Chapter Twenty Five
Everyone stared in numb astonishment at the wreck in front of them. Both of the beds were overturned, their sheets ripped and pulled to shreds. Several of the chairs were either just missing a few legs or completely broken in half. The balcony outside was covered in broken glass from the sliding door and one of the curtains was caught on some of the jagged pieces. The tv was smashed and had obviously been thrown across the room. A very large gaping hole was in the spot where part of the wall to Faith and Alec's room was supposed to be and bits of plaster covered everything. Finally the sound of someone moaning snapped them back to attention.
"It's coming from the bathroom..." Krit stated. Buffy rushed over and threw the door to the bathroom open. The sink was practically demolished and the mirror was shattered. And slumped against a cracked bathtub was Willow. Buffy let out a startled gasp.
"Oh my god..." Kennedy breathed from behind her. Willow grunted in pain and tried to pull herself up. Buffy and Kennedy immediately rushed over to help.
"I'm fine," Willow murmured as she leaned heavily against them. Her arms and face were covered with cuts and bruises. "Just take me off the merry-go-round, okay? It's making me dizzy."
"Nothing 'merry' about what happened here...You are not fine, Red," Faith replied as they helped Willow out of the bathroom. Willow grimaced and held her hand to the back of her head.
"Maybe not...I need to lay down..." When Max and Spike helped flip over the couch for Willow to rest on, they found Xana unconscious beneath it. Max inhaled sharply and quickly checked to make sure she was still breathing. Willow's eyes widened. "The others...they're here somewhere..." She looked around the room as if just remembering the state it was in. "Hamilton...he broke in and took Drogyn..."
"Guess you guys gave him quite a fight first," Spike muttered as he helped Max lay Xana on the couch next to Willow. Alec and Faith quickly went to work on flipping one of the beds while Jondy and Krit flipped the other. Xander was unconscious under one of them, tangled in a bloody sheet. Buffy choked back a sob as they laid him down on a bed.
"Where're Oz and Illyria?" Alec asked.
"In here!" Gunn's voice called from Faith and Alec's room. They hurried through the gaping hole to find Wesley cradling a beaten and bloody Illyria to his chest and Gunn carefully placing Oz on an upturned couch.
"Are they still alive?" Faith asked worriedly. Both Wes and Gunn nodded. Max stepped into the room behind them.
"How much medical supplies do we have here?" her voice was strong but flat. Alec took one look at her face and knew she'd gone into soldier mode. He glanced around at the destroyed rooms.
"I'm gonna say next to none," he replied. Max swore softly. Wesley began helping Illyria up. Lorne stepped forward to help him.
"I've got supplies at home," Wes stated.
"We'll go with you to get 'em," Alec offered, pointing to himself and Faith. Wesley nodded and looked back at Illyria, who met his gaze unblinkingly before Jondy entered his line of vision to gently wipe away some of the blood covering her face with a washcloth. Then he followed Faith and Alec out the door.
"Hurry back," Max called after them.
"He killed Drogyn," Buffy whispered aloud as she held onto Xander's hand, who was still unconscious. No matter how many times she voiced it, it just wouldn't sink in. "He killed him as another sign of proof that he was worthy of the Black Thorn." She tightened her grip on Xander's hand as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "Worked like a charm..." Her lower lip quivered as the tears picked up velocity. "And now you're not waking up. Please wake up, Xander." His eyes remained closed, his body motionless. Buffy let out a quiet sob and laid her head on his chest.
She had no idea how long she stayed like that. Time seemed irrelevant to her as she listened to the beep of Xander's heart monitor. Then she felt another body brush against hers. She looked up to see Willow pulling up a chair. She wore a few bandages on her arms and one on her head, but the pain in her eyes had nothing to do with her own injuries as she covered Buffy and Xander's hands with her own. They sat together for a long time without speaking. Neither could find the right words to say.
When Willow finally spoke, her voice was soft and shaky. "Faith told me what happened at Wolfram & Hart. What Angel said." Buffy swallowed painfully at the reminder. "It sounds crazy, but I think we can make it work. After what's happened these past couple of months..." She met Buffy's gaze directly. "We haven't been fighting them for five years like Angel and his crew has, but I think we've all experienced enough pain by Wolfram & Hart's doing to build up a reason for destroying them. Maybe we'll fail, but with the added help that chance is lessened. And doubtful odds have never stopped us from fighting before..." Willow's eyes went back to Xander's motionless body.
