Reviewers:
qwerty: Maybe, maybe not, You'll just have to read on and find out. LOL
DarkLegacies: Cool name. Thanks for reviewing!
Gflea: Yes indeed she did. Freds soul was even consumed to free Illyria. I was severely upset when that happened. I mean I just don't get why they were killing everyone off! It's terribly upsetting, which is why I write fanfic. LOL
Ch. 20 Wrath of the Powers
It took everyone a while to get used to the new Fred. Sonja not included. The baby had taken a long look at her and then simply reached her arms out to the girl.
Fred was still Fred; but she had powers that needed to be explored, and she was of course, a vampire. Her coworker, Knox had been exposed and sentenced to the same fate that the terrible ghost, Pavayne had. He would remian alive and conscious forever;but unable to move or react. The doctor had been caught as well.
They had other worries on thier minds now. Angel had been acting quite strange. In fact so strange that the others were starting to worry that Angelus was back.
He had taken to holing up in his office with Hamilton for hours,discussing things that the others were left completely out of.
"He is being corrupted." Fred/Illyria said, tilting her head in the odd fashion she had. They were sitting at Michael and Selenes' apartment. It was the only place they felt that was safe to talk.
"No way." Said Gunn. "Somehow I think that Angelus is managing to come through.
"I don't think so kiddies." Lorne broke in. "If it were Angelus we'd all be dead or at least maimed by now. Something isn't right here. This isn't like Angel at all; but it's not exactly Angelus either."
"Sodding wanker didn't even care that innocent people were being killed by that demon." Said Spike, who was playing with Sonja on the floor.
Selene looked up at him. She was helping MIchael take care of Drogans wounds. "What demon?"
"Borex." He replied offhandedly. "Old blue and I took care of it."
Fred shifted her icy blue gaze to Spike. "You mean I took care of it, blondie." She was enjoying her new powers. She'd always been the brains behind the brawn. Now she had brawn and brains.
"Oi! I helped!" Spike said indignantly.
Drogan had told them what Angel had done. They were still having a hard time believing that he had let the sarcophagus in to Wolfram and Hart.
"I just can't believe that he would let that kind of harm happen to Fred." Said Wesley. "Or to any of us when it comes down to it."
"Power corrupts." Michael said softly,looking at Selene. She gazed back, her thoughts sending him an image of Kraven. She was remembering the night she had brought him to the mansion. Erika had frightned him away, and Selene had recieved a hard slap across the face for her efforts.
"I'm sorry." Michael said out loud to her.
She smiled. "It's allright."
The others were looking confused and Selene just shook her head.
"We need to confront Angel." Said Gunn.
It was soon agreed, and Selene and Fred remained behind with Drogan. Michael went out to get medical supplies and took Sonja along.
The others went to confront Angel. It was learned that he had a plan to take down the powerful menbers of the Cicle of the Black Thorn. He explained while a glamour covered thier conversaton.
Meanwhile, back at Selene and MIchaels apartment, Selene and Fred were preparing some food for everyone when Hamilton broke in.
"What are you doing in my house?" Asked Selene angrily. She had never liked Hamilton. Seeing him as being too much like Kraven for her liking.
They tried to stop him; but he ended up putting both of them down and taking Drogan.
Michael was talking absently to Sonja as he waited for the elevator to reach their floor. The baby was smiling and laughing.
When the doors opened, he knew something was wrong. He could smell blood. Both Selenes and Freds. "Oh no."
People were standiong out in the hallway looking confused. Michael could see that the door to thier apartment had been kicked open by someone powerful.
He ran, pushing people out of the way and being careful not to jostle the baby to much.
Someone had called an ambulence and a few of thier neighbors were in the house with the two women.
"Selene?" Michael called. "Fred? What happened?"
Selene was lying on the couch, a woman from down the hall was wiping the blood from her face.
"It was Hamilton." Fred said. "He took Drogan." She was sitting in an armchair holding a bag of ice to her head. He was unsurprised to see she looked normal. She had realized a few weeks before she could make the blue dissapear.
