Divine Interference
Part Ten
Posted: May 9, 2004
Author's notes: OMG!! I thought I had given you some of this! I am soo sorry! I thought I had posted all I had of this, and went to work on it, only to find out I haven't updated in over a week, with 10 pages sitting idle!!! So here are those ten pages. Please review, so I know your thoughts! I try to tailor some of my writing to my readers...but not all! Lol.
And once again, since we're working from scripts, I have tense problems. Sorry!
Later well...that makes more sense now...
See, I had started to edit the chapter, so I could post it, and stopped. But I put it in my READY TO POST folder anyway, the only folder I NEVER look in, unless I've saved something there to upload. So that's why I had thought I had already posted this, because I have a duplicate chapter right in there!
Sigh
Reader Responses:
Melluvben: Yeah, I liked that part too. I seem to be having a VERY hard time writing anything really great about Dawn, like her actions and stuff. The last time I was around a baby for more than a few hours was when my brother was a baby...fourteen years ago! I've never had the chance to baby- sit a baby, so I have no clue how they amuse themselves! But toes seemed to be a good bet. Thanks for your review!
BAshipper: lol. I'm glad. He might or might not be in more of it...I might end up keeping his part in the fleeing, but I have to make room for Angel somewhere...he's already stolen some of other people's lines...oh well. I'll figure something out! I always do! Thanks for the review!
Malfeus: There will probably be more Spike in here, just because I have found I love writing Angel/Spike banter. Oh! AND THAT WAS so NOT A PAIRING BAR...THING! No, no no! icky!
But anyway.... we may see some talking about Riley behind his back, but he's gone now. Way gone. Go you're his stupid South America, and go find Sam, and get married to her, AND NEVER COME BACK!!!
That's what that mean, huh? Cool! Um...merci beacoup pour le...lire?
Whatever!
Thanks for the review!
Giles showed the watchers the training room, at their request. Anya saw them, and made a muffled sound that sounded like a squeak. She took the baby and left the back room.
"We've been developing sort of a, a hybrid fighting style ... let me outline her progress for you and I-I think you'll see that your review isn't strictly needed."
Buffy entered the shop, and saw Anya with her child, but didn't say anything. It was a pretty common sight these days. She set her school bag on the table, and walked into the back room.
"Hey, Giles. I'm here to get-"she saw the watchers, and tried to back out of the room, hoping they hadn't noticed her yet, "Bad day. Bad, baaad...." she muttered, turning to flee.
"Miss Summers..." Quentin Travers said, and Buffy stopped backing away, "good to see you again." Buffy entered reluctantly, closing the door behind her.
"Mr. Travers." Buffy said briskly.
"Giles has just been telling us of your training regimen. Perhaps you'll favor us with a demonstration while we're here."
"Right now? I have lots of homework to do and..." she wasn't sure what she should say about Dawn. She didn't know if they knew yet.
"No need to rush you," Quentin assured her.
"They're ... staying a little longer than I'd anticipated." Giles told her, taking off his glasses. Oh God, she thought, if Giles was already stripping the glasses, it had to be bad. Oh! Icky thought! Giles and stripping! Bad thought!
"We've already laid out our project for Mr. Giles. Nigel?" The Watchers and Buffy move toward one side of the room while Giles leaned against the counter.
"It's an exhaustive examination of your procedures and abilities. We'll observe your training, talk to your friends..." he started.
"Whoa, talk to my friends?" she interrupted.
"Yes, we understand you're still taking civilians out on patrols," Quentin said.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes heavenward, as if there was anything up there that could have prevented this screw up in her life. They were probably watching and laughing.
"Buffy ... I can sense your resistance, and I don't blame you. But I think your Watcher hasn't reminded you lately of the resolute status of the players in our little game. The Council fights evil. The Slayer is the instrument by which we fight. The Council remains, the Slayers change. It's been that way from the beginning..." Quentin started.
"Well, that's a very comforting, bloodless way of looking at it, isn't it?" Giles stopped him before he got anywhere.
"Giles, let me talk to Buffy, because I think she's understanding me." Quentin pretty much told him to butt out, but in the nice way British people held. Buffy was overjoyed in a sarcastic way. He turned to her, "Glory is stronger than you. She's a more powerful instrument, if you will. We can help you. We have information that will help. Pass the review and we give it to you without reservation. Fail the review, either through incompetence, or by resisting our recommendations..."
"Resisting your recommendations? She fails if we don't do whatever you say! How much under your thumb do you think we are?" Giles said in outrage.
"How much do you want our help?" Quentin threw back at him, in his proper English accent. Buffy really wanted to choke him, or maybe all of them. And then she could go home and snuggle with Dawn.
Giles poked his finger angrily at Travers, and the other Watchers restrain him, "She's not your bloody instrument and you have no right to do any of this!"
"Giles!" Buffy cried. If anyone was going to piss them off, it would be her. She was far stronger than any of them. Giles shook off the other Watchers and moved away, frustrated.
"I understand you think this is unfair. But there are factors, which should motivate you to go along with the review. Now, I don't want to do this, but obviously we could shut this place down permanently." Quentin threatened.
"You can't do that. You don't have that kind of power." Buffy scoffed.
"Of course we do, and a great deal more. In fact, if you insist on fighting us, we'll arrange to have Mr. Giles deported within the day. Never set foot in this country again. Now perhaps you're used to idle threats and sloppy discipline, Miss Summers, but you're dealing with grownups now. Am I making myself clear?" Buffy looked angrily from Travers to Giles, who wouldn't look at her, and then back. She glared at Travers for a few minutes, before sighing.
"Fine. Go ahead and do whatever you have to, to make yourselves feel important," She scoffed. "Giles, I'm gonna go home. Will's gonna be there in a bit, or him, and I'll go patrolling"
"Yes, good plan. And I'll, ah, stay here, and deal with our...guests."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Rupert." Quentin said unexpectedly, and nodding to his watcher cronies, he left. Anya came in after they left the room, muttering to herself.
"Take your child, I can't work like this. No customers, and no money. I'm going home." She said, and Giles just nodded, rubbing his forehead.
Buffy walked out of the room, to get Dawn's stuff. Giles followed her, sitting at the table.
"It's a power play, that's what it is. It's about who has the power." He told her.
"I'm guessing they do? Big power outage in Buffy county?" she asked, placing her hands in her lap. Dawn was in her carrier already.
"I should have set you loose on them, that's what I should have done."
