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Forgotten Beginnings (Part 3)
By ~Alissa~
zephyr4682(at)hotmail.com

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Willow, Xander, Oz, Giles, or any of the characters contained in this story. These characters are the copyright of Joss Whedon, the WB, and Mutant Enemy. Also, scenes were taken directly from Becoming that I did not create, but that were written by the creators of Buffy. No infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: I would like to thank my researcher for all the help she’s given me. If you would like to contact me, email me at zephyr4682(at)hotmail.com, or email her at Pixie5482(at)aol.com I appreciate your comments and feedback.

. . .

Kendra awoke slowly. She felt as if something had smashed into her head…

Then she remembered…Something had smashed into her head.

Confused, she looked around the room. Everyone was there; Xander was conversing quietly with Cordelia, who was still running the water over Willow’s forehead. Giles was crouched in the corner, his head buried in his arms. Alarmed, she tried to stand up to go to him, but she discovered that she was tied to a chair. She struggled furiously of a minute, hoping the knots would be loose enough for her to wriggle her hands out. The action, however, had drawn Xander’s attention, and he jumped to his feet. Kendra glared at him fervently, and he walked toward her cautiously.

"Look…there’s a reasonable explanation for why you’re tied up," he said quietly, careful not to upset her. Giles looked up and Kendra was amazed to see tears glistening on his cheeks. Swiping them away, he collected himself, rested his glasses back on his nose, and joined Xander.

"Excuse me, siyr…" she spoke, her voice strong and commanding. "You muyst untie me. Druscilla’s out dere."

"I'm terribly sorry, Kendra. As a Watcher, I have a definite responsibility to protect the Slayer, and this was the only way."

"If you’ll pardon me saying dis, siyr, you will fail in your duties if you do not untie me…"

"Kendra, I cannot…" he interrupted her. She seemed to take no notice, and continued on.

"As a Slayer, I have a responsibility to destroy the forces of darkness…" Xander stepped forward.

"Yeah, but Kendra…this time, the forces of darkness are going to destroy you. You can’t handle Druscilla when she’s at full strength. Not alone."

"Den I suppose you dink you should help me?" she questioned him, sarcastically. For the first time since they had met, Kendra gathered enough courage to lash out at Xander, and he found himself wounded by her scornful words. He looked to the floor, and walked back to Willow. Cordelia stepped up.

"Hey, we didn’t chose to be part of this, okay? I mean, who would want to have their hair messed up all the time, and get their clothes all ripped and dirty…I had a black eye for a month! Do you know some of the rumors that went around about me? People thought that Richard hit me after I broke up with him or something. Do you know how that hurt my reputation?" she concluded dramatically. Everyone in the room stared at her.

"What?"

"Thank you, Cordelia. As always, your fine, forensic analysis has failed to pinpoint the important facts of the situation."

She smiled happily. "You’re welcome!" Xander watched her for a minute, and put his arm lovingly around her waist.

"Honey…" he started, using a tone that would be appropriate for a small child. "Giles was playing Mr. British-Tact-Guy…He didn’t really mean it." There was a long pause. Had the situation been different, Giles would have found their childish affection amusing. However, the situation wasn’t different, and Giles was highly irritated.

Suddenly a scream cut out from across the room.

"LOOK OUT! They’re coming! Oh, God, they’re coming!" Willow thrashed around on the couch, throwing the blanket to the ground. Giles sprang into action.

"Cordelia! Calm her down! Xander, quickly, help me with this door! We have to get out of here!"

Xander joined Giles at the back door and they struggled with the snack machine.

"Giles!" Cordelia called out from across the room as she tried to hold Willow’s arms down. "She won’t hold still! She’s going to hurt someone! Like me!"

"Dammit, Cordelia!" Giles yelled as he strained to lift the vending machine. "Do the best you can!"

Cordelia looked at Willow for a minute, trying to think of something to do. An idea struck her, and she began to sing.

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight…"

Giles and Xander stared at her, the vending machine against their backs.

"Cordelia, what the hell are you doing?!" Giles scoffed. She looked at him.

"It always worked when I was a kid."

