Chapter 39 ~ Blitz
Settled in the car, Giles and Leah relied on small talk as they pulled out of the carpark. They were surprised to find Xander’s car still there with no sign of Xander or Spike. That led them down several avenues of conjecture, none of which involved the possibility of worry. They were relaxed enough to even enjoy a few chuckles over the Inspector’s visit. As they neared the campus exit, Leah was laughing as she made a comment and very deliberately placed her hand on Giles’ thigh. Nothing changed in her tone of voice. Nothing suggesting that it was anything more than an accident … until her fingers began to knead the muscles of his leg, her fingers spread and sliding toward his fly.
Giles was certain his heart had stopped. He’d forgotten how to breathe. Get hold of yourself, man. It took him less than a second to act. Turn left to bring her to her home. Turn right to bring her to his cottage. He flicked his indicator and nearly lost control of the car as he made the right turn.
Leah threw her head back and laughed. She said, “At last, I finally figured out what it would take.”
Giles wrinkled his forehead, cleared his throat, and said, “What it would take?”
“I have been giving you signals for weeks,” she said. “Did you know that you are very difficult to seduce? I know you’ve had a lot on your mind, but seriously, if you ever hope to settle in a relationship, you’ve got to learn to pay a little more attention.”
“Then it’s my good fortune that you are a persistent lass,” Giles said as he gently lifted her hand and placed it firmly over his very needy erection.
“Oh! Oh my!” Leah uttered a throaty giggle that Giles hoped meant glee and pushed the pedal to the floor.
Without any warning, it felt like the world ended. The car, speeding down the road, was stunned by a violent jarring of the air around it sending it careening off the road into a grove of trees. The air bags deployed saving their lives but leaving them shaken.
Giles remained still for a moment doing a mental inventory of life and limbs. Some things were hurting, but he found himself basically intact. His turned to Leah. Reaching over to him, she was checking for a pulse until he spoke. Together they said, “Thank God,” followed by a nervous laugh.
“Well then, what in bloody hell was that?” Giles asked.
“Something big would be my guess.” Leah answered.
“Aren’t you just a master of understatement.”
It was pitch dark. No moon, no stars and not so much as a candle burning anywhere. At the same time, the quiet of the night was torn asunder by every sort of siren and electronic alarm.
Leah had to yell to be heard, “Giles, do you have a torch?”
“What?” he said, straining to hear, “Oh yes, in the boot. Give me your hand; I can’t see you and I don’t want to lose you.” She did as he asked and they made their way around to the back of the car. Giles’ keys were still in the ignition. He told Leah to stay where she was as he went to get them. While making his way round, he focused on what happened. Dear Lord, is this an apocalypse? Had he been so involved in other things that he failed to be tuned to the portents of evil?
His hands shook as he struggled to remove the keys, ultimately bruising his hand when they gave way with an angry pull. “Damn!” Making his way back to Leah, he tuned his senses to all the evidence around him. There was a peculiar odor in the air. Difficult to identify. Perhaps once I get the torch I can “shed some light on the subject” Giles laughed aloud.
Leah was sitting on the ground by the car when Giles got back. “My dear, are you alright?” He asked, warmth and concern in his voice.
“Just tired,” she replied, “and maybe a little sore. I’ve checked myself out. I think I may have some abrasions and contusions. I picked some glass out of my hair. If we ever get lights back again, I suspect we’ll look very bloody, but I don’t think either of us have any serious injuries.”
“I agree that our injuries are not life threatening just yet, but I’ve had a moment to think. Things like this tend to make me think apocalypse.”
Leah was aghast. “You don’t really think …?”
“I don’t know, but it pays to be on the alert. Ah, there it is,” he said as he found the torch. “Now, where is the other?” Got it!” He said triumphantly! “Oh yes, and weapons. Leah, were you even instructed in the use of stakes, axes, knives or swords? Crossbows?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I have them all here. What would you like?”
Leah’s mouth was hanging open. “You’re serious?”
“Quite.”
“Very well, I’ll take two stakes and … um … a knife, I guess.” It was clear she wasn’t taking this at all well.