Michael thanked the neighbors and told them they could go. When the ambulence and the police showed up Michael sent them away, assuring them the two women were all right. The police, he gave a description of Hamilton, sure they wouldn't be able to find him anyway.
The girls vampiric healing soon eased the damage, and the others returned.
"What happened?" Asked Wesley, who was first through the door.
"Hamilton." Replied Michael.
"He took Drogan." Selene said, from her seat on the couch. She was feeding Sonja.
"Bollocks." Spike said quietly.
"What did Angel say?" Asked Fred.
"Were still trying to decide wether of not to believe him." Gunn sighed. "He told us that he's trying to bring down the Circle of the Black Thorn. They had to believe that we didn't trust him. Or so he says."
"We're waiting for him to come back. He had to go and meet with them."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
They spent an hour discussing the subject before Angel showed up. He was looking worn and tierd.
"Okay guys. Here's what I want to do. The Circle is made up up the most powerful demons that there are. They're directly linked to the powers. I want to take them out. All in one night."
"Won't that piss off the powers?" Asked Spike.
"I'm thinking yes. This isn't going to be like our normal fights. We might all go down on this one. But I'm willing to let that happen. Cordielia won't have died in vain if we can stand up to them and let them know they don't controll everything. Just for one moment let them know that they don't own our fates."
"Sounds good to me." Said Gunn.
They all agreed and Angel assigned them thier targets. He turned to MIchael and Selene. "You guys don't have to do this. This isn't your fight."
"We'll help." Said Selene. "I've already called someone we trust to come and care for Sonja. She'll be bringing help along with her."
Angel nodded. "Thank you. Then Michael, you'll be along with Wesley; but I want you to hang back and cover him. Only go in if he's in danger."
Michael nodded.
"Selene you'll go with Gunn. I'll take Hamilton. Guys, I want you to rest tomorrow. We might not make it through this fight and I want you all to spend the day doing what makes you happy. Get some rest."
They all left for their respective homes and Selene and Michael went about putting Sonja to bed.
"Who's coming?" Michael asked once they had shut the door to their daughters room.
"Erika. She's bringing Marcus and the death dealers. The werewolves are coming too."
"They shouldn't do this. It's too risky."
"They want to. I told Erika what was happening and she told Marcus and Amadillo. They should be here before daybreak. We should get some sleep"
Marcus and Amadillo were discussing battle strategies on the covens private jet. It was completely sunproof so the vampires would be safe on board during the day.
They were due to land in about an hour.
Erika and Farrun were sitting near the back with thier twin boys Adrian and Gabriel. Both babies were sound asleep as was thier mother. Farrun was talking to a few of the death dealers.
They would be ready to land in a half an hour. The jet was fast and they'd made excellent time. It would be an hour to sunrise when they arrived. Plenty of time to find Michael and Selenes apartment building.
The couple themselves had arisen after a few hours of sleep and were making room for the large amount of people who were coming in. Erika would be staying with Sonja and her own boys. The rest would be ready to fight should they be needed.
They had just finished a quiet breakfast with periodical interruptions from the newly awakened Sonja, when there was a knock at their door.
Selene opened it to find Marcus and the others standing in the hall.
She smiled. "Come in, come in." She hugged all the people she knew and commented on how beautiful Erikas twins were.
Michael came out with Sonja who was staring curiously at all of the newcomers. Not a shy child, she smiled and babbled at them.
After everyone was comfortable Selene and Michael began explaining the situation.
"So, the old ones with souls...it's true?" Asked Amadillo.
"Yes." Michael said. "Spike and Angel both have souls."
"But how?" Asked Marcus. "Old ones are demons. I don't understand."
"Angel was cursed with a soul by a band of gypsies after his counterpart Angelus killed an important member of thier tribe. And Spike went to a place in Africa to fight for his." Said Selene. "But on to more important matters, we're going to need you all at one place." She laid down the plan with help from Michael and then they all got some rest.
