FUTURE IMPERFECT
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.
CHAPTER 29- ---AN ENDING---
The ambulance ride to the hospital seemed like an eternity to Faith before the vehicle finally screeched to a halt in front of the automatic doors. Ever since she had found him lying on the ground in a large pool of his and the demon's blood time seemed to have begun going in slow motion, with everything taking an excruciating amount of time, even the smallest detail or action. The battle had ended right then and there for Faith as she had thrown her sword off to the side as if it were an empty soda bottle and didn't remember anyone calling for the ambulance. When she had first heard the siren she had rushed back inside the house and threw open one of the cupboards before pulling out Wesley's wallet and the purse that she rarely used but housed all of their emergency information and tearing back outside. Angel had tried to stand in her way and try to get her to calm down but she had been about to toss him through a wall when Hope had begun crying. Without uttering a word Faith had given Hope a tight hug, handed her over to Angel, and gave him a glare that threatened his death if anything happened to her daughter. After that she had flown back outside, just in time to leap into the ambulance before it departed.
The back doors to the ambulance were swung open and the paramedics quickly wheeled Wesley out of the ambulance and rushed him into the hospital, with Faith scrambling to keep up. In the process she knocked three orderlies off of their feet and nearly ran down an old woman that had chosen the most inopportune moment to try to take a walk. She clamped a hand down onto the railing of the gurney and held on tight just as the first doctor rushed in.
* * * * * *
"Ah, Cordelia…it's good to see you again," Lindsey said with a rather smug look on his face as he adjusted his tie and started to walk towards them, not even glancing down at the bodies of the demons until he was nearly standing on top of them.
"Oz," Willow stammered out in disbelief before she couldn't keep a smile from plastering itself all of the way across her face, one shadowed by her former lover as he waved.
"D….D…Doyle…," Cordelia garbled out softly as a cold chill wracked her body and she nearly dropped Liam before she handed her son to Connor and had to wrap her hands behind her back before her hands began to shake noticeably.
"Cordelia Chase…just the lady that I wanted to see…ye're looking as fine as ever…," Doyle exclaimed with his usually good natured smile only moments before he collected a startled Cordelia into a tight and warm hug. The hug continued to be one-sided for a time, with a confused Connor looking on, before the dam burst and Cordelia began to sob into Doyle's shoulder as she returned the hug with an added strength that Doyle didn't remember her having.
"It grieves me to see you cry princess," Groo interjected with a serious and concerned look on his face before he heartily shook hands with Gunn and smiled at an ecstatic Fred.
"Groo…I thought we talked about this…," Kate interrupted with an almost scolding tone to her voice before she crossed her arms in front of her and nodded her head to the group.
"Sorry…," Groo started to reply with a sad look on his face before Cordelia pulled back and slapped Doyle hard across the face.
"What…what was that for…," Doyle cried in disbelief, with a hand on his slightly red cheek, as he stumbled back a step or two.
"You idiot…you…weren't…supposed…to…die…you were…supposed to…," Cordelia screamed angrily at Doyle as she punctuated each word by pounding one of her fists on the half demon's chest before she collapsed back into his arms and let the tears fall again.
"Whoa…what's with Cordelia making with the big emotional scene…I know that she and Doyle used to work together but I never…," Oz whispered softly to Willow as he stepped up beside her and leaned in close.
"Me either…," Willow stammered back softly with a dumbfounded frown on her face as she only half turned her head to look over at Oz.
"We should get the bodies out of the open like this," Spike said loudly as he interrupted the touching reunion and knelt down beside one of the bodies.
"I will assist you," Groo offered up with a genuine smile on his face before Spike regarded him oddly for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and the two worked quickly to dump the bodies in the burn pile behind the barn.
"We'd better get inside and talk, Angel is probably going crazy right now wondering what the commotion is all about," Lindsey said with an almost, but not quite, smug smirk on his face as he looked over at the house before setting off towards the front steps.
* * * * * *
"What's happening now Dawn," Angel asked with a frustrated and worried look on his face as he inched closer to the window but groaned when he had to stop many feet away because of the long rays of sunlight filtering in through the window.
"I don't know…there's a stupid tree branch in the way…now let's see…there's a guy that's all dressed up in a suit and tie, a poorly dressed guy that Cordelia's hugging a little to much, a blonde woman, and a big guy that looks like he could give you a run for your money," Dawn answered with a confused and somewhat worried look on her face before she turned around and looked up and back at Angel.
"Oh wait…Dawn, you missed one…Oz," Giles said with a concerned and stoic frown on his face as he leaned over Dawn and gazed out of the window.
"Oz…Oz is here…cool," Xander quipped with an excited and surprised smile on his face as he rushed to the window, pushed Giles away, and looked out.
"Oh yes…cool, I'm going to check on Gwen, please call me if anything…uncool happens," Giles grumbled through a frustrated sigh as he shrugged his shoulders, adjusted his glasses, and then headed out of the room.
"Will do…," Angel exclaimed with a concerned frown on his face as he only half acknowledged that Giles had left the room.
