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Guest: Thanks for the review and completely agree on that. Hmmm, interesting.
Chapter 78- Double or Nothing
"This one, hope it's not that bad", Buffy muttered as she turned the recording on.
Fred and Gunn were sorting through files on the reception lobby, and couldn't even get one name properly because of how complicated it was, and Fred noted Wesley was supposed to take care of one of those jobs, Gunn quipping he was too busy stealing the baby, though Fred told him not to talk of it before Lorne arrived to talk, saying it was best to keep busy at a time like this, obviously referring to Angel. Fred said. "Lorne, he lost the only child he'll ever have."
Dawn was again close to tears, not even having thought about it that way, but on realizing it, this got even worse.
"No parent should ever have to lose their child", Buffy muttered. "Ones who care about them that is."
Giles didn't speak, but he agreed with her sentiment, he had made mistakes with the Scoobies, but he would never lose them again.
Lorne said he just wished Angel talked to them, though Gunn said it was better to leave him alone as the rage might be gone but there was a chance it was still there. Fred was sure Angel wasn't planning to finish what he'd started at the hospital, and Gunn said that was because Wesley was smart enough not to show his face here. Then the hotel doors opened as Cordelia and Groo arrived. "We're back! And we're bearing gifts!" They all just look at her as Cordelia now asked. "What happened?"
"Everything happened while you were not around", Willow said grimly.
"It's good that she's back though, Angel needs her", Tara pointed out to her.
"That's a good thing, yeah", Xander nodded.
Angel was in his scorched apartment staring at Connor's empty crib. The door behind him opened and Cordelia walked in. Cordelia walked up to Angel, sat down beside him and put a hand on his back. "I'm so sorry." Cordelia put her head on his shoulder and Angel looked down at the floor.
"I'm sorry", Buffy muttered, looking at Angel, wanting to reach into the screen and wrap him in a big hug, and she was sure that Dawn, Willow and Tara were feeling similarly.
"She's here for him at least", Dawn sighed, feeling a little relieved now.
Inside a casino, several humans and Demons played a game of chance as the owner gave some orders before calling a Demon in sunglasses and handed him one of AI's business cards, asking to bring him in as his marker was up and it was time to collect his soul.
"Now what?" Dawn growled in anger, everyone sighing at the fact that Angel was now dealing with another problem so soon after such a big loss.
"Still grieving his son and now these guys want his soul", Willow groaned. "Give him a break!"
"I think they are going to regret it if they keep this up", Buffy told the rest.
Angel lay on his fire-scorched bed as Cordelia walked in with a book, sitting down on a chair and opening the book, just to be there for him. Groo noted there was sadness in the house as Lorne told him home was where the heart was, and all hearts were broken. He wrapped Wesley's tea-set in a newspaper and put it in a box as Groo said he wanted to aid his princess, and also noted the tea-set was Wesley's, but Lorne told him not to say the name.
"He has become like Voldemort now", Xander commented.
"Sucks for him", Dawn muttered.
An old Demon couple were in Wesley's office across from Fred and Gunn, arguing about the former boss' name, till Gunn said he was on sabbatical, and Fred apologized for the mix-up as the man said they'd Skench Demons squatting, and eventually Gunn agreed to take care of the problem, the man seemingly trying to flirt with Fred as they walked out as the woman said she wasn't sixteenth of his age, but they were gone as Fred said they were still in love considering how they finished each other's insults, and Gunn too found it beautiful.
That little bit brought light chuckles to them as Willow said. "Yeah, love is strange and beautiful like that."
"Tell me about it", Tara smiled as they held hands.
Groo arrived, asking if evil needed slaying as Gunn said he'd got it, Fred reminding him of his machete as Groo said Gunn was fortunate to have a woman like that looking after his weapon, and Lorne walked by carrying a box of Wesley's things, talking to Fred as he left and Fred looked at the box.
"So she is going to be the one to return his stuff", Buffy realized.
"She was more defensive of him than the rest", Dawn remembered.
"But do not forget, she also has experience being thrown through a portal", Giles reminded. "So she would relate to young Connor in that sense."
