Part Four
It was painful to reach out for his other self. His spirit was still weak and rough around the edges. It was like trying to fit an improperly cut puzzle piece into its slot. But as the two edges met, they fused as one and Eric remembered everything. He also remembered that he was dead. Calling upon his energies, he directed them into his body, healing the jagged bullet wounds in his chest and regenerating the dead tissue of his lungs and other organs that had been destroyed.
A glow kindled in his chest and began burning brightly. It reabsorbed all the blood he had spilled, reintegrating it into his body to use for strength. Max weakly raised his head to his master and whined quietly. Eric's eyes fluttered open and he drew a halting breath. He raised his head to look at his dying companion.
"Oh, Max." Eric touched his hand to his friend and a similar glow began to work its way through the dog's body. Eric slowly struggled to his feet and surveyed the carnage in the room. Max tried to get up as well but his master petted his head and told him to lie down.
"Where's Buffy?" he asked the dead and deserted room. "The gargoyle." Max whined beside him but Eric shushed him again.
"You stay here, Max. I've gotta go get Buffy." He looked around the room again. This time he used his growing strength to look through the lines of fate that converged on this room. They crisscrossed the room, hundreds of strings of destiny passing through there. He spotted the Slayer's line of fate easily enough, so varied and bright as it was. He quickly followed it out the door of the office and into the hallway. There the line followed another to the stairs entrance. He raced after them, opening the stairway door and racing up. He took the steps two, sometimes three at a time. The floor they had been on was near to the top of the building, and soon Eric came to the roof access. He charged through the door and out on to the deserted top of the building. Eric gazed about the windy night sky looking for signs of Buffy or the gargoyle until he spotted them in the distance, flying west towards the ocean. Eric looked about frantically, trying to figure out a way to go after them when he remembered something.
"I can fly," he said to himself, surprised by the revelation. He hesitated for a moment then he began to race to the edge of the building, the misgiving and dread at what he was preparing to do eating away at him.
'I'm about to jump off a building because I think I can fly. I have got to be crazy! But then I also think I'm a six hundred year old half dragon so really, it's only natural that I should think that I can fly. Here goes!'
Eric leaped from the edge of the building willing himself to just keep going in a straight line, but his horizontal direction quickly became a parabola as he plumeted towards the fast approaching ground.
As he felt the forces of gravity pulling against him he began to remember the feeling. The tight banks and turns, the high-g manuvers, it was all coming back to him. He had done this before. He had flown and it was just as easy as thinking about it. He was suddenly propelling himself forward and up with nothing more than the power of his mind, rocketing towards the flying gargoyle and his captive in the distance. As he came closer, he could see that the Slayer had awakened already and was kicking a screaming, trying to force the gargoyle off balance. The creature was so intent on keeping the captive Slayer from forcing them down that he almost didn't see their pursuer until it was too late.
Eric formed a long engraved sword in his hand without hardly a thought to how he did it and cleaved at the gargoyle's left wing. The blade sheared through the stone and lopped part of the wing off sending the pair into a dive. The Bob was forced to let go of the Slayer so that he could try to stabilize his flight. Eric caught her deftly in his other arm and they sped down to the ground while the gargoyle plummeted in a controlled dive off in another direction.
Buffy held on tightly to Eric's neck and looked up at him while he held her in his arms. His sword had disappeared and now he held her tightly to him as they lightly touched down in a deserted construction yard. She could see the strain on his face, and the pallor cast of his skin, but all she could do was stare at him in wonder.
'He's not dead,' she joyously thought to herself. 'I haven't lost him.'
He wearily set her down on the ground and leaned up against a nearby post. A building was in the first stages of construction, and numerous tools and heavy machinery were scattered about the yard. The foundation and skeletal structure of the building loomed up above them.
"Eric," she touched his shoulder while he rested against the supports, breathing heavily. "I thought you were dead."
He suddenly broke out into a fit of coughing which he covered with is hand. When he pulled it away from his mouth, it was covered with blood.
"Eric! Are you okay?"
"Damn! I don't even have enough strength to heal myself properly."
"Eric, that walking statue is going to be coming back for us soon. We've got to get ready."
"I've spent too much energy, Buffy. I'm wasted. Integrating my consciousness, healing my body and Max, then flying and forming that sword. I'm just too new to my power. If I just had a few hours to rest I'd be fine, but it's just too much for me right now."
"I can't take that guy on, Eric. He's too strong. I need your help."
"If I just had a little more strength, I could take care of him, or fly us out of here. I'd be more than willing to let that thing win this fight. But I can't, Buffy. I don't have anything left. It's all I can do to keep standing up."
