Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Hope, Jocelyn, and Dominic.
Author's Note: Hopefully this will be the second to last chapter. Thank you to all of you that have read this story and remember reviews are appreciated.
CHAPTER 9-DEATH COMES TO US ALL
"Please don't tell me we're here because Will got another hit with her locater spell," Faith grumbled with an unhappy frown on her face as Wesley set a cold drink down in front of her on the table and then sat down in the chair beside her.
"Close, we're here because there's been another death," Kate answered with a very stern and unhappy frown on her face as she walked out of her office and handed a newly opened file to Oz.
"Okay, then why are we here and not at the scene," Oz asked with a confused look on his face as he turned to Willow, who only shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Because the autopsy results just came back an hour ago and it wasn't our shift that's why, but now that we know that it was one of these Tavivosh demons it's our case, here is the file, there's a copy for each of you," Kate replied with a tired look on her face as she set a large stack of files down on the table in front of her before Oz started to hand them out.
"Great, and here I was looking forward to going to bed early tonight," Faith grumbled softly with a touch of sarcasm in her voice as she nervously ran a hand through her hair.
"The case isn't very different from any of the others, except for one small change, this attack was nearly two miles away from the last one, right near," Kate started to reply with an unhappy frown on her face before Wesley read through the file far enough and came to a scary realization.
"Two blocks away from the daycare that Hope and Dominic go to," Wesley announced with a very serious and concerned look on his face as beside him Faith's body instantly reacted and she sat up in her chair and quickly flipped through the pages of the file until she got to the same place that Wesley was at.
"Was this person connected to the daycare in some way," Oz asked with a nervous and scared look on his face as he started to dig deeper into the file.
"We're not sure at the moment, however I think that it might be a good idea to keep Hope and Dominic at home until these Tavivosh demons have been dealt with," Kate replied with a serious and concerned tone to her voice and look on her face as she calmly flipped through the file.
"Call the daycare and tell them that we've got a family emergency, I'm on my way," Faith stated with a very clear and firm tone of voice as she very nearly jumped up out of her seat and raced out of the room.
"This just stopped being funny," Willow grumbled with a worried and unhappy frown on her face before he hand shot to her own cell phone.
"Tara's fine Willow, her daycare isn't anywhere near the last attack, and besides most demons wouldn't go after a child's soul," Oz said with a nervous but optimistic look on his face as he tried to calm Willow's fears before Wesley spoke up.
"Actually Oz some demons prefer the soul of a child because it's purer than an adults," Wesley said with a certain look on his face as he relayed the insight gleamed from years of study.
"Not helping Wes," Willow grumbled back with a worried and unhappy frown on her face as she brushed Oz's hand out of the way and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.
"Sorry," Wesley said with a slightly embarrassed look on his face as he then walked out of the room to make the call to the daycare, hoping that everything was alright.
"This is getting out of hand, isn't there some kind of way to keep these things contained, like a barrier spell or something that they avoid like the plague," Oz said with a frustrated and anxious expression on his face as he turned to Kate and Groo.
"I wish that there was Oz I really do, but right now all that we can do is try to find the nest and take them all out," Kate started to reply with a concerned look on her face before Willow cut in just before she dialed the phone number of the new daycare for Tara.
"You mean like we've been doing, yeah…that's been working really well," Willow grumbled with an unhappy and sarcastic scowl on her face before she began to punch in the numbers with her thumb.
"It's true that we're not making much progress on finding these demons, but we can't just resort to hysteria every time that someone dies, if we do then we have no chance of stopping them," Kate said back with a frustrated but serious look on her face and tone to her voice as she tried to remain calm.
"Wanting to make sure that my daughter is okay is not hysteria Kate, maybe you'll understand that once you have a child but until then," Willow started to snap back with an unhappy and slightly angry scowl on her face before Kate cut in.
"What, now listen here," Kate growled with an angry and accusing tone to her voice as she started to step around the side of the table but was stopped when Wesley walked back into the room and spoke up.
"I got in touch with the daycare, they said that three parents have already come and taken their children home because of the most recent attack, Faith should be there shortly however I think that it may be necessary to call Angel or Cordelia for help if this goes on much longer," Wesley interjected with a very serious and concerned look on his face as he slid his cell phone back into his pocket and walked towards the table.
"I don't think that'd be a good idea, they've cut off all communications and if Angel did indeed succeed and his soul is permanent then I doubt that they'd want anyone calling them up and interrupting their fun, we can handle this on our own," Kate replied with a very serious and almost angry frown on her face as she straightened her collar.
