The Three Kings, Part Four
Author: Elsa Frohman
Rating: PG.
Spoilers: Post NFA
Summary: This is my 2004 Christmas story. Spike, Gunn and Angel survived NFA and are back in the detective business.







Snow had been falling all day, and the road leading west from Harrogate hadn't been plowed. There were ruts made by the few cars and trucks that had ventured out in the storm. The hedgerows that marked the edges of the roadway were half-buried in drifts. It was still coming down, covering Buffy and Andrew's tracks as they slogged along through the dark, looking for the turn-off that would take them to the convent.

"The nuns will put us up for the night," Buffy said. "They always have some rooms for people who come on retreats and stuff."

Andrew struggled on in silence.

"I've stayed at convents before," Buffy continued. "It won't be the Hyatt, but there will be beds and heat."

Andrew made a small sound, and Buffy stopped and turned to face him.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Am I allowed to talk now?"

Buffy glared.

"I... I... I'm a man. Won't that be a problem?"

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Won't they say there are no men allowed and make me stay outside in the snow until I freeze to death?"

"No," Buffy said flatly.

"No, they won't?"

"No, you aren't allowed to talk."

Andrew whimpered.

Buffy started walking again.

"You know it's funny," Buffy said, talking as much to fill the silence and keep Andrew from talking as anything else. "This is really Christmas. I mean, I only saw it snow once in Sunnydale. And that was on Christmas. But this is like snow times ten, and that makes it sort of Christmas times a hundred."

"Hunting a really evil vam-pyre is Christmas for you?"

Buffy sighed.

"Well, the same Christmas when it snowed, the First Evil came and tried to make Angel kill himself, and I ended up going at it with a bunch of Bringers. And then there was the last Christmas in Sunnydale, when the First had kidnapped Spike, and I was fighting Ubervamps. Then there was the Christmas in LA when I had to kill a bunch of vamps who broke into the school Christmas party..."

"Was that when you burned down the gym?"

"No, that was the spring dance. There was less structural damage from the Christmas party."

"Buffy, I gotta say this. You've got some strange holiday memories."

"I know. Goes with being a Slayer, I guess. To make it even weirder, here we are on a journey, and there was no room at the inn."

"And we're following a star to the west," Andrew said in a rush, hoping to get the sentence out before Buffy shushed him.

"Star? What star?"

Andrew pointed to the sky, off to the left of the road.

"What do you know?" Buffy said in surprise.

There was one star visible through the falling snow. It was shining through the clouds, over the dark, jagged silhouette of a building at the top of a hill. The only indication of a road leading up was a gap in the hedgerow. The snow was smooth and undisturbed as the ground rose toward the convent.

"I know I'm going to have frostbitten toes," Andrew whined.

-----------------

Gunn was still leading -- fighting fatigue by pushing himself harder -- as he, Spike and Angel found the road that led up the hill to the convent. There were visible tracks leading up toward the dark building, but the snow was already filling them in.

Gunn was feeling the cold, though it didn't seem to bother his two vampire companions. His feet were going numb, and his nose and cheeks stung.

"Somebody is ahead of us," Gunn said, pointing at the furrow.

"I think we all know who," Spike said grimly.

"Well, let's get to it," Angel added.

"Wait," Spike said, squinting through the falling snow up the hill at the convent.

"What?" Gunn and Angel asked together.

"Doesn't it strike you a little odd that they don't have any lights on?"

"Power failure?" Gunn suggested.

"More likely, Drusilla cut a breaker and turned off all their lights. She would want them afraid before she starts killing them," Angel said. He shook his head in disgust.

Spike nodded curtly. "That's probably it," he said.

"We'd better hurry up and get in there, then," Gunn said.

-------------------

The dark walls of the convent had begun to worry Buffy. Not only were there no lights in the windows, there was no sign that anyone was around at all. There were no paths shoveled to the doors. There were no vehicles in the area. The stone wall around the compound of buildings was in ruins.

