Day 21
"Nervous?" Willow whispered to Xander. They were standing outside of Lowell house. It was still dark. The group had decided for an early morning attack for two reasons; the first was so that Spike wouldn't have to do his dash from a manhole cover and the second was the element of surprise.
"No way," Xander whispered. "I'm full of that good ol’ Kamikaze spirit." He nervously clutched the tazer in his fist.
"Xander, this is going to work. There's no need to be so negative," Giles hissed. "The adjoining spell is powerful enough to defeat Adam. Powerful, but very dangerous."
"Game faces, guys." Buffy kicked in a window. "We're going in."
The climb down through the elevator shaft was uneventful, Each of them consumed with their own thoughts.
Buffy mused that the Scoobies had never been such a large group before. For some strange reason, the addition of Tara, Anya, Jonathan, and Andrew comforted her. She knew without a doubt that between the four of them they would keep Willow, Xander, and Giles safe as they performed the dangerous joining spell. Without them, these three people that she loved so much would be vulnerable and that thought would distract her, and when it came to Adam; they really couldn't afford any distractions.
As the final pair reached the floor of the lift shaft, Giles removed a crowbar from his backpack and worked on opening the double steel doors.
As the doors opened, the Slayer gave her orders. “Okay, we stick together and everything should be fine. Everybody ready? Let’s…”
Buffy was cut off by the sight of five commandoes with laser blasters targeting them. The soldiers were clearly waiting for them. She felt her frustration rising. They really didn't have time for this!
~*~
In the office of the new head of the Initiative, Buffy tried to get the angry Colonel to listen to her.
“Shut up. You've got some nerve, lady.” Colonel McNamara snapped as he started searching on of the bags they had brought with them. “You think you and your friends can just keep waltzing into a government installation brandishing weapons like…” He paused his rant when he failed to recognized the object he was lifting an item out of the bag.
“It's a gourd.” Willow offered, trying to be helpful.
“Magic gourd.” Giles clarified, trying to hide his smirk. ‘These fools have no idea what they’re dealing with,’ he thought disparagingly.
Colonel McNamara opened his eyes wide and said incredulously, “What kind of freaks are you people?”
“Adam is here, Colonel. In the Initiative.” The Slayer informed the disbelieving officer, desperately trying to get the conversation back on track.
“Nice try,” he scoffed dismissively.
“Those overcrowded containment cells of yours are courtesy of Adam. He's pulling a Trojan horse on you, he's just waiting…”
Once again the Colonel cut her off, his erroneous belief in the superiority of his technology was undaunted. “Everything in this installation is under 24-hour surveillance.”
“Including the secret lab?” Willow asked. She had read Adam’s plans. She knew that this man was not only ill-equipped to deal with the problem, but she doubted he had enough imagination to even envisage the carnage that their manufactured mistake was capable of.
“Including everything!” he snapped automatically before looking at her with astonishment. “What secret lab?”
“The one Adam's been using. The one built for the final stage of Project 314,” Buffy ground out furiously. At the baffled look on his face she was hard pressed to hide her disgust. “And you have no idea what I'm talking about.”
“I know everything that goes on around here. A flea on a mouse couldn't get in without my knowing it, and if Adam wants to try; we're ready for him.”
The arrogance of the man brought out Giles’ more sarcastic side. “Jolly good. And how exactly do you plan to get close enough to Adam to remove his power source?”
“Hit him simultaneously with multiple tazer blasters. Incapacitate him with as much voltage as we can muster,” the Colonel replied smugly, daring them to find fault with his plan.
Xander’s derisive snort spoke volumes. “Great plan. That's right up there with ‘duck and cover’.”
“I've seen Adam hit with tazer blasts. He feeds on it and you're gonna boost him up with an all-you-can-eat buffet?” she asked, incredulous.
“You telling me my business?” the arrogant army man demanded in fury. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to question him and the fact that his years of experience were being dismissed as inconsequential was only adding fuel to his fire.
“This is not your business. It's mine. You, the Initiative, the boys at the Pentagon…you're all in way over your heads. You’re messing with primeval forces you can’t possibly comprehend,” The Slayer snarled in anger.
