The Ultimate
Betrayal
by jamies_lady
Summary:
After the Battle in LA Riley brings news to Buffy which will change
things for ever.
Goes VERY off canon after the Battle of Sunnydale
Chapter 28
With everyone’s memories returned it was time for
planning. Buffy, Riley, Faith, Robin and Spike were trying to work out
a solution to how they were going to bring down Giles. Willow sat
quietly, holding Kennedy’s hand and listening to the brainstorming
going on around her.
Robin favoured a nicely laid trap, Riley wanted more intel and Spike
and Faith were of the opinion that they could just go in all guns
blazing and hope for the best. After all it had worked before. Dawn and
Morgana sat and listened for a short while as the conversation moved
back and forth like a ball at tennis. After the revelations of the day
before Robin looked emotionally drained, but the weight he carried on
his shoulders seemed to have been lifted.
Morgana watched as Dawn slipped away, heading for the medical room, and
Martin. By the time Morgana got there she was sitting by Andrew’s bed
holding his hands. The poor boy looked like a half starved Victorian
orphan in a bed far too large for his gaunt frame. Dawn was trying to
get him to eat something. She spent hours sitting by his bed trying to
persuade him to eat, but it seemed helpless at times. It was as if his
body was healing but his mind was sinking deeper and deeper into
itself. The shocks of the revelations had hit them all badly but Andrew
had never really accepted all his mind told him; his other hero, his
watcher-in-command, his jedi, was a dark lord: the source of all their
misery and most of their problems. Most of all he just couldn’t face
what had happened to his body and mind. In all the years he had been
with the Scoobies, he had been the one betraying them, telling Giles
everything then allowing him, Giles, to be abusive… Andrew’s mind hid
deeper and deeper within itself.
Clem and Baya were sitting with Sam in the small seating area: William
and Chara were on the mat. William was staring up at a mobile someone
had set up for him and Chara was playing with some sort of toy.
‘This is it, isn’t it?’ Baya asked Sam quietly. The two mothers had
found that they had a lot in common over the past couple of weeks.
Sam nodded. ‘I think so. Buffy will do her best to protect us all,
don’t worry: she’s faced down Hell-gods and the First. She’s not going
to fail us now.’
‘I’m not worried for me but Chara and William, they are so little and
haven’t had the chance to smell life yet.’ Baya looked at Clem. ‘Do you
think they’ll be safe?’
Clem tried to nod, but he was scared. His whole little group were
hiding in the cellars of a hotel inhabited by members of a government
organisation dedicated to killing his kind, and by women born to kill
demons and vampires. He had to believe.
Buffy and Faith leaned back in their chairs at the same moment. Buffy
ran her hands through her hair and looked back up at the men
surrounding her.
‘Right: first, we know Giles is wielding magic so we either tackle him
on his home ground or ours. He hasn’t tracked us here, but if we lower
the shields to go somewhere else he will. So what I suggest is, we do
lower the shields: but we don’t leave. Willow, can you and Morgana set
up a real safe room in the basement, near the sewer entrance, for us to
use as an escape tunnel should we need to?’
‘Yes, that shouldn’t be hard. The cellars don’t follow the same floor
plan as the main building so we could completely hide a couple of
rooms.’
‘Right. This is the plan. The Hyperion is the trap, I am the bait,
rather Faith and I are, and you are the cavalry. We tempt him in, make
him think we’re scouting the place out to use as a HQ. He won’t come
alone; he’ll bring reinforcements. As soon as he’s here, Morgana and
Willow will put the barriers back up and keep him here. We go after
him. We’ll need to strip his powers.’
‘Cordy gave us a spell that would bind his powers for about ten
minutes, he’s too powerful for it to last longer.’ Willow said
apologetically.
‘That will have to be enough. Spike, I want you to lead the assault
party. Rona, Cathy, Mary: you take Baya, Sam and the kids to the
basement…you will lead out the escape party. Riley, I want your men
down there as well. We are going to need firepower and numbers in the
cellar and I don’t want pure humans getting in the way of the slayers.
‘Robin, you will be up here with the slayers. At least we now know why
you could hold your own against Spike when you went blow for blow with
him.’
Robin smiled wanly at that comment and looked over at Faith. ‘No wonder
you haven’t broken me yet,’ he commented.
‘Yeah right: but it’s not from want of trying.’ Faith said.
Xander ‘ewwed,’ as he approached the group. ‘And I thought Anya was
good at giving details,’ he added, pulling the vengeance demon closer
for a hug.
They took the spare seat next to Spike, Anya sitting on Xander’s lap
and kissing him as she sat down.
‘There is one spell we should do before the big battle.’ Willow spoke
quietly.
‘What’s that?’ Buffy asked.
‘Xander: we should repair his eye. It would give him his
depth-of-vision back and allow him to be able to fight better.’
Xander looked at Willow. ‘Can you do that? Put it back properly?’
‘Yes, shouldn’t be too hard. Morgana brought all the ingredients we
need for healing spells and we have the spell itself on the scroll that
Cordy gave us. If she didn’t mean us to do it she wouldn’t have given
us the spell, would she?’ For all her maturity Willow still sounded
unsure about what was right and what was wrong with her magic. She
looked at Kennedy for confirmation.
