Chapter 11 - Explosion
Word spread quickly through some commodity or another that the sons had learnt to fight with Spike. And they were now expected to leave. They didn't. So instead all current situations that had happened since Spike's arrival were put on hold. Needless to say, tension grew, suspicions arose and not a word out of ordinary was spoken. Spike and his sons had the desired environment; tense, largely silent and a different level of communication that flowed under the surface of every move being used.
The situation at the Hyperion Hotel climaxed and also came tumbling down in the span of twenty-four hours. It all started off at five in the morning, when only evil and the sleepless were awake.
*************
Spike wandered the hallways of the hotel in a drunken meander. He was back from a night of brawling and drinking in what was his weird version of 'quality time.' You'd think that after a full night of activity that he would have had enough action for one night, but he wanted someone else to stir up. The desired person at this time of the morning being the bane of his existence, Angel.
It was just Angel's luck that he had been unable to sleep. What was plaguing his tortured thoughts? It was Spike, Buffy and Cordelia. The situation had multiplied in Angel's brooding to a near apocalyptic problem that could only be solved through either some weird ritual he had read about in 1856 or the immediate death of Spike. Angel's preference was the death of Spike. Spike, who had told Angel that he had slept with Buffy, had made Angel possessive of Buffy; he was afraid that she actually loved Spike. This thought was not unfounded though, after all, Buffy only slept with him after they discovered their undying love for each other. All these thoughts of Buffy led Angel to believe that he had 'fallen out of love' with Cordelia, something which he so desperately didn't want to happen as he knew that he could never be with Buffy.
So we find Angel and Spike prowling the halls in their stealthy and sneaky vampire ways, albeit both of them being either drunk or occupied. Spike had just gone around the corner and entered a rather dusty hall which obviously hadn't been cleaned for that last twenty years, but being a vampire that didn't matter to him. What mattered though was that Angel was standing still in the middle of said hallway looking at Spike. Spike smirked at him, "What are you doing out of bed? Isn't it a bit too late for you young man? How on earth are you going to be able to get up and brood a bit more about your precious ex-girlfriend?"
Angel stood still, alternately thinking about Spike's death and how to keep calm in the presence of Spike. After a few moments he finally tilted his head and said to him, "I don't know what you're on about Spike, do tell me."
Spike cockily took a few steps forward and swayed a little as he came to a stop, "Oh come on, as if it doesn't bother you that I had the slayer in the sack. You've been thinking about it, I can tell. Why else would you spend all your day in your cave when that Cordelia chick is runnin around with your bloody son?"
Angel stood still as his mind reeled with what Spike had told him. He was vulnerable; he was in a moment of doubt and hadn't seen what had been going on properly in the hotel. But, he kept still and passive, "Really? Has he? I didn't know, isn't that sweet though?"
Spike saw straight through Angel's poor act, he had never known Angel to be slack on verbal sparring. Spike mislead Angel further, "No, it isn't nice to know. You hate that your own son, your flesh and blood has taken the girl you hopelessly want and must have. And what's even worse is I know why you want her. She's your second prize isn't she? Just second place because you can't have the slayer, and what pisses you off even more is that the girl who was once yours hopped into the sack and had a go with me. That is why it isn't nice to know."
Spike walked towards Angel until he stood not thirty centimetres from his face, "What is worse than that is the fact that Cordelia doesn't want you, doesn't love you. She likes your dolt of a son better, the dolt of a son that wasn't even supposed to happen. You have no chance to get her anymore, your son's got her and you know that you can't get her back. You haven't got a chance because you are a vampire with a soul that can be lost, you will never grow old, you will never have another child and you will never be able to love her completely because your heart is eternally with Buffy. Nothing will change that you love Buffy, nothing will change that."
Angel stood silently and unblinking in that hallway as Spike smirked at him with a malicious glint in his eyes. Angel slowly turned around and walked away from Spike with what was left of his heart completely smashed and with out hope.
***********
Six AM
Draco heard his father lumber heavily down the hallway, open his unlocked door, slam it and then land heavily onto his squeaky bed. Draco turned his head to look at his sleeping brothers who had crashed after their third night in a row of making trouble with demons on the streets of LA. He sat up in bed and swung his legs over the side and quietly got dressed and slipped outside into the hallway.
Draco knew that there was no better time to bait Connor. Tension had been built up over the last couple of days and now Connor was more desperate than ever. If he left it too long Connor would do something himself, and he mightn't make such an idiot of himself if Draco didn't tell him what he should do. Draco began to walk aimlessly down the hallway; the only problem was actually finding the hapless boy.
Draco turned down one of the many monotonous halls in the hotel and hit the jack pot. There was Connor, his back turned to Draco, climbing in a window. What is an evil son to do but take advantage of the situation? "So," at this Connor jumped and whirled around immediately, "you don't actually live here. Why wouldn't your generous and holier than thou father want you here? Too much competition for him?"
Connor straightened himself up and composed himself, but with acknowledging what he had done to get himself kicked out his shoulders sagged and he looked at his shoes, "I put him in a box and put him on the bottom of the sea for three months because I believed that he wasn't really my father."
Draco raised his eyebrows and took the conversation in a different direction, "Are you ready to get Cordelia once and for all?"
Connor looked up at him hopefully and nodded. Draco stalked towards him and smirked softly at him, "I'm ready to give you all that my knowledge can offer." The plan was that instead of making it seem that Draco told Connor what to do, they decided to make it so that Connor thought that the solution was obvious and that he had come up with it himself. Also it would rule out the possibility of Connor blaming Draco for any of his actions, it would seem that Connor had thought up the whole thing himself.
Draco looked around the hallway and looked at the many doors that lined it, "Shall we get ourselves comfy?" There was a nod from Connor as Draco opened a door and went inside. The lights were hit to reveal an ordinary room consisting of a bed, desk and bedside table, Draco settled himself on the bed and Connor stood in the middle of the room.
They sat and stood and they stared, they stared because they were both quite good at it. Draco broke the staring competition, "How do you suppose that you get the girl?"
Connor, ever the conversationalist, shrugged. Draco tried again, "Do you have any ideas whatsoever?"
