Aiding a Friend
Episode 3
Kenya, Africa:
Africa was a beautiful place. The landscape was gorgeous and the animals were amazing. The climate was pretty nice as well. Buffy had loved it there so far. She had come to seek answers, but had gotten side tracked and decided to check out the tourist spots. That wasn't a bad idea at all.
But after a week or so of touring, she decided to get back on track. She needed some answers. To tell the truth, she had no idea where to go to get them. Nothing on her tours provided a lead.
She had left her hotel rather late and walked out into the streets of the small town that she was staying in. The place was bustling with activity; there were people everywhere. As she walked around, it felt as if someone was following her. She turned and glanced behind her. There was no one there that looked suspicious.
She continued wandering around, looking for someone to point her in the right direction. But it still seemed as if someone was following her. She noticed a small alley up ahead and skillfully disappeared into it.
A man cautiously walked faster to keep up with her. He failed, however, and lost her. As he passed by the alley, hands grabbed his shirt and yanked him in. The next thing he knew was that he was on his back on the ground.
"Why are you following me?" she questioned, stepping out of the shadows.
"What are you talking about?" the man asked.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Buffy shouted, kicking him in the ribs, "Who sent you?"
The man didn't reply. He was horrified. How could an ordinary man take on a slayer? Buffy bent down and grabbed his collar. She pulled him to his feet and then gave him a quick jab to the face. He stumbled backwards, clutching his face. His nose was now bleeding.
"Who sent you?" she questioned once again.
"I can't disclose that information to you," he replied, removing his hands from his face.
"Well then I guess I'll have to settle for causing you pain," she told him.
She gave him a quick kick to the face. Then she followed up with a side kick to the ribs. The man gasped in pain. Buffy punched him in the face again, breaking his jaw. The man fell to the ground, wincing in pain.
When Buffy realized that he wasn't getting up anytime soon, she turned and left the alley. The man just lay on the ground, unable to move.
Wolfram and Hart, days later:
"Angel, you have a call on line 1," Harmony's voice came through the PA.
Angel picked up the phone and pressed the button for line 1. He heard Harmony hang up the phone. After a short conversation, he hung up the phone. He didn't look to happy.
Just then, Spike burst in through the doors. He looked pissed and Angel hadn't a clue as to why.
"You've been spying on Buffy!" he shouted in anger.
"What?" Angel questioned, "How do you know that?"
"I heard the whole thing!" Spike yelled.
"You were listening in on my conversation?" Angel questioned, becoming angry.
"Well, what'd you think?" Spike asked, "It's not like I have special mind reading powers or anything."
"That's the last straw!" Angel shouted.
"What?"
"Get out of here!" Angel shouted.
"Excuse me?" asked a familiar voice.
Angel and Spike stopped their conversations and turned towards the door. Standing the doorway was none other than Rupert Giles.
"Giles, is that you?" Angel asked.
"Yes, it is," he replied.
"What are you doing here?" Angel questioned.
"It's a long story," he said.
"Care to share, mate?" Spike asked.
"Why don't we all sit down first?" Angel suggested.
Spike and Giles took the seats around the desk, while Angel sat at his desk. A look of concern spread across the older man's face.
"I've been in England for the past few weeks, trying to rebuild the Watcher's Council," Giles began.
"For what purpose?" Angel asked.
"I planned to have the new Watcher's Council take in and train ordinary citizens to fight the forces of darkness," he went on.
"So basically like a government agency?" Angel questioned.
"More or less," he replied, "Anyway, I was trying to round up any remaining Council members. But they were either dead or weren't interested."
"That's a shame," Angel replied.
"But that isn't the real reason I'm here," he went on, "I've lost an artifact and I need your help in retrieving it."
"Why do you need our help?" Spike asked.
"He's right," Angel added, "The police are good at that kind of stuff."
"The police can't help me with my search," Giles told them, "The artifact was stolen by a demon."
"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?" Spike asked.
"What kind of demon is it?" Angel asked.
"An Aldinach demon," Giles replied.
"What the bloody hell is that?" Spike asked.
"I've never heard of it before," Angel told him.
"I didn't either until I looked it up," Giles said, "It's a demon that causes natural disasters."
"So we're off to London then?" Angel asked.
"No, the demon is here in LA," Giles replied, "I was here retrieving the artifact when I was attacked and it was taken from my possession."
