THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 18-THE MORNING AFTER, AND MORE
It was almost dawn before the research team that Wesley had called over from Wolfram and Hart had finished its initial investigation. Wesley and Faith had separately come back downstairs in their own time and Angel hadn't noticed anything different about them until he had walked past Faith and was almost knocked out by the overwhelming smell of Wesley that he had only ever smelled on one woman, Lilah. Angel decided against saying anything at first as he had more important matters to attend to. That being said though he made a mental note to talk to both parties later. Angel gave Cordelia one final supportive pat on the shoulder before he went back outside to talk to the team from Wolfram and Hart. Angel hadn't been gone long when Cordelia started in on Faith.
"You and Wesley sure were upstairs a long time…," Cordelia asked with a sly smirk on her face as she glanced over at Faith, who was staring across the lobby at Wesley, who stood at the Hyperion's front doors watching the exchange between Angel and the Wolfram and Hart employee.
"Shut up Cordelia," Faith growled back with an angry tone to her voice as she only half turned back towards the seer.
"Ooh…I hit a nerve…okay now you've got to spill, tell me everything…," Cordelia added, now with a very interested smile on her face and a wink, as she dropped the newspaper that she had been lazily flipping through and focused all of her attention on Faith, who squirmed a bit in her seat.
"Stop asking stupid questions…," Faith exclaimed with a nervous and angry frown on her face before she jumped out of her seat and walked towards the kitchen.
"Oh no, you're not walking away from this," Cordelia said with a very serious and confidant look on her face before she stood up and followed after the formerly rogue slayer just as Angel walked back in the front door.
"Anything," Wesley asked with a concerned and nervous frown on his face and his hand son his hips.
"Well it was definitely a portal that took Buffy, but other than that they're still not sure," Angel replied with an unhappy and frustrated scowl on his face as he let his gaze wash over the lobby, as if he was looking for Cordelia.
"So what now…you were so sure that the Scourge would attack us t…last night that you sent everyone to Wolfram and Hart…but…," Wesley added with a concerned and slightly confused frown on his face as he slowly walked back towards the center of the lobby, not looking at Angel as he did so.
"Well…sometime today we'll have to get back out there and try to find the Scourge, hit them before they hit us, but as what we're going to do right now…we're going to talk about what you and Faith did earlier," Angel started to say with a nervous shrug of his shoulders as he followed Wesley down into the center of the lobby before he slipped his hands into his pockets and cocked his head to one side as he awaited Wesley's response. The former watcher cringed openly and slowly turned around on his heel with a shaky smile on his face, almost as if he was going to try to play dumb. But then a light seemed to go on in his head and his expression became much more serious.
"Alright…let's have it then," Wesley said with a nervous shrug of his shoulders as he stood up straight and looked ready to face a firing squad. Angel shook his head quickly, taken aback by the manner with which Wesley was handling the situation.
"Have what…," Angel asked with a confused and slightly frustrated frown on his face as he leaned back slightly and cocked an eyebrow at the Englishman in front of him.
"Your lecture about what Faith and I did upstairs was wrong and that you're very disappointed in us and…," Wesley started to say with a nervous and slightly scared frown on his face as he crossed his arms in front of him.
"That's not what I was going to say at all Wesley, now while the thought of you and Faith…together…is…disturbing…at least at first glance…I'm going to try and not judge, but I do have one question…," Angel said with an unsure frown on his face as he and Wesley walked over and sat down on opposite sides of the small table in the lobby.
"Disturbing…Angel I…," Wesley asked with a somewhat confrontational and confused frown on his face as he leaned forward in his seat.
"Okay so disturbing was a bad choice of words…but you have to admit that you and Faith…heh…although now that I think about it when you two came after me, or actually Angelus, it didn't take you very long, and from the gossip that I heard you two had the demon world of Los Angeles scared," Angel replied at first with an apologetic smile on his face before the smile widened a bit in the middle and then turned into a serious frown at the end.
"That still doesn't explain why…it surprised me when it happened, one minute we were talking on the balcony as we waited for the team to finish their analysis of the courtyard…and the next minute my right hand is…," Wesley said with a nervous look on his face and shrug of his shoulders before he leaned back and seemed to get a nostalgic smile on his face.
"Okay Wesley…I think that's enough nostalgia for today, but does this mean that the two of you…I mean are you…," Angel said as he rushed to put his hands up in a defensive manner with an uncomfortable smile on his face before his tone became more nervous.
"Dating…hell if I know…although I can tell you one thing, Robin Wood is not going to be a very happy man when he finds out what we did," Wesley added with an unsure shrug of his shoulders before his face took on a look of worry as he finished.
"Good luck," Angel said with a knowing grin on his face as he stood up and patted Wesley on the shoulder on his way back towards the front doors of the Hyperion to talk with the leader of the security division that had accompanied the scientific division.
