The Return, Chapter Fourteen
From: "Little Slayer" <little_slayer@hotmail.com>
Author: Little Slayer
Email: little_slayer@hotmail.com or little_slayer@buffymail.com
Title: The Return
Distribution: Anyone can have it. Just ask.
Rating: PG.
Author’s Note: Sequel to The End.
Feedback: If you don’t send feedback, I’ll sick
Faith on you like a dog on a bone. Or in her case a dog on
a…okay, I’m not going to finish that, but you all get
the point. Actually, no, I can't sick her on you because of
one really important reason…
Disclaimer: I don’t own him! Uh, her. Or
Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow, Joyce, and everyone else. They’re
all in here. I don’t own Angel’s nickname of
Peaches, Ana does. The only thing I own is Mya. She’s
mine. I created her. And so I can easily destroy the
skanky little…uh, oops. All the Buffyverse people
belong to Joss Whedon and anyone else who legally owns them.
Anybody who has been either A) mentioned on BtVS, or B) seen on
BtVS, I don’t own. I do own a few people but am too
tired to name them.
Dedication:
Another Author’s Note: My Spanish is very poor.
I only remember bits and pieces of it and it’s been, oh my
gosh, almost ten years since I took it in High School. *whines*
Man, now I feel old. Who knew being 22 could be so old?
*whines some more* Plus I get to be 23 in…let me think…ten
days. This bites.
Chapter Fourteen, Trick
“Are you sure
they bought it?” Trick asked once again. Mya sighed in
irritation and stalked across the small room.
“They bought it
all right? Angelus is dead,” Mya growled. “And
I believe I get my reward right about now?”
“Oh yes.
You want your strength back. You want to be as strong as
Buffy.”
“Stronger.
I want to be stronger than that little slut,” Mya said.
“It’ll take
a while for the process to take effect,” Trick told her.
“So make it work
faster! Do it now, damnit! We don’t have time.”
Trick smiled a toothy grin, his long, sharp fangs glistening in
the dim light.
“I think we work
something out,” he said with a savage tone, and yanked Mya
towards him. With an animalistic growl, he sunk his fangs
into her neck. An hour later, Mya’s dead body stirred
and then she sat up with wild yellow eyes and unnaturally long
incisors. “Good morning sleepy head. You’ve
woken just in time…for the end of the world.” Mya
smiled at Trick, her sire, then stood with lethal gracefulness.
“Mmmm, my kind of
welcoming,” she said with a smirk.
*****
Two hours and forty minutes later…
*****
Buffy drew in a
deep breath as the others looked at their physical bodies, which
were positioned in a heap on the floor, hidden by some desks.
Everyone was there but Whistler. *He always shows up
whenever,* Buffy thought. *If this is really going to be
tough for us, he’ll show.*
“Whoa, this is…well,
I think the only word to describe this is weird,” Xander
said. Buffy shrugged and slung her bag over her shoulder.
“Yeah.
Okay, there are a few things you need to know. You can
touch physical objects but can’t die. If you want, you
can pass through physical things. Only, the longer you’re
like this, the harder it is for you to get back into your body,”
she explained. “Questions? Comments?”
Nobody said anything.
“Okay, let’s
get going,” Angelus said. “We want to be back in
time for the fun.”
“Oh yeah, saving
the world from a sick freak who reminds me of you is going to be
loads of fun,” Buffy muttered.
“Well, I was
talking more of torturing Mya,” Angelus explained.
“You aren’t
going to hurt her,” Angel said. “She just trying
to get attention.”
“What the fuck
are you on?” Angelus demanded. “Give me a break,
Soul-Boy, Mya is a sick fuck and she needs to be put down.”
“Language,”
Buffy reminded. Then she sighed. “We’ll
deal with Mya later.”
“You were so much
more fun in hell,” Angelus grumbled. “Now it’s
work, work, work. You never have any fun anymore.”
“I have fun!”
Buffy paused then thought. “Okay, so I don’t.”
“I can think of a
few ways to change that,” Angelus said with a smirk.
Buffy cocked her head to one side.
“Hmm, so can I.
Sandpaper, kitchen utensil, and you,” she said perkily.
Angelus’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth with a
comeback.
“Will you two
stop it?” Drusilla demanded. “You two are worse
than children! We have stuff we have to do. Saving
the world kind of stuff?”
