Chapter 6: Illusions
The training room of the Magic Box...
“My God, he’s alive…” Dawn said in shock. She was taking the news fairly well…however, her sister hadn’t said a word yet, her face terribly pale.
“Buffy? Buffy?!” Giles waved a hand in front of her face.
::Oh she’s quite alright, just in a bit of shock:: Nigel said.
“A BIT? She’s bloody catatonic again!!” Giles shouted, shocking everyone in the room, including Buffy.
“Oh God…” Buffy gasped, “He’s alive?”
::Well, technically no. He’s still a Vampire, but yes, he is still in existence. He’s being held at the Watcher’s headquarters in London. His death was staged.::
“In God’s name, why?” Giles asked.
::Ironic choice of words, Mr. Giles. God is precisely why they are keeping him. The Council has been keeping tabs on a prophecy for quite some time…one that they previously *thought* named Angel, the Vampire with a soul as it’s herald. They have been keeping very close tabs on Buffy and Angel, to make sure that they stayed apart…but they didn’t foresee that they were wrong. Recent events alerted them that Spike was in fact the Vampire the prophecy has been speaking of, so they removed him from your presence.::
“I don’t get it, why is the Council so freaked about this prophecy?” Jonathan asked.
::The fact that the only parts they have been able to translate speak of “changing the future of Slayers for all time” and the “last apocalypse”.::
“How do you know all of this?” Giles asked skeptically.
::Because you are looking at the man…er, well, journal that wrote the prophecy. I am a seer. I have very recently been in contact with another seer, a Ms. Cordelia Chase and I have alerted her and her friends to your circumstances. You’re going to need all the help you can get.::
“I don’t understand… if Spike is going to be the harbinger of these events, why do you want him back?” Giles asked.
::Because Mr. Giles, the prophecy is already in effect. The Vampire Spike isn’t the Harbinger of “the last apocalypse”, it is the Slayer and the Vampire’s child.::
* * *
All Spike knew was darkness. He didn’t know how long he was there….days? Months? His joints ached and his body felt weak. Small wonder at that… they hardly fed him, and it was never enough to keep the demon satisfied. He imagined he looked something like a Holocaust victim by now…except he couldn’t see himself. Even when he vamped out he couldn’t make anything out. Not that he needed to slip into his demon visage anymore… it was constantly on the surface. It was harder to suppress it because he was so hungry. He had a difficult time thinking straight, his mind was all muddled and he had a hard time remembering why he was even here. Half the time he had to think real hard to remember who he was resisting, and why.
They had chained him up, and threw him into the deepest, darkest room they could find. He was in some kind of dungeon below the Council headquarters, that much he knew. Every few days someone would come in, set a shallow bowl of blood in front of his face, and made him eat it like a dog. Half the time he was too hungry to complain, even in his head.
His sleeping hours were filled with dreams…horrible twisted dreams. He could feel the demon surging within him…The evil inside was screaming to break free. His anchors were thousands of miles away from him, so there was no one but himself to turn to. Buffy wouldn’t come to his rescue, she thought he was dead... Ashes.
The times when Spike could remember, he only remembered the bad times.
Most of all he remembered the night he was taken from her…
Spike was awakened by someone’s terrified scream outside. He got up quickly and as silently as he could so as not to disturb Buffy’s peaceful slumber. He went to the window and peered out.
Down the lamp lighted street he could just make out a teenage girl running from a Vampire. Spike swore under his breath.
“Be right back, luv.” He whispered to Buffy’s sleeping form as he pulled on his pants and boots and left silently. No need to wake Buffy after all, it was still dark out and he had about an hour until sunrise.
He ran down the empty street where he last saw the girl and the vampire, following the scent of fear like a ship’s wake. Funny how the smell of fear from a human now prompted him to think of helping the human instead of eating it.
He saw that the Vampire had trapped the frightened girl against a wall, and he rushed in to save her.
He ran in with fists flying, knocking the vampire off of the girl. He made short work of the Vampire, a punch to the nose, sweep kick to the knees and a stake to the heart as soon as the Vamp was down.
Stupid fledgling, Spike thought, Didn’t even have enough sense in his head to know that the sun is gonna rise in 45 minutes. Hunting hour is over, you wanker. He glared at the pile of dust at his feet.
