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 7
by bec
Chapter XXV –
Xander entered the school, he couldn’t believe he was spending another Saturday entrenched in the library. He thought back to his days before slaying, days spent sleeping in on the weekends, he wouldn’t get up till the sun was high in the sky. Days of eating cereal while still wearing his pajama’s. He wouldn’t even get dressed until his mother yelled at him three or four times first. Then he and Will would watch old movies together or play miniature golf. Those were the days. Well sorta the days. He never thought he would admit it, but hell, he enjoyed helping Buffy fight evil. He really got a kick out being on a winning team. It had came close a few times but they always managed to pull their butts out of the fire. Yeah, he enjoyed these days better than the old days, he had finally found a purpose for his life. But he did miss sleeping in on Saturday’s.
He spotted Buffy and Giles ahead of him heading towards the library.
"Why are we meeting at 7 a.m.? Couldn’t we go over all this stuff, say around 11’ish?" He yelled this statement down the hall. Both Buffy and Giles turned with the same tired looks on their faces. They watched the boy dragging himself towards them.
"It’s the best time to plan, the big bad evil is sleeping at the moment, we have to be one step ahead of this guy. Darius isn’t like the two bit vamps we’ve been fighting." Buffy explained to him. She was used to Xander’s complaints. "No "stake em and brush em off" with this guy."
Giles stepped through the library doors and held them open for Buffy and Xander. They all turned and walked toward the center of the room. Marissa was standing at the table. She hadn’t noticed them enter.
"So it’s more research and planning, oh boy another fun filled day for us." Xander said with a grimace.
"I was going to spar with Angel when he gets here, you want to stand in for him?" Buffy asked with a twinkle in her eye. She recalled the last time Xander had volunteered to spar with her, she had spent a week apologizing to him.
"Don’t take this the wrong way Buff, but I pass, you have a tendency to over do it a bit, the last time I was your victim, I couldn’t walk straight for a week." Xander said.
"What’s this?" Giles ask as he stepped up to the table next to Marissa.
Marissa was holding a black leather coat that was strewn across the table, beside it lay a fuzzy purple bag, the kind that was popular with the teenage girls at the school. Buffy reached for the purple bag. It was the purse that Willow had carried the day before. She opened it and took out the wallet.
"It’s Willow’s." They could barely hear Marissa’s voice. "And the coat is William’s.
"I thought that was Spike’s coat?" Xander said. "It’s the only thing cool that guys got going for him.
"They must have left them here last night." Giles said.
"William was not here yesterday." Marissa reached out and stroked her hand over the purse, never releasing the trench coat.
"How did they get he…" Buffy stopped. "Willow had her purse with her last night when we dropped her off, is she here?"
"Darius has them." Marissa said calmly. She didn’t look up, she wrapped her arms around the leather coat, holding it to her chest, hugging it, smelling William’s scent.
"What, what the hell did you just say?" Xander grabbed Marissa and turned her roughly to face him. "Willow just left her purse her yesterday that’s all, she’s safe and sound at home. There is no way that monster has her."
"Xander calm down." Giles tried to pull the boys hand’s off of her, the vampire hadn’t even looked up at Xander when he grabbed her. She just stood there staring at the coat she held clutched to her chest. She didn’t even realized Xander had grabbed her, she was deep into the terror of realizing that William and Willow were at the mercy of Darius. A memory ran fleetingly through her mind, a memory from long ago, a distant memory of standing in front of Angelus and feeling the pounding of her heart. She could almost feel the blood rushing through her veins, the absolute terror of knowing that her world was ending. She knew it wasn’t real, her heart hadn’t beat in over a hundred years, her blood barely moved through her body now. Then the terror was replaced, replaced with a bone chilling anger. A anger that started deep in her long dead heart and grew until it was all she could feel, all she could think about.
"It ends today." Marissa said, calmly and coldly.
"What ends, what are you talking about?" Buffy couldn’t think straight, her mind was rushing at a thousand miles per hour, trying to think of some way to get her friend away from that asshole.
Marissa finally looked up at the faces staring at her. "This game ends, this game that Darius thinks he’s in control of. It ends today, I am getting William and Willow back. And Darius dies tonight.
"Buffy call Angel, tell him to meet me at Willie’s bar. Tell him to bring money, a lot of money." Marissa turned and walked towards the doors of the library, still carrying Spike’s trench coat. "Xander call Oz, have him pick Angel and I up at Willie’s at six tonight, 6 tonight, do you hear me?"
"Aren’t we going to do anything, we have to get Willow out of there, now." Xander yelled at her retreating back.
"Call him, call them now. Just do it." Marissa was almost to the doors when Buffy took off after her, she grabbed her by the arms and turned her to face her.
"What are you doing, we don’t have time for this, we have to find a way to get Willow back. We don’t know what he’s done to her." The slayer was angry, angry that once again one of her friends was in danger because of her. "We don’t have time for this."
"Trust me, just do what I tell you." Marissa spoke with complete control. Buffy had never seen her like this. Not even during the spell they used to cast out Angel’s demon. The slayer stepped back and looked into the vampires eyes.
