Dark are the Shadows 12/17/2019

Dark are the Shadows
Ms Hunter Ash

a BTVS/Dark Shadows crossover
I don't own any of the canon characters in either universe - original characters are my creation, however - as is the storyline

rating: PG13
pairings: Buffy/Quentin, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya, Giles/Angelique


# # #

"Damnit to hell!" Angelique yelled and got up from the table after an hour of attempting to discern where Willow was being held.

Tara's head dropped and she began to cry.

Buffy went over and hugged her friend. "We'll get her back, Tare."

Giles watched Angelique pacing with a wince.

"I am going to hang him from the highest tree by his intestines!" she declared.

Giles didn't need to ask who she was referring to.

The Watcher frowned when someone knocked on the door. "Excuse me, luv."

"Be careful," Angelique urged.

Giles' eyebrows rose when he found Spike at the front door.

"Yes?"

"You lot obviously are unaware of the unusual occurrence just up the road," Spike said. "And why is Joyce’s house all dark?"

"They're staying here," Giles said and looked over at Buffy.

The Slayer nodded and Giles stepped aside to let Spike inside.

"What are you talking about, Spike?" Buffy asked.

"Something came crashing down from the sky," Spike said. "I went to check it out and it's some kind of meteor or something. All hollow and broken."

Giles frowned. "Tara, can you fire up that laptop of yours?"

"Of course," she said and went to get it.

“There was a body nearby,” Spike continued. “I heard the paramedics saying he’d been released earlier that day due to overcrowding in the nutward. There was something really foul smelling coming out of his mouth. One of the paramedics tossed his supper.”

“That’s odd, they’re accustomed to a lot of smells and horror,” Giles commented.

“What am I looking for, Giles?” Tara asked as she brought her laptop to the dining room table.

“The records of those three houses where we suspect Glory is residing,” Giles said. “Who owns them, what name is on the utilities and such. Second, Angelique can you do a scan over the entire city, especially the older homes? On a map, I mean, for Willow and Barnabas?”

“Yes, but we already know Nicholas is blocking us,” Angelique protested.

“Exactly,” Giles said with a slight smile. “You won’t be able to see where they are.”

“You’re not making sense,” Angelique complained.

“You’ll be able to see everywhere else,” Giles reasoned.

“I get it!” Tara exclaimed. “Wherever we can’t see is probably where they are.”

“There will be at least two areas you can’t see,” Giles said. “Where Glory is and probably where Willow and Barnabas are. There may be more, areas where other sorcerers are working or areas that naturally block energies like the bus station, as we learned. We can eliminate many of them easily. Houses with no basements, newer houses, businesses and the like.”

“Newer houses?” Angelique asked.

“The basement we saw was older and most modern houses don’t have basements,” Giles explained.

“You are clever, Rupert,” Angelique commented.

“He’s… Giles,” Buffy said with a smile.

“To scan the entire city may take longer than we have tonight,” Angelique said.

“I’ll attempt some scrying after some sleep during the day and we can continue again after sunset tomorrow night,” Giles said. “We need to know where our enemies are. And we need to really shield this place and Oz’ cell. We can’t let Nicholas know what we’re up to either.”

"Can we find out if there's been any other meteors with strange activity accompanying that?" Quentin asked and Tara nodded.

"We should be able to, news travels pretty quickly all over the world," Tara said.

"Good idea, Quentin," Buffy said with a smile and Spike's eyes narrowed.

# # # #

“Barnabas! Barnabas!”

The vampire raised his head. “What?” he yelled in turn.

“I was bitten by a vampire twice!” Willow called.

“Tom Jennings,” Barnabas replied. “He was the one that preyed on Julia. Angelique’s first victim.”

“He called me to him! How does he do that? I don’t want him!” Willow asked.

“He got his fangs in and that gives him power over you,” Barnabas explained.

“How do I fight that?” Willow asked.

“You don’t…. I do,” Barnabas said and frowned in the dark.

“How?”

“I can assert dominance over you,” Barnabas called. “You were mine first. If you wish me to make that claim.”

“Yes!” Willow called.

“Why? If it angers them, they may kill you or kill you and turn you quickly,” Barnabas asked.

“I belong with Tara and, if a vampire is going to have control over me, it should be you!” Willow said after several moments.

