Stolen Innocence
Part Seven
Original post: May 11, 2004: 8:30 am
Updated post: May 11, 2004: 8:46 pm
Summery: When Dawn goes to visit Angel during April break, on pretenses of visiting Faith, she takes home a hitchhiker, that she doesn't like. The girl in her latest vision has a tie no one foresaw...She is the youngest daughter of a W&H lawyer, named Hank Summers.
Author's notes: OMG!! I'm so sorry. I have no clue what happened. Thanks to Bluie for bringing it to my attention. And this has some new info, that I seem to have misplaced when I posted the other! SORRY!!!!
And if any of this is old, then I'm sorry. I'm a bit frazzled right now!
STUFF POSTED LAST TIME:
Author's notes: Ok, I'll figure out what Part this is once I get to the site...lol. I've lost just a bit of track.... AGGGG!!!!!!! The stupid things aren't showing up!!! I am soo sorry guys! Hey, wait, if they're not showing up, then how would you know what I'm talking about...?
Sigh My friend says that by saving it as an html format thing, it helps, so maybe I'll try that.....
But of course, it won't let me!!!!
Reader Responses:
Willow Fireheart: You'd better get it done! I hate to sound like my mother (but of course, why not, since I sound and look like her!) but school work always comes first. But if you're reading this IN CLASS or something, or while you're doing school work, then that's ok with me! Lol. What confused you about the last chapter? Well, chapter Six...not sure if it was the last one or not....
Thanks to Gigil13 for reviewing! I love to know when people are loving my stories hint hint
REVIEWS FOR A Day With Daddy:
Gigil: I'm glad you feel special. I now have tons of other ideas for short stories.... If you have anything else you want to see.....just let me know!!
AND THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU!!!
If you want to see something that I absolutely can't fit into this story, since it's almost over, at least in my mind, anyway, give me the idea, and I'll see what I can do!!!
STORY STARTS HERE:
Buffy woke to the sound of running water. She sighed, trying to drown out the sound, but it was impossible. It was three days since her talk with Ashleigh, and all former potentials within a 200 mile radius had been invited to stay at Hotel California, indefinitely. 20 girls had jumped that the chance to train once more with her, and all the rooms on the second floor were occupied. Many girls were wary of Angel, but all loved Ashleigh at first sight.
She pulled the pillow from over her head, and noticed for the first time the light in the bathroom was on. She didn't remember leaving it on... "Ashleigh?" she called, "Ashleigh?!" there was no answer yet again. She threw off the blankets and padded over to the bathroom in her pink underwear and white tank top.
Ashleigh was sitting in the bathtub, trying to change the water temperature. She was shivering. With a burst of strength, she turned the tricky knob, and scalding water poured into the tub, some landing on her leg. "OW!' she started crying. "Turn, off, turn off, TURN OFF!" She screamed at the offending faucet, trying to turn it off, and then she started slamming it with her small fist, as more hot water flowed into the tub.
Buffy rushed over, turned off the tap, pulled the plug, and wrapped the screaming girl in her arms. "Shh. Shh... you're ok."
"But...the water.... Bit me!" she sobbed.
"Bad water." Buffy scolded. "What were you doing?"
"I-I didn't want to be a pain. You've been busy. I was just trying to help."
"You are never a pain. I love you, Ash. You're my little sister, or.... you're almost like my daughter."
"I don't have a mommy. I don't remember her."
"I'll be your mom for now, ok?"
The girl nodded, face solemn. And then her face lit up, "Angel!" Buffy turned.
"I-I heard her scream. Is she ok?"
"Yeah, we're fine, right Ash?"
"My leg hurts," She pouted.
"C-Can I see?" Angel asked. Buffy was conscious of her attire. Ashleigh nodded, and stuck out her bare leg. Angel came over and crouched near them.
"You burned it, at least, that's what it looks like," Angel said. He touched it gently, "Probably a minor burn, not severe enough to be a second degree, but maybe a bad first degree burn. I have some Aloe Vera upstairs. I'll go get it." Buffy nodded as he got up and left.
"Let's get you dressed, ok girly?"
"Ok!"
By the time Angel had come back, Ashleigh was wearing a sundress that just covered the burn. Angel smoothed some of the liquid onto the area with gentle hands.
Buffy came out of the bathroom, now dressed in shorts and a tank top.
"We're all done here," Angel patted Ashleigh's knee, and she giggled.
"Thanks," Buffy said, leaning against the door jam, as far away from him as she could be, and still be in the same room.
"Uh, Miss Summers?" A petite girl of 16 poked her red head into the room. "There's no more hot water, and the girls are complaining."
"The hotel hasn't had this many guests since the 70's." Angel noted.
"Give it fifteen minutes, ok? And then I'll see what I can do," She sighed. The girl nodded and left.
"Hey, Ash, go see if Dawn's up yet, ok?" Angel patted her knee once more, and the girl scampered off. "How are you?" he asked quietly, standing.
"Oh, just peachy. Supervising the slayers, their additional training, watching Ashleigh, keeping everyone out of trouble, patrolling, and keeping control of myself, it's tiring."
"I bet."
"So, uh, how are you?"
"Awful, to be truthful. Being this close to you, and not being able to hold you...But I can manage."
"I know the feeling. But we can't."
He sighed. She moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed. After a moment, he sat beside her.
"We...have to be strong," She said, inching closer to him, as if it wasn't her own free will.
"Right. Strong."
"Definitely. This can't ever be anything..." she leaned against him, both relishing at the touch. He put his arms around her waist, "It doesn't get any easier, does it?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"What?"
"Staying away from you. Saying goodbye. I left the country, even, but something brought me back here. It's as if we're meant to suffer like we do. It will never get any easier, will it?"
"I think we both know the answer. What do you want me to say?"
"Lie to me."
Just then an alarm went off, and like bugs attracted to the light, 18 sets of feet could be heard rushing around, and then out in the hall, headed towards the lobby.
"Ashleigh!" Buffy looked at him with fear in her eyes, a fear he had never seen before.
The door opened, and Dawn pushed the terrified girl inside.
"They're here," She whispered, "They're going to get me!" She whimpered. The door slammed behind her as Dawn went to join the others downstairs.
PAGE BREAK
Twenty men came in through the double doors, while Chin Me and Kayla were on duty.
"C-Can I help you, sirs?" Kayla stepped from behind the desk.
"She's definitely here, sir." A man with a hand held computer said.
He nodded. "We're here for the girl." Chin Me dropped her hand unobtrusively underneath the desk and hit the newly installed button hidden there. The alarm wouldn't ring in the lobby, but the individual rooms that were occupied. Lorne had rigged it up special for them.
"There are lots of girls here. Which one?" Kayla improvised.
"I think you know. Hand her over."
Within minutes, the lobby was filled with 21 girls, some with still dripping hair. Many held weapons, Dawn holding the biggest broadsword among them.
"We don't want to fight. We just want our girl," He said with authority.
"She's not yours! She's mine!" Dawn stepped in front of the group. "And you have to go through me to get her!"
"Ah, Miss Summers, I presume. We had a feeling you were behind this. You had so much more potential than we caught, being the slayer and all." Dawn looked at them, confused. Then she realized that they thought she was Buffy. Some of the potentials looked at her, shifting slightly, but they stayed silent, "Just hand over the girl and no one gets hurt."
"She's my sister, and I'm not going to just hand her over to slime bags like you!" she decided to go along with it. If they thought she was Buffy, then they wouldn't be ready for the real deal, if they got there.
