And What Alice Found There: Chapter 3
“I don’t like this.”
“You’ve said that – like fifteen times at least.” Brigette stepped back as Spike swung around to face her.
“Well, I’m saying it again! I don’t like this!”
“Perhaps if you told us specifically why you don’t like it.” Robin was tired of Spike’s grumbling as well. “Then we could figure out a solution.”
“Don’t get all teacher-like with me.” Spike snorted. “I was at university while your great-grandfather was picking cotton.”
“Then no doubt you’re used to articulating your concerns.” Robin let the insult roll off his back. He wasn’t about to give Spike the satisfaction of losing his temper, and he couldn’t necessarily argue that it wasn’t true.
“These cave ins – “ Spike pointed at the debris they’d been skirting around. “They’re not real.”
“Sure feel real to me.” Rowena had scraped her knee on something in the darkness, and it still stung.
“You think someone did this on purpose?” Faith asked. “What for?”
“To slow us down – wear us out – make us cranky – take your pick. It’s a common practice. Used to be, anyway.” Spike told her.
“You’re sure this was all deliberate and not from an earthquake or Sunnydale falling in?”
Spike shook his head. “I’ve set up enough deadfalls to know one when I see one.”
“I wonder…” Robin turned and stared into the darkness behind them.
Faith and the other three Slayers took advantage of the discussion to rest. If nothing else, the piles of concrete and wood were good for sitting on.
“Our way in was completely blocked off, I wonder if that was on purpose?” He mused. “And if so, why?”
“So the rats run through the maze the way you want.” Spike’s grin suggested he’d used the tactic himself.
Rats in a maze. Meaning whoever was down here knew they were coming, was preparing for them. Robin glared into the dark. “I don’t like this.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Spike slapped him on the back. “’Bout time you got with the program, Robby!”
“Great. Now we’ve got two bitchy men.” Brigette muttered, making the other Slayers laugh.
Robin shot them a stern look, though its effect was lost in the dimness. “The point is, we’re being guided by whoever’s trying to open the Hellmouth – right to them. More likely, into a trap of their choosing.”
“And your point is?” Faith asked.
“My point is it’s a trap!”
“Exactly.” Spike slapped him on the back once again. “Now that we’ve settled that, let’s be on our way.”
Spike started off into the darkness and after a moment, Faith and the other Slayers followed him. Robin watched them in confusion. “Weren’t you listening?”
“Yeah, but you can’t fight the pre-ordained.” Faith stopped and held her hand out to him. “Trust me on that.”
“I do – but I still don’t like this.” He took her hand. “I don’t like being a rat in someone’s maze.”
“Hey, but sometimes there’s cheese at the end.”
They continued at a careful pace, though not as careful as Robin would have liked. Worry nagged at him, worry that their route had been deliberately blocked off, forcing them to join up with Spike’s group. Granted, they could have chosen to join Buffy or Willow’s group, but the route Spike was taking was closest. Or was that part of some pre-ordained plan, as Faith said?
A scent drifted to him and Robin rubbed his nose. “Does anyone else smell bleach?”
“About five minutes back, be glad you’ve only got human senses.” Spike informed him.
There were supply closets in the basement, but they weren’t anywhere near them, and the smell shouldn’t carry this far even if they were jugs that had broken open.
Unless… Robin reached down and dipped a fingertip into the water they were walking through. Lifting his hand to his face, his nose confirmed his suspicions. “Someone’s poured bleach in the water.”
“Well, thank you for clearing that up for us. Whatever would we do without you?” Spike hated the smell of bleach and cleansers. They reminded him of when his father had been ill.
“Why would someone do that?” Caitlin asked.
“So you’d ask stupid questions.” Several minutes earlier, Spike had stopped pretending to breathe.Pretending to breathe was a blending tactic, and everyone here knew he was a vampire anyway. At first, that had helped, but the closer they got to the basement, the stronger the fumes became.
Brigette noticed Spike rubbing at his eyes and realized that he was getting much more than a headache and runny nose from this. She slid her arm through his, guiding him through the ankle deep water. There was a weird crawly feeling that had been bothering her for the last few minutes. Walking arm in arm with a vampire wasn’t helping, not that she minded. Any excuse to touch Spike was a good one, but this wasn’t the ideal circumstance.
