And What Alice Found There: Chapter 7
“Tie him up.” Giles ordered.
“I’m all over it.” Faith paused at the edge of the circle of protection, not wanting a repeat of what had happened the first time she’d tried to get at Ethan. When nothing stopped her from stepping over the chalked line, she grinned. None too gently, she rolled Ethan onto his face and jerked his arms behind his back.
Suddenly, there was a rush to get to Buffy, with Angel leading the way. He leaned down, resting his cheek against hers. Her skin was icy, and he flinched back; only the reassuring beat of her heart kept him from believing she was dead.
“Dear Lord, her skin is like ice.” Giles put his hand to Buffy’s throat, feeling for a pulse. “I can’t tell if she’s alive!”
“She is.” Willow assured him. She assumed that since Angel wasn’t freaking out, Buffy was still alive. “But we have to get her off of this thing and take care of her or she won’t be for long.”
Xander pulled his jacket off and started to cover Buffy with it, but Willow stopped him. “The cold is slowing her heartbeat.”
“Oh. Duh.” He’d thought the drop in temperature was something she’d done to rattle Ethan.
The chains on Buffy’s arms and legs refused to budge. As far as Robin could tell, there were no locks or latches on them. “Willow, we’re going to need help with these.”
“No, we don’t.” Faith shouldered him aside. “This is something muscle can handle.” She lifted the scythe and brought it down on the links holding Buffy’s left arm.
The links parted like butter under a hot knife. Flashing a grin at Robin, Faith moved to cut the rest of the chains. “The right tool for the job, baby.”
“Get her off the table and away from the Hellmouth.” Willow ordered.
“We’ll take her upstairs – “
She shook her head, cutting Giles off. “I don’t know that she’ll make it that far.”
Angel watched helplessly while Giles and Xander lifted Buffy off of the table and carried her as far from the still glowing Hellmouth as possible. With the arrow still protruding from his chest, he couldn’t lift her without possibly dusting himself.
“We need to stop the bleeding.” Willow pointed at the backpacks they’d dropped by the doorway. “Shirts – anything – tear them into strips.”
The others quickly rummaged through the bags, pulling out clothing and tearing it into large strips to use as bandages. Willow took several and began wrapping them around the wound on one of Buffy’s arms. Giles quickly moved to bandage her other arm.
When Angel tried to help, Spike pulled him back. “Let them handle things, Peaches. Stopping blood isn’t what we’re best at.”
It was true, but it tore at Angel’s heart to stand by and do nothing for his soulmate while the others worked to save her. A keen of misery forced itself up from his chest, but nothing came out past the wound in his throat.
“Why is that thing still glowing?” Lijuan asked. She’d been eyeing the Hellmouth nervously for several minutes. Instead of dimming and going out when Ethan was taken down, it was glowing steadily brighter.
“It’s still trying to open.” Giles looked up from bandaging Buffy. “We’ll have to do something about it.”
“You think?” Xander quipped.
“Let’s see…” The former Watcher sat back on his heels. “According to the book of Vanikov, the Hellmouth will be sealed forever by the blood of the Chosen One.”
“Well, we’ve got her blood.” Xander made a face. “Lots and lots of it, but that doesn’t look like sealing to me.”
“It isn’t, you fool, it’s unsealing.” Ethan had regained consciousness and smirked at them as they turned to look at him. “The blood of the Chosen will unseal the Hellmouth forever.”
“You never really studied, did you, Ethan?” Giles said sadly. “Always after that quick reward.”
“Get off your throne, Ripper, nobody cares anymore.” The other man rolled onto his side. “The Council is history. Ancient sodding history and so are you.”
“The Council is – “ Giles stopped, not wanting to get into a war of words with Ethan. “The word itzikila means ‘seal’ whereas ipzikila would change the meaning to ‘unseal’.”
“You’re wrong, Ripper – “ Ethan grunted as Faith kicked him in the back.
“Faith!” Robin pulled her away. “He’s helpless!”
“Like Buffy was?” She glared at Ethan but allowed Robin to lead her away.
“You’re wrong. “It- means ‘un’.” Ethan gasped out, not about to let the argument go. “Ip- means ‘to’.”
Who gives a fuck? Angel grabbed the table Buffy had been chained to and lifted it, intending to throw it against the wall. He was still weakened from his wounds and garlic exposure, and the best he could manage to do was flip it over. Angered further by his weakness, he swept his arm around, knocking over the few candles still standing.
