She knew that staring with her mouth slightly hanging open was not projecting the image of the Slayer she so commonly wore. It was beyond her control however. The sight of the man who was now coming through the doorway was so unexpected that she felt as if she was hallucinating.
Blinking hard she tried to reconcile what she was seeing with her brain. Nothing was making sense right at the moment and she could feel her world tilt further on it's axis.
The figure in front of her was so familiar. Two years of intimate knowledge combined with the surreal feeling of seeing him here. Not much had changed about him the familiar color of his hair or the broadness of his shoulders. The scar that now marred his face familiar from his last visit while she had been battling her return from the grave.
When the silence continued she couldn't think of words to say.
The sound of Faith faintly clearing her throat brought her to her senses.
"I told you that you wouldn't believe me." The words were whispered not even loud enough for the men in the room to hear but Buffy heard them clearly.
And she was right. There was no way that had the words past Faith's lips before this moment would she believe who was responsible for all of this.
"Riley?"
She hated the quiver in her voice. It screamed of the uncertainty of her feelings, projected an image that she wasn't in control. True at this moment hanging from a set of chains she had no way of breaking she technically wasn't in control of the situation she was in. But she could still control her responses her own emotions in spite of what was going on around her. And as long as she had that she wasn't going to let the feeling of hopelessness consume her.
His head tilted quizzically at her a gesture she had never seen him use before. The bigger man's eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment before refocusing on her.
"Ah yes the name of the shell." He said the words absently and she had to turn a puzzled and angry look at Ethan.
"What the hell have you done to him you asshole?"
"Nothing at all. You see he's just realized his higher potential so to speak."
"Enough talk. You have delivered what you had promised human. I will honor our deal." Riley's voice sounded strange to Buffy almost like there was an echo behind it. She shrugged the thought off.
"Riley what happened to you? Why are you doing this?"
He turned empty eyes on her and ignored her words.
"Is everything prepared?" His hollow voice was straining Buffy's nerves her lack of understanding making her want to lash out.
"Don't you dare ignore me you jerk! What the hell do you think you're doing?" She pulled futilely against the chains again.
This time he turned not only his eyes on her but the rest of his body. She watched him take a few steps forward and in the background heard the sharp intake of breath from Faith. He stopped not three feet in front of her before tilting his head at her again as if studying her intently.
"You feel something for this shell do you not?"
His words were peculiar and though it hadn't sunk in before now she could feel it with his closeness. Power. It radiated off of him in almost visible waves. Power deeper and darker then she had felt except for two different occasions. When she was fighting Glory and the First. A power that was old and strong something only found in the eldest of her enemies. Power that was only found in Gods.
The realization hit her then. This was not Riley Finn. This wasn't the man that she had dated for the better part of two years who knew her intimately if not well when they had been together. The man she had cared for was no longer in the body in front of her.
She took a trembling breath before she spoke.
"What are you?"
************
Both Angel and Spike had made it to the covered front door an impassive looks on their faces. It was times like this that Spike was glad that he wasn't human. There was no rush of blood or elevated pulse or even frantic breathing to give away his state of nervousness. Not for what they were about to do. But what his mate could possibly be going through right now.
He and Angel had done something similar to this enough times to have not only the facial expressions but the air of confidence to pull this off. It was a bold move just walking into the enemies lair but Spike wasn't one who ever thought out his plans. He would be damned all over again if he started now. Instead they didn't give the guards a second glance and pushed their way through the door. Both quickly vamped as they noticed the other demons in the room had hidden their human features.
Yellow eyes blazed at each other as communicated silently making their way through the throng of demons following the scent of Slayer that drifted through the air.
**********
"Pitiful human why do you speak to me? I have no time for your insignificant words."
She knew her eyes were flashing with her anger but she had a hard time containing it.
"Full of yourself much? If you think you're so big and bad why don't you untie us. Or are you afraid?" Her challenging tone didn't seem to register to the thing in front of her. At least there was no change in its expression.
"Really do you mind? We have important things to attend to. All this posturing is really unnecessary." Ethan stated as he once again approached the bound pair.
"Important like what?" Faith asked. "You planning on growing a pair or something? Or you just gonna hide behind big and burly here?"
If there was one thing she had liked about Faith it was the fact that she could and would quip. The distracting technique was not a traditional Slayer tool but it was effective.
Buffy watched as Ethan lost the cool exterior for a moment. It seemed as though whatever was in Riley's body wouldn't be affected by her words but Ethan wasn't as invulnerable.
"As scintillating as this conversation is I believe we should be ready to begin now." Ethan's words were directed at the hulk in front of Buffy. With a slight nod she noticed a couple of vamps in the background turn and leave.