"That's what I came to you for," Connor said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What? You expect me to think up a brilliant plan for you to get a girl while you stand there like a Neanderthal? No, it's a give and take situation, I give you take, you give I take," Draco was beginning to wonder if it was worth the pain he was going through talking to the boy.
Connor shuffled his feet and Draco decided to take the lead, "I reckon that the key to this girl is doing something that she likes. Well, something that she likes that you're good at," he then added, "Which appears to be nothing." Under his breath.
"Well, I'm good at killing demons and vampires."
Draco nodded, "Does this girl take that stuff seriously? I mean, does she admire someone when they do that sort of stuff?"
By now Connor was beginning to get his own ideas and decided, as the plan dictated he would, that he didn't need Draco to win over Cordelia. The rusty cogs in Connor's brain began grinding and he said to Draco, "I'm going to win her over by killing a Moranthal demon; I'll show her that I'm better than Dad. Do you think it'll work?"
Draco hid a smile, "Yeah, it would work. But how could you show her that you killed it?"
Connor was on a roll and already thought of what he was going to present to her, "I'm going to chop off its head and show it to her."
It took all of Draco's strength not to fall off the bed laughing at Connor's misguided plan to win over a girl, "That sounds like a good plan. You should do it today now that you have a plan of action, don't wanna waste a second longer."
Connor nodded seriously and showed that the saying 'like father like son' was true and stormed out of the room to try and catch a Moranthal demon. This left Draco alone, smiling evilly in an empty room. It was perfect, Connor was going to make an absolute fool out of himself and everyone would be there to watch it, well, hopefully they would.
Draco got up and slowly left the room in search of much needed food. He was in bad need of a good feed and some coffee.
8 am
After what only could be called a stiff and uncomfortable night's sleep Fred was in the foyer of the Hyperion Hotel doing something along the lines of work rather early. She was upset to tell the truth, she was upset over not only Gunn's insistence that they shouldn't be giving the sons a chance, but also the rift that was coming between them. Gunn's feelings of animosity had multiplied over the last few days as had Fred's admiration and attraction to the three, not only young, but good looking sons.
Fred turned her back to the foyer as she looked at a rather bland article in a physics magazine about the universe, such things had already been written about too much. She slowly turned around, still reading the magazine and yelped when she saw a young man standing on the other side of the counter. It was Ariel, who in Fred's opinion was the most courageous and best looking of the lot. Ariel had obviously come from an entirely different dimension and had more softened and feminine looks than his brother's sharp and gruff looking appearances.
Fred put down her magazine, "Good morning. Did you have a good night?"
"Yes. And yourself?"
Fred shuffled her feet uncomfortably, "Not so good. Well." thus began the internal debate of Fred, should she tell who Gunn constantly referred to as 'the enemy' her relationship problems or should she keep her mouth shut. Ariel was looking at her expectantly, as if knowing what was happening in her head, "Charles and I have been having, uhhhh, problems lately. They just happen to be about your family staying here and all. He just can't cope with the pressure of having, such. colourful house guests."
What no one had yet understood is that when Ariel was giving everyone who didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes death glares, no one realised that he did so for a reason. Ariel could read minds. He came from a dimension where children and adults had mutations to their minds from the nuclear destruction of their world hundreds of years ago. The mutations caused them to be able to read people's minds or talk to animals through their minds or coerce people into doing things or feel other people's emotions or communicate with people who also had these abilities. Ariel had the best of the lot, he could read people's minds from afar, he was a farseeker and a bit of coercive power.
What was everyone thinking when he decided he'd like to kill them? They were thinking ill of the new found family he had only recently acquired. At this moment Ariel knew what her problems with Gunn were about; they were about Fred's defence and liking of him and his family. So what did the evil boy do? He took advantage of the situation in the nicest way possible; he would rid Fred of the infernal ball and chain that is her boyfriend.
Ariel walked up to the counter and leaned on it, "That's not what it's really about, is it? He's jealous that you defended us and that you like us even when he obviously doesn't. The only thing he's stressed about is whether you will choose him or us."
Fred stood gob smacked for a moment and then recovered to deliver the worst lie ever told, "You've got it wrong. Charles just doesn't like having to. share all this room with another vampire like Spike."
Ariel looked at her patronizingly and leaned closer to her, "He's just jealous. There is no reason he shouldn't be at least tolerant of us, he just met us. The thing is that Gunn doesn't want any competition for you; he wants you for himself. He wants you for himself to the extent that he can't stand that you could make your own judgement on people who he doesn't like. Gunn doesn't want you to have your own opinions, and I know that you are an independent person, why should Gunn decide what you do?"
All through his little speech Ariel had Fred hypnotised, he was working his coercive powers, making her think that what he was saying was true and at the same time digging up her insecurities and using them against her. Fred looked down at her feet in defeat as Ariel continued, "You don't need him. It's obvious that he doesn't think along the same level as you. You want to be independent of him and you want to trust more people, but he's holding you back. Fred," she looked up at the boy who could play her emotions and was speaking the truth, "you don't need him. You'd be better off with out him. Gunn is holding you back."
With the last statement Ariel made still ringing in Fred's mind Ariel got up and walked out of the foyer, knowing fully well that Fred was going to do what he wanted her to do. She was going to separate from Gunn.
8:30 am
Wesley got up at eight; was showered by quarter past and had breakfast by eight thirty. He had gotten up with the sole purpose of researching Spike's violent past, trying to find a pattern in his evil doings or at least finding out what kind of trouble that he could cook up. Wes was a still a firm believer that Spike was up to some evil plot to destroy all of man kind, or at least do him in. Ever since his days as the floundering watcher of Faith Wes was scared of some evil plot either being hatched to kill him or the rest of the world as he knew it. What poor Wes didn't know was that no one would need a plan to kill him; it would be easier to do otherwise. But still, he laboured on to try and find an answer.
After what seemed like eternity, and in reality was only fifteen minutes, Wes had ventured out into the hall to find something else to do. Wes was a closet procrastinator. He walked down the hallway which he knew housed Spike and his sons when he realised that he could hear at least two of the sons talking. Wes ventured closer to have an eavesdrop in the name of good. One of the sons, presumably Dally was talking, "Look, we could do it tonight, you know what Dad said, and they all hang around that damn foyer all night. It'd be easy-"
He was cut off by the other boy who was presumably Draco, "But how the hell are we going to get to him if everyone is watching us like a bloody hawk?"