“Listen to my voice,” Barnabas called. “Hear only my voice. Let your mind hear and obey only my voice. You belong to Tara and me. No other shall hold sway over your mind or soul, Willow Rosenberg. You will long for no other fangs than ours. You will respond to no other touch than ours. You have my blood running through your veins, not that of Jennings! I am the one you will turn to. Myself or Tara. No other. Do you understand? Your will shall not be bowed by Tom Jennings. You are mine. Do you understand? Answer.”

“Yes,” Willow said softly.

“Close your eyes and sleep,” Barnabas ordered. “When you awake Tom Jennings, Glorificus and Nicholas Blair will have no mental power over you. You will long only for my fangs and those of Tara. No other.”

Willow laid down and closed her eyes.

Barnabas sighed and let his head drop. How long had he been bricked up? Only two nights? He had expended a lot of energy attempting to contact others and change forms and whatever he had been shot with in the shoulder was still there and it hurt.

# # # #

Giles yawned and stood up and stretched. With Tara and Angelique sleeping in their secure beds it was left to the others to continue researching which included Dawn and Joyce.

Xander, Anya and Joyce were reading through books that Giles had gone and checked out at the library when it first opened, from the Magic Box and his own apartment. Quentin and Buffy were researching on Willow and Tara's laptops and Dawn had her own out and Giles was coordinating the info.

"You need to sleep soon, Rupert," Joyce said as she sat a cup of tea in front of him.

"I know," he said softly. "I can't keep this up. I don't think I can do any magic today. I'll try for a nap in a bit."

"Do you think we can get Barnabas and Willow back?" she asked softly.

"I truly don't know," Giles said, his voice almost a whisper. "It'll be hard enough to go up against that super-powered woman. Throwing Nicholas Blair and a vampire into the mix makes things a lot more difficult."

“Go lay down, Rupert,” Joyce suggested. “We’ll keep researching.”

“Hey, meteor anomalies go back to the 12the century,” Dawn said aloud. “The Queller impact in Iceland. Why did they call it that?”

“Wait, I just saw something on that,” Xander said and grabbed a book and began leafing through the pages. “Here we go, primitive people used to believe that the moon was a cause of insanity. Sometimes they would pray to the moon to send a special meteor to fix the problem the moon had caused. These meteors were expected to *quell*" the madmen.”

Xander closed the book with a smile. “Awesome, I score at research!”

“Okay, let me look….” Dawn said and the laptop keys clattered. “Okay, I'm looking in history right now. It says in the Middle Ages there were these sweeping plagues of madness. People were losing their marbles everywhere. But then it would suddenly subside. And these dates look pretty close. Like-like maybe it happened after each one of the meteor events.”

“So something emerged from the meteors ... and quelled the madmen,” Giles said thoughtfully.

“Meteor go boom, crazy guy goes bye-bye,” Xander surmised.

Dawn looked at the book Xander had been reading from. “Xander’s little book makes it sound like the Queller thing had to be summoned. So who summoned it?”

“Who else? My money’s on Glory,” Xander said.

“And Nicholas Blair is a sorcerer that has summoned demons and zombies,” Giles commented.

“Uh, guys, something just came across the local newspaper Willow has hacked into, five people were killed at the hospital and it sounds like the mental patient Spike saw,” Anya said.

“The mental ward?” Giles asked and moved to read over her shoulder.

“How do I kill it and where do I find it?” Buffy asked.

“Has anyone been released into the care of their family?” Giles asked as Dawn and Quentin clicked on the laptops.

“And what does it look like?” Quentin added.

“Here,” Xander said. “Hmmm, yeah, like a slug with teeth instead of lips.”

“Sounds like a charmer,” Spike mumbled.

“It doesn’t say how to kill it,” Xander added as he ignored Spike.

“Those usually writing those books didn’t believe so major details get left out,” Giles said absently.

“Hence no description on what will kill it,” Buffy observed.

“There was a woman that was released about the same time as the security guard,” Quentin said, reading from the laptop. “The mental ward was overwhelmed.”

“Do we have an address?” Buffy asked.

“Yes,” Quentin said and turned the laptop around and Buffy nodded.

“Go with a knife,” Giles advised. “Or a tire iron.”

“Tire iron?” Buffy questioned.

“Many demons have a weakness towards wrought iron,” Giles explained. “Tire irons are good for that.”

