Less than ten minutes later the trio was headed toward their destination, the warehouse, Spike’s once home. Despite the lack of words, their communication was clear; Spike and Angel despised one another and Buffy was utterly confused.
Her heart belonged to one, where her body and soul belonged to the other. Each day, the tag team of her body and soul broke down her heart’s defenses. Every moment with Spike brought millions of questions and doubts swirling in her mind. All these thoughts made all and no sense at the same time.
Buffy’s was pulled from her thoughts as she heard Angel’s growl.
“Buffy, how do you know we can trust him? You may be mated, but his heart does, and always will belong to Drusilla. All his helpfulness, could be a ruse, which will lead to an ambush!”
Buffy stopped briefly and turned to face Angel, who was only several paces behind, her and Spike.
“Angel. I know that you don’t trust him, and believe me, it’s hard to comprehend that I even do. The fact remains that we are connected. On some strange, scary level, we are. This connection becomes more entrenched when we….ummm….feed,” Buffy explained as she noticed Angel’s demon flash forward briefly then recede. She then continued.
“I can feel his emotions and his feelings, his thoughts. I’m like his human, well kinda, lie detector. He’s not lying. He will take us to Drusilla. This I know. What he will do when we get there, he’s unsure,” Buffy stated as she faced Spike.
“Oi….standing right here!” Spike snapped.
“Sorry, just know this Spike, whichever side you choose, your decision will be final. There’s no way that you can betray either of us and then change your mind.”
“Slayer, I know this and I’m prepared to deal with whatever the fall out happens to be. Despite my being a vamp, I do give you my word that if I decide to go back to Dru, you will know this by my words. It won’t be a knife in your proverbial back to say so,” Spike explained with a slight nod.
“Now peaches, can we get a move on before Dru finishes whatever, she took Red for?” With that Spike turned and continued to walk in the direction of the warehouse. Angel looked at Buffy with a ‘you believe him?’ look. Buffy shook her head solemnly ‘yes’ and proceeded to follow Spike. With a deep sigh, Angel relented.
Within another mile, Spike stopped and pointed to an abandoned building in the distance, before he spoke.
“That’s where we were. Now I’m not guaranteeing that she’s still there. I haven’t seen her for several days. Knowing Dru like I do, she was probably too busy listening to fairies and whatnot to leave and find another place. Well, kiddies, it’s been real. Real what, I won’t say, but…..Ta.” Spike gave a British two-finger salute to Angel, as he headed off into another direction. Not towards the warehouse, but not back towards Buffy’s house either.
Buffy’s heart slightly sank as she watched her mate walk away. As she turned to leave, Angel growled.
“She’s your mate! You send her off to fight a battle, to possibly be wounded or worse and all you can do is walk away? You’re pathetic Spike!” Lightning-quick, Spike had tackled Angel to the ground, in full demon visage. As his golden eyes stared at his grandsire, he roared.
“I’ve decided to choose a side, my own! Tell me oh soulful one, how did you think this would play out? I would run into the arms of my lover, my world for over a hundred years and hurt my mate? Or team up with the Slayer, who happens to be my mate, and turn against the only woman I’ve ever loved? Please enlighten me with your pearls of wisdom!” Angel remained beneath Spike as he ranted. Once Spike finished, he jumped off Angel, looked upon Buffy briefly with a slight sadness and regret in his eyes, turned and walked away.
Angel got up from the ground and looked at Buffy. After several brief moments of silence, he spoke.
“You ready to do this?”
“Yeah, let’s save Willow,” Buffy stated as they started to walk toward the building.
While they geared up back at Buffy’s house, Spike explained the layout of the building. He gave full details of where the minions slept, the main room and where Dru’s bedroom was.
Spike also demanded that Buffy promise that Drusilla was to remain unharmed or there was ‘no deal’. Buffy gave her promised, with the addition of ‘If Willow is hurt, all bets are off,’ both agreed before the trio headed out.
Since all the windows were high off the ground, and neither Buffy nor Angel could reach them, they decided to head to the roof. As they quietly walked across the rooftop, Angel spied a small skylight. Both peeked into the dirty window, and what lay before them shocked them to the core.
In addition to the numerous minions milling about, chained against the walls were several people. Eleven total. Men and woman in different stages of disarray; all bloodied, some in stages of undress. Some still sobbed, while others, eyes wide, unseeing. Their blank stares told of the horrific memories that rolled through their minds.
“Angel, why…..why are all these people here?” Buffy whispered.
“Can’t say for sure, but maybe they’re for a sacrifice or some sort of ritual?” Angel whispered back.
