Hellmouth Ascendant Trilogy Book 1 Dusk: Chapter 13 Darkness Falls
by Deacon Rayne
Chapter 13
Darkness Falls

“Now,” Spike said grinning as he got off the R.V, “THIS is my kind of place!” he laughed. Buffy got off and eyed the scene with awe. The tavern was a huge squatted building. Fires burned freely in the dirt as bikers howled and raced their bikes around the bonfire in circles, shooting guns into the air. Spike clicked his tongue in amusement and sauntered off towards the bar. Faith, Dusk, Xander, Anya, Giles Willow and Dawn, filed off the R.V. in stunned disbelief.
“Place looks jumping B’,” Faith commented wryly. Buffy turned an accusatory look at Xander, who just threw his hands up in defense,
“Don’t blame me. This place wasn’t in Rand McNally,” he responded defensively. Seething Buffy turned her gaze back to survey the anarchy. Giles cleared his throat,
“Buffy, I’m not entirely sure this is an appropriate environment to for Dawn to be exposed to,” he commented. He started as a particularly loud war whoop ended in a biker knocking another biker off his bike with a two-by-four, “or for us, for that matter,” he added as an afterthought. Dusk snorted slightly,
“Somehow the idea of leaving her in the bus all by herself doesn’t appeal either,” he replied. Dawn carefully scootched closer over to him, for security. Angel spoke up,
“I don’t like this, Buffy,” he stated grimly. Buffy looked over at him,
“I’m sure you’ve seen worse in your two hundred plus years,” she replied dryly. Angel furrowed his brow in thought,
“Not in this country,” he responded, “Calcutta, maybe,” he admitted. Buffy snorted and rolled her eyes,
“Look - we’re here, let’s make the best of it. Dawn,” she turned around to regard her sister, who was still trying to lurk inconspicuously in Dusk’s shadow, “stay close, and don’t look anyone in the eye,” she frowned at her attire and reached over to zip her sweater vest closed, “and keep yourself inconspicuous,” she added. Dawn squirmed and eyeballed her sisters outfit, consisting of one of her trademark mini-skirts and tight fitting shirt,
“Look who’s talking,” she retorted. Buffy’s face darkened but didn’t say anything as Spike stomped over to them impatiently,
“Come on then, let’s GO already. Before all the good strippers are taken,” he barked out and half-dragging the slayer behind him, Spike strode to the bar doors, like a kid in a candy shop. Angel sighed and headed back onto the bus, not really in the mood to watch Buffy and Spike’s antics. Willow grabbed Dusk’s arm,
“Don’t you leave my side for a minute, capice?” she demanded. Dawn grabbed his other arm,
“Yeah, me either,” she put in. Dusk smiled wryly and turned to his father.
“Shall we?” he asked. Giles sighed,
“Very well, once more into the breach,” with a sigh, he took off his glasses, guys with glasses tended to get bothered in places like this, and tucking them away, followed Dusk towards the bar, Xander and Anya following,
“You know, this place looks kind of interesting,” Anya commented. Xander frowned at her,
“Remind me to never, EVER, let you pick where we go on a date,” he replied before entering the smoky bar.

Spike grinned like a happy puppy as he took in the chaos flowing around him. The bar was stacked with every kind of degenerate and manner of scum imaginable, Spike inhaled deeply relishing every moment. The lights in the bar were dim, which was a good thing because nobody wanted to get too close a look at the bars inhabitants. There was some sort of mariachi band playing at in one of the corners. There weren’t any strippers, much to Spike’s chagrin and Buffy’s relief. But some of the waitresses wore outfits that made Buffy’s look downright puritanical in comparison. The group carefully headed to a table in a darkened corner. There was a very intoxicated patron resting in one of the chairs. Spike strode over to him, and without missing a beat, shoved the comatose patron out of the chair to slump onto the floor. Picking up the chair, he swept the table clean of beer bottles, cigarette butts and various other objects. They crashed to the floor loudly, as Spike grinned and plunked down into the chair, throwing his boots onto the table. Buffy eyed him, but grabbed a seat next to him, Dawn sat next to her, followed by Dusk, Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles and Faith. Spike leaned his head back and snapped his fingers, beckoning to a particularly buxom waitress,
“Drinks, sweets. Whiskey, and keep it coming,” he demanded. The waitress nodded, and smiled flirtatiously at him, earning a very dark glare from Buffy. She then turned and left to get the drinks. Spike turned back to the group,
“I could become a regular,” he quipped. Buffy snorted,
“Yeah, cheap booze and a bar ho for every table,” several pairs of eyes turned to regard the petite blond slayer in surprise,
