Hellmouth Ascendant Trilogy Book 1 Dusk: Chapter 16 The City that Never Sleeps
by Deacon Rayne
Chapter 16
The City that Never Sleeps

Dawn was bored. They had pulled into the rest stop having left the estate, right around sunrise and almost everyone had gone to bed. Pulling on her shoes, she opened the door, and headed out into the brisk early morning air. Shivering slightly, she zipped up her fleece and blew a hot breath into her hands,
“Nippy out isn’t it?” a voice called down from above. Dawn looked up, and saw Dusk sitting cross-legged on the roof of the R.V. peering down at her curiously a small smile graced his lips. Dawn smiled happily,
“Dusk! What are you doing up there?” she asked. Dusk shrugged and gestured to the rapidly paling sky. The sun was just about to come up,
“Watching the sunrise. Want to come join me?” he asked. Dawn nodded enthusiastically,
“Uh-huh,” she smiled up at him. Dusk smiled and gently extended a shadowy tendril. Far from being repulsed, Dawn actually grinned in wonder as the tendril, gently wrapped itself around her thin waist,
“Whoa!” she squealed in delight as she was picked up off the ground and brought to rest before the still-seated Dusk. Dusk grinned,
“Light as a feather,” he smiled wryly at her. Dawn blushed,
“Yeah well, tell that to mom. Every time I order a Big Mac at McDonalds, she looks at me like I’m about to eat my own body weight,” she quipped. Dusk chuckled appreciatively at the younger girls wit. He pointed towards the horizon,
“Look,” he whispered breathlessly. Dawn turned, her back to him and gasped as the first rays of the morning sun exploded over the horizon. Dawn unconsciously leaned back, soaking in the rays of light. Dusk smiled and gently opened his arms, letting the young woman come to rest against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her, his fingers entwining with hers. She opened her eyes and looked down at their joined hands in pleasant astonishment, then closed her eyes and made a long sound of utter contentment, resting against his chest. He smiled, resting his face against her head.
“Dusk?” Dawn whispered quietly. She still hadn’t gotten used to the idea of calling him Alec.
“Mmm?” he replied quietly.
“Are you scared? I mean, about fighting the Hellmouth and all that?” she asked him. He smiled and stroked her hair affectionately,
“Not anymore,” he whispered back to her. Dawn felt her heart just about burst at the sheer poignancy behind his words. Her lower lip trembled and she quickly turned to him, and without saying anything, leaned over and placed a long, lingering kiss on his cheek. Dusk closed his eyes as he felt something like a great light flooding his body,
( Must be the sunlight. ) He said to himself, unconvincingly. When Dawn finally pulled away. He smiled at her, gently touching his cheek,
“What was that for?” he asked gently.
“That was for being my hero, Dusk,” she replied quietly, her voice thick with emotion, she looked up into his dark eyes, “For making me feel safe and feel like everything’s is going to be all right,” Dusk closed his eyes, her words like sunlight upon melting ice,
“You’re welcome,” he whispered quietly. Smiling, he opened his arms for her. She turned and lain back against his chest, smiling contently. He kissed her head as she smiled warmly at him. Together they watched the approaching sunrise and drank it in.
Dawn gently touched her lips,
( Not bad for a first kiss. ) She thought to herself, her heart beating double-time. Nestling against Dusk, she went back to gaze at the coming dawn.

“Okay, so Wills, you said you saw something like this before?” Buffy asked from her seat upon Spike’s lap. The red headed witch nodded from her own perch upon Dusk’s lap, he was busy brushing her hair. A little indulgence he found Willow responded very well to, she was busy peering at the writhing diagram,
“Yeah, I just can’t place where,” she frowned at it, her lower lip jutting out in frustration,
“You know, that thing looks kinda like that poster in Mr. Gaffney’s math class,” Dawn commented. Willow’s eyes widened as a thunderbolt of understanding blew through her,
“Of COURSE!” she cried out, leaping from Dusk’s lap, sending him to tumble against the side of bed. Willow raced to the computer, hitting keys in rapid succession, “THAT’S where I saw it before!” she squealed in delight. Buffy came up behind her,
“My sister's junior high school math class?” she asked puzzled. Willow shook her head excitedly,
“No, in Miss Calendar's class!” she replied as she turned the screen to Buffy. Sure enough, there was a similar, though far less complex design displayed in brilliant shades of red, blue and yellow. Buffy frowned,
“Okay, what is it?” she asked.
“It’s a fractal,” she replied, “This one is called the ‘Mandelbrot set” she explained hurriedly. Buffy was still frowning,
“Still not following you, Wills,” Willow elaborated,
“A fractal is graphical representation of a mathematical function,” she said, slipping into lecture mode, “They’re sometimes used in programming. Miss Calendar once suggested that instead of mathematical formulas and functions that maybe MAGICAL formulas and functions could be represented by a fractal,” Faith frowned at the ghostly fractal,
“So this thing is a spell? What is it, ‘Abracadabra, POOF, I’m a floating Rubix cube?” Faith asked, incredulously. Buffy looked up at her and smirked. She had confided to Faith what Marlena had revealed to her regarding the slayers and their vulnerability to insanity due to the absence of the Awakening ritual, and in doing so had freed both herself, and Faith from the burden of guilt and shame from the events of the past years. Willow nodded as Buffy turned her attention back to ghostly apparition,
“Yes, but it’s also a program,” Willow explained, “Once we decipher it, we can run it like any other program and the spell should activate,” she looked up at Buffy, “at least, that’s how most technomantic magic works, anyhow,” Buffy nodded,
“Could this spell tell us where the Everstone is?” she asked. Willow nodded,
“It certainly LOOKS complicated enough to contain a set of coordinates,” she replied. Spike snorted,
“Worse than a bloody triple-A map, how are we supposed to make heads or tails out of it?” he asked. Willow frowned,
“I don’t have the foggiest idea. Like I said, I only heard Miss Calendar talk about it once,” she responded despondently.
