As they ran, Willow started mumbling under her breath, probably some serious white magic mojo. Too bad for her.
Angelus, still holding the Wicca with one arm, grabbed a broken pipe that was conveniently sticking out from the alley wall and hit her on the temple lightly (for a vampire). The witch's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she slumped limply against him, unconcious.
"Where can we hide?" he muttered, more to himself than Taywen and Illyria.
But Taywen answered anyway. "I used to live here, couple of years back. 1990-something. Anyway, I know where the Hellmouth is, so why don't we hide out there somewhere. Demon-Slayer hatred thing and all that."
Angelus smiled. Perfect. "Lead on," he said simply.
The three ran up streets, down sidewalks, through burned-out buildings and under a destroyed bridge before arriving in a section near the heart of the city where the destruction was ten times worse than the outlying area.
"It just occurred to me," Illyria remarked. "Why is it that this Hellmouth is so active? From what Winifred Burkle remembers being told of this Sunnydale, it was never this bad."
"Demons're crazy angry," Taywen replied absently as her eyes scanned the buildings before them. "The closing of the Sunnydale Hellmouth was one thing – a small town, easy prey, all that. But then she got it in her head to close the rest... And not every demon was overly happy about that. She managed to close one in Hong Kong with the help of a powerful group of sorcerors called the 'Golden Guardians'. That's the closest translation into English there is. Anyhow, in the process most of the core members, the ones with the real power, were killed and apparently the girl didn't realize how important those magickal fellows were to her success, so now she's here to close this one," Taywen finished. "Don't get me wrong, there are a few of those Guardians here in Cleveland, but they're nothing compared to those who fell in Hong Kong."
"All the better for us," Angelus said indifferently. "Now, I suppose I just follow the smell of demon until it becomes overwhelming and I'll find the Hellmouth." He started off in the direction that smelled strongly of demons, the scents too jumbled together to pick out the individual breeds, but he thought he smelled something familiar...
Illyria and Taywen followed, and after a couple of minutes, the trio was glad to see dozens of demons milling aimlessly around a gaping hole in the center of the street, and... what appeared to be pinstripe-dressed lawyers from Wolfram & Hart, the Cleveland branch, in conversation with several of the more powerful-looking beings.
"Daddy!" Drusilla, Angelus' mad childe, appeared suddenly from within the shadow of a burnt-out building, moving toward them.
"Dru," Angelus said, but if he was surprised or pleased to see the vampiress, his face or demeanor didn't show it.
"That foul soul is gone," she said, swaying slightly, as if dancing to music only she could hear. Her raven hair hung down her back and she wore a red velvet dress that hugged her body. "And the naughty sun if hiding and sulking behind this beautiful darkness." She spread her arms and looked up at the huge black cloud that hung overhead, as if to hug it.
"Oh, wonderful," Taywen grumbled to Illyria. "Insane, and has the Sight on top of that!"
Drusilla glared at the girl. "Mrs. Edith doesn't like you," she spat. "Dreadful, one with so much power, like my Angelus, cursed like you are!" This last, she whispered, as if it was a secret just between the two of them.
"No idea what you're talking about," Taywen shot back, her dislike of the vampiress evident.
Illyria studied Drusilla. "Who are you?"
She turned to stare at Illyria. "Much better," she mumbled, looking pleased. "Would you like to have a tea party with me?"
"Not now, Dru," Angelus said. "Where are you staying, childe of mine?"
Drusilla smiled. "Come see, Daddy! You'll like my friends." She stepped forward, her hand outstretched as if to take his arm, but she stopped and frowned at the unconcious woman in his arms, as if seeing her for the first time. "The stupid witch... Why does she yet live? She's the one who gave you your foul soul back two times!"
He smiled coldly, the first display of emotion since Drusilla's appearance. "She will die soon," he promised her. "Then you will have a sister."
The vampiress recoiled. "No!" She looked around wildly. "Where's my Spike? I can smell him on you... But his smell's different somehow..."
"My guide is human now," Illyria replied. "Angel was quite upset about having Spike picked over him."
"And aren't you glad it was he, not me?" Angelus asked his childe.
Drusilla eyed him suspiciously, as if seeing him in a new light. "But you left me, and our family was destroyed," she said resentfully. "Then you staked Grandmum. You lost your soul after that, with that Slayer bitch, and you came back for a while... But you left us again! Spike was never the same after that... And now he's become a human again, and here you are." She seemed almost sane as she made that pronouncement. "But Spike was always faithful, always hurt me when I asked him to... Even after Sunnydale, he still tried to stay with me... But I knew! I knew he loved the Slayer, the same one that you had loved." She looked sad as she said this. "Can we kill her, Angelus? Kill the Slayer?"
He laughed, a cold, cruel sound. "Of course, Dru. Anything you want."
"Would you... would you let me turn dear Spike again? Darla's not here anymore, but it would be almost the same..." She pouted, looking expectantly at her sire.
"Anything you want," Angelus reiterated, although with considerably less enthusiasm than before. The two had slowly been moving closer to each other as they spoke, until they were scant inches apart.
"What of the witch?" Illyria asked, startling the two vampires.
"Turn her," Angelus said simply. "She's one of Buffy's most powerful allies, and without her she'll be seriously crippled."
"Crippled is good," Taywen muttered. "But dead is better."
"All in good time."
She shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going somewhere else; standing here was fun at first, but it seems to have become surprisingly boring."
Illyria nodded and offered Taywen her arm, which the girl took and the two walked away.
"That was... strange," Angelus muttered, before returning his attention to Drusilla. "Now show me where you're staying, Dru, and you can play with the little witch for a while."
