Chapter Seven
Comparing notes
Dusk and Faith pulled into Giles’s driveway, just as Spike and Angel were heading up the walk. Angel came over to the pair as they stripped off their helmets.
“You got it?” he asked.
Dusk grinning, took the book from Faith and handed it to him.
“Everything you’ve always wanted to know about the Hellmouth but were afraid to ask,” Angel smiled as Spike gagged.
“Oh hell mate, Woody Allen?” he blanched. Dusk grimaced in agreement.
“I know, I know. George Lucas was robbed in ’77,” chuckling, he got off the bike as Faith hopped off and walked past the pair into the house. Spike was eyeballing the bike with obvious disdain.
“Japanese,” he snorted derisively, “nobody buys American anymore,” Dusk chuckled good-naturedly.
“Harleys just don’t have the style I’m looking for,” Spike glared at him.
“You HAVE no style, mate,” Spike retorted. Dusk was about to respond when Angel politely interjected.
“Guys? Now’s not the time, we’ve got things that need doing,” book in tow, the brooding vampire headed up to the front door. Dusk and Spike exchanged glares before following. The door was open, Buffy Willow and Xander were huddled around a computer, Faith was already watching T.V. and Giles was on the phone. He nodded in greeting to his son before continuing his conversation,
“Yes I realize that Quentin is a very busy man and needs his sleep, but this is of the gravest importance,” a silence followed where Giles’ face became a study in strained patience, “Listen, you silly little sod! I don’t care what you have to do, get Quentin Travers on the phone, NOW!” Everyone in the room turned to regard him with mute shock, he looked and had the good grace to look abashed,
“Please!” he barked into the phone as an afterthought. Chuckling, Dusk slapped his father on the back before going over to the computer. Willow was in the drivers seat; Xander and Buffy huddled around her. Both of them offered greetings to Dusk as he placed a kiss atop Willows head.
“How we doing, lover?” he asked, leaning against the desk to peer at the myriad of programming code that was flashing across the screen. She smiled and replied,
“Miss Calendars techno-spell is really top notch, it acts sort of like a search engine, except it checks all the information on the internet, not just what’s publicly available,” she whistled softly, “It’s amazing, it’s a blend of magic and programming. I can’t wait to see the other ones,” she beamed at him like a kid with a new toy, Dusk chuckled and kissed her cheek.
“Merry Christmas, dear,” he whispered, moving away from the screen he turned to Xander,
“Any thoughts on what we ask Riley Claus for Christmas?” Xander chuckled before turning to address him.
“I’m thinking a Daewoo USAS-12 full-auto shotgun. It looks sort of like a really big rifle with an eleven round clip. Problem is the kick is pretty punishing so we should issue them only to the fairly tough. You, me, our two femme fatales and those lacking a pulse shouldn’t have a problem,” Dusk nodded.
“Think Riley will be able to get them?” Xander shrugged.
“It’s not exactly a standard issue M-16. It depends on where Riley is stationed,”
“Got it!” Willow cried out triumphantly, “I am cyber-witch!” This garnered smiles from the group and Dusk swooped down to steal another kiss.
“Well done love, where is he?” he asked. Willow punched a few keys before snorting in disbelief.
“Area 51, Nevada,” she looked up at him chuckling before turning to Xander, “I owe you ten bucks,” Xander was just grinning widely then turned as Spike came over to tell him something. Dusk must have looked confused because Willow took a moment to elaborate. “I made a bet with Xander when we were kids that aliens weren’t real, looks like I was wrong,” she smiled as she turned back to the screen, “From vampires to Martians, Poor Riley,”
Buffy laughed, “Can we get in touch with him?” she asked. Willow nodded.
“Yep. Looks like he’s got an e-mail address and everything,” she tapped a few more of the keys in rapid succession “Just in case the governments playing ‘big brother’ with him, I’m encrypting the mail server.”
Buffy frowned, “Will, if you encrypt it, how will he be able to read it,” Willow smiled indulgently at her.
“Oh ye of little faith. The encrypt will have a password prompt. He’ll have to answer a question correctly before accessing it. All I need is a question to ask him, that no one else would know the answer to.”
“I’ve got this one covered, red,” grinning Spike walked over from talking with Xander and, cupping his hand over her ear whispered something. Willows face colored scarlet.
“Spike - I can’t ask that!” she cried. Spike grinned.
