The Good, The Bad and The Fangy
by dawnm
Dispelling The Demons
[reviews]
Title: The Good, The Bad and The Fangy
Author's Note: Please read and review. I'd love to know what you think of the story. Also, feel free to email me with any questions or comments if you like. Email: dawnm92@yahoo.com.
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Chapter 3 - Dispelling The Demons
Exhausted and half-starved from skipping dinner the night before, Buffy and Willow sluggishly followed along as the group walked toward the catacombs the next day. Willow gravitated toward Gabrielle, chatting as they walked along, while Buffy chose to keep pace with Xena, a significant distance ahead of the others.
"You look tired." Xena commented.
"Didn't get much sleep last night." Buffy admitted.
"May be none of my business, but I think you should talk to her. Tell her how you feel." The warrior advised.
"You're one to talk." The slayer replied.
"It's not the same."
"It's exactly the same, isn't it? You're in love with Gabrielle, but you're afraid of how she'll react if you tell her, right?" Buffy asked.
"It's not that simple." Xena replied.
"What? What else is stopping you? Wait, let me guess...even if she does feel the same, you don't want to accept it. You think she's better off without you, that being with you just puts her in danger. And you don't want her to get hurt. Does that about cover it?" The slayer asked.
Xena stared at Buffy, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Does it really surprise you that much that I know how you feel?" The slayer asked. "Because it shouldn't. Seems to me like we're both in the same miserable boat." Buffy added.
"I know she loves you." Xena remarked.
"I know she loves me. I'm just not sure if it's a 'you're such a great friend' kind of love or an 'I want to rip your clothes off' kind of love." Buffy retorted.
"The second one." The warrior replied with a knowing smile.
"Huh?" The slayer asked, clearly not understanding.
"I said, she's in love with you." Xena whispered, staring seriously at Buffy.
"Pfffft." The slayer laughed. "What makes you say that?"
"I see the way she looks at you, the way she acts." Xena explained.
"Like you would know." Buffy said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The warrior asked defensively.
"It means...Gabrielle has the hots for you and you can't even see it." The slayer retorted.
"Keep it down, will ya?" Xena urged, looking over her shoulder to make sure the others couldn't hear their conversation. "This isn't about me and Gabrielle." She argued.
"Sure it is. It's about you telling me to take a risk that you're not even willing to take yourself." Buffy noted.
"I don't want her to get hurt." Xena asserted.
"Are you planning to hurt her?" Buffy replied.
"Of course not." Xena replied. "But just being around me puts her in danger because of the life I lead."
"Okay. Are you prepared to send her away and break off the friendship you have?" Buffy questioned.
"No."
"Then what's the difference, friends or lovers, if just being in your life puts her in danger?" The slayer asked pointedly.
Realizing the truth in Buffy's words, Xena didn't answer at first, then opted to enlighten the blonde. "I could say the same thing to you."
Buffy sobered a bit at the comment, but didn't deny the truth in it. "So, now we know. There's nothing else holding us back. At least we've admitted it." The slayer mused. "We're both just big cowards."
"Does that mean you're gonna talk to her?" Xena asked, smiling amusedly.
"Yeah, sure, right after you talk to Gabrielle." Buffy shot back playfully.
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"This is it? When you said 'weapons', I was thinking a blacksmith's shop." Joxer commented as they entered the burial grounds.
"No, for this job, we need something special." Xena replied. "Keep quiet, and don't step on any graves."
Walking on top of a nearby grave in spite of Xena's orders, Joxer read the gravestone and asked, "Dryad, Dry-- What's a Dryad?"
"Sworn enemies of Bacchus." Xena called over her shoulder as she looked around. "A Dryad bone through the heart is the only way to kill a Bacchae."
"Do we have to dig them up?" Gabrielle asked.
"Not exactly." Xena commented.
"Well, they're not gonna jump out at us." Joxer said with a laugh. As if on cue, the ground opened up beneath him. Apparently, he had awakened something by walking on the grave and he was being pulled under. As he sank into the ground, he screamed. "Whoa! Whoa! Aaaaaaaaahhhh."
"Joxer!" Gabrielle screamed, seeing that he was in serious trouble.
"Help, Xena! Help me! They're pulling me under! I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Aaaaaaaaaahhh." Joxer begged. Xena and Buffy ran to his aid, grabbing his arms and trying to pull him back out of the ground. "Pull! Pull! Horrible animals! Ooh, and monsters!"
