Chapter Twenty Four
Max's jaw was clenched tight and she nearly crushed her cell phone to smithereens when she flipped it closed. Jondy had heard every word and was intently watching her face to see what she would do next. When she spoke, her voice was laced with barely controlled fury.
"I have to go meet Buffy and the others. Spike doesn't have a cell phone so if he comes by just tell him where I am, but not why unless you know for sure that you're alone." Max paused as she seemed to reconsider, and her voice softened. "Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne don't count. Tell them what's happened as soon as you can. We're gonna need their help sooner than we thought." Jondy nodded. "Be careful."
"You too," Jondy replied. Then Max walked briskly away from her desk, not even noticing when her shoulder collided with Wesley, who was heading toward Angel's office with the same amount of urgency as Max. He didn't notice the collision either. He came over to Jondy's desk and grabbed the sign-in book. She leaned over to see that he had drawn a circle with eight evenly spaced spurs sticking out around it. "What is that?"
Wesley looked up, startled, as if he hadn't known she was even there. "Pardon?" Jondy just kept her gaze level with his, knowing full well he'd heard her question. He looked down at the drawing before ripping it out of the book. "I don't know yet." Then he continued walking towards Angel's office. Jondy kept her eyes trained on the open door, not even bothering to pretend she was doing work.
Wes reappeared barely a minute later, with a new look of anger marring his features. Lorne and Gunn met him halfway across the lobby and continued into his office. Taking a deep breath, Jondy moved around her desk and followed them.
"It's like Angel suddenly started channeling Leona Helmsley," Lorne was saying as she entered the room.
"He's not himself, at any rate," Wesley replied.
"What's happening to him?" Gunn wondered aloud.
"That's a good question," Jondy commented as she closed the door behind her. All three men gave her looks of surprise. "I don't know him as well as you do, but I can still tell this isn't his normal behavior."
"Got that right," Gunn muttered. "But why do you care about it?" Jondy smirked.
"Because I live in this world and I like it. And an apocalypse would put a pretty big damper on things. All evidence is starting to show that Angel isn't exactly playing on the side of the white hats. Come to think of it, doesn't he have a history of preferring to wear black?" Lorne's eyes widened.
"Woah, woah. Hold your horses there, missy. So far the only proof we've got is extendedget-togethers with Hamilton and the occasional brush off to some of us. I don't think that chalks up to him turning psycho yet." Jondy shook her head, the smirk had disappeared from her face.
"Wanna bet?"
"It was a Sathari..." Drogyn explained. "Part of a clan of demon assassins. They fell upon me last night." He was sitting on the extra bed in Willow's hotel room. The others were all circled around him, either standing or sitting on one of the beds or chairs. "Once I bested him, I tortured the Sathari for hours until he told me who had sent him. It was Angel."
"Why?" Alec asked flatly. Drogyn glanced at him before continuing.
"He said Angel was afraid I would find something in the Deeper Well that would help uncover the truth about his involvement in helping Illyria escape from her tomb."
"I thought her release was predestined," Wesley commented. Drogyn nodded in understanding.
"That is what I thought as well. But now I believe her resurrection may have been planned."
"Why would Angel want to spring an old one?" Lorne asked. Drogyn slowly shook his head.
"I don't think that was the point." The others just waited for him to elaborate. "The assassin had also said something about a sacrifice...someone trusted and dear." Wesley swallowed painfully.
"You think he was the one who murdered Fred," Max confirmed softly.
"You said sacrifice...A sacrifice for what?" Willow questioned. Drogyn shook his head again, letting them know that he had no idea. Jondy gently poked Wes's arm. He just looked at her.
"The symbol," she stated softly. "See if he knows what it means." Wesley quickly removed the piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. Drogyn leaned forward to see it better. "Recognize it?" He shook his head. Buffy grabbed the drawing.
"Where'd you get this?" she asked.
"Someone tapped into the template interface. Sent a message to me, and that symbol. Someone's dropping clues," Wesley explained.
"Playing games is more like it," Gunn commented bitterly.
"But why is all this happening now?" Faith questioned. "The change in Angel's behavior, the need to tie up loose ends...why now?" It only took her a second to figure it out. "He's making his move."
"Which is what?" Krit asked, scratching the back of his head in frustration. "We still don't know what it is he's planning to do."
"There's only one way to find out," Wesley replied. "We ask him." He, Gunn, and Lorne began moving towards the door with Buffy following. Wesley stopped and turned to face her with a look that clearly showed he was about to protest.
"Don't. I'm going with you," she stated stubbornly. "I need to know what's going on with him firsthand." A few beats passed before Wes nodded reluctantly. Once they had left, Max turned to the others.
