The hospital room was dim, but Angel's focus was on the body that somehow was still Charles Gunn. He could hear his heartbeat - the only one in the room, which helped - but the scent of his blood was stronger than it should be. Gunn's wounds hadn't healed enough to reduce it yet.
Finding him wasn't as hard as they'd thought it might be, but it still didn't prepare them for what they saw in the bed. Gunn looked like someone who'd fought his way out of hell. Which he had, in a way, or at least through everything hell had to throw at them.
"He is broken." Illyria had been standing by the window when he and Spike limped in. She had the look of a sentry, keeping watch over the room and the half-alive human in the bed. Interesting job for a former god-king.
Spike answered instead. "We can see that, Blue. Amazed there's still any life left in him after that fight. But you seem not too worse for wear."
"My wounds were not severe, and I have regained strength over the past seven days. I am no more diminished than I was before the battle." She paused. "I am... pleased to see that you both survived the onslaught."
"So are we." Angel finally turned toward Illyria. "Didn't expect to find you here. Why'd you stay?"
"Wesley cared for me when I was broken." She stared at him steadily. "This one is more broken than I was. I can guard him, but I am not equipped to care for him. I have informed the caregivers that if he does not live, I will rip out their entrails and weave them into a cloak."
"And that will be very nice, set off your eyes or some such." Spike glanced at Angel. "We can't stay here. Not all defensible like your hotel death-trap was. It's only a matter of time before they find him. Then they find us. And as much fun as that fight was, I don't want to be around when the hordes make their next appearance. Not yet. Not until I can take a hell of a lot more of them with me, and right now that's not gonna happen."
"Yeah, I realize that. I don't know how we've stayed off their radar as long as we have. The only explanation I can think of is that they have to be gathering reinforcements."
"Might be a good idea to gather some reinforcements ourselves. You've got to have somebody out there you could call, somebody who owes you a few hundred favors?"
"Not an option. Cashed out the rest of my favors with the Hyperion refit."
"Great. On our own, then. But you'd think that with a demon party like we just went through, somebody all champion-like would take notice. Still can't fathom how the news reported it all as a publicity stunt for the Return of the King DVD."
"Have to love the media."
Spike leaned against the wall. "Would've been nice if one of the gazillion slayers wandering about these days stopped by for a visit, though."
Angel glanced up at him sharply. "Hate to say it, but that's exactly the kind of back-up we need."
"No, man, don't even think it." Spike shook his head. "It's not their fight."
"We're fighting evil. I'd say that's in their job description."
"True, fine, but it's not like they've been rushing to be all helpful. Anything but, as my hands recall. You got some new Slayer Hotline to call these days?"
"No, but I've still got the next best thing. I just need to find a phone that will let me call England."
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Angel slammed the phone down.
Sprawled in a chair, Spike barely looked up. "If that was Giles, he might just come out here and spank you after that kind of language. No luck?"
"No, Giles wouldn't take my call. Nobody would. Best I could do was Andrew."
Spike laughed. "Andrew? You really struck out, didn't you?"
"Maybe not." Angel shook his head. "The kid was dropping hints like anvils. He's not too skilled in vagueness."
"There's a shocker."
"Not minding right now. Giles won't help us, that's clear, but Andrew seems to be fine with it. Don't know why, and I didn't ask. Oh, he says hi."
"Yeah yeah. I'm sure he does. Go on. What hints did he drop?"
"He took a long time to get around to saying that there's help south of us."
"What, Disneyland? Not a chance. Demon hordes I'll face, yeah, but I'm drawing the line at that 'Small World' contraption"
"No. Further than that." Angel glanced at Illyria. "Do you think that Gunn can be moved?"
"His awareness is lowered due to substances the caregivers feed to him, and I do not think that his limbs would hold him upright."
"But can we move him?"
"It is my wish that he is to survive. Therefore, we must. The armies of the Wolf, Ram, and Hart will find in due course because of our actions, and I do not wish to do violence in this place."