Later Selene and MIchael kissed Sonja goodbye. Selene looked up at Erika. "Promise me that if we don't make it, you'll take her home and care for her."
"Like she was my own." Erika replied seriously.
Selene nodded thankfully and she and Michael left after making sure the others knew where they were to be stationed.
At the designated time they all swooped down on thier targets. Angel remained at Wolfram and Hart to take care of Hamilton. He'd been to see Connor and was reflecting on the nice afternoon they'd spent together. He wanted this to work, badly. His son would be that much safer.
Selene and Gunn tore into the senators office, cutting through her and swaths of vampires.
Fred took on a few men in a car. She was screaming with exhileration. This was better than any of the silly sparring she'd done with Angel and Spike.
Wesley was taking the quieter approach in having dinner with his his target. Suddenly he attacked with magic. The disgusting red demon was flung against the wall. The demon got back up and nearly killed Wesley, but a blur of movement caught his attention and suddenly his neck was snapped. Wesley dropped to the floor, panting.
"Thanks for that."
Michael nodded. "Lets go."
Arch Duke Sebassis was bathing in his home. He was telling his servant that Angel would never be able to kill him. He took a drink of his servants blood and grimaced. He looked over and found that the creature was lying on the floor, blood spilling from it's mouth. He gasped for air.
Lorne and Lindsey were taking care of their targets as well. Lorne wasn't happy about what he had to do; but he was going to do this one last thing for Angel before he went home.
Back at Wolfram and Hart Angel was waiting for Hamilton. He asked Harmony where the contact was.
"Records room boss, just like you said." She replied.
Just then Hamilton came out. Harmony got extremely fidgety and Angel fired her. The two men waited unitl she left to face off.
Hamilton was powerful. He knocked Angel about the room effortlessly. He was gloating about how Angel was going to fail. Just as he was about to stake the souled vampire, he was knocked across the room.
Angel looked up to see Connor standing over him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked as his son helped him up.
"You stop by for a chat and the wotld isn't ending? Please!"
The rendesvous point in the alley was swarming with vampires and lycans. No human would have been able to see them however.
Spike, Fred, Wesley and Michael showed up within minutes of each other. Selene and Gunn weren't far behind, thier targets all eliminated. It was raining heavily.
Angel trotted up moments later, surprised to see everyone there, though not unhurt. Selene and Michael were talking to two men he didn't recognise.
Michael turned to him. "Our friends came to help. This is Amadillo, leader of the lycans, and this is Marcus, leader of the vampires and a hybrid like me."
"Thanks." Angel said. "I appreciate you coming to help us."
The two nodded solemly as a quake shook the ground.They turned as one to see the powers of hell unleashed on them.
Man footsoldiers were making thier way across the ground. Giant and small. And above them a winged creature spouted flames.
"What now?" Spike asked jokingly.
Angel pulled out his favorite sword. "Personally, I wanna slay the dragon." He twirled the sword as weapons of every kind materialized from every available space. "Let's go to work!"
It was mayhem. Bodies were flung in all directions and that was just from the spot Fred was standing. Marcus and Michael had changed. Both were tearing into the demons with alacrity.
Many of the vampires were perched on top of the two nearest buildings and were taking out targets with crossbows.
Selene had asked Marcus for a special favor and was now sporting guns of every kind imaginable. She was tearing down demons at an amazing rate.
Suddenly the battle around them froze. The warriors stumbled and looked around in confusion.
"Hey." Said a voice from the top of a building.
They all looked up to see several people standing there. One was a redheaded girl who's eyes were glowing white, her hair whipping in the wind that had set up once the rain had slagged off.
"Buffy." Said a few people quietly.
"Heard you could use some help." The blonde girl grinned, leaping onto a fire escape and down from there.
"Good to see you." Angel grinned back.
"Save it for later, Angel, guys. Willow's not going to be able to hold this forever." Buffy was holding a long sword, and she twirled it over her wrist.
"Spell's coming off now!" Willow called from her spot on the roof as the others climbed down.
