Creative Works   

Gypsies (Page 2)
By Dreamer

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the BtVS characters.  They belong to Joss Whedon, WB, Mutant Enemies, etc. Harmony, Michael, SU and all the gypsies, except Yanna (Ms. Calendar) and her uncle, are mine though.  Please don't use them without getting permission first.  I'm not making any money so please don't sue.

. . .

Part 3

The gang was gathered in the library, when Buffy and Angel went in.  "Buffy!" Xander shouted, as they came in.  Everyone looked up at Xander's exclamation.

"I'll get the first aid," Willow said, as she ran towards Giles office.

"What happened?" Giles asked, as Buffy helped Angel sit down before sitting on the table.

"We were attacked out front," Buffy said.

"In the sunlight?" Oz asked.

"Yeah, there were 6 of them and a leader.  They sent four after Angel and two after me.  Angel got the worst of it," Buffy told them, as Willow returned with the first aid kit.

"Then they didn't know you're the slayer?" Willow asked as Giles started working on Angel.

"I don't think so.  They obviously weren't expecting me to put up much of a fight."

"What did they want?" Giles asked.

"They wanted to kidnap us.  The leader said they wanted us alive.  I don't know why," Buffy replied.

"They were Romani.  I saw one of their rings.  I'm pretty much on their highest enemies list," Angel replied.

"Romani?!  Well that would explain why they were after you, but why try to capture Buffy as well?" Giles asked.

"Last time they put a curse on me to torture me.  If they found out about the spell Harmony cast, they might be looking for a new way to torture me," Angel replied.

"And killing Buffy would be the best way to do it," Willow said.

"I thought you said they wanted you both alive," Cordy said.

"Well, that could have just been to make sure there were no witnesses," Oz supplied.

"Maybe, it gets weirder though Giles.  I had a dream last night that I was attacked by a man with knife, just like today except a different guy was holding the knife and that leader guy was in my dream too," Buffy told them.

"What??" Giles and Angel exclaimed.

"Wow," Oz said in awe.

"Buffy's dreams score again," Xander said.

"Could this be an after effect from the time, when everybody's nightmares came true?" Willow asked.

"I don't think so.  These aren't nightmares, they don't even feel like dreams.  Besides they're not coming true.  This guy didn't attack me and Angel in my dream," Buffy said.

"Are you sure the leader was the man from your dream?" Giles asked.

"Way positive," Buffy confirmed.

"What happened in your dream?" Angel asked.

"There was a campfire and two men were arguing over it.  The leader and this other guy.  Finally, the gypsy from today lost the fight and stepped back.  He hung his head in shame and looked at me, like he was trying to say he was sorry.  The other man came towards me ... he was definitely evil ... he looked like he was going to enjoy hurting me.  Then Angel was in the background being held by two men.  He was trying to get free, but he couldn't and he was calling my name.  Then I looked up, and the mean guy was over me about to stab me with a knife.  And then I woke up," Buffy said.

"So the gypsy was a good guy in your dream?" Xander asked.

"Yep."

"Why would he attack us, if he was on our side?" Angel asked.

"I don't know," Buffy said.

"Buffy," Giles said thoughtfully, "You said these didn't feel like dreams.  Do you mean to say you've had more than one?"

"Sure.  There was the time when they were trying to raise the master from his bones, and the dreams I had before the Judge was reassembled, and when James and Grace were in my dreams."

"Who?" Angel asked.

"The ghosts," Willow said.  Angel still had a blank expression on his face.

"The ones that were causing all that weird stuff to happen at the school," Xander supplied.  Angel was still lost.

"The snakes, the wasps, the reenactments," Cordy said.

"Grace is the one that took over Angelus, James took over me.  They took over us at the school, had a big fight, I shot you, you fell over the rail, and then you saved me in the music room," Buffy told him.

"Those were ghosts?" Angel asked.

"Yep," Buffy replied.

"Buffy, you said that your dreams didn't feel like dreams," Giles said.

"Yeah, well sort of.  They felt like dreams, but they didn't feel like normal dreams.  Plus they gave me this huge wiggin's.  They remind me of something ... I know!" Buffy exclaimed as she laid eyes on the book titled "Vampyre".  She went over and picked it up.  "It remind me of the dreams I used to have, when I first came to Sunnydale.  The dreams always gave me a major wiggin's and this book was always in the dreams.  Then I show up for text books in the library and you show me this.  The exact same book as the one in my dreams!"

"They're like those dreams?!  Why didn't I see this before?" Giles exclaimed.

