Chapter 3
As they ran along the streets in the pouring rain she could feel him looking at her. She knew that there would be questions later and she felt she was ready for them but she wasn't sure she was ready for what came afterward. What if they didn't believe her? Still, now was not the time for this she knew, there were people to help and she must focus on them.
As they neared the street where the fight was happening they began to hear the noises of demons crying out and what appeared to be a dragon. Looking up they saw the huge beast with its enormous wings flapping in the air and a man on its back desperately trying to kill it.
"Angel." Wesley muttered.
"He used to hate heights." Kathy absently said as she looked around for the others. Not seeing them she quickly ran into a building followed by Wesley. She found the stairwell and climbed as fast as she could to the top emerging on the roof moments later. Looking around she soon spotted a bleach blond head in the midst of the melee and a blue figure close behind. Both we causing huge amounts of damage to the army of demons attacking them but they were barely making a dent in the overall number. At the very back Kathy could see a black man desperately trying to hold his own as a wound in his side was slowly weakening him and the attacking demons were beginning to exploit it. Kathy knew that she must get them out soon or they would be too late.
"How to do propose to get to them? Even if we had any weapons there are too many of them and they would just follow us if we ran." Wesley asked her. The sight of his friends in such obvious distress was too difficult for him to watch, he knew that if this woman didn't have a plan then they would die and he fully intended to go down there and join them.
"Wow tiger, keep the suicidal thoughts to a minimum please. I have a plan, well less a plan and more orders that I have to follow. Okay when I say so I need you to hold on tight to me, this could get bumpy!"
Wesley looked at her strangely, she seemed to know him very well if she could guess that he was about to go join the others but he had no recollection of ever meeting her. Maybe it was just one more memory that had been erased. Still if she could help save the others then he would trust her till then.
Kathy looked at the battlefield below and hoped the PTBs knew what they were doing. She pulled a small pouch from her bag and poured some dust into her palm, shielding it from the rain. Quickly casting the dust into the air she chanted a few words and clapped her hands together. The next thing she knew the setting had changed and she was lying in a room with five other people and they all looked very confused.
Angel suddenly stopped. He looked around, confused, a moment ago he had been on the back of a dragon trying to kill it and now he was in someone's sitting room dripping wet and covered in blood. Just another day at the office he thought.
Looking around he saw that the rest of the team was there with him although they were slightly the worse for wear.
'Wait a minute,' he thought, 'Illyria said Wes was dead, so how the hell is he standing right in front of me?'
"Wes, you're alive," Angel said, "What the hell is going on? Where are we? How did we get here?"
Wesley looked at Angel and shrugged. "I'm as confused as you are," he replied, "One minute I was dead and the next I was being brought back to life by a stranger and running to rescue you lot. I'm as much in the dark as you are although I believe our Good Samaritan here might have some answers"
With that Angel looked at the woman standing beside Wesley, she was young in her early twenties and very pretty. She was tall enough and was obviously in shape but it was her face that intrigued him, there was something about it. Her blue eyes looked at him with complete trust, her light brown hair was dripping wet but she didn't even seem to notice as a small smile played across her lips. There was something about her that was familiar but he could not quite place her.
"Look I'll try to answer all your question as soon as I can but for the moment I'd like to make sure you're all okay and that Gunn here doesn't bleed to death all over my carpet" she declared.
Kathy moved toward the injured man and pulled out the same substance that she had used on Wesley. Sitting him down she poured some of it over his wound before anyone could object and then turned back to the others.
"Blood of a Moria demon, it has regenerative properties," she said, "he should be fine in a second. Are the rest of you okay? This stuff won't work on you unfortunately so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with your own natural healing abilities."
"I'm alright nothing I can't handle but I'd like an explanation as to what the hell is going on here. I had us figured for an eternity in hell courtesy of the senior partners, not a sitting room in the burbs. Oh wait this isn't some holding dimension like the one the stuck that hick lawyer in is it? Cause if it is then I just want to say that my wife had better be easy on the eye cause I need something to keep me occupied between disembowellings." Spike ranted, obviously unsure what was going on.
