In the Space of a Journey
Chapter Six
Sunnydale -- the Condo
There was a meeting set for the remaining defenders of Sunnydale at Giles's condo/defense headquarters just after sundown. Angel was the first to arrive, which was lucky since he had the key. He inserted the key in the lock, and walked through the front door. As he closed the door behind him and started to reach for the light something grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. An instant later, there was a knife pointed at his throat.
Angel stiffened, but didn't move. The knife couldn't be lethal, of course -- the odds of decapitation with such a small blade were pretty slim. He wasn't really worried because he knew exactly who was standing behind him. "Faith. How did you get in without a key?"
"Among other things, I excelled in lock picking class during training." The breath from her husky whisper tickled his ear.
"So you decided a little breaking and entering would be in order?" Angel asked, putting as much disapproval into his tone as possible.
If Faith though it was odd for them to be having a normal conversation while she held him at knifepoint, she didn't say so. If anything, her tone was diffident. "I was bored."
"Ah..."
In moves so fast they almost became one, Angel grabbed her wrist with his free hand, twisted her knife hand away from him and spun around to face her, pinning her against the door. The knife clattered to the floor.
"Well, well, well," Faith said in surprise. "Now that you have me here, what *are* you going to do with me?"
"Give you a lesson in manners? Or perhaps just a good spanking." As soon as his last words were out of his mouth, Angel realized the double entendre.
A seductive smile curved her lips. "Bring it on, baby."
For a second, Angel was tempted. Her lips were inches from his own. Then he grunted as Faith's knee ground itself into his stomach. If he'd had breath, that would have knocked it out of him. As it was, the maneuver gave Faith the leeway she needed to escape.
"Too late." She scooped the knife up off the floor, sheathed it in its spot on her belt, and then strolled casually into the living room, leaving Angel staring after her. A sharp rapping on the door at his back brought Angel back from his reverie. He turned and opened the door. Nicole and the two male commandos walked in single file. They strode past Angel without a single glance and walked into the living room portion of the condo.
"Report," Faith ordered her crew.
"Sector One, west side, clear as of sunset," Nicole replied crisply.
"Sector Two, south side, clear," Rio added.
"Sector Three, east side, clear," Terrance said briskly. "Sector Four, north side, clear of supernatural threats as of sunset. However, I did derail the plans of a mugger on my way here."
The commando leader's duty face softened as she rewarded Terrance with a pleased smile. "And Terrance wins the gold star for today, guys. He covered two sectors and still had time to stop a mugger."
Terrance accepted the praise with a nod of his blond head.
Angel strolled into the room and looked at Faith questioningly. "You divided Sunnydale into sectors?"
"Sunnydale and the outlying countryside," Faith replied. "Standard tactical operating procedure -- divide the territory and survey for both threats and sites that need watching." She put her hands on her hips and gave him her most belligerent look. "Got a problem with that, vampire?"
"Just curious." Angel extended his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "We're supposed to be helping each other, remember? And the name's Angel."
Rio smirked. "Angel the vampire. What an oxymoron!"
Angel's eyes darkened and he advanced slowly on the dark, slender youth. He guessed that Rio was about seventeen. Angel outweighed him by at least sixty pounds and had many more years of experience. "I wouldn't be picking on other people's names, if I were you," the vampire growled, exerting all the intimidation he could muster without putting on his game face. "Especially when your name means river. Was your mother quite fond of some nearby stream, River Boy?" Angel realized the lameness of his insult, but he couldn't think of another way to make fun of the pipsqueak boy's name.
Rio's face darkened with fury and he lunged at Angel. Angel counted easily, and in one move flipped the youth and dropped him to the living room floor. Faith was in his face immediately.
"Get away from him!"
"Who's gonna make me?" Angel sneered, but deep inside, he was enjoying this battle of wills with the feisty commando leader.
"I will."
Everyone turned at the new voice to see Jenny and Amy standing in the doorway.
"The door was open," Amy said quietly, following Jenny into the room.
Jenny stopped next to Angel. "Having fun?"
Looking suitably abashed, Angel stepped away from Faith and Rio. "We were just working out a few issues," he said.
"I see..." Jenny gave all three of them her best "displeased teacher" look, especially Faith and Angel. "When I let Giles leave you two in charge, I thought you could handle it. I'm very disappointed in you. Especially you, Angel. You, of all of them, should know better."
