THREE STRIKES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 18-HOW WE DOING, NOT SO GOOD BOSS
Her worst fears and all of her worries ran in front of her eyes as because of her slayer hearing Faith could hear the battle going on in the garden. Faith had always hated there being a battle that she couldn't participate in with the stakes as high as they were now. More than anything she wanted to go and help her two best friends in the world. But her love for the two fighters in the garden kept her cemented to her spot behind the counter, clutching her short sword tight to her body. Groo was concealed behind the plants at the front doors, axe in hand, and Connor was on edge, sitting in the doorway to Angel's office. The sounds from the garden had not gone unnoticed by either Groo or Connor. Groo had taken an initial step to go and help Angel and Wesley but then had glanced down at the floor, remembered his orders, and returned to his post. For his part Connor had actually gone so far as to walk into the center of the lobby so that he could get a good look at what was happening out in the garden. Faith had harshly yelled at him to get back to his position and at first he had acted as if he hadn't heard her. But then Connor had shrugged his shoulders, gotten a better grip on his sword, and returned to the doorway of Angel's office.
"We should be out there helping them," Connor said with a very frustrated and anxious frown on his face as he stood up and looked over towards Faith, who had popped her head up above the counter to get a good look around.
"No Connor we shouldn't, Angel told us to stay here to guard the front doors and that's exactly what we're going to do, besides Wesley and Angel can take almost anything save maybe a little commitment…although Wes…," Faith said harshly as she stood up far enough to then sit down in the chair that sat behind the counter, allowing her to be able to scan the entire lobby instead of waiting for something to happen.
"Often gets into things that are way over his head…a lot like my dad…like last week he…," Connor started to say with a grim smile on his face before a dead Vahrall demon crashed through the doors to the garden, violently wrenching the left door from its hinges as glass flew everywhere. Connor was instantly back in the center of the lobby, sword up and ready for battle. "Dad…," Connor shouted above the noise before first Wesley and then Angel came flying through the other door, sending a shower of glass towards Connor.
"Wesley," Faith shouted nearly at the top of her lungs as she vaulted over the counter and rushed to the side of the bloody watcher.
"I'm okay…," Wesley stammered out with a pained wince on his face as he struggled to get back up to his knees, aided greatly by Faith's strong arm.
"Yeah and I'm Ethel Merman," Faith grumbled back with a sarcastic look of panic and worry on her face as she helped a slightly shaky Wesley back to his feet before the two Fyarl demons charged, shoulder to shoulder, into the lobby. At their backs were what looked like at least a dozen zombies, flanked by a few vampires for good measure.
"Funny…you don't look like…," Angel said with a nervous frown on his face after he jumped back to his feet and picked his sword up before one of the Fyarl demons charged at him. Angel dove and rolled out of the way and expected the Fyarl demon to chase after him. But he was taken by surprise at the sight of the Fyarl demon slumping to the floor with Groo's axe firmly embedded in its chest.
"Angel," Groo shouted in alarm as he rushed forward and dove at the nearest pair of vampires, taking them both to the ground before Connor used his sword to block a swing from the remaining Fyarl demon. The next few moments were a blur to Angel as the remaining Fyarl demon tried its best to bash Connor's skull in while Wesley and Faith tore into the zombies, looking more than a little like a pair on a reckless revenge trip that'd probably have gotten them killed if Faith hadn't been pregnant.
* * * * * *
Inside of the reinforced room Jocelyn sat in the exact center of the room, an equal distance away from all of the walls. It was an attempt to try to limit the hurricane of emotions and memories that she was sure to come her way once the battle started. Arthur sat at her side, idly flipping through the day's paper, something that he had brought in with him to try and help pass the time. Oz sat up against the wall furthest from the door with his crossbow lying across his lap and his knife being used to carve designs on the tops of the box that he was sitting on. Kate had propped herself up front and center, gun drawn, in the event that someone or something made it past Angel and others and found the secured room. Cordelia sat nearby, using the sharp tip of the spear to try to clean the dirt out from underneath her fingernails. After trying to calm Jocelyn's frayed nerves for awhile Lorne had made himself a place in a pile of boxes and tables against the far wall and had just closed his eyes to go to sleep when Angel and Wesley had been thrown back into the lobby.
"What was that…," Oz asked with a concerned frown on his face as he stopped carving a doodle into the top of the box that he was sitting on.
"I didn't hear anything," Kate said with a nervous and unsure look on her face as she kept her eyes on the barricaded door in front of her.
"Me either…it's probably just the wind or something Oz…," Cordelia stammered out with a fake uncaring smile on her face and shrug of her shoulders.
