Disclaimer: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel are not mine, I'm just playing with them.
Chapter 10: Right Behind them, Only Further Back
Buffy stared blankly at the elevator doors. Spike was at her side in an instant, his hand on her back. His shirt was unbuttoned, and Buffy's hair was in disarray. That and Angel's sense of smell clued him in on what exactly his ex and Spike had been up to while Dawn had been busy getting kidnapped. A small ached formed in his chest. It was the same ache he always felt when he was reminded that Buffy had indeed moved on. Buffy whirled around to face Angel.
"It's not Tuesday, is it?" She asked, rhetorically. "It damn well better not be Tuesday." She went on before actually addressing Angel. "What the hell just happened here?" Buffy demanded.
"I'm not sure. I walked in on Connor, as he was about to grab Dawn. That's when he grabbed her and dragged her out of here." Angel tried to make sense of what had just happened. His son had just kidnapped his ex's little sister. The irony was not lost on him.
"You didn't stop him?" Buffy asked, sounding a lot like the lost and angry sixteen-year-old he'd once known her to be.
"I didn't have a weapon, he did. I didn't want to risk him hurting Dawn." Angel defended himself. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Seems he was going to have to work on his decision making skills if everyone was going to be so incredulous about the results. Buffy sighed.
"They couldn't have gotten too far. We can still try and stop him from leaving the building with her." Buffy said.
"I would dispatch a team, but we're still working on them not killing innocents. We'll have to do this ourselves." Angel said, sounding slightly sheepish. Buffy's face tightened up with resolve and she shot a look at Spike. "We'll take the stairs and head to the lobby." Buffy said, gesturing to Spike. "Watch what floor the elevator stops on, and then you head to that floor." She commanded. Angel nodded.
"I'll get Wes, Fred and Gunn to check some of the other floors too." He said. She agreed. "Buffy, I..." Angel went on. Buffy smiled a half smile.
"You can apologize after we get her back." She said, and then she and Spike took off towards the stair well. Angel nabbed Fred, Gunn, and Wes from his office and explained the situation to them as they watched the elevator numbers light up as the elevator traveled downwards. It stopped, with everyone looking at Angel for direction.
"He stopped it between floors. Gunn and I will take the second floor. Fred and Wes, take the third floor. Do not let him leave with Dawn, but don't do anything that will end up with her hurt either." Angel cautioned. They headed through the stairwell door, leaving an empty hallway behind them.
*
Angel approached the open elevator doors carefully, Gunn just behind him. They knelt in the doorway, and peered into the elevator below.
"It's empty." Angel said. Gunn sighed and rubbed his head with his right hand.
"Think this is the floor they got out on?" Gunn asked. Angel was silent, contemplating the elevator.
"Maybe." Angel answered him. He crouched down and maneuvered himself into the elevator. He searched it carefully, looking at the control panel and the walls. Angel also looked up at the roof, and a possible thought occurred.
"Find anything?" Gunn wanted to know. Angel reached up, and opened the hatch in the ceiling.
"I think so." Angel said, and lifted himself up onto the roof of the elevator. He called out to Gunn, after spotting another set of elevator doors propped open. "They're on 5." He went on, before leaping up, grabbing the cable and beginning to climb. Gunn headed for the stairs a second time, hoping that they got to Connor and Dawn before Connor did something stupid.
*
Buffy was pacing in the lobby, clenching and un-clenching her fist around a stake. Angel's son or not, that boy was going to pay if he'd harmed on hair on her sister's head.
"I second that, Luv." Spike said, causing Buffy to realize that she'd spoken aloud. She smiled at him, glad that he was thinking the same thing she was. Buffy knew how important Dawn was to him, and how upset Spike had been when Dawn had been angry with him. She also knew that they were getting things back on track; the three of them, and that meant Spike would do anything to save Dawn.
"I just wish I had gotten there sooner." Buffy lamented. Spike wasn't sure how to take that. On the one hand, it could be her way of saying that she was regretting what had happened between them. On the other hand it could just mean that she was pissed at Angel for letting Connor run off with the 'Bit.
"Are you sorry we..." Spike trailed off when Buffy turned to look at him, surprise on her face. It softened as she took in his vulnerable puppy dog expression.
"No." Buffy answered him, reaching out to touch his cheek with her right hand. "Just wish we'd had better timing." She explained. He recovered his adorable grin, one that Buffy was sure only she saw, and covered her hand with his own.
*
"He won't hurt her, will he?" Fred drawled softly, as she walked beside Wesley. They were checking all the offices and closets on the third floor, and so far they hadn't found anything. Being that it was a Saturday, the office building was pretty deserted, and most of the offices they looked in were empty.
"I don't think so, but I'm not sure." Wesley tried to sound reassuring. Fred nodded, looking at the office around her.
"I think this one is empty." She said. Wesley nodded, and the pair headed out into the hallway. The next door was a supply closet, which Wesley had to open with a key. He struggled with the door before finally getting it open, and he and Fred crept inside. He flicked the light on as the door swung shut behind them. They searched for a few minutes, making sure no one was hiding in the closet. They looked at each other and Wesley went to the door and turned the knob. It didn't budge.
"It's stuck." He said, in a voice that didn't sound quite like his own.
"What?!?" Fred cried out, moving to try the door herself. It still didn't move. They began banging on the door, calling for help.
*
"They went in here." Angel said, pointing to the open supply closet door, using his sense of smell to figure out where Connor had taken Dawn.
"Down the good old Wolfram and Hart escape hatch." Gunn chimed in. Angel pulled the lever on the wall and perched next to the whole in the floor it created.
"I'm going to follow them, see if I can catch up to them in the sewers. Find Buffy and Spike and let them know what's going." Angel instructed Gunn. Angel dropped down, and eventually landed in the sewer with a small splash. Sniffing the air, he set out after Connor and Dawn.