"So she's conflicted too, like all of us", Willow finally said.
Fred arrived with Wesley's stuff in his hospital room, greeting him, asking how he was feeling as he made a motion to his throat. "Oh", she cringed. "It's not permanent though", she gestured to the box, "brought you some of your stuff from the office. Things there... – Well, things." After a beat she said. "Gunn and I found your notes about - the baby, the prophecy. You took him away because you thought Angel was gonna kill him. You were trying to protect 'em - both of them. I just wanted you to know I understand that." Wesley had an almost-smile as Fred continued after a beat. "And I also wanted to say, I thought what Angel tried to do to you was wrong - and I'm sorry." Wesley raised a hand as Fred's expression got darker. "But he was right to blame you, Wesley. You should have come to us. You should have trusted us instead of going to Holtz behind our back. You're supposed to be our friend and you didn't even... ", she trailed off and made to go away before stopping and saying. "If Angel sees you again, he'll kill you, Wesley. This time for real. Don't come back to the hotel - ever." Fred turned to go, but stopped with her back to Wesley. "The prophecy was false. Angel was never gonna hurt Connor. - It was all for nothing." Wesley watched with a broken expression as Fred walked out of the room.
"That was….." Tara trailed off.
"Intense", Willow finished with a nod. "I think she's right though, I agree with her assessment on this whole thing."
"Yeah, Wesley had good intentions, and Angel was wrong to try to kill him, but Wesley should have come to them instead of repeating his mistake with Faith", Buffy nodded her agreement with Willow.
"And it was all for nothing", Dawn sighed. "Even the prophecy was fake, planted by Sahjhan."
The demon with glasses entered the Hyperion as Groo greeted him, thinking him a client. The demon asked if this was Angel Investigations and Groo confirmed it, so he thought Groo was Angel.
"No, they just wear the same clothes and love the same woman", Xander quipped.
"I think the boss man would know what Angel looks like though", Willow pointed out.
"Either way, I don't want anyone losing their souls to him", Buffy said.
Gunn pushed against a wall above a tile, swinging open to reveal a furnished cave, and then a glob of mucus hit the wall beside him as he saw a big, ugly Demon. Gunn attacked but was disarmed and pushed away. As the Demon attacked, Gunn hit him and weaved to avoid a blow. He was punched back before dodging a blow and striking back. He was pushed back again but kicked the Demon back before taking out his machete and stabbed it in the chest, twisting it as a fountain of mucus shot up, just missing Gunn, who quipped it must be his lucky day when someone asked if he wanted to bet, and he turned to see the Demon from the casino.
"Wait what?" Dawn asked, confused.
"They are not after Angel", Giles realized. "They are after Gunn, and he works at Angel Investigations too, which is what the card was for."
"So, Gunn made some deal or something?" Xander asked.
"Guess he did", Buffy said.
A flashback from 7 years ago was shown as Gunn arrived at the casino, seeing the owner but was stopped by the same goon with sunglasses, and he wanted to talk to the owner with business. The goon noted he was clean too, and he introduced himself as Gunn, and the owner knew of him, calling him 'man of the streets' and 'protector of the young and innocent', and Gunn revealed he needed something, handing out a folded photograph as the owner said she was a real beauty but there was a cost, and it was Gunn's future, though he didn't think he had one, and he still wanted Gunn to state it on record of his own free will. The owner twisted his ring so it pointed inward and shook hands with Gunn, a spike shooting out and drawing blood, before the owner slammed his hand on a contract on the table. Gunn pulled his hand back up and looked at the spot of his blood on the signature line.
"What did he give up his future for?" Dawn wondered.
"I don't think he was very optimistic about any future based on how he was talking", Tara pointed out to her.
"Since the owner said 'she', I'd think a girl, but he was single when we first saw him, so it could be something else, and you know how they use 'he' and 'she' on other stuff too", Willow pointed out.
"I think we'll find out by the end, like we always do", Xander suggested and got nods.