Now Faith was the one who wasn’t happy with their situation. She couldn’t care less what the bleach was doing to her boots and jeans, it’d give them a little character, but taking Spike out of their arsenal of weapons was not a good thing. “Everybody stay sharp.”
“Let me guess – you don’t like this.” Robin quipped.
“Bite me.” Ignoring the pain building behind her eyes, Faith ordered the group to a stop.
Spike let Brigette guide him to a chunk of debris where he could sit down. His eyes were burning and watering so much that he could no longer see. He held tight to her arm, not able to see and trusting her to lead him safely.
“I’ve got an idea.” Brigette pulled off her backpack and dug inside for a bottle of water. “Rowena, come here a sec.”
When the other Slayer reached them, Brigette handed her the water bottle and backpack. Then she reached for Spike’s shirt and began unbuttoning it.
“Here now – what are you doing?” Spike leaned back, pulling his coat closed. “I’m not exactly in the mood, you know.”
“Relax, we’re not after your body.” Rowena chuckled. “I like a man with a little more meat on his bones.”
Caitlin giggled at the outraged expression on his face. She knew that Spike considered himself a major hottie.
“I’m perfectly fit, lean as a whip.” He shot back. “And you’re too young for me anyway.”
Bridgette tore a long strip of Spike’s shirt off and rolled it up. Personally, she thought he looked great; she didn’t like men with too many muscles. Holding the cloth out, she gestured for Rowena to pour water on it. “There’s not too many women who aren’t too young for you.”
“That’s not true, so long as a bird’s over a hundred, maybe ninety if she’s pretty.” Spike flinched as something wet was laid over his face and wrapped around his head. “Now that’s not the proper way to blindfold someone.”
“I’m not trying to blindfold you, I’m hoping it’ll help filter the fumes.” Taking another strip of cloth, Bridgette tied it around his throat, holding the first cloth down and effectively masking Spike’s face.
Rowena tipped his head back and poured water over his face, cupping her free hand under each eye so that the water pooled and rinsed them out.
It was crude, but it did provide a measure of relief. Spike reached out and when Brigette took his hand, he squeezed it gratefully.
“Give me your flashlight.” Faith held out a hand to Robin.
“Do you see something?” He squinted down the tunnel, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“No. That’s what bothers me.” She turned the flashlight as bright as it would go and played it along the path they would be taking.
The other Slayers blinked and turned away. Until now they’d kept the Maglite as low as it would go, with Robin keeping one hand cupped over the lens. It had provided enough light for them to see by and to keep him from tripping over things.
Faith followed the watery path to where the ground rose and the water ended. Not too far, only another fifty feet possibly. There were several large chunks of debris along the way. All within easy jumping distance and all conveniently flat. Stepping stones, very tempting stepping stones.
“Stay here.” Ignoring the debris, Faith walked slowly and carefully to where she could step out of the water. If I was on that last one and I jumped off… She swept the flashlight beam along the ground in front of her. I’d land there… And then…
There was a glimmer in the dark. A grin curled her lips as Faith knelt to examine what she’d found. A tripwire. Thin and delicate looking. Piano wire possibly. And where do you go and what nasty thing do you do?
Following the wire, Faith found the trigger. Not being the nature type, it took her a few moments to figure out what it would do. Cables were hanging limply along the walls, blending in with the stone.
The cables led to something on the ground. Shocked, Faith realized that the something was what she was standing on. Carefully, she eased back a step at a time.
“Did you find something?” Robin called to her. He’d watched her with a growing sense of uneasiness.
“Yeah, but I’m not exactly sure what. Come here and look.”
Sloshing through the water to where she was, he knelt beside her, ignoring the cold bleach water soaking through his pants. “What did you find?”
“A tripwire, which runs to that trigger – “ Faith pointed the flashlight beam at it. “And these cables. There’s something on the floor. A trap.”
“Probably a net.” Robin was a city boy, NYC born and bred, but he’d studied and learned a variety of ways to trap and kill vampires. “It’s probably camouflaged or covered with dirt.”
Feeling along carefully, he found something under the dirt and debris covering the floor. “It’s a net all right, very fine mesh, metal. Probably intended to hold a vampire or a Slayer.”
“Maybe both.” Standing, Faith searched past the tripwire with the flashlight. “It’s pretty good sized. Whoever put it here probably hoped to catch most, if not all, of us.”