"This is my last warning, Miss Summers. Hand over the girl," The men raised their guns. The girls all stepped into their positions, sinking into fighter's stances. The girls with hand held weapons of the non-lethal variety, stood in the front, while the swords and axes were the second two rows. Five girls held crossbows in the back. Nobody wanted to kill, unless they had to.
The man nodded when he got no response, and the first shots of the Apocalypse were fired.
The girls were ready, wearing vests night and day since they had arrived. Angel had pressure the Police Force into giving him the Kevlar vests. Many of the shots were aimed to kill, but the vests took the bullet, and the first row stumbled back as the back row fired their crossbows, aiming to hurt, not kill. Dawn had been one of the ones to catch a bullet, but she recovered quickly, as did the others in the first row, and they charged into the fray, as the two oldest slayers took their places on the stairs. Twins, they had been studying different martial arts since they were five, and now at 18, they held their weapons of choice with authority; one with a whip chain, the other with a pair of katanas.
Gunn and Wesley came in as the battle was raging, speeding over from Wolfram and Hart, where they had been detained. They waded into the fight, fists flying.
Dawn was confident with her fighting team, but the facts were that the Wolfram and Hart boys were far better trained than her motley group, between the ages of 13-18. While her slayers had up to two years training, with few exceptions, the men had been training for up to twenty years, and had been picked from around the globe. The guns had been but a formality.
One by one, the girls fell, until it was but a haggard Dawn, Gunn, Wesley, and the Black Belt Twins, against ten men. Dawn had knocked the speaker out herself, you weren't the slayer's kid sister without learning a few things.
They slowly converged on the three people on the ground floor, as the twins watched with apprehension. Under no circumstances what so ever, were they allowed to leave their perch on the stairs.
Dawn was the first to fall, bleeding shallowly from arms wounds, and a blow to the head. Someone cracked her at the base of the skull, and she fell like a ton of bricks. Wesley was next, and as he fell, he slammed his head off the desk, and then the floor. Gunn put up a great fight, his years on the streets giving him an edge that almost made him equal to the enemy, but he too fell under the overwhelming odds.
Jefferson led the way against Katerina and Kiara. He had been selected personally by the Senior Partners to grab the girl.
The two teens put up a good fight, but they were vastly outnumbered. Kiara fell first, tumbling head first down the stairs.
"KI!" her sister screamed in shock, as she watched her sister bounce down the stairs, as if in slow motion. She stood there a moment, unmoving, as Jefferson hit her at the base of the neck with the butt of his gun. She crumpled without a sound, falling down the stairs, to land on top of her sister.
They barged into the rooms on the second floor, ransacking them, looking for the girl. Once the second floor was clear, they rushed to the third floor, finding only one room habitable.
As they entered the room, a shadow fell from the ceiling, knocking out two of the men instantly, five more falling to the ground.
"Angelus." Jefferson turned to hi, "Do you doubt that we were ready for you?"
"No, I know you're not ready for Me." He vamped out. A man shot out a taser at him, and he was too slow to get out of the way. Electricity shot through his body, but he just grinned evilly. They had never seen him, they may have heard of his former self, but he was different now. He had no qualms about killing these men, they wanted to harm the most innocent of innocents, a child. And they would hurt Buffy if they had to.
Buffy huddled in the closet, amidst his black shirts. She hated the fact that she was hiding, but if Angel lost, then she had to be able to protect Ashleigh, to her dying breath if necessary.
The first guy charged Angel, and Angel sidestepped him, kicking out so he slammed into the wall. The second guy tried to grab Angel from behind, but Angel grabbed him by the neck and flipped him over, slamming him into the floor with a bone crushing force. The guy didn't get up again. The third and fourth guys attack simultaneously, from both sides. Angel jumped forward, tackling a man, punching him in the jaw, knocking him out.
Jefferson watched, knowing, eventually, the vampire would fall. They weren't allowed to kill him, just incapacitate him for a few days or so. He took the time to draw his weapon, and making sure the clip was full. He took aim carefully, before shooting the vampire's left leg. He screamed in pain, and Jefferson smiled.
The first guy managed to come back for round two, as the fifth and sixth guys rushed Angel. He blocked blows right and left, managing to throw one or two of his own. He knocked Man #2 down, and snapped Man #1's neck.
The seven remaining men, besides Jefferson, converged on the vampire, but not before Jefferson could get one more shot off, into Angel's stomach.
The howl of pain and anger made Buffy shiver.
Angel took the blows, and dished out more of his own with his lightning fast reflexes. He knocked three men down, and four more away, only to allow Jefferson another shot. Then the seven guys were upon him once more, punching, kicking, stabbing. Angel soon fell to his knees under the blows. Then he slumped over, and the men retreated. Jefferson fired five more shots into the vampire, emptying his clip. The body didn't even flinch as the bullets went in.
When she was certain Angel wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, Buffy burst from the closet, headed straight for Jefferson. A man intercepted her, but she batted him away like a rag doll. Then the other six were on her.
"She's human!" Jefferson called as one man went for his knife. He had little qualms about hurting or killing vampires, but humans were another deal. The man stabbed her anyway, once in the stomach.
"I'm more than human, you asshole! I'm the damn slayer!" she growled, gritting her teeth through the pain. She did a spinning side kick, sending her stabber on a quick date with the wall. He slumped to the floor.
Another man slashed her down the back, and she arched her back in surprise.
"Why you little backstabber!" she spun, only to catch the knife in the shoulder, buried up to the handle in her upper bicep, just missing the bone. It was way too early in the morning, and her quipping wasn't up to par yet.
Now she was running on adrenalin and anger alone, letting the rage wash over the pain. She knocked the knife from his hand, sending it on a collision course with the wall over the bed. She grabbed her own knife, from the small of her back, and jabbed it into his stomach in one fluid motion.
"How do you like it?" she retorted as he crumpled to the floor, with a grunt of surprise. "One down, six cronies and one leader to go." She murmured to herself, spinning and blocking a bladed attack with her knife. She tried to punch him away with her damaged left arm, but it hurt to move it. "Fine, if that's how it's gonna be..." she kneed him in the groin, and he fell backwards, eyes wide in pain.
"Well, Miss Summers, I wasn't expecting you up here." A voice behind her said, and the goons fell back, as she slowly circled, looking for an attack.
She slowly turned towards the speaker. "Then it's all good, isn't it?"
"Yes, though I feel sorry for the brunette down stairs. She was one of the last to fall, and we presumed her to be you."
"Dawn." She breathed.
"Ah, yes, the Key. But her blood is useless to us now. The time has past, and the properties were passed on to your youngest sister. The blood of the slayer, and the properties of the Key. Your father was a special man, you see, and his daughters destined for great deaths. But yours has passed, and yet you still walk this earth. Your time has passed. Goodbye, Miss Summers. It was a pleasure meeting you." He aimed the gun her way, and fired.
Angel, just coming back into consciousness, kicked out, tripping Buffy, so the bullet his her in the shoulder, instead of the heart. She cried out in pain, and fell on top of him. The will power it took to move made the pain wash over him once more, and they both lapsed into unconsciousness.
"BUFFY!!!" the scream came from under the bed, and Jefferson turned, bent, and dragged the kicking, screaming girl out from under the bed.
"You are in a lot of trouble, little girl." He said, walking out of the room. In the doorway, he stooped, "Gather the men. Alive or dead. Take them to the van." He ordered, and the men rushed to do what he said.
