Chapter 8: Going Rogue - Part 1

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike dashed from the car and made a beeline for Xander, grumbling all the while. "Prat," he bit off as he reached the manhole. "Bleeding little -"

The shadows pooled off to his right, half of his vision obscured by the blanket. He turned, but not fast enough as a spiny demon charged Xander.

Spike tried to bolt off, but his feet tangled in the blanket. The demon whirled on him and tossed him like a ragdoll into the wall. Spike's head slammed hard against the brick and mortar - hard enough to see stars. The blanket was tangled in his arms and legs.

Trying his damndest to shake it off, he stood and tried to untangle the blanket from him. "Bloody hell!" He hissed. The demon spun on him again and punched him hard. He flew yet again into the wall. "BOLLOCKS!" He roared, vamping. He tossed the blanket away and growled low. His head hurt like a mother - his vision was on the verge of blurring, but he held it at bay as the demon went after Xander one more time.

Spike roared and charged the demon, tackling the thing and throwing punches left and right. The demon's body spines shred his hands like paper. The demon, also, was unmoved by his attack. BALLS!, he thought furiously. The thing felt like his fists were piledriving a Mack truck. The demon turned then, headbutting Spike. The facial spines of the creature tore into the flesh of his face. He let out one painful yowl before his head met brick and everything went black.

---------------

A voice, drifting from the darkness. A voice he recognized, vaguely, as if coming from another time and place. A voice that spoke of his past, his future, and everything in-between.

His lap blurred vaguely into vision. His arms felt distended, his legs weighted. His head felt like someone had driven a whole box of nails through his cerebral cortex. He blinked once, twice, head wavering woozily. He looked at his hands - they were shredded and bloody, his wrists chained to the wall. His legs were the same.

His head shot up, memory suddenly flooding the post-concussion blankness. Drusilla sat right in front of him, lithe and powerful, a wicked grin on her familiar face. He blinked once more, making sure he wasn't seeing things. Blood ran into his eyes from the injuries he'd sustained from the demon - he let his head drop for a moment, almost defeated.

He hadn't seen her since that mess with Ansara - and truth be told, he hoped he wouldn't have to see her again. He knew all the things the others had told him - Xander's question in the jet, and everything else before. Hell, he'd even signed up for this mission. But there was a small part of him that hoped they wouldn't find her, wouldn't find anything to do with her.

Spike cocked his head back up at her, blood running down his face. He already felt the wounds beginning to close. "Dru."

 

[Indra_RPG]

[Monastery "“ Guest House]

Indra found the three devi killers "“ for there had only been one inside "“ more difficult to dispatch than she had imagined. She had done her duty. Three corpses lay in or near the guest house. But she was bloody and injured from the fight. It was too obvious that she had killed. If she wanted to capitalize on the scythe bearers weakness, she had to cover her tracks.

:: First, she paid one of the laypeople to trade clothes. Another layperson, this an old man, she sent with her weapons to the store above Drusilla's chosen place of residence. In case the first woman was questioned, she then traded clothes again. ::

Indra was fortunate that she had been born into a wealth. There was little that wealth could not buy. In this case, it had bought her the silence and cooperation of those who had received, in exchange, the means to feed their children. The people did not know it, but their positive karma would assist them in future lives. They had, after all, served a goddess.

:: The last item she purchased was a roll of bread. This, she picked at as she made her way by foot down the road that led to the monastery. ::

:: Up ahead, she spied a jeep. It raced forward as if lives depended upon its speed. ::

This must be the scythe bearer, Indra thought to herself.

:: At the right moment, she pretended to drop her bread so that it rolled out across the road. She ran after it. ::

There is no greater power than belief. Belief can make sane people behave as though they were insane. Beliefs can make people with good lives risk those lives. Beliefs can bind society together or rip it apart. In Indra's case, belief gave her the ability to kill with the clear conscience of the righteous and the strength to walk unflinching into the path of a speeding vehicle. Indra never questioned her actions. Not once. She believed them to be right.

:: The jeep crashed into her. Her bones crunched. She was thrown several yards, into a tree. Her skull cracked open. Blood trickled into her line of vision. Pain such that she had never felt in all her life surged through every possible extremity. She could not see the jeep. She could not see at all. ::

But still, Indra was determined.

Now I can use her guilt against her, she thought before she lost consciousness, staking her life, as she did so, on the kindness of the enemy.

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

The Commando team was taking a while to report. Maybe they'd been held up. Maybe they were out of range.

Sewers aren't exactly ideal for making with the talky talky. Silly telecommunications companies putting their cell phone towers all above ground. No forethought, those guys. Sewers, those are the wave of the future. Well, those or subways. Underground communication is essential to both modes of travel.

