Buffy collapsed in Lily's arms, sobbing hysterically from fear and loss, temporarily forgetting that she now saw Lily as one of the bad guys. Lily tried to comfort the younger woman, but knew that Buffy needed to work through her grief.
Guilt welled up in Lily. Spike had done this horrible thing and she felt responsible for Spike. In the past few days she had faced several opportunities to put an end to his existence and yet she had failed to do so because she had fallen in love with the monster.
Logic told her that if Drusilla wanted Willow, she would have her, regardless of Spike's help. But, logic had little to do with matters of the heart and soul.
Finally, Buffy began to calm down, her sobs dwindling to sniffles. Lily pulled back slightly and looked into the girl's red, teary eyes. All her own sorrow was reflected and magnified there.
Buffy wiped her eyes on her sleeve and took several deep breaths, swallowing hard in an attempt to reach some sort of equilibrium. Her eyes met Lily's once again and Lily winced at the bitterness in them.
"Did I break your nose?" Buffy asked in a hard voice.
Lily gingerly felt her nose which was beginning to heal, but still hurt. "Yes."
"Good."
Lily sighed and picked herself up off the ground, brushing the dust from her faded jeans. Reaching down a hand, she pulled Buffy up, then gaped as the younger woman pulled a stake from up her sleeve. "What? You still want to fight me? We need to find Willow," Lily said in an exasperated voice.
Buffy was staring past Lily and, by grabbing her arm, spun the female vampire around. Lily was very surprised to see Spike sitting on the bench, legs crossed, arms strung out along the back, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.
"So, is someone going to stake me anytime soon? Because I've really gotten tired of this life."
Lily automatically blocked Buffy's instinctive attack, shoving the Slayer behind her.
"Hey! He wants to die, I'm all for it!" Buffy complained.
Knowing that Spike didn't really want to die, Lily ignored her and stalked over to the bench. Grabbing Spike by the lapels of his black coat, she jerked him to his feet. He didn't put up a fight. Their eyes met and Lily saw the sorrow in his. It appeared genuine. Slowly she released him and they just stared into each other's eyes.
Ignoring the fuming Slayer, Spike finally broke the silence with his soft voice. "I don't know where the girl is."
"But you took her," Lily accused in an equally quiet tone.
Spike hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."
"Why?"
Spike dropped his eyes and took a half-step backwards, as if trying to distance himself from the truth. "Dru asked me to."
"Not good enough," Buffy exclaimed harshly.
Over Lily's shoulder Spike glared at the Slayer. Lily reached up and took a hold of his chin, turning his attention back to her. "Why?" she asked again.
Spike sighed and shrugged his shoulders, pulling back from her touch. "I did it to survive. If I hadn't....I don't know what Dru might have done. She's insane....and they all follow her now."
"The king is dead, long live the queen, huh?" Buffy quipped.
Spike growled low in his throat and frowned. "Something like that," he muttered.
Lily was saddened by the fact that Spike had done something so low to survive, but knew it had been the demon's reaction to a threat to its existence. She really hoped *her* Spike would help her. "So, you kidnapped an innocent girl to appease your angry girlfriend?" Suddenly it hit her and she spun around to face Buffy. "Innocent? Is Willow...?"
Buffy nodded, crossing her arms across her chest and frowning at Spike. "Yeah."
"Damn." Lily turned back to Spike. "Are you going to help us find her?"
"I can't do that," he tried to explain.
"Let me just stake him and put him out of all our misery," Buffy muttered.
Lily ignored the younger woman. "Why not?"
"I told you. Dru's insane and has turned our people away from me. They'll kill me."
"It'll be weird to root for the bad guys, but, go team go."
"Buffy, shut up, please," Lily begged.
"No, I won't shut up! This monster, your boyfriend--ooh, ick, by the way--has kidnapped my best friend and turned her over to a bitch who likes to torture people. I am not going to shut up about this," Buffy said loudly and harshly. She was angry again and frustrated and very worried.
"Who was kidnapped?"
They all turned towards the new voice. Angel stepped out of the shadows, a worried expression on his face. Buffy ran to him and flung herself into his arms, beginning to cry again. He awkwardly tried to comfort her and looked to Lily for an explanation.