--
Kennedy would have chased after them, if Buffy, Xander and Spike hadn't held her back. Her eyes flashed angrily as she struggled to escape there grip. Having found this futile, she twisted suddenly and kicked out at the three restraining her. Buffy released her momentarily, but only to catch her leg.
"Kennedy!" Buffy snarled. "You won't do Willow any good if you just die at the hands of those three!"
This seemed to wake her from her rage and her eyes cleared. She was the first to say something if Buffy was wrong, but she knew the elder Slayer was right in this particular case. "What else can we do?" she whispered, slumping back against a counter in the kitchen as Xander and Spike and Buffy released her. "What if he decides to... to kill her?"
"We'll help you find them, luv," Spike said. "I don't think he'll kill her." At least not for long, he added mentally.
But Kennedy's words seemed to penetrate right to the heart of the people around her, and there was a moment of silence as this sunk in. Angelus had Willow.
"We'll organize patrols, set up search parties," Giles said, quickly appraising the situation. "Five Slayers to a group."
"Ten," Buffy said suddenly. "Five's not enough."
"Eight," Kennedy countered, back on her feet, her brief moment of despair shaken off in the face of Willow's possible death.
Giles nodded, and he and Andrew disappeared into the hall, yelling for all the Slayers to meet in the front lobby.
"Do I get to patrol?" Dawn asked hopefully.
"No!" Buffy snapped. "We should leave at least twenty Slayers here, to defend our base, and those who can't fight." She looked pointedly at Dawn, who stalked away sulkily.
--
All told, there were about 180 Slayers in hotel, but only around three quarters of them were old enough to be fighting. Those under fourteen weren't permitted to patrol, although they were being trained for their eventual coming of age, so to speak.
Giles arranged the 115 or so girls into 11 groups of eight and three groups of nine, making their leader a girl who had shown initiative rather than the oldest, leaving two of the groups of eight for Buffy and Kennedy to lead and 30 to stay behind to protect the hotel.
"Did you tell them wht we're going to be doing?" Buffy asked her former Watcher.
The man shook his head. "I thought you would want to do that," he explained.
Buffy nodded and stood before the groups of Slayers who ranged from 14 to mid-twenties. "You're probably wondering why you're all here right now, in these groups. I'll have to start at the beginning for you to fully understand, but there's not enough time for that, so you'll just have to take me at my word." She paused a moment, collecting her thoughts, before continuing. "All of you know who Angelus is?" There was a murmur of assent. "He is loose in this city, and he has captured Willow." There was a sound of anger – the witch had many friends among the Slayers. "We need to find them before he kills her – or worse. I need you to help me there, but before you go out, you have to promise me you won't do anything stupid, like attacking them if you see them. The two women that he travels with are dangerous, and took down a dozen of ours without so much as a scratch. Keep to the shadows and try not to confront anyone, because we can't afford to lose more people. If you do manage to locate them, find me or Kennedy and we'll decide what to do from there. Understand?"
There was general nodding and some said "yes," but one girl raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"What do they look like?"
Buffy almost hit herself, surprised and annoyed that she had forgotten something as important as that. "One has blue-streaked brown hair and blue eyes and wears a brownish, reddish leather suit-thing. Another has short and spiky silver-streaked hair and silver eyes. She wears a black hoody and jeans. Angelus has dark brown hair and wears a leather coat. If you see them, don't fight!" she added, hoping none of them would be stupid enough to do so. "Even if they're alone, don't be fooled."
"Every minute you waste talking is another minute of Willow's life," Kennedy hissed. "We have to go, now!"
Buffy glared at the younger woman. "Let's go then." She walked up to the group reserved for her and led the girls out. Most of them looked frightened but determined, but one looked almost... excited.
The thirteen other group followed.
--
Spike was just about to go out to find someplace that had a lighter because he was starting to get little twitchy from nicotine deprivation, when a man who looked about twenty walked through the door. He had light brown hair and looked faintly familiar to the ex-vampire.
"He was here," the man muttered to himself, looking around. "But now he's gone..."
"Who you looking for, mate?" Spike heard himself ask.
The man's eyes snapped to him. "Angel," he said.
Spike winced. "He's kind of not here right now. Soul being gone and all. How'd you know him?"
"He lost his soul?" the man sounded more angry than surprised. "I'm his son, Connor."
"Son? Vampires can't have children."
Connor shrugged. "One of the Powers That Be made me, if that makes sense. Do you know where Angelus went?"
"They're out searching for him right now. The Slayers and all," Spike replied.
"I can track him faster than any human," he muttered. "Come with me. I can help you find him."
"And what do you plan to do once he's found? Have tea and crumpets?"
"Capture him, find a way to restore his soul. Didn't a witch do it last time?"
"Willow... See, thing is, he's captured her, probably to prevent just that from happening."
Connor nodded. "Well, we'll just have to save her in the process then, won't we?"
"Um, no offense, mate, but you look pretty scrawny," Spike remarked dubiously. A moment later, he found himself pressed against the wall, several inches off the ground with the man's hand around his neck, easily supporting him there. "Strong," he grunted. "So you're a vamp then?"
He released the blonde. "No. But I'm something like the human equivalent..."
"A male Slayer?"
"I guess..."
"Right then. Shall we go off on our suicide mission?"
"Don't be so cynical. I'm sure we'll take at least half of 'em down with us."
Author's Note: I've never been to Cleveland. Just thought I should add that. Sorry about the ending. I feel like it could be better but I'm too lazy/tired to do anything about it. Please review, and thanks go out to all of you who have reviewed in the past. hands you a gold star
