Chapter 8
“Enough laughter!” Razor commanded, standing in the doorway, holding up his hand. Immediately the room fell silent, but the smile still played about Halfrek’s lips.
“Go!”
Halfrek watched as without question the dozen or so hellion demons left the room
“Razor”
“Halfrek” he came over and sat next to her.
“How is Anyanka?”
“A little tired…she’ll be glad when the ritual is over”
Razor nodded. To say he’d been extremely displeased that his minions, the Gassenbeeks hadn’t got the Gorgon eggs first was putting it mildly, and he’d decreed that every Gassenbeek that had left Hades would be slaughtered, and the first five hundred thousand in line be tortured to within an inch of their miserable existences.
Now that Anyanka held the gorgon eggs, she held the balance of power. Sure, it was to be a hellion ritual, but it meant that he, Razor, the head of the Hellions was still further down the pecking order than he’d have liked, he wasn’t going to be ‘head honcho’………
“So, have you got the ritual?” Hallie asked, running her finger down the leather of Razor’s well-worn biker’s jacket
“Sure – but she doesn’t get to see it before the day” Razor said, knowing, that if Anyanka got the ritual as well as the eggs, he could totally kiss goodbye to ANY rise in status whatsoever…
Hallie looked up at Razor through thick long lashes and smiled
“That’s cool – she told me…well, she said, the ritual………
“Yes?”
Halfrek shifted closer to Razor and kissed him – he was shaking! She smiled a knowing smile and continued, teasing him with light caresses and kisses. Razor for his part could have ripped the dress from her eager body and took her there and then – but it wouldn’t be appropriate, not for a Hellion of his standing, despite what her proximity was doing to his libido.
He put a very firm, restraining hand on her neck, showing her he meant business, and Halfrek acquiesced and stopped her seductive moves
“Let’s go somewhere…quiet, where we can be comfortable and alone, yes?”
Halfrek grinned and held up her hand, Razor growled and swiftly made a rough grab at her womanly curves, and she squealed in delight as he carried her off to his lair.
******************
“Well?”
“I’m sorry Spike, nothing, absolutely nothing!” Clem said holding his arms out to his sides and letting them slap against his legs.
Spike frowned and sighed, he was sure his friend Clem would have come back with SOME sort of tit-bit they could work on.
“I don’t believe, CAN’T believe it! NOTHING at all?”
“Just regular, boring everyday stuff – moaning about the price of blood and kittens, M’Fashlik was moaning that the styk demon was cheating at poker using his X-Ray eyes………the styk demon was protesting his innocence……...just your normal everyday stuff – I even tried to steer the conversation around, I said, ‘glad those Gassenbeeks have gone, aren’t you?’ – but most are too scared to say anything…so I continued ‘the ritual must be very close now’, and STILL nothing! – I guess Razor must have got there first!”
Spike blew out his cheeks, what Clem had just said, about Razor, ‘marking everyone’s card’ must have been true…mind you, there wasn’t a demon in existence that Spike could think of that would pit himself against Razor, except perhaps himself. And probably only then when he was three parts cut, he’d HAVE to be pissed to even THINK about taking on Razor and his posse…
Angel and Gunn entering the shop broke Spike’s reverie
Angel had an almost pained look on his face as he tore off his gloves and began to un-button his coat.
“Well, you wouldn’t think that there was ANYTHING going on, we’ve been, three demon bars, and we’ve scored a big, fat zero as regards information on to what’s going down”……………
Spike looked at his watch
“I’d better be getting back…there’s one thing, has anyone tried calling Anya?”
“I don’t know her number now she’s left the apartment” Xander said
Spike closed his eyes
“No, I don’t mean phoning, I mean…just yelling her name, to summon her”
“She wouldn’t come”
“How do you know, if you’ve never tried?”
“I did, I tried earlier”
“What about that mate of hers?” Spike clicked his fingers trying to think of Halfrek’s name…
“Allie, Hailey…Holly?” Spike screwed his eyes up…
“Halfrek?” Xander said, helpfully
“That’s the one!”
“No harm in trying I suppose…HALLIE………………HALFREK………HALFREK!”
Xander bellowed at the top of his voice, to no avail
Spike shrugged and slipped on his duster
“Worth a try anyway – keep me informed” he left the shop
“I feel useless” Gunn said
“Yes well, I suppose we all do” Giles concurred.
