chapter eighteen – message in a bottle
It was a rolling sensation, taking place mostly in his stomach and then pressing eerily up and under his spine. Early shocks always resonated inside his body first. Like any other animal, he could always sense the big bad approaching before it struck. Besides, he was a veteran of quite a few of these jolts mostly in southern California, but also one or two in Africa during the getting back of his soul time. Even though he never really liked them, he recalled appreciating Darla's observation made decades before about nothing better than a natural disaster for killers like them – really made mealtime a free-for-all. The pickings had been almost too easy for a vampire family like theirs. Then Spike felt the second tremor surrounding him and Buffy as he bent over and lifted Fred's unconscious body from the ground. He stumbled slightly but held her firmly in his arms. Frowning, he realized that the biggest problem with this earthquake was that it was most definitely not natural.
“Lilith,” stated Buffy, knowingly.
“Yeah, just getting too close to her and the other Wiccas I'd wager,” he responded, eyes searching the horizon for anything that might provide them with some shelter. Squinting, he smiled, briefly, thankful for suns in alternate dimensions that didn't turn vampires into crispy critters in the daylight. Then he abruptly forgot about the sunshine as another jarring quake sliced open a huge portion of terrain fifty yards in front of them.
“Wow!” Buffy's legs were spread wide, as she struggled to stay on her feet. “We've got to go back. No way, we can jump over that chasm.”
With Fred held securely in his arms, Spike turned as he and Buffy started running toward the portal entrance that had dropped them off in Zek originally. A gigantic swirling black hole, with bursts of lightening leaping out of its throat, it gyrated expectantly a hundred yards ahead of them. He hadn't seen it there a few moments before, but that was the thing with portals, he mused. They popped up whenever and wherever they chose.
Buffy arrived at the opening first. Panting heavily, she suddenly yelled at Spike to jump just as the earth split open in front of him. With one step, he was airborne and hit the ground feet first on the other side of the gap before dropping to his knees with Fred still held against his chest. A huge ball of smoke rose from the crevice behind him as another gash opened to his left, spitting out dense clouds of dust and debris.
“Buffy!” Spike tried to shout over the rumbling noises of ripping earth that were becoming more intense. “Go! Get out of here,” he yelled.
“Spike,” He was startled by Fred's voice whispering his name. “Put me down. Go…go with Buffy,” she managed to say softly.
“Not gonna happen, pet.” He gave Fred a quick glance and a smile before searching for Buffy's figure through the smoke.
“Buffy!” he shouted as he made up his mind about what had to happen next.
He knew they couldn't stay in Zek without this world blowing apart. So did Buffy. She had to know it. Now, he just had to convince her to leave. No matter what, the Seven Wiccans of the L'Quaratong could not be allowed to reunite. Separated, he and Buffy could save the world from another Apocalypse.
Through the smoldering clouds, he finally could make out her figure. She was standing, seemingly taller for some reason, and she'd found her sword, which she held tightly in her hand. Her shoulders squared. She was a defiant warrior in any dimension, thought Spike proudly. He watched her eyes search and strain to find him in the smoke. After a few seconds, their eyes met. “Shame your eyes give you away, Slayer.” He whispered, seeing the tears glistening in them even from this distance. He smiled and formed the words she had to know he'd say, “Go luv, go now.”
Buffy turned and stepped into the portal.
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As Buffy stumbled into the portal, she tried not to think about Spike. She understood that he had to stay with Fred. But more so, she knew that she and Spike couldn't stay together. Not if they had any hope of defeating the L'Quaratong. She exhaled as she settled into the portal. She'd have to find a way to get to Angel when she got back to Wolfram and Hart. She just assumed that had to be the direction the portal would take her. She hoped. Then she noticed that the Noise of the portal that had torn away at their senses so savagely before had given way to a bleak silence. Something had changed and Buffy wondered how long the trip between worlds actually took. There was no way to really tell, but this was her second or third time in the portal in one day. Or had it been a week, or even longer since she, Willow and…
“Oh, my God! Lillie?” exclaimed Buffy, stunned by the sight of her roommate in the portal even as the stars billowed around them. “How did you get here?” Until that instant, she realized she hadn't thought about Lillie since walking out of Angel's office to follow Spike. Lillie had been with Willow. Maybe she knew what had happened before Willow was bounced down the hall by the Noise.
