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Shame on You by ginar369
 
Chapter 11
 
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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Since I have already stolen Drogyn and hopefully given him a better death than Joss did; you won’t be all that surprised that I am playing with the Angel timeline. I’m just borrowing one more character. But I promise to give him back in the same condition I got him in.
 
Dialog taken from “No Place Like Home” by Doug Petrie. Dialog taken from Triangle, written by Jane Espenson
 
Many thanks to my beta No_Promises. The wonderful banner is by 3hours.
Spike stared at Buffy, tilting his head he looked into her eyes. He could see the agitation in her. They were a lot alike. All this sitting around didn’t set well with him either. Spike would rather be in a fight then standing around. With a nod of his head Spike bent forward and cupped his hands giving Buffy a foot up. Placing her hands on his shoulders she put her right foot on his hands. With a heave Spike lifted her up until she could grab the ledge of the opening. Once she was inside the chamber she laid on her stomach reaching her hand down to grab Spike. Between her pulling and his jump he was quickly in the room with her.

The room was covered in cobwebs. A skeleton laid out on a bier was in tattered clothing. Buffy picked up a few items before placing them back down. Spike on the other hand was pocketing some of the smaller items to sell later on. Pig’s blood wasn’t cheap, and the slayer and her band of do-gooders had stopped paying him. It never occurred to him that he could take the money and use it to pay a surgeon to remove the chip.

After a few more minutes the pair decided to go back to the others. They made their way back to the main room to find Joyce, Tara, Dawn and Anya still reading over the books the council had left. After a few more hours of searching the tomes and coming up empty everyone decided to go to sleep.

The next morning Spike was in lead with Tara behind him and Buffy guarding their rear. They headed down the main tunnel, “There’s a side tunnel up a bit, connects to the sewers running under town.” Spike suddenly stopped causing Tara and Buffy to plow into each other. Twisting himself sideways Spike squeezed through a small opening in the rock wall. The two girls followed more easily, their smaller stature easing their way through. A short while later their sense of smell alerted them to the fact that they were now in the town’s sewer system.

Tarapaused trying to find a way around a particularly large puddle of something that smelled very nasty. Noticing that she wasn’t behind him any longer Spike turned to see what had happened. Seeing the problem Spike made his way back muttering under his breath about, “Silly chits who wear bloody skirts to go into the sewers.”

Taragave a sudden yelp as Spike swooped the girl up into his arms and carried her over the puddle. Buffy wearing more sensible clothing jumped over it and the three continued on their way.

“Hold up here, been a while since I’ve been down this way. Need to suss out where we are.” Spike quickly climbed up the ladder and opened a manhole cover. Spike poked his head out and surveyed their surroundings. “Looks like we’re near the Espresso Pump.” Spike stated as he came back down the ladder. Striding off in a new direction with the girls following he proceeded to take numerous turns that quickly had Buffy and Tara confused.

Ten minutes later Spike announced that they had arrived. Tara quickly went to work casting a spell to ‘see’ into Giles apartment. Arranging the candles and sprinkling some herbs in the shape of a small circle she began chanting. “Goddess I beseech you. Open my eyes and mind for those which I seek.” “Deaobsecro vos.Mentisoculosaperiat, quae peto.” Picturing Giles’ apartment in her mind, Tara let the spell take over. She could see the front door to the apartment swing slowly open. A quick scan of the main room showed it was empty. Looking through the pass through Tara could tell the kitchen was just as empty. It felt like she was actually walking down the hallway to the bathroom, before she reached the door it to opened showing an empty room. A noise startled her, spinning around Tara saw Giles heading down the stairs from his bedroom, keys in his hand. Tara tried to hide before she remembered that Giles couldn’t actually see her. Stopping briefly he grabbed his jacket and put it on as he left. Tara could hear the locks being thrown.

Shaking herself out of the trance Tara saw Buffy and Spike standing nearby. “He just left. I didn’t see anyone else, I think it’s safe.” Quickly packing up the spell components the trio made their way to the manhole cover that opened up just outside of the apartment complex. Spike made a dash for the saftey of the shade offered by the courtyard. Listening intently at Giles door he confirmed what Tara had seen. There were no heartbeats coming from the apartment. “Lets go ladies.” Spike made short work of the locks and as he imagined Giles had done a dis-invite. Giving the two women a gallant bow he ushered them in. “Looks like you two get to do all the heavy liftin’.”

Before Buffy could make a comment Tara had pushed past her. “We n- n- need to hurry. I don’t know ho- how long Giles will be gone.” Her nervousness brought out her stutter.

Buffy quickly started looking in the chest by the TV, while Tara checked the desk. “Ah hah!” Buffy’s exclamation had Tara and Spike looking at her. “I knew he had it!” Looking sheepishly Buffy responded to the inquiring faces of her companions. “My best axe. I told him I left it here.”