The others jumped as the table crashed to the floor. They turned to find Angel glaring at them, his lips pulled back, exposing his fangs in a soundless snarl.
“What Angel is trying to say in his usual polite manner is please get on with it, nobody cares what the soddin’ word means.” Spike said drolly.
Giles realized he’d been drawn into the very battle he’d been trying to avoid. He gestured at Ethan. “Someone stuff something in his mouth.”
“Buffy’s going to be okay, Angel.” Willow assured him. “The cold slowed her heart rate down and I did a spell to clot her blood. We’ll get her back home and she’ll be fine.”
Angel knew Buffy’s ability to heal was supernatural, but she’d lost a great deal of blood. Possibly as much or more than she had the time he’d fed from her. If she’d been merely human, she’d already be dead. As it was, her heartbeat was dangerously slow, and her blood was moving tiredly through her veins.
Willow surveyed the bandaging. “I think we can go ahead and move her now.”
“And the Hellmouth?” Xander pointed at it. “We never really settled if it’s popping its top or not.”
“It is not.” Giles said firmly.
“Have you told it that? ‘Cos I don’t think it read the same book you did.”
“Hmm…” Giles went to look at the Hellmouth. It did seem to be rising as opposed to closing.
Faith gave Ethan another kick when he laughed behind the gag she’d stuffed into his mouth. If the thing was going to blow up, she’d make sure he was the first to go.
“Xander, upstairs.” Willow shooed him toward the doorway they’d entered through. “You and Robin go on up. We’ll send Buffy up and you guys catch her.”
“Catch her?” Robin lifted an eyebrow.
“Willow’s got a magical conveyor belt going. Hey – “ Alarmed, Xander turned to her. “Hey, is that thing people safe?”
“Just keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.” She grinned.
Once Xander and Robin had climbed onto the stairs and began to glide up toward ground level, Willow turned her attention to the Hellmouth once more. How to seal? How to seal? “Giles, how exactly does this book say Buffy’s blood is going to seal the Hellmouth?”
Giles picked up the book of Vanikov from the table. Carefully, he folded the pages back. “Here it is. ‘The Hellmouth will be anointed with the blood of the Chosen One, and by the blood of the Chosen One shall be sealed forever’.”
“Okay… well, it’s been anointed.” Willow could feel the wafting of evil over her skin and hear dark whispers in the back of her mind telling her how easy it would be to open the Hellmouth and take its power for herself. She ignored them.
“Anointed can mean many things.” Giles mused. “Let me think…”
Angel rolled his eyes. How had Buffy lived this long supported by this clueless bunch? He motioned to Faith. When she walked over to him, he pointed to the Hellmouth and pantomimed spreading Buffy’s blood over the portal.
“Ah, I gotcha!” She knelt next to the Hellmouth and touched the blade of the scythe to the closest ribbons of blood. A shock of magic feedback knocked her on her backside.
I should’ve seen that coming. Angel shrugged apologetically as Faith got to her feet and shot a glare at him.
“Let me guess.” Sighing, Dawn took the scythe from Faith. “Me again?”
It made sense. Dawn was who she was. Angel watched as she reached out tentatively with the scythe and touched the blade to her sister’s blood. The lines wobbled for a moment before collapsing. “Eww!”
He patted her shoulder and motioned for her to keep at it before going to where Spike and Brigette were lifting Buffy onto the stairs, or rather, over the stairs.
“Xander and Robin are waiting on the main floor for her.” Willow told him. “They’ll take care of her, don’t worry.”
Angel watched Buffy move up the stairs and out of sight, Brigette and Spike both riding up after her. He wished he could be as certain as Willow was, but Buffy’s blood wasn’t singing to him as it usually did. Instead it sounded tired and defeated, almost as if she were giving up.
Willow frowned at the arrow jutting out of Angel’s chest. “We really need to take care of that.”
When she reached for it, Angel took a step back. The wooden shaft of the arrow was had slid through his chest and come to rest alongside his heart, actually touching it. Obviously, it hadn’t pierced his heart, but Angel didn’t know how much wood was necessary to kill him. He’d once seen a vampire dusted with only a toothpick sized sliver of wood, and he couldn’t afford taking a chance that the arrow might shift and put a splinter into his heart as it was removed.
“Is it that close?” When he nodded, Willow chewed her lip thoughtfully. She knew a spell that might work, but this close to the Hellmouth she hesitated to use it. “Let’s get upstairs first.”