"Good. Let's get him ready. We're going to San Diego."
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"But see, with the Classical major, they count Mesopotamia as a part of that, and I've got the Sumerian and Assyrian wired."
"But look at this one." Willow turned a few pages and pointed out a different major to Dawn. "Don't you think that the Linguistics would give you a mostly general foundation for whatever it is you decide to do with it?"
"No way. Doesn't look half as much fun as the Classical one. And the classes are totally cooler with this major."
"I'm kinda with Wil on this." Buffy had been half listening to their conversation as she unpacked her suitcase. "That Classical major just seems extra-specialized. I mean, what could you do with that? Be stuck in a library that's even mustier than the usual kind? Ew. That's no fun. Or a..."
"Or a Watcher."
Buffy sighed. "Dawn, we've been through this. If you do want to be a Watcher, and I mean really do, I'll support you in it, but I don't think it's on the list of good ideas. It's not much of a life, believe me, and you can do anything you want with yours."
"Yeah, I know. And see? Not Watchering, not in England, and this college has zero in the way of a Watcher department. Besides, one winter was enough cold for the rest of forever for me if I can avoid that. I'm all about going back to the California life."
Willow grinned at her. "And we'll totally be study buddies. Same school, me finishing my degree, you starting yours, it'll be so much fun!"
"No, this is great," agreed Buffy, "But why keep up with the Watchery studies? You could pick anything you want. There's nothing wrong with art history, or music or, hey, underwater basket weaving is always a good choice."
"But this is what I know. It's not like it actually matters what I major in. Just as long as I get the piece of paper that says I did the college thing, I'm good for whatever, right? So why not go with the stuff I know?"
Nodding, Willow chimed in. "She's right, Buffy. The degree's totally the important part. And I'm going with what I know too with the theoretical physics. Building on a foundation is a really good way to go."
"I still don't get the connection. How is physics like magic?"
"Physics is all about matter and energy, just like magic. They're like twin sisters, sort of, except that most people don't know that one of them even exists."
"I think it's cool," Dawn had her own opinions about the energy and matter topic, but she kept them to herself. "Too bad they didn't have that major in Brazil, huh?"
"Well, they might have it, sort of, but all the colleges are government-run and really hard to get into. And my Portugese? No so good. Plus, once you're in a school, you're stuck with the major you've got. What if I change my mind and decide to go into something like engineering, just for the fun of it? I can do that here." Willow waved at the UCSD flyers.
"Still can't believe that Kennedy stayed there."
"She's got a whole lot of slayers to train now, and she's a heck of a lot better at that than I am. It's not like we were partying at Barbarella's every night anymore. But she said that she'd fly up and visit as soon as she got a chance."
Buffy glanced at the clock on the other side of the room. "Speaking of flying, shouldn't Xander be landing soon?"
"I've been tracking the flight." Willow turned her laptop around to show them. "He should be landing in about a half hour-ish."
"I still don't see why we can't wait for him at the airport," Dawn complained. "He should have a big sign or something to welcome him."
"Because he asked us not to. I think he wants to stay scene-free until he gets here, with the long flight and all. He said that he'd call when he got in, and then he'll be renting a car since we're still vehicle-less. He has to have a car anyway for while he's here so he can take the yes-I-can-drive-with-no-depth-perception test."
"It's so stupid that he's going to have to take that test every year now. What if he's somewhere doing important work and he can't get back in time?"
"He was doing important work, Dawnie. He was finding slayers for Giles and the Council in Africa. And, honestly, if we weren't back here, he'd probably just let his license lapse. He's late taking the test already. So it's more like a vacation for him, and the test is just the handy excuse."
"I'm sure Giles would have let him have time off whenever he wanted it," said Buffy, disagreeing. "He just hasn't asked. I can't believe how long it's been since he took this job and took off."
