Fanfiction

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Previously on Grey Lines:

Spike speaks to Clem and decides to go back and tell Buffy the truth about his soul. In the meantime, Buffy wakes up to see a dazed Anya try to get out of the house. Buffy wakes up Willow and Dawn, telling them to call Giles and leaves, following the spaced out vengeance demon. On her way, she bumps into Spike who tries to tell her about his soul but Giles cuts him off as he meets up with the three. They walk for a long while until they find a clearing, where they see a man, a circle of light and a groups of dazed, humming demons.

Chapter 8 - A Deep Sleep

"Spike?!" Buffy whispered as she desperately looked around.

"Buffy…" Giles called her.

As she turned to face him, she saw her Watcher pointing towards the clearing. She turned her gaze to see Spike grabbing a dazed Anya and throwing her on the floor among the thick bushes. Quickly, she moved towards the place where she had last seen the bleached haired vampire. When she reached it, she found a worried Spike laying on top of a very spaced out Anya. The scene brought back the images she had struggled so hard to forget. She shook away the memory and concentrated on the present situation.

"Is she ok?" Buffy asked, but somehow her voice didn’t show as much worry as was expected.

"No." Spike answered without even looking at her, his eyes were fixed on the vengeance demon, who was now humming in unison with all the other demons. "She won’t snap out of it."

"It must be the Foris Caliga. It’s too strong." Giles’ familiar voice was heard as he sneaked his way to them between the bushes.

Suddenly, a sound coming from the clearing caught the threesome’s attention. As they looked on, they saw the demons approach the white circle of light one by one. The first to reach it was a vampire who outstretched it’s powerful arm towards the brightness. The moment its fingertips touched the glow it engulfed him. A few second passed and the circle began to pulsate, its rhythm increasing reaching a frightening pace. Eventually, the light retracted back into place, still pounding but slowing down, until the vampire was visible. However, it only lasted for a few seconds, as the creature suddenly burst into dust as if an invisible stake had been driven through its chest.

Buffy stared incredulous at the spectacle as more demons lined up to have a similar fate. However, they did not turn to dust, instead their bodies fell lifeless to the floor and began strangely melting until there was nothing left but a wet stain on the ground.

"What’s happening?" the Slayer asked, her eyes fixed on the glowing circle.

"Without their demon power they cannot survive." Giles explained. "It is sucking in all of their demonic energy."

"But-" Buffy started but was cut off by Spike’s annoyed and concerned voice.

"Will you two shut up and pay attention. She’s not snapping out of it. What if she stays like this?"

Something about the way he showed worry over the demon made Buffy’s stomach turn in disgust, but she ignored the feeling and moved closer to Anya, grabbing her by her arms and shaking her to the core.

"I’ve tried that already." Spike grumbled pushing the Slayer out of the way and kneeling in front of Anya, who was sitting on the ground. "Luv, you’ve got to snap out of it." He asked gently, lightly caressing her arms.

"Don’t worry, Spike, I’m sure the moment we are far enough from the hole it will wear off." Giles explained. "Now we have to get out of here."

"But what about Clem?" Buffy asked, her eyes never left the two demons who, in her opinion, were too close to one another at that moment.

"He probably was smart enough and chained himself to the armchair after I left. He couldn’t have reached this place before us, so nothing happen before we got here and he’s had time to get here. So, if he didn’t it’s cause his back home. Now, let’s go."

He stood up, careful not to stand too high and reveal his presence to the man casting the spell. Even though he had his back turned to them it was better to be safe than sorry. He tried to pull Anya in his direction, but when she wouldn’t move he put one arm under her knees, the other behind her back, lifted her and carried her away from the clearing.

Buffy quickly followed him, the sick and twisted feeling growing in her gut.

"Giles are you coming?" she asked as she saw her Watcher still crouched between the bushes. He seemed to snap out of his thoughts at the sound of Buffy’s voice.

"Ah? Yes, of course. It’s just…"

"What?" Buffy asked.

