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Author's Chapter Notes:
Firstly, I was overwhelmed by the incredible response to the most recent chapter. You guys rock! I haven't had a chance to reply to the reviews yet, but rest assured, I will. Thank you again for the patience and encouragement my two betas offered me, without Mari and Lauriel I would not have posted part one, and certainly not this part. You are wonderful! Enjoy the update everyone!
Chapter 13: Hush Re-Written Part 2

Tara woke up from her unsettled slumber next to Willow in the middle of the night. Fearing she would wake the redheaded witch with her tossing and turning, she slipped quietly from bed to grab a bottle of water from the bar fridge in the room.

The blonde silently padded to the window, looking out over the dark courtyard below. The bottle of water slipped from her panic-seized fingers at the sight below her. Two groups of creatures made their way eerily towards the dorms. One tall, grotesquely grinning demon clad in a black suit reminiscent of a hellish undertaker glided over the ground accompanied by four stumbling creatures wearing what appeared to be straight jackets and chains. One of the demonic undertakers looked up at the window, smiling his complacent, ghoulish grin, and held up an old doctor’s case for her appraisal.

The action prompted the young witch into action, quickly gathering the makings of a rudimentary room protection spell and warding the door to their dorm room against any malevolent intruders. Tara could only pray that it would hold against the creatures as she shook her girlfriend awake and wrote out the events of the night, complete with a charmed portrait of the tall demons.

~*~*~*~*~

Willow and Tara made their way to Crawford Street at first light to avoid both the things that go bump in the night and the Initiative soldiers. The mansion was still quiet as the wards the redheaded witch had set let the two lovers through. Tara immediately set out to copying out a thorough account for Giles as well as refining the hastily drawn portrait of the demons while Willow set off to awaken a notoriously morning-shy Slayer.

Willow managed to rouse the petite spitfire and after narrowly avoiding a few selectively thrown projectiles, Willow moved on to the Watcher’s room where the older man was already awake with his nose stuck in a book.

The television was turned to a horrifying news report regarding two people found in the morning missing their hearts, which apparently had been cut from their chests using surgical precision. Speculations about a sophisticated serial killer were rife on the news, warning the residents of the small California town to stay inside and lock their doors. One could always count on the Sunnydale news reporters to not spare the innocents who were lapping up the information, terrified in their homes. Willow had always wondered what sort of creature was truly in charge of their local station.

As the morning wore on, the Scooby gang woke up one by one and busied themselves at the research table grudgingly. When the mid-morning news caster announced that a total of two heart-related murders had been committed the previous night a switch seemed to have been thrown for Giles. Dashing for the adjoining room he came back in carrying a sinister-looking book of fairy tales and wearing a proud grin while gesticulating wildly.

Buff penned an abrupt ‘Huh?’ on her notepad, causing her Watcher to sigh and turn to the dry erase board. Through a series of poorly drawn pictures and a scattering of short sentences he described the probable foe.

They were called The Gentlemen, horrid nightmarishly ugly creatures from the world of cautionary fairy tales passed down through the generations. They stole hearts from seven people after stealing their voices so they couldn’t scream. In the story the town’s princess managed to find her voice once more and when she screamed it destroyed the creatures and saved the town. It was the only time any place was safe from the horrors of the Gentleman. No recorded or simulated voice would do to destroy them, only a true human voice would do. Giles added the theory that there would be a receptacle of some sort, a box or container, which the creatures used to contain the towns-folks voices. They would need to find this first, release the voices and scream like hell.

‘Buffy, you and Spike will patrol this evening. Stay Alert! Keep away from anyone you see (soldiers)’

The Slayer grinned broadly at this and cracked her knuckles in a very un-ladylike show of anticipation which earned her a hard glare from her mother.

‘You must get your voice back. It is the ONLY way to destroy the creatures.’ Giles scribbled out on the dry erase board, emphasizing the word only by underlining it several times.

