Title: Loose Ends
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: All the characters you recognize belong to Joss & co. (all hail the crackhead). I'm just fooling around with his universe, with no intention of making money or anything.
Classification: Buffy-Angel crossover
Rating: PG13
Feedback: Yes, please! Doesn't everyone want it?
Email: janemccartney@bol.com.br
Distribution: Anywhere, I don't mind, just credit me and inform me where it's at.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Theo, who actually made this project a viable one with his amazing and wonderful work - I'm truly grateful for your help with the English grammar and all the necessary adaptations. You're my savior.
Note: This is my very first attempt at fan fiction, and English is definitely not my native language, so I'd be happy if you guys didn't go too hard on me - please. I'm just doing the best I can here.
Summary: [Buffy-Angel Crossover] Xander shows up in Los Angeles, and brings with him a secret that'll lead him into dangerous territory. Can he cope with that? And his friends, will they be there for him?
***
"Hurry up! Damn it Wes, you're driving too slow!" yelled Cordelia, her short hair flying furiously with the wind blowing against her face.
"I'm going at full speed here! And just for the record, I've been pulled over for so many speeding violations in this country, it's not funny! I mean good Lord, you have never had to pay the fines as a result of urging me to break the traffic laws, and that's not exactly bloody fair!" Wesley retorted defensively.
"What a bloody shame," the brunette seer snorted impatiently, intentionally imitating an English accent.
"Guys, guys, please, shut up! We're close now, and this 'tude ain't gonna get us anywhere, all right? And also, it's really annoying if ya ask me," Gunn protested loudly.
"I didn't ask you!" shouted Wesley and Cordelia, both at the exact same time.
"Stop it! Stop it! I mean - um, we didn't ask you to start fighting the entire way back to the hotel! It's only making everybody more nervous, and it's not quite a wise thing right now! Our... our Angel, he can be killed and I know that you two are afraid, and it's not a genuine threat 'cause it's that Xander boy, and it's strange, but yelling at each other really isn't going to get us anywhere!" demanded Fred, shocked with herself for yelling in such an impatient tone.
"So, so, I'm with Gunn, it's annoying," completed the Texan girl quietly.
The former Watcher and the young seer almost gasped in surprise and shame, at Fred's words. They locked eyes for an instant, and a strange silence took over the car for a few brief moments.
"She started it!" Wesley then exclaimed pointedly.
"Me?! Well, well... up yours, Wesley!" the brunette young woman replied promptly.
"See what I mean?" the Englishman pointed out to the others.
Fred and Gunn just groaned. This was going to be a long ride.
"Oh," Cordelia suddenly squeaked.
No one actually bothered to listen to the brunette girl.
"Oh, oh, oh!" the young woman continued loudly. This time, everybody's thoughts were broken by her cries.
"Well, what is it?" demanded the former Watcher.
"You said Angel would be unconscious, right? That he wouldn't be able to fight back," asked Cordelia, with a shocked expression covering her features.
"Yes, I did," Wesley answered carefully.
"That's not what's gonna happen," the seer stated simply.
"Your vision," the British man sighed, the obvious but lost perspective of the night's odd events confusing him even more at this point.
"What the hell are you guys talkin' about?" questioned Gunn.
Fred stared at the exchange of confused and nervous glances between her two friends, and then at a lost Gunn demanding answers from them.
What was really ironic, was that she had initially thought that this night would be actually a calm and blissful one for a change.
"I saw it, they were fighting, and Angel was pretty much, well, not asleep," the brunette girl said softly, still taken aback by the shock of the sudden revelations.
Wesley interrupted her. "But what's utterly odd, is that Xander wouldn't exactly be a major threat - what with Angel's supernatural strength and all. And, we also have to consider the fact that this isn't a normal situation - in any way. There's no reason why we should believe that Xander's been possessed by any kind of demon, he didn't actually send out any signs for such a thing back at the hotel."
Both Fred and Gunn gazed the former Watcher with growing curiosity. Cordelia just sighed nervously.
