure.
"What if you have to meet your wife here?" Tara offered further. "If you leave, you might not meet her and maybe you’ll never have a family."
"She’s right Ezra," Buck agreed with that assessment. He did not know anything about timelines or alternate realities but he did know something about fate and life had taught him that the more you tried to go around it, the more you ended up in the same place anyway. Fate would not be denied. However, it was never wise to flaunt it either. "You need to be here as planned for things to go as they should."
"So we’re back to square one," Buffy responded a little less encouraged. "We have to make them leave without killing them."
"Something like that," Giles frowned, feeling the impasse as much as she.
"In that case I’d suggest that we move my great great grandpa somewhere else," Buffy suggested grinning at Ezra, being able to tell by the scowl on the gambler’s face that he truly hated being called that. Hey who said she couldn’t have a little fun with this?
"Please don’t do that," Ezra grumbled giving her a dark look. "Its hard imagining that I’ll be siring a gaggle of children, let alone a vampire slayer. I’m not even married!"
"Oh come on," Buffy teased. "I haven’t even told you all the great family stories yet! If we were at home, I’d show you me and Dawn’s baby pictures!"
"Dawn?" Ezra raised a brow because that was a name he had not heard.
"Your other, great, great grand daughter." Buffy took great relish in the groan that escaped the gambler at the mention of her little sister. However, she was suddenly struck by the realization that if she did not exist then the monks protecting the key would not have thought to use her to give it human form. Dawn would not exist either. It took whatever amusement she had derived from the moment.
Fortunately, Ezra was spared having to respond to that statement when they heard pounding at the front door of the shack. Their initial reaction was that the vampires had come back but then realized that the creatures were not in the habit of knocking. All eyes turned to Chris since it was his home and the gunslinger whose gun came unsheathed in his hand, walked cautiously to the door to open it. The knocking had a ring of desperation to it and Chris wondered if a more conventional form of trouble had come to Four Corners in the seven’s absence. The rest of the seven were similarly alerted with weapons drawn while Spike wondered what the concern was all about when his heightened senses detected nothing that could be danger on the other side of the door.
When Chris opened the door, he found that it was not a vampire or any denizen from the underworld but rather Mary Travis, who looked rather dishevelled and clearly frightened.
"Oh Chris!" She cried out unbelievably grateful to see that he was alive and well. Without thinking about the propriety of it, the newspaperwoman wrapped her arms around Chris and embraced him hard. "Thank God you’re safe. I’m so sorry, Chris, I had no choice! He was going to kill her! I had to tell him where you were!"
"Mary calm down," Chris felt slightly warm at the feel of her body against his but did not think it was appropriate for in front of so many people, no matter how thrilled she was to see him or how much he enjoyed the sensation.
"What are you talking about?" He asked when he gently parted from her .and looked her in the eye once more.
"One of those visitors we had to town!" Mary stammered. "I don’t know what his name was but you know who I mean. The ones we thought were European aristocrats! He was a vampire! I know it sounds crazy but its true! He was going to tear this poor girl’s throat out in front of me. I had to tell him where you were!"
"Wow, she’s loud," Buffy quipped, stating the obvious.
Chris shot her a scalding glare before turning back to Mary again, realizing what had caused her terrible panic. Chris was horrified by the notion that Angelus has come after Mary. It had never occurred to the gunslinger that she might be in danger but then he supposed he should have known. Mary was a part of their tight knit group, even if she was not apart of the seven. "He came after you? Did he hurt you? Are you okay? What were you thinking coming here at night? He could have still been out there!"
"Now, he’s doing it." Buffy added.
"Will you cut that out!" Chris fairly roared and it was some feat considering he was not a vampire. "I’m sorry Mary," Chris said turning back to Mary, "it never occurred to me that he’d go after you."
"Chris he knew my name and it felt like he knew me personally but I’ve never even spoken to him. He knew me well enough to know that I would not allow him to kill that girl and he’s a vampire Chris, did I mention that? I know it sound insane!" Mary continued to rave, showing no signs of stopping.
"Excuse me," Spike found the need to interrupt irresistible. The woman’s prattling was getting on his nerves and they were getting nowhere with their discussion about how to deal with Angelus. "Did he looked something like this?" Without giving Mary any warning, he morphed into his vampire’s visage.
Mary’s eyes widened at the sight of him before she let out an ear splitting scream of fright.
Then she fainted.
"Mary!" Chris caught her in his arms before she could land on the floor and then glared at the vampire that was chuckling to himself with a devilish smirk even though the rest of the room was enveloped in muted silence.
"Well that was productive," Giles broke the silence by staring reproachfully at the vampire.
"It got her to shut up didn’t it?" Spike reasoned innocently.
***********
Angelus was even more confused then ever when he returned to the Landers farm in order to rejoin the rest of his family. He would collect his minions’ tomorrow night and then decide what he wanted to do. At the moment, however, he was trying to wrap his mind around what had taken place tonight. How on earth had they managed to bring a slayer here? Angelus was aware like most vampires that the slayer was presently residing in Rhodesia. It was one of the reasons the family had opted to stay away from Africa despite William’s insistence to face her. Both Angelus and Darla knew that as exceptional as his potential might be, William was simply not experienced or seasoned enough to face a slayer and the one that Angelus had seen tonight was certainly that and more. The power he sensed emanating from her was proof of that.
For the second time in as many days, he was forced to run and it was not a situation that he was found at all acceptable. He was Angelus. He ran from nothing, not humans or traitorous vampires and certainly not from slayers. However, he had to recognize the danger the slayer presented and this needed discussion with Darla. His mate had been on this earth far longer than he and while she allowed him to be master of their family, there were times when he needed her counsel. Besides, after the failure tonight, he needed badly to be with her. He had told the family to stay put but conceded that even Darla was not required to obey him unconditionally. She needed to feed just like he did.
When he entered the home they had claimed for themselves only two nights ago, he saw Darla coming out of one of the adjoining rooms to greet him.
"Where have you been?" She demanded, her lovely features etched in worry.
"I’ve been dealing with the humans my love," Angelus responded and saw genuine anxiety on her face and knew something was worrying her beyond the fact that he had been gone for a length of time. They were both creatures of the night and while they hunted together on most occasions, it was not unusual for them to be apart. "What’s happened here?" He asked, his hand cupped her cheek and he began to caress her pale skin gently with a finger.
"Its Drusilla," Darla explained as she broke away from his touch and led him towards one of the rooms. "She’s had one of her turns. A pretty violent one in comparison to the usual."
"Is she alright?" Angelus asked, both concerned about his minion as well as curious regarding the vision that would have precipitated such a dramatic seeing. After the way this night has transpired, he was in need of some good news.
"She’s better now but she was in a terrible state a short time ago," Darla responded as they both entered the room being occupied by Drusilla and William. Naturally, Drusilla’s predilection for dolls and little girl’s toys had made her inclined to claim the room that had belonged to the Landers’ youngest child, a golden haired cherub who had not lasted long in Drusilla’s company. "William is with her now."
"How long ago?" Angelus asked because the timing of it seemed extremely coincidental with what he and his minions experienced prior to reaching humans at Larabee’s shack. They had approached on horseback but Angelus has sworn that as they were nearing the parcel of land, the sky was charged with what felt like a thunderstorm. However, upon reaching their destination, all evidence of it had disappeared, not to mention the lack of one drop of rain anywhere. His senses had told him that there was something strange about the phenomenon and considering that his main opponent was another version of one of his minions, Angelus wondered if Drusilla’s episode was not somehow connected with the bizarre things that were taking place right now.
"Not very long. No more than two hours. Why?" She looked at him suspiciously, realizing that it was not merely an idle inquiry but a question with purpose. "What happened with the humans?"
Angelus did not answer her as they entered Drusilla’s room. William looked over his shoulder and immediately rose to his feet. "Where the hell have you been?"
"I don’t recall having to explain myself to you William," Angelus met his blue eyes with sharp points of warning.
As usual, William showed very little effect of being effected by his threat and retreated only because the young vampire did not wish to distress his black princess. Instead, he ran his fingers over Drusilla’s brow, whispering gently into her ear. "There now pet, look whose back." He cast a brief glimpse at Angelus before returning his attention to Drusilla.
"Hello darling," Angelus moved into Drusilla’s view and the young female raised her unearthly eyes to his face, breathing life into her listless expression.
"Daddy’s home," she smiled sweetly, the traces of holy water that had scarred her the night before was gone. "Something tore a hole daddy, a big hole. The noise hurt my head."
"What was it my precious girl?" Angelus smiled at her, drinking in her delight at seeing him. Drusilla had been his masterpiece and he treated her that way. She had been the culmination of his obsession, a piece of art that he had painstakingly cultivated until all that was pure in what she had once been was stripped down to its bare bones and encased in darkness. He liked to think that she was the caterpillar that had been turned into the butterfly thanks to his hand in her metamorphosis. "Tell daddy what made your head hurt."
Drusilla blinked, taking on that expression she sometimes did when she saw things that were more than just the reality before her. Her eyes could pierce through the seemingly impregnable walls, to catch a glimpse of shadowy reflections of an entirely different order. "She’s here daddy, the one of power, the ones that comes to destroy us all. She’ll tear the family apart."
"Who is she talking about?" Darla demanded, anxious of anything that might ruin what the four of them had. As vampire clans go, there were strong and they were all direct sires of the Master himself, the clan of Aurelius. Darla had been the Master’s sire and in turn she had helped in the creation of the most brutal trio of vampires that had ever walked across the earth.
"The slayer," Drusilla whispered, not really listening.
"The slayer is here." William’s eyes widened with excitement. "Are you sure pet?"
William had been wanting to meet a slayer since Angelus had told the young vampire about the chosen ones, the line of females that were capable of defeating them, who was the only creature alive that could hunt a vampire. The prospect of one being here sent shivers of anticipation through him. Suddenly, the entire situation in Four Corners seemed unimportant next to the possibility that he could face a slayer at long last. Angelus had denied him the chance by avoiding Africa where the slayer was supposed to have been. William did not wish to question what forces had brought her here, not when it would allow him to have his first kill of a slayer.
"Yes," she looked at him strangely and for a moment William saw what appeared to be tears in her eyes as she reached for his cheek. "Oh Spike, she’s going to take you and daddy away. She’s going to leave me all alone."
"That will never happen," Angelus smiled reassuringly at her.
However, Drusilla would not be consoled and she turned away, tears running down her face. "I see it all coming apart daddy, like cobwebs in my head. She’s a spider and she’s eating us all. She’ll take you first daddy and then mummy and when she’s had her fill she’ll take you too my darling Spike, she’ll leave me alone."
"I’ve never seen her like this," William stared at Angelus, sensing the fear from his lover even if he did not understand it. She was terrified. He could feel it oozing out of her like blood. "She’s bloody terrified." William stared at Angelus, hoping he had an answer because he had known Drusilla longer. It was the one time when William wanted Angelus to do something because he could not bear seeing his lover in such a state.
"Dru," Angelus said soothingly. "No one’s leaving you. We’re all here and we’re sure as hell though enough to face anything that might come after us. You’ll never be alone, you’ll always have us. We’re family aren’t we?"
Drusilla did not seem any more at ease because she looked him dead in the eyes and answered. "No you won’t. You won’t be daddy anymore, you’ll be Angel."
***********
Darla followed Angelus out of the room a short time later, sensing something from her chosen mate that disturbed her even more than Drusilla’s visions. When Darla had made Angelus almost a hundred years before, she had only wished to take a mate because at the time, the young man she had encountered in that alley with his dark, brooding good looks and the devil’s own charm, had interested her. She thought to enjoy him for a time but had never imagined that he would become her equal. Within him was darkness waiting exploitation and the demon she unleashed in him revelled in every brutal and sadistic pleasure, teaching her things that even she had not dreamed in her already jaded non-existence. Within a year of taking him as her own, he had made her his and she knew every aspect of him, loved him for his complexity, for making vampires not merely feeders of blood but something to be whispered about by other demons in horrified awe.
That is why she had followed him when he left the room because she knew he was shaken. He had hidden it well of course, Darla was certain that neither William nor Drusilla suspected how shaken he was but she could tell. They had spent a hundred years together, she knew him inside out and she could tell that something Drusilla said had unsettled him greatly. He had walked out of the room, oblivious to the fact that she was behind him, expecting an answer. Darla closed the door behind her for good measure, wishing privacy because she did not want an audience when she confronted him. It would give William to much pleasure to see Angelus upset.
"Angelus, what troubles you?" She asked.
"Nothing," he muttered uncomfortably.
"You cannot hide from me," she said gently and slid her arms around his waist, binding her to him so he could not run but could take some comfort in her touch. "Tell me what is wrong."
"There is a slayer," he answered after a long pause. "I saw her tonight. She was there when I went to get Standish. She killed most of the minions I sired last night."
"Is she the one from Rhodesia?" Darla inquired, surprised by the fact that the slayer whom by all reports was in Africa had somehow miraculously appeared in Four Corners, in the heart of the New Mexican territory.
"I don’t think so," he responded. "She didn’t look African and her clothes were strange. She wasn’t dressed like anyone I’ve ever seen."
"There cannot be two slayers," Darla stated.
"She was a slayer," Angelus insisted. "I felt her power. She was fought well and…." His voice drifted off, almost as if he could not bring himself to say what came next.
"What is my darling boy?" She coaxed gently, sensing his worry growing deeper.
"She knew me," he finally answered. "She looked at me and she knew me."
"I don’t understand," Darla’s brow furrowed. "How could that be? Have you ever met her?"
She was certain he could not have. They had seldom been apart in almost 100 hundred years. If he had encountered a slayer, he would have told her. There were no secrets between them.
"I’ve never met her," Angelus responded, putting to rest her thoughts on that.
"Then how is it possible?" She mused.
"I don’t know," Angelus pulled away from her so that he could turn around. "She knew me and she called me Angel."
Darla stared at him, understanding why he was fearful. If Drusilla was right about that, was she right about everything else? It was clear Angelus feared she might be and if he had reason to worry, then Darla knew something had to be done. For now however, she needed to reassure him.
"Nothing is going to happen to us my darling boy," she smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. "I won’t allow it. Tomorrow night, we will gather our forces and we will go pay these humans a little visit. We’ll finish them once and for all."
"I like the way you think," Angelus smiled at her, drawing strength from her determination. There was very little that Darla did not accomplish when she set her mind to it. "However, I think we need to take more direct means of finding out what is going on. Care to take a little trip with me tonight?"
"I think I can accommodate you," Darla smiled. "What do you have in mind?"
"I plan to find someone who can answer these questions for me," Angelus responded. "One way or another."
***********
"This is all so incredible," Mary Travis mused as she took a sip of the cup of tea in her hands. "I mean I saw it for myself but I can’t believe it."
After Spike’s surprise disclosure, Mary had been revived enough for complete explanations to be made and while the lady had difficulty grasping all of it, the evidence of her eyes convinced her that everything said was the truth, no matter how incredible. Although they did not anticipate trouble this evening, Chris was reluctant for any of them to travel under the cover of darkness and though it was going to be cramped in his small shack, it was agreed that everyone should stay put for the rest of the evening. Since the seven were accustomed to being on the trail, their bedrolls were permanent fixtures on their saddles and the group prepared to bunk down for the night with the ladies taking up the small bedroom.
"Well, it probably would have helped if you Master of Tact over here hadn’t scared you half to death with his game face. " Buffy found herself needing to apologize for Spike and then came to the horrific realization that it was a very girlfriend thing to be doing for the vampire. She narrowed her eyes and shot Spike a venomous glare for placing her in such a position in the first place. Spike caught her expression and furrowed his brow in confusion wondering what had he done now that she was pointing daggers at him.
"It helped didn’t it?" He asked innocently.
"Next time, let me do the explaining," Giles responded, giving Spike a look that bordered on parental disapproval. "I’m more likely to be able to manage without incurring fainting spells."
"Sorry, I forgot what women were like in this day and age," Spike grumbled. "Always fainting or getting the vapours. Got too used to the bra burning types. It’s all petticoats and a complete lack of backbone now isn’t it? Letting the men do all the work, while you sit around at home being pretty."
"Oh boy," Buck winced, wondering if the vampire knew what he had gotten into. "You done it now boy. I’m going to get my stuff, anyone coming with me?"
At least four hands shot up and within seconds, half the seven’s compliment seemed to suddenly come to the conclusion that it was best to make themselves scarce, pre-empting the tirade they knew was going to come from Mary.
"Done what?" Spike stared at him and noted that remaining men were directing him a look of sympathy, even as they were retreating to minimum safe distance. Even Chris Larabee was somewhat anxious and Spike wondered why they were suddenly so nervous.
"Being pretty?" Mary stood up straight and declared hotly. "I’ll have you know that I do not faint regularly Mr. Spike! However, I do think that on this occasion, being confronted so starkly with your demon presence took me by surprise and I was allowed my discretion. I see chauvinism is alive and well in the demon world not to mention the future. I had hoped that blight would be eradicated in a hundred years but I suppose only the times change, men remain the same! Chauvinistic and ill tempered, not to mention misinformed! I do not sit around and let a man do anything for me Mr. Spike! I run my own newspaper and have been doing so quite well since my husband passed on. Most women are in the situation we are because stupid, arrogant men who seem to think that they are the only creatures on God’s green earth with a brain run the world will not allow us to be anything else! Heaven forbid if a woman showed the slightest bit of intelligence!"
"You tell him sister," Buffy grinned, deciding there and then she liked Mrs. Travis quite a bit. She must have been the Gloria Steinham of her time.
"And you Chris!" Mary glared at the gunslinger in her tirade, allowing no one to escape unscathed.
"What did I do?" He cried helplessly and then shot a look at Spike, telling the vampire he would pay for this later on.
"You could have told me that there were vampires roaming about town!" Mary said angrily, wishing she had a bit of warning instead of being taken by surprise as she had and fainting like some weak female.
"I didn’t want to scare you!" He replied automatically and decided that was probably the worst thing he could have said.
"Oh so you just let this creature appear at my door, rather than warning me? What if I had invited him in? Did you ever think about that?" Mary stared at him.
"Well, no…" Chris stammered to explain and then gave up all together. "I thought it was best not trouble you."
"I am not some delicate flower that needs protecting Mr. Larabee! I thought I had proven myself to you on numerous occasions that I am capable of taking care of myself!"
"Sure you are," Chris snorted, feeling his own anger get the better of him. "That’s why I’m always hauling your ass out of trouble. Face it Mrs. Travis you get into more hot water than any woman alive!"
"My ass," Mary hissed, "is none of your concern!"
"Don’t flatter yourself," Chris snapped. "If it was ass that I was after, I can find plenty to accommodate me that wouldn’t give me half as much lip as you do!"
"You pig!" Mary cried out in outrage.
"They always like this?" Spike asked Ezra Standish as they continued to watch the unfolding melee with fascination..
"Oh yes," Ezra grinned as he watched Chris being torn to strips by the lovely blond newspaperwoman. It was always gratifying to see someone as self-assured as Chris Larabee off balanced by Mary Travis. Their arguments were the stuff of legend even though to anyone who saw them together, the reason for such heated emotions was clear enough. "This is one of their more restrained jousts."
"She is so into him," Tara stated quietly.
"Nah," Buffy shook her head. "He’s into her."
"She’s seems a rather spirited woman for her time," Giles agreed, feeling a sliver of pain inside him which he hid from everyone because she reminded him a great deal of Jenny Calendar, a woman he had loved deeply once and had lost to the Master. Jenny had been a techno pagan and had been instrumental in introducing the librarian to the world of computers when she had begun teaching at Sunnydale High. Jenny was one of the first lives the Master had taken upon his emergence from exile and ever since then Giles had avenged her with each vampire he killed.
"Mary’s a tough lady," Vin agreed. "Ain’t many women who goes through what she does in the Territory, running a newspaper, raising a son and all."
"Well someone ought to separate them before blood gets drawn," Giles commented.
"Oh they’ll be fine," Spike shrugged and then a thought filled his head which brought a smile to his face which he just had to share with Buffy. "Sometimes all it takes for two people to get going is just a little bit of violence to kick start things."
His response earned him a sharp nudge in the ribs to which he chuckled deviously to himself, enjoying the private joke immensely, much to the slayer’s chagrin.
"That’s not very romantic," Tara looked at him with her nose wrinkled in disapproval and wondered if this was vampire humour or was he really serious. Did people have relationships that started this way? Still Chris and Mary were fun to watch. "I think they’re kind of cute actually." She took up her observation of the feuding couple once more.
"Cute?" Vin looked at her with a smile and then glanced at Ezra with mischief.
"Mr. Larabee will be thrilled with that description," Ezra remarked and was almost tempted to tell him if he knew that it would probably get him shot, especially after how the gunslinger’s mood would probably be when he and Mary were done arguing.
"I dare you to tell him," Vin challenged.
"If I am going to gamble with my life, I would prefer a less dangerous outcome if I were to lose," the gambler said good-naturedly.
"Now there’s an idea," Spike looked at Ezra with interest. "Fancy a game of poker?"
Ezra raised a brow. The last time he had engaged in a game of poker he had almost been killed for his trouble. "That depends."
"On what?" Spike asked.
"On whether or not you will attempt to tear out my throat if I lose," Ezra retorted.
"Spike cheats at poker!" Buffy blurted smugly and drew a look from her sometime lover.
"Quiet you," he growled, not wishing to explain that to this crowd. "That was playing with demons, this is for real."
"I’m not even going to ask what she means by that," Giles retorted, deciding a little bit of diversion was not a bad idea. Lord knows their attention was already focus on demons and vampires overlords ruling the future and as entertaining as Chris and Mary were, the duo would soon tire or kill each other, which ever came first. "However, if you’re talking about a straight game of poker, you can count me in."
"Me too," Vin added. "Someone’s got to keep you guys honest."
"I resent the implication Mr. Tanner," Ezra stared at him. "I never cheat when it comes to poker."
"Yeah right," Vin remarked in a tone that was completely sceptical of that claim.
"Hey Tara," Buffy motioned the shy young witch to her. Even though it was explained to Buffy that this was not the Tara that she knew, Buffy could not help feeling the same way towards Tara that she felt for Giles. To her, they were still the people she cared about, even if they were from different dimensions.
"Have you noticed how these guys didn’t even ask us if we wanted to play?" Buffy whispered quietly in her ear.
"I did kind of," Tara nodded and noted that the men had gathered around the table with Ezra producing a pack of cards. Mary had walked into Chris’ bedroom and slammed the door on the gunslinger, deciding to turn in for the night rather than continue arguing. Chris in turn had left the shack, opting to seek out the rest of his companions who had decided to take an extra long time in retrieving their bedrolls rather than get caught into the duo’s cross fire.
"We ought to teach them a lesson," Buffy gave Tara a look, her brow raising just a notch in a proposal of mischief.
Tara’s smiled spread across her lips and she found herself asking, "what did you have in mind?"
***********
"Can I play?" Buffy asked about an hour after the men were into the game.
"Can you play pet?" Spike looked over his shoulder at her, somewhat surprised that she wanted in. After all she had never professed any ability to play cards. In fact the last time he had actually been at a poker game, Buffy had not shown the slightest bit of interest.
"Sure I can," Buffy replied confidently. "I played in college."
"You played poker in college?" Nathan exclaimed. "In school?"
"What else are a bunch of college girls going to do at night in a dorm after curfew?" Buffy answered. "Its either poker or all night eating binges where we talk about boys and sex."
Vin and Ezra started choking on their spit and Buffy realized that was probably more than they needed to know. "Sorry," she apologized.
"I suppose sleep is out of the question?" Giles retorted feeling just as uncomfortable about Buffy’s last statement as his old west comrades, but not as obvious in his reaction.
"Giles, you really need to get a life," Buffy pointed out. "Okay deal me in."
"I am certain a descendant of mine will have the skills necessary to acquit herself in this game. After all, gender has never stopped my dear mother from playing with expertise." Ezra recovered enough to say.
"Ezra," Vin stared at him. "Your mother plays better than you."
"Really?" Buffy asked, thinking it kind of cool that her great, great, great grandmother was such a skilful cardsharp.
"I will die before I admit that," Ezra retorted with a completely straight face.
Buck, JD and Josiah were outside taking watch, choosing not to be unprepared if Angelus should choose to come back for a second round tonight. Chris had decided that it was best if they stayed put at least until the morning before they headed back to town. At least in daylight, they could be assured of making that journey safely, especially now that Mary was counted among their number. The lady herself had chosen to retire following her argument with Chris and had promptly taken residence within the small room, which served as his bedroom. The gunslinger himself had opted to stay out of the game. Chris chose to spend the rest of the night staring out the window, claiming that he was keeping watch even though most could tell that his quarrel with the lovely newspaperwoman had upset him more than he liked to admit.
Buffy had not lied when she said she knew how to play poker. In the days before she had started dating Riley at college and when Willow was out with Oz, she had plenty of time to spend by herself in her dorm and had joined a few of the after hours activities undertaken by those who had nothing better to do. Poker had been one of these. Of course, that brief flirtation with the pastime did not mean her skill was anywhere matching that being shown at the table. Although Ezra was the professional card player at the table, Vin and Nathan appeared to be pretty good. Giles managed to hold his own but it was clear that the real challenge lay between Ezra and Spike. She could not tell this time whether or not the vampire was cheating when he had been playing for kittens but he seemed to very good at it.