"Spike shut up for once," growled Angel, "I'm sure this nice young lady will explain everything right now."
"Wow polite and rude all in the one sentence, I'm impressed. Oh and your welcome by the way, you know for saving your life, it was nothing really just me putting my neck on the line but no no that's okay wouldn't want to make you feel indebted to me or anything." Kathy answered sarcastically. Turning around she walked in to the next room and return with a pile of towels. She handed them out and carefully took the weapons from each of them although Illyria was reluctant to hand hers over. She went over to Gunn who was now standing and looking like nothing had happened with the exception of a confused look on his face much like that of the others.
"Ok, here's the deal, I saved you, I was told where and when to find you and how to get you out and I did what I was told. The who, why and what we can deal with as soon as everyone has gotten some rest and had something to eat. I know you're all tired and hungry and to be honest so am I, tonight took a lot out of me and I need to recover. So how about we do that and in the morning I'll answer all your questions. You'll be safe here the demons won't find you and anyway they should be returning from where they came in a little while." Kathy looked around hoping that this would be a sufficient compromise for everyone.
Angel thought about it for a moment and realised that she was right, despite the fact that Wesley and Gunn where now fine they all still needed their rest, it had been a traumatic day to say the least. After agreeing to it and making sure that the others also felt the same, they all made themselves as comfortable as they could in Kathy's sitting room and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning Kathy awoke, got up, had a shower and got dressed. All very normal and not in the least bit trying to avoid the situation in the other room. Walking into the kitchen she started to make breakfast for herself, Wesley and Gunn all the while dreading what was to come. Considering the implausible nature of the story she was about to tell she really wasn't sure of the reaction she was about to get.
Hearing sounds from the sitting room she turned around to see Angel and Spike enter the kitchen. They looked at her warily, unsure how to react. She smiled.
"Morning, sleep ok?"
"Yeah," Spike replied, "the cuts and bruises are fading, the memory of almost going to hell is receding and the fact that I have no idea where we are or who we're with is only slightly less unsettling than it was last night. Other than that though it's all bloody marvellous."
"Look, I get it ok you want answers," Kathy rolled her eyes to heaven, "tell the others to come in here breakfast is almost ready. We can eat and I'll answer your questions then."
The others entered the kitchen and Kathy served them their food and much to the surprise of the two vampires she also provided them with cups of warm blood. They ate in silence, no one sure what to say. There was far too much to be discussed but no one knew exactly where to start. They all knew that once they had finished eating that it would have to begin.
The dishes were dumped unceremoniously in the sink and Kathy sat back down cradling a glass of juice in her hands. "So, here's the deal, I can tell you some of why I'm here, what I'm supposed to do but I can only tell you a little about myself, the rest will have to wait till later. Where do you want me to start?"
Angel immediately asked, "why are you here?"
"The PTBs as you call them knew that having sent you that vision you would try to take out the Order of the Black Thorn and they also knew that you would probably succeed. You're not one of their best champions for nothing. They also knew that if you did succeed you would be faced with hoards of demons with no chance of winning. That's where I come in, your fight here isn't finished yet and I'm supposed to help you, just like all the others have. I was told how to save you and how to get Wesley back and then we are just supposed to take it from there. I was also told to tell you not to worry about those demons from last night, the Senior Partners are pissed at what you did which is why they sent that army, it was more a fit of rage than an actual planned attack. Once you guys had disappeared there was nothing for them to fight and more than ever they have to keep a low profile." Kathy answered.
"What do you mean? With that many demons why don't they just try to take LA." Wesley said.
