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 7.14
Thursday, July 18th, 2002


For the briefest moment as Buffy contemplated the trip down multiple flights of stairs and along what her brain insisted was nearly a mile of corridor to get to a bathroom, she almost wished that she was a vampire. Then, she remembered that the warmth of their conjugal bed came from her own body heat and that Spike's arms would be as cool as the night air if they didn't sleep so closely that their bodies might as well be one. Unwrapping the vampire's arm from around her waist as gently as she could and pulling regretfully away so that his dick slid free of the dampness between her thighs, she slipped from under the covers. She wrapped herself in an oversized red satin robe, a gift from Spike for these occasions, which covered her from collarbone to ankle and saved her from the necessity to retrieve nightwear that had been flung across the room or kicked off somewhere beneath the covers.

She turned to face the bed and savoured the sight of the sleeping vampire. His curls were wild and untamed. Thick dark lashes brushed against his pale, perfect skin in deceptively fragile contrast. The fullness of his lower lip made her ache to bend over and draw it into her mouth to taste its ripeness and the hollow of his cheek beneath the elegant arc of his cheekbone seemed to beg for the stroke of her hand.

There was a flicker of movement at the corner of her eye, just a glimpse of fabric-strained moonlight on the white of a clerical collar, but she didn't shift her attention from the precious vision in the bed. A southern accent spoke softly from her right side. "Pretty, ain't it?"

"He," Buffy corrected, her eyes still drinking in the visual banquet that her fears told her she might never get to see again. "And pretty doesn't come close. You're not Caleb."

"No," The First Evil admitted. "You killed him, right and proper. Terrible loss. This man was my good right arm." It seemed like the fall of its champion might actually cause the apparition a moment of regret, but it was swiftly over, shrugged off as easily as the chill of a night breeze. It continued with barely a pause, its tone brightening. "'Course it don’t pain me too much. Don’t need an arm. I’ve got an army."

Buffy gave a barely audible snort, still keeping her voice soft enough that Spike didn't even stir in his sleep. "An army of vampires. However will I fight—"

"Every day our numbers swell," the insubstantial preacher added. "But then you do have an army of your own. A couple of hundred pimply-faced girls as don't know the pointy end of a stake and bookworms that went past their sell by dates without ever getting in a real fight. Maybe I should call this off."

Finally, the slayer turned to face The First, her irritation at being disturbed now evident in the tone of her voice. "Have you ever considered a cool name? I mean, since you're incorporeal and basically powerless... how about the Taunter? Strikes fear in the hearts of-"

Again, it tried to cut her off. "I will overrun this earth. And when my army outnumbers the humans on this earth, the scales will tip and I will be made flesh."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Talk on. I'm not afraid of you. No wait, don't. It's getting boring."

"Then why aren't you asleep. in your dead lover's arms?"

"It's called a bladder." Buffy turned away from her adversary, reminded now of the reason she had woken up, and walked to the exit. She paused with the door open, her hand still resting on the handle. "Not that you're ever going to get a chance to find out what that's like. You wouldn't be here trying to convince me that we're going to lose if you didn't know that the end was close. Make the most of the time you have left. I have a rehearsal dinner arranged for tomorrow night and the only killjoy I plan on being there for that is my wicked stepmom." She left the room and pulled the door closed after her.

The preacher glared at the door. Knowing that to follow the slayer would make him look like a second rate spook, The First folded in on itself in a transient flash of light.

---

 

"Okay," Buffy began, seeming slightly nervous despite the reassurance of Spike's arms around her waist and his cheek beside hers. She looked around the room, checking to make absolutely certain that Quentin Travers was nowhere in sight. "Important stuff first. Some of you people weren't around when we were working out the whole wedding list thing, but it wouldn't seem right, now that we've all got to know each other better, if you weren't all invited to the wedding. Anyway, Spike has to go over to the reception hall today and pay the rest of the deposit and give them the numbers. We'd really like it if you could all make it." Her gaze lingered on Faith before moving on to James and then to Bee, Penelope and finally to Ha Nath's co-workers. "So, if there's anyone who hasn't already sent us an official RSVP but would like to come along on Saturday night, can you just stick your hands in the air?"

Spike smirked as Giles caught Lydia's hand before she could finish lifting it. "Kinda guessed that madam librarian was your plus guest."

"Just as long as you ain't expectin' formal wear?" Faith asked with a lift of her eyebrow. "I guess I could cope with a party." She lifted the hand whose fingers were entwined with James' rather than the one which held the axe.

Around the room several other hands, belonging to watchers and demons alike, rose into the air. Spike did a rapid head count and whispered, "Got it," into Buffy's ear.