Giles gathered up the Book of Vanikov and the box containing Jasmine’s remains. It was probably only a worthless box of ashes, a false lead that Ethan had thrown in their path, but on the other hand leaving them at the Hellmouth probably wasn’t a good idea.
While Dawn continued to smear her sister’s blood over the Hellmouth, Faith tossed Ethan onto the ride up the stairwell, following him a moment later. The others followed, leaving only Angel, Dawn, and Giles behind.
“Get the edges, Dawn.” Giles watched with a critical eye as she smoothed the blood over the portal
“I am.” She was sweating. The scythe was heavy and it seemed to have a mind of its own. It was almost moving by itself with her just hanging on to keep it from falling. When she’d covered the engravings and sigils completely, the glowing suddenly increased and the blood seemed to once again rise up in response.
Angel pulled Dawn back, not certain what was happening. If it exploded, he didn’t want her hurt.
The blood continued to rise up until it was level with the ground around the portal, then it paused as if waiting.
“Dawn, the edges – seal the edges!” Giles urged.
“Okay! Okay!” She stumbled forward, the scythe practically dragging her toward the obscenely glowing oval of blood. This had to be the grossest thing she’d ever done. Dawn grimaced as she smeared the blood along the edges where it met the dirt floor. Next time, she’d stay home.
As she completed the seam, there was a flash that blinded her. Dawn dropped the scythe and threw her arms up in front of her face. She screamed, expecting it to blow up.
When she could see again, Dawn was unable to see where the opening of the Hellmouth had been. The floor was a solid, seamless piece once again. “It’s gone.”
“Not gone. Sealed.” Giles blinked the last of the flash from his vision. “Interesting pattern you used, by the way. I’m not familiar with it.”
“I dunno if it was a pattern or not.” She shrugged. “It was like the way mom showed me how to put frosting on a cake.”
“Frosting?” He pondered the implications for a moment and then gave up. Once again the universe had moved things in a way he didn’t comprehend, and wasn’t sure he wanted to.
Upstairs, Angel rolled carefully to his feet. He’d made the ride up lying on his side, listening for Buffy’s heartbeat in the jumble of heartbeats around him. Her heart was beating steadily and stronger than it had been before, no doubt due to her accelerated healing ability, but her blood still moved reluctantly through her veins.
Willow stopped him before he could go to Buffy’s side. “Let’s take care of Mr. Wannabe Pointy, first.”
He nodded. Walking around with a piece of wood sticking out of his chest wasn’t exactly playing it safe.
Placing her fingers carefully on the end of the shaft, Willow recited the spell that had come to her earlier. The shaft immediately began to shrink and change.
Angel’s eyes widened as he watched her pull a green twig from his chest. What the...?
“Hang on a sec.” She recited the second half of the spell. The twig grew and changed until it was once again a wooden shaft. “There. I could undo, but then I had to redo. That’s the rules. We’ll have to get the metal arrowhead out later, I guess.”
Uh huh. Clueless, but unconcerned with the details, Angel focused on Buffy. The arrowhead was a minor annoyance, he’d heal. Her blood was still sluggish and resisting her heart’s increasingly stronger pumping.
Out there were people. She could hear sounds. People moving around her, voices telling her she’d be okay, but Buffy ignored them, not wanting to rise up out of the darkness. It was warm and comforting and she never wanted to leave.
“Buffy, please wake up.” Dawn pleaded. “Please!”
“Here, try to get some water into her.” Xander opened a bottle of water and handed it to Dawn.
Cool water trickled into her mouth and Buffy surfaced, despite her desire to stay in the dark, gulping it down desperately.
“That’s it – she’s waking up!” Dawn said excitedly. “Buffy, Buffy, wake up, it’s all over!”
Buffy wanted to wake up. Wake up and find it was only a dream, that Angel was still alive. Only he wasn’t and she didn’t want to be.
“Buffy, come on!” Dawn poured another sip of water between her sister’s lips.
“No… Angel…”
“Angel’s fine. Take another drink.” She urged her.
Angel heard his name, Buffy’s voice was faint, but he’d heard it. Moving to her side, he knelt and stroked her cheek with his fingers.
“No… “ Buffy turned away. “Angel’s dead… Dawn… dead…”
“No, he’s right here.” Her sister insisted.
“He’s gone…” Tears trickled from beneath her closed eyelids.
Despair and grief filled Buffy’s scent and Angel stroked her face, trying to reassure her that he was with her.
“Stop…” Rolling her head away, Buffy forced herself deeper into the darkness. Wherever Angel had gone, she wanted to follow.
