::Author's notes: Thanks for all the recent feedback. A lot of you are asking where Buffy is, and frankly, the reason that she hasn't been around is that I don't like her character once you get past season 4. But I promise, I'll address the whereabouts of Buffy, Giles, and Willow soon. P.S. I just read my own postings here and was horrified at my own lack of proofreading! I apologize for all the errors and swear I will do a better job from now on!::
Something was wrong. Angel could feel it in his bones. Granted, things had been wrong for months now, but Angel couldn't shake the feeling gnawing at his gut that things had just gotten even worse-impossible as that should be in a sane world.
"Putting out fires."
"Excuse me?"
Angel hadn't even realized he had spoken out loud until he heard Wesley's question. In fact, he had been so deep in thought, he had forgotten that he was in the middle of a meeting with his top staff.
Wes, Fred, Gunn, Lorne-these were the only people he truly trusted. They were also some of the very few people in all the world that Angel truly cared for. If his instincts were right, if something really was even more wrong than usual, one or more of them could be killed.
'Not on my watch. I lost Cordy and Doyle, and I may as well have lost Connor-I won't lose any of the others.'
"Putting out fires," he repeated, shuffling through the reports Wes had prepared on the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart's recent activity without really seeing them. "That's all we've been doing."
"Well, wait a second, Angel-cakes," Lorne said. "I think we've done a pretty good job of keeping the good people of Los Angeles safe."
"Yes, Lorne, we have. But this is bigger than LA. Much bigger. We've been fighting Abigail's people one by one, as they attack here. But they keep on coming."
"You think we need to address the root of the problem," Wes said, his tone carefully neutral. The Englishman had argued the same point several times in the past few months, only to be shot down by his employer. "By going after Abigail herself."
"But I thought you said you would let Buffy's people handle that?" Fred reiterated. Angel caught the gleam of challenge in her eyes. Wes wasn't the only one who had been arguing this point for some time, and she was not as inclined as he to let the matter drop without a word. Angel admired the transformation she had made upon returning with him to LA. Sometimes he forgot how much she had changed.
"I've changed my mind. I've never been good at working the sidelines."
Wes nodded and pulled out a satellite photo from the manila folder hidden beneath the pile of paper in front of him. It showed a good portion of the Western United States and was dated a few days before. Apparently, the Englishman was prepared for Angel to-as Wes would no doubt phrase it-come to his senses. "Abigail was last spotted in Arizona."
"Why can't any of our enemies have their hideouts in ... oh, I don't know ... Jamaica or something?" Lorne complained. Stony stares met the demon's attempt at lightening the mood, and he slumped back into his seat. "Just a thought," he muttered under his breath.
Wesley continued as if Lorne had never spoken. "I will ask our Seers to find her present location so we can plan our attack."
"Great," Angel replied. "Have the Seers find her, but I'm going alone."
A heavy silence followed this announcement, although Angel suspected it would be short lived before the full force of the words sunk in.
Gunn was the first to speak. "The hell you are!"
Angel held up a hand in what he knew was a futile gesture to try and calm his staff. "Gunn..."
"Angel, it's too dangerous," Fred insisted. "We can help."
"Guys, I know you can. But I need you to be here. Lorne's right-we can't ignore what's been going on here in LA. I need to know you are taking care of things here while I head out to Arizona or wherever the hell that power-crazy bitch is headquartered."
"Well, I never meant for you to go off alone, you great big hero sandwich," Lorne began, before Gunn cut him off.
"Like I'm gonna fall for that." Gunn crossed his arms firmly across his chest, eyes narrowed, reflecting the same determination Angel saw the first time they met when the younger man had fought against the undead with little more than heart and what he could scavenge from the streets.
Angel couldn't help but smile-this was Gunn at his most stubborn. "I mean it, Gunn," he said nonetheless, voice firm. "Besides, I'm in charge. It's not like you have a choice here."
Angel could see by the set in the younger man's shoulders that Gunn was ready to argue, but he was interrupted when Harmony burst through the door. It was the first time Angel was actually grateful that the blonde was interrupting a meeting against his explicit instructions.
"Sorry, Boss," the young vampire said. "I know you said not to interrupt but this is really important."
Angel had never seen the perky blonde looking so out of sorts before, alive or dead. Although vampires didn't need to breathe and had no heartbeat, Harmony was gasping and panting as if from unaccustomed exercise or stress. Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide and flooded with emotion. Angel decided to cut off Gunn's arguments by addressing the secretary. "It's okay, Harmony. What is it?"