"Easy," the other replied, "we'll just lure 'em out after all is done, shouldn't be too hard."
"Oh, I get you now, after it's all done. That makes sense now."
Wes didn't hear the rest of the conversation as he was already piss bolting down the hall convinced that they had planned to kill them all tonight, to be specific, to kill him. Wes rushed into his room and locked the door to sit down and think about what he was going to do. None of the others knew about this plan, and none of them would believe him.
Wes was just struck with a lightning bolt of genius. He could foil their plan by rushing into the foyer just as the plan was going to be carried out. He imagined it would be like Terminator or Rambo or Die Hard or any other action film of that genre, he would come out with his guns blazing and the evil bastards would go down in a hail of fire, last but not least, he would be the hero. Wes realised that there would be a few problems with his plan, he didn't have a gun, but he could use crossbows and the sort, the only other problem was that he needed to keep his actions limited, as not to rouse suspicion. He would stay in his room all day he decided, to prepare for the coming blood bath and to keep things in check.
Wes decided that he was going to be the hero tonight; he would not let innocent people die if he could stop it. He wasn't going to wimp out; tonight was his night to shine.
8:45 am
Ariel sauntered in to the room he shared with his brothers and sat down on his bed, "So, what's the plan?"
Dally replied, "We need Dad to help us get them all into the foyer at once. That's when we're going to get Connor. I don't know about the others, I think it'll just be too much to be in the same room together, they're gonna have a blow up at each other. It's gonna be so damn funny."
Dally looked at Ariel who was smirking, "What did you do?"
Ariel sat for a moment, "I played with that little Fred girl."
Draco had taken an interest in the conversation and asked with a malicious glint in his eyes, "How exactly did you play with her?"
"She's going to break up with her boyfriend. She's definitely doing it tonight, in the foyer; she couldn't do it unless there was a good enough reason to."
The boys looked at each other, their decision was made without words; tonight was the night that the precious world that the residents of the Hyperion Hotel would come crashing down around their knees.
9:30 am
Angel had been sulking for a good, oh, four or five hours and had found out that he could summarize his entire life in a few paragraphs, or if you don't want to bore readers of said passage out of their minds, one.
As Angel figured he was once a young, drunk and Irish layabout who was good for nothing. He got turned into a vampire went on a giant killing spree for a hundred or so years, the killing spree involved a few dead slayers, a few innocent little girls turned crazy, you know, the usual. Then he got a soul which made him regret everything he had done since he died oh so long ago, found Buffy, a vampire slayer who was his whole reason for redemption or anything even remotely like a life. He turned evil, tried to kill his beloved Buffy and her friends, went to hell, came back good and left the reason for his entire undead existence. And now he could never be with Buffy, his saviour ever again.
His entirely accurate conclusion was that: his life sucked. The worst thing was that it was true. He let the reason for his entire existence go and practically fall into the arms of his nemesis. What bothered him more was that he realised he no longer had Cordy by his side and that he didn't want her; all he could think about was his reignited love for Buffy.
Angel had always thought that ever since he left Sunnydale and had moved on with his life that he could live and find redemption with out Buffy willing him on the whole way. Now that he realised that Buffy wouldn't be eternally his as he had always thought he didn't have a reason for redemption. Buffy was his answer to his life, without her nothing would have been accomplished, nothing would have been done. Angel was lost without Buffy, he was even more lost because she had slept with Spike, the vampire who had tried so earnestly to kill her.
10:15 am
Dust rose up from the dirt that covered the concrete floor of the factory that was the Moranthal demon's lair. Connor stood triumphantly over the demon who he had just beheaded with style and grace. He bent down and picked up the red head which had spikes running along its crown and an ugly squashed up face which resembled that of a collapsed piece of lasagne.
Connor had got his present for Cordy, and now it was time to take it home to wrap it for her. She was going to love it.
11:45 am
Lorne looked up as someone knocked on the door to his room. He called out, "Come in!"
In floated Cordy, the girl who could not put a step wrong when it came to fashion and could stuff up her whole life the second she opened her mouth. "Cordy hon, how are you doing?"
Cordelia sat down on a chair with a sigh, "Angel isn't interested anymore."
Lorne gave her a sympathetic look, "Come on honey, that can't be right. He's had his eyes on you for years. You're just jumping to conclusions."
"No, I'm not. He was so close, and then Spike and his sons came and drove Angel away from me. It's Buffy again, I can tell."
"Angel's just going through a relapse of some sort, after all, he did do some horrible things with Spike when he didn't have a soul."
Cordelia wasn't buying Lorne's comfort, she knew it was Buffy again, "It's Buffy. She's always going to have Angel, no matter how much she hurts him. He's like a little lost puppy, always following Buffy everywhere she goes."
"Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"No. It's the truth Lorne. I'm never going to get Angel, he's always been Buffy's boy and always will be, whether she knows it or not."
Lorne looked at Cordelia who was not going to change her stance, "So, is it time for comfort food?"
Cordelia was not one to be knocked down, she got up, got dressed in some expensive clothes and got going. Her decision was made, "I won't sulk over Angel, that's his job. He's out of my love life and I'm going back on the market."
Lorne sat and watched as Cordelia got out of her chair and stood up to her full height. She walked out of the room with a walk that had not been seen for a good few years. Pining Cordy was gone, it was the return of man hunting Cordy; she wasn't going to get hurt again.
12:30 pm
Dally, Draco and Ariel were sitting in their room when they heard their father next door roll out of bed with a grunt. Unlike most annoying sons though, they didn't rush in to bother him. They sat and waited for him to approach them in his own time. Fifteen minutes after the initial wake up Spike walked into his son's room, "So, what's happening?"
Dally took the lead, "They're all against each other, it's all gonna explode. We've baited Connor and that Fred chick, the rest are all ready in varying states of paranoia."
Spike already knew where all this was going, "You just need them all in the same place at the same time. It can be arranged. They'll be there tonight at nine." Spike walked out of their room and down the hallway, intent on finding some food. He was really hungry.
