Title: Different War
Author: Slayer87
Rating: TV-14 (same as episodes)
Spoilers: Post Chosen/Not Fade Away
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon/David Greenwalt own all. 20th Century Fox and Mutant Enemy as well own characters and plots that are not mine. I only own the original characters.
Author's Notes: One thing I want to say is I'm writing this story with script directions. That's just how I chose to write this story. Everything else is in prose (story) mode. Also, this was originally going to be an "Angel season 6" series with individual episodes and acts. Hence the script directions. That's not going to be the case now. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy.
Fade In:
Ext.
The Battle….
The air seemed to crack when the two sides met in the middle of the alley. Angel, already bloodied and hurt, but filled with the power of the Wolf, Ram, and Hart, made his way past demon after demon. His sword clanked and clashed with the few weapons of the demons, but equally found their way into flesh and bone.
Spike was doing as much damage as Angel was. His whole sodding body ached, but he fought on, determined not to die. He grabbed the head of a demon species he didn't know, and didn't care to know, and twisted with his hands. The demon sank to the ground and Spike smirked. This wasn't too bad.
Gunn felt like he was going to fall any second. He slashed away with his axe; demon heads rolling left and right, but his wound was hurting him far too much. The blood loss made him want to pass out, but he kept slashing, even when the claws of a vampire cut him good across the arm.
Illyria scoffed at the weakness of her enemies. They broke far too easy and she smiled at the damage she had done thus far. She tore off the head of a vampire, watched as it turned to dust in her very hand and immediately landed a kick to the head of a slime demon. This was all too effortless for her. She felt sick with how sad the demons of this world fought. She would show them what fighting was.
The demons, in their number, started to dwindle down. Spike slammed his stake through the heart of a vampire, not even bothering to watch it dust. He heard a shriek like no other, and turned toward the noise. There was Angel, piercing the heart of the dragon with his sword. Spike sighed. He had wanted a go at the beast, but Angel took that away from him. It figured.
Suddenly, there was a great light and boom. Almost all of the demons cried out, with what sounded like fear and anger, and fled the alley down the way they came.
"Yeah, that's right. Run off," Spike taunted after the fleeting evil. "Finally realize when you have had enough of Big Bad eh?"
"Spike, shut up," Angel yelled at the bleach haired vampire, looking around.
Spike silenced, only because he had nothing else to say, and looked around. He saw Illyria standing next to Gunn, who was sitting against a dumpster. He didn't look good. Spike noted that they needed to get Gunn inside somewhere, preferably a hospital.
"The dark one weakens rapidly," Illyria noted aloud, hoping that one of the two vampires would hear her.
"I know, I know. But we first need to figure out what scared off the army of hell in the first place," Angel said, looking around.
"Yeah, there was a white light. I saw it too," Spike added, looking behind them. What he saw made his jaw drop open.
There, standing there as plain as day and soaking wet was Tara Maclay. Her soft brown hair stuck to her face from the rain and she looked around, shaking from the cold.
Fade Out
Fade In
Ext.
Alley
"Tara?" Spike asked, stepping closer to the woman. Tara automatically stepped back, unsure. "S'alright love. It's me, Spike."
"Wait, Tara? Willow's Tara?" Angel asked. Spike nodded, not taking his eyes off the woman.
"I sense power from this one," Illyria observed.
"Yeah, she's pretty good with the Wicca mojo," Spike replied.
"Spike, it's impossible. I know what happened, this can't be her," Angel said.
"Oh it's her. Down to her scent," Spike replied. He took off his coat and went to put it over her.
"Look, we need to get inside somewhere. Gunn's hurt, and those demons might come back. We can figure out who's who later," Angel urged, looking towards where the demons ran off.
"Right," Spike agreed, putting an arm over the trembling witch. "Time to go now love. Get you some place dry and safe 'right?"
Tara nodded and let herself be led by the English vampire.
Gunn tried to pick himself up, but all his strength was already gone. He looked up at Illyria, who in turn was staring down at him in, what he thought was, fascination. "Little help?"
Illyria gazed at him with her piercing blue eyes before reaching out and hoisting him up with one hand. Gunn winced at the pain that shot along his abdomen and clutched at his stomach tightly.
"I am relieved you did not die. You have surpassed my expectations of you," Illyria told him. Gunn tried to smirk at her compliment.
"Thanks, I guess. You did alright yourself," he replied.
Cut to:
Int.
Hyperion Hotel – Minutes Later
Angel opened the two glass doors facing the back garden and looked around. No one was in sight, and he didn't sense anyone, human at least, in the building. He motioned to Spike, who was helping Tara, and the rest of the group walked inside.