"You have a plan don’t you?" Buffy ask her.
"Yes, I do not have time to go into now, just trust me. Please trust me on this." Marissa turned towards the doors again. "Do what I ask of you, make sure Oz is there to pick us up. And bring your weapons, as many as you can carry. Tonight this ends."
************
Willow was scared, terrified really. She had placed her trust in her friends to always come to the rescue in the past. She wasn’t going to start second guessing herself today. They would be here. Soon, she hoped. She looked over at Spike, he seemed to be sleeping, she thought the sun must be up by now, that’s why he’s sleeping. She figured his body had no choice. But she was frightened and there was no way she would be able to sleep now.
"Spike, are you awake?"
Spike never stirred, he didn’t show any sign of hearing her.
"Spike are you awake?" She spoke louder this time.
"No." He didn’t turn to look up at the girl as he said this.
Willow smiled. She heard the irritation in his voice. So he didn’t feel like talking, she didn’t feel like sleeping so she ignored it.
"Are you ok?" She asked him.
"Dandy, just wonderful."
She heard the sarcasm clearly this time.
"What do you think he’s going to do with us?" She already knew the answer but she just needed to make conversation, anything, just as long as she could hear his voice telling her she wasn’t alone.
"Maybe a barbecue, one never knows with Darius, he’s not your everyday run of the mill vampire. He likes variety in his life. He also likes to play with his food first." Spike knew he wasn’t helping, but he had no control of what came out of his mouth. He was too used to using his sarcasm as a weapon. He realized this girl didn’t deserve it, but hell, he had never worried about hurting someone’s feelings before.
"Buffy will be here soon, just hold on a little bit longer ok." Willow tried to assure him the best way she knew how. "I know your hungry and as soon as they get us out of here we’ll find you something to eat. I promise."
The laughter that came from Spike surprised her. Then it irritated her. She realized she was out of her depth here, but hell, he didn’t have to laugh at her. But the next words out of Spikes mouth surprised her even more.
"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be taking this out on you. This is all my bloody fault." Spike continued berating himself. "I should have realized that Darius wasn’t the type to sit around and wait. I should have realized he’s make sure that Marissa came to him. He wouldn’t have waited for us to make our move. I should have been one step ahead of him."
You don’t think that Buffy can save us? Darius isn’t any smarter than the Master was, she’ll come. I know she will. Willow tried to sound brave. She understood that most people thought of her as fragile, but she had learned in the past few years that she could handle a lot more than most people thought she could.
"I know the Slayer will come. Hell, if I’ve learned anything in the last year its that you can’t underestimate Buffy Summers. She the best when it comes to Slayers. I’ve fought a lot of Slayers in my life, I’ve taken a few out. She’s the best. Just when you think you got her…WHAM…she’s right back in the game." Spike spoke honestly, hell he didn’t even realize what he was going to say until he opened his mouth. "But you got to understand something Red, Darius is not like any other vampire that she’s come up against. His mind isn’t twisted like the Master’s was. He thinks like a human, thinks like the human soldier he was. He thinks the entire plan out before executing it. And with those monitors he has set up, we never had a chance. He was one step ahead of us the entire time."
"But if there is one way in here, Buffy will find it, right?" Willow ask.
"Yeah, if anyone can the Slayer can, don’t worry, she’ll be here." Spike assured the girl.
"Spike would you look at me please? I can’t keep talking to the side of your head." Willow pleaded with him.
"You don’t want to see me little girl, trust me." Spike answered her.
"Your still in your…well..your…grrrr face?" Willow didn’t know any other way to say it.
"Grrrr face, yeah you could say that." Willow could hear the humor in his voice. She could also hear how tired he was. Being trapped with a bunch of vampires was bad enough but having the one "good guy" vampire on her side weak from hunger wasn’t a good thing either. If they had any hope of surviving this Spike had to be at his strongest.
"Spike, when you eat, can you ah, well once you’ve started eating can you…well, can you stop?" Willow’s voice shook with uneasiness.
"It doesn’t really matter now does it, Darius is not going to feed me, so its not important now is it?" Spike didn’t understand why Willow had ask him this. Then an idea came to his mind. "Wait one moment if your thinking what I think your thinking you can just damn well forget about it."
As he spoke he felt something laid across his lap, he looked down and saw Willow’s leg laid across it.
"If we’re going to get out of this, your going to have to feed. Darius isn’t going to feed you, you turned him down when he offered it. Now I’m offering it. Feed." Willow’s voice was filled with the unshed tears that were fighting to form in her eyes. "I trust you."
"Well I bloody don’t trust myself, why should you." Spike turned and looked at her for the first time. His eyes glowed a eerie yellow, the ridges were prominent on his forehead. Willow’s glaze was drawn to the fangs protruding from his lips. "I’m not going to do this Willow." He turned away again.
Willow raised her leg even higher. For one moment the thought that she was exposing herself to anyone that wanted to look flew across her mind. But she fought that thought down, if showing a bunch of vampires her underwear could help them then she didn’t care. She glanced around the room, no one seemed to be paying any attention to them.
