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Entry tags:
Taming the Muse Prompt 21, BoaS Part 6, Halloween, BtVS, PG
.
I have never been this late before, but I made it. Phew! *wipes brow and staggers off to bed*
Title: Halloween
Part 6 of the Blood on a Sundial series.
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: #21 - Comics
Previous parts, in reverse order, are here or in my memories.
At:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
tamingthemuse
Disclaimer: here.
Rating: Pg
Note: Lots of lines from the episode of the same title.
Word Count: 3,024
6. Halloween
Spike strode down the length of the room, spun on his heel and turned back to look at Dru, his arms raised away from his sides in a gesture of expansive pleasure. "Come on, love," he said, trying to instil in her some of his own enthusiasm. "It's much nicer than the last place. There's space here to expand. And a snug room downstairs for us, out of sight of any chance of sunlight. I've had your bed moved in." He trailed off in the face of her vacant apathy. "Oh love, please?"
Dru looked up at him from her chair. "I'm your princess." It wasn't a question but he rushed back to reassure her, just the same.
"Yes, my love. You are my princess. My wicked plum." He laid his hands on her shoulders, smoothing them down her arms to take her hands. "You're my dark delight. My wondrous jewel." He lifted her hands and bent his head to kiss them. "My all."
She smiled, a small wistful smile. "But the prince shall live in mourning when the flowers die," she said sadly.
"No, love. The Princess will blossom into her realm again. She'll rule the sundry planets and hold sway over it all."
Dru's face fell. "The Cats have found their hidey holes and the mice come out to play."
He knew he'd lost her then. She was off somewhere he couldn't follow. He had no idea how much of what she said was metaphor and how much was just nonsense, but he knew enough to take precautions. Turning around, he yelled, "Double the guard on all entrances. In shifts through the day. I want constant watch, people. No one gets in here. No one!" Turning back to Dru, he lifted her into his arms. "It's late, love. And you're feeling the coming of the sun. Let me take you where it'll never shine? Let me look after you?" He carried her down the stairs to their new room and laid her on the bed, before he retreated to the chair, to watch and guard her sleep.
*****
Xander caught up with the girls at the counter of Ethan's Costume Shop. He started to salute Buffy and just managed to avoid hitting himself in the head with his toy gun. Grabbing the gun in his left hand, he finished the salute with a flourish. "Sergeant Harris of Blackwing reporting!" he said smartly. "Ready and willing for action, Ma'am." He glanced at Willow "-s," he added.
Willow laughed. "Doofus," she said fondly. "You're dressing up as a comic book hero?"
"Not just any comic book hero, Ma'am. The Blackwing were the greatest soldiers comics have ever produced. And I've been with them since I was five." Adding belatedly, "Ma'am."
Buffy smiled. "That's not a costume," she observed.
Xander shrugged. "I've got fatigues from an Army surplus at home. Call me the Two-Dollar Costume King!" He raised his gun appraisingly "Okay, so it's not the most realistic of weapons, but have you seen the price of those? Not to mention the chance that the Sunnydale police might actually do their job for once and shoot me, thinking it was real. The way this year's going, that could actually happen." He grinned to show that he was joking, but a part of him was feeling smug for his forethought.
*****
Spike was watching a video of the Slayer fighting. "Here it comes," he warned. He stared up at the television mounted on the scaffold, where the Slayer was busy staking a vampire. Holding up his hand he commanded, "Rewind that. Let's see that again." He noticed the boy hovering on he edge of the fight, as always. At one point he surged forward as the vampire staggered back from a blow, and pushed the witless fool back towards the Slayer, just as she grabbed a post out of the ground. It was a pleasure to watch. Especially since the new pile of dust in the park wasn't one of his. "You see that? The way she stakes him with that thing? That's what's called resourceful. Rewind it again."
Drusilla came to stand behind him, placing one hand on his shoulder and whispering into his ear, "Miss Edith needs her tea." Spike turned, sliding an arm around her waist. She cocked her head appraisingly. "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?"
Spike nuzzled into her neck, wishing she was strong again. He pulled his head back and gazed into her eyes. "Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet. That's why I've got to study this Slayer. Once I kill her, you can have your run of Sunnyhell."
