Title: A Trip to Hell
Author: Karen U
E-mail: revivingophelia13@yahoo.com
Catagory: BtVS/WWF
Couples: Uncertain as of yet
Disclaimer: All wrestling characters belong to the WWF; all BtVS characters
belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, Fox, et al
Distribution: Charity, Temptation Embraced; otherwise, please ask first
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: WWF - up to mid-February 2001 (meaning Matt and Lita aren't
together); BtVS - early season 5, though Tara and Willow are just friends
Summary: An unexpected stop leads to an interesting night
Notes: A random story idea that has been floating around in my head...
Part One
Lita stifled a yawn as she settled back against the seat of the rental car,
looking out into the darkness as the car sped along, Matt Hardy’s tendency
towards speeding making the scenery whiz by at a rate that would have been
alarming had she not been used to it. Frowning, she looked down at Jeff,
whose head was in her lap as the young man slept soundly... Jeff could sleep
anywhere, she was sure of it. He could even sleep in the middle of the
chaos backstage at arenas... his older brother’s erratic driving was nothing
to him.
Shrugging to herself at the thought, the redhead leaned her head back
against the seat, reaching down to idly stroke Jeff’s hair as she sought out
ways to pass the time.
"How much farther is this place?"
At the sound of Chris Jericho’s voice, Lita glanced over to the front seat’s
passenger side, where the Canadian was seated. Earlier in the day, he’d
been reading, but had given up when the light gave way to dusk, and now he
looked just about bored out of his mind.
"It’s LA, Chris... Not exactly ‘this place,’ you know?" Matt said with a
sigh as he turned down the CD he had playing so he could talk to the other
man. Lita wrinkled her nose up as the sounds of Fuel’s ’Something Like
Human’ were lowered, wishing he’d waited until after her favorite song was
over to do that.
"Yeah, well, how far away is LA then?"
Matt shrugged. "I’d say about a couple of hours... Well, about a hundred
and fifty miles, anyway, give or take."
"Which, given the way you drive, means we’ll be there in about and hour and
a half," Lita piped up, and she stuck her tongue out at him when he glared
at her in the rearview mirror.
"Don’t be a pain, Li," he warned, and she just grinned.
"But it’s so much fun," the redhead replied as she twirled a section of
Jeff’s multi-colored hair around her index finger, careful not to pull on
it. Jeff shifted slightly in his sleep then, one of his hands moving to
rest on her thigh, causing her to jump a little. "Honestly, Matt... Where
are we? We’re not lost or anything, are we?"
"No, we’re not lost. Geez, have some faith in my driving, okay?"
"This from the guy who got lost driving to San Antonio. All you had to do
was take I-10 East from Houston... It was practically s straight shot. I’m
still not sure how you screwed that one up," Jericho retorted.
"Just so you know, reminding me of that is not the best idea in the world...
At least not while I’m driving us to the next venue cause y’all didn’t want
to drive," Matt said mildly, and Lita made a face at the back of his head.
"I saw that, young lady."
"Whatcha gonna do?" she asked. "Turn this car around if I don’t behave?"
"Don’t make me come back there..."
"I thought it was ‘Don’t make me stop this car and come back there’...
Stopping being a very important component," Chris mused.
"Shut up, jerky."
"Hey, that’s my line!" Y2J protested in mock-anger, and Matt chuckled before
swearing suddenly.
"Damn it!"
"Oh, God!" Lita gasped out as Matt jerked the wheel, a loud noise she
couldn’t place accompanying the action, and she unwittingly pulling Jeff’s
hair as she slammed against the side of the car door. She clutched the
younger Hardy brother to her as the car ran off the road and suddenly came
to a stop, causing them all to jerk.
"Everyone okay?" Matt asked, looking around the car, then outside to what
was in the middle of the road. "Damn deer."
"What- what happened?" Jeff’s voice asked, any sleepiness that should have
been in his voice obliterated by the fact that he had basically been shocked
awake. Lita’s arms were still around him, so he sat up carefully, not
making her change her grip as he did so, looking around with wide eyes,
still obviously not completely with it.
"A deer ran out in front of us," Matt said after a moment, his hands still
holding the wheel in a death grip, his heart beating about a mile a minute.
"I swerved to avoid it... I think we blew a tire."
"I felt it too. Damn it," Jericho muttered. "This is not what we needed."
"Well, let’s go check," Lita said after a moment, surprised to discover that
her voice was shaking. Jeff apparently heard it as well, because he pulled
her into a hug for a moment, holding her to him, then released her, looking
into her eyes.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she told him, shrugging off his worry. "Just a little shook up."
Jeff nodded then, and all four of them piled out of the car, Matt cursing
rather creatively when he saw that he and Jericho had been right, and a tire
had blown. Damn it, they were probably lucky they hadn’t totally spun out
and hit a tree or something.
"There’s supposed to be a spare or something, isn’t there?" Chris asked with
a frown as he looked at the blowout.
"In the trunk," Matt replied with a sigh, running his hand through his
unruly dark hair before heading around to the rear and popping the trunk...
only to find it empty. "This is not happening."
"What is it?" Jericho asked, as he came around join Matt, immediately seeing
what the problem was. "Damn it. No spare. So what now? My stupid cell
phone stopped working a few miles back, so I doubt yours will be in range
either. Besides, who would we call? Hardly anyone else is driving, and
those that are don‘t even like us."
"We walk," Lita said simply.
"Where to? We have no idea where we are, how far the next town is... All
Matt could say is a couple hours from LA."
The redhead frowned, wrapping her arms around herself against the night air,
and Jeff went back to the car, reaching in and grabbing his jacket, then
wrapping it around her shoulders. Lita smiled gratefully at him, then
turned back to the others. "I think if we follow this road, we should be
okay."
"Yeah, but how far-"
"I saw a sign a little bit ago... Some town was about ten miles away, and
I’m sure we traveled more than half that distance before the blowout, so it
shouldn’t be too bad."
"You sure about this?" Matt asked, and Lita nodded. "I guess we should go
then."
The others nodded, grabbing jackets and stuff from the car, then waited
while Matt locked it. The thought that maybe someone should stay with the
car did cross their minds, but the area they were in just felt too creepy
for any of them to want to break up the group. So, instead of splitting up
the group, they began walking on their way, careful to keep Lita in the
middle. After a moment, however, Matt spoke again, directing his question
towards the woman.
"What’s the name of this town, anyway?"
"Sunnydale."
Part Two
"I really don't like this place," Lita said softly as they walked through
the town. Jeff's arm was slung casually over her shoulder, keeping her
close to him, and she had to admit that the gesture was comforting to her as
they walked through the basically deserted streets. "How many cemeteries
can one town have? Isn't this a little excessive?"
Jericho shrugged. "Maybe they have lots of dead people."
"Oh, now that's a comforting thought," the redhead murmured. "Remind me
never to rely on you to make me feel better. And this town just seems so
empty... Where is everybody? The house show in Oakland didn't let out late
or anything, so it can't be that late..."
"Small town, though," Matt reminded her. "Things close up earlier in small
towns. At least, they used to. Maybe they still do here."
"I still don't like it."
