CONSEQUENCES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Morgan and Katy.
Author's Note: Jamie is the name of the shell that Illyria took over after the battle on Angel's series finale. Sorry about taking so long but got a little writer's block, holiday's got busy…hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.
CHAPTER 11-HEARTACHE
"Pardon the mess, but the maid's off this week," Katy joked badly with a scared smile on her face as she unlocked the door and pushed it open, allowing Illyria to stumble in before collapsing down onto the couch.
"It is…sufficient," Illyria replied softly with a tired edge to her voice as she tried to regulate her breathing.
"Not bad for only living in this country for seven years, coming here all alone at the age of thirteen, I think I've done pretty good for myself considering," Katy started to joke with a proud smile on her face before the tears began to stream out of her eyes and she looked away.
"You grieve," Illyria stated with a surprised and confused frown on her face as she sits up and looks over at the kitchen, where Katy is struggling to stay upright and not break down and sob.
"Holly…she, she's…," Katy stammered out softly through the tears as she made her way out of the kitchen and looked for a box of tissues.
"She is dead but we are not, we cannot stay here long, they will come for us," Illyria announced with a very firm and matter of fact tone of voice as she rubbed her tired eyes and looked around the small apartment.
Katy had come to the US seven years earlier like she had said, living with some relatives of her mothers until she had turned eighteen and then she had left, telling them that she was going to college. In truth she had tired of the strict rules that she had been placed under ever since making the trip over. She had landed in California and found herself homeless. She had started off finding odd jobs to pay for a meager hole in the wall. One day while going for a swim in the ocean a man had approached her and told her that if she wanted to earn a lot of money that she should call him, before leaving he had given her his card. At the top of that card had been the words, Orange Crush. She had been more than a bit nervous the first time that she had stepped foot into the club and accepted the job but Holly and Jamie had taken her under their wing and helped out. They had helped her find a better apartment and even look into some college classes. But that was all before the night of the battle in Los Angeles that changed everything. Now her life had more than been turned upside down and nothing made sense anymore, least of all being called a slayer.
"Why…why can't we stay here, who's coming for us…and what the hell is a slayer," Katy demanded with a very impatient and frustrated scowl on her face as she walked in front of Illyria and kicked the door shut.
"Wolfram and Hart, a multinational and dimensional corporation that has existed in one form or another since almost my time, they will stop at nothing to gain control over this world, a slayer…you will have to ask someone else about that, Wesley did not share that information with me before his death," Illyria replied with a very serious and weary expression on her face as she summoned up enough strength to get back up to her feet and walk over to the windows.
"What do they want with us…with me," Katy added into her question as this was all becoming far too much for her to understand.
"The story is to long and detailed to tell at this moment, once we are out of danger I will explain as much as I am aware of…," Illyria answered with a very serious and cautious look on her face before she reached up and closed the blinds.
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"Find a safe place for Nina," Angel asked with a concerned look on his face as Gwen and Groo walked back into the lobby of the hotel just as the sun was starting to set.
"Would we disappoint you," Gwen asked with a proud smile on her face that hid the waves of nervousness that Angel and Spike smelled pouring off of her.
"That remains to be seen," Spike joked with an amused grin on his face as Connor walked in and leaned back up against the bar.
"Blondie's joking aside yeah we found a place for your girl Angel so rest easy, however we do have a bigger problem, one that we can't just lock up," Gwen replied with a sarcastic frown on her face as she pulled up a seat beside Angel and pulled the zipper down on her coat a couple of inches.
"And what problem would that be," Angel asked with a frustrated sigh as he shook his head and downed the rest of his drink in one gulp, as if preparing for the worst.
"Rupert Giles and Buffy Summers are here in London," Groo said with a very calm and serious look on his face before Gwen could get a word out. At that seemingly innocent statement both Spike and Angel almost dropped their drinks. Seconds later Spike closed his eyes and took a long and slow drink while Angel scrounged up the courage to speak.
"Are you sure, I mean absolutely sure," Angel asked with a nervous tone to his voice as Connor looked to his father.
"Um let me think…yes," Gwen stated sharply, with a very irritated scowl on her face, before she looked about ready to send a few volts Angel's way.
"Isn't this good news," Connor offered up with a slightly unsure look on his face as he walked around easily beside the stools, his knee apparently fully healed.
"Well junior, that depends on why they're here," Spike said, answering for Angel, as he finished drinking the rest of his drink and slid off of his stool.
"If they're here with the Immortal then it's best that we don't cross their paths, but if they're here…," Angel started to say with a nervous and unsure look on his face before being interrupted from behind.
"Looking for me then it'd probably be best if I would find them and get them to leave as quickly as possible…right," Morgan interjected with a serious and uncomfortable look on her face as she held a hand over the place on her stomach where she had been cut even though the wound was now gone.
"What are you doing here," Connor muttered under his breath with an angry scowl on his face as he crossed his arms and glared at the new slayer.
