Part 10: Found
Once upon a time, the Hyperion of LA had been a fine hotel. During its hay day, the place had a full staff to keep her running smoothly, and several chefs so the kitchen could be opened and ready for business at any giving hour. The lounge had been the place to be in the Flapper era, and had always been well stocked with the illegal substance that they enjoyed at the parties the owner threw. But it wasn't only the partiers who had enjoyed the hotel. Wealthy men had passed through its doors on more than one occasion, along with famous singers and stars, and even a dignitary or two had briefly called this place home.
They would have never believed the place would some day be rendered almost empty, let alone become the headquarters to a detective agency that was run by a souled vampire, a seer, an ex-Watcher, a Texan quantum physicist, a aura reading demon, and a vampire hunter; all of whom had gathered in lobby to stare at the strange sight their boss had returned with.
They all knew the girl, thanks to the summers when Connor would bring her down with Dawn to show her the 'big city'. She had played hide-and-seek with Lorne when she was younger in this very room. She had sat in that very spot and listened to Wesley rattle on about the latest demon they were battling. She had seen Fred and Gunn 'snogging' on the stairs, and had even seen Cordy steal a kiss or two from her dad's grandsire in the same place. None of them had ever looked at her oddly or like she was out of place…until now.
Angel stood off to the side near the bottom of the stairs, watching the young girl that sat on his counter, munching on the pizza Gunn had brought while talking and laughing with Fred. He still couldn't get over the fact that he had come across her like he had. There was only one in a billion chance of that happening; yet there she sat.
Cordy, who was standing next to him, turned and gave him a reassuring smile. Well, the Powers had sent her that vision; maybe it was their way of saying it was time for the girl to come home. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. This had all been too easy, too coincidental, too…anticlimactic.
Feeling his eyes on her, Dylan looked up from Fred to the vampire who had been watching her. The girl's blue eyes sparkled with mischief for a moment as the side of her lip curled up to a familiar smirk.
Even now, after all these years, he still couldn't get over the fact that this girl, this child, belong to Buffy and his grandchilde. True, there were things about her that did remind him of her mother-that pout of hers being the most obvious. But the simple fact remained and it screamed at him every time he saw her…
"She looks just like Spike."
Cordy blinked from surprise at the sudden statement and turned to look at the girl he had mentioned. Now, it was true that the seer still didn't know the other soulful vampire as well as she should, considering how much time her 'stepson' spends with him and his family, but she had gotten to know the girl pretty well. From what she had seen, Dylan was out going and spunky, not to mention that smartass mouth of hers that reminded the seer of a teenage slayer she once knew. Plus, Dylan seemed brave and didn't scare easily.
"She looks like Buffy," Cordy corrected.
Gunn, who had been sitting on the staircase, watched his boss and friend studying the little blonde girl Angel and Wesley had come home with. He knew the way they were looking at her had something to do with who they thought she looked more like; his grandmother use to be the same way when it came to comparing him and his sister to her own son and his wife. He turned his head to look at the girl on the counter next to his long time, on again/off again girlfriend, and smiled.
Rising from his seat, he went to join the vampire and seer and firmly stated, "Yo, with an appetite like that, she looks like your boy's honey."
The two turned back to the little girl and considered Gunn's comparison of her to Dawn just as Dylan started to down her third slice of pizza. Yeah, she definitely had the Key's appetite, one that was large, but no where near that of Fred's. She just better hope she had Dawn's high metabolism as well.
"So, when are you leaving?" Cordy asked after a minute, breaking the silence once more.
Angel never took his eyes off the hungry child in front of him. "In a little while. I told Joyce I'd bring her home before sunrise."
He watched as the little girl giggled and laughed and acted as if she had just come down from Sunnydale to spend the weekend with them; not like she had been missing for the past seven months. It was weird, her acting like this. From what Giles and the others had told him, Travers was basically insane… that had to have done something to Dylan. Yet, there she sat, acting like the same happy little girl that he had known since infancy.
Part of him wanted to believe that she was alright, that she hadn't changed at all; but he knew that wasn't possible. So that meant she was either putting on a show to appear like she was fine, or she was trying to block it all out. Either way, it wasn't healthy. He'd have to remember to talk to Buffy about it when they arrived.
"Dylan," Angel called, bringing the child's attention away from Fred.
Her eyes were large and shining along with the smile on her face as she gently tilted her head to the side to consider the vampire. Okay, so she looked like a cross between Buffy and Spike.