* * * * * *
Spike had bided his time well until it had come to the night that Jenny Calendar was to die. A million different possibilities ran through his mind, possible alternate scenarios that didn't end up with Angelus killing her and then breaking Giles' heart by leaving his love propped up in his bed. A large piece of him wanted to rush to Revello Drive and if he had to beg Buffy to get to the school and stop Angelus. Another piece of him wanted to hurry to Giles' flat and alert him as to what was about to happen. But as the day turned into night he stayed hidden in the shadows near the school, making sure that he concealed himself enough so that neither Angelus nor anyone else knew of his presence. With tears that he tried for a time to keep back flooding down his cheeks he watched in silent horror at the drama that played out in front of him. He watched how Angelus hunted and tracked the teacher down as the latter ran for her life, screaming for help. More than once Spike found that he couldn't look at the sight any longer and had to turn away. He steeled himself and his nerves with the knowledge that his family needed him to do his duty and bring the, as Dru had called her, nasty teacher back to Texas with him.
He thought about meeting up with Whistler after Buffy had met him for the first time in Giles' apartment but decided against it as he guessed that he'd probably screw something up. And because of that he waited and kept out of sight until he saw Buffy and Giles walk slowly away from the grave, with the tired old watcher casting a heart wrenching look back every few steps at the grave of the woman that he had loved. After the two had gotten into Giles' car and drive away Spike slowly crept down to the grave side and knelt down. "Sorry I couldn't help you…but your death was all part of the big picture…it had to happen," Spike whispered softly with a tear in his eye as he reached out and traced the letters of her name on the tombstone, lying a dark red rose on the grave while he did so.
"What's with the waterworks Spike, she'll be back soon enough, and then comes the hardest part of this whole thing, you're going to have to convince her that she's no longer dead, and on top of that you'll have to convince her that you're not a vampire anymore and that she has to return to Texas with you to help you and the others get back to your correct time," Whistler said with a bored smile on his face as he adjusted his hat with one hand and held up a shovel with the other.
"You've got a lousy sense of timing Whistler, anyone ever tell you that," Spike growled softly back with a frustrated scowl on his face before he stood up and pulled off his duster and set it down nearby.
"Uh…is that a trick question…," Whistler replied with a dopey grin on his face as he scratched his head before Spike angrily grabbed the shovel away from him.
"Sod off…now if you're not going to help me dig then the least that you can do is keep watch, I don't fancy getting caught by the cops robbing a grave of its body…or having Buffy or Giles come back and get the wrong idea…try to stake me," Spike said with a very serious frown on his face before he moved the flowers that Buffy and Giles had place and then set about digging.
"Fine…you're no fun anyway…must get that from Angel…he was so thickheaded…I thought he'd never get it…," Whistler said with his hands up in a defensive manner, as he laid an old ladder down beside the grave, before he snickered a bit while slowly walking away to find a good place to sit to keep watch.
"No argument here…," Spike grumbled softly under his breath as he continued to dig, trying his best to not make to much of a mess as when he was finished he'd have to make it look like he'd never been there. Almost an hour later, as his enhanced strength had helped speed up the process, Spike finally got down to the coffin and had cleared enough dirt away so that it could be opened without being filled with dirt. Slowly Spike opened the top part of the coffin and had to wince at the sight. Biting his lip, and a quick curse, Spike slowly and carefully picked Jenny's dead body out of her coffin and awkwardly carried her up the ladder. Lying Jenny on the ground near her grave Spike wiped the sweat off of his brow before climbing back down the ladder to begin to clean up. By the time that Spike had closed the coffin and filled the hole back in, remembering to make everything look pretty much how it had when he started, he stood up and brushed himself off.
"Good you're done," Whistler said with a smile of approval on his face as he walked up and leaned on one of the tombstones.
"So bring her back already, I need to get back to Buffy and Joyce," Spike grumbled with an unhappy frown on his face as he noticed how dirty he was.
"I will…but we can't do it here, the spell to reconnect her body and her soul is going to make a lot of light…if we did it out here it'd look like the fourth of July, and…," Whistler said with an unhappy frown on his face as he adjusted his collar.
"Fine…but you get to bring the shovel and ladder," Spike grumbled with an angry scowl on his face as he slipped his duster back on before carefully picking up Jenny's limp body and heading away from her grave.
"Wait…where are you going," Whistler asked with a slightly panicked look on his face as he hurriedly picked up the shovel and started to drag the ladder behind him.
"To my crypt…or at least what will be my crypt, we can cover up the windows and do it there, besides if she wigs out after you bring her back she won't be able to go anywhere," Spike shouted back over his shoulder before he disappeared into the night.
* * * * * *
"We should be there Giles…not sitting around here like dead weight," Robin said with a very unhappy and frustrated frown on his face as he leaned back in his chair and looked over to Giles. After making sure that everyone was alright Giles and Robin had secluded themselves to an empty boardroom, hopefully to get some peace and quiet along with being able to possibly talk to Angel without any of the new slayers hearing.
