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*Outside the Summers residence*
Dru extended her senses as far as she could and smirked when she realized all the heartbeats she was looking for came from inside the house. It was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. She turned to her companion and kissed him soundly—their preferred ‘go’ signal.
She left the chaos mage smiling dreamily and licking his lips to capture as much of her taste as she could. It was one of the reasons Dru had started wearing cherry-flavored lipstick on a regular basis.
Without any more delay Ethan began chanting softly at first, then ever louder.
Dru left him behind to finish his spell, walked to one of the broken windows, and jumped in.
The ground floor was in shambles. Smoke was still coming out of some discarded grenades, furniture had been reduced to kindling, blood was spattered everywhere, and the combatants were still going at it. Center stage was the dark Slayer, whirling and slashing away at her attackers, while her team was fighting all around her.
Dru smiled when she heard Ethan finish chanting. She watched with amusement as the tazers the hunters had on them came to life as electric scarabs and tazed their former masters into submission. She shrugged and went straight for her target.
Kendra made an attempt to attack her, but once their eyes met, it was all over. Dru managed to overcome her mind, thralling her easily. She left her swaying in place as she took in the aftermath of the Council’s attack.
Joyce was going to be furious at the destruction, but luckily none of Buffy’s friends or family were present to be hurt. The humans and demons that had been left behind as a decoy were at least trying to do a cursory clean-up job, dragging the dead and wounded from either side outside and restraining the remaining unconscious hunters. The leader—her name was Penny if Dru remembered correctly—approached her tentatively.
“Welcome back to Sunnyhell. The Master didn’t announce your visit. Is there anything you might require before you make your presence known?” Penny’s attempt at ritual and civility was somewhat ruined by her appearance. Her clothes were bloody, her hair was wild, and her face was streaked with grime.
“Don’t worry about it, William will be here shortly. I’ll just be here, keeping this Slayer tame.” She winked at the other woman and went back to using her power on her foe and waiting for Ethan to join her.
*
It took forever to get to the Slayer’s house. At least that’s what it seemed like to Spike by the time he finally saw 1630 Revello Drive.
The whole street was a mess.
A bus from one of those companies that made regular trips to LA was blocking the street, its driver sitting on the bottom step of the front door whittling a stake and whistling softly. A police car and a fireman truck were also parked there, the members of Sunnyhell’s finest and bravest huddled together as if they didn’t know what to do. All the neighbors were outside and commenting on the sights—from what Spike could hear some thought it was a cult raid, while others were convinced they were filming for a movie, regardless of the lack of cameras anywhere. There were bodies lined up on the front lawn, some bleeding, some dead, and some tied down, with a group of Spike’s humans and demons keeping watch.
Buffy gasped from next to him. “The house.” He grabbed her hand and hurried to her still smoking home.
As soon as they passed through the remnants of the front door they both stopped to take in the sight. Everything was a mess.
Penny came up and gave her report about the attack, but Spike was only half listening.
Drusilla was in the middle of the living room whispering something to an unresponsive Kendra. Spike would have bet his unlife savings the Slayer was under thrall. He made to take a step towards his former paramour when she turned to him.
“My brave night is back.” She frowned and vamped out. “Nasty wiggly worms, crawling under the black dirt.” She started making shooing gestures. “Away, away with you. I’ll feed you to the dead burning fish swimming around his head.” She stilled and turned to the Slayer next to her. “It was always going to be me.” With those words she raised her hand and slashed Jaslay’s throat open. “Drink, my prince, drink and drown those worms.”
Spike was unable to move. The scene was too unreal to comprehend, especially with Dru sounding like she did back before they’d ever gone to Prague. He became acutely aware of the agonizing pain suffusing every cell in his body. Sure, the Gem was doing a wonderful job of keeping him up and about, but the pain was starting to make thoughts difficult to hold on to.
The smell of Slayer blood was powerful, alluring, and full with the promise of relief. It was the last thing he could focus on before a grey haze descended over him.
*
He was bent over a body. By the smell of it, a Slayer’s body. He wasn’t sure what he’d done before, or where he was, but the he could hear the girl’s heart about to give out. It was about at this point that one would dangle a bleeding wrist in front of the face of the future minion, or perhaps even childe. The position, although a bit off, and the thought that went with it sparked a memory. Buffy in a puddle, with him giving her mouth to mouth. Buffy.
