DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from Buffy
the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon and the WB own all rights. And get to reap all the
benefits, lucky stiffs.
The Gift
part 6
by bec
Chapter XXI
Xander set the stack of books down onto the table and stalked to the donut box.. If they wanted him to work, they had to expect him to eat. Reaching in, he snagged a chocolate and sprinkled one. He opened his mouth and prepared to shove it in.
"And what does that make, five or six?" Cordelia asks. "Why don’t you have one of these, they’re better for you?" She waved an orange stick in the air as she spoke.
"A carrot stick! You expect me to eat a carrot stick! In five hours I’ve had a donut an hour, that’s not a bad ratio, not in my book." Smiling he took a big bite and chewed in her direction.
Giles came down the stairs from the stacks, reading out of a rather large dusty old tome. "I’ve found Darius. Nineteen Seventeen, Germany. He set up shop with a small band of vampires in Darscher, a small village that was destroyed in World War One. Strangely the war did not touch Darcher. For unknown reasons practically the entire village went missing. For unknown reasons, I’d say Darius and his cohorts were the unknown reason."
"What reference is that?" Angel asked moving toward Giles.
"The diary of Watcher Joseph Zimmerman, 1842 till 1903." Giles handed the book to Angel. "This is it, after five hours we still have nothing. I need to see Marissa’s papers. They should have returned by now."
"Maybe we should go and look for them?" Willow said looking up from the computer screen. She was starting to lose her concentration. Maybe a change of atmosphere would help wake her up.
"No." Angel said, "I think Spike and Marissa need some time alone right now."
"Yeah, we all know why Spike wants Marissa alone right now?" Xander said. "I’m with Willow, let’s go check on them."
"There is no need to check on anyone." Marissa said as she and Spike came through the double doors. "We are here, and we are fine. I have my notes and things for you to go over Giles, everything we will need is in here." She laid everything on the counter and turned to see all the faces staring at her and Spike.
"What, what is the matter?" She asks the blank faces staring at them.
"We were just wondering where you two had gotten too." Willow smirked.
"Yeah, you were gone a long time, just picking up books were you?" Buffy looked at Marissa with a grin in her eyes.
"We were talking, you know the concept, I talked, she talked. Talking." Spike said.
"Is that what you call it? We call it something else here in America dead boy. We call it . . ." Xander never got to finish. Spike turned and glared at him.
Xander could say and do anything he wanted to him, but he was not going to let him upset Marissa with his stupid innuendos.
"Well let’s get down to business shall we." Giles interrupted. Everyone stepped up to the counter and took a book and starting checking through them.
"Let’s see," Oz read out loud, "okie dokie ‘Wiccan Reference Guide’, Will, I think this one’s for you. He handed the book to the red head.
"Oh, Wiccan stuff, I love reading Wiccan stuff, the plot is so good and the action is . . . well nonexistent really." The girl giggled to herself. Oz smiled at her. Oz understood Willow’s humor, most people didn’t, but Oz always did. "Here," she said, "you get ‘Arthurian Legends’, that should keep ya occupied for a while."
Xander sat down at the table, he read the cover of his book skeptically, "I don’t think this is going to entertain me ‘Wentworth’s Fables and Tales’, I haven’t been into fairy tales in years."
"It is not to entertain you, you are to be looking for references to legends and prophecy’s that would possibly draw Darius out." Marissa said to him.
"We’re supposed to draw him out with children stories?" Xander asked.
"A lot of the old myths and children stories that you read today have a lot of fact from actual myths and legends." Marissa said. "Read."
She noticed Giles picking up a worn leather bound volume from the counter. She put her hand over the cover and looked him in the eye. "This book is for your eye’s only." Marissa told him quietly. "This is my journal. I am trusting this to you. There is no reason for the children to read this. Or Angel. Agreed?"
"I understand completely." Giles said. He took the journal and headed into his office, where he could read in peace, with no heads peeking over his shoulder.
"Ok, so the three of us are going to go scout the city, see if we can find anything that would lead us to Darius. Is that all right with you teach?" Buffy teased Marissa.
Marissa turned to Buffy, Angel and Spike, the three were already heading out the door. "Be careful, do not let your guards down, all right?"
Spike turned and looked at her, he had that leer in his eye, the one she loved so much, half playful, half deadly. "Always my sweet, always."
"So Spike, you gonna drool on the floor all night or are we out of here?" Buffy playfully said. A slayer could get used to teasing Spike she thought with a smile.
"You talking to me or your boyfriend over there?" Spike nodded his head at Angel.
"Angel doesn’t drool. He has manners." Buffy said as the door shut behind them. Angel threw a grin toward Spike over Buffy’s shoulder.
Marissa watched the doors swing shut behind them. She prayed that they would return safely. She turned back to the books and papers on the counter.
Xander pulled her attention from the books. "Marissa, Cordi thinks she has a idea on how to find Darius, you might want to listen to her, after all if our girl knows anything its her fashion do’s and don’ts."
***************
The memories that enter my head now that it is over, shame me. At the time I just wanted to die. Darius kept me weak and alone, locked in the chains for years on end. Only releasing me to rape me. I did not think I could stand the pain anymore. I was weak, a coward. I let him turn me into an animal. I would have done anything he told me to do, just to stop the pain. If William could have seen me then, would he have wanted me? Would he have been able to remember the girl I had been, the women he had loved?
