Destiny - Chapters 33 & 34
Nov. 16th, 2003 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psubratAuthor: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to, I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Fred, Gunn and Lorne wake to discover that everyone is missing while Giles and Wesley face their darkest hour...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Pain Times Two"
Fred curled into a tighter ball against Gunn as she dozed in the sunlight streaming through the windows. Subconsciously, she knew that she wasn’t home in her bed. Her bed was nice and soft and comfy, this bed was hard and kinda cold. She felt Gunn’s strong arm pull her closer as she began to settle back down into that deep, blissful state of sleep. Her mind began to wander as she drifted, going over theorems and quantitative studies as well as the puzzle of the prophecy that brought them here to...Sunnydale! She sat bolt upright. Something felt wrong. Her eyes scanned the living room. Other than her, Gunn and Lorne, no one was there. How could this be? Surely she would have heard twelve people get up and about.
"Charles," Fred whispered, shaking him out of his dream state. "Charles, wake up. Something’s very wrong here."
"Fred," Gunn mumbled as he tried to pull her back down to the floor. "Go back to sleep. I’m sure if English needs us, he’ll wake us up."
She paused for a moment and listened to the house. It was quiet, almost too quiet. "No Charles, I don’t think he will. I think he’s missing. I think the whole house is missing!"
Gunn opened one eye and looked up at her. "What? How can a whole house disappear? I still see a ceiling. Go back to sleep."
"No, silly. Not the house. The people in the house!"
"What?" He asked in an irritated tone as he sat up. He hated when she messed with his sleep. Sleep was essential to his well being.
"Look around us, Charles. Do you see anyone else but us and Lorne?"
He did as she said and swept the room with his eyes, noticing only Lorne sleeping happily in the corner. Blankets and pillows were left strewn across the floor, evidence that there had been others there with them. But where were they now and why hadn’t he heard them get up? As packed into the living room as they all were, he was positive that at least one person would have stepped on him while trying to get to the bathroom. He stood up, surveying the room more closely now. Walking over to the pullout couch, he pulled the sheets back.
"Okay, this is really strange," he stated as he stood there looking under the sheet.
"What? Did you find something?" She asked as she ran to see what he was looking at.
"Well wherever they went, they went naked."
Fred stared at Xander and Anya’s clothing, lying neatly under the covers. She frowned as she met Gunn’s look of concern. Quickly moving to where the others had been sleeping, she pulled the blankets up one by one. The same thing greeted her in each spot, neatly pressed clothing, as if they had just disappeared right out from under them. "I’m worried now," she said shaking. "This can’t be good."
"Hey, can you two kids pipe down over there? I’m trying to sleep."
"Lorne!" Fred cried. "Get up. We have to find the others!"
"What? What others?"
"Everyone," Gunn replied, folding his arms across his chest.
Lorne sat up and looked from one to the other. "How can everyone be missing?"
"They just are!" Fred declared. "All they left behind is their clothing. I’m pretty certain that Anya wouldn’t leave the house without her clothing. I mean, she’s pretty free about certain things but somehow I don’t think she’s an exhibitionist. At least she didn’t seem that way to me. Well, maybe. Still, something had to have taken them!"
"Calm down, precious. I’m sure everyone just went out for breakfast or something..."
"Naked?" Gunn asked glaring.
"Well no, but that doesn’t mean they’re gone. Maybe they played strip truth or dare. I played it this one time in San Pedro with a couple of lovelies, what a time that was..."
"Lorne, I don’t think this is the time to reminisce about the good old days. We need to find these people and soon."
"Alright, Mr. Clean. Have you searched the rest of the house yet?"
"No," Fred responded as she let the blankets drop to the floor. "We haven’t gotten out of the living room yet."
"Okay. So there’s still a possibility that there are people here, correct?"
Both Gunn and Fred nodded in response.
"You two take the upstairs and search the rooms up there. I think the witches, along with that other British guy and ‘Little Miss Green Glow Ball’ were up there. I’ll check the other rooms down here and then I’ll check the basement. Kapish?"
"Okay Lorne," Fred stated shakily. "I hope we’re wrong and we find some more people."
While Fred and Gunn slowly crept up the steps, Lorne stood up and stretched. Sleeping on the floor had not done a thing for his back. Some days he thought he should hit Angel-cakes up for hazard pay and this was one of them. Sleeping on floors was not in his job description. Then again, did he even have a job description? Probably not, he decided.
"So much for the slumber party," he said to the room as he moved into the hallway on his way to the kitchen. It did seem kind of eerie that there weren’t any signs of life except for them.
Nothing looked out of place in the kitchen. Not that he could see. There were the normal dishes in the sink and a half empty mug of hot chocolate sitting on the island. It looked like a normal, everyday type kitchen to him.
As he moved towards the dining room door he heard Fred and Gunn coming back down the steps. "Did you find anything?" He asked them as they entered the kitchen through the dining room.
"Nada," Gunn replied. "Everyone’s gone, including the big guy."
"Yeah. We found his clothing upstairs on the floor in Dawn’s room. Looks like him and Cordelia were sleeping there, watching over Connor and Dawn."
"Well, nothing’s amiss down here. It’s all pretty ordinary."
Fred shook her head as she looked around the kitchen, searching for anything that might tell them what had happened.
"Hey," Gunn stated as a thought popped into his mind. "Have you checked downstairs yet? I remember Buffy saying something about her and Spike sleeping in the basement."
"No. I didn’t get a chance to get down there yet. Look around for weapons. I’m not going into any basement without weapons."
"Why?" Fred asked as she gave Lorne a wide-eyed expression. "Do you think that whatever took them is holding them down there against their will and might attack us if we try to rescue them?"
"No, I just hate basements. They’re all dark and musty and just down right dirty. Makes my skin crawl."
Gunn rolled his eyes at Lorne’s reply.
"Hey, don’t be rolling your eyes at me. No respectable demon would be found dead in a basement! It’s just not natural!"
"Then why did you volunteer to look down there?" Fred asked with a frown.
"Cause I didn’t think I’d actually have to go down there."
"Whatever!" Gunn responded as he slowly opened the basement door. "Hello," he called down the steps into the semi-darkness. "Anyone there?"
Silence answered him.
"We should go down," Fred stated as she stepped forward.
"Maybe Gunn should try yelling again. You never know, it might work."
"You know for a demon you sure are a big scaredy cat."
"Meow."
"Alright, fine. I’ll yell down again." He paused and took a deep breath. "Buffy! Spike! You guys down there?"
The three of them listened intently from the top of the stairs. The only thing that answered back was the quiet.
Fred sighed and hugged herself. "This isn’t good you two. It’s just the three of us..."
Just then the sound of a doorknob jiggling caught their attention.
A head of sandy brown, tousled curls poked out from the room as the door slowly opened. "What’s a bloke got to do to get some sleep around here?" William demanded from the bottom of the stairs as he caught sight of Gunn, Lorne and Fred peering down at him from the kitchen. "I need my sleep if I’m gonna stop the world from ending, don’t you people know that?"
"William!" Fred yelled, flying down the steps and hugging him tightly as if they had been long lost siblings separated at birth. "It’s so good to see you!"
"Uh, what’s with the bird, mate?" He asked as he was almost knocked to his feet with the force of her impact.
