WishVerse
Summery: A lot of things would have been wrong. Not just things in Sunnydale. Here what things might have looked like in LA without Angel Inc, to set them right. Of course since I am mostly interested in Angel's pov, it is just a glimpse. I think this part is rated: PG And again the Characters in this story are not my own but are based on the hit show Angel, and are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and WB. Please don't sue me, because I have nothing. I also lost my Editor. So please be kind. Feed back is appreciated .
Meanwhile in LA: Chapter 2
Gunn hadn't had this much fun in a long while. It was not his style to let his guard down, or to get drunk in the company of demons. But, damn it! He was entitled to some fun on occasion. All work and no play made Gunn a very, - well, a not fun - person. "I don't know why I let you talk me into this shit English." Gunn looked over to his partner in crime, who was the kind of lanky, clean cut, educated white guy, in whose company one would not normally find Charles Gunn. The tall dark and handsome demon street fighter was obviously enjoying the English man's company in spite of himself or his reputation. His brusque exterior rapidly crumbling beneath crooked smirks and outright smiles. His crew would have been appalled. General Gunn, as they called him, ran a tight ship back at his place. It was a safe guess that none of his boys had ever seen him cut loose this way, with a beer in one hand and the other one free. Free of wooden stakes or homemade axes.
Wesley, in stark contrast to Gunn was the kind of guy who was prone to smiling and down right goofiness. Gunn however, would not be in the Ex- watchers presents, if he were the putz he sometimes pretended to be. "We're here to find out about our paths Gunn." The alcohol he had consumed made him giddy, though his intentions where earnest, nothing funny about it. Wesley however could not stop giggling. "I get that." Gunn admitted looking around taking in some of the more exotic patrons of the Bar. "But why is it a Demon knows more about our path's than we do? That just ain' right."
"Not just any Demon. The Host is an anagogic empathy demon."
"I ain't looking that up." Gunn shook his head determined. Which in his present state of inebriation made him dizzy as well as confused.
Wesley pointed out the green skinned, red horned Demon in the bright yellow Armani suite, who seemed very much at home at Caritas. He in fact, was at home at Caritas, and on that karaoke stage. "It means he is psychic, you sing for him and he reads you aura!"
"This is the big night of fun you had planned for us?" Gunn reached for his Beer and took a healthy gulp. " I'm not nearly drunk enough for dis."
It took a couple of more beers for Gunn and another bloody- Mary for Wesley, before the two of them found themselves on stage, belting out a heart felt yet off-key rendition of "We are the Champions."
Some times later, the two of them lounged at their table, not as drunk, as they wanted to be, and somewhat less rambunctious than they had been. "Well, it was worth a try. If there was something there the Host would have pointed it out." Wesley suggested. " I just can't shake the feeling there is a reason that scroll found it's way to us."
"Face it Wes, we jus stole that thing, it was not a calling, no reason behin it. It just looked cool. We all know how you get around 'Cool musty old books'"
"No, sugar plum, Wes is right, there is a prophecy there meant for one of you, or for one who should be one of you, saw it loud and clear. Or bright and clear." The host had positioned himself between the friends, giving the tern 'rainbow connection' a whole new nuance. Wesley and Gunn looked up at the green skinned demon, a bit unsteady, and totally clue less as to what he was referring too.
"Care to explain?"
"Yes please do."
"Well dears its like this." The Host sat down in one of empty chairs. "And I hope to the Powers you two lovable knuckleheads will remember what I'm saying tonight, tomorrow. Cause children, the Powers? Not happy!" he made an emphasizing gesture with his hands. " There are holes in your auras, you are supposed to be connected up with someone or someone's and they are missing. And if the scroll of Aberjian does not mention the two of you, but it is in your possession that can only mean, that the one mentioned is supposed to be here with you. Plugging those holes"
"Huh?"
"I don't follow."
"Uh, I was afraid of this." The host sight, dismayed. "Don't worry about the details right now. What you lovelies need to know is that you destiny waits to be rescued north of here. Everyone was supposed to be here already. And that, is what the Powers are Pee o'ed over. Some one or something messed with reality, and got the whole time table swirlygiged."
"Is that a word? Cause, I ain't lookin that up!"
"Time table? Someone is supposed to help us? Or we are supposed to help them?"
