COTSWOLDS
Wesley was too stunned to believe what had just happened. And remembering the last time she'd kissed him, he pulled away.
"What?" Cordy demanded.
"Just...the last time....you -"
"Oh, that?" she scoffed. "I wasn't thinking straight. What with the...visions...and Doyle's death...and that freaky empath demon guy -"
"So you really -?"
"Yes, Wes." She traced his jawline with a delicate finger. "I really do like you. A lot."
"I like you too, Cordelia. I've known you were special since the day I met you."
"In fact, I think I might lo-love you," she stammered. Wesley knew how hard it was for her to admit something like that, after all the times she'd been hurt.
"I love you, Cordelia my dear," he told her as he bent his head to kiss her again.
******
"Okay, everybody. We have to stay together," said Buffy. They'd just gotten off the boat and were standing on a darkened pier, searching for a cab.
"Geez, B. We ain't in kindergarten."
"Ain't no cab gonna stop for us," Gunn surmised.
"This isn't LA," said Spike. "Taxis actually stop for black guys here."
The six of them piled into the cab appeared before Gunn could respond. An odd looking group, to be charitable.
"So, Spike, you never told us exactly what Drusilla told you over the phone," said Faith.
"She was sobbing - something about *burning up* - and then *Angel beast! Angel beast!* and then *Grandmum is a bad girl!* Then she went off about a *man who watches and a woman who sees things.* I learned a long time ago not to ignore her when she tells me the future. Make sense of it, I can't, but family's family and blood is blood."
"Anything else?" Buffy asked.
"No, after that she kinda lost her train of thought."
"So we came all the way over here on the babbling of some vampire who's completely insane and probably doesn't even know what day it is?" Dawn asked as the cab arrived at the train station.
"When Dru says something's gonna happen, something is gonna happen."
Emma needed to use the ladies' room; Faith volunteered to walk with her.
"I wonder if maybe I shouldn't just go home?" Emma said. "If I'm going to have to be escorted everywhere, I might as well do what Daddy wants."
"No, being your own, free person is way better than being someone's prisoner. No matter how safe you think you are with them."
"You want anything to eat?" Buffy asked Dawn.
"I could do with some curly fries," said Spike, "with lots of catsup."
"Nobody asked you, Spike. I'm really only concerned with my sister."
"I'm not hungry," said Dawn.
Emma screamed. The four of them heard it all the way across the train station and ran towards the sound. Faith was lying on the ground, clutching her head.
"What happened? Where is she?"
"They hit me with something. Like a baseball bat. I blacked out."
"Did you get a good look?" Buffy asked, helping her off the tiles.
"No. They jumped us when we coming out of the john. I didn't see them!" she cried in frustration.
"You did your best," said Spike.
******
KENSINGTON
Emma sat crosslegged on her bed, talking to her stuffed cow.
"Well, this is a fine mess I've gotten myself into, Mr. Devonshire."
The stuffed toy just stared at her with his baleful eyes. She played with his ears.
"I expect I won't be allowed out on my own ever again. Not even down to the end of the drive!"
Emma took his chin and pushed it into his face, then released it.
"Daddy is quite, quite angry with me, I'm sure. " She curled up on the mattress, the stuffed animal clutched in her arms, remembering that altogether too brief taste of freedom. Her new friends, Charles and Faith and Spike and Dawn and Buffy. Especially Charles. He was a nice guy, perhaps even boyfriend material. It would have been nice to have her first real boyfriend, and do all the things that boys and girls did together.
One of the servants came in, knocking softly and opening the door carefully.
"Dinner is on the table, if you'd like to come down, Miss Emma."
"I'm not hungry."
She was alone again, lying on her bed, staring up at the B.B. Mac poster on her wall.
"I am such a baby! There isn't any way Charles would ever, ever, in a million years be interested in me."
Emma closed her eyes and soon there were tears on Mr. Devonshire's white fur.
******
THE FOREST
A loud report sounded throughout the woods.
"Sounds like Darla's got our dinner," Cordy remarked. "I'm so hungry I'd actually eat it, whatever it turns out to be."
"She's gone out hunting?" Wesley looked up sharply from the carefully contained fire he was building. "You can't just go around firing guns into the woods. There are laws, Angel!"
"Tell that to the 400-year-old demon who hacked and hewed the life out of the American wilderness. You tell my sire she can't hunt and kill her own dinner."
"But there are hardly any wild animals around anymore!"
"Then it should be interesting to see what she came up with," Angel said mildly.
