"Tales of D'Hoffryn…"
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .com...
Summary: While saddled with the job of tending the discombobulated First Evil, the Lord of all Things Vengeful tells a few tales of his (well, his people's) exploits with some old friends…
Part II…
Hell…The secure chamber in which the First Evil in her currently somewhat pixilated condition resided under the care of imps in Buffy form…And her storyteller/keeper, the demon lord D'Hoffryn, currently forced by order of the acting CEO of Hell, Warren Mears, into the form of Buffy Summers' past existence, the beauteous Cicely Addams Walthrop...
"So then the stuffed and gutted body of Warren Mears was …" 'Cicely' continued.
"Hanging, drawing, quartering, stuffing, and gutting while alive is not something I think the Slayer is allowed to do." 'Buffy' noted.
"Hell, girl…" 'Cicely' frowned. "We're Slayers, right? We can do as we please…"
"Oh, no…" 'Buffy', wide-eyed. "The Slayer is a force for light and love in a cruel and cynical world. She ensures that evil is punished and good rewarded." Solemn nod.
"That's nice…" 'Cicely' nodded. "But as I said, this was to save our William…" solemn look.
"Well…" 'Buffy' considered. "I suppose in that case…"
A Buffy imp attendant entered in cheerleading costume. Eyeing 'Cicely' carefully…
Hmmn… "Excuse me, Buffy…Another sister from a parallel universe needs my advice."
"Oh…" 'Buffy' eyed Cheerleader Buffy. "Are you battling the fiendish mother of Amy, Buffy?"
'Cicely', hastily nodding…Just go with it, you moron…
"Yes, Buffy…I'll just be a minute." the imp smiled.
"Try mirrors…" 'Buffy' suggested.
"Well…?" 'Cicely' hissed.
"Lord Mears requests an update…"
"Tell him all's well…"
"Actually…I'm lying…" Cheerleader Buffy noted. "He has a direct feed from here, been watching every moment. He wants you to know one more 'gut and stuff Warren' suggestion and you stay 'Cicely'…Contentedly…"
"…And washing his and Angelus' clothes and backsides for all eternity. Contentedly…" she added.
"Fine…I mean, no more 'gut and stuff'…" 'Cicely' sighed.
Out loud…For now…
"He thought you'd agree…" Cheerleader Buffy nodded. Heading for the exit door… "Oh, and Angelus says to tell you he got a good look down your cleveage a few minutes ago. 'Nice goods', he said to say. Goodbye, Buffy…" she waved to the First.
"Goodbye…Tell Amy in your universe she shouldn't do rat in deadly anti-Wican situations. She'll be much happier…And perhaps Willow will go for her instead of Tara…" 'Buffy' waved.
God…You know… 'Cicely' eyed herself in the reflecting pool in the center of the chamber…Pity one can't drown permanently in Hell…I actually don't look half-bad. It is rather nice looking rather…Nice. Lord, Haly never looked quite right in the part…Can't believe she actually fooled William even for the few minutes needed to destroy him…
But what the hell did he see in Buffy after spending time with me? Er, with Cicely…?
"So… Cicely…What else can you tell of William and our past while we wait for our plane tickets…?" 'Buffy' turned to 'Cicely'.
I mean look at these, compared to her little…Hmmn? Oh, right…
"Well…"
"You said there would be tales of our sufferings? Losing an argument with William in a park and then killing Warren to avenge him doesn't sound so…"
"There was the time he saved us. From our darker side…And we completely failed him. Didn't even remember what he'd done…" 'Cicely' noted. "Had a chance to rescue him, muffed it completely…"
"When Glory beat him almost to dust?"
"Worse…"
"When we left him, with soul and insane, in a basement, alone…?"
"Cruel child's play…" 'Cicely' shook her head.
God, how could we have been so…?
Hmmn… 'Cicely' blinked.
"Is insanity contagious in Hell?" 'she' hissed to a Buffy imp attendant in Grecian goddess robes.
"I think Lord Mears is counting on it…" the imp nodded.
"Oh…" wan look from 'Buffy'…
"I must hear…So I can atone…But…Cicely? If I didn't remember, how could you…?"
"Parallel universe, Buffy…Don't even try to puzzle it out, sweetheart. Paradox the size of a major headache…"
"I see…Go on…" 'Buffy' sat on a large flat boulder near the pool…
"Well, about nine months after Spike came to Sunnydale. Just after Angel took his ride to Hell? When Spike was about to leave with your permission…?"
"Leave…Oh…No…Is that the story? Oh…Why didn't I remember and make him stay…?"
