*~*~*
The van came to a halt as they crossed the Oregon border in Brookings. Adriana got out and rounded up two rooms, one for girls, and one for boys. They filed in silently, worn and needing of sleep. Faith held Chandra close like a protective sister would so she could sleep. Olivia and Cordelia lay in the other bed. Adriana kept watch as she sat by the door.
Angel glared at Lindsey. "Lay down and shut up."
Lindsey sat on the bed and took off his shoes silently.
Giles looked at Gunn. "If you would like the bed I am more than capable of sleeping on the floor."
He grinned. "'Aight, G. I can dig it on the floor. Plush and all that." They both chuckled as Gunn took a pillow and blanket off the bed.
Angel was still glaring at Lindsey. "If you move from that bed I will kill you."
Lindsey rolled his eyes. "Should I piss here or do you want to mark your territory?"
The knock at the door stopped a response. Everyone tensed as Angel made his way to the door. The peephole was covered but there was a certain scent that was familiar. Sighing and rolling his eyes, he flung open the door. "Spike."
The blonder vampire grinned at him. "'Cello there, Peaches. Fancy seeing you here." He sauntered in and flopped down on the edge of Lindsey's bed. "Bit of a romp in here? You gents all gathered up and tearing the covers off and such."
Giles rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"Thought you and the little woman ran out pretty fast. Thought I might check out why." He turned to Lindsey. "Who are you?"
"Lindsey. And you must be William the Bloody." He grinned. "Angel's youngest."
Spike wrinkled his brow. "How does this maggot know who I am?"
He chuckled. "You think you aren't in Angel's file? The wannabe."
Spike stood and growled. "Who are you calling a wannabe?"
For a moment Angel had a dilemma of whose side to be on. "Look, let's all just try to get some sleep. The sun will be rising in a couple of hours. Spike" He sighed. "You can stay here."
Spike wiggled his eyebrows and flopped back next to Lindsey. "Thanks, Poof."
Angel looked to the ceiling. "Why me?" He glanced out the window and saw Adriana at the soda machine. "I'll be back. Stay here."
Spike saluted.
*~*~*
Adriana pressed a button on the soda machine and sighed when she heard it stick. "Damn." She pounded her fist against it to no avail.
Angel punched a different point and tilted the machine, her soda falling down. "There's a trick to most of these," he said quietly.
She picked it up and grinned a little. "Thank you." She dug through her pocket. "Would you like one?" She pulled out some change and handed it to him.
He picked a soda that fell easily out of the machine. "Maybe Cordelia would. I don't really drink soda."
"Right." She held on to both sodas and looked at her feet. "Well, I should be getting back then." She looked up at him and licked at her lips which were feeling awfully dry.
He put a hand on her shoulder and pressed her against the machine, making her drop the sodas as she flung her arms around his neck. She brought her lips close to his but didn't kiss him. Her breath felt warm against the chill of his mouth. "Don't," she whispered. "We can't."
He pulled back, trembling. "But"
"I'm not her. You know that." Shaking, she picked up the soda. "No matter how much it hurts, it would hurt more if we made love."
He looked down and nodded.
She turned and gasped, dropping the sodas again.
Angel looked up and rolled his eyes. "Damnit. I told you to stay put!"
Spike lit his cigarette. "No smoking in the motel room." He looked over Adriana. "And who might this be?" He watched her ass as she bent over to pick up the sodas a second time. "Nice…"
She spun to face him and slammed the sodas together in front of his face, making the cans explode and showering him. "Guess they got shaken," she mused. "I'll see you in the morning, Angel." She gave him a quick glance then retreated back to the girl's room.
Spike wiped his face. "Bloody hell! Who was that?"
Angel watched after her. "That was Adriana."
"Adriana? Well who the hell is she?" He tossed his doused cigarette away and lit a fresh one. "Bloody bint ruined a perfectly good smoke." He grinned. "Looked like you two were taking quite the fancy to each other."
"That's enough, Spike." Angel turned and headed back to the room where he kept watch. Never sleeping.
*~*~*
Lilah stood in the center of a pentagram and chanted the Sumerian incantation while sprinkling the blood from the vile in her hand. Outside help was going to be needed. It was made very clear to her that the senior partners were becoming very disappointed with the fact that she had not obtained the baby. The blonde who was caught in one image of the security cameras was a mystery. No one had heard of her. She was otherworldly was all that the psychics would say. Well that wasn't good enough.
