Chapter Nineteen
"Alright smurfy. We're gonna play a little game today," Max began, her voice sounding slightly condescending. Illyria narrowed her eyes at her. "It's called Attack Illyria And See How Long It Takes For Max To Kick Her Ass. Doesn't that sound fun?"
"You talk to me as if I were a child. I could mutilate you where you stand," Illyria growled. Max just smiled and began to write something on her clipboard.
"Doesn't like being treated like a child...anger management issues," she muttered to herself and then looked up at Illyria with a very serious expression. "That makes you a little like Chuckie, huh? Or maybe Rosemary's baby. Tell me, did your daddy happen to look like Satan?"
"I will not answer these pointless questions. I do not know what this 'Chuckie' or 'Rosemary's baby' is but as it is you who is referring them to me, I must conclude that they are nothing more than impotent swill."
"Uh-huh...So you still think you're above everyone? Like a god?" Illyria's face contorted with fury.
"I am a god, you arrogant toad!" Max waggled a finger at her.
"Ah, ah, ah. You're forgetting past tense, sweetie. You were a god. Now you're just like a regular being. Who just happens to wear a leather bodysuit, has bright blue hair and eyes, enhanced abilities, and talks like an old fogey." Before Illlyria could retort, Max landed a hard left hook to her face. Caught off guard, Illyria stumbled back. "I was planning on taunting you for a little while longer but being called a toad just made me wanna speed things up." Illyria righted herself and fixed Max with a venomous glare.
"Idiot. The powers that you leeched from me are gone. Now you are no more than, how did you put it? A regular being." Max made a 'phff' noise.
"I've never been a regular person and I don't plan on starting now. And in case you hadn't noticed, you were just punched back a few feet by a simple left hook." Illyria glowered at her.
"I was not prepared."
"Ah. That should be your first clue then. I ran with you for a longer time than the others. So long that if I dwell on it too much I'm overcome with the urge to regurgitate. But there's a plus to that...I know all your moves. But I think my mind needs a little refreshing as I'm supposed to take notes on everything. So please. Come at me."
Illyria didn't hesitate as she launched at kick aimed at Max's mid-section. Max sidestepped it with ease and dropped to the ground, ducking from Illyria's punches and then attempting to sweep her feet out from under her. But Illyria flipped over her. Already expecting her to do this, Max lay flat on the ground before putting all her weight onto her hands as she splayed them across the marble-white floor. Then she brought her legs together at the same time she pushed herself off of the ground. Aimed perfectly, her feet came into solid contact with Illyria's chin. Illyria stumbled backwards with a grunt of surprise as Max simply stood up, grinning from ear to ear. Illyria let out a low growl before attacking again.
"This is great Ria. I haven't had this much fun kicking anyone's ass since that final fight with Ames White almost two years ago," Max stated as if she were having a normal, civilized conversation instead of dodging Illyria's incensed assault.
"Do not think you are of such great importance as to be the one to nickname me! Do you know what your kind was when I was young?" She landed some particularly vicious blows to Max's torso but Max just laughed, angering Illyria even more.
"I'll take a wild guess and say we weren't the upstanding citizens we are today," Max commented sarcastically as she bent backwards at the waist, avoiding Illyria's kick to her face.
"You were the muck at our feet," Illyria spat disgustedly. "We called you 'the ooze that eats itself'. You were pretty at night. You sparkled and you stank. You still stink of it!" The smile of Max's face faded slightly as she grabbed Illyria's leg as she attempted another kick to her face. Then Max landed a kick of her own to the back of Illyria's knee. She stumbled to the ground but Max still kept a hold on her other leg.
"Has it ever occurred to you that now might not be the best time for when-we-were-muck stories?" Max snapped. Illyria only glowered as she kicked her legs out from under her. They flipped back up at the same time and circled each other. "You tell Wesley you wanna get by in this world and yet you continue to insult the ones who currently have rule over it. If you truly believe everything you say then why haven't you tried to take us out?" Not waiting for Illyria's answer, Max continued on with a slightly bitter laugh. "Oh that's right. I forgot. You tried and they kicked your ass. You are not the same being that you were a gazillion years ago. And neither is the human race. We've grown stronger and smarter. Yours truly being an example as I just fought you and can stand to go quite a few more rounds. You really wanna become a part of this world? Then stop walking around like you've got a huge sarcophagus up your ass and maybe you'll have a chance."
