Chapter Sixteen: What's the Deal With These Twins?
(Here it is. Long awaited but worth it I hope. Enjoy!)
"Are you kidding me?" Spike asked. "I died and Angel gets to save his true love? That is bloody bull shit!"
"That's the way it has to be, William," the voice said soothingly.
Spike flopped down on a chair that materialized out of nowhere. He sulked angrily. Then he began to think. "Hey, spirit, or whatever you are."
"Yes, William?"
"All those things they found out about, have to happen so that "
"Yes."
"And Buffy could die?"
"The Champion's true love will die."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"How could you be so stupid?!" Angel yelled at Faith. The two slayers had gone out, patrolling, and Buffy came back practically carrying Faith. After a doctor checked her over, Buffy and Faith went to their room. Angel tailed them. He had actually been out there, watching them, resisting the urge to fight because he knew they'd just get mad. Now, he could be mad at them. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Faith. What'd you think you were doing?
"Hey, it's not she planned to get hurt," Buffy said defending Faith.
"She didn't? Then why did she jump into the middle of a brawl?" Angel asked.
"Hey, guys, 'she' is right here," Faith spoke up waving at them. "Talk to me, damn."
"Sorry, Faith," they both mumbled.
Faith rolled her eyes, "I jumped into the middle of a brawl between Buffy and seven vamps. She'd be a happy meal right now."
"But in your condition..." Angel started.
"My condition? My condition?" Faith asked incredulously. "I am not some weak, little girl, Angel."
"He has a point. What were you trying to prove out there?" Buffy asked.
Faith looked back and forth at her two friends. She sat on the bed and began sniffling. "I didn't know what to do," she confessed. "I thought I could make it go away."
"Make what go away?" Buffy asked before realizing what Faith was talking about. "Oh," she looked over at Angel. He moved in to comfort her.
Angel bent down and lifted Faith's chin up so she could look at him. She looked at him with teary eyes and a quivering lip, "I didn't know what to do."
"It's okay," he soothed. He sat next to her and cradled her in his arms. "It's okay," he whispered.
"No, it's not," her voice muffled against his chest. "I was trying to get rid of it. I thought it'd be easier. But then when that vamp threw me into the wall all I could think about was..." her voice cracked, "was the baby. It's not even a fetus yet, just a blob swimming around, but all I thought of was saving it."
Angel sighed heavily and held Faith tighter. Buffy watched her ex-lover and the ex-Dark Slayer share a moment more tender than any she had ever witnessed between two people. Strangely, she felt no twinge of envy, or fit of insane jealousy. Buffy would never understand their crazy relationship, but she was glad they had it. When the two finally uncoupled, Buffy gave Faith a fierce hug and whispered in her ear, "You do something like that again and I'll tie you to a chair."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Faith replied and they smiled at each other. "Well, uh, I better go talk to Robin again. I left things kinda bad," she told them and left.
Angel and Buffy looked at each other and sighed. Angel chuckled, "She's crazy."
"And what? We're surprised?" Buffy asked only half joking.
"Yeah."
Buffy rubbed her elbow. It hurt, but the pain would be gone by the morning. Angel noticed her wincing and said. "You shouldn't have gone out."
"Why not?"
"Well, not alone," he said. "You should've told me. Or Wesley, or even Xander. There are rumblings, Buffy and you're a target."
"I wanted to go out. And I'm the... a slayer. I'm supposed to be a target. And I can handle myself," She told him.
"Yeah, you looked like you could," he mumbled under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing."
They walked together down the hall. "So what are you going to do now?" Buffy asked trying to initiate a conversation that wouldn't lead into an argument.
"I should check in with my assistant..." Buffy snorted, trying to stifle a giggle. "What?" Angel asked. "What?"
"No, no," Buffy said waving him off. "It's just... Assistant. You have an assistant."
"So?"
"So, you're like Angel: businessman vampire, not Angel: broody, lurky vampire," she explained.
"I'm still lurky," he said, a smile playing on the corners of his lips.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah and broody. But it's different, the people here, they call you Mr. Angel and you're like, the boss. You've moved up and on."
"I guess so."
They kept walking till they reached the elevator. "Where are you going to be?" He asked her.
Buffy sighed. "I'm gonna go see Spike. See if anything's changed. Though, I doubt they have."
"Okay, I'll be in the library, if you, you know," he said uncomfortably.
She smiled and hugged him. "Thank you."
Angel closed his eyes and hugged her back. He bent down to kiss her. They kissed passionately, until Buffy pulled away and looked up at him. Angel stepped back, startled because it was no longer Buffy, it was Cordelia, smiling at him.
"Angel?" Buffy shook him. "Are you okay?"
Angel blinked rapidly, trying to focus. "Uh, yeah."
Buffy smiled at him, "All right. I'll see you," she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and left. Angel watched her walk away. He shook his head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In an
underground sewer, Riker, Den, and Mel all gathered round the Twins
they had grabbed from the alley. The Twins stared at the three vamps
with terror. Their golden green eyes matched their golden blonde hair
and each had a mole under the left eye. It was hard to distinguish
the boy from the girl, because they were equally attractive.
