Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! But don't stop… please! Sorry about the delay, school stared again so busy was had by all.
I've had some people question the timeline and yes, I have changed it a little:
It is two years after Chosen, what happened to the others will be written later.
And with Angel, Season 5 took place but one, Spike never came back. Sorry, but I feel it cheapens his death and no, I will not bring him back in this fic (sorry! No flames please!). And let's assume that whole Circle of Black Thorn thing never existed and they never existed, so Angel is still head of L.A. Wolfram and Hart along with the others. And Lindsey is a good guy… sorta…
Please R+R!
Emptiness WithinChapter 3: Love and War
Harmony slowly stumbled to her feet looking around frantically.
"That was cheating!" she yelled, a note of whinging in her voice, "You can't do that! I'm a super-villain now, I can take you on!"
No answer but a low moan caught the blonde vampire's attention. She whirled around and gaped at the sight of Illyria on the ground, a knife stuck in her gut.
"Oh my god," Harmony gasped stumbling over to the demon warrior.
Illyria looked up at her with dull blue eyes.
"Slayer," she coughed weakly, "Got away."
With that Illyria fainted, Harmony frantically shook the demon trying to wake her up.
"Illyria?" she shrieked frantically, "Illyria?"
She glanced to her right and freaked as she saw the demon they were supposed to be transporting dead on the ground with a crossbow bolt embedded into his throat. She jumped up glancing around fearfully waiting for Buffy to jump out and stake her. When five minutes pass and the blonde Slayer didn't, Harmony seemed to calm a bit but she was still quaking.
"Okay," she whispered to herself, "Angel. Got to get Angel. Got to get the boss. He'll know what to do."
She pulled out a cell phone from her low cut jean skirt and punched in a series of numbers.
"Angel?" she whimpered into the phone as the vampire picked up, "We have a little problem."
The door to the warehouse swung open revealing a dishevelled Buffy. The others sitting around in the kitchen like before started at her sudden appearance.
"Oh god," Indy jumped down her from stool and walked hurriedly to her friend, "Are you okay?"
Buffy nodded, staring stupidly at the blood that stained her hands.
"I got him," she whispered.
"I'm guessing yay?" Ying-fa joined them, "Is something wrong?"
Buffy shook herself gaining back her composure as she forced a smile on her face.
"Fine, dandy, peaching," she chirped.
"How was it?" Indy asked, a worried look still on her face as she led Buffy into the kitchen.
"Hard," Buffy sighed, "Gil, you were right. She was a tough puppy to crack."
"The knife work?" Ying-fa asked.
Buffy nodded.
"I left it in her gut," she confirmed.
Ying-fa grinned wickedly but then she realised the full extent of what Buffy had just said.
"You left it there?" Ying-fa pouted, "I like that knife."
"I'll get you a new one," Buffy promised.
"So it was an all out bitch fight?" Ryan asked perkily.
Buffy narrowed her eyes at him, silently daring him to go on. Ryan smirked at her, relishing her reaction.
"Man, if only we could've got some mud and an arena," Ryan mused, sending Buffy a subtle smirk, "Then we could've made some easy cash."
"How about we gut you and sell your pretty organs on the black market to make some easy cash?" Ying-fa wanted to know.
Buffy looked around confused realising the full group was here sitting around the kitchen counter as they were prone to do.
"Where's Tori and Horace?" she asked, "Is he back yet?"
Gil, Ying-fa, Indy and Ryan shot her a look, Buffy blushed realising what they meant.
"Again?" she asked incredulously.
"Hormones," Indy explained.
"It's making her crazy..." Gil began.
"And horny," Ying-fa added.
"A lot," Indy finished.
Buffy really didn't want to know that piece of information but having been forced on her, she tried to forget about it. Wearily she dumped herself onto a stool and laid her head tiredly on the kitchen counter, her arms cushioning her head.
"Any injuries?" Gil asked, his grey eyes studying her carefully.
"Bruises," Buffy yawned, "They'll heal."
"Are you sure? Internal bleeding, fractures, brain damage..." Indy shot a look at Ryan who was just on the verge of making some snark comment, "Don't. Even. Think. About. It."
"Think about what?" Ryan was all batting eyelids and innocent looks trying his best to adopt a sinless choirboy look.
The female occupants of the room all shot him sinister looks, Gil fidgeting nervously as Ryan continued to smile at them. Simultaneously all three women rolled their eyes together at him and turned back to their conversation.
"No and no," Buffy smiled warmly at Indy, "I'm fine. Shower and sleep is what I need."
"So another hit for Ring," Ying-fa leaned back in her stool and smirked, "Damn are we good or what?"
"Still, this hit must've hurt Wolfram and Hart..." Gil frowned thoughtfully.
"So?"
"I wonder if they're going to retaliate."
"Are you sure?" Angel grabbed Harmony roughly glaring down at her shocked face.
The blonde vampire stared up at her boss, shivering under the intensity of his gaze. Behind him stood Wesley, Gunn, Lorne and Lindsey each of them watching their 'conversation', read interrogation, with a range of emotions on their faces. Wesley looked serious and worried, not that those emotions were any stranger to him ever since Fred's death and subsequent spectacular metamorphosis to Illyria. The other three showed faintly veiled interest with some worry.