“You always spoil
my fun,” Buffy pouted. Then she sighed. “Okay,
let’s get to work. We need to get to the factory.
Spike, you set everything up, right?”
“Yeah luv, I did.
Kerosene, gasoline, and a nice little bomb in the bloody center
of the factory,” Spike said. “I feel like I’m
talking about making some bleeding soufflé or something.”
“Oooh, cherry
soufflé. Cryack used to make that,” Buffy said.
“Yeah, except
they weren’t cherries,” Angelus said. Buffy paled.
“What were they?”
He looked up at her and then walked over to her side.
“You don’t
want to know. Trust me.” Several different
possibilities ran through Buffy’s mind before deciding she
would take his advice.
“Okay, I think I
missed something here, cause I’m drawing this huge blank,”
Xander announced. Angelus tried not to laugh.
“Like that’s
something new,” he whispered. Buffy elbowed him.
“What?”
“Be nice,”
she warned.
“But I don’t
to,” Angelus argued. “It’s so much more fun
being evil. I mean, you get to torture people, get anything
you want, have power and control…”
“And get your
head chopped off by me,” Buffy said. Then she gave him
an evil grin. “It is fun once and a while.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Back on topic
now, please?” Giles asked. “There is something
important we are dealing with right now, commonly known as the
end of the bloody world!”
“Oooh, Giles,
language. Naughty, naughty,” Buffy said teasingly.
Then she put on a serious face. “Sorry, had to get
that out of my system. I had three vanilla frappuccinos
before I got here. They ought to put warning labels on
those things.”
“Slayer, pet, we
best be getting to the factory,” Spike reminded her.
Buffy nodded.
“Okay. When
we get there, everyone get inside and surround the bomb. As
soon as the vampires show, we run and light the stuff around the
building. When it reached the bomb, well, let’s be far
from there by that time.” The others nodded and as
one, the group left the small classroom.
*****
Buffy knew as soon
as they got to the factory that there were vampires already
inside. She cautiously led them through the main entrance
and then made her way to the small box that Spike had left on a
table in the middle of the large room inside.
“Okay,” she
said a little loudly. “We’ll just stand around
that strange box and wait for the vampires to show up and end the
world. I just hope it’s not a trap.” The
others looked at her oddly, then realized what she was doing.
“Yeah,”
Cordelia agreed, in the same overly loud voice. “I
just had my nails done. And do you know how much it would
cost to have this dry-cleaned?”
“Cordy, hon,”
Xander said, catching on. “I think we need to worry
about being out numbered as opposed to your cleaning bill.”
“Well, the little
lady won’t have to worry about her cleaning bill ‘cause
she’ll be dead,” a vampire announced from the shadows.
Several dozen more stepped out of the shadows, surrounding them.
“Okay, we’re
clearly outnumbered,” Angel said. “Let’s get
out of here.” The others nodded and ran towards the
entrance. The vampires blocking them, braced themselves to
hold them back when they passed straight through them.
“What the hell?”
a vampire asked. Buffy smirked at him and pulled out a
match.
“Is it just me,
or does it smell like gasoline in here?” she asked.
“A lot of it.” Everyone ran far from the building
as Buffy lit it then dropped it at her feet. Flames shot up
around her and shot around the room, surrounding the vampires.
“Bye. Have fun in hell. Oh, and tell Crenshaw he
can go fuck a tree.” Buffy glanced behind her and saw
her friends far in the distance, then said the spell that would
reunite her with her body.
“No!” the
leader vampire yelled as the bomb exploded and Buffy disappeared.
*****
It was weird for
him, being on the same side as the demon who destroyed everything
he had. Angel looked over at Angelus, who stooped down to
help Willow up after she tripped. She smiled a thanks at
him then looked over at Angel. He met her gaze for a moment
then turned away from her gaze. Now he had a lot more than
he ever did, and yet, he didn’t have what mattered most to
him. Buffy. She was almost Angelus’s possession.
They smiled, teased, lobbed insults at each other…they
seemed to be the closest of friends. It frightened Angel to
think of Angelus’s attitude when they had first pulled him
from hell earlier in the night as compared to what it was after
Buffy showed up. He saw the way Buffy looked at Angelus, as
if he was the only person she could trust, as if he was the only
one who was there for her, as if he was –
“What took you
guys so long?” Buffy’s voice snapped him back out
of his thoughts with a savage interruption. She was leaning
against the wall in a patented Angelus stance.