"Giles, that Travers guy is like sixty. I can't hit him," But then she looked up, a glint in her eye, "Can I?"
"I suppose not. Well, I could. I think I will."
"Can they really do the stuff they threatened? Kick you out the country?" She picked up one of Dawn's feet and wiggled it.
"In a heartbeat." He took off his glasses, taking out a handkerchief and began to clean them, "See, the rough stuff, they're all right out there, a bit ham-handed, but they get it done, but, uh ... this stuff, the, uh, bureaucracy, the pulling of political strings, they're the best in the world. They can kill you with the stroke of a pen. Poncy sods." There's a crunching noise as Giles's glasses break in his hands from too vigorous a cleaning. One of the lenses has popped out of the frame. Giles looks down at them.
"Am I gonna be able to get through this review?" she asked quietly, not looking at anything but her lap. Dawn made a cooing noise.
"Well, I... I suppose they'll make it as difficult as they want to. The physical stuff could be a bit of a challenge," He put on his glasses, remembers that they're broken, and immediately takes them off again.
"That's not what I'm worried about. It's the other stuff. Examining decisions I've made. I mean, twice now I've been within slaying distance of Glory, and twice she's kicked my ass without even tensing a muscle. And I haven't been able to figure out ... what she is, or anything about her except that she wants the key, which I have, and I can't even figure out if it's okay for me to tell anyone that. Top it all off with me giving birth to a child that I didn't even know I was going to have...with a vampire father..."
"Buffy, no one could have done any better than you." He reassures her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"But no one else is gonna be asked the questions that I can't answer." She starts getting agitated. "They're gonna expect me to ... to be like a Slayer and, and know stuff, but I'm just me and I don't know anything, and they're gonna go away, and they're not gonna tell me how to fight Glory, and I'm not gonna be able to protect Dawn." He could see tears welling up in her eyes. But she blinked, and they disappeared.
"Buffy, calm down. The scandal here is not anything you've done wrong, it's the way they're behaving. Holding what they know hostage with a gun pointed at my bleeding green card, no less." He sighed, "It's humiliating."
"Also smart. They picked the perfect thing. I can't lose you. Will, Xand, mom, they've always been there for me, but you...I just can't do this without you."
"Thank you." He whispered.
She sighed, "I guess I should be getting ready. What do you think it'll be like, I mean, how do you think they'll start?"
"I-I have no idea, Buffy. I'm sorry." She nodded.
A/N: hmm...should I have the interrogation? There's really no info we need.... just pretend they've all happened. Oh! Except one! That one will be fun! Hehehe.
"Sir, may we speak to you a moment?" two men stood at the door. He nodded, letting them in.
"You're from the Council, correct?" It was their turn to nod. "Please, sit down." They did, but he stayed standing.
"For the record, your name, sir?"
"Liam. But I go by Angel."
"Uh, yes." The second man, the one not answering questions, pulled a stake and cross from his pocket. "And you are a vampire, correct?"
"That's right."
"But you help the slayer?" He asked.
"Yes."
"And why would you be so inclined?"
"Look, I know you know this stuff already, so let's just cut to the chase. What do you really want to know?"
"What is your current relationship with the slayer?" he said after a second.
"Her name's Buffy. And we're...friends," He hesitated ever so slightly.
"Friends?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Angel crossed his arms over his chest. A wail came from somewhere in the back of the apartment. The watchers both jumped, while Angel sighed. "Uh, if you'll excuse me a minute," He disappeared down the dark hallway. The two watchers sat in apprehension a moment, before the vampire came out, bypassed them, and headed towards the kitchen. They heard noises, and another pitiful cry, before the vampire came back, five minutes later. "Sorry about that," He settled down in the armchair beside the couch, holding Dawn's bottle.
"Whose child?" The watcher asked.
"Mine." Was the curt reply.
"That's impossible!" the other watcher blurted out, receiving a reproving glare from the fist watcher.
"You've heard of Mohra blood, right?"
The watchers nodded, "It has regenerative properties, does it not?"
"Got it in one, watcher man. Oh, God, I've been hanging with Harris too much." He sighed, shaking his head.
"But that does not relieve the question..."
"I was human, and I went a bit...wild. You know the feeling, right? Anyway, nine months later...even after I had it reversed, so I could still fight and help Buffy, there's her," He nodded towards the baby in his arms.
"Uh...I believe that those are the only questions we have for you at this time. If we have further questions, we shall get in touch with you."
"H-How is she doing? Her tests, and things?"
"We are not at liberty to say." Angel nodded, and showed them out.
A/N; hmm...there seem to be a lot of these in here. I'm just pouting that the script doesn't have the Japanese! I actually might know some of it, but I'd have to go look it up, and that would be evil-y boring!
Of course, if it was the Japanese for the Shotokan moves, then I could probably pick those out of my brain! Let's see....kiba dachi...that's a stance..sekin zuki...that would be a punch...this is really hard!
"Agility, clarity, stamina and strength...these are the qualities that the Slayer must possess to do her job," Travers, along with the watchers, Giles, and Buffy all were in the workroom. Dawn sat in a bouncy seat by Giles. Nigel was typing a blindfold around Buffy's eyes,
"What came after agility?" Buffy asked.
"If you want her to attack the dummy-"Giles started.
"No, no. Philip will attack the dummy." Philip stood next to the dummy, wearing a gi, otherwise known as a karate robe, "The Slayer's job is to protect it. Do you understand?"
"Protect the dummy. Got it." She nodded.
"As if it were precious. Now, getting the best of Philip will require agility. Listening to my instructions at the same time that will demonstrate clarity. And stamina and strength will win the long fight. Good luck." Travers said.
"Instructions?" Buffy whined.
"Yeah, I'll be telling you what to do, how to counter Philip's attack. We assume you're familiar with the Japanese names for aikido and jiu-jitsu moves." Travers said in an offhand manner.
"Japanese?" Buffy's voice was just a wee bit shrill.
"And, go!" one watcher called, clicking a stop watch.
"Whoa, hold on a second. We uh, you know in America, we usually just work our way up to 'go.'" Philip bows toward Buffy. He's holding a short axe.
Travers said something in what Buffy had to assume was Japanese.
"Huh?" she asked, turning her head this way and that, trying to figure out what was going on.
"He wants you to bow. Take a bow." Giles translated.
"Oh." She bowed. Dawn gurgled. Philip began circling around her. Buffy followed his movements. He thrusts at the dummy and Buffy blocks. Then she kicks at him and misses. She spins around and blocks his overhead punch.
