Chapter
Six
Little
Victories
A curious thing happened while Buffy was watching her blood fill the jar in her hand.
She got mad.
She watched the crimson fluid roll down her wrist, trickling viscously into the glass container and she thought about how she had allowed things to deteriorate to this point. Since Spike had attempted to leave town, she had done nothing but ruminate and admonish herself for all the things that was wrong with her and their relationship. She spent so much time analysing things that it seemed nothing else filled her thoughts these days. Now she was in the position where one of her best friends was threatening to end her sister’s life with a gun no less, while she stood by helplessly, allowing herself to be bled like a stuck animal.
No more, a small voice spoke inside Buffy’s head, its tone weary and
impatient. No more.
Once again, she had allowed Elizabeth to gain the upper hand because she had been wallowing in self pity, abusing herself over the things she had done wrong and letting it plague her thoughts to such an extent that she had been unable to focus clearly on anything else. There comes a point in everyone’s existence when they are faced with a crisis of faith but for Buffy that point had become a way of life since her resurrection. What happened after this would happen but she was going to deal with it in a better fashion then she had been doing everything lately. For the moment however she had a more immediate problem to tend to.
Buffy should have known that Elizabeth would use Xander. After how he had attacked Anya, there was every reason to believe that he was dangerous. She had been so focused on Spike and her guilt regarding their relationship that she had completely ignored the threat that Xander posed, even after the others had brought it up. It made perfect sense that Elizabeth would use him in this manner, after all, Spike had severe limitations put upon him thanks to the chip while Xander was bound by none of them. How many times had it been proved that the existence of a soul did not mean a human was incapable of being as thoroughly vile and brutal as any vampire or demon?
"That’s all you’re getting." She stated coldly snapping out of her reverie once she had reached that watershed moment. The jar was almost half filled and Buffy ignored the throbbing pain in her arm at its extraction. The Slayer was uncertain how much had been drained from her but fortunately it was not enough to leave her dizzy or weakened.
"I said fill her up," Xander ordered, not liking the sudden change in tone of her voice.
"No," Buffy shook her head, giving Dawn a silent look that told her younger sister she knew what she was doing and not to panic.
Dawn, aware that Buffy would never knowingly hurt her, offered Buffy a look of trust as she remained calm in Xander’s grip, ignoring the certain death that would come if he pulled the trigger. She put on a brave face, determined to rise to the occasion not only for her own safety but also for Buffy because she knew the dark uses that could be wrought with Slayer’s blood. Glory had been able to tear down the barriers between the dimensions because of her blood, the blood the Monks had fashioned out of Buffy’s genetic makeup when they sought to make the Key a sister she would love and protect. Elizabeth was probably not attempting anything that ambitious but Dawn did not intend to be the reason that she was able to do so.
"Maybe you didn’t understand me but this isn’t a negotiation," Xander sneered at Buffy, his voice full of derision as he tried to gain the upper hand again.
"No it isn’t," Buffy returned, nonplussed by his efforts to reassert himself because this version of Xander was a small man borne of all his insecurities that could not be masked even if he was given free reign over Xander’s kinder side.
"You’re going take what I’m giving you and leave here," Buffy stared at him, starting to feel in control for the first time since this whole nightmare began. "If you play this out by trying to shoot Dawn, I will definitely kill you and that’s going to bite if you any ideas of sharing the happy afterlife with your master, the skanky vampire bitch."
Losing his life did not displease Xander as much as losing Elizabeth and the thought that with his death, he might displease her. The idea of upsetting Elizabeth sent real waves of panic through him as well as anguish that screamed from the depths of him. For a second the thought of failure was so powerful, its intensity was almost a physical pain. Against his will, he was forced to remember Elizabeth’s instructions regarding the Slayer, that he was only required to bring back her blood, nothing else. Revenge and death would come later because Elizabeth would settled all accounts with the Slayer once Buffy’s blood was hers to use. There was no need for any violence before that final reckoning.
"You talk a good deal Buff," Xander responded, smiling inwardly when he saw her flinch at the affectionate nickname used by that other version of him, the weaker one that had always played second fiddle to the women he considered his friends. "You’re lucky that the mistress wants you alive or this might have turned nasty. Now give Dawn the bottle and don’t try anything stupid. I don’t think you’re faster than my trigger finger." He warned with a sinister gleam in his eyes.
Buffy swallowed thickly and approached them cautiously, her eyes watching Xander closely as she did. She no longer saw her friend, the one that had been at her side through the best and the worst times of her life. She understood that Xander was trapped in the same place Angel had been when Angelus was allowed to break free. If it was humanly possible to set him free, she would do so but until then, he was the Enemy and she would treat him accordingly.