As they got closer, she could see that there was no glass in most of the windows, and a substantial section of roof had collapsed into the building. A tall evergreen grew through the gap in the roof of one large room.

"Wait a minute," Buffy said. "Nobody lives here."

"We're going to freeze to death," Andrew said, sniffling pitifully.

-------------------

Angel, Spike and Gunn stood outside the dark convent. The two vampires sniffed the air.

"We're too late," Gunn said quietly.

"I don't think so," Spike replied. "I don't smell any sign that there has been a furnace or stove on in that building -- for a long time. And there are no human odors. I don't think anyone lives here."

"I don't get it," Angel said.

"Don't you?" Spike snapped. "Did you ever check on this place after you had your little massacre here?"

Angel shook his head.

"I wonder if they ever opened this place back up after you had your way with it," Spike continued. "Doesn't look to me like anyone's lived here for, oh, more than a hundred years. The place is a ruin."

"That doesn't mean Dru isn't planning something here," Angel said. "We saw the tracks. She's ahead of us. At least we don't have to worry about protecting the nuns."

"Just the baby," Gunn said.

"Yeah, the baby," Angel said.

"Right, then lets go in," Spike said.

The three looked at one another, reluctant to take the next step.

Gunn frowned at his two companions.

"You're not getting cold feet, are you?" he asked. "I mean, yeah, my feet are cold, too. But we've got to do this."

Angel looked down at the snow around his feet.

"I've got some really bad memories of this place," he said.

"Never been here before," Spike said. "I can't say I'm looking forward to this. But, it's after eleven. We've got to get in there if we're going to have a chance to save the baby."

--------------------

Buffy and Andrew moved carefully through the dark hulk of the convent's main building. It wasn't much warmer inside but at least they were out of the wind, and mostly out of the snow. Every so often, they would encounter drifts blown in through the open windows.

They had no flashlight, so they navigated in near complete darkness. The silence was profound -- the only sounds they heard were their own footfalls. Andrew had started to whine again, but Buffy shushed him.

Then, as they turned a corner, Buffy heard a woman's voice singing. It was high and reedy, and at first she couldn't make out the tune or the words. But as they moved closer, she recognized the song.

O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.

"It's Drusilla," Buffy whispered. "It has to be. She's here."

Andrew swallowed hard. He looked frightened.

"You stay here," Buffy said. "If that is Drusilla, she's already heard us. So, she's not going to be surprised. But, if I can take her out quickly, you'll be safe."

------------------

Spike, Angel and Gunn heard the song echoing through the empty halls as they crept up a dark corridor.

"Coventry Carol," Spike whispered. "We used to sing it in church -- when I was a boy. Never heard Dru singing from the hymnal before."

"Somehow songs about slaying all the children don't fill me with Christmas spirit," Angel whispered back.

They continued toward the sound, guided by Drusilla's voice. Spike went first now, with Angel close behind and Gunn bringing up the rear. They turned a corner and saw the faint reflection of a flickering, yellow light. Another corner brought them to the entrance of a large room -- possibly a refectory, though all evidence of its former use were long gone. It was just a large, open space now. The roof was gone in the center of the room, and an evergreen tree grew up and out into the night, surrounded by drifting snow on the rough, broken, flagstone floor. But back against the far wall, where the roof still kept the snow out, a small campfire burned. And next to it, a woman sat on the floor, wrapped in a dark cloak, holding a bundle wrapped in a baby blanket. She rocked back and forth, singing her mournful song.

The three kings traveled from afar
And offered their gifts so rare
They bowed in awe beneath that star
Their homage to declare

Now we come too, to see the child
To see the child divine
We offer now to him so mild
The gift of ourselves, a sign.

Spike felt Angel's hand on his shoulder. He moved close and whispered next to Spike's ear.

"Go and talk to her. Keep her occupied. We'll circle around and try to get behind her."