"There was a bit more to it, Buf. Vicious evil and cruelty…"
"You mean when I didn't even thank him for helping me save the world from Angelus and the Judge before he left?" sad-eyed stare…
That was terrible… 'Cicely' sighed. The phalanx of Buffy imps in various costumes attending sighed…
Ummn…
"Anyway…This was even worse…"
"Sunset…"
Part I…
"Christ…" Spike eyed the broken fuel gauge. Looking carefully out of the opening in the painted-over windshield at the descending twilight…
Of all the things that could have happened to this beauty of mine…I forget the gas needle is permanently stuck at half-full. And that cars are not 'glass is half full' kinds of people…
Drusilla muttering in her sleep in the back…
And there's another joy. When milady awakens…And if she awakens close enough to Slayerland that it wouldn't be much of a vengeance trek, always a major consideration for one so flighty of mind…So much for my temporary truce…
Well, at least this is one problem not too impossible to rectify…At least not for the current world-saving champion vampire, William the Bloody. Defeater of Angelus and the Judge, with a little help from human bit players…
Though, sadly…Not bit…Would dearly have liked to have a taste of that girl. Ah, well…
Of course cash flow is a minor problem. And given I'm still in Sunnydale environs, I suppose bloody homicide for gas is not a wise option…
After all, I may want to do business with that Slayer again before I kill her…
Still, nothing in our agreement says I can't commit a few minor acts of larceny. There must be an ATM somewhere nearby just waiting for the magic moment when I come crashing in through its door…
Or perhaps a bank…Might pick up some jewelry for Dru from the safety deposit boxes on the way out. A bit of a peace offering…
He opened the door cautiously…Yes, just about dusk…He got out and with great care closed the door. Peering inside…
Yes, sleeping like a drugged and inconvenient baby about to be tossed into the river. Excellent…
A brisk constitutional in the pleasant evening's air…The world's savior getting to savor his heroics, pleasantly nodding and greeting the lower end of the food chain. Hell, surely saving about 6 billion cancels out viciously killing 40,000 or so…
"Is that him?" A brown-haired girl in blouse, sweater vest, slacks eyed the strolling Spike as he set out down the highway, back in the direction from whence he'd just come…
"That's him…" The lord of all things vengeful, glorious in aspect in his battle armor, nodded. His carewornly handsome face expressing a profound mix of emotions. Hopeful triumph, sneering contempt, vicious amusement…A touch of bitter resentment…God, the trouble this little blonde putz and his girl have put me to…
"He's the one who cost Haly her assignment? What's he got?"
"No, not him…And he's got…The Slayer. The same one who cost Haly her assignment, so look out…"
"The vampiress in the car is…?"
"No, Anyanka…" D'Hoffryn sighed. "Of course not…"
"Well…He does have a rep with Slayers…" she noted. "He's got the Slayer? Tied up, enthralled?"
"She's protecting him…Though she doesn't know it." he said, patiently. "Her past memories buried, but instinctively she'll never let harm come to him…"
"Ok…So he's a vampire as was ordered on the original job?" his companion asked. Choosing not to smugly add which I carried out without screw up, so far as it went. "And his wife, the Slayer in question, was poisoned and died with their child and he's become a major player on the maniacal killer circuit. And doesn't know and may well happily kill said wife in her new girly form…If he can…?"
"Right…"
"And so Haly screwed this one…How?"
"She failed the mission goal, Anyanka…To bring the Slayer to despair…Defile her soul and make her ready to accept us…"
"Oh…" Hmmn…
I don't remember ever agreeing to 'defilement of soul' in my contract…
And more importantly…This one…Been there, failed that…"Mission goal".
"You know, Buffy Summers doesn't seem any less spunky than Cicely…Or Anne Hathaway…Or Elisabeth Pepys." she noted. "Maybe…"
"Are you suggesting you'd like resign this case? You know no one resigns my cases…Voluntarily…Particularly when I'm generously offering them a chance to correct past mistakes."
"I didn't volunteer in the first place, D-H…" she sighed. "But I'm just pointing out…Since I did fail with them twice in previous lives…"
"You want to remind me of that?" he glared.
"Boss…You agreed I'd done all you ordered. It just wasn't quite enough. Besides you always said it would be the Cicely who'd buckle, with her mate transforming and all. I'm just sayin'…Haly oughta have another chance. Just to be fair…"
Yes, indeed…Wouldn't want her to miss an opportunity to screw it again…
"She's wrong for this job…She'd stir up unwelcome memories. Consider this a chance to retrieve your shattered reputation, Anyanka. Now pay attention…I expect you to make the most of this chance…" ("His Lordship being most incredibly generous to employees." 'Cicely' noted approvingly to the First who eyed her. "Though of course he is our darkest enemy…" quick adjustment.)
Sigh… "Right, boss…So?" Anyanka eyed him. "...I get her to wish she'd finished Spike off…Her own husband. Then let her find out about everything?"
"Not bad but no…She's used up her occult wishes for the moment. It's his turn…"
"You want me to grant Spike's wish?" she eyed him. "How does that get us a Slayer justice demon? He wishes her dead in spectacular fashion. She's dead, reunites with his soul. End of story...Again."
He eyed her…
"This is why I'm the minion…." she sighed. "I get it, boss…"
"Just do as I tell you and leave the strategic planning to me…" he insisted.
…
"Hey, there…Blonde, lithe, and gorgeous…You need a ride into Sunnydale?"
Spike eyed the open car door…And its rather open occupant. A tall brown-haired beauty in light fall clothes…Smiling warmly…
"As a matter of fact…" he gave a boy's smile. "I could do with a lift to the nearest gas station…"
"Hop in…" the door locks popped…
He moved to the passenger side…
"Thanks…" he climbed in…Closing door… "But a girl like you should be careful whom she takes for a ride."
"No problem…" beaming smile. "I always trust a man in a leather jacket. It's the nerds in buttoned-up shirts and tight little ties you hafta watch out for…" grin…
"William…" he offered a hand.
"Anya Jenkins…" she accepted and pumped the hand with her right hand while steering them back into the highway with the other…
"That's lovely…Hope this isn't taking you out of your way…"
"Nah…I live in Sunnydale…" Anya shrugged. "You from England? I can tell by the accent…" she smiled.
He nodded, warm boy's smile… "Indeed…And here I was hopin' I'd pass for a Billy Idol groupie."
"Too good-looking…" Anya smiled.
"And you?" he asked politely. "Fresh out of Hell, aren't you?..."
