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Angels and Demons by TalesofSpike
 
Chapter 7.03
 
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Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer for her unending patience, perseverance and support.

SECTION 7 - LAKE OF FIRE

People cry, people moan.
Look for a dry place to call their home.
Try to find some place to rest their bones.
While the Angels and the Devils try to make THEM their own.

(Nirvana, Album - MTV Unplugged with thanks to Zanthinegirl for the suggestion)




Chapter 7.03
Friday, July 12th, 2002


This time, Buffy kept watch herself until Giles' 4x4 disappeared through the school gates. After Spike's decision to come back into the school once already she wasn't taking any chances. As soon as the vehicle cleared the gate this time she returned to her original plan with military precision.

"Okay, I'll go and tell Giles that this evening's training session has been postponed. You three," she said with a nod to Anya, Dawn and Tara, "take the boxes on the right down to the ballroom. There isn't enough space up here. Xander, you've already got yours but I want to see it again, Clem, that one's yours and I'll take Giles his." Her voice softened slightly as she turned to the little girl. "Rosa, you come with me so Mr Giles can't get all mad because we're making him late."






 

"It's the only chance we're going to get, Giles."

The watcher raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Okay, it's the only chance we'd get until the next time Spike's patrolling with Faith, and this way Faith's here to mind the fort."

"Couldn't it wait until after the session?"

"Ew! No-o-o. Anya and Tara and Xander would be all sweaty... or if they shower, their hair would be all wet." She added the final part as Giles looked like he might dare to interrupt. "And it would be past Rosa's bedtime so she wouldn't get to see everyone else."

There was a gentle tug at Giles' jacket and the watcher found plaintive brown eyes looking up at him. "Ple-ease, Mr Giles."

"Oh, alright, then." He looked at Rosa. "Why don't you go and tell your mother that the evening training's been delayed?" He watched as the girl scurried off eagerly. "Though why she should be the only one to find out after me..."

"Marie was with Wes, who was talking to Spike."

"I do think bringing Rosa to make puppy dog eyes was rather a dirty trick."

"It's okay. I was saving how hot Lydia's going to think you look for a back up. Just tell her no ripping any buttons off and no bodily fluids until after the wedding."

Giles reddened slightly, but didn't comment. He looked down at the box that Buffy had deposited on his library desk. "I assume that you want me to try this on now?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to use Lydia's office because we're all in the ballroom. Just give us a few minutes and then come along and knock."

"I don't suppose you'd accept my opinion?"

"Why should I start now?" Buffy asked with a teasing smile as she left the room.






 

"You realise that I can hardly walk in this thing," Dawn complained.

"At least you get to breathe... and eat," Anya answered back, as Marie helped to lace her into an ivory satin Victorian-style corset that covered her from breast to hip. "I haven't worn one of these things in nearly a century. I'd forgotten how uncomfortable they were."

"The split in the back of that thing is quite high enough," Buffy added. "You'll just have to take little steps. Now come and help me with these buttons."

Dawn snorted. "You really should have got one with a zip if you wanted it to survive the wedding night."

"Mommy, can I go and show the other girls my new dress?" Rosa asked hopefully.

"No, sweetie, they can see it next week. You have to be careful and not get it dirty now, while you wait until everyone else is ready." Marie tied off the ribbons at the back of Anya's corset and moved to help Tara with hers.

"Can I show grandma?"

"She'll see it next week, too. Now, just sit down on the bench there and wait until I've finished helping the others."

Buffy turned so that she could watch everyone else getting ready while Dawn fastened the fifty fabric covered buttons that secured the back of the dress. "Hey!! You have cleavage," she protested as she watched Anya don the skirt that went with her Edwardian school marm style outfit.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Even Eddie Izzard has cleavage when he wears one of these things, but no one will see it once I put on that blouse and jacket."

"But I don't have any cleavage," Buffy replied looking down. "Well, not much."

"If you wanted cleavage, then you shouldn't have been living off salad for the last five years," her sister answered unsympathetically. "And you've got more now than you had three months ago. You'd probably look almost normal if you'd been eating Spike's cooking for the last month instead of cafeteria slop. At least you don't look like one of those nasty old prints of kids that look as if they're going to burst into tears any more. You know the ones with the great big animé eyes?"

