FIC: Untitled(Chapter 3)

["Pat Kelly" <bandits@xxxxxxxxx>]

CHAPTER 3


Xander and Anya were walking through the streets of Genova. It was early morning in the Italian city, but despite the hour, it was a welcome change from the blandness of Russia. He hadn't lied to Willow when he said he was becoming cultured. He had been all over the world making contacts and trying different jobs.

His life was good. He had learned the value of investing money and he got pretty good at playing the stock market, so they were never short on cash. Anya had grown, not much, but enough to realize that there were other things to do in a relationship besides having sex. Not that he minded the sex part.

He tried to stay in touch with Willow as much as possible, and they visited her anytime they happened to pass through Paris. She had done pretty well for herself, but he could tell she missed Buffy. He did too, but not for the same reasons. His redheaded friend told him that the she and Buffy had fought right before she changed continents, but he could see it was something more than she let on.

Every time he looked back at his decision he was positive he had made the right choice. At the time he felt like he was deserting his friends, but he had to get out. And they hadn't held it against him, but from what Willow did tell him, he got the impression that after he left, his friends' relationship had changed. He couldn't help feeling that maybe if he was there he could have prevented whatever had caused their fight, or...

Maybe after Italy they could go back to Paris and he could get it out of Willow, maybe find Buffy and.

He felt Anya tug his arm. "What is it?"

"The alley." He turned to look. "Damn."

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Ta'Hoffren. Bastard."

"The demon who made you a demon?"

She nodded. "Come on."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

She was already dragging him towards the demon that he thought looked like an old goat. Ta'Hoffren was looking at his surroundings, seemingly confused. He then spotted Xander and Anya.

"What are you doing here?" He asked them.

"What are you doing here? This isn't your dimension. Go back to Arash Ma'har." Anya said.

"Are you giving me orders?"

"Let's not anger the guy. She doesn't know what she says." Xander said.

"That's why she made a fine vengeance demon. But now it's annoying."

"Well, you can't have me back." She stated.

"You give yourself too much importance. I am not here for you."

"But I thought you weren't allowed to come here unless you were offering someone elevation."

"Normally, yes. But not today." He said cryptically. "Where is this place?"

"Italy."

"I was told Paris."

"Then you're about six-hundred miles off course." Xander told him.

"He never did have a good sense of direction." Anya said.

"You will take me there." Ta'Hoffren stated.

"Like hell -" She started to say as Xander covered her mouth.

"You bet. Anything you want."

Anya pulled his hand away. "We just got here! And it's ten hours away! We haven't even -"

"Later, honey. It's a long drive, so let's get going."

Ta'Hoffren raised his cloak over his head, and they started to walk to the car. He wanted to see Willow, and even though this wasn't the way he wanted to go about it, he was getting his wish.

***

Flashes. Images.

Circle. Stones.

Tablet. Writing.

Nine. Shadows.

A hand. Large.

A growl. Voice.

"Tell her to stay away."

Buffy opened her eyes. What was that? She looked over, and her dream was nearly forgotten. She stared into the eyes of her the woman she loved, from a position she had wanted to be in for so long. The redhead had her arm around her, smiling.

"Hey." Willow said.

"Hey." She brushed a stray hair behind Willow's ear. "So last night wasn't a drunken hallucination?"

"I hope not. I know I was a little mean -"

"I needed that. We needed to get it out. You know how stubborn I can be. Thank you. I haven't felt this good in a long time. Too long."

"I love you. I don't know if I said it last night."

"You didn't have to. You showed me. Boy, did you show me." Willow blushed. "I love you too. I'm gonna be saying that a lot, I think. To make up for lost time."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to stay here.but we both have work."

"Oh!" Willow jumped. "Work!"

She rushed to get dressed, while Buffy giggled. It had been awhile since she did that. Then she remembered her dream. "So, what did you find down there?"

"Languages. Demon languages. I haven't had a chance to read them yet."

"You can read them?"

"Impressed?"

"Very. Do you have any theories?" Buffy got up and started getting dressed as well.

"I have one. It's the only one that makes sense."

They left the bedroom. Their friends had come back, because they could tell it the loft had been slept in. But they were the only ones there. Buffy saw a note on the table.

" 'Buffy and Willow,

We came back late last night, and we didn't want to wake you. We left early this morning. We'll meet you at the site. Giles.' " Buffy read.

"We should go." Willow said heading for the door.

"Yeah." Buffy followed her. "Hey, Will?"

"Yeah?"

"What's gonna happen when I -" Willow kissed the question away, and left them both smiling. "Don't worry about it?"

"When the time comes, we'll figure something out."

***


At the site, Giles, Spike and the team were working on removing more of the rock to uncover the writing. Giles was the only one who was really interested in what they were doing. Spike was off to the side smoking a cigarette. He watched as Danton approached him.

"Ah.Spike?"

"Sir. What is it?"

"Right. Sir. Seeing as you are.ah.what you are.."

"Get on it with it."

"I was wondering if you could read the writing on the wall. There's a section that appears to be ancient vampiric."

