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Chapter 18
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"You weren't quite what I expected either, you know," Buffy grinned and nudged him gently in the rib.  "I was used to either Mr. Soulful Eyes Angel striking romantic poses and playing mystery man or the run of the mill Grrr Argh idiot just waiting for my stakes."
 
Spike grinned back, "Yeah, I get that.  I've always had a thing for Slayers, you know that.  Seen more than my fair share over the hundred plus.  Top of the food chain, you lot."  He smiled at her warmly.  "The first one was a challenge. I was young and impulsive, but it made me want to go against the best, yeah?  Saw plenty in the years after, but none looked like they were ready for the likes of me, not and be much of a challenge anyway.  Only one other till you, pet.  Played with a few, tried to get 'em up to speed, only to have some halfwit take them out before they were ready for prime time."
 
"You know all that should remind me why I should hate you, right?" Buffy raised an amused brow.
 
"Pro'ly should.  You know I'm honest with you though," Spike looked up at her through his too-long-for-Buffy's-comfort lashes.  "Point is, you were different from the start.  Not just your skills, something about you.  You're the whole package, Buffy.  I wanted to dance from the start and never wanted the music to end."
 
"Yeah, it was always the best when we fought each other, or with each other," Buffy agreed.
 
Spike drew her closer and tucked her under his arm more snugly.  Buffy sighed in contentment.  Somehow she felt a sense of peace with Spike that she hadn't been able to find, no matter how hard she had tried the mind exercises and meditations Giles had taught her.  Spike was here, with her, and everything was going to be alright.
 
"That first fight together was somethin', wasn't it?" Spike sighed wistfully.  "Took Grandpa by surprise.  Never saw us comin', least not teamed up."
 
Buffy laughed, "Face it, Angel without the soul seems to lose IQ points, along with everything else.  He should have paid more attention, seen how you were seething at how he stepped in with Dru like that.  Doofus!"
 
"Can't see past that enormous forehead," Spike agreed.
 
"What really surprised me was findin' out you never took back the invite.  Came back to SunnyD lookin for somethin to make the hurt stop and found real magic in your mum." Spike smiled and hugged Buffy.  "Real lady, that one.  Let me talk and cry and sort things out.  By the time you showed up all hot to stake, she had me pretty well in hand."
 
"She was great that way," Buffy agreed.  "She looked naive to a lot of people, but really, that was her strength--seeing the good in everyone.  Yeah, she got burned a lot, especially by Dad, but she never stopped trying to see that bit of good inside."  Buffy looked up at Spike and smiled warmly, "She liked you a lot.  Said there was a lot more good in you than in many people she knew."
 
"She had a way of makin’ me want to live up to what she saw.   I hated the idea of disappointin' her.  Pro'ly would have got me on the pig slop without the bloody chip if she'd made a big point of it."
 
"You know, I believe you," Buffy nodded.  "You proved her right when it counted, that's for sure.  If you hadn't decided to look in on her, those vamps would have drained her or worse."
 
Spike looked sheepish.  "Shouldn't have been so late at the Gallery, I told her that.  Had a big shipment.  Figured someone needed to make sure she got home safe."
 
"And you did," Buffy lightly brushed her lips against his in thanks.
 
"So, pet, how we gonna make sure you get home safe?"
 
"Not just me, Spike.  We're getting out together.  Best as partners, right?"
 
Buffy smiled widely in her sleep and rolled over, reaching for someone and frowning when her arm met air.  She hated waking this way.  She had felt hopeful and safe, only to find herself alone and with few ideas of how to turn it all around.  She had to find a way to get near Spike.  Together, no one could stop them!
 
***
 
"Sweetie, you shouldn't be trying to do too much!  You've only been out of the hospital a short time," Willow tried to steer Tara back to the curtained off sleeping area.
 
"C-can't j-just lay around, s-sweetheart.  Have to do s-stuff." Tara's vocal hesitations were a bit better now, no worse than when the girls had first met at least.  Giles was delighted, saying that it showed the synapses were connecting better and Tara's head trauma might completely heal given time.  She still had a slight weakness in her right limbs, but was doing strength-building exercises regularly. 
 
Willow fought the urge that usually came over her in the stillness of night, when the few spell books she had at hand called to her to find just the perfect spell to pay back the miserable bastards who had inflicted such damage on her beloved.  Tara always seemed to know when those devils began to speak to her because her hand would reach for Willow and she would give her a firm squeeze as if to say, "I'm here.  I'm okay.  Don't waste the energy."
 
