Chapter Thirty-Nine
Spike walked slowly along the hallway to the room where they’d put Gunn. He could hear raised voices as he approached and hesitated with his hand on the door. Cam had told him what state the human was in. Would a vampire walking in do the man any good at all? Spike was just about to turn away when the door opened, and Dora let out a shriek, her hand flying to her chest.
“Oh, good God, Spike, you made me jump.”
As Spike stepped back to give her room to pass, she pulled the door closed behind her.
“Don’t go in there…that poor man…” Her face crumpled and she began to silently weep.
Part of Spike was riled that what he’d suffered at the hands of the Initiative hadn’t caused the woman to cry, but he guessed that seeing what a vampire had gone through wasn’t quite the same as things done to a human.
“Er…you look worn out. Do you want a cup of tea?”
Spike had no real clue what else to say. To his relief, she smiled through her tears and nodded.
“That would be lovely.”
She squeezed his arm and Spike took it as the thanks that it was. Together they walked down to the kitchen where to Dora’s amusement, Spike proceeded to put the kettle on.
*~*~*~*
Gunn stared at the faces of the people who’d kidnapped him and wondered just what the motley crew of two middle-aged women, a pensioner and a young man, had in mind for him.
“What do you hope to achieve by kidnapping me?” He focussed his gaze on the blonde woman. “What were you doing in the Initiative? Why did you want those files?”
“We’re going to close the place down and you’re going to help us.”
“Close it down? Why would you want that? No way will I help you! It’s the culmination of Maggie Walsh’s life’s work. She saved my life. I won’t help you to destroy hers.” He folded his arms across his chest and glared.
The red haired woman responded. “She may have kept you alive, but she did this to you.”
“No! I was attacked by vampires. They tore me in half!”
He turned back to Buffy as she said, “Why?”
“What?” He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Why would vampires just tear you in half and not feed from you?”
“Because they’re evil sons of bitches! They deserve all that happens to them!”
Craig tensed and glanced at Maurice as the older man put a calming hand on his arm, and shook his head.
“They’re evil, mostly anyways, but they wouldn’t waste good blood. You have no bite mark scars on your neck,” said Buffy.
Gunn gestured to his truncated body. “They probably fed from my femoral artery. It’s not like I can check, is it?”
As one the others winced. Buffy glanced at Willow. “Show him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do it, Willow.”
“Do what?” Gunn’s eyes widened with fear. To his immense relief the woman began to fiddle with a camera.
“Do you recognise this woman?” Willow held out the camera so the image of Lilah’s face could be seen.
“No…uh…I’m not sure…she looks kinda familiar.” He looked up at Willow. “Who is she? What’s going on?”
“Show him the rest.” Buffy’s voice was emotionless.
“But—”
“Do it.”
“Oh, okay.”
Willow ran through the captured images until she found the one she sought. Without a word, she held it for Gunn to see. The room fell silent as they watched his reaction. The man’s mouth dropped open. He began to shake his head, but his eyes never left that small screen.
“No…it’s a trick…it’s not possible to do that.”
Willow touched the button that began the short video sequence she’d taken of Lilah. Gunn was grateful that his heart rate was mechanically controlled by a pacemaker because if not it would have surely arrested. The sight of the person walking slowly to the front of a glass fronted cell, all the time her pale hand stroking at a large erection, was almost too much to take in.
He screwed his eyes shut, but the image remained etched into his mind. He didn’t think about how he’d once been whole when conscious, but sometimes when he slept, he’d be whole again in his dreams. Whole and having sex, mostly. He let out a gasp as he realised the woman in his dreams and the one in that video was the one and the same.
Lilah.
How had he forgotten her? They’d been enjoying a torrid affair when things had gone wrong at the firm. He held his hands to his temples as fragments of memory stabbed at him, their appearance causing physical pain. He’d seen that delicate hand on his cock enough times to know that the bottom half of Lilah, actually belonged to him.
He began to scream.
Speaking quickly, Willow cast a sleeping spell, and they all sighed with relief as the poor man lost consciousness. His head lolled forwards, but the straps around his body held him in place.
“Was that really necessary?” Maurice asked eventually.
Buffy met his eyes. “I’m not sure.”
“Er…you don’t need me now, do you?” Craig’s voice came out a bit higher than he would have liked.