When she focused her eyes on him, Angel felt their chill. It seemed more than the situation warranted. Then he thought about how childish this competition with Faith was, and he resolved not to do it any more. At least not just then.
Next to him, Faith chortled. Jenny turned her wrath on the brunette in the black cat suit, regardless of the arsenal strapped at her waist. "Does something about this situation amuse you?" Jenny demanded. "Is it, perhaps, all the lives at risk while we sit here bickering among ourselves instead of patrolling? I would have thought the Council a more stern task-master than that."
Faith's smile vanished, and she stood stiffly. "Are you questioning..."
"Let's get down to business," Angel interrupted. Both women turned snapping gazes on him, but realizing that he was right, they subsided. Angel turned to face them all. "Faith and her team have divided the town and outlying areas into four sectors. A-team, Terrance and Nicole, will take Sectors One and Two, and B-team will take Sectors Three and Four."
Jenny glanced suspiciously at Angel and Faith. "I assume the two of you are B-team?"
Angel nodded once.
"Can you handle that responsibility?"
"Don't worry," Angel assured her.
Jenny looked deep into his eyes. Angel stared back into hers, wondering what the witch was thinking. Suddenly, she dropped back, satisfied somehow, though there was still something else in her eyes -- something he couldn't identify. She moved away to sit on the couch next to Amy.
Unable to be silent and leave the command of the situation to others for another second, Faith announced, "Rio, you're staying with them." She hooked her thumb toward Jenny and Amy.
Rio followed her gaze with a look of displeasure on his face. "What? You're taking me off active duty?"
"You didn't tell him?" Angel looked at Faith in surprise.
Faith's attention was on Rio. "Are you questioning my orders?"
"But... I haven't done anything wrong, have I?" Rio saw the thunderous look on his commander's face, and immediately sucked up his unhappiness and doubt. "No, I'm not questioning orders! I will stay behind."
"Good." Faith paused, and when she had determined Rio had suffered enough, she took pity on him and added, "You and the witches should be beneficial for each other."
Rio nodded and put on his stoic face, though his reluctance was obvious.
Angel looked at Jenny. "Are you three staying here?" Jenny nodded in response.
Faith pulled a radio out of her waistband. "We each have one of these, so call if you need us." She looked at Nicole and Terrance, but ignored Angel. "We move out in ten minutes. Check your gear and be ready." Then she vanished in the direction of the bathroom.
If he hadn't actually wanted to leave in the next ten minutes, Angel would have fought with Faith on it just for the principle of the thing. Instead, he just stored up the insult with all the others she'd given him since her arrival until he could exact payback later, when duty was over.
Jenny walked over to him, interrupting his thoughts. "We should go over what the three of us will do while the rest of you patrol." Angel nodded, and the two of them stepped away into Giles's study.
Watching them go, Amy felt strangely alone. She eyed the three commandos warily, unsure of how to act around them. She darted a shy smile toward Nicole, but the red head turned away and started checking her gear. Next, Amy looked toward Rio who was standing next to the couch. "So, you're a warlock... How long have you been training?"
"Long enough." His dark-eyed gaze wasn't very welcoming.
"Rio, spot check me?" Nicole called from the other side of the room. The young warlock turned and walked away without another word. Amy sighed and sat back on the couch. It looked like she was in for a long, lonely week. For a minute she wished she was in England with the others. Not that Amy regretted giving her ticket to Joyce -- Joyce had always been great to her, and mothers should be allowed to be there for their daughters -- but for the first time since she'd come back from Europe, Amy felt completely alone, even though there were three people in the room with her.
The leather couch cushions squeaked and sank in as someone sat down next to her. Amy glanced over and saw the blond commando, Terrance, looking at her. "Run out of gear to check?" she asked bitterly.
"You'll have to excuse my companions," Terrance said. "Well mannered they are not."
She wrinkled her forehead in surprise. "And why are you so different?"
"My mother would say it's just good breeding." He smiled and Amy's heart skipped a beat.
"So, what would you say?" She couldn't help but return his smile. He was extremely good looking, and got more so, the longer she looked at him. And when he smiled, his blue eyes sparkled and cute dimples appeared in his cheeks.
"I'd think about saying maybe it's seeing such a pretty girl, but I wouldn't actually say that because it would sound like a come on line."
