From The Ashes (Chapter 5/?)
So, this chapter is fairly long, but A LOT of stuff happens. I just have one question for you guys, in regards to my font. Do you find it difficult to read? Do you think that it needs to be bigger/different in some way? Please let me know :-)
Enjoy!
Title: From The Ashes: Chapter 5~ Destination: Déjà Vu
Author: Anna (bite_or_avoid)
Characters: Angel, Buffy, Faith, Spike, other canon characters
Rating: M for later chapters. This chapter is PG.
Word Count: 3,203
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon is an evil genius, who pwns all
Spoilers: All canon Jossverse for both series; I've never read the comics, so they don't exist here. Post-NFA.
Go to: Chapter 4~ Titans
Previously:
“Will, spill it!”
“The good news is I know where he is.”
“And the bad?”
“Where he is.”
Chapter 5~ Destination: Déjà vu
“What’s with the cryptic?”
The image of him chained to a boulder getting his organs torn out by a giant beastie was suddenly imprinted on her retinas.
“Don’t freak out.”
“Just spit it out Willow!”
“He’s in a Hell dimension.”
The memories were never buried deeply enough, simmering just under the surface of the years that followed. She could trace the life she forever lost to that moment-
The taste of his tears… the confusion in those warm brown eyes, the trust…the sword in her hand… no choice… Oh God!
“Is it… Acathla?”
“No, no, nothing like that. As far as I can tell, it’s one of those dimensions Wolfram and Hart keeps under wraps for their own little special projects.”
“So, is it too much to hope that we can bust in there and get him out without being noticed?” She desperately tried to keep the panic out of her voice.
Willow sighed. “Definitely too much to hope. It’s not easy to breach a Hell dimension under any circumstances, and this…”
“Willow.”
The Slayer within had heard the call to action, and now that the initial shock had receded her whole body twitched in anticipation.
“I may have cooked up something of a plan.” She heard the proud smile in her friend’s voice.
“Great. How fast can you astro-pro-whatsit yourself over here?”
“I can’t go with you Buffy. Wolfram and Hart has got some serious mojo working overtime to keep that dimension sealed. I need to stay here to make sure you can get in and out safely.”
“So we’re sans witchy power and back to fighting a Hell army the old-fashioned way? Break out the straight-jacket Will, because I just had the insane thought that Faith being here is of the good.”
“Now you girls play nice, or I’ll sic Giles on you.”
Silence reigned for a few moments, weighty with implication of dangers to come. It was Buffy that broke it.
“How- how’d you find him?”
“A witch never tells her secrets.” The redhead was quiet for a moment. “He’s a little worse for wear Buffy, but we have some time. They’ll be ok for now.”
She must be hearing things.
“They? As in, the third person pronoun used to indicate more than one individual?”
There was a chuckle on the other end of the world.
“Yeah. That’s the fun part. He’s not alone.”
***
“He’s where?”
Faith seemed equal parts worried, equal parts amused. Buffy rolled her eyes.
“A Hell dimension, Faith.”
“Figures. You don’t suppose he coulda said ‘no thanks, been there, done that’?”
Connor snorted beside her, and Buffy shot them both a death glare. Faith glared back mockingly.
“Chill out B. We know he’s ok. And hey, look on the bright side. At least you didn’t send him there this time.”
Connor took a step toward her, blue eyes wide with shock.
“You’re the ex that sent him to Hell for a hundred years? Way harsh.”
Buffy suddenly felt pretty defensive, not to mention angry at having one of the most painful moments of her life discussed like this.
“I thought you said you’ve met Angelus,” she said pointedly. And then, without thinking, added, “Angel told you about that?”
Connor appraised Buffy with a newfound respect.
“He mentioned it. Didn’t realize you were the girlfriend.”
He looked between Buffy and Faith, and a smile crept to his lips.
“So, um, what’s his deal with slayers?”
Buffy kept quiet, the line of her mouth rigid with unspoken words. She certainly wasn’t going to discuss this with him if Angel hadn’t. There were things she still couldn’t explain completely, even to herself. Faith nudged her lightly and winked.
