FIC: Untitled(Chapter 4)

["Pat Kelly" <bandits@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey.

Here's Chapter 4. Does anybody have any good title suggestions?

CHAPTER 4

The next morning, they were all in the loft. Xander was still surprised to see Buffy, let alone Spike, working cooperatively with her. Unlike Willow, he had been unaware of their partnership. He had also expected to see his two friends at each other's throats, or possibly just ignoring the other's presence. That's not what he saw at all.

Buffy was sitting very close to the redhead on the couch. And they looked very comfortable. The Slayer was describing the previous night's events to them. It felt like old times again. He liked it.

"Odds are this map they're talking about is in that cavern." Buffy said.

"But that's not a map, it's writing. Unless.you said they were waiting for a vampire right?" Willow said.

"Right."

Everyone looked at Spike.

"What are you staring at? Why don't you ask Xander what he was doing driving a demon to the little group in the first place?"

"We did. He needed a lift. We gave him one. Can we go now, Xander?" Anya said impatiently.

"No." Anya looked shocked. "He talked about being punished, how he didn't want to go but he didn't have a choice. That's pretty much it. You think I should have asked for a tip?"

Giles walked in from the kitchen with Janice, and they were carrying cups of coffee for everyone. Willow, Buffy, and Xander took them gratefully, Anya not so gratefully. Giles went back into the kitchen, and came back with a cup of blood for Spike.

"You put blood in my fridge?" Willow asked.

"It's sealed. I got it from a butcher." Spike said.

"Anyway," Buffy said, "I think it might be a good idea for you to tell your people to stay away from that place, Will. The only way we're going to get anywhere is if we have somebody on the inside to keep tabs on the demons."

They looked at Spike again.

"What is it with you people? I hate demons. Especially Chaos. I'm not doing it."

Willow caught the look Buffy and Spike exchanged.

"We got the impression they didn't like each other either, Spike, but they are gathered here for some reason. And we can only assume you are the vampire they mentioned." Giles said.

"Come on, Spike. We both saw what happened when you read those words." Willow said.

Spike shook his head in resignation. "Fine. But I expect a bonus."

"I don't pay you." Buffy said.

"Maybe you should."

"Maybe I'll think about it."

"Fair enough."

Janice cleared her throat. "Willow, you said you had a theory?"

"Oh. Yeah. Well, it wasn't exactly my theory."

"Nonsense. You never did give yourself enough credit." A man said, standing in the doorway. His hair was gray, and he neatly trimmed beard and moustache. He supported himself with a cane.

"Henry?" Willow asked.

"Hello Willow."

***

Danton was in his apartment just outside of Paris. He was talking on his cell phone while he walked around gathering equipment.

"You saw what happened." The voice of one of the other workers said.

"I did, but that just means there's something worth digging for down there."

"You know what Willow will say."

"Exactly why we're doing this. She'll say she wants us to call it off for awhile. Well, I am not going to do that. The two of us searched for a long time for this place, and she can't just tell me to forget about it."

"Don't you think she knows what she's doing? We've had vampires and blood coming out of the wall."

"It was probably a set-up by that one, Spike. To drive us away. You notice how we were attacked the moment he arrives? She wants whatever is down there for herself."

"Listen to yourself, Danton. I think she wants to prevent whatever may be written there. She does have a history dealing with these kind of things."

"I don't care. She can play it safe all she wants, but she left me with the equipment, so it's my call. It's time for somebody else to get the recognition."

"Convincing the others that -"

"Tell them I will raise their pay. We meet in one hour."

***


"Henry!" Willow squealed, getting up and hugging him.

Henry had to readjust his cane to keep his balance. "Easy. I'm an old man, you know." He looked at her more closely. "Smiling suits you, my dear. It's nice to see it."

She smiled wider, and then helped him to a chair. She saw everyone looking at him. "Sorry.everybody, this is Mr. Henry Wallace. He's a professor at Oxford. He helped me survive being the outcast. Cause of the dropping out thing."

Henry noticed the way she was looking at Buffy and Buffy back at her, immediately. "Glad you found what you were missing." He whispered.

Willow went back to the couch, but this time Buffy held out her arms and she sat on the blonde's lap. Greetings of 'hello' came from everyone's mouths. Henry looked over at Giles, recognition in his eyes.

"Rupert?"

"Hello, Professor." Giles said warmly.

"You've aged quite a bit since I've seen you last."

"As have you."

"Lost your leather jacket I see."

Giles laughed. "Some time ago."

"Back the British truck up a sec. How do you know each other?" Xander asked.

"He had similar issues as Willow. He chose to be very vocal about them, however, whereas she did not. He did not want to be confined to a building and forced to read a book. But he buckled down, and I tried to guide him away from darker areas." Henry explained.

"I never did get a chance to thank you for that. The Council grabbed me as soon as I was out the door."

"It's obvious you have fulfilled the potential I saw in you, Rupert. And I should have known you and Miss Rosenberg knew each other. I can see your influence in her."

