Shooting Stars

Part 10

-----

Xander yawned, knowing that, even though he was more tired than he'd been in weeks, he'd never get to sleep. Giles was already out, which in itself was amazing. How can he sleep at a time like this? Xander wondered.
He was thinking about what had happened in the past couple of days. It had been a lot to take it. They'd found Buffy, brought Angel back from Hell, stopped Chaos from ending the world, Cordelia was put in the hospital, and then they had traveled to England. And, now they were trying to stop the world from ending, yet again. The teen just wasn't sure if they could even stop Spike this time.
And that was what had him thinking so much. Willow had found the exact thing that Giles was looking for on the plane, but they didn't know what it said because it was too scrambled to translate. But, they did know that Spike was trying to trap them, and going out of his way to do everything he could to keep them guessing. He was also doing the unexpected. But, the only one who knew the meaning of 'unexpected' for Spike was Angel. Who Xander, of course, couldn't try and talk to. They were all under strict orders from Giles to leave the other groups alone. They were not to contact one another because the police might find them.
Giles had told them to be as inconspicuous as they possibly could be. That included that they didn't know where the others were, and couldn't call them or try to find them in any way. They'd all leave at different times, and meet in the alley beside the hotel so the police would have a very hard time keeping track of all of them.
But, the splitting up wasn't helping anything. They were separated, and so they couldn't come up with a plan. They couldn't talk to one another, so no one knew what was really going on. And, Spike hadn't done a thing as of yet, which was, naturally, unexpected. He was usually a 'shoot now, ask questions later' kind of guy, so the waiting period was also very strange.
There wasn't anything any of them could do now, so they'd just have to wait for Spike to make the first move.
* * *
Angel sighed as he wondered what Spike was waiting for. The Scooby Gang had been split up, all of them checking into a hotel to try to get some sleep before the fight they all knew was coming up.
But, there was too much going on for him to get any rest, and he figured that most of the others had the same problem. Buffy was asleep, finally. Angel guessed that with all the stuff that had been happening, no one had gotten much sleep. Including him. Willow had told him about the catch to the 'make a vampire human' spell, which he believed was entirely possible. Being killed by the demon living inside ones body was very likely with a spell like that.
He began to wonder about Spike. He'd said that he liked the world, or so Buffy had told Angel. But, here he was, planning to end it by opening a Hellmouth at any second. That made sense, though, since he was doing just what was unexpected.
Suddenly, Angel figured out the Master Plan, so to speak. Spike was doing everything that they didn't think he was doing. Which, in turn, meant that everything they thought he was doing, he really wasn't doing. Without thinking, they'd expected him to be opening a Hellmouth. Which, therefore, meant that was exactly what he wasn't doing.
But, by trying to keep it a secret, Spike had led them straight to it. But, by now, he probably already knew that…
* * *
Willow glanced at her watch, seeing that it was almost eleven PM. That was when she and Oz were supposed to leave the hotel to meet the others outside. They were traveling in five-minute intervals, like they had all done to get into the hotel. They'd picked times around eleven, since Giles was fairly sure that Spike would wait until midnight to do his ritual. That would be the perfect time, he'd said, since magick worked well then. Something about the moon and sun cycle around the Earth.
Oz had fallen asleep about three hours ago, and was still out. Willow, however, hadn't gotten any sleep. She was too busy worrying about the passage in her book. She sighed, not knowing how to fix the problem she still had with it. And, she didn't see the point of worrying about it now. Giles had translated it to Latin, but she still couldn't read it. It was too scrambled. Not just backwards anymore, but she knew she didn't have time to work her way through the whole thing all over again, so she let it go. She glanced at her watch again, seeing it was time for her and Oz to get going. She went to him, shaking him awake.
"How long did I sleep?" Oz asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Willow shrugged.
"A couple of hours. We gotta get going, though," she said, standing and grabbing her stuff. Oz got his bag, and they left the hotel room. The emergency lights cast a glow that bounced off the walls eerily, giving her a creepy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Soon, they were outside in the alley. Xander and Giles were already there.