“Why not? Bet you anything Uncle Sam doesn’t know that,”
“Know what?” Buffy asked cautiously as the still-furiously blushing Willow began typing again. Spike leaned over and whispered something into her ear, Buffy’s face morphed right into embarrassed outrage.
“Spike! They are NOT that big,” she yelled, swatting him. Spike held up his hands to protect himself.
“Check the label yourself if you don’t believe me, love” Spike laughed and continued to as Buffy stormed out of the room and into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.
“What did you SAY to her?” Dusk asked incredulously. Spike shrugged.
“I just suggested the question Willow might want to ask Riley to make sure it’s him,” he grinned wolfishly.
“And that was…?”
“The Slayer's bra size.”
Dusk stood stunned for a minute, then howled with laughter, quickly joined by Xander. Angel looked uncomfortable and Faith was too busy watching T.V. to care.
“That’s brilliant man, that’s just perfect,” chuckling, Dusk shook his head, “but what makes you think Riley will remember?” Spike snorted.
“The three things you must always memorize when dating a woman; Her birthday, your anniversary and her measurements. I figured the first two might be on public record,” Spike continued to grin like the cat that ate canary.
Willow looked up from her work, “Alec dear, do you have those memorized?”
Dusk snorted, “Of course I do, April 10th, September 22nd and 36-” he stopped dead as Willow began to blush. Abruptly he turned his head to the living room “Faith? What’s on T.V.? Is that Billy Idol?” Beating a hasty retreat, Dusk was nearly run down by the slayer emerging from the bathroom, red faced. Spike arched an eyebrow.
“Wel-” he began
“Shut up!” she snarled at him before sitting down on the couch her arms folded over her chest. Spike just laughed.
“It’s fun to be right,” he chortled and joined the others watching T.V.
Willow, trying hard not to succumb to an urge to roll around on the ground and howl with laughter, finished the encrypt work before turning to Xander, who was also locked in a serious struggle for control.
“Okay Xander, you’re up, write what you need to and just hit ‘send’ afterwards,”
Xander sat down, shoulders heaving in silent laughter, “Sure Wills, I got it,”
Giles entered the room, no longer on the phone,
“Well the council will not send anything in the way of manpower for assistance. Apparently the happenings of a rogue slayer and a disgraced Watcher are not high on their collective list of priorities,” he turned his gaze to Faith, who was watching him with a hint of dread, “I did not reveal to them that Faith is with us,” relief and gratitude flooded her face. She did not want to fight off another Watcher task force sent to apprehend her and drag her back to England for trial. “The council still believes she is in police custody locked safely away in prison,”
Buffy nodded her, face returning to a less-humiliated skin tone. “Good call, Giles,” she nodded approvingly, Giles continued,
“However, I did convince him to send us a collection of Watcher and Slayer diaries. They date back several centuries and should prove quite insightful. They should be here by morning.” Buffy sighed. It was really all she could expect from the council. You either played by their rules or you were considered benched for the duration. Turning to Spike, who was still grinning like an idiot, she addressed him, but not before giving him a dire look which promptly caused the grin to vanish.
“What did Willy have to say?” Spike became grim.
“Something serious is up luv, everything that has laired either underground or in the sewers has vacated.” Xander turned from the computer, which was busy sending his letter to Riley, his jaw sagging open.
“Everything? All of them? Just like that?” Spike nodded.
“It gets weirder buddy boy, apparently those that didn’t jump ship fast enough, vanished,” he snapped his fingers, “Poof! Just like that!” Giles frowned.
“What do you mean they ‘vanished’? They were… killed?” he asked, disbelievingly. Angel shook his head as he interjected.
“Not according to those that went looking for them. In most cases, their havens were untouched, here and there a sign of a scuffle, but no blood, no bodies, nothing,” Angel shook his head, “I’ve never seen anything like it. Vampires especially those that make their havens underground do not simply up and leave without telling anyone. Not like this,” he sent Buffy a grave look, “Something is very wrong here,” Buffy had paled a little as she turned to Spike,
“Did anyone have a clear idea about what happened to them?” she asked. Spike shook his head.
“Those that had a clue were NOT talking. Not even with a lot of persuasion,” Spike frowned, “I must be losing my touch,”
“Willy was scared out of his mind, Spike,” Angel put in, “I think whatever put the fear in his heart may be more vicious that even you,” Spike jerked his head up.