Buffy looked around the yard searching for something to help them destroy the creature that was sure to be after them. From out of the shadows of one of the sheds, Max came limping over to his master. A thin trail of blood could be seen behind him. Eric knelt down, almost collapsing as he hugged the dog to him.
"Max. I told you to stay. You're not healed yet. You need to rest." His admonition was followed by another fit of coughing and more blood.
Buffy surveyed the area once more and found what she was looking for.
"Alright, guys. I've got an idea. Eric? You see that crane over there?" He looked over to where she was pointing and nodded.
"Yeah?"
"I'm want to position it over... that spot right over there. When that thing comes after us, I'll lure it under the crane and you drop it on top of him. Think you can handle it?"
"Yeah. I can do it."
"Max, go with him. Keep an eye on him."
The dog gave her look of 'Don't I always?' Eric struggled to his feet with Buffy helping him and he tottered over to the crane booth with Max limping behind. She watched as he climbed unsteadily into the booth and began to flip switches. A slight glow inundated the cab and the crane's engine sputtered to life. The boom stretched out and Eric began to move the arm into position. When it was in place, he turned off the engine and readied his hand over the release lever. Eric gave her the thumbs up sign.
Buffy stood her ground in the quiet yard, waiting for the gargoyle to strike as she knew he would. She glanced about the sky and the grounds searching for any sign of him. It was payback time for all the times he had clocked her upside the head. Even now she could feel the numerous welts starting to swell.
She continued to watch vigilantly, but was still caught off guard when Bob came diving down on her in an unsteady, controlled fall. She turned just in time to take the gargoyles diving attack full in the
chest, knocking her back with the gargoyle right on top of her. She tried to struggle free and get some distance from him, but Bob was making good use of his strenght. In one hand he grabbed her arm, and with the other he began to pummel her. Buffy deflected most of the blows but he was hurting her. She broke free from his grip and lashed out with a roundhouse kick that staggered the behemoth, but he recovered and charged her again. She tried to evade his tackle but his bulk was too huge, and he caught her foot as she tried to leap over him, slamming her into the ground.
Eric watched the fight tensely from the booth as another bout of bloody coughing overtook him. He looked on as the gargoyle attacked her relentlessly, never giving her a moments peace. Max whined by his side and Eric looked down at his bleeding comrade.
"It's gotta be you, buddy." Eric reached out with his hand and touched Max, sending another brighter glow spreading through him, healing him of all his major injuries. Max growled angrily at his master for using the last of his failing strength to heal him. Eric slumped over the controls weary and pale.
"Go, Max. Help her," he tried to whisper. Max looked up at him then out at the Slayer as the gargoyle continued to beat her. Max leaped from the cab and down to the ground where he began to run at the stone giant.
Just as the gargoyle was about to smash the prone Slayer, Max barreled into the creature, his eyes afire and electrical discharges playing about his body. Bob was knocked back by the sheer momentum of the dog's charge but quickly tossed it aside. In the meantime, Buffy had gotten to her feet again and launched her attack anew. This time, she used her speed and small size to her advantage. She would strike fast and hard then dance quickly out of his range, while Max harrassed him. Finally, she saw her chance, she attacked the gargoyle from behind, breaking one of it's legs with a well aimed kick. He stumbled to the ground but Buffy grabbed the off-balance creature by the arm and swung it onto the spot where the crane would drop. As he landed and struggled to get up, Buffy looked over to the crane booth and yelled.
"Eric! Now!"
She saw the semi-conscious young man lift himself off the controls and pull a lever that sent the crane head falling to the ground. Bob looked up just as it impacted into him, shattering his head and breaking the rest of his body into a thousand pieces. Buffy sheilded her face from the debris, and when she looked back, nothing remained but dust and stone chips. She inspected the destruction and when she was satisfied that he was well and truly destroyed for now, she turned around to get Eric.
He was struggling down the short ladder of the crane booth with Max barking frantically below him. Just short of the last rung, Eric stumbled and fell hard. Buffy raced over to him.
Max was licking his face when Buffy reached him. She pulled him close to her and looked down at him. "You okay?" she asked him tentatively. He looked up into her eyes and reached his hand to touch her face.
"That depends. Are you mad at me?"
Buffy was silent for a moment as she regarded him. "No. Hell, _you_ didn't even know who you were. No, I'm not mad at you. But I _do_ expect an explanation for all this. Maybe you'll finally tell me just who you are exactly and what's going on."
"I guess you deserve it. I'll tell you the whole story while we eat. I need _alot_ of food. This coming back to life thing really makes you work up an appetite."
"Been there. Let's go."
"First, why don't you dispose of our friend over their in that concrete mixer. I think the foundation of a building would serve as a fitting final resting place him."
A slow smile spread over her lips at his suggestion.
"You know, I think you've got an idea there, mister."
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