Amy laughed. Just then, Faith came back in the room, closely followed by Angel and Jenny.
"Let's move out," Faith ordered.
With one last glance at Amy, Terrance stood and fell in line with Faith, Nicole and Angel as they headed for the door.
"Don't play the hero, any of you," Jenny warned as the four patrollers headed out the front door. "Most likely you'll just see the usual vampires, but if you see anything unusually unusual radio in and rendezvous back here." When they were gone, Jenny turned to Rio and Amy. "And now it's time for us to get on with our lessons. Amy, help me set things up in here, and Rio... lose the belt."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
England -- Gatwick Airport
Everyone froze when they saw James, whom they'd figured for a mild mannered airport employee, holding a gun on Cordelia.
"Treat low-level employees bad and it will come back to haunt you," Xander quipped despite the anxiety in his eyes.
Sonya elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up, Xander."
"What is it you want?" Cordelia wailed, her eyes fixed on the gun in horror. "My daddy is rich. He'll pay you any ransom you want."
"Sorry," James replied calmly. "My orders don't allow for ransoms, as tempting as it is. Then again, do you think he'd actually pay to have you back again with all your griping and complaining? He might just be glad to get rid of you. I know I will be!"
Cordelia stifled a sob behind a well-manicured hand.
"Now," James ordered, "I want you..." He pointed to Doyle who stood next to Buffy a little bit away from the rest of the group. "... over here next to the beauty queen."
Slowly, Doyle moved toward Cordelia and James with his hands outstretched in the universal sign for peace. "Just keep yerself calm, man... Just keep calm..."
"Oh, I'm calm," James replied, a manic grin on his lips. "I'm plenty calm. And I'll be even calmer when I have the rest of my payment in my pocket."
"Who's paying you?" Buffy demanded, but she didn't move. The gun was still trained on Cordelia.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" James sneered.
"I think a more opportune question would be, how many of us are they paying you to kill?" Giles looked at James speculatively.
"Let's see..." Ignoring Giles, James inched the gun over so it pointed toward Doyle's chest. "... who's gonna be first?" The gun moved toward Giles. "Eeny..." Then back to Cordelia. "Meeny..." Over toward Xander. "Miney..." Then it snapped back to Doyle. "Moe." James stared down the barrel at the half-demon. "Say good-bye, vision-boy."
"Look, man... let's talk about this before ye go and do somethin' rash!" Doyle's adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed nervously.
"Nope." The click as James pulled the trigger resounded throughout the empty room. Then, just as the gun fired, Sonya launched herself in front of Doyle. Doyle fell to the floor, and the bullet embedded itself in Sonya's shoulder. A circle of blood blossomed on her white shirt as she crumpled to the floor on top of Doyle, motionless.
Doyle looked up and saw blood matting the hair of the girl on top of him -- the girl who'd sacrificed her life for him, a stranger -- and recognized a piece of his latest vision. (I knew an' I still could nae stop it) he thought, guilt seeping in amongst his fear and anger at the situation.
The girl whimpered in pain. Doyle touched her shoulder and felt his fingers go sticky with her blood. "Try not ta move, lass. We'll get help as soon as we can..."
As soon as Sonya made her move, Buffy ran toward James. She covered the yards in a few running steps that were almost leaps. Then she sprang towards the gunman, her legs extended in a kick. Her aim was true, and she knocked the gun out of his hand. Xander pushed past Cordelia -- who shrieked -- and he grabbed James, pinioning the gunman's arms behind his back.
"Tell us who you work for!" Buffy advanced threateningly towards James. She slapped her fist into her palm, indicating violence to come. Her grin said she'd enjoy inflicting it, too.
"Never," James growled.
"Are ye all bleedin' daft?" Doyle exclaimed from the floor where he had Sonya cradled in his lap. "The girl's dyin' here, and yer concentratin' on interrogation? We've gotta call an ambulance!"
That brief moment of distraction was all James needed. He pulled himself out of Xander's grasp and made a run for the door on the other side of the room. Immediately, Buffy took off after him, and Xander followed. Doyle watched them in disbelief as the circle of blood on Sonya's white shirt deepened to a dark crimson.
"It's OK," Oz said, though his face was paler than usual as he looked down on the silent Sonya.