The goon reminded Gunn had made a deal and signed a blood oath so he couldn't walk out of it, and he was because he was planning on giving his soul to someone else, and it was Fred. The goon said Gunn's soul wasn't his to give but Mr. Jenoff's to take, and he must pay up now. Gunn said there had to be something else he could take, but the goon just said he'd 24 hours to settle his affairs, then he must come to the casino, and he couldn't cheat or run because then his as well as Fred's souls would be taken, and now it was all up to him. Gunn watched as the goon then left.
"Must be some dilemma", Giles commented. "These Demon loan sharks, if they do not get payment, they turn to extreme measures."
"Don't forget that loan shark that had the face of a shark", Buffy reminded them, and they chuckled at how fitting that was.
"Well, at least his face fit the job description", Xander quipped and there were more laughs.
Gunn arrived at the Hyperion to see Fred sorting some files as Cordelia asked if he was okay and he said he was, and Gunn felt tired so Cordelia indicated the stairs and they sat together. Cordelia said Angel had lost his son and Wesley was gone while Gunn was happy like a kid who'd walked into the candy store, to his surprise, and it made him feel guilty, but she assured he and Fred were meant to be, even though she'd thought it'd be Fred and Wesley, and then she told him and Fred to enjoy their futures, and Gunn agreed, Cordelia adding she'd learnt by living on the Hellmouth that every day was precious and one may never know their last. Gunn looked at Fred and said he'd never thought he'd be around this long or have this much, and Cordelia called him lucky, saying they had no cases and she had a vision of him and Fred taking off the next day, and so she told him to have some fun before walking up the stairs.
"She read him wrong, but even based on what she thought, she isn't wrong there", Willow told the rest. "Angel may be in grief but the others shouldn't stop their lives because of him."
"When he made that deal, he clearly didn't expect to be around for this long, it's sad really", Tara sighed. "Shows you can never really predict your future."
"What will happen to him now?" Dawn wondered.
"I don't know, Dawnie, we have to see", Tara told her.
Next day, Fred was awakened by her cell phone ringing, and talked, with Gunn arriving, talking back to her on phone, and they made jokes, Fred noting Gunn had brought her breakfast in bed, Gunn calling himself room service and assuring he hadn't cooked, as this was Fred's favorite food from her favorite diner, and also told her this was their day-offs so they'd spend it having the time of their lives, and Fred then called him the best boyfriend ever, handing him a bite of her breakfast and leaning in to kiss him, calling it 'pancake kiss'.
"They look sweet", Willow smiled. "And happy."
"That is until you remember Gunn's soul is owed", Xander reminded.
"Guess he thinks he has no hope of escaping that", Dawn realized.
"Angel could have helped him, but right now I'm not sure about him either", Buffy said, and they winced again on thinking about him.
The doctor arrived at Wesley's room in the hospital, assuring him that now his wound wasn't going to re-infect or bleed again, and the swelling had reduced too, so they could stop worrying about his airway being compromised. Wesley would be released later in the day and the doctor asked if there was a friend or family member who could be called to pick him up, but Wesley just stared straight ahead.
"Not anymore", Tara said, everyone feeling their hearts go out to him. He'd messed up, but it was hard not to feel bad for him here. "He lost all his friends for nothing."
"And you can't hate anyone for this, well except Holtz and Sahjhan", Xander sighed, since as much as one wanted to hate Wesley for this, his intentions were good, and no one could deny that either.
Angel was sitting, staring at Connor's crib. Cordelia was curled up in a chair with her eyes closed. "I think he was gonna be left-handed." Cordelia opened her eyes. "The way he would hold on to your fingers? His left hand always squeezed just a little bit tighter. - Kid had a grip. He was gonna be a south paw for sure. - When you live as long as I do, you eventually lose everyone. - I'm not saying you get used to it but - you expect it. You deal. - But he was just... - - He was just a little..." Angel sighed. "You think you know something about living because you have this really long life. - And that's really all we have, I mean, in my case anyway. And one day you wake up - and you have something else." Cordelia said. "A future." Angel finally said after a long beat as he looked at the empty crib. "I had a son." The two sat in silence.
