Chapter 2: It Don't Mean Nothing, Dawg.
As the hour passed and darkness gave way to light Angel wandered in agony, his physical wound would heal but the wounds on his soul were close to fatal. He could think of nothing but what he saw in Connor's loft, his son fucking the only woman he who was both his best friend and the love of his life.
Angelus the Demon inside raged for release, Angel could hear the roars of the enraged demon, Angelus inside of him demanding that he be released so that he could take revenge on Connor and Cordelia. Angelus seethed at Angel for fleeing from the betrayal that Connor and Cordelia had committed against them, instead the demon demanded that they should have been united in body and minds to turn around and confront the little bastard and the slut. Angelus wanted to make those traitors suffer for the hurt that they had caused them. Angelus demanded that they return to their betrayers broken limbs for broken dreams, until the traitorous bitch and that little whelp bastard felt one tenth of the suffering that they felt. Angelus' rage came from both the natural vampiric territoriality and the suffering of Angel's soul, which reverberated like a wave into Angelus consciousness.
" Why didn't you kill that whore Darla when she showed up carry that freak, a stake through her heart would have prevented all of this, we never loved Darla. She was a convenient fuck, nothing more. Without her and the bastard she carried we would have already possessed Cordelia and made her our Queen. Better to have drained the little bastard of his blood and been done with it. If you let me go we can fulfill the Fop's bullshit prophecy, so that the father can kill the son." The demands rang through Angel's brain and served only to torment him further. Angelus demanded his rights to maim, torture, defile, and destroy the whore and the little whimp that she had chosen over him.
Through all the battle that raged inside what was left of Angel's shattered mind, Angel ran as fast as he could through the street of LA. Angel was dead to the sounds of LA's suffering residents, he didn't the night sky lit up by the countless fires that burned or the fire still falling from the sky over LA. Angel did not hear, nor would have cared to head the scream of the injured, the dying, and the soon to be dead. Nor did the sound of weeping from those who had watched love ones died before them filter through to Angel conscience. Even Angelus a creature who laughed at the pain of others and took joy from the suffering of humanity was dead to the feast of death and despair that was the City of Angels.
The only voice that Angel and his demon heard was the voices from the past offering love, happiness, and hope being twisted and destroyed by the betrayal he had suffered. The hope that was dying inside served to spurn Angel on through his physical pain, exhaustion.
Finally as the sun began to rise over a devastated LA, Angel finally stopped running only out of sheer exhaustion and pain. Angel found himself looking over the city of LA from the top of Mulholland Drive, he saw the smoke rising from LA and somewhere deep inside of Angel a memory of devastation following the World Wars was rekindled, but the memory quickly faded with the tired voice of Angelus demand that he be allowed to roam free and destroy those who had wronged them. Angel sat down and began the wait for the sun to rise in the sky in the hopes that the sunlight and it's warmth would come quickly and make his pain go away, forever.
But as the sun began to rise and parts of the city began to be bathed in daylight Angel was driven by his vampire instincts for survival and the promise by Angelus to help him repay the losses that they had suffered the night before. IN the end only his exhausted stumbling led Angel to find a small covered water tower on the hillside. If Angel had been capable of thought he might have wondered which losses Angeleus wanted to avenge first, however, what was left of Angel personality was beyond caring or even thought.
When Angel climbed into the covered water tank and shut the hatch, then he finally collapsed from the pain and exhaustion of the previous nights events. In the water tower Angel quickly fell into a troubled sleep. Gone were the beautiful dreams of home, family, humanity, and children that looked like him and his beautiful Seer that he had once held close and drew comfort and hope from. Now his dreams were twisted nightmares where he was all alone with no one to turn and hold on to. In Angel's dream he saw Cordelia in Connor apartment having sex with Connor while looking him and saying, " I told you that I love you, but I cannot be with a monster like you. So I might as well have the next best thing." In the dream Angel heard Connor's voice twisted with glee telling him that he could give Cordelia all the thing that she needed since she would never allow herself to be touch by such a monster. In that dream all of Angel's hope were lost and only the nightmare of the condemned were left for him.