"Xander Harris is out there. With some guy I never met before."
'Xander?' Angel's lifeless heart sank. 'Well, I can only assume that Xander and Harmony weren't best buddies at Sunnydale High, but why should that make her so upset? Unless he's come to bring more news that had to be personally delivered.' For a moment, he remembered seeing Willow arrive with the news of Buffy's death. Harmony's apprehension was contagious and the room was suddenly a bit too small. The apprehension turned to dread and permeated every corner the room. "Okay. It's okay, Harm. Send them in."
Harmony nodded and seemed relieved to disappear through the door. She returned a moment later, with a blonde young man who Angel had never seen before behind her. The stranger was leading Xander by the hand, and it suddenly became apparent why Harmony had been so distraught.
'Oh my god.'
Both young men looked worse for the wear, bruised, scabbed and dirty. The weariness that encircled them must have come from days running with no peace. The blonde one's eyes were haggard and haunted, and although Angel was under the impression he was a very young man, the stranger looked old. Angel couldn't see Xander's eyes. A dirty and bloodied rag was tied around his head. Between the rag covering the dried bloody streaks of older injuries with dirtied bruised hollows peeking out from beneath it, and the way the blonde boy was leading Xander around, Angel realized with a sickening sensation in his gut that Xander was blind.
"Good lord," Wes was saying, his voice low with horror. Aside from Harmony and Angel, Wesley was the only person in the conference room who had met Xander before and could appreciate the difference in the boy's appearance and demeanor. Still, the site of the two of them was enough to make Lorne gasp, to send Fred's hands flying to her pale lips, and to make Gunn's eyes widen with sympathy.
"Angel?" Xander's voice was raspy and hollow. "Andrew..."
Andrew rubbed at Xander's arm soothingly. "It's okay, Xander. He's right here."
"Please, sit down," Angel said. The waves of exhaustion and suffering rolling off the two visitors was enough to make his soul ache. "Harmony, bring some water or something."
Harmony nodded and disappeared back through the door, emerging moments later as Andrew helped his blinded companion to a seat before taking one himself. Angel couldn't help but notice that Xander continued to cling to the blonde's hand like a lifeline even after they were seated. It was strange. The Xander Harris Angel knew would never have allowed himself to so openly display such dependence on another man.
'I guess having your eyes gouged out can change you.'
Angel and Xander had never been friends. There had been times when the vampire had downright hated the younger man-partly from jealousy at Xander's ability to walk in the daylight and see Buffy with the sun shining on her face, but mostly because Xander made it clear from the get-go that he hated Angel, and really kind of wished the vampire had not survived those horrible months when he lost his soul. Still, that was a long time ago, and Angel would never wish this kind of pain on any living being.
'Well,' Angel had to admit, as images of Holtz and Lindsey flashed briefly through his mind. 'Maybe there are some people who I wouldn't mind seeing suffer.'
"What happened to you two?" Wesley asked.
"We were ambushed. Abbey found our hideout and sent a whole army of Slayers after us," Andrew replied, voice completely devoid of emotion. "We didn't stand a chance. I got knocked out early on, but when I woke up, Dawn, Spike, and Faith were gone. It was just me and then I found Xander..."
Andrew's voice caught and this time it was Xander who stroked the younger man's arm, providing comfort. "It's okay, Andrew." Xander spoke so softly that Angel barely heard him.
Andrew smiled fondly at the brunette. "Thank you, little one. You are so brave," the haggard blonde said quietly, before raising his voice to finish addressing the others in the room. "I don't know where the others are, but I can only assume they were taken. I guess they decided the two of us weren't worth the trouble to bring along. The others weren't among the dead."
"How long ago was this?" Angel asked.
Andrew paused before answering. "I've sort of lost track of time. Days. We came here. We didn't know where else to go."
"You'll be safe here," Fred said gently. Her voice was layered with emotions, but Angel could see that she now had another face for the cause they fought for.
Andrew gave a tiny smile. "Thank you, lady."
"Where's Buffy?" Angel asked finally, cutting through the pain that permeated every crevice of the room.
"Isn't that the question of the day?" Andrew snapped, voice rife with bitterness.
"She and Giles and Willow went to England to find some kind of artifacts or something to undo Will's spell," Xander said softly. "We haven't heard from them in weeks."
