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Chapter 42
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"So this Wolf guy’s also Apollo, like ‘Greek god Apollo’? You’re saying Apollo was a wolf? The statues all show this cute, buff guy!" Buffy pictured Spike making short work of the male she had seen carved in marble during her travels to the ancient places of Europe. Come to think of it, Spike looked a bit like those statues in her estimation…okay, a bit bigger in places. Buffy blushed at her unspoken thoughts. "You can take him with no problem, sweetie."

"Not quite the same as the statues. He really looks like a massive, ravenous wolf--the kind they used to describe to scare little kiddies. ‘Sides, Apollo myths say his mum was a she wolf even if his daddy was Zeus. Kinda kinky, those old Greeks." Spike gave her a lopsided grin.

"So he’s a wolf in hunk’s clothing, huh?" she teased back.

"Aren’t we all?" Spike agreed. "This one offers to eat you, better turn him down. Guarantee you’ll be doin’ more screams of pain than the other kind."

"Would you two stop the sexual innuendo for at least one minute and get serious," Angel huffed.

"So speaks the man who for the better part of his unlife made the Pope look promiscuous. Not talkin’ Pope Giles either!" Spike said to his elder.

"Giles is the Pope? How long was I in here? And doesn’t he have to be Catholic? IS Giles Catholic?" Buffy was lost.

Angel was not about to be derailed by Spike’s sarcasm or Buffy’s confusion. "Now I understand all of Dawn’s snarky comments. You guys really know how to corrupt an innocent kid. I hope she didn’t see half the stuff you two were up to." Angel shook his head.

"Don’t worry bout the Bit, Gramps. She didn’t see a thing. Well, mostly she saw us fightin’ and fussin’ a lot. All that sexual tension and what all. ‘Sides, you were the one who loved corruptin’ the innocents. Me? I was more of a ‘street brawl against the Royal Navy’ kinda vamp," Spike snarked.

"I don’t think Dawnie’s half as innocent as I wish she still was. Did you meet her Italian boyfriend, Gino?" Buffy looked at Spike and had to grin at the narrowing of his eyes as her meaning sunk in.

"Don’t think I had the pleasure, no. Think I might just need to check out a few things when we get you sorted out, pet." Spike’s voice had a definite edge.

"Overprotective much?" Buffy teased. "To be fair, Dawn is a lot older than I was when …" Buffy stopped short, realizing how uncomfortable both vampires were with this turn in the conversation. "Yeah, sort this out first, good idea. So how are you gonna get the last of these evil lawyer demons so we can get back to our normal topsy-turvy world?"

"Shhhhh!" Angel heard low sobs coming from the courtyard. "I think someone just found what’s left of Ram. "

The trio ducked into the small office behind the desk and waited to see if the alarm would be sounded. When nothing was heard but the mournful cry of one individual, Angel decided to put an end to the grieving and prevent any further uproar over the dead demon.

Angel crept into the courtyard and saw the robed figure of Felric, Ram’s last devoted acolyte, as he cradled the head of his lord and master. The demonic monk was so awash in grief and disillusionment that his god was killable that he didn’t hear the stealthy approach of the vampire. One quick wrenching of his head by Angel and all Felric’s grief came to an abrupt end.

Buffy grabbed Ram’s head while Spike and Angel moved Ram’s body to a hiding place. Dead demons and minions were to be expected; Wolf knew they were there after all, but the heroes wanted Ram’s defeat kept quiet as long as possible. The element of surprise was what had allowed Ram to be defeated so easily. He hadn’t expected Spike to be healed so quickly. What Wolf didn’t know could only help them.


"So why did Giles only send you in to help, Angel?" Buffy was curious about her Watcher’s plan of action. "I get the feeling there’s a small army, or at least a modest yet attractive platoon, waiting on the other side. Is there more of this prophecy I need to know about?"

"Not really. Spike has to take out the big guys by himself. I fought that point long enough until Giles made it clear that there was no wiggle room on that part. The trick in this dimension is getting out once you’re in, at least if you’re not FROM here. They seem able to send out all the robed warriors they want, but it takes a special ritual with blood for anyone from our dimension to get out again. You remember the song lyric, ‘you can check out any time you like but you can never leave’? Well, that’s literally true without specific magic. No way the ritual would work for more than three of us, so Giles agreed I was the best choice for the job."