“Well, then we need to talk to the people who would most likely know about these,” Angel put forth quietly. Buffy turned to frown at him, puzzled.
“You mean other technopagans?” she asked. Angel shook his head,
“I mean other gypsies. Like the ones that attacked us the other day,” he replied quietly. Everyone looked taken aback at the suggestion as Spike laughed humorlessly,
“Has all that hair gel finally soaked into your brain?” he sneered at Angel finally unable to contain the bitterness and envy he held towards the other, “In case you haven’t noticed those people DID try to kill us the other day, or have you forgotten ‘little miss lightsaber’ and her unfortunate accident?” Angel looked down as Buffy turned a shocked glance at her lover,
“Spike!” she chastised him. Spike got up angrily from his chair,
“The lot of you want to take pretty-boy’s advice and ask the warlocks for help, be my guest. Me? I prefer NOT to be turned into a pile of ash, thanks,” he spat out before jerking the door to the R.V. open and storming out, slamming it hard behind him. There was a stunned silence as Buffy suddenly blinked back tears. Angel growled and headed out the door to follow the raging Spike. He spied the blond vampire stalking away from the R.V., hands firmly shoved into his pockets. Angel raced up to him, and slapped a restraining hand on his offspring’s shoulder,
“Where the Hell do you get-” that was as far as he before Spike spun around, face transformed in rage and slammed a fist hard into Angel’s face. Angel flew back as Spike began to pummel him,
“Go to blazes, you stupid, worthless wanker!” he roared kicking Angel hard in the ribs, “She’s mine! You got that?! Mine! She loves me!” he emphasized each word with another kick to the ribs, “You got that? ME! Not you! You took Dru from me, you can’t have her!” he growled slamming a fist across Angel’s head. With a roar, Angel’s face shifted and he tackled Spike to the ground,
“Okay Spike, you want to play the jealous lover, I’m game!” with a growl he slammed a meaty fist into Spike’s face. Spike shot his head up to collide with the other vampire’s head with a resounding crack! Angel fell off Spike as the other got to his feet and with a roar, plowed into Angel, driving him hard against a picnic table, he straightened and slammed another fist into Angel’s face,
“What you think you can come in here all soul-having and brooding and take her from me?” he demanded decking Angel hard across the chin, “Think you two will have a romp just for old times sake? Oh wait I forget, you can’t cause then you’ll turn into an even BIGGER ponce than you already ARE!” he slammed another blow across Angel’s head and reared back to smash Angel’s skull into paste.
“I didn’t come here to get back with Buffy,” Angel replied through split and bloody lips.
“Go to Hell, you lying sod!” Spike roared back. Angel, suddenly grabbed Spike’s head and slammed a knee high and hard into it, Spike flew back, his hands to his nose as Angel grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind his back, slamming him hard over the picnic table,
“Been there. Done that, Spikey!” Angel growled out, twisting Spike’s arm harder, eliciting a growl of pain from the younger vampire, “You can believe whatever you want to, it’s obvious you don’t care about what’s really going on and what isn’t, but I’m telling you, I’m not here for Buffy,” Spike wrenched his head to the side to glare up at him from the picnic table, balefully,
“Yeah? What about that touching little scene on the motor home the other night?” he spat out; Angel released Spike in shock, his face becoming human once more. Spike scrambled away, nursing his shoulder. “Can you really look me in the eye, mate, and tell me you don’t still got warm fuzzy feelings for her?” he demanded, his own face changing back to its mortal visage. Angel opened his mouth to deny it…and found that he couldn’t. Spike just sneered at him,
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he growled turning away. Angel slammed a hand on his shoulder, pivoting him and slamming him against a stop sign, his arm locked across his throat,
“Spike, you want to play twenty questions, I’ve got no problem with that,” he tightened his grip across Spike’s throat, who thrashed and struggled. “But ask yourself this, Spike, do you really love her…or are you just getting even with me for Dru?” Spike’s eyes widened in rage,
“You son of a…” he spat and struggled harder against Angel’s arm. Angel slammed him against the stop sign again,
“Think about it, Spike. Think long and hard, because if the answer is yes, that this is all about Dru, then take the time to ask yourself ‘Doesn’t she deserve better?” Angel demanded quietly. Spike snarled at him,
“What, like you?” he spat. Angel shook his head,
“No. Like a man she can take out into the daylight. A man that she can grow old with and have children with, a man she can marry and be with, who is of this world, of this time, to walk beside her in that beautiful thing called life,” he leaned in closer to regard Spike, who had turned a paler shade of white, livid, “A living, breathing, loving man she could be proud to someday call ‘husband,” Angel growled before releasing him. Spike staggered away, opening his mouth to deny his words, Angel cut him off,
“Do what you got to do, Spike. Just remember that loving someone means putting their needs, before yours, no matter how much it hurts” he leveled a stern gaze at the younger vampire, “I doubt you’ve ever loved anything that much,” Spike sneered at him,
“Sod off, you bleedin’ ponce!” he spat. Angel just nodded his head,
“That’s what I thought,” he replied quietly. Shoving past Spike, he strode back to the R.V. leaving Spike with his thoughts.

