The Evil That Men Do
Author: MeB (aka XanWill4Ever-Michael B)
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Spoiler: Majority takes place in the summer after the First Season. There are scenes that takes place some time after Lovers Walk from Season 3. There may be some slight AU, but not much.
Summary: Willow loses her memory and finds help from a private investigator in Boston.
Disclaimer: The characters from Spenser For Hire belong to Robert Parker. All characters from Buffy tVS belong to Joss.
Disclaimer Note: The Lost Boys idea is borrowed from the movie "The Lost Boys" which starred Keifer Sutherland. The actual characters in this story are just four vamps who saw the movie and they simply took the name for themselves.
Rating - Low R - SL/V/AC
Note- ((( ))) represents Willow's recurring memories. xwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxw
7
BOSTON
There was a parking lot behind the building in which I lived in and as I drove my car around to park, I noticed Hawk leaning against the wall near the entrance as if he were the door man. Of course, I was the only one that knew him well enough who could think of him as a friendly door man and still continue to breathe. For Hawk was no door man. Hell, he wasn't even all that friendly. The last person I knew of that even had the audacity to call Hawk a door man wound up in traction for several months. Hawk had used a door to beat the man senseless.
Well, the guy had deserved it. But that was another time.
I glanced at Willow and I couldn't help but notice her reaction at seeing Hawk. Her eyes were focused on him, and they were wide with wonder, curiosity, and fear.
I turned the car off and turned to her. "Willow..."
I watched her as she forcibly turned away from looking at Hawk. Her eyes looked at me. She was trembling a little. But there was a look on her face. It was as if she were trying to work something out in her mind.
"That's Hawk," I told her softly. "He's my friend."
She looked at me.
"Willow...how can a guy named after a bird be bad?"
She turned her head and looked at Hawk through the windshield. Then she looked at me again, questioning me with her eyes. At least I noticed that she wasn't trembling any more.
"Hawk won't hurt you," I said. "He wants to find out who you are like I do. We both want to help you." I paused. "Will you let us?"
Willow sat there for awhile and I gave her all the time she needed. I knew she was working things out in her mind. She was probably wondering about who her parents were, where she went to school, and did she have a boy friend? If I had lost my memory, I would have been thinking along those lines. Well, except about the part of wondering who my boy friend was. There was something else I knew she must have been thinking.
She was probably wondering how she got here.
And the way she was looking at Hawk...it was as if she recognized him.
(((She saw Hawk standing over her, but it wasn't really Hawk. Just someone who looked like him. Someone who watched over her and kept her safe from the man with the snake eyes.)))
She finally looked at me and hesitated. But she nodded her head.
I climbed out of the car and moved around to open the door for her. Hawk didn't move from the wall he was against and I knew that it was because he wanted to give Willow her space. He didn't want to frighten her, and believe me, he could be very frightening at times. He even scared me and I'm as tough as nails.
I popped open my trunk and waved Hawk over. "Can I borrow your hands?" I asked him.
He walked over slowly, looking at Willow. He stayed on one side of my car as she watched him from the other side. "My hands won't look good on you. I think I'll keep them." He flashed his teeth in a smile. "Better for me than for you anyway."
"Actually, it would be better for me, Hawk," I told him. "Because it works better if you take some groceries with your hands instead of me picking up groceries with your hands. If the neighbors see something like that, what will they think?"
"They think you just tryin' to be me."
Willow took a bag. She wanted to feel useful.
Hawk took two bags and because I really was a better man than he was, I took the remaining three. But somehow, I still felt like I had gotten the raw end of the deal. As we walked toward the entrance, Willow kept me between herself and Hawk, but her eyes kept watching him. She seemed to be deeply curious about him. The fear she showed earlier was gone. I took that as a good sign.
"Hawk," I said as I adjusted my grip on the three bags of groceries, "I'd like for you to meet Willow."
Hawk managed to open the door with two bags in his hands, the big show-off, as he smiled at the girl. "Hello, Willow."
There's something you should know about Hawk. He wasn't the type of guy who smiled a lot. When he did smile, it usually meant he was going to crack open someone's head or throw someone through a window or he was going to do a number of unkind things to someone that was best left for the imagination. I wondered if the smile from Hawk was a frightening experience for Willow so I looked at her with some concern.
But she was simply peeking at him from my side.
Hawk regarded me. "The girl has a name?"
I shrugged. "She just doesn't look like a Jane."
"Where'd 'Willow' come from?"
"She saw something in the park that caught her eye. We went to look at it and, well, it was a tree. A great big Weeping Willow." I paused. "She seemed to respond to it as if it meant something to her."
We headed for the elevator. I lived on the top floor.
"She talk any?" Hawk asked.
I shook my head. "No. The doc says that her lack of speech is the same as her lack of memory. She seems to have lost these abilities through trauma and only time will tell if she talks at all, gets her memory back...or both."