"OK?" Doyle demanded incredulously. "She's gonna die if we donae do somethin' quick!"
"I'm fine."
Doyle's jaw dropped and Cordelia gasped as Sonya opened her eyes and stood up as if nothing had happened. Giles reached down and gave Doyle a hand up. "She heals instantaneously," he explained.
"See?" Sonya pulled the hole in her shirt open just enough so they could see the puncture-free skin of her shoulder. "All better now." Then she frowned as she looked at the mess the blood made on her white shirt. "Damn it! This was one of my favorite shirts. And look at the mess it made of my hair!"
Joyce took her sweater off and helped Sonya into it, tucking her hair below the collar. "There, that should cover the blood long enough for us to get out of the airport."
Just then Buffy and Xander reappeared, tired and empty-handed.
"What happened?" Giles asked.
"He's gone." Buffy shook her head, frowning angrily. "He got into the terminal, and disappeared. We couldn't find him in the crowd."
"He might have gone into one of the personnel-only passageways," Xander suggested. "I don't know."
"What should we do now?" Buffy looked to Giles.
The Watcher shook his head. "I suppose we should report this to the airport authorities. It was a man, not hellspawn for once. Perhaps this is something best left to the local authorities."
"No," Doyle interjected. "That will do no good. The guys that sent him cannae be touched by the local authorities. They'll have supernatural protection."
"Who are you talking about?" Sonya asked.
"Who are you anyway?" Buffy wanted to know.
"Drunken Irish fairy god-mother," Cordelia mumbled hysterically from behind her hands. Doyle flushed with embarrassment.
Xander gripped Cordelia on the shoulder. "Get ahold of yourself, Cordy." She bit her lip and held in any other comments.
"Me name's Doyle," Doyle said, redirecting attention away from Cordelia. "And from the bit where he called me 'vision-boy' I gotta assume he was sent by some guys 'round here called the Watcher's Council." He didn't expect the reaction he got. Buffy and Sonya's eyes widened, Joyce gasped and Xander's jaw dropped. Cordelia kept silent for once, and so did Oz, as usual. Giles, on the other hand, advanced on Doyle.
"What do you know of the Council?" he demanded.
A strange look came over Doyle's face. "Now I know where I seen ye all before..." He looked from Giles to Cordelia to Buffy and then to the others each in turn. "The first vision, it's finally comin' to pass... Aidan's never gonna believe all this!"
"Aidan O'Shea?" At Doyle's nod, Giles seemed to come to a decision. "We're going to our hotel," Giles gripped Doyle's arm and guided him to the edge of the baggage carrousel where all their luggage was now rotating. "And you're coming with us. Take a bag."
Doyle grabbed two matching cream-colored leather bags. Cordelia squeaked. "Careful, those are mine." The threat to her wardrobe pushed any lingering hysteria out of her mind.
Buffy grabbed her own bags, and took Cordelia's other arm. "I think you'd better come with us, too."
"Oh, no, I don't think so." The fire began to return to Cordelia's eyes as she contemplated being seen in public with this group of oddities.
"Oh, I think so." Buffy pointed to Doyle and Giles who were carrying her bags and had already made their way across the room. "If you don't, you'll never see those suitcases again." With a whimper, Cordelia fell into step between Buffy and Xander as the group made its way out of the airport.
"Cordelia," Xander said as they walked, "there are a few things that ought to be explained to you. You see, in this world there are dark things that most people don't notice..."
"Like vampires and big, squiggly demons?" Cordelia rolled her eyes. "I know all about those. I saw you squash one with Principal Synder's car that time, remember? And then there was the time the vampires tried to take over the Bronze and it caught on fire... And now my demon bellhop stalker... It's amazing what you can find in this world, and somehow it's all connected to you guys."
Xander's mouth had dropped open. He tried to ignore Buffy's barely suppressed laughter, and asked, "You've known all this time and you've never said anything, or done anything, or..."
"And actually talk to you guys in the light of day?" Cordelia flipped some of her long, shiny, brown hair over her shoulder. "Puh-leaze! Talk about the kiss of death!"
Xander stared at Cordelia, unable to believe what she was saying. Buffy's laughter bubbled out uncontrollably, and she was joined by Sonya and even Oz to an extent in her mirth as they made their way out of the airport and into several taxis that would take them to their hotel.
