Sunnydale Hospital
6 pm
"I'm just going to keep buzzing this little nurse-calling-thing and
bntil you lift my ban on visitors. I promise you that I can make your
life miserable," Buffy said to a very exhausted nurse who had come
into the room to check on her vital signs.
"The doctor said--"
"I don't care what the doctor said," Buffy interrupted. "I'm awake, I
don't feel like sitting here staring at the walls. I know Angel's
sitting out there, let him in!"
"You've only slept for three hours," the nurse protested.
"I have the rest of my life to catch up on my sleep. I'm not tired.
Did I mention I can make your life miserable?"
"I'll ask the doctor," the nurse sighed and exited the room.
"Aagh!" Buffy yelled. "I'm going to go crazy if they keep me isolated
like this much longer," she muttered.
"I think you're giving that poor woman serious doubts about her
profession," Angel chuckled as he walked in.
"Angel! How did you get permission to be in here?"
"The nurse told me that I was allowed to be in here, as long as I kept
you from buzzing her," Angel replied. He walked over and sat next to
her on the bed, and put his arm around her as she curled up against
his chest.
"Much better," she murmured. "Let's just stay like this for the rest
of our lives, okay?"
"Works for me," he said, kissing the top of her head.
"So does that mean you're not going back to L.A?" Buffy asked, looking
up at him.
"Buffy, I haven't really thought about it yet," Angel replied. "Things
have changed a lot in the last three months, I'm just trying to do
what's best for everyone. Of course I want to be with you every minute
of every day, but I don't want to be a distraction, either."
"Angel, do you stop thinking about me when you're in L.A?"
"Of course not."
"Well, the same goes for me, too. Just because you're not here,
doesn't mean that I don't get distracted by you," Buffy said. "So now
that reason's out of the way, try again.".
"Well, Xander--"
"Sorry, that won't work either. In case you've forgotten, he seems to
be dealing very well with your presence in Sunnydale," Buffy
said. "I'm not saying he's like your biggest fan or anything yet, but
he'll be okay."
"I don't know, Buffy. I _was_ planning on sticking around until they
let you out of the hospital, can we talk about it then?" Angel asked.
"Okay," Buffy sighed, and settled down against his chest again. "I
suppose I can live with that." She stifled a yawn and added, "For a
while."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
1 am
London
"This is insane," Brianna muttered as she and the others walked to the
Watcher's Council Headquarters, a huge mansion on the outskirts of the
city. It was surrounded by a tall metal fence, and they could see the
security guards around the perimeter.
"Yes, I'm insane," Spike replied. "Now could we move on to the next
topic of conversation? Or how about you just shut up and not broadcast
our arrival to the Watchers?" He led them around to the side of the
property, where there were ten other vampires waiting for them. This
group was armed with weapons, and they had more for the others. "Take
your pick," Spike said, "Knives, swords, guns...I prefer the swords,
myself."
"So what's the plan?" Brianna asked. "Or do you have one?"
"Of course I have one. These ten are going to be the diversion.
They're going to make a lot of noise, and kill as many of the
security guards as possible. The rest of us are going in the back
way. Where we want to be is the main hall, where they have their
meetings. When we get in there, we barricade ourselves in. See
these?" He pointed to a couple drills sitting on the ground. "As far
as I can tell, there's a coffin under the floor of the main hall. "We
dig it up, I get what I need, we get out of there."
The groups gathered up their, weapons, and Spike and Brianna's group
watched as the others ran to the front gate. Several vampires scaled
the fence, and soon the focus of the entire security force appeared
to be on that disturbance. "Okay, let's go," Spike said to the
others. "This is as good a time as any to get in there."
They ran to the rear of the building and scaled the fence silently,
without drawing any attention. They reached one of the back doors of
the building, and Brianna motioned to one of her minions, who knocked
it down effortlessly. "Well, that's one way to do it," Spike
said. "But I would've preferred a less loud option," he added as
several security guards came down the hallway toward them.