PAGE BREAK
"To think, Buffy's been in LA for almost three weeks, and she didn't tell us!" the female voice floated into the silent lobby.
"I know. It's not like she didn't know we were in the States. What if she just doesn't want to see us?" A man's voice followed the woman's.
"Nonsense, we're her best friends." She said, and the two figures entered the hotel. "Besides, if there was anything wrong, she would tell us right off..." she got a look at the lobby, bodies all over the place.
"Whoa, what happened here?"
"I-I don't know...Call 911. Hurry!" he rushed off to make the call.
Before the police and paramedics arrived, they found the third floor room, with blood splattered all over the walls, and Angel and Buffy in a heap on the floor.
"Help me get him out of here. If they find him, then there are going to be too many questions that don't have answers." She ordered, as they fought with his dead weight.
"What are we going to do with him?"
"Uh...take him to Wolfram and Hart, they'll know what to do with him."
"You'll have to do it, I made the call."
"Fine."
PAGE BREAK
The grounds were swarming with cops by the time she got back from dropping the vampire in his apartment. Harmony promised to take care of him. She pushed her way inside, but an officer there wouldn't let her by.
"Will!" The guy called, as he rushed over to her, "She's ok. She was supposed to meet me here." The police officer nodded, and let her through.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. They've taken Buffy to the hospital, and they're starting down here now."
"Xan, that's Katerina and Kiara." She pointed. "They're slayers." She muttered in his ear. "What do you wanna bet that whatever went down here wasn't of the natural variety?"
"Do you know anyone else here?"
"Um..." she looked around, "That's Wesley! And Gunn, he's Angel's friend. And...Oh My God! Dawn?" she rushed over.
"Hey! Please don't touch-"an officer started, but she had already rolled the girl over.
"Dawn," she murmured.
"Hey! I said-"he grabbed her shoulder, "Do I have to escort you off the property? This is a crime scene!"
"Dude, she's our friend." Xander said, as Willow quickly searched for a pulse.
"She's still alive. And breathing. Looks like she was knocked out." The officer nodded, and motioned for a gurney to be brought over. "Xander, I'm going to the hospital with her."
He nodded. "I'll stay here, see if I can identify anyone else." He nodded towards the cop.
PAGE BREAK
She was floating on a sea of white. Her body moved with the current, bobbing up and down in the waves. Everything was blissfully silent, and she wanted to sleep...
This wasn't right. Where was she? And Ashleigh? What was going on?
Se fought her way to consciousness, and the first sense that came online was hearing, she heard the bleeping of machines and other noises that blurred together and hurt her head. Then she could smell the anesthetics and other smells of the hospital. She didn't like the picture that her senses were painting thus far. She experimentally moved her tongue around her mouth; it was hot and dry, like cotton balls. Her throat felt raw, but there was no real pain sensation, everything was just a twinge, nothing to worry about.
She slowly opened her eyes, and closed them immediately, the light blinding her. She slowly tried again, and once her vision cleared, she saw a strange face bent over her.
"Ms Summers?" it asked in a disjointed voice. "Blink once if you can hear me." She did so. The face disappeared. "She's awake." She heard. She tried to roll her head, or move something, but she couldn't.
"Don't try to move, you've been stabbed and shot." She heard.
"Oh my god! Buffy! You're ok!" A red head appeared in her vision, and she stared up at it, confused. "Xander's here too, he's in with Dawn though. You scared the shit out of us, Buffy. You didn't tell us you were in LA, and then we walked into the Hyperoin, and everyone was unconscious. What happened?"
"Wolfram and Hart is what happened." Wesley entered the room, limping slightly, with a hand to his aching head.
"Sir, you shouldn't be out of bed yet-"
"Sod off." He told her, slowly drawing up a chair on the other side of Buffy's bed. "Buffy, how are you feeling?"
"Ash-lei-gh." She croaked, her lips dry and parched.
"I'm afraid they took her. We held on as long as possible down stairs, but the odds were unfair, even with all those girls there. Dawn put up one hell of a fight." He closed his eyes, and then reopened them, "I've talked to the police, and uh, gave them my story. It's a shame, they showed up, we tried to fight back, all within our limits as citizens, and they took her."
"Took who? Who's Ashleigh?" Willow asked, confused.
"My-Sis-ter." She croaked.
"But I thought Dawn was your-"she was confused.
"Dad's other kid. She's...only four years old. Dad-dad signed her over to the firm." "That's awful!" Willow exclaimed. Buffy closed her eyes tiredly, then opened them, trying to focus just a bit longer.
"We're tiring you out." Wesley said, standing. "We'll get out of here, let you rest. We'll be back later." Buffy nodded, and closed her eyes. She heard Willow and Wesley bickering quietly in the background, but they left.
The white slowly enclosed around her once more.
PAGE BREAK
"Buffy! Ashleigh!" he sat straight up in the bed, everything aching.
"Whoa, hold on tiger, you're in no place to be going anywhere, Angelcakes." The green demon pushed him back down. "We have a few things we have to deal with, before you go charging into the fray once more, Amigo."
"Yeah, you've been hurt really bad, boss." Harmony said form nearby.
"Where are they? Ashleigh?...Buffy?"
"Well, Buffy's in the hospital, we haven't seen Ashleigh."
"I have to go...to her." He fought to sit up, but Harmony pushed him back down.
"You are in no condition to go charging off. You've been shot, for one, and we need to get those out, before you heal." She allowed him to sit up slowly.
"I've got the stuff, so if you'll just sit tight, Angelface, we'll get this over with." He nodded.
Half an hour of blinding pain later, he was allowed to dress.
"Does the hospital have underground parking, boss?" she asked later, rushing after him.
"We'll find out, won't we?" he asked, stalking off, the two demons hurrying after him.
"Angelcakes, I'm gonna stay here, as much as I'd like to make sure she's ok, I'm not sure I'd get a good reception."
Angel didn't even acknowledge him as he dropped back.
After parking, he rushed to the front desk. "Buffy summers."
"She's in ICU, sir..." but he was gone, already racing for the stairs.
"Have a nice day!" Harmony called, smiling as she rushed after him.
Angel saw Willow in the ICU waiting room, and rushed o her side. "How is she?"
"She's sleeping, right now. They've got her pretty drugged up. We've lost one girl so far, she wasn't wearing a vest, I guess."
"Can I see her?"
"Uh-Angel, what's happening? What's going on?"
"I'll tell you later, ok?" he slipped off.
"Now where'd he go?" Harmony complained, coming out of the stairwell.
He slipped into her room, conscious of the large window. She lay on the bed, her small body almost lost in the white. She was so pale herself, almost blending in with the sheets.
"Oh, Buffy." He murmured, slipping into the chair beside her. He picked up her limp hand.
She felt his presence and fought to come out of the drug induced sleep. Finally she broke the surface, and squeezed his hand, opening her eyes slowly.
"Buffy," He whispered.
"Angel." She smiled up at him. "How are you?" her voice was hoarse.
"If I can go a few days without getting shot, I'll be fine." She smiled at him again, "I-I'm sorry, Buffy. I know how much she meant to you."
"We'll get her back. You tried your best, and that's all you can do."
"I have to tell you something. We both could have died, you more than me, but before anything else happens, I have to say this."
"Angel..."
"No. Buffy, I love you. I always have. And I always will. I found this earlier, and I had to know if you felt the same."
"Angel...of course I feel the same. But I thought we agreed..."