Dawn nodded. "I know what you mean. His whole Slayer Safari is lasting way longer than I thought it would." She turned to Willow. "It's just weird. I mean, none of us have seen him since he left. Xander's always been...around, y'know?"
"Yeah, but he's been working really hard. He's been Focus Guy about this, big time. So this should be good for him. And it'll be a good for all of us. Speaking of breaks, how long do we get to keep you around before you head back to Rome, Buffy?"
"Haven't decided," Buffy replied, shrugging.
"But no rush, right? Because the longer you're here, the more cool stuff we get to do. Don't think about leaving right now, because that's nothing but unhappy. We'll keep all talk vacation-centric. Nothing but fun, more fun, and then even more fun. And did I mention the fun?"
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Xander watched the bags as they plopped on to the conveyor belt. The only thing telling him the time was the clock on the Arrivals monitor, but his brain was telling him that it shouldn't be dark right now. After that many hours on a plane, it was hard to be sure of anything.
Long flight. Or long bunch of flights. First leg was Nairobi to London. His flight back across to the U.S. wasn't until the next morning, so they'd set up a cot for him in Andrew's room since most of the rooms at the new Watcher HQ were full of new slayers, including some he'd found and sent up there himself. He checked on them first, seeing how there were doing. Of course they were fine, but it was still a relief to know that he hadn't earned their trust only to send them somewhere they hated. He'd hoped to get some shut-eye then, but Andrew wanted to hear about his "adventures" in Africa, the ones that weren't on the reports that he'd sent in. Not so adventure-y, really, except the war zone areas, and he really didn't want to remember that. Then again, the stuff that'd happened to him that most people would call adventures he counted as more of a staying alive thing.
He did talk about some of it, though. Andrew was a lot of things, but, as he'd learned right after Sunnydale went kablooie, he was at least decent as a listener. Xander had appointed himself Hospital Guy when they'd brought the injured to the hospital after the battle, and he'd basically lived there for a couple of weeks. He'd only left the place when Willow or Giles made him take a break. But it was Andrew who'd sat in the waiting rooms with him, keeping him company and just listening while he talked about Anya. And talked. And kept talking.
Anya had been gone a year. But he didn't like to think about that.
So, the least he could do was tell Andrew stuff about Africa. Problem was, there was a whole hell of a lot more talking than sleeping during the couple hours he was there, so he was already high on the bleary scale when he got to the airport. And sleeping on the plane? Not all that easy. He'd switched planes in Chicago, then flew past downtown - like right next to the buildings, which just can't be safe - to land in San Diego.
The bags kept plopping. Plan of action was set: get bag, get rental car, call Willow, and drive to their new apartment. Her and Dawn would both be going to college (and the entire idea of Dawn being old enough to be in college still flipped him out), and they were doing the roomie thing. Buffy would probably be in from Rome by now, too. It's like a reunion, except... No, it was just like a reunion, just a small one. But good.
Plop. His duffel finally made its big entrance. About time. He shouldered the bag and turned to his left, pausing to get his bearings on his blind side.
He decided that he must still be asleep. Maybe on the plane, maybe in London, but definitely not conscious. Because what he was seeing? Full-on dream. The nightmare kind.
But it sure looked like there were four people walking by baggage claim. Scratch that, 'cause if they actually were who they looked like, then at least two of them were definitely not people. And one of them was Angel. Xander didn't know of anyone he liked less, which added to the nightmare theory. Still with the billowy coat, no surprise there, but it looked like it'd been through a Shred-O-Matic. And, according to the last letter he'd gotten from Giles, Angel was running some supervillain corporation in L.A., which meant he was probably evil. Again. Then there was a chick with blue hair and wearing some kind of red leather thing - not that he was complaining about the look - and an unconscious guy in a wheelchair who looked like he'd come out on the losing end of something extremely nasty.
It was the fourth, the guy pushing the wheelchair, who nailed the I-must-be-dreaming theory. Somebody who'd gone down with Sunnydale. Who'd closed the hellmouth, if what Buffy said was true. Xander'd even said some nice things about him since, because hey, saving the world and dying (more) to do it? You get some slack. A little.