"It was something Cordelia, I know it was…remember how when Spike kidnapped Willow and Xander I…," Oz started to say in return with an unhappy frown on his face as he hopped down off of the box that he had been sitting on and grabbed his crossbow.
"Okay alright already…it's something, but what…Lorne," Cordelia sighed with an annoyed frown on her face as the seer threw her hands up in exasperation before using the spear to stand up.
"Oh no…don't look at me, I'm not going out there," Lorne pleaded with a slightly frightened smile on his face as he desperately tried to look for something to busy himself with.
"No one asked you to Lorne…but if I had to hazard a guess as to the progress of the battle I'd have to say that it's fully underway and that we should sit here and wait until we get the all clear," Arthur said with an anxious frown on his face as he put a comforting arm around Jocelyn and helping to steady her shaking hands.
"Right, but remind me again what we're supposed to do if they all get killed out there and we just sit in here…waiting…and waiting…," Kate asked with a very serious frown on her face as she cast a quick look back over her shoulder.
"Hey…don't think like that, they'll all survive and they'll come and get us…we just can't give up hope…," Cordelia declared with an angry and confidant scowl on her face as she pounded the bottom of the spear on the ground and glared around at everyone in the room before turning her gaze towards the center of the room and Arthur and Jocelyn.
"But what if hope's already given up on us Cordelia…what then…," Jocelyn said softly, almost in a whisper, with an unhealthy look of worry on her face as she tried to keep from sobbing into Arthur's shoulder.
"Then…we're dead…," Oz mumbled with a sarcastic smile on his face as he shrugged his shoulders before stifling a laugh.
* * * * * *
"Okay Charles enough stalling, tell me about the zombie cops," Fred said with a very serious look on her face as she sat down on the top step beside Gunn, as the two planned to stay in between the room where Elaine and Lindsey were and anything that tried to get to them.
"If it'll get you to stop looking at me like I'm some kind of criminal then I'll tell you…so do you want the long or the short of it," Gunn said with a deep sigh as he leaned back up against the railing and closed his eyes.
"Since I'm already tired I'll say the short of it…but don't leave out anything important," Fred said with a slight nod of her head as she poked Gunn in the chest and smiled.
"Okay…a few months before we all came and rescued you from Pylea Anne showed up and asked for my help with a problem that some of the local kids had been having with some overzealous cops…I agreed to help and when we tried to get some dirt on the bad cops one of them shot Wesley, then they followed us back here and stormed the place, but Angel managed to find out who was controlling the zombie cops and put a stop to it, right as one of them was about to slap a set of handcuffs on yours truly," Gunn replied with a nervous frown on his face as he recounted the tale while Fred's eyes grew extra wide at the mention of Wesley getting shot as Gunn could see his girlfriend filing that little tidbit away to ask the former watcher about later.
"My…God…I…Wesley…now Charles Gunn you tell me…how different is the long version of that story, you didn't leave anything important out did you," Fred mumbled softly to herself at first with a shocked look on her face before she refocused herself and put her hand on Gunn's chest, keeping him back up against the railing.
"Well…uh there was the part about Angel going bad, firing Cordy, Wes, and me…Wes getting shot when he tried to stop me from going through with my plan…and that it took a nice chunk of dough to get it all cleaned up," Gunn said with a nervous smile on his face before Fred seemed satisfied with what he had told her and leaned back up against the wall and crossed her arms.
"So why didn't you tell me any of this earlier," Fred asked with a nervous and slightly scared look on her face as she looked at the step in between them.
"Didn't think it was anything that important…," Gunn replied with a sad frown on his face as he reached up and scratched the back of his right ear. Gunn winced openly at the look of sadness, frustration, and outright rage that flashed across Fred's face before she reached out and gave him a quick jab in the ribs. "Hey…," Gunn exclaimed with a shocked and nervous look on his face as he lightly rubbed the spot where Fred had hit him.
"Not important…how can one of my best friends getting shot while trying to save your stupid ass not be important," Fred shouted with an angry scowl on her face before she seemed to realize fully what she had said and rushed down the stairs, shutting herself in the first room that she came to before Gunn could do anything.
"Everything okay," Elaine asked with a scared smile on her face as she slowly crept closer to Gunn, making sure though to keep enough distance between the two as from below Gunn heard the sound of the door that Fred had slammed shut lock.
"Does it look like everything's okay Elaine…," Gunn shouted loudly with a very angry and frustrated look on his face as he turned his gaze upwards to Elaine, glaring a hole through the young woman with his gaze.