“I don’t think any of us need to stay here for now,” said Buffy. “How long will he be out, Will?”
“Until the morning. I thought that would be for the best.”
“Good. Now I think we all need to grab something to eat and a drink and then try to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
With no small measure of relief, all four left the room.
*~*~*~*
“What do you mean they got away? Again!” Maggie’s strident tones carried well out into the corridor. “And where’s Finn?”
“Finn has car trouble, ma’am,” the soldier said quietly, opting to answer the easiest part of her questions.
“Goddamnit! If he’d been here we wouldn’t have had this fiasco. Tied up in a closet!” Maggie rubbed at her chafed wrists. “I swear I will kill that bitch myself when I get my hands on her. So what did she take this time, Bentley? Last time she took one of my vampires – what did you let her get away with this time?”
Bentley paused momentarily before answering. He knew Mark and Gunn were gone, and he also knew exactly what had happened to Mark. A glance at Maggie’s furious expression made him make up his mind.
“Uh…nothing, ma’am. Unless there is anything missing from this office?”
Maggie scanned the room. “I don’t think so…” Then she spotted it. A clean shape in the dust on the shelf. Making a mental note to have a word with the cleaning crew, Maggie smiled. She knew of the retired slayer’s relationship with the former CEO of the LA branch of Wolfram & Hart. And now Buffy Summers-Evans was in a relationship with another vampire. Maggie’s eyes widened as a thought struck her.
“Check store room B. See if item V234-87s is missing.”
Bentley couldn’t believe his luck that Maggie hadn’t seen through his lies, but he nodded rapidly. “Yes, ma’am. I check personally and report back to you.”
“Good.” She waved a hand at him. “What are you waiting for? Go!”
When he’d all but run out of the office, Maggie sat in her chair and stared absently at the place where the soul of the long dusted Angel had stood. She’d miss it. But what did the Slayer want with it? Angel was gone and nothing could bring him back. As for the soul belonging to Seventeen? She wished she’d thought of shoving it back in his carcass herself. Would have been fun watching the last vestiges of his mind crack and disappear.
She laced her fingers together and cracked them as she leant back in the chair. When she got him back, he’d no doubt have the soul in him, and she wondered how it would affect him as he was placed in retirement. After he’d seen what she’d do to his lover.
Less than five minutes later and Bentley returned giving her the news she’d expected to hear. The soul of Seventeen had also been stolen. Once the man had been dismissed, Maggie decided to retire to her quarters. Spending the entire night hog-tied wasn’t exactly conducive to restful sleep. There was nothing she could do personally right now.
The whole staff gave a collective sigh of relief when the professor went to get some sleep. Now all they had to do was find the missing men before she woke up and everything would be okay.
*~*~*~*
Just before dawn, Buffy and Willow were sitting at the kitchen table, cups of coffee steaming in mugs beside them as they stared at Angel’s soul.
“How do you think they got it?” asked Willow. “Why did they want it?”
“I have no idea.” Buffy turned the jar around and they blinked as the soul seemed to brighten for a moment and then dim.
“Why did you take it?”
“I have no idea.” The two women smiled sadly at each other. “No…that’s not exactly true. I couldn’t stand the thought of it being in there like a trophy for her. But what do we do with it, Willow? Where do souls from vampires go when they dust?”
“He’s the only one in known history to have a soul. Uh…well there’s Spike now too.”
“So any idea on what we should do with it?” Buffy touched the jar again and watched as the soul brightened.
“I think we should just open the jar and let it go.”
“What if it goes to hell? He doesn’t deserve that.”
Willow took Buffy’s hands. “Sweetie, it’s not our place to decide where it goes. Angel worked hard at being a good man once he got his soul back. I’m sure he’ll have been granted his redemption.”
Buffy nodded, but remained silent for a while.
“Should we do it now?” She looked at Willow, eyes glittering with tears.
“I think that would be good.” Willow’s chair scraped as she stood up. “Let’s go outside.”
Gently scooping up the glass jar, Buffy followed Willow outside, and they walked out onto the lawn. Buffy hesitated with her hands on the lid of the jar.
“Open it,” said Willow softly.
With trembling hands Buffy slowly opened the lid and gasped as the soul burst out like a comet, it appeared to hover overhead and then shot off into the predawn sky.
“It went up,” Buffy said, staring at the point where it had vanished from sight.