A Few Block from the Hyperion
The woman known as Fred to her friends and only to the IRS as Winifred Burkle, was not know for being a stable individual. Five years in the demon dimension of Pylea as a slave to merciless demons could do that to any normal person. Then again Fred never started out as normal. Her nervous genius was always marked by her odd behavior when she was a little girl, eccentric was the kindest words her extended family had ever been able to come up with during family get together.
But the stop over in Pylea had given new heights to Fred's oddities and quirks, which anyone would say if asked were over the top. Today, however she was setting records for general weirdness and strange behaviors. If it had been any other day in LA her actions would have drawn crowds, the police, and the men in white coats. However last the night before fire had rained down from the sky and started fires all over LA. So it was safe for a thin white girl dressed in a powder-blue baby T-shirt with G's Genius scrawled across the front and tight blue jeans with her mousy brown hair in pig tails to run through the streets of LA brandishing a small battle-axe in one hand and a wooden stake in the other. Even when all the while she was screaming the refrain, " Coming through, there is an apocalypse I have to help stop!!!" But on this day in LA no one even blinked at the scene.
Fred was desperate to get to the Hyperion and check on the tattered remnants of her LA family. She ran as fast as her skinny body could hoping that the Gunn, Cordelia, Angel, Lorne, and Wesley were all right. She would even be happy if that lying little bastard Connor was there, as long as everyone else was o.k. .
In her minds eye she imagined getting to the Hotel to see the other already tending to what she hoped was minor injuries, waiting and wonder why she had missed the fight that had stopped the end of the world. But even her normally boisterous happy mindset could not put much faith in things working out that well, not after what she had seen last night.
As she came to the Hotel her cheerful thoughts turned dark as she found the lobby of the Hyperion empty and the whole place quite as a tomb, she wonder for a split second if a tomb was actually quite maybe latter she would ask Angel. But in an instant the thought was gone and dread began to build. If the others had won they would have had to have been back before dawn otherwise Angel was riding in the trunk of his GTO and someone else was driving, Fred knew that someone else driving Angel's car was never going to happen as long as Angel was alive. So Angel and the other must be making their way back to the Hotel through the sewers. She knew that there were going to be wounded, so she went about gathering up the first aid supplies. When that was finished she sat down to wait for her family to return.
Hours past and Fred began to get nervous, she began pace and talk to herself in an attempt to calm down and control her runaway thoughts. When talking failed she picked up a marker from the front desk and began writing advanced physics equations and theories on any surface she could find.
At last the numbers and theories began to call to her, taking her mind off the possible outcomes of Angel and the crews run in with the Demon. Fred kept writing as the time passed, not stopping for food or coffee, she just let the theories and formula flow forth.
As she continued to write the marker finally ran dry, and Fred did not even notice that as her hand moved to write down the theory, no ink made it to the surfaces she was writing on.
Around noon Fred was jolted back to reality by the sound of the Hyperion lobby door opening up, as soon as she heard the sound she dropped her pen and spun around to face whomever, or whatever might come through the door. In her right hand she held a wooden stake and in her left hand she held the small battle-axe that she always kept in her purse, since she had returned from Pylea. Before the figure could step out of the shadow into the full light of the lobby Fred said a quick prayer to any benevolent being that would hear her for safe return of Gunn and the rest of the crew.
As the figure appeared in the lobby gloomy light Fred raised her left hand and prepared to swing the battle-axe, "Hold it pumpkin, I don't need anymore damage to my oh so fine green skin that I already picked up last night."
At the incredulous look on Fred face Lorne retorted,
" Well I have been told on a number of occasion that my green skin is oh so fine and lovely."
At Fred blank and somewhat puzzled look Fred continued,
"Honey someone should have explained that comments like that are of a complimentary nature to you, since someone has failed to I guess that warrants a talk. But it can wait till later, then we will just have to have a Demon/Fred talk and explain flattery and complements."
"Lorne are you all right, you guys were gone so long I was starting to get a little nervous."
As Lorne looked at the new coat of graffiti behind the genius body he responded in the only way that he could.
"I can see that honey, but for future reference you might want to use washable ink pens, cause it is hell trying to cover-up or remove magic marker ink from Oak wood, wall, marble counter tops, and everything else you have used to write your oh so head-ache causing mathematics."
