Fic: Magister 3, Ch 9 (FRM)

[gilescandy]

He's Baaaack!

For some of you this is the long-awaited continuation to a story I started two years ago, and a long-running series. For those of you who are new, I do hope you'll take a chance and go back to see how it all started.

Magister is my Vamp!Giles series, full of mayhem, sexiness, slaughter, redemption, and fun. I'll be posting the next 4 chapters today.

You can find the entire series here.

Please enjoy this return to the madness!

Ch. 9 – Brewing Storms

Giles was deep in thought as he walked back into the Summer’s house. Through the day’s shuffle of living spaces, he and Spike had retained their basement retreat. A third of the girls now had their own elbow room in the house to the left with Dr. Pryce and Faith to mind their safety. On the right, Xander and Anya had been designated house captains. Girls still rushed all around him as he passed through the doorway, but there was a new, less claustrophobic feeling in the air.

He was pulled out of his mental planning by someone coming up beside him and wrapping their arm around his. Absently glancing over, his senses were instantly filled by the red head resting against his shoulder. The vampire smiled, but a large part of his mind was assessing their surroundings, very much aware of the glances, grins, and giggles of young girls.

“I finally have my room back,” Willow murmured to him playfully. “You don’t have to settle for sleeping with Spike anymore.” Giles raised an eyebrow making her blush. “N-Not that I’m saying I think you guys have been… I mean, I didn’t mean that. I’m just saying you have another option for a roommate now. One that you can…” At this point she cut herself off, hot blood rushing to her cheeks and making them glow red as her heartbeat quickened.

“I know what you mean,” he gave a small grin, trying to ease her embarrassment. Though, with her eyes only focused on him, he couldn’t tell if she was even slightly aware of the whispers around them. He, on the other hand, could hear every speculative word. “And you have no idea how much I would love a more comfortable… um, sleeping arrangement. But I plan to go on an extended patrol with Spike tonight. The two of us need to make ourselves useful while we can. And you have all earned a good night’s sleep.”

Willow frowned. “The wards are holding strong. We’re safe for now.”

“I know. I can sense them, too. That’s what’s giving us the confidence to take a better look at our enemy while sure you’ll be safe here without us.” Willow huffed her disappointment, and he smiled again knowing she was too pragmatic to argue against his logic. “Spike and I need to head to the Hellmouth to see if it’s still open. If so, Dr. Pryce and Ethan are double-checking my research to make sure we can close it. Hopefully, we can also track some of the First’s forces and make sure no more of the Turok-han have escaped from hell.”

The redhead’s frown teetered on the verge of a pout for a long moment before she sighed, “I get it. Sounds like the best plan. Just do me a favor? Wake me when you guys get back so I know you’re safe.” She placed a soft hand on his chest, reassuring them both that he had, if fact, made it home to her, safe and whole.

“I’ll let you know. And I promise to be careful. If danger should arise, I’ll simply throw Spike at them and run.”

Willow giggled, “You’d better, Mister.” She stretched onto her tiptoes for a kiss, but at the last second Giles swerved leaving a soft peck on her cheek.

“Ready to get a move on?” Spike called from the opened door.

“Of course,” the Watcher fell into step with him. “I think we should make our way to the high school first…”

Willow watched with a disappointed frown as they disappeared into the night. For several moments after they had completely disappeared she remained there, chewing her bottom lip. Then, suddenly turning on her heels, she slowly climbed the stairs to her empty room, paying no attention to the eyes that followed her.

******

Kennedy looked up when Willow opened the bedroom door. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, strumming softly on Giles’ guitar.

The redhead jumped and let out a small squeak. “What are you doing in here? And how’d you get that?”

“Well,” Kennedy held back a chuckle, “this is kinda where I sleep. As for the guitar, it got set down by a tree and left. I figured I’d bring it in before something happened to it. I mean, we all might be potential slayers, but we’re still dealing with a herd of teenaged girls. A lot more clumsiness than grace going on.”

Willow chewed her lip in thought for a moment. “Thanks, I guess. I figured you’d be the first to claim a whole room for yourself in one of the new houses.” She shut the door and went to her dresser to find something comfortable to sleep in.