We stopped at the elevator and when the doors opened, Willow recoiled. The bag of groceries she had been holding onto dropped to the floor and she backed up as fast as she could. The wall stopped her from going any further so she just slid to the floor, held her knees to herself and stared into the elevator. It occurred to me that the elevator was small and confining. Almost like a big box.
(((She saw darkness. All around her...nothing but darkness. She was trapped. She couldn't move. The air was so thin, she could barely breathe. Her arms were trapped behind her back. Her knees were tucked up against her as if she had been rolled into a ball. She wanted to scream but she couldn't...Then she felt like she was floating...floating...)))
I put my groceries down and knelt beside her. Thankfully, the elevator doors closed, but her eyes were locked on them. I looked at her and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.
She didn't move, and I worried about how tense her body had become.
"Willow..." I said softly. I held my hand out to her. "Willow, take my hand."
She looked at me then as if she were coming out of a trance. She grabbed my hand as her eyes filled with tears. She didn't know what to do and she was looking to me for help. She didn't understand what was happening to her or why.
"We'll take the stairs," I told her. "Okay?"
She glanced over at the elevator as if it were some kind of beast and nodded her head. I helped her to her feet and then we picked up the groceries.
Hawk was watching us, but I noticed that he had grabbed one of my bags which left me with two. "Stairs does the body good," Hawk said.
"I thought milk did that," I responded. "Besides, you're still so young. I'm old and need my strength."
"Nah. You just lazy."
We headed for the stairs and we walked up five flights. My apartment was right at the top of the stairs and we were inside at no time at all. Hawk and I put the groceries away. He saw the prescription of MS Conton that I had left on the counter the night before, and I was able to put it away discreetly before he could read the label.
"Didn't know you liked candy." Hawk regarded me. "I could have brought you some."
I shrugged and looked at Willow. She was just standing by the counter watching us and wringing her hands nervously. She looked like a lost and frightened little girl. My heart ached for her.
"Are you hungry?" I asked her. "You didn't eat much at the hospital. Would you like some breakfast?"
She shrugged.
"We can have eggs and toast...or we can go for the cereal you picked out and eat that since they won't let the rabbit eat it."
She seemed to like the idea of the cereal better than the eggs. I grabbed three bowls and I grabbed a carton of milk from the fridge, and then I carried them all to the table. Hawk was way ahead of the game. He had grabbed the Trix and he had even snatched up three spoons from the silverware drawer since I had forgotten about them. Then he joined us at the table.
"Funny thing about the rabbit on this box." I tapped the cartoon picture of the rabbit who was watching three kids dancing around a giant bowl of Trix. "They put him on the cover of the cereal boxes. They even get the poor rabbit to do commercials for them." I poured some of the cereal into a bowl for Willow, then for myself, and then I winked at her. "But they won't let him eat the cereal. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"
Willow put a stern look on her face and shook her head.
Hawk took the box from me. "Maybe he's just a bad bunny, 'cause I happen to know Bugs wouldn't put up with that."
"Why is he a bad bunny, Hawk? What did he do? Steal about fourteen carrots?"
Hawk gave me a look. "You losin' it, Bro. That was bad. Even for you."
I grinned.
There the three of us sat, eating Trix. Willow dabbled with her cereal and she didn't finish it all, but she did eat some of it. But as we sat there, her eyes would travel between Hawk and myself. Back and forth, back and forth, she watched us. I was just glad that she wasn't afraid of us. She even seemed to accept Hawk.
I glanced at him. "Did you happen to find out anything, or did you just show up for the Trix?"
"I came for the Trix," Hawk said. He paused as he looked at Willow. "However, there was something I did find out about."
"And that being?"
"Somebody big is out there looking for a package that was lost. In fact, the Lost Boys were sent last night to bring the package back to its owner." He flashed his teeth. "They were hindered."
I looked at him. "You were the hinderee." It wasn't a question.
"I was."
To myself, I cursed. I certainly didn't want to expose Willow to my colorful vocabulary which I usually reserved for moments like this. I had run into the Lost Boys once, and they were vicious scum of the earth. They were street trash hoodlums who believed they were some how invincible. I knew as Hawk did that we could not allow them to get their hands on Willow.
I would rather die before I let that happen.
"Who lost this package?" I asked.
"Well, Snake-Eyes did. That's why his boss wasn't too pleased with him."
And that was why Snake-Eyes had lost his head. The Lost Boys must have been the ones who had carried out the execution. I looked at Hawk. "Who is their boss? Who do they work for? Did you find that out?"
He looked at me and nodded once. "Uh-huh." Then, he asked me, "Do you like Sushi?"
"Not with my Trix." I then realized who he meant. "S'ushi Alyssia?"
Hawk nodded.
"She's back in Boston?"
"Word is that she'll be arriving today." He paused for affect. "She'll be in a foul mood. She'll know eventually where the package is. For a fish, she's pretty smart."