Willow put her arm around her friend. “It sure did. Come on, let’s get back inside. It’ll soon be time to get things started.”
The women walked slowly back inside.
“Do you think he’ll be at peace now?”
“I really think so, Buffy.” Willow hoped her words were true, and Buffy seemed satisfied with the answer.
A dishevelled looking Craig was sitting at the table when they got to the kitchen.
“You look terrible, are you ill?” Buffy sat beside her son and placed a hand on his forehead.
He shrugged her off. “I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep well. Stop fussing.”
“Omelette!” Willow made them both jump with her announcement.
“Huh?” Buffy looked at her totally bewildered by it.
“Omelettes. I’ll make them. The others will be up soon. We should get a good breakfast.” Willow started opening and closing cupboards as she looked for utensils and ingredients.
“If they weren’t awake before, they will be now,” muttered Craig.
“I heard that! Remember what I can do with your danglies!”
“Jesus.” Craig flushed bright red and then paled when the image of Mark’s mutilation sprang into his mind. He put a hand protectively over his groin. It was those images that had kept him from sleeping.
Upstairs Cam woke and wondered how long Spike had held him before he’d left him to sleep. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand. To his dismay, he still couldn’t do it without the aid of the walking sticks. Disheartened, he slumped back on the bed and groaned. All that pain and barely anything to show for it.
“Please God; don’t let me stay like this.”
Cam put his head in his hands. He felt ungrateful for not being thankful to have gotten to the stage that he had, but he wanted his life back how it was. The thought of Spike and Craig made him feel even more wretched.
“Cam?”
He looked up to see Dora in the doorway.
“Uh…morning.”
She walked into the room and sat next to him on the bed. “How are you, dear? You’re not in pain, are you?”
“No…not now. I took some more blood last night and it really hurts for a while, but then it goes away.”
“So what’s the matter? Worried about today?”
When he glanced at her, Cam could see that she knew it was more than that.
“I’m scared this is as good as I’m going to get. I haven’t improved much – if at all – this time.”
“It’s amazing that you’re able to walk at all, Cameron.”
“I know, and when I think of what the others are like, I feel bad, but…” He picked at a stray thread on the quilt.
“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel like that.” Dora took his hand in hers. “You’re a good person. Whatever happens, you’ll be alright. Now shall we go downstairs? I think I can smell something cooking.”
Cam chuckled. “Something burning more like. I hope Mom’s not cooking. She’ll probably burn the place down.”
Dora smiled and held out his sticks for him. “Do you want me to get Spike or Craig to help you down the stairs?”
“No. I’ll do it. Going down isn’t as difficult as coming up them.”
He let Dora walk out first and then followed, willing each leg forward one slow step at a time. At the stairs he gripped the handrail until he could sit on the top step and then eased himself down, sitting on each step. At the bottom, he hauled himself to his feet and made his way to the kitchen.
He smiled as brightly as he could muster and sat with a thud on the nearest vacant chair. As recoveries go – he still had a long road ahead.
They chatted amiably as they ate, none of them referring to what they had planned for the day, or the fact that there was a person in a magically induced sleep upstairs and two more in a cage in the basement. Apart from Spike’s eyes and hands, if anyone peeked in the window, it looked like a regular family breakfast.
With the dishes washed up, Willow stood up, smoothed her clothes down and asked if she looked okay.
“It’s not a date, pet.” Spike’s dry tone made everyone chuckle.
“I’m more than aware of that, thank you, Spike. I’m meeting a man – definitely not date material for me.”
“You look great, Aunt Willow,” Cam said.
“You don’t think I should wear something more…witchy?” She looked down at her blue jeans and sneakers.
“What? You want the stereotype black hat, broomstick and cat?” Craig joined in the banter.
“Will, I think he’ll suss out that you’re the real deal when you teleport him here,” Buffy said, laughing.
“He’d better not hurl on this blouse,” said Willow. “It’s my favourite.”
“Just go get the reporter and stop fussing!” Buffy shook her head at her friend twittering.
“Oh, okay, no need to get all testy.”
“Hey! I’m not testy!” Buffy’s retort was too late; in a gust of wind Willow disappeared.
“I’ll never get used to seeing that,” said Maurice as the breeze died down.
Buffy and Spike’s eyes met across the room.
He nodded at her and said, “Showtime.”
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