Lilah stabbed a dagger into the ground and fell back as a red light flooded up and the ground cracked. It was time to play hardball.
*~*~*
Everyone convened in the boys' room around noon since the vampires wouldn't be able to move about in the day. Giles and Olivia brought breakfast for all.
"So then what's all this about?" Spike asked as he snatched up a bagel.
Adriana picked at a muffin. "You wouldn't understand, William."
Spike huffed. "Okay, how does SHE know me?"
She grinned. "In my dimension, you were a gay painter."
He stood. "Hey now!" The room broke into snickers.
Cordelia's laughter was cut short as she screamed in pain, flying back on the bed, sobbing. Lindsey was at her side in an instant, cradling her close. "What is it?" he whispered softly. "What do you see?"
Tears streamed down her face. "Something big. She summoned something. It's powerful." She looked to Chandra. "And it's coming for you."
Angel wrapped his arm around Chandra and held her close. "Nothing will happen. We'll stop it."
Lindsey stroked Cordelia's hair back. "Who summoned it?"
"That bitch Lilah." She gripped her head and cried out again. "No!" She cowered into Lindsey's embrace.
Giles looked to Olivia. "Is there anything we can do?"
Olivia shrugged. "I've never dealt with visions like this."
Faith looked to Adriana. "You. I mean, you can help, right?"
Adriana sighed. "I can try." She knelt next to the bed and took Cordelia's hand. "I'll share the vision with you. It should lessen the pain." She gently pulled the frail seer into a warm hug and pressed her lips to her forehead. A warm blue glow emanated from them for a few minutes before dying down. "There…" She handed a whimpering Cordelia back to Lindsey and stumbled backwards.
Faith caught her. "Hey. You okay, babe?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I just need to sleep." She staggered over to the other bed and laid back. "It was… heavy…"
Cordelia looked up. "Thank you…"
Spike surveyed the scene in confusion. "What in the bloody hell was that?"
*~*~*
Ask dusk settled, Adriana had still not awoken. Cordelia had made some sketch of a bat-like creature with Angel's help. Spike, Gunn and Giles were all playing Gin. Chandra and Faith were practicing outside.
Olivia brought in bags of food for dinner. "She not awake?"
Angel shook his head as he watched her. "She's barely moved. But she's breathing. I'm hoping she'll be back soon though."
"Rupert was telling me that she has quite the resemblance to Buffy. Do you think so?"
"I… I don't know. Maybe." He took Adriana's hand. "She helped Cordelia. She's helping Chandra and her baby. She's fighting the good fight."
Adriana opened her eyes slowly, wincing. "Liam?"
Olivia's eyes shot to Angel, questioning.
He stroked her hand. "It's Angel. Do you remember what happened?" He lifted her head and brought a cup of water to her lips.
She sipped it slowly at first then brought her hands up to drink more. When she finished, she seemed more alert, her eyes now fully open. "Cordelia's vision. The Neryak beast!" She swung her legs over the side. "We have to keep moving. We have to make it to there before it finds us."
"What? Go where? And what's a Neryak beast?" Angel was grabbing the bags as he talked.
Adriana opened the front door and yelled for the slayers to pack it in. She wouldn't answer Angel's question, only piled everyone into the van and had Olivia speed out. The group bombarded Adriana with questions but she kept her eyes on the road, silent. The others gave up quickly, knowing that the Huntress' silence would be lengthy.
After another twenty miles, Angel placed his hand on her shoulder. "Buf... Adriana, what's going on?"
Spike looked up. "What did you almost call her?"
Angel and Adriana both whipped their heads around. "Nothing," he said quickly.
The blonde vampire wasn't buying it. "You almost called her Buffy!" He snarled and moved closer. "Why? Some sick twisted joke, Mate?"
Adriana swallowed. "It's okay. Let's all just calm down now. Evidently that lawyer has decided to put a contract out. The Neryak beasts are hired help from Hell itself. They don't stop until the bounty is claimed."
Giles took off his glasses. "Like the Order of Turaka?"
"Except with more resources. The Order of Turaka was bound by mortal coils. They could die. Neryak beasts cannot. They can be sent back to Hell, but it's not an easy task."