He continued, "If the Powers That Be sent a vision; and please, correct me if I'm wrong, Cordelia; of the two of them locked in a deadly fight, nothing more than that - no matter the... the wrong side, let us say - then that means that either Angel or Xander could-"
"Be killed by the other one," Gunn finished softly.
The car stopped violently in front of the Hyperion's front door, parked on the sidewalk without any real care, and the four members of the Fang Gang promptly made their way into the interior of the hotel.
With heavy steps and unsure gazes, they sped through the old corridors of the Hyperion and ran directly to Angel's room, led by Cordelia.
And all their fears came true, in one single moment.
***
"Um - d-don't freak out," Buffy began nervously, the words barely managing to come out of her mouth.
"OK, then, don't give me a reason to," replied Anya, her voice already betraying her futile attempt to stay calm.
Ever since Xander's proposal, she'd thought of at least a thousand problems that could ruin the wedding ceremony. So close to the big day, she'd now dropped most of her paranoia and finally believed that everything would actually go perfectly OK.
Then again, maybe 50 or 60 things could still represent a real risk to this day; which certainly included a massive attack of an evil bunny army, to open the Hellmouth.
Anya was happy that she wasn't being all paranoid anymore. Just realistic.
Tara, Willow and Dawn quickly jumped out of their seats. They glanced at Buffy, and already prepared themselves for the major - and very possible bad - news waiting to be told by the Slayer.
"So? Spill!" the former demoness demanded loudly.
"Okay, okay," blurted out Buffy, pacing back and forth around the room. "This is the deal. Giles was at your apartment, to pick up Xander, and... well, he was kinda... not there. Actually, he's nowhere to be found."
Anya's mouth dropped; as did Willow's, Tara's and Dawn's.
"I'm sorry, Anya, but I'm sure he'll appear soon!" comforted the blonde Slayer.
"He - he could be at a bachelor party! Xander wouldn't have run for the hills! He'd never, ever do such a horrible thing to you, I'm really sure," offered Willow.
Anya turned once again to Buffy, who nodded promptly. "I'm also sure. Very deeply, strongly, and completely sure," she said, with her best attempt to put a comforting smile on her lips.
"Oh," squeaked Anya. "I'm more calm now."
Buffy, Tara, Willow and Dawn sighed in relief - at least she wasn't totally freaking out.
"So. Uh, maybe my fiancé's forgotten about the wedding day, and is having fun with a stripper right now. I'm so calm that I can actually think of the most painful way to horribly torture him," the former demon offered nervously.
OK - maybe she wasn't exactly calm. Maybe she, in fact, is totally freaking out, concluded the four other girls in the room together.
"Oh man, I'd so much more prefer to deal with the evil bunny army," whispered Anya in frustration.
Dawn was about to spill a 'what?' to that last statement, but Buffy promptly covered her sister's mouth with her hand.
The former demoness moved hopelessly through the room, and sat on a nearby chair.
"Anya, I'm sure he'll appear soon," Tara said softly, rubbing her hands with Anya's in a comforting gesture.
She looked up at the witch with puppy-dog eyes. "Do you really think so?"
The blonde Wicca exchanged a nervous glance with her girlfriend. Willow just nodded uncertainly.
"Yeah. W-we all do," completed Tara.
Dawn and Tara helped the bride to get up off the chair. At the same moment, a slightly pale Rupert Giles abruptly entered the room.
"G-giles?" Buffy questioned weakly.
"It's Wesley on the phone," the Englishman stated simply.
***
A hero.
He had to be a hero.
He had to be a frickin' hero.
Damn it, he'd never asked for that! Not at this price.
But the universe seemed to have an odd sense of humor when it came down to his life, anyway.
So, here he was. Fighting against a friend's one true love, another friend's best friend, the man who everybody considered to be the hero.
Well, vampire. Whatever.
The irony was still there. He had to kill the hero, and be the hero. Even if he didn't have a hero's strength, but the hero actually had the hero's strength.
And he didn't even want to kill Deadboy! Well, not like this. And also, no one would really see him as the hero because of his actions, more like the villain.
Or an utterly crazy lunatic.
He could try to explain later, but he was pretty sure no-one would be exactly open to that. After all, he'd have killed their hero. Unless their hero killed him first. And then, everything would be lost.
