Disclaimer: Buffy and Company belong to Joss Whedon and WB, not to me. All characters, locations, and anything else that you haven't seen on the show belong to me.
Rated 'R' by the Motion Picture Association.
This is set just after Surprises/Innocence.
Dancing with Death
By:Jessica Dubois
Part 9
"MMMMMmmmm..." a woman moaned, as she stretched. <Oh, my muscles feel
like lead...> She opened her eyes with difficulty, as they felt like
they were glued shut. Sitting up carefully, her muscle screaming in
protest, she gazed around herself in confusion. <Where am I?> The place
was sterile and colourless, with machines and monitors. She found a
glass of water on her sidetable, which she drank. It somewhat eased the
desert in her mouth.
"My Lady! You're awake! Oh, bless the Daemon!" The proclaimed 'Lady'
turned to see who had addressed her. A small man stood before her,
wearing a nametag which read 'Doctor Michaels'.
"What happened?"
"Don't you remember, my Lady? You were hit by a strong energy wave, and
we couldn't heal the damage. Your uncle saved your life, and you were
brought here to rest and recover."
"Ah, I remember now. How long have I been here?"
"About twenty years."
"TWENTY!!!" she looked at the doctor with disbelief in her eyes, then
sighed. "So, where are Keith and my Uncle?"
"I don't know, My Lady." A young girl entered, carrying two dark wine
bottles. She uncorked the first, and handed it to the Lady. She drained
the bottle dry in no time flat. The girl took the empty bottle, and gave
the other bottle to her, which she also drained. Meanwhile, the doctor
had been talking the whole time.
"Your Uncle vanished, as usual, and we haven't heard anything from him.
Keith left to do his annual chores for your Uncle, and hasn't returned
since. That was about a month, a month and a half ago."
"Where is he?"
"Like I said, My Lady..."
"You don't know. Well, I'll just have to find him myself." She moved to
hoist herself off the bed, and a small tattoo became visible on her
wrist for a moment. And then it was gone. The doctor pushed her back
down.
"You're in no condition to go anywhere at the moment. You must wait a
least a week to regain your strength. The Daemon brought you back to us,
and..."
The Lady Mystique gave Doctor Michaels a blistering stare. "The
*DAEMON* didn't do anything." She tried to get out of bed, and winced.
"Two days, no more. Then I'm gone." She then settled back into the bed,
and ignored them. The doctor sighed, and motioned the girl to follow as
he left the room.
<What is it with her kind...?> he asked himself rhetorically
Xander sighed. Going to the Bronze just wasn't any fun without Willow.
He missed her silly sayings, her weird tricks to get free drinks, her
general SELF. He dug his hands deep into his pockets, and continued to
trudge along the street. He realized that walking alone at night was
foolhardy, but he didn't much care right now. He could pretty well take
care of himself, with his trusty stake, cross, and syringe filled with
holy water. He'd already done in one vamp that way. Plunge it in, and
they were soon screaming in pain. Then it was easy to stake them. And
they never saw it coming. Xander smirked.
Xander was getting near the Bronze. He was hoping that Buffy would be
there, but also not. If she was, it meant she wasn't lying dead
somewhere, but if she wasn't, maybe she had found Willow. He knew that
both ideas had next to no chance of happening, but he could dream that
she'd find Willow. And dream that he'd never learn that Buffy was killed
by this vamp or that demon.
"Yo, kid." Xander frowned. That was weird, even for around here. He
turned, and saw a man standing in the shadows. And he just SCREAMED
vampire. He was about to pull out his cross, when the vamp put up his
arms in a non-threatening gesture.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk. You're a friend
of the Slayer's, right?"
"And if I am?" Xander asked cautiously, taking the vamp in. He was
tall, looked strong, and had the weirdest accent. One that Xander
couldn't even remotely place. Other than that, though, Xander couldn't
see well enough.
"She's going to be in some major trouble. Michelle's back, and wants a
mighty big piece of her."
"And why are you telling me this? Aren't you with her?"
"Yeah, I am. But she's gone nuts. The dancer's possession's drove her
insane. I just wanted to let you know, and thereby the Slayer know, that
Eternals are by no means her enemy. We don't have anything to do with
other vampires, and want to keep it that way." He glanced around. "And
tell her not to underestimate Michelle. She's got a few tricks up her
sleeve that the Slayer hasn't seen yet."
"Do you WANT to get her killed?" Xander asked with confusion.
"As much as I love her, it's better that she die than bring such
dishonor onto our clan." The Eternal then glanced around again, and
vanished practically before Xander's eyes. One minute he was there, the
next he was gone. Xander rubbed his eyes, then shook his head.
"So much for Bronzing it tonight," he sighed. "But it wasn't like my
heart was into it really anyway." he muttered, as he changed directions
to head for the library instead.
Buffy sighed as she patrolled. She rather be Bronzing it, but Giles had
insisted. She was pulled from her musing as her vampire radar started
pinging. <Not far... In the alley...> Buffy walked into the alley, stake
in hand, and was attacked from behind. Buffy rolled into a spin, losing
the stake in the process. She turned, and saw Michelle standing behind
her, long hair loose in the wind, and a mad light in her eyes.