"Or each other! Point is; said hero type is not here, and time is running short." As if to emphasize he looks at his wristwatch. "You need to take the scroll and find you boy, or girl, or both. Prepare them and bring them back, prontomunde before the coming apocalypse, cause we need all the player on the field to win this one. If it is meant to be won."
"We shoulda jus gone hanging with the boys. Like I said."
"I almost tend to agree. Apocalypse you said?""
Both Wesley and Gunn stared at the Host with varying degrees of disbelieve.
"To a Sunny dale!" the host pointed arbitrarily into a direction he hoped the two friends would understand meant north.
"To a Sunny dale." Gunn mused. "Why does that not sound like some place I should go?"
"To Sunnydale!" Wesley repeated, and then suddenly seemed no longer drunk. "Sunnydale? The slayer was supposed to be in Sunnydale. It does make a strange sort of sense that we should go back there and find our destiny there."
"Find it and bring it to LA!" the Host emphasized.
"You've been there? What's in Sunnydale?"
"The Slayer was supposed to be in Sunnydale, but that's a different story."
"From you Rogue-demon-hunter days?" Gunn's tone was slightly mocking.
"Before actually, when I was still a watcher."
"That's great pumpkins." The Host clapped his hands together triumphantly, " then we have a place to start. When are you heading out? And..; -what's a Rogue demon?"
"Tomorrow." Wesley answered ignoring the Host's question wisely.
"No w-w-wait. We have to have a talk about this, we can't just pack up the crew and head out on some wild.whatever hunt. What are we searching for anyway?"
"You are the boss Gunn, most of your crew will be ready to go with you to the very depth of hell itself. But I suspect we shall scout out the situation first, and.- what are we looking for?"
The Host gave Wesley an incredulous stare," You have the scroll my English muffin, you are the Watcher, look for your clues in there. What do I look like? Some giant benevolent green Fairy?"
"Well actually.."
"Be that as it may." He shot Gunn a warning glance," That is where you start. The scroll of Aberjian, look for some champion, or champion types." He pointed a green index finger at each of the two and sang." We are the chaaampion, weee are the chaaampoins. No timmme for loooosers couse are the chaaampions," silence for the appropriate count. "Of the world." And unlike our demon fighting friends the Host hit the mark on every note he sang.
"You actually want to pack up and move operations to this Sunny dale?" Gunn was driving carefully as not to attract attention. Neither he nor Wesley would be passing any Breathalyzer tests tonight. He stopped his ford pick up, at every stop sign and took great care to signal every time he changed lanes, to make his intentions known. His exemplary driving was enough to tip of even a rookie cop that the driver was either a student or under the influence of something.
"Until we find our Champion." Wesley sat slightly hunched over, with one hand suspiciously covering his mouth. The window on his side was rolled down. Gunn's idea, should Wes ralph, all he had to do was stick his head out the window. Gunn was not having the Rogue Demon Hunter pollute his ride.
"And here I thought we was champions."
"We appear to be part of it." Wesley heaved. Pressing his hand to his mouth he waited for the gag reflex to subside before he continued. "But we don't seem to be the whole teem. That evil law firm Wolfram and Hart are running this town. We don't seem to have what it takes to set them back. Demons and Vampires running through the streets at night, and no matter what we do, it's never enough. And now, zombie cops keep the streets saver than we have been able to, it could not get any worse Gunn!"
Gunn pulled his truck up in front of Wesley's office. A small Office at the end of a strip mall on Wilshire blvd, the ex-watchers quarters were set up in the back room. Wesley had decided that it would be safer to live in his Office, it was not quite legal but it would keep the vampires out; vampires had been his primary target, at least when he first decided to open this business. His list of targets had increased exponentially since then. Business was demon fighting, a fact neatly packaged under the guise of "Private Detective". "The stranger the better." Was the motto over his door, with a reputation of getting the unusual solved. Gunn and his crew helped with the kind of jobs that required muscle.
Tonight they would be researching for themselves. "Coffee?" Wesley asked, as he looked the front door for privacy.
"Leaded." Gunn nodded. He headed to Wesley's save opening it in short order. Gunn was as much at home in this office as Wesley was. He did not even glance at the small pile of cash in the safe or the Magnum twins, but pulled out an ornately decorated metal scroll case. At the cart table, in the middle of the room he liberated the scroll and smoothed it out cautiously. The scroll itself was a patchwork of languages and paragraphs each representing a prophecy, glues to parchment. The parchment looked suspiciously like skin, a suspicion Gunn did not want to have confirmed. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Nevertheless he always felt like washing his hands after touching the thing.
