Disclaimer: You know the drill: I don't own them, Joss Whedon does. All I do is put them in dangerous, life-threatening situations, kill them off, and bring them back—oh, wait, that's Joss's idea too…well, all I do own the Paranoxa demon in this chapter. He's mine and will kill anyone who doesn't review…
A/N: I know! I know! I haven't updated ever since last year early September! It's just, lots of things changed so rapidly before my eyes. Me starting high school for one. Mom now being a long term "substitute" (the quotes-the quotes! She is not a sub anymore-she's been teaching all year!) and then me and my two new brothers with their whiskers, tail, paws, pointy ears, and catching rats and lizards every where I turn (okay, so my two new "brothers" are two new kittens…but they're brothers. They had a sister too.) That's enough from my mid-life crisis (as to quote Richie from Highlander "do Immortals have mid-life crisis?" And then to quote from Warren, "We're your arch-nemesises's." (Don't care if it's spelled wrong.) Hey! This is a long A/N, isn't it? Well, again, sorry a million times. And remember: if you don't review, my Paranoxa demon will eat you! That, and I won't give you any delicious cookies I am making right now. Oh yeah, sentences underlined means thoughts.
Chapter 7: Down and Out
"What happened?" Angel asked, a bit worried. He had just woken up from his two hours of unconsciousness, and found out that Spike was unconscious. Now Gunn, Angel, Lorne, and Fred were gathered in Wesley's office, looking anxiously at the ex-Watcher for an explanation of some sort.
Wesley sighed, looking at the worried faces of the team. "Well, it's possible that the blood that Spike drank was poisonous, and, as a result from the poison, he fell unconscious."
"He is okay, though, is he?" Fred asked with a calm voice. She tried hard not to show that she was worried. "The poisonous isn't serious."
"I analyzed the leftover blood, and if my calculations are correct, whoever put the poison in the blood, put a large amount in there. The longer Spike is unconscious, the closer he comes to dying."
Angel, who was fiddling around with a piece of paper, looked up at Wesley. The vampire's eyes turned a darker shade of brown. "What do you mean?"
"This poison is a special type of poison that does serious harm to vampires who drink it. I haven't yet figured out what damage it does to the vampire that drinks it, but I do know that if we don't get the antidote soon, he'll die," Wesley explained thoroughly.
"Where do we get the antidote?" Gunn asked.
"I've been doing some research, and it seems the antidote is the blood of a demon."
"Which demon?" Angel demanded instantly.
Gunn looked at Angel weirdly. "Why are you so worried about Spike? Last time I heard, you hated him."
Angel glared at Gunn, reluctant to answer the question. "That was the old Spike I hated. This is the new Spike…the Spike with a soul. He should be forgiven for his past mistakes, just like I was forgiven when I met Buffy."
"Vampires can't be forgiven. They're vampires…they're demons…just because one went off and got a soul doesn't mean that he's forgiven right away. He has to suffer with the guilt first," Gunn replied.
"He has suffered…enough for me to know that he's begging for forgiveness, yet he hasn't had any from his friends," Angel snapped.
"And how do you know that he suffered long enough with his guilt?" Gunn asked with a challenging tone.
"Because…" Angel sighed. "Because I saw it in his eyes…"
Wesley coughed on purpose, shooting both Angel and Gunn a glare. "Forgive me for intruding on your conversation, but may we please get on with the other conversation. The important one…"
Gunn looked from Angel to Wesley and then to Fred. "I'm outta here," he said harshly, and left the room.
Fred looked to Wesley first and then to Gunn, who was already ascending the stairs. "Sorry," she muttered, making her way out of the room. She closed the door behind her, hearing Wesley start the conversation again. With a sigh, she desperately wished Gunn hadn't exited the room…she wanted to know if Spike would be all right.
"Gunn, wait!" she shouted urgently, running up the stairs after him.
With an exasperated sigh, Gunn immediately stopped walking. With his back to her, he said softly, "Why do you care about him so much?"
