Chapter 4

A knock at their door and Giles’ “Are you coming?” had Spike softly cursing up a storm, too upset at being interrupted from the special moment he and Buffy were sharing to giving him some snarky remark that, “Yes, indeed he had.”

Climbing out of bed, he picked up his discarded clothes, quickly pulling them on.

“Sorry, luv, I found out a bit of news, and I told the watcher we’d be up to tell them about it.” Reaching a hand down, Spike helped Buffy up and out of bed, retrieving her clothes for her. She dressed just as quickly as he, eager to get this confrontation over with, so the two could return to their room. She planned to spend the whole night making love to Spike. Wanted to prove to him how much she loved him, so that when the time came, he would go to his grave knowing she too would love him “forever and beyond.”

~*~*~*~*~

“So, you see… Buffy was right. Caleb is hiding something. And he’s bloody well put out that apparently only Buffy can wield it, whatever it is.”

“From the tone of that phrase, it sounds like some kind of weapon.”

“Sounds about right, mate. The baddies don’t play nice when they hear about something that can destroy their carefully thought-out plans of destruction. We’re gonna have to go back and find it… whatever it is.”

“It’s too dangerous.” This from Buffy.

“Which is why it’ll just be me and you… and possibly Faith here.”  

Faith nodded, indicating she was game.

Resigned, Buffy nodded. One more piece of the puzzle slipping in to place. Who was she to think that she could alter fate?

The potentials, upon hearing they wouldn’t be needed for this mission, got up and made their way to bed. 

The three determined that they would hit the winery tomorrow night after a full day spent resting and recuperating. Giles gave Buffy a pointed look, which she blatantly ignored. There was no way in hell she wasn’t following through with her plans for Spike. Giles could just deal.

~*~*~*~*~

Buffy and Spike went back to the basement. They spent the rest of the night showing each other with words and their bodies how much they loved one another. As the sun began to rise, they fell into an exhausted sleep within the other’s arms. 

~*~*~*~*~

All too soon, sunset was upon them and the two quickly dressed to meet Faith in the kitchen. The trio planned to hit the winery hard and fast with Faith and Spike keeping Caleb busy, while Buffy searched for the thing the pseudo-preacher was hiding.

They slipped silently into the night, each person lost in thought at the forthcoming confrontation. Determination shown on their faces as they strode quickly to the winery; each knew that finding whatever it was that was for “her to wield” would be an important tool in their coming battle.

Buffy knew it was one more link in the events currently set in motion.

~*~*~*~*~

Buffy walked into the lower level of the winery where the barrels of wine, stacked one on top of the other, sat aging.

“Hey, I hear you’ve got something of mine.”

“Well, if it ain’t the prodigal Slayer…and her two friends.”

“Where’s it at? I’m going to find it sooner or later.”

“No, you’re not. I lay one hand on you and you’re just a dead little girl.”

“I’d like to see you try, mate.” Spike’s smooth facial features slid away as his demon came to the fore, yellow eyes blazing at the man. Beside him, Faith adopted a battle pose.

“Keep him busy. I’ll be as quick as I can,” she said softly to her companions, her eyes never leaving Caleb’s.

Buffy charged him first, but at the last possible second, she vaulted over him slipping deeper into the storage area. Before Caleb could turn around and go after her, Spike and Faith were upon him.

Buffy quickly moved away, her eyes scanning for a possible hidden entrance, as the distance sounds of a scuffle floated back to her.

‘Don’t worry about them. They can take care of themselves. Just concentrate on finding the thing,’  her inner-voice commanded.

Turning to the task at hand, she made quick work of finding a hidden entrance. Flipping off the covering, she dropped through the hole, landing in a crouch on the ground below. She walked around, trying to get her bearings. It was dark down in the room, extremely so. The only source of light seemed to be a slight distance away, and Buffy stumbled along as she made her way towards it.

As she neared it, her mouth dropped in astonishment. Imbedded in a rock, the scene straight out of The Sword in the Stone, was a beautifully carved, red scythe. Crafted of the finest metal, the razor-sharp axe portion was buried deep in the hard rock; the base ended in a separate weapon, one meant to kill the gathering army of Turok-Han – a sharp, pointy stake.

