REPRECUSSIONS
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 9-LONGINGS FOR THINGS PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE
She slowly crept through the darkened halls, using every sense to keep from making any noise that would alert the sentry. It was her first night in the house and in her mind she had spent half the night getting lost down one long corridor or another, all leading to nowhere in particular. She had initially set out from her room, or at least the one that she was temporarily calling her room, to find the kitchen and make herself a midnight snack, despite how much her body craved sleep. She had passed the master bedroom a few times, every time marveling and smiling a bit at the sight of Spike and Buffy collapsed down face first onto the bed. Both looked as if they had walked into the room and collapsed onto the bed, slipping into a dream before their noses ever hit the comforter.
"They look so cute together," Molly mused silently in her mind as she crept past the door for a third time in less than an hour, forgetting that she was quickly becoming lost. She could have sworn that the kitchen was nearby but finally finding the stairs Molly shrugged her shoulders and slowly made her way down the steps before she spotted a light on at the end of a nearby hallway. Hoping and praying that it was the kitchen Molly trudged off down the hall, now not caring as much about making noise as she was on a different floor of the house than Spike and Buffy. When she got to the light she pushed open the door and had to rapidly blink for several seconds before her eyes became adjusted to the light. She nearly squealed with delight when she took in her surroundings. She was indeed in the kitchen, but one like she had never seen before. Before Giles had come and taken her to America after the death of her watcher Molly had been used to small and cramped kitchens with very few amenities. However from her perspective the kitchen in which she now found herself had everything, the refrigerator looked to be as big as one of the stone statues on Easter Island. Feeling her stomach growl Molly quickly rushed over and ripped open the door, her eyes almost glazing over at the bountiful amount of food that she found within.
* * * * * *
"Winifred…who's that," Andrew asked with a scared look on his face as he sat down in the only remaining open chair in the living room and pulled his feet up under him.
"Winifred Burkle, she works with Angel in LA, about a year ago or so he and the rest of Angel Investigations traveled to another dimension called Pylea to get Cordelia back, after she had been sucked through a portal…anyway they met Fred there and brought her back with them," Willow replied with an almost scholarly air about her as she slowly looked around the room, making sure that everyone heard everything that she had said.
"So what was up with the whole Terminatrix tude that she was packing," Rhona asked with an unhappy frown on her face as she leaned back up against the wall, just in time to avoid coming into contact with Faith as the latter slowly walked into the room, as if in somewhat of a daze.
"She probably knows what happened with Buffy…Angel probably sent her with orders to find Wesley and bring him back, and not to take no for answer…," Faith mumbled out loudly enough for those in the room to hear as she made her way through the crowd to solemnly stare out through a crack in between the two boards that covered the shattered window.
"Well she could have been a bit nicer about it…," Vi quipped with a timid and scared look on her face as she absentmindedly began to rub a small bruise on her elbow.
"Yes Vi she could have, but what we need to do right now is…," Giles began to say with a deeply creased brow as he looked around the room before Xander cut in.
"Right now we need to regroup and patrol…yeah a good patrol will calm everyone down…," Xander interjected with a look of sincere hope on his face before he could only smile awkwardly as Anya gave him a supportive pat on the back.
"I wonder if our leader is going to feel up to a patrol…she doesn't seem to be to big on the grr and the stake…," Willow joked with a sad pout on her face before Kennedy wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her close, settling her chin on Willow's shoulder.
"I agree…she's much more into the doom and gloom brooding phase…with the addition of the tears she almost…," Anya started to add with an odd smile on her face before Faith wheeled around on her heels and briskly walked past everyone until she got to the foot of the stairs. She was met by both a tearful Dawn, sniffling sadly as she clutched a picture of the three Summers women before Joyce's death, and Robin, warily eyeing her with his feet set for a confrontation while rubbing the forthcoming bruise on his cheek.
"Get out of my way," Faith declared with as polite of tone to her voice as she felt up to as she tried to step in between the two and up the stairs, but Robin stopped her.
"I don't think so Faith…not after that stunt that you pulled earlier…knocking me out," Robin asked with an angry glint in his eye as he started to take a step forward but Faith surged forward, blocked his advance with one leg before she grabbed him by the throat with both hands and slammed him back up against the wall.
"You got what you deserved…and if you don't want me to do it again you'll be a good little kiss ass and get the hell out of my way," Faith declared with a very certain and threatening element to her voice as she gave Robin's throat a good squeeze before she let go and stormed up the stairs. Everyone stayed rooted to their spot in the room in a stunned silence for several moments before they were all jolted out of it as Faith angrily slammed the door to Buffy's old room shut behind her. Giles thought about making the trek up the stairs and demand for Faith to come out and talk to him but stopped when he heard a radio turn on and its volume be turned up loud enough that he was able to tell that the formerly rogue slayer did not want to be disturbed.
Faith felt a little better after turning on the music but could only make it until she got to the end of the bed before she could deny the feelings that were welling up within her no longer and unceremoniously flopped down onto the bed. She tried to keep her composure for several seconds before finally letting the tears flow. Soon she slid off of the end of the bed and curled up, with her knees up to her chin and arms tightly around them, into a ball before she lowered her head and let the sobs take over, thankful that no one would be able to hear her over the music.