Travers speaks even more Japanese, which Buffy couldn't understand. Philip punched Buffy in the face.
"Punch him." Giles translates. A/N; something-zuki
"Thanks, Giles." Buffy calls.
"Sorry."
Travers starts speaking Japanese again.
"Uh...back kick, elbow-"Giles translates. Buffy back-kicks and Philip moves out of the way. She thrusts with her elbow and he avoids it. "...elbow...strike."
"How have you been training her?" Travers asks with disdain.
"I've trained her to win." Giles defends himself. Buffy just looks annoyed.
"You know what? I'm gonna have to do it my way, guys." Buffy notified them, stepping into a stance. Philip swung the weapon and she ducked. He lifted it for an overhead blow and Buffy grabbed the handle, kicked him in the stomach, forced him back against the training horse and elbowed him in the face. He tumbled backward over the horse, losing his grip on the weapon. The momentum pulls it out of Buffy's hands and it flies backward to land in the dummy's chest, knocking the dummy backward into Nigel. He falls to the floor with the dummy on top of him.
Buffy turns around, pulling the blindfold off. A watcher kneels by Nigel and clicks the stopwatch.
"Uh-oh," she said, seeing the dummy. The others help Philip up.
"I think she just broke my rib." Philip complained.
"Yes, well." Travers said, a condescending tone in his voice.
"I didn't mean to. Um, you know, I, I can do better. I think I might be getting this, like, inner ear thing, and so maybe, maybe if I got a note, I, I could try again."
"No, that's all right, I don't think we need to see any more physical tests for a while. We can move on to the real review. Look into your strategies, plans ... figure out what's going on in that head."
"Good. Head stuff." Buffy pouted. Dawn started crying. She went over and lifted the child out of the seat.
"We start at seven tonight. Give you time to, uh ..." he looks from Buffy to Giles, "well, however you prepare." The Watchers leave. Buffy and Giles look glum.
The Watchers are walking around the Magic Box, looking at books, moving stuff around. Giles sits in a chair by the table. Anya, Xander, Willow, and Tara sit on the balcony above, looking down. Their feet dangle in the air and they lean against the railing watching the Watchers.
"Look at them. Big tough Council members pickin' on the books." Xander says.
"Fascists." Willow interjects.
"Why doesn't Mr. Giles put them all out of here?" Tara asks out loud.
"Because if they deport him, they're not just destroying his career, they're ... condemning the man to a lifetime diet of blood sausage, bangers, and mash." Xander comes up with an answer.
Travers walks over to where Giles is sitting. "Well, your Slayer's twenty minutes late and counting, Rupert."
"Buffy will be here, I assure you."
"Yes, but when?" he chuckled
Buffy walked through a dark alley, with Dawn in tow, in a nifty little back pouch. She looked at her watch.
"Crap." She muttered. She walked faster. Suddenly someone appears from behind a trashcan and grabs her around the waist, pulling her down to the ground. They both get up. It's a person in medieval armor with chain mail covering his face. He backhands Buffy; she spins around and flies into a pile of garbage, twisting in midair, to land on her front. Dawn starts to scream. As she straightens up, two more knights appear. The first one has a sword, the other two have metal staves. They circle around Buffy, twirling their weapons.
"Uh ... guys? A-any way we could ... not do this?" She asked.
The knight with the sword swings. Buffy ducks. She spins and punches him, ducks a staff thrust, kicks the other staff, ducks again, kicks the first staff-holder in the stomach. Ducks another swing, kicks the second staff guy twice. Ducks a swing from sword guy, blocks a punch, punches him in the face while holding his sword arm. Kicks him back, grabs the staff of another and pushes him away. Dawn is screaming the whole time.
She deflects the other staff holder. Then she does two back-flips that carry her over the two staves, grabs one staff and thrusts it into that knight's stomach, deflects a sword thrust with it, kicks the sword guy in the stomach. Jabs the staff into disarmed knight's stomach again, ducks a thrust from the other staff, kicks that knight so he goes spinning away. Buffy and the disarmed knight grapple for his staff, finally she hits him in the face with it. He goes down. She drops her staff and blocks an overhand sword thrust, punches the sword holder and he goes down. Buffy kicks the other staff holder away, picks up the staff again and faces off with the sword holder.
Buffy knocks the sword out of the knight's hand and pushes him to the ground, jumping on top of him and holding the staff to his throat.
"Okay. Let's see what you are." She said, while Dawn was screaming in her ear. Why had Angel had to pick this night, of all nights, to go back to LA for some emergency business?
She removed the chain-mail mask to reveal an ordinary-looking human man with a symbol on his forehead. "Or who you are."
"One soldier in a vast army." The soldier answers.
"What army?" she asked.
"The Knights of Byzantium, an ancient order. And now your enemy."
"You work for Glory?" she asked, pushing the staff deeper into his throat. Dawn didn't seem to be calming down anytime fast.
"You think we align ourselves with the beast? You must be mad."
"You're the ones tried killing me."
"No, we were fools, three alone. But if it takes a hundred men, we send a hundred men, and if it takes a thousand, we send a thousand."
"A thousand?" Just a touch of worry enters her voice.
"So long as you protect the key, the brotherhood will never stop until we destroy it and you. You are the Slayer, and we know what we must do. Now, be done with it. Kill us, and let legions follow." Buffy shoves the staff into his throat again, then tosses it aside, gets up and picks up the sword. The knight gets to his feet, and she puts the sword to his throat. He turns his head away waiting for the kill stroke.
"Go." She ordered him. The knight looks surprised, edges around her and leaves. Buffy stares at the sword.
Buffy entered the magic shop, holding the sword in the back pack, and jiggling Dawn, trying to get her to quiet. She wasn't screaming so loud now. All the Watchers were standing there, the four Slayerettes were still sitting on the upper level, and Travers was sitting at the table with a pile of papers spread out in front of him. Giles sits on the stairs leading up to the balcony.
"You're late." Travers said.
"Yeah."
"Was, was there an attack?" Giles asked, seeing the sword sticking out of the backpack, and Dawn's red face.
"You could say that."
"We can begin the review at last. We'll, uh, skip the more obvious questions..." Buffy takes the sword out, balancing Dawn, and puts it down on his papers.
"There isn't gonna be a review." She told him.
"Sorry?" Travers asked in disbelief.
"No review. No interrogation. No questions you know I can't answer. No hoops, no jumps-"one of the watchers made to interrupt, "and no interruptions." Nigel shuts up. Buffy looks around, gives Dawn to Giles, and begins to pace.