* * * * * *
"Nice place Angel has here…funny…I never took him for being much of an interior decorator…but…," Lindsey started to say with an amused smirk on his face before Cordelia cut in.
"This isn't Angel's house, friends of ours…good…friends of ours live here…and I don't think that they'll like it very much if you get this place to dirty," Cordelia said with a deliberate tone and pacing to her voice as she did her best to stay in front of Lindsey, which turned out to be no small task.
"This is a nice castle…cottage…dwelling," Groo stammered out with an embarrassed smile on his face as he searched for the right word to express his sentiment.
"Not that we're not…glad…to have you here…uh, just what are you doing here anyway," Fred started to say with a slight mumble before she corrected herself and spoke clearly.
"Helping our friends save the world from the forces of evil," Oz chimed in with an optimistic smile on his face, one that Willow mirrored.
"Oh that's original, what next…snazzy code names and a catchy rallying cry…please, spare me the old…," Spike grumbled with a mocking smile on his face before he was silenced by Buffy with a sharp elbow to his ribs.
"Oz…how did you…I mean we tried to keep this…," Buffy started to ask with a confused look on her face, but serious glare over at Spike, before Angel gingerly descended the stairs and almost instantly came face to face with Lindsey.
"Lindsey…what the hell are you doing here," Angel started off with a startled tone of voice before he set his jaw and glared straight ahead at the former lawyer.
"Angel…what's this…you don't look very glad to see me," Lindsey said back with an almost smug smirk on his face as he kept his gaze locked onto Angel for a few seconds before turning away and walking back into the living room.
"Why should I," Angel growled back as he did his best to follow after Lindsey but was slowed by his injuries.
"Because he brought us," Oz stated with a nervous smile on his face before every eye in the room turned his way.
* * * * * *
She watched as a pair of orderlies pushed an old woman on a gurney down the hall from one room to another. The woman had been mostly out of it, probably from the many effects of one drug or another that she was on, but the sight had only served to further fray her already skittish nerves. Try as she might she had not been able to follow Wesley any farther than the first trauma room, being asked to wait in the waiting room until a doctor that knew what was going on came and talked to her. Had she been the Faith of years past she would have ripped the waiting room apart, people and all. But now she had set about biting her fingernails, reducing them to almost nothing, and pacing dangerously around the room to keep herself busy while she waited. She watched as patients and families came and went and yet still no information about Wesley. Finally trying to calm her frayed nerves she sat down in a lone chair that was set off from the others and tried her best to find something outside to catch her attention.
"Mrs. Wyndam-Pryce," A doctor asked softly with a concerned and serious tone to his voice as he slowly shuffled into the waiting room and looked around. Faith had spun around in her seat and locked her gaze onto the doctor before he had finished speaking.
"Yes…," Faith exclaimed with a very nervous look on her face as she bolted up out of the chair and rushed over to the doctor, so quickly in fact that the doctor cringed in fear a bit before calming down.
"You're husband is in surgery right now to try to close up the wounds that he received…may I ask how he obtained those garish wounds," The doctor asked with a scared look on his face as he shuffled his feet and tried not to sound to negative.
"Uh…ah fuck it…sorry doc but you wouldn't believe me if I told you…but he's going to be okay right…," Faith started to reply with a sheepish grin on her face before she shook her head angrily and almost spat out the rest.
"I'm sorry to say that we won't know that until after he comes out of surgery Mrs. Wyndam-Pryce, otherwise I'd only be giving you false hope, and that's the last thing that I want to do right now, so I'm sorry but you're going to have to wait a while longer," The doctor said with an apologetic look on his face as Faith did her best to control her temper before he turned and walked back through the doors and back out of the waiting room.
"Fuck…," Faith grumbled with an annoyed scowl on her face as she pounded her left fist into the open palm of her right hand before she sulked back to her seat and pulled it up to the window before sitting down and leaning her head forward against the cool glass as she tried to hold back the tears and wait.
* * * * * *
"She doesn't look so good," Kate said with a worried look on her face as she knelt down beside Gwen and looked back up at Angel.
"Thanks…I hadn't noticed," Angel responded with an uncomfortable scowl on his face as he leaned back up against the wall and crossed his arms.
"There's no need to be bitchy about it Angel…I was only making an observation," Kate grumbled under her breath with an angry tone to her voice as she pushed off of the floor and got back up to her feet.
"Sorry…right now's not a good time for me…all of this has made me jumpy," Angel replied with a slightly embarrassed look on his face as he subtly shrugged his shoulders.
"I know what you mean…Groo's been quite the handful after I told him that I was pregnant, I swear I can't even take a drink of ice water without him asking if it's too cold," Kate said with a tired frown on her face as she wiped a hand across her face and rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah…I guess you…wait…you're pregnant…Groo," Angel started to mumble back softly before what Kate had said fully hit him and he stumbled over the rest of an awkward question.
"Yeah…big surprise I know…you should have seen the look on my face when the doctor told me, I came close to passing out…," Kate replied with a nervous shrug of her shoulders as she walked towards the door.
"I don't…but Groo…sorry…congratulations, I hope that you're baby is…," Angel started to say with a slightly cheesy smile on his face before Dawn peeked her head into the room and smiled.