He tried to get up, to let go, to spit out the blood he could now feel filling up his mouth again. He wanted to scream, to rend his own skin. He’d promised never again. He’d sworn never to hurt the girl. Once he took her to the hospital, he would walk into the sunrise to make sure she’d be safe from him.
A strong hand kept him in place. He raised his eyes as best he could only to see Buffy gazing down at him lovingly. Which meant—. There she was, it was the Islander Slayer that he was drinking down, not his blonde goddess. He swallowed in relief and heard her heart stop for good.
It was done. The third Slayer dead. No matter that his mind—now working on all cylinders again—provided the information that it had been Dru to deliver the killing blow. He’d taken part, and his Slayer was still there. In fact, she was stroking his hair lovingly.
“You can let me get up now, love. I’ve taken all I need to.” His words were muffled by the cooling flesh of his victim, but Buffy heard him anyway and relaxed her hold, allowing him to straighten up. He looked at her and wiped his mouth. The blood working its way through his veins wasn’t as sweet, or as powerful as hers had been, but it was still mystically enhanced, straight from the tap, and just what the doctor ordered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to get himself under control.
She rose to her feet next to him and Spike worried for a second she would walk away and leave him for good. Buffy extended her hand and helped him up instead.
As soon as he was next to her she wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. “I was so scared I was gonna lose you.”
He kissed her hair gently. “I’m pretty hard to get rid of, love, you know that.” He glanced at the dead Slayer at their feet. “I—I’m sorry you had to see that. I—”
She placed an index finger on his lips. “Shh. She was a robot working for a fanatic who sent her to attack my family. Dru slashed her throat and I held you in place to drink. This is not your third, and I’m—well I’m not fine with it, but I don’t blame you.” Her voice got hard. “I blame the Council.”
He was relieved to hear her say it, but the rest of her words triggered more worries in his mind. “Thank you, love. Don’t worry about those old farts, we’ll get them.”
She smiled at him with the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen in his life. His mind provided verse upon verse to sing her praises, but all his words could not compare to hers.
“I love you, Spike.”
“God, Buffy, I love you so much.” He kissed her with abandon.
“You make such pretty colors. Like stained glass you are.” Dru’s voice cut through Spike’s bubble of happiness, reminding him they were not alone.
He gave another quick peck to the Slayer’s lips – they would have time to celebrate later. He looked around and saw Ethan embracing Dru from behind in a way that spoke volumes about their being intimate with each other. The pose, Angel’s absence, and Dru’s faraway look made Spike’s blood boil.
“You, Ripper’s evil twin, you better tell me real quick like why Dru’s all barmy again.”
“Ethan released Dru and took a step back, raising his hands in a non-threatening gesture. “Hey now, none of that. I didn’t do a blessed thing to her.” He leered and corrected himself. “Well, truth be told I did quite a bit, but it was all consensual.” His eyes widened when Spike flashed him some fang. “She’s still got her soul, it’s just that she’s been having a lot of visions for the past few days, and coupled with the thrall she placed on the Slayer… It takes a lot out of her and she just—” He looked at Dru with such longing it made Spike stop glowering. “As glorious as she is when she’s all barmy, it’s going to pass soon enough and she will be back to herself.” He had a small smile on his lips.
“And what about the Poofter?”
“Angel.” The smile was still there, though it had turned wicked. “They allowed me to join them on occasion, but he entrusted me with her while he’s with Enyos and Doyle in Boston.”
“Why Boston?” Buffy’s question startled Spike. To his shame he realized he’d been so entranced trying to suss out Ethan’s feelings that he hadn’t realized she was still next to him. He entwined their fingers to keep himself grounded.
“They went to get the next Slayer. Dru had some visions about it and sent the others there to intercept the Council.” He looked down at Kendra. “We don’t want another attack like this one, now do we?”
Spike could understand the logic behind it, but at the same time resented the reminder that although they’d won the battle, the war was still on. With Travers as Head Wanker the threats to Buffy would be just as dangerous and as many, unless they took care of him. One way or another.
“Ah, there she is.” The warmth in Ethan’s voice was unmistakable.
