Oz paced in the lounge while Giles lay plopped on the couch nearby.
Connor, Wood, Gunn and Xander were either seated or resting in the same
room. A few lamps dimly lighted the room while leaving almost everyone
shrouded in darkness, with the exception of Giles. Oz finally quit pacing
and walked over to Giles. The groggy watcher rose and glanced at the
shorter American.
"I just can't believe she would do such a thing," Oz nodded in reply to Giles' statement.
"Yeah, could've came at a better time," Xander sarcastically interjected from across the room, "we're in the middle of a crisis and we're outnumbered and our only hope decides to skip town."
The room remained silent for a moment as everyone contemplated their situation. Finally, Giles spoke up.
"Oz?" He asked, startling the purple-haired werewolf.
"Are you still upset about Willow?" Oz ignored the blue eyes of the Watcher which seemed to pierce into him.
He shook his head no, but in reality he still felt the pangs of sorrow and frustration. To him, Willow's relationship with Tara still stung deep as a betrayal. He cared for the red-haired witch, but he had to deal with his lycanthropic side. It took him over a year to trek across the world and curb his bestial urges every full moon. Now, he could exert control over his lupine transformation, but Willow had decided to pursue a different sexual orientation. He still loved her, but he secretly knew she would never take him back.
While Oz scrutinized himself, Connor, Gunn, Wood and Xander huddled in their corner and talked.
"So Connor, might I ask why you ordered us to abandon Faith?" Xander stared at Connor with an irritated expression on his face.
"I wanted her to die," Connor replied nonchalantly. "Figured she deserved to die after all the things she's done."
"How can you say that? She saved all of us and your father!" The former Sunnydale Principal spouted forth against the blond-haired boyish figure sitting in front of him.
"That's the point. My father deserved to die; Buffy should've killed both of them when she had the chance. But I suppose she never could bring herself to kill anyone who was her friend, even if they turned evil," Connor's eyes glowered in rage at the thought.
"So that was all your stupid little vendetta with her?" Gunn angrily responded, "You forced us to leave a comrade by playing on our fears. I'm sure we all could've taken him, but of course you always have your little insidious agenda Connor." He spat the last line of dialogue at Connor to illustrate the contempt he felt for the boy. After all, Connor never had been a true member of the group; he always had been deceitful and resentful from his first appearance in LA.
"To be frank- yes, that is correct," Connor smirked, extracting pleasure from the rage encapsulating the three around him. He rose to his feet and calmly walked out of the room, leaving the shocked and angry occupants inside.
Then, Wesley and Fred walked in the room, the taller Britisher hefting a chest containing weapons while the American woman carried a crossbow. Wesley deposited the chest in the middle of the room and allowed Fred to speak first.
Fred took a deep breath and spoke quickly, informing the others that there wasn't very much time until the Hyperion was besieged and it was time to put aside all silly grudges. She motioned for Wesley to start handing out weapons and asked where Connor had gone. Xander pointed to the hallway and Fred hurriedly rushed out of the room.
Giles seized an axe and then briefly chatted with Wesley.
"Do you think Buffy will come back?" the older former watcher asked the other.
"I'm afraid I don't know," the younger, taller one merely shrugged.
Wesley went from Giles to Oz and asked the werewolf if he wanted a weapon. Oz shook his head; Wesley glanced at Giles as if to ask what's up with him. Giles' stony stare communicated to Wesley what Oz was going to do when the fight came along.
"Oh," Wesley shivered at the thought of a raging werewolf in action and he crossed the room to hand weapons to Xander and the others.
Xander showed off a shotgun he had brought with him from his mother's basement before Sunnydale collapsed and took up a long sword. Gunn grabbed a long rapier while Wood noticed a fancy samurai scabbard lying amidst the pile of weapons and unsheathed the katana. He then re-sheathed the sword and hung it around his waist.
Wesley made sure that everyone in the room was armed as they saw fit and he walked out of the room to find Fred.