"What?" Xander asked.

"All slayers have the dreams when they first become the slayer.  All slayers have special powers and the level of power varies although there are some constants," Giles said as he was looking through a bookshelf, "All slayers have the super strength, the enhanced hearing, and the faster healing rate.  Most also have a sixth sense that allows them to sense vampires.  For some this sense is with them from the start, and with some it manifests after awhile.  In some cases, where the slayer is brought to a large mystical disturbance like the Hell Mouth, this sense has extended towards any unnatural phenomenon.  The dreams happen to all slayers, but ... yes here it is," Giles said pointing to a passage in the book, "'The initial dreams can last for only a few days or up to a year or more.  They are dreams of slaying vampires, vampires feeding and of the 'Vampyre'.  They are the signal that the girl has the powers of a slayer.  The dreams will leave as soon as she accepts her duty.  The prophetic dreams are dreams that give the sleeper a clue of what is to come.  Every few hundred years, a time of great enough peril arises and a slayer will have a prophetic dream, but in all of history, only 5 slayers have ever been prophetic dreamers.  Slayers that did not always have these dreams at a time of great peril.  Two of the slayers were daughters of seers, one was born on the Hellmouth, and two were the slayers during the two worst times in history.'  Don't you see?  It simply means that you are coming into your full power.  Some slayers are late, although I've never heard of one taking quite this long, but if you started hav ing the dreams last summer it wouldn't be unheard of.  I just never thought that your 'wiggin's' could be the extension of the sixth sense."

"But I don't have the sixth sense Giles.  I can't feel vampires.  Sometimes I know when someone's following me, but I can't tell if they're a vampire or not," Buffy said, her frustration evident in her voice.

"But you definitely get a wiggin's when their something weird going on," Xander said.

"Yeah, but I don't get a wiggin's everytime," Buffy replied.

"Well maybe it's like slayer instinct.  I mean we all have instincts, but they only act up sometimes.  And yours usually acts up when we have nothing to go, so that could just mean when we're on the right track and doing what your gut or you instinct wants, it doesn't act up," Willow said.

"So that explains the wiggin's, but why is she having the prophetic dreams?  She wasn't born here," Cordy said.

"Mom's not a seer," Buffy added.

"And it's not one of the greatest perils ever.  Is it?" Oz asked.

"No," Angel said.

"So why's she having the dreams?" Cordy asked again.

"Maybe it's cause the Hellmouth opened," Xander suggested.

"No.  If that was one of the greatest perils in history, I should have had a dream about it and I didn't," Buffy said.

"These dreams started after you died, right?" Willow asked.

"Yeah."

"Well maybe that's it.  I mean, we know that Buffy dying and coming back messed up the mystical balance.  It made Kendra the Slayer," Willow said.

"Yeah and Buffy easily kicked the Master's butt after that," Xander chimed in.

"That's right.  He tried to do the hypnosis thing again, but it didn't work.  And I felt stronger than I ever had before.  I never thought about it.  Giles, is it possible?" Buffy asked.

"I suppose so-"

"Great.  Then we know that the gypsy guy appeared in my dream means something," Buffy said.

"But if the gypsy appeared in your dream as a good guy, why would he attack you?" Cordy asked.

"He didn't attack us until the end.  He just ordered his men to capture us," Angel said.

"Maybe he had to capture you two for a ritual, he didn't like," Willow suggested.

"Or it's an army thing.  He was just following orders whether he liked them or not," Xander chimed in.

"But if all the gypsies hate Angel, why would he be sad about capturing them?" Cordy asked.

"The Romani hate me, not all gypsies," Angel said.

"Maybe he didn't want to capture Buffy.  They wouldn't hate us all, just 'cause we're Angel's friends, would they?" Oz suggested.

"They might.  Willow, you and Oz try to find something about the Romani on those dread machines.  The rest of us can try to find something in the books," Giles said.

"I'll get snacks," Xander said, jumping up and heading out the door.

"I'll help," Cordy said as she followed him out.

"I have a feeling they won't be back for awhile," Buffy said.

"They probably won't have any snacks either," Willow added.  They laughed as Giles headed off into the stacks.

"So, how are you doing?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Okay.  Being human hurts more than I remember."

"Don't worry.  The sun'll be down in a few hours and you'll be healing at your normal rate again."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine, as long as Giles doesn't remember I'm supposed to be having a training session right now."

"Buffy, when Xander and Cordelia get back to take over the researching, we can have your training session," Giles called from the back of the stacks.  Buffy groaned and Angel smiled in amusement at her.