But as time went on, the thought kept entering my head that I could make Darius kill me. I started taunting him. Saying such outrageous things to him. Throwing in his face that he was a lousy lover, not a real man. I wanted him to kill me, I wanted this over with, I could not take it anymore. At the time I had no ideal what he wanted of me. I had no special powers, I could not grant him the gift he covets so badly. He would kill me now if he knew what the gift was. This gift he covets so badly is not what he expects it to be. He thought I could give him what he wanted, he would have killed me then if he knew I was not the one.
Now my journey in life is to protect the one who can bring the gift forward, the one who will bring great joy and hope to the world. May I have enough strength to see this through. May God be with me, and with her . . .
Giles closed the book and removed his glasses. He was amazed at what he had read. Amazed that Marissa had survived the torture of being held by Darius. He didn’t like the fact that Buffy or any of the children had to deal with this creature. They had to come up with a plan that destroyed Darius but kept them all safe. And they had to do it quickly.
The door opened and Oz poked his head inside. "Hey Giles, Marissa wants you out here, she thinks Willow has found something."
Giles laid the book face up and open on his desk, replacing his glasses he nodded at the boy. "Ah, yes, I’m coming." He stood and walked into the outer room.
***************
"So he’s not hiding out in any of the factories or down at the docks, where does that leave us?" Buffy inquired of her companions.
"We told you he wouldn’t be in any of those places. He likes his comforts too much to be stuck in a drafty old warehouse." Spike told her.
"So where next?" Angel asked.
"To that gas station on the corner." Buffy said, she turned and started walking toward the lighted building.
"What the bloody hell are we going to find there?" Spike asked.
She turned and smiled. "A bathroom. I know the concept of potty breaks don’t enter your world Spike, but I for one need to go to the ladies room."
Buffy couldn’t hear Spike muttering to himself. "We go, we just wait a few years in between."
As Buffy entered the bathroom, Angel turned to Spike and asked him a question that had been on his mind for a while now. "So how’s that blood bank deal working out for you?"
"Bloody hell! You’ve lost all sense of taste in the last hundred years haven’t you? That crap is nasty, not the stuff I’ve been used to." Spike grimaced.
"But it will keep you alive and you don’t have to worry about looking Marissa in the eye, right?" Angel asked with a smile.
"And keeps the damn slayer off my back." Spike muttered. "And let me tell you that tip about microwaving it doesn’t work either. Still taste like cardboard. And those bastards who bring it out to me want more money, maybe I should just eat them. Save me money and satisfy my tastebuds at the same time."
"Spike you kill and your one dead vampire. You’ve been helping a lot lately. I understand why, but you kill one person and Buffy will have your ass in a minute we both know that." Angel said.
"Don’t worry about me, I’m doing fine. Hungry but fine." Spike turned toward the factory again.
"It’s amazing what we do for them isn’t it?" Angel said with a grin.
"What do you mean, for who?" Spike tried to act like he didn’t know what Angel was talking about.
"The women we love, that’s who." Angel laid his hand on Spike’s shoulder, his grin had grown in size.
Before Spike could answer a noise had him spinning away.
"What was that?"
"What?" Angel turned to see what he was looking at. He saw three shapes coming out of the shadows between two of the empty factories. "Vamps?"
"I think so, what the hell is keeping the slayer?" Spike asked anxiously.
"I’m here, what’s up?" The both turned to see Buffy coming up to join them. She saw the vampires immediately. "So who’s our lucky slayee’s tonight?"
"Well I’ll be damned, lookie at what we have here." Spike said.
"Jolly Roger, if I’m not mistaken." Angel said.
The three vampires walked off along the pier, heading for Main Street.
"Who’s Jolly Roger? A pirate vampire?" Buffy asked as they started following the three out into the street. They could barely make them out. They turned at the corner heading into the center of the city.
"A really stupid minion of Darius’s." Angel smiled. "I think we have our lead, follow Roger and he’ll take us to Darius."
"I can’t believe he has made it this long, he’s not exactly vampire material if you ask me." Spike said.
"Well I guess Darius forgot to ask you." Buffy grinned. "So we follow dummy and he leads us to the big cheese right?"
"One can hope." Angel said.
They stayed on the three’s trail until they came to a large house in the section of town surrounding Sunnydale’s small college. They passed through a rod iron gate attached to a 6 foot wooden fence that surrounded a large house and quietly snuck around to the rear of the house. As Buffy and company came around the building, they saw the vampires enter what looked like a large two story stone garage.
"He’s here." Spike said.
"How do you know he’s here?" Angel questioned him.
"He’s right. Darius or some other really big evil is inside of that garage." Buffy said. "I can feel him." She frowned. The last time she had felt this way was when she had gone up against the master, this was not a good feeling.
"Seems being human again does have its drawbacks in your present career." Spike smirked at Angel. "You don’t sense him?"
Angel looked at Spike and Buffy. "Nothing, not a thing. But to be sure one of us should try and see if they can physically spot him."
"I’ll go." Spike took off before either one of them could stop him.
"Damn it, he is so not the follow directions guy, is he?" Buffy said. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. "Good, there’s plenty of cover if we need it. Lot’s of trees and bushes, looks like whoever lives here has a thing about green things."
The building was made out stone, with six windows, two on the bottom and 4 on the second level. Red shutters were on every window. The heavy wooden door was painted a matching red. There was a bench on either side of the door. Two steps lead up to the porch. The windows were about six feet off the ground, Buffy would need a boost to see into them. But Spike was tall enough to see in, hopefully he could tell them if their quarry was there or not.