Before Fred could respond Lorne continued, "I don't know about you sweetie but I could use a large martini, maybe several large martinis to get over the aches that I have from last night. Oh, don't worry Gunn and Wesley are right behind me, they are just a little more, oh heck there a whole hell of a lot more battered and bruised than I am, but otherwise they will live."
As the Demon began to head upstairs Fred just began to register the numerous cuts and bruises that cover Lorne' face and hands.
"Lorne why don't you stay down here and let me help patch you up before the others get here."
"No, thanks sweetie as pretty and as you are with your button nose and sexy school girl glasses, you just are the person I want running their hands all over me. Not with Gunn in the vicinity, if I thought you and Gunn were up for something I would invite you up, however, I don't think that you or Gunn are the sharing type when it comes to your partners. So I will see you later sweetie pit."
"Ahh ahh." Shocked at Lorne's sexual overtones Fred was damn near speechless.
"Don't worry Fred when and if Cordelia ever shows up I will let her patch me up, you just take care of you two favorite admirers and let me take a long hot shower and get a little liquored up."
"Lorne. Oh my that was weird."
By the time Fred had recovered from the weirdness that was Lorne, he was already gone up the stairs and out of sight.
Finally she look through the lobby doors and saw two more forms closing in on the frosted decorative doors, when the door opened she saw a badly beaten pair of men stumble in the front doors of the Hyperion, both of whom were leaning on each other and stumbling like a couple of drunken sailors.
"Gunn, Wesley are you alright, you look horrible. I mean I have seen you guys after fights before, but I."
"Thanks Fred, I was feeling like I just got my assed kicked until you started talking, now I feel worse." Gunn responded.
"Baby, I did not mean to make you feel bad.."
"It ok Fred just let me sit down and take a bottle or two of aspirins and I will be okay in about a year."
"Gunn if you not careful will both end up on the ."
Before Wesley could finish his sentence, Gunn pulled away from him and fell across one of the couches in the lobby of the Hyperion, leaving Wesley to fall face first into the floor of the hotel.
"Damn it man, I tried to tell you that we would fall if you moved." Yelled Wesley from his place on the floor, as he looked up with an angry look.
"Sorry English, but I thought we would both make it."
"Alright let us try and get you both on the couch and I will see what I can do for you both. Other that the blood, the cuts, and bruises are you two seriously hurt because if you are we should go to the hospital and get you checked out."
"No permanent injuries, Winifred."
"I could say that I am all good, but that would be bullshit. I live and there is nothing the hospital can help except say that I should get to rest and not do anything too physical for a while. Except I would not listen to the part about doing nothing too physical." He finished by giving Fred the look that she had come to know so well.
"Not now Charles, I have to fix you and Wesley up since Cordelia is not here to do the job, and I still want to find out where Angel is and what happened when you fought the Beast.
You and Wesley can fill me in on the situation as I work on getting you fixed." Fred opened the first aid kit and started work on the two men while they gave and in-depth but sometimes questionable description of the fight.
"So Fred, when the fight was over and we had a chance to catch our breaths we went looking for Angel but we found nothing, no dust nothing at all. I think he may be hiding out until the sun comes down and we will see him again." Gunn finished.
"Well has anyone check on Cordelia since the fight was over?"
"We were a little too busted up to do anty8ing but stumble back here in the hopes of finding Angel."
"It's ok Wesley I know you, Gunn, and Lorne did the best that you can. Now Wesley it your turn to get patched up."
Gunn slid reluctant away from Fred and watched her move over to Wesley and began checking over his wounds.
"Wesley, what are we going to do if Angel and Cordelia are dead?" Fred asked.
"I would think that we would stay together and fight the good fight even if we loose."
Gunn looked up from his position on the couch just a foot or so away from Wesley and Fred and demanded "What is all of this loose crap? If Angel and Cordelia are dead we will keep fighting and we will win. It don't mean nothing, Dawg. It just the end of the world and I think with Angel and Cordelia or not we will save the world, because we don't have any choice." Gunn response was impassioned and the look on his face told the other that he meant what he said about fighting and winning, even if the others did not believe it.
Coming Soon
Chapter 3: Why do I wish I were a Coyote right now?