Kathy took a deep breath explaining all this would take time but she knew she had to make a start. "Cause that's not what they want, they want the world. They want this entire dimension to come over to their way of thinking and by showing humanity that demons and monsters really do exist they would ruin that. The Senior Partners want humanity to corrupt itself, to become completely void of morals and hope, if they made a show of force then the world would have something tangible to fight against. People would also be able to see champions like Angel here fighting and it would give them a figure to rout for, not to mention the fact that an army of slayers would be here before the demons could wreak too much havoc. By being sneaky and underhanded like they always have they stand a much better chance of actually winning, that's why there will be no sign of the army this morning or in fact at any stage until the Senior Partners feel it's time."
"So who are?" Angel queried, "I've got the fact that your name is Kathy and that you're human but what it your involvement in all this, why did they bring you into this?"
"To be honest I can't tell you everything about myself, there's not time and well you're not ready to hear it all yet. I can tell you a few things though. I've been preparing for this since I was twelve years old, I can fight and I know things that can help you. To be honest you really don't have much of a choice in the matter though, neither of us do, I'm your new connection Angel; I'm your new seer."
The rest of the gang looked at each other in amazement, they could not believe that the Powers had given them another Seer, especially considering what had happened to the last one.
Gunn was the first to recover enough to talk. "Look that's all well and good but you see we don't need a new Seer, in case you hadn't notice but that job doesn't end well and I really don't think we could handle having another life to take care of. Anyway your human right? Did the big boys not tell you that those vision things will blow the back of your head off? You take this job and you gonna have to buy yourself one big ol' hat to be covering that up.
Kathy looked at him and smiled. It was interesting to think that the Street kid was probably the most innocent of those sitting at the table. He hadn't seen what the two vampires had or the pain that Illyria had inflicted and he hadn't descended into the depths of despair that Wesley had. He had seen things that was certain and he was most definitely not an innocent but he, more than the rest held out some hope for humanity and she found it reassuring that at least one of them still felt that way.
"You're right, the visions would normally kill me since I'm human but the thing is I'm not a normal human. I have powers, they mean that I can handle the visions without; you know having my brains smeared across the wall," she replied.
"Powers? Care to elaborate on that luv? It would be nice if we had a better idea what we were dealing with here?" Spike said.
"I'm not a monster you deal with Spike I'm still human. I just can do things that others can't."
She looked around; the men stared back at her obviously waiting for a more detailed answer. She sighed.
"Ok, I'm telepathic and telekinetic. I'm a big freak who can read minds and float stuff. Happy?"
The men looked at her somewhat aghast, they didn't know what to say or for that matter think.
"Look before you guys start to freak out you should know that I don't go around reading people's minds, I can control it so I only do it when I want to, although I may pick up on random thoughts but that's only if your thinking them really loudly." She hoped her declaration would calm them a bit but she wasn't sure if it would work.
"Well looks like peaches here and I are safe anyway, can't read vampires, no reflection."
Kathy looked at him and laughed, "sorry to break it to you Spike but I can read vampires and demons, it's a little different from reading humans but it can be done. So could you please stop thinking of me naked cause it's a little distracting."
Spike's jaw dropped, now he really did feel uncomfortable.
Angel however just sat there looking at this girl; despite the fact that her knew nothing about her she seemed familiar, as if he knew her from long ago. He almost felt like it was..., no it couldn't be, she was dead and that was that, the names might be the same but that was all. He had other things to deal with besides this, like where to go from here. If what this girl said was true then the good fight was still going and he was still needed and now he had a new Seer to show him the way. If only he knew what that meant.
Kathy looked at him, she knew he felt something about her but he had dismissed it as impossible. When he finally found out the truth it was going to be interesting to see how he felt, but she knew it was too soon and there were things to do, people to gather. She looked around the room and knew that the next few days would definitely be interesting especially what was coming next.
"I know you still have lots more questions but I'd rather hold off till we're all together and that way I only have to answer one set. The others should be here soon enough and I told them we'd meet them at the Hyperion. I think we should probably go there now and we can finish this conversation with them here."
The men looked at each other again.