Buffy nodded her assent and practically skipped happily from the room to raise her patrol partner from his daytime slumber.

~*~*~*~*~

Night fell quietly over the silent town. In a twisted version of the old Christmas rhyme, not a single creature seemed to be stirring that night, even the demons and vamps who usually thrived on such mayhem stayed in. There was a very negative energy in the air that seemed to deter almost everyone.

Buffy was alight with energy, joyfully pacing around the house, driving every member of the household save one, crazy with her happy anticipation. Her mother had banned her from helping with dinner and Giles had barred her from the research room in a move that amazed every member of the Scoobies. Only Spike seemed nonplussed by her enthusiasm, watching her nervous excitement with a gleam in his deep blue eyes. He understood how much this meant to her, facing an unambiguously evil foe and finally expressing some of that pent up anger and fear. His Slayer was going to be something to watch tonight and he couldn’t wait to see what she would do.

The vampire observed as she made her way to the kitchen counter where her mother and Tara were busily preparing the evening’s meal. Joyce eyed her daughter warily as she gave her a cheeky grin before stealing one of the freshly peeled carrots and loudly crunching into it. The sudden noise, paired with Buffy’s bright grin, made both Joyce and Tara break out into small smiles and silent chuckles.

The soft ding of the microwave sounded, causing the Summers’ matriarch to turn and fetch a mug of perfectly heated blood from the machine. She handed the mug to her daughter who made her way across the open space to the sofa where Spike lay spread out, lazily taking up as much space as possible.

His senses peaked at the smell of the ruby liquid steaming slightly in the girls’ hands. He could tell it was human, and smiled up at the blonde before he took the first sip of liquid ambrosia. He needed to be fit to fight tonight, hopefully the demon theory would hold and he would be able to assist the Slayer in her epic battle against the forces of evil. Or however she would justify finally getting a good spot of violence in. He could feel his own anticipation humming through his veins, warmed by the fresh blood.

Buffy settled in the second sofa, lying down and merrily continuing to crunch on her veggie treat. Spike shot her a look and quirked one dark brow up in question as she smiled contentedly at him.

“Improves night vision,” she mouthed clearly with one side of her soft lips turned up and a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Spike chuckled silently in response and turned his attention back to the soap on TV. They had all needed a break from the constant news reports telling the silent residents of Sunnydale to remain indoors with their doors locked against the serial killer currently plaguing the town.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy and Spike made their way through the silent town, vaguely in the direction of the college campus. They were on constant lookout for any indication of The Gentlemen, their demonic patients, or the Initiative soldiers. Buffy was nervous and her heart rate sped up with each step closer to the place of their imprisonment. She hated that the place still had power over her, but she couldn’t stop the tightening in her chest as her mind flooded with memories of torture and fear from the last few weeks. She slowly lost sense of the world around her as each horrifying experiment played out in Technicolor in her mind.

The blonde was shocked out of her fearsome thoughts when she felt two hands grip her upper arms and found herself staring into a leather-clad chest. She let her eyes slowly wander the hard planes of the vampire’s chest before seeking out his intense blue eyes. Only as she met his concerned gaze did she realize just how distracted she had become.

“Are you okay?” he mouthed clearly, staring deeply into her glazed green eyes.

Buffy nodded abruptly and gave her head a quick shake to clear it. She smiled bravely up at the bleached blond man and pulled out of his grasp before looking toward the campus. Spike laid a hand on her shoulder, pointing towards the eastern part of town. The campus was likely to be a final destination, so they were better off trying to find where the creatures came from.

The petite Slayer nodded and the mismatched duo made their way quietly into the older part of the city. Many areas around there were decrepit and vacant; the perfect place to set up shop if you were storing something as precious as human hearts. The streets were eerily quiet and mainly deserted, save for a lonely straggler or stumbling drunk on a quest for more distraction.

