Chapter 17

Wes had been locked in his office all night. He continued to pore over all the prophecy tomes that the Fyarl demon had attempted to steal, ordered by Riley. It now seemed that Riley had wanted Buffy, so why had he wanted the prophecy books? It couldn't have just been an elaborate attempt to get Buffy here from England. Or if Riley knew she was already here to see Spike, was it all a distraction in order to spirit her away then? Wes rubbed his eyes for the hundredth time. It just didn't make any sense.

He had finally reasoned that there must be something in the prophecy books that Riley needed, or that Riley didn't want them to discover for themselves. Wes and Giles had been rescued just as the Fyarl demon was attempting to summon a prophecy. That was one of the reasons Wes was having so many problems narrowing down an exact prophecy that concerned Buffy, or The Chosen One. With these special tomes, one only had to name the prophecy, and the text would become visible on the blank page. But since Wesley didn't know which prophecy he was searching for, he had to recall everything he could think of about Buffy, or the Chosen One, or a soldier, or a hundred different things. To say he was frustrated was a gross understatement.

"This is useless," he muttered, as he flipped a page. "Why don't I just get the message and quit?" Suddenly, the pages in front of him filled with a blood red text. At the top, in all capitals, the prophecy was entitled, THE MESSAGE. Wesley grabbed the yellow notepad and slowly translated the archaic test as well as he could:

THE MESSAGE WILL COME
AND IT WILL BRING THE CHOSEN ONE
FROM MILES AFAR
SHE WILL SEE WITH HER OWN EYES
WHAT THE MESSAGE WROUGHT
AND THIS WILL BE HER UNDOING

Wesley read and re-read the translation with trepidation.

What message?

Wesley's head snapped up as his office door opened, a shadow falling over his papers.

"The Big Poofter wants us all in his office for a meeting." Spike smirked at the young watcher. "Not that I care what he wants, mind you."

Wesley gaped at the bleach blonde vampire, and a chill ran down his spine as he bent his head and again read his translation. "I'll be right there."

Spike continued to smirk at Wesley's bent head, then he shrugged and left. Wes gathered up the book and his notepad, slowly stood, and made his way to Angel's office. It seems he now had something to report after all.

"Hey, Wes. Good, now that everyone is here, we can get started." Angel closed the door behind Wesley, taking center stage. Spike rolled his eyes behind Angel's back. If Angel was the boss, then Spike assigned himself as chief insubordinate.

"Unfortunately, my….uh…interviewing of the underground contacts had no results. I didn't get anything new. Spike? Did you have any luck?"

Spike, leaning against a wall, pulled a cigarette out from his new duster, lit it, and drew a lungful, blowing the smoke out in Angel's general direction. "Nope. No one is talking. And I beat on them pretty good, too."

"Put the smoke out, Spike. No smoking." Spike and Angel glared in a duel of wills before Spike noticed Giles' glare from across the room. Then he shrugged, lifted up his boot, and put the cigarette out on the bottom of the heel, placing it in his pocket for later.

"Does anyone have any good news?" Willow asked sadly from her perch on the sofa beside Giles.

Wes looked down at his papers, hesitant to speak. He needn't worried, because before he could swallow a breath, Fred stood. "I think I might." All eyes fell on her, and she blushed in her shy manner.

"I know you've all been informed about Toxin 16. With further research, I've confirmed that it's components were indeed not complete. So, Buffy will have her strength, and in time, should regain all her lost memory as well."

"How long until she remembers?" Angel asked.

Fred frowned. "That's not conclusive. Could be days, could be…years." She shrugged, and then fell back into her chair. "I don't know."

Silence descended on the room. Giles was ashen. They were all concerned about him. If they didn't find Buffy soon, they all hated to contemplate the consequences. No matter how they tried, they couldn't get Giles to eat, or to sleep. During the days, he poured through Initiative documents and manuals. At night, he'd wander the sewers, searching for any lead. Often upon his return, he would be bloodied and bruised. Willow was the most frightened. She sensed the darkness overtaking him, and she didn't know what to do about it.

Angel adjourned the meeting. Spike escorted Fred to her office, Gunn following on their heels. It was only then when Wesley spoke up. "Angel? Giles? Might I have a word with you." He glanced at Willow and Xander, "And you two as well?"

"Certainly." Giles looked at the younger man expectantly.

"I think I've found something in the prophecy books, but I didn't want the others to see. Not until I know what it means, anyway."

Wesley laid the notepad with his translations, and the prophecy book, down onto the round table in the center of the room. The blood red text glistened under the dim lights in Angel's office.

Slowly, in his soft British clip of a voice, Giles read out loud the words on the page:

"THE MESSAGE WILL COME
AND IT WILL BRING THE CHOSEN ONE
FROM MILES AFAR
SHE WILL SEE WITH HER OWN EYES
WHAT THE MESSAGE WROUGHT
AND THIS WILL BE HER UNDOING"

Giles looked up at Willow. "The Message? Miles afar?" Giles frowned, and then the anger was written all over his face. "Spike."

"We don't know that for certain, Giles." Wesley hastened to caution them all. "It could be anything."

"Buffy left Europe because of the message you gave Willow that Spike had returned. If not for that, if not for Spike, we'd all still be there, and Buffy would have been safe."

"Not necessarily, Giles." Angel added. He almost cringed at the fierce look in Giles' eyes when he glared at him. "If this is about Riley, he could have found her there in Europe. Or lured her here some other way."

"What I don't understand, if it is Spike, is what Riley has to do with it. And why would he want these books?"

"To stop us from seeing it? Seems kind of melodramatic to me. Although, Captain Cardboard always was the leader of the 'all about me' club." Willow lightly punched Xander on the arm for his quip.

"We don't even know what The Message is exactly." Willow deduced. "We don't know it was about Spike. I agree with Wesley. Let's not think glass half empty here."

Giles paced. He was furious. Why was it always Spike? He had hurt Buffy enough. Giles would not allow even a hint of trouble from the vampire again. It was time for him to end it, and end it now. Giles snatched his jacket up from the sofa, threw it on, and headed towards the door, his words coming over his shoulder, "I'll deliver a message to Spike myself." The door slammed shut in his wake.

In the dark, a bus was just entering the outskirts of LA with an exhausted Buffy in the back seat. She tried to find peace in her sleep, but a frown began to play on her lips as the visions in her dreams danced and flickered. There was darkness in her dreams, and pain. Her memories leeched out, displacing the peace.

The rising sun was a few hours away, but at the small white house a few streets down from Wolfram and Hart, the alarm clock startled a young boy up and out of his cozy bed. He groggily pulled on his jeans and a sweatshirt, laced up his sneakers, and headed out into the garage for his bike. He enjoyed the extra spending money his paper route provided him, but he hated the sound of that darn alarm clock!

Chapter 18

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