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: PG
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?
***
"Killer?" Anya asked in confusion, and then she widened her hazel eyes at Kelly and Michael. "You! And you!" the blonde girl hissed in amazement.
The two ER workers couldn't do anything, besides shudder at her tone. The nurse and the doctor shared a sideways glance, their hands holding tightly onto one another's without them being aware of doing it.
"I knew you couldn't trust in doctors! Well, even if they seem lanky and weak and stuff like Clark and Lana here... I always said they drink too much coffee to pass themselves off as normal people, but nobody would believe me!" Anya muttered self-righteously.
Despite everything, in between the brief confused glances from Faith, Michael and Kelly, Xander chuckled. A weak, almost non-existent smile came onto his lips; but nonetheless, it was there. And his hands finally touched Anya's for the first time in what was weeks for him, but less than two days for her.
Still, it was enough to make Anya feel as if the world had stopped spinning for what seemed like millennia, even.
There was something Anya couldn't possibly know, and Kelly and Michael never even imagine. Faith might have had a clue, but even she could never really fully understand it.
The thing was that for Xander, many painful days had passed with the memory of the blonde girl lying dead in his arms. Until the moment she finally rose as a vampire, one of the many children of the Scourge of Europe.
But now, in spite of the chaotic situation around him, Xander had once again realized what was the what. He had been given a second chance to make things right, and it didn't matter how disastrous things could end up for him here and now; he'd still come out a winner.
Angelus hadn't risen yet. Anya was alive here, by his side. She and her silly, lovable fleeting thoughts. She and her warmth, her sparkling hazel eyes...
Alive and smiling back at him, despite everything.
As the same time this realization hit Xander, the young cop Jimmy – as everybody had called him ever since he was a kid – he with the shaky hands and frenzied heartbeat, didn't stop his wild calls for assistance at any single moment. And his gun was keeping aim at both Xander and Faith, the entire time.
During these ephemeral moments, before anyone had a chance to say anything at all, Anya realized something.
It wasn't the suspicious, evil and coffee-addict doctors Jimmy was pointing his gun at.
The supposed killer, whom Johnny cop-boy had yelled so loudly about, was Xander.
Her Xander.
Anya's eyes, a mix of hurt and astonishment, quickly turned to Xander's, clearly searching for answers. The weak, almost non-existent smile immediately fell off her fiancé's face, giving place to a shadowed cloud that viciously overtook Xander's features.
And once again, before the dark-haired time-traveler had a chance to utter a single word, Jimmy, a particular hurricane of unsteadiness and nervousness, started to scream again, "I said hands up, now! I, the cops, they'll be here real soon! No false steps or I'll shoot!"
Nobody had any doubts Jimmy would shoot, but that wasn't because he was such a tough cop and all. Instead, it was far more likely that his trembling fingers would end up pulling the trigger by accident, so nervous was the Latino young man.
"C'mon chicos, I need you to get here fast," Jimmy whispered under his breath, expecting backup to show up soon.
What didn't help the young cop at all was that, at St. Matthew's, victims of a seemingly huge trauma accident had just arrived. The tumultuous state of the hospital's neighborhood right then, from the noisy multiple sirens to the great commotion of ER workers on location, seemed to completely fuel Jimmy's paranoid leanings.
"What do we do now?" Anya asked in a hurried tone.
"Normally I'd say run, but then normally I'm not stuck in a goddamn blind alley," Xander frowned, finally freeing himself from Faith's grip, still a little drowsy though.
The dark-haired young man winced briefly in pain, raising his hand and pressing it lightly against his wound, which was still hurting him even though the bleeding had stopped.
Anya scowled, fear in her eyes. The ex-demoness gently pressed her own hands at the site of hemorrhaging, going silent with worry.
"Take it easy, buddy," Faith said tentatively, risking to take a few steps forward, letting the rifle fall once more onto the hard ground – this time intentionally though, and not because she was in some sort of a trance like earlier with Xander wounded.
"I said hold it, right now miss! I, I'll shoot, I swear!" the dark-haired Latino yelled.
"I know a way out of here by the alley," Kelly muttered in a low voice, and Xander's glance snapped from Anya's to hers.
Faith had also listened to her words, as the Slayer offered a brief sideways glance to Xander, but the girl had evidently chosen to pretend as if she hadn't. As if by unspoken agreement, the brunette kept making small talk with Jimmy so they could try to hear Kelly's plan.