Confusion fell upon Fred's face as she shook her head. "I don't know what you mean…"
"Of course you know what I mean!" Gunn nearly shouted. He turned around, looking Fred in the eye. "Just tell me the truth…"
Fred looked to the ground. "Charles…"
"No," Gunn said promptly. "I don't want to hear it…" After a quiet moment, a dramatic moment, Gunn continued softly, "I thought you loved me…"
With tears in her eyes, Fred looked up from the ground. "I do love you…I love everyone, though, Charles. So what if I'm caring about Spike? I still care about you."
"He's a killer," Gunn countered.
"He's reformed," Fred replied.
"He may kill you."
"He won't…" Off of Gunn's doubting look, Fred continued, "I know…"
Gunn gave an exaggerated sigh. "I just don't want to see you get hurt…especially by a murderous vampire."
"Charles, he won't hurt me. And if he does…" Fred sighed. "But he won't."
"A Paranoxa demon? That's the antidote?" Angel asked with slight doubt in his voice.
"The Paranoxa's blood is the antidote," Wesley corrected. "And it's very rare to find the demon here in Los Angeles. They mostly inhabit small, woodland areas, although occasionally, they're known to inhabit the sewers also. Construction workers who had came in contact with them usually refer to them as large dogs or gorilla-like, except with claws."
"So it's the sewers for me?" Angel asked even though he knew the answer.
"Oh…" Wesley looked back down at the book he was looking at.
"What 'oh'?" Angel asked suddenly.
"'They have the strength of two or more vampires, claws cause blindness, deafness, and muteness to the victim if slashed at. Their saliva contains poison, and if contacted with a vampire, the poison can kill them.'" Wesley read from the book. He looked up to Lorne and Angel.
"Well, now we know where the poison came from," Lorne said with enthusiasm.
"Yeah, but we don't know who put it in the blood," Angel replied. "And it's strange that this demon who poisoned Spike also carries the antidote."
"Plus, see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil," Lorne stated.
"The strength of two vampires or more…I'm guessing we might need back-up," Wesley suggested. He closed the book and set it off to the side. "I'll go get the weapons," he offered, rising from the chair.
"No!" Angel said. "I'll go alone."
"But Angel—"
"I said I'll go alone. You guys stay here and watch Spike," Angel said calmly, but worry and fear nonetheless was clear in his voice.
"And how are you expecting to get down to the sewers in daylight?" Wesley called after Angel as he walked out of the office.
"I'll take the backdoor," Angel responded impatiently.
Of course, the backdoor was the basement. Angel had always doubted to believe that the basement could lead to the sewers, but it did. He hadn't paused to even think how helpful it was before he stopped in the middle of a four-way intersection.
He sighed heavily, mostly angered by the fact that he was lost and mostly irritated that he didn't know which sewer tunnel to take. Pondering on the thought a bit, he decided to go straight from where he was, which meant the sewer tunnel that seemed like it ended in nothing but a black pit. Wishing he brought a flashlight, he started down the one tunnel.
Fred searched through the endless line of books that sat atop the dusty bookshelf, only stopping occasionally to peer over her glasses at the clock. With a soft sigh, she continued her search for the book Wesley had insisted her to look for. She hadn't given the option much thought when Wesley had stated it because he was watching over Spike instead. But she knew in her heart that when Angel was away, Wesley took command of the hotel and anyone who walked through its front doors.
"I don't see why I have to do this," Fred stated as she hopped down from the chair she was standing on. She took off her glasses and placed them upon the counter, making her way over to the computer that was rarely used by anyone. "Besides, I don't think we have the book," she continued. "Plus, the Internet's much more efficient when searching for stuff. Such as Dogpile or Google." Her mind blanked as she logged onto the Internet. After a few minutes, she was finally on the Internet and was overwhelmed by the temptation to take a quick glance at one of her favorite sites: the Internet Movie Database.
She hadn't noticed Wesley coming down stairs and was at the point of looking at the message boards before Wesley said, "What's this?"
Fred gasped in shock as she quickly turned around. Her face was slightly pale and her eyes wide. "Wesley!"
"I though I sent you down here to search for the book, not go onto the Internet."
"I was searching for it, but I don't think we have it. And you scared me," she added, turning back around to face the computer screen.
"I'm sorry I scared you," Wesley apologized. "But if you want to help Spike, then you might as well search for the book."
"How is he?" Fred asked softly. "Is he okay?"