They could trip the trap deliberately and risk letting their enemy know exactly where they were, or they could simply avoid it. Faith opted for avoiding. She was damn good at avoiding.
“Can you find the other side of it?” She asked Robin. When he nodded, she focused the flashlight on where the tripwire connected at the wall. After he stepped over the wire, she aimed the beam ahead of him to help him find the other edge of the net.
Robin knelt down. “I found it, there’s no trigger on this side. If we’re careful, we can get past without triggering it.”
“All right, guys, let’s go. One at a time.” Faith focused the light on the trigger once again. “Stop right past the edge, there might be another tripwire or something.”
“What about Spike?” Brigette asked. “He can’t see.”
Crap. “I’ll go last, I’ll carry him.”
“I can walk!” Spike protested.
“Too bad you can’t see!” Faith didn’t give squat about his dignity. He’d live long enough to get over the embarrassment.
“Brigette can guide me – tell me when to step over the wire.” He insisted.
“It’s too risky.” Faith shook her head. “I can throw you over if it’ll make you feel better.”
“Fine.” Spike nodded. It was bad enough walking around like a nun who’d gotten her habit twisted around, but he was not going to be carried as if he were a child.
One at a time, Brigette, Caitlin, and Rowena stepped over the tripwire and made their way across the camouflaged net to stand by Robin.
Brigette had guided Spike to where Faith stood, before making her way across. Spike told her. “You can throw me now, I’m ready.”
“Oh yeah?” Faith lobbed the flashlight to Robin. Grinning, she grabbed Spike and tossed him over her shoulder.
“Put me down!”
“Knock it off.” His struggles made her stagger. “We end up in that net and I’ll shove you through it until little Spike pieces come out.”
“I ought to bite you.” Spike muttered.
“How long does it take for a vamp to grow their fangs back?” She countered.
When she reached the far side of the net, Faith dropped Spike to the ground. “There, I threw you. Happy now?”
“Ecstatic.” He struggled to get to his feet, uncharacteristically losing his balance.
“What’s wrong?” Brigette grabbed Spike’s arm as he staggered.
“Feel woozy – “ Queasiness, an unfamiliar feeling he only vaguely remembered, washed over him. “Sick – “
“Sick?” Brigette let him lean on her. “Vampires don’t get sick.”
Robin watched Spike as he wobbled and clutched at Brigette for support. He’d seen this before. “It’s garlic poisoning.”
The bleach had fouled her senses to the point that Faith couldn’t smell anything, but something was definitely wrong with Spike. “This Knave jagoff is trying to even the odds by taking Spike out of the fight.”
Switching the flashlight back to its prior dim setting, Robin ordered them to keep moving. “It’ll either get better or we’ll run into our Knave and it won’t matter.”
“Everybody be careful. Watch your step.“ Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire. Faith clenched her fists until her knuckles ached. Everything around her screamed of danger.
Within ten feet, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. Brigette’s patience with Spike was rapidly deteriorating as he stumbled along beside her. She wanted to let him fall and run back the way they’d come, but Slayers weren’t wired that way, and she kept moving.
“Wait…” Spike slurred in her ear.
“Come on.” She led him forward. Their feet tangled as she did so, and they both fell. Unable to catch herself, Brigette yelped as her cheek scraped the ground. “Damn it!”
“Sorry – “ His tongue felt too thick to move and form words. “Wait – “
Faith started to give Brigette a hand up when something caught her attention. Incoming and fast. “Get down!”
The long hours of training paid off. Without questioning why, Robin and the other two Slayers dropped to the ground, hearing arrows whistle inches over their heads. A few were low enough to clip Robin’s shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain and press himself tighter against the ground.
“What the hell?” For once Faith was thankful she didn’t have the ass she’d always wanted. Some of those arrows had come way too close for comfort.
They hadn’t hit a tripwire, meaning the trigger must have been magical. Spike had probably sensed the magic but had been unable to warn them. Faith rubbed dirt off her face. Whoever this Knave was, he was really pissing her off.
“Great.” Xander eyed the stairwell. “We can’t get through this way.”
“Okay. We’ll just go back and catch up with Angel and Buffy.” Willow told him.
