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Becca (cowritten by Allison)
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Date Posted: 20:58:18 01/13/02 Sun
In reply to:
Becca (cowritten by Allison)
's message, "TCO Episode 2: Laying Groundwork Chapter 4" on 20:48:21 01/13/02 Sun
Chapter 5
“...and the next thing I knew, he took a nose-dive right into the weather machine. Instant Popsicle!” Luke grinned and raised the glass of bourbon to his lips, chuckling softly at the look of awe on Xander’s face.
The two men had bonded quickly over the past few days after discovering that they shared a similar sense of humor and thirst for adventure. Luke had been regaling him with tales of his numerous escapades over the past few hours, saving the best, in his opinion, for last.
“So,” he said, setting down his empty glass. “What about you? You must have some juicy stories yourself. I’m sure being such good friends with the Slayer, you’ve seen some interesting things in your day.”
Xander smiled. “I have, although I can’t say that I’ve ever tossed anyone into a weather machine.”
“Hey,” Luke corrected with a laugh. “He fell. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!”
“Sorry, he fell, right.” He grinned, shaking his head. “Where do I begin? Hmm...well, there was the time I became a hyena, but that wasn’t one of my better moments...Oh, there was the time the Hellmouth opened on Prom Night, that was pretty intense. Buffy was fighting the Master, and he bit her. It turned out he had somehow gotten trapped under Sunnydale, and the only way he could get out was by drinking the blood of a Slayer. He left her to die, but Angel and I found her in time. Since vampires don’t breathe, I had to do CPR.”
He grinned proudly before continuing. “So, she survived, obviously, and we chased him into the school library, which was situated right over the Hellmouth. Buffy followed the Master to the roof while the rest of us were stuck fighting this big purple thing that was coming out of the floor. Anyway, Buffy knocked the Master through a skylight and he ended up impaled on a broken table and turned into a pile of old dusty bones. All the other nasties ran away, and the world didn’t end like it was supposed to. That’s pretty much what happens every time the Hellmouth opens, more or less.”
Luke blinked at him in shock, but Xander was already on a roll and didn’t notice. “Oh! Then there was the time that we turned into our Halloween costumes!”
“You what?” Luke asked, frowning.
“Yeah, there was this evil guy from Giles’s past who opened up a costume shop, and some of us bought costumes from it. They were cursed, though, and on Halloween, we actually became them. Buffy was a ditzy, 18th-century woman, Willow was a ghost, and I was a GI Cordy got her costume somewhere else, so she didn’t change, which is probably a good thing, since she was dressed as a cat. Anyway, Spike was using the opportunity to try to kill Buffy, since she had no idea who she was, and couldn’t defend herself, but since I was Military Guy, I set up a whole defense thing to ward off his demons. Then Giles broke some evil mask-thing and the spell wore off so Buffy could fight again. I still remember some of the military stuff, though, which has come in handy a few times since then.”
Xander took a sip of his soda, then laughed. “Of course, one of the worst ones was the Ascension.
Sunnydale’s Mayor was actually a demon, and he planned on doing this big ritual at our high school graduation that would basically end the would as we know it. He ate our principal and turned into a giant snake, then tried to eat our entire class. Luckily, we had figured out what he was up to in time to warn everyone and organize a counterattack, so while Buffy lured the mayor into the school, which had been wired with explosives, the rest of us stayed outside to fend off the army of vampires that he had sent to kill us. She got him into the library in time, and we blew up the school. It was kind of cool, actually, aside from the roasted mayor bits that were sort of scattered about afterwards.”
“So, is this the kind of thing that’s going to start happening around here?” Luke asked, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
Xander nodded solemnly. “That, and more. Those were only the highlights.”
“Wow...almost makes the Cassadines sound like child’s play. Kind of ironic how I always call Stefan a vampire. If I had only known what they were really like...”
Xander lifted his head. “You mean, you don’t know?” His friends had filled him in on their discovery the other day, and he assumed by now, Lucky would have told his father. Obviously, he hadn’t. Luke frowned and cocked his head to the side.
“Know what?”
“That Spike turned Stefan Cassadine into a vampire.”
“You’re kidding, right?” he asked, laughing uncomfortably. Xander shook his head. “Well, I’ll be darned. I always knew he was a bloodsucker, but this..”
“Luke, when are you going to give up this vendetta you have against Stefan?”
“Laura!” he gasped, turning to face her. He hadn’t realized she had come into the club, and wondered how much of their conversation she had overheard. “What are you doing here?”