"Coulda sent in Bluebell," Spike grumbled, still not too happy about all the huggage between Buffy and Angel. "Woulda loved to see the look on these wannabes’ faces, getting their first look at an Old One in the flesh."

"Bluebell? Sounds like a fairy name, like Tinkerbell. You have a little fairy in a jar, Spike?" Buffy was only half teasing.

Spike did laugh at that. The idea of Illyria as a fairy or contained in a jar was just too funny not to. "Pet, do yourself a favor and don’t say that in front of her! Blue’s tiny, but not jar-size and has more power than an army of slayers. Remember those Old Ones the Master was wantin’ to release and serve?" At Buffy’s nod, Spike continued, "Well, Illyria’s one of ‘em. We had to do some serious mojo to take some of her power away or the whole bloody dimension would’ve imploded. Even down a quart, she’s not one to toy with. I think you’ll like her. Calls me her pet, means it literally. I keep expectin’ a collar and leash."

"Cat toys? Blood-flavored rubber chews? I can get behind that idea, but not with you having another mistress." Buffy smiled and got a wistful look in her eyes.

"Hey, none of that now! I’m no bloody housecat, not even for you. Tiger or lion, maybe. Possibly a Panther." Spike said in an affronted tone of voice. Then he leaned closer and whispered in Buffy’s ear, "Course, you DO know how to make me purr like a housecat. Know just where to scratch too."

"Geesh, you two! Vampire here, remember, with vampire enhanced hearing! Spare me the details." Angel tried to act disgusted with the conversation but part of him
remembered well how cat-like Spike could be and felt uncomfortable memories of Angelus and William long ago. Spike might be cat-like in his movements, but when
it came to being unabashedly affectionate he was more dog-like and obvious. Angelus had never been able to beat that out of the boy and secretly had been glad of that. His boy was one of a kind.

~~~

"What the hell do you mean ‘Ram’s missing’? I was just talking to him a little over an hour ago." Wolf looked to his right hand demon and said, "Take some of the boys and make a complete search. I don’t want to see any of your faces until you have some information or I’ll have to get creative with a nice lead pipe, got that?" Wolf wasn’t liking how things were looking. Hart was dead and now Ram was missing. "That white-haired, completely average size, pain-in-the-ass walking corpse shoulda stayed dust in that crater in California. He’s gonna wish he’d stayed non-corporeal." Wolf was pacing as he ranted, his minions scurrying to keep out of his way.

"Who does this traitorous half-breed think he is anyway? Angelus I can understand; it was a curse, not his fault. He could still be a player if my Partners hadn’t had their heads up their asses! This jackass though, ‘Mr. I closed a Hellmouth, ask me how’ … he goes out and fights to get that damned soul. Switched sides before he even got it. What kind of world is it out there now? Demons equal evil. Okay, some inept bastards aren’t players, but evil at heart, yeah. This clown comes along and upsets the whole apple cart. Gives us all a bad rep. Can’t trust anyone. Vampires rescuing slayers! Nothing makes sense in a world where that can happen." He had built up quite a head of steam in his ranting and his
followers were eyeing the door with longing. Finally the storm clouds let loose the expected disaster as Wolf grabbed the slowest of his minions and devoured him whole.

"Your pardon, master, but will you be chairing the quarterly summit for the earthly dimension in place of the renouned Khnum?" One of Wolf’s inner circle, Aeneas, reminded his lord of the meeting with luminaries that gathered four times a year to plan their continued control in the events of humanity.

"Not the best time to be gone, but I doubt old Ram’ll be up to it. Yeah, send someone ahead to the White Room to let that group of sycophants know I’m coming. That’ll make a lot of ‘em piss their pants." Wolf chuckled in the knowledge that he, of the three Partners, struck the most fear in the mortals that were gathering. "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum," he snapped his fingers towards his two lieutenants as they drew near, awaiting orders. "Fridtjof, get the files on who’s been naughty and nice. Aeneas, go through Ram’s database and get his notes on this powwow. The rest of you, FIND THAT VAMPIRE AND HIS SIDEKICKS!" Wolf’s bellow was loud enough to rattle the windows.

~~~

"Did you hear that?" Buffy nearly jumped out of her skin at the booming voice.

"Yeah, pet, have to be more dead than I am not to hear." Spike sometimes hated his oversensitive vampire senses.

