Female of the Species Part 10

[lesley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi all,

Here is the 10th part of Female. Sorry for the long break between
chapters to anyone who was reading it. Illness in the family
prevented me from writing before. But enjoy it now :-)

PART TEN

"Should be me that goes in," Giles said after a few moments'
consideration. His tone, Buffy noticed, was entirely lacking
enthusiasm.
"Why, Giles?" she asked, saw Giles redden much as Cordelia had a
few minutes before.
"Well, I¬  '¥ I¬  '¥ I'm a man¬  '¥" he stammered.
"And that makes a difference because¬  '¥?" Buffy asked. Giles
shrugged, his discomfiture apparent.
"Buffy, if Xander is indeed¬  '¥ as Cordelia says, then he's
likely
to be¬  '¥ in some kind of¬  '¥ compromising position. I'm merely
trying to
save your sensitivities." He glanced at Cordelia. "He was¬  '¥
unclothed?"
Cordelia grimaced.
"Uh¬  '¥ yeah. Unclothed."
Giles turned back to Buffy.
"Buffy, Xander is your friend. Is that how you want to see him?"
Buffy thought about how a naked Xander might appear, decided
that the idea held no appeal whatever. Saw a faint revulsion on
Willow's face too.
"No, that's not how I want to see him," Buffy admitted. "But
that thing in there with him is dangerous. It's sucking the life out
of him. I don't think any of us can afford to come over all coy and
swooning over this." She took a breath. "After all, it's not as
though Will and me have never seen a naked man before. We can throw a
blanket over him, or something, right?"
Giles made a face that appeared unconvinced.
"I suppose so."
"So it's cool then? We'll all go in." Silence for a second, then
Willow spoke.
"But first it'll be a good idea to protect ourselves." A short
pause. "And¬  '¥ How do we kill a succubus? Anyone know?"
No-one answered and Buffy sighed in irritation.
"Oh well, this is just great. No-one knows, right? Does the
phrase "falling apart" spring to anyone else's mind? Because that's
what we're doing here, you guys. We're falling apart. We've become
complacent because we've had no real threats for the past couple
years. We're not on form anymore..."
A loud moan from the bedroom stopped her sentence mid-flow.
"Oh, Hell," Cordelia muttered. "I can't take this any more." She
appeared ready to bolt.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Enough talk. Will, we have to bless ourselves
before we can go in there, or it might¬  '¥ tempt us too."
"And when we're in there, I'll do a banishing spell," Willow
said. "It won't kill it, but it'll send it away. I hope."
"Giles, what've you brought us?" Buffy asked. "To bless, I mean?"
Giles took off his wedding ring, handed it to Willow.
"It's the only material thing I have that really means anything
to me," he said, and for some reason, this brought tears to Buffy's
eyes, that her mother's ring meant so much to him. She smiled through
her tears, and spontaneously hugged Giles.
"Mom would be so happy you wanted to use that," she whispered,
then let him go. Turned to Cordelia. "Cordy? What about you?"
"Me?" Cordelia said, finely arched eyebrows shooting into her
forehead. "I don't need protecting."
"And why do you assume that?" Buffy asked.
Cordelia looked distinctly uncomfortable as she shuffled from
foot to foot.
"Well, I¬  '¥ I'm not a man, right? And I'm not¬  '¥" She
flushed deeply
as she looked from Buffy to Willow. "I'm not¬  '¥ like you two
either,"
she said lamely. "So it can't tempt me, can it?"
Buffy forced herself to swallow her anger at this ignorant
statement. She'd always known that Cordelia didn't entirely approve
of her relationship with Willow, but Cordelia had never said outright
that she thought that Buffy and Willow were anything other than
normal, whatever that was. And now, it had pretty much been said,
Buffy found herself feeling hurt by it. And judging by Willow's face,
she knew that her soul-partner felt the same way. Upset and wounded.
But, she reminded herself, it was only Cordelia, and Cordelia was
well-known for her somewhat rigid, rather conservative views.
She can't help it, Buffy heard Willow say sadly. Let it go,
Buffy. Let it go. We can't have animosity here, it'll hinder us.
Buffy nodded silently, then heard Giles speak in measured tones.
"Cordelia, your sex and sexual preferences don't come into it. A
succubus is still a demon, and just because you may not find it
attractive, that's not to say that it won't attack you in some other
way. Now, do you want protection, or do you want to leave here?"