"Having a great warrior like Angel on our side would be most helpful in defeating these demons that vex us so," Groo interjected with an excited and invigorated smile on his face as he looked up from the file that he had been looking through.
"We're not getting Angel, we can do this on our own, next week is this units one year anniversary and sure Angel has helped us out on a lot of cases and sure it'd be nice if he were here now, but he's not and he won't be, so let's just all calm down and get to work," Kate replied with a frustrated and anxious expression on her face as she stacked all of the files back into a neat stack and then picked them up.
"I wish it were that easy, we're running out of time before the people of this city learn that there's a demon killing people at random and that the police have no leads and no suspects of any kind other than a race of possibly extinct demons that can appear and disappear at will, not a good outlook," Wesley replied with a serious look on his face as he pushed his and Faith's chairs back in and then looked to Willow.
"Maybe we're not dealing with a whole herd or tribe of demons, maybe it's just one that somehow got lost and found its way here, that would explain why none of my hotspots panned out and why there haven't been more deaths," Willow offered up with a slightly confused but hopeful look on her face before scowling at her inability to get a signal and snapped her cell phone back shut.
"That would actually make things worse, at least if we were looking for a herd or group of these demons then they would be relatively easy to find as their attacks would form a pattern, but a single demon moving unnoticed through a city this size could hide anywhere, it could even be here in the room with us right now and we wouldn't even know it," Wesley replied with an uncomfortable frown on his face as he relayed some of his worries about the possibility of there only being one demon instead of a large group of them.
"Willow…Oz, I want you two to make sure that that demon can't get in here without us knowing about it," Kate said with a very commanding and frustrated tone to her voice before she turned and left the room.
"Okay, but only after I make sure that Tara is okay," Willow replied with an anxious and fearful look on her face before she tried to make the call again.
"We'll get right on it," Oz added with a slightly nervous smile on his face as deep down he wasn't completely sure that they would be able to accomplish the task that Kate had given them. He had no doubts that Willow had enough magical power and control to perform the spell but he was worried that the spell would end up being to risky or dangerous to Willow in some way. Several minutes later, after having successfully contacted the daycare and made sure that Tara was safe, Willow walked into the squad room with a large dark blue book in her hands and announced that the station would be demon free in no time.
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"Maybe we should call B, she might know someone that could help us," Faith said with a concerned look on her face, as she sat on the floor with Dominic in her lap holding a teddy bear up for him, as she looked back over her shoulder at Wesley sitting on the couch with an ancient tome in his lap.
"I doubt it, Giles wouldn't be able to tell us anything that I don't already know or couldn't find in one of my books, the Tavivosh demons are not a very studied lot, unfortunately," Wesley replied with a tired look on his face before he reached over and carefully dragged the bright pink blanket back over Hope as she lay curled up asleep against one of the armrests of the couch.
"There has to be something that we can do, Hope and Dominic aren't going to daycare until we find and kill this thing, and we can't both stay home and watch them until then either," Faith countered with a fiercely determined expression on her face as she turned her head and looked straight at the television while giving Dominic a tight hug.
"We can't let the fear control us Faith," Wesley said with a grim look on his face as he let out a small sigh and rubbed his tired eyes.
"I'm not letting anything control me, I'm worrying about our children, as you should be," Faith said with an almost indignant scowl on her face as she twisted her upper body around to look back at Wesley, using her free hand stretched out behind her to prop herself up.
"Hey now," Wesley retorted with a surprised and somewhat hurt look in his eyes as he instantly looked up from the passage that he had been trying to translate.
"Sorry, it's just that I don't do well with the wait and see and have faith approach, I'm more accustomed to killing things outright," Faith said back with a regretful expression on her face as she hated snapping at Wesley but her fear for her children's safety was beginning to consume her.
"I understand, you, Hope, and Dominic are what's important to me in life, I don't care about anything else but you, that being said the demon or demons do not seem to be attacking anyone that is a member of a crowd, and so far all of the victims are adults, that suggests that they're not looking for a child's soul," Wesley replied with a very heartfelt and concerned look on his face as he set the tomes down on the couch beside him and slid off of the edge and onto the floor before pulling Faith and Dominic onto his lap. Faith leaned back into him and laid her head in the crook of his neck while Dominic held up his teddy bear with a big smile on his face.
"Let's hope that continues, maybe we should have Hope and Dominic go stay with Buffy and Spike instead, that way Hope and Joyce can play together and they can both be safe," Faith offered with a hopeful smile on her face as she looked up in to her husbands eyes.
