REPRECUSSIONS

Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.

CHAPTER 16-PAIN LOVES COMPANY

"You are not going to die on me…do you hear me Spike, I won't let you," Buffy grunted with a very serious and angry scowl on her face as she did her best to pick Spike up off of the floor and haul him onto a gurney.  The lack of light in the hallway had made it almost impossible to locate a gurney at first.  But Buffy had remembered the location of one before the lights had gone out and so didn't have to spend much time searching through the vastness of the empty space in front of her before she found it.  Several seconds went by before Buffy was able to maneuver the gurney, thanks in a large part to a sticky right front wheel, down the long hallway and out into a much larger room.  Using the refracted light filtering in through the windows from the powerful lights that the Wolfram and Hart guards had brought with them to light her way Buffy hurriedly pushed the gurney through the room and back into a set of hallways that she knew well enough, the very same ones that she had paced almost endlessly back when her mother had been ill.  "Come on Spike…stay with me…," Buffy mumbled with a worried look on her face as she continued to fly down the hallway as fast as the gurney would allow.  She had almost gotten to the elevator when two figures emerged from out of the darkness around the corner.

"Buffy," Andrew exclaimed with an over exaggerated sigh of relief and wide smile on his face before he caught site of what Buffy was pushing in front of her.

"Spike…is he…," Robin stuttered out with a confused scowl etched into his face as he got a better grip on his axe and waited.

"Dead…no, not yet…not if I have anything to say about it," Buffy softly replied at first with a very childlike look of fear in her green eyes before she turned her attention from Robin back to what she could make out of Spike's face.

"This is for my mother you bastard…," Robin growled under his breath with a very antagonistic look of hate on his face before he swung the axe in an over handed motion and aimed the blade for Spike's neck.

"Faith what…Wesley," Angel started to ask with a confused and concerned look on his face as he knelt down beside Faith before another shot rang out, this time hitting him in his right shoulder.

"Angel…," Faith exclaimed with a pained grimace on her face as she tried to go to his aid, but every movement, even the slight ones, railroaded lighting bolts of pain from her shoulder throughout the rest of her body.

"What is it with people and shooting me…," Angel grumbled with an unhappy scowl on his face before he spun around and sent his gaze up the building back to the window that he and Lorne had flung themselves out of earlier.  Kneeling in the empty window were the two Initiative soldiers that had been chasing them only moments before, each with his weapon trained down onto the still unconscious Lorne.  "Lorne wake…," Was all that Angel was able to get out of his mouth before a bevy of shots rang out, but instead of Angel witnessing one of his best friends being pumped full of bullets it was the sight of the two Initiative soldiers breathing their last that greeted his gaze.  With the beginnings of a sly grin on his face Angel turned back to Wesley and Faith, kneeling down beside Wesley and Faith and hoping that their wounds weren't to serious.

"Get Wes out of here," Faith grunted out with an uncomfortable look on her face as she tried to slide out from under Wesley without putting to much pressure or weight on her injured right shoulder.

"What about you…," Angel asked with a worried look on his face as he scooped Wesley up into his arms and stared over at Faith, who tried her best to hide her concern for Wesley and appear completely composed and not a jumbled mess of emotions.

"Nnh…I'll be fine, slayer healing remember," Faith offered up with a weak smile on her face as she pushed up off of the ground with her uninjured left hand and appeared to be able to hold her own for a few seconds.  But her steely resolve only lasted those scant few seconds before she crumpled back to the ground, an act that received a half exclamation of surprise from Angel before his attention was diverted elsewhere.

"Hey…who ordered the two ton rhino…," Lorne mumbled with a pained frown on his face as he reached up and lightly touched each horn, mostly to reassure himself that they were still where they were supposed to be.

"Lorne get out of there," Angel shouted with an angry scowl on his face as he stood up with the limp body of Wesley in his arms and hoped that the empath demon had heard him.

"Gimme a minute Angelcakes…my head feels like a drakken…," Lorne mumbled weakly back in reply with a pained look on his face as he pushed himself up first onto his forearms and then turned to Angel.

"Lorne stop talking and move…," Angel cried with an almost frantic exclamation on his face before he shook his head angrily and set Wesley back down onto the ground beside Faith.

"Stupid jerk…go ahead and bleed to death, see if I care…I didn't ask for you to…," Faith grumbled with an angry scowl on her face as she clenched her left fist tightly and slammed it down forcefully on Wesley's chest as Angel spun away and raced over towards where Lorne lay.  "Stupid…," Faith started to add in with an even angrier grimace on her face before her countenance shifted abruptly and tears sprang to her eyes as she noticed that she could no longer hear the sound of Wesley breathing in and out.

The words had barely left the lips of the son of the slayer before the fact of what he was trying to do flashed through Buffy's mind.  Without checking to what Andrew was doing Buffy tightened her grip on the gurney and dashed forward, driving the front end of the gurney into what she hoped was Robin's midsection.  Guessing wrong she heard him curse under his breath even though he didn't halt the advance of his axe until Buffy gritted her teeth tightly as the back end of the axe bit deep into the back of her right shoulder.  Through the dimness of what light filtered into the hallway Andrew first caught site of the axe striking Buffy before he coughed and sputtered with an abhorrent look of terror on his face as he was showered with slayer blood.

