Destiny - Chapters 35 & 36
Nov. 18th, 2003 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psubratAuthor: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to…I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Angel and Cordelia get an unexpected visitor before their trial begins...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Thrice the Misery"
Warning: Contains Character Deaths
Cordelia and Angel arrived in the circle much the same way as the others had, in a flash of white light and a clap of thunder. Unlike the humans, they were fairly unaffected by the translocation, and suffered very little disorientation. Angel wrapped his arms around Cordelia to support her as she let her eyes grow accustomed to the darkness and firelight. He, being a vampire, didn’t have to wait for his eyes to adjust. At least that was a plus in his column. He could feel Cordelia trembling in his arms and could smell her fear, so he tried to comfort her as best he could. While he waited for her to settle down, he scanned their new surroundings, and that’s when he saw the bodies...two of them, lying motionless on the ground. The stench of death and the coppery scent of blood reached his nostrils.
She felt his body stiffen against hers and heard him take an unneeded breath. That’s how she knew something was wrong. "Angel?" She asked, looking up at him. "What’s wrong?"
Slowly, he looked down at her. His face betrayed the anguish at what he had seen. "Have your eyes adjusted to the dark well enough yet?"
"Well enough for what?" She questioned as she tilted her head and frowned.
"To walk."
"Yeah, I guess so. Why? What’s wrong?"
He continued to look down into her face. How was he going to prepare her for the horror of what he was sure they were about to see? How was he going to tell her that their friends were dead? "Cordy," he started as he tightened his arm around her waist. "I want you to slowly look around and tell me what you see."
"Angel, you’re scaring me," she stated, her eyes wide.
"Just...Just look around, okay?"
She squinted her eyes as she continued to frown at him. The flickering torches cast bouncing shadows across the circle so it was difficult for her to make out anything at first. Then she saw Giles, in a heap on the ground. "Giles!" She screamed as she wrenched free from Angel’s grasp and ran towards him.
Angel followed her towards Giles’ body and watched as she slowly knelt down next to the stilled form. He already knew the answer to what she was trying to find out. The man that had been their leader, their rock for so many years, was dead.
"Oh my god, Giles." She looked up at Angel, tears in her eyes. "Is he...?"
Angel simply nodded and turned his head away, not wanting to see the pained expression on her face. He had promised himself that as long as he and Cordelia were together, he would never cause her pain nor allow anyone or anything else to either. It probably had been a foolish thing to vow, especially in their line of work, but he always thought he’d be able to stick by it, give her a normal relationship. He’d been wrong, so very wrong, on so many levels in the past few days.
Quietly she cried as she placed Giles’ hands across his chest and stroked his face. Of all the things she had missed when she had left Sunnydale, she had missed Giles the most. He had always been the strong one, the in control one. She admired that in him. Now she regretted the fact that she had never told him how lucky she had felt to have him shape her teenage years. Had it not been for Giles taking a fatherly role in her life, though his advice was rarely listened to, she would never have known what existed in the world she lived in, and would have ignored the things going on around her. Had she done that, she would never have been "fighting the good fight" with Angel and the AI gang. She would never have found her place in life. As she stroked his face one last time, she remembered that Wesley had been paired with Giles. "Wesley?" She asked at first in a whisper while looking around wildly. "Wesley?"
"Cordy..." Angel stated as he placed a hand on her shoulder, but was interrupted by the sound of a groan coming from Wesley’s direction.
"Wesley!" She yelled as she jumped up and ran towards him, hoping that she and Angel weren’t too late to save him. When she reached Wesley’s side, her eyes widened as she dropped to her knees beside him, blood pouring from his neck.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Such a simple thing, yet it was an incredibly difficult task. He tried to whisper her name but could only gag instead.
"Shhhhhh," she said comfortingly, taking his hand in hers and trying to stop the blood flowing from his throat. "It’s all going to be okay. We’ll get you out of here."
He mouthed the word ‘no’ as he closed his eyes again, the cold spreading across his torso and limbs. Feeling her hand wrap around his, he squeezed as he heard her tell him that she was sorry about everything. Then he heard another voice, Angel’s voice, coming from far away, sounding hollow and tinny. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said since the cold and quiet was taking over. He felt as if he were floating.
"Wesley? Wesley can you hear me?" Angel demanded as he leaned over the former watcher that had been one of his closest friends, but that had been before...the kidnapping and lies.
He wasn’t sure how he had missed the sound of Wes’s heartbeat when they arrived. Perhaps because it had been so weak and barely audible, but now that he was closer, he knew for sure that the man’s heart was no longer beating. He rocked back on his heels and buried his face in his hands. To his left, he heard Cordelia’s sobs as she began to comprehend what had just happened. They sounded desperate and pained. He would have reached out to her to share in her suffering, but he was too wrapped up in his own grief at the moment to really care about anyone but himself. There were things he should have said to Wes, like telling him that he probably would have done the same thing in his place if he had been the one translating the false prophecy. Instead, he had been needlessly stubborn.
Cordelia gently caressed Wes’s face while she tried, unsuccessfully, to choke back the sobs. The pain she felt inside was more than she could bear so she lashed out at the one thing that was closest and most available...Angel. Without thinking, reacting on raw emotions, she pushed the crouching vampire off his feet and onto his back. Before she knew it, she was on top of him, beating him with her fists and sobbing uncontrollably.
Suddenly, and without warning, Angel found himself flat on his back. His guilt plagued thoughts forgotten as Cordelia swept down on him, fear and anger covering her face, tears running freely. "What the...?"
"Your fault!" She yelled at him as she pounded on his chest. Her thoughts were barely coherent and her voice hoarse in her throat.
Angel lay on the ground, hardly flinching as Cordelia took out her grief on him, but it was her words that shocked and hurt him. "Cordy, how is this my fault?" He demanded, grabbing her wrists to still her flailing arms.
"You let him die!"
"There was nothing I could have done!"
"You could have saved him!"
"Cordy, you’re not making any sense..."
"You could have at least told him you were sorry, that maybe you forgave him. You let him die thinking that you hated him." Everything came out in a rush, running together. Her breathing was fast and irregular. "You could have saved him," she cried one last time as she fell, exhausted, onto his chest.
He pulled her closer, letting her sobs continue to wrack her body. He wanted to tell her that he already felt guilty, probably guilty enough for both of them but before he could speak any words of comfort, he became immediately aware of a presence behind them.
"Well now, what’s this all about?" A voice thick with an Irish accent asked. "I’ve never seen such a sorrier sight before in me life."
Cordelia snapped her head up as she recognized the voice. "Doyle?" Her tear-filled eyes widened at the sight of their former co-worker and friend. "Is that really you?"
The dark haired man smiled brightly at her. "Were you expecting someone else?"
She scrambled off Angel and threw herself into Doyle’s arms. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."
"I can take a guess or two."
Angel stood up and absently brushed himself off. With a careful eye, he studied the scene before him. Something felt off; wrong. "Cordelia, maybe you should step away from him."
"Are you delusional?" She demanded with a glare.
"It’s just...we don’t know if it’s really him." He gave her a pleading look, hoping that it would help her to understand what he was saying. This was supposed to be the time of their trial, so why would a friendly face just appear out of nowhere?
She shot him another glare and then turned her attention back to Doyle. He felt real, and he definitely smelled like Doyle used to; it had to be him. Giving him a brilliant smile, she apologized for Angel’s behavior. "You’ll have to excuse our friend, he’s a bit cranky. End of the world stuff. You know how he can get..."
Doyle laughed as he hugged Cordelia tighter to him. "I know what you mean, darling."
Suddenly, her demeanor changed from happy to see him to extremely angry. She stepped away from him and put her one hand on her hip while using the other to point a finger at him. "Hey mister!" She growled, waving the finger in front of his face. "I never got to yell at you for sacrificing your life! Trying to be all heroic. I should have killed you myself! Oh, and while I’m at it...I’m pretty pissed off about you giving me those damn visions too. Not that I don’t appreciate what you did and all, but you could have at least warned me!"
Her face was now mere inches from his and it took all the restraint he could muster to keep from leaning into her and kissing her. He closed his eyes and conjured up the memory of her lips and how they had felt when he kissed her goodbye that day. Petal softness. The sound of Angel clearing his throat brought him back from that memory with a jolt. He had to stick with the plan. Kissing Cordelia, as much as he would love to, was not what the Powers had sent him here to do.