"None of us do," Chris replied, feeling a little bit uneasy himself. There
was just something about this place that didn't sit well with him, though he
couldn't really put the feeling into words.
"Is that music?" Jeff piped up suddenly, coming to a stop, Lita pausing with
him while the other two turned to look at him.
"So?" Matt queried.
"Music that obnoxious means a club... A club means people. People means we
can ask about a mechanic and a hotel," the younger Hardy stated, and the
others nodded.
"Then let's head for the music. It's got to be better than the cemeteries."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
"Come on, Giles. What gives? Why was I called back from a perfectly good
patrol for book duty?" Faith pouted as she sat slumped on the Englishman's
couch. Rupert Giles glared down at the young woman for a moment, still not
entirely comfortable with her despite her seemingly sincere turnaround since
getting out of jail.
"Because, sometimes, there are more important things than a basic patrol."
"And what's more important than getting the baddies?" the brunette inquired,
arching an eyebrow at the man.
"Stopping a specific... baddie, as you so eloquently put it. One of the
relatively few contacts I still have left phoned me today, saying that
something may be on its way here, and there have been portents..."
"Are we talking another 'oh, no, the end of the world is coming' things,
'cause haven't we had enough of those? And haven't they always just been
false alarms?"
Giles sighed heavily, removing his glasses and reaching up to rub the bridge
of his nose. This girl was going to be the death of him, he was certain of
it, whether it be by actually physically killing him, or just driving him
off the deep end. "Listen, Faith-"
"You know, G, if this is all badass important, why am I the only one here?
Where's everyone else?" the Slayer asked suddenly, and Giles sighed again.
"Because no one else answered their page," he admitted, and Faith laughed.
"Oh, really? And here I thought I was supposed to be the bad, irresponsible
one, yet I'm the only one who comes running when you call. Want me to go
find them for you, get them back here? I'm betting Anya and Xander are off
doing something that would make you blush and stutter. B's probably out on
a patrol of her own - with commando boy, of course - and Wills... I think
she said something about practicing tonight... I'm assuming she means
magic."
"Oh, dear."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
The place was called the Bronze.
It wasn't a dive per se - they'd been in worse clubs in worse towns - but it
definitely wasn't what one would call stellar. High school and college
students were all over the dance floor attempting the fine art of keeping
the rhythm to the sounds of a band that didn't really have any, and Jeff
made a face as the quartet made their way over to the bar.
"They call this a band?" he muttered. "It sucks. And the atmosphere
bites."
"I really don't think this is the kind of place people go to for the
ambiance," Matt replied. "It's more like one of those places teenagers go
to in order to escape their parents, and other people go to 'cause it's a
tradition. Besides, we aren't here to worry about the music... We just need
to find out where we are. I'm going to go use the pay phone... see if I can
get in touch with anyone."
"I'm thinking I might go back out and look around town," Jericho stated,
feeling a bit old to be in a place like this and wanting to escape. He'd
never been one for this kind of scene, and he really didn't feel like
sitting around and trying to ignore the latest Britney Spears teenybopper
wannabes. "I saw a mechanic a few blocks away... Maybe the hours will be
posted on the door or something."
"You hate this place that much, huh?" Lita asked, and Chris smiled
sheepishly before nodding.
"Yup."
"Well, be careful," she told him, and Chris shrugged.
"I'm just going down the road a little bit. What could happen?"
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
"You care to explain that 'oh, dear' for me, Giles?" Faith questioned.
"Cause it really didn't sound much like something I wanted to hear. What's
going on, and do I need to worry?"
"Well, I just... I know that when Willow is working on her magic, she tends
to go off on her own... alone... by herself... solitary..."
"That's pretty much what 'on her own' means, but thanks for clarifying that
for me Giles," Faith put in. "Next time I write a paper, I'll be sure to
remember them so I can avoid redundancy. Now what's the what? Is Wills in
danger out there? I mean, more than just the usual?"
"Well, not specifically, no. But it's not safe for anyone to be out there,
not alone... Something is going to happen here tonight."
"And what would that be, Giles?"
"I... I don't know exactly."
"Well, that's a lot of help," Faith snorted as she stood up, grabbing her
jacket and putting it on. "We can stop the bad guys unless we know who they
are. So here's this: You go and do the book-learning thing, and I'll
traipse across town and collect everyone else so they can join in on the
fun. Then we find out what's going on, kick its butt, and all the little
citizens of Sunnydale can go on as if nothing happened... Just like always."
"Yes, well, that being as it may, I still think it would be best if we could
gather everyone in one place... I'm trying to translate some things, and I
believe Anya and Willow would be quite helpful. Spike, too, if it comes
down to it."
"Then I'll go track them down for you," the brunette replied as she headed
for the door. "Then we'll all settle down around the dusty old books and
see what we can find. Don't look so worried, Giles. It'll work out."
The older man watched as the Slayer walked out the door, heading into the
night, and he hoped that she was right because, despite Faith's words, he
knew that things didn't always work out.
He just hoped this wasn't one of those times.
Part Three
Chris Jericho wandered down the streets of Sunnydale, not really wanting to
admit how uneasy this place made him feel. He was a wrestler, damn it, he’d
once beat Kane in a last man standing match... Some little town shouldn’t be
enough to creep him out.
Sighing, the blonde continued on his way down the street, pausing when he
came to the mechanic’s garage he’d seen before...
"Ten o’clock," he murmured as he looked at the sign declaring when the place
opened and closed on each day. "I hope none of us goes crazy before
then..."
"You really shouldn’t be out here alone," a voice behind him said, and Chris
jumped, swearing softly as he turned around. Damn it, he hadn’t even
noticed her coming up behind him...
"Excuse me?" he asked, and the girl smiled slightly, nothing more than a
tiny curve of her lips.
"I said you really shouldn’t be out here alone," Faith reiterated, cocking
her head to the side. "It isn’t safe. See how empty these streets are? No
normal person in Sunnydale comes out alone at night."
"You’re alone," Chris pointed out, feeling a bit odd about the fact that he
was being chastised by someone who couldn’t be more than twenty, and the
girl smiled at him.
"I never said I was normal. Now, were you just here to check what time they
open, or are you planning on some breaking and entering."
"Well, originally, I was going for the time thing, but now that you mention
it, the breaking and entering-"
"Charming. Where were you heading after this?"
"The Bronze."
"Then I’ll walk you," she told him, more of a statement than an offer.
"I don’t think that’s necessary, but thanks for the offer."
"It wasn’t an offer, and you really don’t have a choice in it," Faith
responded. "Come on, Blondie."
Chris watched her as she walked away for a moment, then sighed. What else
could he really do?
So he followed her.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Matt switched the phone from one ear to the other, frowning as he tried to
hear Billy Gunn. As he tried to listen, his gaze traveled over the people,
falling on a pretty girl sitting at the bar sipping on some unidentified
beverage. She looked so sad sitting there... He wondered what was wrong...
Shaking his head, Matt snapped back to attention as Billy said something,
and he quickly ran the conversation over in his head before attempting to
answer.
"Yeah, some little town called Sunnydale... And no, we’re not in a strip
club. That is not strip club music you hear... There are no naked women
here, I swear. Damn it, Gunn, get your mind out of the gutter. Can you
find it on a map? The town, not a strip club... Geezus, Billy.