Max came out of her fighting stance and walked over to a stack of mats where she had placed her clipboard. She glanced at a wall where weapons were displayed. She lifted a small battle-axe off it's hook and spun around, hurling it towards Illyria where she stood at the opposite wall. It landed with a loud thud only an inch from her head and shoulder. Illyria gave Max a venomous glare which Max returned with a triumphant smile before flouncing towards the doors.
"Class dismissed," she called over her shoulder.
Max knocked softly on Wesley's office door. No response was given to her so she knocked again. Still nothing.
"Lookin' for Percy?"
A smile spread across Max's face as she turned to face Spike.
"Yeah, if by Percy you mean Wesley," she replied. Spike returned her grin. "Know where he is? I got some notes on Illyria I need to give 'im." Spike nodded and gestured to Angel's office.
"Last I saw 'im he was in there talking to the big head. Somethin' about a family he thinks they should be helping." Max nodded knowingly.
"Not an interesting enough conversation for you to continue eavesdropping?" Spike just shrugged. "Well, thanks. Guess I'll have to interrupt 'em." But Max didn't make any move to leave. With a soft 'oh', as if he was just remembering something, Spike pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and gave it to her.
"Buffy, Red, and the others called a little bit ago. They want you to meet 'em at the hotel. Didn't say what it was for." Max's brow furrowed.
"Why didn't they just call my cell phone?" Spike smirked and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket as well. Max quickly recognized it as her own. "Why do you..." she began before remembering she had loaned it to him after she had called Faith. "Thanks." Spike nodded and rocked back on his heels, his hands placed lightly on the waistband of his jeans. An awkward silence fell between them. Realizing she still held her notes on Illyria, Max gestured to Angel's office. "Well I guess I should..."
"Yeah. Right. Carry on then." Max gave him a tentative smile before turning to go. She'd only gotten a few feet when Spike's voice stopped her. "Meant to ask you...how's the testing with Illyria going?" Max turned back to face him with a delighted grin on her face as she recalled her fight with Illyria. "That good, huh?"
"Yeah. She doesn't really change her style so it's easy to catch on. She got in several hits but I think I gave as good as I got," Max stated proudly before grimacing as she gestured vaguely to her chest. "Got a few bruises here though." Something glinted in Spike's eyes but it passed before Max could identify it. Figuring they were headed for another uncomfortable silence, Max gave him a small smile and wave before heading towards Angel's office.
Spike silently watched her go, staying in the same spot even after she had already gone through the doors. Finally realizing he was just staring, Spike sighed and rubbed the back of his head. There was no doubt in his entire body, he still loved Max. He knew she felt the same way but he had told her he needed some time to think.
But now that he had that chance, the only thought he kept having was why he had told her that in the first place. There wasn't anything to ponder over except how much he missed just being with her. More often than not their encounters had ended in awkward situations and the latest one was no exception. He hated it.
Spike knew, finally, that Max and Alec's relationship was just what they said it was; nothing more than a close friendship. He should've just taken their word for it but no, his insecurities and paranoia had to get in the way. Max had apologized but she didn't actually have much to be sorry for.
Spike wanted to change what he had mucked up. No, he needed to. As soon as possible before he and Max drifted too far apart. But not here at Wolfram & Hart. He had to do it right.
Buffy stood at the end of her hotel room, near the sliding door out to the balcony, as she silently observed the people in front of her, making sure everyone was there. Alec and Faith were sitting side by side on the floor at the foot of one of the beds, Max and Krit were each on top of a bed, Jondy sat across from them in a sofa chair, and Willow and Kennedy were siting next to each other on the couch.
"You all know what we're doing here, right?" she asked. Everyone but Willow slowly raised their hands.
"Uh...no, not really," Faith replied. She exchanged looks with the ones closest to her to make sure she wasn't the only one. They all had the same confused expression on their faces.
"Well, you and Alec haven't heard the result of our little get together with the ex-lawyer Lindsey McDonald. Guess what? We're in the middle of the apocalypse! But wait, it gets better. Apparently if we keep helping Wolfram & Hart in any way, that means we're on the wrong side." A long silence met Buffy's announcement. Then Max cleared her throat.
"Ya know. I'm really glad I met you guys. Seriously, being a genetically enhanced super soldier worth millions of dollars and getting hunted for almost 2/3 of my life just hasn't given me enough of that fabulous thing called stress. But there you guys were, in the clinch." Knowing Max was just being sarcastic, the others laughed in amusement.
"On that cheery note, what exactly are you intending to do?" Krit asked.