Buffy’s heartbeat slowed and Angel realized she was giving up. Willing herself to die. Desperately, he pulled her into his arms, rubbing his face against hers.
Spike heard Buffy’s fading heartbeat and he knelt beside her as well. “Buffy! Angel’s right here – open your eyes, damn it!”
They were lying to her, but hope made her imagine that the cool skin against hers was Angel’s and not Spike’s. She ignored it, seeking to fall further into the darkness. When her hand was lifted and pressed to a vampiric face, she automatically traced the ridges out of habit more than willingness.
Her eyes opened, her eyelashes brushing his cheek, and Angel lifted his head so that Buffy could see his face.
“Angel?” Was he alive or was she dead?
He tried to speak, to tell her he was okay, but no sound would come out. Instead, he settled for mouthing the words.
The darkness was close, close enough to dive back into if this was a trick of Willow’s. She blinked hard, trying to focus on his face. “Are you real?”
Nodding, Angel focused his gaze on hers. He considered putting his game face away – the pain of his wounds had faded to a tolerable level, and the illness from the garlic wasn’t so strong that he couldn’t deal with it – but something warned him not to. Buffy was tracing his forehead ridges and staring at him as if he was a figment of her imagination.
Lowering his face to hers, Angel rubbed her nose with his and allowed his eyes to half close in contentment. This was something only they shared.
Buffy smiled. Willow would have cast an illusion of Angel wearing his human face. “Angel, I thought I’d lost you.” A huff of cool air across her lips told her what he couldn’t say.
“Angel, we need to get more water down her.” Robin told him. “She’s lost a lot of blood, we have to try and replace those fluids.”
Reluctantly, Angel pulled away, keeping his gaze locked on Buffy’s and her hand in his. Once again he mouthed the words “I love you” to her. When the green eyes filled with confusion, he tilted his head back to show her the wound in his throat.
“What – “ She took a swallow of water as Dawn shoved the bottle against her lips. “What happened?”
How exactly was he supposed to explain? Angel shrugged helplessly.
“Willow, how quick are we leaving?” Xander asked.
“In just a few minutes.” She didn’t look up from sorting through the supplies she’d brought along. “I’m going to see if anyone else is alive down here.”
“I ah… I want to go do something.”
Willow looked up; ready to joke that Xander should’ve gone to the bathroom before they left. The look on his face made her ask what was wrong instead.
“Andrew told me he thought he and Anya were by the cafeteria when – “ He stopped.
“Go on. Try to make it quick.” She reached out and took his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “Be careful.”
“Faith and I’ll go along.” Robin had a good idea of what Xander was going to do. He gestured to Brigette and Rowena to come with them. The school seemed to be empty, but it was still possible that they could run into a demon or demons.
Spike got up and followed them out of the room. He and Anya had a bit of a past, and he felt the need to help bring her back. That and he’d probably be able to find her by scent if Andrew’s directions were wrong. Which was likely. The boy couldn’t find his ass with both hands and a roadmap.
“Willow, it’s highly unlikely that anyone else is left alive down here.” Giles said softly as he watched her set up the spell.
“I know, but I’d like to be sure.” She glanced toward where Ethan lay tied up. “We don’t know if he brought anyone with him.”
“It’s not likely. The greedy don’t like to share.” He cast a disgusted look at his former friend. “What are we going to do with you this time, Ethan?”
Angel had a few ideas of his own on that subject, but wasn’t able to voice them. Buffy shivered, drawing his attention away from Ethan. Pulling off his coat, Angel wrapped it around her and lifted her in his arms. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, ignoring the blood drying on her skin as best he could.
It was tempting to taste from the blood covering Buffy’s face. Dawn had wiped it away from her sister’s eyes in an attempt to help her see. Instead she had smeared the blood into intriguing patterns that made the desire to taste it that much more tempting. Angelus was stretching the chains taut in his attempts to get free and get a taste for himself.
To distract himself from the scent of blood, Angel focused instead on giving Buffy sips of water as often as she’d take them. When she drifted into unconsciousness once again, a healing sleep this time, he wet a scrap of cloth and wiped her face clean.
After several minutes, Willow ended her spell and sat back with a sigh. There was no one left alive in Sunnydale besides themselves. Snuffing the candles, she began to pack up her supplies, leaving out only what she’d need for the portal spell.
Noticing the slump of her shoulders, Giles tired to find something comforting to say. When nothing came to mind, he brought up a possible solution to another problem. “I’d thought that perhaps we should make the Hellmouth less accessible.”
