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Something to Sing About by Lilachigh
 
Chp 12 Outnumbered!
 
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SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT

Chp 12 Outnumbered


The howling and chanting from the demons was reaching a frenzy as they pulled the heavily pregnant Faith into the room and forced her onto the table set out in front of Ben’s throne.

“Take your filthy hands off me! Bastards!” Her black hair flying, Faith was struggling with every inch of her power, but her bulk slowed her and she was overcome by sheer weight of numbers.

“Ah, Slayer. At last. I see the baby I have been waiting for is ready to take its first and last breath!” Ben stood up and walked down the steps of the dais to where she lay, bound by thick leather straps to the linen covered surface. He ran his hands over her stomach and Buffy winced as she saw Faith’s head lash from side to side, her dark hair flailing as she tried to escape.

“Spike! It’s Faith!”

The vampire braced himself as Slayer fingers dug into his arm so hard he felt they might meet in the middle. “And she’s a Slayer in this world, too, pet,” he replied. “We need to get her out of here – fast.”

Buffy pushed aside the roaring in her head – not pregnant, wasn’t you, not having a baby, no key, no new Dawn, nothing! “We can’t fight them. Outnumbered.” Then she started running towards them, knowing without looking that Spike was at her heels.

As she cleaved her way through the chanting monks, Buffy saw Faith’s head turn towards her. Anger, fear, fury, but no recognition of the blonde girl skidding to a halt at her side. The monks recovered from Buffy‘s assault and began to advance towards her and Spike, knives glittering in their hands.

“Think we’ve got trouble here, Slayer,” Spike said, turning his back to hers and vamping out.

Ben stared at Buffy across Faith’s body. He looked vaguely amused, his boyish, good-looking face breaking into a charming smile. “Well, the other Slayer wants a piece of the action, too, does she? And you’ve brought a pet along! How charming. I wonder if the portal will open any faster with three lots of blood in the mixture!”

Buffy shook her head and stepped forward until she was pressing against the table. “You don’t need this girl’s baby, Ben. You need mine.”

The smile vanished. “You’re pregnant?”

Buffy felt a wave of despair and loss flood across her, but refused to let any of the emotions show on her face. How she stopped the tears coming she had no idea, but managed to say, “Yes, I’m carrying your Key. Not this girl. Her death and her baby’s will serve no use at all.”

Ben smiled and gestured to the monks. “No use?”

He laughed and the monk standing beside Faith‘s head said, “Fantasticus, it would be extremely entertaining to see both Slayers die.”

Ben nodded. “One of them is carrying my Key.” He leant across Faith and hissed at Buffy. “I can cut it out of your belly and hers. You will both die!”

“Go away! Whoever you are, get the hell out of here.” Faith turned to Buffy, her face contorted with pain. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re going to die!”

“You never had any respect for my plans,” Buffy said, trying to sound light-hearted. “Ben, is that the best you can think of, slicing us open to reach the babies? Is that going to entertain your followers?”

“Buffy – ” Spike warned, wondering where the hell she was going with this. As far as he could see, they were up the bloody creek without a bloody paddle.

Suddenly, Buffy’s hand flashed out and snatched a wickedly curved dagger from the closest monk. He yelled and lunged forward but the dagger flashed forwards, just once and he fell dead to the floor, gurgling his own lifeblood away.

Ben’s face was impassive. The other monks began to shuffle forwards again but Buffy ignored them. She turned the dagger and held it against her chest over her heart.

“Right – your choice, Ben. You can’t be certain which Slayer is carrying your Key, can you? But the instant you touch either of us, I’ll kill myself. And my Key will die with me. Its blood will be no use to you, and believe me, this girl’s baby will prove to be just that – a baby.”

She heard Spike move behind her, sensed his distress, but there was no choice. Of course there wasn’t, there never had been. In the other Sunnydale, she had been forced to sacrifice herself to save Dawn, to save the world. In this world, she would have to sacrifice herself by her own hand to save Faith, to save her baby, and to save the world.

Suddenly Ben made a sharp gesture to one of his minions. “Untie this Slayer. Take both of them, and the vampire. Lock them away, somewhere dark and wet and crawling. Time is on my side.” His smile was suddenly cruel, the handsome face distorted by the twisted mouth.

“I will await the first infant, Slayer. If it is my Key, I will have it’s blood. If it isn’t, I’ll kill it anyway and wait for yours!”

Spike started to fight as the monks grabbed him, then realised Buffy had dropped her knife and was going quietly. He threw her a startled glance and calmed down, vamping back into human face and stayed silent as they were pushed and punched across the great hall and dragged down flights of steps.

A small door, only reaching to her shoulders was opened and the three of them were tossed inside. Spike spun round to catch Faith before she could crash to the ground. The door was slammed behind them and utter blackness fell.

“Faith? Are you OK?” Buffy reached out to touch the other Slayer and felt her flinch and pull away.

“Five by five, whoever the hell you are.”

“Name’s Buffy. This is Spike.”

“You say you’re a Slayer?”

