Buffy stared at Faith. Was the
other Slayer actually giving her good advice. Buffy
got up from the floor and slowly started to make her way down the hall.
"Wait a second" Faith
said stopping her "I just have to know one thing. If your
so worried about Spike and Angel and if you think The Immortal is behind it,
why are you still with him? I know you don’t love him"
"Because I
don’t love him. If I
don’t love him he can’t hurt me" Faith’s brow furrowed, confused by
Buffy’s statement "Angel, Spike, and the rest of the gang. I love them all
and they are the ones who hurt me the most. Not the demons that try to kill me
all the time. So I figure if I’m with The Immortal and I don’t love him I won’t
get hurt. He’s just convenient." Buffy said echoing the words she said to
Spike. But this time was different. When she said them to Spike she actually
had some sort of feelings for the vampire. Faith was about to respond when
Buffy’s cell phone went off.
"Hello"
"Hey, baby" The
Immortal said from the other end of the line "I have a surprise for you.
I’m on my way home"
"That’s great. How close are
you?" she replied trying to find some way to slow him down. He got home
before she did, she would have a lot of explaining to do. She also had to find
Angel and Spike before they were dust.
"I haven’t left yet. My
plane takes of in about an hour. I should be home in a few hours."
She had an hour. That wasn’t much
time. But she also had an advantage. She knew he was in LA, but he still
thought she was clueless to his whereabouts.
"Good. I’ll see you when you
get home" she hung up. He mind raced with the countless places where she
could fight the two vampires. Where would the Immortal keep them? The
Immortal’s lackies were mostly vampires so it was
either underground or in some other secluded place.
"The
mines!" Buffy
shouted starting out the door.
"What mines?" faith
asked running after her.
"The Immortal owns a series
of mines under the city. Actually he owns a bunch of them that run all over the
world. I’m betting that’s where he has them" Buffy said quickening her
pace. "I’m going to need your help"
"It’s kind of obvious"
Faith joked.
Buffy just shook her head
allowing herself to smile. It took them twenty minutes to reach the entrance to
the mines at the base of the hill.
"Looks a
little dark. You got a
flashlight, B?"
"Nope. But luckily evil things love
torches" she said pointing into the mine where a group of torches were
mounted to the wall.
As they got deeper into the mines
Buffy started to lose hope. The two Slayer’s had searched eight different caves
in the past hour and a half and found no sign of anyone. She was starting to
lose patience and she could tell Faith was also. Buffy was about to stop and
suggest they go search someplace else when she smelled a faint hint of smoke.
"Faith"
"I smell it too. I think
it’s coming from over there" she said pointing to her left. They started
walking in that direction when they heard screams. They ran into the mouth of
the cave and saw two figures chained to the ceiling, in the middle of the
circle of flames. All Buffy could make out through the thick smoke was bleach
blonde hair. She looked for an opening and jumped through, covering her face.
She reached the two vampires and started tugging at their bonds trying to
unleash them from the rock. Faith came up beside her and started doing the
same. Angel’s chains broke and Buffy caught the unconscious vampire, hoisting
him over her shoulder. Faith was right behind her with Spike as the raced out
of the cave. Once they reached a same distance they stopped, gasping for air.
"Damn, B. You were right.
That son of a bitch tried to kill them."
"I wish I was wrong"
she said shaking her head "We better get them back before the sun comes
up"
* * *
Xander stirred from his sleep as he heard the
door to his room open then close.
"Faith?" he asked
sitting up. The motion cause a sharp pain in his
abdomen and he winced.
"Lay down" Fred said
gently laying a hand on his chest and pushing him toward the bed "Faith
and Buffy went to rescue Spike and Angel"
"Buffy’s
back?"
"Looks like. How are you
feeling?"
"I’m okay" Xander said and actually meant it this time. Faith had been
taking good care of him. Which really surprised him, but it also made him
happy. Her presence was comforting. "How are you?"
"I’ve never felt better. I
think I might actually be stronger than I was before . . . everything."
"That’s not what I
meant"
"I know. It’s weird. I feel
like no time has gone by. So much has happened and I have a blue clone of
myself walking around. It’s an interesting feeling"
"I understand. Once I had a
clone of myself walking around that I thought was evil. But he wasn’t and we
were merged into one Xander again . . . I guess that doesn’t
really help much"
"No, no it helps. Now I know
someone knows what I’m going through" she smiled. She turned her head
towards the door as she heard rustling downstairs. "I think they’re
back" she quickly walked down the stairs and into the lobby as Faith
walked into the room, carrying Spike. She laid him on the couch and went back
outside to help Buffy with Angel.
Fred surveyed the two vampires.
They didn’t appear to be badly injured. All they had were a few cuts and
bruises and minor burns. They would heal soon enough to take their revenge on
The Immortal.
"Thanks, Faith" Buffy
said as she turned to walk out the door.
"Wait. Where are you
going?"
"Home. Some things are going to change"
The Immortal walked up to Buffy’s
door and knocked quietly. He walked in when he heard her soft invitation. He
opened the door and threw his coat on the back of the chair.
"Hey" he said walking
up to Buffy who was sitting on the couch reading a magazine. "I brought
you a present"
"I like presents!"
Buffy said grabbing the little box out of his hand.
She tore away the paper to reveal
an ancient looking knife. She put on her best surprised face and turn to thank him.
"It’s African. That’s where
I was on business. I saw this and knew you’d like it. Where were you? I called
about an hour ago and Dawn said you weren’t home"
"I went on a little trip of
my own"
"Really? Without dawn?
Where’d you go"
"I went to clean up your
mess" Buffy said not taking her eyes off the knife. It was a convenient
present. She might just end up using it tonight.
"Excuse me?" The
Immortal asked.
"I took a little trip to
"I have no idea what your talking about"
"You know what your problem
is?" Buffy said chuckling "You brag too much. To gave
me way too much information, which led me straight to a couple of
vampires."
"I did it for your own
good" he said not even trying to deny it anymore.
"I HATE it when people make
major decisions about my life for me. I least of all wanted you to. I want you
to get out of my house"
"I’m not leaving"
"Maybe this will convince
you otherwise" she said pulling out the knife "You may be the big bad
Immortal, but I’m still the Slayer"
"I’m sorry it had to turn
out this way" he said "You may be a Slayer, but you can’t fight an
army of demons by yourself" Buffy turned to look behind her, where at
least 10 demons started to make their way through her open windows.