Angel felt a sudden surge of resentment at his ex. So maybe Buffy didn't know her friends had been attacked and were in danger, but he couldn't imagine any situation where he would leave his friends behind for weeks without checking in to at least see if they were safe-OK, so maybe there was that time he was running around with Darla, but still! Even though Faith was more than capable...
'Faith...'
Angel didn't really know quite how to sort out his complicated feelings for the formerly rogue Slayer. What he did know was that he cared for her, deeply, and that he would not abandon her to whatever horrible fate Abigail had planned. She could be dead, but something deep inside told him she wasn't. If there was even the tiniest chance that she and Dawn, and hell even Spike, were alive, he would not rest until he found them.
Angel rose from his seat and headed for the door. Wes and Fred hurried to catch up with him. "Angel, what are you planning?" Wes demanded. "Now is not the time to be rash."
"I'm going to the Seers to try and find Faith and the others. And I'm going alone."
"But..."
"No buts, Fred. I won't put the rest of you in any more danger than necessary. Besides, I need you to keep putting out the fires, and I need you to take care of them." Angel gestured back at Xander and Andrew, who were currently being fussed over by Lorne.
Fred looked as though she was about to argue, but Wes put a hand on her arm and shook his head. Everyone knew how stubborn Angel could be, and once his mind was made up, there was no point in arguing. The Englishman had known Angel long enough to have figured that out. Besides, the people of LA needed protection, and it was clear that their two visitors were also in dire need of help as well. "Be careful, Angel."
"I will. I swear. You guys, too. I'll check in every night if I can."
Fred pulled Angel into an impromptu hug with a fond smile that the vampire returned. "If you don't come back, I'm never going to forgive you," she said, the trembling in her voice belying any threat.
"I promise I'll be back." Angel turned to leave them, when a final thought occurred to him. He glanced over his shoulder. "Oh yeah, and will you do me one more favor?"
"Of course," Wesley replied.
Angel's voice was laced with bitterness as he gave his final order. "Find Buffy," he said, as the door closed behind him.
::response to comments::
Jess: Thanks! I swear, I will finish this story. I feel your pain-I too have read stories I really like and they never get finished. I won't do that I swear-it just may take me a while to update.
Rma: Don't worry-we haven't heard the last of Faith and I swear the ending of this story, while it won't exactly be happy, will at least be bittersweet. And Buffy and the rest will be in the next chapter.
Bsktballchik: Thanks again for your continued support! As for updating soon...well, does me taking a month count? Sorry.
Something was wrong. Angel could feel it in his bones. Granted, things had been wrong for months now, but Angel couldn't shake the feeling gnawing at his gut that things had just gotten even worse-impossible as that should be in a sane world.
"Putting out fires."
"Excuse me?"
Angel hadn't even realized he had spoken out loud until he heard Wesley's question. In fact, he had been so deep in thought, he had forgotten that he was in the middle of a meeting with his top staff.
Wes, Fred, Gunn, Lorne-these were the only people he truly trusted. They were also some of the very few people in all the world that Angel truly cared for. If his instincts were right, if something really was even more wrong than usual, one or more of them could be killed.
'Not on my watch. I lost Cordy and Doyle, and I may as well have lost Connor-I won't lose any of the others.'
"Putting out fires," he repeated, shuffling through the reports Wes had prepared on the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart's recent activity without really seeing them. "That's all we've been doing."
"Well, wait a second, Angel-cakes," Lorne said. "I think we've done a pretty good job of keeping the good people of Los Angeles safe."
"Yes, Lorne, we have. But this is bigger than LA. Much bigger. We've been fighting Abigail's people one by one, as they attack here. But they keep on coming."
"You think we need to address the root of the problem," Wes said, his tone carefully neutral. The Englishman had argued the same point several times in the past few months, only to be shot down by his employer. "By going after Abigail herself."
"But I thought you said you would let Buffy's people handle that?" Fred reiterated. Angel caught the gleam of challenge in her eyes. Wes wasn't the only one who had been arguing this point for some time, and she was not as inclined as he to let the matter drop without a word. Angel admired the transformation she had made upon returning with him to LA. Sometimes he forgot how much she had changed.
"I've changed my mind. I've never been good at working the sidelines."
Wes nodded and pulled out a satellite photo from the manila folder hidden beneath the pile of paper in front of him. It showed a good portion of the Western United States and was dated a few days before. Apparently, the Englishman was prepared for Angel to-as Wes would no doubt phrase it-come to his senses. "Abigail was last spotted in Arizona."