* * * * * *
Buffy smiled softly as she came to and found Spike curled up beside her, complete with an innocent look on his face as he slumbered away in the morning sunlight. Instinct, rather than the memory of the windows being specially treated Buffy went into instant panic mode and snapped her eyes open before she grabbed Spike around the waist and used her strength to roll the two off of the bed, finally landing with her back to the floor and Spike lying on top of her.
"What the…why am I…are we…did we…," Spike mumbled with a shocked and worried look on his face as he slowly came to and caught site of the look of concern and panic in the hazel eyes that stared back at him.
"Well…I woke up, you were in the sun…I had to do something…," Buffy nervously replied with an embarrassed smile on her face as she searched for a plausible explanation.
"Good thinking pet…," Spike whispered softly through a completely useless yawn before he continued with an almost hungry look in his eyes, "but since we're down here…," before he leaned down and lightly brushed his lips up against Buffy's. He waited for an almost split second before he heard Buffy moan softly and then smile brightly before she returned the kiss, allowing one hand to roam up to pull him deeper into the kiss while slipping her other under his shirt and almost giggling at the thrill of it all. Meanwhile Spike's hands began a similar journey as one cupped Buffy's cheek while the other slid underneath her shirt and followed Buffy's hand up his back in a parallel race up their bodies. Clothes were quickly discarded and soon the two were in a world of bliss all their own.
* * * * * *
Upon entering the kitchen all of Angel's senses were telling him that something was wrong. On the island just off of the stove and sink sat the potential slayer that he had helped heal and then bring to Wolfram and Hart. From his vantage point in the doorway he couldn't tell if she was okay but when he stopped to listen he could almost swear that he could hear the young English lass snoring ever so softly. His concern only grew when after taking a step further into the house his gaze came to rest on a streak of crimson that marked the young girl's neck. Guessing that perhaps he wasn't the only demon in the house, other than Spike, he put on his game face. "Molly," Angel shouted, his voice full of shock and worry, as he rushed to her side and started to take her into his arms. Before he could though the young potentials eyes shot open, with the first image that her mind registered being of Angel coming towards her, yellow eyes glittering like diamonds in the sun.
"Ah….," Molly screamed out at the top of her lungs as she frantically scrambled to get as far away from the perceived threat as she could, only managing to fall off of the stool and crash to the floor.
"No…wait, Molly stop, I'm not going to hurt you," Angel blurted out quickly as he desperately tried to calm the potentials hysterics.
"Stay away from me," Molly shouted with a scared out of her wits expression on her face as she fearfully crawled back away from Angel.
"Molly no…it's me…Angel," Angel said with a nervous and even slightly scared edge to his voice before he realized that he still wore his game face and quickly shifted back to his human visage.
"A…Angel," Molly stammered out, still not believing or knowing exactly what was going on, as she momentarily stopped her attempts to flee.
"Yeah Molly…it's me…Angel…," Angel quickly answered back with as kind and gentle of voice as he could manage as he knelt down beside Molly to let her get a good look at him. After a few moments of staring wide eyed at him the tension seemed to leave her body and Molly let her shoulders droop and a dopey smile cross her face.
"Sorry…," Molly mumbled with an embarrassed smile on her face as Angel slowly helped her back up to her feet.
"Forget it Molly, I should be the one apologizing to you, I should have been more careful and not scared you out of your wits like that," Angel added with a sincere look of regret on his face as he gave Molly his best winning smile.
"No…it was me, I scare easily, have ever since I was a kid, me mum always tried to break me of it but…," Molly started to say with an apologetic smile on her face before she began to ramble, finally having to stop when Buffy walked into the kitchen, light blue bathrobe tightly cinched at the waist.
"Hey Angel…," Buffy drawled through a slow yawn as she walked past the two to the refrigerator and took out a jug of milk before beginning her search through the cupboards to try to find a glass.
"Good morning Buffy…sleep well," Molly stammered out quickly as she pushed Angel away and tried to tidy up her mess from the night before, completely oblivious to Angel's staring at the red smudge on her neck.
"Yeah…," Buffy mumbled out with a cheesy grin on her face as she found a glass and poured herself a glass.
"Molly…are you okay…," Angel whispered softly as he followed Molly over to the counter and wiped some of the red material off of her neck, showing it to her.
"What…I'm fine Angel…what, haven't you ever seen ketchup before," Molly grinned through her words as she wiped some of the material off of her neck, and after giving it a quick sniff licked the ketchup off of her finger, leaving Angel to only hang his head in embarrassment.
"Where's Spike," Angel asked after clearing his throat and turning around to look at Buffy standing at the refrigerator, the lack of thickness of the bathrobe doing nothing to calm the lustful thoughts in his head.
"Taking a shower, he'll be down soon, and then the two of you can go back to arguing about everything," Buffy replied with a half shrug of her shoulders before she walked over to the table and pulled out a chair.
