Chapter 5
The room was relatively quiet as the group went about trying to tend to the girl passed out on the couch, who was muttering over and over again in her sleep about there being two left and a soul with a child. At one point, she had begun thrashing about, yelling about sparrows and how they wouldn't sing, but Angel didn't catch a lot of it. She either didn't say it clear enough, or it was so low that his vampire hearing had only picked up that she had said something not exactly what she had said.
Cordelia was kneeling next to her. For some reason, her closeness gave the child a certain amount of peace. She didn't nearly thrash as much with the ex-cheerleader around, and Angel could only assume that it must be some left over higher being thing.
Connor perched himself nearby, but far enough away from the group to prove himself not to be part of it. Of course, the big, bald guy that was named Gunn staring at him like he was about ready to smack the kid upside the head if he got too close might have something do with it. He and Fred had come back from a job not long after Phe had decided to take an impromptu nap while standing. Fred was now just working on a drink they had found in one of the books Wesley had left to try and wake the girl. Angel didn't have the heart to tell her that that was just Wesley's recipe for the prefect cup of coffee, but instead chose to let her feel like she was really filling the ex-watcher's shoes with being able to do a spell.
"It's ready," she announced proudly, bringing the mug of dark liquid over to Cordelia, who began to give it to the girl.
"Here you go, Phe," Cordy said, gently pouring the liquid into her mouth.
Phe's face scrunched up for a moment as she choked on the drink, and then began to cough at the burning sensation going down her throat. Finally, she looked up at a smiling Cordelia, her face full of confusion of what exactly was going on.
"Hey," the seer said sweetly. "Welcome back."
"I went somewhere?" Phe asked, even more confused than before if that were possible.
Making a show of rolling her eyes, Cordelia sighed, "It's just an expression."
"Oh."
The young girl sat up on the couch and began to look around at the adults that were watching her closely. The feeling of self-consciousness rolled in, and the teen had soon folded her arms in front of herself as if that were to offer some protection from the pressing gazes.
"What'd I miss?" she asked softly.
"We were kind of hoping you'd be able to tell us, sugar plumb," Lorne spoke up. "Like, for instance, why you thought that the floor made a nice, comfy bed?"
"I didn't want to go to sleep," she told him honestly. "But I can't stand the sight of blood."
"Well, you're in the wrong place then," Gunn muttered to himself, glanced briefly at his boss. Angel shot him a look, and the other man turned his attention to the young Texan girl at his side, who was currently making bewildered and confused faces at the statement.
"Blood? What blood? I didn't see any blood."
"You obviously haven't turned on the news lately then," a new voice answered, surprising just about everyone in the room. Wes stood just in front of the door, before moving forward to the very top of the stairs that lead down into the lobby. He held his hands in his coats pocket and his face almost even as he studied the other people in the room, who were all turning their attention to the ex-watcher.
"What are you talking about?" Angel asked, sounding colder than he meant too.
Things between him and his old friend might be starting to get better, but Angel was still finding it hard to trust him. Wesley knew this, and, so, made his way into the sitting area of the lobby where Gunn had insisted they put a TV that was hidden in a cabinet. The one time street kid had insisted that it be there for if they should ever actually have a guest who might want to watch television down here, but Wes suspected that it had more to do with the fact that the man didn't want to miss "The Price Is Right" when it came on in the early morning and he and Fred were working the front desk. Of course, it's not like it mattered much, and it was at least proving useful once. With the use of the remote control, he flipped it to the Weather Channel that was currently showing pictures of the very scene he was talking about.
The others moved closer towards the box, as if it had some magical pull on them. All of them except for Phe, who had ducked her face away in her hands to try and shield the bloody images from her sight.
"That's Sunnydale," Angel muttered aloud in astonishment.
Wesley nodded his head and added, "Where it rained blood this afternoon."
"What?" at least three of them asked at the same time, but Wes was unable to distinguish who it had been.
"The meteorologists are going nuts trying to figure this one out," he went on, leaning back on his feet as he crossed his arms in front of him to get a better look at the pictures. "Nothing they have can explain it."
"Of course not," Phe said as if they should know that. She had her back to them so she wouldn't have to look at the television, and went on, "She made the rain like that. They can't explain it."
A look was exchanged between the others, and, though Angel had an idea of where this was going, he asked anyway, "Who made it like that?"