Getting her legs in motion, Buffy circled the stone, seeking the best way to go about removing the weapon from its confinement. In the end, all she had to do was pull in from the hard rock; the weapon realized that she was its rightful master.

With a quick prayer of thanks at her ease in retrieving the item, she hurried to rejoin the others.

The sound of Spike’s name being called had her running hell-bent for the opening and launching herself up and through the hole. She landed, doing a somersault, the weapon poised and ready to defend.

Her gaze took the scene before in a glance, and her breath caught in her throat as she noticed Spike knocked unconscious against a far wall. She turned to Caleb and saw him effortlessly throw Faith against another, the impact eliciting a groan from her lips before she too slipped into unconsciousness.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Buffy announced, drawing Caleb’s attention away from his fallen victims. Rising to her feet, she twirled the scythe with deadly precision before assuming a battle pose.

“I see you’ve found it,” he began conversationally, his slight head bob indicating the weapon in her hand. “No matter. I’ll just kill you and take it off your hands.”

“You’re welcome to try,” she taunted. Moving forward into the open area of the cellar, Buffy waited for him to attack.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Caleb launched himself at her, his fury at her taunt enraging him to action. Buffy waited until the last possible moment before sidestepping, slamming the butt of the scythe into his back, aiding his forward progress so that he smashed into the barrels stacked against the wall, sending them tumbling from their perch to topple onto his prone body.

She was too busy with her ongoing skirmish to notice the dark-haired vampire watching silently from the wings. Tucked in the shadows, Angel watched as the preacher threw off the barrels lying on top of him and came to his feet with a bellow of rage.

‘You are so gonna lose,’ he thought to himself as he watched, waiting to see if he would be needed to lend a hand.

Buffy didn’t bother to toy with him, she needed to check on her fallen comrades, needed to make sure Spike was alright. So as Caleb charged her once again, she crouched low and at the last possible moment, swung the scythe in a wide arc slicing him diagonally from waist to shoulder.

“Noooo…” he whispered, right before he fell to the ground. Coming to her feet, Buffy moved to stand beside him, the scythe held loosely at her side.  Her eyes narrowed as she gazed down at the thing that had taking out a few of the young girls in her care and gouged out the eye of her friend. He didn’t seem so cocky now. With a quick flick of her wrist, she twirled the weapon before sending it on a downward strike to sever his head. 

Leaving the weapon there for now, she turned away from him to seek out Spike, desperate to reassure herself that he was all right.

She hadn’t taken two steps before she finally noticed the presence of a second vampire and she shook her head in disgust that she had left her weapon behind. Assuming a battle pose, she waited for the vampire to appear.

Buffy watched in amazement as Angel stepped from the shadows. She relaxed her pose, allowing the adrenaline to drain from her body.

“Angel?” she asked.

“You look good, Buffy.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Heard about the impending apocalypse and came to help.” He gestured to the amulet he held in his hand. Seeing it, Buffy’s face went pale. She had seen that before, knew what it was designed to do. 

“…anyway, it bestows strength to the right person who wears it.”

“And the right person is?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.

“Someone ensouled but stronger than human. A champion. As in me.” In a brief moment of panic she thought, ‘Yes…let Angel do it.’ Then she pushed the thought aside. It wasn’t what was meant to be. But oh how she wished—

“So you’re going to be with me in this?”

“Shoulder-to-shoulder. I’m yours.”

“No,” she said finally. Her vision did not allow for Angel to be there.

“No what?”

“No. You’re not going to be in this fight.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I can’t risk you.”

“You need me in this.”

“No, I need you gone.” And she meant it. She couldn’t deal with what was to come if she had Angel constantly standing over her shoulder.

“Why?”

“If I lose… if this thing gets past Sunnydale… then it’s days, maybe hours, before the rest of the world goes. I need a second front and I need you to run it.” She said the words, even knowing that it wouldn’t be necessary. This thing would be contained, in Sunnydale. Spike would see to that.

“Okay. That’s one reason. What’s the other?”

