The call had come in at about 3:18am. Since then Angel had done nothing but stare at the top of his desk, where, although it was kept incredibly shiny, there was never a reflection. Buffy had told him to come. The vampire that had killed Riley was alive. Harkonen. They needed his help. The question was, did he dare? Even two hundred and fifty years later, he could still feel the cold, scaly hand on his shoulder, leading a young and eager vampire to his first kill. He could recall the victim, the smile on his mentor's face, and how much he had loved taking his first life...
Angel closed his eyes. It still hurt, even after so long. Not the sharp biting pain it had once been, but the dull throb behind his eyelids that would never go away.
Harkonen could make it stop though. That he knew. And Angel didn't trust himself to be faced with that prospect. Buffy needed his help. Again, did he dare? Was he even strong enough? His head was flooded with doubts. He remembered that the old demon had always effected him so; Harkonen had a way of tearing down your confidence without you even realizing it. But Angel had a real reason to be afraid though. Harkonen would stop at nothing to get to him. Angel, and Angel alone, knew the secret to Harkonen's immortality.
So would he go to Sunnydale and use that secret against the ancient vampire, or did he stay and not risk giving in to the temptations that would be thrown his way? A horrid pain on his back stopped his decision, instead making him leap up and close the blinds of his east-facing window. He had forgotten about dawn.
And for a brief moment after dawn reminded him of itself, Angel wondered if he should have left himself to be swallowed by it.
" Rosenburg."
" Willow?" came a familiar voice on the other side of her cell phone.
" Buffy?"
" I'm so glad I was able to reach you. Listen, we've got trouble. Really big trouble. I need your help. Tara's too. How is she?"
Willow sighed. She had hoped this wouldn't come so soon, or even at all. " Tara's fine. In fact, she had our son about three months ago. We named him Rupert. We thought Giles would like that."
" Oh, I know he will... I'll tell him for you..."
" Buffy," Willow interrupted. " I have a family now. And my career to think about too. I... I can't help you anymore. And..." Remain firm Willow. " ... I don't want you calling anymore. I'm washing my hands of Sunnydale. I'm sorry Buffy, and I wish you and Faith the best."
Beep.
She was the CEO of a major software corporation, her co-workers called her 'Will Gates'. She had a wonderful wife, and a heathly son. Hanging up should have been easy. It meant no more time away, no more fighting for her life, no more bad dreams. Exactly what she had been wishing for even since she had graduated from college. It was the reason she had moved with Tara to New York in the first place. Still... Buffy...
Willow Rosenburg tried to cry softly, so she wouldn't wake her napping baby or her sleeping spouse.
Harkonen's mind entered his body quite easily. He opened his large golden eyes with their dark slit pupils and pushed himself into a sitting position on the floor of his warehouse. Slowly, he reached up to his throat and stroked the opaque black stone that hung on its chain there. The Gem of Harkonen, he called it, for it was his own invention. It allowed him to seperate his mind from his body, a useful thing when spying during the daylight. He had caught the scent of his latest progeny and followed it to the house where she and the other Slayer were, trying to call reenforcements. Pitiful.
With nothing to fear, and therefore nothing to occupy him, Harkonen wistfully returned to his Thought. The Thought was more than just an ordinary idea or fantasy. It was an all-consuming thing that plagued the remains of his twisted brain. The Thought was his obsession, and if not for his desire to obtain of subject of his Thought, Harkonen would have slain himself out of boredom a century ago. But no. There was one thing he had to have before he could leave the mortal world.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, Harkonen had smelt the blood on the lips of a certain man whose mouth was cut in pub brawl. The blood may not have been enough, but when he saw the man's face, his powerful mind was shattered by fixation. That night Harkonen went forth and took a very pretty woman. He turned the woman into a vampire and made her more beautiful, and then Harkonen sent her to entice the man from the pub.
The man whose face and blood were the same as Harkonen's own, once upon a time.
He stood and paced, monitering that amount of light in the crack beneath the door. He would go forth at nightfall, and he would make trouble. Trouble enough that HE would come. Harkonen's reptilian face lit up in delight.
