Sweeping Sighisoara chapter 9
Title: Sweeping Sighisoara chapter 9: Confrontations
Pairing: Willow/OC and for the rest, just read and see
Rating: Adult
Summary: A witch and a Slayer are sent to an old city in the mountains of Transylvania to retrieve a very powerful artifact, setting off a chain of events that will alter the fate of an entire dimension.
Spoilers/Warnings: Post-series; somewhat smutty (for now), violence
Disclaimer: Not mine, really! So please don't sue. Joss, Fox, Mutant Enemy and all the others are the ones!
Beta: dusty273
AN: Remember me? Long time no writing, I know. I hope there is someone out there still interested in this story. :D Many thanks to Sotia and Mari for their help with this.
*Anna Cafe, City center, Budapest, Hungary*
Tibor was standing at the bar, nursing a long double espresso extra sweet. He was stroking his graying moustache and beard in what was obviously a nervous tic, every so often checking his watch before taking another sip of his drink. Just as he was getting ready to finish the remainder of his coffee, pay his tab and go about his business something the newscaster on the TV above the bar was saying caught his attention.
“The violent explosion on Gyorgy Dozsa Street completely destroyed one building and severely damaged another two. Firefighters arrived within a few minutes to the scene and are trying desperately to fight the flames, but the official spokesman has declared that no survivors have been found in the rubble of the building where the explosion originated. More information about this…” His ears started whizzing and then the world got muffled as he watched the on-scene footage from the house he was supposed to be heading to. The house that held the Slayer Headquarters in Budapest, his place of employment as driver and guide for the girls, was now gone.
Tibor stumbled out of the café in a daze and started going down Váci Utca. If the Slayers had been wiped out, it could only mean one thing: he was going to die. And he was going to die soon. He finally managed to control his trembling fingers long enough to find the number for emergencies in his phone’s address book, all the while praying his family would be spared.
Just as he was about to press Call, someone bumped hard into him and made him lose his balance and his mobile. When Tibor raised his eyes, the person that had stopped him pressed his long, slender left index finger to his lips and made a shushing sound.
That was the last anyone saw of Tibor Puby.
~~~***~~~
*Castle grounds, Slayer Castle, Scotland*
Dawn and Spike were walking side by side along the line of trees separating the driveway from the training grounds. They were both uneasy about sparking up a conversation. Finally she stopped in her tracks, making him turn back to look at her after taking a couple of solitary steps.
“I’m sorry.” Tears started welling up in Dawn’s eyes. “I’m so very sorry for-” She stopped talking and just shrugged, unable to put what she wanted to say into words.
“You had your reasons.” He scratched the back of his head and then lit a cigarette to quell his nerves.
“I should have listened, though. I was just so upset that you left and then I didn’t know what to think and you weren’t there to talk to and…” She finally paused to take a breath while Spike stayed silent, puffing away at his cigarette.
“After Sunnydale I started talking more about it. I talked with Buffy and she explained things.” That seemed to interest the vampire, but he remained silent. “She told me about your relationship and how badly she treated you.”
“Now, now, that’s not entirely how it was. It takes two to tango and all that rot.”
“Still, I get it that it was more complicated than I thought and that I shouldn’t have treated you like I did that last year.” She stopped speaking and looked deep into his eyes. “I really am sorry, Spike. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Nibblet. Let’s just leave all that buried with the rest of Sunnyhell and just be, yeah?” Without another word, the two embraced as the last embers from Spike’s discarded cigarette died away.
When they finally parted, Spike kept his hands on Dawn’s shoulders. “Now, why don’t you tell me what possessed you to say ‘Yes’ to the Whelp.”
Amidst laughs and a few tears, she proceeded to tell him her story over the previous three years.
~~~***~~~
*Giles’ office, Spire Building, London, England*
“What do you mean I have no clearance? I’m the bloody Head Watcher, for Goodness’ sake!” Giles brought his fist down strongly on top of his parchment-covered desk in fury. It was the seventh time in the previous half hour that he tried to get in touch with a Slayer Contingent and the result was always the same. They asked for the new password and identification, which he didn’t have because he hadn’t changed them. Even his question as to who had instituted the new system was met with the same infuriating answer. And the Slayer Castle wasn’t picking up.