I had tried to gather enough evidence against S'ushi Alyssia once before about a year ago that would have proven she was involved deep into White Slavery. But the bitch had friends in high places and the evidence had simply disappeared. And so had she. But now she was back. She didn't like me for good reason. I was okay with that though because I didn't like her either. She was the only woman I had ever met that I wouldn't have minded slapping. Or punching like a man for that matter.
I looked at Willow.
I suddenly understood why this sweet girl had been afraid of the female nurses and doctors at the hospital. Because S'ushi Alyssia was a woman and she had hurt Willow. Somehow. Would Willow ever remember what S'ushi Alyssia had put her through? I was beginning to hope that Willow would never remember. I knew what S'ushi was capable of.
"We can't let her get the package," I said to Hawk.
Hawk smiled. "She won't. 'Cause first chance I get, I's gonna introduce little S'ushi to Charlie of the Sea and maybe if they get along nicely, they can make little tuna's together." He flashed a smile.
I looked at him. "And you accused me of making a bad pun with my fourteen carrots comment?"
"I been around you too long. You're starting to rub off on me."
____________________________
BOSTON-SHERATON HOTEL
"This thing weighs a ton!" Xander exclaimed as he and Giles carried the chest to the door of their room.
Together, they put the chest down and Giles took a deep breath as he fished out the room key.
Xander thought of Angel inside the chest as he caught his breath. "Now I know what it means when people talk about 'dead weight'."
Giles opened the door and then he reached for the chest. "Well...l-let's get him inside."
Xander bent to the task and the two of them tried to get through the door, but for some odd reason, they couldn't get the chest through the doorway. Giles frowned. It was like there was some kind of invisible barrier that prevented them entrance to their room.
"What's wrong?" Xander asked. "Why can't we get in?"
Giles was thinking about it. "G-give me a second, Xander. It will come to me."
"Giles," said a muffled voice from inside the chest.
Xander glanced nervously about in the hall but there wasn't anyone else about...Damn, he thought. Except for the couple that just got off the elevator. Oh, shit...and the lady wheeling the cleaning cart their way. He was beginning to feel awkward.
Giles looked at Xander, but to the chest, he said, "Er, what is it...Angel?"
There was a paused. Then Angel's muffled voice said, "The room was paid in your name?"
"Er, y-yes."
"Then it's your room. You know the drill."
Giles looked at Xander.
Xander frowned. "What is he talking about?"
Realization suddenly dawned on Giles. "Oh, er, A-Angel. You're invited."
With that done, he and Xander easily carried the chest through the doorway and Xander kicked the door shut with his foot.
"L-let's just set this down...against the wall," Giles told Xander. He gasped for breath. "A-and we must close those...curtains."
They set the chest down.
Xander took a deep breath and he closed the curtains while Giles turned on the lights. He then took out a key from his pocket, unlocked the padlock from the chest, and opened it.
Angel looked up at him from inside the chest. "Giles," he said with a groan, "this is definitely not the best way to travel."
Giles reached in and he helped Angel up. Angel leaned on Giles to keep his balance. Then he stood up, he stretched, and rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly, there was an audible crack.
Xander flinched. "Hey! That really sounded good!" He made a face.
"It felt good," Angel told him.
"I was being sarcastic." Xander looked from Angel to Giles. "Okay. So here we are. What's our first move?"
Angel stepped out of the chest and he glanced toward the window, grateful that the curtains had been closed. At the same time, he wished that he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin as a human did. As he once did, so long ago.
"There are some people I have to see," Angel said.
Xander frowned. "Angel, I don't know how to break this to you, but unless you can make these people come here to us, you'll have to wait until it gets dark."
"There's no time. Our only hope is to find Willow before they put her on a ship...or worst." He closed his eyes as the image of what he had seen at the Funhouse came into his mind. He looked at Giles. "We have to hit the sewers."
"Manhole covers are outside," Xander pointed out to him, "and outside is where the sun is."
Angel looked at him. "We can get to the basement. We'll find access to the sewers there."
Giles headed for the door. "Th-then, there's no more time to waste."
They headed for the basement. _____________________________
BOSTON-THE WHARF...(The Villains)
She was tall and athletic. She had dark green eyes and red hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her name was S'ushi Alyssia and she spun through the air, lashing out with a spin-kick that took the man full in the face. The man fell hard against a stack of crates and he slumped to the floor. He looked up in time to receive a kick in his ribs.
Two of them cracked.
Groaning in pain, the man tried to curl himself into a ball. S'ushi didn't let him.
She grabbed a handful of hair and slammed him face first into the floor. Then, she hauled him to his feet and glared into his face.
"Stand up and take it like a man," she growled at him.
The man grimaced from the pain, but he decided that to obey was the best course of action. He stood up and tried to keep himself straight. His ribs hurt badly and he couldn't keep the pain from showing on his face.