"Others what others?"
As they ran along the streets in the pouring rain she could feel him looking at her. She knew that there would be questions later and she felt she was ready for them but she wasn't sure she was ready for what came afterward. What if they didn't believe her? Still, now was not the time for this she knew, there were people to help and she must focus on them.
As they neared the street where the fight was happening they began to hear the noises of demons crying out and what appeared to be a dragon. Looking up they saw the huge beast with its enormous wings flapping in the air and a man on its back desperately trying to kill it.
"Angel." Wesley muttered.
"He used to hate heights." Kathy absently said as she looked around for the others. Not seeing them she quickly ran into a building followed by Wesley. She found the stairwell and climbed as fast as she could to the top emerging on the roof moments later. Looking around she soon spotted a bleach blond head in the midst of the melee and a blue figure close behind. Both we causing huge amounts of damage to the army of demons attacking them but they were barely making a dent in the overall number. At the very back Kathy could see a black man desperately trying to hold his own as a wound in his side was slowly weakening him and the attacking demons were beginning to exploit it. Kathy knew that she must get them out soon or they would be too late.
"How to do propose to get to them? Even if we had any weapons there are too many of them and they would just follow us if we ran." Wesley asked her. The sight of his friends in such obvious distress was too difficult for him to watch, he knew that if this woman didn't have a plan then they would die and he fully intended to go down there and join them.
"Wow tiger, keep the suicidal thoughts to a minimum please. I have a plan, well less a plan and more orders that I have to follow. Okay when I say so I need you to hold on tight to me, this could get bumpy!"
Wesley looked at her strangely, she seemed to know him very well if she could guess that he was about to go join the others but he had no recollection of ever meeting her. Maybe it was just one more memory that had been erased. Still if she could help save the others then he would trust her till then.
Kathy looked at the battlefield below and hoped the PTBs knew what they were doing. She pulled a small pouch from her bag and poured some dust into her palm, shielding it from the rain. Quickly casting the dust into the air she chanted a few words and clapped her hands together. The next thing she knew the setting had changed and she was lying in a room with five other people and they all looked very confused.
Angel suddenly stopped. He looked around, confused, a moment ago he had been on the back of a dragon trying to kill it and now he was in someone's sitting room dripping wet and covered in blood. Just another day at the office he thought.
Looking around he saw that the rest of the team was there with him although they were slightly the worse for wear.
'Wait a minute,' he thought, 'Illyria said Wes was dead, so how the hell is he standing right in front of me?'
"Wes, you're alive," Angel said, "What the hell is going on? Where are we? How did we get here?"
Wesley looked at Angel and shrugged. "I'm as confused as you are," he replied, "One minute I was dead and the next I was being brought back to life by a stranger and running to rescue you lot. I'm as much in the dark as you are although I believe our Good Samaritan here might have some answers"
With that Angel looked at the woman standing beside Wesley, she was young in her early twenties and very pretty. She was tall enough and was obviously in shape but it was her face that intrigued him, there was something about it. Her blue eyes looked at him with complete trust, her light brown hair was dripping wet but she didn't even seem to notice as a small smile played across her lips. There was something about her that was familiar but he could not quite place her.
"Look I'll try to answer all your question as soon as I can but for the moment I'd like to make sure you're all okay and that Gunn here doesn't bleed to death all over my carpet" she declared.
Kathy moved toward the injured man and pulled out the same substance that she had used on Wesley. Sitting him down she poured some of it over his wound before anyone could object and then turned back to the others.
"Blood of a Moria demon, it has regenerative properties," she said, "he should be fine in a second. Are the rest of you okay? This stuff won't work on you unfortunately so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with your own natural healing abilities."
"I'm alright nothing I can't handle but I'd like an explanation as to what the hell is going on here. I had us figured for an eternity in hell courtesy of the senior partners, not a sitting room in the burbs. Oh wait this isn't some holding dimension like the one the stuck that hick lawyer in is it? Cause if it is then I just want to say that my wife had better be easy on the eye cause I need something to keep me occupied between disembowellings." Spike ranted, obviously unsure what was going on.
