"Oh God" Was all Buffy could say as she sat up on the floor, it was happening. The prophecy. 'The seven vampires are sent to rid the slayer of all her allies.' Wesley's earlier words echoed in her mind.
"Buffy?" her mothers voice snapped her out of the daze. She looked up to see her mother looking worriedly down at her. The room was quickly filling with smoke, making he feel like she wanted to gag.
"It's happening" was all she could say, "Its happening" tears blurred her eyes and she looked across the room, blinking away the tears she noted the figure on the floor.
"Giles?" she pulled herself upright and went to him, suddenly fearing the worst.
"I'm fine" his harsh, woeful words caused her stomach to knot. She knew that he was far from it, considering the look on his face for a start.
"We need an ambulance" Cordelia pulled Wesley up beside her, he was clutching a blood soaked arm, "Now" she noted Giles' worsening condition.
"And the fire brigade" Joyce added looking at the flames engulfing much of the room.
"Lets get out" Buffy pulled her Watcher to his feet as he hissed in pain and the five of them staggered out of the front door into the fresh air. Cordelia was on her cell phone seconds later and in a matter of minutes the street was a wash of blue, red and white lights. By now, Giles had sunk down onto the pavement and Buffy was cradling his head on her lap. Tears formed in her eyes once again, it was happening, her worst nightmare.
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"Xander?" Cordelia did a double take of the dousing figure in the hospital corridor. "What are you doing here?"
"I could say the same about you?" Xander looked up bleary eyed and she was taken aback by the look on his face. She couldn't quite figure it out. Grief? Guilt? Hate?
"Giles was injured, we kind of got in a fight at Buffy's" Xander only nodded, and his face seemed to turn paler, if it was possible for it to. "Wesley as well" she added.
"Wes is here?" Xander noted absently, remembering the stuffy British Watcher, "how come?"
"He works in LA with Angel and me" Cordelia sat beside him, concerned by the look on his face.
"Angel" Xander said coldly. He despised the vampire, he'd never trusted him and since the events of over two years ago, he didn't ever want to see him again. Miss Calendar's death, Kendra, the attack in the library, the sight of Giles tied to a chair after hours of agonising torture. No, it was safe to say, he hated that bastard. Cordelia read him like a book.
"He's not the same guy" she said plainly.
"I didn't say anything" Xander looked oddly at her, something was different about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"LA changes people" Cordelia sighed, "There's just something about the place," she trailed off and started to babble on about demons and visions. He was about to ask her what she was on about when a figure walked up beside him.
"Nice to see you again Xander" he could tell who it was before he even looked up. The thick British accent said it all.
"Nice to see you too Wesley" he looked up at the Ex-watcher, and took a moment to take his expression in. Maybe Cordelia was right, he thought. This was definitely not the stuffy, up tight Brit he had seen a year and a half ago, maybe LA did do things for people. Wesley seemed tougher somehow, the look on his defiant face told him there was more than met the eye.
"I see they bandaged you up well" Xander pointed to his arm which was thickly bandaged from wrist to elbow.
"Just a few stitches, nothing major" he shrugged and sat down.
"Any news on Giles?" Cordelia asked.
"No" There was silence for a while and no one really knew what to say, it had been a long night for all of them. Cordelia yelped in pain suddenly and Wesley turned to hold her shoulders.
"What do you see?" Wesley held her steady as she stifled a cry and held her head in pain. Xander watched in confusion. Cordelia's face was creased in discomfort; she opened her eyes and stared back at the watcher.
"Angel" she whispered. Wesley frowned in thought. "Oh God Angel" she pulled herself into Wesley's arms and wept, "Their doing something to him" Xander was taken aback by the sudden outburst of emotion. Things had changed.
"We have to tell Buffy" Cordelia sniffed, and sat back upright, Wesley's features softened and he looked to Xander sitting beside her.
"I don't know" Xander sighed, "Buffy's got enough on her mind at the moment" The three of them looked at each other, understanding, maybe Xander was right, to put more strain on the slayer would be too much. And by the sounds of Cordelia she hadn't a clue on where these vamps had taken Angel.
"Hey Buffy" Xander looked up to meet the slayers eyes. She didn't smile back, but frowned at the three of them. Giles was at her side, his arm in a sling and shoulder bandaged heavily.
"Giles here decided to discharge himself despite the doctor's advice" She moaned. The watcher looked at his feet, feeling rather embarrassed at the attention. Buffy had her arms crossed looking rather annoyed at him. She knew for well that the prescription he had been given would probably not be taken either.
"Is everything ok?" the slayer looked to the three of them dubiously.
"Sure" Cordelia smiled falsely.
"Listen um" Giles said stuttering turning to Cordelia and Wesley. "If you two don't have anywhere to stay your welcome to my place" he offered. "There's a spare bed, and a sofa if anyone can manage with that" The two of them accepted the offer with thanks.
"How's Anya?" The slayer asked.
"Ok" Xander cried, "She's making a good recovery, the scans came back clear" he shrugged. Typical, trying to hide his emotion, thought Buffy.
"You should get some sleep Xander" she said looking down at her friend. If it was possible he looked worse than he had done earlier that evening. "Please?" she said, "just tonight, stay at mine if you like. I'm sending Mum away tomorrow morning, it's just not safe around here at the moment?" The fatigue of sleepless nights was beginning to take its toll on all of them, Wesley and Cordelia included.
"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Giles asked cautiously.
"You and Wesley work on that prophecy and research, I'm gunna look for Angel" she said. They all nodded in agreement and prepared to leave. It was the third time some of them had been in ER in two days and they didn't fancy spending another minute there.
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After a night of fitful sleeping Buffy felt a little better, she'd left Xander sleeping when she went out. The slayer figured that she'd call in on Giles before she started her search for Angel, maybe he'd found something more about the prophecy. Besides, two watchers equalled extra fast research.
As she reached the door of her watchers home she took in the state of it, the vampires really had made a mess of it. She knocked fearing the thing might actually fall off its hinges and Wesley opened it.
"Buffy" he said, his sleep deprived eyes and five o'clock shadow worried her a little.
"Is everything ok?" she hesitantly asked, peering through the doorway in the main living room, it was still a mess from the night before, the floor a sea of books, the table still turned over.
"Buffy" Wesley said again, there was something in his voice that made her stomach clench in fear. "Buffy. It's Giles" he said.