“Naw. Too much effort to move. Besides, I’ve built myself a cozy little nest in the corner over there. And no sense risking a dud roommate when the one I have is so cool.” She plucked at the guitar a bit more. “That is, unless there’s some reason for me to…?”

“Not tonight there’s not,” Willow muttered under her breath.

Kennedy watched her busy herself for a few minutes. “So… The old man vamp, huh? Who would have guessed? And here I thought I had a great radar for when someone’s checking me out.”

Willow swung around with her mouth gaping open.

“Not that I’m judging. If you love someone no sense not going for it. That’s what I think. Just a surprise because all the signs pointed…” Her eyes trailed over to a framed picture of Willow and Tara kissing.

The redhead followed her stare and finally let out a near sob of a sigh. “Tara,” she whispered. Slumping down into her desk chair, she began to speak softly. “Your radar’s not off. You should be more my type. I loved Tara more than anything. When I lost her, I lost my whole world. But Giles is a different thing. It’s like I’ve always loved him. Since before all the badness happened, when he was still human. Since before I met Tara. It feels like I loved him even before I knew how to love anyone else.” She dropped her face into her hands, muffling her pitiful groan, “Oh, Tara, I’m just a bad lesbian.”

Kennedy began to chuckle, drawing a scathing gaze from between her roommate’s fingers. “You’re not a bad lesbian. Who told you love had to be so one way or the other anyway? You do know that there are people out there who don’t even care about gender, right? Now, as for me, it’s the girls all the way. But, if I did find a guy who could do to me what he’s doing to your heart right now... Well… I could find ways to work around… the problem.” Willow couldn’t help a giggle at her waggling eyebrows.

The Witch heaved a deep sigh. “That… isn’t the problem we seem to be having at the moment. It’s just… Well, the last time we were together he was so loving and romantic. He sang just for me. And he made love to me like no one ever has before. It was like he thought that was going to be his only chance to ever hold me. Like we only had that one night…” Willow’s voice trailed off as the memory washed over her.

“I think you might have hit on something there,” the other girl murmured. “I mean, as far as I can tell, he might have left thinking he’d never make it back. And then he was right there when the entire Council blew up in front of him. Not sure if it’s true, but to listen to my Watcher, it was like they were a world unto themselves.”

“But Giles never got along with the Council.”

“You get along will all your family? Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t care if they suddenly died. Or were murdered.”

“I guess so.” A deep frown creased the redhead’s face. “How could I not realize what he must be going through? He must have lost so much. Oh goddess, I’m the worst girlfriend ever. Here I am worrying about him still wanting to… you know, with me, when, in his mind, he’s probably in the middle of the biggest funeral like ever…”

“Besides trying to take care of everyone here,” Kennedy continued, ignoring the self-flagellating rant. “I mean, he might say that it’s all up to Buffy, and he believes we can all do this together, but it’s not hard to tell how much he needs to keep us all safe. Those of us that made it this far, we’re the lucky ones, and he knows it’s not possible for everyone to survive this war.”

Willow moved to the bed and slumped down next to Kennedy. “He’s always been like that. Stressing over making sure we were all as safe as possible. But that’s why I want to help him. He needs a place to be safe and happy himself. If I can’t give that to him, how else can I help?”

“Maybe that’s something you both need.” The younger woman slowly curled her arm around Willow’s shoulder and gently pulled her into the comfort of her side. “And I’m not trying to suggest you stop trying to give him that safe place, but if you ever need a back-up hug while he’s making up his mind…”

“Everything’s just so much badness right now. I keep thinking he needs me, but is it me who needs him. Maybe it’s me who’s being a needy little girl.” Willow let herself be held in that moment. She didn’t want to be unfaithful to Giles, but it all felt so comforting. Steady arms holding her, the warm smell of feminine closeness, and the soft beating of another human heart.

“Everyone needs,” Kennedy whispered. “Just rest for a while. Stop worrying so much and he’ll be back to the guy you love before you know it. I mean, I can only guess at what you guys have gone through so far… If you’re still together now, what can the devil do to change it?”