"I don't care anymore. The thought of never seeing you again scares the shit out of me. I thought I had lost you forever a couple years ago....The apocalypse has started, and this might be the last time I get to say this. Once all this is done, once we stop this and get Ash back, I want to try again. Try us again. We'll work something out, but right now, I just want to know that you are willing."
"I've never wanted anything more." She whispered He took a ring box from his pocket.
"I'm sure you remember this." He held the ring out for her to see.
"I-Is that...I thought it went down with Sunnydale." She whispered.
"I suspected as much, so I took the liberty to buy you a new one. Two years ago. I just haven't gotten around to sending it to you." She took it from his with her less mangled hand. "Wait ther's something I...neglected to tell you."
"What?" she let her good arm fall back onto the bed.
"In the times when priests and ministers weren't common, peasants used these to show their devotion to each other, as....wedding rings. They'd give them to each other with witnesses, and then they'd....consummate their marriage." He finished weakly.
"You gave me a wedding ring at 17?!"
"I wans't thinking of it that way. I only meant it to be a promise ring, a symbol of our everlasting love. But then we...I just wanted you to know. If you put that ring on, my my people, we will be considered married."
"But what about you? Angel, I never cared about children, mostly because I thought I'd never get to have any. All I ever wanted was you. And now I have Ashleigh, I don't need another child to raise. And all I still want is you." Tears were in her eyes now, but not from the pain. He slid the ring onto her finger.
"May I kiss the bride?" she whispered, and she nodded. He leaned over the bed and kissed her softly.
"Just promise me, that after all of this is over, we can do this my way. At night."
"Deal. You're tired, I should-"
"No. Stay. With me. Please." He nodded, helping her scoot over in the small bed. He ducked under the wires attached to her body, and slid into bed beside her. He winced a couple times, but he managed. She sighed, resting her head on his chest.
"I love you." She whispered, slipping into sleep once more.
"I love you." He kissed the top of her head.
PAGE BREAK
"Giles, where are there hellmouths located?" Buffy asked almost two weeks later, after she had forcefully signed herself out of the hospital. All of the Sunnydale Potentials had been flown in, and Giles had come all the way from England as well. They were all gathered in the conference room at Wolfram and Hart.
"Sunnydale, Cleveland, Scotland and Australia, as far as I know." He reported the facts.
"They were holding the girls in Okinawa, so our best bet is Australia. They wouldn't want to fly a whole bunch of kids half way around the world, right?" Dawn spoke up. She sat by the wall, in a wheelchair she had been made to promise to stay in for a week, so the stitches along her stomach could heal properly, with no incident of being ripped out.
"So we'll head there. Giles, I want you to gather all of the slayers in Europe and take them to Scotland. Will, you and Xander find as many of the girls in the US that you can possibly find, and head to Cleveland. Angel and I will head to Australia, picking up any slayers on the way."
"I'm going too." Dawn spoke up.
"Dawn..."
"I'm 18, Buffy. I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I'm going."
"We all are, B. You can't just expect to be there for us when we need you the most, and not let us be there for you." Faith stood against the wall.
"But I need you guys elsewhere! If we're wrong, then we're screwed. And Ashleigh will die."
"And if we're right about this thing, you and Angel aren't gonna cut it!" Faith pushed herself off the wall, standing up straight, trying to intimidate the older slayer.
"But you're not wrong. See, it's like this, The Senior Partners have always had an interest in the hellmouth in Australia. That's where the first demons crawled out of the ash. Primordial Soup theory. And it was the first refuge for the Old Ones. It was also the first hellmouth to close, and it doesn't give off all of the vibes the larger ones do, so many don't know it exists." A dirty blond woman stood in the doorway.
"Who the hell are you, and why should we trust you?" Dawn asked.
"Eve. Long time no see. Not that we're happy to see you." Wesley didn't look up.
"Eve. Why didn't you tell me this before?" Angel growled.
"I can only tell what I know. I know everything." She walked around towards Angel, her arms wide, "but nothing." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I only have access to the information they want me to know. Only when they want me to tell you."
"But why would they want us to know?"
"Not you. Him. It has to do with this certain prophecy that many parties are aware of. A prophecy that deals with a souled vampire. But its an obscure prophecy, as all are. It never says which side he'll be on, and the Senior Partners still have their hopes up that he'll join them in hailing in the new world they're creating."
"It's not going to happen!" he said viciously.
"So we're headed Down Under." Kennedy smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so. Giles, how soon can you charter a plane?"
PAGE BREAK
"The hellmouth is way out in the middle of nowhere." Eve had explained. "no one around for miles, except for the occasional cattle farmer. And Wild Life Experts, conservationists, those type. Not too much demonic activity either, the Partners take care of any one trying to hone in on their apocalypse."
Buffy sat on the plane, with semi organized chaos around her, thinking. Giles had emailed the Associates in each of the state capitals, in charge of keeping track of the slayers. They had others that traveled, to train the girls as they came into their powers, and in some places they were trying to start up schools. The Supernatural and paranormal wasn't being shoved in the closet any longer in some places, and it was all because of her. They had flown to almost every state, with a designated stop, and whoever was there for slayers, whoever could be spared went. Two hundred slayers, and one vampire later, they were headed to Sydney, Australia, with just a few more stops to go.
Some one sat beside her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Don't play dumb with me. About the prophecy. And Spike. Why didn't you tell me? Didn't I have a right to know?"
"Who told you about the prophecy?"
"I bugged Wesley into telling me.
"Ah. I didn't tell you about Spike because...I was afraid I'd loose you. You didn't bring it up, and I figured that whether you knew or not, you didn't' want to talk about it.
"How could I know?!" she turned to him quickly, jarring her still healing shoulder. The doctors, not knowing of her super healing, had done two or three surgeries that one week to heal her severed muscles, and to remove the bone shatters in the same shoulder. She wasn't so sure they had done it correctly, but they had, and while it was in a sling, it still hurt to move it, no matter how fast she healed.
"All he talked about for those two years was going to find you. When he left in December, I figured he had finally gotten up the balls to go see you. I didn't know he was moping about in Memphis!"
"And the prophecy? Why didn't you tell me about that? It's not like you didn't have enough opportunities."
He sighed. "We didn't know for sure it was really me, after Spike showed up. It could have been him, and still could be, as much as it pains me to say it. I didn't want to get your hopes up. Mine are already high enough for the both of us." He noticed her fiddling with the ring on her limp hand. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"
"That guy....the one who shot us...he said things...he hinted that Ashleigh was a potential, and the key."
"Buffy..."
"I thought I was ready," she continued softly, "but as things unfold, I'm still the same. I can't changed. Not since Mom died. I-I don't know if I'm ready any more." She wouldn't look at him as she took off the ring and placed it in his hand.
"Buffy. Buffy, look at me." She slowly looked up at him, "Don't do this."
"I-I have to." She whispered, close to tears. But she swore she wouldn't let him see her cry. "I'm sorry." She stood and shuffled by him, careful not to jostle her healing shoulder. She sat down beside Willow. "I don't want to talk about it." She said tersely, staring straight ahead. Few had noticed, but those who had were those most important in her life. Faith and Dawn started a whispered conversation.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Hopefully that's better. Sorry about that. This is way longer than I like, and am comfortable with posting, but oh well. Only...fifteen pages. And if this isn't formatted so it's easy reading, either email me directly at ksparky911yahoo.com, or ksparky911msn.com, which is the email address I check as soon as I get online!