Buffy saw Dawn trying her best to keep calm and noticed the tension in Xander posture as his gaze remained fixed on her, knowing that without his gun, he was completely vulnerable and was feeling extremely self conscious about it. Buffy’s arm still stung from the pain and the bleeding had yet to stop. She trailed spots of red as she closed the distance between herself and Dawn. She knew from experience that Xander was good with a gun and he was unafraid to use it so if she had any plans of wrestling the gun away from him, she would have to be extremely sure of herself. Despite her resolve to stand her ground against Elizabeth, Buffy had to endure this final act of submission because Dawn’s life depended upon it.
"Take it," Xander hissed in Dawn’s ears when Buffy was close enough to reach and the teenager quickly liberated the bottle from her sister’s grip.
"Now we’re going to the door," Xander responded once Dawn had his prize and using his grip around her waist, started steering her slowly towards the door. Once he was out of the Summer’s household, he would be within reach of his companions who were waiting for him to emerge. They would ensure that Buffy be kept sufficiently distracted while he returned to Elizabeth with the Slayer’s blood. Their feet shuffled awkwardly across the floor as Xander retreated towards the doorway, ensuring that his eyes were fixed on the slayer the entire time. Now that he was so close to escape, he was not going to let it go to ruin by making careless mistakes.
"Anyone try anything funny and Dawn here is going to regret it," he added menacingly for good measure even though no one had made a move. Not that there was any reason for it. Anya was not looking at him. She could not bear to do so. Willow was mercifully unconscious in Tara’s arms while Tara seemed absorbed with stemming the flow of blood from her wounded shoulder.
"You’re not going anywhere with her," Buffy warned sharply, wanting Xander to understand that if he intended on leaving the house with Dawn, not even their long friendship was going to save him from her wrath.
"I still got the gun," Xander glared at her and reminded with a sneer. "I think I still have the advantage."
Buffy’s lips thinned because he was right. For all her bluffing, she was not prepared to risk him killing Dawn and while he was trapped under Elizabeth’s spell so completely, Buffy did not underestimate what he was willing to do to protect his mistress if he thought for one instant Elizabeth was compromised. All she could do was watch as he reached the door with Dawn doing her best to suppress her tears of fright, her eyes silently begging Buffy to do something.
Buffy did nothing because in all his posturing, he had forgotten one thing.
He had forgotten Tara.
Although Tara had seemed completely concerned with Willow’s injuries, Buffy could tell that the witch was aware of every thing that was taking place between her and Xander. Buffy had not been able to signal the Wiccan for help but she was steering Xander to give Tara an opening to use her magical powers and diffuse the situation before things deteriorated even further. Buffy only hoped that Tara could recognize her efforts. At firs, it did not seem that Tara was paying Xander much attention and Buffy felt her heart sink at the thought that she had made another misjudgement, that Tara did not understand what she was trying to do. Xander’s expression was one of confidence as he reached the door and looked through the doorway.
"Spike!" Xander called out and suddenly Spike appeared on the Sommer’s porch. The de-invitation spell that Willow and Tara had put upon the house this morning ensured the vampire could not enter the premises but that was not required when Xander was free to come and go.
"Hello ladies," Spike stepped up to the door as close as he was allowed by the parameters of the spell and gave Buffy a suggestive wink. "Looks like a party."
"Let her go!" Buffy hissed at Xander. "You got what you want!"
"I sure do," Xander grinned and snatched the bottle away from Dawn before tossing it through the door into Spike’s waiting hands. "Full of slayer goodness."
"Well I’d stay," Spike grinned as he stared triumphantly at them, "but it looks like this party is over. See you later Cutie," he said finally as he moved away from the door, cradling her blood in his hands like the prize it was. Buffy brushed the hurt away because he was not her Spike. If he had ever been.
"Well this has been fun," Xander brought her attention back to him when he stared edging away from Dawn, appearing as if he was keeping his word to leave now that he had what he wanted.
He was about to step through when suddenly, Tara looked up. Her eyes were dark as she faced him for the first time. She uttered words that were incomprehensible to Buffy but their effect was immediate. The door behind Xander slammed shut with a powerful bang. Xander jumped, startled by the noise but not long enough. Dawn scrambled away from him and he tried desperately to regain his hold upon the teenager but she was out of his reach in seconds. Reverting to his baser instincts, he aimed the gun at Tara preparing to fire. The witch did not flinch at the sight of the gun barrel and said invoked another spell.
Xander’s gun flew from his hands and Buffy raced forward, tackling him bodily before the weapon had a chance to fall on the floor with a loud clatter. They both went over in a loud and coordinated heap, with Buffy on top. Xander’s head hit the floorboards hard but he was far from weakened. As she tried to subdue him, Xander’s fist lashed out and struck her on the chin. Fortunately, Buffy was used to taking punches from vampires and she shook off the blow as if it were nothing and returned one of her own that Xander would not be able to dismiss as easily. All it took was one jab, straight across the jaw with everything she had and he was out like a light. She had no wish to hurt him but at the moment, Buffy wanted him out of commission so that he could be restrained until they had time to deal with him.