Oooh... this was so confusing.
But he had to do it.
Just great. These words seemed too much like his new freaking mantra for his own liking.
Xander pointed the spare crossbow at Angel's chest, and pulled the trigger. The ensouled vampire tried futilely to escape, but it was too late. He growled in pain, and fell harshly to the floor with a piece of wood in his chest.
Funny, I thought that vampires dusted when someone kills 'em, Xander wondered with a confused shake of head.
Angel growled once again, this time trying to get up by supporting himself on the nearby bed.
OK, Einstein, he's not dead. Not in the vampire way to be dead, anyway, the dark-haired boy nervously concluded.
Xander ran to where Angel had fallen and kicked him viciously in the head, trying to vainly adjust his weapon along the way.
Damn trembling hands! They weren't helping him at all.
But Angel was able to recover, and he knocked the dark-haired boy to the floor with him. The crossbow was lost as Xander tried to punch him in the stomach, but the vampire's reflexes were faster and Angel managed to escape the blow, rolling along the carpet.
The boy was momentarily distracted by the first really successful reaction on Angel's part to his offensive this night, and he tried to grab the crossbow tossed away by the souled vampire, but it was too far away for his hands to reach.
With that short amount of free time, Angel was able to pull out the bolt shot into his chest just a few millimeters away from his heart, with a brief scream of pain. He was lucky that the shots had missed his heart not once, but twice tonight.
Well, maybe luck wasn't exactly the key word for it, this night.
From the corner of his eye, the former Scourge of Europe saw Xander's futile attempts to once again obtain his weapon. But he was closer, and managed to grab the crossbow with his own two hands and pointed it at Xander's chest.
The human and the vampire locked eyes, for an instant.
The only sound heard in the room was Xander's panting breath.
Angel, now with his game face on, briefly analyzed the young man's being, and threw the crossbow a secure distance away in the room.
Then, he violently grabbed Xander's jacket and smashed the young man against the wall over and over again, only stopping and winning back self- control upon hearing the dark-haired boy's weak gasps for breath.
The room was a complete mess; its furniture was either partially trashed or out of place, easily indicating the fight that had occurred just a few brief moments ago.
Still pushing Xander against the wall, the ensouled vampire, his usually calm features returned to his once-again human face, questioned him: "What the hell's happening here, Xander? Will you or will you not explain it to me?"
"I'm sorry. But you gotta die."
The dark-haired young man stared at the vamp with his haunted but determined eyes and raised his free arm, clenching his fist tightly, above Angel's back.
A savage blow later, successfully pushing Angel away, Xander was able to run to his bag and take a sharp stake from it.
"Damn it," cursed the ensouled vampire impatiently.
Angel didn't really want to take drastic measures to stop whatever craziness had overtaken the boy, at this moment.
So with a well-administered kick on his part, the weapon was quickly blasted away from the young man's hand.
They engaged in a brief look at each other's hazy and confused eyes, and Xander then took out another stake from his jacket and sped furiously in the vampire's direction.
And then a loud noise of heavy steps and desperate screams were caught by Angel and Xander, which was followed by the entrance of the shocked Fang Gang into the room.
No one knew exactly what to do; they just kept staring blankly at each other, the six of them, for a few brief instants.
Finally, Xander abruptly threw himself towards the closer window, provoking an utter crash of broken glass. He put his arms in front of his body, protecting himself from the fall and sharp objects, and then started to run along the streets of L.A., quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Wesley and Gunn promptly started down the Hyperion's stairs, trying futilely to reach the dark-haired young man.
Angel stayed motionless for a brief second, then turned to a scared Cordelia at his side.
"Something's really wrong here," he said simply.
Cordelia raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Well, ya think?"
An odd silence occurred for a short moment.
"He looked normal when we left! As normal as Xander Harris could be, I mean. I just don't get it," the young seer whispered, still drowned in utter confusion.
"What?! Are you telling me that you guys actually left him here to kill me?" demanded an incredulous Angel.
The brunette girl gasped. Oh, boy. I've got such a damned big mouth!