She eyed him…He her…
"Please keep one of however many eyes you actually have on the road, miss…" he said, sternly. "I've no wish to complete a very bad day by ending up dust in someone's tail pipe…"
"You're good…"
"Please…" he put up a hand. "Lets not stoop to insults. What do you want? And since I don't quite sense that 'big bad' aura, more importantly…What does your boss want?
"Only to benefit a brother demon…A compadre in the fight for Evil against all things good…"
"If you're that unselfish I'm shocked you didn't come a chargin' to save your good friend the Judge and his plans to level all before him in the name of Demonity and all things Evil…"
"I'm here to help you, William. Specifically…"
"Delightful…What do I have to buy? Will dinner and a movie suffice?"
"That would be nice…" she gave an arch smile back. "But I can't accept presents from clients…"
"Ah, the incorruptible Evil…" he nodded. "Dedicated to the Cause and all that…You know you religious fanatics are the prime cause of the suffering in this world. And grateful as I am for that…"
"Just tell me what you most want…William…" she smiled.
Whoa!...He grabbed the wheel and turned it just enough to get them safely past an overturned tree in the road. She staring as well…
"I think right now I most want you to keep your eyes on the road…" he noted.
"Sorry…" she bit her lip. "I've only been driving since I got here a week ago from the early 20th…"
"Twenty gallons of gas, free…" he said suddenly. She glancing at him a second only…
"What can I say? My needs are simple…"
"What about that bitch Slayer…Bitchy the Blonde?"
"Oh…" he shrugged. "She's all right as Slayers go…Keeps her deals…And I prefer to do my own killin'. Now, love…"
She grimaced as he twisted at the point where he'd gripped her arm… Ohhh…
"I'm sure killing you is out of the question…And thrall useless. But I'm a great believer in the power of raw physical violence. Who wants to hire me for whackin' the Slayer? And why? Might be wise to pull over, love…"
She did so…Rubbing freed arm on stopping…
"So?" he eyed her…
"I meant what I said…" she noted. "I'm here to help you set all things right…"
"For how many easy payments of $9.95?"
"You wouldn't like to have vengeance?"
"A kindly fellow like me, with full access to my own inner maniac? Why should I wish ill toward anyone in particular, apart from the natural need to feed and the instinct to inflict suffering? No, my heart is filled with nothing but benevolence. I just saved the world, if you weren't aware…"
"Then surely the world owes you, William…"
"Twenty gallons of gasoline will do nicely. Thanks…"
"Not even interested in another crack at the Slayer?"
"My friend and angel of light, Buffy Summers? Why, ma'am if you were to take one ill-intentioned step in her direction…"
She eyed him…
"I could almost believe you meant that…" she said.
"Lady…" he smiled coldly. "Thanks for the lift…But I'm not a contract player. As for the Slayer, I'll deal with her. Whoever she is at that time…In my own eternal time." he opened the door.
"Wait…" she pulled out her purse…Taking out a twenty… "I'm obliged to grant your wish…" she smiled. Handling him the money which he stared at a moment, then shrugging, took…
"Thanks…" he turned to get out.
"Spike might be content with that…" she began.
"But what about William Soames Walthrop…?"
He paused, eyeing her coolly…Thin smile…
"He'd probably throw the dough in your face and stride off to his untimely death, making a pretty, if dull speech on the inherent nobility of the human soul. Give it and my rotting soul a rest, love. Good night…" he got out.
"It felt good to be a hero, didn't it…?" she called from the open door. "Some little part of you was William again, for an instant in spite of everything, wasn't he?"
"Wasn't he?" she was beside him now, standing as he looked at the car door, exasperation on his face. He whirled. The briefest of starts, then calm, hard stare…
"I've been polite…" he said quietly. "Now if you don't want me to muss that pretty hair…"
"You can't harm me. But I could help you, William." Anya smiled.
"Do you get paid strictly by commission for this sort of thing, is that it…?" he frowned. "All right, you're some sort of twisted wish-granter…I've heard tell of your kind…One of D'Hoffryn's girls, I presume?"
"Anyanka…" she nodded.
"Tell your boss the mark's not interested and if he bothers me again, there will be consequences. You might describe in detail the untimely roasting of our beloved Anointed One, ok? Besides, I thought your type dealt strictly with the little mortal kind…"
"You were, once…And he's still hanging about, demanding answers, seeking justice…" she noted. "You know he is…"
"If he were so foolish, he'd deserve his fate…" Spike started off down the road. Leaving her alone…
"Suppose…" she was beside him again, walking…
"Christ…" he slapped at her with hard swipe…
"Just hear me out…" she was on his opposite side…
"Until we reach the nearest station and I set you aflame with some of the gas you so kindly paid for…" he calmly noted.
"Fine…Suppose you had the chance to be the hero, not the victim. At last…"
"I like to see myself as the hero of every encounter. It's all in the eye of the evil beholder, you know…" he replied. Eyeing her…
"Suppose the chance included a chance to learn everything about that night. And what really happened…?"
"A girl dumped me, I drank too much, a streetwalker who offered me a jolly time turned out to be Drusilla. Mystery solved, love…"
"No…And you know it, William…"
He paused… "Why?"
"I exist to see justice done…We all do…"
Uh-huh… "Lovely…Why?"
"Injustice was done to each of us, so…"
"No, love…You know what I mean…Why me?"
