Buffy and Spike headed towards the kitchen, wary of more zombies. "Shouldn't we be passing through the kitchen by now?" Buffy whispered to Spike, who fiddled with the tourist map. He shined his flashlight on it, amused by the charactures drawn on the chart. Happy, smiley kids and large 'You Should Be Here' dots marred the hand-drawn copy of the origanal building specs of Alcatraz.
"Yeah, I think so." he muttered. "Hold that beam higher, alright?" he asked her. Buffy did as he asked, and her arm connected with something mettalic. Her ring hit it with a hollow clink.
"What the..." she whispered as she directed the light at the metalic thing. It was a steel cooking pot suspended by a string near the door. "Guess that's a sign we're near the kitchen." Spike nodded and they moved forward. They rounded a corner and the beam of the flashlight illuminated two people as Buffy and Spike ran smack into Willow and Oz.
"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed. Buffy stood there, shocked for a few moments, until Spike yelled, "Look out!" and dragged everyone to the floor. A zombie landed on top of them. Willow shreiked and Spike stood.
"British soccer holigan!" he roared as the vamp kicked the zombie sqarely in the head. The head of the undead creature flew off with a shower of rotted flesh and bits of bone.
"Eww." Oz stated as he rose and helped Willow up. Buffy stood, and hugged her friends.
"I'm so glad to see you guys!" she exclaimed. Willow smiled happilily, glad Buffy was okay and not wanting to disown her old friends. Willow then noticed Spike.
"Hey." she said slowly, eyes wide in fear. Oz moved closer to Willow, sensing his girlfriend's fear.
"Will, it's okay!" Buffy said quickly. "Spike's...." Buffy glanced at Spike.
"If you say, 'good', I'll make you regret it." Spike replied, leaning back against the wall and folding his arms. He nodded at Willow. "I won't bite." he told her. The hacker sighed with relief, and turned to Oz.
"Um, Oz, this is Spike." she said. Spike rolled his eyes, and stepped forward. He grabbed Oz's hand and shook it with enthusiasum. Oz smiled a little in suprise and said Hello.
"Great, now that we're all friends..." Spike said, dropping Oz's hand. "can we please get to the mourge and try to stop the rise of the dead?" Willow's gaze flew to Buffy's, questions present. She stiffled them at the Slayer's next words.
"Is Giles here?" Buffy asked.
"Yep." Willow replied. "And so are Xander and Cordelia. And....and your mom."
"What?!" Buffy asked. Giles and the Slayerettes knew how to handle themselves. What if her mother tried something brave like she'd done on parent teacher night, hitting a zombie with an axe or something? And what if her mother tried to convince her not to slay anything? Buffy felt sick at the prospect of yet another fight with her mom. "Nevermind." Buffy mumbled as she flicked on her flashlight. "We have to get to the mourge. And I don't like the idea of you two roaming the halls alone. There are..."
"Zombies. We know." Oz said, turning on his own flashlight. "Saftey in numbers. Let's go." Willow and Buffy exchanged admiriring glances. Oz was so a superhero, at least in Willow's eyes. The small group moved off into the deserted kitchen, and reached the stairs to the basement quickly.
"It's all downhill from here." Spike whispered.
*****************************
Xander and Cordelia headed back across the prision yard, scanning for undead. They reached the entrance gate and walked into the prision. They passed the tourist information desk and grabbed a map. Soon, they entered Cellblock D.
"If you were Buffy, where would you be?" Xander asked Cordy. It was more of a rhetorical question.
"Um...well, if I were me," Cordelia said, "I'd be...not here. But if I were Buffy, I'd be in the very scariest place."
Xander stopped and looked at Cordelia. "The mourge." they said as one, heading in the direction of that place.
*****************************
"So, you are a demon, and you've been watching Buffy all this time, and you even choose the Slayers?" Giles repeated as he, Joyce and Whistler walked through the rooms of Alcatraz.
Whistler nodded. "I've gotta say, you're doing a good job as Watcher." he said to Giles. "She's come a long way."
Giles looked off down the hall. "That is not really my doing." Whistler nodded, and Joyce broke in to the conversation.
"Hey, I keep getting the feeling that you're not telling me something." she said to Giles. "And I'm tired of being lied to. Why is Buffy so...changed?"
"She died once." Whistler told her. Joyce shivered.
"What?"
"Oh, yes, well, the Master, a very old and powerful vampire, tried to take over the world, and Buffy went to challenge him...." Giles began.
"And she died." Whistler finished. "But she eventually killed him." Joyce closed her eyes. Maybe there were some things she didn't want to know.
"That's what has made her so mature and...sad? So angry?" Buffy's mother asked. Giles wanted to nod and stop the discussion, but didn't. He did owe her the truth.
"No. As you've discovered, she did become intimate with Angel." Giles said coldly, distancing himself from the words. "But Angel...Angel is not what he seemed. He was a vampire. A monster, one of the worst demons ever to walk the earth. But he was cursed, and became human again. He was aiding Buffy in her fight against the undead out of guilt or a misplaced sense of honor, but ended up falling in love with her. And she loved him." Giles supplied. Joyce nodded. "Then, they....well, and the curse was lifted. Angel reverted to his old ways."