“You okay?” Buffy decided to be polite first.
“Yes,” responded Lillie. “I'm good. I'm really good.”
“Have you seen Willow?”
“I know where we can find her,” answered Lillie. “I can even take you to her.”
“Okay, but…” Buffy paused, mildly suspicious of Lillie's almost too convenient to be true timing. “This portal's not a bus, you know. It won't just drop us off at our stop.”
“It will stop, where I want it to stop,” she said, calmly.
Buffy tensed as the portal began to slow down as soon as the words came out of Lillie's mouth. “Now, that's a damn good trick.”
“No,” she replied. “That's just some good L'Quaratong magic.”
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Willow circled Lilith. She had her exactly where she wanted her. Okay, Willow grumbled silently, she wasn't certain where she wanted Lilith. She just knew she had to occupy the witch long enough for Angel to embrace the pain and dissolve the Zquan spell. Once free, they could combine their Wiccan power and do Lilith some serious damage. That's what Willow believed, and she was sticking to it.
“I'm doing well,” said, Lilith, responding to Willow's pleasantries upon making her surprise entrance to this new portion of hell.
“You don't seem surprised to see me,” Willow said, continuing to move in a circular pattern around her. Both Wiccans were elevated several feet above the ground as they maneuvered. “I'm disappointed.” Her head ached from the strain, but she had to keep going. “Angel, how you doin with those chains?” she asked, intently, using her rarely used gift of telepathy. “Are you there yet?”
“Almost.” His thoughts sounded strong to Willow as she kept her eyes concentrated on Lilith. She just had to trust that he'd free himself soon. She couldn't deal with a Zquan spell and the body snatching all at once. In separate corners of her mind, she was exerting control over Fred, Spike, and Buffy, who she'd finally been able to pinpoint only a short time before. Her biggest concern was that everyone felt too close – proximity wise. That couldn't be good.
Risking a quick glance at Angel, she asked him, How much longer? She was getting really tired. She had five minds she was keeping above water or at least above the Zek seas and lakes and Lilith's absolute thirst for power. She figured that it might be a good sign, though. If she was tired, so was Lilith. They'd been battling for a long time. Even for the likes of the L'Quaratong, this was a heap of a lot of magic to maintain. These changes weren't like Willow's gaffs from days gone by in Sunnydale. No “will be dones” or ‘Tabula Rasas" – this magic and these spells were fundamental structural changes in molecules, enzymes and if it continued long enough, their very DNA might be altered. Fred had been right – it was science and magic combined.
Then she felt the first quake, and she knew.
“Oh, my God.” Willow tensed, her mind shifted from thought to thought. She'd lost control. One of the Seven was free.
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Buffy opened her eyes and saw Spike hanging over her, his arms and legs pulled in opposite directions by sparkling magical chains, she assumed. On the other side of the cave was Angel – his body was stretched and held in a similar position by the same kind of magic. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She was afraid to see the third body that hung listlessly above her. Willow 's eyes looked alert, but she was just as imprisoned by the sparkling manacles as Angel and Spike.
She couldn't have explained how she got there. She didn't know when they'd picked up Spike and Fred. Now they were all together. The Seven Wiccans of the L'Quaratong were in one spot, and the uniting was about to begin.
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Fred felt like she'd been sleeping for days, still her body was not rested and she had so little strength. She was surprised she could even open her eyes and move her head. However, she could, and when she did, she saw Angel and Spike hanging above her. They seemed far from her vantage point on the ground where she'd been deposited, now unnoticed and ignored. She'd awakened after she'd felt the earth underneath her shake and tremble as if it was being torn apart from the inside out. She was barely conscious, but she was completely aware. This is what Angel had wanted. Sure, Buffy wasn't supposed to stab her in the chest with a sword before she could complete the portal. But there's always a glitch in the best-laid plans. She was pleased that Angel had let her in on his idea on the way to outsmart them all. As for her talent for creating portals? It was about time it came to good use.
Fred rubbed her thumb against her index finger to make certain it was still there. The silver band, the small ring Angel had given to her. It felt smooth. Then barely moving her arm or hand, she managed to push the ring off with her little finger and thumb. Such a talent she had for things that were round, like portals and rings.