"Says the man who used to eat rats," Cordy muttered. "Why can't we find a town and eat at a restauraunt? I'd even settle for a convience store."
"We need to lay low until we decide what we're going to do next," Angel explained. "Do we try and get back to the airport where David Nabbit's plane is docked, or do we keep trying to have our vacation?"
"I'd say the vacation is over."
Wesley's bag was ringing. He reached in and retrieved the cell phone.
"Wesley Wyndham-Pryce speaking."
"Gunn? Where are you?"
"Buffy and Spike and Faith?"
"Drusilla told him?"
"Charles, I can't hear you!"
"THEY WHAT?"
"Emma's been kidnapped," Wesley said solemly as he put down the phone and imparted the whole story to Angel and Cordelia.
"Faith says she thinks the men who took her were Watchers. They're in London. I don't quite understand what's going on..."
"Then I think we need to go to London," said Angel. "In a few hours, after we've eaten. I'll drive while you two sleep."
******
ON THE ROAD SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LONDON AND THE COTSWOLDS
"They look so sweet..." Darla cooed as she peeked in the rearview mirror at their young human friends asleep in the back. "Just like children."
"Or Spike and Dru. I keep expecting Wes to wake up and start whining."
*The Sweetest Thing* by U2 drifted from the radio; Angel moved to change the station.
"I happen to like that song!" a sleepy Wesley complained.
"Well, I don't!"
"Angel, turn it back!"
"Hey - Who's driving? I am, so I decide what plays on the radio!"
"No more pancakes, Miranda." Cordelia murmured, and then shifted against Wesley into a deeper sleep.
"What were you saying about flashbacks?" Darla laughed.
"It's not funny!"
"Yes, it is," she snickered.
The song ended, and a news report replaced it.
"The effort to solve a 16-year-old murder case continues tonight. Called the 'Fang Gang,' a group of three serial killers stalked the London club scene during the early 1980s. The name derives from the fact that all victims appear to have been bitten several times. Two victims were members of a wealthy and prominent family. Two of the suspects have been sighted in separate places, one in London and one in the small country town of Stoneham. Here's CID officer Jonothan Baker, with important information."
"We receive many, many calls from citizens claiming to have seen various suspects in unsolved cases. Mostly these are made up stories, or mistakes. However, we encourage anyone who has information to come forward anyway, you never know what we might find."
"What can you tell us about the suspects we should be watching for?"
"Suspect number one is a male, blond, 5'9", blue eyes. Suspect number two is a female, 5'7", black hair, blue eyes. Suspect number three is female, 5'4", blonde hair, blue eyes. If you see any of them, please do not approach them. They are very dangerous."
"He did this," Darla said. "Wesley's father did this."
"He's the only one who could ever give a clear description of you guys."
"The worst part is that this isn't some unmotivated 'All Vampires Are Evil And Must Die' thing - he's actually got a right to be vengeful. I did kill his son and turn the boy into a demon, thereby enabling him to kill his own mother."
"I guess the concept of us having souls is a little hard for His Lordship to accept. There are some people who just can't forgive, they don't have it in them."
******
KENSINGTON
"It's difficult for me to express in words how dissapointed I am in you," Daddy said, pacing the room.
"Daddy, I'm sorry I ra-"
"Until now, I hadn't thought you were capable of such actions. You know how I feel about you going off by yourself, let alone dissapearing to California."
Emma looked at the floor, knowing it was pointless to try to explain herself.
"The school is going to put you on Academic Probation; you're fortunate they haven't expelled you. You'll have to make up all your missed schoolwork, as well as missed training sessions, starting today."
"Yes, Daddy."
"Best get started right away. Your mother wants me to remind you that your debut is in two days, don't forget. For now I want 200 reps on the freeweights, and practice the Leopard form and the Python form seven times each. I'll be down to check your kicks and your fencing in four hours - and they better be up to par."
******
LONDON
Buffy stood hunched over the payphone inside a booth.
"Mom? We're gonna be here awhile - some stuff came up."
"Yes, Dawn's fine. She's dealing pretty well."
"I know, but she needs to be with me; I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting her."
"Mom? Did I hear Giles in the background?" She asked with a wicked grin.
"None of my business, I know, I know. Did I get any mail?"
Buffy listened to her mother read a letter over the phone.
"Miss Buffy Summers and Miss Dawn Summers are hereby invited to attend the debut of Miss Emma Margaret Wyndham-Pryce on February 22, 2000."
Go to Part 9