"Wanna tell us why you’re here?" Angel asked, his face serious as he took a couple of strides towards his girlfriend and the once dead half demon. "I’m sure you’re not here to flirt with Cordy."
"Angel!" Cordelia yelled. "Stop it. This isn’t how we treat old friends, especially ones that are all glowly and...Oh my god!"
"Sorry," Doyle stated as he began glowing in an otherworldly light. "Don’t mean to frighten you...It’s just they’re trying to hurry me along."
"Who’s trying to hurry you along?" Cordelia asked, suspecting that she already knew the answer.
"The Powers. They’re a mite bit cranky with me at the moment."
Angel stood next to Cordelia and placed his arm around her, an action that he knew wouldn’t go unnoticed by Doyle.
She felt Angel’s arm encircle her waist as she tilted her head and frowned. "Why?"
"Well for starters, I was just supposed to deliver a message, not get to chatting and all. Places to be, people to serve." Pausing for a moment, he took notice of Angel and Cordelia’s closeness. The Powers had told him of their love but even with being prepared, seeing it for himself was a shock, not to mention disheartening. He took a breath and continued. "You think it would have all ended with my death, but no. I had to be all noble; so the Powers rewarded me by making me a messenger in the afterlife. No rest for the weary."
Cordelia was entranced by his bright glow. "You look just like me when I do that..."
"I know," he stated with a small, sad smile. "You’re a part of me."
"I am? How?"
"Well, how do you think you can handle all those visions now without much pain?"
"They made me part demon, so I could keep them..."
"Yeah. I guess Skip didn’t tell you who gave them that idea now did he?"
"You?"
"You can thank me later. Right now I have a few things to tell you."
"Yeah, you said that before," Angel deadpanned.
"Oh stop getting your panties in a twist, oh broody one. I’m not here to take your girlfriend away from you. Relax."
As Angel began his retort, all of his senses went into overload. He spun around just in time to see a figure coming at them.
Before Angel could reach her, the figure had buried an axe into her back. She felt the cold steel hit bone; the pain was sharp and blinding. Slowly, she sunk to the ground, her mouth trying to form words while a look of surprise covered her face. "Angel?" She managed to ask in a hushed whisper before she fell onto her face.
Doyle was at her side in a flash. The Powers seemed to have left out this little detail when they sent him forth with his instructions. Now he knew what she must have felt when she watched him die.
"Now you know what it’s like to lose someone you love. For good," the figure growled to Angel, anger coating every word.
Doyle checked for a pulse but knew that she must be gone since he couldn’t feel her presence any longer. Slowly, he looked up and met Angel’s pleading gaze. Shaking his head, he watched as an expression of pain and horror covered the souled vampire’s face. Quickly he stood and made his way over to Angel, knowing what was going to happen if he didn’t get there fast enough.
"Holtz," Angel screamed, trying to break free from Doyle’s grasp as he morphed into game face. "You son of a bitch!"
Holtz laughed at him. "Did you think that death would keep me from avenging my family?"
"Doyle, let go of me," Angel demanded, glaring at his old friend and trying desperately to shake free.
"No," he stated in a steady tone. "Not before I tell you why I’m here."
"Angelus," Holtz yelled, apparently unaware of the Messenger. "Are you listening to me?"
Angel looked at the vampire hunter and then back to his friend, confusion beginning to tug at the edges of his mind.
Doyle leveled his gaze at Angel, his manner and tone turning serious. "You must remember, not everything is as it seems. You have to continue to fight the good fight, do you understand me?"
"Doyle if you don’t let go of me now..."
"Angelus? Have you lost your mind?" Holtz asked as he took several steps closer to the vampire.
"What? You’ll kill me?" Doyle laughed. "Come on now, I’m already dead. Can’t kill the dead. But the dead can kill you. Fight the good fight, Angel."
Angel felt the piercing stare of Doyle’s eyes but he was so caught up in his rage towards Holtz that he didn’t grasp the full meaning of the message. "Let go of me," he demanded, each word punctuated precisely as his yellow eyes darted wildly towards Holtz.
"Fine, man. But don’t ever say I didn’t tell you so. Go on. Go kill him. I’m not standing in your way," he stated as he dropped Angel’s arm.
Holtz laughed heartily as he watched the exchange between Angel and the air. "My killing your girlfriend has thrown you over the edge, hasn’t it?"
"I’m going to kill you for what you’ve done," Angel spat back at him.
"Alright," Doyle sighed. "I’m out of here. I’m not gonna stick around to watch you destroy yourself. I’ve delivered my message, do with it what you will." He solemnly looked at Angel and then went over to Cordelia’s body. After carefully taking the axe out of her back, he picked her up and the two of them disappeared.
Both Holtz and Angel stared at the space where Cordelia once laid, stunned that her body seemed to have vanished into the nether realms. As if the world was now moving in slow motion, Angel turned his eyes upon Holtz, a growl emanating deep from within. His anger no longer boiled under the surface but erupted in a blazing inferno, bringing the beast to the fore. "You want to deal with Angelus? I’m going to give you Angelus," he growled to Holtz. "You’re going to be the sorriest son of a bitch that ever lived."
"What could you possibly do to me that you haven’t already done, Angelus? You’ve already killed my wife, my children. There’s nothing left."
Angel’s blood coursed through his veins, unrelenting, screaming for him to kill the man before him. "There’s you. After what you did to Cordelia and Connor did you just think...?"
"Ah, yes. How is my son?"
"He’s not your son, Holtz. He’s mine," he roared in anger as he balled his hands into fists and struck his thighs with them.
"He’ll never be yours," Holtz stated simply, with a sly smile on his face.
In an instant Angel was in front of the former vampire hunter, a hand on each of the man’s arms, his fingers digging into the soft flesh. "Don’t be so sure of yourself," he spat at him. "You failed. He’s my son in every way possible now. Thanks to...to Wesley." His expression softened as the demon began to retreat when he thought of how Wes had revealed everything to Connor.
"That’s not possible. Justine and I..."
"Justine and you messed up, obviously. I didn’t go to the bottom of the ocean and my son believes in me."
"You lie."
"Angelus might do that...but I don’t. And speaking of Angelus, he’s just itching to come back out and play so just say something to provoke me." He struggled to keep the demon on the leash but was having a hard time doing so; it wanted blood.
"I killed your girlfriend and now I’m going to kill you. How’s that? Does that work for you?"
Angel tilted his head to the side, as if he were having a conversation with his beast and listening what it had to say. "Yeah. I’d say that pretty much works," he snarled as he sank his fangs into side of Holtz’s neck. But when he started to feed, a blinding flash of light appeared in his mind’s eye and a voice rattled his brain. Fight the good fight, Angel.
His slipped back into his human visage and released his grasp on Holtz. The man dropped to his knees stunned.
"Finish it, Angelus!" He roared. "Finish it now!"
"I won’t," a stunned Angel stated as he shook his head, eyes wide with the realization of what he had started to do.
"You must. It’s kill or be killed, Angelus. Which do you want it to be?" He asked from his knees.
"I will not kill you and I am Angel, not Angelus. I am not a monster."
Holtz rose to his feet. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a wooden stake. "I will kill you, you know."
"I will not kill you," Angel repeated.
"Fine then. I’ve been waiting to do this for centuries!" He yelled as he rushed towards Angel, burying the stake in his chest.
Angel looked down and then looked back up. This was it. "Connor," he managed to whisper to the wind before he fell to the ground, nothing more than a pile of dust.
Author: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to…I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Those left behind search for the Book of Rentar in order to stop the end of the world...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Quadrangle of Suffering"
The Summers’ dining room looked as if a hurricane had swept through it or a bomb had gone off. Papers and books that Wesley and Giles had stacked neatly on the table were now scattered about, covering every available surface space, including the chairs and floor. Buffy and William, along with what was left of the AI gang and the two new arrivals, turned the room upside down in search of the Book of Rentar. Currently, Buffy was on her knees under the table trying to sift through mounds of paper that covered several stray books that had been knocked to the floor in the frenzied hunt. While Buffy searched the floor, Fred continued to dump Giles’ briefcase onto the already cluttered table.
"I don’t think it’s here," Lorne sighed as he shook one last book from his designated pile. "Are you Watchers usually this verbose?" He asked opening his arms wide to include the room full of papers.