S-u-n-n-y-d-a-l-e. Sunnydale. Yeah... Just tell me how far it is from
LA.... We won’t get out of here until tomorrow.... Chris just went to see
when the mechanic opens... Wait a minute," Matt said, raising up on the
balls of his feet to see over the crowd a bit. He frowned as he saw Jericho
walk back into the club, a young woman with him and a slightly annoyed look
in his face. The woman said something to him, then glanced around the club,
her eyes falling on someone. She quickly made a beeline towards the person,
and Matt followed her progress with his eyes, surprised to see that she was
headed for the girl he had been looking at earlier...
Silly as it was, he wondered what was going on.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
"I thought you were out practicing your magic," a voice from behind her
said, and Willow Rosenberg gave a slight start, then turned to face her
friend.
"I don’t think you can call it practicing if none of the spells work," the
redhead replied, and Faith shook her head.
"You’re just trying too hard. Just relax, and it’ll come to you," she
instructed, and the redhead grinned wryly.
"That’s what Oz used to say, too. Only it was about having an orgasm during
sex, and you know what? I relaxed, and he never gave me one."
"No wonder you’re so bitter about dog-boy," the brunette said with a
snicker. "Not only was he sniffing around some bitch, but he was a bust in
the sack, too."
"Damn straight," Willow said with a sigh, shaking her head. "So, Faith.
What’s up? You done with your patrol already?"
"Not so much. Got a beep from Giles... Didn’t you get one?" she asked, and
the redheaded witch shrugged.
"Don’t know... Didn’t have it with me tonight. Why? What’s up? And if you
say it’s another apocalypse, then I’m turning you into a frog."
"Then I guess it’s a good thing for me that your magic’s a bit off tonight,
because otherwise I’d be hopping around a pond trying to get some naive
little prince to kiss me."
"Isn’t it a princess in the real story?"
"Yeah, but I don’t think the mainstream really goes for lesbian fairy tales,
and I really don’t, either. I’d find myself a nice studly-"
"Toad?" Willow interrupted, and Faith glared at her.
"Cute, Red."
"Well, I try."
"And I do so appreciate it. So come on, get off your ass and stop drowning
your sorrows in really bad coffee. We’ve got to get back to the G-man’s and
bury our nose in books until we find out how to kill the baddie."
"Banished to the dusty old volumes again, I see."
"Hey, look at it this way. Maybe you’ll find a bitchin’ spell."
"Not like it will do me any good, anyway. I can’t use it even if I find
it."
"That’s it, Wills. No more moping tonight," Faith said warningly. "You can
do that tomorrow."
"That’s if there even is a tomorrow... Pending apocalypse and all that,"
Willow rejoined, causing the other girl to groan.
"That’s it. I give up."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
"You find anything?" Jeff asked as Chris walked up to the pair at the bar,
and the blonde man shrugged.
"Opens at ten tomorrow."
"What about a hotel?" Lita inquired her voice slightly muffled because she
had her head laying on her arms, obviously tired.
"Didn’t got that far," Chris said with an apologetic shrug. "This is a
strange town, though. Some girl told me it wasn’t safe to be out alone at
night... But she was alone, too. It was just... strange."
"What’s strange?" Matt asked as he walked up, and the others turned to him.
"This town," Jericho replied. "And I think that extends to the people, too.
What did you get?"
"Billy looked up the place on his laptop... He says we’re only a couple
hours from LA, so we should be okay as long as we get back on the road
tomorrow."
"Which I guess means we should just go get a hotel for the night and not
worry about tomorrow until... Tomorrow," Jeff said, then waited for Matt to
comment. When he didn’t he looked at his brother, following his gaze, which
fell on two young women that were walking out the door, a brunette and a
redhead. He went to point out Matt’s preoccupation to the others only to
discover that Jericho’s gaze was on the pair as well. Sighing, Jeff turned
to Lita, raising his eyebrows at the woman, and she returned the look.
"And to think," she said with a smile, her gaze going back to Matt and
Chris, who were still watching the girls, "we’ve been in town less than an
hour."
"God help us."
Part Four
"Where in the hell have you been?"
Faith rolled her eyes at Buffy Summers’s demanding question, turning to
share a look with Willow. The blonde Slayer hadn’t been thrilled when Faith
had decided to come back to Sunnydale permanently, and she was even less
happy about the friendship that the brunette and Willow had somehow managed
to forge despite their differences.
"Well, B," Faith began, the set of her jaw telling the world that she was
annoyed with the other woman, "I was out looking for everyone else, seeing
as none of you answered your damn page earlier."
"Well, obviously, you didn’t need to go out and look for us since we’re all
here."
"And obviously you and Commando boy were doing something besides
patrolling," Faith shot back, looking pointedly at the mark on Buffy’s neck,
which the other Slayer quickly covered, blushing.
"Are you two done fighting?" Anya piped up from her seat on the couch.
"Because I’d really like to get this over with so Xander and I can go back
to what we were doing. It was-"
"I don’t even want to know," Willow interrupted, holding her hand up to halt
the former demon’s words. Despite the fact that the woman was beginning to
get the hang of humanity, she still couldn’t quite grasp the difference
between personal and public informaiton and had a tendency to overshare.
"And Buffy, yes, Faith did need to go out to find us... Or me, anyway. I
didn’t have my beeper with me, so I didn’t get my page. So, where’s Giles?"
"He got a phone call that made him say ‘oh, dear’ a whole bunch of times,
and he’s in the back now, still talking," Xander replied, and Willow and
Faith exchanged a look. "I’m guessing it’s not good."
"You think?" the brunette Slayer said with a sigh, shaking her head, then
whirling around as the door swung open, revealing Spike.
"Honey, I’m home!" the bleached blonde vampire sang out as he entered the
apartment, ignoring Buffy’s mutterings about an un-invite spell and turning
to briefly bare his teeth at Riley, who stepped forward trying to look
threatening, only to have Faith step in front of him.
"Down, Commando boy," she instructed, sounding a bit annoyed.
"What are you doing here, Spike?" Buffy demanded, and the vampire shrugged.
"Got a call from the Watcher on that annoying little beepy thing he gave me,
so I thought I’d stop by. Where is the bloke?"
"He’s in the back-"
"Undoubtedly trying to get away from the lot of you," Spike sniffed,
interrupting Willow as he glanced around at the occupants of the room.
"Can’t really blame him myself... Probably a miracle he hasn’t tried to kill
himself yet."
"Are you here to help, or do you just want me to shove a stake up your ass?"
Faith questioned, pulling out the aforementioned weapon for good measure,
and Spike eyed the piece of wood warily.
"That wouldn’t actually kill him, would it?" Anya put in with a frown, and
the brunette shrugged.
"Nope, but it would sure hurt like hell."
"I don’t know why you keep him around," Riley muttered, and the vampire
sneered at the young man.
"Well, I don’t know why in the bloody hell they keep you around, either.
You’re so dumb... You must do a damn good job in the sack or else the Slayer
would have tossed you out by now."
"Why, I ought to-"
"Ought to what? Grow yourself a pair?" Spike taunted, and Riley stepped
forward, obviously ready to go after the vampire, only to have Willow step
between the two, placing a hand on each one’s chest.