Chapter Six
Sunnydale -- the Condo
There was a meeting set for the remaining defenders of Sunnydale at Giles's condo/defense headquarters just after sundown. Angel was the first to arrive, which was lucky since he had the key. He inserted the key in the lock, and walked through the front door. As he closed the door behind him and started to reach for the light something grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. An instant later, there was a knife pointed at his throat.
Angel stiffened, but didn't move. The knife couldn't be lethal, of course -- the odds of decapitation with such a small blade were pretty slim. He wasn't really worried because he knew exactly who was standing behind him. "Faith. How did you get in without a key?"
"Among other things, I excelled in lock picking class during training." The breath from her husky whisper tickled his ear.
"So you decided a little breaking and entering would be in order?" Angel asked, putting as much disapproval into his tone as possible.
If Faith though it was odd for them to be having a normal conversation while she held him at knifepoint, she didn't say so. If anything, her tone was diffident. "I was bored."
"Ah..."
In moves so fast they almost became one, Angel grabbed her wrist with his free hand, twisted her knife hand away from him and spun around to face her, pinning her against the door. The knife clattered to the floor.
"Well, well, well," Faith said in surprise. "Now that you have me here, what *are* you going to do with me?"
"Give you a lesson in manners? Or perhaps just a good spanking." As soon as his last words were out of his mouth, Angel realized the double entendre.
A seductive smile curved her lips. "Bring it on, baby."
For a second, Angel was tempted. Her lips were inches from his own. Then he grunted as Faith's knee ground itself into his stomach. If he'd had breath, that would have knocked it out of him. As it was, the maneuver gave Faith the leeway she needed to escape.
"Too late." She scooped the knife up off the floor, sheathed it in its spot on her belt, and then strolled casually into the living room, leaving Angel staring after her. A sharp rapping on the door at his back brought Angel back from his reverie. He turned and opened the door. Nicole and the two male commandos walked in single file. They strode past Angel without a single glance and walked into the living room portion of the condo.
"Report," Faith ordered her crew.
"Sector One, west side, clear as of sunset," Nicole replied crisply.
"Sector Two, south side, clear," Rio added.
"Sector Three, east side, clear," Terrance said briskly. "Sector Four, north side, clear of supernatural threats as of sunset. However, I did derail the plans of a mugger on my way here."
The commando leader's duty face softened as she rewarded Terrance with a pleased smile. "And Terrance wins the gold star for today, guys. He covered two sectors and still had time to stop a mugger."
Terrance accepted the praise with a nod of his blond head.
Angel strolled into the room and looked at Faith questioningly. "You divided Sunnydale into sectors?"
"Sunnydale and the outlying countryside," Faith replied. "Standard tactical operating procedure -- divide the territory and survey for both threats and sites that need watching." She put her hands on her hips and gave him her most belligerent look. "Got a problem with that, vampire?"
"Just curious." Angel extended his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "We're supposed to be helping each other, remember? And the name's Angel."
Rio smirked. "Angel the vampire. What an oxymoron!"
Angel's eyes darkened and he advanced slowly on the dark, slender youth. He guessed that Rio was about seventeen. Angel outweighed him by at least sixty pounds and had many more years of experience. "I wouldn't be picking on other people's names, if I were you," the vampire growled, exerting all the intimidation he could muster without putting on his game face. "Especially when your name means river. Was your mother quite fond of some nearby stream, River Boy?" Angel realized the lameness of his insult, but he couldn't think of another way to make fun of the pipsqueak boy's name.
Rio's face darkened with fury and he lunged at Angel. Angel counted easily, and in one move flipped the youth and dropped him to the living room floor. Faith was in his face immediately.
"Get away from him!"
"Who's gonna make me?" Angel sneered, but deep inside, he was enjoying this battle of wills with the feisty commando leader.
"I will."
Everyone turned at the new voice to see Jenny and Amy standing in the doorway.
"The door was open," Amy said quietly, following Jenny into the room.
Jenny stopped next to Angel. "Having fun?"
Looking suitably abashed, Angel stepped away from Faith and Rio. "We were just working out a few issues," he said.
"I see..." Jenny gave all three of them her best "displeased teacher" look, especially Faith and Angel. "When I let Giles leave you two in charge, I thought you could handle it. I'm very disappointed in you. Especially you, Angel. You, of all of them, should know better."
