Author: Karen
Email: karen@klewis91.fsnet.co.uk
Disclaimer: Not mine and never will be. Just the story I'm afraid.
Feedback: Yes please.
Pairing: A/C, W/S, Fr/Gu,
Timeline: After season six
Spoilers: Season six
Archiving: If you want it take it just tell me where it ends up.
Synopsis: Three months after Angel has been rescued from the deep, Cordy
has floated back down and Spike has been souled; Cordelia, Willow and Fred
are faced with a difficult choice. The lives of the people they love or
working for the dark side and life on the run. Guess which one they
choose?
Rating: Overall an R I think?
Spoilers: Seasons 5/6, Angel 2/3
Summary: Humour, Angst, Romance and lots of bloody bits of other people's
bodies if Spike gets his way. (Let's face it he will. Who could refuse
that man anything?)
Part 4b.
Somewhere in Hicksville.
Lindsey scowled at the old man before him
"Look, are they here or not?"
The small, balding guy before him shrugged his eyes glued to the paper spread before him
"Couldn't say. Might be, might not."
Briefly wishing he still lacked a conscience Lindsey reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet
"Look, I need to find my sister and her friends quickly. Maybe this'll help you remember."
He slid a twenty dollar bill across the counter and tapped his booted foot impatiently as the man stared at the bill and then raised two rheumy blue eyes to the ones that shone like blue diamonds at him
"Son, that ain't gonna help me remember my own name let alone your sister's."
Lindsey felt his skin flush under the amused gaze of the motel owner and the tenuous hold he had on his temper slipped. He reached out and took a firm grip on the man's shirt collar jerking him closer so they were face to face
"Quit trying to play me and tell me what I need to know otherwise I get nasty..."
He froze as he heard a scream rip through the night air and the man stared at him with suddenly frightened eyes. Lindsey turned and ran for the door reaching under his denim coat for the small pistol he habitually carried these days, yelling over his shoulder
"I'll be back. Don't be here if they aren't ok!"
The door flew open under his hand and he disappeared into the night, leaving the shaken man behind him.
LA
Wesley gestured at the only unloaded chair in the place
"Sit down."
Connor sank slowly onto the hard dining chair and looked around him. Every available surface was covered with papers and books and the whole place stunk of stale alcohol and rotting food. He turned his attention back to the alcohol ravaged human before him "Have you been ill?"
Wesley looked around his apartment and winced as he realised what a mess it was. His days were largely taken up with research and drinking himself into a stupor and he couldn't honestly remember when he had last picked up after himself. He blinked, realising that the boy was looking at him expectantly and he had no idea why. Connor frowned
"I said, are you ill?" "Oh. No I.I've just been a bit..."
He pressed a hand unconsciously to his throat as the still healing scar tissue rebelled at the first sounds to leave his mouth for over a week. Connor studied him for a moment and then stood and walked into the kitchen to hunt up a reasonably clean glass. Finding none he took a dusty teacup from the counter and ran it under the tap quickly and then filled it with cold water. He walked back to Wesley and held it out
"Here, this will help."
Wesley felt a slow flush creep up his skin at the quiet voice and wordlessly took the cup and drained its contents. The cool water hit his stomach like a tidal wave and he blinked as his entire system balked at the first liquid he had consumed in three months with no alcohol in it. He broke out in a cold sweat as he felt the half a bottle of scotch he had already drunk that evening jump in his stomach and he had just enough time to turn from Connor before he threw up all over the floor. Connor watched him impassively as he gripped the dining table as he heaved and then, when he had finished, took his arm in a firm grip
"Where's your bathroom?"
Wesley managed to gesture with his other hand and the young boy slipped his other arm around the man's waist
"Come on. You need to get cleaned up."
Sunnydale
Spike woke with a start and sat up staring down at himself in horror and amazement
"What the bloody hell?"
From head to toe he was enveloped in a deep purple aura that shimmered with veins of the deepest black. He swung out of his bed and brushed frantically at his naked body trying to sweep the colour away.
"Bleedin' hell! What the hell's goin' on?"
The colours remained stubbornly clinging to him and after an amusing few minutes of dancing around his crypt trying to shake his new all over glow he grabbed a pair of black jeans from the floor and a grubby white t-shirt. Scowling and cursing the whole while he stamped his feet into his boots and grabbed his leather duster from the back of his broken-down armchair. Flinging open the door to his crypt he stormed out into the night heading for the one place he knew he'd get answers.