"She's not sure yet," Kennedy interrupted before Buffy could reply. Buffy gave her a withering look. "What? You haven't."
"I do have some ideas but the purpose of this meeting is to figure out exactly that," Buffy replied. "So everyone, speak your mind. Seriously, we're open to any suggestions."
"How 'bout we all..." Kennedy began.
"Except that one," Buffy cut her off. Kennedy scoffed in disbelief.
"You didn't even know what I was going to say!" Buffy rolled her eyes.
"You were going to say we should all tell Angel and his team to go to hell and deal with the apocalypse on their own since they're the once that got it started and then leave," Buffy stated in a bored voice. A slight blush crept into Kennedy's cheeks, confirming Buffy's prediction. "And that's not an option. If we're within an inch of an apocalypse, we don't bail. We fight. I don't care how it started or why. We are not leaving."
"What're we going to do about Angel? Are we going to plan our own thing or work together with him?" Jondy asked.
"Both," Buffy replied. The others stared at her in confusion for a few beats before it began to dawn on them.
"So we're going to make sure Angel's crew doesn't do anything stupid but if he does, we gotta make sure we have a backup plan?" Alec wanted to confirm. Buffy nodded. "Good enough for me."
"And now we have to actually figure out the back up plan," Willow added. "It's gotta be more complex than just yell for our team to turn on Angel's." She noticed Buffy's dismayed expression and added quickly, "Not that I think we'll have to."
"We don't have to figure out everything now do we?" Max asked. Buffy shook her head.
"We don't even know what the apocalypse entails."
"Is it something else besides fire and brimstone?" Krit joked.
"So...first step should probably be contacting all the slayer bases you've created and I can put in a call to Seattle," Max continued, ignoring Krit's comment. Buffy nodded.
"Are we going to tell anyone else what we're doing?" Jondy asked. The others exchanged looks.
"We should probably keep it to ourselves for now," Alec replied. A murmur of agreement met his suggestion. He turned to Jondy. "And speaking of the guys over at Wolfram & Hart, shouldn't you get back there?"
"Right, with your new 'job' and everything," Krit added. Jondy shrugged nonchalantly.
"He was kinda in a weird mood when we left, remember? I didn't want to be around when he cracked." Buffy gave her a look. "But if this meeting's over I should probably get back there..."
"Smart thinking," Max commented. Jondy rolled her eyes as everyone got up from their seats. Max turned to Buffy. "I'll let you know about the situation in Seattle." Buffy nodded.
"And I'll let you know about the slayer headquarters."
"Check it out, people!" Alec exclaimed cheerily as he headed for the hotel door. "We've actually got the beginnings of a wonderful plan here! Working together and everything!" His exclamation was met with a sharp slap to the head from Jondy. Faith was right behind him when she suddenly turned around.
"Forgot my coat," she explained before going back into the room. Max was the last one out and so held the door open for her. Alec smirked. He knew why she was lagging.
Faith turned to Max once she had put her coat on, but she found herself not able to say anything. She smiled nervously when Max just stared blankly at her.
"You got your coat on so let's go," Max said, gesturing to the outside hallway. Faith nodded and made a move to walk out the door when she suddenly stopped again. Sighing heavily she turned back to Max.
"Listen, um...I-I'm really..." Max made a 'phff' noise and grinned.
"Don't worry about it. You obviously made things right with Alec and that's what matters."
"For what it's worth...I'm still sorry."
"Then thanks." A beat of uncomfortable silence fell between them before Max spoke again, "Now can we go?" Faith laughed.
"Got my vote."
Faith and Max made their way down to the lobby where the others were waiting. Max glanced through the windows and noticed the sun was setting. As it sent a mirage of purple, orange, and pink into the sky, she remembered something. She walked briskly over to Buffy and gently grasped her arm.
"I need to ask you something," she said. Buffy just nodded and Max led her away from the group. "Listen, I know you and Angel aren't together at the moment and you're probably allowed to lie to each other and whatnot..." Buffy winced.
"It's not exactly lying," she protested lamely. Max just shook her head.
"But your situation with Angel isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Then what..." Buffy trailed off as she realized what she meant. "You're worried that this will affect your relationship with Spike." Max nodded.
"We're kinda in a holding pattern right now and if he finds out I'm keeping something this big from him after I told him I wouldn't do anymore of that...He'll get a tad angry." Buffy gave her a grim smile.
"That's an understatement," she replied. Max sighed heavily.
"Don't I know it," she mumbled.
