FUTURE IMPERFECT
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Callie, Nick, and Hope.
CHAPTER 26-PLAYING SPY AND NOT A GOOD WAY TO WAKE UP
Spike charged back through the wall with a very combative shout before Buffy could go to his aid. Dawn had resorted to using the large malt glasses as weapons, wielding them as blunt objects to be smashed into the side of the head or into some other sensitive area. Buffy had tossed a couple of vampires over the counter and slammed them down into the fryers, laughing as they howled in pain and tore back out of the diner.
"This is getting us nowhere," Dawn shouted with an annoyed frown on her face as the vampires seemed to not be feeling the effects of Dawn's weapon of choice any longer.
"Won't argue with that Bit, but it's not like we have a lot of options," Spike shouted back with a nervous frown on his face as he smashed a chair over the back of another of the vampires. Buffy started to say something but stopped when two vampires grabbed her from behind and threw her through a door into the back of the diner. "Buffy," Spike exclaimed with an exasperated look of worry and panic on his face as he snapped his head around and caught sight of Buffy flying through the door. Dawn hadn't seen Buffy go crashing through the door but had heard it and that coupled with Spike's sudden shout alerted her to what was going on around her. "Dawn," Spike shouted with an alarmed tone to his voice as he grabbed her collar and pulled hard as the two tore back into the back of the diner.
* * * * * *
"What's he doing now," Anya asked with a nervous look on her face as she kept her head down behind the overly large novelty menu.
"The same thing that he was doing five minutes ago An…eating, which is something that we should think about doing, I'm starving…," Xander grumbled back his reply with a bored look on his face as he laid his chin down onto his crossed arms on the table in front of him.
"Xander…how can you think of food at a time like this, we're tracking a dangerous fugitive through the city and all that you can think about is something to fill your stomach…," Anya nearly shouted back with an annoyed scowl on her face as she rolled her eyes a bit before elbowing Xander in the shoulder.
"I hardly think that he's a dangerous fugitive An…he's just an old man that owns a magic shop, and can I help it if I get hungry after not eating for almost a full twenty four hours…you didn't even let me eat any lunch," Xander pleaded back with a sad pout on his face as he pushed the salt shaker forward a bit with his index finger.
"He has something to do with the kidnapping of Wesley and Faith's two friends, I just know it, and it was your fault that you didn't eat lunch," Anya quick replied with a nervous look on her face as she lifted her head up and took a quick peek over the top of her menu at Mr. Saburon.
* * * * * *
Hinging on her slayer senses Faith was the first to awaken that next morning, sensing that there was someone else in the house. Her eyes flew open and she snapped her head back and up, great for a slayer in defense of her home and loved ones, but terrible luck for Wesley. Unintentionally Faith had snapped her head up to the wrong side and cracked Wesley hard in the forehead, immediately waking him up.
"Bloody…," Wesley growled with a very painful scowl on his face as his eyes shot open and he brought a hand to his forehead as Faith blanched in regret and hunched her shoulders a bit.
"Sorry…," Faith mumbled softly with a truly regretful tone to her voice before she slowly slipped out of Wesley's arms and pulled Hope, who had yet to fully wake up, more tightly into her arms.
"Easy…Faith, it's just me…or at least what's left of me," Angel replied with a sheepish grin on his face as Sam helped him over to the first chair that they came to before she stood back up and looked nervously around the room.
"You…have a really nice house," Sam said with a transparently nervous look on her face as he voice faltered a bit and she began to fidget somewhat with her hands.
"Who's this…," Faith asked with a deadly serious look on her face as she turned away from Sam and took a step back to keep as much distance between Hope and Sam.
"Hi…I'm Sam…Sam Finn…Riley Finn's wife…," Sam replied softly as she tried to put on her best and least threatening smile, one that had served her well years earlier when she had been introduced to another slayer and her friends and family.
"What…Faith take Hope into the kitchen and…," Wesley started to question with a very concerned look on his face, and one hand on his forehead, as he took a step forward and towards Sam.
"Stop…Wesley…," Angel exclaimed as loudly as he could before a fit of coughing overtook him and he doubled over in pain.
"Angel…you…," Wesley started to say with a very angry scowl on his face as he balled his hands up into fists after seeing the front of Angel's shirt that was coated in blood.
"I'm fine…she's not our enemy," Angel interjected with a very serious look on his face as he tried to stand to further emphasize his point but winced in pain sharply before collapsing back into his chair.
"Says the vampire with a torso that looks like Swiss cheese…why should we," Faith joked with her sarcastic smirk of old on her face as she cocked her head to one side and held Hope close.
"He fought with a few guards before I could get to him…one of them got off a few shots…," Sam said with a concerned and slightly less nervous look on her face as she took a deep breath and tried to relax.
"A few shots…more like the entire bloody clip, Faith get the first aid kit from under the sink and bring some water and bandages in here," Wesley ordered with an authoritative tone to his voice as he walked over and stood beside Faith.
