FUTURE IMPERFECT
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.
CHAPTER 23-CAUGHT BETWEEN A ROCK AND A PISSED OFF FIRE BREATHING REPTILLIAN DEMON
Wesley shot out of the kitchen and into the living room like he had been fired from a cannon. Faith had been in the middle of trying to feed Hope her lunch when Angel had received the phone call. Gunn and Connor had been outside playing with the two newest additions to the family. Liam and Christopher were sound asleep in one of the spare rooms with Anya and Xander silently watching them. Fred and Willow had almost locked themselves in the computer room, both endlessly searching for anything that could be of help in treating Gwen's condition while Giles had been on his cell phone trying to get in touch with any of his local contacts.
"Angel what…happened," Wesley demanded with a look of shock and anger on his face as he scanned his gaze over the hole in his wall and then back to Angel.
"That bastard…Riley…the Initiative did it, the dart it had demon venom on it, if we don't stop an apocalypse for them and get rid of a bunch of fire breathing demons they'll let her die…her and your friends Callie and Nick," Angel answered with a very grim look on her face as he clenched his fists tightly and tried his best to fight the temptation to trash the entire house.
"Callie and Nick…but how did he…of course…," Wesley started to ask with a nervous and confused look on his face before he rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead.
"What…you know why Riley took your friends," Cordelia asked with a worried look on her face as she watched Gwen cough.
"This Riley must need them as collateral to make sure that not only Angel but the rest of us help out in defeating the demons that are at the center of this entire mess, but what I don't understand is how Riley, or the Initiative for that matter knew that Nick had anything to do with the Dringogen texts or these demons," Wesley wondered aloud with a very serious frown on his face as he began to pace around the room, his gaze going to the hole in the wall on a regular basis.
"Sorry…I'll pay for that," Angel interjected with a sheepish look on his face as he nodded towards the hole in the wall and then took a sip of blood.
"I know that you will Angel…but Wes wasn't Nick trying to decipher that appendix to the Dringogen texts, to see if he couldn't find something that would help us," Faith asked with a baleful eye cast towards Angel as she entered the room and looked up at her husband.
"Yes…he was…one of their operatives must have seen him deciphering it in the library and put two and two together…," Wesley answered with an impatient frown on his face as he walked over and sat down on the floor underneath the windows.
"And knew that they could use your friends to use as leverage against you," Cordelia said with a nervous and scared look on her face as she turned towards Angel before downing another sip of coffee.
"Well this time those Initiative goons messed with the wrong family," Dawn declared with a very indignant and serious look on her face as she walked to the center of the room and crossed her arms, letting a tuft of hair unintentionally fall over her face.
"The wrong family…," Connor asked with a confused look on his face as he looked over from his position near the doorway, eternal pout firmly in place.
"Yes…the wrong family, all of us Connor…everyone here from Buffy and I and the rest of the Scooby's from Sunnydale and you Connor and you Angel and everyone else from Los Angeles…we're a family…alright a really odd and creepy family but a family nonetheless," Dawn replied with a nervous look on her face as she searched for the right words to say to get her point across.
"That we are Nibblet…that we are…and families protect each other, right Peaches," Spike added with a soft smile on his face as he turned towards his former grandsire and slightly nodded his head. Angel sat in stone silence for a few seconds before he looked up and saw that for the first time in a long time Spike wasn't trying to make his words out as a joke or humorous affair but being completely serious.
"Right…you're right Spike, Dawn…we are a family and as friends of Wesley and Faith's Nick and Callie are a part of the family to, now what we have to do is figure out a way to defeat those demons and also get Nick and Callie out of the Initiative's grasp without harming them…," Angel declared with a very serious look on his face as he stood up and walked around the room, looking first Spike and then Dawn in the eye.
"Maybe I should talk to Riley, see if I could get some hint as to where he was keeping them, he'll talk to me no matter how off his rocker he's gotten," Buffy offered with a worried look on her face as she walked up beside Spike and bit her bottom lip.
"Hell no pet…I'm not letting you within a mile of that…," Spike started to protest before a stern look from Buffy cut him off.
"I know that you're worried about me Spike…you to Angel, but I don't think that Riley would hurt me…at least anymore than he already did back in Sunnydale, would it make either one of you two mother hens feel better if I took Gunn and Willow with me to meet him," Buffy said with a calm but restrained look of nervousness on her face as she looked back and forth between Angel and Spike. Both the current and former vampires silently debated the offer for a bit before both reluctantly nodded their heads, almost in unison. "Good…now all that I have to do is try and remember any of the ways that I used to contact him…," Buffy mumbled softly with a triumphant smile on her face before Giles entered the room.
"Anything," Faith asked with a concerned look on her face as she cracked the kitchen door open a bit and kept watch on Hope, who sat quietly in her high chair.
"Unfortunately no Faith, I've had no luck at all, back in Sunnydale the Initiative wasn't that hard to find per say…if one knew what to look for that is…but here in this…city…it's like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack," Giles answered with a grim expression on his face as he slid his cell phone back into his pocket and knelt down beside Gwen.