He found Fred conversing with Connor in one of the suites. He waited outside the door, having noticed the rather heated verbal battle between them and eavesdropped on them.
"Why do you hate him so much?" he heard Fred scream.
"He killed the family, I have all right to wish him dead," Connor snarled back.
"Connor! He is your family, he's your father, haven't you realized that?" Fred pleaded to the boy, imploring him to open up.
Connor refused and answered her angrily, "He never was a father to me. He can go burn in hell for the things he's done. I really don't care. And that slut Faith can go with him!"
Wesley stood aside as Connor slammed the door open and stamped outside, briefly exchanging a look with the fallen watcher. Finding no vestige of sympathy in Wesley's face, Connor continued down the corridor.
Wesley sighed and attended the crying Fred, who was in tears after failing to curb the fierce resentment contained within Connor.
Two hours later, everyone met in the lobby of the hotel. Willow stood outside the group acting as the de facto leader, Xander stood by her side, his shotgun at rest in his hands while his sword dangled by his belt. The redhead stared at the waiting faces of the others. Everyone was worried, even Connor seemed to project uncertainty. The potentials were especially frightened, many of them whispering and muttering amongst themselves, barely able to contain their fear. Only Wood and Gunn seemed stalwart, the two stood side-by-side and gave Willow the silence and respect she needed. Lorne cowered in the corner; he didn't particularly care for killing humans.
Willow addressed the crowd, "we haven't heard from Angel, Kennedy or Faith. We have an hour until they are supposed to return and Oz senses our enemies will be upon us by then. These are people we are fighting, but these are people who have been mislead to follow evil. These fanatics are consumed with evil, bloodshed and rage. They will fight until they have won, exactly like the demons we have fought and they will surely give no quarter. They want to destroy us, and we have no choice but to fight them. Buffy isn't here, but we can still beat them without her. There will be no retreat and no cowardice tonight, if we must lose, let us take down as many of them as we can. Let them pay for every inch of ground they seize in their own blood." She spoke slowly and coldly, knowing that she must abandon her traditional compassion and effervescence at this grave hour.
After she finished speaking, Giles led a loud affirmation of her orders and a promise to fight to death. Inside, he felt sickened by the thought of killing humans. All his life he had been trained to prevent human bloodshed and that demons were the only ones supposed to be killed. Now, the world was no longer so black and white. Humans were capable of the malevolent ferocity possessed by demons and could even wield such cruelty against their own species. And he would take his first human lives tonight. Years ago, he would have denounced it as murder, now he wasn't quite so certain he could do that. And Buffy was gone, and he was partially guilty for her sudden departure. He tried to have Spike killed, even when he was perfectly aware of the intense relationship between the vampire and the blonde slayer that he always treated like she were his own daughter. And she hated him for that, after all, her words to him were "I think you've taught me everything I need to know." Without her, he was just a stuffy former watcher who was about to face an army of murderous fanatics with a pitiful host consisting of his and Angel's friends and compatriots. He was sure they had no chance but he would fight to end to protect his friends even if his best warrior and confidante had abandoned them all to their fates.
Oz sensed the full moon outside the comfort of the room. He felt sharper, more attuned and a secret bloodlust within him. The wolfish instincts began to surface in him as he absorbed the rays of the moon. He restrained the transformation, waiting until the zealots would arrive. When they did, he would unleash a terrible power like he never had before. He would kill them all if it were necessary to protect the others, especially Willow, Xander and Giles, who had always been family to him.
Dawn stood in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by the potential slayers. She ignored them and concentrated on her guilt. She knew she had in a sense betrayed Buffy and kicked her out of their home in Sunnydale. Ever since then, her sister had never been the same, even more morose and depressed than usual. She missed Spike as well, and wished he could've survived the fall of the cavern and kept her sister happy. She always had a secret crush on the platinum blonde vampire, but Buffy was his main priority and Dawn knew she could never compete with her sister in that regard. Now, Buffy was gone, partially thanks to her. And she realized that the fanatics were coming here not for the sake of a crusade against the demons infesting the city, but because they wanted her power. She could destroy the world if she was in the wrong hands and she recognized the intentions of the zealots. Dawn kept those thoughts to herself, hoping to prevent further distress within the group.
