“Buffy?” squeaked Willow in shock. “Oh My God, Buffy? You’re here … and your…. um… not in Rome…”
Willow found herself stuttering with a mixture of relief and surprise, and ok a little fear too, the later mostly inspired by the deadly glare that Buffy was pinning her with.
“How… how did you know? How did you… I mean who told you? Cos you know I only found out myself yesterday… and um … oh look Buffy… hey Tara, look it’s Buffy…”
Tara took pity on her nervously babbling lover. Stepping forward, she smiled shyly as she moved towards her friend, at the same time blocking the slayer’s view of the agitated red head behind her.
She smiled timidly suddenly nervous of Buffy’s reaction to her presence.
Ducking her head she managed to get out, “Hey Buffy long time no see… so um, Rome hey? That must be really great?”
The Slayer, up until that moment had registered Tara’s presence as there, but to be thought about later. With Tara’s first tentative words she found her fury receding, as she looked into the eyes of someone she’d thought she’d never see again.
“Hey Tara… I’d say I’m surprised to see you… but considering the whole died twice deal and the not so dead vampire over there on the bed… well I’m not so much with the surprised thing these days.”
Her words were light and it was true that somehow she wasn’t as shocked at Tara’s presence as she should have been… cos hello angry here... she reminded herself. But still, she suddenly found herself choking down a rather large lump in her throat, as it hit her fully that it was really Tara standing in front of her.
“Oh God…” She gasped as a horrible thought suddenly occurred to her.
Tara, seeing the expression on Buffy’s face, quickly interpreted her look and interrupted before any wrong ideas and hurtful words could get thrown about.
“It’s ok B...Buffy I-I wasn’t there... Willow didn’t she w-wouldn’t... Not again.” Tara explained hastily.
“I-it was sort of an accident… but a really good one!” she stuttered out, glancing back over her shoulder at her nervous lover.
“A-aft- after Warren… you know” meeting Buffy’s suddenly understanding gaze, she smiled sadly “I-I kinda got trapped … in the Hellmouth and… and Willow was doing this spell to help Spike an-and she... she released me. She didn’t know.” Tara blurted in her rush to make everything ok. “Willow had no idea tha-that I was still… still there… please… please don’t be mad at her Buffy… please.”
Buffy searched the blond witch’s face carefully, and with a sudden glad rush of warmth found that she did believe it was an accident. And not only because of Tara’s explanation, but because even with her anger at Willow over the whole keeping her out of the loop deal, she knew deep down inside that her friend would never do that again, especially not to someone she loved as much as she loved Tara.
Just as she was about to reach forward and embrace her newly returned friend there was a sudden flurry of movement in the doorway as Dawn came barreling into the room.
“OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD...” shrieked the teen.
“Quick Buffy, there’s this freaky blue demon thing chasing me and I-I...” Tara?” she squealed.
“Oh shit! Buffy it’s the First”, yelped Dawn taking in the presence of the blond standing between Willow and her sister.
“Oh my God, we’re gonna die” she wailed, head whipping back towards the door, just in time to see the arrival of Illyria.
Buffy turned quickly, instantly becoming THE slayer upon sight of the blue demon framed in the doorway.
Pushing her still panicky sister behind her, she reached into the waistband of her pants for her ever-present stake. Assuming a defensive position, she readied herself for the demons attack.
Illyria, reacting to the power radiating from the small blonde, dropped into a defensive crouch herself. Her icy gaze locked to the slayers.
Buffy studied the being before her warily; waiting for her to indicate the direction she would attack before moving herself.
Her slayer senses were going crazy in the presence of the blue creature. They were telling her that this demon was powerful…. maybe too powerful for a slayer that hadn’t fought or really even trained in nearly a year.
Just as she’d decided the waiting was getting old and attacking first might be of the good, Willow was suddenly between her and the blue whatever the hell she was.
“NO STOP… Buffy its ok.”
Willow carefully placed her hand on her friends arm, hoping that she could calm the slayer before the violence she could sense erupted between her friend and the God King.
Turning her attention back to the blue demon, she made sure her body blocked that of the slayer from Illyria’s view.
“Illyria… they’re friends Illyria… friends of mine… and of Spike’s.”
A gentle squeeze on Buffy’s arm had the slayers momentary attention.
“Buffy this is Illyria, she’s the one who saved Spike. Illyria this is…”
“Buffy”
The name was spat with arrogant contempt. However it was Illyria’s next words that made Willow tense, waiting for Buffy’s reaction.
“You are the one who crushed the vampires heart and spirit… the being that is responsible for the blasphemy you call his soul… the slayer.”
Buffy did a double take at Illyria’s words, not sure whether to be offended or just really pissed off.