"Right then, back to the whole deal with the thousands of ubervamps waiting to chow down on the human race until there isn't one... In case anyone missed out on the widespread jubilation last night, Caleb is no more. As those Pythagoras guys say, 'he has ceased to be'... but that isn't going to help us, if we don't deal with this soon."

"Wasn't the mad preacher guy the one in charge?" Marie asked. "Won't things go back to normal now that he's gone?"

"Giles?" Buffy looked at her watcher. "You want to field this one?"

"Right..." Giles removed his glasses, dangling them from his hand as he spoke. "As far as we know, Caleb was the one who was directing the bringers. We haven't yet seen him command any of the Turok Han. They may or may not have been receiving instructions directly from The First Evil. In fact, it's difficult to imagine that they would have taken orders from any lesser authority. With Caleb's death, any remote chance we had of closing down the seal has disappeared, though I never did expect us to be able to wring any tears of remorse from him."
He settled his spectacles back into place. "Our only hope is that if we tackle the evil which lies beneath the seal, then its ability to influence people will be destroyed also.
We cannot leave it unguarded but neither can we continue to expose our people to it indefinitely. Ultimately, that would lead to our own corruption. The matter has to be settled once and for all and it has to happen soon."

The watcher nodded at the angular girl whose hand was waving in the air. "Yes, Amanda?"

"Didn't Buffy say there were thousands of them things or like tens of thousands or something? I mean there's maybe a couple of hundred of us between the girls who're old enough to fight and the watchers who aren't too old and last time we took on one of them things, even when there were a whole bunch of us and just the one of them, there was a bunch of people got hurt. I mean it's not like I'm not willing to try, but there's just an awful lot of them..."

Buffy shook her head. "Beyond a certain point their numbers don't matter. Bee assures me that the amulet her uncle has provided will be powerful enough to destroy all the Turok Han in the area when it is activated. All we have to do is to take and hold some sort of bridgehead long enough for the person with the amulet to do their bit. We need to hold a defensive line. You guys have all done that loads of times when we've patrolled."

"Against bringers ," Shannon protested. "Not against a whole bunch of those things. You and Faith and maybe Spike and them..." She nodded toward the demons with Ha Nath. "...Are the only ones who even have a hope of going toe to toe with Turok Han. They'd just smash through the rest of us like we were nothing."

"Trust me," Buffy asked her gaze meeting the potential's. "I'm not going to say that this is going to be easy. I'm not going to say that everyone will make it. They won't. People will get hurt. People will die, but we aren't planning a kamikaze mission. We have a plan to even the odds some. Travers isn't going to like it but we aren't asking his permission... and that's why some of us need to talk to the potentials after we finish here."

Faith spoke up. "Bottom line is that we don't have a choice. We fight now and some of us die or we do nothing and we watch that seal twist people around until one of us ends up being the next Caleb and we're right back where we were or worse. You want to fight against people you've trained with? That's what we're saying. Getting the axe and getting rid of Caleb are just steps on the path. We've got to walk the rest of the road. Anybody want to disagree?"

No one did, though Giles was heard to mutter under his breath about his saying exactly the same thing but no one taking any notice.

---

 

"Yes, I already put my suit in the car. Yes, I have checked it fits. Yes, I've got a blanket if I need one... an' a spare but seein' as it's kinda overcast anyway I doubt I'll need it."

Buffy couldn't help the quirk at the corner of her mouth as Spike tried to convince her that he had everything under control. "Humour me?"

"Check Revello and my place for any replies or phone messages that have come since the last time we checked. Work out the final numbers. Pick up the cake on the way... and some pastries an' fruit juice for Wes an' the other wankers that we left watchin' the queen of the Sunnydale Pyramid. Go pay the deposit..." Spike paused as he mentally added arranging the final touches for Buffy's wedding present that was waiting at the reception hall where Wes had left it to the list. "Come back, drop off the goodies with the watcher an' tell him you an' Jailbird an' the magic bints will be over to do the business soon as you bring the munchkins up to speed on the plan. Take a turn over to the manse an' make sure the vicar's still walkin' an' talkin' an' then pick up the tickets and the other bits an' pieces for the honeymoon..."

Buffy frowned as she tried to think whether there were any other errands that needed running before the big day.

"...An' that's it except for one last thing that might need a bit more practice." The vampire stepped closer until there was barely half an inch between their bodies.

"Huh? Practice? What do we need to practice?" The slayer's voice held more than a hint of panic.

Spike smirked, looking inordinately pleased with himself. "Hear tell I'm meant to kiss the bride."