Heroes and Lovers
by als
Chapter 11 — An Unpleasant Encounter
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Drusilla smiled as she lifted the ancient tome from the open sarcophagus. Holding it close, she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds outside the crypt. The noise of the Slayer and the Witch as they fought against her minions was strangely soothing. She drifted across the crypt to the doorway, observing the mayhem outside without being seen. She wasn't quite ready to join the party yet. But it was almost time.
Her blood sang to her as she watched the humans fight. Even severely outnumbered, the two girls never faltered and never hesitated. She savored each of the sharp pinpricks of pain that came from the death of her servants. The stars whispered once more, and with a wicked grin, Drusilla strode out of the crypt.
* * * * *
Buffy ducked under a vampire's punch and struck out with her stake. The creature exploded, showering her with dust. She spun quickly and lashed out with a vicious roundhouse kick that connected forcefully with the jaw of another minion as it rushed at her, sending it crashing into a nearby tombstone. Trusting her instincts, she rolled forward, narrowly avoiding being grabbed by yet another vamp.
Springing to her feet, Buffy shot a glance at Willow. Her heart skipped a beat as the other girl staggered back a step after being punched by one of the vampires. 'This is getting bad,' she thought abruptly as she turned away, side-stepping yet another attack and staking her assailant. Nearly a dozen minions remained and someone, or something, else was still inside the crypt these guys were guarding.
A sudden chill ran down Buffy's spine and she turned, just in time to watch Drusilla emerge from the crypt clutching an old book tightly in her hands. The insane vampiress quickly surveyed the scene before her and smiled wickedly when her eyes met Buffy's.
In that moment, Buffy realized her mistake as a strange dizziness assaulted her and a sound like dozens of voices whispering rose in her ears. She struggled for a few moments against the voices, trying to shut them out, to ignore them as they urged her to let go and submit to Drusilla and give herself over to the vampire's will. She found herself unable to move, incapable of forcing her eyes away. Even her voice betrayed her, refusing to let her call out for Willow.
She couldn't even shudder as she watched Drusilla coming toward her. 'No,' she thought desperately as she struggled against Drusilla's power. 'It can't end like this. I will not die without a fight.' She concentrated, focusing herself with one of the techniques that Giles had taught them to help Willow control her powers. She pushed back against the voices, trying once more to ignore them and regain control, but it wasn't enough, she couldn't overcome Drusilla's hold on her. 'I'm sorry Willow. I'm so sorry,' she thought as Drusilla reached out for her.
* * * * *
'I'm sorry Willow. I'm so sorry.'
Buffy's voice rang out in Willow's mind and the redhead spun instantly toward the Slayer. Her eyes went wide in horror as she watched Drusilla reach for her frozen lover. Willow spoke a single word and fueled it with all her power, "Solari!" Instantly, she and Buffy were surrounded by dazzling auras of pure sunlight.
With a horrible screech, Drusilla jerked back from the searing light that now protected the Slayer and turned to Willow. Their eyes met and Drusilla smiled slyly. Willow frowned slightly as she felt Dru's power reach out for her, but she easily shrugged off the vampire's attempt to control her.
Suddenly free from Drusilla's influence, Buffy lashed out at the dark-haired demon with a brutal spinning kick aimed at the vampire's midsection. Drusilla dodged around it, shoving one of her minions into the Slayer hard enough to drive the blonde to the ground. The minion let out a horrible screech as the Slayer's shroud of sunlight quickly reduced it to ash.
Drusilla looked back at Willow with an evil grin and blew the redhead a kiss before she turned and strode away into the darkness, followed by the remaining minions. Willow glanced at Buffy and sighed in relief as she saw the blonde roll back to her feet. 'Thank the Goddess, she's all right,' Willow thought as she slumped into unconsciousness, completely exhausted by the spell that had saved Buffy's life.
* * * * *
Buffy rolled quickly to her feet, fully prepared to chase Drusilla and her minions. She paused only long enough to look over at Willow. All thoughts of pursuit fled and ice-cold fear clenched in Buffy's stomach as she watched Willow crumple bonelessly to the ground. "Willow!" she cried out with a shout.
In a near panic, Buffy scrambled to the fallen girl's side. "No, Will, you have to be okay," she whispered.
Acting on instinct, she scooped up her love and took off at a dead sprint. She could only hope that Giles would know what to do.
* * * * *
Angel and Doyle passed the drive in silence, each lost in their thoughts and fears about the possibilities of confronting Drusilla.