Still, there was a cold fire in the pit of Willow's tummy that burned with the need to rage.  The gang who hurt sweet Tara were only the first on her list.  Those who had taken her best friend, her hero, her Buffy were also on that list.  Now that they knew, kinda, where Buffy was, it was taking all of Giles's mental abilities to try to figure out the most sure-fire method to free her.
 
Willow had immediately suggested magic, but Giles felt that if his late friend Ethan Rayne had been the one to put up wards, it wasn't likely that they would be ones easily breached.  Going at it that way would only serve to alert Travers and his ilk that they knew where Buffy was and were planning to free her.  No, more conventional methods were going to be needed.
 
Xander had told them about Graham defecting and while that was a good thing, it didn't seem to offer much help in the grand scheme of things, just one less enemy to deal with.  They also knew that Spike was captive too, but not in any condition to help Buffy.
 
It was funny that no one doubted for a minute that Spike wouldn't help Buffy given the chance!  At some point, they had all embraced the idea of the vampire as an ally and not just someone who helped while looking for some personal reward. 
 
They were a bit surprised when Graham relayed Buffy's message that she was not willing to leave without Spike being rescued as well.  It wasn't that Buffy was cold towards Spike; indeed, they had been acting more and more like friends over the past few months.  They had all noticed it.  But to insist he be rescued along with her did complicate any rescue plan.  Now there wasn’t only one to retrieve, but two, and from what they had been told, two that weren't kept together. 
 
Giles had blanched at the description Xander paraphrased from Graham's report about Spike's condition.  Just how they were to be expected to get out a vampire that badly damaged was a hurdle the former Watcher was clueless how to jump.  'Perhaps if we got Buffy out we could convince her to make a rescue attempt for Spike later?'  Giles shook his head.  He knew his Slayer better than that.  No, together she said and together she meant.  He sighed and went back to the proverbial drawing board.
 
*** 
 
Anya was not merely shivering, she was shuddering.  It was the second group of soldiers to drop by the Box since Graham had shown up asking for help in his plans to go AWOL.  So far no one had accused them of aiding in the soldier's disappearance, hadn't even questioned them really, but Anya was terrified.
 
"They must know, Xander."  Anya whispered. There was no one else in the store, but everyone seemed to speak in whispers lately as they looked over their shoulders. "Someone must have seen him come in here.  They must suspect us.  Why come to a party goods store and buy nothing?"
 
Xander was as nervous as his fiancé but manned up to be her strong arm to cling to.  "We can't know that, Ahn.  Besides, they can't prove anything.  As far as they know he dropped in to look at some party stuff and that's all we know."
 
"But what if they remember us from before?  Some of them might have been part of the first Initiative and know we were Buffy's friends."
 
"Not ‘were’, are, Ahn.  Don't panic so much you forget the important stuff," he kissed her furrowed brow.  "It's going to be okay.  If things get even a little dangerous, I promise we'll join the others in the caves.  I won't let anyone hurt you."
 
Anya felt her eyes tear up.  "You don't know what it's like to be hunted.  Even as a human the first time, people always looked at me funny because of the magic and because I just didn't fit in.  Then, as a demon, I had power but still had to be careful."
 
"You're human now; they won't target you."
 
"That's easy for you to say.  If they ever find out I was a demon at all, they would be after me, tearing me apart to see if they can find traces, torturing me for information I don't have," She felt the tears slide down her face unchecked.  "That 'ex' part that makes it okay to you to be dating me won't matter to them at all.  It will only make them more curious."
 
"Not going to happen."  Xander hugged her and gently brushed away her tears.  "Not too long ago, I admit that I wouldn't have spent time with you if you hadn't been human, if you didn't have that 'ex'.  But, Anya, I've come to love you, you know that.  Human or demon, I love you, and I won't let those that I love get hurt in this, I swear it."
 
Anya sniffed, "You mean it?  You'd still love me now that you know me?"
 
Xander smiled sweetly, "I'd love you if you got all veiny and scary, as long as it wasn't directed at me.  Matter of fact, you'd be safer and those powers would be pretty helpful right about now.  Any way you could call up old friends?"
 
"D'Hoffryn and all my sisters left the dimension when W & H did that big spell to quarantine us during all of this.  There's no jumping dimensions now.  Lorne can't even contact anyone in Pylea.  We're all on our own here.  It's like when the Old Ones left the first time."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Well, in the beginning the demons, pure demons, ruled this world.  Surely Giles told you all that?"
 