"Willow," Lily answered his question.
Angel's worried look turned to anger. He swiveled Buffy in his embrace so that he had one arm wrapped around her shoulder and guided her over to Lily and Spike. Buffy buried her face in his side, letting him deal with the other vampires for now. The thought of Willow in a cage made her want to howl in grief.
Angel scowled at Spike. Spike scowled back. Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. "We have to find Willow," she said in a strong voice. "Spike, do you have any idea where Drusilla may have taken her?"
"I told you, I can't help you."
"Why Willow?" Angel asked in a very deadly voice.
"I won't betray Dru, no matter what she's done to me," Spike responded in a firm voice.
With his free hand Angel reached out to grab Spike, but Lily knocked his arm away. Angel gave her an incredulous look. "You protect him, even after he's kidnapped Willow?"
Lily had the grace to look embarrassed and mumbled something about love making a person stupid, then she turned around and punched Spike in the nose, sending him flying to the ground. As she shook her hand out, she glared at his stunned expression. "What?" she asked in mock innocence. "Just because I keep these two from killing you, doesn't mean I'm not incredibly pissed off!"
"Yeah, I can see that," Spike muttered as he pulled himself to his feet, gingerly wiping the blood from his nose. "Can we speak privately for a minute?" he asked Lily. She mulled his request for a moment, then nodded. They walked about fifteen feet away, leaving Angel and Buffy to talk.
"This is as private as we're going to get right now," Lily said shortly as she stopped walking.
Spike turned to face her and gave her a sad look. "I had this insane hope that I could talk you into blowing this pit of a town, maybe move to San Francisco. Doesn't look like that's going to happen."
"I can't abandon my friends. I have to help them find Willow."
"Yeah, human nobility rears its ugly head."
"Sarcasm isn't going to make me happier about this mess," Lily snapped. "You chose Drusilla over me. Maybe I should have expected that--I knew your loyalty ran deep. You chose your own survival over the life of a little girl and I know I should have expected that--you're a demon, after all," she berated herself.
"Yes, I'm a demon. Live with it or this *will* end."
Lily gave him an anguished look. "I can't deal with this right now, Spike. I have to find Willow. If you won't help, then we have nothing more to discuss."
He pondered her ultimatum for a moment, then turned on his heel and walked into the darkness. Lily let the sadness wash over her for a minute, then straightened her spine and turned back to Angel and Buffy. They were sitting on the bench talking quietly and, as she approached them, they looked up.
"Let me guess, he won't help," Angel said with a sneer. Lily frowned at him and defensively crossed her arms over her chest.
"Good, he was making me sick to my stomach. We've got to find Willow, now," Buffy cried in an agitated voice and jumped to her feet.
"Buffy, she's alive and she'll stay alive until Thursday night," Lily said with conviction.
Buffy swallowed hard and the tears returned to her eyes. "I know, but....she's a prisoner...in a cage. I can't stand that!"
"Then we'll find her," Angel said, trying to comfort his girlfriend. Lily looked into his eyes and saw the reflection of her own inner belief. They wouldn't find Willow. They weren't supposed to find Willow.
*****
About five minutes before dawn, the trio walked dejectedly into the Library. They had searched for nearly two hours and had found no sign of Willow. All three were exhausted, but knew they had to report the terrible news to the Watcher.
Jenny was asleep at one of the tables, her head pillowed on her jacket. There was no sign of Giles. Buffy rubbed her hands over her face and headed for his office. Lily gently shook Jenny awake.
"Hmm? Did I fall asleep?" she said with a yawn, struggling to open her eyes.
"It's dawn."
Jenny looked up at Lily, then sat up straight, glancing at her watch. "You left three hours ago. Something's really wrong, isn't it?"
Lily nodded and told her.
*****
Buffy looked down at her Watcher who slept peacefully on his sofa. His legs hung over the end, his head was crammed into a corner and one hand was on the floor, but he slept deeply. Knowing that he hadn't gotten much sleep lately she hated waking him, but she was at her wit's end.
"Giles, wake up." He stirred, then rolled over, smashing his face against the back of the sofa. "Giles," Buffy persisted. "I need to talk to you."