"See ... I've had a lot of people talking at me the last few days. Everyone just lining up to tell me how unimportant I am. And I've finally figured out why." She looks Travers in the eye, "Power. I have it. They don't. This bothers them." Buffy moved back to the table, removing her coat.
"Glory ... was at my mom's today."
"Buffy, are you-"Giles said, alarmed.
"Just to talk. She told me I'm a bug, I'm a flea, she could squash me in a second. Only she didn't. She came into my home, and we talked. We had what in her warped brain probably passes for a civilized conversation. Why? Because she needs something from me. Because I have power over her." Buffy looked around hands on her hips. She walked the floor, looking from one Watcher to the next as she talks. "You guys didn't come all the way from England to determine whether or not I was good enough to be let back in. You came to beg me to let you back in. To give your jobs, your lives, some semblance of meaning."
"This is beyond insolence-"One of the watchers started.
Buffy grabs the sword from the table and throws it across the room in a single movement. It flies point-first into the wall directly in front of Nigel's nose. He jumps back looking shocked.
"I'm fairly certain I said no interruptions." She cleared her throat.
"That was excellent!" Xander whispered. Many of them had wanted to do something similar. Willow and Tara just grin.
"You're Watchers. Without a Slayer, you're pretty much just watchin' Masterpiece Theater. You can't stop Glory. You can't do anything with the information you have except maybe publish it in the "Everyone Thinks We're Insane-O's Home Journal." So here's how it's gonna work. You're gonna tell me everything you know. Then you're gonna go away." She took Dawn back from Giles, and continued pacing, bouncing her daughter as she went. "You'll contact me if and when you have any further information about Glory. The magic shop will remain open. Mr. Giles will stay here as my official Watcher, reinstated at full salary..."
"Retroactive." Giles coughed.
"...to be paid retroactively from the month he was fired. I will continue my work with the help of my friends..."
"I, uh, I ... don't want a sword thrown at me, but, but, civilians, I - we're talking about children." Another watcher spoke up.
Buffy looked up at her friends in the balcony, "We're talking about two very powerful witches and a thousand-year-old ex-demon."
"Willow's a demon?!" Anya's still trying to cover it all up.
"The boy? No power there." Nigel noted.
"The boy has clocked more field time than all of you combined. He's part of the unit."
"That's Riley-speak." Willow whispered to Xander.
"I've clocked field time." Xander whispered back, smiling.
"Now." She addressed the Watchers, "You all may be very good at your jobs. The only way we're gonna find out is if you work with me. You can all take your time thinking about that." She turned back to Travers, "But I want an answer right now from Quinton, 'cause I think he's understanding me."
"Uh, your terms are acceptable." He cleared his throat. Giles smiles hugely. The Slayerettes burst into cheers and applause, but quickly stop, looking embarrassed. Buffy looks up at them, looks at Giles. She doesn't smile, but looks satisfied. She sits across from Travers.
"See? No biggie." Buffy shrugged. She sat Dawn up in her arms.
"Uh, Rupert." Travers nodded.
"Quinton?"
"When we inventoried your shop, we found a bottle of single malt scotch behind the, uh, incense holders."
"Well, it's, it's not, you know, during working hours." Giles blustered.
"I think I could use a glass." Travers said, clearing his throat again. "I just want to ask one question, though, Miss Summers."
"Fire away."
"Whose child is that?"
"She's mine." He stared at her, perplexed.
"Well, I suppose we could-" Giles said, covering up the awkward silence, getting up.
"Just a minute." Buffy said, and Giles stopped. "Glory. I wanna know."
"Well, there's a lot to go through." Travers shuffled through his papers.
"Just tell me what kind of demon I'm fighting." Buffy said, giggling Dawn.
"Well, that's the thing, you see. Glory isn't a demon."
"What is she?"
"She's a god."
The only sound in the shop was Dawn gurgling. "Oh." Buffy said, shocked, after a moment.
"Ok, I know you said it was really important, and you couldn't cover it on the phone, but could we hurry? The Council's in town, and I really need to make sure there's little blood shed." Angel said, walking over and standing next to Wesley, who currently sat at the desk.
"Oh, dear lord! Quentin Travers is in Sunnydale?"
"Yeah, and he's getting on everyone's nerves. What have you got for me?"
"Well, I went through most of our resources-"
"Excuse me, who went through the musty books?" Cordelia interrupted.
"We researched the information you gave us, and found something interesting."
"Terrifying is more like it. Why do we always have to deal with these things?" Cordelia interjected once more.
"In one of the 'musty books,' there was a translation of a story that was passed down by the Africans. Not sure which tribe."
"Of course the book was in Latin, so once again, Mr. Watcher gets to take all the credit." Cordy groused.
"Cordelia, please!" Angel turned to her.
"The story was about Glorificus, and also That-Which-Cannot-Be-Named, telling how a Hell God was thrown out of her dimension, by her brethren."
"So we did some more research..." Cordelia started.
"And let me guess, Glorificus is Glory." They nodded. He sighed, frustrated.
"Which makes looking for this key thing, a bad thing." Cordelia set a book aside.
"Just keep searching for any information on this Key. The more we know, maybe we can stop her from getting her hands on it." He turned to leave.
"W-Where are you going?" Cordelia asked, shocked.
"Glory's in Sunnydale. Along with a gaggle of watchers. I can't leave Buffy there alone, with Dawn."
"She's a GOD! You get that right, Impervious to getting hurt, it seems." Wesley said.
"I can't just sit here, and watch Buffy get hurt." He left.
Cordelia sighed. "Why do I feel like we just got sidelined?"
Angel slipped into the apartment.
"Angel!" she cried in a whisper, rushing out of her chair. She scared him, sitting all alone in the dark. She wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her nose in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, and that's when he noticed she was shaking.
He forcefully pulled her far enough away so that he could see her face. "What's wrong? What happened?" he ran his fingers down her cheek, running into a wet stream. "IS it Dawn? Is she ok?" something squeezed at his dead heart. She nodded. "Then what is it?"
She led him over to the couch, "I found out some information on Glory."
"Me too. You go first." he squeezed her hand.
She sighed, "Glory's a god."
He nodded, "Kicked out of her own dimension."
"And she's after Dawn. What are we going to do?" she practically crawled into his lap, resting her head on his chest. He stroked her soft hair soothingly.
"We'll do what we must." he promised her.
"But will it be enough?" she murmured.
"It has to."
Please review!!!