“I’ll take both,” Buffy said. “It’s almost sunset. Our vamps will be awake. Have them get back to trying to track Will and Barnabas.”

Giles nodded.

“Quentin, want to drive me and keep any civilians occupied while I kill the scary demon?”

“Absolutely,” the immortal replied.

Spike’s jaw clenched.

# # #

Barnabas felt the sun going down and raised his head. He could barely do that with the cross around his neck and dealing with blood hunger. The vampire frowned and focused.

//Show me with your eyes// he told Willow mentally. Would it work? Could his dominance over the girl be stronger than the cross around his neck and Nicholas’ magic? Could it be that Nicholas had shielded against outside magic but not magic contained inside?

Barnabas managed to smile when he could see through Willow’s eyes. That could help him stay grounded…

In front of the cot was an ice chest and a gallon of water.

//Is there food inside?//

//Yes// Willow responded. //I’m not hungry.//

//Eat, keep up your strength. You have to stay as strong as you can especially with Jennings preying on you. Willow, listen, when Blair and Jennings come down, do not let on that you have your own mind. They may drop their guard soon if they don’t believe you’re a threat….I’m losing focus…//

//Barnabas? What’s wrong?//

//Too much energy going out and there’s a silver or wooden arrow broken off in my shoulder. The blood frenzy will hit soon. I may not be able to communicate. I’m sorry.//

//Please don’t leave me// Willow begged.

//I’ll stay as long as I can…//

# # # #

Buffy jumped out of Quentin’s car and looked over the typical ranch-style house on a street very much like her own. She had a knife in a sheath on her belt and a tire iron in hand. “Let’s hope we’re in time.”

A blood-curdling scream cut off any reply Quentin may have had. Buffy ran for the front door as another scream sounded from inside the house. The Slayer kicked the door in easily and jumped inside.

She took in the sight of a tall, middle aged man holding two pre-teen twins that were clinging to him, their eyes wide. Buffy followed his glance up the stairs and ran up to the 2^nd floor as Quentin entered the house.

Buffy followed choking sounds to a master bedroom where she saw a slimy looking slug with arms hovering over a woman on a king-sized bed. The Slayer swung the crowbar and knocked the creature off the woman onto the floor. She turned and helped the woman sit up as the woman struggled to remove a foul smelling slime from her face.

Buffy turned to confront the demon and frowned. Where the hell did the thing go? “Quentin, the wife is alive, get hubby and the kids out of here!” she yelled loudly. “Okay, under the bed, no doubt…”

She moved off the bed and started to bend down to look under the bed with the tire iron in hand when something landed on her… something slimy and awful smelling. Buffy yelled as she fell to the floor and turned over to deal with the creature when the gaping mouth spewed slime at her, the Slayer barely dodging the foul substance. Buffy hit the demon with the tire iron and gritted her teeth when the multi-rowed teeth sank into her arm.

Buffy hit the demon again and jumped to her feet. “Okay, slug demon, I doubt you can move really quickly, lets get this over with.”

To prove her wrong the creature leaped from the floor onto the wall and scampered to the ceiling to look down at the Slayer.

“Show off,” Buffy muttered. The Slayer grabbed the woman and pushed her towards the door without taking her eyes off the chittering demon. The thing’s eyes followed the babbling woman and it started across the ceiling. Buffy jumped up on the bed and up and she grabbed the creature and dropped it to the bed and pulled her knife and began stabbing it repeatedly.

Quentin found Buffy sitting on the bed with knife in hand and a large pool of….yellow ooze on the bedspread in front of her.

“The woman made it out,” Quentin said.

“Okay,” Buffy said. “Stupid thing bit me. Come on, grab the bedspread. We’ll throw it away on the way out of here.”

“What do we tell the family?”

“Not much, by tomorrow they’ll think some drug addict burglar scared mom,” Buffy said. “The hellmouth protects itself.”

“Weird, very weird.”

Buffy held her forearm as they walked out of the house. “The crazy drug addict ran out the back after stabbing me. That was all you saw. A scary looking guy with bad teeth that needed a shower, okay?”

The father nodded silently.

“Get your wife back to the hospital, they have room for her now,” Quentin added.

“Thank you, warrior princess lady,” one of the girls said.

Buffy smiled and nodded. “Girls can do almost anything guys can do and sometimes do it better. Remember that.”

Once in the car Quentin looked at Buffy.

“What is something a guy can do that a woman can’t?”