“I’m telling mom you said that,” Dawn threatened. Buffy shot her a withering look and went back to glaring at Spike, who was having too much fun, watching various bar fights to notice. The drinks arrived without incident and Spike helped himself to a double. He held the brimming glass up in a toast,
“Here’s to you and here’s to me and may we never disagree,” he turned and flashed the slayer a smile, “and should we ever disagree, screw you, here’s to me.” He downed the shot and slammed the shot glass onto the table, as Buffy hit him on the arm, hard enough to make him wince, “Goh! That’s good!” he grinned and began pouring himself another. Dusk leaned in onto his elbows,
“Is there A.A. for vampires?” he asked wryly. Buffy glared at Spike and answered,
“Yeah it’s called ‘touch that bottle again and you're cut off!” she bit out. Spike stopped in mid-pour, regarding the slayer with a horrified look, not noticing that the glass was now overfull and a river of whiskey had spilled out and flowed across the table to splatter upon the dirty floor. With a sigh, Spike put the bottle down and poured the shot glass out onto the floor,
“Bollocks,” he muttered. The slayer smiled at him and kissed his cheek,
“That’s better, lover. I’ll make it up to you later,” Spike snorted in derision. The laughter from the group died as a shadow fell over the table, they all looked up to regard an absolutely huge biker clad in leather and very drunk, leering covetously at the women at the table,
“Hey there, sweet things,” he muttered drunkenly. Faith got up from the table,
“I got this one,” she smiled prettily.
“Faith…” Buffy warned. Faith waved her off as she cozyed up the drunken behemoth. The drunk frowned as he belched into Faith’s face,
“Don’t want ya, yer damaged goods,” he growled, pointing at the scar on her face. Faith grinned, and wrapped her arms around the biker’s neck,
“Not everywhere,” she whispered seductively. The drunk smiled, showing several missing teeth. She leaned in, as if to kiss him, then jerking his shoulders down, she slammed her knee up high and hard into his crotch. There was a slight crunch, as everyone at the table winced. Spike blanched,
“Ouch,” he put forth mildly. The biker’s face had turned a very deep red, his mouth flopping open gasping like a fish. Faith continued to drive her knee into the convulsing biker still smiling prettily,
Dusk looked on in horror as he quickly took a glass and put it before Spike demandingly. Spike, who had been watching the spectacle with the morbid intensity one views a train wreck, looked down confused.
“Excuse me, mate, but Buffy just said-“
“Shut up and pour Spike,” Dusk retorted quietly cringing in empathetic pain as the grinding sound took on a distinctly wet sound. Spike obeyed quickly and Dusk downed the shot exhaling hard. Faith stepped back from the purple-faced man
“Guess I’m not the only one that’s ‘damaged goods’ huh, big boy?” she asked.
Placing a finger against his forehead, she pushed slightly and he fell backwards into a whimpering heap. The table applauded, even Giles,
“Well done, Faith,” he complimented. Faith smiled and shrugged,
“He just wasn’t my type,” she shrugged. Buffy shook her head and offered her hand to Faith, who slapped it.
“Nice one, Faith,” she admitted.
“Girl power,” Faith responded, wryly. Spike, still looking a little more pale than usual, poured her a drink and pushed it towards her,
“Here luv, you’ve earned this,” Faith stared at it for a long time, before pushing it away.
“Thanks but no thanks, I don’t need it,” she smiled at Buffy who nodded approvingly. Buffy, then noticed Giles frowning down at the wooden table,
“See something interesting?” Buffy asked wryly. Giles shook his head,
“I’m sorry, its just…there’s something odd carved into this table,” he continued frowning as Buffy came over to peer at what had so disturbed Giles.
“Like what?” Xander asked wryly, ‘for a good time, call Spike’s mother?” he laughed as Spike whipped a bottle cap at him. Buffy leaned over Giles’ shoulder and frowned, making a face,
“What IS that?” she asked pointing at the symbol consisting of a circle of eight eyes surrounding a central eye, the entire thing enclosed in some sort of triangular pattern, Giles pursed his lips in thought,
“It’s the symbol for Beth Gul-Abz,” he informed them. Anya perked her head up,
“Gul-Abz? I know him. Horrid creature. Awful manners, never could keep his eyes to himself,” she commented. Dusk frowned,
“What would a demonic glyph be doing carved into a table in a bar in the middle of New Mexico?” Giles shook his head,
“I don’t know, but I think we’re about to find out,” raising his eyes past Dusk’s shoulders, he peered at something over on the other side of the bar. Slowly, the group turned to see what had caught his attention.