“Can’t I stop by to see my husband without a reason?” she teased, leaning over the bar to kiss him. Xander watched the whole scene quietly, once more in awe of him. Not only was the man a fearless adventurer with a great sense of humor, but his wife was gorgeous!
“Hey, Laura, I’d like you to meet someone. This is Xander Harris, he’s a friend of Lucky’s. He just moved here, so I was filling him in on some of Port Charles history.”
Laura turned and smiled warmly at Xander. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. Just make sure you take everything Luke says with a grain of salt. He tends to exaggerate a bit.”
Xander nodded and laughed, looking casually around the room. His laughter trailed off as he saw the door open and Spike stroll inside. “Uh-oh....”
“What’s wrong?” Laura asked, following his gaze. She saw Spike and frowned. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah, he kind of came from Sunnydale with us,” he sighed, turning back to them. He looked up at Luke pointedly. “That’s Spike.”
“Oh...” Luke said, looking past him as Spike slowly wandered through the room, probably looking for Carly and Hannah. He looked annoyed, which couldn’t be good. “Spike? What is that, some kind of nickname?”
Remembering that she didn’t know about their “secret,” Xander nodded. “Yeah, but stay away from him. He’s not exactly...nice.”
“Didn’t you say he was a va...” Luke stopped himself before he went any further and cleared his throat. “Um, a Cassadine?”
“A wha-?” Xander started to ask, then realized what Luke must be hinting at. “Oh, right, yeah, he is.”
“Really?” Laura asked, staring at Spike again. “He doesn’t look like them at all. I don’t remember ever hearing about one named Spike!”
“Well, like the boy said, it’s just a nickname,” Luke explained quickly, looking at Xander for help.
“Right! His real name is William the... Um, just William.” He decided it was probably best to leave off the ‘the Bloody’ portion of Spike’s name. Laura nodded, seeming to buy their hasty explanations. They were about to relax when Spike caught them watching him and walked over.
“Harris...all alone tonight? Where’s the rest of your little gang?” he sneered, sauntering up to them.
“They’re, um, busy,” he said quickly, “You know, doing...what they do.” He couldn’t say anything about them patrolling with Laura there, and he hoped Spike wouldn’t say anything to blow their cover. “What brings you here? Looking for someone?”
“None of your bloody business.”
“Angel,” Xander said suddenly, seeing him walk into the club. Spike frowned and shook his head.
“Why would I be looking for Nancy-boy?”
“I don’t know,” Angel said from behind him, sounding slightly amused. “Maybe you missed me?”
Spike turned around and groaned. “Right, and Buffy and I are secret lovers. I don’t think so.”
Angel shrugged, stepping out of the way as Spike pushed past him. “Stranger things have happened.”
“Yeah, well, if it ever does, please stake me.” They watched him stride out of the club, then Angel turned to Xander.
“Have you seen Buffy or Liz?”
“I think they’re, um,” he glanced over at Laura, then looked back at Angel, “working. Is something going on?”
“No, I just haven’t seen them in a few days.”
“Oh, well, I think I heard Buffy mention something about patrolling... I mean strolling... on the docks tonight. You might want to check there.”
Angel nodded. “Thanks.” He turned and walked briskly out of the club, his black coat billowing out behind him. Laura stared after him.
“He seemed... odd. How does he know Liz?” she asked, looking over at Luke, then at Xander.
“He’s ah...well...”
“A Cassadine,” Luke said suddenly. “Um, he’s another Cassadine.”
“Really... you know, I thought we knew about all of them. Where did these two come from anyway? And why did the first one have a British accent?”
“Well, they’re distant relatives, you know, third cousins twice removed or something like that,” Luke explained, trying to dig himself out of the hole he had suddenly found himself in. She wasn’t buying their excuse, not that he could blame her.
“Yeah,” Xander added, trying to help. “William and Angelus, um, you have to go way back in the family tree to find them. Their ancestors, I mean. At least a couple of centuries.”
Laura eyed them both suspiciously, then sighed, turning to Luke. “If you say so. I better get back to the house. I’ll see you later?”
“Sure, babe. I’ll be there soon.” He kissed her quickly, then waved as she left through his office.
Once she was gone, he sighed and looked back at Xander. “I don’t think she bought it.”
“You noticed that too?” he asked with a short laugh. “You’d think I’d be used to making excuses for vampires by now....”
“You’re right, you should be. Normally, I’m a master at the snappy comeback, but I’m not quite used to this whole thing yet. I was counting on you to bail me out.”
