Dedications: Mel, Ina and Jen, as always. Special ones to Fairie Babee,
Pyro Bear, Deacon, Imzadi, Venus and all the others that are so
enthusiastic over my fics. Thank you.
LA, that same night.
Wesley took the hand held out to him and gripped it allowing himself to be pulled easily to his feet. Connor smiled uncertainly at him and made a conscious effort to hide his gore-covered axe behind his back. Wesley sighed, "Connor, what did I tell you before we came here tonight?"
Connor frowned and stared at the floor as he thought back to the Watcher's pep talk before they left the hotel. As far as he recalled it went something like. "Blah,blah,blah particularly ferocious demons that we blah blah blah. It's blah blah blah blah kill all of them blah blah blah blah." His face brightened, "Kill all the demons?"
Wesley brushed a hand down his jeans in a futile bid to get rid of the demon bile that had splashed down his legs and now appeared to be setting giving him the somewhat festive appearance of a jelly mold, "No, Connor. I said we absolutely must not kill all the demons because we needed information from them."
"Oh." Connor glanced around him at the pile of bodies on the floor and pointed, "I think that one might be still alive."
Wesley huffed irritably, "I doubt it. The top of his head is missing and his brains appear to be leaking into the mud. Honestly Connor you must pay attention. You can't always be so gung ho about these things. A little more finesse and a little less sheer bloodthirstiness and you'll really notice the difference."
He turned as another voice said, "Ah stow it Wes. The cherub's just like Angel-cakes aren't you, doll face? I think it's cute." Lorne wandered into the basement via the gaping hole in the wall that Connor had smashed earlier, swinging an axe and mopping his face with a large white handkerchief, "Well no gym for me in the morning. I think I just crammed enough butt firming exercise into ten minutes to last me a month.
He stopped, then turned to step back through the hole and return a few seconds later towing Angel and Gunn behind him, "Jeez Louise, its worse than having a couple of kids." He patted the fake Angel on the head, "Don't wander off. Stay right here." Fake Angel stared blankly ahead of him as he clutched a battle-axe and gave no indication of having heard the order. Lorne smirked, "Just like the real thing. Great eye candy, dumb as a post."
Connor and Wesley both sniggered before they could help themselves and then exchanged guilty looks. Connor tried for a mean glare at Lorne, the effect slightly ruined by the demon blood smeared across one cheek like garish blusher, "That's my father you're talking about."
Lorne nodded agreeably, "Yup. And we've all thought it, sugar, so don't beat yourself up about it." He tucked his hanky back in his pocket and winced as he looked around him, "All though I can see there's been plenty of the beatin' of other species goin' on." He nudged Wesley with a sharp elbow, "Look who's heading back to the land of the living sober. Go you."
Wesley flushed and fought down the urge for a long pull of scotch as a wave of tiredness washed over him, "Yes, well, it was mostly Connor." He looked around the scattered body parts, "In fact, aside from the small, adolescent Wolaris over there, they were all Connor." His eyebrows snapped together as he remembered what he had been saying, "And I gave specific orders to spare some of them for questioning later."
Connor ignored the older man as he suddenly caught another scent over the ones already in the basement. He turned slowly, every sense on alert, "No problem."
Wesley and Lorne blinked as he crouched and then jumped upwards on powerful legs to smash straight through the rotting floor above them and somersault out of view. "Connor! Connor!" Wesley threw his weapon to the floor in irritation, "Well, really, this is just too much." He scowled upwards, "And I know he heard me call him back."
Lorne shrugged and eyed the two clones of his friends as they both stared blankly upwards at the hole where Connor had disappeared, "Kids. What are you gonna do?" He opened his mouth to add something else and then stumbled back with shock as a large object was hurled through the hole in the ceiling and Connor dropped neatly through after it.
The boy smiled winningly at Wes, "I knew I left one." He reached down and yanked the moaning body to its feet with a flourish, "Yola, one demon."
Wesley stared between the snarling, bleeding vampire clutched in Connor's iron grip and frowned with confusion, "Yola? I don't under." He paused as he worked it out, "Oh, voila! Oh, I see, yes, well done." He braced his hands on his hips as he glared at the boy, "Although some indication of your intentions might have been nice."
Connor looked confused, "But I would have warned the demon too, and he would have gotten away." He jiggled the vampire enthusiastically, "So I just went and got him. See?"
Lorne grinned at the expression on Wesley's face, rather like a cat owner who has just been presented with a still living tribute from his half-wild feline, and stepped forward, "That you did, honey, that you did. What say I get dumb and dumber back to base and you two finish up here?" He flinched as the vampire snarled and tried to claw out Connor's throat, "'Cos I know you aren't thinking of bringing it back home and messing up the lobby with vamp guts and dust."
Wesley pressed a weary hand to his eyes as Connor punched the demon efficiently in the throat and kicked its legs out from underneath it, "Yes, perhaps that would be best. We'll see what information we can gather and drop in on the other nest that was mentioned, then we should be able to call it a night. Will you be alright?"
Lorne glanced back as he guided fake Gunn and Angel outside, "Oh sure. Like I need to worry with these two hunks guarding me." He sighed as a loud crash sounded from outside and then rolled his eyes as another one echoed a beat later, "No matter how many times I tell them to step over stuff they never listen. You'd think they'd at least learn to stop when one of them falls over and that they should stop walking and not try to go through him, but noooo." He waved an airy hand, "Later, guys."
Connor waited until the sounds of Lorne putting the clones back on their feet and herding them away faded and then turned a grim face to the captured demon on the floor, "We need information. You will give it to us or I will hurt you beyond anything you thought you were capable of." He lashed out with his foot and smashed the demon's nose to a pulp, "Tell us everything you know about the missing Seer."
***************************
Angel raised his eyebrows as Gunn hauled an arm full of spitting mad Fred through the back door of the cabin and gratefully shoved her down beside Cordy on the sofa. Fred took one look at her still unconscious friend and swung outraged eyes to Angel who watched amused as Gunn leaned down and clamped a hand over the lower half of his girlfriend's face, "Don't say a word Fred. I mean it. One sound and I'll haul your ass out to whatever passes for a woodshed here." She blinked and then contented herself with glaring furiously at the both of them and shoving away Gunn's hand before taking Cordelia's in hers to stroke gently. Gunn stood over her for a few seconds and then satisfied she had finally calmed stalked over to Angel and the fire.
Angel glanced at the younger man and said neutrally, "Took longer than I expected."
Gunn's eye twitched and he glanced back over his shoulder at Fred and watched her eye the cabin door saying flatly, "She's gone nuts. I tracked her through half the goddamn wood and had to chase her up a tree to get her. She's hasn't stopped attacking me and I finally had to drag her, literally kicking and screaming, the last few hundred yards."
Angel glanced back at the slight girl on the sofa and then at the tall man beside him noting the wide red scratches and grazes covering his head and neck. He scanned Gunn's torso and arms and then stared at the perfect bleeding imprint of a set of teeth on one hand, "Fred did that? Little Fred?"
Gunn snorted, "Yes 'Little Fred' did that. And 'Little Fred' also tried to kick me in the balls and didn't stop cursing me the whole way back. Hell, some of those words even I didn't know." He glanced back at her again and his face twisted with fury, "Oh no you don't!"
Fred froze with her hand on the door and the truck keys clutched in the other and then yanked on the handle to reveal Spike holding Willow on the other side. "Hello love I don't think.Hey!" Spike shouted with surprise as Fred took in her fallen friend and then shoved past him to run for the truck. He stood to one side as Gunn barrelled out after her and then walked into the room, "Love's young dream, eh Peaches?"
Angel grinned as Fred screamed and Gunn yelled back at her. He moved to the window and watched as the two young people fought on the grass Fred trying to do as much damage as she could and Gunn manfully resisting the temptation to knock her clean out. He winced as Gunn evidently got tired of someone attempting to gouge his eyes out and spun Fred onto her belly and straddled her back calmly pushing her face into the ground ignoring the muffled yells of outrage.
It took a couple of minutes but eventually the girl's frenzied struggles ceased and Gunn held her down for a few seconds more before moving off her and hauling her to her feet. Fred swayed uncertainly gulping in the cool night air and then staggered as Gunn tugged on the arm he held in a vice like grip and pulled her back to the cabin. Spike stood still cradling Willow and watched the grim faced man haul the stunned girl past him and push her back down on the sofa, "Stay."
Fred blinked at him and raised trembling hands to her face brushing shakily at the dirt and grass she could feel clinging there. Gunn's face softened as he looked down at her and he reached out to touch her cheek, "Fred, baby..."
"Don't touch me. Bastard." Gunn flinched at the vicious curse, stepped back then turned abruptly to face Angel, "Watch her."
Without looking back he walked to the rear of the cabin and out into the night. Angel looked after him for a moment and then reached down and picked up a towel that was sitting on top of one of the girl's travel bags. He stood over Fred and held it out, "Here. For your face." She took it without looking at him and then buried her face in it and began to sob thin shoulders shaking with emotion. Angel watched her for a few moments and then stepped away to cross to Spike who still clutched Willow, "What happened?"
The blonde vampire shrugged casually not quite covering the guilt and concern in his expressive eyes, "We fought, she tried to stake me then rushed me and ran headfirst into a tree."
Angel winced, "Ouch."