Harmony nodded quickly. Angel immediately let got of her and began pacing the room, seemingly unaware of his audiences.
"How?" he kept whispering over and over again, "Why?"
"She's gone rogue," Wesley muttered.
"Never," Angel glared at him, "Buffy will never g..."
"How do you know?" Lindsey asked bluntly.
The ex-lawyer, now reinstated again, stared at his ex-rival silently daring him to admit the truth.
"I know her," Angel stopped, "She'll never do something like this..."
"She killed a demon, didn't she?" Gunn asked, "I don't see what's the big deal. A dead demon is a good demon."
"Hey!" Lorne broke in, "Don't start lumping all of us together, some of us just want to be all 'the hills are alive with the sound of music' not destroy the world."
"How did she find out about him?" Lindsey asked once again daring to ask the hard questions, "Only we knew about the plan to shift Olario to the safehouse..."
They all stared at each other, more than one long look darting towards Harmony.
"Hello?" Harmony snapped annoyed, "If I helped her do you think I would've let myself be knocked out?"
"She has a point," Gunn conceded.
Harmony huffed loudly stalking straight out of room as the men looked at each other.
"How's the Smurf?" Lorne asked lightly.
"She's fine," Wesley muttered tersely, "Once we took the dagger out, the wound sealed right up."
"That's the thing I don't get. I thought the blue goddess couldn't be harmed," Gunn spoke up.
Wesley nodded.
"By normal weapons that is true but the dagger was imbued with powerful magic," he explained, "That magic managed to punch through Illyria's godly defences and hurt her."
"Only someone really powerful could do that," Lindsey thought aloud.
"Can we track it?" Angel asked suddenly.
Everyone stared at the vampire.
"Can we?" he demanded angrily.
"Sure, may take a while," Wesley assured.
"Good, get every last seer, witch or whatever the hell we have on it," Angel snapped, "I want the person who created the knife found. Now."
The others nodded before making their way towards the door however Lindsey lingered back for a while.
"Are you okay?"
"Why do you care?" Angel snapped.
Lindsey shrugged as if it didn't bother him either way and left. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he ducked into an empty work cubicle. Pulling out his mobile, he punched in a few numbers.
"Hello?" he whispered as someone on the other line picked up, "Yeah, it's me. I've found her."
"Found it!"
"Found what?"
From her lying position on the couch, Ying-fa looked curiously at Indy as the dark skinned woman held up something triumphantly in her hand.
"What is that?" Gil asked curiously.
Buffy had gone up to bed and just as soon as she had disappeared into her room, Indy had disappeared into what was roughly their storage room and had begun a noisy search for something that remained a mystery to the others.
"This," Indy held up a dagger, an exact carbon copy of the one Ying-fa had enchanted for Buffy to take out Illyria, "I remember when we stole it from that collector there was a set of them."
"Wicked!" Ying-fa eagerly jumped out from her position on the couch, bounding towards Indy and snatching the dagger from her, "I didn't know we had this!"
"Oh great, Ying has another fancy glorified nail file to play with," Ryan snorted.
"Ryan, in a house full of women that can nail your ass down in world record time you sure are a chauvinist male pig," Ying-fa retorted with even looking at him instead choosing to admire the dagger.
"Awww... and you wouldn't have me any other way," Ryan teased.
"Actually I want you vivisected and roasting in hell," Ying-fa snapped.
"Oh my god, they're like the Itchy and Scratchy show," Indy muttered rolling her eyes as Ryan and Ying-fa glared at each other.
Gil hummed the theme song to the show watching the usual Ryan and Ying-fa show carefully, it always guaranteed entertaining watching. Indy, forever the peacemaker decided to step in.
"Hey, guys," she called breaking up at the Ryan vs. Ying-fa death match, "Remember that vampire nest I told you about?"
"The one downtown?" Ying-fa was still glaring at Ryan.
"I found out that they work for the Dark Marks," Indy noticed Ryan and Ying-fa's puzzled look and sighed, "That mob of chaos demons that hired us and tried to screw us over after we did that hit."
Ryan's eyes narrowed as he remembered that little incident, if it weren't for Buffy they would've died after the demons had turned on them with guns and swords.
"So?"
"Wanna party?"
Ying-fa and Ryan looked at her.
"Now?" they both asked simultaneously.
"Well, if we wait for day like we normally do it'll be no fun… plus Ying gets to try out her new fancy dagger and Ryan gets to prove he's a man," Indy couldn't help insulting the man.
"Hey!"
"And also Julian will be there," Indy added, "And I'm pretty sure you all know who that is."
"The bastard that started the shooting range on us?"
"Oh yeah."
Ying-fa beamed wickedly.
"Let's roll," she chirped leaping off the stool and sticking the dagger casually into her jean pocket.
"Bet you I can kill more of them than you," Ryan taunted unable to stop himself from throwing another verbal barb at the witch.
Ying-fa glared at him dangerously.
"Good grief," Indy moaned, "For the love of god, shut up."