"Is Buffy with you?" Lorne questioned, a look of seriousness crossing his face.
William frowned. "Yeah. She’s sleeping or at least she was sleeping before all the commotion." He tilted his head to the side, still frowning and trying to extricate himself from Fred’s grip. "Why do you want to know that?"
"Everyone’s missing," Gunn replied.
William’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean everyone’s missing?"
Fred disentangled herself from William to answer his question. "They’re just gone. Everyone. All but the five of us. Only thing left is their clothing."
He watched as Fred began to wring her hands together. This definitely couldn’t be good. "Are you serious?" He asked, eyes widening as a look of concern began to spread across his face.
"As a heart attack," Lorne replied.
William turned to go back into the room to wake Buffy, but to his surprise she was already standing at the door, dressed. "So you heard then?"
"Yeah, everything." She folded her arms across her chest, letting the slayer in her take control. "Dawn?"
Fred lowered her eyes to the floor, continuing to wring her hands as she answered Buffy’s question. "Gone."
Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. This is what we’re going to do..."
Before she could finish her sentence there was a loud pounding on the front door.
Buffy and William looked at one another and then raced up the steps, first to the living room to grab some weapons and then to the front door. The pounding was incessant. Who ever it was at the door wanted inside in the worst way. Cautiously Buffy peered out the side window and crinkled her nose. "Uh, there’s two guys at the front door. I don’t know them but the one looks like a Watcher."
William frowned and peeked around Buffy’s shoulder. "Bloody hell!" He screamed as relief passed over his face. He threw open the door and grabbed the one into a bear hug, crushing the man against him. "It’s so good to see you mates!" By this point he had already started hugging the Watcher looking fellow while Buffy stood by, glaring at the scene. "What brings you blokes half way round the world?"
"You of course, you stupid git," the one that William hugged first answered. "Hard to have a pint and watch the telly, cheering for Man U when you’re not about."
"I take it you guys know each other?" Buffy asked as she folded her arms across her chest, clearly looking agitated by the lack of introductions.
After patting each other on the backs and a couple more rounds of manly hugs, William finally took notice of Buffy’s posture and her annoyed glare. "Sorry Slayer," he stated, slipping back into his less refined British accent. "These guys are mates of mine from the Watchers Academy."
"Well that does explain a few things," she muttered under her breath, only Lorne catching exactly what she said and smiling in reply.
"What’s that Luv?" He asked with a frown, thinking he had missed something important.
"Nothing," she said, smiling sweetly to him. "Are you going to introduce us or not?"
Before William could begin introductions, the more outgoing of the two visitors strode forward and took her hand in his, bringing it up to his lips. "You must be the infamous Buffy Summers. We’ve heard so much about you from our William."
Buffy blushed as he kissed her hand and gave her a warm smile.
"Ever the charmer, aren’t you?" William teased as he walked over to Buffy and put his arm around her. "Buffy, this here charming bloke is Geoffrey Ashcroft. Best watch out for him, Luv, he fancies himself a real Don Juan."
"Stop. I bloody well do not," Geoffrey retorted as he gave Buffy another warm smile and a wink.
"And the quieter, well dressed Watcher type over there is Garrick Lewisham-Smythe."
"Pleased to finally meet you Ms. Summers," Garrick replied as he shook Buffy’s hand.
William introduced the others to Garrick and Geoffrey as they made their way into the living room to sit down.
"A Pylean? Here?" Garrick asked, fascinated with the green being before him. "We’ve only read about them. I didn’t think any existed here in our dimension."
"You’d be amazed at what exists here, buddy," Lorne stated dryly.
"Did you have a slumber party last night?" Geoffrey teased as they entered the cluttered room. He chose a spot on the coffee table across Buffy and William. Garrick followed his lead.
"Something like that," Lorne sighed.
"Okay," Buffy interrupted, "I hate to sound all un-hostessy but we’ve got bigger problems to worry about right now, like where our friends disappeared to."
"So it’s started then?" Garrick asked as he shared an anxious look with Geoffrey.
"You know about this?" Buffy demanded, frowning at the two who were sitting across from her. "I should have known the Council would have their hands in this."
"You’ll have to excuse her," William apologized as he glared at Buffy. "She’s not too big on the Council as you well know. Luv, they were helping me and Giles translate the prophecy. They’re trustworthy."
"If you say so." She wasn’t convinced.
"Buffy, please do relax," Garrick stated in a comforting tone. "We know what went on before and I want to assure you, neither Geoffrey or myself totally buy into everything the Council does. Besides, it might help you to know that I’m Rupert’s cousin and I’m well aware of his stance on things."
"Funny," she growled at him. "Giles never mentioned you before."
"No. I would guess he wouldn’t. It’s not something that we do outside of the Council. It’s best not to for security reasons, you know. If the enemy knew of family, chances are it would attack them first."
"I suppose I see your point," Buffy stated begrudgingly. "But I still don’t like it."
"Very well, I’ll accept that," Garrick said with a smile. "Now, for the reason for our arrival..."
"Yeah, get to the point already," Gunn grumbled as he turned to Fred. "They’re all like English, aren’t they? That school must turn them out like robots."
"What’s that then?" Geoffrey asked with a frown, looking to William for answers.
William shrugged and waved his hand, gesturing for it to be dropped. "Please continue, Gar. Have you found something else?"
"Quite. According to a missing piece of the prophecy, which Rupert wasn’t aware of before he passed through the portal to here, there is a spell in the Book of Rentar that will invoke the powers of the Twelve so that the Slayer and the Souled can defeat the Master before he brings Hell on earth."
"So where is this Book of Rentar?" Fred asked quickly, her eyes becoming wide with hope.
"We were hoping you could tell us that," Geoffrey replied. "The book was supposed to be at headquarters, but it’s missing, along with Rupert’s notes and some other books. We just assumed that he had brought it all with him."
Buffy jumped up. "Everything Giles brought back with him is in the dining room. I bet that’s where the book is!"
"Great! Then let’s get at it," Geoffrey said as he stood up to follow Buffy into the dining room. "No time to spare. Sunset is in six hours."
Giles and Wesley arrived at the circle of torches following a brilliant flash of light. The translocation had made them disoriented, leaving them lying on the ground semi-conscious. After a few minutes passed, Wesley slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position and tried to let his eyes adjust to the dim light. Giles was to his left, still lying on his backside and blinking rapidly, probably trying to get his bearings, Wes assumed. He also wondered if the translocation affected each person differently since he seemed a little more with it at the moment than Giles did. As his eyes finally adjusted, he noticed a flayed figured tied between two trees and then another lying in a heap on the ground not too far from the first.
"Dear god," he whispered, trying to stand up.
"What?" Giles demanded as he sat up, trying hard to fight the disorientation he was feeling.
Without saying a word, Wesley raised his arm and pointed towards the bodies.
Giles stood and then let his gaze fall in the direction Wesley was pointing. "No!" He screamed as he recognized the lifeless form on the ground.
Author: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to, I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Giles and Wesley must deal with a couple of familiar faces from their past as their trial begins...