"They need to pay," Buffy stated. Willow nodded her agreement. "For what they did to Fred, Spike, Max, Gunn, Xander..." She took a deep breath to steady herself. Then she gave Xander's hand a soft kiss before standing up. Willow did the same. When they walked out of the hospital room, they found the others waiting for them.
"Percy just called," Spike informed them. Buffy cocked an eyebrow at him in silent question. "He's with Lorne, Gunn, and Illyria at my apartment." He hesitated briefly before continuing. "Angel's there." He waited for Buffy to react, but her face showed no expression. Then an unidentifiable smile formed on her lips.
"Good. There's some things we need to talk about."
With sixteen people in the room, Spike's apartment was very crowded. There were only two chairs at his table and a single couch. Oz, Illyria, Xana, and Willow sat on these as they were still the most wounded while the rest just stood. Fifteen pairs of eyes were on Angel's, waiting for him to speak.
"I know what most of you are probably thinking," he began. "And you have to believe that I didn't have a choice. If I didn't kill Drogyn, then the Circle would have killed us both. But I had no idea Hamilton would do this much damage just to bring him...I can't say how sorry I am that it happened."
"We get it," Gunn replied dryly. "But we'd also like to know if the Black Thorn will be needing any more of us as proof." Angel shook his head.
"No, they won't."
"How can you be sure of that?" Buffy questioned quietly. Angel looked at her.
"Because we'll be killing them all tonight." The others blinked in surprise.
"Woah...that soon?" Oz asked softly. He looked down at his broken arm. "I thought we would have more time to heal." Angel shook his head.
"We'll figure out the exact details later, but for the rest of the day I think it'd be best if you all take the day off." More surprised silence met his statement.
"Wait...what?" Max asked incredulously.
"My thought exactly," Spike commented. Angel sighed.
"We'll be ready when the time comes. But I want you all to go out. Live. Do whatever you want. Live the day as if it were your last, cause ya know what? It probably is."
"Oh that's encouraging," Alec retorted sarcastically. "In case you forgot, we'll be packing a lot more power than you thought. Transgenics and slayers are on their way to Los Angeles."
"But who knows if they'll get here in time?" Angel replied. "But we can think about all that later. Just go out. Please." Another long silence fell. This time Spike broke it with a loud clap of his hands.
"Well then, I'm gonna have to ask you all to leave. This is my apartment and if this is gonna be my last day on earth I think I'd prefer to be alone with the lady." He nodded his head towards Max, who gave him a soft smile in return. Spike began ushering everyone out. "Come on...You all heard the big poof. Get out. Live your life. Have a go with Mistress Spanks-A-Lot. Whatever..."
When they had all gone, Max quietly took a seat on the couch. Spike turned back to face her and she patted the spot beside her without a word. He walked over, but sat on the table in front of her instead of on the couch. Then he covered her hands with his.
"So..." Spike began lamely. Max laughed. "I'm feeling a little deja vu here...You?" Max nodded and gave his hands a squeeze.
"The other time we 'spent our last day on earth' we were on your cot in Buffy's basement. You promised me you weren't gonna use a certain medallion if it endangered your life. Then you wore it in the hellmouth and it..." Spike quickly put a finger to her lips.
"I can see where you're going with this, luv...and I don't think it's the best thing to bring up at the moment." Max tried to smile, but it was strained.
"Why not? We can both lie all we want. We'll probably be dead by the morning anyway." Spike moved his hand to caress her cheek.
"Maybe so. But I don't think Angel's idea of living translated into lying your ass off to the one you love so when you actually died all you felt was regret." Max let out a soft laugh before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Then what do you want to do?" her voice came out muffled. Spike let out a playful growl and nipped gently at her neck. Max let out a shriek of laughter and pulled away. "Oh please! We have to do something more than that!" Spike pretended to pout. A mischievous smile crept across Max's lips. Spike's eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion.
"What?"
"Remember when I asked about your poetry?" His eyes suddenly widened in realization.
"Oh no...I'm not doing that."
"Come on! It'll be fun! You can get stinking drunk first if you want. And you can pick the place to read it." Spike vehemently shook his head as he stood up. Max grabbed his coat and pressed it against his chest. "Are you suggesting there's not a single part of you that's not the least bit interested in what modern people would think of it?" Spike just looked down at her with an unreadable expression. Max sighed. "Do this for me and then we'll do anything you want." Spike quirked an eyebrow as the same mischievous smile that she had worn appeared on his lips.