As the hour passed and darkness gave way to light Angel wandered in agony, his physical wound would heal but the wounds on his soul were close to fatal. He could think of nothing but what he saw in Connor's loft, his son fucking the only woman he who was both his best friend and the love of his life.
Angelus the Demon inside raged for release, Angel could hear the roars of the enraged demon, Angelus inside of him demanding that he be released so that he could take revenge on Connor and Cordelia. Angelus seethed at Angel for fleeing from the betrayal that Connor and Cordelia had committed against them, instead the demon demanded that they should have been united in body and minds to turn around and confront the little bastard and the slut. Angelus wanted to make those traitors suffer for the hurt that they had caused them. Angelus demanded that they return to their betrayers broken limbs for broken dreams, until the traitorous bitch and that little whelp bastard felt one tenth of the suffering that they felt. Angelus' rage came from both the natural vampiric territoriality and the suffering of Angel's soul, which reverberated like a wave into Angelus consciousness.
" Why didn't you kill that whore Darla when she showed up carry that freak, a stake through her heart would have prevented all of this, we never loved Darla. She was a convenient fuck, nothing more. Without her and the bastard she carried we would have already possessed Cordelia and made her our Queen. Better to have drained the little bastard of his blood and been done with it. If you let me go we can fulfill the Fop's bullshit prophecy, so that the father can kill the son." The demands rang through Angel's brain and served only to torment him further. Angelus demanded his rights to maim, torture, defile, and destroy the whore and the little whimp that she had chosen over him.
Through all the battle that raged inside what was left of Angel's shattered mind, Angel ran as fast as he could through the street of LA. Angel was dead to the sounds of LA's suffering residents, he didn't the night sky lit up by the countless fires that burned or the fire still falling from the sky over LA. Angel did not hear, nor would have cared to head the scream of the injured, the dying, and the soon to be dead. Nor did the sound of weeping from those who had watched love ones died before them filter through to Angel conscience. Even Angelus a creature who laughed at the pain of others and took joy from the suffering of humanity was dead to the feast of death and despair that was the City of Angels.
The only voice that Angel and his demon heard was the voices from the past offering love, happiness, and hope being twisted and destroyed by the betrayal he had suffered. The hope that was dying inside served to spurn Angel on through his physical pain, exhaustion.
Finally as the sun began to rise over a devastated LA, Angel finally stopped running only out of sheer exhaustion and pain. Angel found himself looking over the city of LA from the top of Mulholland Drive, he saw the smoke rising from LA and somewhere deep inside of Angel a memory of devastation following the World Wars was rekindled, but the memory quickly faded with the tired voice of Angelus demand that he be allowed to roam free and destroy those who had wronged them. Angel sat down and began the wait for the sun to rise in the sky in the hopes that the sunlight and it's warmth would come quickly and make his pain go away, forever.
But as the sun began to rise and parts of the city began to be bathed in daylight Angel was driven by his vampire instincts for survival and the promise by Angelus to help him repay the losses that they had suffered the night before. IN the end only his exhausted stumbling led Angel to find a small covered water tower on the hillside. If Angel had been capable of thought he might have wondered which losses Angeleus wanted to avenge first, however, what was left of Angel personality was beyond caring or even thought.
When Angel climbed into the covered water tank and shut the hatch, then he finally collapsed from the pain and exhaustion of the previous nights events. In the water tower Angel quickly fell into a troubled sleep. Gone were the beautiful dreams of home, family, humanity, and children that looked like him and his beautiful Seer that he had once held close and drew comfort and hope from. Now his dreams were twisted nightmares where he was all alone with no one to turn and hold on to. In Angel's dream he saw Cordelia in Connor apartment having sex with Connor while looking him and saying, " I told you that I love you, but I cannot be with a monster like you. So I might as well have the next best thing." In the dream Angel heard Connor's voice twisted with glee telling him that he could give Cordelia all the thing that she needed since she would never allow herself to be touch by such a monster. In that dream all of Angel's hope were lost and only the nightmare of the condemned were left for him.