"So you wanted to ask me if you could let Spike in on our currently measly plan." Max nodded. Buffy sighed and bit her lip as she began to think aloud, "Well...Spike was actually with us in Sunnydale longer than Angel was. But he wasn't completely full of the good deeds until he got his soul...but he had had his moments. How long has he been at Wolfram & Hart?"
"About 7-8 months I think. A few of which included him as a ghost," Max replied.
"Right." Buffy sighed again. "I suggest you find out exactly how loyal he is to Angel's team." Max grimaced and Buffy gave her a small smile of understanding. "Not the funnest thing to do, I know. But if you trust him enough, go ahead and fill him in."
"Alright, thanks," Max gave her a grateful smile before heading towards the exit.
"Max, where're you going?" Krit called out.
"Gotta take a walk," she called back over her shoulder.
Max headed purposefully down the street. The sun had set and night had officially fallen. She knew she was only a few blocks away from Spike's apartment and that thought alone brought a small grin to her face.
She passing by a restaurant parking lot, barely glancing at it, when an ear-splitting shriek rang out. Max snapped to attention and quickly took a full view of the parking lot. Her pupils dilated and she could clearly see some disgusting red demons with black hair attacking a family, pulling them out of their SUV.
Max was about to blur over there when she saw the son punch one of the demons so hard he went flying through the air. He seemed just as amazed at his strength as Max did. But Max stopped her gawking when one of the demons jumped at him from a nearby car top.
"Watch out!" Max screamed as she finally ran over. But all her warning seemed to do was distract the son and the demon succeeded in punching him and then throwing him into another car. As the kid cowered against it, Max saw his eyes give her a fleeting glance just as she took a flying leap and tackled the demon. The demon shoved her off of him and they began to circle each other.
"Max!"
Max whipped around as the familiar voice called her name. She recognized Angel immediately and had time to give him a questioning look before the demon attacked her from behind, wrapping an arm around her neck and cutting off her air supply. Grunting in annoyance, Max grasped the demon's arm with both hands and promptly flipped him over. She held onto his arm and twisted it at an impossible angle. The demon shrieked in pain and Max traded his arm for his head as she gave it a quick snap and the demon fell to the ground lifeless.
Max looked back up to find Angel fighting off two more of the demons. She waited for an opening before she gave one of them a roundhouse kick to the head and he stumbled away from Angel. Not waiting for the demon to regain his balance, Max got onto a nearby car and then jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his neck. Then she swung her body to the side, effectively snapping his neck as they both spun onto the ground. Max quickly got to her feet and dusted herself off, glancing back at Angel in time to see him raise a demon above his head before slamming into the ground.
A quick look around the parking lot told Max that they had gotten rid of all the demons. The son, who had still been cowering against a car, got to his feet with a look of shock on his face.
"Oh my god," he said, his eyes traveling from Angel to Max to the demons and back again.
"Connor, listen to me," Angel began. Max's brow furrowed in confusion.
He knows this kid?
"You almost broke that guy in half!" Connor said, still in shock before his face suddenly broke into a wide grin. "That was so cool!" Angel started to smile as well and Max found herself observing the similarities.
"Well, it was nothing. I mean, I do a lot of that stuff. There was this one time..." Angel began.
"Connor!" the mother was calling as she came out from behind the SUV, helping the father stand. Connor ran to his parents and Max sidled up next to Angel with a sly grin on her face.
"So what brings ya here?" she asked casually. Angel gave her a wary look. "What?"
"I should ask you the same thing," he retorted.
"I was on my way to Spike's when I heard a scream. Saw the demons and came to help. I'm going to assume your story isn't the same as mine so spill." Angel opened his mouth to reply when Connor and his parents made their way over to them.
"He needs a doctor," the mother exclaimed worriedly as she and Connor supported the father.
"We have doctors at Wolfram & Hart," Angel replied. "We can help." The family gave obvious curious looks in Max's direction. Angel cleared his throat. "Max, this is Colleen and Laurence Reilly. And this is their son Connor." Max smiled and gave them small wave.
"Nice to meet you," she said. Connor seemed to be ogling her openly and she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Something wrong?" As if just realizing he was staring, Connor quickly shook his head, smiling nervously.
"N-No, nothing's wrong," he replied, but then he resumed his ogling. Max cleared her throat. "Sorry, it's just...you're an awesome fighter and you're just..."