:: Xander twiddled his thumbs. He was bored. ::

:: So he went over to the manhole to catch a signal and made another cell phone call to pass the time. ::

Buffy was probably all busy with Angel"¦ doing God only knows what, but I really hope it isn't anything that might lead to peticide and creepy sketching. She probably wouldn't answer her phone, but she deserved an update. Her vampire"¦ the other one"¦ was missing. She might want in on that kind of intel.

:: Xander dialed her number. The phone rang. That was new. Usually, Buffy's phone was all out-of-batteries and in straight-to-voicemail mode. ::

Hey! I might actually get to talk to my friend. For the first time in, like, weeks. Look at us, being all friendly and phone-talky.

Of course, he wished he'd have better news to tell her.

On second thought, silence is good. Let's keep playing phone tag. You can be it.

 

[DarklyDreamingDrusilla]

Spike:"Yes, yes, William. It is me Drusilla. "

She had a weat cloth and began to dab at his wounds wiping the blood away from his brow.

Spike:"Sorry, it had to come to this, but you have been a bad, bad little Willy. You are still working with those, people. I still don't know exactly what happened between the two of us, but I know that you do. Don't you? And I want all the little birdies to sing in my head again. It has all gone away from me and I want it back and you seem like the person to give it to me."

Then she turned away from Spike and towards the door.

Demon: "Come in here."

The demon walks into the room and stands stick still waiting for the next order.

Demon: "Did you talk to the mystics, do they have the spell ready yet?"

The demon quickly answered with a grunt and a nod.

Demon: "Good then, get them in here."

The demon left quickly. Drusilla then turned towards Spike with a huge grin across her face and began to run her long fingers through his hair.

Spike: "We are going to have some fun with what is in here."

 

[Slayergal]

::Sam got off the phone and grabbed the map that was in her back pocket. There it was Durbar Square it just up the street about block or so. Xander said there was entrance there.::

Riley and Dawn: "Hey stop. We can find the entrance Spike and Xander used just up the street. Let's go."

[Freak Street]

::She put the map back in her back pocket and proceed to lead the way. Buffy is not going to like her when this is all said and done. Taking her sister into sewers. But what else could she do. She didn't say anything she just kept walking then she realized she hadn't radioed Xander back. Oops.::

Xander: "Xander are you still there? We're on our way. Should be there in less than 20 minutes."

::Sam heard nothing back. She hoped Xander was okay. Her mind was still trying to process everything. She had gone from trying to block of Dawn's attitude towards to realizing that Drusilla knew they were here. Actually Xander had been right along. The monks, the Yeti girl, now Spike. No one was anywhere. Not even the slayers back at the guest house. Just thinking about it made her walk all the more faster. By the time they reached the alley Xander had described and found the entrance to the sewers she was out of breathe. She took a moment to catch her breathe while Riley removed the manhole cover.::

Riley and Dawn: "I'll go down first. Check things out, make sure everything's safe. Then Dawn you can come down next that way Riley can keep watch up above until you are safely down."

Riley: "Keep a look out soldier. We don't want nobody following down here."

[Sewer]

::Sam jumped down into the manhole. When she reached the Sewer floor she pulled out a tranq gun that her and Riley used for capturing demons and gave the sewer a quick look around. Everything looked safe enough.::

Dawn: "Okay Dawn it's safe to come down now."

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

As it turned out, Xander was "it." Buffy picked up the phone.

Buffy: "Buffy? Buffy! Hey! You're there. In-the-flesh. Or, really on the phone. But you catch my drift."

:: Nervously, Xander wiped the blood out of his eye. ::

The area around his eye was already swollen and tender to the touch.

Buffy: "So... how're things?"

When he speaks, the "so" and the "things" come out extra long and drawn-out-ey.

She's sooo gonna know something's up, he thought. Which is fine. Because that's why I'm calling -- to be informative and responsible and make with the loop-keeping goodness.

:: Xander wore a pained expression as he listened to Buffy's, well, umm, rant. Then, that look changed from pained to surprised as he quickly butted in: ::

Buffy: "Dawnie? Yeah, she's fine. Physically fine, I mean."

:: Xander's eye widened as he realized what he had just said. ::

Fine, Xander? *Physically fine?* I'm suicidal! That's what it is. The caffeine and lack of sleep are driving me to suicidal crazy talk. I am daring Anya to"¦ come back from the dead and beat me with a Troll hammer"¦. Well, at least the coming back part would be nice.

:: Panicked, Xander did the only thing he could do. He backpedaled: ::

Buffy: "Ack! Not that I mean physically fine as in, you know, physically fine, but just... well. Like, not broken well --"

The cell phone Gods took mercy on him. He was interrupted by crackling. Then more ranting. Then more crackling.