With the Coffee percolating, the two of them poured over the scroll. Wesley had already translated many of the passages. The scroll of Aberjian was mostly an account of incidents leading up to the apocalypse, similar to the book of revelations. However, while most major religions claimed there to be only one great apocalypse, most true investigators of the occult understood there to be many. Wesley and Gunn himself had helped to avert at least one, if not more, over the past four years. The war between the forces of good and evil was a continuing struggle.
Sunrise found the friends poured over scrolls and books. The only time Wesley looked up was to take a sip of his Coffee. Gunn was well acquainted with the single-minded determination with which the ex-watcher translated ancient musty scrolls. Armed with a pen and his trusty notebook Wesley was the devourer of ancient musty scrolls. Given time there wasn't a language he could not translate. Unfortunately the scroll of Aberjian was written in many languages, some of which where not even human. "This passage is Aramaic. This one over here I believe has its roots in Proto-Bantu."
"Anything about our Destiny guy yet?"
"I'm not sure." He made some more notes. "I just found a reference to the seer children we saved last month with the help of that betraying, low life layer Lindsey."
"He is mentioned in there?"
"No just the children." Momentary silence. " They are also a sign of the approaching apocalypse. Don't you think it is a little strange that everything is in place except for one key ingredient? How could the powers overlook such a thing?"
"I bet ja it's them evil layers running interference. Maybe they killed the Promised One before he got here? I mean they did have the scroll."
"Yes, perhaps." Wesley straightened out stretching his aching back. "But as prophesies go, as long as one piece of the puzzle is missing the outcome is unpredictable thus negating the entire prophecy. Gunn?!." Wesley suddenly seemed to come to a conclusion.
"Wes I don't think we're in Kansas anymore?"
Wesley nodded "Could be a false prophecy." Satisfied that this street- smart friend seemed to come to same conclusion.
"Would Wolfram and Hart go through that much trouble to hide a bogus scroll?"
Both friends turned simultaneously towards the front door as someone banged on it rather rudely and loudly. With a quick glance the friends communicated their intention. They had been through enough together to know what must be done. Charles would go to check the door hiding a small fighting ax behind his back, while Wesley would hide behind the door in this room, armed with a cross- bow. For some strange reason mid evil weaponry worked best on demons.
Charles walked up to the door asking quite annoyed. "We not open, what do you want."
"Open up Sugarplum it's me. I might been followed!" was the answer that came through the looked door muffled.
"Sugarplum?" for a moment Charles and Wes wondered who'd dare call Gunn a Sugarplum, then both came to same conclusion at the same time.
"The Host." They said in unison.
Still on alert Charles Gunn unlooked the door, opening it carefully and checking both ways before admitting the green skinned Demon.
"Man am I glad you are still here. You have to help me! You all still do that kind of thing ya?" he rattled down without so much as a hello. Not taking note that Gunn seemed to be alone in Wesley's place.
"Help you with what? One o' your customers wants his money back cause he didn't like his destiny." Gunn mocked.
"More like, they didn't like yours. A demon with a capital V wants his scroll back. Some how he knew I knew you have it."
"Vampire?"
"Vocah."
Wes came out of his hiding place. "Vocah?" he asked." A Vocah demon is mentioned in the scroll in connection with a Raising. It's not clear what they are raising however."
"Whatever! Said Vocah can't do the "RAISING" without the scroll." The Host reported excitedly.
Wesley wanted to know. "Did anyone follow you?"
The Host gave him a long drawn out. "Nooo, But they don't have to. They know who you are. And now they know who I am. Something I was trying to keep from them for the natural length of my life." The host was getting more and more exited as he spoke, his gestures getting bigger with the volume his voice increased in emphasis of how unhappy he was about the situation. "See? I set people on their path. I don't take sides, but the Vocah took my reading you personal, and now I'm royally screwed. So you see my Dears? You have to help me!"
Gunn looked at Wesley "We could use him!"
"I agree."
"Fine, fine, use me, protect me. As long as I get to continue, I'm all good with it."
The three of them agreed on something else as well. The Vocah demon knew about the location of the scroll, it was in all of their best interest to high tale it out of LA, now.