"That is enough already!" the redhead cried out, looking from one angry face
to the other. "All this senseless male posturing is really pissing me off,
okay? So both of you calm down, take a step back, and just shut the hell
up! Giles called us all here for a reason, and your bickering isn’t going
to help."
Spike looked down at the little redheaded witch, wishing he could just shove
her down, but knowing he couldn’t. First off, if he hurt her, it would make
the bloody chip in his head go screaming at him, and secondly, he’d probably
find himself staked in an instant, whether it be by Buffy or by Faith.
"Fine... I’ll step down. You happy now, Red?"
"Not really, but it’ll do for now."
"Good. Now what is going on here? I left my crypt and subjected myself to
the likes of you for this, so it better be a good reason."
"Does the end of the world sound like a good enough reason?" a voice asked,
and all the occupants of the room turned to see Giles standing at the
entrance to the living room. "Because as of right now, we have
approximately twenty-four hours to prevent an apocalypse."
Faith snorted, shaking her head. "It would be nice if just once we had a
little advance warning on these things."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
"You sure you’re okay with this?" Jeff asked, and Lita glanced up looking
over at the younger man. The two were alone in the room as Jericho and Matt
had gone off in search of vending machines.
"Yeah, Jeff, it’s cool," she told him, smiling a little at him. He looked
so damn cute with that uncertain look on his face. "To tell you the truth,
I feel better staying in the same room as you guys."
And it was true. When they’d reached the hotel, which was the only place in
town that had any rooms left - small town, not many hotels - the night desk
clerk had been giving Lita some distinctly leering looks, making the redhead
incredibly uncomfortable... She just didn’t trust him or his intentions. He
sort of reminded her of an older, fatter version of Dean Malenko. And the
way he’d sounded when the man had asked if the ‘lady would be taking a
single room’... Well, apparently, Jericho hadn’t liked the tone, either,
because he’d spouted out that they’d be taking one room. They’d lucked out
and had been able to get a room with two beds and a fold-out couch, which
meant either someone was stuck on the floor, or Lita was sharing a bed with
one of the guys since none of them were really very willing to sleep
together. It was a guy thing, she supposed. So Lita was sharing a bed with
Jeff.
She never thought she’d be saying that...
"That guy was giving you some pretty creepy looks," the younger Hardy
murmured, and the redhead nodded, scooting back against the headboard and
leaning against the pillows. While Jeff was lying on top of the covers, she
was actually already in bed, the excitement of the near-accident they’d had
combined with the strain of the match she and the guys had had against the
Radicals at the house show wearing her out and making her more than ready to
sleep.
"Yeah, he was definitely a perve," she said after a moment, reaching out to
play with Jeff’s hair for a moment, enjoying the myriad of colors as the
brightly colored locks sifted through her fingers, smiling when Jeff lay his
head down on her comforter-covered leg, sighing in contentment. "But I
don’t think he would have tried anything-"
And what the hell was that?
The bed underneath them seemed to be vibrating suddenly, which at first
struck Lita as odd since she knew that the bed wasn’t that kind. Then Jeff
looked up at her, his eyes wide as he pushed himself up, jumping off the bed
and taking her with him as he went to stand in the door frame, his arms
going protectively around her as the room around them shook...
An earthquake... What a way to top off the night.
Part Five
"Is everyone okay?" Giles asked, his voice a bit shaky as he pulled himself
to his feet, looking around the room.
"Oh, bloody hell."
Willow frowned as she stood up with Xander’s help, glancing around in an
effort to find the blonde vampire. "Spike? Spike, where are you?"
"Underneath the damn Watcher’s weapons," came the muffled reply and the
others turned towards Giles’s weapons cabinet, which was now overturned, the
weapons strewn everywhere.
"Oh, dear," the British Watcher muttered as he began to gingerly make his
way over to the mess, careful not to step on anything sharp. A trip to the
hospital was not how he wanted to top off the night.
"Oh, dear? I’m stuck underneath a bloody mess of weapons and a cabinet, and
all you people can say is oh, dear?" Spike sputtered.
"How about, ‘at least it was you and not one of us’?" Faith offered
questioningly, turning to send a wicked grin Willow’s way as Spike let off
with a string of rather creative curses.
"Here, Spike, let’s get you out from under there," Willow said after sending
a quelling glare in her friend’s direction, and Faith just shrugged before
going to help the redhead and Giles free the vampire.
"Why don’t we just leave him there?" Riley asked.
"You know, I’m beginning to think that whatever pain it causes me would be
worth it to kill commando boy," Spike barked out as he sat up, emerging from
underneath the weapons and their cabinet.
"We can’t kill him," Buffy informed Riley. "I’ve told you this before.
He’s basically a harmless creature-"
"I am not harmless-"
"And he’s not just a random vampire anymore," Willow put in. "He’s kind of
like a person. A person who would rip out our throats if he had the
chance-"
"And I’d bloody well enjoy it, too," Spike put in.
"And if by chance the chip does give out, then we’re all in big trouble,
‘cause he’ll kill us painfully, and I’m really not helping things, am I?"
the redhead finally said.
"Not so much, Wills," Xander told her.
"Then I’ll shut up now."
"Besides," Anya piped up, "he can still kill demons, and he likes
killing..."
"And I’m willing to bet that there’s going to be a lot of killing going on
tonight," Xander put in. "Pending apocalypse and all that."
"Please, we don’t know for sure-"
"Uh, Giles said there were portents," Faith interrupted Riley, glaring at
him. Boy, but he had a large head... "And we tend to believe what the
cranky Englishman says. He’s generally right."
"Not to mention the fact that the last two times we had an earthquake here
in Sunnydale, someone tried to open the Hellmouth," Xander said with a
shrug, glancing over at Buffy, wondering if she was thinking about the time
the Master had opened the Hellmouth and the blonde Slayer had actually
died...
"That is true," Giles said slowly, nodding.
"So does this mean we have to go back to high school again?"
"Not a school anymore, remember?" Willow said with a little half-smile. "I
mean, since we blew it up and all..."
"Wait a minute... I thought that was a gas leak," Riley said, and Willow
snorted.
"Yeah, sure it was. And all those ‘vampire attacks’? Really gangs on PCP,"
the redhead replied, shaking her head. "We blew the place up... With good
reason, though. But the point is that they leveled it, didn’t they?"
"Yeah, they did," Buffy replied with a nod. She’d gone to see it happen, to
get some sense of closure or whatever. She guessed destruction was her gift
to the schools she went to... In LA she’d gotten kicked out for burning down
the gym, here she’d just blown the whole damn place up. Education really
just was not for her. "And they put a hotel up in its place."
"Oh, God," Xander muttered. "That’s bad, isn’t it?"
Giles nodded. "I’d say so. Unsuspecting people with the ground about to
open up underneath them... Hell about to spill out at their feet."
"Just another day in Sunnydale to me," Buffy muttered.
"Yes, well, if we don’t stop it, there may not be any more days in
Sunnydale."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Even after the shaking had stopped, Lita clung to Jeff, her eyes wide as she
looked around. The building they were in was new, and it had apparently
been built well enough to withstand moderate earthquakes, because there
didn’t seem to be much damage done to the place.