Giles mumbled something unintelligible and Buffy reached down to shake him. Giles groaned and rolled onto his back, blinking blearily up at her. Buffy picked up his glasses off the desk and handed them to him.
"Buffy." Giles struggled into a sitting position and peered up at her. "How late is it?"
"'Bout five minutes after dawn."
Giles gaped. "I can't believe you're actually up at this hour."
Buffy's anxiety got the better of her. "Willow's been kidnapped," she exclaimed.
At that Giles launched himself to his feet. "What?" he demanded.
Buffy led the way out the door. "Spike took her," she said in a flat voice. "I don't know any of the details, but she's definitely missing."
"Tell me everything you know," Giles said as he took a seat next to a shocked looking Jenny. She reached for his hand and held on tightly.
*****
Both Lily and Buffy told Giles and Jenny about their respective intuition and nightmare and Lily told them about Spike's actions. They didn't bring up broken noses.
"Why Willow?" Jenny asked after the explanations had run out.
"It's possible that it was simply a coincidence, but I don't really believe that." Lily began.
"Drusilla wanted to hurt me," Buffy said quietly.
Lily nodded and continued. "It's also possible that she knows about the prophecy and has found a spell, taking Willow for the virgin sacrifice. If so, she should be fine until Thursday night."
"That's making a large assumption," Jenny protested.
"I know, but Drusilla sent Spike to kidnap Willow. He said he had to do it. If she just wanted food, she could have done that herself."
Buffy clutched her hands together tightly. "We have to believe that Willow is alive, that Drusilla knows about the prophecy or is working on some spell. We have to," she said desperately. Angel took her hands in his, trying to comfort her. Buffy pulled away and jumped up, beginning to pace. "We need to keep looking for her. Daytime is the best. We can catch them off guard."
Suddenly her pacing was interrupted by the sounds of trumpets. Everyone turned towards the sound. It was coming from a computer.
"My program," Lily said, jumping up and hurrying to the computer. A few clicks of the mouse and she reached her objective. "I'm in."
"You broke into the Vatican archives?" Jenny asked from behind her.
"Yeah, let me see if I can run a search for the name of the monastery..."
"Who cares?" Buffy interrupted, arms flailing. "Willow, cage, remember?"
Lily gave her a chagrined look. "You're right, Buffy, but there's nothing Angel or I can do during the day."
Buffy's shoulders slumped and she appeared to deflate. Angel drew her aside to try to comfort her. The younger woman appeared to be running only on the dregs of adrenaline which had forced her out of bed at 3:09 that morning.
Lily found a search engine and typed in her request. A few minutes later, the computer binged. "There are eight documents from that monastery." She scrolled through the list. "And one of them is a prayer book from the fourteenth century!" She opened the document and began to scroll through it. It was in Latin, so it must be the original. Lily remembered that Parapovich had found a copy translated into Romanian.
"It's here," she said in amazement. "The prophecy." Everyone gathered around the computer.
"Can you read it?" Giles asked.
"Yeah, once you get past the archaic script." Lily began to translate. "And at the end of the millennium, in the holy year, a great power will awaken in the sun at the end of the world. Dark goddesses will battle and the tears of the innocent will flow. Time will reverse and the Earth shall shake. She with red hair will embrace the white flower. The fluid of life will sustain the one. He who was resolute shall become a spike. His loyalty will turn to the flower."
"She with red hair?" Buffy asked in shock. Lily nodded in confirmation. "If we'd known that...!" She began to cry again and turned in Angel's arms.
"Parapovich got it basically right, but missed that crucial bit. In my dream yesterday, Giles you were reading from the prophecy and my mind wouldn't let me hear what you were saying. And Buffy said that it was so simple. It was simple. Not a rose, but red."
Lily hit print, then exited from the archives before she got caught.
Giles sighed and took off his glasses to rub his sore eyes. "Second guessing ourselves is futile," he began. "Buffy's right. We need to continue the search. I'll call Xander and Cordelia." He headed back to the office.
Angel kissed Buffy gently then turned towards Lily. "You can crash at my apartment for the day. Buffy will meet us there at sunset."
Lily nodded and said her goodbyes, grabbing her purse as Angel led the way into the stacks.
