SECOND CHANCES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.
Note: I know people want it to be B/A, now I'm actually a HUGE B/S fan but to be fair I'll leave it open as to who Buffy's with and then you can judge by their actions as to who you think she ends up with.
Chapter 10-Dark Plans and Funny Costumes.Oh My!
Dawn took the time after the hurried introductions to do a little nosing around the hotel and it's grounds while Xander was getting ordered around by Anya and Willow had slipped into the office and set about trying to cheer Buffy up. Dawn had quickly tired of the hotel after she discovered that almost every room was the same and there weren't any fancy ones, so she stepped out the front door and was just about to walk out into the setting sun when she heard muffled voices nearby. She thought she recognized one but the on the other she was drawing a complete blank. Before she could call out to them out of the corner of her eye she spotted two people coming around the side of the hotel. Almost instinctively she leapt behind one of the columns and waited to see who the pair was.
As the pair came around the corner Dawn was surprised to see that one of them was Cordelia while the other one was a young man that looked to be about her age. The two seemed to be arguing about something and Dawn guessed that it was their costumes as she took a peek around the column and saw their costumes. Cordelia was dressed in a long tight sparkling blue dress with her hair made up so that she looked like a woman from the nineteen forties that was looking for a ballroom to dance in. The young man beside her was dressed in animal skins and wore a short knife on his belt making him look like, Dawn decided, a slightly older Peter Pan.
Dawn was just about to come around the column and reveal herself when she heard a loud crash and then a lot of yelling coming from the lobby. At the sound Dawn noticed that the young man instantly clammed up and seemed to go into full battle mode while Cordelia just wearily looked around. With a flustered sigh Dawn stepped from around the column, smiled and nodded her head slightly, and then ran into the hotel.
* * * * * * * * * * *
He awoke to the sound of a particularly noisy truck going by and tried to first look out the window but was almost blinded by one of the last few rays of sunlight. He didn't know how long he had been asleep but when he looked down his gaze quickly fell onto Faith's face, as her head was lying on his chest with her face upturned towards him. Gently he lifted a hand and softly ran it across her cheek before he pushed a few stray strands of hair back behind her ear. He took the next few seconds just watching her sleep, noticing that she seemed more than content and happy with her breathing slow and even.
For a few minutes he debated whether or not to wake her or try and slip out of bed and let her continue sleeping. Finally deciding that she'd probably need as much rest as she could get he slowly pulled back the covers. She mumbled something incoherently as the cool air of the room came into sudden contact with her unclothed form, causing her to fumble around sleepily with the covers. He started to slide out from under her but he didn't move cautiously enough as he saw her long lashed eyelids flutter open. "Mm.hey.," she mumbled with a big smile on her face as she looked up at him.
"Hey yourself.sleep well," he said holding back a small laugh as the warmth of her smile seemed to spread to him as soon he was returning her smile. She nodded slightly and lazily pulled a hand up to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "Good.because we don't have to much time before the party starts and we have to be there before anyone from Wolfram and Hart," he said with a smile on his face as he slowly and methodically sat up and made Faith do the same, against her weak objections so that now they were both sitting up in bed with her trying to get back to sleep in his arms.
"Do we have to.can't we just stay here," she said with her eyes closed before taking a big yawn and stretching a bit. Had someone asked she would have admitted that at this moment, lying up against him in bed with her head directly over his heart, she felt the safest and most content that she had ever felt and wished that it would never end. But like most things in her life it did.
"I wish we could stay here to.but if we don't go then people will get hurt.people we care about," he said with a soft but stern tone to his voice as he ran his hand through her hair.
"And we can't let that happen can we.," Faith moaned sarcastically as she dislodged herself from his arms and slipped from underneath the covers and picked her costume and one of her bags up on the way to the bathroom.
"No of course not.," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice before he followed her a bit and stopped at the door, marveling at how good she looked standing in front of his bathroom mirror, wearing only her clown nose as she began to apply the clown makeup. She had already drawn the first few outlines on her face when she noticed him staring at her in the corner of the mirror.