William, Garrick and Geoffrey said nothing as they continued to go through boxes that had nothing to do with anything, just in case someone may have misplaced the book in one of them.
"Keep looking," Buffy demanded as she straightened up and smoothed out her shirt. "It has to be here."
Fred looked up from the pile that came out of the briefcase, a look of disappointment showing on her face. "Well, it’s not in here. Any luck?" She asked, turning to Gunn who was now sifting through a leaning tower of books in the corner.
"Nothing," he replied while shaking his head.
Buffy’s face fell as large tears began to well in her eyes. "It has to be here," she stated, fear edging into her voice. "It just has to be here."
"Luv, calm down," William soothed as he rushed to her side, wanting to comfort her and tell her everything was going to be as right as rain. "We’ll find the book and then we’ll find everyone, okay?" He watched as she averted her eyes, studying something vastly more interesting on the floor. Refusing to let her not look him in the eyes, he cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face up to his. "Okay?" He asked again, more firmly this time.
She sniffled and closed her eyes but still didn’t answer him. A lone tear escaped from her closed lids and trickled slowly down her cheek. This is not how she wanted the others to see her. She was supposed to be the Slayer, strong and powerful, not some weepy little girl. Her only thoughts at the moment should be of Dawn and their friends. She shouldn’t be worrying about what the others thought of her. Dawn and their friends occupied a large part of her mind, but tugging at the back, needling at her brain, were thoughts of stopping the Master, and those who had brought him back. He couldn’t be allowed to take over the world, not on her watch. Just another apocalyptic day in Sunnydale, right?
Sensing that William wasn’t getting through to her, Fred reached over and put a comforting hand on the Slayer’s back. "Buffy, it’s gonna be alright. We’ll keep searching through the whole house if need be and I promise you, we’ll find the book..."
"If it was even here in the first place," Gunn grumbled but stopped as both Fred and William shot him a look that told him he was either going to be eviscerated or circumcised, he wasn’t sure which; either way though, it was going to be extremely painful and not very pretty.
"Look," Garrick stated, stepping into the conversation. "We’ve looked for this bloody book for over an hour now. Obviously it’s not here." Turning to Buffy he added, "Is there some place else that Rupert would keep his things?"
"No. He stays at a hotel whenever he’s in town and this time he didn’t pack because he came through the portal." Suddenly a light bulb turned on in her head as she put two and two together. "That’s it!" She shouted. "He must have left the book behind at the Magic Box. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. They opened the portal at the shop. It must be there! How could I be so stupid?"
"Don’t worry your pretty little head sugar," Lorne said with a smile. "None of the rest of us thought of it either."
"Speak for yourself dude," Gunn replied as he folded his arms across his chest. "Didn’t I just say that it wasn’t here?" He flinched as Lorne elbowed him in the stomach. "Ouch! That wasn’t needed!"
"Well none of the rest of us heard you suggest where else it might bleeding well be," William stated with his hands on his hips as he took a threatening step towards Gunn. He had had about enough negativity from the L.A. punk. No wonder he and the poof got on so well, he thought to himself, two peas from the same brooding pod.
Buffy stepped in between the two men. "That’s enough. Let’s just go over to the Magic Box and look there, okay? We don’t have time for this. We’re no closer to solving this than we were twenty-four hours ago and people I love are missing, not to mention the fact that William and I have a date with one pretty ugly vampire in a few hours."
"Fine," William responded, still eyeing Gunn menacingly. "Everyone get dressed and get their things together. We’re going to leave for the shop in ten minutes."
The seven of them walked most of the distance to the Magic Box in silence, just as they had the night before when they had walked to Buffy’s house for sleep. Before leaving for the shop, Buffy and William had emptied the weapons box, making sure each of the others were armed with stakes, swords, axes and crossbows. It had been a definite plus that neither of them had had to show anyone how to properly use the stuff, everyone was pretty much in the same line of work. Over her shoulder, Buffy slung a duffel bag filled with the rest of the weapons as well as something that she thought William might like to have for their confrontation with the Master. She felt almost silly for grabbing it but something just told her that he would need it tonight.
"Do you always look this serious?" Geoffrey asked as he sidled up next to her.
"Only when the world is going to end," Buffy responded with a small smile. "Which is pretty much every other day here on the Hellmouth."
"I’m sure you and William will have no problem defeating the Master and stopping the Last Judgment."
"Does the prophecy say that we’re going to win and it’ll be sunshine and puppies for everyone?"
Geoffrey tilted his head to the side as he studied the Slayer. He could see why William was so entranced by her; he would be too if it weren’t for the fact that William was one of his best mates. "Are you usually this impertinent?"
She laughed at his question. "I guess they didn’t give you Buffy Summers 101 at that academy of yours did they?" She watched as he smiled and shook his head slowly. "They did, didn’t they? I should have known," she stated, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes.
"Don’t worry. Rupert and William set us on the straight and narrow. Leave it to Quentin to try to put such a horrid spin on things."
"Not a Quentin Travers lover, huh?" She asked with a smile. It was always nice to know there were others within the Council that couldn’t stand him either.
"Not really. Uncle Quentin is far too pompous and long winded for my tastes."
Buffy’s eyes widened as she abruptly stopped walking. The others didn’t notice since she was bringing up the rear. "I don’t think I heard right. Did you just call him uncle?"
Geoffrey laughed as he stopped beside her and placed his hands in his trouser pockets. "Noticed that, did you? Yes," he stated shrugging his shoulders and sighing theatrically. "I’m his nephew, unfortunately enough."
Eyeing him suspiciously, she wondered if he was trustworthy. After all, he was related to the head of the Council. That could never be of the good.
Sensing her uneasiness, he smiled his most charming smile to try to put her at ease. "I know what you’re thinking..."
"No. I really don’t think you do," she snarked in response as she started walking again, hurrying her pace so as to catch up with the others.
Her coarse remark had taken him by surprise so it took him a moment to get his feet moving again. When he caught up with her, he gently tugged on her arm to get her to stop again. He waited for her to spin around before he started with his explanation. "Look, Buffy, I know that you’re not high on the Council and all of that, but not all of us are part of the bad guys."
"Really? Why should I trust you?" She asked, giving him one of those ‘if looks could kill’ kind of glares.
"Because I trust him, pet," William responded from behind her, taking notice of Geoffrey’s expression of awe towards his lover.
Buffy glanced at one and then the other, trying to decide whether or not to buy into it, even if William did. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. Whatever."
"Buffy," Geoffrey began, desperately trying to smooth things over with the Slayer. "Do you think I would have told you up front that Quentin was my uncle if I was trying to deceive you?"
"It wouldn’t surprise me if you did. Gain my trust and then, wham! Smite me down."
"Smite you down?" The charming young man asked as he tried not to laugh. "There will be no smiting on my watch, missy," he stated as seriously as he could without making her feel as if he were teasing her some more. "Buffy, I understand your hesitancy when it comes to the Council, I really do. What my uncle did to you and Rupert is completely reprehensible. That being said, I am nothing like my uncle. Nothing."
"He’s got a point," Garrick added, joining the small group and looking quite grim. "Quentin is pretentious and dull, nothing like our Geoff who searches for trouble and invariably always seems to find it."
"I do not!" Geoffrey shot back, feigning hurt feelings. "It usually finds me."
The three friends laughed while Buffy tried not to smirk in response to the comment. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
"Seriously though," Geoffrey continued, turning to Buffy and looking her straight in the eyes. "I am here to help you and William and Rupert, not to hinder you in any way. You don’t have to like me but I would like for you to trust me, seeing as how I’m going to have to be assisting with the spell to call on the powers of the Twelve. Will you at least give me the benefit of the doubt?" He asked, putting out his hand in a gesture of friendliness.
She looked at Geoffrey and then at Garrick. Finally, she rested her gaze on William who was nodding his head. Taking a deep breath, she extended her hand and grasped his. She couldn’t help but give him a slayer strength squeeze. The look on his face more than made up for the fact that he was related to the biggest ass on the planet. "All right. But just remember, I’ll be watching you and if you even give me one reason to think..." she trailed off as several large demons approached them at a fast pace. "Look out!"
"What the bloody hell...?" William demanded as he pulled out a sword to help fend off the attack. "Gorash demons are not supposed to be aggressive by nature!"