He quickly pocketed his stake and turned to the girl hiding in the darkened corner.
“Erm, hello?” Spike said, vamping out to see better in the dark. He thought he heard a distant ‘clicking’ noise, but ignored it.
He heard a human girl whimper in fright.
“Hey…” He walked slowly over to her. The girl looked up and saw his demon visage, shrieked and scrambled away. “Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you!” Spike ambled after the girl so as not to frighten her. He though he heard the ‘clicking’ noise again, and paused to throw a suspicious look over his shoulder. Something didn’t smell right to him. He heard the girl whimpering again and continued to follow after her. Suddenly he was pounced on from behind by several bodies, all of them trying to restrain him.
“BLOODY HELL!!” Spike swore in surprise as he struggled to shake them off. He was too busy to hear the ‘clicking’ noise this time. He succeeded in throwing them off and he did a double take when he got a good look at them.
“I’m being attacked by Watchers?” Spike started laughing.
It could have been the glasses, or the tweed suits, but mostly it was the firm ‘I’ve got a stick shoved up my ass’ look on their faces that tipped him off.
“Please.” Spike scoffed at their fighting stance. He never even saw the Watcher behind him until it was too late. He was zapped with a cattle prod until he couldn’t move. He couldn’t open his mouth to swear or to call for help; his entire body was wrought with tension as it reacted to the electricity coursing through him. He was dimly aware of one of the watchers injecting into his arm something in a syringe, while the others bound him up in thick steel cables—the kind that could stand a thousand tons of pressure easily. He tried to struggle, but his body refused to cooperate. He was gagged, and the last thing he saw as he was blindfolded, was one watcher taking a picture of where Spike was standing last, while another threw a box full of dust in the air.
They were staging his death.
* * *
The Angel-mobile...
“I’m just saying, I think they would appreciate a call instead of us bursting in uninvited.” Cordelia said with her arms crossed over her chest. She was sitting in the passenger seat of the Angel-mobile, with Connor in the back seat. Gunn, Wesley and Fred were following behind them in Gunn’s truck. They had been driving for nearly two hours, and Cordelia and Angel had argued the entire way. To say the least, Connor had a headache.
“Why break with tradition?” Angel shrugged indifferently as he changed lanes and took the Sunnydale exit on the Freeway.
“Ugghh!! Fine!” Cordelia threw up her hands in frustration. “At least you won’t be hounding me to pay long distance charges for your phone call.” Cordelia added under her breath.
“I heard that.” Angel said.
“Good!” Cordelia snapped. Angel gave her an incredulous look.
“Is there something wrong? You’ve been picking fights with me ever since we left!” Angel gritted his teeth.
“No, I’m just peachy!” Cordelia shouted. Angel sighed, pulled over in a department store parking lot and parked the car. Gunn pulled up beside him and gave him an inquisitive look, but Angel just signaled for them to wait.
“Cordy, if there is something you need to say, say it.” Angel said in annoyance.
“It’s nothing, alright?!” She stubbornly refused to look at him.
“I thought this was what you wanted, to help! Why are you acting like this?”
“I *do* want to help, but why do we always have to come racing back to Sunnydale the minute Buffy is in danger?! A simple phone call would do.”
“That’s what this is about, isn’t it? It’s about Buffy.”
“Yes!! I mean, no! I mean….ughh! I’m riding with Gunn!” Cordelia suddenly flung her door open and hopped out of the car into the sunlight.
“Cordy!!” Angel called after her, but she only slammed the door shut. Through the tinted glass Angel watched Cordy walk over to the passenger side of Gunn’s truck, say something to them, and climbed in when Fred relinquished her seat. Angel sighed as Fred walked over to the passenger side of his car and got in.
“Hey guys…I guess I’m riding with you now.” Fred smiled nervously as she buckled her seat belt. Angel flashed her an apologetic smile, started the car and headed back on their course to the Magic Box, his mind still rehashing the fight with Cordelia.
* * *
The training room of the Magic Box...
“I said NO! I’m not doing this again!!” Buffy shrieked.
::You really don’t have any choice in the matter, it has already begun.::
“Stop it!” Buffy shouted desperately at the journal. “Nothing has begun! This is all just a big mistake. You have it all wrong!”