"I’m giving you my trust. Marissa would trust you, so do I." Willow said. Her leg was getting tired, she didn’t know how long she could hold it up. "Please Spike, just a little, just enough to give you some strength. When Buffy comes your going to need to be at your strongest, go ahead. I trust you."
Spike glanced back at her leg, he could see the blood traveling through her veins, smell the blood rushing through her body. He turned and looked at the young girl again, she sat there with her eyes pressed tightly closed. He closed his, then slowly lowered his head. His fangs pressed against her calf right below her kneecap. He felt her tighten, he knew she was preparing herself for the pain. He felt the tips of his fangs break the skin, heard her moan. He felt the blood rush into his mouth. The sweet, salty taste filled his entire mouth, he swallowed.
Willow felt her skin break, she felt his lips sucking on her leg. There was a brief flash of pain, then a feeling that was hard to describe. It reminded her of when her and Oz got carried away during their study sessions. The lightheadedness made her drop her head back. A small smiled formed on her lips. Her nipples hardened. She wanted Oz to touch her, touch her in places that no one had ever touched before, places she hadn’t even touched. She tried to wiggle against Oz, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t get him to take it any farther. She moaned in frustration. She could feel her panties getting damp. She felt so dizzy, if she could just get closer, just a little closer, maybe then Oz would touch her, touch her and take away this ache she felt deep in her womb. She moaned again.
Spike was lost in the seduction of the feed. His mind was a black swirling cloud of heat and passion. It had been months since he fed off a human, months since he gave into the urge to suck until his victim was dry. Added to the fact that he had never tasted blood so fresh, so innocent before. It almost drove him over the edge. Almost. He heard a moan, he sucked harder. Then he heard the moan again. He opened his eyes, for a moment he didn’t know where he was. Then it all came back in one blinding moment of clarity, snapping his mind out of the black fog that had surrounded him. The mansion, the garage, Darius, Willow….oh shit…Willow. He withdrew his fangs. He threw his head back and spoke her name, his face changing back to the human façade he usually wore.
"Willow?"
"Dammit Willow answer me." For fleeting moment he thought she was dead. Then he watched as the girl raised her head, opened her eyes….
"Oz, why did you stop? Oz?" Willow’s eyesight cleared and she saw the monitors, then she turned her head and saw Spike. "Oh my God." She blushed furiously. She was so embarrassed, somehow during the time that Spike was feeding on her leg she had thought that Oz and her had…were… "OH MY GOD!"
"Are you ok?" Spike ask her. He could have killed her, could have drained her dry. "Willow are you alright?"
"Yeah, I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine, a little dizzy, but I’m fine." Now she was the one who couldn’t look him in the eye. She still couldn’t believe the erotic thoughts that had been moving through her head. "Is that what it’s like when your draining someone’s blood?"
"Liked it did you?" Spike smiled, it had been along time since he was changed, but he could remember the euphoria that came over him as Druscilla drained his blood. He’d forgotten that she would also feel the erotic passion one felt during the feed.
"It was interesting. From a purely research point of view." The redhead took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. "Very interesting. How do you feel?"
"I feel a lot better, how about you?" Spike ask her. He knew that if he had drained her dry he wouldn’t have to worry about Darius, his life would have meant nothing. Buffy would have dusted him in a second. Also he would have lost Marissa for good, she would never have forgiven him.
Chapter XXVI –
Marissa paced back and forth inside of Willie’s bar. It had been two hours, enough time for the little weasel to do what she had ask him.
"Marissa please sit down, your gonna drive yourself crazy with this pacing." Angel said from the front booth he had parked himself in. He still wasn’t sure this plan would work, but hell, they didn’t have any other choice at this point. Darius kidnapping of Spike and Willow changed the rules of the game.
"I can not sit. Why is it taking him so long? He should have been back an hour ago. He probably has no plans to do as we ask." She had stopped as she made this speech, then resumed pacing. "We gave him a lot of money, do you think he stole it? He probably has no plans to return."
"We knew it would take some time to for him to find what you ask for. It’s not like you ask for something simple. You do realize what your planning is a little…unknown." Angel said to her.
"I watched Darius do it many times. You just have to have control, and believe me I have plenty of that. Patience is a virtue that I have in abundance."
She turned as the front door opened. Willie came in first, he was followed by three people. A small petite brunette dressed entirely in black, a young man dressed in a similar manner. The third person was much older, early or late 50’s, he was dressed in what appeared to be a theatrical costume. Marissa’s eyes flew open when she realized what he was dressed as. A vampire! The man was dressed in a flowing black cape and red ruby vest, he even had a large ruby hanging around his neck. She couldn’t believe it. My God, these people needed help, not what she had planned for them. Could she do this?
Yes, she could, William and Willow’s lives depended on this.
"Here ya go, just like ya ask for, can I have the rest of my money now?" The man named Willie directed his question towards Angel. The women vampire gave him the creeps. Something wasn’t right with her, and Willie didn’t want to know anymore than he already did. He’d just collect his money and scram. He did what Angel ask, he was out of it now. What happened to these poor slobs was none of his business.