"Dawn?" Buffy called out to her sister when she moved away form Xander who was lying unconscious on the floor.
"Buffy!" Dawn ran into her arms and held her in a tight embrace, grateful that she was alive. For a few minutes, Buffy held onto the frightened teenager, trying to mimic their mother’s gentle embrace that always seemed capable of driving away all the ills in the world. Dawn had not seen the things she had in her lifetime and for this Buffy was grateful because the ability to cry was a precious thing and she did not look forward to the day when Dawn outgrew that so very human trait.
"Its okay Dawn, its over," she crooned gently in Dawn’s ears as she tried for a brief time to be more sister than slayer. Unfortunately, it was a role she could not continue to play for too long because the aftermath of Xander’s presence here required immediate attention. After helping her overpower Xander, Tara had turned her attention back to Willow. Anya was on her feet as well, searching for something with which to bind Xander and ensure he did not cause any further mischief. It was not long before Anya had bound Xander’s wrists with his own belt.
"How is she?" Buffy asked, disengaging herself from Dawn’s arms and hurrying over to Willow.
"He shot her in the shoulder," Tara replied, searching for something else to hold against the bleeding wound since the table cloth that she had used for the purpose was soaked through.
"Willow?" Buffy dropped to her knees next to her best friend.
"I’m okay," Willow said weakly, managing to emerge from her unconscious state long enough to respond. "I’m just a little swimmy in the head that’s all."
"I’m going to call 911," Dawn declared, hurrying to the phone.
"Wait!" Anya exclaimed as she started towards it. "What about Xander? We can’t tell them he shot her!"
Buffy thought quickly, wishing to protect Xander as much as she could despite his present condition but Willow needed immediate medical help and she needed it now. They would have to think up a story once Dawn had made the call but there was no way Buffy was going to waste any time while they tried to decide how they were going to resolve this situation.
"Dawn, make the call," Buffy ordered and saw Anya about to protest when she cut off anything the vengeance demon was going to say by adding further, "Anya, get the gun and wipe the prints off it. You and I are going to put Xander down in the basement for the moment. After the paramedics are gone, I’ll go to the hospital. It’s a gunshot wound, they’re bound to be questions. "
"What are you going to say?" Tara stammered as Dawn went into the kitchen to make the call.
"I’m going to say that someone tried to break into our house, Willow tried to stop him and he shot her. We didn’t see it, we saw a car driving away when we got home and that’s when we called the paramedics." Buffy hoped that would suffice the curiosity of the local police. In her own opinion, it was a flimsy story but on such short notice, it was the best that she could come up with.
"Will that work?" Anya looked at her uncertainly.
"It has too," Buffy replied. "Anya, you need to stay out of sight. With all those bruises on you after what Xander did, I don’t want the paramedics thinking that there’s more going on here then what we’re saying."
"Hey it’s a plan," Willow whispered, her face etched in pain but she was trying to be brave.
"Don’t talk honey," Tara hushed her immediately, the lovely Wiccan’s face projecting her own pain in barely concealed panic.
"I can’t believe he did this," Buffy shook her head as she started towards Xander. "He was going to kill Dawn."
"Its her!" Anya swore angrily. "She’s making him do this!"
Anya picked up the gun and felt terribly intimidated by the weapon. The steel felt alien against her palm and she wanted nothing more than to be rid of it. Gingerly, she examined the weapon and almost jumped out of her skin when she snapped the chamber open. The bullets fell onto the floor one after another, rolling in all directions as they scattered from the fall. She cursed slightly and dropped to her knees to collect them so that she could get rid of them odious things.
"What do we do after you come back from the hospital?" Anya asked. "We can’t keep him down in the basement for long."
Buffy tended to agree with Anya that it would not be suitable even as a short term course of action. She recalled what they had spoken about earlier, regarding the spell of enchantment that had made Xander and Spike Elizabeth’s creatures. Buffy turned to Tara.
"You said that you needed one of them here to undo the spell they’re under. Can you do that now?"
Tara tore her gaze away from Willow at Buffy’s question and needed to focus for a few seconds before she was capable of answering "I can find out what kind of spell he’s under but I can’t promise that I’ll be able to break it. Spells aren’t easy to lift especially by someone who isn’t the original caster. It could be dangerous. Its obvious Elizabeth is into some pretty heavy magic, there might be consequences to Xander that we can’t predict."
"We have to do something," Anya declared. "We can’t leave him like this."
Despite Anya’s fear for the man she loved, there was also a more basic concern; he had proven how dangerous he could be to all of them. While she wanted her fiancée’ back desperately, she wanted the threat he posed to them gone even more.