***********************
When he got in, Spike saw that Buffy and Willow were fast asleep in front of the TV. He carried on through to the kitchen and opened the fridge and found half a pineapple on a plate covered with cling wrap, five peaches and one and half punnets of blueberries and raspberries. He smiled and closed the door – she’d also found the chocolate, and if there was any on it left, well, there was no sign………
“Hey!”
“Oh, hi Red…did she enjoy the?” Spike jerked his thumb towards the fridge, meaning the fruit, and Willow smiled
“Never seen her enjoy something so much! Any news?”
“No – I don’t know if it’s a good thing, or a bad thing really”
“Why a good thing?”
“Well normally, when something is going down, the demon bars are awash with gossip, but according to Clem, there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, just the normal everyday stuff”
“Was Angel with him?”
“No, coz we all know what a party pooper he’d be – no Clem went and sat in on a poker game, usually the Oracle as regards what’s going down…either it’s something and nothing, or Razor’s marked everybody’s card”
“Spike”
“What?”
“Buffy’s going stir-crazy”
“I was afraid of that”
“So, I said that tomorrow, she can get into the boot of my car and we could go into town”
“NO! Sorry Will, but no, I absolutely forbid it!”
“But it’ll be daylight, and loads of people around, and I can put a protection spell on her and-she was crying earlier, it’s REALLY getting her down, not being able to go out”
Spike looked pained
“Let me sleep on it, okay? – I can’t protect her during the daylight hours outside”
“No, but I can”
Spike looked from Willow’s earnest face to the kitchen floor
“If anything happened to her or our baby………” Willow put her hand on his shoulder
“I know, you don’t have to tell me. Anyway, I’m going up to bed now you’re back, you are back, aren’t you?” Willow asked because Spike was still wearing his duster.
“Yes pet, I’m back”
“Night”
“Night Red, thanks for, you know”
“Welcome”
Spike hung his coat up with a sigh, and put the kettle on.
************************
Halfrek looked awful when she staggered into her room
Anya raised her head off the pillow and frowned, and then she sat up
“What happened to you?”
“I forgot just how rough Razor can play sometimes…that and we’re not exactly anatomically compatible, ow, ow, OW!” Gingerly, Halfrek perched on the edge of her bed.
“I bet he’s not happy that we got to the Gorgon eggs before the Gassenbeeks”
“You can say that again!”
“Don’t suppose you managed to get the ritual off him, did you?” Anyanka asked hopefully
Carefully getting undressed, Anya could see for herself some of Razor’s ‘handiwork’ with the bruises on her friend’s body.
Slowly lying down, Halfrek said
“No such luck, he’s keeping that WELL hidden, because he knows you’d cut him out of the hierarchy pecking order altogether if you had that, all I got was a list for the stuff needed.” Anya said nothing, she didn’t need to.
They were woken by a loud hammering on the door
“Anyanka – Anyanka!”
There was a groan from Halfrek’s bed and Anya sat up rubbing her eyes
“What, who is it?”
“It is me, Valeria – you told me to keep you informed of any-”
“Come in Valeria!” The girl appeared in a puff of smoke as Anya wearily lay down again
“Mistress Anyanka – I have news from the Gamma quadrant, D’Hoffran will return the day after tomorrow, he is worried about you and wants to get back here”
Anya sat bolt upright
“Are you SURE of this Valeria, I’ll flay you alive if you’ve got this wrong!”
“No mistress, I mean yes mistress, I haven’t got it wrong, my twin sister is his scribe at the conference his lordship is at”
“Thankyou Valeria, you may go”
“Mistress” The girl disappeared in a cloud of smoke
“Hallie…Hallie”
“Uh”
“Never mind ‘uh’, get up”
Halfrek mumbled something unintelligible, and pulled the covers up over her head
“HALFREK!”
“Okay honey I’m up, I’m up, where’s the fire! Geez my head!”
“What ARE you dressed as?” Anyanka asked, blinking at her friend’s very flimsy, risqué attire.
In her hurry Halfrek had magicked herself into her ‘Salome’ dance of the seven veils belly-dancers outfit.
“Whoops – da-dah! Is that better?”
She stood in jeans, a sweater and boots
“Much, come on we must get out of here, NOW!”
***********************
Spike couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned, trying to be careful about not waking Buffy. There just simply HAD to be something the gang were overlooking, it wasn’t possible that there wasn’t any information, especially when it was about the slayer…not every demon could be threatened by Razor anyway, some, like vengeance demon could teleport, handy trick if you were about to be split ear to ear or some such other fatal wounding…
Hearing a noise in the hallway Spike got up and whispered,
“Red”
“Spike?”
