Disclaimer: All characters and things from ANGEL and BUFFY belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. If they aren't on the show they belong to me.
Summary: A different turn of events after Season 1 Episode 12 "Expecting" A/C pairing
CHAPTER 54
Angel sat next to Cordelia on the couch while everyone else ran around the dark penthouse looking for candles and flashlights. When they found all they could they came back into the living room.
"Look." Lorne said proudly. "I found a lantern!" He placed it on the floor and turned it on, lighting up the whole room. "It has batteries."
Angel nodded. "Good. Now that we can all see we need to figure out what the hell is going on."
"I vote something bad." Jessica said, throwing herself on the couch next to her parents.
"I'm with her on that one." Fred agreed. "Someone cut the power in here."
"It could just be a black out." Cordelia offered, trying her hardest to not think of anything bad that could possibly happen. She knew the stress wasn't good for her or the baby.
"Yeah, except for the warning that got sent out right before it happened." Jess rolled her eyes.
"We really need to get downstairs, see what's going on." Wesley said. "Someone needs to get to the electric box in this place."
"Yeah." Gunn agreed. "Where is that exactly?"
"Basement." Spike told them.
"Great." Fred said sarcastically. "Anyone know how to get there?"
"I do." Spike said. "When I was a ghost I would get bored in the day, travel around. I ended up down there a few times."
"Well then you are good for something…" Angel sighed.
"Hey! I've been helping out a lot around here you big dumby!" Spike shot back at the other vampire.
"I'm not dumb." Angel stood.
"Okay, boys…" Cordelia pulled Angel back down to the couch by his shirt. "Let's get back on task here."
"Right." Angel ran a hand through his hair. "Spike, you take Jess and go figure out how to get the lights back on."
Jess nodded, grabbing a sword as Spike grabbed a flashlight and the two swiftly made their way out the door.
"Lorne and Gunn, I want you guys to go down to surveillance room. See when the warning was sent out, where it was sent from, and maybe why? Everything should work in there, I know there's a backup generator for that room."
"Got you, boss." Lorne gave the dark haired vampire a thumbs up before he and Gunn left.
"And Fred and Wes…" Angel started.
"I should head down to my office. In case there was some sort of magic used on this place." Wesley said, moving to the door.
"Good plan." Angel told the ex-watcher.
"Wait, aren't we over reacting just a little bit?" Cordelia asked. "It could just be a power outage."
"Cordelia…" Fred started. "The chances of that with our history…"
"Fine, you're probably right. What are the odds of anything simple and normal happening to us like a power outage?" Cordelia sighed.
"Fred, stay up here with Cordelia. Lock the door behind me when I leave." Angel told her, picking up a flashlight.
"Where are you going?" Cordelia almost panicked.
"Boy, for thinking its only a power outage you seem jumpy." Angel smiled at his pregnant wife.
"Its just hormones." Cordelia glared at him, trying to fight back a smile.
Angel kissed Cordelia. "I'm just going to take a walk downstairs, okay?"
Cordelia nodded, stealing another kiss from Angel before he left.
Lindsey moved quietly into Jessica's office with Eve right behind him. He turned on his flashlight and immediately found the huge weapons cabinet. He moved to it, taking out a long sword for himself and a crossbow for Eve.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Eve looked at the crossbow.
"It's just in case." Lindsey assured her. "I'll be able to take Angel out no problem."
Suddenly Jessica and Spike's voices came bellowing down the hallway.
"Damn." Lindsey turned off his flashlight and turned to Eve. "Get down."
Eve did as she was told and both Lindsey and Eve held their breaths as Jessica and Spike walked past the office and down another hallway. When they were sure the vampire and girl were gone, Eve and Lindsey stood back up.
"That was close." Eve said.
"Not a chance." Lindsey smiled at her. "I can take them all out with a flick of my wrist." He kissed Eve on the head and then took her hand, quietly leading her the way Spike and Jessica had gone.
Jessica and Spike made their way down to the stairwell that led to the basement. Jess followed the vampire as he descended the stairs.
"You're sure it's down here?" Jess asked.
"Bloody hell I am." Spike told her. "I used to come down here a lot."
"Wow, you really must have been bored floating around here all day if you would hang out down here." Jess said, taking in the look of the basement. Even in the dark she could tell the room was damp and cold, and more then likely rather dirty. "Just show me where the electric box is at so we can get out of this place. It gives me the creeps."
Spike nodded, leading Jessica to a corner of the basement. "It's right here…damn it."
"What?" Jess asked, coming up behind Spike to see his flashlight shining on a smashed up electric box. "Damn it!"