Spike looked at Dru and he could tell the chaos mage was right. The mumbling had stopped, as well as the swaying and giggling.
Her eyes were now focused squarely on Buffy for a few moments, then she turned around and snogged the breath out of Ethan. “It’s good to be back, pet. It was quite a rush.” The last part had been directed at Spike and Buffy.
“Dru, could you tell us what’s going on?” From the tension in her body it was clear Buffy didn’t just mean Kendra’s attack.
“Let’s all go on the back porch. I’m sure the men would very much like some smokes while we chat.”
*
“I have to make a call first.” As much as Buffy wanted to find out more about Dru’s part in the battle, and about the new slayer she’d mentioned, what she wanted above all else was to talk to her parents.
“Sure, love. I have to talk to my people too.” He then addressed Dru. “You go on to the back and we’ll join you soon.” The brunette vampire nodded and went to the kitchen, Ethan in tow.
Buffy was looking around the rubble that used to be their living room for the landline, hoping against hope that it would still work. She finally found it under the splinters of a side table, luckily still intact.
She dialed Spike’s office number from memory and it was picked up on the first ring.
“Buffy?” Her mother’s voice had never sounded sweeter.
“Yeah, Mom, it’s me. Are you guys okay?”
“We’re fine, honey. We were just worried about you.”
Buffy gave off a relieved little laugh. “Everything’s fine, Mom. My strength is coming back, Spike’s cured, the bad guys and gals are dealt with…” She let her eyes roam over the damage to their house. “We might have to move to a hotel for a couple of days, though.”
The change in her mother’s tone was immediate. “How bad is it?”
“Pretty bad. I don’t think there’s any furniture left on the first floor.” She looked up to the damaged banister, seeing a couple of Spike’s demons on their way down. “I haven’t been upstairs yet, but I’m guessing there’s damage up there too.”
“Dammit. Maybe I’ll have your Dad invoice the Council for the damage.” There was a hint of malice in Joyce’s voice. “Maybe I’ll go over there and make my point clear: stay away from my family.”
There was some muffled discussion on the other end, and then Buffy heard Giles’ voice. “Are you sure you are not harmed?”
His concerned tone made her smile. “I’m better than I was before I left, so, yeah. How are you? Did they—”
“Don’t worry, they did nothing lasting. Although I was very disappointed in your turning yourself in.”
“I had to get you out of there. You and Ms. Calendar. I couldn’t—”
“I know.” His voice sounded gruff with emotion and Buffy had tears in her eyes.” “What about Ms. Post and Ms. Young?”
The Slayer wiped the tears away. “Both dead. So are most of their goons. The ones that survived are mostly unconscious. The cops are here to take them away, I think. I’m not sure, I wasn’t really listening.”
“Quite. I’ll start making inquiries with my contacts at the Council. I’m certain they had to employ mercenaries to attack us, so there is a chance that part, if not most of the Watchers are unaware of what has been happening. As for the ones involved here, I’m confident the Sunnydale constables will have an extensive list of felonies to charge them with.”
There was more noise before her father took the phone. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll make sure they never get out for what they’ve done.” His voice lost its edge. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
There was a click and Dalton could be heard. “I’ve put the call on speaker. Can I ask—?”
Buffy couldn’t help but smile a little at his words. She found the two vampires so cute together. “Penny is fine. In fact, here’s Spike with the casualty report.” She handed the phone over to him.
“Hey there.” He paused while the people on the other end congratulated him on getting cured. They were so loud about it Buffy didn’t need any enhanced Slayer or vampire hearing to pick it up. “Look, we lost Buck, Dave, and Rhonda from the vampires, Jack and Marvin from the demons, and George.” At Buffy’s puzzled look he explained. “Yeah, they killed perfectly human George. Not to mention putting a couple of the others in the hospital. Bloody bastards. I’m glad it wasn’t any of you, though.”
The Slayer was running out of air. She’d known Gwendolyn was off the rails crazy, but for her minions to kill humans. That made them no better than the fledglings she staked on a nightly basis. Maybe even worse than that, seeing as how most of those vampires never even got to touch a human, let alone kill one in cold blood just for being on her side.
She heard Spike mention the names of the injured, apologize to Joyce about the state of the house, then he passed the receiver to Penny. He interlocked his fingers with Buffy’s and gently pulled her toward the back yard, and hopefully to more answers for their questions. Penny would be in charge of dealing with cops and firemen from that point on.
