Something Unpredictable
Chapter 6: Wrapping It Up
By: Rogue-Slayer13
Disclaimer: The characters of Btvs and Ats belong to Joss Whedon, not myself.
Summary: I decided to rewrite this fic. It goes from Not Fade Away onwards and has a few changes that weren't on the show, mainly, Cordelia gets to stay, Lorne doesn't leave, and Wesley doesn't die fighting Vail.
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"How's the hitting of the books coming?" asked Xander as he sit down next to Giles.
"Very well actually," replied the former Watcher. "We know that the Senior Partners are just as vulnerable now as any other mortal would be."
"The only thing they've got going for them is size, strength, and the fact that there's three of them." added Andrew.
"At least there's twelve of us," said Xander cheerfully. "Speaking of us, where is everybody?"
"Spike's upstairs helping Fred harness her dark side," said Andrew.
"Oh, I wonder how that's working out," said Xander.
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"Luv, this isn't going to work, unless you hit me," commented Spike as he looked at Fred who was standing a few feet in front of him.
"I can't hit you!" exclaimed Fred.
"Why not?" asked Spike.
"Well, for starters, I doubt I'm even that strong. Illyria's strength only comes out if I'm emotional."
"Just try it Pet," encouraged Spike. "I sparred with Blue when she was at her top form. The worst that'll happen is you'll give me a bloody nose or a few bruise."
Fred took a nervous breath, concentrated, reared back, and socked Spike right in the nose sending him staggering back a bit.
"Spike!" Fred rushed to where Spike was holding his nose. "Are you okay?"
"I think you bloody broke it," replied Spike, pride in his voice, as he touched the bridge of his nose.
"I'm so sorry!" Fred picked up a towel and gently held it to Spike's nose.
"Don't be Pet. That'll be mighty handy in a fight."
"The only person I'm fighting is you, and I don't think breaking your nose will get us anywhere," commented Fred.
"No need to worry." Spike took the towel away from his nose. "See. All healed up."
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Dawn sat down in the lobby and set her glass of water on the front desk. It was about three in the morning and no one else was up, except for her. She had just opened up her magazine when a motion drew her attention to her glass. She watched as a ripple slowly went through the water followed by another and then another. Dawn's head went to the doors of the Hyperion that were began to shake in time to the ripples and then toward the stairs that lead to everyone else's rooms. Dawn wasn't sure wether she should scream and wake everyone up, while at the same time alerting whatever was outside to her presence, or if she should quietly go upstairs and wake everyone. As one particularly large ripple knocked the glass over Dawn decided to go the quicker route and yelled the first name that came to mind.
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Spike awoke to the sound of his name being shouted from downstairs. In one fluid motion he flung back the covers and leaped out of bed, waking Fred in the process.
"What's going on?" asked a worried Fred as she sat up in bed.
"Something's downstairs," replied Spike hastily as he pulled on his jeans.
Fred followed suit, throwing on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and slipping her shoes one. Spike used his vampire speed to his advantage and got his boots on in record time and got a weapon for himself and one for Fred as well. The two hurried out into the hallway where Angel, Faith, and Gunn were all already heading toward them.
"What the hell's going on?" asked Gunn as the group hurried down the long hallway, gathering members along the way.
"No clue," replied Spike, as they made it to the stairs.
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Dawn looked to the stairs just as the doors were kicked down and in walked three large beastly creatures. Each was at least seven feet tall and had the body of a well-built man. The only difference between the things was their heads. On had the head of a wolf, another the head of a ram, and the third had the head of a hart.
"The Senior Partners, I presume," commented Angel.
"You presume correctly," replied Wesley as he loaded his shotgun.
Dawn hurried over to the back of the group with Willow and Andrew.
"I have a feeling this isn't going to end well," said Andrew.
"Let's hope it doesn't end well for them, not us," said Dawn as the creatures made their way toward the group.
"Buffy, Xander, Giles, Lorne, you four go for the ram. Faith, Gunn, Wesley, Cordy, go for the hart. Spike, Fred, you two and I will get the wolf," ordered Angel.
"What about me?" asked Willow.
"Just take any shot you can get."
"Sure can do," replied the red head.
The three groups broke off and headed toward their respective Senior Partner.