However, it soon appeared that luck was tilting in her favour as the right cards seemed to come to her with every hand. Sooner than anyone would have liked, Nathan, Giles and Vin had been played out of the game and it was left to Buffy, Spike and Ezra. It pleased Buffy to no end to see the expression of astonishment on Spike’s face at her skill and it was nice to know that occasionally, she could surprise him. In a non-sexual way that is.
"Life must have been pretty boring before Captain Cardboard," Spike commented. "You must have been playing a lot of bloody games."
"I can’t help it," Buffy smirked at him, not at all upset by his less than flattering reference to Riley because there was more to her skill then he knew. "It’s in the genes."
"To that I have to say its true," Ezra responded. "She does have the Standish touch."
"You mean the ability to hide aces up your sleeve?" Nathan quipped with a little smile as they continued to watch.
"I take umbrage at that remark Sir," Ezra declared hotly. "My skill is in the hands. Besides anyone with expertise would never be fool enough to use an ace, its too easy to remember. One picks a card that does not stand out in memory."
"Oh my god," Buffy stared at him. "I really do come from a long line of cheaters’
"That is a harsh word my dear," Ezra said smoothly. "I believe illusionist is a better word."
"Houdini was an illusionist," Buffy retorted not at all fooled by the colourful terminology. "Hiding cards in one sleeves is cheating."
"She’s got you there Ez," Nathan grinned. "Nice to know that one of the Standish’ is gonna learn that. Makes me know that my hard work trying to teach Ezra some scruples isn’t going to waste."
"And I thought slaying was hard," Buffy teased.
"You know, you’re supposed to be on my side, being family and all?" Ezra reminded her.
"I could bite her for you if you like," Spike offered Ezra sweetly.
"You could try," Buffy glared at him. "And when you’re done trying, I’d stake you."
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Vin asked interrupting the two of them before they were treated to the Sunnydale version of Chris and Mary.
"Reform school," Spike retorted and earned a jab in the shoulder for his trouble.
"Giles trained me," Buffy answered after a second of staring hatefully at Spike.
"You taught her to fight like that?" Chris exclaimed, somewhat surprised that the gentle librarian had the skill to teach the girl to kill vampires and to defend herself in general with such polished savagery. The rest of the seven present shared his astonishment as their eyes turned to the Watcher.
"Well not this Giles," Buffy quickly clarified for their understanding. "My Giles, the one I remember." She met Giles’ gaze, wishing he was her vGiles, the man who had been there for her during the hardest events in her life, who always ensured that no matter how many times she fell, he would be there to pick her up and set on her feet again. He was also the one who had left her because he loved her enough to let her go because she needed that nudge to stand up for herself to reclaim her life and her existence. As much as Buffy hated him for that, she also loved him for it. "It was his job."
"I must say he did exceptionally well," Giles swallowed wishing that he had known what it was like to be her Watcher because the affection in her eyes touched him deeply. A Watcher’s allegiance was to the Council first, the slayer second. It was clear that her Giles had crossed the emotional barriers that were supposed to keep the Watchers neutral. Buffy had loved his alternate self like a father and he could not help being moved by that affection as well as feeling a little envious. He had always hoped to be Watcher to a slayer but that was not meant to be. He had not regretted it until now.
"Yeah," Buffy nodded with a bittersweet smile. "You could say that."
"Well young lady," Ezra stared pointedly at her direction returning her thoughts to the game she was playing. "What do you bet?"
Buffy allowed a smug smile to steal across her features before shifting her rather sizeable win into the centre of the table, making the pot already there look even more tempting. "Everything," she said confidently.
"Everything?" Her opponents voiced their surprise quite vocally.
"If I were you guys, I’d start to worry," Chris remarked with an amused smile, speaking for the first time in a while.
"She’s bluffing." Spike stated.
"What makes you say that?" Vin asked, not believing him for a second. The slayer looked all too satisfied to be playing a bluff.
"Because you don’t spend as much time wanting to kill a person without learning something about her," the vampire retorted but he did not seem nearly as certain as Buffy did about her hand.
"I must concur with my demonic opponent on this," Ezra added his voice into the mix, studying the young woman closely and was sure that this was a bluff. He had paid attention to where the cards had gone and noble types like her were too pure to cheat, even if she had Standish in her bloodline. "I believe the lady is bluffing, in which case I match your bet and call."
"Spike?" Buffy turned to her lover. "If you wanna see my cards, you’re going to have to pay."
"I still say you’re bluffing luv," Spike declared and took up her challenge by matching her stake in the center of the table.
"Buffy perhaps it was unwise to take such an exorbitant gamble," Giles found it necessary to remark, although he supposed that would have been a better warning if he had made it before the other two opponents had called her bluff.
"Trust me Giles," she gave the Watcher a confident grin, unable to help feeling the same towards him as she would with her Giles, especially when he wore the same comfortable manner.
"Alright then my dear," Ezra stared at her in expectation. "It is time to see if you have inherited the Standish touch. Let’s see your cards."
Buffy took a deep breath and presented her cards to her opponents, relishing their exclamations of shock when they saw what she had been holding in her hand.
"I don’t believe it," Nathan cried out. "A royal flush!"
"But…but…that’s impossible!" Ezra stammered as he stared in shock at the perfectly sequenced collection of spades, starting from the ace and finally reaching its customary end at the ten. "I was certain I saw those cards before."
"Don’t be a sore loser Ez," Vin drawled.
Spike however, did not say anything for a few seconds. Instead he looked around the room and noted that Tara was seated by herself in a corner, appearing to read but somehow her concentration as elsewhere. He watched her for a few seconds as Ezra tried to comprehend how Buffy could have won with the cards she had and noticed that Tara took an inordinately long time to turn the page she was reading. Suddenly, it came to him what tricks the slayer was up to. He was almost tempted to expose her but the argument she was presently having with her gambling ancestor was just too fun to watch.
"Are you accusing me of cheating?" Buffy’s voice sliced through his consciousness.
"If I did not think you incapable of it, I would say yes," Ezra responded haughtily. He had watched the game closely, there was no way she could have cheated without his knowing it. Ezra prided himself in knowing every trick to the game. There were people he could tell were cheating just by the look on their faces.
"Jesus, Ezra," Chris found himself saying. "Take it like a man."
"But…but…there is just no conceivable way she could have done it!" Ezra cried out in exasperation and looked to Spike. "Do you not find it peculiar?"
"Sure I do mate," Spike chuckled. "But then I’m used to dealing with Slayers and their magician friends."
"Hey I resent that!" Buffy said defensively but not before a smile of pure mischief crossed her face. "Tara likes to be called a witch not a magician."
"Thank you," Tara chuckled from where she was, enjoying her part in this little mischief. She did not get to do it often enough.
"You cheated using magic?" Ezra stared at her in accusation, not knowing whether or not he should be angry or proud.
"How else was I gonna teach you guys a lesson for not inviting me?" Buffy winked as the room started to rumble with laughter.
Unfortunately, whatever amusement to be had in Buffy and Tara’s little bout of trickery was soon forgotten when JD burst into the room, awkwardly supporting Buck on his considerably smaller frame. The big man was bleeding from the neck from what appeared to be a bite wound. Buck, JD and Josiah had been keeping guard outside, even though Chris had not thought that the vampires would be back tonight. However, it had seemed prudent to take the precaution. Now, it appeared that once again, he had underestimated Angelus’ determination to discover the truth.
"Where’s Josiah?" Chris demanded when he realized the preacher was not with them.
Buck seemed too dazed to answer but JD’s expression was grim and without even speaking, they knew what his answer would be.
Josiah was with Angelus.
For a few seconds after the news about Josiah had been made known to them, no one could speak. A heavy silence descended upon all of them as they struggled in their own way to deal with the terrible news. The words felt almost unreal as it seeped into their bones and made its denial impossible once it intermingled with blood and become apart of them. Typically it was Nathan who came to life first, his imperative to help Buck overriding his shock. His healer’s instincts kicked in immediately as he hurried to them. Buck was not quite unconscious but he was getting there. The stain of crimson spreading from his collar in a downward descent indicated that Nathan had not much time. Nathan’s actions breathed life to the others and as Nathan reached Buck, Mary emerged from the adjoining room to investigate the commotion.
"How bad is it?" Chris asked Nathan as the healer made a quick examination of the bite mark on Buck’s neck as he and JD brushed past the others.
"I’m not sure," Nathan responded as Mary quickly vacated the small bedroom so that Nathan could treat Buck there. "I don’t think his jugular’s been punctured," he ventured a guess. "If it were, he would be dead by now."
"I manage to get that Darla woman off him," JD explained. "You know how Buck is around women, he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her, not until it was too late."
Unfortunately, Chris did. If there were one thing that could be considered a blind spot in his normally capable old friend’s psyche, it would be his reaction to women. Buck was a notorious womanizer because he adored women, in all shapes and forms. His upbringing in a bordello coupled with the fact that his mother, a working girl, had lavished shameless affection on him despite how he had come to her, had a great deal to do with his attitude to them. Buck did not believe women could be just as mean and conniving as men could. He often defended the bad behaviour of many of the sex by claiming its cause was usually a life of abuse or some misfortune to which a man should attempt to make amends by kindness. Chris had lost count of how many time Buck had gotten into trouble because of that kind of thinking.
Like now.
Darla had chosen well when she approached Buck who no doubt would have fallen sway to her beauty, believing that there had to be some trace of humanity in her that would not harm he. Chris wondered if Buck had finally learnt his lesson when she sunk her fangs into his neck. Thinking about Buck’s injury, his mind immediately settled on Josiah who was in an even worse situation. It was still several hours to daylight and more than enough time for the vampires to spirit him far enough away for them to never find him. Chris hesitated to use the word ‘alive’.
"JD," Chris called out as the younger man disappeared into the room. "Once you’re done with helping Nathan with Buck I want you to show us where they jumped you. We’re going after them."
"You have no idea where they went," Giles spoke up.
"I can track them," Vin responded automatically as he went towards the door.
"In the dark?" Buffy asked with surprise.
"Done it before," the tracker said shortly.
"Giles, you and Tara stay here," Buffy turned to her Watcher and the young Wiccan. "Help Nathan with the big guy."
"What about you?" Giles asked.
"We’re going with them," Buffy stated, giving Chris a look that defied him to say otherwise.
"So am I," Ezra replied with just as much conviction.
"NO YOU AREN’T!" Buffy and Chris declared in unison before exchanging embarrassed glances at each other over having the same thought.
"You cannot expect me to stay here?" Ezra stared at them with incredulity. "You need all the help you can get!"
"We do," Chris did not bother to deny that. "However, right now, everything hinges on you staying alive. If you get killed out there," he glanced at Buffy, "she gets wiped out of existence and I rather that didn’t happen when we’re in the middle of a fight. Besides, the safest place for you to be right now is in here. They can’t come in without an invite and someone’s got to protect Buck and the others if they come back."
Ezra stared at him for a few seconds before speaking, "I am assuming you included that final portion so that I would not feel completely useless?"
"Never can get anything by you Ez," Chris retorted with a little smile, even though his mood was anything but humorous. "Come on let’s get going." He ordered.
"Chris," Mary found her voice in the midst of all this discussion. The idea that he was going to face the creature she had seen at her door tonight, terrified Mary to no end. "Be careful," she said softly.
Of course there was nothing else she could say. She could not tell him not to go because he would never listen to her and even if she admitted how much it would hurt losing him, she would never force that burden upon him. His friends had breathed life into his wounded heart. To force him to choose between them and her was an injury she would never make him suffer. So she remained silent, allowing her few words to tell him all that was needed for now.
Chris saw it all in her eyes, what was spoken and unspoken between them. He nodded slightly in a show of understanding before turning away to Ezra. "Keep everyone safe Ezra."
"God speed Chris," Ezra returned and watched them leave with the hope that God was indeed watching.
***********
"You can take Buck’s horse," Chris told Buffy as they walked to the coral where the horses were presently hitched.
"You mean ride?" Buffy stammered.
Suddenly, everyone froze in their tracks and stared at the slayer.
"You can’t ride?" Chris cried out in exasperation. How on earth did these people in the future get anywhere!
"I got led around on a pony once at a petting zoo," Buffy volunteered reluctantly only to hear the man in black uttering a litany of curses that made her blush.
"Its alright," Spike broke into the conversation before the gunslinger popped a vein. "She can ride with me."
"Thank Christ," Chris muttered and started walking again. The three lawmen were striding forward purposefully and Buffy did not doubt that Angelus might have reason to regret kidnapping on of their own. Chris, did not appear to be a man who took kindly to threats against to his friends and there was just enough edge to this dark mood that told that Buffy that when it overtook him, he could be especially savage. He reminded her a little of herself in that way and Buffy wondered whether or not Spike had got it wrong, that she was not related to Ezra but rather Chris, since his demeanour was so much like hers.
"You can ride?" Buffy asked quietly as she walked alongside of him. Buffy was too accustomed to seeing him in his black Desoto or the motorcycle he had acquired recently. It was difficult to picture a vampire who had a penchant for Billy Idol and the Sex Pistols astride a horse.
"I was born quite a few years before this time you know," he said as a matter of factly. "It was horses until the late 1900’s."
"Just can’t picture you on a horse that’s all," Buffy remarked, supposing she did not know very much about who he had been when he was human. "I think of men on horses and I think of Prince Charming. You are so not Prince Charming."
"So you keep telling me," he said sarcastically, as if he needed to have his nose rubbed in it at just how unsuitable he was for her hand or her affections. "I suppose I shouldn’t expect much better since I’m convenient."
With that Spike hastened his pace to catch up with the three men who were leaving them behind rapidly in their eagerness to reach their friend. Buffy paused a moment, startled that he had brought that up and the flippancy that she would normally have used to counter his acerbic remark did not surface. In its place, something else did and Buffy hated to admit that it felt uncomfortably like guilt. She felt guilty for having said that to him. She was suddenly reminded of how Parker had treated her. Parker had been her first lover after Angel had left Sunnydale. In her haste to find love with someone who was remotely normal, she missed all the signs of what kind of person he really was. Unfortunately, she learnt that lesson the hard way after spending the night with Parker only to have him discard her as if she was nothing. It was too Buffy’s absolute horror that she realized that she was now treating Spike the same callousness.
As far as Buffy was concerned, her feelings for Spike were uncharted territory. When she thought about them, she usually found her weighing the positive and the negatives of having any kind of relationship with a vampire. It was not as if this was new to her. The same debate had raged on within her when Angel was in her life. However, Spike was not Angel. In some ways this was a good thing. It was good because if were he too much like Angel, she would only be using him as a replacement and even she had enough conscience to know that was wrong. The most basic difference was the fact that Angel as in possession of a soul and Spike did not.
At least she did not think he did but then the question of the soul these days was a matter of perspective. He loved her. She had no doubt of that. He had almost endured disembowelment by Glory to protect her and Dawn from the hell god and ensured that while she had been dead, Dawn had been safe. Could a demon without a soul love her as much as he had proven on countless occasions? Xander would argue that she would be a fool to love someone like Spike or even reciprocate the deep feelings he had for her. She did not believe that was true. Angel had been accused of far worse crimes than Spike could even begin to imagine and she had been able to forgive him. It could be said that Angel had a soul and should be forgiven but where love was concerned, Buffy had given much thought to the whole concept of late. Angel needed a soul to love her because as soon as he had lost it, Angelus had torn her life apart. Spike on the other hand loved her even though he did not have a soul and was far less willing to leave her. Everything about Spike was a contradiction and the more Buffy tried to wrap her mind around it, the less certain she became about how she felt.
Did she love him?
She did not know and that was the most honest answer she could give at the moment. She did know that he understood her like no one else did and that he loved the woman she was underneath the Slayer that dominated her life. Despite all the abuse she had hurled at him of late, particularly the comment about him being convenient which she had been too confused to know at the time had hurt him deeply, he still remained at her side, determined to help her and Dawn. And what about where they were now? According to Giles, the future without her had been a vampire Utopia. Spike did not even have the chip any more and yet he was doing everything to ensure its return by changing the events that saw her wiped out of existence.
Life was so much less complicated when he was trying to kill her.
The smell of animals reminded her of where she was and she blinked seeing the corral where the horse were kept. Chris, Vin and JD were already mounting their horses while Spike was staring at her expectantly.
"Come on Princess," he said sarcastically as he motioned her forward. "Prince Charming awaits."
Buffy’s response was a scowl followed by a most unladylike gesture with her middle finger that crossed the language barrier more clearly than words could ever manage.
"Now is that any way for a lady to behave?" Spike teased.
"Drop dead, Spike." She snapped as he heaved her into the saddle.
"Too late," he grinned at her. "Been there, done that."
***********
Josiah did not think it was possible to be hit that hard.
Most of the time, people who saw his bulk would usually think twice about making the effort. After all, who would want to provoke a stoutly built preacher with a hair trigger temper unless they really had to? It had been a long time since Josiah had been knocked out cold, so cold that he was only now regaining consciousness and it was to his utmost alarm that he realized that where he had lost consciousness, was not where he was waking up. Even as he opened his eyes to darkness, he felt his head swimming with vibrations of lingering pain. It did not help that the darkness was assaulting his senses with its pitch black intensity and the terrible musty smell that told him he was in a cellar of some sort. However, underlying that door of dust was something else, something unspeakable. His mind latched onto the scent because during his preaching days he had attended more than his share of funerals. The inside of this room he was presently occupying smelled like a tomb.
The last thing that he remembered was hearing JD screaming for help because Buck whom at the time had left to take care of a little private had somehow run into trouble. Josiah did not know the specifics but he remembered running after JD who was off like a shot, despite the preacher’s entreaties to slow down and wait for him. At the time, Josiah’s primary concern in the warning was to ensure that the young man did not run headlong into something he could not handle. It did not occur to him that he ought to be concerned for his own welfare. As JD disappeared into the darkness, Josiah had suddenly found himself alone with only the sound of Buck’s cries to act as beacon in the night. Since learning about vampires and the existence of the supernatural, Josiah had good reason to fear the darkness around him but he assumed that if there was any danger to be had, it would be directed towards the house where Ezra and the slayer were presently residing.
It never occurred to him that he was the intended target because he was alone.
Angelus appeared out of nowhere, like a shadow suddenly given life. The vampire was tall and well built. Had he been human, Josiah would have been slightly concerned at pitting himself against Angelus. However, he was not human and coupled with vampire strength, Josiah was soon shown how outmatched he was. The creature overcame him easily with a series of blows that left the preacher staggering. The last thing he remembered before waking up here was Angelus’ leering face as the final strike connected with his jaw and then everything had gone black.
And continued to remain so.
He found that he was not bound and could move about freely. Pushing himself off the dusty floor, Josiah clawed the air around him to find support to help him move in his darkened surroundings. He put one tentative foot forward, reasoning that if he found a wall, then it would inevitably lead him to a door if he followed it. His first step yielded nothing in his way and he took his second and then a third, occasionally running into something that he was able to navigate around without tripping over or worse. Eventually he reached his objective and began the arduous journey of feeling his way to the door. He rather wondered why they had not tied him up, since it had to be academic that he would run as soon as he found the opportunity. Considering the danger to his immortal soul in their hands, it could not be any other way.
Josiah did not deny that he was afraid. Since this had all began, Josiah’s faith in his God had strengthened a thousand fold because he now had incontrovertible proof of the Almighty’s existence. Not many men were given that kind of assurance and though knowing God existed did little to change the present course of his life, it did give him comfort knowing that when he prayed, God was actually listening. It was not important that he received an answer because he was not so arrogant to think that God planned his day around Josiah’s problems and also because Josiah preferred to find his own answers. Still, it was good to know that he was listening.
"You’re making good progress there preacher," a voice suddenly filled the air and froze Josiah in his tracks.
Somehow, Josiah was not entirely surprised that there was someone in the room with him. He had questioned why he had not been tied up or restrained in anyway, he supposed now he knew. The vampire had been waiting quietly in the dark, having superior vision to see him without the use of any light and no need to take breath, maintaining his anonymity as he watched his prey and waited for him to wake up. For Josiah, being caught did not feel as bad as never having any chance of escape at all. The preacher let out a heavy sigh and remained where he was, seeing no need to continue but having no wish to return to the place he had been.
The strike of a match soon after flooded the room with light and Josiah found that he was indeed in a cellar. Unfortunately, the light showed him the smell of death that he had earlier identified came not from the walking undead in the room with him but rather what was left of the earlier occupants of the residence. Josiah closed his eyes and forced his revulsion away because that was the least of his troubles at the moment. Angelus sat on a chair, facing an empty one as he waited for Josiah to speak.
"What do you want?" The preacher finally asked.
"Lots of things," Angelus remarked with a smile. "The sun going on the world forever, a houseful of lusty wenches for the turning, the possibilities are endless but for now," he turned his dark eyes on Josiah. "I’d settle for information."
Josiah stared at him hard and replied softly, "you’ll have to settle for something else. I don’t have any."
"You don’t have any?" Angelus laughed out loud as if finding his resistance amusing. "My father was a preacher back in Ireland, you know. Made my life a hell as boy growing up. He seemed to think that I ought to following in his path, made me suffer when I wouldn’t. He told me that I would be damned for eternity. I guess he was right there but he kept telling me things anyway. He always seemed to have something to say. I find it hard to believe that any man of the cloth even when they’re supposed to abandon the faith would have nothing to say."
"Believe it," Josiah retorted. "I’m not telling you anything."
"I’m sorry to hear that preacher," Angelus replied coldly. "This relationship might have ended amicably."
"How amicably would it have ended? I doubt you were going to let me go," Josiah answered trying to control his fear, telling himself that he had done much in his life for which penance was owed. It appeared that he might be accounting himself before God sooner than he liked. However, if it meant saving his friends from this monster, he could accept it.
"No I wasn’t," Angelus replied with a smile. "That’s still something left over from my father that keeps me from lying to a man of God. I was going to kill you but how you die is entirely up to you. It can be quick or it can be slow and do not doubt me when I say that I have had an exceptionally long time to sharpen my skill in how slow it can be."
Josiah suppressed the tendril of fear that was wrapping itself around his spine and faced Angelus, determined that he would not give into this creature and betray his friends. "Then I suppose we better get started."
***********
Frankly Buffy was amazed that there was any trail to follow at all as they rode into the night. Dawn was only a few hours away and if they did not find the preacher soon, Spike would have to turn back before the sunlight killed him. The urgency of more than just that was pressing down on them however, the possibility that Josiah could be lost to them in a way worse than death preyed heavily upon all their minds. The three men said little but when they did speak, they were all business. Chris was the most sombre of them all and seemed to take it personally that Josiah had been taken by Angelus. Buffy could not imagine why he would think that way when it was mere chance that allowed the abduction.
Vin Tanner seemed to be able to find tracks in the most obscure places, in a broken branch, in the groove of dirt which somehow translated to him as more than just irregularities in the ground but a vague path that they could follow. She marvelled at his ability to track at night but apparently prior to his arrival in Four Corners, Vin had tracked buffalo and that made him quite adept at nocturnal hunting. If there were time, she would have asked him to teach her some of what he knew because it would have been a very useful skill for a slayer to have.
For some reason, Spike seemed somewhat agitated as well. It was hard enough riding double on horseback with him and trying not to get lost in how his closeness next to her but he was unusually tense which somewhat surprised her, not to mention unusually determined to find the preacher. Buffy could not imagine why that would be the case because she could think of no less likely person for Spike to befriend than a man of the cloth. Of course, even as she thought that, she was reminded of the fact that it was as unlikely as a vampire falling for a slayer.
"I can smell blood," Spike remarked as they paused briefly in their journey for Vin to seek out more tracks. "They were here."
"There’s a little of it on the ground," Vin sniffed the dirt in his hand. "The horses slowed down about here, probably needed the rest after hard riding." The tracker guessed.
"What’s around here?" Chris asked, looking around the place with its tall trees framing the trail they were taking.
"Not much," Vin answered. "A couple of homestead, scattered around but that’s about it."
"Angelus wouldn’t go to far," Spike responded. "He’d have to get where he was going before daylight and he’d want to talk to the preacher in a hurry."
"You mean torture him," Buffy blurted out, remembering what Angelus had did to Giles once in his efforts to learn the secrets of Acathla’s awakening.
The four men tensed and Spike gave Buffy a dark look that warned her against being so frank. The preacher meant a great deal to them and they did not need to be reminded what the stakes were if they did not find him.
"Josiah won’t talk," Chris said firmly.
"Are you sure?" Buffy had to ask even if he did not wish to face the possibility.
Chris stared at her sharply. "Yeah I’m sure," he retorted. "Josiah’s tough. Unfortunately, he’s also got one hell of a death wish."
"Excuse me?" Her eyes widened, thinking she had heard wrong for a moment.
Chris did not respond and simply walked back to his horse, leaving Vin to do the honours. JD seemed just as uncomfortable about answering because he did not understand enough to explain it.