::I really don’t see any other Slayers impregnated by Vampires around, do you?::
“No!! You’re wrong! I’m not going to be Prophecy-girl, not again!”
::Buffy, this isn’t as bad as it all sounds. You haven’t even given me the chance to show you the prophecy.::
“I don’t care about your prophecy. All I want is for Spike to come home and to have my family. No prophecy stuff involved!”
“Wait until you hear it.” Cordelia’s voice from the doorway made everyone turn. Cordelia stood in the entrance to the training room, with a frown on her face and her arms crossed over her chest.
::Ah, Ms. Chase, thank God you’ve arrived.:: Nigel sighed exasperated.
Cordy started at the voice in her head and looked around confused. “Who said that?”
Everyone sighed and pointed to the leather bound Journal propped up on the table. Cordelia’s eyebrows practically hit her hairline. “YOU! You were in my vision! Ok, major weird… it’s a talking book.”
::Pleased to meet you, and the term is *telepathic*:: Nigel said dryly. ::Ms. Chase, would you please tell ms. Summers that the prophecy isn’t as bad as it sounds.::
“Look buster,” Cordelia stalked over to the Journal, pointing a finger at it, but then realized it couldn’t see her, so she quickly put it down, “I don’t know who you think you are, putting a vision in my head! We’ve been tricked before by false prophecies, so I’m not telling anyone anything.” She finished stubbornly.
Everyone could hear the Journal mentally sigh in frustration. ::You people are more difficult than I imagined...:: Nigel huffed. ::Look, all I’m asking is that you all read the prophecy.::
The book suddenly opened and flipped to the first blank page. Everyone found themselves walking closer to the book as they saw the writing appear as if a Ghost hand were writing it. First it flashed gold as it was written, and then turned to black as it settled. When the writing had finished, Giles was the first one to pick up the book and begin reading.
“Ahmshe’ir Prophecy, or ‘The Savior’ Prophecy…”
Giles adjusted his glasses as he read out loud:
“And so forth from the shadows and the light within the Valley of the Sun, there shall come unto us a new hope. The Ahmshe'ir shall be brought forth, born of the Dead With Heart and the Gift of Death, the Ahmshe'ir shall have the life gifted to it from both sides. And though innocent born, through it's actions, all of the lines of fate shall be shifted forever more.
But as with all lines drawn into the sands of time, the changes wrought by the Ahmshe'ir shall be fragile and all too easily erased. With the drawing of these new lines, shall the old ones be erased, and new enemies and friends both be made. Even as those who before would attack the righteous shall now lie down in peace with their enemies, and those who have only watched before shall now rise up to attack. Only by the efforts of all those trapped within the Valley of the Sun in it's days before it's setting, shall all be saved once more. Guided by the Gift of Death and the Dead With Heart this new Hope shall bring forth the new era in time to see the Sun rise upon it's Valley once more. Led by the Ahmshe'ir shall the good once more emerge from the ashes after the fires of fate sweep through.”
“You know, that doesn’t get any less creepy when someone else is saying it.” Gunn said as he walked through the door like he owned the place, Fred, Connor, Wesley and Angel behind him.
“Tell me about it.” Cordelia muttered.
“Uh, who are you?” Buffy asked Gunn and Fred.
“This is Charles Gunn, Fred and you know Wesley. They stayed back in L.A. the last time we saved the world.” Angel introduced them, “Guys, this is Buffy, Dawn, Giles and…what are you doing here?” Angel furrowed his brows at Jonathan.
“Uh…” Jonathan stammered.
“He’s on our side now Angel.” Buffy filled in for him.
Angel glanced at Buffy with a raised eyebrow in question. “Last time I saw him he was trying to open the Hellmouth.”
“A lot has changed since then Angel.” Buffy said morosely as she turned her back from the group so they wouldn’t see her eyes water with tears.
::Now that we’ve got the introductions out of the way…:: Nigel said impatiently, reminding them of his presence. Gunn, Fred, Wesley, Connor and Angel all practically jumped out of their skins in surprise.
“What the-?” Angel said in shock.
“Nigel, one of these days you’re going to frighten someone off a roof if you keep doing that!” Dawn said in exasperation.
::Terribly sorry.:: Nigel replied, sounding not in the least bit sorry.
“What’s going on here?” Angel asked.
“It’s a long story.” Buffy snapped in annoyance.