"Believe me if Darius is here, whoever lived here is dead." Angel whispered.
"Oh, I didn’t think of that." Buffy said.
Buffy looked over the house, it was about 25 feet away from the garage, shutters in the same shade of red were placed at each of the windows. All the windows were dark. Unlike the garage where lights were coming from all the windows. There were gardens and bushes between the buildings, different color flowers were spread through the yard. Buffy kept her eye on the house while Angel watched the garage.
Just when she was ready to go after Spike, he was back.
"Bigger than life, sitting in there just playing King of the Castle. It’s him." Spike growled.
Buffy turned to look at him and saw he was in game face.
"Why the fangs? Did you have any trouble?" Buffy ask.
"No, just took everything I had not to go in there and rip his heart out." Spike said. "After what he did to Marissa I want this guy dead, as in dust dead you understand me?"
"I understand how you feel, but we have to . . ." Buffy began.
"No, you don’t understand how I feel little girl. You will never understand how I feel." Spike turned and walked away.
As Buffy turned to follow him, Angel reached out and took hold of her elbow. "Let him go. He needs time to get control of the demon right now. He blames himself for what happened to Marissa, he’s the only one who can deal with it."
She turned back to look at the stone building. "Well, this is good, trees, bushes, gives us plenty of places to hide when it comes time to attack. And no visibility from the street. Is this guy so secure in his self that he doesn’t need any lookouts?"
"Darius has always thought highly of himself." Angel said.
"Well, let’s get back to the library and let Giles know that we found our bad guy."
They never looked back, if they would, they would have seen the door open and Darius step out into the night. "Run little slayer, run back to the nest. Soon my dear, soon."
Chapter XXII
Buffy and Angel entered the library bursting with their news.
"Giles, we got it, Darius is staying in a big house over by the college . . .
"1256 Burlington Way, the home of one Professor Nathan Greenly." Cordi told them with a huge smile.
"Wha. . .how did you know?" Buffy asked, she looked at Angel. He was just as baffled as her.
Xander walked up behind Cordi and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "It seems our Cordi does have a working brain after all."
She glared at Xander for a moment then turned and faced Buffy again. "I called my father’s tailor and told him that Daddy had passed on the shop’s name to a business associate, I ask him if Daddy’s friend Darius had been in yet, he told me that Darius had been there. And I ask if he sent his order to the corporate address or his private address? Alex, he’s Daddy’s tailor, told me the address he had sent it too. It was that easy."
"So why don’t I just wait here and you can go slay him, Cordi?" Buffy said sarcastically.
"Well we have his address, now we have to figure out how to get to him." Angel said as he moved towards the table.
"So they’ve taken over Professor Greenly’s house. He’s probably dead then. He was a good man, very interesting conversationalist. We’d spoken a few times at the Sunnydale Historical meetings." Giles said as he cleaned his glasses for the fourth time since hearing the news.
"We’re sorry about your friend Giles. But, thank goodness the good Professor liked a lot of green things around him. There are enough bushes and trees around his house and garage to give us plenty of cover." Buffy told him. She had jumped up on the counter and was swinging her legs over the edge.
Xander yawned and stretched his arms over his head, "So we’ve reconnoitered, we’ve researched, when do we attack?"
"You don’t. I do." Buffy told him. "Angel, Spike and I go in. You stay here and protect the women folk."
"Angel, why Angel, he’s just as human as I am now, why does he get to go and I don’t?" Xander complained.
"Cause he ate all his veggies, that’s why" Buffy smiled. "Xander, Angel can handle himself going up against those vamps. He’s got a lot of strength left over from his vamp days. You don’t."
"I am going too." Marissa said, she had been leafing through one of the books she brought from home, Willow had found a protection spell they might be able to use. "I know Darius, I know how he thinks, how he will react."
"Let me guess, we attack, he defends. Yep, that’s about it." Buffy jumped down from the counter and faced Marissa. "Don’t take this the wrong way here, but you froze, what makes you think you’ll react any different next time?"
"I am tired of explaining myself." Marissa leaned her head back and tried to defend herself, again. She brought her head down and looked Buffy in the eye. "I was momentarily surprised to find out he had managed to located me, I will be ready next time. Besides, I can be bait. He wants me, not you."
"Like hell," The double doors slammed back against the walls with a thundering crash. Spike stood in the doorway. He was back in his human guise. "There is no way in hell I will let him near you, do you hear me?"
Marissa closed her eyes and sighed. "The dead heard you. Must you act all macho, William? I can hold my own against Darius. And anyway he will be expecting that frozen little mouse he met in the alley, not the new and improved me."
"So you’ve gotten new and improved in the last 24 hours, I don’t think so. You yourself said it. He’s evil, more evil than any other vampire that the Slayer has come up against, right? Your not as strong as the slayer, what makes you believe you can handle him now, when you couldn’t in the alley last night?" Spike waited for her answer.
All eyes turned from Spike to Marissa, she felt like she was in some kind of crazed tennis match, they were waiting for her serve, waiting to see if she could win this point. And it angered her.
"I do not know, but I will be damned if I am going to sit here and wait, while these children go out there defending me. There is no way I am NOT going to help them." Her eyes were blazing as she spoke.