"You said we had to get there before them." Angel inserted. "Where is there?"
"A blessed ground outside of Rockaway, Oregon. It's sacred and they cannot enter."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell. What about me? Or Peaches there for that matter. Isn't sacred supposed to do something to us too?"
She shook her head. "Neither of you are purely from Hell."
"Why are they after me?" Chandra finally spoke up. "I mean, if my baby is supposed to bring the apocalypse..."
Adriana smiled at her. "It won't." She moved to the back of the van and sat next to Chandra. "Would you like to know about your daughter?"
Chandra's eyes brimmed with tears. "Daughter?" she smiled.
"Yes. You will have a little girl. What you name her has never been decided." Adriana stroked the younger girl's hair. "She'll look quite a bit like you. She will not be bringing about the apocalypse. She'll be here to fight it. She will be one of the most power things ever to come to our side. She is the Power of peace."
Chandra was smiling. "So I'm not going to destroy the world?"
She shook her head. "But while your baby is still in you, she's very fragile and can be killed. That or if Wolfram and Hart were to get a hold of her, she may turn to their way of things."
Gunn, Faith, Lindsey and Cordelia all looked to each other, in a glance expressing how they felt that they didn't have a part in this. Lindsey went to put his arm around Cordelia, but she shied away.
He leaned in to her ear and whispered. "I think we need to talk."
Cordelia sighed and turned to Adriana. "Can we take a rest stop break?"
She nodded and had Olivia take the next stop.
Lindsey took Cordelia's hand and led her to the lookout point. The blue waves looked black under the night sky, the full moon the only thing lighting up the area. He turned her to face him. "Look, what happened between me and Chandra was Wolfram and Hart's fault. Neither of us can be blamed."
She nodded and looked at her feet. "It's not like we're really 'together' or anything."
He tilted her chin up to look at him. "I'd like us to be together." He pressed his lips to hers gently, giving her ample opportunity to move. And when she didn't, he deepened the kiss a little more.
Clapping and whistling broke them apart. Gunn, Faith, Spike, and Chandra were all standing there watching them, applauding.
*~*~*
Giles, Olivia, Adriana and Angel stayed around the van to talk.
"This is serious. I mean, it always has been. But now we have more to face." Adriana began to pace. "I'm not sure if my powers will be enough to hold it off."
"We've dealt with Hell beasts before," Angel defended. "We should be able to do this."
Giles shook his head. "I don't know. It was different when Buffy was here. And then we also had Willow and…"
"But Buffy is here." Angel bit his lip. "I mean… you know, her essence?"
Olivia sighed. "We should contact the Council and let them know where we are taking her."
"Absolutely not." Adriana crossed her arms. "They want the baby as well."
"What?" Three shocked faces spoke at once.
She nodded. "They have good intentions I suppose, but the best thing for the baby is to stay with its mother."
"So we get there and do what?" Olivia asked. "Stay there forever?"
"No. Once the child is born it will set forth a chain of events to help us."
Olivia rolled her eyes and started walking away from the van. "You know this is the most ridicules—" Her eyes grew wide as she reached around to her back.
Giles ran to her. "Olivia?" He gasped and grabbed at the arrow coming from her back.
"Vampires!" Adriana shouted.
The group immediately got into fighting stance and in no time the vampires were dusted. But the damage had been done.
Giles couldn't keep his tears from falling. "No…"
Adriana put a hand on his shoulder. "There's still time. We'll bring her with us."
He glared at her. "Still time? She's dead!"
"But she can be saved. Please believe me."
"Believing you got her killed!" He grabbed Adriana by the front of her shirt and lifted her off of her feet. "Why should I trust you now?"
"Because I'm Buffy."
He scowled and glared into her eyes. "You lie."
"Look into my eyes. Tell me you don't see it. I'm her, yet I'm not. I'm from another dimension."
He stopped and studied her eyes. "My God…" He lowered her down. "But how?"
"There are many realities. And when your Buffy died, I came to protect this baby." She wiped his tears. "It's me. Trust me."
The others stood in shock as Giles wrapped her in a hug and cried.
Angel and Gunn loaded Olivia into the van, wrapping her in a sheet. Once everyone was back in, Gunn took the wheel and headed north. No stops would be made now.