"'Leave' kinda isn't the appropriate word," she began apologetically. "I mean sheesh, how were we supposed to know that he was gonna try to stake you? I mean, no one coulda ever imagined that Xander would actually be that dumb, and we really didn't-"
With the abrupt strength that had overtaken her being so many times before, Cordelia Chase's world went black and was filled with almost unbearable pain of confusing images and sounds.
She woke up a few seconds later, supported in Angel's careful arms.
"Are you OK?" he asked gently, laying her body down in his bed.
"Yeah, I guess," she looked up at him for a moment. "You need to go, Angel. A few blocks away, corner of Madison and Whelon Boulevard, an old woman and three big ugly 'X-files'-wannabe demons."
He chuckled weakly. "Are you gonna be alright?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Now go," the young seer replied softly.
Putting aside the odd events of the night with Cordelia's new vision, Angel ran furiously down the stairs, bumping into Wesley and Gunn on the way.
"We couldn't reach him, the man just vanished throu-"
Angel promptly interrupted Gunn. "We gotta go, Cordelia had a vision. It's only a few blocks away from here and I'm gonna need your help, it's three green demons according to Cordelia's 411."
"Should be easy to locate 'em," Gunn replied mockingly.
"Cordelia didn't ask to come too?" questioned an amazed Wesley.
"Yeah, I also found that weird, but she's had three visions in the same night; Cordelia must be really tired right now," retorted the ensouled vampire. "Too tired for her usual stubbornness."
Wesley chuckled and sent a meaningful glance at Angel, and the three of them grabbed weapons and departed into the night, to fight the good fight against the tireless creatures of evil.
At the top of the stairs, Cordelia glanced at the three men while they ran to the supposed new danger's location.
Fred was somewhere in the bowels of the hotel, out of mind and out of sight for the young brunette. She sighed in relief for that, and started down the stairs.
"Oh man, I hate it when I've gotta lie to them," Cordelia whispered sadly.
***
Hey, folks! It's me, once again. Thanks for the reviews! I swear that in the next chapter the whole [well, most of it] big secret will be open. Review me again, right? I've a great problem of addiction for them!
Author: Jane McCartney
Disclaimer: All the characters you recognize belong to Joss & co. (all hail the crackhead). I'm just fooling around with his universe, with no intention of making money or anything.
Classification: Buffy-Angel crossover
Rating: PG13
Feedback: Yes, please! Doesn't everyone want it?
Email: janemccartney@bol.com.br
Distribution: Anywhere, I don't mind, just credit me and inform me where it's at.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Theo, who actually made this project a viable one with his amazing and wonderful work - I'm truly grateful for your help with the English grammar and all the necessary adaptations. You're my savior.
Note: This is my very first attempt at fan fiction, and English is definitely not my native language, so I'd be happy if you guys didn't go too hard on me - please. I'm just doing the best I can here.
Summary: [Buffy-Angel Crossover] Xander shows up in Los Angeles, and brings with him a secret that'll lead him into dangerous territory. Can he cope with that? And his friends, will they be there for him?
***
"Hurry up! Damn it Wes, you're driving too slow!" yelled Cordelia, her short hair flying furiously with the wind blowing against her face.
"I'm going at full speed here! And just for the record, I've been pulled over for so many speeding violations in this country, it's not funny! I mean good Lord, you have never had to pay the fines as a result of urging me to break the traffic laws, and that's not exactly bloody fair!" Wesley retorted defensively.
"What a bloody shame," the brunette seer snorted impatiently, intentionally imitating an English accent.
"Guys, guys, please, shut up! We're close now, and this 'tude ain't gonna get us anywhere, all right? And also, it's really annoying if ya ask me," Gunn protested loudly.
"I didn't ask you!" shouted Wesley and Cordelia, both at the exact same time.
"Stop it! Stop it! I mean - um, we didn't ask you to start fighting the entire way back to the hotel! It's only making everybody more nervous, and it's not quite a wise thing right now! Our... our Angel, he can be killed and I know that you two are afraid, and it's not a genuine threat 'cause it's that Xander boy, and it's strange, but yelling at each other really isn't going to get us anywhere!" demanded Fred, shocked with herself for yelling in such an impatient tone.