“I hate saying this, but that makes sense. In a really fucked up way. Then where’s Willow? She’s not down there. Which is of the very good, but on the other hand, not so much. Where is that crazy bitch keeping her?” Buffy whispered angrily.
In the deep bowels of the warehouse, Willow sat chained tightly to a high back wooden chair. The last thing she remembered was being dragged away from Xander, by someone, which she now knew was a vamp. He hoisted her over his shoulder as she tried to fight him off the best she could. Then one of his vamp pals started to remove bits of her clothing, jacket, shoes, socks, then came nothing. Only blackness. When she awoke after the vamp attack, this is where she was.
Willow tried to gather in her surroundings, but with the chains around her ankles and wrists, and the height of the chair, she wasn’t able to see much. What she could see was a long wooden table before her; that was covered with lit candles, a medium size glass container and some magical supplies; dried herbs, small bowl and a large dusty old book. Before Willow could try to make sense of any of this, her thoughts were pulled from her by the purr of a woman.
“Ah….I see the little tree is abloom. Fairies are buzzing with sheer delight from your arrival! They sing about all that is wrong will be made right again. I can hardly wait,” Drusilla purred as she slithered into Willow’s line of vision. Willow’s eyes widened at the graceful, yet she could sense, a very dangerous woman that stood before her.
“Whhhoo…who are you?” Willow stuttered.
“Tsk, Tsk, naughty Spike didn’t talk about me! He shall be punished again for that!” Drusilla hissed to Willow.
“Are you, are you, Drusilla?” Willow asked
“So that naughty boy spoke of his dear heart? You are a smart one little tree. Miss Edith whispered to me that you could free those in chains with your words and mind. Miss Edith shall receive tea and cakes when the real party begins. What a party it will be once…..” Drusilla ranted until her head cocked to the side, looked upwards, and a feral grin graced her crimson lips.
“The time to begin is upon us!” Drusilla clapped happily as she bolted from the room. Willow watched her leave, as far as her immobilized body would allow. Willow tried to pull at her bonds as she tried to escape from this lunatic and her asylum, to no avail.
As the duo warriors made their way down the building, they had worked out a plan of attack. They would enter the building by the darkened side door and start hacking away at any and all minions that appeared. Once the vamps were dispatched, Angel would cover Buffy as she tried to search for Willow. Before they moved, Buffy placed a chaste kiss upon Angel’s lips and told him good luck.
On the count of three, they kicked down the metal door, stakes and crossbows a blazing. Within moments, minion’s dust coated their bodies and hung in the dense, stale air. Cries of those that were held captive rang through the cavernous room. Some ‘thanked God’ for them, others begged for their release. Despite their pleas, Buffy and Angel continued to dispatch a major ass kicking on the undead.
“Now little witch, you are going to grant princess her wish. You are going to do a spell that will make all right as rain,” Drusilla cooed as she now held a young woman by the throat, as they stood in Willow’s line of sight. The woman’s brown eyes were wide and pleading for help, though her mouth remained closed. Tears tracked through the dirt that was coated upon her cheeks.
“I’m…..I’m not a www…..witch,” Willow stuttered.
“Now, now. Don’t lie. I would cut out your tongue, but it still serves a purpose. So here’s her tongue instead!” Drusilla cackled as she threw the woman’s severed tongue upon the table. The bloody stump hit with a resounding ‘thump’. Bile rose into Willow’s throat at the sight before her.
“Now naughty witch, you will do my spell for me!” Drusilla commanded as her once porcelain features shifted into her demon ones.
“I swear! I’m not a witch! I can only float pencils and other things like that! I can’t do a spell! Please, please, let us go,” Willow pleaded.
“Since you asked like that……” With that remark, Drusilla dragged her sharp talons across the woman’s throat.
Her chocolate eyes widened as her life’s blood flowed from the gash. Drusilla released the woman, as her body hit the floor with a deadened ‘thud.’ With a double clap of her hands, a minion pulled forward, another woman, and replaced her in Drusilla’s arms, where the now dead one once stood.
“So witch, can you do it now?” Drusilla growled as she tapped her bloodied nails against the new woman’s neck.
“Yes….I’ll try.” Willow whispered.
A mile away Spike continued to pace back and forth, in front of a local demon bar. He planned on entering, and not leaving until he was good and smashed. Once he reached the alleyway, a feeling of horror filled him to the core. Spike knew it was Buffy, that felt this horror, but it receded and only white-hot rage took its place.
Since her rage took center stage, Spike now had an almost painful erection from the thoughts of his mate tearing down her opponents. Her eyes filled with fury, arms and legs moving with deadly accuracy as they choreographed a death dance. In his mind’s eye, she was breathtaking.