"Are you okay?" Jeff asked, his hand stroking down her back in a soothing
motion, holding her even closer, feeling the way she was shaking and not
liking it. Of course, he was shaking himself, so he didn’t really have room
to talk.
"Wishing this night would hurry up and end, but otherwise okay," Lita
managed after a moment, not yet willing to let go of Jeff. "This just is
not our night, is it?"
Jeff smiled a little as he looked down at her, catching her gaze. "What, a
blowout and an earthquake aren’t your idea of a good time?" he teased, his
smile widening at the glare she gave him.
"If you thought that was fun, then you really are the crazy Hardy brother,"
the redhead muttered, shaking her head, and Jeff laughed, leaning against
the door frame, their legs getting a little tangled as he did so, and it
took some effort on both of their parts to keep from falling down. Jeff
finally managed to catch them both, but Lita ended up pressed completely
flush against him, their faces only inches apart, and they both blushed a
little as they looked at each other.
"You okay?" Jeff asked, and Lita nodded vaguely, her eyes still on his.
"Yeah," she told him, her gaze moving lower, to his lips, which were so damn
close, and they just looked so damn kissable...
Without allowing himself time to think, Jeff began to lean towards her,
closing off the little bit of distance between them, until there was only a
breath separating them...
"Matt and Chris!"
"What?" Jeff asked, pulling back, feeling a little dazed as he looked down
at her.
"Matt and Chris were out there during the earthquake!" Lita reminded him,
her eyes wide. "What if... Do you think they’re okay?"
"I don’t... Of course they’re... Damn it, we need to find them... But you
should stay here," Jeff said as he released the redhead and grabbed his
jacket. "If there’s another earthquake, it might be safer here..."
"You’re not leaving me," Lita said, shaking her head. "If there’s another
earthquake, I’d rather be out there with you, okay? Not to mention that
creepy guy’s probably still around somewhere."
Jeff sighed softly, then nodded. "Fine, but-" he broke off then, his eyes
widening as Lita suddenly leaned up to kiss him, her hands coming up to
tangle briefly in his hair before she released him, a small smile on her
face. "Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but what was that for?"
"We were about to do it anyway, until I was an idiot and interrupted us...
Figured we may as well get that awkward first kiss over with. We’ll talk
about it later," she told him as she headed for the door, leaving Jeff to
follow behind.
Tonight was just full of surprises... At least that had been a good one.
Part Six
Willow and Faith made their way towards the hotel that was now where
Sunnydale High School once stood, the others trailing behind and bickering
amongst themselves. Despite the fact that Spike was definitely useful when
it came to taking out demons, it really was not a good idea to allow the
bleached blonde vampire and Buffy’s latest guy anywhere near one another.
The brunette Slayer sighed softly as she looked around, taking in the damage
the earthquake had done to the town. Most of the buildings were built to
withstand the shaking, though she imagined the inside of the homes she saw
as she looked around had knickknacks galore strewn about...
Sighing again, she looked down at where she was walking, careful not to trip
over any of the new cracks that now decorated the sidewalks. "Step on a
crack, break your mother’s back," she muttered softly, thinking of the old
school yard rhyme, then lifting her eyebrows as Willow chose that moment to
deliberately stepped on one, actually pausing on the crack for a moment
before going on her way.
"Well, that was awfully vengeful of you," Faith said.
"Yeah, well, she did try to burn me at the stake that one time... And she
never apologized," the redhead replied, glancing over at her friend, then
stopping as they came to the hotel, taking in the people milling about.
"Damn... Way too many people here," the Slayer muttered softly, looking back
at Giles as the others came to a stop behind them. "What do we do now,
Watcher man? These aren’t Sunnydale people who will conveniently forget
anything they see. These are tourists, and they’ll remember seeing a
knockdown, drag out fight with a bunch of demons... Not to mention that
whole thing where the ground might open and all the creatures from Hell come
spilling out."
"Well, if that does happen, then I don’t really think the people are going
to be around to talk about it anyway," Buffy countered, crossing her arms
over her chest. "But there are too many people here, Giles. We’ve got to
get them gone. Too many civilians... Too many casualties."
"Yes, well, tell that to those who just went through an earthquake," the
Watcher replied. "How in the hell are we supposed to get them away form
here?"
"How about a gas leak?" Riley asked, and the others turned to him. "That
would send them running."
Buffy shrugged, then looked at her Watcher, who nodded. "It’s worked
before."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Lita stumbled over something that had fallen into the hotel walkway, staying
on her feet only because of Jeff. He pulled her up against him, holding her
tightly as he glanced around at the half-frantic people around him.
"You okay?" he asked, and the redhead shrugged.
"Doing better then these people," she muttered. "But I’ll be even better
when we find Chris and Matt-"
"Lita! Jeff!"
Both people in question turned towards the sound of the shout, breathing a
sigh of relief when they saw both Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho coming in
their direction, appearing a bit shaken up but otherwise okay.
"You two okay?" Chris asked, looking them both up and down quickly, pulling
Lita into his arms for a moment before setting her away from him to look her
over once again and turning to Jeff.
"Yeah, we’re fine. We were more worried about y’all then anything else,
what with you two being out here," Jeff said as he ran his hand through his
multi-colored hair, his arm coming to wrap around Lita’s waist.
"Well, we’re okay," Matt said softly, noticing how close the redhead was
standing to his little brother but choosing not to say anything about it.
He could save the comments for later, he figured, and he frowned as a young
man, probably a hotel employee, passed by them, yelling to the crowds.
"Excuse me, folks, but we’re going to have to ask you to leave the area...
There’s a possible gas leak, and..."
While the others’ eyes widened at that statement, Matt’s frown just deepened
as he continued to look around, his gaze falling on one of the other people
moving through the crowd, the young woman Jericho had entered the Bronze
with earlier that night... His gaze traveled from her to beyond the hotel,
out into the parking lot, falling on a group of people that included a
certain redhead he knew without a doubt he’d seen before, the girl he’d
first spotted at the club that night...
What in the hell was she doing here?
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
While Xander, Riley, and Faith made their way through the crowd to get the
people out of the hotel and away from the Hellmouth - and hopefully towards
somewhere that had a semblance of safety to it - Willow turned to Giles,
looking up at the Englishman.
"Okay, we’re getting the people out of here, but what in the hell do we do
next? Do we even know what kind of demon this is, what we’re looking for...
What we’re up against? Damn it, Giles we don’t even have very many weapons
with us right now, not with the way some of yours were damaged when that
cabinet fell..."
"I can go get mine," Buffy said suddenly, interrupting the conversation, the
Slayer’s arms crossed over her chest. "I’ve got a pretty good bag of
tricks."
Giles glanced at the blonde, then nodded. "Go on and get them. We have to
expect that our foes will appear here tonight, and we must be ready for
them," he stated, and the blonde Slayer took off in the direction of her
house, going at full speed. Giles watched her for a moment as she went,
then turned back to Willow, an apprehensive expression on his face. The
expression pretty much matched that of Willow.
"Giles, we don’t even know what we’re looking for, what kind of demons they
are... If they’re even demons."
