New Way of Life
NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.
A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…
CHAPTER 6
"Are we there yet?" Dawn moaned.
"For the zillionth time, Dawnie, no," Willow replied.
Kennedy swiftly stepped ahead of the group, moving faster than the others. "Look," she said. "There it is."
Buffy, Angel, Dawn, Willow, Xander, and Gunn all stopped in unison to see just what "it" was. Before them stood a large elderly house. They all seemed to exchange the same look of surprise and confusion as Willow and Kennedy led them inside.
The interior of the house didn't look quite as old as the exterior, but it seemed ancient enough. Dawn seemed to recoil at the slightly foul odor in the air, which also went along with the age of the house. Gunn's deep brown eyes glanced upward at a painting that hung over the fireplace in the living room. It pictured a group of men at a party or something, all wearing what appeared to be tights. Gunn shook his head, biting back the many masculine comments he had in his head.
"Isn't it great?" Willow asked the group. "It has four bedrooms, an upstairs and downstairs den, this living room, a library—"
"Bathrooms?" Buffy suddenly cut her off.
"Well, there's one in the master bedroom, another upstairs, and a smaller one downstairs," Willow told her.
"Thing is, if we all pull our finances and stuff we can probably afford it," Kennedy chimed in. "It's not much and we can probably swing the utilities."
"When was this place built, Will?" Xander asked. "Sometime in BC?"
"Well, it was actually built in eighteen ninety nine," Willow clarified.
"Smells like it," Dawn commented, wrinkling her nose at the aforementioned smell.
"What do you guys think?" asked Willow, a cheerful and expectant smile on her face.
"We do need a place to live," Buffy admitted. "You can't live at a hotel forever, right?"
"Speak for yourself," Gunn said, exchanging a look with Angel.
"I guess I could do some quick trip repairs on the place," said Xander. "Sort of air it out, too."
"Heavy on the sort of," Dawn added.
"I've got my credit cards," Angel suddenly spoke up. "I could get some furniture or something."
Gunn gave Angel a strange look while Willow said, "Well, that'd be perfect. Come on, guys. We can make this work, but we have to actually try."
Buffy sighed deeply. "I'm game." She turned to the others before she added, "Let's do it."
Wesley, Fred, and Lorne huddled up closely together, each of them waving a flashlight around and carrying a weapon. They busily explored the sewer, going through all kinds of twists and turns down in it.
"Are we always in the sewers?" Lorne asked the others, clearly annoyed.
"I think it's kind of cozy," said Fred. "Put down some throw pillows and little taco stand and I'm home."
"Over there," Wesley said, waving his flashlight over a huddled up figure. "Careful as you approach." He stepped ahead of the other two, getting close upon the figure.
"Who made him Mr. Boss Pants?" Lorne asked.
"Himself?" Fred shrugged with a little smile.
"You there," Wesley called to the figure, who was unresponsive. "Excuse me?"
The body rolled over to reveal the face of a woman.
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice low.
"Are you the demoness known as Calisa?" Wesley asked her.
She chuckled softly. "I'm not a demoness," she said. "I'm nothing anymore."
"It is her," said Fred. "The woman that cursed Angel. My God, she is filthy."
"Nothing is exactly hygiene efficient in the sewers, Freddy," said Lorne.
"What's happened to you?" Wesley asked.
"My powers, my strength, they've been taken from me," said Calisa. "I've been completely drained."
"By whom?" Wesley wanted to know.
"The demon that was inside of me," she said. "He was too powerful. So powerful that he took my own powers from me when we split apart."
Wesley turned to Fred and Lorne and said, "Angelus."
"When she turned Angel human she didn't kill Angelus," Fred began to understand. "She just pulled him inside of her."
"I'm guessing the power of the two demons combined caused a major, major boom," said Lorne.
"Which resulted in Angelus being torn apart from you," Wesley said to Calisa. "And taking your strength and powers with him."
"I don't understand," said Fred. "Angel was cursed by Gypsies a long time ago. How is it that you overrode their spell or whatever?"
Calisa scoffed, "The Gypsies. Their magic is so ancient and primeval that most of their descendants don't even know have the power to do what they did. My family, though, our secrets have been passed down to every generation. The Gypsies have nothing on us."
"She also didn't exactly override something, Fred," said Wesley. "The Gypsies gave Angel his soul back. Calisa took his demon away."
"Now fang boy is out there on the loose," said Lorne. "Gunn and Angel are in Rome, demon chick here is all powered out, and I have about enough resources to give Angelus a mild splinter."
"He's right, Wesley," said Fred. "What are we going to do?"
Wesley laid his flashlight by his side, allowing it to shine down on the murky water, clearing having as much as idea of how to handle things as his accomplices; not clue whatsoever.
A/N: I know this chapter is way short, but I can also way make it up to you. Please review!