REPRECUSSIONS
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I've created like Kelli.
CHAPTER 24-THE TRUTH CAN HURT…
"Why should I believe anything that you have to say…you're just trying to…," Sam growled with an angry scowl on her face as she tried to glare a hole straight through Spike and Buffy.
"They're not lying Sam, how I wish to God that they were but…," Xander mumbled out with a saddened frown on his face as he lowered his gaze to the floor and Buffy lightly backhanded Spike in the side to keep him from saying a snide remark that she had foreseen coming.
"But Riley he…he wouldn't, he hates vampires…," Sam stammered out, her complexion comparable to that of Spike's on his worst day, as she lowered her gun and nearly collapsed into the nearest chair.
"Got that right…and I've got the bloody scars to prove it, stupid wanker staking me with a fake wood grain stake," Spike spat out with a look of disdain and scorn on his face as he took a step forward and kicked aside an overturned chair, getting a small sniffle of sadness from Sam afterwards.
"This is all so ridiculous," Anya stated with such an air of certainty that everyone in the room, momentarily forgetting the merits of their own discussion for a split second, glanced up at her like she had grown an extra head before Buffy cut in.
"You know what Anya…you're not helping, I think it'd probably be best if you just didn't talk for awhile, and as for you Kennedy, don't even think about trying to sneak out of here and warn Riley or anyone else, Spike and I aren't going to get dissected if I have anything to say about it," Buffy interjected clearly as she slowly shook her head before Kennedy caught herself looking at the doorway and pulled her gaze away.
"Are you sure about this Dawnie," Willow asked with a very worried look on her face as she continued to push Dawn along down the hall, surrounded on all sides by armed Wolfram and Hart guards, towards the recovery room.
"No…not really, but Willow…I have to do this, I have to talk to them," Dawn replied weakly with a tired expression on her face as she sat slumped in the chair, elbow resting on the armrest and its corresponding hand holding the side of her aching head.
"Sorry Dawnie but I don't see what good it's going to do, they've already tried, convicted, and sentenced us…," Willow added with a somewhat angry edge to her voice before Dawn cut in.
"They had every right to…after what we did to Buffy…how could we," Dawn exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as a lonely tear slipped down her cheek.
"We thought that we were doing the right thing, we…," Willow replied with a very sad and sour frown on her face as she sniffled a bit to try to keep from crying.
"Didn't act very much like the friends…and family…to her that we always claimed to be, we're no better than the demons and vampires…," Dawn moaned with a heart wrenching hint of sadness in her voice before one of the guards spoke up.
"Got that right," One of the younger guards mumbled softly under his breath to the guard in front of him, just loud enough though for Willow and Dawn to hear. As he said the last word Dawn was nearly scared stupid by the sight of the edges of Willow's fingernails beginning to blacken.
"Willow…," Dawn snapped with a scared, nervous, and worried urgency in her voice as she half turned her head back around to try to get a good look at the witch pushing her down the hallway.
"But he…," Willow protested with an angry scowl on her face as she clenched her left fist tightly on the handle on the back of the wheelchair in an attempt to contain and suppress her fury at the guard's off the collar comment.
"He's right you…," Dawn started to say with a very sad and almost pathetic frown on her face before she was interrupted by Faith as the rogue slayer turned the corner, a large stack of ancient looking tomes in her arms.
"Hey…watch it, you almost made me…," Faith started to exclaim with an angry scowl on her face as she turned to the side and glared around the edges of the books.
"Faith, you're here…look Willow, it's Faith we found her," Dawn announced with a surprised and relieved smile on her face as she lifted a shaking hand and pointed at Faith.
"Yes Dawn I know, I bumped into Faith before you woke up," Willow said softly with a nervous look on her face as she tried not to dampen Dawn's exuberance over finally finding Faith any more than she had to.
"Oh," Dawn mumbled with a crestfallen frown on her face as she hunched down in her chair and lightly scratched a patch of dirt on her pant leg.