"Somebody should tell them that," Buffy stated as she raised her sword as well. Anxiously, her eyes swept their surroundings; more demons were coming at them, all shapes, sizes and types. The smaller group from L.A. huddled together behind her group, axes and swords at the ready. Slowly she began backing up towards them, all the while keeping her eyes on the approaching demons.
"The Master must have sent them," Garrick stated calmly as he backed up as well. Soon all seven of them stood back to back in a small circle, facing the approaching demons. "He’s trying to stop you from reaching him before the scheduled time."
"You mean he doesn’t like early arrivals?" Buffy snarked as she used a roundhouse kick to knock the demon onto its back. "William!" She yelled as she swung an axe into the demon’s chest. "Keep an eye on the others!"
Knowing full well that she could handle herself, and that Garrick and Geoffrey were there to help her, William joined the AI gang, half expecting to see the demons with the upper hand. However, he was quickly surprised by the fact that several demon bodies were lying about the ground with heads and limbs sliced off, leaving sticky entrails and oozing goo everywhere. Even little Winifred was holding her own by fighting with such fortitude that several other demons were shrinking away from her. As he began to fight a Quantith demon, carefully trying to avoid it’s poisoned tentacles; out of the corner of his eye he caught movement. He watched in horror as a Siklance demon began running towards Fred, razor sharp claws extended and glistening in the sunlight. Before he could dispatch the demon he was fighting so that he could run to assist her, Gunn jumped in, pulling her out of the way just before its large claws cut her to shreds. Once the Quantith demon was dead, he then turned to help Lorne fight off a Gorash demon that had gotten away from Buffy and the others.
In less than ten minutes, all the demons that had attacked them were dispatched. Incredibly enough, no one had suffered any major injuries. A few bumps and bruises, a couple of scratches, were all that were found.
William walked over to Gunn and clapped him on the back. "Nice work. You had some really great moves out there."
"Thanks," Gunn stated dryly as he pulled out of Fred’s embrace.
"You remind me a lot of myself when I was a vampire, driven. Just don’t let the anger take over and you’ll do fine."
Gunn opened his mouth to make his usual smart remark but then immediately snapped it closed, nodding his answer instead.
William titled his head and raised an eyebrow, waiting for the response but being surprised by just the nod. "Come on. Come help us hide the bodies?"
"Why do you hide the bodies?" Gunn asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"Well we can’t let them lying about for the general public to see, now can we?" William replied with a grin. "Gotta keep up the appearance of Sunnydale being a normal little town and all."
"Uh, okay..." Gunn stated as he headed off in Buffy’s direction to help with the demon removal detail.
They had lost several precious minutes battling the demons and then hiding their bodies in the thick underbrush. As a result, they picked up their pace to the Magic Box. Originally Buffy had just wanted to leave the demons as they fell and have the police clean things up like they normally did, but Garrick and Geoffrey had insisted they go by the book on this one. That bit had irked her. This was her town and those were her demons. An apocalypse was just a few hours away and they were worried about keeping the town tidy? Just who were they trying to impress anyway? It wasn’t like people were actually out on the streets, everyone was too afraid, which made her job much easier at the moment. She tried to keep her mind focused on that particular bit of insanity instead of what could be happening with their friends and Dawn. Perhaps the trials weren’t as bad as she kept envisioning them to be, but something inside her told her otherwise. She kept picturing the most horrendous things possible, blood and gore everywhere...none of them making it out alive. She shuddered.
"Look out!" Gunn shouted as he grabbed his axe with both hands. "We’ve got another demon guarding the front door!"
Buffy snapped out of her thoughts in time to hear William laugh and to see the "demon" that was waiting for them. Smiling brightly, she greeted Clem with a huge hug while everyone but William watched in awe. "Hi Clem!"
"Hi Buffy. I’ve been so worried about you and Spike. Things are happening. Bad things."
"Yeah, mate. We know," William stated as he walked over to his friend. "Everyone I’d like to introduce you to Clem. Clem, this is everyone."
Clem smiled shyly and waved his hand, folds of skin jiggling in response to the movement. "Hi everyone."
Garrick and Geoffrey exchanged curious glances while Fred smiled and Gunn eyed the new creature warily. "He’s perfectly safe," William responded with a sigh as he rolled his eyes at the rest of the group. "Come on now, let’s go find this book."
One by one, they filed into the shop. It was just as they had left it the night before, in somewhat of a chaotic state. "Okay," Buffy stated, setting her bag on the top landing before walking down the steps. "The book has to be in here. Leave no stone, err, table unturned. Got it?" Everyone nodded back at her except for Clem who raised his hand. "Clem?"
"Uhm, what book, exactly, are we looking for?"
"The Book of Rentar," Garrick replied as he walked over to the bookshelves.
"No kidding?" Clem asked, somewhat surprised.
Garrick spun around to face the demon with the excessive skin condition. "You know of it then?"
Clem shrugged a bit but then slowly answered. "Word on the street is that the Master’s looking for it. He’ll pay top dollar."
"Pay how?" William asked, his eyes narrowing.
"He’s offering anyone who finds the book, a place at his side once he ascends."
"That’s a pretty big deal," William scowled. "This is serious stuff."
Buffy snorted. "So that’s what the demon greeting party was all about."
"Sounds like he wants this book in the worst way," Gunn added as he rested the axe over his shoulder.
"Which means we should get cracking," Lorne stated with a grave tone. He hadn’t been thinking about Cordelia and Angel before this, but now he had this feeling of dread that he couldn’t shake. Something had happened to them, he just knew it. Something awful.
"Ah hah!" Fred shouted with glee as she came running from the back room, waving a book in her hand. "I found it!"
"Excellent work, babe," Gunn stated, beaming proudly at her.
She handed the book to Garrick, who had raced to her side looking relieved. "Are you sure this is gonna help them?"
"Quite," he responded as he flipped through the pages, stopping only when had reached the right chapter. He paced the shop as he read, the others following closely behind him. Suddenly, he turned around and began counting the number in the group. His face turned pale and worry crept into his features. "This will not do at all," he said sadly.
"What won’t do?" Buffy demanded, restraining herself from shaking the man in front of her. She calmed only when William put his arm around her waist.
"We need seven to perform the spell. Not counting Buffy and William, we only have six. William, do you know of a seventh?"
"Well do we really need seven? I mean, can’t we get by with just six?" Gunn asked, still resting the axe over his shoulder. "We’ve helped with spells before..."
Before Garrick could answer, Lorne stepped into the conversation. "Normally when a spell calls for seven, it means seven. No more, no less. Now unless you’re going to split yourself in half with that axe, I suggest we concentrate on finding one more person."
"Well, we don’t know anyone else here," Fred replied with a frown. "Everyone else we know is among the missing."
"Any ideas, Buffy?" Geoffrey asked, turning to look at her. He felt his heart skip a beat as her eyes met his. Quickly he turned away as he felt the heat rise in his cheeks. The last thing he wanted to do was to fall for the Slayer, but he just couldn’t help himself. William was one lucky man.
She caught his embarrassment and smiled slightly in response. She was glad for Geoffrey that William hadn’t caught the exchange. She certainly didn’t need William getting all jealous and bothered, not tonight. "I don’t know anyone else in town that we can trust," she finally replied after taking a deep breath.
"No," Geoffrey said shaking his head. "We’ve not come this far only to be stopped by a bloody formality. Someone’s just going to have do two peoples worth."
"It’s not that simple and you know it," Garrick replied, trying to remain calm. "We need to find a seventh. The spell cannot be done otherwise."
"So what do you suggest we do?" Fred wondered aloud.
"Yeah, do you want us to go and pull some idiot off the street that was too stupid to know they shouldn’t be out there in the first place?" Gunn asked, throwing his axe down on the ground. "Cause if that’s what it takes, I’ll do it."
Garrick shook his head in response. "No. That won’t do. We need a seventh that is magically inclined or is at least aware of magicks."
"Great," Gunn stated as he folded his arms over his chest. "More stipulations. Where are we going to find one of those? It’s not like we can just go knocking door to door."
"I’ll do it," a female voice said from the doorway. "I’ll be your seventh."