So what the hell was Spike doing pushing a wheelchair around in an airport?
He watched them, unnoticed, as they walked past. This dream had a soundtrack, because he could hear Spike's voice. "Stupid commuter flight. Never thought I'd miss the mini-bar. And you're telling me that we still have no clue what help we're getting down here? Warlock, slayer, demon hunter... Come on, the little ponce must have said something!"
And that was definitely Angel who answered. "The answer's still no, Spike. That's all he'd say. Help in San Diego. Don't know who, don't know how, but if it's help, I'm taking it."
Okay, if this was a dream, he'd play along.
Xander jogged to catch up with the small group. "Hold it. That's far enough. You guys? Not in the brochure. And here I'd hoped for a nice, vampire-free vacation."
Angel turned, looking too tired to be surprised. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Nope, sorry, I get to ask that question." Xander turned to Spike. "Mainly to you. And that's just question one. And moving on to two: Aren't you dead? Sorry, but last I heard, you did the pillar of flame thing and closed the hellmouth. Which, yes, good, but we pretty much thought that killed you. More than you already were."
"Did. Got better." Spike looked almost as tired as Angel did. "Yeah, you lackbrain, it's me."
"So, what? Still undead, I'm guessing?" Xander pressed.
"We don't have time for this," Angel cut in. "We have people to see. Important people."
"Oh yeah, those important people that you were just saying that you didn't know. Right. Good luck with that." Damn, this might be real life. Xander wasn't waking up, and this was feeling a lot less dream-like.
Spike was leaning pretty heavily on the wheelchair he'd been pushing. None of them were looking all that healthy, actually. "Harris, get out of our way. Got things to do, and you don't want to be around when the doing starts."
The blue-haired chick that'd been watching the whole thing finally spoke up. "Are you the one who will guide us to the assistance we seek?"
"Y'know, as a rule, I'm not much for helping vampires." He jerked his thumb towards Angel and Spike. "Especially these two."
She nodded back to him. "You find the half-breeds distasteful. It is understandable."
Her hair might be weird, but the girl had something resembling sense, Xander had to give her that. Plus some kudos for the leather get-up. "Exactly. And from what I hear, Angel's fallen off the do-gooding wagon and is back to the general evil thing."
"Not. Evil." Angel growled - or half-growled, because it really didn't sound all that scary. Again with the tired-sounding. "Let me guess. You've been talking to Giles?"
"Yeah. Something about you running Evil Central in L.A., right?"
"Not anymore. Really didn't agree with me."
"Oh, right, I bet the executive life was real tough." Xander gestured at the guy in the wheelchair. "Looks like they even gave you an in-flight meal."
The look Angel gave him in response was enough to make him shut up. Okay, that struck some kind of really bad nerve. "Sorry. Who is this guy?"
"A friend. Now unless you can help us, we're leaving."
Spike had pretty much been silent through all this, which was fine with Xander, because hello, dead, but then he started talking anyway. "Hold on a sec. I'll bet he can help us. You were in Africa, am I right? Andrew said as much a few months back."
"Wait, Andrew knew you were back among the semi-living? Remind me to take the mbutu fish back."
Spike ignored him. "And what would make you fly halfway across the planet? Only four people I know of. Must be that one of them's nearby."
"Like I'd say who. If there was a who to talk about. Which there's not."
"Bollocks. And one of them could either help us or they could get us in touch with someone who could."
Xander shook his head, "Not caring why you think I'm here. I really don't see why helping you would be such a great idea."
"How 'bout this: because we've been facing a demon army the likes of which you've never seen, even compared to the Turok-Han, and you don't want to see the destruction they'll cause unless we stop them. That enough reason to get helpful?" Spike turned back to Angel. "Four people: Buffy, but she's in Rome. Willow. Anya. Dawn."