"Don't worry about it D, everything's going to work out just fine, you'll see," Faith jumped in with a confident smile on her face before she started to slip past Willow and Dawn.
"Faith wait, I recognize what those are, those books have some very powerful magic in them, especially that one," Willow announced with a surprised and somewhat fearful look on her face as she let go of the wheelchair and turned to fully face Faith.
"Yeah…so," Faith joked with a slight shrug of her shoulders before wincing slightly in pain as her shoulder stretched a bit further than it should have and caused some tingling up and down her right arm.
"So…what are you doing with them, sure you're a great slayer…but let's face it Faith, you've never been one to actually…study, and magic…," Willow replied with an look of disbelief on her face as she crossed her arms and held her ground.
"Ya got me there Red…but these aren't for me, they're for Wesley, poor boy's gonna go batty waiting for his shoulder to heal up," Faith shot back with a sly grin on her face, mimicking the look of someone whose secret had just been discovered, before standing still in her place in wait of Willow's response.
"Heal up…wait, Wesley's hurt," Willow asked with a scared and worried look on her face as she uncrossed her arms and laid one hand on Dawn's shoulder and the other over her own mouth in surprise.
"Couple of those damn Initiative goons thought that I'd make good target practice, then ole Wes decides to play hero and push me out of the way, stupid idiot got shot because of it," Faith grumbled back in reply with an angry frown on her face, as she was trying not to convey the full amount of concern that she now had for Wesley's wellbeing in her voice, before Dawn interrupted her thoughts.
"He's going to be okay right…," Dawn asked, her voice shaking and faltering noticeably, as she feebly turned her body in her seat a bit more to face Faith.
"Sure Dawn, he's already on the mend…strong enough to…, uh yeah Dawn he'll be fine," Faith began to answer with a confident expression on her face before she realized what she was about to divulge a mere half a second before she did so and quickly stammered out the rest, hoping furiously that neither Dawn nor Willow would notice.
"Okay good, hey wait…strong enough to…," Dawn said with a relieved deep breath before she squinted briefly and cocked an eyebrow Faith's way and posed her inquiry.
"None of your business," Faith retorted angrily, though with a fully red face, before she turned on her heel and stormed off down the hallway, angrily muttering to herself with each step.
"Where are we going again," Kelli asked with an impatient frown on her face as she followed Molly through a set of double doors and into the remains of the trashed out cafeteria.
"Isn't it obvious," Molly replied without a hint of emotion in her voice before she knelt down beside one of the smashed vending machines and began to sift through the pile of dusty snack foods in bags.
"Ugh…you're actually going to eat that shit," Kelli groaned with an annoyed and slightly disgusted look on her face as shook her head and walked over to a still upright table and pulled up a chair.
"No Kelli, I'm going to carbon date the bloody stuff…of course I'm going to eat them," Molly shot back with a bit of a vindictive sneer on her face before she pulled several bags of peanut butter M & M's out of the pile and began to happily dust them off.
"But why not go and get some food from those Wolfram and Hart guys, they have a whole food tent and everything set up in the…," Kelli wondered with a confused frown on her face as Molly tore open one of the packages of M & M's and emptied them all into her mouth.
"Cause…I've always loved junk food," Molly replied through her mouthful of peanut butter M & M's with an excited smile on her face before she closed her mouth and commenced chewing.
"That stuff will rot your teeth you know," Fred stated with an almost motherly tone to her voice as she walked into the room, arms crossed across her chest and a slightly bummed looking Lorne trailing in her wake.
"It hasn't yet…," Molly offered up as an answer before she ripped open the top of another bag and was just about to fill her mouth up again when Lorne spoke up.
"But Fred's right honey, you keep eating that stuff all of the time and you'll rot holes clear through those beautiful teeth of yours, your smile's to pretty a thing…it'd be a shame to ruin it," Lorne interjected with a soft but stern edge to his voice as he walked out from behind Fred and looked down at Molly, whose initial response was only to fully sit down and blush deeply with an embarrassed smile spread fully across her face.
