FUCK!
just realised, during the downtime, it ate my previous post.
erika, I said - IIRC - how much I loved the next-to-last bit, but was wondering if you could place Frank visually for me. I can hear him, but can you move him around for me? I gather the table in the cage has been pushed aside to make room for the cage - what's Frank doing, leading up to the (suhNERK) miranda rights reading? Is he pacing, slamming his hands on tables, being faux-easy - he's so kinetic, I'd love to see him as well as hear him.
OK, I added a little, but it must be insufficient. Also, I lost it, I think.
erika, as weird as it sounds, I'm kinda relieved that it wasn't singling me to hiccough at, or my posts to eat. I'm post-Avonex and grouchy, damnit.
THERE'S your new stuff. It just popped up on my screen. Weirdness abounding.
Gorgeous!
Bayliss splashes some holy water, hitting the vampire in the hand. "Great. My turn."
HOOBAH! Loving this. Mean Zen!
erika, I am absolutely in love with your story. Frank'n'Tim vs. Angelus.
Mmmmmm.
Still rooting for Angelus to play their minds like fiddles. Once he's out of there and away from all those other cops, then he can play with their brains. Soccer might work.
As much as I love the hairloaf, FrankNTim in the box with Angelus is soooo happymaking. Or it's the wine.
More V!Giles. Angst ahoy.
The late-model silver Lincoln crept to a halt on the edge of the Knights' position. The soldiers stared suspiciously, then glanced toward the wall and their commander for instructions. Gregor pulled himself to his feet to see what was going on. He gave a short whistle, and all the soldiers drew their swords.
Spike settled down at Xander's side, but he said nothing. Xander looked over at him and got a familiar cocked eyebrow in return.
"So, are you really going to let Glory kill all of us without making good on your threats to bathe in our blood?" Xander asked.
"She might not kill all of us."
"True. She might get sloppy and miss a few." He looked down at the car, which was disgorging a half dozen of Glory's wizened minions. "If Buffy and the others had to stay where they are, would they be OK?"
"Don't know the place, luv, got no idea. But I imagine there'd be food problems for someone before long. Here we go," he added, nodding at the car.
The minions opened the passenger door, and one gave a hand to the woman inside. Glory looked like she needed the support as she climbed out of the car and straightened.
"The Beast," Gregor hissed. "Long have I waited for the day to confront it."
"Oh, be quiet, bad dialogue guy." Xander saw Willow hurrying up the steps but only gave her a nod.
Glory took a deep breath and glared at the soldiers surrounding her. "Twits." She reached out, and Dreg was at her side just as her hand came down looking for something to lean on. He winced but smiled proudly.
The soldiers braced for action as she stepped forward. Glory ignored them and looked at the people at the top of the wall. "Where's my Key! Give it to me!"
While the others were debating the best response, Gregor stood. "We defy you, Beast! Our order has existed for centuries for the sole purpose of destroying you, and here is where we make our stand!"
Xander glanced at Spike. "And I thought our Monty Python riff sounded dumb."
Glory winced and put both hands to her head. "Stop it, stop it," she muttered. "Not going to let you--" Her face and body flickered, very briefly taking the form of a man who did not look nearly as good in the designer dress and heels as Glory did.
"That's that doctor guy, Ben," Willow said. "What's he doing here?"
Spike did a double-take. "Didn't you say that Glory was put into the body of a human? I'd say that's the human."
"Oh!" Xander gasped. "Ben's Glory! Or is Glory Ben?"
"I don't think it matters."
Ben reached towards the people at the top of the wall, but Glory flickered back into control. She glared at the observers. "You bunch. You've got my Key, the little girl, the Slayer's sister. Give her to me. I'm running out of time."
Willow glanced to the east, where color was starting to seep into the sky. "The Key's not here. We sent her to another dimension until after it's dawn. We can't get her back till then."
Glory stared up at her, then screamed and clutched her hair. "Why! Why are you doing this to me! I just want to go home! This stupid stinkhole of a world is killing me, I just want to go home!" She looked back up, and there were tears on her cheeks. "Please? Home, is that so hard to understand?"
"If you open the portal to go home, it will destroy our world. We don't want that to happen."
"I am a god! You are stupid puny mortal monkeys in ugly clothes! How dare you decide your world is more important than me!"
Willow blinked. "Because we're like that?" She checked her watch, then the sky again. "Anyway, even if you had the Key, you'd never get it back to Sunnydale in time. The sun would be up before you even got halfway there."
"I can move fast! I can do it! Give her to me, or I'll rip you all to pieces! And you can ask the vampire there what that feels like. Give her to me!"
Willow swallowed hard, reminded herself of Tara's condition and that giving in to Glory was generally a bad thing, and shook her head. "No."
Glory shrieked again, then strode towards the convent gates. A brave young Knight stepped in her way, sword ready. She ripped the front of his chest open in a gush of blood and kept moving.
"Attack!" yelled General Gregor. The massed Knights yelled and charged.
"God, no," Xander breathed.
They only slowed her down. Swords bounced off her. She merely ripped the arms off most of them and snapped a few necks, but one particularly nimble Knight was grabbed, raised high, and broken across her raised knee. Xander tried a shot, but she dodged it easily, though not without a glare and snarl in his direction.
The monks chanted en masse and flung an orange ball of energy at her. She actually staggered, then she changed direction and stalked into the middle of the group. The fountaining blood was a dark liquid in the slowly growing light.
"This is your fault!" Gregor yelled at Xander through his sobs of horror. "If you hadn't defied us, we'd be at full strength and would stand a chance against the Beast!"
Xander tried to contradict him, but the words stuck in his throat. Spike reached past him and grabbed a handful of Gregor's tabard. "You never stood a chance against Glory! If the Slayer couldn't take her, what makes you think your bunch of pansy horse soldiers could?" He looked at Xander. "Do I throw him to her, let her collect the complete set?"
"No," Xander whispered. "Leave him. I don't think a few more minutes will make much difference."
Finally Glory and her minions were the only ones standing before the gates. The little creatures hurried to her, helping her stand. She staggered a little, as if the rampage had exhausted her. Her figure blinked again, and Ben looked up, tears on his face.
"I can't stop her!" he yelled. "She's too strong for me, I don't know how to stop her!"
Spike reached for the rifle, but Xander was already raising it to his shoulder. "No," Xander said.
"Harris, let me."
"No. No time."
As quick and smooth and free of thought as the shot to the soldier who would have killed Tara. As Xander's finger squeezed the trigger, Ben's face started to shift. Glory was flung back by the impact, and all her minions screamed in horror. Then Glory pushed herself up and shook her head. Blood ran down her face. She reached up in disbelief, then stared at the blood on her fingers.
"Ow," she said in offended shock. As one, her acolytes turned and glared at Xander.
Dreg raised his hand and pointed. "He dies last and longest." His companions growled agreement.
Spike tsked. "You're not making friends tonight, Harris."
Xander pulled the clip out of the rifle to check how many bullets were left, then slammed it back in. "Didn't join this gig to make friends. Joined up to save the world."
"And then we party?"
"I wouldn't be making any reservations at your favorite clubs just yet."