A Few Block from the Hyperion
The woman known as Fred to her friends and only to the IRS as Winifred Burkle, was not know for being a stable individual. Five years in the demon dimension of Pylea as a slave to merciless demons could do that to any normal person. Then again Fred never started out as normal. Her nervous genius was always marked by her odd behavior when she was a little girl, eccentric was the kindest words her extended family had ever been able to come up with during family get together.
But the stop over in Pylea had given new heights to Fred's oddities and quirks, which anyone would say if asked were over the top. Today, however she was setting records for general weirdness and strange behaviors. If it had been any other day in LA her actions would have drawn crowds, the police, and the men in white coats. However last the night before fire had rained down from the sky and started fires all over LA. So it was safe for a thin white girl dressed in a powder-blue baby T-shirt with G's Genius scrawled across the front and tight blue jeans with her mousy brown hair in pig tails to run through the streets of LA brandishing a small battle-axe in one hand and a wooden stake in the other. Even when all the while she was screaming the refrain, " Coming through, there is an apocalypse I have to help stop!!!" But on this day in LA no one even blinked at the scene.
Fred was desperate to get to the Hyperion and check on the tattered remnants of her LA family. She ran as fast as her skinny body could hoping that the Gunn, Cordelia, Angel, Lorne, and Wesley were all right. She would even be happy if that lying little bastard Connor was there, as long as everyone else was o.k. .
In her minds eye she imagined getting to the Hotel to see the other already tending to what she hoped was minor injuries, waiting and wonder why she had missed the fight that had stopped the end of the world. But even her normally boisterous happy mindset could not put much faith in things working out that well, not after what she had seen last night.
As she came to the Hotel her cheerful thoughts turned dark as she found the lobby of the Hyperion empty and the whole place quite as a tomb, she wonder for a split second if a tomb was actually quite maybe latter she would ask Angel. But in an instant the thought was gone and dread began to build. If the others had won they would have had to have been back before dawn otherwise Angel was riding in the trunk of his GTO and someone else was driving, Fred knew that someone else driving Angel's car was never going to happen as long as Angel was alive. So Angel and the other must be making their way back to the Hotel through the sewers. She knew that there were going to be wounded, so she went about gathering up the first aid supplies. When that was finished she sat down to wait for her family to return.
Hours past and Fred began to get nervous, she began pace and talk to herself in an attempt to calm down and control her runaway thoughts. When talking failed she picked up a marker from the front desk and began writing advanced physics equations and theories on any surface she could find.
At last the numbers and theories began to call to her, taking her mind off the possible outcomes of Angel and the crews run in with the Demon. Fred kept writing as the time passed, not stopping for food or coffee, she just let the theories and formula flow forth.
As she continued to write the marker finally ran dry, and Fred did not even notice that as her hand moved to write down the theory, no ink made it to the surfaces she was writing on.
Around noon Fred was jolted back to reality by the sound of the Hyperion lobby door opening up, as soon as she heard the sound she dropped her pen and spun around to face whomever, or whatever might come through the door. In her right hand she held a wooden stake and in her left hand she held the small battle-axe that she always kept in her purse, since she had returned from Pylea. Before the figure could step out of the shadow into the full light of the lobby Fred said a quick prayer to any benevolent being that would hear her for safe return of Gunn and the rest of the crew.
As the figure appeared in the lobby gloomy light Fred raised her left hand and prepared to swing the battle-axe, "Hold it pumpkin, I don't need anymore damage to my oh so fine green skin that I already picked up last night."
At the incredulous look on Fred face Lorne retorted,
" Well I have been told on a number of occasion that my green skin is oh so fine and lovely."
At Fred blank and somewhat puzzled look Fred continued,
"Honey someone should have explained that comments like that are of a complimentary nature to you, since someone has failed to I guess that warrants a talk. But it can wait till later, then we will just have to have a Demon/Fred talk and explain flattery and complements."
"Lorne are you all right, you guys were gone so long I was starting to get a little nervous."
As Lorne looked at the new coat of graffiti behind the genius body he responded in the only way that he could.
"I can see that honey, but for future reference you might want to use washable ink pens, cause it is hell trying to cover-up or remove magic marker ink from Oak wood, wall, marble counter tops, and everything else you have used to write your oh so head-ache causing mathematics."