"Alright, I've gotta go find Spike, Illyria, and Kennedy." Willow flinched. Max's gaze fell on her. "I know what you're going through and I don't want to be a bitch about it, but the sooner we find each of them the better. Spike and Illyria went to Funville about an hour ago, but they might be somewhere else by now. Will you do a locator spell?" She nodded.
"But I need something of Spike's," she replied. "Finding Kennedy will be no problem since her stuff is already here..." Her voice cracked slightly. Oz and Xander looked over at her in concern, but she ignored them both. "Do you have anything of Spike's with you?" Max smiled sheepishly and looked down at the black shirt she was wearing.
"Um...yeah," she replied. Alec caught on first and grinned wickedly.
"Go on Maxie, don't be shy. We're all friends here." His words clued everyone else in and Faith gave him a swift smack upside the head.
"That's his shirt then?" Willow wanted to confirm, slightly embarrassed for Max. "And you don't have any clothes here?" Max shook her head. Willow looked to the other females for help. "I, uh, don't think she has the same size or style as me."
"She probably wouldn't fit in any of Buffy's clothes either," Alec commented, causing Max to glare heatedly at him. He held his hands up in mock surrender. "I meant that as a compliment." Faith rolled her eyes and hopped off the bed.
"Come on, I probably have something that'll fit you," she said, heading out of the hotel room. Max smiled her thanks and turned to Willow.
"At least get started on finding Kennedy," she said before following Faith out. Alec made like he was going to follow them as well, but Jondy and Krit quickly yanked him back down. He pretended to pout and looked over at Xander, Oz, and Drogyn for sympathy, but they were carefully looking elsewhere.
"You will be using items of both Spike and Kennedy, but what of Illyria? Shouldn't you look for her as well?" Drogyn asked as Willow searched for a map through a pile of papers.
"She's probably still with Spike," Xana replied. Drogyn nodded slowly, though his facial expression made it clear he didn't understand the connection. "They went to kill a demon together earlier." Drogyn only nodded again and the others fell silent as Willow began muttering the words to find Kennedy.
When Max and Faith came back a several minutes later, Max was still wearing Spike's black shirt. The others gave her questioning looks so she held up her cell.
"Spike just called from a pay phone. Theykilled the demonso they're on their way here. I gave him the short version of what happened so when they get here Illyria can help keep guardover Drogyn while Spike and I go find Kennedy. Anyone else wanna come along?"
Max looked up from the piece of paper she was holding to the musty, dank building in front of her. She glanced over at Alec and Spike in silent question. They both shrugged.
"Address matches," Alec stated as a smirk began to play at the corners of his mouth. Max sighed and scrunched her nose in distaste before shoving the scrap of paper back in the pocket of her jacket. Alec reached forward and grasped the door handle. "Don't know about you, but I might have a nice little drink while we're here."
"Read my mind," Spike added. Max rolled her eyes and pushed pass them into the bar.
The strong smell of alcohol, sweat, and urine practically shoved its way into their senses. Max groaned in frustration and quickly covered her nose and mouth with her gloved hand. Alec and Spike did the same.
"On second thought, maybe I'll actually help you find Kennedy," Alec's voice came out strained and slightly nasal. Max just nodded her head, not wanting to open her mouth and inhale any more of the odor clinging to the room. They quickly scanned as much of the area near the bar as they could, but didn't see Kennedy. "What would she be doing in a place like this anyway? I know we have heightened senses and all, but my god, normal humans should at least realize when they're in a dumpster." Max reluctantly opened her mouth to answer him.
"I know, but Willow's spell said she'd be here and so I think we should just hold our breath and go find the damn girl before we suffocate," she replied hurriedly. Alec only nodded in agreement. Max tapped his arm with the hand that wasn't covering her mouth and motioned for him to go look upstairs while she and Spike checked the rest of the room. He nodded again and left.
"Well thank Drusilla I don't breathe," Spike muttered. Max shot him a look. "I'll go search for Kennedy in the back. Wanna check out more of the front?" Max just grunted in response before moving away. Spike smiled softly before heading in a different direction.
He pushed past a small crowd of people to get to the back of the room. He only had to scan a few of the occupied tables before he finally saw her. She was sitting alone stirring a pinkish orange drink with a mini-straw umbrella looking more than a little depressed. Spike sighed. Without wasting another beat he quickly strode over to Kennedy's table and slid in the empty seat across from her. She didn't even look up from her drink.
"I'm not interested," she grumbled without ceasing her stirring. Spike rolled his eyes.