“I’m sorry, but this conversation is over.” Whoever it was that was picking up telephones in the Beijing Contingent, and had that positively atrocious accent, hung up on Giles after exactly fifty nine seconds of conversation.
The elderly Watcher knew that the answers would be the same whichever Contingent he called throughout the world. The only chance he had of getting some answers was to get a hold of those blighters from the Slayer Castle that had failed to inform him of their plans and shake them until they told him everything. All of a sudden, he had a breakthrough and dialed Andrew’s number in Italy.
”Mister Wells’ office, what can I help you with?”
For a brief moment Giles wondered if every secretary in the world had the same exact voice, no matter what the language they were speaking in. Shaking off his thoughts, he decided to try and get some information. "I wish to speak to Andrew. Now! This is Rupert Giles."
After a second of hesitation, the woman on the other end deigned to answer, ”He is unavailable at this time. He is in a conference call. May I take a message?”
“Tell him to pick up his phone now, I don’t care who he’s talking to!” With each word Giles spoke, the volume of his voice increased so that by the end of the sentence he was outright yelling into the receiver.
After another few seconds of silence, the secretary’s voice was back on the line, ”I’m sorry, sir, but he is unavailable at this time and will not be available for the remainder of the day. He shall return your phone call as soon as he is able to. Have a nice day.” And with that, yet another discussion ended with someone hanging up on Rupert Giles. He all but screamed in anger, especially since he was confident that Spike had something to do with all of this.
All of a sudden, the intercom lit up and his secretary informed him that Mark was there to see him. Taking a moment to recompose himself, Giles allowed him in.
The younger man sat down in the chair opposite his superior and immediately picked up on the subtle signs of tension. “Anything wrong, sir?”
Giles looked hard at his underling. In a very short while, he had become dependent on the man and wished he had the time to properly verify his background, his credentials, and to assess his potential. Some other things were more important, though. “I need you to find out exactly where Spike has been and what he has been doing in the past two years. He told me it was a parallel dimension and that he was fighting with the Senior Partners, but I want you to investigate this thoroughly. I have some problems with certain apparent coincidences. Needless to say I do not believe in coincidences.” When Mark failed to leave immediately, Giles snapped at him. “Was I unclear in any way? You have your duties to attend to. Go attend.”
Mark got up from the chair, gave a short nod and then marched out of the office, all the while cheering inside.
~~~***~~~
*Communication Room, Slayer Castle, Scotland*
Xander closed his cellphone’s cover, ending the phone call. “Done. That’s all the Slayer Chapters and Wolfram & Hart subsidiaries except London.” He turned around towards a stone faced Buffy. “You sure you want to do this?” He looked uncomfortable with the topic. “I mean, I get that you’re pissed at him, but this is Giles we’re talking about.”
“Yeah, I know. But he also screwed me over time and time again. And this time, it wasn’t just me that got hurt.” Turning around to go into her office, she spoke over her shoulder. “He has to pick a side once and for all; I’m done with the whole ’I’m Giles, I know better’ way of thinking.” Straightening her back, she walked thought the door, adding as an afterthought, “This is my Army, not the Council’s.”
Left behind in the Communications Room, Xander shook his head with sadness. He always hated it when there was strife between the Scoobies.
After she closed the door, Buffy all but collapsed in her chair. Gathering her strength, she picked up the receiver of the fixed line-for which Willow had already given the all clear as being bug-free in her sweep of the Castle and grounds-and dialed the number for Giles’ office.
After getting past the secretary and waiting for a short period, she got her former Watcher. ”Hello, Buffy. This is a pleasant surprise.” His tone was as pleasantly detached as always, but she’d known him long enough to detect a slight hostility towards her. He didn’t know the meaning of hostility yet!
“Giles. We have a problem, you and I.” There, getting straight to the point, as it should be.
“Is it Spike? I told you I wasn’t sure he could be trusted. What did he say?”