She dragged Ryan away from the fuming Ying-fa, Gil bringing up the rear urging the witch along with him. The door opened into the night and they were off, closing the door behind them leaving behind a sleeping Slayer and a couple that were lost to the world.
"Why is it taking so long?" Angel demanded, in his frustration unknowingly shifting into his vampire face.
In any normal office block, all the employees would have began to panic and stampede out of the place but since this was Wolfram and Hart, they were more afraid that the vampire standing before them would fire rather then eat them.
"The dagger is shrouded in power magic," one of the company's seers explained patiently, "It's taking a while for us to destroy the protective wards around it and sense the true essence of its owner. But we should get the information soon."
"You better," Angel snarled threateningly.
The seer fought back the urge to roll her eyes but instead gave a polite bow before leaving the boss's spacious office. As soon as she had left, Wesley stepped in.
"What?" Angel snapped.
"I'm just wondering what you plan to do to her once we find her," Wesley asked delicately, not wanting to spark Angel's temper.
The souled vampire sighed and rubbed his temper, a look of defeat on his face. The ex-Watcher walked calmly over to his boss's desk and stood over him watching him carefully.
"I've thought and thought about it..." Angel began quietly.
"And?" Wesley prompted.
"I don't know," Angel angrily smacked the smooth surface of his mahogany desk with the palm of his hand in frustration, "I don't know if she's just confused or... or... or..."
"Evil?" Wesley calmly sat down ignoring the evil death glare Angel sent him, "We have to be practical here. If she's gone evil... or rogue maybe it would be better for the Slayers to handle her."
"Over my dead body!" Angel roared.
"You're dead already," Wesley reminded him, deadpanned.
"My dusted body," Angel snapped, "We have no idea what they will do to her. They migh..."
"Angel, this is the Slayers we're talking about not the Watcher Council," Wesley eyed him calmly, "I doubt they'll try to kill her."
The vampire calmed down slightly but a determined look soon spread across his face.
"We'll decide what to do once we have her here," Angel said, a note of finality in his voice, "Let's just think about capturing her first."
"Angel, she's a Slayer and need I remind you, perhaps the strongest and most resourceful Slayer of all time," Wesley paused, "In short she'll stomp you down into the ground without batting an eyelid and as for the rest of us..."
Wesley shrugged not needing to go on.
"I've thought of that," Angel admitted.
"And?"
"That's why we'll have mages on hand."
"Are you sure this is it?" Ying-fa asked dubiously.
"Yes," Indy snapped a little annoyed, "Why do you guys keep doubting that?"
"Because well..." Ying-fa trailed off.
"It looks like a penthouse," Gil supplied.
All four of them looked up at the expensive building noting the almost overwhelming amount of marble used in its construction. The door itself was made of ebony or some other kind of precious wood and was huge almost twice the height of Gil who stood well over Ryan's head, who was tall for a human. Ying-fa's eyes could just pick out the expensive imported tiles framing the windows finishing the impressive picture the penthouse presented.
"It is a lot different from our usual vampire dump," Ryan muttered.
"Different?" Ying-fa snorted, "This is like the Trump mansion, your usual vampire dig is a shack in the ground."
Indy sighed.
"Are we going to do this or are we going to stand outside?" she demanded, "Choose."
"We knock?" Gil asked making the decision for them.
"Oh yeah," Ying-fa smirked.
She held up her hands and everybody backed away a little as the air around her fingers began rippling, deforming into spectacular shapes. With no warning at all, the distorted air undulated from her fingers and leapt at the tall door. Magic slammed into the wood ripping gouges and carving splinters marks all over its varnished surface, with a loud bang the door exploded inwards shattering into a thousand pieces as it hit the ground.
"Ding, dong," Ying-fa smiled wickedly at the damage she had caused.
She turned around meeting the incredulous stares of her friends.
"What?" she asked casually.
"You have issues," Ryan informed her, "Deep seated issues that need to be Oprah-ed out of you."
"Who died and made you Dr. Phil?" Ying-fa demanded, "Anyway, we have access and weapons so a little yay for me?"
"Yay," Gil supplied helpfully.
The group fell silent as the sound of slamming doors and pounding feet rang through the air. Instinctively each of them took up a position, Ryan was point with Indy and Ying-fa flanking him and Gil was rear-guard, all of this was done without a single word being exchanged between them a testament to their teamwork skills. Calmly the quartet waited as the vampire appeared into their line of vision.
"What the hell?" the blonde-haired vampire snarled as he surveyed the damage and the four people waiting for him at the door, "Who the hell are you people?"
"Bored people," Indy informed him, a wicked smile spread across her face, "But somehow I think this night is going to get a lot more interesting."
Ryan leapt forwards scooping up a long sliver of wood from amidst the ruins of the shattered door as he sailed through the air. He landed nimbly blocking the vampire's wild right punch before slamming the wooden stake into his chest. The vampire exploded into dust.
"One down," Ryan taunted.
More vampires appeared racing down a long flight of stairs towards them.
"Hey, Ryan!" Ying-fa called, "You wanna bet?"
"Bet what?"
"Who can take out the most vamps?"
"You're on," Ryan challenged.
Ying-fa smirked.