"You got what you wanted, three fresh feeds, can I have my money now?" Willie was getting more and more agitated as the women stood there staring at the three people he had collected for her. Hey, they knew the score, he’d been totally honest with them. After all he was a business man, it was just business.
"Marissa, you still want to go through with this?" Angel held Willie’s money just out of reach from the man.
"Yes, pay him, then get him out of here." Marissa looked at the three people as Willie snatched his money and existed through the door. "You understand what will happen here?"
"Yes, oh yes, Willie told us." The women spoke, you could see the excitement in her eyes. She was actually looking forward to this Marissa realized. Alright she thought, lets get this over with.
"Angel, please wait out front, I will meet you in a few moments, this will not take long." Marissa ask him.
"Why, I’ll just stand back here…" Angel started to say, but Marissa never let him finish the statement.
"No, I do not want you here. Please wait out side for me." Marissa’s voice was pleading.
"Alright, I’ll be right outside if you need me." Angel moved to the doors, he turned and looked back once, then went through the doors. He stepped out into the sunshine, trying not to think of what was happening inside the bar.
**********************
"She’s not coming, she’s chickened out again." Xander peeked out the window of the van for the 300 time. "She’s doesn’t care about Willow or any of us. Why did we ever trust her, she’s a vampire for freaking sake. We’re crazy for trusting her."
"Xander just shut up ok, I’m tired of hearing the same thing out of your mouth over and over again. Marissa will be here, she told us to meet her here at 6, it’s only a quarter till. Give her a chance ok." Cordelia didn’t exactly believe that Marissa was going to show up either, but she was sick and tired of hearing Xander’s whining.
Buffy sat in the front seat of the van, they wore parked around the corner from Willie’s bar. Giles had gone to check on Angel and Marissa. Buffy checked her duffel bag again, crossbows, stakes, holy water, crosses. She had everything she needed, now if only Marissa would hurry up and let them in on the plan. She understood Xander’s anxieties, she knew he was worried about Willow. They were all worried about Will. And Marissa had frozen up the last time she had faced Darius. Could they trust her.
Buffy looked up as Giles came around the corner, he opened the door and crawled into the van. "Angel is getting Marissa, they should be here any second now. As he finished this statement Buffy saw Angel and Marissa turn the corner. The minute the women vampire came around the corner Buffy knew something was up. She couldn’t quite name it but something was different about Marissa. She had a aura surrounding her. Buffy could almost feel the electricity in the air as the women crawled into the van. The rest of them must have felt it too. They all stared at Marissa as if they had never seen her before.
"Marissa, have you cast a spell around yourself? Something to help with Darius?" Giles ask the women.
"No, no spell, I just got myself an insurance policy. That is all." Marissa said calmly. "Is everyone ready?"
"Ready for what?" Buffy ask. "And what insurance policy?"
"I am going in first, I will distract Darius, you follow me in, and as soon as possible get Willow out of there." Marissa spoke calmly and clearly. "William should be able to take care of himself, if not you will have to help him too. But understand one thing, Darius is mine."
"We’re just going to walk in and take Willow out of there?" Xander couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "And you don’t think that Darius’s henchman are going to try and stop us?"
"They will try and stop us, but they will not be able too." Marissa told him.
"And why not?" Xander ask.
"Because I am going to zap them, I believe that is the word you used, is it not?" Marissa answered him.
Buffy interrupted them. "Wait, let me get this straight, we’re walking right into Darius’s lair, you’re going to zap the lesser vamps, distract Darius, and our job is to release Willow and Spike? Did I get this right?"
"Exactly." Marissa said with a smile.
"Have you been sucking on druggies? What makes you think this is going to work?" Xander questioned her.
"Because Darius does not expect it to. He thinks I am helpless, he thinks that I can not hurt him." Marissa said.
"The same way Angelus didn’t think she had it in her to take him out." Angel spoke for the first time.
"So we’re gonna surprise him, and before he realizes what’s happened, it’s over with? Is that it?" Oz asked from the drivers seat.
"Darius expects us to spend a few days trying to figure out what’s happened to Willow and William, he will never expect us to attack tonight." Marissa said. "He does not think we can overtake him, he still thinks he is in control.
"He is in control, he has Willow. What’s to stop him from killing her the minute he sees us?" Xander ask.
"Me." Marissa said. "Oz, drive to the Burlington Way address, when we reached it, turn the lights off and park up the block."
************
Druscilla stepped into the garage, she was tired of waiting in the house, she wanted to see what Darius was up to. Spike was the first thing she saw. She headed straight for him.
"My Spikie, what has he done to you?" Dru slowly moved around Spike, not touching him, but circling him. She suddenly stopped and her bottom lip drooped. "I can feel that bitch all over you. You went back to her didn’t you, you betrayed me."
"Dru, I’m really not in the mood to discuss anything with you right now, I mean come on faithfulness has never been your strong suit, so why should I bother with it." Spike refused to discuss Marissa with her, but being bound he wasn’t about to really piss her off.
"But Angelus never meant anything to me, you know that. He’s my sire, if he called I had to go to him. You were in that chair, you couldn’t take care of me, you understand, don’t you?" She drew her fingernails down his chest, playing the poor lost lamb, but it wasn’t going to work this time.