“How did you get
here so fast?” Angelus asked her. As usual, he was the
first one to talk with her, getting out his thoughts before
everyone else.
“I know the
reversal spell. Come to think of it, so do you Peaches,”
she tossed at him. Angelus blinked.
“I know that.
I just…I wanted to make sure they got here safely,”
Angelus said. Buffy snorted then looked at Angel with a
bemused smile.
“Whatever.
Well, let’s get everyone back in their bodies. We have
a party to crash,” she announced.
“We don’t
have any weapons,” Giles suddenly realized. A wicked
grin spread over the Slayer’s lips.
“Did I mention
that I picked up a few toys to bring to the party?” she
asked then held up a large bag. “Two swords, two
crossbows, a couple of daggers, some spell books, holy water,
crosses, stakes…did I forget anything?” Giles
shook his head. “What can I say, you’ve taught me
well.”
“Have I mentioned
how nice it is to have you back Buffy?” Giles asked.
Buffy’s features softened and she looked at the floor,
trying to avoid her friends’ gazes.
“Actually, not
really. You all just sorta went, ‘Hey, she’s not
dead. Cool,’ and went on your ways.” The
room grew silent and buff straightened. “You guys can
gush over me later. Right now, we have a world to save.”
“Yeah, and being
in our physical bodies might help out a bit,” Oz pointed out.
“Just might,”
Buffy agreed.
“Okay, so, what
do we do?” Xander asked.
“Hold hands,”
Angelus instructed. Willow grasped onto Xander’s and
Oz’s hands, Xander grabbed Cordelia’s, who had held
onto Angel’s hand. Angel held out his hand for Angelus
to grab onto, which he did and then held onto Drusilla’s
hand. Dru grabbed Spike’s, who held Giles’s.
Giles and Xander completed the circle and they surrounded their
bodies. Buffy stood in the middle.
“I’ll do the
spell,” she said. Swiftly, the words flew from her
mouth and soon the circle disappeared and the heap of bodies
shifted and sat up.
“Okay, I take it
back,” Xander announced. “Looking at our bodies
while not being in them is not weird. Being put back in
them is.” Buffy smiled.
“It’s a lot
to get used to,” she agreed. “Now imagine doing
it surrounded by demons and someone who tried to make you go
insane.”
“How many times
do I have to apologize!” Angelus demanded. “I
bent over backwards to make you happy in hell.” Buffy
frowned and scratched her temple, resisting the urge to say,
‘Yeah, you bent over backwards as well as many *other*
directions.’
“I just like to
tease you about it,” Buffy said instead. “It’s
fun for me.”
“Well I’m
glad one of us enjoys it,” Angelus muttered. “Can
we go kill things now?” Angel nodded.
“As much as I
hate to agree with him, we probably get to the library before
they figure out we aren’t dead or still at the factory,”
he said. “A few vamps are bound to have lived.”
The others nodded.
“Okay,”
Buffy agreed. Angelus moved next to her and pulled out a
sword. Buffy picked up the other one and let Giles take the
bag to distribute the other things she had grabbed. Her
eyes met with Angelus’s as the both held up their swords in
a position similar to one they used while fighting after Angelus
had released Acathla.
“Déjà vu,”
Angelus whispered. Buffy shivered.
“Let’s do
this,” she announced and stalked out the door. Angel
fell into step next to her, handing her a dagger and a stake.
“I’m really
glad you’re back, Buffy,” he whispered. “I
missed you, I just didn’t know how to say it in front of him.
When he…when we shared a body, he’d belittle me for
loving you.” Buffy looked up at him.
“I missed you
too,” she admitted. “If we, no, when we win this,
we’ll go somewhere and have a nice long chat, okay?”
“Okay,”
Angel replied. They stopped in front of the library and
peeked in the windows. Buffy turned to talk to the rest of
the group.
“Mya’s in
there, so’s Trick and about a dozen vamps,” she
whispered.
“What are they
doing?” Willow asked.
“It looks like
they’re trying to end the world.”
*****
“Hablo el
inferno. Hablo el inferno pero distruciones el globo,”
Mya chanted as she glanced down at the old book Trick held out
for her. The vampires around her stood still, staring at
the spot where a small vortex had begun to grow.
“And the thing I
can’t get over is that this is our library and we weren’t
even invited,” Buffy said. Mya turned, wide eyed to
stare at the new arrivals. *This is not good,* she thought.