"Hey, guys. Sleep much?" Xander asked. Oz nodded, but Willow shook her head, regretting that fact. "Me neither. Giles was out for a solid four hours, though," Xander said, looking to Giles. "So, do we have a plan?"
"Actually, we kind of need to figure that out," Angel said, stepping out from the shadows with Buffy right behind him. Willow had only one question for the vampire.
"What's going on?"
* * *
Buffy glanced around at her friends trying to guess what they were thinking. Most of them just looked confused, and not to mention tired.
"Spike's not opening a Hellmouth," Buffy said.
"But, the Codex said-" Giles started, but Angel interrupted.
"You should know better than anyone that it gives you the general idea of what's going to happen. Not an exact prophecy," he said. Giles blinked in surprise a few times, not used to being interrupted by Angel.
"Right. Like we noticed before, Spike's doing exactly what we don't expect, and totally avoiding doing the things we do expect to happen," Buffy said. "And, we're expecting him to open a Hellmouth."
"Which means he's not going to because that's what we think he's doing," Willow finished for her friend. The Slayer nodded.
"Yeah, that's, like, the mother of all expectations here. So, of course, he's not doing that," Xander said.
"Precisely. I don't know why I didn't notice that before," Giles muttered, pulling off his glasses to clean them on his shirt.
"So, what's he planning, then?" Oz asked. Buffy just shrugged.
"You know, that's how we get dead," Xander replied, a grave look on his face.
Buffy hoped that Xander was wrong.
* * *
Spike had finally gotten enough sleep to have the energy to do his ritual. He, Drusilla, and Daniel stood in the empty field he planned to use for the spell. It was only a couple of blocks from the airport. Drusilla knew what was going on, and she had loved the entire plan. He hadn't told her he planned to kill Angel as well, though. He was planning to make it look like one big accident.
Currently, he was reading over his writing, hoping that he could memorize some of the words. He didn't like Daniel's idea of dragging the book and the mirror with them, so he'd written all of it down.
As for the short counterspell, he had memorized it. It was a good thing, too, because he'd caught Daniel looking thought all of his notes when he woke up. He'd still yelled at him for it for good measure, but at least the moron didn't know the true intentions of Spike's plan.
But, he would soon, and then it would be too late for the stupid vampire to do anything about it. Spike couldn't help laughing to himself whenever he thought about it. Daniel thought he was one of the smartest vampires in the country, but he'd let himself be so easily trapped.
"Are we ready?" Daniel asked, checking over the site one last time to make sure it was clear. Spike nodded, a large, evil smile on his face. He turned to the open field and began the incantation.
* * *
Giles's eyes widened when he glanced out of the alleyway that the Scooby Gang was standing in. There was a spiral pillar of multi-colored light rising up from one of the fields, stretching far into the sky.
"Giles, what is it?" Buffy asked, going to him and looking out at the field. Then, she used a word that the Watcher didn't hear from her much, then turned back to the others.
"What's going on?" he could hear Willow ask from behind him.
"It looks as if Spike's started working on… Whatever it is he's doing," Giles said, looking back to the group. There was a pause, and then they all took off for the field.
When they reached the open field, Spike and Drusilla were clearly visible in the center, along with another male vampire. Spike was performing the ritual while the other two watched. The pillar of colored lights had formed a smaller pillar inside; one made up of pure darkness. It stopped directly above a hole in the ground, where several demons were crawling out onto the Earth. Then, the darkness widened, enveloping the vampires. Buffy moved to go after the three of them, but Angel stopped her by grabbing her arm.
"Giles told you about that thing, right? If Spike is opening a Hellmouth, it'll kill any living person who goes near it," he said. She looked reluctantly to the pillar, nodding slightly. "Stay here." Giles knew Buffy would protest Angel's instructions, but the Watcher couldn't interfere due to the fast-approaching demons.
* * *
Willow watched the very beginning of the conversation between Buffy and Angel, suddenly having an idea about the passage in her book. She grabbed her bag, pulling out the book and sitting down on the ground with a pencil and what little she had of the English translation. Oz knelt down beside her, curious as to what she was up to.
"What's up?" he asked, as she quickly looked to the Latin letters. She numbered them backwards, all the way across her paper. She then wrote the English alphabet down the margin of the page, working quickly. "Can you translate this?" She nodded a little, not taking her eyes off her work. She had two out of four sentences, and the others were going very quickly.