Spike’s enhanced senses were in overdrive, sensitive to the smallest sound or slightest rustle of movement in the shadows. At least he could be relatively confident that the human predators were nowhere near. That amount of heartbeats, breathing, and heavy footsteps was bound to be picked up in his state of hyper-awareness.

Suddenly, Spike grabbed the back of Buffy’s jacket, pulling her to a sudden halt. She didn’t stumble as she slowed down, looking back at the vampire for an indication of what his preternatural senses had picked up on before hers.

Pointing one long, pale finger down a narrow alleyway he revealed a small group of Initiative soldiers, in full covert-makeup heading in the same direction they were. The clutch of soldiers had yet to notice the duo, so Spike quickly pulled the Slayer down a parallel road, avoiding at least the potential of on site discovery. Hearing his self-assigned charge’s heart skip a beat and quicken he looked her over once more and happily discovered the girl he had met that first night in a cold dark alley.

Buffy’s soft, feminine features had hardened into a mask of defiance, her eyes glittering dangerously with both anticipation and anger. This was the Slayer he’d hoped to see tonight. This was the Slayer that could take down an army of vampires with one hand tied around her back. This was the Slayer that could beat the best of the best, if he did say so himself. She glanced up at him and her eyes softened briefly in acknowledgment before she again took the lead down another alley.

As the condemned clock tower loomed at the end of a pitch-black street, both supernatural beings heard the telltale shuffle and eerie clinking of one of the henchmen in the distance. The deformed creatures surrounded the skeletal Gentlemen as enforcers, feeling no pain and relentless in their pursuit of protection. The Slayer glanced at her sometime-foe whose features shifted seamlessly into the face of a demon as they both took in their quarry.

Buffy lead the attack, tossing an injured henchman to her ally to finish off as their first test of her theory about the annoying piece of hardware he was now saddled with. The sensation of fist hitting solid flesh hadn’t been as satisfying as that first thrown punch in nearly a century for the immortal fighter. Spike crowed a silent roar of appreciation as he quickly decapitated the first of their foes as Buffy was set to engage a second and third.

As both fighters worked with synchronized efficiency, they both noted the tall, pale forms of The Gentlemen gliding out of the corner of the condemned clock tower. With a short nod, Buffy took off at a full-pace run towards the tower while Spike stayed to finish off the remaining henchman.

The Slayer felt an exhilarating rush of adrenaline as she pushed her body faster towards her goal. Using her momentum she was able to knock another straight-jacketed demon to the ground, knowing that he would be taken care of. She watched the one pair of Gentlemen turn slowly and notice her approach, their toothy, metallic grimaces causing a shiver of disgust to race up her spine. Having no time to deal with the potential threat, she charged up the stairs into the building.

She encountered another fiend wrapped in chains on the staircase and her body sang in triumph as she flipped, punched and kicked him down the rickety staircase. She was thrown roughly against the wall by another and quickly scanned her surroundings for anything that could help her until Spike managed to catch up. The dull gleam of metal attracted her line of sight and the Slayer launched herself at the old chains hanging from the ceiling, hoping it would hold her weight.

“Beggars can’t be choosers, isn’t that what Mom always used to say?” She snickered silently to herself as she let her momentum carry her back towards her prey, both of her charmingly heeled feet ready to send him over the edge. Flipping her body upwards she stuck a shaky landing on the top-most step and rushed into the bowels of the clock tower. She pulled up short as the business end of a semi-automatic weapon was pointed at her chest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Spike watched the Slayer rush ahead of him with glee as he tackled a barrage of oncoming henchmen. For each one he incapacitated, another two seemed to arrive and take its deranged place. Not that he was complaining. His blood was practically singing from the violence he was able to unleash on the dimwitted creatures. Each neck snapped with an incredibly satisfying crunch and he screamed silently in delight as he tore the throat out of another.

The sight of a lone black-clad human brought him up short, however. Just seconds after the blonde Slayer had disappeared into the building the Initiative soldier had followed her inside. Spike knew in that instant that he had to make more of an effort to progress towards his ally rather than enjoy his first good fight in decades.

