Love Brings You, Chapter 12/14

Okay, this is all I have done, but I should be finished with Chapter 13 by midnight my time. Chapter 14 is an epilogue that I will come back and link to in my own livejournal when it’s finished.

Title: Love Brings You
Author: maryperk73703
Season: 5
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Buffy’s talk with Glory’s dying monk has surprising revelations.

Chapter 12

Xander marched into the apartment. He threw his keys down on the end table before he flopped down on the couch with a huff. “I can’t believe she is falling for Spike’s bullshit.”

Xander was talking about Buffy, of course.

“He made up some stupid story about being her soul mate and having the Key inside him, and she fell for it.”

“I don’t think that’s what happened.” Anya closed the door. She put her purse down on a table before she moved to the kitchen area. “Besides, everyone knows that Slayers tend to gravitate towards vampires.”

“Not everyone,” Xander grumbled.

“Not my fault the Watchers like to suppress anything about the Slayers that might make them independent, strong women.” Anya opened the fridge. “What do you want for dinner tonight? I think I need to go grocery shopping.”

“Anya, you don’t care that Buffy is being lied to by a vampire? One that has tried to kill us all on more than one occasion?”

Anya turned to stare at Xander with a confused look on her face. “Were we even listening to the same conversation? Buffy clearly said that the monks picked William to be the Key because he was her soul mate.”

“How is that even possible? He would have died years before she was born? It’s impossible.”

“I was born 1100 years before you, sweetie,” Anya said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

Xander jerked around to stare at Anya. “Me? I’m your soul mate?”

Anya nodded.

“So, I guess you would have stopped being a demon once we met?”

“Don’t be silly, Xander. I loved my life with D’Hoffryn. I wouldn’t have given that up just because my soul mate was alive.” Anya turned back to examining the cupboards for food.

“What? I can’t believe you!” Xander jumped to his feet, his face turning red with anger. “Why are we together anyway?”

“Because you cheated on Cordelia with Willow. If you’d just kept your mouth to yourself, Cordelia never would have called for me and Giles never would have been able to smash my amulet. Duh.” Anya strode over to her purse. “What do you want for dinner? I’m going to the store.”

“I can’t believe you.”

“I think you said that already,” Anya muttered. “I don’t know why you’re all grumpy about it. It’s not like you would have known the truth if I didn’t just tell you.”

“Nothing. I want nothing for dinner!” Xander shouted. He marched towards the bedroom where he slammed the door closed so hard the dishes on the sideboard rattled.

Anya huffed and shook her head. “Men!” Then, she brightened considerably. “Since Xander doesn’t want to eat, I can use one of my free food coupons to the Rusty Beaver. It’s ladies night.”

Anya was out the door without another thought about Xander. She figured she’d just let him stew for awhile before she gave him plenty of orgasms to take his mind off of Spike and Buffy.

Once Anya was outside the apartment building, she started to walk towards the car. She stopped up short when a scabby demon in a brown robe stepped in front of her. Anya backed up a step, but she ran into another demon.

“Her Glorificus wishes to speak to you,” the one in front said.

Anya knew she was in trouble, but she attempted to play it as cool as she could. She’d been a demon for 1100 years after all. It couldn’t be that hard of a task to accomplish.

“Sure, that sounds like a plan,” Anya said. “I going out to dinner at the Rusty Beaver. Her Glorificus is welcome to join me. We can talk about orgasms and hairstyles.” She went to slip past the demon in front of her.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” the demon said.

The one behind Anya snorted. “Don’t be stupid, Mirk. Her Worshipfulness doesn’t want to meet up for dinner. We’re to bring the Key to her right away.”

“Sorry, Jinx,” Mirk mumbled.

“Not the smartest tool in the shed, that one,” Jinx commented to Anya. “Now come along, Her Unholiness doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Anya considered trying to make a break for it, but she knew from Spike’s tale that the demons would just whack her over the head. She also remembered them from rescuing Spike from Glory’s penthouse.

“Fine. Let’s go. Back to the penthouse, I suppose.” Anya clutched her purse to her chest.

Jinx hummed under his breath as he grabbed Anya’s arm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Mirk and Jinx led Anya to the Sunnydale U campus where they found Glory sitting on a park bench eating cotton candy. She looked up when they approached her. “This stuff is the food of the gods. And I should know as I am one. What’s it called?”

“Cotton candy, your most Glorificusness,” Jinx replied.

“I want more. Get me more,” Glory demanded.

“Yes, of course. You wish is my command.” Jinx bowed. He pushed Anya down on the bench beside Glory. Then, he grabbed Mirk’s arm, and he dragged the other demon towards the food section of the art fair.