"Why should I…you know what…fine…I'll do it…but only because I don't want Angel to bleed all over the rug," Faith said with a restrained look of anger on her face before she handed Hope over to Wesley and disappeared into the kitchen, but not before giving the evil eye to Sam as she went.
"May I ask what you were doing by the docks…," Wesley asked with a serious look on his face as he walked over and sat Hope down in her small playpen.
"Finding them…," Angel replied with a pained grimace on his face as he gingerly slipped his coat off and was careful to keep the side with blood on it off of the floor.
* * * * * *
"Are they still back there," Buffy asked with a tense frown on her face as she hunched down in her seat and turned to Spike. After tearing out of the diner Spike had flagged down a bus. They had slumped down into their seats far in the back, hoping that they'd be able to come back later and pick up the rental car that they had left in front of the diner.
"I'm not sure…I don't see them but that doesn't mean anything," Spike replied with a grim look on his face as he continued to gaze out through the bus's dirty back window.
"What do we do now," Dawn asked with a worried look on her face as she risked a quick peek over the back of the seat before sighing in relief as just as Spike had said she didn't see anyone.
"Now we get back to the hotel and lock the door, you can stay with us tonight Dawn, I'm not going to let you try to go back to the dorm's with Depp and his goons out there hunting us down," Buffy replied with a nervous look on her face as Spike could tell from the look in her eyes that she was trying to come up with an award winning plan to deal with their problem.
"He's not after you pet…he's after me…," Spike said with a slightly sarcastic smirk on his face as he turned around and sat down in the seat beside Buffy.
"Same thing William, they want you so they'll use Dawn and I to do it…if they don't just kill us first," Buffy mumbled softly with a very serious tone to her voice as she laid her head on Spike's shoulder and sighed deeply.
"I'll never let that happen luv…they try anything and I'll stake em nice and proper," Spike added with a deadly serious tone to his voice as he moved Buffy's head off of his shoulder just long enough to loop an arm around her waist and pull her close.
* * * * * *
"What do you think…should we believe her story," Wesley asked softly as he and Faith sat in the kitchen with Hope in her high chair while in the living room Angel was doing his best to keep from bleeding and bemoaning his ruined shirt.
"I don't know, it seemed sincere…but I just have a funny feeling that she's not telling us everything, and I'm seriously not liking how Angel seems to be trusting her," Faith answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders before the microwave beeped and she rose to get their mugs out.
"He's trusting her because she says that she can give us the antidote that'll help Gwen, but aside from that I think that…thank you…that once again the rules have been changed, Riley isn't going to be to happy when he learns of what Sam is doing," Wesley added with a thoughtful look of concern on his face as he accepted the mug that Faith handed him and dipped his teabag into the steaming hot water.
"Hopefully he won't figure it out till at least lunchtime, because we're nowhere near prepared for a fight right now, we'd be easy pickings," Faith guessed with a serious look on her face as she dipped her own teabag into her mug and pushed a few soggy Cheerios a little closer to Hope.
"Let's hope that it doesn't come to that honey…right now though we need to move fast, once Riley figures out that Sam isn't where he thinks she is who knows what he'll do to Nick and Callie, Sam's seemingly sudden change of heart has put us all at risk," Wesley surmised with a grim look on his face before he blew away some of the steam and took a drink of his tea.
"Riley won't do anything stupid…at least not until he knows that I'm safe, I can guarantee that…unfortunately though I'm afraid that I can't say the same thing for our superiors, they could always overrule Riley and decide to cleanse the entire operation and everyone involved, including all of you," Sam interrupted with a somber and worried look on her face as she slowly slipped into the kitchen and kept a respective distance from Hope.
"Yeah well you'd better hope that your bosses in the Initiative don't go over your heads and decided to strike right now, because if any of my friends get hurt or die I'll hold you accountable," Faith said softly with a very sure and deadly serious frown on her face as she only half looked up at Sam, who swallowed hard and nodded her head. "Oh and just so that you know, if anything…and I mean anything, happens to Wesley or our daughter…I'll snap your neck like a toothpick," Faith added with a look of death on her face as she locked eyes with Sam and conveyed the seriousness of her threat through the look in her eyes. Sam shivered a bit under Faith's intense and angry glare.
"She'll do it to…and the same goes for me…," Wesley added softly with an equally serious look on his face and tone to his voice as he gently wiped some drool off of Hope's chin.
"Okay…death threats accepted, alphabetized, duly noted, cross referenced, and filed away, anything else…," Sam replied with a scared smile on her face as she tried to stay calm and crossed her arms.
"Yeah…tell us everything that you know about what the Initiative's plan is here, and don't leave anything out…no matter how insignificant," Angel stated softly yet forcefully through a pained wince on his face as he shuffled into the kitchen and sat down in a chair beside Wesley.
* * * * * *
Buffy hadn't been able to sleep very well that night and as such was up early, getting an update on Gwen's condition. Even though she had protested Spike had insisted on letting Dawn share the bed with her while he bunked out for the night on the only upholstered chair in the room. From the way that he was lying when Buffy had woken up she guessed that he'd have a hell of a stiff neck when he woke up. She had taken a quick trip a few blocks away from their hotel and had brought breakfast back for the three of them. She had no sooner stepped back inside the room before Dawn slid out of the bedroom, yawning widely and using the wall to keep herself on her feet.