At this, Joyce raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, mayhem, insanity... and murder." Giles said sadly. "He...he killed Jenny Calendar."
Joyce stopped and looked at him. "I...I'm sorry. I did say that before, but I didn't know...." Joyce stopped the words of sympathy, knowing there was more.
"Angel....Angel tried to send the world into Hell." Whistler continued, picking up the story. "Buffy was the only one who could stop him. She knew she had to kill him to save the world. And believe me, after what he'd done to her and her friends, she felt ready to do it."
"But," Giles interupted, "by that time we had discovered a way to re-curse Angel and restore him to the side of good. We tried the spell, but were...interupted. Vampires attacked, and killed a good friend. I was taken hostage, tricked into explaining the ritual nessecary to send the world into Hell." Giles' voice turned bitter at the memory of the way Drusilla had hipnotised him, pretended she was Jenny. He was so weak...so stupid. Giles forced himself to continue. "We tried the curse again, and after that, no one knows exactly what happened. One thing is certain. The world was saved, again, and Buffy left alone and uncertain, again." Giles finished.
Whistler coughed. They'd reached the mourge.
*********************************
A storm was brewing outside. Wind and rain hailed down, lightening flashed across the sky in brilliant white flashes of light. The roar of thunder was close behind. Deep inside Alcatraz Prision, Buffy, Willow, Spike and Oz moved slowly down into the basement, walking down narrow tunnels and breaking through baracades which closed off the lower half of the prison which was off-limits to tourists. Finally, Spike stopped and turned on his flashlight.
"We should be very close to the mourge." he told them. "Only a few hundered feet." Spike's head shot up, and he aimed the light down the hall.
"Buffy!" Xander's voice rang out in the stillness of the prison, and the sound of running feet approached. In an instant, Buffy was hit by the hurricane known as Xander. He hugged her tightly, and Buffy smiled in greeting.
"Hey, Xander!" Buffy exlaimed, relieved he was okay. "Ugh, a little less hug, okay? Can't breathe..." Buffy grunted as Xander let go. Cordelia rushed up beside him, puffing a little, and extended her arms preparing to hug Buffy, then thought better of it. She settled for pumping Buffy's hand.
"Will!" Xander said, hugging her too. "And...Oz! Hey man!" he said, shaking Oz's hand. Xander turned to greet that last person, then froze. "Uh, Buff?"
Buffy turned from Cordelia, and saw the expression on Xander's face. "It's a long story." Buffy said. She checked her Indigo function on her watch. "It's almost midnight!" she said to Spike. "Let's go!"
"What happens at midnight?" Xander asked Spike. The vampire grinned.
"The dead walk among us." he replied. Xander shivered.
"Why do I ask? Xander," he told himself. "Never ask what happens at midnight. It is never, ever, a good thing."
*************************
Spike, Buffy, Xander, Cordy, Willow and Oz finally entered the mourge. They were quickly met by Giles, Whistler, and Buffy's mom. Joyce stared at her daughter. When had Buffy gotten so thin? And when had her daughter's eyes gotten so old? Buffy was talking rapidly to Giles, and hadn't even seen her mother yet. Joyce got the impression that Buffy was avoiding her. Good reason, too, Joyce decided. Afterall, she had basically said that she never wanted to see her Slayer daughter again.
"So, these Shamen are supposed to rise and you must defeat them to save San Francisco?" Giles repeated.
"Yes." Buffy said. Whistler nodded.
"They have the Bhuni, I'm assuming."
"The ancient tool of magic and wisdome?" Willow asked. She had been following the conversation as well.
"Yes." Giles said, smiling at the hacker. "And this is supposed to happen at midnight?"
"Yeah." Whistler told him.
"But that doesn't explain the zombies we've been running into." Xander broke in.
"It does, actually." Giles said, rubbing his eyes. "Those zombies are here to make sure the ceremony goes as planned. Now, we need a plan. Willow," Giles ordered, replacing his glasses on the bridge of his nose and pointing, "please help everyone except Buffy arrange themselves in the circle of Kayless. Xander, bring that gurrney over here, please." Xander and Willow followed orders, but Cordelia and Joyce had a few questions of their own.
"What are we doing?" they asked. Giles faced them. "We are forming a circle of Kayless. You, Oz, Cordelia, Whistler, Willow and myself will join hands and observe the binding ritual, condeming the spirts of those Shamen to this earth forever, preventing another 'dead shalt rise' night forever. Spike and Buffy will fight the Shamen and any other zombies while we preform the ritual. And according to my watch," Giles checked the timepiece, "we have three minutes in which to do so before the Shamen make their appearance."
Everyone hustled into their respective postions as Buffy and Spike prepared themselves. Buffy pulled a stake from her sleeve, just in case, while Spike grabbed an ancient, rusted fire extinguisher as a weapon. They each still had their flashlights. Spike looked at Buffy.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready." Buffy replied as a clock somewhere in the prison sounded the midnight hour.
CONTINUES