"See something you like.or are you just staring for the heck of it.," she said with an impish smirk on her face as she casually turned her head and glanced back at him.
"I think I could get used to this.," he thought to himself as he first smiled at her and then went back into the bedroom to get his costume.
* * * * * * * * * *
Buffy and Willow were once again back in the lobby, helping an exasperated Fred finish the preparations for the party, when Angel and Spike returned from their sojourn to the basement. Angel looked mostly angry with a hint of sadness in the dark recesses of his soul while Spike was trying to quiet the voices in his head. Buffy didn't utter a word as Spike passed but stopped Angel when he came near. "Everything okay," she asked with a hopeful yet sad look on her face. Angel tried to smile and say that everything was going to be great.but he knew that he couldn't so he just shrugged his shoulders before responding.
"No.but that's normal.for us.right," he said slowly, looking into her eyes and trying to gauge her reaction. He felt that she was about to pull away when she caught him by surprise and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. With some reserve Angel slowly returned the hug and for the first time in days he thought he was happy, if only for a moment. But then the moment came crashing down around him as into the Hyperion strode Cordelia and Connor, directly on a flabbergasted Dawn's heels.
Buffy felt Angel tense up and start to pull away before she picked her head up and turned to look at the new arrivals. Cordelia she recognized easily, but the young man beside her was a complete stranger, although as she continued to look at him she came to believe that he slightly resembled Angel. Angel released her and stepped back abruptly, almost as if she were on fire. She was about to voice her concern on the matter when Angel spoke up.
"Cordy.Connor.," Angel stammered out nervously as his gaze quickly darted back and forth between the only two women in this world that he had ever felt love for. Cordelia looked surprised to see Buffy but overall just seemed extremely nervous while Connor seemed more like a little kid wearing an outfit that was to tight and waiting for his picture to be taken. Connor hated large crowds of people, especially if that crowd was made up mostly of complete strangers. Add that to the fact that they were probably all friends of his father and Connor looked about ready to fight when Cordelia spoke up.
"Angel.Buffy.," Cordelia said slowly and hesitantly as she looked at the former lovers first and then widened her gaze until she saw the rest of the people in the room.
"You look great.almost like I did back then.," Anya said with a big smile, obviously completely oblivious to the overwhelming amount of tension in the room, as she started walking towards Cordelia. Spike meanwhile looked on with a fascinated look on his face, as if he were hanging on every word, every action. Connor eyed Anya with ever growing concern as she got closer before he pushed Cordelia behind him and glared at Anya before uttering his warning.
"Whoever you are.stay back.," Connor said slowly and without emotion as he set his jaw and his feet, ready for a fight if it came to that. But before things could get any more out of hand Xander stepped up and pulled Anya back until he saw Connor begin to relax a bit.
"Connor calm down.it's okay.everyone's a friend here," Angel said slowly and calmly with a pleading look on his face before it ended with a slightly angry look as near the end Spike let out a small noise.
"Who are they.," Connor said still apparently not ready to except any of the people in the room at face value other than Cordelia.
"I can answer that.there's Red.or Willow Rosenberg, the whelp.Xander Harris, the bit.Dawn Summers.Buffy's little sister, ex vengeance demon Anya, and last but certainly not least Buffy Summers.the vampire slayer," Spike said with a sly smile on his face as he nodded to each person as he spoke their name, with Xander angrily glaring at him after his part. Connor eyed each of them as he listened to Spike and his eyes grew wide for a second as his gaze fell on Buffy. He was about to speak up but was interrupted from behind by a nervous Cordelia.
"It's okay Connor.they're my old friends from Sunnydale.remember I told you about Sunnydale," Cordelia said with a hopeful smile on her face as she kept on smiling at Connor until the teen seemed to remember the conversation and understand. With a smile on his face Spike began to walk over and by Connor, who stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"You're a vampire.," Connor said with a look in his eye that was a cross between joy and anger. Spike started to smile but then slowly lifted his head and turned it to look over at Angel, who seemed to want to say something but the words would just not come out no matter how hard he tried.