S'ushi backed away from him, and she turned to face David and his two boys. She noticed that one of the Lost Boy's was missing and that the remaining three were not too pleased about that.
Now S'ushi did not have the slightest idea why Little Mikey was missing. But she didn't really care why anyway. After all, it wasn't her concern.
Only one thing concerned her.
"Somebody lost my toy," she said through clenched teeth, "and I want it back!" She stopped to glare at Billiard who was standing by with three of his thugs. Billiard had a fourth lackey but that fool was currently trying to stand after having received S'ushi's personal greeting of hello...with her feet of fury striking every vulnerable part of his body.
"Snake-Eyes paid for his carelessness with his life," Billiard said calmly. "The Lost Boys saw to that." He cast a glare in their direction.
S'ushi scowled. "Snake-Eyes was one of yours," she reminded him with venom in her voice. "He allowed the safe-house to burn and he ran out of there to save his own miserable ass. Because of him, I'm out of a lot of money." A look of pleasure crossed her face as she thought of her new favorite girl. "And a lot of fun." Then a dangerous look came across her face as she turned to fix a glare upon the man she had been toying with. He was still standing there, trying to look like he wasn't in any pain. S'ushi smiled and regarded Billiard. "You just can't find good help these days, can you?"
Billiard didn't hesitate. "I can handle my men."
"Oh, so can I. And a whole heluva lot better than you can."
They were in an old, abandoned warehouse on the Wharf. It was a great place to conduct business, and it was also a great place for taking out the trash.
"You know," S'ushi began conversationally, "I've always loved to watch the Wild, Wild West. Nobody could tame the wild west and take on the notorious villains of the day like James West and Artemus Gordon could. They were my heroes." She let out a sigh. "I have learned so much from watching them."
She clicked her heels together.
A knife blade appeared from out of the toe of her right boot. She suddenly spun-kicked through the air and the blade sliced through the man's neck. He grasped at his throat in surprise, but as the blood seeped through his fingers, a look of panic crossed his face.
He gasped for breath.
Then he fell to his knees and he looked up at S'ushi pleadingly.
S'ushi just casually put her foot on his chest and pushed him onto his back. She watched the life fade right out of him and it gave her such a rush.
David glanced at Marco and Damien, and he had to smile at the woman's cruel nature. Damn, he thought, but she would make such a wonderful vampire. Then he smirked at Billiard and his remaining thugs.
S'ushi noticed, and she smiled. She just loved the rivalry between the two groups. She needed them both, but she liked the Lost Boys better because they really did know how to be bad. Billiard and his thugs could be bad, too, but they didn't do it for fun. In fact, she doubted if they even knew how to have fun. Not everything was always about money.
Hell...the Lost Boys were just bad.
She smiled at them. "If you boys want a snack, you'd better hurry. This man's blood will go cold when the light of life fades from his eyes."
David shook his head. "Nah. None for me, thank you." He looked at Marco and Damien. "But if my boys want to dive in, they're more than welcome to."
Marco and Damien looked at S'ushi expectantly.
She invited them to the feast with a wave and a smile.
The man on the floor was still barely clinging to his life. His eyes widened as he saw the two vampires approaching him. They sank their teeth into him and they fed on him.
Some of Billiard's men looked away. But Billiard watched the scene before him. He was furious, and yet he didn't let it show that he was.
David watched him. The look on his own face told his rival that S'ushi liked him better.
S'ushi herself watched the feeding frenzy for a moment. Then she got bored with it and turned to regard both Billiard and David. She made a pouty face, and puckered her lips. "I want my wittle Willow back," she told them.
"I have men looking for her now," Billiard responded.
"I don't want them looking!" she snapped. "I want them finding! Find her. Bring her to me unharmed, but kill whoever she is with."
"What if she's with Hawk?" David asked her.
S'ushi looked at him with genuine interest. "Hawk?"
He nodded. "He was at the hospital last night."
"And?"
"And I know Hawk. Starting a scene in a public place like that would have only drawn unwanted attention."
S'ushi approached him. "Are you telling me that Hawk wouldn't let you in because he was protecting her?"
He nodded again.
"If Hawk is protecting the sweet little bitch...then so is Spenser." She smiled. "And that means he would have taken her to his renovated firehouse."
David smiled. "Me and my boys can go there tonight."
Billiard interrupted. "Me and my boys can go there right now."
David glared at him.
S'ushi smiled. "Oooh, I just love the male testerone in here right now." She laughed. "Needs a little hot sauce, I think." She looked at Billiard. "You will send seven of your best men. They will bring me my girl back and don't forget to have them kill anyone who tries to stop them."
"I will lead them myself," Billiard assured her.
"The hell you will. You're staying here with me."
Billiard wanted to protest, but he knew better.
