Angel lifted his sword high and screamed into the night. The rain poured down on him making his clothes heavy with moisture. He didn't care. He barley even noticed. All his focus was on the dragon in front of him. He had seen a lot of things in his all too long life. He had been a lot of things as well; most of them he wished he could forget. But this…this fight, this moment, this is what he was made for.
The dragons scream pierce the night sky as it swooped down, rapping it wings in the air causing buckets of water to be deposited on everything below. Angel was happy he didn't have to breathe. It wouldn't have been easy. His thoughts forced his mind back to Gunn, Illyria's words hung in his mind 'Your fading…' But the dragon attacked giving him precious little time to be concerned with anything but the problem directly in front of him.
He swung his sword hitting the dragon in the neck. Razored teeth covered in bright green mucus came not an inch away from biting into him. If the sword hadn't connected Angel would have been in pieces. The winged beast hollered out in pain, but didn't stop his pursuit. Angel ducked as the dragon flew over his head; bright green blood covered him as it passed. Angel turned quickly and thrust his sword upwards and into the belly of the beast. The dragon screamed, flapped its wings in vein, flying only far enough to collapse dead just outside of the ally.
Not even a celebratory smiled passed his face before the next attacker was on him.
Gunn tried to stay as far to the edge of the battle as he could, but the edge ended up not being much different than the middle. Demons swarmed around them like bees to a honeycomb. It was awe-inspiring. His mind was spinning everything was moving too fast around him. He shook his head to regain focus. 'I will be fine….I will be fine' kept repeating in his mind.
The blood flow from his wounds had slowed, though not stopped. And even though Illyria had said he was fading, and he knew that was true, he felt ready to fight. The cool rain that poured down was helping him stay alert and keep focused. "Just don't fade away" he said to himself and then swung his fist hitting a large black horned demon in the throat. The demon was startled by the hit and choked, staggering back a few steps. Gunn kicked him hard in the chest and sent the demon falling to the ground. He took his sword swung down and severed the head from its body. He screamed out "Yeah, that's right, now bring it on!" and ran into the thick of the battle.
Spike, as always and even to himself was a paradox. He knew he was right to fight in this battle, but what shocked him was that he was proud. Not too long ago he would have relished Angel's destruction, soul or not. And now he fought here, with Angel by his side. He looked over to see Angel kneeing a red scaled demon in the gut, on his other side was Illyria who was weaponless, but caused more destruction with more speed that he or Angel could have done as one. He was amazed, he was part of something bigger than himself and for once it wasn't because he had something to prove.
A group of blue skin demons came towards him. Long, thick fangs protruded from their jaws. He stood steady and waited for it. The demons weren't fast or very agile, however there was strength in numbers and Spike, although lean and fast was still just one vampire. When the first approached him he did a sweeping kick sending the demon to the ground. While it was still stunned he reached down and grabbed its sword away and quickly ran it through its midsection. One down four to go….
Illyria was amazed. This was the world she remembered; the world that had left her behind. Seeing things around her that we so amazingly familiar made her wonder if this world had, in fact, changed at all. The feelings inside her though, they were new. Was this part of Fred? Or was this part of her? Why when she saw Wesley die before her did she honestly have to wonder if it were not her tears that were being shed instead of Fred's. Why did she feel for him, or for this cause?
She had so many questions and not enough answers. One thing she was sure of was that she wouldn't let his death be for nothing. This was her way of paying tribute to her guide. Some part of her, even if it was ever so small was affected, something inside was clearly different. Change, she thought, is an amazing thing.
She had killed many, but not enough. They were losing, she knew it. She did not fool herself like the others into believing something that was not. She was above that. She knew, however, that they were not. They would keep fighting until they were dead. And had she not known another way out, she would have done the same.
She ran down into the back of the ally, away from the others and the battle. She saw Gunn lying against the side of the building looking lifeless. He was bleeding and left for dead. She turned to him and picked him up. No one was going to be left behind. Those were her instructions.
She ran with him cradled in her arms until she reached the back wall of the ally. She placed him down carefully. "I will be back." He looked up at her and smiled. She turned and ran back into the fight.
She knew what she needed to do. They had to be separated from the attackers. She pulled Angel off of a two headed beast. He clung to one of its necks slashing his axe into. The beast screamed horribly, but would not die. Angel tried to fight her off and finish the beast off. But she thru him to the ground and screamed at him to go. "Go to the back of the ally. I do not have time to explain this. It is the plan. I will get Spike, now go!" Angel didn't argue.
She didn't have enough time to search for Spike. The demons would be on them again in seconds. She waved her hand out in front of her and time shifted. She smiled. She had not tried out her powers since they were restored. As the world moved slowly around her she quickly found Spike. He was severely wounded. Cuts and gashes were evident all over his skin. He bled through his clothing and one eye was already closed from bruising. He was going to die if she didn't reach him. Quickly she pulled him out from underneath a large assortment of demons lifting him to his feet. Instantly he was in sync with her. She grabbed his hand and smiled at him. "Always full of surprises, aren't you Blue?" he said weakly. "It won't hold for long, we have to run." She pulled him along her side. He rushed to keep up but had hurt is left ankle and every step sent burning pain through his leg. He started to fall behind, but she waited for him to catch up.
They reached the end of the ally were Gunn and Angel lay. They were stuck in slow motion like the rest of the world around them. Only she and Spike moved differently. She allowed him to stand for a moment with is hands against his knees and face towards the ground. He panted heavily and she couldn't make out why. Perhaps habit. Her body still reacted to things that she had no use for as well. The pounding rain mingled with his blood causing crimson water to fall from his body and splash into the large puddles below him. She marveled at the humanity that she saw in him; it did not comfort her that she now saw some of the same in herself. She grabbed his arm for attention. It was time.
