FIC: Slayer X (3/4)

["Cilia" <cilia@xxxxx>]

Slayer X

Cilia

Chapter Three: Call to Arms


Buffy awoke in her small bed and smiled because although she wasn't next
to her Willow was safely snuggled and naked, she was happy. The night
before had been strange on so many levels that she couldn't even begin
to wrap her mind around it. Still this had been a long time coming and
she was expecting a big 'I told you so' from Spike. Sliding out of the
bed she made her way to the kitchen and reached into the fridge for
something to drink and that's when it hit her. A flood of images
assaulted her mind and the juice bottle fell to the floor with its
contents splashing all over the kitchen floor. It was like this that
Willow found her convulsing on the floor a few hours later

Faith watched from Spike's side in the situation room as Buffy was
rushed into the medical unit, she had awakened with a sinking feeling in
her stomach and went in search of Spike and found him running towards
the situation room. Now they just stood while they waited for word on
Slayer X's condition and the look on Spike's face was grim.
"She going to be okay?" Faith asked when no reply came she
stressed her question. "Right!" she exclaimed and pulled hard on Spike's
sleeve.
"I don't know Kiddo," Spike answered. "It's never been this
bad," he explained.
"Spike," Willow said as she walked into the situation room.
"Sorry Red," Spike said.
"Give us a moment," Willow said and looked down at Faith.
Spike just nodded and found a technician to bother.
"Do all Slayers.?" Faith started. 
"No, but it happens to those like Buffy from time to time,
never this bad though," Willow said.
"Why? Is Buffy special?" Faith asked.
"She was the one who killed the last Supreme Slayer, so this
only means the time is near," Willow explained as her eyes roamed over
the map wall.
"She's going to be okay?" Faith asked.
"Yes, the Doctors are doing all they can to ease the
seizures," Willow said in a cold voice. "Your session is starting,"
Willow said absentmindedly.
"You love her? Don't you Doc?" Faith asked half turning to
leave.
"Go to class Faith," Willow replied without turning around
and Faith huffed and strode out of the situation room.

Three minutes past eleven that same night, just as Buffy stirred in the
medical cubical she was resting in, a series of explosion rocked the
building. Faith looked up from her computer only in time to see the
thunder come crashing through the window. In the situation room the map
was lit up like a Christmas tree and Willow's hand slammed down on the
general Alarm button.
"Spike to the armory now," she barked. "Everybody else man
your stations!"
"Red." Spike started.
"Go protect my people," Willow hissed and Spike was off.
"Automate defense status?" she asked.
"Perimeter has been disabled, but internal defenses are operational,"
Cordelia said as she ran into the situation room. "I was on my way out
when they hit," she explained.
"Take tactical Cordelia," Willow said. "Give me cameras! Who do we have
out there?" she asked. The monitors flickered to life revealing the
identity of their attackers. 
"Host Guard," Willow muttered and the sight of the elite agents of order
flooding her building, their aura's causing the air to ozone and their
wings tucked in tight.
"What do we do?" Cordelia asked. "Do we activate the hellfire protocol?"
she asked.
"No not yet," Willow said. "Seal all levels, lets make them work for
it," she ordered. "Activate all gun emplacements and traps," she added. 
"Done," Cordelia said as steel shutters slid into place all over the
building.
"Now we pray," Willow said.
"Pray, Commander?" Cordelia asked. 
"That our primary weapon wakes up," Willow explained as she
looked over the monitors for a sight of Slayer X. On the garage monitor
a sleek black sports car pulled into a reserved space, a tall man got
out pulling off his shades and smiling at the camera. Willow cracked a
smile in response.

There was a roar as Buffy dressed only in the remains of her hospital
gown plowed through the Host Guard that had stormed the medical ward,
with feathers flying and the constant thuds of unconscious angels
hitting the floor with a steady rhythm. Slashing out with her hand, a
helmet went flying and rolled until it came to a stop at Angel's feet.
"Working through those issues?" he asked with a grin.
"Don't like Host Guards," Buffy answered and pulled her suit
out from underneath the bed. 
"Eh X." Angel stammered as Buffy shed her hospital gown.
"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "You've seen it all
before," she said with a smirk.
"Well. Cordelia. yes Cordelia sent me to find. check up on
you," Angel answered averting his eyes. "She got a premonition and
called me, thought you'd need my help," he explained.
"Sure you can help Angel, by staying out of my way," Buffy
said in a flat tone of voice and zipped up her suit.
"Peachy," Angel muttered.
"Where is Faith?" Buffy asked.
"In the living quarters," Angel replied. "But that's sealed
off," he added.
"They are after her," Buffy explained as she jumped onto the
bed and removed the grate from the air duct. "She's the next Supreme if
my last fit is anything to go by," she explained.
"I restate, peachy," Angel cursed.
"You coming?" Buffy said and hauled herself into the
ventilation duct.
"Like I have a choice," Angel said and followed Slayer X
into the ductworks of the Watcher Corp Building.