"He’s calls it the hearing the crows," Vin sighed before answering them. "Ever since we met him, he has this strange idea that he’s time had come, that the crows were gonna come for him. He ain’t been so bad since we got together but he’s more than ready to die. If Angelus tortures him, Josiah would die before saying anything."
"Makes sense," Spike nodded in understanding as Vin and JD turned back to mount their horses to begin riding again.
"It does?" Buffy looked at him because she could not see what birds had to do with death.
"In lots of cultures, its believed that crows come when someone is about to die," Spike explained. "It’s a very old legend."
"Since when did you become knowledge guy?" She asked.
"Since I’ve been around about a hundred and twenty years longer than you?" He snorted. "In any case, it’s not going to happen. I’m not going to let the preacher die, no way."
"Not that I’m not impressed by this sudden show of compassion Spike," Buffy retorted sceptically as he helped her into the saddle again. She could not quite get use to riding an animal to get from one place to another yet. "But when did you decide to join the human race?"
"I didn’t," the vampire hissed with annoyance. "But the preacher was decent to me. Not many people especially men of the cloth would give a vampire the time of day. So I don’t want him hurt just because of some mess than came about because of me."
"That’s not going to happen," Chris said firmly, touched by Spike’s words and glad to know that something more than duty motivated the vampire’s desire to help them find Josiah. He considered the situation carefully and tried to outthink his enemy. Vin’s clues were leading them in the right direction but Chris feared that it was still taking too much time. "Vin, what homesteads are around here?"
"Cal Anderson’s place isn’t too far from here," Vin ran off the names in his mind to the best of his recollection.
"No, that wouldn’t work," Chris shook his head. "Cal has a dozen men working for him on his spread and a family. If they tried for a place like that, you can count on at least one person making it out a live to warn us. I get the impression that Angelus wouldn’t want any fuss."
"You’re right," Spike agreed. "Knowing my sire like I do, he’d want to keep it on the quiet."
"What else is around here?" Chris inquired. Vin patrolled more than any of the seven because the tracker felt the bustle of town too much for him. Vin preferred wide open spaces and was known to take off for days at a time just so he could enjoy the quiet existence he had lived before making Four Corners his home.
"Patterson’s place is at least two hours away," Vin added.
"Too far," Spike immediately discounted it. "He wouldn’t take the risk."
"There’s the Landers," Vin suggested and then his expression became grave.
"What is it?" JD and Chris caught the expression in his eyes.
"The Landers place is small," Vin said softly, "there’s only the four of them. Mr. and Mrs. Landers and their two children."
"That’ll be it then," Spike said firmly. "If I know Angelus, he would have checked out the area before he needed the place. Bastard’s very thorough that way."
"How far is their spread from here?" Chris asked tautly, aware, as all of them were that the Landers were most likely already dead.
"About an hour in that direction," Vin nodded towards the west.
"I say we take the gamble and try for it," Buffy suggested. She thought of that entire family, allowing Angelus and the others into their house, probably thinking it was an act of kindness, unaware that it was probably sealing their doom. Her blood filled with anger and wondered how many others there had been since their arrival in Four Corners. They should not be dead! If it were not for that damn demon, they would not be.
"If it means finding Josiah, what the hell." JD agreed with the young woman who gave him a little smile for his show of support.
"Let’s get going," Chris declared. "Don’t want to lose any more people than we already have over these damn things."
***********
The screaming hurt his throat but he could not help it.
It was the only way he could keep himself from telling them what they wanted to know. The pain was intense, it swallowed him whole and Josiah wanted only for it to stop. He could feel the blood running down his chest, could feel the blisters on his skin where the poker from the fire had seared his skin, branding him for his inevitable death. His fingernails were broken from digging into the armrest of the chair he was now bound to endure his torture. Not that the fingers they were attached to were of any use either, they too were broken, having been splintered apart by Angelus in the opening act of his torture session. His face felt warm but it was no longer the heat of the open fire warming it, it was hot and flushed because he was in agony.
He swallowed thickly and found that he had no saliva to soothe his sore throat. He wanted to gag but he would spare himself that indignity after letting them hear him scream. The stench of burning flesh, of his burning flesh, filled the air and taunted him with nausea. Josiah knew that he was hurt badly. The vampire Angelus had tried to be subtle at first with his fingers but had soon moved on to more brutal tactics, the fire being the most recent of his suffering. At some point, impatience had driven Angelus to tear through his skin with razor sharp nails and he knew that the slashes across his abdomen were serious cuts for they did not seem to stop the bleeding. Angelus had made him scream with ease but could not make him talk.
His father had always told him he was a stubborn creature that would be bound for hell if he did not learn compliance and obedience. He wondered if Angelus would find it amusing to know that Josiah’s father had not been that different from his own. Like Angelus, Josiah had learnt in his own time and way that the good book was a matter of interpretation and both their fathers had got it all wrong. Josiah felt grateful that he was blessed with stubbornness because ironically, that quality was keeping him from becoming a creature of hell.
"You’re a tough one preacher," Angelus spoke again, appearing almost as weary by all this as he.
"Maybe he needs to reflect," Darla sauntered over to him. "Perhaps he needs to see things from a different perspective." She reached for his swollen jaw and smiled at him. "You are a strong man, preacher, both in spirit and in body. This does not have to be so brutal, it could even be quite pleasurable."
She lowered her lips to his and took his mouth in a seductive kiss that was more invasive than it was exploratory. Josiah found himself responding a little because despite the coolness of her kiss, there was much passion in it. He wondered how many men had doomed themselves because of their weakness to the power of those lips and the illusion of warmth that it seemed to generate. He wondered if Angelus had been lost that way.
"No," Josiah wrenched himself away from her. "I don’t mind dying," he said through his bleeding and cracked lips. "I do mind damning myself to hell."
Darla’s seductive mask changed into an expression of rage to which she expressed by striking him across the face, tearing three deep gashes across his cheek. "Kill him!" She snarled. "We’re not going to get anything from him."
"Leave him to me for awhile," William said confidently.
"Leave him to you?" Angelus looked at the third vampire in the room with blatant scepticism. "Spike my boy, you’re even less subtle than I am. What makes you think you can make him talk?"
"You’re not having any bloody luck are you?" The younger vampire said snidely. "Let me have a go. What’s the worst that could happen?"
"Not much I suppose," Darla fumed, still smarting from being rejected by a mere human. "I doubt you’d fare any better."
"I suppose there is no harm in it is there?" Angelus looked down upon his lover and caressed her shoulder in an effort to soothe her bruised ego after Josiah’s refusal to submit to her charm. "Alright then Spike, see what you can do with him."
"I’ll make him dance to a little tune by the time I’m done with him," William said cockily as his older companions left the room for the time being. William watched them go as Josiah contemplated what fresh hell he was about to face at the hands of this younger, more brutal version of the vampire he had come to know.
William waited until after Darla and Angelus had left the room before he locked the door behind them. Josiah watched the vampire whom he would one day know as Spike and noted that time had done very little to change their mannerism. William moved with the same predatory confidence that Spike did and his hair was a honey blond as opposed to the unnatural white gold that the future version favoured. He was dressed in suit instead of being entirely in black although he had discarded the suit coat. He pulled up the chair that Angelus had previously occupied and sat the wrong way on it as he faced Josiah.
"Fact is I couldn’t care less about why there’s another version of me here," William declared.
Josiah did not speak but was curious as to what he did care about.
"There’s strange magic going on here and I don’t like it, don’t even want to go messing about with it to tell you the truth."
"What do you want?" Josiah asked wearily, wishing he would just get on with it. Conversation was almost as exhausting as the torture, if not more. Conversation required him to think and Josiah did not wish to do that.
"I want to leave here," William stated. "I don’t like it much and it’s playing havoc with Dru. The magic hurts her. I don’t want to see her in pain."
Josiah honestly believed the sincerity that William had in his voice when he spoke about the vampire female Drusilla. As he did, Josiah could see that the same deep affection in his eyes that Spike had held for Buffy. Spike, William, whatever he was, must have been a contradiction. He was something that could not possibly be but was nonetheless. What was it that allowed him to feel the way he did? That allowed him to transcend the demon impulses within him to feel so much for another being?
"I can’t make that happen." Josiah replied.
"No you can’t," William nodded in agreement. "But you can give me the slayer."
The preacher’s eyes widened.
"If I get the slayer, I can convince Angelus to leave. Dru had a vision tonight and it scared the hell out of Angelus. He thinks I didn’t notice how spooked he was but I did. He’s bloody terrified. If I can kill this slayer, then whatever Dru saw will come undone and Angelus will be able to leave this place."
"I can’t give you the slayer," Josiah responded.
"No," William conceded that. "But you can tell me where she’ll be. Give me that and I’ll let you go. I’m not like Angelus, I don’t particularly give a bleeding stuff if you’re a preacher or not. If you ask me, I think he’s got some parental issues that have followed him from his human life."
"You’ll let me go?" Josiah stared at him sceptically.
"I’m a vampire of my word," William stated.
"That’s not very reassuring," Josiah said weakly.
"Probably not," William could not blame him for his scepticism. "But that’s all you got."
"I have no reason to trust you," Josiah swallowed, something of a plan forming in his mind. It was in all honesty, a long shot but he had to try. The alternative was to remain here and be killed anyway. If given a choice, Josiah would rather die trying for freedom then doing nothing. "You could get what you want and kill me anyway and I doubt that Angelus would allow you to follow through with your end of the bargain of letting me go."
"Angelus doesn’t scare me." William retorted somewhat offended by Josiah’s suggestion that he needed Angelus’ approval to do anything.
"You can’t offer me what you don’t have," Josiah replied before looking away, appearing convinced that William was in no position to help him. To a certain extent, he did not think this gamble was going to work but Josiah had no choice but to try.
"I can do whatever I bloody want," William stated, properly annoyed by the fact that Josiah thought him to be weaker and beholding to Angelus. "Look," he reached for the ropes binding Josiah’s hands. "I can free you."
Within a few seconds both of Josiah’s hands were free but it would take more than that for Josiah’s freedom to come to him. He was not so delirious with pain to not realize that. Sucking a deep breath, feigning relief and compliance, he raised his eyes to the vampire who was looking down at him with a smug expression, gloating over proving Josiah wrong, that he did have the power to free the preacher.
"I don’t suppose I could have a drink of water?" Josiah looked up hopefully.
The vampire considered the request a moment and then retreated to the far corner of the room and poured Josiah a drink from a jug of water that had been left there by the previous owners of the home. He brought the cup to Josiah who raised it to his lips.
"Now preacher," William stated, turning his back on the man as he slaked his thirst. "Give me the slayer or I’ll kill you myself."
Josiah wasted no time the moment William’s gaze had moved away and offered a silent pray to his God for favour just once more. His hand moved quickly, making the sign he had not made in too long but would make all the difference if his faith still held and as far as Josiah knew this entire situation had only served to make it more iron clad that it had ever been. William noticed the movement but not what Josiah had done, swinging around suspiciously to face the preacher once more.
"What..." he started to say when he realized that Josiah was in the same position he had left him, holding his cup of water and quenching his thirst. Upon realizing that nothing had changed, William’s impatience grew short.
"Enough of this," William strode purposefully towards Josiah, preparing to resort to more physical methods of acquiring his information when suddenly Josiah stood up and flung the contents of the cup into the vampire’s face.
William’s scream followed Josiah’s desperate lunge through the window. The preacher did not care about the damage he would do to himself, interested only in escape. Wood and glass shattered as he passed through the opening into the cool night air, his whole body screaming in protest from the exertion. Josiah did not look behind him to see what had happened to William, knowing only that the drink he had blessed and had turned into holy water was enough to do enough damage to the vampire. Josiah did not know where he was but he knew that his life depended on staying free and in the open until dawn. That was some hours away and the scent of blood would make him easy to track. Unfortunately, he had little choice but to run.
Every step sent a fresh wave of pain through him but Josiah did not look behind as he ran even though he heard more glass breaking in the distance as he left the house behind him. It was not long before he heard William’s enraged cry.
"PREACHER!!!!!!!!!!! I AM GOING TO TEAR YOUR BLOODY HEART OUT!"
Josiah did not doubt him for one instant.
***********
"STOP!" Spike shouted as they rode towards the Landers homestead.
Four horses came to a sudden stop, with Buffy clinging on tighter to Spike at the abrupt halt. Chris immediately turned to the vampire wanting to know why they were stopping especially when time was so crucial. The gunslinger was fighting his worst fears that the preacher might have already died and any delay in reaching Josiah did not at all sit well with him. Especially when one remembered that death was the not the worst thing that could happen to Josiah tonight.
"What is it?" Chris demanded of Spike.
"Blood," Spike said automatically, looking around the stretch of woods and terrain before him. "I smell blood."
"You said that already," Chris pointed out impatiently.
"I mean a lot of it cowboy," Spike stared at him shortly, not noticing the annoyance that crossed Chris’ face at being called that. "Somewhere close by. The wind’s carrying it to me."
"Someone’s bleeding," Buffy stated, understanding what the vampire was reaching at. "Human?" She looked at him.
Spike dismounted his animal and helped Buffy out of the saddle. When she was on the ground, he started walking away from the group. The scent of blood was strong and it was texture and salt were unmistakable. After more than a century of breathing it in, there was no mistaking the familiarity of its assault upon his senses.
"Its human and its close," Spike started to follow the scent, the wind was carrying it to him.
"Spike are you sure about this?" Buffy asked uncertainly as she followed him closely. It took less than a second for Chris, Vin and JD to dismount and hurry after them.
"No I’m not," Spike said honestly. "It could be any other human in the area bleeding like a stuck pig. In either case, I don’t think you want to be leaving them on their own out here do you, with vampires about? It would be like ringing the dinner bell."
"Could you put that another way?" Buffy retorted when she saw the three men next to her stiffen in reaction.
"Sorry," Spike glanced over his shoulder in what passed for apologetic where he was concerned. "You know what I mean don’t you tracker?"
"Yeah," Vin nodded, understanding perfectly well what the vampire was referring to. He had hunted enough animals in his time to understand the analogy, although he did not like to think of Josiah in that same way. "I know what you’re talking about."
"Can you tell how far away he is?" JD inquired, letting his eyes travel across the landscape and through the woods, trying to see this person whom both hoped and feared might be Josiah.
"Afraid not," Spike shook his head in response but he was moving faster, following its path. He could almost feel the fear breathing down his neck and felt relished by the familiar scent of prey. It had been so long. Now that the chip was gone, he could bask in the freedom to feed if he so desired it. All his instincts seemed freed, all the desires he had been suppressing for so long. He had not realized he was running now, that his feet was carrying him forward with surprising speed that the others were running at full speed to catch up with him.
"Spike!" He heard Buffy call but Spike did not answer. The scent of blood was so strong, he could almost taste it. He wanted to taste it. And for the first time in so long, he could taste it if he wanted to. He could even kill. The knowledge that he was freed of that damned chip impacted on him for the first time since all this began. He had wanted it gone for so long but with Buffy’s absence from his life, he had not given it much thought but he was free, truly free for the first time in almost two years. He could do whatever he wished and not be preyed by conscience or some foolish hope that a slayer might someday love a vampire.
He was almost euphoric with the realization until suddenly he heard a rustle in the bushes before him and looked up just in time to see a body lunging through the foliage straight into him. Both of them toppled over upon collision, with Spike recovering a good deal faster than the other. The vampire got to his feet quickly, fully aware he had run into the person who was emanating that visceral scent of blood and fear. It was only when he looked more closely at the man lying on his back, to exhausted to move, with pain etched in his face as markedly as blood was over the rest of his body, did Spike recognize it to be Josiah.
"Oh hell," Spike sunk to his knees as he stared at the wounds on the preacher’s body. He had thought he looked bad after Glory had been done with him but this was worse. "You look bloody awful preacher."
Josiah blinked his swollen eyes and stared at the face he thought to be his pursuer at first but soon realized was not. "I’ve been better," he whispered through bloody lips.
"You just stay there preacher, helps coming," Spike swallowed, trying to ignore this hollowness in his gut as he called out for the others who had not been far behind him. "Over here!" He shouted into the night before looking down at Josiah once more. Without thinking, he pulled off his jacket and laid it over the fallen man’s body, hoping that it would do some good. He had not lied when he said he cared about what happened to this man. Spike had not forgotten Josiah’s kindness when they had first met .He saw the preacher, his body broken and bleeding, dying if he was not helped and found himself repulsed by all the feelings he had relished a short time ago. He had been enjoying all those feeling, thinking about all his freedoms now that the chip was gone, never for one moment considering that it was a friend’s pain and dying that he was enjoying so immensely.
He shouldn’t be feeling this way! He was fucking vampire for Christ’s sake! He was not supposed to have conscience or consider humans any more than happy meals on legs as he had once coined the term of feeding. He should not be falling in love with slayers or guarding her life and her existence with his own! What was he? He was certainly no vampire! And after what he had been doing a short time ago, he was no human either. He was a freak who had become neither human nor vampire. Trapped in the limbo that existed between the two, he was doomed to be torn apart for what he was and if he was not careful, he was going to take everyone he cared for into the abyss as well. Just like this preacher and Buffy.
He almost destroyed her because he existed.
"This can’t go on," Spike found himself saying almost in a daze, feeling his throat choke with emotion. "I can’t go on like this any more."
Josiah looked at him weakly but did not speak.
"I have to stop this," he said in a small voice. "I have to end it here before it gets any worse."
"Spike," Josiah managed to say as he saw Spike retreating away from him. "Where are you going? William, he’s still out there."
Spike absorbed the information readily enough, wondering if it was serendipity that made it William the one who had come after Josiah and coming to the conclusion that this would make things considerably easier. "See you around preacher," Spike bid the injured man goodbye, certain that Buffy and his friends would find him soon enough before hurrying down the path Josiah had taken to reach him.
***********
"Josiah!" Chris exclaimed when they finally reach the spot where the preacher lay. Josiah was lying flat on his back, his body a multitude of bruises they could see even in the darkness. Chris skidded to the ground next to his injured comrade and felt his stomach knot in horror at the wounds on the man’s body and face.
"Oh God," Buffy cried out, as she looked on at the kindly preacher whose calming influence reminded her of Joyce. "Is he alive?"
"Barely," Chris said as he felt Josiah for a pulse. Josiah was appeared unconscious and Chris was hardly surprised that the scent of blood had driven Spike a little crazy. There was more than enough of it spilled by the preacher to ensure that every predator in a ten-mile radius would be making a beeline straight for him had he lain here any longer. "Vin, help me."
Vin did not need to be told because the tracker was already assisting Josiah to his feet. It took both Chris and Vin to use every ounce of strength they had to lift Josiah to his feet. Josiah was all muscle and bulk and he stood almost as tall as Buck but nowhere as lean. He was a solidly built man that had always towered over them but somehow felt frail and insignificant now. That alone inspired the trio’s utmost fury with Angelus who had obviously did this to him for information.
"Where’s Spike?" JD asked, looking around for the vampire. "Did he just leave him?"
"I wouldn’t be surprised," Buffy frowned. However, even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew she was being unfair, Spike had been just as worried as the others over this man’s welfare. However, her natural instincts towards the vampire would not be denied.
"Buffy," Josiah started to speak.
"Easy there big fella," Chris responded automatically. "We’re gonna get you out of there. Just take a breather."
"No!" Josiah hissed. "Buffy."
"Yes Josiah?" Buffy asked coming closer because she could hear his laboured breath and did not wish him to exert himself any more than necessary if he insisted on talking.
"You have to go after him," Josiah grunted through his teeth purposefully. "You have to go now!"
"After Spike?" Buffy did not understand. "Spike can take care of himself. He doesn’t need me."
"If you don’t go," Josiah looked her in the eye. "He won’t need anything ever again."
***********
It did not take Spike to find him.
The vampire was so full of rage that he was screaming angry profanities at the preacher who had tricked into aiding his escape. The scent of blood brought him to Spike as easily as it had brought Spike to Josiah a short time ago. They met in a clearing between the trees, staring at each other through the moonlight, alone for the first time. William’s face was wounded, he could see the flesh burnt off in places. Spike was reminded of how he had looked after Buffy had toppled a church on top of him during one of their battles when he was something to be reckoned with, not this pathetic shadow of a vampire. William’s injury looked new however and without knowing the details, Spike realized that Josiah had somehow inflicted this upon the vampire.
"You again!" William hissed, his injuries hidden by the vampire visage he had taken upon sighting Spike. "Where is he? Where’s that bloody bastard of a priest!"
"Where you can’t get at him," Spike retorted almost wearily. He wanted this over and done with. He wanted it all over. He wanted to be finished. "Was all that your handiwork?"
"No that was Angelus," William hissed as they began to circle each other, preparing themselves for the battle they knew was coming since they laid eyes upon each other. "I’m going to do worse."
"You’re going to do nothing," Spike replied shortly. "Everything that you should do, you’re not going to. I’m ending it here and now."
"So you are me then?" William taunted, not really listening only wanting to fight.
"Yeah I am you and I suppose you should know that you had a bloody good run as vampires go, a hundred and fifty years all up human and demon. You had some good times, you made a name for yourself and you stuck with Dru for along time but that was my past and the future you’re not going to see. I’m finishing us both now." Spike said softly.
William did not listen because he could not possibly understand and he attacked first. Spike sidestepped him easily, slamming an elbow into the small of his back as he dodged the initial attack. William staggered forward but Spike caught up with him easily enough and threw a kick into the same spot, this time sending him all the way to the ground. The younger vampire landed heavily on his knees, a groan of pain escaping him as Spike slid his arm around his throat and dragged him to his feet again. William clawed at him as Spike held him firm in his grip. This was almost too easy. The fighting techniques Spike had learnt to battle the Slayer he would encounter in China was almost unknown in this day and age especially to William who was still employing Queensbury Rules and did not stand a chance.
"Sorry mate," Spike whispered as he pulled out the stake he had tucked in his belt when he left Josiah. "This is for the best. Believe me."
William saw the wooden stake and began to struggle harder, desperately trying to free himself from Spike’s deadly grip. Spike could not stand to prolong this ugly affair and brought down the stake towards his younger version’s heart. Spike closed his eyes, preparing to disappear when the point reached William’s heart, hoping that non-existence would be quick and painless as a vampire’s death should be.
It did not happen.
Something caught his wrist and kept it from making that final journey through flesh. Spike opened his eyes and found Buffy staring at him, her eyes stricken with shock and horror.
"What are you doing?" She demanded.
"Let it go Slayer," Spike swallowed, cursing the fact that she was here. "Its better for both of us this way. If I’m gone, none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have to worry about getting wiped out of existence."
"You think this is an answer?" She cried out and slammed her fist into his face, forcing him to release his hold of William. The younger vampire stared at them both in confusion, clearly shaken at how close he had come to dying.
"Get out of here!" Buffy hissed angrily. "Get out of here before I finish what he almost did!"
William stared at Buffy; he was injured and not ready to face another version of himself and a slayer as well, not alone anyway. There would be another time but not today. "Later." He hissed menacingly and ran off into the darkness leaving Buffy and Spike alone.
Spike was on his knees, still holding the stake in his hand when Buffy turned to him.
"Why did you do that?" He asked dejectedly.
"Why did I do that?" Buffy could not believe he was asking the question. "You were going to kill him!"
"I know!" He shouted. "That was the plan, luv!"
"You were going to kill yourself!" She glared at him, wondering how he could even begin to contemplate suicide.
"So bloody what?" He stared back at her. "What’s it to you if I did? If I had killed myself then all this would be over. The preacher wouldn’t be lying back there with his guts almost torn out and you wouldn’t have to worry about me killing your great, great grandpa!"
Buffy felt her mind overloaded with disbelief. "You think I want that? You think I want you to die?"
"Why not?" Spike glared at her. "What is there for me? Even if this all works itself out, there’s nothing for me back in the future! I’ll still be this ridiculous joke trying to cling on to good old days when he used to the Big Bad instead of this neutered animal that nobody wants around! You especially! Damn you Slayer! Why did you have to change the rules?"
"What rules?" She exclaimed in bewilderment. Why did he make things so difficult? "What are you talking about!"
"When you came back," he looked at her with eyes glistening with moisture. "I thought I would die from how happy I was to see you alive. I know you didn’t love me, I accepted that because seeing you breathing and walking was like a dream. If I couldn’t have you, knowing you were alive was enough. But then you changed the rules, you touched me and we made love. How am I suppose to go back to what it was after that! How am I supposed to be around you knowing that I’m just bloody convenient! I love you. I love you in every way that a man can love a woman but I want to be more than just a shag when you have an itch to scratch!"
"Spike it’s not like that!" Buffy tried to explain but could not say very much in her defence. It had been just like that and no matter how much she tried to deny it, she could not make it any less true. She had treated him badly, worse in fact than Parker had ever treated her. At least he had not humiliated her the next day with the unkind words Buffy had delivered to Spike that morning.
"Of course not," Spike replied. "Its just convenient!"
"Spike stop it," Buffy felt herself becoming angry. "We got more important things to deal with."
"You can do them without me," Spike responded. "I’m staying right here."
