Title: A child shall lead them

Disclaimer: I own nada

Summary: After the events described in Deconstructing Hell Faith, Angel, Xander and Faith try to deal with the biggest challenge of their (un)lives. You should read DH first.

Rating: Teen

Chapter 14: Run to you

Dawn's cell phone rang. She picked it up, more than a little annoyed. "Hey, Spike. What's up?" She didn't even have to check the caller ID. They were moving counter to Spike's master plan, the one he hadn't even bothered to tell them.

Of course he would call.

"Hi, Dawn. Got a minute?" His voice was laden with sarcasm, which was completely normal for him. She wasn't even sure he knew how to talk without it.

She checked her watch. "My team is loading into the jets now. You have about a minute and a half to convince me that your paper-thin story about Africa is even partly true and I'll reroute the jet."

"Okay, there is a group in Africa. It's true!"

"Yeah, but you and I both know that the story about Slayers is only half-right, and that it's not just the demon in the Slayers that makes them so powerful, it's the balance, the purity, the innocence. You and I both know it."

"Um… yeah."

"And that group in Africa will fail, with or without intervention. They're barking up the wrong tree."

"Sonova—well, aren't you the overly bright little watcher! God, Dawnie! What a time for you to slow down and be smart about things. Well, there's more about that group in Africa. They're actually connected with Wolfram and Hart and the apocalypse cult that's after Faith's baby. You need to shut them down."

"When you say connected, you really mean that the cult and the Wolfram and Hart set them up as a handy diversion, right?"

Spike was silent for a moment, and she could hear Dana in the background telling him to calm down. Dawn actually smiled, despite the seriousness of the moment. When Spike did get back on the line his voice sounded very forced. "You know, when you were still just a bratty little kid you weren't that bad. But now you're a know-it-all."

"Spike, Spike. You taught me that part, remember?"

"Yeah, I do. Okay, let's talk shop for a bit, huh? You can't go to Denver. That's a world of bad."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because if I told you you'd just rush in anyway, convinced you were saving everything, and make a royal mess of it."

"Spike, if whatever you're going to tell me is going to make me want to run in there anyway… why should I take your word for it that I need to stay away?"

"I know you're not big on trusting me these days—especially since I kind of threw Faith to the wolves—but I assure you, I care about Faith. I would never do anything to endanger her. Or her baby. Okay?"

"Spike… she's one of ours. We protect our own. It's what we do. Can you just level with me?"

"Argh! This would be so much easier if Angel weren't such a sneaky bastard."

"That's… the most ironic thing I've ever heard you say." Spike's inability to be honest with them had put them in this bind, where trusting him could be disastrous, and not trusting him could be worse. Where they could abandon Faith on his say-so, and hope he knew what he was doing, or they could protect their own, as they ought, and hope he didn't know what he was doing.

Given his spotty track record, they couldn't just trust Spike. Ever. He had been right at least once, recently, but he had been wrong at least once, recently. In the long run? The words 'Spike's plans' seemed synonymous with 'screwed,' to Dawn.

"No, really! He's just sore about the Shanshu thing, of course, and how I was turned human. Can't say I blame him. But he won't let me have access to the most important prophecies—which means I have to track it all down independently. And that's tricky, okay? Look, let's compromise. There's an airport a few hours outside Denver. A government airstrip, actually. I can be there about the same time you get there, if I speed. A lot. Land there. Meet me there. I can explain this to you. We can go to Africa together!"

"Spike… every moment counts, now."

"No! The bad guys weren't ready for Denver. It'll take them a while to mobilize."

"No, it won't."

"Please, please, please. Dawnie. We can take the jet in, be in Denver instantly, if I can't talk you into it!"

"Spike, please just tell me."

"You stubborn little wench… it's the prophecy, you see? You're messing around with it. And I know you don't realize how dangerous that is, but if you mess this one up, it's the end of the world. No going back."

"I read your copy prophecy cover to cover. So did Buffy."

"Did she read my journal?"

"Yes. Cover to cover."

"Well… ask Buffy. Ask her!"

Dawn put the phone down, turning to Buffy, who had been watching her. "Do we meet up with Spike, give him a chance to talk us into taking the prophecy his way?" she asked sarcastically.

Buffy nodded. "We can't risk being wrong. If he knows something, if he really does and he's not bluffing, we can't afford to risk it."

Dawn sighed. "Meet us there. I'll reroute the jets. You screw with me on this, Spike, try to hijack us, and I'll show you exactly how much stronger than a normal man a Slayer is. Got it?"

He let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Dawn, sweetie, you just made my day. I'll see you there."