Spike sneaked along the walls in the labyrinth of corridors that made up
the Watcher Corp building. Avoiding the Host Guards roving the corridors
and making his way as fast as possible to the armory, he did not possess
X's youth and strength and he would do nobody any good if he got pinned
down fighting. Great he muttered checking his clips, his only two clips
for the Watcher Corp standard issue hand cannons.
"Just freaking peachy," he cursed in silence as he looked
back at the two Host Guards' he had stuffed into an alcove.
"Full of piss, vinegar and the supreme order?" he asked the
nearest angel. "Well I like the world just fine the way it is," he
stated and gave it a good kick for good measure.
"Then I guess we have something in common after all," a deep
resounding voice said as the Host Guard was helped to a stop.
"I was wondering when you'd show up Nighthawk," Spike said
with a grin. "Still wearing sunglasses at night I see," he added.
"Got delayed in the inner city," Alexander "Nighthawk"
Harris said and tossed a pair of sawn off horns to Spike.
"Nice," Spike commented and studied the price. "Real flair
Hawk," he stated.
"Let's go, you can cramp my style later on, but I think we
should move," Nighthawk said and looked up as the high pitched whine of
the Host Guard entering their attack run from the stratosphere grew
louder. 
"Armory and then to the roof," Spike said. "X will be
alright, I hope because if she gets hurts it's my skin," he muttered as
they started making their way to the roof.

Buffy waved into the camera as she slid down from the air duct and
Willow smiled in the map room, Angel slid down behind the slayer and
just nodded at the camera and Cordelia blushed slightly.
"You have a good man there Cordy," Willow said.
"I know," Cordelia said with a grin and stroked the image on
her screen.
"Where is Faith?" Willow asked as she scanned the monitor
wall.
"MIA," a tech answered. "Last seen in the recroom but
something blew out the cameras," he reported.
"Shit," Willow cursed. 
"Ma'am we've incoming," a female tech said. "Stratosphere
attack," she stated.
"Who do we have on the roof?" Willow asked.
"Spike and Nighthawk are heading there now," Cordelia said
as the locator map came up on the wall showing the two men as red dots
on a floor plan.
"They armed?" Willow asked.
"Heavily ma'am," a tech reported.
"Then they'll just have to do," Willow said as she returned
her attention to the wall and watched Buffy make her way through the
building.

The door was flung upon and Faith sprung into action, relying on brute
force and what little she'd been taught since being brought to the Corps
she hoped to at least take two or three down with her. But she was
stopped with a simple move and gathered into a fierce hug.
"Yeah, glad to see you too X," she muttered as she was
carried back into the room and the door behind her shut.
"You alright?" Buffy asked as she checked Faith for
injuries.
"I'm fine, Gee. maternal much?" Faith asked and Angel
snickered.
"What's so funny?" Buffy demanded.
"You and the word maternal," Angel said.
"Oh very funny," Buffy said. "Now lets get her to the map
room, we can hold them off until the reinforcements arrive from
England," X stated.
"Won't we have to wait kind of long for that?" Faith asked.
"Trans-dimensional portals," X explained with a grin.
"Something we stole off the other teams," she said.
"Oh," Faith said with her mouth gapping. "COOL!" she then
exclaimed and X shook her head and sighed. Then the doors exploded
inwards and Angel shouted for them to get down.