"So, so, I'm with Gunn, it's annoying," completed the Texan girl quietly.
The former Watcher and the young seer almost gasped in surprise and shame, at Fred's words. They locked eyes for an instant, and a strange silence took over the car for a few brief moments.
"She started it!" Wesley then exclaimed pointedly.
"Me?! Well, well... up yours, Wesley!" the brunette young woman replied promptly.
"See what I mean?" the Englishman pointed out to the others.
Fred and Gunn just groaned. This was going to be a long ride.
"Oh," Cordelia suddenly squeaked.
No one actually bothered to listen to the brunette girl.
"Oh, oh, oh!" the young woman continued loudly. This time, everybody's thoughts were broken by her cries.
"Well, what is it?" demanded the former Watcher.
"You said Angel would be unconscious, right? That he wouldn't be able to fight back," asked Cordelia, with a shocked expression covering her features.
"Yes, I did," Wesley answered carefully.
"That's not what's gonna happen," the seer stated simply.
"Your vision," the British man sighed, the obvious but lost perspective of the night's odd events confusing him even more at this point.
"What the hell are you guys talkin' about?" questioned Gunn.
Fred stared at the exchange of confused and nervous glances between her two friends, and then at a lost Gunn demanding answers from them.
What was really ironic, was that she had initially thought that this night would be actually a calm and blissful one for a change.
"I saw it, they were fighting, and Angel was pretty much, well, not asleep," the brunette girl said softly, still taken aback by the shock of the sudden revelations.
Wesley interrupted her. "But what's utterly odd, is that Xander wouldn't exactly be a major threat - what with Angel's supernatural strength and all. And, we also have to consider the fact that this isn't a normal situation - in any way. There's no reason why we should believe that Xander's been possessed by any kind of demon, he didn't actually send out any signs for such a thing back at the hotel."
Both Fred and Gunn gazed the former Watcher with growing curiosity. Cordelia just sighed nervously.
He continued, "If the Powers That Be sent a vision; and please, correct me if I'm wrong, Cordelia; of the two of them locked in a deadly fight, nothing more than that - no matter the... the wrong side, let us say - then that means that either Angel or Xander could-"
"Be killed by the other one," Gunn finished softly.
The car stopped violently in front of the Hyperion's front door, parked on the sidewalk without any real care, and the four members of the Fang Gang promptly made their way into the interior of the hotel.
With heavy steps and unsure gazes, they sped through the old corridors of the Hyperion and ran directly to Angel's room, led by Cordelia.
And all their fears came true, in one single moment.
***
"Um - d-don't freak out," Buffy began nervously, the words barely managing to come out of her mouth.
"OK, then, don't give me a reason to," replied Anya, her voice already betraying her futile attempt to stay calm.
Ever since Xander's proposal, she'd thought of at least a thousand problems that could ruin the wedding ceremony. So close to the big day, she'd now dropped most of her paranoia and finally believed that everything would actually go perfectly OK.
Then again, maybe 50 or 60 things could still represent a real risk to this day; which certainly included a massive attack of an evil bunny army, to open the Hellmouth.
Anya was happy that she wasn't being all paranoid anymore. Just realistic.
Tara, Willow and Dawn quickly jumped out of their seats. They glanced at Buffy, and already prepared themselves for the major - and very possible bad - news waiting to be told by the Slayer.
"So? Spill!" the former demoness demanded loudly.
"Okay, okay," blurted out Buffy, pacing back and forth around the room. "This is the deal. Giles was at your apartment, to pick up Xander, and... well, he was kinda... not there. Actually, he's nowhere to be found."
Anya's mouth dropped; as did Willow's, Tara's and Dawn's.
"I'm sorry, Anya, but I'm sure he'll appear soon!" comforted the blonde Slayer.
"He - he could be at a bachelor party! Xander wouldn't have run for the hills! He'd never, ever do such a horrible thing to you, I'm really sure," offered Willow.
Anya turned once again to Buffy, who nodded promptly. "I'm also sure. Very deeply, strongly, and completely sure," she said, with her best attempt to put a comforting smile on her lips.