The wolf eyed the group and then looked at Angel.
"This is your army?" sneered the Wolf in a voice that didn't appear to come from its mouth, instead it seemed to come from a speaker hidden somewhere in the hotel. "We shall crush you like vermin."
"You guys sure do think highly of yourselves," said Buffy as she took the Ram by surprise and buried her axe blade in its thigh.
The Ram let a pained growl before lashing out and striking Buffy across the cheek. Buffy recovered and picked her axe up from where it had been tossed to the floor by the Ram and went around to its other side. Wesley landed a good shot with his gun that hit the Hart in the shoulder, severely limiting its use of its right arm. Faith landed several good kicks to the Harts chest as well.
Spike landed a good blow to the Wolf's stomach, but it reached out and knocked him down. It was about to crush him under foot, but Fred managed to summon up enough Illyria-like strength, so that she could toss the Wolf across the lobby, giving Spike enough time to get to his feet.
"Thanks Pet," said Spike with a smile.
"Not a problem," replied the Texan as the Wolf got to its feet once again.
Willow looked on from the stairs and as Xander ran his sword through the Ram's stomach, took the available shot, and hit the Ram with a freezing spell. The Ram's motioned slowed to a stop and Buffy took the opportunity to slice off its head, killing it.
"Thanks Will!" called Buffy as she hurried off to help Wesley, Faith, and Gunn.
"No problem," replied Willow.
"See, this isn't going so bad," said Dawn just as the Hart nearly impaled Faith with its antlers. "Okay, I'm going to stop talking before I jinx us."
"Good idea," said Andrew.
It took much longer to kill the Hart, but finally after much assistance from Willow, Buffy and Faith managed to kill it. That now left everyone to fight the Wolf, who was proving to be the strongest of the three Senior Partners. Every spell Willow tried to use, seemed to just bounce right off of the Wolf and no one seemed to be quick enough to get any good blows in. Xander had a shot to embed his sword in it's back, but it spun around and slashed across his stomach with its clawed hand. Willow rushed to Xander's side and with Dawn's help managed to bring him over to the stairs and out of harm's way.
"Are you okay?" asked Willow as she and Dawn had him sit down on the stairs.
"It's just a flesh wound," replied Xander with a smile.
"Wow, the man's injured and he still has time to quote Monty Python," said Andrew in awe.
"We need to find a way to help them out," said Dawn as she looked over to the group, who was struggling to stay just out of the Wolf's reach.
Willow thought for a moment, until an idea popped into her head.
"Trying to stop the Wolf doesn't seem to be working."
"Yeah, so what are we going to do?" asked Andrew.
"If we didn't stop the Wolf, but helped out Buffy and the others."
"Like how?" asked Dawn.
"I can do a shield spell and maybe a speed spell or something. Y'know, just enough to even the odds a bit," said Willow as she looked at her friends.
"It's worth a shot," said Xander.
Willow got out the ingredients and cast the spells.
The group watched as the Wolf's blows seemed to bounce right off of Angel, the Scoobies, and the Fang Gang. Also, Angel and Spike's vampire speed, along with the spell, allowed them to land several good blows, that soon brought the Wolf to its knees.
"You'll never stop us," said the Wolf in its booming voice. "You may destroy our bodies for now, but we'll find a way to return."
"But that won't be for a long, long time," said Spike jammed his sword up to the hilt in the Wolf's neck.
As the Wolf slumped forward, light filled the Hyperion lobby and the bodies of the Senior Partners seemed to have vanished into thin air. Standing in their place however were the oracles.
"What are you two doing here?" asked Angel.
"It's over," replied the male Oracle. "There's nothing left to do."
"Have we told ya how much we love the cryptic lingo?" asked Cordelia.
"The apocalypse has come and gone and just as predicted, the vampire with the soul played a pivotal role in it," said the female oracle as she smiled at Spike and Angel. "Both of them, and they shall be rewarded with humanity."
"What do you mean both?" asked a stunned Angel. "I signed away my chance at the Shanshu. It should go to Spike."
Spike was totally blown away by the selfless sentence that had just come out of Angel's mouth. So much in fact that had Fred not directed his attention back to the oracles, he might've missed what they had to say next.