S'ushi looked thoughtful. "Now...when I do get my girl back, I'm going to teach her a lesson for causing me so much worry." She smiled. "Cause me worry...I will cause you pain." xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TO BE CONTINUED--
Author: MeB (aka XanWill4Ever-Michael B)
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Spoiler: Majority takes place in the summer after the First Season. There are scenes that takes place some time after Lovers Walk from Season 3. There may be some slight AU, but not much.
Summary: Willow loses her memory and finds help from a private investigator in Boston.
Disclaimer: The characters from Spenser For Hire belong to Robert Parker. All characters from Buffy tVS belong to Joss.
Disclaimer Note: The Lost Boys idea is borrowed from the movie "The Lost Boys" which starred Keifer Sutherland. The actual characters in this story are just four vamps who saw the movie and they simply took the name for themselves.
Rating - Low R - SL/V/AC
Note- ((( ))) represents Willow's recurring memories. xwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxw
7
BOSTON
There was a parking lot behind the building in which I lived in and as I drove my car around to park, I noticed Hawk leaning against the wall near the entrance as if he were the door man. Of course, I was the only one that knew him well enough who could think of him as a friendly door man and still continue to breathe. For Hawk was no door man. Hell, he wasn't even all that friendly. The last person I knew of that even had the audacity to call Hawk a door man wound up in traction for several months. Hawk had used a door to beat the man senseless.
Well, the guy had deserved it. But that was another time.
I glanced at Willow and I couldn't help but notice her reaction at seeing Hawk. Her eyes were focused on him, and they were wide with wonder, curiosity, and fear.
I turned the car off and turned to her. "Willow..."
I watched her as she forcibly turned away from looking at Hawk. Her eyes looked at me. She was trembling a little. But there was a look on her face. It was as if she were trying to work something out in her mind.
"That's Hawk," I told her softly. "He's my friend."
She looked at me.
"Willow...how can a guy named after a bird be bad?"
She turned her head and looked at Hawk through the windshield. Then she looked at me again, questioning me with her eyes. At least I noticed that she wasn't trembling any more.
"Hawk won't hurt you," I said. "He wants to find out who you are like I do. We both want to help you." I paused. "Will you let us?"
Willow sat there for awhile and I gave her all the time she needed. I knew she was working things out in her mind. She was probably wondering about who her parents were, where she went to school, and did she have a boy friend? If I had lost my memory, I would have been thinking along those lines. Well, except about the part of wondering who my boy friend was. There was something else I knew she must have been thinking.
She was probably wondering how she got here.
And the way she was looking at Hawk...it was as if she recognized him.
(((She saw Hawk standing over her, but it wasn't really Hawk. Just someone who looked like him. Someone who watched over her and kept her safe from the man with the snake eyes.)))
She finally looked at me and hesitated. But she nodded her head.
I climbed out of the car and moved around to open the door for her. Hawk didn't move from the wall he was against and I knew that it was because he wanted to give Willow her space. He didn't want to frighten her, and believe me, he could be very frightening at times. He even scared me and I'm as tough as nails.
I popped open my trunk and waved Hawk over. "Can I borrow your hands?" I asked him.
He walked over slowly, looking at Willow. He stayed on one side of my car as she watched him from the other side. "My hands won't look good on you. I think I'll keep them." He flashed his teeth in a smile. "Better for me than for you anyway."
"Actually, it would be better for me, Hawk," I told him. "Because it works better if you take some groceries with your hands instead of me picking up groceries with your hands. If the neighbors see something like that, what will they think?"
"They think you just tryin' to be me."
Willow took a bag. She wanted to feel useful.
Hawk took two bags and because I really was a better man than he was, I took the remaining three. But somehow, I still felt like I had gotten the raw end of the deal. As we walked toward the entrance, Willow kept me between herself and Hawk, but her eyes kept watching him. She seemed to be deeply curious about him. The fear she showed earlier was gone. I took that as a good sign.
"Hawk," I said as I adjusted my grip on the three bags of groceries, "I'd like for you to meet Willow."
Hawk managed to open the door with two bags in his hands, the big show-off, as he smiled at the girl. "Hello, Willow."
There's something you should know about Hawk. He wasn't the type of guy who smiled a lot. When he did smile, it usually meant he was going to crack open someone's head or throw someone through a window or he was going to do a number of unkind things to someone that was best left for the imagination. I wondered if the smile from Hawk was a frightening experience for Willow so I looked at her with some concern.
But she was simply peeking at him from my side.
Hawk regarded me. "The girl has a name?"
I shrugged. "She just doesn't look like a Jane."
"Where'd 'Willow' come from?"
"She saw something in the park that caught her eye. We went to look at it and, well, it was a tree. A great big Weeping Willow." I paused. "She seemed to respond to it as if it meant something to her."
We headed for the elevator. I lived on the top floor.
"She talk any?" Hawk asked.
I shook my head. "No. The doc says that her lack of speech is the same as her lack of memory. She seems to have lost these abilities through trauma and only time will tell if she talks at all, gets her memory back...or both."