"You're wrong on two counts." Xander took a deep breath and continued. "Okay, you'll find out anyway. Buffy's not in Rome. Not right now."
Angel nodded. "She's here, isn't she?"
"Yeah. She's here. And you're not going to bug her. She's here on vacation. Same as me. So leave us all alone."
"We have to talk to her," Angel countered. "She needs to know what's going on. The way things have gone down in the last week - she deserves to know. Just tell us where to find her."
The girl - and what was up with her eyes? - spoke up again. "It is a good plan. We should follow him. His damaged visage marks him as a warrior."
Xander glanced at her. Warrior? He'd been called a lot of things, but that wasn't usually on the list. He let it go and just answered Angel. "Not happening. As far as I know, you're all up to evil-doing, and I'm not going to let her invite you into their new place."
"Their? Who else is here? It's the Immortal, isn't it? I knew it..."
"No, that guy isn't here. Look, here's the deal. Willow and Dawn are gonna be going to college here in town. It's all nice and normal and non-saving-the-world-like. Whatever's going on with you, good or evil or whatever, don't drag them into this. Let them have a life. A real, normal life. They've earned it. So stay away from them."
"Don't think you get to make that decision for them, mate." answered Spike.
Xander sighed. "Fine. I'll call them, we'll find a place for us all to meet. A public spot, somewhere nearby. Then you can tell your sob story or whatever and see what they say."
"Deal. Except...." Spike paused. "Look, except for Andrew, none of you lot knew I was alive, and I want to be the one to tell them. To tell her. I'd prefer it if you don't mention me when you call."
"You've gotta be kidding."
"No. Look, I have my reasons. If not, I'll find her myself and not do the secret meeting act you're looking to set up."
Xander shrugged. "It'll be your funeral. Again. Because there was one, believe it or not. Comes with world-saving. But don't blame me if they stake you on sight for what they'll think is a you impersonation."
"I'll take my chances." Spike stopped Xander as he began to walk towards the pay phones. "Hold up. You said two counts. What's the other thing I got wrong?"
"Anya's dead." Xander locked eyes with the formerly-dead undead. "Killed at the high school. Same day you did your fire act."
Spike winced. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too."
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Willow hung up the phone. "Buffy!"
"What's up?" Buffy called from the other room. "Did Xand finally land? Hey, check out my rhyming..."
"Buffy, listen. You would not believe who Xander ran into at the airport."
"Hugh Jackman?"
"Angel."
Buffy blinked. "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding. Did Xander pick up some kind of bad joke virus in Africa?"
"He wasn't joking, and he wasn't sounding too happy about it at all."
"Angel doesn't fly. Not that I remember, anyway." She sat down. "This can't be good."
"I guess there was some serious badness in L.A. last week, and he's looking for a little help, which means he's looking for us. And he's not alone."
"Who's with him? Wesley? Cordelia?"
"I don't think so. Xander wasn't too specific. He just said that it was a couple people he didn't know and one that we might. Oh! I know! Fred! I think I told him about her, so I bet she's the one we might know!"
"Could be. Nice of Xand to be so vague, though." Buffy sighed. "Great. I really wasn't looking for anything even close to apocalyptic on this vacation. And wow, talk about uncomfortable when I have to tell him that I have a boyfriend. I don't know if I have another cookie speech in me."
"He knows." Dawn was standing in the doorway. "Andrew told me that he'd stopped by our place in Rome with some other guy while we weren't around. Guess he saw you two together."
"Angel was in Rome and didn't even say hello? That's mature. Do vampires ever grow up?"
"Guys, focus." Willow wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew from the tone of Xander's voice that it wasn't anything close to good. "He's in town, and Xander won't bring him here because of what Giles told him about where Angel's been working. Which I kinda understand, because that Wolfram & Hart place is really icky. But we need to go."
"Go where?"
"I told him that we'd meet him at that big fountain over in the park. If things go bad, it's super-public, plus we'll beat them there, no problem."