"That voice…" he looked at the Slayer’s concerned face and decided to ignore his instinct. "Nothing, let’s go!" and he walked past Buffy after Spike and Anya.

They walked for half an hour until they were out of the woods.

"I think you can put her down now. She’s stopped humming." Annoyance seeped into Buffy’s voice.

"I don’t want her going back there." Spike answered refusing to set Anya back on her feet. "I’ll carry her till he get her to your place."

"Fine!"

When they reached the Summers’ residence, three extremely nervous people met them, at the door. Xander’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest at the sight of Anya’s limp body laying in Spike’s arms.

"What happen? Is she…? Oh God, please…" the tears flowed freely down his cheeks as Spike laid her down on the couch.

"She’s ok buddy." Spike reassured him, stepping out of the way so Xander could kneel next to her.

"The strain of the calling just knocked her out. She’s probably very tired and she’ll need to rest for a while." Giles explained.

"Are you sure?" Xander’s glassy eyes stared at the vengeance demon sleeping in front of him as he caressed her forehead.

"She’s fine, Xander." Giles tried to set Xander’s mind at rest.

"What happen?" Willow finally asked.

"We found it. It’s in the woods, in a clearing. There were all these demons around, getting the life literarily sucked out of them." Buffy started to tell.

"Well, I better get back home and check in on Clem." Spike said, giving the sleeping demon one last glance. Then he moved into the hall pulling Dawn with him. "Nibblet, can you let me know if she turns out ok?" Spike asked her in a low voice, but Buffy, who was close enough was able to hear it to. His request only managed to increase the burning sensation in her stomach and she swallowed hard.

"Sure, no problem." Dawn answered.

"Thanks, luv." He gave her a quick smile and walked out the front door.

****************************************************

"Oh, he’s here." Spike sighed in relief as he opened the door to his crypt to find a tired Clem sleeping on the armchair.

The vampire slowly walked over to him and padded him on the arm.

"Oi! Wake up, mate." He called.

"Hum…" Clem moaned.

"You get to have the bed, remember?" Spike asked as he helped the demon up by unlocking his chains.

"You’re home." A wicked smile crept onto the Clem’s lips as he remembered the reason why the vampire had left in such a hurry. "How was it? If you came home this late, something good must have happen."

"Nothing happen, I didn’t tell her. I didn’t have the chance, Anya got called and I had to help out."

"Bummer." Clem sighed, dragging his feet down the stairs.

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Dawn yawned as she entered the living room. It was already close to 11 am, but in the entire house not a sound was heard, it wasn’t unexpected considering they had all gone to bed around six in the morning. A soft smile crept over her lips as she saw Xander sitting in the floor, his head resting on the couch where a still unconscious Anya lay. His left hand was wrapped around her long fingers as his right one lightly caressed the blonde strands of the demon’s hair.

The young girl came close to Xander, whispering is name:

"Xander… Wake up. You have to wake up."

He responded to her calling by opening his swollen eyelids, it was clear he had cried himself to sleep. He tried to speak, pushing his lips together, but his throat was sore and his mouth dry.

"I’ll get you a glass of water." She padded him on the back and left for the kitchen. Soon she came back. "There you go."

Xander drank up, paused and then spoke. "Thanks."

"Is she ok?" Dawn asked.

"She hasn’t woken up yet." He replied with a bowed head.

"Don’t worry. I’m sure Giles is right. She’s just tired. She’ll wake up when she’s ready." She reassured him.

"Hey!" Buffy’s voice was heard as she stepped into the living room.

"Hey, Buffy!" Dawn greeted. Xander simply nodded.

"Giles asked me to stop by the Magic Box. Are you guys going to be ok?" The Slayer asked.

"Sure." Dawn answered for the both of them.

Buffy made her way to the door, but stopped and turned to face Xander.

"You better get some sleep." She spoke softly.

"I can’t. Not until she wakes up." Was his reply.

*****************************************************************

"Spike? What are you doing here?" Giles asked the smoking vampire that walked into the shop.

Spike dropped the burning blanket on floor and made his way towards the librarian.