Eyeing the debris filling the stairwell again, Xander decided moving chunks of concrete wasn’t nearly as bad as slogging through the sewers.
“Give me a minute to figure the best way to do this.” He told her.
They had moved through the school with very little difficulty. In places, there were chunks of debris where walls had collapsed or the roof had caved in, but the majority of the school was still standing. Xander had been proud of the way the building had withstood the catastrophe. His crew had done a damn good job.
Unlike the old high school, the stairwell to the basement was two stories instead of just one. This was due in part to the very large crater left after the old high school had exploded. Not that he knew what had happened that night, no sir, and he had an alibi.
Xander had objected to the single straight set of stairs, arguing that two sets joined with a landing would be more structurally sound. In the end, he'd been overruled and the single flight of stairs built. The stairs were up to code, but barely.
His concerns over how the stairs would hold up in the event of an earthquake – or demonic cataclysm – had proven true. The stairs had twisted, and sections of the walls of the long stairwell had collapsed, making the stairwell impassable, in his opinion. Willow’s opinion differed.
“Are you sure there’s a way through?” He asked her again.
“It’ll just take a little time and effort. I’ll help.” Her voice sounded confident, but Willow was nervous about using magic so close to the Hellmouth. Despite her good intentions, evil could possibly warp it and turn it against them. There was also the chance that anything big would draw the attention of whatever bad guy was waiting for them.
“The problem is if we move the wrong rocks – the whole thing will fall in. If we knew which ones to move – “ He shrugged.
A spell came to her immediately. “Oh, I can do that!”
With a gesture, Willow recited the ancient words needed. It was a simple spell, nothing more than a glamour of sorts, but it would serve their purpose nicely.
Rocks and debris began to glow a soft green color. Xander grinned. “Pretty.”
“Those are the ones to move. Start at the top and move down.” Another spell came to her and Willow set it in motion, thanking the Goddess once again for granting her the spells and the power necessary. Reaching past Xander, she took a large rock from the pile and set it on the stair next to her. Seemingly of its own volition, it began drifting up the stairs.
“Where’s it going?” Tiffany watched the rock move up the stairwell and out the doorway.
“One of the classrooms.” Willow told her. “That way, nobody outside sees anything.”
“Can’t you just blast this open?” Tiffany asked. “That’d be a lot easier.”
“It would also be a lot louder and more dangerous.” Giles looked up from his notes. He’d taken advantage of the break to once again read over the notes he’d jotted down from Drusilla’s visions.
“It’s not for personal gain.” Tiffany had heard the statement enough to understand why it was necessary to limit the use of magic, but this seemed to fit the criteria for necessary.
“I can’t blast through, too much noise and it might bring the whole thing down, but I can form a tunnel so we’re only moving part of it.” Willow modified the spell to highlight a roughly circular pattern of rock. “Technically, this is for personal gain, but if we moved all this by hand, we might miss stopping the end of the world. Or stopping the stopping of the end of the world.”
“If magic is used for something that you can do on your own, there had better be a good reason for it.” Giles added.
This seemed to satisfy Tiffany, and she joined Willow and Xander in moving pieces of concrete onto the invisible conveyor belt Willow had called into being.
“Will, why don’t you sit down and rest.” He suggested. “Me and Tiff can handle this.”
She shook her head. “I’m okay.” Willow’s attention was drawn back to Xander when a rock he touched flashed red. “That means it’ll let others fall so you need to move a different one first.”
“Handy. Are you sure you don’t want to come work for me?” He winked at her. “I could use a smart cookie like you.”
“Smart cookie?” She shook her head as she lifted a piece of metal out of the way. “You’ve been spending too much time with Lorne watching those old movies.”
“It’s something to do and I’m less likely to meet any new demon girlfriends that way.” Xander said it jokingly, but a part of him wondered if he’d always attract the wrong kind of girls.
“We could go out together.” Now that her relationship with Kennedy was over, Willow had found herself with too much time on her hands. “I can make sure that you only hit on real, human girls.”
“Thanks, Will. When we get back, we’ll go out and have some fun. It’ll be like old times – only without the demons and vampires. And assorted other evil things.”
“It’s a date.”