"Anything?" Max rolled her eyes before nodding.
"Anything."
Gunn walked down the familiar street, checking out the buildings as he passed them. They hadn't changed much. When he reached the East Hills Teen Center, he found the blonde woman he was looking for and his face broke into a wide smile.
"Annie," he greeted. She returned the smile and they hugged briefly. "How you doing?" Annie shrugged.
"Pretty good, I guess. We gotta bunch of furniture donated so we've gotta move this stuff over to the new shelter." Gunn nodded, still smiling.
"Still fightin the good fight, huh?" She nodded.
"How are things uptown?" she asked. Gunn's smile dimmed slightly, but Annie didn't seem to notice.
"More fight, less good," he replied vaguely. Before she could reply, he bent over to pick up a box from one of the stacks. "Seen Rondell or the guys? I hit some of the old spots but didn't seem 'em." Annie grabbed a chair before answering.
"They should be around. They said they'd help me move this stuff. But you know how it is. Things come up." They handed the box and chair to some men loading the furniture onto a truck.
"Yeah. Had much vamp trouble?"
"It never really goes away. But the boys help out, so we're pretty safe. It gives me time to work on the little things. Crack, runaways, abuse victims, psychotics. The old gang." She and Gunn each picked up another box to load onto the truck.
"Yeah, I remember."
"It's not so bad. We've had some really helpful donations. We actually have a part-time paid psychiatric staff." A frown suddenly marred Gunn's features.
"What if I told you it doesn't help? What if you found out none of it matters? That it's all controlled by forces more powerful and uncaring than we can conceive, and they will never let it get better down here. What would you do?" Annie stared at him for a moment. Then she smiled.
"I'd get this stuff packed before the new stuff arrived. Wanna give me a hand?" Gunn nodded.
"I do."
Alec stopped walking and looked over at Faith. She met his eyes and grinned. Then they turned to face the building in front of them. They clasped hands and strolled inside casually. Children, teenagers, and adults alike were all milling around. Those that held more than a few shopping bags seemed to be resting at the various tables. But soon they stood again and headed into the next store. Alec laughed.
"This is supposedly my last day on earth and I'm at a mall in Los Angeles. Somebody pinch me." Faith waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.
"Oh please. We both know we're too pretty to die so soon, remember?" Alec nodded with a grin.
"True," he agreed as he continued to survey the people passing them by. "Though usually when I'm about to steal something, it's in the middle of the night with only a few idiotic security guards to watch out for. Now I've got to make sure more than a hundred people don't see us." Faith smiled encouragingly.
"Please. It'll be like taking candy from a baby." Alec cocked an eyebrow at her.
"I take it you've never done that. 'Cause babies? Yeah, try to take so much as a milk bottle from them and they scream bloody murder." Faith raised both eyebrows at him. "What?"
"You've taken milk bottles from babies? How much money did you fence 'em for?" Alec rolled his eyes.
"Not stealing. Back in Terminal City I took care of some. Not for long of course, since I could never seem to tell when they were actually done eating. I estimated too little." Faith laughed out loud. Alec rolled his eyes again. "Alright, come on. All these lovely treasures aren't going to steal themselves, ya know." Faith stopped laughing but continued to smirk.
"Alright daddy, what's the plan?" Alec grinned.
"Easy. You distract the salesmen while I use what Manticore gave me." Faith cocked an eyebrow at him.
"And what if said salesmen turn out to be women?" Alec's grin widened.
"Then the distraction should be even more entertaining for me." Faith gave his head a quick smack before continuing further into the mall.
Illyria sat on the edge of Wesley's bed with her eyes trained on Wes's back. He was mumbling things to himself that she couldn't make out as he ground something into a paste with a mortar and pestle. The silence between them was beginning to grate on her nerves so she decided to break it.
"I don't understand," she stated flatly.
"It'll help you heal faster," Wesley said as he shook the paste off the pestle before grabbing a strip of muslin to dredge in it. Then he walked over to her and brushed the hair away from her neck. She kept her eyes locked on him.
"No. You are what I don't understand," she repeated. Wesley pressed the strip to her skin.
"And that would be different because?"
"Angel told you to do whatever you wanted. Today...tonight you may all be dead."
"Yes. Good point." Illyria continued to stare at him unblinkingly.
"I am not what you want." Wes stood and walked back over to his preparation area.
