Disclaimer: I don't own 'em
Distribution: Go ahead. Always ask first
Spoilers: none
A/N: Okay here's an update. I know I left the other one a little cliffy, but never fear, Spike will get better. Although I don't know if the same goes for his character on Angel. My goodness I was rather disappointed with this weeks Angel. Spike was barely on there. He's second in the opening credits you know. Next week looks like it will be better. At least I hope.
Chapter 15:
It had been two days. Two horrible days that Spike was unconscious. Maddy had tried everything to wake him up, but nothing worked. Buffy didn't know what to do. She would sit with Spike and make sure he was okay. Everyone else had gone to the Magic Box and went along with the plan. Only Maddy and Buffy stayed behind. This was how he was going to die. Slowly whither away to nothing and just die. Stupid chip was getting to be the end of him.
The initiative had finally returned Buffy's e-mails. They were coming tomorrow. That would make it three days since Spike was out. At least they were coming was the only thing Buffy could thing about to get her through the days. She was sitting on her side of the bed and Spike was laying motionlessly on his. Every once in a while he would twitch around. Everyone was at the Magic Box deciphering things or training.
"Hey come on. You need to wake up already. Angel's trying to steal me away." Buffy said jokingly. She hoped that that would shock him awake. It didn't work.
"Trying to shock him awake." Maddy said. She was standing right in the doorway holding some herbs. She was trying to keep his brain intact and she said that the herbs would help.
"Time for his daily herbal medicine?" Buffy said.
"Yeah." Maddy said coming inside and sitting at the edge of the bed.
"Is he going to be okay?" Buffy asked.
"He'll be a little disoriented for awhile, but he'll still be the same Spike." Maddy said.
"Well before he wasn't the same Spike. A little more moody then usual."
"That was just the soul. He was acting guilty about everything. It's normal really."
"Yeah I know. I just need to have my Spike back."
"Okay so are we talking from the coma or period?"
"From the coma mostly. I know it's selfish of me to just think that one day he'll get over it. He's trying and there are some things about his soul that I enjoy. The sweetness and the caring. All those things that make him so sweet and like a kitty cat. It's just the guilt is a lot to take in. I just have to be patient."
"Yeah just be patient. He'll come back to you sooner or later. There isn't a curse on him so he should be fine. He chose to do this for you and you will just have to get him out of this."
"You know you're right."
"Yes I am."
- - - - - -- - - -- - -- - - - - - --- - -- - -- - -- -
"This is all very boring." Connor said as he put down one of the books he was looking at.
"Yeah, but we have to do this. This is the boring part of the whole thing that leads to the big fight sequence." Xander said.
"Yeah well you got the boring part right." Gunn said.
"Look if you guys just want to train then go ahead. No one is stopping you." Cordy said.
"Yeah we know that it's just when are we going to fight. I'm itching for a good fight." Faith said.
"Well we have to wait until the team is fully up to strength. Besides we would just go out and slay vampires that are so abundant in this town. There hasn't been any demon activity so let's just enjoy the peace." Anya said.
"What are we waiting for? Buffy and the vampire. If you ask me we should just do a quick patrol and get the fighting out of our system." Connor said.
"Yeah, but Buffy is the one who gives the orders. Well that sounded a little like she was a general or something. It's just we wait for the whole group to be here and decided. And the vampire has a name. It's Spike." Dawn said.
She wasn't sure if she disliked Connor or not. Sometimes it seemed like him and Maddy were together, but others it felt like maybe they weren't. She just wasn't around all the time to be sure.
"Okay so I understand that we wait to make the big decisions, but just a kick sweep of those Sunnydale cemeteries would be fun." Gunn said.
"Obviously you've never lived in Sunnydale." Angel said.
"Come on let the troops have a night out, Angelcakes. They're obviously getting restless." Lorne said.
"Well I'll have to agree with Xander on this one. We can't just do anything we want now. This isn't our town and we don't run it. Buffy makes the decisions." Fred said. Everyone looked at Giles and Wes. They were spilt on what to do.
"Well don't look at us. I personally could do with a little action, but this isn't our decision to make. Buffy makes the decisions here. Besides we don't want to alert Willow into knowing that we are on to her. Let's just wait a while." Wes said.
"Personally I think that they should go out. What with Buffy out right now we need to make sure that the demonic activity is down." Giles said.
"So we're still spilt." Xander said.
"It would appear so." Connor said.
They started arguing over which was the right decision. It wasn't the wisest decision to make, but they didn't know what else to do. Just then Maddy walked inside the shop to hear the loud voices arguing.
"Wow, can't leave the troops alone for more then a day." Maddy said over the voices. Everyone looked over at her. She had been helping Buffy with Spike so she hadn't shown up for the last two research sessions. It felt different to see her there.
"So why are you here? Thought you were playing magically nursemaid to Spike." Connor said. It bothered him that she spent so much time helping Buffy with Spike. He wasn't sure why, but it did.
"Well kid I have news from the big commander." Maddy said.
"Oh really what did Buffy say." Xander asked.
"She said that the initiative guys were going to show up tomorrow. Everyone needs to be on their best behavior seeing as there's going to be that research thing tomorrow." Maddy said sitting down next to Connor. She had done it without thinking much about it. It wasn't like she liked him or anything like that. He seemed like he would make a good friend. They were both relatively the same age, in theory anyway.
"Did she say anything about going out and patrolling?" Gunn said.
"You mean other then to not do it." Maddy said.
"So what she just expects us to sit and stew for another day." Connor said.
"Not stew, but research. You should train and then do lots of research. We shouldn't start going out half cooked. Besides we don't have a concise plan on what were are going to do with Willow. Let's just keep it slow. What's the hurry." Maddy said.
"I need to stake something." Connor said.
"Well calm down okay. Here we'll compromise. If you run into a vamp feel free to kill it."
"Sure whatever."
"Now what are we doing here?"
"Trying to read the sun." Xander said.
"That bad huh?"
"Worse I think my eyeballs popped out an hour ago. Why do vengeance demons have to write so cryptically?" Fred said.
"It was a system designed to keep intruders from them." Anya said.
"Oh well that make sense." Cordy said.
"Yes it really does. It's very sensible, but it doesn't help us." Angel said.
"Well we'll just have to keep deciphering." Giles said.
