6. Prisoners and Pirates


By the time Angelus' message reached the governor's hands both 'The Slayer' and 'The Sea Witch' had reached the open sea. As the last lights of New London Port faded from sight Willow dropped her spell of concealment and, leaving her ship in the capable hands of her first mate, Jonathan, quickly teleported to her friends' ship. She appeared in Buffy's cabin, beside the bed where Clem lay, as the Slayer dressed his wounds.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He's been in and out of consciousness," Buffy replied. "It's mostly cuts and bruises but somebody hit him on the head pretty hard. If he'd been human it would've killed him."

Willow nodded, studying the unconscious demon.

"Did we find Dawnie?"

Buffy shook her head and began cleaning up the supplies she'd used to mend her friend.

"Angelus said she's not there, but he found Ripper's son. He was the last one Clem saw before he was attacked."

Willow's eyes darkened as her power filled her.

"Where is he?"

"In the brig. I wanted to make sure that Clem was okay before questioning him about Dawn."

"Dawn!" Clem called, sitting up quickly and startling both women. "Buffy, where are we? Is Dawn safe?"

"It's okay," the woman soothed. "We're on 'The Slayer' and we're going back to Sunnydale."

Clutching his aching head, Clem swung his feet to the floor.

"Where is Dawn?"

Buffy was silent for a moment, wondering if she should even attempt to lie to this man, then sighed.

"We don't know. She wasn't at the port when we arrived."

The demon closed his eyes briefly.

"And the Ripper's brat?"

"Angelus found him," Willow said, stepping back a bit when Clem shot to his feet. He stumbled slightly before his hands found her shoulders and steadied himself.

"Where is he!" he demanded.

Buffy shook her head at Willow but the witch either couldn't see her or decided to ignore her.

"He's in the brig," she said before Clem pushed past her and disapeared out the door. Buffy rushed after him.

"Clem! We can't question him if he's dead!"




In the small, damp cell Tara kept watch over William as she struggled to free her bound hands, cursing the gag Angelus had stuffed into her mouth.

'Please, William,' she thought at her friend. 'Please wake up'

The vampire, Johnny, couldn't have used his full strength in the swing or William would be dead, Tara reasoned, but he could still be very hurt. Wishing, not for the first time, that she was better at unspoken spells the young witch again concentrated on untying the rope that bound her hands behind her back.

"Tara?"

William's voice broke through her concentration, shattering the spell, but not before she felt the rope begin to give. It wasn't much but it was enough. Shaking it from her wrists Tara quickly removed the gag and flung it away as she moved to the wall of iron bars that divided her cell from William's.

"I-I'm here, Will. I'm fine. H-how's your head?"

William groaned and clutched at his throbbing head. It felt as though the Commodore's entire bloody batillion was doing drills inside is skull and said as much.

"Where are we?" he asked, after taking in his surroundings.

Tara's reply was drowned out by an inhuman roar and William clapped his hands over his ears as his skull threatened to explode. A man; 'no' Tara corrected herself, a demon, charged down the narrow woden staircase that led out of their prison and glared around the room. When he spotted William, Tara's heart skipped a beat for the creature had murder in his eyes. The pirate's presence filled the small room with palpable tension as Will struggled to his feet, leaning against the iron bars and closing his eyes tightly as the world spun around him. When he opened them again the man was standing completely still, hot gaze leveled on the human, and William finally recognized him.

"I know you," was the only thing he could think to say.

Tara yelled as the man rushed toward William's cell and the human tried his best to remain standing for the attack he was sure to come, but the big man never reached the cell. William watched, with an odd sense of detachment, as the pirate met with some unseen force that stopped him in his tracks before sending him across the room to collide with the iron walls of another cell. William's gaze immediately went to Tara as a fuzzy memory of two pirates going up in flames at a word from the blonde surfaced.

"You're a witch," he said matter-of-factly. She ducked her head and blushed even as he dismissed the thought. Everyone knew that witch's weren't real.

"Clem!"

The voice was followed by two young women who immediately sent to the side of the dazed pirate. The blonde of the pair turned to the two in the cells, arms crossed, green eyes almost glowing with fury.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded.

"N-nothing," Tara stammered, shying away from the intimidating blonde. "I-I just..."

The blonde woman's red haired companion stood, coming to her side, and studied Tara intently. Blushing under the scrutiny the young woman dropped her gaze and sidled closer to William as Willow extended a hand and poked at the air in front of the two cells. The empty space rippled like water when a stone is dropped into it, and William closed his eyes briefly, unsure if what he was seeing was real or if he was more badly hurt than he'd first thought.

"Protection spell," the red head said at length. "Good one too."

"Can you break it?" Buffy asked her.

Willow was silent for a moment, testing the strangth of the ward, then nodded.

"I'll need a few things but I'm sure that I can bring it down."

"Do it."

Without another word the witch vanished and Tara turned to William as he laid his hand on hers. Wide-eyed, he asked, "Did that woman just disappear?"

Tara nodded.

"Yes. She's a w-witch."