We stopped at the elevator and when the doors opened, Willow recoiled. The bag of groceries she had been holding onto dropped to the floor and she backed up as fast as she could. The wall stopped her from going any further so she just slid to the floor, held her knees to herself and stared into the elevator. It occurred to me that the elevator was small and confining. Almost like a big box.
(((She saw darkness. All around her...nothing but darkness. She was trapped. She couldn't move. The air was so thin, she could barely breathe. Her arms were trapped behind her back. Her knees were tucked up against her as if she had been rolled into a ball. She wanted to scream but she couldn't...Then she felt like she was floating...floating...)))
I put my groceries down and knelt beside her. Thankfully, the elevator doors closed, but her eyes were locked on them. I looked at her and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.
She didn't move, and I worried about how tense her body had become.
"Willow..." I said softly. I held my hand out to her. "Willow, take my hand."
She looked at me then as if she were coming out of a trance. She grabbed my hand as her eyes filled with tears. She didn't know what to do and she was looking to me for help. She didn't understand what was happening to her or why.
"We'll take the stairs," I told her. "Okay?"
She glanced over at the elevator as if it were some kind of beast and nodded her head. I helped her to her feet and then we picked up the groceries.
Hawk was watching us, but I noticed that he had grabbed one of my bags which left me with two. "Stairs does the body good," Hawk said.
"I thought milk did that," I responded. "Besides, you're still so young. I'm old and need my strength."
"Nah. You just lazy."
We headed for the stairs and we walked up five flights. My apartment was right at the top of the stairs and we were inside at no time at all. Hawk and I put the groceries away. He saw the prescription of MS Conton that I had left on the counter the night before, and I was able to put it away discreetly before he could read the label.
"Didn't know you liked candy." Hawk regarded me. "I could have brought you some."
I shrugged and looked at Willow. She was just standing by the counter watching us and wringing her hands nervously. She looked like a lost and frightened little girl. My heart ached for her.
"Are you hungry?" I asked her. "You didn't eat much at the hospital. Would you like some breakfast?"
She shrugged.
"We can have eggs and toast...or we can go for the cereal you picked out and eat that since they won't let the rabbit eat it."
She seemed to like the idea of the cereal better than the eggs. I grabbed three bowls and I grabbed a carton of milk from the fridge, and then I carried them all to the table. Hawk was way ahead of the game. He had grabbed the Trix and he had even snatched up three spoons from the silverware drawer since I had forgotten about them. Then he joined us at the table.
"Funny thing about the rabbit on this box." I tapped the cartoon picture of the rabbit who was watching three kids dancing around a giant bowl of Trix. "They put him on the cover of the cereal boxes. They even get the poor rabbit to do commercials for them." I poured some of the cereal into a bowl for Willow, then for myself, and then I winked at her. "But they won't let him eat the cereal. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"
Willow put a stern look on her face and shook her head.
Hawk took the box from me. "Maybe he's just a bad bunny, 'cause I happen to know Bugs wouldn't put up with that."
"Why is he a bad bunny, Hawk? What did he do? Steal about fourteen carrots?"
Hawk gave me a look. "You losin' it, Bro. That was bad. Even for you."
I grinned.
There the three of us sat, eating Trix. Willow dabbled with her cereal and she didn't finish it all, but she did eat some of it. But as we sat there, her eyes would travel between Hawk and myself. Back and forth, back and forth, she watched us. I was just glad that she wasn't afraid of us. She even seemed to accept Hawk.
I glanced at him. "Did you happen to find out anything, or did you just show up for the Trix?"
"I came for the Trix," Hawk said. He paused as he looked at Willow. "However, there was something I did find out about."
"And that being?"
"Somebody big is out there looking for a package that was lost. In fact, the Lost Boys were sent last night to bring the package back to its owner." He flashed his teeth. "They were hindered."
I looked at him. "You were the hinderee." It wasn't a question.
"I was."
To myself, I cursed. I certainly didn't want to expose Willow to my colorful vocabulary which I usually reserved for moments like this. I had run into the Lost Boys once, and they were vicious scum of the earth. They were street trash hoodlums who believed they were some how invincible. I knew as Hawk did that we could not allow them to get their hands on Willow.
I would rather die before I let that happen.
"Who lost this package?" I asked.
"Well, Snake-Eyes did. That's why his boss wasn't too pleased with him."
And that was why Snake-Eyes had lost his head. The Lost Boys must have been the ones who had carried out the execution. I looked at Hawk. "Who is their boss? Who do they work for? Did you find that out?"
He looked at me and nodded once. "Uh-huh." Then, he asked me, "Do you like Sushi?"
"Not with my Trix." I then realized who he meant. "S'ushi Alyssia?"
Hawk nodded.
"She's back in Boston?"
"Word is that she'll be arriving today." He paused for affect. "She'll be in a foul mood. She'll know eventually where the package is. For a fish, she's pretty smart."