When she focused her eyes on him, Angel felt their chill. It seemed more than the situation warranted. Then he thought about how childish this competition with Faith was, and he resolved not to do it any more. At least not just then.
Next to him, Faith chortled. Jenny turned her wrath on the brunette in the black cat suit, regardless of the arsenal strapped at her waist. "Does something about this situation amuse you?" Jenny demanded. "Is it, perhaps, all the lives at risk while we sit here bickering among ourselves instead of patrolling? I would have thought the Council a more stern task-master than that."
Faith's smile vanished, and she stood stiffly. "Are you questioning..."
"Let's get down to business," Angel interrupted. Both women turned snapping gazes on him, but realizing that he was right, they subsided. Angel turned to face them all. "Faith and her team have divided the town and outlying areas into four sectors. A-team, Terrance and Nicole, will take Sectors One and Two, and B-team will take Sectors Three and Four."
Jenny glanced suspiciously at Angel and Faith. "I assume the two of you are B-team?"
Angel nodded once.
"Can you handle that responsibility?"
"Don't worry," Angel assured her.
Jenny looked deep into his eyes. Angel stared back into hers, wondering what the witch was thinking. Suddenly, she dropped back, satisfied somehow, though there was still something else in her eyes -- something he couldn't identify. She moved away to sit on the couch next to Amy.
Unable to be silent and leave the command of the situation to others for another second, Faith announced, "Rio, you're staying with them." She hooked her thumb toward Jenny and Amy.
Rio followed her gaze with a look of displeasure on his face. "What? You're taking me off active duty?"
"You didn't tell him?" Angel looked at Faith in surprise.
Faith's attention was on Rio. "Are you questioning my orders?"
"But... I haven't done anything wrong, have I?" Rio saw the thunderous look on his commander's face, and immediately sucked up his unhappiness and doubt. "No, I'm not questioning orders! I will stay behind."
"Good." Faith paused, and when she had determined Rio had suffered enough, she took pity on him and added, "You and the witches should be beneficial for each other."
Rio nodded and put on his stoic face, though his reluctance was obvious.
Angel looked at Jenny. "Are you three staying here?" Jenny nodded in response.
Faith pulled a radio out of her waistband. "We each have one of these, so call if you need us." She looked at Nicole and Terrance, but ignored Angel. "We move out in ten minutes. Check your gear and be ready." Then she vanished in the direction of the bathroom.
If he hadn't actually wanted to leave in the next ten minutes, Angel would have fought with Faith on it just for the principle of the thing. Instead, he just stored up the insult with all the others she'd given him since her arrival until he could exact payback later, when duty was over.
Jenny walked over to him, interrupting his thoughts. "We should go over what the three of us will do while the rest of you patrol." Angel nodded, and the two of them stepped away into Giles's study.
Watching them go, Amy felt strangely alone. She eyed the three commandos warily, unsure of how to act around them. She darted a shy smile toward Nicole, but the red head turned away and started checking her gear. Next, Amy looked toward Rio who was standing next to the couch. "So, you're a warlock... How long have you been training?"
"Long enough." His dark-eyed gaze wasn't very welcoming.
"Rio, spot check me?" Nicole called from the other side of the room. The young warlock turned and walked away without another word. Amy sighed and sat back on the couch. It looked like she was in for a long, lonely week. For a minute she wished she was in England with the others. Not that Amy regretted giving her ticket to Joyce -- Joyce had always been great to her, and mothers should be allowed to be there for their daughters -- but for the first time since she'd come back from Europe, Amy felt completely alone, even though there were three people in the room with her.
The leather couch cushions squeaked and sank in as someone sat down next to her. Amy glanced over and saw the blond commando, Terrance, looking at her. "Run out of gear to check?" she asked bitterly.
"You'll have to excuse my companions," Terrance said. "Well mannered they are not."
She wrinkled her forehead in surprise. "And why are you so different?"
"My mother would say it's just good breeding." He smiled and Amy's heart skipped a beat.
"So, what would you say?" She couldn't help but return his smile. He was extremely good looking, and got more so, the longer she looked at him. And when he smiled, his blue eyes sparkled and cute dimples appeared in his cheeks.
"I'd think about saying maybe it's seeing such a pretty girl, but I wouldn't actually say that because it would sound like a come on line."