" Angelussss..." he hissed with longing.
" Buff?"
The blonde turned. Her lover was behind her, and she motioned towards the window.
" Sunset soon. What do you want to do?"
What did she want? At that moment Buffy wanted to be Willow, who could wash her hands of every nasty thing in Sunnydale and lead a normal life; or Xander, who simply hung up when she called, proving he could just ignore it all and go on in that blissful ignorance. She wanted to run away with Faith to somewhere where no one could find them and vampires and demon really did exist only in legends.
But that wasn't going to happen, now was it.
" I want him dead, for good this time," Buffy told Faith. " But we need a plan."
" How about: hunt, find, kill?" Faith suggested.
Buffy sighed. " Too dangerous. We need something that's certain to work."
" How about the plan where the vampires team up and set a certain Slayer up for a very nasty death? Oh wait, you meant a plan that would work for you."
They turned to see Harkonen leering in the doorway. Faith went even paler when he stepped inside. She had been wrong about him having to obey the invitation rule. His age and power cancelled its effects, and he approached them slowly, like a cat stalking its victim. Buffy just stood there in shock, her mouth forming words that her voice would not back up. Faith recognized a stunned 'How?'. Harkonen grinned and cast a gaze at Faith.
" Somebody was inviting friends over while Blondie was asleep. Naughty naughty Faith. But then again, Blondie should have remembered that nasty little detail, you know the one about vampires being just a bit evil, and tossed your soulless ass out the second she knew..."
Faith screamed over and over again in her mind that he was lying. His eyes had a fix on her though, and she couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't break his hypnotic stare. In the corner of her eye, she saw Buffy backing away, then running. Harkonen was laughing insanely the entire time. Faith felt him squeeze on her mind, and she blacked out, and didn't wake up until the morning. Harkonen and Buffy were both gone, and she was confined to the house until nightfall.
So she paced, and waited.
The headstone was white marble with gold lettering. Nothing but the best, and he deserved it. Buffy knelt down in front of the maker and set the yellow rose she had just bought down at its base. She cleared her throat and sucked back her tears. She never liked letting him see her cry; she wanted him to always know she would be strong and win, no matter what. That's the Buffy he would be proud of.
" Hey Giles..." she said softly. " I'm sorry it's been so long since my last visit."
The grave itself remained taciturn, but the nearby bushes rustled a bit, as if to forgive her.
" Thanks... Tara had a baby boy you know. They named him after you. They... um... also told me they never want to speak to me again. The whole Slayer mess is too much for them now..." She sniffled. " I don't blame them I guess. I think I'd rather be anyone but me right now. I've lost everyone I've ever loved... Angel, Riley, now Faith... My friends are all gone and don't want me around... putting their lives in danger anymore... You're gone too and that was my fault..."
She was sobbing hard, and her tears fell freely on the grass. Buffy hunched over to bury her face in her hands, and soon just curled up on the grave of the man she thought would always be there for her, to guide her and comfort her. He had taken a few bullets meant for her a couple of years back and that had all come crashing down. Now more than ever Buffy wanted to be with him where ever he was, and hear his soothing voice tell her it would be all right for eternity.
Faith had smashed the small clock on the coffee table because it didn't move fast enough. She was pacing frantically, desperate to get outdoors and find her love. She had no idea what she would tell Buffy when she found her, but that was a bridge she wanted to cross when she got to it. Faith hadn't the slightest clue why she seemed to have a soul, with emotions and a conscience and all that deal. She just did. And Buffy had nothing to fear from her. God. She needed to get to Buffy and hold her and make her feel all the love that Faith felt.
There was a knock at the door. Faith froze.
It was still light out, but he could be cloaked. Knocking didn't seem much like Harkonen's entry style, but he could just be fucking with her. Faith didn't want to take chances. She grabbed a Zippo off the table; it wouldn't be much but it might be enough to hurt him pretty bad. She edged closer and the knocking became more persistant. Positioning herself out of the the sunlight's way, Faith swung the door open.
Her jaw dropped immediately.