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Fade Away Again, Chapter 17

A/N: Never thought you’d see this one, huh?  I’m shocked, myself.  We’re back to single-narrator chapters, now that the battle is over.  Once again, the timeline of this chapter starts during the previous chapter, which, in case you’ve forgotten in the intervening years, was the Giles interlude.

New Laptop!!!!

Also, replacement Kindle has finally been granted to me.  God bless the very slow, highly methodical people at Amazon, with all their 10 billion questions about what I was doing with it before it broke, for coming to the correct conclusion that it was totally not my fault as the little thing was overly-breakable.

Still working around iPod issues, but that will be settled with the purchase of a new one when I finally blow my stack and get sick of fighting with it.  I guess between now and year's end.

FAA 15 - Does anyone remember Fade Away Again??  I think the last time I posted was Jan or Feb; I can't believe that was nine months ago.  How the time has flown.  Anyway, it's just about ready to finally post, and I started the Giles interlude that comes after it.  If anyone has time to read, drop me a line.  The updates to this one have been so utterly sporadic, I have no true measure of ongoing interest in it, other than a review or two for each chapter.  My own fault for not being dedicated, I know, but then I enjoy my RL just as much as I enjoy fandom.

I bought witch shoes, so that in case I hated the viking costume when it came, I could just wear black and be all set.  I wore the witch shoes to work today.  I'm actually waiting for someone to comment on them, to see what kind of response I get.  PS on shoes - When I was the green and brown fairy last year, I was going to order these 'Roman Style' thigh high boots, but they were not in the budget, and I ended up wearing a pair of gold pumps I already owned.  I bought the same boots to go with the viking costume (sidenote: I need to stop wearing so much brown) and they are FABULOUS.  Seriously, even with my fear of the cold, I found myself regretting that I had bought a long skirt, because it will cover the boots.  I'm considering splitting the sides.

I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who's stuck around for this story, and for all of the support I've gotten on this fic.  Enjoy! Edited 3/30/11.

Summary:  The Battle ends.
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Spike

Most of these demons we've been fighting aren't any tougher than what you'd normally meet on patrol. The trouble is in the sheer volume of them, and how long we've been fighting. And then, of course, there's the occasional really big nasty. Nothing like Glory, mind, but definitely some challenges. For example, the damn dragons.

Peaches got two of them before he went down; as though that's not irony, him wanting to slay dragons rather than leaving them for the Slayers. We've still got another overhead, and though it hasn't breathed any fire yet, we do know we can't ignore it for long.

But, excuse us for being a tad busy with the giant at the moment. Right, so. I don't actually think it's a giant; the one earlier was almost twice the size of this, and wasn't as green. Too damn big to be a troll, though, that's for sure. Might be an ogre. Never seen one of them in person before. As I'm trying to remember my over-a-century-old training in demon identification, the blasted thing takes another swipe at me, and I'm forced to throw myself out of the way. Which has the advantage of taking out a large tan demon who was standing behind me, but causes me to crack a rib as I land awkwardly atop a pile of demon corpses. Bloody giant-whatever-the-fuck. I'm gonna really kill it now.

As I'm figuring how to give it a proper death, the thing retreats, and I gratefully take on the next demon, and the next…I fight my way through the mess for quite a while, sometimes aided by a Slayer, sometimes not. I don't remember the last time I stopped for blood; one of the girls killed a Crancik earlier and I took a few sips offa that, but I'm not up to snuff and I know it. Fortunately Merry is back; I know that if I have to duck out a mo she'll keep an eye on Laurie for me. Little Red is still hopping about, killing things and making room for more bodies as she goes. Someone's gotta bloody well keep an eye on the loopy little thing; daft bint's nearly had her head lopped off twice now while she was concentrating on moving corpses.

I watch her from the corner of my eye as she piles the demon dead out of our way, as I keep a careful watch on anything that might be trying to attack us. It takes me a few seconds standing there at the ready before I realize nothing is coming, and I relax and look around. Illyria is farthest to the front, Wes not far behind; both locked in heavy combat. Laurie is casually doing her thing, and Merry finishes up the one she'd been fighting, only to realize there isn't another to replace it and stumble.

That's when I notice the glow. Even with vampire eyesight, the rain and the glare from whatever the hell that is combine so that I can barely see it. All I can tell from here is that it's large, emitting a pinkish-gold glow, and the evil nasties I can see between us and the light are frozen in…Terror? Confusion? Hell if I know. As I stand there staring, trying to figure out what in blazes is going on here, Merry and Connor come up behind me.

"That's either really good, or really bad." The boy states, frowning into the rain.

"It's good." Merry mutters, stepping delicately past me. "Willow's doing it. Willow and Elise."