“Bollocks!” Buffy cleared her throat.
“If we can get back to the matter at hand here, boys. What you’re saying is that something has managed to convince everything under the ground to vacate and not everyone made it out?” Spike nodded.
“More or less, you should have heard Willy’s griping about how this is costing him business,” Spike grinned wryly, “I was almost tempted to silence the little twit when the Great Poof over here,” he gestured to Angel, “implied that torturing the barkeep was out of fashion,” Buffy looked concerned as she addressed Xander.
“Xander, do you remember two Christmases ago, when Angel was having some serious dark mojo worked on him?” Xander nodded.
“Yeah, something called ‘the One”? Buffy nodded.
“Right do you remember if there were any demons or vampires in the bar that night?” Xander nodded slowly.
“Y-e-e-ah. Yeah there were, I remember ‘cause Willy made a big deal about you walking in there and a couple of the patrons sort of, slinked away. Why?” Buffy turned back to Spike.
“Spike, was there anyone at the bar besides Willy?” Spike furrowed his brow in concentration before his eyes widened in comprehension.
“No,” he turned his head to lock his eyes with Angel, his expression equally stunned, “ not a bloody soul. That’s why I was so keen on giving the little creep what for. No witnesses,” he turned back to Buffy. “Of course, with this bloody chip in my head, it might have given me a splitting headache to do it, but still…Willy’s was completely deserted,” he shrugged, “I thought we’d just missed happy hour or something,” Angel shook his head as Dusk re-entered the room, apparently more daunted by Faiths’ choice in viewing programming, then the slayer's indignant modesty.
“No, most vampires head to Willy’s right after sundown for a quick breakfast, it being deserted means that…” his voice trailed off, it was Dusk that finished it for the rest of them.
“…Means that whatever is under the ground is more frightening that whatever it was you faced that Christmas,” he turned to Buffy.
Buffy shuddered, remembering her encounter with the demonic manifestation of the late Miss Calendar. Only when it left prophesizing Angel’s death gloatingly, did it reveal its true form, just for a moment. But Buffy had had nightmares about it for weeks, that instant had been enough to sear its horrific visage in her mind. And whatever was under their feet right now was even worse. Spike, noticing the sudden ashen complexion of the slayers, quickly sat next to her and gathered her into a tight embrace. He was horrified to feel her shaking with fear; he’d never seen her like this. Not when she’d faced down Angelus, not Adam, not even himself. He stroked her hair soothingly.
“Shhh, it’s all right baby, it’s going to be okay,” he sent a look at Angel, expecting the other to be jealous or protective. Angel’s expression did not disappoint him and the tension between the two seethed hotly. Dusk cleared his throat and gestured to Angel. He looked up at him as Dusk gestured to Giles. Angel got the hint and handed the watcher the book he’d been given.
“This is the book we found at the mayors office,” Dusk informed his father, “It looks like some sort of record or factual account,” Giles opened the tome and began looking through it, “It has a monastic seal on it. My guess is it’s a record written by the first pilgrims here,” Giles nodded.
“Yes, I believe so, it’s written in some sort of Spanish dialect. Looks like a hybrid of old world Latin and Spanish. It’ll take some time to translate.
“I’ve got a pretty good translation program, Giles,” Willow chimed in, “Give me some time to adapt Miss Calendars technomancy to it and I can scan it into the computer.” Buffy, having calmed down a little turned to her friend.
“I dunno, Wills, you and scanning old texts don’t have the best history together. You may want to check it first, just to make sure the Mayor didn’t try to get clever with it.”
“That sounds like him,” Faith added, having torn her attention from the television, “He was pretty good at that magic stuff, managed to make himself invincible until his ascension,” she turned to Dusk, “The cabinet wasn’t protected?” Dusk shook his head.
“If there had been any sort of protective incantations placed on it, they probably dissipated once he died. Still it’s a good idea,” he turned to Giles, “Dad, do we have the necessary ingredients at the store?” Giles snorted gently.
“Come now Alec, of course we do,” he replied, a hint of wounded professional pride creeping into his voice, “We can stop at the store to check the book for traps on the way to the Bronze,” Spike looked up,
“You’re sure this meeting is a good idea, old man? I mean, Drac was never exactly a man of his word or anything,” Dusk favored him with a wry grin.
