THREE STRIKES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Arthur, Elaine, and Jocelyn.
CHAPTER 25-KNOTS UNRAVELED ETERNALLY
Gunn had just started to nod off for a chance to rest his tired eyes when an almost frantic Faith burst into the room, not caring to shut the door behind her. He was just about to lurch to his feet and shut the door behind her, with a stern remind of exactly who it was that was in the room with them and what their mission was when she cut him off with the dire news.
"Sorry Gunn but we've got trouble," Faith exclaimed with a very serious and concerned frown on her face as she cast a quick glance towards Lindsey to make sure that he was still okay.
"How bad," Gunn asked with an annoyed yawn as he rushed to the doorway and quickly looked both ways before returning his gaze to Faith.
"Trouble with a capital trouble, we've got zombies and God knows what else approaching from all sides, I think that Wolfram and Hart is making its big push," Faith answered with a very grim frown on her face as she walked to the window and drew back the curtains.
"Damn…where's Fred," Gunn said with a very serious look on his face as he stared out of the window and saw the slowly approaching army of the undead.
"She's back in the waiting room, I think that she's trying to get in touch with Angel but I can't be sure, once I saw the zombies coming I ran straight here," Faith replied with an impatient look on her face as she leaned in close for a look of her own.
"Go back and keep watch in the waiting room with Fred, hopefully she can get in touch with Angel," Gunn said with a very serious look on his face as he kept his gaze locked on the events taking place in the street below. Already the army of zombies had gotten to the front doors of the hospital, killing or shoving aside anyone that they came into contact with.
* * * * * *
The events of the prior few seconds flashed again through Angel's mind as he stared straight ahead at the man that he thought was his friend. A friend that had just shot arguably his best friend and held the detonator that was tied to the c4 that would bring the whole Wolfram and Hart down.
"Ar…Arthur…what is this," Angel gasped out in total disbelief as he hesitated to go to Wesley's aid or to kill, in his mind, the backstabbing son of a bitch in front of him.
"You wouldn't understand Angel, but for what it's worth it wasn't supposed to go down like this, none of you were supposed to get hurt, now leave before I do something else that I'll regret," Arthur said, his voice more than a little shaky, as Angel could almost see the waves of fear and nervousness washing off of him.
"You'd be surprised what I'd understand," Angel said with a threatening scowl on his face as he took a step towards Arthur, who backed up a step but kept the barrel of the gun pointed directly at Angel's chest. "That thing won't kill me…," Angel added softly with an angry frown on his face as the edges of his mouth curled up into the beginnings of a smirk.
"I know that it won't kill you…this isn't your time champion, you still have a lot of good to do in this world before it's your time, so does Wesley," Arthur said softly with the faintest traces of a smile on his face as he shifted his gaze back and forth between Angel and the bleeding former watcher.
"You seem to know a lot more about me than I know about you…so tell me…does Fred know that you're just a bastard that you'd betray…," Angel started to say with a sinister smirk on his face as he clenched his hands into fists.
"Betrayal…that's funny coming from you it really is, Angelus…the killer with the face of an angel talks to me about betrayal, do you want to know what betrayal truly is vampire, true betrayal is working for a company for decades, building a life…a home, with the woman that you love and to then be blessed with children…," Arthur nearly screeched back at Angel for a bit before his voice cracked and a tear slipped out before he continued. "But none of that matters now, nothing matters anymore, they took my family…my life…away from me and now they're going to pay, they're all going to pay, do you hear me," Arthur started to say with a very shaky tone to his voice before he looked straight up and shouted the last bit.
"You're not making any sense…now why don't you give me one good reason why I shouldn't wring your traitorous neck right here and leave your body here in…," Angel started to say with a very angry look on his face before he slipped his game face on and took another step towards Arthur.
"You'd do that wouldn't you Angel, you may play the hero but no matter how hard you try the demon is still inside of you, begging to get out, but you can't let it win…or else the entire world will be in danger…and as for me…well I died the day that my family was killed…," Arthur said with a very sad look on his face as he took another step back away from Angel and swallowed hard as he fought back the tears.
"You almost sounded heroic for a bit there…but there's nothing heroic about…," Angel started to say with a mocking smirk on his face before Arthur cut in.
"If I had wanted to kill Wesley Angel I would have…chew on that thought for a bit while I put my plan into motion," Arthur said with a deadly serious frown on his face before he shrugged his shoulders and disappeared into the darkness.
"Shit…," Angel cursed angrily under his breath as he took a step forward to go after Arthur but a groan from Wesley stopped him in his tracks.
"Angel…," Wesley gasped out through gritted teeth as he struggled to right himself while holding his bleeding left shoulder tightly.
"Don't move…," Angel exclaimed with a worried and almost frantic look on his face as he hurried to Wesley's side and knelt down.