LA, five minutes earlier.
Lorne grinned at the faces assembled before him. Gunn and Angel looked nervously at the containment circle at their feet and then back at their green skinned friend
"I still don't see why this is necessary or how it's helping. I just want to get on with tracking them down."
Lorne waved an impatient hand in dismissal
"Sssh, Angelcakes. I need all my senses for this little piece of mojo and you jawing on ain't helping."
The vampire looked deeply offended and frowned
"I don't jaw."
His frown deepened as he was shushed again and Lorne stared down once more at the piece of paper in his hand
"Ok. Here's hoping I'm reading this right, otherwise you two will end up greener than I am."
Gunn blanched and swallowed uncertainly
"Lorne, man, if you ain't sure of what you're doin' then maybe we'd better hold off until you know what you got goin' on." "Pfft."
Lorne waved another dismissive hand and then chanted a few unintelligible words under his breath, he grasped the paper he held and tore it into four equal pieces and threw it into the circle around Gunn and Angel
"Reveala!"
All three men shouted with surprise as a blinding flash shot from the circle and then faded as abruptly. Lorne lowered his hand from his eyes slowly and stared at the vampire and the human and then down at himself
"Well, I wasn't expecting that."
He looked over to the laptop where it sat perched on the countertop and felt his jaw drop as five equally stunned, and purple, faces stared back at him
"Well, aren't we just the cutest little band of hex-ees you ever did see."
Angel stared in amazement at the flashes of purple and black that shot over his arm and slowly felt the rage begin to build within. Someone had cursed him. Someone had cursed him and taken Cordelia away from him. Someone had cursed him, taken Cordelia away from him and had forced Fred away too. Someone was going to die.
Across town.
"AAAH!"
Wesley shot backwards in his chair and tipped over on his ass as Connor glowed a sudden violent purple.
"AAAH! AAAHH!"
He scrambled up and away on trembling limbs waving equally shaky hands. Connor, looking equally surprised but taking it considerably better, also stood and backed away from the table eyeing the screaming Englishman warily
"Wesley, calm down, it's alright. Look, you're doing it too."
Wesley looked down at himself in horror
"AAAAAHHH!"
Connor rolled his eyes in exasperation and silently promised himself he would never touch alcohol if this is what it did to you
"Wesley, calm down!"
The older man swallowed and shook his aching head
"Sorry.I.I wasn't expecting..that is I..."
He stared down at his glowing skin
"Oh dear Lord!"
Sunnydale.
"Slayer!"
Spike flung open the door that led out of the training room and into the main floor of the shop
"Slayer! What the..fuckin' hell!"
The Scoobs swung round to meet the raging vampire and all stared at him as he came to a grinding halt by the counter his eyes bugging out of his head. Dawn was the first one too break the stunned silence
"Spike! You're all..I mean.."
She broke off and then started giggling helplessly
"Your hair! It's pink!"
The vampire looked startled and raised a hand to his head
"What? No its not!"
Xander snorted and then pointed a mocking finger
"You have pink hair!"
Spike growled and tried to pull a short, and violently pink, lock down to look at it, rolling his eyes fruitlessly in his head to catch a glimpse. Dawn giggled again at his contortions and moved forward to place a placating hand on his arm
"It's ok. It'll wear off soon."
Spike gave up trying to look at the top of his own head and dropped an absent kiss on her forehead as he snarled at the rest of the gang
"Would any of you idiots like to tell me what the bollocking hell is going on here?"
Buffy turned and looked at Giles, raising her eyebrows enquiringly. The older man watched Spike for a moment with an unreadable expression and then gave his Slayer a short nod. Buffy turned back to the vampire
"You'd better take a seat. This could take a while."
Hicksville.
Fred writhed in the grip of the two men that held her and watched with wide eyes as Cordelia took another heavy blow to the face. The seer's head rocked back but her face remained calm and focused as she pivoted smoothly and planted one small foot in her opponent's face. She followed through on the kick and when she was facing in the opposite direction sprinted forward and jumped lightly onto the hood of a car. She leapt onto the roof and jumped lightly again, avoiding the wild grab of a heavily built man on the other side of the vehicle and then continued on until she flew through the air once more to land on the roof of their own truck
"Fred, hang on, I'm coming!"
Cordelia rolled over the roof and as she dropped to the floor grabbed her axe from the open driver's window. She landed on her feet and ducked as yet another large and heavy man made a grab for her
"Will you people just give up!"