Angel entered the trailer, Buffy looked up and rushed over to him,
“Oh God, Angel,” she whispered lightly fingering his battered face, “What happened?” she demanded. He waved her off,
“Forget it, it’s nothing,” he replied, “I’m fine,”
“Nothing, hey no offense, dead-boy,” Xander commented, “But you look like you just went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali,”
“I said I’m fine!” he snarled at Xander, who jumped back. Buffy also looked startled as Angel moved past her to the sink to soak a rag and hold it to his bleeding lip. Buffy looked shaken as she stuck her head out the door. Her lover was nowhere in sight,
“Where’s Spike?” she demanded. There was no answer, she pulled herself back into the camper, striding angrily up to Angel, who sat in the corner, dabbing his lip,
“Damn it, where is he?!” she demanded. Angel glared up at her through those dark eyes of his,
“I. Don’t. Know,” he responded, biting out each word. Buffy’s lower lip trembled as she raced out of the camper,
“Spike! SPIKE!” she screamed. Dusk was outside holding her tightly,
“Shhh, it’s all right, I’ll find Spike,” he promised her. She was trembling,
“He wouldn’t just leave us, he wouldn’t just leave me, he wouldn’t…” she choked. She spied Angel standing in the camper doorway over Dusk’s shoulder and pushed away from her brother, stalking over to him,
“What did you say to him?!” she demanded sobbingly.
“The truth,” he replied unshaken stepping off the camper. “That you deserve to have someone you can grow old with, someone who possesses a pulse,” Buffy’s jaw dropped and with a grunt, she reared back and punched him hard across the face,
“How dare you!” she screamed at him, “How dare you come into my life and pass judgment on my loved ones!” She spat at him; he flinched as the spittle hit his face.
“I don’t know you anymore. I don’t love you anymore. Stay out of my way,” she said in a frozen tone. Angel shuddered at her words, his face spasming in pain as she shoved past him, back into the camper. Dusk calmly walked up to Angel,
“You know, Angel. I’ve always thought that Buffy’s choice in lovers was a little lacking,” he stopped and regarded the vampire coolly, “Now, I’m sure of it,” he finished. Angel looked up at him, opening his mouth to retort, Dusk cut him off,
“You want Buffy to be happy, that’s good. But you’re trying to tell her what to do, and that’s not righteous, that’s self-righteous. You’re telling her she needs to be with the living, and that’s true, she does. But are you telling her for her sake,” he focused on Angel, his eyes boring into the other man’s, “or for yours?” Silently, he strode past the stunned vampire and off into the woods to hunt for his sister’s boyfriend, leaving the vampire alone in the dark.

Dusk quietly opened the door, Willow, Anya and Faith were comforting Buffy, Xander and Giles were reading something on the net. They all looked up. Dusk sighed and shook his head, Buffy’s face fell and she began to shake quietly. Faith put a comforting arm around her and looked up at Dusk
“What about Angel?” she asked. Dusk shook his head,
“He’s gone too, doesn’t look like he’s planning on coming back either,” he informed them. Faith paled a little and swallowed, Dawn shot her a look, she knew exactly that Angel’s departure would wound her as deeply as Spike’s had wounded Buffy. Faith turned back to the slayer, comforting her. Willow sighed and got up from the table, wrapping her arms around Dusk, resting her head against his chest,
“Why does love have to be so complicated?” she asked sadly. Dusk looked up at Dawn, who had a lost little-girl look on her face as she regarded the two lovers. He sighed and kissed Willow’s head,
“I don’t know,” he responded truthfully. Giles cleared his throat,
“Spike and Angel’s desertion aside, we still need to come up with a plan to have the fractal decrypted,” he put in gently. Dusk nodded and sighed, releasing Willow,
“Well, unless anyone has a better idea, I say we go ahead with Angel’s plan and try to find these gypsies,” Giles frowned up at him,
“Are you sure that’s wise, Alec? The Spaarti have proven themselves very dangerous adversaries,” he cautioned. Dusk nodded,
“Yeah, but chances are they were there for the manor, not for us,” he frowned, “At least, not for any of us, it is possible they came gunning for Angel,” Buffy looked up from her resting place on Faith’s shoulder,
“But how could they he was here?” she asked. Anya turned to her,
“Romany are very skilled seers. Some of those stories regarding crystal balls are true, you know,” she informed the heartbroken slayer. Buffy just nodded and went back to leaning on Faith. Dusk sent his sister a sympathetic look, before continuing,
“Whatever the cause, I think they could at least point us in the right direction,” he commented.
“IF they don’t try to kill us first,” Xander added.
“They won’t,” a voice said from behind them. They turned to see Angel, his face fully healed standing in the doorway of the camper, “Dusk is right, chances are they were either gunning for me or for the manor. In either case, the rest of you shouldn’t have any reason to be attacked,” he turned aching eyes to Buffy,
“I couldn’t find him, Buffy, I’m sorry,” she raised a hand, cutting him off.
“We have nothing to say to each other,” she replied quietly, before resting her head back on Faith’s shoulder. Angel looked like he was about to say something, then thought better of it and turned back to Dusk,
“If we can find their lair, we should be able to get an audience with their chieftain, DeGanon, I’m guessing. With any luck, he’ll be able to decipher the fractal or at least point us in the right direction of someone who can,”
Dusk nodded thoughtfully. “All right, but we still need to find them,” he replied. Angel sighed,
“I spent a few decades on the streets of New York, the tattoos the girl had on her face I’ve seen them before. It’s the symbol of a gang down in Manhattan, we could get there in a couple of hours I’ve got a few people I can talk to. I should be able to dig up a lead.”
Dusk nodded, “All right, let’s do it,” he turned to Xander, “Let’s get this show on the road,” Xander frowned,
“What about…?” he gestured to Buffy. Dusk sighed,
“If Spike wants to be found, he’ll have to find us. I left a few shades wandering the forest, if they run into him, they can fill him in, other than that there’s nothing else we can do,” he looked up for her agreement. She sniffled and nodded,
“He’s right, we don’t have time to wait around,” she lifted her head to look at Xander, “Get us out of here,” she whispered. Xander just nodded,
“You’re the boss, Buff,” he replied quietly, his heart aching for his friend. Shooting Angel a nasty look, he walked towards the front, and started the engine. The camper roared to life, and slowly pulled away from the rest stop, to disappear in the gloom of night.