"Great that's great." Gunn said.
Maddy sat and listen to them talk. She wasn't really sure what to say. She hadn't been researching for a while know and didn't know how she could contribute.
"You know what I'm going to go into the training room and blow of some steam." Maddy said.
"Okay," was the general response from everyone. Maddy walked into the training room and turned on the light. There was too much going on in her mind. She had had hopes of changing Brian back into the sweet lovable guy that she feel in love with. Now she knew that she would have to kill him to save Willow.
She wasn't sure if she could make that decision, but it seemed that she would have to. Maddy wrapped the sparring tap around her hands and walked over to the punching bag. She just wanted to hit something. She started to punch the bag, hoping that she could just forget about the apocalypse that she would have to help avoid. Everything in her mind went blank accept for hitting the bag. She didn't even notice when Connor walked in.
Connor had wanted to see if she was okay. She seemed sort of distant, but he figured that must have been because of Spike. She was punching the punching bag really hard. She was in her sweats and a baggy shirt. Her hair was up in a messy bun and a thin sheet of sweat was visible one her forehead. Connor was so confused at what he felt. Was Maddy just a friend or did he like her. Then throw Dawn into the mix and you got one confused eighteen-year-old.
"Hey." Connor said for lack of a better word.
"Oh hey. How long have you been standing there?"
"Just a minute."
"Well didn't your dad ever tell you it isn't polite to stare?"
"Sorry just wasn't sure what to say. You seem to have a lot on your mind."
"Yeah well I guess so. It's just. these initiative guys don't seem very trustworthy from what Buffy's told me. Against all demons and I'm just afraid that they'll do something bad. The house will be filled with demons." Maddy said trying her hardest to lie.
"I never thought about that. I only know a little about the initiative from Dawn."
"Dawn huh?"
"Yeah and your point?"
"Nothing it's just there was major sparks between you two when you first saw each other. Thought you might have asked her to the prom or something." Maddy said.
"I'm not sure what I feel about Dawn. She seems nice, but there hasn't been any alone time."
"Well maybe there'll be alone time soon. Once Spike gets back into the swing of things."
"Yeah I guess. Maybe we should get back to the research. I think you killed the punching bag."
"Yeah okay." - - - - - -- - -- - - -- - -- - -- - - -- - - -- - --
"What time is it?" Maddy asked.
"Almost three, why?" Xander asked.
"Because I was wondering if it was too early to have a drink."
"Yeah like three years to early." Giles said.
"Yeah I guess you're right although the other troops seem to be drunk with the training."
"Yeah, well that's them for you. Find anyway to get out of research." Cordy said.
It was just the four of them at this moment. The fighty gang was all training and Wes had decided to join them. He wanted was helping to make stakes and sharpen the weapons. Lorne was upstairs taking care of Spike while Buffy went to work. Fred had won the game of rock paper scissors and was the lucky soul who got to go out and by food and things like that. Anya was staying at the Magic Box until about three-thirty. She said it was to keep up appearances and no one disagreed.
"I propose we take a break." Maddy said.
"I second that." Cordy said.
"And I vote yes on it." Xander said.
"Oh all right we'll take a break." Giles said shaking his head at the lack of enthusiasm they had. Sure the research was hard, but it had to get done and Giles was unsure that it would at their pace.
"So these initiative guys sound hardcore." Maddy said.
"Oh they aren't as bad as they sound. Well at least some weren't. okay so most are pretty hardcore, but some are okay. At least Riley is. or well was." Xander said. He wasn't so sure he could defend Riley anymore.
"They work for the government. That sounds a little weird." Cordy said.
"Yes well the government failed in their experiment here, but they didn't stop trying." Giles said.
"Sounds like she leave the demon hunting to the professionals." Maddy said.
"We have to take the help that we can get." Giles said.
"They didn't help much Giles. More like almost brought on an apocalypse." Xander said.
"Yes I will admit that Americans don't know exactly know how to handle things, but they do their best." Giles said. Cordy and Xander looked at him with shocked expressions. Maddy wasn't fazed by the American comment.
"Giles that was really racist." Cordy said.
"Yeah and insulting." Xander said.
"Where are the Brits when you need them." Giles said with a sigh.
"One is in a coma and the other is playing super fighty demon hunter." Xander said.
"So you don't think that these guys are anything to worry about. I mean we are kind of big on the demons here." Maddy said slightly worried.
"I never thought about that. I don't think they will. What do you think Giles?" Xander said. Anya was coming over later and she was a demon. He hoped that the initiative didn't pull anything stupid.
"I'm sure they won't do anything." Giles said in a not too convincing voice.
"Well I hope not. I've already been attacked because of my part demon status." Cordy said.
"You're part demon! And you never told me! That's it now I know I'm a demon magnet." Xander said.
"I wasn't always part demon. I became this way so I could keep my visions."
"Visions?" Everyone at the table said.
"Yeah see the Powers sent Angel a person who had visions to guide him through things. Doyle was the guy and when he died he passed the visions to me. But I couldn't keep them without my head exploding because I was only a human. Doyle was part demon so he was able to have them. So to help Angel and keep the visions I chose to become part demon. Then I became a Higher Being and things are sort of muddled after that."
"Fascinating." Giles said.
"That's cool." Maddy said.
"That's a relief. Not that being a demon magnet is bad considering that all the demons look very nice, but it tends to stick with you throughout life." Xander said.
"Why don't you tell us more about your experiences as a Higher Being." Giles said.
Cordy started to talk about what she remembered and Giles and Xander listened intently. Maddy was a little distracted by the pencil in front of her. When she was bored she would make random objects float in the air. That's exactly what she was doing. She wasn't sure what to do really. She could go in the living room and watch TV to pass the time or she could go in her room and listen to some music.
"Hey, guys, I'm going to go to my room and listen to some music." Maddy said.
"Okay." Everyone said in unison. Maddy got up and made her way to the basement. She walked down the steps and saw a flash of two half-naked bodies.
- - - -- -- - -- - -- -- -- - -- -- - - - ---- --- - -- ----- - - - - -- - - -- -
Angel and Connor had to train in the basement. When the research started they made their way there. Faith, Gunn, and Wes went into the back yard.
"Should we tell Maddy that we're using her room." Angel said.