Spike nodded and started forward. He crossed the open hall slowly, making no effort to conceal himself, each step a little more difficult than the last. This was the end for Drusilla, he thought, grief welling up in his heart. When he reached her, her fate would be sealed. They'd been everything to one another for a hundred years. He would have died for her a thousand times over. Even though it had been more than five years since he had called her his own; even though he knew he could no longer love her as he had; even though he knew she was a danger to all he held dear now -- he couldn't bring himself to feel any pleasure in what he was about to do.

He was going to end her. He knew it had to be done. There was no way around it. The child she held was in grave jeopardy. The child had to be saved. That was all that was important now.

Try as he might to focus on the baby he had to rescue, he couldn't stop thinking about a century of worshiping this woman -- of caring for her, protecting her, holding her through long, dangerous days. He knew her. He knew her insanity and how it made her a child and a woman and a lover and a fiend, all at once and separately. He couldn't look at her and blame her. She was insane. She wasn't responsible.

Spike's mouth was dry. He was certain that if his heart were capable of beating, it would be pounding in his chest right now. He walked toward Drusilla's doom, forcing his feet to obey and continue to place themselves one before the other to move him toward his goal.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, he was standing over her.

"William," she said, not bothering to look up. "You came. I knew you wouldn't disappoint me."

"Yes, love," Spike said softly. "I'm here. I couldn't stay away when you called to me."

She turned her face up to him, and he was struck by the hopeful innocence in her eyes. A gentle smile curved her lips.

"It's almost time for my party," she said happily. "We shall have such a lovely time."

"May I hold the baby?" Spike asked, hoping against hope that such a simple strategy would catch her off guard.

Drusilla giggled.

"Not yet. It's not time, silly. Did you bring the gifts?"

"Yes, I have the frankincense right here. But, I really would like to hold the baby. It can be our baby."

"That's not all of it. What of the others?"

"The gold and myrrh are close by, love. I'd just like to hold the baby a bit. Maybe his nappies need changing."

Drusilla seemed to find that terribly funny. She laughed harder, holding the bundled child close to her chest and rocking.

"No, the baby doesn't need changing," she said at last. "It's not time. The others aren't here yet."

A cold stab of worry went through Spike's thoughts. She knew about Angel and Gunn. She was ready for them.

----------------

Buffy inched her way around the tree, hoping to get close to Drusilla before she had to expose herself. She'd never actually fought Spike's former lover, but Spike seemed to have respect for Drusilla's skills. When he had teamed with her to defeat Angel, Spike had said that he couldn't fight both Angel and Drusilla. Of course, Angel was formidable, but Spike had implied that Drusilla was as well.

As she came close to the spot where she would be visible -- the place where she would break out into the open and rush at the vampire -- Buffy heard Drusilla's tone change. She wasn't singing anymore, she was talking to someone. But when Buffy peeked, she could see that Drusilla was alone. The dark-haired vampire was looking up and talking in a casual, conversational tone, to empty air. It looked strange, but Buffy knew that Drusilla was insane. Talking to imaginary friends was to be expected, she guessed. And it was going to work to Buffy's advantage. As long as Drusilla was busy talking to the invisible man, she wasn't going to notice Buffy sneaking up on her.

Buffy closed her eyes for a moment and composed herself. She had to make this precise. If she could charge and get the stake in before Drusilla knew what was going on, there wouldn't be a fight. It would be over. Perhaps she could get out of this without confronting her runaway boyfriend.

Buffy calmed herself, and made ready to swing into action. She took several deep, calming breaths, and stopped to visualize Drusilla's exact position. She gripped her stake tightly and burst from behind the tree, crossing the twenty feet or so between her and her objective in less time than it took for her heart to beat twice.

But as she reached her goal, everything slowed. She was running through air thicker than pancake syrup. Her feet were heavy and she could barely lift them off the ground. The hand that grasped the stake seemed tied to her side. She couldn't raise it to strike.

A deep male voice cried out, "Illuminate!" Golden light flooded the room, stinging Buffy's eyes and making her think she saw... no... it must be an illusion... standing next to Drusilla...

Buffy's stake clattered to the floor, and the force that had held her back disappeared.

"Spike!" Buffy said, her voice trembling with shock.