"Spike shut up for once," growled Angel, "I'm sure this nice young lady will explain everything right now."
"Wow polite and rude all in the one sentence, I'm impressed. Oh and your welcome by the way, you know for saving your life, it was nothing really just me putting my neck on the line but no no that's okay wouldn't want to make you feel indebted to me or anything." Kathy answered sarcastically. Turning around she walked in to the next room and return with a pile of towels. She handed them out and carefully took the weapons from each of them although Illyria was reluctant to hand hers over. She went over to Gunn who was now standing and looking like nothing had happened with the exception of a confused look on his face much like that of the others.
"Ok, here's the deal, I saved you, I was told where and when to find you and how to get you out and I did what I was told. The who, why and what we can deal with as soon as everyone has gotten some rest and had something to eat. I know you're all tired and hungry and to be honest so am I, tonight took a lot out of me and I need to recover. So how about we do that and in the morning I'll answer all your questions. You'll be safe here the demons won't find you and anyway they should be returning from where they came in a little while." Kathy looked around hoping that this would be a sufficient compromise for everyone.
Angel thought about it for a moment and realised that she was right, despite the fact that Wesley and Gunn where now fine they all still needed their rest, it had been a traumatic day to say the least. After agreeing to it and making sure that the others also felt the same, they all made themselves as comfortable as they could in Kathy's sitting room and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning Kathy awoke, got up, had a shower and got dressed. All very normal and not in the least bit trying to avoid the situation in the other room. Walking into the kitchen she started to make breakfast for herself, Wesley and Gunn all the while dreading what was to come. Considering the implausible nature of the story she was about to tell she really wasn't sure of the reaction she was about to get.
Hearing sounds from the sitting room she turned around to see Angel and Spike enter the kitchen. They looked at her warily, unsure how to react. She smiled.
"Morning, sleep ok?"
"Yeah," Spike replied, "the cuts and bruises are fading, the memory of almost going to hell is receding and the fact that I have no idea where we are or who we're with is only slightly less unsettling than it was last night. Other than that though it's all bloody marvellous."
"Look, I get it ok you want answers," Kathy rolled her eyes to heaven, "tell the others to come in here breakfast is almost ready. We can eat and I'll answer your questions then."
The others entered the kitchen and Kathy served them their food and much to the surprise of the two vampires she also provided them with cups of warm blood. They ate in silence, no one sure what to say. There was far too much to be discussed but no one knew exactly where to start. They all knew that once they had finished eating that it would have to begin.
The dishes were dumped unceremoniously in the sink and Kathy sat back down cradling a glass of juice in her hands. "So, here's the deal, I can tell you some of why I'm here, what I'm supposed to do but I can only tell you a little about myself, the rest will have to wait till later. Where do you want me to start?"
Angel immediately asked, "why are you here?"
"The PTBs as you call them knew that having sent you that vision you would try to take out the Order of the Black Thorn and they also knew that you would probably succeed. You're not one of their best champions for nothing. They also knew that if you did succeed you would be faced with hoards of demons with no chance of winning. That's where I come in, your fight here isn't finished yet and I'm supposed to help you, just like all the others have. I was told how to save you and how to get Wesley back and then we are just supposed to take it from there. I was also told to tell you not to worry about those demons from last night, the Senior Partners are pissed at what you did which is why they sent that army, it was more a fit of rage than an actual planned attack. Once you guys had disappeared there was nothing for them to fight and more than ever they have to keep a low profile." Kathy answered.
"What do you mean? With that many demons why don't they just try to take LA." Wesley said.