“Lillie, my sister, you are a star among stars.” Fred could hear Lilith's voice almost chanting in praise of her sister's deception. Her stone-faced act had convinced Willow she was no longer functioning. Just like now, they were ignoring Fred. All of them, except for Angel and Willow. They knew she was there, and waiting.
That's when it began, thought Fred as if she were watching an old black and white movie.
Angel dropped to the floor, gestured to Fred and she instantly understood as she tossed him the ring. Grabbing it out of the air, he began to recite the words, “Kaluptein Ranza, Kaluptein Ranza…Kal, Tein, Charming Beauty, Take Me.”
Lilith screamed as Spike dropped from the sky next. Buffy rolled in time to avoid being hit by Willow's descending body. She jumped to her feet and headed straight toward Lillie who she punched in the face.
Then Fred, recalling her math and science, created another portal. She raised her head and said quietly, but loud enough for Spike's hearing to detect, “Get everyone in the portal, now.”
Spike didn't hesitate. He moved quickly, pulling Buffy away from Lillie's now heavily bruised face and grabbing Willow's hand as he helped her up off the ground, before moving to lift Fred into his arms. Angel was still reciting, and Lilith was screaming as the group stepped into the portal.
Within seconds, Angel was standing on the edge of the twisting vortex, the last to enter. Suddenly, he grabbed Spike's hand, and pressed the ring into his palm, withdrawing his hand as the portal opening closed.
“Where's Angel,” asked Buffy, nervously looking around, counting bodies as they'd tumbled into Angel's office at Wolfram and Hart. The portal disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
“With Lilith,” said Fred as she turned to Spike and asked. “Did he give you the ring?”
“Got it,” whispered Spike.
“Can he get back?” Willow looked at Spike, and then Buffy.
“One day.”
epilogue follows...
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epilogue
“Spike?” Angel sounded agitated as he stumbled out of the vortex into the cemetery. Spike hadn't seen him in nearly 50 years so he couldn't help but be surprised at how little he'd changed.
Glancing down at the ring in his hands, Spike still had to wonder why it had taken him so long to use it. Although there really hadn't been any other choice but to wait. Couldn't risk bringing Angel back too soon. Besides, they'd all insisted that Spike use the ring to bring Angel back one day. Just had to wait until they were all gone, that's all. Hadn't counted on the bloody loneliness, though.
“Yeah, Angel. I'm Spike, and a vampire, like you, or like you used to be,” he said. “Am a member of your family, too." Bending forward, Spike folded his knees and tucked his legs under his ass as he eased his body to the ground. Angel seemed confused. Spike knew it had been a few thousand or more years for Angel since he'd last been in this dimension. Sure, he should give him some space. But staying in hell had been Angel's choice. And no one else's fault.
“You know, Peaches, I'm drunk.”
Angel stared at him, and repeated his name with a little more confidence. “Spike.”
“Yeah, that's me. But as I was saying,” he reached into the pocket of his duster, pulled out a flask, and waved it seductively in front of his face, “Drunk. Care to join me?”
Spike glanced up at Angel. He could see by the glimmer in his eyes that Angel wasn't as confused about being back as he'd been a few minutes before. Seemed clarity returned fast, even after a few thousand years in hell. That's when Spike decided he might as well give Angel the latest news quickly so that they could move on.
“They're all dead,” said Spike, avoiding Angel's gaze. “That's why we're here, in Paris, at her grave. She wanted to come back here to die.”
“Who?” Angel's voice sounded hard and unused.
“Buffy.”
“Is that why I'm here?”
“Knew the ring could bring you back. Thought this would be as good a place as any.”
“How long has she been gone?”
“Twenty years.” Spike emptied the contents of his flask down his throat. “When we got back in your office, turned out we'd been gone longer than a few days. Something like 10 years. Buffy stayed in LA for a long time, lots of things had changed. And Willow just disappeared. Fred never quite recovered from her injuries or from leaving you in hell. So when she died, Buffy and I came back here.”
“Sorry, to hear that.”
“Longest living slayer in history," he said. “Don't be sorry.”
“You were with her…?”
“For the rest of her life after we left you in the portal.”
“Did she…”
“She missed you, Peaches.” Spike smiled. “What about Lilith?”
“Dead.”
“How was Zek?”
“Colorful.”
The End...
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Note-October 9 update - the epilogue is included in this chapter to meet SR's 1000 word limit per chapter. No animals were harmed in making this adjustment:)...