Xander tried to think back.  He vaguely remembered something like that being said early on.
 
Giles looked very professorial as he tried to teach the young ones the history of this long battle, "The original and most powerful demons originated eons ago. They were godlike, extra dimensional beings called the Old Ones. The Old Ones lived on Earth during the Primordial Age after they were brought there from their home dimensions by the Seed of Wonder."
 
Buffy yawned widely while Xander looked at his watch and hoped the donut shop would still be open when Mr. Giles finished his history lesson.  Willow was the only one who was clearly interested, "So that's what Buffy fights every night, these Old Ones?  And they were here first?  I'm not sure how I feel about that part."
 
Giles continued, "As time passed, mortals began to appear on Earth, at first serving the Old Ones in many different capacities.  In time, they turned on the demons, created the First Slayer with the help of demon essence stolen for the purpose and the Old Ones either retreated to other dimensions or interbred with humans, thus diminishing their powers through the generations. The last pure demon that walked the Earth during this period was killed by a special weapon wielded by that First Slayer."
 
Willow was like a dog with a bone, "But they were here first?"
 
"Yes, Willow, they were here first."  Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Do you suggest we remove ourselves or become slaves once more?"
 
Willow looked conflicted. "Well...no.  But it doesn't seem fair we just kill them either."
 
"We don't; the Slayer does with our assistance, and she most certainly does not kill them all.  The Chosen One maintains balance, makes certain that humanity has a place in this world, one of freedom."  Giles looked at his Slayer, her eyes glazed over with disinterest. 
 
"So the demons Buffy fights aren't these Old Ones?"  Willow asked.  Giles felt a brief, disloyal thought that this girl, even with her sympathies for demons, would have made a far superior Slayer to the reluctant cheerleader he was trying to groom.
 
"No, they are not.  By modern times, demonic creatures native to Earth were not full demons but had a percentage of human heritage due to their ancestors' crossbreeding, while full demons were native to other dimensions.  A very few are buried in a guarded place called the Deeper Well awaiting reawakening.  This leads me to the real topic of this meeting: the Master and his plans."
 
It had all seemed so simple then.  Willow was the only one with even a hint of wondering about rights and things that were other than black and white.  Simple may have felt nice, but look where that thinking led!  Xander hugged Anya a bit tighter and wondered where it would all eventually lead.
 
*** 
 
Angel drew a weary hand across his face.  So many refugees were streaming in.  On one hand, it was a good thing that so many were being saved, but on the other, it was putting a drain on the resources available. "Anything coming in clear enough to understand?"  Someone had unearthed an ancient short wave radio and they had been monitoring for non-official channels broadcasting throughout the world.  The computer was a godsend, but it didn't have the full story.
 
"There's a good chance both Peru and Ecuador are going to commit to being safe zones pretty soon.  There's some strong opposition but not many in actual numbers.  I guess the native populations in both countries have a long memory of how it felt to be targeted to be wiped out.  There are some great caves in the region too, so we can set up a southern base if it all works out," Cordy's high school Spanish was coming in quite handy manning the radio. "Think Wes will want to leave the farm and run it?"
 
"Maybe not Wes; he's needed there to keep an eye on Lindsey.  I still don't trust that guy any further than I can throw him," Angel groused.
 
"Well, big fella, you can throw him pretty far, so I wouldn't lose sleep.  Darla did at least a couple of things right; she got McDonald on a decent path when needed and this guy here," She cuddled the sleeping baby and smiled her best Madonna smile.
 
"Who'd have thought?"  Angel grinned. 
 
"I couldn't help overhearing.  Mind if I butt in?"  Nick Perkins was an imposing figure even when compared to Angel's hulking form, but his innate gentle nature was far less off-putting than the vampire's could be.
 
"Butt away," Cordy grinned.  Angel bit back the jealous ire that rushed to pour out of his mouth.  He hated when his girl looked at another fella that way, all admiration and welcome! 
 
"If our Southern neighbors do decide to stand up and be counted, I figure we'll have to act fast to set things up safely," Nick suggested.  "I speak Spanish really well, the kind they speak in South America too, so the idioms aren't a challenge.  I did some work with the Peace Corp after college in Bolivia and have an idea of the area from traveling."
 
"What are you thinking?"  Angel shoved a map in the demon's direction.
 