"Yeah.I am.what's it to ya," Spike said with a serious and non-threatening tone to his voice as he turned his attention back to Connor. Connor seemed to start forming the obvious question on his lips but Angel interrupted him.
"Spike is my grandchild.so in a way Connor.I.I guess he's your.I don't know.nephew.," Angel said with a very nervous look on his face and tone to his voice as he shoved his hands in his pockets and then stared at the floor as soon as he was done.
"How am I his bloody nephew.he's a kid.," Spike said with a slightly cocky look on his face as he grinned at Connor, who seemed to be haphazardly searching for a stake that he didn't have.
"Yes he is a kid.but he's also my son," Angel said cautiously at first and then finally just put it all out on the line in the end and waited for the consequences to hit him. Buffy was first to react with a look of complete shock on her face as in her mind she feverishly tried to make sense of what Angel had just said. Spike just wrenched his arm out of Connor's grasp and cocked an eyebrow before giving Angel a look of both confusion and surprise. Willow and Anya just looked at each other as if the answers to their questions were written on each others faces and Xander went into deep thought mode. Dawn meanwhile nervously looked back and forth between Spike, Angel, and Buffy.
"Angel.what.how," Buffy stammered out as she looked over at Angel with a dumbfounded and hurt look on her face as Spike almost exactly mirrored her expression, although he was more confused than hurt.
"It.it's a long story.," Angel said slowly as his gaze fell to the floor under the weight of everyone else's staring right at him.
"We got all the bloody time in the world Peaches.all the time in the world.," Spike said with an impish look on his face as he sauntered over to the round couch and plopped down, being soon after joined by Buffy, who was still trying to put things into their correct places in her head.
* * * * * * * * *
The night had fallen cool but clear and that fact only helped the efforts of those that intended to make the costume party and Angel Investigations that night one that would never be forgotten. The teams assembled were experts in their particular fields, from psychics for intelligence purposes to powerful magic wielders and then finally your run of the mill mercenaries that'd do the largest amount of the work. But of all of those gathered there this night held the promise of either the greatest night of her life, or the worst. Angel had gleefully thwarted almost every plan that she had ever had and on this night she would get her revenge on him and all that stood in her way. Visions of what she'd do to Angel ran through Lilah's head as the car that she was riding in pulled up next to the staging ground.
Deep down she hoped that Wesley would be smart for once and get out of the Hyperion when she put her plan into action, a plan that the senior partners had been highly skeptical of when she first told them of it. But finally they had relented, mostly because if she failed and was killed it was no skin of their backs, and the other simple fact that there was no shortage of willing souls just begging to take her place. From her various sources she had discovered that the rogue slayer that was the lynchpin of all of her machinations had been seen out and about with Wesley, the one man that even though she knew she shouldn't she found herself beginning to have true and genuine feelings for.
But the pictures that she had received from one of her spies of Wesley and Faith in the mall in a very expressive lip-lock had caused her to advance her plans and even come up with more contingency plans that dealt with now Wesley's death as well as Faith's and the others. However angry she was over the picture Lilah had decided to keep those contingencies in her proverbial back pocket, only to be used as a last resort, if Wesley did indeed turn on her as it had appeared he had. She had instructed the mercenaries to kill everyone but Angel, even the guests. And so she waited, along with the mercenaries and magic wielders, for the party to start like everyone else.
* * * * * * * * *
At the end of Angel's tale Buffy had drug him into the office and slammed the door shut, right in the face of Spike who had jumped up to follow them. Fred and Gunn had gotten back to decorating for the party, now at a feverish pace, and ended up enlisting everyone left in the lobby to help, including Connor who only agreed to help after Cordelia asked him nicely. Lorne meanwhile had retreated to his room, complaining of a headache. With all of the extra help it didn't take long to finish decorating, or at least get done enough for those in the lobby to retrieve their costumes and then put them on. It was some time later before everyone was finally in costume.