Michael squeezed the curly-haired young woman's hand considerably hard, and Nurse Marshall had to bite her lower lip not to yelp.
Kelly wanted to tell him that this was the right thing to do, to help them, a supposed murderer and his partner-in-crime – who was apparently, as the news had reported, an equally dangerous person.
But could the blonde girl honestly believe that too? Every part of her mind screamed that she could indeed, and she should, but then that was that annoying, troublesome part of her, the so-called rational part.
Kelly had been there with Cordelia Chase. She had heard, painfully as a matter of fact, the brunette's pleas for Xander not to hurt her anymore.
So why was she trying to help him right now? Why did her heart believe he hadn't been the guilty villain, but the hero instead?
The bottom line was, what should Kelly listen to?
Her heart or her mind?
***
Michael Penn had never been so scared in his entire life. All the signals were there to prove it, in fact.
Sweating palms, trembling hands, shaky legs, accelerated heartbeat and, worst of all, his entire goddamn life flashing before his eyes, like in an old movie or something.
The sandy-haired doctor gulped. And then, he gulped once more.
But soon afterwards, he couldn't find any saliva to gulp anymore, once his mouth suddenly became dry at hearing Kelly's words, "I know a way out of here by the alley."
Michael was terribly close to totally freaking out, over the idea of Kelly deliberately helping two criminals in their getaway and, besides, putting her own life in more danger than it already was.
After all, it didn't matter how much sympathy Penn himself had felt for them, or if the doctor had even tried to fight that feeling off – they were still dangerous, they were murderers for Christ's sake!
But there was one safe anchor that stopped him from losing it completely. Kelly's grip on him, her hand squeezing his reassuringly – like she knew what she was doing, and she'd need his help to get through it.
And from then on, Michael had never been so sure of anything in his life, had never trusted in anyone like he was trusting in his curly-haired co- worker right now.
Things were getting stranger and stranger with each and every brand-new second, granted.
And there was this feeling, suddenly hitting him like a lightning bolt – as if Kelly had somehow oddly managed to pass to him from herself, something that attacked his being with its amazing strength.
Because, suddenly, Michael just knew. What Nurse Marshall, Kelly, was about to do – it was the right course of action to take.
As of now the sandy-haired young doctor would trust her with not only his life, but his immortal soul as well if he had to.
***
"Knock, knock!" Spike uttered loudly, as he stepped inside the Hyperion's lobby, Buffy by his side and Giles following them closely.
The room remained as quiet as it had been seconds before.
"Seems no one's home, pet. Bugger," the vampire hissed, frowning, his shoulders arching in obvious sarcasm. "That was some wanking awful reception. Well, bit o' luck and we'll make Sunnyhell before the Passions rerun marathon. Cross your fingers, Slayer..."
Spike started putting on his thick blanket to run back to the car, his clothes and dark glasses reminiscent of the time the Scooby Gang had needed to run away from Glory and her insane search for the Key, Spike's li'l bit.
But before he could do so, Buffy promptly grabbed him by his duster, wordlessly yanking the vamp further inside the hotel accommodations.
"Bloody hell," Spike sighed as he took off the glasses.
"I supposed they're, uh, researching upstairs. That was what Willow said that that Fred girl told her, right?" Giles' voice was heard for the first time, since they had entered the Hyperion.
Buffy looked at her former Watcher. "Yeah, probably," she replied slightly absent-mindedly. Giles noticed her alert position, a typical Slayer-ready- to-fight one.
"Buffy, is there something wrong?" the Englishman questioned her, and less than a moment later the blonde girl screamed out one of her Slayer-like yells.
Agilely jumping on a certain figure that suddenly appeared at one of the entrances, with features Giles couldn't quite make out clearly yet, the petite Slayer had her hands around the demon's neck, in total control of the fight.
"That's what's wrong," she snorted, a cheerless grin on her face. "An demon asshole that's not like miles away from me," the blonde hissed sarcastically.
"Uh, no offense," Buffy amended apologetically, offering a frown close to embarrassment to Spike.
"None taken," the blonde vampire replied simply.
"So, do I need to beat the crap out of you until ya start talking, or will you be a good boy?" Buffy demanded, her body on top of the demon's and her face displaying a playful smirk.