“Sorry, but that sort of thing isn’t my forte. I’m just the Zeppo.”
“The what?” Luke asked, laughing.
Xander grinned, shaking his head. “Long story. See, right after Cordy and I broke up, I was having sort of an identity crisis, so I decided to be ‘Car Guy,’ and somehow ended up driving around this gang of zombies who were building a bomb...”
~*~
Buffy rounded the corner to the Brownstone, intent on telling Giles and Alexis about what Hannah let slip. “Gem of Power . . .” she muttered to herself, trying to remember if she had heard or seen of it before.
“Gem of what?” a voice asked from the darkness.
Buffy looked up and smiled when she realized it was her partner in slayage. “Oh, just something one of Spike’s new twits was talking about.”
“I see . . .you here to tell Giles about it?” Liz asked, getting a nod out of Buffy.
“And you?”
“Just checking in with Alexis, maybe they found something about why the Hellmouth is here and maybe if they’ve located the actual opening yet,” Liz explained in one breath.
Buffy chuckled as she opened the front door and the two walked in. “What?”
“You know, you’re starting to sound like me . . .which is scary,” she noted lightly. “Hey, anyone home?”
“Buffy?” Giles called out from the kitchen, surprise in his voice. “Shouldn’t you be patrolling?”
“Well, I was. But I ran into Jason . . .”
“Morgan?” Alexis asked as Buffy and Liz walked into the kitchen.
“Yeah, you know him?”
“He’s one of my clients . . .he’s not a vampire is he? Carly didn’t decide to turn him?” she asked worriedly.
“No, though she and Hannah did let something slip to me,” Buffy stated proudly as Liz sat down next to Alexis.
“And that would be . . .?” Giles asked with a sigh.
“Spike is looking for something called the Gem of Power. Have either of you heard of it? I don’t ever remember seeing anything about it one of those dusty old books, nor has anyone else ever tried to find it and use it. Any ideas?"
Giles scratched his head, obviously deep in thought. “Gem of Power . . .that’s probably the English translation, if we can find the Latin root it may aid in our research. Are you sure neither of them didn’t say anything more?”
“Nope, and I don’t think it has anything to do with local folk lore because it didn’t register to Lucky either,” Buffy noted with a shrug.
At the mention of his name Liz immediately perked up. “Lucky was there? And you left him by himself, after running into Carly and Hannah?”
“Liz, calm down, he’s fine. Carly was too busy chasing Hannah to even go near him again,” Buffy said sincerely. “You know, one of these days those two will end up offing each other for us.”
“We can only be so lucky!” Giles called out from the living room where he was already engrossed in his books.
Liz turned to Alexis as Buffy left the room. “This job isn’t as exciting as I thought it was going to be, not to mention the incredible strain it’s putting on my social life.”
“Dear God!” Giles exclaimed from the living room.
“What?” all three asked in unison, Alexis and Liz rushing into the room.
“She’s starting to sound like Buffy already,” Giles grumbled. “Just do me a favor, don’t …you know…with someone and turn him evil on us. Been there, done that, don’t need to do it again.”
“Giles!” Buffy screeched, hitting her watcher on the arm.
“I’m sorry, but the last thing we need are two pairs of star crossed lovers shooting longing glances across the room at each other while we try to save the world for the fifteenth time!” Giles declared.
“Don’t mind him….he’s grouchy tonight, must be delayed jet lag,” Buffy explained, shooting him an angry glare. “And don’t worry Liz, Lucky’s not a vampire so you don’t have to worry.”
“No, he’s just a Spencer, the most stubborn people ever to walk the earth,” Liz grumbled. “I just stopped by to see if you found out anything concerning why the Hellmouth is here, anything?”
“Not yet, though we are looking . . .I’ve even got Jax going through some books while he’s watching Rugby…or whatever it is he watches,” Alexis explained with a laugh. “But we do have the opening narrowed down to a few places.”
“Really?” Liz asked curiously, “Where?”
“You’ll never believe it when I tell you,” Alexis said, trying to contain her laughter.
“I still don’t know why you find it so terribly funny . . .it may not end up there anyway,” Giles perked up.
“Where? I’m dying here!”
“One of them is fountain in the park, Giles claims that there is an evil vibe surrounding that spot. And the other, the exact location of which would be somewhere in the living room of the Quatermaine mansion.”
“The Quatermaine mansion is where the Hellmouth opening is?” Liz asked in disbelief.