~**********~
The rest of the day was tediously slow. Fred spent the day listening to Gunn bitch about Spike and his sons, Lorne did what he normally does, Wesley bided his time until the time to strike was right, Spike persuaded Connor with his fists to give Cordy her present in the foyer at nine, Cordelia stalked the streets of LA, Angel brooded and Spike's sons amused themselves with the vulnerable residents of LA.
All was set for tonight's show down. It would all begin with Connor.
8:45 pm
Connor walked down the hallway that led to the foyer of the Hyperion Hotel, holding a box that looked like a birthday present. He had practised what he would say to Cordelia and now all he had to do was give her the present. Spike had told him that Cordelia would be in the foyer at quarter to nine, and as he walked into the foyer, there she was, in all her designer clothed glory.
Connor took a deep breath and walked into the foyer. Cordelia was in behind the counter when he walked in, he cleared his throat so that she would notice him. Cordy looked up really saw only one thing, a male who obviously adored her with a present, and she broke out in a satisfied smile. Of course, Connor took the smile the wrong way, "Hey Cordy."
She smiled at him, "Hey yourself. What are you doing with that present?"
Cordy's warm greeting spurred him on with a new confidence, "Well, it's for you. You see, I like you. I like you more than a friend. And I was wondering if you would be kind enough to accept this present from me. It's sort of a present to show you what I can do and of my affection for you."
Connor offered the present to Cordelia and she gladly took it. She slowly undid the ribbon around it and sat it down on the counter. The lid came off and-
*********
Wesley had been lurking outside the entrance to the foyer. He heard a blood curdling scream and he looked into the window to see Cordelia screaming at a bewildered Connor. Then Spike came downstairs, followed by his sons and soon enough everyone who lived in the Hyperion Hotel, bar Wes, was in the foyer of the Hyperion Hotel. Wes looked at his watch from the light of his torch, it was nine o'clock.
*********
Spike looked into the box that held Connor's present to Cordelia, "Why in God's name did you give her that half decomposed lump of crap?"
Connor wheeled around wide eyed at Spike and then at everyone else. Fred was standing stock still with a shocked look on her face and Gunn was just looking plain bewildered. Lorne was blatantly disgusted at the so called 'present' and Angel was looking somewhat amused. Needless to say that Dally, Draco and Ariel were standing there looking quite proud of themselves.
In the muddled mess that was Connor's head at that exact moment there was one thought which was crystal clear: it was all Draco's fault. "It was all Draco's fault. He told me to get it for her."
All heads swivelled to look at the amused Draco, "If I remember correctly, it was you who came up with the idea of giving her the head."
Connor tried desperately to save face, "You said it was a good idea!"
"I didn't know what her tastes were; you're the one who's so in love with her."
Even though everyone knew it was true, it was still a shock to everyone who was not blonde haired, blue eyed and evil to hear it spoken out loud. Gunn decided it was high time he stepped in, "I reckon it was your fault. You're the one who's so eager to make trouble." He then launched himself at Draco.
The scene that was stock still five seconds ago turned into pandemonium in no time at all. Gunn and Draco were fighting each other while Spike and Angel were trying to pry one off the other, Fred and Cordy were screaming at them to stop fighting, Dally and Ariel were cheering on their brother and Lorne and Connor had took to just watching the situation.
Just then, the glass doors leading into the courtyard burst open. Wes walked in and began firing bolts from a crossbow, he then chucked something on the floor which exploded in a cloud of smoke. He managed not to hurt a living thing in the room, though the walls and floor was looking a bit sorry.
As soon as the smoke had cleared Angel walked up to Wes who was dressed in army pants, a green singlet and had army paint on his face. Wes had struck his I'm-a-hero-look-at-me pose, Angel said to him in a monotone, "What do you think you're doing?"
Wes broke his pose with a puzzled look on his face, "What do you mean? Isn't it obvious? I'm saving you from Spike and his sons; they have plotted all of our deaths."
Gunn got up off the floor, "Wes is right, they probably were." Gunn then chucked a glare over his shoulder at the boys who were now spreading out across the room, ready for what they had been waiting for all along.
Fred strode across the room to him, "Could you stop that for five seconds? All you have done since they've," Fred gestured at the boys with a look of complete anger on her face, "gotten here is accuse them of the worst things. You didn't even give them a chance! They have done nothing to you and yet you act as if they have robbed you of everything you own!"
Gunn was quick to reply, "They're evil! Don't you get it? Spike is a vampire, his sons are inherently evil, and we shouldn't give them chances. They don't deserve to have a chance to kill us."
"Their situation is no different from Angel's and Connor's! Yet they live in our home. Can you really justify your reasons for not liking them?"
Gunn rolled his eyes exasperatedly, "Yes, they are evil."
Fred had had enough of Gunn's narrow mindedness, "If you're going to think that way then I'm leaving you."
Fred got up and walked out of the foyer. Gunn got up to follow her, but Lorne held him back. Everyone turned to Wes who was now standing at the entrance looking embarrassed. Then they all began yelling at each other in complete and total anger, even Angel was having a go. Spike looked across the room at his three sons who were looking at the scene smirking. They caught his eye and they walked out of the foyer and into the garage that housed what a garage usually housed, cars.
Spike walked up to one of the cars, put his elbow through the driver's side window and opened the doors. They all slipped inside the car as Spike hot wired it to get it going. No one said a word until they were on the freeway out of LA. Spike said to his sons mildly, "Now that turned out better than expected."
**********
Meanwhile, back at the Hyperion Hotel.
Angel yelled at the top of his lungs over everyone else, "Shut up! Shut it!" everyone stopped yelling to look angrily at Angel. "Don't you see what they've done? They've turned all of us against each other, that's what they wanted."
Wes looked around the room, "Where'd they go?"
"They left," Angel replied. He then turned around and went to his room to brood over his loss of Buffy a bit more.
As everyone was dispersing to their respective rooms Lorne said, "I still reckon it's a prophecy."
The reply was unanimous, "Shut up Lorne."
A/N: review us! We don't mind getting a bit toasty.