"I understand your frustrations Robin, but Angel was right, it's best that we're here, where we and the new slayers are protected while he and the others are back at the Hyperion waiting for the Scourge," Giles replied with a nervous sigh as he tried his best to stifle a yawn.
"But I don't like it that Faith had to stay there…with that old watcher of hers…he looked so frail that…," Robin started to say with a very pessimistic frown on his face before Lilah opened the boardroom doors and interrupted him.
"He's not as frail as he looks…trust me, he's quite the animal in bed…or at least he was last time he and I…," Lilah said with a devilish smile on her face as she sauntered into the boardroom and sat down in a chair opposite Robin. Robin and Giles could only sit in total shock for a few seconds before Giles finally found the right words to say.
"I don't think that I particularly like what you are implying Ms. Morgan," Giles said with a very stern and fatherly scowl on his face as he leaned forward in his chair, all before a slight smirk on Lilah's face slowly turned into a wide grin and then a hearty chuckle.
"God…you are old aren't you, no one's said anything like that to me since my grandfather," Lilah joked with a sly grin on her face as she brushed a piece of lint off of her shoulder and straightened the scarf that went around her neck and hid the scar.
"Do you actually want something…or are you just here to annoy the hell out of us…," Robin asked with a perturbed scowl on his face as he crosses his arms and leans back in his chair glaring across the table at Lilah.
"Both…just here to make sure that you and all of the little rats…I mean slayers are doing okay," Lilah replied with a nervous smile on her face as she leaned forward in her chair and clasped her hands together on the table in front of her.
"We're all doing fine Lilah, but I can't wait to get back to the hotel and check on Faith…keeping an eye on Faith...," Robin said with a slightly angry nod of his head before he spat out the last part with a disgusted look on his face.
"Oh he kept an eye on her all right…all…night…long," Lilah mumbled softly with a seductive smile on her face as she looked straight at Robin before she finished with a wink sent his way. A stern look and a loud clearing of his throat was all that Giles could do to keep Robin from leaping across the table and trying his best to strangle Lilah.
"That is not funny Lilah…look if all you're going to do is…," Giles started to say with a hopefully calming tone of voice before Lilah turned her gaze towards him and interrupted.
"Remind you of exactly what she did to him and how crazy all of this is…yeah, I could see how tying him up like a piñata and giving him a few good whacks before resorting to slicing him up like a fresh fish with that nasty shard of glass…," Lilah started to say with a devilish glint in her eyes and smug smile on her face as she turned and looked out the window.
"You're lying, I know here…Faith would never…," Robin shouted with a very angry scowl on his face as he jumped to his feet and glared down at Lilah, who didn't seem to be the least bit scared.
"You don't know anything son of a dead slayer, that little bitch was in prison for murder…that she did actually commit, not to mention the number of times that she tried to kill Angel, Buffy, and the others before Summers was able to stick that knife in her gut and put her out of commission in a coma for awhile," Lilah replied with a mocking laugh before she twirled around in her chair and stood up.
"That was the old Faith Lilah, and the old Wesley, they're not the same people that they once were…a lot like Angel you could say…," Giles said with a growing scowl of frustration on his face as he stood up and tried his best to stay in between Robin and Lilah.
"The same Angel that after achieving a single moment of true happiness with the little bunny of a slayer Buffy turned back into Angelus and brutally and sickly killed your girlfriend…what was her name again…ah yes Jenny Calendar, before leaving her body in your bed and making it look like…," Lilah added with a sincere look of devilish glee on her face as she walked over to the window, registering Giles' reaction through his reflection in the window.
"That is enough," Giles shouted with a very angry look on his face as he slammed his fists down onto the top of the table and glared at Lilah.
"No…you're lying about all of this…Faith never did what you said and Angel…," Robin said with an overwhelmed frown on his face as he tried to keep himself under control and keep from looking at Lilah.
"Everything that I said is true…if you thought that Spike was bad Mr. Wood then Angelus is evil beyond your wildest imagination, and Faith did all of that, after all why do you think that she's been so hesitant to come clean with the details about what happened between her and Wesley all those years ago here in sunny…well not so sunny anymore…Los Angeles," Lilah interjected with a wicked smile of glee on her face as she turned and leaned up against the window, her hand lazily wafting over her scarf.
"I don't have to listen to this," Robin declared with an angry and fed up scowl on his face before he turned and left the board room in a huff.
"My…quite the temper…he'd better watch it, or else it'll come back and bite him in the end…," Lilah started to say with a happy smile on her face as she turned to follow Robin out of the room before Giles grabbed her arm.
"You sound so sure of yourself Ms. Morgan…but tell me something how are you so sure about how much Wesley has changed…I've already seen how Faith…," Giles started to say with a very low and stern tone of voice as he forced Lilah to look him in the eye.
"I'll keep this simple okay…could your old Wesley have ever possibly done this without spilling his guts two seconds later," Lilah purred with a daring smile on her face before she quickly pulled the knot out of her scarf and reveled in Giles' gasp at the sight of the scar on her throat.
END OF CHAPTER 18