"You signed the contract as Angel, an alias. Your name is Liam, something that apparently, even you have forgotten," said the male.
"So, even if I am entitled to it, the prophecy only speaks of one vampire with a soul."
"But clearly, there are two of you," said the female. "All things happen for a higher reason, even Spike getting his soul back. If it's meant to be, it shall happen, this applies to everything and everyone in this world," said the female. "Besides, no one knows exactly what the original prophecy states."
"No one except the PTBs," guessed Cordelia.
"Exactly," said the male. "You lower beings should have more faith."
"Good luck," said the woman as she placed a hand on each vampire's chest.
The hands glowed a bright blue that seemed to spread to the very core of Angel and Spike's beings, and just as suddenly as it appeared, the light vanished, and the oracles along with it.
"Couldn't they find a more conventional way to do that?" asked Buffy, not paying attention to Angel or Spike.
Cordelia gently put her hand on Angel's chest and smiled in amazement.
"You're human!"
Angel pulled Cordelia into a hug and smiled his first true smile since he had dated Buffy.
"So, how's it feel to be human, Mr. Hero?" asked Fred with a grin.
"I'll let you know in a minute," said Spike as he pulled Fred toward him and bent her over backwards in a passionate kiss.
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Wesley's heart nearly broke at the sight of Fred and Spike together. He knew Illyria coming into the picture had changed things between him and Fred, beyond what was repairable and he wanted her to be happy no matter what, but it was still hard. To help ease the pain, he decided to slip outside for a walk. He had just closed the door behind him when a voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Getting a bit too emotional for you?"
Wesley turned to see Willow sitting on a bench in the hotel's courtyard.
"Just a bit," replied the former Watcher as he walked over to the red head.
"I can relate. Ever since Kennedy and I broke up, I've sort of felt like the constant third wheel."
"I know what you mean," said Wesley.
There was a brief pause before Willow looked up at Wesley.
"Hey, you wanna go for a walk?" asked the red head.
"That'd be nice," said Wesley as Willow got to his feet.
Wesley smiled as the two began to walk around the courtyard. Suddenly, things were looking up for him, and it didn't hurt to know Fred was with Spike, because he wasn't alone anymore, he had a friend in Willow and that was enough for him.
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Buffy came downstairs and set her and Dawn's suitcases down next to Giles' and Xander's.
"Where's your guys' stuff?" asked the blonde as she looked around the lobby.
"Still in the room," said Willow.
"Aren't you done packing?"
"Actually, we're not going," said Andrew.
"What do you mean?" asked Buffy.
"I'm going to stick around here for a while," said Andrew. "I haven't been back in the states for a long time and Wesley said he'll teach me Japanese."
Buffy nodded and then looked at Willow.
"What about you?"
"I miss Sunnydale, Buffy, and this is as close to home as I can get. I mean, Wesley, Angel, Spike, and Cordy are all here, and now that things are normal, I can actually put my college time to good use," said Willow.
"Okay, well then I guess it's just me, Giles, Xander, Faith, and the Dawnster heading home then," said Buffy.
"Strike me from that list B," said Faith as she and Gunn came into the room.
"Why aren't you coming back?"
Faith held up her hand which was interlaced with Gunn's.
"I've found something worth hanging on to, and it's set on staying here in sunny California," said Faith.
Buffy smiled.
"I had a feeling you guys would get together. I'm good like that."
"Well, if we're all that's going, then I suggest we get a move on it," said Xander.
Dawn ran and gave Spike a big hug.
"I'll be back for Christmas, and Thanksgiving, oh, and Halloween, a-and my birthday, and your birthday, and maybe even the summer if Buffy will let me," said Dawn as she hugged Spike.
"I'll be looking forward to it," replied the former vampire.
"Maybe you could teach me how to drive, considering the fact that I'm sixteen and still don't know how." Dawn shot Buffy a look.
"Hey, you know me and cars are un-mixy things," said Buffy.
"That list could fill a book," said Dawn under her breath.
"What was that?" asked Buffy.
"Nothing," said Dawn as she got her stuff and headed outside.
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To Be Continued . . .
Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!
I'll probably post an epilogue and then this fic will be all wrapped up.
