A/N: So here it is. Chapter 3. I haven't gotten too many repsonses on this, and I really should be working on my other stories but this one has wormed its wa into my heart. So I present you with Chapter 3. Enjoy. And please, please, please dont forget to review. It brightens up my whole day.
Carpe Noctum
Chapter 3
Fred grabs a few candles and starts to light them as Lorne chants. She hopes to god, if there is one, that this will work.
"Violence restrained, demons disarmed, For mortals within these walls, no harm. Protection and safety this charm doth endow, To make this shelter a sanctuary now!" Lorne shouts, flicking the incense in his hand all around the room.
"Is that it?" Gunn asks skeptically as he surveys the room. Nothing appearing to have changed in the slightest, hence his doubtful demeanor. He still has an uneasy feeling, Angelus could still somehow find a way. He always does.
"How do we know it worked?" Fred wonders curiously, also taking a look around the lobby questioningly. They cant deal with him showing up, not until they can at least get some back up. Maybe someone who's facxed him before… the slayer?
"Well, if we followed the recipe… it should be cake. A demon violence-free zone cake." he assures her, setting down the book in his hand and patting hers soothingly.
"I don't know, Lorne. It doesn't feel like anything's different." Fred says uneasily, looking carefully around the room. "I mean we should still be on guard just in case, right?"
Lorne shakes his head in disagreement as Conner makes his way over to the couch and sits down on it, shaking his head back and forth in disgust.
"Cause it's not. Like every other lame spell you people try, it didn't work. It never works. I've pretty much concluded that magick sucks. I mean, if I were you guys, I'd—"
Lorne rolls his eyes and picks up a nearby candlestick, walking behind Conner and raising it like a weapon. He attempts to bring it down on his head, but before it can strike, Lorne is repelled immediately backwards. Gunn opens his arms and catches the singing demon before he hits the floor.
"See? It works sometimes. It also smarts like the dickens." Lorne grumbles, putting a hand to his head as he leans against the counter and tries to catch his breath.
"Sanctuary spell's working?" Wesley asks as he breezes in from the basement level.
"Yeah, like a charm. Literally." Lorne laughs bitterly, still attempting to catch his breath.
"Good, it will make this easier." Wesley nods walking over to his things and starting to get geared up. If he's going to pull this off, he's going to have to be prepared.
"Make what easier?" Gunn probes curiously, but Wesley ignores his question and turns to Fred.
"Where's Cordelia?" he wonders and they all look toward the stairs.
"Upstairs, asleep. She still feels weak." Fred explains and Wesley nods at the confirmation before continuing with what he was doing.
"Make what easier?" Gunn repeats emphasizing each word the second time as he steps in front of Wes before the British man can take off out the door.
"We're going to bring Angelus in alive." Wes tells him flatly, still uncomfortable around him since their argument.
"No, we're not." Conner growls, jumping up from his seat on the couch and choosing to intercede in the conversation.
"I thought you said capturing him wasn't an option?" Gunn wonders, trying to wrap his mind around actually catching their evil boss, or er, ex boss.
"Changed my mind." Wes shrugs, throwing on his coat and starting toward the door again.
"Change it back." Conner snarls, stepping up to Wesley and blocking his path.
"We get rid of Angelus, then what? We still have a Beast we don't know how to kill. We know it's working for something much worse but we don't know what it is. We're caught in the middle of a maelstrom and we can't
get out without our champion. We're going to save Angel… and I know who we need to help us do it."
"And who's help are we gonna get? Because I've already got someone in mind…" Fred rambles in her southern accent, attempting to get everyone's attention.
"Faith." Wesley says simply. Fred pales at the name.
"But, we might not need…" Fred begins to deny but its too late, Wesley is already out the door and she sighs. She's hopes everything turns out okay.
xxxxxxx
Over the next hour everyone's edgy and paranoid. Waiting… for what? No one knows actually but all they can do is wait. Wait for Wesley to get back. Wait for Angelus to show up. Wait for Faith to do what she does best. And in Fred's case, wait for the Scooby gang to make their appearance.
Connor practices determinedly with a long, silver bladed sword on the upper balcony while Gunn paces nervously in front of Fred and Lorne, checking his crossbow over and over again to the point Fred wants to take it from him and hurl it across the room just to get him to stop looking at it.