Tara had more luck in her search. “I found his address book. Plus some other papers, it looks like they’re from the c- c- council.”

“Grab ‘em. Suns gettin’ a little to high in the sky for my tastes. Time to go.” Spike stood just outside the door ready to lock it back up when they left. Tara was busy shoving the papers she had found into her bag and Buffy was swirling the axe around in her right hand. Spike ducked one swipe that came a little too close to his head. “Oi Slayer! Watch it with that thing.” Quickly locking the door the trio made their way back down to the sewers.

It took twice as long to get back to the cave they were staying at. “Do you even know where we are?” Buffy complained.

“Yes I do.”

“Oh really because I’m pretty sure I saw that tunnel before.”

“Slayer, I’m tryin’ to leave a false trail in case anyone tries to follow us. Or you want I just write down directions to the cave and leave ‘em in Rupert’s house?”

“Oh.” Buffy was quiet for the rest of the trip. It had never occurred to her that someone might try to follow them. Both girls sighed in relief when they saw the narrow opening in the wall. Now that they knew where they were Buffy took the lead with Spike in the rear. As they neared the same puddle Tara was prepared for Spike when he picked her up to carry her over it. Giving him a small smile as thanks, she quickly made her way to the main room. 

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The click of the lock being turned was loud in the empty apartment. “G-man we need to find the Buffster quick. The boss is getting pissed.” Xander was first through the door carrying a box of donuts in with him.

“Xander I have asked you repeatedly not to call me that. I am well aware that Kaledena is angry at the time it is taking for us to find Buffy. But we will find her.”

Willowwas the last one in and closed the door behind her. “I’ve been scrying for them but all the spells just bounce back.”

“Obviously Tara has invoked a protection spell. We will just have to try harder to find them.” Giles responded as he took a jelly donut from the box.

“Hey Giles since when do you leave your weapons chest open?”

“Xander,” Giles pinched the bridge of his nose, “you know I never leave it open.”

“Huh, well it’s open now.”

“Blast!” Giles quickly started searching the apartment to see if anything was missing. “Buffy was here.”

“How can you be sure Giles?”

“Because Willow her favorite axe is missing from my weapons chest. I had it sharpened the other day and forgot to give it back to her.”

The redhead sat down with a sigh, “Did she get anything else?”

Giles didn’t answer until he was finished checking his desk. “She took my address book and the rest of the notes from the council.”

“Kaledena isn’t going to be happy.”

“I am well aware of that fact Xander. I need to call the council.”

“Wait, huh? Why?” Both teens responded.

“Because if she manages to reach them and informs them that Kaledena is here they will do everything in their power to stop her. Is that what you want?”

“No!”

“We love Kaledena! Everything’s better with her around.”

“Precisely. So I need to call them immediately.” Giles picked up the phone and dialed the number from memory. The line was answered immediately. “Rupert Giles for Quentin Travers.”

“It is imperative that I speak with him immediately! The slayer has been compromised.” Giles was quickly put through to the head of the watchers council. Unknown to Giles and Quentin Travers, Lydia, Quentin’s secretary stayed on the line to eavesdrop on the conversation. “Travers, Buffy has been put under a powerful spell of some kind. Dare I say brainwashed, she has abandoned her post and disappeared.”

Both teens could hear the head of the council yelling over the line. “Travers! I fear she is in cahoots with William the Bloody. They have been thwarting our every effort to deal with the Kaledena situation. We have been researching ways to prevent Kaledena from obtaining any power and Buffy has stopped our every effort. Going so far as to steal the information you left with me.”

“No I don’t think a wet works team will be necessary. I felt it my duty to inform you of her actions. I fear she will try to contact you and give you some cockamamie story to enlist your help.” 

“My thoughts exactly.” Giles paused as Travers spoke. “I know she has had difficulty following orders before, but this is an entirely different situation. I honestly don’t know what is going on in her head right now. I can only blame whatever source has corrupted her thinking. Hopefully, when we find a way to break this hold over her, all will be well again.”

After another pause so Travers could talk Giles ended the conversation, “I will keep you informed of our progress.” Placing the phone back in its cradle Giles turned to Willow and Xander. “Well that should block off that avenue of assistance for her. We should return to Kaledena. We cannot do the reading she wanted as Buffy has stolen the papers. Kaledena has another task for us.” The three left the apartment and returned to Kaledena’s side. They thought nothing of the order sent into their minds to go out and pick up homeless people for Kaledena to consume.

As Kaledena’s power grew she was able to pass along her ability to thrall to her followers. Soon she swelled her numbers tremendously.
 
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