. . .

"She’s lost a lot of blood…" Angel ran along side the stretcher, fighting against the doctors who were trying to keep him away from Buffy.

"Kate, did you get that IV done yet?"

"I'm working on it now."

"Well let’s go!"

Angel glanced around him at the doctors. Did they know?…He chided himself. How could they know? He’d made sure all the evidence was erased. He’d gotten rid of the bite marks with the incision he made, and he had even ground up the glass and imbedded it in his own hands. Should they ask what happened…

Angel’s thoughts were interrupted by the soft, yet firm hand on his chest.

"I'm sorry, sir. You aren’t allowed in here." He looked at the nurse. She was so small, and mouse-like in appearance, that he was sure he could very easily have pushed past her. Yet he didn’t want to have any cause to get thrown out…not when Buffy was in immediate danger.

"You should go to the ER. They can stitch your hands up before the cuts get infected."

Angel stepped back and watched as the nurse shut the door. He almost smiled.

Infection was the last of his worries.

. . .

Giles and Xander threw the last of the tables from the door.

"I cannot believe you would actually encourage her by joining in the second verse!" Giles whispered fervently to Xander.

"Hey, I can’t help it if I like the song!" Xander muttered back. Giles dismissed the answer.

"Cordelia, Xander, get out as quickly as you can. Take what you can grab and try to get out of the school and into a private building. I'll get Willow."

Xander and Cordelia rushed around the room, snatching anything of importance. Xander glanced out into the hallway and the two sprinted out of the room as Giles lifted Willow from the couch. He was just about to follow the two when a figure blocked his path.

Druscilla!

"Shit…" He lost all strength and almost dropped Willow.

"Hello, dearie." She smiled viciously, her fingers stroking lightly at her neck. "We’ve got a lot to talk about."

. . .

"Hold still…I'm almost done…" The doctor secured the bandage on Angel’s right hand. "There we go. Now, make sure you don’t do anything to irritate the skin… you’ll rip the stitches right out, and I promise…that’ll hurt a lot." The doctor smiled at Angel, who tried his best to smile back. Yet the thoughts of Buffy, and the torture his mind was going through forbade it. He felt as if pieces of his heart were being torn from their place slowly, with each anguished memory that was returned to him.

"Now, why don’t we take a minute to discuss what happened." Angel studied a pattern on the table, cautiously avoiding the doctor’s eyes.

"Well, we were in a car accident. Buffy…she, um…she swerved to miss a deer and skidded into a tree, smashing the driver’s side of the car. The impact shattered the glass, and one of the pieces shot out and cut her across the neck. I wasn’t injured, but she was unconscious. I got out of the car and ran to the other side. There was no way to get her out, so I broke the window with my fist. She must have had glass all over her because when I reached in to grab her, I cut up my hands."

"Were you sure that she had no broken bones?" Angel glared at the doctor, suddenly feeling as if he was being backed into a corner. He wasn’t a very good liar, and the questions made him extremely nervous.

"No…I wasn’t sure."

"Then why did you pull this girl out? Didn’t you know you could have killed her?" The doctor questioned him. Angel grew more and more tense.

"Yes, I knew I could’ve killed her," he got defensive. "I panicked, okay? If I didn’t do something soon she would’ve died anyway. I had no choice."

The doctor seemed to be reprimanding him.

"Why didn’t you wait for an ambulance?" Angel jumped up and slammed his good hand on the table.

"She was losing blood for Christ’s sake!" Slowly, he realized the stupidity of his actions, and he sat down, slumping low in his chair.

"I just…" he stared at the bandage on his hand, and could feel the bitterness surge through him. In a day, the skin would heal over entirely, and he would go on living. Buffy would never be as lucky. God, what he would’ve given to trade places with her. What he would’ve given for her to be out of danger…What he would’ve given to be human, and to go through the hell she was in, just to have her live.

"I just…" he looked at the doctor, tears glistening by the corner of his eyes. "I love her. And I couldn’t…" he choked back a sob. "I couldn’t bear to lose her."

. . .