I had tried to gather enough evidence against S'ushi Alyssia once before about a year ago that would have proven she was involved deep into White Slavery. But the bitch had friends in high places and the evidence had simply disappeared. And so had she. But now she was back. She didn't like me for good reason. I was okay with that though because I didn't like her either. She was the only woman I had ever met that I wouldn't have minded slapping. Or punching like a man for that matter.
I looked at Willow.
I suddenly understood why this sweet girl had been afraid of the female nurses and doctors at the hospital. Because S'ushi Alyssia was a woman and she had hurt Willow. Somehow. Would Willow ever remember what S'ushi Alyssia had put her through? I was beginning to hope that Willow would never remember. I knew what S'ushi was capable of.
"We can't let her get the package," I said to Hawk.
Hawk smiled. "She won't. 'Cause first chance I get, I's gonna introduce little S'ushi to Charlie of the Sea and maybe if they get along nicely, they can make little tuna's together." He flashed a smile.
I looked at him. "And you accused me of making a bad pun with my fourteen carrots comment?"
"I been around you too long. You're starting to rub off on me."
____________________________
BOSTON-SHERATON HOTEL
"This thing weighs a ton!" Xander exclaimed as he and Giles carried the chest to the door of their room.
Together, they put the chest down and Giles took a deep breath as he fished out the room key.
Xander thought of Angel inside the chest as he caught his breath. "Now I know what it means when people talk about 'dead weight'."
Giles opened the door and then he reached for the chest. "Well...l-let's get him inside."
Xander bent to the task and the two of them tried to get through the door, but for some odd reason, they couldn't get the chest through the doorway. Giles frowned. It was like there was some kind of invisible barrier that prevented them entrance to their room.
"What's wrong?" Xander asked. "Why can't we get in?"
Giles was thinking about it. "G-give me a second, Xander. It will come to me."
"Giles," said a muffled voice from inside the chest.
Xander glanced nervously about in the hall but there wasn't anyone else about...Damn, he thought. Except for the couple that just got off the elevator. Oh, shit...and the lady wheeling the cleaning cart their way. He was beginning to feel awkward.
Giles looked at Xander, but to the chest, he said, "Er, what is it...Angel?"
There was a paused. Then Angel's muffled voice said, "The room was paid in your name?"
"Er, y-yes."
"Then it's your room. You know the drill."
Giles looked at Xander.
Xander frowned. "What is he talking about?"
Realization suddenly dawned on Giles. "Oh, er, A-Angel. You're invited."
With that done, he and Xander easily carried the chest through the doorway and Xander kicked the door shut with his foot.
"L-let's just set this down...against the wall," Giles told Xander. He gasped for breath. "A-and we must close those...curtains."
They set the chest down.
Xander took a deep breath and he closed the curtains while Giles turned on the lights. He then took out a key from his pocket, unlocked the padlock from the chest, and opened it.
Angel looked up at him from inside the chest. "Giles," he said with a groan, "this is definitely not the best way to travel."
Giles reached in and he helped Angel up. Angel leaned on Giles to keep his balance. Then he stood up, he stretched, and rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly, there was an audible crack.
Xander flinched. "Hey! That really sounded good!" He made a face.
"It felt good," Angel told him.
"I was being sarcastic." Xander looked from Angel to Giles. "Okay. So here we are. What's our first move?"
Angel stepped out of the chest and he glanced toward the window, grateful that the curtains had been closed. At the same time, he wished that he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin as a human did. As he once did, so long ago.
"There are some people I have to see," Angel said.
Xander frowned. "Angel, I don't know how to break this to you, but unless you can make these people come here to us, you'll have to wait until it gets dark."
"There's no time. Our only hope is to find Willow before they put her on a ship...or worst." He closed his eyes as the image of what he had seen at the Funhouse came into his mind. He looked at Giles. "We have to hit the sewers."
"Manhole covers are outside," Xander pointed out to him, "and outside is where the sun is."
Angel looked at him. "We can get to the basement. We'll find access to the sewers there."
Giles headed for the door. "Th-then, there's no more time to waste."
They headed for the basement. _____________________________
BOSTON-THE WHARF...(The Villains)
She was tall and athletic. She had dark green eyes and red hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her name was S'ushi Alyssia and she spun through the air, lashing out with a spin-kick that took the man full in the face. The man fell hard against a stack of crates and he slumped to the floor. He looked up in time to receive a kick in his ribs.
Two of them cracked.
Groaning in pain, the man tried to curl himself into a ball. S'ushi didn't let him.
She grabbed a handful of hair and slammed him face first into the floor. Then, she hauled him to his feet and glared into his face.
"Stand up and take it like a man," she growled at him.
The man grimaced from the pain, but he decided that to obey was the best course of action. He stood up and tried to keep himself straight. His ribs hurt badly and he couldn't keep the pain from showing on his face.