"I just wanted to thank you for releasing me from the Dancer," Michelle
said conversationally. Buffy looked at Michelle with doubt in her eyes.
"After all, I couldn't have done it without you. And I've decided what
the perfect reward will be."
"And what's that?"
"Your death." Michelle comes quickly at Buffy, while she was still
disoriented. She knocked her to the ground, and sank her fangs into
Buffy's throat. Buffy used her feet to knock Michelle off of her, and
assumed a fighting stance. Michelle just grinned like a madwoman, and
took off. Buffy ran after her, but soon had to stop. Dizzy from the
bloodloss, slight as it was, she headed off to the library for a quick
fix-up job, and a lecture.
Mist glanced around as she stepped from the small prop plane. Already
things were assailing her from Sunnydale. Negative emotions, mostly. But
she could also feel the overpopulation of demons that inhabited the
area. And she could faintly feel her Uncle and Keith. But it would be no
easy task to find them.
Angel's energy was much more prominent, and therefore he would be
easier to track, so she followed his energy. The first location she
arrived at was an apartment. She glanced around, and decided that it
hadn't been lived in for a while. So, she headed to the next location
her instincts pointed that her Uncle frequented. A dance club called the
Bronze. He wasn't here at the moment, though. So, she ended up at an old
warehouse that reeked of vampires. She found it strange that Uncle Angel
was spending a lot of time there, since the last time they had seen each
other, he had been avoiding other vampires like sunlight. But Mist
shrugged, and slipped inside unnoticed.
A bleached blonde-haired vampire sitting in a wheelchair was talking to
a raven-haired girl wearing an old-fashioned dress. Mist felt the
strangeness in her, the power, and the madness. <Drusilla> she
identified. <Well, better to make an appearance before she feels me.>
She cocked her head. <That must be Spike with her. Angel said that
they've stuck together for decades.>
"Nice place. Seems a little bit sparse, though."
Spike and Dru whirled around to face the intruder. "Who the hell are
you?" Spike demanded.
"The name's Mystique. And I'm looking for Angel. Have you seen him?"
Mist saw Spike bristle, and thought that was quite interesting. <Seems
Angel's child can't stand him. I wonder why...>
Mist casually strolled into the room, taking in the dozen or so vamps
approaching from various places, and the strange artwork, some of which
she could see that Angel had painted. She made herself at home in one of
the chairs at the main table. One of the lesser vamps growled at her,
and she turned to face him. She gave an unpleasant smirk, and pointed a
single finger at him. The vamp was ash a moment later, burned to a
crisp. She turned back to Spike, who looked quite alarmed.
"She has power. Power beyond anything I've ever felt," Drusilla moaned.
She put her head on Spike's shoulder. Spike put an arm protectively
around her waist.
Mystique smirked. "You have no idea, girl. No idea at all." She turned
to glare at Spike. "So, have you seen him?"
"No. He hasn't been here for the last few days, and I don't know when,
or if, he'll be back."
Mystique got up, and strolled predatorily towards Spike. "You wouldn't
lie to me, now would you...?" she asked sweetly.
Spike grimaced, and gave a slight movement of his head indicating a
negative. Mist smiled, and turned to Drusilla. She started to say
something, then stopped and grimaced.
"You'll start to see, and don't forget," she finally said. Spike looked
at her as if she was crazy, but Dru seemed to know exactly what Mist
meant. She then ambled from the room.
"Next time you see him, be sure to tell him I'm looking for him," she
threw over her shoulder, as she vanished from view.
Spike started to swear. <Just what I need. Another egotistical maniac.
But thank the devil she didn't stay around.>
Spike was about to roll from the warehouse when Angel strolled in.
Spike gave him a nasty smile.
"A friend of yours just blew through. Killed one of my boys, threatened
Dru, and laughed the whole time. I don't think I like your friends."
Angel laughed. "You're such a spoil-sport, Spike. So, did he leave a
name."
"She had power," Dru moaned again.
"It was a she, and she left the name Mystique." Angel froze at this, a
thoughtful expression on his face.
"Myst," he whispered, with a smile.
"I don't like this, Angelus." Spike practically snarled. Angel turned
to Spike.
"It doesn't really matter, anymore, does it? I'm leaving. I'm SURE that
will make you happy." Spike looked at Angel with shock and a touch of
glee, while Dru looked disappointed.
"You're leaving, my Angel? You CAN'T leave. Not again..." Dru
whimpered.
"I'm leaving, Dru. I'm just going to get my things." Angel smirked at
Spike. "Be seeing you, roller-boy."
Angel walked into his room, grabbed what little he wanted to keep, and
left the rest. He then stuffed his possessions into a bag, and threw it
over his shoulder. He started to whistle an old tune his sister used to
sing. He couldn't remember the words, but every once in a while, the
tune would come back to haunt him...
He slipped up to the catwalks, and made his way onto the roof, where he
stared up at the black night sky. <Do you think she asks herself if
she'll ever see this again?> came a voice inside him. He didn't care, he
convinced himself. But a nagging feeling remained, as he rubbed the base
of his wrist.
End Part 9