"She did," the teen bit back in a 'you're a completely idiot' tone. "She had to tell them she was back somehow. Of course, they would have found out eventually, but she wanted to make an entrance."
"Phe, what are you talking about?" Cordy sighed, getting very tired of the circles that this girl talked in. "She had to make an entrance for whom?"
The teen knitted her brow together as she slowly turned, careful to avoid looking at the screen, with a surprised look on her face. "The cartoon dog, of course. She had to tell them that she was back."
"Cartoon dog?" Connor repeated, raising an eyebrow and staring that girl like she had completely lost her mind, but Angel seemed to know what she was talking about.
His eyes widened as he said, "The Scoobies. Buffy! They're after Buffy!" The vampire began to scramble towards his office saying, "We have to help-"
"NO!!" Phe screamed, moving his way to block his path. "You can't go there. You mustn't go there until the end, when the players are ready." Angel opened his mouth to protest. "Shhh. Don't worry. You can't go to them, but they'll come to you," she assured him. "But we have to stay for now. The city will need its heroes for the coming days. She has hers."
Sighing deeply, Angel reached up and began to rub the temples of his head. This girl really was becoming more and more of a bother, he mused before wondering where they had left Cordy's aspirin from the previous year. He'd stay put for right now, only because he knew she was right in that Buffy had the Scoobies if she needed help and that Los Angeles did need them. But, still, he didn't like it. And he was really beginning to not like Phe either.
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Buffy ducked as the vampire sloppily swung his arm where her head had been. The vampire, maybe a few weeks old fledgling at best, growled at her loudly as she popped back up and caught him with an upper cut to the jaw. His head jerked back with a sickening crack, but Buffy paid it no mind as she tossed her stake from one hand to the other and slammed it in his unguarded chest. A hiss escaped from between his teeth while he stared at her with disgusted eyes before he exploding into a pile of dust.
She had been right about the vampires going crazy from the amount of blood in the air. Since they had left the house at sunset, she and Spike had fought off six vampires, two really ugly demons whose names she couldn't pronounce correctly if her life depended on it, and seven reporters who were looking for opinions on it raining blood in their hometown.
To be honest, the reporters where the worst because at least she could kill the vampires or demons when they got annoying or in her way or within reaching distance. Stupid no killing humans rule. Really, would the world be worse off if Millie McMartin who worked for the Tabloid Sun was found dead with that tape recorder of hers shoved up her-
"Buffy!" a voice called out, bring the slayer back to the fight she had been engaged in just moments ago. She glanced over towards the voice, and saw Spike doing his best to fight off several vamps on his own, and several more were coming after her now that their comrade was dust. Oh, right, fight now, plot Millie's death later.
She charged at one of the vamps coming at her, leapt into the air, and kicked him with both her feet that landed square in his chest. The kick sent him flying a few feet back into another on-coming vampire, leaving Buffy just one other to deal with at the moment. Rolling, she twisted her body to where she flipped back onto her feet, and was standing right in front of the third female vampire. The vampire threw several punches at her, which she was easily able to block, before she kicked straight up like a cheerleader and knocked her in the chin. The dark-haired girl stumbled a few feet back, and Buffy chose that moment to strike and slammed the stake through the undead creature's heart.
By this time, her two friends had regained themselves and were trying to attack Buffy from behind her. Doing a back flip, the slayer went right between the two on-coming vampires and made it where she was now standing directly behind them. She quickly dusted another one, before the other side kicked her right in the head.
Buffy stumbled a few feet back, as the vampire backhanded her with all his strength, knocking the slayer down to the side. She shot back up, hitting the vampire in a similar manner, before grabbing his arm, spinning on her feet, and throwing him over her shoulder. He landed hard on his back, and hissed at the girl that stood over him before she jammed the stake into his chest.
Jerking her head in Spike's direction, the slayer watched as he dusted the last of the vampires, sending the night once more into its usual quiet.
"God, they're frisky tonight, like hyper puppies," she thought aloud as she tucked Mr. Pointy safely back into his hiding place. Looking up, she saw Spike had raised his eyebrow at the description. "Okay, like rabid, foaming at the mouth, 'I want to chew your face off,' hyper puppies."
"You're really losing your touch, you know that, love?" the vampire smiled, starting to walk past her and back to the path through the park.