Angel could see GIles and Xander along with Faith and a huge amount of new slayers were showing up around them.
"Thanks you guys." Angel called out. Buffy nodded and began beheading demons before the spell could completely wear off. The others followed suit.
Willow set up a perimeter that the demons couldn't cross. The dragon was another matter however. It flew at her, breathing fire.
"Ignis Dampen!" She shrieked holding up a hand toward it. The dragons fire stopped coming and it choked spiralling away angrily. It tried to breath fire again; Willow flung another spell at it. All it could muster was smoke.
It roared furiously and dived at the little witch. Willow changed the air flow so that it was forced to bank away. This gave Angel the chance that he'd been waiting for. He leapt to the opposite building and threw his sword as hard as he could at the dragons undeside.
It hit with a disgusting squelch and buierid itself to the hilt. The dragon screamed, and flailed in midair, knocking down a few perched vampires with uncontrolled wings.
The vampires landed easily on the street and scrambled out of the way. The dragon was going down.
"Look out!" Came from several places and everyone in path of the falling creature ran for cover.
The two biggest threats left were the dragon and the giant demon. It had been greatly confused by the freeze spell Willow had used; but it was still flinging people around mightily.
Now that the dragon was down WIllow focused her attention on it. The slayers were hacking away at it, and not making much of a difference.
Willow used a simple spell to draw them away from it and froze it again. It was easier to hold a freeze spell on one creature. She studied it for a moment before she noticed the small hole in it's neck, closer ot it's chest. She sent a powerful fire spell at that spot and released the freeze spell.
The giant demon saw the spell coming too late. It tried to move out of the way; but the spell found it's target.
The fire sealed up the small hole in the things neck, making it impossible for it to draw breath. It grasped it's throat and clawed at it, falling to it's knees and making the ground shake.
Anyone around it began to run. It soon crashed to the ground and twitched a few times. Then it was still.
Angel approached the dragon, a borrowed sword in his hand. It flailed toward him, still trying to kill whatever it could. He leapt back and slashed with his sword, getting it in the eye.
It groaned in pain and heaved. Blood spilling out of it's mouth. Angel cautiously came closer and the dragon suddenly reared up and snapped at him. He whilred out of the way and plunged his sword into it's soft throat.
He retrieved the one out of it's belly and cut it's head off just in case.
Michael and Marcus were teaming up, one would hold a smaller demon and the other would slash it's throat. Selene had already been through five sets of guns and was on her next to last set. Demons were still coming through the portal.
"WIllow!" Shouted Spike from the ground. "Can you close that bloody hole please?"
Willow saw the portal and noticed it was closing on it's own.
"It's already closing down." She called back. "If I make it go any faster it could make an opposite portal and suck us into that dimension."
"Okay then." Spike replied. Slashing a demon.
The big threats down, Willow made her way to the street below. She helped anyone wounded to safety.
She was helping a wounded lycan when she came face to face with Fred.
"Fred? Is that you?" She asked
"Yes Willow. I am a vampire now. With an ancient demon trapped inside my being. I think it would do to explain later." She added when a gaggle of demons came thier way.
Willow watched as her blue tinted friend stopped them with a wave of her hand, sending them all flying. She shook her head and got the lycan behind a bunch of dumpsters in the alley where all the wounded were being seen to by a vampire doctor.
The demons soon decided to retreat and small teams of slayers and unharmed vampires and lycans went after them.
After making sure the demons lying about were all dead, the rest of the group turned their attention to the wounded.
Willow was swiftly moving about, healing what she could. Angel drew Buffy aside. " I really appreciate you guys coming to give us a hand. I know things haven't been the greatest between us since I took over the lawfirm..."
Buffy held up a hand. "I'm sorry about that Angel. I didn't knwo what to think when I heard. But I see now that you were waiting to strike." She grinned.
"I thought I could change it from the inside," He said sadly. "I thought I could make things right; but the powers had their own ideas about that."
Buffy gave him a sympathetic smile. "You tried. That's what counts."