"What do you mean?" Buffy stared at him before realizing what he was saying.
"I’m going to see the sun rise." His gaze moved past her towards the horizon.
"Spike get up!" She pulled him to his feet. "You can’t do this! I won’t let you! I won’t have you kill yourself for me!"
"I’M NOT DOING IT FOR YOU!" He shoved her away. "I’m doing it for me! I can’t bloody well go on this way Slayer. I can’t! It’s becoming too hard!"
Tears were running down his pale skin and as she saw him in his misery, she found her own eyes filling with tears because she had driven him to this. Ever since she had returned from the dead, Spike had been there for her. He had helped her through the worst of returning to her life and she had felt drawn to him because he made the emptiness inside her go away. She had used him to feel without any thought as to how it would effect him. When she had made love to him, she had felt something she had never experienced before, an insatiable need she could not quench and she had drunk him over and over that night. In the morning, she had been ashamed that she had succumbed to lust and told herself that he was a demon and it did not matter what he felt or how she treated him.
"Spike, I’m sorry," she whispered. "I’m so sorry. I didn’t understand."
He was surprised by the admission because it was the first time she had shown anything resembling real human feeling towards him, other than when he was required to make her feel whole like the night in that crumbling building. However it was not enough. "It doesn’t matter Slayer," he dropped to his knees again. "Its over. I’m finished."
"NO!" She shouted angrily, scrambling to him. "I don’t know how I feel about you!" She finally confessed as if the words were wrenched from the depths of her. "I don’t know if I will ever love you the way you love me but if you do this, we’ll never know!"
"Please, let me go," he met her gaze. "I can’t stay and wait for you and if you never come around, I’ll still have to watch you die and I can’t bear that again."
Buffy thought hard. She did not know what to say that could make him want to go on. She felt even worse because she had wanted to die once and his were the only words that had made her choose life. Why could she not do the same for him? How is that he ended being the more caring one in what passed for their relationship? Finally it came to her, what she had to say and it was the only thing she could think of saying because he had spoken it once to her once. She hoped it had the same effect upon him.
"Life’s not bliss, its just this," she reached for his cheek so that he would face her and started singing softly. "It’s living. You’ve got to go on living, so one of us is living."
Spike blinked and heard the words he had once sung to her seep into him. Sure, it did not have the fanfare created by a musical inducing demon but he could see that she was sincere and determined that he lived and that gave him something he had not felt in too long.
Hope.
"Please Spike," Buffy spoke from the heart this time, not using words that belonged to him. "I don’t know how I feel about you but you do fill up a space inside of me and I don’t want that to end. Maybe we’ll never be more than we are but I do care, perhaps not in the way you want but someday, it could be more. I just need time."
"Time," he snorted and rose to his feet, taking a deep breath. "I’ve got lots of it."
"Not if the sun comes up," she pointed out with a smile.
"Alright," he conceded defeat. As if he had ever had any chance of defeating her. It was no different than any of their battles. She always won. "Point taken," he sighed. "Let’s get under the shade."
"Yeah, let’s do that," Buffy smiled, hiding just how relieved she was that she had not lost him.
Maybe someday she would tell him.
***********
Listening to them from his hiding place amongst the bushes, Angelus watched Buffy and Spike leave with a smile on his face.
Little was said about the errand upon which Josiah had sent Buffy in his injured state. The concern when the two finally returned to the lawmen was to make a hasty return to Chris’ shack. Vin had already departed with Josiah so he could be treated for his massive injuries. Neither Buffy nor Spike spoke to each other when they rode back and the atmosphere in general was thick with tension. However, despite the silence, the riders were replete with their own thoughts. Chris was concerned about Josiah but his thought centred primarily on what was to be done about this situation. How he could continue to protect an enemy that they could not kill for fear of protecting some future timeline? Somehow, they had to come up with a different way of dealing with these vampires since their present tactics were getting them nowhere. They had to find a way to drive the demons from Four Corners and from Ezra permanently.
Chris glanced sideways at Vin and remembered the tracker had already ridden ahead with Josiah in order to reach Nathan quicker. It felt odd not having Vin by his side but then there had been no avoiding it. Chris, who thought he had seen the depths of human ugliness, had been shocked at Josiah’s condition. In every sense of the word, a monster had been unleashed upon him. So far, Ezra, Buck and Josiah had been hurt fighting these creatures and Chris was starting to wonder whether or not it was possible to defeat them, that the danger to the timeline had to be risked by killing one of them. However, once again, he was faced with the frustrating realization that anything that diverted from how it was meant to be could have untold consequences in the future. He liked Buffy. She was a spirited young woman with a terrible burden to bear. The weight of it on her psyche was evident in her eyes and he could not imagine how she endured it. Unfortunately, Giles was correct, the future needed her and her erasure from existence was simply not an option they could risk under any circumstances.
No, the key to this was not defeating the vampires; it was convincing them to leave of their own free will. From what Spike had told him about ‘the family’, it was clear that Angelus ruled things. If Chris wanted his friends free of this danger, then it was Angelus he was going to have to deal with. From Giles’ description, Angelus’ reign as a master vampire was bloody and brutal. He did not merely kill his victims, he destroyed them. A creature like this could not be reasoned with, not unless they had something to bargain with. Chris came to the understanding that this situation could only be won with cunning and for him to manage that little feat of magic, he was going to have to know his enemy a little better.
"Tell me about him," Chris broke the silence that rested over them like morning mist. "About Angelus."
Spike looked over his shoulder at Buffy, trying to determine which one of them should answer the gunslinger’s question. He knew Buffy would not be anxious to tell Chris all the details about he relationship with Angel, just as Spike was not eager to hear it. It was bad enough knowing that his grandsire was her greatest love and probably always would be without having to endure listening to her describe it from her own lips.
"What do you want know exactly?" Buffy asked first, her brow furrowing at Chris as if he had asked her something really personal.
"Tell me about him? Who he was, what he’s going to be." Chris returned, noticing the tension in her when he asked the question. Suddenly, he was filled with the notion that Buffy and Spike were not telling him all there was to know about Angelus. Even JD shot Chris a doubtful look, revealing that he noticed the hesitation as well.
"I know where he’s from," Spike volunteered, more intimate with Angelus’ early years than his latter ones. "He was Irish, think he said his name Liam."
"Liam?" Buffy rose a brow in surprise. She had not known that. Of course, Angel did not like talking about his past because inevitably, they would come headfirst into the brick wall that was the subject Angelus and Angel was reluctant to reveal anything about his life as the master vampire. "His name was Liam?"
"Yeah," Spike nodded, hating to talk about his grandsire when Buffy was present. It was bad enough the slayer had such an involved history with Angel but talking about it made Spike uncomfortable, not to mention jealous at her reaction. "He didn’t like to talk about his past much. His father was a preacher or something, pretty heavy with the bible I hear. Angelus didn’t like him at all, I think he might have killed his father and the entire family."
"His own family?" JD exclaimed aghast with horror.
"Yeah," Spike nodded, remembering that he could not bring himself to show his face to his mother when he had been turned. His mother had loved him and it was enough for Spike that she had lost her son without visiting any further misfortune upon her. However, it was different with Angelus, he had hated his father from all accounts and wanted to prove something to the man. "His father told him he’d amount to nothing, I guess Angelus took that personally."
"That explains why he treated Josiah the way he did. What else?," Chris retorted, having no wish to hear of every bloody detail of his victims. "What is he like?"
"Obsessive," Spike said quickly. "He used to drive his victims insane. For the rest of us, we like the clean kill. We need the blood to feed and that’s all there is to it. With Angelus it was more. He killed Dru’s family. He drove her mad before he turned her, ironically enough on the day she took her vows to become a nun. He was right bastard back then."
"How come you didn’t kill him?" JD inquired, unable to imagine that such evil could lurk in any creature’s soul.
"Good question," Spike threw her a nasty smile to which Buffy returned a venomous glared.
"There was a curse," she said softly after a little pause. She did not want to tell Chris about this but he seemed to have a point to his question. "Twenty years from now maybe a little less, he bites a girl in Europe, a gypsy. Her family apparently had something to do with magic and stuff. They put a curse on him. It brings back his soul."
"What does that mean?" JD blurted out with confusion, knowing that it was important but not how.
"When you get turned, your soul is gone and the demon moves in," Spike explained impatiently.
"In other words, Liam or what was left of Liam, came back?" Chris ventured a guess.
"Yeah," Buffy nodded slowly. "He got his soul back and he had to remember every terrible thing he had done for the last hundred years. He was sorry."
"He was stupid, that’s what he was!" Spike barked back in annoyance. "He had nothing to feel sorry for. He didn’t do anything! Angelus did it all! He spends the next ninety years trying to make up for something he didn’t do. Turns brooding and acting mysterious into an art form. You know what I’m taking about." He gave Chris a look.
"Spike shut up," Buffy snapped. "Look, Angel tried to make amends for what he did. He’s still trying."
"So he became good?" JD inquired, fascinated that a soul could return to a body after being driven from it, especially to the creature that had been attempting to kill these past few nights.
"Except for little lapse," Spike glanced at Buffy who swore under her breath for she had no wish to dredge up everything that transpired between her and Angel.
"Little lapse?" Chris stared at them. "What’s that suppose to mean?"
Buffy exhaled deeply and supposed that Chris had a right to know since he and his men were doing everything possible to keep her and her ancestor’s life safe. "It’s the curse that he’s under. He only has his soul while he’s feeling guilt for the terrible things he did. Once he doesn’t feel that way any more, the curse lifts and Angelus is back. Angel tried to make things right by helping me in Sunnydale, fighting evil, we became close."
She raised her eyes to Chris and in one moment of flickering despair, Chris understood everything.
"You fell in love with him and lost him." Chris said simply, sparing her the anguish of saying it. He could not even begin to imagine what the girl must have endured, to give her heart and her soul so some she obviously loved only to have that person snatch away by that very gift. It explained a great deal the sadness that was in her eyes and why she had been so struck when she had first encountered Angelus in this place. Chris knew all about losing the love of one’s life and he could tell by the pain reflected in Buffy’s eyes now that Angel had been that for her. How must it be for her to watch this earlier version of her love murder and torture so many? It was no wonder she was so afraid of allowing Spike, who adored her, close.
"Yeah," Spike muttered. "It’s a tragedy."
However, Chris saw through the vampire’s sarcasm to recognize the pain he felt of never being sure that he would ever be able to acquire Buffy’s love the way Angelus had. Despite the emotional turmoil that the two visitors from the future must have been experiencing, Chris had something of an idea forming inside his head. "What happens to Angelus in the future where Buffy doesn’t exist?" He asked Spike, hoping to propel them past this painful subject as soon as possible.
"Oh Peaches stays the same," Spike replied offhandedly. "He’s fighting evil, has no idea who Buffy is or the fact that if he met her he could be blissfully happy and that she could bring Angelus back because of it."
"Great," Buffy frowned, uncertain of how to take that.
Spike stiffened in response and Buffy knew instantly that he was hurt. Unfortunately, she knew of nothing she could say that would salve his pain because she would always love Angel in a way that Spike could never hope to understand, no matter how she might care for the vampire in the future. Angel was apart of her and that would never change. He did not look at her and though her arms were wrapped around him as they rode double, Buffy could tell that he was not happy at her touch. She groaned inwardly, wondering where Chris was going with this inquiry. "Is that it?" She stared at the gunslinger with no attempt to hide her discomfiture with the discussion of this particular subject.
"Yeah," Chris nodded slowly, his mind grasping the kernel of an idea that had formed at Buffy’s explanation regarding her history with Angelus.
"Was there any particular reason for that question or did you just want to know my deep dark secret for no good reason?" Buffy asked.
"I was just thinking that maybe what Angelus needs to know is the truth." Chris remarked.
"The truth?" Buffy exclaimed as all eyes turned to him.
"Without you," Chris reasoned his idea out loud. "He vanishes in twenty years and never surfaces again, is that right?" He stared at her hard.
Buffy found Chris’ gaze uncomfortable and found herself involuntarily flinching under his power glare. The man’s eyes were like high-powered sensors that bore into one’s soul. The only time she had ever felt this way was with Spike but she had no doubt that the man in black had the same ability to see through her as Spike did. Must be the long, black coat, she thought absurdly to herself. "Unfortunately, yes." She replied. "Did I forget to mention the whole ‘I don’t want to talk about this deal’ with you or are you a son of a bitch most times and couldn’t care less?"
"He’s a son of bitch most times," JD added with a grin. "But you get used to him though."
"Thanks," Chris flashed him a look.
"I had to say if for Buck," JD quipped mischievously.
"Fine," Chris grumbled, "The fact is we’re not winning any battles the way we’re fighting him. We’ve got to think of something different."
"Like what?" Spike stared at Chris, starting to see that the man might have an idea.
"Maybe we ought to just tell him that if he kills Ezra, he kills any chance of breaking the curse that might see him back to his murdering demon self."
"Hey," Spike nodded in understanding not to mention admiration, "that’s not bad. That’s not bloody bad at all."
"He wouldn’t go for it would he?" Buffy asked. If it was a question of how Angel would react, Buffy would have no trouble making an informed guess but Angelus was an unknown. All she knew of him was that he was brutal and sadistic, she had no idea how powerful his need for self-preservation might be. As Angelus, he had attempted to open the gates of hell by awakening Acathala. Buffy had no idea whether or not he would be swayed by the possibility of his own demise.
"Not unless we gave him proof," Chris retorted.
"How do we manage that?" JD asked perplexed.
"We could get the witch to do a spell," Spike pointed out. "Something to show him that we’re telling the truth."
"It’s a plan," Buffy stated with a smile, clearly impressed.
"It’s a long shot," Chris confessed because he was playing a hunch. Everything he knew about Angelus gave him a feel for the creature he was dealing with and short of killing him, nothing else they attempted would work except for this. At the moment, Angelus pride was hurt and that was fuelling his determination to kill Ezra, without even knowing why. However, if he were to learn that in less than 20 years, he would be imprisoned inside a body possessing a soul, with no relief in sight except for the tragic love its owner would have with Buffy, perhaps, Angelus might see that there were worse things than injured pride.
"Its a better than nothing," Spike commended. "It’s bloody better than anything we’ve come up with so far. I saw how much Angelus hated it when he lost control, he hated being trapped with no way to kill or do the things he did to get his rocks off. Knowing that you’re the only way out he has, might actually give him something to think about. Angelus may be a bastard but he’s a smart bastard at that."
"Let hope he’s smart enough to know what’s good for him." Chris retorted.
***********
They reached Chris’ shack with the dawn nipping at their heels. Towards the last leg of their journey home, they had hastened their pace considerably in order to reach the shelter before the sunlight harmed Spike. Chris had decided that they would move into town sometime today since there was little reason to use the shack as a hiding place when Angelus knew about it. Besides, things had transpired last night that made their continued stay at the shack somewhat redundant. The most obvious being that Angelus knew where they were. However, with the attacks on Buck and Josiah, Nathan would want to be near his infirmary and Chris believed at this point, that was not a bad idea. However, Chris now wanted to be in a place where Angelus would find them easily, in order to make their plan work. They would have to bring a covered wagon for Spike to travel by day.
When Chris and the others returned to the shack, they saw Ezra and Giles at the front porch, armed with guns and stakes respectively, in case Angelus should attempt to make an encore appearance. Seeing that their friends were safe, the gambler and the librarian abandoned their watch for the moment and joined them inside. Chris found Vin was at what passed for his supper table, having been provided with a hot meal by Tara, who was looking down at the handsome tracker with the same affection that he was giving her. Buck on the other hand was lying on the spare coat, his throat bandaged the way Ezra’s was and appeared to be in a fitful sleep.
"How is he?" Chris asked as soon as he and Vin made eye contact.
"Josiah and Mary are with him now," Vin stood up upon seeing his best friend. "We don’t know much yet." He confessed.
"What about Buck?" JD inquired as he hurried to the big man’s side. "Is he gonna be okay?"
"Yes, fortunately," Ezra replied. "Mr. Jackson tells us that he lost some blood but not enough to impede his recovery once his wounds were treated."
JD lowered himself into a seat next to Buck, resolving himself to remain at his side until Buck woke up. It was not often that JD openly showed his age or his affection for Buck as a paternal figure. However, there was no mistaking it now as he stared in worry at his friend. Chris knew that nothing short of the world coming to an end would remove the young man from Buck’s side now. He supposed Vin had the same attitude towards him although their relationship was far different. They were comrades in arms, who understood each other, not the fatherly affection shared between Buck and JD. It was Buck’s goal in life to keep JD alive long enough for him to become a man in his own right. At this stage, the boy was all too fired up with romantic notions of what the West was about and there were too many young men like him lying in graves on Boot Hill.
Chris let out a sigh and poured himself a cup of coffee as the others around him settled in. "We’ll get a few hours rest and then move out. We’re heading back to town."
"Hallelujah!" Ezra cried out with relief. "Finally a sensible suggestion."
"I thought the plan was to stay out of sight?" Giles spoke up.
"Not much point to it Watcher," Spike retorted. "Peaches knows where we are and the cowboy here has a plan."
"Oh you’re a dead man," Vin retorted automatically as he saw the scowl on Chris’ face.
"I’m already a dead man," Spike returned, a little bewildered by the tracker’s remark.
"You’ll be a deader one if you don’t stop calling me cowboy," Chris growled in a response that was worthy of any vampire.
"Yeah," Buffy nudged him in the ribs before glancing at Chris, "just call him Billy Idol."
"I am not like Billy Idol!" Spike glared at her.
"People!" Giles burst out in a loud voice. "I think we are losing focus here!"
"Thank you," Ezra retorted gratefully at the librarian, glad that he was not the only adult in the room. "You have a plan Chris?"
"Yeah," Chris nodded shaking his head of their previous conversation. They were all tired and biting at each other but he needed to tell the others present what he had had planned in order to see if it was possible. "I got something of a plan, not sure how it will work though."
"We need your help Tara," Buffy replied.
"Me?" Tara’s eyes widened.
"She’s done enough," Vin countered. "These spells or whatever they are, they hurt her! When she brought you back, she was knocked out from the trying. I don’ think she should keep doing them."
Buffy glanced in Spike’s direction regarding the vehemence of Vin’s protectiveness for the young Wiccan. She knotted her brow in confusion because if she did not know better, she would say that there was more than just a general feeling of concern motivating Vin. Spike shrugged, a gesture she knew to mean they would discuss this later because now was not the time. Buffy turned back to Vin, preparing to say something about Tara being the only one who could do this when Tara spoke up herself and ended any need on Buffy’s part to speak for her.
"Vin," Tara placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, feeling her heart swell at his concern for her. "They wouldn’t ask me if there were any other way. I want to hear what Chris has in mind."
"Are you sure?" Vin stared at her worriedly. He didn’t know anything about magic but he had seen the effect it had upon her after she performed the spell to bring Buffy to the past. He could not help being afraid for her life if she continued.
"Yes," she kissed him gently on the cheek, drawing an expression of surprise from the tracker who seemed embarrassed by the action. The others in the room averted their eyes and tried to focus their attention elsewhere as the young couple took a moment for themselves. After a few seconds, Tara faced Chris again.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked.
Chris saw the troubled expression on Vin’s face but knew they had no choice. The plan he had was already a gamble to succeed, they needed some assurance and unfortunately, Tara seemed the only one who could provide it. He explained to her what needed to be done and she listened intently, her concentration wavering only when Giles, Vin and Ezra chose to comment because they were in the dark about Chris’ plan as she. What he was proposing was difficult but it was no harder than anything else she had to do since this had all began. Besides, the spell he wanted was no less complicated then the one that had brought Buffy here from the future and if all went well, then the situation in Four Corners would be resolved once and for all.
"Can you do it?" Chris asked when all was explained to her.
Tara considered the question for a moment. "Yes," she nodded. "I think I can."
"Are you sure Tara?" Giles looked at her with concern. He knew that they had been using her magical abilities more than they should and he hated asking for its assistance again but Chris was right, this plan as risky as it was had a chance of working.
"I’ll be fine," Tara assured her.
"Young lady, "Ezra spoke up. "As much as I would like to be free of this burden of being the one to sire the slayer, I do not wish it to take place at the cost of someone else’s well being."
"The lady said she’s fine already!" Spike groaned at all this talk. It was not as if they had not been told numerous times already. Besides, they didn’t have a choice in the matter and the witch seemed more acceptable of that fact then everyone else around her.
"Spike, I could slap you." Buffy rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Steady there love," he smiled cockily at her. "We’ll play later."
Buffy’s jaw dropped open in outrage but she had no chance to tell Spike what a pig she was because Nathan emerged from the next room with Mary at his side. The healer kept the door behind him closed, indicating that he wanted no one to disturb the preacher while he recovered. However, that did not mean he was not inundated with questions about Josiah’s welfare as soon as he was seen. Heading these demands for information was Chris and Spike, both equal in their concern and their guilt for Josiah’s current state.
"He’s gonna be okay," Nathan said first and foremost, drawing a collective sigh of relief from those who knew the preacher well and those who had only recently come into his knowing. "He’s been hurt pretty bad. If we hadn’t found him when we had, he’d be dead by now. There’s lot of cuts and burns, Angelus apparently was at it for quite some time. He’s sleeping now and I suggest we leave him be for the next day or so. I don’t think he had can handle travelling just yet."
"I’ll stay with him," Spike offered.
"Not for long," Chris retorted and saw Nathan starting to protest but he cut off anything the healer was going to say, "Nathan I want Josiah and Buck back in town. We got something planned and its going to be risky as it is without us being scattered all over the place. So Spike can stay with Josiah for awhile until we ride into town for a wagon. Then we’ll move both Buck and Josiah. Is that clear?"
Nathan frowned unhappily but he conceded to the gunslinger’s order. "Alright but I want to stay here with them."
"You can keep me company," Spike grinned, enjoying taunting the righteous healer to no end. "We’ll have loads of fun."
"Oh hell, kill me now," Nathan groaned.
"Don’t worry," Buffy quipped. "I’ll leave you Mr. Pointy." She produced her lucky stake and winked at the healer. "You can stake him if he gets too much for you."
"The rest of us," Chris spoke loudly to get their attention back on the subject at hand. "We’ll head back to town. Mary, can the girls stay with you for the day?"
"Sure," Mary smiled warmly at Tara and Buffy. "You can clean up and get some rest."
"That would be good," Buffy replied. "It feels like the day hasn’t ended." In truth, it had not. The night seemed endless to her after being spirited away from the future to this recent past, then encountering her ancestor and dealing with Angelus’ attacks on his friends, not to mention keeping Spike from committing suicide, at the very least a few hours sleep was not much to ask. "If you could just wake me before the night time that would suit me fine."
"I think we can manage that," Mary replied, "I could use some sleep myself."
"Well it’s settled then," Chris declared, glad that this part of the plan was met with approval. "We ride at first light."
***********
A short time later, the group was ready to ride to town and Buffy found herself saying a quick goodbye to Spike before they parted company for a while. Neither had spoken much about what had happened when they were alone tonight but it hung in the air, like a pregnant drop of water about to fall. She wondered why she had not let him do what he intended, knowing her life might be a lot less complicated because he was not in it. However, even as the thought crossed her mind she remembered what it was like to make love to him, the raw, unbridled passion he inspired in her that made her feel more terribly alive then she had felt since her resurrection. A part of Buffy knew that it was more than just lust that had made their coupling so wonderful. There was something more that made her feel safe in his arms that told her without doubt that he would never hurt her, would never leave her and he would die for her if he had to.
She had craved all these things from Angel and still he had left her, never giving her a choice in what was best for her own happiness. She had sought the same thing from Riley even though she felt less for him than the confused feelings she had for Spike and he too had gone. Spike would never leave, not as long as there was hope that she might love him back. It was a good feeling to know that his heart was so much in her keeping, even if she did not know what she intended to do with it. They all knew he loved her because he had come all this way to rekindle her existence, even at the cost of his freedom as a vampire. It surprised her to see the admiration in their eyes for him, even from Giles because a vampire would do so much for the slayer he loved.
"You gonna be okay here by yourself?" She asked quietly as the others prepared to leave, conscious that they might be watching her.
"Sure," Spike answered, somewhat surprised by the warmth in that inquiry. "I’ll just keep the healer on his toes." A perfectly mischievous smile crooked the corner of his lip.
"Leave the man alone," Buffy replied, unable to keep from being affected by his mood. "He’s got enough troubles."
"And you?" He looked at her with concern. "You gonna okay with your great, great grandsire?"
Buffy cast a glance over her shoulder at Ezra who was slipping on his red coat, unaware that she was stealing a glimpse at him. "Yeah, I can’t believe I’m related to that guy but I should be okay."
"He’s a good bloke," Spike pointed out. "A little wordy but his hearts in the right place most of the time, when its not in his wallet."
"Maybe he used to be part vengeance demon," she joked, recalling how Anya, Xander’s fiancée who upon leaving her vocation as a vengeance demon had developed a voracious appetite for money and the acquiring of it.
"I don’t think he’s quite that bad," Spike joked.
"Is it me," Buffy replied as she noticed Vin and Tara in deep conversation, "or is Tara a little friendlier with Vin then she ought to be?"