Angel drew his lips into a grim line and nodded once before replying, "My guess is that’s the dulcet tones of the lone Wolf."

"Well, at least we know he’s still here. Should we stay together or split up?" Buffy could see advantages to either plan and hoped one of her vampires could help her decide the best plan.

"I think we’d best stick together. If they split us up, they can do those mind games again and we won’t be able to watch each other’s back." Spike immediately thought of the orb in his pocket and shuddered at the memory of how Buffy had been blinded to the Partner’s true form.

Angel chuckled and got a lopsided grin on his face before saying, "This must be the end of the world, I’m agreeing with Spike!"

"Very funny!" Buffy shook her head, smiling. She was actually stunned to see the two vampires getting along as well as they were. "This vamp lovefest part of that long story you have for me, Spike?"

"Well, yeah. Was kinda busy since we saw each other last. Spent more time with Peaches than anybody should ever have to. Worked out a few issues. After a century or so, it seemed time to mature a bit," Spike admitted.

"Brave new world out there then! I’ll just have to be Adjusto Girl, I guess. Next thing you’ll tell me is that you’re paling around with Xander and I’ll just have to decide this is a dream."


Spike and Angel traded a look before Spike replied, "Actually, love, looks like the carpenter and I have buried the hatchet, too…and not in each other’s backs."

"He still hates me if that makes you feel any better," Angel offered.

"Lad’s moved from demon girls to demon gods though. You’re gonna get a kick outta Illyria’s my guess," Spike smirked at the thought.

"Well, let’s kick some furry wolf ass and get back through the looking glass to this unbelievable world you keep hinting at, okay?" Buffy looked from Angel to Spike in encouragement.

"That voice was coming from this floor. I thought we checked all the rooms out?" Angel looked down the hallway, wondering what they might have missed.

"Wonder if this place has invisible spaces like the W & H building had?" Spike had a clear memory of checking out every nook and cranny of the L.A. office while still non corporeal. "Might make it a bit of a challenge finding him if he’s holed up somewhere like that. Gotta find him though, ‘cause we’re not getting out of here without his blood for the ritual."

"Does that magic orb of yours show any doorways we haven’t accounted for, Spike?" Angel remembered the White Room in his old complex. It was cross-dimensional and likely hooked into this place and all the W & H offices worldwide, maybe even in the other dimensions. Finding it might lead to all sorts of possibilities.

"Haven’t tried to use it that way since I found the doorway into this place. Good idea, Gramps." Spike took hold of the orb and tried to tune into the energy pulsing from the magical object.

A door at the other end of the hall opened and two demons dressed in three-piece suits exited. The trio of heroes ducked into an alcove just in time to keep from being discovered.

The tall, blond demon built like a rugby player was whispering to his companion, a shorter, swarthy demon with almost feminine features. "Sure hope these mortals haven’t screwed up anything major with the boss as enraged as he is. Remember the last time he chaired the summit? Took a whole team of G’Lympphites to clean up all the blood. Good thing they didn’t all die or we’d have had a terrible time explaining that many important deaths at one time."

The darker demon replied, "True, but the great Apollo was justified. That war had been going along nicely until those idiots in the Orient decided to attack the United States and draw them into the mix!"

The blond sighed and smiled wanly, "Yeah, those were the days. Conquest and appeasement …most of the continent falling nicely into place. They don’t make wars like that anymore."

"You want wars? In my day, Alexander laid waste to most of the known world! Now THAT was a conqueror," the smaller demon boasted.

"Oh, yeah? I’ll have you know the Vikings who sailed under my orders did as much damage as your girly-men armies ever did."

Buffy wondered how these demons ever accomplished a thing with all the infighting. As if reading her mind, Spike remarked, "That Wolf must rule with an iron fist to keep this lot working together. Got a feeling we finally found the head of the beast."

Suddenly there was more activity in the hallway as larger numbers of demons began to spread out in an obvious search pattern. There was a time to fight and a time to hide from capture. This was the perfect time for the latter, in Angel’s opinion. "We’d better find someplace to wait out the search party for now."

Fortunately, Buffy found a laundry chute in the maintenance closet. It was a fast drop into the bowels of the building with lots of dark corners in which to secret themselves until it seemed safe to beard the Wolf in its lair.