"That's what I said." Spike turned back to the younger girl. "This definitely wasn't an accident or power outage."
"We need to get up there and tell my dad." Jess turned back to the stairs. "He'll know what to do."
Suddenly Spike and Jessica heard the door at the top of the stairs lock. They both looked at each other and ran to the door, juggling the handle, but it wouldn't move. They were indeed locked in the basement.
"Bloody hell!" Spike kicked the door. "Who the hell is out there?"
"Let us out!" Jess joined Spike in the kicking of the door.
Lindsey smiled at Eve as they stood on the other side of the basement door, hearing Jessica and Spike scream and shout.
"We should put something in front of it, just incase they do break the door down." Lindsey told Eve.
Eve nodded, looking around the lobby of the office, and pointing at a bench that sat in the middle of the room. "How's that?"
"Good." Lindsey smiled, grabbing the bench and shoving it up against the basement door, securing it so Jess and Spike would have no way of getting out. He then took Eve's hand and led her down another hallway.
Spike and Jessica both heard the bench slam up against the door and both got a worried look on their face.
"Whoever is out there is barricading us in here." Spike said.
"No crap." Jess scoffed, moving as close as she could to the door. Eve's now very familiar perfume lingered under the door and into the basement. "It was Eve, damn it."
"How do you know?" Spike asked, and then the scent of the perfume hit him as well. "Bloody hell. It was that Lindsey too."
"Are you sure?" Jess asked.
Spike raised an eyebrow. "I'd recognize the smell of that man anywhere. He uses the same shampoo Buffy used to."
"That's…informative?" Jess sighed. "We're stuck in here."
"You're dad will come get us now, pet." Spike told the girl.
"Not unless Lindsey gets to him first." Suddenly Jessica's eyes grew wide. "Or to my mom."
Spike understood, and instantly both the vampire and half-vampire began pounding on the basement door again.
Wesley made his way into his office. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. Even if it was a spell they were dealing with he didn't know what kind it was, or how to stop it. He sighed, picking three books off the shelf and deciding they would just have to do. He then turned out of his office, making his way down one of the dark hallways that led back to Angel's penthouse. He was so determined to get back upstairs that he never heard the footsteps come up behind him. Suddenly, he felt the cold blade of a sword against his throat.
"Wesley, Wesley, Wesley…" Lindsey stepped out of the shadows. "Good to see you."
"We should have known you were behind this." Wesley told the ex-lawyer, determined on keeping his cool.
"Well, you people just aren't that smart I guess." Lindsey mocked the English man. "To think the Senior Partners would let a bunch of morons take over their offices."
"Or maybe we're not as stupid as you think." Wesley gave Lindsey a sly grin before smacking the ex-lawyer over the head with the stack of books in his hand.
Lindsey went down rather quickly, and Wesley jumped over him, determined to make it up to Angel's penthouse, but Eve stepped out behind him, helping Lindsey to his feet.
"Shoot him!" Lindsey ordered Eve.
Wesley kept running as Eve released the bow from the cross in her hands and it hit Wesley right in the back of the leg, causing him to fall face forward, crying out in pain.
Lindsey then made his way over to the Englishman and ripped the arrow out of his leg, and pushed Wesley up against the wall. "Nice moves, Wes, just not fast enough." He then took the arrow and drove it into Wesley's shoulder, pinning Wesley to the wall behind him.
"Angel will find you." Wesley said weakly, trying to free himself from the wall.
"I'm kind of hoping he does." Lindsey grinned at Wesley before leading Eve away from the ex-watcher.
Cordelia sighed on the couch with Fred. She was bored, and sick of sitting in the dark.
"I can't wait to have this baby so I can actually get out there and do something. Angel thinks I should just stay put because I'm pregnant." Cordelia huffed.
"You are due in like two months, Cordy." Fred reminded the immortal seer. "He's just looking out for you."
"I know." Cordelia pouted slightly, rubbing her belly. "I just hate not being able to help."
"Who says we aren't helping? We are helping a lot." Fred told Cordelia.
"Helping what? This couch to not move." Cordelia joked.
"Cordy…"
"Sometimes I wish things were just normal around here, just once."
"I know the feeling."
"I mean, even when Angel Shanshu's our lives will be anything but normal…" Cordelia said, looking at her hump of a stomach.
"Uh…Cordy…about that…" Fred said uneasily. "Me and Wesley did some research on Angel's Shanshu…"
"And?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
"We're not exactly sure if it's about Angel anymore." Fred told her.
"What do you mean? Of course it is, who else would it be about?" Cordelia was confused.
"Um, Spike, actually." Fred said. "I mean, it's just a theory, but he did save the world in Sunnydale."