"Come on Count Wannabes," she taunted jumping into the fray, "Let's party!"
Indy and Gil joined in and it soon turned into a free for all melee. Ying-fa immolated a handful of vampires on the spot with fistfuls of magical fire, across the room Ryan was kick and punching vampires with deadly precisions occasionally staking a vampire with blindingly fast strikes that caught its victim unaware.
"Ying!" Indy yelled.
Ying-fa ducked leaving a vampire open to Indy's attack. She threw a stake at the demon with pinpoint accuracy, wooden weapon smashing into its heart and reducing it to dust in the blink of an eye. She was tackled suddenly from the side, her attacker and her both landing heavily onto the ground. Indy managed to end up on top kicking the vampire twice in the face before snatching up another splinter of wood and driving it through the demon's heart reducing him to dust.
Gil was a sight to behold, long talons shot out from his fingers, spines poking out through his back. He had no need for weapons, using brute force to beat the vampires down occasionally decapitating them with a swipe of his claws. Vampires were flying through the air, no match for the demon's superior strength.
Ryan punched a vampire away and whirled around just in time to see a fresh batch of vampires come roaring down the stairs wielding semi-automatic rifles. One of them swung his weapon up and prepared to fire but Ryan was quicker.
"YING!" he roared.
Ying-fa turned away from her victim burning him with a whispered word. She quickly saw their new danger and attacked with devastating force.
"INFERNOS!" she barked.
Skeins of red flames leapt forwards and devoured the vampires reducing them to glowing embers. With a flick of her hands, she called one of the dropped guns to her the searing heat of the metal seemingly having no effect on her. She swung the weapon around and fired expertly.
A vampire went down a bullet slamming through his eye; she raked his neck with a volley of shots succeeding in separating his head. Gil tore another vampire's head off, the remains turning to dust in his clawed hands. Roaring with rage, he whirled on his next victim punching the vampire with taloned fists that ripped bloody holes through its chest.
Ryan and Indy body-slammed a vampire into the ground, Indy dropping down and dusting the vampire before lashing out with a leg sweep that sent another tumbling down. Ying-fa crippled another with a shot to the knees, Ryan finishing it off with a stake thrust into its un-beating heart.
"Is this cool or what?" Ying-fa yelled over the din of the battle.
She dropped the gun and reached into her pocket pulling out what she really wanted to test: the dagger.
"Da mihi," she chanted, dark energy crackling around her.
The magic seemed to slam into her body chasing the whites away from her eyes as Ying-fa looked up smiling wickedly. She punched a vampire in the face sending it flying backwards twirling around she sliced another vampire's throat open with her dagger before another pass decapitated it neatly. Its body crumbled to dust, which was quickly scattered by the movement of the raging battle. A trio of vampires jumped Gil attacking him simultaneously and succeeded in bringing him down but Indy was immediately amongst them lashing out with kicks and punches that drove them back. Ryan hurled a stake at the fray succeeding in reducing one to dust as Indy staked the other two in quick succession.
"JULIAN!" Ying-fa roared, her voice magically amplified, "WHERE ARE YOU?"
As the battle raged on, nobody noticed the tiny girl that sat at the top of the stairs staring down at them with wild opened eyes.
"We've got it!" the seer roared into the room, a triumphant smile on her face, "It took us a while but..."
"Where?" Angel demanded not caring about the smaller details.
"It's in another city but we can easily teleport there," the seer informed her boss, "I'll need to arrange some magic users."
"Do it," Angel commanded, "Now!"
The seer swanned out of the room leaving Angel behind in his office. Angel immediately whirled around and reached for his phone punching in a series of number.
"Harmony," he muttered, "Assemble two task forces and get Gunn, Wesley, Lindsey and Illyria if she's okay. Assemble them at sub-basement 5."
He paused listening to Harmony's excited chatter.
"Fine," he sighed knowing that if was useless to argue, "You can tag along."
He hung up and swept out of his office grabbing his black jacket on the way. Everybody he passed stared at him puzzled and awed at the aura of determination and fearlessness that hung around like an invisible veil.
And every one of them knew.
He was a vampire on a mission.
Ying-fa and Indy were working together, vampires falling under their aggressive attacks. Indy was impressive but the magic-boosted Ying-fa would've given Buffy a run for her money. Vampires screamed as the two girls ploughed straight through them, Ryan provided backup sharpshooting with one of the semi-automatic rifles that the vamps had dropped after Ying-fa had roasted them. The vampires were falling back; limping, bleeding, broken and demoralized. Ying-fa and Indy pressed the advantage pushing the demons further and further backwards, Gil stalking several steps behind them roaring menacingly.
"STOP!" a loud booming voice ripped through the air, louder than even Gil's threatening growls.
The melee stopped as simultaneously both sides looked up at the landing that perched out from the level above them. Standing there, a tall demon dressed in a neat brown suit glared down at them. Ying-fa smirked as she realised who this demon was.
"Julian," she spat, "How nice to see you."
"What the hell are you doing?" 'Julian' spat, his red-scaled face growing redder with anger with each passing second.
