After The Storm
Chapter 13
By Vixen
Since Faith had come to stay at the Hyperion a week had passed. Nothing much had changed in the city, there was still an ever-present danger and the big black clouds that neither one of them could fight. They needed a witch. Willow was supposed to be arriving that day, and surprisingly Faith was looking forward to her appearance. They barely got along, and when they did it was only for supernatural type work. Still, it would beat hanging around the hotel and feeling alone.
Connor and her rarely spoke anymore. Not since he had wigged at the fast food joint. Faith couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Half the time he walked around like he was in a daze, and the other he told her he was 'fine' in a voice that stated clearly that he wasn't. If there was any proof Faith needed to convince her that Connor really was Angel's kid it was the way he'd been brooding around the hotel that past week.
The incessant knocking at the door brought her downstairs. Towel drying her hair, Faith looked around the lobby, exasperated. Connor was asleep on the couch, dead to the world, and contentedly ignoring the knocking. He had been sleeping at weird hours of the day lately, and Faith knew he wasn't sleeping through the nights. Nocturnal, just like his old man, Faith dashed away her annoyance. The kid needed sleep if he was going to make it through whatever was coming.
Wrapping the black terry cloth robe a little tighter around her slender waist, Faith reached out to grasp the doorknob and opened the door. A redheaded Wiccan greeted her with a small smile, and Faith couldn't help but feel a little relieved. The cavalry had finally arrived, someone to figure out all the magick stuff. Now the slayer could finally get down to business and start kicking things like she was made to do. Projecting a calm exterior, Faith ventured, "Willow, hey, what's new with you?"
"Nothing much," Willow answered conversationally, "I got your message. Sorry I missed your call when you phoned me, but there was this whole big Wicca retreat in the Amazon that I was on. Lots of witches doing spells, and working magick. It was fun. And I'm completely babbling now, aren't I?"
"Hey, just happy to have a witch on our team again," Faith commented, remaining friendly and cordial though the relationship was a little strained. Holding open the door, she gestured towards the darkened hotel, as if to welcome Willow to the Hyperion, their base of operations.
"Well, I'll do what I can to help beat the same old apocalypse scares." Willow walked into the lobby, put her suitcase down, and looking around the place. It was still dusty, neither Faith nor Connor bothering to straighten it up. It was dark too, the only light coming from the few windows that weren't blocked by heavy curtains. The witch shook her head; glancing around the place she would be living at during the next few days, or weeks. Waving a hand through the air, she chanted a simple charm, "Illustro."
One by one, the lamps in the room crackled and lit up, brightening the room considerably. Faith watched in amusement, "That sure beats paying the electric bill."
"It's only until we get past our portal problems," Willow said with wisdom of the magick she had only begun to possess the last year in Sunnydale. "Emergency lighting so to speak. Not a way to get around, you know, paying."
Following one of the larger crackling noises from the large light fixture on the ceiling, Connor started to stir from his sleep. As he awoke, he watched as the light poured into the lobby. He glanced around until he saw the cause of the new illumination. The white highlights in Willow's hair faded away as the spell completed it's task, returning her mane to the dark penny red it had been when they had first met during the re-souling of Angel. It was longer now though, and she looked a little older and even more powerful. The newcomer, this witch, the one he knew from before, was grinning at him, "Connor, hi."
"You know who I am?" Connor shook away the sleepiness that still clung to him. At first he figured Faith had told Willow about him but there had been a familiar tone to her voice. Like she really did know him, and hadn't only been told by a second party. His eyes narrowed in confusion, "How do you know who I am?"
"Why wouldn't I-" Willow started, and then paused looking far away as if sorting out some new information. With an enlightened nod she continued as understanding seeped in, "Oh, the spell. I'm starting to become immune to that sort of glamour. I think it comes from being so attuned to the Goddess. Wolfram and Hart doesn't possess a high enough level of magic to.." Willow realized she was babbling again and shook her head. Sitting down on the couch next to Connor, she glanced at both of them, "But enough about me, how are you guys?"
There was a collective groan from the two who had been battling the new demons in Los Angeles the longest. Then Faith spoke, "This city is really going under. Seems the big nasties can't get enough of the place, they're coming here in droves. And they seem to be feeding off of some power, because even the weaker species seem to be kicking our butts now."
"It's the vortex," Willow explained, "I first picked up on the feelings when I was on my Amazon retreat, and then when I got off the plane the energy was overwhelming."
"What's a vortex," Connor asked warily. Magick unnerved him, it always had, and the amount of power he knew Willow contained when she spoke of such things creeped him out even more.