"Fine. Dawn, you stay here. Willow and I will go see what's going on."
"No way. I'm coming with you."
Buffy looked at her sister. "Sorry, you're right. Um, habit?"
"S'okay. So, time to mount up or whatever?"
"Yeah, let's get there. If Angel's anything to close to the Evil Boss Guy that Giles was says he is, I want to be ready when he gets there."
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Andrew kept tripping over the cot that he hadn't gotten around to putting away yet as he paced around his room. The sun was up, but he hadn't been able to sleep at all since Angel's call. It'd been transferred to him with a grumpy message from Giles to "get rid of him." Well, he had, right? He'd gotten Angel off the phone. And he hadn't told him anything specific, so if anybody was listening in, they couldn't pin it on him.
Did he do the right thing? He wasn't freaking as much as before. He knew about the battle in Los Angeles because the whole building was buzzing about it. When they found out that demons were massing in downtown Los Angeles, he was going to call Willow since she was so close, but Giles had stopped him. He said it wasn't their concern. But he didn't understand how it wasn't their concern, because it really seemed like another part of the grand battle of Good Versus Evil that they were doing.
A lot of things didn't make a lot of sense at this new Watcher's Council, but he figured that it was because he didn't get to go to the secret Watchers-only meetings yet. He helped a lot, though. He checked in with Giles every single day to see what he could do. His very important work in L.A. to rescue Dana from the clutches of Wolfram & Hart was a huge high point for him. But now that things were getting more organized, and since they'd recruited a bunch of former and surviving watchers, he had a whole lot less to do now. He went on a few trips, which was fun, like the one he took in Rome when he had a bunch of people convinced that he was some kind of international spy. That was cool.
But it sounded like Angel was still on the side of good, not evil like Giles thought. And he had a real hero like Spike working with him, so Angel must be okay. They fought demon hordes and they'd survived, which was mega-impressive. It was a very important cause. How can this not be their business, too?
There'd been a lot of those super-secret meetings since the news broke, and Andrew thought he'd seen some of Willow's coven friends come in. Lots of commotion, and none of had to do with him. So if he couldn't help with whatever Giles and the other meeting-attenders were doing, then he could help with what Angel and Spike were doing. And he happened to know that both Buffy and Xander were visiting Willow and Dawn in San Diego. In fact, Angel had called less than an hour after Xander had left for the airport. It was like there was some kind of good karma happening, with all of them so close to the real action. Hero Karma.
He tripped over the cot again when the phone rang. "Hello, Andrew Wells speaking. How may I assist you?"
"Andrew, it's Giles. Just checking in on the Angel situation. I trust that it has been taken care of?"
"Yes sir, I got him off the phone, no problem."
"That's excellent news, thank you. I'll be in meetings for the rest of the day, so should he trouble us about his situation in Los Angeles, I've asked that the calls be transferred to you. No exceptions. We're keeping a strict policy regarding Angel at present, and I know that you are aware of the appropriate statements to give him."
"But what if he really does need help? What if things are even worse? Should I let you know?"
"No. We are investigating the Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart at present to see if they might expand their battleground, but unless they plan on interfering with our work, this is Angel's problem. Not ours."
"Yes sir."
"Good. And if he does call again, just keep record of it. Thank you for your assistance in this, as always. Until later, then."
As the phone line went dead, Andrew wondered about how much trouble he'd be in if Giles ever found out what he'd done. But he knew that Giles would have done the same thing if he'd only had time to hear the whole story. And Andrew would've told him, definitely, if Giles wasn't always so busy. He'd thank Andrew later.
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"I don't like this," Angel muttered.
"You think this is how I wanted to start my summer vacation?" Xander glared over at Angel, who was consciously trying to stay to Xander's right. He'd heard about the eye loss along with the rest of the Sunnydale story from Spike, but seeing the kid with an eye patch was still unsettling, no matter how much mutual dislike there was between them. Just like old times.