The van came to a halt as they crossed the Oregon border in Brookings. Adriana got out and rounded up two rooms, one for girls, and one for boys. They filed in silently, worn and needing of sleep. Faith held Chandra close like a protective sister would so she could sleep. Olivia and Cordelia lay in the other bed. Adriana kept watch as she sat by the door.
Angel glared at Lindsey. "Lay down and shut up."
Lindsey sat on the bed and took off his shoes silently.
Giles looked at Gunn. "If you would like the bed I am more than capable of sleeping on the floor."
He grinned. "'Aight, G. I can dig it on the floor. Plush and all that." They both chuckled as Gunn took a pillow and blanket off the bed.
Angel was still glaring at Lindsey. "If you move from that bed I will kill you."
Lindsey rolled his eyes. "Should I piss here or do you want to mark your territory?"
The knock at the door stopped a response. Everyone tensed as Angel made his way to the door. The peephole was covered but there was a certain scent that was familiar. Sighing and rolling his eyes, he flung open the door. "Spike."
The blonder vampire grinned at him. "'Cello there, Peaches. Fancy seeing you here." He sauntered in and flopped down on the edge of Lindsey's bed. "Bit of a romp in here? You gents all gathered up and tearing the covers off and such."
Giles rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"Thought you and the little woman ran out pretty fast. Thought I might check out why." He turned to Lindsey. "Who are you?"
"Lindsey. And you must be William the Bloody." He grinned. "Angel's youngest."
Spike wrinkled his brow. "How does this maggot know who I am?"
He chuckled. "You think you aren't in Angel's file? The wannabe."
Spike stood and growled. "Who are you calling a wannabe?"
For a moment Angel had a dilemma of whose side to be on. "Look, let's all just try to get some sleep. The sun will be rising in a couple of hours. Spike" He sighed. "You can stay here."
Spike wiggled his eyebrows and flopped back next to Lindsey. "Thanks, Poof."
Angel looked to the ceiling. "Why me?" He glanced out the window and saw Adriana at the soda machine. "I'll be back. Stay here."
Spike saluted.
*~*~*
Adriana pressed a button on the soda machine and sighed when she heard it stick. "Damn." She pounded her fist against it to no avail.
Angel punched a different point and tilted the machine, her soda falling down. "There's a trick to most of these," he said quietly.
She picked it up and grinned a little. "Thank you." She dug through her pocket. "Would you like one?" She pulled out some change and handed it to him.
He picked a soda that fell easily out of the machine. "Maybe Cordelia would. I don't really drink soda."
"Right." She held on to both sodas and looked at her feet. "Well, I should be getting back then." She looked up at him and licked at her lips which were feeling awfully dry.
He put a hand on her shoulder and pressed her against the machine, making her drop the sodas as she flung her arms around his neck. She brought her lips close to his but didn't kiss him. Her breath felt warm against the chill of his mouth. "Don't," she whispered. "We can't."
He pulled back, trembling. "But"
"I'm not her. You know that." Shaking, she picked up the soda. "No matter how much it hurts, it would hurt more if we made love."
He looked down and nodded.
She turned and gasped, dropping the sodas again.
Angel looked up and rolled his eyes. "Damnit. I told you to stay put!"
Spike lit his cigarette. "No smoking in the motel room." He looked over Adriana. "And who might this be?" He watched her ass as she bent over to pick up the sodas a second time. "Nice…"
She spun to face him and slammed the sodas together in front of his face, making the cans explode and showering him. "Guess they got shaken," she mused. "I'll see you in the morning, Angel." She gave him a quick glance then retreated back to the girl's room.
Spike wiped his face. "Bloody hell! Who was that?"
Angel watched after her. "That was Adriana."
"Adriana? Well who the hell is she?" He tossed his doused cigarette away and lit a fresh one. "Bloody bint ruined a perfectly good smoke." He grinned. "Looked like you two were taking quite the fancy to each other."
"That's enough, Spike." Angel turned and headed back to the room where he kept watch. Never sleeping.
*~*~*
Lilah stood in the center of a pentagram and chanted the Sumerian incantation while sprinkling the blood from the vile in her hand. Outside help was going to be needed. It was made very clear to her that the senior partners were becoming very disappointed with the fact that she had not obtained the baby. The blonde who was caught in one image of the security cameras was a mystery. No one had heard of her. She was otherworldly was all that the psychics would say. Well that wasn't good enough.
