THREE STRIKES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
Author's Note: THREE STRIKES is nearing it's end-but with many surprises yet to come. I may write a sequel that'll either take place a few years after this or many years later, depending on reviewers input.
CHAPTER 20-WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG
"Keep trying the number Cordelia," Faith said with a very serious and somewhat worried frown on her face as she crossed her arms and glared down over the counter at the former cheerleader.
"I've already tried it like fourteen times Faith…they're not going to answer," Cordelia shot back with an annoyed scowl on her face as she glared up at Faith.
"I don't care, Wesley should have called by now," Faith exclaimed with a very cold look on her face before she got frustrated and walked away. After Wesley and Angel had left to go and check on Elaine and Lindsey Groo and Connor had gotten everyone out of the fortified room and then set about tying up all of the guards. Jocelyn had immediately run to Connor's side and the two had quickly found a spot in one of the far corners of the lobby and were talking quietly. Oz had rushed outside through what was left of the front doors first and then back out through the remains of the garden in an attempt to make sure that no one was still lurking around. At first Faith had softly began to pace around the lobby, refusing to help with the cleanup but making sure to almost force Cordelia to try to reach Wesley. After awhile of Cordelia not being able to contact Wesley Faith's previously soft pacing had turned into almost stomping, with Lorne at times having to jump out of her way for fear of what she'd do to him.
"Would you sit still already…I'm no Florence Nightingale when it comes to this kind of thing," Kate said with a very serious and slightly angry scowl on her face as she grabbed hold of Groo's arm and tried to force him to sit down.
"Who…," Groo asked softly with a kind but yet confused smile on his face as he pulled his sleeve back and let Kate wipe some of the dirt away from a wound, that he hadn't remembered getting, on his arm.
"She was…aw forget about…I'm just glad that you're okay, I don't know what I would have done if something were to have happened to you…shit," Kate replied with a nervous and impatient look on her face before she realized what it was that she was saying and slammed her eyes shut before cursing out loud.
"Well there's no need getting snippy sugarplum…," Lorne said with a disapproving frown on his face as he slowly began to stir his drink.
"I'm not…why don't you go and do something constructive for once, all you've done since I got here is drink and stick your nose into places and discussions where it's none of your damn business," Kate shouted with a very angry look on her face as she whirled around and glared at Lorne, who stood in stunned silence at the former cops actions.
"I can see someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Oz interjected with a grim frown on his face as he walked back into the lobby.
* * * * * *
The demon had recovered quickly from Gunn's sudden and ferocious attack. Anne still lay unconscious near the wall, a pool of blood slowly starting to form near her face as the blood continued to flow out. Gunn had shakily stood up and was frantically searching for something to use as a weapon when Elaine spun around the corner at the top of the stairs and started to race down the stairs, only to be met abruptly by the demon as turned, hoping to find Gunn directly in its path, but instead found a terrified Elaine. Before she could act the demon extended the almost two foot long spike from the back of its arm and drove the point of the spike straight through Elaine's stomach. Elaine didn't even have time to scream as she slumped to the ground, the demon grinning wickedly above her.
* * * * * *
"Faster Wesley," Angel shouted with a very pensive and worried frown on his face as he sat in the middle in the back seat of his car while Wesley drove.
"I have it to the floor Angel, we can't go any faster…and remind me again exactly why I'm the one driving your car," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he tried his best to keep one eye on the traffic in front of him, as he raced towards the shelter, while keeping the other weary eye on Angel.
"Because we missed something Wes…Lindsey and Elaine aren't safe with Anne, I just know it…we have to get there," Angel said with a very determined and frustrated look on his face as he stared straight ahead. The two had raced out of the Hyperion so quickly that they had almost forgotten to remember to bring any weapons along. But now as they neared the shelter both of their nerves were starting to fray uncontrollably. Only the presence of his soul was keeping Angel from crawling out of his own skin. Wesley sat in the front seat with his sword on the seat beside him along with Angel's axe.