‘It’s alright sweetie, Cordy wanted you to heal him, remember?’
Willow nodded and looked at her best friend from Kindergarten. ‘You
ready?’ she asked him.
‘Yep,’ he said.
‘Right, Kennedy can you get the scroll Cordy gave us, and we’ll see
what we need?’
It was the work of a couple of minutes to get the scroll and read off
the ingredients needed. Sage for protection, Heal-All for growth, and
the blood of a dead man, and the blood of a total innocent.
‘How much of each, Willow?’ Buffy asked quietly. She couldn’t believe
that any spell from the powers would have them hurt any child and she
wasn’t going to give up Spike for anyone.
‘Four teaspoons from a dead man and three drops from an innocent.’
Willow looked up at Morgana. ‘Where are we going to get the blood of a
dead man, or an innocent?’
‘Dead man here,’ Spike put up his hand. ‘And I’m sure I can spare a few
teaspoons for the whelp,’ he added.
Xander groaned and looked at Spike. ‘I always thought I’d end up
feeding you my blood, never thought you would be giving me some.’ But
the look on his face said the rest, how grateful he was to the blond
vampire.
‘What about the innocent blood?’ Willow asked. ‘I don’t think any of us
count.’
‘William does,’ Riley pointed out.
‘I’m not an innocent!’ Spike blustered.
‘Not you, my William, my son, after all it’s only three drops, and I’m
sure we can find a needle to prick him with.’
‘That would hurt the little one. I could do it if you want, he would
just feel pleasure if I nicked his foot, feel like a tickle - if you
trust me, that is.’
Riley then did one of the bravest things he ever had. He went and got
his son from Sam, who followed him into the room. She watched as her
demon hunting, highly trained husband placed his precious son into
Hostile 17’s arms.
‘Go to your God father,’ he said gently.
Spike looked up at the man and Rilely could see the tears in Spike’s
eyes. Spike could hardly see for the blurred vision. He wiped his free
arm across his face and looked down at the infant.
‘I’m never going to let anything happen to you, little one. I will
always have your back,’ he whispered and leant down and blew a
raspberry on the little one’s stomach. Young William giggled and
laughed, waving his arms in the air and brushing against the brow
ridges with his chubby little arm.
‘Now that’s a sight I never thought I’d see: The Slayer of Slayers,
William the Bloody, one quarter of the scourge of Europe, playing with
a baby with no intention of biting him,’ Sam commented.
‘Actually Sam, Spike needs to get a couple of drops of William’s
blood,’ Riley said.
‘And you’re OK with that?’ She didn’t sound mad, or scared, in fact the
only emotion Willow could detect was surprise.
‘Well yeah, he won’t hurt him.’
‘No he won’t. Riley, Riley Finn, you are a good man,’ Sam said and
kissed him on the lips.
‘Time for magic.’ Morgana said and pointed at the circle. ‘In you go,
Xander.’
Xander got up from the chair, gently kissed Anya on the lips and made
his way over to the circle that had been drawn on the floor in sage.
There was one small gap that he used as a gate and sat in the centre of
the circle as Willow joined him.
Morgana went to cut Spike’s arm, but the vampire shook his head. ‘Let
me pet,’ he said and slipped into game face. Morgana held up a cup and
Spike slashed his wrist and let the blood flow into the vessel.
Sam watched in fascination. She must admit he looked handsome even as a
demon. His golden eyes gleamed and looked at the baby in the vampire’s
arms; he unwrapped a tiny foot and gently pricked it with one fang.
William kept giggling and laughing as three drops of his blood were
added to the vessel.
Morgana handed the cup to Willow and sealed the circle with more of the
sage. Willow then started chanting.
‘Let that which was gone, return,
Let the body be whole and complete,
Let the eye renew,
Let it see clearly.’
She passed her hand over the mix and it started to smoke. She then went
over to Xander and poured it into the orbit that once contained his
eye. The liquid boiled and bubbled in the orbit, and the smell was
foul. The smoking continued and Xander started screaming and shaking,
an arm lashed out and caught Willow across the face. Willow scooted
backwards until she was as far away from Xander as she could get. His
fists were lashing out and would have hit her if she’d stayed where she
was.
Spike handed his Godson back to his mother and went over. ‘Let me in
Willow,’ he ordered.
‘I hate magic,’ he added. Morgana extended the circle behind the
vampire and as soon as he was sealed in his own area, Willow opened up
the circle in front of him, allowing him into help.
The vampire wrapped his arms around the man and held him still, using
his preternatural strength to prevent him from harming himself or
anyone else. The smoking seemed to be dying down.
‘It’s OK mate, I’ve got you,’ he whispered in Xander’s ear. When at
last it was over, Xander came round to find himself securely held in
Spike’s arms. Safe.
Xander looked over at Willow, she was getting a lovely black eye.
‘Sorry,’ he said.
‘It’s OK.’
Xander put a hand up to his face. He opened his eyes and there, staring
back at the crowd gathered around, were two eyes. Xander was healed.