She slammed the handle of the axe into the man's stomach and then as he folded over with a pained expulsion of air rolled over his back and hit the floor running on the other side.
"Willow! How ya doin'?"
The red head swung her baseball bat and winced as it cracked against an unprotected skull and the man dropped like a stone
"Ok!"
She squeaked as another form appeared before her and drew back her bat for another swing but before she started to bring it down on the man his legs were kicked from under him and a smaller shape stretched up and smashed a length of two by four onto the back of his skull
"Go help your friend!"
The open mouthed girl swivelled as a young, dark haired man shot past her and into the dim light of the parking lot and then abruptly shook her head. Introductions of dark haired saviours later, beating the crap out of Fred's captors now. Her mouth straightened in a grim line and she broke into a run clutching her bat firmly. Boy, was she gonna do some beating.
Cordelia backed away form the four men who stalked her in a loose line and flicked her eyes from one to the other.
All huge, all ugly and all armed. Just another night in the exciting and glamorous world of Cordelia Chase.
She allowed a cold smile to flick across her face
"Who wants to die first?"
The men appeared to hesitate and then as one moved forward to flank her on all sides
Shit! Time to power up.
Cordelia frowned as she opened her well of power and then jumped as a bellowing, unidentifiable shape appeared out of nowhere and took out two of her enemies with one hard tackle
Ok, that's never happened before.
Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth she turned to the two temporarily distracted thugs that remained and cooed
"Oh boys? Wanna play?"
She made short work of the men left to her and then stepped back as she heard someone shout
"Fall back, fall back!"
She watched as the men that were on the floor were helped up by their less injured colleagues, in some cases carried, and then crossed to Willow and Fred to hug both girls briefly as their assailants piled into two vans and sped off
"Everyone ok?"
Fred nodded and rubbed absently at her wrists where livid red marks glowed against her pale skin
"Uh-huh. What happened?"
Cordy exchanged a slightly incredulous look with Willow and said dubiously
"We won. I think." Willow nodded looking just as surprised
"Yeah. We did."
She blinked and looked around her
"Where's dark, mysterious guy?"
Cordelia turned and looked all around but there seemed to be no one left in the deserted car park
"Hello? Superhero guy? You there?"
They stood in silence for a few moments and Cordelia shrugged uneasily
"He must have taken off."
She spun on her heel as someone cleared their throat uncertainly behind her. Her eyes widened in disbelief and then she flung herself forward to push the man back onto the hood of a car and hold her axe to his throat
"What the hell do you want?"
Lindsey stared into furious black coffee eyes and croaked
"Hello Cordelia."
End of Part 4b.
Part 4b.
Somewhere in Hicksville.
Lindsey scowled at the old man before him
"Look, are they here or not?"
The small, balding guy before him shrugged his eyes glued to the paper spread before him
"Couldn't say. Might be, might not."
Briefly wishing he still lacked a conscience Lindsey reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet
"Look, I need to find my sister and her friends quickly. Maybe this'll help you remember."
He slid a twenty dollar bill across the counter and tapped his booted foot impatiently as the man stared at the bill and then raised two rheumy blue eyes to the ones that shone like blue diamonds at him
"Son, that ain't gonna help me remember my own name let alone your sister's."
Lindsey felt his skin flush under the amused gaze of the motel owner and the tenuous hold he had on his temper slipped. He reached out and took a firm grip on the man's shirt collar jerking him closer so they were face to face
"Quit trying to play me and tell me what I need to know otherwise I get nasty..."
He froze as he heard a scream rip through the night air and the man stared at him with suddenly frightened eyes. Lindsey turned and ran for the door reaching under his denim coat for the small pistol he habitually carried these days, yelling over his shoulder
"I'll be back. Don't be here if they aren't ok!"
The door flew open under his hand and he disappeared into the night, leaving the shaken man behind him.
LA
Wesley gestured at the only unloaded chair in the place
"Sit down."
Connor sank slowly onto the hard dining chair and looked around him. Every available surface was covered with papers and books and the whole place stunk of stale alcohol and rotting food. He turned his attention back to the alcohol ravaged human before him "Have you been ill?"
Wesley looked around his apartment and winced as he realised what a mess it was. His days were largely taken up with research and drinking himself into a stupor and he couldn't honestly remember when he had last picked up after himself. He blinked, realising that the boy was looking at him expectantly and he had no idea why. Connor frowned
"I said, are you ill?" "Oh. No I.I've just been a bit..."