Timeframe: Immediately following "House of Cards"
Warning: Contains Character Deaths
Giles ran towards Willow’s lifeless body, his mind screaming out to him that it wasn’t real; it had to be a trick. When he reached the location where she had fallen, he could feel the tears stinging the back of his eyes while he dropped to his knees beside her. A quick visual sweep of her body told him exactly how she died, two bullet wounds to the chest...right through the heart. He had no idea just how appropriate it all was in the great scheme of things. Gently, he brushed her hair off her face. He had failed her. It was all his fault. As he took a deep breath to steady himself, he closed his eyes and let images and snippets of conversations that he’d had with the red headed witch pass through his mind.
"Giles," Wesley stated, placing a comforting hand on the older watcher’s shoulder.
"I failed her," Giles whispered as a lone tear slipped down his cheek.
"You did what any good parent could have done for their child. She asked for help and you found it for her. It was up to her to take it from there."
"But I was responsible for her, Wesley. I should have taken notice long before I did. I should have never left Sunnydale."
"No, Giles. You were not responsible for her. Your only responsibility was towards your slayer, the others you adopted along the way and they are now grown and responsible for their own actions."
"I should have done more."
Wesley sighed and tightened his grip on Giles’ shoulder as he crouched down next to him. "Listen, you did what you could. You couldn’t do more." He paused and looked towards the individual that was tied between the trees. "I hate to be the bearer of even worse news, but I think you need to see this as well."
Giles slowly looked up from Willow’s lifeless form, dreading what else it was he might cast his eyes upon. That’s when he saw her, or more like what was left of her, hanging there. "Oh my dear Lord." He closed his eyes again, shoulders slumping and tears coming harder. Willow couldn’t have done this, could she? No. There was no way. Willow was much stronger than that. He had to believe that. Something else had to have been here...something else entirely...something evil.
"Please," he begged Wesley without looking up again. "Cut Tara down from the tree." His heart ached, almost as badly as the day that Buffy had jumped from the tower. He felt like such a total failure, as a man and a father.
Wesley stood to make his way to the flayed young woman that he’d never gotten to know. As he took his first step, he noticed that everything but the torches started to fade from sight. "Giles..." He looked towards Willow in time to see her body fade as well. "What on earth...?"
Giles sensed more than saw Willow’s body disappear. He had been too busy sitting on the ground with his face buried in his hands to notice much of anything, until he had heard Wesley gasp. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that he and Wesley were now alone in the circle of torches. Standing slowly, he listened intently as his eyes scanned their surroundings. Something was coming. He could feel it.
"Right you are, Ripper," a familiar voice called to him from outside the circle.
"Ethan," Giles growled as he turned towards the direction of the voice. "Show yourself."
"In due time, my friend, in due time."
"I should have known you’d be involved in something like this. You always did worship the dark."
"Yes and so did you, once."
"That was a very long time ago, Ethan."
"Yes, yes. I know. You’re all prim and proper now, aren’t you? Or so you’d have everyone believe."
"But I know better," another voice stated from behind the two watchers.
Giles spun around, knowing instinctively whom it was he would see. "Ben," he stated coolly.
"Mr. Giles," the brown haired, young man stated with a captivating smile. "How have you been? Having a nice life?"
Wesley watched the exchange closely. He was clueless as to why these men were taunting Giles. Obviously they were from his past, but why here and now? He noticed Giles stiffen and square his shoulders. It all felt...wrong.
"Quite," Giles answered.
"Must be nice," Ben responded, taking a step closer to them. He then turned towards Wesley. "Do you know what your Mr. Giles here did? Hmmm? While he’s trying to prove to everyone how upstanding he is; he carries a dark little secret. Isn’t that right, Rupert?"
Wesley took a step forward to address the seemingly young man before him and to let Giles know that he was behind him, no matter what was said. "We’ve all done things, things that we believed we had no other choice but to do at the time."
Ben regarded the former watcher carefully. "Yes, I suppose that’s true, isn’t it? But we’ll get to you later." He turned his attention back to Giles, folding his arms across his chest and giving the older man another smile. "Tell me; is it nice to have a life? I really wouldn’t know about that though, would I? You took mine from me." His smile was quickly replaced by an angry scowl.
"You know why I did it," Giles hissed at him. "You couldn’t be allowed to live."
"You knew that for a fact?" He asked as he began to circle the two men, his eyes never leaving Giles. "Impressive. I only thought gods knew any of that stuff."
Giles continued to face him, his face showing no emotion. "Funny you should mention that, seeing as how you shared your body with a hell god."
Wesley’s eyes widened in recognition; Ben had been the hell god, Glorificus! After they had come back from Pylea, Willow had been there, at the hotel, waiting to tell Angel what had happened to Buffy. However, she had left out the part of Giles killing Ben. That’s when it hit him, no one knew what Giles had done; he had done it on his own and quietly, doing the one thing that none of the others could do. He supposed he would have done the same if he had been in Giles’ position.
"I could have defeated her but you didn’t give me the chance. You took my life away from me before I could prove that." His eyes shone in the firelight as rage covered his face.
"Yes I did, and I’d do it again," Giles stated calmly, coolly.
"Would you? You’d take another innocent life? Cause I was an innocent, you know. I never asked to be the other half of her, but that didn’t seem to matter to you."
The anger boiled up from within him as he took a threatening step towards the man he had killed, eyes blazing. "You were far from being innocent. When it came down to saving yourself or saving the world, you chose yourself. Millions would have died and you didn’t care, as long as you saved your own skin. So don’t stand there and tell me that I took an innocent life."
Ben growled as he charged at Giles, knocking the man off his feet as he hit him square in the chest.
Giles hadn’t been expecting an attack and wasn’t prepared for Ben’s charge. As the two of them fell to the ground, he felt Ben’s hands wrap around his neck, squeezing the life from him. He tried to punch the man, but found that every time he made a move to defend himself, Ben had anticipated it and blocked it effortlessly.
As soon as Wesley realized that Giles was in no position to defend himself, he ran to his aid. In one swift motion, he pulled Ben off Giles, twisting the neck of the thing parading as the former intern in the process.
Giles gulped fresh air as he heard the sound of bones crunching to his right. He had been so close to passing out, that the grayness had started to eat away at his vision. By the time his lungs had started working properly again and his vision returned to normal, Ben’s body lay in a heap at Wesley’s feet.
Slowly Wesley walked over to Giles and helped him up off the ground. A look of understanding passed between the two. Both had done what they believed had been right and proper.
"Thank you," Giles stated as he placed a hand on Wes’s shoulder.
A clapping sound was heard from what sounded like far off, but eventually, it got closer and closer. Ethan stepped into the circle, a grin showing from ear to ear. "Nicely done you two. I’d love to tell you that this was the end and that you’ve both passed, but really, you’ve only just begun."
"Giles, who is this?" Wesley asked, turning to watch the dark haired man with the British accent.
"Yes, please Ripper, do tell him who I am."
Giles glared at his former partner in the dark arts. "He’s Ethan Rayne. An old acquaintance of mine."
"Come now, we were much closer than that. We were best mates at one time, weren’t we?"
"I wouldn’t go that far," Giles stated harshly.
"Oh, Ripper, I’m hurt. How could you be so cruel?" He paused and smiled at Wesley. "You see Mr. Pryce, Rupert was once involved in things much darker than killing an innocent who was unfortunate enough to share a body with his enemy. Rupert was quite the black sorcerer. He wielded power that only you and I could possibly imagine or hope to grasp. Isn’t that right...Ripper?"