They did some hasty packing, made some last minute preparations each for their perspective businesses. All three of them had responsibilities in LA, which none of them took lightly. Gunn had to contact his crew, as he called the motley crew of street fighters. All of them had lived the street live, they had all proven themselves to be survivors. Now one of them would have to step in for Gunn to continue the struggle in LA while he, their leader, went on his quest. Wesley had an Agency to run, of which he was the only official employee, he would have to close up for the time being, there would be some very unhappy costumers. The same of course was true for the Host. His club would remain open, but the main attraction, which he himself was, would not be there for the time being.
By noon all preparations where made and the three of them where on their way north, in Wesley's SUV. While Gunn was driving Wesley was using the downtime to study the scroll some more.
"Did you find anything useful in there yet?" The Host asked after a long silence.
Wesley rolled up the scroll and stuck it back into its protective covering.
"Plenty of interesting information, plenty of posturing, but has it occurred to you that this prophecy might be false? So much of it does not make sense."
"It's a prophecy," the Host huffed. "Since when do they make sense? I only know that so many people, demons would not be after it, if it was not the real thing."
"But it's all wrong, it speaks of the Slayer in the Sunny Dale. I thought at first it meant Sun Valley, but now I think I think it is referring to Sunnydale. The Slayer was supposed to be in Sunnydale. But she's not."
"How do you know Wes?"
"Because Gunn." Wesley continues, and by the tone he was using Gunn knew that he was musing. Wesley had a story to tell.
"Five years ago a knew Slayer was called, and send to Sunnydale. It was all arranged. A job for her Mother, a school for her, a watcher send to work as librarian at that school, and we got word that she arrived as scheduled in Sunnydale, and." He snapped his fingers. "Disappeared the very next day. It was discerned that she was not dead. But for some reason she had vanished off our radar. I was send, my first assignment by the way, to find her and retrieve her for the council. My first stop of course was Sunnydale. I found Mr. Giles, her appointed watcher, but she had never checked in with him. I also found a rapidly growing vampire population. A Mater vampire was about to rise in Sunnydale and the only one opposing this Master at the time was Mr. Giles and a handful of high school kids. The Master of course rose, and is now, according to the watchers council running Sunnydale. Buffy Summers, the Slayer, I detected, had for some reason gone back to LA. As it turned out, Buffy had arrived in Sunnydale on time, but that very night her Mother had disappeared, vampires, one might guess. The Slayer, being under age was sent home to her Father. One week after her mother died Buffy and her father moved to Cleveland. and live there still."
"So she is in Cleveland not Sunnydale." Gunn injected
"But according to the scroll, she is in Sunnydale and the Master failed to rise." Apparently not quite done with his trip down memory lane. " Mr. Giles, myself and the Master, where not the only ones excepting the Slayer to show in Sunnydale. During my investigation I came across a rather strange creature, he had also been send to aid the slayer. He had been send by the Powers. I nearly staked him."
"A Vampire?" Gunn was astounded. "You didn't stake a vampire. Since when are vampires send by any power, but an evil one, they don't play nice wit anyone."
"That is how the council felt about it too and fired me. I have never failed to stake a vampire since then, Gunn."
"But why, how, what...?"
"Gunn! He saved my life."
"He what? Now I've heard it all! Saved you life?"
"He saved me from my own foolishness. It was my first assignment. I thought I was prepared, I thought I knew it all. But that first time, that very first time you are faced with evil, pure evil. sufficed to say it was not like I had imagined it. I was utterly in over my head. That is why I did not stake him. I made it clear that he would not be so lucky next time. Though I was the lucky one. I still don't know why he did it, or who he was."
"You did not stake him." Gunn shook his head in disbelieve." First rule of vampire hunting." He his the steering wheel in cadence to his words. "Never trust a vampire. Second rule of vampire hunting; you never trust a vampire."
"Gunn." Wesley interrupted Gunn's raving." It won't happen again. It's never happened again."
Gunn shook his head still in disbelieve over Wesley's confession. He remembered how they had met. That day his sister Alona had been taken, and turned. It was Wesley who had backed him up that day. Wesley who helped him cope. Wesley who seemed to understand the pain he was going through. It was also Wesley who had handed him the stake, the stake that had ended his sister short un-life.
"Would you stake him now?" he asked quietly.
"In a heartbeat." Wesley answered without hesitation.