Spike shrugged, "She's a Scoob. It's par for the course."
Angel gently pushed Willow's hair back and examined the now impressively large bump on her head; "Well we'd better make her comfortable and get her cleaned up. She's going to feel that when she wakes up."
Spike nodded shortly and followed Angel and watched as he gathered the dusty tarpaulins and made a make shift bed on the floor. He laid Willow on it and then following Angel's example took off his leather duster and spread it over the unconscious girl. He glanced over at Cordelia, "How's the cheerleader doing?"
Angel followed his gaze, "Hasn't stirred. She looks like she needs the rest."
Spike nodded and got to his feet, "They all do. I'll go and scare up some water and a clean cloth."
Angel gestured outside, "There's an old well out back. I don't think it's dry."
Spike gave Willow one last look and followed Gunn out the door, "Back in a minute Peaches."
Angel watched him leave and then he slowly turned to Fred. She had stopped her frenzied sobbing and now sat in exhausted silence beside Cordelia staring owlishly at the floor, "Hey Fred." He waited a few moments and then when he received no response walked slowly over to her and crouched down before her. Her eyes met his staring blankly and he quashed the feeling of guilt and concern that rose when he saw that she was teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown and instead said simply, "Want to tell me what's going on here?"
The dark haired girl looked at him blankly and then stared expressively at the two unconscious girls in the room with them, "Why? Are y'all gonna put me to sleep like them if I don't?"
Angel winced and said shortly, "Of course not. Don't be so melodramatic."
Fred went stiff with outrage and shoved a hand against his shoulder scowling with annoyance when he didn't even wobble, "Melodramatic? Me? Y'all are the ones that won't take no for an answer. We told you why we left and why we couldn't stay in LA anymore but oh no, god forbid that the almighty Angel and Gunn should get dumped on rather than do the dumping. We don't want you. Go away and leave us the hell alone!"
She stopped her chest heaving with emotion and Angel raised an eyebrow and then said calmly, "Are you done?" Fred nodded jerkily and flinched when he reached towards her but he just tugged a large three quarter length coat from the back of the sofa and placed it over her, "Get some sleep. We'll talk more when you're all awake." She watched him rise and then as he made no move to walk away leaned slowly back and tucked in next to Cordelia bringing her legs up to curl underneath her. Angel smiled and patted the top of her head lightly ignoring her squeak of alarm, "Good girl. Get some sleep and it won't seem half as bad in the morning."
Fred privately doubted it but nonetheless knew when to cut her losses and regroup. She alone of the three girls was conscious and/or unhurt and to achieve freedom she had to go through three professional demon hunters two of whom had their own superpowers. Out of the three girls she was the weakest and least skilled fighter and she held no illusions about her abilities to take on the two vampires and Gunn. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about his hurt eyes when she had flinched away from him and his gentle touch as he had tried to make things right with her. She huddled closer to Cordelia and her last thought as she slipped gratefully into overwrought sleep was
Whatever it takes, whatever it takes
****************************
At the same time Fred was reluctantly allowing herself to fall asleep, Lindsey was beginning to realise that no matter how bad the previous two days had been, they were nothing to how bad things were looking at the moment. True he'd saved Cordelia and the others from a fate worse than death. Let's face it the thought of being lectured by he-of-the-soul for hours on end was enough to drive anyone to pretty desperate measures, but now he'd lost them. He glared at the entrance to the motel he'd just arrived at and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel irritably, making a mental note that when he caught up with the girls the very first thing they were going to do was work out a way for them to locate each other without driving all over three goddamn counties if they got separated again. After working with them for three months he pretty much knew their MO, but he'd looked in every low rent motel for the last ninety miles and was still no closer to locating their shapely, and misplaced, asses.
He tipped his head back against the back of the seat and glared at the truck roof. He was an intelligent, resourceful man, he could do this. A minute ticked slowly past and he punched the steering wheel in fury. Goddamn it, he couldn't do this! His floppy hair was shoved back off his forehead with a particularly vicious and inventive curse and he hit the steering wheel again for good measure. Sound planning wasn't his forte. Witness his sparkling success in his stint as Wolfram and Hart's main player on the devil's lap dog front. SO not the most successful evil genius in the history of the world.
He'd also never had to think of a cunning plan when his guts were churning and what felt like a fishhook was dragging at his heart with fear and worry for the girls. The suspicions that he carried all his life had been confirmed. Life was a lot easier when you just cared about yourself and pretty much forgot about the billion or so other life forms you shared a planet with.
Somewhere along the line he'd grown pretty attached to soft spoken Fred and had come to cherish the witty, intelligent conversations he'd had with Willow, although he'd learned the hard way to keep her away from anything with caffeine in it.
Much to his amazement he'd also come to care deeply about the caustic, sparky and stupidly brave Cordelia Chase. Their verbal sparring and her brutal way of speaking whatever came to her mind had endeared her to him more than the others in her own way. He respected the strength that enabled her to get out of whatever sagging bed she happened to be in each morning, her relentless fight against whatever hunters or bounty hunters came across them and her tireless protection and morale boosting of her companions whenever their situation became to much for them to bear. Cordelia was always ready with a smile and a quip to brighten the day and, on the rare occasions that she couldn't force a smile, she was always ready with a swift kick up the ass to get things moving again.
Lindsey leant his head against the steering wheel and sighed. The thought of anything happening to any of the three girls was enough to suck the marrow straight from his bones and he was very much afraid he really had only one option to find them. It was something that had been considered before but that had been considered too risky to try, as the chances of someone else tapping into the power were too high. Lindsey closed his eyes shut briefly and then sat up and reached for the bag at his feet and began to gather what he needed for a location spell.
*************************
Connor drew back his fist and let fly drawing some small satisfaction from the crumpling of bone beneath his fist and he followed up with a sharp slap to the vampire's face on the back swing, "Tell me what I want to know demon."
Wesley eyed the young boy as he spoke in a dispassionate almost bored tone and made a mental note to have a word with Angel when he got back about extending the boy's outside interests. Heralded saviour or not, everyone needed a night off to kick back and have fun occasionally. He watched as the vampire spat a rather large amount of borrowed blood on the floor along with a couple of teeth and raised his battered face to say, "Never!"
Connor exhibited no surprise at the answer and nodded resignedly as he slammed a fist into the creature's midsection and watched it fold over his arm, "This may take a while. Wesley, are there any errands you need to run while we're in this part of town?"
Wesley shook his head absently in response to the casual inquiry and then sucked in his breath sharply, "Connor, we can't go round torturing demons no matter how reprehensible they are. Now if you've quite finished with him put the creature out of his misery and let's move on. We still have that nest of Querteth demons to dispose of before we go home."
Connor glared at Wesley for a moment and then with an expression on his face that the older man would have called a pout if it had been on a girl of the same age pulled a stake from his back pocket and slammed it through the vampire's heart telling it, "You were lucky he was here."
The vampire's face as it exploded into a surprised cloud of ash strongly disagreed with the boy, but Wesley nodded satisfied and placed a comforting hand on Connor's shoulder, "I know it's hard waiting for news and feeling like you are doing nothing to help but trust in your father to find them and bring them home. He's quite exceptional and inexhaustibly stubborn when it comes to tracking pr.um finding people." He trailed off and cleared his throat awkwardly as Connor watched him with curious blue eyes and finished lamely, "Anyway, I'm sure he'll find them soon."
They turned and walked back down the dark alley where they had chased the vampire a few moments before, heading for the bright lights of the street. "Were you going to say prey?" Connor spoke quietly and kept his eyes on the ground but Wesley felt the tension in him. The boy still warily regarded anything that reminded him of his father's true nature despite his acceptance of Angel as both a father figure and a person.
Wesley frowned and then said, "Yes I was I'm afraid. I find it hard to distinguish between Angel's vampire traits and his human ones. After a while it becomes rather irrelevant in regards to a person you know intimately." He glanced sideways at the boy and watched as a small frown creased his forehead as he kicked a can into the shadows.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to it." Wesley's heart turned over at the wistful tone and he swallowed the bitter taste of guilt and 'what if', as he realised that Connor would have had all the time in the world to understand and get used to the idea if he hadn't been stolen from the people that loved him and all but handed over to a bitter twisted man as a tool for revenge. He sighed and shook his head pushing away the unwelcome memories. Now was important, not last year or tomorrow, but what he could do to help Angel now.
He took a deep breath, "I know what you mean. When I first saw your father all I saw was the bloodthirsty power crazed demon of my textbooks and I didn't ever feel that he could ever be a person in my eyes." He laughed in bitter amusement as he thought of the tight arsed git he used to be, "God, I was such a wanker! I don't know how they put up with me."
Connor stared at his father's friend in surprise, "You didn't like Dad when you met him?"
Wesley grinned, "God no! I was newly arrived from England and chock full of ideas to get the Slayers dancing to my tune, and the last thing I needed on my watch was some half tame demon out to save the world. I walked into that library and I set about alienating everyone around me with astonishing rapidity. I mocked the man that advised and guarded the Slayers, a man that had been battling evil on the mouth of hell for years mark you. I was rude and dismissive of the friends that helped them and to the Slayers, I was an unforgivable let down as a Watcher all because I saw with the prejudices I had indoctrinated in me rather than with my own eyes.