"If we use the Farm as a clearing house, moving some folks north here and others to the south, it would kinda make that the center of the wheel.  We're going to have to expand if this keeps up for too long anyway.  At least we'd have a couple of spokes."
 
"Okay, so how do we get them from the Farm to Peru?" Cordy looked at the map and the large distance needed to be safely traveled.
 
"Ever hear of Mexicruise?"  Nick grinned.
 
"Aren't they the small cruise line that goes up and down the Mexican Rivera and always seems full of silver-haired ladies looking for shipboard romance?"  Cordy laughed at Angel's flummoxed look, "My nanny dreamed of taking one of those.  Kept hoping she'd meet some Ricardo Montalban clone and spend her retired years in a 40s movie."
 
Nick nodded.  "They do have a specialty clientele.  My Aunt Pearl actually found her Ricardo, but that's a story for another day." He rubbed Cordy's shoulder a bit too familiarly for Angel’s liking. 
Cordy shot her vampire a dirty look as she heard the low, quiet growl of disapproval.
Nick clearly was not intimidated, but he also didn't push things.  "The owner is actually a Bracken.  His family traces back to Seville and came over with the Conquistadores.  I met him in the Corp before he took over running the cruise line for his dad.  Anyway, I'm sure we can fit some of his ships with hiding places to transport folks.  Get them from the Farm to the cruise line, then down the coast.  He has a couple of ships that go as far south as Chile.  We arrange a couple of ports of call in Ecuador and Peru, unload our people, and no one's the wiser."
 
"You make it sound simple," Cordy said.
 
"No, not simple but do-able."  Nick looked at Angel, "Whadda you say?  Sound like a plan?"
 
"How do you plan to contact this guy?  Is he even still free?" Angel looked to poke holes in the plan, before they all got too excited.
 
"Yeah, he married well, really well.  Very well connected politically and the wife's family doesn't know about his spikey side."
 
"Sounds perfect.  You really want to leave us to set this up?"  Cordy sounded disappointed.
 
"My family's safe here.  I can't stand back while others can't say the same thing."  He looked grim.  "Yeah, I'm sure.  Times like this, people don't have to do much, but if every decent person just did something it could all be fixed.  I still believe that most folks are decent at heart.  Lots are just scared right now, scared and not thinking straight."
 
"You're a good guy, Nick." Cordy blinked back a few tears.  "I wish all people just could look past labels."
 
"Yeah, mankind has a bad history with that."
 
***
 
She was asleep and cuddled safe and close.  He didn't even mind being in this hell as long as he had her there where he could make sure she was untouched, or as untouched as possible.  Her soft hair wisped across his chest blown by the soft tufts of breath released as she slept.
 
Spike wasn't mad--no, they hadn't managed to destroy his mind, not yet.  Still, keeping her in his mind helped to guard it.  The nerves that felt his few chest hairs move could easily be turned into strands of gold gently playing on his skin.  It helped.
 
In his silent darkness, he had taken to letting his imagination run free.  All the deepest dreams of tenderness and love that he had held in check for fear of rejection and disappointment were now fuel keeping hope alive.  In his dreams he held her and she returned his most gentle, loving touches.  He kissed her, finding her mouth not only willing but eager.  He could say all the words that choked him in his regular life, words desperate to pour out of his mouth but held back lest he drive her further from him than the bonds of friendship she currently allowed.  Buffy was his light, his reason and his goal.
 
He knew Buffy was there in the compound.  He'd heard rumors and was fairly certain he had glimpsed her at least once.  He also knew, knew with no doubt whatsoever, that she had been there with him recently.  He didn't know how it could possibly be but he still knew it to be true.  His angel had made a visit and had touched him.  She had brought him back from a brink that now beckoned from a distance, that gaping maw of despair.
 
She was there.  She knew he was there.  She cared.
 
They could do anything they wanted to him, short of outright dusting, and it would all turn up right now.  Now he had a purpose; not quite a plan, but a goal.  He had to find a way for them to be together.  They were always stronger together than apart.  Even arseholes like their captors couldn't win against the two of them when they were working together.
 
Spike remembered his Sunday school years far better than anyone would ever imagine.  In fact, in his pre-vampiric existence, he'd actually given thought to a life in the church at one point.  He remembered a quote from Ecclesiastes: "Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."  Even the bloody Bible made it clear that it was true, that there was strength in numbers. 
The only numbers they needed were two, Buffy and Spike.  Now how to arrange that?
 


 
A/N:  http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Demon source for info on canon pre-history of demons in Buffyverse