The demon, incapable of talking because of the Slayer's hands strongly gripping his poor neck, didn't see any other alternative. He bit the girl's hand, and Buffy immediately let go of him.
"Hey! Nobody told me he bites!" Buffy muttered, sounding offended.
Recoiling into a corner, the demon took stock of his situation, breathing heavily. Almost instantaneously, Spike's foot hit its aim right on his stomach. The blonde vampire then yanked up the other demon by the collar of his shirt, shoving him against the wall.
"Now, ya ask the lady for apologies and then we'll 'ave a nice li'l talk, demon to demon," Spike barked out almost raggedly, holding tight onto the demon's shirt.
When he raised his head, though, Spike's eyes suddenly widened in recognition.
"The Host?" the vamp asked incredulously, though it was more like a statement actually.
"Good to see you too, blondie," Lorne groaned, setting his yellow jacket back into place and popping his neck with a loud crack, followed by a new moan of pain.
"And as for you, that hurt! Quite a bit of strength you've got there, sweetheart," the green demon added dryly, and Buffy scowled in confusion.
"You two know each other?" the Slayer asked skeptically.
Spike's enraged expression quickly faded away, to give place to the widest smile Buffy had ever seen. "Are you kiddin'? You're talkin' to the owner of the freakiest bloody Karaoke bar in the whole of bleedin' L.A.!"
Suddenly, Lorne felt his back being tapped by Spike in an intended amicable way, and once again, his whole world was filled with sharp pain.
"Let's stop with the greetings, OK? And FYI, Spike – my ears still haven't recovered from that mangling of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' you did at the club, way back when," the Host shook his head, stepping away. A smirk grew on his lips, as he turned to glance at Buffy. "So, I'll take you as being the famous Miss Buffy Summers."
The petite girl glanced in confusion at Giles, who frowned as well.
Lorne didn't wait for an answer. "You're in Angelcakes' aura, doll-face. And I've heard a lot about you."
"Oh," Buffy blurted out, even more confused if such a thing was possible.
"You know Angel too?" Giles questioned.
Lorne smirked knowingly. "Let's just say I went to Hell and back with him..."
As the three pair of eyes started staring at him in puzzlement, his grin only grew wilder. "Angelcakes even got to know Mother," the Host whispered, a nostalgic look in his red eyes. "Aw, these are such gross memories I think I might puke right now."
"Buffy, Mr. Giles?" Wesley suddenly appeared from upstairs, Gunn and Fred following him down.
"Wesley," Buffy and Giles echoed in unison.
Spike, who had his back to the ex-Watcher, glanced at him and then at the other two. "Ponce, pet, wanker," he saluted Gunn, Fred and Wesley in turn, giving them his best attempt at a disinterested face.
On the other hand, Wesley's features lit up in fascination. "Spike! Good Lord, then it's true – you really have that chip in your brain, don't you?"
"Oh marvelous, do I 'ave my own bloody fan club now?" the blonde vampire snorted ironically.
"Not really," Gunn retorted, in a rather hostile way.
Spike just scowled. "Who's the bint?" he asked, smiling to Fred. He waved hello with his hands, and the Texan girl smiled back.
Buffy just scowled.
"The unstoppable killer, the impetuous murderer, the slayer of two Slayers... domesticated by human technology... absolutely amazing," Wesley was still lost in fascination.
"Hey, I'm still evil, ya know," Spike declared, glaring at Wesley intensely and starting to pace around the Englishman. "I can set your bleedin' house on fire, you, you, brainiac git! I still can make ya life a bloody hell," he added with a twisted smirk.
"For God's sake Spike, you watch Passions and you haven't killed a human in years," Giles grunted in annoyance.
Gunn chuckled loudly, and when Spike grimaced at him, the young fighter put on his best badass face, folding his arms across his chest.
"Okay, let's get with the introducing thing," Fred snapped quickly, eyes wide and breathing fast.
"I'm Winifred Burkle, but people call me Fred because it's shorter, and less odd I guess," the brunette Texan said, and then pointed to the guys of the Fang Gang. "This is Gunn," the young man waved a quick hello with his hand, "Lorne," Caritas's owner smiled and bobbed his head in greeting, "and Wesley, well, you know Wesley already I guess," Fred finished.
There were several seconds of utter silence.
