With Or Without You, Part 4/7

[dragonyphoenix]

Title: With Or Without You, Part 4/7
Fandom: BtVS, The Night Stalker
Characters/Pairing: In this part, Buffy, Giles, Oz, Carl Kolchak, Spike, Angelus, Willow
Rating: I'm going with NC-17 for some specific bits but most is PG-13
Concrit: Please, in comments
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, not yet.  But they will be, once I've taken over the world.  Bwah ha ha.
Warnings/Squicks: None
Summary: Looking back up, I scanned the area only to find that the other vampire had disappeared. Rounding on Mr. Kolchak, I shouted, “What the hell were you doing? The next time I tell you to run from vampires, you run from vampires. Got it?"  “But... how? Dust?” he stammered in response.

Story index is here.

Mom held us up at the door. “Thank you so much for picking Buffy up. With it being Saturday and the school empty, I'm just relieved to know you'll be keeping an eye on her.”
 

“The school isn't as empty as you think on the weekends but I'll be happy to keep an eye on Buffy,” Giles replied.
 

“See you tonight, Mom,” I said, walking towards the curb while Giles made his good-byes.
 

“I'll pick you up after I close the Gallery,” she yelled after me. She had a big show that evening, which meant we'd be undisturbed.
 

The back seat of Giles' car was so full of newspapers that he wouldn't be able to see out the rear window. “That's a lot of papers,” I said in dismay. Not that I minded doing the research but I wanted to get that part done and over with so I could save Xander and Willow.
 

“And there are more in the trunk. Oz will be working the computer search but we might spot something he misses,” Giles replied, misunderstanding my comment.
 

“Why didn't we look through these before?” Why didn't we do everything we could to save Xander before?
 

“I have been,” he glared disapprovingly as he pulled the car away from the curb, “but now we'll be able to narrow our search. Angelus could only have vanished so completely in a large city. That he was able to come back for Willow suggests he's still nearby. These are newspapers from Los Angeles for the past three months.” He tried to start up a conversation while his car puttered us towards the high school but I wasn't in the mood to talk.
 

Oz, who was waiting for us outside the library, helped us carry in newspapers and then started typing away at the computer while Giles and I began searching through the papers. “Rather like looking for a needle in a haystack, I'm afraid,” was Giles' comment on our search.
 

“Let's hope Oz has more luck.” While I would have rather been killing Angelus, anything we could do to find him, I was up for. I only hoped it would prove fruitful.
 

Oz kept calling Giles over to check out something he'd found. The first half-dozen times, I jumped up too but it always turned out to be something Giles could eliminate as a possibility, sometimes because he'd already checked it out and sometimes because it just didn't fit. Oz just didn't have Willow's experience at that kind of research.
 

Two hours later, when the phone rang, the papers we'd read through were a tiny pile compared to the ones we still had left. Standing up with a stretch, Giles picked up, saying “Sunnydale High School. Mr. Giles speaking... Mrs. Summers... Of course...”
 

He held the phone out to me. “Mom?” She was just checking up on me. She wanted to bring me lunch but, knowing it would be difficult to explain the newspapers, I said I'd order a pizza. I told her I'd be careful, wanting to tell her to do the same. “I love you too.”
 

I'd been so abrupt with her that morning, just like I had with Willow the last time I'd seen her. Shouting something about getting a soda, I ran out of the library.
 

Of course, when I got back, Giles wanted to know if anything was wrong. I put him off with, “What if Angelus comes for her next? What if he comes for you? I can't protect, I can't protect anyone.” Turns out I wasn't putting him off.
 

“We'll figure it out,” he promised. Oz looked up but didn't ask so I guess Giles had explained the Slayer thing to him the day before when they'd been discussing what to search for.
 

There were four soda cans sitting next to me, three of them empty, when Oz called Giles over. I didn't even bother to look up from my paper until Giles gave an excited, “Oh.”
 

Coming around behind them, I scanned what I could see of the article. “Carl Kolchak. Ancient orders? Ritual sacrifice of witches? Giles, how does this rate an 'oh'?”
 

“Traditionally redheaded women were thought to be more susceptible to the devil,” Oz replied as he stepped away from the computer with a stretch, allowing Giles to sit down at the screen.
 

I didn't know how that would tie in and, when I didn't respond, Giles explained. “If you'd read this part here, you would have seen that redheaded women have been disappearing from Los Angeles over the course of the last three months. It started shortly after Xander was taken and ended about ten days ago.”
 

“I need to go to LA.”
 

“Buffy, we don't know for certain this is related,” Giles replied.
 

“Giles? The dates? Of course it's related,” I said, pacing across the room, needing to move now that I had a target.
 