"I could send you back to those monks, you know," Buffy mock argued.

"No, you couldn't. Spike wouldn't let you. And who else is going to have the patience to do this for you? Couldn't they have made the loops a little looser?"

There came a knock at the door. "Can we come in, yet?" Xander asked.

"No!" came a chorus of replies, but the women stopped chatting and got down to the task of making sure that everyone was fully dressed.

Finally, Buffy looked around the room. They'd have to sort out hairstyles and make-up for the actual day, but all the clothes that Mordecai had made fitted beautifully. There were just four more people to inspect and one of them was on his way north. "You can come in, now," she called imperiously and was almost sure that she heard a muffled, "about bloody time," from the other side of the door.

Xander pushed the door open and stepped in with Giles and then Clem at his heels. Although Xander had lost a few pounds since his own wedding and looked more like the guy who had gone to senior prom and she'd never seen Clem look so elegant, it was Giles who caught her eye. His expression, as he looked at her, was one of awe and unmistakable love.

"You look absolutely beautiful. Spike is a very lucky man."

Buffy blinked away the tears that threatened as she glided toward her surrogate father. "Well, duh. Lydia's not doing so bad either. Now turn around so I can see how that suit looks from the back."






 

"You don't mind?" Buffy asked Marie as she climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV. All the clothing for the wedding party, except for Spike's suit, was back in its boxes and stacked in the back of the vehicle, ready to be transported over to the reception hall, away from curious vampire eyes. Maybe it was just an old superstition, but on the hellmouth, Buffy wasn't taking any chances on Spike seeing that dress before the wedding day.

"It's not a problem. And it gives me a chance to work out how to get there without Tigger giving not so helpful directions. Lily will give Rosa her bath and read her a story and I'll be back in time to say goodnight. It gives me something else to think about."

"Other than wondering how Wes is getting on?" Buffy asked.

"Other than that," Marie agreed with a self-deprecating smile.

"Well, they've had plenty of time to get clear of town and they haven't got into a fight... yet," the slayer supplied. "So, I reckon they're probably in the clear until they get where they're going, which won't be for another couple of hours unless Spike plans on picking up a few speeding tickets."

"So, it's not just me, then?"

"No... I mean, normally, Spike's got my back so there's not so much of the worry but lately he's been going out with Faith or doing stuff like this... so, yeah, I worry... but I know that he's a pretty tough guy to keep down and I know that Wes can handle himself, too, and they'll watch out for each other. So, I know it'll be okay, but I can't help worrying just a little.

The claim thing helps, too. I made him promise not to block it, so I'll know if anything goes down."

"You don't think I'm being silly?"

"I think you're just doing what comes with the territory when you care about someone... but if you want, I can get Giles to let you know when they call in."

"I think I might sleep a little better if you do."






 

"Giles, I need to speak to you about these location spells that you've been getting the spell casters to do." Quentin almost seemed accusatory as he caught Giles coming out of the training session.

"I wasn't aware of any problem. It seems to me that the system is working remarkably well, allowing the patrols to concentrate where they're needed."

"It isn't their use that's the problem, Rupert. It's the results that they've been producing, especially the results they're generating with regards to the occupants of this building. It seems that even after we eliminate all your known associates there are still, as a rule, two more demons than you have informed us about."

"The wards have not been breached," Giles insisted.

"And that was why I was willing to wait and double check the results, but they are consistently out of step with the situation as you would portray it to us."

"I really don't see what you're expecting from me." Giles kept his expression deliberately bland.

"I expect you to tell me which two of your confederates are demons or perhaps you don't actually know..."

"I fail to see how that would be any of your business."

"Might I remind you, Rupert, that you recently returned to the council's employ?"

"As I'm sure I've already mentioned, that buys you my services not my soul."

"So long as the council is paying for that cleansing crystal you wanted, then I think it only right that we should be aware of any potential candidates who might be induced to wear it."

Giles gave a cold smile. "That does make a convenient excuse, doesn't it? Though I'm not sure anyone would appreciate your methods of inducement. However, I find myself unconvinced as to it being your true motivation. Rest assured that I will talk individually to those who might be capable of wielding the crystal and will let you know of the results. What I will not do is to disclose the identity of anyone who, thanks to the attitude of people like you, might wish to keep their not-completely-human status a private matter."

