SECOND CHANCES

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.

CHAPTER 13- Just A Few Uninvited Guests



They slowly made their way down the hall, being careful to not be seen by either more of the mercenaries or by any party patron that had gotten lost. A myriad of emotions swirled around within him. Here he was decked out in full mercenary gear with a similarly outfitted Faith by his side, both hiding who they were from anyone that would cross their paths. They hadn't spoken much since they exited the room, preferring to use simple hand signals that they had come up with before Giles had arrived. They were just about to descend a flight of stairs when there was a roaring sound from behind. Thanks to her slayer senses Faith was the first to react.



"What the hell," Faith said in almost a shocked yell as she spun around, followed closely behind by Wesley. The sight that greeted them was one that they would have expected to see in a movie, but not in the hallway of the Hyperion. For crashing around a corner and then bearing down on them was a wall of water that stretched all the way to the ceiling.



"Move.," Wesley yelled at the top of his lungs as he grabbed Faith by the shoulder and pushed her away from the oncoming wall of water before together they tore off at full speed down the hall, followed ever so close behind by the oncoming torrent of water. They had just stepped onto the first stair step when the water hit them like a locomotive, picking them up off of their feet as if they were as light as a feather and first slamming them into the ceiling before ushering them down the stairs.



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Downstairs Anya and Xander were arguing about exactly what they filled Twinkies with when a downtrodden Angel sulked back into the lobby. The majority of the party guests were completely oblivious to Angel's somber mood as he made his way through the crowd. As the lights finally came up Willow thought she saw Angel wipe a lone solitary tear away before anyone saw it but it was all over so fast that she wasn't sure if what she saw was indeed a tear or just a trick of light or something. She had refrained from dancing and instead kept watch on the doors that Angel and Buffy had passed through on their treks to repair damaged emotions and dreams. Angel was only a few feet away from the assembled Scooby's when he suddenly turned and made a deliberate byline for the office. Willow was about to get up and follow him in, her mind abuzz with more than a million questions and concerns, but she hesitated a few seconds, long enough for Angel to enter the office and slam the door behind him. With a frumpy look on her face Willow plopped back down and tried to feign interest in Anya and Xander's debate. With it having now switched from Twinkie filling to how many licks it really took to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, with Anya saying that she had known a demon that had sworn that he'd get to the bottom of the mystery no matter what. In the end she explained that the demon had gone insane and then starved to death.



Seconds after slamming the office's door shut Angel regretted ever entering the small boxlike room. For sitting behind the desk was a passed out slug of a demon, one that had gained notoriety for his obnoxious body odor. Almost instinctively Angel took a step back and frantically looked around the room for anything that could get rid of the stench, but seeing nothing he spun around and fumbled with the doorknob as he tried to turn it. He just about had the doorknob when a slimy green tendril, coupled with loud screams and shouts coming from the lobby, erupted through the wall and slammed into Angel's back, blasting him through the door face first.



Out in the lobby Willow was just about to yell at Xander and Anya to stop arguing when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, sending a cold chill through her body. She frantically scanned the lobby for anything that looked out of the ordinary but saw nothing, that is until her gaze fell to the Hyperion's front doors as she noticed a strange purple aura near them. She was just getting out of her seat when the first scream tore through the lobby and Angel came crashing through the door, knocking Xander to the ground.



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Because of how deeply they were concentrating on how good the kiss felt neither Buffy nor Spike heard anything out of the ordinary at first, with the first few screams and loud noises being passed off as background noise. They finally broke the kiss when two heavily armed mercenaries came storming into the room. Buffy was first to react as she rolled out of the open and pulled herself out of the mercenaries line of sight. Spike however wasn't as lucky as the mercenaries were able to get a couple of shots off before he could dive beside Buffy, with one shot whizzing by his ear and the second shot grazed his right leg.



"Bloody hell," Spike growled in pain as he landed hard next to Buffy, who had armed herself with an old pot in each hand. Buffy quickly turned her head and looked back at Spike with a touch of fear and uncertainty in her eye before the edge of the mercenaries shadow crept over the island.



"Stay where you..oof," the taller of the mercenaries growled as he began to climb up on the island before Buffy leapt to her feet and smashed the first mercenary directly in the face with one pot before she took advantage of the second mercenary's split second indecision as she slid across the island and cracked him on the side of the head with the other pot. Both mercenaries tumbled awkwardly to the floor before the taller one started to get back to his feet but was knocked back down to the floor by an angry Spike that almost leapt clear over the island and dropped right onto him. Spike didn't waste any time and was soon landing blow after blow into the mercenary's face. Buffy meanwhile had tackled the other mercenary and set about wrestling with him for his gun.