*****
The dream hit hard. Lily saw herself in the cage, cradling Willow in her arms. The girl was trembling, her eyes closed, her face very pale. Through her own eyes, Lily looked around the darkened warehouse room. On the wall opposite Angel hung in chains, his head drooping to his reddened chest. He had been burned.
Drusilla danced before her eyes, chanting. "It has to be. It has to be. It has to be." She continued to repeat the phrase as she traipsed out of sight.
Spike crossed in front of the cage, not looking inside. Blood trickled from his wrists. The room spun and suddenly Lily tasted blood in her mouth. A woman screamed. And the crescent moon shown down.
*****
With a start, Lily sat up, fully awake and shaking. The dream was so vivid, she knew she didn't need to record it-- which was good, since she didn't have a tape recorder. Lily wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back against the wall. Glancing down next to her, she was glad to see that she hadn't disturbed Angel's sleep. He lay on his back, one arm over his head. Buffy was right--he looked dead. Gorgeous, but dead.
The thought of Buffy brought back her own worry about the Slayer's mental and physical condition. Buffy had looked exhausted and beaten when she and Angel had left the Library. Her panic about Willow was wearing her out faster than her lack of sleep. She needed to calm down and get some rest or the next time a vampire attacked, she wouldn't survive.
Lily herself could use a full day's sleep, especially since she had been forced to drink bagged blood on their arrival at Angel's apartment. How he could survive on that stuff, she didn't know. After they had fed, they had succumbed to the need for sleep, Lily insisting that he join her in the one bed rather than sleep on the concrete floor. Lily had hoped for a peaceful sleep, undisturbed by dreams, but wasn't really surprised that 3:09 p.m. had come with a new vision.
With over four hours until sunset, Lily wished she could go back to sleep. Unfortunately, she felt wide awake and restless. She needed to think about the contents of the dream, but, at the same time she wanted to avoid them.
Carefully climbing over the sleeping Angel, Lily wandered across the room, looking at the antiques and pieces of art intermingled with the modern technology. Sitting down at his computer, she saw that it had a modem line. In five minutes she had hacked into the Library's computer and had called up the file in which Willow had been recording the various visions and dreams.
There was a new entry--Buffy's dream from the night before had been entered by someone. Lily read it quickly, then entered her own vision. Reading through all of the entries, she tried to form a coherent picture. The problem with dreams was they tended to bounce around from image to image.
Her mind kept returning to Drusilla's chant--'It has to be'. What had to be?
*****
Four hours later--four hours spent on-line trying to make sense of the visions and prophecy--as Lily finished dressing, exchanging her sleep-rumpled t-shirt for one of Angel's black silk shirts, the truth came to her. She knew what had to be.
A quick glance at her watch showed her that it was only about fifteen minutes before sunset. If she hurried, she could slip out before Angel awakened and Buffy arrived. She knew they wouldn't approve.
Leaving a note on the bedside table, Lily grabbed her purse and left the apartment, hurrying for the tunnels.
*****
Angel was awake and angry when a knock came on his door. He jerked it open, then softened his expression at the sight of Buffy. He had never seen her look so exhausted, so wilted and pale...and frightened. "No luck?" he asked gently.
Buffy shook her head violently, then collapsed in his arms. He lifted her, carrying her into his apartment and kicking the door shut behind them. Buffy was sobbing again but managed to choke out that they hadn't found a trace of Willow. Willow's parents had called the police, but Buffy knew they wouldn't find her.
Angel hated giving her more bad news. He sat in his favorite easy chair, cradling her in his arms until she began to calm down. "Did you rest at all?" he asked, concerned.
Buffy shook her head, her hair sweeping across his chest. "I can't sleep. Not with Willow in a cage somewhere. I have to find her." Her voice rose in desperation.
"Buffy, Willow wouldn't want you to exhaust yourself and, if you do exhaust yourself, you won't be able to rescue her."
"I know, I know, but I feel so helpless. It's like, we know all this stuff, but we can't stop it from happening." Suddenly Buffy realized that someone was missing and she reluctantly scrambled off Angel's lap. "Where's Lily?" she asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.