Giles looked at Willow. "Sometimes I wonder if it hasn't been the other way around."

Anya looked around at the people in the room. "Do I need to get tissues or something?" Xander lightly pinched her arm. "Ow."

"So why are you here?" Buffy asked Henry.

"Word has gotten around that you're very close to discovering the location of the Temple of the Dark Ones. It has gotten a number of people very excited. Especially an old demonologist such as myself."

"I wouldn't have found it if it wasn't for you." Willow said.

"I just told you the legend. You're the one who believed it enough to start looking. Are you close?"

"We think so. There's demons close to it too."

"Oh dear. That could be a problem."

"Whoa. What's this temple?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, duh." Willow said in an apologetic tone. "Back a really long time ago, just as humans were showing up here, there were nine core demon species. They had a kind of government. They worked together to coordinate destruction and stuff.

"There was no quarreling or anything. There was mutual respect among the members, and they pretty much ran a tight ship."

"So what happened?" Buffy and Spike asked together, both remembering their dreams.

"Well, there was this leader named Machin, he ran the meetings between this group. Legend says that one of the members started to shake things up a little. Disrupt the balance. Then, they had organizational problems, the races started to hate each other, and humans started to fight back.

"After that.nothing."

"Very good, Willow." Henry said. "Now, your friend's theory was that based on the concept of nine original species, demons evolved from there. Variations arose of course, and soon enough, the differences became so great, that one would assume there was no relation at all."

"But I've dug up some pretty well preserved bodies of different species, and they all seem to have one cell in common." Willow explained.

"So you're saying I'm related to -" Spike started.

"No, it would be different for you. Based on what you did, and if that wall really is a map to the temple, I'd say you're a descendant of the original vampire who was a member of the group. I bet if I took a sample of your blood, I'd find more than one cell in common. All those demons are probably descendants too."

"I don't believe it."

"You better. Because you've gotta go make friends with the demons and let us know what the hell is going on." Buffy told him. Spike walked off into the other room. "This Machin guy, he's dead, right?"

"One would assume." Henry said.

They all cringed. 'Assume' was a nasty, nasty word. Willow figured she had better call Danton. It wasn't looking too good. She dialed his cell phone, and all she got was a busy signal.

"He's not answering." She said.

"I told you that man was a fool." Henry said.

"You don't think he went there do you?" Willow remembered that he had the equipment. "Damn it."

"I'll go." Buffy said.

"No, I'll go." Spike said, returning. "There's no way you could take on eight different species alone. You want me to be the inside guy, I will. I stand a better chance at surviving longer. If your boys are there, Red, I'll get them out. If they're still alive."

"Be careful."

"Hey, don't worry, Slayer. It's me."

***

A little while later, Xander finally got the chance to sit down with Willow. Giles and Henry were reminiscing, Anya was supplying Janice with all sorts of demon info whether she wanted it or not, and Buffy was asleep in Willow's bedroom. They had all gotten used to waiting, but they still hated it.

"You look good." He told her. "Better since the last time I saw you."

"I feel better. Still traveling?"

"You know me. I can't stay in one place too long."

"I still think that has something to do with third grade and you not being able to wait to go to the bathroom. Didn't all that moving around tire you out?"

"Hey! It wasn't right for Miss Danen to think she could control my bladder."

"That's a valid point."

"Thanks. So.you and Buffy.not a sore spot?"

"You noticed?"

"It was hard not to. Are you."

"Yeah."

"Oh." Xander said, understanding. Understanding the fight, everything. "So you two -"

"None of your business. Changing topics, how's Anya? Still the same I see."

"I hope you mean that in a good way."

"Hey, if she makes you happy, who am I to judge?"

"Same here. It's nice to see you happy again."

"Thanks." Willow smiled.

"It's good to see Buffy -"

Before he could finish, they both heard Buffy scream from the bedroom.

"MOM!"

***


"I want you to start taking as many of the pieces out of the wall as possible. People will pay handsomely for these." Danton said. "And we go to the highest bidder."

"But the Louvre -" One woman began.

"Has Rosenberg on their payroll. Not me." Nobody moved. Breathing was all that could be heard in the cavern. "Why aren't you digging?"

"We're.what happened." A man trailed off.

"You're scared? Of what?"

"It might be cursed."

"Cursed! That's ridiculous. Besides, the quicker we get done, the quicker we leave. I'm not being scared off by anyone's tricks. And you shouldn't be either."

The steady sound of breathing was interrupted by several snarls, and then a few minutes later, the screams began.

***


Willow cautiously entered the bedroom, telling everyone else that it was okay. She shut the door, and then she saw Buffy in a fetal position on the bed. She hurried over, and sat next to her. Slowly, she guided Buffy's head up so she could look at her.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Bad dream." Buffy responded softly, her cheeks tear-stained.

"About your mom?" Buffy nodded. "Why?"