His demon roared with fury, that he was not there to aid her and for not witnessing this brutal dance. Spike knew that he should be there to fight alongside his mate, not the poufter Angel. His heart, on the other hand, well he was conflicted there too. With his very being he loved his dark princess. His savior from mediocrity. They had cut a swath through the world, feeding and fucking whenever and upon whomever they desired.
All changed Halloween night. When a tiny warrior, wormed her way into his once occupied heart. Now he remained conflicted between his past and present. A dangerous limbo of loyalties and desires, where a choice, that needed to be made, would seal his fate forever.
“Damn it!” Spike yelled as he stalked back towards the warehouse.
When the final swirl of vamp remains settled, Buffy searched for a key or keys that would free these people. As she rummaged through draws and small rooms, she noticed two other sets of chains that hung unoccupied on the wall. She knew that these people were probably dead, and if it weren’t for her promise to Spike, Drusilla would be dust in the wind like her minions. After several moments, she found the numerous sets of keys. Buffy ran out to Angel, as he tried to sooth the victims with his words, and tossed him all that she had found.
“Angel get them out of here! I’m going to find Willow. Follow me when you’re done!” Buffy yelled as she headed towards the stairwell that lead to the basement of the warehouse.
After Willow relented, Drusilla threw the woman that she held moments ago, to the minion that had brought her in. Drusilla stepped forward and opened the ancient text in front of her. Scrawled on the yellow parchment were words written in another language.
“This is not English. I can’t read it. The only other language I know is French and this is so not that,” Willow explained as she eyed the pages.
“Silly, silly little witch! It’s Latin! When I was a child, everyone knew and could speak Latin! Terrible state of affairs this age has brought! You don’t need to understand, just read! Make haste witch, or those words you just spoke will be your last!” Drusilla snarled as she wiggled her blood stained fingers towards Willow. Drusilla lit a bundle of herbs as she slowly began to wave them through the air. With a gulp, Willow started to read from the text.
“Nici mort, nici al fiintei..."
{ Translation: Neither dead, nor of the living...}
“Nici mort….. nici al finite. Abyssus spiritus, te advoco."
{Translation Not dead... nor not of the living. Spirits of hell,
I call.}
"Te implor, bestia os abyssus, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte."
{Translation: I implore you, beast of the hellmouth, do not ignore this request.}
"Nici mort, nici al fiintei..."
{Translation: Neither dead, nor of the living...}”
The words filled Willow’s mind as she read from the pages. At first they seemed difficult, her tongue becoming jumbled in her mouth, as they twisted over the words. Then she felt her body fill with an unmistaken power. Her head snapped back, and just as quickly lowered forward. With blackened eyes, the words started to tumble from her mouth. All the sounds of the outside world disappeared. All that remained was the sound of her blood rushing in her ears, and the hum of the overwhelming power pulsing through her veins.
As Buffy cautiously walked down the stairs, she could hear someone chanting, in the distance. As she approached the room, two minions jumped out and tackled her to the ground. As her head hit the concrete floor, stars bloomed before her eyes. The edges of her consciousness became hazy as she was dragged down the hallway by two vamps.
As the blood slowly seeped down the back of her neck, she could feel her demon as it tore at her mind. Her guise shifted as fangs elongated and eyes became golden. She was first dragged up several steps, then her arms were yanked above her, and she heard a distinct clink of chains.
As she willed her head up, the site of her demon took the minions aback. Both hurriedly left from the room and headed back down the stairs. Despite the pounding in her brain, Buffy could hear the distance chants from downstairs. She tried to pull herself from her chains to no avail. Buffy called out to Angel, which she could also hear several rooms over.
“Angel, bring the keys here! Hurry!” Buffy yelled.
Angel had only been able to release five of the eleven people due to the keys that Buffy found didn’t fit all the locks. He looked upon the other people who continued to plea for their release. With a soft ‘sorry’ to those that were left, Angel left the room in search of Buffy.
Eyes black as night, Willow’s words ripped from her throat as she continued the incantation.
“Lasa orca sa fie vasul care-i va extraho, amimus de eum."
{Translation: Let this jar be the vessel that will remove his soul from
he.}
"Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum!"
{Translation: So it shall be! So it shall be! Now!}
"Acum!"
{Translation: Now!}
In mid-stride, Angel fell upon the floor, on his hands and knees. “Buffy” tore from his throat as pain exploded throughout his body. After several deep, but unneeded breaths, Angel removed himself smoothly from the floor. As he looked around his surroundings, a loud growl filled the air.
“Honey, Daddy’s home!”