"No, she'll go crazy and start making rules for us." Connor said.
"You seem to know a lot about her." Angel said. He knew that his son was older know and he didn't know what to do with him. Angel had only been in love once and that didn't work out. "I guess." Connor said making his way down to the basement. Angel followed behind him.
"So." Angel wasn't sure how you start these conversations.
"So?" Connor said watching his dad squirm. He knew what Angel was trying to get at. He was just as confused as he was. Holtz never told him anything about girls, because there never was any.
"Do you like her?" Angel said holding an unneeded breath.
"Yeah I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well I think she's nice and friendly when she's not kicking my ass." Connor said.
"Do you like her like her?" Angel said feeling very stupid. This was a conversation that he wasn't prepared to have so soon. Even then he was going to have Cordy do it.
"I don't know. I mean I spent my whole existence in a hell dimension. No girls there. There are all these weird feelings and I'm not sure how to react."
"Well is there someone else you have your eye on?" Angel said easing in to the conversation a little more.
"Yeah all the girls in the world." Connor said.
"Try narrowing it down a bit." Angel said sitting on the cot. Connor pulled out one of the chairs and sat in it backward with the back of the chair on his chest.
"Well there's Maddy and then there's Dawn."
"Uh Dawn. I thought that she might have something to do with it."
"Well when I first saw her there was major sparks, but with Maddy there was this weird feeling like she was different."
"Different good or different bad?" "I'm not sure. I got a weird vibe off of her."
"Maybe it was the magic thing."
"Yeah probably. I'm just so confused."
"Well you just have to go with what makes the most sense to you. Look you're not going to figure that out right away. Spend some time with both girls and then make your decision." Angel said. It seemed like that most logical thing.
"Yeah that seems like a good idea. So are you going to tell Cordy that you like her?" Connor said blatantly.
"I don't know. Ever since she came back she's been a little different. And now being back in Sunnydale."
"Look Sunnydale has nothing to offer you. That's why you left right?" Connor asked.
"Well I left to give Buffy a normal life, but I realize that she can never have one." Angel said.
"Right because her life is with a vampire and that vampire isn't you."
"You make it sound so bitter."
"It is isn't it. You're just mad that that Spike guy has her now after you thought that she needed a normal life. It turns out that she doesn't need a normal life. She needs someone who will love her and not leave her. Just give it up. It's never going to happen again. So move on and get with Cordy already."
"And you say you know nothing about love. Seems you've got it down."
"Yeah now it's just my love I have to deal with."
"Well enough with this. We're men and as men we can't get all emotional. Let's spar already."
Connor and Angel started to spar. For some reason it is inevitable that when guys spar their shirts come off and that's how Maddy found them. Shirts off and fists flying. She had seen guys with her shirts off before, but Connor looked very nice.
Angel was a little bulky for her taste, but she could appreciate it. Muscles were a big plus with her, and if they were nice and lean then things were even better. Why else would she help Buffy with Spike all those times. Sure she said it was because she was a wicca and could help and that was true. Seeing Spike half-naked was only a bonus.
"Uh-Hum." Maddy said clearing her throat. The two men looked her way with sheepish smiles on their faces.
"Oh hi, Maddy. We didn't realize that you would be coming down here." Angel said and thought about the stupidity in that sentence. This is the room that she slept in and why wouldn't she be coming in here.
"Yeah that's why you're in my room." Maddy said.
"Don't get mad at him. He can't go in the sun and we didn't want to do research." Connor said.
"Forgetting he can technically go in the sun. Well as long as you didn't ruin anything." Maddy said. It was hard to be mad when she had six-packs staring her in the face.
"Right forgot. It'll take some getting used to. No nothing was ruined." Angel said.
"So what's up with the research?" Connor asked.
"We dispersed for a little while. I just said dispersed hanging around Giles too much. Anyway Cordy is currently telling everyone about her adventures as a Higher Being." Maddy said sitting down in her cot.
"Oh well that's good." Angel said.
"I'm thinking that every demon should hang out down here until the initiative guys come. Xander and Giles seem to think that they have a mission to destroy all demons." Maddy said picking up a magazine and flipping through it. She looked in their direction briefly to see them put on their shirts.
"Yeah I met the initiative guys. Riley Finn in particular. Big on getting the demons and killing them." Angel said with distaste.
"Well maybe staying down here isn't a bad idea." Connor said with a little concern.
"Oh puh-lease. I think that if they pull anything we can take them. Just humans right. Just thought that I should warn you, but I guess you already know." Maddy said.
"Just humans?" Connor said.
"Well I meant that they probably don't have any powers to kick our asses." Maddy said trying to cover her tracks.
"Oh yeah that makes sense." Connor said.
"I think that I'm hungry." Angel said.
"Want me to bring you down some blood?" Maddy asked.
"No I'll go upstairs. Should make an appearance you know." Angel said.
"Yeah and I want to get something to eat." Connor said.
"You can look, but we sent Fred out to get food because there wasn't much left." Maddy said
"Okay let's go." Connor said. They walked up the stairs and into the dining room and were shocked at what they found.
- - - -- - - -- - -- - -- - - -- - -- - - -- - - -- - -- - - - - -- - -
"Well at least I only have to watch him. Gets a little boring though." Lorne said as he came downstairs and sat in what used to be Maddy's seat.
"Yeah well at least he's not talking. Then you would really be pooped." Xander said. Just because he had reached a truce with Spike didn't mean he couldn't make fun of him.
"Well he seems like a nice enough guy. Didn't get to know him that well though." Lorne said.
"Lorne you think that everyone is nice." Cordy said.
"Sweetness everybody is good when they want to be." Lorne said.
"Hey that makes a lot of sense." Xander said.
"So how goes the research front?" Lorne asked.
"We are taking a break from it. It was too much for our little brains." Cordy said.
"Where are the troops?" Lorne asked.
"Right here." Gunn said.
"Where's the food in this joint?" Faith asked.
"Buffy wasn't expecting guest so we sent Fred out to get some a little while ago." Xander said.
"Oh did you tell her where to go?" Wes asked.
"No she said she'd figure it out. I think that she just wanted to get out of the house. We all did, but she won the rock paper scissors tournament." Cordy said.
"So no food?" Faith said.