"Why did he…Arthur…I thought," Wesley managed to babble out before he coughed up a little blood and fell silent.
"I don't know, he said something about his family being killed and wanting to get revenge…," Angel replied with a very nervous and concerned look on his face as he helped Wesley up and over to a chair before the former watcher grunted in pain as he peeled the left sleeve of his coat back.
"On who…us…Wolfram and Hart…," Wesley asked softly with a look of total confusion and disbelief on his face before Angel hesitantly touched the wound, causing him to shout in pain.
"Sorry…he wasn't really very clear, he started to babble off at the mouth…," Angel answered with a very serious look on his face as though Wesley nearly cracked his teeth from the pressure of his gritting them Angel was able to cut Wesley's shirt away from the wound.
"He has the detonator…we have to stop him…get it back…," Wesley added with a pained grimace on his face before a lone tear slid down his cheek.
"We will don't worry…even if I have to pry it from his lifeless hands," Angel said with a very grim scowl on his face before he began to frantically scan the contents of the room to try to find something to use as a bandage to attempt to stop the bleeding.
* * * * * *
"How much further…," A frustrated and annoyed Buffy asked as she leaned back in her seat, glared over at Spike, and crossed her arms.
"Not much longer luv, but once we get to Los Angeles we're going to need junior back there to give us directions," Spike replied with a nervous smile on his face as he pressed the accelerator down a little farther and nodded his head back towards Jocelyn and Connor. The duo had been transported to Sunnydale via an old associate of Angel's that he had been hesitant to use before because of the enormous level of payment that the demon asked for in exchange for her services. Upon landing in Sunnydale Connor and Jocelyn had rushed to Revello Drive and brought Spike and Buffy up to date on Angel's plan. Minutes later the quartet was on the road to Los Angeles, a chest full of weapons in the trunk of Spike's beaten up old DeSoto.
"Actually I don't know the way…above ground anyway, I usually take the tunnels under the city to get anywhere, the streets are to confusing," Connor said softly, from the back seat, with a slightly embarrassed frown on his face as Buffy sighed and shook her head.
"We'll get there in time pet don't worry…you're one of the hero types…you always get there just in the nick of time and save the day from the machinations of villain types like me and Peaches," Spike said with a reassuring look on his face and tone to his voice as he reached over and gently squeezed Buffy's left shoulder.
"I hope you're right Spike," Buffy softly answered back with a very worried look on her face as she slipped a hand up and took Spike's hand into hers.
"I sense love…lots of it…hidden beneath fears or what former loves would say…and fears of a possible future…a future that could be bright…could be dark…it all depends on who lives through the night," Jocelyn interjected with an odd and quirky look on her face as she cocked an eyebrow and stared at Connor, who regarded her with a confused look on his face.
"Eh now…what's that supposed to mean…you a mind reader or something," Spike demanded with an unsure and slightly threatened look on his face as he glared back at Jocelyn, prompting the empathy seer to cringe back in fear and bury her face into Connor's shoulder.
"I don't think she meant anything by it Spike…although she is seriously wigging me out," Buffy chided Spike softly with a very unimpressed scowl on her face, the one that she always used when he had done something wrong and hadn't realized it yet.
"She can't help it…she's an empathy seer, she sees and feels the future, everyone's future…," Connor growled with almost a frantic tone to the young man's voice as he tried his best to console Jocelyn.
"Great…can she see who's going to win the next Super Bowl because I'm a little short on cash and…," Spike started to say with a cocky grin on his face as he cast a quick glance back over his shoulder at Connor, before stopping abruptly as Buffy loudly cleared her throat and pulled her hand away.
"We have to get there…my father sent us to get the two of you because you're the strongest two fighters that he knows…," Connor said with a very serious and also somewhat confused look on his face as he looked back and forth between Spike and Buffy.
"Peaches said that…," Spike asked softly with a completely flabbergasted and taken by surprise look on his face as he seemed genuinely in awe of the statement.
"Pretty much…he kind of mumbled through the part about you being a good fighter though, I heard plenty about Buffy…," Connor said with a slightly timid look on his face as he leaned back a bit in his seat and took Jocelyn with him.
"Sounds like the soddin wanker all right…," Spike mumbled angrily under his breath as his DeSoto sped off into the night.
* * * * * *
"Lock and barricade the doors, don't let them get inside," An orderly shouted to the hospital's maintenance crew as they desperately struggled to lock the front doors and keep the zombies out.
"This is all just a little too much Resident Evil for my taste," Faith said with a very unhappy frown on her face before she winced a bit in discomfort and placed a hand on her stomach.
"Faith…," A worried and frightened Fred asked with a look of panic on her face as she hurried forward to help the maintenance workers bar the front doors of the hospital.