And now everyone was feeling horrible for Angel again. Wesley had messed up and lost his friends, but his mistake had led to Angel losing the only son he'd ever had, possibly forever.
"Nothing will prepare you for something like this", Buffy said, again wanting to just go give Angel a hug, and she wasn't the only one. "Nothing."
Fred and Gunn were sitting at a table of an outdoor café, Fred even having a crown on her as Gunn asked her to pick which movie to watch, and also asked if there was something wrong with her shake, to which she said she was full, and Gunn asked her not to fold on him now as they'd a lot of fun to have, but finally assured without food. Fred then said they'd a lot of fun today so they should save some, but Gunn said he'd blown it by trying too hard, and Fred first tried to reassure him, before realizing he had been trying too hard, so he was doing this because something was terribly wrong.
"Huh? She caught on quite quick", Xander commented.
"She is really smart, and she is perceptive", Willow told him. "Plus, she knows Gunn very well, so she figured it out."
"This is gonna be interesting", Dawn muttered.
Fred first asked if Gunn had leukemia, making him laugh as he assured he wasn't sick, but she still felt a terrible knot that wasn't food, and she asked him to be honest, assuring they'd get through this together. Gunn folded his arms and started talking rudely to her, saying he was being honest, though Fred said he was being mean. Gunn then made her think that she was the problem, so they were over, and then walked away, with Fred trying to stop him and asking if there was another woman, making him insult her figure, and then she watched him walk off.
"Was all that really necessary?" Buffy wondered, everyone cringing at how much Gunn had hurt Fred to make her let him go.
"He still doesn't think he can escape the deal, so he decided to make her hate him and reduce her pain when he gives up his soul", Tara told them. "Though he just gave her a different kind of pain."
"He really didn't think any of this through", Willow sighed.
"This sucks", Xander simply said.
"That much was obvious already", Giles told him.
"What we need to see is how this mess is fixed", Dawn said.
Cordelia was sitting beside Angel, who was again staring at the empty crib. "I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I know what you're going through or that I could begin to understand what it is you're feeling. The last thing you need right now is someone saying that given time things will get better or the hurt's gonna go away. Because - things won't get better. The hurt's never gonna go away. - The truth is, if you lived another two hundred years, you'd never forget how Connor was taken from you. And you shouldn't. - You loved your son, Angel - and you'll go on loving him, and missing him. - You'll go on living, too. You'll do that." Angel honestly said. "I don't know how." Cordelia told him. "You don't need to. The 'how' works itself out. Life will just keep happening. There'll be people who need us and so - we'll help them. - 'cause that's what we do." They could hear someone crying and Cordelia got up. She opened the door to the suite to reveal Fred standing in the hall, crying.
"Yeah, you still need to help people, no matter what's going on", Buffy said sadly, remembering her life hadn't stopped after mom was gone, and it had hurt like Hell.
"She needs their help now", Willow pointed out.
Fred then apologized before saying Gunn was in danger. Jenoff stuck his fingers in the eyes of a man standing in front of him, and a white light moved down his arm as the man screamed and Jenoff smiled. Gunn then arrived, seeing the soul sucking, and walked to the goon with sunglasses, saying he was here to pay his bill.
"Think about what you're doing to Fred and the rest of them", Willow urged. "They are worth more than this deal."
"He's being irrational due to his fear", Tara pointed out to her. "He thinks honoring this deal would protect them."
Fred tried her best to explain to the rest of the team, saying Gunn had broken up with her, but he'd said those things to her, and he never would, so she knew he was in trouble. Angel was still wrapping his head around her and Gunn being in a relationship, as Cordelia gave Fred a hug, and Fred finally said Gunn would only hurt to protect her from something, and it had to be really bad because it hurt like hell. "Then I guess we better help him", Cordelia turned to stare at Angel. "We are not losing another member of this family."
"There he is again", Buffy said. "Angel is coming back, guys."
"You have to commend him for how quickly that was", Giles said, impressed by him, which he'd never thought he would be, but Angel had been proving him wrong in all these recordings.
"Time to save Gunn", Dawn smiled.