Dru's eyes lost their focus and her voice became sly. "Don't worry. Everything's switching. Outside to inside." She seemed to waver and he got ready to catch her, should she fall. "It makes her weak."
That sounded interesting. "Really?" he asked. "Did my pet have a vision? Come on, talk to Daddy. This thing that makes the Slayer weak? When is it?"
Dru's smile was among his favourite things and she gifted him with it now. "Tomorrow," she said.
That couldn't be right. "Tomorrow's Halloween, love. Nothing happens on Halloween."
"It does now. Someone's come to change it all. Someone new."
*****
Xander stood In the school hallway, a line of eager young faces gazing up at him. "Okay, on sleazing extra candy: tears are key. Tears will normally get you the double-bagger." As he talked he walked up and down in front of his rank of kids: the weathered veteran imparting his knowledge and experience into those eager, impressionable minds. "You can also try the old 'you missed me' routine, but it's risky. Only go there for chocolate. Understood?" The kids all nodded so he turned smartly and did a little drill step on the spot. "Okay, troops. Let's move out."
*****
Sergeant Harris conned the immediate area, all his senses on the alert as he tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. A roar in the distance caused him to spin, raising his rifle. He sighted on the large brown beast like thing. A clean head shot. It didn't matter what it was, head shots always worked. It veered off into the shadows behind a house and he lifted his eyes from his telescopic sight to broaden his view. The place was in chaos. He didn't have a fucking clue where he was or how the hell he got here. But wherever it was, it wasn't normal. Maintaining maximum alert he moved forward, scanning the environment for the rest of his squad. They would know what was happening, what the target was and how he'd lost his memory of recent events.
A young girl came running down the street and he readied himself to assist, or defend himself. She stopped in front of him. "Xander?" she gasped. He lifted his rifle. "Xander! It's me, Willow!"
So she had mistaken him for someone else. She didn't look threatening, but he had learnt through bitter experience that appearances could be deceiving. "I don't know any Willow," he replied, cautiously.
That didn't seem to dissuade her, rather it seemed to annoy her. "Xander, quit messing around. This is no time for jokes."
She seemed convinced he was someone else, but she may know something useful. "What the hell's going on here?" he asked.
Her face fell. "You don't know me?"
Didn't look like she was going to be any use to him. He mentally reclassified her as someone to protect. That felt right, so he went with his instincts. "Lady, I suggest you come with me and we find some temporary cover, until I can work out where the rest of my unit is." As he started to move on, she grabbed at his arm. Her hand passed straight through it.
She looked down at her hand, shook it, like it had a dead battery or something and reached out again. This time her entire arm disappeared into his chest. He jumped back, alarmed and a little freaked.
He raised his rifle again and aimed it at her as he began to step back. "What the hell are you?" he asked.
She looked as freaked out as he felt. "Xander, please listen to me. I'm on your side, I swear! Something crazy is happening. I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween, a-and now," her voice began to quaver. "I am a ghost. And you were supposed to be a soldier, and now I, I-I guess you're a real soldier."
Of course he was a 'real' soldier. He'd served in three separate wars. But nowhere had he ever come across a ghost before. "You expect me to believe that?" he asked.
A growl sounded behind him and he swung around, rifle at the ready. The ghost girl jumped in front of him. "No! No guns! That's still a little kid in there!"
It looked more like a garden gnome. "Step out of the way!" he ordered.
But she came right back, "No guns! That's an order!" The creature had already run away so he lowered his weapon. The girl looked around the chaos in the street. "We just need to find..." Her eyes locked on another young woman in some sort of ball gown, who was wandering dazed among the parked up cars. "Buffy!" she cried, taking off towards the newcomer.
Sergeant Harris followed. "I just want you to know that I'm taking a lot on faith here," he announced to no one.
The ghost girl seemed to know what she wanted, even if he didn't. She reached the prom queen and spoke to her urgently. "Buffy, what do we do?"
Buffy? Weird name. Weird girl - she took one look at them and fell to the ground in a dead faint.
Another scream split the night, this one more high pitched and panicked than the noises the monsters made. Monsters. He'd called them monsters in his head. Like they were real.
Yet another girl came running around the corner. "Somebody help me!" she cried.