Although the mercenary was strong thanks to her slayer strength Buffy was able to wrestle the gun away and throw it to a side before she joined Spike in pummeling the mercenary's. By now Spike's mercenary was completely unconscious but nevertheless Spike kept landing punch after punch, running on more anger and adrenaline than fear or self preservation. Buffy's mercenary didn't stay conscious to much longer and she was soon forced to grab Spike's arm and force him to stand up, all the while telling him that the threat was over, that's before they heard a chorus of frightened screams coming from the lobby.



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Cordelia had fled to one of the outermost rooms in the hotel and as such the first scream sounded more like someone shouting on a microphone, so she paid it little mind. Connor, who was sitting nervously at her side trying to comfort her and stop her from crying, instantly recognized the sound as that of a scream for help and bolted to his feet and then quickly made up the distance between him and the door before he ripped it open and took off through the open doorway.



"Connor.what.wait.wait for me," Cordelia mumbled loudly as she looked up through tear filled eyes as she watched Connor disappear out of the room and into the darkness. Without thinking she lurched to her feet and took off after him, hearing the sound of glass shattering as she passed through the open doorway.



It didn't take to long for Connor to rush back to the hotel lobby but when he got there he did a double take, for the party now resembled a war zone. Most of the tables had been overturned, spilling the punch and food everywhere. Near the office Angel was slowly pulling himself back to his feet but a frightened demon, in its rush to flee the scene, ran headlong into Angel and the two went down in a heap. Beside them Anya was trying to pull Xander back to his feet and Willow was still sitting in her chair, her eyes wide in shock, as she gazed around the room. Gunn and Fred meanwhile had dove behind one of the overturned tables and were trying to take stock of the situation.



Near the stairs Giles had been conversing, about ancient Sumerian texts, with a rather intelligent demon when a very large portal opened up directly over him and Giles was barely able to dive out of the way as a rather deadly looking demon came through the portal. Giles raised his staff up to try and protect himself but the demon swatted the meager weapon out of his hands and sent it skittering across the cold floor. The demon laughed hysterically for a second before eyeing Giles with a murderous look in its eye and raising its hand, ready to strike. Seeing this Connor rushed over and dragged Giles back out of the way just as the demon brought its clawed hand down, barely missing them. The demon readied to strike again, but before it could take a step it was consumed by a wall of water that was pushing along two helpless mercenaries.



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Dawn struggled with all her might against the mercenary but it was quickly apparent that she was completely outmatched and would need help to get free. After the mercenary had initially grabbed her Dawn had been dragged back through the darkened hotel, past many dark and empty hallways, all the while not removing his gloved hand from her mouth. But what puzzled Dawn the most was the many heavily armed mercenaries and robed men that rushed by her, with a few of the robed men stopping in a dark corner to chant an incantation or two.



She thought she'd never get away when with a frantic glance back and up at her abductor she noticed something that at first didn't look like something she could use to her advantage. She noticed that the mercenary that had grabbed her, and many of the others, was wearing night vision goggles. She let out a small groan before something triggered a long dormant memory. She remembered back to when Xander had forced her to watch one of his favorite war movies. In it the hero had been attacked by a large group of men wearing night vision goggles, but he had escaped their clutches when he.then the thought came to her like a bomb going off in her head.



She stopped struggling so much and instead flung her free arm out so that her hand could glide along the wall desperately seeking the instrument of her salvation. At first all she felt was the texture of the wallpaper, but then her hand started to brush up against a bit of plastic. She furiously dug her feet in and made her stand there. The mercenary growled in anger and was about to yell at her when Dawn used all her strength to stomp on his foot and flip the switch. Suddenly the previously darkened hallway was bathed in a soft fluorescent glow.



Even though the overhead hallway lights were not very bright they were bright enough to affect anyone using supersensitive night vision goggles. The mercenary that was holding her growled in anger and instantly let go of Dawn as he furiously reached up and flung the goggles off of his head. Dawn's last image of the mercenary that had grabbed her was of him, and many of the other mercenaries squeezing their eyes shut and angrily yelling at her.