Giles switched on the torch and shone it on Leah’s face. There were small cuts all over her face and neck. His heart broke. “Oh, my dear.” He raised his hand to her face and gently stroked her cheek. Leah leaned into the gesture. Encouraged, Giles brushed his lips against hers. “Ever been to an apocalypse?” Giles asked as he grabbed her hand and started running in the direction they thought the explosion originated just now absorbing that in the torchlight, the air looked green.
“First time for everything,” Leah replied, kicking off her high heels. Giles glanced down questioningly. “The better to run with, m’dear.”
“Just be careful.”
~~~
MacGregor picked himself up from the ground, dusting himself off. He gave his head a shake as he tried to reorient himself. He wasn’t hurt, but whatever had caused that explosion definitely played havoc with his perception of the world around him. He waited while his eyes adjusted to the blackness. Night vision was a vampire perk. He never noticed that his night vision was green before though, like those night vision glasses you see in movies. He scanned the area. The greater concentration of green glowed from the dorm where he’d just left Dawn. Before he even completed the thought, he bolted to the scene.
~~~
The lads who had been assigned to tailing the occupants of the cottage became victims themselves. The two who followed Giles and Leah had overturned their vehicle and were knocked unconscious. The two who followed Xander and Spike were close enough to see what happened to them. Judging Spike to be dead, they both stayed with Xander as he ran toward the school buildings.
~~~
Buffy lingered long enough to slip on her sneakers. The door to the cottage jammed. She kicked it down and ran out of the building yelling for Spike. “Damn, where the hell are you when I need you?” Buffy was annoyed that she couldn’t just take off in the direction of the blast. Now she had to detour to the carpark to find Spike. Feeling as though she had to make up for lost time; she set off on her own as fast as she could. to catch up to Spike.
~~~
Xander was the first of the Scoobs on the scene. The nest of dormitory buildings was a beehive of activity. After running in total darkness, this was like a carnival. Colored lights on police, rescue and fire vehicles made the already chaotic scene somewhat disorienting. Too much stimuli. A couple of the girls are epileptic, the bright and flashing lights could trigger a seizure …Hmmph! … That’ll be the next crisis! Great, one more thing to worry about and why do I pick now to start thinking like a watcher. He scanned the area, suddenly even more aware of how limited his disability left him. At least he could be grateful that the bright spotlights were up, running and trained on the dorm where the blast occurred. Still out of breath he bent over with his hands on his knees to fill his lungs with crisp night air. He came up disappointed though. No crisp night air, just exhaust fumes from generators running the lights and engines. His one eye had good periperal vision and he spotted MacGregor coming up along side him. Unable to hide the irritation in his voice, Xander said, as he slowly rose, “Jesus, man, why aren’t you inside checking on Dawn?” He’d just assumed that with vampire speed, MacGregor would have beaten him to the scene.
“The place is crawling with police and civilians. I was afraid I’d show my true face,” MacGregor answered, looking ridiculously sheepish for a man of his bulk, let alone a vampire.
Xander rolled his eye, Deliver me, O Lord, from wussy vampires. Frustrated, he said, “Nevermind. Look, the front of the building is nothing but knots of shattered wood and broken glass making it a not-so-safish place for either of us. Can you do that leapy, jumpy thing that makes Spike think he can fly?”
MacGregor glanced where Xander was looking and said, “Spike can fly?”
Xander shrugged his shoulders and gave MacGregor a wilting look that couldn’t be misunderstood. He averted his eyes in embarrassment and said, “I don’t think I can fly, but I can jump to that second floor landing you’re looking at.”
“Great! You jump and then pull me up. Do you know the quickest way to get to that room?”
“What room?”
Xander shook his head and shouted, “You are hopeless. The power is out, Dead Man. Did it ever occur to you that the only room with a light in it might be the epicenter of this nightmare?” Then went on after a beat. “No!” Xander’s voice was rising even further, his face reddening as he continued. “And I’ll just guess that you didn’t notice that light was a kind of a creepie, eerie green which is one of the first rules of bad things are happening.” After taking a deep breath, he said, “Let’s just go.”
Xander pointed the way and they broke into a run, McGregor taking the lead.