Angel decided to try and keep this conversation comeback-free, plus neither his limp nor Xander were helping his mood. "This is too public, and I'm not big on separating my team right now."
"Not a chance. We're staying public, and this is the way to go. You can't hit them with everything all at once, okay? And Buffy just got into town. Just start with your demon horde and work your way up to Spike being back from the dead since he wants to make such a big fancy deal about it. And how exactly did that back-from-the-dead thing happen?"
"Amulet. A guy I used to know got it from the ruins - never figured out the how or why about that - and sent it to me. Made Harmony open my mail after that."
"Wait, Harmony? She's working with you?"
"Was working. For me. She was my secretary. Not anymore."
"Okay, interesting choice. Well, at least Cordelia had someone to fashionista with, even if it was the undead. Where is Cordy, anyway?"
"Not here." As much as Angel hated to admit it, Xander was right about not hitting them with everything all at once, and talking about Cordelia wasn't the way to start. Instead, he changed the subject, pointing at the water spouting in the air in front of them. "Is that it? The fountain?"
"Yeah, according to the directions Wil gave me, that should be it. Never been here either." He shrugged. "Not like I know where anything is in this city."
Angel stopped him. "Before we go over there, I need to know one thing. Why are you helping us?"
"Simple. You'd find Buffy whether I help you or not, and we both know it. This way, it's on her terms, and she's got plenty of back-up." Xander turned and regarded him with his remaining eye. "Including me."
Angel suddenly realized that 'kid' wasn't the right word to use about Xander anymore.
They walked the rest of the way to the fountain. Xander looked around. "I guess they're not here yet."
"No, they're here. They're nearby."
Xander glanced over at him. "Oh, right. Vampire super-smell. Department store perfume counters must be loads of stinky fun." He looked around. "How long before Spike makes his big entrance?"
"I told him ten minutes. We'll see if he waits that long."
"And that's the part I don't like. He shouldn't come up here at all. I'm not liking this drama-full reveal idea."
"Like I could stop him."
"Yeah, good point."
Past Xander, Angel could see three figures walking towards them. "Here they come."
One of the figures broke into a run, red hair flying around her head, and the other two quickly followed. Willow just about tackled Xander with a hug, which then grew into one of those big group hugs. For a few moments, Angel was forgotten. He watched the reunion quietly from a safe distance.
The four finally broke apart, and Buffy approached Angel. "Angel."
"Hey." Angel shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't sure how to start this conversation.
"So... You're making a big surprise visit instead of picking up the phone? Either you needed more frequent flyer miles or something's gone down. And looking at your coat, I'm voting for choice number two."
"Yeah. Major. We've got an army after us, demons, and frankly, I'm out of options. I didn't want to ask this, but we need help."
"And I should help you and your evil corporation because...?"
"Because I'm not with the evil corporation anymore. I fought them. We fought them. We hurt them worse than we could have from the outside. To be honest, I wasn't sure that we'd make it this far."
"So, what kind of help are you in the market for? Specifics would be nice."
"I don't know. Magic to repel them or send them back, that's what I was hoping. Or a way to hold them off when they do find us. Look, I didn't want to drag anybody into this, least of all you, but we don't have the resources to do this. Not anymore."
Willow had walked up to stand next to Buffy when she heard magic mentioned. "But where is everybody? Is Cordelia still in L.A.? And what about Fred? Or Wesley? Or that slightly-scary son of yours? Or that nice demon guy who works with you, what was his name, Lorne?"
"They're not options."
"Hence your optionlessness. Who do you have?" asked Buffy.
"They've got me, pet." Unseen by all of them, Spike and Illyria had walked up behind them. Buffy, Willow, and Dawn turned towards the familiar voice, stunned. Angel rolled his eyes; Spike wanted his big entrance, and he got it. Hope he's happy.
Dawn formed words first. "Spike? Is it you?"
"Yeah, 'bit, it's me."