"Now, is that any way to speak to a friend who you tried to gun down last time we spoke," Ying-fa turned to Indy, "Is that really?"
"I think it's rude," Indy added casually, "Maybe we should teach them lesson."
"You think you can defeat me?" Julian boomed.
"No, the question is do you think you defeat us?" Ryan arched an eyebrow up at the chaos demon.
"Of course I can," the demon snapped.
Ryan rolled his eyes.
"With that army?"
He casually pointed his rifle at the cowering vampires before them. Julian seemed to glance down at his vampires for the first time the members of Ring smirked as the demon visibly gulped.
"Maybe we should make a deal…" he began weakly, his red scales turning almost pink by now.
"NOOOO!"
Everyone jumped as another voice tore through the air. A small girl dashed across the landing to cling onto Julian's leg as everyone looked on in surprise.
"Who the…" Ryan muttered.
"You must not make a deal with them," the young girl said with a seriousness that belayed her youthful appearance, "They're the guards of her."
After a small stunned pause, it was Julian who asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"Her?" the demon seemed to consider the little girl's with deadly seriousness as the Ring members glanced at each other in confusion.
"The her, it fears her. The dark shadow is coming but it fears her," the girl whispered dreamily.
"She's a seer," Indy realised.
"Not a seer," Ying-fa reached out with her magic and instantly realised there was more to this seemingly innocent girl, "She's a chaos demon."
"Her?" Ryan barked disbelievingly.
Gil sniffed the air delicately and nodded.
"Ying is right. She is of demonic origin… a half breed."
"You mean…" Indy trailed off uncomfortably.
Gil nodded gravely.
"What?" Ying-fa was confused.
"A demon and a human got jiggy with it," Ryan added helpfully.
Ying-fa's jaws dropped as an unwanted mental image flashed in her mind.
"Ew."
"Who is she?" Julian repeated.
"The twice-born killer," the girl looked up at the chaos demon, "It's coming daddy. The hunger, it thirsts and lusts and knows no stop. It's coming but its seeds are already here. Sowing… growing… sprouting… but it fears her. The twice-born killer."
"Right," Indy glanced at the others, "Rings any bells?"
The other three shook their heads. Indy frowned at them.
"The twice-born killer," she mused, "Who could… OH CRAP!"
"What?"
"Killer… slayer… the twice-born slayer… Buffy!"
"It's coming for her," the girl continued with perfect timing, "It's coming…"
"Buffy's in danger?" Ying-fa demanded.
They all stared at each other.
"Let's wrap this up and get the hell out of here," Ryan snapped decisively.
"Hey, I ain't the one with the gun!"
"Oh right," Ryan lifted his gun and aimed it at Julian who was still staring down at the little seer child.
"Sorry to do this to you… it seems so cold and impersonal. I rather torture you but…" Ryan sighed calling out to the demon.
The chaos demon turned to look at him in horrified shock, his eyes bulging out of his skull his scaled skin positively white. Ryan shrugged giving the demon a sheepish smile before pulling the trigger. The seer half-demon screamed as Julian's head exploded in a spray of red.
"Daddy!" she shrieked.
Julian's headless body collapsed to the blood-soaked ground.
"Sorry, boys," Ying-fa turned to the shell-shocked vampires, "It's been fun and all but…"
She glanced at the shattered remains of the door and smiled. Slivers and splinters of wood slowly rose into the air, spinning around until their sharps ends all pointed at the cowering demons. Ying-fa smiled disarmingly at them and gestured. One by one they exploded into the dust under a hail of flying wooden shrapnel.
"What should we do with her?" Indy asked glancing up at the sobbing seer demon.
Ying-fa looked up calmly at the child, an unreadable expression in her dark eyes. Indy turned to stare at her slowly realising what the witch was going to do.
"NO!" she screamed.
"Infernos."
The demonic seer exploded into flames, eager fire devouring the child as everyone stared at Ying-fa in shock. The witch shrugged at them, her completely black eyes crackling with power.
"First rule of revenge," she whispered, "Never leave anyone alive."
Ignoring her friends' stunned silence she turned around and strolled out of the shattered building, several seconds later her friends followed her.
"We need to get to Buffy, now."
Tori glanced sleepily at the man sprawled beside her and smiled at the sight of Horace sleeping like a baby. Glancing down at her stomach ruefully, she wondered why that comparison was used when her baby was not sleeping at all.
"Please, sweetie," she pleaded to her unborn child, "Mommy's got to sleep. No more kicking."
A slightly harder kick than normal was her only reply. Smiling softly, Tori stretched and realised she was feeling extremely hungry. Slowly freeing herself from Horace's embrace, she reached for her robe and pulled it on. Padding softly to the door, she pushed it open and peered outside.
It was dark and surprisingly quiet. The others had either gone to sleep or gone out. Shrugging, she waddled over to the stairs her stomach make her movements awkward. Pausing at the top to gather herself, she took in a deep breath before walking downwards towards her goal: the fridge.
Finally getting into the kitchen, Tori hurriedly walked over to the frosty box full of food-y delights (Buffy's words not her) and pulled it open. Biting her lip, she considered her options.