"Funny, neither am I." Kennedy's eyes immediately snapped up to meet his in shock. "What am I doing here, right? Well I could ask the same of you, but I don't like the chance of this stench clinging to me for eternity so let's just cut to the chase, shall we? You're coming back to the hotel now with me, Max, and Alec." A defiant expression clouded Kennedy's face.
"No, I'm not. You guys are doing fine without me. Willow will be fine without me." Spike smiled tightly as he stood up.
"Well, that's most likely true, but nonetheless you're coming back. It's your obligation as a slayer. So get up." The defiant look on her face strengthened and her eyes glinted angrily.
"No," she bit out. Spike narrowed his eyes. Then he suddenly brought his hand up and gave the back of Kennedy's head a sharp slap. Her mouth dropped open in surprise as she rubbed the spot where he had hit her. "Ow! What was..."
"I know you and Willow are on hiatus right now, but if you think I'm going to let you just mope in this dumpster bar while the rest of us are fighting Wolfram & Hart then you don't deserve to share the slogan of 'Chosen One' with the hundreds of other little bits who'll actually be helping us," Spike snapped. A flash of guilt crossed Kennedy's face before it quickly disappeared. "I'm not giving you a choice. Now come on." He turned to go, just as Alec and Max made their way over to them.
"You're really an insensitive son of a bitch aren't you?" Kennedy growled as she grabbed her coat. Max glared heatedly at her and stepped forward threateningly but Alec put his hand on her arm. When Spike turned back around, his eyes were shining a bright, angry blue.
"And you're an ignorant little wannabe with an ego larger than Illyria's without even an eighth of the evidence to support it. You're a spoiled little rich girl who likes to play superhero. Only you've got none of the heroics and more superpowers than you deserve. You're supposed to be a slayer. Don't just act like it. Prove it." He held Kennedy's glare for a moment longer before turning to go again. Alec cocked an eyebrow at Kennedy as he followed Spike and Max to the exit. Kennedy stared at their retreating backs, still unsure on whether or not to follow them. Her feet made the decision for her.
Buffy kept her gaze fixated on the cold, bare floor in front of her. She was barely paying attention to what the others were saying. In her mind she kept replaying what Angel had said to her, Gunn, Lorne, and Wesley when they went to go talk to him.
Power tips the scale, power sets the course, and until I have real power, global power, I have nothing. I accomplish nothing.
He was a completely different person. And she still wasn't quite sure what had caused it. A small part of her figured she had something to do with it. But when she had yelled at him in that hallway... Buffy gave her head a slight shake. It was something a lot more complicated than that. It had to be. They've had plenty of arguments like that one and neither of them had ever suddenly gotten homicidal. Unless you count that time in her junior year of high school...
But that was different, she reminded herself. Different on an epic scale. That was when he became Angelus. And he's not him now, I'd be able to sense it. The kind of sense that involves seeing half of my friends bloody and maimed... Buffy gave her head another shake to rid herself of the onslaught of gruesome images threatening to show themselves.
She let her gaze travel up to the others waiting in the room with her. Faith, Alec, and Max were all sitting on the table with their feet either dangling over the edge or resting on the tops of the chairs. Wesley and Lorne were on the other side of the 2-way mirror that she was leaning against. She knew Spike and Gunn were getting the guy they were supposed to talk to. Jondy had gone back to Wolfram & Hart to keep an eye on Angel and had brought Krit and Kennedy along with her. Back at the hotel, keeping guard over Drogyn, were Illyria, Willow, Xander, Oz, and Xana.
We each have something to be doing. But I'll feel a lot better about what we'll be doing when the reinforcements get here. Max's friend called her a few hours ago saying they'd be here in the next day or so, and Giles said the other slayers and transgenics would be making their way here within the next week, too. I hope this guy will give us some info that we can at least think over til they arrive...But how helpful can a prisoner actually be?
Buffy's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door being thrown open. Her eyes and everyone else's fell on Spike and Gunn as they brought in a man in shackles. He was grinning widely and holding out his arms.
"You guys look like you could use a hug," he said. Both Gunn and Spike grabbed his arms and hauled him over to the table. Faith, Alec, and Max swivelled around on the table to face him without actually getting up. Spike shoved him into a chair and stepped back as Faith gave the man a steely glare.
"Hey Lindsey. How's prison treating you? Been made anyone's bitch yet?" she asked kindly. Lindsey smiled at her.
"You'd know all about that wouldn't you?" he countered. Neither of Faith's glare or faux-kind tone wavered.
"Maybe. But if it hasn't happened already, I'll be sure to make a few calls. I know how lonely subhumans like you get in the night." Lindsey opened his mouth to retort, but Max quickly interrupted.