"We have to risk it Tara," Buffy said keeping a close eye on Xander even though he was unconscious. "Anya’s right, we can’t leave him like this."
"You can do it," Willow whispered, her eyelid fluttering intermittently as she tried to remain lucid. "I know you can," she smiled at Tara encouragingly.
"Alright," Tara nodded finally. "I’ll do what I can."
"Thanks Tara," Buffy smiled at her. "We need to get him back. It’s the only way we’re going to find Elizabeth and stop what she plans to do."
"With the blood?" Tara looked at her.
"No," Buffy shook her head, remembering what Spike had said earlier, "the Hellmouth."
*************
It was still dark when Spike returned to Elizabeth’s luxurious suite with his prize. He had assumed that Xander would be right behind him but was not terribly distressed to learn that the human had never left the house. After all, they had successfully taken a good sample of the Slayer’s blood and beyond that Spike could not see what other use Xander could be to Elizabeth unless she was prepared to turn him. Spike did not relish the idea of Xander living an eternity when he could barely tolerate him with a normal life span. Still, Spike did not relish telling Elizabeth that her pet had been taken by the slayer who was no doubt be determined to exact the location of Elizabeth’s hideout from him.
"What do you mean you lost him?" Elizabeth glared at Spike when she was told the news that Xander had not come back with them.
"I mean he didn’t get out of the house," Spike said impatiently, unable to see what the fuss was all about.
"You should have gone after him," she insisted angrily.
"It would have been a bit hard since I couldn’t even get through the door," Spike grumbled. "I was right about the house. She has put some kind of de-invite spell on the place so I couldn’t get in."
"He was useful to us," Elizabeth frowned in annoyance at losing the human.
"Well the witch was there," Spike replied. "She know some pretty powerful magic. More than enough to keep him there if he tried to leave."
"Magic?" Elizabeth raised a brow. "Magic is subjective. I’m show the best that she can manage is some two penny spell. I am not interested in her parlour tricks."
"I thought it was better to leave with the blood than to hang around okay?" Spike retorted sharply, becoming angry enough with her insistence about Xander’s safety that he was honestly wondering why he was even bothering himself with either of them, Elizabeth included. "I thought that was our main priority."
Elizabeth smouldered as she chose to respond to him. "It is," she nodded after a moment, her lips nothing more than a thin line. "I just found him useful. But I suppose that you are right, that he had to be sacrificed."
"The Slayer may learn where we are from him, Mistress." Vargas spoke up for the first time.
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at her trusted minion, "I seriously doubt that," she said confidently. "Lest them trying to tear his mind apart, their ability to break my enchantment is weak at best."
"Tara’s pretty good at the magic," Spike reminded. "Willow too."
"Not that good," she replied with a little smile.
He stood before her, glad that her sour expression soured at the knowledge of the human’s departure, had passed and was Spike was glad to see the other vampires present showing the same indifference he felt to Xander’s capture by the slayer. He supposed that it was something of an inconvenience losing Xander since he was able to go where most of them could not during the day, not to mention being one of the Scoobies gave him a decided advantage over Buffy because she would not willingly hurt him. Still Spike could not help feeling a little jealous that Elizabeth cared so much about Xander’s welfare. She was only supposed to care about him. After everything they had been through together.
What exactly had they been through together?
A small voice whispered that in his ear with such subtlety that Spike straightened up immediately as if he had been invaded by something offensive. For a moment, Spike could only stand there; searching for the reason this intense feeling of puzzlement had overcome him at his devotion to Elizabeth. He stared at her for an instant, a vision of beauty and felt once more the safe emotions of desire and love he felt for her come rolling back upon the uncertainty that had just crossed his mind. Spike took a deep breath, trying to steady himself after that bizarre episode when Elizabeth’s words snapped him back to reality ounce again.
"William!" She called out. "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah luv," Spike looked up at her, still somewhat distracted by his momentary lapse. "I heard you."
"Bring it to me," she ordered, staring at the bottle in his hands.
Spike shook his head of the remaining disorientation and crossed the floor towards Elizabeth who was waiting for him in the center of the room.
"Here you go," he muttered as he handed her the bottle.
She caught his wrist in hers and pulled him forward so that their bodies would meet. Her other hand gently cupped his face and she looked him straight in the eyes and whispered softly as she leaned towards him, "what is it William?"
"What is it?" He pulled away defensively. "Nothing."
She took the bottle from him first and motioned Vargas to come forward. Handing it to him, she gazed at Spike once more, her expression serious.
"You seemed troubled William," Elizabeth pointed out. "What upsets you so much?"
"Nothing pet," Spike tried to produce a smile but it did not quite reach his eyes. "I just had something of a funny turn that’s all," he confessed after a second. "Nothing too earth shattering."
