No Place Like Home, chapter 15
Jan. 20th, 2009 11:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maryperk73703Lots of meetings, a few threats... awww life in Sunnydale.
Chapter 15
Angel let out a groan. What the hell had happened to him? Last thing he remembered was being outside of Giles’ apartment complex. He opened his eyes slowly. Angel took in the glaring white walls of the barren cell. He realized that he had no idea where he was.
A woman in a lab coat flanked by two soldiers appeared outside of the Plexiglas that made up one wall of the cell. Angel recognized the uniforms that adorned the men. Somehow he had become a guest of the United States Army.
“Bring me a chair,” the woman directed one of the soldiers. When he brought back a fold-up chair, she seated herself facing Angel. She placed the file she had been carrying on her lap. “I’m Maggie Walsh. I’m in charge of this facility.” She waved her hand around. “Now do you have any idea what I find interesting?”
Angel stared at the woman, refusing to give in to her question.
“This is your file.” Walsh tapped the folder. “I find it interesting that none of the other subterranean hostiles that have graced our facility have a top-secret government file.”
Angel grimaced to himself. He knew the submarine incident would come back to haunt him. He had just expected it to be an unannounced visit from Lawson, not his own visit with the army.
“He’s not co-operating, ma’am,” one of the soldiers replied. “Should I give him the shock treatment?”
“People are going to notice my absence,” Angel finally spoke up. He had no idea how much time had passed since his capture. He knew it was daytime as a vampire was always very aware of the sun. He was sure that Cordelia must have grown concerned by now.
“Your file says you’re a loner.” Walsh taped the cream colored folder.
“That file is over fifty years old.” Angel raised his eyebrow. “Your intel is outdated.”
“It matters little,” Walsh bragged. “You are the perfect bait.” With that she rose to her feet.
Angel felt a fissure of concern. He hoped that this woman didn’t know about Buffy. From the look of the cells, he could see several other demon species contained there. Some of which looked decidedly sickly.
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Spike and Buffy escorted Ethan Rayne into their home. They fully expected to have guests since Giles and Cordelia, along with Joyce and Dawn, were supposed to visit. They were not disappointed to find Giles, Joyce, and Dawn chatting in the living room.
“We helped Cordelia settle upstairs, dear,” Joyce told Buffy when the Slayer entered the room. “We really should find a way to help that poor girl with those headaches.”
Buffy nodded in agreement. She and Cordelia weren’t the best of friends, but she hated to see the other woman in so much pain.
“Rupes, help me secure your old buddy here in the basement,” Spike said to Giles. He still had a hold of Ethan’s arm.
“Hey, Ripper,” Ethan grinned. “Together again, I see.”
Joyce blushed at the mention of Giles’ nickname. She wondered if she would ever live down the fact that she’d made out with the Watcher on a police car. To cover her embarrassment she said, “Ripper and Rayne. That sounds like a band.”
Ethan let out a laugh. “Unfortunately, I can’t play an instrument.”
“And when he sings, it’ll break your eardrums,” Giles finished. He turned to Spike. “How do you plan on securing him in the basement?”
Spike smirked, and he gave Buffy a cheeky wink. “They’re Slayer-tested chains.”
“Just go chain him up, guys!” Buffy shook her head in despair. She realized that the quiet, unhappy vampire from the year before was gone, replaced with a version much more similar to the cocky, confident one he had been previously.
After the three men left the room, Dawn looked at Buffy, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “When were you planning on telling me about the whole Immortal Guardian gig? I had to find out from some demon that showed up in my bedroom.”
“Oh, really?” Buffy arched a brow. “You find another summoning necklace?”
“It wasn’t Sweet. This one was named Whistler,” Dawn protested. “Honestly, I’m not a klepto anymore.”
“Whistler?” Buffy’s eyes narrowed. “What did that little skunk have to say?”
“I’m not the Key anymore for one thing.”
“What’s a key?” Joyce looked confused. “Why would Dawn be a key?”
“Oh boy, I so don’t want to explain all of this,” Buffy groaned.
“I understood things I shouldn’t have when you made me a companion.” Giles was back from the basement. “If you include your mother and sister as companions also, perhaps they will have the same kind of epiphany as I did.”
“I agree, luv.” Spike was back too. He moved to Buffy’s side.
Buffy gave a nod. She reached out her hand to Joyce while Spike reached out for Dawn. When the foursome was finally all holding hands, a great light went through them.
Giles shielded his eyes against the brightness, but he opened his eyes again when Dawn squealed.
“I’m seventeen again.”
Indeed, Dawn had grown a few more inches and had filled out in ways that young ladies do as they mature.
“Oh boy, and that is interesting.” Dawn blinked in surprise. “I never would have suspected that.”