"Where’s Giles?" Cordelia peered out the window, holding the curtain away from her face. Xander paced nervously across the room, his hands constantly pushing his hair back. Cordelia glared at him.

"Hey, speedy," she yelled. "Stop pacing. You’re making my nauseous."

"Well I'm sorry, but I'm not just going to sit here waiting. I gotta move…I gotta do something."

"Look, if you’re worried about Giles…don’t. He can handle himself."

. . .

Giles slammed into the table, and slumped to the ground.

"Naughty, naughty…" Druscilla waved a finger at him. "You shouldn’t try to hurt mommy like that. She gets very angry, and doesn’t know how to control her temper."

Giles found his footing and tried to attack her again, but his punch was wide, and he missed. Without wasting a breath, she punched him across the jaw, and he backed off. Looking sadly at him, she clucked her tongue.

"I told you that you shouldn’t do that." Druscilla drew neared to him, and kneed him in the stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of Giles, and he doubled over, coughing up blood.

"Ooh…how thoughtful of you." Druscilla’s face morphed into the grotesque likeness of a vampire.

"After all…mommy is very hungry."

. . .

Angel rested his head in his hands, his elbows propped up on his knees. They had given him another shirt to wear, and he stared at it remorsefully. His other had Buffy’s perfume on it, and he wished he could’ve remembered that scent, if just to remind him of the good memories they’d shared. Even now, the anguish of his past plagued him, as he recalled some of the most horrible crimes of murder he had committed.

He had never asked to be a vampire. How could he have been so careless? The rumors of vampires had been running rampant through his village for almost a month. Why did he not believe them? He scoffed at himself. The sight of a beautiful young woman who might have made his night a little more memorable, had caused him to think with the lower half of his body.

A doctor stepped into the waiting room, a clipboard in her hand.

"Excuse me, Mister…" she checked her clipboard to find his last name, but he stood and offered his hand.

"Angel." She looked at him, surprised.

"Mr. Angel. What a fortunate last name." Angel tried to correct her, but she continued on.

"You were the one who brought Ms. Summers in?" Angel’s eyes lit up.

"Is she okay? I mean, will she live?"

"Calm down. We were able to remove the glass from Ms. Summers neck and she’s in a stable state right now, but it will be difficult to tell if she’ll be okay for the next couple of days. There may have been minor damage to the brain." Angel bit back his tears. Brain damage?

"We have to go over a few things. Does Ms. Summers have any relatives? Any parents I can contact?"

Angel’s heart skipped a beat…how could he possibly face Joyce after what happened before…

‘You don’t understand, Joyce. I'll die without Buffy. She’ll die without me.’

The words echoed and repeated in his mind, over and over. He knew that Joyce would have him arrested for harassment. The last thing he wanted at this point was to be in jail again, instead of protecting Buffy.

"Umm…Her parents? I remember her mentioning that they were divorced…" The doctor looked at him confused.

"You don’t know anything about her family?"

"Well, she never really liked to talk about them that much." He glanced at her, unsure of whether she was buying his lie.

"Did Ms. Summers inform her parents of her relationship with you?"

‘I haven’t been able to sleep since the night we made love…’

"I'm not sure."

"You’ll excuse me for asking, but how old are you?" Angel choked.

‘241 year-old jealous of a high-school junior’

"I'm 19."

"Were you aware of the fact that your relationship with Ms. Summers can be considered illegal?"

"There was that feeling again. The twisting knot in his stomach that told him he was being backed into a corner.

"We didn’t do anything. I have total respect for her." He defended himself.

"Has Ms. Summers ever tried to run away, or elope with you?"

"No!" Angel startled the doctor. "I mean…why would she? Listen, I just want to see her…Can I see her now?"

. . .

"Xander, I don’t see him…" Cordelia turned away from the window to watch him move tensely around the room.

"Cordelia…is there some reason you feel it necessary to make me even more nervous than I am now?"

"Boy, someone put his boxer shorts on too tight this morning." Xander took an advancing step toward her."

"Cordelia, isn’t there something else you can do besides annoy the hell out of me?" She looked at him and shrugged.

"I could go for some coffee. Want some?" Xander stared past her.