"I…I didn't have anywhere else to go," Morgan started to snap back, her voice and glare full of venom, before her instant bout of confidence subsided and she slumped her shoulders and sadly took a seat at the bar.
"With them here we're going to have to be extra cautious in our attempts to find the axis and use it to locate Wesley, let's just hope that they're not smart enough to do a locater spell," Gwen added with a nervous look on her face as she rolled her eyes and unhappily ordered a drink.
"Okay…here's the plan for tonight, when it gets close to dusk Spike and I will take Nina to wherever it is that you found for her and stay with her until morning, Connor I want you Morgan and Faith to stay here in the hotel, don't do anything to draw attention to yourselves if you can help it, Gwen…I want you and Groo to find and tail Buffy and Giles, I want to know where they go and what they're doing," Angel announced with a very firm and certain expression on his face before he stood up and walked out of the lobby, heading up the stairs towards Faith's room. He found her, sitting silently on the end of her bed, staring out into space through the slightly open window by the dresser.
"You know…the sky is actually quite beautiful," Faith mumbled with an odd look on her face as she stared off into the sky, clad only in a bathrobe.
"Faith…are you okay," Angel asked with a nervous edge to his voice as he slowly approached the bed.
"It's so blue…I never really stopped and took the time to notice, it's funny how much you miss when you're…," Faith started to continue with a distant look on her face before a single tear slid out of each eye and softly brushed down her cheeks.
"What is it, what's wrong…Faith, talk to me…," Angel asked with a concerned and impatient look on his face as he quickly moved around the bed so that he could look Faith in the eye. Feeling not quite comfortable with the situation Angel chose to kneel down on the floor straight in front of Faith rather than to sit beside her on the bed.
"I see him Angel, everywhere I go…but it's all wrong, he's gone…but yet I see him," Faith finally mumbled out softly as momentarily she continued to stare out of the window before her shoulders sagged and she dropped her head down, tears now descending straight from her eyes to the carpet below.
"See him, who Faith…who do you see," Angel asked quickly with a very confused look on his face as he gently laid a hand on her shoulder, taking care to do it all slowly enough so that he didn't frighten her.
"Wes…only it's not him, not exactly anyway, it's like I'm seeing his past…here in London, and every time that I touch the medallion I get a flash of memory…his I think, something that happened to him…something painful," Faith slowly and cautiously replied with a haunted look in her eyes before at the end she awkwardly reached up and massaged her throat. Angel's brows furrowed first in confusion and then in concern as he saw the path of Faith's hand to her throat. His own memories of the time when Wesley had nearly died by Justine's hand were not pleasant ones that he liked to remember and reflect upon. His rage at Wesley playing a part in Connor being lost to him had been so overwhelming that he had almost strangled his best friend in his hospital bed, rather than wishing him a speedy recovery and admitting that he should have noticed that something was up sooner.
"It's probably when Justine slit his throat and took Connor," Angel said softly, banishing any thoughts of that time in his life to the darkest recesses of his mind, before he looked Faith straight in the eye and tried to get a read on her. Faith's eyes grew wide and fearful at Angel's mention of Wesley having his throat slit, and grew into slits themselves as she contemplated the name of the woman that had hurt Wesley so badly and then just left him there to die.
"And then you…," Faith started to reply softly as Angel laid a hand on the back of her hand, before suddenly her world went dark and through the eyes of a fly on the wall she relived the moment in which Angel had tried to smother Wesley in his hospital bed with his own pillow. With a sudden gasp Faith wrenched her hand out from under Angel's and then scrambled back across the bed before falling off and then crashing back into the wall, knocking the lamp off of the lamp stand in the process.
"Faith," Angel shouted in alarm as he tumbled back away from the bed and crashed into the wall, a mask of confusion and concern on his face when he finally regained his bearings and stared across the room at Faith.
"Why Angel…why," Faith gasped out with an overwhelming look of shock on her face as she did her best to regain her composure but she failed miserably as she was experiencing something completely foreign to her.
"Why what Faith…I don't understand," Angel shot back with a very confused and concerned look on his face as he slowly got to his feet and then cautiously made his way around the end of the bed.
"How could you Angel…you tried to kill him," Faith snapped back in reply as she seemed to calm a bit and regain a piece of her old attitude and pushed herself back up to her feet against the wall, set her jaw, and clenched her hands into fists.
"Which time…you're going to have to be a little bit more specific here Faith," Angel countered with a very nervous and even slightly scared look on his face as he scrambled to try and figure out exactly what could be happening to Faith.
"After Connor, you tried to smother him with…," Faith started to reply with a nervous look on her face before Angel shook his head in dismay and furiously began to try and come up with a response that wouldn't sound like a cheap excuse.
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"This still doesn't make much sense…you're not really Jamie…she's gone, instead you're an ageless being trapped in her body," Katy declared with a nervously unsure smile on her face as she warily glanced at her front door. While Illyria had gone on and on about the various extensions and goals of Wolfram and Hart Katy had hurriedly torn through her apartment, packing anything and everything in sight, including changing into something that looked more normal and less like her former career. She finally decided on a pair of blue jeans that weren't overly tight and a white lightweight shirt that she pulled on before slipping a long sleeved denim looking shirt overtop of it. She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and walked back into the living room just as Illyria answered her question.