Summery: A lot of things would have been wrong. Not just things in Sunnydale. Here what things might have looked like in LA without Angel Inc, to set them right. Of course since I am mostly interested in Angel's pov, it is just a glimpse. I think this part is rated: PG And again the Characters in this story are not my own but are based on the hit show Angel, and are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and WB. Please don't sue me, because I have nothing. I also lost my Editor. So please be kind. Feed back is appreciated .
Meanwhile in LA: Chapter 2
Gunn hadn't had this much fun in a long while. It was not his style to let his guard down, or to get drunk in the company of demons. But, damn it! He was entitled to some fun on occasion. All work and no play made Gunn a very, - well, a not fun - person. "I don't know why I let you talk me into this shit English." Gunn looked over to his partner in crime, who was the kind of lanky, clean cut, educated white guy, in whose company one would not normally find Charles Gunn. The tall dark and handsome demon street fighter was obviously enjoying the English man's company in spite of himself or his reputation. His brusque exterior rapidly crumbling beneath crooked smirks and outright smiles. His crew would have been appalled. General Gunn, as they called him, ran a tight ship back at his place. It was a safe guess that none of his boys had ever seen him cut loose this way, with a beer in one hand and the other one free. Free of wooden stakes or homemade axes.
Wesley, in stark contrast to Gunn was the kind of guy who was prone to smiling and down right goofiness. Gunn however, would not be in the Ex- watchers presents, if he were the putz he sometimes pretended to be. "We're here to find out about our paths Gunn." The alcohol he had consumed made him giddy, though his intentions where earnest, nothing funny about it. Wesley however could not stop giggling. "I get that." Gunn admitted looking around taking in some of the more exotic patrons of the Bar. "But why is it a Demon knows more about our path's than we do? That just ain' right."
"Not just any Demon. The Host is an anagogic empathy demon."
"I ain't looking that up." Gunn shook his head determined. Which in his present state of inebriation made him dizzy as well as confused.
Wesley pointed out the green skinned, red horned Demon in the bright yellow Armani suite, who seemed very much at home at Caritas. He in fact, was at home at Caritas, and on that karaoke stage. "It means he is psychic, you sing for him and he reads you aura!"
"This is the big night of fun you had planned for us?" Gunn reached for his Beer and took a healthy gulp. " I'm not nearly drunk enough for dis."
It took a couple of more beers for Gunn and another bloody- Mary for Wesley, before the two of them found themselves on stage, belting out a heart felt yet off-key rendition of "We are the Champions."
Some times later, the two of them lounged at their table, not as drunk, as they wanted to be, and somewhat less rambunctious than they had been. "Well, it was worth a try. If there was something there the Host would have pointed it out." Wesley suggested. " I just can't shake the feeling there is a reason that scroll found it's way to us."
"Face it Wes, we jus stole that thing, it was not a calling, no reason behin it. It just looked cool. We all know how you get around 'Cool musty old books'"
"No, sugar plum, Wes is right, there is a prophecy there meant for one of you, or for one who should be one of you, saw it loud and clear. Or bright and clear." The host had positioned himself between the friends, giving the tern 'rainbow connection' a whole new nuance. Wesley and Gunn looked up at the green skinned demon, a bit unsteady, and totally clue less as to what he was referring too.
"Care to explain?"
"Yes please do."
"Well dears its like this." The Host sat down in one of empty chairs. "And I hope to the Powers you two lovable knuckleheads will remember what I'm saying tonight, tomorrow. Cause children, the Powers? Not happy!" he made an emphasizing gesture with his hands. " There are holes in your auras, you are supposed to be connected up with someone or someone's and they are missing. And if the scroll of Aberjian does not mention the two of you, but it is in your possession that can only mean, that the one mentioned is supposed to be here with you. Plugging those holes"
"Huh?"
"I don't follow."
"Uh, I was afraid of this." The host sight, dismayed. "Don't worry about the details right now. What you lovelies need to know is that you destiny waits to be rescued north of here. Everyone was supposed to be here already. And that, is what the Powers are Pee o'ed over. Some one or something messed with reality, and got the whole time table swirlygiged."
"Is that a word? Cause, I ain't lookin that up!"
"Time table? Someone is supposed to help us? Or we are supposed to help them?"