“Ah, New York, the city so nice they named it thrice,” Xander quipped as the blazing lights of the city came into view. Dusk looked up, as the glowing metropolis came into full view.
“Wow!” Dawn breathed, her nose pressed up against the window in the passenger seat, taking in the overwhelming sights. It was her first time in the big city and it was pretty impressive. Dusk grinned at her from the back and gently shook the slumbering witch in his lap,
“I’m up Mom,” Willow responded sleepily. Dusk grinned and kissed her cheek, Willow smiled demurely and rotated her face to capturing his in a long kiss, “You’re not mom,” she commented, opening her eyes. Dusk grinned and opened a window, letting in the cool night air,
“No, but you want to see something interesting?” he asked her. Willow bobbed her head, sitting up. Dusk grinned and stood up,
“Get your coat,” he instructed her. She did puzzled and with some gymnastics, Dusk crawled out of the window and clambered up the side of the moving camper to sit on the massive roof. Willow peaked her head out of the window, staring up at him,
“Alec, what do you think your doin-EEK!” she squeaked as several tendrils of darkness wrapped around her waist and lifted her up over the side to rest beside Dusk. Dusk grinned and pointed,
“Look,” he said. Willow looked up and gasped. The whole city glowed, pinks, greens, violets, turquoise and all the colors of the rainbow shined in the city that never sleeps. Dusk grinned at her, his face colored by the barrage of lights,
“You like it?” he asked her. Willow just shook her head, speechless,
“It’s unbelievable,” she breathed. Chuckling, he wrapped an arm around her. She scootched closer to him, mooching body heat from her lover as she rested her head on his shoulder gazing in awe at the glowing city that surrounded them.

Xander pulled into a large R.V. rest area, just inside Manhattan as he shut the engine off,
“My first experience with New York traffic. God willing my last,” he commented dryly as he got off the camper.
“Yeah,” Anya agreed, following him, “I didn’t know nuns even KNEW some of those words they yelled at you on the expressway. Xander grimaced, remembering the bus of angry nuns he’d managed to cut off and the barrage of insults that had been screeched at him by the seemingly harmless looking old women. He sighed and stretched his arms as the rest of the group filed off the bus. Dusk hopped off the roof of the motor home, and reaching up with shadowy tendrils, gently eased Willow off the roof. She landed gracefully and kissed his cheek,
“Thank you, kind sir,” she whispered demurely. Dusk grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, turning to the rest of the group.
“Okay. So what now?” he asked. Angel pursed his lips in thought,
“There’s a club. ‘Nocturnal Sacrament’ I think it was called. Goth hangout, but a good place to start,” he informed them. Dusk nodded and did a little mental math,
“We’re a tad too many for the average cab, any suggestions?” he asked Angel. Angel sighed,
“I guess, the subway,” he stated resignedly. Giles’ eyes widened,
“The New York subway, at night during Christmas week?” he asked in dismay, “I think I’d prefer the Hellmouth,” he stated dryly. Dusk chuckled, patting his dad’s shoulder affectionately,
“Agreed. But remember this is in the name of global salvation, so we must endure,” he grinned at the elder Giles who smiled back wryly and nodded.
“This way,” Angel told them, leading them down the shining street. They quickly formed a diamond, with Buffy, Giles, Xander, Faith, Angel, and Dusk on the periphery and Willow, Dawn, and Anya in the center. None of them were taking ANY chances with the infamous New York City streets. Angel quickly led the group down a set of stairs where they descended into the subway station. The floors were caked in grime, stained white linoleum peaking through here and there. Trash strewed the floor as bits of newspaper blew about. A vent in the wall, churned out foul smelling steam and a shattered florescent light dangled crazily from the ceiling, flickering madly and giving off a strobe-light affect to the subway platform.
“Cozy,” Buffy commented as she looked around. A bored subway attendant took their money, through bulletproof plexi-glass, no less, and handed them all their subway tokens. They walked through the rusted turnstiles, doing their best not to touch them much and waited on the platform, near the track. Dawn leaned over the edge of the platform, staring intently into the dark depths of the tunnel. A hand reached out from behind her and gently pulled her back. She started and turned to confront Dusk,
“Careful, petite,” he admonished. Picking up a stray cigarette box from the ground, he tossed it onto the third rail that was humming quietly. There was a series of sparks as the box made conduct with the electrified rail, the box burst into flames and curled in on itself, the smell of burning cardboard hung heavily in the air. Dawn swallowed and moved a little closer to Dusk,
“Thanks,” she whispered. Dusk smiled and stroked her hair affectionately.
“Anytime, ” he looked down at her. She looked up at him and smiled, “Every time,” he added. Her smile glowed as she made a happy sound and moved away from Dusk to read some posters. Dusk chuckled as Willow came up behind him,
“Oh yeah, she’s got a thing for you,” Willow observed wryly. Dusk turned and favored his lover with a wry grin.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he commented. Leaning over he placed a kiss on her brow. She smiled and winked before turning to talk to Faith about something. Still chuckling, he looked up and frowned. There was something in the darkness of the tunnels. Dusk squinted and could just make out a vaguely humanoid shape, hunched over. The shadow shifted and Dusk started to see two tiny pinpoints of red light regarding him, shining from the dark. Then the lights disappeared as the shadowy figure vanished. Dusk carefully turned to Angel who was also observing all this.
“Did you just see…?”
“Yeah,” Angel responded.
“Any clues?” Dusk asked.