Nine men entered the bar from behind a curtain. Each dressed in red robes, with the symbol of Beth Gul-Abz, emblazoned in green full on the back. They wore black hoods, and huge full-face masks made to look like giant eye. Giles slowly got out of his seat,
“I think it’s time to leave,” he commented. Buffy followed,
“Yeah, I’m getting that sense,” she replied.
Carefully so as not to draw attention to themselves, all of them rose from their chairs. Suddenly a gong sounded and massive wooden doors closed, sealing the bar shut. Xander blanched,
“Does this mean happy hour’s over?” he joked weakly. The din in the room quieted down as one of the robed men stepped forth. Unlike the others, his robe was a deep purple, his mask not one eye, but eight eyes surrounding a large singular one. He lifted his mask and spoke,
“Greetings, my friends. Tonight, you are privy to a very special honor. Tonight, as the rest of the world hides behind false pretenses of generosity, their so called ‘Christmas sprit’ we true men of action, revel in our own spirit,” there were a few drunken cheers at this, as the man gestured for silence, “You ask for drink, and he provides!” more cheers,
“You ask for flesh and he provides!” gesturing to the waitresses who were now clad in silken robes as well. The crowd cheered again as Buffy felt her muscles tensing up, Dusk and Spike slowly moving behind her to flank,
“And now,” the robed man spoke, “we, the priests of the all-seeing lord, give you something else,” he pointed to a large patch of bare floor, the ONLY patch of bare floor, Buffy realized with a start, “we give you the honor of witnessing,” he raised his hands high, “his ascendance!” And with an explosion of wood and cement, the floor erupted, spraying wooden debris across the crowd. Spike grabbed Buffy and shielded her; Dusk threw his coat over Willow and Dawn as Xander, Giles, Faith and Anya dropped to the floor. Spike was the first to turn around to look,
“Oh bloody hell,” he muttered. Slowly, the others turned as well,
A huge orb covered in pink bulbous flesh, easily seven feet in diameter hovered over a gaping hole in the floor, eight eyes set on some sort of stalks writhed and crackled. It had no facial features save a single large pulsating eye and a gaping maw full of dagger-like teeth. It drooled and hissed as it regarded the crowd with its eight eyestalks. The priest lowered his arms and beamed,
“And now, you, most unworthy sacrifices, may give as well: your lives,” he hissed. And the creature struck.
A ray of red light erupted from its central eye incinerating bar and bar patron alike. People screamed and fell out of their chairs scrambling to get away from the hovering monstrosity. Spike and Xander with a running leap dived behind the bar taking cover, Dusk upended his table, using it for cover as Willow and Dawn huddled behind it. Giles, Faith, Anya and Buffy huddled behind some shattered chairs as the gurgling laughter of Gul-Abz echoed through the room as it began to feed. Anya caught Buffy’s eye,
“That central eye shoots a death ray, one touch and your killed instantly,” Buffy nodded,
“Thanks Ahn, I noticed” she turned to Giles, “How can we fight this thing?” Giles shook his head,
“I haven’t the faintest idea, but we’d best think of something quick!” he responded, he turned to check on Dusk and the girls, relieved to see that they seemed unharmed. The sounds of screaming and crunching bone filled the room, Dusk wrapped the girls’ heads, shielding from the sight,
“Don’t look,” he whispered. Willow and Dawn, huddled against him, both petrified by the suddenness and the brutality of the attack. He cast a look over their barricade, and immediately ducked back down, looking ill.
“What’s happening?” Dawn asked.
“You don’t want to know,” he replied quietly. There was a scream followed by a meaty crunching sound, the screaming stopped abruptly. Dawn shuddered and burrowed her head against Dusk. He held them tightly and flinched as another blast from the creature sailed over their heads to incinerate part of the wall, Dusk turned suddenly, hoping that perhaps the creature had created them an escape route. His face fell as he saw that the stone wall had been scorched, but was still entirely intact. He threw a look over at his father,
“We’re going to get annihilated we stay here much longer!” he yelled. Giles nodded,
“I’m open to suggestions,” he yelled back. Anya grabbed his arm,
“Challenge him!” she whispered fiercely.
“What?!” Giles asked, askance.