It occurs to me as she continues to walk, that I have no idea what would happen to one of the Slayers if they got caught in that thing, so I grab her and haul her back before we get the chance to find out. She fights me for a second, then calms and leans against me for a second. "Sorry." She mutters in my ear…Or maybe it just seems like she's whispering; I can't seem to hear much of anything at the moment. "It's a portal; it's attracting the demons into it, sucking them in. Guess I was a little too tapped into my not-so-human side there for a minute."

"Good thing Peaches is inside, then; his is never far from the surface." My response is reflexive, and I regret saying it when I catch a look at Con's face, but it happens to be the truth.

To avoid the confusion and hurt on the boy's face, I back up and assess where everyone is and what they're doing. In the absence of Angel, Wes seems to have taken over the ordering people about. None of us is tightly engaged at the moment, and he's taking the time to run about and direct everyone. He takes a blonde Slayer I haven't met out of the crowd, and sends her back towards the Hyperion, then pushes everyone else in my direction.

After a few minutes we're lined up just about back where we started this fight…When was it; two, three days ago? Except that we've made a few staffing changes, it's like déjà vu. None of us are in such good shape as when we began, but we're all hanging on. The three notable exceptions - the injured Slayer, Gunn and Peaches - I push from my mind. No sense wasting attention on that.

It seems now we've collected ourselves, the remaining demons have as well. Those who stood between us and the portal have begun to turn around and come back this way. Most of us are on the same page about finishing this up; we begin to move as one towards the portal and the oncoming demons.

It's not quite the shoulder-to-shoulder swarm we've been up against, and soon Illyria has pushed several feet ahead of everyone else, cutting a wide swath through anything she can reach. Connor is keeping pace with me and Laurie, though he still looks a mite distracted and upset; after a few minutes Penny dashes up and sends him off, taking his place in the front. I know Wes is somewhere behind us, cleaning up whatever sneaks past, or possibly covering that side alley.

We keep pushing forward as we cut the demons down. Some are easy to kill; we just reach out and cut them down as they try to flee the portal. Others are still fighting to win; Illyria almost gets hurt going toe-to-toe with a frantic demon attempting to flee the alley. Blue pulls it out in the end, though.

I'm starting to think we'll all see the end of this battle; that the worst has already happened, and the LA crew is about due some good luck…When that damn giant demon of indeterminate type comes back, looking to mow most of us down as he beats a hasty retreat from the portal that's swallowing the remaining nasties. We're all made to do some creative dodging to get out of its way, and it would've just taken off into the city except that Illyria lunges and takes it down at its knees. It's not all that much smaller kneeling, and not one of us can get a killing blow in; its heart and lungs are too well protected by the giant arms, the head is far too large to chop off quickly. One of those saws they use to cut through redwoods would be incredibly helpful at the mo. The Slayers managed to get that giant earlier somehow, though, so we can do this.

A flick of a big green wrist sends Penny back into me, and as I catch her and set her back on her feet, I'm close enough for a short conversation. "Happen to see how they took down that giant, earlier? Might be some helpful pointers there."

She throws a ferocious look over her shoulder at me as she pulls away. "We flattened it using magicks and arrows, then Wes made it stick to the ground. The other demons squashed it getting to us."

Okay, and we're swinging at this thing with swords the size of its fingers why, exactly? "And you can't do that again?"

"If either of us had any real power left, we'd be up there helping Willow. I might be able to take a small rodent down at this point, but nothing that huge."

Bloody fuckin' hell. Well, better get back in there, before it gets away for good. We separate and jump back into the fray just in time; Laurie's got the thing by the hand, weighing it down so Wes can hack off whatever he can reach. Probably just a few fingers. Not sure what that's gonna do, but I guess every little bit helps. While they work the left hand, Illyria and Merry are covering the right side, trying to get under its defenses and avoid getting hit by its mace. Which must leave us the center.

Penny is obviously far quicker than I am right now; she's already got her sword in the thing's gut, but she's having trouble pulling it out, and I'm about to go help her when the damn thing shakes Wes off its left hand and reaches for Penny, swinging Laurie off into the air. I rush after the flying Slayer, trusting Wesley to help the other. Manage to get myself under her before she hits the building wall or the pavement, and I can feel my cracked ribs break fully, but at least Little Red is okay. She's probably bruised and cursing an impressively blue streak, but before I can finish setting her on her feet she's hopped down and taken off into the battle again. I head after her, ignoring the ribs, worried that she's fighting angry. Fighting angry makes you sloppy, and we can't afford that; we're already down three, possibly four, fighters.

Illyria and Merry have somehow gotten the mace out of big green ugly's hand, and they're putting all their effort into hacking it off. The whole group has been dragged a good fifteen feet farther from the portal, but impossibly we're all still on our feet, and my injuries are likely the most serious. Though the Watcher and Penny are bleeding in interesting new places.