He looked her up and down. “And you do?”
“I'm the Slayer. You're playing on my turf.”
“Up there, maybe, but down here; I'm the one who's in control.”
As he spoke his final words, the lights went out.
“Oh, bloody good job you’re doin’ with that, then.” Spike rolled his eyes and shifted into game face.
“Sir, the power grid's down. Backup's not responding.” An unknown soldier’s voice cut through the darkness. It was obvious that he fervently wished that any other soldier in the base had been given the duty of passing on that particular piece of information. “Um…and we, er, appear to be locked in.”
“It’s started,” Jonathan offered quietly as he surreptitiously repacked the gourd and zipped up the bag.
The young soldier returned. “Containment area's been breached. Hostiles are loose.” His voice quivered slightly in trepidation.
“How many?” Colonel McNamara barked out his question.
“All of 'em, Sir.”
“It's Adam,” Buffy stated flatly, pulling McNamara’s attention back to her. “Look, I'm the only one who can stop him now. Just let me handle this. Get your people out of here.”
“All right, you men follow me. We gotta take the Armory, now,” he snapped out his orders to three of the soldiers that had brought the Slayer’s team to him in the first place. Turning to the two remaining commandoes, he gave them their orders too. “These people are under arrest, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!” the senior soldier snapped to attention as his commander left the office.
Rolling her eyes, Buffy asked rhetorically, “Why does it always have to be the hard way?”
With a quick snap of her leg she kicked the first soldier in the chest, sending him into the wall, before slamming the head of the second commando into the desk, knocking both men out cold.
“We've gotta find Adam.”
“On it,” Willow replied as she moved swiftly to the computer on the Colonel’s desk.
“The enjoining spell is extremely touchy. It's, uh, volatile. We can't risk it being interrupted. We need a place that's close to you and quiet.” Giles told them all as he followed Willow, attempting to watch the computer screen over her shoulder.
“Maybe you should think about joining the Army, Xander.” Anya suggested as she considered the two unconscious soldiers. “You could end up running it, because they’re really not very smart, are they?”
“I’d have to go through basic training which would mean you would have to give up on happies for at least six weeks!”
“Nope! No army!” Anya shuddered at the thought. No girl in her right mind would give up orgasms for six weeks.
Carefully taking note of the events happening on the monitor, Xander was brought back to the requirements Giles had outlined. Pointing to the screen as he caught Buffy’s eye, he demanded. “Uh...quiet?”
Buffy watched in frustration as soldier after soldier got thrown through the air by the rampaging demons. Her slayer side screamed to be released. “How we doing, Will?”
“Done. Hold on. According to this, there's air ducts and electrical conduits all running into there.” Willow looked at the computer screen in satisfaction.
“So?” Buffy’s brow creased in concentration.
“So, there's no there there. Look.”
“It's Adam.” Buffy announced firmly as she straightened back up from leaning down to study the monitor.
“You sure?” Giles felt compelled to ask.
The Slayer nodded with certainty. “Right behind 314.” Returning her gaze to the redhead, Buffy asked her next question. “Can you unlock it?”
“I don't have to.” The witch felt sickened by the carnage that was happening because of Adam’s plan. “All the locks in the Initiative have been disengaged...except for the exits.”
“Demon open house,” Xander added in disgust.
“Great. So we know we're going to 314. Now all we have to do is get there.” Knowing that she and Spike were the only ones that would be able to get the whole group through, Buffy took the lead, leaving her vampire champion to bring up the rear. Hopefully between them, they would be able to protect the group. They couldn't afford to loose any more time.
Like a whirling dervish, Buffy cleared a pathway in front of the group. Strength, skill, and determination made short work of the demons that attempted to attack them.
Spike was kept busy with those foolish enough to try and sneak up on the Master Vampire. For the first time he was made aware of the pressure his mate faced every time she fought with her friends. His fear of losing someone he cared for kept his natural tendency to lose himself in the battle in check. He watched over the group with one eye as he fought any and all challengers with swift precision.
Andrew itched with anticipation and fear. He saw demon after demon that he knew he could control. Countless hours strategizing role-playing games had him mentally formulating the best course of action. The sheer numbers of demons to be dealt with was staggering. He pulled his pan pipes from his jacket pocket, firmly of the opinion that a job of this magnitude required him to pull out all the stops.