Harris moved to intercept her, grabbing her arms to keep her on her feet and bring her to a halt. Thrusting her behind him he sighted on the big bear that was chasing her and shot it in the leg. It went down with a squeal and crawled away into the bushes. The cool logical part of Harris' brain began to fill in the blanks - it looked like he'd fallen into some sort of battle in the middle of a fancy dress party. At least the prom queen was on her feet again. He spread his glare impartially across all three of them. "What the..." he censored himself, "blazes, is going on here? What are you civilians doing mixed up in a conflict zone?" Turning back to his latest charge he took in her costume for the first time. "And why the... hell are you dressed as a cat?"
"Dressed as a cat! That's it!" So now the ghost girl had flipped, too. She was bouncing on the spot, waving her arms around in excitement. "I've got it!" she cried. "I know where it started." She looked past him, deflating as suddenly as she had started to buzz. "Oh no!" she said.
Harris turned to see what she was looking at. A young man in a long leather coat and punkish bleached hair was striding towards them, followed by six others, with very strange faces and a couple of the garden gnomes. Catwoman grabbed the Princess. The ghost girl pointed towards the young punk. "That one.... Not a civilian." She said.
Harris raised his rifle and took aim, but he was unwilling to kill just on her say so. "Halt!" He shouted.
The punk laughed. "And who's going to make me?" He yelled. He turned to his followers. "You lot, stay back! This one's mine."
That didn't sound very friendly. Harris took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The young punk rocked as the bullet pierced his shoulder, but surprisingly he didn't fall. He did however stop his advance. "Fucking hell! That hurts!" He growled. Then something strange happened - his face seemed to change. Suddenly Harris was gazing across the four feet that separated them, into glowing yellow eyes.
Behind him someone screamed. Harris raised his rifle and turned it as he swung, so the butt slammed into the punk's head, knocking him over. He looked around, just in time to see the Princess taking off pursued by the cat. Glancing over his shoulder he noted that the punk was not going anywhere soon and his weird followers seemed to have scattered.
The ghost rushed up close to him, getting in his way. "Listen," she said. "You find some cover, I'm going to get some help."
Before Harris could say anything she was off, running down the street. He watched her disappear round the corner and mentally shrugged -.it was sad, but it was one less civilian for him to worry about. He took off after the other two girls, catching up with them in an alley off a main shopping street. It looked to be mostly warehouses. He spotted a door. "This way!" he called as he forced it open. Catwoman bundled the princess in before her and Harris slammed the door shut and shoved the bolt in place. "I'm going to check if there are any other ways in. Stay here!"
Behind him came the sound of pounding on the door. Across the room, he slammed the only other door shut and locked it. The pounding was replaced by the ominous squeal of tearing metal. He rushed back and leant against the door, attempting to hold it closed. "GO-OOOO!" he yelled. Then the door gave way, taking him down with it.
He must have been out for an instant, because the next thing he knew the strange men had both the girls in hand and the young punk was standing over him.
"Hello, pet." He grinned. "That was a merry dance. But I think it's over now, don't you?" He reached down and pulled Harris to his feet. He was stronger than he looked.
Harris straightened his back. "I don't know who the fuck you are, but you're getting nothing from me but name, rank and serial number."
The punk laughed. "Very nice, pet. But you can stop your game now. You know who I am. And you know what you are. Don't you?"
"Sergeant Alexander Harris, Serial number: Alpha Tango Delta 68594," he rapped out.
The punk's brows gathered in a frown. He looked hard into Harris' eyes. "Upside down and inside out..." he muttered to himself. "Well isn't this interesting. You even smell different. Not so... terrified."
Harris pulled away, looked the punk straight in the eye and stood to attention. He nodded to his captor and relaxed into 'at ease' with his hands behind his back. Keeping the rest of his body still, he slid his right hand into the waistband of his trousers and grasped his spare pistol.
The punk grinned. "Well, this is just neat!" Turning to his followers, he began to issue instructions. "Tie those two up. Take them back to the lair. This one, stays with me. For now."
Harris launched himself forwards as he brought his gun round. Slamming into the punk he knocked him over. The punk recovered fast, seeming to spin in mid-air. He grabbed Harris' wrists and forced the pistol up, so the shot went through the roof. Then he fell back, dragging Harris with him. They landed on the ground, with Harris on top and he tried to use his weight to his advantage. But the punk was really strong and somehow managed to roll them over. Braced himself over Harris, his face shifted into that weird mask from the street. His teeth looked huge and very sharp from this close range and he began to lower then towards Harris' neck.