The men were armed with crossbows, and fired several arrows. Two of
Brianna's fledgelings, both males, dissolved into a pile of dust as
the arrows hit their mark. Spike and the others dove out of the way,
and into another room. The men followed them in, and Spike ran at one
of them, snapping his neck before he could react. Brianna attacked
another, sinking her fangs into his neck. The others were overpowered
by Brianna's remaining fledglings.
"Well, that wasn't too hard, was it?" Spike said, looking at the dead
bodies on the floor.
"I was getting hungry," Brianna shrugged. "but those were some of my
favorite fledglings. You really really will owe us for this Spike. So
where's this hall where they've buried the important coffin?"
"At the center of the building," Spike replied. "Follow me, but be
ready or more security guards. I imagine the other vampires are
pretty much dust by now."
"Don't ever consider a job as an inspirational speaker," Brianna said.
"I think all you'd inspire is self-staking," she added as she preceded
him out the door.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Sunnydale Hospital
7:30 pm
"I already bent the rules for one of you, I don't think the doctor
would like it if all of you were in here!" Angel heard the voice of
the nurse, and preceding her through the door was the entire Scooby
Gang, plus Charlotte, Cordelia and Doyle.
"It's a party," Buffy giggled. The stern-looking nurse was last into
the room, but discovered she was no match for Giles.
"I'm quite sure that we're not harming Buffy in any way by being
here," he said. "Far from it, we're her friends, and I think that we
can only make her feel better by being here, and keeping her spirits
up. I assure you that we'll leave before she gets overly tired."
"I'm going to lose my job, but I really don't care any more," the
nurse replied as she exited the room.
"Well, this is quite a welcome," Buffy said. "But from the frown on
Giles' face, I'm guessing it's not purely a social visit, huh?"
"Well, you could say that," Doyle answered for her. "Since I just got
a phone call from the Watcher's Council, or should I say the only
living member of the Watchers' Council at the moment."
"What?!" Buffy yelled. "What happened?"
"Turns out we now know where Spike disappeared to when he left town,"
Doyle answered. "London. And for some odd reason he decided to lead an
all-out attack on the Council. Only one of the Council members,
Reynolds, managed to get out alive, and he's gone into hiding. He's
started to call some prospective members, one of them being Wesley
here."
"Spike wasn't really after the Council, was he?" Angel said. "What was
he after?"
"Reynolds wouldn't tell me that, but I'm sure you're right," Doyle
replied. "Spike hasn't kept himself alive for a century by being
stupid. Whatever it is, it was important enough to risk his life for.
I tried to tell Reynolds that I didn't think the council was in any
more danger, but he wouldn't listen to me. He's ordered me and
Charlotte to London immediately."
"Yeah, they want me to play bodyguard," Charlotte said, obviously not
happy with the situation.
"It's just for a little while, until they can build up their security
team again," Doyle replied, trying to soothe her irritated mood.
"You're going back too?" Angel asked Wesley.
"Well, I was asked, but I haven't given them an answer yet," Wesley
replied. "Of course I wouldn't just pick up and leave without giving
notice--"
"Wesley, go," Angel said with a smile. "As valuable as you are to
Angel Investigations, I'm sure you're more needed as a part of the
Council. I'm glad the remaining member recognizes that you can be an
asset to them." He noticed the ring on Cordelia's finger, then, and
added, "Besides, it looks like you're not the only departing member
of Angel Investigations."
Buffy followed Angel's gaze, and could only manage to add, "Oh...
my....God."
Xander added, "I second that," as he too noticed the ring on
Cordelia's finger.
"Huh?" Willow said, a puzzled look on her face, until she too noticed
what the others had. "Cordelia! Is that what I think it is?" she
squealed.
Cordelia grinned, and said, "Well, if you think it's a diamond
engagement ring, then....yeah." She laughed as Willow tackled her in a
hug.
"Congratulations!" Willow said.
"Thanks, Willow," she replied. "I'm pretty happy about it. And, yeah,
Angel. I'm afraid I'm going to abandon the helping the hopeless
cause."
"No you won't," Angel said. "I'm sure your gifts will be useful to a
Watcher and a Slayer."