"I think that they might be on vacation this week, but if they're not that would be a good idea, at least until we get rid of this problem, though in the future we're going to have to come up with a new plan, every time that the city is threatened we can't send our children away," Wesley replied with an optimistic look on his face as he lightly shrugged his shoulders and gave Faith a tight squeeze.
"Good, I'll call B in the morning, let's hope they're not on vacation, I'll feel a lot more relaxed once Hope and Dominic are out of harms way," Faith said with a sincere look of concern on her face before she beamed a warm smile back at Dominic, who calmed down a bit and seemed to have understood that what his parents were talking about was something sad and serious.
"Me to, but if they are I'm going to call Fred and Gunn and ask them to come home early," Wesley added with a serious look on his face as he reached out and softly tickled Dominic under his chin, receiving a small giggle for his efforts.
"You think they'll mind," Faith asked with a lightly concerned look on her face as she laid her head back on Wesley's shoulder and looked him straight in the eye.
"Not in the least, if I know Gunn he's probably looking for any excuse to come back to LA, and this would be the perfect one, Fred wouldn't be able to say no, you know how she loves Hope and Dominic, they'd jump at the chance," Wesley replied with a sly smirk on his face as he reached an arm around and slid his hand under Faith's shirt and plucked the band of her panties.
"Not now…later," Faith mumbled back very softly into Wesley's ear as she craned her neck up a bit and hoped that Dominic didn't hear her.
"There might not be a later if we don't stop that demon soon," Wesley whispered back into her ear with a solemn frown on his face as rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Don't say that, we'll stop this thing, we always do," Faith stated back with a firm tone to her voice as she leaned far enough to one side to make it so that Wesley had no choice to lift his chin up off of her shoulder and look at her.
"I hope you're right, this things already killed to many, and we're no closer to finding it than we were when we started, some detectives we are," Wesley replied with an unhappy frown on his face before he nuzzled his face into the crook of Faith's neck.
"We're only screwed if we give up, now help me get these two to bed, you get Hope," Faith said with a soft but serious tone of voice as she slipped out of Wesley's grasp and then stood up with Dominic in her arms.
"Your wish is my command," Wesley replied softly with a mock salute and cheesy grin on his face before he stood up, walked over to the couch, and scooped up a now half asleep Hope into his arms before he turned and followed Faith.
"Got that right," Faith whispered softly under her breath with a concerned look on her face as she walked into the children's room and squatted down long enough to turn on the night light before setting Dominic down in his crib and then turning back the covers of Hope's bed.
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He calmly walked around the latest crime scene, the file open in his hands, desperately searching for something that could help him. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Like most alleys in Los Angeles it was far from clean, though nothing that he found gave him any indication of what had happened. The large trash bins had their lids closed as they were full and waiting for garbage day. Many separate trash bags made a mini mountain nearby and only the chalk outline of the body differentiated this alley from any other in the city.
When he had left home Faith had made him promise to call and check in every hour on the hour. She had taken Hope and Dominic to Sunnydale to stay with Buffy and Spike but swore that she would help him with the search before the day was over. Cordelia had unexpectedly called in just after he had left home and by the summary that Willow gave him of the call Wesley was pleased that Angel had indeed met with the demon and his soul had become permanently his, with no total happiness clause to worry about. He had to fight himself to not laugh at the excitement that he could hear in Willow's voice as she talked about how happy Cordelia had been during the call. Cordelia had asked about the situation with the Tavivosh demon but Willow had performed brilliantly and fed her a line about them being able to handle it and that she and Angel had no need to hurry back. Willow had said that in the background she could hear Angel asking Cordelia to ask Willow if Connor and Jocelyn were alright. It took Willow only a few words to reassure Angel that Connor and Jocelyn were indeed alright and that they wished him and Cordelia the very best of time in Africa.
In fact he had become so deep in thought about remembering the phone call from Willow that he did not hear the rustle of the papers behind him until it was too late. He cursed himself for being caught off guard as he stood up and drew his weapons, only getting them out halfway before he knew that he hadn't been fast enough. Hovering in front of him, barely visible, stood the imposing Tavivosh demon. The afternoon light glinted off of its golden eyes and pale white skin. Knowing what was more than likely to come Wesley raised his weapons just in time to get one shot off before his soul was drained from his body. As he crumpled to the ground, dropping his guns along the way, Faith's scream of shock and horror rang out through the alley.
END OF CHAPTER 9