"Sandwich?" Tori asked herself, "Hmm… ice-creams? Mini-pizzas? Hot dogs? Cheese? Pickles with honey?"
Smiling to herself, she made her choice pulling out the jar of pickles. This particular combination always made the others gag but it wasn't her fault they tasted so nice together, damn it!
Waddling over to a cupboard, she pulled out a jar of honey and set both jars onto the kitchen island. Making herself comfortable, she began to unscrew the lid of the pickles.
"BOOM!"
Tori shrieked as their door suddenly exploded inwards. Bright light burnt away the shadows as loud voices tore through the air.
"GET IN! NOW!" a male voice roared, "NOW!"
Tori could only back away in horror as dark figures filled the room. Standing so close to her she could see they were heavily armed men complete with black Kevlar gearing and night-vision goggles, they surrounded her pointing their weapons at her body. Finally a tall man with a long black jacket seemed to simply melt out from the shadows and appear in front of her.
"Where is Buffy?" he demanded, glaring down at her.
"Right here," a clear voice rang through the building.
Everyone looked up to see Buffy standing above the flight of stairs glaring down at all of them. But it was the tall pale man that stood before Tori that took the brunt of her green-eyed gaze.
"Angel."
Buffy tossed and turned in her bed, muttering feverishly as short snippets of her fight with Illyria circled endlessly in her head.
"No!" she whispered furiously, "Back off! Back off, blue bitch!"
Suddenly a new image began appearing in her mind's eye.
She was standing on a grassy hill, the sun gently beating down on her face. She looked up and suddenly a black shadow raced across the sky plunging everything around her in darkness. She glanced to right then her left and then right again. Standing there moving towards her were five figures, their faces and features hidden by the darkness.
"It is coming," a small girl appeared before her looking up at her, "And it fears you."
"Who?" Buffy asked kneeling down so her and girl's eyes were level, "Who is coming."
"The shadow," the girl looked at the five figures drifting towards them, "Those are its seeds."
Buffy glanced at the five shadows and could feel her slayer's senses screaming at her, warning her of danger. She glanced back at the girl and was shocked to see that the innocent face was now twisted into a demonic visage but when she spoke her voice was still the same.
"It's coming but it's also here. It's caught in between but its shadow is spreading… soon it will be free and the world will burn."
"Who's coming?"
The girl stared at her calmly.
"Chaos."
Buffy jumped back hurriedly as with a loud whoosh, the girl turned into a column of flame. Shrieks of pain could be heard over the roar of fire. Even after the fire had burned out, the scream went on and on and on…
Until Buffy realised she was awake and there was screaming ringing through the air. It took her several seconds to realise who it was that was scr…
"TORI!" Buffy leapt out of bed, her sensitive Slayer's hearing picking out the sounds of heavy footsteps and talking.
She raced over to her door and yanked it open, running out to the top of the stairs. She glanced down and gritted her teeth as she realised who that was standing in front of Tori, trying to intimidate her with his size.
"Where is Buffy?" the man barked.
"Right here," Buffy snapped coldly.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Angel."
He turned to stare at her. Time seemed to stand still as Slayer and vampire, past lovers, stared at each other. Buffy's eyes were cold emeralds whilst Angel's reflected his longing and want.
"Buffy," he said finally, quietly.
"Surprised to see you here," Buffy tried to keep it polite for now.
She glanced at the terrified Tori and told her with subtle eye movements she had everything under control. The woman visibly relaxed.
A door behind her burst open as Horace, dishevelled and half-dressed, dashed out of his and Tori's shared bedroom. He took one look at the scene below him and gasped loudly.
"What the hell?" he muttered to Buffy.
"These people were just about to leave," she told her friend.
She turned to regard Angel.
"Weren't you?"
"No," the vampire said firmly.
"Oh?" Buffy arched a delicate eyebrow at him.
"I'm here to take you into custody for the murder of Olario."
"I didn't know the police deal with demons these day," Buffy remarked innocently.
"Can we crush her now?" a cold voice asked from amidst the crowd of people that surrounded Angel.
Buffy narrowed her eyes as she realised Illyria was down there.
"Hey, Blue Ranger. Knife wound okay?" she tossed at the demon.
Blue eyes glared at her.
"You dare mock me? I will crush you limbs and use your splintered bones as my toothpick," the demonic goddess hissed.
"Ooo… scary. Not."
"Buffy, please. We can settle this peacefully," a distinctly British voice pleaded.
"Well, if it isn't Wesley Wyndham-Pryce," Buffy smirked, "Hmm… not much of the tweed these day I see."
Ex-watcher and Slayer stared at each other, Wesley trying to convey all he had learnt since his last meeting with Buffy through his eyes trying to show her that this time round he was not a man to mess with.
"Don't forget me!" a vapid voice chimed in.
"Get bent, Harm," Buffy drawled.
"Buffy, Wesley is right. We can do this peacefully…" Angel began.
"And if we don't?"
"I'll hurt your friend here," Angel growled eyeing Tori meaningfully.
"Hurting my friends again?" Buffy snapped, "Jeez, Angel you haven't got laid and lost your soul have you?"
The vampire was shocked to hear that Buffy would hurl such a below the belt verbal barb at him.
