Chapter 21
The weary and frustrated Scoobies were ushered back into the Summers’ home to the telephone blaring. As Joyce answered, the rest looked on and listened as well as they could. Dru and Spike made their way into the kitchen at the sound of the phone, the latter going to stand beside Buffy. Leaning comfortably against the wall, Spike cocked his head and listened closely, easily hearing all sides of the conversation. Grabbing a sheet of paper from the refrigerator door, Joyce frantically began making notes. The call dissipated, and Joyce turned to relay the news.
“I’m not sure what all this means, but I’ll tell you as much as I can gather. This is the list of books Mr. Giles needs from the library and his apartment. More importantly, it seems that some kind of statue was stolen from the museum this morning. I believe it was called ‘Acathla.’ Then there was a bunch of gibberish...and something about an apocalypse?” Joyce said, confused.
“Great,” Buffy replied, taking the hastily scrawled note from her mother, “I thought Angelus WAS the apocalypse. Do we need to head back to the hospital sooner I take it?”
Nodding, Joyce moved to pick her purse and keys back up, and the rest of the Scoobies made haste to follow, knowing that they still had to stop for supplies - most importantly, the books and tomes to research this new discovery.
Huffing, Xander mumbled, “You see? THIS is what happens when you deal with the undead.”
Missed by all but the vampires, Spike was the first to react.
“Hey! We were tryin' to do some good for once!” he yelled.
Softly placing a hand on Spike’s arm, Buffy merely said, “Leave it. Xander, we have work to do.”
Moved by the repeated touches and gestures Buffy had been sending his way lately, Spike wisely said nothing, and didn’t even bother to look smug. She was right, there WAS work to do.
The vampires were once again left to their own devices until dusk, when Spike and Dru were themselves headed to the hospital to speak to Giles about the faulty visions.
xxx
Giles was in good spirits when the gang arrived back to his room. Eagerly, he took the books and tomes from the arms of Willow and Xander. Neatly separating through the items, he found what he was looking for. Thumbing quickly through the pages, he found the passage he had been looking for and began to read.
After a few moments, he looked up, aghast. With shaking hands, he removed his glasses and began to absently polish them.
“Giles,” Buffy said, “You’re scaring me. What’s the problem?”
“Buffy, I was correct in my assumptions,” he replied. “Acathla has the power to literally suck the world into hell.”
Several gasps were heard, and Buffy was the first to speak. Steeling her eyes with determination, she merely said, “How do we stop it?”
Giles replied, “The ritual to unlock the portal must be performed on a certain date and time. Barring that, the statue could be destroyed, however, it IS a priceless artifact. I would prefer that we avoid that at all costs.”
Nodding once, Buffy turned to the others. “Let’s get home. Now that we know when, we need to find where. And I know just the vamps to get us that information.”
xxx
Finally at the Summers’ residence once more, Joyce began channeling her excess fear into something she did quite well, cooking. While the threat of the possible and hopefully preventable apocalypse loomed in the air, the conversation over the delicious meal drifted from one topic to another as dusk fell upon them.
Almost as if on queue, the vampires rousted themselves from restless slumber and made their way towards the sounds and smells in the kitchen, where everyone had pitched in to clean up. After blood had been warmed and consumed, the vampires added their mugs and hands to the clean-up. While strangely domestic, it was also rather comfortable in its simplicity. They felt like family again, both human and demon.
Pulling Spike aside, Buffy began to speak softly. “We know what Angelus is planning. He’s got some kind of statue, Alfalfa, or something, that sucks the world into hell. I need you and Dru to scout out where he’s hiding so we can stop it.”
Smiling softly at her version of the statue, he replied, “’Acathla’ love, but that’s here nor there. We need to have a chat with the watcher first about Dru’s visions, then we’ll suss out where he’s hiding. Without serious magic, he can’t hide from us for long.”
“Thank you Spike. And be careful,” she added with a whisper.
Sensing her worry, he enfolded her in a comforting hug.
“We’ll be safe kitten, Dru’s fearsome when she wants to be, and the poofter hasn’t fought me in nigh one hundred years.”
“I’ll still worry.” Then cheekily, “Can’t lose my security blanket now, can I?”
As the ever-present goofy grin returned to Spike’s face, Buffy patted his cheek and left, smiling softly.
Joyce looked on with a smile of her own.
xxx
Having left Ellie recovering on the couch with the Scoobies and another dose of potent slayer blood, Spike and Drusilla made their way to the hospital to visit Giles. Preferring to travel on foot so they could scout about as they traveled, they were surprised to find little activity on their way. Disturbed, they pressed on, and made it to their destination without incident.
Once safely ensconced in the Watcher’s room, they were faced with a large cross and a hand ready to throw a vial of holy water. Dru was quick to reassure Giles that they meant no harm and went on to describe the nature of the visit.
“Not to sound so cliché, but we do come in peace. We wish to discuss the nature of my faulty visions. I’m sorry they led in part to your injuries.”
Releasing the vial of holy water and laying down the cross, both remaining in easy reach, the watcher settled in to listen.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry it's been so long, I hope that you all will enjoy this chapter.
Chapter End Notes:
The next chapters will be hard to write as I'm still debating on several things. I will do my best to get over this block and get more out. Thank you all, Lill