"They’re demons, of that I’m certain. Or at least, most of them are," the
man replied, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them, a nervous action
that the redhead was used to by now. Even so, she still didn’t like it. In
fact, she had started to associate it with something very bad happening.
"What did you find out from that phone call?" she asked, her brows raised a
bit suspiciously, and Giles sighed.
"It’s a band of demons... A tribe, so to speak, that is after opening the
Hellmouth. They were once subject to the Master, and when he died, they
took his task as their own mission. They are strong, but not very
intelligent, not very focused... Well, unless they’re in battle. They need
leadership, and this... What is happening now, it indicates that they have
indeed found a leader. We just aren’t aware who - or what - that leader
is."
"So we’re shooting in the dark here. How can we take the leader out if we
don’t know what we’re looking for?" she asked, and the Englishman sighed
before speaking again.
"Normally, I wouldn’t ask to do this, but can you do a spell?"
"Haven’t been all that successful tonight, but I can try," Willow replied,
crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you want?"
"A locator spell. A simple incantation to detect any demons that are
around. That’s all I ask. I realize that Spike will be picked up on it,
but-"
"So will all other demons in the area, which would give us fair warning.
I’ve done that before, so I’m good. I can mange that. It’s a bit of a
light show, though, Giles, so I’ll have to go somewhere private, what with
all these people around."
"Well, it should be done close by-"
"The old quad... The hotel’s working on turning it into a park, and a lot of
trees have been transplanted over there, so I’d have cover. I think it
would work."
"Yes, well, then, I suppose you should go... Do you want me to-?"
"I can do this on my own, Giles. It’s cool," she said with a small smile as
she turned and headed towards her destination, intent on getting the spell
up and going.
Neither she nor Giles noticed that she was being followed.
Part Seven
Willow knelt on the ground, looking carefully around her, making sure that
the cover of the trees surrounding her would be enough. There were so many
people around, so many people with perfectly good eyes who could see the
light show she was about to put on if she wasn’t careful. It would be
better if she was doing this in daylight because it would be less
noticeable, but that never seemed to be the case. The baddies always seemed
to choose to come out only at night. Shaking her head, the redhead took a
deep breath, pushing her hair behind her ears as she settled back.
Willow glanced around her again, checking for intruders, then spoke a few
quiet words, nodding as the foliage around her seemed to thicken, new leaves
sprouting as the coverage grew more secure. "Well, that’s better," she
muttered, smiling slightly. The little incantation Angel had taught her
when she’d visited LA that summer had worked... Her first successful spell
of the night.
"Time to go for number two," she said quietly, gathering her courage. She
closed her eyes slowly, straightening her shoulders and concentrating,
focusing all her energies on just one thing, the magic she was about to
perform. She spoke softly, surely, in a language that wasn’t her own, the
Gaelic words that Angel had taught her how to pronounce flowing off of her
tongue, weaving into the air around her. Willow could actually feel the
magic in the air, making the atmosphere denser, heavier somehow, and her
voice rose a bit, the incantation seeming to take on a life of its own, as
the magic within her often seemed to when everything went right.
Willow slowly opened her eyes as she reached the critical part of the spell,
her gaze focusing on the sphere of light that was floating in front of her,
right at eye level. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on it, speaking softly
once more, exerting as much control as she could, her head lifting as the
sphere shot up to hover in the air about six feet over her head, the glow
becoming more intense. A wave of energy rolled from the glowing ball, which
now seemed to be almost electrically charged. Willow watched as the sphere
flashed brightly, then seemed to almost explode, the energy from it flowing
out into the surroundings, some of it dropping down to return to her.
She slumped down, closing her eyes as her forehead touched the grass, still
focusing on what the spell was telling her. Demons were coming, she could
sense them, though she could tell they were still at a distance... She’d
felt Spike loud and clear, his presence, his energy, but she felt something
else, too...
And it was right in front of her.
Willow’s eyes flew open at the realization, and she pushed herself up, her
large eyes widening in horror, as she spotted the boots that were right in
front of her. She lifted her gaze then, feeling as if she was going in very
slow motion, taking in the battered jeans, the torn shirt, the face that was
deformed with the look of a demon, bloody fangs visible from between the
vampire’s lips.
"Oh, hell," she muttered, and the vampire smiled.
"I always wondered what a redhead would taste like. Looks like I’m about to
find out."
"You think far too much of your skills," she said with a sigh before
reaching out and bringing her arm up between his legs - hard.
"Oh, sh-" the vampire cried out and he went to his knees, and Willow’s lips
quirked in a little grin. Dead or alive, there was always one thing that
never changed, and that was a man’s weak spot. Her smile, however, didn’t
last for long. "Oh, you’re going to pay for that..."
Willow cursed as the vampire lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. She
winced as a branch dug painfully into her back, struggling fiercely against
him, scratching at him and kicking at him as he went for her throat. She
could smell the blood on his breath, the deadness coming from him, and
Willow gagged as she fought him.
Suddenly, and just when Willow was beginning to worry that she was going to
become this guy’s late night - or was it morning for him? - snack, the
vampire was yanked off of her, and she looked up to mutter a thanks, fully
expecting to see Giles or Spike or Faith or... Well, anybody besides the
person she did see.
He had dark hair... long, but pulled out of his face, dark eyes... Tall, but
not too tall, big but not huge... And a complete stranger.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, and she blinked at the unexpected sound of his
voice. He didn’t look like someone who should have that smooth, southern
speech, but he sure as hell had it.
"Thanks... And look out!" she cried as the vampire seemed to get its
bearings back and jumped at the guy, tackling him to the ground. The two
rolled around as they fought rather ferociously, the dark-haired guy
actually giving it about as good as he was getting it, but she knew that
wouldn’t last. The guy was entirely human, the spell would have made her
aware of his presence otherwise, and he was fighting a vampire, who, despite
the fact that the guy was obviously strong, would without a doubt wear him
down eventually.
Moving quickly, Willow dropped to her hands and knees, feeling over the
surface of the grass in the dark, smiling grimly when she touched the branch
that had been so rudely sticking into her spine just moments before. She
gripped it firmly, then stood, waiting until the vampire had the dark-haired
guy on his back before striking, stabbing the vampire in the back, the wood
going through and piercing the demon’s heart.
Matt fought as violently as he could, his eyes on his opponent’s face, the
strange, deformed contours, the sharp teeth... What in the hell was going on
here? He gritted his teeth as he tried to get the advantage, enough
leverage to get them flipped over, and then... Then it happened.
The creature disintegrated before his eyes, exploding into a cloud of dust
that left him gasping.
Trying to get himself together, Matt looked up, his eyes focusing on the
woman standing over him, the pretty redhead he’d seen earlier, and his gaze
zeroed in on the branch she held in her hand. After a moment, she lowered
the wood that she had been brandishing as a weapon, then dropped it to the
grass, reaching the hand out to him.
"You okay?" she asked as he took her hand, allowing her to help him up, and
he nodded, using his free hand to rub at his neck.
"Yeah, I’m fine," he said as he stood, looking down at her. At this close a
range, she seemed even prettier, her wide green eyes and porcelain-like
complexion... But he could think about that later. Right now... "What the
hell was that thing?"