How was the mission? She may as well ask "how was the sacking of Rome?" Oooh! Or "Was the Spanish Inquisition fun?

:: Xander took a deep breath -- of sewer stench, and braced himself. ::

Buffy: "Buff, I'm calling from a sewer. A third world country sewer. I am literally up to my ankles in... ick. Oh, and my only eye is bleeding. How happy can it be? Wait! Here's a happy! Did you know that yetis are real? I got a photo!"

:: After a break for Yeti appreciation, a human phenomenon cherished by nerdy fan boys and girls the world over, Xander again took a deep breath"¦ and this time, he got to the point. ::

Buffy: "Not so good. And by that, I mean mondo-fantastically bad. I lost Spike."

:: Xander paused as Buffy insisted that Spike was "unlosable." ::

Right. He's back-from-the-dead-boy. He's always fine"¦ unlike some people. Burnt up in a weird-soul-inferno thingie? He's fine and dandy. Little thing like a sword through the torso? Hell. God, I hate Spike.

:: When it became clear that Buffy was waiting for"¦ well, for the rest of the story and not for his own personal life-is-unfair-emo-whine, Xander pulled it together and made with the splainy: ::

Buffy: "Lost. Gone. Missing. As in not dust, but not here, either. Taken by a big spikey demon. Ironic, huh? Right... not funny. Anyway, it just took him. We were looking for Dru, so according to Captain Logic, all signs kinda point toward...."

There was a pause.

Buffy: "Buffy? You still there?"

:: Oh, she was there. There with the threatening hysteria. Xander cringed. ::

Buffy: "Please don't kill me."

Note to self: Get less dangerous friends, he thought as the signal went dead -- whether from bad reception or Buffy's angry hang-up, he didn't know.

Just then, Sam and Dawn hopped down through the manhole.

:: Xander stepped out of the shadows and faced them with his hands in the air "“ always a good policy when tranq guns were involved. ::

Sam and Dawnie: "Hey, look who it is! Well, if you can look, which I can't because my good eye socket is swollen to twice its natural size. But I'm not complaining! Or, actually, I am. Anyway. Hi."

:: Xander paused and wiped more blood out of his eye. ::

Sam and Dawn: "Just how many freaky diseases you guys think I'm gonna get from being wounded in this sewer? And, more importantly"¦ how are we gonna get Spike back? Cuz I just talked to Buff, and she's seriously on the war path about this one."

:: He turned to Dawn and added with a bit of a lilt to his voice: ::

Dawn "Oh, and she's happy you're okay, but you are in even bigger trouble than I am, Missy."

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike almost wrenched from Drusilla as she raised the cloth to his face. Instead, he hung his head and let her talk, let her wash his wounds. The familiarity of the situation almost made him gag. She'd done this to him thousands of time before - keeping his wounds, talking to him in her lilting voice. The past thrummed deep inside his chest, the memories dancing inside his head.

And besides, truth be told, he wasn't in much of a position to argue. Dru..., he almost chuckled. Dru and chains. She really is back to 'er old self.

She rambled, something about birdies and filling the blanks. So...not all there, then. Well...Dru never was.

He looked up as Drusilla turned away, watching as the demon who'd attacked him grunted answers to Drusilla. She turned with the familiar wicked grin of hers, her fingers digging through his hair.

This time, regardless of the pain in his head, he did tear his head out of her grasp. The reality of the situation began to unload on him, all at once: this was Drusilla. Drusilla wouldn't just drag him down into the sewers for a catchup and some bloody tea, not after everything that had happened

Spike leaned his head back against the wall, a wry smirk blossoming on his face. "Are we, love?" He said weakly, his head still jackhammering. "Because, I gotta say, this walk down memory lane is getting right irritating." He lurched at her then, his chains clanking against the wall, holding strong. He barely moved two inches. "Why don't you cut to the bloody chase, Dru? I don't have the patience for your sodding rambling."

 

[GATEGOD]

[Road]

Faith slammed on her brakes but it was too late. A large crunching sound exploded off the front bumper throwing the pedestrian into a nearby tree.

'What The Fu#%'

'She just jumped... why would she..'

Faith jumped out of the car with a million thoughts coursing through her mind. She ran over to the girl who was barely breathing with cuts and contusions all along her body. She felt a shutter of cold air rush down her back as she bent down to check for a pulse.

"Dammit! Not again." she shouted but no one could hear her. She felt the remnants of a pulse and started to panic as it began to fade away. She rubbed her hands through her hair trying to think of what to do next. But there were so many things, too many things in her head that she just blocked it out. Stopped caring for just a split second than picked her up and ran her bloodied body back over to the jeep. The only thing she could do was take her to the monks. Maybe they could be able to do something with her.

