CHAPTER 32: PREPARATION, PREPARATION, PREPARATION


Pacing back and forth, Gunn put down his cell phone after calling Wesley and giving him the heads-up on what had happened. Well, not that he was completely sure himself yet, but he did understand that the guys invading Buffy's house must have been the Council's wet work team, or whatever Angel had called them. Such a lovely bunch. Hopefully Angel would show up soon and fill in the blanks for him.

Gunn went over to Buffy, whom he had put on the couch to recover. She was slightly burned from the trip in his car, but she would be alright in time. It must have been a pretty powerful tranquilizer though since she was still knocked out. She would probably recover quicker if she got some fresh blood in her system, but that was something he would rather leave for Angel to take care of. When he showed up.

Before he had time to consider what he should do if Angel didn't show up, he came bursting through the front door, smoking and bleeding – but at least he was still alive. Well, okay, still on his feet…

"How is she?" Angel asked as soon as the smoke around him cleared. Not waiting for an answer he kneeled next to Buffy, inspecting her wounds carefully.

"She's alright, man," Gunn said. "She's not hurt badly. Which is a little more than I can say for you. Look at yourself."

Angel shrugged, getting up and wiping a little blood from his face. None of his wounds were serious; they should be healed up in a day or so, tops.

"The house kinda – fell over me," he tried to explain, leaving Gunn more confused than before.

"Have you called the others?" he continued.

"Yeah, I called Wes and he said he'd tell the others. They're coming here. Really, what happened back there? You look like death." Angel glared at him. "Pardon the pun."

"They blew up the house. Having to run pretty quickly to avoid bursting into flames I didn't see much from the outside, but I think the damage was pretty bad."

"A bomb? Why a bomb? Not exactly covert."

"I think it was a last resort, the only way they could get me. Or so they thought. Wouldn't surprise me though if they were hoping to wipe us all out and leave nothing for the police to track back to them."

"Why would they kill us?" Gunn asked, confused. "Not everyone here got a set of fangs."

"You're working with us. That makes you the enemy, I suppose, fangs or not," Angel shrugged.

"That's very nice," Gunn muttered.

When Buffy groaned and started to move, Angel was immediately back at her side.

"Buffy?" he asked, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly. "Can you hear me?"

"Uh… Angel?" She opened her eyes slowly, looking at him. He smiled at her.

"What happened?" She groaned again when she felt the back of her head. "Why do I feel like someone has been using my head as a baseball?"

"The Council," Angel said silently. He had been hunted many times by a lot of different people - vampire hunters, blood thirsty mobs, pissed off relatives to people he had killed, angry Slayers on occasion; both when he was with and without his soul. As a vampire it was expected. But this was the first time Buffy would have to deal with it. She had always been the hunter, the one to track down and kill. Not the other way around. He wasn't sure how she was going to handle that too, on top of everything else.

Buffy nodded slowly. "Figured as much. What with the back-shooting and all, definitely up their alley."

"And bombs too, apparently," Gunn cut in. Buffy frowned, sitting up in the couch.

"Bombs? What do you mean bombs?" She looked at Angel. "What does he mean, bombs?"

"Well, I'm afraid I have bad news about your house…"

Before he had time to say anything else, Giles Willow, Xander, Anya, Wesley and Cordelia all came rushing inside. Buffy got up from her seat, immediately tense again when everyone surrounded her.

"Thank God you are alright," Giles said, a shade of worry over his face. He came up to Buffy, catching her in an uncharacteristic hug. Her first instinct was to pull away, but something made her stay put. She could smell the worry on him. He had been afraid for her, afraid that she had gotten hurt or killed – which must mean that he still cared about her, despite what she had let herself become. And that felt good to know.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said when he released her. "Angel got us out." Giles nodded, giving Angel a quick look. There was only a short not and a thankful smile ever so faint, but Angel saw it, the appreciation.

"Will you be alright?" Giles asked, eyeing him.