Spike stood on the roof of the Corps building and peered into the star
filled sky, his weapons were impressive, huge sci-fi kind of guns that
really helped to express his masculinity. But they would last all but
ten seconds against the elite squad of Host Guard Angels making their
attack run from high above them.
"We ready?" he asked.
"As we'll ever be," Nighthawk answered. "The electric grid
should fry some of them, but most of them will get through," he stated.
"Yeah I know," Spike cursed. "Really wish we had a mage with
us," he cursed.
"Well it's just us rough and tumble old hands to save the
world," Hawk said with a grin.
"Just the way I like it," Spike said with a grin.
"Have room for one more?" a distinctly female voice asked.
"X!" Spike exclaimed. 
"Are you happy to see me Spike?" X asked with a grin.
"No just happy you are alive so that means Willow won't skin
me," Spike replied with a smirk.
"Kiddo is safe by the way," X said and nodded her greeting
to Nighthawk. "They're after her," she added. 
"Supreme?" Nighthawk asked.
"Looks like it, they are hitting us with everything they've
got on this plane," X said. "But if we weather this, she'll come out on
our side," she explained.
"Going soft X?" Nighthawk asked.
"Well." X said with a grin, but then the whine grew louder.
"Brace yourselves," Spike shouted as the first wave of Host
Guard slammed into the electric wall surrounding the building.

Willow watched from the map room as Buffy and her friends fought on the
roof, a losing battle by the looks of it. Angel was being patched up by
Cordelia, he'd covered X and Faith's escape into the map room. Then X
had handed Faith to Willow, armed herself and crawled out of the map
room after a short moment with Willow.
"They're going to be alright," Faith asked from where she
stood next to Willow.
"They are the best Faith," Willow said.
"But it doesn't look good," Faith said.
"I know Faith," Willow nodded.
"Can't you do anything?" Faith asked.
"No," Willow said sadly.
"Anything I can do?" Faith asked with wide eyes.
"Not this time," Willow said. "You are the supreme now and
you must be protected. for now," Willow said.
"But you are so smart." Faith said near tears. "All this.
death because of me?" she stammered.
"I know. the feeling," Willow sighed as she saw X take a hit
and felt her stomach tightening. Turning away from the monitors she shut
everything out and focused, but the sound of Faith's crying kept
breaking through her walls.
"Ma'am," a tech reported. 
"Yes?" Willow asked.
"Reinforcements are coming through on the lower levels, but
they are having a hard time getting to the top levels," he reported.
"Thank you David," Willow said through closed eyes. 
"Willow?" Cordelia asked. "Don't do it," she pleaded. "It's
not worth it," she said, but there was a pang of sadness in her voice.
There was an explosion as Willow ripped up through the roof of the map
room in a flurry of telekinetic energy. 
"Patch that," Angel said and got to his feet, supported by
Cordelia. "Get me status reports and com links with the reinforcements,"
he ordered.
"Can I do anything?" Faith asked and Angel smiled.
"Get me something with caffeine," he said and Faith nodded
firmly. Cordelia smiled at Angel as she helped button his uniform.

There was a roar as Willow burst through the roof of the Corps building,
sending pieces of the reinforced metal flying in all directions. Her
first telekinetic wave flattened and ripped at the Host Guard.
"Get away from my people," she roared before looking up at
the sky where more Host were pouring onto the roof. 
"Be gone," she thundered and an invisible dome surrounded
the building making the Host go splat against it. 
X, Spike and Nighthawk froze at the sight of Willow's fury, she'd always
been the most normal of them all, no powers all brains, or so they had
thought. When the reinforcements piled onto the roof, Willow collapsed
and Buffy was the first at her side and gathering her up into her arms
as the soldiers flowed around her. The next thing she knew Faith was
kneeling down next to her and Willow.
"I'm sorry." Faith said in a trembling voice. "I didn't."
she was cut of as Buffy gathered the young Slayer into a fierce hug.
"It's alright Kiddo," Buffy said. 
"Going. soft?" Willow asked in a low voice.
"Guess so," Buffy said with smile.
"Air." Faith croaked and Buffy sheepishly let go of her.
"Gee mushy much?" Faith asked.
"Oh that's just so sweet," Cordelia coed with a smile.
"Please," Both Spike and Nighthawk groaned.
"Alright people," Willow exclaimed as she got to her feet.
"Show's over let's got back to work," she stated and everybody groaned.

It's not over yet.

Title: Slayer X
Part: 3/4
Author: Cilia
Archiving: List archivers and anybody that carries my work
Disclairment: Saving ones ass, I own very little although this is a far
stretch from the usual BtVS and Angel shows