"Why can't any of our enemies have their hideouts in ... oh, I don't know ... Jamaica or something?" Lorne complained. Stony stares met the demon's attempt at lightening the mood, and he slumped back into his seat. "Just a thought," he muttered under his breath.
Wesley continued as if Lorne had never spoken. "I will ask our Seers to find her present location so we can plan our attack."
"Great," Angel replied. "Have the Seers find her, but I'm going alone."
A heavy silence followed this announcement, although Angel suspected it would be short lived before the full force of the words sunk in.
Gunn was the first to speak. "The hell you are!"
Angel held up a hand in what he knew was a futile gesture to try and calm his staff. "Gunn..."
"Angel, it's too dangerous," Fred insisted. "We can help."
"Guys, I know you can. But I need you to be here. Lorne's right-we can't ignore what's been going on here in LA. I need to know you are taking care of things here while I head out to Arizona or wherever the hell that power-crazy bitch is headquartered."
"Well, I never meant for you to go off alone, you great big hero sandwich," Lorne began, before Gunn cut him off.
"Like I'm gonna fall for that." Gunn crossed his arms firmly across his chest, eyes narrowed, reflecting the same determination Angel saw the first time they met when the younger man had fought against the undead with little more than heart and what he could scavenge from the streets.
Angel couldn't help but smile-this was Gunn at his most stubborn. "I mean it, Gunn," he said nonetheless, voice firm. "Besides, I'm in charge. It's not like you have a choice here."
Angel could see by the set in the younger man's shoulders that Gunn was ready to argue, but he was interrupted when Harmony burst through the door. It was the first time Angel was actually grateful that the blonde was interrupting a meeting against his explicit instructions.
"Sorry, Boss," the young vampire said. "I know you said not to interrupt but this is really important."
Angel had never seen the perky blonde looking so out of sorts before, alive or dead. Although vampires didn't need to breathe and had no heartbeat, Harmony was gasping and panting as if from unaccustomed exercise or stress. Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide and flooded with emotion. Angel decided to cut off Gunn's arguments by addressing the secretary. "It's okay, Harmony. What is it?"
"Xander Harris is out there. With some guy I never met before."
'Xander?' Angel's lifeless heart sank. 'Well, I can only assume that Xander and Harmony weren't best buddies at Sunnydale High, but why should that make her so upset? Unless he's come to bring more news that had to be personally delivered.' For a moment, he remembered seeing Willow arrive with the news of Buffy's death. Harmony's apprehension was contagious and the room was suddenly a bit too small. The apprehension turned to dread and permeated every corner the room. "Okay. It's okay, Harm. Send them in."
Harmony nodded and seemed relieved to disappear through the door. She returned a moment later, with a blonde young man who Angel had never seen before behind her. The stranger was leading Xander by the hand, and it suddenly became apparent why Harmony had been so distraught.
'Oh my god.'
Both young men looked worse for the wear, bruised, scabbed and dirty. The weariness that encircled them must have come from days running with no peace. The blonde one's eyes were haggard and haunted, and although Angel was under the impression he was a very young man, the stranger looked old. Angel couldn't see Xander's eyes. A dirty and bloodied rag was tied around his head. Between the rag covering the dried bloody streaks of older injuries with dirtied bruised hollows peeking out from beneath it, and the way the blonde boy was leading Xander around, Angel realized with a sickening sensation in his gut that Xander was blind.
"Good lord," Wes was saying, his voice low with horror. Aside from Harmony and Angel, Wesley was the only person in the conference room who had met Xander before and could appreciate the difference in the boy's appearance and demeanor. Still, the site of the two of them was enough to make Lorne gasp, to send Fred's hands flying to her pale lips, and to make Gunn's eyes widen with sympathy.
"Angel?" Xander's voice was raspy and hollow. "Andrew..."
Andrew rubbed at Xander's arm soothingly. "It's okay, Xander. He's right here."
"Please, sit down," Angel said. The waves of exhaustion and suffering rolling off the two visitors was enough to make his soul ache. "Harmony, bring some water or something."
Harmony nodded and disappeared back through the door, emerging moments later as Andrew helped his blinded companion to a seat before taking one himself. Angel couldn't help but notice that Xander continued to cling to the blonde's hand like a lifeline even after they were seated. It was strange. The Xander Harris Angel knew would never have allowed himself to so openly display such dependence on another man.
'I guess having your eyes gouged out can change you.'