Part Seven
Original post: May 11, 2004: 8:30 am
Updated post: May 11, 2004: 8:46 pm
Summery: When Dawn goes to visit Angel during April break, on pretenses of visiting Faith, she takes home a hitchhiker, that she doesn't like. The girl in her latest vision has a tie no one foresaw...She is the youngest daughter of a W&H lawyer, named Hank Summers.
Author's notes: OMG!! I'm so sorry. I have no clue what happened. Thanks to Bluie for bringing it to my attention. And this has some new info, that I seem to have misplaced when I posted the other! SORRY!!!!
And if any of this is old, then I'm sorry. I'm a bit frazzled right now!
STUFF POSTED LAST TIME:
Author's notes: Ok, I'll figure out what Part this is once I get to the site...lol. I've lost just a bit of track.... AGGGG!!!!!!! The stupid things aren't showing up!!! I am soo sorry guys! Hey, wait, if they're not showing up, then how would you know what I'm talking about...?
Sigh My friend says that by saving it as an html format thing, it helps, so maybe I'll try that.....
But of course, it won't let me!!!!
Reader Responses:
Willow Fireheart: You'd better get it done! I hate to sound like my mother (but of course, why not, since I sound and look like her!) but school work always comes first. But if you're reading this IN CLASS or something, or while you're doing school work, then that's ok with me! Lol. What confused you about the last chapter? Well, chapter Six...not sure if it was the last one or not....
Thanks to Gigil13 for reviewing! I love to know when people are loving my stories hint hint
REVIEWS FOR A Day With Daddy:
Gigil: I'm glad you feel special. I now have tons of other ideas for short stories.... If you have anything else you want to see.....just let me know!!
AND THAT GOES FOR ALL OF YOU!!!
If you want to see something that I absolutely can't fit into this story, since it's almost over, at least in my mind, anyway, give me the idea, and I'll see what I can do!!!
STORY STARTS HERE:
Buffy woke to the sound of running water. She sighed, trying to drown out the sound, but it was impossible. It was three days since her talk with Ashleigh, and all former potentials within a 200 mile radius had been invited to stay at Hotel California, indefinitely. 20 girls had jumped that the chance to train once more with her, and all the rooms on the second floor were occupied. Many girls were wary of Angel, but all loved Ashleigh at first sight.
She pulled the pillow from over her head, and noticed for the first time the light in the bathroom was on. She didn't remember leaving it on... "Ashleigh?" she called, "Ashleigh?!" there was no answer yet again. She threw off the blankets and padded over to the bathroom in her pink underwear and white tank top.
Ashleigh was sitting in the bathtub, trying to change the water temperature. She was shivering. With a burst of strength, she turned the tricky knob, and scalding water poured into the tub, some landing on her leg. "OW!' she started crying. "Turn, off, turn off, TURN OFF!" She screamed at the offending faucet, trying to turn it off, and then she started slamming it with her small fist, as more hot water flowed into the tub.
Buffy rushed over, turned off the tap, pulled the plug, and wrapped the screaming girl in her arms. "Shh. Shh... you're ok."
"But...the water.... Bit me!" she sobbed.
"Bad water." Buffy scolded. "What were you doing?"
"I-I didn't want to be a pain. You've been busy. I was just trying to help."
"You are never a pain. I love you, Ash. You're my little sister, or.... you're almost like my daughter."
"I don't have a mommy. I don't remember her."
"I'll be your mom for now, ok?"
The girl nodded, face solemn. And then her face lit up, "Angel!" Buffy turned.
"I-I heard her scream. Is she ok?"
"Yeah, we're fine, right Ash?"
"My leg hurts," She pouted.
"C-Can I see?" Angel asked. Buffy was conscious of her attire. Ashleigh nodded, and stuck out her bare leg. Angel came over and crouched near them.
"You burned it, at least, that's what it looks like," Angel said. He touched it gently, "Probably a minor burn, not severe enough to be a second degree, but maybe a bad first degree burn. I have some Aloe Vera upstairs. I'll go get it." Buffy nodded as he got up and left.
"Let's get you dressed, ok girly?"
"Ok!"
By the time Angel had come back, Ashleigh was wearing a sundress that just covered the burn. Angel smoothed some of the liquid onto the area with gentle hands.
Buffy came out of the bathroom, now dressed in shorts and a tank top.
"We're all done here," Angel patted Ashleigh's knee, and she giggled.
"Thanks," Buffy said, leaning against the door jam, as far away from him as she could be, and still be in the same room.
"Uh, Miss Summers?" A petite girl of 16 poked her red head into the room. "There's no more hot water, and the girls are complaining."
"The hotel hasn't had this many guests since the 70's." Angel noted.
"Give it fifteen minutes, ok? And then I'll see what I can do," She sighed. The girl nodded and left.
"Hey, Ash, go see if Dawn's up yet, ok?" Angel patted her knee once more, and the girl scampered off. "How are you?" he asked quietly, standing.
"Oh, just peachy. Supervising the slayers, their additional training, watching Ashleigh, keeping everyone out of trouble, patrolling, and keeping control of myself, it's tiring."
"I bet."
"So, uh, how are you?"
"Awful, to be truthful. Being this close to you, and not being able to hold you...But I can manage."
"I know the feeling. But we can't."
He sighed. She moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed. After a moment, he sat beside her.
"We...have to be strong," She said, inching closer to him, as if it wasn't her own free will.
"Right. Strong."
"Definitely. This can't ever be anything..." she leaned against him, both relishing at the touch. He put his arms around her waist, "It doesn't get any easier, does it?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"What?"
"Staying away from you. Saying goodbye. I left the country, even, but something brought me back here. It's as if we're meant to suffer like we do. It will never get any easier, will it?"
"I think we both know the answer. What do you want me to say?"
"Lie to me."
Just then an alarm went off, and like bugs attracted to the light, 18 sets of feet could be heard rushing around, and then out in the hall, headed towards the lobby.
"Ashleigh!" Buffy looked at him with fear in her eyes, a fear he had never seen before.
The door opened, and Dawn pushed the terrified girl inside.
"They're here," She whispered, "They're going to get me!" She whimpered. The door slammed behind her as Dawn went to join the others downstairs.
PAGE BREAK
Twenty men came in through the double doors, while Chin Me and Kayla were on duty.
"C-Can I help you, sirs?" Kayla stepped from behind the desk.
"She's definitely here, sir." A man with a hand held computer said.
He nodded. "We're here for the girl." Chin Me dropped her hand unobtrusively underneath the desk and hit the newly installed button hidden there. The alarm wouldn't ring in the lobby, but the individual rooms that were occupied. Lorne had rigged it up special for them.
"There are lots of girls here. Which one?" Kayla improvised.
"I think you know. Hand her over."
Within minutes, the lobby was filled with 21 girls, some with still dripping hair. Many held weapons, Dawn holding the biggest broadsword among them.
"We don't want to fight. We just want our girl," He said with authority.
"She's not yours! She's mine!" Dawn stepped in front of the group. "And you have to go through me to get her!"
"Ah, Miss Summers, I presume. We had a feeling you were behind this. You had so much more potential than we caught, being the slayer and all." Dawn looked at them, confused. Then she realized that they thought she was Buffy. Some of the potentials looked at her, shifting slightly, but they stayed silent, "Just hand over the girl and no one gets hurt."
"She's my sister, and I'm not going to just hand her over to slime bags like you!" she decided to go along with it. If they thought she was Buffy, then they wouldn't be ready for the real deal, if they got there.