"You don't have to introduce yourselves, we know you from pictures and all," the brunette girl snorted, seeing that the space she had left open for the Sunnydale trio to introduce themselves wasn't going to be filled.
The group exchanged another awkward glance till Buffy finally spoke up, "What about Xander and Cordelia? Any news you guys may have gotten in... ah, twenty minutes?"
The Slayer mentally cursed herself and her stupidity; having totally forgotten that Willow had, in fact, spoken with the Angelites not so long ago on her cell phone, and they hadn't anything new then.
Wesley's features darkened abruptly. "Actually, we do have something," the former Watcher stated quietly. "But I believe it's better if we sit down first..."
***
"Are you sure you're really okay?" Angel asked, his voice soft.
The souled vampire, sitting at Cordelia Chase's bedside, was gingerly passing a hand through the seer's short hair. The girl, a drowsy and half- hearted smile on her face, grinned weakly at him.
"It's the sixth time you've asked me that, Angel," the brunette said in semi-annoyance.
"You know what they say, sixth time's a... a double charm?" Angel replied tentatively, frowning at this.
The dark-haired vampire's face melted in a thin smile as Cordelia grinned lightly, but when the seer yelped in sudden pain as she tried to shift her position in the bed, Angel's eyes shone in anger.
Cordelia noticed, and she looked up at him with a great sadness. "I don't know why he did it, Angel. But-"
He rapidly cut her off, "But he did it, Cordy. And I'm gonna make him pay for that."
The brunette sighed. "He's Xander. He'd never do something like that, I know but... I can't understand this, Angel, I just can't," the young woman said in a small voice, a single tear falling down her soft cheek.
The vampire could even feel his heart breaking in two. "People change," he stated quietly. "But we can't let people get hurt 'cause of that, Cordelia. We gotta stop him before he kills someone else, before it's too late," the souled vampire stared intensely at her.
"S-someone else?" Cordelia gulped, suddenly feeling sicker than she'd ever felt before in her life.
"You need to rest, Cordelia, really," Angel amended, quickly changing the subject.
To explain Faith's jailbreak and Xander's murder, facts that Angel had learnt in St. Matthew's halls while the TV was displaying some news about the case – it definitely wasn't the greatest idea to do that right now.
More preferable to do it in a closed, isolated room where nobody would hear her, and Cordy could scream freely and in peace.
"Don't you even think you're gonna leave me out of this, Angel! And besides, do you have any idea how much time I've been laying on this bed? I can practically feel the cellulite forming on my legs right now!" Cordelia exploded.
"I can't believe he did it," she then added hurriedly, hands flat on her lap and eyes down, her voice small and her features conflicted.
Angel rearranged himself on his seat, trying to say something his mind couldn't really think of. "There's plenty of evidence he did," he finally stated, not looking at Cordelia. "I'm sorry," he added lamely.
"I was there, I know! I pretty well am the evidence," she retorted with a hint of annoyance. "But what if it's, I don't know, something else? Huh, a spell maybe! Those lawyers at Wolfram & Hart have been way too quiet lately, ya know," Cordelia said almost desperately, with lost eyes that only hoped Angel would confirm her suspicions.
"Cordy, I," Angel took a breath he didn't really need and continued. "I believe something's altered Xander's mind, I really do... but I don't think it's some kind of spell at all."
"And why can't it be?" the brunette girl retorted, almost yelling in rage and frustration.
"It's... Wesley found something. And the things Xander did, he really did it if this stuff's for real," Angel explained softly, taking the seer's hand into his own and squeezing it gingerly.
Cordelia absent-mindedly shoved it away and whined, "I just feel it can't be true," the ex-cheerleader whispering so quietly that, if Angel hadn't his enhanced vampire hearing, he'd have surely missed her words.
"I'm sorry," the souled vampire repeated again.
Cordelia glanced up, her eyes hurt and conflicted. "No Angel, you're not listening to me. I can feel something weird. I know something's wrong with this picture, I can feel it!"
"Cordelia, I understand how you may be feeling, but we've-" Angel tried to calm her down, but the brunette seer's sharp words immediately cut him off.
"Angel! I can feel it! OK, it's not like a vision or anything, but still it's... somehow, some way, I just feel that Xander isn't the villain here. I know what happened, I remember – but I also know what I feel. We've gotta find him before the cops do!"