"Really?" She stared at him, unprepared to dismiss it as easily as all that. She knew that he was different from any other vampire that she had ever met. On the surface, he was everything a vampire should be, hungry and aggressive for the hunt and the kill even if he was chained by the infernal mechanics in his head. However, beneath the demonic visage that was his outer self, there was more and it was not demon spawned, not at all. Here was a vampire that had stayed faithfully by the side of another for a century because he loved her, it was not merely unheard of, it was almost unprecedented. Even in her time, she had come across vampires like him but they were like diamonds in the dirt, too few to be even considered random.
Thanks to the Grim Moiré, when she had become a creature of the night, she had not driven her soul to the afterlife. She had kept hers intact but the truth was, her soul had always been black as hell’s deepest depths. It mattered little if its was encased in a human flesh of a vampire skin. She was still the same person. William had managed to maintain a great deal of his human self, amalgamating the two into one unique creature, whose existence could not be. When she had met him for the first time, it had been relatively easy to use her skill to entrance him because his heart was an open wound, craving affection so desperately. Much of her power was the ability to fill the needs of men whose hearts were in one way or another longing for more than even they dared to admit.
Yet she could see it in his eyes that the spell might be waning and she had no intention of losing him to the Slayer.
"Was it hard seeing her William?" Elizabeth as she drew closer to him and pressed her lips against his mouth.
Spike did not have a chance to answer because he became lost in the wonderful taste of her lips. His mind began to swim and more and more that terrible uneasiness that had gripped him briefly began to fade away. Replacing him was this feeling of freedom, of all things that he wanted to be. As he sucked in his breath and was treated to the scent of her glorious hair, he could not imagine why he had even questioned what she meant to him. She was everything. Everything that he had always wanted.
William, she isn’t real.
Spike froze and pulled away from her. His eyes wide with fear. "I have to go." He whispered.
"No you don’t," Elizabeth replied, refusing to let him escape her as she regained her hold of him. She understood perfectly well what was happening and inwardly she felt her outrage build at the knowledge that he might be breaking free of her spell. She allowed no one to escape. She captured his mouth in a bruising kiss and poured every ounce of her power into the kiss in order reinforce the enchantment. She felt the arms that were trying to pull her away succumb to the pleasure of her lips and smiled in satisfaction that he was once again hers.
"No I don’t," Spike murmured, wondering what he was thinking to even consider leaving her. "I must be crazy leaving you pet," he raised his head so that he could look her in the eyes.
"You’re not crazy," she smiled, pleased that the spell had worked and that he was hers again. However, she made a mental note to keep a close eye on him. After all, if the spell was capable of breaking down, then she did not wish it to do so at a highly inconvenient time. "Don’t worry my handsome William," she gazed into his eyes warmly. "I won’t let her stay to long inside your head. Thanks to the blood that you’ve gotten for me, I’ll be able to free you of her once and for all."
"Then get to it," Spike found himself saying with uncharacteristic vehemence. "I want it over and done with!"
"It will happen soon enough," she smiled as she took her hand and led him across the floor of the room. "Right now, I think its necessary for us to spend a little time together."
Spike followed her as she led him to the direction of her bedroom, feeling all at once excited to be invited to her bed again and yet strangely reluctant. The elation he felt as Elizabeth his hand seemed to die away because his attention was elsewhere. It was on the voice that was whispering softly in his ears, the one crying out secretly that this was all wrong.
************
Tara and Buffy were allowed to ride with her in the ambulance as it sped through the streets of town while paramedics tended to gunshot wound Willow had suffered. As expected the paramedics’ report to the hospital that Willow had been shot had resulted in the police being notified. After arriving in the emergency ward, Tara and Buff were relegated to the waiting room while Willow was whisk away by doctors and nurses to have her wounds treated. It did not take long for a dour looking police officer to find them there and begin the interrogation process of how she had been involved in the shooting. Buffy and Tara recited the story they had concocted at home in accordance with Buffy’s plan and though the officer did look somewhat sceptical about their explanation, had decided not to press the matter.
Buffy was rather grateful for that fact after his departure. She knew that the police in Sunnydale was not as oblivious as one might think to the fact that the town was built over a Hellmouth with a more than healthy demon population. The Mayor had cultivated an atmosphere of silence through the town that had yet to be shed even after his death three years ago. She was certain that it was the habit of the Sunnydale local government to disguise any demon-related activity as a conventional problem experienced by any small American town. She was almost convinced that if she told the truth that Willow was been shot by someone who was overcome by the hypnotic influence of a female vampire she would not necessarily be disbelieved.
