SECTION 2 - HOUSE OF FIRE

Building a house of fire, baby
Buildin' it with our love
We are buildin' a house of fire
every time we touch
We are building this house
together, baby
Standing on solid ground
We are building a house of fire
that you can't tear down

(Alice Cooper, Album - Trash)




Chapter 2.02
Monday, May 13th, 2002

Willow and Tara began to set up to recast their improved location spell, this time using one of Lorne's brightly coloured handkerchiefs, which had been raided from his room. Angel had passed on the news regarding Lorne and the others' imprisonment. The spell was their way, partly to double-check Spike's testimony as to where the hostages had been kept, always assuming they actually managed to pry him and Buffy apart for long enough to get it. It was also a way to see if Lorne had been moved from the location where Spike had been held.

Fred was sweeping up the debris from both Xander's swordplay and the combined effect of Gunn's, Lori's, Anya's and Tara's crossbows. When Willow saw her heading toward the pile of dust that had once been Drusilla, she moved to intercept her before Dru's ashes could become mingled with that of the other vampires.

"Em, I don't know about Angel, but I'm willing to bet Spike wouldn't be too happy about his ex ending up in the trash. And after that little show tonight, I'm kind of remembering why it might not be the best idea in the world to piss him off."

"Oh! Em."

Willow felt a sudden wave of ex-nerd solidarity with the Texan and came to her rescue as she obviously struggled with the correct etiquette.

"Maybe a shoebox, or a nice sweet tin or biscuit tin, something like that? Just till Spike and Angel decide what they want to do with them."

"I know. I've got something upstairs."

As Willow watched her retreating back, she heaved a sigh of relief at the potential public relations disaster that had been averted. To judge by Buffy's reaction, the blonde vampire must have his good points, but being level-headed certainly wasn't prime amongst them.

Xander wandered over in her direction with Anya following a couple of paces behind. Willow had to extend a hand to stop him before he walked through Drusilla. "We're going to head back to Sunny D. Got a hard day pounding nails to look forward to tomorrow, and I'm guessing when they finally do come through with this helicopter that space is going to be at a premium, especially if there're going to be an extra seven bodies-. I didn't mean that how it sounded. Seven extra- Six extra people and a big green thing."

"Xander." Willow adopted her long-suffering friend tone as she shook her head gently from side to side. "Sure. Do you want us to call and let you know what happens later or just catch up when we get back?"

"I think we can skip the three in the morning phone call."

"Are you going to check on Dawnie when you get back? I think she might like a first hand account of the action. Clem called before, but it's not the same as talking face to face. And I think he was crying most of the time. I definitely never want to be around if he watches Bambi."

"She's staying with Clem's folks, right?" the brunette asked. "I think I'll skip the demon house party."

"Xander!" Simultaneous exclamations came from two of the three most important women in his life. Anya's exclamation was accompanied by a slap on the back of his no longer invulnerable head.

"Ow. I was just saying spending the night with a bunch of demons, not my idea of a fun evening." This earned him another slap.

"I'll be waiting in the car when you finish here, always assuming you don't object to sharing transport with an ex-demon." With that the blonde marched toward the hotel's back door.

Willow merely shook her head at her friend's tactlessness. "Look, I'd best go before I end up sleeping on the sofa tonight. I gave the balls to Wesley, so if you can bring them back with you when you finally get back, it'd be kinda cool. God knows it's probably the last present I'm ever likely to get from bleach boy, so I'd best hang onto them."

Willow couldn't resist. "So, it's just because they're a present from Spike? Nothing to do with that "cascade thing" Anya was raving about?" As Xander flushed and shuffled his feet Willow's face split into a mischievous grin, the tip of her tongue just showing between her teeth.

"Willow Rosenberg. If your mother heard you now."

"She would block it out, just the same as how she'll tell me about some nice, Jewish boy that she knows while me and Tara hold hands when we're visiting."

Xander enfolded her in a parting hug. "I've really got to go. Say bye to Buffy for me." He walked the couple of yards to where Tara was setting up to hug her, too. "See ya back on the flip side," he told her. With a last wave to the general populace of the reception, he headed for the hotel's back door, hoping against hope he could manage to pacify his wife before bedtime. The Red Sonja routine would be right out otherwise.

Willow watched the carpenter depart, wondering just how long it would take him to learn how to avoid putting both feet in it with his new wife. Before she could spend too much longer on her musings, Fred returned with an ornate tin.

"Will this do?" she asked.

"Sure. Well, mostly sure. That's to say we'll know for sure when Angel and Spike don't rip our heads off, metaphorically speaking, that is," Willow answered.

"When we don't rip your heads off for what?" asked Angel as he emerged from the kitchen with a tray full of mugs

"Putting Drusilla in a biscuit tin?" Willow replied.

"As an alternative to what? It's not like we keep a spare urn around the place just in case. It'll be fine," the vampire replied.

"Well... good. Glad that's all sorted out." Willow replied before snagging two of the cups from Angel's tray, taking one over to Tara.