"Its not you," Spike sniggered. "I reckon the tracker makes the witch hot."
"Ugh!" Buffy glared at him for his choice of words, "can you be any more tactless? Maybe Tara’s being nice. You might have warned him that she’s gay." She pointed out.
"Luv," Spike stared at her, "in this age, he wouldn’t even know what that means."
"Well explain it," she said impatiently, not wishing Tara to be placed in an awkward position because of Vin’s affection. Besides, she was being seriously freaked seeing Tara with anyone else other than Willow. Ironically a few years ago, she would have been freaked about seeing Willow with another woman but then no more than Willow would be if she knew what Buffy and Spike had been getting up to lately.
"Explain it to him?" Spike raised a brow. "I don’t fancy getting shot pet. Bullets may not kill me but it will still bloody hurt. Besides, you don’t talk about that sort of thing in this time, especially to men who used to shoot people for looking at them cross eyed. Its all meant to be in the closet unless of course you’re French although in France who could tell? They all sound like a bunch of poofs anyway."
"Once of these days I’m gonna have to get you to explain to me this thing you Brits have with the French." Buffy remarked and leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on his lips, uncertain of why until she had done it.
Spike stared at her for a moment because it was so personal, like something one would do to a person who meant a great deal to them. "What was that for?" He asked mystified.
"I don’t know," Buffy shrugged, wishing he would not pay so much attention to it. It was not as if she had never kissed him before. She had just felt like it. "Just don’t get too used to it."
"I know, I know," Spike rolled his eyes but he could not deny his heart was dancing. "You won’t ever do it again."
"Yeah," Buffy said coyly as she drew away from him. "Just as long as you know."
***********
As the procession returned home to Four Corners, Chris found himself inching his horse along side of Mary’s. So much had happened in the last few hours that they had barely a chance to talk about what was happening. Chris could not believe she had ridden all that way to warn him of Angelus. She had to know that the vampire might still come after her once she had breached the safety of her home and left herself wide open to his attack. Of course he knew she cared, even if she did not say it out loud. He felt it and he hoped that she knew the feeling was mutual.
"It’s been a long night," Chris said as they rode alongside each other.
"To say the least," Mary smiled at him. "I think I will be glad when things return to normal although this whole thing has been educational."
"I don’t know if I would call it that," Chris said dryly. "I don’t think I wanted this much of a glimpse into the future."
"I’m wagering, neither does Ezra," Mary glanced at the gambler who was riding double on Chaucer with Buffy. Both of them looked so much like each other and yet seemed poles apart. Mary could not imagine how Buffy could be Ezra’s progeny. The young woman seemed so terribly serious when she should have been at an age where life was just beginning.
"Mary," Chris looked at her seriously. "I’m grateful you came after me. It was downright foolish and dangerous but I’m glad you did."
Mary looked as if she might protest but instead settled down to accept his gratitude more graciously, "you’re welcome." She smiled. "For some reason you’re the only person I know who can make enemies anywhere, even supernatural ones." She teased.
"Well its a talent," Chris said with a straight face before breaking into a grin.
"Any other talents I should know about?" Her brow raised in question.
"A few," he grinned. "But I think we should get to know each other a little better first."
"Mr. Larabee, I am intrigued." Mary laughed not at all disturbed by the suggestion in that statement but then she had always walked the dark side when it came to her feelings for him. "Why don’t we try supper first?"
And for the first time, Chris found that he was amenable to the idea. "That sounds nice Mary," he said honestly, realizing in recent days that it mattered telling the ones you cared about how much they meant because it so much worse if they did not exist at all.
***********
"They’re so into each other," Buffy remarked as she rode behind Ezra, glancing in Chris and Mary’s direction.
"If you mean there is a certain chemistry between Mr. Larabee and Mrs. Travis, I dare say that you are right," Ezra agreed. Buffy was not the first person to speculate about the relationship between the gunslinger and the newspaper editor. The rest of the seven had done it on occasion with Buck even making some pathetic attempt to play matchmaker that ended with him having half his moustache shaved off by one very irate Mr. Larabee. It was the last time Buck made such an effort even though he had been properly warned by the others that things with Chris and Mary would progress when they were ready for it to do so.
"So what’s stopping them?" Buffy asked. It was the first time she and her ancestor had engaged in any real conversation since her arrival. Even now, she felt uncomfortable that it was he she was riding with and not Spike. She kind of liked how it felt to hold Spike on horseback because there was a romance to the whole thing that she would die before she confessed to the vampire.
"Well Chris lost his wife and son some years ago in a fire and I do not think he’s quite recovered from that loss," Ezra explained.
So that’s it, Buffy thought to himself. That’s why he looked so sad when he thought no one was noticing. Buffy did not know what it was to lose someone in that way but she knew something about loss and could understand Chris’ reluctance to give his heart away again. "It takes a long time."
"I do not doubt that but sometimes, one has to take a gamble." Ezra pointed out.
"I don’t gamble," Buffy retorted. "I can’t afford to."
"I noticed that," Ezra replied and noticed Buffy stiffening immediately.
"What does that mean?" She demanded huffily. "I’m the Slayer! I can’t take chances or people will die. People have died. You have no idea what my life is like."
"Rather sensitive on the issue aren’t you?" Ezra remarked innocently.
"I can’t help it," Buffy felt a little embarrassed for that outburst. "You have no idea what I’ve been through."
"I don’t doubt that," Ezra agreed. "But you if you would care to take some advice from someone who has lived in difficulty, I can tell you that it gets no easier. Sometimes it becomes more impossible than you can believe but that is life my dear, it is not made to be easy or difficult. It just is."
"Can argue with you there," Buffy sighed in agreement.
"He loves you, you know."
Buffy’s eyes opened with surprise not expecting him to say that. "That’s none of your business," she retorted hotly after a moment.
"Perhaps not but it is true. I am aware of what he is and as much as I dislike the fact that one of my descendants might find happiness with one of his kind; I also have to remember that you are the Slayer. Mr. Giles tells me that it is your vocation until you die from it, that there is no release from the duty. Life is short my dear girl, even more so for you. How you chose to live it is entirely up to you and I do not think that you should be burdened by the path of those who came before you. Live your life, as you would choose not as anyone expects you to live it. I followed my mother’s path because I did not think I could be anything else," Ezra retorted, pausing a little when Maude’s name came into it. "It never occur to me that I could be anything that I wished, not until it was too late. My course has brought me to Four Corners and I have a second chance of being something better, something happier, I would give you the same advice."
"You want me to love Spike?" Buffy demanded, incensed that he could ask of that of her when he knew nothing about what Spike had been and how he had tried to kill her.
"No," Ezra shook his head and revealed he was capable of a few surprises still. "I want you to let him go if you do not."
"What....." Buffy gasped.
"You heard me," Ezra said sharply, unaware that he was rekindling a memory of a similar conversation Buffy had once shared with Xander on the subject of Riley. "If you love him, embrace what he offers you for I have no doubt that he would surrender everything for you and love like that, is fleeting and it is precious, no matter what the source. There are those who spend their whole lives searching for that feeling and never find it. However, if you do not love him, let him go. He is tortured by the unknowing. Anyone can see that. He lingers in hope because you give some semblance of it and that binds him to you."
"I don’t know how I feel about him," she responded weakly.
She had not been able to talk to anyone regarding her feelings about Spike. She was certain that anyone in Sunnydale she confided to about their relationship would undoubtedly be horrified that she was even considering the idea. After all, Spike had been her mortal enemy for so long and his murderous impulses were only kept in check by the chip that was presently in his head. Willow had so many troubles on her plate at the present that Buffy could not bring herself to burden her best friend with her confidence and Xander? Xander barely tolerated Spike at all and the mere suggestion of there being a relationship between her and the vampire would most likely cause Xander to stake Spike just to save her from herself. If Giles were here, perhaps she might confide in him but Giles, not the one who was talking with Tara and Vin as they rode to town, the father figure who had been her tower of strength for most of her teenage years, was gone. Still, it did feel good to talk to Ezra about it and it appeared as if he really wanted to listen.
"All I know is that lately, he seems to understand the things I go through better than anyone else. He’s taken care of Dawn and protected her. I know that if anything happened to me he would continue to look out for her."
"It appeared that your relationship might be closer than that." Ezra pointed out, not wishing to say outright that he noticed their intimacy but not wishing to ignore that fact either since they were having this honest discussion.
Buffy knew exactly what he meant and while her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at his discovery of their sexual proclivities towards one another, it also felt liberating not having to lie about that either. "He makes feel alive," she admitted. "I don’t know why but he does. When I’m with him I don’t feel so empty but it makes me feel ashamed."
"Because he is a vampire and a killer?" Ezra asked.
"Yes," Buffy nodded sombrely but knew she was not being fair on Spike. She had loved Angel even though he had done far worse as Angelus. "I don’t know. I’ve loved someone else who had for a time been far worse than Spike but this is so confusing."
"Maybe this has little to do with him and everything to do with you," he pointed out, sensing her insecurity. "Perhaps if you allow yourself to care for Spike you might find yourself completely lost in him and that frightens you."
"I’m not afraid," Buffy pouted but she knew he was not far wrong either.
"Of course you are," Ezra brushed aside that remark because he knew better. "You would not be human unless you were."
"I’m not quite human," she reminded. "I’m the slayer and what about you? How come there’s no woman in your life? How am I supposed to get born if you don’t even a girlfriend?" She asked, unable to deny that she felt a little better even if nothing had been resolved. Still, talking about it to someone had been liberating.
"The right woman will come along in due course," Ezra chuckled, glad that he was able to give her something to think about. "And if I am at all lucky, she’ll be filthy rich."
"Superficial much?" Buffy retorted in disapproval. "I thought you old fashioned guys liked to bring home the bacon."
"I am not chauvinist my dear," he grinned. "If you had time I’d introduce you to your great, great, great grandmother Maude and you’ll see that you come from a long line of headstrong women. Besides I have no difficulty being kept."
"Ewww!" Buffy laughed, smacking him on the shoulder. "You’re setting me up for severe dysfunction here, Ezra. Making me think about my ancestors having anything to do with sex or being kept is giving me the serious wiggies."
"Obviously resulting in your massacre of the English language," the gambler retaliated dryly.
"We’re a lot more hip in the future," she declared. "Most of the time when a guy likes a girl, he just goes up to her and says – hey you have a thing, I have a thing, let’s do the thing together." She burst into a wide grin as he looked over his shoulder at her.
"Thank god for the times I live in," he shook his head in disapproval. "Although I suspect that if given the choice, Mr. Wilmington would love it."
"Why?" She asked curiously.
Her interaction with the seven men had been limited. Most of her time had been spent in the company of Chris Larabee, a serious brooder who would give Angel a run for his money, if the chance for such competition were ever had. However, the man had a presence about him, a grim determination that demanded obedience and loyalty from those who followed him. Even Buffy was not immune to it. She could tell that the men he rode with would follow him through any calamity because he was their undisputed leader.
Vin on the other hand, was a tragedy waiting to happen. Buffy wondered if the tracker had any idea of how things would be if they succeeded in this plan to rid Four Corners of the ‘family’. The time line would repair itself and the Tara he knew would disappear. Giles had spoken to her about the consequences of what they were attempting to do and though Buffy did not like this at all, there was nothing they could do to change it. Tara and Giles would have no idea that anything had happened when they finally returned to the future. In fact, the only one who would be hurt by all this was Vin. Tara would have no memory of him because she never met him. Vin seemed like a nice guy who did not give his heart often and Buffy could tell that this was going to hurt him a great deal.
Buffy still had difficulty believing that this gambler with his airs and erudite speech, who put even Giles to shame at times, was related to her. He just seemed so unlike her and yet in the last few minutes, she had found it easier to confide in him then anyone else in recent months, except for Spike of course. However, he had also given her food for thought especially about her relationship with the vampire. She had no idea what her feelings towards Spike were yet but she could not deny that whatever they might, she was afraid of losing herself in Spike. It was an easy thing to do when the passions he awakened in her ran so hot. Still it had been good being able to talk about Spike to someone who would not judge her and she wondered what fate had in store for the gambler in the future. If she ever returned home, she was determined to find out.
"Short, sweet and crass is Buck’s way. I am sure he would be as successful with women in your time as he is in Four Corners." Ezra retorted.
"Quite the ladies man huh?" Buffy guessed by his remark.
"To put it mildly," he said sarcastically.
"What about you?" She asked, "you’re sort of okay looking for an older guy and that accents got to be a trip. How come you don’t have a girl friend yet? You know you need one if I’m gonna get born." She teased.
"Older guy?" Ezra cast her a look. "I’m only a decade or so older than you, my dear."
"Sorry," she chuckled. "So how come you’re not attached? I thought you were supposed to marry young in this age."
"I am not one to jump quickly into my relationships. I am certain when the future Mrs. Standish comes along, I shall know her."
"Why great, great, Grandpa Ezra," Buffy grinned, enjoying the frown that appeared on his face at that description. "You’re a romantic."
Ezra stiffened. "I am not."
"Are too," she insisted. "You talk about your true love being rich and all but you’re really a romantic!"
"Stop that," Ezra grumbled. "Stop that immediately or I shall ride to a monastery and live out my life as a monk."
"Great, great grandpa’s a romantic," she continued to tease in a sing song voice with Ezra shaking his head in annoyance and muttering under his breath;
"Never a vampire around when you need one."
***********
"We should have left," Darla stated within the confines of the Landers home at the same time the Slayer was torturing her ancestor. "Now we’re confined here until dark."
"It doesn’t matter," Angelus said confidently even though the events of the night had hardly been of his choosing. William was at the moment nursing some rather bad burns to his face because of Holy Water, an occurrence that Angelus believed he wholly deserved for allowing their prisoner to escape. Still, Angelus could not deny confessing a certain admiration for the preacher and his escape. He would have never have thought that Josiah would be sly enough to turn a cup of water into a weapon.
"Doesn’t matter?" Darla stared at him in astonishment, unable to believe he was underestimating their situation or the threat that they now found themselves in. "They’ll come back here during the day now that they know where we are."
"They can’t kill us," Angelus said with a confident smile as he sat comfortably in the wing chair within the parlour of the house. "Did you not notice that?"
"What do you mean?" Darla asked not understanding.
She paced the floor before him impatiently, waiting for an answer and wondering how this situation could have escalated to what it was. They should have left days ago, not remained, attracting more and more attention. As strong and capable as they were, vampires thrived in anonymity and this exposure made her uncomfortable. It was bad enough that Angelus was known as the Scourge of Europe and that their constant travelling was necessitated by his brutal and sadistic murders. He was never satisfied with victims that no one would miss. He wanted challenges and his efforts to play with his latest obsession before the kill had given him a particularly fearsome reputation known by those who did not even wish to believe in the existence of vampires.
"When they fought us, there were moments when they could have killed us and yet they did not. Do you not wonder why?" Angelus responded.
"Because we are better than them," Darla hissed in answer, as if there was any reason to think anything else.
"You and I perhaps," Angelus was willing to concede. "But Drusilla and Spike are younger, they don’t have the skill we do. Larabee could have staked him through the heart but he was careful not to. I wondered why at the time and last night when I followed William and the preacher, I overheard the Slayer and the one that looked like William. It makes perfect sense."
"It does?" Darla wished he would hurry up and explain. She did not like riddles.
"Yes," Angelus grinned. "They’re from the future and they can’t kill us because we have something to do with them in the future."
"You mean, someday Spike will turn against us?" Darla exclaimed in shock. "I don’t believe it."
Spike was young, brash, fearless and savage but he was not traitor. The only thing that made him different from any vampire she knew was his love for Drusilla. Vampires were not meant to lose their hearts to another as Spike did for Drusilla. While Darla felt deeply for Angelus, they both knew that if either of their existence were threatened, it would be anyone’s guess who would sacrifice each other for their own self-preservation. That was the way of things and it was expected. However, Darla noted that it was not so for Spike, the opposite, in fact. Spike would give up his life for Drusilla. Darla suspected that more of his human soul remained than was normal although how that had come to be was anyone’s guess. Perhaps the demon that inhabited his body had found kinship with the human he had been and they had forged some kind of alliance.
"Believe it," Angelus retorted, remembering the conversation between the slayer and Spike’s older version. It was precious. "He falls in love with a Slayer."
Darla’s eyes widened. "With a slayer?" The very notion was absurd. "How can that be! It’s not natural!"
"I do not know," Angelus confessed. "However, they need to keep us away from Standish because he is sire to the slayer that has come to Four Corners from the future. That is why they are so keen to protect. If we kill him, then she dies."
"And this other Spike?" Darla asked, trying to wrap her mind around this incredible tale.
"He came to stop his younger self, our Spike, from killing Standish, so that she could live. However, we have some part to play with all of them someday because they cannot kill us. If we were to kill our Spike, the one from the future would die too." Angelus explained, loving the delicious irony of it all.
"He was always a romantic," Darla shook her head in disgust. "We have to do something. Drusilla said this Slayer was going to take you and William away from her and see me dead. I won’t allow that." She stared at Angelus purposefully, demanding compliance in this matter.
"Neither will I my darling," Angelus rose to his feet and crossed the floor to reach her. Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder to still her pacing, he lowered his lips to hers and devoured her mouth with hungry passion. For a few seconds, Darla reacted in the only way she could, becoming lost in the power of his sensuous lips. He kissed her hard and forcefully before sliding his lips to her ear and whispering. "We’re going to Four Corners tonight and we’re going to find them all. We won’t let the Slayer tear us apart. Even if we have to kill everyone in that damn town to do it. I promise you that me love."
Darla listened dreamily, allowing him to undo the laces behind her dress and savouring the feel of his palm as it met bare skin. "I hope so," Darla murmured mistily, "its not like we have never done it before."
"Aye," he replied sliding towards the join between her neck and her shoulder, delighting in the alabaster cream of her skin before he slid off her dress. "And this time, we have the blood of a slayer to sweeten the experience and rid ourselves of William once and for all."
When Josiah finally woke up, he discovered that he was rather grateful to find the vampire looking over him was Spike, not William. The vampire was staring into the sunshine that was beyond the corner he was sequestered admiring the daylight like a man thirsting for water he could never drink. Josiah wanted to speak but the urge to do so was momentarily swept away by the pain that coursed through his body when it remembered the trauma it had been forced to endure. Josiah sucked in his breath audibly as he closed his eyes and tried to force the pain to recede to manageable levels. His slight reaction was not enough to escape the notice of a vampire with heightened senses and Spike’s immediately averted his eyes from the reach of the sunshine back to the man whose bed he had been sitting next to most of the night, keeping a vigil
"Settle down preacher," Spike warned gently as he saw Josiah’s face twist in pain. "You’re not doing yourself any bloody favours by getting worked up."
"I’m alive," Josiah grunted through his teeth, "I think I’ve used up all the favours I’ve got to manage that."
"Yeah," Spike nodded in understanding. He could smell the fresh blood even through the bandages, despite Josiah’s wounds being cleaned and treated. "I won’t argue with you there, it looked pretty rough."
"Buck?" Josiah turned an eye towards him and raised himself out of his bed, despite the pain of effort. "Is he alright?" The last thing Josiah remembered of the ladies man was his cries as the other vampires were attacking him. He prayed Buck had fared better than he.
"He’s alright," Spike quickly reassured him with a cool hand on the man’s shoulder. There was just enough strength behind his touch to indicate to Josiah that was as much movement as he was allowed from his bed. "Your healer patched him up right and proper. Just like you. Pretty handy bloke for someone who hasn’t spent a day in medical school."
Josiah let out a sigh of relief upon learning that Buck had survived the night. There was an instant there when Buck was genuinely fearful that he might not. "I’m glad to hear that."
"I take it Angelus did this to you." It was not a question and it was spoken with such cold fury that for a moment Josiah might have been forgiven for thinking that it was Chris Larabee that uttered the question.
"Yeah," Josiah answered after awhile, his stomach knotting at the memory of pain and the fear he had felt. Even though he had held up bravely against the Master vampire, he could not deny that he had been frightened for his immortal soul throughout the entire ordeal. If Angelus had threatened to turn him, Josiah was not certain he would not have succumbed to save himself. It was fortunate that William had made his play when he had. Josiah did not know how much longer he could have prevailed.
"Bastard," Spike hissed under his breath. "You have any idea how lucky you are to be alive?"
"I got some idea," Josiah met his gaze. "He alive in your time?"
"Yeah," Spike nodded. "But if it makes you feel any better, the pillock gets his soul back in about 20 years. Put a right stop on his murdering and puts him on the road to redemption for the next 100 years. Spends most of it trying to make up for all the death he caused."
"I guess everyone has to pay penance some time," the preacher mused taking in that bit of news.
"I’d prefer him a pile of ashes myself but that will do for now," Spike replied.
"I’m glad to see you’re still around," Josiah remarked as he relaxed into the soft mattress of his bed, determined to remain as still as possible so the pain would subside to tolerable levels. "You gave me the impression that you might not be."
Spike shifted uncomfortably in his chair, unhappy that Josiah had brought up that subject. A part of him still was uncertain whether or not it might have been the best thing all around if he had allowed himself to die as intended. Spike had no doubt that it was Josiah who sent Buffy after him and Spike did not know if he ought to be grateful or not. There was something overwhelmingly comfortable about disappearing into nothingness, to be free of this ache for Buffy that would never go away even if she continued to have sex with him. To Buffy, it was just sex, an exchange of pleasure that meant nothing. To him, it was a physical expression of his deep abiding love for her. The one was not equal to the other and he did not know how long he could continue to go on with her feeling less for him than she would feel for any stranger.
"I’m belong to her," Spike said quietly. "Even if she doesn’t want me."
"It might not always be that way." Josiah reminded, seeing an agony more intense than his present discomfort, appear in Spike’s expression.
"I have to decide soon," Spike swallowed thickly. "I can’t go on this way."
"I know," Josiah said sympathetically. "I wish I knew what to say."
A small smile crossed Spike’s lips, "the listening helped."
"I used to be pretty good at it," Josiah muttered returning the effort with one of his own.
"Don’t say?" The vampire crooked a brow at him before adding, "I’m sorry about all this."
"Not your fault," Josiah retorted giving him a look. "You weren’t the one who did this to me."
"I had a part in it," he confessed. "If it wasn’t for me, none of this would have happened."
"You were trying to help her," Josiah replied firmly with what strength he had. "You shouldn’t have to be sorry because an act of kindness was repaid with vengeance."
"You’re bloody forgiving for a man of the cloth," Spike pointed out. "Preachers back in my day weren’t so friendly, always raining fire and brimstone and filling up the coffers at the same time. Never had much time for it when they were preaching."
"I’ve been in need of forgiveness myself," Josiah admitted. "I won’t cast the first stone, not from my glass house."
"Josiah!" Nathan voice filled the room with exuberance. "Thank Christ you’re awake, now I can stop talking to him." The healer gave Spike a look of mischief. "I never thought I’d say this but he’s even more annoying than Buck."
"Now that’s harsh!" Buck Wilmington croaked as he stood by the doorway. The tall man had a bandaged wrapped around his throat and appeared weak. Spike immediately got off his chair and gestured at Buck to plant himself into it. Once again giving the ladies man a fierce enough stare to ensure he was to be obeyed on this point.
"He’s just angry because I said he was pretty," Spike grinned at Nathan.
"Well you are kind of," Buck teased. Not even a near fatal injury was enough to keep Buck Wilmington from remaining in bed once he heard Josiah had returned to the land of living.
Nathan had appraised him of what had happened to the preacher since he was injured and secretly Buck cursed his own stupidity for allowing himself to be swayed by Darla. Josiah was alive, no thanks to him and the least Buck could do was tell the preacher to his face, how grateful Buck was to see him in one piece. In truth, he had suffered much worse injuries in his time. When he had been hurt in the Seminole village, he had managed to ride all the way back to Four Corner, even though that crazy Confederate colonel had come damn near to spilling his guts all over the ground.
"It ain’t wise to mess with your healer," Nathan pointed out as he went to Josiah and made a perfunctory examination of the man.
"Then it’s a good thing I’m not hurt," Spike flashed him a devilish smile. "That means we can spend so much more quality time together."
"Don’t bet on it," Nathan glanced over his shoulder. "Buffy left me Mr. Pointy."
"Please tell me that’s a stake," Josiah drawled and sent Buck into a chortling fit, something which the man regretted doing because his throat was still rather tender.
"She named her stake?" Buck managed to say.
"The Slayer’s got all sorts of strange habits. Sleeps with something called Mr. Gordo too." Spike added and knew the Slayer would be thrilled to learn that he had shared that with these men.
"Mr Gordo?" Nathan was almost afraid to ask.
"It’s a doll." Spike informed dutifully.
"She a strange little girl," Buck confessed shaking his head.
"You have no idea," Spike sighed. "Not a bleeding one."