"You aren’t going to buy ‘gang member on PCP,’ are you?" she asked, and he
snorted before shaking his head.
"Gang members don’t disappear like that, not unless I was the one on PCP,
and I guarantee you that I don’t do drugs." Sighing, he looked down at the
wood. "If I didn’t know better, I’d say that was..." He trailed off at the
look on her face, shaking his head. "Now don’t think I’m going to believe
that thing was a, that they... They don’t exist..."
"Yes, they do... And that was indeed a vampire," she corrected, then held
her hand out to him. "And you saved me from it... I’m Willow."
"And you saved me in turn," he said, his voice a bit shaky as he shook her
hand. "And I’m Matt. It’s nice to meet you- What the hell?"
Aftershock.
As the ground shook beneath their feet, the trees around them seeming to
almost close in on them, they stepped closer to one another, only to stumble
backwards, separating as the ground rolled underneath them. Matt swore as
he heard a cracking sound, spotting the tree as it began to sway, losing its
battle to stay rooted in the shaking ground. He lunged towards Willow,
pushing her out of the way of the falling tree, and they both gasped
breathlessly as it crashed down beside them...
And then the ground beneath them opened up.
Part Eight
Lita couldn’t help but scream when the aftershock hit, the shaking of the
ground causing her to stumble. She felt Jeff’s strong arms band around her,
found herself pulled against his solid chest, Chris on the other side so
that she was sandwiched between the two men. She was shaking, she could
feel it. Even through the dancing of the ground, she could tell it was her.
She clung to Jeff as the ground shook, feeling Chris on the other side of
her, wishing the quake would stop, just by chance looking up at the sound of
the crack, her eyes widening at what she saw.
"Guys, look out!" she screamed as one of the columns gave way, an entire
section of second-level walkway crashing down along with it. Jeff dragged
her backwards as Chris pushed her away, following after, and as she and Jeff
hit the ground, Lita heard a screaming in her ears as some of the rubble
came down on top of the blonde man, and it took her a moment to recognize
that it was coming from her.
And then it was over.
The shaking stopped, the ground calmed down and returned to its normal
motionless state, but the screaming remained, the people kept running around
as if it were the end of the world, completely unaware that they might not
be all that far off... And Chris was hurt.
"Oh, God, Chris... Chris!" Lita screamed out, shoving her way into a sitting
position, Jeff following her as she crawled over on her hands and knees to
her friend. "Oh, God..." Her voice was shaking more than she thought
possible, and her hand was trembling wildly as she reached out a cautious
hand, almost afraid to touch him.
"Oh, geezus, that hurt," the blonde man muttered, shifting a bit, and Lita
put a hand on his shoulder, trying to still him.
"Chris, please. Don’t move yet," she told him. "We’ve got to get this off
you... Oh, God..." She felt something on her face, and it took her a minute
to realize she was crying. Embarrassed, she rubbed at her face, wiping at
her tears, calling herself an idiot for getting so shaken up when there were
things to be done... Like help Y2J.
"We’ve got to get this moved."
Lita looked up at the unexpected feminine voice, taking in the pretty, young
brunette who was standing behind her. She was one of the people who’d been
running around spouting off about the gas leak, and at closer inspection,
she sure as hell didn’t look like a hotel employee. The pants were too
tight, too leather-y, the shirt too sheer to be dressed for work... Well,
work as a legitimate employee, anyway.
"You think we don’t know that?" Lita shot back at the girl, scowling.
Faith looked down at the pretty woman and the attractive young man, taking
in the tears on the redhead’s face, the shaking of her voice, deciding not
to be offended for the moment. The woman was obvious afraid for her friend.
"Here, let me help you," she said with a sigh, kneeling down. She and the
two strangers braced themselves against the rubble on top of the guy. It
was heavy, but it had landed on the guy at an angle, hitting him hard, but
not hard enough to crush. He’d probably have some nasty bruises and a
broken rib or two, but he’d be okay. "Got a grip?"
"Yeah, we’re good," the guy said in a voice that surprised Faith given the
way he looked. Who knew a guy from the south would give in to the urge to
dye part of his hair purple... Or paint his nails black, for that matter?
"On my count... One... two... three!"
They all pushed at once, and though Faith knew she could have lifted it on
her own, she could still tell that the other two had strength in them, more
than she had expected. They managed to shove the concrete wreckage off of
the man, then the woman leaned down, touching the guy’s hair. "Chris?
Chris, are you okay?"
"Just help me up, damn it," the man muttered, his voice striking a cord with
Faith, and she frowned as he struggled to get up to his hands and knees,
leaning heavily against the woman. He lifted his head as he did so, looking
at her, and he smiled weakly. "Fancy meeting you here."
"I guess I could say the same," she said, lifting her eyebrows. "Twice in
one night."
"Um, lost here," Lita said with a frown, looking from Chris to the girl and
back again.
"We ran into each other at the mechanic’s," the brunette supplied, then
shrugged and held out her hand to the woman. "I’m Faith."
"And I’m Lita," the redhead said softly, accepting the offer of a handshake
from the young woman, then nodding to Jeff. "This is Jeff, and since he’s
probably too rude to have introduced himself earlier, this is Chris."
"Good to know. We need to get him to a hospital. Check him out."
"You think an ambulance will take these streets?" Jeff asked. "’Cause our
car’s up the road a few miles with a blow out."
"I’ll get you there," Faith said, nodding slowly. Spike’s crypt wasn’t too
far from here, and she knew where he kept his car... She’d go send him for
it. "We need to get him away from this before there’s another aftershock-"
"Matt," Lita said suddenly, her eyes widening with alarm. "Oh, God, Matt."
"Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t met a Matt yet."
"My brother," Jeff said softly as Lita shot to her feet, looking around, and
it was then that Faith realized that the woman was barefoot and dressed for
bed. "He took off right before the aftershock-"
"Matt!" Lita called out, her eyes wide as she looked down at the younger
Hardy. "Damn it, Jeff, where is he? Why didn’t he come back after the
quake? Why didn’t he come back?"
"Lita, calm down," Chris said as he tried to stand, Faith and Jeff quickly
going to help him, barely managing to keep the man from falling. "Matt’s
tough, and he’s fine, okay? He’s fine."
"We don’t-"
"We’ll help you find him, okay?" Faith quickly said, some small part of her
reminding her that hey, they were here to try and stop an apocalypse and
finding this guy could wait because if they didn’t stop it, then damn it,
they wouldn’t be around to look for him afterwards anyway, now would they?
Of course, she also knew that this woman was highly unlikely to leave
willingly if they *didn’t* find the guy...
"We?" Jeff asked, confused, and Faith sighed.
"My friends and I. We came down here to, um, help after the quake. We’ll
help you find him." She figured it would at least give Anya and Xander
something non-combatty to do. Now, it wasn’t that she didn’t like the
ex-demon and her boyfriend - she did - and that was precisely why she wanted
them as far away from the danger as possible. She figured that looking for
this Matt guy was probably safer than fighting demons or whatever. "They’re
over there."
Jeff looked in the way the brunette nodded, then they began to help Chris in
that direction, the man grunting in pain at every movement. Faith saw the
surprise on Giles’s face as she brought three strangers over, and that hit
her only a moment before the look in his eyes did, and what she saw there
wasn’t surprise.