"What could we have missed though, the only ones that knew where we were taking Lindsey and Elaine are people that we can trust…certainly you're not suggesting that one of them…," Wesley asked with a very nervous and unsure frown on his face as he swung around a corner as fast as he could go, almost spinning out in the process.
"I don't think so Wesley…but now that I think about it Lindsey did kind of smell a little funny when we picked him up, I didn't really put much thought into it because I just guessed that my nose was playing tricks on me but…," Angel replied with a brooding scowl on his face as he tried to figure out exactly what it was that he had missed.
"Angel I don't…bloody hell why didn't I see it…I must have been blind," Wesley started to reply with a nervous smile on his face before a realization came to him and he yelled out in anger.
"You should have seen what Wesley," Angel asked with a confused look on his face as he wiped a hand across his face.
"The trail…the magical trail that Lindsey has following behind him, you see because Lindsey is magically connected to the golem there has to be some kind of magical link between the two that allowed the golem to drain Lindsey's energy, and even though we got Lindsey out of Wolfram and Hart…," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he angrily shook his head and lightly pounded on the steering wheel with his free hand.
"The trail still connects them, like bread crumbs…any demon trying to track Lindsey and Elaine down would only have to find that trail and…," Angel started to say with a very deep in thought frown on his face before he tightly gripped the headrest of the seat in front of him.
"They'd have no trouble finding Lindsey and Elaine no matter where we tried to hide them," Wesley finished Angel's summation with a very serious look on his face as he turned one last corner and slammed on the brakes, running up onto the curb in the process.
"I smell blood…," Angel growled with an angry scowl on his face as he picked up the axe from the front seat and threw the blanket over him before he charged towards the front doors.
"We're to late," Wesley added with a frightened and worried look on his face as he shut the car off before he grabbed the sword off of the seat beside him and followed after Angel, opening the door and letting Angel enter first. Angel and Wesley arrived at the shelter just in time to find Gunn using the wall to hold himself up and Elaine and Anne lying in ever growing pools of their own blood.
* * * * * *
After slamming the door shut on Gunn's face Fred had secluded herself into the room, trying her best to sort through what Gunn had told her. She had known about what happened before Angel and the others had rescued her from Pylea, mostly from talking to Cordelia and Gunn, with a few of the finer points added in from Lorne's perspective. The green skinned empathy demon had been invaluable in finding out information about a few of the moments that Angel and the others had shied away from saying anything about. She hadn't wanted to pry, being the new girl and all added to the fact that they had just risked their lives to save her. Lorne had offered the knowledge under the table and when Angel wasn't around, saying that otherwise Angel would be able to use his vampire hearing and would get angry.
She remembered how Wesley had been back in Pylea, so strong, confidant, and in control of everything. Almost nothing had been beyond his understanding, except of course for the dynamics behind the portals. It had been clear that he understood portals in their general uses but she had been the one to help and finally track the one down that they had used to get back to their rightful world. No one had told her about Wesley being shot, only going so far as to say that he had been injured and had to work out of a wheelchair for a time. Every time that Fred had tried to ask Angel about that time the two and a half century old vampire would suddenly find it hard to talk with a look of shame spread across his face. Willow's arrival and news of Buffy's death hadn't hit her very hard greatly because she had no clue who Buffy was and got the carbon copy explanation from a sour faced Wesley.
She had been trying to tie all of the dangling loose ends of the past of her friends when she had heard the loud crash in the kitchen. Telling herself that it was merely an accident, one of the kitchen workers accidentally dropping one pan onto another or onto the floor, she had paid it little heed. She had nearly passed out from fright at the sound of Anne and Gunn shouting in alarm and then had come Anne's terrified and pain filled scream.
"Charles," Fred shouted at the top of her lungs as she struggled against the doorknob to get the door open. For a few fleeting seconds it seemed that she would never get out of the room but just as she was finally able to turn the knob and rip the door open she was met by the sight of Elaine lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood.