“What will you tell your mother? You can't just up and leave. She's already terrified for you,” Giles said, turning in his chair to face me.
 

“I could go,” Oz added. “Not a big deal for me to skip class.”
 

“No,” Giles said decisively. “I'm sorry Oz but you have no idea what to look for. I should go.”
 

“But what if you run into vampires?” Oz asked. “You told me that Buffy, as the Slayer, had special abilities...” he trailed off, implying that Giles wouldn't be a match for any vampires he found. True enough even if Giles didn't agree.
 

“I'm going. Alone. Spring Break starts next week. I'll tell Mom I'm wigging here. She'll let me skip out of town early to visit Dad if that will get me to safety,” I said.

 

* * *

 

I'd wasted all of Sunday on the ride to LA and, of course after Mom's phone call, Dad was waiting for me just as I was getting off the bus. With no way to ditch him that evening, so I consoled myself with the thought that I wouldn't be able to hunt down Mr. Kolchak until the next day anyway.
 

The next morning, when Dad asked why I was up so early, I made up an idiotic excuse about meeting Cheryl, a pre-Sunnydale friend, for breakfast. It was lame, and I had to talk fast to get him to buy it, but I realized that, here in LA, I could get some old friends to cover for me while I was out searching for Willow.
 

Independent News Service was written out in gold lettering on the transparent glass of the door. As I stopped in the doorway, I looked into the office uncertainly. It was a long room with over a dozen desks sticking out from the wall's huge windows which were, inexplicably, covered in shades. I'd expected individual offices, with nameplates and wasn't sure what to do.
 

I jumped and turned when I heard, from behind, “Oh, excuse me, dear.” Maybe Giles was right to be worried. I must be really off my game, I thought, if some sweet old granny can sneak up behind me. She wore a flowered, pink hat, which was nothing like anything my own grandmother had ever worn, but somehow it reminded me of sitting in my grandfather's lap and of eating cookies at grandma's table.
 

“I'm sorry,” I said.
 

She smiled at me and, for a brief moment, I felt innocent, like I had before I'd found out about Slayers and vampires and demons. I followed her to one of the desks, where she put her knitting down. She took off her hat, placed it carefully in a desk drawer, and hung her coat up. “Can I help you dear?”
 

The weight of why I was there settled back on my shoulders. “I'm looking for Mr. Kolchak.”
 

“Oh, that's his desk there, three back,” she said cheerfully. “But I'm afraid he's not in. Carl's not an early riser,” she confided in a whisper loud enough to be heard throughout the whole room.
 

“Would it be OK if I left him a message?” I asked.
 

“Oh, you go right ahead, dear,” she replied.
 

Mr. Kolchak's desk had a few papers on it but nothing that would help me. I opened one of the drawers and was immediately accosted by by a mouse of a man, wearing a suit that seemed sort of lounge lizardy to me but whose mustache was as precisely cut as Cordelia's nails were filed.
 

“And what are you doing here, miss?”
 

When I told him I wanted to leave a message, he handed me a pen and paper and then stood over me while I wrote it out. Since I couldn't go through Mr. Kolchak's desk with the man standing there, I said, “I'm going to go back over to,” and gestured in the direction of the woman I'd talked to earlier.
 

“Miss Emily,” he supplied.
 

“Yes, Miss Emily. Thank you,” I added.
 

I could feel his glare, between my shoulder blades, as I walked back to Miss Emily. He didn't return to his own desk until I started taking with her again. “Do you know when he'll be in?”
 

“Carl? Oh, not before noon, dear” she replied.
 

I went back to Dad's apartment to wait for Mr. Kolchak's call. After Mom and I had moved to Sunnydale, Dad had sold the house. The apartment was trendy and immaculately clean. When I found lipstick in a bathroom drawer, I picked it up but it wasn't any shade Mom or I had ever worn. I dropped it and shut the drawer. I'd told Mom I would study while I was there, to keep up with my schoolwork, but I couldn't concentrate. I picked up the phone a couple of times, over the course of the morning, listening for the dial tone to make sure it was still working. At noon, I heated up some of the leftover Chinese for lunch, eating slowly, trying to stretch out the time. I took my time with the dishes as well but, by 12:30, I'd run out of things to distract myself with so I headed back out.
 

While the office was more crowded than it had been earlier, the fussy man was gone and the rest of the people ignored me. As I approached the desk, I saw it now held a camera and that there was a straw hat on the floor, below the coat rack. As I looked up, I saw a glass wall that separated this room from another office. Two men were arguing and, as the one in a wrinkled suit slammed open the door, he shouted, “Then I'll get you proof.”
 