“There is no other,” she said defensively.

“Is it Spike? You’re not telling me something and his scent… I remember it pretty well.”

“You vampires. Didn’t anybody ever tell you the whole ‘smelling people’ thing’s a little gross?”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“Is that your business?” she responded, somewhat shortly. 

“Are you in love with him… Okay, maybe I’m out of line but this is kind of a curve ball for me. I mean… we are talking about Spike here.”

“It’s different. He’s different. He has a soul now.”

“Oh... well.”

“What?”

“That’s great,” he said sarcastically. “Everyone’s got a soul now.”

“He’ll make a difference.” And he would. The thought that it was finally happening, the event was finally coming to pass, brought tears to her eyes.

“You know, I started it… the whole having a soul. Before it was the cool new thing.”

“Oh, my god, are you like twelve?” she demanded, incredulous.

“I’m getting the brush-off for Captain Peroxide. It doesn’t necessarily bring out the champion in me.”

“You’re not getting the brush-off. Are you just going to come here and go all ‘Dawson’ on me every time I have a boyfriend?”

“Aha! Boyfriend.”

“He’s not.” Spike was so much more than a mere boyfriend. He was her other half, her reason for being. She didn’t know how to explain that to Angel so simply said, “But… he is in my heart.”

“That’ll end well.”

Buffy stood there, hands on her hips and glared at her ex.

“What was the highlight of our relationship— when you broke up with me or when I killed you?” she demanded.  “I’m well aware of my stellar history with guys and no, I don’t see fat grandchildren in the offing with Spike.” The thought hurt, but she voiced it anyway. “But I don’t think that really matters right now. You know, in the midst of all this insanity, a couple of things are actually starting to make sense. And the guy thing…”

Her voice trailed off, Spike had just groaned.

“Look, you better go…gimme the amulet. I know what to do with it.”

Taking the amulet from his outstretched hand, Buffy slipped it around her neck and tucked it under her blouse before turning away from him and rushing over to Spike. She didn’t bother to see if Angel did as she asked or not. Her concern was for Spike; she needed to reassure herself that he hadn’t been hurt.

“Spike?” she called out, dropping to her knees beside him. She ran her gaze over him, panicked, as she checked for visible injuries. He tried to sit up and Buffy slipped her arm around his back to help him.

“Did you get it?” he asked. 

Leave it to Spike to push aside his own hurt.

“Yes, I did.” He looked up at her, questioningly. She inclined her head to where Caleb lay on the floor, the scythe imbedded in the ground between his head and the rest of his body. Spike followed her gaze and smirked. Turning back to her he quirked his scared brow.

Seeing it brought a smile to her lips. He answered with one of his own.

“Right… how’s Faith?”

“Oh my God… Faith!” Her head whipped around to the dark-haired girl that was slowly coming out of her stupor.

“You’ll be ok?” she whispered to Spike. At his nod, she stood up and rushed over to her fellow slayer. 

“Faith? Are you alright?”

“Fine, B. Help me up,” she asked as she held out her hand. Buffy obliged, quickly pulling the girl to her feet. “Tell me all this slam-dancing was worth it.”

A smile lit up Buffy’s face and she gestured to the scythe.

“Right on, B!” Leaving her side, Faith walked over to where Caleb lay, her minor injuries forgotten as her eyes beheld the scythe. She gripped the handle and easily removed it from where it was stuck in the ground.   She palmed it, twirling it about, getting a feel for the weapon held in her hands.

“It’s powerful,” she commented.

“You can feel it too?” Buffy asked, coming to stand next to the girl.

“Oh yeah… what a rush!” Faith grinned, and Buffy couldn’t help but smile back. “Too bad there aren’t more… but then again, there was only supposed to ever be one Slayer.”

“Yeah, I know.” Walking back to Spike, Buffy slipped an arm around his back, pulling his arm around her shoulders. She hauled him to his feet, wincing when she heard him groan.

Together the three left the winery, eager to show the others what they had found.

Buffy also needed to mention the spell that she planned on having Willow do. Their Slayer numbers were about to grow exponentially.

She smiled at the thought.

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