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Disclaimer: The words for Dru's hypnotizing act are taken from Becoming Part 1, I don't own them.
Part 7
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jer asked.
"You backing out?" Buffy asked, as she watched Angel finish taking care of the second vampire guard.
"No," Jer said defensively.
"Good. Now remember, you two have that door. It's closest to the cages. When you hear me and Angel drawing them away, sneak in and unlock your friends. And remember to tell them whose side we're on. I don't want a gypsy knife in my back. Got it?" Buffy asked.
"Yes. What happens to you two, when we get the others freed?" Trisn asked.
"Hopefully, the rest of the Scooby gang will have arrived by then and we can overpower them. If not, we have 3 vehicles," Buffy replied cheerfully. Jer gulped and Trisn nodded determinedly. Angel walked back over brushing the ashes off of himself. "Are you up to this?" she asked him worriedly taking his hand.
"Yeah. They won't be to happy to see me though," he replied. She gave him a quick smile before they went to their own doors. Buffy slowly opened hers and slipped in. She was standing in a front office. Now for the hard part, she thought. She opened the next door to find herself in a room with several doors. She opened the first door and found a small office with no other doors. Then a scream could be heard throughout the warehouse. Buffy immediately turned and hurried in the direction the scream had come from.
Angel took a deep breath, as he put his hand on the doorknob. He had not faced Spike or Dru since he had regained his soul. He was worried that the spell would break or he wouldn't be able to stand seeing them, but he remembered that people were counting on him and he reminded himself that he couldn't lose his soul now. He could still make-up for the wrongs Angelus had done though, by destroying what Angelus had left behind. Namely: Spike and Dru. He opened the door and went inside. Spike and Dru were standing near the large cage that held four gypsies. Apparently, the few weeks of having Dru to himself had improved Spike's condition, since there was no wheelchair in sight. A dead body lay to one side. He had obviously been tortured, before he had died. The four or five vamps standing around the room didn't notice him as they watched Dru try to get information from another gypsy. Spike looked bored and annoyed, as he leaned against the cage. "What have you done to my Angel?!" she asked.
"Not a thing," Angel replied, "I'm surprised Spike. Torturing potential allies? That's not like you at all. You should know by now they hate me as much as you do." Spike and Dru looked up at him, startled by his sudden appearance. The other vampires turned to face him, but waited for Spike's signal to attack.
"Yes well, they're the ones who gave you your bloody soul back the first time. Besides, can't leave them alive. Who knows whose soul they might return next?" Spike said.
Dru pushed the scared gypsy from her and looked intently at Angel. "You're NOT my Daddy," she growled, "You're hurting him. Let him go!"
"Sorry Dru. Angel's here stay this time," Buffy said as she emerged from the private offices, crossbow in hand. Buffy aimed and fired a shot at Spike. He ducked and rolled out of the way as the arrow imbedded itself into the wall where Spike had been moments before.
"NO!!" Dru screamed as she ran towards Buffy. The other vampires followed suit and attacked the slayer. Buffy dropped her crossbow and immediately had a stake in hand. As Buffy staked the first vampire, Angel intercepted another that was heading her way. Dru approached Buffy warily, as they began to exchange blows. The minions, knowing Dru liked to kill her own prey turned their attention towards Angel. Buffy and Dru circled each other slowly, exchanging blows and looking for an opening. Spike walked up and eyed the two appraisingly.
"Need help, Luv?" Spike asked, as Jer and Trisn slipped in behind Spike's back. Buffy watched the two go to the cage and their fallen comrade, as Dru landed a kick to Buffy's jaw in her momentary distraction.
"No. She didn't hurt you did she?"
"Didn't even touch me," Spike replied.
"Good." Spike headed over to Angel to have a duel of his own. As Angel and Spike began to trade blows, Dru's lips curled into a smile and a childish giggle escapes her lips. Drusilla took a step back, and crooned, "Look at me, Dearie." She held up two fingers of her right hand and slowly moved them back and forth between her eyes and Buffy's.