* * * * * *
Sitting high up in its office on one of the top floors of the Wolfram and Hart tower the golem reveled in the events that were unfolding throughout the city. The first wave of attack on the Hyperion and the insurgents within had been repulsed. But that eventuality had been expected well beforehand and the golem only grinned at the thought of how sweet its ultimate victory would be over so hard fought an opponent. The recently resurrected vampire Penn had sullenly stepped back into its office with one vapid excuse after another, begging not to be staked. The golem had mulled over its options for what to Penn felt like hours instead of seconds before rendering its decision. Penn would lead the charge the next night when the hordes would be unleashed upon the city and there was absolutely nothing that Angel or any of his insipid team could do. Failure to accomplish his goal would be certain death. Penn angrily pledged his confidence in the next night's events before he hurried out of the golem's office, not wanting to see it replenish itself.
* * * * * *
"So tell me more about Pylea…," Kate asked with a nervous frown on her face as she slowly strode out into the garden, finding an introspective Groo sitting on a bench that had been knocked over during the fight but that he had set right again.
"Oh…Kate, I didn't…sorry," Groo babble out with a nervous and slightly surprised smile on his face before he motioned for Kate to sit next to him. The morning sun's rays warmed Kate as she sat down on the hard stone bench beside Groo.
"I'll forget about it if you tell me about where you're from, you said that the dimension that you're from resembled hell and…," Kate started to say with a cheesy smile on her face as she brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear, suddenly feeling like a young schoolgirl out on her first date.
"I may have…exaggerate the detriments of my home dimension earlier, Pylea can be a very inhospitable place at times, to humans at least…until Angel and the others came that is, because of Cordelia's proclamations and the monks loss of power many things changed, humans were no longer thought of as swine…property to be used…and abused…at their owners whim," Groo replied with a nervous and somewhat ashamed frown on his face as he hunched his shoulders and staring at the ground while playing absentmindedly with a fuzzer that he had removed from his pant leg.
"Abused…," Kate gasped out, her mouth barely able to form the positions needed to utter the word as all of the color drained from her face and she desperately struggled against herself to keep from shaking.
"But I was fortunate, as the Groosalag I was treated differently, trained to be a champion of the realm, fulfilling my duties…but that all changed when Angel and the others came to Pylea, I learned about new ideas…new concepts…," Groo continued with a slightly nostalgic look on his face before he noticed the frightened look in Kate's wide azure eyes. "Kate…are you okay," He asked softly with a sincere edge to his voice and expression on his face as he carefully slipped an arm around her shoulders.
"Y…yeah…I'm fine, I just got something in my eye," Kate mumbled softly back in reply as she smiled while turning her head away and wiping away a tear.
"Good I…wait…you're crying," Groo started to say with an almost relieved smile on his face before his faculties returned and his countenance grew more concerned and worried.
"No I'm not…I just got something in my eye," Kate argued again, this time having to bite her lip to keep the tears back.
"You know Kate, you don't lie very well, you try to hide your emotions but your eyes truly are a window to your soul, please let me help you…," Groo whispered softly with a very serious and sincere look on his face and in his eyes as he gently took hold of Kate's chin with one hand and brought her gaze back onto his face. Before either truly knew what was happening Groo hesitantly leaned down and placed a soft, chaste, kiss on Kate's lips.
"Groo I…," Kate started to reply softly with a terrified look on her face but an exhilarated and flabbergasted look of sheer and utter joy in her eyes as she pulled away before she leaned forward and returned Groo's soft kiss with one of her own. Unlike her response Groo refrained from pulling away and instead pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.
* * * * * *
After Groo and later Kate had left the lobby Faith had fought off a bought of nausea that she cursed at for having hit her at such an inopportune time. She had tried her best to stay calm and not jump to any conclusions but ever since she had discovered that she was carrying Wesley's child her usual stoic level of resolve had been shattered into a million pieces. For some reason she could no longer set her mind and beliefs on the theory that no matter what happened she'd be okay, no matter who died she'd make it through. But now her thoughts were consumed by fears about her making a mistake and somehow harming the baby and sleepless nights wherein she'd spend her conscious hours terrified that on his next mission Wesley would act just a hair to slowly or not see something coming. A part of her psyche hated the fact that she was even worrying at these thoughts. But yet an equally sizeable portion of her psyched was rejoicing at the simple fact that she was worrying about details such as these.