"Oh," squeaked Anya. "I'm more calm now."
Buffy, Tara, Willow and Dawn sighed in relief - at least she wasn't totally freaking out.
"So. Uh, maybe my fiancé's forgotten about the wedding day, and is having fun with a stripper right now. I'm so calm that I can actually think of the most painful way to horribly torture him," the former demon offered nervously.
OK - maybe she wasn't exactly calm. Maybe she, in fact, is totally freaking out, concluded the four other girls in the room together.
"Oh man, I'd so much more prefer to deal with the evil bunny army," whispered Anya in frustration.
Dawn was about to spill a 'what?' to that last statement, but Buffy promptly covered her sister's mouth with her hand.
The former demoness moved hopelessly through the room, and sat on a nearby chair.
"Anya, I'm sure he'll appear soon," Tara said softly, rubbing her hands with Anya's in a comforting gesture.
She looked up at the witch with puppy-dog eyes. "Do you really think so?"
The blonde Wicca exchanged a nervous glance with her girlfriend. Willow just nodded uncertainly.
"Yeah. W-we all do," completed Tara.
Dawn and Tara helped the bride to get up off the chair. At the same moment, a slightly pale Rupert Giles abruptly entered the room.
"G-giles?" Buffy questioned weakly.
"It's Wesley on the phone," the Englishman stated simply.
***
A hero.
He had to be a hero.
He had to be a frickin' hero.
Damn it, he'd never asked for that! Not at this price.
But the universe seemed to have an odd sense of humor when it came down to his life, anyway.
So, here he was. Fighting against a friend's one true love, another friend's best friend, the man who everybody considered to be the hero.
Well, vampire. Whatever.
The irony was still there. He had to kill the hero, and be the hero. Even if he didn't have a hero's strength, but the hero actually had the hero's strength.
And he didn't even want to kill Deadboy! Well, not like this. And also, no one would really see him as the hero because of his actions, more like the villain.
Or an utterly crazy lunatic.
He could try to explain later, but he was pretty sure no-one would be exactly open to that. After all, he'd have killed their hero. Unless their hero killed him first. And then, everything would be lost.
Oooh... this was so confusing.
But he had to do it.
Just great. These words seemed too much like his new freaking mantra for his own liking.
Xander pointed the spare crossbow at Angel's chest, and pulled the trigger. The ensouled vampire tried futilely to escape, but it was too late. He growled in pain, and fell harshly to the floor with a piece of wood in his chest.
Funny, I thought that vampires dusted when someone kills 'em, Xander wondered with a confused shake of head.
Angel growled once again, this time trying to get up by supporting himself on the nearby bed.
OK, Einstein, he's not dead. Not in the vampire way to be dead, anyway, the dark-haired boy nervously concluded.
Xander ran to where Angel had fallen and kicked him viciously in the head, trying to vainly adjust his weapon along the way.
Damn trembling hands! They weren't helping him at all.
But Angel was able to recover, and he knocked the dark-haired boy to the floor with him. The crossbow was lost as Xander tried to punch him in the stomach, but the vampire's reflexes were faster and Angel managed to escape the blow, rolling along the carpet.
The boy was momentarily distracted by the first really successful reaction on Angel's part to his offensive this night, and he tried to grab the crossbow tossed away by the souled vampire, but it was too far away for his hands to reach.
With that short amount of free time, Angel was able to pull out the bolt shot into his chest just a few millimeters away from his heart, with a brief scream of pain. He was lucky that the shots had missed his heart not once, but twice tonight.
Well, maybe luck wasn't exactly the key word for it, this night.
From the corner of his eye, the former Scourge of Europe saw Xander's futile attempts to once again obtain his weapon. But he was closer, and managed to grab the crossbow with his own two hands and pointed it at Xander's chest.
The human and the vampire locked eyes, for an instant.
The only sound heard in the room was Xander's panting breath.
Angel, now with his game face on, briefly analyzed the young man's being, and threw the crossbow a secure distance away in the room.
Then, he violently grabbed Xander's jacket and smashed the young man against the wall over and over again, only stopping and winning back self- control upon hearing the dark-haired boy's weak gasps for breath.