"Or each other! Point is; said hero type is not here, and time is running short." As if to emphasize he looks at his wristwatch. "You need to take the scroll and find you boy, or girl, or both. Prepare them and bring them back, prontomunde before the coming apocalypse, cause we need all the player on the field to win this one. If it is meant to be won."
"We shoulda jus gone hanging with the boys. Like I said."
"I almost tend to agree. Apocalypse you said?""
Both Wesley and Gunn stared at the Host with varying degrees of disbelieve.
"To a Sunny dale!" the host pointed arbitrarily into a direction he hoped the two friends would understand meant north.
"To a Sunny dale." Gunn mused. "Why does that not sound like some place I should go?"
"To Sunnydale!" Wesley repeated, and then suddenly seemed no longer drunk. "Sunnydale? The slayer was supposed to be in Sunnydale. It does make a strange sort of sense that we should go back there and find our destiny there."
"Find it and bring it to LA!" the Host emphasized.
"You've been there? What's in Sunnydale?"
"The Slayer was supposed to be in Sunnydale, but that's a different story."
"From you Rogue-demon-hunter days?" Gunn's tone was slightly mocking.
"Before actually, when I was still a watcher."
"That's great pumpkins." The Host clapped his hands together triumphantly, " then we have a place to start. When are you heading out? And..; -what's a Rogue demon?"
"Tomorrow." Wesley answered ignoring the Host's question wisely.
"No w-w-wait. We have to have a talk about this, we can't just pack up the crew and head out on some wild.whatever hunt. What are we searching for anyway?"
"You are the boss Gunn, most of your crew will be ready to go with you to the very depth of hell itself. But I suspect we shall scout out the situation first, and.- what are we looking for?"
The Host gave Wesley an incredulous stare," You have the scroll my English muffin, you are the Watcher, look for your clues in there. What do I look like? Some giant benevolent green Fairy?"
"Well actually.."
"Be that as it may." He shot Gunn a warning glance," That is where you start. The scroll of Aberjian, look for some champion, or champion types." He pointed a green index finger at each of the two and sang." We are the chaaampion, weee are the chaaampoins. No timmme for loooosers couse are the chaaampions," silence for the appropriate count. "Of the world." And unlike our demon fighting friends the Host hit the mark on every note he sang.
"You actually want to pack up and move operations to this Sunny dale?" Gunn was driving carefully as not to attract attention. Neither he nor Wesley would be passing any Breathalyzer tests tonight. He stopped his ford pick up, at every stop sign and took great care to signal every time he changed lanes, to make his intentions known. His exemplary driving was enough to tip of even a rookie cop that the driver was either a student or under the influence of something.
"Until we find our Champion." Wesley sat slightly hunched over, with one hand suspiciously covering his mouth. The window on his side was rolled down. Gunn's idea, should Wes ralph, all he had to do was stick his head out the window. Gunn was not having the Rogue Demon Hunter pollute his ride.
"And here I thought we was champions."
"We appear to be part of it." Wesley heaved. Pressing his hand to his mouth he waited for the gag reflex to subside before he continued. "But we don't seem to be the whole teem. That evil law firm Wolfram and Hart are running this town. We don't seem to have what it takes to set them back. Demons and Vampires running through the streets at night, and no matter what we do, it's never enough. And now, zombie cops keep the streets saver than we have been able to, it could not get any worse Gunn!"
Gunn pulled his truck up in front of Wesley's office. A small Office at the end of a strip mall on Wilshire blvd, the ex-watchers quarters were set up in the back room. Wesley had decided that it would be safer to live in his Office, it was not quite legal but it would keep the vampires out; vampires had been his primary target, at least when he first decided to open this business. His list of targets had increased exponentially since then. Business was demon fighting, a fact neatly packaged under the guise of "Private Detective". "The stranger the better." Was the motto over his door, with a reputation of getting the unusual solved. Gunn and his crew helped with the kind of jobs that required muscle.
Tonight they would be researching for themselves. "Coffee?" Wesley asked, as he looked the front door for privacy.
"Leaded." Gunn nodded. He headed to Wesley's save opening it in short order. Gunn was as much at home in this office as Wesley was. He did not even glance at the small pile of cash in the safe or the Magnum twins, but pulled out an ornately decorated metal scroll case. At the cart table, in the middle of the room he liberated the scroll and smoothed it out cautiously. The scroll itself was a patchwork of languages and paragraphs each representing a prophecy, glues to parchment. The parchment looked suspiciously like skin, a suspicion Gunn did not want to have confirmed. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Nevertheless he always felt like washing his hands after touching the thing.