Another loud moan from the bedroom. Cordelia's red face paled.
"I'll stay," she muttered, and handed over the necklace she was
wearing.
Willow took al the items and sat on the floor, motioned to the
others to join her. When they were all sitting in a circle, Willow
put her pentacle, Buffy's cross, Cordelia's necklace and Giles'
wedding ring in the centre.
"Now, we should all join hands," Willow said. "We must all think
of our personal item to be blessed in our own minds, and direct your
thoughts to it that it will protect us. I will channel your thoughts
and say a prayer. That way all our protective energies will be sent
into the jewellery in the circle. Okay?"
The others assented, and Willow held out her hands. Buffy took
one, Giles the other, and Cordelia joined hands with Buffy and Giles.
The circle was complete.
"Okay, close your eyes, visualise your own¬  '¥ amulet and
direct
positive thoughts toward it," Willow said. Then she closed her own
eyes. Buffy followed suit. Soon there was only the sound of slow,
gentle breathing. No sound from the bedroom, a relief to all of them.
Buffy tried not to think of the possibility that the succubus in
there attacking Xander might have finally killed him.
"Spirit of Protection, hearken unto me," Willow began. Her voice
was dreamy, and had a kind of commanding quality that Buffy had come
to recognise as Willow's "power voice". "Spirit of Protection, we ask
that you enter these things and bless them. This crucifix, the
representation of Our Lord; this pentacle, the sigil of righteous
magicks; this necklace that symbolises the love of our friend; and
this ring that embodies this man's love. Spirit of Protection,
cleanse, purify and empower them with your energies."
Buffy took a breath, then another, as she visualised her cross,
and a kind of electrical power galvanised her, flowed through her,
into Willow, who gasped as though she had been hit by some huge
force. As indeed she had. Three more gasps from Willow as she took
the energy produced by Cordelia and Giles, and then herself. Buffy
felt her hands dropped abruptly, opened her eyes, saw that Willow had
let go Giles' hand too, and was holding her hands out in the
direction of the amassed objects on the floor. Within a few seconds,
gold light emitted from Willow's fingertips, into each individual
piece, which began to gleam in turn. Then to pulsate with the glowing
radiance. After a few more words, which bound the power into the
objects, Willow dropped her hands, opened her eyes.
"Done," she said, sounding triumphant. And, Buffy thought with a
leap of gladness in her heart, confident once more that her abilities
and her alliances hadn't entirely abandoned her.
They replaced their jewellery, and when Buffy picked up her
cross, she felt ripples run through her. Knew that although the glow
had faded from the metal, the power within it hadn't.
"So, we gonna do this thing?" she said. And the others nodded
simultaneously. "Then let's go in."
Going through the door into the bedroom was maybe the hardest
thing of all, because no-one knew what to expect. Buffy tried not to
avert her eyes at the sight of a naked, sweating Xander, who was
muttering almost incoherently under his breath. The words that Buffy
did catch were enough to make her wish she hadn't, because they were
said in a begging tone that totally degraded her friend and gave her
an insight into the darker recesses of Xander's wildest fantasies,
something she had no desire to know.
Giles moved first, grabbed the duvet, which had been kicked to
the floor, and threw it over Xander. But instead of settling over
Xander's body, it seemed to hang in the air. Cordelia gave a moan of
disgust, and voiced the obvious.
"It's¬  '¥ uh¬  '¥ It's on top of him¬  '¥"
"Yeah," Buffy said. Then she heard laughter that tinkled through
her head like wind-chimes moved by a silent breeze. The duvet
flattened itself out over Xander's body, and he lapsed into a semi-
comatose condition.
"It's got off of him¬  '¥ Where is it?" Willow asked. The
laughter
seemed to come from all around them, and Buffy felt a cold wind whisk
past her, making her shudder in disgust. And yet¬  '¥ And yet¬  '¥ It
made
her want, too. Judging by the others' faces - even Cordelia's - they
felt the same way. Repulsed, yet the light of attraction was in their
eyes.
Then, by the window, they watched as it - she - began to
materialise. Beautiful, she was. Black as ebony, with a lean sinewy
body, and long hair bound with what looked like hundreds of tiny
beads. The body glistened with droplets of sweat that ran down
through the hollow between full, black-nippled breasts. Down over the
flat plain of her belly. Down¬  '¥
The succubus licked full, plum coloured lips, then smiled
enticingly.