“You know the deal, kid. Big love, big loss. Touching story, really.”
She risked a glance at Buffy again, and her look was infused with wry understanding.
“Me, I’m just in it for the irony.”
Confusion filtered across Connor’s face.
“’Cause of the whole, vampire slayers being friends with a vampire thing?”
Faith moved closer, face level with his, and there was no humor in her words now.
“No. ‘Cause of the whole, me trying to kill him more than once and him saving my life thing. I owe him, more than I can ever repay.”
She leaned in even further, punctuating with physicality the gravity of her words.
“You and me kid?” she whispered, motioning between them, “Not so different.”
She held his bewildered gaze steadily and then stepped away, turning to Buffy. For a moment, before Faith could hide it, Buffy saw and recognized the look in the dark eyes of her sister slayer. Angel had saved Faith, life and soul, and she would lay down that life for him if she had to. Buffy teetered, briefly, on the brink between resentment for that connection, and relief that Faith had diverted the topic away from where it had been heading. The leader in her won the momentary battle over the woman. There would come a time for thought and introspection later. She had done too much of it already. Now, they needed to be ready for what lay ahead.
She laid out Willow’s plan.
***
“No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I mean no, with a capital N-O. You’re not going.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. I grew up in a Hell dimension, Buffy. Don’t see anyone else around here who can claim the same.”
She sighed, exasperated.
“Do you realize what’ll happen if I let you come? Do you? Giles is gonna have to send a rescue party for the rescue party! And do you know why? Because if the demons don’ t wring my neck, Angel will!”
“I thought you were all ‘I am Slayer, hear me roar’. You’re telling me Angel scares you?”
“What scares me is the thought of dealing with him whining. And it should scare you too.”
In the end, after arguing about it for over an hour, they were still at an impasse. Finally, seeing that the kid was not going to back down, Buffy relented.
“God, stubborn much?”
She heard Faith chuckle. “Just like dear old dad.”
***
This was the part she hated. The waiting and planning part. Couldn’t she just chant some incantation, open a damn portal, pull a smash n’ grab, and kick her way back out? She knew it didn’t work that way. Buffy hated these types of situations, where her innate power and instincts weren’t enough. She reminded herself that rescuing ensouled vampires trapped in Hell dimensions by evil law firms wasn’t exactly the type of thing slayers were created for.
She busied herself with weapons and training while waiting for Willow’s package to arrive. Wes had left them some interesting things to choose from, but she had her own preferences. When she joined Faith and Connor in the basement, Faith laughed with amazement.
“I don’t believe it. How’d you manage to get that into the country?”
Buffy smiled, comforted and emboldened by the familiar wave of power as her fingers curled around the scythe.
“Same way I got it out in the first place.”
She shrugged mildly.
“Standard cloaking spell. Or so Dawn tells me.” Her voice swelled with pride. “Willow’s rubbed off on her. A lot.”
Faith quirked an eyebrow.
“She’s not dating a werewolf, is she?”
“What? No!” Buffy suddenly felt like she had a whole new realm of possibilities to worry about. She made a quick call to her sister.
***
Buffy’s elbow smashed into Connor’s ribs.
“Hey!”
“Don’t ‘hey’ me buddy! Never leave yourself open like that.”
Faith chuckled from her vantage point on the steps.
“Sucker for that elbow, aren’t ya kid? Maybe if you focused on her arms instead of her a-”
“Ooof.” Buffy landed hard on that particular part of her anatomy as he kicked her legs out from under her.
“He trained me you know.” He laughed as he held out a hand to help her up. She flipped her legs into the air and landed on her feet with barely a sound, swinging her staff on the way.
“Can tell.” Her staff met his with a clatter as he blocked. “I kicked his butt too.”
“Not on my account, I hope,” Faith offered helpfully, as Buffy swung the staff in a 360 degree arc and bounced it off Connor’s head.
“Ow!”
Thrust, parry, swing, clash. She had to admit it, the kid was good. Fast. Almost as graceful as his father. She nearly blushed at the memory of Angel, clad in drawstring pants and one of those form-fitting sleeveless shirts he loved (she loved them too), circling her dangerously as they sparred. Those training sessions had usually ended with one of them on top of the other…
“Ouch!”