Part Ten
Posted: May 9, 2004
Author's notes: OMG!! I thought I had given you some of this! I am soo sorry! I thought I had posted all I had of this, and went to work on it, only to find out I haven't updated in over a week, with 10 pages sitting idle!!! So here are those ten pages. Please review, so I know your thoughts! I try to tailor some of my writing to my readers...but not all! Lol.
And once again, since we're working from scripts, I have tense problems. Sorry!
Later well...that makes more sense now...
See, I had started to edit the chapter, so I could post it, and stopped. But I put it in my READY TO POST folder anyway, the only folder I NEVER look in, unless I've saved something there to upload. So that's why I had thought I had already posted this, because I have a duplicate chapter right in there!
Sigh
Reader Responses:
Melluvben: Yeah, I liked that part too. I seem to be having a VERY hard time writing anything really great about Dawn, like her actions and stuff. The last time I was around a baby for more than a few hours was when my brother was a baby...fourteen years ago! I've never had the chance to baby- sit a baby, so I have no clue how they amuse themselves! But toes seemed to be a good bet. Thanks for your review!
BAshipper: lol. I'm glad. He might or might not be in more of it...I might end up keeping his part in the fleeing, but I have to make room for Angel somewhere...he's already stolen some of other people's lines...oh well. I'll figure something out! I always do! Thanks for the review!
Malfeus: There will probably be more Spike in here, just because I have found I love writing Angel/Spike banter. Oh! AND THAT WAS so NOT A PAIRING BAR...THING! No, no no! icky!
But anyway.... we may see some talking about Riley behind his back, but he's gone now. Way gone. Go you're his stupid South America, and go find Sam, and get married to her, AND NEVER COME BACK!!!
That's what that mean, huh? Cool! Um...merci beacoup pour le...lire?
Whatever!
Thanks for the review!
Giles showed the watchers the training room, at their request. Anya saw them, and made a muffled sound that sounded like a squeak. She took the baby and left the back room.
"We've been developing sort of a, a hybrid fighting style ... let me outline her progress for you and I-I think you'll see that your review isn't strictly needed."
Buffy entered the shop, and saw Anya with her child, but didn't say anything. It was a pretty common sight these days. She set her school bag on the table, and walked into the back room.
"Hey, Giles. I'm here to get-"she saw the watchers, and tried to back out of the room, hoping they hadn't noticed her yet, "Bad day. Bad, baaad...." she muttered, turning to flee.
"Miss Summers..." Quentin Travers said, and Buffy stopped backing away, "good to see you again." Buffy entered reluctantly, closing the door behind her.
"Mr. Travers." Buffy said briskly.
"Giles has just been telling us of your training regimen. Perhaps you'll favor us with a demonstration while we're here."
"Right now? I have lots of homework to do and..." she wasn't sure what she should say about Dawn. She didn't know if they knew yet.
"No need to rush you," Quentin assured her.
"They're ... staying a little longer than I'd anticipated." Giles told her, taking off his glasses. Oh God, she thought, if Giles was already stripping the glasses, it had to be bad. Oh! Icky thought! Giles and stripping! Bad thought!
"We've already laid out our project for Mr. Giles. Nigel?" The Watchers and Buffy move toward one side of the room while Giles leaned against the counter.
"It's an exhaustive examination of your procedures and abilities. We'll observe your training, talk to your friends..." he started.
"Whoa, talk to my friends?" she interrupted.
"Yes, we understand you're still taking civilians out on patrols," Quentin said.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Buffy muttered, rolling her eyes heavenward, as if there was anything up there that could have prevented this screw up in her life. They were probably watching and laughing.
"Buffy ... I can sense your resistance, and I don't blame you. But I think your Watcher hasn't reminded you lately of the resolute status of the players in our little game. The Council fights evil. The Slayer is the instrument by which we fight. The Council remains, the Slayers change. It's been that way from the beginning..." Quentin started.
"Well, that's a very comforting, bloodless way of looking at it, isn't it?" Giles stopped him before he got anywhere.
"Giles, let me talk to Buffy, because I think she's understanding me." Quentin pretty much told him to butt out, but in the nice way British people held. Buffy was overjoyed in a sarcastic way. He turned to her, "Glory is stronger than you. She's a more powerful instrument, if you will. We can help you. We have information that will help. Pass the review and we give it to you without reservation. Fail the review, either through incompetence, or by resisting our recommendations..."
"Resisting your recommendations? She fails if we don't do whatever you say! How much under your thumb do you think we are?" Giles said in outrage.
"How much do you want our help?" Quentin threw back at him, in his proper English accent. Buffy really wanted to choke him, or maybe all of them. And then she could go home and snuggle with Dawn.
Giles poked his finger angrily at Travers, and the other Watchers restrain him, "She's not your bloody instrument and you have no right to do any of this!"
"Giles!" Buffy cried. If anyone was going to piss them off, it would be her. She was far stronger than any of them. Giles shook off the other Watchers and moved away, frustrated.
"I understand you think this is unfair. But there are factors, which should motivate you to go along with the review. Now, I don't want to do this, but obviously we could shut this place down permanently." Quentin threatened.
"You can't do that. You don't have that kind of power." Buffy scoffed.
"Of course we do, and a great deal more. In fact, if you insist on fighting us, we'll arrange to have Mr. Giles deported within the day. Never set foot in this country again. Now perhaps you're used to idle threats and sloppy discipline, Miss Summers, but you're dealing with grownups now. Am I making myself clear?" Buffy looked angrily from Travers to Giles, who wouldn't look at her, and then back. She glared at Travers for a few minutes, before sighing.
"Fine. Go ahead and do whatever you have to, to make yourselves feel important," She scoffed. "Giles, I'm gonna go home. Will's gonna be there in a bit, or him, and I'll go patrolling"
"Yes, good plan. And I'll, ah, stay here, and deal with our...guests."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Rupert." Quentin said unexpectedly, and nodding to his watcher cronies, he left. Anya came in after they left the room, muttering to herself.
"Take your child, I can't work like this. No customers, and no money. I'm going home." She said, and Giles just nodded, rubbing his forehead.
Buffy walked out of the room, to get Dawn's stuff. Giles followed her, sitting at the table.
"It's a power play, that's what it is. It's about who has the power." He told her.
"I'm guessing they do? Big power outage in Buffy county?" she asked, placing her hands in her lap. Dawn was in her carrier already.
"I should have set you loose on them, that's what I should have done."