“Not one, but let’s stay on our toes,” he advised. Dusk nodded,
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he agreed quietly. There was a quiet rumbling and Dusk gestured for Angel to move back. Angel turned to address the rest of the group,
“Train's coming,” he announced. The rest of the group fell into line behind the vampire as the subway train came whooshing past, before pulling to a screeching stop. The doors haltingly slide open and Angel held them as the rest of the group filed into the dirty subway car. Angel let go and the metal doors shuttered closed as the train pulled away from the station. There was a gang of ne’er-to-do looking punks on the other side of the car, near the back door. They leered and hooted as the girls walked onto the train. Dusk and Angel glowered at them. Giles and Xander carefully moved to flank the young women as the gang got to their feet and sauntered over for a chat.
“Well, well, well, what do we got here?” one of the punks, a man with a crew cut and a barb through his eyebrow leered as he scanned the group. “It’s not even Christmas yet,” he chortled. Dusk bristled as the thug's gaze fell on Willow, “Here now, a redhead, oh I do like the pretty redheads,” the punk licked his lips as the gang behind him laughed. Willow tried to avoid eye contact as Dusk straightened up,
“She’s not for you,” he informed the young thug. The gang made an "ooo"-ing sound as the lead thug produced a switchblade,
“Yeah, so what are you going to do about it, tough guy?” he challenged. Buffy flinched as Dusk’s face split into a vicious grin,
( Here it comes. ) She thought grimly. Dusk lashed out with a hand, catching the punk's knife hand in his fist, he jerked the punk around, ripped the blade from his hand, spun him around hard, and slammed him against one of the support bars, putting the knife to his throat,
“Now then,” Dusk purred, his voice full of deadly intent, “You can now apologize to the young lady, or we can give you a permanent smile,” he stated. Buffy started to get up,
“Alec…” she cautioned. Dusk turned to flash her a wink, letting her know his threat was mainly for show. She smiled and sat back down. Dusk turned back to the punk and gave his arm another hard twist.
“Well?” he demanded. The punk muttered something obscene,
“Dust this creep, will you?” he yelled. Dusk looked up as several gang members removed pistols from their belts to take aim at Dusk. Willow and Dawn gasped as Xander and Giles moved to protect them. Faith and Buffy got to their feet.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Angel commented. He stepped more into view of the gang members, his game face in place, he grinned, his faces displayed prominently and licked his lips in a decidedly Angelus-like fashion. There were muttered gasps from the gang members,
“Madre de Dios,” one of the punks muttered, crossing himself. Angel grinned.
“What are you guys waiting for? Fill him full of lead!” the leader with the knife to his throat cried out. Some of the guns turned on Angel, who was readied to jump into the fray. Dusk tightened his grip on the leaders arm, pressing the glittering knife tip to his pulsing jugular,
“Not unless you want Slappy here to be dead before he hits the floor,” Dusk growled back at them.
And without any warning, the car was plunged into blackness. The only lights coming from the service lights lining the subway tunnel that flashed by in rapid succession. There were exclamations of surprise from everyone as the punk, forgotten, scrambled away from Dusk, rubbing his arm. He whipped out a pistol and took aim at him,
“Dusk!” Faith yelled. Dusk turned just in time to stare down the long barrel of a .357 magnum. The punk grinned homicidally and cocked the hammer back,
“Not so tough now are we?” he giggled before taking aim. Dusk readied to make his move, darkness already coalescing behind him.
Suddenly there was a high-pitched wail of pain and terror from behind the gang, the gangbanger spun round suddenly. Dusk lashed out with a tendril of darkness, knocking his arm down. The gun went off and fired a bullet right into the meaty part of the punk’s thigh. The thug screamed and dropped to the ground, clutching the bloody ruin of his thigh. Dusk looked up from his work, and froze in shock.
Something had one of the thugs by the neck, a great shadowy darkness, it was holding the thug up, its head hunched over his throat, a trail of blood trickling down. Dusk understood immediately,
“Vampire!” he cried as the rest of the group came together behind him. The shadowy apparition reared up from its meal and hissed at them, its features still cloaked in darkness. The thug was dropped to the ground, lifeless as the creature began to advance on them. The other gangbangers shook off their surprise and turned their weapons on the advancing monster. The small car exploded deafeningly with gunshots as no less than six weapons opened up on it. Dawn put her hands over her ears her eyes squeezed shut in fear. Xander lurched across the car and tore down an emergency kit from the wall. Ripping it open, he fished around and found a small flashlight. Praying that it was still in working order he flicked it on and pointed.
He instantly regretted it.
The vampire was well over six feet tall and utterly inhuman. It had a bald, misshapen head and monstrous features. Its eyes shined red like a great rat, its fangs jutted out from its mouth, which was caked in grime. The creature snarled up at Xander, hissing, a forked tongue flickering out as bullets tore though its body. Then with a blur of superhuman speed it charged the gun-wielding thugs and tore through their ranks. A A splatter of gore struck Xander in the face causing him to drop the flashlight in shock, as screams of pain and terror filled the car. Sounds of rending and splattering and a disgusting guzzling sound followed. Xander put a hand to his mouth, trying hard not to be sick.
“The front! Get to the next car!” Angel yelled, frantically herding everyone towards the to he front of the car. Dusk followed him, on the way, helping the still whimpering punk writhing on the floor to his feet, taking the gun from his hands. He may have been scum but nobody deserved that.
“Come on man!” he yelled as the punk hobbled along side him. The wounded thug made it three steps before something reached out from the dark and yanked him back, screaming. Dusk spun around and grimaced at the sounds emanating from the shadowy portions of the room, before fleeing into the next car.
“Come on, come on come on!” Xander cried frantically. Dusk dove through the door and Xander kicked the release handle, causing the other car to begin to drift away from the main body. Xander sighed in relief wiping at his face frantically,
“Well I guess that takes care of tha-” his eyes widened as the bald abomination appeared in the doorway of the rapidly retreating car, hissed and with a bound FLEW towards the open doorway. Xander yelled and slammed the door shut. The creature burst through the thin metal door spraying shards of Plexi-glass upon everyone, hooking a claw on Xander’s shirt as it dangled half out of the car, the train tracks flashing by with blurring speed. Xander yelled in fright and braced himself against the doorway, desperately struggling against the monstrous vampire dragging him slowly out of the car.