Gunn came out of his and Fred's room wearing a Robin Hood outfit complete with bow and arrow, one that in case of emergency or demon attack was able to be used as a weapon instead of it just being a prop. Behind him Fred exited the room done up like Maid Marian and she quickly joined Gunn towards the stairs. Xander had to be pulled out of his room by Anya, who was dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, because he swore up and down that he looked stupid in his costume and that Anya and Willow had picked it out on purpose, hoping to be able to make fun of him. When he finally came out Gunn and Fred had to fight back their laughter as they saw the only male Scooby dressed up like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz. Willow finally exited her room and quickly joined the others, grumbling almost non stop about having to wear the Glenda costume from the Wizard of Oz.
"At least you didn't get the wicked witch of the west costume Wil.," Xander said with a big smile as he did a mock bow that only seemed to upset Willow even more.
"But Glenda.she's like.she's like so.," Willow said with a nervous stutter as she tried to think up a witty comeback, but in the end she couldn't and just fell into line behind Xander and Anya.
The last two to come out were Spike, dressed against his most fervent wishes, like a Jedi warrior and Dawn, who after sifting through hundreds of different costume ideas ended up settling on one that she told everyone was one that she had come up with at the last minute. She slipped out of her room and Spike almost did a double take as she was dressed head to toe in almost exact copy of what Spike used to wear before he got his soul back, right down to the black duster, which in fact was the one that Spike had left the night of the incident in the bathroom.
"Bit.," Spike muttered eyeing an obviously nervous Dawn with a shocked look on his face as she fell in begrudgingly beside him.
"Don't say anything Spike.just.don't.," Dawn said slowly but sternly as she fixed her gaze on the floor in front of her as she walked.
"Now all we have to do is get Angel and Buffy out of the office and get them into their costumes.Lorne to," Fred said with a nervous look on her face as Gunn helped her down the stairs after she initially almost tripped on the folds of her dress.
"I think that'll be easier said than done.when those two get started.," Willow said with a small chuckle as she and the entire group finally assembled in the lobby. Soon what had begun as Willow's small chuckle caught on with the rest of the group and they all broke into a fit of laughter, even Spike who seemed to find it annoying at first, and only ended up laughing after getting a sharp elbow in the ribs from Dawn.
END OF CHAPTER 10
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.
Note: I know people want it to be B/A, now I'm actually a HUGE B/S fan but to be fair I'll leave it open as to who Buffy's with and then you can judge by their actions as to who you think she ends up with.
Chapter 10-Dark Plans and Funny Costumes.Oh My!
Dawn took the time after the hurried introductions to do a little nosing around the hotel and it's grounds while Xander was getting ordered around by Anya and Willow had slipped into the office and set about trying to cheer Buffy up. Dawn had quickly tired of the hotel after she discovered that almost every room was the same and there weren't any fancy ones, so she stepped out the front door and was just about to walk out into the setting sun when she heard muffled voices nearby. She thought she recognized one but the on the other she was drawing a complete blank. Before she could call out to them out of the corner of her eye she spotted two people coming around the side of the hotel. Almost instinctively she leapt behind one of the columns and waited to see who the pair was.
As the pair came around the corner Dawn was surprised to see that one of them was Cordelia while the other one was a young man that looked to be about her age. The two seemed to be arguing about something and Dawn guessed that it was their costumes as she took a peek around the column and saw their costumes. Cordelia was dressed in a long tight sparkling blue dress with her hair made up so that she looked like a woman from the nineteen forties that was looking for a ballroom to dance in. The young man beside her was dressed in animal skins and wore a short knife on his belt making him look like, Dawn decided, a slightly older Peter Pan.
Dawn was just about to come around the column and reveal herself when she heard a loud crash and then a lot of yelling coming from the lobby. At the sound Dawn noticed that the young man instantly clammed up and seemed to go into full battle mode while Cordelia just wearily looked around. With a flustered sigh Dawn stepped from around the column, smiled and nodded her head slightly, and then ran into the hotel.
* * * * * * * * * * *
He awoke to the sound of a particularly noisy truck going by and tried to first look out the window but was almost blinded by one of the last few rays of sunlight. He didn't know how long he had been asleep but when he looked down his gaze quickly fell onto Faith's face, as her head was lying on his chest with her face upturned towards him. Gently he lifted a hand and softly ran it across her cheek before he pushed a few stray strands of hair back behind her ear. He took the next few seconds just watching her sleep, noticing that she seemed more than content and happy with her breathing slow and even.