"Hey, Wesley remember that pathetic speech you gave me when you first came to Sunny-D?" Buffy asked casually ignoring Angel's shocked silence, "I think it was 'the three key points of a Slayer is preparation, preparation, preparation?'"
She smirked down at them.
"Well, I've been a good little Slayer. Cause I'm prepared."
Horace immediately closed his eyes knowing what was going to happen next; below them in the kitchen Tori did the same.
"SOLEIL!" Buffy barked.
The protective spells that Ying-fa had inlaid into the building immediately activated. First, every single pinpoint of light in the building died down plunging everything into complete darkness. Angel wondered what was going on, knowing that Buffy knew full well he could see perfectly in the dark. But his question was answered as the other part of the spell flared into life.
A blinding flash of light tore through the shadows, Angel was instantly blinded and sent reeling, the night-vision goggle wearing men all let out screams of pain as their gear reacted violently to the sudden flare. Buffy and Horace tore down the stairs at once taking advantage of their shock. Kicking and punching their way through the crowd, they charged straight for Tori.
"I will crush your bones!" Illyria howled leaping into their path.
Horace swung at her but the demon sent him flying with a simple swat of her hand. Buffy blocked the demon's next punch and gritted her teeth knowing with every second she wasted, the others were regrouping.
"NOW!" Angel roared.
Three figures wearing gold and red cloaks melted out from the crowd and surrounded the two combatants. The air thrummed with power as they began chanting, their voices getting higher and higher with every word they uttered. An invisible wind swept around them as tendrils of light began to sprout from the ground under their feet, Buffy gasped as she felt the air around her seem to become heavier and heavier with every passing second.
"Damn, magic," she growled.
With magic slowing her movements, the Slayer was getting punished by Illyria who seemed to be immune to the effects that were draining the Slayer.
"Illyria! BACK OFF!" Angel roared appearing beside the demon.
He physically hauled the demonic warrior away from Buffy as Harmony appeared at his side.
"Nyah!" she stuck her tongue out at Buffy, "Who's getting whaled on now?"
Buffy glared at her and tried to move towards them but the magic was now firmly in place and she found she couldn't move.
"I'm sorry, it had to go like this," Wesley murmured wearily, appearing in her line of vision.
"No, not me," a new voice said from behind them.
A ball of crackling blue energy struck the frozen Buffy, the Slayer's eyes widened in shock as she realised she could move again.
"Kicking your ass, is going to be so much fun," Ying-fa drawled from behind them.
The three mages whirled on her but the witch merely gestured and they fell to their knees clawing at their throats as though some invisible hands were choking them slowly.
"Hmmm… Illyria," Ying-fa grinned predatorily, "Goody, I've always wanted to fight a goddess."
Gil was casually swatting the commando-wannabes away from the up-coming battle. They flew through the air and landed in twisted piles of limbs as Buffy and Horace joined their friends. A deafening silence filled the air as the two sides sized each other up. Angel gritted his teeth and studied his opponents, slowly noting the seemingly flawless teamwork that existed between them.
"Wesley take the witch," he commanded.
"Horace, the man with the sword is yours," Indy whispered, "Buffy take on Illyria again. Ryan, take the blonde vamp. I'll handle the big one. Gil take the man with the axe. Got it?"
"Aye, aye captain," Ryan muttered eyeing Harmony.
It was Wesley and Ying-fa who struck first. The ex-watcher hurled a ball of fire that was easily deflected by the dark witch. Ryan leapt at Harmony executing a perfect mid-air spin kick to send the vampire stumbling.
"Ouch!" Harmony whined, "Women-beater!"
"Vapid whore," Ryan shot back.
"OH!" the vampire let out a shriek of anger and stomped her feet, "I'll get you!"
They charged at each other again meeting in flurry of punches and kicks even though Harmony was a demon with supernatural powers Ryan's experience was slowly giving him the upper hand as he began to beat the vampire back.
Horace ducked as Lindsey swung the broadsword he held in his hands at head-height. The Ring member leapt up to avoid an attempted leg amputation springing into a roll, he landed nimbly and lashed out with his feet bringing the lawyer down. Another kick knocked the sword away from the man but Lindsey proved surprisingly adept at hand-to-hand combat flipping up back to his feet and kicking Horace away from him with a quick flurry of snap-kicks. Taking advantage of Horace's pain, Lindsey leapt for his sword but the auburn haired man quickly recovered grabbing a nearby chair and hurling it at him, wood splintered on impact as the lawyer went down.
"I'm going for Tori!" he yelled.
"GO!" Indy snapped as she fought Angel.
The souled vampire was fast but Indy's legs worked like pistons throwing kicks that struck him over and over again in his face and chest. With a snarl, Angel grabbed her foot and tried to throw her away but the woman simply leapt into a back flip that ended up with her double-kicking Angel away. Indy landed nimbly, a sidekick shattering a nearby coffee table. She scooped up a jagged ended broken table leg and leapt at the vampire.
"Why am I not surprised the black man gets the big demon?" Gunn wondered aloud to himself as he faced off with Gil.