“Xander!” Buffy cried as her and Faith ran over to him, pulling him away from the snarling vampire. Xander groaned as he was being pulled in two directions. The vampire reared back a clawed hand to strike…and stopped in shock as the barrel of a blood-coated .357 manifested, wedging itself directly into its drooling mouth. Dusk smiled grimly looking over the gun,
“Hi,” he quipped darkly and pulled the trigger. The creature was blown backwards arching high into the air with a monstrous screech, Xander almost went with it, But Faith and Buffy yanked him back into the car where they tumbled all into a heap on the stained floor. The vampire, its arms flailing came down right onto the third rail with a loud crunch. Its body ignited as it roared in pain, thrashing as thousands of volts of electricity cooked it. Finally, it lay still, burning brightly. Dusk watched it as the subway pulled away from it and turned a corner, causing the creatures burning corpse to vanish from sight. With a shuddering sigh, he opened the chamber of the gun, emptying the remaining bullets onto the floor before tossing the gun out of the car and coming down to sit wearily on a bench. Willow rushed over to him, hugging him,
“Are you all right?” she asked worriedly. Dusk nodded, a little shaken,
“I’m okay,” he looked over at Xander, who was being helped to his feet by the two slayers, “Xander?” Xander nodded, fingering his shredded shirt,
“The shirt has suffered, but the man is intact,” he replied shakily. Anya rushed to his side, bowling him over and holding him tightly, kissing him.
“That was very brave honey, don’t EVER do it again!” she demanded. Xander just nodded and sighed, resting his head against the car wall. Dusk smiled slightly,
“Well, I guess they AREN’T exaggerating when they say that New York is full of weirdoes,” he quipped lightly. The group dissolved into laughter as Willow kissed him.
Giles adjusted his glasses and peered at his son,
“What I wouldn’t give for a cup of earl gray and a good book right now,” he commented wistfully. Dusk looked up at him and grinned,
“And the Bay City Rollers playing softly in the background?” he asked wryly. Giles sighed,
“At this point, I’d even be willing to listen to your ‘Six Inch Nails,” he commented dryly. Dusk grinned and shook his head, not bothering to correct his father as the subway rumbled on.

The subway car pulled into another stop and the group wasted no time in quickly filing off the damaged car and heading back to ground level. Buffy turned to Dusk,
“Any ideas at ALL what that thing was?” she asked him. Dusk shook his head,
“A vampire obviously, and one that seemed pretty adapt at concealment,” he replied.
“Pretty quick on his feet too,” Xander chimed in, shuddering slightly at the memory of the vampire tearing through the ranks of the punks like a scythe. Anya held him just a little bit tighter as they emerged onto the street. Dusk turned to his sister,
“Like I said, no idea, but I think you’re asking the wrong person,” he arched an eyebrow gently insinuating. Buffy scowled at him,
“If you’re suggesting I should make nice with Angel…” she growled. Dusk raised a placating hand,
“He DID help save our lives back there,” he reminded her gently, “He does deserve some credit,” he finished and then turned to Willow to speak with her in hushed tones. Buffy sighed and with a growl, fell into step next to Angel, who had his hands in his pockets, his head lowered.
“What about you? You ever see anything like Baldy back there before?” she asked curtly. Angel’s head shot up and looked at her, a look of earnestness flashing across his face, before he calmed.
“I’ve heard stories,” he began cautiously, “Of vampires living in the sewers and subway tunnels. Cast out from the rest of society,” Buffy snorted,
“I can see why,” she commented, remembering the creature’s monstrous appearance. Angel nodded,
“They’re supposed to be masters of concealment, blending in with the shadows, sometimes rendering themselves completely invisible. No vampire would lair in the sewer, those that did were rarely heard from again,” he finished grimly. Buffy shook her head,
“Gee honey, what’s the matter with the world when the sewers are no longer safe for decent law-abiding citizens to wander amidst?” she asked wryly. Angel flashed her a smile that caused her heart to flutter just a little,
“Don’t know, as soon as I some decent, law-abiding citizens, I’ll ask them,” he replied sardonically. Buffy swatted him on the arm and the two of them laughed quietly. Dusk shot a look back, smiling wryly, before turning his attention back to the witch on his arm
“What do you think the odds are of those two getting back together?” he whispered to her. Willow frowned and turned to observe Buffy and Angel walking together, smiling and nodding. Willow smiled and turned back to Dusk,
“Who knows?” she shrugged her slim shoulders, before smiling, “But they do look cute together, don’t they?” she asked. Dusk chuckled and held Willow closer to him, smiling as they walked the streets.

After a few more blocks, Angel pointed to a large building,
“That’s it. ‘Nocturnal Sacrament’,” he informed the group. Xander squinted in the darkness.
“Is anyone home?” he asked. Angel turned to him and nodded,
“I can hear the music from here,” he assured him, before leading the group towards the building.
The building, which turned out to be a huge, ruined cathedral.
For a moment, the group just gaped at it and the stone gargoyles with eyes painted in some kind of luminous paint that reacted to black lights mounted in stone pillars, causing their eyes to glow green. The steady bass beat emanated from the cathedral as various people in pancake make-up and vinyl capes filed to and from the club. Angel threw Buffy a wry look,
“Remind you of any place we know?” he questioned sardonically. Buffy nodded,
“Billy’s Club-o-vampire deluxe,” she responded, remembering her poor childhood friend who had betrayed her in his quest for immortality in order to escape a terminal brain tumor, a quest that had ended with a stake in his heart. She sighed and headed up the stairs towards the club, the rest of them following.