For a few minutes he debated whether or not to wake her or try and slip out of bed and let her continue sleeping. Finally deciding that she'd probably need as much rest as she could get he slowly pulled back the covers. She mumbled something incoherently as the cool air of the room came into sudden contact with her unclothed form, causing her to fumble around sleepily with the covers. He started to slide out from under her but he didn't move cautiously enough as he saw her long lashed eyelids flutter open. "Mm.hey.," she mumbled with a big smile on her face as she looked up at him.
"Hey yourself.sleep well," he said holding back a small laugh as the warmth of her smile seemed to spread to him as soon he was returning her smile. She nodded slightly and lazily pulled a hand up to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "Good.because we don't have to much time before the party starts and we have to be there before anyone from Wolfram and Hart," he said with a smile on his face as he slowly and methodically sat up and made Faith do the same, against her weak objections so that now they were both sitting up in bed with her trying to get back to sleep in his arms.
"Do we have to.can't we just stay here," she said with her eyes closed before taking a big yawn and stretching a bit. Had someone asked she would have admitted that at this moment, lying up against him in bed with her head directly over his heart, she felt the safest and most content that she had ever felt and wished that it would never end. But like most things in her life it did.
"I wish we could stay here to.but if we don't go then people will get hurt.people we care about," he said with a soft but stern tone to his voice as he ran his hand through her hair.
"And we can't let that happen can we.," Faith moaned sarcastically as she dislodged herself from his arms and slipped from underneath the covers and picked her costume and one of her bags up on the way to the bathroom.
"No of course not.," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice before he followed her a bit and stopped at the door, marveling at how good she looked standing in front of his bathroom mirror, wearing only her clown nose as she began to apply the clown makeup. She had already drawn the first few outlines on her face when she noticed him staring at her in the corner of the mirror.
"See something you like.or are you just staring for the heck of it.," she said with an impish smirk on her face as she casually turned her head and glanced back at him.
"I think I could get used to this.," he thought to himself as he first smiled at her and then went back into the bedroom to get his costume.
* * * * * * * * * *
Buffy and Willow were once again back in the lobby, helping an exasperated Fred finish the preparations for the party, when Angel and Spike returned from their sojourn to the basement. Angel looked mostly angry with a hint of sadness in the dark recesses of his soul while Spike was trying to quiet the voices in his head. Buffy didn't utter a word as Spike passed but stopped Angel when he came near. "Everything okay," she asked with a hopeful yet sad look on her face. Angel tried to smile and say that everything was going to be great.but he knew that he couldn't so he just shrugged his shoulders before responding.
"No.but that's normal.for us.right," he said slowly, looking into her eyes and trying to gauge her reaction. He felt that she was about to pull away when she caught him by surprise and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. With some reserve Angel slowly returned the hug and for the first time in days he thought he was happy, if only for a moment. But then the moment came crashing down around him as into the Hyperion strode Cordelia and Connor, directly on a flabbergasted Dawn's heels.
Buffy felt Angel tense up and start to pull away before she picked her head up and turned to look at the new arrivals. Cordelia she recognized easily, but the young man beside her was a complete stranger, although as she continued to look at him she came to believe that he slightly resembled Angel. Angel released her and stepped back abruptly, almost as if she were on fire. She was about to voice her concern on the matter when Angel spoke up.
"Cordy.Connor.," Angel stammered out nervously as his gaze quickly darted back and forth between the only two women in this world that he had ever felt love for. Cordelia looked surprised to see Buffy but overall just seemed extremely nervous while Connor seemed more like a little kid wearing an outfit that was to tight and waiting for his picture to be taken. Connor hated large crowds of people, especially if that crowd was made up mostly of complete strangers. Add that to the fact that they were probably all friends of his father and Connor looked about ready to fight when Cordelia spoke up.
"Angel.Buffy.," Cordelia said slowly and hesitantly as she looked at the former lovers first and then widened her gaze until she saw the rest of the people in the room.