"Angelus is gone and what do you do? You call Darius, you really expect him to take care of you Dru? You really expect him to put you first. Darius used you, used you to get to me, he doesn’t care about you or your needs. He’s probably going to kill you Dru, as soon as this is over your useless to him." Spike tried to make her see the truth. But the truth was never Druscilla’s strong point.
"He’s going to get rid of that bitch, kill her, then we can be together again, just you and me Spike, he promised me. Like it was before, just you and me." Druscilla turned and noticed Willow for the first time. The girl was trying to remain as still as possible, Druscilla’s attention was the last thing she wanted.
"And you believed him didn’t you?" Spike tried to draw her attention away from Willow. "He doesn’t care about you Dru, not the way I did. He won’t allow us to be together, it’s not part of his plan. He plans to kill me, and you. He just wants Marissa, she’s the only one he’s interested in. If you want to be with me again Dru your going to have to find away to get me out of these chains. Then we can be together, that’s the only way.
"Why is she here, and why are you in chains? I don’t understand, why would he put you in chains?" Dru looked lost for a moment, then she spun around and stared at the door. "I have to go, there coming, and she’s going to hurt them, hurt all of them."
She turned and walked back towards the door. But she didn’t have a chance to open the door. It opened from the outside. Darius stood there, he didn’t’ look happy to see her there. The three vampires who were with him entered the room and went to various positions throughout the room.
"Druscilla, I ask you to stay in the house didn’t I?" Darius took her hand and led her into the room. "Were you talking to Spike? What did you talk about my dear?"
"Spike was lying to me, he thought I would help him, but it’s too late, I know that now, and he’s right. You were never going to help me, you don’t like me. You’d like me to just go away. So that is what I was going to do. Just go away, far away." Druscilla voice became more agitated as she spoke. She tried to draw away from Darius but he wouldn’t let her go.
"Now why would I want you to go away, you’ve been a great help to me. You brought me here, brought me to my goals. Oh no Druscilla I must repay you for that." Darius knew how to charm and cajole to get what he wanted. He poured it on thick with Druscilla. "I’m planning a party for you when this is all done. Wouldn’t you like a party?"
"No, I want to go, she’s coming and she’s planning a party of her own and I don’t want to be here." Druscilla tried to yank her hands out of Darius grip, she was starting to panic. Darius tried to hold on to her, but she finally pulled free and drew away from him. "I have to go, I have to go now. You can’t protect me, no one can."
She turned and ran through the door into the night.
"Should I go and get her boss?" Cyrus ask.
"Let her go, where is she going to run, she has no money, no friends. No, our Druscilla we come back when she calms down." Darius turned and headed across the room to Spike and Willow.
"Well, well, it seems you’ve regained a little color my friend, decided to partake after all." Darius said in a smug voice to Spike. "Couldn’t help yourself could you? I knew you didn’t have it in you."
Darius turned to the vampire sitting at the monitors. "So Roger tell me, what are our friends up to now? Planning my downfall and the heroic rescue of their friends?"
Roger answered slowly, he knew Darius wouldn’t like it, but he had no information for him. "Nothing, they haven’t been to the library all day, well not since they found the things you left for them this morning."
"What did they say when they found them?" Darius wanted to know everything, every little thing that was said.
"Well Marissa knew we had them, she told the rest of them to meet her at some place called Willie’s at 6pm, we checked it out, all we found were three humans, they were weak, disorientated, but they couldn’t help us, they had no ideal who Marissa or Angel were. Hell they weren’t even sure of their own names." Roger hoped this information made sense to Darius, because he couldn’t understand why they bothered. Just kill the humans, take Marissa and be done with it. All this planning and watching was boring him.
Spike wondered what Marissa would need from Willie. Willie supplied vampires with information and places to hide, what would Marissa need with him. He leaned towards Willow and whispered. "Be ready, something is going down, Druscilla wanted out of here for some reason, she might be crazy but she’s never wrong, something is about to happen."
"Darius"
Everyone turned when they heard the female voice call Darius’s name. All eyes were locked on Marissa. She stood inside the doorway, just standing there. Spike noticed she was wearing his trench coat. And he also noticed how beautiful she looked standing there. If she was afraid she was concealing it. He couldn’t believe she had entered the lion’s den. If anything happened to her it was his fault. Once again he had let her down, failed her.
Darius was the first to react. He smiled triumphantly and started walking towards her. "Marissa, I knew you would come, knew you wouldn’t let me down. You did the right thing, we can leave here now everything will work out, you’ll see my dear."
"I had to come back, had to tell you what I found." Marissa moved toward Darius, they met in the middle of the room. They just stood inches away from each other, not touching, not moving. "I realize now why it did not work before. Why you did receive the gift."
"You’ve found the answer, what is it?" Darius was so absorbed in what she was saying he didn’t see the slayer and her friends enter the building.
But his minions did. Cyrus was the first to move, he moved swiftly to intercept the slayer. Before Buffy could move, before she could raise her crossbow, Marissa lifted her hand, a white light shot out of her fingers, the light surrounded Cyrus, if you blinked you would have missed it. The vampire was dust in seconds. Buffy couldn’t believe it.