"What makes you think I can read the blasted language? I'm only a hundred and thirty-one."

"It's just.could help us."

Spike stuck out his hands and made like he was going to grab Danton. The Frenchman jumped back.

"Just see if you can read the words, Spike." Giles said staring at him disapprovingly.

"All right. I was just messin' with the guy."

He headed over to the first section of the wall, and looked at the writing. At first he couldn't make any sense of it, and then it was like a lightbulb went off in his head. He read it silently to himself, and called Giles over.

The two of them spoke quietly so none of the others could hear.

"You know what it says." Danton said.

"We think it's best if we wait for Willow and Buffy." Giles told him.

"We're partners. I deserve a right to know."

"And you will. Just as soon as they get here."

"What's so important that we have to wait?"

Spike rushed Danton and shoved him against the wall.

"I'm not sure. But until we get this whole thing, and know what it means, you'll know what you need to know, when we need you to know it. Got it?"

"Got it."

Spike blew a whiff of cigarette smoke in Danton's face. "Good. Sorry I'm not being very open, mate. Just that I'm not that chatty with people I don't trust."

"I don't trust you either."

Spike shoved him away. "Glad we understand each other. Now we're gonna wait for your boss, and play nice. So keep chipping away. You got a long way to go."

He took one last puff of his cigarette, threw it to the ground, and stomped his foot down, putting it out.

***


"Gum?" Xander asked Ta'Hoffren who was in the back seat.

The last thing he expected to do was to have to chauffeur a goat demon from another dimension to Paris. And this one was the demon who gave his now girlfriend the power to grant evil wishes. He was very conflicted.

He saw Ta'Hoffren simply glare at him through the rearview mirror.

"Are you going to tell us why you're going to Paris?" Anya asked.

"No."

"Look, if it's to kill some people, or go on a murderous rampage, I don't care. I just think we have a right to know. I think it was very kind of my boyfriend to offer to drive you to this bloodbath, don't you?"

Xander felt like he had stopped breathing. "How come you couldn't just open another rip in the continuum? I'm sure that's faster, right?"

"Extradimensional travel is one thing, interdimensional travel is something else entirely." Ta'Hoffren said.

"What do you mean?"

"He means that going from Arash Ma'har to Earth is relatively simple. If you don't get lost. But traveling from one place to another in the same dimension is too risky. And he's right."

"Why?"

"If you screw up, you can end up in Limbo. I've been everywhere, but Earth has the worst Limbo of all the dimensions. Even worse then Hell."

"That's comforting."

"That is not the only reason I asked for your assistance." Ta'Hoffren admitted.

"Sounded more like a demand to me, but okay. So what's the other reason?" Xander asked.

"I'm not in that much of hurry to get there."

"Then why -" Anya started.

"Because I do not have a choice."


***


Buffy and Willow walked into the cavern, and headed towards the hole that would allow them access to the work being done below. They felt different now. Almost like the two-year gap had never happened. They both wondered how they had managed to go that long without speaking. It was unfathomable.

They still had a ways to go before the rift was healed completely, and they knew that. Last night had just been the first step. Admitting, connecting again, and taking the leap into an even deeper relationship.

It had all happened fast, but that's what they had both wanted for two years, no, even longer than that, and they weren't going to wait another second. It had been long enough. Now, what they had ahead of them was telling each other exactly what they missed.

It was going to be hard, especially for Buffy, having to dredge up painful memories, but it had to be done. Best friends knew everything about each other. Good and bad, and they wanted to give themselves that title again. Very badly.

But for now, they were together again, and just that thought left them content.

"Hey." Spike called from behind them.

They whirled around.

"Jesus, Spike." Buffy said. He motioned for them to backtrack and follow him to the mouth of the cavern. He stood just out of the sun's reach. Giles appeared at the entrance then, coming from the outside. "You too?"

"What's with the stealth?" Willow asked.

"Spike doesn't feel it wise to let the people below hear us. And neither do I." Giles said.

"Why not?" Willow thought a second. "You were able to read it, weren't you? Yes! Well, not that I wouldn't have been able to but you being a vampire it's quicker for you to read and saves me lots of downloading time -"

"Quiet!" Spike said hushed.

"Sorry."

"Damn. You never change, Red."

"Huh?"

"The babbling." Buffy said.

"Oh." Willow smiled sheepishly. "So?"

"The part I read, talks about finding a place where laws were made and some other crap that doesn't make sense." Spike said.

"I hate nonsense writing as much as the next twenty-first century girl, but why are we being secretive?" Buffy asked.

"Number one, I get the feeling that this, whatever the hell it is, is not some useless artifact. It means something, and the last thing we need is for those wankers down there to rush to get fame and fortune, especially if that thing can prevent an apocalypse."

"Good point." Buffy agreed. "And Number Two?"

"I think I was the only one meant to read the words."

"So what does that mean?" Willow asked.

"We're not sure. We need more information." Giles said.

"Then let's go get it. That Chaos demon and his buddies should be coming in soon. Maybe they have an interest in the mystery wall." Buffy said.