Amy laughed. Just then, Faith came back in the room, closely followed by Angel and Jenny.
"Let's move out," Faith ordered.
With one last glance at Amy, Terrance stood and fell in line with Faith, Nicole and Angel as they headed for the door.
"Don't play the hero, any of you," Jenny warned as the four patrollers headed out the front door. "Most likely you'll just see the usual vampires, but if you see anything unusually unusual radio in and rendezvous back here." When they were gone, Jenny turned to Rio and Amy. "And now it's time for us to get on with our lessons. Amy, help me set things up in here, and Rio... lose the belt."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
England -- Gatwick Airport
Everyone froze when they saw James, whom they'd figured for a mild mannered airport employee, holding a gun on Cordelia.
"Treat low-level employees bad and it will come back to haunt you," Xander quipped despite the anxiety in his eyes.
Sonya elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up, Xander."
"What is it you want?" Cordelia wailed, her eyes fixed on the gun in horror. "My daddy is rich. He'll pay you any ransom you want."
"Sorry," James replied calmly. "My orders don't allow for ransoms, as tempting as it is. Then again, do you think he'd actually pay to have you back again with all your griping and complaining? He might just be glad to get rid of you. I know I will be!"
Cordelia stifled a sob behind a well-manicured hand.
"Now," James ordered, "I want you..." He pointed to Doyle who stood next to Buffy a little bit away from the rest of the group. "... over here next to the beauty queen."
Slowly, Doyle moved toward Cordelia and James with his hands outstretched in the universal sign for peace. "Just keep yerself calm, man... Just keep calm..."
"Oh, I'm calm," James replied, a manic grin on his lips. "I'm plenty calm. And I'll be even calmer when I have the rest of my payment in my pocket."
"Who's paying you?" Buffy demanded, but she didn't move. The gun was still trained on Cordelia.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" James sneered.
"I think a more opportune question would be, how many of us are they paying you to kill?" Giles looked at James speculatively.
"Let's see..." Ignoring Giles, James inched the gun over so it pointed toward Doyle's chest. "... who's gonna be first?" The gun moved toward Giles. "Eeny..." Then back to Cordelia. "Meeny..." Over toward Xander. "Miney..." Then it snapped back to Doyle. "Moe." James stared down the barrel at the half-demon. "Say good-bye, vision-boy."
"Look, man... let's talk about this before ye go and do somethin' rash!" Doyle's adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed nervously.
"Nope." The click as James pulled the trigger resounded throughout the empty room. Then, just as the gun fired, Sonya launched herself in front of Doyle. Doyle fell to the floor, and the bullet embedded itself in Sonya's shoulder. A circle of blood blossomed on her white shirt as she crumpled to the floor on top of Doyle, motionless.
Doyle looked up and saw blood matting the hair of the girl on top of him -- the girl who'd sacrificed her life for him, a stranger -- and recognized a piece of his latest vision. (I knew an' I still could nae stop it) he thought, guilt seeping in amongst his fear and anger at the situation.
The girl whimpered in pain. Doyle touched her shoulder and felt his fingers go sticky with her blood. "Try not ta move, lass. We'll get help as soon as we can..."
As soon as Sonya made her move, Buffy ran toward James. She covered the yards in a few running steps that were almost leaps. Then she sprang towards the gunman, her legs extended in a kick. Her aim was true, and she knocked the gun out of his hand. Xander pushed past Cordelia -- who shrieked -- and he grabbed James, pinioning the gunman's arms behind his back.
"Tell us who you work for!" Buffy advanced threateningly towards James. She slapped her fist into her palm, indicating violence to come. Her grin said she'd enjoy inflicting it, too.
"Never," James growled.
"Are ye all bleedin' daft?" Doyle exclaimed from the floor where he had Sonya cradled in his lap. "The girl's dyin' here, and yer concentratin' on interrogation? We've gotta call an ambulance!"
That brief moment of distraction was all James needed. He pulled himself out of Xander's grasp and made a run for the door on the other side of the room. Immediately, Buffy took off after him, and Xander followed. Doyle watched them in disbelief as the circle of blood on Sonya's white shirt deepened to a dark crimson.
"It's OK," Oz said, though his face was paler than usual as he looked down on the silent Sonya.