"She said she was going to zap em, she did." This came from Xander.
Darius was impressed. He knew she had the power within her he had felt it when he first took her, but as far as he knew she had never developed them. He wasn’t scared, he knew her power wasn’t as strong as his. She was weak, her strengths came from a few spells she had read out of a book. Taking a weaker vampire like Cyrus out was nothing. Taking Darius out wouldn’t be so easy. He was confident he still held the upper hand.
Marissa had never taken her eyes off of Darius, when he turned back to her she smiled. "You went about it wrong, you tried to take the gift, the gift must be given it can never be taken."
"And are you willing to give it?" Darius smiled back at her.
"Oh when the gift is ready it will be given freely and with love. Can you love Darius?" Marissa moved to the right of Darius, she ran her hands over his chest as she moved, he moved his head to watch her, but kept his body still. He didn’t understand her question, he waited to see what she would do next.
"I do not think you have it in you to love do you? You have power, strength, might, but do you have the ability to love, the ability to put others before you. To give your life for them, I just do not see you capable of doing that, do you?" She turned again, this time trailing her right hand over his hip, around to his buttocks, slowly gliding her hand over the curves of his backside.
For the first time in a very long time Darius found himself feeling emotions he hadn’t felt in hundreds of years, the small spark started in the pit of his stomach, an ache, it was so unfamiliar that at first he didn’t recognize it for what it was…sexual tension. It coiled in the deepest part of him and grew as he felt her hands trail over him.
Spike sat and watched her touching the older vampire, he knew realistically that Marissa did not want Darius, but to watch her touching him, fondling him as she was, it was too much for him. He felt himself vamp out, heard the growl that emitted from his throat. Willow turned when she heard the sound.
"Spike, don’t, you got to stay in control. For Marissa, you have to keep control of yourself." The young girl quietly pleaded with the vampire.
Willow watched as Buffy and the rest of them slowly spread out, each moving into a circular position around the room. Darius attention was caught by Marissa but not the other four vampires. The turned to the humans and prepared to attack. Roger never saw Marissa raise her left hand, never saw the bright flash that ended his days as a demon. But the other demons had, they panicked, all trying to get to the door before they were dusted next. They were in such a hurry it was easy for Buffy to take one out with the crossbow. Giles got one with a stake to the chest. The remaining vampire almost made it to the door, unfortunately he didn’t see Cordelia’s foot, or the stake that Angel sent into his heart. The Xander reached Willow first.
"You can’t break the chains, they have some kind of spell on them." Willow stated.
"As long as Darius is still in control you can’t break them." Spike told him.
Buffy wanted to use the crossbow and shoot a stake directly into Darius chest, she could do it, but she remembered Marissa’s words. "Darius is mine" she had said. Buffy would wait, she would be ready, but she would wait. All eyes turned towards the two vampires in the center of the room.
Darius didn’t even realize that Marissa was controlling him, never heard her whisper the words that bound him to her. He couldn’t have taken his eyes off her if he wanted to. He was enthralled. The things he was feeling were unknown to him, a euphoria of sexual tensions and emotions running through his head and body. He closed his eyes and relished in it. It was the greatest feeling that he had felt in a very long time, greater than the feeling of the kill. Marissa stepped around to the front of him, running her fingers along his throat, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled, the silk ripped down the front exposing his throat and chest to her.
"That is your downfall Darius, the ability to love, if you can not love, your alone, and being alone is the greatest liability in the world. Having no one to share the gifts of this world is the greatest loss of all." She felt the emotions run through her, felt the anger, the pain, the loss, everything that this man had caused her. She let it sweep over her until it was the only thing that existed. She lowered her head and let it take control for the first time in her life. First she felt the ridges push out from her flesh, next she felt the fangs extend, running her tongue along them she raised her head and stared into the face of the man who had destroyed everything in her world.
"Open your eyes Darius, I want you to see what you have made, I want you to see what you have done to me." Marissa cried out.
Every eye in the room was on Marissa. Willow couldn’t see through the tears in her eyes. Buffy realized she was standing there with her mouth hanging open. Xander crouching beside Willow slowly straighten till he was standing. Cordelia took a step back away from the horror that was taking place in front of her. Giles pushed his glasses higher up onto the bridge of his nose. Oz stood and watched, no emotions on his face. Angel smiled slowly, you could barely hear the words pass his lips. "Yes".
Spike stared at the woman he loved. He had never seen her more beautiful, more tantalizing, more seductive than she was at that moment.
Darius opened his eyes and stared into the golden yellow orbs that were boring into his. He had never seen Marissa in full vampire mode before, he didn’t realize that no one had ever seen her like this, not even Spike.
For the first time in her long life Marissa let the demon take control, in her mind she stood back and let the demon have it’s way.
"Your ability to love died along time before the human in you did Darius, it is time to end this. You will never enjoy the one thing you love most in this world again. The Gift was never meant for you. We are not the couple in the Prophecy, you were too blind to see it. The Gift will only be given in love, something you could never understand. You will never hurt another ever again. Say hello to your maker for me. Enjoy your life in hell."