Connor’s fist struck her painfully in the solar plexus. Good one Buffy, fantasize while training. That’ll help.
“Getting past your slaying prime B?”
“Doing a lot of talking for being the one sitting on your ass F.”
“Ready to tap me in?”
Buffy jumped in the air, clearing the staff as it arced toward her shins. “Keep dreaming.”
“Yeah. You could use the practice.”
Connor stopped in mid-thrust. “Do you two always talk this much?”
They changed weapons soon after, scythe versus sword, and Connor seemed much happier with this. Faith was restless, as always, so Buffy sat out to let her have a turn. Connor was even more pleased with that arrangement. They fought hand to hand, each taking as good as they got, Connor leaping off walls and getting in hits admirably. Finally, Faith managed to pin him to the wall with an iron grip on his neck, the same maneuver with which she had incapacitated him in the sewer. She grinned as she released him.
“You gotta watch your neck kid.” She winked. “Especially around vampires.”
***
They spent most of the day sparring. Buffy knew they were all more than ready to launch into action, and the frustration of waiting was only slightly alleviated by this release. When they finally stopped, she welcomed the exhaustion that had settled in her bones. Faith left on the hunt, not for vampires, but for booze and cigarettes, and Buffy recognized the tension that reflected her own in the hard set of her friend’s shoulders.
Friend? Where had that come from? She hadn’t thought of Faith that way in a very long time. In fact, for most of the time she had known her, her darker half had resided squarely in the ‘enemy’ box. She shook her head with wonder. All those years ago, it had been Angel who had seen Faith for what she was, and had helped to bring it to light. It was only fitting that now he would be the one to bring them back together.
***
Buffy sat on the divan in the lobby, Wes’s journals at her feet, and stared at the entry before her. They had returned, happy and triumphant after a great adventure, to the greeting of Willow’s somber face. Without a word, Angel had known. She read about how he had locked himself in his room and screamed, not letting anyone come near him for days. How he had traveled to Sunnydale to visit her grave and then sequestered himself in a monastery somewhere in Sri Lanka, not to be seen again for three months. He had never told her in words what he had gone through when they met, so briefly, after her resurrection. She had seen it in his eyes, as clearly as she saw it now, written in Wes’s meticulous hand. She wondered, if the positions were reversed, how long she would scream.
“I see the lurky acorn didn’t fall far from the tree.”
She felt him shift uncomfortably behind her, but received no response. Putting the journal aside, she tried again.
“Are you just gonna stand there channeling a statue, or do you want to come and sit?”
He shuffled forward, eyeing her almost warily for a moment, before joining her on the divan. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
“I see Angel taught you the fine arts of lurking and skulking. Both very important lessons.”
Connor laughed softly.
“So, you think I’m like him?”
“Yes. And no. But… I feel him in you.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“Did you know my mother?”
Buffy stiffened at the memory of Darla. Did Connor even really understand what he was asking?
“Yes.”
“Was she as evil as everyone said?”
“Angel told you that?”
“No. He didn’t really talk about her. He let it slip that he killed her once. And then she came back…. He only said that she loved me, but if she was evil how could she?”
Buffy tried to choose her words wisely.
“Look, Connor, I don’t really know anything about how Darla was when she came back.”
“But you knew her before…Do you know why he killed her?”
Buffy considered his question, weighed the options, settled on the truth.
“To protect me.”
If the information affected him, he didn’t show it.
“Because he loved you.”
It was a statement, not a question. She nodded.
“Can you….Do you think you can tell me about it? About the two of you? I’d really like to understand.”
She was about to say that she didn’t want to talk about it. But he regarded her with those curious eyes, and he felt so much like Angel, that she thought maybe she did want to talk about it. So she told him. And as the words flowed, she found that they had a distant quality, as if it weren’t her life at all but someone else’s. Like it was some other girl whose heart beat for the undead and then broke for him, some other girl who had wanted nothing more in her whole life than forever with a vampire.
After she was finished, they sat together quietly for what seemed like a very long time. And then, because at that moment there was nothing she could do to comfort Angel, she wanted to comfort his son.