"No food." Xander said.
"Shit I always get hungry after training." Faith said.
"We know we've heard the stories." Cordy said.
"So what are we supposed to do? Just wait until Fred comes back." Gunn said.
"Well that won't be too long. A little help with the groceries." Anya said rushing over to the kitchen. The gang made their way outside and grabbed a bag each. They started putting the food away when they heard a knock.
"Someone should go answer that." Lorne said. No body made a move to answer the door.
"Well I can't do it." Lorne said.
"Oh for the love of Pete I'll answer the door." Anya said. She walked over to the front door and opened it.
- - - - --- --- -- --- - -- - - -- - - -- -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - - -
Riley sat in a chair in the van assigned to him by the initiative. They had been staking out Buffy's house for an hour now. They were just waiting for Buffy to come home, but the group could see the demonic activity on the radar screen and were getting antsy. They were all about the kill. Demons were bad and there was a point in time when Riley agreed. That was before his friend Glen.
He didn't know his demonic name. He just knew him as Glen. He had been part demon and had been trying to live his life peacefully. Riley and Sam had met him when they went to Australia to take down a pack of Fujiian Demons. Riley and Sam hadn't asked questions and just went to kill. That's when they both met Glen. He was a good guy who was helping the Fujiian demons. It turned out that Fujiian demons were harmless and Glen, being half demon, was helping them stay alive.
Riley and Sam soon learned that not all demons were bad like they had thought. Of course it was too late. One night they were coming back from a visit with Glen and found the camp deserted. They were supposed to kill the pack themselves and the camp got restless and did it themselves.
They killed the pack and Glen. Riley had been so sad over the lose of his new friend and finally realized what Buffy was talking about all those years ago. Too little too late. Now he was here in Sunnydale ready to help Spike with his chip. Riley wasn't sure if Buffy and Spike still had something and although he hated that he was here.
He had Sam to make him happy. Soon they would be away from the initiative. This was their last assignment. Riley looked around at his team. They were rookies, which was okay because this would be about the doctors.
Agent one, as Riley called him, or Patrick Swanson as he's parents would call him was a twenty year old man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was a bit timid about things and had just joined the initiative a few months ago. He wasn't anything special to look at that was for sure. Just a regular joe with no muscles and all brains with glasses. He was shorter then Riley, but a nice guy.
Agent two or Jack Barker was an aggressive overly cocky twenty-four-year- old man. He had green eyes and curly brown hair. He was a rookie who thought he knew everything there was to know. He was pretty strong and very good looking.
Agent three or Greg Potter was a mixture of the two other men. He had blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was twenty-two and joined the initiative after the army didn't satisfy him. He was good with weapons and had a good mind. He was okay looking, but nothing like Jack.
Riley could see that the guys were getting impatient and wanted to hurt something. Of course they had come here with the understanding that nothing big would happen. It would be fixing Spike's chip and leaving unless they were absolutely needed. The level of demonic energy coming from Buffy's house didn't help matters.
"Are you sure that there isn't something risky going on in that house." Jack asked. He was an impatient man.
"Yes, I'm positive. There are supposed to be demonic waves coming off in that house." Riley said.
"Yeah but this isn't just one vampire energy. This is at least four demons energy." Greg said.
"Yes well Buffy was a lot of demon friends. Harmless really." Riley thought ticking off how many demon friends Buffy had in his mind.
"And this girl is supposed to be the Slayer? I hardly believe that." Jack said.
"Well believe it." Riley said.
"So what do we do? Just sit and wait for her to show up? I mean there are people in there and we could just talk to them. Maybe get some juice. They have to be aware that we are going to be here today. It has to be nicer then this van. If we did that then if there is something wrong going on in there we can fix it." Patrick said.
"I have to agree with the logic in that." Riley said.
"We'll leave the doctors and Sam here and go see if things are okay." Sam was in the back of the van sleeping.
"Okay let's go." Jack said sticking his hand in his pocket and fingering his gun. He opened the door and the four men followed him. Riley took the lead. They made their way to the front door and Riley knocked. It was a minute or two before someone answered.
"Oh hi Riley. We weren't expecting you till later." Anya said.
"Hi Anya. Sorry if we're early. Can we come in?" Riley asked nicely.
"Yeah of course. Come in." Anya said.
"So where is Buffy?" Riley asked when they were standing just inside the house.
"Oh she's at work." Anya said.
"Who the heck was it?" Lorne said coming out from the kitchen and standing in the dining room. Before anyone had time to react Jack had pulled out his gun and shot Lorne in the stomach. The loud sound pierced through the air and everyone in the kitchen ran into the dining room.
"Agent Barker who told you could disperse your weapon." Riley said meanly.
"I saw a demon and I shot. It's in the training." Jack said trying to defend himself.
"Oh god Lorne!" Cordy said. She bent down to try and help him. He wasn't awake.
"Oh my god. Some help you guys turned out to be. You shot our friend." Gunn said.
"What's going on?" Angel said.
"Yeah we heard a noise and were a little freaked out." Connor said.
"These guys shot Lorne." Wes said.
"What? Is he okay." Angel said with worry in his voice. Riley was too busy yelling to hear anything else that was going on.
"We aren't sure. Demon anatomy is different then human." Giles said.
"What if he doesn't make it?" Fred said in a frightened voice.
"He'll be fine. Minor injury." Maddy said.
"Minor injury? I may not know much about demons like him, but getting shot isn't minor." Xander said.
"Everything is a minor injury with me." Maddy said going over to Lorne and bending down.
"Okay now this won't hurt a bit." Maddy said in a mock soothing voice.
She put her hands over Lorne's wound and white light glowed from her hands. The wound healed up quickly and Lorne woke up coughing.
"Thanks, Sweetcakes."
"No big." Maddy said. The sound of Lorne's voice made Riley and his group turn around.
"He's okay." Patrick said in disbelief.
"Just a little magic. No big. Just don't go shooting all the demons in this house. That would be way too many people to heal." The initiative guys all looked stunned.
"Well it seems there is a lot to clear up." Anya whispered to Fred.
A/N: Due to the fact that my reviewers wanted a Connor Dawn romance over a Maddy Connor romance that's what it will be. I think I made this part a little more Connor and Maddy friendly, but it won't turn into a Maddy Connor romance.