Angelus’ demon slid forward as he could smell the heady scent of blood, more importantly Slayer’s blood. With a cheerful whistle he strolled forward, as he swung one of the key rings around his fingers. He entered the room where Buffy was chained to the wall. Once she looked into his eyes, she smiled and stated.
“Oh thank god you’re here! Hurry, I think that Drusilla has Willow downstairs. With the chanting, it can’t be for anything good!” Buffy stated as her demon slowly slid away. Angelus mirrored Buffy, as his demon also fell away.
“Hello, Buff. Now how did you get yourself is such a predicament?” Angelus purred as he eyed her trestle up form.
“Bloody minions jumped me downstairs. I was too busy listening to the chants, and I didn’t hear them until I was already on the floor,” Buffy said shamefully as she shook her arms to remind him what he was called in here to do.
“Bloody huh? Well, you sure do look all bloody. Can I tell you, that you smell absolutely divine. Well, besides the nauseating stench of Ol’Willie-boy coursing through your veins. No matter, taking my childe’s mate will be one of the highlights of the night. Little Buff, I do mean to fully take you. I don’t particularly like leftovers, but since I had Dru first, I guess turnabout is fair play,” Angelus sneered as he stepped closer.
“Angel what the fuck has gotten into you?” Buffy snapped as her demon sprang forward.
“The better question is, what is getting into you?” Angelus purred as he crudely grabbed his now noticeable erection through his pants, as he stopped in front of Buffy’s suspended form.
As he looked upon her with lust-filled eyes, Buffy felt dread fill her soul deep. Angelus grabbed her hair roughly as he looked upon the column of her throat where Spike’s marks were housed. He pressed his entire body against her intimately. She could feel his erection nudge into her abdomen. Angelus growled deeply in his chest as his mouth moved and lingered by the shell of her ear. Several beats passed before he spoke.
“I know that you believed that only your Watcher could break the claim without killing you both. There is another way, the more traditional, vampire way. The only true way. A master vampire, more specifically his sire, could challenge the claim. Sure ol’Willie would put up a fight, and against Angel, he may have won. However, not against…..me!” Angelus growled as his head reared back, fangs flashing.
The moment, the words sunk into her mind, Buffy’s golden eyes widened. There had been a strange feeling she had since Angel had walked into the room. She shook it off due to what was and had transpired all around them.
With these words, she understood, this was no longer Angel. This was Angelus. Due to their position, she couldn’t move. With resignation, she waited for the final strike. In an instant, Angelus’ form was gone. Buffy, once more, could move her head and body, well what wasn’t held by chains, as she witnessed what was transpiring.
Spike and Angelus were trading blows of fists and fangs as they moved over one another’s bodies. All she could hear was Angelus’ laughter and taunts. Spike’s growls and proclaims of ‘she’s mine!’ Buffy became briefly entranced at the sight before her. Quickly, she shook her head to clear the cobwebs and started to pull upon the chains that shackled her. After several Slayer/vamp combined yanks, she pulled one part of the chains free. She started then on the other side with a newfound strength.
Drusilla heard the call of her ‘daddy’ as he announced his arrival home. She also sensed another, Spike. “Her Spike.” Drusilla’s mind cooed. As her eyes widened, she saw in her mind’s eye, her ‘daddy’ and her black knight fighting over the Slayer whore.
A piercing screamed filled the room, as Willow laid limp in her restraints. Drusilla removed Willow’s chains as she grabbed her by the hair and dragged her from the room. As Drusilla’s mind reeled from the horrid thoughts that they were not fighting over her, she wanted to hurt the Slayer soul deep.
Despite how drained Willow physically was, her legs kept up with Drusilla as she dragged her up the stairs. Willow could feel several clumps of hair being pulled from the roots, as small streams of blood flow from the areas, but she remained silent and kept pace.
Once Drusilla reached the room, she called out with almost a wounded voice.
“Daddy?” Buffy looked over to the doorway as she saw Drusilla standing there with a fist full of Willow’s hair in her grasp.
As her voice filled the room, both men stopped. Each remained still with their chests heaving with unneeded breaths. As Spike rolled off Angelus, both vamps slowly gained their footing as they separated. Angelus backed towards Drusilla, as Spike’s back hovered against the wall as he made his way slowly over to Buffy.
As the pairs stared at one another, an arrow, shot passed Drusilla’s head and struck the wall behind her. As four sets of eyes followed the path of the arrow, Giles stood in the doorway with the crossbow at the ready, another arrow in place.
Without a word, a flurry of movement proceeded. Drusilla held Willow’s body in front of her to make a human shield, as Angelus ran behind her to hurry down the stairs. This crazy woman held all in a stalemate. Spike wouldn’t attack Drusilla due to his feelings, Buffy remained still partially shackled, and Giles held his arrow due to Willow’s body shielding Drusilla’s.