Soon, the warrior and slayer had pulled him to freedom. "Oh, that was close." Joxer said relieved. "He took my boots! They cost me fifty dinars!"
"Great." Gabrielle commented.
"Stupid, good-for-nothing, bag of bone!" Joxer complained as they continued on.
A screeching sound behind them prompted the group to turn around. Dust flew and a flame shot out of the grave Joxer had fallen into. A creature emerged, the skeletal remains of a large winged animal. Two more followed the first one out of the open grave, all three taking flight above the group.
"What is it?!" Gabrielle asked.
"That's a Dryad." Xena answered, unsheathing her sword. The Dryads attacked, swooping down at them.
"Watch it, Joxer!" Gabrielle warned.
"All right, Xena! Do something!" Joxer pleaded.
The group scattered, ducking to the ground to avoid the onslaught. The Dryads regrouped, coming back in for another pass. Xena fought off one, Buffy a second, and the third found another target, the scarecrow-bodied Orpheus who screamed incessantly as the creature tried to lift him from Argo's back and carry him away. Joxer, who was supposed to be protecting Orpheus, stood by screaming in fear like a little girl as Orpheus was attacked.
Having no weapon, Buffy was unable to kill the creature that was terrorizing her and Willow. Seeing that Joxer was not using his sword, she decided to perpetrate a misdemeanor. "Can I borrow this? Thanks." The slayer said running past him, swiftly stealing the sword from his hands. When the Dryad swooped down again, the slayer beheaded it with one clean strike of the sword. It shattered then, its bones falling to the ground.
With one down, Xena turned her attention to the next immediate threat, the one that was attacking Orpheus. It had the scarecrow body in its clutches and was trying to lift Orpheus along with it up into the sky. The warrior quickly drew her chakram and let it fly, beheading the Dryad, which shattered like its counterpart.
"Thanks." Orpheus said.
The third Dryad then retreated. "Go on and run! You coward! Hah-hah!" Joxer taunted as the creature flew away.
"Thanks." The slayer said, handing the sword back to Joxer.
"You're welcome." He replied meekly, suddenly frightened of the tiny blonde that he now knew was as lethal as Xena. 'Who is this girl?' He wondered. If there had been the slightest physical resemblance, he would have sworn she was related to the warrior princess.
"Wow! These Dryad bones are really sharp as nails. No wonder they can kill a Bacchae." Joxer commented, picking one up, as Xena and Buffy gathered their weapons. "Hey, are you afraid...of this?" Joxer asked, pointing one of the Dryad bones at Xena's chest, testing his theory that the warrior was a Bacchae.
"Should I be?" Xena asked, glaring down at him menacingly as she leaned into his personal space.
"No." Joxer squeaked, shrinking back from the warrior. Buffy watched the exchange and couldn't help but laugh at the fool.
"It's just that...Gabrielle thought that you might be a Bacchae." He lied. The warrior continued to stare him down. "OK, maybe I thought you were one, too. But you had blood on your neck." He quickly added.
"Sorry to disappoint." Xena replied, walking away from him.
"It's understandable. Nothing like stalking a Bacchae to get the blood flowing." Joxer said, following the warrior.
Hearing a growl, Xena looked up. Gabrielle whirled around to face them then. She was transforming into a Bacchae right in front of their eyes. Her normally soft green eyes were now a disturbing yellow and she bared her teeth at them, showing her newly developed fangs.
"Gabrielle." Xena said, overwhelmed.
"See? What did I tell you?" Joxer said. Xena shoved him aside.
"Gabrielle...it's all right. I can help you." Xena said softly, trying to calm the bard, but Gabrielle was no longer really there. She had been replaced by the demon that now controlled her.
The demon in Gabrielle took hold of Willow and sank her teeth into the sensitive flesh of the hacker's neck. Both Buffy and Xena dove toward them, but it was too late. Gabrielle took flight. The warrior and slayer dropped to their knees out of her path. When they rose again to go to Willow, the redhead vamped out and flew away.
"Where are they going?" Joxer asked.
"The catacombs. Get Orpheus!" Xena demanded as she and Buffy took off after them.
"We can still save them, Buffy." Xena Assured her. "We can't let them drink Bacchus' blood. If they do, we've lost them. As long as they don't drink, they will be themselves again when we kill Bacchus." The warrior explained.
Buffy didn't respond. She had retreated within herself, haunted by her thoughts. Despite all that she had suffered in her years as the slayer, nothing had prepared her for this.