. . .

Part 4

Gilt, an older man with graying hair, and the two mages sat on the hotel bed, watching the scene before them.  Trisn and the 6 warriors had just returned without Angelus or the girl.  "What do you mean you retreated?!?" Beshok asked.

"They were beating us and we had one man unconscious, so I called a retreat," Trisn explained between clenched teeth.

"How could a vampire in the sunlight and a girl beat up 7 warriors?"

"Angel is unaffected by the sunlight so that made no difference.  He is an experienced fighter you know, but she-"

"What?!?"

"She was stronger than she should be," Trisn finished, trying to hold his temper.

"A puny, teenage GIRL beats up 7 warriors and all you can say is 'she's stronger than she should be'?"

"It's true. She was stronger than any of us," one warrior chimed in.

"She knocked me out in one punch," the groggy Penok added.

"This could be a sign," one of the mages suggested.

"It's a sign that we shouldn't have attacked this girl.  She's done nothing to us!" Trisn exclaimed.

"She's Angelus's girlfriend.  She would give the beast pleasure, when he should suffer!" Beshok shot back.

"Maybe she doesn't know about his past," one warrior suggested.

"Yes.  She might not know.  We could tell her the truth and turn her against him.  Wouldn't that be fitting revenge?" another asked.

"Yes, it would," Beshok said evilly, "But if she will not turn against him, we will torture him by torturing and killing her in front of him."  A smile crossed his lips, as he thought of all the ways he could torture her.

"She's too strong!" a warrior cried in fear.

"Lies!!  What are you really afraid of?!?  Tell me!" Beshok ordered.

"Excuse me, sir," Gilt interrupted quietly.  All heads turned toward the quiet spy.  "I have seen this girl fight at night with Angelus in the past few days.  She's easily as strong as a vampire.  She might be like Angelus.  Human during the day and a vampire at night."

"Then why was Angelus only as strong as a normal man?" Trisn asked.

"I don't know," Gilt said simply.

"Well find out!!  If we can't capture them, we will capture one of the girl's friends as bait, but only if we need to.  Only Angelus and the girl should have to suffer, for now," Beshok said.  He was answered by a chorus of "yes, sir".  "We shall have vengeance!!"  A chorus of hurrahs was heard as Trisn and another warrior slipped out of the room, of the hotel.

"I can't take it anymore!  Did you hear him, Jer?  It's crazy!" Trisn said, remembering the bloodthirsty look in Beshok's eyes and wondering at how his fellows could follow him so easily.

"That Buffy girl never did anything to us," Jer replied, a little shaken by Beshok's reaction to their failure.

"No, not just about that.  Did you see how happy they were together?  I saw his eyes before we attacked.  Those aren't the eyes of the cold-blooded killer Angelus we were told about," Trisn said as the walked down the street, remembering the happy couple he'd seen and the letters Yanna had wrote him.

"Of course they were Angelus's eyes," Jer snapped, the childhood tales of the enemy Angelus nagging at the corners of his mind.

"But Angelus is a killer.  Those weren't the eyes of a killer.  Yanna wrote to me about this, but I didn't believe her until I saw it with my own eyes," Trisn said wonderingly.  Jer gave him a confused look.  "Don't you see.  The demon and the soul are like two separate people.  She said they were like two completely different people, Angel and Angelus.  We're torturing the soul, Angel, when we should be torturing the demon."

"Yanna told you this?"

"Yes."

"But...even if it were true.  What can we do?  The clan is convinced that he should suffer," Jer replied, torn between the evidence before him and his loyalty to the clan.

"Yanna lied to the clan and did nothing to torture Angel, but that's not enough.  We should help him, we should warn them," Trisn said, thinking of the injustices that Angel must have suffered.

"We can't work against the clan!!  The clan is our family.  Are place is with them.  Yanna had been away too long and was on the verge of being thrown out.  She was probably crazy.  We should go back and help," Jer said stopping, pleading with Trisn.  He could not imagine life without the clan, and he feared for his friend who seemed to be talking of not only leaving the clan, but working against them.

"No!  If anyone's crazy it's Beshok.  He proved that a few minutes ago," Trisn said gesturing back towards the hotel.  Afraid he was losing Jer to the clan he took a deep breath and continued a little more calmly, "They're wrong and we both know it.  You saw the look in Angel's eyes, when the knife was drawn on the girl."

"Yes," Jer agreed reluctantly, "But I will not work against the clan."