“I thought it was sealed.” She looked at him, alarmed. “For good this time.”
“According to the text, it is. However, there is still a great deal of power to be had – even with the source itself sealed away.”
She went back to packing her supplies, stuffing them angrily into her bag. “Great.”
“Even the best built doors still leak air around the edges.” There was no other way to explain the power that would emanate even from a closed Hellmouth. “I’d thought of asking Riley to set explosives in the sewers and here in the school itself to keep anyone – or thing – from getting to close.”
Willow nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Riley is somebody we can trust. I can open a portal – “ She stopped and put a hand to her forehead. “I should have at least tried to open a portal for us to come in instead of walking in.”
“We weren’t sure that there was a ‘here’ to come to.” Giles reminded her. “A portal might have opened into solid rubble.”
“I know, but – “ She lowered her hand. “I was just really scared of using magic here.”
“With good reason. Even the most benign spell can be twisted by the Hellmouth.”
“Yeah. Plus, once tempted, twice shy and all that.” The confession made her feel better, and Willow gave him a grateful smile.
“You’re not the first to give in to temptation. My own past is hardly spotless. Look at – ”
Before Giles could finish, Xander and Spike came back into the room carrying a burden between them. It was wrapped in something maroon and yellow. Robin and Faith followed behind them.
“We used the banner from the main hallway.” Robin told them.
“Ah, okay, yeah.” Willow’s mind shied away at the thought of the condition of Anya’s body after all this time.
“Let’s go.” Xander said quietly. “There’s nothing left here that we need.”
Angel was all in favor of leaving and he got to his feet, cradling Buffy to his chest. She needed to go to a hospital for treatment, which she’d hate, but she was in no condition to complain. Further proof that a hospital was exactly where she needed to be.
“Give me a couple of seconds.” Willow had set up everything but the last few steps of the portal spell. If they’d been attacked by someone it wouldn’t be all neatly set up for a free trip to LA.
“Make sure we’re not leaving anything behind.” Giles ordered.
“A little late now to worry about the mess.” Faith laughed. “The place is barely standing.”
“I was more concerned with leaving anything behind that could be used for spells against us.” It might be an extremely long shot, but better safe than having a demon make a voodoo doll with leftover DNA.
“Gotcha.” She made a face. This was why she didn’t want to be in charge. Too much to worry about.
The others had repacked their backpacks and picked up the water bottles they’d been drinking from. Robin looked around, doing a head count. “Where’s Brigette and Rowena?”
“They’re still out in the hallway.” Faith hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “They were looking at something. I’ll go get ‘em.”
“Hurry.” The school reminded him of a burial ground, and he wanted to get as far away as he could.
Faith went back into the hallway to where Brigette and Rowena were looking at the items inside a case built into the wall.
“Look at this stuff. There’s hardly anything here. Third place, fourth place – didn’t anybody win anything?” Brigette shook her head. “Pretty sad.”
“Really. My high school had tons of championship stuff.” Rowena agreed.
“You’re forgetting this is Sunnydale.” Faith reminded them. “A lot of the young and fit got eaten.”
“True.” Brigette nodded in agreement. “The few months I was here it was like a demon drive through. Plus this is a new school, right? Didn’t something happen to the old one?”
“Buffy blew it up.” It was weird, but Faith still felt a pang of loss whenever she thought of Mayor Wilkins. He’d been a demon wannabe, but he’d been the only father figure she’d had in her life. She tried not to think about how pathetic that was.
“Wish I’d thought of that.” Rowena laughed. “Oh, look at this one, it’s old. Ancient, like the ‘70’s I think.”
Brigette peered through the broken glass at the trophy Rowena was pointing at. “Kinda freaky looking, too.”
“It says this was the only trophy recovered from the old school after the earthquake. Earthquake?” She shot a glance at Faith. “Sunnydale was really big on denial, weren’t they?”
“Big time. Why else would anyone keep living here?” Faith looked at the picture next to the trophy and snickered. “Check out that hair. So much for cheerleaders having good taste.”
The look she got from the other two told her they’d probably both been cheerleaders. “Come on, it’s time to go.”
“Good, I’ve had enough of this place.” Brigette shivered as the eyes of the trophy seemed to follow her as she moved away. “Who’d have thought LA would seem normal?”
“No joke.” Faith tilted her head toward the doorway. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
Brigette and Faith walked away, but Rowena hesitated for a moment before scooping up the trophy and shoving it into her backpack. “Wait for me!” She hurried after them.