"Giles, that Travers guy is like sixty. I can't hit him," But then she looked up, a glint in her eye, "Can I?"
"I suppose not. Well, I could. I think I will."
"Can they really do the stuff they threatened? Kick you out the country?" She picked up one of Dawn's feet and wiggled it.
"In a heartbeat." He took off his glasses, taking out a handkerchief and began to clean them, "See, the rough stuff, they're all right out there, a bit ham-handed, but they get it done, but, uh ... this stuff, the, uh, bureaucracy, the pulling of political strings, they're the best in the world. They can kill you with the stroke of a pen. Poncy sods." There's a crunching noise as Giles's glasses break in his hands from too vigorous a cleaning. One of the lenses has popped out of the frame. Giles looks down at them.
"Am I gonna be able to get through this review?" she asked quietly, not looking at anything but her lap. Dawn made a cooing noise.
"Well, I... I suppose they'll make it as difficult as they want to. The physical stuff could be a bit of a challenge," He put on his glasses, remembers that they're broken, and immediately takes them off again.
"That's not what I'm worried about. It's the other stuff. Examining decisions I've made. I mean, twice now I've been within slaying distance of Glory, and twice she's kicked my ass without even tensing a muscle. And I haven't been able to figure out ... what she is, or anything about her except that she wants the key, which I have, and I can't even figure out if it's okay for me to tell anyone that. Top it all off with me giving birth to a child that I didn't even know I was going to have...with a vampire father..."
"Buffy, no one could have done any better than you." He reassures her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"But no one else is gonna be asked the questions that I can't answer." She starts getting agitated. "They're gonna expect me to ... to be like a Slayer and, and know stuff, but I'm just me and I don't know anything, and they're gonna go away, and they're not gonna tell me how to fight Glory, and I'm not gonna be able to protect Dawn." He could see tears welling up in her eyes. But she blinked, and they disappeared.
"Buffy, calm down. The scandal here is not anything you've done wrong, it's the way they're behaving. Holding what they know hostage with a gun pointed at my bleeding green card, no less." He sighed, "It's humiliating."
"Also smart. They picked the perfect thing. I can't lose you. Will, Xand, mom, they've always been there for me, but you...I just can't do this without you."
"Thank you." He whispered.
She sighed, "I guess I should be getting ready. What do you think it'll be like, I mean, how do you think they'll start?"
"I-I have no idea, Buffy. I'm sorry." She nodded.
A/N: hmm...should I have the interrogation? There's really no info we need.... just pretend they've all happened. Oh! Except one! That one will be fun! Hehehe.
"Sir, may we speak to you a moment?" two men stood at the door. He nodded, letting them in.
"You're from the Council, correct?" It was their turn to nod. "Please, sit down." They did, but he stayed standing.
"For the record, your name, sir?"
"Liam. But I go by Angel."
"Uh, yes." The second man, the one not answering questions, pulled a stake and cross from his pocket. "And you are a vampire, correct?"
"That's right."
"But you help the slayer?" He asked.
"Yes."
"And why would you be so inclined?"
"Look, I know you know this stuff already, so let's just cut to the chase. What do you really want to know?"
"What is your current relationship with the slayer?" he said after a second.
"Her name's Buffy. And we're...friends," He hesitated ever so slightly.
"Friends?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Angel crossed his arms over his chest. A wail came from somewhere in the back of the apartment. The watchers both jumped, while Angel sighed. "Uh, if you'll excuse me a minute," He disappeared down the dark hallway. The two watchers sat in apprehension a moment, before the vampire came out, bypassed them, and headed towards the kitchen. They heard noises, and another pitiful cry, before the vampire came back, five minutes later. "Sorry about that," He settled down in the armchair beside the couch, holding Dawn's bottle.
"Whose child?" The watcher asked.
"Mine." Was the curt reply.
"That's impossible!" the other watcher blurted out, receiving a reproving glare from the fist watcher.
"You've heard of Mohra blood, right?"
The watchers nodded, "It has regenerative properties, does it not?"
"Got it in one, watcher man. Oh, God, I've been hanging with Harris too much." He sighed, shaking his head.
"But that does not relieve the question..."
"I was human, and I went a bit...wild. You know the feeling, right? Anyway, nine months later...even after I had it reversed, so I could still fight and help Buffy, there's her," He nodded towards the baby in his arms.
"Uh...I believe that those are the only questions we have for you at this time. If we have further questions, we shall get in touch with you."
"H-How is she doing? Her tests, and things?"
"We are not at liberty to say." Angel nodded, and showed them out.
A/N; hmm...there seem to be a lot of these in here. I'm just pouting that the script doesn't have the Japanese! I actually might know some of it, but I'd have to go look it up, and that would be evil-y boring!
Of course, if it was the Japanese for the Shotokan moves, then I could probably pick those out of my brain! Let's see....kiba dachi...that's a stance..sekin zuki...that would be a punch...this is really hard!
"Agility, clarity, stamina and strength...these are the qualities that the Slayer must possess to do her job," Travers, along with the watchers, Giles, and Buffy all were in the workroom. Dawn sat in a bouncy seat by Giles. Nigel was typing a blindfold around Buffy's eyes,
"What came after agility?" Buffy asked.
"If you want her to attack the dummy-"Giles started.
"No, no. Philip will attack the dummy." Philip stood next to the dummy, wearing a gi, otherwise known as a karate robe, "The Slayer's job is to protect it. Do you understand?"
"Protect the dummy. Got it." She nodded.
"As if it were precious. Now, getting the best of Philip will require agility. Listening to my instructions at the same time that will demonstrate clarity. And stamina and strength will win the long fight. Good luck." Travers said.
"Instructions?" Buffy whined.
"Yeah, I'll be telling you what to do, how to counter Philip's attack. We assume you're familiar with the Japanese names for aikido and jiu-jitsu moves." Travers said in an offhand manner.
"Japanese?" Buffy's voice was just a wee bit shrill.
"And, go!" one watcher called, clicking a stop watch.
"Whoa, hold on a second. We uh, you know in America, we usually just work our way up to 'go.'" Philip bows toward Buffy. He's holding a short axe.
Travers said something in what Buffy had to assume was Japanese.
"Huh?" she asked, turning her head this way and that, trying to figure out what was going on.
"He wants you to bow. Take a bow." Giles translated.
"Oh." She bowed. Dawn gurgled. Philip began circling around her. Buffy followed his movements. He thrusts at the dummy and Buffy blocks. Then she kicks at him and misses. She spins around and blocks his overhead punch.