The people I joined had no time for a man who thought he knew it all because he had spent his life studying demons in books and watching them from afar. They routinely went out and slayed evil every night and lost people they cared for time after time and as they saw it if one of the creatures they fought was trying to redeem himself alongside them who were they to stand in his way?"
Wesley shrugged self-consciously, "Your father didn't become a person to me until The Slayer nearly sacrificed her own life to save his." He stared into Connor's eyes, "One of the creatures she had been destined from birth to destroy and she nearly killed herself to save him. Angel fed from her in his delirium and it nearly destroyed him when he regained enough control of himself to realise what she had done. When I saw the remorse in his eyes, the self-loathing, that's when he became real to me and I saw the man inside the demon for the first time."
Connor mooched along and kicked a rusted can out of his path, "But you still didn't trust in him not to hurt me when you read the fake prophesies?"
Wesley flinched, "No, to my ever lasting regret, I did not." He sighed, "I found there was more left in me of that pompous, smug Watcher than I thought, and the consequences were catastrophic for all concerned." He stopped and looked at Connor as the boy turned to face him, "I destroyed the life you and your father could have had together because I was frightened and confused, and I didn't allow myself to trust in the man I knew or the people around us." He placed his weapon on the floor and then stood to clasp Connor's shoulders tightly in his hands, "Whatever happens, don't allow yourself to believe anything but that Angel is a good man and he only wants the best for those he loves. He may be difficult to understand at times, but all he's ever wanted is safety for those around him and the opportunity to show you how much he loves and cares for you. Don't let the actions of myself, or anyone else, persuade you otherwise."
Connor stared into Wesley's eyes for a long moment and then nodded, "I'll try."
Wesley squeezed the boy's shoulders briefly and then released him, "That's all anyone can ask of you." He snatched up his weapon again and smiled, "Now, I believe we have a nest of demons to dispose of." The smile widened affectionately, "And this time try to remember to leave some of them alive."
********************************
Cordelia fought against the black tide holding her down and drowning her. She felt the whirlpool suck at her body, her essence, and she struggled twisting and turning reaching for the light. Slowly, so slowly, she rose until finally she broke through and she opened heavy eyes and sucked in a breath. The flickering glow of the firelight shimmered and she blinked in confusion and then she focused on his face. Dark, dark eyes watching her, waiting for her to give some kind of reaction. A slow, loving smile spread across her face and she reached out to him, only mildly concerned when her arm felt like someone had attached several large weights to it. "Angel."
He cocked his head to one side and she drank in the sight of his familiar face and wallowed in the luxury of looking on him once again. At the back of her mind inner Cordy was jumping up and down and shrieking, battering on the walls of her consciousness to remind her.of something. She ignored the frenzied shrieks of her inner self and sighed happily when he reached out his hand to take hers. Her eyes drifted shut again and she sighed in contentment once again as she felt his fingers begin to caress hers and he whispered, "Cordelia."
Her eyes snapped open and she wrenched her hand back and tried to sit up bringing on a sudden wave of nausea. Fred awoke with a start next to her and jolted upright, in turn bringing Gunn to his feet staring around wildly as he gripped his favourite axe. Cordy brought both hands to her temples and pressed hard as the room span and stared at the vampire before her that had gotten to his feet, "What the hell are you doing here?"
She gulped in air and tried to calm her frantically racing heart as her mind fought through the sluggishness of sleep. Angel crossed his arms and stared forbiddingly down at her barely controlling his expression of anger at he abrupt rejection of his touch. He surreptitiously took a breath and inhaled confusion and anger nearly overpowered by the smell of fear, almost terror, emanating from her. "Looking for you." Cordelia shook her head slightly as though to clear it and Angel smirked, "What's up Cordy, having a little problem in thinking straight? Don't worry, the drugs will wear off in a few hours and you'll be as good as new."
Cordy blinked and stared up at him and then a vague memory of someone.Spike! Her eyes widened and she gasped in outrage, "You let him shoot me!"
"Yup."
She pushed against the couch trying to find the leverage and strength necessary to climb to her feet and confront him and all but snarled as he casually placed a hand on top of her head and pushed her back down, "Save it Cordelia, you're going nowhere. And if you try I'll just shoot you again." She fell against the back of the couch and stared wordlessly up at him as he reached behind him and produced a tranq gun pointing it at her coolly, "You've already been out for about six hours, if I shot you again I'm betting you'd be out cold for at least another ten."
Cordy flicked her eyes to the now covered windows and saw the light leaking in around the edges. She looked down as she felt a hand creep into hers and then looked up into Fred's eyes. The Texan stared back at her and although she was obviously frightened she also sent a wordless message to Cordelia to keep her head, wait for the right time and not to do anything rash. The seer took a deep breath and then met her love's eyes again, "Boy, you just don't give up do you? Jeez, Angel. Is this what you did to Druscilla to turn her batty? Just kept stalking her until she caved?"
She forced herself not to flinch at the flash of hurt that passed through his eyes and stared at him in challenge. He in turn stared back down at her and forced himself to see past the angry and spiteful look she gave him to the too white skin and painfully thin body, "Cordelia, please give it up. We know that you're in trouble. We have the entire gang working on it back home. Let us help you and then if you still want us to then we'll leave you the hell alone."
Cordelia opened her mouth and then closed it almost caving and throwing herself into his arms and spilling the beans, then she thought of him going up in flames before her eyes and screaming in agony and her gaze hardened again, "Get over yourself, Angel."
He shook his head impatiently and met Gunn's eyes. The human regarded him impassively the only sign of strain the slight twitching in his jaw as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. He hissed through his teeth as he stared at his de facto sister and his girl and then moved forward to stand at Angel's side, "Hey Cordy. Still savin' my life?"
Cordelia stared up at him and felt the burn at the back of her throat that signalled tears were once again on the way. She opened her mouth and then was saved from answering as Angel shifted slightly and she caught a glimpse of Willow, and her outsized head, sleeping on the floor, "Oh my god!" She scrambled forward and fell to her knees on the floor and tried to push past the boy's legs to get to her friend, "What the hell have you done? Willow?" Angel stepped to the side and she sped in an ungainly crawl to Willow's side reaching out with trembling hands to smooth the hair from the other girl's forehead, "Willow? Willow, can you hear me?" She looked up at Angel with fury and terror in her eyes, "Why won't she wake up? What did you do?"
The vampire crouched down beside her and reached out swallowing his hurt when she flinched away from him. He slowly drew back his hand and said softly, "I didn't do anything. Willow picked a fight with Spike and misjudged a move. She knocked herself out."
Cordelia laid a hand at Willow's throat and was reassured to find a slow, steady pulse under her fingertips. She bowed her head in relief and closed her eyes, tears stinging against her lids, "Why can't you just leave us alone?"
Angel's face softened at the broken whisper and he touched a light hand to her hair, "Because we love you." His eyes flashed angrily as she snapped her head to the side to avoid his touch and he grabbed her arm to haul her feet. He dodged her solid right-hook and twisted her arm behind her back as she tried to kick his legs out from under him. "Will you stop fighting me all the damn time!" Cordelia flung her pounding head back and connected with his chin with a crack, Angel shouted with pain and then shoved her forward to sprawl gracelessly on the floor.
Gunn winced and looked at Spike as the blond vampire re-entered the room, "Guess that answers that question."
Spike fought back a grin as his grandsire clutched his face and bitched like Buffy when she cracked a nail, "You expected a rousing chorus of we- love-you-too and please-sweep-us-in-to-your-oh-so-manly-and-dead-arms?" He nodded to Gunn, "Present company excepted."
Gunn crossed his arms over his chest, reassured to feel the steady thump of his heart against his muscles, "Damn straight." His eyes widened, "Uh-oh!"
Spike turned and saw Cordelia rise from the floor with a look of sheer fury on her face and a splinter of wood from beside the fireplace gripped in her fist, "Shit. Peaches!"
Angel snatched his hands down from his face and gaped as Cordelia lunged towards him with her makeshift stake. One hand came up to block her move, whilst the other shot out to relieve her of the three-inch piece of wood. He held her hand above her head for a moment as they stared into each other's eyes, then cursed as she staggered and her legs gave way abruptly. In one smooth move he turned her and slipped an arm under her knees before letting go of her wrist and putting the other one round her back to hoist her off her feet and against his chest.
Cordelia blinked as she swung through the air and then blinked again as she found herself nose to nipple with Angel, "Let me go." She gulped oxygen as spots swam behind her eyes and her stomach rolled greasily, "Oh god, I'm gonna be." Her voice cut off abruptly as her stomach heaved and she threw up all over herself and Angel.
Angel moved swiftly to the door and stepped outside to kneel on the covered porch, keeping well back from the sunlight as he held her thin, undernourished body while she heaved and heaved, all the time trying to bat weakly at his hands to let her go. He brought up one hand to hold her hair back and stroked his thumb soothingly at the base of her neck, "It's ok, it's ok. I've got you." His face clouded with concern as she heaved violently against him and he caught the whiff of something other than the drugs from her, "She's sick." His head turned and he stared at Fred as she stood inside the cabin, "What's wrong with her? How long has she been like this?"
Fred tried to move past Gunn and then jumped as he grabbed hold of her arm to hold her in place, "She's just tired. I can look after her, I know what to do." She tried to twist out of Gunn's grip, "Just let me see to her."