"It's time to go home."
**********
Buffy stood in front of the kitchen sink, scrubbing the pot so hard that it was surprising that the finish was still on it. The scolding hot water made her hands sting, but she hardly seemed to notice or care. The radio that sat on the window seals edge was currently blasting a pop song in Spanish; the beat sometimes being thrown off by the clanging of metal against metal when the blonde would dunk the pot back into the soapy water and it would hit against the side of the sink.
She had an abundance of nervous energy, which she was trying to quench by scrubbing the cookware spotless. She was also lost in her own world, doing her best not to think.
Just scrub. Scrub until the pot looks like new again. Get those dirty scorch marks off. Make it clean. Make it shine.
This was the scene that Xander Harris walked in on. His best friend, washing dishes as they waited. God, they hated the waiting, every single one of them. They just wanted this to be over with, to let their lives get back to normal for awhile.
Yeah, Travers would still be out there, but maybe, just maybe, they could have a break, so Buffy could enjoy being pregnant again. Lord knows she couldn't the first time, not really, and the second wasn't shaping up much better. And she deserved to be happy for at least a little while.
The carpenter was thrown out of his own thoughts when he heard the pot she had been cleaning bang loudly in the sink as she threw it in. Blinking, he saw her tilt her head downward, then cover her half her face with one of her yellow gloved hands.
"Hey, Buff, you okay?" Xander asked softly.
Upon hearing his voice, she straighten up and sniffled loudly, confirming that she had indeed been crying, or at least on the verge of it.
"Yeah, Xan, I'm fine," she called over her shoulder, pulling the plastic gloves off her hands and dropping them in the sink.
Okay, something was obviously up. Her daughter was coming home after being kidnapped by some psycho ex-Watcher, and she was acting like it was the end of the world or something. He couldn't understand what was wrong. If it had been Jessie, he'd be bouncing off the walls, checking the clock every three seconds and calling Angel's cell ever two, just to be sure they were on their way and everything was okay. Yet, here Buffy stood, crying in the kitchen while scrubbing pots and pans? He just didn't get it.
"Hey, Buff, Dill's coming home," he smiled goofily, trying to lighten her dark mood. "Break out the party hats, right? Cause it's of the good. Isn't it?"
"Of course," she answered, turning her confused and somewhat angered face towards him. Whatever had her upset seemed to be momentarily forgotten because of his question, which was what he was hoping for in the first place.
"Then why aren't you Snoopy Dance Girl?" he asked, as he leaned against the kitchen's island.
Buffy blinked several times at her friend. He looked like Xander. He had Xander's voice even. But since when did Xander Harris become all Serious Looking, Deeper Guy?
Taking in a deep breath, she let it out quickly. "I don't know, Xan. It's just…I mean, I don't…I'm…" The slayer sighed again and dropped her gaze from his.
"Nervous?" the young man offered helpfully.
"Scared," Buffy corrected. "I mean, Dylan, she's going to be…different. I know she is. And, and I don't know what to do. I don't know if I'll be able to help her. And then, on top of that, I've got to worry about the baby and Travers and that stupid cult and, and that guy Kenneth Shelton and-!"
"Whoa, hey. Breathe, okay?" Xander said, cutting off the slayer's ramblings before she got herself even more worked up. Confusion became etched on his face as something she just said registered in his mind. "Cult? What cult? And who's Kenneth what's-his-face?"
Buffy groaned again, not having heard what her friend had asked. Knowing that she wasn't going to answer his question, the carpenter decided that it was best just to stick to the supportive friend part as of right now.
"Buffy, you know we're here, right?" he told her, going back to his gentle tone from earlier. "Me and Wills and everyone, standing right behind you, ready to do what we can to help. No matter what. And - God, I always thought I'd be roasting in some dark part of hell before I'd ever say this – but Spike-"
"Oh, God! Spike!" the blonde suddenly exclaimed, her eyes growing wide.
Xander shivered a little at the statement, his mind venturing into an ugly place at the phrase. Lord, he hoped she'd never say that around him every again.
Buffy, however, failed to notice his discomfort. "I forgot to call him! I can't believe I forgot. He's going to have a fit!"
She headed out of the kitchen, presumably to go upstairs to call the annoying vampire, but paused in the doorway that led to the dinning room.
"Thanks, Xander," she said.
"Glad I could help," he said, though he wasn't entirely sure what he had said that was useful besides the usual 'I'll be there for you' stuff.
With one last smile, she turned back around and continued on her way.
