Fic: Magister 3, Ch 19 (FRM)

[gilescandy]

 And for the free day, the final chapters of Magister 3!  Yay!!!

Ch. 19 – Comes the End

“Maybe you guys should hang back,” Buffy said to the two men behind her as she stared up at the pyramid shaped crypt.

“Wait.  What if…” Spike tried to stop her.

“I just have this feeling I should do this alone.  Besides, sounds like it’s not very vampire friendly in there.”

“But…” Spike attempted to follow her anyway as she started forward.  Giles’ firm grip subtly held him back.

“We’ll check the area for trouble,” her Watcher called after her.  He turned to see the last hints of a definite pout disappear from Spike’s face and hid a smile.  “There’s nothing in there Buffy can’t deal with alone.  You check over there.  I’ll go this way.”

“I know,” Spike moaned.  “But…”  His shoulders slumped as he walked away.

******

Giles returned just in time to see Angel enter the tomb.  Part of him knew that Spike was out there watching from the darkness as well, but he was more concerned with the man who now stood beside him.

“You’ve found something?” the vampire asked softly while keeping his gaze on crypt.

Wesley’s answer was conversational, nothing but ease in his voice.  “Angel made a deal with the Oracles.  It seems they have a stake in what transpires here as well.  They gave him something for Buffy.”

“Let’s hope their interest is in our side prevailing.”

“Yes.  We never know what we’ll find when dealing with beings apart from this world.  Good?  Evil?  Something we can’t hope to predict…”

Giles ducked his head, his own guilt putting indictment into the words.  “I…  I thought you were with the evacuated potentials.  Helping to protect them from…”

“They’re being looked after as we speak.  You remember Caratas and the Host?”

“I do.  Though it isn’t exactly me he must remember.”

Wesley chuckled slightly.  “He likes you even so.  He says that such an angelic voice could never remain in evil hands for long.  And he was very happy to help protect the… precious cinnamon rolls.”

“The sanctuary spell, of course.”  Giles thought for a moment.  “Are Bringers considered demons?”

“The Host says their master is bad enough to give them special rating.  And, if the magick fails, Gunn has some extra help protecting the wounded.  Antonio and Hannah arrived in L.A. yesterday and agreed to stay until either we returned or the Slayer called for assistance.  We all decided it was better to be safe.  Never know who might show up to cause trouble these days.”

Unable to battle his guilty any longer, Giles turned to the man beside him.  “Wesley, I want you to know how truly…  Your great aunt was a wonderful and formidable woman.  There are no words to express my sorrow for your loss.  If there was any way…”

 Wesley put his hand up as the vampire ran out of words.  “Her nurses would agree with you.  They also think aunt Helen is wonderful and, yes, still very formidable.”

“She…  She’s alive,” Giles breathed in disbelief.  “But the things I, he did to her…”

“HE did awful things, yes.  And now she happily regals anyone who’ll listen with tales of how she stared into the eyes of the Devil and refused to flinch.”

“But how?  Her ability to communicate…”

“Another of the Host’s endless supply of useful connections,” Wesley grinned.  “He got her accepted into a…  I supposed it’s mainly a care and retirement home for old warriors.  Because of the variety of their clientele, many of the nurses have either telepathic or empathic abilities.  Her mind is sharp as ever, and they are more than willing to translate if needed.” 

“You put her in a demon’s old folk’s home?” Giles was flabbergasted.

“They were the most equipped to deal with her injuries and allow her to remain in a world she loved.  My life is too erratic with Angel to give her proper care, and none of our family…”  He sighed.  “Long before I managed to alienate the Slayer from the Council and become the biggest disgrace of my family’s history, aunt Helen held the title of ‘black sheep’.  As a young woman, she went against her father’s wishes and pursued medicine so she could become a field agent.  And when my father and the Council decided it was time for her to retire, she refused to return to London.  She made herself so indispensable to the agents around her that they neglected to follow orders and force her to go.”

Giles couldn’t help smiling.  “I was fortunate to meet them all.  A stellar group, indeed.  But none of that excuses your family’s unwillingness to care for her in her time of need.”

“It’s not…  The family would, of course, make arrangements for her out of duty and appearance.  However, I’m the only relative she can tolerate.  I won’t send her home for her sake, not theirs.  She’s happy, Mr. Giles.  Would you really want to see her in some human hospital, lying in a bed all by herself and being pumped full of morphine because that’s all they could do for her?  At Andraste’s Table…  It’s said that somewhere in those hallways you can sit and listen to the Tales of Victory recited by the last surviving warrior of the battle of Turacht Nallah.  Or, you can talk to the demon who taught Elvis how to dance.”

The vampire laughed at that.  “Sounds as if she’s where she belongs,” he said softly.

“No one blames you.  Aunt Helen least of all.  Who would have been his victim otherwise?  She would have chosen to take the place of any one of them.  Even going as far as summoning the demon to her if need be.”  Wesley touched his arm in reassurance.  “Her nurses said she ‘smiled with the light of a thousand suns’, you know demons and prose, when we got word to her about your… recovery.”  He chuckled, “Then she went right back to insisting she still had feet and therefore no need to be pushed around in a wheelchair.”

Giles ducked his head, trying to hide the moisture gathering in his eyes.  “It seems I have one more reason to survive the oncoming apocalypse, if only to visit her once more.”

Wesley motioned to their respective heroes, now outside and sharing a passionate kiss.  “Looks like they might have found what they were looking for.”

“Let’s hope it was everything we needed.”

******

“I sent them home,” Buffy answered Spike’s whining question as he stood at the back of the small group gathered at the nurse’s station.  “And grow up, will you?  Are all vampires perpetually twelve years old?”  Her gaze drifted over to Giles who shrugged for lack of an answer.  Willow giggled at him.