"I don't think so. Sit your butt down, Fred, this has gone on long enough." Angel turned his attention back to the shivering, clammy woman in his arms, "Are you finished?" Cordelia managed a weak, shamed nod and Angel gathered her to him carefully and then stood, "We're going to get you cleaned up and then we're going to get this sorted out once and for all." He looked down at Cordelia as her head rolled limply against his shoulder, to miserable and ill to care that she was covered in her own vomit and that Angel was finally holding her without any resistance, "Are there fresh clothes in your truck?" She nodded painfully, "Gunn, go get them. Spike, help me." He moved into the room, "Build the fire up some more and move Willow out of the way so Cordelia can get warm."
Spike pushed Fred back down onto the sofa and then snatched up Willow in a lightening fast move and laid her lengthways to join her friend on the couch, her bruised head nestling cosily in Fred's lap, "Watch her." He waited for Fred's unwilling nod and then moved to join Angel as he lowered the shaking and filthy Cordelia to the floor, "Go get yourself sorted, Peaches. I'll see to her." He rolled his eyes as Angel turned to snarl possessively at him, "Get over yourself, will you? She's sick and she stinks, I think I can manage not to jump her diseased bones while you wash yourself off." He brushed Cordelia's sweat dampened hair off her forehead and eyed her with concern, "She needs to get warm and dry. Stop bein' such a wanker and let me help her."
Angel looked between Cordelia and Spike and then nodded shortly, "I'll be a minute."
Spike watched him go and then cupped a hand to Cordelia's cheek, "Alright, cheerleader, I'm going to wash you up and get you all nice and comfy, ok?" He kept his voice low and soothing as he quickly and competently stripped off her soaked top and reached beside him for the water that they had been using to soak Willow's compresses, "I'd warm this up but I think we need to get you in dry clothes as soon as we can." A small, kindly smile flitted across his face as he dunked a cleanish rag and then set about impersonally wiping it over her torso. Cordelia arched and hissed as the cold cloth touched her skin, "I know, I know, it's alright, love. You just let me get on with it like, and we'll soon have you feelin' better."
Spike's eyes narrowed as he saw the still unhealed cut on her collarbone, the skin around it still puffy. He pressed the cloth lightly against the swollen gash and watched as thick, green pus oozed out, "That's the way of it, is it?" He idly stroked Cordelia's hair back away from her face with his other hand as she gave a sob of pain and he sniffed the air, "I know, love, I know." He gave a quick nod to himself, ""Right, then. Well we're not havin' that now, are we?"
Gunn crouched beside him and whistled, "What the hell is that?"
Spike eased an arm around Cordelia's back and helped her to sit up before releasing her bra catch and lying her back down. He kept the garment in place as he laid her back down and then grabbed the towel Gunn held out to him, "Poison. Someone managed to 'ave themselves a good day and cut 'er with something laced with something nasty." He draped the towel across Cordelia and then whisked her bra out from under it. His rag disappeared back under the material and he swabbed her again before briskly rubbing her skin dry as he tossed the rag back in the bucket. "Got her clothes?"
Gunn handed him a loose sweatshirt and Spike rolled it in his hands before tugging it over her head and then pulling it down over her body to guide her arms into the correct holes. He smoothed it comfortably over her and then undid her pants, "Nearly done, love. Soon be over." He pulled the pants down and winced as a particularly livid bruise came to light on her hip and upper right thigh, "For fucks sake."
Gunn drew in a hissed breath beside him and then wordlessly handed him the rag and towel, before gripping Cordelia's hand as her panties were whisked away and she was given a brisk cleaning, before Spike eased the baggy sweatpants on under the towel and jumped up to grab any spare jackets or covers he could find to bundle on top of the shivering girl.
Spike smiled into Cordelia's glazed eyes, as she lay spent on the pallet, "There, love, all better. Think you can take a sip of water?" He listened carefully to the racing of her heart and hid his uneasiness at the grey colour of her skin as he tucked the mound of coats and sweaters around her more closely, "Just a sip, mind, don't want a repeat performance, like." He glanced up as Angel rejoined him, washed and dressed in a fresh pair of black slacks and a clean black top, "She's alright, mate." His head jerked back, "Need a word. Gunn, try and get her to take some water. Just a sip, mind."
He pulled Angel towards the back door, keeping a watchful eye on the uneasy Fred and the still sleeping Willow, "She's been poisoned." Angel tensed beside him and gave a low growl, "Hold your horses, Peaches, she's alright for the minute, but we need to think about getting' her some kind of help." He eyed the taller vampire with mild surprise, "Amazed you didn't pick up on it yourself, mate."
Angel half turned so that his eyes rested on Cordelia as Gunn eased her up and held a bottle of water to her mouth, "I've been.distracted." His hands clenched by his side in fury, "Dammit, I should have realised." His insides twisted with guilt as he thought of how he'd behaved since finding Cordy again and vicious scene in the bedroom of the motel room, "Dammit."
Spike shrugged, grunting in unwitting sympathy at Angel's obvious self- disgust, "Right, well there's nothin' to be done now." He gripped Angel's arm and waited until he had his undivided attention, "The important thing is that we get her fixed up an' do it right quick." His hand tightened in emphasis, "I can smell the sickness in 'er, and if we don't do something soon then I don't know what's gonna happen to her."
"That's not your concern." The vampires spun round as the voice sounded behind them. Angel vamped out as he saw Lindsey McDonald standing in a patch of bright sunlight and holding guns on each of them. He fired even as Spike swore and tensed to spring out of the way, grunting in satisfaction as both shots hit their mark and the vampires dropped where they stood. Lindsey threw the guns in the floor and broke into a run as he heard Gunn's surprised shout from inside the cabin, tugging another gun from the waistband of his pants. He jumped the two bodies lying inside the doorway and fired again as Gunn rushed towards him and Fred screamed.
Gunn fell bonelessly to the floor and Lindsey threw his gun aside as he saw Cordelia lying on the floor, "Jesus!" He threw himself towards her and gathered her up in his arms, cupping her head to help her focus on him, "Cordelia, are you ok? Cordelia?" What the hell did they do to you, baby?" Lindsey's head turned as Fred staggered up beside him and collapsed to her knees, "Fred, honey, are you ok? What's happened to Cordy?" He rocked Cordelia against him as he tried to turn his head to see behind him, "Where's Willow?"
Fred closed her eyes for a moment and held up her fist. She uncurled her fingers as tears trickled down her face, "I thought you killed them." The small dart winked against her palm, still stained at the tip with Gunn's blood where she had pulled it from his chest, "I really thought you killed them."
Lindsey took in her white, shocky face and gripped Cordelia to him with one arm as the other snaked out and pulled Fred against him, "I still might if I don't get some answers around here. What the hell's been happening?"
Angel lay frozen on the floor as the former bane of his LA life clutched Angel's eternal love and one of his best friends to him. He tried to make himself move, to lunge across and rip his girls from the ex-lawyer's arms and his demon howled in furious protest as not so much as an eyelash twitched in response. He was unable to anything but stare as Fred collapsed trustingly against the man who'd just shot her lover and then he heard Cordelia whisper, "Lindsey?"
Lindsey eased Fred upright for a moment and touched Cordelia's face as she swallowed and tried to push herself upright, "Easy, honey. It's ok, I'm here now." He rocked back slightly and pulled cuddled her close before rising with a grunt of effort with her cradled in his arms, "Don't worry, everything's ok, baby. I'm getting you out of here."
Cordelia was floating in a sea of pain and sickness, barely aware of anything but Lindsey as he walked towards the door, and certainly not aware of the crack of Angels' heart breaking as she leaned her head against Lindsey's shoulder and whispered, "I thought I'd never see you again. I thought you'd leave us here with them."
Angel was unable to do anything but stare straight ahead as Lindsey moved out of his line of sight and carried Cordelia outside and away from him. He listened as Lindsey's boots clumped down the steps, neatly avoiding the Cordelia's vomit from earlier and then the young man whispered soothingly, "Never, darlin', never. You'll be ok now, I've got you."
Fred moved hastily around the room gathering their stuff and anything useful that Angel and the others had brought with them as Lindesy hurried back through the door. "She's in the truck." He crossed to Willow and examined her head quickly, "Did someone hit her?"
Fred avoided looking at the three bodies on the floor, "No, Spike said she ran into a tree." She glanced quickly around herself, "I think that's it. Is there anything else y'all think we need?"
Lindsey crossed to the back door, shoving Spike's rigid body non-to-gently out the way before slamming the door shut as best he could and then returning to the couch to pick Willow up and carry her towards the front, "No. We need to go in your truck till the road where I left mine parked and then you can follow me. We need to get the hell away from here."
He paused by the door and glanced down the three men on the floor, "Its not permanent. I used darts filled with Sumsanger essence and used enough to make sure you're down for the rest of the day." He jerked his head at Fred as she paused and began to look back at Gunn, "Go Fred, we need to get them out of here." Lindsey waited until she reluctantly moved past him and out into the sun and then lowered his voice to hiss, "Stay the hell away from them, Angel. They don't want you anymore and if I see you near them again, I will kill you."
He looked around the room and satisfied himself that no stray beams of sunlight would be able to get to the vampires while they lay helpless on the floor, "This is your last chance, leave them the hell alone." The door banged shut and then the only sound to be heard in the darkened room was of the slamming of car doors and the roar of the truck engine as it was driven over the rough ground and out of the clearing.