******

Spike slapped Giles on the back and started into a trot. “Pick up the pace, ol’ man. The faster we check things out, the sooner we get home an’ you can slip into Red’s warm, little… bed.”

“Spike,” the larger vampire growled as he easily stayed alongside, “I’d appreciate you keeping out of my business. We will thoroughly patrol the town and scout any possible strongholds the First might have set up.”

The blond shook his head. “You’re planning to end up back in the dungeon with me, aren’t you?” He swung in front of Giles, planting a hand on his chest and bringing them both to a halt. “Just what is it you’re fighting for here?”

“We don’t have time for this, Spike. We’ve already lost too much of the night.” He sighed at the hard, immovable stare confronting him. “This is not the time for distractions. Those young ladies, the world in general, can’t afford it. They have enough monsters to worry about without thinking too much on those among them. We belong separate. A dungeon… as you call, is quite fitting for us.”

“Bollocks! You’ve spent so much time getting smart it’s made you stupid. You say you fight for the girls. Why? Because you care about them?”

“Of course, I do,” Giles huffed, irritated.

“Caring, sacrifice… fighting. It all boils down to one thing, Mate. Love. The kind that pumps through your veins and makes you do stupid things, take stupid risks. The kind that turns you into a bloody lunatic and makes someone else the most important thing in your world. The kind that makes your own existence a reasonable price for their safety and happiness. Good, evil… it doesn’t matter. Without passion, we are worth nothing to anybody.”

Reining in his anger, Giles met Spike’s stare. “Bloody poets,” he muttered. After a deep breath, he sighed, “I don’t want anyone thinking I’m not taking this seriously enough.”

“Believe me, Mate, you’ll never not be the house grouch. And they’re a bunch of teenaged girls. Have you noticed what they read as romance these days? Being in love with a moody, sparkly vampire is all the rage.”

“Sparkly?”

“Don’t ask,” Spike grumbled. “All I can say is that some squirrely bint’s lucky I’m not evil anymore.”

“Spike,” Giles caught his shoulder as he began to turn away. “If the basement’s not good enough for me, why are you still sleeping there?”

A grin twitched on the blond vampire’s lips. “It’s as close to Buffy as I can be.” Before Giles could respond, his attention was drawn down the dark street. A small group of Bringers emerged from one ally and ducked into another. The Watcher motioned in that direction. With hand signals, he communicated that he would follow while Spike moved around to flank them. Each knowing his task, they silently split up and slipped into the darkness.

******

Giles followed silently and steadily, their path as easy to trace as if they had left a fluorescent wake. He tracked them through two more alleys and to the backdoor of what looked like a business building. Slowly creeping in, the sudden change to bright light temporarily blinded him. Before he knew it, they were on him.

It was an ambush. They were coming at him from all directions. In the blinding light, he could only catch glimpses. Flashes of eyeless faces, all flooding toward him with daggers at the ready. Thundering cracks of gunshots split his ears, but he couldn’t see who else might be there beyond the crushing waves of attackers. The wounds they inflicted stung as the daggers pierced his flesh, but he raged, taking his enemies apart as fast as they came for him. Lightning flashed behind his eyes and his head felt like it might explode. He dropped to his knees in agony.

“Giles! Snap out of it, Wanker,” Spike’s voice echoed in the darkness.

Giles slowly opened his eyes to see the other vampire kneeling over him. “Good of you to show up,” he groaned.

“What the bloody hell happened here?”

The Watcher sat up, holding ringing his head. “What does it look like? Like a true idiot, I walked into an ambush.”

“Yeah,” Spike prodded. “But by who?”

Giles looked around in confusion. They were in a bar and there were bodies everywhere. Bodies of patrons, a couple waitresses, and the bartender who looked particularly gruesome splattered all over the wall behind his bar. But something was missing. None of the bodies were Bringers. “I must have killed twenty right here,” he insisted, mostly to himself. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Take it easy,” Spike tried to support him as he stood. “Looks like some of ‘em got their licks in on you, too.”