Going to the wall, Angel flipped on the lights to the lobby and the hotel lit up. He turned around to see Illyria helping Gunn sit down on the red couch and then he remembered the bad shape that Gunn was in. He walked behind the front counter and took out the first aid kit.
"Spike, bandage Gunn up," Angel told the other vampire. Spike gave him a look.
"Does it look like I know how to bandage someone up? I'm usually the one getting stitched up, not the other way around."
"Spike! Just do it," Angel snapped, shoving the tin box at Spike.
"What the hell burrowed up your ass?" Spike asked, opening the box and going to where Gunn was laying on the red couch.
Angel paced quickly, stopped, and sighed. "We are in a real fix here Spike, in case you didn't notice. The Senior Partners are probably real keen in finding us and sending their army of hell after us, which by the way, is more than enough demons to do the trick. All of which, are still in this city looking for us. I have two friends out there, both of which I will never see again, one of them at least. Top it off with the fact that we have someone here who isn't even supposed to be alive, and you can see why I'm a little upset right now."
"The demons are no longer a threat. They have vanquished from this worldly plane," Illyria announced. She was glancing at the hotel surroundings, not even bothering to look at Angel.
Angel looked at her. "How would you know that?"
"Its gotta be true. I mean, she is a former god king of the world right? We know she still has powers. Reckon that's one of 'em," Spike said. He was wrapping large strips of gauze over Gunn's wound, which had miraculously stopped bleeding.
"Spike is right Angel, I think Illyria has a sense of her enemies. She probably could sense anyone in this whole world if she wanted to," Gunn added.
Angel looked over at Tara, who had thus far been completely silent. He watched her eyes dart around at everything. He could hear the shakiness of her breath as well. "Tara?"
Spike gazed over at the witch too. "Tara, love?"
Tara glanced at Spike and lowered her head so she was staring at the ground.
Angel walked over to her and put a hand on her arm. Tara automatically backed up. "Tara? I'm Angel. We've never met, but I've heard about you from Willow."
At the sound of Willow's name, Tara glanced up. "Willow?" she repeated back, her voice soft. Angel knew that without his good hearing, he would have never heard it.
"Yes. I know Willow. And Buffy, and Xander, and Dawn. I know all of them. So you see, I don't want to hurt you. We're here to help. Me, Spike, everyone," Angel went on.
Tara looked from Angel, to Spike, back to Angel again and nodded.
"Okay, to help you we need to know some things. How did you get here? Do you remember anything?" Angel asked.
Tara shook her head. "No, I don't remember…. wait, I-I do. I think so."
By this time, Spike had put the bandages back in the first aid box and walked over to where Angel and Tara were standing. Gunn was now sitting up and watching everyone else. Illyria was wondering into the office, her head looking every which way.
"What do you remember love? It's okay, take your time a'right?" Spike told her. Tara looked at him and nodded.
"I was sent…they said everyone was needed. Then I was in the alley," Tara explained to them.
"Who's 'they'?" Gunn asked.
Angel looked to him. "The Powers. I think she was sent by the Powers That Be."
Spike nodded in agreement. "Reckon so. I mean, that's where I always figured she went. To the good place in the sky."
"What do you mean everyone was needed?" Angel asked her.
"I don't know," Tara replied. Angel smiled at her, to ease her fears, and looked over at Spike.
"Who knows what's going to happen next. All I know is that this woman here had to be brought by something pretty powerful and good to drive away all those demons like that. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next," Spike said.
Cut to:
Int.
Cyvus Vail's Home – Same Time
The entire room was silent. The lights still dim. The only ones in the grim chamber was the body of Cyvus Vail, whose head was merely dust and broken bits of bone lying on the floor.
The other body, not ten feet away, was the still body of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, lying in a pool of his own blood. His eyes were still open, staring blankly at the ceiling. The wound on his stomach no longer bled. Just sat, holding a small amount of blood that wasn't pumped out and onto the floor.
Slowly, almost absurdly, the blood still in the wound slowly went back inside, as if it was being sucked back in. The blood vessels mended and all the organs closed up as if they had never been torn. Muscle tissue was magically restored and the flesh mended and closed up, not even leaving a scar. There was a soft wind-like noise and Wesley, thought dead, breathed in oxygen once again.
When his brain had the air it needed, his fingers, sticky from his own blood, moved. His eyes fluttered and he immediately winced and closed them from the small amount of light that reached his eyes. When he finally got used to the light, he stared at the ceiling. The smell of death reached his nose and he already felt sick. He groaned and did his best to sit up. But before he did, he realized he was under no pain. He remembered Cyvus stabbing him, the blood, and the unbearable pain. Fred…no, it was Illyria. Lying to him, just as she asked him and he let her. He accepted the lie. Fred was gone.