After jotting down their statement for his notes, the policeman made some obligatory remark about being questioned further even though Buffy guessed by his cynical attitude that it would not be anytime soon. The policeman was just as happy to put the incident behind him as they were. Once he was gone, Buffy and Tara resumed their waiting, which fortunately was not as long as Buffy thought it would be, which was a good thing. Buffy’s memories about the Sunnydale hospital were not exactly her best recollections. She had been trapped in a waiting room very much like this one when her mother had been wheeled away to have a biopsy performed in order to determine if her brain tumour was fatal or not.
She remembered how grateful she had been when the doctors told her that Joyce was going to be all right, in a room very much like this one. Until then, she had lived with the horror that she might lose her mother and hearing the doctors say that Joyce was going to be alright was possibly the best news she had ever heard. Of course they never mentioned the cerebral haemorrhage or the fact that it could overcome her mother with a snap of a finger. Now she was waiting here to hear if Willow was going to be okay and even though Buffy knew her wounds were not that serious, the biopsy had been reported as benign and still she had lost her mother.
Of course Buffy made none of these comments known to Tara who was sitting next to her because Tara was worried enough about Willow as it was already. Despite the circumstances, Buffy felt some measure of confidence that Willow and Tara were not done with each other quite yet and that reconciliation would happen sooner or later. Probably sooner in light of what has happened. Buffy felt happy for her friend for finding such a soul mate in Tara who not only made Willow extremely happy but was also a good friend to her personally.
"She’ll be okay," Buffy said soothingly as Tara hugged herself on the chair, trying not to look any more fearful than she already was. Buffy flinched seeing the blood on Tara’s clothes and shuddered at the realization that it was Willow’s.
"I know," Tara replied with a grateful smile at Buffy’s effort to make her feel better. "Willow’s strong and we got her help in time."
"I let this whole situation get out of hand," Buffy found herself remarking. "I’ve been so wrapped up in myself lately that I’ve forgotten everyone, not just Spike."
"Its not your fault," Tara tried to be sympathetic but she could not deny that there was truth to Buffy’s words. "You had a lot to deal with."
"That’s not an excuse," Buffy said firmly, not about to exonerate herself so easily. "I don’t know where I’ve been lately but it stops now. I’m going to finish this thing with this vamp."
"What about Spike?" Tara asked gingerly.
"If I can help him, I will," Buffy said resolutely. "I owe that much at least but if he tries to hurt anyone of us like Xander did, I’ll stake him."
Tara wanted to comment but the opportunity to do so faded with the arrival of a tall black man in a doctor’s coat and a uniform. "I’m Doctor Keeley," he introduced himself. "Are you the ones who came with Willow Rosenberg?"
"Yes," Tara immediately stood up and gave the man her full attention. "Is she going to be alright?"
"Yes she is," the doctor answered immediately ending that misery for them. "There’s been some loss of blood and muscle damage but we were able to extract the bullet without it causing any further problems to the rest of her system. She’ll need to stay here for a few days but she should recover completely."
"Oh thank god," Buffy exhaled loudly, grateful for that much. "Can we see her?" She asked him since Tara was too overcome with emotion to articulate the desire.
"Not at this time," the man said firmly. "She’s been in surgery and should be allowed to rest. The best that you can do for her is to go home and get some rest yourselves."
"Please," Tara stared at the man. "I’d really like to just see her."
The doctor was about to protest when Buffy added. "Look, it couldn’t hurt if she sees Willow for a second? I mean she can go in alone. Please? They’re very close."
The doctor nodded in understanding, now that he was made aware of their relationship. "I see," he answered and turned to Tara. "I’ll tell the nurse to let you in there but you can only stay a minute. She been in surgery," he reminded her. "She needs all the recuperation she can get so soon after."
"I won’t say a word," Tara assured the man who promptly called one of the nurses walking by to show Tara to Willow’s room.
"I won’t be long," Tara told Buffy as she was led down the hallway.
"Thank you," Buffy said gratefully.
The doctor accepted her thanks before he too went on his way, leaving Buffy alone in the hall. The slayer took a deep breath and reminded herself that when Tara returned, they would have to get home to deal with the crisis awaiting them there, now this one was averted. One of her two best friends in the world was going to survive to see the morning.
Now she and Tara had to try and see the same happened for the other.
**********
Dawn did not like this at all.
She did not like seeing Xander who once had been the object of her pre-teen crush lying on his stomach, his arms bound behind his back with his own belt while his mouth was filled with a gag. Anya, who only a few hours ago looked as if her spirit had been crushed underfoot like the shattered remains of an egg, was watching her fiancée closely. Dawn had come downstairs after the police had come and made an obligatory sweet of the crime scene where an intruder had supposedly broken into the house and shot Willow. Tara and Buffy had given a good enough performance for the policemen to believe that all the activity that night had been centred in the living room. Dawn had surprised herself by her ability to successfully maintain this illusion for them.
