![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The warehouse’s soot-stained brick reminded me of the factory in Sunnydale. Why had I chosen to go alone and where was the rest of the team? Buffy was shackled to the wall, her abused flesh covered in bite marks, but I could see that she was still breathing. I called her name softly, trying to wake her without alerting her captors. She opened the one eye not swollen shut and attempted to smile. Her face was so ruined that she could only lift the left corner of her mouth as if she had had a stroke. When she spoke, my heart broke. “You’re. Not. Him.” Three words that were barely audible and spaced so far apart they weren’t a sentence, but I knew all too well what they meant. Drusilla had been playing with her mind.
When I tried to free her she kicked out at me feebly. Riley must have drugged her. None of my lock picks were working and I knew I didn’t have much time. I could hear a child sobbing and Drusilla singing a nursery rhyme on one unchanging note. The sound was like a timer counting down the seconds and adding to my urgency. Suddenly my hands began to change; the skin became thinner, the knuckles swollen and twisted. When I dropped the lock picks, they sounded oddly like my name.
For an instant, the dark wood of the desk and the yellow legal pad I was using as a pillow made me think that the time here had been all a dream. The thought that the council library hadn’t been destroyed made my heart clench.
“Giles?”
"Dawn?" I murmured sleepily. I tried to sit up and winced as I felt the pins and needles begin. I moved my fingers to get the blood flowing again. "My hands seem to have fallen asleep."
“Yeah, that happens sometimes when they get smushed between a desk and a big old sleepy head.”
“Xander used to claim that there was something in the dust between the pages of reference books that should be patented to cure insomnia. I suppose I just added to the anecdotal evidence.”
“I don’t think it’s a very good one. It looked like you were having a nightmare.”
“It was nothing,” I lied, not wanting to share my horrific nightmare about her sister with Dawn. She looked at me in disbelief and I continued to tell a half-truth, “I thought for a moment that I was back where I came from.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
The look in Dawn’s eyes was merely curious but I recalled them pleading for something. She told me once that after Buffy was gone she was too. Because the last person she truly mattered to had left her. “It’s a very bad thing because you’re not in that world. No one that really matters to me is.” Anya and Buffy were here and I had a second chance to save my Slayer and myself.
I would never know if Dawn needed to hear this as much as I needed to say it, because we were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. I answered it and heard Anya's voice on the other line. I stayed on hoping that it would be Ethan calling. It had been two days since we had met with him and there had been no word. The only clue that Drusilla and Riley were even in the city was the ‘serial killing’ of five people. Two men and three women were found stabbed in the neck. In each case the victim had been last seen with a young female relative between four and seven years old. The little girls were missing and Spike was sure they were dead. I hoped it was Ethan on the phone; even Spike wanted his old lover dusted yesterday.
Instead of Ethan it was an American voice on the line. For all its friendliness it chilled my blood, “Anya, how you doing? It’s been a lifetime but I’m sure you remember me.”
“What do you want, Riley?”
“Is that any way to treat an old friend and fellow demon? But then you’ve never had any manners.”
“I prefer being direct.”
“All right, then why don’t you ask the other Watcher? That’s him on the other line , isn’t it? I can hear him breathing.”
“Yes, it's me,” I said wondering if he was expecting Wesley or if he knew I was here. It didn’t matter either way. “You’re calling to offer a trade.”
“Buffy always said you were smart. I never saw it myself.”
“I’m smart enough to know that you need both Buffy and me for whatever you’re planning and you have no intention of trading me for her.”
“You know, it’s kind of disappointing to me. I’m a big guy, a trained soldier but unless I bring out my vamp face I just can’t manage to look scary. Sweet little kids come right up to me and say hello all the time, even in this day and age. It has come in handy though, Dru likes to hold tea parties and her doll collection’s grown a lot too. I take good care of my psychotic sweetheart.”
“Soulless bastard,” I said, aware he wouldn’t be insulted but unable to keep silent. I cursed myself for not being able to find their lair and I cursed Ethan for not calling before this.
“Yeah, soullessness goes with being a vampire most of the time. I can’t say I miss it any.”
“Do you think we’re stupid?” Anya cut in. “We’re not going to just walk into your trap singing la- la- la.”