“He was forced to have a soul and be good, you know,” Spike muttered.  “Some of us worked for it.”

“May we,” Giles spoke up to forestall the upcoming spat, “hear about what you found in the temple?  Other than Angel.”

“There was an old lady in there who said she’d been waiting for me,” the Slayer answered.

“Someone alive?” Willow gasped.

“Yeah.  I think she was one of the witches who made the scythe.  She told me that the first Slayer was created by a group called The Shadow Men.  They chained a young girl up and put a demon inside her so she’d be strong enough to fight the rest of the demons threatening the world.”

Dawn whispered, “That sounds awful.”

“Told you it was a man thing,” Kennedy crossed her arms with a nod.

“Something had to be done,” Giles murmured.

Buffy gave him an accusing look.  “And that those Shadow Men became the Watchers,” she stated.

Giles opened his mouth, but a hand on the shoulder from Xander stopped his rebuttal.  “Quit while you’re ahead, G-man.  We’re always gonna be outnumbered in this group.”

Willow spoke up instead.  “So the women, the white witches created the scythe as, like the Slayer’s ultimate weapon?”

“She confirmed that it was used to kill the last pure demon,” Buffy nodded.  “And that it drew on the power of the entire Slayer line, letting the one wielding it be connected to all Slayers and use their strength.”

“Amazing,” the Witch breathed.  “I’d like to talk to her.  Imagine the things she could teach us,” she looked up at Giles with excited eyes.

“Sorry, Wil,” her friend shook her head sadly.  “I guess the First didn’t want us talking.  Uber-vamp showed up, and before I could stop it… killed her.”

“I’m sorry, Buffy,” her Watcher sighed.  “I assume that you…?”

The Slayer glance at her weapon.  “Oh, he split.  I cut him in half.”

Giles nodded in approval of how the Turok-Han had been dealt with.  “And the item Angel was here to deliver?”  At the mention of the name, Spike growled and left the room.

Buffy watched him, but let him go.  She pulled an amulet that looked like a huge glass costume diamond in a large, gaudy setting out of her pocket.  “Ugly chunk of hardware, isn’t it?”

“May I see?” her Watcher asked.

She tossed it to him.  “Be my guest.”

“Anything that could be thought of as instructions?”

“Angel said all they would tell him was that it had to be worn by a champion with a soul who was more than human.”

Dawn thought for a moment.  “You mean like a souled vampire?”

“We’ve got a couple of those lying around,” Xander slapped Giles on the back.

The vampire shot him a glare.  “It’s the title ‘Champion’ that worries me,” he said, studying the amulet.  “To be considered one is an earned honor, and Buffy is--”

“I can’t wear it,” she cut him off.  “Angel made that clear.  And, if you ask me, you’re totally one.”

Giles ducked his head modestly.  “Thank you, Buffy.  But the power contained in this stone may not take your word for it.”

He passed it back to her and was surprised when she held onto his hand and stared seriously into his eyes.  “I’m giving it to Spike,” she told him softly.  He began to stammer his understanding, but stopped when she squeezed his hand to force his attention.  “I want him to wear it, not because I don’t think you can.  Understand?  It’s because, when you hear my plan, I know exactly where you’ll want to be instead.”

******

“So, what do you think?” Buffy glanced around the stunned group nervously.  “It was something Kennedy said that made me start to think…”

“Hey,” the Potential put her hands up.  “Let’s not drag my name into this until we get a verdict on the crazy.”

The Slayer frowned at all the wide eyes staring back at her.  “You guys don’t think it’s a good idea?”

Faith picked up the scythe.  “It is pretty out there, B.”

“It’s more than that,” Giles spoke up.  “Buffy, what you’re suggesting flies in the face of everything that every generation has done in the fight against evil since the beginning of time.”

“So…” the Slayer gave him a worried look, “you think it’s too--”

“I think it’s bloody brilliant!” he exclaimed, his grin beaming at her.

Buffy sighed in relief as Kennedy elbowed Dawn and whispered, “Totally my suggestion.”

“Whao, hey.  Wait a minute,” Willow glanced rapidly back and forth between Slayers and Watcher.  “Not to poop on the party here, but I’m the guy that’s gonna have to pull this thing off.”

“It is beaucoup d’mojo,” Faith replied understandingly.

The redhead stared worriedly at Buffy.  “This goes beyond anything I’ve ever done.  I mean, it’s a total loss of control.  And not in a nice, wholesome, my boyfriend doesn’t need to breathe kinda way.”

Giles diligently studied his shoes, refusing to return any of the myriad looks he knew were being directed at him.  He could see them anyway.  Determined non-comprehension from Buffy, confusion from Dawn, disbelief from Xander, and a knowing smirk from Faith.

Buffy smiled at her friend and softly said, “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think you could do it.”

“I…  I’m just not sure I’m stable enough,” the Witch sighed.

“You can do this, Willow,” Giles said in a quiet, but encouraging voice.  “We’ll find the right spell, do the research, talk to the coven…  And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”  He glanced at his Slayer, now understanding what she meant about him wanting to be somewhere else when the battle came.

“Oh!” Dawn suddenly piped up.  She nodded in understanding.  “He doesn’t need to breathe.”

“Shouldn’t you be checking on Ethan?” Buffy asked her with a slight panic to her voice.

“Yep,” she chirped.  “I’m off.”

“And I’ll get the girls ready,” Kennedy left right behind her.

Buffy took the scythe from Faith and handed it to Willow with a sure nod.  “You’ll figure this out and do great.  I know you will.  And, if you need me, I’ll be dealing with a moping vampire.”  She stuffed the amulet into her pocket and went in search of Spike.