"Cordelia, get away from the window."

"God, you don’t have to get so uptight ."

"Why? It’s not like there’s something out there." She turned around and came face to face with a curious vampire who was peering into the house. Cordelia screamed.

"Xander! There’s something out there!" She ran to hide behind him. Xander’s voice trembled.

"It’s okay. He can’t come in unless we invite him."

"The vampire sauntered over to t he door and opened it.

"Uh, Xander…He’s coming in…" Xander backed up a bit, pushing Cordelia against the couch.

"Oh…shit…"

. . .

Angel peered at the waxen face of the half-dead slayer. All around her were tubes and wires, each pulsating, or beeping. Needles connected to IV bags filled with blood were placed at random point on her arm, and he could hardly sit on the bedside without knocking into something.

Tears filling in his eyes, he stared at the monitor, watching her heart rate beat steadily. The computers said her body was alive, but he knew her soul had died. Even if she were to live, she may wake up with brain damage. She would never forgive him, and he could never face her, knowing that it was he who killed her spirit.

His hand lightly stoked the inside of her arm as his other took painstaking care to move a single strand of hair away from her face. There was nothing he wanted more than to have her throw her arms around his shoulders and kiss him. That single embrace would tell him that, no matter how bad the situation may be, it was going to be okay, and that she loved him, regardless of his past. Angel knew that she would never do that again.

. . .

"Cordelia! Out the back door!" Xander ordered.

"Xander…there is no back door!" She shouted back at him as the vampire neared them, making his way stealthily like a cat about to strike.

"Oh…shit!"

. . .

Angel took Buffy’s hand in his own.

"I don’t know if you can hear me. People say that the unconscious can hear, but that they never remember. Buffy, I don’t know what to say that will make the situation okay. You’re laying here because of me…" He began to cry, the sobs issuing from his throat in streams. He laid his head on her chest, regardless of the wire and machines attached to her.

"I don’t know what to do…I can’t…I can’t bear to see you laying here. Not when you were so full of life. I can’t imagine you waking up and being a prisoner of your own mind. I know…I know that you would rather die."

. . .

"I don’t want to die! I'm too pretty to die!" Cordelia cried, gripping frantically at Xander’s sleeve as they retreated back. He seemed not to notice as he carefully kept watch on him attacker.

"Nice kitty…down boy…" Reaching the staircase, Cordelia tripped and fell over. This seemed to excite the vampire, for be began to growl. Xander straightened his stance and relaxed a little as he stared past the vampire at the open door. Caught off guard, the vampire turned around, expecting to see someone there. Xander took his chance and smacked the vampire over the head with a book-stop. Immediately, Xander realized his mistake as the vampire whirled around to scowl at him.

"Ooh…not heavy enough…" Grabbing Cordelia’s arm, he yanked her to her feet.

"Up the stairs! Quick!" She bolted up the stairs, and Xander used the banister to lift himself up and kick the angered vampire. Knocking him off his feet, Xander was able to jump up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The vampire scrambled upstairs just as Xander and Cordelia pushed the dresser in front of the door.

"Oh God, Xander…" Cordelia pulled on his shirt. He turned around to where she was indicating.

"Oh…SHIT!" he spat, as he stared at the figure on the bed.

She was dead, two holes near the side of her neck.

"Well," Cordelia started. "I guess we know how he got in."

. . .

Angel carefully removed the IV from Buffy’s arm. He turned off the monitor, and shut down the computers. It had been hard, but he had finally reached a decision.

. . .

Druscilla slammed Giles up against the wall, her hand pushing roughly on his neck. Willow lay on the floor, constantly mumbling, as though she was trapped in a horrible nightmare.

"Now dearie," She touched her teeth with the tip of her tongue. "Smile for the birdie…" She moved her mouth to the side of Giles’ neck, and prepared to bite.

. . .

Angel tore the stitches out of his hand, wincing in pain as the cuts opened and began to bleed. Placing his good hand under Buffy’s neck, he tilted her head up, and opened her mouth.

"This is the only way, love…" he whispered as he placed his bleeding palm by her lips.

. . .

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