“Don’t make a sound. I will kill them all.” Glory threw her cotton candy aside. “The big guys over there. The cute young couple. The officers of the law.”

Anya shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. I spent 1100 years twisting vengeance wishes and wrecking innocents’ lives for fun.”

“Those monks are really good,” Glory said. She leaned in to sniff at Anya’s hair. “You’re fairly new to the group. I thought about the little witch. Then, you came to rescue the vampire and I smelled you. You smell old.”

“Well, duh. Vengeance demon for 1100 years.” Anya realized that she’d been hanging around Buffy way too much.

“You are such a tasty little thing,” Glory cooed. She sneered at Anya before she jabbed a sharpened fingernail into Anya’s arm hard enough to draw blood. “No sound now. I will destroy all these worthless little humans if you do.”

Anya turned towards Glory with a cold look on her face. “Really? That threat is already old.”

Glory pulled her nail out of Anya’s arm, and she brought the blood-covered digit up to her mouth. She sucked the blood off her finger. Then, she gagged and spat the mouthful out onto the ground. “You lying little tramp. You’re not the Key.”

“Yeah, told you that.” Anya reached up to cover the bleeding spot on her arm. “Vengeance demon. Again.”

“You’re nothing. Just another worthless human being. I hate being lied to. It makes me feel so betrayed.” Glory smiled a hideous, evil smile. “Do you want to make it all better. If you tell me who the Key really is I’ll let you go.”

“Somehow I don’t believe that,” Anya muttered. “Your type never do.”

“Think about it. You think this little cut on your arm hurts. Imagine what you’ll feel with my fingers wiggling in your brain.” Glory chuckled. “It doesn’t kill you. What it does is make you feel like you’re in a noisy little dark room. Naked and ashamed.”

Anya shook her head. “No, I won’t tell you who the Key is.”

“Fine.” Glory reached out to place her fingers on Anya’s temples. “One last chance.”

“Go fuck yourself, bitch. You know, the vampire was right. You’re a skanky cheap fashion victim ex-God.” Anya raised her chin in defiance. “Just get it over with.”

“Anya!”

Glory looked up to find that the Slayer and the vampire were rushing towards her and her prey. She grinned at them as she pushed her fingers into Anya’s brain.

Anya’s mouth opened in a silent scream. She could feel everything going from good to bad in her head. She barely noticed Glory’s glee and ecstasy.

“Let her go!” Buffy growled after she skidded to a stop in front of Glory and Anya.

Spike stopped just behind Buffy.

“Too late to save the pretty girl,” Glory replied while she licked her lips. “Sooner or later, you will run out of friends for me to torture.” Her eyes flicked down to the amulet on Buffy’s chest. “That silly trinket doesn’t fool me anymore.” She removed her fingers from Anya’s head.

Mirk and Jinx ran up with their arms filled with cotton candy. Spike and Buffy glanced at them for a second, but when they turned back to the bench, Glory was gone.

Anya gazed at Spike. “Such a pure green energy. So pretty. So beautiful.”

Jinx narrowed his eyes. He looked from Anya to Spike and back again. “I knew you were the Key.”

“Shit.” Buffy went into a fighting stance. Beside her, Spike mirrored her actions.

Mirk dropped the cotton candy. “Run. Run for your life.” He turned around and ran away.

“I was oh so right.” Jinx tossed his cotton candy aside. Then, he hightailed it away too.

“That is not good,” Buffy grumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“A couple of Glory’s minions were there when Anya said something about Spike being green and glowy,” Buffy informed Giles. “I don’t know if she’ll believe them about him since she’s convinced he’s a vampire, but we can’t be too careful.”

Spike stepped in from the back room, pulling a man in armor with him. “Found this bloke loitering in the back alley. Apparently, he’s lookin’ for the Key too.”

Buffy stared at the man. “So, what hell dimension are you planning on opening up with the Key?”

The man stood up tall and straight. “My brothers and I are not planning on using the Key for anything. We’re planning on destroying it. It must not fall into the hands of the Abomination.”

Buffy didn’t like the sound of that. She looked from Giles, to Spike, to Anya and Xander in the corner. “Okay, I can understand that,” she said. She took a deep breath before she lifted the fake Key off her neck. “If I give this to you will you leave us alone?”

“Of course, Slayer,” the knight replied. He eyed Spike for a moment before he stepped towards Buffy. “You’ve made the right choice.” He took the amulet.

After the knight left the shop, Buffy turned to Giles. “We need to get out of town. All of us. Glory will come after all of us. You gather the troops. Call Mom and Dawn, they should be at home. Willow and Tara should be at their dorm. We need to hurry.”

“What about us, luv?” Spike asked.

“We’re in charge of transportation.”

 

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/540151.html