Travers speaks even more Japanese, which Buffy couldn't understand. Philip punched Buffy in the face.
"Punch him." Giles translates. A/N; something-zuki
"Thanks, Giles." Buffy calls.
"Sorry."
Travers starts speaking Japanese again.
"Uh...back kick, elbow-"Giles translates. Buffy back-kicks and Philip moves out of the way. She thrusts with her elbow and he avoids it. "...elbow...strike."
"How have you been training her?" Travers asks with disdain.
"I've trained her to win." Giles defends himself. Buffy just looks annoyed.
"You know what? I'm gonna have to do it my way, guys." Buffy notified them, stepping into a stance. Philip swung the weapon and she ducked. He lifted it for an overhead blow and Buffy grabbed the handle, kicked him in the stomach, forced him back against the training horse and elbowed him in the face. He tumbled backward over the horse, losing his grip on the weapon. The momentum pulls it out of Buffy's hands and it flies backward to land in the dummy's chest, knocking the dummy backward into Nigel. He falls to the floor with the dummy on top of him.
Buffy turns around, pulling the blindfold off. A watcher kneels by Nigel and clicks the stopwatch.
"Uh-oh," she said, seeing the dummy. The others help Philip up.
"I think she just broke my rib." Philip complained.
"Yes, well." Travers said, a condescending tone in his voice.
"I didn't mean to. Um, you know, I, I can do better. I think I might be getting this, like, inner ear thing, and so maybe, maybe if I got a note, I, I could try again."
"No, that's all right, I don't think we need to see any more physical tests for a while. We can move on to the real review. Look into your strategies, plans ... figure out what's going on in that head."
"Good. Head stuff." Buffy pouted. Dawn started crying. She went over and lifted the child out of the seat.
"We start at seven tonight. Give you time to, uh ..." he looks from Buffy to Giles, "well, however you prepare." The Watchers leave. Buffy and Giles look glum.
The Watchers are walking around the Magic Box, looking at books, moving stuff around. Giles sits in a chair by the table. Anya, Xander, Willow, and Tara sit on the balcony above, looking down. Their feet dangle in the air and they lean against the railing watching the Watchers.
"Look at them. Big tough Council members pickin' on the books." Xander says.
"Fascists." Willow interjects.
"Why doesn't Mr. Giles put them all out of here?" Tara asks out loud.
"Because if they deport him, they're not just destroying his career, they're ... condemning the man to a lifetime diet of blood sausage, bangers, and mash." Xander comes up with an answer.
Travers walks over to where Giles is sitting. "Well, your Slayer's twenty minutes late and counting, Rupert."
"Buffy will be here, I assure you."
"Yes, but when?" he chuckled
Buffy walked through a dark alley, with Dawn in tow, in a nifty little back pouch. She looked at her watch.
"Crap." She muttered. She walked faster. Suddenly someone appears from behind a trashcan and grabs her around the waist, pulling her down to the ground. They both get up. It's a person in medieval armor with chain mail covering his face. He backhands Buffy; she spins around and flies into a pile of garbage, twisting in midair, to land on her front. Dawn starts to scream. As she straightens up, two more knights appear. The first one has a sword, the other two have metal staves. They circle around Buffy, twirling their weapons.
"Uh ... guys? A-any way we could ... not do this?" She asked.
The knight with the sword swings. Buffy ducks. She spins and punches him, ducks a staff thrust, kicks the other staff, ducks again, kicks the first staff-holder in the stomach. Ducks another swing, kicks the second staff guy twice. Ducks a swing from sword guy, blocks a punch, punches him in the face while holding his sword arm. Kicks him back, grabs the staff of another and pushes him away. Dawn is screaming the whole time.
She deflects the other staff holder. Then she does two back-flips that carry her over the two staves, grabs one staff and thrusts it into that knight's stomach, deflects a sword thrust with it, kicks the sword guy in the stomach. Jabs the staff into disarmed knight's stomach again, ducks a thrust from the other staff, kicks that knight so he goes spinning away. Buffy and the disarmed knight grapple for his staff, finally she hits him in the face with it. He goes down. She drops her staff and blocks an overhand sword thrust, punches the sword holder and he goes down. Buffy kicks the other staff holder away, picks up the staff again and faces off with the sword holder.
Buffy knocks the sword out of the knight's hand and pushes him to the ground, jumping on top of him and holding the staff to his throat.
"Okay. Let's see what you are." She said, while Dawn was screaming in her ear. Why had Angel had to pick this night, of all nights, to go back to LA for some emergency business?
She removed the chain-mail mask to reveal an ordinary-looking human man with a symbol on his forehead. "Or who you are."
"One soldier in a vast army." The soldier answers.
"What army?" she asked.
"The Knights of Byzantium, an ancient order. And now your enemy."
"You work for Glory?" she asked, pushing the staff deeper into his throat. Dawn didn't seem to be calming down anytime fast.
"You think we align ourselves with the beast? You must be mad."
"You're the ones tried killing me."
"No, we were fools, three alone. But if it takes a hundred men, we send a hundred men, and if it takes a thousand, we send a thousand."
"A thousand?" Just a touch of worry enters her voice.
"So long as you protect the key, the brotherhood will never stop until we destroy it and you. You are the Slayer, and we know what we must do. Now, be done with it. Kill us, and let legions follow." Buffy shoves the staff into his throat again, then tosses it aside, gets up and picks up the sword. The knight gets to his feet, and she puts the sword to his throat. He turns his head away waiting for the kill stroke.
"Go." She ordered him. The knight looks surprised, edges around her and leaves. Buffy stares at the sword.
Buffy entered the magic shop, holding the sword in the back pack, and jiggling Dawn, trying to get her to quiet. She wasn't screaming so loud now. All the Watchers were standing there, the four Slayerettes were still sitting on the upper level, and Travers was sitting at the table with a pile of papers spread out in front of him. Giles sits on the stairs leading up to the balcony.
"You're late." Travers said.
"Yeah."
"Was, was there an attack?" Giles asked, seeing the sword sticking out of the backpack, and Dawn's red face.
"You could say that."
"We can begin the review at last. We'll, uh, skip the more obvious questions..." Buffy takes the sword out, balancing Dawn, and puts it down on his papers.
"There isn't gonna be a review." She told him.
"Sorry?" Travers asked in disbelief.
"No review. No interrogation. No questions you know I can't answer. No hoops, no jumps-"one of the watchers made to interrupt, "and no interruptions." Nigel shuts up. Buffy looks around, gives Dawn to Giles, and begins to pace.