*****
Xander got one arm free and raised his... water pistol? His eyes flew to Spike's face and he saw comprehension there, just before Spike was lifted bodily off him and thrown across the room. Buffy reached down a hand and helped Xander up. She tossed her head and the black wig came off, exposing her natural blonde. She turned around and faced Spike as he scrambled to his feet. "Hi, honey. I'm home."
Then she was across the room. She landed one punch in Spike's gut and another two to his face. Spike staggered back. With a scissor move that Xander would have sworn was impossible in those skirts, she followed up with a kick to his chest. Spike crashed back into the wall by the door. He grabbed a length of pipe that was leaning there and swung it at her. She caught the end of it and pulled him around so he collided with a crate, releasing his hold on the pipe.
Using the pipe like a quarterstaff, Buffy swung it into his face and followed up with a jab to the stomach. He doubled over. Planting the end of the pipe on the floor and leaning on it she laughed. "You know what?" she asked, rhetorically. "It's really good to be me."
Spike managed to regain his feet and looked around at the three piles of dust, and at the open door his other followers had fled through. With a last growl, he staggered after them.
Xander helped Cordelia up from where she had landed when Buffy had attacked her captors. "Hey, Buff. Welcome back," he said.
She smiled. "Yeah! You, too."
In the corner was a small boy, his face just beginning to scrunch up in a prelude to tears. "I'm scared!" he howled. "I want my mommy!"
Cordelia rushed over to comfort him and Xander shrugged at Buffy with a rueful grin. "You know what?" he asked. "One day, I'm going to have some say over the way my life goes. And when that happens, I'm going to declare Halloween illegal. What was that you said about 'one night off'?"
Next Part
I have never been this late before, but I made it. Phew! *wipes brow and staggers off to bed*
Title: Halloween
Part 6 of the Blood on a Sundial series.
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: #21 - Comics
Previous parts, in reverse order, are here or in my memories.
At:
tamingthemuseDisclaimer: here.
Rating: Pg
Note: Lots of lines from the episode of the same title.
Word Count: 3,024
6. Halloween
Spike strode down the length of the room, spun on his heel and turned back to look at Dru, his arms raised away from his sides in a gesture of expansive pleasure. "Come on, love," he said, trying to instil in her some of his own enthusiasm. "It's much nicer than the last place. There's space here to expand. And a snug room downstairs for us, out of sight of any chance of sunlight. I've had your bed moved in." He trailed off in the face of her vacant apathy. "Oh love, please?"
Dru looked up at him from her chair. "I'm your princess." It wasn't a question but he rushed back to reassure her, just the same.
"Yes, my love. You are my princess. My wicked plum." He laid his hands on her shoulders, smoothing them down her arms to take her hands. "You're my dark delight. My wondrous jewel." He lifted her hands and bent his head to kiss them. "My all."
She smiled, a small wistful smile. "But the prince shall live in mourning when the flowers die," she said sadly.
"No, love. The Princess will blossom into her realm again. She'll rule the sundry planets and hold sway over it all."
Dru's face fell. "The Cats have found their hidey holes and the mice come out to play."
He knew he'd lost her then. She was off somewhere he couldn't follow. He had no idea how much of what she said was metaphor and how much was just nonsense, but he knew enough to take precautions. Turning around, he yelled, "Double the guard on all entrances. In shifts through the day. I want constant watch, people. No one gets in here. No one!" Turning back to Dru, he lifted her into his arms. "It's late, love. And you're feeling the coming of the sun. Let me take you where it'll never shine? Let me look after you?" He carried her down the stairs to their new room and laid her on the bed, before he retreated to the chair, to watch and guard her sleep.
*****
Xander caught up with the girls at the counter of Ethan's Costume Shop. He started to salute Buffy and just managed to avoid hitting himself in the head with his toy gun. Grabbing the gun in his left hand, he finished the salute with a flourish. "Sergeant Harris of Blackwing reporting!" he said smartly. "Ready and willing for action, Ma'am." He glanced at Willow "-s," he added.
Willow laughed. "Doofus," she said fondly. "You're dressing up as a comic book hero?"