Buffy had been mistaken; this place had a bit more class than Billy’s vampire club back in Sunnydale. Black lights filled the room as throngs of people writhed and danced to pulse-pounding David Bowie. Huge stained glass windows dominated the room, lit from behind by multicolored lights, giving them an eerie and otherworldly appearance. Candelabras burned with red candles, the holy water pews filled with a glowing orange liquid. Fortunately, for Angel’s sake, there were no crosses to be seen anywhere. Buffy had to yell to be heard over the music,
“Keep close!” she screamed, leveling a stern look at Dawn, who was gaping at everything in open amazement, “This means you!” she admonished. Dawn stuck her tongue out at her and continued to gape at the techno-goth club patrons. Dusk turned and smirked to his father,
“Think there’s a demonic cult in this place?” he yelled to be heard over the din. Giles shook his head, his hands over his ears,
“How could one possibly tell?” he gestured to a pair of women with vinyl bodices, coming equipped with plunging necklines. Each girl had a mouth caked in red lipstick and a set of ridiculously over-sized vampire fangs wedged in their mouths. Dusk shook his head mournfully, as his father grimaced,
“Americans!” they commented in unison, giving each other long, suffering looks before descending down into the masses of people. Shoving their way to the bar, the group found a pair of booths and sat down. A waiter dressed as a priest came to take their order, Angel scowled at him so alarmingly that the man blanched and fled from the table. Angel turned his attention back to the group,
“Now all we need to do is to make contact with someone who would know where to find the Spaarti tribe,” he told the group. Buffy rolled her eyes,
“And just how do we do that?” she asked.
“Mingle!” Faith yelled back, “Come on!” Taking the blond slayer’s hand she dragged her from the booth and entered with her into the sea of writhing bodies. Dusk chuckled and took Buffy’s vacated seat, Dawn sat next to him and Willow across from them both.
“You do realize we’re never going to see them again, right?” Dusk commented sardonically. Willow just shook her head. Xander looked around,
“This place is kinda spooky,” he commented. Anya nodded,
“And don’t look to carefully at some of the patrons, honey. I did, and I can tell you right now a few of these people probably grace the pages of ‘Tobin’s Spirit Guide,” she informed him. Xander blanched and tried to become inconspicuous. Dusk grinned as he turned to regard Angel,
“So how do we get in contact with the Spaarti?” he asked him. Angel didn’t answer him, instead beckoning to a nearby waitress, this one attired in a nice cross-between a French noblewoman and a dominatrix, came to their table.
“Round of drinks and a Coke,” he requested, shooting a look at Dawn. The waitress nodded and headed to the bar. Giles frowned,
“Well, while I certainly will need a couple of stiff drinks to endure this place, I fail to see how it will speed our fact-finding excursion along,” Angel took a napkin from the table, and looked around,
“Anyone got a pen?” he asked. Giles reached into his breast pocket and produced a deep blue ballpoint pen. Angel nodded thanks and scribbled something onto the napkin. Handing the pen back to Giles, Angel removed his wallet (which was black and leather, to absolutely no one’s surprise) and removed a crisp twenty dollar bill neatly into the folds of the napkin, folding the whole thing over once lengthwise just as the waitress came back with their drinks. Angel flashed her his most winning smile,
“Thanks,” he said cheerily and as he helped remove the drinks from the tray, he discreetly slid the napkin and the money, under the tray to brush against the waitress’s hands. Her eyes met his for an instant in questioning. Angel smiled up at her,
“What’s the club special?’ he asked politely, cocking a flirtatious eyebrow. Dusk held up a hand to hide his grin. The waitress smiled at him,
“I’m not sure, let me go back to the bar and ask,” she replied before turning away. Dusk was chuckling,
“Slick, a little heavy-handed perhaps, but slick,” he complimented. Angel was peering intently at the bar as Willow frowned,
“Okay, what did I miss?” she asked. Dusk turned to her,
“I’m willing to bet that Angel’s twenty and note, is right now being scrutinized as our waitress is consulting his little telegram with a few other people,” he turned a questioning look, “A password?” he asked. Angel shook his head,
“A pair of teardrops and something written in Romany,” he replied. Dusk chuckled,
“Clever. So just in case they’re not connected, we don’t look like a bunch of chumps for revealing our interests to the wrong people,” Angel tilted his head in acknowledgement. Willow made a sound of understanding,
“Sneaky. We’d never do this kind of thing at the Bronze,” she commented. Dusk gestured to a pair of large men, with grayish skin and horns,
“Yes, but you’d never run the risk of running into THOSE in the Bronze either,” he smiled wryly. Giles snorted,
“Care to place a wager on that son?” Dusk chuckled as Xander turned to look. He blanched and hurriedly faced front,
“And those would be…?” Xander asked. Giles spoke up,
“C’boath demons,” he replied, “Apparently taking a break from guarding the reigning nobles of the fifth circle of hell to have a pint and a smoke,” he commented dryly. Dusk chuckled in amusement,
“It could be worse, Dad,” he whispered direly, “There could be karaoke,” he concluded. Angel’s head shot up,
“What’s wrong with karaoke?” he demanded. Dusk shrugged,
“There’s nothing wrong with karaoke? Why?” he asked teasingly, “Picked up a new hobby aside from lurking and brooding?” Angel shook his head vehemently,
“Not by choice anyhow,” Dusk arched an inquiring eyebrow, Angel waved him off, “Long story, I’ll tell you later,” clearly unwilling to discuss it any further. Dusk grinned and looked up as the waitress came back with a tray of food, they didn’t order.