She hesitated…
Gotta give it the full force…
Yet…Honesty? Unprecedented…
Still, D-H knows his souls. And this one will only cave for the true…
"It's our chance to capture Cicely's soul…" she replied. "And condemn her as you were condemned…"
He stared at her…
"Her soul lives…Now…Here…" she nodded. "Free of you, but…Searching for you…Desperate to find you and make amends, in point of fact. And this is your chance to learn the how and the why."
"D'Hoffryn wants Cicely's soul?" he blinked.
"To drag her down and condemn her forever…It's what we do…And it would be such a feather in his cap, to win a Slayer to us." she smiled. "Particularly to the greatest of heroines…With a tragic weakness…"
"Good luck with that, love. Give the bitch my regards if you pull it off…" he continued on…
"Part of you…Loves the idea of condemning that bitch. But most of you…Admit it,William…"
He snarled at her…Taking face…She vanished to reappear on the branch of a large tree…
"Wasting your time, Spike…" she cooed. Then back at his right side…
"You want answers…" she noted to his furious face. "Admit it…And, whatever rage you feel at her. I've made you wonder…As you so often do, floating about Spike…William, I know you're here. You have a choice now. You can go on floating round, till Spike wallows in so much blood even you run for Limbo or Heaven or whatever and Cicely can meet her inevitable fate, abandoned by you…Or…You can have a chance to know the truth and to take matters into your own hands. Stop being the victim, if only for an instant…"
"A puzzler…And a catch…?"
"If you fail…Probably all's lost…Forever…For all Humanity as well as you and Cicely…" she smiled benignly. "Yeah…She's that important…And of course you'd likely be dust, Spike."
"There is no me and the one you mentioned. As for Humanity, I've done more than any vamp should be expected to do, thanks."
"And if you win…" she smiled. "You get another chance…Both of you…"
"Delightful…No…"
"Why do you think you've been so fascinated by Slayers? Why this particular Slayer?" she stared at him.
And found herself on the ground, breath knocked out of her…
Tsk-tsk…He wagged a forefinger at her. She got up, frowning. Ok…
"Nice…You have ability, William. You'll have Spike's power, I promise. A fair chance…At last, answers…And…" wry smile.
"A chance to really impress the girl of your dreams…" she beamed. "Plus I threw in that full tank of gas. Come on…What have you got to lose but a pesky soul hovering about…"
"How could…?"
Nibble…Now play the line, let him run with it…
"Twenty-four hours to resolve everything…Find the answers…Save the world on your own from a terrible Evil. Well, with some help but not hers…And save the girl…From her own darkness…"
He paused. Words coming to him, he couldn't stop them from coming through…
"And the catch, even if…?"
"…If you win? You get another chance…Not resolution…We can't give you that. But a certain chance…Both of you. Will, she's dying within, doesn't even know that she is, poor kid. Losing her Humanity to the Slayer as she's always feared. And much as we want that, I'll be honest…There's a part even of us that wants to see you two have a sporting chance. Will you abandon her, fail her again? And the others, this is their chance too…"
"I never…" he gasped. Suddenly…
Well…Hello, William…Hooked and in the bag…She thought, contentedly…
"You can hear her, screaming, crying. Pleading for you to believe in her…And you do, you have still all these years, in spite of that night. Will, don't leave her, trapped like this. Worse than you, dying with her guilt…And the others, they're dying within too. You know that, it's your pity and compassion that was the lure for Dru. Give them this chance for a moment of redemption. Give her this chance…"
"Cicely?" he whispered.
Warm smile…
"Wish…Granted, William…" Anyanka disappeared.
He glanced round again, for the tenth time…No sign of her…Gone…
Lord…He shrugged.
Well, whatever it was…Practical joke or something real…I still need gas…He looked down the highway…
A light…Seemed like a sign…Yes, the last station on the way out of town. Well, stick to the practical for now and worry about what can't be helped later…
Cicely…He pictured her, for the first time in what? Fifty years…?
Alright, more like fifty days. Perhaps even…Hours?
But that was surely Spike simply stoking the ole fires of vengeance…
Searching for me…And here, now…She said.
No…He shook his head…
No…It's a trick…A joke…A very bad one…Perhaps of Angelus' makin'? A little parting gift left in case his little plan to destroy all failed? Have me runnin' to the Slayer, asking her…?
Yeah, a pretty picture that…She laughing so hard, she might even spare me again, just kick me down the road outta town…
No…Not possible…
Cicely was much bigger all around…Girls gave you something to hold on to in those days.
Still…She was a sweet girl. Though full of sass, like Cics was, in the first days. The old days…The days when I dreamed…No…
No…
Lost in his thoughts…He failed to see the moon had turned a bloody red. Then cleared…
A scream interrupted his reverie. He instinctively hurried toward the sound, coming from the station ahead…
A young woman, dark-haired…On the ground, her legs crushed by the car that had driven over her. Shrieking in agony. He moved to her…Blood all over…
"Help me!" she wailed.
He looked round…Some way to stop the bleeding…Tourniquet? He grabbed a long cleaning rag… "Miss, I'll have to lift your legs, hang on." he lifted and wrapped the rag about her left thigh, the left leg a bloody mess…
"Oh…" she moaned. "You son of a bitch!"
"I'm sorry…That should slow the bleeding. Let me try and get help…" he rose and saw the station attendant eyeing them…
"Did you call a doctor?" he called.
"Call one yourself…" the boy shrugged. "And get her out of my driveway…" He turned and went back inside…
Jesus…Spike stared…
"I'll kill him when I catch up with him…" the girl hissed. "Get me a doctor, you bastard!"
He eyed her angry, contorted face. Pain, of agonizing sort, certainly…But something more…A raging hate winning out even over agony that should have put all thoughts but agony aside…
He hurried to the station store and went in… "Phone?"