"No…," Elaine said almost in a whimper as she tried her best to shrink back up against the wall while slowly backing away from Gunn and then disappearing back around the corner.
"Great…can this night get any worse…," Gunn started to say with a frustrated scowl on his face as he looked skyward before a loud crash from somewhere downstairs tore through the shelter.
* * * * * *
"Do you think that was it…," Groo asked with a nervous frown on his face as he pulled his axe free from the rotting corpse of a long dead lawyer.
"Nnh…probably not, most likely this was just the first wave," Wesley said with a painful wince as he tried to take a deep breath but had to stop because of the pain.
"How do you feel," Faith asked with a worried look on her face as she sat down next to Wesley and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Like a bloody elephant did a tap dance on my ribs," Wesley added with another wince, one that made Faith's eyes tear up before she steeled herself and smiled.
"What are these creatures," Groo asked with a confused but serious look on his face as he knelt down beside the body of one of the Fyarl demons.
"Well those two big blokes are Fyarl demons…they're your basic hired muscle type of demons, strong as hell but they give new meaning to the word dumb…and those ugly bastards outside, the ones with the spiked hair and all that are Vahrall demons, not to special just mean buggers, and you know about vampires of course, but then we come to the zombies, a simple explanation would be magically reanimated corpses brought back to life to fulfill some specific and specialized purpose decreed to them by a shaman or witchdoctor of some sort, no recognizable brain patterns but still stubborn as hell," Wesley replied with a nervous sigh as he nodded towards each different enemy in his description to Groo with his head.
"That's the simple explanation," Angel asked with a confused smirk on his face as he turned his head to look at the former watcher.
"Actually Angel, that's the incredibly simplified version, I wish that you could have seen the essay that I had to write about the differences between the North American Fyarl demon and the South American Fyarl demon, it was over fifty pages long, and I hadn't even gotten to their reproductive practices yet so…," Wesley answered with a tired smile on his face as he leaned back and wrapped an arm around Faith's waist, drawing her close.
"I think that's enough information for now Wes," Faith interjected with a slightly overwhelmed and sarcastic smile on her face before she fully stopped Wesley from talking by grabbing the back of his head and pulling him into a long and drawn out kiss, one filled both with relief for the two being alive and the sexual energy that was burning through the pair. For a few moments Angel and the others stared in an almost confused wonder, as one would stare at a carnival freak, before turning away and trying to come up with something to say, except for Groo, who bore a sad frown on his face.
"Okay…anyone hurt…besides Wesley," Angel asked, desperately trying to change the subject and get away from the sight of Faith and Wesley still kissing.
"I'm fine…," Groo said with a slight nod of his head as he kept his attention focused on Wesley and Faith, who remained lip locked.
"Don't they have to come up for air…," Connor asked Angel softly under his breath with a slightly scared and unsure frown on his face as he leaned in close to his father.
"One would think so Connor, but with those two…you never know," Angel replied with a nervous and slightly petrified shrug of his shoulders before Faith and Wesley finally broke the kiss. After several seconds of staring solely at each other Faith and Wesley slowly noticed that everyone in the lobby was staring at them.
"What…," Faith asked with a nervous and slightly confused frown on her face as she looked around at everyone staring at her.
"How do you two…," Connor started to ask with a thoroughly confused look on his face before he noticed the look on Angel's face and turned away.
"The sun will be up in a few hours so we'll be safe then, at least from the zombies, but we need to come up with a way to stop the zombies altogether," Angel said with a very serious frown on his face as he laid a hand on Connor's shoulder and squeezed.
"More than likely the zombies are all being controlled by either a very powerful magic spell of some kind or a magical totem of some kind," Wesley said with a deep in thought frown on his face as he walked over and sat down behind the counter in the chair that Faith had been sitting in earlier, pulling a few stray volumes to him.
"You mean like that time with the zombie cops…the idol to the zombie god," Angel mused with a serious look of thought on his face as he walked over and leaned forward onto the counter.
"Not exactly, if Wolfram and Hart has as many zombies under its employ as I think it does then…," Wesley started to say with a very concerned frown on his face before Groo walked over and interrupted him.
"We are all in great danger," Groo said softly with a very determined frown on his face as he began to examine his axe.
"Well no…yes, what I meant was that whatever they're controlling the zombies with would have to be huge, and I don't mean huge in the sense of importance, but huge as in it's size and the power it has to give off, it's probably right under our nose," Wesley added with a nervous frown on his face before Faith walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her chin on his shoulder.
