DISCLAIMER: Joss is Boss. Always.
Ch7…
3 BA LOVE3
"Breathe, just breathe." Willow coached rubbing her back trying to soothe the frazzled girl.
"You'd think she was the one in labour." Rondell snorted at the petite blonde who looked mid panic attack, at her other side opposite the redheaded witch was the vampire in a state of equal panic being soothed by Cordelia although her method was more of the slapping him and yelling variety.
"How is it going in there?" Dawn asked practically pouncing on Giles as he came out of the bedroom trying to hide his bloodied hands from the eyes of the rest of the group.
"The baby is in distress, Darla's body cannot give it what it needs." He explained distractedly searching through the alcohol bottles, somehow Dawn didn't think it was for him to get his Ripper back on with.
"What are we going to do Giles?" She asked, he always had the answers; she needed him to have the answers right now. His eyes softened at the look of utter hopelessness on the younger Summers face.
"I don't know but we'll work it out, we always do." He promised not truly believing the words himself before disappearing into the backroom.
"Yo Rondell we got trouble."
The walkie talkie crackled to life and the gang leader grabbed it swiftly cursing at the familiar sounds of fighting coming over the transmission; there was yelling and swearing most of which was pretty unidentifiable except for a few words. "They're human!"
"What's going on out there?" Rondell yelled into the walkie, which only let out static in response.
'Incoming!" Cordelia muttered her body jerking as a vision took hold. Wes sprung forward to catch her before she hit the floor and Gunn helped move her onto one of the comfier chairs Fred searching Cordy's purse for aspirin that she could wash down with the vodka Lorne was reaching for.
"Holtz." She said when the pain subsided; she easily tossed back a half dozen of the pills not even noticing the burn of the vodka. "His name is Holtz, he's a vampire hunter."
Wes's eyes glinted with recognition. "But that was over a hundred years ago."
"So Cordy's vision was a rerun?" Xander asked the epitome of confused.
"No, he's here in LA." Cordy corrected not bothering to keep the annoyed tone from her voice. "More specifically fighting with Gunn's crew outside."
"Could this be that bad thing we were expecting?" Fred suggested uncomfortably jumping slightly at the crackling of the walkie-talkie.
"Give us the vampire."
The accent was thick and the voice actually made Angel shudder, for once Darla's screams of pain broke the tension rather than added to it.
"Well you heard the man, get out there." Xander declared cheerfully.
"So he can kill him?" Willow scoffed. "I don't think so."
"I agree with Will." Cordelia said coming to stand by the red haired witch arms firmly clasped over her chest. "There's no way we are sending Angel out there to be slaughtered by some supposed to be dead vampire hunter with an agenda. He wants Angelus, not Angel."
"I doubt he'll see the distinction." Wes added rubbing his forehead.
"This can't be happening." Buffy mumbled. Dawn recognised the onset of a Buffy breakthrough/ breakdown. She always had the best realisations when she was ranting mid breakdown. Gunn looked as though he was going to interrupt but she shushed him quickly.
"I am so sick of this! Dead people should stay dead! I saw Angel kill Darla with my own eyes and yet she's in the back room giving birth to a child that was conceived by Angel and I on a day I can't even remember! And since that is apparently not enough for me to deal with we need a guy who should have died one hundred years ago here to settle a beef with a demon that is locked away in Angel's head." Buffy paused to breath noisily trying in vain to calm down. "Oh and if that's not enough, I have to contend with Spike professing his eternal love for me in a song that Bono would think was a little preachy!"
"I think slay girls finally lost it." Rondell murmured to Gunn who frowned.
"Spike loves you?" Angel blurted out his mind taking on the most insane of the statements and grasping it for dear life.
"He thinks he loves me!" Buffy corrected. "And I think that out of everything that is definitely the least of our problems." Grabbing her jacket Buffy stalked towards the door.
"Buffy surely you're not going out there?"
"At least not without protection." Gunn added tossing a stake towards her. Buffy caught it easily and threw it back lifting her shirt to show the stake safely tucked in there, never left home without it.
"Don't worry bout me I can handle myself. But this Holtz guy better watch out."
She was out the door before anyone could utter another word.
"Okay what just happened?" Xander demanded his head feeling more than a little swimmy.
"You should remember Xan." Willow told him. "Nobody messes with her boyfriend."
"AAAAHHHH!"
The group all turned towards the back Angel rushing forward to the door, which opened in his face. Anne appeared looking tired and a little anguished, wrapped in her arms was a crying red and in many people's opinions rather slimy looking baby.
"It's a boy." Giles announced clapping Angel on the shoulder. "Congratulations."
"How's Darla?" Tara asked not sensing the vampire's energy anymore.
"Dead." Giles answered keeping his eyes on Angel. "She staked herself, she said that it was the one good thing she could do with her life."
Angel didn't even seem to hear them so captivated by the tiny baby who was now nestled in his arms.