"Then help them," Spike walked to Marissa and slide his hands along her jawline, into her hair and gripped the back of her skull, "give them everything they need to know about Darius, but don’t underestimate these children. These children have been saving lives for a hell of a long time now. They know what they’re doing. Trust them."
Xander turned and looked at Oz, "did Deadboy just compliment us? Is that what I just heard?"
"I meant the Slayer and Red, not you." Spike never took his eyes off Marissa’s face. "I’m surprised you can dress yourself in the morning . . . boy."
Buffy, Angel, Cordelia and Oz tried to hide their giggling, but weren’t very successful. Giles just smirked and looked down at the floor. Marissa spoke again before the boy could retaliate.
"But I know everything they plan to do before they do it, all right?" Marissa asked.
"Fair enough" Buffy said. "So Will, tell me about this protection spell again?"
All heads turned to the computer where Willow should have been, but wasn’t.
"Where’s Willow?" Buffy asked the room in general.
"I think she is in Giles office, I will go and get her." Marissa said as she skimmed her hand along Spikes fingers, then she turned and headed toward Giles office.
Opening the door she saw Willow spring up from Giles chair, "Willow, Buffy wants us to go over the protection spell again for her, are you coming?"
"I’ll, ah . . . I’ll be right there, give me a minute ok." Willow said without facing Marissa.
"All right, we will be waiting, hurry." Marissa turned back into the library.
Willow looked down into Marissa’s journal one last time. She reached up and wiped away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. She took a big breath and held it for a second. How was she going to walk back in that room and face Marissa, knowing what she knew? Knowing what Darius had done to her. She returned the book to Giles desk exactly as he had left it. Hoping that he didn’t notice if it was moved. <Get a gripe Will. You can do this. Just walk in there and act normal.> Normal, was anything ever normal living on a Hellmouth.
As she opened the door, she marveled again at the strength it had taken Marissa to survive being a prisoner for five years. Being locked away from everything you know and love. Locked away, tortured and starved for all those years. Willow didn’t think she could have survived. Not that. She knew she wasn’t as strong as Marissa. She would have given in. Surrendered. <I’m not that strong. I never will be.>
"Willow, Marissa said you found a spell, something that will help us?" Buffy asked. "So show us, amaze us with your talents."
"I don’t have any talents, but there is a spell in the Wiccan’s Guide, that might be able to protect us against Darius’s magic." Willow said timidly.
"Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat," Xander mimicked a favorite cartoon character of Willows.
**********************
Darius stood at the monitor, he shrewdly watched as the players all took their places in his little puppet show.
"That’s funny, the little children think they can stop me by using magic. Well, what would they do if they found out I knew their little secrets as they came up with them?"
"What are you going to do if they discover the cameras?" Diego asked. He didn’t like all this technology. It baffled him, he didn’t understand what watching their enemy on these little screens would give them. He preferred to just kill his enemies, then wonder what they were up too later. But he had been with Darius long enough to know that voicing your opinion didn’t get you anything except pain.
Darius just smiled. "They do not even suspect that we can see and hear them. No, they don’t expect vampires to use these modern wonders. They never suspected the "janitor" doing a little work in their precious library earlier in the week. This slayer and watcher are used to dealing with stupid vampires, the kind that end up as little piles of dust along the way. They will never figure it out."
"Unless you plan to betray me again?" Darius turned and caught Diego’s eyes, holding them with his cold stare. "You did it once, how do I know you’re not planning to doing it again? You can’t stand the thought of me being with her, can you Diego?"
"Never, Master, I have learned my lesson, I would never betray you again." Diego dropped to his knees before his lover. He did hate the fact that Darius was trying to bring that bitch back into their fold. It drove him crazy to think that Darius preferred her to him. But after the punishment Darius had inflicted on him when he helped Marissa escaped, Diego would never do anything to bring that pain down upon himself again.
Darius reached down and stroked the scars running along the smaller man’s face. "You remember don’t you, mon amoureux, the pain, the joyous pain. The scars are there to remind you of what can happen if you betray me again. Ah, mon petit, I know why you did it, I understand. But you have to understand she is the only one who can bring me my Gift. The only one who can help me achieve my greatness. I know you love me, I know you would die for me. And believe me, you will die if you ever betray me again. But always remember this, I am Master here. As long as you remember that, nous irons bien mon petit un."
"Yes, My Lord, never again. Never." Diego nudged his cheek into Darius hand. Never again, no matter what happened. Not even his jealousies would let him forget the pain Darius had inflicted on him. He thought back to that night that Darius had found out what he had done. He had just wanted the girl gone. He knew if she was away from Darius everything would be fine again. Darius would return to his bed. He remembered the rage, the anger. Darius had been out of control when he found the girl’s cell empty, the girl gone. Stupidly Diego had thought that if Darius knew why he had done it, Darius would forgive him, he eventually had forgiven him. But only after holding Diego’s head down in a tub of holy water. Every night for years after, he had had to endure this same punishment over and over again. The constant torture had lead to the scars that would never fade, never heal ,never let Diego forget what would happen if he ever thought to betray his Master again.
"Now go, find me something to break my fast. Find me a sweet kill." Darius pulled Diego to his feet and gave him a small push toward the door. "Maybe I will let you dine with me tonight. Just maybe."
Diego rushed to do his Lords bidding. As the door closed behind him, Darius returned to the monitors. He listened to Marissa, Spike and the humans make plans. Plans that would never lead anywhere. Darius released a chuckle to himself. Oh yes, modern technology was a miracle.