"Grab my hand. We need to do this together." He held on to her as his life depended on it, which it did. "Get Angel, then put all of your focus on the wall. Once we start, we can not stop."
"I don't understand" he yelled at her into the night to be heard over the rain. She looked at him solemnly. "You will."
Water poured down. His eyes filled with a mix of blood and water making near impossible to see. But he reached down and grabbed onto Angel's hand, immediately pulling him back into real time, or maybe accelerated time, he wasn't really sure how that worked.
"What the hell is going on?" Angel was rightfully confused. Spike pointed over to Illyria and shrugged.
Behind them the spell broke and the demons began to advance on them. "There is no time for this. Hold on to each other and focus on the wall. Do not stop no matter what happens." Illyria was holding Gunn up but one arm. He looked limp, but she could tell that he still had some life left in him. And even if there wasn't, no one was to be left behind those were her instructions and she fully intended on carrying them out.
The three of them stood steady and unwavering with their backs to the coming fight while Gunn hung at Illyria's side. They weren't afraid. Fear would do them no good. A knife flew from one of the demons hands and lodged into Angel's shoulder. He screamed and squeezed Spike's hand tighter. His legs buckled and he fell to the ground. But he never took his eyes off that wall. Spike helped him back to his feet. A power began to crackle between their hands. Blue waves began to spill from Illyria onto the wall in front of her. "NOW!" she shouted. Breaking contact with Spike she held one hand out, palm forward, and pushed the force onto the wall. Slowly the wall began to change shape. It shifted slightly and opened up into a giant black void crackling with blue and purple energy. A portal. Illyria handed Gunn off to Spike and they began to advance into it, but the approaching army closed in on them. A sword skewered through Illyria's stomach she howled in pain and fell onto the ground. Angel stood at the gate to their safety and looked back as Spike ran toward him holding Gunn. Angel started back to grab her. "There is no time, go. I will follow. Go now!" the portal was starting to close. Angel pulled the knife from his shoulder and flung it at the attacking demon. It staggered back giving him enough time to get to Illyria and remove the sword from her stomach. He swung the weapon in the air and connected with the demon's neck, severing the head from the body. Illyria was curled up on the ground. She was still and quite. He reached down and picked her up in his arms. "No one gets left behind." He told her. Running towards the wall all four jumped into the safety of another dimension.
They landed on the marble floor of the Hyperion. The advancing demon army was no where to be found. Outside the large glass double doors the sun was shining and birds were signing. There were no signs of the battle, only a calming stillness surrounded them.
"Are we in heaven?" Gunn asked, still groggy and weak.
"No." Illyria answered.
"Oh God, are we in Hell? Cause if we are, I'm not going in the damn basement."
"No, we are not in Hell." She answered him again.
"Well then?" Angel asked while getting to his feet.
"We are safe…for now. This was planned. After you left earlier today, Wesley….he…" she looked at the ground and then at the ceiling as if she were searching for something that couldn't be found. Looking as if she gave up, she continued. "He spoke of a plan. He said that no one could be left behind."
Spike spoke up. "He restored your power."
She nodded. "He gave me just enough. He had no illusions about winning this fight. He knew the risks involved. He knew we would lose with what we had." She looked at the floor again and then straight ahead at the group. When she spoke she spoke with a firm, hard tone. "He did not want to die, but it was obvious that he did not want to live. He was a walking contradiction. But he was clear that he did not want any of you to suffer." She paused for a moment and then continued. "You all thought of me as a great evil. And a large part of me is still the same, yet now you considered me good. Evil seems to be merely a matter of perception." She grew quite and stared at the floor as if it would give her answers to questions she couldn't vocalize.
After a moment Angel spoke up "We will miss him too." She didn't answer with words, but looked up at him with her crystal blue eyes. There was sadness in them he had not seen before.
Spike and Illyria were sitting next to each other on the floor; Gunn was lying next to her when Spike finally stood up. He wobbled a bit at first, but then gained his balance and stood with his feet firmly planted on the ground. "Well, what do we do now?" He looked down at Gunn "I think Charlie here might need a hospital." It did not go unnoticed by Gunn that he was the only human among them. How times have changed he thought. He chuckled "And you thought I wouldn't last ten minutes." He coughed, his breathing was ragged. "I'll be fine, I just need to rest."
Spike pointed out the obvious "No, I just need some rest; you need a damn body cast and a couple gallons of O neg."
"Well, yah, maybe." He admitted smiling slightly. "But you don't look so hot either Blondie."
Angel surveyed the group, they were beaten and broken but they were alive. He wished he could say that everyone made it. He assumed that Lorne was still out there somewhere. But not Wes, which broke one more piece of him inside. There was a deep feeling of loss in him along with an even deeper feeling of guilt. He knew that Wes was broken long before this fight, not that it made it any easier to accept, but Lorne had caught him off guard. He wished he had paid more attention to them both.
He didn't have time to dwell on it now, so he did the only thing he could do, he went back into the role of the leader "What is important right now is that the four of us are alive. We are not going to lose anyone else. All we have is each other. We are NOT…" He reiterated his words pointing his finger towards the floor they way he does when he is trying to make a very clear point "…going to lose anyone else." He paused for a moment taking time to look at everyone then continued "We are going to get better, and we are going to regroup. They may have one the battle, but the war has just begun."
TBC…