The former principal of Sunnydale High, Robin Wood, thought to himself for a moment as the room quieted down. He wondered where Faith was and if she was safe. He had taken a liking to the dark slayer during his tenure in Sunnydale and had the pleasure of her in bed. She was so charismatic and passionate and he immediately had fallen under her spell. Their lovemaking however concluded after the defeat of the First, and Faith distanced herself from him. Nevertheless, he still secretly had affection for the raven-haired beauty and lusted after her. With Buffy, his relationship was only a friendship among comrades in the war against evil but with Faith, it was personal. Unbeknownst to him, Faith had now taken a new lover and she no longer loved him. In a few hours, everything would come to a full circle and everyone in that room would face the consequences.
Meanwhile, Angel and Kennedy cautiously patrolled the streets of Los Angeles, searching for the vagrants they suspected to be members of the holy army marching against them. They interrogated vampires and demons, turning up nothing other than rough guesses or outright fabrications. It was close to 2 in the morning, three hours past the meeting point and they had heard nothing concerning the whereabouts of the foes nor of Faith's. But their luck was about to change.
Suddenly, Kennedy's slayer sense picked up the sounds of marching footsteps a few streets away. Angel also detected them and growled as he sensed a vast host of humans, all of them armed to the teeth. They gave off an aura, which he had rarely sensed; it was the aura humans gave off when they went off to war. It was an aura of bloodshed and a desire to inflict pain, to murder, ravage and destroy. And this was equally as powerful as in demons, and he realized that these would be some of the toughest foes he had ever fought. The potential slayer and the vampire stealthily approached the position of the vast host, noticing that they were approaching the park, which was only a mile away from the Hyperion. As they entered the park, Angel noticed a grove of bushes where they could hide behind and observe their enemies. They rushed behind them as the leading groups of the crusading vagrants marched forth from beyond the wall of buildings surrounding the park.
"I just can't believe she would do such a thing," Oz nodded in reply to Giles' statement.
"Yeah, could've came at a better time," Xander sarcastically interjected from across the room, "we're in the middle of a crisis and we're outnumbered and our only hope decides to skip town."
The room remained silent for a moment as everyone contemplated their situation. Finally, Giles spoke up.
"Oz?" He asked, startling the purple-haired werewolf.
"Are you still upset about Willow?" Oz ignored the blue eyes of the Watcher which seemed to pierce into him.
He shook his head no, but in reality he still felt the pangs of sorrow and frustration. To him, Willow's relationship with Tara still stung deep as a betrayal. He cared for the red-haired witch, but he had to deal with his lycanthropic side. It took him over a year to trek across the world and curb his bestial urges every full moon. Now, he could exert control over his lupine transformation, but Willow had decided to pursue a different sexual orientation. He still loved her, but he secretly knew she would never take him back.
While Oz scrutinized himself, Connor, Gunn, Wood and Xander huddled in their corner and talked.
"So Connor, might I ask why you ordered us to abandon Faith?" Xander stared at Connor with an irritated expression on his face.
"I wanted her to die," Connor replied nonchalantly. "Figured she deserved to die after all the things she's done."
"How can you say that? She saved all of us and your father!" The former Sunnydale Principal spouted forth against the blond-haired boyish figure sitting in front of him.
"That's the point. My father deserved to die; Buffy should've killed both of them when she had the chance. But I suppose she never could bring herself to kill anyone who was her friend, even if they turned evil," Connor's eyes glowered in rage at the thought.
"So that was all your stupid little vendetta with her?" Gunn angrily responded, "You forced us to leave a comrade by playing on our fears. I'm sure we all could've taken him, but of course you always have your little insidious agenda Connor." He spat the last line of dialogue at Connor to illustrate the contempt he felt for the boy. After all, Connor never had been a true member of the group; he always had been deceitful and resentful from his first appearance in LA.