"Ew…," Andrew exclaimed with a petrified expression of fear and disgust on his face as he stumbled backwards, flailing away at his face in a vain attempt to rid it of Buffy's blood. 

"Nnh…," Buffy stuttered out through her still gritted teeth as she let go her stranglehold on the gurney and slid down to her knees, tears streaming down her face as the blade of the axe slipped silently out of her shoulder and clattered loudly to the floor behind her.

"Damn…," Robin choked out as a tear sprang down his cheek before he collapsed to the ground, desperately trying to catch his breath and composure after the front of the gurney had struck him lower than Buffy had expected it to.  Several seconds ticked by on the overly loud clock that sat above the elevator, marred only by the sounds of Buffy trying not to pass out and Andrew trying to keep from throwing up.

"Spike…," Buffy whispered softly because now the pain in her shoulder was making it hard for her to breathe, with each breath wracked with bolts of pain through her chest.  She was horrified to discover that she could only barely move her right arm and the loss of blood was beginning to make it hard for her to think straight.

"Buffy…," Andrew moaned out through the tears stinging his eyes as he fumbled around in the darkness before he came across a towel and vigorously began to wipe the blood from his face.

"A…Andrew," Buffy choked out as he tried to push herself up off of the floor with her left arm and get a good look through the veil of darkness at the former nerd.

"Oh my God…," Andrew cried when after he pulled the towel away from his face far enough he looked down and saw the glittering pool of blood at his feet.  The light reflected off of the pool of blood danced in arcs across his face before a sound from down the hall caught his attention.  The first sound was quickly followed up by a sporadic burst of gunfire and then silence.  A low snarl echoed down the hallway before Andrew nearly fainted as he caught sight of the ubervamps scurrying down the hallway towards them, the edges of its razor sharp tooth filled grin drenched in fresh blood.

"Move faster," Riley commanded with a very serious scowl on his face as he prodded Kelli and Molly forward with the muzzle of his gun in the middle of their backs. 

"Hey…that hurt ya bloody," Molly shot back with a hurt and angry scowl on her face as she arched her back forward a bit to keep from getting poked a second time.

"Do you really want to finish that sentence…," Riley exclaimed with an almost mocking jeer on his face before a burst of gunfire was heard from down the hall.  Kelli cringed noticeably and the thought of using this moment as a means of escape from her current situation flashed through Molly's mind.

"Stay here and watch them, you two come with me," Riley ordered loudly as he waved to two Initiative soldiers that had been following him down the hallway.  The two soldiers nodded in a silent salute before they followed Riley as he flipped the safety off of his gun and took off down the hallway and then around the corner.

"Psst…Kelli," Molly whispered harshly under her breath as she tried her get the attention of her fellow potential without the two guards hearing her.

"What…," Kelli grumbled back her reply in a curt manner, acting as if she didn't care whether or not their guards had heard.

"Get your bloody ass over here before I kick it," Molly growled with a very angry and frustrated scowl on her face as she reached out and grabbed Kelli's arm, pulling the oddly hair colored potential closer to her side.  The guards behind them only snickered and made a rude comment before the resumed their glances down the hallway.

"What do you want," Kelli grumbled softly under her breath with an impatient scowl on her face as she leaned in close to Molly but kept her gaze trained on a dimly lit exit sign above a nearby door.

"We're going to make a break for it while that jerk Riley and the other two are gone okay," Molly cut in with a harsh whisper before she nodded her head back first towards their two guards and then towards the exit.

"What about those two," Kelli asked with a concerned look on her face as she gestured with her elbow back towards the two guards.

"I think that the taller one fancy's you…so maybe we could…," Molly started to joke with a half smile on her face before she sent a come hither look back over her shoulder at one of the guards.

"What…you don't really think that's actually going to…," Kelli started to question back with a confused and slightly sickened pout on her face before the two guards walked up behind them.

"Of course," Molly shot out through a wide grin before she tensed her whole body up, spun around and shot her foot out, catching the closest guard below the belt.

"Cool…," Kelli exclaimed with an energized smile on her face before she spun around and copied Molly's actions, luckily catching the second guard unawares.

"Come on…," Molly shouted with a look of panic on her face before she barreled through the doors under the exit sign and disappeared into the darkness, cursing out loud that her shackles only allowed her to half run down the hall.

"I don't understand, they were her friends and yet they…," Connor asked with a confused look on his face as he followed Oz down the driveway.

"Me either Connor…I don't see how Willow could have been a part of something like that…," Oz answered with a concerned frown on his face before he and Connor climbed back into his van and took off towards the hospital.

"Maybe she was under some kind of spell, magic often causes problems…," Connor offered with a slightly optimistic look on his face as he stared out of the window.