“Look after Buffy, I‘m going back to the shop, there MUST be something that lot are overlooking – probably staring them in the face if they but know it”
“I was thinking that, surely there would have been something”
“You’ll see she’s okay then, I’ll be back before sun-up, obviously”
Willow nodded and Spike quickly got dressed and left the house.
He could see the faint glow of one light on in shop through the blinds, and he went round the back entrance and down the steps, to his surprise, it was locked –as it should be of course.
Going round to the front, he prised up the man-hole cover 15 yards from the shop entrance and made his way via the tunnels to the doorway that lead to the stock room – which, no prizes for guessing, was unlocked………
Spike was just about to open the door and stride in when he heard a noise. He listened for a few seconds, and then silently opened the door. He was surprised to see the back of a woman, who after checking a piece of paper, moved of and began checking names on jars until she found the one ingredient she wanted, and reached up to get the jar from a high shelf.
Quick as a blink, Spike dashed in and snatched up the piece of paper
Smiling he saw it was a list on items needed for the ritual. He shoved it into his pocket and folded his arms, waiting for the woman to realise he was there, as she was still totally oblivious to his presence…
“Sage brush………copper bowl………mandrake root………mummified toads – OH! – WILLIAM!”
This threw Spike for a split second, but he knew this bird, she was Halfrek, Anya’s vengeance mate
Halfrek smiled awkwardly, patted her hair and hoped that she didn’t look half as bad as she felt
Spike was just going to ask what all this ‘William’ bollocks was, she’d called him that once before, but he knew he had other more pressing matters to be getting on with………
“Put those back you thieving little bitch!”
“I beg your – now William, is there any need to be like that? – Um, where’s my piece of paper?”
“Never you mind where that is, I should relieve your wrinkly neck from your festering carcass you evil low down, no-good-“ Spike caught her by the wrist
“Hey, HEY! Easy there tiger! Don’t bruise me anymore than – and what gives you the RIGHT to call me names, huh?” Hallie struggled
“You’ve got the fucking cheek to ask me that!”
“Yes! I think I’ve got EVERY right!”
“You want to come here, do a ritual that will kill MY baby, and you think I haven’t got the right to –
“Hold on mister! YOUR baby? What are you on about?”
“This wretched plot to raise whatever to take over the world and I know Razor’s got something to do with it too, I’ll be paying him a visit too, straight after I’ve killed you!”
“Now just a minute here, would you kindly tell me what you mean when you say YOUR baby?” Halfrek asked totally confused
“It’s a long story, I know it’s hard to believe, but there was time-travel and it happened before I got turned, but strictly speaking I was once William, and it is him that done the deed, but he’s still in me, so I can class the child as my baby, THAT’S what I mean!”
“But I don’t understand, Anya said-“
“Okay, if you value your skin, put your hands- Oh, Spike, it’s you!”
“Giles, Angel, Gunn………alert as ever I see!” Spike said sarcastically
Angel lowered the crossbow he had trained on Spike
“We didn’t know it was you, did we, we just heard voices”
“Don’t let this one out – oh SHIT!”
“She did that last time, blink, and boom, she’s gone” Xander said, leaning on the sword he’d bought down to the stockroom
Hallie had disappeared in a puff of smoke
“Right then, I suppose were still at stage one” Gunn said
“Not quite…the stuff needed for the ritual!” Spike produced the piece of paper Halfrek had been using like a ritual shopping list out of his pocket and gave it to Giles
“NOW we’re getting somewhere, this should narrow it down a lot!” Giles said with a grin.
****************************
“You dark horse!” Halfrek said with a grin
“What?”
“You, and Spike!”
“Me and Spike, what – and where’s the stuff for the ritual?”
“Oh we can get that later…so you lead me to believe…huh! You and William eh………was he………………good?” Halfrek asked with a grin
“Good?” Anya asked frowning
“Yes, good, you know, good in bed?”
“That was ages well…if you must know, yes, Very in fact, very, VERY good, far better than Xander, but then –anyway, what’s this got to do with-“ Anya’s question was cut short
Valeria appeared in the room without asking
“Sorry Mistress Anyanka, but his lordship is on his way RIGHT NOW!”
“Halfrek, quick, teleport – Sunnydale!” They both disappeared in a blink.