Distribution: Go ahead. Always ask first
Spoilers: none
A/N: Okay here's an update. I know I left the other one a little cliffy, but never fear, Spike will get better. Although I don't know if the same goes for his character on Angel. My goodness I was rather disappointed with this weeks Angel. Spike was barely on there. He's second in the opening credits you know. Next week looks like it will be better. At least I hope.
Chapter 15:
It had been two days. Two horrible days that Spike was unconscious. Maddy had tried everything to wake him up, but nothing worked. Buffy didn't know what to do. She would sit with Spike and make sure he was okay. Everyone else had gone to the Magic Box and went along with the plan. Only Maddy and Buffy stayed behind. This was how he was going to die. Slowly whither away to nothing and just die. Stupid chip was getting to be the end of him.
The initiative had finally returned Buffy's e-mails. They were coming tomorrow. That would make it three days since Spike was out. At least they were coming was the only thing Buffy could thing about to get her through the days. She was sitting on her side of the bed and Spike was laying motionlessly on his. Every once in a while he would twitch around. Everyone was at the Magic Box deciphering things or training.
"Hey come on. You need to wake up already. Angel's trying to steal me away." Buffy said jokingly. She hoped that that would shock him awake. It didn't work.
"Trying to shock him awake." Maddy said. She was standing right in the doorway holding some herbs. She was trying to keep his brain intact and she said that the herbs would help.
"Time for his daily herbal medicine?" Buffy said.
"Yeah." Maddy said coming inside and sitting at the edge of the bed.
"Is he going to be okay?" Buffy asked.
"He'll be a little disoriented for awhile, but he'll still be the same Spike." Maddy said.
"Well before he wasn't the same Spike. A little more moody then usual."
"That was just the soul. He was acting guilty about everything. It's normal really."
"Yeah I know. I just need to have my Spike back."
"Okay so are we talking from the coma or period?"
"From the coma mostly. I know it's selfish of me to just think that one day he'll get over it. He's trying and there are some things about his soul that I enjoy. The sweetness and the caring. All those things that make him so sweet and like a kitty cat. It's just the guilt is a lot to take in. I just have to be patient."
"Yeah just be patient. He'll come back to you sooner or later. There isn't a curse on him so he should be fine. He chose to do this for you and you will just have to get him out of this."
"You know you're right."
"Yes I am."
- - - - - -- - - -- - -- - - - - - --- - -- - -- - -- -
"This is all very boring." Connor said as he put down one of the books he was looking at.
"Yeah, but we have to do this. This is the boring part of the whole thing that leads to the big fight sequence." Xander said.
"Yeah well you got the boring part right." Gunn said.
"Look if you guys just want to train then go ahead. No one is stopping you." Cordy said.
"Yeah we know that it's just when are we going to fight. I'm itching for a good fight." Faith said.
"Well we have to wait until the team is fully up to strength. Besides we would just go out and slay vampires that are so abundant in this town. There hasn't been any demon activity so let's just enjoy the peace." Anya said.
"What are we waiting for? Buffy and the vampire. If you ask me we should just do a quick patrol and get the fighting out of our system." Connor said.
"Yeah, but Buffy is the one who gives the orders. Well that sounded a little like she was a general or something. It's just we wait for the whole group to be here and decided. And the vampire has a name. It's Spike." Dawn said.
She wasn't sure if she disliked Connor or not. Sometimes it seemed like him and Maddy were together, but others it felt like maybe they weren't. She just wasn't around all the time to be sure.
"Okay so I understand that we wait to make the big decisions, but just a kick sweep of those Sunnydale cemeteries would be fun." Gunn said.
"Obviously you've never lived in Sunnydale." Angel said.
"Come on let the troops have a night out, Angelcakes. They're obviously getting restless." Lorne said.
"Well I'll have to agree with Xander on this one. We can't just do anything we want now. This isn't our town and we don't run it. Buffy makes the decisions." Fred said. Everyone looked at Giles and Wes. They were spilt on what to do.
"Well don't look at us. I personally could do with a little action, but this isn't our decision to make. Buffy makes the decisions here. Besides we don't want to alert Willow into knowing that we are on to her. Let's just wait a while." Wes said.
"Personally I think that they should go out. What with Buffy out right now we need to make sure that the demonic activity is down." Giles said.
"So we're still spilt." Xander said.
"It would appear so." Connor said.
They started arguing over which was the right decision. It wasn't the wisest decision to make, but they didn't know what else to do. Just then Maddy walked inside the shop to hear the loud voices arguing.
"Wow, can't leave the troops alone for more then a day." Maddy said over the voices. Everyone looked over at her. She had been helping Buffy with Spike so she hadn't shown up for the last two research sessions. It felt different to see her there.
"So why are you here? Thought you were playing magically nursemaid to Spike." Connor said. It bothered him that she spent so much time helping Buffy with Spike. He wasn't sure why, but it did.
"Well kid I have news from the big commander." Maddy said.
"Oh really what did Buffy say." Xander asked.
"She said that the initiative guys were going to show up tomorrow. Everyone needs to be on their best behavior seeing as there's going to be that research thing tomorrow." Maddy said sitting down next to Connor. She had done it without thinking much about it. It wasn't like she liked him or anything like that. He seemed like he would make a good friend. They were both relatively the same age, in theory anyway.
"Did she say anything about going out and patrolling?" Gunn said.
"You mean other then to not do it." Maddy said.
"So what she just expects us to sit and stew for another day." Connor said.
"Not stew, but research. You should train and then do lots of research. We shouldn't start going out half cooked. Besides we don't have a concise plan on what were are going to do with Willow. Let's just keep it slow. What's the hurry." Maddy said.
"I need to stake something." Connor said.
"Well calm down okay. Here we'll compromise. If you run into a vamp feel free to kill it."
"Sure whatever."
"Now what are we doing here?"
"Trying to read the sun." Xander said.
"That bad huh?"
"Worse I think my eyeballs popped out an hour ago. Why do vengeance demons have to write so cryptically?" Fred said.
"It was a system designed to keep intruders from them." Anya said.
"Oh well that make sense." Cordy said.
"Yes it really does. It's very sensible, but it doesn't help us." Angel said.
"Well we'll just have to keep deciphering." Giles said.