***
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: PG
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?
***
"Killer?" Anya asked in confusion, and then she widened her hazel eyes at Kelly and Michael. "You! And you!" the blonde girl hissed in amazement.
The two ER workers couldn't do anything, besides shudder at her tone. The nurse and the doctor shared a sideways glance, their hands holding tightly onto one another's without them being aware of doing it.
"I knew you couldn't trust in doctors! Well, even if they seem lanky and weak and stuff like Clark and Lana here... I always said they drink too much coffee to pass themselves off as normal people, but nobody would believe me!" Anya muttered self-righteously.
Despite everything, in between the brief confused glances from Faith, Michael and Kelly, Xander chuckled. A weak, almost non-existent smile came onto his lips; but nonetheless, it was there. And his hands finally touched Anya's for the first time in what was weeks for him, but less than two days for her.
Still, it was enough to make Anya feel as if the world had stopped spinning for what seemed like millennia, even.
There was something Anya couldn't possibly know, and Kelly and Michael never even imagine. Faith might have had a clue, but even she could never really fully understand it.
The thing was that for Xander, many painful days had passed with the memory of the blonde girl lying dead in his arms. Until the moment she finally rose as a vampire, one of the many children of the Scourge of Europe.
But now, in spite of the chaotic situation around him, Xander had once again realized what was the what. He had been given a second chance to make things right, and it didn't matter how disastrous things could end up for him here and now; he'd still come out a winner.
Angelus hadn't risen yet. Anya was alive here, by his side. She and her silly, lovable fleeting thoughts. She and her warmth, her sparkling hazel eyes...
Alive and smiling back at him, despite everything.
As the same time this realization hit Xander, the young cop Jimmy – as everybody had called him ever since he was a kid – he with the shaky hands and frenzied heartbeat, didn't stop his wild calls for assistance at any single moment. And his gun was keeping aim at both Xander and Faith, the entire time.
During these ephemeral moments, before anyone had a chance to say anything at all, Anya realized something.
It wasn't the suspicious, evil and coffee-addict doctors Jimmy was pointing his gun at.
The supposed killer, whom Johnny cop-boy had yelled so loudly about, was Xander.
Her Xander.
Anya's eyes, a mix of hurt and astonishment, quickly turned to Xander's, clearly searching for answers. The weak, almost non-existent smile immediately fell off her fiancé's face, giving place to a shadowed cloud that viciously overtook Xander's features.
And once again, before the dark-haired time-traveler had a chance to utter a single word, Jimmy, a particular hurricane of unsteadiness and nervousness, started to scream again, "I said hands up, now! I, the cops, they'll be here real soon! No false steps or I'll shoot!"
Nobody had any doubts Jimmy would shoot, but that wasn't because he was such a tough cop and all. Instead, it was far more likely that his trembling fingers would end up pulling the trigger by accident, so nervous was the Latino young man.
"C'mon chicos, I need you to get here fast," Jimmy whispered under his breath, expecting backup to show up soon.
What didn't help the young cop at all was that, at St. Matthew's, victims of a seemingly huge trauma accident had just arrived. The tumultuous state of the hospital's neighborhood right then, from the noisy multiple sirens to the great commotion of ER workers on location, seemed to completely fuel Jimmy's paranoid leanings.
"What do we do now?" Anya asked in a hurried tone.
"Normally I'd say run, but then normally I'm not stuck in a goddamn blind alley," Xander frowned, finally freeing himself from Faith's grip, still a little drowsy though.
The dark-haired young man winced briefly in pain, raising his hand and pressing it lightly against his wound, which was still hurting him even though the bleeding had stopped.
Anya scowled, fear in her eyes. The ex-demoness gently pressed her own hands at the site of hemorrhaging, going silent with worry.
"Take it easy, buddy," Faith said tentatively, risking to take a few steps forward, letting the rifle fall once more onto the hard ground – this time intentionally though, and not because she was in some sort of a trance like earlier with Xander wounded.
"I said hold it, right now miss! I, I'll shoot, I swear!" the dark-haired Latino yelled.
"I know a way out of here by the alley," Kelly muttered in a low voice, and Xander's glance snapped from Anya's to hers.
Faith had also listened to her words, as the Slayer offered a brief sideways glance to Xander, but the girl had evidently chosen to pretend as if she hadn't. As if by unspoken agreement, the brunette kept making small talk with Jimmy so they could try to hear Kelly's plan.