Angel rose and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Wordlessly he handed it to Buffy who read it aloud.
"'I'm sorry, but it has to be.' What the Hell?"
Angel gave her an apologetic look. "When I woke up, she was gone. She must have taken the tunnels."
"Damn it! Come on; we've got to find her before she does something really stupid."
"Buffy, you need to go home and get some sleep," Angel said as he looked into her reddened, sunken eyes.
"I can't sleep. I told you that."
"Isn't your mom coming back this evening? You have to go home; she'll expect you to be there. I'll find Lily and we'll search for Willow. I'll leave word with Giles in the morning.
Buffy clenched her fists in frustration and snarled. "God, I hate this."
*****
At sunset Lily exited the tunnels through a manhole in an alley outside the Bronze. Regret suffused her as the memories returned to her of the night she had spent dancing in Spike's arms. They had been so in love. How could everything go to Hell in two days?
Turning away from the Bronze, Lily headed towards the park. Every instinct told her that she was being incredibly stupid, but she continued forward, determined to carry through with her arguably poorly thought out plan.
*****
It was still early, so the park contained scattered people, some alone, some in couples or small groups. Lily ignored them all as she walked towards the bench. As she approached it, she saw that a figure sat in the flickering light of the antique looking fake gas lamp. Spike.
Lily hadn't expected to find him here or, to be honest, to see him anytime soon. Her business wasn't with him. But, she continued to walk forward, her feet moving of their own volition. Stopping in front of him, she looked down, then dropped to her knees, gravely concerned at his unnatural-- even for a vampire--pallor and sunken eyes. He looked horrible. He hadn't drunk from her the night before, but two days shouldn't have brought forth such a drastic change.
"What happened?" she asked in a gentle voice.
"I don't know. I woke up feeling...." Spike thought for a moment, "like death warmed over," he finished with a hint of a self-deprecating smirk.
Lily took a hold of one of his hands, alarmed at its seeming fragility. "Drusilla let you come out in this condition?"
"I haven't seen her. I didn't go back there this morning. I don't want to see her."
"Have you fed?"
Spike nodded. "Didn't help."
Their eyes met and held. Lily felt the need to help him overwhelm her remaining anger and sadness. A tiny part of her screamed 'End it now. He betrayed you. He will always betray you.' Her love for him squashed that part of her.
Lily sat down next to him on the bench and slipped her jacket off. Unbuttoning the cuff of one sleeve, she pushed it up her arm, then, lifting the wrist to her lips, she bit, opening the vein. Before any of the precious blood could drip off her arm, she raised the wrist to his mouth as her other arm slid around his shoulders and her head settled in the crook of his neck.
Instinctively Spike latched onto her wrist, sucking hungrily at the wound. Lily winced as he quickly drew the blood out of her. It hurt, but she didn't try to stop him. She prayed this would work--that her blood would revitalize him as it had the past few days.
She let him take nearly a pint, then pulled her wrist free. Before she could do anything to stop the bleeding, Spike began wrapping a handkerchief around her wrist. Lily raised her head from his shoulder and their eyes met again.
A quick glance at his face showed her that the color had improved, the shadows under his eyes were gone. In wonder her wounded hand went to his face, gently feeling the smooth, firm skin. "How do you feel now?"
"Like I could fly," he answered sincerely.
Lily shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand this. Two days without my blood left you a wreck?"
"I'm addicted to you...in more ways than one," he replied, his voice resonating through her.
Spike took her by the shoulders and pulled her against him. As his mouth covered her's, Lily gave a brief thought to Willow and her anger towards him, but the touch of his tongue delicately probing her closed lips sent all thoughts from her mind. She returned his kiss with a hunger worse than the need for blood, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself as close to him as possible.
Suddenly, Lily felt an intense stabbing pain which began in her back and traveled through her chest, forcing her to pull back from Spike. He looked equally pained and blood began to drip from his mouth. Shock hit and her mind slowed. Falling backwards off the bench, she realized that Spike was sliding sideways, his hands slowly rising towards his chest.
Agonized, unable to move, Lily looked up, expecting to see the night sky. Standing over her, holding a very wicked looking gun with a silencer on it, was a very angry Drusilla.
End Chapter 12