"Oh," Cordelia frowned. "I was hoping that the visions would go away
since I wasn't helping the ex-vampire with a soul defeat the forces of
evil anymore. I guess that would be too much to wish for."
"Well, I'm happy for you, Cordelia," Angel replied. "And I don't
think I need to tell you, Doyle, that I don't want to have to come to
London because you've done something stupid."
"Don't worry," Doyle said. "I don't have any intention of pissing off
Cordelia here. I'm not quite sure who I'd be more afraid of mad,
though, you or her." He jumped out of the way as she turned on him.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Keep that up and you'll find out how scary I can
be when I'm mad," she threatened.
"I'm sure we're all overwhelmed with happiness," Giles interrupted,
"but could we get back to the danger at hand?"
"You think Spike's coming back to Sunnydale," Buffy realized.
"Yes, I do," Giles replied. "And Doyle agrees with me, although he has
no choice but to defer to the wishes of the Watcher's Council. So he
and Charlotte will be leaving for London... tonight, correct?"
"That's right," Doyle answered. "Reynolds didn't ask, he told. We've
got a flight out at eight. Cordelia's going to stick around here for
a day or two. She's agreed to pack up some of our stuff as well as go
to her place in L.A. to take care of things there. She'll meet us in
London once we're settled."
"So what do we do?" Buffy asked Giles.
"We wait," Giles answered. "I've got quite a bit of research to do,
hopefully we can find out what was so important at the Council
Headquarters that Spike had to go there to get it. I'm sure that Spike
will make his move soon enough. He doesn't seem to want to stay away
from Hellmouth for long. I just hope you're well enough to deal with
him when he does come back."
"I'll be ready," Buffy said. "I'm still rather ticked at him for
biting me, he's going to have to be staked for that."
"Next time I say something about not thinking we've seen the last of
Spike, just hit me really, really, hard," Xander said to Anya. "I need
to learn not to tempt the Hellmouth like that."
"So much for boredom," Oz said.
"Who wants boredom anyway?" Willow asked.
"Me!" the remaining members of the group replied in unison.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
End of New Beginnings
6 pm
"I'm just going to keep buzzing this little nurse-calling-thing and
bntil you lift my ban on visitors. I promise you that I can make your
life miserable," Buffy said to a very exhausted nurse who had come
into the room to check on her vital signs.
"The doctor said--"
"I don't care what the doctor said," Buffy interrupted. "I'm awake, I
don't feel like sitting here staring at the walls. I know Angel's
sitting out there, let him in!"
"You've only slept for three hours," the nurse protested.
"I have the rest of my life to catch up on my sleep. I'm not tired.
Did I mention I can make your life miserable?"
"I'll ask the doctor," the nurse sighed and exited the room.
"Aagh!" Buffy yelled. "I'm going to go crazy if they keep me isolated
like this much longer," she muttered.
"I think you're giving that poor woman serious doubts about her
profession," Angel chuckled as he walked in.
"Angel! How did you get permission to be in here?"
"The nurse told me that I was allowed to be in here, as long as I kept
you from buzzing her," Angel replied. He walked over and sat next to
her on the bed, and put his arm around her as she curled up against
his chest.
"Much better," she murmured. "Let's just stay like this for the rest
of our lives, okay?"
"Works for me," he said, kissing the top of her head.
"So does that mean you're not going back to L.A?" Buffy asked, looking
up at him.
"Buffy, I haven't really thought about it yet," Angel replied. "Things
have changed a lot in the last three months, I'm just trying to do
what's best for everyone. Of course I want to be with you every minute
of every day, but I don't want to be a distraction, either."
"Angel, do you stop thinking about me when you're in L.A?"
"Of course not."
"Well, the same goes for me, too. Just because you're not here,
doesn't mean that I don't get distracted by you," Buffy said. "So now
that reason's out of the way, try again.".
"Well, Xander--"
"Sorry, that won't work either. In case you've forgotten, he seems to
be dealing very well with your presence in Sunnydale," Buffy
said. "I'm not saying he's like your biggest fan or anything yet, but
he'll be okay."