He watch Spike reach out and touch Marissa’s face. The rage almost boiled over in him. He decided then and there that Spike would die when this was over, first Druscilla then that scrawny boyfriend of her’s would be next. He’d make Marissa watch too, make her watch as he killed him. Yes that is what he would do, and he would enjoy it, immensely.
Chapter XXIII
"But if we use this spell, Willow has to be with us, in the same area as Darius, I do not think I like that idea." Marissa said. "I want her well away from him when this goes down."
"Trust me, I can handle this, I can." Willow told the group.
Buffy, Marissa, Giles, Angel, and Cordi were in the library, going over the plan one more time, Buffy wanted everyone to know exactly what was going to happen. So far everything was going smooth, everything except the plans for Willow and Marissa. Those two wanted to be part of the big picture, and everyone else wanted them protected. Xander and Oz were doing reconnaissance at the late Professor’s mansion. Willow was helping out one of the teachers, they expected her soon. Spike was still sleeping, as soon as the sun was down they knew he would be there.
We’ll keep the spell in mind if nothing else can be done, how’s that?" Giles asked.
"Alright, if we find nothing else, we use Willow’s spell, but she is never to be left anywhere near Darius, understood?" Marissa said.
"We all agree on that. So then everyone agrees on using the bushes and trees as cover," Buffy said, "the Professor was a regular Tom Thumb, we can thank him for that."
"Green thumb, not Tom Thumb." Giles smiled.
"Whatever." Buffy said. "It will give us plenty of places to sneak up on them."
"Yeah, hiding in the bushes, its what every hero does." Cordi said sarcastically.
"First we hide, then we attack." Angel said. "Using the plans for the garage that Willow downloaded from the city planning office, I’ve drew up this map of the area."
He placed a large heavy piece of cardboard onto a easel he had brought into the room earlier, it wouldn’t be missed in the art class till Monday so they had it for the weekend.
"Wow, you drew this?" Buffy ask.
"It’s great Angel." Willow gazed at the drawing. "This’ll come in handy, there’s a lot of changes that aren’t on the plans I stol..ah, downloaded."
Marissa smiled as she moved in-front of the others, "Alright, down to business. Who is going in first, and where do you want the rest of us?"
"Good try, but your not going anywhere." Buffy threw her a "we’ve been through this before" look.
"I go in first, I want Angel going in through the back door, your job is to take out any vamps you meet. No one in, no one out." Buffy was in full slayer mode. "Xander and Oz are going to be stationed outside the front doors. If any do make it outside, they’ll have to dust them." "Giles and Spike with me on the inside. I figured we'd use the crossbow’s. Any objections?"
Willow and Marissa crossed their arms, their faces showed what they thought of the plan.
"Oh excuse me, remember us, the estrogen league?" Marissa said. "And what exactly are we doing, folding towels and boiling water?"
"Yeah, I mean I think we’ve proved ourselves in the past. Why do we have to stay behind?" Willow couldn’t believe they were not being included in the plans.
"Speak for yourself, I can find plenty of things to do back here at the homestead." Cordelia said sarcastically. "Widdle stakes, dust the books, anything as long as I’m not bait again."
"You three will be in the van, if we need you, we’ll call you. We need someone to have the engine running, someone to drive the getaway van if this doesn’t work." Buffy said.
"Or someone to call the coroner’s office." Cordi snapped
"No ones calling the coroner’s office." Giles removed his glasses for the hundredth time and started whipping them with his handkerchief.
Marissa was amazed that there was any glass left in the lens. "We can do more than keep the engine running. I can not believe you are not going to use my powers to help you?"
Buffy really didn’t want to get into this conversation again. "Marissa, I know you want to help, but let’s face it, you turn to jello when your around Darius." Marissa started to protest, but Buffy cut her off. "I know you want to help, but I have to be able to count on you, and I can’t. Not with the lives of my friends. I’m sorry."
"I have trained for almost 20 years for this. The Wiccan arts, the karate, the weapons training…." She trailed off when she realized this was not getting her anywhere.
As Buffy turned back towards the map of the area Xander and Oz came through the library doors.
"Well you can just forget Plan A." Xander said.
"I don’t think we have a Plan B, do we?" Oz ask as he followed Xander into the room.
Buffy turned towards the boys, "what are you talking about?"
"Well it seems our guy Darius just doesn’t like all that green after all." Xander slumped down in a chair, he knew Buffy wasn’t going to be happy about his. "He plowed the south forty under today, black topped the whole freakin yard. Not a tree or bush in site."
"Oh no, how are we going to work our way to the garage with nothing to hide behind?" Willow cried.
"When did he have time to do this, I was just there yesterday?" Buffy ask no one in particular. She couldn’t believe this. This guy was too quick, too smart for her taste.
"Overnight I’d say." Oz said. He took the chair facing the others. His job was to sit and wait until Buffy gave him orders, so he’d sit and wait.
Buffy turned and ran her fingers through her blonde locks. "Ok, we can deal with this, just give me a little bit of time. We’ll figure something out.