Cordelia shook her head. "No, the Powers made me immortal until Angel reaches his Shanshu, so obviously he has to reach it."
"When was the last time we heard from the Powers, Cordy?" Fred asked carefully. "You haven't had a vision in a long time…"
Cordelia thought about it, Fred was right, she hadn't had a vision in awhile. "Fred, I just know that…" Her voice trailed off.
"Know what?"
"Vision!" Cordelia managed out as she began to float over the couch. She then quickly came back down.
"Well, I guess I spoke to soon about those visions." Fred told her. "What did you see?"
"Angel." Cordelia's eyes grew wide. "Fighting for his life…" Her voice began to crack. "Oh God…"
"Cordy, I'm sure it's fine." Fred tried to assure the seer, but Cordelia would hear none of it as she got up as fast as her belly would allow.
"We need to find him." Cordelia made her way to the door.
"And go out into the building? Angel said to stay here." Fred tried to reason, but realized she would lose the argument the minute she saw Cordelia flash her the famous Queen C glare. "Fine. Just let me get a flashlight." Fred moved to pick one off the floor.
Both girls then moved cautiously into the hallway.
Lorne and Gunn silently made their way into the control room. Gunn flicked on the light switch, and sure enough, Angel had been right, there was a backup generator for that room and all the lights quickly flicked on.
"Thank God!" Lorne grinned, turning off his flashlight. "I'm not a fan of the dark."
"I hear you." Gunn said, moving to the controls. "Okay…let's see what we've got here." He began hitting different buttons.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Lorne asked, over the young lawyer's shoulder.
"Yes, I know what I'm doing." Gunn said as a screen popped up. He quickly read over it. "Well, the warning was programmed in here earlier tonight, about the same time we left to go get pizza. It was set to go off five minutes before the power was cut, and it was sent from…Jessica's office?"
"Jessica sent the warning out?" Lorne asked.
"No, she couldn't have." Gunn told the demon. "She was with us."
"So someone went into Jessica's office and sent it?"
"That's the only way it could have been sent." Gunn ran a hand over his extremely short hair. "The code is for the building to evacuate."
Lorne nodded. "Who could have sent it?"
Both the demon and the lawyer knew the answer at once. "Eve." They both said.
"Right you are." Eve's voice bellowed as Lindsey's came up behind Gunn and Lorne and smacked them both over the head with the handle of his sword, and watched them both fall unconscious to the floor.
"Get the rope." Lindsey told Eve who quickly handed a huge rope to him. Lindsey then tied Gunn and Lorne up together, and left them on the floor of the surveillance room.
"Now what?" Eve asked.
"We go find a certain pregnant seer, and a souled vampire." Lindsey smiled, leading Eve out of the control room.
Angel quietly made his way through the dark and into his office. He had dropped his flashlight somewhere between the penthouse and his office doors, not that he needed it. His vampire senses made the dark building look like a well light room. He made his way over to his own weapon cabinet and took out a long sword. He had a feeling he knew who was behind this.
The vampire then silently and swiftly made his way out into the lobby, picking up the mixed scent of Lindsey and Eve almost immediately. He shook his head, glad that Cordelia was in the penthouse safe since he now knew for a fact that this was no power outage. Lindsey was up to something and Eve was helping him, Angel decided before following the scent down a hallway.
Cordelia and Fred cautiously made their way in the dark down the stairs and past the doors to Fred's lab. So far they had seen know sign of anyone. The girls continued silently until they heard the faint breathing of someone. They looked at each other and cautiously made their way around a corner.
Fred shined the flashlight ahead of them, and directly onto the face of Wesley who was still pinned up to the wall in a pool of blood.
"Wesley!" Fred gasped, rushing to the ex-watcher's side.
"What are…you…two doing…down…here?" Wesley managed out.
"I had a vision." Cordelia said, looking at Wesley's shoulder. "What happened to you?"
"Lindsey…and…Eve…" Wesley said weakly. "They did this…"
"They're here?" Cordelia looked around cautiously, rubbing her swollen belly as if to protect the child inside.
Wesley nodded, grasping for air. "You…two…need to get…somewhere…safe…"
"Not without you." Fred said, moving her hand to the arrow in Wesley's shoulder. "Wes, whatever you do, don't scream."
Wesley nodded slowly and bit his lip as Fred ripped the arrow out of him, allowing the British man to collapse to the floor.
"Wes, can you walk?" Cordelia asked, noticing the blood oozing from his leg as well as his shoulder.
"I'll manage…" Wesley said, weakly standing as Fred helped support him.
"Cordy, we need to get him back upstairs." Fred told the pregnant woman. "We need to patch him up."