"We'll find it Wes, don't worry…we will," Faith whispered softly into Wesley's ear before she leaned in a little closer and began to seductively nibble on his earlobe, eliciting a sly grin from Wesley and again odd looks from everyone else in the lobby.
"Will you two cut that out before Connor's eyes blow right out of his head…," Angel grumbled with a frustrated scowl on his face before he ran a nervous hand through his hair and continued. "Okay so Wolfram and Hart have set up some giant zombie controlling statue…or sculpture somewhere and we have to find out where it is, sooner rather than later…," Angel added with a very serious look on his face as he turned away from the counter and began to pace around the room.
"Or else the world will be sucked down into the tenth layer of hell…literally," Faith chimed in with a nervous smile on her face before she slid around and sat down across Wesley's lap, leaving one arm still draped around his neck.
"We're not going to allow that to happen," Connor declared with a very serious scowl on his face as he wiped his sword clean on the garment that one of the dead Vahrall demons was wearing.
"You're right Connor, we're not…but first we have to get rid of these bodies," Angel said with a slightly nervous frown on his face as his gaze swept over the pile of bodies.
"Why don't we just leave them, if you're right Angel and that was just the first wave then I say that we should save our energy and get ready for whatever's next," Faith said with a serious look on her face as she turned her head to look over at Angel while Wesley used his free hand, the one that wasn't wrapped tightly around Faith's waist, to flip through a couple of pages in the ancient volume that he was looking through.
"Whether or not there's another wave coming isn't what's important Faith, what's important is…do you know how hard it is to get the smell of dead Vahrall demon's out of a room," Angel started to reply back with an almost angry frown on his face before his train of thought departed him and he had to stumble through the rest of his rebuttal.
"I will help you Angel," Groo said with a sincere smile on his face as he laid his axe on the counter and walked over towards the pile of dead demons and zombies.
"See…at least someone agrees with me," Angel sighed softly with a frustrated and unsure smile on his face as he shrugged his shoulders before turning around to help Groo.
"So what are we supposed to do in the time being," Connor asked softly with a nervous frown on his face as he turned away from watching Angel and Groo carry the corpses outside.
"Well…Faith and I will stay here and try to come up with some means of finding how Wolfram and Hart are controlling the zombies, see if we can figure out some way to discern the location of this said…object, and how to destroy it…you should stay at the front doors and act as a lookout, if only to make sure that we're not taken by surprise by the second wave of demons and whatnot," Wesley said with a serious look on his face as he barely lifted his head to look up at Connor before he turned his attention back to the book in front of him on the desk.
"Okay…," Connor replied with an emotionless frown on his face before he picked his sword up and rushed back to the front doors, peering out through the windows with his sword at ready.
"That kid needs to relax a bit or else he won't make it past twenty," Faith mumbled under her breath to Wesley with a sly smile on her face.
"You're evil you know that," Wesley mumbled back to her with a sly grin of his own as he turned and found himself looking deep into Faith's eyes.
"Yeah but that's why you love me so much…," Faith whispered back with a slight snicker before she leaned in and planted another welcoming kiss on Wesley's lips, reluctant to pull away.
"You mean it's not because of how good your ass looks in that nurse's outfit…," Wesley snickered back with a smug grin on his face before Faith glared at him. But through that glare Wesley could see that there was no anger involved, simply Faith trying to keep up the tough girl image that she had made up for herself.
"Well enjoy it while you can pal…because pretty soon my ass is going to…," Faith started to say with a fake look of anger on her face before a loud explosion rocked the front doors of the Hyperion, sending Connor flying back through the air before he crashed into Groo and Angel as they were picking up one of the Fyarl demons.
* * * * * *
Gunn was back up on his feet and charging down the stairs before Elaine could even come back around the corner to see what was going on. After their short exchange Elaine had been headed back towards the room where Lindsey was resting in when she heard the loud crash from somewhere downstairs. She only caught sight of the top of Gunn's head as he rushed down the stairs before she hurried to the top of the stairs, expecting the worst but hoping for the best.
"Anne," Gunn shouted in alarm as he rushed through the commons area of the shelter and headed towards where he had heard the crash come from. He hadn't gone to far when he was met by a rush of kids in their attempts to get as far away from the kitchen as they could.
"Gunn…what's going on, what was that noise," Anne shouted with a terrified and confused frown on her face as she burst through a nearby doorway and caught up to Gunn as he neared the kitchen.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing…stay behind me," Gunn replied with a nervous and unsure frown on his face as he got to the kitchen and motioned for Anne to stay behind him for her own safety. The two were almost there when the kitchen door flew open.
END OF CHAPTER 18