Spike turned the corner and headed towards the warehouse dock. He was late, he was supposed to pick-up his supply of blood at 9:00PM, he was thirty minutes late. He shouldn’t have taken the time to call Brother Luca in Canada to see if he had heard anything on his network system. It was a big waste of time, unfortunately he’d heard nothing. Or maybe that was a good thing. Spike just wanted this over with, he wanted Marissa safe. Thinking of Marissa’s safety was the number one priority in his life right now. As soon as this was all over he was gong to sit down with Marissa and they were going to talk. They had gone straight from shock at seeing each other again to hopping into bed, which wasn’t a bad thing on Spike’s side of things, but they needed to talk. Since the night they had made love they hadn’t talked much, they didn’t have much time to. Also, all this planning was working on his nerves, it was hard for Spike to customize his self to "planning", he was more the "attack and feed" type. But if it got rid of the threat from Darius, he was all for "planning".
He approached the dock and noticed the light was off, no truck parked there either. "Shit, I missed him." Spike wondered what the hell he was going to do now. He shouldn’t have waited to restock, he should have purchased more blood as soon as he noticed how low he had gotten. Heading towards the school with a empty belly was not the smartest thing he could do, but what choice did he have. He needed to talk to Angel. Maybe he should think about getting himself one of those cellular phones like the rich chick, Cordelia had. Might come in handy.
It might have been the new diet that has his senses so low key, or maybe it was from hanging with so many humans in the past few months, whatever it was he didn’t notice the four vampires until they were practically on top of him.
"Well, look what we have here, Bozo the clown and his idiots." Spike faced the tall vampire who had stepped out in-front of him. "What do you want Cyrus. I’m in a hurry and your in my way."
Cyrus just stood and looked at Spike for a few moments. In some ways this was hard for him to do. Spike had always been a good leader. He had kept them fed, kept them in-line, kept the slayer away from them. But he followed a new leader now, and he didn’t want to go back and face Darius if he didn’t do what he was told.
"Somebody wants to see you Spike." Cyrus just stood and looked at him, waiting, knowing Spike he knew this was not going to be easy.
"Well, have them call my secretary, make an appointment." Spike didn’t have time for this, he had to talk to Angel, his appetite couldn’t be put on hold forever. He turned to go around Cyrus.
Cyrus blocked his way again. "I don’t think that’s an option. Darius wants to see you, well see you dead is more like it, but hey I just follow orders around here."
"You used to follow my orders, remember?" Spike said, keeping an eye on the other three vamps at the same time.
"That was before, before you betrayed us all. Your working for the humans now. Never would have believed it if I hadn’t have seen it with my own eyes." Cyrus couldn’t hide the irritation he felt. He would never had believed Spike had switched sides until he had seen it on the monitor screens that Darius kept.
"Well, we all change. I got tired of hanging with losers all the time. Know what I mean." Spike grinned at the younger vampire. He saw the other three move into attack position. He threw his head back with a sigh, "I don’t need this shit Cyrus. Just tell Darius that you couldn’t find me ok."
"It doesn’t work that way Spike, Darius knows all, he "sees" all." This last remark was made with a smirk. "He’d have my head, and I kinda like my head, know what I mean."
Cyrus reached inside his jacket and withdrew the small handgun Darius had given him. If this didn’t work he was a dead man. He aimed it at Spike’s chest.
"Oh come on, you’ve got to be kidding. Guns. You really think that gun is going to stop me?" Spike couldn’t believe this guys stupidity. Ok, enough was enough, he took a step towards Cyrus, trying to keep the other three in his side vision.
"POP"
The gun went off, before Spike could move something struck him in the middle of his chest. He looked down at the small feathered dart sticking out of him. "What the hell do you thin..what the hell was…"
The dizziness came on all at once, his vision doubled and for the first time in a long time he felt hot. He stumbled to his knees, still trying to figure out what they hell was going on. The blackness engulfed him before he could make his mind work.
Marrisa pulled up to the curb and put the car in park, she turned to Willow. "Try and get a good nights sleep, alright? We will see you tomorrow."
"Don’t stay up all night on your computer ok, Will." Buffy said from the backseat.
"I won’t I promise. I wonder why Spike didn’t show up tonight?" Willow ask as she stepped from the car.
"He’ll show up tomorrow, don’t worry about it." Buffy took the front seat and closed the door. She smiled and said, "you know he can’t stand being away from Marissa for too long."
"And we are not discussing this again." Marissa said as she put the car back in drive. "Get some sleep Willow. See you tomorrow."
Willow watched as the car pulled away from the curb. She turned to walk up the front walk, the house was shrouded darkness, her mother had apparently forgot to leave the light on for her. Which was strange, her mom usually left it on for her whenever she was out late.
What Willow couldn’t see from the walk was the broken glass that lay on the wooden porch, the pieces glittering in the soft glow of the moonlight. She moved up the walk, not noticing her surroundings, she was deep in thought, trying to figure out a way to help Marissa. She hadn’t known the vampire long, but she felt a closeness to her, not as close as Buffy or Xander, but a different kind of emotion came through when she thought of the young women. After reading the diary she had a deep need to help her, to make sure that Marissa never had to worry about Darius again. She moved up the small steps that lead up to the porch. So deep in thought, she never say the shape step out from behind the large white pillar that framed the porch steps. The hand closed around her mouth before she had a chance to scream. Something was placed over her mouth and nose, whatever it was it reminded Willow of the doctor’s office, it made her dizzy, lightheaded. And then nothing….
Chapter XXIV
Spike had awoken about an hour before, no one had spoken to him, or even acted like he was there. Fine with him, he didn’t feel like talking to anyone at the moment. He had sat and berated himself for the entire hour. He couldn’t believe he had let that bastard Darius get him. Hell, it hadn’t even been Darius, he sent that punk Cyrus to get him, he had let a weasely little underling capture him. He knew where he was, he was inside the garage behind the professors house, the same garage that they had sat and planned how to get into for the last 2 weeks.