"And what exactly are you going to begin?"
Buffy watched silently as Ethan began to empty a pouch of fine rose colored sand on the ground in a wide circle.
"You should be honored my dear. The body of your late ex is now home to one of the most powerful demon gods to have roamed our tiny little planet. Buffy, Faith may I introduce you to your new lord Holgolrath." As he finished pouring the sand he leveled his gaze at them.
"Is that name supposed to mean something to us?" Faith raised an eyebrow in disbelief to the Brit.
"Yeah cuz I'm gettin' zilch. Maybe he was a player before?" Buffy played off of Faith her own eyebrow going up.
"Don't know about that B. Mean can't be too powerful if he had to settle into the body of a soldier. Least he could have done was go for someone more powerful."
"Maybe he thought it would be too clichéd I mean aren't you getting the Bond vibes already?"
"Yep. Just waiting for the guy to tell us what they have planned."
"Enough already." Ethan huffed. "How Ripper put up with this childishness I will never understand." He mumbled quietly.
Only it was loud enough for Buffy to make out.
"Oh he used lots of scotch trust me. So are you going to tell us why you've got us just hanging around or not?" She could feel the tension rolling in the pit of her stomach. The distant look in what used to be Riley's eyes was disturbing to say the least.
"Ah so you're waiting for the exposition then? Very well. Holgolrath here was a powerful demon king when they freely roamed the earth. But as powerful as he was he was only one member of a group of three that ruled the planet. Seeing as he now inhabits the body of your former paramour our King has expressed a desire to be reunited with his brethren."
Buffy held in the gasp as she caught on to where this was uncomfortably heading.
Faith though wasn't so sure what was going on.
"And your going to what reach out and touch someone?"
"In a manner of speaking my dear. You see any of the demons contained in the deeper well are now without substance. They are broken down into the basic elements of themselves. So in order for us to recreate the reunion of these three we needed two volunteers."
"And let me guess Faith and I just took a giant step forward. No thanks so not interested."
"Did I say volunteers? Ah forgive that little slip. We just need for the both of you to be present. The rest will take care of itself. Now since I've finished the circle we'll get going shall we?"
********
Spike took a cautious look over to Angel as they closed on the thin hallway where the scent of his mate seemed to drift to him. They were walking with purposeful strides the no nonsense looks their demons were projecting had younger vamps scurrying out of the way. They said not a word just walking steadily closing on their goal.
"Hey where do you think you two are going?" The growl came from a spot slightly to the left and behind them. They choose to ignore it silent communication they hadn't shared in a century falling back into place.
This time a hand dropped down onto Angel's shoulder and he stiffened even when he came to a stop.
Together they turned around silently to look up at the seven foot Demon before them.
"I asked you a question half breed." The demon sneered and rows of diamond sharp teeth peeked out from behind his blue gums.
Spike's eyes moved away from that awful leer to take in the curious eyes that were focused on the two of them.
Taking a gamble Angel smiled. Not a nice smile but one he had only used when he was his alter ego. One filled with cruelty and was evil through and through.
"Any where we damn well please." Angel spat at the demon who had lost his own smile in the face of his.
"I don't take kindly to a lower species disrespecting me."
"Lucky for you that were so much superior than huh?" Spike couldn't help but snark.
The flash in the demons unearthly green eyes made both vampires tense imperceptibly. From where they were standing a fight seemed imminent but they didn't have the time for it. They needed to get to Buffy and Faith and get the hell out of there.
"Look we're just headed down the hall to find a place to crash 'til it gets dark no biggie." Angel tried to pacify the now pissed off demon.
The demon narrowed its eyes that were filled not only with anger but flashed with suspicion as well.
As it took a step forward a few of the others had totally stopped in their tracks to observe the trio.
"No one is allowed down that hall." It didn't need to say that they should have known that.
"No harm no foul right mate. Mean we stopped right here and all. Why don't you point out where we can tuck ourselves in?" Spike said in his most charming voice.
There was no space between the three of them now as it had moved closer while Spike had been speaking.
"Sure why don't I take you to the boss and he can straighten you out."
Maybe it was the tone of his voice or maybe it was his body language but Angel and Spike didn't need to talk about it before deciding that their cover was probably shot to shit.
Shrugging Spike looked between his Grandsire and the lumbering thing towering over them before striking his fist out and striking it full on in the stomach all of his force behind his fist.
As it began to double over from not only the surprise but the pain of the hit he turned to Angel and yelled.
"RUN!"
[Reviews - 70]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 1270 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey all sorry haven't updated sooner but you know yada yada yada. Anyway thanks to all of you who have reviewed and thanks to everyone who is still reading. Please let me know what you think.