"No," he replied softly, his voice nearly cracking. Illyria brought her hand up to her bandage as she continued to watch him.
"Then why..."
Wes began to prepare another bandage as he answered, "Don't I go off and have one last perfect day? Smell the flowers, or sky dive or have a go with Mistress Spanks-A-Lot like Spike advised...or whatever the hell one is supposed to do in a situation like this." He walked back over to Illyria to place the next bandage on her neck. She gave him a look of confusion.
"Mistress who?" Wes sighed.
"There is no perfect day for me. There is no painting or finely-aged scotch that's going to sum up my life and make tonight any...There is nothing I want." Understanding finally dawned on Illyria.
"You want to be with Fred," she clarified. Wes finished bandaging her and wiped his hands on a towel.
"Yes. That's where I would be if I could."
"I could assume her shape, make her come alive again just this once for you." When Wesley didn't respond she looked down. "But you would never ask me too."
"The first lesson a watcher learns is to separate truth from illusion. Because in the world of magics, it's the hardest thing to do. The truth is that Fred is gone. To pretend anything else would be a lie. And since I don't actually intend to die tonight, I won't accept a lie. Is it better?" Illyria touched her neck again without taking her eyes off him.
"It's better."
Willow silently sat next to Xander. She stared numbly at his closed eyes, wishing desperately that they would open, even for a moment. A soft knock startled her as she finally looked away from him. Her eyes fell on Kennedy. She swallowed and smiled weakly at her.
"How is he?" Kennedy asked softly, taking a small step into the room. Willow shrugged and shook her head.
"Still in a coma. Hamilton beat him pretty bad," her voice cracked slightly. She cleared her throat in embarrassment, and Kennedy pretended not to notice. An awkward silence fell between them. Then Kennedy suddenly sighed deeply.
"I'm sorry, Willow. For what I said about Xander and Anya. I know I hurt you, but I didn't mean to." Willow didn't look at her.
"I-I know you are."
"But I'm still fuzzy on..." Kennedy swallowed awkwardly. "Was it about Tara?" Willow finally turned to look at her and nodded. "I didn't mean for it to sound like I wanted you to forget her. You should never do that." Willow smiled weakly.
"I know."
"So...a-are we okay?" The smile disappeared as a look of uncertainty replaced it. "What?"
"Kennedy...I care about you a lot...but what happened at the hotel wasn't what broke us up. It was just the final crack before the canyon was created. We haven't been right for a while...You didn't even trust me to be alone with Oz." Kennedy's eyes narrowed.
"That's different. He's your ex-boyfriend." Willow sighed, exasperated.
"Key word being ex. You could consider Xander as my ex-boyfriend, too, if you wanna look at it that way." Kennedy let out a short derisive laugh.
"Fine. We may be dead tomorrow, but God forbid we should work any of this out," she commented sarcastically. Willow shook her head.
"We can still work things out, but it'll take more time than just a few hours," she replied. Kennedy continued to look at her for a few moments before nodding curtly.
"Fine, see you back at Spike's in a few hours then," she replied tersely before striding out of the room. Willow sighed heavily before turning back to Xander.
"That went well," she muttered under her breath.
As Jondy and Krit took their seats, they were careful not to stare too much at the demons around them. The eagerness on their faces to see the next performer on stage was almost childlike. Though the tough, lizard skin on some and boils or fangs on others contradicted greatly with that image.
"Bet Joshua and Mole would love this place," Krit said aloud. Jondy smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Maybe they'll get to see it if it's not destroyed tonight," she murmured back. "Lorne said this place was a sanctuary, but it's also been destroyed three times in the past. So the chances of it holding up through a big fight-for-all is kinda slim." Krit just shrugged nonchalantly as the spotlight on the stage began to brighten. Then Lorne stepped up to the microphone with a drink in his hand.
"If I ruled the world," his voice was melodious and soothing. Jondy and Krit found themselves just as eager to him as the rest of the demons. "Every day would be the first day of spring, every heart would have a new song to sing, and we'd sing of the joy every morning would bring..." Krit leaned over to whisper in Jondy's ear.
"We're going on after him, right?" he asked. Jondy tried not to react to the shiver his breath on her neck caused and nodded. "And there aren't any new developments in our genetic DNA crap that would allow us to get drunk before doing so?" Jondy smiled and shook her head.