“If there’s one thing I knew about Darla, Connor, it’s that she would do anything to survive. And I mean anything.” She paused to let the words sink in. “She loved you. She must have. She staked herself so you could live.”
When Connor spoke, she could almost hear Angel’s voice.
“Thank you, Buffy.”
He got up and walked towards the staircase, then hesitated, considering something. He turned to face her again.
“Do you still love him?”
She remained silent, with a far off look on her face, so he left her to her thoughts. If he weren’t the son of two vampires he never would have heard her soft sigh, as if she were finally answering a question she had been asking herself for a long time. But he was the son of two vampires, so he did hear.
“Always.”
***
Willow’s self-referred “box o’ fun” manifested in the lobby the following morning, and only slayer speed prevented Buffy from ending up sprawled on the floor on its account. Each one of the strange assortment of items was carefully labeled with a post-it, and Buffy smiled at the thought of how nervous her friend must be at giving a written lesson on the hocus-pocus that would be carried out without her. It was dangerous territory for all of them. The ingredients for the Bu’shundi ritual, which would allow them to pinpoint Angel’s location anywhere in the dimension once they were there, were thoroughly wrapped, and she hoped that nothing too important was breakable. Anything fragile she may have in her pockets rarely survived the heat of battle. She pulled out a curious looking object that resembled a miniature sundial, along with a pouch of yellow powder that smelled ancient and mossy. Interdimensional clock, courtesy of Giles, was the cheerful message. Although there was no way to know how time traveled in other dimensions, this would allow them to keep track of the time of day in L.A. Faith appraised the object appreciatively.
“Way to go Giles,” she commented. “It’d hardly be worth the effort to drag his butt back here if he went all pillar of fire on us ‘cause, whoops, middle of the day.”
They sifted through the rest of the items. And then they found it, encased securely within a spell-protected capsule; the most important item in the parcel, and one without which they had no chance of success. It was the main ingredient for opening the portal. Buffy tucked the capsule securely in her pocket, mentally thanking Willow for the mystically protective shell. As she read the accompanying incantation, she found herself thanking her friend a second time. It was in English. If they had been forced to rely on Buffy’s Latin, there would have been a better chance of Angel sprouting wings and flying back to L.A. than their mission getting past the first step.
Between the three of them, they pocketed the miscellaneous needed items. Buffy called Dawn, just in case, and Connor assured his parents that the ‘medical missions trip’ he had joined was going well. Faith watched them from the doorway, trying to remember how many months had passed since Robin had been around to care where she went, no sign on her face to betray the sting in her heart at having no one to call.
***
They returned to the hole in the earth. It was where the first portal had opened, and Willow assured them that the energy was still strong. It was just a matter of her and the Coven creating enough of a distraction for Wolfram and Hart to be caught with their guard down. As Connor’s eyes perused the lingering carnage, Buffy tried to attune her senses for the best spot to begin.
“Cool!”
Both slayers turned at Connor’s exclamation. He stood next to the giant carcass that had preserved Angel’s jacket, alarmingly close considering the foul stench.
“What? And- gross.” Buffy motioned for the boy to step back.
His eyes were ablaze with unparalleled excitement.
“You guys know this is a dragon, right?”
Faith circled the thing and piped up from the other side.
“Junior’s right. Big-ass dragon tail and everything.”
Buffy pouted. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it was most certainly a dragon. Angel had slain a dragon.
She was very, very jealous.
“Stupid boys and your stupid dragons,” she muttered as they congregated in the center of the crater. “I killed a Hellhound with my bare hands once,” she offered hopefully. Faith shook her head and Buffy scrunched her face in defeat. It didn’t really compare.
They arranged the herbs in a circle around them and lit the candles. Buffy took a deep breath, centering herself, stilling the tremor of excitement she always felt in anticipation of battle.
“You guys ready?”
Faith glanced at Connor wryly.
“Why do I get the feelin’ we’re gonna have one pissed off big daddy vampire on our hands?”
Connor smirked, shrugged, hefted his weapon.
“He’ll get over it.”
