“What in the bleeding hell was that?” Spike asked, dressing quickly and stepping out the door. “That wasn’t your standard earthquake.”
“Relax, William. It was probably nothing.”
“I decide what’s something and what’s nothing. And don’t call me that.”
“Yeah, whatever. Feel like letting me out of these cuffs anytime soon? I don’t really want to break them… they’ve been coming in handy lately.”
“Oh, for Chrissakes, Slayer,” Spike said, striding over indignantly and unlocking Faith from the bed. “You’re a lot more bother than I anticipated.”
“Yeah, and what about this wound to my jugular? It’s going to take days for that puppy to heal.”
“Shut up and get dressed. It’s not safe to be here anymore. Besides, it’s best if we keep moving… throw the Slayer and her friends off our tail. They’re probably out looking for that,” Spike finished, jolting his head toward Cordelia, who looked particularly alarmed about the earthquake.
***
Xander crept into the mansion and looked around. He hadn’t been here since he helped Giles wheel Acathla away, and it looked same as ever; dank, dark, and generally cold.
He’d never really explored the place; any house of Angel’s was a house to stay away from. He knew there were at least three large rooms on the main floor, but it was entirely possible that there was a basement of some kind. The building was certainly large enough to house one. And if Angel, Spike and Drusilla had recently lived here, there must be some form of alternate accommodation somewhere.
Xander reached into his jacket and pulled out a stake, being ready just in case Spike decided to come flying out from nowhere. He crept silently about what he supposed would pass as a living room… or an undead room, Xander mentally corrected. Feeling absurdly like a secret agent of sorts, he leaned against a wall and peered through the doorway into the adjacent room.
The room was a total mess. Clothes were scattered everywhere, the bed and dresser were taken apart, the curtains ripped away from the window. Someone had obviously been here, and they didn’t seem terribly happy.
Xander stepped further into the room to check for clues to see who it had been. He was promptly tackled by a cold figure that had been huddling in the corner.
He yelped and huddled in a ball to avoid getting eaten by whatever creature it was, but he found himself only to be sniffed. The creature stopped sniffing Xander and sniffed the air instead, obviously finding something he liked better than Xander. The figure left Xander and crouched low, moving quickly toward the door of the mansion.
Xander sat up in just enough time to see that it was Angel and, despite his immediate disbelief, decided to follow the seemingly feral vampire imposter… though he kept his distance.
Xander watched in fascination as Angel stopped right outside the door to sniff the air again. He could hear a growl in the back of Angel’s throat and assumed that the vampire was on the hunt for food. Angel ran around to the other side of the mansion and continued to follow his nose, occasionally clawing at the ground and then moving over a few feet.
The growl intensified. Xander assumed that it was sort of like a metal detector, only for people; the louder the growl, the closer they were.
It occurred to Xander that maybe Angel… or whoever this Angel wanna-be was… was possibly looking for and finding Cordelia.
He suppressed a yell and scurried backwards as fast as he could go when Angel suddenly turned and ran in his direction. He dove into a thick bush and waited until he passed, then struggled to disentangle himself from the thorns that held him there with minimal injuries. He was almost out when the vampire ran by again holding a heavy weapon and forced Xander to jump right back into the bush, furthering the scrapes on his face and hands. Eventually Xander fully detached himself and jogged back in the direction of the wandering bloodsucker.
Angel swung at the concrete wall with what looked like a sledgehammer for what probably was the dozenth time, and almost roared in triumph as the wall collapsed. Angel leaped into the opening, giving Xander a plain view of what was hidden inside: A startled Spike untying a tortured Cordy from a rusty pipe in the corner, and Faith being torn apart emphatically by a bloodthirsty vampire wearing only pants and still looking remarkably like Angel.
Xander yelled out Cordelia’s name and was about to go rescue her when a crash of wood made even Angel look up. Buffy had kicked down the door.
“There was a door?” Xander asked. He looked at the startled Angel, who was still clinging to Faith’s battered and unconscious form. “Why didn’t you just use the door?”
“Xander, get Cordelia out,” Buffy instructed loudly as she punched Spike hard in the face and leapt toward Angel and Faith.
Xander nodded and stepped quickly through the collapsed wall toward Cordy. Buffy had somehow gotten a hold of handcuffs and had already attached Angel to another rusty pole as she fought with Spike. Xander quietly asked questions to Cordelia to keep her conscious as he untied the ropes, threw them toward Buffy and carried Cordelia out the shattered wall. He sat her down outside and took off his coat and bunched it together to make a pillow for Cordelia’s head.
“Thank you, Xander,” Cordelia whispered sincerely and slightly uncharacteristically.
Xander smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad we found you.” He lifted her chin and lightly kissed her. She fell asleep lying on the grass a second later.
Xander watched her for a moment, truly glad that she was alive, and then remembered that there was a major battle going on. He looked over and saw that Buffy still had a lot of power over Spike and that he was, slowly but surely, getting his ass kicked. Xander stepped in and grabbed Faith from off the floor and took her outside and lay her down beside Cordelia. He decided that Faith definitely got the worse deal. He noticed that she wasn’t breathing just as Angel ripped the pipe he was chained to apart.
Spike saw the handcuffed feral vampire lunge toward him and decided that he’d had enough of Sunnydale for a while. “I’ll see you around, Slayer,” he said, sputtering blood through a broken nose. He grabbed his beloved duster from the floor and hurtled gracefully out the door and into the night.
“Oh, God, Faith,” Xander said, checking her pulse and not finding one. “Don’t be dead, come on.” He tilted her head back, opening the airway so he could give CPR.
Buffy whirled around to meet Angel and wasn’t at all surprised to find that he was still in vamp mode from attacking Faith. She gave him a kick to the face and spun around to give him another when he caught her foot mid-air and flipped her backwards. Her Slayer reflexes allowed her to land on her feet, but she took a moment to regain her footing and Angel took the opportunity to wrap his handcuffed hands around her neck and lean in to smell her neck.
Buffy stiffened and tried to push Angel away, but either he was much stronger than he used to be or she was just weak from Angelic contact. Buffy suspected it was probably option B. She could hear Xander muttering distressfully outside, but paid little attention.
Buffy felt a wetness seep down her neck and onto her shoulder. She suspected that either she was sweating, or Angel had already bitten her without her feeling the pinch of his teeth. She closed her eyes and took in the moment; she’d run away from everything she knew because she’d killed Angel. Now she was prepared to let him do the same to her. More than anything, she wanted her last moments to be in his arms, one way or another.
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