"Enough chit-chat," Spike said, "We've got a demon to find."
"Giles, feel free to roam the building," Angel told him.
Downtown Los Angeles:
"Where the bloody hell are we going to find this demon?" Spike asked.
"I'm not sure," Angel answered, "But we've got the whole night to try and find it."
"You ponce!" Spike shouted, "We already wasted half the night!"
Spike and Angel had already checked out some of the city's clubs and bars. Their efforts had proved futile so far. They were speeding down the street in Angel's Porsche. Angel seemed to prefer demon hunting in a car more than demon hunting on foot from the old days.
"I'm bored," Spike said.
"Well entertain yourself somehow," Angel told him.
"I figured this would be fun," Spike began, "You know, the old demon hunting thing. But this is just boring. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"Look, it'll be fun once we find this thing," Angel responded.
"What are we looking for anyway?" Spike questioned.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. Giles didn't tell us how we'd know if we saw the demon."
"Oh goodie," Spike said, "We're on a wild goose chase."
Suddenly someone was thrown into the street, right in front of the car. Angel slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel. The car turned and ran right up the curb, crashing into a small window shop. Glass went everywhere as the car hit.
"Bloody hell," Spike mumbled.
He pushed away some bricks that had crashed through the windshield. He reached for the door handle and then pushed the door open. The car was totaled. The crashed had broken every window and there were massive dents all over. As he turned to walk out of the crash area, Angel's door opened and the other vampire climbed out.
"Well, you can't be angry for me crashing the Ferrari anymore," Spike said.
"Shut up," Angel mumbled, coming towards him.
The two vampires walked out of the store and back onto the street. Angel turned and glanced back at the store.
"Oh that's definitely coming out of my paycheck," he mumbled under his breath.
"Well there's where that person came from," Spike said, pointing across the street.
Angel turned and looked in the direction that Spike was pointing. Entering an alley was a fairly large demon. As the two crossed the street, Angel rushed to the man's side. He helped the man up and walked him to the sidewalk. The man was very grateful.
Spike reached the other side and stopped at the entrance to the alley. Angel quickly caught up and stood next to him.
"Ready?" Angel asked.
"Ready," he replied.
The two cautiously entered the alley. Angel was in front, while Spike brought up the rear. The alley was covered in shadows. A human would be unable to see in the darkness, but lucky for them, they weren't human.
Just as the entered the alley, the demon charged, knocking them both over. Angel was the first to his feet. He gave the demon a few punches to the face. The punches seemed ineffective, however, and the demon kicked him in the chest. Angel hit the side of the building and collapsed to the ground.
Spike, seeing this, rose to his feet and jumped onto the demon's back. He wrapped his arms around its head, preventing it from seeing. Then he began kicking it in the sides. After a few moments, Angel recovers and noticed Spike fighting the demon. He stands up and watched, waiting for the right moment to attack.
The demon went on a rampage, attempting to throw Spike off its back. During that, it destroyed half the walls of the two buildings. The demon finally grabbed Spike by neck and tossed him off. Spike hit the fence in the back of the alley and went right through it.
"Oh bugger," he mumbled, standing up.
Lucky for him, none of the broken pieces of wood had staked him. Angel took the demon's attack on Spike to his advantage and kicked it in the chest. The demon stumbled backwards, but quickly came at him again. The demon grabbed Angel by his neck and tossed him towards the fence. Angel hit Spike and both of them fell over.
"Get the bloody hell off of me!" Spike shouted.
"It's not like I purposely fell on you," Angel said.
The two got up and stood ready for battle. The demon just glared at them.
"Why hasn't it been using its power?" Angel asked in a quiet voice.
"What power would that be, mate?" Spike questioned.
"It can cause natural disasters," Angel whispered back.
"Right…er…I'm not sure," Spike replied, "But that's a good thing, right?"
"Definitely."
Angel and Spike ran towards the demon, going on either side of the thing. The Aldinach demon was very confused, unsure of which vampire to attack. Both vampires gave the demon a sharp kick in the ribs, causing some to break. The demon howled in pain. Angel then gave it a quick kick to the chest, causing it to stumble backwards to the ground.
As it tried to get up, Spike appeared over it, holding a large pipe in his hand. He was ready to stab it into the demon if it attempted to get up.