“Challenge him! Gul-Abz is a blowhard, challenge him to stand up fight and he’ll consider a point of honor to vaporize you face-to-face,” Giles sighed and held up a white napkin in surrender. The barrage ceased, Giles gathered his courage and called out:
“Beth Gul-Abz, you are hereby challenged to open combat. Do you accept or do you yield?” Dusk flashed him a look somewhere between disbelief and ‘Are you out of your friggin’ mind?’ There was a silence,
“Your challenge is accepted,” Gul-Abz burbled. Giles cautiously stood up and surveyed the damage. Bloodstains, piles of ash and other signs of destruction pervaded the scene. Gul-Abz hovered, drooling, its multitude of eyes focused on him with uncomfortable intensity, its gaping maw smeared with blood.
“State your terms,” Gul-Abz demanded in a gurgling voice. Giles swallowed,
“Myself and my compatriots versus you and your followers,” he gestured to the priests and waitresses. He shot a look at Dusk, Dusk nodded, before turning to Willow and Dawn,
“No matter what happens, stay down! Got it?” they both nodded. He smiled reassuringly and turned to Willow, “Still got that trick with the watch?” Willow smiled suddenly,
“Yes! Yes, I do!” she grinned Dusk nodded, relieved,
“Okay, get it ready. Wait till I give the word,” she nodded, before taking his hand firmly in hers,
“Be careful,” she whispered intensely. He nodded,
“No worries lover,” he kissed her hand and turned to Dawn, “Take care of my girlfriend okay? I’m trusting you here,”
Dawn swallowed and nodded. Dawn wrestled with something, before grabbing his hand suddenly,
“Dusk, I have to tell you something,” Dusk frowned. Dawn swallowed and opened her mouth to speak.
“Marshal your forces!” Gul-Abz yelled. Dusk flinched and stroked Dawn’s head gently,
“Tell me later,” he winked reassuringly. Flashing his trademark half-smile, he slowly stood up. Dawn reached up after him,
“Dusk-“ she whispered, Willow reached out, taking her outstretched hand in hers,
“He’ll be okay. He’s got a few tricks up his sleeve,” Willow assured her, though she too was afraid. Dawn just nodded numbly. Dusk stood before the floating creature, in the center of the room, his back to the bar. Giles and Buffy formed up on his left, Faith coming in on his right. Anya peaked out from her hiding place, behind another upturned table. They were outnumbered more than three-to-one between the priests, the waitresses and the floating demon. Dusk regarded the creature with a calmness, he certainly didn’t feel, its eyes focused on him.
“All right. Let’s do this,” the creatures’ lipless mouth pulled back into something resembling a grin. Dusk turned his head slightly,
“Spike?” he addressed quietly
And without warning, Spike leapt up from the bar, baseball bat in one hand and a bottle of booze in the other. Gul-Abz focused on him in surprise.
“Batters up!” Spike roared, his face changing. He tossed the bottle into the air, it went up, then came down and with a grunt, Spike swung the bat, hitting the bottom of the bottle sending it propelling towards the creature. The creatures’ eyes widened in surprise as the bottle sped towards it, Dusk dove out of the way.
“He shoots!” Spike yelled…and with a war whoop, Xander popped out from behind the bar, wielding a pump-action shotgun. He took aim and fired. The bottle exploded and ignited, becoming a flaming missile. The creature roared as the fiery projectile took it dead center in its huge central eye, imbedding deeply into the soft tissue, still burning. The creature screamed in pain as it thrashed wildly, attempting to dislodge the burning rocket.