Glancing at Willow and Buffy's still-overwhelmed faces, Dawn tentatively continued. "I know this'll sound weird and maybe rude, but... What are you? Ghost? Human? Zombie?"
"Did the ghost thing, but no. Still a vampire. And yeah, soul's still attached. Better than Angel's, I'd reckon." Angel shot him a look. Now really wasn't the time.
"You're alive." Buffy was beginning to regain her composure, and Angel thought that her words were remarkably calm. Which he was glad about.
Spike chuckled. "No, luv, still dead. But not burnt to a crisp anymore."
"But how..?"
"Long story, and now's not the time for telling."
Buffy whirled around to Xander accusingly. "You brought them here. You knew!"
"Whoa, hey, I only just found out. He asked me not to say anything. I'm sorry, Buff, I would have told you on the phone."
Angel noticed that Willow had mostly recovered, but she was focused on Illyria. "Fred? Is that you?"
"You wrongly address the shell. I am Illyria. I was the immaculate embodiment of rule, god-king of the primordium, shaper of things..."
"What she means is, she's not Fred." Angel stepped in and glanced at Willow. "Fred's not in there. She's dead."
Willow turned white and sat down on the ground. Angel watched the scene as Xander went over to her and wished that he was done revealing all of the bad news. "Here's the deal. This is my team, the whole team, plus one who's in the car and needs to go back to a hospital as soon as we're done here. That's it. Everybody else is gone. Fred, Wesley, Cordelia... They're dead. I lost them all."
Xander's head jerked up. "What?? Cordelia? When?"
"A few months ago. Look, I don't have time to tell the stories and give eulogies right now. We have to deal with what's coming, and we have to do it now.
"Cordy..." Xander sat down next to Willow, stunned.
"And Wesley," murmured Buffy. "Y'know, actually, sometimes I wondered how he made it so long."
"You'd be surprised. He wasn't the man you knew anymore."
The small group was silent for a few minutes as they processed it all. Angel waited, his impatience mounting. Surprisingly, it was a grim Xander who spoke first. "Did this army kill her? Because if it was them, I'm in."
"No. She was used and destroyed. I hate what happened to her, but Cordy made what we just did possible. She put me on the path. In a way, I did this for her. I would have saved her, saved them all, if I could. Listen, I'll explain, but there's no time right now. There's a horde of demons that could show up any second, and I want to be as ready as I can. So are you helping or not?"
"Demon hordes, huh? Fun." Buffy glanced over at Willow. "It's Tuesday, isn't it? I forgot how much I used to hate Tuesdays."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ow. That's the main thought that was going through Gunn's brain. Followed by the realization that he must still be alive. How'd that happen?
He couldn't tell what day it was, or where he was, or any of that. He wasn't even sure if he was actually conscious or if this was just a really painful dream. He remembered the fight with the demon army. He'd been good with fighting that fight. Made peace with himself, was ready to finish it and take as many as he could with him.
Last thing he could remember is that big bull-looking demon knocking him down, and then the crunch. Big nasty crunch, and he was pretty damn sure that he was the crunchee. The rest wasn't too clear. Somebody standing over him while the fight was till happening around him, being carried somewhere, and maybe a hospital? And did anybody but him make it out of the battle? They must've, because that's the only way he could've made it. Hard to know for sure. He was just sure about the pain. So bad that he couldn't feel parts of him anymore. Must've shorted out some of the nerves.
He tried to sit up, but his already-swimming head wasn't helping. He had to get his bearings anyway. He was in a car. A parked car. And alone. At night. No way was this a good sign. Craning his neck a little, he could sort of see outside. Where was he, a park? There were trees and people walking around. Wait, not around, just a line of them. All in black, doing some chant thing.
Or could be that he was right about the dreaming.
He let his head fall back. Too much. Hurts too much. Passing out, now there's a plan.
As he fell back into unconsciousness, he wondered whose car he was stashed in.
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