Remembrance: 27
by Selene
Many thanks go out to Spikes Bint who beta’d this chapter...
Chapter 27
“Why do you always have to come and ruin my good time? Wasn’t it enough that you messed up things with Gunn?” Angel gave an aggravated growl and tried to shrug off Spike’s grasp.
His grip was firm though and he managed to hang on his other arm, roughly shoving Willow towards Giles. He would have to try to take him down soon since Angel’s strength now outstripped his. The trick that he had pulled in Gunn’s room had taken a lot out of him. He heard the witch and the warlock begin to chant something. Trying to keep Angel occupied he threw a jab and followed it up with an uppercut. He felt his blows connect, but they didn’t seem to leave that much damage. Needing to distance himself from Angel, he executed a perfect snap kick and gained a little breathing room.
Willow and Giles had brought up a small warding shield and continued to cast an intricate spell. Giles held her desperately and the power that flowed through them was enormous. It appeared that his emotions intensified his spell casting and almost losing her had put him close to the edge. His strong voice flowed over her and she felt her power entwine with his without having to say a single word.
“Crescere animatis arboris anquirere viscerum solitarum.”
The wooden objects in the room started to glow. The floorboards began to shift and grow before their eyes. Angel felt a moment of concern, pulled a dagger from his boot, and threw it with all of his might at the two figures huddled together. It struck the hastily constructed ward and with a sigh of relief, Willow saw that it held. The dagger fell to the ground uselessly.
The floorboards underneath him buckled suddenly and heaved themselves over his boots holding him in place. Spike tried to scramble back as Angel reached down and tore off a chunk of the offending wood. More wood quickly grew up and over the area that he had cleared. Staring at it with disbelief he muttered a curse and launched the piece he held, it at his target. Had Spike had been at full strength he would have easily avoided the missile. At such a close range and with more than half of his strength leeched from him he only was able to deflect it at the very last second. It punched a hole through his right lung and left a gaping hole where it went through. Spike’s agonizing scream was deafening. He fell to the floor.
Willow made a move to help him and was dragged back by Giles right before she would have broke through what meagre protection they now possessed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy burst through the door at a dead run. Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she figured she was safe enough with the dying rays of the evening sunset on her back. The scene that she stumbled into startled her. Clothes were strewn all around the kitchen floor. She looked away hurriedly when she caught the embarrassed eyes of Wes and the piercing blue ones of Illyria. She managed to stutter out an apology. Wes was already shrugging back into his shirt and his pants had never quite made it completely off. A discreet zip and he was presentable.
His heart squeezed in pain when he saw that Illyria was back in full control, standing there in front of them without an embarrassed bone in her body. Not that she had anything to be embarrassed about. He sighed and that brought Illyria’s attention on him. Reaching up stiltedly she caressed his cheek.
“Do not fear Wesley, your spark is still here I will keep it safe.”
Wesley felt his eyes water and he held on to that thought. Losing her again was so hard, but today had been a gift and had brought him back the ability to hope.
Illyria brushed her hand across his cheek once more and then turned to Buffy. “Slayer. Why do you interrupt us?”
Buffy had no idea what was going on here and was very uncomfortable but the room was so small that the pair blocked any avenue of escape.
“I am so sorry. I had no idea! The door was open...” cutting off her apology she focused on what had brought her back to the Coven so swiftly. “Angel has gone bad!”
Wes’s head snapped up at that, “You mean Angelus has made an appearance?”
“I don’t think that he is Angelus but he is killing again. He killed Rona during the battle. Andrew saw him do it.”
“There must be some mistake!”
“I don’t think so Wes. He is acting like Angelus though and we need to find him and stop him quick.”
“Who is this Angelus?” Illyria looked at Buffy intently, her armour having miraculously reappeared upon her body.
Wesley sighed. “Angelus is... well, Angel. An evil Angel. He must be stopped at all costs.”
“I see.” Illyria answered but by the far off look in her eyes, he wondered if she was even talking to him at all.