“Possibly, we still have to get inside to run a few tests . . .”
“Spells,” Giles corrected.
“Spells to see if it’s true, and if it is . . .”
“Wait, how?”
“The coordinates mach those of the old school library in Sunnydale,” Giles noted, briefly looking up from his book.
“The Quartermaines, as in Emily, your friend and the person Cordy aspires to be?” Buffy asked.
“Yes, those Quartermaines,” Liz said in shock. “What are we going to do, how are you going to check to see?”
“I’m going to go home and try to figure that out myself, in fact . . .” Alexis checked her watch and nodded. “I better get going, can I give you a ride?”
“No, still patrolling, thanks though,” Liz said with a smile. Alexis grabbed a few books so she could conduct some of her own research on the Gem of Power.
“Later Liz!” Buffy called out. “Say goodbye Giles.”
“Goodbye Giles,” he muttered, his nose deep into the book.
“Where are you off to?” Alexis asked as she unlocked the door to her car.
“I’ll check the docks, make sure everything is safe, then cut through the park before going home,” she noted, taking a stake out of her bag and spinning it in her hand.
“I’ll have my cell phone on if you need me,” Alexis noted with a smile as she climbed into the car.
“Bye!” Liz waved as she watched the Lexus pull away. Spinning on her heels she made her way down the street, in the direction of the docks. She couldn’t pin point it, but something felt off to her, something in her heart told her something bad was going to happen.
~*~
“Did she have to come with us?” Nikolas asked Emily in an angry whisper as they made their way to their table at the PC Grille.
“Liz asked if we’d show her around . . .I don’t see why it bothers you so much,” Emily shrugged. They were a few steps behind Cordelia who was spending the evening with the duo. She had complained to Buffy about her boredom, who then complained to Liz, who then asked Emily and Nikolas to give her a tour of Port Charles.
“It’s just . . .I think she has a . . .a . . .” Nikolas stammered nervously as he looked down at Emily.
“A what? A thing for rich, handsome Greco-Russian Princes?” Emily teased, elbowing her friend in the side. In theory she and Elizabeth were best friends, and though they were calling each other best friend was more of a title than anything. In reality Nikolas was Emily’s best friend, and Lucky was Elizabeth’s. It was rather ironic that both sets of friends were battling the inner demons of wanting to take the relationship to the next level without hurting the friendship. One could say that Emily and Nikolas had an easier rode to a decision though, what with them both being normal and all . . .well, as normal as a Quatermaine and a Cassadine could be!
“I was about to say a thing for gleaming off of people of wealth…which would mean you too Miss Quatermaine,” he said with a grin.
“Funny,” she said with a sigh as he pulled out her chair, then walked around the table and did the same for Cordelia.
“What a gentleman, you should really give Xander a lesson. His idea of chivalry is opening the door so that I can go in to face the demons first . . .” Cordelia complained, not even thinking about what she said.
Emily and Nikolas exchanged a confused and bewildered glance before he took the initiative and asked, “Demons?”
“What?” Cordelia shot her head up, a look of terror on her face.
“You said he sends you in to face the demons . . .what demons? Like relationship demons?” Emily rationalized with a nervous smile for Nikolas.
“Yes! Yes! Those type of demons,” she sighed, a feeling of relief passing over her as she remembered that they didn’t know the truth about Buffy and Liz yet. “What other kind of demons could I possibly mean?”
“That’s why we asked,” Nikolas said, flashing her a smile that normally would make her knees go weak. ‘Damnit Xander, just when I found the perfect person to move on with . . .’
“So, have you two known Liz long?”
Nikolas scratched his head and let out a low chuckle, “Not long, but well.”
“Really, were you two an . . .”
“Oh, no …that’s not what I meant. It’s just, well Liz and Lucky, Emily and I have been, up until these last few weeks, inseparable. The four musketeers I guess you could call us,” he explained with a wistful sigh.
“Things have changed?” she wondered, hoping she wasn’t overstepping her bounds.
Nikolas shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Emily. “Not really,” she noted softly. “Except Lucky and Liz seem to be . . .they seem to be dealing with some issues of their own right now. Not to mention whatever her connection is to you guys, especially Buffy . . .I guess everyone grows up eventually, grow apart.”
“Not necessarily, sometimes friendships and relationships last a lifetime,” Cordelia said quickly, not really realizing how Emily’s words affected her. For all she complained about Buffy and Xander and Willow and Oz and even Giles, they were her friends, her family, and growing apart from them never had entered her mind.