Michael squeezed the curly-haired young woman's hand considerably hard, and Nurse Marshall had to bite her lower lip not to yelp.
Kelly wanted to tell him that this was the right thing to do, to help them, a supposed murderer and his partner-in-crime – who was apparently, as the news had reported, an equally dangerous person.
But could the blonde girl honestly believe that too? Every part of her mind screamed that she could indeed, and she should, but then that was that annoying, troublesome part of her, the so-called rational part.
Kelly had been there with Cordelia Chase. She had heard, painfully as a matter of fact, the brunette's pleas for Xander not to hurt her anymore.
So why was she trying to help him right now? Why did her heart believe he hadn't been the guilty villain, but the hero instead?
The bottom line was, what should Kelly listen to?
Her heart or her mind?
***
Michael Penn had never been so scared in his entire life. All the signals were there to prove it, in fact.
Sweating palms, trembling hands, shaky legs, accelerated heartbeat and, worst of all, his entire goddamn life flashing before his eyes, like in an old movie or something.
The sandy-haired doctor gulped. And then, he gulped once more.
But soon afterwards, he couldn't find any saliva to gulp anymore, once his mouth suddenly became dry at hearing Kelly's words, "I know a way out of here by the alley."
Michael was terribly close to totally freaking out, over the idea of Kelly deliberately helping two criminals in their getaway and, besides, putting her own life in more danger than it already was.
After all, it didn't matter how much sympathy Penn himself had felt for them, or if the doctor had even tried to fight that feeling off – they were still dangerous, they were murderers for Christ's sake!
But there was one safe anchor that stopped him from losing it completely. Kelly's grip on him, her hand squeezing his reassuringly – like she knew what she was doing, and she'd need his help to get through it.
And from then on, Michael had never been so sure of anything in his life, had never trusted in anyone like he was trusting in his curly-haired co- worker right now.
Things were getting stranger and stranger with each and every brand-new second, granted.
And there was this feeling, suddenly hitting him like a lightning bolt – as if Kelly had somehow oddly managed to pass to him from herself, something that attacked his being with its amazing strength.
Because, suddenly, Michael just knew. What Nurse Marshall, Kelly, was about to do – it was the right course of action to take.
As of now the sandy-haired young doctor would trust her with not only his life, but his immortal soul as well if he had to.
***
"Knock, knock!" Spike uttered loudly, as he stepped inside the Hyperion's lobby, Buffy by his side and Giles following them closely.
The room remained as quiet as it had been seconds before.
"Seems no one's home, pet. Bugger," the vampire hissed, frowning, his shoulders arching in obvious sarcasm. "That was some wanking awful reception. Well, bit o' luck and we'll make Sunnyhell before the Passions rerun marathon. Cross your fingers, Slayer..."
Spike started putting on his thick blanket to run back to the car, his clothes and dark glasses reminiscent of the time the Scooby Gang had needed to run away from Glory and her insane search for the Key, Spike's li'l bit.
But before he could do so, Buffy promptly grabbed him by his duster, wordlessly yanking the vamp further inside the hotel accommodations.
"Bloody hell," Spike sighed as he took off the glasses.
"I supposed they're, uh, researching upstairs. That was what Willow said that that Fred girl told her, right?" Giles' voice was heard for the first time, since they had entered the Hyperion.
Buffy looked at her former Watcher. "Yeah, probably," she replied slightly absent-mindedly. Giles noticed her alert position, a typical Slayer-ready- to-fight one.
"Buffy, is there something wrong?" the Englishman questioned her, and less than a moment later the blonde girl screamed out one of her Slayer-like yells.
Agilely jumping on a certain figure that suddenly appeared at one of the entrances, with features Giles couldn't quite make out clearly yet, the petite Slayer had her hands around the demon's neck, in total control of the fight.
"That's what's wrong," she snorted, a cheerless grin on her face. "An demon asshole that's not like miles away from me," the blonde hissed sarcastically.
"Uh, no offense," Buffy amended apologetically, offering a frown close to embarrassment to Spike.
"None taken," the blonde vampire replied simply.
"So, do I need to beat the crap out of you until ya start talking, or will you be a good boy?" Buffy demanded, her body on top of the demon's and her face displaying a playful smirk.