Samantha and Jaime
Word spread quickly through some commodity or another that the sons had learnt to fight with Spike. And they were now expected to leave. They didn't. So instead all current situations that had happened since Spike's arrival were put on hold. Needless to say, tension grew, suspicions arose and not a word out of ordinary was spoken. Spike and his sons had the desired environment; tense, largely silent and a different level of communication that flowed under the surface of every move being used.
The situation at the Hyperion Hotel climaxed and also came tumbling down in the span of twenty-four hours. It all started off at five in the morning, when only evil and the sleepless were awake.
*************
Spike wandered the hallways of the hotel in a drunken meander. He was back from a night of brawling and drinking in what was his weird version of 'quality time.' You'd think that after a full night of activity that he would have had enough action for one night, but he wanted someone else to stir up. The desired person at this time of the morning being the bane of his existence, Angel.
It was just Angel's luck that he had been unable to sleep. What was plaguing his tortured thoughts? It was Spike, Buffy and Cordelia. The situation had multiplied in Angel's brooding to a near apocalyptic problem that could only be solved through either some weird ritual he had read about in 1856 or the immediate death of Spike. Angel's preference was the death of Spike. Spike, who had told Angel that he had slept with Buffy, had made Angel possessive of Buffy; he was afraid that she actually loved Spike. This thought was not unfounded though, after all, Buffy only slept with him after they discovered their undying love for each other. All these thoughts of Buffy led Angel to believe that he had 'fallen out of love' with Cordelia, something which he so desperately didn't want to happen as he knew that he could never be with Buffy.
So we find Angel and Spike prowling the halls in their stealthy and sneaky vampire ways, albeit both of them being either drunk or occupied. Spike had just gone around the corner and entered a rather dusty hall which obviously hadn't been cleaned for that last twenty years, but being a vampire that didn't matter to him. What mattered though was that Angel was standing still in the middle of said hallway looking at Spike. Spike smirked at him, "What are you doing out of bed? Isn't it a bit too late for you young man? How on earth are you going to be able to get up and brood a bit more about your precious ex-girlfriend?"
Angel stood still, alternately thinking about Spike's death and how to keep calm in the presence of Spike. After a few moments he finally tilted his head and said to him, "I don't know what you're on about Spike, do tell me."
Spike cockily took a few steps forward and swayed a little as he came to a stop, "Oh come on, as if it doesn't bother you that I had the slayer in the sack. You've been thinking about it, I can tell. Why else would you spend all your day in your cave when that Cordelia chick is runnin around with your bloody son?"
Angel stood still as his mind reeled with what Spike had told him. He was vulnerable; he was in a moment of doubt and hadn't seen what had been going on properly in the hotel. But, he kept still and passive, "Really? Has he? I didn't know, isn't that sweet though?"
Spike saw straight through Angel's poor act, he had never known Angel to be slack on verbal sparring. Spike mislead Angel further, "No, it isn't nice to know. You hate that your own son, your flesh and blood has taken the girl you hopelessly want and must have. And what's even worse is I know why you want her. She's your second prize isn't she? Just second place because you can't have the slayer, and what pisses you off even more is that the girl who was once yours hopped into the sack and had a go with me. That is why it isn't nice to know."
Spike walked towards Angel until he stood not thirty centimetres from his face, "What is worse than that is the fact that Cordelia doesn't want you, doesn't love you. She likes your dolt of a son better, the dolt of a son that wasn't even supposed to happen. You have no chance to get her anymore, your son's got her and you know that you can't get her back. You haven't got a chance because you are a vampire with a soul that can be lost, you will never grow old, you will never have another child and you will never be able to love her completely because your heart is eternally with Buffy. Nothing will change that you love Buffy, nothing will change that."
Angel stood silently and unblinking in that hallway as Spike smirked at him with a malicious glint in his eyes. Angel slowly turned around and walked away from Spike with what was left of his heart completely smashed and with out hope.
***********
Six AM
Draco heard his father lumber heavily down the hallway, open his unlocked door, slam it and then land heavily onto his squeaky bed. Draco turned his head to look at his sleeping brothers who had crashed after their third night in a row of making trouble with demons on the streets of LA. He sat up in bed and swung his legs over the side and quietly got dressed and slipped outside into the hallway.
Draco knew that there was no better time to bait Connor. Tension had been built up over the last couple of days and now Connor was more desperate than ever. If he left it too long Connor would do something himself, and he mightn't make such an idiot of himself if Draco didn't tell him what he should do. Draco began to walk aimlessly down the hallway; the only problem was actually finding the hapless boy.
Draco turned down one of the many monotonous halls in the hotel and hit the jack pot. There was Connor, his back turned to Draco, climbing in a window. What is an evil son to do but take advantage of the situation? "So," at this Connor jumped and whirled around immediately, "you don't actually live here. Why wouldn't your generous and holier than thou father want you here? Too much competition for him?"
Connor straightened himself up and composed himself, but with acknowledging what he had done to get himself kicked out his shoulders sagged and he looked at his shoes, "I put him in a box and put him on the bottom of the sea for three months because I believed that he wasn't really my father."
Draco raised his eyebrows and took the conversation in a different direction, "Are you ready to get Cordelia once and for all?"
Connor looked up at him hopefully and nodded. Draco stalked towards him and smirked softly at him, "I'm ready to give you all that my knowledge can offer." The plan was that instead of making it seem that Draco told Connor what to do, they decided to make it so that Connor thought that the solution was obvious and that he had come up with it himself. Also it would rule out the possibility of Connor blaming Draco for any of his actions, it would seem that Connor had thought up the whole thing himself.
Draco looked around the hallway and looked at the many doors that lined it, "Shall we get ourselves comfy?" There was a nod from Connor as Draco opened a door and went inside. The lights were hit to reveal an ordinary room consisting of a bed, desk and bedside table, Draco settled himself on the bed and Connor stood in the middle of the room.
They sat and stood and they stared, they stared because they were both quite good at it. Draco broke the staring competition, "How do you suppose that you get the girl?"
Connor, ever the conversationalist, shrugged. Draco tried again, "Do you have any ideas whatsoever?"