"A spiral motion of fluid within a limited area, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center. That's the dictionary's definition anyway. Basically, it's a whirlpool that draws in all the evil from surrounding areas. Once it's built up in an area, people usually leave or if they don't get out of the way, they die. It causes sickness and general 'someone's walking on my grave' feelings." Willow watched as her words sunk in, "It's probably what Wolfram and Hart used to call the demons to this city when they attacked Angel."
"Think we figured out what those black clouds were, huh, kid," Faith looked over at Connor, who wore a determined expression.
"How do we stop it," He asked the witch as he watched her carefully with a steady gaze. His mind was already focused on the task at hand, even the fact that Faith was standing around in just a towel could do little to pull his attention away for very long. If there was something brewing, he wanted to know the best way to fix it. Nothing else mattered.
"I'm not sure exactly, I've never closed a vortex before," Willow said in a slight apologetic manner, "Once we do some research though, I'm sure everything will fall into place. Before they went off on their Black Thorn mission, Wesley sent me an email." She unzipped the front flap of her suitcase and pulled out a piece of paper with a few lines printed on it. "It's an address, where Wesley hid their books. Just in case anything happened to them, he wanted to entrust his old volumes to someone who would know how to handle them. He also gave me a page number to look up in one of the books, I think he knew what the Senior Partners were planning."
At the mention of the Senior Partners, Connor grew moodier. Crossing his arms, he sulked silently on the couch. As Faith and Willow went on with their conversation, he only paid the minimum of attention to what they were talking about. His minds traveled to thoughts of revenge on Wolfram and Hart. They were still around; Angel's whole kamikaze mission hadn't solved anything. The company was built on evil, and that would last until the last day of judgment. There was little Connor could do against the evil law firm. There were factions of the company dispersed in almost every city in the world, he was outnumber and outmatched. It didn't make the quiet rage that had been building up subside however.
It was Faith's voice that broke him from his anger, "What about the portal?"
Connor straightened on the couch, waiting for Willow to tell him some good news for a change. Though, what Willow said next was not the change of luck he wanted, "It's going to take a lot of power to reopen the portal. Just finding the right spell could take months, but I think with some searching in the books we might be able to find a way but it could take a couple of months."
A silence fell over the room as Willow's words sunk in. There wasn't going to be a quick fix to their problems.
"That's too long," Connor shook his head and then stood up, continuing with his outburst, "We can't wait 'a couple of months'. It's not just their lives on the lines; it's everyone's. The things that are going on in this city, they're only the beginning. We're not strong enough to stop this.. we can't--"
"Connor," Willow started in a calm tone, "We're all going to try our best to-"
He halted his tirade, picking a focal point on the floor and letting the guilt wash over him. "Our best isn't good enough."
With a tenderness that was still new to Faith, she came towards him, placed one arm around his shoulder and suggested her plan. "Look, everyone's in need of some down time. Why don't we all just relax, hit the books like Willow suggested and then-"
Connor only glared at Faith and twisted away from her touch. There was work to be done, she as a slayer should know this. They couldn't sit around hoping the answers would come from a book, "You can do what you want." He grabbed his coat where it hung behind the door, "I'm going hunting."
He could feel Willow calling to him as he walked out of the hotel, the twilight beginning to darken the streets. When he was far enough down the road, he stopped his ill-tempered march down the empty street. There had been more Connor wanted to say to the two of them, worse things that he felt ashamed even thinking.
Even though he had reigned in his anger, it still troubled him. Where was the peace that he had felt before coming back to the city, Connor wondered. It had all been so simple before returning to this action-packed lifestyle. Besides, the two girls were only trying to help. It wasn't their fault Wolfram and Hart had opened a portal to god knows where.
Connor's cell phone rang in his coat pocket, and he flipped it on. His mother's voice greeted him. It was the best comfort in the world at that moment. Just to be able to talk to someone from his normal average life, the one he wished was real, meant a lot.
She was worried about him; the news about Wolfram and Hart's collapse had finally reached her ears. It wasn't the conversation Connor wanted to have at the moment, but it was one of the only people he felt like talking to. He tracked through the streets, keeping an eye out for signs of things of a dubious nature, and simultaneous continued the conversation from home.
It was a hard task to reassure her that he was okay; building lies upon lies for her to believe, but he succeeded. When Connor hung up the phone, his mother's worried tone had ceased. She truly believed him when he said he was fine. If only Connor could believe his own lies too.
.......................................
Sorry this update took so long, but the resort did NOT have Internet access like it promised in the brochure. They lied to me. I feel cheap and used. Bad, bad Point Sebago! I smite you.