A scolding look followed him as she bit, "What?! I've been doing this for eight years, not all of them can be gold." She caught up to him and began to walk beside him easily. "Besides, it's not like I heard you making much with the funny."
"Just didn't feel like trading banter with a bunch of witless minion is all," he said, shrugging slightly.
He momentarily considered fishing out his cigarettes and lighting one up before deciding against it. As much as he would love to have one right about then, it would make them seem too much like they had been the pervious year; they'd patrol together, fight off some fledgling, trade some banter with some insults thrown in for good measure, then he'd light up and she would look at him with a little grin and then, well, the real fun of the evening began. No, best keep away from anything that made them get too comfortable or made it seem like it was the previous year.
That was the whole reason he never smoked around her anymore. As many times as she had told him that it was a disgusting habit, something about it had always gotten to her; completed that 'I'm a bad guy so it's okay to do what you will with me' thing that she wanted to get out of him. That was the last way he wanted her to see him now, so, no, there was no smoking allowed when the slayer was around.
"Yo, Spike, did you hear me?" she asked, breaking through his line of thought.
"Oh, um, sorry, pet. What'd you say?"
Now that he was actually listening to her again, she turned her gaze down towards the ground, like she had wanted an answer, but at the same time, wasn't really sure if she should ask. "Oh, I was just wondering if you were going to tell me how a hundred something vampire is able to quote Bible scripture."
Another small shrug followed before he said softly, "Always good to know what the other side is up to."
"Oh," Buffy responded, deciding it was best not to press the matter.
The awkward silence returned that had been plaguing the two the whole night when they weren't battling bad guys. It had seemed like a logical choice for Spike to come with her, to fight with her like he always had, just like when he had gone with her that night she had found out…the night they were going after that Ronnie the Worm guy. She had hoped that now that she knew that things between them could at least settle down enough to where they could at least patrol together like they used to before….everything. But even now, it wasn't working like she had hoped. Then, she would have to realize, things would never be like they were before ever again.
Spike had been watching her from the corner of his eye, watching as she became more and more uncomfortable around him. Not that he blamed her. He really was an idiot for agreeing to come out with her.
"Um, you know, love, maybe we should try splitting up. Be able to cover more ground that way and all."
Her head shot up at the suggestion. "No, we don't have-"
"No. It's okay-"
"Really-"
"It's fine, Buffy," he reassured her before seeing her flinch. Looking down, he saw that he had subconsciously taken her hand into his. Spike dropped it quickly, wondering where in the world his mind had wandered off to for him to even try something like that, before he took off. Actually, it was more like fled from her.
Buffy sighed as she watched him take off in the other direction before continuing on her own path, her hand gently brushing the other where he had touched her but not allowing herself to think too deeply about it. Really, after the night's activity they had already encountered, splitting up was not the best idea. But staying together probably wouldn't have been much better thanks to that awkwardness. It was so distracting that it probably would have lead to one or both of them getting hurt; so it was better they split up. Yeah, it was better that way.
She walked along her chosen route for the evening, trying her best to not think about things too much; especially the thing that had bleached hair and a British accent. Damn it. She had promised herself she would stop doing that. He had his soul now, which meant in the Buffy Dictionary that he wasn't a thing anymore, he was a man. Angel had his soul and got to be a man because of it, which meant that Spike does too.
Still, her mind slipped sometimes and she forgot. She didn't mean to, but old impressions die hard.
It scared her sometimes to think that her mind set of Spike equals thing would never die; that it would always loom in the back of her mind, screaming at her to not worry or care too much about him because he was next to nothing. She didn't want to be like that because it wasn't right or fair.
Buffy paused as she entered the part of the trail that went across a large clearing. So this is what brooding feels like. Hum. She had always thought that it had to be more satisfying than this considering how much Angel did it. Of course, it did kind of sneak up on her real stealthy like. One thought lead to another and before she knew it, she was brooding over her thoughts about Spike and-
Geez! Why was she dwelling on this? She really must have ADD or something.
Shaking her head out of her thoughts, Buffy was about to continue on when movement from the nearby tree line caught her eye. She stood there and watched as two fledglings scurried along, one with a shovel over his shoulder and the other with a pick ax. It had been Buffy's experience that that was never a good thing.