'The girls'

'I have to get to the girls'

She gently tossed the girl into the back of the jeep and heard something crack as the girl made contact with the seat. "Shit." she said hoping she hadn't crushed her wind pipe or something more serious.

She got back into the jeep and placed the car back into gear. She had no idea who this girl was why she would just walk into the street like that, nor did she care for the ride back to the monastery. If she thought about another, another innocent person murdered at her own hands she would loose it. She had to get her to the monks, but the girls, they were her priority as well.

[Monastery]

Faith picked the battered body up from the back of the jeep and sprinted towards the guest house. Blood once again dripped onto her clothes smearing her pants and arms with this strangers blood. She entered the guest house and collapsed, dropping the girls body beside her.

They were dead. All of them. Blood pored from the girl she had been speaking to on the phone, the girl who's name escaped her now. She was lying dead with her mouth slid to the side and her eyes wide open. There was blood lining the wall and furniture was thrown about the room. They were dead. She had failed.

She felt a tear brush up against her eye as the other girl's dead body came into sight, slumped against the wall with a whole through her stomach. She looked back towards the stranger, the girl was barely alive, if she even was still alive. Faith didn't know. She placed her hand on the girls body and felt again for a pulse, there wasn't one. Faith panicked, her breathing heavied, and she slid her lips down touching the girls cold mouth trying to resuscitate her. Blood from the stranger's mouth left Faith with a bitter taste but she placed her hands on the girls stomach and began to press harder and harder. After what felt like an eternity the girl's breathe re-immerged pushing back Faith's mouth.

Faith curled back and wiped her lips, than spitting out the remnants of the girls blood and saliva she picked her back up and headed for the monastery to gain the help of the monks once again.

[Tbc..]

 

[Slayergal]

[Sewer]

::Sam was scanning the sewer for Xander. He's got to be around here somewhere. He said this was location. Maybe he forgot to mention that he was on up aways. She was about to proceed further as Riley came down the man hole when Xander stepped out of the shadows with his hands in the air.::

Xander: "Hey Xander. You know you can put your hands down now. You can rest assured that we're not going to shot you. Oh your wounded."

::Sam thought about the last three words she said. Wow that sounded stupid or better yet maybe lame was a better word. She grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket and tried to wipe away the blood on Xander's face. Yep Xander's eye was swollen all right. They should take Xander back to the guest house. He would be blind until the swelling goes down. He wouldn't be of much use in a fight blind it would just get him killed. As much as Sam wanted to start tracking the sewer demon immediately. It wasn't worth getting Xander killed. Willow and Buffy wouldn't be happy with her if that happened. More than likely the sewer demon worked for Dru. After all what would a sewer demon want with Spike anyway? More confusing though what did Dru want with Spike? Apparently Dru knew they were here and knew their whereabouts too.::

Xander: "I think maybe we should take you back to the guest house, Xander. Your not going to be able to fight until the swelling goes down. Riley and I can come back and look for the sewer demon. Do you think you can describe what the sewer demon looked like? That way maybe Dawn could do some research and find out what kind of demon we are tracking."

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

:: Xander frowned as Sam pressed the handkerchief to his eye. All he could see was the white fabric of the cloth. That's it. Nothing else. Just white. The sewer demon could have been staring him straight in the face for all he knew. ::

Sam: "As much as I hate to be lame, out-with-a-black-eye guy, my slowly shrinking field of vision agrees with you. I don't think I'll be much use in a fight this way."

:: Xander dabbed at his eye and tried to conjure up the image of the demon that had thrown him into the grumpy guy's bobble head stand. ::

Sam: "Well, it was big. Reptilian. Spiny. It had spikes all over it"¦ which, hey, tickled my funny bone, but didn't seem to do much for Buffy's when I told her. Basically, we're talking Creature from the Blue Lagoon, but like ten feet tall. Ooh! And with glowy red eyes and spikes on every possible extremity "“ "

:: Xander gulped, and then continued. ::

Sam: "And I do mean every possible extremity."

:: He turned to where he thought Dawn was standing and held out the keys to the jeep. ::

Dawn: "How about you drive, Dawnie? That way, Sam and Riley don't have to let the trail get cold just cuz I got a doctor's note."

:: Then, not wanting to step on any toes, he turned back to Riley and Sam, or at least he tried to. ::

He may have actually been talking to a drippy sewer wall. It was hard to say. He was pretty sure he actually stepped on someone's toe, too"¦ or, at least, he hoped it was a toe. It could have been a rat. He was fine with not knowing.