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to…I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Angel and Cordelia get an unexpected visitor before their trial begins...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Thrice the Misery"
Warning: Contains Character Deaths
- 35 -
Quadrangle of Suffering
Quadrangle of Suffering
Cordelia and Angel arrived in the circle much the same way as the others had, in a flash of white light and a clap of thunder. Unlike the humans, they were fairly unaffected by the translocation, and suffered very little disorientation. Angel wrapped his arms around Cordelia to support her as she let her eyes grow accustomed to the darkness and firelight. He, being a vampire, didn’t have to wait for his eyes to adjust. At least that was a plus in his column. He could feel Cordelia trembling in his arms and could smell her fear, so he tried to comfort her as best he could. While he waited for her to settle down, he scanned their new surroundings, and that’s when he saw the bodies...two of them, lying motionless on the ground. The stench of death and the coppery scent of blood reached his nostrils.
She felt his body stiffen against hers and heard him take an unneeded breath. That’s how she knew something was wrong. "Angel?" She asked, looking up at him. "What’s wrong?"
Slowly, he looked down at her. His face betrayed the anguish at what he had seen. "Have your eyes adjusted to the dark well enough yet?"
"Well enough for what?" She questioned as she tilted her head and frowned.
"To walk."
"Yeah, I guess so. Why? What’s wrong?"
He continued to look down into her face. How was he going to prepare her for the horror of what he was sure they were about to see? How was he going to tell her that their friends were dead? "Cordy," he started as he tightened his arm around her waist. "I want you to slowly look around and tell me what you see."
"Angel, you’re scaring me," she stated, her eyes wide.
"Just...Just look around, okay?"
She squinted her eyes as she continued to frown at him. The flickering torches cast bouncing shadows across the circle so it was difficult for her to make out anything at first. Then she saw Giles, in a heap on the ground. "Giles!" She screamed as she wrenched free from Angel’s grasp and ran towards him.
Angel followed her towards Giles’ body and watched as she slowly knelt down next to the stilled form. He already knew the answer to what she was trying to find out. The man that had been their leader, their rock for so many years, was dead.
"Oh my god, Giles." She looked up at Angel, tears in her eyes. "Is he...?"
Angel simply nodded and turned his head away, not wanting to see the pained expression on her face. He had promised himself that as long as he and Cordelia were together, he would never cause her pain nor allow anyone or anything else to either. It probably had been a foolish thing to vow, especially in their line of work, but he always thought he’d be able to stick by it, give her a normal relationship. He’d been wrong, so very wrong, on so many levels in the past few days.
Quietly she cried as she placed Giles’ hands across his chest and stroked his face. Of all the things she had missed when she had left Sunnydale, she had missed Giles the most. He had always been the strong one, the in control one. She admired that in him. Now she regretted the fact that she had never told him how lucky she had felt to have him shape her teenage years. Had it not been for Giles taking a fatherly role in her life, though his advice was rarely listened to, she would never have known what existed in the world she lived in, and would have ignored the things going on around her. Had she done that, she would never have been "fighting the good fight" with Angel and the AI gang. She would never have found her place in life. As she stroked his face one last time, she remembered that Wesley had been paired with Giles. "Wesley?" She asked at first in a whisper while looking around wildly. "Wesley?"
"Cordy..." Angel stated as he placed a hand on her shoulder, but was interrupted by the sound of a groan coming from Wesley’s direction.
"Wesley!" She yelled as she jumped up and ran towards him, hoping that she and Angel weren’t too late to save him. When she reached Wesley’s side, her eyes widened as she dropped to her knees beside him, blood pouring from his neck.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Such a simple thing, yet it was an incredibly difficult task. He tried to whisper her name but could only gag instead.
"Shhhhhh," she said comfortingly, taking his hand in hers and trying to stop the blood flowing from his throat. "It’s all going to be okay. We’ll get you out of here."
He mouthed the word ‘no’ as he closed his eyes again, the cold spreading across his torso and limbs. Feeling her hand wrap around his, he squeezed as he heard her tell him that she was sorry about everything. Then he heard another voice, Angel’s voice, coming from far away, sounding hollow and tinny. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said since the cold and quiet was taking over. He felt as if he were floating.
******
"Wesley? Wesley can you hear me?" Angel demanded as he leaned over the former watcher that had been one of his closest friends, but that had been before...the kidnapping and lies.
He wasn’t sure how he had missed the sound of Wes’s heartbeat when they arrived. Perhaps because it had been so weak and barely audible, but now that he was closer, he knew for sure that the man’s heart was no longer beating. He rocked back on his heels and buried his face in his hands. To his left, he heard Cordelia’s sobs as she began to comprehend what had just happened. They sounded desperate and pained. He would have reached out to her to share in her suffering, but he was too wrapped up in his own grief at the moment to really care about anyone but himself. There were things he should have said to Wes, like telling him that he probably would have done the same thing in his place if he had been the one translating the false prophecy. Instead, he had been needlessly stubborn.
Cordelia gently caressed Wes’s face while she tried, unsuccessfully, to choke back the sobs. The pain she felt inside was more than she could bear so she lashed out at the one thing that was closest and most available...Angel. Without thinking, reacting on raw emotions, she pushed the crouching vampire off his feet and onto his back. Before she knew it, she was on top of him, beating him with her fists and sobbing uncontrollably.
******
Suddenly, and without warning, Angel found himself flat on his back. His guilt plagued thoughts forgotten as Cordelia swept down on him, fear and anger covering her face, tears running freely. "What the...?"
"Your fault!" She yelled at him as she pounded on his chest. Her thoughts were barely coherent and her voice hoarse in her throat.
Angel lay on the ground, hardly flinching as Cordelia took out her grief on him, but it was her words that shocked and hurt him. "Cordy, how is this my fault?" He demanded, grabbing her wrists to still her flailing arms.
"You let him die!"
"There was nothing I could have done!"
"You could have saved him!"
"Cordy, you’re not making any sense..."
"You could have at least told him you were sorry, that maybe you forgave him. You let him die thinking that you hated him." Everything came out in a rush, running together. Her breathing was fast and irregular. "You could have saved him," she cried one last time as she fell, exhausted, onto his chest.
He pulled her closer, letting her sobs continue to wrack her body. He wanted to tell her that he already felt guilty, probably guilty enough for both of them but before he could speak any words of comfort, he became immediately aware of a presence behind them.
******
"Well now, what’s this all about?" A voice thick with an Irish accent asked. "I’ve never seen such a sorrier sight before in me life."
Cordelia snapped her head up as she recognized the voice. "Doyle?" Her tear-filled eyes widened at the sight of their former co-worker and friend. "Is that really you?"
The dark haired man smiled brightly at her. "Were you expecting someone else?"
She scrambled off Angel and threw herself into Doyle’s arms. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."
"I can take a guess or two."
Angel stood up and absently brushed himself off. With a careful eye, he studied the scene before him. Something felt off; wrong. "Cordelia, maybe you should step away from him."
"Are you delusional?" She demanded with a glare.
"It’s just...we don’t know if it’s really him." He gave her a pleading look, hoping that it would help her to understand what he was saying. This was supposed to be the time of their trial, so why would a friendly face just appear out of nowhere?
She shot him another glare and then turned her attention back to Doyle. He felt real, and he definitely smelled like Doyle used to; it had to be him. Giving him a brilliant smile, she apologized for Angel’s behavior. "You’ll have to excuse our friend, he’s a bit cranky. End of the world stuff. You know how he can get..."
Doyle laughed as he hugged Cordelia tighter to him. "I know what you mean, darling."
Suddenly, her demeanor changed from happy to see him to extremely angry. She stepped away from him and put her one hand on her hip while using the other to point a finger at him. "Hey mister!" She growled, waving the finger in front of his face. "I never got to yell at you for sacrificing your life! Trying to be all heroic. I should have killed you myself! Oh, and while I’m at it...I’m pretty pissed off about you giving me those damn visions too. Not that I don’t appreciate what you did and all, but you could have at least warned me!"
Her face was now mere inches from his and it took all the restraint he could muster to keep from leaning into her and kissing her. He closed his eyes and conjured up the memory of her lips and how they had felt when he kissed her goodbye that day. Petal softness. The sound of Angel clearing his throat brought him back from that memory with a jolt. He had to stick with the plan. Kissing Cordelia, as much as he would love to, was not what the Powers had sent him here to do.
"Wanna tell us why you’re here?" Angel asked, his face serious as he took a couple of strides towards his girlfriend and the once dead half demon. "I’m sure you’re not here to flirt with Cordy."