As she crept along after them, she made a mental note to kick Spike's ass for his whole splitting up suggestion and leaving her to deal with this by herself. Not because she couldn't take down two fledglings, the slayer could actually do that without breaking a sweat, but because she knew they would lead her to more of them and that it was going to make her late getting home. Dang it, and she wanted to catch the weather tonight and make sure she didn't have to prepare for a storm of locus tomorrow with gusts of flies.
They led her through the wooded area that ran right into one of the many cemeteries that Sunnydale had. It was one of the older ones now, being completely filled by the time she had finished high school. It actually felt kind of strange being back there, almost—what's that big word Giles liked to use about stuff from his youth? Oh yeah, nostalgic. That's what the cemetery felt like. And how sick was she for thinking of place like this like that?
Buffy continued to follow them to a spot near the center of the grave yard, and then felt her face drain as she watched three other vamps, and one supervising, digging up a grave. But it wasn't the fact that there were now seven of them, but where they were digging that got to her.
That grave belonged to Judge Marcus Spanelli who died back in 1998. It was also the grave that the Scoobies had buried the head of the Judge in to hide it from Angelus and anyone else looking for it. It had been a fresh grave at the time, and the fact that the headstone had the word Judge on it added an extra little ironic twist that was just too good to pass up. Not that it mattered much right now.
The two fledglings joined the other three in the halfway dug up grave and began to help. Within minutes they had found something, and handed it over to the woman apparently in charge. Though it was dark, Buffy could easily see that it was the black bowling bag that Xander had swiped from his dad's closet for them to put the head in.
This was not good. Not good at all.
"Cool. Boss 'll be pleased with this," the woman said, looking down into the bowling bag.
Wait. Didn't she know that voice from somewhere? From a long time ago?
Buffy didn't have much time to ponder the thought because the female vampire then announced, "Time to head back and show the good doctor what we've got."
"I'm afraid your appointment has been cancelled," the slayer said dryly, finally making her presence known.
She stood there with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face, giving off that full 'I'm the slayer, fear me' vibe she had been working on ever since she was seventeen. It seemed to work for the most part, causing the younger fledglings to start to shift into their predatory fighting stances that are accompanied by growls or hisses. However, the effect was ruined when the woman began to giggle.
"Still with the smart ass remarks, huh, Summers?"
The woman turned towards Buffy, allowing the dim light from one of the street lights from the nearby path to illuminate her facial features. It took a moment for the slayer's mind to connect who this was before her, and caused a deep frown to emerge on her face when she did recognize her.
"Shelia," the blonde said simply, eyeing the eternal teenager.
"Well, hello to you too, Buffy," she smirked back. "Long time no fight."
"As I recall there never was a fight. More like you and a buddy double-teaming me, I dusted him and you ran like a scared bunny rabbit," Buffy mocked.
It was an old trick she had learned her first year of slaying. Get the vamp mad and nine times out of ten they get sloppy in a fight because of their emotion. Apparently, though, she was one of the ten because she just started to laugh again.
"What can I say? It was like Mr. Myers used to say, 'I was young, dumb, and stupid.' But I'm not anymore."
"You came back to my town after I let you go, so I'd have to argue there," Buffy pointed out, trying yet again to get her raddled with still no luck.
"I'm sure you would." Shelia turned to a nearby fledgling and tossed him the bowling bag. "Take this back to the boss. I'll take care of little Miss Full of Herself here."
"But, boss," another one of them started to complain, but quickly shut up when the dark-haired woman shot him a look. In fact, they all began to coward before fleeing into the night. Buffy really didn't see this as a problem. Shelia would only take a second and she could easily catch up to the others, destroy them, and then go find a better hiding place for the Judge's head.
"Well, aren't we a bit over confident," Buffy said dryly as the two women began to stalk around one another.
"One of us is," Shelia answered, still grinning wickedly at the slayer.
Buffy stopped in the exact spot that the vampire had been standing in before just as Shelia stopped in hers.
"You should have stayed gone."
"No, I couldn't have," the vampiress said before they launched at one another.
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Wood pulled his jacket on slowly, taking in the sight of his office for what could very well be the last time. In his short time as principal here, he had grown quite fond of everyone, especially Ms. Summers. Something about the girl just made him feel better when she was around, like she would protect those around her; a quality that, for some reason, reminded him of his mother.
Passing her desk, he paused and looked down at it with a faint smile. If they made it through all this, he really would have to look her up.
Straightening out his coat's collar, he turned from the desk and said, "See you around, Ms. Summers."
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