Kathy took a deep breath explaining all this would take time but she knew she had to make a start. "Cause that's not what they want, they want the world. They want this entire dimension to come over to their way of thinking and by showing humanity that demons and monsters really do exist they would ruin that. The Senior Partners want humanity to corrupt itself, to become completely void of morals and hope, if they made a show of force then the world would have something tangible to fight against. People would also be able to see champions like Angel here fighting and it would give them a figure to rout for, not to mention the fact that an army of slayers would be here before the demons could wreak too much havoc. By being sneaky and underhanded like they always have they stand a much better chance of actually winning, that's why there will be no sign of the army this morning or in fact at any stage until the Senior Partners feel it's time."
"So who are?" Angel queried, "I've got the fact that your name is Kathy and that you're human but what it your involvement in all this, why did they bring you into this?"
"To be honest I can't tell you everything about myself, there's not time and well you're not ready to hear it all yet. I can tell you a few things though. I've been preparing for this since I was twelve years old, I can fight and I know things that can help you. To be honest you really don't have much of a choice in the matter though, neither of us do, I'm your new connection Angel; I'm your new seer."
The rest of the gang looked at each other in amazement, they could not believe that the Powers had given them another Seer, especially considering what had happened to the last one.
Gunn was the first to recover enough to talk. "Look that's all well and good but you see we don't need a new Seer, in case you hadn't notice but that job doesn't end well and I really don't think we could handle having another life to take care of. Anyway your human right? Did the big boys not tell you that those vision things will blow the back of your head off? You take this job and you gonna have to buy yourself one big ol' hat to be covering that up.
Kathy looked at him and smiled. It was interesting to think that the Street kid was probably the most innocent of those sitting at the table. He hadn't seen what the two vampires had or the pain that Illyria had inflicted and he hadn't descended into the depths of despair that Wesley had. He had seen things that was certain and he was most definitely not an innocent but he, more than the rest held out some hope for humanity and she found it reassuring that at least one of them still felt that way.
"You're right, the visions would normally kill me since I'm human but the thing is I'm not a normal human. I have powers, they mean that I can handle the visions without; you know having my brains smeared across the wall," she replied.
"Powers? Care to elaborate on that luv? It would be nice if we had a better idea what we were dealing with here?" Spike said.
"I'm not a monster you deal with Spike I'm still human. I just can do things that others can't."
She looked around; the men stared back at her obviously waiting for a more detailed answer. She sighed.
"Ok, I'm telepathic and telekinetic. I'm a big freak who can read minds and float stuff. Happy?"
The men looked at her somewhat aghast, they didn't know what to say or for that matter think.
"Look before you guys start to freak out you should know that I don't go around reading people's minds, I can control it so I only do it when I want to, although I may pick up on random thoughts but that's only if your thinking them really loudly." She hoped her declaration would calm them a bit but she wasn't sure if it would work.
"Well looks like peaches here and I are safe anyway, can't read vampires, no reflection."
Kathy looked at him and laughed, "sorry to break it to you Spike but I can read vampires and demons, it's a little different from reading humans but it can be done. So could you please stop thinking of me naked cause it's a little distracting."
Spike's jaw dropped, now he really did feel uncomfortable.
Angel however just sat there looking at this girl; despite the fact that her knew nothing about her she seemed familiar, as if he knew her from long ago. He almost felt like it was..., no it couldn't be, she was dead and that was that, the names might be the same but that was all. He had other things to deal with besides this, like where to go from here. If what this girl said was true then the good fight was still going and he was still needed and now he had a new Seer to show him the way. If only he knew what that meant.
Kathy looked at him, she knew he felt something about her but he had dismissed it as impossible. When he finally found out the truth it was going to be interesting to see how he felt, but she knew it was too soon and there were things to do, people to gather. She looked around the room and knew that the next few days would definitely be interesting especially what was coming next.
"I know you still have lots more questions but I'd rather hold off till we're all together and that way I only have to answer one set. The others should be here soon enough and I told them we'd meet them at the Hyperion. I think we should probably go there now and we can finish this conversation with them here."
The men looked at each other again.
"Others what others?"