"Can
we eat them now?" Riker asked impatiently.
"Patience," Den said. "We can't eat them. Not yet."
"When?" Mel asked. Her yellow eyes gleamed with hunger. "I'm hungry now."
"Eat a rat then!" Den snapped. Mel growled at him, but he didn't budge. He grinned at the frightened twins. "There are plans for these two. Big plans."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You love him?" Willow asked incredulously.
Cordelia nodded. "I do." She twirled around happily. "I love him, I love him, I love him!" She stopped. "But, he doesn't love me. Not anymore."
"You mean, he loved you too?"
She sighed. "Yes. Then, I went away, and slept with his son, now I'm in a coma."
Willow didn't know what to say.
"Confusing, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but it's not surprising."
Cordy smiled. She looked up, as though she'd heard something.
"What is it?" Willow asked looking up as well.
"Something's happening," she murmured. She looked at Willow, "You have to go." She said hurriedly.
Willow was confused and concerned. "What? What is it?"
Cordy shook her head and pushed her towards a door. "No, no, you can't stay here. You have to go help them."
"Help who? Cordy, what's happening?" Willow asked.
"Angel, Buffy, something bad is coming, soon," she said opening the door. Willow looked out and saw herself, Fred and the comatose Cordelia in the dark room. Willow turned around to face Cordelia. "Tell me, what's going on."
Cordelia closed her eyes, "So strong, Willow." Cordelia kissed her forehead. "You have to figure this out. Find them, Help her, Catch him, Hold Him, Kill her," she said. "Or they're all gonna die."
"Who Cordy?"
Cordelia shook her head. "No, Willow you have to go."
Willow grasped Cordelia's hand. "Come with me, Cordy. You have to wake up."
"Cordelia shook her head. "I can't. I'm not supposed to. It's part of the master plan."
"But..."
"Go," was all Cordelia said as she pushed her out the door.
Willow awoke with a gasping breath. "Are you okay, Willow?" Fred asked.
"I'm fine," Willow said looking at Cordelia.
"What about Cordy?"
"I'm sorry" Willow said. Fred bent down, tears falling from her eyes. Willow patted her shoulder, "C'mon, we have to go find Giles and Wesley."
Fred nodded, sniffling. "Okay." They left the room and Fred closed the door. " 'Bye, Cordy."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Okay, so what's the deal with these twins?" Xander asked. "I mean, are they demons, or vampires?"
Giles shook his head. "We're not entirely sure, Xander. We don't know what any of these mean."
Willow took the book from Xander, "Are they human?"
"I assume so. Andrew, will you stop playing with that," Giles snapped.
Andrew had a little ball and was throwing it up in the air, "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Gimme it," Xander said grabbing the ball mid-air.
"Hey!" Andrew said.
"Xander!" Giles took his glasses off and rubbed his temples. Angel came into the room. And Giles looked up. "Where's Buffy?"
Angel sat down. "With Spike. What have we got?" He changed the subject.
"Some ancient prophecy telling about the coming of a new evil, and the signs that signal it," Xander replied. "You know, the usual."
"Mmm hmm," Angel looked at the group's notes.
"Did Buffy run into any trouble on her patrol?" Giles asked.
"I tailed her, ran into some vamps. New ones, I didn't recognize them. About twenty or so. But Faith was there..."
"Faith? Was she hurt?" Xander asked, concerned.
"No, thank God. I already talked to her," Angel said.
"Why? What's wrong with Faith?" Willow asked.
"She's pregnant," Angel informed her.
"What?"
Xander leaned over, "Preg-nant," he said phonetically
She gave him a Look. " Giles, isn't that one of the signs?"
"Yes, I believe it is. Angel, anything else that was out of the ordinary? Unusual?" Giles said.
Angel
thought back, "The vamps. There were three main ones, um, Riker,
Den, and a female. They were after some kids. Twins, I
think."
Xander, Willow, Giles, Dawn, Andrew, Fred, and Wesley
all looked at each other. Cordelia's mysterious words echoed in
Willow's mind. She looked at Angel urgently, "Angel, we have to
find those twins."
"Let's go then," Angel said getting up. "I'll get Buffy."
"No, we can handle this, by ourselves. No need to ah, alarm, Buffy," Giles said choosing his words carefully. "Dawn, you and Andrew..."
"I wanna go," Dawn whined.
"No, it's too dangerous. You and Andrew will stay," Giles said firmly.
"M-Mr. Giles, I wanna go too," Andrew spoke up.
"Yeah, and I'll tell Buffy if you don't let us," Dawn said crossing her arms.
Angel covered a smile. Dawn was just as stubborn as her sister. Giles looked at him and he shrugged. "I'll look after her."
"Fine. Xander, Willow, weapons, Wesley, Fred..."
Fred loaded up a crossbow, "We know what to do," she told him.
"Very well, let's go."