"So, you know who these demons are? And you allow them to live amongst us, passing as human?"

"Whereas you would have them sew big yellow labels on all their clothes, I suppose?" Giles gave an impatient sigh. "Unless you wish this entire situation to fall to pieces around you I suggest you back off, Quentin. My confederates would probably survive without the potentials. I doubt the reverse applies."

"Very well, Rupert." Quentin's tone made it clear that the matter was very far from being settled.






 

Giles waited for Bee to emerge from the women's changing room, falling into step alongside her as she made her way toward the kitchen and the stairs to the attic. As usual, she was the last to emerge, even at this late hour, taking the time to style her hair into that no longer quite so perfect bob, the local hairdressers being amongst the first wave of the Sunnydale exodus, and for the reapplication of her trademark red lipstick and black eyeliner.

"Bee, I need you and Tara to work on something for me. It seems that Quentin is getting overly curious regarding the spells we've been doing and the number of demons inside the school. I'd be grateful if you would either set up some sort of blanket protection on the school or preferably work out a way to mask those people who might not wish to be detected by the spell we've been using... That way, we don't run into complications if Caleb does turn out to be launching an all out attack when the spell is cast."

Bee gave a little smile. "I think we can arrange that. Would it be possible to arrange for Lydia to help with the-." The petite blonde stopped dead as the school was plunged into darkness.






 

"What the fuck?" Faith spat out, turning from side to side to scan the area for possible adversaries as her eyes adjusted to the sudden absence of any street lights or even the muted glow from the few scattered homes that had still been lit. They had been cutting through the centre of town and the slayer's gaze was drawn immediately to the fire escape at the side of the cinema. "Watch the 'Mini Me's, B, I'm going to check out how far this thing goes." Her sprint gave her the momentum she needed to make the jump and for several seconds she dangled from the bottom rung of the ladder that made up the lowest part of the structure.

Buffy herded the potentials and the almost equal number of watchers into a double-layered defensive circle in the centre of the deserted street, making sure that she could watch Faith from her arc of view. "Number up in twos. I want the twos to close their eyes so they'll adjust quicker, while the ones keep watch. We're too close to where the spell said that ubie was to let our guards down. One."

Amanda, who found herself on Buffy's left whispered, "two," and soon the whisper worked its way around the circle until it came back to Vi on Buffy's right. From behind Vi's shoulder Lydia sounded off and the word chain continued on around those within the inner circle, who were armed with missile weapons. Other than that, none of the potentials made a sound and those who had been designated to do so closed their eyes without comment. No one shuffled nervously or tried to look in any direction other than the one they were facing, even if some of the trainee slayers looked rather more wide-eyed than normal. For weeks now, Buffy and Spike's training had focused on how to work within a group; how, to be successful, it was important to do your own job and trust the others around you to do theirs.

Faith raised herself hand over hand on the ladder until she was able to bring her feet up and climb her way off the first vertical section and onto the metal stairway above. She pelted up the remaining flights and peered around from her improved viewpoint. "Whole town's gone dark. Looks like the people from the power company just got the hell out of Sunnydale!" she called down to the group below.

"Okay, swap," Buffy told patrol members as Faith made her way along the front of the building to get a look in the other direction.

The dark slayer was halfway along the length of the building when there was the unmistakable sound of a crossbow being fired, closely followed by a shout of, "bringers!" She looked down at the awning below with a scowl and hesitated. The guys were okay to take out a few bringers without her. No big. In fact, her view from here should give her the best chance she was going to get for an objective assessment. Not that she liked the idea of missing the fight, but by the time she took any sort of sensible route down there, it'd all be over. She looked over to the mouth of the alley from which the black-robed figures were emerging, gauging their numbers. In their midst she spotted a bald, pale grey head. As if sensing her gaze, it looked up with a growl.

'Ah hell,' the slayer thought, with a glance toward a certain watcher, who was far too close to the vampire for comfort. 'Why should I miss all the fun?' She curled herself into a ball as she jumped over the building's edge, hoping she could get the timing just right to unfurl her arms and legs to absorb the momentum, otherwise this was really going to sting.
 
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