Part 2: Angel
#
Two hours and seventeen minutes ago Cordelia had a vision. She is probably still sore and wavering between blessing and cursing Doyle for passing on his gift to her. She hasn't had much time to get used to it yet, especially with Doyle's loss still so recent and raw.
Nevertheless, five minutes after the vision I was in my car and starting toward Sunnydale, thanking the Powers that it was still several hours until dawn. Truth to tell, though, the sun couldn't have kept me away. Tinted windows can do wonders if you need to go somewhere in a hurry.
Three minutes ago I arrived in Sunnydale and knew something was wrong. Didn't need a vision, actually. The huge plume of smoke rising into the night sky above the Sunnydale College grounds gave me all the clues I needed. Cordy saw fire in her vision. Some kind of underground installation, filled with burning bodies and screams.
Buffy in the midst of it.
Forty-six minutes until dawn, yet the night is bright as day. I have to abandon my car a good way away from the college grounds, as the streets are packed with emergency vehicles, panicked people, and onlookers. Precious minutes pass while I elbow my way through the thickening crowds towards the site of the devastation.
The lush college grounds are in flames. Most of the fire seems concentrated in and close to a large hole in the ground, looking as if something below blew up and then caved in. The rest are probably secondary fires, started by flaming debris. Dozens of firefighters are doing their utmost to quench the flames.
I try to get a sense of Buffy. There was a time we could feel each other, could tell when the other was close. I'm looking for that familiar tingle in my belly that tells me the other half of my soul is close by, yet there is nothing. Or maybe there is just too much distraction. Smoke, fire, screaming, so many people.
I check my watch again. Thirty-one minutes until dawn. There is no way I can conduct any kind of reasonable search of so large an area in so short a time. My heart screams for me to start anyway. Buffy is here somewhere, maybe hurt, maybe dying. I need to find her.
The rational part of me puts a stop to that. Cordy's vision was vague, it only showed that Buffy was somehow mixed up in this. Maybe she isn't even here. Maybe she got out in time and is now home, safe and sound.
The others. I need to check with them. Willow lives somewhere here on campus, yes. I remember her telling Cordy that she shares a dorm with Buffy. Maybe they're both there, trying to figure out what all the commotion is about.
Okay, approach things rationally. There has to be a register around here somewhere, a place I can get their dorm house and room number from. Scratch that! Takes too long. Lots of college students around here. Some of them are bound to know them, know where they live. I look around for a likely candidate.
Even better. I spot Willow standing close by, looking as if she just climbed out of bed. I run toward her, aware of the ticking clock. I need to get under cover soon. Willow's eyes are fixed to the flames and she doesn't even react to me until I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Wha ... Angel? You ... you're here? You're not ..."
Anticipating the question I shake my head. "No, Willow. I'm not evil. What happened here? Cordelia had a vision and ..."
"Cordelia had a vision?" Willow asks me, obviously completely confused.
"Long story!" I tell her. "Suffice to say I was told that something bad is going on here and Buffy is involved. What do you know?"
Willow stares back and forth between me and the fire, her eyes wide. From the looks of her she doesn't have a clue what is going on.
"Angel, I ... Buffy said she wanted to meet ... a friend, yes a friend. Said they had things to talk about. That was ... yesterday, yeah. Yesterday morning. I ... I haven't seen her since, but I wasn't worried. I mean, she ... she is the Slayer, right? It's normal when she doesn't get home all night, right? Patrol and all."
I can see how frightened she is, fearing that something has happened to her best friend. Believe me, Willow, I can emphasize. The thought of anything hurting her ... no, can't think about that now. Stay focused!
"This friend of hers," I ask Willow, "do you know where he or she lived?"
Willow just nods and points toward the burning hole in the ground.
"Lowell House. Right there."
#
Sunlight forces me into hiding. I didn't want to leave Willow, distraught as she is, but there was no helping it. I told her to come to Giles' place as quickly as possible, making my own way there through the sewers.
It was in these tunnels that I told Buffy I would leave her. Could I have chosen a worse setting for that little revelation?
No time for memories and regrets. Maybe Giles knows more than Willow. Knows why Buffy went to that house, what could possibly have happened down there. The sewer walls pass by me in a blur and I arrive before Giles' doorstep, my coat covering me from the sun, without any clear memory how I got here.
Willow arrives almost simultaneously and simply walks into Giles' apartment, too worried to even knock or say a word of greeting. Shrugging, I follow her, glad that Giles' invitation still stands. The former Watcher looks up from the TV. Giles with a TV? Then I see that he is watching the news, which is currently showing a picture of a big hole in the ground.