“No, not Spike. Although what he had to say was very interesting.” The Slayer started tapping her fingers in an attempt to remain calm.
”Oh? So what did he tell you?”
“Spike’s not the problem here, Giles-”
“Of course he is a problem. We have to make sure he is not trying to mislead us and divide our forces. I did notice I was cut off from communication with all our operatives. Care to explain that, Buffy?”
She was feeling her grip on her anger slipping, but tried once more to be civil. “I was just trying to get to that. If you hadn’t been so obsessed with talking about Spike, maybe we would have already covered the real threat we’re facing now.” Ok, so perhaps her grip wasn’t all that strong.
”Do tell. ”
“Dracula. He launched an all-out assault on Eastern Europe. We already lost contact with Budapest and Athens, and Istanbul apparently lost half its Slayers last night. All our Chapters were under surveillance and we believe he’s trying to somehow use the prophecy about the broom to his advantage. The Immortal-”
“Dracula, Spike, The Immortal, what reason do we have to believe any of them? What makes you think they’re not lying to us, or that they’re not all working together somehow? ”
Buffy saw red. Giles was once again jumping to conclusions and blaming Spike, and showing no respect or confidence in her decisions. “What’s the what with you going on and on about lying when you’ve lied to me for almost three years now? Or do you deny that Angel called for your help with Fred, and that both he and then Andrew told you Spike was alive? How could you lie to me? Again?”
”I did what I had to do. I’m only thinking of what’s best-”
The Slayer had had enough. “To Hell with what’s best! You used that card one too many times, Giles! From now on whatever you plan on doing, you run by me first!”
”Buffy-”
“And I’m sending someone over there. I don’t trust you anymore.” For the second time in just as many days, Buffy slammed the phone with Giles’ yelling on the other side. Mentally, she prayed that he wouldn’t do anything stupid until Tina got there to make sure there were no more secrets or “misunderstandings”.
Unknown to her, Mark received an urgent message to report to Giles while he was picking his team to investigate where the best resources of the law firm he worked for had gone to fight a rag-tag group of do-gooders and lost.
~~~***~~~
Shortly after dinner, Willow was talking to Buffy about what some covens from other countries had told her about the energies of the Earth shifting, alluding to terrible events in the future, when Xander knocked on the door.
“What is it, Xand? Please tell me there is no more bad news for today.” Buffy was feeling the strain of the previous twenty four hours. God, had it been only a day since Spike had first appeared in the hallway?
Xander shuffled in looking uncomfortable. “Well, I’m not entirely sure.” The furtive look he gave Willow made the redhead feel apprehensive. “We have more visitors.”
It was then that the two girls noticed that their oldest friend had left the door open behind him. The next thing they noticed was a couple standing in the doorway, the woman partially hidden by the familiar form of a male. “Oz!” Willow jumped to hug the man she hadn’t seen in several years, and clung to him like to a lifeline. They all gave them a moment to reconnect.
When they finally parted, Willow blushed a little and extended her hand to the woman. “Hi, I’m Willow. Want a hug, too?”
With a slight frown, the Scandinavian woman took the proffered hand and gave it a rigid shake.
Oz supplied the introduction. “This is Erika, my mate and leader.”
Everyone in the room took a second look at the woman that had managed to steal the heart of their former friend. To her credit, she didn’t seem intimidated at all, instead stepping forward almost regally to the center of the room and standing right in front of Buffy.
“You are the chief Slayer, are you not?” Her English was almost perfect, despite a slight Scandinavian accent. The tone with which she spoke demanded attention.
“Buffy Summers. At your service. Now what can we help you and Oz with?” Buffy also shook hands with the woman, feeling a bit odd when she did so. If her senses weren’t mistaken, there was a lot more going on with the girl than just being Oz’ mate. Mate, so not just wife. That would make her a werewolf too, right? But still, there’s more there.
“I am Commander Erika, of the Wolf Guard. We are the defenders of the Circle, protectors of the lands from the evil ones and sworn enemies of the Dark Lord. I am a werewolf.” Giving the rest a few seconds to digest her titles, she went on. “I am also the first member of the Guard to be Called as a Slayer.”
