A/N – Thanks
to Marsters’ Girl for beta’ing this fiction!
"Right."
Cordy and Xander answered simultaneously.
Willow
shrugged. "Right."
"Rights
good." Angel muttered.
"Okay,
unanimous." Buffy grabbed her bag
as Spike retracted their weapons. The
gang watched as the duo turned, reached the fork and turned left without a
pause in their step.
They
shrugged and collected their stuff, quickly following the pair.
*In
your house...... I long to be.....room by room.....patiently.......*
"WHAT
IS IT?!!" Buffy screamed out in
frustration, pausing briefly to glare at her lover.
The
gang stopped, staring in shock at the slayer.
Spike just grinned, drawing his mate closer to him, brushing his lips
over hers. They picked up the pace again. "It's by Audioslave, ducks."
"Huh? Who?"
Buffy frowned.
"That
rock group that did that shell song."
Xander said, still walking.
"Shell
song?" Cordy asked.
"Yeah,
cockles, coarsk...Will help me out here."
"Cochise. But I don't think it’s a shell." Willow frowned in thought.
"Oh,
you mean that weird video with the fireworks." Buffy asked, looking around for conformation.
"That’s
the one." Spike nodded.
"Thought
you couldn't handle anything written after the 1980's?" Buffy teased her mate, as she continued to
hear the song in his head...content now that she was finally able to put music
to the words.
"I
can't.....its all pop music disguised as rock but there’s the odd song that’s
pretty bloody good." Spike
grinned. "Anything’s better than
half the crap you made me listen to in the car during our impromptu road trip."
“They
went on a road trip?” Cordy frowned at
Angel, who just shrugged; neither knowledgeable about the blonde pair’s
skidaddle out of town.
"Hey! We listened to bloody Billy Idol for THREE
HOURS! I think I deserved a medal after
that!" The gang snickered in the
background, Willow smiling at the slayer's use of the word 'bloody'.
"I
think I made it up to you later, pet."
Spike reminded her in low, husky tones.
His tongue seductively curled around his bite mark on her neck.
Buffy's
eyes dilated. "Yeah..."
"Okay,
guys; get a room." Cordy snorted
in disgust.
"Just
'cause you're not getting any...” Buffy giggled, as Xander and Cordy began to
argue again.
"Guys...”
Willow muttered worriedly.
"Please
like you are?"
The
seer glared at Xander’s comment… but couldn’t dispute it…. damn, but the
demon-killing business was hell on the love life…. Buffy and Spike seemed to be
doing pretty good though…*Maybe I should find myself a pet vampire…* Her eyes darted to Angel briefly before she
mentally shook her head; noticing that Xander had started to talking
again.
"Guys!" Willow said a little louder, but the gang
seemed absorbed in the display behind them.
"Oooh,
good come back!" Xander retorted
sarcastically.
"GUYS!" The gang spun to a red-faced Willow. "Thanks; look."
They
looked up, finally noticing the…
"Woah,
were d'you come from?" Buffy
muttered, quickly retracting her axe, as she prepared to fight.
In
front of them proudly stood an animal that most closely resembled a lion. It was huge, taking over the entire entrance. Behind it they could just make out a large
boulder.... then nothing.
“Where
did the cave go?” Xander asked anyone
who felt like answering.
"Why
are you here?" It spoke, its
commanding voice booming through the caves.
The
gang gave a collective look of shock; who figured it would be more then a
slice-and-dice thing.... ow it wants a conversation?
"Who
are you?" Buffy countered,
unconsciously moving her and Spike in front of the gang; noticing out of the
corner of her eye that Angel did the same.
"I
am Chiancho - Guardian of these sacred caves, and their master." It responded. "What is your business here?"
"We
need to speak to the elder that lives here.
We need his help."
*Why
don't we just kill it?* Spike asked Buffy
telepathically.
*Not
yet...be patient.*
"Why?" The creature boomed.
*Not
one of my best qualities, pet.*
"WHY?!” Chiancho repeated, angry at not being
answered.
"Huh?" Buffy asked, having not heard his question through
the other 'conversation'.
Spike
spoke up through a grin. "We're gonna save the world!"
Chiancho
seemed to raise an eyebrow at this.
"Why would a vampire be concerned with the end of the world? Never mind three....." A lazy paw indicated Spike and Angel.
Buffy
stepped forward, placing herself in front of everyone. "I'm the slayer."
As
if by magic the rock and Chiancho shimmered away to reveal another cave.