"Great that's great." Gunn said.
Maddy sat and listen to them talk. She wasn't really sure what to say. She hadn't been researching for a while know and didn't know how she could contribute.
"You know what I'm going to go into the training room and blow of some steam." Maddy said.
"Okay," was the general response from everyone. Maddy walked into the training room and turned on the light. There was too much going on in her mind. She had had hopes of changing Brian back into the sweet lovable guy that she feel in love with. Now she knew that she would have to kill him to save Willow.
She wasn't sure if she could make that decision, but it seemed that she would have to. Maddy wrapped the sparring tap around her hands and walked over to the punching bag. She just wanted to hit something. She started to punch the bag, hoping that she could just forget about the apocalypse that she would have to help avoid. Everything in her mind went blank accept for hitting the bag. She didn't even notice when Connor walked in.
Connor had wanted to see if she was okay. She seemed sort of distant, but he figured that must have been because of Spike. She was punching the punching bag really hard. She was in her sweats and a baggy shirt. Her hair was up in a messy bun and a thin sheet of sweat was visible one her forehead. Connor was so confused at what he felt. Was Maddy just a friend or did he like her. Then throw Dawn into the mix and you got one confused eighteen-year-old.
"Hey." Connor said for lack of a better word.
"Oh hey. How long have you been standing there?"
"Just a minute."
"Well didn't your dad ever tell you it isn't polite to stare?"
"Sorry just wasn't sure what to say. You seem to have a lot on your mind."
"Yeah well I guess so. It's just. these initiative guys don't seem very trustworthy from what Buffy's told me. Against all demons and I'm just afraid that they'll do something bad. The house will be filled with demons." Maddy said trying her hardest to lie.
"I never thought about that. I only know a little about the initiative from Dawn."
"Dawn huh?"
"Yeah and your point?"
"Nothing it's just there was major sparks between you two when you first saw each other. Thought you might have asked her to the prom or something." Maddy said.
"I'm not sure what I feel about Dawn. She seems nice, but there hasn't been any alone time."
"Well maybe there'll be alone time soon. Once Spike gets back into the swing of things."
"Yeah I guess. Maybe we should get back to the research. I think you killed the punching bag."
"Yeah okay." - - - - - -- - -- - - -- - -- - -- - - -- - - -- - --
"What time is it?" Maddy asked.
"Almost three, why?" Xander asked.
"Because I was wondering if it was too early to have a drink."
"Yeah like three years to early." Giles said.
"Yeah I guess you're right although the other troops seem to be drunk with the training."
"Yeah, well that's them for you. Find anyway to get out of research." Cordy said.
It was just the four of them at this moment. The fighty gang was all training and Wes had decided to join them. He wanted was helping to make stakes and sharpen the weapons. Lorne was upstairs taking care of Spike while Buffy went to work. Fred had won the game of rock paper scissors and was the lucky soul who got to go out and by food and things like that. Anya was staying at the Magic Box until about three-thirty. She said it was to keep up appearances and no one disagreed.
"I propose we take a break." Maddy said.
"I second that." Cordy said.
"And I vote yes on it." Xander said.
"Oh all right we'll take a break." Giles said shaking his head at the lack of enthusiasm they had. Sure the research was hard, but it had to get done and Giles was unsure that it would at their pace.
"So these initiative guys sound hardcore." Maddy said.
"Oh they aren't as bad as they sound. Well at least some weren't. okay so most are pretty hardcore, but some are okay. At least Riley is. or well was." Xander said. He wasn't so sure he could defend Riley anymore.
"They work for the government. That sounds a little weird." Cordy said.
"Yes well the government failed in their experiment here, but they didn't stop trying." Giles said.
"Sounds like she leave the demon hunting to the professionals." Maddy said.
"We have to take the help that we can get." Giles said.
"They didn't help much Giles. More like almost brought on an apocalypse." Xander said.
"Yes I will admit that Americans don't know exactly know how to handle things, but they do their best." Giles said. Cordy and Xander looked at him with shocked expressions. Maddy wasn't fazed by the American comment.
"Giles that was really racist." Cordy said.
"Yeah and insulting." Xander said.
"Where are the Brits when you need them." Giles said with a sigh.
"One is in a coma and the other is playing super fighty demon hunter." Xander said.
"So you don't think that these guys are anything to worry about. I mean we are kind of big on the demons here." Maddy said slightly worried.
"I never thought about that. I don't think they will. What do you think Giles?" Xander said. Anya was coming over later and she was a demon. He hoped that the initiative didn't pull anything stupid.
"I'm sure they won't do anything." Giles said in a not too convincing voice.
"Well I hope not. I've already been attacked because of my part demon status." Cordy said.
"You're part demon! And you never told me! That's it now I know I'm a demon magnet." Xander said.
"I wasn't always part demon. I became this way so I could keep my visions."
"Visions?" Everyone at the table said.
"Yeah see the Powers sent Angel a person who had visions to guide him through things. Doyle was the guy and when he died he passed the visions to me. But I couldn't keep them without my head exploding because I was only a human. Doyle was part demon so he was able to have them. So to help Angel and keep the visions I chose to become part demon. Then I became a Higher Being and things are sort of muddled after that."
"Fascinating." Giles said.
"That's cool." Maddy said.
"That's a relief. Not that being a demon magnet is bad considering that all the demons look very nice, but it tends to stick with you throughout life." Xander said.
"Why don't you tell us more about your experiences as a Higher Being." Giles said.
Cordy started to talk about what she remembered and Giles and Xander listened intently. Maddy was a little distracted by the pencil in front of her. When she was bored she would make random objects float in the air. That's exactly what she was doing. She wasn't sure what to do really. She could go in the living room and watch TV to pass the time or she could go in her room and listen to some music.
"Hey, guys, I'm going to go to my room and listen to some music." Maddy said.
"Okay." Everyone said in unison. Maddy got up and made her way to the basement. She walked down the steps and saw a flash of two half-naked bodies.
- - - -- -- - -- - -- -- -- - -- -- - - - ---- --- - -- ----- - - - - -- - - -- -
Angel and Connor had to train in the basement. When the research started they made their way there. Faith, Gunn, and Wes went into the back yard.
"Should we tell Maddy that we're using her room." Angel said.