“What, Dawn?” Joyce asked. She knew now what the Key represented, and she was glad her daughter wasn’t one anymore.
“You’re not my mother. You’re my grandmother,” Dawn replied. “Buffy’s my mom.”
“Who’s your Da?” Spike asked.
“You are!”
Dawn and Buffy had to grab Spike when he staggered backwards under the shock of the revelation.
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Hours later, as Spike and Buffy waited for Riley and Walsh to show up for the appointed meeting, Spike was still in a state of shock. Buffy always knew Dawn was part of her, but she had never once suspected Spike as being part of her ‘sister’ too. Buffy was glad she hadn’t found out about Dawn’s true parentage before this time because she probably would have freaked out.
“Ms. Summers and Hostile 17.” Maggie Walsh had arrived.
“You have someone prisoner and I’m not too happy about it,” Buffy said immediately. She didn’t want to waste any time with silly greetings.
Walsh feigned innocence. “I have no idea what you mean, Ms. Summers. Hostile 17 is sitting right next to you.”
“Don’t even try it, Professor,” Buffy said in a cool voice. “I told you before I know about Room 314. I also know about the chip you’ve planted in Riley’s heart. The same one that Adam will try to take advantage of when he tries to take over the world.”
“That would never happen!” Walsh protested adamantly.
“Your ultimate killing machine wants to take over, Professor.” Buffy maintained her stance on the subject. “That uranium core you gave him makes him near impossible to defeat. Notice I said near. I will defeat him with the help of my friends.”
“Didn’t old Mr. Bits and Pieces kill the old bitch here?” Spike asked. “Yeah, I seem to remember that. There was some new general commandin’ when we rescued dog-boy from the bowels of Hell.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Buffy nodded. “Then he turned her into one of his zombies.”
Maggie Walsh shuddered in disgust. One of her biggest fears was zombies. Even before she had learned about the existence of the supernatural world, she had hated the idea of zombies. She even refused to watch zombie movies.
“Release Angel and leave Sunnydale. This town belongs to the Slayer and the Aurelian vampires.” Buffy stood up. “If you don’t leave as soon as possible, you will learn the power of the Immortal Guardians.”
Spike rose to his feet too. He smirked at Riley, and he gave the other man the two-fingered salute. “Don’t go fallin’ on one of those plastic stakes of yours, Captain Cardboard.”
“What are you talking about, Spike?” Buffy asked. Then she got an instant picture of the event Spike was referring to. She turned blazing eyes on Riley Finn.
Riley cringed under the fire of Buffy’s gaze. He had never seen a woman so mad before in his life, and he wondered what he had supposedly done to Hostile 17 to warrant that kind of anger.
“Don’t come near my vampire with a plastic stake ever again, Riley, or you’ll learn what makes me a Slayer.” Buffy turned to Walsh. “I expect Angel to be delivered to where you found him unharmed or we’ll be talking again. Next time, I won’t be as forgiving.” She grabbed Spike’s hand, and the two supernatural warriors for good left the very public meeting place unscathed.
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Caly and Amon stood on each side of Ben, Glory’s host body. The Elb’irt demon grumbled behind them where they had tied it to a tree. Otherwise it would continue to attack Ben. Both male Hell-Gods were still privately chuckling at the reaction the Elb’irt had to Glory. It had jumped the host body, growling the entire time, and it caused the other college students a good public laugh.
“I don’t want to go in there,” Ben protested. He stared intently at the whirling vortex that had appeared a few feet away from the three men.
“It’s not a bad dimension, really,” Caly said. “There’s just no escape. I mean, Quortoth at least has a way out, as rare as it is to find.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong.” Ben tried to step backwards, but the Hell-Gods grabbed his arms. “I mean Glory has already gone ballistic because the Key disappeared from the dimension. I can live in peace. I really can.”
“You know she’ll keep trying. This is for the best.” Amon shoved Ben into the swirling portal. “Sorry, buddy.” The vortex closed behind Glory’s host body.
“Well, that was a job well done,” Caly said. “Time to get back to the Immortal Guardians.”
“I suppose,” Amon replied. “Although, I wouldn’t mind a good drink first, how about you?”
Caly chuckled. If there was one thing he could count on, it was the fact that Amon enjoyed a good drink and a good fight. He clapped the other Hell-god on the back, and he nodded in agreement. He was thirsty now that he thought about it.
No Place Like Home, chapter 15
Date: 2009-01-21 11:43 pm (UTC)Ah and one more dimension Glory-less (Glory-safe). A good thing in my mind :)
Buffy can be scary when someone (somebody) is threatening Spike :)
Re: No Place Like Home, chapter 15
Date: 2009-01-23 01:07 am (UTC)Hopefully in time, all the dimensions will be safe from Glory.
Yep, Buffy can be pretty scary.