"This is my last warning, Miss Summers. Hand over the girl," The men raised their guns. The girls all stepped into their positions, sinking into fighter's stances. The girls with hand held weapons of the non-lethal variety, stood in the front, while the swords and axes were the second two rows. Five girls held crossbows in the back. Nobody wanted to kill, unless they had to.
The man nodded when he got no response, and the first shots of the Apocalypse were fired.
The girls were ready, wearing vests night and day since they had arrived. Angel had pressure the Police Force into giving him the Kevlar vests. Many of the shots were aimed to kill, but the vests took the bullet, and the first row stumbled back as the back row fired their crossbows, aiming to hurt, not kill. Dawn had been one of the ones to catch a bullet, but she recovered quickly, as did the others in the first row, and they charged into the fray, as the two oldest slayers took their places on the stairs. Twins, they had been studying different martial arts since they were five, and now at 18, they held their weapons of choice with authority; one with a whip chain, the other with a pair of katanas.
Gunn and Wesley came in as the battle was raging, speeding over from Wolfram and Hart, where they had been detained. They waded into the fight, fists flying.
Dawn was confident with her fighting team, but the facts were that the Wolfram and Hart boys were far better trained than her motley group, between the ages of 13-18. While her slayers had up to two years training, with few exceptions, the men had been training for up to twenty years, and had been picked from around the globe. The guns had been but a formality.
One by one, the girls fell, until it was but a haggard Dawn, Gunn, Wesley, and the Black Belt Twins, against ten men. Dawn had knocked the speaker out herself, you weren't the slayer's kid sister without learning a few things.
They slowly converged on the three people on the ground floor, as the twins watched with apprehension. Under no circumstances what so ever, were they allowed to leave their perch on the stairs.
Dawn was the first to fall, bleeding shallowly from arms wounds, and a blow to the head. Someone cracked her at the base of the skull, and she fell like a ton of bricks. Wesley was next, and as he fell, he slammed his head off the desk, and then the floor. Gunn put up a great fight, his years on the streets giving him an edge that almost made him equal to the enemy, but he too fell under the overwhelming odds.
Jefferson led the way against Katerina and Kiara. He had been selected personally by the Senior Partners to grab the girl.
The two teens put up a good fight, but they were vastly outnumbered. Kiara fell first, tumbling head first down the stairs.
"KI!" her sister screamed in shock, as she watched her sister bounce down the stairs, as if in slow motion. She stood there a moment, unmoving, as Jefferson hit her at the base of the neck with the butt of his gun. She crumpled without a sound, falling down the stairs, to land on top of her sister.
They barged into the rooms on the second floor, ransacking them, looking for the girl. Once the second floor was clear, they rushed to the third floor, finding only one room habitable.
As they entered the room, a shadow fell from the ceiling, knocking out two of the men instantly, five more falling to the ground.
"Angelus." Jefferson turned to hi, "Do you doubt that we were ready for you?"
"No, I know you're not ready for Me." He vamped out. A man shot out a taser at him, and he was too slow to get out of the way. Electricity shot through his body, but he just grinned evilly. They had never seen him, they may have heard of his former self, but he was different now. He had no qualms about killing these men, they wanted to harm the most innocent of innocents, a child. And they would hurt Buffy if they had to.
Buffy huddled in the closet, amidst his black shirts. She hated the fact that she was hiding, but if Angel lost, then she had to be able to protect Ashleigh, to her dying breath if necessary.
The first guy charged Angel, and Angel sidestepped him, kicking out so he slammed into the wall. The second guy tried to grab Angel from behind, but Angel grabbed him by the neck and flipped him over, slamming him into the floor with a bone crushing force. The guy didn't get up again. The third and fourth guys attack simultaneously, from both sides. Angel jumped forward, tackling a man, punching him in the jaw, knocking him out.
Jefferson watched, knowing, eventually, the vampire would fall. They weren't allowed to kill him, just incapacitate him for a few days or so. He took the time to draw his weapon, and making sure the clip was full. He took aim carefully, before shooting the vampire's left leg. He screamed in pain, and Jefferson smiled.
The first guy managed to come back for round two, as the fifth and sixth guys rushed Angel. He blocked blows right and left, managing to throw one or two of his own. He knocked Man #2 down, and snapped Man #1's neck.
The seven remaining men, besides Jefferson, converged on the vampire, but not before Jefferson could get one more shot off, into Angel's stomach.
The howl of pain and anger made Buffy shiver.
Angel took the blows, and dished out more of his own with his lightning fast reflexes. He knocked three men down, and four more away, only to allow Jefferson another shot. Then the seven guys were upon him once more, punching, kicking, stabbing. Angel soon fell to his knees under the blows. Then he slumped over, and the men retreated. Jefferson fired five more shots into the vampire, emptying his clip. The body didn't even flinch as the bullets went in.
When she was certain Angel wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, Buffy burst from the closet, headed straight for Jefferson. A man intercepted her, but she batted him away like a rag doll. Then the other six were on her.
"She's human!" Jefferson called as one man went for his knife. He had little qualms about hurting or killing vampires, but humans were another deal. The man stabbed her anyway, once in the stomach.
"I'm more than human, you asshole! I'm the damn slayer!" she growled, gritting her teeth through the pain. She did a spinning side kick, sending her stabber on a quick date with the wall. He slumped to the floor.
Another man slashed her down the back, and she arched her back in surprise.
"Why you little backstabber!" she spun, only to catch the knife in the shoulder, buried up to the handle in her upper bicep, just missing the bone. It was way too early in the morning, and her quipping wasn't up to par yet.
Now she was running on adrenalin and anger alone, letting the rage wash over the pain. She knocked the knife from his hand, sending it on a collision course with the wall over the bed. She grabbed her own knife, from the small of her back, and jabbed it into his stomach in one fluid motion.
"How do you like it?" she retorted as he crumpled to the floor, with a grunt of surprise. "One down, six cronies and one leader to go." She murmured to herself, spinning and blocking a bladed attack with her knife. She tried to punch him away with her damaged left arm, but it hurt to move it. "Fine, if that's how it's gonna be..." she kneed him in the groin, and he fell backwards, eyes wide in pain.
"Well, Miss Summers, I wasn't expecting you up here." A voice behind her said, and the goons fell back, as she slowly circled, looking for an attack.
She slowly turned towards the speaker. "Then it's all good, isn't it?"
"Yes, though I feel sorry for the brunette down stairs. She was one of the last to fall, and we presumed her to be you."
"Dawn." She breathed.
"Ah, yes, the Key. But her blood is useless to us now. The time has past, and the properties were passed on to your youngest sister. The blood of the slayer, and the properties of the Key. Your father was a special man, you see, and his daughters destined for great deaths. But yours has passed, and yet you still walk this earth. Your time has passed. Goodbye, Miss Summers. It was a pleasure meeting you." He aimed the gun her way, and fired.
Angel, just coming back into consciousness, kicked out, tripping Buffy, so the bullet his her in the shoulder, instead of the heart. She cried out in pain, and fell on top of him. The will power it took to move made the pain wash over him once more, and they both lapsed into unconsciousness.
"BUFFY!!!" the scream came from under the bed, and Jefferson turned, bent, and dragged the kicking, screaming girl out from under the bed.
"You are in a lot of trouble, little girl." He said, walking out of the room. In the doorway, he stooped, "Gather the men. Alive or dead. Take them to the van." He ordered, and the men rushed to do what he said.