"You take him, Fred." Cordelia said. "The med kit is in the hall closet. Everything you'll need is in there, lock the door behind you."
"And what? Leave you down here?" Fred was appalled by the idea.
Cordelia turned to Fred. "Just get Wesley upstairs."
"Cordelia, I'm not leaving you down here." Fred told the other woman. "You're seven months pregnant and Angel will kill me if I leave you alone when we know Lindsey and Eve are in the building and probably after you."
"If I don't get to Angel he will die." Cordelia said sharply. "Remember? I had a vision…"
"How do you know your vision wasn't of Angel fighting to save your life because you wouldn't listen to me now?" Fred asked.
Cordelia looked at Fred, and then at Wesley, he was hurt badly. "Fred, just get Wesley upstairs." And before anyone could say anything else to her, Cordelia made her way down the hall.
Angel made his way down a set of stairs. He had no idea where he was going, the law firm was a big place, and he still wasn't sure of the entire building. All he knew was that he was following Lindsey and Eve's scent. Suddenly Angel came into a big room, well light, and empty. He took a step deeper into the room, looking around, when suddenly he heard the footsteps of two people coming up behind him. He turned swiftly to see Lindsey and Eve standing behind him.
"Took you long enough to find us, Angel." Lindsey said, placing his sword between the vampire and himself and Eve.
"Why am I not surprised you two were the ones behind this whole thing?" Angel scoffed.
"Probably because you tracked us down here and knew we were here the whole time." Lindsey gave the vampire a devilish grin.
"Our just the fact that no one else would waste this much time trying to get to me." Angel shot back at the lawyer.
"Yeah, well, we'll see." Lindsey said, ripping his shirt off to expose all of his tattoos.
"What the hell is that?" Angel tried not to laugh at all the ink on the ex-lawyer's body. "You look like you let a two year old scribble all over you."
"Tribal symbols. Put in the right sequence on my body they give me great strength." Lindsey explained as he began circling Angel, his sword pointing at the vampire.
"Looks like it hurt." Angel said, countering Lindsey's every step.
"Yeah, now I want to find out if all that pain was for nothing." Lindsey raised his sword to Angel's throat. "Care to help me?"
Angel didn't even say anything as he quickly raised his own sword against Lindsey's and the two men began to fight. Lindsey was quick, much to quick for a human, Angel soon realized. The tattoos must have worked. Angel took a few quick swings at Lindsey, but Lindsey's sword always deflected the vampires. It was a decent fight for anyone watching, especially Eve who stood against the wall, her crossbow pointed at Angel, just incase Lindsey did lose.
Cordelia made her way into the lobby of the building, deciding which way she should go next in order to find Angel. She could barely see in the dark room and jumped when she felt the baby inside of her kick.
"Jeez!" Cordelia rubbed her swollen belly. "Are you trying to give mommy a heartache?"
Suddenly, Cordelia heard a noise fill the lobby. No, two noises. Two voices, she thought anyway. They were faint and muffled. She turned in a circle. "Who's there?"
The voices were louder now, shouting her name. Cordelia turned in the direction she thought they were coming from, and slowly made her way up to a door with a bench in front of it. She then heard the voices clear as could be.
"Mom? Mom are you out there?" Jessica's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Jess?" Cordelia looked at the door.
"Yes!" Jess squealed.
"Is Spike with you?" Cordelia asked.
"Yes!" Spike's voice came through the door as well. "We're bloody stuck in here! Get us out!"
"There's a bench in front of the door." Cordelia told them. "I don't know if I can move it."
"Mom, just be careful." Jess stressed, knowing it probably wasn't best for Cordelia to be moving things around in her state.
"Oh bloody hell!" Spike's voice was husky. "You're part demon now, right Cordelia? Move the damn bench nothing is going to hurt you or that bun you got in the oven!"
Cordelia gave a small smile as she heard Jessica smack Spike and the vampire whisper "Ouch."
"I'm going to move it." Cordelia told the two of them on the other side of the door.
"Fine, just be careful." Jess repeated.
A few minutes later Cordelia had the bench on the floor and the door wide open, allowing Jessica and Spike out of the basement.
"You did it!" Jess practically jumped on her mother, hugging the pregnant woman as best as she could.
"How did you guys get stuck in there?" Cordelia asked.
"Damn Lindsey and Eve." Spike said. "They locked us in there."
"And smashed up the electrical box." Jess added. "We need to get back upstairs, tell dad."
"Oh, God! You're father!" Cordelia had been so wrapped up in getting Jess and Spike out of the basement that she almost forgot about her vision of Angel.
"What about him?" Jessica's eyes narrowed at her mother.