Over the previous days, Buffy had just started to come to terms with her feelings for her friend. She was in love with Willow. She had finally admitted it to herself as she lay awake the night before. The feelings were much more than a crush and much more than a phase. What scared the slayer most of all...she had never felt this way before. She connected with Willow on a level that she hadn't known with anyone else. To call them best friends wouldn't begin to describe the mutual understanding they shared - with just one look, seeing into each other's souls.
So, the slayer remained silent - lost in a swirl of emotions that always seemed to boil down to one thing, regret. In a cruel twist of fate, two thousand years in the past, thousands of miles from their home on the hellmouth, Willow had been bitten. A demon now lived inside of her, where the sweet, young hacker had once been. If she drank the blood of Bacchus, Willow would be lost forever, Buffy knew. And she would never have the chance to tell her how she feels.
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The warrior, slayer and Joxer walked in relative silence deeper into the catacombs, in search of Bacchus and the hacker and bard. Joxer carried Orpheus' head, again in the sack on his back. The group began to hear muffled noises.
"Shh! You hear that? Someone's trapped! And it sounds like it's coming from right behind us." Joxer said, turning around to look. Xena pulled the sack from his back and opened it.
"Get me out of here! Ah! Not so rough, all right?!" Orpheus cried as Xena pulled him out of the sack.
"Yes?" She asked.
"You're wasting time. We should be in Bacchus' lair by now." Orpheus demanded.
"We're looking for Gabrielle and Willow. They turned into Bacchae." Joxer said.
"There's no time for that. We have to kill Bacchus before midnight. Forget the girls." Orpheus ordered.
"I can't do that." Xena said. The slayer looked up too then. Knowing that Xena would never give up on Gabrielle, she didn't feel the need to say anything. She simply glared at him before turning to walk on.
"I knew I should never have trusted you." Orpheus said to Xena. "Once again, you're selfish desires come first. Don't you understand? Bacchus is using Gabrielle against us. If you try to save her, you'll fall right into his trap."
"Save your breath." Xena said, thrusting Orpheus' head at Joxer. "I'm going after them." She declared, turning to catch up with Buffy, who had already stalked away.
"Then Bacchus has won already!" Orpheus called after them.
"Um, are you sure you know where we're going?" Joxer asked tentatively following the warrior.
"It's all right, Joxer, just follow me." Xena said, annoyed.
"That's right, Joxer, follow Xena blindly to your death." Orpheus warned.
"Don't worry. We know where we're going. What do you mean, 'death'?" Joxer asked. Paling at the thought of danger, Joxer stopped in his tracks looking to Orpheus for his reply.
"It's only a matter of time before Gabrielle bites Xena and makes her a Bacchae too. Xena's feelings have blinded her to the mission. You have to take control. The world is counting on you, Joxer." Orpheus advised.
"Joxer...Joxer!" Xena called, seeing that he was lagging far behind them.
"OK, OK. If Gabrielle or Willow come around again...I'll know what to do." Joxer said to Orpheus, brandishing a Dryad bone, before scurrying to catch up with the warrior and slayer.
"Good." Orpheus replied.
"Keep your eyes open; she's here somewhere." Xena said, sensing Gabrielle's presence, as they walked deeper into the caves.
"Well, don't worry. I'm ready for anything." Joxer proclaimed. "Aaahhhhh. Bat." He screamed as a bat flew past his face. Xena looked back at him, then continued on. When the warrior and slayer were walking away, Gabrielle swooped down from the ceiling, landing on Joxer's back. "Aaaahhh! Get off of me! Get off of me!" He screamed frantically.
Gabrielle held on as Joxer flailed around trying to shake her. She was about to sink her teeth into his neck when Xena managed to pull her off of his back. Gabrielle landed several feet away, disoriented, baring her teeth at them.
"OH, YOU LITTLE BACCHAE!" Joxer screamed, moving toward her as he brandished a Dryad bone, as if he planned to kill her.
"Joxer, don't!" Xena cried, pushing him back away from the bard. But it was too late. He had spooked her and she took flight, seeking refuge in the shadows. "Gabrielle." Xena called, hoping to coax her out into the open again. The bard swooped down upon them again. "Gabrielle!" Xena called as she flew toward them again.
"Duck!" Joxer warned as the bard flew straight at them. Diving to the ground, they managed to elude her. However, when they looked up again, she was gone. There was no sign of Willow as they worked their way through the caverns and though no one commented about the hacker's absence, both Buffy and Xena were concerned about where she might be.