"See…told you," Kelli jumped in with a triumphant taunt in her words before she was silenced by a quick glare from Fred.
"So Molly, have you given any thought to what you're going to do after this is all over," Fred asked softly as she walked past a sad looking Kelli and helped Molly to her feet just as the potential filled her mouth yet again with M & M's.
"Don't know…," Molly mumbled through her full mouth with a shrug of her shoulders before she sat down in a chair at the table that Lorne had pulled up and smiled her thanks his way.
"You should do what I'm going to do, go home and try and act like none of this ever happened," Kelli interjected with a sincere and nervous frown on her face as she leaned forward in her seat a bit.
"That'd be the worst thing that either one of you could do, whatever life you had before you came to Sunnydale and learned that you were potentials is over, whether you like it or not, you're both part of a legacy that stretches back hundreds of years," Fred stated with a profound and proud look on her face, leading both Kelli and Molly to believe that there was more to Fred's words to them then simply a bit of advice.
"But what are we supposed to do, we're not the real slayer remember, we're just stupid potentials, waiting and hoping that we get lucky after the current slayer bites the dust," Kelli inputted with a somber and sullen expression on her face as she leaned back in her chair, tossed her head back, and stared up at the ceiling.
"You're not stupid potentials, don't ever say that, just because you don't have all of that strength and power…you're not stupid, you're still better than your average young woman," Fred exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as she smacked her fists down onto the top of the table and glared over at Kelli, who snapped her head back down and looked a bit scared under Fred's intense scrutiny.
"Easy Fredikins…you're scaring the poor girl," Lorne stated with a timid smile on his face before he laid a gentle hand on Fred's back.
"Well good, she should be scared, this isn't a game, she should be taking this and what they're going to do with the rest of their lives seriously, not worrying about what color they're going to die their hair next," Fred explained with a worried look on her face as she stood fully up and turned to Lorne, trying to compose herself afterwards.
"What's wrong with my hair," Kelli complained with a defensive scowl on her face as she reached up and brushed her hands through her strands of purple hair.
"Nothing Kelli, I think it's just that Fred is trying to tell us that we're special and that we should put our talents to good use," Molly offered, desperately trying to play peacemaker, as she momentarily forgot about the two remaining bags of peanut butter M & M's left in her possession.
"That's right Molly, you're both special whether you become the next slayer or not, and I think that the two of you would be the perfect speci…I mean candidates for a program that I'm going to begin after we're through here in Sunnydale, given that Angel approves of my plans that is," Fred started to say with a somewhat excited smile on her face before her eyes grew wide and she hurriedly spat out the rest in an almost undistinguishable ramble.
"Okay…sorry but you lost me on the two of you…," Kelli asked with a confused frown on her face as she turned to Fred and hoped to get a quick answer.
"You Kelli, and you Molly, are going to be the first two young women in a program that I hope we will be able to duplicate with all…or most, of the remaining potentials," Fred replied with a slightly more optimistic look on her face as she looked first to Kelli and then to Molly, who by this time was in the midst of ripping open another bag of M & M's.
"Why us," Molly asked softly with a somewhat somber frown on her face before she uncharacteristically pulled one M & M out of the bag and popped it into her mouth.
"Because the two of you are the best, the brightest, the…," Fred began with a very energized and invigorated smile on her face as she looked like a five year old on a sugar high before Lorne cut in.
"The only two available…," Lorne joked under his breath with a sly smile on his face, one that quickly changed to one of great fear as Fred shot him a dirty look out of the corner of her eyes.
"So when do we begin," Kelli wondered aloud with a slightly less scared expression on her face as she held her hand out to Molly, asking for a peanut butter M & M.
"Right now," Fred answered triumphantly as she clapped her hands together while Molly shrugged her shoulders and dumped a few pieces of candy into Kelli's cupped hand.