Angel was vaguely glad that the fight was over, since he was completely exhausted and couldn't move his left arm. But he still wanted to kill something, still wanted to eat something, and still couldn't look at Faith without his demon going nuts.

He stayed on the floor, trying to recover, while Xander patrolled the front door with the few vampires who were on their side. Faith was trying to find more weapons, since most of hers had been demolished in the fight.

Mostly by him, as he recalled.

Xander wandered over to him, looking pretty pale. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Cuz, you know, you got really into it."

"I have some rage issues to work out."

Xander nodded. "Yep. And killing a room full of bad guys, that's healthy. I like that."

Angel sighed. He was covered with acidic demon blood that burned his skin. All over. A stinging that wouldn't pass. He liked it. It took his mind off the hunger consuming him.

Xander sat down beside him. "You know you're scaring me, right?"

"I can smell that, yeah. Isn't helping."

Xander smiled, a bitter smile that really had nothing to do with where they were right now. "You know, back in the day I thought you were scary. Today, I found out. You really weren't faking it, weren't putting up a face. You never had to try to be badass."

"I tried hard not to be, actually."

"Yeah."

"So, an army of darkness is approaching?"

"Yeah, the guys out front saw a zombie horde descending, actually. Big one. It looks like they're congregating at the old church across the street, oddly, getting ready to rush us. Some of the vampires are nervous about working with you. Apparently your reputation precedes you. Some of them want to make for the other building, the one they call the Fortress, up on the hill. More weapons there, a secure base of operations—if it hasn't been compromised already."

"Hm."

"And, by the by, the troops are a little scared. There's word that you-know-who is headed this way."

"Voldemort?"

"Oh, god. You read those books? Now my life makes no sense. And, no. It's just that the vampires are afraid of Spike, remember? So he's like… no, I'm not going to explain it. It shouldn't have to be explained."

"Right. So Spike might come here? Terrific."

"Not so terrific. Apparently he's scared about some part of the prophecy."

Angel sighed, thinking about it. "There's a lot in there. The final battle, the choice, the … oh. I get it."

"What?"

"There's a bit in there about everybody dying. It's probably what has him nervous."

"Everybody dying?"

"Except Faith and I, apparently. Or Faith and you. It's fuzzy."

"Crap. I vote me."

"Yeah, whatever. Spike's headed here, and they're worried why?"

"Well, they were apparently hand-picked by Spike to die here. This is a suicide mission, and their only out is if they run away really fast and try to get out of ground zero—which is here. And Spike told them if they do that, their only out is to hide and never be found. And since they can't feed, that means they go eat rats somewhere. Or they die big as heroes."

"Wow. And I thought I treated my sidekicks poorly."

"Yeah. They're kinda split on what to do, but most of them are gonna run. No souls, right?"

"Right. Why would Spike come here?"

"Um… well. I don't know."

"Grr. Did he at least arrange it so Buffy and the Slayers wouldn't come running out here and all get killed?"

"Yes. That's what the vamps say anyway… I can't believe I have an army of vampires, an army of Spike's vampires, and I'm accepting their help!"

"Yeah. I know it."

Harmony and Connor were hidden away inside a ruined LA mansion, and while Connor read out loud, Harmony paniced.

There were no words for Harmony's panic. "I love him, you know. I say I've moved on, I pretend his words don't hurt, but it has always been all about him, and it always will!"

Connor didn't even try to relax her. He just kept reading doggedly. "It's not looking good."

"There was supposed to be a loophole! We were supposed to find something to save the day. Deus ex machina! The machine, the plot twist, the plan B that comes back! That's what good guys do, right?"

"There's more stuff in here about the Mother of the World. And… the missing page isn't here either. It's been excised."

"Maybe we're wrong. Maybe Angel doesn't have that page of the prophecy either! Maybe it was somebody else, trying to keep us in the dark."

"Yeah, right." There was an edge to Connor's voice, an angry edge. He didn't like being jerked around by his father. He thought they were past that point.

"Spike is so stupid. Spike is so stupid." Harmony was really losing it. "When we fought the fake him, the vampire done up to look like him, that felt bad. I drank Spike's blood! You can't imagine what that was like. I enjoyed it so much… and I hated myself. It was probably the most thinking and feeling I ever did in my life. So, soul! All better, right? Only now he's leaving. Gone. Dying! Just like everybody else."

"We can fix this."

"No, we can't!"

"Sh! There's more stuff here we didn't have before."

"But not the missing page?"

"No, not the missing page. But stuff." Connor dropped the book on the desk. "I'm not sure what to make of all this. I'm not an expert. Most days I could call Giles and get a second opinion, or Dawn, or Spike. Angel, even. Not today. I feel over my head."

"Hey, this is your schtick!"