"If I tell you.this is that bad stuff I warned you about."

"I'm here. I'm not gonna go anywhere. I wanna help. Are you gonna let me?"

"You're sure?"

Willow kissed her. "I'm sure."

"Right after you left, I hadn't left Sunnydale yet, my mom and I had a fight. She thought since college was over and I didn't work for the Council, and Sunnydale was demon-free, I could just stop."

"But you couldn't."

"No. There were still demons, and all the other slayers hadn't shown up. I was, I still am, the Slayer. The one and only. But that didn't take with mom. I was still doing patrols as a precaution, and I told her I had to go.

"It was one of those fights that didn't seem to wanna end, so she followed me, and we argued all the way to the cemetery. Somehow we ended up at Spike's crypt. So we're fighting, and the next thing I know, this Chaos demon comes flying out of the crypt."

"What was a Chaos demon doing in -"

"The thing wasn't from Sunnydale. It had come from Brazil. Spike told me later that it was the one who stole -"

"Druscilla. The one that took her away from him?"

"Yeah. It was there to piss Spike off for fun. Dru had apparently just been killed by him because he got tired of her."

"Poor Spike. What hap.oh no."

"After Spike had thrown it out to where mom and I were, it decided it had to take out its aggression on the easiest possible prey." Buffy started to choke out her words. "It surprised me.and I didn't.I didn't react.it grabbed her and.her neck.just like that."

"Oh God. Buffy." Willow hugged her, and didn't let go.

"Spike saw, and he got.he lost it. He really liked mom. I never saw him that.angry. He pummeled the thing. Killed it at least six different ways. And I just stood there.like a catatonic, worthless slayer."

"You can't blame yourself."

"It was my job. I should have made her go back. It was careless. I didn't even help kill it."

"She wouldn't want you to -"

"Don't try to say I'm not to blame. I am."

"The Chaos demon was the one to blame. They're fast, I know. Not even you could have stopped it. It's not your fault." Willow took a deep breath. "But.what about Vermont?"

"Oh.Vermont." Willow felt Buffy smile. "One time, mom was telling me about when she and dad took a vacation up there while they were still in college. She said it was the most beautiful place she had ever been to.

"Then she told me about how.if she ever died she wanted to be cremated. Just in case. She didn't say it directly, but I put two and two together. So, when Giles, Spike and I left Sunnydale, the first place we went was Vermont. We took her ashes and let them float in the river near the bed and breakfast where my parents stayed."

"I'm sorry. I should've been there."

"Of the two of us, you are the one who should definitely not be blaming themselves."

"Still.I'm sorry. So.that's how you and Spike started to get along?"

"He felt really guilty, I felt really guilty, we came to an understanding. Not under the greatest circumstances, but.Guess you could say we're friends now. And I shouldn't have let him go alone."

"He'll be okay. How often do you have the nightmares?"

"This is the first one in awhile. Ever since we first saw that thing in Minneapolis.I've been thinking about it."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Stay with me?" Buffy laid her head on Willow's lap, taking a shuddering breath. She was trying so hard to hold it in.

"Go ahead. Let it out. It's okay."

Buffy started to cry softly.

***

Spike entered the cavern pretty much expecting the scene he saw before him. Bodies, mostly in several pieces, were scattered around. For a second, he almost felt sorry for Danton, but the man had gotten what was coming to him. That's when eight figures stepped out of the shadows.

The Chaos demon stepped forward, his vampire slaves trailing behind him. Spike struggled to keep himself calm.

"We were doubting you'd ever show." The Chaos demon said.

"Being fashionably late is a hobby. Kinda sorry I am. Looks like you had quite the party. I'm hurt you didn't wait."

"And apparently you did not wait for us." The demon pointed to the ancient vampiric section of the wall. It was still glowing.

"Oh that. Just wanted to make sure the thing still worked."

"He lies." The Fearal demon grunted.

"A liar? I didn't think you knew what that meant."

It growled back at him. Ta'Hoffren stepped in.

"We have no time for quarreling. We need the vampire to show us the way to the temple. You are all descendants of the original members, whereas I was there at the beginning. Times have changed. Land has changed. Not even I know the temple's location anymore. It has been a long time.

"So let us get this over with. We must answer his call."

The others complied, and Spike got the impression that Ta'Hoffren really wasn't as anxious to do this as he said he was. Xander was right. They all began to read the words, in their own languages.

"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. After the second thousand years have passed, children and firsts return to the Temple of the Dark Ones. Only you can find the way.

"So come and start a new era. Come make evil supreme once more. I wait for you."

The same words were written for miles down the wall, in nine different languages. They kept repeating it. Over and over. The whole wall glowed red, and blood began to flow once more. The cavern rumbled. Dust gathered.

They stopped their chant, and when the dust cleared, the words were gone, and an elaborate drawing was in its place. Something Spike recognized right away.

"Bloody sodding hell." He said in quiet awe. "Stonehenge?"


"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)