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"Remember, your job is to find the lyre and play it as soon as you can. That should give us time to reach Bacchus." Xena said as they moved toward Bacchus' lair.
"Right." Joxer replied.
"Xena! I...owe you an apology. I guess I was just looking for someone to blame." Orpheus admitted.
"Bacchus must've caused you a lot of pain." The warrior said, drawing her sword from its sheath. "Now, maybe we can bring you some peace." She added, walking deeper into the catacombs.
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"Now, friend of Xena, go ahead, my child. Drink and become immortal. Become one with me." Bacchus bellowed, handing a goblet of his blood to Gabrielle.
The bard accepted the goblet, wrapping her long black claws around it. Entranced by the god, she lifted the drink to her lips. Just before she was able to drink, Xena's chakram whizzed into the room in front of the bard, knocking the goblet from her hands.
"She's not interested, Bacchus!" Xena ground out, catching the chakram as it returned to her where she stood near the entrance to the room.
"Xena! So glad you could join us after all." Bacchus replied.
"Joxer, quick, on Bacchus' throne, get the lyre. Hurry." Xena ordered.
"You got it." Joxer replied, scurrying toward the ledge.
"Get them!" Bacchus exclaimed, ordering the Bacchae to attack.
The slayer scanned the room for a sign of Willow and her eyes came to rest on the Bacchae standing next to Gabrielle at the front of the room near the large brass punch bowl that was filled with Bacchus' blood. Buffy felt the ache in her chest radiate throughout her body as she tried to reconcile the image of this demon mingled with the familiar features of the innocent redhead that she knew and loved.
"Willow!" The slayer charged toward her.
At Bacchus' order, a dozen or more Bacchae had moved to attack the slayer and warrior princess. Xena fought them off, kicking and punching, before finally dusting one or two with a Dryad bone through their hearts. The slayer never faltered in her movement toward the redhead at the front of the room, making quick work of slaying the Bacchae she encountered along the way.
As Joxer stood on a ledge and pulled the lyre from Bacchus' throne, a Bacchae flew up to the ledge, landing next to him, then latching onto his back.
"Let go of me, you little monster!" Joxer screamed. "Orpheus, Orpheus! Wake up! Come on! The lyre, yes, the lyre! Orpheus, what should I play?!"
"Anything! Just play!" Orpheus answered.
"Drink! I command you. Drink, and become one of us." Bacchus told Gabrielle, after again handing her a goblet filled with his blood.
"Get off of me!" Joxer cried, trying to shake the Bacchae who now had a firm hold on him.
A Bacchae had landed on Xena's back and another two were threatening her from the front. For the moment, she was unable to break free, unable to run to the bard as she saw her lift the deadly drink to her lips. "Gabrielle! No!" Xena pleaded. "Joxer! Play the lyre!" She ordered, knowing it was the bard's only hope.
At the warrior's order, Joxer strummed the stringed instrument and Orpheus began to sing. "La-la-la-la. La-la-la-la. La-la-la-la. La-la-la-la." Gabrielle cringed at the sound, dropping the goblet of blood to the floor. Bacchae all around the room collapsed, wincing in pain with their hands over their ears. Seeing this, Bacchus was enraged. He flew up to the ledge, landing next to Joxer, towering over him.
"Any requests?" Joxer squeaked out, looking up at the massive crimson-skinned god of wine. Bacchus batted him aside with ease and Joxer landed in a heap against the wall, the lyre falling from his hands. Xena finally freed herself from the Bacchae that were holding her and ran toward the ledge where Bacchus was standing.
"Awake, my Bacchae! It is time to feed! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha." Bacchus commanded as Xena climbed the wall with ease and hopped onto the ledge, facing off with the demonic god. "Welcome back, Xena." Bacchus greeted her, taking a swing at the warrior. Xena ducked his blow and he struck again. The warrior sidestepped this attack too and countered with a punch of her own.
When he lunged toward her again, she thrust the Dryad bone deep into his chest. Bacchus screamed and shuddered as he realized what had happened and Xena struck again, kicking the god with such force that he fell from the ledge and landed on the stone floor below. Several Bacchae gathered around him on the floor looking down at him uncertainly.
Buffy finally reached Willow's side then, taking the redhead by the shoulders. Willow looked up at the slayer, yellow eyes meeting hazel with a questioning stare. There could be no greater enemies than a Bacchae or vampire and a Vampire Slayer. Yet these two remained still, neither one threatening, neither one breaking away.