"That's what I came to you for," Connor said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What? You expect me to think up a brilliant plan for you to get a girl while you stand there like a Neanderthal? No, it's a give and take situation, I give you take, you give I take," Draco was beginning to wonder if it was worth the pain he was going through talking to the boy.
Connor shuffled his feet and Draco decided to take the lead, "I reckon that the key to this girl is doing something that she likes. Well, something that she likes that you're good at," he then added, "Which appears to be nothing." Under his breath.
"Well, I'm good at killing demons and vampires."
Draco nodded, "Does this girl take that stuff seriously? I mean, does she admire someone when they do that sort of stuff?"
By now Connor was beginning to get his own ideas and decided, as the plan dictated he would, that he didn't need Draco to win over Cordelia. The rusty cogs in Connor's brain began grinding and he said to Draco, "I'm going to win her over by killing a Moranthal demon; I'll show her that I'm better than Dad. Do you think it'll work?"
Draco hid a smile, "Yeah, it would work. But how could you show her that you killed it?"
Connor was on a roll and already thought of what he was going to present to her, "I'm going to chop off its head and show it to her."
It took all of Draco's strength not to fall off the bed laughing at Connor's misguided plan to win over a girl, "That sounds like a good plan. You should do it today now that you have a plan of action, don't wanna waste a second longer."
Connor nodded seriously and showed that the saying 'like father like son' was true and stormed out of the room to try and catch a Moranthal demon. This left Draco alone, smiling evilly in an empty room. It was perfect, Connor was going to make an absolute fool out of himself and everyone would be there to watch it, well, hopefully they would.
Draco got up and slowly left the room in search of much needed food. He was in bad need of a good feed and some coffee.
8 am
After what only could be called a stiff and uncomfortable night's sleep Fred was in the foyer of the Hyperion Hotel doing something along the lines of work rather early. She was upset to tell the truth, she was upset over not only Gunn's insistence that they shouldn't be giving the sons a chance, but also the rift that was coming between them. Gunn's feelings of animosity had multiplied over the last few days as had Fred's admiration and attraction to the three, not only young, but good looking sons.
Fred turned her back to the foyer as she looked at a rather bland article in a physics magazine about the universe, such things had already been written about too much. She slowly turned around, still reading the magazine and yelped when she saw a young man standing on the other side of the counter. It was Ariel, who in Fred's opinion was the most courageous and best looking of the lot. Ariel had obviously come from an entirely different dimension and had more softened and feminine looks than his brother's sharp and gruff looking appearances.
Fred put down her magazine, "Good morning. Did you have a good night?"
"Yes. And yourself?"
Fred shuffled her feet uncomfortably, "Not so good. Well." thus began the internal debate of Fred, should she tell who Gunn constantly referred to as 'the enemy' her relationship problems or should she keep her mouth shut. Ariel was looking at her expectantly, as if knowing what was happening in her head, "Charles and I have been having, uhhhh, problems lately. They just happen to be about your family staying here and all. He just can't cope with the pressure of having, such. colourful house guests."
What no one had yet understood is that when Ariel was giving everyone who didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes death glares, no one realised that he did so for a reason. Ariel could read minds. He came from a dimension where children and adults had mutations to their minds from the nuclear destruction of their world hundreds of years ago. The mutations caused them to be able to read people's minds or talk to animals through their minds or coerce people into doing things or feel other people's emotions or communicate with people who also had these abilities. Ariel had the best of the lot, he could read people's minds from afar, he was a farseeker and a bit of coercive power.
What was everyone thinking when he decided he'd like to kill them? They were thinking ill of the new found family he had only recently acquired. At this moment Ariel knew what her problems with Gunn were about; they were about Fred's defence and liking of him and his family. So what did the evil boy do? He took advantage of the situation in the nicest way possible; he would rid Fred of the infernal ball and chain that is her boyfriend.
Ariel walked up to the counter and leaned on it, "That's not what it's really about, is it? He's jealous that you defended us and that you like us even when he obviously doesn't. The only thing he's stressed about is whether you will choose him or us."
Fred stood gob smacked for a moment and then recovered to deliver the worst lie ever told, "You've got it wrong. Charles just doesn't like having to. share all this room with another vampire like Spike."
Ariel looked at her patronizingly and leaned closer to her, "He's just jealous. There is no reason he shouldn't be at least tolerant of us, he just met us. The thing is that Gunn doesn't want any competition for you; he wants you for himself. He wants you for himself to the extent that he can't stand that you could make your own judgement on people who he doesn't like. Gunn doesn't want you to have your own opinions, and I know that you are an independent person, why should Gunn decide what you do?"
All through his little speech Ariel had Fred hypnotised, he was working his coercive powers, making her think that what he was saying was true and at the same time digging up her insecurities and using them against her. Fred looked down at her feet in defeat as Ariel continued, "You don't need him. It's obvious that he doesn't think along the same level as you. You want to be independent of him and you want to trust more people, but he's holding you back. Fred," she looked up at the boy who could play her emotions and was speaking the truth, "you don't need him. You'd be better off with out him. Gunn is holding you back."
With the last statement Ariel made still ringing in Fred's mind Ariel got up and walked out of the foyer, knowing fully well that Fred was going to do what he wanted her to do. She was going to separate from Gunn.
8:30 am
Wesley got up at eight; was showered by quarter past and had breakfast by eight thirty. He had gotten up with the sole purpose of researching Spike's violent past, trying to find a pattern in his evil doings or at least finding out what kind of trouble that he could cook up. Wes was a still a firm believer that Spike was up to some evil plot to destroy all of man kind, or at least do him in. Ever since his days as the floundering watcher of Faith Wes was scared of some evil plot either being hatched to kill him or the rest of the world as he knew it. What poor Wes didn't know was that no one would need a plan to kill him; it would be easier to do otherwise. But still, he laboured on to try and find an answer.
After what seemed like eternity, and in reality was only fifteen minutes, Wes had ventured out into the hall to find something else to do. Wes was a closet procrastinator. He walked down the hallway which he knew housed Spike and his sons when he realised that he could hear at least two of the sons talking. Wes ventured closer to have an eavesdrop in the name of good. One of the sons, presumably Dally was talking, "Look, we could do it tonight, you know what Dad said, and they all hang around that damn foyer all night. It'd be easy-"
He was cut off by the other boy who was presumably Draco, "But how the hell are we going to get to him if everyone is watching us like a bloody hawk?"