Chapter 13
By Vixen
Since Faith had come to stay at the Hyperion a week had passed. Nothing much had changed in the city, there was still an ever-present danger and the big black clouds that neither one of them could fight. They needed a witch. Willow was supposed to be arriving that day, and surprisingly Faith was looking forward to her appearance. They barely got along, and when they did it was only for supernatural type work. Still, it would beat hanging around the hotel and feeling alone.
Connor and her rarely spoke anymore. Not since he had wigged at the fast food joint. Faith couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Half the time he walked around like he was in a daze, and the other he told her he was 'fine' in a voice that stated clearly that he wasn't. If there was any proof Faith needed to convince her that Connor really was Angel's kid it was the way he'd been brooding around the hotel that past week.
The incessant knocking at the door brought her downstairs. Towel drying her hair, Faith looked around the lobby, exasperated. Connor was asleep on the couch, dead to the world, and contentedly ignoring the knocking. He had been sleeping at weird hours of the day lately, and Faith knew he wasn't sleeping through the nights. Nocturnal, just like his old man, Faith dashed away her annoyance. The kid needed sleep if he was going to make it through whatever was coming.
Wrapping the black terry cloth robe a little tighter around her slender waist, Faith reached out to grasp the doorknob and opened the door. A redheaded Wiccan greeted her with a small smile, and Faith couldn't help but feel a little relieved. The cavalry had finally arrived, someone to figure out all the magick stuff. Now the slayer could finally get down to business and start kicking things like she was made to do. Projecting a calm exterior, Faith ventured, "Willow, hey, what's new with you?"
"Nothing much," Willow answered conversationally, "I got your message. Sorry I missed your call when you phoned me, but there was this whole big Wicca retreat in the Amazon that I was on. Lots of witches doing spells, and working magick. It was fun. And I'm completely babbling now, aren't I?"
"Hey, just happy to have a witch on our team again," Faith commented, remaining friendly and cordial though the relationship was a little strained. Holding open the door, she gestured towards the darkened hotel, as if to welcome Willow to the Hyperion, their base of operations.
"Well, I'll do what I can to help beat the same old apocalypse scares." Willow walked into the lobby, put her suitcase down, and looking around the place. It was still dusty, neither Faith nor Connor bothering to straighten it up. It was dark too, the only light coming from the few windows that weren't blocked by heavy curtains. The witch shook her head; glancing around the place she would be living at during the next few days, or weeks. Waving a hand through the air, she chanted a simple charm, "Illustro."
One by one, the lamps in the room crackled and lit up, brightening the room considerably. Faith watched in amusement, "That sure beats paying the electric bill."
"It's only until we get past our portal problems," Willow said with wisdom of the magick she had only begun to possess the last year in Sunnydale. "Emergency lighting so to speak. Not a way to get around, you know, paying."
Following one of the larger crackling noises from the large light fixture on the ceiling, Connor started to stir from his sleep. As he awoke, he watched as the light poured into the lobby. He glanced around until he saw the cause of the new illumination. The white highlights in Willow's hair faded away as the spell completed it's task, returning her mane to the dark penny red it had been when they had first met during the re-souling of Angel. It was longer now though, and she looked a little older and even more powerful. The newcomer, this witch, the one he knew from before, was grinning at him, "Connor, hi."
"You know who I am?" Connor shook away the sleepiness that still clung to him. At first he figured Faith had told Willow about him but there had been a familiar tone to her voice. Like she really did know him, and hadn't only been told by a second party. His eyes narrowed in confusion, "How do you know who I am?"
"Why wouldn't I-" Willow started, and then paused looking far away as if sorting out some new information. With an enlightened nod she continued as understanding seeped in, "Oh, the spell. I'm starting to become immune to that sort of glamour. I think it comes from being so attuned to the Goddess. Wolfram and Hart doesn't possess a high enough level of magic to.." Willow realized she was babbling again and shook her head. Sitting down on the couch next to Connor, she glanced at both of them, "But enough about me, how are you guys?"
There was a collective groan from the two who had been battling the new demons in Los Angeles the longest. Then Faith spoke, "This city is really going under. Seems the big nasties can't get enough of the place, they're coming here in droves. And they seem to be feeding off of some power, because even the weaker species seem to be kicking our butts now."
"It's the vortex," Willow explained, "I first picked up on the feelings when I was on my Amazon retreat, and then when I got off the plane the energy was overwhelming."
"What's a vortex," Connor asked warily. Magick unnerved him, it always had, and the amount of power he knew Willow contained when she spoke of such things creeped him out even more.