"I'm fine. No serious injuries."

"I'm afraid you can't say the same thing about the house," Wesley said. "We drove past it on the way here." He shook his head. "If you had still been inside…"

"Is it still standing?" Angel asked.

"Barely. The roof was collapsing when we were there, and with all the fire… I can't imagine much being left when the firemen are done."

Buffy looked away, a little sadness in her eyes. So she hadn't been comfortable in that house of late, and so much badness had happened there. But still, now everything having to do with her family the last five years was wiped out… and she was dead. The situation was depressing.

"Not to anyone's surprise I guess, but it was the Council that attacked us," Angel informed everyone. "Seems they're willing to do whatever they have to, to take us out."

"I was afraid of this," Giles said, pacing around the room, beginning to clean his glasses. At least he had taken most of the important books with him when I left the house – but it was a poor consolation at the time.

"The special ops team is… they're brutal. They have no scruples against killing humans when they are on a mission. We can only be glad that the bomb wasn't so powerful considering."

"If they had really wanted to, they could have taken the whole block out, eliminating all possible witnesses," Wesley agreed. "But still, they are definitely dangerous. To all of us. I mean – such a powerful slayer turned vampire, working with two ex-watchers and, and Angelus?" He shook his head.

"Don't forget the +1000 year old ex-demon," Anya pointed out. "I could be on their list as well, even though I'm a useful member of society these days." Wesley smiled faintly.

"Yes, well, I don't think the Council much care about our background. We are an annoyance, all of us, and they obviously have their mind set on… eliminating the irritation."

"What should we do now?" Willow asked in a small voice. "I mean, will they be back?"

"I think hiding is a highly underestimated way of life when the Council's in town," Xander said. "I mean, they almost killed Buffy when she was in Faith's body, right?"

"And they almost killed Angel in LA," Cordelia cut in.

"Yeah, that's… bad, too," Xander said. Angel rolled his eyes.

"So we can establish that they're very fond of almost killing people," he said. Xander nodded.

"And non-people," he pointed out. Buffy looked down, and Xander actually regretted his words when he saw the hurt look on her face. Making fun of the non-person thing was okay when it only was about Angel. He didn't want Buffy to feel stepped on.

"Anyway," Angel continued, "Wesley, tell me what you think. Do you think they're likely to strike again?"

"Unfortunately I think it's safe to say that yes, sooner or later they will be back. Buffy, Angel, did either of you see where they went?"

"I killed one of them," Angel said, "and the others must have left. I didn't see them when I got out."

"Yes, well. It's anyone's guess when they will come at us again, really. It could be right now, in an hour…or maybe they'll go back to England and come back with backup in two weeks? There is no way of knowing."

"At least we're pretty safe here for the time being," Angel said. "We can board up all the windows and all of the outer walls are made of stone so there's not much that can burn if they try to pull that again. Buffy or I will hear any cars coming up the driveway."

"Yes, I imagine you'll be remotely safe here for the time being," Giles agreed. "This cheerful subject aside, perhaps we should, ah, try and continue with what we were actually doing before the... the attack occurred. I'm afraid I don't have any news, none of the books I was hoping for proved to be of any help."

"No luck at Willy's," Xander provided. "Okay, so I know the people and… otherwise… crawling around there usually doesn't say anything until you beat them up… and I might be lacking in that area, but at least we couldn't get anything out of anyone."

"I punched one of the demons while trying to acquire information," Anya supplied. "It was a Glurgg who I met back in the forties the first time," she continued, smiling at the memory. "Well, he wasn't actually a Glurgg then… apparently he just came back from his 60 year visit in the world with nothing but shrimp." She frowned. "He wasn't too happy about me sending him there."

"Don't we know it," Xander muttered. "We had to dodge, jump and skip to get away from there without getting hit of any of the yak urine shots he threw after us." Anya nodded.

"Yes. It was repulsive."

"Uh-huh," Angel frowned. "Anyone… else?"