He nodded. " I guess."
He was called away, and he turned an apologetic smile her way and went off.
Buffy turned around to see a mass of bleach blond and black leather.
"Hi luv."
"Spike." She said softly. She looked at him for a moment before stepping into his arms. After she hugged him she pulled back and punched him in the nose.
"OW! Bloody hell slayer, what was that for?"
"Andrew! I had to hear you were back from Andrew! How could you?"
"I'b sorry slayer." Spike said with his hand over his bleeding nose. "I was a bloody ghost for a while. Then I decided to stay here and anno..I mean help Angel out."
Buffy smiled. Then she sighed. "So you don't want to be with me anymore?"
"What are you talking about? Of course I do! I just heard you were with the Immortal and I didn't want to mess things up for you."
"Him? No that was a cover. I needed inside his operation to take him down." She replied. She looked at her sword closely and added, "I meant what I said in Sunnydale."
Spikes eyes widened. "You did?"
"Of course I did. I also wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I was so awful to you." She sniffled a little. "And after all you did for me."
"Hey, it's okay." He pulled her into a hug. "I've been treated worse believe me."
She giggled through her tears. "Right. I forgot. You used to date Drusilla."
He chuckled and lifted her chin up to kiss her.
Someone cleared their throat. Spike and Buffy looked over to see Fred standing there.
"We need to go. The police are coming."
Buffy and Spike looked around in shock, discovering that the entire battleground was clear, making it appear as if nothing had even happened there.
"Willow did it." Fred said admiringly. "She's very powerful."
"Yes she is." Agreed Spike. "Come on luv, lets go."
They quickly decided to go to the Hyperion. No one was there and it would house them all.
All the slayer teams had returned and they set off immediately, the sounds of sirens in the distance. All those able took to the rooftops. The others walked in small groups to attract less attention.
Angel and his crew looked around when they arrived.
"Home sweet home." Said Gunn, flopping down on the couch immediately.
"It's really good to be back here." Angel said, noticing how close Buffy and Spike were standing. "I missed it."
Fred was dispassionate as she ever was and went to clean up the kitchen. Everyone would be starving soon. Michael offered to go out for groceries and Marcus and Amadillo volunteered to go with him,wanting to see some of the city.
"I'm off to get Erika and the children." Said Selene. "She'll want to know what happened."
Later they were all enjoying a meal, the vampires sipping clone blood brought by Marcus. Sonja was attatched to Spike as usual, and he was feeding her bits of food while Buffy watched.
"I don't know what she's gonna do without me." He murmured to her.
"You're coming back with me?" Buffy whispered.
"Of course, luv. I never could dissapoint a lady."
Buffy beamed.
Angel sighed, watching them. He'd have to remember to threaten Spike with disembowelment if he ever hurt Buffy.
"Don't worry about them." Said Wes, noting his expression. "In case you haven't noticed, Spike's an entirely different person than when we first met him. And I think Buffy can handle herself."
Angel nodded. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
The next day the slayers, Willow, Giles, Xander and Spike were leaving. Willow was teleporting them directly to the new council building.
They all said thier goodbyes and thanks, and Angel threatned Spike, and they were gone.
The covens had to wait for cover of darkness to leave. When it came, Selene and Michael went along to see them off.
"Well, I see you've made some very strange friends here." Marcus joked lightly. "Remember, you are always welcome at the mansion." He shook hands with Michael, hugged Selene and the baby and got on the plane.
Amadillo hugged them all. "If you need us again, just call."
They were soon gone, and Michael and Selene went home.
"Well, that was interesting." Selene said, before they both burst out laughing.
AN: Okay, now that I have all that stuff out of the way, I will be getting into the Dark Angel part of the story. The next chapter is going to take place around the time of the pulse. I hope you guys enjoyed the battle and the Buffy cameo. I enjoyed writing it. LOL Don't worry, you'll most likely see them again. Sorry it was low on Giles Faith and Xander; but they were just there because I didn't think that Buffy would leave them behind.