With the Coffee percolating, the two of them poured over the scroll. Wesley had already translated many of the passages. The scroll of Aberjian was mostly an account of incidents leading up to the apocalypse, similar to the book of revelations. However, while most major religions claimed there to be only one great apocalypse, most true investigators of the occult understood there to be many. Wesley and Gunn himself had helped to avert at least one, if not more, over the past four years. The war between the forces of good and evil was a continuing struggle.
Sunrise found the friends poured over scrolls and books. The only time Wesley looked up was to take a sip of his Coffee. Gunn was well acquainted with the single-minded determination with which the ex-watcher translated ancient musty scrolls. Armed with a pen and his trusty notebook Wesley was the devourer of ancient musty scrolls. Given time there wasn't a language he could not translate. Unfortunately the scroll of Aberjian was written in many languages, some of which where not even human. "This passage is Aramaic. This one over here I believe has its roots in Proto-Bantu."
"Anything about our Destiny guy yet?"
"I'm not sure." He made some more notes. "I just found a reference to the seer children we saved last month with the help of that betraying, low life layer Lindsey."
"He is mentioned in there?"
"No just the children." Momentary silence. " They are also a sign of the approaching apocalypse. Don't you think it is a little strange that everything is in place except for one key ingredient? How could the powers overlook such a thing?"
"I bet ja it's them evil layers running interference. Maybe they killed the Promised One before he got here? I mean they did have the scroll."
"Yes, perhaps." Wesley straightened out stretching his aching back. "But as prophesies go, as long as one piece of the puzzle is missing the outcome is unpredictable thus negating the entire prophecy. Gunn?!." Wesley suddenly seemed to come to a conclusion.
"Wes I don't think we're in Kansas anymore?"
Wesley nodded "Could be a false prophecy." Satisfied that this street- smart friend seemed to come to same conclusion.
"Would Wolfram and Hart go through that much trouble to hide a bogus scroll?"
Both friends turned simultaneously towards the front door as someone banged on it rather rudely and loudly. With a quick glance the friends communicated their intention. They had been through enough together to know what must be done. Charles would go to check the door hiding a small fighting ax behind his back, while Wesley would hide behind the door in this room, armed with a cross- bow. For some strange reason mid evil weaponry worked best on demons.
Charles walked up to the door asking quite annoyed. "We not open, what do you want."
"Open up Sugarplum it's me. I might been followed!" was the answer that came through the looked door muffled.
"Sugarplum?" for a moment Charles and Wes wondered who'd dare call Gunn a Sugarplum, then both came to same conclusion at the same time.
"The Host." They said in unison.
Still on alert Charles Gunn unlooked the door, opening it carefully and checking both ways before admitting the green skinned Demon.
"Man am I glad you are still here. You have to help me! You all still do that kind of thing ya?" he rattled down without so much as a hello. Not taking note that Gunn seemed to be alone in Wesley's place.
"Help you with what? One o' your customers wants his money back cause he didn't like his destiny." Gunn mocked.
"More like, they didn't like yours. A demon with a capital V wants his scroll back. Some how he knew I knew you have it."
"Vampire?"
"Vocah."
Wes came out of his hiding place. "Vocah?" he asked." A Vocah demon is mentioned in the scroll in connection with a Raising. It's not clear what they are raising however."
"Whatever! Said Vocah can't do the "RAISING" without the scroll." The Host reported excitedly.
Wesley wanted to know. "Did anyone follow you?"
The Host gave him a long drawn out. "Nooo, But they don't have to. They know who you are. And now they know who I am. Something I was trying to keep from them for the natural length of my life." The host was getting more and more exited as he spoke, his gestures getting bigger with the volume his voice increased in emphasis of how unhappy he was about the situation. "See? I set people on their path. I don't take sides, but the Vocah took my reading you personal, and now I'm royally screwed. So you see my Dears? You have to help me!"
Gunn looked at Wesley "We could use him!"
"I agree."
"Fine, fine, use me, protect me. As long as I get to continue, I'm all good with it."
The three of them agreed on something else as well. The Vocah demon knew about the location of the scroll, it was in all of their best interest to high tale it out of LA, now.