"Go on…I'm fine…nnh…something's wrong with Wesley…he's hurt…," Faith answered with a worried and slightly confused look on her face before the pain became too intense and she had to sit down quickly in the nearest chair.
"It's no use…they're to strong…," An elderly janitor shouted with a look of sheer terror on his face as he dropped the mop that he had been holding and started to hurry away from the doors as fast as he could.
"Shit…," Faith cursed out loud with an angry grimace on her face as she forced herself to stand up and snap the end of a nearby mop off so that she was not without a weapon to defend herself with.
"Watch out," Fred shouted with a very alarmed look on her face as she rushed forward and tried to push the doors back closed but got a little bit to close and one of the zombies thrust its hand through the glass and latched onto Fred's arm. The last thing that Faith remembered before a panic-stricken Gunn charged past her was the sound of the Texan's terrified blood curdling scream as one of the zombie bit down on her arm while others began to pull her out through the front doors.
* * * * * *
Lorne hustled his way further down the sewer tunnel in a desperate attempt to elude his pursuer. One of the trio of snarling demons that had initially charged up the stairs after Kate and Willow had caught his scent somehow and was now stalking him. Lorne had been in the middle of mixing himself a much needed drink when the demon had violently burst into his room and missed him by barely half an inch. He was unharmed, except for a deep groove on his right horn that he guessed would probably never fully heal. He hoped with all of his heart that Kate and Willow were alright but since he was to much of a coward, coupled with the fact that fighting was never really his thing Lorne decided that his best course of action was to simply keep running and hope that his pursuer would finally lose interest and leave him alone.
* * * * * *
"I think I saw this exact situation in a movie once…although if I remember correctly it didn't end very well," Kate said with a very serious look on her face as she looked over at Willow, who was thinking deeply in an attempt to figure out exactly which spell to use.
"We're not going to die Kate, not as long as I have anything to say about it," Willow started to say with a very serious look on her face before she turned away as he eyes clouded over with darkness.
"Well talk about you want, but I doubt that any of those zombies down there or our pissed off friends trying to break through that door at this moment will stop in their tracks because of anything that you have to say," Kate added with a very pessimistic look on her face before she looked back over the edge of the Hyperion and grimaced at the assembling army of zombies below.
"But if I use a magic spell then they won't know what…hit…them," Willow started to say with an almost sly smirk on her face before her voice was drowned out as the door that had been protecting them was violently shoved off of its hinges and two of the three snarling demons from before leapt out onto the rooftop, followed behind by a trail of hungry zombies.
* * * * * *
"That's the last one, come on Groo let's get out of here and give Angel the signal so that we can all go home," Oz said with a slightly triumphant smile on his face as he stood up and lightly patted Groo on the shoulder.
"Are you sure that this is enough Oz, because we're only going to get one shot at this and we can't mess anything up," Groo asked softly with a concerned frown on his face as he slumped his shoulders a bit and looked down at Oz.
"Don't worry Groo, we're not going to mess this up, now all that we have to do is…," Oz started to say with a slightly taken aback look on his face before he started to smile but was interrupted.
"Now all that you have to do is get out while you can and make sure that you take Angel and Wesley with you, you all have to much of your lives left to live to perish here with an old schmuck like me," Arthur said with a very serious look on his face as he slowly walked out of the shadows with the gun still in his hand and the detonator in his pocket. "Don't ask any questions Oz…you either Groo, I don't need you to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing, all that I ask is that Winifred doesn't hate me for what I'm going to do, and that you tell her that it was one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do in my life not to tell her my plans," Arthur added with a deep look of sadness and regret on his face as he kept the gun pointed straight at Oz's heart.
"Oh…okay…just don't shoot…we'll do…come on Groo let's go," Oz stammered out with an overwhelmed look on his face before he started to push a totally flabbergasted Groo out of the parking garage.
"Such a touching moment…if I didn't know weeks ahead of time that you'd try something stupid like this Arthur I might actually have been surprised," A mocking voice rang out from the shadows before the golem slowly limped into the light, grinning from ear to ear with a nervous Penn by its side.
"I expected you sooner you know, you've let me down…," Arthur replied, trying his best to sound cocky but failing miserably, as he took a step back away from the golem and Penn.
"To bad for you foolish human…do you really think that anything that you do here tonight can actually bring them back," Penn asked with an overly mocking smirk on his face as he produced a sword from behind his back.
"You're right monster, I can't bring them back, but I can get them justice…and I will, even if it means my life," Arthur replied with an angry scowl on his face as he kept the gun pointed at first Penn and then the golem while fishing around in his pocket for the detonator.
"Justice…heh, that's such a quaint…human…notion, and as for your life your definitely going to die here tonight, but not before we have a little fun first…," The golem exclaimed with a delighted smirk on its face before it nodded its head towards Arthur and Penn began advancing.
END OF CHAPTER 25