"You look great.almost like I did back then.," Anya said with a big smile, obviously completely oblivious to the overwhelming amount of tension in the room, as she started walking towards Cordelia. Spike meanwhile looked on with a fascinated look on his face, as if he were hanging on every word, every action. Connor eyed Anya with ever growing concern as she got closer before he pushed Cordelia behind him and glared at Anya before uttering his warning.
"Whoever you are.stay back.," Connor said slowly and without emotion as he set his jaw and his feet, ready for a fight if it came to that. But before things could get any more out of hand Xander stepped up and pulled Anya back until he saw Connor begin to relax a bit.
"Connor calm down.it's okay.everyone's a friend here," Angel said slowly and calmly with a pleading look on his face before it ended with a slightly angry look as near the end Spike let out a small noise.
"Who are they.," Connor said still apparently not ready to except any of the people in the room at face value other than Cordelia.
"I can answer that.there's Red.or Willow Rosenberg, the whelp.Xander Harris, the bit.Dawn Summers.Buffy's little sister, ex vengeance demon Anya, and last but certainly not least Buffy Summers.the vampire slayer," Spike said with a sly smile on his face as he nodded to each person as he spoke their name, with Xander angrily glaring at him after his part. Connor eyed each of them as he listened to Spike and his eyes grew wide for a second as his gaze fell on Buffy. He was about to speak up but was interrupted from behind by a nervous Cordelia.
"It's okay Connor.they're my old friends from Sunnydale.remember I told you about Sunnydale," Cordelia said with a hopeful smile on her face as she kept on smiling at Connor until the teen seemed to remember the conversation and understand. With a smile on his face Spike began to walk over and by Connor, who stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"You're a vampire.," Connor said with a look in his eye that was a cross between joy and anger. Spike started to smile but then slowly lifted his head and turned it to look over at Angel, who seemed to want to say something but the words would just not come out no matter how hard he tried.
"Yeah.I am.what's it to ya," Spike said with a serious and non-threatening tone to his voice as he turned his attention back to Connor. Connor seemed to start forming the obvious question on his lips but Angel interrupted him.
"Spike is my grandchild.so in a way Connor.I.I guess he's your.I don't know.nephew.," Angel said with a very nervous look on his face and tone to his voice as he shoved his hands in his pockets and then stared at the floor as soon as he was done.
"How am I his bloody nephew.he's a kid.," Spike said with a slightly cocky look on his face as he grinned at Connor, who seemed to be haphazardly searching for a stake that he didn't have.
"Yes he is a kid.but he's also my son," Angel said cautiously at first and then finally just put it all out on the line in the end and waited for the consequences to hit him. Buffy was first to react with a look of complete shock on her face as in her mind she feverishly tried to make sense of what Angel had just said. Spike just wrenched his arm out of Connor's grasp and cocked an eyebrow before giving Angel a look of both confusion and surprise. Willow and Anya just looked at each other as if the answers to their questions were written on each others faces and Xander went into deep thought mode. Dawn meanwhile nervously looked back and forth between Spike, Angel, and Buffy.
"Angel.what.how," Buffy stammered out as she looked over at Angel with a dumbfounded and hurt look on her face as Spike almost exactly mirrored her expression, although he was more confused than hurt.
"It.it's a long story.," Angel said slowly as his gaze fell to the floor under the weight of everyone else's staring right at him.
"We got all the bloody time in the world Peaches.all the time in the world.," Spike said with an impish look on his face as he sauntered over to the round couch and plopped down, being soon after joined by Buffy, who was still trying to put things into their correct places in her head.
* * * * * * * * *
The night had fallen cool but clear and that fact only helped the efforts of those that intended to make the costume party and Angel Investigations that night one that would never be forgotten. The teams assembled were experts in their particular fields, from psychics for intelligence purposes to powerful magic wielders and then finally your run of the mill mercenaries that'd do the largest amount of the work. But of all of those gathered there this night held the promise of either the greatest night of her life, or the worst. Angel had gleefully thwarted almost every plan that she had ever had and on this night she would get her revenge on him and all that stood in her way. Visions of what she'd do to Angel ran through Lilah's head as the car that she was riding in pulled up next to the staging ground.