"Not just any comic book hero, Ma'am. The Blackwing were the greatest soldiers comics have ever produced. And I've been with them since I was five." Adding belatedly, "Ma'am."
Buffy smiled. "That's not a costume," she observed.
Xander shrugged. "I've got fatigues from an Army surplus at home. Call me the Two-Dollar Costume King!" He raised his gun appraisingly "Okay, so it's not the most realistic of weapons, but have you seen the price of those? Not to mention the chance that the Sunnydale police might actually do their job for once and shoot me, thinking it was real. The way this year's going, that could actually happen." He grinned to show that he was joking, but a part of him was feeling smug for his forethought.
*****
Spike was watching a video of the Slayer fighting. "Here it comes," he warned. He stared up at the television mounted on the scaffold, where the Slayer was busy staking a vampire. Holding up his hand he commanded, "Rewind that. Let's see that again." He noticed the boy hovering on he edge of the fight, as always. At one point he surged forward as the vampire staggered back from a blow, and pushed the witless fool back towards the Slayer, just as she grabbed a post out of the ground. It was a pleasure to watch. Especially since the new pile of dust in the park wasn't one of his. "You see that? The way she stakes him with that thing? That's what's called resourceful. Rewind it again."
Drusilla came to stand behind him, placing one hand on his shoulder and whispering into his ear, "Miss Edith needs her tea." Spike turned, sliding an arm around her waist. She cocked her head appraisingly. "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?"
Spike nuzzled into her neck, wishing she was strong again. He pulled his head back and gazed into her eyes. "Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet. That's why I've got to study this Slayer. Once I kill her, you can have your run of Sunnyhell."
Dru's eyes lost their focus and her voice became sly. "Don't worry. Everything's switching. Outside to inside." She seemed to waver and he got ready to catch her, should she fall. "It makes her weak."
That sounded interesting. "Really?" he asked. "Did my pet have a vision? Come on, talk to Daddy. This thing that makes the Slayer weak? When is it?"
Dru's smile was among his favourite things and she gifted him with it now. "Tomorrow," she said.
That couldn't be right. "Tomorrow's Halloween, love. Nothing happens on Halloween."
"It does now. Someone's come to change it all. Someone new."
*****
Xander stood In the school hallway, a line of eager young faces gazing up at him. "Okay, on sleazing extra candy: tears are key. Tears will normally get you the double-bagger." As he talked he walked up and down in front of his rank of kids: the weathered veteran imparting his knowledge and experience into those eager, impressionable minds. "You can also try the old 'you missed me' routine, but it's risky. Only go there for chocolate. Understood?" The kids all nodded so he turned smartly and did a little drill step on the spot. "Okay, troops. Let's move out."
*****
Sergeant Harris conned the immediate area, all his senses on the alert as he tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. A roar in the distance caused him to spin, raising his rifle. He sighted on the large brown beast like thing. A clean head shot. It didn't matter what it was, head shots always worked. It veered off into the shadows behind a house and he lifted his eyes from his telescopic sight to broaden his view. The place was in chaos. He didn't have a fucking clue where he was or how the hell he got here. But wherever it was, it wasn't normal. Maintaining maximum alert he moved forward, scanning the environment for the rest of his squad. They would know what was happening, what the target was and how he'd lost his memory of recent events.
A young girl came running down the street and he readied himself to assist, or defend himself. She stopped in front of him. "Xander?" she gasped. He lifted his rifle. "Xander! It's me, Willow!"
So she had mistaken him for someone else. She didn't look threatening, but he had learnt through bitter experience that appearances could be deceiving. "I don't know any Willow," he replied, cautiously.
That didn't seem to dissuade her, rather it seemed to annoy her. "Xander, quit messing around. This is no time for jokes."
She seemed convinced he was someone else, but she may know something useful. "What the hell's going on here?" he asked.
Her face fell. "You don't know me?"
Didn't look like she was going to be any use to him. He mentally reclassified her as someone to protect. That felt right, so he went with his instincts. "Lady, I suggest you come with me and we find some temporary cover, until I can work out where the rest of my unit is." As he started to move on, she grabbed at his arm. Her hand passed straight through it.
She looked down at her hand, shook it, like it had a dead battery or something and reached out again. This time her entire arm disappeared into his chest. He jumped back, alarmed and a little freaked.