Sheesh... how was it everyone knew who she was and she knew buptkis. God, how annoying was that?
She took a step forward, gently maneuvering Willow out of the way, every muscle in her body tightening in preparation for battle. The Slayer and the former God locked gazes again, silent challenge in both their eyes.
Illyria’s flicked to the prone form of Spike, then back again before she once again addressed the slayer.
“The vampire has spoken of you Slayer... you are important to him. His feelings for you though are of no consequence, I am Illyria and I will not hesitate to destroy you if you harm my pet in any way. He did not want you here… but he values your existence so I will not end you as I should. You will leave now and take the small annoying one with you.”
Before Buffy could even formulate a reply to the blue demon’s order, Dawn shot out from behind her sister, indignant anger making her blue eyes even bigger in her still pale face.
“Hey! Listen you blue freak… who are you calling annoying? I’m not the one who’s creeping around this dumb hotel like a...”
“Dawn… shut up”
The command came from both Buffy and Willow but it was the expression in her sister’s eyes that decided her. She closed her mouth with a snap, arms folded mutinously across her chest. Never the less, she did take a step back until she was behind her sister.
“Uh, let me think,” drawled Buffy, eyebrow arched. The mocking smile belying the fury simmering in her gaze.
“Hmm… ok, that would be a great big NO. Spike, may or may not want me here, but until I hear it from his lips I’m staying until he wakes up.”
Buffy, unknowingly imitating Dawn, crossed her own arms over her chest with a very similar expression.
Leaning back, she supported her weight on one leg, to the casual observer seemingly outwardly relaxed. Like she had all the time in the world… and the fact that an amazingly powerful… whatever the fuck she was…. hadn’t just threatened her and her sister, never mind the ordering them to leave part.
The expression on Illyria’s face (what sort of name was that anyhow?) grew even colder if possible, and she tensed waiting for the other to make her move.
It was Willow who broke the stalemate.
“Oh for Goddess sake people, we don’t have time for this… Spike doesn’t have time for this.”
Impatience coated her voice, but it was edged with something that Buffy responded too far quicker than the witches scolding tone. Fear.
Willow was scared... she was scared for Spike, and that more than anything had Buffy letting down her guard.
Forgetting Illyria and the threat of her presence, her eyes shot to the bed where Spike lay.
When Buffy had first entered the room she had been far too angry and distracted by Willow’s words to focus on anything else. It was only now as the resurging threat of his loss hit her again that she realized how damaged he really was.
When she had looked at him earlier her glance had been cursory, her slayer, and more importantly her Spike senses telling her without looking that he was present and still in the land of the undead.
Now for the first time she really looked, and what she saw had her stumble in shock.
She had seen Spike beaten (hell she’d done most of the beating herself, truth be told) and she’d seen him tortured, but she had never seen anything like she was seeing now.
If it hadn’t been for her Slayer senses she might have even doubted it was him.
Moving close to the side of the bed, her hand came up to cover her mouth. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if it was to smother the scream that was threatening to burst forth, or to stop herself from vomiting.
His beautiful face was nearly unrecognizable… and Oh God his eyes… those eyes that had always seen everything so clearly… his beautiful blue eyes. They were so damaged that she knew instantly that he was blind.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, blurring her vision as her eyes trailed down, flinching at the damage to his mouth. The mouth that kissed her and so often cut her with it’s harsh words.
They traveled across his burnt and bitten chest, to the ruin that was his arm.
Her eyes took it all in… every scratch, bite and charred part of him. From the burnt stubble on his head, to the broken legs that seemed to be the least of his injuries.
Finally, when she had examined him as though it was some sort of penance that she had to endure, she turned back to face the witches and the demon.
Tears drying on her cheeks, she called up every ounce of her courage as the slayer and concentrated on mastering control of her emotions, determined to be strong… for him.
“You said he needs blood. My blood” she asked grimly.
“Fine not a problem… now, what else does he need and who do I have to kill to get it?”
Willow shivered at the look in her best friend’s eyes, her gaze darting briefly to Illyria, before turning back to the pages of the book that she still clasped like a shield to her chest.
“Um… it’s not that simple Buff. Ok, we’re pretty sure that blood is the ingredient needed… yours and Angel’s.”
Willow flinched at the sudden despairing look on the slayer’s face at the mention of her first love.
“And… and thanks to Illyria we even have some… it was with the supplies she brought me from Wolfram and Hart…”
At the blank look on her friend’s face Willow rushed on with her explanation.