She wrote another word on her paper, completing the third sentence. She could now guess what the passage said, but she didn't want to make assumptions. Silently, the redhead prayed that she was wrong. She continued to the last sentence, completing the translation.
At that point, she swore a few times, causing her boyfriend to look at her in surprise. She read over the passage again, and then a third time. She finally looked over to Oz.
"Not good," she said, handing him the paper. They now had more problems than they had thought…
* * *
Buffy stood in place, only feet away from the Hellmouth, staring at Angel for what seemed like hours. She knew that the others, particularly Xander, were watching the Slayer and her vampire lover, but she didn't care.
"I'm not letting you do this alone," she said sternly.
"If you go in there, you'll die," he replied, matching her tone. She stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his arm.
"I don't want to loose you again," she whispered. He ran his hand along her cheek.
"You won't," he replied, pulling her face to his and gently kissing her. Then, he was gone. He had turned from her to face the dark pillar, and was heading after Spike and Drusilla and their little friend. She stood silently, knowing she couldn't follow, despite the temptation.
"Buffy!" Willow's voice interrupted her train of thought. She turned to her friend, who was holding a piece of paper in her outstretched hand. "Look."
Buffy took the paper and quickly read the words the redhead had scribbled across it aloud. "'The 'alternate consequence' to opening a Hellmouth is non-existent. There is, however, a slight variation. Once the Hellmouth is opened, there is a pause in which a wave of energy will take place. This wave kills beings of evil rather than ones of good.' What's that mean?" Buffy asked, looking up to Willow, but feeling that she already knew. She felt a sharp pain in her chest, almost as if something was crushing her ribcage so that she couldn't breathe.
"It doesn't kill humans," Willow said. She paused. "It kills vampires." Buffy looked back to where Spike was, not seeing Angel and assuming that he'd already gone inside the pillar.
"Angel," she whispered as she stared at the pillar. She felt her throat tighten. Xander moved to stand beside her once again.
"He'll be fine," he insisted. Buffy nodded, hoping that he was right.
* * *
Angel could see Drusilla and the other male vampire right off when he stepped into the pillar of darkness. Drusilla looked over at him, smiling psychotically. He looked to the center of the pillar, seeing Spike sitting there.
"Who's he?" the other vampire asked. Drusilla glanced to him, then back to Angel. She glared at him for a moment, and then licked her lips.
"You're early," she said, smiling again. "We'll have to do something to pass the time before the party. Do you want to play a game?" With that, she came up to him, cocking her head to the side.
"You know, Dru? Your games never were much fun," Angel replied. Drusilla snarled, lunging at him. He stepped to the side, but she spun around behind him and kicked him in the back of the leg. He fell to the ground, as she dodged his leg when he tried to trip her and bring her to the ground with him.
"Bad doggie," she said, trying to pounce on him with her claw-like nails. He dropped onto his back, rolling to the side. Angel was surprised to see the other vampire there waiting for him. He jumped to his feet, grabbing him and throwing him into Drusilla, knocking both of them to the ground in the process. Drusilla was the first one up, and she lunged again, scratching Angel on the cheek. He grabbed her arm, throwing her back toward the boundaries of the magick cylinder. She stopped before hitting them, smiling as she turned back to look at Spike. The platinum-blonde vampire was grinning evilly.
"Time's up," Spike said from the center of the circle. Drusilla laughed. Suddenly, Angel knew exactly what Spike was doing. He was opening the Hellmouth, all right. Only he was doing so in the version that killed vampires. And, now Angel was right in the middle of the trap…
* * *
Xander watched Willow as she pulled several candles and a stick of incense out of her bag. She set them all on the ground, opening her book to a marked page. Xander noted that it was the spell she'd told Giles that she absolutely wouldn't do.
"Woah, woah, woah. What are you doing?" he demanded. Willow was obviously too busy to answer. She set the candles up around her in a circle.
"We have to do this. Willow said it's Angel's only chance," Oz informed Xander. The teen nodded after a long moment.