Lilah stabbed a dagger into the ground and fell back as a red light flooded up and the ground cracked. It was time to play hardball.
*~*~*
Everyone convened in the boys' room around noon since the vampires wouldn't be able to move about in the day. Giles and Olivia brought breakfast for all.
"So then what's all this about?" Spike asked as he snatched up a bagel.
Adriana picked at a muffin. "You wouldn't understand, William."
Spike huffed. "Okay, how does SHE know me?"
She grinned. "In my dimension, you were a gay painter."
He stood. "Hey now!" The room broke into snickers.
Cordelia's laughter was cut short as she screamed in pain, flying back on the bed, sobbing. Lindsey was at her side in an instant, cradling her close. "What is it?" he whispered softly. "What do you see?"
Tears streamed down her face. "Something big. She summoned something. It's powerful." She looked to Chandra. "And it's coming for you."
Angel wrapped his arm around Chandra and held her close. "Nothing will happen. We'll stop it."
Lindsey stroked Cordelia's hair back. "Who summoned it?"
"That bitch Lilah." She gripped her head and cried out again. "No!" She cowered into Lindsey's embrace.
Giles looked to Olivia. "Is there anything we can do?"
Olivia shrugged. "I've never dealt with visions like this."
Faith looked to Adriana. "You. I mean, you can help, right?"
Adriana sighed. "I can try." She knelt next to the bed and took Cordelia's hand. "I'll share the vision with you. It should lessen the pain." She gently pulled the frail seer into a warm hug and pressed her lips to her forehead. A warm blue glow emanated from them for a few minutes before dying down. "There…" She handed a whimpering Cordelia back to Lindsey and stumbled backwards.
Faith caught her. "Hey. You okay, babe?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I just need to sleep." She staggered over to the other bed and laid back. "It was… heavy…"
Cordelia looked up. "Thank you…"
Spike surveyed the scene in confusion. "What in the bloody hell was that?"
*~*~*
Ask dusk settled, Adriana had still not awoken. Cordelia had made some sketch of a bat-like creature with Angel's help. Spike, Gunn and Giles were all playing Gin. Chandra and Faith were practicing outside.
Olivia brought in bags of food for dinner. "She not awake?"
Angel shook his head as he watched her. "She's barely moved. But she's breathing. I'm hoping she'll be back soon though."
"Rupert was telling me that she has quite the resemblance to Buffy. Do you think so?"
"I… I don't know. Maybe." He took Adriana's hand. "She helped Cordelia. She's helping Chandra and her baby. She's fighting the good fight."
Adriana opened her eyes slowly, wincing. "Liam?"
Olivia's eyes shot to Angel, questioning.
He stroked her hand. "It's Angel. Do you remember what happened?" He lifted her head and brought a cup of water to her lips.
She sipped it slowly at first then brought her hands up to drink more. When she finished, she seemed more alert, her eyes now fully open. "Cordelia's vision. The Neryak beast!" She swung her legs over the side. "We have to keep moving. We have to make it to there before it finds us."
"What? Go where? And what's a Neryak beast?" Angel was grabbing the bags as he talked.
Adriana opened the front door and yelled for the slayers to pack it in. She wouldn't answer Angel's question, only piled everyone into the van and had Olivia speed out. The group bombarded Adriana with questions but she kept her eyes on the road, silent. The others gave up quickly, knowing that the Huntress' silence would be lengthy.
After another twenty miles, Angel placed his hand on her shoulder. "Buf... Adriana, what's going on?"
Spike looked up. "What did you almost call her?"
Angel and Adriana both whipped their heads around. "Nothing," he said quickly.
The blonde vampire wasn't buying it. "You almost called her Buffy!" He snarled and moved closer. "Why? Some sick twisted joke, Mate?"
Adriana swallowed. "It's okay. Let's all just calm down now. Evidently that lawyer has decided to put a contract out. The Neryak beasts are hired help from Hell itself. They don't stop until the bounty is claimed."
Giles took off his glasses. "Like the Order of Turaka?"
"Except with more resources. The Order of Turaka was bound by mortal coils. They could die. Neryak beasts cannot. They can be sent back to Hell, but it's not an easy task."