"'Fraid not. We're gonna have to sing our little hearts out while being frighteningly sober. But hey, we're transgenics. We were made to be perfect. We've got to have lovely voices right?" Krit wrinkled his nose.
"I've never tried..." he admitted just as Lorne ended his number and beckoned them onto the stage. Jondy gave Krit a quick kiss on the lips before grabbing his hand and pulling him after her.
"Guess we're about to find out..."
After hearing the rumble of her empty stomach break through the silence of the hospital room, Willow figured it was about time she got something to eat. She stared at the contents of the closest vending machine blankly. Her mind began to drift to other problems, but another stomach growl brought her attention to a bag of chips. She quickly put her money in and grabbed it once it had dropped.
Her shoes squeaked on the way back to Xander's room and she found herself embarrassed by them as a few orderlies gave her not-so-pleasant looks. Her face turned a light shade of pink and she quickened her pace. But as she was about to re-enter the room, she saw Xana in the spot she had just vacated, saying something that she knew she probably shouldn't eavesdrop on. As quietly as she could, Willow began to back away from the room. Then she felt herself bump into someone and she whirled around to apologize.
"Oh! I'm s-so..." she stuttered to a stop as she found Oz in front of her, smiling kindly.
"It's okay, Willow. I'm used to being crashed into and run over. It's actually become a part of my daily routine," he joked. Willow gratefully returned his smile. Then her eyes fell on his still broken arm and she realized a darker meaning to his words. Instantly guessing what she was thinking, Oz added, "Not really complaining, though. I'm not sure how useful I'd actually be in a fist fight with thousands of demons. I still don't trust the wolf in me to give it free rein..." Willow nodded in understanding.
"Well, uh...you're free to help keep me grounded then. 'Cause ya know I have a slight tendency to, um...Not really anymore! Just as a safety precaution though...it might be nice to..." Oz grinned encouragingly.
"I'd be happy to keep you company while you do the witch-fu thing." Willow gave him a relieved smile.
"Great. Thanks. Wanna sit?" She gestured to some of the waiting chairs. Oz nodded and together they walked over to them to sit side by side.
Xana kept her eyes trained on Xander's face as she gently rubbed her thumbs against the back of his hands. She sighed heavily before speaking.
"I would kinda prefer you to be awake while I'm telling you this...but I guess I'll just have to hope you're able to hear me somehow...I know I'm a transgenic and you're an ordinary and that coupling hasn't always worked out too well in the past. Okay they were disasters. Just look at Max and Logan." She laughed nervously. "Sorry, bad example since you hardly know Max and you've never even met Logan...The point is: Transgenic Plus Ordinary Chances of Happiness Equals Pretty Slim. Especially if you're gonna be comatose for the rest of your life." Xana paused to swallow the sudden lump in her throat and swiped at her eyes to make sure none of the oncoming tears managed to fall.
"But I like you, Xander," she continued, her nervous smile suddenly strengthening. "Back in Africa you made me laugh more times than I can count, which says a lot. You're sarcastic, caring, smart...And let's face it, you're cuter than most of the ordinaries around here..." Xana trailed off and blinked in surprise as she witnessed the corners of Xander's mouth twitching upward. "Xander?"
His eyes flickered open as he replied groggily, "Knew I should've retrained the smile. You transgenics have much better eyesight than I remembered. But keep going, the compliments are waking me up..." Xana ignored his request and gave a shriek of happiness as she threw her arms around him in a hug. He grunted in pain but a wide grin still spread across his face. Xana pulled away with a sheepish expression.
"Sorry..." Xander opened his mouth to reply, but then he caught sight of Willow and Oz in the doorway.
"Xander..." Willow breathed. Then before he knew it, she had thrown her arms around him much in the same way that Xana had. He tried to stifle the yelp of pain that escaped his mouth, but Willow could still hear it.
"Sorry..." Xander laughed, but quickly stopped as that became painful as well.
"It's fine. I like being hugged by pretty girls," he joked.
"In that case I'll just settle for a salute," Oz replied, doing so. Xander grinned. Willow suddenly jumped away from the bed and began hurrying out the door.
"I have to call Buffy!" she called over her shoulder by way of explanation.
Buffy wiped away the few happy tears that had managed to squeeze out as Willow told her the news. Xander woke up. He's gonna be okay. She felt a wave of relief practically overwhelm her and she leaned against a wall of the closest building. She looked up at the name of it and realized it was a coffee shop. The same one she had gone into after regaining her memories from Vail's cube. She searched inside of herself for the burning anger she had felt towards Angel, and was shocked to find that it had been reduced to only a flicker. She shook her head in confusion and swung open the door of the coffee shop.