Before Fred could respond Lorne continued, "I don't know about you sweetie but I could use a large martini, maybe several large martinis to get over the aches that I have from last night. Oh, don't worry Gunn and Wesley are right behind me, they are just a little more, oh heck there a whole hell of a lot more battered and bruised than I am, but otherwise they will live."
As the Demon began to head upstairs Fred just began to register the numerous cuts and bruises that cover Lorne' face and hands.
"Lorne why don't you stay down here and let me help patch you up before the others get here."
"No, thanks sweetie as pretty and as you are with your button nose and sexy school girl glasses, you just are the person I want running their hands all over me. Not with Gunn in the vicinity, if I thought you and Gunn were up for something I would invite you up, however, I don't think that you or Gunn are the sharing type when it comes to your partners. So I will see you later sweetie pit."
"Ahh ahh." Shocked at Lorne's sexual overtones Fred was damn near speechless.
"Don't worry Fred when and if Cordelia ever shows up I will let her patch me up, you just take care of you two favorite admirers and let me take a long hot shower and get a little liquored up."
"Lorne. Oh my that was weird."
By the time Fred had recovered from the weirdness that was Lorne, he was already gone up the stairs and out of sight.
Finally she look through the lobby doors and saw two more forms closing in on the frosted decorative doors, when the door opened she saw a badly beaten pair of men stumble in the front doors of the Hyperion, both of whom were leaning on each other and stumbling like a couple of drunken sailors.
"Gunn, Wesley are you alright, you look horrible. I mean I have seen you guys after fights before, but I."
"Thanks Fred, I was feeling like I just got my assed kicked until you started talking, now I feel worse." Gunn responded.
"Baby, I did not mean to make you feel bad.."
"It ok Fred just let me sit down and take a bottle or two of aspirins and I will be okay in about a year."
"Gunn if you not careful will both end up on the ."
Before Wesley could finish his sentence, Gunn pulled away from him and fell across one of the couches in the lobby of the Hyperion, leaving Wesley to fall face first into the floor of the hotel.
"Damn it man, I tried to tell you that we would fall if you moved." Yelled Wesley from his place on the floor, as he looked up with an angry look.
"Sorry English, but I thought we would both make it."
"Alright let us try and get you both on the couch and I will see what I can do for you both. Other that the blood, the cuts, and bruises are you two seriously hurt because if you are we should go to the hospital and get you checked out."
"No permanent injuries, Winifred."
"I could say that I am all good, but that would be bullshit. I live and there is nothing the hospital can help except say that I should get to rest and not do anything too physical for a while. Except I would not listen to the part about doing nothing too physical." He finished by giving Fred the look that she had come to know so well.
"Not now Charles, I have to fix you and Wesley up since Cordelia is not here to do the job, and I still want to find out where Angel is and what happened when you fought the Beast.
You and Wesley can fill me in on the situation as I work on getting you fixed." Fred opened the first aid kit and started work on the two men while they gave and in-depth but sometimes questionable description of the fight.
"So Fred, when the fight was over and we had a chance to catch our breaths we went looking for Angel but we found nothing, no dust nothing at all. I think he may be hiding out until the sun comes down and we will see him again." Gunn finished.
"Well has anyone check on Cordelia since the fight was over?"
"We were a little too busted up to do anty8ing but stumble back here in the hopes of finding Angel."
"It's ok Wesley I know you, Gunn, and Lorne did the best that you can. Now Wesley it your turn to get patched up."
Gunn slid reluctant away from Fred and watched her move over to Wesley and began checking over his wounds.
"Wesley, what are we going to do if Angel and Cordelia are dead?" Fred asked.
"I would think that we would stay together and fight the good fight even if we loose."
Gunn looked up from his position on the couch just a foot or so away from Wesley and Fred and demanded "What is all of this loose crap? If Angel and Cordelia are dead we will keep fighting and we will win. It don't mean nothing, Dawg. It just the end of the world and I think with Angel and Cordelia or not we will save the world, because we don't have any choice." Gunn response was impassioned and the look on his face told the other that he meant what he said about fighting and winning, even if the others did not believe it.
Coming Soon
Chapter 3: Why do I wish I were a Coyote right now?