"Sorry to interrupt Angel but Faith just called, she said that Wesley's going to be okay but that it'll take awhile for him to heal and that he's out of the fight for a while, she wants someone to bring Hope to her…and there's one other…small…thing…," Dawn started to say with a relieved look on her face before her face fell and she frowned sadly at the end.
"What is it…what's wrong," Kate asked with a concerned look on her face before Angel could pose the same question to the youngest of the three slayers.
"She said that she's staying there…at the hospital…she's not going to help us fight the demons…the ones that we need to get rid of so that Riley will give you the antidote to the Quikoslan poison for Gwen," Dawn replied with a unhappy expression on her face as she leaned heavily against the doorframe.
"It's her call Dawn…Wesley came to close to dying and she's scared…we asked them for to much and look where it got us," Angel said with a less than optimistic frown on his face as he turned away from Dawn and looked back at Gwen, who shifted a bit and let out a soft groan.
"They knew the risks going into this Angel; I knew what could happen to me when I started digging into the weird crimes back in L.A.," Kate stated with a serious look on her face before she blanched and hurried out of the room towards the bathroom.
"So what do we do now Angel," Dawn asked with a worried and slightly scared look on her face as she took an awkward step into the room.
"We find the nest and put it out of commission before we come any closer to losing any more of our friends," Angel said with a very serious and almost angry look on his face as he gazed down at Gwen before he turned and stormed off out of the room and down the stairs.
"I can see this isn't going to end well…," Dawn mumbled softly with a sad pout on her face before she turned on her heel and slowly followed after Angel.
* * * * * *
"Where are you taking us," Callie asked impatiently as she glared at Whistler from her spot in the back seat of the car that Whistler had told them that he had put there for the getaway.
"Somewhere safe…you never can be to careful with things being like they are…those Initiative guys aren't as quick as they think they are, but they're not stupid, if I took you back to your apartment, the school, or to Wesley and Faith's house they'd find you in no time…sorry but I have to take you somewhere where you'll both be safe and where no one will notice you," Whistler replied with a concerned look on his face as Callie realized that this response was possibly the most that she had ever heard Whistler say at one time that didn't make her want to hit him upside the head with a frying pan.
"And are you going to actually tell us where this safe house is or are we going to find out when we get there," Nick asked with a frustrated edge to his voice as he leaned back in his seat and turned to look over at Callie.
"Well if I told you then it wouldn't be a secret now would it," Whistler replied with an odd smile on his face before he leaned forward and turned the radio up a bit as he continued on down the road.
* * * * * *
"A Quikoslan nest…hmm…I must say that it's not going to be easy to find, they're notorious for protecting their nests with their lives, and if you try to send them all back through the portal then you'd better be prepared to sacrifice someone, because that's the only know way to close a Quikoslan portal," Lindsey said with a very serious frown on his face as he paced back and forth in the remains of Wesley and Faith's living room.
"We're not losing anyone Lindsey, we came to close with Wesley, luckily he's going to be okay, but we're probably not going to be so lucky next time," Angel stated with a very serious look on his face and tone to his voice as he stood up and placed himself directly in the former lawyers path so that Lindsey would have to respond to his statement.
"Alright Angel…we'll try it your way, but if it doesn't work then I'm going to implement my plan regardless of what you think, so now that still leaves us with the problem of finding the Quikoslan's nest, the sooner the better," Lindsey replied with a cautious smirk on his face as he nodded his head slightly and took a step back before turning to look out of the shattered windows.
"Well then this must be your lucky day pal," Whistler exclaimed with a cheeky smirk on his face as he shuffled his way into the living room and shocked everyone assembled.
"Who the hell…," Lindsey asked with a startled and combative scowl on his face as he spun around and prepared, if necessary, to fight the stranger.
"Whoa…easy there champ, I'm a friend…well of Angel and the pretty lady over there's anyway," Whistler said with a nervous smile on his face as he nodded towards first Angel and then Buffy.
"Whistler…what are you doing here," Buffy asked with a suddenly very worried edge to her voice as Spike looked on in total confusion.
"Helping you save the world…or haven't you been paying attention," Whistler quipped back with a very zealous smile on his face before he walked over and sat down on the couch, but not before brushing off some shards of broken glass.
"Uh…anyone care to give a quick recap for those of us who have no idea about who…," Dawn started to ask with a pleading look on her face as she held a hand up and looked around the room.
"His name's Whistler, he's a demon that's been sent to do what's necessary to balance the scale between good and evil, no matter the cost…he…," Angel replied with a stone cold serious look on his face as he stared straight at Whistler before he hung his head and looked away.
"And he…I, got Angel to go from surviving on rats to being the champion that we all know and love…but that's not important right now, what is important is getting you white hats in the right position to stop the coming apocalypse and save the world…," Whistler added with an eager smile on his face before he sat down on the couch before continuing. "Now if you'll all gather around I'll tell you everything that I know…," Whistler said with a serious smile on his face before everyone obliged and the briefing got underway.
END OF CHAPTER 29
