Chapter 29

 

 

 

The make shift command center was hopping. Teams stationed in positions around the Prison Camp reporting in with what had been seen, been felt.

 

It was into this busy atmosphere that Angel burst, Xander on his heels.

 

“What the hell just happened?” he bit out, gasping for air from his fast run. Behind him he could hear Xander wheezing as he tried to pull oxygen into his lungs.

 

“We don’t know,” Brendan growled, fingers tapping furiously on the keyboard in front of him his eyes never wavered from the screen before him as he attempted to access the cameras within the Prison Camp once more.

 

“That was Buffy down there… we saw her…” Xander said breathlessly. His face alight for the first time in a long time with hope.

 

“We know… we think they were planning on moving her…” Susanne said absently her eyes focused on the blank screen before her.

 

They’d had picture until about ten minutes prior when abruptly everything had went black… and now… Within the short time of the blackout codes had been changed, those that they’d used to break into them during their assault, the one that they’d lost Buffy and Colin during, were no longer working.

 

“Numbers are fluctuating all over the place,” Wesley pushed past Xander entering the room, “the witches can’t pinpoint anything, they say something’s changed. But they don’t know what.”

 

“We know Buffy’s still alive… what about Oz?” Angel’s eyes flickered between the two Watchers.

 

Wes exchanged a glance with Susanne before turning away, eyes focusing intently on the screen that Brendan was pulling up.

 

“We don’t know,” he admitted softly

 

“Well he was okay when Dru checked in last right?” Angel pressed.

 

“We haven’t heard from Dru in over 12 hours… we’re not sure of her status at this point…” Susanne murmured as she leaned over Brendan’s shoulder intent on whatever was being shown.

 

“You think she’s dead,” Xander stated moving alongside Angel. His voice harsh with barely concealed anger that he voiced strictly for Spike’s benefit.

 

“She’s not dead,” Angel muttered as the picture on the monitor cleared showing the Prison Camp’s courtyard.

 

“We can’t be sure of that,” Wes said.

 

“I can…”

 

“Go back twenty minutes,” Susanne murmured to Brendan who nodded in confirmation, fingers still flying along his keyboard.

 

Silent the rest of the group focused on the monitor, Angel unsurprised to feel Damon’s presence at his side.

 

On the screen he saw Buffy being led out to the courtyard. She balked, fighting the hands forcing her on, heels digging into the ground to try and impede her forward momentum.

 

He flinched as he saw one of the guards slam a foot into the back of her knee, though Buffy barely made a sound. Barely responded with the exception of a glare.

 

His eyes widened as he heard his own voice screaming her name, saw Buffy start at the sound and then her fighting began in earnest. Tearing one arm free she pulled at the fingers of the other and then the vampire burst into dust and Buffy dropped to her knees.

 

With wide eyes she turned to face her rescuer, Angel and Xander both breathing a sigh of relief as they saw her lips move. Mouthing a name.

 

“Dru rescued her,” Xander said in disbelief. “She actually rescued her…”

 

“Angel you said that you could be sure that Dru was alive… how?” Wes turned to him slowly.

 

“Dreams… I’ve been having these dreams…”

 

“Prophetic dreams?”

 

“I don’t know… I mean they’re of the future so I can’t be really sure… though,” Angel turned to face Xander. “One of those dreams was of today, of Xander and I standing on a hill overlooking the Prison Camp…”

 

“Conversation was a little different…” Xander said in quiet confusion.

 

“But the gist of it was the same, and it ended with me screaming Buffy’s name…”

 

“Which happened.”

 

“Okay,” Wes drew a deep breath. “The three of us and one of the Witches are going to go over your dreams with a fine tooth comb, see if there is anything that might be of use within them… Susanne, Damon begin assembling the teams, weapons, ammo, etcetera… be ready to move as soon as we get an all clear.”

 

“Without Dru we’re not going to have a clear signal.”

 

“I don’t think the signal is going to come from Dru…” Wesley murmured slowly. “It’s going to come from Buffy.”

 

 

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Buffy pulled Dru tighter up along her side, ignoring the pitiful whines from the vampiress as she urged her to keep moving.

 

She could remember this poison. Could vividly remember how much pain Angel had been in when Faith had shot him with an arrow laced with the stuff.

 

“Come on Dru,” she muttered. “Just a little bit further.”

 

Angel had been able to withstand the pain, the delirium brought on by the poison for… a while… before succumbing to it. Dru was weaker than Angel had been and had succumbed almost immediately.

 

Before she had though she had managed to tell Buffy where she had hidden Oz away. Buffy could only hope that she was headed in the right direction.

 

The halls were deserted, while the alarm bells were still clanging telling all of her escape, they were becoming weaker as they moved deeper into the camp.

 

“I heard daddy,” Dru mumbled. “Did you hear him mummy?”