He pressed a hand unconsciously to his throat as the still healing scar tissue rebelled at the first sounds to leave his mouth for over a week. Connor studied him for a moment and then stood and walked into the kitchen to hunt up a reasonably clean glass. Finding none he took a dusty teacup from the counter and ran it under the tap quickly and then filled it with cold water. He walked back to Wesley and held it out
"Here, this will help."
Wesley felt a slow flush creep up his skin at the quiet voice and wordlessly took the cup and drained its contents. The cool water hit his stomach like a tidal wave and he blinked as his entire system balked at the first liquid he had consumed in three months with no alcohol in it. He broke out in a cold sweat as he felt the half a bottle of scotch he had already drunk that evening jump in his stomach and he had just enough time to turn from Connor before he threw up all over the floor. Connor watched him impassively as he gripped the dining table as he heaved and then, when he had finished, took his arm in a firm grip
"Where's your bathroom?"
Wesley managed to gesture with his other hand and the young boy slipped his other arm around the man's waist
"Come on. You need to get cleaned up."
Sunnydale
Spike woke with a start and sat up staring down at himself in horror and amazement
"What the bloody hell?"
From head to toe he was enveloped in a deep purple aura that shimmered with veins of the deepest black. He swung out of his bed and brushed frantically at his naked body trying to sweep the colour away.
"Bleedin' hell! What the hell's goin' on?"
The colours remained stubbornly clinging to him and after an amusing few minutes of dancing around his crypt trying to shake his new all over glow he grabbed a pair of black jeans from the floor and a grubby white t-shirt. Scowling and cursing the whole while he stamped his feet into his boots and grabbed his leather duster from the back of his broken-down armchair. Flinging open the door to his crypt he stormed out into the night heading for the one place he knew he'd get answers.
LA, five minutes earlier.
Lorne grinned at the faces assembled before him. Gunn and Angel looked nervously at the containment circle at their feet and then back at their green skinned friend
"I still don't see why this is necessary or how it's helping. I just want to get on with tracking them down."
Lorne waved an impatient hand in dismissal
"Sssh, Angelcakes. I need all my senses for this little piece of mojo and you jawing on ain't helping."
The vampire looked deeply offended and frowned
"I don't jaw."
His frown deepened as he was shushed again and Lorne stared down once more at the piece of paper in his hand
"Ok. Here's hoping I'm reading this right, otherwise you two will end up greener than I am."
Gunn blanched and swallowed uncertainly
"Lorne, man, if you ain't sure of what you're doin' then maybe we'd better hold off until you know what you got goin' on." "Pfft."
Lorne waved another dismissive hand and then chanted a few unintelligible words under his breath, he grasped the paper he held and tore it into four equal pieces and threw it into the circle around Gunn and Angel
"Reveala!"
All three men shouted with surprise as a blinding flash shot from the circle and then faded as abruptly. Lorne lowered his hand from his eyes slowly and stared at the vampire and the human and then down at himself
"Well, I wasn't expecting that."
He looked over to the laptop where it sat perched on the countertop and felt his jaw drop as five equally stunned, and purple, faces stared back at him
"Well, aren't we just the cutest little band of hex-ees you ever did see."
Angel stared in amazement at the flashes of purple and black that shot over his arm and slowly felt the rage begin to build within. Someone had cursed him. Someone had cursed him and taken Cordelia away from him. Someone had cursed him, taken Cordelia away from him and had forced Fred away too. Someone was going to die.
Across town.
"AAAH!"
Wesley shot backwards in his chair and tipped over on his ass as Connor glowed a sudden violent purple.
"AAAH! AAAHH!"
He scrambled up and away on trembling limbs waving equally shaky hands. Connor, looking equally surprised but taking it considerably better, also stood and backed away from the table eyeing the screaming Englishman warily
"Wesley, calm down, it's alright. Look, you're doing it too."
Wesley looked down at himself in horror
"AAAAAHHH!"
Connor rolled his eyes in exasperation and silently promised himself he would never touch alcohol if this is what it did to you
"Wesley, calm down!"
The older man swallowed and shook his aching head
"Sorry.I.I wasn't expecting..that is I..."
He stared down at his glowing skin
"Oh dear Lord!"
Sunnydale.
"Slayer!"
Spike flung open the door that led out of the training room and into the main floor of the shop
"Slayer! What the..fuckin' hell!"