"That is correct, your friend is dead…ever since I took over her shell, however some of her…drives, feelings…remain," Illyria answered with a somewhat confused look on her face as she leaned back in the seat and glanced over at the clock.
"And I'm a slayer, some super powered fighter for the good of all humanity," Katy continued with a still yet fully convinced frown on her face as she sat down on the couch beside Illyria and unplugged the telephone.
"Yes, although as I explained before I am not the one to answer your inquiries, for that we must seek out those to whom this is normal, the watchers council," Illyria answered with a serious look on her face as she took a deep breath.
"They're that group of British guys right…had one of them try to get me to come with him once, scared the shit out of me to…," Katy said with a slowly calming look on her face as she checked her watch.
"You are correct, but we really should be…," Illyria started to say with a very serious look on her face before the lights suddenly went out and the front door was sent flying off of its hinges and only missed hitting Katy because she slid down in her seat and fell to the floor just in time.
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"Anything," Willow asked with a hopeful smile on her face as she walked into the lobby from the elevators just as Giles walked into the hotel from the street.
"Not much I'm afraid," Giles replied with a nervous look on his face as he walked across the lobby towards Willow.
"Anything that'll explain why Ms. Adams was in that fight last night, and who checked her into the hospital," Willow added with an impatient and worried look on her face as she half turned with Giles and walked into a small alcove at the edge of the lobby and sat down at a small table. Giles looked like he was about ready to say something but thought better and sighed and leaned back in his chair, leaving Willow to initially only look on in wonder.
"I'm sorry but no Willow, the nurse did not remember anything…it's possible that she was under some kind of spell," Giles finally replied with a nervous look on his face as he leaned back, took his glasses off, and rubbed his tired eyes.
"Maybe I should go there and see…I could do a simple spell and…," Willow started to say with an optimistic smile on her face before Giles stepped in.
"I don't think that would be wise Willow, besides that she's not there anymore, I was lucky to even catch her in the parking lot as she was leaving for the day, who knows where she is now," Giles lied with a nervous and frustrated look on his face as he slid his glasses back up his nose and into place.
"Our luck doesn't seem to be to good these days huh," Willow mumbled with a sad and unhappy pout on her face as she shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"No…it does not," Giles softly added with a worried look on his face before the lobby telephone rang and the young woman at the counter walked over and picked it up.
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"Are you Angel," A bellman asked with a scared look on his face as he walked up to Angel, on his way back down from trying to figure out what was going on with Faith.
"Nope sorry, got the wrong guy, my name's Liam," Angel replied with a nervous smile on his face before the bellman quickly handed the package to him and took off back down the hallway and sped around the corner. For a few moments Angel could only stare at him and wonder. It was then that he noticed the smell. He knew it well, but he couldn't quite figure out why it would be coming from the box that he was holding in his hands. Slowly he ducked into a small closet and flipped on the light before setting the box on the floor. There was no return address or note attached to the box, only that familiar smell and bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He slowly tore open the wrapping and took a useless deep breath before unfolding the box and peering inside. Had it been possible his heart would have broken at the sight of what was in the box, two severed heads. What hurt most of all was their identity. It took Angel nearly an hour to compose himself enough to venture out of the closet, which when he did he spotted Spike strolling down the hallway with a rolled up newspaper tucked under his arm. He stopped when both the smell and the sight of Angel struck him as odd and out of place.
"There something I should know about Peaches," Spike joked with an amused smirk on his face as he raised an eyebrow and nodded his head towards the closet.
"Not now Spike, get in here," Angel growled with a not wanting to verbally spar in the least sneer on his face as he yanked Spike into the closet before showing him the two heads in the box.
"Bloody hell…how," Spike exclaimed with a curious and anxious look on his face as he tried not to look at the heads or let the demon in him get off too much on the smell of human blood.
"Beats me, one of the bellman brought it to me…knew who I really was to," Angel answered softly, as if in a daze, as he slowly slid back down to a seated position on the floor and stared off into space, looking about ready to tear up.
"Any idea who they are," Spike wondered with a nervous look on his face as he slid down to a seated position across from Angel on the other side of the box and stared at the sides of the box.
"How am I going to do it Spike, how am I going to tell her…in the state she's in…," Angel moaned with a very hurt and almost scared look on his face as he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.
"Tell who…you know who they are…were, don't you…," Spike demanded with a confused and slowly growing look of unease on his face as he lifted his gaze up to Angel and stopped concentrating on the sides of the box.
"Yes Spike I do…they're…it's…Nina's sister and niece…Wolfram and Hart cut their heads off and sent them to us as a warning…and what's worse they know where we are," Angel replied softly with a heartbroken look on his face as a tear slid down his cheek before he and Spike sat in stunned silence for some time after that, neither having any idea as to what to say or do.
END OF CHAPTER 11