Willow continued to help move pieces of debris despite Xander’s protests. A little physical labor was good for the soul. Plus, she could get away with not joining Giles’ discussion of Drusilla’s visions. He’d gotten to the point where he was caught up in a circular argument. She looked warily over her shoulder but Giles was ignoring them, reading his notes and talking to himself.
“The Knave of Hearts will steal the tarts that the Queen of Hearts makes. Did she actually say Queen of Hearts or just Queen?” Giles frowned as he flipped through his notes. “Slayer… Kingdom… aha! Queen of Hearts!”
He mulled over the idea of Cordelia being the Queen of Hearts once again. “Why would it be the Slayer’s Kingdom if Cordelia is the Queen? That makes no sense. Kingdoms do not have more than one queen.
“If Cordelia is the Queen, the tarts could be Jasmine’s remains. But why are they red? Red usually implies blood or danger…” His brow knitted further. “Danger is fairly obvious. Raise the castle – uncover the Hellmouth – quite dangerous.”
Willow wiped sweat off her face with a corner of her shirt as she crawled out of the tunnel they’d created. They were nearly through, and the tunnel had narrowed to where there was just enough room for Xander and Tiffany to work.
There was a strange feeling, like something was crawling along the back of her skull, and Willow ran her fingers through her hair. It was probably just dust.
“Ah, Willow!” Giles waved her toward where he was sitting. “I’ve been wrestling with this contradiction again, perhaps you can help. If Sunnydale is the Slayer’s Kingdom, then that would mean Buffy is the Queen. But if we assume the Queen of Hearts is Cordelia – then the Kingdom would have two queens. Clearly that’s not possible.”
“In the real world, maybe.” She so did not want to get back into this conversation. “Cordy told Buffy once that Buffy was the Slayer but she – Cordy – was the Slayer when it came to men. So there you go – two queens.”
“Hmm… I suppose that would make sense then.”
Giles appeared satisfied with her answer, and Willow sighed in relief. Her scalp still felt crawly, and she rubbed her fingers hard against her skin.
“What do these tarts – if they are indeed Jasmine’s remains – have to do with the Vanikov prophecies? The prophecies are about the Chosen One – clearly Buffy.” Giles rubbed at his aching temples. “And why are the damn things red?”
Ignoring him, Willow focused on the rocks moving lazily up the stairwell on their invisible conveyor belt.
“Why are they red, do you suppose, Willow?” He asked again.
“What?” She turned to glare at Giles. Was he never happy?
“The tarts – why are they red?”
A whisper from her left made Willow look that way. Nothing was there. Xander and Tiffany were still inside the tunnel.
“Willow? Do you have – “
“What? What?” How could he fixate on such unimportant things? “Blood! They’re red because of the blood! What are you, stupid?”
Giles looked up from his notes, startled by her outburst. “Willow, are you all right?”
“I’m sorry.” She rubbed her fingers through her hair once again. “I don’t know why I’m so cranky – I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. We’re under a great deal of stress.” Putting his notes away, Giles got to his feet and went to her side. “I suppose this will all make sense once it’s over.”
“It always does.”
Xander backed out of the tunnel. “We’re through. It looks like we can walk the rest of the way down. It’d probably be a good idea to leave this open in case we have to come back this way. Whatd’ya think, Will?
“Will?” He paused in wiping the dirt off his knees and looked at her when she didn’t answer. Willow seemed shaky and nervous. “What’s wrong?”
“I feel funny.”
“Funny as in ‘hey, let’s all go have fun’? Or funny as in ‘hey, I’m going to throw up?’”
“Funny like something’s trying to get into my head.” She admitted.
“That’s not funny.” Alarmed, Xander moved closer to her. “Is it the Hellmouth?”
Willow nodded, blinking back sudden tears. “It’s whispering to me.”
“Ignore it.”
“I can’t.” She rubbed at her skin, trying to wipe away the feeling of something crawling on her.
“Yes, you can. You’re a good person, Will.” He said firmly. “Look at it this way, you’ve got a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. They’re both telling you what to do, and you know who to listen to.”
He made it sound so simple, the belief was there in the warm brown gaze. Willow knew it wasn’t that easy. Being good was hard work. Evil was easier, so much easier.
Xander cupped her face in his hands. “Willow, I’ve known you all my life, and I know you’re good. I know it and deep down, you know it.”
Drawing strength from Xander’s faith, Willow smiled and nodded. “Let’s go.”