I dropped my sword running for Laurie, and my axes are long gone; right, need a weapon. Looking over the dead demons littering the alleyway, I find a big-ass thing, looks like a machete. Yep, that'll work. Taking up the oversized sword, I jump back in, ramming the sword into the big nasty just below where Penny's went in earlier. The problem is, the damn hide and tendons are too strong. That's why we haven't gotten anything but fingers chopped off. Even the extra-large, wide sword I grabbed sticks in the demon's stomach. It gets some attention, though; a large green hand swipes at me, and I hit the ground to avoid it, throwing a few kicks at the kneecaps while I'm down there.

Once someone else draws the hand's attention, I pop back up and run to get another sword. Wes is already there searching through the corpses for more weapons, and I help him out seeing as my eyesight is better and all. We collect five swords and a quiver of crossbow bolts before we head back. The girls and Illyria have held their own admirably, though Blue now has a nasty gash down the side of her face.

I start by flinging myself into the highest jump I can manage, and stick a sword between its ribs. The demon lurches forward while I'm in midair, and I have to grab onto its clothes to avoid being thrown to the ground and trampled. Since I'm up there, and so far the giant pillock doesn't seem inclined to pluck me off and toss me away, I call for a weapon. Wes tosses up a sword, and I climb further up, hoping to stick the blade into its throat and finish this once and for all. Turns out, I'm not the only one who had that idea. As I get high enough to see over the shoulder, I spy Laurie hanging on the demon's back, a knife clutched between her teeth. Luckily for us both hands, sans most fingers by now, are occupied with the others, and we manage to reach the neck without being knocked off.

Before I can form a plan where we won't stab one another while trying to kill the ogre-like demon, she takes the little knife from between her teeth, and slams it into the jugular vein. Doesn't make much of a dent, and it pops back out right away; but it's pushed out by the flow of blood, so that must be a good thing. Also a good sign, albeit a painful one, is that the thing has started screaming rather than roaring. Working on a hunch, I direct her with hand gestures to move back, then stick my sword into the same hole the knife came from, aiming for the spine. I might have nicked it, but it's hard to tell 'cause the sword gets lodged in the demon's thick neck before I can push it in very far.

Must've hit something good, because the demon; which has fought through our entire attack, pulling us along as it moved, is suddenly swaying on its knees. I can hear the clanging of weapons below me, and feel movement, but I'm still leaning on the sword trying to press it home; the only person I can see is Laurie, who is trying to work another knife into the thing's shoulder and put an arm out of commission.

The wavering becomes more pronounced, and I realize Little Red and I are swinging 20 feet in the air, and the demon's liable to land on one or the other of us at any moment. "Oi!" I yell to get her attention. "Get down, I think it's gonna fall!" I'm moving again, climbing as quickly as I can across fabric made slick with blood and rain, hoping I get close enough to do her some good.

"It's not dead yet; I need to make sure it's dead. I can jump off, it'll be fine." Famous last words from the defiant teenager; the demon leans dramatically to the side, shifting both of us so we're barely hanging on and unable to get any traction.

Frantic now, for no reason I could explain, I grab the little girl with the hand that's lost its grip on big green; twisting the other into a strap to keep me attached. I look around enough to catch sight of a mess of blue hair, and call out for her. "Blue, catch!" I push as hard as I can, fighting against the sway of the demon as it falls to earth and Laurie's determination to stay right where she is. I make it, barely; managing to throw her free into Illyria as the angle of the world shifts. There's a rush of air as I fall, and then I make impact. There's maybe a second between the time I hit the ground and when the demon falls on top of me. I'm aware of both impacts; the sounds of breaking bones, the splash of rainwater as I hit a puddle; and the incredible pain. The only thing close to this I can think of was when Glory had me. Then, there's merciful darkness, as the pain carries me away.

Elise

Willow's casting is like nothing I've ever seen. First, she settles down on the floor of the fire escape and meditates. If you concentrate, you can sense the energy she's drawing through herself. When she's done meditating, she stands against the railing, grabs my hand, and begins to chant. I can feel my power connecting to hers, like a lamp plugged into a wall socket; there's a current running through me that connects to her, and it draws energy out of me.

Connor ditched us almost immediately with a promise to be back soon. For the moment, it's just us girls on the fire escape, with a bird's eye view of the action and everyone else down on the ground.

Willow's focus is on the rift the demon horde is emerging from. As near as I can anticipate, she's turning it into a vacuum which will stop the tide and suck the demons back in. When I feel the pull through me as she saps more energy, I know I'm right. The dark area hiding the world beyond the alley is lightening, becoming more stable, and fewer demons are getting through. At first it's hard to see the changes because of the rain, but then the rain is no impediment to our vision; neither are the buildings or the demons. We see every aspect of the portal clearly; we know where the demons are coming from, and we know how to send them back.