"A tiny woman?" Max filled in as they started walking back to the Reilly's car, gently laying the father down in the backseat. Connor nodded, still smiling nervously. He opened his mouth to say more when Angel suddenly appeared beside them.
"Max, I can take it from here. I'll see you back at Wolfram & Hart later," he said. Max knew his tone was firm for a reason but she couldn't help wanting to tease him.
"Are you sure? Cuz I'm prepared to fully give you any help you may need," she said sweetly. Angel just glared at her. "Alright, alright. Witness me leaving." She began to walk backwards away from him. "It was nice meeting you Connor!" Connor's face split into another wide grin as he waved at her. Angel sent her one more withering look before turning back to the Reillys.
Max arrived at Spike's apartment and put her hand on the knob before she quickly snatched it back. She brought her hands into a loose fist and knocked softly on the door.
I don't live here, she reminded herself. And I don't think barging in on Spike will help him think any better of me.
She waited patiently as she heard footsteps shuffling around inside. Then Spike's voice called out, "Who is it?"
"Max." Silence greeted her announcement and she began to worry if he was thinking up an excuse not to see her when the door suddenly swung open. Spike stood in front of her wearing his usual black jeans but he had traded in his black shirt for a blue one that matched his eyes. It didn't matter if this was a conscious effort or not, Max found herself smiling in appreciation. "Can I come in?"
Spike nodded and stepped aside. Max forced herself to take her gaze off of him and look ahead of her so she would at least know where she was going. When she looked into his apartment, her breath caught in surprise.
She had been too busy checking out Spike to realize the lights were dimmed and only a few candles lit up the place, which was spotless.
"You expecting someone or did your power just go out?" Max asked softly without turning back to face him. She heard the slight shuffle of his feet and realized she had just made him uncomfortable. She turned around and gave him a sweet smile.
"Like I'd voluntarily light candles in my home. Bloody dangerous those things are..." Spike mumbled without looking at her. Max slowly reached out and grasped his hand. The movement seemed to startle him enough to look her in the eyes.
"How'd you know I was coming?" she asked. Spike gestured vaguely to his phone across the room.
"I didn't. But I was gonna..." he trailed off and took a deep unneeded breath. "I needed to talk to you." Max only nodded, knowing he didn't want to be interrupted. He gently guided her over to his couch where they both sat down facing each other. "Look...I know I said I needed time to think. But..." He hesitated and Max gave his hand a light squeeze. The first signs of a smile appeared on his face. "I don't need to. I think I've done enough pointless thinking to last an eternity." He took another breath and locked eyes with Max. "I already know what I want." Realizing he wanted her to say something, Max cleared her suddenly dry throat.
"And what would that be?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Spike didn't answer at first and Max turned her head slightly to the side, averting her eyes as she became unsure of what he was going to say. Spike gently lifted her chin with the crook of his finger, forcing her to lock eyes with him again.
"You," he said simply. Max's mouth formed a small 'oh' before Spike covered her lips with his. It only took half a second for Max to respond as she brought her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Spike moved his hands down her waist, bringing her body closer to his. This movement elicited a moan from Max that sent an undescribable feeling through Spike's body.
With Max's hands tangled in his hair and his hands flat against her back, they began to get off of the couch. Before they had taken a single step, Max pulled herself up and wrapped her legs around Spike's waist. They staggered into the bedroom and Max briefly detached herself from Spike to take off her coat. Spike followed her lead and removed his shirt. When their lips found each other again, Spike moved his hands to the hem of Max's shirt. Realizing they had to part again, Max let out a small whimper, causing Spike to smirk.
"Spike," shesaid breathlesslyas she quickly whipped off her shirt. "You know I want you too, right?" Spike let out a soft laugh as he trailed kisses along her collarbone.
"I think the present happenings can testify to that," he replied. Max giggled and brought his head up to meet his lips with hers again and together they fell onto the bed.
A/N-Ha! You wanted 'em to get together so there ya go. And there was plenty of other action too (wink wink). Anyways, hope you guys liked it! Review please!
LadyV77-Thanks ;o) Buffy finding out about Connor is definitely going to be fun to write too...hehe.
CharmingAngel-Thanks ;o) Well, at least one of your questions was answered :o)
meri24-Thanks ;o) I love Faith too. You can pretty much count on the fact that this story won't have Dawn/Connor as Dawn is Buffy's sister and Connor is Angel's son and this already has Buffy/Angel so it'd probably get a little weird...Wouldn't it sorta make Dawn Angel's daughter and Connor Buffy's brother? Lol.