"I don't know, Buffy. I _was_ planning on sticking around until they
let you out of the hospital, can we talk about it then?" Angel asked.
"Okay," Buffy sighed, and settled down against his chest again. "I
suppose I can live with that." She stifled a yawn and added, "For a
while."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
1 am
London
"This is insane," Brianna muttered as she and the others walked to the
Watcher's Council Headquarters, a huge mansion on the outskirts of the
city. It was surrounded by a tall metal fence, and they could see the
security guards around the perimeter.
"Yes, I'm insane," Spike replied. "Now could we move on to the next
topic of conversation? Or how about you just shut up and not broadcast
our arrival to the Watchers?" He led them around to the side of the
property, where there were ten other vampires waiting for them. This
group was armed with weapons, and they had more for the others. "Take
your pick," Spike said, "Knives, swords, guns...I prefer the swords,
myself."
"So what's the plan?" Brianna asked. "Or do you have one?"
"Of course I have one. These ten are going to be the diversion.
They're going to make a lot of noise, and kill as many of the
security guards as possible. The rest of us are going in the back
way. Where we want to be is the main hall, where they have their
meetings. When we get in there, we barricade ourselves in. See
these?" He pointed to a couple drills sitting on the ground. "As far
as I can tell, there's a coffin under the floor of the main hall. "We
dig it up, I get what I need, we get out of there."
The groups gathered up their, weapons, and Spike and Brianna's group
watched as the others ran to the front gate. Several vampires scaled
the fence, and soon the focus of the entire security force appeared
to be on that disturbance. "Okay, let's go," Spike said to the
others. "This is as good a time as any to get in there."
They ran to the rear of the building and scaled the fence silently,
without drawing any attention. They reached one of the back doors of
the building, and Brianna motioned to one of her minions, who knocked
it down effortlessly. "Well, that's one way to do it," Spike
said. "But I would've preferred a less loud option," he added as
several security guards came down the hallway toward them.
The men were armed with crossbows, and fired several arrows. Two of
Brianna's fledgelings, both males, dissolved into a pile of dust as
the arrows hit their mark. Spike and the others dove out of the way,
and into another room. The men followed them in, and Spike ran at one
of them, snapping his neck before he could react. Brianna attacked
another, sinking her fangs into his neck. The others were overpowered
by Brianna's remaining fledglings.
"Well, that wasn't too hard, was it?" Spike said, looking at the dead
bodies on the floor.
"I was getting hungry," Brianna shrugged. "but those were some of my
favorite fledglings. You really really will owe us for this Spike. So
where's this hall where they've buried the important coffin?"
"At the center of the building," Spike replied. "Follow me, but be
ready or more security guards. I imagine the other vampires are
pretty much dust by now."
"Don't ever consider a job as an inspirational speaker," Brianna said.
"I think all you'd inspire is self-staking," she added as she preceded
him out the door.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Sunnydale Hospital
7:30 pm
"I already bent the rules for one of you, I don't think the doctor
would like it if all of you were in here!" Angel heard the voice of
the nurse, and preceding her through the door was the entire Scooby
Gang, plus Charlotte, Cordelia and Doyle.
"It's a party," Buffy giggled. The stern-looking nurse was last into
the room, but discovered she was no match for Giles.
"I'm quite sure that we're not harming Buffy in any way by being
here," he said. "Far from it, we're her friends, and I think that we
can only make her feel better by being here, and keeping her spirits
up. I assure you that we'll leave before she gets overly tired."
"I'm going to lose my job, but I really don't care any more," the
nurse replied as she exited the room.
"Well, this is quite a welcome," Buffy said. "But from the frown on
Giles' face, I'm guessing it's not purely a social visit, huh?"
"Well, you could say that," Doyle answered for her. "Since I just got
a phone call from the Watcher's Council, or should I say the only
living member of the Watchers' Council at the moment."
"What?!" Buffy yelled. "What happened?"
"Turns out we now know where Spike disappeared to when he left town,"
Doyle answered. "London. And for some odd reason he decided to lead an
all-out attack on the Council. Only one of the Council members,
Reynolds, managed to get out alive, and he's gone into hiding. He's
started to call some prospective members, one of them being Wesley
here."