"Angel!" Cordelia yelled. "Stop it. This isn’t how we treat old friends, especially ones that are all glowly and...Oh my god!"
"Sorry," Doyle stated as he began glowing in an otherworldly light. "Don’t mean to frighten you...It’s just they’re trying to hurry me along."
"Who’s trying to hurry you along?" Cordelia asked, suspecting that she already knew the answer.
"The Powers. They’re a mite bit cranky with me at the moment."
Angel stood next to Cordelia and placed his arm around her, an action that he knew wouldn’t go unnoticed by Doyle.
She felt Angel’s arm encircle her waist as she tilted her head and frowned. "Why?"
"Well for starters, I was just supposed to deliver a message, not get to chatting and all. Places to be, people to serve." Pausing for a moment, he took notice of Angel and Cordelia’s closeness. The Powers had told him of their love but even with being prepared, seeing it for himself was a shock, not to mention disheartening. He took a breath and continued. "You think it would have all ended with my death, but no. I had to be all noble; so the Powers rewarded me by making me a messenger in the afterlife. No rest for the weary."
Cordelia was entranced by his bright glow. "You look just like me when I do that..."
"I know," he stated with a small, sad smile. "You’re a part of me."
"I am? How?"
"Well, how do you think you can handle all those visions now without much pain?"
"They made me part demon, so I could keep them..."
"Yeah. I guess Skip didn’t tell you who gave them that idea now did he?"
"You?"
"You can thank me later. Right now I have a few things to tell you."
"Yeah, you said that before," Angel deadpanned.
"Oh stop getting your panties in a twist, oh broody one. I’m not here to take your girlfriend away from you. Relax."
As Angel began his retort, all of his senses went into overload. He spun around just in time to see a figure coming at them.
******
Before Angel could reach her, the figure had buried an axe into her back. She felt the cold steel hit bone; the pain was sharp and blinding. Slowly, she sunk to the ground, her mouth trying to form words while a look of surprise covered her face. "Angel?" She managed to ask in a hushed whisper before she fell onto her face.
Doyle was at her side in a flash. The Powers seemed to have left out this little detail when they sent him forth with his instructions. Now he knew what she must have felt when she watched him die.
"Now you know what it’s like to lose someone you love. For good," the figure growled to Angel, anger coating every word.
Doyle checked for a pulse but knew that she must be gone since he couldn’t feel her presence any longer. Slowly, he looked up and met Angel’s pleading gaze. Shaking his head, he watched as an expression of pain and horror covered the souled vampire’s face. Quickly he stood and made his way over to Angel, knowing what was going to happen if he didn’t get there fast enough.
"Holtz," Angel screamed, trying to break free from Doyle’s grasp as he morphed into game face. "You son of a bitch!"
Holtz laughed at him. "Did you think that death would keep me from avenging my family?"
"Doyle, let go of me," Angel demanded, glaring at his old friend and trying desperately to shake free.
"No," he stated in a steady tone. "Not before I tell you why I’m here."
"Angelus," Holtz yelled, apparently unaware of the Messenger. "Are you listening to me?"
Angel looked at the vampire hunter and then back to his friend, confusion beginning to tug at the edges of his mind.
Doyle leveled his gaze at Angel, his manner and tone turning serious. "You must remember, not everything is as it seems. You have to continue to fight the good fight, do you understand me?"
"Doyle if you don’t let go of me now..."
"Angelus? Have you lost your mind?" Holtz asked as he took several steps closer to the vampire.
"What? You’ll kill me?" Doyle laughed. "Come on now, I’m already dead. Can’t kill the dead. But the dead can kill you. Fight the good fight, Angel."
Angel felt the piercing stare of Doyle’s eyes but he was so caught up in his rage towards Holtz that he didn’t grasp the full meaning of the message. "Let go of me," he demanded, each word punctuated precisely as his yellow eyes darted wildly towards Holtz.
"Fine, man. But don’t ever say I didn’t tell you so. Go on. Go kill him. I’m not standing in your way," he stated as he dropped Angel’s arm.
Holtz laughed heartily as he watched the exchange between Angel and the air. "My killing your girlfriend has thrown you over the edge, hasn’t it?"
"I’m going to kill you for what you’ve done," Angel spat back at him.
"Alright," Doyle sighed. "I’m out of here. I’m not gonna stick around to watch you destroy yourself. I’ve delivered my message, do with it what you will." He solemnly looked at Angel and then went over to Cordelia’s body. After carefully taking the axe out of her back, he picked her up and the two of them disappeared.
******
Both Holtz and Angel stared at the space where Cordelia once laid, stunned that her body seemed to have vanished into the nether realms. As if the world was now moving in slow motion, Angel turned his eyes upon Holtz, a growl emanating deep from within. His anger no longer boiled under the surface but erupted in a blazing inferno, bringing the beast to the fore. "You want to deal with Angelus? I’m going to give you Angelus," he growled to Holtz. "You’re going to be the sorriest son of a bitch that ever lived."
"What could you possibly do to me that you haven’t already done, Angelus? You’ve already killed my wife, my children. There’s nothing left."
Angel’s blood coursed through his veins, unrelenting, screaming for him to kill the man before him. "There’s you. After what you did to Cordelia and Connor did you just think...?"
"Ah, yes. How is my son?"
"He’s not your son, Holtz. He’s mine," he roared in anger as he balled his hands into fists and struck his thighs with them.
"He’ll never be yours," Holtz stated simply, with a sly smile on his face.
In an instant Angel was in front of the former vampire hunter, a hand on each of the man’s arms, his fingers digging into the soft flesh. "Don’t be so sure of yourself," he spat at him. "You failed. He’s my son in every way possible now. Thanks to...to Wesley." His expression softened as the demon began to retreat when he thought of how Wes had revealed everything to Connor.
"That’s not possible. Justine and I..."
"Justine and you messed up, obviously. I didn’t go to the bottom of the ocean and my son believes in me."
"You lie."
"Angelus might do that...but I don’t. And speaking of Angelus, he’s just itching to come back out and play so just say something to provoke me." He struggled to keep the demon on the leash but was having a hard time doing so; it wanted blood.
"I killed your girlfriend and now I’m going to kill you. How’s that? Does that work for you?"
Angel tilted his head to the side, as if he were having a conversation with his beast and listening what it had to say. "Yeah. I’d say that pretty much works," he snarled as he sank his fangs into side of Holtz’s neck. But when he started to feed, a blinding flash of light appeared in his mind’s eye and a voice rattled his brain. Fight the good fight, Angel.
His slipped back into his human visage and released his grasp on Holtz. The man dropped to his knees stunned.
"Finish it, Angelus!" He roared. "Finish it now!"
"I won’t," a stunned Angel stated as he shook his head, eyes wide with the realization of what he had started to do.
"You must. It’s kill or be killed, Angelus. Which do you want it to be?" He asked from his knees.
"I will not kill you and I am Angel, not Angelus. I am not a monster."
Holtz rose to his feet. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a wooden stake. "I will kill you, you know."
"I will not kill you," Angel repeated.
"Fine then. I’ve been waiting to do this for centuries!" He yelled as he rushed towards Angel, burying the stake in his chest.
Angel looked down and then looked back up. This was it. "Connor," he managed to whisper to the wind before he fell to the ground, nothing more than a pile of dust.
In Memory of Glenn Quinn who brought to life the wonderful character of Doyle...
Author: PSUbrat
Rating: PG-13 Some language and violence
Disclaimer and spoiler warning: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and whomever else he sells them to…I'm just borrowing them for a while. This story is part three of a trilogy and is based upon the alternate universe I created in Reset.
Update List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Destined_Fic
Summary: Those left behind search for the Book of Rentar in order to stop the end of the world...
Timeframe: Immediately following "Quadrangle of Suffering"
- 36 -
Inside & Out
Inside & Out
The Summers’ dining room looked as if a hurricane had swept through it or a bomb had gone off. Papers and books that Wesley and Giles had stacked neatly on the table were now scattered about, covering every available surface space, including the chairs and floor. Buffy and William, along with what was left of the AI gang and the two new arrivals, turned the room upside down in search of the Book of Rentar. Currently, Buffy was on her knees under the table trying to sift through mounds of paper that covered several stray books that had been knocked to the floor in the frenzied hunt. While Buffy searched the floor, Fred continued to dump Giles’ briefcase onto the already cluttered table.