"There…" the boy pointed, slouching… "And get her out or I'll throw her in the highway…"
"Hello…911…I'm reportin'…"
"Go to Hell…" click…
"Hello?" he tried.
Wrong number? He dialed again…
"What?"
"This is an emergency…Is this 911?"
"Yeah…F-you…" click…
Hmmn…
He dialed "0"…
"Operator, can you put me through to the nearest hospital off Rt 195 in Sunnydale?"
"Sure…" laugh…Click…
Right…He pondered, then dialed 411…
Where an out-of-town operator quickly gave him the number and transferred the call…
"Sunnydale General? Emergency?"
Hideous screams in the background…
"Whatda you want?"
"I've an emergency. A woman run over…"
"Alive?"
"Only if you hurry…Please…"
"Arnie, we may have a live one…" call. "Where is she?"
"The Mobil station on Rt 195, just out of town…Can you hurry?"
"Keep her packed in ice and we'll get to her…" chuckle. "Bring the saw and the organ box…Don't blow this one…" call…
He hung up…
Hmmn…
Oh…God…He suddenly gasped. A vision of the girl on the ground…He trembled, shuddered at the sight…
No…Not her…One like her…One…
Louise…That girl in St. Louis…The one who'd begged him to leave her baby alone…
No…And I laughed and…
"Hey…Either buy something and get the bitch outta my driveway or get…" the attendant called to him. But backed down at his icy stare…
I took that baby and laughed and…
He got to the door, stumbled out…
The girl…I can still…
A car parked by the pump where she…
Jesus…Still lay…
He rushed over…A thirty-ish brown-haired woman pumping gas, talking on phone…
Stared at him with frown…
"Where's the…" he stared at part of the corpse underneath the woman's right front tire…
"You oughta get your garbage outta the way. I coulda blown a tire…" the woman snapped at him. Returning immediately to the phone… "So I told Mom. I'm through paying through the nose for you, you old bitch…And she starts bawling. So I tole her to go hang herself or use the gas then I hung up and…"
He went round. The body, minus severed limbs, now lying by the next pump island…Face contorted in pain?...Rage…?
He put his hands in his hair. What Hellish madness?...Right out of…
Well, one of my wilder evenings…
Dreaming…I'm dreaming. All of it…Everything…The girl, that waifish streetwalker…Drusilla? Yes…The waking up in a shallow grave, digging out to find her waiting. The killing…Mum…Oh, God…It has to be…It has to have been a dream, all of it…And this…
No, I was drunk…Passed out…
He looked round…
But those aren't carriages, I'm in 21st century clothes, and these are gasoline pumps…
"Hey!" the woman on phone had hung up… "You wanna screw? I got thirty…"
He stared at her…No, not one of them…One of me…
Still human…After a fashion…
"Your loss, pal…" she shrugged and got in her car, nearly hitting him as she drove off…
The attendant running out of the station store…Gun in hand, firing after her. "Bitch! Come back here and pay up!"
"Hey!" he raced over. Trying to grab for the gun…
"You want some?" the attendant whirled, firing…
He winced but felt only the mildest stinging…
Yep, still…One of them…
"Christ…" the attendant backed away from him… "You get outta here, you freak! I'm calling the cops!"…He ran back into the station store…
All right…All right…William put hand to his head…
No…He forced eyes open at the onset of the visions which gripped him on closing eyes…
Thousands…Thousands upon thousands…Men, women…Children…
And I can't even remember a name. Or a face, clearly…
Except…One…He closed eyes. Yes, I remember one…
Mother…Oh, Mother for the love of God take pity on your poor son's lost…
…Soul?
The demon…The wish-granter, what the hell was her name…Anna? Anya…Anya…Right…He thought as he made his way back toward the car, gallon container of gas in hand…
She said…A chance…The fate of Humanity…And of us…
Us? He shook his head. No…There is no "us"…Cicely sent me away…
And whatever her game, this wish-granting whore…It couldn't involve Cicely being…
Here? Alive…
Seeking me…
And as…?
Nonsense, even if the girl's not a natural, Cicely would never trade her brunette. This is some kind of cruel game, a deception…
But she was right about my strange interest in those poor girls. Whom every other of my kind runs from unless backed up by major firepower or severe threat by the current Big Bad. But…For Spike…
For me…They were a lure…
No…Some kind of deception…Clearly all I have waiting for me is a dreadful penance ahead…
Could that be it? Could this be Hell and Damnation? Those whom the Gods would destroy, they first give back a soul?
And yet she said I had a chance not to be the victim…
To save her…And win a chance for us both…
Nonsense…A trick…All of this, an illusion…
Though one with a practical bent…I am still in the world I've existed in for a century since that night, or so it's seemed. This is Earth, best as I can make out. However bizarre the behavior of some people…
And it still seems a world in which one needs gasoline to travel. He eyed the container…
And Drusilla…Is still out there, waiting for me in that car…
Now clearly this D'Hoffryn has some delightful game in mind for me to play. What was it? Twenty-four hours, she said? If she can be trusted, which I'd say I have excellent reason to doubt…
But I don't have to play. In fact, there being nothing for me here…I can take action, end this here and now. He scanned the side of the highway…There…He moved to where some broken fence slats lay in a little pile…He took a piece up and eyed it.
Exit, stage right…He thought wryly. Breaking a bit off one end to form a crude point…
"Not her fine instrument, but it will do the job at hand…" he noted.