The silence that followed her statement was deafening.
Pairing: Willow/OC and for the rest, just read and see
Rating: Adult
Summary: A witch and a Slayer are sent to an old city in the mountains of Transylvania to retrieve a very powerful artifact, setting off a chain of events that will alter the fate of an entire dimension.
Spoilers/Warnings: Post-series; somewhat smutty (for now), violence
Disclaimer: Not mine, really! So please don't sue. Joss, Fox, Mutant Enemy and all the others are the ones!
Beta: dusty273
AN: Remember me? Long time no writing, I know. I hope there is someone out there still interested in this story. :D Many thanks to Sotia and Mari for their help with this.
*Anna Cafe, City center, Budapest, Hungary*
Tibor was standing at the bar, nursing a long double espresso extra sweet. He was stroking his graying moustache and beard in what was obviously a nervous tic, every so often checking his watch before taking another sip of his drink. Just as he was getting ready to finish the remainder of his coffee, pay his tab and go about his business something the newscaster on the TV above the bar was saying caught his attention.
“The violent explosion on Gyorgy Dozsa Street completely destroyed one building and severely damaged another two. Firefighters arrived within a few minutes to the scene and are trying desperately to fight the flames, but the official spokesman has declared that no survivors have been found in the rubble of the building where the explosion originated. More information about this…” His ears started whizzing and then the world got muffled as he watched the on-scene footage from the house he was supposed to be heading to. The house that held the Slayer Headquarters in Budapest, his place of employment as driver and guide for the girls, was now gone.
Tibor stumbled out of the café in a daze and started going down Váci Utca. If the Slayers had been wiped out, it could only mean one thing: he was going to die. And he was going to die soon. He finally managed to control his trembling fingers long enough to find the number for emergencies in his phone’s address book, all the while praying his family would be spared.
Just as he was about to press Call, someone bumped hard into him and made him lose his balance and his mobile. When Tibor raised his eyes, the person that had stopped him pressed his long, slender left index finger to his lips and made a shushing sound.
That was the last anyone saw of Tibor Puby.
~~~***~~~
*Castle grounds, Slayer Castle, Scotland*
Dawn and Spike were walking side by side along the line of trees separating the driveway from the training grounds. They were both uneasy about sparking up a conversation. Finally she stopped in her tracks, making him turn back to look at her after taking a couple of solitary steps.
“I’m sorry.” Tears started welling up in Dawn’s eyes. “I’m so very sorry for-” She stopped talking and just shrugged, unable to put what she wanted to say into words.
“You had your reasons.” He scratched the back of his head and then lit a cigarette to quell his nerves.
“I should have listened, though. I was just so upset that you left and then I didn’t know what to think and you weren’t there to talk to and…” She finally paused to take a breath while Spike stayed silent, puffing away at his cigarette.
“After Sunnydale I started talking more about it. I talked with Buffy and she explained things.” That seemed to interest the vampire, but he remained silent. “She told me about your relationship and how badly she treated you.”
“Now, now, that’s not entirely how it was. It takes two to tango and all that rot.”
“Still, I get it that it was more complicated than I thought and that I shouldn’t have treated you like I did that last year.” She stopped speaking and looked deep into his eyes. “I really am sorry, Spike. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Nibblet. Let’s just leave all that buried with the rest of Sunnyhell and just be, yeah?” Without another word, the two embraced as the last embers from Spike’s discarded cigarette died away.
When they finally parted, Spike kept his hands on Dawn’s shoulders. “Now, why don’t you tell me what possessed you to say ‘Yes’ to the Whelp.”
Amidst laughs and a few tears, she proceeded to tell him her story over the previous three years.
~~~***~~~
*Giles’ office, Spire Building, London, England*
“What do you mean I have no clearance? I’m the bloody Head Watcher, for Goodness’ sake!” Giles brought his fist down strongly on top of his parchment-covered desk in fury. It was the seventh time in the previous half hour that he tried to get in touch with a Slayer Contingent and the result was always the same. They asked for the new password and identification, which he didn’t have because he hadn’t changed them. Even his question as to who had instituted the new system was met with the same infuriating answer. And the Slayer Castle wasn’t picking up.