"I don’t think it’s here," Lorne sighed as he shook one last book from his designated pile. "Are you Watchers usually this verbose?" He asked opening his arms wide to include the room full of papers.
William, Garrick and Geoffrey said nothing as they continued to go through boxes that had nothing to do with anything, just in case someone may have misplaced the book in one of them.
"Keep looking," Buffy demanded as she straightened up and smoothed out her shirt. "It has to be here."
Fred looked up from the pile that came out of the briefcase, a look of disappointment showing on her face. "Well, it’s not in here. Any luck?" She asked, turning to Gunn who was now sifting through a leaning tower of books in the corner.
"Nothing," he replied while shaking his head.
Buffy’s face fell as large tears began to well in her eyes. "It has to be here," she stated, fear edging into her voice. "It just has to be here."
"Luv, calm down," William soothed as he rushed to her side, wanting to comfort her and tell her everything was going to be as right as rain. "We’ll find the book and then we’ll find everyone, okay?" He watched as she averted her eyes, studying something vastly more interesting on the floor. Refusing to let her not look him in the eyes, he cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face up to his. "Okay?" He asked again, more firmly this time.
She sniffled and closed her eyes but still didn’t answer him. A lone tear escaped from her closed lids and trickled slowly down her cheek. This is not how she wanted the others to see her. She was supposed to be the Slayer, strong and powerful, not some weepy little girl. Her only thoughts at the moment should be of Dawn and their friends. She shouldn’t be worrying about what the others thought of her. Dawn and their friends occupied a large part of her mind, but tugging at the back, needling at her brain, were thoughts of stopping the Master, and those who had brought him back. He couldn’t be allowed to take over the world, not on her watch. Just another apocalyptic day in Sunnydale, right?
Sensing that William wasn’t getting through to her, Fred reached over and put a comforting hand on the Slayer’s back. "Buffy, it’s gonna be alright. We’ll keep searching through the whole house if need be and I promise you, we’ll find the book..."
"If it was even here in the first place," Gunn grumbled but stopped as both Fred and William shot him a look that told him he was either going to be eviscerated or circumcised, he wasn’t sure which; either way though, it was going to be extremely painful and not very pretty.
"Look," Garrick stated, stepping into the conversation. "We’ve looked for this bloody book for over an hour now. Obviously it’s not here." Turning to Buffy he added, "Is there some place else that Rupert would keep his things?"
"No. He stays at a hotel whenever he’s in town and this time he didn’t pack because he came through the portal." Suddenly a light bulb turned on in her head as she put two and two together. "That’s it!" She shouted. "He must have left the book behind at the Magic Box. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. They opened the portal at the shop. It must be there! How could I be so stupid?"
"Don’t worry your pretty little head sugar," Lorne said with a smile. "None of the rest of us thought of it either."
"Speak for yourself dude," Gunn replied as he folded his arms across his chest. "Didn’t I just say that it wasn’t here?" He flinched as Lorne elbowed him in the stomach. "Ouch! That wasn’t needed!"
"Well none of the rest of us heard you suggest where else it might bleeding well be," William stated with his hands on his hips as he took a threatening step towards Gunn. He had had about enough negativity from the L.A. punk. No wonder he and the poof got on so well, he thought to himself, two peas from the same brooding pod.
Buffy stepped in between the two men. "That’s enough. Let’s just go over to the Magic Box and look there, okay? We don’t have time for this. We’re no closer to solving this than we were twenty-four hours ago and people I love are missing, not to mention the fact that William and I have a date with one pretty ugly vampire in a few hours."
"Fine," William responded, still eyeing Gunn menacingly. "Everyone get dressed and get their things together. We’re going to leave for the shop in ten minutes."
******
The seven of them walked most of the distance to the Magic Box in silence, just as they had the night before when they had walked to Buffy’s house for sleep. Before leaving for the shop, Buffy and William had emptied the weapons box, making sure each of the others were armed with stakes, swords, axes and crossbows. It had been a definite plus that neither of them had had to show anyone how to properly use the stuff, everyone was pretty much in the same line of work. Over her shoulder, Buffy slung a duffel bag filled with the rest of the weapons as well as something that she thought William might like to have for their confrontation with the Master. She felt almost silly for grabbing it but something just told her that he would need it tonight.
"Do you always look this serious?" Geoffrey asked as he sidled up next to her.
"Only when the world is going to end," Buffy responded with a small smile. "Which is pretty much every other day here on the Hellmouth."
"I’m sure you and William will have no problem defeating the Master and stopping the Last Judgment."
"Does the prophecy say that we’re going to win and it’ll be sunshine and puppies for everyone?"
Geoffrey tilted his head to the side as he studied the Slayer. He could see why William was so entranced by her; he would be too if it weren’t for the fact that William was one of his best mates. "Are you usually this impertinent?"
She laughed at his question. "I guess they didn’t give you Buffy Summers 101 at that academy of yours did they?" She watched as he smiled and shook his head slowly. "They did, didn’t they? I should have known," she stated, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes.
"Don’t worry. Rupert and William set us on the straight and narrow. Leave it to Quentin to try to put such a horrid spin on things."
"Not a Quentin Travers lover, huh?" She asked with a smile. It was always nice to know there were others within the Council that couldn’t stand him either.
"Not really. Uncle Quentin is far too pompous and long winded for my tastes."
Buffy’s eyes widened as she abruptly stopped walking. The others didn’t notice since she was bringing up the rear. "I don’t think I heard right. Did you just call him uncle?"
Geoffrey laughed as he stopped beside her and placed his hands in his trouser pockets. "Noticed that, did you? Yes," he stated shrugging his shoulders and sighing theatrically. "I’m his nephew, unfortunately enough."
Eyeing him suspiciously, she wondered if he was trustworthy. After all, he was related to the head of the Council. That could never be of the good.
Sensing her uneasiness, he smiled his most charming smile to try to put her at ease. "I know what you’re thinking..."
"No. I really don’t think you do," she snarked in response as she started walking again, hurrying her pace so as to catch up with the others.
Her coarse remark had taken him by surprise so it took him a moment to get his feet moving again. When he caught up with her, he gently tugged on her arm to get her to stop again. He waited for her to spin around before he started with his explanation. "Look, Buffy, I know that you’re not high on the Council and all of that, but not all of us are part of the bad guys."
"Really? Why should I trust you?" She asked, giving him one of those ‘if looks could kill’ kind of glares.
"Because I trust him, pet," William responded from behind her, taking notice of Geoffrey’s expression of awe towards his lover.
Buffy glanced at one and then the other, trying to decide whether or not to buy into it, even if William did. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. Whatever."
"Buffy," Geoffrey began, desperately trying to smooth things over with the Slayer. "Do you think I would have told you up front that Quentin was my uncle if I was trying to deceive you?"
"It wouldn’t surprise me if you did. Gain my trust and then, wham! Smite me down."
"Smite you down?" The charming young man asked as he tried not to laugh. "There will be no smiting on my watch, missy," he stated as seriously as he could without making her feel as if he were teasing her some more. "Buffy, I understand your hesitancy when it comes to the Council, I really do. What my uncle did to you and Rupert is completely reprehensible. That being said, I am nothing like my uncle. Nothing."
"He’s got a point," Garrick added, joining the small group and looking quite grim. "Quentin is pretentious and dull, nothing like our Geoff who searches for trouble and invariably always seems to find it."
"I do not!" Geoffrey shot back, feigning hurt feelings. "It usually finds me."
The three friends laughed while Buffy tried not to smirk in response to the comment. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
"Seriously though," Geoffrey continued, turning to Buffy and looking her straight in the eyes. "I am here to help you and William and Rupert, not to hinder you in any way. You don’t have to like me but I would like for you to trust me, seeing as how I’m going to have to be assisting with the spell to call on the powers of the Twelve. Will you at least give me the benefit of the doubt?" He asked, putting out his hand in a gesture of friendliness.
She looked at Geoffrey and then at Garrick. Finally, she rested her gaze on William who was nodding his head. Taking a deep breath, she extended her hand and grasped his. She couldn’t help but give him a slayer strength squeeze. The look on his face more than made up for the fact that he was related to the biggest ass on the planet. "All right. But just remember, I’ll be watching you and if you even give me one reason to think..." she trailed off as several large demons approached them at a fast pace. "Look out!"