“He scores!” Xander replied yelling triumphantly. He slapped Spike a high-five as the other reached for another bottle. The priests recovered from their surprise and attacked. Dusk, Giles, Faith and Buffy rushed to meet them. Lashing out with a pair of darkness tendrils, Dusk tangled up two priests hurling them away. Faith snapped a kick out catching a third behind the head. Giles punched out a forth and Buffy a fifth. Spike came up from behind the bar with another bottle as Xander cocked the gun,
“Pull!” Xander cried. With a grunt Spike hurled the bottle high into the air. Dusk saw it and instantly understood their intentions,
“Down!” he yelled. Buffy and Faith disengaged from their fights and leapt away. Giles did the same. The remaining priests and waitresses stopped what they were doing to gaze uncomprehending at the bottle that arced high over their heads. Xander took aim and fired, the bottle exploded, showering them with glass and fire. They screamed as a flaming priest ran from them, flailing madly. Giles and Faith grinned as Dusk got up, and without warning, received a kick from an enraged badly scorched waitress. Dusk fell to the ground as she raised a boot to stab at him with her heels…and Buffy plowed hard into her, slamming her into the wall with a crunch. The woman fell to the ground unconscious. Buffy stopped to help her brother to his feet,
“What’s a matter? Can’t hit a woman?” she wisecracked. Dusk smiled grimy and lashed out with a shadowy tendril, it shot past Buffy’s shoulder to slam into another woman’s face, knocking her backwards and causing her to drop the switchblade she had planned on sliding into the Slayer’s ribs. Dusk shrugged,
“Wherever did you get that idea?” he replied. A loud roar interrupted them. They turned to see that Gul-Abz had finally dislodged the burning glass shards from his eye and was regarding them with murderous intent. Dusk turned to Buffy,
“Can you keep the cultists busy?” he asked. She nodded. Dusk turned, and yelled out,
“Faith! Weapon!” he turned to find the other slayer. She was busy beating a priest to a pulp. The priest reached out and grabbed for a knife on the floor. Faith’s face twisted into a feral snarl as she pulled back a flattened palm, ready to drive it into his throat with killing force. Dusk froze as he watched her wrestle with her homicidal tendencies, She froze as horror dawned onto her face at her near loss in control and then with another snarl, she yanked the man’s head up and smashed her forehead into his brow, sending him tumbling into unconsciousness. Dusk sighed in relief and called her name again. Faith shook her head clearing it, and whipped her head around to regard Dusk; She nodded curtly and snatched up a pool cue.
“Catch!” she called out tossing him the stick, he caught it and snapped it in two jagged pieces over his knee. He lashed out with one half of the cue, catching a priest against the face, sending him spinning to the ground. He parried a few blows from another, and sent him to join his comrade on the ruined and bloody wood floor.
“Willow NOW!” Dusk yelled. Willow heard his call and closing her eyes, took some dirt from the floor and sprinkled it over her watch,
“Goddess Hecate, hear my plea! Bestow upon Alec time’s greatest speed! Temporis Celeritus!” she finished the spell and looked at her Kermit the Frog watch. Dawn eyed her uncertainly then her eyes widened in amazement as the hands on her watch began to move forward, first slowly, then faster and faster. Dusk began to glow with a green light. He grinned at her, and with a blur of motion, he attacked, his movements too fast to follow. He made a beeline for the snarling creature, whose eyes widened in shock at the human blur. It snapped at him futilely as Dusk blurred and suddenly appeared beneath the creature, and with a grunt, he crisscrossed his arms, and plunged the make shift weapons into the creatures underbelly. It wailed in pain and thrashed from side to side its jaws snapping. Dusk rolled up from underneath it and stood, the glow fading from his body. He sagged against the wall, drained by the spells effect on him. The high priest crept up behind him unseen and brandishing a wickedly curved knife.
“Dusk, watch out!” Dawn shrieked, having come up from behind the table, Dusk whirled as the priest slashed down at him viciously. The blade caught and tore at skin and cloth as Dusk pivoted, slamming a hand across the back of the priest's head sending him stumbling right into the snarling snapping demon. He cried out once as the drooling jaws whipped around to face him and lunged. There was a splash of blood and Dawn paled, sinking back behind the barricade her hand over her mouth. Dusk grunted and fingered the slash across shoulder, which had gone icy numb, before lashing out with a fist catching another priest across the face. Buffy rushed over to help him, gently easing him behind some chairs. On the other side of the bar, the creature continued to thrash and wail, but its strength was rapidly draining. Faith brought her foot up under another pool cue, propelling it to Buffy. Buffy caught it and took aim,
“Hey Blinky!” Buffy yelled, the creature snarled at turned to her, trying to regard her with its scorched ruined central eye. Buffy hefted the pool cue, “Watch this!” and with a grunt, she hurled the makeshift spear straight at the creature. It had time to shriek once before it the pool cue buried itself all the way into its already severely damaged central eye, skewering it, it roared in rage and began spinning in circles. Buffy cocked a grin and turned back Faith and Giles, her eyes widened as she realized that the priests had regrouped and were quickly cornering them. Buffy took three steps towards them…when the huge wooden doors of the bar, imploded in a shower of splinters as the R.V. came ramming through the bar. Buffy caught a quick glance of Angel behind the wheel; he cut the wheel sharply and gunned the engine, bearing down on the injured demon. It turned its eight eyes to regard the headlights of the huge R.V. in shock before the massive vehicle rammed into it, driving it with punishing force across the bar. The demon screeched one last time, before Angel hit the brakes and sent the creature flying through the air to slam into the stone wall, where it exploded on impact, oozing a trail of ichor as its shattered body slid down the wall, before coming to rest upon the floor, looking no more impressive than a deflated kickball. Angel leapt out of the driver side door, game face in place. He moved hurriedly to Buffy,
“How’s my timing?” he queried. Buffy offered him a weary grin,
“Perfect,” she replied before turning to the other priests. Faith and Giles had used the distraction well, had regrouped and were currently mounting a punishing counter attack. Half a minute later, it was all over. The cultists laid in various stages of hurt along the bar room floor. Buffy looked around,
“How are we doing?” she asked wearily. Willow, Dawn and Anya peeked up from their hiding places.
