Relive
By: Peanutbutter
Chapter 9 'Family'
Angel stared at the computer his head cocked to the side, like a dog who had heard something strange. "Hmm." He started thoughtfully but didn't make an attempt to touch the computer just yet.
"It's not going to bite you." Cordelia said from behind him and leaned over his shoulder and laughed in his ear. "Don't be such a technology scardy cat."
"It's just..." Angel trailed off. "Weird."
"Please." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "A vampire afraid to use a phone is weird."
"That's not a phone." Angel protested and waved his hand. "A phone is hooked to a cord sending messages through power lines. This is, this is a..." He trailed off. "It's just weird."
"Whatever. You're going to have to get over this stupid fear eventually." Cordelia said indignantly. "I may not be around forever." With that said Cordelia stepped around her wayward husband and up to the machine. Calmly she placed her hand in the gel pad and watched her fingers sink into the gel like substance before a voice rang in the silence. "Cordelia Chase. Who do you want to call?"
"Michael Wade." Cordelia said loudly and waited while the machine hummed and the gel released Cordelia's hand. She pulled it out completely clean and turned to look at Angel. "Was that so hard?"
Angel started to defend himself when a voice came over the speaker and a picture appeared on the small screen. It was a young man resembling Angel a great deal more than genetics, over so many generations, should allow. "Hey there Aunt Cordelia." He smiled happily and craned his head as if looking at something behind her. "Is that Uncle Angel over there?"
Cordelia nodded. "Yeah, he's still scared to use one of these."
"What, I, I mean what if your hand gets sucked into the gel stuff and you can't get it out?" Angel said stepping in front of Cordelia to see his great, great, something or another grandson. To Angel's surprise the youth laughed at him.
"That can't happen." He said stopping his laughter when Angel glared at him. "It just a way to identify you. I mean otherwise you'd have to use phonebooks and the like. This way you enter one person and automatically you have all the phones linked to them. I mean do you really even know my phone number."
"556-8976." Angel said with some pride.
"Well as soon as you find pay phone you use it." Michael said rolling his eyes slightly. "Where you guys at? I mean I was expecting you two here yesterday, you know for the big family reunion."
Cordelia frowned. "That's why we called Michael. We can't make it."
"Why not?" He asked his face falling considerably. "I mean if we can't tease you two about how much you haven't aged or astound the kids when we tell them you're both well over two hundred years old?"
"Hey!" Cordelia protested. "I'm not two hundred yet. Angel's the old one, not me."
"Sure," Angel mumbled beside her, "and a few hundred years makes a huge difference when you've passed a hundred and sixty and still look to be about 26."
"Damn right." Cordelia said and turned back to Michael. "I'm really sorry Michael. This is the only chance we get to see everyone and we don't want to miss it."
"You guys really know how to ruin a surprise." Michael said off handedly. "I guess I'll tell you since you want be here. This isn't just us getting together, but I invited the Summer's end, not to mention Gunn, Pryce. They're all coming, and I was hoping you guys could get Spike to make an appearance."
Angel scowled. "How long was this supposed to last, and where for that matter is it being held. That's a lot of people."
Michael smiled lazily and shrugged. "Well I kinda rented out the Hyperion."
"What!" Angel and Cordelia said in unison.
"Sorry." Michael said, "But I didn't think you'd mind I mean, hey, its family."
Angel shook his head when the thought of his home for so many years and how it would very likely be trashed. "Michael." He said calmly.
"Yeah?"
"How long are they staying there?" He asked again.
"Um we planned it for about two weeks. You know lots of families you need a lot of time to meet everyone." Michael said smiling.
"Since I can't be there," Angel started. "You're staying there with them."
"Huh?" Michael started to protest, "but Angela was coming up to...and." He looked at Angel's unyielding face and frowned. "Fine. Have it your way, but if you guys can't make it for at least a few days I'm holding you two responsible for ruining it."