Xander had been instructed not to fight as he would need his strength for his part of the spell. However, it didn't take strength to shoot a laser he reasoned as he shot a demon that was trying to sneak past Buffy.
Tara clutched Willow’s hand, terrified and excited beyond anything she’d ever experienced. She knew that her abilities were limited; she had one spell that she could use to protect them and she was determined to use it well.
Anya was having the time of her life; she hadn't been a part of a rioting mob in years. Memories of past melees were fondly remembered. She was totally blind to the danger she was in, completely convinced that three witches, a watcher who had dabbled with sorcery, a boy that could control demons with a musical instrument, a Master Vampire, and the Slayer were absolutely capable of dealing with any threat that could come her way. When properly motivated, the baseball bat that she carried could become a deadly weapon.
Willow felt the familiar tendrils of anticipation at the thought of the spell they had decided to do. She relished the idea of the feeling of magic coursing through her that was to come. She lightly squeezed Tara’s hand as they followed the petite blond warrior in front of them. Her love of education paled in comparison to the lure of the mystical powers she was touching with increasing frequency. Her fear of the situation they were now in was lessened by the thought of what was to come.
Jonathan cringed each time a demon attacked. He alternated his visual direction between Buffy and Spike, always afraid that one of the beasts would get through. He didn't know how these people managed to keep fighting day after day. He was hard pressed to remember how he had managed to let himself be talked into this whole thing. Sure, he wanted to help, and yes, he was magically inclined, but that didn't mean he was cut out for this sort of thing on a regular basis. He had a feeling that he would be asking to be left out of the physical aspects of the ‘good fight’ in the future. He was hoping that from now on he could concentrate on the research side. It wasn't like they didn't have other people with magical abilities; really, he was just an extra, and at this point he thought that maybe he was a dispensable extra!
Giles watched his slayer and her vampire. They were amazing to behold. Never in all his years of experience had he witnessed such graceful fluidity of movement. Even with the large group of people between them they seemed to be moving together in a strange sort of ritualistic dance. His own fighting abilities looked amateurish in comparison.
Buffy felt him with every thrust and parry, dancing along the edges of her consciousness. Her mate. She felt the primal urgings of her slayer side well up. The fight was just beginning and at this particular moment in time she could think of no other place that she would rather be. As she reached the entrance to room 314 she quickly opened the door and ushered her group in. With a quick kiss to her waiting lips, Spike was the last to move past her. She followed him into the room and closed the door after her.
Moving through the small group, Buffy headed to the wall opposite the door. “Okay, it should be over here,” she said as she investigated the wall. Pressing lightly she triggered the hidden mechanism in the door and released the catch. Looking back at the group, she gave her final instructions. “Once we’re in, barricade the door behind us. Is this place okay to be Magic Central?”
“It, uh, should do,” Giles replied, a little uncertain. If they blocked the door to the secret lab they would only have to be protected from one direction.
“As long as we don't get blown up or nothin',” Willow added in an attempt at levity.
“What're the odds of that?” Xander quipped in amusement.
“How long before the ritual kicks in?” Spike asked as he moved to Buffy’s side.
“Five minutes, give or take,” Giles responded.
As soon as Buffy and Spike stepped through the door, Anya, Tara, and Jonathan moved to close and block it. Andrew grabbed the bag of supplies that his team would need and started setting up for the two witches.
Jonathan and Tara had already ascertained that the circle that Willow, Xander, and Giles were performing their spell in would ensure that any protection spells that the unlikely pair of witches needed to use would not be able to adversely affect the all important joining spell.
Giles and Willow moved swiftly and with practiced ease to set up for the ritual. Xander gave Anya a quick hug and, pointing to the baseball bat in her hand, encouraged her to use it if the need arose.
~*~*~
Buffy and Spike paused at the sight before them. The room looked like an operating room set up to work as a factory. Empty surgical tables lined both sides of the room. Adams work was apparent by the appearance of Maggie Walsh and one other unlucky scientist. Surgical adjustments were clearly visual on both.