Sam and Riley: "What do ya say? Does that sound like a plan? Also, has anyone seen Faith? I'm thinking a call for backup is in order, but no one's answering at the guest house "“ and it's not like she ever wised up to the techno-marvel that is he cell phone. I guess they don't allow those in the big house, huh?"

 

[GATEGOD]

[Monastery]

"Help me" Faith demanded as she crashed through the front of the monastery with the girl in her arms.

A few monks were sitting down getting there zen on when she burst in. They started to stare at one another than lept to their feet speaking in another language. She walked over to one of the mats and layed the girls body down. She felt the warm hand of someone at her shoulder, she grabbed it, twisting it as she turned. It was the monk who had saved the yeti girls life earlier. She met his eyes, than loosened her grip and he fell back a step.

"Help her!" she demanded again. "Like you did the other girl." Blood was now spilling onto the floor while the monks behind him just stood there whispering to one another in some strange foreign language.

"Def much? Help her!" she grabbed the monk by his dress and picked him up bringing him to her face. "Understand."

He blinked and looked back down at the girl. "Do you understand miss, who she his?"

Faith gave him a puzzled look as confusion washed over her face. She had no idea who she was. Did they?

"No, but that doesn't much matter seeing as she will be dead unless you help her. Now work your god damn magics and fix her, or so help me.." She let the monk go and he landed on his feet. Staring him down she moved in closer to block his view of the stranger. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.

He cocked his head up towards Faith's and spoke. "You still do not understand.." But that didn't matter Faith could care less who the stranger was at that particular moment.

"I still do not care. Now fix her before she bleeds to death." 'Who is she?'

"That might not be such a bad thing..." he said awkwardly knowing it wouldn't go over well.

Faith opened her mouth shocked at what she was hearing. Could Xander really have been right? Were these monks evil?

"That might not be such.. okay, let's get one thing straight. You heal her, I spare you. You let her die, I let you die. Get it? Got it?" the monk nodded in approval as Faith starred unblinking into his cold eyes. "Good." She stepped aside as he pulled something from his robe and went to work his mojo.

She could find out what the monks knew after the girl was safe, not before. 'Not until she was safe.'

 

[DarklyDreamingDrusilla]

Spike: "Now, now little Willy, don't rush me. This is a very complicated spell and we want to make sure we get it right. We don't want you to loose your memories too. Do we?"

Mystics: "Come in!"

:: Five men in long black hooded cloaks came in and formed a circle around Spike. They sat down, and began to setup candles around the circle. One of them stood up and began to walk around lighting the candles. ::

Spike: "This may hurt a bit, Willy. Well it will hurt a lot, but you will live. I wouldn't want to kill the one who gave me my memories."

:: Then Drusilla entered the circle and the mystic sat down. They began to chant. "refero alieno, memoria redeo" They said it over and over. And a cloud of green mist began to form above their heads. There were flickers of scenes of Spike's past memories forming in the mist. Drusilla sat directly underneath the mist and she began to laugh. ::

"Oh, it is coming back it is all coming back."

:: Then she began to cry. It was painful for both Spike and Drusilla. Drusilla began to feel too many emotions at once from all of the past memories entering her mind. She then fell over holding her head and passed out. She was still squirming as the mist all began to dissapear and the mystics stopped chanting. ::

 

[Mesektet Ra]

Spike rolled his eyes. "Sod off, Dru," he bit off. He wished she would just get on with it already. Her rambling was making him sleepy.

What to do, what to do? He'd already tested the chains, there was no bloody way he was getting out of that. His head still felt like a pincushion, but actual pins instead of nails. He had to resign himself to the fact that, right now, he was basically sodding helpless and waiting for the bloody calvary to swoop in and save the day. C'mon Xander, you wanker.

Dru called to the mystics, five men in black cloaks. Spike dipped his head and sniggered at the sight. Bleeding hell, he thought, amused. He raised his head to them as they seated themselves in a semicircle around himself and Drusilla. "What was it, boys? A two for one sale at Black Magics R Us?" None of them replied. Spike sniffed the air once - human. While hurting humans wasn't exactly on the top of his list these days, these buggers were trying to crack his head open and basically play his memories on the widescreen. Sod all that.

He calculated, a plan forming through the pain in his skull.

That was when the first monk started chanting.

"Refero alieno, memoria redeo,", he said, voice low and haunting. A dagger of blinding pain shot through his skull, and he wrenched back, writhing and growling. The second monk, followed by the third, fourth, and fifth took up the chant as well. The more voices added to the chant, the worse the pain got.

He vamped, a roar tearing itself out of his chest. Mist formed above the heads of Drusilla and himself. It felt as though someone had taken a crowbar and tore his skull in half, throwing box after box of nails and other various sharp objects into the wound.