"No, it's not." His face was stony. "My schtick is schizophrenia and violence. This is just something I'm trying out for fun."

"Connor, Spike is depending on you. His life is in your hands!" Harmony knelt, leaning over so that she was looking Connor in the eyes. "You know how important that is."

Connor sighed, leaning down and picking the book back up. "We should split up. We're going to need you in England when Faith gets through this."

"I thought we decided I wouldn't be going near the pregnant Slayer?"

"That's changed now. If this is half as bad as I think, she's going to need somebody there who… somebody who can relate."

Harmony wilted. "Somebody who won't be you, you mean?"

"I have to get to Africa. There's no other way."

"I thought Spike vetoed that plan."

"He did. Based on this stuff… I wish we'd never come here."

"What? With all we found out?"

"Bad memories here. They've rebuilt it, and it doesn't even look like it did when I faced off with dad and Vail and all those… but this place has history. I hate this place, and I hate what we just learned."

"Okay. Now what?"

Connor rubbed his hands together. "I'll take these books with me to Africa. You go to England. We're not part of this."

"What about what we learned?"

"Nothing dad doesn't already know, I suspect. Nothing Spike doesn't know. We just have to be around to pick up the pieces."

Angel checked both directions, keeping the broadsword close. Sunrise was soon, which meant that the zombies would hopefully be disoriented. Although the sun didn't incapacitate them as much as it did vampires their power was still dark in nature. Like most demons, even if it didn't kill them daylight weakened them drastically. It hurt him too, but he was used to the pain.

He couldn't see anything out and about. He stepped forward, blending into the darkness. A shadow that floated through the darkened streets, a sharp, glinting sword in his hand and a pale smudge of a face the only visible signs he was there.

Darla had taught him stealth to catch humans unawares, so that he wouldn't have to chase them down. He hadn't used it that way, though. He'd preferred their screams, their struggle.

Spike had never liked stealth either, as he recalled.

There were no snipers stationed around here. Zombies, vampires, creatures of the night, they just didn't think like that. It took all the fun out of the kill. They really wanted to get up close and personal with you, wanted to really taste that blood.

Angel knew. Oh, he knew.

He set a hard pace, not even looking back at the ever-smaller band behind them. He didn't want to see them, didn't want to know. He especially didn't want to see or smell Xander or Faith, who looked more like food with every step he took.

His day couldn't possibly get any worse.

Then the fates had to prove him wrong.

"Hi, Angel." The demon rippled as it stepped out the shadows, going from so stealthy even he couldn't see it to so real and there that he couldn't help seeing so fast that he was sure reality had been bent. "Long time no see."

Angel exhaled slowly. "Do I know you?"

"Back in the day we hung together, once or twice. Look, I'm just here for the girl. Don't get in my way."

Angel jumped forward, swinging the sword wildly.

A few swings, a chop, a couple hits to the face, and the demon was down. Angel's knee was throbbing. And Faith had caught up.

"Angel, you okay?" She sounded worried. Even the sound of her voice made him want her blood.

"Fine." He stood and walked on.

The Fortress was a squat, ugly concrete building with lots of windows. With bars. There were two vampires still with them. One of them scurried up and put a code into a keypad beside the door, then hesitated. "I do want to help," he apologized. "But I'd like to live."

"Go," said Angel, pointing.

He knew what was coming, anyway.

Spike's note to Nina was shorter than she had expected. She opened it up, taking a deep breath.

'Feeling second string? Second best? Get used to that feeling. As second best to Angel, I know it all too well.'

It was a good start. It insulted Nina horribly and almost made her throw the note away, while at the same time giving her an insight into Spike. It certainly helped her understand Angel's odd attitude towards the former vampire.

She continued reading.

'If you're still reading, congrats. You're more mature than his last three bints put together. Of course, none of that makes a whit of difference now. You know what an apocalypse is? It's something your loved ones don't come back from.'

She had to blink back a sudden angry growl that tore out of her throat as the wolf came out a little bit.

'Angel's not coming back, love. He's going to die. It's written in prophecy.'

She squeezed her eyes shut. She had been afraid of this, afraid it would come to this.

She opened them again, determined to finish it.

'Nobody knows what's going to happen at zero hour, only that only two will survive. Three, if you count the baby-bomb. But Angel's definitely not going to. No loop-holes, no plan B.'

She gritted her teeth. How long had Angel known this? How long had Spike known? Why hadn't they told anybody?

'Well, there is a plan B. A very good one, in fact.'

She read on, and the feeling in the pit of her stomach got harder and scarier. When she was sure she understood everything she tore his letter up, throwing it on the ground.

Then she let the wolf out, tearing through her restraints with a scream of fury.