Ignoring the intrusion of the two blonds, the two cyber-humans continued to work, clearly preparing the room for the final stage of Adam’s plan.
“After time spent in her company when I was locked in their cells, I gotta say she’s never looked better.” Spike eyed the former head of the initiative with disgust.
“What’s with the ignoring? You’d think they’d at least acknowledge we’re here.” Buffy pouted in annoyance.
“They haven't been programmed to. They are part of the final phase now...as you and my brother and the vampire were supposed to be,” Adam said, announcing his presence.
“Brother?” Buffy asked. Turning to her mate, she again voiced her confusion. “It has a brother?”
“Think it’s talkin’ about Capt’n Cardboard, luv.”
Buffy turned her shocked features to Adam. “RILEY?! Riley’s your brother? Okay, gotta say; so glad I’m not dating him anymore, ‘cause I’m seriously not wanting to go to any of his family reunions!” Buffy commented with a shudder of disgust.
“Are you here to take your place?” Adam asked with polite curiosity.
“Sorry. We don't jump through hoops on command. Sorta never really been the types to tow the line,” Buffy quipped.
“As you wish.” He turned to his creations and issued a single order before leaving the room. “Kill her.”
The two blonds moved into fighting positions as Professor Walsh moved to pick up a device and then slowly made her way towards Buffy, ignoring Spike completely. As she moved past Spike, he grabbed her head and with a quick movement, snapped her neck and then ripped her head from her body.
“Really don’t like to be forgotten, do you blondie?” Buffy smirked at her mate. Not to be outdone, she swiftly dispatched the remaining cyber-doctor.
~*~*~
As Giles lit a candle, Willow started to chant. “The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us in the power we possess. Make us mind and heart
and spirit joy. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will.”
~*~*~
“Hey! Did I get some sort of power boost from the mating or has the spell started?” Buffy asked in confusion. She felt stronger than normal, but as she’d only just noticed it, she was unsure as to its origin.
Spike spouted off a group on syllables to his perplexed mate.
“Huh?”
“Well, as that was Sumerian; I’m guessin’ it’s the mating then, pet,” he commented.
“What did you say?” Buffy asked suspiciously.
Her mate gave her a playful grin before answering. “Either I love you or I want to fuck you till you scream.”
“Oh, you are so paying for that one later, mister!”
~*~*~
“Spiritus...Spirit,” Willow intoned before handing a card to Xander.
“Animus...Heart,” Xander firmly recited.
Giles took his own card from the redhead and then spoke his part, “Sophus...Mind.”
Willow continued, “and Manus... The hand. We enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel. The hand...daughter of Sineya...first of the ones...
~*~*~
“We need to get to Adam. Like, now. Are you ready?” the Slayer asked her mate.
“I was born ready, Slayer,” the vampire answered smugly.
“Liar!” Buffy snorted before heading in the direction the man-made monster had gone.
~*~*~
As the duo entered Adam’s inner sanctum, Spike notice the walking jigsaw puzzle was watching a security monitor of the battle raging within the Initiative. “Fun, isn't it?”
“I do appreciate violence,” the cyborg responded unemotionally.
“Good,” Buffy stated before launching herself at him.
A single punch sent her flying backwards. She rolled, got up, and kicked him as Spike pummeled him in the face.
Grabbing the vampire’s hand, Adam threw him into the wall. Releasing his skewer, Doctor Walsh’s experiment attempted to stab the Slayer only to have her snap off the stolen appendage.
“Broke your arm,” she quipped.
“Got another,” he replied without pause. A miniature machine gun appeared where the Polgara demon’s spike had been. “I've been upgrading.”
Buffy dove over the computer console as he began firing. When Spike joined her there a moment later she was chagrined by his sarcastic admonition.
“And I thought you couldn't outdo the bloody bear!”
~*~*~
“We implore thee, admit us, bring us to the vessel, take us now.”
~*~*~
The instant the spell took hold, they felt it. Together they stood to face their enemy. Instinctively moving behind his mate, Spike took his place. Their eyes glowed with orange fire and they moved as one, intrinsically linked by powers older than time.
“You can't last much longer,” Adam announced with calm certainty.