"The status of how pathetic your life is isn't what we came for." Lindsey nodded and a sarcastic tone entered his voice.
"You guys plan on beating it out of me?" Spike smirked.
"Great idea, let's start with that," he replied before walking threateningly toward him. Lindsey sprang to his feet almost immediately. Gunn stepped between them and shoved Lindsey back down, causing a loud clang to ring out when the metal of his shackles collided with the chair.
"We all know how this would go," Gunn stated calmly. "Spike would beat you into a bloody pulp, you'd beg for him to stop, and then spill everything you know."
"Who needs all that?" Lorne commented. Lindsey chuckled softly.
"I told you already that I don't know why Angel gave up that kid. We're not that close. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a game of Solitaire to get back to." Before he could make another motion of getting up, Wesley held the drawing of the black circle up to his face. Lindsey stared at it in surprise before moving his gaze onto Wesley's face. "Where'd you get that?"
"What does it mean?" Wes asked, ignoring his question. Lindsey chuckled again.
"This is what all these questions are about? No. No way would they take Angel."
"Who's they?" Alec asked.
"Circle of the Black Thorn."
"Sounds like a sewing club for pirates," Lorne commented dryly.
"It's a secret society. The circle's small, but it's elite. They've got connections you people can't even comprehend." Wesley nodded blandly.
"They're evil."
"Sure," Lindsey replied flippantly. "But that's not the point. Power is." Buffy eyes immediately sharpened at this.
"They're the ones causing the apocalypse?" she guessed. Lindsey nodded. Her brow furrowed. "But I thought the senior partners were in charge of that."
"They're on a different plane. The players in the circle are the ones who make things happen here."
"That's why you came back to Los Angeles to kill Angel," Max stated coldly. "You wanted to become a member of this special little club." Lindsey smiled in response, letting the others know she had guessed right.
"Guess Angel succeeded where you failed," Gunn replied.
"He doesn't have it in him," Lindsey countered. "He's gotta give up the champion angle. He probably wouldn't even make it on their radar until he killed one of his lieutenants." The others looked at each other in alarm. Buffy swallowed painfully and stepped back from the others.
"Angel dedicated his life to helping others by choice. If he's been swayed from that...there might still be a chance that we could bring him back," Wesley stated.
"Hell, we've done it before," Faith added, jumping off the table. Alec and Max followed her. "But hopefully this time it won't involve any freaky spells."
The elevator's customary ding broke through the silence. The doors slid open and Wesley led the way across the lobby. Gunn, Lorne, Buffy, Spike, Max, Faith, and Alec trailed after him. Jondy, Krit, and Kennedy met them halfway.
"Don't come in there unless one of us calls you, alright?" Max ordered. Jondy and Krit nodded mutely, though their expressions of anger and disappointment mirrored Kennedy's. All three wanted to help with the confrontation.
"Just don't do anything to get your heads cut off and we'd be happy to oblige," Jondy replied sarcastically. The others continued into Angel's office as Max glared at her.
"I'm ordering you to stay out of sight or go back to the hotel and if I get any indication that you'll be disobeying me..." Krit's face softened.
"We'll do it," he said. "But I agree with Jondy. Don't get your heads cut off." Max smiled slightly and chucked him under the chin without saying anything. Then she joined the others in Angel's office as Jondy, Krit, and Kennedy headed towards the elevator.
When she entered, Gunn was already in his spot behind the door. Lorne, Wesley, and Alec were in the conference room withSpike outside the door.Faith and Buffy were leaning against the wall near Angel's desk, careful to keep their bodies away from the window.Spike motioned for Max to join Lorne, Wesley, and Alec. As she passed him, he gave her arm a light squeeze. She returned the favor before sliding the door closed behind her. Then she inhaled sharply at the sight in front of her.
Alec was weaponless while Lorne was loading a crossbow. But that wasn't what bothered her. It was the shotgun that Wes held in his hands. He was oblivious to Max's sudden change in posture, but Alec and Lorne weren't.
"It'll be okay, Maxicat. He doesn't plan on using it," Lorne said softly as Alec lightly grasped her hand. Wes's brow furrowed and he looked down at his gun.
"Are you saying..." Spike's voice suddenly floated through the door before Wesley could finish speaking.
"Time to be quiet, Captain Forehead's coming this way."
A slightly muffled 'Is that really necessary?' was heard before the whole office fell silent. Max pressed her ear closer to the door as she heard oncoming footsteps. Then the sound of the door to Angel's office shutting and a fist hitting flesh rang out. Wesley quickly flung the door open and he, Lorne, Alec, and Max filed out to help the others form a circle around Angel, who was getting up from the ground.