"See ... I've had a lot of people talking at me the last few days. Everyone just lining up to tell me how unimportant I am. And I've finally figured out why." She looks Travers in the eye, "Power. I have it. They don't. This bothers them." Buffy moved back to the table, removing her coat.
"Glory ... was at my mom's today."
"Buffy, are you-"Giles said, alarmed.
"Just to talk. She told me I'm a bug, I'm a flea, she could squash me in a second. Only she didn't. She came into my home, and we talked. We had what in her warped brain probably passes for a civilized conversation. Why? Because she needs something from me. Because I have power over her." Buffy looked around hands on her hips. She walked the floor, looking from one Watcher to the next as she talks. "You guys didn't come all the way from England to determine whether or not I was good enough to be let back in. You came to beg me to let you back in. To give your jobs, your lives, some semblance of meaning."
"This is beyond insolence-"One of the watchers started.
Buffy grabs the sword from the table and throws it across the room in a single movement. It flies point-first into the wall directly in front of Nigel's nose. He jumps back looking shocked.
"I'm fairly certain I said no interruptions." She cleared her throat.
"That was excellent!" Xander whispered. Many of them had wanted to do something similar. Willow and Tara just grin.
"You're Watchers. Without a Slayer, you're pretty much just watchin' Masterpiece Theater. You can't stop Glory. You can't do anything with the information you have except maybe publish it in the "Everyone Thinks We're Insane-O's Home Journal." So here's how it's gonna work. You're gonna tell me everything you know. Then you're gonna go away." She took Dawn back from Giles, and continued pacing, bouncing her daughter as she went. "You'll contact me if and when you have any further information about Glory. The magic shop will remain open. Mr. Giles will stay here as my official Watcher, reinstated at full salary..."
"Retroactive." Giles coughed.
"...to be paid retroactively from the month he was fired. I will continue my work with the help of my friends..."
"I, uh, I ... don't want a sword thrown at me, but, but, civilians, I - we're talking about children." Another watcher spoke up.
Buffy looked up at her friends in the balcony, "We're talking about two very powerful witches and a thousand-year-old ex-demon."
"Willow's a demon?!" Anya's still trying to cover it all up.
"The boy? No power there." Nigel noted.
"The boy has clocked more field time than all of you combined. He's part of the unit."
"That's Riley-speak." Willow whispered to Xander.
"I've clocked field time." Xander whispered back, smiling.
"Now." She addressed the Watchers, "You all may be very good at your jobs. The only way we're gonna find out is if you work with me. You can all take your time thinking about that." She turned back to Travers, "But I want an answer right now from Quinton, 'cause I think he's understanding me."
"Uh, your terms are acceptable." He cleared his throat. Giles smiles hugely. The Slayerettes burst into cheers and applause, but quickly stop, looking embarrassed. Buffy looks up at them, looks at Giles. She doesn't smile, but looks satisfied. She sits across from Travers.
"See? No biggie." Buffy shrugged. She sat Dawn up in her arms.
"Uh, Rupert." Travers nodded.
"Quinton?"
"When we inventoried your shop, we found a bottle of single malt scotch behind the, uh, incense holders."
"Well, it's, it's not, you know, during working hours." Giles blustered.
"I think I could use a glass." Travers said, clearing his throat again. "I just want to ask one question, though, Miss Summers."
"Fire away."
"Whose child is that?"
"She's mine." He stared at her, perplexed.
"Well, I suppose we could-" Giles said, covering up the awkward silence, getting up.
"Just a minute." Buffy said, and Giles stopped. "Glory. I wanna know."
"Well, there's a lot to go through." Travers shuffled through his papers.
"Just tell me what kind of demon I'm fighting." Buffy said, giggling Dawn.
"Well, that's the thing, you see. Glory isn't a demon."
"What is she?"
"She's a god."
The only sound in the shop was Dawn gurgling. "Oh." Buffy said, shocked, after a moment.
"Ok, I know you said it was really important, and you couldn't cover it on the phone, but could we hurry? The Council's in town, and I really need to make sure there's little blood shed." Angel said, walking over and standing next to Wesley, who currently sat at the desk.
"Oh, dear lord! Quentin Travers is in Sunnydale?"
"Yeah, and he's getting on everyone's nerves. What have you got for me?"
"Well, I went through most of our resources-"
"Excuse me, who went through the musty books?" Cordelia interrupted.
"We researched the information you gave us, and found something interesting."
"Terrifying is more like it. Why do we always have to deal with these things?" Cordelia interjected once more.
"In one of the 'musty books,' there was a translation of a story that was passed down by the Africans. Not sure which tribe."
"Of course the book was in Latin, so once again, Mr. Watcher gets to take all the credit." Cordy groused.
"Cordelia, please!" Angel turned to her.
"The story was about Glorificus, and also That-Which-Cannot-Be-Named, telling how a Hell God was thrown out of her dimension, by her brethren."
"So we did some more research..." Cordelia started.
"And let me guess, Glorificus is Glory." They nodded. He sighed, frustrated.
"Which makes looking for this key thing, a bad thing." Cordelia set a book aside.
"Just keep searching for any information on this Key. The more we know, maybe we can stop her from getting her hands on it." He turned to leave.
"W-Where are you going?" Cordelia asked, shocked.
"Glory's in Sunnydale. Along with a gaggle of watchers. I can't leave Buffy there alone, with Dawn."
"She's a GOD! You get that right, Impervious to getting hurt, it seems." Wesley said.
"I can't just sit here, and watch Buffy get hurt." He left.
Cordelia sighed. "Why do I feel like we just got sidelined?"
Angel slipped into the apartment.
"Angel!" she cried in a whisper, rushing out of her chair. She scared him, sitting all alone in the dark. She wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her nose in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, and that's when he noticed she was shaking.
He forcefully pulled her far enough away so that he could see her face. "What's wrong? What happened?" he ran his fingers down her cheek, running into a wet stream. "IS it Dawn? Is she ok?" something squeezed at his dead heart. She nodded. "Then what is it?"
She led him over to the couch, "I found out some information on Glory."
"Me too. You go first." he squeezed her hand.
She sighed, "Glory's a god."
He nodded, "Kicked out of her own dimension."
"And she's after Dawn. What are we going to do?" she practically crawled into his lap, resting her head on his chest. He stroked her soft hair soothingly.
"We'll do what we must." he promised her.
"But will it be enough?" she murmured.
"It has to."
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