"I'm afraid that he's not much better than the last couple of hours. His progression for survival is narrowing and—"
"I need to help him," Fred finished Wesley's sentence. "I just don't know if I can though. I mean I know that you guys are dependant on me whenever we hit rough times with the word 'science' thrown into the equation, but I'm not science girl. I can't do much, a fact that both you and I know, but for this one time, let me help Angel save Spike instead." Fred logged off the Internet and turned to face Wesley. "Let me help Angel fight the demon."
A moment of silence was all Wesley needed to gather up bits of what Fred had said. "I was going to say that Spike's progression for survival is narrowing and there's a great chance that Angel won't be able to find the demon," Wesley said, slightly puzzled at the fact that Fred wanted to help Angel fight the demon.
"Oh…well, I'll look for the book then," Fred offered and then added, "What is it called?"
"It doesn't have a specific title. Instead, a demon symbol is engraved in gold on the front cover," Wesley informed Fred as she went over to the bookshelf.
"What kind of symbol?" she called over her shoulder to Wesley.
"It's…um…a circle with a triangle in the center with a dot in the middle of the triangle."
"Oh…" Fred grunted as she pulled a book out from under a tower of books. The tower of books started to rock gently. Wesley saw this.
"Fred!" Wesley cried out, pulling her back from the bookshelf. The rocking books suddenly decided to topple over to the floor, which resulted in a sound that was very much like a gunshot.
"Thanks, Wesley," Fred said, coughing from the dust that was stirred up.
"Don't mention it." When he saw the book that Fred carried, he added, "Is that the book?"
She turned the book around so she could see the front cover. She saw the gold engraved demon symbol and grinned. "Yep."
Wesley took the book from her and opened it to a certain page. "All of the ingredients should be listed here," he said as he turned to another page.
"What if we don't have the ingredients?" Fred asked, peering at the book over Wesley's shoulder.
"We should…unless Angel doesn't find the demon."
An uneasy silence settled over the hotel as Fred and Wesley glanced at each other. The fact that if Angel fails to find the demon ran through their minds and they tried to not think of the worse if that did happen.
"I can't find the demon," Angel sighed as he waded through the murky water that reached his waist. A few tunnels back he was about to call it quits if he didn't find the demon but revised that idea when he thought of the gang back at the hotel. Now he wished he kept to that idea.
Another sigh escaped him as his foot landed on something squishy that was hidden underneath the water. Disgusted by the fact of something dead and squishy under the water, he decided to call the hotel. He took out his cell phone, opened it, and dialed a number.
Wesley set the book down on the counter when the phone rang. He picked up the phone, knowing instinctively that Angel was calling. "Angel?" he asked.
"Wesley."
A short silence came.
"Where are you?" Wesley asked.
"In the sewers."
"No luck?"
"Not one. How's Spike?"
"His chance of survival is—"
"Narrowing, right?"
"He looks bad."
"Well, Wesley, I've come to the decision to—"
Buffy's voice rang in Angel's ears, as if she was there by his side. He wondered what she would do if the person she loved died suddenly. The image of her face, the way she looked, when she plunged the sword into his chest came to his mind. The last image of her before Acathla, summoned by Angelus, sucked him into hell was one image that he would not forget. If my sudden death did that to her, then I wonder what Spike's death would do to her?
"Decision to do what?" Wesley asked, bringing Angel out of his thoughts.
"I'm not going to quit. I'll look for the demon. You just keep an eye out for Spike," Angel ordered, turning off the cell phone.
A deep growl resounded through out the tunnel. Angel figured it was just a vampire that was bored and had nothing better to do, but he was wrong. He turned around and saw the worst thing he could ever imagine.
The demon stood nearly ten feet tall from Angel's view. Its wings were like that of a dragon or a dragonfly. Maybe a dragonfly, Angel thought. Two horns, rounded and pointed like a goat's horns, sat atop the head and its hands and feet were made of long and sharp claws.
"You must be the Paranoxa demon," Angel guessed cautiously.
The demon growled again. It picked up Angel by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the tunnel wall. Pain ricocheted through Angel as he let the cell phone slip into the water. He tried hard to move; yet some part of him was in too much pain to even respond to what Angel wanted to do.