"What can I do to help?" he asked after another pause. Willow looked up at him, staring a moment before going back to her work. He knew that his sudden willingness to help Angel was surprising to the others. Oz nodded to the approaching demons.
"Hold them off," the musician said. Xander nodded, turning to the demons and hoping that he could hold them off long enough for Willow's spell to work.
* * *
Spike saw Angel in the middle of the 'trap' and smiled. He was just finishing his protection spell, then he'd start the wave and save Drusilla, leaving Angel and Daniel to die and the demons to massacre the Slayer and her friends. It was the best plan he had ever come up with…
Suddenly, he saw Angel grab his head, apparently in extreme pain, and collapse to the ground. That confused Spike more than just a little, especially when little red spikes stared to flash in a transparent color, and then disappear. In the same transparent kind of way, Angel's eyes would sort of flash to a deep red color, then go back to normal. His skin would also look slightly black for a moment, and then it too would disappear. Spike shrugged, and continued his spell. He hadn't broken his trance-like state, which was good.
But, when he turned to Angel again, what he saw took his perfect plan and sent it right down to Hell with the demons. Things were about to get very complicated, and very quickly…
* * *
Angel felt a sharp pain in his head. And, as always, there was the ever-present voice of the demon in the very back corner of his mind. It screamed loudly, and then everything was peacefully silent. He could feel some… Thing separate from him, and then he was unconscious.
* * *
Oz helped Willow start the spell, as Xander grappled with a skinny, spiney, green demon with three eyes. Giles and Buffy were talking, or rather, arguing, about something, while fighting off some other demons. Oz turned back to Willow, who was just starting her spell.
"I call to you, God of light. Ego advoco vobis, deus ex produxi," she said in English, following it with the Latin translation. "I ask for this gift - humanity - to be brought upon the animal being. Ego scisco pro is ea id donum - clementia - insum redeo incresco quas bestia hominis," she finished, as all the candles went out at the same time as if a gust of wind had hit.
"Okay. Now we wait, right?" Oz questioned. Willow nodded, looking tired. Then, there were loud noises. Screeching noises. The demon jumped off Xander, running past Oz and Willow. The three of them looked to the pillar, which was now disappearing. There were demons coming out all over the place, snarling and screeching and running and flying. Oz's eyes widened when he looked.
"What on Earth…?" Giles muttered, stopping the argument. Buffy turned from him to look at the new Hellmouth, but that wasn't nearly as shocking as what stood right beside it…
* * *
Giles pulled his glasses off of his face, looking in amazement at the scene before all of them. Spike was near the large hole in the ground, chanting. Giles couldn't hear his words, but he could see his lips moving, and he was apparently concentrating on something. Drusilla was smiling psychotically. That was, until she looked at what all of them were looking at. It seemed to have the same affect on her that it did on the Scooby Gang.
Angel was lying on the ground by the Hellmouth, unconscious. And, standing next to him was a tall, black-skinned demon with little red spines covering his body. His eyes were a deep, glowing, crimson red, and he had perfectly white teeth that curled into fangs sliding down his chin. He was standing still, smiling, for the moment. But, Giles guessed that it wouldn't last for very long.
"Giles… It's him," Buffy said, her eyes never leaving the large demon that stood beside Angel. Their 'big' problems had just gotten a lot worse…
* * *
Spike had seen Angelus, the vampiric 'demon', come out of Angel the human's body. How, he had no idea. He'd placed the protection spell on him, so that the wave of energy that was on its way wouldn't kill him. If Angel's evil 'self' was bad, he could only imagine what havoc Angelus would wreak on the planet in his true demon form. It was going to be a much better day than he thought after all.
He spun again to start on Drusilla, but she was no longer there. He saw one pile of ashes, knowing that it was either Daniel or Drusilla. It was too small to be both of the vampires. He cursed himself for letting his girlfriend out of sight and focusing his energy elsewhere. Now, she was probably dead.
He kicked angrily at the dirt, looking up to where Angelus was staring. Off in the distance, he could see the Slayer and her friends, fighting off the demons coming out of the Hellmouth. He narrowed his eyes in determination, heading for hem. When he reached Angelus, though, the demon lashed out and grabbed his shirt, not moving his head. But, he still managed to look over to Spike.