They did some hasty packing, made some last minute preparations each for their perspective businesses. All three of them had responsibilities in LA, which none of them took lightly. Gunn had to contact his crew, as he called the motley crew of street fighters. All of them had lived the street live, they had all proven themselves to be survivors. Now one of them would have to step in for Gunn to continue the struggle in LA while he, their leader, went on his quest. Wesley had an Agency to run, of which he was the only official employee, he would have to close up for the time being, there would be some very unhappy costumers. The same of course was true for the Host. His club would remain open, but the main attraction, which he himself was, would not be there for the time being.
By noon all preparations where made and the three of them where on their way north, in Wesley's SUV. While Gunn was driving Wesley was using the downtime to study the scroll some more.
"Did you find anything useful in there yet?" The Host asked after a long silence.
Wesley rolled up the scroll and stuck it back into its protective covering.
"Plenty of interesting information, plenty of posturing, but has it occurred to you that this prophecy might be false? So much of it does not make sense."
"It's a prophecy," the Host huffed. "Since when do they make sense? I only know that so many people, demons would not be after it, if it was not the real thing."
"But it's all wrong, it speaks of the Slayer in the Sunny Dale. I thought at first it meant Sun Valley, but now I think I think it is referring to Sunnydale. The Slayer was supposed to be in Sunnydale. But she's not."
"How do you know Wes?"
"Because Gunn." Wesley continues, and by the tone he was using Gunn knew that he was musing. Wesley had a story to tell.
"Five years ago a knew Slayer was called, and send to Sunnydale. It was all arranged. A job for her Mother, a school for her, a watcher send to work as librarian at that school, and we got word that she arrived as scheduled in Sunnydale, and." He snapped his fingers. "Disappeared the very next day. It was discerned that she was not dead. But for some reason she had vanished off our radar. I was send, my first assignment by the way, to find her and retrieve her for the council. My first stop of course was Sunnydale. I found Mr. Giles, her appointed watcher, but she had never checked in with him. I also found a rapidly growing vampire population. A Mater vampire was about to rise in Sunnydale and the only one opposing this Master at the time was Mr. Giles and a handful of high school kids. The Master of course rose, and is now, according to the watchers council running Sunnydale. Buffy Summers, the Slayer, I detected, had for some reason gone back to LA. As it turned out, Buffy had arrived in Sunnydale on time, but that very night her Mother had disappeared, vampires, one might guess. The Slayer, being under age was sent home to her Father. One week after her mother died Buffy and her father moved to Cleveland. and live there still."
"So she is in Cleveland not Sunnydale." Gunn injected
"But according to the scroll, she is in Sunnydale and the Master failed to rise." Apparently not quite done with his trip down memory lane. " Mr. Giles, myself and the Master, where not the only ones excepting the Slayer to show in Sunnydale. During my investigation I came across a rather strange creature, he had also been send to aid the slayer. He had been send by the Powers. I nearly staked him."
"A Vampire?" Gunn was astounded. "You didn't stake a vampire. Since when are vampires send by any power, but an evil one, they don't play nice wit anyone."
"That is how the council felt about it too and fired me. I have never failed to stake a vampire since then, Gunn."
"But why, how, what...?"
"Gunn! He saved my life."
"He what? Now I've heard it all! Saved you life?"
"He saved me from my own foolishness. It was my first assignment. I thought I was prepared, I thought I knew it all. But that first time, that very first time you are faced with evil, pure evil. sufficed to say it was not like I had imagined it. I was utterly in over my head. That is why I did not stake him. I made it clear that he would not be so lucky next time. Though I was the lucky one. I still don't know why he did it, or who he was."
"You did not stake him." Gunn shook his head in disbelieve." First rule of vampire hunting." He his the steering wheel in cadence to his words. "Never trust a vampire. Second rule of vampire hunting; you never trust a vampire."
"Gunn." Wesley interrupted Gunn's raving." It won't happen again. It's never happened again."
Gunn shook his head still in disbelieve over Wesley's confession. He remembered how they had met. That day his sister Alona had been taken, and turned. It was Wesley who had backed him up that day. Wesley who helped him cope. Wesley who seemed to understand the pain he was going through. It was also Wesley who had handed him the stake, the stake that had ended his sister short un-life.
"Would you stake him now?" he asked quietly.
"In a heartbeat." Wesley answered without hesitation.