Angel was deeply afraid for Buffy. He knew better then most just how dangerous Dru could be. As Angelus, she had been his greatest creation, a work of artful depravity unrivaled by anything, or anyone, else. She was capricious and deadly, and her insanity only served to make her more unpredictable.
'Buffy will be okay,' he thought to himself, 'She's faced Dru before and survived.' Even as he thought the words, he knew them for the lie they were. Buffy had never truly faced Drusilla, it had always been Spike. Spike and his obsession with killing Slayers had always overshadowed his insane sire. Drusilla was easily one of the most dangerous foes Buffy had ever faced, and she didn't even realize it.
'Can I really kill Drusilla?' the question sprang unbidden into Angel's mind. 'I don't know.' The thought did not inspire any confidence in his ability to deal with the crisis at hand. Even with his soul, Angel felt a strong connection to his childer, especially Dru. In his way, Angelus loved Drusilla, in as much as such a creature was capable of love, and he felt a strong compulsion to try and protect her.
He shook his head sharply, trying to dispel his growing doubts and concerns. He loved Buffy. He had slain his own sire to protect her and if need be, he would slay his childe for the same reason. But he could always hope that it wouldn't come to that.
He needed something to distract himself from this train of thought, so he seized on the first thing to come to mind. "So Doyle, tell me how you know Drusilla?"
The Irishman winced slightly, as though he'd clearly been hoping to avoid this conversation. "I, uh, had a bit of a run-in with Drusilla a few years ago. It was fairly unpleasant and I count myself lucky to have gotten away in one piece."
"What did she do to you?" he asked softly, knowing what his childe was capable of.
"Nothing that didn't heal," Doyle replied tightly. "And nothing I really want to discuss."
'Torture then,' Angel thought miserably, 'if not worse.' Rather than pushing the issue, he simply nodded and focused his attention back on the road.
* * * * *
"Giles!" Angel practically bellowed the name as he knocked forcefully on the ex-Watcher's door. The door was flung open almost instantly and Giles stood inside, looking somewhat the worse for wear.
Angel didn't waste any time on pleasantries, instead choosing to barge through the door as he demanded, "Where is she? Where's Buffy?"
"I don't know Angel," the Englishman responded softly, as he shut the door to the apartment, the stress he was feeling coming through clearly in his voice. "She and Willow left here on patrol almost 3 hours ago. There's no answer at their dorm room and Buffy's mother hasn't seen them either."
"We need to find her, Giles..." Angel ground out through clenched teeth, his demon happily feeding his anger at the helplessness he was feeling. He turned to Doyle, "Where did you see them fighting, Doyle?"
"It was pretty dark, but it looked like a cemetery or a crypt maybe," the Irishman quickly answered.
"I'll start searching the cemeteries; Giles, stay here in case the girls make it back..." Angel was cut off as the door burst open to reveal a panicked Buffy carrying an unconscious Willow.
For a brief moment, the three men stared slack-jawed at the Slayer's arrival, before the raw fear in Buffy's voice galvanized them into action. "Giles! Willow collapsed and she's not waking up!"
"Put her here, on the couch," he responded instantly, moving swiftly to check the unconscious girl. "What happened?"
Buffy moved wordlessly past Angel and Doyle and carefully placed the unconscious redhead on the couch before speaking. "We ran into Drusilla and a bunch of minions outside a crypt in one of the older cemeteries. I'm not sure what she did, but it was like she got inside my head somehow. I couldn't move or fight... I thought she was going to kill me, but Willow saved me. She surrounded me in sunlight and it broke Drusilla's spell. She and some of the minions got away and Willow collapsed."
As Buffy spoke, Giles examined Willow carefully. "I think she'll be all right Buffy," he said quietly. "Her heartbeat and breathing seem normal, she likely just overtaxed her powers and collapsed from the exertion."
The Slayer relaxed visibly at his reassurance. Leaning over, she whispered softly, "Everything's going to be fine, Will. I'll be right here waiting for you when you wake up." Then she brushed a soft kiss across the sleeping girl's lips, smiling gently as Willow sighed and settled into a deeper sleep.
Angel bristled visibly at the sight of his girl kissing Willow. "What the hell is going on here?" he ground out without thinking, his anger coloring his voice. "You and Willow?! You can't be serious."
Buffy spun toward him, her face hard and anger in her eyes. "Just who the hell do you think you are Angel. You left town without so much as a good-bye, and then you have the nerve to question my love life?"