With a brief whistle from Angelus, Drusilla threw Willow’s body forward towards Giles. As her limp body collided with his, Drusilla gave a brief sneer towards Buffy and Spike, and then she raced down the stairs where Angelus had just disappeared. A loud slam of a heavy metal door announced their departure.
Spike helped pull the remaining chain from the wall as Buffy thanked him briefly. Once freed, she ran towards Willow and Giles. Buffy gently pulled her friend from Giles’ body. Willow looked up at Buffy and murmured.
“I’m sorry.” With that Buffy pulled her into a brief bone-crushing hug.
As the group slowly moved from the room, Xander had finished releasing the remaining people. Once their chains were gone, they all fled into the night. Xander looked upon the weakened Willow held up by Buffy’s body, he ran forward and hugged her fiercely.
“Don’t you ever get kidnapped again! Do you understand!” Xander ordered as tears flowed from his eyes.
“Yeah, I need to get a tee shirt that says ‘Kidnapped: Been there done that,’” Willow joked slightly.
“Buffy, why did Angel leave with, whom I assume is, Drusilla?” Giles asked.
“Watcher, that’s not Angel, not anymore. You’ve just met Angelus. Now that’s a logo on a tee shirt you all should get, ‘Angelus: see him and lived to tell the tale.’” Spike scoffed as he walked over to lean against the wall.
After the group hug, Xander aided Buffy out of the remains of her chains. As she ran her hands over her sore wrists, she spoke.
“Angelus is here, but how? Why?” Buffy asked.
“The how, was me. Drusilla made me read a spell and remove his soul. I didn’t want to Buffy!” Willow started to sob. Buffy pulled Willow into her arms again as she tried to calm her distraught friend. After several moments, she pulled from her arms and stated.
“Willow it’s not your fault. At this point in time, it doesn’t matter how Angel became Angelus. All I know is that we need to find him and Drusilla before they cause more death and destruction to Sunnydale.” Buffy firmly stated.
“This all takes planning. First things first, let’s leave this horrendous place. We all need our rest. Tomorrow we will convene to discuss strategy,” Giles stated.
“I’m with G-man. Let’s blow this pop stand!” Xander stated as he placed Willow’s arm around his shoulders as his arm wrapped his around her waist. Giles, Willow and Xander exited the building cautiously, still on the lookout for the deadly duo. Before they exited, Giles turned and addressed Buffy.
“Do you need a ride home Buffy?” Buffy looked over to the uncharacteristically quiet Spike, looked into his cerulean depths, then turned back to Giles to respond.
“No, I’m alright. Spike and I will be leaving shortly. But before you go, I am in no way, shape or form, ungrateful, but how did you find where we were?” Buffy asked, curiosity lacing her words.
“Small locator spell. I used an item of Willow’s clothing and found out where you were.” With that Giles left with Willow and Xander.
Buffy slowly approached Spike as his eyes remained trained on her. Both felt a sense of apprehension. Buffy spoke first.
“Spike, thanks for coming to my rescue. I know that it wasn’t an easy decision…” Before she could finish her sentence, Spike’s mouth crashed upon hers as he fed from her lips like a man starved. One hand wrapped through her flaxen locks as the other rested on her lower back, as he pulled her body forcefully into his. After several moments of enjoying one another, Spike reluctantly pulled back from her to speak.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again! Do you understand?! If I knew what Drusilla had planned, and that she was bringing Angelus back for a reunion tour, I would have never left your side! I was such a bleeding pillock. I’m your mate, I don’t know all that it exactly entails, but I do know this, you are mine. Mine to worship and mine to protect!”
With that Spike’s demon roared forward as he sensually slid his fangs into Buffy’s neck. After several heady pulls of her blood, he removed his fangs as he declared.
“Mine!” Then Spike’s fangs immediately returned to her throat. Buffy’s eyes rolled as the immense pleasure reeled throughout her body. Without thought Buffy wrapped her hands into Spike’s bleached locks as she held him to her neck, as she announced.
“Yours!” Spike retracted his fangs as he placed several tender swipes of his talented tongue upon his marks. Buffy’s purred as she melted into his arms.
Spike then gently scooped her up. As she placed her head upon his shoulder, he carried her out of the den of horrors.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
hope all enjoy! Thanks SF!
Chapter End Notes:
Hello all! For those that can read or wirte Latin, I do appologize if I hacked it. I did the best I could with writing that part by piecing together translated bits and pieces. Hope it works. Love reviews!!!!! Give em' up!!!!