"Hello Connor."
3BA LOVE3
Outside was chaos, rain had begun to fall which only contributed to Buffy's bad mood. Gunn's guys were clearly holding their own against the rag tag team led by Holtz. A particularly vicious and badly dyed red head was kicking one of the crew in the stomach, he barely looked sixteen.
"Hey just because curls down there has better hair than you is no reason to resort to violence." She lectured pulling the girl off him and throwing her against the dumpster. "Where's Holtz?"
The red head spat out blood and took a swing at her, which she easily ducked. "Why would I tell you?"
"Well I've had a long year, I've died, gone to heaven, been pulled back oh and I just found out that a vampire that tried to kill me and was killed in front of me was brought back to life by an evil law firm and is currently giving birth to a baby that is actually mine. I've spent the last week being terrorised by a singing demon and another vampire who thinks he is in love with me. I haven't slept in two days and now my hair is frizzy. I have no problem kicking your ass until you show me where he is."
The red head was obviously deficient, jumping to her feet she tried to head butt Buffy, thrusting her palm up she heard that satisfying crunch of broken bone as the girl's nose shuttered. Surveying the rest of the street she looked around for who Holtz could be, most of the people looked young and none had that ye oldie vibe she could feel… except him. That guy with the horrible hair and the Sherlock Holmes jacket gave her the creeps.
"You hurt my best fighter." He noted as Buffy approached him.
"She was the best you could do?" She asked incredulously. "You must have a lousy training program."
"And who exactly might you be?" Holtz enquired critically taking her in.
"The slayer." She replied pleased with the way her words settled on him. "Call off your men, they're fighting a battle that has already been fought."
"These people have lost everything to vampires, I lost everything to the vampire inside that building. What does your watcher think of you protecting that which you are meant to kill?"
"I can get him for you if you like? He's right inside protecting an innocent vampire. Angelus is gone. He wont be coming back ever."
"I saw him enter myself." Holtz countered. "I saw the beast."
"No you saw Angel." She emphasized. "Angelus was cursed with a soul, Angel's soul. He is no more responsible for what happened to your family than I am. He is a good man now, he helps people. I've seen it, I've felt it."
Holtz looked taken aback still searching for something in her face, when he found it he gasped and recoiled.
"Dear Lord, you're in love with him. It would be poetic if it weren't so despicable."
Buffy didn't try to deny it. "Yes I love him, just like he loves me. He is a good man. You can't persecute him and all these innocent people for something the demon did over a hundred years ago, that's not right."
"You expect me to believe a vampire feels remorse, that he has changed?" He challenged. "I've fought these things a long time child they are not capable of such things."
"Angel is." She replied simply. "He will spend the rest of his existence repenting for sins he did not commit. You are here to fight something that has been dead a hundred years."
"You know what he has done, what he could do again. And yet you protect him?"
"He is a good man." She repeated, not being dead for a hundred or so years had obviously messed with his mind, or maybe he had always been this dense.
"He's not a man, he's an abomination, a tool of evil."
Xander's voice proclaiming Holtz to be the tool popped into her mind and she bit back a snicker.
"He is a champion, he fights for the Powers That Be. I can show you." Buffy looked back towards the building, she heard the almost silent shift in his body and dodged his punch. "Of course like I told your folicly challenged friend I can beat it into you as well."
Buffy pulled back and punched Holtz in the face, she liked to think that she didn't always resort to violence but sometimes it really was the only way to go. "Angel had no soul when he did those things, you can claim no such thing. You are full of vengeance, and it will eat you up inside until there is nothing left."
"It seems you know it well." He retorted landing a blow to her stomach. He was a good fighter but he also had more than a few years and pounds on her.
"Revenge? Maybe I do, it won't fill the emptiness in you. That hole will keep tearing at you until there is nothing left and you just want to die." By now her hair wasn't just frizzy it was matted with sweat and rain, her make up was scary looking and her clothes were beyond charity worthy.
"So you suggest I what? Retreat so that you and your vampire can live in bliss?" He spat now on his back winded and held down by her foot.
"I'm giving you a choice, you can take your friends and you can leave and never come back." She pushed her hair from her face. "Or you can fight and I will hurt you. I wont kill you but I will hurt you. I've got a lot of anger and you are just the punching bag I've been craving."
"Or I can kill you." He challenged jumping up with remarkable agility. Too bad Buffy was prepared for it, she heaved her elbow into his face breaking his nose and rendering him unconscious. Heaving him over her shoulder she muttered to herself and darted back to the building, this was the longest day ever.
"What?" She snapped dropping Holtz onto the floor in a heap. Angel turned around cradling the baby in his arms and looked at her.
"Connor." She whispered.
3 BA LOVE3
sorry it took forever to update…I was really torn about this chapter and how it would all go down with Holtz. Expect an update soon.