"To be frank- yes, that is correct," Connor smirked, extracting pleasure from the rage encapsulating the three around him. He rose to his feet and calmly walked out of the room, leaving the shocked and angry occupants inside.
Then, Wesley and Fred walked in the room, the taller Britisher hefting a chest containing weapons while the American woman carried a crossbow. Wesley deposited the chest in the middle of the room and allowed Fred to speak first.
Fred took a deep breath and spoke quickly, informing the others that there wasn't very much time until the Hyperion was besieged and it was time to put aside all silly grudges. She motioned for Wesley to start handing out weapons and asked where Connor had gone. Xander pointed to the hallway and Fred hurriedly rushed out of the room.
Giles seized an axe and then briefly chatted with Wesley.
"Do you think Buffy will come back?" the older former watcher asked the other.
"I'm afraid I don't know," the younger, taller one merely shrugged.
Wesley went from Giles to Oz and asked the werewolf if he wanted a weapon. Oz shook his head; Wesley glanced at Giles as if to ask what's up with him. Giles' stony stare communicated to Wesley what Oz was going to do when the fight came along.
"Oh," Wesley shivered at the thought of a raging werewolf in action and he crossed the room to hand weapons to Xander and the others.
Xander showed off a shotgun he had brought with him from his mother's basement before Sunnydale collapsed and took up a long sword. Gunn grabbed a long rapier while Wood noticed a fancy samurai scabbard lying amidst the pile of weapons and unsheathed the katana. He then re-sheathed the sword and hung it around his waist.
Wesley made sure that everyone in the room was armed as they saw fit and he walked out of the room to find Fred.
He found Fred conversing with Connor in one of the suites. He waited outside the door, having noticed the rather heated verbal battle between them and eavesdropped on them.
"Why do you hate him so much?" he heard Fred scream.
"He killed the family, I have all right to wish him dead," Connor snarled back.
"Connor! He is your family, he's your father, haven't you realized that?" Fred pleaded to the boy, imploring him to open up.
Connor refused and answered her angrily, "He never was a father to me. He can go burn in hell for the things he's done. I really don't care. And that slut Faith can go with him!"
Wesley stood aside as Connor slammed the door open and stamped outside, briefly exchanging a look with the fallen watcher. Finding no vestige of sympathy in Wesley's face, Connor continued down the corridor.
Wesley sighed and attended the crying Fred, who was in tears after failing to curb the fierce resentment contained within Connor.
Two hours later, everyone met in the lobby of the hotel. Willow stood outside the group acting as the de facto leader, Xander stood by her side, his shotgun at rest in his hands while his sword dangled by his belt. The redhead stared at the waiting faces of the others. Everyone was worried, even Connor seemed to project uncertainty. The potentials were especially frightened, many of them whispering and muttering amongst themselves, barely able to contain their fear. Only Wood and Gunn seemed stalwart, the two stood side-by-side and gave Willow the silence and respect she needed. Lorne cowered in the corner; he didn't particularly care for killing humans.
Willow addressed the crowd, "we haven't heard from Angel, Kennedy or Faith. We have an hour until they are supposed to return and Oz senses our enemies will be upon us by then. These are people we are fighting, but these are people who have been mislead to follow evil. These fanatics are consumed with evil, bloodshed and rage. They will fight until they have won, exactly like the demons we have fought and they will surely give no quarter. They want to destroy us, and we have no choice but to fight them. Buffy isn't here, but we can still beat them without her. There will be no retreat and no cowardice tonight, if we must lose, let us take down as many of them as we can. Let them pay for every inch of ground they seize in their own blood." She spoke slowly and coldly, knowing that she must abandon her traditional compassion and effervescence at this grave hour.