Wait…
Drusilla…
I can't leave her, that monster free to cause mayhem…That poor condemned soul crying out to me…Begging me.
Trapped like me. That night in Prague…Those poor…God…Those poor children…And she, just for an instant…Somehow broke through and cried out…
Yes, she nearly saved us both that night. We barely escaped the mob and that fire, worse luck…
God if I've done nothing else to atone for my weakness, the least I can do is not abandon her to suffer alone here, pitiful lamb…
And she's likely still sleeping. A simple, merciful thing…Not done for revenge or in hate. And then, for me as well…Freedom and peace, at last…
Right then, Walthrop…Here's your real chance to do some good. And change the damned game plan on our little demonic friend and her boss…He strode on…
Should be just another half…He peered down the road…Squinting…
Vampiral abilities or no, I still could use my old specs…
Someone coming…
Someone….Oh….
Guess the drugs weren't as effective as I'd hoped…
Drusilla was moving along, tentatively…Glancing round….Her black shawl trailing…Her gaze finally coming to fix on him. She closed, slowly…Deliberately…
Does she sense?...I'm…Different…?
His hand on the makeshift stake, now hidden against his black jacket sleeve, tensed…
One quick swipe when she moves in a bit more…
She stopped, staring at him. Swaying a little…Raising a hand as if to clear her demented mind…
"Sir…" she hesitated. "Is this Hell?"
"Careful…" he warned her as they stood by the road. The car coming up behind them from town, headlights glaring, showing no signs of slowing as it neared them…
She watched it pass within inches, the breeze lifting her hair…
"Folks not taking much care for their neighbor this night, it seems." he noted.
"Kill me, sir…Now…" she looked at him. "Free me from this…Torment. Before It can return and use me more…Please, Mr. Walthrop." she begged. "I know it's you there. Forgive me and take pity on me…"
"There is nothing to forgive…Miss…" he paused. Finally a wan smile…
"I know Spike told you my name but actually we never were properly introduced…"
"Waverly…Drusilla Waverly…" she eyed him. "Help me, sir…I don't know if I can take my own life. But It mustn't be allowed to return. I've no right to ask your help, I know…" she pleaded. Raising hands to him as if in prayer…He patted her arm...
"You aren't to blame, Miss Waverly." he shook his head. "I don't know who or why in this matter. God certainly must take a share of the blame…But not you."
"I failed…" Dru shook her head. "I was not strong enough…"
"No one is…Drusilla. God knows, you know I certainly wasn't…"
"I killed you, sir. And the others, the others…" her face contorted, hands clenching…
"Angelus killed you…The demon killed the others. Dru…Miss Waverly…You've done nothing evil. You couldn't stop the creature who possessed you."
"I must be destroyed. It might return at any moment…"
"Not for a bit…I think." he replied, shaking head. "It must have been meant for you, too…"
"Sir?" she eyed him.
"Someone…Perhaps even a worse beast than our counterparts…Is having a bit of fun with us, miss."
"Fun…?" she gasped… "Is it…Him?"
"The Beast?"
He eyed her terrified face…Ah…
"Angelus? No…He's off to Hell. Him and perhaps his soul, Lord knows. You do remember…?"
"I…" she hesitated. "I'm sorry…I…"
"No…Forgive me…I shouldn't try to make you remember any of that."
"Not him? Another…?" she stared.
"Someone wishing to have a bit of fun with me at least. Not you, I think, dear heart. Though they have a larger and more sinister purpose in mind. I am sorry you've been caught up in this."
"It's only what I deserve for failing God…" she shook her head.
He frowned…
"I refuse to believe that, Miss Waverly. I may not have much liking for the ole fellow, but even I won't assume He's behind any of this directly. At least not without proof…"
She blanched… "I…"
He sighed… "No…" he put up a hand. "My fault…I've never learnt to control my tongue. It's got me in quite a bit of…Well…" he smiled faintly, shrugging. "As you see…Please, forgive me, I spoke out of turn."
"I can only beg your forgiveness, sir." she eyed him. Then looked round… "So…This is the world…Not Hell? When I found myself here…Like this…" she indicated herself. "I was so sure…" her voice, trailing…
"For so long…I seemed…" she paused. "I knew of you and It. But…I seemed to have escaped. Thought I'd been freed..."
He stared. "She…Your counterpart…And I…Mine…Have been here, I think…Since my death. Here on Earth, that is…Assuming this is Earth. You say you were free?"
"I don't know, sir…" she shook her head. "I felt away…Safe…Free of It. Though believe me, if I had known how you suffered. If I could have done anything…"
"I know…" he nodded. "And you did try…You did, Dru…Miss. Nearly got us killed doing it once." smile… "Whatever Angelus intended, he failed. Your soul has stayed pure…"
"So many deaths…So much suffering…" she sighed. Staring down…
"Not by you…Now…" he smiled gently at her… "There's been enough suffering, miss. No more…At least not to ourselves by our own hands. Miss, we've done our share of it…And then some…"
She stared at his stern look…Sighed…
"Perhaps you're right, sir. It may be that it is not yet my time…What can I do?" she asked.
"Miss?"
"You say some creature wishes to torment you by bringing us back to this world. How can I assist you?"
"Miss Waverly, I think it may be…"
"Dangerous?" she now gave a wan smile…Shrug… "We are dead, sir. There should be little that we need fear…"
"I don't know what it may involve…You have a soul again, miss. Perhaps…"
"My soul…And my life…Are in God's hands, sir. I was wrong to try and take that decision into my own. God has given me a chance to prove myself at last, after so long. Please let me help you, if and while I can. I owe you that much and more…"
"No, you don't…You owe me nothing, miss."