He couldn't think, couldn't feel. The pain became a white light behind his eyes, throbbing with each syllable.

Memories began to forum in the mist - his Turning, the debacle with The Immortal, South America, the mob in Prague, when Angelus returned, and the icing on the cake: the hundreds of people he and Drusilla had slain together.

Each memory came with an emotion: jealousy, revulsion, hatred, love, and pure, unbridled joy. The emotions, like the memories themselves, came boiling up from his chest in guttural screams. Everything was being ripped from him in one fell swoop.

The pain was blinding; he roared and screamed like his lungs were being torn out. He could see nothing. He only had one moment of relief when the spell ended and he was back again, cradled in the darkness without a sound.

 

[Wanabee-slayer]

:: Dawn followed Sam down the manhole silently and winced as her favorite pair of shoes were soaked in waste. Turning around Dawn winced as she spotted Xander and the blood that was seeping from a gaping wound in head. ::

Yeah, that can't be good.

:: Dawn stood quietly as she silently processed the information that was being brought to the forefont. ::

Oh great, Buffy's mad at me. When is she never?

:: Sighing Dawn agreed to drive Xander back to the monestary, realising arguing was futile, and even more importantly Xander really needed her help. ::

Xander: "I think it's a good plan as far as plans go. Besides you can tell me on the way back what I've done wrong this time so I'm prepared for my next talk with Buffy."

 

[GATEGOD]

[Monastery]

Faith looked around for any sign of the assassin. It took all her strength to control her anger as she walked by the girls broken, lifeless bodies. There were obvious signs of a struggle. Atleast two of the girls put up a fight. Outside there was a mutilated body of what looked to be the killers first victim. There was nothing to tie anyone here though. Nothing. It had been twenty minutes since she left the injured girl in the monks hands. She was too worked up to think rationally at the moment. The fact that she couldn't find one piece of evidence. 'NOTHING' was only pissing her off even more.

That escalated when she tripped over one of the fallen objects and fell to the ground. A few seconds later once she got to her feet by leaning against the wall. That is when she slammed her hand, arm...shoulder clear through the wall. For some whacked reason she liked the pain. It took away from her other pain. When she slowly removed her hand, pieces of the wall were lodged into her skin and blood was dripping off her hand. Her knuckles were bright red and the skin was broken on two of them. She shook her head in disgust and walked back to the door. 'Time to see if these monks helped.'

As she walked to the monastery she picked the pieces from her hand and dropped them on the pathway. The feeling was slowly returning over the pain in her hand. Thankfully it wasn't returning too fast. The pain was intensified when she pulled out the final piece and through it over her shoulder. She had yet to yell out any sign of hurt or pain, until then. "Ahhh" she moaned. She reached for her hand to grab it, but touching it only made it worse. She laughed sarcastically to her self. 'Good Job Faithy. Good Job.'

Inside the monks were still acting all suspicious and whispering to one another when she walked in. "Did you fix her? Where is she?!" she asked with a little anger still lingering in her voice. The monks didn't say a word ignoring her and yet talking about her to themselves. The other monk came in from a room to the side and ushered her to follow him in. She shot a look at the others and took his lead. Inside was the girl still unconscious but without all those nasty cuts and bruises. "Is she..?"

"She's fine." The monk said with a cold expression on his face. His voice was making her uneasy. He looked at Faith for but a moment and than couldn't remove his eyes off of her. She still didn't know why they were all so, freaked? terrified?

"What? What is it. What aren't you telling me?" she asked. More so demanded. They had offered up an explanation before but she hadn't taken it. She was going to now. "Tell me." She asked in a lower tone as she positioned herself on the bed beside the girl.

"Alright dear, but I don't think you are going to like it." The monk answered softly, but nervously.

 

[Indra_RPG]

[Monastery]

Indra seemed to be both walking through a fog and falling down a staircase all at once.

"Is she..?" a female voice asked from the distance.

The sharp, jagged tones and American inflections of the voice grated on the inside of Indra's brain. Her head throbbed.

Suddenly, Indra realized that she was neither walking through a fog nor falling down stairs. She was in fact"¦ lying prostrate on a soft surface, her eyes crusted closed with"¦ was it blood, or only sleep? Her limbs felt heavy. Her head swam. Her stomach churned.

"She's fine," a calm, soothing, masculine voice replied. This one spoke in English, but he forced the words through a thick Tibetan accent.

An exile, she figured, probably a monk.

Indra scanned her memory, but she could not imagine why she might be in company with an American and a monk. It was unseemly. She hoped that, when she opened her eyes, she would not find herself in any respectable public establishment. It would not do for anyone of her acquaintance to spy her interacting with such people.

Where am I?