"Easy," the other replied, "we'll just lure 'em out after all is done, shouldn't be too hard."
"Oh, I get you now, after it's all done. That makes sense now."
Wes didn't hear the rest of the conversation as he was already piss bolting down the hall convinced that they had planned to kill them all tonight, to be specific, to kill him. Wes rushed into his room and locked the door to sit down and think about what he was going to do. None of the others knew about this plan, and none of them would believe him.
Wes was just struck with a lightning bolt of genius. He could foil their plan by rushing into the foyer just as the plan was going to be carried out. He imagined it would be like Terminator or Rambo or Die Hard or any other action film of that genre, he would come out with his guns blazing and the evil bastards would go down in a hail of fire, last but not least, he would be the hero. Wes realised that there would be a few problems with his plan, he didn't have a gun, but he could use crossbows and the sort, the only other problem was that he needed to keep his actions limited, as not to rouse suspicion. He would stay in his room all day he decided, to prepare for the coming blood bath and to keep things in check.
Wes decided that he was going to be the hero tonight; he would not let innocent people die if he could stop it. He wasn't going to wimp out; tonight was his night to shine.
8:45 am
Ariel sauntered in to the room he shared with his brothers and sat down on his bed, "So, what's the plan?"
Dally replied, "We need Dad to help us get them all into the foyer at once. That's when we're going to get Connor. I don't know about the others, I think it'll just be too much to be in the same room together, they're gonna have a blow up at each other. It's gonna be so damn funny."
Dally looked at Ariel who was smirking, "What did you do?"
Ariel sat for a moment, "I played with that little Fred girl."
Draco had taken an interest in the conversation and asked with a malicious glint in his eyes, "How exactly did you play with her?"
"She's going to break up with her boyfriend. She's definitely doing it tonight, in the foyer; she couldn't do it unless there was a good enough reason to."
The boys looked at each other, their decision was made without words; tonight was the night that the precious world that the residents of the Hyperion Hotel would come crashing down around their knees.
9:30 am
Angel had been sulking for a good, oh, four or five hours and had found out that he could summarize his entire life in a few paragraphs, or if you don't want to bore readers of said passage out of their minds, one.
As Angel figured he was once a young, drunk and Irish layabout who was good for nothing. He got turned into a vampire went on a giant killing spree for a hundred or so years, the killing spree involved a few dead slayers, a few innocent little girls turned crazy, you know, the usual. Then he got a soul which made him regret everything he had done since he died oh so long ago, found Buffy, a vampire slayer who was his whole reason for redemption or anything even remotely like a life. He turned evil, tried to kill his beloved Buffy and her friends, went to hell, came back good and left the reason for his entire undead existence. And now he could never be with Buffy, his saviour ever again.
His entirely accurate conclusion was that: his life sucked. The worst thing was that it was true. He let the reason for his entire existence go and practically fall into the arms of his nemesis. What bothered him more was that he realised he no longer had Cordy by his side and that he didn't want her; all he could think about was his reignited love for Buffy.
Angel had always thought that ever since he left Sunnydale and had moved on with his life that he could live and find redemption with out Buffy willing him on the whole way. Now that he realised that Buffy wouldn't be eternally his as he had always thought he didn't have a reason for redemption. Buffy was his answer to his life, without her nothing would have been accomplished, nothing would have been done. Angel was lost without Buffy, he was even more lost because she had slept with Spike, the vampire who had tried so earnestly to kill her.
10:15 am
Dust rose up from the dirt that covered the concrete floor of the factory that was the Moranthal demon's lair. Connor stood triumphantly over the demon who he had just beheaded with style and grace. He bent down and picked up the red head which had spikes running along its crown and an ugly squashed up face which resembled that of a collapsed piece of lasagne.
Connor had got his present for Cordy, and now it was time to take it home to wrap it for her. She was going to love it.
11:45 am
Lorne looked up as someone knocked on the door to his room. He called out, "Come in!"
In floated Cordy, the girl who could not put a step wrong when it came to fashion and could stuff up her whole life the second she opened her mouth. "Cordy hon, how are you doing?"
Cordelia sat down on a chair with a sigh, "Angel isn't interested anymore."
Lorne gave her a sympathetic look, "Come on honey, that can't be right. He's had his eyes on you for years. You're just jumping to conclusions."
"No, I'm not. He was so close, and then Spike and his sons came and drove Angel away from me. It's Buffy again, I can tell."
"Angel's just going through a relapse of some sort, after all, he did do some horrible things with Spike when he didn't have a soul."
Cordelia wasn't buying Lorne's comfort, she knew it was Buffy again, "It's Buffy. She's always going to have Angel, no matter how much she hurts him. He's like a little lost puppy, always following Buffy everywhere she goes."
"Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"No. It's the truth Lorne. I'm never going to get Angel, he's always been Buffy's boy and always will be, whether she knows it or not."
Lorne looked at Cordelia who was not going to change her stance, "So, is it time for comfort food?"
Cordelia was not one to be knocked down, she got up, got dressed in some expensive clothes and got going. Her decision was made, "I won't sulk over Angel, that's his job. He's out of my love life and I'm going back on the market."
Lorne sat and watched as Cordelia got out of her chair and stood up to her full height. She walked out of the room with a walk that had not been seen for a good few years. Pining Cordy was gone, it was the return of man hunting Cordy; she wasn't going to get hurt again.
12:30 pm
Dally, Draco and Ariel were sitting in their room when they heard their father next door roll out of bed with a grunt. Unlike most annoying sons though, they didn't rush in to bother him. They sat and waited for him to approach them in his own time. Fifteen minutes after the initial wake up Spike walked into his son's room, "So, what's happening?"
Dally took the lead, "They're all against each other, it's all gonna explode. We've baited Connor and that Fred chick, the rest are all ready in varying states of paranoia."
Spike already knew where all this was going, "You just need them all in the same place at the same time. It can be arranged. They'll be there tonight at nine." Spike walked out of their room and down the hallway, intent on finding some food. He was really hungry.