Deep down she hoped that Wesley would be smart for once and get out of the Hyperion when she put her plan into action, a plan that the senior partners had been highly skeptical of when she first told them of it. But finally they had relented, mostly because if she failed and was killed it was no skin of their backs, and the other simple fact that there was no shortage of willing souls just begging to take her place. From her various sources she had discovered that the rogue slayer that was the lynchpin of all of her machinations had been seen out and about with Wesley, the one man that even though she knew she shouldn't she found herself beginning to have true and genuine feelings for.
But the pictures that she had received from one of her spies of Wesley and Faith in the mall in a very expressive lip-lock had caused her to advance her plans and even come up with more contingency plans that dealt with now Wesley's death as well as Faith's and the others. However angry she was over the picture Lilah had decided to keep those contingencies in her proverbial back pocket, only to be used as a last resort, if Wesley did indeed turn on her as it had appeared he had. She had instructed the mercenaries to kill everyone but Angel, even the guests. And so she waited, along with the mercenaries and magic wielders, for the party to start like everyone else.
* * * * * * * * *
At the end of Angel's tale Buffy had drug him into the office and slammed the door shut, right in the face of Spike who had jumped up to follow them. Fred and Gunn had gotten back to decorating for the party, now at a feverish pace, and ended up enlisting everyone left in the lobby to help, including Connor who only agreed to help after Cordelia asked him nicely. Lorne meanwhile had retreated to his room, complaining of a headache. With all of the extra help it didn't take long to finish decorating, or at least get done enough for those in the lobby to retrieve their costumes and then put them on. It was some time later before everyone was finally in costume.
Gunn came out of his and Fred's room wearing a Robin Hood outfit complete with bow and arrow, one that in case of emergency or demon attack was able to be used as a weapon instead of it just being a prop. Behind him Fred exited the room done up like Maid Marian and she quickly joined Gunn towards the stairs. Xander had to be pulled out of his room by Anya, who was dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, because he swore up and down that he looked stupid in his costume and that Anya and Willow had picked it out on purpose, hoping to be able to make fun of him. When he finally came out Gunn and Fred had to fight back their laughter as they saw the only male Scooby dressed up like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz. Willow finally exited her room and quickly joined the others, grumbling almost non stop about having to wear the Glenda costume from the Wizard of Oz.
"At least you didn't get the wicked witch of the west costume Wil.," Xander said with a big smile as he did a mock bow that only seemed to upset Willow even more.
"But Glenda.she's like.she's like so.," Willow said with a nervous stutter as she tried to think up a witty comeback, but in the end she couldn't and just fell into line behind Xander and Anya.
The last two to come out were Spike, dressed against his most fervent wishes, like a Jedi warrior and Dawn, who after sifting through hundreds of different costume ideas ended up settling on one that she told everyone was one that she had come up with at the last minute. She slipped out of her room and Spike almost did a double take as she was dressed head to toe in almost exact copy of what Spike used to wear before he got his soul back, right down to the black duster, which in fact was the one that Spike had left the night of the incident in the bathroom.
"Bit.," Spike muttered eyeing an obviously nervous Dawn with a shocked look on his face as she fell in begrudgingly beside him.
"Don't say anything Spike.just.don't.," Dawn said slowly but sternly as she fixed her gaze on the floor in front of her as she walked.
"Now all we have to do is get Angel and Buffy out of the office and get them into their costumes.Lorne to," Fred said with a nervous look on her face as Gunn helped her down the stairs after she initially almost tripped on the folds of her dress.
"I think that'll be easier said than done.when those two get started.," Willow said with a small chuckle as she and the entire group finally assembled in the lobby. Soon what had begun as Willow's small chuckle caught on with the rest of the group and they all broke into a fit of laughter, even Spike who seemed to find it annoying at first, and only ended up laughing after getting a sharp elbow in the ribs from Dawn.
END OF CHAPTER 10