The
gang took a step forward and took in the sight before them. In the middle of the cave a small stick-fire
burned. Next to it sat an elderly
Indian man, his old body loosely encased in robes of dusty tarp. As their eyes adjusted to the sudden light
change they took in the second figure in the room.
Willow
took a step back as she gasped, "Oz?"
Part Nineteen:
"Welcome." The gang jumped, as the old man spoke in
surprisingly strong tones. "Please
sit..." He indicated the six mats
that had been lain out at the opposite end of the fire.
The
gang shuffled in, all except Willow who seemed unable to move.
"Wills?" Buffy whispered to her best friend, as she
took her place directly in front of the Sioux leader.
"What
are you doing here?" Willow asked
Oz, still shell-shocked, as Buffy tugged her down next to her.
"This
is where I was...."
"You
mean you've been here the entire time?
Couldn't you have called or something?" She asked, angry and hurt.
"In
the middle of the dessert here, Willow."
Oz replied.
"I've
been worried...and waiting!"
"Wills...." Buffy put her hand over hers friends
comfortingly. She'd been with Willow
through the trauma of her break up, and had known that Willow had carried the scars
of Oz's betrayal with her into her following relationship.
"I
said I wasn't coming back!" Oz was
getting uncharacteristically angered.
In much a similar way as had the vampiress opposite him, the Sioux
leader placed his hand in front of Oz calmingly.
"This
is not the time, Daniel.... there are bigger things at stake." Oz nodded, averting his eyes to the fire, as
the conversation carried on around him.
"Right,
lets get down to business-" Buffy
began, only to be gently interrupted.
"Slayer...I
know why you have come and what it is you seek. However, it is a great thing you ask of me..."
"You
want me to pass a test right?"
Buffy asked and he nodded.
"Wait, its not like math is it?"
The
elder chuckled at the worry on visible on her features, "No.…these scrolls
which you require have cost many their lives... I require a life for those
lives."
"What?" Buffy frowned, the rest of the gang
mirroring her feelings.
"A
sacrifice."
"Of
life?" Buffy felt panicked. "I won't kill a human...."
"I
thought not. It is of no matter.....the
sacrifice that I require is of vampire life." His eyes were deceptively soft, their tone belying the gravity of
his request.
"Who?" Buffy asked, silently praying. *Not Spike.
Not Spike. Not Spike.....*
The
blonde vampire heard her thoughts in his head and reached out to take her hand
soothingly.
"I'll
do it."
All
eyes swung to Angel and the Sioux smiled, "Though your offer is
magnanimous, my request is not of a souled vampire."
The
gang was silent before Xander spoke, "Well that narrows it down."
Buffy
glared at Xander before returning cold eyes to the elder opposite her,
"No."
"No?" He asked.
"No. I won't kill him." She reasserted.
"Your
life will be forfeit..." The elder
explained.
"No."
"Pet..." Spike tried.
Buffy
glared at her sire. "No! I'm not killing you!" Her eyes spun back to the man. "Find me another vampire...a soul-less
vampire. I don't care..."
"The
price is love. Nothing less, nothing more." The elder continued to explain the cost.
Buffy
laughed humourlessly, "Nothing more?!"
“You
do not know the price of what you seek, child.” The elder tutted lightly and Buffy glared at him
She
stood, moving from the fire, pacing restlessly in their confinement. Spike sighed and got up, slowly approaching
her.
*Buffy.*
*No.* She turned facing the corner, refusing to
look at him.
He
reached out, curling a lock of hair behind her ear. *Come on, love...*
Buffy
spun to face him, *No! I'm not killing
you. God, what is wrong with you?*
Spike
chuckled, *Nothin', pet.* A beat. *You need to do this.*
*No.*
*World
ending and all that.* Spike gently took
her into his arms.
"What’s
going on?" Xander asked.
"He's
trying to persuade her." Angel
answered sombrely.
"To
kill him?" Xander tried to
clarify, shocked.
"To
save the world..." Willow
whispered.
*My
world would end anyway.... fuck the rest of them.* Buffy growled at him, her fingers bruising his skin in their
intensity to hold her to him.
*What
about your mum...and the nibblet...your mates, the watcher?*
Buffy
looked up at him, tears glistening in her eyes. *I won't kill you.*
*I
love you.* He pressed the stake in to
her hands.
Buffy
whimpered a bit at the resigned, yet peaceful look on his face, violently
crushing her lips to his. Spike growled
holding her roughly to him as her hands clutched at his clothes, eager to
anchor him to her.
*I'll
always love you.* He heard her whisper
in his head....then pain.
Then
nothing at all.