REPRECUSSIONS
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I've created like Kelli.
CHAPTER 23-WHAT'S YOUR MALFUNCTION?
"She's been gone a long time you know," Anya announced with an impatient and poorly hidden element of worry in her voice as she checked the digital clock in the room before glaring down at Xander.
"I know An…I know, what do you want me to do about it, go out and ask the nice men with guns that don't particularly like us if they've seen a rather troublesome young potential with a broken nose named Kennedy," Xander joked with an expression of melancholy on his face before he lightly began to bash the back of his head into the wall farthest away from the door.
"Making jokes isn't going to help the situation Xander…honestly, I thought that you were better than that…," Anya began to say with a disappointed and downcast look on her face before the door burst open to allow an almost fuming Sam into the room, dragging a sour faced Kennedy behind her, her nose bleeding slightly.
"I thought I told you three to stay in here," Sam exclaimed loudly as she shoved Kennedy into the room and slammed the door shut behind her.
"See Xander, I kept telling you that she told us to stay here…but would you listen, no…of course not, you had to go and let Kennedy just walk right out of this room like…," Anya began, sounding very much like a stereotypical schoolteacher of old, as she spun on her heel away from the window and began to deliberately pace her way towards Xander across the room.
"Well what did you expect me to do about it…tie her to the chair and…," Xander started to shout back with a very determined scowl on his face, as he bolted up out of his chair and started to pace towards Anya before he was interrupted.
"Enough…both of you, God how did the two of you ever keep from killing each other long enough to get engaged let alone make it to the altar," Sam nearly shrieked with a look of total shock and disbelief on her face as she threw her hands up and forced herself in between Anya and Xander, making sure that neither got close enough to lay a fingertip on the other.
"This should be good," Kennedy thought with an amused grin on her face as she sat down in the chair that Xander had only just vacated and waited for the fireworks to begin.
Buffy and Spike moved silently through the halls of the large house, ducking in and out of closets and unused room as need be. Spike had almost instantly caught the scent of the man that had put the two in prison in the first place. He had wanted to instantly weave their way through the guards and wring Riley's neck where he stood, but Buffy thought better of it. Laying her own deep-seated and recently resurrected feelings of betrayal and deception aside she decided, spurned on by her still very sore shoulder and the fact that it was still daylight out, that exacting any form of revenge upon Riley would have to wait. Their escape from confinement had stayed a secret for almost an hour; just enough time for the two to duck into a large room that they thought was empty.
"Come on pet let's hide in…bloody hell," Spike whispered aloud with a slightly nervous hitch in his breath as he jerked a side door open and pulled Buffy inside before his senses went berserk.
"What Spike…what is…ah shit," Buffy asked harshly back in a whisper before an oddly familiar squeak of surprise caught her attention.
"Buffy…," Kennedy exclaimed with a very surprised expression on her face as she tumbled forward out of her chair and scooted away on her backside as Anya tensed up and tried to smile, Xander froze in place, and Sam instantly raised her gun and leveled it at the pair, ready for anything.
"Buffy…Spike, how did you…," Sam blurted out, more in surprise at first, before she regained her composure and positioned herself in between Spike and Buffy and the others.
"Like we'd tell you…Mrs. Cardboard, probably go run off and tell the good Captain…," Spike mocked with a sly smirk on his face as he stepped in front of Buffy and began to slowly and pointedly walk straight forward towards Sam, with his eyes never leaving hers.
"I've heard about you, William the Bloody…Scourge of Europe, gained your name and your fame by torturing your victims with a railroad spike…," Sam began, trying her best to sound confident and unafraid, as she raised the butt of her gun to her shoulder, aiming it straight at Spike's head.
"Ah the good old days," Spike joked with an impish grin of fake nostalgia on his face as he could smell the tidal wave of fear being valiantly held back by all of Sam's training and nerve as he sauntered towards her, making it a point to keep one eye on the trigger of her gun and the other straight ahead into her eyes.