"Fine, but we will not help them either.  Agreed?" Trisn asked.

"Agreed."

. . .

Part 5

"I think I found something," Willow exclaimed.  Buffy and Giles stopped sparring and took a break.  Giles went to look over Willow's shoulder and Oz turned his chair to get a better look at Willow's computer.  Buffy grabbed a slice of pizza from one of the two almost empty pizza boxes and sat down next to Angel.  Angel and Cordy looked up from the books they were reading and Xander continued to eat cheese curls from a bag in his hand.  "The Romani are actually a group of clans.  I've found a site on Ms. Calendar's clans.  Hers is the only one that ever dared to curse a vampire.  It says the Romani are total vengeance believers.  Some clans have carried a grudge for centuries.  They have many practiced in the use of magic.  They kind of sound like Angelus's human cousins.  They rarely kill their enemies outright.  They torture them and let them live with the pain.  Some clans will even kill innocent people if it will hurt their enemy.  Sending a member of the clan to make sure their enemies stay in pain and torture is actually very common."  There is a moment of silence as Willow scrolls down and they all try to deal with the impact of what they've just found.  "The clan used to be quite large," Willow continued, "But it's numbers are dwindling.  As the children learn about the outside world, they learn how vengeance driven the clan is and see it as wrong and repulsive, so they leave."

"So Ms. Calendar wasn't the only one who was rebelling," Buffy remarked.

"No.  Their numbers are dwindling every day," Willow replies.

"The gypsy who lead those men wasn't that old, but the man he was arguing with in my dream was close to 50," Buffy said.

"Yes.  It's possible that the young man doesn't agree with torturing Angel, but he doesn't want to rebel.  The older man is probably the one at the bottom of all this," Giles said.

"So what do we do now?" Cordy asked.  There was a long silence.

"Maybe the gypsy will come to us," Willow suggested hopefully.

"Everyone knows that all the teenagers, hang out at the Bronze.  That'll probably be the first place he'll look," Angel said.

"Yeah, besides all work and no play make for a cranky slayer.  Let's go," Buffy said.  There was a chorus of agreement, as everyone, but Giles, filed out of the Library.  Willow went with Oz in his van, Xander went in Cordy's car and Buffy and Angel walked.  Angel dropped her off at her house.  She said she needed to stop and pick up a few things, since it was well past sunset, and tell her Mom she was going to the Bronze.  Angel had to go back to his apartment to change his shirt, because he had a blood stain on the one he was wearing.  When one of the gypsies had punched him, their clan ring had cut him.  He left her about a half block, before she reached her house. Buffy still hadn't figured out how to tell her mother yet and preferred keeping her in the dark.  She kissed him good-bye and he left for his apartment.

. . .

It was about a half hour after sunset.  Jer and Trisn were walking in the park, when they heard a commotion near by.  They came to the edge of the clearing and stopped.  In the clearing was a mob of about 20 vampires.  They had captures Beshok, Gilt, the two mages and three of the warriors.  The two other warriors were lying a ways away on the ground, dead.  "You see.  I was right, wasn't I Spike?  I knew those nasty gypsies were in town," a female vampire said.

"Of course you were right, Luv," said Spike.

"Miss Edith doesn't like gypsies.  You're going to pay for what you did to my Daddy," she told the gypsies.

"Of course, Dru, but we've got to get them back to our place or else the slayer might show up," Spike said irritably.

"Yes, come along," Dru said as she danced away.  Jer and Trisn were quiet as the group walked off.

"What are we going to do?" Jer asked, fear evident in his voice.

"We've got to get help," Trisn said, determinedly.

"But we don't know anyone who could help us."

"The girl, Buffy.  She was really strong and Gilt said he saw her fight vampires.  Maybe she can help us," Trisn suggested hopefully.

"But she's the enemy!  She's a friend of Angelus.  That would be betraying the clan."

"You said yourself she might not know about his past.  Besides, she's the only hope we've got," Trisn replied.

"How will we find her?" Jer asked resignedly.

"Well, she dates a vampire.  We better check all the places teenagers hang out, and all the places vampires hang out," said Trisn.  He'd have smiled at the irony if weren't standing a few feet away from the dead bodies of his friends and fellow warriors.

"Where do vampires hang out?"

"Where they can find people alone."

"Like the park," Jer said, "Come on, lets see if we can find her."  Jer and Trisn set off in a random direction to look for one teenage girl.

. . .