~~~~
DI Arthur and Carruthers arrived on the scene and Carruthers immediately commandeered a bucket truck to lift him and the Inspector up to the glowing green window. They were dumbstruck by what they saw. Standing in the corner, the younger Summers girl looked to be frozen in some sort of catatonic state but inasmuch as she was standing, they assumed she was alive. Across the room, hovering above the bed was a green, gelatinous looking sphere undulating with one of the school constables apparently imprisoned within. What plaster that was left on the walls was shattered and crumbling revealing only the skeleton of the building. Why the outer walls hadn’t shattered one would never know. Mr. Harris and another guard arrived gingerly negotiating their way through the rubble.
The scene was surreal. The air was colored with the green glow from the orb and Arthur felt as though time was suspended as he and Carruthers assessed the situation. He observed that Mr. Harris and his friend were doing exactly the same thing.
Abruptly, all hell broke loose as Harris ran across the room to embrace Miss Summers seemingly oblivious to the danger. She collapsed in his arms; the orb instantly disintegrating, releasing it’s captive. Freed, he paused only long enough to emit a deafening uhholy roar. He dropped down onto the bed. Bouncing on it as if it were a trampoline and sprang onto the beams left visible from the blast. Then he leapt and swung himself through the debris with the skill of an acrobat with MacGregor, Arthur and Carruthers close on his heels.
Carruthers could be heard signaling the rest of the squad that a suspect was escaping out the other side of the building as he ran behind the inspector. The sounds of the police mobilizing to surround the building added to the confusion and Binnemon took full advantage. He vaulted onto the roof of the nearest vehicle and took only a moment to select his next move. One brave bobbie made an attempt to intercept him. The crowd might not even have noticed in the din were it not for hearing Binne’s hellish laugh. It drew their attention to the macabre scene just in time to watch the would-be hero fall from Binne’s arms like a rag doll, neck bent at a right angle to his body.
Here out of morbid curiosity, it was only now that the crowd realized they were in danger and pandemonium ensued. What started out as a case of nosy thrill seeking neighbors scurrying to the site of an explosion, turned into a life threatening mob scene. Men, women and children screamed and cried as they tripped and fell over one another trying to escape an unknown threat. Only a few had actually witnessed Binnemon’s attack on the bobbie. His enraged comrades moved to capture Binne and found themselves battling for their own lives.
~~~
When Giles and Leah reached the scene, the police barricades were up. Although Giles was Headmaster, he still had to present his ID to pass. No one seemed to know what had actually happened although everyone was offering opinions ranging from earthquake, bomb or maybe an electrical surge. Knowing no more than they did when they got there, they asked to be directed to the person in charge. The guard pointed at the window. Arthur and Carruthers were in the bucket.
Leah poked Giles and gestured to Buffy at the barricade waving her arms. The guard was refusing her entrance. Giles asked Leah to remain where she was to flag down Arthur and get details. Then he hurried over to the guard to arrange for Buffy to be granted admittance.
Giles took the moment to bring Buffy current on what they surmised had happened, quick to reinforce that what he said was pure conjecture. He explained that they would have to wait to hear from those involved what actually happened.
Together, they watched as Dawn clung to Xander when they stepped into the bucket to be transported back to the ground. Before Buffy could say anything, Leah came over and whispered to Buffy that Dawn was certainly in shock and needed to go to the Emergency vehicle. Leah volunteered to stay with her to oversee her care. Deferring to Leah’s judgement, Buffy stepped back and helped clear the way for the gurney.
With Dawn settled and Leah reassuring them that she was in good hands, Giles and Buffy turned to Xander for explanations. Constantly making backward glances to the emergency vehicle where Dawn was being treated, Xander fell into “Watcherspeak.” Dry and dull. Only the facts. Utterly without emotion. Giles was rapt.
Buffy knew she would have to wait to hear the real story. The one with colors and sounds, fear and … laughter. She was satisfied that Dawn was safe and if she understood the bland description he gave, Dawn … her sister …the key … used powers of which she was totally unaware, to defend herself against a master vampire. Powers that interrupted electric service for miles around, shattered windows, caused car wrecks and who knew what else. Just a tad overkill. This power was something they were going to have to learn about … and soon.
Xander’s voice droned on and Buffy’s mind wandered. Content that Dawn was safe and sound, she realized that she hadn’t seen Spike. She glanced up to the window that had been the focus of attention just a short time ago expecting to see Spike waiting for the bucket. It would be just like him to catch a ride in the cool machine … but the bucket hadn’t gone back up. There was no one else to rescue.