S'ushi backed away from him, and she turned to face David and his two boys. She noticed that one of the Lost Boy's was missing and that the remaining three were not too pleased about that.
Now S'ushi did not have the slightest idea why Little Mikey was missing. But she didn't really care why anyway. After all, it wasn't her concern.
Only one thing concerned her.
"Somebody lost my toy," she said through clenched teeth, "and I want it back!" She stopped to glare at Billiard who was standing by with three of his thugs. Billiard had a fourth lackey but that fool was currently trying to stand after having received S'ushi's personal greeting of hello...with her feet of fury striking every vulnerable part of his body.
"Snake-Eyes paid for his carelessness with his life," Billiard said calmly. "The Lost Boys saw to that." He cast a glare in their direction.
S'ushi scowled. "Snake-Eyes was one of yours," she reminded him with venom in her voice. "He allowed the safe-house to burn and he ran out of there to save his own miserable ass. Because of him, I'm out of a lot of money." A look of pleasure crossed her face as she thought of her new favorite girl. "And a lot of fun." Then a dangerous look came across her face as she turned to fix a glare upon the man she had been toying with. He was still standing there, trying to look like he wasn't in any pain. S'ushi smiled and regarded Billiard. "You just can't find good help these days, can you?"
Billiard didn't hesitate. "I can handle my men."
"Oh, so can I. And a whole heluva lot better than you can."
They were in an old, abandoned warehouse on the Wharf. It was a great place to conduct business, and it was also a great place for taking out the trash.
"You know," S'ushi began conversationally, "I've always loved to watch the Wild, Wild West. Nobody could tame the wild west and take on the notorious villains of the day like James West and Artemus Gordon could. They were my heroes." She let out a sigh. "I have learned so much from watching them."
She clicked her heels together.
A knife blade appeared from out of the toe of her right boot. She suddenly spun-kicked through the air and the blade sliced through the man's neck. He grasped at his throat in surprise, but as the blood seeped through his fingers, a look of panic crossed his face.
He gasped for breath.
Then he fell to his knees and he looked up at S'ushi pleadingly.
S'ushi just casually put her foot on his chest and pushed him onto his back. She watched the life fade right out of him and it gave her such a rush.
David glanced at Marco and Damien, and he had to smile at the woman's cruel nature. Damn, he thought, but she would make such a wonderful vampire. Then he smirked at Billiard and his remaining thugs.
S'ushi noticed, and she smiled. She just loved the rivalry between the two groups. She needed them both, but she liked the Lost Boys better because they really did know how to be bad. Billiard and his thugs could be bad, too, but they didn't do it for fun. In fact, she doubted if they even knew how to have fun. Not everything was always about money.
Hell...the Lost Boys were just bad.
She smiled at them. "If you boys want a snack, you'd better hurry. This man's blood will go cold when the light of life fades from his eyes."
David shook his head. "Nah. None for me, thank you." He looked at Marco and Damien. "But if my boys want to dive in, they're more than welcome to."
Marco and Damien looked at S'ushi expectantly.
She invited them to the feast with a wave and a smile.
The man on the floor was still barely clinging to his life. His eyes widened as he saw the two vampires approaching him. They sank their teeth into him and they fed on him.
Some of Billiard's men looked away. But Billiard watched the scene before him. He was furious, and yet he didn't let it show that he was.
David watched him. The look on his own face told his rival that S'ushi liked him better.
S'ushi herself watched the feeding frenzy for a moment. Then she got bored with it and turned to regard both Billiard and David. She made a pouty face, and puckered her lips. "I want my wittle Willow back," she told them.
"I have men looking for her now," Billiard responded.
"I don't want them looking!" she snapped. "I want them finding! Find her. Bring her to me unharmed, but kill whoever she is with."
"What if she's with Hawk?" David asked her.
S'ushi looked at him with genuine interest. "Hawk?"
He nodded. "He was at the hospital last night."
"And?"
"And I know Hawk. Starting a scene in a public place like that would have only drawn unwanted attention."
S'ushi approached him. "Are you telling me that Hawk wouldn't let you in because he was protecting her?"
He nodded again.
"If Hawk is protecting the sweet little bitch...then so is Spenser." She smiled. "And that means he would have taken her to his renovated firehouse."
David smiled. "Me and my boys can go there tonight."
Billiard interrupted. "Me and my boys can go there right now."
David glared at him.
S'ushi smiled. "Oooh, I just love the male testerone in here right now." She laughed. "Needs a little hot sauce, I think." She looked at Billiard. "You will send seven of your best men. They will bring me my girl back and don't forget to have them kill anyone who tries to stop them."
"I will lead them myself," Billiard assured her.
"The hell you will. You're staying here with me."
Billiard wanted to protest, but he knew better.
S'ushi looked thoughtful. "Now...when I do get my girl back, I'm going to teach her a lesson for causing me so much worry." She smiled. "Cause me worry...I will cause you pain." xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TO BE CONTINUED--