She looked at him a long moment…
"Nothing…" he repeated, firmly.
"Then let me do it as a friend. For the friendship your soul extended to me in my agony. William…" she said, simply.
….
"Here?" Dru looked at the gas station store as she stood by their car. William closing his door…
"It's where I first noticed something wrong. And felt…Myself, again…" Will nodded. "But careful…" he nodded at the police car now parked by the store…
A loud scream of agony from within…She gave a stricken cry and raced for the store door, not waiting for him…
"Hold it, lady…" a voice from the police car. She halted…
"Police business here…Get lost…" the cop rose out of his car…
"Unless you want a little…Quick justice…" he grinned. "I'd say that car of yours won't look too good on a check." he nodded at the battered Spikemobile…
Another scream…
"Do something! Someone is being killed in there!" she pleaded. "Oh, I'm sorry but…" she hurried on into the store as Will reached the door just after her…
"Hey!" the cop cried.
They burst in to find the young attendant on the floor. Two cops pouring hot, scalding coffee on him. On face, on chest…The boy howling…
"These doughnuts are stale…" one officer sneered at the boy. "And as for this pastry…" he tossed a cheese Danish at the writhing boy as his partner delivered a hard kick…
"Hey!" the second officer yelped in surprise as he was tossed back against a counter of dangerously caloric snacks…
"Here…" Dru knelt over the screaming boy as he twisted…
"You just got yourself in bad with the Law, lady." the officer who'd had complaints as to quality of goods glared at her…
Then, relenting slightly…
Not too bad…
She stared up at him. Arm round the boy…
Will now at her side, eyeing the officer. The second officer now picking himself off the floor…
"But I could be persuaded to overlook this infringement of the penal code…If you're very good, little girl." the first officer leered.
"Get out of here…" William told him. Coldly…
"Get…" he repeated.
The officer eyed him…
"Give him a good one, Harry…" the second officer had staggered over to his partner…
"F-you…" the first sneered. "A girl just knocked the guts outta you, Sidney."
"I told you to go…" William told the first officer quietly. "Don't make me say it again…"
"You got a big mouth, buddy…Want it even bigger?" the officer pulled out his gun…
"Please…Just go…" Dru stared at him. "You need to go. You have business elsewhere…"
She stared…He, blinking… Yeah…
"Come on…We got business. And we don't want any extra paperwork…" he pulled at his partner…
"You don't want to stay here…" Dru eyed the partner. "You're hurt and you want to get out…"
"Lets go…" the partner nodded. Grabbing at his side… "I got find a hospital…"
"The hell I'm driving you…" the first officer said.
"Night, folks…" he called back to the group. The boy cradled in Dru's arms…Dru knelling on the floor…William standing, eyeing the retreating cops…
"Terrible…Hideous…" Dru shook her head.
"Must be new, from LA…" Will noted.
"No, not them…" she shook her head. Absently patting and stroking the wounded boy whom she had set gently down on her shawl, pulled from her shoulders…
"…what was done to them…" she sighed. "And this poor boy…"
He looked at the boy…
Hmmn…Well the burns aren't too bad…
"His soul, sir…And the policemen…Gone…" she shook her head sadly.
"Gone…?"
"You must sense it a little. That they are different…"
"But they didn't…They aren't vampires. Or any kind of demon I know of…"
"No…Worse…" she said. Frightened look… "They are simply humans who have lost all their Humanity…"
…..
Having done what they could for the boy…Calling an out-of-town ambulance, treating his burns with first aid creams from the store, and giving him what pain-killer was available, William and Drusilla had left the store and had returned to their car. Trying to determine a course of action…
"A trade-off…" he suggested as they sat…
"We get back ours and a few locals lose theirs. At least for a day or so…? It does seem confined to this town…Not that strange really, it being Sunnydale."
"Very likely, sir…But…" Dru pondered.
"What have they (whoever) done with the souls. And how many more are affected? Perhaps we should try to see what's happening in the town…?"
"I imagine it's not good…" he frowned.
"She said…" he paused…Eyeing Dru. "I would have the chance to save her…"
"Cicely?" Dru asked.
"You remember Cicely?"
"I remember everything up to a point. And especially Cicely…It hated her." she said quietly. "Every time your demon…Spike…Came close to mentioning her name, It raged…And despaired. But it was too late to harm her by then, poor thing, she was long dead."
He nodded…
"And now, somehow…" Dru considered. "She is back…Looking for you?"
"I can't trust what this Anya said…" Will shook his head. "Cicely never loved me. She wanted me gone and that was that. There'd be no reason…"
"There'd be every reason, I'd say, William." Dru replied. "Drusilla didn't find you by accident that night…"
He stared at her…
"You were murdered, Mr. Walthrop…Very deliberately…"
…..
They drove carefully along the highway into Sunnydale…Dru trying to concentrate and sense…Anything…
"So…" he paused. "Sorry…"
"No, it's fine…" she shook her head. "I sense great chaos but it's impossible to get specifics yet. What did you want to ask?"
"This creature…In Cicely's form? Approached you…It…That night?"
"She offered you to It…Yes. And she was in your beloved's form. I saw the real one myself…It did, I mean…Shortly before I…It…" she hesitated.
"It…Killed me...Not you…" he said, sternly.