The demon, incapable of talking because of the Slayer's hands strongly gripping his poor neck, didn't see any other alternative. He bit the girl's hand, and Buffy immediately let go of him.
"Hey! Nobody told me he bites!" Buffy muttered, sounding offended.
Recoiling into a corner, the demon took stock of his situation, breathing heavily. Almost instantaneously, Spike's foot hit its aim right on his stomach. The blonde vampire then yanked up the other demon by the collar of his shirt, shoving him against the wall.
"Now, ya ask the lady for apologies and then we'll 'ave a nice li'l talk, demon to demon," Spike barked out almost raggedly, holding tight onto the demon's shirt.
When he raised his head, though, Spike's eyes suddenly widened in recognition.
"The Host?" the vamp asked incredulously, though it was more like a statement actually.
"Good to see you too, blondie," Lorne groaned, setting his yellow jacket back into place and popping his neck with a loud crack, followed by a new moan of pain.
"And as for you, that hurt! Quite a bit of strength you've got there, sweetheart," the green demon added dryly, and Buffy scowled in confusion.
"You two know each other?" the Slayer asked skeptically.
Spike's enraged expression quickly faded away, to give place to the widest smile Buffy had ever seen. "Are you kiddin'? You're talkin' to the owner of the freakiest bloody Karaoke bar in the whole of bleedin' L.A.!"
Suddenly, Lorne felt his back being tapped by Spike in an intended amicable way, and once again, his whole world was filled with sharp pain.
"Let's stop with the greetings, OK? And FYI, Spike – my ears still haven't recovered from that mangling of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' you did at the club, way back when," the Host shook his head, stepping away. A smirk grew on his lips, as he turned to glance at Buffy. "So, I'll take you as being the famous Miss Buffy Summers."
The petite girl glanced in confusion at Giles, who frowned as well.
Lorne didn't wait for an answer. "You're in Angelcakes' aura, doll-face. And I've heard a lot about you."
"Oh," Buffy blurted out, even more confused if such a thing was possible.
"You know Angel too?" Giles questioned.
Lorne smirked knowingly. "Let's just say I went to Hell and back with him..."
As the three pair of eyes started staring at him in puzzlement, his grin only grew wilder. "Angelcakes even got to know Mother," the Host whispered, a nostalgic look in his red eyes. "Aw, these are such gross memories I think I might puke right now."
"Buffy, Mr. Giles?" Wesley suddenly appeared from upstairs, Gunn and Fred following him down.
"Wesley," Buffy and Giles echoed in unison.
Spike, who had his back to the ex-Watcher, glanced at him and then at the other two. "Ponce, pet, wanker," he saluted Gunn, Fred and Wesley in turn, giving them his best attempt at a disinterested face.
On the other hand, Wesley's features lit up in fascination. "Spike! Good Lord, then it's true – you really have that chip in your brain, don't you?"
"Oh marvelous, do I 'ave my own bloody fan club now?" the blonde vampire snorted ironically.
"Not really," Gunn retorted, in a rather hostile way.
Spike just scowled. "Who's the bint?" he asked, smiling to Fred. He waved hello with his hands, and the Texan girl smiled back.
Buffy just scowled.
"The unstoppable killer, the impetuous murderer, the slayer of two Slayers... domesticated by human technology... absolutely amazing," Wesley was still lost in fascination.
"Hey, I'm still evil, ya know," Spike declared, glaring at Wesley intensely and starting to pace around the Englishman. "I can set your bleedin' house on fire, you, you, brainiac git! I still can make ya life a bloody hell," he added with a twisted smirk.
"For God's sake Spike, you watch Passions and you haven't killed a human in years," Giles grunted in annoyance.
Gunn chuckled loudly, and when Spike grimaced at him, the young fighter put on his best badass face, folding his arms across his chest.
"Okay, let's get with the introducing thing," Fred snapped quickly, eyes wide and breathing fast.
"I'm Winifred Burkle, but people call me Fred because it's shorter, and less odd I guess," the brunette Texan said, and then pointed to the guys of the Fang Gang. "This is Gunn," the young man waved a quick hello with his hand, "Lorne," Caritas's owner smiled and bobbed his head in greeting, "and Wesley, well, you know Wesley already I guess," Fred finished.
There were several seconds of utter silence.