The room was a complete mess; its furniture was either partially trashed or out of place, easily indicating the fight that had occurred just a few brief moments ago.
Still pushing Xander against the wall, the ensouled vampire, his usually calm features returned to his once-again human face, questioned him: "What the hell's happening here, Xander? Will you or will you not explain it to me?"
"I'm sorry. But you gotta die."
The dark-haired young man stared at the vamp with his haunted but determined eyes and raised his free arm, clenching his fist tightly, above Angel's back.
A savage blow later, successfully pushing Angel away, Xander was able to run to his bag and take a sharp stake from it.
"Damn it," cursed the ensouled vampire impatiently.
Angel didn't really want to take drastic measures to stop whatever craziness had overtaken the boy, at this moment.
So with a well-administered kick on his part, the weapon was quickly blasted away from the young man's hand.
They engaged in a brief look at each other's hazy and confused eyes, and Xander then took out another stake from his jacket and sped furiously in the vampire's direction.
And then a loud noise of heavy steps and desperate screams were caught by Angel and Xander, which was followed by the entrance of the shocked Fang Gang into the room.
No one knew exactly what to do; they just kept staring blankly at each other, the six of them, for a few brief instants.
Finally, Xander abruptly threw himself towards the closer window, provoking an utter crash of broken glass. He put his arms in front of his body, protecting himself from the fall and sharp objects, and then started to run along the streets of L.A., quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Wesley and Gunn promptly started down the Hyperion's stairs, trying futilely to reach the dark-haired young man.
Angel stayed motionless for a brief second, then turned to a scared Cordelia at his side.
"Something's really wrong here," he said simply.
Cordelia raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Well, ya think?"
An odd silence occurred for a short moment.
"He looked normal when we left! As normal as Xander Harris could be, I mean. I just don't get it," the young seer whispered, still drowned in utter confusion.
"What?! Are you telling me that you guys actually left him here to kill me?" demanded an incredulous Angel.
The brunette girl gasped. Oh, boy. I've got such a damned big mouth!
"'Leave' kinda isn't the appropriate word," she began apologetically. "I mean sheesh, how were we supposed to know that he was gonna try to stake you? I mean, no one coulda ever imagined that Xander would actually be that dumb, and we really didn't-"
With the abrupt strength that had overtaken her being so many times before, Cordelia Chase's world went black and was filled with almost unbearable pain of confusing images and sounds.
She woke up a few seconds later, supported in Angel's careful arms.
"Are you OK?" he asked gently, laying her body down in his bed.
"Yeah, I guess," she looked up at him for a moment. "You need to go, Angel. A few blocks away, corner of Madison and Whelon Boulevard, an old woman and three big ugly 'X-files'-wannabe demons."
He chuckled weakly. "Are you gonna be alright?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Now go," the young seer replied softly.
Putting aside the odd events of the night with Cordelia's new vision, Angel ran furiously down the stairs, bumping into Wesley and Gunn on the way.
"We couldn't reach him, the man just vanished throu-"
Angel promptly interrupted Gunn. "We gotta go, Cordelia had a vision. It's only a few blocks away from here and I'm gonna need your help, it's three green demons according to Cordelia's 411."
"Should be easy to locate 'em," Gunn replied mockingly.
"Cordelia didn't ask to come too?" questioned an amazed Wesley.
"Yeah, I also found that weird, but she's had three visions in the same night; Cordelia must be really tired right now," retorted the ensouled vampire. "Too tired for her usual stubbornness."
Wesley chuckled and sent a meaningful glance at Angel, and the three of them grabbed weapons and departed into the night, to fight the good fight against the tireless creatures of evil.
At the top of the stairs, Cordelia glanced at the three men while they ran to the supposed new danger's location.
Fred was somewhere in the bowels of the hotel, out of mind and out of sight for the young brunette. She sighed in relief for that, and started down the stairs.
"Oh man, I hate it when I've gotta lie to them," Cordelia whispered sadly.
***
Hey, folks! It's me, once again. Thanks for the reviews! I swear that in the next chapter the whole [well, most of it] big secret will be open. Review me again, right? I've a great problem of addiction for them!