But now he felt no pain at all. He felt for the wound, but it was gone. Not even a scar. The only proof he had been stabbed to death was the pool of blood he was still lying in and the torn shirt. He saw the body of Cyvus and figured Illyria took care of him. He was grateful for it.
Slowly, he got up and looked around. His mind reeled over the fact that he was alive when he should have and was dead. He wondered how and, most importantly, why he was alive and well. Angel's last speech at Spike's earlier came back to him and the words "alley behind the Hyperion" replayed in his head. He moved over to the wall and grabbed two swords, like the one that killed him. He checked his coat to make sure he still had his pistol before leaving.
He needed to get to the alley as soon as possible.
Fade In
Int.
Rome, Italy
The phone ringing was the only sound in the small Italian apartment. A door opened in the background and Dawn Summers emerged from the room, sprinting toward the ringing phone. She caught it after the 5th ring.
"Ciao," the young woman answered in loose Italian. Even though she had been there a few months, Italian was still a tricky language. That was weird, she thought, since she mastered Sumerian so quickly.
Cut To
Int.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles – Same Time
Angel was surprised to hear the voice of the youngest Summers woman. He paused for a moment, before answering.
"Dawn? Hey its Angel," he said. He hoped she didn't hold anything against him for running Wolfram and Hart. His mind went back to his last phone call with Giles.
Cut To
Int.
Summers' Apartment, Rome
"Hey Angel. Wow, it's been a long time. How are you?" Dawn replied, holding the cordless phone between her shoulder and her ear as she played with the string on her jacket.
She looked over and nodded to Buffy, who was standing with her arms folded over her chest.
Cut To:
Int.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
Angel paced his former office and sighed. He could hear Spike talking with Gunn in the lobby.
"I'm okay, right now at least. Listen Dawn, I need to talk to your sister. It's kinda urgent." He was unsure whether to say that Tara was alive again. He knew from Buffy that Dawn and Tara were really close.
"Yeah, I can hold a sec," he repeated. He thought this was going to be a repeat from his conversation with Giles when he heard the phone being handed over and the greatest voice to him spoke over the phone.
Cut To:
Int.
Summers' Apartment, Rome
"Angel," was all Buffy said. She looked over at Dawn sitting on the couch and hanging off that one word. Buffy rolled her eyes and turned around.
Cut To:
Int.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
"Buffy. Hi, its…uh, good to hear from you again," Angel started, already lost for words. He took another un-needed breath and continued. "Look, something's happened. Uh, maybe you should sit down. Its, uh, a long story."
He could hear Dawn asking what was being said, and Buffy shushing her. He had to smile and sat down behind the wooden desk.
Cut To:
Int.
Summers' Apartment, Rome
"Sit down? Am I going to be scared here Angel? Is it apocalypse-y or did you just need help with another psycho slayer? 'Cause may I remind you that you now work for the biggest evil in the world?" Buffy asked, getting a glare from Dawn. She softened up, remembering that only Giles and Xander were skeptical over Angel's latest job.
Cut To:
Int.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
Angel frowned at the mention of him working for Wolfram and Hart and kicked himself mentally. Of course she had no reason to trust him. Hell, over a year ago, he would have done the same if it was her who took over that place. But this was no time to argue about the different shades of gray and focus on what was happening now. His mind was still reeling over the fact that Wesley was dead, he was never going to see Lorne again because he had Lorne shoot Lindsey for him. He wouldn't blame Lorne if he hated him right now. Asking someone to kill is never easy.
"I'm serious. Its bad right now. But that wasn't the main reason for calling you. See…we got paid a visit by someone tonight that was unexpected. Hell, it was near impossible.
"See…wait, there's something else you should know first. I think it would be better if he told you himself," Angel said, getting up and walking to the office door so he could see everyone in the lobby.
He tapped the door frame to get their attention and motioned for Spike. The blonde haired vampire stalked over to Angel and silently asked what.
"Its Buffy. Before I start explaining things, you need to tell her," Angel mumbled. Spike scoffed and sighed. He took the phone from Angel and sighed again.
"Hello Buffy," Spike said, awaiting the response.
Cut To:
Int.
Summers' Apartment, Rome
Buffy stared at the floor for a long minute. This was unreal. Her heart was pacing faster and she didn't remember how to breathe. "Spike?"
At this name, Dawn's eyes widened and she gasped. She stood up from the couch and walked over to face her sister. "Spike?" she repeated.