"Faith…," Lorne asked softly with a concerned frown on his face as he lightly rapped on the room's door.
"What…," Faith growled back her question with an angry scowl on her face as she propped herself up on her elbow and let the sheet drop off of her shoulders.
"You feeling okay, I noticed that you scuttled up here in quite the little hurry after yelling at the fair Cordelia," Lorne replied with a nervous and somewhat worried look on his face before he took a quick sip of his drink.
"Do I look…damn…I'm fine, now go away," Faith started to say with an annoyed frown on her face before she realized, and mentally cursed her stupidity, that the door was closed and slumped her head back down against the pillow.
"You might say that you're fine sweet-pea…but I can tell from the little…hint…of anger in your voice that you're not…so why don't you open the door and tell Uncle Lorne what's on your pretty little mind," Lorne said with a nervous smile on his face as he leaned his shoulder against the door.
"I am not…ugh…fine," Faith started to shout with a defiant scowl on her face before she just gave up arguing and threw the bed sheet aside. She slowly made her way to the door before flinging the offending slab of wood open. "What…," Faith growled out her question with a slightly sickly and tired frown on her face as she ran a nervous hand through her ruffled locks.
"Like I said pumpkin you ran up here in such a hurry…not to mention the less than flattering sound of you…uh…tossing your cookies…," Lorne answered with a meek shrug of his shoulders before he took a nervous sip of his drink.
"It's called morning sickness dumb-ass…now if you don't mind I'd like to get back to wallowing in bed and worrying myself to death about the man that I love and…," Faith said with a very stern and ever growing look of anger on her face as one hand unconsciously balled up into a fist.
"Hey…easy now, I can take a hint as easily as the next green skinned empathy demon with horns…but right now you shouldn't worry about Wesley, he's with Angel, those two can handle almost anything," Lorne said with a weak smile of reassurance on his face as he tried to look Faith in the eye, but she turned away and crossed her arms.
"You…you sound pretty sure of yourself…but then tell me this, why hasn't Wesley…or Angel answered their cell phones," Faith mumbled softly back with a growing look of concern on her face as she leaned back up against the wall and stared straight down at her feet.
"You know Angelcakes Faith, he probably either forgot to turn his cell phone on or he didn't bring it with him…as for Wesley well…perhaps his phone was damaged in the fight, something similar happened to a beeper of his once," Lorne said with a serious and hopefully comforting smile on his face as he rang his index finger along the rim of his drink.
"Yeah but…," Faith started to say with a very nervous look on her face as she started to lift her head, but was interrupted by an almost out of breath Oz.
"Faith…Lorne…we got trouble…," Oz gasped out with an out of breath look on his face as he bent over and put his hands on his knees to try to catch his breath.
"Oz…what is it, what's wrong…it's Wesley isn't it…isn't it," Faith started to say with a confused and worried look on her face before the beginnings of a panic attack began to set in.
"N…no…there's a news crew downstairs…I don't know what they're doing here or who called them…but they've got camera's and the lobby looks like a war zone, complete with tied up Wolfram and Hart guards and enough demon bodies to fill up the city morgue," Oz added with a very serious and worried look on his face as he straightened up and nodded his head back towards the lobby.
"Shit…come on…," Faith cursed loudly with an angry and terrified scowl on her face before she uncrossed her arms and took off down the hallway back towards the lobby.
"Uh…not to sound specist or anything…but…maybe you should stay up here until we get rid of the news crew," Oz said with a nervous look on his face as he held his hands up in a gesture akin to disagreement of a suggestion.
"Specist…," Lorne asked softly with a nervous frown on his face as he squinted his eyes and leaned forward a bit.
"You know…like racist, sexist…you're a different species than I am so…specist," Oz said with a nervous smile on his face and shrug of his shoulders before he spun around on his heel and took off running after Faith, leaving a stunned and startled Lorne standing in the hallway, idly sipping his drink and trying to figure out what to do while he waited.
END OF CHAPTER 20