Wesley entered his dark apartment, carrying all the things Fred had brought him to the hospital. He kicked the door close and just stood there.
No one commented here, since they knew nothing they said would make Wesley feel better or worse than he did, if he could hear them that is.
Cordelia turned off the speaker phone after trying to call Gunn, so they decided to split up and look for him. Angel and Fred could ask his old contacts while Cordelia and Groo could go to his place to make sure, and Cordelia also suggested to report his truck as stolen, and Angel agreed. Then Groo held up a business card, saying they could leave those behind like the creature the previous day who'd inquired for Gunn, and Angel took it, as Fred realized someone had been looking for Gunn. Groo was clueless about what it was as Angel realized the guy worked for Jenoff the soul sucker.
"Thank God for Groo", Dawn sighed in relief.
"Yeah, he's a good guy", Xander said.
"Definitely", Buffy agreed. "Guess we were unfair to him by judging solely on the basis of his relationship with Cordelia."
"Yeah", Willow nodded. "His timing was horrible, but he's not a bad person."
"He is pretty good and honorable", Tara agreed.
"And that is hard to come by nowadays", Giles added.
Gunn watched as the body of Jenoff's latest victim was dragged past him, and Jenoff said he was impressed by Gunn, who said he was here to pay his debt and they wouldn't talk about Fred. Jenoff asked a goon to hold him but Gunn said he wouldn't run, and the goon better if he touched him, then asked Jenoff to get it over with. Jenoff lifted his hand, preparing to stick his fingers into Gunn's eyes the way he did with the other guy, when the door to the casino floor burst open and in came Angel, Cordelia, Fred and Groo.
"Now time for some ass kicking", Dawn quipped as all watched with interest.
Gunn spun around as Jenoff lowered his hand. Jenoff's guards tried to intercept Team Angel as Angel took one down with his ax while Groo did the same with his sword. Angel punched another guy and fought him as Cordelia fought another one with her own sword. Groo took a guy down as Fred called out to Gunn and he tried to go to her but the goon in glasses stopped him. Angel kicked another goon before tossing him across the room onto a table. They moved further but got surrounded. Cordelia called out. "Angel." "I know", he said. "We're surrounded", Groo told him. "I know", he repeated. "We have to help Charles", Fred said. "I know", Angel said a third time, annoyed.
"Guess they didn't plan this out that well", Buffy sighed in realization. "Their planner is gone."
"Now time to think on the fly", Willow said.
Angel put his ax against a Demon guard's throat, asking for the boss as Jenoff arrived, asking why he was disrupting the business. Angel said Jenoff was disrupting his business by depriving him of a valuable employee like Charles Gunn, though Jenoff said a good businessman must always run background checks and if he had, he'd know Gunn was short-term material. Angel said if Jenoff released Gunn and forgot what he was owed by him, Angel wouldn't kill him. Jenoff asked the crowd to kill him and they turned ugly when Angel said. "Double or nothing!"
"What's he doing?" Dawn asked.
"Offering his own soul", Giles said, and now all turned grim again.
"What if that doesn't work out?" Xander asked, but no one could answer.
Angel was offering Jenoff a chance to win his soul, but he could sniff that Angel was a Vampire, so Angel asked him to take a bigger whiff. "I'm a Vampire with a soul." Jenoff smirked, realizing who he was talking to, and said if he won, Gunn would walk out of here, and if he lost, Jenoff could have them both, so Jenoff agreed.
"This is a risky game", Tara said grimly.
"He knows what he's doing", Buffy said before asking the rest. "Right?"
"I can't tell", Willow shook her head.
Gunn watched as Angel sat on a card table, shuffling some cards as Cordelia thought it was a stall tactic but Angel said this was the plan, and they'd win Gunn back, though Fred pointed out he was playing for her boyfriend which was wrong. Angel assured he'd be fine, and that he won't lose. Jenoff told his goon he wasn't worried, while Groo told Angel if they'd to rely on luck, it was better to use his sword, but Angel said his way was safer. Fred pointed out if Angel lost his soul, he'd go evil and kill them all. He assured he'd win before handing Cordelia a stake, as she knew what to do if he lost, asking her to make it quick as she assured she would.