"I'll good old days you…," Sam muttered with an angry and defiant glint in her eye before she pulled her finger away from the trigger and leapt at Spike, intending to smash his face in with the butt of her gun.
"Spike…," Buffy shouted with an alarmed and almost frantic feeling throughout her body as she scrambled forward to shove Spike out of the way of Sam's unexpected attack. But much to her surprise it seemed as if Spike had anticipated, if not hoped, that Sam would do something as rash as dare to attack him head-on. Anya watched in a stunned silence as Spike ducked underneath Sam's first swing and aimed a kick for her stomach, but halfway through the act of kicking Sam Spike's injuries caught up to him and he grunted in pain as his foot slammed hard into her waist, hitting straight on her belt buckle. Sam let out a low grunt, dropped her weapon, and collapsed bent over to the floor, holding her stomach.
"Damn…bloody," Spike cursed with an angry scowl on his face as he scooted back away from Sam, gritting his teeth at the pain in his gut.
"Dumbass…what the hell you do think you were doing…she could have shot you," Buffy growled with an angry and slightly mocking frown on her face as she hurried forward, grabbed Spike under his arms, and rudely pulled him back up to his feet, causing her injured shoulder to scream out in pain.
"Ow…," Sam moaned softly under her breath as she winced in pain and rolled over onto her side while Xander and Anya rushed to Sam's side, trying to help her stand.
"Are you crazy…you…," Anya exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as she aimed her best glare Spike's way before Buffy tried desperately to remember why she hadn't snapped the vengeance demon's neck years ago.
"So she just…woke up…just like that," Angel asked with a look of disbelief and confusion on his face as he wrung his hands in frustration and to try to calm his raging nerves.
"Yes sir...as you said, just like that," Ms. Hancock signed with a nervous frown on her face as she was glad that the lights had burnt out in the limo, making it dark enough for her to hide the look of sadness on her face while still allowing her to sign answers and questions back to Angel.
"But how, I mean…the doctors said that there was no way to tell when…or even if she'd ever wake up," Angel questioned openly with an extremely nervous and frustrated expression on his face as he was visibly jittery.
"I don't now sir…I'm as surprised as you are, honest," Ms. Hancock signed back with an honest look on her face as she leaned back in her seat and glanced out of the window through the specially tinted windows.
"Is she okay…has she said anything…what does she know…does she remember…," Angel absentmindedly muttered as he began to shift uncomfortably in his seat, reminding the driver of a small boy waiting in the waiting room of a doctor's office.
"I don't know Mr. Angel…, I was only told that she had woke up and wanted to see you right away," Ms. Hancock answered with a deep breath and shrug of her shoulders before she let her glasses slide down her nose a bit so that she could rub her tired and weary eyes.
"Are you okay…you don't look so good," Angel asked, concern evident in his voice, as he leaned forward and laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump a bit at his touch. Without wanting to sign her answer, knowing that if she tried to her hands would be shaking rather noticeably, Ms. Hancock only pushed her best smile to the surface and sadly nodded her head.
"Are you sure that he's okay Faith," A concerned Fred asked with a worried look on her face as she shifted the stack of files in her hands from one arm to another as she watched Faith slowly and noticeably reluctantly shut the door of the recovery room behind her.
"He'll be fine Slim…he just needs to get some rest," Faith replied with a concerned and tired look on her face as she turned to face Fred and took in a shallow breath.
"Well don't worry about it Faith, because what Wes needs he's going to get, I'll double the guard around his room and give them strict orders that no one save you is allowed to see Wesley until you or I say otherwise," Gunn added with a sincere and serious look on his face before he reached into the pocket of his pants, pulled out his cell phone and began to keep his word.
"T…thanks, you guys," Faith said softly with a nervous look on her face as she tried to smile but in the end it only came out as a half smirk that made her look a bit insane.
"Don't mention it Faith, Wesley's our friend to, and after what's happened in Sunnydale lately friends need to stick together," Fred said back with a tired smile on her face as she began to slowly browse through the stack of folders in her arms.