********************
“Oh, let me lie down…takes it out of me teleporting…” Anya said
“Well you can’t just sit there darling, come on, hold my hand” Halfrek took Anya’s hand and they disappeared again, to reappear inside a nice apartment
Anya approved and looked round smiling
“Hmm, nice…where are we?”
“Did a ‘favour’ for a girl a few weeks ago, she told me her parents were no better than animals…so, she’s now visiting them in the zoo, we’ll be okay here for a while” Hallie said smiling
Anya sat down and said,
“Hallie, get the stuff for the ritual, then tell Razor tonight, it’ll have to be tonight, coz once D’Hoffran gets wind of what I’m doing, he’ll be onto me”
“Yes darling…it’s…well SO you this is!”
“What is?”
“Going for the pain instead of the kill – D’Hoffran would be proud of you, if you wasn’t going to strip-!”
Anya stared ahead and said,
“Hallie, just go do as I said please”
“Okey-dokey!” She vanished with a smile and a flourish. Anya lay down and drew her legs up and lay in the foetal position on the couch.
***************************
“It looks like your average summoning spell, as far as I can see, herbs, resins, Gorgon eggs would be needed for transference, either from one being to another, or from one portal to another, it’s a shame we don’t have an incantation” Giles said
“One thing this vengeance bitch seemed to be having trouble with, was the fact that the baby was mine”
“Well strictly Spike, it isn’t” Giles began
“I know, I told her it was William’s, there was time travel involved, but she still looked shocked, and well amused almost, like I’d got two heads – do you think if they know the baby’s mine, it would make any difference to the ritual?” Spike asked
“Shouldn’t have thought so Spike – so look, I think the best thing we can do is to go back downstairs, and to get all this stuff that’s needed, and to lock it away in a case and for us all to sit on it…let her try teleporting it out with all of us on it!”
From downstairs in the stockroom there was the sound of breaking glass.
Spike tip-toed down and saw Hallie again, getting the ingredients together…
Everybody had followed Spike, and Giles quickly threw some dusty glitter over Hallie to keep her from teleporting
“Anchorus par de terre” Giles chanted
“Hey what – what was – ew, (cough, cough) what was………HEY! Why can’t I teleport?”
“Because we want you to stay put, that’s why”
“Let me go! I must get back to Anya, you don’t understand!”
“Oh we do understand alright, you want to get the slayer and Spike’s baby and do despicable things!”
“What? – What are you on about?” Hallie screwed her face up
“We know! We might not have the ritual itself, but we know this much, if you think for one split second that you’re going to –“
“Hallie for the gods sake, how long does it take you to get a bit of mandrake roo – oh!” Anya teleported into the stockroom, moaning until she looked around and saw everybody standing there
“Oh my god – An – Anya – you’re pregnant!” Xander said, looking at his former lover’s distended belly
“No shit, Sherlock, and here’s me thinking I’d eaten one too many Krispy Kreme doughnuts, of course I’m pregnant you moron, about nine months too, to be exact!” Anya said sourly.
Everybody’s attention had shifted to look at Anya’s belly
“Oh yes, and Spike’s the daddy! You were going to tell me about that!” Hallie said grinning and clapping like an excited child
Anya’s mouth dropped open in shock
“SPIKE’S baby, Hallie, what the hell are you on about, this is D’Hoffran’s baby, that’s why I’m doing the ritual – to defer all of D’Hoffran’s powers to my baby – so he will have to kow-tow to me, rather than the other way around”
“But William said it was HIS baby!” Hallie said
“Not THAT baby, MY baby, mine and Buffy’s!”
“Buffy’s pregnant -how come?” Anya asked confused
“Long story, it involves time travel and-“
“Hold on, just a minute here! So let me get this straight, you’re NOT after
Buffy and Spike’s baby?” Giles asked
“Didn’t know she was pregnant. Typical, she just HAS to try and copy EVERYTHING I do” Anya said pouting and folding her arms
“And the ritual is for YOUR baby to have all of D’Hoffran’s power deferred to your child, right?” Angel said
“If it’s any of your business, yes – “
There was a collective relieved sigh from Giles, Spike, and the others.
“…Although why it should bother any of you is beyond me!” Anya continued
“Because…we thought that you were after the slayer’s baby!” Xander said
“Slayer’s baby would be a mewling, puking little thing, and absolutely no use to me – what would I want THAT for?”
“Hey!” Spike narrowed his eyes in warning
“Just saying!” Anya said with a shrug
“Spike, go home and give Buffy the good news” Giles suggested and Spike nodded and left.
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