Wesley frowned. Why did this man keep calling Giles, Ripper? The implications of it made him shiver. He had seen the glint in Giles’ eyes whenever he had become extremely angered or if Buffy had been threatened in anyway. There had been a few times that Giles’ darker side had shown itself to him when he had been Buffy’s watcher for those few short months. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that it had scared him.
Giles sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ethan, do get on with whatever it is you’re here to tell us, otherwise, bugger off."
"You really are no fun anymore, you know that?" His shoulders dropped, along with all pretenses as to why he was there. "I’m here to kill you. Not him of course," he stated, gesturing to Wes. "He’ll have his own ghosts to fight shortly. You and me, Ripper, we’re going to have some fun."
"I’m not going to fight you, Ethan. Not now, not ever."
"You don’t have a choice. It’s kill or be killed."
"I will not fight you," Giles reiterated.
"Oh, come on! Let’s have some fun! Remember all the fun that we had when I came to town during Halloween? Or how about the time that Eyghon jumped into your precious girlfriend’s body? That was a load of fun! I did especially enjoy tattooing your little charge. Wait, I suppose all the fun was mine, wasn’t it?"
Giles glared at the man as the anger began to envelope him. It was taking all that he had to keep his darker side in check, but at the mention of Jenny Calendar and what Ethan had done to Buffy, he felt his resistance crumbling.
Ethan continued, goading Giles on. "Do you know what my favorite visit was? Not the chocolate bars, although I must say that was sheer genius on my part. My favorite was turning you into a demon."
Giles’ body tensed, every part of him screaming to tear Ethan limb from limb. He never felt Wesley shaking his arm and yelling at him to stop as he began chanting in an ancient language, directing an energy force towards Ethan. Loosing the force on the man from his past, he watched as Ethan flew back on the ground. In an instant, he was on top of him, punching him, letting Ripper completely take over. He reveled in the feel of the power coursing through him. It felt...
"No!" Giles screamed, jumping up and away from Ethan. "I will not do this. I will not let you do this to me. I am not Ripper. Not anymore."
Ethan rolled his eyes as he pulled himself to his feet. "Such a pity," he stated matter of factly. "You really have changed."
"Yes, I..." his words trailed off and his eyes widened as Ethan’s face changed. "Eyghon."
"Stupid fool," the demon hissed at him as his hand shot out and wrapped around Giles’ neck. "I’ve been waiting a very long time for this, Ripper." Just as Ben had done before, Eyghon began to squeeze the life out of Giles, succeeding in mere seconds, as a shocked Wesley stood by, unable to help.
Wesley dropped to the sand as his knees buckled. He watched helplessly as the creature released Giles, letting the man sink slowly to the ground, murdered. There had been no time to help. No warning. One minute Ethan had been there and the next, a monster had taken his place. Everything had happened so quickly that all he could do was watch. Watching. He seemed to be good at that. When things mattered most, when the chips were down, it seemed that he could be counted on to, well, not be counted on at all. Suddenly he felt nauseous; turning to the side, he began retching. Everything he had seen, everything he had done in his life to this point, had not prepared him for something like this.
"Well, well, well," a female voice stated after Wesley had stopped gagging and sat up. "This is what’s become of you, has it? First you betray your friend, Angel, by kidnapping his child and then you let your friend here die. You’re not much of a man, are you Wesley?"
Without opening his eyes, Wes growled at the voice before him. "I did what I thought was right when it came to Connor and nothing you can say, or do, will change that, Justine."
"No?"
"No."
"I really beg to differ with you on that one, but I digress. I’m not here for a friendly visit with you, but I think you already know that, don’t you?" She watched as Wesley nodded his answer. "Good. Let’s get started, shall we?"
"Yes, let’s," he stated as he looked up, his steel blue eyes boring through her.
"You’re not a man of many words, are you?" She asked as she sat down on a large rock that appeared out of nowhere. When he didn’t reply, she laughed and continued. "You do know that you’re treading very close to the darkness, don’t you?"
His eyes dropped to the ground. "Yes," he whispered. "I know."
"So why don’t you just take that one last little step and come on over here with us? The water’s fine." She stood up and walked over to him, giving him a seductive smile as she held out her hand to help him up. "Come on. Just take my hand. You know you want to."
"I will not." He stood on his own, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I will not be seduced by you or anyone."
She smiled and snorted. "I think you’re already seduced enough by Wolfram and Hart, in more ways than one."
"You leave Lilah out of this," he snapped in reply. "She has nothing to do with my descent into hell. I’ve done that on my own."
"Yes and no. She’s certainly helped you along. Yeah, what you did to Angel did cross the line but you truly believed you were doing the right thing. You’re punishing yourself for it; everyone can see that, except maybe for him. Doesn’t that upset you? Make you mad? I know it would send me over the edge."
"You have no idea what Angel thinks of me." He could feel the anger begin to well up in him.
"Did you think that by keeping an eye on Connor like you did, that he would just accept you back into the group with open arms? He hates you. They all hate you. That little show of shaking hands at the Slayer’s house? Just show. There’s nothing you’ll ever do to change his mind. You’re nothing."
"That’s not true."
"It is. Your father was right when he said you’d never amount to anything. You failed as a watcher and you failed as a friend, many times over. You’re a failure, Wesley."
He flew at her, grabbing her by her throat. "You have no idea what you’re talking about." Rage covered his face. In an eerily calm voice, he stated, "Do you have any idea what I could do to you right now? I could snap your neck or call on the darkest powers to destroy you."
She smiled slyly at him, her eyes flickering black in the firelight. "You’ve been studying up on how to kill in just the right way? Good for you, Wesley. Just one more step."
He continued to glare at her as his grip on her throat tightened. It was so tempting to just do it, to just crush her windpipe like that creature had done to Giles. As much as he held himself responsible for not believing in Angel, he held her and Holtz just as responsible. The darker side of him wanted to kill her, to do what he should have done earlier but failed because he was taken in by the false prophecy. He felt the darkness taking control, the lust to kill becoming greater as each moment passed.
"Come on Wesley," she cooed at him. "One more step." She reached up and caressed his face with her hand, willing him to just do what needed to be done so that his soul would be lost forever.
Suddenly, something in his mind snapped and he began to swim back into reality, back to the light within him. He dropped her to the ground and stumbled backwards, staring at his hands, as if they were covered in blood. Slowly he shifted his attention from his hands to her face. "I will not kill you. Do you hear me? I will not do it."
She shook her head and laughed at him. "That’s a shame Wes," she said as she stood up and brushed her pants off. "For a minute there, I really thought you had it in you. Now I have to do what I failed to do the first time."
"And that is...?"
"Kill you." She was on top of him before he had completed his question.
He could feel the cold steel of the knife at his throat and knew instantly what was about to happen. As he closed his eyes he felt the slow, deliberate slicing begin and the warmth of his blood flowing down his neck.
"Sorry, Wes," she said as she began to walk out of the circle. "It had to be done."
He didn’t move, not that he could have even if he had wanted to. He had failed Giles and now he had failed the group. God help them all. "Angel..." he whispered as he felt his life ebb away.