 

“Yeah I heard him,” Buffy said softly as they continued moving. And she had, or someone who sounded suspiciously like him… although part of her knew, knew that the voice she had heard belonged to her Angel.

 

She bit back a groan as she took momentary stock of her injuries. The back of her knee was throbbing, her side ached… as well as various other injuries that had not been allowed to heal before the demons holding her prisoner decided to play doctor once more. She hoped that when they got to where Oz was hidden that she would have a chance to sit down and let some of her more serious injuries heal.

 

Somehow she didn’t think so as she glanced over at where beads of sweat were appearing on Dru’s forehead.

 

“Almost there Dru.”

 

“I fear that I may not be able to keep my appointments for tea and scones… my Spike and daddy will be disappointed,” Dru said quietly. “You will tender my regrets at not being able to attend won’t you mummy?”

 

“You’re going to fine Dru… just fine…”

 

Squinting her eyes she scanned the hallway before her, third door on the right was what Dru had told her. If the lighting was better she might actually have been able to see doors before her.

 

“You know not everyone’s a vampire Dru.”

 

“It’s that one,” Dru waved a hand at the door she had firmly ensconced the little Wolf behind.

 

“Okay then…” Buffy leaned Dru against the wall, leaving her side momentarily to push the door open, flinging out one hand to stop the downward strike of a pipe her eyes met a surprised Oz’s.

 

“Buffy… oh god I’m so sorry,” he said his eyes full of apology.

 

“It’s fine,” she grumbled cradling her hand protectively against her. “Though you’ll need to bring Dru in by yourself,” she motioned at the still vampiress.

 

Moving quickly Oz threw an arm around her and following Buffy led her into the room. Laying her on the cot he heard Buffy close the door securely behind them before she joined him at staring down at the now panting vampire.

 

“What happened?”

 

“You remember that poison that Faith shot Angel up with?”

 

“Yeah… killer of the dead…”

 

“Surprise… its déjà vu time,” Buffy muttered sarcastically.

 

“So? We know how to cure that, dribble a bit of your blood in her mouth so we can get the hell out of dodge.”

 

“Won’t work.”

 

“What? Is it some mutant strain or something?”

 

“No same strain… unfortunately I’m not the Slayer anymore.”

 

“Wha…?”

 

“I’m not the Slayer, I’m a Warrior now.”

 

“And the difference is?”

 

 

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Countdown: 12 hours

 

Together Buffy and Oz stood over Dru’s bed staring down at the trembling vampiress on it.

 

They’d tried her blood, they’d even tried his blood, hoping beyond hope that either one or the other would work.

 

If they were going to try something else they needed to do it soon, inside they could both feel the certainty that Dru didn’t have much time left.

 

“So what now?” Oz asked, reaching out a shaking hand he brushed the hair that had fallen over her forehead away. 

 

If the three of them, or if even two of them survived they were going to be bound so tightly together by the terrors that they had all gone through.

 

“Old guy said something about there being a Mohra demon here,” Buffy said absently.

 

“Yeah I think there was one being held in my original cell block but…”

 

“Good… good…” she said softly a quiet laugh in her voice.

 

“What good?… what the hell is a Mohra demon going to do that our blood couldn’t?”

 

“Mohra blood has restorative properties, it can make the dead human again, and I bet that while it’s doing that it would also heal Dru here right up.”

 

“Oh… restorative properties?”

 

“Watcher speak,” she wrinkled her nose. She could vividly remember Wesley telling her what Mohra blood could do right after her memories came back the first time.

 

“So we use the Mohra blood to heal Dru… there’s just one problem with that Buff,” Oz said quietly his eyes boring into hers.

 

“What?” she winced as her voice came out more harsh than she had intended, its just that she couldn’t remember Oz being this troublesome in the help department before. Captivity had obviously not been good for the normally stoic Werewolf.

 

“They uh… they’re warriors for the other side Buffy, I don’t think you can just walk into its cell and ask it to slit a vein so we can feed its blood to a turncoat vampire.”

 

“Oh… I wasn’t going to do that anyway,” Buffy murmured. “I remember them taking blood from me when I first got here, probably for more tests or something.”

 

“Yeah they did that to me too.”

 

“Well then I’m assuming they did it to everyone they’re holding… if I can find the little vial they took from the Mohra then…”

 

“They’re marked,” Dru mumbled turning on her side, panting unnecessarily her dark eyes trained on the Warrior. “All marked from that which they came… do you think they were going to give them back?”

 

“Eh… probably not Dru,” Buffy smiled, a grin creasing Oz’s face as well.

 

“So we’ll go raid the blood supply, kick some demon ass on the way, make Dru human and get the hell out of here.”

 

“Actually I think someone should stay here with Dru… you know just in case…”

 

“Do you think you can get there and back by yourself?”

 

“I’m a big girl Oz… and I dare someone to try and stop me.”

 

 

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