“The book can talk.” Cordelia said.
“Oh.” Angel said in acceptance.
“Apparently not that long.” Giles muttered and adjusted his glasses.
“GUYS!!” Buffy suddenly shouted in frustration. She still had her back turned to them, her shoulders were tensed; her entire posture indicated that she was emotionally and physically exhausted.
“Buffy… are you okay?” Dawn approached her sister carefully. Dawn was standing at an angle where if she glanced at the mirror on the wall she could see Buffy’s face. Her eyes were wet with tears, and her face was scrunched up in an unsuccessful attempt to keep from crying.
These past few months had been hell on Buffy. Everything just keeps building and building, and now she finds out all this time that she thought he was dead…Spike was being held prisoner by the Council, because of some prophecy! A prophecy that claims their child would be the harbinger of an apocalypse! It was just too much.
“I can’t deal with this right now.” Buffy bit back a sob and fled from the Magic Box.
“Is she going to be alright?” Wesley asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“She has a lot to deal with right now,” Giles wearily rubbed his eyes and turned to the group. “As do we all.”
* * *
Below the Council's Headquarters...
“No, no, no, no….It’s too dark.” Spike muttered. “Can’t… Can’t see. Don’t you think I’ve been TRYING??” He shouted, his words echoing off the stone walls. “Lost….all lost. Everything. The girl, the bit, the friends…all of it gone. Ashes…like me. Deep down in the dirt and grime. Beneath them. Always beneath them. IS THAT ALL I AM?!?!” Spike struggled in his chains, but only succeeded in making them rattle. His thoughts were all jumbled and his body was weak. He didn’t know how long they kept him down there, starving him of blood and light. Here his mind ran around in circles, coming out in rants and jumbled thoughts, spilling from his lips unheeded.
“Beneath who?” A voice asked in the darkness.
“HER….them. Cecily…she killed me that night. THAT BITCH!!” Spike shouted and struggled against the chains again, but then settled down, chuckling. “Should thank her, really. Made me who I am…If she wasn’t such a bitch it never would have happened…and then I would have never met…” Spike trailed off, lost in muddled memories.
“Who?” The voice asked.
Spike chuckled maniacally. “Did you know I once called her Slutty the Vampire Layer?” Then his tone softened. “Didn’t know her then…couldn’t have known…”
“The Slayer?” The voice asked.
“She has it you know…the spark…all that passion and grace…it consumes me, makes me different…makes me more a man. Donno how she does it. Just does. Who would have thought such a little thing has so much strength? So much power. She glows. No one else sees it. Not even herself. She hides it away…until she’s kicking your ass.” Spike chuckled.
“Tell me more about Cecily.” The voice said.
“THAT BINT?!? Not even worth mentioning…She…she was the reason I was turned. I was such a little prat…desperate for her affections, and she THREW THEM IN MY FACE!!” Spike roared in anger but then whimpered, “It hurts…still hurts. One hundred and Twenty-eight years, and you’d think I’d get over it. Always a fool for love… my Da always said so. The stupid git was right. Didn’t want to see that then…I was always going on about love…words, all WORDS! Didn’t know what love was…just knew I wanted it…ALL I ever wanted was to be loved. Instead I got pain…and death….and destruction. Even when I had love…I was torn away from it. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Spike glared hatefully in the direction of the voice.
Sitting in a room far above Spike’s dungeon, Quentin sat in front of a computer console and TV screen displaying Spike’s cell in night vision. Quentin pushed a button and spoke into the microphone.
“Tell me about your life in Sunnydale.”
* * *
The Magic Box...
The ‘closed’ sign hung in the front window of the Shop because it was a Sunday. But the lights were on, and yet again the Scoobies and the Fang-gang were gathered together researching and planning. Willow, Xander and Anya had been called in and were told what was going on.
Nigel had gleefully scared the daylights out of them when he first spoke to them, so now Anya wouldn’t go anywhere near the “possessed book”, complaining loudly that as a Vengeance Demon she had “Run into enough possessed books, thank you very much.”
They had an invaluable source of information about the Prophecy because of Nigel, but they still had to form a plan to rescue Spike from the Watcher’s Headquarters.
They had been researching and planning for hours, the only one not involved in the research party was Buffy. The gang was worried about her, but Nigel insisted that she was fine. Darkness had fallen during her absence, so Giles and Dawn had agreed to go out and find Buffy while the others researched.