:: Indra wrinkled her nose. ::

And why do the disembodied voices of my dream speak English? she wondered.

And then, she remembered. They spoke English because they were enemies -- enemies who possessed the scythe, enemies who had weaknesses.

"What? What is it? What aren't you telling me?"

It was the American voice again. The scythe bearer.

"Tell me," she demanded again. Indra felt the scythe bearer's body settle close to her own.

"Alright dear, but I don't think you are going to like it," the monk answered softly.

:: At that moment, Indra catapulted into consciousness. Suddenly upright, she twisted toward the scythe bearer and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor beside the bed. ::

The monks had healed her. This, she could tell by the very fact that she was alive, that she was conscious, that she could sit up at all. Still, she must have bled internally. The substance that spilled out of Indra as her body was wracked with heaves and shudders was comprised mostly of blood. A few drops splattered onto the woman beside her. This was an accident, and yet it was fortunate; according to Drusilla, it would prey upon the scythe bearer's weakness.

:: Wild-eyed, Indra then directed her gaze randomly about the room. She backed up to the head of the bed until she felt her back against the wall. ::

In Hindu, she cried:

Monks: "Get back! Stay back!"

:: As if terrified, Indra grabbed the nearest weapon "“ a wooden stool "“ and waved it in a threatening fashion, motioning for the monks and for the strange woman to stay back. ::

In a ragged, broken mix of Hindi and Nepali, she then demanded:

"Back! Where am I? What have you done to me?"

To any observer, Indra knew her panic would appear genuine. It was even appropriate, given the circumstances in which she found herself. But Indra was not panicked, not truly. To her knowledge, she had never once panicked in all of her twenty years. The emotion was foreign to her. Indra knew exactly where she was and why she was waving a stool at a gaggled of well-meaning monks and one American woman: she was at the monastery and she was there to gain the scythe bearer's sympathy. Once that was obtained, she might be able to access the scythe. She was there for her goddess, for Drusilla "“ for Kali.

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

"I think it's a good plan as far as plans go. Besides you can tell me on the way back what I've done wrong this time so I'm prepared for my next talk with Buffy."

:: Xander reached out a hand and walked toward what he thought was the direction of the ladder. He ended up squeezing Dawnie's shoulder, instead. ::

He could tell it was her. He wasn't sure how he could tell. It wasn't like he could hear her voice when she wasn't talking or smell her shampoo through the sewer stench. And, really, that thought should have sort of bothered him. Well, that and the fact that he'd spent so much time with the Summers that he knew what kind of shampoo they wore.

I gotta get some manlier friends.

He figured he could dwell on that particular piece of trauma later.

Dawn: "Uhh, you don't happen to be standing in front of the ladder, do you Dawnie? Cuz that's where I was aiming."

:: Frowning, Xander removed the handkerchief from his eye and squinted. He could see"¦ barely. ::

:: He looked at Sam. ::

Sam: "I'm not too keen on this leaving-you-without-backup thing. We leave you here, you could end up like me "“ or worse. We take you, the trail goes cold. What's the Commando Code of Conduct gotta say on this one?"

:: Now secure in his bearings, he replaced the hanky with a wince and waited for a reply. ::

He wasn't about to leave the Finns in the lurch"¦ at least not over Spike. Maybe Buffy. But definitely not Spike.

Besides, what's the worst that can happen? he thought. It's Spike and Drusilla. It's not like she's gonna *kill* him. She'll probably just torture him all nice and bloody"¦ and in what universe is that not a foot-stomping, hand-clapping yay?

 

[DarklyDreamingDrusilla]

Drusilla began to lift her head up. She was laying on her bed and as she raised her head it fell back down again. Her head was throbbing, she held on to her head and gasped for air. The room was spinning, but she saw one of her cronies above her. Then she saw Spike who was chained to the wall and unconscious.

She began to remember why her head hurt so bad and she realized it was all back. She could remember who the man chained to the wall and remembered how disgusted she was with him for being with the slayer. Then she remembered the slayer and her friends. That is who was after her and they had the sythe. Now she called to her cronie.

Demon: "Come, help me up."

The demon lifted up to a sitting position and then she stood up. She walked over to Spike and bent down on her knees and began to shake him.

Spike: "Willy, wake up. Wake up, Willy."

 

[Slayergal]

::Sam really didn't like the situation at hand. Too many things didn't add up. Apparently Drusilla knew they were here and knew their every move. Now she had Spike and there was no telling what he would tell her about the mission. Xander was hurt and couldn't continue the mission at hand. They had a sewer demon somewhere on the loose. They really needed backup but neither Faith or the slayers back at the guest house was answering cellphones. She could understand Faith not answering but the slayers?! Now she was having to make a decision on whether to let the demon's trail go cold and go back to the guest house and wait for Faith or continue to track the demon and hope they don't get their asses kicked.::

Xander: "So what's the whole Faith and no cellphone thing? Did you try contacting the slayers at the guest house again? You would have thought at least one of them would have answered by now? I don't feel comfortable sending you and Dawn back to the guest house by yourselves until someone answers letting us know it is safe there. Something tells me Drusilla knows we're here and where everybody in the team is."