“Urinate standing up,” Buffy said with a smile. “It turns out badly if we try it.”

Quentin blinked. “Thanks for that thought.”

“My pleasure.”

# # # #

Buffy walked into the mansion and looked over the group that was attempting to scry to find their missing members and to find any info on the houses where they suspected Glory might be residing.

“Where’s Giles?” she asked.

“Buffy! Your arm!”

“I’m okay, stupid thing had a lot of teeth and I desperately need a shower!”

“Giles is making coffee,” Tara said.

“Now that you’re back I’m going to try and convince him to get some sleep,” Angelique added. “He wouldn’t rest until you came back.”

“Did you get the demon?” Xander asked.

“Yeah, one terrorized family later but no one was killed except the demon.”

“Good,” Anya said. “Your mom is making dinner.”

“Cool, I’m going to grab a quick shower and clean the wound,” Buffy said. “Tell Giles to get some sleep.”

# # #

Barnabas tried to focus… something was wrong.

He couldn’t see through Willow’s eyes.

//Willow! Are you there?//

//Yes. I can’t sit up, I’m so weak and you were gone.//

//I’m sorry… it’s getting hard. What’s happened?// Barnabas asked.

//Tom bit me again,// Willow responded. //I pretended to be…totally controlled.//

//Where are they?// Barnabas questioned.

//I don’t know, Blair said they had to keep an eye on Glory. They know Dawn is the key.//

//Just… rest…// Barnabas told her. //Hang on as long as you can.//

The vampire closed his eyes and focused. With the cross around his neck he couldn’t change forms or escape through time and his mental powers were curtailed but… Blair was distracted.

//Tara…Blair…Dawn….the key… racing Glory…// he tried to send over and over until he lost consciousness.

# # # #

Angelique rubbed her eyes. “This is… difficult. The energy in this town is chaotic.”

The witch frowned. “Tara?”

“Barnabas,” Tara whispered and the conversation near the table went quiet as the heroes moved closer. “Blair knows what Glory wants and wants to find it before Glory does.”

The vampire shook her head. “It’s g-gone.”

“How is he? How is Barnabas?” Angelique asked anxiously.

“He’s having trouble focusing,” Tara said. “He’s connected to Will and is almost in a blood frenzy.”

“Can we find them?” Xander asked.

“I don’t know,” Tara said softly.

“It’s night four,” Angelique said. “He should be able to hold out for awhile.”

“He’s injured,” Tara added.

“Damn,” Angelique muttered. “All right, back at it. You search for Willow, I’ll search for Barnabas and then we’ll switch. One of us should be able to break through soon. Nicholas is bound to be distracted.”

Buffy saw her mom frowning and motioning towards the patio with a slight movement of her head.

“You guys keep at it,” Buffy said. “I’ll be outside brooding. Angel and Barnabas do it so well, maybe it helps.”

A few minutes later Joyce joined her.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Buffy, there’s something you and the others aren’t telling Dawn and me, isn’t there?”

Buffy glanced away. “Just… that what Blair wants to do will probably kill Dawnie.”

“There’s more,” Joyce said as she sat down. “I spent time with Rupert when he was so sick. He wanted to talk about the family. We looked at photos and something strange happened.”

“What?” Buffy asked. Her Mom remembered some of being under control of the Leviathans? Didn’t anyone under control lose those memories when released?

“He wasn’t coherent at times and I had one of those migraines…” Joyce said and then hesitated. “We both saw Dawn’s photo fade in and out of sight with a green aura surrounding it. Nicholas Blair wants Dawn because there’s something different about her, right?”

Buffy sighed and then nodded.

“There’s this incredible feeling I had then that… Dawn isn’t originally ours, is she?”

“No,” Buffy whispered.

“But she’s ours now,” Joyce said firmly.

“Absolutely,” Buffy responded. “She’s my sister and nothing more.”

“She’s my daughter,” Joyce added. “Promise me, if anything happens that you’ll take care of her.”

Buffy nodded. “I promise.”

“I don’t want to know details, let’s just stop Blair and that woman,” Joyce said firmly.

# # # #

Willow looked around her surroundings one more time as she struggled to sit up and eat at least half of one of the sandwiches Nicholas had left for her. The shackle was bespelled but was the chain or lock? Maybe she could pick the lock, she had watched Xander practice on cheap locks before…

# # # #