"I'm pleased to say we had better luck," Wesley said. "While our source did nothing as thrilling as, uh, chase us with…"

"Yak urine shots," Anya supplied.

"Yes… he did however provide us with some information about the Mohra demon's preferred habitation. Having studied the demon for some time he could in fact give us three locations where packs of Mohra's have been known to reside. There is supposed to be a nest somewhere around the Caspian Sea, one in a spot in Africa and one close to the Great Salt Lake."

"That's close to Salt Lake City," Angel said. "It's not that far, around 550 miles or so… as far as I know."

Wesley nodded. "Yes, it is by far the closest."

"Salt Lake City?" Gunn said. "Cool. I have a friend there, he owns a big place that I'm sure he'd be willing to let you crash in if you're going to stay there for a few days."

Angel nodded. "That'd be great. What do you think Buffy?"

"We should try it," she nodded.

"Hold on," Giles said, holding up a hand. "Are you thinking of going there by yourselves? Do you really think that's wise?"

"Well, especially now that the Council is after us, I think it'd be good to split up," Buffy said. "I mean, I don't think they'd come after you alone, right?"

"But being only the two of you – you will be a much easier target," Giles argued, genuinely worried.

"Being only the two of us makes it easier to hide, easier to use the stealthy methods they're so fond of themselves," Angel said. Giles frowned.

"Perhaps so, but still…"

"If staying here means that we don't get killed by the brutal Englishmen, I vote for it," Anya said.

"Angel, are you sure you can do it by yourselves?" Cordelia asked. He shot her a somewhat annoyed look.

"We'll be fine," he said, hoping that he was right.

"There is another matter to keep in mind," Wesley cut in. "Mohra demons are very strong, having met one you know that, Angel. And if this group of demons is big enough to be known as a nest, I presume they are at least two-digits. Possibly more."

"We don't have to kill all of them, right?" Buffy said. "We could just be like, get in, get blood, get out?" Presto Mohra-visit."

"I suppose, in theory, but…"

"Well, good then. Angel and I'll go to the Great Salt Cake…"

"Lake," Angel cut in, hiding a smile.

"The Great Salt Lake… and we'll do what needs to be done. And we'll be fine."

Angel was happy to see Buffy have hope again. The mere thought of getting to leave Sunnydale for a while, in search for the thing that would make her human again no less brought a little of the old sparkle back to her eyes. Maybe she was right.

They would be fine.


The following afternoon, the preparations surrounding Buffy and Angel's journey to Great Salt Lake were almost complete. Gunn had called his friend, and as it turned out, he had actually been running a motel in one of the more deserted parts of the land surrounding Salt Lake City. Business hadn't been exactly blooming though, and now he was about to sell the place. Until then, Angel and Buffy were welcome to stay in the currently empty building.

Deciding that it wasn't much more they could do in Sunnydale, Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn went back to Los Angeles. Cordelia reminded Angel that they expected him back soon so they could start up the firm again, and that she would personally rip off his privates if he forgot where he belonged, or if he – lost something on the way.

They headed out just after sunset. The trip would take at least 8 hours and they wanted to get there well before sunrise. Angel caught a glimpse of Giles' face when he waved them off. He looked so tired. So aged and tired, like the last few weeks had made him 10 years older. Angel knew he was worried – worried about him and Buffy leaving, alone and together, worried about Buffy's wellbeing, about their coming fight with the Mohra demons… about the fact that he could do nothing to help.

Angel was silent until they had passed the 'Now leaving Sunnydale, welcome back' sign on their way out of town. He glanced at Buffy. She stared into the dark desert, not focusing on anything in particular. She was so silent nowadays. So silent and withdrawn, like she had lost a part of herself. Well, of course. She had lost a part of herself – to him, he thought darkly.

Buffy had always been a person that felt like she had to fight her battles alone and it hadn't changed after she became a vampire. In silence she fought her demon, the waves of desperation that overcame her day and night, and the knowledge that, no matter how their trip turned out, things would never be the same again. Never.