"You don't have to introduce yourselves, we know you from pictures and all," the brunette girl snorted, seeing that the space she had left open for the Sunnydale trio to introduce themselves wasn't going to be filled.
The group exchanged another awkward glance till Buffy finally spoke up, "What about Xander and Cordelia? Any news you guys may have gotten in... ah, twenty minutes?"
The Slayer mentally cursed herself and her stupidity; having totally forgotten that Willow had, in fact, spoken with the Angelites not so long ago on her cell phone, and they hadn't anything new then.
Wesley's features darkened abruptly. "Actually, we do have something," the former Watcher stated quietly. "But I believe it's better if we sit down first..."
***
"Are you sure you're really okay?" Angel asked, his voice soft.
The souled vampire, sitting at Cordelia Chase's bedside, was gingerly passing a hand through the seer's short hair. The girl, a drowsy and half- hearted smile on her face, grinned weakly at him.
"It's the sixth time you've asked me that, Angel," the brunette said in semi-annoyance.
"You know what they say, sixth time's a... a double charm?" Angel replied tentatively, frowning at this.
The dark-haired vampire's face melted in a thin smile as Cordelia grinned lightly, but when the seer yelped in sudden pain as she tried to shift her position in the bed, Angel's eyes shone in anger.
Cordelia noticed, and she looked up at him with a great sadness. "I don't know why he did it, Angel. But-"
He rapidly cut her off, "But he did it, Cordy. And I'm gonna make him pay for that."
The brunette sighed. "He's Xander. He'd never do something like that, I know but... I can't understand this, Angel, I just can't," the young woman said in a small voice, a single tear falling down her soft cheek.
The vampire could even feel his heart breaking in two. "People change," he stated quietly. "But we can't let people get hurt 'cause of that, Cordelia. We gotta stop him before he kills someone else, before it's too late," the souled vampire stared intensely at her.
"S-someone else?" Cordelia gulped, suddenly feeling sicker than she'd ever felt before in her life.
"You need to rest, Cordelia, really," Angel amended, quickly changing the subject.
To explain Faith's jailbreak and Xander's murder, facts that Angel had learnt in St. Matthew's halls while the TV was displaying some news about the case – it definitely wasn't the greatest idea to do that right now.
More preferable to do it in a closed, isolated room where nobody would hear her, and Cordy could scream freely and in peace.
"Don't you even think you're gonna leave me out of this, Angel! And besides, do you have any idea how much time I've been laying on this bed? I can practically feel the cellulite forming on my legs right now!" Cordelia exploded.
"I can't believe he did it," she then added hurriedly, hands flat on her lap and eyes down, her voice small and her features conflicted.
Angel rearranged himself on his seat, trying to say something his mind couldn't really think of. "There's plenty of evidence he did," he finally stated, not looking at Cordelia. "I'm sorry," he added lamely.
"I was there, I know! I pretty well am the evidence," she retorted with a hint of annoyance. "But what if it's, I don't know, something else? Huh, a spell maybe! Those lawyers at Wolfram & Hart have been way too quiet lately, ya know," Cordelia said almost desperately, with lost eyes that only hoped Angel would confirm her suspicions.
"Cordy, I," Angel took a breath he didn't really need and continued. "I believe something's altered Xander's mind, I really do... but I don't think it's some kind of spell at all."
"And why can't it be?" the brunette girl retorted, almost yelling in rage and frustration.
"It's... Wesley found something. And the things Xander did, he really did it if this stuff's for real," Angel explained softly, taking the seer's hand into his own and squeezing it gingerly.
Cordelia absent-mindedly shoved it away and whined, "I just feel it can't be true," the ex-cheerleader whispering so quietly that, if Angel hadn't his enhanced vampire hearing, he'd have surely missed her words.
"I'm sorry," the souled vampire repeated again.
Cordelia glanced up, her eyes hurt and conflicted. "No Angel, you're not listening to me. I can feel something weird. I know something's wrong with this picture, I can feel it!"
"Cordelia, I understand how you may be feeling, but we've-" Angel tried to calm her down, but the brunette seer's sharp words immediately cut him off.
"Angel! I can feel it! OK, it's not like a vision or anything, but still it's... somehow, some way, I just feel that Xander isn't the villain here. I know what happened, I remember – but I also know what I feel. We've gotta find him before the cops do!"
***