*
As soon as he and Buffy stepped out on to the back porch, Spike lit up. The action bought him some seconds before he had to speak, which he used to observe the other couple. And a couple they definitely were. Although there was no more touching the air of familiarity between the two spoke volumes. As for Dru, all the leftover cloudiness was gone from her gaze, leaving her as lucid as the last time he’d seen her, before she and Angel went to LA.
“So what did the Great Poof do to mess things up?”
Dru gave a small airy laugh. “He didn’t do anything wrong. We’re still as in love as we were the last time you saw us.” She shrugged and Spike was sure he could detect a faint blush. Which for vampires was akin to going beet red. “Our love, though, is not as the one you share with Buffy. Neither of us is very good at being monogamous, as you well know. That hasn’t changed with our trip to Africa.”
Buffy had been leaning against the back wall until then, but took a step forward. “So you what? Started dating other people?”
Ethan smirked at that, looking very pleased with himself.
Dru winked at the chaos mage. “It’s not an open relationship, but we do invite people to our bed from time to time to enjoy. Either together or apart.” She got a mischievous look on her face. “So far it’s mostly been Ethan, but I really can’t wait to taste the Rogue. It’s been a while since there were four of us to enjoy.”
Spike’s mind was reeling. “Wait. So Angel’s back to doing threesomes with you? And you’re gonna add another?” The images of times a century before flashed through his mind and he had to admit to himself that a small part of him was jealous of Ethan. Being part of the Whirlwind used to be such fun sometimes. He looked at Buffy and realized he wouldn’t trade her for a harem though. He was well and truly a one woman man, and the Slayer had him wrapped around her finger. He just hoped she never realized exactly how whipped she could make him. He really liked their current standing as equals.
Buffy gave him a strange look, although she was also a bit flushed. Maybe his Slayer wasn’t entirely vanilla either. He couldn’t wait to explore anything and everything with her. Her voice cut through his imagining various scenarios. “Who’s the Rogue?”
Dru all but clapped her hands as she would have when she was still crazy. “Your new sister Slayer, of course.” Her face lost much of its mirth. “She’s had a very rough time growing up and a bit of love and companionship is everything she’ll need to stay on the right path. Otherwise she would earn her title in a very different way.”
The implication was clear and Spike had a dreadful thought. Would they have to fight all the coming slayers from now on, as they had Kendra? Would Buffy be able to stomach going against her sisters time and time again?
“Don’t worry, have a little faith. I plan on having lots.” Dru started laughing out loud.
Ethan stage whispered to Spike and Buffy. “The new slayer’s name is actually Faith.”
“Oh.” Buffy gave a small laugh, while her blush deepened. Or was she flushed?
Once Dru settled down, she spoke again. “I’ve sent Angel, Enyos, and Doyle to get her, so the Council won’t have a chance to try turning her into Kendra. Not that they would have succeeded if they’d tried.” She shook her head with sadness. “The methods they would have used to brainwash her would have made Faith turn dark, darker even than poor Kendra ever was. She would have hated both us and the Council and ended up— It won’t happen this time.”
Spike knew there was a lot Dru wasn’t saying, and from the wealth of information she seemed to have and Ethan’s mention of her having visions non-stop for days, it was clear the Powers were really involved in changing whatever it was that could have gone wrong. It made him feel even more uneasy. Would he be able to help keep Buffy from harm?
“What of the wankers?” He didn’t elaborate, but he didn’t feel he had to.
“Giles said he’d make some calls to his contacts. He’s convinced most of the Council had no idea about Gwendolyn and Kendra’s actions, especially since he said the goons were guns for hire. On the other hand, I don’t really care if that’s true or not—I’m done with the Council.”
“Good on you, love.” Spike was very proud of his girl. In fact he could admit she was becoming quite a woman.
“You needn’t worry about the stuffy gits.” Dru closed her eyes and swayed in place. Ethan was next to her right away, holding her as Spike had once done.
The vampire felt relieved more than anything.
Dru opened her eyes and focused on Buffy. “The Dawn is coming. You must seek the Guardian. It’s time Syneya’s gifts were bestowed.”





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