"Oh crap! Looks like he ain't sure either", Xander said.
"Cordelia is the one he trusts to do that if it goes wrong", Willow pointed out. "And considering he gave her the stake, I think he knows there's a chance."
"He can do it", Buffy said confidently.
Angel finally sat down next to Jenoff, who asked him to name a game and he just wanted a simple deck of cards, Jenoff complimenting his guts as a dealer set down the cards and shuffled them. Jenoff turned the top card over and it was a nine of clubs. Angel cut the deck, blew on his fingers and looked at Gunn who gave him a nod, and then he flipped the top card over. "A three?" "A three?!" Gunn asked incredulously.
"A three?!" Everyone went in shock and horror.
Jenoff smacked his palm down on the table. "A three. You lose." Angel glanced at Cordelia who lifted the stake and slammed it on Jenoff's hand, pinning it on the table as he screamed in pain, asking if it was quick enough and Angel said it worked for him as he decapitated Jenoff with his ax, his head bouncing on the table as all gasped in shock.
All sighed in relief as Dawn said. "Well, that was unexpected."
"Guess they did think on the fly", Willow smirked. "It worked."
Gunn then said if killing Jenoff was easy, he'd have done it himself. Angel looked down as Jenoff's headless body sat up and a new head started emerging, letting out some high shrieks as Groo said they had to fight now.
All groaned as Xander said. "And then that happened."
"This really does suck", Dawn now agreed with him.
"Anybody else in here owe this guy?" Angel asked the crowd. A guard then hurried over and began to pound on Jenoff, and was joined by the others in the crowd as Angel and the rest used the confusion to hurry out of the casino.
All sighed in relief as Buffy said. "Now Gunn's saved."
"That was quite smart, everyone else did owe him", Giles pointed out.
"Well, at least this ended as well as it could", Tara told them.
Gunn's truck was parked in the night as he apologized to Fred for breaking up with her and saying those mean things, before she made him say it into a tape recorder, and he kissed her hand. She was glad he was all right, but wanted to know what he'd traded his soul for, asking who 'she' was, and he finally revealed it was this very truck, which he called his girl, Fred asking if his soul wasn't worth air conditioning. Gunn said back in the day the truck had kept him alive and helped him save lives so he didn't think his soul was that big of a deal or that he'd a future, but now he did, and so they kissed and made up, before kissing again.
"He sold his soul for this truck", Xander quipped. "That's funny."
"Not really if you look at it from his point of view", Willow said to him. "He got this truck for the fight against evil creatures, that's what he's been doing since he was a kid, and he thought he'd go out doing that, and if he didn't, he could just give up his soul when the time had come. He didn't expect to have more people he cared about outside of his sister."
"Back then, he had something to die for, now, he has something to live for", Tara summed up the change in Gunn for them all, and now Xander finally got it.
"Right", he said lamely.
"Well, he's definitely lucky to have Fred, Angel and the rest", Buffy nodded with a smile.
Angel is standing in front of the empty crib. The door to his apartment opened unnoticed behind him. Cordelia stood in the open door watching. Angel slowly started to take the crib apart and Cordelia left, quietly closing the door. The screen went black.
Buffy covered her mouth to stop herself from whimpering, but a tear escaped her eye while Dawn was already in tears, making Tara wrap her arms around the girl, both her and Willow watching Angel in sadness.
Xander just looked down, sighing sadly while Giles stared at the screen, feeling bad for what Angel was going through.
Then, without a word, Buffy lifted the remote to go to the next recording.
This show has a weird tradition of following up episodes like 'Forgiving' and 'You're Welcome' with episodes like 'Double or Nothing' and 'Why We Fight'. The former ones are amazing or emotional or intense or just perfect, while the latter ones just leave something to be desired and are placed wrongly too.
Now I didn't really mind the Gunn plot too much but really wasn't interested much in it. The most compelling parts of this episode were Angel mourning his son's loss with Cordelia and the Wesley bits really.
But next episode, well, things are gonna get messed up again.
Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!