There are human police, and a group of demon fighters on the streets at either end of the block. Few demons have attempted to go around the battle; that must be where the ones coming in through the side alley came from. The humans are making an effort to keep anything from getting past them, even if most of them don't understand what they're fighting.

As another surge of energy pulls out of us for the casting, the portal begins to suck demons back inside, expanding at the same time. It leaves the buildings untouched, but when one police car tries to herd the demons towards the portal, the car is sucked in as well. Whoops. Thankfully, the other humans get the message and back off. We worry that we won't be able to retrieve the humans if we wait, but we can't divert our attention from the portal, or it will return to spitting out demons.

The portal is fully reversed now, sucking the demons back in; but it's taking a lot of energy to keep it working in our favor, and also keep it from expanding too much and swallowing the humans as well as our people. We need more power, so Willow can focus her energies on holding the spell together. We call out for Miss Penny, fully understanding now why we needed Connor up here. Her concentration isn't with us, and it takes several minutes for the plea to be heard; by that time the portal has expanded even more, and the demons left in the alley are running scared, straight into our fighting force. It takes Miss Penny a while to get to Connor and send him up here; by the time he arrives we're starting to feel woozy.

Without either of us breaking our concentration he's suddenly got us by the hands. The rush… We don't know if we were that tired or if he's that powerful, but feeling him flowing through us is like nothing we've ever been part of. I lose my focus for a moment; there's only the power flowing through me, and I'm not weakened anymore, I'm stronger than I've ever been. Then there's a sharp mental nudge from the others, and I put my focus back on the portal.

Our Slayers below take down most of the demons running from the portal before they can get away; a few escape the humans and flee into the city. The Slayers get stuck in pitched warfare with a green demon, and rather than join the fight several other demons flee past them. Only one attempts to get through the barrier we've placed around the Hyperion; it isn't successful.

We don't have enough energy to affect the fight below us, though we know the outcome already. We feel a vague hostility, mixed with a heavy sorrow, as we share the knowledge. As the demon falls to earth, taking William with it, we move to shut down the portal once and for all. The battle is nearly ended, all that remains now is to clean up and heal our people.

The Slayers below, led by the God Illyria, attempt to move the dead demon off William; we look on, wishing we could offer assistance. But if we lose our focus on the portal now all of them will die.

The portal grows smaller, and sealing it takes all of our concentration now. The magicks that cooled the air, brought the rain, and opened a door into our dimension for the demons are fighting back; we're having trouble shutting them down. We manage to counteract pieces of the spells, setting things to rights a little at a time, but we're losing power. We don't have enough energy left to complete our task. We fight our fatigue and push all our focus into breaking apart the magicks resisting us, but it's obvious that we're not going to be able to finish this without help.

As we struggle to find more energy and work against the dark magicks filling the alley, one of the Slayers breaks away from the group and heads towards us. Before she gets here, one we sent away earlier comes and joins her energy to ours. The addition of the two Slayers, bound by a blood connection to one another, helps a great deal. They don't have great power, not the way we do, but they have enough to make us stronger. As our essences join, as we all work instinctively towards the goal of ending this battle, we realize our power is enhanced by our bonds. We are sisterly love, affection, attraction, and friendships old and new. It make us stronger than the dark magicks.

Illyria and the Slayers below finally throw the large demon away from the vampire and towards the portal. Knowing we need to finish this, we call out to the Slayers to go back to the Hyperion. Illyria, we allow to choose. She can stay in our dimension and work with the Slayers, or we can send her where she will be free to lead the demon hordes. We are surprised and grateful when she chooses to stay, and helps the other warriors inside.

Now there is one final step. We use the magicks that created the rain, and turn them into a wind. The air currents scoop up the piles of demon dead, and push them into the portal. When all that is left in the alley are scattered weapons and small puddles the wind didn't catch, we dissolve that casting all the way back to non-existence, and focus once again on the portal. Already it's breaking down, the destruction of the weather magicks weakening it, and it requires little effort now to push the portal back in on itself and dissolve it completely.

For several moments after the portal closes, we remain connected, standing pressed together in the clear, rapidly warming night. There's hardly a sound; the only movement in the streets and alleys around the Hyperion is made by humans emerging to tentatively explore their new safety. And, a few rats and mice.

Slowly, we step apart. We are tired, but euphoric in victory. Then, as we are easing apart, our mental connection snaps abruptly, as Willow collapses.

Chapter Summary: Willow makes a new friend. No Spuffy yet, but please stick with me.