"Would you like to play with me?" she purred; her voice held
allure almost beyond temptation, and Buffy took in a huge inhalation
of air as she replied.
"Go back to Hell," she managed, although the desire to touch
this creature was almost unendurable.
"I haven't come from Hell, Slayer," the succubus whispered. "I
come from the heaven of your own needs."
Her jet eyes surveyed the others, who were standing transfixed.
Giles had broken into a sweat, Buffy noticed, and his eyes held a
lust and yearning she had never, ever associated with her once-
Watcher. Even the ultra-straight Cordelia wanted this creature. Buffy
fervently hoped that their protections were strong enough. Because if
they weren't¬  '¥
"Go back." Willow repeated Buffy's command and the succubus's
eyes fixed on her.
"Ah, the Great Sorceress. Not so great now, without your
Goddess, who is also my Goddess. But my sisters and I could make you
greater than before. You and your Slayer, Willow. Great for all
eternity. Does that not appeal?" She ran her hands over her
glistening body, caressing herself. "Does this not appeal? Do you not
want to taste the fruit I offer you?"
"Jesus," Buffy heard Giles breathe into the following silence.
His voice was ragged with longing. His whole body sagged, as though
he was about to prostrate himself before this deadly being.
"Giles!" Buffy snapped. "Don't you dare crack up on us! Think of
my mother!"
At once, Buffy saw Giles' wedding ring take on that glow again,
and he shook his head, straightened up, thrust his left hand out
toward the succubus and a stream of light poured out from his wedding
ring, hitting the demon in the chest. The succubus hissed as she fell
backward, then straightened up.
"A petty power," she murmured, snarling at Giles, demonic now,
yet with that attraction remaining, almost undiminished. "And you
will be one of the first to die, Englishman. One of the first amongst
millions. As will he." She flung out an arm toward Xander, whose body
jerked upward like he'd been electrocuted. "He is almost dead now,
your friend. He was potent, but now he has little energy left to give
me. Drained, of his seed and his life."
"NO!" Cordelia cried, and rushed forward toward the taunting
demon, her necklace lustrous and pulsing with passion of her fury.
Once more, a stream of light hit the succubus, once more she fell
backward, harder this time. Buffy sensed that now was the time to
finish this.
"Say the banishing spell," she screamed at Willow. "Giles, Cordy
and I will continue to use the power of our amulets against her. She
can be hurt."
Without hesitation, Willow began saying the words. As the
incantation floated on the air, so Buffy concentrated her power
through her cross, which gave out the now familiar light. Giles had
closed his eyes against the demon, who was still being forced back by
the strength of Cordelia's anger. More light filled the room, then
more. Buffy heard the succubus begin to wail as the combined energy
of spell and protective spirit slowly proved too much for her.
"You are banished," Willow shouted, "from entering this place
again, and from ever harming the one you sought to kill. I banish you
in the name of pure Love. Go. Go. Go!"
With a shriek that would raise the dead, the succubus
dematerialised and vanished. Deep silence fell, and Buffy, expelling
her breath in a huge sigh of relief, knew that the demon had gone
back to wherever she'd come from. Gone, but not dead. It would take
more than their amulets and a few words of a spell to kill her.
Crying, Cordelia ran to Xander. He was still laying as though
pole-axed, and didn't respond to Cordelia's pleas that he wake up.
"Why isn't he coming round?" Cordelia sobbed. "She's gone now,
that thing, so why hasn't he come back to us?"
Buffy went to Cordelia, laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Then wrinkled her nose, almost gagged at the heavy smell of sweat and
sex that lingered over Xander like a fog. Looked at Xander. His
breathing was uneven and rapid. Putting her hand against his wrist,
she felt his heartbeat, faint and too fast by far. His face under the
moisture-drenched hair was so pale it almost blended in with the
white cotton pillowcase upon which his head lay.
"Cordy," Buffy said. "I think you should put in a 911 call. I
think that if you don't, Xander will die."
Instant hysteria from Cordelia.
"He can't die!" she wailed. "He can't die. I love him."
> > From out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Giles go to the
phone on the dresser, watched as he picked it up and dialled the
number. Thanked God that at least he was thinking straight enough to
take appropriate action.
"Cordy, pull yourself together," Buffy said, trying to stay
calm, watching as Willow sat on the other side of the bed and took
Xander's cold hand in hers, as though she were trying to inject life
back to him.