*******************************
LA, that same night.
Wesley took the hand held out to him and gripped it allowing himself to be pulled easily to his feet. Connor smiled uncertainly at him and made a conscious effort to hide his gore-covered axe behind his back. Wesley sighed, "Connor, what did I tell you before we came here tonight?"
Connor frowned and stared at the floor as he thought back to the Watcher's pep talk before they left the hotel. As far as he recalled it went something like. "Blah,blah,blah particularly ferocious demons that we blah blah blah. It's blah blah blah blah kill all of them blah blah blah blah." His face brightened, "Kill all the demons?"
Wesley brushed a hand down his jeans in a futile bid to get rid of the demon bile that had splashed down his legs and now appeared to be setting giving him the somewhat festive appearance of a jelly mold, "No, Connor. I said we absolutely must not kill all the demons because we needed information from them."
"Oh." Connor glanced around him at the pile of bodies on the floor and pointed, "I think that one might be still alive."
Wesley huffed irritably, "I doubt it. The top of his head is missing and his brains appear to be leaking into the mud. Honestly Connor you must pay attention. You can't always be so gung ho about these things. A little more finesse and a little less sheer bloodthirstiness and you'll really notice the difference."
He turned as another voice said, "Ah stow it Wes. The cherub's just like Angel-cakes aren't you, doll face? I think it's cute." Lorne wandered into the basement via the gaping hole in the wall that Connor had smashed earlier, swinging an axe and mopping his face with a large white handkerchief, "Well no gym for me in the morning. I think I just crammed enough butt firming exercise into ten minutes to last me a month.
He stopped, then turned to step back through the hole and return a few seconds later towing Angel and Gunn behind him, "Jeez Louise, its worse than having a couple of kids." He patted the fake Angel on the head, "Don't wander off. Stay right here." Fake Angel stared blankly ahead of him as he clutched a battle-axe and gave no indication of having heard the order. Lorne smirked, "Just like the real thing. Great eye candy, dumb as a post."
Connor and Wesley both sniggered before they could help themselves and then exchanged guilty looks. Connor tried for a mean glare at Lorne, the effect slightly ruined by the demon blood smeared across one cheek like garish blusher, "That's my father you're talking about."
Lorne nodded agreeably, "Yup. And we've all thought it, sugar, so don't beat yourself up about it." He tucked his hanky back in his pocket and winced as he looked around him, "All though I can see there's been plenty of the beatin' of other species goin' on." He nudged Wesley with a sharp elbow, "Look who's heading back to the land of the living sober. Go you."
Wesley flushed and fought down the urge for a long pull of scotch as a wave of tiredness washed over him, "Yes, well, it was mostly Connor." He looked around the scattered body parts, "In fact, aside from the small, adolescent Wolaris over there, they were all Connor." His eyebrows snapped together as he remembered what he had been saying, "And I gave specific orders to spare some of them for questioning later."
Connor ignored the older man as he suddenly caught another scent over the ones already in the basement. He turned slowly, every sense on alert, "No problem."
Wesley and Lorne blinked as he crouched and then jumped upwards on powerful legs to smash straight through the rotting floor above them and somersault out of view. "Connor! Connor!" Wesley threw his weapon to the floor in irritation, "Well, really, this is just too much." He scowled upwards, "And I know he heard me call him back."
Lorne shrugged and eyed the two clones of his friends as they both stared blankly upwards at the hole where Connor had disappeared, "Kids. What are you gonna do?" He opened his mouth to add something else and then stumbled back with shock as a large object was hurled through the hole in the ceiling and Connor dropped neatly through after it.
The boy smiled winningly at Wes, "I knew I left one." He reached down and yanked the moaning body to its feet with a flourish, "Yola, one demon."
Wesley stared between the snarling, bleeding vampire clutched in Connor's iron grip and frowned with confusion, "Yola? I don't under." He paused as he worked it out, "Oh, voila! Oh, I see, yes, well done." He braced his hands on his hips as he glared at the boy, "Although some indication of your intentions might have been nice."
Connor looked confused, "But I would have warned the demon too, and he would have gotten away." He jiggled the vampire enthusiastically, "So I just went and got him. See?"
Lorne grinned at the expression on Wesley's face, rather like a cat owner who has just been presented with a still living tribute from his half-wild feline, and stepped forward, "That you did, honey, that you did. What say I get dumb and dumber back to base and you two finish up here?" He flinched as the vampire snarled and tried to claw out Connor's throat, "'Cos I know you aren't thinking of bringing it back home and messing up the lobby with vamp guts and dust."
Wesley pressed a weary hand to his eyes as Connor punched the demon efficiently in the throat and kicked its legs out from underneath it, "Yes, perhaps that would be best. We'll see what information we can gather and drop in on the other nest that was mentioned, then we should be able to call it a night. Will you be alright?"
Lorne glanced back as he guided fake Gunn and Angel outside, "Oh sure. Like I need to worry with these two hunks guarding me." He sighed as a loud crash sounded from outside and then rolled his eyes as another one echoed a beat later, "No matter how many times I tell them to step over stuff they never listen. You'd think they'd at least learn to stop when one of them falls over and that they should stop walking and not try to go through him, but noooo." He waved an airy hand, "Later, guys."
Connor waited until the sounds of Lorne putting the clones back on their feet and herding them away faded and then turned a grim face to the captured demon on the floor, "We need information. You will give it to us or I will hurt you beyond anything you thought you were capable of." He lashed out with his foot and smashed the demon's nose to a pulp, "Tell us everything you know about the missing Seer."
***************************
Angel raised his eyebrows as Gunn hauled an arm full of spitting mad Fred through the back door of the cabin and gratefully shoved her down beside Cordy on the sofa. Fred took one look at her still unconscious friend and swung outraged eyes to Angel who watched amused as Gunn leaned down and clamped a hand over the lower half of his girlfriend's face, "Don't say a word Fred. I mean it. One sound and I'll haul your ass out to whatever passes for a woodshed here." She blinked and then contented herself with glaring furiously at the both of them and shoving away Gunn's hand before taking Cordelia's in hers to stroke gently. Gunn stood over her for a few seconds and then satisfied she had finally calmed stalked over to Angel and the fire.
Angel glanced at the younger man and said neutrally, "Took longer than I expected."
Gunn's eye twitched and he glanced back over his shoulder at Fred and watched her eye the cabin door saying flatly, "She's gone nuts. I tracked her through half the goddamn wood and had to chase her up a tree to get her. She's hasn't stopped attacking me and I finally had to drag her, literally kicking and screaming, the last few hundred yards."
Angel glanced back at the slight girl on the sofa and then at the tall man beside him noting the wide red scratches and grazes covering his head and neck. He scanned Gunn's torso and arms and then stared at the perfect bleeding imprint of a set of teeth on one hand, "Fred did that? Little Fred?"
Gunn snorted, "Yes 'Little Fred' did that. And 'Little Fred' also tried to kick me in the balls and didn't stop cursing me the whole way back. Hell, some of those words even I didn't know." He glanced back at her again and his face twisted with fury, "Oh no you don't!"
Fred froze with her hand on the door and the truck keys clutched in the other and then yanked on the handle to reveal Spike holding Willow on the other side. "Hello love I don't think.Hey!" Spike shouted with surprise as Fred took in her fallen friend and then shoved past him to run for the truck. He stood to one side as Gunn barrelled out after her and then walked into the room, "Love's young dream, eh Peaches?"
Angel grinned as Fred screamed and Gunn yelled back at her. He moved to the window and watched as the two young people fought on the grass Fred trying to do as much damage as she could and Gunn manfully resisting the temptation to knock her clean out. He winced as Gunn evidently got tired of someone attempting to gouge his eyes out and spun Fred onto her belly and straddled her back calmly pushing her face into the ground ignoring the muffled yells of outrage.
It took a couple of minutes but eventually the girl's frenzied struggles ceased and Gunn held her down for a few seconds more before moving off her and hauling her to her feet. Fred swayed uncertainly gulping in the cool night air and then staggered as Gunn tugged on the arm he held in a vice like grip and pulled her back to the cabin. Spike stood still cradling Willow and watched the grim faced man haul the stunned girl past him and push her back down on the sofa, "Stay."
Fred blinked at him and raised trembling hands to her face brushing shakily at the dirt and grass she could feel clinging there. Gunn's face softened as he looked down at her and he reached out to touch her cheek, "Fred, baby..."
"Don't touch me. Bastard." Gunn flinched at the vicious curse, stepped back then turned abruptly to face Angel, "Watch her."
Without looking back he walked to the rear of the cabin and out into the night. Angel looked after him for a moment and then reached down and picked up a towel that was sitting on top of one of the girl's travel bags. He stood over Fred and held it out, "Here. For your face." She took it without looking at him and then buried her face in it and began to sob thin shoulders shaking with emotion. Angel watched her for a few moments and then stepped away to cross to Spike who still clutched Willow, "What happened?"
The blonde vampire shrugged casually not quite covering the guilt and concern in his expressive eyes, "We fought, she tried to stake me then rushed me and ran headfirst into a tree."
Angel winced, "Ouch."
Spike shrugged, "She's a Scoob. It's par for the course."