"I think we're ready," the other Wicca told her.

"Ho-o-kay. One super-duper location spell coming up, right after we have some caffeinated goodness." The redhead positively bubbled at the prospect of more high-powered magic. "Now, is it supposed to be good or bad if he's in the same place?"

Tara smiled at her obvious enthusiasm. "I think so long as we know where he is, we'll make the best of it, Will."

Angel passed a cup to Fred and then made his way across to where Lily, Clem, Lori and Wesley had settled in on the red sofas to wait until they were needed. He offered refreshments to Lori and the two demons, and then with obvious reluctance, he crossed to where Wesley sat.

The Englishman took a cup from the tray, saying a quiet thank you as he did.

Angel's acknowledgement consisted of an infinitesimal nod and a barely audible grunt. He might be mending fences when it came to Spike, but that didn't mean he was prepared to issue a general amnesty. In fact, he'd actually counted on the cups running out before he got as far as Wesley, but he seemed to have one left over. He knew Gunn and Connor had gone upstairs to try to grab an hour or two of sleep before they were needed.

"Xander?" he asked no one in particular.

"Gone back to Sunnydale," Willow supplied. "Kind of a pre-requisite of being gainfully employed that you actually show up."

"How long before we know whether the location spell's going to work?" he asked putting the tray down on top of the reception desk and claiming the last coffee for himself.

Tara shrugged before she replied. "About ten minutes once we finish our coffees."

"And if it works, does that mean we know he's still alive?" the vampire asked.

"I think so," Tara replied. "The spell sort of picks up on the aura of the person most closely associated with the item. No aura means nothing it can pick up on, but that doesn't mean that he's dead if it doesn't work. It could just mean that we picked up on Spike because he'd moved outside the area that was warded and we have to try one of the other spells to get round the wards."

"Alright, I guess we'll just need to wait and see, then." Angel began to straighten up the reception desk, putting all Cordy's bits and pieces back where she liked them. "Fred, have you seen Cordy's notepad anywhere?" He started to pull out things from under the desk to see if the pad had fallen down the back somewhere. Somehow, it seemed vitally important that everything should be as it was, as if a missing notebook would prevent her return.

"I can't remember seeing it the last couple of days," Fred replied. "I'm sure it'll turn up."

Just as Angel had pulled the maximum amount of debris from under the desk the phone began to ring. The vampire dove toward it, answering before it could manage a second ring.

"Angel Investigations."

The brunette listened intently for several seconds before putting the phone down. "We've got a go, people. Turns out one of David's role-playing buddies' dad flew Hueys in 'Nam. He's kept his licence up to date and roped in one of his mates, who runs a charter company. Assuming we've got an extra seven to bring back, we've got enough space for five. Spike's got to go, which means there's about as much chance of snow in June as there is of Buffy staying behind, so that just leaves space for Connor and Gunn."

"I'll go tell the others that we need them," Fred volunteered.

"Wait a minute, Fred," Wesley interrupted. "I think Angel's forgotten one thing. We know that they've been using magic. I think it would be ill advised for neither Tara nor Willow to go."

Fred looked back and forward between the pair for a couple of seconds before she retreated upstairs. "I'll just let them know we're trying to sort out who should go. Which room are Buffy and Spike in?"

"Three fourteen," Angel answered.

"Oh, that's easy, right." A second later she was gone.

 

---

 

At first, the sound of knocking failed to rouse Spike from his dreams, the sound merely accompanying his own blows on the inside of his coffin lid and the answering taps from above. Somehow, in the way of dreams, he knew that the noises above him were caused by Buffy, buried alive in her own coffin. In a manner not uncommon for married couples in his own time as some of the cemeteries had neared capacity, they had been buried in the same plot with one spouse's coffin resting on top of the other. Just as he succeeded in tearing loose the first chunk of wood from the coffin lid, he realised that a voice called out his name. The inconsistency of the Texan accent finally roused him from his sleep.

"We'll be down in a couple of minutes, sweetheart." Spike called as he pulled free of the sticky sheets before gently shaking Buffy from her apparently equally troubled sleep.

"Pet," he whispered before he bestowed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "It's time to go. C'mon, love. Best go see what's left." Even as Buffy cleared the sleep from her eyes, he rifled through the bag that Angel had brought up, finding his jeans, a T-shirt and an over shirt. He tossed the rest of the bag over to Buffy, who started pulling on clothes before she even bothered to come out from under the sheet and blankets that had covered them.

When she finally made her way out from under the covers Spike took her into his arms holding her close for several seconds before pulling back and taking her hand for their walk downstairs.



 

---

 

Willow and Tara set aside their coffee cups and began work on the spell. First, they lit candles and incense on either side of the area where they would be working. Then, they placed Lorne's handkerchief and a map of the Western seaboard inside the sacred circle that they had prepared. The two witches linked hands across the circle and began to chant.

"Hidden from sight
Yet in our thoughts
Far afield
Deep magicks wrought

Charm dispel
Clarity bring
Let his aura
Now be seen."