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to, I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Fred, Gunn and Lorne wake to discover that everyone is missing while Giles and Wesley face their darkest hour...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Pain Times Two"
- 33 -
House of Cards
House of Cards
Fred curled into a tighter ball against Gunn as she dozed in the sunlight streaming through the windows. Subconsciously, she knew that she wasn’t home in her bed. Her bed was nice and soft and comfy, this bed was hard and kinda cold. She felt Gunn’s strong arm pull her closer as she began to settle back down into that deep, blissful state of sleep. Her mind began to wander as she drifted, going over theorems and quantitative studies as well as the puzzle of the prophecy that brought them here to...Sunnydale! She sat bolt upright. Something felt wrong. Her eyes scanned the living room. Other than her, Gunn and Lorne, no one was there. How could this be? Surely she would have heard twelve people get up and about.
"Charles," Fred whispered, shaking him out of his dream state. "Charles, wake up. Something’s very wrong here."
"Fred," Gunn mumbled as he tried to pull her back down to the floor. "Go back to sleep. I’m sure if English needs us, he’ll wake us up."
She paused for a moment and listened to the house. It was quiet, almost too quiet. "No Charles, I don’t think he will. I think he’s missing. I think the whole house is missing!"
Gunn opened one eye and looked up at her. "What? How can a whole house disappear? I still see a ceiling. Go back to sleep."
"No, silly. Not the house. The people in the house!"
"What?" He asked in an irritated tone as he sat up. He hated when she messed with his sleep. Sleep was essential to his well being.
"Look around us, Charles. Do you see anyone else but us and Lorne?"
He did as she said and swept the room with his eyes, noticing only Lorne sleeping happily in the corner. Blankets and pillows were left strewn across the floor, evidence that there had been others there with them. But where were they now and why hadn’t he heard them get up? As packed into the living room as they all were, he was positive that at least one person would have stepped on him while trying to get to the bathroom. He stood up, surveying the room more closely now. Walking over to the pullout couch, he pulled the sheets back.
"Okay, this is really strange," he stated as he stood there looking under the sheet.
"What? Did you find something?" She asked as she ran to see what he was looking at.
"Well wherever they went, they went naked."
Fred stared at Xander and Anya’s clothing, lying neatly under the covers. She frowned as she met Gunn’s look of concern. Quickly moving to where the others had been sleeping, she pulled the blankets up one by one. The same thing greeted her in each spot, neatly pressed clothing, as if they had just disappeared right out from under them. "I’m worried now," she said shaking. "This can’t be good."
"Hey, can you two kids pipe down over there? I’m trying to sleep."
"Lorne!" Fred cried. "Get up. We have to find the others!"
"What? What others?"
"Everyone," Gunn replied, folding his arms across his chest.
Lorne sat up and looked from one to the other. "How can everyone be missing?"
"They just are!" Fred declared. "All they left behind is their clothing. I’m pretty certain that Anya wouldn’t leave the house without her clothing. I mean, she’s pretty free about certain things but somehow I don’t think she’s an exhibitionist. At least she didn’t seem that way to me. Well, maybe. Still, something had to have taken them!"
"Calm down, precious. I’m sure everyone just went out for breakfast or something..."
"Naked?" Gunn asked glaring.
"Well no, but that doesn’t mean they’re gone. Maybe they played strip truth or dare. I played it this one time in San Pedro with a couple of lovelies, what a time that was..."
"Lorne, I don’t think this is the time to reminisce about the good old days. We need to find these people and soon."
"Alright, Mr. Clean. Have you searched the rest of the house yet?"
"No," Fred responded as she let the blankets drop to the floor. "We haven’t gotten out of the living room yet."
"Okay. So there’s still a possibility that there are people here, correct?"
Both Gunn and Fred nodded in response.
"You two take the upstairs and search the rooms up there. I think the witches, along with that other British guy and ‘Little Miss Green Glow Ball’ were up there. I’ll check the other rooms down here and then I’ll check the basement. Kapish?"
"Okay Lorne," Fred stated shakily. "I hope we’re wrong and we find some more people."
******
While Fred and Gunn slowly crept up the steps, Lorne stood up and stretched. Sleeping on the floor had not done a thing for his back. Some days he thought he should hit Angel-cakes up for hazard pay and this was one of them. Sleeping on floors was not in his job description. Then again, did he even have a job description? Probably not, he decided.
"So much for the slumber party," he said to the room as he moved into the hallway on his way to the kitchen. It did seem kind of eerie that there weren’t any signs of life except for them.
Nothing looked out of place in the kitchen. Not that he could see. There were the normal dishes in the sink and a half empty mug of hot chocolate sitting on the island. It looked like a normal, everyday type kitchen to him.
As he moved towards the dining room door he heard Fred and Gunn coming back down the steps. "Did you find anything?" He asked them as they entered the kitchen through the dining room.
"Nada," Gunn replied. "Everyone’s gone, including the big guy."
"Yeah. We found his clothing upstairs on the floor in Dawn’s room. Looks like him and Cordelia were sleeping there, watching over Connor and Dawn."
"Well, nothing’s amiss down here. It’s all pretty ordinary."
Fred shook her head as she looked around the kitchen, searching for anything that might tell them what had happened.
"Hey," Gunn stated as a thought popped into his mind. "Have you checked downstairs yet? I remember Buffy saying something about her and Spike sleeping in the basement."
"No. I didn’t get a chance to get down there yet. Look around for weapons. I’m not going into any basement without weapons."
"Why?" Fred asked as she gave Lorne a wide-eyed expression. "Do you think that whatever took them is holding them down there against their will and might attack us if we try to rescue them?"
"No, I just hate basements. They’re all dark and musty and just down right dirty. Makes my skin crawl."
Gunn rolled his eyes at Lorne’s reply.
"Hey, don’t be rolling your eyes at me. No respectable demon would be found dead in a basement! It’s just not natural!"
"Then why did you volunteer to look down there?" Fred asked with a frown.
"Cause I didn’t think I’d actually have to go down there."
"Whatever!" Gunn responded as he slowly opened the basement door. "Hello," he called down the steps into the semi-darkness. "Anyone there?"
Silence answered him.
"We should go down," Fred stated as she stepped forward.
"Maybe Gunn should try yelling again. You never know, it might work."
"You know for a demon you sure are a big scaredy cat."
"Meow."
"Alright, fine. I’ll yell down again." He paused and took a deep breath. "Buffy! Spike! You guys down there?"
The three of them listened intently from the top of the stairs. The only thing that answered back was the quiet.
Fred sighed and hugged herself. "This isn’t good you two. It’s just the three of us..."
Just then the sound of a doorknob jiggling caught their attention.
******
A head of sandy brown, tousled curls poked out from the room as the door slowly opened. "What’s a bloke got to do to get some sleep around here?" William demanded from the bottom of the stairs as he caught sight of Gunn, Lorne and Fred peering down at him from the kitchen. "I need my sleep if I’m gonna stop the world from ending, don’t you people know that?"
"William!" Fred yelled, flying down the steps and hugging him tightly as if they had been long lost siblings separated at birth. "It’s so good to see you!"
"Uh, what’s with the bird, mate?" He asked as he was almost knocked to his feet with the force of her impact.
"Is Buffy with you?" Lorne questioned, a look of seriousness crossing his face.