"You said we had to get there before them." Angel inserted. "Where is there?"
"A blessed ground outside of Rockaway, Oregon. It's sacred and they cannot enter."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell. What about me? Or Peaches there for that matter. Isn't sacred supposed to do something to us too?"
She shook her head. "Neither of you are purely from Hell."
"Why are they after me?" Chandra finally spoke up. "I mean, if my baby is supposed to bring the apocalypse..."
Adriana smiled at her. "It won't." She moved to the back of the van and sat next to Chandra. "Would you like to know about your daughter?"
Chandra's eyes brimmed with tears. "Daughter?" she smiled.
"Yes. You will have a little girl. What you name her has never been decided." Adriana stroked the younger girl's hair. "She'll look quite a bit like you. She will not be bringing about the apocalypse. She'll be here to fight it. She will be one of the most power things ever to come to our side. She is the Power of peace."
Chandra was smiling. "So I'm not going to destroy the world?"
She shook her head. "But while your baby is still in you, she's very fragile and can be killed. That or if Wolfram and Hart were to get a hold of her, she may turn to their way of things."
Gunn, Faith, Lindsey and Cordelia all looked to each other, in a glance expressing how they felt that they didn't have a part in this. Lindsey went to put his arm around Cordelia, but she shied away.
He leaned in to her ear and whispered. "I think we need to talk."
Cordelia sighed and turned to Adriana. "Can we take a rest stop break?"
She nodded and had Olivia take the next stop.
Lindsey took Cordelia's hand and led her to the lookout point. The blue waves looked black under the night sky, the full moon the only thing lighting up the area. He turned her to face him. "Look, what happened between me and Chandra was Wolfram and Hart's fault. Neither of us can be blamed."
She nodded and looked at her feet. "It's not like we're really 'together' or anything."
He tilted her chin up to look at him. "I'd like us to be together." He pressed his lips to hers gently, giving her ample opportunity to move. And when she didn't, he deepened the kiss a little more.
Clapping and whistling broke them apart. Gunn, Faith, Spike, and Chandra were all standing there watching them, applauding.
*~*~*
Giles, Olivia, Adriana and Angel stayed around the van to talk.
"This is serious. I mean, it always has been. But now we have more to face." Adriana began to pace. "I'm not sure if my powers will be enough to hold it off."
"We've dealt with Hell beasts before," Angel defended. "We should be able to do this."
Giles shook his head. "I don't know. It was different when Buffy was here. And then we also had Willow and…"
"But Buffy is here." Angel bit his lip. "I mean… you know, her essence?"
Olivia sighed. "We should contact the Council and let them know where we are taking her."
"Absolutely not." Adriana crossed her arms. "They want the baby as well."
"What?" Three shocked faces spoke at once.
She nodded. "They have good intentions I suppose, but the best thing for the baby is to stay with its mother."
"So we get there and do what?" Olivia asked. "Stay there forever?"
"No. Once the child is born it will set forth a chain of events to help us."
Olivia rolled her eyes and started walking away from the van. "You know this is the most ridicules—" Her eyes grew wide as she reached around to her back.
Giles ran to her. "Olivia?" He gasped and grabbed at the arrow coming from her back.
"Vampires!" Adriana shouted.
The group immediately got into fighting stance and in no time the vampires were dusted. But the damage had been done.
Giles couldn't keep his tears from falling. "No…"
Adriana put a hand on his shoulder. "There's still time. We'll bring her with us."
He glared at her. "Still time? She's dead!"
"But she can be saved. Please believe me."
"Believing you got her killed!" He grabbed Adriana by the front of her shirt and lifted her off of her feet. "Why should I trust you now?"
"Because I'm Buffy."
He scowled and glared into her eyes. "You lie."
"Look into my eyes. Tell me you don't see it. I'm her, yet I'm not. I'm from another dimension."
He stopped and studied her eyes. "My God…" He lowered her down. "But how?"
"There are many realities. And when your Buffy died, I came to protect this baby." She wiped his tears. "It's me. Trust me."
The others stood in shock as Giles wrapped her in a hug and cried.
Angel and Gunn loaded Olivia into the van, wrapping her in a sheet. Once everyone was back in, Gunn took the wheel and headed north. No stops would be made now.