***********
Time was running out for them and they both knew it. The future that had seemed so distant when this had all begun had suddenly hastened its pace and now they were faced with it, with nowhere to turn. At first Vin did not think it was possible to care for someone in so short a space of time but the truth was, he was lost in the feeling long before he realized the extent of his affections. Despite his usually serene and unflappable manner, Vin ached inwardly knowing that anything between them could only end in tragedy. She was not of his world and he could not even begin to understand hers. Still with everything reaching an endgame of sorts, most likely tonight, Vin suddenly felt urgency pressing against his chest, each time he tried to draw breathe. If everything went according to plan tonight as Chris explained it, then the danger to Ezra and the Slayer would end and the visitors from the future would return home.
As they rode back to Four Corners with the sun climbing across the sky towards noon, Vin sensed that Tara too thought deeply about their unfortunate situation. He knew she cared. He could tell by the corresponding expression of feeling whenever he stared at her that she did. However, there was no denying the impossibility of any life together. What could he offer her here? He was a man with a price on his head, knowing freedom because Judge Travis who had appointed him one of the seven lawmen to Four Corners, chose to ignore his situation. Unfortunately, the Judge could not secure his freedom and while his friends were not bothered by the charge of murder because they knew him to be innocent, the same could not be said for the rest of them. Vin lived with the uncomfortable notion that one day, his fragile existence would come to a crashing end.
Despite all his rationalization, he still did not want to imagine the morning he woke and knew that Tara was gone.
The ride home had consisted of lively chatter, with Buffy and Ezra engaging in conversation Judging by the chagrin on the gambler’s face, it appeared that the young woman had inherited her ancestor’s ability to annoy and justice had a sense of humour, since it was Ezra she chose to vex. Chris and Mary on the other hand were talking quietly and seemed as if they had reached a watershed moment in their relationship. It was just as well since Vin did not think he could take much more of their quarrelling and would have likely hog tied them together in order to inspire the mating process. Vin supposed with everything that had transpired these past few days, even someone as stubborn as Chris Larabee had to see that the future was closer than he thought and it was time to start living for it, instead of existing as it had been since his family’s demise.
"Vin," Tara spoke softly in that endearing way that he had come to appreciate so much since meeting her. "We have to talk."
Vin sucked in his breath, knowing that this was probably the conversation he had been dreading since learning of the possible solution to their troubles with the vampires plaguing Four Corners. "I reckon we do."
Tara wished she could ignore the aching in her heart each time she looked at Vin and knew that very soon, she would never see him again. In her life, there had not been many people with whom she had a great affinity, even less than she cared for as she had come to do for him. Her natural shyness made it difficult to reach out to people and yet since meeting him, it was as if they had known each other forever. However, he knew as well as she that they had no future together and the pain reflected in his eyes as she met his gaze.
"I like you a lot," she said first, needing to get that off her chest so that there was no mistaking the purpose of this discussion.
"I like you too," he confessed and Tara could tell that it took a lot for the tracker to make even that small admission. Unlike the others whose personalities were easy to decipher, Vin was rarely vocal enough to give anyone a fleeting glimpse into his psyche.
"If the spell works tonight, we’ll be going home." She met his blue eyes sadly.
"I know," he nodded. "I wish it wasn’t that way."
"Me too," she replied. "But it’s not possible."
"What if you stayed?" He found himself asking even though logically he knew that it was simply impossible.
"I can’t," she blurted out on first impulse. However, less than a split second after the words had left her lips, she was suddenly struck with the notion of whether or not it was as impossible as she thought, especially when she had been so obtuse about the subject to not have considered it beyond her initial response. "At least I don’t think I can."
"Are you sure?" Vin asked, his eyes full of hope that there might be a way for them to be together.
"I don’t know," Tara stared back at him, never realizing until this moment just how much she wanted to stay and be with him. "I mean if we fix things, I may not even exist."
Vin froze and met her eyes with growing tension. "What do you mean?"
"If we change things, neither me or Giles will exist. The Tara and Giles that Buffy remembers will the ones who remain."
"Then why go back?" Vin demanded, unable to wrap his mind around the whole concept of erasing time lines but any threat to this Tara, the one he cared about inspired his full attention.
"Because I can’t stay here," she insisted weakly. She wanted to badly but she would not commit herself on something as uncertain and as fragile as her emotions.
Vin swallowed, not wishing to say more than he had to but having no choice in the matter because they were at a watershed moment in their relationship and the words to make her stay where inside him, he needed the courage to speak them out loud. "You can," he looked at her unable to believe that he was saying this because it was insane but then everything about the last few days had been a lesson in insanity and who could blame him if he had learnt well. "You can stay with me."
Her eyes widened in surprise. Perhaps because she had never really expected him to say it even though it was implied in every look he gave her. "With you?"
"You can stay with me for awhile," he offered, finding more courage and more answers now that he had started down this course. "You don’t have to decide anything right away. We could just be together for a while. I could take care of you."
Tara did not know what to say. Actually she did know what her heart wanted to say but her mind was still reeling from the offer and the impossibility of what he asked. "I have to think about this," she stammered. "I don’t even know if it can be done."
"Don’t make excuses," he said firmly and suddenly, she was reminded of why he held such presence over the others in Larabee’s absence. "What do you want to do?"
Her eyes glistened with her answer and her heart brimmed with hope. She did not have to speak it.
He just knew.
***********
Upon arriving at Four Corners, the group broke up in order to get some rest. There would be much to do tonight, especially if they were going to play their endgame with Angelus and his family. Even though Buffy knew she should get some rest, she could not fall asleep. Her mind was too filled with Spike and the situation she now found herself in. Mary and Tara had taken the opportunity to catch up on some sleep but neither of them was the Slayer. Instead, Buffy liberated the long cloak that Mary had worn during her nocturne at Chris Larabee’s shack, from the coat rack and wrapped it around herself so she would look a little respectable in comparison to the folk of Four Corners.
Stepping out into the sunshine made the problems of the night feel so far away. She looked up to the sky and felt her face bathed in the warm of the day and smiled with pleasure because here, she was truly safe. No vampires in this heat, she smiled as she walked into the sunlight, relishing the feel of it against her skin. The town of Four Corners was like another planet in comparison to Sunnydale. Even though she had known that she was in the Old West, the reality of it did not hit her until she walked the streets of the small frontier town. She was reminded of those westerns Xander would make her and watch and until now, she was certain that the ‘real’ West’s interpretation in those films was laced with Hollywood make believe. Now that she saw it, she knew the picture perfect vision of the movies was merely a one-dimensional showing of a world devoid with smells, colours and atmosphere. Buzzing flies brought out by the heat and the manure left behind by horses, not to mention the overwhelming presence of dust drove home the fact that this was not some nostalgic time where the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black. Of course in this instance, the good guys definitely wore black if Chris Larabee was any indication.
As she walked down the boardwalk, she noted that she caught the stares of some of the townsfolk even if her clothes were hidden by Mary’s cloak. Buffy soon came to the realization that in a small town where everyone knew everybody, the presence of a stranger in their midst was bound to raise a few curious glances. In Sunnydale, there was no such difficult because for a small town, it had none of the earmarks of a normal Californian community, not when it existed above the Hellmouth. No one paid much attention to the faces that came and went in Sunnydale because more often than not, it was safer to be oblivious and curiosity usually led to some pretty lethal consequences. However, here in Four Corners, there was none of that indifference and Buffy wondered if it was such a bad thing to live in this world.
"Aren’t you supposed to be getting some rest?" Chris Larabee’s voice suddenly emerged from behind her.
Buffy looked over her shoulder and saw the gunslinger had just left the saloon she had just walked past during her travels around Four Corners. "At least I’m not drinking." She pointed out with a teasing smile
Chris fell into stride with the young woman, wondering what she was doing out on her own. "Does Mary know you’re out?"
"She and Tara are getting some zeds," she remarked nonchalantly as she continued her sightseeing tour of the town. "I decided to skip out and take the tour."
Chris assumed that zeds meant sleep. "I kind of thought after the night we had you’d be doing the same."
"Not sleepy yet," Buffy retorted. "Benefit of slayerness is the fact that I don’t tire easily. I’ll keel soon enough, just wanted to look around first."
"Not much to see," Chris pointed out. "Kind of dull actually."
"Says the man who spent most of the night fighting vampires," Buffy retorted with a little smile. "I kind of thought you’d like the peace and quiet."
"I don’t want any peace and quiet until this is all done," Chris said tautly. "I’ll relax then."
"Gee, you’re grouchy guy aren’t you?"
Chris looked at her with a brow cocked; "you don’t the half of it little girl."
"Little girl?" The slayer stared back at him. "Those are fighting words, Tex."
"Tex?" Chris drawled with mischief because something about Buffy allowed him to be himself, without having to be the one in charge. He supposed because on some instinct level they were equals in more ways than one. They were both dominant members of their packs and that kind of equality was not something they experience often. "Shot a guy who called me that once, never done it to a girl but that don’t mean I wouldn’t be willing to try." He offered her a menacing smile.
"I never kicked cowboy butt either so I guess we’re even." She battered her eyes at him with innocence in direct contradiction to his dark look.
Chris chuckled and Buffy found the sound rather strange coming from him. In that way, he was a lot like Spike, other than the obvious fact that they both dressed from the same school of fashion. Spike did not laugh much. He teased and he sniggered but he did not really laugh. It was strange how she had suddenly noticed that. Would Spike have been like Chris if he had not been a vampire? Buffy shrugged at the thought because she never really wondered about Spike as a human being. It was mostly because she knew him as nothing else. However, she had pondered on numerous occasions of what it must have been like to know Angel as a human. She had never had the question cross her mind about Spike even though she was sharing a far more intimate relationship with him then she had ever experienced with Angel.
"That’s a nice family you got there," she found herself saying to him.
Chris stopped laughing and nodded in agreement and warm affection. "Yeah they’re something. You got something like that at home, other than Spike?"
Buffy frowned at the mention of the vampire’s name. "I do," she answered, suddenly wishing she could share all this with the rest of the Scoobies, particularly Willow and Xander. They had been such a big part of her life since coming to Sunnydale that it felt odd to be alone. "I miss them," she confessed.
Chris could appreciate the sentiment; never imagining when he had first came to Four Corners that he would become so attached to the six men who were like brothers to him now. "They do get under your skin when you’re not looking."
"Like that pretty lady you keep making moon eyes at?" Buffy teased with a smile.
Chris stiffened. "That’s none of your business," he said brusquely.
"Defensive much?" She retorted and continued on the subject, fearing nothing. "I mean it’s so obvious you dig her."
"What?" He crinkled his brow at the term.
"You LIKE her," she repeated herself.
"It is not," he replied uncomfortably, having no desire to discuss something so personal with a stranger. He did not care who she was. And he was not obvious.
"Its alright to like her," Buffy rolled her eyes, never having seen a worse case of denial in her life. "Might even do you some good. You’re way too intense."
"I might say the same for you and Spike," Chris replied, capable of giving as good as he got.
"Spike is not human. He’s a vampire." Buffy responded with a voice that could cut stone.
"Makes it easier for you to push him away thinking that doesn’t it?" Chris replied, not about to relent. He liked Spike and he could see that the vampire was hopelessly lost. He could tell that Buffy’s indifference to Spike’s feelings hurt the vampire even if he was too proud to admit it.
"Since when was this about me?" She pouted.
"Since you stuck your nose in my business," Chris pointed out triumphantly.
"Consider it out then," Buffy sighed not wanting to talk Spike to anyone.
"Coward," he accused with a hint of a smile.
Buffy was about to respond when she caught sight of a man and woman further ahead on the boardwalk. The man was clutching the woman by the elbow and escorting her rather roughly towards the nearby saloon. Obviously, she was not inclined to go because she struggled out of his grip. However her freedom was fleeting. Within seconds he had caught up with her and in retaliation for her defiance, struck her clean across the jaw in full view of everyone on the street. Chris was already on his way to make his displeasure known when Buffy took off first ahead of him.
"Buffy!" Chris called out but she was not listening. Hell, he thought to himself.
Buffy arrived as the woman was weeping into her hands, her face hidden in embarrassment and fear as the man shouted at her and resumed his grip on her elbow. "You’re my girl Jenny! Don’t you forget it!"
"Hey, why don’t you pick on someone your own size?" Buffy tore his hand from her and stepped in between them. She felt her anger bubbling at the shattered slump of the woman’s shoulders, like she was defeated in spirit not just body.
"Stay out my business little lady," the man warned, not at all taking the small blond girl seriously. "Or you’ll get what I’m giving her."
"Ooh," Buffy cried out tauntingly, holding her hands to her chest as if she were mortally wounded by his barb, "the big bad man is going to hurt me." Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him and noted that the woman whom she was trying to rescue was now looking on at the situation in astonishment.
"Miss, you don’t want to get involved in this…," she started to say, her lips quivering as she spoke.
"Shut up!" the man barked. "Shut your mouth! I can deal with this myself."
With that he turned to Buffy and raised his hand to strike. The blow never connected with Buffy’s face for the Slayer’s hand intercepted his fist and caught it without much effort. Her other hand gripped his arm and Buffy flipped him unceremoniously to the ground. He let out an indignant cry of shock and pain as he slammed hard on the boardwalk, with her only reaction being to step back as he unsettled the dust that covered the floor. A crowd of people had paused to look at the petite young woman who had shown quite clearly that looks and size were no way to judge a person.
"You shouldn’t let this guy treat you like this," Buffy said to the woman.
"I don’t!" The woman responded in frustration. "I’ve been working in the saloon and he seems to think that he’s my beau!"
"Is that right?" Chris Larabee stepped in and hauled the man to his feet. The gunslinger had allowed the Slayer to handle things until this point, mostly because he enjoyed seeing how she took care of things when she was not fighting vampires that is. Since his curiosity in that regard was more or less satisfied, Chris turned his attention to the man who would have been handed his head if it had been Buck who had witnessed his brutality. Not that he was in much better luck because Chris did not think too kindly to men who raised their hands to a woman either. Although Buffy’s intervention was more of a lesson and an injury to his pride then anything Chris could do to him.
"Bitch!" The man hissed at both Buffy and the object of his unwanted affections.
"Leave," Chris ordered with a voice colder than ice.
"You can’t make me!" He shouted defiantly.
Chris turned the infamous Larabee glare in his direction and shot him a look that would have melted the resolve of even the bravest men. "You think so?" Chris asked so menacingly that the skin on Buffy’s hair stood on end. "Better be sure."
Buffy saw the man shudder in reaction to Chris’ treat and she took could feel the darkness emanating off him. Spike said that people had darkness in them. In some it was so slight that it was seldom noticeable. Obviously it was not the case for Chris Larabee or herself for that matter. The bystanders watching the altercation between the four people held their breaths in anticipation of what would happen next. There was also something else in their eyes as they watched on, an unfailing expression of nothing less than unswerving faith in the dark clad gunslinger. Without doubt, they believed Chris was capable of protecting them from anything. If the look in his eyes was any indication of how he dealt with his enemies, Buffy could well believe it.
"I didn’t want her anyway!" The man spat at her and pulled away from Chris, the naked desire to be well away from the gunslinger as he departed.
"You okay?" Chris turned to the woman.
"Yes," she nodded wiping her tears and staring at them both gratefully. "Thank you so much."
"Come see me if you have any more trouble with him," Chris instructed her.
The woman offered them a little smile of thanks before she went on her way, understandably wanting to be as far away from the scene as possible, not to mention the curious eyes of the community at large. With the commotion more or less over, the bystanders evaporated into the street, returning to their own affairs, even though it was obvious that Buffy had inspired their curiosity by their lingering looks in her direction as they departed. Once they were alone, Chris turned to the young Slayer.
"Wow," Buffy replied, clearly impressed by how he had sent the enemy scurrying without raising a hand. "You sure are the Big Bad."
Chris chose to ignore her quip and gave her a hard stare before remarking, "what part of low profile did you not get?"
***********
There was a finality about tonight that seemed to seep into all their bones when the night descended upon the town. Within her house, Mary Travis awaited with abated breath for the night’s events to unfold while she kept Buck Wilmington and Josiah Sanchez under her care. While the former had complained bitterly about not being allowed to participate in the final showdown with the vampires led by Angelus, he was forced to begrudgingly admit that his injury made him a liability if her were allowed to join them. Josiah had made no such arguments because he was sensible enough to know that he was in no conditions to fight. Mary had bid Chris goodbye, mindful that the lawmen would not doubt be keeping her home under close surveillance as they waited for Angelus to appear. He had said little as they faced each other but she saw the warmth and concern in his eyes and words were not needed after that.
Chris and Vin sat on top of the granary for that was the highest structure in Four Corners and it gave them a sweeping view of the town’s boundaries. No one would be able to sneak into town without them knowing about it. Chris knew that Angelus would be back tonight. The vampire was probably rather mystified as to why none of the seven or the slayer had come after them upon learning the whereabouts of their lair. Angelus struck him as one who would make a pre-emptive strike. He was too smart and too arrogant to wait around for a bunch of humans to come finish them off. No, they would be here tonight. Of this Chris had no doubt.
Vin was silently watching the terrain, using the same stealth he employed when he was tracking buffalo. The sharpshooter kept his keen eye on any sign of movement and remained still at the edge of the roof, saying little. Chris could tell even without Vin saying it that the outcome of tonight weighed heavily on his best friend’s mind. Inwardly, Chris ached for his friend because he knew that Vin had lost his heart to the sweet young woman from the future.
"You okay?" Chris found himself asking.
"I’m fine," Vin said shortly in a tone that indicated that he was far from it but was too strong to let it show.
"I’m sorry about how its gonna go Vin," Chris answered. "I wish it were different."
Vin’s gaze shifted slightly from his surveillance and touched the gunslinger’s, "I know but it ain’t so that’s all there is to it."
Chris wanted to speak but the opportunity to do so was lost when Vin’s eyes shifted quickly to the distance once more. "Someone’s coming." He gestured dead ahead.
Chris came up along side him and stared out into the direction of Vin’s stare. A group of horses were thundering towards town, kicking up a cloud of dust with the dark hardtop carriage they were pulling Vin and Chris exchanged a brief glance but they both came to the same conclusion.
Angelus was here.
***********
"Chris just gave the signal!" Nathan cried out running back into Josiah’s church.
"Are you sure?" Tara stammered as she sat in her circle, candles surrounding her with other talismans she had brought from the future laid out in accordance with the ritual she needed to perform. At Nathan’s announcement, Giles and JD checked their weapons, being stakes and holy water since it was conceivable that the four vampires would have brought minions with them.
"Pretty sure ma’am," Nathan responded as the healer checked for the stakes and knives he carried across his back in a neat leather holster.
"We do as Chris says," Giles looked at them all. "We stay here and wait for him to come to us."
"Do you think it will work?" JD asked a little anxiously.
"It will," Giles replied with more confidence then he actually felt. "Buffy and Spike will see to it that it does."
"I hope you’re right," Ezra remarked, silent until now because he hated the fact that he was trapped in these hallowed walls unable to fight because he was deemed too important to do so. At the moment, he felt far from that and more like a coward. It was not a feeling he detested intensely. He had his fill of running and hiding since coming to Four Corners. "It would not please me to see her hurt."
"She won’t be," Giles gave the man a look of empathy because he understood Ezra’s anxieties all too well. Even though he did not share the blood connection that the gambler did and he had no memory of being Buffy’s watcher, he was her Watcher in every sense of the word. He had no doubt that she had made his other self infinitely proud because he felt proud at how strong she had become and felt gratified to know that he had some part in all that.
"This had better work," Ezra retorted, not about to be consoled. "I do not plan on running from these creatures for the rest of my existence and I will not allow those who come after me to suffer the same nightmare."
"It will work," Tara spoke up silencing all the men in the room. "I will make it work."
The young woman seemed extremely confident in that statement alone but had no further opportunity to speak because the sound of glass shattered the quiet in the room. Tara let out a short scream as a vampire that none of them had seen, landed on the floor of the room. His tumultuous arrival was followed by the bolted door the church heaving with the power of forced entry. The wooden bolt across the entrance held the door in place but would not do so for long. Already it was jumping out of its catch, propelling both Nathan and Giles to run forward to reinforce the barricade.
The vampire landed right in front of Ezra and hissed at him, recognizing the gambler for who he was. As he stepped towards Ezra, the southerner held his ground not moving.
"EZRA!" Tara shouted. "MOVE!"
Ezra did not. Instead he waited until the vampire was close enough. The creature approached him fearlessly, seeing little threat in the human. In life he might have been a Mexican but not much remained of that when it snarled at Ezra, bearing fangs ready to tear out the southerner’s throat. Instinct made Ezra want to run but he knew that he had hold his ground, at least until the vampire had closed the distance between them. He noted that JD was running towards him but Ezra did not pay the younger man too much mind, instead he produced the bottle of holy water in his burgundy coat and sprayed its contacts across the creatures face. The splash of fluid against the vampire’s skin caused it to howl in fury as the holy water sizzled into his skin. Taking advantage of his disorientation, this time it was Ezra closing in and instead of his usual Remington, the weapon of choice was a sharpened wooden stake. Plunging it into the vampire’s chest, the creature’s eyes widened in fury and pain before his entire body exploded into a cloud of dust.
Ezra stepped back, breathing hard as he allowed his fear to abate. It was the first time he had killed one of these things and he was still rather overwhelmed by it all.
"Jesus Ezra!" JD scolded. "How long were you gonna wait to do something! That thing could have killed you!"
"I had it all under control," Ezra said smoothly even though he was a series of quivering nerves under his buttoned up shirt.
"Any more under control and it would have been fatal," JD retorted. However, there was no further opportunity for reproach because another was soon clambering through the window, followed by others. Tara screamed in fright at their appearance.
"We need to barricade the window!" Ezra cried out, hurrying to one of the pews in Josiah’s church. "JD help me!"
JD wasted no time in aiding Ezra with the length of wooden seating, using it to force the vampire that was attempting to climb into the church out the window again. However, as a barricade it was insufficient and while they had vanquished the immediate threat, it did not take long for the vampires to recoup to make another attempt at penetrating their defences. The cloves of garlic hanging on the window did little to deter them other than to force the creatures into giving the vegetable a wide berth. Unfortunately, their determination to reach Ezra was overriding their natural fear and they continued to slam against the doors and the makeshift barrier, Ezra and JD had erected against the window.
"That’s not going to keep them out for too long," Nathan remarked as they were surrounded by the sounds of vampires seeking entry into their haven.
"It will have to do," Giles said grimly, his hand gripped tightly around his stake. "We have to hold them off until Buffy can bring Angelus here."
Giles hoped that it was easier said then done.
***********
Buffy and Spike waited in the shadows after Chris had given the signal that Angelus was in town. As far as they had deduced, the vampire would proceed to one of two places when he entered Four Corners. He would undoubtedly resume his search for Ezra Standish by either going to Mary Travis’ home or the church. Angelus was no fool, he would guess that they would not hide Ezra in a place without protection. The jailhouse and the saloons where the seven normally frequented were not places that could be barred to them for the lack of invitation. However Mary’s home was another thing entirely and in the absence of someone else’s home and without wishing to involve anyone else, the church seemed a natural choice. Angelus would spread out his forces to cover out the largest possible area but he himself would converge upon Mary’s home because of his infatuation with her.
Fortunately, Angelus had never had the chance to play his obsessive games with the widow much to Buffy’s relief but the fact that he had known her name had given the slayer some clue as to why he had taken the time to find out. Buffy and Spike had a clear view of Mary’s home. Even if Angelus could not secure an invitation into the home did not mean he could not draw its inhabitants out. Josiah and Buck were in no condition to fight if Angelus was determined to have Mary.
"They’re coming," Spike announced first, his jaw tensing as he stepped forward to the absolute edge of the shadows.
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked quietly.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I can feel them."
Buffy knew that there was some unseen connection between Master and Childe, that Spike could sense his sire on some psychic level. It was an aspect of vampires she did not know much about other than its existence. Angel had tried to explain it to her once but much of what he said had been too much for a sixteen year old’sunderstanding. She allowed her gaze to sweep across the street, trying to catch sight of the enemy and not relishing the idea of facing Angelus again. The last time they had looked upon each other, Buffy had been on the verge of killing him and what followed was something she still woke up screaming from at night.
Spike could sense her discomfiture and tried not to let jealousy get the better of him, particularly after her warm display earlier. It had seemed for a moment that she had seen him as more than just a vampire that she sometimes used as a lover but someone whom she could care about. Besides, this could not be easy for her. No easier than it was for him to see how good he and Dru had once been together. Buffy was hiding it well but he could sense her moods and he knew that facing Angelus troubled her.
"You all right pet?" He asked gently.
"I’m fine," she sighed. "Just so not looking forward to this."
"Don’t blame you," Spike replied with sincere empathy. "I’m not to keen about seeing Dru either."
"I thought you were over her," Buffy said a little too quickly, drawing a little smile from Spike because there was just a hint of jealousy in her voice.
"Jealous?" He teased, unable to help himself.
"Oh please," Buffy retorted. "Over yourself much?"
"Right," Spike rolled his eyes. "I forget how much you hate me."
"Well don’t you forget it," she responded but she was clearly smiling as she said it.
It was almost a tender moment.
"Uh oh," Spike declared, "look who’s here."