William frowned. "Yeah. She’s sleeping or at least she was sleeping before all the commotion." He tilted his head to the side, still frowning and trying to extricate himself from Fred’s grip. "Why do you want to know that?"
"Everyone’s missing," Gunn replied.
William’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean everyone’s missing?"
Fred disentangled herself from William to answer his question. "They’re just gone. Everyone. All but the five of us. Only thing left is their clothing."
He watched as Fred began to wring her hands together. This definitely couldn’t be good. "Are you serious?" He asked, eyes widening as a look of concern began to spread across his face.
"As a heart attack," Lorne replied.
William turned to go back into the room to wake Buffy, but to his surprise she was already standing at the door, dressed. "So you heard then?"
"Yeah, everything." She folded her arms across her chest, letting the slayer in her take control. "Dawn?"
Fred lowered her eyes to the floor, continuing to wring her hands as she answered Buffy’s question. "Gone."
Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. This is what we’re going to do..."
Before she could finish her sentence there was a loud pounding on the front door.
******
Buffy and William looked at one another and then raced up the steps, first to the living room to grab some weapons and then to the front door. The pounding was incessant. Who ever it was at the door wanted inside in the worst way. Cautiously Buffy peered out the side window and crinkled her nose. "Uh, there’s two guys at the front door. I don’t know them but the one looks like a Watcher."
William frowned and peeked around Buffy’s shoulder. "Bloody hell!" He screamed as relief passed over his face. He threw open the door and grabbed the one into a bear hug, crushing the man against him. "It’s so good to see you mates!" By this point he had already started hugging the Watcher looking fellow while Buffy stood by, glaring at the scene. "What brings you blokes half way round the world?"
"You of course, you stupid git," the one that William hugged first answered. "Hard to have a pint and watch the telly, cheering for Man U when you’re not about."
"I take it you guys know each other?" Buffy asked as she folded her arms across her chest, clearly looking agitated by the lack of introductions.
After patting each other on the backs and a couple more rounds of manly hugs, William finally took notice of Buffy’s posture and her annoyed glare. "Sorry Slayer," he stated, slipping back into his less refined British accent. "These guys are mates of mine from the Watchers Academy."
"Well that does explain a few things," she muttered under her breath, only Lorne catching exactly what she said and smiling in reply.
"What’s that Luv?" He asked with a frown, thinking he had missed something important.
"Nothing," she said, smiling sweetly to him. "Are you going to introduce us or not?"
Before William could begin introductions, the more outgoing of the two visitors strode forward and took her hand in his, bringing it up to his lips. "You must be the infamous Buffy Summers. We’ve heard so much about you from our William."
Buffy blushed as he kissed her hand and gave her a warm smile.
"Ever the charmer, aren’t you?" William teased as he walked over to Buffy and put his arm around her. "Buffy, this here charming bloke is Geoffrey Ashcroft. Best watch out for him, Luv, he fancies himself a real Don Juan."
"Stop. I bloody well do not," Geoffrey retorted as he gave Buffy another warm smile and a wink.
"And the quieter, well dressed Watcher type over there is Garrick Lewisham-Smythe."
"Pleased to finally meet you Ms. Summers," Garrick replied as he shook Buffy’s hand.
William introduced the others to Garrick and Geoffrey as they made their way into the living room to sit down.
"A Pylean? Here?" Garrick asked, fascinated with the green being before him. "We’ve only read about them. I didn’t think any existed here in our dimension."
"You’d be amazed at what exists here, buddy," Lorne stated dryly.
"Did you have a slumber party last night?" Geoffrey teased as they entered the cluttered room. He chose a spot on the coffee table across Buffy and William. Garrick followed his lead.
"Something like that," Lorne sighed.
"Okay," Buffy interrupted, "I hate to sound all un-hostessy but we’ve got bigger problems to worry about right now, like where our friends disappeared to."
"So it’s started then?" Garrick asked as he shared an anxious look with Geoffrey.
"You know about this?" Buffy demanded, frowning at the two who were sitting across from her. "I should have known the Council would have their hands in this."
"You’ll have to excuse her," William apologized as he glared at Buffy. "She’s not too big on the Council as you well know. Luv, they were helping me and Giles translate the prophecy. They’re trustworthy."
"If you say so." She wasn’t convinced.
"Buffy, please do relax," Garrick stated in a comforting tone. "We know what went on before and I want to assure you, neither Geoffrey or myself totally buy into everything the Council does. Besides, it might help you to know that I’m Rupert’s cousin and I’m well aware of his stance on things."
"Funny," she growled at him. "Giles never mentioned you before."
"No. I would guess he wouldn’t. It’s not something that we do outside of the Council. It’s best not to for security reasons, you know. If the enemy knew of family, chances are it would attack them first."
"I suppose I see your point," Buffy stated begrudgingly. "But I still don’t like it."
"Very well, I’ll accept that," Garrick said with a smile. "Now, for the reason for our arrival..."
"Yeah, get to the point already," Gunn grumbled as he turned to Fred. "They’re all like English, aren’t they? That school must turn them out like robots."
"What’s that then?" Geoffrey asked with a frown, looking to William for answers.
William shrugged and waved his hand, gesturing for it to be dropped. "Please continue, Gar. Have you found something else?"
"Quite. According to a missing piece of the prophecy, which Rupert wasn’t aware of before he passed through the portal to here, there is a spell in the Book of Rentar that will invoke the powers of the Twelve so that the Slayer and the Souled can defeat the Master before he brings Hell on earth."
"So where is this Book of Rentar?" Fred asked quickly, her eyes becoming wide with hope.
"We were hoping you could tell us that," Geoffrey replied. "The book was supposed to be at headquarters, but it’s missing, along with Rupert’s notes and some other books. We just assumed that he had brought it all with him."
Buffy jumped up. "Everything Giles brought back with him is in the dining room. I bet that’s where the book is!"
"Great! Then let’s get at it," Geoffrey said as he stood up to follow Buffy into the dining room. "No time to spare. Sunset is in six hours."
******
Giles and Wesley arrived at the circle of torches following a brilliant flash of light. The translocation had made them disoriented, leaving them lying on the ground semi-conscious. After a few minutes passed, Wesley slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position and tried to let his eyes adjust to the dim light. Giles was to his left, still lying on his backside and blinking rapidly, probably trying to get his bearings, Wes assumed. He also wondered if the translocation affected each person differently since he seemed a little more with it at the moment than Giles did. As his eyes finally adjusted, he noticed a flayed figured tied between two trees and then another lying in a heap on the ground not too far from the first.
"Dear god," he whispered, trying to stand up.
"What?" Giles demanded as he sat up, trying hard to fight the disorientation he was feeling.
Without saying a word, Wesley raised his arm and pointed towards the bodies.
Giles stood and then let his gaze fall in the direction Wesley was pointing. "No!" He screamed as he recognized the lifeless form on the ground.
Author: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to, I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Giles and Wesley must deal with a couple of familiar faces from their past as their trial begins...