* * *
Buffy was busy relinquishing unresolved tension.
To say the least, she was kicking some Vamp’s ass all over the graveyard. She backhanded the fledgling, turned and kicked it in the stomach while it was still reeling from the blow. It fell on it’s back and she quickly staked it.
“Eighteen.” Buffy counted, with a feral look in her eyes.
Like a predator out on the hunt, she turned and searched for her next kill.
* * *
“She’s gotta be around here somewhere. Look at all the dust on the ground.” Dawn observed as they walked through the Graveyard.
“There!” Giles pointed ahead of them. They spotted Buffy taking on three vamps off in the distance and started running after her.
Buffy had just staked Vamp #1 and turned to stake Vamp #2 when Giles and Dawn ran in, staking the remaining two vampires for her.
“HEY!!” Buffy cried out in dismay. “They were mine!”
“Buffy!! For Christ’s sake, what the bloody hell do you think you are doing!?” Giles said furiously.
“My job Giles.”
“You’re putting yourself and your child in danger!” He snapped back.
Buffy seemed to snap out of her ‘hunter’ persona. “What?”
“You didn’t even think about that?!” Giles asked her.
“No…I…Giles…I don’t know what came over me.” Buffy looked at the stake in her hand with a sudden disgust. “I just…was so confused and angry…I didn’t even think about it... I just did what came naturally.”
“Buffy, you can’t….” Giles started to lecture her, but then decided on a different tactic, “You have your child to think of now. I know we haven’t discussed this yet, but I think it best that you refrain from Slaying until the Baby is born.”
Buffy gave him a hurt look as if he had just drop kicked her puppy.
“I assure you, it’s for your health and the Baby’s. One kick to the stomach..” Giles trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.
“Fine. But I get to keep training.” Buffy pouted. Giles gave her an apprehensive glance but agreed.
“Why does this stuff happen to me, Giles?” Buffy asked forlornly.
“Luck?” Giles suggested lightheartedly. Buffy prodded him in the side none-too gently.
They were all silent for a long stretch of time.
“Buffy, please, let’s go home? Jonathan and the others can patrol tonight.” Dawn said. Buffy nodded and pocketed the stake.
“I know this is difficult Buffy,” Giles said as they walked. “And it will probably get worse before it gets better. We’re already working on a plan to rescue Spike. With any luck we’ll have him home before the baby comes.”
“You think it’ll be that long?” Buffy asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
“I honestly don’t know. There are a lot of factors to consider…we need to find out where he’s being kept…we need a map of the Council headquarters, and most importantly, we need to find away to get him out of there undetected.” Giles sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
“You could have just said: “I haven’t a bloody clue”.” Buffy half teased.
“I have so…! It’s just ...complicated.” Giles said lamely, but then gave her an abashed grin.
* * *
CBelow the Council's Headquarters...
“What the bloody hell do you want from me?” Spike asked into the darkness. He was even more bone-weary now. The questions never stopped. Somewhere in the back of his mind something was nagging at him….trying to remind him of something. But he couldn’t remember what it was.
“Answers.” The voice said.
“Already told you, I ain’t got ‘em” Spike replied wearily.
“What happened the last night you were with Buffy?” The voice asked.
“Not telling.” Spike muttered in a childish manner.
“How long have you had sexual relations with Ms. Summers?”
That nagging in the back of his head went into full alert. Something was wrong…he couldn’t remember what it was though. Something about all of this was very off. Why did the voice keep asking questions about Buffy?
Buffy…Spike felt a pang go through him. He missed her so much…her and the Nibblet. But there was something else he couldn’t remember…something that made him mad at the Slayer. His feverish mind couldn’t recall what it was though. He was so hungry, and his body was so weak. Maybe they were all just illusions…maybe he had always been trapped here in the darkness and his mind had made up everything in desperate hope. Maybe *this* was the illusion…maybe he was going crazy…the world was rapidly spinning out of focus, he didn’t know what was real and what was fake.
“Piss off.” Spike managed to drawl out before exhaustion took it’s toll on him, and he passed out.
* * *
Several feet above him, Quentin Travers slammed his fists on the mahogany desk in frustration. He had almost had the answers he wanted.