Buffy looked up and saw Angelus appear. He was with at least three minions approaching Mary’s house. Buffy had thought he would be with more and supposed that it was logical that he might have split up their forces in order to make a more expansive search for Ezra. Buffy found herself staring at Angelus, unable to equate him with Angel whom she loved. He seemed strange to her with long hair and in period clothing but it was still Angel except this version had no soul.
"We better do this while there isn’t many of them," Spike suggested.
Buffy had to agree but something did not feel right. "Yeah," she said somewhat hesitantly.
"Luv?" Spike looked at her noticing the pause although he misinterpreted the reason. "You’re not still thinking he’s Peaches are you?"
"No!" She hissed in exasperation, wishing he would get over that. She had once been prepared to sent Angelus to hell and had done it despite the fact that he had become Angel during the battle. If there was one thing she knew how to do it was distinguishing between the two of them. "Let’s just do this." She retorted and brushed past him.
They emerged under the light of the moon and immediately caught Angelus’ attention. The Master Vampire started to smile at seeing them appear and did not at all seem surprised at seeing the duo. Supreme confidence reigned in Angelus’ manner as he cast his gaze in their direction and immediately put Spike on guard. Buffy was already there. Now he could understand why she felt so unsettled. Angelus was facing a slayer and he did not look the slightest bit concerned. In fact the expression on his face was one that Spike was well acquainted with - expectation. He knew they were coming and if he knew it then Spike was almost certain that he had planned for it.
"You slayers and your pet ‘vampires’ are so predictable," Angelus grinned as he sneered at Spike, perfectly aware now of the relationship between the two. "Except I have to admit Buffy," he stared at Buffy with a perfectly vicious smile, "can I call you Buffy?"
"I didn’t come here for small talk," Buffy retorted, knowing by his tone that he was about to become very cruel and she really had no patience for it. She wanted this over and done with. Buffy had no idea how hard it would be to face Angel until this moment. Despite herself she could not help but be revisited the last time she saw Angelus.
"Oh I don’t think you have a choice in that," Angelus smiled and looked past her shoulder. Buffy and Spike looked around them and suddenly saw at least a dozen vampires emerging from the long shadows around them. They stepped out of the night like wraiths surrounding both Buffy and Spike in large numbers. Among the faces between them, were also Drusilla, Darla and William. William’s face appeared scarred, no doubt a left over from Josiah’s escape attempt.
"Hello there Slayer," William said with a little smile. "Shall we dance?"
Spike watched in unfolding horror as his younger version approached the Slayer slowly, even though he was one of a dozen vampires closing in on them, Spike could not think of anything else. He had killed two slayers in his time because of his fierce determination to be the best and right now he was not hindered by his love for her. Given the chance, William would not hesitate to kill Buffy. However, his ability to help her was seriously endangered by the multiple threats they were now surrounded with.
"You’re not my Spike," Drusilla stared at him and then narrowed her eyes in hatred as her serene features morphed into its vampire visage and turned to Buffy. "You’re her Spike."
William lunged at Buffy and Spike found himself running to her aid but he never got there. Swept off his feet, he felt himself tackled to the ground by two minions. Their weight landed heavily on him, trapping Spike against the ground. He could only look up helplessly as he saw Buffy fending off William’s attack with Drusilla closing in. Angelus started towards the Travis home and Spike hoped that Mrs. Travis was sensible enough to say indoors because that was her only defence against the vampire. However, Spike had larger troubles of his own.
Kicking his foot out, he connected with one minion’s stomach and gave himself enough time when the vampire stumble away from him a little to throw a punch that sent the other sprawling. He scrambled to his feet in a desperate bid to reach Buffy but he was pulled savagely back again. The minion was clawing at his leg refusing to let go. Spike kicked out again, this time landing his foot on the vampire’s face. The fledgling let out an angry cry which distracted Spike enough to keep from seeing the stake that coming towards him from above. Twisting hard, which was no easy feat when one of the fledglings had his hand wrapped around Spike’s ankle, he managed to escape the point of the stake when it buried itself in the dirt next to him. Spike pulled out his own weapon and slammed it into the shoulder of the fledgling that had almost killed him.
The penetration would not kill the vampire but it was enough to hurt and the fledgling threw up his head up, screaming in pain as Spike yanked his foot free and escaped them both. He hurried forward; his eyes still fixed on Buffy as she fought both William and Dru. His progress towards her was halted when he felt a slash of nails across his abdomen. Spike hissed in pain and saw Darla staring at him with challenge. Blood run down his torso making her eyes glistened with the hunger of blood and the sight of it running freely down his stomach.
"You’re such a romantic Spike," Darla shook her head derisively. "But I thought even you had standards."
"Well I take after my grandsire," Spike retorted. "I have his taste for women."
"I’m going to enjoy watching you die," she hissed at him in venomous rage.
With that, she looked at the fledglings around him and nodded. They converged upon him like a pack of hungry dogs. He was assaulted not by two but at least five. The first one who came at him found only death as Spike grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed his forehead into the vampire’s skull. Wasting no time, Spike used his disorientation to send the fledgling straight into his knee followed by a road house punch that sent him sprawling backwards, arms outstretched. Spike flung his stake through the air, having grown exceedingly accurate with it after patrolling with the slayer for so long. It penetrated the heart and the fledgling could only look on in surprise as he exploded into nothingness
Spike threw himself forward, beyond the reach of the remaining four, rolling across the ground before he reached his stake where it had fallen after destroying the vampire whose heart it pierced. He snatched the piece of wood and rotated on his knee, attempting to deal with the three others that he had just left behind and the others that were joining the fray. He stood up, trying not to notice the numbers against him, wishing only to deal with them so that he could help Buffy. Spike threw a fist at the first one who reached him, unaware that Darla was closing in from behind him. The vampire reeled a little and Spike continued his onslaught of punches, trying to drive them away from him to give him some breathing room for a more decisive attack. He swung his fist in a succession of punches, alternating between his attacks between his hands and his feet. Spike drove his stake into the heart of another fledgling, causing him to burst into nothingness before his companions.
Suddenly Darla came up from behind him and pressed her fingers into the wounds she had created upon his body. Spike let out a cry and became distracted by the pain, allowing the others to converge upon him. Darla wrapped her arm around his throat as one of the minions took the stake from his hand and soon he was being held firm. Spike struggled to break free but they were all around him and six to one odds was more than he could handle, especially when he was wounded and trying to save Buffy. The stake that had been his weapon was now in another’s hands and Spike became very conscious of the fact that he had no power to stop anything from happening to him at this point.
"Slayer!" Darla called out over his ear.
Buffy had been fighting William and Drusilla at this point. If this had been a hundred years later, there would have been no way for her to fight them both. However, Buffy had come to the realization that this was not the Spike who had killed two slayers before coming to Sunnydale. This was a Spike who was very new to being a vampire, who had more balls and swagger than he had actual fighting skill, something that ‘her’ Spike (she flinched inwardly at the word ‘her’) had in abundance. She could see some of the savage strength that would make him so formidable later on but she was too seasoned and he was still too new at this to be a serious threat. Drusilla who was more experienced had not acquired the skill that Buffy had and relied mostly on her ability to mesmerize her prey to kill.
However, Darla was another thing entirely. Darla was the oldest one of them. Her Sire had been the Master and when Buffy turned to her at the sound of Darla’s voice, she felt her heart sink with horror when she saw Spike had been incapacitated. Buffy threw a succession of kicks at William, sending him crashing into Drusilla as she turned to help Spike. However, Darla had set up her pieces well and she was more than prepared for the attempt.
"Surrender or your pet dies," Darla said with a smile.
"Slayer don’t you do it!" Spike shouted instantly. He was rewarded by one of the fledging using his own stake and shoving the piece of wood into his side, away from his heart but enough to make him cry out in pain.
"Spike!" Buffy found herself crying out involuntarily at the sound of his agony. She saw the blood glistening on his stomach where Darla had wounded him and fresh wound that had just been inflicted upon him.
"Let him go," Buffy demanded with venom in her voice.
Darla’s demonic visage curled up into a smile. "Or you’ll kill me?"
"Not right away," Buffy warned and meant it. "Let him go."
"I will," Darla replied with a sneer and then looked to a minion. "Do it!"
Buffy watched in horror as the minion brought down the stake and saw Spike staring at her in defeat, not because he was going to die but because he was going to leave her alone. He had promised that he would stay by her side and now he was going to leave her too, just like the others.
"SPIKE NO!" She screamed in anguish because in that one instant, she realized that while she may not know if she loved him, Buffy did know for certain she did not wish lose him.
The stake never had a chance to strike because an arrow tore through the air and landed in the middle of the fledgling’s back. He let out a scream just before he vanished. Another soon followed the arrow, this one striking the vampire holding Spike’s arm. Although the arrow penetrated his forehead, it was more than enough for the vampire to release his hold of Spike. As he staggered away, trying to deal with the protrusion in his face, another arrow soared through the air and struck home, ending the threat of him once and for all.
Buffy turned to the direction of the archer and let out a sigh of relief as she saw Vin Tanner appear out of the darkness with Chris Larabee. Suddenly the odds did not seem so impossible any more and Buffy offered him a look of thanks as the tracker reached for another arrow. Chris on the other hand produced a stake and was soon met by a vampire. This time the gunslinger seemed unfazed by the attack and thrust the point of the weapon into creature’s heart, sending the demon back to hell.
"Two against eight isn’t very fair is it?" Chris drawled, hiding the fact that he was extremely anxious to deal with this particular situation because he noted that Angelus was gone and if he was gone, that could only mean he was going after Ezra or Mary.
"Depends on how you look at it," Darla smiled viciously.
Spike did not give her a chance to make further comment because he slammed his skull backwards, connecting with Darla’s face and making a terrific crunch of sound as bone met bone. She cried out shortly but the blow was hard enough to knock her out cold. She slid to the ground without much protest as Buffy ran into action. She threw a flying kick at William, throwing him hard against the wall and began pummelling him with fierce punches in an effort to subdue him once and for all. Meanwhile Vin and Spike resume mopping up the fledglings. Drusilla made a beeline towards Chris, probably because she remembered how she had almost taken him during their last encounter.
Chris saw Drusilla approach and as she looked into his eyes, he tried to turn away but found the power of them too much for him. He remembered how lethal they were as he saw the flecks of colour suddenly taking on a life of its own. Her lips curled into a smile, knowing she had him. Chris heard Vin shouting at him, but his voice sounded as if he was very far away. Drusilla was smiling at him as she started speaking in that ethereal voice once more. It wound its way through his skin and polluted his brain with its intoxication.
"Be in my eyes," she smiled. "Be in me."
Something inside him snapped when he heard her say those words. The memory of JD coming to save his life seared through his mind and Chris blinked but not before mustering every ounce of self-control he had in his body to do so. He threw his head forward into Drusilla’s crushing her nose and drawing her a cry of pain as she staggered backwards in pain. Chris threw another fist in her face now that he had regained control of his faculties and wondered how he could have allowed himself to get so close to her again. It did not matter because he was not going to be caught under her spell again. Chris was not usually one to hit women but this one hardly qualified as the garden-variety type and so his conscience allowed him another blow.
"Dru!" William shouted, seeing his lover attacked by the black garbed gunslinger.
Buffy saw his concern was enough to stop him fighting and quickly turned to Chris. "Chris, hold her!"
Chris caught on immediately to what Buffy intended and caught Drusilla as she reeled from his punches around the neck. He twisted her around hard, so that her back would face him before trapping her neck in a tight arm lock.
"Vin!" Chris called out to the tracker. Between Vin and Spike, the minions they were fighting were dead. Darla was still lying on the floor out cold and the fight had come down to William and Buffy who now more or less found himself alone. Suddenly, William found himself in the same position that Buffy had a short time ago before the timely arrival of the gunslinger and the tracker.
"Give it up or the tracker puts an arrow through your honey." Buffy declared as Vin trained his arrow on Drusilla’s heart.
"You can’t let them do it!" William implored to Spike, hoping that because of who he was, he might stop this.
"Trust me mate," Spike said coolly. "When she skips out on you with a chaos demon, you won’t mind so bloody much."
"Bastard!" William swore furiously, staring at Drusilla in anguish.
"Do it Vin!" Chris ordered in order to prompt William’s decision.
"NO!" William shouted in horror as Vin pulled back the bow. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
Buffy let out a sigh of relief and noted the same on Spike’s face. For a moment, he was not entirely sure that William would not call their bluff since they could not kill Drusilla but then gambling on something as uncertain as the future was always as risk.
"Where is Angelus!" Buffy demanded first.
William swore, not wishing to tell the truth but having no choice when faced with the loss of Drusilla. "At the church," he said bitterly. "He knew you wouldn’t be stupid enough to hide Standish with the woman. He thought that you might use her for bait, that’s why he set up this little caper for you."
"Alright," Chris nodded slowly, itching to get going after the head vampire before he harmed any one of his friends sequestered in the church. "I want all three of you out of my town, now. If you don’t get out of here right this minute, I won’t give a damn about what happens in the future. I will stake all of you three and if I have to I’ll have the entire Territory coming after you with pitchforks and torches!"
"This isn’t over slayer," William glared at Buffy, acknowledging his defeat for the moment. "I will kill you one day."
"I’m gonna bet you don’t," Spike retorted under his breath.
William stared at him in disgust, "if you’re what I become then I ought to bloody well kill myself now."
Spike opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.
William was not wrong about that much at least. However, Spike not had a good idea where his fetish for long black coats had come from as he watched William staring at Chris Larabee’s black duster. Well, Spike shrugged. Who could blame him?
They were both going to look bloody good in it.
***********
Once William, Drusilla and Darla were gone, Buffy turned to Chris and Vin. "You guys get going to the church!"
Chris looked at her, "ain’t you coming?"
"We’ll be there in a sec," Buffy retorted quickly and gave the gunslinger an unspoken request for a moment alone.
Chris nodded slightly in understanding before throwing a sidelong glance at Vin, "let’s go."
Vin who was eager to get going because Tara was at the church as well did not offer any protest and the two men hurried away from the empty square, leaving Buffy and Spike behind. Spike’s brow knotted in confusion as he wondered the reason for the delay. He had little more than a second to ponder the situation when his eyes widened in shock at Buffy throwing her arms around him and pulling him towards her in an urgent embrace. He was so stunned by her actions that he could only stared in wide eyed astonishment as she began planting kisses all over his face and then on his lips.
"Uh Slayer…." Spike muttered through his confusion and her kisses, "did I miss something?"
"You stupid vampire!" She said when she paused long enough to speak from her passionate plunder of his lips. "You almost got yourself killed!"
"Yeah?" She was still losing him. "So?"
"So?" She pulled away in exasperation. "You may not be the man of my dreams! Hell I don’t even like you smoking in my house, my friends can’t stand you and you…you’re lame! But I’ve gotten used to your face so be careful! I don’t want you to get hurt!" She ended this impassioned statement with a hard right cross.
That, Spike understood as he tumbled to the dirt.
"You were worried about me pet?" He started to smile that triumphant smirk that Buffy could never stand once he managed to get to his feet.
"Don’t make a big thing about it," she frowned walking away from him, with full expectation that he would be behind her. "I still hate you."
Perhaps so, but Spike was still grinning from ear to ear when he followed her.
***********
They had been doing quite well holding off the vampires that were attempting to force their way into the church. JD and Ezra had remained at the broken window, holding the pews in place to keep more of the undead from entering Josiah’s labour of love. Although none of the seven present in the room spoke of it, they were trying their best to keep Josiah’s church from becoming too damaged. Ever since his arrival in Four Corners, Josiah had devoted a great deal of time to restoring this dilapidated church into its present state as a house of worship. It pained them all to see that had work beyond destroyed by vampires in a single night. The wooden bolt across the door was still holding but Giles and Nathan had taken to securing it with a length of pew because they could cracks appearing in the wood.
Tara stood in the center of her circle, trying not to feel fear as she chanted and readied herself for the spell when Buffy brought Angelus to her. She had never attempted anything as ambitious as this but then the last few days had been a testament to what she could do when she set her mind on it. Suddenly, there was an incredible explosion at the head of the church. The large crucifix clattered on the floor, its smooth surface becoming jagged and the form of Christ hanging from it was equally ravaged. Josiah’s pulpit was crushed under the weight of brick and as the fissure appeared in the wall, stepping through the dust was Angelus.
"Dynamite," he announced dusting his hands exaggeratedly when he met their astonished gazes for the first time. "It makes this so much simpler, yes?"
"Get out here!" Giles stormed forward, his crucifix held in front of him as he went to confront the vampire that was here of his own volition and not led here by Buffy as planned. Something had gone wrong and until he knew what it was, he was not letting Angelus anywhere near Ezra Standish. Unfortunately it appeared that Angelus was not alone as he was accompanied by the vampires that had been trying to gain entry into the church.
"Oh that will work English," Angelus laughed as he gestured his minions deeper into the building. He walked towards Giles fearlessly. "A crucifix will make a preacher’s son like me run for sure." Without flinching, Angelus placed his hand on the crucifix and even though his skin sizzled and his face tensed in pain, he still managed to snatch away the religious artefact and fling it away. Giles stared at him in shock for a moment before Angelus swung out wide, connecting with his jaw in a powerful blow that knocked the Watcher to the floor.
"Who’s the pretty one?" Angelus turned to Tara and gave her a long, interested look. Knowing how Angelus felt about blond women, his attention to her made Tara shudder.
"You leave her alone!" Ezra hurried past the vampires spreading out into the room. He was not about to let the young woman suffer because of him. "It me you want!"
"Ezra no!" Nathan shouted.
Angelus stared at him sharply. "So you’re the one who produces a Slayer?"
Ezra stopped short in his tracks, unable to understand how he learnt this truth. "A Slayer?" He feigned ignorance. "I thought it was because of my charm."
"Oh you’re funny," Angelus replied with a smile and closed the distance between them. Ezra produced a stake and attempted to attack but the vampire caught his wrist in his hand and bent back sharply. A crack of bone was followed by Ezra’s scream as his useless finger relinquished his hold of the weapon. Angelus secured his hold around Ezra’s neck as the other vampires converged upon Giles, JD and Nathan who readied themselves to fight.
Suddenly an arrow struck Angelus on the flesh part of his thigh as Vin and Chris burst into the room. The injury to their master caused the other vampires to attack and suddenly the room exploded into pandemonium. Chris ran forward, trying to aid Ezra who was still in the Master Vampire’s iron grip. Chris could see Angelus squeezing hard, until Ezra was struggling to pry his fingers lose with his one good hand. Chris reached Angelus and grabbed the arrow imbedded in his leg and twisted sharply. Angelus screamed in pain and retaliated with a sharp back punch that landed squarely in Chris’ face as he released Ezra. The gambler fell to the ground panting as Angelus turned to Chris Larabee.
"I think," Angelus stared at Chris as he hobbled forward, snatching the arrow out of his thigh and yanking it free of his leg in one quick movement. His face morphed into full demonic mask at the pain before he hissed, "I’m going to give you to Darla for a little gift. Valentine’s day is almost here isn’t it?"
"What? No puppies nailed on doors this year?" A decidedly feminine voice entered the mix.
Buffy punctuated that statement with a blow to the face. Angelus’ surprise showed when he was caught off guard but it did not last. He was a hundred and thirty years old even now and a seasoned warrior unlike William and Drusilla. After his soul was restored to him he would be a champion for good but for the moment all that skill was shrouded in darkness. When she threw her fist again, he caught it and delivered a sharp jab to her jaw. Buffy reeled but she had taken worse in her time and she slammed her foot down on the side of his knee, bringing him down to the floor. As he landed, she brought up her knee, connecting with his face as his head snapped back from the impact. She went to kick again but he caught his foot and twisted it hard, spinning her in mid air and bringing her down. Buffy landed hard as Angelus rushed towards her but she flipped onto her feet and caught the punch he was about to throw. She caught his fist and he reacted by grabbing her hair and pulling her close to him, opening his mouth to sink his teeth into her neck. His fangs grazed her flesh and Buffy felt pain when she heard Spike shouting.
"GET OFF HER!" The vampire roared in fury
Buffy reached for her neck and was staggered that Angelus had managed to get that far. She wiped her neck in time to see Spike throw a forward kick that sent Angelus half way across the room. The fury in Spike’s eyes was beyond description as he threw punch after punch at Angelus, wearing down his Sire as he drove the older vampire toward the circle where Tara waited. Chris Larabee was helping the others fight the remaining minions as Buffy scrambled towards Spike and Angelus. Angelus was giving as good as he got but it was Spike who had the edge even though he was hurt. It seems that Angelus almost feeding off her had inspired the English vampire’s utmost rage and he was venting it with each kick and punch he delivered.
Buffy ran forwards as Angelus reached the circle, skidding to her hands and knees at the edge of it. Angelus did not see her because he was still concentrating on dealing with his enraged chide, however Spike caught on quickly to what Buffy intended and swung one final powerful blow that send Angelus staggering backwards over Buffy’s prone form. He fell into the circle hard. His head slamming against the wooden floorboards with a loud thwack. He did not move and the room felt silent as if some crucial moment had arrived and everyone knew it, even Angelus’ minions.
Tara wasted no time and put her spell into effect.
I call to thee Goddesses of Old
To Tisiphone, Alecto and Magaera,
Grant she who has commanded the stars
Grant she who is a daughter of Eve,
Possessor of the Sight and the old ways
To show this being of undead the future of his existence,
To show him the truth his mind will not accept
Part the veil between time and space
To the world that was and the one that might be,
I call to thee, Goddess of the Three,
Listen to your daughter's call,
In the mist lies the future,
Show him this fallen warrior his redemption,
Show him his salvation and folly,
Show him his soul.
I command thee, SHOW HIM HIS SOUL!
Angelus heard the words but for a few seconds after he had fallen, they had made little sense. He struggled for equilibrium but the clarity of mind that always came so easily to him, became vague and indistinct. He heard the words and its climatic ending and suddenly he was enveloped in a burst of colour that all but blinded him. For a moment, Angelus was struck by panic thinking she might have cast him into the daylight. However, his skin was not burning and he was being swallowed by a vortex of images, painful and searing. He bit down not wanting to scream but as the pain intensified, there was little choice and it escaped him without his knowledge.
It all crowded upon him.
His soul forced back into his body. Darla’s tears as she saw him became an abomination. His demon encased somewhere in the darkness, staring at a pinprick of light and being bombarded with so much regret. The pain of all those deaths swallowed him whole, every tortured cry, and every evil he had ever inflicted upon others screamed in his ears like a deafening cacophony. He should not have cared but somehow he was in a place where it mattered. The demon hissed with fury, each emotion of regret burning him like fire, he clawed for freedom but there was none except this trapping darkness while around him the world changed in a kaleidoscope of images, most of which he understood, hurtling past him.
He found himself hungry, so desperately hungry that even the blood of a mouse was enough to fill and satiate him and yet that was the only pleasure he was allowed because there was the pain of regret and remorse. Redemption sang promises of healing but he knew better, there was no end to it. There could not be. He knew this was going to happen. Perhaps it already had and he was merely being given some insight. He did not see how this had happened to him but he knew that it had and the demon that he was. was trapped like an animal, unable to feel anything but this terrible remorse that he should not have been able to feel.
But then something happened. Something changed.
Buffy.
Each time the word impacted upon his psyche, he felt it decrease. He became filled with her, her smile, her laugh, the way her gold hair shimmered in the moonlight. The utter pleasure in her eyes at seeing him. Young love at its best, something that neither Angelus or even Liam, the human he had once been had never known. Being in her presence was like a divine audience, she made the pain recede until it was almost gone and his soul, this heavy weight that brought with it so much pain started to soar. Lips touching his and his dead heart would skip a beat. When she touched him, he thought he might die from happiness at the sensation and when she said she loved him, he knew it was forever. Nothing would ever change that for her, no matter who came after him.
The emotions confused Angelus. He hated feeling this deep abiding love for some human but the pain went away because he did and then when he thought this journey of his could not become any more confusing, he was free. The hateful soul inside of him was gone. The feelings of pain and anguish disappeared in a moment of powerful and overwhelming bliss. He understood at that instant why she could not be killed because this condition of his was not meant to be a gift, it was a punishment and were he not to feel anguish or suffering, then he would lose that precious soul. The irony of it made Angelus laugh. He laughed so hard that it almost brought tears to his eyes.
***********
"Why is he laughing?" Chris asked as they watched what was happening to Angelus. The other minions had been dusted and now all that was left was the Master Vampire.
"I don’t know," Buffy replied just as confusion as they saw Angelus curled into a fetal position and shuddering with laughter. Unfortunately, they could not ask Tara because she was in a trance. They all watched in growing confusion as Angelus continued to laugh so hard that for a moment, they thought he might suffocate if not for the fact he did not need air to breath.
Suddenly, Tara opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. There were beads of sweat running down her forehead and she appeared exhausted but not so much that she could not scramble away from Angelus because she was too weary to protect herself should he make any attempt to attack. Vin immediately hurried to her and pulled her away from the circle, allowing her the use of his shoulder to stand up.
"What did you do?" Buffy asked.
"I made him see," Tara whispered with weariness.
"See what? The three stooges?" Spike inquired.
"The three stooges?" Buffy stared at him.
