THREE STRIKES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 16-ODD REMEDIES AND SAD MEMORIES
"This is hopeless…," Faith moaned sadly with a tired and frustrated sigh as she looked up from the ancient tome that she had been trying to read and glanced over at no one in particular.
"Nothing is ever hopeless Faith," Wesley said with a slightly stern but reassuring tone to his voice as he reach a hand over and took Faith's hand that she had laid on her lap into his.
"Yeah…I mean no matter what's happened since I left Pylea we've been able to handle it…okay sometimes just barely and we nearly all die in the process but…I should stop talking…," Fred started to reply with an eager and cheerful smile on her face before she started to babble and at the end blushed deeply and turned her attention back to the ancient tome in front of her.
"No Fred honey keep talking, you're on the right track," Lorne interjected with a chipper smirk on his face as he poked his head into the office and nodded his head.
"Have I mentioned how annoying he can be…," Faith grumbled with a sarcastic frown on her face as at the door a look of shock passed over Lorne's face before he let out a quick snicker and stepped inside the office.
"Oh…only about ten times today…ya know if you say it another few times you'll set a new record…," Lorne said with a slightly mocking tone to his voice as he pulled up a chair and sat down, an odd colored drink firmly in his left hand.
"Hey I…," Faith started to growl back angrily before she stopped abruptly and placed a hand on her stomach and winced sharply in pain.
"Faith…," Wesley shouted in alarm as he slid out of his chair and put an arm around Faith and drew her close, only to have her smile through the pain and try to wave him back.
"I…I'm, fine…Wes…just some cramps," Faith replied with a pained grimace on her face before she leaned into Wesley and laid her head on his shoulder.
"I thought as much…here drink this pumpkin, don't ask what it is because you don't want to know…but it should help you with the cramps," Lorne said, his voice full of worry and concern, as he leaned forward in his chair and set the drink in front of Faith.
"Wes…," Faith asked with a voice that sounded half like a nervous and worried rogue slayer and half like a scared little girl.
"It's okay Faith…trust me…," Wesley answered with what he hoped was his best reassuring tone of voice as he slowly began to brush the hair off of Faith's face.
"Okay…but if I grow another head I'm going to kill you…," Faith mumbled with a slightly threatening tone of voice as she shrugged her shoulders and sat up before picking up the glass.
"Fair enough," Wesley added with an amused, but worried, smirk on his face before Faith brought the glass to her lips and downed its contents.
* * * * * *
"How is he," Angel asked softly as he stood in the doorway of the room that Lindsey had taken residence in.
"He'll be fine…I think…," Elaine answered with a very nervous and worried frown on her face as she tucked a few stray strands of hair back behind her ear.
"Yeah well Wes and the others are downstairs researching about Jocelyn right now but you probably shouldn't get to comfortable here," Angel said with a concerned frown on his face as he stepped inside the room and shut the door.
"Wait…what, you're throwing us out…but I thought…," Elaine asked with an every increasing look of disbelief and betrayal on her face before Angel grabbed her arms and forced him to look at him.
"I'm not throwing you or anyone else out Elaine, what I meant was that sooner or later…probably sooner, Wolfram and Hart is going to send someone…or something after us, and it'd be better for Lindsey if you two weren't here when they…or it shows up," Angel said with a very stern but not angry tone to his voice as Elaine cringed a bit at first before slowly calming down at the realization of what Angel had meant.
"But where are we supposed to go…I can't take him back to my apartment, they've probably ransacked it by now," Elaine asked with a nervous and worried frown on her face as Angel released her and paced to the other side of the room, his brows furrowed deep in thought. The room remained silent for what felt like an hour before Angel got an idea.
"I think I know a place, it's somewhere that Wolfram and Hart used to do business…a shelter for street kids, I know the director there, she's nice and I doubt that she'll turn the two of you down…well…you anyway, I'm not sure how she feels about Lindsey though," Angel started to say slowly at first with almost a daring to believe in the validity of what he was saying before he looked full of cautious confidence near the end.
"What do you mean, how she feels about Lindsey…she's not his ex or anything…," Elaine asked with a confused and slightly shocked frown on her face as she first looked to Angel and then sat down on the bed beside Lindsey.
"No, she's not his ex, but back when I was trying to bring Lindsey down he tried to use her against me, but I was able to get her to see what he was doing, I don't think she's seen him since so I can't say what she'll do," Angel replied with a slightly nervous frown on his face as he ran a hand through his hair.
"But you can convince her right…to help Lindsey and me, she won't throw us out after you leave," Elaine asked with a very worried frown on her face as she glanced down at Lindsey.
"Anne won't throw you out Elaine, no matter how she feels about Lindsey it's not in her to throw someone out in need, but she might want you to help out with the kids, washing clothes and things like that," Angel replied with an optimistic look on his face as he walked around the bed to stand next to Elaine.