"I need some caffeine..." she muttered.
She was heading towards the counter when a familiar tingling at the base of her spine caused her to slow her pace. After quickly scanning the rest of the coffee shop, she found him. She gasped in surprise and before she could stop herself, listened to her inner teenager and hid behind a shelf of souvenirs. As other people were looking at the objects, Buffy pretended to do this as well while sneaking looks at Angel, who was sitting only a few yards away with his son Connor. For a moment he seemed to get a strange look on his face, and he scanned the rest of the coffee shop as Buffy had done, but not as frantically. Finding no one, he turned back to Connor. Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and strained her neck to see how far away the closest exit was. But the next words that she heard leave Connor's mouth caused her body to stiffen.
"I know you're my father," he said. Angel looked down uncomfortably as he answered.
"You got your memories back." Connor nodded.
"Yeah, they're mixed in there with the new ones. Kind of like, uh...a bad dream I had, I guess. A strange and violent, sometimes inappropriately erotic...dream." Angel fidgeted uncomfortably again.
"You probably have a lot of questions." Connor shook his head.
"No. I don't want to make a thing. I get what you did. You know...I'm grateful. That's as far as I wanna take it...okay?" Angel breathed deeply and looked down at the papers on the table in front of them.
"So, what are you working on?" he asked.
"I'm applying for an internship. I'm supposed to write up a résumé."
"Need any help?" Connor raised his eyebrows.
"Have you ever written a résumé before? Ever?"
"No...but I have very nice handwriting," Angel replied, seemingly proud of this accomplishment. Connor smirked.
"You girl."
Buffy found herself smiling at the interaction and knew she shouldn't eavesdrop anymore. Then she moved around the shelf to the counter across the shop. She still wanted caffeine. And some brownies wouldn't hurt either.
Once she had put her order in, Buffy sat down on a couch as far away from Angel and Connor as she could, wanting to give them privacy. Then she began flipping through some of the magazines in front of her. Her coffee and brownies were served pretty quick but she remained engrossed in the magazine she was reading.
Almost twenty minutes had passed when she felt the seat next to hers being filled. She glanced away from the magazine and found herself looking into Angel's questioning eyes. She stared at him in silence for a long time until he gave her a small smile.
"Hey," he greeted softly. Buffy swallowed and carefully closed the magazine before placing it on the table in front of them.
"Hi." Another few beats of awkward silence fell between them with Buffy being careful to look everywhere else but at him.
"So...this is how you planned on spending your last day? In a coffee shop?" he asked.
"You're here too, ya know," Buffy mumbled back. Angel gave her a knowing look.
"Yeah, but as you most likely already saw, I was with Connor." She nodded mutely. "Though I guess..." Buffy found herself drifting away from the conversation as she inwardly debated whether she should give into what her instincts were screaming at her to do. After a few seconds they won out.
"I'm sorry," she blurted. Angel gave her a weird look.
"For being in a coffee shop?" Buffy shook her head and turned to fully face him in earnest.
"No. I'm sorry," she repeated. Realization seemed to finally dawn on him since his face became carefully blank. "I'm sorry I yelled and hit you without hearing your side of the story of...that day. I'm sorry I wasn't more understanding about your son. I'm sorry I didn't trust you about the whole Black Thorn thing. I'm just...sorry." She was intent on waiting for him to respond and never took her eyes off his. Finally he swallowed and cleared his throat.
"Do you want to?" he asked softly. Buffy's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Do I want what?"
"Do you want to hear my side of when I turned human and about Connor?" Buffy's face broke into a wide, relieved smile.
"Very much so."
It was nighttime when Spike and Max walked out of the bar with their arms around each other's waists and laughing loudly. They had reached the parking lot filled with bikes when Spike turned to Max with a mischievous grin.
"Well, that was a slap and a tickle," he began as he started to eye a few of them. "But remember when you said we'd do whatever I wanted after that?" Max nodded, unconsciously running her hand over a black Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle that resembled the one she used to have in Seattle. "You've ridden some of these before, right?" Max turned to him with a coy smile, catching on to what he wanted to do.
"Which one do you want?" He gestured to a blood red Ducati a few spots away from the one Max was admiring. She laughed. "Figures. See any keys on it? 'Cause this one doesn't." Spike checked it over before shaking his head.