He stood there in an awed silence, watching helplessly as she maintained the very same position that he had seen her in for what seemed like forever. He pushed the featherlike curtain away easily before not being able to help but grin at the sight of the woman he loved being bathed in a sea of golden rays of sunlight. His smile soon mirrored itself into a sad frown as reality caught up to him, from what he had been told he expected to find her berating the hospital staff in a fervent attempt to gain something better to wear than a simple and not very flattering hospital gown. But instead she still lay there sleeping softly, like a marble angel. "Son of a…," Angel started to mutter with a very angry sneer on his face as he fought hard to keep his game face from rearing its ugly head before being left speechless a second later.
"You just going to stand there and gawk at me all day handsome," Cordelia asked with a very plain and void of emotion tone of voice as she kept her eyes perfectly closed, before she couldn't stand it any longer and her calm lips broke into first a soft smirk and then a wide grin.
"Cordy," Angel stammered out in disbelief as had he still been human he most likely would have had a heart attack on the spot.
"There someone else making with the funny that I don't know about…," Cordy added with an impish grin on her face as she cracked an eye open and aimed her gaze directly up at the very stunned face of the man that she loved.
"What…," Angel asked with all at once a very concerned and confused scowl on his face before he snapped his gaze from one corner of the room to another.
"Were you always this gullible," Cordelia asked with a slightly put off frown on her face as she fully opened both eyes and sat up, casting an almost mocking smirk Angel's way.
"I'm not…wait a minute, Cordelia…what's going on here," Angel began to stammer out before he became very frustrated and demanded an answer.
"God you're thick…Angel…it's me, Cordy…no world threatening tyrant, just everyone's favorite…sometimes pushy…," Cordelia groaned with a roll of her eyes as she shook her head and stared at the lights in the room for a bit before resurrecting the smile that had made Angel's heart melt before and aimed it directly at him.
"Really…," Angel asked with a hesitant look on his face as more than anything he wanted to believe that Cordelia, his Cordelia, was back. But given what had transpired only weeks before he wasn't fully ready to accept anything, yet.
"Really," Cordelia whispered back very softly with as innocent of a look on her face as she was capable of having before she nervously slid her legs over the side of the bed and pushing off of the bed, propelling herself into Angel's arms.
"Hey handsome…you awake," Faith whispered softly with a somewhat worried expression on her face as she pushed the recovery room's door behind her softly before looking around the dimly lit room for a place to set her armful of ancient tomes and texts.
"Unfortunately," Wesley replied sarcastically as he slowly materialized into the light and carefully sat back down on the bed.
"Way to stay positive Wes, now come on and get comfortable, because I lugged all of these damn books up five flights of stairs for you and I'm not going to…," Faith began to say with a slightly pushy tone of voice as she grunted softly while setting the stack of books down onto the other bed in the room before she was interrupted by a snort of laughter from Wesley.
"Five flights…we're only on the third floor Faith," Wesley reminded Faith with a sly grin on his face before Faith leaned back out of the light just a bit so that Wesley wouldn't see her flush red with embarrassment.
"Hey now, I can take all of these books back to where I got them and leave you here all by your little…," Faith threatened with an angry frown on her face before she bent down and started to pick the stack of books back up. Faith waited for a few seconds, expecting Wesley to quickly come back with a quick retort of some kind, before she lifted the books off of the bed and started to turn around. As she turned Faith thought that she heard a soft whimper off to her right but at first thought nothing of it. She shook her head and took a few steps before she heard a sound that made her blood run cold, a sickly groan that could only mean bad news. "Wes…Wesley," Faith mumbled at first with a very nervous and scared half smirk on her face as she expected that he was only playing some kind of trick on her, but her heart and the books hit the floor at almost the exact same time that her gaze took in Wesley slumping to the floor with an uber vamp grinning madly behind him, it's mouth slathered in fresh blood.
END OF CHAPTER 24