"Don't take this the wrong way Buffy…but when I get my hands on that bastard I'm going to show him and the Initiative why the name of Angelus has been feared for two and a half centuries," Angel stated with a very determined and angry look on his face as he peered out through the blinds.
"Angel…don't forget that he's married, no matter how much of a jerk he is," Buffy whispered softly with a worried look on her face after she conveyed her intentions first to Spike with her eyes and walked over to stand beside her former lover.
"I've killed married men before Buffy, he won't be any different…," Angel mumbled under his breath so that only Buffy could hear him, although because of their slayer hearing Dawn and Faith heard also, with the latter casting a pleading look Wesley's way.
"Yes he will Angel…because you know better than to kill him…," Buffy pleaded softly with a look of fear in her eyes that Angel's anger calmed a bit at the sight.
"Besides Peaches…that's my job," Spike added with a sinister smirk on his face before Buffy wheeled around and glared strongly his way. "Sorry…," he added with a sullen frown on his face before Wesley stood up.
"Well we won't get anything done just sitting around here and making idle threats all day, Spike and I will visit first the library and then Nick and Callie's apartments, hopefully we'll find something…," Wesley said with a positive look on his face as he walked slowly back towards the kitchen door, casting a quick glance at the worsening Gwen along the way.
"Let's pray that we do mate…let's bloody well pray that we do," Spike muttered softly with a very dark look on his face as he turned and followed Wesley out of the living room.
* * * * * *
"Where do you think we are," Callie asked with a terrified look in her eyes, and a tear running down her cheek, as she turned back to Nick, who gingerly touched the growing bump on the side of his head and winced in pain.
"I don't know, the last thing that I remember was kissing you…then everything went black," Nick replied with a nervous look on his face before he saw Callie tremble a bit and rushed to her side, taking her in his arms and trying his best to allay her fears, even if he was scared himself. From what he could see of the dimly lit room the two were in what looked like an old dowdy hotel room that had seen better days. There were two identical beds up against one wall that looked more the home for dust mites and the like than two people. On a small table across the room there were what looked like two plates of long cold food and two cups of warm water.
"Same here…except I think that there was someone else in the room…right before everything went black, someone that threw something into the room…then there was smoke and…," Callie mumbled out softly with a confused and scared look on her face as she and Nick staggered back to their feet and looked around the room.
"You're right…there was a lot of smoke in the room before everything went black…but I didn't hear anything…," Nick wondered aloud with a concerned look on his face as he led Callie over to the table and helped her to sit down.
"Of course you didn't hear anything…it's how they work, all cloak and dagger…never taking the more direct approach," A voice from behind said with an almost amused tone to his voice, causing both Nick and Callie to jump and spin around.
"Who are you," Nick and Callie asked in unison with alarmed and defensive looks on their faces as Nick hurriedly pushed Callie behind him even though she was the better fighter of the two.
"Sorry to startle you two but your moping around was seriously cramping my style…," The man said with a bored expression on his face as he calmly adjusted his hat and looked around the room. "Man…would you look at this place…reminds me of a few of the dumps that I've stayed in over the centuries…but they had more dust in them," The man added with an odd smirk on his face before he turned his attention back to Nick and Callie.
"Alright…whoever you are…stay where you are, don't come any closer," Callie exclaimed with a fake look of strength and anger on her face as Nick hoped that the stranger would heed her warning and stay away.
"Oh don't worry about me; I'm nobody that you need to be worried about…the name's Whistler by the way," Whistler replied with a tired smile on his face as he walked over to one of the beds and sat down, almost instantly he began to test the springs.
"Whistler…what kind of name is that…," Nick questioned softly aloud with a confused look on his face as he made sure to stay in between Callie and Whistler.
"Don't really know…but first things first, I'm just your average immortal demon sent down from on high to balance things out between good and evil, and what do you know, this time the two of you are going to help me do that…," Whistler answered with a tired yawn as he laid down on the bed and winked at Callie before instantly falling asleep, stripping either Nick or Callie from being able to ask another question.
* * * * * *
"You sure this is the place," Spike asked with a bored look on his face as he craned his neck to look around the doorframe without actually setting foot inside the apartment.
"I'm sure Spike, now would you please step aside," Wesley replied with a frustrated look on his face as he pushed past Spike and strode into the apartment.
"Alright then…so how do you know these two…," Spiked asked with an inquisitive smirk on his face as he spotted the kitchen and headed towards the refrigerator. He had it open and was rummaging through it before Wesley could answer.
"Nick and Callie are friends of mine and Faith, we met them shortly after I took the teaching job here, at first we lied to them about who we really were for their own protection, but when Dawn showed up looking for help with the Dringogen texts we told them everything, or at least enough so that they wouldn't look at us as if we were strangers," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he slowly began to look around the rest of the apartment.
"Did it work," Spike asked with a nonchalant expression on his face as he poked his head above the refrigerator door for a split second before returning to scanning the appliances shelves.
"Provided that we all live through this latest apocalypse…I honestly don't know," Wesley replied with a slightly confused and worried look on his face as he stopped searching through the apartment for a few seconds and turned back towards the kitchen.
"Hell of a way to go through life mate," Spike mused with a bored frown on his face before he found what he was looking for and grabbed a bottle of beer and began to look around for a bottle opener.