Xander reached the end of his report and Giles thanked him and advised that he get it all down on paper as soon as possible while it was all still fresh in his mind. Buffy caught Xander’s eye and said, “Where’s Spike?”
Before he could answer, they heard the commotion coming round from the other side of the building. People screaming and running from the unmistakable roar of a pissed off vampire. Buffy sprang into action and ran to the familiar sound, expecting to find Spike close on the heels of the bad guy and at the same time reaching for a stake in the pocket of her hoodie.
Like a sharpshooter sighting her prey, Buffy locked onto Binnemon. She’d seen MacGregor, but no Spike yet. With all the speed she could muster, she ran to catch up to the vampire. She was amazed how anything with that amount of bulk could move so fast. Her muscles burned and her breath was coming hard. She had to act fast. “Hey,” she yelled. “You! Short, fat and bald! How far you plan on running?”
Binnemon broke stride for only a moment and then continued his sprint.
Okay, this guy doesn’t want to engage … or maybe he’s heard about my snappy patter. She tried to fill her lungs before yelling and even that burned. “You know however far you decide to run, I’m still going to be right behind you.” She lied. She was running out of steam. She couldn’t let him get away. “You might just as well stop now. I’m guessing that even a thing that doesn’t need to breathe needs to get the knots out of his muscles from time to time … you must be binding up pretty bad right now. Too bad you’re not me. I can go for miles and miles and …”
“All right, all right. I’ll stop! Just shut the fuck up.”
Buffy smiled. I can always wear them down. “What? You don’t like talking to THE SLAYER? That’s right, fat man. You’re going to be dusted by the top banana.” Buffy watched as her words hit home. This so called master vampire was an amateur … a poser.
She just had to wait. This one would kill himself.
The air fell silent around them. Night sounds disappeared. None of the crowd had been able to keep up. Only she, MacGregor, and Binnemon had made it this far. MacGregor stood by, watching … learning.
Binnemon said, “You done talkin’?”
Buffy didn’t answer.
“You little bitch, who do you think you are anyway. Look at you. Shit! All I have to do is sit on you and you’re history.” Binnemon tried to sound menacing, but it was lost in his brogue. He just sounded silly.
Buffy held her tongue. She stood, relaxed, in slayer stance, waiting. Binnemon fired what he thought were terrifying threats … he truly had no idea who he was dealing with. Buffy just held her ground. The moment came faster than she thought. Binnemon lost his patience, he wasn’t into mind games and Buffy had learned from the best. He drew himself up, roared and lunged at Buffy. MacGregor braced to jump into the foray … but it wasn’t necessary. Binnemon ran full force at her believing that his size alone would tumble Buffy and give him the upper hand. Buffy never flinched, never moved … simply stood her ground … stake raised at the last moment when it was too late for Binne to change course. The short, fat, bald and stupid vampire ran right into the stake that Buffy held firmly. Time stood still as Binne’s face froze in disbelief just before it dissolved in a plume of ash.
Buffy coughed and spit, brushing the remains of one Eamon Binnemon, pathetic vampire from her hair, face and clothes. MacGregor went to join Buffy. He was speechless.
Buffy saw his look of concern and said, “It’s OK, Mac. I’m fine. Thanks for having my back.”
“Right. What now?” MacGregor asked.
Buffy smiled. “Now … we sit down and catch my breath.”
~~~
Inspector Arthur and Carruthers were close on Binne’s heels when Buffy joined the chase. Giles reached them and explained that ordinary weapons would be useless. Just then a Police van and driver pulled up and beckoned to Arthur and Carruthers to jump in. Arthur yelled, “Come along, Mr. Giles. Maybe you can help us understand what is going on.”
They sped along but lost sight of Buffy. Giles told them to just keep going in the same direction. It was unlikely they would veer off course. It was a chance worth taking. “Hopefully, your headlights will help illuminate things in the distance.” No sooner did he say that then the streetlights came on.
“Thank God,” Giles said. “Buffy works mostly on instinct, but night vision isn’t necessarily a slayer power.”