“Where are the bodies, Spike?” Giles began to sound panicked.

“Don’know. Maybe the survivors took ‘em.”

“But they never cared about their dead before.”

“You know this thing likes to play the mind games, Mate. It’s trying to get in your head.”

“That’s another thing. Whatever It hit me with, they had me. Why let me live?”

“Listen,” Spike grabbed a stack of bar napkins and pressed them to a puncture wound in Giles’ ribs. One that could have hit his heart, if knives were still a threat. “We can sit in this mess and try to figure this out until the sun comes up. Or we can go check out another trail I found that may lead to something we can actually deal with. Nothing we can do for these now.”

“Alright,” Giles shook his head, still full of questions. “I would like something useful to come of tonight’s outing.”

“Yep,” the blond lead the way. “That sounds more like the stuffy prat I know and tolerate.”

“Spike. Until we figure out what happened here…”

“No sense getting everyone worked up over nothing. It’s between us. Just more tricks from the First anyway, Mate. Don’t worry so much.”

“Hard habits…” the Watcher muttered.

******

Spike pushed through several thick bushes until he had a good view of the rustic winery building. He quickly pulled the still distracted Watcher down beside him.

“Look,” he pointed as small groups of Bringers continually entered and left the wooden warehouse. “The place is buzzin’ like a massive beehive, an’ what do you wanna bet we’ve met the queen?”

“Why would so many of Its followers gather in one place? The First has never given us any opportunity to strike a blow that may cause significant damage to Its forces before.”

“Now we’re gettin’ somewhere,” the vampire looked on eagerly. “This many less Bringers in the world can only mean good things for Buffy and the girls.”

“Wait, Spike,” Giles held him back. “Something about this place doesn’t feel right. We have no idea what else is in there and how many there are. You and I might hold our own in a fight, but we are neither of us indestructible. Buffy needs us to be prudent when picking our battles.”

Screaming pierced the still night air. A group of bringers had emerged from a stand of trees across the way, heading toward the building with a teenaged girl in their midst. She cried, terrified, as they mercilessly shoved her along.

All reason thrown away, the two vampires sprang from their cover. Before they could break into a sprint, a jarringly calm voice came from behind them. “Geez, I knew Spike was stupid and reckless. I expected more from you, Giles.” They looked back at Angel, just standing there staring at them with his hands in his overcoat pockets. “I mean, the whole scene couldn’t scream trap more if there was a big neon sign.”

“Angel,” Giles called, motioning him to join them. “She needs our help. Between the three of us…”

“You mean that girl over there?” Angel pointed and the others automatically swung back around. She was standing still now, surrounded by the Bringers, all facing them.

“Help!” she yelled mockingly. “Save me, my big, blood-sucking heroes. I need your cold, dead arms around me.” The girl vanished, but the Bringers remained, standing motionless, as if awaiting an order, their numbers growing by the moment.

“See?” the voice behind them returned. “One helpless, little brat and you completely lose your heads. That’s a monumentally exploitable weakness you have there.”

“You don’t know!” Giles howled, turning on his fellow souled vampire. “You haven’t held them as they died.”

“Save it,” Spike planted a steadying hand on Giles’ shoulder. “S’not him. Take a whiff. It doesn’t smell like a poof. Broody MacBrooderson always with the flowery cologne.” He spoke to the apparition. “That’s your game, right? You pick your moments of high emotion, or drunkenness in my case. Those moments when the mind isn’t clear and you can worm your way in.”

“Oh, take the dunce cap off this one. Someone finally beat some brains into that bleach noggin? We know I tried for a century with no luck. Little brother vampire’s figured me out. I’d better be scared now.”

“What’s in the building?” Giles groaned, unsure if he was more upset at his own recklessness or having to deal with the First again.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Angelus’ smuggest grin crossed his face. “Nothing of yours. Perhaps the Slayer had a claim, once. But now, all mine.”

The Watcher clenched his fists in an effort to calm himself. “Are you holding more Potentials?”