Buffy spared one final glance at her companions.
“Down the rabbit hole.”
She began to recite the words.
Next: Chapter 6~ Into The Dark
Enjoy!
Title: From The Ashes: Chapter 5~ Destination: Déjà Vu
Author: Anna (bite_or_avoid)
Characters: Angel, Buffy, Faith, Spike, other canon characters
Rating: M for later chapters. This chapter is PG.
Word Count: 3,203
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon is an evil genius, who pwns all
Spoilers: All canon Jossverse for both series; I've never read the comics, so they don't exist here. Post-NFA.
Go to: Chapter 4~ Titans
Previously:
“Will, spill it!”
“The good news is I know where he is.”
“And the bad?”
“Where he is.”
Chapter 5~ Destination: Déjà vu
“What’s with the cryptic?”
The image of him chained to a boulder getting his organs torn out by a giant beastie was suddenly imprinted on her retinas.
“Don’t freak out.”
“Just spit it out Willow!”
“He’s in a Hell dimension.”
The memories were never buried deeply enough, simmering just under the surface of the years that followed. She could trace the life she forever lost to that moment-
The taste of his tears… the confusion in those warm brown eyes, the trust…the sword in her hand… no choice… Oh God!
“Is it… Acathla?”
“No, no, nothing like that. As far as I can tell, it’s one of those dimensions Wolfram and Hart keeps under wraps for their own little special projects.”
“So, is it too much to hope that we can bust in there and get him out without being noticed?” She desperately tried to keep the panic out of her voice.
Willow sighed. “Definitely too much to hope. It’s not easy to breach a Hell dimension under any circumstances, and this…”
“Willow.”
The Slayer within had heard the call to action, and now that the initial shock had receded her whole body twitched in anticipation.
“I may have cooked up something of a plan.” She heard the proud smile in her friend’s voice.
“Great. How fast can you astro-pro-whatsit yourself over here?”
“I can’t go with you Buffy. Wolfram and Hart has got some serious mojo working overtime to keep that dimension sealed. I need to stay here to make sure you can get in and out safely.”
“So we’re sans witchy power and back to fighting a Hell army the old-fashioned way? Break out the straight-jacket Will, because I just had the insane thought that Faith being here is of the good.”
“Now you girls play nice, or I’ll sic Giles on you.”
Silence reigned for a few moments, weighty with implication of dangers to come. It was Buffy that broke it.
“How- how’d you find him?”
“A witch never tells her secrets.” The redhead was quiet for a moment. “He’s a little worse for wear Buffy, but we have some time. They’ll be ok for now.”
She must be hearing things.
“They? As in, the third person pronoun used to indicate more than one individual?”
There was a chuckle on the other end of the world.
“Yeah. That’s the fun part. He’s not alone.”
***
“He’s where?”
Faith seemed equal parts worried, equal parts amused. Buffy rolled her eyes.
“A Hell dimension, Faith.”
“Figures. You don’t suppose he coulda said ‘no thanks, been there, done that’?”
Connor snorted beside her, and Buffy shot them both a death glare. Faith glared back mockingly.
“Chill out B. We know he’s ok. And hey, look on the bright side. At least you didn’t send him there this time.”
Connor took a step toward her, blue eyes wide with shock.
“You’re the ex that sent him to Hell for a hundred years? Way harsh.”
Buffy suddenly felt pretty defensive, not to mention angry at having one of the most painful moments of her life discussed like this.
“I thought you said you’ve met Angelus,” she said pointedly. And then, without thinking, added, “Angel told you about that?”
Connor appraised Buffy with a newfound respect.
“He mentioned it. Didn’t realize you were the girlfriend.”
He looked between Buffy and Faith, and a smile crept to his lips.
“So, um, what’s his deal with slayers?”
Buffy kept quiet, the line of her mouth rigid with unspoken words. She certainly wasn’t going to discuss this with him if Angel hadn’t. There were things she still couldn’t explain completely, even to herself. Faith nudged her lightly and winked.
“You know the deal, kid. Big love, big loss. Touching story, really.”
She risked a glance at Buffy again, and her look was infused with wry understanding.