"I kill the Slayer," he said in a growl. Spike nodded, deciding that making a big, strong demon like Angelus angry was not a priority on his list.
His shirt was released, and the two of them looked at the Slayer and her group of friends. Then, the attack began.
* * *
Willow was tired from her spell, and she didn't notice that Spike was coming at her. Very quickly, too. She gasped in surprise as the vampire shoved Xander to the ground, grabbing her by the hair and falling into the dirt on top of her.
"You rotten little bitch! You ruined my plan and got Dru killed!" he yelled, his face contorted into the vampire guise. He was so angry that his yellow eyes were practically glowing with hatred. Willow whimpered, as he got right in her face, nearly yanking her hair out of her head. He snarled.
"Spike, I-" she tried to reason with him, but he led go of her hair to hit her squarely in the face.
"Now, you die too," he growled, bending to reach her neck. Then, there was a loud thwacking noise, and Spike rolled off of her. He was holding his side in pain. Oz helped her to her feet, dropping the iron bar he'd had in his hands.
"We'll settle this later, pet," Spike said as he turned and ran off into the shadows, sending a glance back at Oz and Willow.
"It's not over yet," the werewolf said, looking to all the approaching demons.
"I can shut it. And… They'll all die," Willow said, catching her breath and fixing her candles. She grabbed her book out of the dirt where it had fallen. "Just give me a few minutes. Fifteen should be good."
"Xander!" Oz called. The teen got to his feet, blood showing through the gauze on his face. He was slightly paler than he had been before. "Help Willow. Giles and I will handle the demons."
"Right," Xander said, kneeling down to help Willow out. Oz and Giles faced the demons, raising the weapons they'd gotten out of the Watcher's bag and getting ready for round two…
* * *
Buffy never took her eyes off of Angelus, who was approaching her quickly. He had an evil grin on his face as he stopped a few feet before her. Over his shoulder, she could see the multi-colored, spiraling flames from her dream.
"Hello, lover," he said with a smirk, a deep growl in his throat. She smiled back as he lunged at her. She dodged out of the way, kicking him in the leg as he passed. He fell to the ground, as she came around to attack again. He spun his legs in the air, one of his feet catching her on the chin as she tried to back away. His force sent her spinning to the ground, tiny holes in her chin where the spikes on his feet had pierced her flesh. She landed on her stomach, pushing to regain her breath. "Giving up so soon?"
"Never," she replied, rolling to her back and jumping to her feet. She kicked him in the stomach, quickly following that blow with a spinning kick to the side of his head. He fell again, and she kicked him in the side with her toe for good measure.
He jumped up again quickly, grabbing her injured arm. Luckily, there were no spines on his palm. He used her arm to fling her to the ground, pinning her there and grabbing her throat. She instinctively grabbed his arm, regretting it when she felt the spines slide into her flesh.
"Well, well, well. Looks like someone has a small problem," he said, smiling. She pulled a leg up, placing her foot over his ribcage. His spines couldn't pierce the rubber on her shoe, luckily. She pushed him off of her, as both of them sprung to their feet at the same instant. She tried to kick him again, but he grabbed her leg, making many small holes in it, and she was twisted to the ground. The Slayer rolled away as he tried to pin her down again, getting quickly to her feet and running for her bag.
Before she knew he was close to her again, Angelus grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. She landed hard, the breath racing from her lungs for an instant. Once she caught her breath, she used her other foot to kick his arm away from her. She jumped up again, followed closely by Angelus.
"Don't you ever take a coffee break?" she asked, tired and out of breath. He smiled.
"Getting tired so soon?" he asked, lunging at her, as she moved to the side, tripping him over her outstretched leg. While he was down, she ran the last few feet to her bag, digging out her crossbow. She turned back, gasping in surprise when Angelus was right there behind her. He knocked the crossbow from her hand, pushing her to the ground. "This is the part where you die."
She grabbed at the strap of her bag as he moved in for the kill, his fangs scraping the soft skin on her neck. With a little work, she grabbed her bag, tipping it over. Kendra's stake, Mister Pointy, fell out from inside of it. Kendra had told Buffy to kill Angel with it if it came down to that. That had basically been the other Slayer's last wish, and now the stake would be used to kill Angelus.