Angel gently pushed Willow's hair back and examined the now impressively large bump on her head; "Well we'd better make her comfortable and get her cleaned up. She's going to feel that when she wakes up."
Spike nodded shortly and followed Angel and watched as he gathered the dusty tarpaulins and made a make shift bed on the floor. He laid Willow on it and then following Angel's example took off his leather duster and spread it over the unconscious girl. He glanced over at Cordelia, "How's the cheerleader doing?"
Angel followed his gaze, "Hasn't stirred. She looks like she needs the rest."
Spike nodded and got to his feet, "They all do. I'll go and scare up some water and a clean cloth."
Angel gestured outside, "There's an old well out back. I don't think it's dry."
Spike gave Willow one last look and followed Gunn out the door, "Back in a minute Peaches."
Angel watched him leave and then he slowly turned to Fred. She had stopped her frenzied sobbing and now sat in exhausted silence beside Cordelia staring owlishly at the floor, "Hey Fred." He waited a few moments and then when he received no response walked slowly over to her and crouched down before her. Her eyes met his staring blankly and he quashed the feeling of guilt and concern that rose when he saw that she was teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown and instead said simply, "Want to tell me what's going on here?"
The dark haired girl looked at him blankly and then stared expressively at the two unconscious girls in the room with them, "Why? Are y'all gonna put me to sleep like them if I don't?"
Angel winced and said shortly, "Of course not. Don't be so melodramatic."
Fred went stiff with outrage and shoved a hand against his shoulder scowling with annoyance when he didn't even wobble, "Melodramatic? Me? Y'all are the ones that won't take no for an answer. We told you why we left and why we couldn't stay in LA anymore but oh no, god forbid that the almighty Angel and Gunn should get dumped on rather than do the dumping. We don't want you. Go away and leave us the hell alone!"
She stopped her chest heaving with emotion and Angel raised an eyebrow and then said calmly, "Are you done?" Fred nodded jerkily and flinched when he reached towards her but he just tugged a large three quarter length coat from the back of the sofa and placed it over her, "Get some sleep. We'll talk more when you're all awake." She watched him rise and then as he made no move to walk away leaned slowly back and tucked in next to Cordelia bringing her legs up to curl underneath her. Angel smiled and patted the top of her head lightly ignoring her squeak of alarm, "Good girl. Get some sleep and it won't seem half as bad in the morning."
Fred privately doubted it but nonetheless knew when to cut her losses and regroup. She alone of the three girls was conscious and/or unhurt and to achieve freedom she had to go through three professional demon hunters two of whom had their own superpowers. Out of the three girls she was the weakest and least skilled fighter and she held no illusions about her abilities to take on the two vampires and Gunn. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about his hurt eyes when she had flinched away from him and his gentle touch as he had tried to make things right with her. She huddled closer to Cordelia and her last thought as she slipped gratefully into overwrought sleep was
Whatever it takes, whatever it takes
****************************
At the same time Fred was reluctantly allowing herself to fall asleep, Lindsey was beginning to realise that no matter how bad the previous two days had been, they were nothing to how bad things were looking at the moment. True he'd saved Cordelia and the others from a fate worse than death. Let's face it the thought of being lectured by he-of-the-soul for hours on end was enough to drive anyone to pretty desperate measures, but now he'd lost them. He glared at the entrance to the motel he'd just arrived at and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel irritably, making a mental note that when he caught up with the girls the very first thing they were going to do was work out a way for them to locate each other without driving all over three goddamn counties if they got separated again. After working with them for three months he pretty much knew their MO, but he'd looked in every low rent motel for the last ninety miles and was still no closer to locating their shapely, and misplaced, asses.
He tipped his head back against the back of the seat and glared at the truck roof. He was an intelligent, resourceful man, he could do this. A minute ticked slowly past and he punched the steering wheel in fury. Goddamn it, he couldn't do this! His floppy hair was shoved back off his forehead with a particularly vicious and inventive curse and he hit the steering wheel again for good measure. Sound planning wasn't his forte. Witness his sparkling success in his stint as Wolfram and Hart's main player on the devil's lap dog front. SO not the most successful evil genius in the history of the world.
He'd also never had to think of a cunning plan when his guts were churning and what felt like a fishhook was dragging at his heart with fear and worry for the girls. The suspicions that he carried all his life had been confirmed. Life was a lot easier when you just cared about yourself and pretty much forgot about the billion or so other life forms you shared a planet with.
Somewhere along the line he'd grown pretty attached to soft spoken Fred and had come to cherish the witty, intelligent conversations he'd had with Willow, although he'd learned the hard way to keep her away from anything with caffeine in it.
Much to his amazement he'd also come to care deeply about the caustic, sparky and stupidly brave Cordelia Chase. Their verbal sparring and her brutal way of speaking whatever came to her mind had endeared her to him more than the others in her own way. He respected the strength that enabled her to get out of whatever sagging bed she happened to be in each morning, her relentless fight against whatever hunters or bounty hunters came across them and her tireless protection and morale boosting of her companions whenever their situation became to much for them to bear. Cordelia was always ready with a smile and a quip to brighten the day and, on the rare occasions that she couldn't force a smile, she was always ready with a swift kick up the ass to get things moving again.
Lindsey leant his head against the steering wheel and sighed. The thought of anything happening to any of the three girls was enough to suck the marrow straight from his bones and he was very much afraid he really had only one option to find them. It was something that had been considered before but that had been considered too risky to try, as the chances of someone else tapping into the power were too high. Lindsey closed his eyes shut briefly and then sat up and reached for the bag at his feet and began to gather what he needed for a location spell.
*************************
Connor drew back his fist and let fly drawing some small satisfaction from the crumpling of bone beneath his fist and he followed up with a sharp slap to the vampire's face on the back swing, "Tell me what I want to know demon."
Wesley eyed the young boy as he spoke in a dispassionate almost bored tone and made a mental note to have a word with Angel when he got back about extending the boy's outside interests. Heralded saviour or not, everyone needed a night off to kick back and have fun occasionally. He watched as the vampire spat a rather large amount of borrowed blood on the floor along with a couple of teeth and raised his battered face to say, "Never!"
Connor exhibited no surprise at the answer and nodded resignedly as he slammed a fist into the creature's midsection and watched it fold over his arm, "This may take a while. Wesley, are there any errands you need to run while we're in this part of town?"
Wesley shook his head absently in response to the casual inquiry and then sucked in his breath sharply, "Connor, we can't go round torturing demons no matter how reprehensible they are. Now if you've quite finished with him put the creature out of his misery and let's move on. We still have that nest of Querteth demons to dispose of before we go home."
Connor glared at Wesley for a moment and then with an expression on his face that the older man would have called a pout if it had been on a girl of the same age pulled a stake from his back pocket and slammed it through the vampire's heart telling it, "You were lucky he was here."
The vampire's face as it exploded into a surprised cloud of ash strongly disagreed with the boy, but Wesley nodded satisfied and placed a comforting hand on Connor's shoulder, "I know it's hard waiting for news and feeling like you are doing nothing to help but trust in your father to find them and bring them home. He's quite exceptional and inexhaustibly stubborn when it comes to tracking pr.um finding people." He trailed off and cleared his throat awkwardly as Connor watched him with curious blue eyes and finished lamely, "Anyway, I'm sure he'll find them soon."
They turned and walked back down the dark alley where they had chased the vampire a few moments before, heading for the bright lights of the street. "Were you going to say prey?" Connor spoke quietly and kept his eyes on the ground but Wesley felt the tension in him. The boy still warily regarded anything that reminded him of his father's true nature despite his acceptance of Angel as both a father figure and a person.
Wesley frowned and then said, "Yes I was I'm afraid. I find it hard to distinguish between Angel's vampire traits and his human ones. After a while it becomes rather irrelevant in regards to a person you know intimately." He glanced sideways at the boy and watched as a small frown creased his forehead as he kicked a can into the shadows.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to it." Wesley's heart turned over at the wistful tone and he swallowed the bitter taste of guilt and 'what if', as he realised that Connor would have had all the time in the world to understand and get used to the idea if he hadn't been stolen from the people that loved him and all but handed over to a bitter twisted man as a tool for revenge. He sighed and shook his head pushing away the unwelcome memories. Now was important, not last year or tomorrow, but what he could do to help Angel now.
He took a deep breath, "I know what you mean. When I first saw your father all I saw was the bloodthirsty power crazed demon of my textbooks and I didn't ever feel that he could ever be a person in my eyes." He laughed in bitter amusement as he thought of the tight arsed git he used to be, "God, I was such a wanker! I don't know how they put up with me."
Connor stared at his father's friend in surprise, "You didn't like Dad when you met him?"
Wesley grinned, "God no! I was newly arrived from England and chock full of ideas to get the Slayers dancing to my tune, and the last thing I needed on my watch was some half tame demon out to save the world. I walked into that library and I set about alienating everyone around me with astonishing rapidity. I mocked the man that advised and guarded the Slayers, a man that had been battling evil on the mouth of hell for years mark you. I was rude and dismissive of the friends that helped them and to the Slayers, I was an unforgivable let down as a Watcher all because I saw with the prejudices I had indoctrinated in me rather than with my own eyes.
The people I joined had no time for a man who thought he knew it all because he had spent his life studying demons in books and watching them from afar. They routinely went out and slayed evil every night and lost people they cared for time after time and as they saw it if one of the creatures they fought was trying to redeem himself alongside them who were they to stand in his way?"