"Spike wasn't really after the Council, was he?" Angel said. "What was
he after?"
"Reynolds wouldn't tell me that, but I'm sure you're right," Doyle
replied. "Spike hasn't kept himself alive for a century by being
stupid. Whatever it is, it was important enough to risk his life for.
I tried to tell Reynolds that I didn't think the council was in any
more danger, but he wouldn't listen to me. He's ordered me and
Charlotte to London immediately."
"Yeah, they want me to play bodyguard," Charlotte said, obviously not
happy with the situation.
"It's just for a little while, until they can build up their security
team again," Doyle replied, trying to soothe her irritated mood.
"You're going back too?" Angel asked Wesley.
"Well, I was asked, but I haven't given them an answer yet," Wesley
replied. "Of course I wouldn't just pick up and leave without giving
notice--"
"Wesley, go," Angel said with a smile. "As valuable as you are to
Angel Investigations, I'm sure you're more needed as a part of the
Council. I'm glad the remaining member recognizes that you can be an
asset to them." He noticed the ring on Cordelia's finger, then, and
added, "Besides, it looks like you're not the only departing member
of Angel Investigations."
Buffy followed Angel's gaze, and could only manage to add, "Oh...
my....God."
Xander added, "I second that," as he too noticed the ring on
Cordelia's finger.
"Huh?" Willow said, a puzzled look on her face, until she too noticed
what the others had. "Cordelia! Is that what I think it is?" she
squealed.
Cordelia grinned, and said, "Well, if you think it's a diamond
engagement ring, then....yeah." She laughed as Willow tackled her in a
hug.
"Congratulations!" Willow said.
"Thanks, Willow," she replied. "I'm pretty happy about it. And, yeah,
Angel. I'm afraid I'm going to abandon the helping the hopeless
cause."
"No you won't," Angel said. "I'm sure your gifts will be useful to a
Watcher and a Slayer."
"Oh," Cordelia frowned. "I was hoping that the visions would go away
since I wasn't helping the ex-vampire with a soul defeat the forces of
evil anymore. I guess that would be too much to wish for."
"Well, I'm happy for you, Cordelia," Angel replied. "And I don't
think I need to tell you, Doyle, that I don't want to have to come to
London because you've done something stupid."
"Don't worry," Doyle said. "I don't have any intention of pissing off
Cordelia here. I'm not quite sure who I'd be more afraid of mad,
though, you or her." He jumped out of the way as she turned on him.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Keep that up and you'll find out how scary I can
be when I'm mad," she threatened.
"I'm sure we're all overwhelmed with happiness," Giles interrupted,
"but could we get back to the danger at hand?"
"You think Spike's coming back to Sunnydale," Buffy realized.
"Yes, I do," Giles replied. "And Doyle agrees with me, although he has
no choice but to defer to the wishes of the Watcher's Council. So he
and Charlotte will be leaving for London... tonight, correct?"
"That's right," Doyle answered. "Reynolds didn't ask, he told. We've
got a flight out at eight. Cordelia's going to stick around here for
a day or two. She's agreed to pack up some of our stuff as well as go
to her place in L.A. to take care of things there. She'll meet us in
London once we're settled."
"So what do we do?" Buffy asked Giles.
"We wait," Giles answered. "I've got quite a bit of research to do,
hopefully we can find out what was so important at the Council
Headquarters that Spike had to go there to get it. I'm sure that Spike
will make his move soon enough. He doesn't seem to want to stay away
from Hellmouth for long. I just hope you're well enough to deal with
him when he does come back."
"I'll be ready," Buffy said. "I'm still rather ticked at him for
biting me, he's going to have to be staked for that."
"Next time I say something about not thinking we've seen the last of
Spike, just hit me really, really, hard," Xander said to Anya. "I need
to learn not to tempt the Hellmouth like that."
"So much for boredom," Oz said.
"Who wants boredom anyway?" Willow asked.
"Me!" the remaining members of the group replied in unison.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
End of New Beginnings