It was fear.
"Giles, what’s up?" she asked as she let Jeff help settle Chris on the
ground, immediately ready for battle. "What’s going on?"
"Willow..." he began softly, and Faith could tell that he was still reeling
from the aftershock, obviously not altogether with it yet, which just
alarmed her more.
"What about her?" she asked, her eyes widening.
"She... she was over there, and now... The trees..."
Faith looked where Giles was pointing, her stomach dropping when she spotted
the makeshift park that was being constructed... The downed trees that had
crashed down in the clearing, the odd lay of the dirt... It looked like some
major deconstruction had been done over there... "Tell me she wasn’t over
there-"
But she was already walking before she finished her words, and Faith jerked
away when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to find Lita staring at
her, wide-eyed. "I’m a little busy here-"
"Matt-"
"Yeah, we’ll look for him when I get back-"
"No, wait... When he left, I think... That’s the direction he was headed in,
Faith."
Part Nine
Willow couldn’t stifle her scream as the ground beneath them seemed to
crumble and fall away. Without thought, she at clutched Matt, feeling his
arms banding around her, hearing him swear harshly, his lips near her ear as
they went crashing down.
Matt closed his eyes, holding onto the slender redhead, trying to flip them
over so that when they finished falling, he would be the one to take the
brunt of the impact... But it never came.
Instead of crashing to the dirt below the hole created by the violent
shaking of the earth, they seemed to hover above it for just a moment before
almost easing to the ground. After laying there for a moment, just trying
to catch his breath, Matt felt Willow start to ease away from him, and he
released the near death grip he had on the young woman, allowing her to sit
up, doing the same himself. She didn’t move away from him, however, instead
remaining close to him, actually in his lap.
"What in the hell happened?" he muttered as he looked around at the place
where they had fallen to, some sort of underground cavern or something...
And why in the hell was there a cross over there?
Willow looked around them, taking in their surroundings, feeling her stomach
clench as she realized just where it was that they were. She’d never
personally been there, had hoped she never would be, but Buffy had described
the place to her in enough detail that she was instantly certain... The
Master’s lair. Of course, the Master had been dead for a few years, his
bones, as Xander had one time put it, ‘crushed to make their bread,’ but
that didn’t mean that something else hadn’t moved in since then.
The little redhead shook herself out of her reverie, turning her head to
look at Matt, meeting his eyes through the darkness. "Aftershock’s over,"
she muttered.
"And we fell through a hole in the ground."
"Something like that," Willow replied quietly, shifting away from Matt
slightly as she suddenly noticed just how close they were in the darkness,
staggering to her feet. She cursed as she looked up overhead, the dirt
ceiling a good fifteen feet over their heads, the rock too dangerous to
climb... Not that they could fit through the hole that was left anymore,
anyway. It had closed up again for the most part, and what little bit was
left seemed to be covered by downed trees.
Oh, they were so screwed.
"Yeah, well, when we were falling, I kind of noticed that we didn’t exactly
hit the ground all that hard," Matt said softly, and Willow turned her head
to look at him, stumbling a little as she made her way across the crumbling
surface that was beneath her feet. "I... I don’t understand..."
"I guess you want an answer as to why that happened," she said after a
moment, and Matt gave a slight nod.
"If you can give me one," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he
continued to look around, his gaze going back to her after a moment,
watching as she went up and touched the massive wooden cross in the center
of the cave or whatever it was that they were in.
"Well, you already learned about vampires tonight," the redhead told him,
meeting his gaze, refusing to look away as she laid it out on the table,
vaguely wondering if he was going to laugh in her face or run away from her.
"You may as well learn another truth about the world that most people
aren’t aware of... That most people don’t want to hear. Vampires aren’t the
only things that are real; so is magic."
That said, she headed back towards Matt, intending to look for the tunnel
that she knew had to be there... How else had Buffy, Xander, and Angel once
come down here if it wasn’t? As she passed by the young man, however, he
reached out and grabbed her arm, his grip gentle but firm, and she turned
her head, her eyes meeting his.
"Are you saying... You did a spell or something to keep us from hitting the
ground to hard?"
"Yes, I did. And the reason I was in that clearing was because I was doing
a couple of others. I’m a witch, it’s what I do," she stated bluntly, her
gaze not wavering as she stared at him for a moment, waiting for the
expression on his face to close off, for him to take a step back, a step
away from her... After waiting for a few seconds, the look in Matt’s eyes
expressing surprise at her simplistic explanation but otherwise unchanging,
she shrugged off his hand and started to walk away. She hadn’t taken more
than a few steps away from him when suddenly Willow stumbled, her hand going
to her head as she felt herself start to fall...
Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and she felt herself being
pulled back against a strong chest, and since she was suddenly too shaky and
exhausted to do anything about it, she leaned against him, going easily when
he turned her in his arms. He kept one arm banded around her, holding her
slight weight up without difficulty, his other hand slipping down beneath
her chin, gently forcing her to look up at him, his dark eyes full of
concern.
"Willow? Willow, are you okay? What’s wrong?" he asked an edge of fear in
that southern voice of his as he held her close.
Willow reached up, touched her forehead again, swaying a little in his
strong arms, shifting her chin from his hand and pressing her cheek against
his chest. "I’m... I’m okay. It’s no big deal..."
"You’re way too pale, and you’re just about ready to collapse in my arms,"
Matt countered. "If you think that’s okay, then I’d hate to see your ‘not
okay.’ Now, tell me, what is wrong?"
"It’s just... Too many spells tonight, I guess. Sometimes... the spell I
did before the vamp showed up was kind of a doozy, and... I would have been
fine if... Never mind..."
"You would have been fine if you hadn’t done whatever it was you did to slow
our fall," Matt correctly deduced, the conclusion an easy one to make.
"We would have been pancakes if I hadn’t."
"But still..."
"Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll be fine," Willow said, and Matt
decided to do just that, moving so that both his arms were wrapped around
her once again, glancing around the cavern for a moment, his gaze falling on
a ledge about a dozen feet away. Without a word, he swung the small young
woman up and into his arms, ignoring her protest as he made his way over to
the ledge, settling them both down on it. It occurred to him somewhere in
his mind that he could just set her down on it, but he ignored that thought,
instead climbing up there as well, holding her in his lap. After a moment
of holding herself still, Willow gave into the odd comfort she felt being in
his arms, the feeling of being protected that she so often went without,
allowing herself to lean against him.
"Where is this place?" Matt asked quietly, looking around once more, and the
redhead sighed.
"It was once a church. It, um, it kind of sunk or whatever about eighty
years ago during an earthquake. Not a lot of people even know it exists."
"And you do because?"
"Because it’s necessary to know these things in order to stay alive. At
least, it is for me. There is a way out of here..." she said, and Matt
sighed.
"I guess we just have to find it, hope that the quakes didn’t do any damage
to the way out... If we don’t... How will anybody ever find us?" he asked,
then frowned as he heard shouting coming from above them, from the small
space that was still there from the hole in the ground that had swallowed
them. He heard at least two different female voices...
And they were shouting Willow’s name.