The Slayer pulled the stake up in between herself and Angelus, jabbing it upwards into his chest. His eyes widened, and she smiled triumphantly.
"Lemmie guess. 'Goodbye lover'?" she quipped. He turned to dust, just like a vampire would have. She took a deep breath, climbing to her feet and dusting herself off. The colored flames stopped on their path, racing back and replacing the ground they had torn up as they went. They all collided in the center with a huge explosion and a flash of bright white light. She had to shield her eyes from it.
"Buffy!" Giles called to her. She turned to him, as the sky lightened. The sun was out again. It was just starting to come up. The spell that Spike had done had either accelerated time, or their battle had lasted all night. Xander was staring up like he'd never seen blue sky before in his entire life, and Oz was taking care of an unconscious Willow, who was surrounded by spell ingredients.
Giles came up to the Slayer. He had a large cut on his head, the cut from the battle in New York on his hand had re-opened, and there was a large bruise on his neck. His shirt was a bit torn up, and his glasses were slightly askew on his head.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah. You?" Giles nodded, looking around. "Well… I guess we saved the day."
"Yes, we did." She smiled, thinking for a second that she was probably suffering from some degree of post-traumatic shock syndrome. It was something Giles had told her about after the Master had killed her. But, she didn't mind, as long as things were okay, and they were all alive…
* * *
It was not only dark, but it was also cold where Angel was. He couldn't seem to figure out why, either. It was just… Dark. And kind of cold, even though he could feel warmth on his skin.
He knew that there was something going on. There was somewhere that he should be, but until he could remember where or what it was, he couldn't get there. He was trapped the darkness. Alone.
Slowly, he was able to force his eyes open. He was lying on the ground. It was bright all around him.
Suddenly, he remembered what was going on and where he was. He also remembered what the bright sun meant to him, and he tried to jerk away from the sun. But, he couldn't. What was even more confusing was that nothing happened. He took a deep breath, wondering what was going on-
Wait a second, he thought, interrupting his previous thoughts. Vampires don't breathe. He looked around as he got slowly to his feet, squinting in the bright sunlight that he hadn't seen in over a hundred years.
"Angel!" He heard someone call to him. It was Buffy. Her turned to her as she ran up to him and into his arms.
"Hey," he said, still more than a little confused about what was going on. She pulled back to look up at him.
"Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded, remembering the tugging sensation he had felt just before he collapsed. It felt like something had separated itself from him. It must have been Willow's spell, he thought. It caused Angelus to leave. So, now I'm… Human.
The others came up to him and Buffy, as she backed away from him to face her friends. They were all smiling.
"Well, now I guess I'll have to call you ex-Dead Boy, huh?" Xander said. Angel found it odd that he was smiling like the others were. "Thanks for everything, man," he added, extending his hand. Angel shook it, making a sort of truce between the two of them. "Trust me, I know what's is like to not really be accepted. By… Well, anyone."
"Thanks," Angel said, thankful that Xander wasn't so jealous of him anymore. "O think…" Xander stepped aside, as Giles approached Angel.
"I must say… You've proved your ability to help others like us more than once. I know we've all had some… Some worse times. But, its time to put all of that behind us," he said. Angel nodded.
"I can't tell you how sorry I am about what happened," he replied. Giles nodded, sort of accepting the apology.
"And I don't think I have to remind you that… This will take some getting used to." Angel nodded again, understanding the Watcher's point. Giles stepped aside to look at the whole group. "So, who wants ice cream?"
"Sounds good," Oz said. Willow was with him, looking tired. She nodded in agreement. Everyone looked up to the sky, seeing all the demons that had flown out of the hole. They were all flaming, and falling to the ground, dead.
"If this week had been any different, that might seem very, very strange," Xander said. Angel couldn't help but laugh, nodding slightly.
"I don't know," Buffy said, resting her head comfortably up against Angel's shoulder. "I think they look sorta like stars. Shooting stars."
"Yeah. They do," he replied, turning to her as the others watched the show. He smiled, pulling her close to him and kissing her. And this time, nothing could go wrong.

THE END

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