Timeframe: Immediately following "House of Cards"
Warning: Contains Character Deaths
- 34 -
Thrice the Misery
Thrice the Misery
Giles ran towards Willow’s lifeless body, his mind screaming out to him that it wasn’t real; it had to be a trick. When he reached the location where she had fallen, he could feel the tears stinging the back of his eyes while he dropped to his knees beside her. A quick visual sweep of her body told him exactly how she died, two bullet wounds to the chest...right through the heart. He had no idea just how appropriate it all was in the great scheme of things. Gently, he brushed her hair off her face. He had failed her. It was all his fault. As he took a deep breath to steady himself, he closed his eyes and let images and snippets of conversations that he’d had with the red headed witch pass through his mind.
"Giles," Wesley stated, placing a comforting hand on the older watcher’s shoulder.
"I failed her," Giles whispered as a lone tear slipped down his cheek.
"You did what any good parent could have done for their child. She asked for help and you found it for her. It was up to her to take it from there."
"But I was responsible for her, Wesley. I should have taken notice long before I did. I should have never left Sunnydale."
"No, Giles. You were not responsible for her. Your only responsibility was towards your slayer, the others you adopted along the way and they are now grown and responsible for their own actions."
"I should have done more."
Wesley sighed and tightened his grip on Giles’ shoulder as he crouched down next to him. "Listen, you did what you could. You couldn’t do more." He paused and looked towards the individual that was tied between the trees. "I hate to be the bearer of even worse news, but I think you need to see this as well."
Giles slowly looked up from Willow’s lifeless form, dreading what else it was he might cast his eyes upon. That’s when he saw her, or more like what was left of her, hanging there. "Oh my dear Lord." He closed his eyes again, shoulders slumping and tears coming harder. Willow couldn’t have done this, could she? No. There was no way. Willow was much stronger than that. He had to believe that. Something else had to have been here...something else entirely...something evil.
"Please," he begged Wesley without looking up again. "Cut Tara down from the tree." His heart ached, almost as badly as the day that Buffy had jumped from the tower. He felt like such a total failure, as a man and a father.
Wesley stood to make his way to the flayed young woman that he’d never gotten to know. As he took his first step, he noticed that everything but the torches started to fade from sight. "Giles..." He looked towards Willow in time to see her body fade as well. "What on earth...?"
******
Giles sensed more than saw Willow’s body disappear. He had been too busy sitting on the ground with his face buried in his hands to notice much of anything, until he had heard Wesley gasp. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that he and Wesley were now alone in the circle of torches. Standing slowly, he listened intently as his eyes scanned their surroundings. Something was coming. He could feel it.
"Right you are, Ripper," a familiar voice called to him from outside the circle.
"Ethan," Giles growled as he turned towards the direction of the voice. "Show yourself."
"In due time, my friend, in due time."
"I should have known you’d be involved in something like this. You always did worship the dark."
"Yes and so did you, once."
"That was a very long time ago, Ethan."
"Yes, yes. I know. You’re all prim and proper now, aren’t you? Or so you’d have everyone believe."
"But I know better," another voice stated from behind the two watchers.
Giles spun around, knowing instinctively whom it was he would see. "Ben," he stated coolly.
"Mr. Giles," the brown haired, young man stated with a captivating smile. "How have you been? Having a nice life?"
Wesley watched the exchange closely. He was clueless as to why these men were taunting Giles. Obviously they were from his past, but why here and now? He noticed Giles stiffen and square his shoulders. It all felt...wrong.
"Quite," Giles answered.
"Must be nice," Ben responded, taking a step closer to them. He then turned towards Wesley. "Do you know what your Mr. Giles here did? Hmmm? While he’s trying to prove to everyone how upstanding he is; he carries a dark little secret. Isn’t that right, Rupert?"
Wesley took a step forward to address the seemingly young man before him and to let Giles know that he was behind him, no matter what was said. "We’ve all done things, things that we believed we had no other choice but to do at the time."
Ben regarded the former watcher carefully. "Yes, I suppose that’s true, isn’t it? But we’ll get to you later." He turned his attention back to Giles, folding his arms across his chest and giving the older man another smile. "Tell me; is it nice to have a life? I really wouldn’t know about that though, would I? You took mine from me." His smile was quickly replaced by an angry scowl.
"You know why I did it," Giles hissed at him. "You couldn’t be allowed to live."
"You knew that for a fact?" He asked as he began to circle the two men, his eyes never leaving Giles. "Impressive. I only thought gods knew any of that stuff."
Giles continued to face him, his face showing no emotion. "Funny you should mention that, seeing as how you shared your body with a hell god."
Wesley’s eyes widened in recognition; Ben had been the hell god, Glorificus! After they had come back from Pylea, Willow had been there, at the hotel, waiting to tell Angel what had happened to Buffy. However, she had left out the part of Giles killing Ben. That’s when it hit him, no one knew what Giles had done; he had done it on his own and quietly, doing the one thing that none of the others could do. He supposed he would have done the same if he had been in Giles’ position.
"I could have defeated her but you didn’t give me the chance. You took my life away from me before I could prove that." His eyes shone in the firelight as rage covered his face.
"Yes I did, and I’d do it again," Giles stated calmly, coolly.
"Would you? You’d take another innocent life? Cause I was an innocent, you know. I never asked to be the other half of her, but that didn’t seem to matter to you."
The anger boiled up from within him as he took a threatening step towards the man he had killed, eyes blazing. "You were far from being innocent. When it came down to saving yourself or saving the world, you chose yourself. Millions would have died and you didn’t care, as long as you saved your own skin. So don’t stand there and tell me that I took an innocent life."
Ben growled as he charged at Giles, knocking the man off his feet as he hit him square in the chest.
******
Giles hadn’t been expecting an attack and wasn’t prepared for Ben’s charge. As the two of them fell to the ground, he felt Ben’s hands wrap around his neck, squeezing the life from him. He tried to punch the man, but found that every time he made a move to defend himself, Ben had anticipated it and blocked it effortlessly.
As soon as Wesley realized that Giles was in no position to defend himself, he ran to his aid. In one swift motion, he pulled Ben off Giles, twisting the neck of the thing parading as the former intern in the process.
Giles gulped fresh air as he heard the sound of bones crunching to his right. He had been so close to passing out, that the grayness had started to eat away at his vision. By the time his lungs had started working properly again and his vision returned to normal, Ben’s body lay in a heap at Wesley’s feet.
Slowly Wesley walked over to Giles and helped him up off the ground. A look of understanding passed between the two. Both had done what they believed had been right and proper.
"Thank you," Giles stated as he placed a hand on Wes’s shoulder.
A clapping sound was heard from what sounded like far off, but eventually, it got closer and closer. Ethan stepped into the circle, a grin showing from ear to ear. "Nicely done you two. I’d love to tell you that this was the end and that you’ve both passed, but really, you’ve only just begun."
"Giles, who is this?" Wesley asked, turning to watch the dark haired man with the British accent.
"Yes, please Ripper, do tell him who I am."
Giles glared at his former partner in the dark arts. "He’s Ethan Rayne. An old acquaintance of mine."
"Come now, we were much closer than that. We were best mates at one time, weren’t we?"
"I wouldn’t go that far," Giles stated harshly.
"Oh, Ripper, I’m hurt. How could you be so cruel?" He paused and smiled at Wesley. "You see Mr. Pryce, Rupert was once involved in things much darker than killing an innocent who was unfortunate enough to share a body with his enemy. Rupert was quite the black sorcerer. He wielded power that only you and I could possibly imagine or hope to grasp. Isn’t that right...Ripper?"