“No!” Trick
urged. “Keep going or you’ll destroy the
equilibrium!”
“I don’t
think so,” Buffy hissed. Angel and Giles shot their
crossbows, each taking down two of the fourteen vampires.
Buffy and Angelus charged into the crowd as Trick’s minions
attacked them. Mya struggled to finish the spell.
“Uh, I call upon
you, leader’s of hell, open this gate and swallow the world
I call you from!” Mya yelled. “I ask you, oh
mighty leaders, spread your evil across this gate and oomph!”
Buffy tackled Mya, her arms around Mya’s waist, bringing her
down the ground in a heavy thud. Mya’s head slammed on
the stone floor and a trickle of blood seeped from the place of
impact as she passed out. Buffy leaped up and began to go
one on one with Trick.
“Well, well,
Slayer, we meet again,” Trick sneered. “I didn’t
think you had it in you to outsmart me.”
“Did it before, I’ll
do it again,” Buffy hissed as she caught Trick’s fist.
She pushed it back at him and shoved him into Angel’s
waiting stake.
“NOOO!!”
Trick screamed then his ashes fell to the ground.
“Thanks,”
Buffy said.
“No problem,”
Angel replied. Taking in a deep breath, Buffy looked around
the room. Her friends looked back at her, dust covering
them and the library.
“Hey Slayer!”
a deep voice called out. Startled, the Slayerettes,
vampires, and Slayer turned as one to look at the vortex.
Buffy smiled.
“Cryack,”
she greeted. “How are things?”
“Well, Kelvin and
Crenshaw are in…custody,” the large demon said with the
closest thing to a smirk his mouth could make. He was about
nine feet tall, covered from head to toe in blades.
“What is that?”
Xander whispered.
“The most
educated Hork-Bajir you will ever meet,” Angelus said.
“I’m hoping
the nicest too,” Xander said.
“No, most are
like him,” Angelus explained. “His kind was
created to help keep hell in order. The blades are really
for cutting down trees and stuff.”
“Hey, no telling
our secrets,” Cryack said with a grin.
“So, Crenshaw and
Kelvin are taken care of?” Buffy asked. Mya moaned and
rolled over. She slowly sat up, then her memory snapped
back and her eyes opened wide. Buffy smiled a dangerous
grin. “How would you like a new addition?”
“What’s
going on?” Mya demanded. “Who are you? Why’s
the world still here?”
“We saved it you
ninny,” Spike growled.
“I see that you
arrogant worthless excuse for a vampire,” Mya snapped.
Buffy walked over to Mya and leaned up to whisper in her ear.
“We won,”
she said. “That means you’re not in a position to
threaten or to make rude comments.” Mya’s eyes
widened.
“Oh, yeah,”
she stuttered. “I don’t suppose you’d be
really nice and decide to forgive me, would you?”
“Not really,”
Buffy replied. “But I’d be willing to introduce
you to my friend, Cryack.” Mya looked up at the tall
demon and her eyes grew even larger.
“Hi,” Cryack
said.
“I’m sure he’ll
take real good care of you,” Buffy said then latched onto
Mya’s arm. “In hell.” With a hard
yank, Buffy flung Mya towards Cryack. He caught her arm
then smiled at Buffy.
“Be seeing you
Slayer,” he said. “C’mon Mya, I’ll
introduce you to my friends.” They disappeared into
the vortex and Buffy’s smile disintegrated.
“That was
interesting,” she muttered. “Anyone else want to
go home and sleep for about a year?” Xander walked
over to her and flung an arm over her shoulders.
“Nah, then you’d
miss all the fun that is the Boca de Inferno,” he said.
“Oh, yeah,”
Buffy muttered.
“But we can go
home and sleep for at least twelve hours,” Xander said.
“Oh at least,”
Buffy said with a chuckle. Three pairs of Slayerettes,
Xander and Cordelia, Willow and Oz, and Spike and Drusilla left
the library, carrying on their own conversations, all promising
to drop by the next night. Buffy stood between Angel and
Angelus, Giles kneeling on the floor, leafing through some of the
books that were discarded on the floor. Buffy put her arms
around both Angel’s and Angelus’s shoulders.
“Well, I probably
should get home,” she said. “Which one of you
want to walk me?”
“I will,”
Angel said quickly. Buffy smiled.
“Okay. I’ll
see you tomorrow night, Angelus.”
TBC