Well, Spike had gotten himself in alright. Now the problem was getting out. He needed to get back to the library, to let Buffy know about the surveilence devices that Darius had somehow placed in the library. Everything that had been said or done was showcased on the monitors that Darius had set up. Everything that they had planned; fed right too Darius. Spike had told them that Darius was an expert, but even he hadn’t suspected this. He spied two unknown vampires watching the three monitors that sat about 10 feet in-front of him, he could see the images that appeared on the screens, the first monitor showed the stacks, winding down through them to the rear entrance, the second one was facing the entrance and the front desk, the last one was turned directly onto the table, the same table where all the research had taken place. Every word that had been said in that room had been piped right to the enemy. They had had no chance of surprising Darius, no chance of ever getting to him. He knew everything as soon as it was mapped out.
He turned his attention to the rest of the garage, he scanned the rows of bookshelves that had been pushed up against the walls, you could still see the scrape marks on the floor that had been made moving the shelves across the dusty cement floor. The professor must have used the garage as a study. There were two rows of windows, 6 on the bottom about 3 feet from the floor, and 6 more about 12 feet from the floor, Spike had seen the plans of the building, what once had been two floors was now one large open space. Whoever had changed the interior had left the second story windows in-place. But the windows wouldn’t be any help now, they had been boarded up so that no sunlight could reach the inside. There were three entrances, but two of them had also been covered with boards, effectively blocking anyone from entering or existing through them. He turned to the only remaining exist just in time to see it thrown open. Three vampires entered, Cyrus and two other’s that Spike recognized from the mansion. One of them carried a body over his shoulder.
Spike watched their burden into the garage. He couldn’t tell who it was yet, they had a thick wool blanket thrown over them. It wasn’t moving, but he could tell it was a women or a small boy, the hairs on the back of his neck stood out. Thinking that it might be Marissa under the blanket caused the ridges to rise up on his face. He pulled the chains holding his wrist together. No matter how hard he pulled, nothing happened.
Cyrus walked behind Spike, Spike couldn’t see what he was doing, the area behind him was blocked off by dividers made out of cloth, the kind they used in office complex’s. He couldn’t see or hear anything behind the walls. Cyrus shoved another chair next to Spike’s. "We thought you might be lonely so we went out and got you somebody to pass the time with." Cyrus laughed at his own joke. Spike didn’t find it too funny. The image of ripping Cyrus’s head off flashed through Spike’s mind, Spike smiled at the thought.
Cyrus noticed Spike pulling on the chains. "And you can forget about trying to break those chains, ain’t going to happen, those are Darius’s special toys. You can’t break’ em, believe me I’ve tried."
The other two vampires dumped the body onto the chair, pulling the blanket off. Spike saw the red hair first. He realized in that moment that it wasn’t Marissa. Darius had grabbed Willow. It started making sense to Spike. The two people closest to Marissa. They were the cheese, if you can’t get to the mouse, bring the mouse to you. He knew Marissa would blame herself for this. He could take care of himself. Marissa knew that he wouldn’t give in, wouldn’t help Darius capture her. But Willow changed the rules of the game. For one, she was human, she couldn’t protect herself against any of them. Spike at least understood what he was dealing with, he was one of them after all. He knew how their minds worked. And it didn’t look good for Willow. He watched as they pulled the girl’s hands behind her back and snapped the chain cuffs in place. Willow moaned.
"Oh for christ sake Cyrus, you really think Darius wants you bruising the bait?" Spike tried to reason with the other vampire the only way he knew how, by taunting him. "She’s a weak human, you really think the chains are necessary. What, are you afraid of the little chickie? Big bad demons, oh yeah"
"Darius says chain her, I chain her." Cyrus pulled hard on the chains to make sure they were locked in place. Willow head flew back and she moaned louder. Spike watched as tears fell from the corner of her eyes. He watched as her eyes slowly opened. She gave herself a shake and turned towards Spike.
"Where am I?" Willow ask him.
Spike opened his mouth to answer her, but before he could another voice came out of the darkness behind them.
"Welcome to my humble home Ms. Rosenberg, I don’t think we’ve been introduced." The same man that Willow had seen in the alley came around from behind her and stopped when he was facing her. "You must be Willow, I’ve heard a lot about you. You and your friends. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Darius. I’m a friend of Marissa’s. I could be your friend too" He said all of this with a gleam in his eye. If Willow hadn’t read Marissa’s diary, she might have believed the look in this man’s eyes. But she knew from Marissa’s writings that this man could smile like a angel and rip someones heart out at the same time.
"I know who you are, I know all about you." Willow looked him directly in the eye and tried to act like she wasn’t terrified. "So you can just take your smoozy looks and your fancy clothes and just forget it. I know what you are, who you are, I know what you’ve done to Marissa. Your not her friend and your certainly not mine. I don’t have big evil demons for friends. Well, only Spike, but he’s not evil anymore." She turned to Spike. "Or else you wouldn’t have him in chains too."
Spike sat and listened to Willow give her little speech. He was impressed. You could hear the fear in her voice, you could see the slight trembling of her lips. But he had to give her her due, she was tough, she didn’t want Darius to see that fear.