"Agree, but it's all that we can do at the moment and…where did you get that," Wesley started to reply with an impatient sigh before he saw Spike take a long swig from the bottle of beer.
"The bloody fridge…don't worry there's still plenty left," Spike said with a confused look of annoyance on his face before a hint of something in the air caught his attention and he inhaled deeply.
"That's not the point Spike, you shouldn't have taken it in the first place, this isn't your home," Wesley declared with an angry expression on his face before he was forced to follow Spike into the bedroom.
"It's not your home either Pryce but that didn't stop you from traipsing around here like it was," Spike replied with a look of deep concentration on his face before he inhaled deeply again in an attempt to home in on the scent that he had first noticed in the living room.
"Have you always been this annoying Spike," Wesley asked with an angry look on his face before Spike got down on his hands and knees and began spelunking around under the bed.
"Pretty much…maybe a little more so in my younger days, but right now I think that we should be talking less about my attitude and more about this…," Spike answered with a serious look on his face before he found what he was looking for and stood up, an empty gas grenade in his hand.
* * * * * *
"You sure that you got it right Buffy…I mean when you tried to get in touch with Riley to help Spike with his chip you had a hard time remembering how to contact him," Willow asked with a nervous smile on her face as she jammed her hands into her pockets and tried her best to not look straight at Buffy.
"I think so Will…I don't think that he'll stand me up," Buffy answered with a nervous look on her face before Gunn broke in.
"Yeah well come or not, whatever he's going to do…or not do he'd better do it soon because we've been here for over an hour already and…," Gunn interjected with a bored and frustrated look on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and looked around. After Buffy had tried the only way that she remembered to contact Riley the trio had driven to Central Park and waited underneath one of the large trees.
"There he is," Willow exclaimed with a scared and relieved tone to her voice, prompting Gunn to reach around behind his back and double check that the knife that he had placed there earlier without Buffy or Willow's knowledge was still there. He knew that a knife wouldn't do much good against guns and all of the gadgets that he guessed that the Initiative had at their disposal, but after listening to Angel and Spike talk about them Gunn had decided that he couldn't go into the meeting unarmed. Buffy looked up to see Riley, in full Initiative gear, walking towards them with an annoyed and nervous looking Sam close behind.
"Buffy…," Riley said with his usual chipper smile and air about him as Sam kept averting her eyes so that Buffy could never look her straight in the eye.
"Riley…," Buffy returned the sentiment with a happy smile that she had no love for as Riley slowly nodded his head and then turned to Willow.
"Willow, nice to see you again, everything okay," Riley asked with a sincere smile on his face as Gunn kept a hand near the hilt of the knife, just in case.
"Pretty much," Was all that Willow could get out as an answer before Gunn stepped in front of her and extended his hand, the one that had been at the hilt of the knife.
"You probably don't know me but…," Gunn started to say as he and Riley shook hands before Sam looked up and cut in after softly clearing her throat.
"Charles Gunn, former leader of a ragtag band of street children in the slums of Los Angeles before joining forces with Angelus, Cordelia Chase, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce at Angel Investigations to fight the good fight," Sam stated with an emotionless tone to her voice as she clasped her hands tightly behind her back and her gaze locked onto a small leaf as it fluttered to the ground.
"Damn…guess you guys know everyone," Gunn joked with a fake smile on his face before he returned to stand beside Buffy.
"Almost…," Sam replied in a soft whisper before she turned away and watched a couple push their young child in front of them in a stroller. Her expression of calm sagged deeply into a painful look of sadness at the sight of something that she wanted but didn't have.
"Buffy…could we maybe go somewhere a little bit…quieter, we're to out in the open here," Riley said softly with a serious frown on his face as he bent forward a bit.
"We could Riley…but we're not going to, this talk is going to happen right here out in the open, and I don't really give a damn if you like it or not," Buffy said back in reply with an unshakeable look on her face that gave Riley little doubt that she was serious about what she had said.
"Fine…so what was it that you wanted to talk to me about," Riley said with a slightly nervous look on his face as he jammed his hands into his pockets and looked straight at Buffy.
"You've got some nerve you know that, acting like you don't already know why…I don't care what your little game is here Riley, give me the antidote to help Gwen," Buffy declared with an angry scowl on her face and her hands on her hips as Gunn half expected Buffy to slap Riley upside the head.
"Sorry Buffy but you know that I can't do that, Angel does what we want and I'll be more than happy to give him the antidote, and if he doesn't….well that's no skin off my back," Riley replied with an equally serious look on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and stared up at the sky.
"You're one sick son of a bitch," Gunn growled with an angry scowl on his face as his hands clenched into fists as his side.
"I only carry out the orders Charles, I don't make them, tell Angel to do the job if he wants his girlfriend to live…and don't try to contact me again," Riley exclaimed with a cold tone to his voice before he turned and walked away. Sam turned around quickly and for a second looked to be about to apologize but then snapped her mouth shut and followed after her husband.
"Well that went well…," Gunn joked with an angry expression on his face as Buffy hung her head and Willow kicked a small rock away.
END OF CHAPTER 23