In Willow's eyes, Buffy could see both a foreign presence and something very familiar, a part of her best friend still evident. Bacchae Willow simply stood there conflicted, the instinct to feed at war with the urge to protect this person in front of her.
"No, Xena..." Bacchus said as he rose from the floor, still very much alive. "Don't you know? Only a Bacchae can kill me. And you're not one, yet. Bite her!" He commanded. Gabrielle took to the air, flying up to the ledge where Xena still stood. The bard circled the warrior. Xena reflexively lifted the Dryad bone in her hands as if to attack, but quickly dropped the weapon to the ground, unable to even consider harming the one she loved, no matter what the cost. "And now, make her one of us." Bacchus ordered.
Xena stood passively as Gabrielle moved behind her, preparing to turn the warrior. "Gabrielle...do it." Xena said, giving in.
Gabrielle brushed Xena's long dark hair aside to expose the creamy flesh of her neck, but froze when Bacchus' scream rang out.
"No, it can't be." The god cried, feeling genuine pain this time from the Dryad bone that was just thrust into his heart. "Who are you?" He asked, looking down at the one who had delivered the lethal blow.
"Oh, I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." He looked questioningly at the blonde who held the hand of a young red-haired Bacchae. "What, never heard of me?" The slayer quipped as the god fell backward and then exploded into dust.
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Xena stood on the ledge watching as the bard reverted to her old self. Down below, Buffy similarly waited as the demon presence left Willow's body.
"What happened? I feel so strange." Several of the girls commented as they awoke on the floor of the catacombs. At Bacchus' death, the remaining Bacchae initiates had transformed, turning back into themselves.
When Gabrielle was herself again, Xena pulled her into a crushing embrace. Meanwhile, tears of relief slid freely down Buffy's face as she looked into Willow's shy green eyes. Enfolding the redhead in a tender embrace, Buffy mumbled a string of incoherent phrases punctuated by soft kisses she rained on Willow's hair and face.
Calming finally, Buffy glanced up at the ledge just in time to see Gabrielle pulling the warrior's face down toward her own and planting a kiss on Xena's lips. Buffy smiled and turned Willow around in her arms so that she too could see the warrior and bard's special reunion.
"Well, that wasn't so bad." Joxer commented, as he got up from the floor. His loud intrusion seemed to break the spell and both couples stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the idiot.
"Oh." Joxer added with a start when he saw Orpheus' body materialize, reuniting with his head. With Bacchus' death, Orpheus had been freed of the curse that the demon god had placed on him. "You're a lot taller than I thought you'd be." Joxer commented before Orpheus vanished into thin air. "Orpheus? Hmm."
"Goodbye, Xena...and thank you." Orpheus said, his voice floating through the catacombs as he departed.
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"Guys! Wait up! Hey...so what's next?" Joxer asked, running up to Xena and Gabrielle who were happily walking away from the town.
"Next, huh?" Gabrielle replied, her mind searching for a way that she could get Joxer to quit tagging along with them.
"Yeah." He said.
"Ah, we...we fight Medusa, right?" Gabrielle lied, hoping to tap into Joxer's cowardice and scare him away.
"Right." Xena agreed, going along with the bard's plan.
"Well, you know, the, the one with snakes all over her head." Gabrielle explained.
"Right." The warrior agreed again.
"And, and...one look, and the mightiest of men is turned into stone." Gabrielle added, putting the finishing touches on the story to make Joxer turn tail and run.
"Right." Xena said, continuing to back up the bard's story.
"Stone, huh?" Joxer said meekly. "Oh, hey, listen, ah, um...I just remembered...it's my mom's birthday. And she's getting, you know, the... I, I better get back home, but, um...I'll catch up with you guys a little later." He lied, trying to worm his way out of another life and death battle.
"No problem." Gabrielle assured him, as he turned to leave. Xena simply smiled, amused at his retreat.
Buffy and Willow walking arm in arm next to Xena and Gabrielle laughed at Joxer's departure before resuming their exchange of silent smoldering looks.
"You know...you almost died trying to save me." Gabrielle said, looking up affectionately into Xena's brilliant blue eyes. Leaning toward the warrior as if she might be considering another kiss, the bard added, "I really want to do something to thank you."
Her approach was interrupted by Joxer, who called loudly over his shoulder with a wave, "Farewell, my warrior chums!"
"You just did." Xena replied with a flirtatious smile, clearly grateful to the bard for telling the tale that chased Joxer away.
---------------------------------------------------------- Continued in Chapter 4