::As much as she wanted to continue to follow the sewer demon's trail Xander had a point. If Xander and Spike couldn't fight it they wouldn't be able to do much better. That and the simple fact no one was answering Xander's call at the guest house was sending Sam a bad feeling.::

Xander: "Well usually we have backup ready if we need it. You guys basically are our back up on this mission. Only half the team seems to be unreachable at the moment. Is Drusilla really as bad as everyone says she is?"

 

[palabravampiress]

[Sewer]

Xander: "So what's the whole Faith and no cellphone thing? Did you try contacting the slayers at the guest house again? You would have thought at least one of them would have answered by now?"

:: Xander shook his head, which, umm, hurt. He also felt light headed. He wobbled a little, but he covered by shifting his balance. ::

Sam: "Faith? Faith's just being Faith. She's not exactly big on the whole teamwork thing."

Or on helping or being helped, he thought, remembering the time he'd tried to "“ and failed "“ to help her turn things around. Back in high school. Back before it was too late.

:: He snorted. ::

Stay on track, Xan-man.

:: He held up a finger and then added: ::

Sam: "Also, not caught up on the cell phone revolution just yet. First, there was the coma, then there was that pesky little stint in the clink. Neither of them did much for her communication skills. As for the girls"¦."

As for the girls what? They disappeared in a puff of smoke? Forgot their well-drilled protocol? Had a run-in with another yeti or an evil monk? Anything was possible in the wacky world they called home.

:: Xander raised his hands in an I-don't-know gesture and then brought the hanky quickly back to his eye with what he hoped was a well-concealed wince. ::

The pain was of the intense variety. He couldn't tell whether his headache was bleeding into his black-eye wound or whether his black eye was bleeding into his headache. Then there was the actual bleeding to consider. That must have been coming from a scrapier sort of wound. All in all, he was pretty sure he had a face only a vampire could love.

Focus. Girls. Pain later. Girls now. Hey! There's a nifty catch phrase. Stop. Girls. Where have the littlest slayers run off to?

Sam: "Your guess is as good as mine."

Xander: "Well usually we have backup ready if we need it. You guys basically are our back up on this mission. Only half the team seems to be unreachable at the moment. Is Drusilla really as psycho as everyone says she is? Also I don't know about you but I think Drusilla know we're here and knows our whereabouts. If her and this demon want to find us I'm sure they already know where to look."

Is Drusilla psycho? Wow. Riley sure didn't find this chick in Sunnydale. Or Europe, for that matter.

:: Xander laughed. ::

Sam: "Is Drusilla psycho? Do vamps come out at night? See, here's the thing about Drusilla: she's mad as a hatter, which, of course, explains why she loves Spike. But she does. Love him. She does love him, I mean."

:: Xander paused and folded his arms. Sam didn't seem to take his deeper meaning "“ maybe because I'm not all on board the sense making train "“ so he elaborated.

Sam: "Her idea of love might include hot pokers and electric cattle prods where the rest of us might lean toward hearts and flowers, but she won't kill Spike. My guess is that her attention's all on him today "“"

:: Xander got a whiff of something foul. The scent traveled straight up his nose and into his brain. Suddenly nauseous, he gagged. ::

Sam: "Which gives us time to regroup, and I'm voting for someplace less stinky. But it also results in a colder trail. I don't know about you, but I don't so much mind a prolonged period of Spike torture if you two wanna come back with Dawnie and me."

:: As he said "Dawnie and me," he reached out and put his arm around Dawn in what he hoped was a natural gesture, but was also necessary for the simple fact that falling down in a sewer was of the complete and total bad. ::

Group: "Also, I'm no expert but "“ oh wait, I am. I think I have concussion, so I'm just gonna go pass out it the jeep, now."

Xander grabbed onto the ladder. He forced himself up one rung. Toward sunlight. Toward fresh air.

Dawn: "Wake me up when we get back to the monastery, ok Dawnie? Or don't wake me up. Or don't let me sleep. I forget how all that works."

:: Once on the street, Xander stumbled toward the jeep without looking back. He reached the jeep before he remembered giving Dawn the keys. ::

Great, he thought.

:: He leaned against the car and waited for someone to come rescue him. He would have kicked a rock, but he didn't have the motor coordination. ::

Fat lotta help I am.