“We’re okay,” Willow called out a little shakily. Spike and Xander stood up from behind the bar, Spike's face reverting back to normal,
“That was FUN!” Spike called out, grinning happily. Xander gave him a sideways glance,
“You’re a real sick guy, you know that right?” Xander stated. Spike grinned and nodded vehemently,
“Uh-huh” he responded chuckling. He threw his fist into the air, “We came! We saw! We kicked their asses!” he cried triumphantly. Buffy smiled and shook her head affectionately, then her eyes widened as she saw Dusk struggling to his feet,
“Alec,” she whispered, rushing over to help him stand. He waved her away,
“I’m all right. Just feel like Dead Man Walking,” he smiled wryly. Willow and Dawn rushed over to him, hugging him tightly. He exhaled hard and rested against the girls, stroking their hair gently. Suddenly Dawn pulled away, horrified,
“You’re bleeding!” she cried out. Willow pulled away and gasped at the stream of blood oozing out of Dusk’s shoulder. He looked down and shrugged, unconcerned,
“It’s just a scratch,” he laughed then winced as the icy numbness was replaced with a fiery agony,
"Or…not,” he finished weakly smiling, before sagging to a heap on the ground.

Dusk slowly opened his eyes, to view Dawn eyeing him intently, her eyes widened in relief,
“Dusk,” she breathed before lunging at him wrapping her arms around him squeezing tightly. He reached up and tenderly stroked her hair,
“Hey petite,” he smiled. She held him for a while, before pulling away, wiping away tears,
“I was really wigged,” she stated plainly. Dusk offered her a weak smile,
“I can see that yes,” he offered mildly. She smiled and turned to yell,
“Willow! He’s awake!” she yelled. There was a bustling as Willow came over and almost bowled over Dawn, to dive onto the bed doting kisses all over Dusks face. He grinned wryly,
“Gee, I should get slashed more often,”
“Don’t you dare,” Willow warned direly through kisses. He smiled and rested with her against him, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. He looked around confused, first at the fact that he was on a bed, second that he was nude from his waist up, his shoulder bandaged, and third that the bed seemed to be vibrating slightly. He sat up a little, propping his head up with a pillow.
“Where are we?” he asked. Buffy came over and placed a cup of coffee in his hands.
“Just entered New York,” she informed him. He frowned as he sipped from the mug.
“New York? Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t we just leave New Mexico?” Buffy shook her head,
“You are hereby corrected, oh sibling, on the grounds that you’ve been unconscious for two and a half days. You lost a lot of blood,” Dusk’s eyes widened,
“Two days?” he replied, stunned. Buffy nodded.
“That knife that weird priest had was laced with something nasty,” she jerked a head towards Willow, “say thank you to the nice witch who managed to come up with an antidote, or else you’d be pushing up daisies,” her smile belied the fact that she had been terrified of the close call. Dusk smiled and took his sisters hand giving it a long squeeze,
“No worries, sis. I’m still here,” Buffy nodded before dabbing suspiciously at her eyes, she laughed a little embarrassed,
“Allergies, you know how they are,” she explained weakly. Dusk lay back against the bed, smiling,
“Yeah I know how they can get,” he smiled softly. Buffy sniffled, and turned to Giles, who had come to the back to see his son. Dusk smiled up at him,
“Hi Dad,” he whispered. Giles took off his glasses and cleaned his them before regarding his son affectionately,
“How are you feeling, Alec?” Dusk snorted and gave his father a lopsided grin,
“Didn’t you ask me this question once already this week after an incident involving some parasites?” He quipped lightly. Giles laughed, more to release tension than at any actual humor. Gingerly, Dusk pried off the bandages, and smiled sardonically at the newly healed skin, Buffy gestured,
“Yeah. Your power kicked in once we got the poison out of your system. But for a while there, you had us all worried,” Giles nodded and turned back to his son, who was busy stripping the gauze pads off,
“That’s right, son, an advanced healing factor does not render you invulnerable. You must be more careful. This is the second time you’ve received grievous wounds in as many days,” Dusk looked up from his work to regard his father wryly,
“This coming from the man who holds the undisputed record for the most times rendered unconscious?” he quipped. Buffy laughed as she headed up to the front of the bus to spread the news of Dusk's recovery. Giles smiled, a little embarrassed,
“Yes well, be that as it may,” he reached out to grip his son's hand hard, “Be more careful, please, son,” he asked, his voice a tad more hoarse than normal. Dusk wrapped his fingers around his fathers’ hand giving it a tight squeeze,
“Not a problem, Dad. You can’t keep a Giles down,” he grinned as the tension drained from his fathers face.