The united pair spoke in unison, Spike’s deeper baritone adding bass to the Slayer’s mezzo; a symphony in harmonics. “We can. We are forever,” they began before incanting the ancient Sumerian words they spell required.
“Interesting,” Adam commented mildly. Casually lifting the arm that was equipped with the gun, he fired. The force-field that protected the pair as they continued to speak negated the power of the weapon Adam used. “Very interesting.”
~*~*~
Tara reached for Jonathan’s hand, grounding him. He felt the familiar stirring of the magic deep within him. It had never been so clear before. The purity of his power surged forward. As the door broke open, they simultaneously threw up the barrier, holding the demons at bay.
Andrew lifted his pipes to his lips as the door to the room started to give under the onslaught of the demons attempting to gain access. Instinct guided him as he began to play.
He zeroed in on the one that he wanted and the music seemed to surround them, the room perfectly amplifying the sounds. It weaved and danced as it seduced its prey.
Once he was sure that he had control, the blond demon specialist changed the tune; musically ordering the beast to stand and fight all that would dare attempt to enter the domain of the music and the puppet master.
~*~*~
Adam changed his weapon to fire rockets and the two blondes lifted their left hands synchronistically, turning the projectiles to doves. With another wave of their hands the monster’s gun folded itself away.
He attempted to defeat them in hand to hand combat but every punch was blocked by the be-spelled duo.
“How...can you…” Adam stated, his confusion clear.
“You could never hope to grasp the source of our power,” they announced with certainty. As they held the human cyborg to the wall, the Slayer reached in and took hold of his uranium core. “But yours is right here.”
Adam collapsed with a groan.
With the final Sumerian words spoken, the core levitated and disappeared.
As their eyes returned to normal, Buffy fell back against her mate. “Whoa! Spinning!”
“Well, that one packs a bit of a whollop!” Spike shook his head in an attempt to clear it.
“You ain’t kidding!”
~*~*~
As the spell finished, Willow, Xander and Giles collapsed in exhaustion; completely drained.
“Wow. That was…” Words failed her normally agile mind.
Giles stared in awe as the Fyarl demon ripped his way through every demon attempting to enter the room. With a look of stunned awe, he turned to Andrew. “Can we keep him working for us?”
Andrew continued to play his pipes and he looked beseechingly at Jonathan to answer the retired librarian.
“Um, not so much. And he’s gonna be really grumpy when Andrew finally releases him,” the brunette witch mumbled unhappily.
“Releases who?” Buffy asked cheerfully as she and Spike stepped through the door after effortlessly pushing the console meant to be blocking the door out of the way.
Wordlessly, Xander pointed to the clearly exhausted demon that was protecting them.
Buffy glanced at the demon and the dead bodies surrounding it and widened her eyes in realization. Were it not for the inclusion of the newest scoobies, her dearest friends and watchers may not have survived this battle. “Thank you,” she whispered. The softness of her response amplified the sentiment behind the words.
Without thought, Andrew released the pipes, grinned happily and loudly chirped, “you’re welcome.”
The roar of the furious demon echoed through the room.
“Oops!”
~*~*~
Their escape from the Initiative seemed anticlimactic after the previous events of the day.
Buffy and Spike left the group to organizing the post-apocalyptic munchies and movies as they took the Desoto to pick up Joyce at the airport.
~*~*~
“Mom, why aren't you more wigged? I mean, I just told you I’m more or less married to a vampire and you’re all huggy with Spike,” Buffy asked in shock. “You hated me being in a relationship with Angel.”
Joyce smiled at her confused daughter. “My disapproval of your relationship had more to do with Angel himself than it did with him being a vampire, dear. If you’ll remember, after Spike visited me, heartbroken over that awful Drusilla, you told me all about your relationship with Angel. The…er…individual that you were convinced was your soul mate struck me as being, well, less than you thought he was. He could only love you with a soul in place and that told me that not all of him loved you. You deserve to be loved completely and Angel wasn't capable of that. Spike is a far better choice!”
“You’re a remarkably astute woman, mum!” Spike said smugly from the driver’s seat.
“And I still know where my axe is, dear!”
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