“Me, I’m just in it for the irony.”
Confusion filtered across Connor’s face.
“’Cause of the whole, vampire slayers being friends with a vampire thing?”
Faith moved closer, face level with his, and there was no humor in her words now.
“No. ‘Cause of the whole, me trying to kill him more than once and him saving my life thing. I owe him, more than I can ever repay.”
She leaned in even further, punctuating with physicality the gravity of her words.
“You and me kid?” she whispered, motioning between them, “Not so different.”
She held his bewildered gaze steadily and then stepped away, turning to Buffy. For a moment, before Faith could hide it, Buffy saw and recognized the look in the dark eyes of her sister slayer. Angel had saved Faith, life and soul, and she would lay down that life for him if she had to. Buffy teetered, briefly, on the brink between resentment for that connection, and relief that Faith had diverted the topic away from where it had been heading. The leader in her won the momentary battle over the woman. There would come a time for thought and introspection later. She had done too much of it already. Now, they needed to be ready for what lay ahead.
She laid out Willow’s plan.
***
“No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I mean no, with a capital N-O. You’re not going.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. I grew up in a Hell dimension, Buffy. Don’t see anyone else around here who can claim the same.”
She sighed, exasperated.
“Do you realize what’ll happen if I let you come? Do you? Giles is gonna have to send a rescue party for the rescue party! And do you know why? Because if the demons don’ t wring my neck, Angel will!”
“I thought you were all ‘I am Slayer, hear me roar’. You’re telling me Angel scares you?”
“What scares me is the thought of dealing with him whining. And it should scare you too.”
In the end, after arguing about it for over an hour, they were still at an impasse. Finally, seeing that the kid was not going to back down, Buffy relented.
“God, stubborn much?”
She heard Faith chuckle. “Just like dear old dad.”
***
This was the part she hated. The waiting and planning part. Couldn’t she just chant some incantation, open a damn portal, pull a smash n’ grab, and kick her way back out? She knew it didn’t work that way. Buffy hated these types of situations, where her innate power and instincts weren’t enough. She reminded herself that rescuing ensouled vampires trapped in Hell dimensions by evil law firms wasn’t exactly the type of thing slayers were created for.
She busied herself with weapons and training while waiting for Willow’s package to arrive. Wes had left them some interesting things to choose from, but she had her own preferences. When she joined Faith and Connor in the basement, Faith laughed with amazement.
“I don’t believe it. How’d you manage to get that into the country?”
Buffy smiled, comforted and emboldened by the familiar wave of power as her fingers curled around the scythe.
“Same way I got it out in the first place.”
She shrugged mildly.
“Standard cloaking spell. Or so Dawn tells me.” Her voice swelled with pride. “Willow’s rubbed off on her. A lot.”
Faith quirked an eyebrow.
“She’s not dating a werewolf, is she?”
“What? No!” Buffy suddenly felt like she had a whole new realm of possibilities to worry about. She made a quick call to her sister.
***
Buffy’s elbow smashed into Connor’s ribs.
“Hey!”
“Don’t ‘hey’ me buddy! Never leave yourself open like that.”
Faith chuckled from her vantage point on the steps.
“Sucker for that elbow, aren’t ya kid? Maybe if you focused on her arms instead of her a-”
“Ooof.” Buffy landed hard on that particular part of her anatomy as he kicked her legs out from under her.
“He trained me you know.” He laughed as he held out a hand to help her up. She flipped her legs into the air and landed on her feet with barely a sound, swinging her staff on the way.
“Can tell.” Her staff met his with a clatter as he blocked. “I kicked his butt too.”
“Not on my account, I hope,” Faith offered helpfully, as Buffy swung the staff in a 360 degree arc and bounced it off Connor’s head.
“Ow!”
Thrust, parry, swing, clash. She had to admit it, the kid was good. Fast. Almost as graceful as his father. She nearly blushed at the memory of Angel, clad in drawstring pants and one of those form-fitting sleeveless shirts he loved (she loved them too), circling her dangerously as they sparred. Those training sessions had usually ended with one of them on top of the other…
“Ouch!”