They took the usual dusting of prints and examined the blood on the carpet before giving her a card and some advice to keep the doors locked and other such precautions before they went off on their merry way. Once they had gone, Dawn had hurried down the basement, hoping that Anya had managed to keep Xander subdued as Buffy had instructed. When she reached the foot of the stairs, she noticed that he was no longer unconscious. She could tell that he was aware of her arrival by the way he sought to crane his neck and look in her direction as she came down the steps. Anya had taken the precaution of tying up his feet as well, not wishing him to have any opportunity to return to his mistress.
"Do we have to tie him up like that?" Dawn asked as she met Xander’s eyes.
He looked at her as if he were begging for help, oblivious to the fact that only a short time ago, he had attempted to kill her.
"Yes," Anya said icily, glaring at him.
Dawn shuddered at the coldness in her voice, remembering that it was only a short time ago that Anya had been huddling on the sofa with her injuries, appearing as broken as the coffee table that Xander had flung her into.
Xander attempted to make a muffled sound through the gag in his mouth but it never formed enough coherence to become words. He seemed to be imploring Dawn to be released but Dawn knew that it was most likely a ruse. For his own sake as well as their own, it was best that he remained incapacitated for duration until Buffy arrived home. Anya’s manner towards Xander frightened Dawn a little. There was a hard edge in her eyes as she stared at him, as if he were an alien creature that had seized control of the man she loved and had earned her severest hatred because of it.
"Maybe we should take off the gag," Dawn suggested as she sat next to Anya, mostly because the silence made her uncomfortable.
"Trust me," Anya said still staring. "You don’t want to hear anything he has to say. It won’t be nice."
"Maybe he’ll tell us where Spike is," Dawn replied.
"He won’t," Anya retorted even though Xander had started to make sounds to the contrary regarding that particular point. "All he cares about is her. He’s under an enchantment spell. Until we find a way to break it, he belongs to her and he’ll say and do anything to get to her."
"I guess," Dawn shrugged. "I still like to know why he wanted Buffy’s blood though."
"Buffy said they were going to try and open the Hellmouth," Anya ventured a guess, "maybe that’s what they need it for."
Dawn shuddered at the thought, remembering what happened the last time someone had tried to open a dimensional portal using blood. It had taken Buffy’s death to stop it from happening. Dawn hoped it would not come to that a second time.
"That’s what I’d like to know," Buffy’s voice suddenly filled the basement and Dawn felt a flood of relief at her sister’s presence.
"Buffy!" Dawn looked up to see Buffy and Tara coming down the stairs. "How’s Willow?"
"She’s going to be okay," Tara answered and Dawn shared her relief by embracing Tara happily at the news.
"The doctor says she’s going to need a few days in the hospital," Buffy explained as she reached the floor of the basement, her gaze fixed upon Xander as she spoke.
"I’m glad," Anya sighed, clearly relieved that Xander had not caused irreparable harm to his friends. Xander considered Willow his best friend. If he had injured her any worse than he had, Anya knew that when he emerged from this spell that Elizabeth had cast over him, the knowledge of what he had done to Willow would destroy him. "Now can we fix Xander?" She asked in typical form.
"That’s the big question," Buffy sighed as she walked to him and drop to her knees. Xander glared at her and even though he did not speak, the hatred in his eyes not just for her, but for all of them was clear. She sucked in her breath, bracing herself inwardly for all the thing that would come out of his mouth when he was given leave to speak and prepared herself for the worst.
"Brace yourself," Buffy gave them all a warning look as she reached for his gag. "Elizabeth’s turned him into a real charmer."
Xander did not speak for a few seconds after Buffy removed the gag. The enforced silence had left him thirsty and unable to speak in anything more than a hoarse tone for a few seconds. Anya was mercurial in her expression and though her gaze was fixed upon him, she had come to the firm conclusion that anything he said was merely a cruel reflection of the part Elizabeth wanted him to play. Dawn was finding it uncomfortable seeing him an enemy, even after he threatened her life. To her, he was still her first crush, the guy who babysat with her when she was little and Buffy had to patrol, who still drove her to school. Tara did not have the attachment that the others did and her thoughts were focussed on the spell she was about to cast upon him, to free him from Elizabeth’s enchantment.
"Tara," Buffy looked at her. "Can you help him?"
"I’m going to have to learn what kind of a spell she put on him," Tara explained.
"Its obviously some kind of enchantment spell," Anya suggested.
"I’m guessing that most of her magic probably has Eastern European origins," Tara remarked as she approached Xander cautiously reached into the small leather bag that was slung around her shoulder. On the way back form the hospital, Buffy and Tara had made a brief stop at the Magic Box in order to acquire some of the supplies she would need for the procedure. "I’m going to try some of the Unmasking Rituals they would have use. It should be able to tell us exactly what she did to him."