“I’m sorry, but this conversation is over.” Whoever it was that was picking up telephones in the Beijing Contingent, and had that positively atrocious accent, hung up on Giles after exactly fifty nine seconds of conversation.
The elderly Watcher knew that the answers would be the same whichever Contingent he called throughout the world. The only chance he had of getting some answers was to get a hold of those blighters from the Slayer Castle that had failed to inform him of their plans and shake them until they told him everything. All of a sudden, he had a breakthrough and dialed Andrew’s number in Italy.
”Mister Wells’ office, what can I help you with?”
For a brief moment Giles wondered if every secretary in the world had the same exact voice, no matter what the language they were speaking in. Shaking off his thoughts, he decided to try and get some information. "I wish to speak to Andrew. Now! This is Rupert Giles."
After a second of hesitation, the woman on the other end deigned to answer, ”He is unavailable at this time. He is in a conference call. May I take a message?”
“Tell him to pick up his phone now, I don’t care who he’s talking to!” With each word Giles spoke, the volume of his voice increased so that by the end of the sentence he was outright yelling into the receiver.
After another few seconds of silence, the secretary’s voice was back on the line, ”I’m sorry, sir, but he is unavailable at this time and will not be available for the remainder of the day. He shall return your phone call as soon as he is able to. Have a nice day.” And with that, yet another discussion ended with someone hanging up on Rupert Giles. He all but screamed in anger, especially since he was confident that Spike had something to do with all of this.
All of a sudden, the intercom lit up and his secretary informed him that Mark was there to see him. Taking a moment to recompose himself, Giles allowed him in.
The younger man sat down in the chair opposite his superior and immediately picked up on the subtle signs of tension. “Anything wrong, sir?”
Giles looked hard at his underling. In a very short while, he had become dependent on the man and wished he had the time to properly verify his background, his credentials, and to assess his potential. Some other things were more important, though. “I need you to find out exactly where Spike has been and what he has been doing in the past two years. He told me it was a parallel dimension and that he was fighting with the Senior Partners, but I want you to investigate this thoroughly. I have some problems with certain apparent coincidences. Needless to say I do not believe in coincidences.” When Mark failed to leave immediately, Giles snapped at him. “Was I unclear in any way? You have your duties to attend to. Go attend.”
Mark got up from the chair, gave a short nod and then marched out of the office, all the while cheering inside.
~~~***~~~
*Communication Room, Slayer Castle, Scotland*
Xander closed his cellphone’s cover, ending the phone call. “Done. That’s all the Slayer Chapters and Wolfram & Hart subsidiaries except London.” He turned around towards a stone faced Buffy. “You sure you want to do this?” He looked uncomfortable with the topic. “I mean, I get that you’re pissed at him, but this is Giles we’re talking about.”
“Yeah, I know. But he also screwed me over time and time again. And this time, it wasn’t just me that got hurt.” Turning around to go into her office, she spoke over her shoulder. “He has to pick a side once and for all; I’m done with the whole ’I’m Giles, I know better’ way of thinking.” Straightening her back, she walked thought the door, adding as an afterthought, “This is my Army, not the Council’s.”
Left behind in the Communications Room, Xander shook his head with sadness. He always hated it when there was strife between the Scoobies.
After she closed the door, Buffy all but collapsed in her chair. Gathering her strength, she picked up the receiver of the fixed line-for which Willow had already given the all clear as being bug-free in her sweep of the Castle and grounds-and dialed the number for Giles’ office.
After getting past the secretary and waiting for a short period, she got her former Watcher. ”Hello, Buffy. This is a pleasant surprise.” His tone was as pleasantly detached as always, but she’d known him long enough to detect a slight hostility towards her. He didn’t know the meaning of hostility yet!
“Giles. We have a problem, you and I.” There, getting straight to the point, as it should be.
“Is it Spike? I told you I wasn’t sure he could be trusted. What did he say?”
“No, not Spike. Although what he had to say was very interesting.” The Slayer started tapping her fingers in an attempt to remain calm.