"Careful, you don't want to get yourselves hurt," he said softly. Max let her gaze flicker to Buffy for a brief second. The blonde slayer seemed to remarkably be in control, unless you took a closer look at her eyes, which were blazing with a wide variety of emotions.
"We know what you've been up to," Gunn stated angrily. "Giving the baby up to the Fell Brethren, working for Senator Bitch, trying to take out Drogyn to cover up what you did to Fred. And all just to get into the Circle of the Black Thorn?"
"You figured it out."
"Yeah. A little singing from a jailbird we know and loathe," Lorne added.
"Lindsey," Angel scoffed. "And you believed him."
"He doesn't have any reason to lie," Buffy practically spat. Angel barely glanced at her.
"Business is business. You don't like how I do mine, you can leave...before I kill you." Faith let out a bark of laughter.
"Threatening to kill us, big guy? Hard to believe we're having trouble trusting you. Though if it truly came to a smackdown, I think it's safe to say we'd take you down." Without warning, Angel suddenly grabbed the shotgun from Wesley and kicked him to the ground. Spike charged him, but Angel got off a punch first. Gunn raised his sword but Angel blocked the swing right before he hit him in the head with the barrel of the shotgun. Lorne shot an arrow into his shoulder at the same time Faith and Alec charged. They each got in several hits before Angel broke free and grabbed Lorne around the neck, holding him hostage as he pointed the gun at the others before they could try another attack.
"Are we done?" he asked.
"Let him go," Wesley bit out.
"You don't give the orders. Lorne, take this out of me." Lorne did as he was asked, causing Angel to elicit a hiss of pain. "Good. Now let's finish this." He reached into his pocket to pull out a crystal and held it in front of him. "Involvere." The crystal began to glow and sent a force throughout the entire room. As if that hadn't already put them off-guard, Angel then let go of Lorne and said, "Alright, we have about six minutes 'til the glamour collapses. Far as anyone outside this room is concerned we're still at each other's throats."
"Aren't we?" Buffy asked flatly. Angel let his gaze stay on her as he responded.
"I've gotta make this short. Everything you think you know about what's going on is a lie." Gunn narrowed his eyes in disbelief.
"Why should we believe you?"
"Because I'm the one who told you. Wes, read any good books lately?"
"You're the one who sent us the message?"
"And the assassin to kill Drogyn." The others inhaled sharply. "I knew Drogyn could handle himself. I only told the assassin enough to make Drogyn think I actually had a part in Illyria's resurrection so he would come to you for help."
"Why would you want us to think you had a part in killing Fred?"
"Because the Circle needed to. They needed to believe my own people didn't trust me. That someone as good as Drogyn no longer considered me an ally. It was the only way to gain their confidence."
"When did this all start?" Faith asked. Angel gave Buffy a fleeting glance before answering.
"About two months ago. With a kiss." Buffy swallowed, but otherwise showed no other reaction. "Cordy gave me a vision. A one time deal. She showed me where the real powers were, but it wasn't until now that I actually know who they are. Lindsey's a pathetic halfwit, but he was right about heroes not accepting the world the way it is. The senior partners may live forever, but we can make their existence painful."
"You wanna take them on," Max voiced softly.
"We're in a machine. The Black Thorn runs it. But we can bring their gears to a grinding halt for even a moment. This isn't the fight-the-good-fight kinda thing. I'm talking about killing every single member. We don't walk away from that."
"Can we at least crawl away?" Alec asked in an almost whimper. Faith and Max sent him an identical look that clearly said 'shut up'.
"We do this, the partners will rain hell on us. And not the typical fire-and-brimstone deal. 10-1 we're gone when the smoke clears. We can't bring down the powers, but for one, bright, shining moment we can show them that they don't own us. You need to know if this is worth dying for. I can't make you do it, but I know I can't do it without you. So we'll vote as a team." He gave each person in the room a significant glance, lingering slightly on Buffy.
Spike and Max exchanged looks, silently communicating. Then at the same time they both raised their hands.
"We're in," Spike stated firmly. Wesley, Faith, and Alec were next. When Buffy raised hers, she gave Angel the tiniest of smiles.
"I could never stay out of a good battle." Angel smiled in return just before Gunn and Lorne raised their hands as well.
"I always enjoy big fight-for-alls," Alec commented with his hand still raised. "Which means I'm so glad I met all you guys."
A/N-This chapter had a lot from the actual episode, I know, but that's because I didn't want most of it to change, but I knew I still had to include it, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense if I skipped straight ahead to them killing off the Black Thorn. It'll go back to more AU in the next chapters. The fact that Angel's been outta the loop regarding the whole reinforcements thing will add to the AU...hehe. Please Review!