"No…really, thank you…," Faith repeated, this time a bit more forcefully as both Fred and Gunn stopped what they were doing and fully took in the honest and heartfelt look of gratitude on Faith's face.
"You're very welcome Faith, but tell me something okay…where'd Angel rush off to in such a hurry, nearly gave me whiplash," Gunn interjected with a slightly confused look on his face as he closed his cell phone and slipped it back into his pocket, just as Lilah came strolling down the hallway, looking quite grim and solemn for a change.
"He got some good news for a change, Queen C woke up, whatever that means…," Faith replied with a look of little understanding on her face as she shrugged her shoulders and felt a bit of pain as the muscles of her injured shoulder pulled tightly and cried out against their movement.
"So the high and mighty Cordelia Chase finally decided to wake up from her coma, guess she got enough beauty sleep," Lilah interrupted with an uncaring and slightly mocking smile on her face as she walked up to the trio and stopped just a bit behind and to the side of Gunn.
"A little advice Lilah, if I were you I'd just keep walking because…wait, did you say coma," Faith declared at first with an angry glint in her eye as she was pointedly warning her lovers former lover before a word that Lilah had said caught her attention.
"Yeah, Cordy's been in a coma for almost a month now…the doctor's didn't have any idea when…or even if she'd ever wake up," Fred replied with a nervous and pensive frown on her face as she glanced back and forth between Faith and Lilah, half expecting there to be a fight between the two any minute now.
"How'd it happen, she get stabbed in the gut to," Faith asked, momentarily reliving the moment that Buffy had driven the point of a dagger into her gut and sent the rogue slayer in a coma that Faith had felt would never end.
"Uh, not exactly Faith, you see last summer Cordelia…ascended to a higher plane of reality for a little while, Angel didn't take it very well…he dabbled into some very dark magic to bring her back, but he finally succeeded, although we didn't know it at the time Cordy didn't come back alone…," Gunn answered, a bit timidly at first as he kept glancing up at Fred with almost every other word, as he jammed his hands into his pockets and looked very uneasy being the one doing the talking.
"Wait…Cordelia, a higher being, that's the funniest thing that I've ever heard…," Faith joked with an amused look on her face and short laugh before she looked to both Fred and Gunn and found them not laughing.
"However improbable it may sound honey it's true, Ms. Chase became half demon to survive her visions from the powers that be and they moved her up to the big leagues, but then Angel had to go and muck things up by getting his girlfriend back…and we ended up with that bitch Jasmine," Lilah said with a highly amused smirk on her face as she stepped past Gunn and started towards the door of the recovery room that Faith had just come out of only moments before. Lilah had barely brushed her fingers against the doorknob before Faith instinctively spun around on her heel and grabbed Lilah by the shoulders before flinging her to the floor.
"I'm hungry," Andrew moaned with an unhappy frown on his face as he sat down on the cot and crossed his arms over his stomach, leaning over slightly.
"You're always hungry Andrew," Robin grumbled back at the former nerd with an annoyed and frustrated expression on his face as he resumed pacing back and forth in front of the door to their cell.
"No I'm not…it's just that if I don't eat something soon I'm going to get sick…," Andrew stated with a slightly sickly look on his face before he swallowed hard.
"They won't let that happen, I think that I've got a good bead on these guys, they don't seem to be the like to let humans starve," Robin said with a serious and a bit nervous look on his face before he stopped pacing back and forth in front of the door and sat down on the cot beside Andrew.
"Really…," Andrew asked with a very worried look on his face as he lifted his head up a bit and turned to look at Robin.
"Really Andrew, I bet that it won't be long before we're out of here," Robin replied with a sincere smile on his face before he took a deep breath and turned his head to stare back up at the door to their cell.