Wesley shrugged self-consciously, "Your father didn't become a person to me until The Slayer nearly sacrificed her own life to save his." He stared into Connor's eyes, "One of the creatures she had been destined from birth to destroy and she nearly killed herself to save him. Angel fed from her in his delirium and it nearly destroyed him when he regained enough control of himself to realise what she had done. When I saw the remorse in his eyes, the self-loathing, that's when he became real to me and I saw the man inside the demon for the first time."
Connor mooched along and kicked a rusted can out of his path, "But you still didn't trust in him not to hurt me when you read the fake prophesies?"
Wesley flinched, "No, to my ever lasting regret, I did not." He sighed, "I found there was more left in me of that pompous, smug Watcher than I thought, and the consequences were catastrophic for all concerned." He stopped and looked at Connor as the boy turned to face him, "I destroyed the life you and your father could have had together because I was frightened and confused, and I didn't allow myself to trust in the man I knew or the people around us." He placed his weapon on the floor and then stood to clasp Connor's shoulders tightly in his hands, "Whatever happens, don't allow yourself to believe anything but that Angel is a good man and he only wants the best for those he loves. He may be difficult to understand at times, but all he's ever wanted is safety for those around him and the opportunity to show you how much he loves and cares for you. Don't let the actions of myself, or anyone else, persuade you otherwise."
Connor stared into Wesley's eyes for a long moment and then nodded, "I'll try."
Wesley squeezed the boy's shoulders briefly and then released him, "That's all anyone can ask of you." He snatched up his weapon again and smiled, "Now, I believe we have a nest of demons to dispose of." The smile widened affectionately, "And this time try to remember to leave some of them alive."
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Cordelia fought against the black tide holding her down and drowning her. She felt the whirlpool suck at her body, her essence, and she struggled twisting and turning reaching for the light. Slowly, so slowly, she rose until finally she broke through and she opened heavy eyes and sucked in a breath. The flickering glow of the firelight shimmered and she blinked in confusion and then she focused on his face. Dark, dark eyes watching her, waiting for her to give some kind of reaction. A slow, loving smile spread across her face and she reached out to him, only mildly concerned when her arm felt like someone had attached several large weights to it. "Angel."
He cocked his head to one side and she drank in the sight of his familiar face and wallowed in the luxury of looking on him once again. At the back of her mind inner Cordy was jumping up and down and shrieking, battering on the walls of her consciousness to remind her.of something. She ignored the frenzied shrieks of her inner self and sighed happily when he reached out his hand to take hers. Her eyes drifted shut again and she sighed in contentment once again as she felt his fingers begin to caress hers and he whispered, "Cordelia."
Her eyes snapped open and she wrenched her hand back and tried to sit up bringing on a sudden wave of nausea. Fred awoke with a start next to her and jolted upright, in turn bringing Gunn to his feet staring around wildly as he gripped his favourite axe. Cordy brought both hands to her temples and pressed hard as the room span and stared at the vampire before her that had gotten to his feet, "What the hell are you doing here?"
She gulped in air and tried to calm her frantically racing heart as her mind fought through the sluggishness of sleep. Angel crossed his arms and stared forbiddingly down at her barely controlling his expression of anger at he abrupt rejection of his touch. He surreptitiously took a breath and inhaled confusion and anger nearly overpowered by the smell of fear, almost terror, emanating from her. "Looking for you." Cordelia shook her head slightly as though to clear it and Angel smirked, "What's up Cordy, having a little problem in thinking straight? Don't worry, the drugs will wear off in a few hours and you'll be as good as new."
Cordy blinked and stared up at him and then a vague memory of someone.Spike! Her eyes widened and she gasped in outrage, "You let him shoot me!"
"Yup."
She pushed against the couch trying to find the leverage and strength necessary to climb to her feet and confront him and all but snarled as he casually placed a hand on top of her head and pushed her back down, "Save it Cordelia, you're going nowhere. And if you try I'll just shoot you again." She fell against the back of the couch and stared wordlessly up at him as he reached behind him and produced a tranq gun pointing it at her coolly, "You've already been out for about six hours, if I shot you again I'm betting you'd be out cold for at least another ten."
Cordy flicked her eyes to the now covered windows and saw the light leaking in around the edges. She looked down as she felt a hand creep into hers and then looked up into Fred's eyes. The Texan stared back at her and although she was obviously frightened she also sent a wordless message to Cordelia to keep her head, wait for the right time and not to do anything rash. The seer took a deep breath and then met her love's eyes again, "Boy, you just don't give up do you? Jeez, Angel. Is this what you did to Druscilla to turn her batty? Just kept stalking her until she caved?"
She forced herself not to flinch at the flash of hurt that passed through his eyes and stared at him in challenge. He in turn stared back down at her and forced himself to see past the angry and spiteful look she gave him to the too white skin and painfully thin body, "Cordelia, please give it up. We know that you're in trouble. We have the entire gang working on it back home. Let us help you and then if you still want us to then we'll leave you the hell alone."
Cordelia opened her mouth and then closed it almost caving and throwing herself into his arms and spilling the beans, then she thought of him going up in flames before her eyes and screaming in agony and her gaze hardened again, "Get over yourself, Angel."
He shook his head impatiently and met Gunn's eyes. The human regarded him impassively the only sign of strain the slight twitching in his jaw as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. He hissed through his teeth as he stared at his de facto sister and his girl and then moved forward to stand at Angel's side, "Hey Cordy. Still savin' my life?"
Cordelia stared up at him and felt the burn at the back of her throat that signalled tears were once again on the way. She opened her mouth and then was saved from answering as Angel shifted slightly and she caught a glimpse of Willow, and her outsized head, sleeping on the floor, "Oh my god!" She scrambled forward and fell to her knees on the floor and tried to push past the boy's legs to get to her friend, "What the hell have you done? Willow?" Angel stepped to the side and she sped in an ungainly crawl to Willow's side reaching out with trembling hands to smooth the hair from the other girl's forehead, "Willow? Willow, can you hear me?" She looked up at Angel with fury and terror in her eyes, "Why won't she wake up? What did you do?"
The vampire crouched down beside her and reached out swallowing his hurt when she flinched away from him. He slowly drew back his hand and said softly, "I didn't do anything. Willow picked a fight with Spike and misjudged a move. She knocked herself out."
Cordelia laid a hand at Willow's throat and was reassured to find a slow, steady pulse under her fingertips. She bowed her head in relief and closed her eyes, tears stinging against her lids, "Why can't you just leave us alone?"
Angel's face softened at the broken whisper and he touched a light hand to her hair, "Because we love you." His eyes flashed angrily as she snapped her head to the side to avoid his touch and he grabbed her arm to haul her feet. He dodged her solid right-hook and twisted her arm behind her back as she tried to kick his legs out from under him. "Will you stop fighting me all the damn time!" Cordelia flung her pounding head back and connected with his chin with a crack, Angel shouted with pain and then shoved her forward to sprawl gracelessly on the floor.
Gunn winced and looked at Spike as the blond vampire re-entered the room, "Guess that answers that question."
Spike fought back a grin as his grandsire clutched his face and bitched like Buffy when she cracked a nail, "You expected a rousing chorus of we- love-you-too and please-sweep-us-in-to-your-oh-so-manly-and-dead-arms?" He nodded to Gunn, "Present company excepted."
Gunn crossed his arms over his chest, reassured to feel the steady thump of his heart against his muscles, "Damn straight." His eyes widened, "Uh-oh!"
Spike turned and saw Cordelia rise from the floor with a look of sheer fury on her face and a splinter of wood from beside the fireplace gripped in her fist, "Shit. Peaches!"
Angel snatched his hands down from his face and gaped as Cordelia lunged towards him with her makeshift stake. One hand came up to block her move, whilst the other shot out to relieve her of the three-inch piece of wood. He held her hand above her head for a moment as they stared into each other's eyes, then cursed as she staggered and her legs gave way abruptly. In one smooth move he turned her and slipped an arm under her knees before letting go of her wrist and putting the other one round her back to hoist her off her feet and against his chest.
Cordelia blinked as she swung through the air and then blinked again as she found herself nose to nipple with Angel, "Let me go." She gulped oxygen as spots swam behind her eyes and her stomach rolled greasily, "Oh god, I'm gonna be." Her voice cut off abruptly as her stomach heaved and she threw up all over herself and Angel.
Angel moved swiftly to the door and stepped outside to kneel on the covered porch, keeping well back from the sunlight as he held her thin, undernourished body while she heaved and heaved, all the time trying to bat weakly at his hands to let her go. He brought up one hand to hold her hair back and stroked his thumb soothingly at the base of her neck, "It's ok, it's ok. I've got you." His face clouded with concern as she heaved violently against him and he caught the whiff of something other than the drugs from her, "She's sick." His head turned and he stared at Fred as she stood inside the cabin, "What's wrong with her? How long has she been like this?"
Fred tried to move past Gunn and then jumped as he grabbed hold of her arm to hold her in place, "She's just tired. I can look after her, I know what to do." She tried to twist out of Gunn's grip, "Just let me see to her."