Now that they were fully clothed, Buffy felt some of the embarrassment leave her. They didn’t have time for this. She needed to find Spike and make sure that Dawn was still fine. She didn’t dare use her two-way again in case Angel would overhear and know that they were on to him. She looked at Wes and saw the lethal look on his face. She briefly wondered what had happened to him since he had left Sunnydale to make such a profound difference in him. Gone was the meek and sheltered Watcher, and in his place, a lethal combination of intelligence and training. She was glad that he was on her side and wherever he went, the Blue thingy was sure to follow. It made her less apprehensive that she had back up.
The thought of facing Angel when he was like this, made her blood run cold. It had hurt so much when she had sent him to hell before. She knew with stunning clarity that it was going to hurt like hell again but this time there would be no delay in justice for him. He had crossed the line and he was going to see the Slayer side of her up close and personal.
She felt something close to panic set whenever she thought about Spike being in there hunting down Angel. Taking a calming
breath she reminded herself that Spike had lived through centuries with Angelus. He would take care of himself... If Angel had touched one hair on Spike’s head, he was going to pay in blood. Buckets of it. She sent Wesley an ‘Are you ready yet?’ look of annoyance. He simply nodded his head and fell into line after her with Illyria guarding the rear.
They went swiftly down the hall with Illyria moving ghostlike behind them. Wesley checked in one of the rooms and nodded his head silently and the grim look on his face said it all. It was true. Angel was killing again. Buffy felt the last shred of hope die within her, he was going to dust this time. No coming back from a Hell dimension. No mystical death for him!
She took the time to stop outside of Andrew’s sick room, tapping softly on the door knowing that if Angel were anywhere nearby he would have already heard them coming. The hallway was eerily quiet and she hated to break the silence. She had to make sure that Dawn and Andrew were okay so she knocked twice again. She heard a muffled noise inside and then a loud yelp.
“You bit me?”
“You are lucky I didn’t take a finger off! Do you think that Evil Angel is going to be knocking on the door and asking to be let in?”
Buffy felt relief at hearing her sister’s annoyed tones. Andrew had a way of getting under Dawn’s skin.
“You guys are okay, right?”
“Yeah, we’re okay. Did you guys take care of him yet? Hey... Is Spike with you? He left a half hour ago...”
Buffy felt sick, Spike would have definitely found him in that time. Praying that he was okay, she told Dawn and Andrew to stay put and to keep as quiet as possible. Buffy told Dawn that in fifteen minutes, if she hadn’t come back for them, she had to use the two-way and try to get ahold of the other slayers. The girls would be trickling back in soon and Buffy had to warn them as best as she could.
She took off down the hallway not attempting to disguise where she was. Hoping that she could draw Angel out from wherever he was. Wesley and Illyria were right behind her. Wesley checked each room as they passed hoping that they would catch Angel inside of one of the small rooms. It would give him less room to work with in which to escape.
Wesley felt sick when he saw what had been done to the girls. Some of them had such a look of horror frozen upon their face. All of the past months clicked finally in his mind. He had thought that Angel was really trying to fight evil from the inside at Wolfram and Hart. How could he have been so naive? Angel’s soul had been effectively gone ever since he had signed the damn contract to work at Wolfram & Hart.
He had put pen to paper in order to get Connor the life that he wanted him to have. The rest of Angel Investigations had been hired on at Wolfram & Hart as outside contractors with the option to sign on if they worked out. Wesley felt guilt assail him again for failing to keep Connor safe. Angel’s soul truly belonged to evil now and he was partly to blame. He stared at the horrified look on the dead witch’s face committing it to memory. Another failure in a long string of them...
Illyria felt the spark wake within her and listened to it scream. The foolish spark needed to be protected. Illyria thought about how the shell had felt when within Wesley’s arms. She had felt close to her Godhood for one blinding second when the spark and Wesley had mated. She wanted to explore that again, so she must protect her Wesley an the spark. Angel must be taken care of.
Buffy stood outside of the Library door cold dread rolling through her stomach. She heard the sounds of fighting within and Giles’s strong voice calling out in Latin. She hoped to God that they were alright. She threw open the door, shocked at what she saw...
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