The demon moved to Angel. Each time its foot came down, the walls and ground seemed to shake. As it came closer, the demon appeared blurrier, until blackness came over it.
"Okay, Wesley, while you gather up the ingredients for the potion, I'll go check on Spike," Fred offered, rising from her chair at the computer.
"It's not a potion. It's a liquid sort of drink," Wesley informed.
"So it's a potion?"
Wesley sighed and then answered, "Yes, it's a potion. You go check on Spike."
Fred grinned and headed up the stairs. She could hear Conner down the hallway and Lorne singing a weird song in the shower. Gunn was off doing an errand run, so the hotel was nearly empty. If you could call two people gone from the hotel empty, Fred thought. She entered Spike's room and silence immediately drowned out the background noise.
"Spike?"
The demon hit Angel over and over again like the vampire was a rag doll. Angel couldn't comprehend with what was happening. He felt weak and limp. It was like his brain had shut down, leaving Angel to lie in the murky water and be prey for the demon.
Spike followed the vampire's scent through the sewers, although at some times the strong smell of the sewer water drowned out the scent. Spike had eavesdropped on the conversation Wesley had with Angel over the cell phone. His first choice after the conversation had ended was to go back up to his room and not care about whether or not Angel got killed or not. But he revised the thought when he pondered on the fact some more.
Since Angel's scent had veered off to the sewer tunnel to the left of Spike, he decided to take that tunnel.
Alone in the tunnel gave him time to think of the actions he made at the hotel. If Angel doesn't kill the demon and the demon kills him instead, then Angel doesn't get the demon's blood for the antidote. And if that happens, then I would die also. Spike knew that only thinking about himself and not Angel was selfish, but he didn't care.
He saw Angel in the distance. He also saw the demon hit Angel over and over again like he was a rag doll. Spike looked around at the area around him and was a bit disappointed to not find anything to kill the demon with, except…broken pipe, Spike thought, eyeing the broken piece of metal that floated gently in the water. He picked it up and smirked.
The demon growled. It was ready to kill this vampire. Its eyes were blood red and its claws gleamed from a mysterious light. Angel prepared for the worst.
"Hey, demon!"
That voice…Angel recognized the voice. That voice sounds familiar.
Spike hit the demon in the head with the broken pipe. The demon growled loudly. "Yeah, that's right. I'm talking to you." The demon growled again and swung a fist at Spike. Spike ducked just in time. "This is fun." Spike drove the sharp end of the broken pipe into the demon's chest. The demon roared and struck at Spike with a fist. Spike fell to the ground, unconscious.
The demon grunted as it pulled the pipe out of its chest. It threw it angrily against the wall. The metal pipe flew off the wall with a hollow clunk that echoed in the sewer tunnels.
Angel gathered his senses that were screaming at him to get up and fight. The demon shot Angel a dangerous glance that probably meant death. Angel stood up weakly and looked at the area he was in. There were no weapons around and Spike was unconscious. And my cell phone—
The demon stepped on something that was hidden by the water. Electrical sparks danced around the demons foot as the hidden object was crushed. "And my cell phone is destroyed," Angel murmured.
The demon raised a fist. Angel knew what that fist meant, yet he couldn't seem to move to avoid the strike that suddenly came at him. He fell to the ground.
Angel didn't know what would happen next or where he was going to go once this demon finished with him. All he knew was defeat. The demon defeated him in a way no other demon did or could do. I'm sorry, he thought, preparing himself for the final strike.
The demon roared. The final strike didn't come and as Angel opened his eyes, he saw the demon fall to the ground next to him. The demon was dead.
Two pairs of hands helped Angel up from the ground.
"Are you all right?"
Angel grinned slightly. "Yeah, I am."
"It's a good thing we found you. This place is like a maze."
The voices belonged to Gunn and Wesley.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Gunn said, grinning warmly.
"All that matters is that we found you before…" Wesley didn't finish. He trailed off as Angel spotted the unconscious Spike nearby.
"What about him?" Angel asked.
"He's down and out," Wesley answered grimly.
A/N: Paranoxa demon, attack! Okay, remembering Pokemon right now…but if you don't review, whom will I give all this hot, fresh, baked, ooey-gooey chocolaty chips to? Oh well, might as well throw them away…