Cordelia shrugged off Buffy's hand.
"I don't want to pull myself together!" she cried. "This is all
my fault. If I hadn't been such a bitch to Xander all this time, he
might not have been open to that¬  '¥ that thing's influence." A loud
sob. "Oh, I'm sorry, Xander¬  '¥ Please don't die¬  '¥"
She sank by the bedside and Buffy knew that trying to help
Cordelia was pointless. And she half-supposed that maybe Cordelia had
a point: she had been a bitch, always putting Xander down, always
making him feel small. Not letting him know he was loved. Yeah, Buffy
guessed Cordelia maybe deserved to suffer a little. But Giles
apparently didn't share Buffy's opinion. Or if he did, he didn't
express it now.
"Cordelia, that demon was too attractive to resist," he said,
kneeling beside her, taking her free hand. "They all are. Even you
felt some of it, didn't you?"
Cordelia raised tear-stained eyes to Giles's, shrugged, then
nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, I did." She gulped, wiped her face.
"Now, you've realised that you've treated Xander¬  '¥ badly,"
Giles
continued. "And you're sorry for that, aren't you?"
"If I could only rouse him, I'd tell him just how sorry I
am¬  '¥" A
loud sob. "But he might not want me anymore¬  '¥"
There was a bang on the door, indicating that the paramedics had
arrived. Buffy sprang up to answer, it, but she heard Giles's next
words as she left the room.
"That's a risk you'll have to take. If he lives."

An hour later, Buffy and Willow were sitting drinking hot chocolate
at Joyce and Giles's home. Xander had been admitted to the Intensive
Care Unit of the hospital he'd been taken to, his condition having
suddenly worsened in the ambulance due to what the doctors called a
Fever of Unknown Origin. Cordelia was still with him, refused to
leave him side. Buffy and Willow had gone home with Giles, and had
related to Joyce what had happened. Joyce had sat rigidly, listening
in horrified silence.
"Rupert," she said sharply when the story was told, "I want you
to stay out of this from now on. It's too¬  '¥ dangerous for you to
be
involved."
Giles put his empty mug down on the coffee table, faced Joyce
and shook his head.
"I can't do that, Joyce," he replied. "Buffy and Willow can't
face these things on their own."
"But they¬  '¥ they¬  '¥ want to destroy you¬  '¥" Joyce pointed
out.
"Mom, the demon said that Giles would be one amongst millions
who died. I know it's hard¬  '¥" Buffy felt tears prick her eyes.
"You¬  '¥
you've been like a father to me, Giles, you know that. I love you
like you're my father. But," back to her mother, "he has to help us.
We don't know why these demons are here. Giles can help us figure it
out, and help us figure out how to stop them too."
"Buffy's right, Joyce," Giles said, taking Joyce's hands in
his. "I can't risk the lives of millions just because it's dangerous
to me. Besides, we're used to this sort of thing. End of the world
and all that. I've faced it before and came out of it. A little
scarred perhaps, but all right. You know that."
"I wasn't married to you then," Joyce pointed out. "You were
just Buffy's Watcher the last time there was any big threat. And I
really don't want you to do this, whatever it is. Come to that, I
don't want Buffy or Willow involved in it either, but I have to
accept that this is their calling."
Giles withdrew his hands from Joyce's, looked at her with a
steely gaze.
"My calling too," he replied. "Never forget that, Joyce. I was
born to Watch, and even if there is no official Watcher's Council
now, I cannot shirk my duty to my charge. My daughter in all but
blood. So I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, because I have
to be involved. Even putting aside my own destiny, I refuse to allow
Buffy and Willow to go into this alone. Now, you can either support
me on this, or else¬  '¥"
"Or else what, Rupert?" Joyce's voice was cold and Buffy felt a
kind of low horror run through her. But Giles didn't reply, merely
stared at Joyce until she dropped her gaze and stood, with a sob, to
run from the room.
"Giles, you gotta go after her," Buffy pleaded. "She's hurting.
She's afraid."
Giles sighed, nodded. Stood.
"I'll talk to her," he reassured Buffy. "But I can't back down
on this, you do know that, don't you?"
For a moment, Buffy didn't reply. Then she nodded, knowing that
destiny was deciding this, and that no-one could fight destiny.
"I know that, Giles," she said. "Yeah, I know that."