"Angel? What ... Willow, what happened? I turned on the news when I saw that smoke from the college and ..."
"Something blew up Lowell House, Giles." Willow says, her voice sounding like she might go into shock. "Buffy was going to go there to meet Riley and ... and I was about to go get her because we wanted to go to the college library for some books we need for psych class and then everything went boom and the house blew up. It just blew up, just like that, no warning, just a boom and there was fire everywhere and ..."
I silence her babble by placing a hand on her shoulder and it's as if I've cut the strings of a puppet. She collapses to the couch and I can see tears on her cheeks.
"Giles, Buffy was in there." She weeps. "What if she ... she ..."
Giles' face remains stoic, but over two centuries have taught me how to look past such a mask. He loves her like the daughter he never had and the thought that she might be gone ... she can't be gone. I would know if she were dead, I would know. She is alive. She has to be.
"Do any of you have an idea what she wanted at this house?" I ask them.
For a moment the two of them look at each other, then Giles clears his throat and takes off his glasses to clean them.
"Lowell House is where a friend of Buffy's lives, Angel." Giles says. "His name is Riley Finn and he is ..." His voice trails off and I know what he means. A friend of Buffy's. A boyfriend. Damn.
This is what I wanted for her, isn't it? Someone normal with whom she could share her life. Someone who can take her out into the sun, can maybe give her children someday, someone with whom she can grow old.
I hate Riley Finn already.
"Any news what might have caused the explosion yet?" I ask Giles, motioning toward the TV.
"They suspect it was a gas leak, or maybe a student prank gone horrible wrong, but no facts yet."
"What about that hole in the ground?" I ask him. "From the looks of that crater there must have been some kind of cave or large tunnel beneath the house."
Giles looks back at the TV, not having noticed that before, it seems. He looks back at Willow.
"Do you think ...?" The witch asks him, seeing his gaze.
"It would be possible." He replies. I kind of feel left out of the conversation.
"What are you talking about?"
Giles sighs again, once again cleaning his glasses.
"Over the past few weeks we have become aware of some kind of military outfit operating in Sunnydale. Buffy saw soldiers in the streets and then Spike turned up, no longer able to bite people. He told us ..."
TO BE CONTINUED
#
Two hours and seventeen minutes ago Cordelia had a vision. She is probably still sore and wavering between blessing and cursing Doyle for passing on his gift to her. She hasn't had much time to get used to it yet, especially with Doyle's loss still so recent and raw.
Nevertheless, five minutes after the vision I was in my car and starting toward Sunnydale, thanking the Powers that it was still several hours until dawn. Truth to tell, though, the sun couldn't have kept me away. Tinted windows can do wonders if you need to go somewhere in a hurry.
Three minutes ago I arrived in Sunnydale and knew something was wrong. Didn't need a vision, actually. The huge plume of smoke rising into the night sky above the Sunnydale College grounds gave me all the clues I needed. Cordy saw fire in her vision. Some kind of underground installation, filled with burning bodies and screams.
Buffy in the midst of it.
Forty-six minutes until dawn, yet the night is bright as day. I have to abandon my car a good way away from the college grounds, as the streets are packed with emergency vehicles, panicked people, and onlookers. Precious minutes pass while I elbow my way through the thickening crowds towards the site of the devastation.
The lush college grounds are in flames. Most of the fire seems concentrated in and close to a large hole in the ground, looking as if something below blew up and then caved in. The rest are probably secondary fires, started by flaming debris. Dozens of firefighters are doing their utmost to quench the flames.
I try to get a sense of Buffy. There was a time we could feel each other, could tell when the other was close. I'm looking for that familiar tingle in my belly that tells me the other half of my soul is close by, yet there is nothing. Or maybe there is just too much distraction. Smoke, fire, screaming, so many people.
I check my watch again. Thirty-one minutes until dawn. There is no way I can conduct any kind of reasonable search of so large an area in so short a time. My heart screams for me to start anyway. Buffy is here somewhere, maybe hurt, maybe dying. I need to find her.
The rational part of me puts a stop to that. Cordy's vision was vague, it only showed that Buffy was somehow mixed up in this. Maybe she isn't even here. Maybe she got out in time and is now home, safe and sound.
The others. I need to check with them. Willow lives somewhere here on campus, yes. I remember her telling Cordy that she shares a dorm with Buffy. Maybe they're both there, trying to figure out what all the commotion is about.