"What, they’re funny." He defended himself.
She shook her head and faced Tara again, "I don’t understand."
"Oh leave the girl alone," Angelus replied and stood up. His sudden animation immediately placed the others on guard with stakes being produced and any other weapon that might make him a past tense held in full view.
"My, you’re chipper." Buffy retorted glaring at him.
Angelus looked at her as if for the first time, "its not going to happen you know."
"What?" Chris asked, starting to get very annoyed.
"I’m not going to let it happen." Angelus took a step forward and noted how everyone was prepared to kill him if he made a threatening move. "I won’t let my soul come back."
"You don’t have a choice in the matter," Buffy responded realizing that Chris’ gamble had worked as had Tara’s spell. Angelus knew what she was to him and what they were to each other.
"It won’t happen," he stated firmly. "But I’m careful vampire. I’m not about to kill the grandsire of the only person that could save me if it does happen." He glanced at Ezra whose hand was being tended to by Nathan.
"Get out of my town," Chris growled.
"I will soon enough," Angelus responded with a smile, still staring at Buffy. "Tell me something, did you really believe that he loved you?" His eyes narrowed in calculation.
"Of course he did," Spike found himself saying, not wishing to let Buffy be hurt by Angelus’ words, no matter how much of a sore point Angel was with him.
"Spike," Angelus grinned. "I guess you’ll always be satisfied by the crumbs at my table."
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Chris shouted, jabbing the stake in the vampire’s chest as he saw Spike reeling from the vicious taunt. Despite Spike’s confident manner, even Chris could see how close to the bone that remark had cut.
"You’re good in a fight," Angelus laughed, not at all acting like the defeated enemy. "You would have made a grand gift for my lovely but I don’t think I would have liked the competition."
"Do I have to kill you to make a point?" Chris snarled with as much ferocity as any vampire was capable.
"I’ll be taking my leave of you," Angelus smiled unrepentant as he turned his back to Chris and started walking out the newly created fissure in the church wall. "But Slayer," he gave Buffy a little smile of suggestion as he stepped into the darkness. "I’ll be waiting for you to come my bed. I’m sure it will be as good for you as it will be for me."
And with that he was gone.
The aftermath was like a battlefield after the sound of canon fire had died.
They had won the day but none of them felt the pleasure of victory. Buffy was shaking in the wake of Angelus’ words and too many seconds ticked by as she tried to remind herself that the meeting that Angelus had taken such relish in stating prior to his departure was already a thing of the past for her. The wounds he had sough to inflict were long ago healed and if there was some consolation to be had, Angel himself had seen to it that Angelus would never escape again. Of course, he had left Buffy to do it but in her heart, she knew he was just as torn as her about the decision. Unfortunately, all the rationale in the world could not change the fact that he had once again cleaved her heart in two and left it at her feet in bloody tatters.
"Buffy," Ezra Standish made his way to her, clutching his injured hand because he could see the shattered look in her eyes she tried so hard to hide. He had looked in the mirror too many times himself and had been confronted by the same mask.
She looked up at him, lips quivering and did not resist when he pulled her to him in a warm embrace because she needed it.
"I’m okay," she said softly into his coat, careful not to aggravate his injured hand. "He just gets to me that’s all."
Ezra who knew something of Buffy’s history with Angelus understood completely. "He prides himself in being cruel to mask his fear of what the future holds for him. I believe that what he has seen did frighten him and his decision to withdraw from Four Corners reflects just how much. You tell me he is not one to relinquish his obsessions. What he has seen has certainly shaken him. I have no doubt that until he feeds upon his gypsy victim, he will spend every waking moment trying to avoid his situation."
"He won’t," she replied after a while and pulled away from Ezra, drying her eyes. "Thank you," she replied gratefully. "I needed that."
"The least I could for family," Ezra crooked a little smile in her direction.
Buffy returned his smile and looked around the room, taking account of the destruction that had followed in the wake of Angelus’ retreat. Vin was helping Tara to a pew. The young Wiccan looked exhausted and Buffy felt a wave of concern over her effort, not to mention intense gratitude at giving them the means to drive Angelus away. However, it appeared as if Tara was in good hands with Vin tending to her needs. Nathan Jackson’s instincts as a healer had kicked in as he soon closed the distance between himself and Ezra to deal with the gambler’s broken hand. The others had suffered minor bruises and cuts which could be tended to later but for now her ancestor, seemed to be the most serious casualty of the battle.
Chris Larabee was peering through the fissure as if he could see through the darkness. Buffy had no doubt that Chris would not take Angelus on his word that he was leaving until the gunslinger could verify it himself. Chris was not one to take chances and as he stood at the edge of the hole created by the dynamite, he appeared like a dark god keeping an eternal vigil on the town that had earned his protection. The youngest of the seven appeared somewhat dazed with disbelief that the fighting was over. Buffy found herself smiling a little because it was the same expression she had seen on Xander too many times. However, that did not stop him from helping Giles to his feet where Angelus had struck him.
Then she caught sight of Spike.
The vampire was alone in the corner of the room, staring past the wooden pew that blocked the shattered window, seeing nothing. The expression on his face was one she could not fathom and his features seemed as if they were carved from marble. However what struck her most was the deep overwhelming sadness that seemed out of place on a face she knew mostly for its arrogance and its sardonic humour. The expression in his eyes drew her to him almost involuntarily, forcing her legs to move as she crossed the gap between them and knew as she approached that it was not merely distance.
"Spike?" She called out.
"Slayer," Spike turned to her and acknowledged her presence with that brief statement.
"You’re hurt," she remarked, noting the blood on his abdomen.
"Its nothing that won’t heal," he replied.
"What’s wrong?" She asked concerned even though she knew what it was. It was probably the same thing that was bothering her – Angelus’ cruel words.
"Nothing," he shrugged.
"Is it was Angelus said?" She ventured a guess, hoping to draw it out of him.
"No," he shook his head. "Its nothing you would understand."
"Try me?" Buffy urged.
"He’s right you know," Spike said not looking at her. "No matter what happens. You’ll always love him."
There was no lying to him on this, Buffy was not even about to try. "I guess I will."
"I think I should go," Spike declared.
"Go?" Buffy stared at him with suspicion. "Go where?"
"Anywhere you’re not," he met her eyes for the first time. "I think in the long run it will be easier. You don’t love me, no matter how hard I wish it were otherwise. I’m just cutting myself up into pieces hoping that you might."
"You don’t know that," she replied softly. "I do care. I just don’t know how much."
"I can wait forever to find out," Spike confessed, feeling his inside ache with the words he was saying. Angelus had hurt him deeply. He hated that his Sire knew about his love for the Slayer but worse yet, he hated the fact that Angelus was right about every bloody thing he had said to both of them. "I would wait forever to find out but what scares me more than anything else is knowing that you might die before that ever happened."
"Spike please," her words escaped her in a strangled whisper. "I don’t want you to go. I don’t know if I can love you but I thought we were sort of friends. Maybe what’s been happening between us has scared me a little and I haven’t behaved better but I don’t want you to go. You’re the only one who seems to understand me right now, the only one I can stand to be around."
"What happens when that changes?" He met her eyes with a harsh unyielding stare.
"I don’t know," she admitted. It was the truth, she didn’t. "I just don’t want you to go just yet."
She reached her hand to his, praying that he would take it because the implications that he would not was more than she could stand. He was the one place that she could run to when all else seemed too hard lately and to know that he was gone, like Angel, Giles and Riley before him was a loss she could not endure. Perhaps this was insanity, this path they were spiralling down, a sickness that would kill him first before it took her, she could not rightly say for certain.
All she knew was she needed him to feel.
Spike met her eyes and knew that for now, she was earnest in her desire to have him stay but her reasons for wanting that were so mixed now that even he had trouble discerning what her true intentions were. She was a mixed bag of contradictions, passion and glacial coldness wrapped up in the form of a beautiful young woman he would always love and even though he lived forever, she would kill him a thousand times before her own life ended. However, he belonged to her and so there was no question of what he would do, despite the brief moment of sanity that surfaced in his mind when he considered leaving her.
He took her hand.
***********
Almost four days had passed since Angelus had freely chosen to leave Four Corners with his ‘family’ before the vampire hunters of Four Corners were certain the threat to Ezra Standish and the time line was done. Mary’s inquiries at Eagle Bend and beyond indicated that a group of European travellers had boarded a train bound for Denver the night after their climatic battle in town. Mary continued to trace Angelus as best she could and by all accounts the Master Vampire had held true to his word that he and Four Corners were finished with each other. The Slayer remained in Four Corners none the less, taking up Mary’s hospitality during the length of her stay, as did Tara. Giles and Spike seemed happier to remain out of sight at Chris’ shack although the vampire did ride to town during the night to play lengthy bouts of poker with Ezra.
However, it was soon apparent that it was time to go home and as much as Buffy enjoyed getting to know her southern ancestor, none of the visitors from Four Corners could remain indefinitely. Buffy was eager to return to her life and particularly to Dawn. Although Dawn was almost sixteen, Buffy could not help feeling anxious about her sister’s welfare and would not rest easy until she was back in her own time. However, she could not deny that she worried what would happen to Giles and Tara if they were to return to the future. The timeline that was home to them may not exist and if it did, she was not entirely pleased to send them back to a world where vampires ruled the night. However, Giles was adamant that he could not remain and was determined to return. Tara however, did not seem as certain.
During the remaining time left to them, Vin and Tara spent most of it together and it was plain to see that departure would be exceedingly difficult for both. Buffy wished things were otherwise, aware that the Tara she knew in the future was not this girl with whom the tracker was so smitten. That Tara would never know what Vin was to her because she would love Buffy’s best friend Willow. At first, Buffy had found it strange to see Tara with anyone else but Willow but then the heart was never the most predictable fixture in one’s body. After seeing them together, she knew without a doubt that Vin and Tara could be happy if things had been different. Unfortunately, there did not seem any way to resolve their situation and it soon came to leave Four Corners behind.
"Giles," Buffy spoke quietly to the Watcher late that night at Chris Larabee’s ranch. The full moon had been replaced with the crescent version of itself and the witching hour was at hand for Tara to begin her spell to send them back.
"I don’t know whether you or Tara should come back with us," Buffy said sincerely concerned about what would happen to the Watcher and the Wiccan in the invocation of the spell to return them to the future. "I mean here, you have a chance of a future but you might not exist at all if you come back with us."
"Buffy," Giles sighed, aware that she was attached to him in the same fashion as she was to the Giles in her world. Secretly, he was pleased at the emotions she felt towards him but he had to do what was right. "We can’t remain here. Our presence alone could harm the timeline."
"Giles, you and Tara are the most responsible and level headed people I know," Buffy exclaimed. "You wouldn’t let anything like that happen."
"We don’t belong here," Giles pointed out. "I know that there are risks but there’s no other choice."
"I know," Buffy conceding, hating the fact that he was always so sensible. For once she wished he could throw caution to the winds and do something for himself. However, she supposed if he had done that, he would not have been the Watcher that had become more than her guide but her surrogate father. "I just don’t want to see you hurt."
"Knowing the world is a better place because of what we managed here would be ample consolation if I did vanish into thin air," Giles responded with a warm smile. "Seeing you, what you’ve become, knowing that I had some part in the woman you’ve grown to be is more than I’ve ever hoped Buffy. Even if I exist as your Watcher with no idea of what might have been, nothing could make me prouder at this moment then being at your side. It has been my privilege to know you."
Emotions welled up in her eyes and she hugged him. "I always feels so good when you say that Giles, you have no idea how much."
She wished he could return home with her, so he could continue to be her Watcher but he was right. He would be as out of place there as he was here. "I guess we better get this started."
"I guess so," Giles nodded. "I’ll go find Tara."
"Okay," she nodded slightly and saw Chris and Ezra waiting to say goodbye.
Josiah was still too sick to travel although both Spike and Buffy had made their farewells to Josiah, JD, Nathan and Buck. Even though it was evident that Angelus and his family were not coming back, Buffy had a feeling it would take some time before Chris was confident enough to rest easy. The man was just as intensely protective of his friends as she was of hers and so she understood his inability to believe the danger had passed. Buffy also guessed that was likely the reason some of the in town while he, Vin and Ezra saw the Slayer off to her world.
"You okay Slayer?" Spike asked concerned. He had stepped aside to give her a moment with Giles but could tell that she was still worried about the Watcher’s ultimate fate.
"Yeah," she nodded with a sigh. "I hope Giles coming back with us isn’t a mistake."
"I’m sure it will work out," he remarked, although inwardly he did not think Giles would survive the trip back to his world.
"This has been one hell of a trip," Buffy sighed as she approached Chris and Ezra. "I can’t believe I’m related to that guy," she said mischievously and loud enough for Ezra to hear.
"Tell me about it," Spike retorted. "I was sure you were her sire." He looked in Chris’ direction. "You’re both intense enough to be related."
"Awww!" Buffy suddenly exclaimed. "Look at this!" She complained staring at a rip in her heavy coat. "You know much this thing cost? I could just die! I’m never going to be able to replace this!"
"And then again," Chris smirked at Ezra, "I can definitely see a family resemblance."
"And what does that mean Mr. Larabee? Are you indicating a love of fine clothes is some sort of failing? A good coat is hard to replace…." Ezra started to rant.
Chris met Spike’s gaze and replied. "And you were saying?"
"Never mind," Spike gestured in defeat. "I stand corrected."
"Well young lady," Ezra glared at both men briefly and cast his gaze on his future progeny. "I hope you will take care of yourself and remember some of the issues we discussed in regards to your duties as slayer. A Standish’ first obligation is to oneself, Slayer or not. Duty is all well and good but you need to live for yourself and take your comfort where it comes. I know that it is harder said then done but when you come down to it, you have one chance to shape your life, do not waste it because it might go against your nature. Sometimes, you can surprise yourself with what gives you comfort."
Buffy knew that Ezra referred to Spike but she also knew that he had never thought it possible to find contentment playing lawmen in a town in the middle of nowhere. Ezra’s goal had always involved the acquiring of wealth in large quantities. It was too his surprise, as every one else’s that he learnt being rich did not always mean having money. Sometimes it was just having friends. Buffy supposed she had better start doing the same. Even without the issue that was Spike, her life had been trapped in a holding pattern lately. She had been going through the motions, to afraid to live or feel anything else. If she did not start caring about what she fought for, she would end up dead again and this time it would be something worse than a physical death but that of her spirit.
"I will, you old romantic." She teased.
"You were not going to bring that up again," he gave her a look.
"I’m sure whomever she is will love that about you," Buffy chuckled and relished the crimson hue of his face.
"I can still make that ride to a monastery," Ezra returned.
Buffy laughed and ended up embracing the gambler who returned it with just as much affection. He did not show it very often because such displays were often a source of embarrassment to him. But she was family after all. He lowered his lips to her forehead and kissed her gently.
"I trust I can rely on you William to keep her safe?" Ezra looked over Buffy’s shoulder at Spike.
"She’s a bit of pain really," Spike smiled dryly. "But I think I can manage. She’s easy to handle once you get past the attitude."
"Bite me Spike," Buffy retorted.
"With pleasure luv," the vampire grinned at her with an insufferable smile of satisfaction.
"You take care of yourself Spike," Chris replied. "Don’t piss her off too much."
"That’s impossible," Buffy quipped.
"Right," Chris shook his head wondering if he and Mary had ever sounded like that to their friends and prayed to God that they did not. It would just be too embarrassing. He supposed he would just have to work on his relationship with the lady and since they were sharing supper tomorrow night, it was a good way to get started. For the moment however, he could not deny that it had been interesting having Buffy around, vampires and demons notwithstanding that is. He hoped in her world, the spirited young woman would have some reason to keep fighting the good fight and not lose her heart. Whether or not she knew it, her heart was her greatest talent.
"You keep out of trouble," he gave her a patented Larabee look of stern warning laced with affection.
"I’ll try cowboy," she teased and saw his brow arch in response.
"Probably ain’t as easy to do I suppose, on the account that you got such a mouth on you," Chris could not resist adding.
"You have no idea," Spike started to say and received a dark look from Buffy for his trouble.
The conversation ended abruptly with the return of Giles who was accompanied by Tara and Vin, both of whom looked as equally saddened as one another did. Chris could tell by the expression on Vin’s face that the tracker was barely holding it together and he ached inwardly for his friend. Chris who knew how hard it was to lose someone he loved, had perfect empathy with what Vin must be enduring at this point. He had hoped that through all this sorcery and supernatural forces that they had been subjected to this past week, a way would be found to keep the two of them together. Unfortunately, that had not been possible and so they now found themselves about to say goodbye to each other.
Farewells were exchanged but it was laced with a melancholy that no one could seem to get past. As the others stepped into the circle that would see the commencement of the spell that would send them home, Vin and Tara faced each other one final time. The others tried to ignore the painful moment they were enduring while at the same time, feeling a great amount of sympathy to the doomed couple.
"I don’t want you to go," Vin said desperately as he saw the circle and the candles on the ground in the clearing.
"I know," Tara whispered as she placed her hand on his cheek, trying to give him some of her strength. Inside she was dying. She had not known what it was to feel love in such glorious waves of abandon and having known it, she did not think she could be without it again or him for that matter.
"I could take care of you," he swallowed, finding it hard to express emotions when he was so often bottled up but there was no choice. If he did not tell her how he felt now, he never would. "I’d do right by you."
Her eyes glistened with tears, wondering if he knew each word was a knife through her bruised heart. "I have to go," she stammered, glancing over her shoulder at the friends who were waiting, whose eyes spoke of their sorrow for her. "I’m sorry."
"I love you," he whispered. "Don’t go."
"Please don’t make this any harder," she was almost to the point of weeping. Another word and she would.
"I’m sorry," he collected himself as she started to pull away.
"I’ll never forget you," she replied hurrying to the circle.
Vin watched her joining her friends. He watched her eyes as she started to chant her words. He watched the others going on this journey with her holding her hand as if their presence alone could make the hurt any less. He felt Chris’ hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tight, offering a gesture of support as he watched the only woman that he had really loved prepare to vanish out of his life forever. As the words she spoke became more fevered, her painful expression disappeared and suddenly he saw something else, something that reminded him of the medicine women when he lived with the Indians. The power emanated from her as the clouds began to rush towards them, blocking out the light of the moon. The air felt strange and Vin could feel tingles on his skin. When her eyes turned completely black, there was blinding light and a sound that could thunder, tearing through the air, making those who were remaining behind flinch. There was an instant of blinding light and suddenly, they were gone, vanished without a trace with only a wisp of smoke fading into the settling air.
They were gone, except for Tara.
"Tara!" Vin exclaimed as his feet started moving before his mind could grasp what had happened. Spike, Buffy and Giles were gone but she was still there, having dropped to her knees in the centre of the circle.
"What happened?" Chris demanded as Vin skidded to his knees in front of her.
"Did it work?" Ezra’s voice followed soon after.
Tara raised her head slowly. She was panting hard and the exertion was more than she was going to be able to stand. This was definitely the last time she was doing this spell again, she thought as she wiped a smear of blood from her nose.
"Tara, what happened?" Vin asked as he grabbed her by the shoulders to make him look at her. "I thought you had to go with them."
"I sent them back," Tara met his eyes with a weak smile. "I don’t know if I can exist here but I know I don’t want to exist there without you. I love you Vin."
He started to smile and responded by pressing his lips to hers in a kiss of passion. She felt so good and he knew that even if they had weeks or days, he did not care. She had chosen to stay with him and if took him the rest of his life, he would never make her regret it.
"I guess we’ll just have to see how long we have together," he grinned when they finally pulled away from each other. "And make every minute last."
As Chris and Ezra watched their younger friend with his new love, they had a feeling that for Vin and Tara minutes could be an eternity.
***********
Rupert Giles woke up in his little flat in Bath with something of a start.
For a moment, the Watcher had no idea where he had been even though the familiar surroundings of his bedroom and the sheets warmed by at least a couple of hours of slumber was evidence enough of what he had been up to. However, as he lingered there in his mattress, letting his gaze sweep across the room filled with boxes of belongings that he had not got around to unpacking yet, he could not help feeling as if he had been elsewhere. His dreams had been so vivid that he felt the need to go out and rent an old Yul Brynner western from the video store or in absence of, sit through another viewing of the Terminator. Most peculiar.
It would have been completely disturbing if not for the feeling that he had been with Buffy in the dreamscape and once again, he had been there when she needed him. Knowing that made him rest easy and as he laid back on his pillow, thinking about the Slayer that he had watched grow from a spirited young teenager to a woman in every sense of the word, the feeling that came over him was one of pride. Whatever course her life would take, Giles knew one thing for certain; she would never disappoint him. What she was and his part in it would be something he took to his grave because she had been more than just the Slayer he had been appointed to watch but the daughter he always wanted to have.
***********
The night after they had returned to the present and found everything as it was and as they remembered, Spike had a surprise visit from Buffy in his crypt. When they had realized that they were home, there was a moment of euphoria and pleasure before the realities of their lives once again fell over them like a mist. Buffy had been eager to get home to Dawn even though by their reckoning, neither she nor Spike had been gone for any more than a few hours. The body of the human who had given himself to Chronozon was still lying where Spike had killed him and after disposing of it, the duo went their separate ways. Spike did not expect to see Buffy for some time and anticipated that she would return when she had another itch to scratch. However, he had resigned himself to his fate. He was her creature, whether or not he liked it and until he gained the courage to leave her once and for all, that would not change.
He was in the middle of Passions when he caught her scent and heard her approach. He wondered if he was expected to perform once again for her pleasure but was rather surprised when she appeared with something that looked like an old family album and what smelt deliciously like pizza.
"Hey," she greeted sheepishly.
"Lost?" Spike asked in typical antagonistic fashion.
"Nah," she shrugged of his hostility, more than accustomed to it by now. "I thought I’d just drop in and see you. I brought pizza, no garlic."
"How thoughtful," Spike said sarcastically. "You going to feed me before you give me a tumble?"
"If you gonna be a pain in the ass I’ll take my food and go," she gave him a look as she planted herself on the step behind his chair. "I actually had a reason for coming here other than just coming."
"Ooh nasty slayer," Spike smiled, becoming intrigued by this whole situation. "Alright, I give. What’s the play tonight?"
"I found these," she said glad that he was giving up his annoying manner. "It’s a family history that my mom put together a couple of years ago. I guess being a museum creator meant that she wanted to keep track of her own past, not just everyone else’s."
"Anything about him in there?" Spike asked, naturally curious about Ezra Standish after everything they had been through in the town of Four Corners
"Not much, just a couple of pictures and a little bit of a history." Buffy remarked as Spike sat down next to her. She spread open the album to the pages in question that was covered in a collection of sepia toned photographs that were faded and worn from time.
Spike’s gaze immediately fixed on what appeared to be a wedding photo with Ezra Standish clearly the groom. His wife, a petite beauty whose hair and eye colouring were difficult to tell thanks to the black and white picture was looking at him adoringly and he could not help thinking that Standish’ lady had Joyce’s wan smile.
"I saw it too," Buffy smiled, noting the way he looked at her great, great grandmother Julia. "She looks a little like mom."
"Say who she was?" Spike asked.
"Yeah," Buffy pointed to a little paper clipping in the corner of the page. Spike did not have to ask whether or not it was from the Clarion News, some things were just too obvious.
"Her name was Julia Pemberton," Buffy announced. "She owned the local emporium or something. Guess that meant she was rich." She could not help smiling thinking about the conversation she had with Ezra on that count. There was no way the gambler had married for money, not if the manner in which he was staring at his bride was any indication.
"Well at least you know he didn’t join a monastery," Spike teased as his eyes scanned the other pictures. There were pictures of twin children born to the couple later on in their lives as well as large picture of the wedding guests since a photographer was something of a luxury so the habit was to fit as many people into the frame as possible. The wedding guests were all familiar to him and Spike had trouble believing that it was only a few days ago that he was talking to most of the people in the picture, not a century. That event was a hundred years into the past and the moment he had stepped back into their time, they were already long dead.
Chris Larabee was there, standing next to the lovely Mrs. Travis and it appeared that their positioning in the picture was not coincidental, the two were clearly attached. The picture was too faded to make out but Spike was certain he could see Chris’ hand draped around the widow’s waist. Considering that the gunslinger was too traditional to be so forward with a goodly Christian woman like Mary, Spike had to assume that they were married. However, it was who was standing next to Vin Tanner that caught his attention.
"What a minute, is that…..?" he exclaimed.
"Yeah," Buffy nodded having felt the same astonishment when she first saw the picture. "It’s Tara."
"She stayed," Spike mused, not really surprised after the tearful farewell between the tracker and the lady. "Good for her."
"I wonder how long they had," Buffy sighed, leaning her head next to his shoulder.
"Doesn’t matter," Spike rested his head against hers, enjoying the intimacy she was showing him that was more than just sex. "They were together."
"You’re a hopeless romantic of a vampire, you know that?" Buffy chuckled wondering what she was ever going to do with him.
"I know," he nodded his head in agreement before meeting her gaze, "so fancy a shag then?"
"That’s it," Buffy groaned, "I’m getting Mr. Pointy!"
THE END