"No, she'll go crazy and start making rules for us." Connor said.
"You seem to know a lot about her." Angel said. He knew that his son was older know and he didn't know what to do with him. Angel had only been in love once and that didn't work out. "I guess." Connor said making his way down to the basement. Angel followed behind him.
"So." Angel wasn't sure how you start these conversations.
"So?" Connor said watching his dad squirm. He knew what Angel was trying to get at. He was just as confused as he was. Holtz never told him anything about girls, because there never was any.
"Do you like her?" Angel said holding an unneeded breath.
"Yeah I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well I think she's nice and friendly when she's not kicking my ass." Connor said.
"Do you like her like her?" Angel said feeling very stupid. This was a conversation that he wasn't prepared to have so soon. Even then he was going to have Cordy do it.
"I don't know. I mean I spent my whole existence in a hell dimension. No girls there. There are all these weird feelings and I'm not sure how to react."
"Well is there someone else you have your eye on?" Angel said easing in to the conversation a little more.
"Yeah all the girls in the world." Connor said.
"Try narrowing it down a bit." Angel said sitting on the cot. Connor pulled out one of the chairs and sat in it backward with the back of the chair on his chest.
"Well there's Maddy and then there's Dawn."
"Uh Dawn. I thought that she might have something to do with it."
"Well when I first saw her there was major sparks, but with Maddy there was this weird feeling like she was different."
"Different good or different bad?" "I'm not sure. I got a weird vibe off of her."
"Maybe it was the magic thing."
"Yeah probably. I'm just so confused."
"Well you just have to go with what makes the most sense to you. Look you're not going to figure that out right away. Spend some time with both girls and then make your decision." Angel said. It seemed like that most logical thing.
"Yeah that seems like a good idea. So are you going to tell Cordy that you like her?" Connor said blatantly.
"I don't know. Ever since she came back she's been a little different. And now being back in Sunnydale."
"Look Sunnydale has nothing to offer you. That's why you left right?" Connor asked.
"Well I left to give Buffy a normal life, but I realize that she can never have one." Angel said.
"Right because her life is with a vampire and that vampire isn't you."
"You make it sound so bitter."
"It is isn't it. You're just mad that that Spike guy has her now after you thought that she needed a normal life. It turns out that she doesn't need a normal life. She needs someone who will love her and not leave her. Just give it up. It's never going to happen again. So move on and get with Cordy already."
"And you say you know nothing about love. Seems you've got it down."
"Yeah now it's just my love I have to deal with."
"Well enough with this. We're men and as men we can't get all emotional. Let's spar already."
Connor and Angel started to spar. For some reason it is inevitable that when guys spar their shirts come off and that's how Maddy found them. Shirts off and fists flying. She had seen guys with her shirts off before, but Connor looked very nice.
Angel was a little bulky for her taste, but she could appreciate it. Muscles were a big plus with her, and if they were nice and lean then things were even better. Why else would she help Buffy with Spike all those times. Sure she said it was because she was a wicca and could help and that was true. Seeing Spike half-naked was only a bonus.
"Uh-Hum." Maddy said clearing her throat. The two men looked her way with sheepish smiles on their faces.
"Oh hi, Maddy. We didn't realize that you would be coming down here." Angel said and thought about the stupidity in that sentence. This is the room that she slept in and why wouldn't she be coming in here.
"Yeah that's why you're in my room." Maddy said.
"Don't get mad at him. He can't go in the sun and we didn't want to do research." Connor said.
"Forgetting he can technically go in the sun. Well as long as you didn't ruin anything." Maddy said. It was hard to be mad when she had six-packs staring her in the face.
"Right forgot. It'll take some getting used to. No nothing was ruined." Angel said.
"So what's up with the research?" Connor asked.
"We dispersed for a little while. I just said dispersed hanging around Giles too much. Anyway Cordy is currently telling everyone about her adventures as a Higher Being." Maddy said sitting down in her cot.
"Oh well that's good." Angel said.
"I'm thinking that every demon should hang out down here until the initiative guys come. Xander and Giles seem to think that they have a mission to destroy all demons." Maddy said picking up a magazine and flipping through it. She looked in their direction briefly to see them put on their shirts.
"Yeah I met the initiative guys. Riley Finn in particular. Big on getting the demons and killing them." Angel said with distaste.
"Well maybe staying down here isn't a bad idea." Connor said with a little concern.
"Oh puh-lease. I think that if they pull anything we can take them. Just humans right. Just thought that I should warn you, but I guess you already know." Maddy said.
"Just humans?" Connor said.
"Well I meant that they probably don't have any powers to kick our asses." Maddy said trying to cover her tracks.
"Oh yeah that makes sense." Connor said.
"I think that I'm hungry." Angel said.
"Want me to bring you down some blood?" Maddy asked.
"No I'll go upstairs. Should make an appearance you know." Angel said.
"Yeah and I want to get something to eat." Connor said.
"You can look, but we sent Fred out to get food because there wasn't much left." Maddy said
"Okay let's go." Connor said. They walked up the stairs and into the dining room and were shocked at what they found.
- - - -- - - -- - -- - -- - - -- - -- - - -- - - -- - -- - - - - -- - -
"Well at least I only have to watch him. Gets a little boring though." Lorne said as he came downstairs and sat in what used to be Maddy's seat.
"Yeah well at least he's not talking. Then you would really be pooped." Xander said. Just because he had reached a truce with Spike didn't mean he couldn't make fun of him.
"Well he seems like a nice enough guy. Didn't get to know him that well though." Lorne said.
"Lorne you think that everyone is nice." Cordy said.
"Sweetness everybody is good when they want to be." Lorne said.
"Hey that makes a lot of sense." Xander said.
"So how goes the research front?" Lorne asked.
"We are taking a break from it. It was too much for our little brains." Cordy said.
"Where are the troops?" Lorne asked.
"Right here." Gunn said.
"Where's the food in this joint?" Faith asked.
"Buffy wasn't expecting guest so we sent Fred out to get some a little while ago." Xander said.
"Oh did you tell her where to go?" Wes asked.
"No she said she'd figure it out. I think that she just wanted to get out of the house. We all did, but she won the rock paper scissors tournament." Cordy said.
"So no food?" Faith said.
"No food." Xander said.