"A spiral motion of fluid within a limited area, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center. That's the dictionary's definition anyway. Basically, it's a whirlpool that draws in all the evil from surrounding areas. Once it's built up in an area, people usually leave or if they don't get out of the way, they die. It causes sickness and general 'someone's walking on my grave' feelings." Willow watched as her words sunk in, "It's probably what Wolfram and Hart used to call the demons to this city when they attacked Angel."
"Think we figured out what those black clouds were, huh, kid," Faith looked over at Connor, who wore a determined expression.
"How do we stop it," He asked the witch as he watched her carefully with a steady gaze. His mind was already focused on the task at hand, even the fact that Faith was standing around in just a towel could do little to pull his attention away for very long. If there was something brewing, he wanted to know the best way to fix it. Nothing else mattered.
"I'm not sure exactly, I've never closed a vortex before," Willow said in a slight apologetic manner, "Once we do some research though, I'm sure everything will fall into place. Before they went off on their Black Thorn mission, Wesley sent me an email." She unzipped the front flap of her suitcase and pulled out a piece of paper with a few lines printed on it. "It's an address, where Wesley hid their books. Just in case anything happened to them, he wanted to entrust his old volumes to someone who would know how to handle them. He also gave me a page number to look up in one of the books, I think he knew what the Senior Partners were planning."
At the mention of the Senior Partners, Connor grew moodier. Crossing his arms, he sulked silently on the couch. As Faith and Willow went on with their conversation, he only paid the minimum of attention to what they were talking about. His minds traveled to thoughts of revenge on Wolfram and Hart. They were still around; Angel's whole kamikaze mission hadn't solved anything. The company was built on evil, and that would last until the last day of judgment. There was little Connor could do against the evil law firm. There were factions of the company dispersed in almost every city in the world, he was outnumber and outmatched. It didn't make the quiet rage that had been building up subside however.
It was Faith's voice that broke him from his anger, "What about the portal?"
Connor straightened on the couch, waiting for Willow to tell him some good news for a change. Though, what Willow said next was not the change of luck he wanted, "It's going to take a lot of power to reopen the portal. Just finding the right spell could take months, but I think with some searching in the books we might be able to find a way but it could take a couple of months."
A silence fell over the room as Willow's words sunk in. There wasn't going to be a quick fix to their problems.
"That's too long," Connor shook his head and then stood up, continuing with his outburst, "We can't wait 'a couple of months'. It's not just their lives on the lines; it's everyone's. The things that are going on in this city, they're only the beginning. We're not strong enough to stop this.. we can't--"
"Connor," Willow started in a calm tone, "We're all going to try our best to-"
He halted his tirade, picking a focal point on the floor and letting the guilt wash over him. "Our best isn't good enough."
With a tenderness that was still new to Faith, she came towards him, placed one arm around his shoulder and suggested her plan. "Look, everyone's in need of some down time. Why don't we all just relax, hit the books like Willow suggested and then-"
Connor only glared at Faith and twisted away from her touch. There was work to be done, she as a slayer should know this. They couldn't sit around hoping the answers would come from a book, "You can do what you want." He grabbed his coat where it hung behind the door, "I'm going hunting."
He could feel Willow calling to him as he walked out of the hotel, the twilight beginning to darken the streets. When he was far enough down the road, he stopped his ill-tempered march down the empty street. There had been more Connor wanted to say to the two of them, worse things that he felt ashamed even thinking.
Even though he had reigned in his anger, it still troubled him. Where was the peace that he had felt before coming back to the city, Connor wondered. It had all been so simple before returning to this action-packed lifestyle. Besides, the two girls were only trying to help. It wasn't their fault Wolfram and Hart had opened a portal to god knows where.
Connor's cell phone rang in his coat pocket, and he flipped it on. His mother's voice greeted him. It was the best comfort in the world at that moment. Just to be able to talk to someone from his normal average life, the one he wished was real, meant a lot.
She was worried about him; the news about Wolfram and Hart's collapse had finally reached her ears. It wasn't the conversation Connor wanted to have at the moment, but it was one of the only people he felt like talking to. He tracked through the streets, keeping an eye out for signs of things of a dubious nature, and simultaneous continued the conversation from home.
It was a hard task to reassure her that he was okay; building lies upon lies for her to believe, but he succeeded. When Connor hung up the phone, his mother's worried tone had ceased. She truly believed him when he said he was fine. If only Connor could believe his own lies too.
.......................................
Sorry this update took so long, but the resort did NOT have Internet access like it promised in the brochure. They lied to me. I feel cheap and used. Bad, bad Point Sebago! I smite you.