"Be in my eyes," she crooned. Buffy slowly dropped out of the fighting stance, as Drusilla took another step closer. Angel looked over and panic filled his eyes as he saw what was happening. Spike glanced over and smiled, as he stopped Angel from dashing over to the two women.
"I don't think so mate," he said.
Drusilla took another step towards Buffy as her two fingers continued going back and forth between their eyes. "Be ... in ... me," she crooned stopping an arms length from Buffy. Buffy stood their limply, her eyes fastened on Dru's. Dru giggled in delight, as she dropped her right hand to her side. She stared excitedly at Buffy for a moment before extending the fingers of her right hand like a cat. She swung her hand up and Buffy's hand stopped Dru's hand, inches from her neck. Buffy used the arm to flip Dru, who landed with a thud in front of her with a shocked expression on her face.
"Should have read your history. If you had, then you'd know the Master tried the hypnosis thing too," Buffy quipped quietly as she pulled Dru's arm up behind her back. "It didn't work then either," Buffy whispered menacingly into Dru's ear. A whimper escaped, as Dru's arm broke with a sickening crack. Spike and Angel looked over, both expecting to see Dru standing over a fallen Slayer. Instead they saw, Dru at Buffy's feet as she pulled a stake out of her boot. Spike gave a primal roar, as he leaped at Buffy. He knocked her over, but she easily flipped him off her. Spike stood protectively between her and Dru, ready to finish off the Slayer once and for all.
When Angel saw a triumphant Buffy standing over Dru, his heart soared. As Spike leaped at Buffy, he was about to come to her aide, when Trisn yelled for help. He looked over and saw that three of Spike's minions had noticed the gypsies, while their leaders were fighting. Jer and Trisn were fighting them as best they could, but they had long since lost their stakes and Jer's cross was knocked out of his hand even as he watched. He ran towards them and pulled one off of Jer, before it could feed. As it charged him again, he easily sidestepped and staked it in the back. He tossed a stake to Jer as he went after the one attacking Trisn. The caged gypsies eyes widen, as they watched their arch nemesis work with Trisn to stake the vamp. As Angel turned to look in the direction of the third vamp, which Jer was trying to stake, Xander burst through the near door. "Cavalries here!!" he exclaimed as he strode through followed by the rest of the gang.
Xander and Cordy went to help Jer, while Giles, Willow, Oz and Angel started toward Buffy and Spike. While Buffy and Spike had been exchanging blows, Dru was trying to circle around behind Buffy as she cradled her broken arm. She didn't notice that the slayerettes had arrived until Oz shoved a cross at her. She screamed and backed away. Seeing that they were outnumbered, Spike grabbed the nearby Giles and threw him at Buffy. Giles knocked Buffy over and they both unceremoniously fell to the ground, as Spike grabbed Dru's good arm and made for the exit. Angel ran after them, but stopped at the door. They had disappeared into the night. Angel walked back and helped Buffy up. Giles had already risen and was straightening his rumpled clothing. They walked back towards the cage, where Xander, Cordy, Trisn, Jer and the free gypsy were trying to figure out where the key to the cage was. The third vamp had made a run for it, when he had seen he was outnumbered.
"The British one had it," the tortured gypsy said.
"Are you sure?" Cordy asked.
"Yes, that one with the blond hair," one of the mages replied.
"So that means Spike left with the key. Great," Buffy said sarcastically.
"We can always try to pick the lock," Willow said.
"I've got a better idea," Angel said as he picked up a metal bar.
"Wait a minute. Did you explain everything to them?" Buffy asked Trisn.
"Yeah, they're not going to attack us the minute they're out are they?" Willow asked worriedly. Oz took Willow's hand reassuringly.
"You have helped save out lives. Why would we wish to harm you?" the first mage asked.
"Because we're Angel's friends and you guys have a total addiction to vengeance," Cordelia supplied.