***********
"Where is she off to in such a hurry?" Dawn asked, as she watched her sister charge up the stairs like a teenager running for her room.
It had been nearly two hours since the phone call, and the entire Scooby gang had gathered in the Summers' living room. Well, nearly the entire Scooby gang, with some notable exceptions. But being on the other side of the country was a pretty good excuse. Not great, but good enough the Key supposed.
The kids weren't there either; instead they were presumably all at Anya's driving their poor babysitter, Clem, up the wall until their parents' return. Well, that's to say, they had left the three children with him at her and Xander's house, that's not to say they were still there at the moment. Dawn herself had been left in the care of the floppy skinned demon a few times when she was younger and knew for a fact that they didn't always stay where they were supposed too.
She just hoped that he remembered that Cash and Jessie did have a knack for getting into trouble, so he better keep an eye on them no matter what. Van, though…hell, they could do whatever they wanted and Van would be good to go. The young boy really was proving that one can be a product of their environment because he was just like Oz…only shorter.
The adults were now just waiting, making the place feel more like a waiting room at the hospital than the home Dawn had basically grew up in. The young college student was seated on the couch next to her mother, with Oz on the other end. Willow was in front of him, leaning against his legs as he gently stroked the back of her head. The ex-witch looked tired and worried, but seemed to be calmed by his touch.
The sight of them like that caused Dawn to frown. She knew it was stupid, that Tara would have wanted Willow to move on and be happy, but a part of her had felt for the longest time like the redhead was sort of cheating on the other Wicca when she and Oz were close like that. Yeah, he had been Willow's boyfriend first, and Dawn herself had always liked the werewolf…she just liked Tara better. But she should remember Willow being happy is what matters. At least, that's how Tara would have seen it.
Andrew was sitting on one of her mother's dinning chairs, his head dropped backwards in an uncomfortable looking position while his jaw hung open. Leave it to him to sleep at a time like this.
Anya had taken over the chair that matched the couch, looking very much like she herself might be joining Andrew in dreamland. That is, until Xander came back out of the kitchen, sat down on the armchair's arm, and shoved a Coke can into his wife's face. She blinked a bit from its sudden appearance, but took it with little protest.
"She had a call she forgot to make," the carpenter told the slayer's sister, making himself more comfortable on the side of the chair. "She should be back down in a minute."
"She forgot to call Spike, didn't she?" Dawn asked, already knowing the answer to that question.
"Would you believe me if I said it was Giles?"
"God, I can't believe she forgot to call him!" the college student groaned, leaning further back into the couch. "He should have been, like, the first one she called!"
"Give her a break, Dawnie. She's got a lot on her mind," Xander defended.
"Yeah, Dawn," Willow joined in, as she reached over and touched the younger woman's knee. "This is a lot for her and, and it's not like we, you know, thought about him either."
Dawn frowned a bit at the reminder. She hadn't thought about calling him either, or Giles or Connor for that matter. She didn't know why, it just seemed like a thing someone else would remember to do for them sooner than now.
A knock at the door drew their attention away from the discussion. As Andrew snorted awake from the noise, the rest of the group exchanged a look as if to silently ask if they should wait for Buffy. The thought, however, didn't seem to register in Dawn's mind as she jumped up from her seat to answer it with the rest of them following after her.
The brunette quickly opened the door, her eyes cast downward in the expectation of seeing her niece standing there. Instead, she found someone else.
"Faith?" Dawn blinked. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, hey to you too, brat," the dark-haired slayer said with a grin, making her way into the house without being asked. Once inside, she glanced around the room at the surprised Scoobies, then said, "Buffy sure didn't waste time gatherin' the troops."
"Huh?" the college student asked, not following along whatsoever. "What are you talking about?"
This time, Faith joined in with the confused looking. "What? B didn't tell you I was comin'?"
"Um, no," Dawn answered, glancing around the room from face to face to make sure everyone else was as much in the dark as she.
The brunette slayer made a sound that was a cross between a snort and 'hum', then headed into the living room, the Scoobies following along behind. Flopping down into the armchair that Anya had recently occupied, Faith picked up the nearby Coke can and took a sip. "So what's with the Super Friends gatherin' then?"
"We're waiting for someone," Anya told her, glaring at the former rogue slayer.
The onetime vengeance demon had never made it a secret that she didn't like Faith, which was a constant source of amusement in the natural brunette's eyes. Anya saw through her repetitive façade right down to what her real agenda was. She wanted Xander back.