Quickly dispatching of the remaining three assailants, he ran towards the tower, neatly entering just before the lethargic, manic Gentlemen were able to float through. They were running out of time fast and the added variable of the soldier did not bode well for the escapees.

The vampire took in the sight of the collapsed staircase and leapt as high as he could toward the remnants of a dangling pull chain. He swiftly ascended the length and saw Buffy’s predicament.

Captain Cardboard was pointing the muzzle of a terrifying gun square in the chest of the Slayer. She could survive a lot his brave girl, but a bullet to the heart would kill her in an instant. Making a split-second decision, he leapt toward the scene, hoping to knock the soldier off balance.

The resulting knock sent jolts of electricity dancing through his brain, minor tremors of intense pain shooting out to the very tips of his fingers and toes. He screamed in agony, face shifting back into his human visage after the worst of the effects had ceased. He pried open one eye to see if his plan had worked and found Buffy kicking the soldier’s weapon over the edge of the platform and hurrying over to his side.

She laid a small, warm hand on his forehead, frowning down at him, before turning her head to watch Agent Finn make his way to his feet. Before either human could engage the other in combat, another small group of henchmen appeared and the three fighters had new problems to worry about.
The bleached blond looked furtively around for anything that may house the voices of the town’s people so that he and Buffy would be able to make their escape from an enemy far more sinister.

Spike followed a meticulous line of jars, two containing human hearts, before laying his eyes on an intricate wooden box. He glanced over his shoulder at the petite blonde spitfire and shouted ineffectively. Shaking his head at his own stupidity he grasped the edge of a demon’s collar before twisting his neck until the bones cracked and broke. The brunet soldier dispatched of his own nuisance just as Buffy sent hers flying through the window behind them.

Grinning at Spike, caught up in the exhilaration of the fight, Buffy turned towards the table. This move cued the vampire to pointing towards the box just as two of the Gentlemen made it up to the platform where the battle had waged. Buffy didn’t take any chances before picking up an old heavy piece of wood and smashing the small receptacle into hundreds of pieces. A white mist rose from the broken container and split off into a series of small wisps. As Buffy inhaled, she started to scream as loud as she could.

The two pale, long-fingered demons in their immaculate black undertaker suits grimaced in distress, as much as their frozen grins would allow. They covered their ears to no avail as Buffy’s voice rang out in the empty night before their heads exploded in a mess of green goo, the straight-jacketed helpers falling at their feet and spasming agony before finally lying still.

Buffy smiled happily at Spike as he reached a hand out to help her to her feet from where she’d squatted behind the table to avoid the majority of the demon brains which exploded from their enemies heads.

“Neat, huh?” she said with a happy giggle before abruptly realizing they weren’t alone and that a very real threat was scrambling to find his footing.

Though he couldn’t be much help without being incapacitated, Spike shifted Buffy behind him, protecting her as much as he could from any onslaught from the cut-out soldier. The duo stared down the young man as he rose to his feet, radio squawking to life now that his companion’s had figured out their voices had been returned. The others would be there soon, and with the pistol attached to the Agent’s hip, he could easily stop them from leaving. Buffy was shaking with fear, her heart racing while she clung desperately to his arm.

“Go,” Riley Finn said quietly as he looked at the two so-called ‘evil’ demons in front of him who had known how to destroy what his boss hadn’t. When Buffy and Hostile 17 only looked briefly at each other he repeated himself forcefully. “Go! Run, the others will be happy to bring you back in. They’re only seconds away, go while you still can.”

This caused the two to spring into instant action. The chipped vampire simply shot the former college co-ed a relieved look before jumping gracefully to the floor below. Buffy looked at Riley a moment longer, a small smile quirking one side of her mouth.

“Thanks.”


Chapter End Notes:
Hope you enjoyed the conclusion. Let me know what you think!



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