“Mr. Kolchak?” I asked as he grabbed the camera and the hat.
 

“Not now, kid,” he replied, rushing out the door.
 

Following him into the hall, I called out, “Those redheaded women? Did they find any bodies?”
 

“Just the one,” he waved back, continuing to walk away from me.
 

“There were bite marks on the necks. Two holes,” I added.
 

He stopped, turned around, and really saw me. “Right in the middle of the hickeys. How did you know?”
 

Hickeys? “My friend has gone missing.” Nodding towards the camera, I asked. “Do you have any pictures?”
 

“Come on,” he said, walking back towards the office. Stopping by the door, he peered towards the back office and then we went to his desk. He pulled out a folder and then stopped. “I'm not sure I should show you these. They're pretty graphic.”
 

“I can handle it,” I whispered and then almost wished I hadn't when he showed me the photos. I thought it was Willow, for one brief moment, before I looked more closely.
 

“Is this your friend?” he asked gently.
 

“Her sister, maybe,” I replied before shaking my head. “No, but they look a lot alike.”
 

“All of the women do from what I've been able to gather,” he replied. Glancing towards the office at the back, he added, “Look, let's get out of here.”
 

I walked behind him, numb, until we reached the street. “Where did they find her?”
 

“Huh?” he asked absentmindedly. “Oh no. You aren't going down there. It's too dangerous.”
 

“Where?” I shouted.
 

“Look, kid. I hope you find your friend but, my advice? Stay out of this.”
 

I watched him walk away. “You'll need my help,” I said so softly that even I barely heard it before I started following. He walked down a couple of streets. They were vibrant and full of life: Spanish music; cooking scents; even dancing lessons through a large window. He ducked down an alley and paid a couple of kids to help him lift up a manhole cover before lowering himself down into it. Laughing, they put it back.
 

I didn't need their help with the manhole cover. As I leaped in after him, I heard the sound of shouting and vampire growls. Racing to the sounds, I found two vampires, minions and freshly turned by the look of them. Good. I needed to capture one to find out where Angelus had gone to ground.
 

Mr. Kolchak was screaming as the vampire went for his throat. I pulled it off of him, shouting to Mr. Kolchak to get out of there, and slammed into the vampire's head with my elbow. As it staggered back, I kicked it to the ground, trying to disable it enough to capture, but not kill it, when I saw a bright flash of light. Turning, I saw that Mr. Kolchak hadn't left but, instead, was taking pictures of the other vampire. The one I'd just kicked was down so I ran towards the remaining vampire shouting, “Pick on someone your own size.” Bit of a joke there since this one was as big as Angelus. The vampire struck at me twice, nice large roundhouse punches that were easy to block, and then came at me with a kick, which I swept out from under it, sending us both spinning into the air. Landing on top, I slammed my stake into it's chest, scattering the vamp into dust.
 

Looking back up, I scanned the area only to find that the other vampire had disappeared. Rounding on Mr. Kolchak, I shouted, “What the hell were you doing? The next time I tell you to run from vampires, you run from vampires. Got it?”
 

“But... how? Dust?” he stammered in response.

 

* * *
 

Drusilla. My one tie to Angelus. More like a shackle that he tugs on, to scrape my wrists raw, at regular intervals. Thing is, chains bind both
ways.
 

“Darling Dru. My dark lady,” I said, holding her close to me and running my hands down her torso. “Come hunting with me tonight.” It was a dangerous move. Jig would have been well and truly up if Dru had read my intentions; on the other hand, things couldn't stay the way they were and there were ways to distract Dru.
 

“Mmm,” she purred against me. “You know I'm waiting for Daddy.”
 

“He's busy training the whelp. Come with me, luv.”
 

“Alexander the Great?” Didn't get her sometimes. Calling that whelp 'the Great'? The expendable was more like it. “That would be the one,” I replied.
 

“Xander,” Angelus said as he strode into the room, “Needs practice hunting as part of a pack.” While Dru giggled and smiled for her Sire, I donned the scowl he expected. “Dru, take Xander down to The Masque,” he commanded. “I'll join you there.”
 

He was talking about a club, named after that tale by Poe, Masque of the Red Death. With a name like that you'd better believe it was the most popular vamp hangout in LA. Angelus? About as subtle as a brick wall. I held onto Dru for a moment before letting her leave, knowing that Angelus would expect some territorial infighting from me. Gave him what he wanted so he wouldn't wonder what I was really up to.
 

As they left, Angelus smirked at me. “You're sending them off alone?” I growled.
 