Oh, yeah, they both go on about how they're just friends now, but Anya knew. Faith wanted her life. Why else would just breeze in here, go straight for the chair that the ex-demon had been sitting in all night and steal the Coke that Xander had brought for her? Next thing she'll be offering her husband a sip of the drink and it's just a hop, skip, and jump away from Anya finding herself bricked into a wall at the Magic Shop while Faith becomes the new Mrs. Harris and starts to raise her children!
Xander looked over at his wife as she possessively wrapped her arm around his and began to squeeze his hand as tightly as she could. Great, Faith hadn't even been back for five minutes and Anya was already getting paranoid over her again. The carpenter couldn't help but wonder which delusion she was having this time. The one where Faith pulled a 'Hand That Rock's the Cradle', or the one where she seals her up in the wall at the Magic Box. Lord, he'd have to remember to start monitoring what she read and watched again.
"Yeah?" the brunette asked, raising an eyebrow as she leaned forward in the chair. "Who?"
"Me, I think."
The group turned around back to the foyer and found a little girl standing there. Her hands were dug down in a small pair of jeans while a shirt that was far too big for her seemed to be trying to devour her tiny body. Her once soft blonde curls had started to darken, probably from being in the dark more than the sun, and the healthy tan that active children usually have had faded as well. She had changed so much that Joyce, Dawn or any of them wouldn't be able to recognize her right away on the street.
The Scoobies, for their part, were staring at her like there was a deadly snake at her feet and they needed to approach her as carefully as possible. Glancing nervously and semi-awkwardly away from them, then over to Angel who stood in the doorway, Dylan grinned and lifted her hand with a small wave.
"Um…hi?"
A squeak from the top of the stairs drew the child's attention away from the group. She looked up to see the very pregnant blonde slayer standing there, watching the child in much the same fashion as the Slayerettes.
"Dylan?" Buffy breathed, as if hardly daring to hope it was actually her.
However, the child didn't seem to take notice, and began to smile brightly.
"Hi, Mommy."
***********
Connor sat on the couch, watching Giles as he went through the box of samples that one of the cult shops had given him. There was a wide assortment of mystical things on the small table of the hotel room, ranging from a bit of dirt from around some great Vodoo Queen's crypt, to tiny, funny looking dolls with pins in them.
Connor wasn't exactly sure what dolls with pins in them would be to anyone, but Giles had seemed pleased enough with them. Spike had called them 'Vengeance Demon Barbie', but they didn't look like any Barbies that the Destroyer had ever seen. Well, maybe he'd give one to Jessie for her birthday, since she collected those plastic versions of women.
A few minutes earlier, the young man had heard the phone ring, but neither he nor Giles had made a move to get it. They both knew it was Buffy, since she called about this time every night, and Spike had picked it up in the attached bedroom. Which reminded him, he needed to call Dawn later tonight or tomorrow, else he might be looking for a new girlfriend soon.
"Hey, Giles. Do you want to get some crawfish for dinner tonight?" he asked with a grin, leaning back in his seat. Angel's son knew the answer full well, but he had been hanging out with Spike for far too long and felt like aggravating the Watcher while they waited for the vampire so they could go head out for patrol.
The older Englishman never looked up from the trinkets he had been prowling through, but Connor could see a frown on his face. "I prefer we dine on something that does not look at me while I'm eating it," he answered evenly.
"Well, we could get it deep fried, then they won't be looking at you," Connor continued to tease. "Just don't sit across from me, cause then it'll have its beady little eyes staring right at you while I suck its head."
The young man had to literally bit down on the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing as Giles visibly shuttered at the thought, then turned a heated look up to him. "Connor!"
"WHAT!?!" a surprised, nearly frantic, voice boomed from the other room.
Instinctively, the younger man jumped to his feet, as if ready for an attack from the other room at any moment. The Watcher, too, had taken guard, forgetting all about the discussion he had been engaged in and the objects before him.
A few moments later, Spike stalked out of the other room with an odd look on his face. It something of a cross between upset, relieved, dazed, and 'I need to get the hell out of here as fast as I can.'
As he began to collect various belongings of theirs that were strung about, he ordered, "Get your things. We're leavin'. Now."
"What?" Giles stuttered, taken aback by this sudden announcement as much as Connor. The older man's face became stern as he demanded, "For where?"
The tone of his voice was what caused Spike to pause in his task and acknowledge the Watcher's presence.
"Home."
**********