"Hey…" he greeted. "I need to talk to you."

"Sure, what is it?" Giles asked confused by the seriousness of the vampire.

"I called Dawn." He paused and Giles nodded. "Anya hasn’t woken up yet."

"I know, but it’s only a matter of ti-"

"Oh, get off it! Don’t try that bullshit on me. I can tell your lying, Watcher, now out with it." Spike snapped.

"I don’t know-"

"You bloody well know what I’m talking about. I saw your face last night! There’s something wrong and you don’t wanna tell. Cut the crap." Spike nearly yelled.

Giles paused for a while. His head bowed as he pondered whether or not to tell the vampire. After a while decided for the former.

"The only way to get her back is by destroying it." The librarian confessed in one long breath.

"What?" Spike asked incredulous, waiting for Giles to raise his head so he could establish eye contact.

"If we don’t destroy it, she’ll stay that way forever." The librarian looked up and locked gaze with the vampire.

"Well, let’s get cracking. Call everyone and let’s research." Spike moved towards the table, taking a seat in one of the chairs around it.

"We can’t." Giles revealed.

"Why not? Then will catch the guy who cast the spell and rip his throat out." Spike said with a hint of desperation.

"Even if we do that, which we can’t, it won’t be enough. We would need to destroy the Foris Caliga." Giles explained.

"And how do we do that? There has to be a way." Spike insisted.

"There is…" Giles hesitated.

"Well, what is it?" Spike asked, nervously gawking at the librarian.

"The Foris Caliga cannot come into contact with anything human, if it does it will be destroyed." Giles’ expression was heavy with worry.

"So, all we have to do is get the Slayer close enough to touch it." Spike immediately solved the dilemma.

"If she touches it she will lose her soul and die."

"Who will die?" Buffy asked.

The two men jumped up in surprise. She had sneaked in through the back door unnoticed.

"Well?" she insisted when the two men remained quiet.

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"Xander, you have to rest. Just go to bed and I’ll watch her for you." Willow asked for the third time that day. Unfortunately, she had the same answer she had had the previous attempts.

"No, I’ll only go to sleep when she wakes up." He mumbled and as he ran his hand over the demon’s pale cheek he whispered: "Come on, baby. Wake up, please."

Willow looked at Dawn and the two girls exchanged a painful look.

**************************************************************************

"She won’t wake up?" Buffy repeated Giles’s words.

"No. Not unless we destroy the Foris Caliga." Giles reassured her.

"But… there has to be another way we can destroy it." Spike insisted.

"I’ve researched all night and morning and all the books say the same thing – the only way to destroy it is by making it absorb a human soul." The librarian nervously rubbed his glasses.

"We’ll call Willow and Dawn. We’ll all help, and we won’t rest until we figure this out." Buffy said matter-of-factly, her face was hard and expressionless as she crossed her arms over her chest.

*************************************************************************

Hours later they all stood in the Magic Box, except for Anya, who was laying on one of the mattresses they had brought in from the training room. Xander sat next to her, anxiously rubbing her hand as he sensed the tension in the air.

"So, what did you call us here for?" he finally got up the nerve and asked. When he didn’t get and answer he snapped. "For Christ’s sake, just tell me."

Giles waited for a second before speaking in a low voice:

"She will only wake up if we destroy the hole."

Xander swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump that was quickly forming at the base of his throat.

"And how to we do that?" he asked.

"The only way is by getting it into contact with a human being." Giles explained, before the glimpse of hope could spread over the young man, he added: "The person how touches it will lose their soul and… die."

A heavy silence stretched between the members of the group.

"I’ll do it." Xander bravely stood up, pushing back the tears that had pooled his eyes since Spike had first brought Anya home.

"No way, Xander." Buffy immediately stepped in. "No one will do anything except read. A lot. We’ll find another way to destroy this thing." She practically ordered.

"But-"Dawn began to speak, but the Slayer cut her off.

"There is no time for buts. Now that everyone knows what’s going on, it’s time to start researching." She commanded.

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