"She was definitely sent to use It to kill you. Why, I can't say…But someone wanted you dead. And transformed…For some dark purpose…"
"Cicely…Being thorough…?" he sighed. "She might not have been aware of what she'd done, if D'Hoffryn was involved…" he gave a sheepish look at her serious glance. "He's famed for trapping the unwary." wan smile…
"Perhaps that explains it…She wished to make amends?" Dru noted. "But if this girl…This Slayer…?"
"Miss Summers…She didn't seem to know me. And while I've changed a bit…"
"Reincarnation…Yes…Not impossible…In fact…" she hesitated.
"It could explain my own situation…"
"Dru?"
"I remember another life…Vaguely. Not my original one, back with my parents and my uncles…Another…I remember a town, like my old one but not the same. And not in England…Here…In America…"
"Reincarnated…You? But if that's true…"
"Then my current self has been robbed of a soul. As I was…" she nodded.
He blinked at her steady look, quickly returning his gaze to the road…
"Then you have my profound apologizes, Miss Waverly. I'm truly ashamed to have put you in this situation…"
"No..." Dru replied. "If this is my chance to help you in any way…To make some amends…"
She smiled wanly at his glance. None of that, girl…
"To defeat those who condemned us, then… I'm happy to have it. I simply must trust to God that my current human self will do no harm while I'm here. But this girl…Miss Summers…"
"I never sensed…Well…" he pondered, watching the road…Passing a recently replaced "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign. "Perhaps there was something…Hard to say…It did feel…"
"Lets assume for now this Anya wasn't lying about this. And this young woman is Cicely reborn. As well as a vampire Slayer…Could she help?"
"Anya was quite clear she would be needing my help…" he sighed. "I guess we can assume she's affected by this too."
"Dear God…" Dru blanched. "Soulless, like the others? And these…Slayers?...Are very powerful, true?"
"Very…" he nodded. "If she's become like the others. I'd say heroics here will be a bit difficult…"
"We should be on guard then. And approach her with extreme caution…"
"Soulless or no, that would be true. We're still vampires, after all. And she's not one to take chances with the likes of us…" he sighed.
"Oh, my…William…." Dru pointed. "Look at those children…"
He looked where she'd pointed out her window. To see a row of children in nightdress…Pyjamas, nighties…None older than four or five…Twenty or so…Wandering…
A car racing by nearly hit theirs…Stopping with sudden halt by an appliance store. A couple getting out…The woman pointing at the store window, the man taking a sledgehammer from the rear of the car. He tossed it at the window, shattering it and setting off alarms. They climbed in, grabbing at various items. The children looking over…Racing their way…
The man threatened them with his hammer and they fell back. Waiting, greedy-eyed…
"Look…" Dru gasped. "More…"
Children wandering down the street…Some older, most quite young…
"The parents are abandoning them." she looked at him. "We must stop this…"
A young, dark-haired, twentysomething woman in sweater and skirt hurrying down the street…Pausing to stare at the wandering children…
Some of them eyeing her coldly. Others looking her over, the same greedy stare as they'd given the couple looting the appliance store…
"No…" she waved two off. "Keep back! I'll hurt you! Run!" she stepped back…
"She's like us…" Dru stared.
"Please…You have to go home. Get away from here!…Don't you understand?" the woman cried. One little girl grabbing a necklace around her throat…Pulling it tight…Breaking it loose as the woman struggled, then running off down the street. Several following after her…Calling to her…Threatening…
"Miss!" Dru had rolled the car window down. "William, stop!"
He pulled the car over to the curb…
"No!" the woman backed away… "I'm a monster! I'll hurt you! Keep away!"
"You won't hurt us…" Dru called. "We're of your kind…"
She stared at Dru… "My…?"
"Monster!" she cried. "You keep away from these kids!"
"No, miss…" Dru called. "We've regained our souls, like you. I swear, it's all right…Come…"
The woman eyed her…
"You can sense it…Just reach out…" Dru nodded. "We only want to help, like you…"
She opened the car door… "Please…It's all right…"
The woman approached…Staring… "You…I know you. You're Drusilla, the one…The one they kept in the cellar. That boy that night they brought me in…And that maniac…The blonde guy…"
"Yes…" Dru nodded. "But it is all right. You can sense I'm not lying to you…"
The woman came closer…Shaking…Finally stopping just in front of Dru…
William looking over saw the woman's sweater was stained…
Blood…
"What's happened?" the woman asked…
"We don't know…" Dru shook her head. "Not for certain…But we must try and help these children. Get them to shelter…"
"Help them?" the woman stared… "I was killing them. Two little girls…Just before…They thought I was going to take them for ice cream. They trusted me…"
"A demon it was that did that. Not you…" Dru insisted. "We'll tell you what we know. But for now, we must do what we can to help them. Please, miss…"
"Ok…" the woman nodded, rubbing her head. "Maybe you're right…"
"Do you know the area? Is there a place nearby…?"
"There's a school there…" she pointed. "I saw…" she said, woodenly. "I saw a lady slam her little girl into a lamppost…Just now. But she wasn't…Like me…"
"Something terrible has happened…" Dru nodded. "But we will deal with that later…" she got out. Will coming from his side… "I still have some ability to influence, it seems. Lets try and herd them, get them to the school. They'll be safer there…"
"I'm afraid…I'll…" the woman stared down. "Look…Their blood's all over me…Oh, God…"
William came over…Took off his leather jacket and gently put it round her…Zipping it up. She staring at him…He patted her and she burst into sobs. Grabbing at him, he holding her…Soothing her…
"You won't hurt them…" Dru said firmly. "It wasn't you that harmed the others…" She came over, taking the woman from William. Rocking her in her arms… "Come, come lets do what we can while God has given us this chance…"