“She’s not saying that . . .after all, Lucky and I are brothers. But as close as we have become, changes in our lives have …well, changed things. I’m not bitter or angry, just accepting the fact.”
“Have you always been close with Buffy and everyone? I mean to travel all the way across the country . . .” Emily asked, curious about the mysterious group from Sunnydale.
“We have our moments I guess . . . Xander and I dated once, he’s been friends with Willow forever, and Buffy is . . .well, she’s Buffy,” she said, a slightly snide tone in her voice.
“Yeah, she is . . .” Nikolas sighed, remembering his earlier run-in with her.
“What is with you males and Buffy Summers!?!” she asked angrily. “You, Lucky, Angel, and Xander . . .what are with these crushes on her?”
“What? No, I don’t . . .you’re crazy . . .” he stammered, turning innocently to Emily. “I don’t, honest!”
“If you want to have a crush on Buffy, go ahead . . .but I know the truth,” Emily whispered deviously.
“The truth? What do you mean?” Cordelia asked, worried that Emily somehow knew the truth. “What do you know?”
~*~
Stefan crept stealthily towards Lucky, who was still rubbing his face, unaware that he wasn’t alone. He took another step, accidentally kicking a small stone. Lucky looked up at the sound and gasped.
“Stefan!”
“Hello, Lucky,” he greeted, his voice coming out like a low purr as he walked closer. “These docks aren’t a safe place to sit, especially at night, alone.”
“Um, actually...” he stammered, shrinking back against the bench. He could see the look of pure evil in the man’s eyes, and knew that he wasn’t there to chat. “Buffy should be here any minute.”
Stefan shook his head, still creeping forward. “Nice try, but I just saw her leave. It looks to me like you’re on your own against me. I’m sorry to inform you, but you don’t have a chance.”
Lucky jumped to his feet and started to back away, rambling on in an attempt to delay what was starting to look like the inevitable. “They know you’re a vampire now, they’re going to kill you. If you bite me, they’ll just make sure to do it sooner!”
He laughed softly, throwing his head back as he continued his steady pace towards Lucky. “Hiding behind your girlfriend? What would your father say? I thought Spencers were supposed to be tough.”
Angered by the insinuation, Lucky stopped backing up and glared at him. “I can take care of myself. I’d just prefer to keep a safe distance from you. I’ve already been bitten once, and it wasn’t something I’d care to relive.”
“Oh, but this time will be different,” Stefan said gravely, closing the gap between them too fast for Lucky to react. “This time, you won’t live.”
Lucky saw his fangs flash as he lowered his head but was unable to get away. Stefan was too strong. He winced in pain as the teeth sunk into the soft flesh of his neck, groaning when he felt the blood being slowly sucked from his veins. Stefan had been right, this was nothing like what had happened with Carly Then, he had been too shocked to realize what was going on, and Elizabeth had scared her off before she could really do anything. This time, Elizabeth wasn’t there to save him.
He closed his eyes and tried to ignore what was happening, letting his mind drift to happier thoughts, thoughts of Liz. He was remembering their first kiss when everything started to go white. Stefan’s drinking slowed, and Lucky felt his body growing cold as he sank to the ground. The last thing he heard before succumbing to the light was the distant clicking of footsteps. Stefan was almost finished draining his victim when he too heard the steps. He let go of Lucky, letting him drop to the ground, and rushed away, not wanting to take any chances with two slayers in town. He knew the boy was nearly dead anyway, he had done what he intended. Congratulating himself on a job well done, he left the docks in search of another meal.
Liz squinted as she approached the docks, seeing what looked like a man lying on the ground. Frowning, she reached for her stake and cautiously approached.
“Oh my God!” she gasped, recognizing him as she got closer. She ran to his side and dropped to her knees. “Lucky! Oh God, Lucky, please...”
She turned his head to the side and let out a choked sob when she saw the bite wound on his neck. The blood was fresh, and he was still warm, so the attack couldn’t have happened very long ago. She pressed her fingers against the other side of his neck, searching for a pulse. Finally, she found it. It was slow and weak, but it was still there, although for how long, she didn’t know. She pulled his head onto her lap and looked around frantically.
“Help! Somebody, please, I need help!” Liz shouted for a few minutes, to no avail. The docks were empty, they were completely alone. She looked down at Lucky’s pale face, tears streaming down her cheeks as she smoothed back his hair. “Lucky, come on, wake up. Don’t die on me, I can’t lose you...”
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