Arthur took a deep breath, trying to adjust to this paranormal discussion. After being witness to what happened at the dorm, it was a leap he had to take. “These powers you speak of …”
“Yes,” Giles was eager to help. “Well, the slayer has supernatural strength and agility … She often has senses that allow her to be aware of vampire presence without necessarily seeing them.” As he spoke, he frantically scanned the area. “There is some history of some having enhanced hearing and vision, but these things seem to be individualized. As I said, Buffy works mostly on instinct. A good deal of her … um … methods … are unorthodox … but she gets the job done.” Then, with great pride, he said, “She is, after all, the only slayer in history to live into adulthood.” Suddenly, he erupted in excitement, “There!” Giles pointed out the window. “There they are! Stop. Stop the van.” They were
about thirty yards from the action.
Carruthers said, “I can pull closer.”
“No. Leave her be. I think she’s got the situation under control. We’re close enough to intervene if necessary. Open the windows, perhaps we can hear them.”
Carruthers looked at Arthur for guidance. Arthur nodded and the automatic windows opened. They could hear bits of the exchange between Buffy and Binnemon and watched as Binne charged at Buffy while she stood fast. The streetlights provided just enough light to illuminate the end of Binnemon.
Carruthers gasped, “Holy Christ!”
Giles smiled and said, “Now, we can get out of the van.”
Buffy and MacGregor were involved in a conversation as Giles and the others approached. “Inspector, hello!” She grinned. “Got a cliché for you … about a picture and a thousand words.”
The inspector shrugged and said, “I suspect the hardest part of this investigation is … how in hell am I going to write up this report.” Carruthers stifled a laugh under a cough..
Buffy stood up, brushing dust and dew from her pants, “OK, so, job’s done Giles, where’s Spike? It’s not like him to miss this kind of fun. What kind of wild goose chase have you sent him on?”
Giles was about to speak when he was interrupted by the arrival of another police van; this one carrying Xander, Dawn and Leah. Xander jumped out and went straight to Giles. Breathless, he said, “Once we got Dawnie checked out and Leah was satisfied that she was basically OK, we couldn’t hang around and wait to find out what happened … So, what happened?”
Again, Giles opened his mouth to speak; this time interrupted by Buffy. “Never mind that. We can fill you in on this anytime. The last time I saw Spike he was going out with you, Xander. Where’s Spike?”
Xander was on the spot as all eyes were on him. When no quick answer came, the atmosphere grew tense. “Xander? What’s going on? Where’s Spike?”
His head lowered and his voice barely above a whisper, he said … “You don’t know? …
You don’t know.”
Through clenched teeth Buffy said, “What don’t I know, Xander?”
Xander scanned the group, hopefully buying time to find the right words. When he finally realized there were no right words, he blurted out, “He’s gone, Buffy. I’m so sorry, but … well … he must be gone.”
Buffy stood straight, silent, rigid. The color drained from her face as she allowed the words to sink in. Then, collecting herself, she spoke quietly, carefully, “Xander, tell me what happened.”
The others were curious as well. Giles spoke up, “I’m sorry, I’ve missed something here. Xander, is there a problem with Spike?”
Xander nodded, “There was an accident. We were just walking and then there was the explosion. We both went kaplooey. When I shook it off and found my wits I looked for Spike. He’d been thrown against one of the park benches and the bench broke, you know?” He looked around at each of them again. “I … I guess it was a wooden bench and it … um … staked Spike. He didn’t look good at all.”
Buffy’s face was frozen. Giles said, “And you left him … without helping him?”
“There was nothing I could do. Spike told me to go. He said that Buffy would be there any second. He was sure you would find him.” Xander hung his head. “I was sure you would find him too.” He raised his head and said, “He told me to go help Dawn.”
Buffy took a deep breath and said, “Where is he? Take us there, Xander. Now, please.”
Arthur and Carruthers were standing by. Arthur said, “Hurry, get in the vans. We’ll take you.” After what he’d just seen, he wasn’t going to miss this. He turned to Xander, “Can you direct us to the scene?”
Xander answered, hesitant, “Yeah sure …”
Arthur interrupted and said, “Good, you ride with me.”
Then Xander finished what he’d started to say, “ … but I don’t think we’re going to find him.”
~~~
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Previously in Goodbye, Mr. Giles: The manhunt for the killer of the young slayer has settled on Giles. He defended himself with stories of ghosties and ghoulies and law enforcement has placed all the Scoobies under surveillance when the world is shattered by a cataclysmic blast.