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Buffy and Spike burst through the old kitchens door and took a step back towards the lobby when two men, wearing gladiator style uniforms, blocked their path. At first Spike didn't have any idea who the two men were or why they were blocking the hallway, but seconds later just as Buffy took a step towards them and demanded that they let her pass a light went on in his head and Spike instantly recognized the two men for what they truly were.

"I said let me.," Buffy demanded angrily as she glared back and forth between the two men before one of them caught her by surprise and landed a left uppercut on her chin, causing her to stagger backwards until Spike caught her. She started to act on reflex and she tensed in preparation for a leap that she hoped would give her the advantage in the fight, but a split second before she jumped she felt Spike's hand on her arm, pulling her back and away from the two men. "Spike.what are you.let me go," she growled angrily as she tried to pull her arm out of Spike's grasp, but he held her fast and pulled her slightly farther away from the two men.



"Buffy no.they're not human.they're demons," Spike said quickly and nervously as he noticed the look of anger and contempt on Buffy's face as she struggled to free herself.



"S.so what.let me," Buffy said now yelling at Spike before she was able to rip her arm out of Spike's grasp. "So they're demons.what's so special," she continued to say angrily as she glared back at Spike before she turned and started to head towards the two men. She had only taken a single step when one of the men, followed closely behind by the other, smashed his fists together, fists that suddenly became encased in flames.



"Bloody hell slayer," Spike growled angrily as he again grabbed a shocked Buffy's arm and used all of his strength to pull her back towards him. His actions were just in time as even though Spike pulled her away from the two men one of them swung his fist quick enough and got so close to Buffy that a few of her bangs got singed.



"Whoa that was close.hey.you burned my hair," Buffy yelled angrily at first with a hand on her forehead before she felt the singed bangs and became very angry. Buffy then took a step towards the two demons, who by now were just watching Spike and Buffy with arrogant smirks on their face, before she thought of something better and pulled Spike back into the old kitchen. "Come on boys.come and get us," she said with a hint of mockery in her voice and a smile on her face as the old kitchens door closed behind her.



"Buffy what the hell do you think you're doing," Spike growled with anger and concern flashing in his gaze.

"Trust me Spike," Buffy said pleadingly as she quickly looked first back at Spike and then over at the old kitchens door just as the two flame wielding demons entered the room, seemingly angry that neither Buffy nor Spike had stood and faced them out in the hallway.



"Always pet.always," Spike said with a confused but trusting hint to his voice as he nodded his head, an act that after seeing Buffy felt her level of confidence rising and a smile spreading across her face.



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"Okay that's it.this party officially sucks.," Willow grumbled angrily as she stood up and then had to jump back suddenly to avoid the flying body of the demon that had run into Angel as he threw the demon off of him. She was about to say something to Angel when she noticed that he leapt back to his feet in full game face, so she stepped away from him with an uneasy look on her face. Angel was about to ask why she was backing away from him when all of the doors to the lobby burst open and in poured over a dozen armed mercenaries.



"Willow look out," Angel yelled out with a cross between a fearful and angry look on his face as he made up the ground between he and Willow quickly and then grabbed her and then they both dove behind some overturned chairs just as the nearest mercenary opened fire on them, only missing them by inches.



In the time it took that mercenary to stop shooting and try and determine if he had hit anything Xander and Anya were rushing him from behind, Xander armed with a metal folding chair and Anya with a long piece of the office door. The mercenary noticed them suddenly out of the corner of his eye and spun around to defend himself, but as he brought his gun up and fired off a few quick shots, shots that ended up passing harmlessly through the air and slamming into the wall as Anya had brought her weapon up and had just hit the mercenaries arm with a glancing blow that had done it's job, he left himself open for Xander's attack.



Envisioning himself as one of the professional wrestlers Xander pulled back and swung the chair with all his might, cracking the mercenary across the back of the head. He fully expected the mercenary to drop like a drop, so when he pulled the chair back and the mercenary still stood he turned his head towards Anya and discovered the fearful look on his face mirrored in hers. "Uh oh.," Xander mumbled with a look of dread on his face as he turned back to the mercenary, just in time to see the heavily armed solder stagger around for a second or two like a drunken bar patron before he then slumped to the floor. "See.I told ya An.nobody messes with Xander Har.," Xander started to say with a big smile on his face and his chest puffed out in pride before another mercenary rushed over and slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of Xander's head, making him crumple to the floor and Anya almost faint.



END OF CHAPTER 13