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"To think, Buffy's been in LA for almost three weeks, and she didn't tell us!" the female voice floated into the silent lobby.
"I know. It's not like she didn't know we were in the States. What if she just doesn't want to see us?" A man's voice followed the woman's.
"Nonsense, we're her best friends." She said, and the two figures entered the hotel. "Besides, if there was anything wrong, she would tell us right off..." she got a look at the lobby, bodies all over the place.
"Whoa, what happened here?"
"I-I don't know...Call 911. Hurry!" he rushed off to make the call.
Before the police and paramedics arrived, they found the third floor room, with blood splattered all over the walls, and Angel and Buffy in a heap on the floor.
"Help me get him out of here. If they find him, then there are going to be too many questions that don't have answers." She ordered, as they fought with his dead weight.
"What are we going to do with him?"
"Uh...take him to Wolfram and Hart, they'll know what to do with him."
"You'll have to do it, I made the call."
"Fine."
PAGE BREAK
The grounds were swarming with cops by the time she got back from dropping the vampire in his apartment. Harmony promised to take care of him. She pushed her way inside, but an officer there wouldn't let her by.
"Will!" The guy called, as he rushed over to her, "She's ok. She was supposed to meet me here." The police officer nodded, and let her through.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. They've taken Buffy to the hospital, and they're starting down here now."
"Xan, that's Katerina and Kiara." She pointed. "They're slayers." She muttered in his ear. "What do you wanna bet that whatever went down here wasn't of the natural variety?"
"Do you know anyone else here?"
"Um..." she looked around, "That's Wesley! And Gunn, he's Angel's friend. And...Oh My God! Dawn?" she rushed over.
"Hey! Please don't touch-"an officer started, but she had already rolled the girl over.
"Dawn," she murmured.
"Hey! I said-"he grabbed her shoulder, "Do I have to escort you off the property? This is a crime scene!"
"Dude, she's our friend." Xander said, as Willow quickly searched for a pulse.
"She's still alive. And breathing. Looks like she was knocked out." The officer nodded, and motioned for a gurney to be brought over. "Xander, I'm going to the hospital with her."
He nodded. "I'll stay here, see if I can identify anyone else." He nodded towards the cop.
PAGE BREAK
She was floating on a sea of white. Her body moved with the current, bobbing up and down in the waves. Everything was blissfully silent, and she wanted to sleep...
This wasn't right. Where was she? And Ashleigh? What was going on?
Se fought her way to consciousness, and the first sense that came online was hearing, she heard the bleeping of machines and other noises that blurred together and hurt her head. Then she could smell the anesthetics and other smells of the hospital. She didn't like the picture that her senses were painting thus far. She experimentally moved her tongue around her mouth; it was hot and dry, like cotton balls. Her throat felt raw, but there was no real pain sensation, everything was just a twinge, nothing to worry about.
She slowly opened her eyes, and closed them immediately, the light blinding her. She slowly tried again, and once her vision cleared, she saw a strange face bent over her.
"Ms Summers?" it asked in a disjointed voice. "Blink once if you can hear me." She did so. The face disappeared. "She's awake." She heard. She tried to roll her head, or move something, but she couldn't.
"Don't try to move, you've been stabbed and shot." She heard.
"Oh my god! Buffy! You're ok!" A red head appeared in her vision, and she stared up at it, confused. "Xander's here too, he's in with Dawn though. You scared the shit out of us, Buffy. You didn't tell us you were in LA, and then we walked into the Hyperoin, and everyone was unconscious. What happened?"
"Wolfram and Hart is what happened." Wesley entered the room, limping slightly, with a hand to his aching head.
"Sir, you shouldn't be out of bed yet-"
"Sod off." He told her, slowly drawing up a chair on the other side of Buffy's bed. "Buffy, how are you feeling?"
"Ash-lei-gh." She croaked, her lips dry and parched.
"I'm afraid they took her. We held on as long as possible down stairs, but the odds were unfair, even with all those girls there. Dawn put up one hell of a fight." He closed his eyes, and then reopened them, "I've talked to the police, and uh, gave them my story. It's a shame, they showed up, we tried to fight back, all within our limits as citizens, and they took her."
"Took who? Who's Ashleigh?" Willow asked, confused.
"My-Sis-ter." She croaked.
"But I thought Dawn was your-"she was confused.
"Dad's other kid. She's...only four years old. Dad-dad signed her over to the firm." "That's awful!" Willow exclaimed. Buffy closed her eyes tiredly, then opened them, trying to focus just a bit longer.
"We're tiring you out." Wesley said, standing. "We'll get out of here, let you rest. We'll be back later." Buffy nodded, and closed her eyes. She heard Willow and Wesley bickering quietly in the background, but they left.
The white slowly enclosed around her once more.
PAGE BREAK
"Buffy! Ashleigh!" he sat straight up in the bed, everything aching.
"Whoa, hold on tiger, you're in no place to be going anywhere, Angelcakes." The green demon pushed him back down. "We have a few things we have to deal with, before you go charging into the fray once more, Amigo."
"Yeah, you've been hurt really bad, boss." Harmony said form nearby.
"Where are they? Ashleigh?...Buffy?"
"Well, Buffy's in the hospital, we haven't seen Ashleigh."
"I have to go...to her." He fought to sit up, but Harmony pushed him back down.
"You are in no condition to go charging off. You've been shot, for one, and we need to get those out, before you heal." She allowed him to sit up slowly.
"I've got the stuff, so if you'll just sit tight, Angelface, we'll get this over with." He nodded.
Half an hour of blinding pain later, he was allowed to dress.
"Does the hospital have underground parking, boss?" she asked later, rushing after him.
"We'll find out, won't we?" he asked, stalking off, the two demons hurrying after him.
"Angelcakes, I'm gonna stay here, as much as I'd like to make sure she's ok, I'm not sure I'd get a good reception."
Angel didn't even acknowledge him as he dropped back.
After parking, he rushed to the front desk. "Buffy summers."
"She's in ICU, sir..." but he was gone, already racing for the stairs.
"Have a nice day!" Harmony called, smiling as she rushed after him.
Angel saw Willow in the ICU waiting room, and rushed o her side. "How is she?"
"She's sleeping, right now. They've got her pretty drugged up. We've lost one girl so far, she wasn't wearing a vest, I guess."
"Can I see her?"
"Uh-Angel, what's happening? What's going on?"
"I'll tell you later, ok?" he slipped off.
"Now where'd he go?" Harmony complained, coming out of the stairwell.
He slipped into her room, conscious of the large window. She lay on the bed, her small body almost lost in the white. She was so pale herself, almost blending in with the sheets.
"Oh, Buffy." He murmured, slipping into the chair beside her. He picked up her limp hand.
She felt his presence and fought to come out of the drug induced sleep. Finally she broke the surface, and squeezed his hand, opening her eyes slowly.
"Buffy," He whispered.
"Angel." She smiled up at him. "How are you?" her voice was hoarse.
"If I can go a few days without getting shot, I'll be fine." She smiled at him again, "I-I'm sorry, Buffy. I know how much she meant to you."
"We'll get her back. You tried your best, and that's all you can do."
"I have to tell you something. We both could have died, you more than me, but before anything else happens, I have to say this."
"Angel..."
"No. Buffy, I love you. I always have. And I always will. I found this earlier, and I had to know if you felt the same."
"Angel...of course I feel the same. But I thought we agreed..."