He raised his rifle again and aimed it at her as he began to step back. "What the hell are you?" he asked.
She looked as freaked out as he felt. "Xander, please listen to me. I'm on your side, I swear! Something crazy is happening. I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween, a-and now," her voice began to quaver. "I am a ghost. And you were supposed to be a soldier, and now I, I-I guess you're a real soldier."
Of course he was a 'real' soldier. He'd served in three separate wars. But nowhere had he ever come across a ghost before. "You expect me to believe that?" he asked.
A growl sounded behind him and he swung around, rifle at the ready. The ghost girl jumped in front of him. "No! No guns! That's still a little kid in there!"
It looked more like a garden gnome. "Step out of the way!" he ordered.
But she came right back, "No guns! That's an order!" The creature had already run away so he lowered his weapon. The girl looked around the chaos in the street. "We just need to find..." Her eyes locked on another young woman in some sort of ball gown, who was wandering dazed among the parked up cars. "Buffy!" she cried, taking off towards the newcomer.
Sergeant Harris followed. "I just want you to know that I'm taking a lot on faith here," he announced to no one.
The ghost girl seemed to know what she wanted, even if he didn't. She reached the prom queen and spoke to her urgently. "Buffy, what do we do?"
Buffy? Weird name. Weird girl - she took one look at them and fell to the ground in a dead faint.
Another scream split the night, this one more high pitched and panicked than the noises the monsters made. Monsters. He'd called them monsters in his head. Like they were real.
Yet another girl came running around the corner. "Somebody help me!" she cried.
Harris moved to intercept her, grabbing her arms to keep her on her feet and bring her to a halt. Thrusting her behind him he sighted on the big bear that was chasing her and shot it in the leg. It went down with a squeal and crawled away into the bushes. The cool logical part of Harris' brain began to fill in the blanks - it looked like he'd fallen into some sort of battle in the middle of a fancy dress party. At least the prom queen was on her feet again. He spread his glare impartially across all three of them. "What the..." he censored himself, "blazes, is going on here? What are you civilians doing mixed up in a conflict zone?" Turning back to his latest charge he took in her costume for the first time. "And why the... hell are you dressed as a cat?"
"Dressed as a cat! That's it!" So now the ghost girl had flipped, too. She was bouncing on the spot, waving her arms around in excitement. "I've got it!" she cried. "I know where it started." She looked past him, deflating as suddenly as she had started to buzz. "Oh no!" she said.
Harris turned to see what she was looking at. A young man in a long leather coat and punkish bleached hair was striding towards them, followed by six others, with very strange faces and a couple of the garden gnomes. Catwoman grabbed the Princess. The ghost girl pointed towards the young punk. "That one.... Not a civilian." She said.
Harris raised his rifle and took aim, but he was unwilling to kill just on her say so. "Halt!" He shouted.
The punk laughed. "And who's going to make me?" He yelled. He turned to his followers. "You lot, stay back! This one's mine."
That didn't sound very friendly. Harris took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The young punk rocked as the bullet pierced his shoulder, but surprisingly he didn't fall. He did however stop his advance. "Fucking hell! That hurts!" He growled. Then something strange happened - his face seemed to change. Suddenly Harris was gazing across the four feet that separated them, into glowing yellow eyes.
Behind him someone screamed. Harris raised his rifle and turned it as he swung, so the butt slammed into the punk's head, knocking him over. He looked around, just in time to see the Princess taking off pursued by the cat. Glancing over his shoulder he noted that the punk was not going anywhere soon and his weird followers seemed to have scattered.
The ghost rushed up close to him, getting in his way. "Listen," she said. "You find some cover, I'm going to get some help."
Before Harris could say anything she was off, running down the street. He watched her disappear round the corner and mentally shrugged -.it was sad, but it was one less civilian for him to worry about. He took off after the other two girls, catching up with them in an alley off a main shopping street. It looked to be mostly warehouses. He spotted a door. "This way!" he called as he forced it open. Catwoman bundled the princess in before her and Harris slammed the door shut and shoved the bolt in place. "I'm going to check if there are any other ways in. Stay here!"
Behind him came the sound of pounding on the door. Across the room, he slammed the only other door shut and locked it. The pounding was replaced by the ominous squeal of tearing metal. He rushed back and leant against the door, attempting to hold it closed. "GO-OOOO!" he yelled. Then the door gave way, taking him down with it.