“Of course you’ll ride to the rescue, Anya. You’re the good guys and the heroes are always pathetically stupid about their own safety. I know: I was one myself once. There’s a slim chance those little girls will still be alive when you get here. Only a soulless bastard would pass up the chance to try and save them.”
When I tried to free her she kicked out at me feebly. Riley must have drugged her. None of my lock picks were working and I knew I didn’t have much time. I could hear a child sobbing and Drusilla singing a nursery rhyme on one unchanging note. The sound was like a timer counting down the seconds and adding to my urgency. Suddenly my hands began to change; the skin became thinner, the knuckles swollen and twisted. When I dropped the lock picks, they sounded oddly like my name.
***
For an instant, the dark wood of the desk and the yellow legal pad I was using as a pillow made me think that the time here had been all a dream. The thought that the council library hadn’t been destroyed made my heart clench.
“Giles?”
"Dawn?" I murmured sleepily. I tried to sit up and winced as I felt the pins and needles begin. I moved my fingers to get the blood flowing again. "My hands seem to have fallen asleep."
“Yeah, that happens sometimes when they get smushed between a desk and a big old sleepy head.”
“Xander used to claim that there was something in the dust between the pages of reference books that should be patented to cure insomnia. I suppose I just added to the anecdotal evidence.”
“I don’t think it’s a very good one. It looked like you were having a nightmare.”
“It was nothing,” I lied, not wanting to share my horrific nightmare about her sister with Dawn. She looked at me in disbelief and I continued to tell a half-truth, “I thought for a moment that I was back where I came from.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
The look in Dawn’s eyes was merely curious but I recalled them pleading for something. She told me once that after Buffy was gone she was too. Because the last person she truly mattered to had left her. “It’s a very bad thing because you’re not in that world. No one that really matters to me is.” Anya and Buffy were here and I had a second chance to save my Slayer and myself.
I would never know if Dawn needed to hear this as much as I needed to say it, because we were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. I answered it and heard Anya's voice on the other line. I stayed on hoping that it would be Ethan calling. It had been two days since we had met with him and there had been no word. The only clue that Drusilla and Riley were even in the city was the ‘serial killing’ of five people. Two men and three women were found stabbed in the neck. In each case the victim had been last seen with a young female relative between four and seven years old. The little girls were missing and Spike was sure they were dead. I hoped it was Ethan on the phone; even Spike wanted his old lover dusted yesterday.
Instead of Ethan it was an American voice on the line. For all its friendliness it chilled my blood, “Anya, how you doing? It’s been a lifetime but I’m sure you remember me.”
“What do you want, Riley?”
“Is that any way to treat an old friend and fellow demon? But then you’ve never had any manners.”
“I prefer being direct.”
“All right, then why don’t you ask the other Watcher? That’s him on the other line , isn’t it? I can hear him breathing.”
“Yes, it's me,” I said wondering if he was expecting Wesley or if he knew I was here. It didn’t matter either way. “You’re calling to offer a trade.”
“Buffy always said you were smart. I never saw it myself.”
“I’m smart enough to know that you need both Buffy and me for whatever you’re planning and you have no intention of trading me for her.”
“You know, it’s kind of disappointing to me. I’m a big guy, a trained soldier but unless I bring out my vamp face I just can’t manage to look scary. Sweet little kids come right up to me and say hello all the time, even in this day and age. It has come in handy though, Dru likes to hold tea parties and her doll collection’s grown a lot too. I take good care of my psychotic sweetheart.”
“Soulless bastard,” I said, aware he wouldn’t be insulted but unable to keep silent. I cursed myself for not being able to find their lair and I cursed Ethan for not calling before this.
“Yeah, soullessness goes with being a vampire most of the time. I can’t say I miss it any.”
“Do you think we’re stupid?” Anya cut in. “We’re not going to just walk into your trap singing la- la- la.”
“Of course you’ll ride to the rescue, Anya. You’re the good guys and the heroes are always pathetically stupid about their own safety. I know: I was one myself once. There’s a slim chance those little girls will still be alive when you get here. Only a soulless bastard would pass up the chance to try and save them.”