"She didn’t do anything to me you bitch!" Xander snapped viciously. "I love her!"
"Sure you do," Buffy retorted derisively. "And I’m guessing instead of going all traditional to endear yourself to her, you decided together a pint of my blood instead of flowers. A very bold choice."
"You can laugh now," Xander glowered at her. "But when she rips the soul from you and gives to the Hellmouth as the door prize, I’ll be the one laughing."
"So she’s going to use my blood to open the Hellmouth?" Buffy replied nonchalantly as if this was nothing she had heard before. "Original."
"She doesn’t need Slayer blood to open the Hellmouth!" Xander boasted, his ‘love’ for Elizabeth loosening his tongue. He saw Tara forming a circle around him with the ochre coloured powder from the vial she was holding and began to get anxious as what the Wiccan was planning.
"Oh come on," Buffy returned his attention to her again. "Every time someone opens the Hellmouth or tear down the dimensional walls, there’s always gotta be blood or bodies, or strange amulets involved. This time, I guess I got stuck with the bill. I mean she is a vamp after all, its gotta be blood with her. Probably bathes in it like the books say she does."
"Elizabeth is more powerful than any vamp you’ve ever met Buff," Xander stared at her icily. "She doesn’t need to your blood or any trinket to open the Hellmouth. She’s got the power to do it without all those things."
"Then why hasn’t she done it already?" Anya asked, seeing Buffy's strategy as Tara continued to prepare him for the ritual. "It she’s so strong why aren’t we up to our ears in hell beasties?"
"Because she promised them that she’d deliver the Slayer first!" He hissed.
"I like to see how she’s going to do that," Buffy looked him in the eye with challenge. "She doesn’t even have the guts to come at me face to face. All she’s done is send her little toy boys after me. She couldn’t even come after me for the blood, she sent you, a human. I mean how lame is that? "
"She doesn’t have to come after you," Xander returned, smouldering with so much rage that his body shook "Once she has your blood, she only needs to perform the ritual. She’ll tear the spirit of the Slayer from your body and destroy it. When that’s gone, you can kiss your slayer strength goodbye and forget about any other slayer coming after you. You’ll be the last slayer of all time and she wants you to remember that when she turns you into a vamp."
"Is that possible?" Dawn looked frantically at Buffy. "Can she destroy all the slayers? Even the ones that aren’t made yet?"
Buffy did not answer. She was too busy trying to hide her shock because she had no wish to give Xander the satisfaction of seeing her horror.
"Do it," Buffy ordered Tara who had reached into her bag once more and produced a sprinkling of herbs that rained own over Xander. "Break the spell. If that’s her plan, we’ve got to find out where she is."
Xander started to breathe hard, terrified by the notion that his love for Elizabeth might be taken away from him. "You couldn’t even stop her even if I told you!" Xander shouted. "She’s already beginning the ritual!"
Buffy did not need to be a mind reader to know that he was trying to bluff his way out of his predicament. "Do it now Tara! Its’ the only way he’s going to tell us the truth."
"You don’t need to do that!" Xander’s resolve shattered at the thought of losing his beloved. "I’m not afraid of telling you where she is! Its not like you could stop her anyway!"
"Nice try," Buffy said shaking her head in disgust. "You’re not so brave now that we’re going to have you fixed. Like you’d tell us the truth on your own."
"She’s at the empty mansion in Shadowbrook Road!" Xander spat. "You can go see for yourself."
"Shadowbrook Road?" Buffy stared at him sceptically. "You expect me to believe that?"
"I’m not afraid of telling you the truth," he said defiantly. "Are you? Maybe you know you’re not good enough to beat her, that’s why you think I’m lying."
"Actually," Buffy gave him a little wink. "We’ve been lying."
"What?" Xander’s eyes widened.
"I think that will do," Buffy grinned standing up.
"I didn’t think it would work Buffy," Tara returned her smile as she stopped what she was doing immediately and retreated away from Xander. "I didn’t think he’d fall for it."
"Fall for what?" Dawn stared at them with about as much shock as Xander as he realized how utterly he had been played.
"We found out that the spell she’s probably used on Xander can’t be broken unless she does it herself," Tara explained.
"So we thought a little play acting might get Xander to tell us what he knew, without resorting to any spell. Gotta say, I didn’t think it would work so well."
"You tricked me!" Xander shouted enraged and started to scream in fury.
"Oh looks like its time for Mr. Gag again," Buffy retorted and immediately replaced the gag his mouth, stifling any further howls of indignation.
"I’m impressed," Tara could not help smile even though she was just as stunned as Dawn. "But now what?"
"Now," Buffy said with a loud sigh, her elation beginning to descend now that Anya had reminded them that this little victory was merely one step in a larger battle. "Now we get ready because its time I meet the Countess Elizabeth."