The Scoobs swung round to meet the raging vampire and all stared at him as he came to a grinding halt by the counter his eyes bugging out of his head. Dawn was the first one too break the stunned silence
"Spike! You're all..I mean.."
She broke off and then started giggling helplessly
"Your hair! It's pink!"
The vampire looked startled and raised a hand to his head
"What? No its not!"
Xander snorted and then pointed a mocking finger
"You have pink hair!"
Spike growled and tried to pull a short, and violently pink, lock down to look at it, rolling his eyes fruitlessly in his head to catch a glimpse. Dawn giggled again at his contortions and moved forward to place a placating hand on his arm
"It's ok. It'll wear off soon."
Spike gave up trying to look at the top of his own head and dropped an absent kiss on her forehead as he snarled at the rest of the gang
"Would any of you idiots like to tell me what the bollocking hell is going on here?"
Buffy turned and looked at Giles, raising her eyebrows enquiringly. The older man watched Spike for a moment with an unreadable expression and then gave his Slayer a short nod. Buffy turned back to the vampire
"You'd better take a seat. This could take a while."
Hicksville.
Fred writhed in the grip of the two men that held her and watched with wide eyes as Cordelia took another heavy blow to the face. The seer's head rocked back but her face remained calm and focused as she pivoted smoothly and planted one small foot in her opponent's face. She followed through on the kick and when she was facing in the opposite direction sprinted forward and jumped lightly onto the hood of a car. She leapt onto the roof and jumped lightly again, avoiding the wild grab of a heavily built man on the other side of the vehicle and then continued on until she flew through the air once more to land on the roof of their own truck
"Fred, hang on, I'm coming!"
Cordelia rolled over the roof and as she dropped to the floor grabbed her axe from the open driver's window. She landed on her feet and ducked as yet another large and heavy man made a grab for her
"Will you people just give up!"
She slammed the handle of the axe into the man's stomach and then as he folded over with a pained expulsion of air rolled over his back and hit the floor running on the other side.
"Willow! How ya doin'?"
The red head swung her baseball bat and winced as it cracked against an unprotected skull and the man dropped like a stone
"Ok!"
She squeaked as another form appeared before her and drew back her bat for another swing but before she started to bring it down on the man his legs were kicked from under him and a smaller shape stretched up and smashed a length of two by four onto the back of his skull
"Go help your friend!"
The open mouthed girl swivelled as a young, dark haired man shot past her and into the dim light of the parking lot and then abruptly shook her head. Introductions of dark haired saviours later, beating the crap out of Fred's captors now. Her mouth straightened in a grim line and she broke into a run clutching her bat firmly. Boy, was she gonna do some beating.
Cordelia backed away form the four men who stalked her in a loose line and flicked her eyes from one to the other.
All huge, all ugly and all armed. Just another night in the exciting and glamorous world of Cordelia Chase.
She allowed a cold smile to flick across her face
"Who wants to die first?"
The men appeared to hesitate and then as one moved forward to flank her on all sides
Shit! Time to power up.
Cordelia frowned as she opened her well of power and then jumped as a bellowing, unidentifiable shape appeared out of nowhere and took out two of her enemies with one hard tackle
Ok, that's never happened before.
Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth she turned to the two temporarily distracted thugs that remained and cooed
"Oh boys? Wanna play?"
She made short work of the men left to her and then stepped back as she heard someone shout
"Fall back, fall back!"
She watched as the men that were on the floor were helped up by their less injured colleagues, in some cases carried, and then crossed to Willow and Fred to hug both girls briefly as their assailants piled into two vans and sped off
"Everyone ok?"
Fred nodded and rubbed absently at her wrists where livid red marks glowed against her pale skin
"Uh-huh. What happened?"
Cordy exchanged a slightly incredulous look with Willow and said dubiously
"We won. I think." Willow nodded looking just as surprised
"Yeah. We did."
She blinked and looked around her
"Where's dark, mysterious guy?"
Cordelia turned and looked all around but there seemed to be no one left in the deserted car park
"Hello? Superhero guy? You there?"
They stood in silence for a few moments and Cordelia shrugged uneasily
"He must have taken off."
She spun on her heel as someone cleared their throat uncertainly behind her. Her eyes widened in disbelief and then she flung herself forward to push the man back onto the hood of a car and hold her axe to his throat
"What the hell do you want?"
Lindsey stared into furious black coffee eyes and croaked
"Hello Cordelia."
End of Part 4b.