"Shit I always get hungry after training." Faith said.
"We know we've heard the stories." Cordy said.
"So what are we supposed to do? Just wait until Fred comes back." Gunn said.
"Well that won't be too long. A little help with the groceries." Anya said rushing over to the kitchen. The gang made their way outside and grabbed a bag each. They started putting the food away when they heard a knock.
"Someone should go answer that." Lorne said. No body made a move to answer the door.
"Well I can't do it." Lorne said.
"Oh for the love of Pete I'll answer the door." Anya said. She walked over to the front door and opened it.
- - - - --- --- -- --- - -- - - -- - - -- -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - - -
Riley sat in a chair in the van assigned to him by the initiative. They had been staking out Buffy's house for an hour now. They were just waiting for Buffy to come home, but the group could see the demonic activity on the radar screen and were getting antsy. They were all about the kill. Demons were bad and there was a point in time when Riley agreed. That was before his friend Glen.
He didn't know his demonic name. He just knew him as Glen. He had been part demon and had been trying to live his life peacefully. Riley and Sam had met him when they went to Australia to take down a pack of Fujiian Demons. Riley and Sam hadn't asked questions and just went to kill. That's when they both met Glen. He was a good guy who was helping the Fujiian demons. It turned out that Fujiian demons were harmless and Glen, being half demon, was helping them stay alive.
Riley and Sam soon learned that not all demons were bad like they had thought. Of course it was too late. One night they were coming back from a visit with Glen and found the camp deserted. They were supposed to kill the pack themselves and the camp got restless and did it themselves.
They killed the pack and Glen. Riley had been so sad over the lose of his new friend and finally realized what Buffy was talking about all those years ago. Too little too late. Now he was here in Sunnydale ready to help Spike with his chip. Riley wasn't sure if Buffy and Spike still had something and although he hated that he was here.
He had Sam to make him happy. Soon they would be away from the initiative. This was their last assignment. Riley looked around at his team. They were rookies, which was okay because this would be about the doctors.
Agent one, as Riley called him, or Patrick Swanson as he's parents would call him was a twenty year old man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was a bit timid about things and had just joined the initiative a few months ago. He wasn't anything special to look at that was for sure. Just a regular joe with no muscles and all brains with glasses. He was shorter then Riley, but a nice guy.
Agent two or Jack Barker was an aggressive overly cocky twenty-four-year- old man. He had green eyes and curly brown hair. He was a rookie who thought he knew everything there was to know. He was pretty strong and very good looking.
Agent three or Greg Potter was a mixture of the two other men. He had blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was twenty-two and joined the initiative after the army didn't satisfy him. He was good with weapons and had a good mind. He was okay looking, but nothing like Jack.
Riley could see that the guys were getting impatient and wanted to hurt something. Of course they had come here with the understanding that nothing big would happen. It would be fixing Spike's chip and leaving unless they were absolutely needed. The level of demonic energy coming from Buffy's house didn't help matters.
"Are you sure that there isn't something risky going on in that house." Jack asked. He was an impatient man.
"Yes, I'm positive. There are supposed to be demonic waves coming off in that house." Riley said.
"Yeah but this isn't just one vampire energy. This is at least four demons energy." Greg said.
"Yes well Buffy was a lot of demon friends. Harmless really." Riley thought ticking off how many demon friends Buffy had in his mind.
"And this girl is supposed to be the Slayer? I hardly believe that." Jack said.
"Well believe it." Riley said.
"So what do we do? Just sit and wait for her to show up? I mean there are people in there and we could just talk to them. Maybe get some juice. They have to be aware that we are going to be here today. It has to be nicer then this van. If we did that then if there is something wrong going on in there we can fix it." Patrick said.
"I have to agree with the logic in that." Riley said.
"We'll leave the doctors and Sam here and go see if things are okay." Sam was in the back of the van sleeping.
"Okay let's go." Jack said sticking his hand in his pocket and fingering his gun. He opened the door and the four men followed him. Riley took the lead. They made their way to the front door and Riley knocked. It was a minute or two before someone answered.
"Oh hi Riley. We weren't expecting you till later." Anya said.
"Hi Anya. Sorry if we're early. Can we come in?" Riley asked nicely.
"Yeah of course. Come in." Anya said.
"So where is Buffy?" Riley asked when they were standing just inside the house.
"Oh she's at work." Anya said.
"Who the heck was it?" Lorne said coming out from the kitchen and standing in the dining room. Before anyone had time to react Jack had pulled out his gun and shot Lorne in the stomach. The loud sound pierced through the air and everyone in the kitchen ran into the dining room.
"Agent Barker who told you could disperse your weapon." Riley said meanly.
"I saw a demon and I shot. It's in the training." Jack said trying to defend himself.
"Oh god Lorne!" Cordy said. She bent down to try and help him. He wasn't awake.
"Oh my god. Some help you guys turned out to be. You shot our friend." Gunn said.
"What's going on?" Angel said.
"Yeah we heard a noise and were a little freaked out." Connor said.
"These guys shot Lorne." Wes said.
"What? Is he okay." Angel said with worry in his voice. Riley was too busy yelling to hear anything else that was going on.
"We aren't sure. Demon anatomy is different then human." Giles said.
"What if he doesn't make it?" Fred said in a frightened voice.
"He'll be fine. Minor injury." Maddy said.
"Minor injury? I may not know much about demons like him, but getting shot isn't minor." Xander said.
"Everything is a minor injury with me." Maddy said going over to Lorne and bending down.
"Okay now this won't hurt a bit." Maddy said in a mock soothing voice.
She put her hands over Lorne's wound and white light glowed from her hands. The wound healed up quickly and Lorne woke up coughing.
"Thanks, Sweetcakes."
"No big." Maddy said. The sound of Lorne's voice made Riley and his group turn around.
"He's okay." Patrick said in disbelief.
"Just a little magic. No big. Just don't go shooting all the demons in this house. That would be way too many people to heal." The initiative guys all looked stunned.
"Well it seems there is a lot to clear up." Anya whispered to Fred.
A/N: Due to the fact that my reviewers wanted a Connor Dawn romance over a Maddy Connor romance that's what it will be. I think I made this part a little more Connor and Maddy friendly, but it won't turn into a Maddy Connor romance.