Darius smiled. He liked this child, he liked her strength in the face of danger. The more he learned about Sunnydale’s slayer and all her friends the more he liked them. He had to kill them of course, but he still liked having a good strong enemy in the fight, it took away the boredom that attached itself to him more and more as the years went by.
"Oh well, can’t say I didn’t try, being the gentleman I am, I had to make the effort you understand." Darius smiled at Willow, then he turned to Spike.
"Now here’s a puzzle, Spike, Spike, Spike, you’re a demon, your not supposed to be helping the humans. You have made yourself personnal-non-grata in the vampire community. And not to mention you have really hurt Druscilla. It’s bad enough that you turned your back on all of us, but the women you love, tsk, tsk. You broke her heart you know. She doesn’t understand why you would do this."
Spike knew the only way to handle Darius is to remain in control, and control was not one of Spike’s strong suits. "Druscilla doesn’t have a heart. Remember undead and all that. And since when do you care about Druscilla. I mean, lets get serious here Darius, Druscilla isn’t why you’re here. We both know that. She’s just a means to an end for you. And one thing I have learned about Druscilla over the years is not to underestimate her. Once she realizes your not really here to help her, well, lets just say, it ain’t going to be pretty. I don’t even think YOU could handle a pissed off Dru."
"Your right, Druscilla is not why I am here." Darius told Cyrus to bring him a chair. He motioned to Cyrus to place the chair facing them, practically between them. As he sat down his thighs brushed both Spike and Willow’s legs. "We both know what I am here for. And we both know I get what I want. Marissa might have shared a past with you, but that past is over, its been over for a long time. I’ve watched the goings on in your little library, I know your not having a easy time of it, with Marissa or the humans. They just don’t trust you Spike. And why should they, we’re not like them, we’re stronger, more powerful, shall I say." He smiled, he raised one hand and slowly ran his palm up the inside of Willow calf, over her knee, he stopped when his fingertips slid under her skirt. "They ‘re here for our pleasure, we both know that. At least you used to partake of them, so how is that cow’s blood working out for you, not quite as satisfiying is it?"
Willow raised her knee away from Darius’s hand but he followed her. His grip went from soft to bruising in less than a second. Willow moaned. Her eyes going from Darius to Spike.
"And such fine pleasure they bring us. If you took the feeding away, their worthless, fearful creatures, not worth our time. We let them live at our whim." Darius stared into Willow’s eyes. He could smell her, smell the glorious innocence that radiated from her. "I understand your draw to this one, she reminds me of Marissa. When I first met Marissa she had such a innocence surrounding her. This one might make a fine toy, don’t you think."
Spike forgot all about his promise to remain controlled. The ridges returned to his face, his eyes glowing a erie yellow. At first he thought it was his hatred of the man in front of him that was tearing his control away, but then he realized that Willow’s fear was feuling his hunger. He closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling the hunger.
"Your hungry aren’t you? I can’t believe you’ve sunk so low. You disgust me, letting these humans control the demon inside you." Darius removed his hand from Willow’s leg, he moved around behind her, he ran his hands down her hair, turning his fingers beneath the locks and drawing it away from her neck. "Look at her Spike, so young, so vibrate, she has such an energy surrounding her. She’s strong this one, not as strong as the slayer, but she has her own strengths. Damn, you can smell it. He lowered his head, yanking her head to the side and inhaling her scent. Willow whimpered, she closed her eyes, expecting to feel his teeth sink into her neck at any moment.
Spike threw everything he had into breaking the chains. He didn’t know if he was trying to get to Darius or to get to Willow. He could smell her, smell her fear mixed with the odor of her blood.
Darius reached behind Willow and snapped the chains that were holding her wrist together. He pushed her to her knees in front of Spike, bearing her neck for the younger vampire.
Spike stared at Willow’s neck. He watched her jugular, watched the blood moving through the vein, watched her chest rise and fall with each breath she took. All he had to do was lower his lips to her neck, one taste, that’s all, just one small taste. Without even thinking about it, he lowered his head. Marissa’s face flashed acrossed his mind, causing him to freeze. If he did this, if he fed from Willow, Marissa would never forgive him, never again look at him with love in her eyes. She would hate him. Eternally.
"NO, damn you, I won’t do this. Spike closed his eyes and concentrated. Marissa’s name repeating itself over and over in his mind. Repeating it till he gained control of his demon once more. He opened his eyes and stared at Darius. "You can’t make me do this, I won’t."
Darius pulled Willow to her knees, he pushed her toward Cyrus. "Chain her back up. It seems our friend Spike isn’t hungry enough yet. But he will be, sooner or later he will be."
Cyrus returned Willow to her chain, he snapped the chains back in place. He too could smell the young girls fear. The thought flashed acrossed his mind that he could sample her if Spike didn’t want her. His feature’s changed and he grabbed her head, ready to bite into her neck.
"Do it and you die." Darius never even looked at him. He stood with his back to them. Cyrus’s fangs retracted. He released the girl, he didn’t want to piss Darius off. He was no fool.
"Don’t you have something to do Cyrus?" Darius still had not turned around.
"What?" Cyrus was confused, he had done everything Darius had ask.
Darius finally turned and looked at the other man. "Did you leave my little message at the school? Place it exactly as I told you."
"I’m going to do that now, and I’ll put it exactly like you told me to, no problem. On the table, they’ll see it as soon as they walk through the door." Cyrus turned and motioned for the other two vampires to follow him. The three of them left the garage.