The pair repeated these two verses time and again as the others watched until after several minutes, a small but bright pinprick of light seemed to emerge from the folds of the royal blue silk. It shifted to hover over the map and circle the blob that represented LA a couple of times as if trying to find its bearings before streaking off and almost instantly disappearing.

"Did you see where it went?" Willow asked.

"I think it was sort of north, but it was so quick once it moved." The blonde witch shrugged.

"Was it supposed to poof like that?" Clem asked.

"No, it should have zeroed in on where he was and then stayed there. It probably disappeared when it reached the boundary of the warded area," the blonde witch replied.

"It's just as well that one of us knows where he's going, then." Spike's voice carried down from the mezzanine level, preceding his and Buffy's entrance by only a few seconds.

"We're looking to be in the Sierra Nevada a bit south of all those National Parks and whatnot, and as to the rest, I'll know it when I see it."

"And if they've been moved?" Angel asked.

Spike gave the older vamp an exasperated glare before responding. "Then we're jolly well buggered, aren't we? So you better hope not."

A thought suddenly seemed to occur to Spike. "Where's the DeSoto, pet?"

"Well, seeing as how you're the one with the keys, it'll be right where you left it." She forestalled his next question. "We paid up the room for the rest of the week so they wouldn't tow it or anything. You can get it later. Okay?"

"Right, then," the blonde announced. "I'd best just go and have a word with Clem and Lily, I reckon. Give us a shout when you've got it worked out who's going and stuff."

Buffy smiled as she watched the vampire attempt to look nonchalant as he wandered toward his friend and his mother. He didn't fool her, and he wouldn't fool Lily, and she very much doubted that he'd even fool Clem. The shuffling feet and bowed head said it all; Buffy smiled and turned her attention back to the discussion in front of her.

"Wesley's right. We need Will. We already know they've had some warlock up there doing stuff. We need someone who can counter any evil mojo they've got on the place. For all we know, magic dude could still be there."

"You mean I don't get no helicopter ride?" Gunn asked.

"I would have said rather you than Stephen," Buffy admitted.

"That's so unfair. I'm stronger than he is and faster," Connor protested.

"And last week you didn't know what a proper vampire bite looked like, and until you have to, it's something you're best off not knowing. Okay?" Buffy retaliated. "Don't be in such a hurry to stop being a kid." She turned to her ex. "And what were you thinking? Those kids are his age, give or take. What do you think it would be like for him if we go up there, and they're all dead, or even better, turned?"

"I guess I just wanted him to be a part of what I do," Angel admitted looking a little shamefaced. "It's not like he's your typical teenage kid."

"And doesn't that make you want to give him a chance to be more like one, rather than stripping away the last bits of childhood he has left. Okay, so he's super strong and super fast. He's still only sixteen, seventeen. He should be worrying about homework and whether he can get a date with the girl he likes, not killing monsters. At least, that shouldn't be his whole life. You're his dad, not his big brother. Heaven knows I hate it when I have to play mom with Dawn, but at least I've got an excuse. I know you can't wrap him in cotton wool, but that doesn't mean it's a healthy idea to take him along to a potential massacre either."

"Well, if you put it like that..."

Spike walked up behind Buffy and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Bit's fifteen, and she won't even let her drink coffee. How did you expect her to put it?" Buffy gave him a gentle punch in his good side for his teasing tone.

"Whereas you just teach her how to pick locks and stuff."

"Hey, like it's a bad thing for the slayer's little sister to be able to get out of a set of handcuffs. How often do the nasties use her to try to get to you?"

Buffy gave her head a slight shake and gave up arguing. "Okay, way I see it Spike has to go. So does Will. And then that leaves space for three of us out of you, me, Wes and Gunn." She turned to Wes and Gunn. "Either of you two know first aid." Both men nodded.

"Okay then, guess it's us five then. So where did you say we'd get these helicopters?" Spike couldn't help but smile at the way she automatically overrode Angel.

"Hey, I'm the one who managed to get hold of the helicopters. That should mean I get to go," Angel insisted.

"As I recall, you said Texas there did the ringing, and she's about the only one that hasn't been nominated for a berth," was Spike's reply.

"Yes, but I'm the one who knows David Nabbit."

"Not the only one," Wesley reminded him

It was at this point Willow walked up to the group and held out her fist. Three long, thin scraps of paper stuck out from the top. She looked at Angel, Wesley and Gunn.

"Buf-." Angel began only to be confronted by Willow's resolve face.

"Snow in June." The redhead reminded him of his earlier words.

The three men each reached for the end of one of the strips, all tugging their chosen one from her grasp at the same time. The chagrined expression on the face of one of the men told it's own story.

The redhead stared down each of the other two in turn. Then, she asked, "can we go now?"

Spike gave a snort of amusement before turning toward the door, his arm still around Buffy's shoulders. The slayer wasn't the only little girl who had grown up since Angel and Wesley had left Sunnydale. As they made their way to the cars, Spike heard the distant sound of a church clock striking ten.