"I don't think so. Sit your butt down, Fred, this has gone on long enough." Angel turned his attention back to the shivering, clammy woman in his arms, "Are you finished?" Cordelia managed a weak, shamed nod and Angel gathered her to him carefully and then stood, "We're going to get you cleaned up and then we're going to get this sorted out once and for all." He looked down at Cordelia as her head rolled limply against his shoulder, to miserable and ill to care that she was covered in her own vomit and that Angel was finally holding her without any resistance, "Are there fresh clothes in your truck?" She nodded painfully, "Gunn, go get them. Spike, help me." He moved into the room, "Build the fire up some more and move Willow out of the way so Cordelia can get warm."
Spike pushed Fred back down onto the sofa and then snatched up Willow in a lightening fast move and laid her lengthways to join her friend on the couch, her bruised head nestling cosily in Fred's lap, "Watch her." He waited for Fred's unwilling nod and then moved to join Angel as he lowered the shaking and filthy Cordelia to the floor, "Go get yourself sorted, Peaches. I'll see to her." He rolled his eyes as Angel turned to snarl possessively at him, "Get over yourself, will you? She's sick and she stinks, I think I can manage not to jump her diseased bones while you wash yourself off." He brushed Cordelia's sweat dampened hair off her forehead and eyed her with concern, "She needs to get warm and dry. Stop bein' such a wanker and let me help her."
Angel looked between Cordelia and Spike and then nodded shortly, "I'll be a minute."
Spike watched him go and then cupped a hand to Cordelia's cheek, "Alright, cheerleader, I'm going to wash you up and get you all nice and comfy, ok?" He kept his voice low and soothing as he quickly and competently stripped off her soaked top and reached beside him for the water that they had been using to soak Willow's compresses, "I'd warm this up but I think we need to get you in dry clothes as soon as we can." A small, kindly smile flitted across his face as he dunked a cleanish rag and then set about impersonally wiping it over her torso. Cordelia arched and hissed as the cold cloth touched her skin, "I know, I know, it's alright, love. You just let me get on with it like, and we'll soon have you feelin' better."
Spike's eyes narrowed as he saw the still unhealed cut on her collarbone, the skin around it still puffy. He pressed the cloth lightly against the swollen gash and watched as thick, green pus oozed out, "That's the way of it, is it?" He idly stroked Cordelia's hair back away from her face with his other hand as she gave a sob of pain and he sniffed the air, "I know, love, I know." He gave a quick nod to himself, ""Right, then. Well we're not havin' that now, are we?"
Gunn crouched beside him and whistled, "What the hell is that?"
Spike eased an arm around Cordelia's back and helped her to sit up before releasing her bra catch and lying her back down. He kept the garment in place as he laid her back down and then grabbed the towel Gunn held out to him, "Poison. Someone managed to 'ave themselves a good day and cut 'er with something laced with something nasty." He draped the towel across Cordelia and then whisked her bra out from under it. His rag disappeared back under the material and he swabbed her again before briskly rubbing her skin dry as he tossed the rag back in the bucket. "Got her clothes?"
Gunn handed him a loose sweatshirt and Spike rolled it in his hands before tugging it over her head and then pulling it down over her body to guide her arms into the correct holes. He smoothed it comfortably over her and then undid her pants, "Nearly done, love. Soon be over." He pulled the pants down and winced as a particularly livid bruise came to light on her hip and upper right thigh, "For fucks sake."
Gunn drew in a hissed breath beside him and then wordlessly handed him the rag and towel, before gripping Cordelia's hand as her panties were whisked away and she was given a brisk cleaning, before Spike eased the baggy sweatpants on under the towel and jumped up to grab any spare jackets or covers he could find to bundle on top of the shivering girl.
Spike smiled into Cordelia's glazed eyes, as she lay spent on the pallet, "There, love, all better. Think you can take a sip of water?" He listened carefully to the racing of her heart and hid his uneasiness at the grey colour of her skin as he tucked the mound of coats and sweaters around her more closely, "Just a sip, mind, don't want a repeat performance, like." He glanced up as Angel rejoined him, washed and dressed in a fresh pair of black slacks and a clean black top, "She's alright, mate." His head jerked back, "Need a word. Gunn, try and get her to take some water. Just a sip, mind."
He pulled Angel towards the back door, keeping a watchful eye on the uneasy Fred and the still sleeping Willow, "She's been poisoned." Angel tensed beside him and gave a low growl, "Hold your horses, Peaches, she's alright for the minute, but we need to think about getting' her some kind of help." He eyed the taller vampire with mild surprise, "Amazed you didn't pick up on it yourself, mate."
Angel half turned so that his eyes rested on Cordelia as Gunn eased her up and held a bottle of water to her mouth, "I've been.distracted." His hands clenched by his side in fury, "Dammit, I should have realised." His insides twisted with guilt as he thought of how he'd behaved since finding Cordy again and vicious scene in the bedroom of the motel room, "Dammit."
Spike shrugged, grunting in unwitting sympathy at Angel's obvious self- disgust, "Right, well there's nothin' to be done now." He gripped Angel's arm and waited until he had his undivided attention, "The important thing is that we get her fixed up an' do it right quick." His hand tightened in emphasis, "I can smell the sickness in 'er, and if we don't do something soon then I don't know what's gonna happen to her."
"That's not your concern." The vampires spun round as the voice sounded behind them. Angel vamped out as he saw Lindsey McDonald standing in a patch of bright sunlight and holding guns on each of them. He fired even as Spike swore and tensed to spring out of the way, grunting in satisfaction as both shots hit their mark and the vampires dropped where they stood. Lindsey threw the guns in the floor and broke into a run as he heard Gunn's surprised shout from inside the cabin, tugging another gun from the waistband of his pants. He jumped the two bodies lying inside the doorway and fired again as Gunn rushed towards him and Fred screamed.
Gunn fell bonelessly to the floor and Lindsey threw his gun aside as he saw Cordelia lying on the floor, "Jesus!" He threw himself towards her and gathered her up in his arms, cupping her head to help her focus on him, "Cordelia, are you ok? Cordelia?" What the hell did they do to you, baby?" Lindsey's head turned as Fred staggered up beside him and collapsed to her knees, "Fred, honey, are you ok? What's happened to Cordy?" He rocked Cordelia against him as he tried to turn his head to see behind him, "Where's Willow?"
Fred closed her eyes for a moment and held up her fist. She uncurled her fingers as tears trickled down her face, "I thought you killed them." The small dart winked against her palm, still stained at the tip with Gunn's blood where she had pulled it from his chest, "I really thought you killed them."
Lindsey took in her white, shocky face and gripped Cordelia to him with one arm as the other snaked out and pulled Fred against him, "I still might if I don't get some answers around here. What the hell's been happening?"
Angel lay frozen on the floor as the former bane of his LA life clutched Angel's eternal love and one of his best friends to him. He tried to make himself move, to lunge across and rip his girls from the ex-lawyer's arms and his demon howled in furious protest as not so much as an eyelash twitched in response. He was unable to anything but stare as Fred collapsed trustingly against the man who'd just shot her lover and then he heard Cordelia whisper, "Lindsey?"
Lindsey eased Fred upright for a moment and touched Cordelia's face as she swallowed and tried to push herself upright, "Easy, honey. It's ok, I'm here now." He rocked back slightly and pulled cuddled her close before rising with a grunt of effort with her cradled in his arms, "Don't worry, everything's ok, baby. I'm getting you out of here."
Cordelia was floating in a sea of pain and sickness, barely aware of anything but Lindsey as he walked towards the door, and certainly not aware of the crack of Angels' heart breaking as she leaned her head against Lindsey's shoulder and whispered, "I thought I'd never see you again. I thought you'd leave us here with them."
Angel was unable to do anything but stare straight ahead as Lindsey moved out of his line of sight and carried Cordelia outside and away from him. He listened as Lindsey's boots clumped down the steps, neatly avoiding the Cordelia's vomit from earlier and then the young man whispered soothingly, "Never, darlin', never. You'll be ok now, I've got you."
Fred moved hastily around the room gathering their stuff and anything useful that Angel and the others had brought with them as Lindesy hurried back through the door. "She's in the truck." He crossed to Willow and examined her head quickly, "Did someone hit her?"
Fred avoided looking at the three bodies on the floor, "No, Spike said she ran into a tree." She glanced quickly around herself, "I think that's it. Is there anything else y'all think we need?"
Lindsey crossed to the back door, shoving Spike's rigid body non-to-gently out the way before slamming the door shut as best he could and then returning to the couch to pick Willow up and carry her towards the front, "No. We need to go in your truck till the road where I left mine parked and then you can follow me. We need to get the hell away from here."
He paused by the door and glanced down the three men on the floor, "Its not permanent. I used darts filled with Sumsanger essence and used enough to make sure you're down for the rest of the day." He jerked his head at Fred as she paused and began to look back at Gunn, "Go Fred, we need to get them out of here." Lindsey waited until she reluctantly moved past him and out into the sun and then lowered his voice to hiss, "Stay the hell away from them, Angel. They don't want you anymore and if I see you near them again, I will kill you."
He looked around the room and satisfied himself that no stray beams of sunlight would be able to get to the vampires while they lay helpless on the floor, "This is your last chance, leave them the hell alone." The door banged shut and then the only sound to be heard in the darkened room was of the slamming of car doors and the roar of the truck engine as it was driven over the rough ground and out of the clearing.
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