"Oh, relax, boys, the spell is working and I still got the slight migraine to prove it." Lorne tells them, pointing to his skull but both Gunn and Conner shake their heads.
"Yeah, maybe so but if Angelus shows up, I want to be ready." Gunn informs them, cocking his crossbow for good measure for the fiftieth time, at least.
"We are. Now." Wesley says, a smile on his face for the first time in days as him and Faith enter the Hyperion. Faith checks out the hotel lobby pursing her lips in approval.
"Sweet crib." Faith compliments, an appreciative smile on her face.
"Everyone, this is Faith, the Vampire Slayer." Wesley introduces, gesturing toward the dark haired, brown eyed woman standing next to him. Fred moves forward and sticks out her hand in greeting, doing her best to be friendly despite the stories she's heard about the rogue slayer.
"Hello, Faith. I'm—"
"Fred. Yeah, Wes kinda gave me the skinny on you." Faith says nodding in her direction.
"Oh…" Fred replies a bit taken aback before stepping back and flipping off her overly southern hospitality.
"Faith? What the hell is she doing here?" they hear Cordelia demand as she starts to descend the stairs, staring at Wesley accusingly and glaring in Faith's direction.
"Nice to see you, too, Cor." Faith waves, an amused smile touching her features.
"She's here to help." Wes provides hopefully but Cordelia merely rolls her eyes and scoffs.
"Oh, gee! That's great. Wait a sec! Wasn't she convicted of murder and sent to a state correctional facility for like a gazillion years?" Cordelia says sarcastically.
"Murder two, 25-to-life. For the record." Faith informs her seriously and Cordelia rolls her eyes.
"So now you brought psycho-Slayer out of retirement to kill Angelus?" Cordelia raves, waves of hostility rolling off her.
"Cordelia, you have every right to feel that way about me. You have no reason to trust me. But I don't have loads of time so why don't we save it till after this is over, cool?" Faith asks nicely, nicer then she usually would be. But she's been trying to tone down that more angry side of her, which is why she offers the somewhat truce even though Cordelia is being a bitch. That and because its Angel on the line here, and she owes it to him and Buffy to help him out.
Cordy says nothing in response so Faith takes that as the okay. She turns to the others to discuss what she came for.
"Okay, let's get down to it. We're gonna keep this hunting party tight." Faith commands before turning to Gunn. "Gunn, right?" she asks, a bit uncertainly as she looks him up and down.
"Yeah." he confirms, hitching the crossbow up his arm unconsciously.
"Love the name. Hear you're a good fighter." she says to him, admiration saturating her voice.
"I hold my own." he shrugs, a sly smile touching his lips.
"That's a shame. You're with me, Wes and the kid." she tells him and he nods willingly.
"The kid has a name." Conner interrupts bitingly. Faith spins around to face him and sighs.
"Connor." she corrects herself before plunging on with her plan. "Arm yourself how you like but I want you to carry the tranq gun. If I can't take him down, I want you to be ready to take the shot, yeah?"
Gunn nods enthusiastically a wide smile spreads across his face. He definitely likes Faith's style.
"In case anyone has any other ideas, this is a salvage mission, not search and destroy." Faith says firmly before turning toward Conner and raising her brows. "Okay?" she emphasizes and Conner shakes his head furiously.
"No. Not okay. You think you can just breeze in here, telling everyone what to do?" He demands angrily. "You're not a part of this. If you think I'm not going to kill Angelus if he comes at me, then—"
"Listen up, junior. When I need a bloodhound, I'll call you. If Angelus needs putting down, I'll be the one to do it." Faith grinds out, taking an authoritative step toward Angel's teenage son.
"Nope, that'd be my job." they hear someone say sweetly. The group looks up and sees the scooby gang standing causally at the Hyperion's doors.
"The other one's here too. Well, that's just great." Cordelia complains, rolling her eyes and throwing herself down in a chair in defeat.
"The other what?" Conner asks, annoyance and irritation coloring his tone.
"The other slayer." Wesley says gladly as he stares at Buffy in awe.
"Hi, I'm Buffy!" Buffy smiles, waving at a gaping Wesley, Lorne, Gunn and Faith.