"I don't care anymore. The thought of never seeing you again scares the shit out of me. I thought I had lost you forever a couple years ago....The apocalypse has started, and this might be the last time I get to say this. Once all this is done, once we stop this and get Ash back, I want to try again. Try us again. We'll work something out, but right now, I just want to know that you are willing."
"I've never wanted anything more." She whispered He took a ring box from his pocket.
"I'm sure you remember this." He held the ring out for her to see.
"I-Is that...I thought it went down with Sunnydale." She whispered.
"I suspected as much, so I took the liberty to buy you a new one. Two years ago. I just haven't gotten around to sending it to you." She took it from his with her less mangled hand. "Wait ther's something I...neglected to tell you."
"What?" she let her good arm fall back onto the bed.
"In the times when priests and ministers weren't common, peasants used these to show their devotion to each other, as....wedding rings. They'd give them to each other with witnesses, and then they'd....consummate their marriage." He finished weakly.
"You gave me a wedding ring at 17?!"
"I wans't thinking of it that way. I only meant it to be a promise ring, a symbol of our everlasting love. But then we...I just wanted you to know. If you put that ring on, my my people, we will be considered married."
"But what about you? Angel, I never cared about children, mostly because I thought I'd never get to have any. All I ever wanted was you. And now I have Ashleigh, I don't need another child to raise. And all I still want is you." Tears were in her eyes now, but not from the pain. He slid the ring onto her finger.
"May I kiss the bride?" she whispered, and she nodded. He leaned over the bed and kissed her softly.
"Just promise me, that after all of this is over, we can do this my way. At night."
"Deal. You're tired, I should-"
"No. Stay. With me. Please." He nodded, helping her scoot over in the small bed. He ducked under the wires attached to her body, and slid into bed beside her. He winced a couple times, but he managed. She sighed, resting her head on his chest.
"I love you." She whispered, slipping into sleep once more.
"I love you." He kissed the top of her head.
PAGE BREAK
"Giles, where are there hellmouths located?" Buffy asked almost two weeks later, after she had forcefully signed herself out of the hospital. All of the Sunnydale Potentials had been flown in, and Giles had come all the way from England as well. They were all gathered in the conference room at Wolfram and Hart.
"Sunnydale, Cleveland, Scotland and Australia, as far as I know." He reported the facts.
"They were holding the girls in Okinawa, so our best bet is Australia. They wouldn't want to fly a whole bunch of kids half way around the world, right?" Dawn spoke up. She sat by the wall, in a wheelchair she had been made to promise to stay in for a week, so the stitches along her stomach could heal properly, with no incident of being ripped out.
"So we'll head there. Giles, I want you to gather all of the slayers in Europe and take them to Scotland. Will, you and Xander find as many of the girls in the US that you can possibly find, and head to Cleveland. Angel and I will head to Australia, picking up any slayers on the way."
"I'm going too." Dawn spoke up.
"Dawn..."
"I'm 18, Buffy. I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I'm going."
"We all are, B. You can't just expect to be there for us when we need you the most, and not let us be there for you." Faith stood against the wall.
"But I need you guys elsewhere! If we're wrong, then we're screwed. And Ashleigh will die."
"And if we're right about this thing, you and Angel aren't gonna cut it!" Faith pushed herself off the wall, standing up straight, trying to intimidate the older slayer.
"But you're not wrong. See, it's like this, The Senior Partners have always had an interest in the hellmouth in Australia. That's where the first demons crawled out of the ash. Primordial Soup theory. And it was the first refuge for the Old Ones. It was also the first hellmouth to close, and it doesn't give off all of the vibes the larger ones do, so many don't know it exists." A dirty blond woman stood in the doorway.
"Who the hell are you, and why should we trust you?" Dawn asked.
"Eve. Long time no see. Not that we're happy to see you." Wesley didn't look up.
"Eve. Why didn't you tell me this before?" Angel growled.
"I can only tell what I know. I know everything." She walked around towards Angel, her arms wide, "but nothing." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I only have access to the information they want me to know. Only when they want me to tell you."
"But why would they want us to know?"
"Not you. Him. It has to do with this certain prophecy that many parties are aware of. A prophecy that deals with a souled vampire. But its an obscure prophecy, as all are. It never says which side he'll be on, and the Senior Partners still have their hopes up that he'll join them in hailing in the new world they're creating."
"It's not going to happen!" he said viciously.
"So we're headed Down Under." Kennedy smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so. Giles, how soon can you charter a plane?"
PAGE BREAK
"The hellmouth is way out in the middle of nowhere." Eve had explained. "no one around for miles, except for the occasional cattle farmer. And Wild Life Experts, conservationists, those type. Not too much demonic activity either, the Partners take care of any one trying to hone in on their apocalypse."
Buffy sat on the plane, with semi organized chaos around her, thinking. Giles had emailed the Associates in each of the state capitals, in charge of keeping track of the slayers. They had others that traveled, to train the girls as they came into their powers, and in some places they were trying to start up schools. The Supernatural and paranormal wasn't being shoved in the closet any longer in some places, and it was all because of her. They had flown to almost every state, with a designated stop, and whoever was there for slayers, whoever could be spared went. Two hundred slayers, and one vampire later, they were headed to Sydney, Australia, with just a few more stops to go.
Some one sat beside her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Don't play dumb with me. About the prophecy. And Spike. Why didn't you tell me? Didn't I have a right to know?"
"Who told you about the prophecy?"
"I bugged Wesley into telling me.
"Ah. I didn't tell you about Spike because...I was afraid I'd loose you. You didn't bring it up, and I figured that whether you knew or not, you didn't' want to talk about it.
"How could I know?!" she turned to him quickly, jarring her still healing shoulder. The doctors, not knowing of her super healing, had done two or three surgeries that one week to heal her severed muscles, and to remove the bone shatters in the same shoulder. She wasn't so sure they had done it correctly, but they had, and while it was in a sling, it still hurt to move it, no matter how fast she healed.
"All he talked about for those two years was going to find you. When he left in December, I figured he had finally gotten up the balls to go see you. I didn't know he was moping about in Memphis!"
"And the prophecy? Why didn't you tell me about that? It's not like you didn't have enough opportunities."
He sighed. "We didn't know for sure it was really me, after Spike showed up. It could have been him, and still could be, as much as it pains me to say it. I didn't want to get your hopes up. Mine are already high enough for the both of us." He noticed her fiddling with the ring on her limp hand. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"
"That guy....the one who shot us...he said things...he hinted that Ashleigh was a potential, and the key."
"Buffy..."
"I thought I was ready," she continued softly, "but as things unfold, I'm still the same. I can't changed. Not since Mom died. I-I don't know if I'm ready any more." She wouldn't look at him as she took off the ring and placed it in his hand.
"Buffy. Buffy, look at me." She slowly looked up at him, "Don't do this."
"I-I have to." She whispered, close to tears. But she swore she wouldn't let him see her cry. "I'm sorry." She stood and shuffled by him, careful not to jostle her healing shoulder. She sat down beside Willow. "I don't want to talk about it." She said tersely, staring straight ahead. Few had noticed, but those who had were those most important in her life. Faith and Dawn started a whispered conversation.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Hopefully that's better. Sorry about that. This is way longer than I like, and am comfortable with posting, but oh well. Only...fifteen pages. And if this isn't formatted so it's easy reading, either email me directly at ksparky911yahoo.com, or ksparky911msn.com, which is the email address I check as soon as I get online!