Angel and Xander had never been friends. There had been times when the vampire had downright hated the younger man-partly from jealousy at Xander's ability to walk in the daylight and see Buffy with the sun shining on her face, but mostly because Xander made it clear from the get-go that he hated Angel, and really kind of wished the vampire had not survived those horrible months when he lost his soul. Still, that was a long time ago, and Angel would never wish this kind of pain on any living being.
'Well,' Angel had to admit, as images of Holtz and Lindsey flashed briefly through his mind. 'Maybe there are some people who I wouldn't mind seeing suffer.'
"What happened to you two?" Wesley asked.
"We were ambushed. Abbey found our hideout and sent a whole army of Slayers after us," Andrew replied, voice completely devoid of emotion. "We didn't stand a chance. I got knocked out early on, but when I woke up, Dawn, Spike, and Faith were gone. It was just me and then I found Xander..."
Andrew's voice caught and this time it was Xander who stroked the younger man's arm, providing comfort. "It's okay, Andrew." Xander spoke so softly that Angel barely heard him.
Andrew smiled fondly at the brunette. "Thank you, little one. You are so brave," the haggard blonde said quietly, before raising his voice to finish addressing the others in the room. "I don't know where the others are, but I can only assume they were taken. I guess they decided the two of us weren't worth the trouble to bring along. The others weren't among the dead."
"How long ago was this?" Angel asked.
Andrew paused before answering. "I've sort of lost track of time. Days. We came here. We didn't know where else to go."
"You'll be safe here," Fred said gently. Her voice was layered with emotions, but Angel could see that she now had another face for the cause they fought for.
Andrew gave a tiny smile. "Thank you, lady."
"Where's Buffy?" Angel asked finally, cutting through the pain that permeated every crevice of the room.
"Isn't that the question of the day?" Andrew snapped, voice rife with bitterness.
"She and Giles and Willow went to England to find some kind of artifacts or something to undo Will's spell," Xander said softly. "We haven't heard from them in weeks."
Angel felt a sudden surge of resentment at his ex. So maybe Buffy didn't know her friends had been attacked and were in danger, but he couldn't imagine any situation where he would leave his friends behind for weeks without checking in to at least see if they were safe-OK, so maybe there was that time he was running around with Darla, but still! Even though Faith was more than capable...
'Faith...'
Angel didn't really know quite how to sort out his complicated feelings for the formerly rogue Slayer. What he did know was that he cared for her, deeply, and that he would not abandon her to whatever horrible fate Abigail had planned. She could be dead, but something deep inside told him she wasn't. If there was even the tiniest chance that she and Dawn, and hell even Spike, were alive, he would not rest until he found them.
Angel rose from his seat and headed for the door. Wes and Fred hurried to catch up with him. "Angel, what are you planning?" Wes demanded. "Now is not the time to be rash."
"I'm going to the Seers to try and find Faith and the others. And I'm going alone."
"But..."
"No buts, Fred. I won't put the rest of you in any more danger than necessary. Besides, I need you to keep putting out the fires, and I need you to take care of them." Angel gestured back at Xander and Andrew, who were currently being fussed over by Lorne.
Fred looked as though she was about to argue, but Wes put a hand on her arm and shook his head. Everyone knew how stubborn Angel could be, and once his mind was made up, there was no point in arguing. The Englishman had known Angel long enough to have figured that out. Besides, the people of LA needed protection, and it was clear that their two visitors were also in dire need of help as well. "Be careful, Angel."
"I will. I swear. You guys, too. I'll check in every night if I can."
Fred pulled Angel into an impromptu hug with a fond smile that the vampire returned. "If you don't come back, I'm never going to forgive you," she said, the trembling in her voice belying any threat.
"I promise I'll be back." Angel turned to leave them, when a final thought occurred to him. He glanced over his shoulder. "Oh yeah, and will you do me one more favor?"
"Of course," Wesley replied.
Angel's voice was laced with bitterness as he gave his final order. "Find Buffy," he said, as the door closed behind him.
::response to comments::
Jess: Thanks! I swear, I will finish this story. I feel your pain-I too have read stories I really like and they never get finished. I won't do that I swear-it just may take me a while to update.
Rma: Don't worry-we haven't heard the last of Faith and I swear the ending of this story, while it won't exactly be happy, will at least be bittersweet. And Buffy and the rest will be in the next chapter.
Bsktballchik: Thanks again for your continued support! As for updating soon...well, does me taking a month count? Sorry.