Connor’s fist struck her painfully in the solar plexus. Good one Buffy, fantasize while training. That’ll help.
“Getting past your slaying prime B?”
“Doing a lot of talking for being the one sitting on your ass F.”
“Ready to tap me in?”
Buffy jumped in the air, clearing the staff as it arced toward her shins. “Keep dreaming.”
“Yeah. You could use the practice.”
Connor stopped in mid-thrust. “Do you two always talk this much?”
They changed weapons soon after, scythe versus sword, and Connor seemed much happier with this. Faith was restless, as always, so Buffy sat out to let her have a turn. Connor was even more pleased with that arrangement. They fought hand to hand, each taking as good as they got, Connor leaping off walls and getting in hits admirably. Finally, Faith managed to pin him to the wall with an iron grip on his neck, the same maneuver with which she had incapacitated him in the sewer. She grinned as she released him.
“You gotta watch your neck kid.” She winked. “Especially around vampires.”
***
They spent most of the day sparring. Buffy knew they were all more than ready to launch into action, and the frustration of waiting was only slightly alleviated by this release. When they finally stopped, she welcomed the exhaustion that had settled in her bones. Faith left on the hunt, not for vampires, but for booze and cigarettes, and Buffy recognized the tension that reflected her own in the hard set of her friend’s shoulders.
Friend? Where had that come from? She hadn’t thought of Faith that way in a very long time. In fact, for most of the time she had known her, her darker half had resided squarely in the ‘enemy’ box. She shook her head with wonder. All those years ago, it had been Angel who had seen Faith for what she was, and had helped to bring it to light. It was only fitting that now he would be the one to bring them back together.
***
Buffy sat on the divan in the lobby, Wes’s journals at her feet, and stared at the entry before her. They had returned, happy and triumphant after a great adventure, to the greeting of Willow’s somber face. Without a word, Angel had known. She read about how he had locked himself in his room and screamed, not letting anyone come near him for days. How he had traveled to Sunnydale to visit her grave and then sequestered himself in a monastery somewhere in Sri Lanka, not to be seen again for three months. He had never told her in words what he had gone through when they met, so briefly, after her resurrection. She had seen it in his eyes, as clearly as she saw it now, written in Wes’s meticulous hand. She wondered, if the positions were reversed, how long she would scream.
“I see the lurky acorn didn’t fall far from the tree.”
She felt him shift uncomfortably behind her, but received no response. Putting the journal aside, she tried again.
“Are you just gonna stand there channeling a statue, or do you want to come and sit?”
He shuffled forward, eyeing her almost warily for a moment, before joining her on the divan. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
“I see Angel taught you the fine arts of lurking and skulking. Both very important lessons.”
Connor laughed softly.
“So, you think I’m like him?”
“Yes. And no. But… I feel him in you.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“Did you know my mother?”
Buffy stiffened at the memory of Darla. Did Connor even really understand what he was asking?
“Yes.”
“Was she as evil as everyone said?”
“Angel told you that?”
“No. He didn’t really talk about her. He let it slip that he killed her once. And then she came back…. He only said that she loved me, but if she was evil how could she?”
Buffy tried to choose her words wisely.
“Look, Connor, I don’t really know anything about how Darla was when she came back.”
“But you knew her before…Do you know why he killed her?”
Buffy considered his question, weighed the options, settled on the truth.
“To protect me.”
If the information affected him, he didn’t show it.
“Because he loved you.”
It was a statement, not a question. She nodded.
“Can you….Do you think you can tell me about it? About the two of you? I’d really like to understand.”
She was about to say that she didn’t want to talk about it. But he regarded her with those curious eyes, and he felt so much like Angel, that she thought maybe she did want to talk about it. So she told him. And as the words flowed, she found that they had a distant quality, as if it weren’t her life at all but someone else’s. Like it was some other girl whose heart beat for the undead and then broke for him, some other girl who had wanted nothing more in her whole life than forever with a vampire.
After she was finished, they sat together quietly for what seemed like a very long time. And then, because at that moment there was nothing she could do to comfort Angel, she wanted to comfort his son.