"We're not gonna have to fish it out of the owners are we?" Max rolled her eyes. "You know how to hot-wire these then?"
"Since I was a kid," she replied, already getting started on her chosen motorcycle. Spike smirked proudly.
"Knew there was something about you..." he joked as he turned to the Ducati. A few minutes later they were good to go. Spike turned to Max with a challenging look. "Race ya to the apartment." Max calmly put on her sunglasses before revving the engine and returning his look.
"You're on."
A split second later, the taillights of their stolen motorcycles were almost lost in a cloud of dust as they sped off from the bar.
Everyone had reassembled in Spike's apartment and were once again patiently waiting for Angel to speak. He paced the floor for a few moments before doing so.
"This may sound pretentious, but...one of you will be betray me," he began. Spike eagerly raised his hand. "Wes." Spike looked disappointed as he lowered his hand.
"Oh." Then his face suddenly brightened. "Can I deny you three times?" Angel ignored him and turned to Wesley.
"Vail is the sorcerer of the bunch. You know that game. You've seen his place. He believes you'd make a play for my spot." Wesley frowned.
"That's not very flattering."
"It'll get you in the door," Angel replied flippantly. Then he looked over at Willow. "You'll be with him. He'll be able to sense that you're a witch, so play up the part of you that appeared in Sunnydale two years ago." Willow swallowed nervously but nodded. Angel turned to Illyria, Jondy, and Krit. "Izzerial the Devil and three other members of the circle dine together almost every night."
"We shall make trophies of their spines," Illyria commented proudly. Angel smiled slightly.
"Good to have you on the team. Gunn, Alec, and Faith." They looked over at him in response. "Senator Brucker has a campaign office in west LA. You already know she's pure hellspawn, and she tends to surround herself with vampires." Gunn smiled.
"I was hoping it'd be vamps. I haven't dusted nearly enough this year." Faith nodded her agreement.
"Amen," she commented in a faux-solemn voice.
"Spike and Max," Angel began again. They stood up from their spot on the edge of the couch.
"Right. First off, I'm not wearing any amulets. No bracelets, broaches, beads, pendants, pins, or rings," Spike stated. Max smiled.
"Fine. All you need is a rattle," Angel replied. Realization dawned on them.
"Ah, the baby."
"And a legion of the Fell Brethren. I want the kid returned to his mother and the foster family dismembered."
"Done and done," Spike and Max chorused. Angel turned to Buffy.
"Archduke Sebassis has over forty thousand demons at his command. The other members of the council fear him. He's the key player, so he's mine, but I'll be needing your help with something else." Buffy hesitated briefly before nodding and Angel looked over at Lorne, Kennedy, and Xana.
"Uh, I'm not a fighter, Angelwings. I never had the stomach for it. Looks like I'm your weak link," Lorne said before he could speak.
"I just need you to back up Kennedy, Xana, and Lindsey," Angel replied. Wesley shook his head.
"I still can't believe you brought him in."
"He's a part of this. It'll be just as dangerous for him as it will be for everyone else on our team."
"Guess we're not going back to the office after this," Gunn commented. Angel shook his head.
"The alley just north of the Hyperion. Everyone who makes it meets there." He turned to Willow. "You might want to be farther away to work your magic more freely. But it's your decision." Willow nodded. "If we do any damage at all, the senior partners are gonna raise hell on us. So be ready."
"OC, Logan, and Giles are supposed to call Buffy and me when they get here, but we're gonna leave our phones with you, Xander, and then Willow when you meet up with her," Max told Oz. He nodded as he accepted the cells. "Let them know where to meet us and tell 'em to haul ass."
"Will do," he replied with a smile before walking out. The others grabbed their coats and began filing out as well. Spike and Angel hung back.
"What do you think all this means for that Shanshu bugaboo? If we make it through this, does one of us get to be a real boy?" Spike asked softly, trying to keep his voice as low as he could. Angel folded his arms across his chest as he looked at him.
"Who are you kidding? We're not gonna make it through." Spike smirked.
"Well...as long as it's not you."
A/N-Yay! HUGE battle coming up soon and yes, I plan to see through after certain people make it to the alley. Speaking of people who might die, I'd like to hear what you guys have to say on the subject. I have my own ideas on who's going to live and die, but only a few are really set in stone so I'd like to know what you think. Please review and let me know!