After she finished speaking, Giles led a loud affirmation of her orders and a promise to fight to death. Inside, he felt sickened by the thought of killing humans. All his life he had been trained to prevent human bloodshed and that demons were the only ones supposed to be killed. Now, the world was no longer so black and white. Humans were capable of the malevolent ferocity possessed by demons and could even wield such cruelty against their own species. And he would take his first human lives tonight. Years ago, he would have denounced it as murder, now he wasn't quite so certain he could do that. And Buffy was gone, and he was partially guilty for her sudden departure. He tried to have Spike killed, even when he was perfectly aware of the intense relationship between the vampire and the blonde slayer that he always treated like she were his own daughter. And she hated him for that, after all, her words to him were "I think you've taught me everything I need to know." Without her, he was just a stuffy former watcher who was about to face an army of murderous fanatics with a pitiful host consisting of his and Angel's friends and compatriots. He was sure they had no chance but he would fight to end to protect his friends even if his best warrior and confidante had abandoned them all to their fates.
Oz sensed the full moon outside the comfort of the room. He felt sharper, more attuned and a secret bloodlust within him. The wolfish instincts began to surface in him as he absorbed the rays of the moon. He restrained the transformation, waiting until the zealots would arrive. When they did, he would unleash a terrible power like he never had before. He would kill them all if it were necessary to protect the others, especially Willow, Xander and Giles, who had always been family to him.
Dawn stood in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by the potential slayers. She ignored them and concentrated on her guilt. She knew she had in a sense betrayed Buffy and kicked her out of their home in Sunnydale. Ever since then, her sister had never been the same, even more morose and depressed than usual. She missed Spike as well, and wished he could've survived the fall of the cavern and kept her sister happy. She always had a secret crush on the platinum blonde vampire, but Buffy was his main priority and Dawn knew she could never compete with her sister in that regard. Now, Buffy was gone, partially thanks to her. And she realized that the fanatics were coming here not for the sake of a crusade against the demons infesting the city, but because they wanted her power. She could destroy the world if she was in the wrong hands and she recognized the intentions of the zealots. Dawn kept those thoughts to herself, hoping to prevent further distress within the group.
The former principal of Sunnydale High, Robin Wood, thought to himself for a moment as the room quieted down. He wondered where Faith was and if she was safe. He had taken a liking to the dark slayer during his tenure in Sunnydale and had the pleasure of her in bed. She was so charismatic and passionate and he immediately had fallen under her spell. Their lovemaking however concluded after the defeat of the First, and Faith distanced herself from him. Nevertheless, he still secretly had affection for the raven-haired beauty and lusted after her. With Buffy, his relationship was only a friendship among comrades in the war against evil but with Faith, it was personal. Unbeknownst to him, Faith had now taken a new lover and she no longer loved him. In a few hours, everything would come to a full circle and everyone in that room would face the consequences.
Meanwhile, Angel and Kennedy cautiously patrolled the streets of Los Angeles, searching for the vagrants they suspected to be members of the holy army marching against them. They interrogated vampires and demons, turning up nothing other than rough guesses or outright fabrications. It was close to 2 in the morning, three hours past the meeting point and they had heard nothing concerning the whereabouts of the foes nor of Faith's. But their luck was about to change.
Suddenly, Kennedy's slayer sense picked up the sounds of marching footsteps a few streets away. Angel also detected them and growled as he sensed a vast host of humans, all of them armed to the teeth. They gave off an aura, which he had rarely sensed; it was the aura humans gave off when they went off to war. It was an aura of bloodshed and a desire to inflict pain, to murder, ravage and destroy. And this was equally as powerful as in demons, and he realized that these would be some of the toughest foes he had ever fought. The potential slayer and the vampire stealthily approached the position of the vast host, noticing that they were approaching the park, which was only a mile away from the Hyperion. As they entered the park, Angel noticed a grove of bushes where they could hide behind and observe their enemies. They rushed behind them as the leading groups of the crusading vagrants marched forth from beyond the wall of buildings surrounding the park.