"Witches aren't real," he repeated in a whisper. Tara squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile.

"Of course witches are real," their blonde captor said. "As a matter-of-fact, there are a lot of things that are real. Witches, demons..." she looked toward Clem who was pulling himself to his feet. "Dragons, faeries..."

"Vampires," a new but not unknown voice cut in.

Tara tightened her hold on William's hand as Angelus sauntered into the room. Upon reaching Buffy's side he pressed himself against her back as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist. Buffy closed her eyes, leaning into his embrace, and William found himself blushing at the intimate picture the two presented.

"Are they talkin' yet, lover?"

"We haven't really asked anything," Buffy replied. "I was gonna wait for you, then we found out that the girl's a witch. W-Red," she corrected, reminding herself that there were prisoners present.

"She's working on bringing down the ward."

As though on cue, the air rippled again and Tara whimpered as her ward fell. Angelus grinned, taking the large key from the Slayer, and made his way to Tara's cell. The woman pressed herself into the corner as the vampire opened the door. Trying to will away the pain and nausea and focus on the man approaching Tara, William gripped the bars.

"Touch her and I'll kill you," he warned forcefully, though his threat was lessened somewhat by the fact that he could barely stand.

Angelus arched an eyebrow and smirked at the man.

"Is that so?" he asked before grabbing Tara's wrist and yanking her to him, pressing his other hand over her mouth. "Seems to me that you're not in much of a position to threaten."

Never taking his eyes off of the other man, Angelus pulled Tara's head to one side and let his features shift, relishing the growing horror in the human's eyes, before lowering his fangs to her throat.

"No!" William shouted, reaching for them through the bars. "Let her go!"

Frantic, he looked to Buffy who stood by Clem, arms crossed, an impassive look on her face.

"Please," he pleaded. "You said something about questions? I'll answer them, just don't let him hurt her."

The woman studied him for a moment then looked to the vampire.

"Angel," she said softly. The vampire raised his head from Tara's untouched neck and William's knees went weak with relief.

"What do you know of the whereabouts of Dawn Summers?" the woman asked.

It took William a moment to connect the name to the young woman he'd met earlier and frowned with worry for himself. His brain was most assuredly injured if that small slip of memory had illuded him for even that short amount of time, and it had taken him longer than normal to recall Clem as well. It could be temporary, but he'd heard of persons unable to remember the faces of friends and family, or even their own names, upon recieving blows to the head.

"Well?" Buffy prompted, pulling William from his musings.

"The last I saw of Miss Dawn, she was with him," he pointed to Clem. "And they were about to board 'The Liberty'."

"And is that what ye told Ripper?" Clem demanded.

"Ripper?" William repeated.

"Aye, Ripper," the demon continued, stepping closer.

William shook his head, he had no idea who this 'Ripper' was.

"The Governor?" Clem prompted. "Your father!"

"How did you know that my father is the governor?"

William had been very careful not to reveal that particular bit of information to this man.

"There are quite a few 'o us that know you're his," Angelus said. "The Ripper's infamous among our sort."

"I don't know who this 'Ripper' chap is," William assured. "But my father is no more this man than I am, and as for your questions, I've answered them. Miss Dawn was in Clem's care the last I saw of either of them and I told no one I had even met them. Now, I demand that you release us!"

It was at that point that Wesley entered the brig. The Watcher took in the scene before him then leveled his gaze on the Slayer.

"Really, Buffy," he scolded. "We're resorting to torture now?"

"I'll do anything I have to to get my sister back," she replied.

"Be that as it may," he continued. "It is much easier to glean information from a man who is not suffering from a concussion."

His gaze moved to Angelus and Wesley took a step forward.

"Release her, Angelus."

The vampire only tightened his hold on Tara.

"And if I don't want to?" he challenged.

A ball of green flame appeared on the other man's palm.

"Don't test me, Aurelian."

"Enough," Buffy commanded, stepping between the two men. "Angel, let her go. Wes can look at Ripper's son, then Red will do a truth spell."

Decision made, Buffy spun on her heel and returned to the deck.




Dawn slowly opened her eyes to dim and unfamiliar surroundings. An experimental tug reveiled that she was bound but not gagged and the gentle rocking told her that she was on a ship. And she wasn't alone, the black man was tied up a few feet from her, a dirty gag tied around his head and keeping him silent. He was unconscious, the result of the head wound that came into view when he shifted. It looked bad.

"Yeah," a voice said suddenly. "He's in rough shape, but he really should have cooperated. It would have made everything so much easier."

Dawn knew that voice and jerked around to face the woman sitting in the shadows.

"You."

"Me," she replied and stood.

"What do you want?" Dawn demanded. "You know Buffy's gonna kick your ass when she finds us."

"If she finds us," the woman countered, crouching down beside the teen. " "Cause right now? I've got the best mystics my ... benefactor can provide. They'll have her chasing so many shadows that she'll never figure out where you are."

She ran a hand through Dawn's silky hair.

"You and me, kid," she said, standing. "We're going on a little adventure."

The woman strode to the door and turned back.

"Sweet dreams."