Angel just laughed. “I’m surprised you two thought you could sneak around here. Don’t you understand. Black hearts are my domain. I’ll always know when those who belong to me are nearby.”

Spike bristled. “We have our souls. Earned fair ‘n square. We don’t belong to evil an’ never will again.”

“Men have souls,” the First scoffed. “That only makes it your choice to be mine. And you’ll choose, as so many have, and will. The blots on your hearts tell the real truth. Show me the real you.”

Giles glanced at the Bringers behind them. “You’re stalling. Waiting for enough of your hoard to show up to have a chance of killing us.”

“So arrogant,” the First sighed. “But, if you’re bored with me already, so be it. Just one more thing. You can stand here, killing enough of my followers to perhaps make me a tiny bit weaker. Maybe one of you will live to see what’s actually inside. But do you have time to take that chance?” Looking pointedly to the east, the vision of Angel disappeared.

There was the first hint of dawn kissing the horizon. At the moment the First vanished, Its Bringers moved as one, sweeping toward them. Giles and Spike glance at each other and made the only choice they could. They ran.

******

“Where are you going?” Dawn asked, crossing her arms as Ethan slowly turned from the front door with his small travel bag over his shoulder.

The Sorcerer sighed at the care in her accusing eyes. “May I ask if you’ve put some kind of tracking spell on me?”

“The house isn’t that big. And you do kinda stick out in this crowd. I thought you said you were going to stay here. If you want, you can have my room and I’ll move in with…”

“My dearest child, stop. You wanted me here, so here I stay.” Ethan set his bag down and pulled a few torn pages from his back pocket. “You see. I found this in the Council files. It’s written in one of the older Spanish dialects and seems to reference a ‘clue to victory secreted away for the Slayer who may be tasked to stare into the face of truest darkness’.”

“The First?” Dawn whispered. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because it’s a long-shot at best and most probably wishful thinking. The text seems to indicate one of the earliest Spanish missions built on the western coast of the New World. Since the site of that structure is only a few hours from here, I thought it would be in everyone’s best interest if I just popped up to see if anything might still be there. No one would miss me.”

“Un huh. No one would?”

“I’m still not used to having anyone care.”

“You can’t go alone,” Dawn frowned seriously. “It’s not safe for anyone to be on their own.”

Ethan grinned at her knowingly. “And what kind of safety would it afford me to run off in the middle of the night with the Slayer’s baby sister?”

“Don’t you ever call me a baby. And I didn’t mean me.” She reached out and grabbed Andrew’s arm as he passed on his way up the stairs after a midnight snack. “Take him with you.”

“What?” Andrew squeaked. He nervously eyed the older man.

Ethan’s eyes sparkled darkly as they raked along the boy’s body. “The virgin? Maybe if I was going on a holiday weekend… But why saddle me with him when I need to move quickly?”

“Because the First is less likely to get in your head if you’re not alone. You wanted ‘no one’ to miss you… believe me, he really won’t be missed.”

“I, I, I don’t think… Where’s he taking me? I don’t want to be a virgin sacrifice.” Andrew’s squeak held a hopeful note he was almost sure he did not intend.

“Relax, Boy,” Ethan purred. “I have never taken anyone against their will. That’s not to say they don’t eventually come ‘round to my charms.”

“You’re his back-up on a secret mission,” Dawn broke the seeming hypnotic hold Ethan was weaving on the younger man. “You wanted to make yourself useful? Make sure Ethan gets back here safe.”

Andrew nodded in a slight daze. “Ok. I’ll do my best.”

“I’m sure you will,” the Mage said silkily.

“And, Ethan. Quit messing with him.”

“Jealous?”

“You wish,” Dawn playful slapped away the hand he extended to her. “How are you getting there?”

“I don’t think the bleached leach will mind if I borrow these.” He held out the keys to Spike’s motorcycle.

“He never takes those out of his pocket.”

“Yes. A worthy test of my skills. But not too difficult.” Dawn couldn’t help sharing his wicked grin. She giggled as he pointedly scanned the darkened room for onlookers before placing a kiss on her cheek and dragging Andrew out the door behind him.