By Goddess Isa
SUMMARY: Part Seven of To Have & To Hold - Buffy and Angel get to the Thousand Eyes - Now what???
SPOILER: Basically, this hints on ALL the Buffy & ANGEL eppys so far, because there will be some flashbacks during the series, I hope. SPECIFICALLY Pangs & I Will Remember You though.
FEEDBACK: Please, I'd hate to have to Slay for it. =P
RATING: TV-14
DISCLAIMER: In case you didn't know, all the characters I'll mention (probably) belong to David Greenwalt and Joss Whedon. I am SO furious at the both of them right now, I cannot even tell you. This stuff also belongs to all the writers that have ever written for both shows.
"Ugh!" Cordelia struggled to get into her jeans. "This is so unfair!"
"Spending the holidays in Ireland sucks, huh?" Buffy asked. "You miss your family?"
"Hell no!! I'm missing the sales! I'll bet there were some amazing markdowns in LA."
Buffy shook her head and left the room.
That night, the gang met up in the dining room as they usually did. After dinner, they went back into the sewers, killed vamp after vamp. Willow and Xander were getting exhausted, and Doyle had escorted Cordelia back home hours ago because she was throwing up all over the place.
"Take them home," Buffy told Giles. "All of you, go back to the hotel. Angel and I will do the best we can until we pass out or get killed, whichever comes first."
"Buffy," Willow said warningly. "Don't talk like that."
"Sorry Will, I've just kind of had it."
"Understandable," Xander yawned. "But don't give up on us."
She smiled at him. "Never happen."
"Buffy, are you tired?"
"No, why?"
"You just tried to dust a rock."
She blinked a few times and looked at Angel. "Sorry. I'm a bit of the looney."
"I'd better get you back. I don't wanna something to happen."
Buffy looked straight ahead and saw them coming. "Something has already happened."
Angel was instantly on the defensive and although these vamps were better trained than the ones they'd been fighting, they were still lame in technique, even for an exhausted Slayer. She fell to her knees after killing the last one, struggling to catch her breath.
Angel rushed to her side. "Are you all right?"
"Just tired."
"I honestly didn't think we worked that hard tonight, Buffy. Are you really okay?"
She arched an eyebrow at him. "Don't you remember how hard we worked yesterday?"
He blushed, a sight Buffy wasn't sure she'd ever seen before. She liked it.
"Come on," he lifted her up, though it wasn't as easy as it used to be. "Let's go back to our room."
"Can we make love?" she asked sleepily.
"Maybe in the morning, when you wake up."
But Buffy didn't wake up in the morning. She woke up around two-thirty and found Angel eating a pizza and reading a book. After she ate, he told her that Doyle had taken Cordelia to a clinic because she was still sick and that the others were resting up for another night of War With The Vampires.
"So then," she grinned at him. "We've got some free time."
"Oh, I don't know. I really wanted to finish the Geisha's memoirs."
She pulled him to her by the collar of his shirt and tossed the book away. "Ask Willow later."
The days passed with Buffy and Angel doing the same things. Every night they killed more and more vampires, and every night they just kept coming. Buffy felt discouraged. She was no closer to finding the Thousand Eyes than she had been when she'd arrived and tomorrow was New Year's Eve.
"This is some Millennium celebration," she muttered as they fought a pack of newbies at the entrance to the sewer. This was the first time they'd made it out, and Buffy realized why. They were waiting to see if Cordelia felt any better so they'd come patrolling a half an hour later. It dawned on her that they must've disturbed the hunters every night as they went out looking for meals. She grinned, knowing she must've saved alot of lives in the week she'd been there. She hoped and prayed she would kill the master so there would be no feeding after she left.
If she left.
She shivered at that thought, but it was a very real possibility. If they didn't find and destroy the Thousand Eyes they were probably all goners, but especially her and Angel. She had no doubts about it and she knew there was no easy answer to her question of how to stop it. All she knew was that it had to be tonight and it had to be fast.
"Buffy, help!" Willow said. One of them had gotten her in a coveted position and was ready to sink his teeth - literally - into her.
"Angel, a little assistance!" Buffy yelled as she sprinted for the vampire. In an instant, he was dust and Angel was catching Willow so she wouldn't fall three feet to the ground.
"Thanks," she brushed herself off. "I think that's all of them."
"None got away?" Giles asked as he scrawled some notes Buffy was sure he would rewrite later.
"None that we saw," Xander said.
"Good," Buffy headed for the manhole. "Let's go."
Not surprisingly, there was no pack when the entered the sewer. Not that it mattered, because there were three packs just a little ways in. They made quick work of them - one burst just from the crucifix around Buffy's neck - and moved in. The further in, the more Buffy felt the presence of something evil.
"Stop," she said, trying to figure out where the demon was located.
"What?" Xander asked.
"Give me the TNT," Buffy said. "I think we've got something."
"You're not going in alone," Angel said firmly. "I'm coming with you."
"We all are," Willow said. "We're in this together, right guys?"
"Right," Xander said.
"Of course," Giles agreed.
"Well...." Anya had to think it over.
"No," Buffy said just as firmly as Angel had spoken. "This is *our* battle, my battle." she looked at all of her friends. "Not yours. I know friendship is a powerful thing, but the bond only goes so far. I'm not willing to let the three--"
Anya cleared her throat loudly.
"I'm not willing to let the three of you die for me." Buffy continued. "Give us the dynamite and go back to the hotel. If we don't make it back," she paused to hug each of them, Willow the longest, Giles the tightest, "I love you."
Giles and Xander handed the bags to her and Angel. Willow began to sob. Anya voiced that she was hungry.
"Go," Buffy said, her senses flaring. "Go now."
Giles nodded and led the others out, tears wetting his eyes as he did so.
"I love you, Buffy," he whispered as he walked away. She never heard him, but she already knew.
"Are you sure you really felt what you thought you felt?" Angel asked as they kicked a vamp's ass. "I mean, you said--"
"I know what I said. So my directional is a little off. I'll have to buy a new battery." her voice was emotionless and her fighting was sloppy. Angel finished him off and stared at her.
"Are you really all right, Buffy?"
"I have to be." she readjusted the bag she was holding. "Let's keep going."
They moved on, killing an occasional vamp, nothing big.
Then they arrived at their destination. Buffy peeked over a corner of the stone wall, not wanting to be seen if she could help it. The room was large, and many vampires were marching around the alter in a row. The alter, she saw, was circular and held a large red stone that could only be the Thousand Eyes.
An evil looking creature hovered around it, muttering something as a female vamp trailed him, holding up his long hair.
"Corescant," Buffy whispered.
"You see him?" Angel asked.
"Unfortunately."
"Well, what do we do?" Angel asked.
Buffy paled. "I thought you had a plan."
"Why didn't you ask Xander? Wasn't he your Key Guy last time?"
"Oh God, are you gonna get all jealous on me now?" she whined.
"No, but we should probably come up with something and go with it."
She sighed. "All right, I'll sneak in and cause a diversion, and then you can come in without being noticed and start kicking some demon ass."
"All right," Angel agreed.
Buffy entered the lair and threw her bags down with a *thud*. "Sorry," she said with fake sheepishness. "Was I interrupting something?"
"Don't just stand there!" Corescant ordered. "Kill her!"
Just then, Angel was supposed to enter silently. And he did enter.
He also tripped over one of Buffy's weaponry bags and fell flat on his face.
The End
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