She would never have her mom or her sister back. She would never live in the house that had been her home for five years again. At the moment the question was whether she would even live again, physically or mentally.

Just thinking about what he had done to her, all that he had taken from her made Angel want to step into the sunlight and feel the fire consume him – but he couldn't do that either. He couldn't leave her alone in this world, not now.

"So Giles will take care of everything while you're gone?" Angel said to break the silence. Buffy flinched at the sudden sound and turned her head to look at him.

"Uh… yeah. Um, he said he'd… talk to the police and contact the insurance company, stuff like that."

"Insurance company?"

"Um, yeah. According to Giles, apparently houses often come with insurances and stuff. I'm not sure how it works, but I might get some money out of the fact that the Council blew it up."

"That's good."

"Yeah, I should have a pretty penny to get from there, that is barring the fact that they might think it's some kind of insurance fraud." She fell silent for a moment. "Well, maybe not a pretty penny. More like… a cute penny, I guess? Houses in Sunnydale tend to be worth about a third of any other town in the country."

"Hmm." They were silent for a while. A long while. Angel stared at the dark road ahead and Buffy fiddled with a string in her sweater, shooting Angel side glances once in a while.

When she got tired of it she resorted to tinkering with the car stereo, finding nothing that she could stomach listening to. The packing they had brought was in the trunk, everything except for a small cooler with two large plastic containers of pig's blood. She wasn't hungry, and besides, she really wanted to put off drinking cold blood through a straw for as long as possible.

When Angel packed the blood she had been close to suggesting that they could buy something to eat on the way instead, stopping herself when she realized that no, they really couldn't. Where would that be, at McPlasmas? And oh, how that was so much less funny than when she had first said it. And considering how somber the mood had been then, just before her Prom... just after Angel had broken up with her... it was up against some pretty heavy competition.

She was completely out of things to do. She glanced at Angel again. Well, not completely. They could always talk. If would keep her occupied, and besides, Angel really needed to practice having a normal conversation which included him saying more than three words.

"So..." she began.

Angel kept his eyes on the road. "So, what?"

"So, this is it. Do you think we'll make it?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure we'll be able to collect the blood. They're tough demons Buffy, we had some problems with just one earlier and…"

"I didn't mean the demons," Buffy said. "I meant us."

Angel didn't look at her. "Oh." The answer was merely audible. Hadn't they had this discussion before? Over, and over, and over…

"Do you really think this is the time to talk about that?" Angel asked darkly. For all they knew they could be heading towards their horrible and painful deaths at the moment.

"Why not?" Buffy argued.

"Buffy, there's so much… can't we talk about this later?" Yeah. Later, as in when you're human again, Angel thought.

"No, I think this is just the time. I want to know. Assuming that we get away from Salt Lake City alive – or undead, whatever, what will you do? Dump me in Sunnydale and continue to L.A.?"

"I think…" Angel paused to try and decide how to express himself. He wasn't really good with this talking, sharing his feelings kind of thing. And he wasn't even sure what he wanted to say.

Of course he wanted to be with her, he always had. But things were more complicated than that, and no matter what he did, it always seemed to come out wrong. Every big decision he had taken in their relationship, it had always ended in disaster, one way or another.

"Think what? Angel, if the us-thing is going to work, you have to learn to talk to me."

"I think that… I think I'm very tired of making choices and decisions that end up in hell. Literally even, on occasion." He frowned. "I've taken everything from you, Buffy. Ruined your life. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me again, but… I can't decide over your life. If you still want to be with me, it's up to you. Maybe… maybe we could work it out."

Buffy felt a tingle, a chill go down her spine when she realized that he was actually leaving the last word to her. Could it be happening? Could it really be true?

"And what do you want?" she said, trying to keep a lid on the odd, these days uncommon, exhilaration she felt. Angel continued staring at the road when he answered.

"You already know what I want."