“If there’s one thing I knew about Darla, Connor, it’s that she would do anything to survive. And I mean anything.” She paused to let the words sink in. “She loved you. She must have. She staked herself so you could live.”
When Connor spoke, she could almost hear Angel’s voice.
“Thank you, Buffy.”
He got up and walked towards the staircase, then hesitated, considering something. He turned to face her again.
“Do you still love him?”
She remained silent, with a far off look on her face, so he left her to her thoughts. If he weren’t the son of two vampires he never would have heard her soft sigh, as if she were finally answering a question she had been asking herself for a long time. But he was the son of two vampires, so he did hear.
“Always.”
***
Willow’s self-referred “box o’ fun” manifested in the lobby the following morning, and only slayer speed prevented Buffy from ending up sprawled on the floor on its account. Each one of the strange assortment of items was carefully labeled with a post-it, and Buffy smiled at the thought of how nervous her friend must be at giving a written lesson on the hocus-pocus that would be carried out without her. It was dangerous territory for all of them. The ingredients for the Bu’shundi ritual, which would allow them to pinpoint Angel’s location anywhere in the dimension once they were there, were thoroughly wrapped, and she hoped that nothing too important was breakable. Anything fragile she may have in her pockets rarely survived the heat of battle. She pulled out a curious looking object that resembled a miniature sundial, along with a pouch of yellow powder that smelled ancient and mossy. Interdimensional clock, courtesy of Giles, was the cheerful message. Although there was no way to know how time traveled in other dimensions, this would allow them to keep track of the time of day in L.A. Faith appraised the object appreciatively.
“Way to go Giles,” she commented. “It’d hardly be worth the effort to drag his butt back here if he went all pillar of fire on us ‘cause, whoops, middle of the day.”
They sifted through the rest of the items. And then they found it, encased securely within a spell-protected capsule; the most important item in the parcel, and one without which they had no chance of success. It was the main ingredient for opening the portal. Buffy tucked the capsule securely in her pocket, mentally thanking Willow for the mystically protective shell. As she read the accompanying incantation, she found herself thanking her friend a second time. It was in English. If they had been forced to rely on Buffy’s Latin, there would have been a better chance of Angel sprouting wings and flying back to L.A. than their mission getting past the first step.
Between the three of them, they pocketed the miscellaneous needed items. Buffy called Dawn, just in case, and Connor assured his parents that the ‘medical missions trip’ he had joined was going well. Faith watched them from the doorway, trying to remember how many months had passed since Robin had been around to care where she went, no sign on her face to betray the sting in her heart at having no one to call.
***
They returned to the hole in the earth. It was where the first portal had opened, and Willow assured them that the energy was still strong. It was just a matter of her and the Coven creating enough of a distraction for Wolfram and Hart to be caught with their guard down. As Connor’s eyes perused the lingering carnage, Buffy tried to attune her senses for the best spot to begin.
“Cool!”
Both slayers turned at Connor’s exclamation. He stood next to the giant carcass that had preserved Angel’s jacket, alarmingly close considering the foul stench.
“What? And- gross.” Buffy motioned for the boy to step back.
His eyes were ablaze with unparalleled excitement.
“You guys know this is a dragon, right?”
Faith circled the thing and piped up from the other side.
“Junior’s right. Big-ass dragon tail and everything.”
Buffy pouted. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it was most certainly a dragon. Angel had slain a dragon.
She was very, very jealous.
“Stupid boys and your stupid dragons,” she muttered as they congregated in the center of the crater. “I killed a Hellhound with my bare hands once,” she offered hopefully. Faith shook her head and Buffy scrunched her face in defeat. It didn’t really compare.
They arranged the herbs in a circle around them and lit the candles. Buffy took a deep breath, centering herself, stilling the tremor of excitement she always felt in anticipation of battle.
“You guys ready?”
Faith glanced at Connor wryly.
“Why do I get the feelin’ we’re gonna have one pissed off big daddy vampire on our hands?”
Connor smirked, shrugged, hefted his weapon.
“He’ll get over it.”
Buffy spared one final glance at her companions.
“Down the rabbit hole.”
She began to recite the words.
Next: Chapter 6~ Into The Dark