“Okay, two burgers medium rare,” she placed them before Xander and Dusk, “Three hotdogs,” she placed a basket of wieners before Dawn, who grinned in delight and quickly pounced on the first, “A Chicken Caesar salad,” the waitress continued as she placed it before Willow, who smiled in surprise. “A cup of tea, Earl Grey, with milk and sugar,” she handed the cup to Dusk, who handed it to Giles. Giles took it, flabbergasted, “And a club special,” she finished putting a large sandwich down in front of Angel before smiling at them, “Compliments of the house. If you require anything else, don’t hesitate to let us know,” she smiled at them winningly before retreating. Dusk looked over at Angel,
“Okay, now I missed something,” he confessed. Angel just set upon dismantling his sandwich systematically. Dusk frowned puzzled as Angel rooted through slices of corned beef with mustard.
“Uh, Angel? Aren’t we a little old to be playing with our food?” Willow asked around a mouthful of chicken salad. Dusk shot her a wry look,
“Aren’t we a little old to be talking with mouths full?” he replied chuckling. Willow narrowed his eyes at him and made an angry little growl, before going back to chewing contently the salad in her mouth.
“I’m just looking for…” Angel smiled and slowly removed a tiny, folded up piece of paper from between to slices of beef.
“If that says ‘I know what you did last summer,’ you’re on your own,” Xander commented, swallowing a mouthful of burger. He looked down and frowned, the other half of his burger was missing. He turned to observe Anya delicately wolfing down the other half of his burger. She frowned at him,
“What? I’m hungry!” she replied defensively. He sighed and took another bite out of his half of the burger forlornly. Dawn looked up from her hot dog basket, one already devoured and eagerly working on the second, an inquiring look on her face,
“Hey, how did that lady know what to bring us?” she asked. Dusk turned, and was shocked to see only one, and a quickly disappearing half a hot dog, left over from her original three hotdogs. He looked up at her in amazement. She frowned at him in a perfect imitation of Anya’s earlier gesture,
“What? I’m hungry,” she repeated. Dusk smiled, shaking his head before gesturing to the bartender, who had black skin and a large diamond embedded in his forehead,
“See him?” he turned to Dawn who nodded as she took a bite out of her third and last hot dog, “Guy’s a telepath. Chances are, when we came in here, he gave us a quick ‘once over’ to see what we would be most likely to order. Pretty effective if you think about,” he smiled back at Dawn, who frowned in distaste,
“You mean that guy read my MIND?” asked, understandable uncomfortable with he idea. Dusk smiled reassuringly,
“Yes, but not at a very deep level. Believe me, if there had been any sort of powerful telepathic probe, I’d have picked up on it,” he tapped his head grinning, “my darker half doesn’t take kindly to nosy people snooping around in here,” Dawn smiled, reassured by Dusk’s words and continued to devour her hot dog. Dusk chuckled and turned back to Angel, who was scrutinizing the note,
“What’s it say?” Xander asked. Angel looked up,
“Well, it says we can make contact with the people we need to see, downstairs, in a sort of VIP section,” he replied. Dusk’s eyes narrowed slightly,
“Trap?” he asked. Angel nodded,
“Probably,” he replied. Dusk sighed and turned to the dance floor. Scanning the crowd, he found Buffy and Faith, it was pretty easy given the vast circle of men they had surrounding them, and beckoned to his sister. Buffy nodded and turned to Faith, gesturing to the table. Faith turned and sighed before nodding; she turned back to the men, pantomimed dialing a phone and pointed to herself, and followed Buffy.
“What’s up?” Buffy asked. Dusk got up and spoke with her in a hushed tone,
“Angel’s got a lead to someone who can direct us towards the Spaarti,” Dusk sighed, “Unfortunately, it’s also probably a trap. So we’re going to split up,” he turned back to Angel, “You, me, Buffy and Dad will go downstairs and go play Keyser Soze with our pals downstairs. The rest of you, stay here and keep your eyes open,” he gave Faith a grim look, “We’re not back up here in twenty, come down ready to pound people into insurance settlements,”
Faith nodded, “On it D,” she replied. Dusk turned to Willow,
“Don’t suppose you’ve got anything in the way of magical charms in case things get hairy?” he inquired. She frowned, then her eyes lit up as she dug into her purse, removing a small ball about the size of a ping-pong ball,
“If things get bad, throw this on the ground, it ought to serve as a pretty good distraction,” she smiled up at him. Dusk took the ball from her tentatively, and tucked it into his coat, “Be careful,” she told him. Dusk smiled wryly,
“I hear that a lot from you,” he replied dryly. Willow nodded, and leaned in close to his ear,
“It’s because I love you, you idiot,” she whispered before kissing his head gently. Dusk grinned and stood up, stroking the witch's face with affection, he turned back to Faith,
“Something does go down, make sure Dawn gets someplace safe first, all right?” Faith nodded in understanding and placed a hand on his shoulder, reassuringly,
“It’s done,” she reassured him, Dusk nodded, not sure why his chest suddenly felt tight, before turning back to the group. Angel rose from his chair to stand beside him; Giles finished his tea and followed,
“All right, Let’s go be social,” Buffy, declared. She left the table, Angel, Dusk and Giles following. They arrived at the door to the back. A stony-faced bouncer-type stood vigil over the door. Angel handed him the note, the guard looked it over before unclipping a velvet rope, granting them access. The four walked through the open doorway and headed down a flight of stairs. Soft music came from an open doorway on the left at the bottom of the stairs. The gentle glow of firelight flickered in the darkness, spilling out of the open door way, casting shadows against the opposite wall. The four finished their descent and turned towards to open room.
Several cocked crossbows and guns greeted them, wielded by young teenagers, with unsmiling faces and teardrops tattooed on their faces. The four of them sighed and slowly put up their hands,
“Guess we won’t have to look for the Spaarti tribe after all,” Buffy commented quietly, her hands above her head. Dusk just nodded wearily.
This wasn’t going to be pleasant.



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