”Oh? So what did he tell you?”
“Spike’s not the problem here, Giles-”
“Of course he is a problem. We have to make sure he is not trying to mislead us and divide our forces. I did notice I was cut off from communication with all our operatives. Care to explain that, Buffy?”
She was feeling her grip on her anger slipping, but tried once more to be civil. “I was just trying to get to that. If you hadn’t been so obsessed with talking about Spike, maybe we would have already covered the real threat we’re facing now.” Ok, so perhaps her grip wasn’t all that strong.
”Do tell. ”
“Dracula. He launched an all-out assault on Eastern Europe. We already lost contact with Budapest and Athens, and Istanbul apparently lost half its Slayers last night. All our Chapters were under surveillance and we believe he’s trying to somehow use the prophecy about the broom to his advantage. The Immortal-”
“Dracula, Spike, The Immortal, what reason do we have to believe any of them? What makes you think they’re not lying to us, or that they’re not all working together somehow? ”
Buffy saw red. Giles was once again jumping to conclusions and blaming Spike, and showing no respect or confidence in her decisions. “What’s the what with you going on and on about lying when you’ve lied to me for almost three years now? Or do you deny that Angel called for your help with Fred, and that both he and then Andrew told you Spike was alive? How could you lie to me? Again?”
”I did what I had to do. I’m only thinking of what’s best-”
The Slayer had had enough. “To Hell with what’s best! You used that card one too many times, Giles! From now on whatever you plan on doing, you run by me first!”
”Buffy-”
“And I’m sending someone over there. I don’t trust you anymore.” For the second time in just as many days, Buffy slammed the phone with Giles’ yelling on the other side. Mentally, she prayed that he wouldn’t do anything stupid until Tina got there to make sure there were no more secrets or “misunderstandings”.
Unknown to her, Mark received an urgent message to report to Giles while he was picking his team to investigate where the best resources of the law firm he worked for had gone to fight a rag-tag group of do-gooders and lost.
~~~***~~~
Shortly after dinner, Willow was talking to Buffy about what some covens from other countries had told her about the energies of the Earth shifting, alluding to terrible events in the future, when Xander knocked on the door.
“What is it, Xand? Please tell me there is no more bad news for today.” Buffy was feeling the strain of the previous twenty four hours. God, had it been only a day since Spike had first appeared in the hallway?
Xander shuffled in looking uncomfortable. “Well, I’m not entirely sure.” The furtive look he gave Willow made the redhead feel apprehensive. “We have more visitors.”
It was then that the two girls noticed that their oldest friend had left the door open behind him. The next thing they noticed was a couple standing in the doorway, the woman partially hidden by the familiar form of a male. “Oz!” Willow jumped to hug the man she hadn’t seen in several years, and clung to him like to a lifeline. They all gave them a moment to reconnect.
When they finally parted, Willow blushed a little and extended her hand to the woman. “Hi, I’m Willow. Want a hug, too?”
With a slight frown, the Scandinavian woman took the proffered hand and gave it a rigid shake.
Oz supplied the introduction. “This is Erika, my mate and leader.”
Everyone in the room took a second look at the woman that had managed to steal the heart of their former friend. To her credit, she didn’t seem intimidated at all, instead stepping forward almost regally to the center of the room and standing right in front of Buffy.
“You are the chief Slayer, are you not?” Her English was almost perfect, despite a slight Scandinavian accent. The tone with which she spoke demanded attention.
“Buffy Summers. At your service. Now what can we help you and Oz with?” Buffy also shook hands with the woman, feeling a bit odd when she did so. If her senses weren’t mistaken, there was a lot more going on with the girl than just being Oz’ mate. Mate, so not just wife. That would make her a werewolf too, right? But still, there’s more there.
“I am Commander Erika, of the Wolf Guard. We are the defenders of the Circle, protectors of the lands from the evil ones and sworn enemies of the Dark Lord. I am a werewolf.” Giving the rest a few seconds to digest her titles, she went on. “I am also the first member of the Guard to be Called as a Slayer.”
The silence that followed her statement was deafening.