"How? What? You're alive?" Buffy asked, ignoring Dawn.
Cut To:
Int.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
Spike smiled at the sound of her voice. He heard Dawn in the background and smiled wider. He had missed the nibblet.
"Yeah, It's me love. I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner….no, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how'd you react. No, I didn't want to keep it secret. It wasn't my choice! I came back in that amulet thing you gave me and I appeared at Wolfram and Hart. I've been pestering Angel all this time. Yeah, he's been annoyed," he told her.
Angel rolled his eyes and motioned for Spike to go on.
"Uh, so I thought you should know is all. I hope you're not, uh, mad," Spike continued.
Cut to:
Int.
Summers Apartment, Rome
"Mad?" Buffy repeated. Her mind was racing. 'Mad?' she thought, 'How can he think I'm not mad?'
"Hold on a second, love," she was told. She could hear him and Angel arguing over who would talk and she couldn't help but laugh to herself.
Cut to:
Int.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
"Spike, give me the phone. You said what you needed to say," Angel yelled. Spike didn't hand it over though.
"Not finished yet Angel. I will let you know when I'm done. Now why don't you go in the corner and brood for a bit yeah?" Spike said, gripping the phone to his chest.
Angel rushed at Spike, trying to grab the phone out of the younger vampire's hands. Spike kicked Angel in the knee, but Angel sucker punched Spike, and got possession of the phone.
"Sorry about that. Spike is just…so I'm sure you're shocked already," Angel said. He heard her sigh over the phone.
"Angel," he heard her say. "Just tell me what is going on."
"Alright, you know I've been head of Wolfram and Hart this year right?" he asked.
Cut to:
Int.
Summer's Apartment, Rome
"Yeah, how's that going by the way? Wait," Buffy asked, sarcastically, "this is Angel right? Not Angelus?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Dawn rolling her eyes.
Cut to:
Int.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
"Look, I'm not going to explain to you why I took that job. I already got the icy tone from Giles…and hell, even from your friend Andrew. I'm just going to tell you what went down because it's big enough to wipe us all out," Angel told her, looking over at Spike and shaking his head.
Angel sat down in the chair behind the desk and took an un-necessary deep breath.
"Okay, here's the story…"
Fade In:
Int.
Shahrvin Lair, Los Angeles – Minutes Later
There's a quick shot of a door opening and a battered looking Eve walks into the room. Her eyes dart around, looking at all the dead Shahrvin demons.
If anyone had known she was inside the Wolfram and Hart building right before it collapsed and that she only escaped with some scratches and a sprained wrist, they would have never believed it. But she did, and she had somehow managed to get to this building. She knew this was where Lorne and Lindsey were supposed to fight together. But all that was left were some dead demons. No Pylean in sight.
She walked further into the room and gasped. There, on the floor to her right, lay Lindsey. There was blood splattered on the wall above where he sat. There were two small bullet holes in his chest, and a blank but angry expression still etched on his face.
"Lindsey!" Eve cried out, rushing to him. She knew he was dead, but she still automatically felt for a pulse. When she didn't get one, her hands went up and she buried her face in them.
She was livid. How dare Angel take Lindsey away from her. HE didn't trust Lindsey, so he had him shot by Lorne and he still had the nerve to think he was still the big hero. She then wondered if the Senior Partners were happy. They had wanted Lindsey dead as well. She wished she was dead too. It would have been better than being left here alone.
The sudden choking and gasping interrupted her out of her self-misery and she looked up. Lindsey was alive. She didn't know how or who gave him back to her, but she was grateful either way. She threw her arms around his neck and embraced him.
"Oh god, you were dead. Lindsey, you died," she choked out, tears spilling down her face.
Lindsey hugged her back, but then struggled to get back up. "How long?" he asked.
"What?" Eve asked, suddenly transfixed on the two bullet holes that were no longer there. "Lindsey…" she said, pointing to his chest. Lindsey looked down quickly but seemed to shrug it off.
"How long has it been Eve? Since Angel left Wolfram and Hart?" he asked her.
"Uh, I don't know. A couple hours?" she replied. "Look, maybe you should sit down."
Lindsey ignored her and walked over to where the gun laid on the floor. He bent down to pick it up and studied it.
"Lindsey?" she said, cautious of what he might do.
He turned to look at her. "Go."
Eve blinked and shook her head. "What?"
"Go," he said. "I have things to do, scores to settle. I don't want you in that. Go somewhere out of LA. I'll come for you when I'm done here."
Eve hesitated a minute, but moved past Lindsey and out of the room.
"I got me a vampire to kill," Lindsey said, almost smiling at the thought of it.