Okay, approach things rationally. There has to be a register around here somewhere, a place I can get their dorm house and room number from. Scratch that! Takes too long. Lots of college students around here. Some of them are bound to know them, know where they live. I look around for a likely candidate.
Even better. I spot Willow standing close by, looking as if she just climbed out of bed. I run toward her, aware of the ticking clock. I need to get under cover soon. Willow's eyes are fixed to the flames and she doesn't even react to me until I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Wha ... Angel? You ... you're here? You're not ..."
Anticipating the question I shake my head. "No, Willow. I'm not evil. What happened here? Cordelia had a vision and ..."
"Cordelia had a vision?" Willow asks me, obviously completely confused.
"Long story!" I tell her. "Suffice to say I was told that something bad is going on here and Buffy is involved. What do you know?"
Willow stares back and forth between me and the fire, her eyes wide. From the looks of her she doesn't have a clue what is going on.
"Angel, I ... Buffy said she wanted to meet ... a friend, yes a friend. Said they had things to talk about. That was ... yesterday, yeah. Yesterday morning. I ... I haven't seen her since, but I wasn't worried. I mean, she ... she is the Slayer, right? It's normal when she doesn't get home all night, right? Patrol and all."
I can see how frightened she is, fearing that something has happened to her best friend. Believe me, Willow, I can emphasize. The thought of anything hurting her ... no, can't think about that now. Stay focused!
"This friend of hers," I ask Willow, "do you know where he or she lived?"
Willow just nods and points toward the burning hole in the ground.
"Lowell House. Right there."
#
Sunlight forces me into hiding. I didn't want to leave Willow, distraught as she is, but there was no helping it. I told her to come to Giles' place as quickly as possible, making my own way there through the sewers.
It was in these tunnels that I told Buffy I would leave her. Could I have chosen a worse setting for that little revelation?
No time for memories and regrets. Maybe Giles knows more than Willow. Knows why Buffy went to that house, what could possibly have happened down there. The sewer walls pass by me in a blur and I arrive before Giles' doorstep, my coat covering me from the sun, without any clear memory how I got here.
Willow arrives almost simultaneously and simply walks into Giles' apartment, too worried to even knock or say a word of greeting. Shrugging, I follow her, glad that Giles' invitation still stands. The former Watcher looks up from the TV. Giles with a TV? Then I see that he is watching the news, which is currently showing a picture of a big hole in the ground.
"Angel? What ... Willow, what happened? I turned on the news when I saw that smoke from the college and ..."
"Something blew up Lowell House, Giles." Willow says, her voice sounding like she might go into shock. "Buffy was going to go there to meet Riley and ... and I was about to go get her because we wanted to go to the college library for some books we need for psych class and then everything went boom and the house blew up. It just blew up, just like that, no warning, just a boom and there was fire everywhere and ..."
I silence her babble by placing a hand on her shoulder and it's as if I've cut the strings of a puppet. She collapses to the couch and I can see tears on her cheeks.
"Giles, Buffy was in there." She weeps. "What if she ... she ..."
Giles' face remains stoic, but over two centuries have taught me how to look past such a mask. He loves her like the daughter he never had and the thought that she might be gone ... she can't be gone. I would know if she were dead, I would know. She is alive. She has to be.
"Do any of you have an idea what she wanted at this house?" I ask them.
For a moment the two of them look at each other, then Giles clears his throat and takes off his glasses to clean them.
"Lowell House is where a friend of Buffy's lives, Angel." Giles says. "His name is Riley Finn and he is ..." His voice trails off and I know what he means. A friend of Buffy's. A boyfriend. Damn.
This is what I wanted for her, isn't it? Someone normal with whom she could share her life. Someone who can take her out into the sun, can maybe give her children someday, someone with whom she can grow old.
I hate Riley Finn already.
"Any news what might have caused the explosion yet?" I ask Giles, motioning toward the TV.
"They suspect it was a gas leak, or maybe a student prank gone horrible wrong, but no facts yet."
"What about that hole in the ground?" I ask him. "From the looks of that crater there must have been some kind of cave or large tunnel beneath the house."
Giles looks back at the TV, not having noticed that before, it seems. He looks back at Willow.
"Do you think ...?" The witch asks him, seeing his gaze.
"It would be possible." He replies. I kind of feel left out of the conversation.
"What are you talking about?"
Giles sighs again, once again cleaning his glasses.
"Over the past few weeks we have become aware of some kind of military outfit operating in Sunnydale. Buffy saw soldiers in the streets and then Spike turned up, no longer able to bite people. He told us ..."
TO BE CONTINUED