“You see Illyria was the one who contacted me and asked me to help Spike. So when she realized that I was going to need blood for him, she went to the place Angel used to work and got me the stockpile they kept for”…her brow furrowed quizzically “well actually I’m not really sure why they kept it” she admitted. “But they did, and lucky for us Angel seems to have been one of the donors.
So Angels blood check… you’re here, so obviously second ingredient, check. It’s just that…” she swallowed nervously. “Well it seems that the other blood ingredient is… um…”
Darting a worried look at the impassive figure of Illyria, she took a deep breath. “the other ingredient… it’s… that is… we think… it’s Illyria’s…um… blood” Willow gulped, crossing her fingers as she blurted out the rest.
“At least the book mentions wine of the God… and well since she’s the only God around at the moment then it’s a pretty safe bet to say she’s it.”
“She’s a WHAT?” Buffy exclaimed, eyes flying to the blue demon, instantly back on the defensive at the realization that the power she’d felt coming off the other was the power of a God.
Her eyes narrowed as she studied the newly revealed God, appraising her for any signs of weakness that she might be able to exploit to her advantage, should it come down to a fight.
Willow’s head hurt. The strain of the earlier magic, on top of Buffy’s arrival, and having to explain to her best friend that the only hope she has to save the man she loved, might hinge on the willingness of a God’s cooperation… it made her brain feel like it might explode if she didn’t sort this out pretty damn quick.
“Well technically she’s a God King I suppose… but I’m a bit hazy on the details. All I know is that she used to be Fred and now she’s Illyria... who is… was a demon God King. Look, Buffy” she said wearily “it doesn’t matter whether Illyria agrees or not… we still haven’t worked…”
“I will permit it Willow Rosenberg.”
Willow blinked dumbly as her tired eyes alighted on the form of blue God, her abrupt words startling the witch.
“Um… well um … that’s… that’s really good…uh, thanks…” she managed to stutter, before once again being interrupted by the object of her disjointed gratitude.
“The vampire must survive… I vowed to help him if I could. You say that this ones blood is needed” she stated, her cold stare traveling contemptuously over the slayer. “Then she may stay. I too will give what is needed. Wesley… Wesley would want me to keep the half-breed from perishing. I will tolerate the slayer’s presence… for now”
Eyes glittering as they bore into Willow’s, her tone became threatening. “But know this… if he dies witch… you and all you hold dear will pay the price.”
Willow’s gaze became riveted on the former God, as with the threat, her voice suddenly changed as it had on the phone earlier.
Again the two voices twined around each other sounding strangely like an echo, as both Fred and Illyria seemed to fight to be heard.
“I miss him Willow… Wesley, oh God… Wesley. I grieve for him... I cannot stand this pain…He’s gone… my love is gone… we are alone… even together. My strength… my love… my life… my power… ahh, how can we endure? You will do this thing for us witch…”
For a moment the form of Illyria seemed to flicker and then it was Fred who met the witch’s anguished gaze.
“God… thank God, y’all are here!” she sobbed.
“Please Willow, do it for me. I can’t control her… if he dies, she’ll kill you all. I-I don’t understand what’s going on Willow… but her grief… our grief for Wesley it connects us somehow.”
Her eyes shot up to meet Willow’s.
“No… don’t come any closer” she ordered, as the red head witch took a tentative step towards her.
“Please… I don’t know how long I can hold my thoughts together, and she’s very angry… very lost.”
Eyes welling with tears, Fred’s face twisted in anguish as she tried to convey all that she was feeling.
“I- I’m not her… I’m not really Fred… I-I think I’m what’s left of her…. her memories… her experience… her emotions. God, everything is so strange. This body... this shell… it wasn’t made to contain the essence of a God... it wasn’t strong enough. Angel and the others… they… they did something… something to leach her power… to make her less. But Willow, they changed her somehow. They changed her, and made this shell more capable of being her vessel, and by doing it they changed her mind as well as her power… I’m not Fred.” She breathed out raggedly, her eyes begging Willow for something the witch couldn’t begin to understand.
“No-not Fred… but she is no longer Illyria… we are becoming…. something else… something new.”
The look in Fred’s wide brown eyes was one that Willow knew she would carry to the end of her days. Never had she seen a being so lost.
“Y’all have to save Spike… he’s the only one that knows what they did… the only one who might know what to do… how to help us… how to make us…”
Her head wrenched back, a sudden scream pulled from her gaping mouth as Illyria once again took over.
Fred’s eyes rolled back in her head and then hardened like ice crystals as her flesh paled and turned blue.
Seconds later the body armor shimmered into place and they were once again faced with the visage of the God King.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
OK I'm back... Hope you are all still with me.
Review and let me know.
Hugs to my wonderful beta Jill.
Review and let me know.
Hugs to my wonderful beta Jill.