"Someone should say something," Anya said with a nervous frown on her face as she pushed away from the wall and stepped out into the middle of the room. Ever since Spike and Buffy had inadvertently stumbled into the room and got through the brief skirmish with Sam, who now was in possession of her gun again, those occupying the room had stared at each other nervously.
"You just did Anya," Xander mumbled softly with a half smirk on his face as he half looked up at her before she turned her sad look into a glare and aimed it directly back down at him.
"We shouldn't be here…," Spike whispered harshly back to Buffy as he ducked in between two of the windows to keep from getting scorched from the sun.
"Do you see me disagreeing with you Spike," Buffy pleaded with an exasperated look on her face as she spread her arms out wide to further drive her point home.
"Didn't say that you were pet, just trying to say that we shouldn't still be here…in this room, the Lady Cardboard over there'll call in reinforcements any moment, and I don't know about you but I highly doubt that they'll be able to refrain from dusting yours truly," Spike returned with a highly skeptical and sarcastic pout on his face as he eyed the rays of light for a few moments before joining Buffy out in the middle of the room, skipping away from the spots of sunlight on the floor as he went.
"Stay where you are," Sam exclaimed with a very serious scowl on her face as she haphazardly reached behind her back for her walkie talkie.
"Or what Sam, you'll call Riley and he can stab us in the back again, or stake Spike with a fake wood grained stake…again, sorry but…," Buffy began to say defiantly with a serious look on her face as she took her place in front of Spike, partially to keep Sam from shooting him and partly to keep Spike from making another foolish attack.
"How did you…I mean Riley wouldn't do that, he's a good man…," Sam began to say in protest before a mocking snort from Spike brought an almost immediate halt to her narrative.
"Let me tell you something about good men Sam, good men don't try to run the lives of their significant other, they don't go get bit by two bit vampire trollops behind their girlfriends back, they don't…," Spike spat out with a very vindictive sneer on his face as he sidestepped around Buffy and began to take a step closer and closer to Sam with every pointed remark.
"No, you're lying, Riley would never do something like that," Sam exclaimed with a very angry and disheartened look of almost utter desperation on her face as she stepped forward away from Xander and Anya and closer to Spike and Buffy.
"You're wrong Sam, Riley…well he…," Xander began to say with a slight stutter before he found that his words failed him as Sam snapped her head back to stare straight at him, her face whiter than a ghost.
"He didn't think that he was…man enough…for me, so he had, no he paid vampires to bite him and drain just a little bit of blood…," Buffy interjected with at first a slightly shaking voice before she recovered and her voice hardened, all the while with Spike staring at her with a surprised look on his face.
"No…Riley's not like that, he…," Sam stammered out, clearly not wanting to believe what she was hearing but a part of her somewhere buried deep within her was starting to believe.
"I'm sorry Sam but he is…it took me a long time to get over Riley, but…I finally did, admittedly thanks in no small part to Spike," Buffy countered with a very truthful and sincere look on her face as she kept walking closer and closer to Sam, before sending Spike a quick glance back, her gaze full of love.
Angel nearly flew up the steps leading to the front doors of the hospital. Ms. Hancock had barely stepped out of the limo when Angel had flung the front doors open and rushed inside, not caring that he was getting quite a few odd stares as he had rushed in under the sun and finally stopped smoking when he reached the front desk. The location of Cordelia's room had barely left the receptionists lips before Angel bounded towards the first open elevator that he saw, knocking aside several people who were trying to get onboard. Ms. Hancock did her best to calm the almost instant hysteria and shouting fits that Angel's actions had caused even though most of those in the lobby just stared at her with confused looks on their faces. Angel meanwhile was fit to be tied waiting for the elevator to finally come to a stop and its doors to open. When they finally did Angel was the first to leap out of the elevator and race down the hall, looking to many like a young boy racing to be first in line to get a new toy. Angel nearly ran an orderly down as he came to a sudden stop in front of room 616, Cordelia's room. Taking a very unnecessary deep breath Angel shrugged his shoulders, turned the knob, and went inside.
END OF CHAPTER 23