"Spike, where'd you get that?" Angel questioned.
"It was lying on the ground on the other side of that wooden fence," Spike replied.
"Where's the artifact?" Angel asked, turning his attention towards the demon.
The demon stared at him for a second, looking confused. It didn't answer him.
"Maybe it doesn't speak our language," Spike suggested.
"Oh it'll speak our language if it wants to live," Angel said, kicking in the ribs again.
The demon winced in pain, but still didn't answer.
"Where is it?" Angel asked, "Talk or Spike here will kill you."
"You're too late," the Aldinach demon replied, finally talking.
"What do you mean, too late?" Angel questioned.
"I've already delivered it to my master," it informed, "He was very pleased with my accomplishment this evening."
Angel didn't look too happy with that answer. He grabbed the pipe out of Spike's grip and raised it above the demon's chest.
"Who's your master?" Angel asked, obviously angry.
"Like I'd tell you, vampire," the demon retorted.
Angel gripped the pipe tightly and slammed it down in the demon's body. The pipe, although not sharp, pierced the demon's flesh. It screamed loudly in pain.
"Who do you work for?" Angel questioned once again.
"He goes by the name Archduke Sebassis," the demon replied.
"Doesn't ring a bell," Angel replied, "I sure hope you aren't lying."
"What is the artifact?" Spike asked.
"I'm not sure," the demon told him, "The Archduke just said he needed it to take out someone important. I'm not sure who though."
"Who is this Archduke Sebassis?" Angel asked.
"He's very high in our demon nobility. He commands a lot of respect from all other demons," it continued.
"Then how come I've never heard of him?" Spike asked.
"Be quiet," Angel said to Spike.
"Where does the Archduke live?" Spike asked the demon.
"In town," it replied, "A large mansion. You can't miss it."
"Well looks like we've got another demon to go after," Angel said to Spike.
"You won't be getting in their alive," the demon informed, "The Archduke commands many legions of demons. You'd be crushed before you even entered his yard."
"So in other words you're telling us that we're screwed," Spike said.
"Yes, exactly," the demon answered, nodding his head.
"Great!" Angel shouted, "What are we going to tell Giles?"
Wolfram and Hart, Angel's Office:
"You failed at retrieving the artifact?" Giles questioned.
"We were too late," Angel replied, "The Aldinach demon had already delivered it to his master."
Angel and Spike had killed the Aldinach demon after getting some information out of it. Afterwards, they returned to Wolfram and Hart to deliver the bad news to Giles.
"We did get some information out of him," Spike added.
"What kind of information?" Giles asked.
"His master, Archduke Sebassis, needs the artifact to get rid of someone," Angel told him.
"Plus, he lives in a big mansion somewhere in Los Angeles," Spike put in.
"Archduke Sebassis…hmm," Giles mumbled under his breath, "That name sounds familiar."
Giles sat for a few moments. He was trying to remember where he'd heard that name from.
"I've heard that name before, but I can't remember what he is," Giles said.
"The Aldinach demon also told us that the Archduke is high up in demon nobility," Angel informed, "I've never even knew there was such a thing."
"Why didn't you go after him?" Giles asked.
Spike started to laugh. Giles was confused as to why the bleach-blonde vampire was laughing.
"What's so funny?" Giles questioned.
"You think we'd break into the house of a demon noble?" Spike asked, "I don't think so. You know, I'd like to stay undead for many more years."
"Giles, the Archduke commands legions of demons," Angel informed, "The Aldinach demon told us that we'd be dead before we made it into the yard."
"Oh…" Giles responded.
"Looks like your artifact is as good as gone," Spike said.
"Angel, do you have any books by which I could look this Archduke up?" Giles asked.
"Yeah, they're in Wesley's old office," Angel replied.
Angel stopped for a second. He seemed to be concocting something in his mind. Wesley was a watcher and so was Giles. It made perfect sense.
"Giles, how would you like a job here?" Angel asked.
"Pardon me?"
"I'm offering you Wesley's old position in the mystics department," Angel said, "What do you say?"
"Work at a law firm," Giles said.
"Is that a yes?" Angel asked.
"I guess so," Giles responded.
"Wait a minute!" Spike shouted, "You're giving the old Watcher a job, but you won't give me one?"
"You can start whenever you're ready," Angel told Giles, ignoring Spike.