Marissa felt her hand fist, felt her raise it, felt it slam into Darius chest, felt the skin give way. She pushed through the muscle, the dead lifeless organs until she came to the heart, she gripped it in the palm of her hand and pulled. She watched as Darius eyes bulged out of his head, heard him whisper an agonizing nooooooo…..
He was dust before she opened her palm and let the lifeless bloody heart fall to the floor.
Silence filled the garage. Everyone was afraid to move.
No one had time to react to the small dark vampire that stepped out from behind the partition, he ran directly towards Marissa carrying a wooden stake above his head. Marissa looked up and saw him coming at her. She raised both her hands instinctively. All he knew was that she had killed the one thing he cared about in his life. She had killed his Master. The light hit Diego as he raced towards her. Every scrap of energy Marissa had left hit the vampire, he burst into flames. He fell to his knees in front of her. The flames extinguished themselves as he turned into dust, there was nothing left to burn.
Spike reacted first, he pulled on the chains, they snapped apart like they were made of paper. He bolted out of the chair, raced across the room just in time to catch Marissa as she fell.
He lowered her to the floor. "Ris, Ris answer me, damn it don’t you leave me now, you hear me, you will not die."
"The world hears you William." Marissa smiled up at him. "I have no intentions on dying."
She could see the rest of the faces as they came to stand over them. Willow still had the remains of the chains on her wrist, Buffy had cut threw them with the metal cutters they had brought with them. "Willow, I am so sorry this had to happen to you. It is all my fault. Can you forgive me?"
The girl smiled, "This wasn’t your fault, it happens when you live over a Hellmouth, I’ve come to except it. You got to teach me that zappie thingie one day, it looks like it would come in real handy."
"Can we go home now, I’m going to need a lot of sleep after tonight." Cordelia said.
"Who can sleep after this, this was great, I’m gonna remember this for the rest of my life." Xander said.
"Yeah, it’s been a red letter day all around today." Oz said. "We defeated the bad guys, saved Willow and Spike. And Marissa got to work the demons out of her head all in one day."
Spike helped Marissa stand, he kept his arms around her, he didn’t think he would let go of her for along time.
"I’m ready for a vacation, give me a vampire and a stake any day, that zapping stuff is a bit too much for me to handle." Buffy said as they started moving toward the doors. "Can I have the night off Giles? I think we’ve all earned a day of rest don’t you?"
"Ah, yes, quite right, a day off wouldn’t hurt anyone. I don’t think that Sunnydale would collapse if we relaxed for a day or two." Giles picked up the black duffel bag Buffy had set on the ground outside the door. "I think I’m getting to old for this."
"Oh come on Giles I got you by about 150 years, are you saying you can’t keep up with me?" Angel said jokingly.
"We go home, you rest and tomorrow we talk, alright?" Spike told Marissa.
"Resting and talking, I think I can handle that, as long as it is in that order." Marissa said.
"Hey, Marissa do you think you can zap us up a pizza, I’m feeling kinda hungry?" Xander ask as they crawled into the van.
"You can use the phone like everybody else boy." Marissa told him.
You could hear the murmur of voices in the van as it drove off into the night, it would be along time before they came down from the effects of what they had witness tonight. But they were all safe and alive. So once again good had won over evil.
The woman standing at the window of the mansion followed the van down the street until it was out of sight.
"One day you will all pay for this. One day you will pay. ." But there was no one to hear Druscilla’s threats.
Epilogue -
5 years later
Joyce Summer’s carried the tray of cheese and crackers to the coffee table, telling everyone to help themselves. She was in her glory. It was a glorious day and she wanted everything to be just right.
The last five years had brought many changes to the group of people clustered in the house that Buffy Summers had grown up in. She hadn’t lived here for five years now. She and Angel had moved into a house not far from here when they had married. Willow and Oz lived close by, they had gotten an apartment together right after college a year ago. They hadn’t married, they didn’t know if they ever would, it wasn’t something they felt they needed to cement the love they shared. Willow owned her own shop downtown, The Boogedy Boogedy Shop, named by Xander during one of his lighter moments, Willow had liked it and used it. She sold various herbs and potions, she also had a line of holistic aids that she had just started to sell, business wasn’t booming but it gave her something she enjoyed. Oz had a music store on Main Street. He gave lessons on guitar and managed a small college band, they were better than Dingo’s Ate My Baby and were gathering a small following already.
Xander had taken a job in one of Cordelia’s fathers factory, a small toy company. Xander had finally found his nitch in life, enjoyed it so much he was now a vice president. How many men got to play with toys for a living. Cordelia had tried her hand at modeling right after high school, but had gotten bored very quickly, she proposed to Xander one night at the Bronze and he had accepted. They had married a year after high school. Xander had taken night courses at Sunnydale U, got his degree and went right to work for Mr. Chase. Cordelia had surprised everybody by getting pregnant right after the wedding, motherhood agreed with her, they now had two boys Xander Jr. and Lance, Xander was not happy about the name, but Cordi insisted. But his pride and joy was Diane his 3 year old daughter, she was daddy’s little girl, and you couldn’t take your eyes off her, she was into everything.
