Timeline: Mid season four; Cordy's back, just before 'Apocalypse Nowish.' Except give a bit more time for these events to happen.
"Hey man, pass that thing over here."
Justin obliged and passed the cigar over to his friend Si. He brought it to
his lips and took a long drag, leaning back onto the ruined couch and exhaling
slowly after a long breath.
"
Now that's what I'm talkin' about," he said, instantly
looking more relaxed.
Justin grinned across the gap between them. The alley was home for tonight – whatever
kicked them out in the morning was a matter for the imagination of the bored
homeless guys. They had robbed a grocery store a couple of hours before, what
they had taken wasn't even important enough to report, a couple of candy
bars and of course, the cigar. Neither of them had smoked for weeks and Si'd
been getting the shakes pretty bad. Normally he'd have suggested going
to see a doctor, but a medical visit wasn't something you could win in
a competition or steal so he figured their luck was out on that one, too.
He leaned back onto the pink couch, head resting on the stuffing which had
spilled out of the tear at the top of the cushion. It stank real bad but he
wasn't going to complain, it was better than the floor.
"
So…" said Justin, feeling himself drift off to sleep. "What
do you want to do tomorrow?"
"
Well, let's see," replied Si, taking another drag of the cigar.
He paused to exhale, smoke curling around his nostrils. "How about we
do what we did today?"
"
Now that's a mighty fine suggestion, but I thought that we could move
house again."
"
Again?" answered Si, incredulous. Justin didn't have any intention
of moving again – he just liked to see Si a bit flustered.
"
Yeah, I'm bored of this part of the city," he said, trying to suppress
a smile. "What about that place we were at the other week?" The
joke had gotten old already, if it was a joke in the first place, but it was
a way to pass the time.
"
What about what happened to that guy?"
"
What guy?"
"
You know, the guy who had the thing and we took it?"
"
Oh yeah…forgot about that."
"
So that's a no to the moving then?"
"…
I guess."
There was silence for a few minutes. Justin heard Si puffing away on the cigar
from time to time, but he didn't really want it back now.
"
So what do you want to do tomorrow?"
"
I dunno," replied Si. "We could always wait and see what happens
tonight, and figure it out in the morning."
"
Good idea."
"
I mean, how much can happen in one night?"
"
I dunno, how much?"
"…
Not a lot, I guess. Not to us, anyway. Nothing ever happens to us."
Justin rolled his eyes. He could picture Si's face without even having
to look over. Once every so often Si went on one of these mopey depressions,
at first he'd been concerned but now it was just Si being Si. Justin
leaned further back into the couch, letting the faulty springs take all of
his weight and sink deeper into the mouldy fluff that was home for the night.
He wasn't sure how to place what he was dreaming. He could hear soft
munching sounds, the noise of syrup hitting porcelain…was someone having
breakfast? He allowed himself to be drawn into the dream, the only decent food
he ate was in his head. The noises carried on even though he wanted them to
change…this was his dream, wasn't it? No, nothing was his, he only
borrowed them. He dreamed of happier times, of before his existence of today.
"…
Si…?" Justin muttered, rousing from his sleep. He groggily blinked – nope,
the world hadn't ended, there was the alley wall where he'd left
it. The streetlight still shone from the main street. The battered couch was
still beneath him, the empty pit that was his stomach hadn't deserted
him. It leapt up into his mouth when he looked to his left however.
"
Si?" he asked again, now fully awake, sitting forward on his couch. Si
lay slack on the couch, eyes lazily rolled up into his head, drool seeping
from one side of his mouth. "Si!"
Justin felt the icy grip of fear clutch his chest, and he leapt forward, shaking
his closest friend.
"
C'mon, man, you can't leave me, you're the only thing I've
got left!"
He began to sob, despair tearing at his heart. The world began to slip away,
blackness seeping into his eyes.
He didn't notice the woman behind him approach, only when she placed
a hand on his back, rubbing it softly.
"
Aww, honey…" she whispered in a mournful, sympathy filled voice.
Justin let his weight fall entirely into the arms of the female stranger.
"
I'm so sorry," she continued in a mystical, husky voice.
"
But I need him!" sobbed Justin. "It's so unfair…it's
all so unfair…!"
"
I know, I know, shh." She rocked him gently now. "Now stand up,
baby." She picked him up, and he stood numbly in front of her. "I
can make to pain all go away, you just give me the word and I'll do it,
I can make things as thought none of this ever happened."
"
Yes…yes…" Justin whispered weakly.
"
Oh, baby, it's all gonna be alright," smiled the woman. She pushed
him back onto the couch, suddenly serious, and straddled him, pushing his head
back.
"
What are you – " stammered Justin, shocked out of his despair.
"
I'm takin' the pain away," uttered the woman, but in a dreadful,
low voice. "I'm takin' it all away!" She opened her
mouth impossibly wide and reared her head, but two hands grasped it and yanked
her backwards, throwing her off balance and toppling her onto the cold, hard
concrete with a loud smack.
Justin looked up, terrified, at the monstrous creature now before him, it lumbered
seven feet tall and had an impossibly large number of teeth jutting out from
out of its snout, dark green skin oozing some kind of thick liquid that spattered
the floor around it whenever it moved. It's body was covered in a brown
tunic, arms and legs jutting out ending in large scything talons.
A low, terrible growl built up deep in its throat and it brought its arm down
upon the woman's head, making an awful splat, blue ooze seeping in a
large puddle.
Out of pure instinct, Justin sprung up from the couch and didn't look
back.
He ran from Si.
He ran from the woman.
He ran from the terrible monster.
He ran from the demons festering inside of him.
He ran straight into a phone booth and, hands shaking uncontrollably, picked
up the receiver and dialled '911.' It took him several seconds
to realise that there wasn't a dial tone and it wasn't ringing.
He pressed down onto the phone's cradle and tried again. It didn't
work.
For the first time in what felt like days, he looked around at his surroundings.
He was a couple of miles from the alley – he recognised the street. The
phone booth here hadn't worked for years. He choked out a strangled sob
and looked at the phone desperately.
For some reason, the noticeboard above the box caught his attention. A shining
white card, wedged in among the rest of the adverts.
'We Help the Helpless.'
'
Angel Investigations.'