"You have saved our lives. Angelus has been the greatest enemy of the clan for nearly a century, but because he helped saved our lives here today, he is no longer an enemy to any gypsy here. He is not a friend, but he is not an enemy. As for the rest of you, you saved our lives and are therefore friends," the mage replied. Everyone in the Scooby gang smiled at his words and Angel put the metal bar through the loop of the pad lock. He strained against the bar to break the lock. The lock emitted a creaking groan, but did not break.
"Wait," Buffy said. She grabbed the other end of the metal bar in her hands. "On three ... One, two, three." The lock groaned and broke under the combined efforts of both slayer and vampire. The heavy lock fell to the floor with a metallic clang. The door swung open and the gypsies filed out, many giving Angel a nervous and suspicious look, but making no move towards him.
"Um ... what about the body?" Oz asked, pointing to the dead gypsy on the floor.
"We'll wrap him up and take him back with us to the clan, so that he can be taken care of as tradition requires," Trisn said, as his comrades moved towards the body.
"You said that two others were killed back at the park and there's another back at Angel's apartment. Do you want to get those too?" Buffy asked.
"Yes," Trisn said.
"What is a dead gypsy doing in his apartment?" the second mage asked.
"Spike and Dru left him there along with a message that they were holding you hostage. He was dead, when I got there. I cleaned up the blood and wrapped him in a sheet. Nothing more," Angel said. The gypsy continued to look skeptical, even though Trisn gave him an evil look. "I'm sorry for what Angelus did, but I'm not the demon that killed the girl of your clan. I've always wanted to thank you for returning my soul. I don't kill anymore and I try to make amends for what Angelus did. Please believe me, if I had been able to control Angelus, he wouldn't have killed anyone. He would have starved a long time ago," Angel told them earnestly. The second mage still looked a little skeptical, but the first mage nodded his head, Gilt and the young warriors looked as if their theories had been proved correct, while Jer and Trisn beamed as if Angel was their own creation.
"Well guys, I don't think there's anything else for you to do. You can head home. Oz, we're going to need your van though. Is that okay?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah."
"You guys," Buffy said turning to the gypsies, "How long will it take before this one's ready for travel?"
"Five minutes at most," the first mage replied.
"Good. When you're done, we load the body into Oz's van. Stop at Angel's apartment to pick up the body there, before going on to the park. Where do you want to take them after there?"
"Back to our hotel. We take care of it after that," Trisn replied.
"We're going to have dead guys in my van?" Oz asked.
Willow squeezed his hand supportively. "I know, we've never had to take the bodies anywhere before. Usually we just leave them," Willow said.
"How are you going to get the bodies through customs?" Giles asked.
"We might be able to get them through," the first mage said, indicating himself and the other mage, "After all, we haven't been of much use so far."
"We're not going to be able to fit all the gypsies, Buffy, Angel and a dead body in my van. I might be able to squeeze in six in the back, but it would be a tight. Once there's more than one body back there I wouldn't want to try, even that," Oz said.
"I could take three in my car," Giles offered.
"Great. That means we can fit 6 gypsies and 1 dead body in the back of my van. Willow can still ride shotgun, if she wants."
"Of course," Willow replied.
"Then Angel and I can ride with Giles and the last gypsy," Buffy said.
"Great so everyone's got a ride, so I'm leaving too. Not that I don't enjoy preparing dead bodies, but I need my beauty rest," Cordy said, as she walked out the door.
"Boy does she ever," Xander quipped, when she was out of sight.
"I heard that!" Cordy's voice proclaimed from the night outside. They laughed as Xander hurried out the door, before Cordelia decided to leave him.
"You guys ready?" Buffy asked.
"We're ready," Trisn told her.
"Okay, we'll take mage number 2- ," Buffy said gesturing, towards the second gypsy.
"Wensil," the second gypsy interrupted.
"Fine, we'll take Wensil ... Angel, you better ride up front and give Giles directions, besides that way I can keep an eye on the troublemaker in the back ... Oz, we'll lead," Buffy said, as the gypsies carried the body out to the van and everyone piled into the vehicles. Buffy and Wensil got into the back of Giles' tiny car and Angel got in front with Giles.