“Whereas you are a paragon of virtue, right?”
Spike muttered something obscene with garnered a laugh from the group.
“Hold up,” Faith interrupted, “ ‘Drac?’ as in Dracula, like THE Dracula, the prince of Darkness, Bela Lugosi, Gary Oldman, THAT Dracula?” She exhaled hard and shot Buffy a wistful look, “Wouldn’t THAT be the staking of a lifetime, eh B?” Buffy actually smiled a little at that.
“I staked him twice, and apparently he’s still around so I’m not sure that’s entirely valid,” Faith, still shaking her head in wonder, went back to the television. Dusk checked his watch.
“Well, we better not keep the Count waiting” he turned to Willow, “Come on, love, we’ll drop you off at the magic store on the way there,” Willow pouted.
“Hey I wanna meet with Dracula again,” she whined, perhaps suffering from a little intellectual curiosity. Dusk shook his head.
“It’s not that big a deal, he’s actually much shorter in real life,” he smiled wryly at her.
“Yeah and he’s got bad breath too,” Buffy added. Dusk shot her an inquiring look. Buffy just shrugged, offering no explanation.
“Never tell me,” Dusk demanded quietly, Buffy crossed her heart. Sighing, he changed the subject,
“Did you get Anya that talisman?” Buffy nodded,
“She said she’d give her demon buddy a chant tomorrow, something about the moon being in the right phase or something,” she shot Xander a wry look, “She also asked if Xander could stop at the all night drug store. She said he’d know why,” Xander colored a little as several pairs of eyes regarded him.
“Gum, she wants gum,” he retorted defensively Spike snorted derisively,
“Yeah? What kind? Ribbed or lambskin?” Dusk stifled a laugh; Faith didn’t even bother with stifling.
“The Earth is doomed,” Giles taking in this display, declared morosely, Buffy patted his arm.
“Now now, if we had a dime for every time you’d said that,” she stopped and frowned suddenly at a loss for words, “we’d…have…a lot of dimes,” Giles looked at her askance. Spike snorted again.
“Yeah, THAT was witty,” Buffy glared at him.
“Heel” she barked at him as she left the door, Spike instantly achieved a contrite manner
“Yes ma’am,” he said meekly, head bowed as he walked to the door. Faith chuckled.
“Man, B’s got her man whipped,” she observed. Xander turned to her.
“That’s only if he asks nicely,” he informed her wryly, Faith flashed him a smile and laughed heading out the door, Willow, Giles, Angel and Dusk followed. Angel stopped to regard Dusk,
“You didn’t tell me Dracula was here,” his tone mildly accusatory.
“You didn’t ask,” Dusk replied simply as he closed the door and locked it behind him. Angel grumbled something Dracula owing him money and headed to his car, Spike was already in the passenger seat, leg dangling over the side, head thrown back, smoking a cigarette, banging on the dashboard in time to the Sex Pistols blaring out of the car speakers. Angel swatted his feet hard,
“Feet in the car,” he reached out and plucked the cigarette out of Spike’s mouth as he opened it to protest, “and no smoking,” Spike flipped him the finger as Angel got in the car and carefully backed out of the driveway.
“You weren’t this much of an old maid when you were lacking a soul. Why don’t you go get fleshy with some airhead so I can go back to having a good time?” Spike asked him, contemptuously. As Angel cut the wheel, he “accidentally” smacked Spike upside the head.
“Hey!” Spike protested, “Watch the hair!” he smoothed his hair back.
“Sorry, tight steering on the car,” Angel grumbled before cutting the wheel back around.
Rolling his eyes, Spike went to sulking, staring out over the car door as the car drove off. Meanwhile, Giles, Xander, Faith, Buffy and Willow had all piled into Giles’ car. The watcher turned to address his son.
“Meeting us at the Bronze then?” he asked. Dusk nodded,
“I’ll scope it out just to make sure everything’s kosher,” Willow stuck her head out of the window.
“Be careful Alec,” she told him. Dusk winked at her and blew a kiss. Willow smiled and tucked her head back into the car, pointedly ignoring the stares of wry amusement she was getting from Faith, Xander and Buffy. Giles closed the door, starting the car, pulled away from the curb and followed Angel towards the magic store. Dusk quickly mounted his bike, and roared off in the direction of the Bronze.
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