Giles had taken a job at the college, teaching a Myths and Legends course, he had also helped Angel get a degree and a job as teacher’s assistant in the history department. Buffy helped her mother at the Art Shop after Joyce had bought the business 4 years ago. Giles had been dating Leigh Smith a fellow teacher at the college for about a year now. He hadn’t told her about his extra activities yet, but he had informed Buffy that he was planning too, soon.
Buffy was no longer the slayer, when she had turned 21 she had received a telegram from the Watcher’s Council that they would no longer be needing her services. That was it. No explanations nothing, not even a thank you. Just one simple telegram. They had sent another Slayer to Sunnydale about 3 months later. Her name was Barbara, she was 17 years old and a very quick learner and a by the book slayer. Giles had been informed of his new charge the day before she had arrived. It took Buffy almost a year to re-train her, but it paid off. Barbara worked for the Council but she was her own person. She could think for herself and could handle anything the Hellmouth threw at her. The gang helped her out as much as they could but strangely enough as soon as she had started at Sunnydale High School she had met new friends and three of them had actually ended up helping her with her duties as had the Scooby Gang years before.
Marissa stood at the bassinet in the corner, looking down at the newest member of their group, Matthew Giles Summers lay sleeping. He’d had a busy morning, he had been baptized that morning. That is what this little get together was for. Celebrating the birth of Buffy and Angel’s son. No one had been more surprised than Angel at Buffy’s announcement of her pregnancy. After 3 years of marriage they hadn’t expect this little miracle. The mistakenly had believed that after everything that Angel’s body had been through that he couldn’t father children. They had been very happy that this had been proven wrong. Marissa had had to explain to them that this was the Prophecy working. Matthew had been their Gift for all the good they had done. It was God’s way of gifting them for everything that they had done. Buffy hadn’t wanted to believe that Angel and her were the ones in the Prophecy, but she would except this Gift no matter what. Matthew and Angel were her life and she thank God everyday for them.
Marissa had stayed in Sunnydale helping Buffy and her friends keep the Hellmouth under control. After the night that Darius had been killed she had woken the next day and William and her had talked, talked for almost 6 hours. She made him promise that no matter what, they would be together, no matter what came along in their lives they would stay together and they had. Every so often William would get the urge to roam, but he always returned to her. They had also made a pact to never kill again. She knew that what she had ask of him was hard, there had been a few times where William’s demon was going to win out, but in the end William had kept that pact. He didn’t like the fact that he could never feed off anything living again, but he did it for Marissa, did it for the love they had. She wished William was here today, he had been gone for about 3 weeks now, off on one of his jaunts off to see the world, but she knew that soon he would return to her.
Willow came up and stood next to her. "He’s beautiful isn’t he?"
Marissa smiled. "One of the wonder’s of the world, there is nothing like a new life."
"Oz is getting a bit crazy about this baby stuff, he keeps asking Cordi and Buffy all kinds of questions. I have a feeling that any day now he’s going to ask me to have a baby." Willow said.
"And what will your answer be?" Marissa ask.
"I don’t know yet, I’ll have to think about it." The redhead slowly stroked her hand over the baby’s head. "I’ve never really had this urge to do the baby thing. I love Xander’s kids, and I love being around Matthew, but I just don’t know."
"You’ll know when the time is right, and if it never happens so what, having children is not meant for everyone." Marissa said.
"Do you ever feel sad, you know not being able to have any?" Willow ask.
"No, I have all of these children if I want to mother someone. Also being with William works out all my maternal instincts, he can be such a little boy sometimes." Marissa laughed.
"Speaking of which, I was sent bearing a message. Someone is waiting for you outside." Willow grinned.
"William’s outside, why did he not come in?" Marissa ask Willow.
"He wants you to meet him in the backyard, you’ll have to ask him why?" Willow said with a smile.
Marissa went through the house and out the kitchen door. She spied William standing by the picnic table. It was laid out for a picnic. Two candles burned brightly on a red and white checkered tablecloth. There was a bottle of wine, two glasses and a bowl of grapes. But what caught Marissa’s eye was the plate of cupcakes setting next to the grapes. She smiled and walked toward the table.
"Someone has been busy." Marissa said cheerfully. She was overjoyed that William was home, plus he brought her favorite cakes with him.
"Nothing is too good for my Ris. Picked these up on the way through Philadelphia, figured if you weren’t happy to see me, you’d be deliriously happy about the Tastykakes." Spike picked up the glasses and handed one to her.
"Have you missed me?" He smiled back at her. "I’ve missed you, next time you come with me, do you hear me, I’m not leaving without you."
"You know how I feel, I finally found a home, I am not leaving it." Marissa said with determination, he had never understood her reasons for not traveling with him.
"I do understand that, and I’m not talking about leaving Sunnydale for good, just every once in awhile taking a little trip. I want to show you the world." Spike raised his glass and clinked it against hers. "To Paris?"
Marissa smiled at him. It had been a long road but she had finally found her place in this world, no longer was she a misfit, a freak. She had friends, a home, and a man who loved her enough to come back to her.
"To my Gift" Marissa said. "The Gift of Love."