"You have no idea Connor…if I tried to count the number of times that magic of one kind or another has messed up my life in some way…well…," Oz started to reply with a sadly nostalgic frown on his face before he glanced over to see Connor seemingly hanging on his every word.

"Go on…," Connor said with a concerned look on his face as he inched a bit closer to Oz and away from the window.

"We'd be counting until well after both of our deaths…but no Connor, I don't believe that Willow was under a spell…and that only concerns me more…," Oz replied with a hopefully optimistic smile on his face as he tried to convince Connor that there was no foul play at work in the banishment of Buffy from her own house.  Inwardly though a million and one possible scenarios ran through Oz's mind, with each one still unable to fully explain why Willow would go along with forcing Buffy out.

"We have to do something Sam…they're dying," Xander shouted with a scared look on his face as he glanced across the parking lot and caught sight of Wesley's bloodied form.

"Stay calm Xander…you're in no condition to fight and the situation is still to chaotic to just go running in there like crazy people," Sam shot back with an angry and frustrated scowl on her face as she readied her gun.

"Why isn't there more killing…," Anya added with a sad pout on her face, earning her a confused and shocked looks from Xander, Sam, and Kennedy.

"Wud you shut up awready…," Kennedy mumbled out with an angry scowl on her face as she winced as her broken nose began bleeding again.

"Why…," Anya asked with a confused look on her face as she looked around at everyone that was staring at her, oblivious to the circumstances that were going on around her.

"Because if you don't stop acting like a complete idiot you'll get us all killed," Sam spat back at Anya before she called over to one of the remaining Initiative soldiers as Angel knelt down to help Lorne up off of the ground.

"What now…," Kennedy asked with a worried look on her face as the shooting continued between the Initiative soldiers and the Wolfram and Hart soldiers.

"There's something going on inside the hospital and we can't spare anyone from out here to check it out, so it looks like we're the lucky ones," Sam replied with a concerned and slightly scared look on her face as she turned back to Kennedy.

"What kind of something…," Anya asked with an interested smile on her face as she thought that anything would be better than staying where they were.

"He didn't say, but the intel that we do have says that it's probably not human…," Sam answered with a deadly serious look on her face before she half stood up and hurried towards the side doors of the hospital, finally gesturing that the others should stay low and follow her in.

"Well here goes nothing," Xander grumbled under his breath with a scowl of disapproval on his face before he half stood up and grabbed Anya's hand tightly and pulled her after him as he raced towards the door.

"That should do it," Willow said with a somewhat proud smile on her face as she looked around and nodded her head in silent agreement.

"So what next…," Dawn asked with a scared look on her face as she checked her watch for the second time in less than five minutes.  Ever since Andrew and Robin had left she had been checking her watch in waiting for them to return and explain that everything was fine and that she could calm down.  But she had checked her watch nearly twenty times and yet they were still not back and Willow was just about to cast her they will be done spell.

"Simple Dawnie…I cast the spell and then say that I want Faith to come to me and then we find Andrew, Robin, and the others and we all go back to Bu…home and talk to Giles," Willow stated with a forced look of calm on her face as she shifted her weight a bit to try to work out a kink in her back.

"Are you sure that you've got it all right…you didn't forget some part of the spell in the fuss…," Dawn asked with a worried look on her face as she pushed off of the floor and stood up.

"The fuss…sorry Dawnie but I've got everything well in hand here, if you're worried about Robin and Andrew don't be, I'm sure that they're on their way back here as we speak," Willow replied with a hopefully reassuring smile on her face before she was interrupted by a pair that burst through the double doors.  "See here they…are," Willow started to add with a relieved look on her face before her voice faltered at the realization that who had just rushed into the room was not Robin and Andrew.

"Willow," Fred declared as both a question and statement as she looked on with a startled look on her face, dropping the point of her gun down to the floor.

"Fred…what are you," Willow asked with a confused look on her face as she debated whether or not to stay seated or to stand up.

"We could ask you the same thing Willow, what's all of this for," Gunn interjected with a concerned frown on his face as he took a step into the room and stared down at the circle on the floor with the strategically placed candles.

"Just a simple spell, nothing to worry about," Willow quickly stammered out with a guilty look on her face as she hoped that Gunn and Fred wouldn't press her on the issue any further.

"We're looking for Faith…have you seen her," Dawn asked with a nervous expression on her face as she slipped her hands into her pockets and took a step forward.

"Yes, but she didn't seem to be in any condition to help you," Fred started off with a slightly confused look on her face before Gunn cut in.

"Or mood, she was to busy talking to Angel and Buffy," Gunn interjected with a serious look on his face as he lowered his gun slightly but kept it at ready.

"Buffy…Buffy's here…where," Dawn quickly jumped in and asked with a slightly excited and scared look on her face as she rushed forward.

"Well she's…," Fred started to answer after a quick glance towards Gunn before a loud burst of gunfire shook her out of her words.

"Does that answer your question…come on Fred," Gunn stated with a worried look on his face before he turned around and shoved his way through the double doors.

END OF CHAPTER 16