Buffy sat impatiently at her table at the Bronze.  Angel had left for his apartment an hour ago.  She knew it was near the Bronze and didn't know what was taking him so long.  Willow and Oz came in off the dance floor and sat down next to her.  Willow took one look at the expression on her best friend's face and knew who she was thinking about.  "Where's Angel?" Willow asked.

"He stopped to change his shirt, before he came.  It had blood on it," Buffy said distractedly looking around.

"Those are probably killer stains to get out," Oz said.

"Yeah."

"Where's Xander and Cordelia?" Willow asked, trying to get Buffy's attention.

"Probably in a closet somewhere.  Cordelia still won't dance with Xander," Buffy said.  Buffy caught sight of Angel coming in the door and she smiled.  As she was lifting her hand to show Angel where they were sitting, Willow grabbed her hand.  Buffy looked over at her astonished to see that two gypsies had just arrived at their table.  If she had lifted her hand, they would have known Angel was here.

"Buffy Summers?" one asked.

"That would be me, the girl you attacked this morning," Buffy quipped, "and you would be?"

"My name is Jer and this is Trisn.  We are members of the Romani clan of the late Ms. Calendar," he said.  Willow quickly whispered something in Oz's ear and he walked off in Angel's direction, as Jer continued, "We are sorry for attacking you earlier, but we didn't consider that you might not know who Angelus is?"

"Is that so?" Buffy said calmly.

"No," Trisn said with a look toward Jer, "You were a friend of Angelus's and according to clan tradition any acquaintance of the enemy can be brought down to hurt the enemy.  I-"

"We however disagree with that tradition as do many of the younger members of the tribe," Jer interrupted, "so we came to tell you of Angelus's past.  When you hear his past, I am sure you will no longer help him and then the clan won't have to argue about whether we can hurt you or not.  After all hurting Angelus is one thing, but hurting an innocent is another.

"We shouldn't be going after Angel either.  Even the clan knows that a vampire is a human body with a demon instead of a soul.  It's wrong to torture the soul our clan returned to the body for -"

"Shut-up!  You're talking treason," Jer hissed, scared by what his friend was saying.

"No," Trisn said firmly, "I'm second-in-command and I'll give the orders.  We're not going to hurt the soul for what the demon did and we are not going to make this poor girl think that she's dating a demon instead of a soul."

"It's against all clan beliefs!" Jer said, trying holding to what he had been taught and push away the treasonous and rational thoughts in his own mind.

"Beliefs rooted in vengeance.  Now is NOT a time for vengeance.  Yanna spoke well of him and that's enough for me.  Now be quiet and follow orders!" Trisn ordered Jer, effectively ending the argument as he once again gave Buffy and Willow his full attention.  Buffy and Willow had listened to this argument with interest, as had Angel who had snuck up unnoticed behind the two and Oz, who had returned to sit beside Willow.  "I'm sorry for my comrade Ms. Summers.  I'm afraid most of my clan has a large dislike for your boyfriend.  We wouldn't have even come to you, but we need help.  The rest of the gypsies in town have been take hostage by a group of vampires.  I caught only two names: Spike and Dru.  I cannot guarantee you anything in return, but I will try to change the clan's mind, when we return."

Buffy looked both of them in the eye and knew that neither of them was an enemy of hers, but one was Angel's enemy and the one's being held by Spike and Drusilla, were probably all Angel's enemies.  Buffy looked up at Angel, who was standing behind the two gypsies and back.  "Angel and Angelus are two different people, for lack of a better word.  I understand that Angelus hurt you deeply, but Angel has done nothing to you and should not have to pay for Angelus's crimes.  If you swear to try and convince your clan of this, and swear that neither of you will try to hurt Angel, I would be willing to help," she told the gypsies, then she looked up at Angel, "but it's you choice.  I do this with you, or not at all."  The gypsies looked behind them startled.  Angel walked over to stand beside Buffy, as the gypsies watched his every move.

He turned and faced the gypsies.  "I'm very sorry for what Angelus did to your clan and I want to thank you for putting the first curse on me.  I know that it was meant to cause me pain and in that respect the curse succeeded, but it gave me the chance to find love.  If you promise me that your clan won't harm Buffy, or our friends in any way, I'll gladly help," Angel told the gypsies.

"I can try to convince them, but I can't promise.  But if a gypsy is saved by someone, that someone becomes a friend of the clan and cannot be harmed.  If you and your friends help save these gypsies, it is almost guaranteed that they will become friends of the clan, but I cannot say how they will react to you," Trisn told Angel.

Angel nodded, "Then I'll help you."

. . .

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