"Just make sure they don't trash my house." Angel said.
"Oh and keep them out of our room." Cordelia said quickly.
Michael nodded and paused for a moment. "One more thing. I mentioned Spike. Have you guys seen him? I mean last time I talked to his family they hadn't seen him in years."
"He's here," Angel said shortly, "in Sunnydale."
"Oh." Michael paused. "It's that time already."
"Yeah." Angel said guardedly. "I don't think he'll be making it either, but thanks anyway."
Michael was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "All right. I'll talk to you guys later."
Within seconds his face was gone from the screen and Angel and Cordelia were left with each other. "Well that kinda sucks." Cordelia said unhappily. "Or wait we would have to keep them all happy and clean up when they left."
"Yeah," Angel agreed. "This was the PTB way of doing us a favor."
"You're right throwing an apocalypse our way is just like them." Cordelia agreed. "Come on. We have to get to Kirks and Alisa's pronto."
Angel pulled a blanket over his head and stepped out of the shadow with Cordelia and sprinted for their car.
~~~~~`
Kirk was jarred from his silent work when the door was slammed open and a slightly smoking Angel and Cordelia burst through it pushing it shut violently. He watched as the Vampire removed the cloak and smoothed his clothes absently.
"So what's up?" Cordelia asked and walked the rest of the way into the room.
Kirk looked up slowly and rubbed his eyes. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can't find one thing on the reasons why Alisa's here. I beginning to think this was a mistake."
"No." Angel said quickly. "Not possible. Cordelia had the vision and Spike's here to boot. It's part of something. Whoever it is we're after..." Angel trailed off and picked up a stack of papers.
"See not everyone is into the technological advancement. I mean Kirk, a Watcher, is still using print outs."
"Well actually those are the original copies of texts sent over viva transportation fax. So it's not all technology free."
"Hmm." Angel protested and sunk down at the table. "Whatever." He fingered the papers absently and shuffled through them. "So where is the slayer?"
"Sleeping," Kirk said his voice trailing off abruptly from it's normal to business tone. "She wakes during the night."
Angel looked intently at the watcher wondering vaguely just how much he cared for his slayer. "Is it dreams?"
"I don't know. She doesn't tell me." Kirk mumbled absently. "I just know that she's awake at all hours of the night. I don't sleep quite as heavily as she thinks."
"You should ask her." Cordelia said. "She may be having those prophetic dreams Buffy used to all the time."
Kirk shook his head. "She'd tell me. I told her how important every little detail of those dreams were. I told her they could mean the difference between life and death."
Angel shrugged. "Let's hope she believes you. If I remember Slayers correctly they tend to be a little stubborn."
Kirk shook his head. "Yeah it's not the half of it." He trailed off and went back to his laptop. "I don't know what to do sometimes. I feel like she's hiding things from me and I think she's disconnecting from life. She seems more distant. I don't know how to pull her back."
~~~~~``
Alisa listened to them absently and went back to her bed. She really didn't want to deal with Angel and the rest of the crazy crew he had brought along. Especially if Angel made Kirk talk about her. So they thought she was disconnecting. They thought she was falling away from the world. Well the truth was she never really was part of this world. She'd never had a real family she'd never had a normal life. Walking across her room Alisa opened the door and slipped outside. She grabbed hold of the top of the roof she swung herself onto the roof. Sighing she positioned herself with her hands wrapped around her knees and let the morning warmth of the sun bathe her body. She closed her eyes and just lived in the morning. Like this she didn't have to think about anything.
Or at least she shouldn't have to. Even as she exhaled deeply she thought of Dawn, the sister of Buffy Summers the slayer who'd managed to make not one but two vampires fall in love with her. The girl was strong, stronger than she would ever be. Dawn wasn't a slayer she didn't have super powers and somehow she was greater than Alisa would ever be. How could she ever be like Buffy or her sister? Alisa didn't think that she would have done the same things if she had been in their positions.