“Drusilla's stronger than you think,” he said, sitting up on the reception desk. As if he didn't loom over me enough. Drusilla's strong, yeah, but her hold on reality? I wanted to dash after her, protect her, but that was exactly what Angelus wanted me to do.
 

“She doesn't need you, you know,” he added, looking at his hand as if checking for dirt under his fingernails. “You were always nothing more than an amusement.”
 

An amusement? I've killed two more Slayers than you have. Hmm. Probably my best tack to get you out of here quickly. “Yeah,” I said in my most bored voice. “And how many Slayers have you killed? Let me think. None. Because you were too busy dating the last one.”
 

“She'll be dead when I'm good and ready.”
 

“Funny thing, that,” I said, lighting up a cigarette. “You keep saying you're gonna kill her and yet, she's still alive.”
 

“Once I have Willow by my side we...” he started.
 

“So, you're killing Xander then? Once you turn Willow?” I interrupted.
 

“What?”
 

“Oh, come on. Like you'd really keep them both. Too tied up in each other, aren't they? My money's still on the whelp. Willow? Too ambitious. Too difficult to control.” There. That ought to hold his hand a bit.
 

“Like you, perhaps,” he purred.
 

I deliberately glanced towards the front door, where Dru had exited. Angelus laughed as he jumped off the desk. “Guess I do have a way to control you after all.” He sauntered towards the door, opened it, but paused and turned back to me before he left. “Don't expect her back in your bed any time soon. I have a mighty appetite upon me. Willow and Xander won't be enough.”
 

Finally the three of them were out of the hotel. A few minions were still floating around and I knew they'd be sure to report to Angelus that I'd been in his room. No matter, he'd smell my scent there anyway. I could tell him I'd gone there to taunt the human. He'd believe that. Next lowest, below me, in the pecking order.
 

Angelus had turned his lights off, leaving Willow sitting in pitch black, which was mitigated, now that I'd opened the door, by light from the hallway. “Spike,” she said. Smart girl. I knew all she could see was my silhouette. Turning on the light didn't do much to ease the darkness of Angelus' room where, other than Willow's skin which glowed like the stars, the lightest thing were the walls and even they were the darkest wood Angelus could find. Eying her up and down, I licked my lips and smiled seductively but Willow, smart enough to know I wouldn't touch her without Angelus' permission, relaxed when she saw it was only me.
 

I couldn't keep my gaze off of her. Since Willow was nothing to my Dru, it could only have been the outfit he had her in. It was green, lacy, tight, and very, very fragile. Must have taken her hours to get in without ripping it. He'd ordered her, early on, not to damage her clothes and then kept her in outfits like that one. Seriously limited the range of her motion. The only time when she could really move was when he tore it off of her; the one time she was least likely to do what she wanted.
 

I thought about how slashes would look: cuts opening that green lace; blood welling against that milky skin. Got hard just thinking about it. Could be I would take her without permission.
 

“Spike, what do you want?”
 

Right. Down to business.
 

I hunkered down in front of her. Stared her straight in the eyes to keep my thoughts off of that red patch of hair, just at the top of her thighs, peering through the green lace, which was just the same shade as her eyes. “Spike.” Damn. Angelus had kept Dru to himself for far too long if I was sitting here fantasizing about some human.
 

“Tell me how to kill Angelus.”
 

“Umm, Spike? You're a vampire. Isn't killing what you do?” she asked.
 

“Can't. Might be able to sway Xander to my side,” she leaned towards me when I said his name. Useful to know the feelings were reciprocated. “But Angelus would have Dru and the minions. No way I could win. Need something else. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it.”
 

“Why should I help you?”
 

“Angelus is most likely going to kill you.” I thought about adding something about 'once he's done enjoying your favors' but Willow had reasons enough to hate Angelus. I didn't need to lay them out for her. Besides, pissing her off wasn't going to get me her cooperation. “I'll turn you. That way you and Xander can be together. Forever.”
 

She burst out with a bitter, almost hysterical, laugh. “Spike.” She shook her head. “I'd rather be dead.”
 

I stood up; paced to the door and back. Damn, if I'd known that I'd have told her Angelus was likely to turn her. “How soon you wanna die? Angelus could keep you like this for months. I'll kill you as soon as he's dead.”
 

“And Xander,” she stated calmly.
 

“You want Xander to kill you? Gotta tell you, he's more likely to turn you.”
 

“You promise you'll kill Xander as well as me and I'll help you,” she said solemnly.
 

“Fair enough.” He's practically a Fledge; will be easy enough to kill, I thought. “So tell me. How do I kill Angelus?”
 

She told me. Her plan was brilliant, simple, and the most vengeful way she could take him out, given her circumstances. Bloody evil. I was definitely going to have to turn her when all this was done.