"And you could see if one of vampires can read it." Willow said.

"Bingo. Giles, you and I are going to go welcome them. Spike, you stay here with Willow and see what else you can read."

"Fine. But I think I'm developing claustrophobia." Spike said.

"And I think I might have an idea. It's an old legend that I came across. But I'll tell you when you get back." Willow said, looking directly at the Slayer.

"When we get back." Buffy repeated, squashing her friend's unvoiced fear. The redhead smiled, as Buffy grasped her hand. "Give us one second."

She pulled Willow out of view of the two men, disappearing outside. A few seconds later, Willow came back in her finger touching her lips. Giles smiled, figured it was okay to go out, and he left the cavern.

"I think I liked her better when she was depressed." Spike said.

***

They only had about two hours until they got into Paris. If they kept driving straight through, it'd be around five o'clock when they finally reached the city. Anya's head was lying on Xander's shoulder, as she was asleep. Touched as he was, it made driving somewhat more difficult.

"So, Tree Coffin -" Xander began.

"Ta'Hoffren."

"Right. How old are you?"

"Older than your number system can comprehend."

"That's pretty old, then. Any particular reason you make people vengeance demons?"

"Do you always ask this many questions?"

"Just making conversation. It's what you do when you're in a confined space with somebody for ten hours."

"Very well. It was a punishment."

"A punishment?"

"I can give people the power to destroy, but I cannot."

"You being a demon and all.yeah, I guess that is a downer. What'd you do?"

"What?"

"Do. To get punished."

"I found a flaw. And I used it."

"Tried to fight city hall, huh?"

"City hall?"

"Place that makes all the rules? Crushes the little guy?"

"Oh. Yes. Something like that."

***


"I hate waiting. It should have been here by now." Buffy said to Giles.

They had been at the docks for hours now. It was nearly five. No sign of any incoming boats, or any activity at all for that matter. There was something going on, and she didn't like it. She couldn't seem to concentrate very well.

"We would have seen them." Giles said.

"Would we? Follow me."

Buffy started to walk around to the other side of the docks. She saw a boathouse a couple hundred feet ahead. She crept up to it, Giles behind her, and heard voices inside. Before she could focus on what they were saying, boats appeared in the water. They were going away.

"What the hell is going on?" Buffy asked quietly.

"See that purple-robed demon?" Giles asked pointing into the boathouse.

"The one whose face looks like it got hit by a truck? Yeah."

"If memory serves, that's a Wamn. They have the ability to distort the reality in which they inhabit. We're close enough so it has less of an effect."

"And there's Mr. Slimy Antlers with his vamp lackeys.God, how many are there?"

"Seven." Giles counted.

Inside, an Ethros demon spoke. "Where are the others? I have come a long way, and if this -"

The Fearal demon grunted a response.

"We've all come a long way." Giles translated.

"How'd you know.oh right." Buffy grinned.

"I've been detained." Ta'Hoffren said entering from the other side of the boathouse.

"That's eight. Where's the Vampire?" The Wamn said.

"I say we all meet at the map tomorrow." The Chaos demon said. "If the Vampire does not show up, we all go our separate ways."

There were nods and grunts of agreement.

"We have to get back to -" Buffy started to tell Giles.

She heard movement behind her. She stood up and came face to face with Xander. Behind him, stood Anya, who was tapping her foot.

"Buffy?" He asked.

"What are you doing here?" Anya asked.

"Later. Come on, we gotta get out of here." She told them.

***


Back at the wall, Willow was translating the words for herself on her laptop. Spike was looking over her shoulder. Danton had been eyeing her, but didn't dare come over while the vampire was near her.

"Come to the place of the past where the laws were made and evil was decided.it sounds like instructions. Directions maybe?" Willow said.

"What do I have to do with this?" Spike asked, frustrated.

"I don't know.besides the evil part."

"Aw, you think I'm evil? I'm touched."

"Don't mention it. Try reading it out loud. Maybe it'll make more sense to you. Always worked for me in school."

Spike walked over to the wall. " Come to the place of the past where the laws were made and evil was decided to restore the honor of the creatures of evil."

The words began to glow, surprising everyone. The glow was red, and the words began to bleed. The flow of blood cracked the rock for miles, uncovering more of the ancient vampiric words. Then it stopped abruptly. Everyone but Willow and Spike ran.

"There you go. Ancient blood dispenser." Spike said.

"Wait. Come over here and read the Fearal. You can, right?"

"Yeah, but it says the same thing."

"Humor me?"

He walked to where the Fearal section started, and read. They waited, but nothing happened. "This is just too bloody bizarre."

"I think my theory may be right after all."

"I have misplaced my pants." (Homer J. Simpson)

"You know what the secret of life is?"
"Your finger?"
"One thing. Just one thing."
"That's great, but what's the one thing?"
"That's what you gotta figure out."
(Jack Palance, Billy Crystal, City Slickers)

"I heard your heartbeat." (Buffy Summers, to Angel, ANGEL)