"I…I could do that," Elaine said with a slowly growing look of optimism on her face as she looked up at Angel.
"Good, I'll call Ann and make the arrangements, but you have to be ready to leave at a moments notice, we don't know when Wolfram and Hart are going to come after us…," Angel said with a serious tone of voice as he gave Elaine and Lindsey one final look before turning and walking out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him.
* * * * * *
"Do you have any family…mom, dad…," Cordelia asked with a worried frown on her face as she sat down on the bed beside Jocelyn, who visibly cringed a bit in fear.
"N…no, when I was seven my parents took me to a priest because they thought that I was possessed," Jocelyn replied with a somber frown on her face as she began to idly play around with the tips of her hair.
"I can emphasize…when I first started getting the visions I didn't know what was going on, luckily for me Angel and Wesley were around to help me through those first few weeks, I can only imagine what my good for nothing parents would have done if I had gotten the visions back in high school, my social life would have ground to a screeching halt," Cordelia said with a sympathetic look on her face as she softly patted Jocelyn on the shoulder.
"The priest that they took me to said that I wasn't possessed so my parents took me to a shrink, he told them that I was a schizo…," Jocelyn started to say with a nervous sigh before as she neared the next explanation of her past she had to stop to fight back the tears.
"It's okay Josey…," Connor said with a concerned but helpful frown on his face as he limped over to the bed and sat down next to Jocelyn.
"Pretty soon after that someone new came to talk to my parents, I didn't know it at the time but it was someone from Wolfram and Hart, they told my father that they could help me…my father politely declined their offer…the person from Wolfram and Hart was furious," Jocelyn said, a noticeable quiver in her voice hinting that she was getting near to the part of her story that she dreaded the most. "Everything was fine for the next few days, sure I got a few flashes of the future but they weren't as powerful as the others…but then I got a flash that knocked me out completely, when I woke up I was in the nurses office with blood coming out of my eyes, nose, and ears…the nurse looked at me like I was a monster," Jocelyn added softly as she released her hold on the tips of her hair and began to scratch at a spot on her jeans.
"I've been lucky…all I get is killer migraines…no blood," Cordelia muttered softly with a nervous frown on her face as she felt the beginnings of unshed tears stinging her eyes.
"W…when they tried to call my parents…they didn't get an answer…I ended up having to stay with a friend for awhile, I didn't learn until later that my parents had been murdered in our garage that morning, the flash that I got that knocked me out…was…of their…I'm sorry I …," Jocelyn continued with at first a solitary tear slipping out before a steady stream of tears began to stream down her cheeks, interrupting her words. As the sobs started to wrack her body she was comforted by Connor's strong arms around her and his kind words. Stifling back tears of her own Cordelia stood up and went in search of Angel's shoulder to cry on.
* * * * * *
"Miss Kate, did you always want to be a police officer," Groo asked softly with a nervous frown on his face as he stutter stepped up to Kate, who had sat down behind Cordelia's computer in an attempt to check on a few things. Groo had to ask twice before she heard him.
"Huh…what, Groo," Kate asked with a slightly embarrassed smile on her face as she ran her hands through her hair.
"Did you always want to be a police officer, or did you want to be something else, I've learned that the people of this world often have stories of this kind, it helps them to relax…," Groo asked with now a gentle smile on his face, one that Kate was finding harder and harder not to smile back at. For some reason whenever Groo smiled or laughed she couldn't help but joining in the merriment, even if she didn't find anything funny in it. That coupled with how safe she felt being near him, like she finally had a rug under her feet that wasn't going to get pulled out from under her at the first sign of trouble. The only time in her life that she had ever felt like that was back when she had adored her father completely and wanted nothing more than to follow in his footsteps. But life had taught her some of its own very harsh lessons, and after she had left Los Angeles she had tried desperately to figure out if she had ever loved being a cop or if she had simply chosen that career path to please and be near her father.
"Uh yeah, pretty much ever since I was a little girl…guess it didn't hurt that my dad was a cop, you know at every police picnic all of my dad's friends always asked me when I was going to become a cop…you should have seen the look on my dads face when I told him that I wanted to be a police officer, he was so happy…," Kate replied with a nervous frown on her face that changed to a sad smile at the memories of her father. Before she knew it the tears were forming their own river down her cheeks. As she tried to wipe them away and dam them back up Groo instinctively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. But rather than flinch and pull away like she had done to Angel and others in the past she relented and let the tears take their course.
* * * * * *
"So you work for Wolfram and Hart huh, how's that working out for you," Gunn asked with a nervous frown on his face as he and Arthur moved a table from one side of the room to another. After a quick check on Lindsey and Elaine Arthur and Gunn had delved into the many rooms of the hotel, trying their best to make them ready for the confrontation that Angel was sure was coming.