Wesley frowned. Why did this man keep calling Giles, Ripper? The implications of it made him shiver. He had seen the glint in Giles’ eyes whenever he had become extremely angered or if Buffy had been threatened in anyway. There had been a few times that Giles’ darker side had shown itself to him when he had been Buffy’s watcher for those few short months. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that it had scared him.
Giles sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ethan, do get on with whatever it is you’re here to tell us, otherwise, bugger off."
"You really are no fun anymore, you know that?" His shoulders dropped, along with all pretenses as to why he was there. "I’m here to kill you. Not him of course," he stated, gesturing to Wes. "He’ll have his own ghosts to fight shortly. You and me, Ripper, we’re going to have some fun."
"I’m not going to fight you, Ethan. Not now, not ever."
"You don’t have a choice. It’s kill or be killed."
"I will not fight you," Giles reiterated.
"Oh, come on! Let’s have some fun! Remember all the fun that we had when I came to town during Halloween? Or how about the time that Eyghon jumped into your precious girlfriend’s body? That was a load of fun! I did especially enjoy tattooing your little charge. Wait, I suppose all the fun was mine, wasn’t it?"
Giles glared at the man as the anger began to envelope him. It was taking all that he had to keep his darker side in check, but at the mention of Jenny Calendar and what Ethan had done to Buffy, he felt his resistance crumbling.
Ethan continued, goading Giles on. "Do you know what my favorite visit was? Not the chocolate bars, although I must say that was sheer genius on my part. My favorite was turning you into a demon."
Giles’ body tensed, every part of him screaming to tear Ethan limb from limb. He never felt Wesley shaking his arm and yelling at him to stop as he began chanting in an ancient language, directing an energy force towards Ethan. Loosing the force on the man from his past, he watched as Ethan flew back on the ground. In an instant, he was on top of him, punching him, letting Ripper completely take over. He reveled in the feel of the power coursing through him. It felt...
"No!" Giles screamed, jumping up and away from Ethan. "I will not do this. I will not let you do this to me. I am not Ripper. Not anymore."
Ethan rolled his eyes as he pulled himself to his feet. "Such a pity," he stated matter of factly. "You really have changed."
"Yes, I..." his words trailed off and his eyes widened as Ethan’s face changed. "Eyghon."
"Stupid fool," the demon hissed at him as his hand shot out and wrapped around Giles’ neck. "I’ve been waiting a very long time for this, Ripper." Just as Ben had done before, Eyghon began to squeeze the life out of Giles, succeeding in mere seconds, as a shocked Wesley stood by, unable to help.
******
Wesley dropped to the sand as his knees buckled. He watched helplessly as the creature released Giles, letting the man sink slowly to the ground, murdered. There had been no time to help. No warning. One minute Ethan had been there and the next, a monster had taken his place. Everything had happened so quickly that all he could do was watch. Watching. He seemed to be good at that. When things mattered most, when the chips were down, it seemed that he could be counted on to, well, not be counted on at all. Suddenly he felt nauseous; turning to the side, he began retching. Everything he had seen, everything he had done in his life to this point, had not prepared him for something like this.
"Well, well, well," a female voice stated after Wesley had stopped gagging and sat up. "This is what’s become of you, has it? First you betray your friend, Angel, by kidnapping his child and then you let your friend here die. You’re not much of a man, are you Wesley?"
Without opening his eyes, Wes growled at the voice before him. "I did what I thought was right when it came to Connor and nothing you can say, or do, will change that, Justine."
"No?"
"No."
"I really beg to differ with you on that one, but I digress. I’m not here for a friendly visit with you, but I think you already know that, don’t you?" She watched as Wesley nodded his answer. "Good. Let’s get started, shall we?"
"Yes, let’s," he stated as he looked up, his steel blue eyes boring through her.
"You’re not a man of many words, are you?" She asked as she sat down on a large rock that appeared out of nowhere. When he didn’t reply, she laughed and continued. "You do know that you’re treading very close to the darkness, don’t you?"
His eyes dropped to the ground. "Yes," he whispered. "I know."
"So why don’t you just take that one last little step and come on over here with us? The water’s fine." She stood up and walked over to him, giving him a seductive smile as she held out her hand to help him up. "Come on. Just take my hand. You know you want to."
"I will not." He stood on his own, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I will not be seduced by you or anyone."
She smiled and snorted. "I think you’re already seduced enough by Wolfram and Hart, in more ways than one."
"You leave Lilah out of this," he snapped in reply. "She has nothing to do with my descent into hell. I’ve done that on my own."
"Yes and no. She’s certainly helped you along. Yeah, what you did to Angel did cross the line but you truly believed you were doing the right thing. You’re punishing yourself for it; everyone can see that, except maybe for him. Doesn’t that upset you? Make you mad? I know it would send me over the edge."
"You have no idea what Angel thinks of me." He could feel the anger begin to well up in him.
"Did you think that by keeping an eye on Connor like you did, that he would just accept you back into the group with open arms? He hates you. They all hate you. That little show of shaking hands at the Slayer’s house? Just show. There’s nothing you’ll ever do to change his mind. You’re nothing."
"That’s not true."
"It is. Your father was right when he said you’d never amount to anything. You failed as a watcher and you failed as a friend, many times over. You’re a failure, Wesley."
He flew at her, grabbing her by her throat. "You have no idea what you’re talking about." Rage covered his face. In an eerily calm voice, he stated, "Do you have any idea what I could do to you right now? I could snap your neck or call on the darkest powers to destroy you."
She smiled slyly at him, her eyes flickering black in the firelight. "You’ve been studying up on how to kill in just the right way? Good for you, Wesley. Just one more step."
He continued to glare at her as his grip on her throat tightened. It was so tempting to just do it, to just crush her windpipe like that creature had done to Giles. As much as he held himself responsible for not believing in Angel, he held her and Holtz just as responsible. The darker side of him wanted to kill her, to do what he should have done earlier but failed because he was taken in by the false prophecy. He felt the darkness taking control, the lust to kill becoming greater as each moment passed.
"Come on Wesley," she cooed at him. "One more step." She reached up and caressed his face with her hand, willing him to just do what needed to be done so that his soul would be lost forever.
Suddenly, something in his mind snapped and he began to swim back into reality, back to the light within him. He dropped her to the ground and stumbled backwards, staring at his hands, as if they were covered in blood. Slowly he shifted his attention from his hands to her face. "I will not kill you. Do you hear me? I will not do it."
She shook her head and laughed at him. "That’s a shame Wes," she said as she stood up and brushed her pants off. "For a minute there, I really thought you had it in you. Now I have to do what I failed to do the first time."
"And that is...?"
"Kill you." She was on top of him before he had completed his question.
He could feel the cold steel of the knife at his throat and knew instantly what was about to happen. As he closed his eyes he felt the slow, deliberate slicing begin and the warmth of his blood flowing down his neck.
"Sorry, Wes," she said as she began to walk out of the circle. "It had to be done."
He didn’t move, not that he could have even if he had wanted to. He had failed Giles and now he had failed the group. God help them all. "Angel..." he whispered as he felt his life ebb away.