As the Slayer stalked toward him, Angel instinctively stepped back; he hadn't seen Buffy this angry since before her senior prom.
"You lost the right to say a damn thing to me about who I choose to love the day you left Sunnydale, so get over it."
'She belongs to us,' he heard Angelus whisper from the darker recesses of his mind. 'We claimed her; she carries our mark on her throat. She dares to defy us?! Take her Angel, bury your fangs in her throat and remind her whose property she is!'
Angel gritted his teeth and strained against the demon's urgings. She was right and he knew it, but it hurt to be cast aside so soon. A part of him had always thought their love would last forever, but now he saw that it truly was over between them. Clamping down on anger, Angel whispered just loud enough for Buffy to hear, "Do you really love her?"
The anger in Buffy's eyes waned slightly and her face softened as she whispered back, "Yes, and she loves me."
The words hurt him more than he could admit, even to himself. Angel swallowed hard against the emotions he was feeling. A part of him knew that this relationship was likely to be almost as hard for Buffy as being with him had been. The cruelty and disdain they'd face from small-minded people would be bad enough; if he really loved her... then he needed to support her in this and be a good friend.
"This isn't how I wanted you to find out about this, Angel," she whispered softly. "I didn't want to hurt you. But you were right to leave, and I knew it. You told me to move on, to live my life, and I am."
"With Willow?" he asked, a trace of bitterness lacing his question.
"With someone I love more than life itself," she responded firmly.
Angel stared at her for a moment more, seeing a look of real contentment on Buffy's face. It was a look he hadn't seen there before. It reminded him of the kind of happiness that had set Angelus free. He nodded slowly, accepting that this was right for her. "You're happy," he stated simply, his tone warming finally.
"I am."
"You deserve it, Buffy," Angel said finally, letting go of his disappointment, anger and jealousy.
* * * * *
Giles rolled his eyes slightly as the melodramatic confrontation between Buffy and Angel played out before him. He had always expected that things would be strained between the two of them when Buffy finally moved on, but he was rather surprised by the depth of Angel's apparent response to the situation.
Wisely, Giles kept quiet, allowing the former lovers to work this out between themselves, unless they came to blows... in which case he would be sorely tempted to try and 'accidentally' stake brooding vampire.
He turned away suddenly and focused his attention on Willow's unconscious form, trying to keep his extreme distaste for Angel to himself. He truly hated the dark-haired vampire, and could never forgive him for Angelus' murder of Jenny, or the torture he had personally suffered as a 'guest' of the demon.
Finally, he heard Angel tell Buffy that she deserved to be happy, so he returned his attention to the two champions and the seer standing in his apartment before speaking, "Yes, well then, if Angel is finished behaving like a petulant child," Giles couldn't pass up an opportunity to barb the ensouled demon. "Perhaps we can turn our attention to the more pressing matter of Drusilla and her plans."
Buffy shot a subdued grin at Angel in response to Giles' comment, before turning to face her ex-Watcher. "What do we know, Giles?" she asked, switching into Slayer mode once again, before looking abruptly back at Angel, "And, pardon me for asking, but what exactly are you doing here, and who's he?" she indicated Doyle.
Angel grinned slightly before answering, "This is Doyle, he works for me in LA."
Doyle smiled and offered his hand to Buffy, who shook it with a smile as she listened to Angel's explanation.
"The Powers that Be send him visions of people who need our help. He had a vision of you facing Drusilla, so we came as quickly as we could."
Giles jumped in at this point, "Actually, I fear there's far more at stake here than the simple matter of Drusilla coming after Buffy. She has somehow raised Spike from the dead as a ghost..."
"Wait," Angel interrupted, abruptly. "You staked Spike?" he asked Buffy, with a startled look on his face.
"Well, he killed Willow, so I killed him," she answered tartly.
It was Doyle who piped up this time, his own confusion evident "But isn't that Willow there on the couch? Did he turn her?"
"He tried, but the Powers intervened," Buffy replied, a note of frustration creeping into her voice. "And it's really complicated. Can we get back to what tall, dark and insane is doing in my town and explain the rest after we stop her?"
"Spike killed Willow? Before or after you started dating her?" Angel's confusion was clearly getting the better of him.
"Before," she replied with a sigh. "Now can we focus, please? Drusilla. Spike. Sense of impending apocalypse. Ring any bells?"
Giles sighed; it was going to be a long evening.