Buffy hesitated. “That’s right. We’re – we’re from another Sunnydale. I’ve already killed another Ben there. Although he was a her, if you see what I mean. And when I heard that he was waiting for a baby Key, I thought, well, I imagined I was pregnant. But obviously, he meant you.”

Buffy could hear Faith rolling over and getting to her feet. “Obviously, B. Couldn’t be more pregnant if I tried. I don’t understand the other Sunnydale bit, but guess you saved me and junior back there, so thanks for that.”

“You planned on him wanting to wait and see what happens.” Spike’s voice came out of the dark.

Buffy reached out a hand instinctively and cool fingers closed over hers. Even in the dark, she knew Spike could see her. “I gambled that he wouldn’t be able to tell yet which baby was the Key. But there isn’t any doubt, because obviously, I’m not having a baby, Faith is.”

Faith laughed bitterly. “Well, there’s no doubt about my baby. Or what it is. Look!” In the dark, she must have unwrapped the loose skirt of her gown and Buffy gasped. There in the dark was a whirling, emerald green mist. Baby Key. The same green energy that had turned into Dawn was growing inside this Faith.

“How come he couldn’t see that?” Buffy asked, surprised. “He wouldn’t have waited two seconds to get to it if he’d known for sure.”

She felt Faith shrug and then she must have retied her gown and the green vanished. “You can only see it when it’s dark,” she said. “So, Slayer. You’re not in the club, then. So what do you plan on doing now? How are we getting out of here?”

Buffy sighed. All she’d known was that she had to get Faith and her child away from Ben, to give them time to think. She’d guessed that those wicked knives had been seconds away from tearing the living child out of the girl’s stomach.

“We’ll find a way,” she said stubbornly. “Spike, can you see anything in here that we can use?”

She felt the vampire throw himself down on the ground next to her. “Not a thing, pet. Place looks like it used to be some sort of storeroom. Low ceiling, few hooks on the walls. No doors. Solid floor. We’re only going out through the door we came in by.”

“OK, then let’s get some rest. I reckon they won’t be back just yet. They’ll let us alone for a couple of hours, then probably come back to gloat.”

“They’ll come back for the vampire, B,” Faith said suddenly out of the dark. “Ben won’t chance loosing the Key. He’ll wait until my baby arrives. But he knows he’s got to keep his little friends entertained. He’ll use the vampire as the evening’s entertainment. Believe me, I’ve seen it happen.”

Spike’s breath caressed Buffy’s ear. “Oh, that sounds like fun, Slayer. Just like the old days with Dru and Liam. Family fun. Blood all round and don’t trip over the bones on your way out.”

“Faith, how did you – ” Buffy stopped, but the other girl laughed in the darkness.

“How did I get caught? Well, you tell me, B. All I know is that I had a run in with a load of monks a few weeks back. Not Ben’s guys; these had brown robes and were small guys. But days later, I knew I was expecting. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just did. Then the green glow started and I realised I was in trouble, big time. And you can tell from the size of me that it’s growing far faster than a normal baby. So what the hell is it? A demon? A vamp?”

“It’s a Key,” Buffy said quietly, aware of Spike’s fingers stroking the back of her neck, arching her head against his hand. “It’s blood opens up the gateway to Ben’s demon dimension. The gateway stays open until the blood stops flowing. And all the hordes from hell come through to rule over earth.”

“Sounds like a fun day,” Faith drawled. “Well, B, as you say, we can do nothing until that door opens. I’m going to nap until then. Key or no key, this baby wriggles like a tadpole and kicks like a horse.”

There was a long silence, then Spike whispered. “You’re upset about the baby, aren’t you?”

Buffy nodded imperceptibly, but the movement was enough for Spike to feel under his stroking fingers and then her face was wet with tears against his. “I – I was terrified when I thought the Key was growing in me. Then – well – I suppose I thought it was my one chance of having a child. Stupid!”

“Not stupid, luv. But no baby Dawn.”

Buffy felt a tiny smile flicker across her face. “Well, one Dawnie’s enough for any Sunnydale, surely.”

He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms round her, rocking her gently too and fro. “Can’t say I’m not sad myself. Fancied doing the fond papa routine. Niblet‘s not a bit interested in football. Might have been a boy. Could have bought it a Man U shirt.” They sat in silence for a while, then, “We’re deep in the bloody mire here, aren‘t we, pet? You can’t pull the ‘I’ll kill myself’ routine again. And Ben or one of his idiots has only got to get a glimpse of all that swirling green inside Faith and the game’s up.”

“There’s still Willow and Xander.”

Spike grunted. “They won’t come to help. One’s too drunk and the other’s too shattered. I reckon we’re on our own.”

Buffy didn‘t reply. She gazed sightlessly into the dark, waiting for the first crack of light to show around the doorway. Willow, Xander and Tara. Three scared people who were relying on her to sort out Ben, to make everything right again, because that was what Slayers did.

But for all that, one was a witch, one of the strongest witches Buffy had ever known. Tara had more common sense than most people and underneath Xander’s drunken façade lay the heart of a brave if foolish knight.

Spike was wrong. They would try to help. They wouldn’t let her down. She trusted them, in her own Sunnydale and in this one as well.

To be continued.

























 
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