Sighing deeply, she looked at the ground just over the roof of the next house. She could make out a slight scuffle. She narrowed her eyes considerably trying to piece it together from this distance. There appeared to be at least four no five demons against one...she narrowed her eyes again and saw the human features of the one they were beating up. Hoping to her feet, Alisa jumped from the apartment roof and landed lightly on the building below her. She took a moment to gather her wits before lowing herself to the ground where the scuffle was taking place. The human was curled in a tight ball as the demons kicked him repeatedly until one picked him up and was about to snap his neck. Alisa jumped forward and knocked the victim out of the demons clawed hands.
"Sorry to break up the fun." Alisa said and started to fight. She had never faced so many demons at once. She was horribly outnumbered and the guy the demons had been beating up was starting to smoke. Just as she was thinking about how strange it was that he was starting to smoke she remembered that bleached blond head and the black leather duster. It was him, that drunken vampire. It was Spike. Here she was a vampire slayer defending a vampire.
The more human looking vampire with ridges running down his face and down his spine snarled when he got a hit on her and she barely flinched. "Slayer." He spat hatefully and backed away. "Why do you defend him? He is a vampire." The demon smirked slowly and blinked it's snake eyes as Alisa snapped the neck of one of the Fyral demons. "What business of yours is it if I kill him?"
Alisa shook her head not really thinking of a good answer and tossed one of the Fyral's she had continued to fight at the humanoid demon. He jumped out of the way easily and darted down the street toward the sewers. Alisa sighed in relief and turned toward the beaten lump that was now Spike. He wasn't really moving, but he wasn't dust either so she guessed he would live. She crossed the street stepping over two unconscious demons and kneeled at his side. She hauled him up and into the shade. His eyes blue eyes opened for a moment glazed with pain and slight delusion. He blinked once then twice one of his hands ran up to the side of her face tracing her cheek.
"Buffy?" He asked before his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.
Alisa groaned and huddled against the wall. She carried him back to her apartment carefully to keep the light sensitive vampire out of harm's way. He must have been really out of it if he thought that she was Buffy. It didn't take her long to get back to her apartment but Spike was a little burned when she finally reached her door and shoved it open. Once inside she dropped him unceremoniously on the floor and looked around breathing hard.
"Spike?" She heard Angel asked as he turned around in his chair. "What happened?"
"Found some demons beating the shit out of him." Alisa said shrugging. "I thought he was human before I realized it was him. So I saved him anyway. Figured you'd be pissed if I let him turn to dust." She looked down as he rolled over and groaned.
"Help me get him up." Angel barked over his shoulder at Cordelia and together both of them hauled him to his feet. "Can I put him down somewhere?" Angel asked Kirk.
"Yeah." Kirk said shaking his head. "Um my room second door, just uh let me shut the curtains." Kirk jumped from his seat and jogged toward the room pulling the shades shut and yanking the curtains around the windows. Angel and Cordelia followed him shortly and dropped Spike on the Watcher's unmade bed. The vampire looked horrible his face swollen and bleeding and his lips were moving rapidly.
"Cordy can you get me some of that blood back at the hotel." He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "The human blood, Cordy." He kissed her cheek and smiled at her as she nodded and left the apartment swiftly.
"He'll be all right." Angel said firmly. "He just needs to rest." Moving to his side Angel slipped the limp bag still around his shoulder off of him and set it on the floor. Next he removed the vampires prized leather duster. The boots followed shortly after and Angel pulled the blankets around the unconscious blonde.
"Why do you even bother? I though you said you hated him." Alisa asked from the doorway when Kirk had left to get something to put over Spike's more gaping wounds.
"I never said I hated him. I just said he was hard to get along with. After all he's family." Angel said softly. "I could never just let him die."
"Family?" Alisa whispered under her breath and turned to leave. Angel followed her out and they shut the door on the sleeping vamp.