“Hear, hear,” Willow put in sleepily as she nuzzled against his chest. Dusk smiled and kissed her head. Dawn looked uncomfortable and stood to go, Dusk caught her arm gently. She stopped and turned to look down at him, surprised,
“Thanks petite. For taking care of Willow back there,” he whispered. Dawn colored and took his hand in hers, holding it tightly,
“You’re welcome, Dusk,” she replied softly. Dusk shook his head,
“You can call me ‘Alec’ Dawn, I think we’re close enough for that,” he smiled at her as Dawn beamed.
“Alec…” she said experimentally, before biting her lip in pleasure and nodding and hurriedly dropping his hand and walking up to the front of the bus. Dusk chuckled,
“I think you just made her day,” Willow murmured. Dusk smiled and kissed her red hair,
“You think?” he asked. Willow snorted gently,
“Only a man would be so oblivious as to think that that girl does not seriously carry a torch for you. I speak from experience,” she whispered wryly. Dusk held her tightly,
“You’ve got nothing to be worried about,” he reassured her. Willow smiled and squeezed him,
“I’m not,” she responded quietly. Dusk sighed and rested his head against hers, beginning to lazily drift back off into sleep.
Just then Spike wandered over dropping a battered old Walkman next to head causing Dusk’s eyes to shoot open in confusion then sardonic recognition.
“Here you are mate, present for the stupid/brave,” Spike smacked him lightly upside on the head, “Stop being heroic, you’re stealing my spotlight,” Dusk snorted and coughed quietly.
“Come on Spike, you don’t need MY help to look like a schmuck, you do that so well on your own,” Spike chortled and lit a cigarette.
“Enjoy the tape, one of my own mixes,” he stopped and looked at his friend, “Nice moves back there,” Spike held out his hand, Dusk slapped it.
“You too man,” Dusk pulled on the cheap wire headphones and hit play. Then chuckled.
‘Momma I’m coming home. Sentimental slob.’ Dusk settled back into the cushions and took a deep breath of Willow’s hair, letting that and the crooning of Ozzy put him to sleep.

A few hours later, the gang had pulled into a rest stop, just outside of New York. It was almost sunrise and the sky was beginning to pale. Buffy got up from her seat and rubbed her knuckles into her eyes. Spike was already on their bed, head thrown back quietly snoring. She smiled and continued to rub her eyes, they cleared and she spied Angel, getting ready for bed, dressed in leather pants, he’d stripped his t-shirt off and she could clearly see his tattoo as his back was to her. He lifted his head and turned suddenly, he smiled slightly,
“Hey,” he greeted softly.
“Hey,” Buffy whispered. There was an uncomfortable silence as neither could think of anything to say.
“You really did well at that bar,” she spoke up, “I mean, with the whole ramming bit,” Angel shrugged,
“I figured when I heard screaming that things had turned ugly,” he replied simply. Buffy smiled a little,
“Trust us to pick the one bar that hosts a demonic cult,” she said sardonically. Angel regarded her with wry amusement,
“Trust you to pick now TWO parties that were hosted by demonic cults. Or have you forgotten your first frat party?” he inquired softly, she smiled and chuckled a little,
“Thank Cordelia for that one, it was her idea,” she looked up at him, “besides I would have never gone if you would have given me the time of day back in those days,” she added. Angel smiled as his mind went back to those idyllic months before his tragic transformation,
“I could never say no to you for anything,” he replied, a touch of humor in his voice. Buffy smiled, then blushed looking down at her feet as memories and a surge of long buried feelings coursed through her. She looked up at him, noticing that his expression mirrored hers,
“Angel, I’m with Spike right now,” she explained softly. Angel nodded,
“I know,” he replied, his face sliding back into that mask of stoicism she was so now so familiar with. Gone was the Angel who had saved her life from Terakan assassins. Gone was the Angel that had hoisted a ladder to her bedroom window when she was grounded. Acathla and his torments, their fights over Faith, and just plain separation and mistrust had banished him. This grim and bitter warrior was almost completely alien to her. She sighed,
“Okay,” she replied quietly. She turned to go as Angel turned away from her to continue turning down his bed. She took a few steps from him, before turning suddenly,
“Angel?” she asked. He turned abruptly, gazing silently at her with those dark eyes of his.