******
"What the bloody hell...?" William demanded as he pulled out a sword to help fend off the attack. "Gorash demons are not supposed to be aggressive by nature!"
"Somebody should tell them that," Buffy stated as she raised her sword as well. Anxiously, her eyes swept their surroundings; more demons were coming at them, all shapes, sizes and types. The smaller group from L.A. huddled together behind her group, axes and swords at the ready. Slowly she began backing up towards them, all the while keeping her eyes on the approaching demons.
"The Master must have sent them," Garrick stated calmly as he backed up as well. Soon all seven of them stood back to back in a small circle, facing the approaching demons. "He’s trying to stop you from reaching him before the scheduled time."
"You mean he doesn’t like early arrivals?" Buffy snarked as she used a roundhouse kick to knock the demon onto its back. "William!" She yelled as she swung an axe into the demon’s chest. "Keep an eye on the others!"
Knowing full well that she could handle herself, and that Garrick and Geoffrey were there to help her, William joined the AI gang, half expecting to see the demons with the upper hand. However, he was quickly surprised by the fact that several demon bodies were lying about the ground with heads and limbs sliced off, leaving sticky entrails and oozing goo everywhere. Even little Winifred was holding her own by fighting with such fortitude that several other demons were shrinking away from her. As he began to fight a Quantith demon, carefully trying to avoid it’s poisoned tentacles; out of the corner of his eye he caught movement. He watched in horror as a Siklance demon began running towards Fred, razor sharp claws extended and glistening in the sunlight. Before he could dispatch the demon he was fighting so that he could run to assist her, Gunn jumped in, pulling her out of the way just before its large claws cut her to shreds. Once the Quantith demon was dead, he then turned to help Lorne fight off a Gorash demon that had gotten away from Buffy and the others.
In less than ten minutes, all the demons that had attacked them were dispatched. Incredibly enough, no one had suffered any major injuries. A few bumps and bruises, a couple of scratches, were all that were found.
William walked over to Gunn and clapped him on the back. "Nice work. You had some really great moves out there."
"Thanks," Gunn stated dryly as he pulled out of Fred’s embrace.
"You remind me a lot of myself when I was a vampire, driven. Just don’t let the anger take over and you’ll do fine."
Gunn opened his mouth to make his usual smart remark but then immediately snapped it closed, nodding his answer instead.
William titled his head and raised an eyebrow, waiting for the response but being surprised by just the nod. "Come on. Come help us hide the bodies?"
"Why do you hide the bodies?" Gunn asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"Well we can’t let them lying about for the general public to see, now can we?" William replied with a grin. "Gotta keep up the appearance of Sunnydale being a normal little town and all."
"Uh, okay..." Gunn stated as he headed off in Buffy’s direction to help with the demon removal detail.
******
They had lost several precious minutes battling the demons and then hiding their bodies in the thick underbrush. As a result, they picked up their pace to the Magic Box. Originally Buffy had just wanted to leave the demons as they fell and have the police clean things up like they normally did, but Garrick and Geoffrey had insisted they go by the book on this one. That bit had irked her. This was her town and those were her demons. An apocalypse was just a few hours away and they were worried about keeping the town tidy? Just who were they trying to impress anyway? It wasn’t like people were actually out on the streets, everyone was too afraid, which made her job much easier at the moment. She tried to keep her mind focused on that particular bit of insanity instead of what could be happening with their friends and Dawn. Perhaps the trials weren’t as bad as she kept envisioning them to be, but something inside her told her otherwise. She kept picturing the most horrendous things possible, blood and gore everywhere...none of them making it out alive. She shuddered.
"Look out!" Gunn shouted as he grabbed his axe with both hands. "We’ve got another demon guarding the front door!"
Buffy snapped out of her thoughts in time to hear William laugh and to see the "demon" that was waiting for them. Smiling brightly, she greeted Clem with a huge hug while everyone but William watched in awe. "Hi Clem!"
"Hi Buffy. I’ve been so worried about you and Spike. Things are happening. Bad things."
"Yeah, mate. We know," William stated as he walked over to his friend. "Everyone I’d like to introduce you to Clem. Clem, this is everyone."
Clem smiled shyly and waved his hand, folds of skin jiggling in response to the movement. "Hi everyone."
Garrick and Geoffrey exchanged curious glances while Fred smiled and Gunn eyed the new creature warily. "He’s perfectly safe," William responded with a sigh as he rolled his eyes at the rest of the group. "Come on now, let’s go find this book."
One by one, they filed into the shop. It was just as they had left it the night before, in somewhat of a chaotic state. "Okay," Buffy stated, setting her bag on the top landing before walking down the steps. "The book has to be in here. Leave no stone, err, table unturned. Got it?" Everyone nodded back at her except for Clem who raised his hand. "Clem?"
"Uhm, what book, exactly, are we looking for?"
"The Book of Rentar," Garrick replied as he walked over to the bookshelves.
"No kidding?" Clem asked, somewhat surprised.
Garrick spun around to face the demon with the excessive skin condition. "You know of it then?"
Clem shrugged a bit but then slowly answered. "Word on the street is that the Master’s looking for it. He’ll pay top dollar."
"Pay how?" William asked, his eyes narrowing.
"He’s offering anyone who finds the book, a place at his side once he ascends."
"That’s a pretty big deal," William scowled. "This is serious stuff."
Buffy snorted. "So that’s what the demon greeting party was all about."
"Sounds like he wants this book in the worst way," Gunn added as he rested the axe over his shoulder.
"Which means we should get cracking," Lorne stated with a grave tone. He hadn’t been thinking about Cordelia and Angel before this, but now he had this feeling of dread that he couldn’t shake. Something had happened to them, he just knew it. Something awful.
"Ah hah!" Fred shouted with glee as she came running from the back room, waving a book in her hand. "I found it!"
"Excellent work, babe," Gunn stated, beaming proudly at her.
She handed the book to Garrick, who had raced to her side looking relieved. "Are you sure this is gonna help them?"
"Quite," he responded as he flipped through the pages, stopping only when had reached the right chapter. He paced the shop as he read, the others following closely behind him. Suddenly, he turned around and began counting the number in the group. His face turned pale and worry crept into his features. "This will not do at all," he said sadly.
"What won’t do?" Buffy demanded, restraining herself from shaking the man in front of her. She calmed only when William put his arm around her waist.
"We need seven to perform the spell. Not counting Buffy and William, we only have six. William, do you know of a seventh?"
"Well do we really need seven? I mean, can’t we get by with just six?" Gunn asked, still resting the axe over his shoulder. "We’ve helped with spells before..."
Before Garrick could answer, Lorne stepped into the conversation. "Normally when a spell calls for seven, it means seven. No more, no less. Now unless you’re going to split yourself in half with that axe, I suggest we concentrate on finding one more person."
"Well, we don’t know anyone else here," Fred replied with a frown. "Everyone else we know is among the missing."
"Any ideas, Buffy?" Geoffrey asked, turning to look at her. He felt his heart skip a beat as her eyes met his. Quickly he turned away as he felt the heat rise in his cheeks. The last thing he wanted to do was to fall for the Slayer, but he just couldn’t help himself. William was one lucky man.
She caught his embarrassment and smiled slightly in response. She was glad for Geoffrey that William hadn’t caught the exchange. She certainly didn’t need William getting all jealous and bothered, not tonight. "I don’t know anyone else in town that we can trust," she finally replied after taking a deep breath.
"No," Geoffrey said shaking his head. "We’ve not come this far only to be stopped by a bloody formality. Someone’s just going to have do two peoples worth."
"It’s not that simple and you know it," Garrick replied, trying to remain calm. "We need to find a seventh. The spell cannot be done otherwise."
"So what do you suggest we do?" Fred wondered aloud.
"Yeah, do you want us to go and pull some idiot off the street that was too stupid to know they shouldn’t be out there in the first place?" Gunn asked, throwing his axe down on the ground. "Cause if that’s what it takes, I’ll do it."
Garrick shook his head in response. "No. That won’t do. We need a seventh that is magically inclined or is at least aware of magicks."
"Great," Gunn stated as he folded his arms over his chest. "More stipulations. Where are we going to find one of those? It’s not like we can just go knocking door to door."
"I’ll do it," a female voice said from the doorway. "I’ll be your seventh."