"Buffy…we don't argue about everything…okay close to everything but…ah never mind, I came over here because sometime soon we need to all have to discuss our plan of action about how we're going to handle the Sunnydale situation," Angel started to reply defiantly before his shield dropped and he shook his head before sitting down beside Buffy as she took a drink of milk.
"Sunnydale isn't my problem anymore Angel, besides they have Faith as their leader now, let her think of something, I'm sure that she's got everyone…," Buffy interjected with a carefree frown on her face as she seemed to not like to have to talk about her former home.
"Sunnydale will always be your problem Buffy, no matter what those…whether you like it or not, something has to be done, we can't let the First get a foothold in the world…now I want…," Angel started to disagree with Buffy before his cell phone rang out loudly and he reluctantly answered it, the crease in his brow only deepening at the news.
"Everything okay…," Buffy asked with a concerned frown on her face as she prepared to take another drink.
"Fred's back at the office, she found Wesley but he's hurt, Gunn wants to give the clerics a chance to heal him but they need my signature and authorization before beginning…sorry but we're going to have to finish this conversation later…but think about what I said okay," Angel replied with a worried look on his face as he knew that Gunn wasn't telling him the whole story about how badly Wesley was injured before he got up from the table and rushed outside, very glad that he had parked near the canopy with its necro tinted glass. He had even taken the extra step of leaving his door open for an easier time getting back into his car. He quickly slammed his door shut and took off.
"Is he…always like that," Molly stammered out slowly with a confused look on her face as she quickly began to clean up her mess from the night before.
"Oh no…let me tell you, you haven't even begun to learn who Angel really is…who knows it could take you an entire lifetime and you'll still get baffled by the simplest thing," Buffy replied with a humorous chuckle, as the lip of the glass gently rested on her bottom lip before Spike walked into the kitchen, completely dressed, and trying his best to style his hair without the aid of a mirror.
"So what was Peaches here for…," Spike asked with a carefree yawn as he opened the refrigerator and began to rifle through its contents.
"To scare the shit out of Molly," Buffy joked back her reply with a barely contained fit of laughter after seeing the panicked look on Molly's face.
"I'm going to have to have a talk with him about that…coming in here like he owns the place and scaring the Nibblet half to death…bloody wanker," Spike stated with a very convincingly look of seriousness on his face before he took a seat at the table beside Buffy. With a playful smirk he ripped the glass of milk out of Buffy's hands and downed the rest of the glass, winking at the slayer when he was done.
"I hate you…," Buffy growled softly under her breath with faux daggers aimed at Spike in her eyes before she heard Molly suppress a giggle from the island.
"No comments from the peanut gallery Bit, unless that is you have something to say other than that little bit that I can see on the tip of your tongue…," Spike said with a fake look of scolding on his face as he turned and looked in Molly's direction.
"But it's true…I can't help it Spike, you two are like two little kids around each other, ever since I met you I've seen it, most of the time you both act like detached and emotionless zombies, but when it's just the two…well three of us now…you like morph into someone else, like one of those bloody pod people, ice cold one minute and happy fluffy bunny the next…," Molly returned with a hurt and frumpy frown on her face as she rested her chin on her crossed arms on the counter and returned Spike's lighthearted glare.
"You're probably right Molly, but a word of advice, if you're ever around Anya again…don't mention bunnies," Buffy quipped with a sly smirk on her face as she briefly made eye contact with Spike, who broke out in a broad smile, before she took the glass of milk back from Spike and rose from her seat and walked back to the refrigerator to pour herself another.
"Why," Molly asked softly with a confused look on her face as she sat back up and turned to first look at Buffy and then to Spike at the table.
"Bird's got some phobia about her…craziest thing I ever saw, millennia old vengeance demon being scared stupid by four hopping little legs and a cute button nose…," Spike mused with a confused smirk on his face as he leaned back in his seat and stared out of the window.
"Beats me…did you know that she even once dressed up as a big rabbit for Halloween…weird," Buffy added with a confused shrug of her shoulders as she opened up the refrigerator and poured herself another glass of milk.
"Oh and Red has a thing with frogs n' tadpoles and the like…no clue why…," Spike joked with a confused shaking of his head as he kept staring out of the window before Buffy returned to the table and the conversation continued.
* * * * * *
"Where is he," Angel demanded with a very serious and somewhat angry frown on his face as he stormed out of his office and almost bumped into Knox.
"He…he's in the infirmary boss…chief…sir…," Knox stammered out with a combination terrified and embarrassed smile on his face as he got into step with Angel as the two headed for the elevator.
"I'd think so Knox…but what's his condition, how is he, do we know why he didn't call us back," Angel asked with a growing look of anger on his face as he half considered strangling the young man.
"Something attacked him, slashed his left shoulder and left side up pretty well…the clerics are all ready to go but like I said on the phone, they need your signature and authorization before they begin," Knox answered with a very nervous smell to him before the elevators doors opened and Angel's gaze fixed on Wesley lying unconscious on an operating table with a flurry of doctors around him, the smell of the former watchers blood hanging heavily in the room.
"Got a pen," Angel asked without missing a step as he entered the room and stood at the foot of the bed.
END OF CHAPTER 9