The purple demon snarled at him, claws and quills poised to tear and impale as Gunn hefted his axe.
"Come on Barney, let's rock," the axe-wielding man yelled.
Gunn was quick enough to dodge Gil's first swipe and thought he had the demon in the bag when he embedded his axe into the demon's side. Gil roared in pain before glaring at the black lawyer.
"Ow, that hurt," the demon said in a sophisticated voice that belayed his fierce countenance.
Gunn stared and began to back away slowly as Gil pulled the axe away from his body. He tossed it over his shoulder before stalking towards Gunn.
"Yo! A little help here?" he called to his fellow Wolfram and Hart employees.
But they were busy. Gunn risked a look behind him just in time to see Ying-fa effortlessly toss Wesley through the air with a spell, Illyria also saw this and roared with rage.
"YOU DARE HURT MY GUIDE?" she roared.
Buffy backhanded her.
"Concentrate on me!" she snapped, "Jeez, do all goddesses have short attention spans?"
Ying-fa stuck Wesley again with another spell, this one sent him crashing through a support post and into a wall. He slumped to the ground moaning lowly in pain.
"WES!" Gunn cried.
Gil seemed to tiptoe behind him, a bizarre sight for a demon so big and gently tapped Gunn on the shoulder. The man turned around just in time to see Gil lightly knock him on the head, he collapsed instantly. By now the commandos had recovered and were readying their weapons preparing to mow them all down.
"YING!" Gil roared.
Ying-fa whirled around and saw their danger.
"Bad boys," she wagged a finger at them, "DOWN!"
An invisible force pinned the men down onto the floor as they struggled widely. Illyria kicked Buffy away before leaping at Ying-fa, howling in rage. Indy was hit viciously by a haymaker from Angel, her rough stake flying out of her hands but as Angel took another swing buta diminutive blonde figure stepped up in front of him.
"Hello lover," Buffy drawled.
She grabbed his arm and seemingly effortlessly tossed him through the air. He landed on the couch, wood and fabric breaking under the impact. Ryan took that time to grab Harmony's hand when she tried to nail him with an open-palmed slap and hurled her onto Angel, the blonde vampire landed on her boss's gut driving the air from his lungs. Buffy look to her side and noticed the sword that had been kicked out of Lindsey's hand, grabbing it she strode calmly towards Harmony and Angel and stared down at them.
"How dare you?" she snapped coldly, "Come in here and threaten my friends? Now you're paying the whole bill for it, interested and all."
Angel stared up at her looking for any sign of mercy or love in her familiar face, but only coldness and fury gritted him.
"Buffy," he said weakly, "I can help."
"I don't need it," Buffy shot back.
With that she raised the sword above her head and slammed it down driving metal through Harmony and Angel's chest pinning both of them down. Both vampires roared in pain but Buffy ignored them turning around to survey the rest of the battle. Ying-fa was hurled fistfuls of energy at Illyria but the demon seemed to be unaffected by the attacks.
"I will crush you!" the demon goddess roared over and over again stalking slowly towards the dark witch.
"Irritite!" Ying-fa roared at the demon.
Vines burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around the demon's limbs halting her for a few precious seconds. As the demon fought with the woody chains, Ying-fa calmly pulled a gun from her jacket pocket.
"Those pathetic mortal tools would not hurt me," Illyria spat glaring at the gun.
"Oh?" Ying-fa calmly aimed it at the demon, "Nazei talu heliga matra."
Azure light bathed the gun as the witch calmly fired. The bullet ripped through the air, a trail of blue light trailing behind it like a comet's tail. Illyria's body jerked as the first bullet slammed into her chest shattering her godly defences and releasing a gush of red. A second bullet hit her then a third slammed into an area between the first two wounds. Ying-fa calmly dissolved the vines as the demon goddess stumbled to her knees, blood pouring from her wounds and mouth.
"How?"
"You just got your immortal ass kicked by someone by powerful," Ying-fa shrugged smiling softly at her, "You can't always be a top dog."
Illyria fell forwards as Ying-fa turned to her friends.
"So…" she began.
They all glanced around surveying the damage. Angel and Harmony pinned to the couch with a sword through their head, Illyria bleeding on the ground, Wesley lying slumped again a wall, Lindsey and Gunn both out cold. The commandos were still caught in Ying's spell, as was the mages, still clutching at their throat. Ying-fa ruthlessly slammed them down magically into the ground with a flick of her finger before cancelling the choking spell.
"There's probably reinforcements coming," Horace said quietly from his position in the kitchen with his pregnant lover.
"We better leave," Indy murmured.
She and Ryan turned to go as Gil and Ying-fa followed suit but Buffy stayed behind staring at Angel.
"You probably think I've gone rogue or something," she began slowly, "But I'm not. I'm not evil, I'm not crazy, I know what I am doing and it's my choice. I'm not Faith looking for your approval and acceptance. I want nothing from you except one thing. I want to be left alone."
With that she turned around and walked away with her friends, Angel staring after her through pain-fevered eyes.
"Buffy…" he whispered gently.
She turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry," she said, sincerity shining in her eyes.
And then she was gone as Angel slumped backwards and was plunged into darkness.