"Good morning sleepy head," Buffy whispered with a slight snicker as she set the bags down on the table and pulled out a chair.
"Yeah…n what's so good about it," A half asleep Spike mumbled loudly before yawning deeply and sitting up, almost instantly grimacing at the stiffness in his neck.
"Well for starters we're all still amongst the living and secondly Gwen's fever doesn't seem to be as bad as it was yesterday," Buffy replied with a relieved smile on her face before she giggled softly at Spike's attempts to get the kink out of his neck.
"That's good news…any word on Riley or the Initiative," Dawn asked through a mouthful of muffin as she slid into a chair next to Buffy.
"Not yet…but Giles was going to call Wesley pretty soon and get an update on how Angel is doing…," Buffy answered with a worried and concerned look on her face before she took a sip of her orange juice.
"Don't worry luv, ole Peaches will be just fine…at least as long as he doesn't go and do something stupid like try to take the entire Initiative on all by himself…bloody…," Spike started to reassure Buffy with a sarcastic smile on his face before he sat upright suddenly with the realization that his words were exactly something that Angel would consider. At that realization Buffy nearly spat out her mouthful of orange juice.
"The phone…Spike, I need to…stop him…," Buffy started to stammer out with a worried look of panic on her face after she quickly swallowed her mouthful of orange juice and set the cup down on the table. Almost instantly Spike was up and out of his chair encircling Buffy with his arms.
"Easy Buffy…easy…if Angel was going to go all commando on the Initiative then he would have done so last night, while we were busy fending off Depp and his lot," Spike exclaimed quickly as he tried his best to calm Buffy's nerves and to keep her from doing something rash.
"Which only means that…," Buffy started to say with a worried, and slightly angry, frown on her face before Dawn interrupted.
"He's already gone and done it and nothing that anyone says will make any difference now so you should both calm down and eat some breakfast…," Dawn piped up with an amused smirk on her face before she took another bite of her muffin.
"Dawn's right Buffy, it's to late to stop him…best that we can hope for now is that he didn't get himself killed," Spike added with a serious look on his face as he felt Buffy reluctantly relax as he helped her down into the chair that he had vacated.
"I know…the least that he could have done was…," Buffy started to mope with a sad pout on her face before she grabbed her cup of juice and guided the straw to her mouth.
"Tell everyone and let you get all wigged out like you are…it wouldn't be good for the baby for you to get all bent out of shape like that…," Dawn interjected with an almost amused smirk on her face as she quickly swallowed her mouthful of muffin, nearly choking on it but spoke up anyway.
"Well sorry but I am all bent out of shape Dawn…God this is just like him you know, playing the part of the avenging crusader…ridding the world of wrongs…saving damsels in distress…probably had to stop to get a little kitten out of a tree to," Buffy moped with an angry and depressed frown on her face before she sucked in some more orange juice.
"Tell me about it…did I ever tell you about this onetime that he and I…," Spike started to add with an impish smirk on his face, while laying his hands gently on Buffy's shoulders and beginning to squeeze softly in an effort to give Buffy a massage, before he stopped abruptly as both Buffy and Dawn rolled their eyes and shook their heads.
"Please Spike, not another tale about you and Angel and how you used to be the two worst vamps in the world…," Dawn groaned out with an annoyed look on her face before she took a big bite of her muffin and tried not to laugh at the hurt look on Spike's face.
"Yes Will…I love you and all but sometimes you sound more like an old geezer than…," Buffy added softly with a patient smile on her face as she tilted her head back and looked straight up at Spike, who's face contorted through half a dozen emotions before he responded.
"I'm sorry if after living for almost two hundred years that all of my stories only get a moan and rolling of the eyes from the two of you…," Spike said softly with a slightly hurt look on his face, an utterance that prompted Buffy to smile warmly and reach a hand up to lightly pat him on the cheek.
"I've heard them all before," Dawn quipped with an amused smirk on her face before the phone rang and she sprang out of her chair before diving across the bed and grabbing the phone with her right hand. "Hello…," Dawn managed to mumble out through another mouthful of muffin before both Spike and Buffy watched as the expression on Dawn's face changed from one of almost glee to shock and concern to confusion and then to excitement.
"Who was that," Buffy asked softly with a concerned look on her face as Dawn lazily hung the phone up.
"Mmpf…Faith, she said that Angel has a lead on the Initiative…we're all supposed to meet at her and Wesley's house at ten…and you'll never guess where he got it from," Dawn replied with a confidant smile on her face before she nodded slightly to Buffy and ran into the bathroom to get ready.
"Now what luv…," Spike asked with a slightly confused expression on his face as he looked first at the shut bathroom door and then back down at Buffy.
"We hope that Angel's found the answer to all of our problems," Buffy answered softly with a hopeful yet worried look on her face before she leaned her head back down and took a large sip of her orange juice.
END OF CHAPTER 26