"It paid the bills, but I made sure that I stayed out of all of the more…questionable dealings, but now none of that matters…although come to think of it when they come they'll probably be looking for me," Arthur answered with a nervous frown on his face as he began to pile boxes on top of the table.
"Guess that puts us all on their most wanted list, lucky us huh," Gunn said with a sarcastic smile on his face as he slid some more boxes under the table and looked up at Arthur.
"Lucky…right, anyone want to explain to me how any of this is lucky, they held me hostage for like months…I still have no idea what they did to me all of that time…and to make matters worse tonight's a full moon," Oz mumbled with an angry frown on his face as he leaned back up against the wall and crossed his arms.
"We'll find out what they did Daniel…all that I could gather was that whatever they wanted with you had to do with your being a werewolf," Arthur started to say with a tired shrug of his shoulders before a startled Gunn glanced up.
"Wait…what, you're a werewolf…," Gunn asked with a nervous and concerned frown on his face as he took a step back and wished that he had a weapon.
"Yeah…sorry thought you already knew," Oz said with a sad frown on his face as he sat back up and looked to Arthur.
"Nope…guess that little fact must have slipped right by me," Gunn joked with a nervous smile on his face before he bumped up against the far wall.
"Charles what…oh you needn't worry about Oz, he may be a werewolf but at long as he stays caged and chained up tonight then there'll be nothing to worry about, he'll be his old self by morning," Arthur said with a restrained laugh at the sight of Gunn slowly backing away from Oz.
"But we don't have a cage…or any chains…well Cordy or Faith probably do but…," Gunn started to babble in response as he tried to remain calm.
"Don't worry guys, I've got that all covered, I can stop myself from changing…I learned how from some monks that I met a few years ago, but I have to stay calm to do it…so I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be…," Oz interjected with a concerned look on his face as he stood up and shrugged his shoulders towards Gunn.
"Well we'll think of something…we always do," Gunn said with a slightly more at ease look on his face as he walked back and helped Arthur lift a heavy box onto the top of the table.
* * * * * *
"Shit…," Faith exclaimed with her face scrunched up in disgust as she lurched backwards a bit in her seat and tried her best to spit the bad taste out of her mouth.
"Faith," Wesley asked with a concerned frown on his face as he looked back and forth between Faith and Lorne.
"What the hell was that…it tastes like shit…," Faith growled angrily as she slammed the glass back down onto the table with a loud enough crash that Fred cringed a bit and kept her gaze locked on the book in front of her.
"Faith I don't think that…," Wesley started to say with a concerned frown on his face as he turned to face an angry Faith.
"Oh yeah Wes…," Faith shouted with an angry scowl on her face before she grabbed Wesley and pulled him into a deep kiss. When she let go of Wesley the former watcher spit and spattered at the taste with a look of disgust on his face. "See…I told you," Faith mumbled with a proud of herself smile on her face.
"Lorne what…," Wesley sputtered out with a perturbed frown on his face as he tried to wipe what was left of the drink off of his lips.
"It was just an old family recipe…you don't know how hard it was to get the ingredients in this dimension…I had to substitute a few things but…," Lorne replied with a weak smile on his face as he seemed to be ready to bolt out of the room at a moments notice.
"I thought we agreed no more old family recipes, I'm still trying to forget about the last time that I…," Faith mumbled angrily as she ran her hands through her hair with a frustrated scowl on her face.
"We did didn't we…but…hey wait a minute sugarplum, you still feeling the cramps," Lorne started to say with a defeated frown on his face before he remembered his reason for entering the room in the first place and looked to Faith with a hopeful smile.
"What do you mean of course I…wait a minute…they're gone," Faith started to growl back angrily before she took a moment and then smiled as she finished her answer.
"Good…," Lorne said with a chipper smile on his face before he turned on his heel and left the office, whistling a happy tune as he went.
"Okay…that was…weird," Faith said softly with an unsure frown on her face as she turned to Wesley and seemed to hope that he could shed some light on the situation.
"Yes…it was…but we should be thankful that the cramps are gone and continue our research," Wesley said softly with a nervous frown on his face before he reached a hand around Faith's waist and drew her close.
"Yeah…let's do that…," Faith mumbled with an unhappy frown on her face before she relaxed a bit and leaned into Wesley, comforted by their closeness.
"Ya know what…maybe Angel left some books upstairs…," Fred said with a somewhat nervous and uncomfortable frown on her face as she awkwardly stood up and left the office, not looking back at the confused stares of Wesley and Faith. As she was about to climb the stairs Fred stopped when she looked up and saw a weary Angel comforting a crying Cordelia outside of Lindsey's room.
END OF CHAPTER 16