~**********~
The rest of the day was tediously slow. Fred spent the day listening to Gunn bitch about Spike and his sons, Lorne did what he normally does, Wesley bided his time until the time to strike was right, Spike persuaded Connor with his fists to give Cordy her present in the foyer at nine, Cordelia stalked the streets of LA, Angel brooded and Spike's sons amused themselves with the vulnerable residents of LA.
All was set for tonight's show down. It would all begin with Connor.
8:45 pm
Connor walked down the hallway that led to the foyer of the Hyperion Hotel, holding a box that looked like a birthday present. He had practised what he would say to Cordelia and now all he had to do was give her the present. Spike had told him that Cordelia would be in the foyer at quarter to nine, and as he walked into the foyer, there she was, in all her designer clothed glory.
Connor took a deep breath and walked into the foyer. Cordelia was in behind the counter when he walked in, he cleared his throat so that she would notice him. Cordy looked up really saw only one thing, a male who obviously adored her with a present, and she broke out in a satisfied smile. Of course, Connor took the smile the wrong way, "Hey Cordy."
She smiled at him, "Hey yourself. What are you doing with that present?"
Cordy's warm greeting spurred him on with a new confidence, "Well, it's for you. You see, I like you. I like you more than a friend. And I was wondering if you would be kind enough to accept this present from me. It's sort of a present to show you what I can do and of my affection for you."
Connor offered the present to Cordelia and she gladly took it. She slowly undid the ribbon around it and sat it down on the counter. The lid came off and-
*********
Wesley had been lurking outside the entrance to the foyer. He heard a blood curdling scream and he looked into the window to see Cordelia screaming at a bewildered Connor. Then Spike came downstairs, followed by his sons and soon enough everyone who lived in the Hyperion Hotel, bar Wes, was in the foyer of the Hyperion Hotel. Wes looked at his watch from the light of his torch, it was nine o'clock.
*********
Spike looked into the box that held Connor's present to Cordelia, "Why in God's name did you give her that half decomposed lump of crap?"
Connor wheeled around wide eyed at Spike and then at everyone else. Fred was standing stock still with a shocked look on her face and Gunn was just looking plain bewildered. Lorne was blatantly disgusted at the so called 'present' and Angel was looking somewhat amused. Needless to say that Dally, Draco and Ariel were standing there looking quite proud of themselves.
In the muddled mess that was Connor's head at that exact moment there was one thought which was crystal clear: it was all Draco's fault. "It was all Draco's fault. He told me to get it for her."
All heads swivelled to look at the amused Draco, "If I remember correctly, it was you who came up with the idea of giving her the head."
Connor tried desperately to save face, "You said it was a good idea!"
"I didn't know what her tastes were; you're the one who's so in love with her."
Even though everyone knew it was true, it was still a shock to everyone who was not blonde haired, blue eyed and evil to hear it spoken out loud. Gunn decided it was high time he stepped in, "I reckon it was your fault. You're the one who's so eager to make trouble." He then launched himself at Draco.
The scene that was stock still five seconds ago turned into pandemonium in no time at all. Gunn and Draco were fighting each other while Spike and Angel were trying to pry one off the other, Fred and Cordy were screaming at them to stop fighting, Dally and Ariel were cheering on their brother and Lorne and Connor had took to just watching the situation.
Just then, the glass doors leading into the courtyard burst open. Wes walked in and began firing bolts from a crossbow, he then chucked something on the floor which exploded in a cloud of smoke. He managed not to hurt a living thing in the room, though the walls and floor was looking a bit sorry.
As soon as the smoke had cleared Angel walked up to Wes who was dressed in army pants, a green singlet and had army paint on his face. Wes had struck his I'm-a-hero-look-at-me pose, Angel said to him in a monotone, "What do you think you're doing?"
Wes broke his pose with a puzzled look on his face, "What do you mean? Isn't it obvious? I'm saving you from Spike and his sons; they have plotted all of our deaths."
Gunn got up off the floor, "Wes is right, they probably were." Gunn then chucked a glare over his shoulder at the boys who were now spreading out across the room, ready for what they had been waiting for all along.
Fred strode across the room to him, "Could you stop that for five seconds? All you have done since they've," Fred gestured at the boys with a look of complete anger on her face, "gotten here is accuse them of the worst things. You didn't even give them a chance! They have done nothing to you and yet you act as if they have robbed you of everything you own!"
Gunn was quick to reply, "They're evil! Don't you get it? Spike is a vampire, his sons are inherently evil, and we shouldn't give them chances. They don't deserve to have a chance to kill us."
"Their situation is no different from Angel's and Connor's! Yet they live in our home. Can you really justify your reasons for not liking them?"
Gunn rolled his eyes exasperatedly, "Yes, they are evil."
Fred had had enough of Gunn's narrow mindedness, "If you're going to think that way then I'm leaving you."
Fred got up and walked out of the foyer. Gunn got up to follow her, but Lorne held him back. Everyone turned to Wes who was now standing at the entrance looking embarrassed. Then they all began yelling at each other in complete and total anger, even Angel was having a go. Spike looked across the room at his three sons who were looking at the scene smirking. They caught his eye and they walked out of the foyer and into the garage that housed what a garage usually housed, cars.
Spike walked up to one of the cars, put his elbow through the driver's side window and opened the doors. They all slipped inside the car as Spike hot wired it to get it going. No one said a word until they were on the freeway out of LA. Spike said to his sons mildly, "Now that turned out better than expected."
**********
Meanwhile, back at the Hyperion Hotel.
Angel yelled at the top of his lungs over everyone else, "Shut up! Shut it!" everyone stopped yelling to look angrily at Angel. "Don't you see what they've done? They've turned all of us against each other, that's what they wanted."
Wes looked around the room, "Where'd they go?"
"They left," Angel replied. He then turned around and went to his room to brood over his loss of Buffy a bit more.
As everyone was dispersing to their respective rooms Lorne said, "I still reckon it's a prophecy."
The reply was unanimous, "Shut up Lorne."
A/N: review us! We don't mind getting a bit toasty.
Samantha and Jaime