He must have been out for an instant, because the next thing he knew the strange men had both the girls in hand and the young punk was standing over him.
"Hello, pet." He grinned. "That was a merry dance. But I think it's over now, don't you?" He reached down and pulled Harris to his feet. He was stronger than he looked.
Harris straightened his back. "I don't know who the fuck you are, but you're getting nothing from me but name, rank and serial number."
The punk laughed. "Very nice, pet. But you can stop your game now. You know who I am. And you know what you are. Don't you?"
"Sergeant Alexander Harris, Serial number: Alpha Tango Delta 68594," he rapped out.
The punk's brows gathered in a frown. He looked hard into Harris' eyes. "Upside down and inside out..." he muttered to himself. "Well isn't this interesting. You even smell different. Not so... terrified."
Harris pulled away, looked the punk straight in the eye and stood to attention. He nodded to his captor and relaxed into 'at ease' with his hands behind his back. Keeping the rest of his body still, he slid his right hand into the waistband of his trousers and grasped his spare pistol.
The punk grinned. "Well, this is just neat!" Turning to his followers, he began to issue instructions. "Tie those two up. Take them back to the lair. This one, stays with me. For now."
Harris launched himself forwards as he brought his gun round. Slamming into the punk he knocked him over. The punk recovered fast, seeming to spin in mid-air. He grabbed Harris' wrists and forced the pistol up, so the shot went through the roof. Then he fell back, dragging Harris with him. They landed on the ground, with Harris on top and he tried to use his weight to his advantage. But the punk was really strong and somehow managed to roll them over. Braced himself over Harris, his face shifted into that weird mask from the street. His teeth looked huge and very sharp from this close range and he began to lower then towards Harris' neck.
*****
Xander got one arm free and raised his... water pistol? His eyes flew to Spike's face and he saw comprehension there, just before Spike was lifted bodily off him and thrown across the room. Buffy reached down a hand and helped Xander up. She tossed her head and the black wig came off, exposing her natural blonde. She turned around and faced Spike as he scrambled to his feet. "Hi, honey. I'm home."
Then she was across the room. She landed one punch in Spike's gut and another two to his face. Spike staggered back. With a scissor move that Xander would have sworn was impossible in those skirts, she followed up with a kick to his chest. Spike crashed back into the wall by the door. He grabbed a length of pipe that was leaning there and swung it at her. She caught the end of it and pulled him around so he collided with a crate, releasing his hold on the pipe.
Using the pipe like a quarterstaff, Buffy swung it into his face and followed up with a jab to the stomach. He doubled over. Planting the end of the pipe on the floor and leaning on it she laughed. "You know what?" she asked, rhetorically. "It's really good to be me."
Spike managed to regain his feet and looked around at the three piles of dust, and at the open door his other followers had fled through. With a last growl, he staggered after them.
Xander helped Cordelia up from where she had landed when Buffy had attacked her captors. "Hey, Buff. Welcome back," he said.
She smiled. "Yeah! You, too."
In the corner was a small boy, his face just beginning to scrunch up in a prelude to tears. "I'm scared!" he howled. "I want my mommy!"
Cordelia rushed over to comfort him and Xander shrugged at Buffy with a rueful grin. "You know what?" he asked. "One day, I'm going to have some say over the way my life goes. And when that happens, I'm going to declare Halloween illegal. What was that you said about 'one night off'?"
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a nice twist on the episode and a great look into soldier Xander's head.
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I'm still awed by your ability to describe Buffy fighting.
Nice job!
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I'm still awed by your ability to describe Buffy fighting. That is very kind. But you do this too - the description of Will in Declan's room was a perfect description of physical movement, portrayed with economy of wording.
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I loved Xander being smug about not buying a real weapon because the Sunnyhell police might actually do their job for once. He should know that a lot stranger things than being arrested can happen in this town.
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Thank you. I am so glad you continue to enjoy.
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*Laughs* Poor old Spike. His plans keep getting bollocksed up don't they. He will stop to talk, or gloat or change his mind, or have a better idea, or...
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Thank you for reading and commenting.
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Pesti
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Thanks for commenting.
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Thanks for the lovely words, C
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Thanks for reading.
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Thank you.