“Do you…ever miss…us?” she asked hesitantly. She looked down, not daring to look into his eyes.
For an instant, Angel’s expression softened, he started to reach out to her, and then stopped, his hand clenched into a tight fist as he dropped his arm.
“Every day,” he replied tightly. Buffy shot her head up, eyes like glistening pools she reached out to him,
“Angel…?” She whispered softly. He turned abruptly away from her,
“Go to bed, Buffy,” he replied curtly. Buffy’s hand trembled as she dropped it, turning away from him and fleeing to Spikes and hers bed on the other side of the R.V. Angel sighed and turned back to look at her retreating form, an expression of deep regret etched into his face.
Spike watched them both through half-closed eyes, still mock-snoring softly. His hands clenched into fists and he rolled over to his side, facing the wall. He felt Buffy enter their bed and her gently pressing her back to his, curled up into a ball, shuddering slightly. Spike squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to ignore it as he seethed silently.

A few hours later, Dusk awoke. It was daylight outside, but with Spike’s sun proofing, the interior of the coach was dark. He sighed and shifted slightly, gently laying Willow down beside him. She mumbled slightly and rolled over onto her side, away from him. He sat up gently and peered around the bus and with a start; he realized that Dawn’s bedroll was empty. He scanned the interior of the bus and sighed with palpable relief as he spied her sitting at the back corner of the bus. She’d pried back a portion of tinfoil covering the window, gazing out at the sun-drenched landscape. Carefully getting out of bed, Dusk padded silently over to her, massaging a sore neck. Dawn turned her head abruptly and spied him coming towards her. She smiled at him,
“Couldn’t sleep?” she inquired. Dusk shook his head,
“Restless, I suppose,” he replied, sitting down behind her to look out the window. He gestured,
“Looks like a whole other world, in the daylight doesn’t it? He commented quietly. Dawn smiled and nodded,
“Yeah, it’s so pretty,” she turned to regard him, “Willow told me. You know, about you being part-demon. What’s it like?” she asked him tentatively. Dusk frowned and considered the question,
“I don’t know. It doesn’t talk to me, or anything like that. It’s just there when I need it, like an arm or a leg,” he shrugged, “I guess it’s like asking someone ‘what’s it like to have hair’” he finished. Dawn smiled slightly, then her expression saddened,
“I was really scared. When you got hurt. I was afraid you were…” her words trailed off as she hung her head.
“Hey,” Dusk whispered softly, pulling her to him, she rested her head against the warm skin of his chest, her fingers curling around the skin of his pectoral muscles. He stroked her hair soothingly,
“I’ll always be here to watch over you,” he assured her. She looked up from his chest,
“You promise?” she asked, her eyes watery. Dusk smiled and kissed her forehead,
“Yeah. I promise,” he replied. She smiled slightly and rested her cheek against his skin. Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep, his resonant heartbeat echoing.
Willow woke up abruptly; she turned her head, noticing that Dusk was no longer with her. She sat up and looked around, before spying Dusk, his back to the window, with Dawn curled up asleep on his lap her head resting against his bare chest. He caught her eye and put a finger to his lips,
“Shhh,” he whispered gently. Smiling, Willow picked up a spare blanket and, tiptoeing quietly over, draped it over the pair. Dusk smiled gratefully as he covered Dawn and himself in the blanket. Willow leaned over to kiss him gently, before padding over to their bed. As she lay there, she pondered. She could be jealous, she supposed, but there was something about the two of them together, it was pure and with no ulterior motives other than one taking care and offering comfort to the other. She smiled slightly and closed her eyes, Alec was a great guy, and he never made her feel unloved for one moment since they’d met. And Dawn was a sweetheart,
(Besides, we all need someone to love. Dawn could do a lot worse for a love interest than Alec. I know I could.) She thought to herself. She smiled again and drifted back off to sleep.


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