"OK?" Doyle demanded incredulously. "She's gonna die if we donae do somethin' quick!"
"I'm fine."
Doyle's jaw dropped and Cordelia gasped as Sonya opened her eyes and stood up as if nothing had happened. Giles reached down and gave Doyle a hand up. "She heals instantaneously," he explained.
"See?" Sonya pulled the hole in her shirt open just enough so they could see the puncture-free skin of her shoulder. "All better now." Then she frowned as she looked at the mess the blood made on her white shirt. "Damn it! This was one of my favorite shirts. And look at the mess it made of my hair!"
Joyce took her sweater off and helped Sonya into it, tucking her hair below the collar. "There, that should cover the blood long enough for us to get out of the airport."
Just then Buffy and Xander reappeared, tired and empty-handed.
"What happened?" Giles asked.
"He's gone." Buffy shook her head, frowning angrily. "He got into the terminal, and disappeared. We couldn't find him in the crowd."
"He might have gone into one of the personnel-only passageways," Xander suggested. "I don't know."
"What should we do now?" Buffy looked to Giles.
The Watcher shook his head. "I suppose we should report this to the airport authorities. It was a man, not hellspawn for once. Perhaps this is something best left to the local authorities."
"No," Doyle interjected. "That will do no good. The guys that sent him cannae be touched by the local authorities. They'll have supernatural protection."
"Who are you talking about?" Sonya asked.
"Who are you anyway?" Buffy wanted to know.
"Drunken Irish fairy god-mother," Cordelia mumbled hysterically from behind her hands. Doyle flushed with embarrassment.
Xander gripped Cordelia on the shoulder. "Get ahold of yourself, Cordy." She bit her lip and held in any other comments.
"Me name's Doyle," Doyle said, redirecting attention away from Cordelia. "And from the bit where he called me 'vision-boy' I gotta assume he was sent by some guys 'round here called the Watcher's Council." He didn't expect the reaction he got. Buffy and Sonya's eyes widened, Joyce gasped and Xander's jaw dropped. Cordelia kept silent for once, and so did Oz, as usual. Giles, on the other hand, advanced on Doyle.
"What do you know of the Council?" he demanded.
A strange look came over Doyle's face. "Now I know where I seen ye all before..." He looked from Giles to Cordelia to Buffy and then to the others each in turn. "The first vision, it's finally comin' to pass... Aidan's never gonna believe all this!"
"Aidan O'Shea?" At Doyle's nod, Giles seemed to come to a decision. "We're going to our hotel," Giles gripped Doyle's arm and guided him to the edge of the baggage carrousel where all their luggage was now rotating. "And you're coming with us. Take a bag."
Doyle grabbed two matching cream-colored leather bags. Cordelia squeaked. "Careful, those are mine." The threat to her wardrobe pushed any lingering hysteria out of her mind.
Buffy grabbed her own bags, and took Cordelia's other arm. "I think you'd better come with us, too."
"Oh, no, I don't think so." The fire began to return to Cordelia's eyes as she contemplated being seen in public with this group of oddities.
"Oh, I think so." Buffy pointed to Doyle and Giles who were carrying her bags and had already made their way across the room. "If you don't, you'll never see those suitcases again." With a whimper, Cordelia fell into step between Buffy and Xander as the group made its way out of the airport.
"Cordelia," Xander said as they walked, "there are a few things that ought to be explained to you. You see, in this world there are dark things that most people don't notice..."
"Like vampires and big, squiggly demons?" Cordelia rolled her eyes. "I know all about those. I saw you squash one with Principal Synder's car that time, remember? And then there was the time the vampires tried to take over the Bronze and it caught on fire... And now my demon bellhop stalker... It's amazing what you can find in this world, and somehow it's all connected to you guys."
Xander's mouth had dropped open. He tried to ignore Buffy's barely suppressed laughter, and asked, "You've known all this time and you've never said anything, or done anything, or..."
"And actually talk to you guys in the light of day?" Cordelia flipped some of her long, shiny, brown hair over her shoulder. "Puh-leaze! Talk about the kiss of death!"
Xander stared at Cordelia, unable to believe what she was saying. Buffy's laughter bubbled out uncontrollably, and she was joined by Sonya and even Oz to an extent in her mirth as they made their way out of the airport and into several taxis that would take them to their hotel.