"I had a vision about him…" Cordelia told her daughter. "He was fighting for his life."
"And where is he now?" Jess asked.
"I don't know." Cordelia said truthfully. "He left me and Fred in the penthouse and when I had the vision we decided to come look for him. We found Wesley on the way; Lindsey and Eve had hurt him badly. Fred took him back upstairs, and I'm still looking for your father."
"Where's Lorne and Gunn?" Jess asked.
"I haven't seen them." Cordelia told her. "They were supposed to go to the surveillance room."
"Well, if Lindsey and Eve got to us and Wesley I bet they got to the demon and lawyer too." Spike said.
Jess nodded. "Spike, go find them. Mom, you and me will go find dad. I can smell his trail, lets move."
Cordelia nodded, following her daughter as Spike took off in the other direction toward the surveillance room.
Angel raised his sword, taking another swing at Lindsey, but missing the other man. Lindsey then countered, swinging his sword, and while Angel deflected it with his own, giving the vampire a good kick in the gut. Angel fell quickly to the ground and Lindsey gave him a kick across the face, causing blood to run from his mouth.
"Pathetic." Lindsey sneered at the souled vampire. "You're pathetic."
"I kicked your ass a few times if I recall correctly." Angel said, sweeping Lindsey's feet from under him before jumping up. He then held his sword to the ex-lawyers throat. "And after all that, I've still got the upper hand."
"Maybe…" Lindsey smiled before plunging his own sword into Angel's gut and again watching the vampire fall in pain. "Maybe not."
Fred helped Wesley into Angel and Cordelia's penthouse. She sat him gently on the couch and moved to get the med kit. She then returned, shinning the flashlight in his face.
"Fred, I'm bleeding, I don't need to go blind too." Wesley said, shielding his eyes from her flashlight.
"Sorry…" Fred seemed to blush as she sat the flashlight down at an angel that allowed the light to hit Wesley's shoulder wound, but not his eyes. Slowly, she cleaned up and patched his wound.
"That's good." Wesley smiled weakly when Fred had finished.
"Let me see you're leg now."
Wesley nodded, pulling his leg up so Fred could patch that wound up too. "Thank you." He seemed to whisper.
Fred nodded, going back to his shoulder. "Let me just make sure that one is on good…"
Fred's words were muffled by Wesley's lips meeting hers.
Spike made his way up to the surveillance room doors to see the light from the generator still on in the room. He opened the door cautiously only to find both Gunn and Lorne knocked out, and tied up on the floor.
"Bloody hell!" Spike moved toward the lawyer and demon and began untying them. When he had succeeded he then pulled them apart, laying them both down on the floor. He sighed, not knowing how to wake either up. "Great…"
Spike then decided to kick Gunn lightly to see if the man would wake up. After two good kicks and no response, Spike moved to Lorne, giving the demon a kick in the leg.
Lorne shot up almost immediately. "Ouch!"
"Oh, I didn't even kick you hard." Spike told him.
Lorne looked around, taking in the room, and what he remembered happening in it. The demon then looked over at Gunn and got a horrified look on his face. "Gunn! He…he…"
"He's out cold." Spike told him. "Can't wake him up for the life of me."
"You mean unlife, right?" Lorne asked the vampire.
"Just shut up and help me get him upstairs." Spike said, picking Gunn up.
"We all are understanding that Lindsey and Eve are behind this whole thing, right?" Lorne asked as Spike led him out of the surveillance room.
"Yup, Cordelia got the clip notes version of it in her head." Spike told him.
"She had a vision?"
Spike shrugged. "I guess. Didn't ask. I came to save you guys. Jessica went with Cordelia."
"Well, at least Cordy is safe." Lorne said.
"Right." Spike agreed.
Jess picked up Angel's scent almost immediately. She followed his trail with her mother close behind. Neither said anything to the other, both were too focused on finding Angel. Finally, Jessica heard something. A groan, a cry of pain, she wasn't sure, it was faint, somewhere ahead of them.
"I think I hear him. Up ahead." Jess said, trying to remain calm.
But Cordelia could hear it in her daughter's voice, something was wrong. The seer didn't even give Jess a chance to say another word; she quickly took off as fast as she could, running straight ahead.
Cordelia entered the well light room to see Angel on the floor, a sword right through his stomach, and Lindsey standing over him, bloody but grinning.
"Angel!" Cordelia panicked.
Angel looked up, all the angry and pain draining from his face as he saw Cordelia standing there. She shouldn't be there; she didn't even see Eve behind her. Angel knew he had to get up now, not only to kick Lindsey's ass, but also to make sure Cordelia was safe.
"Cordy…get out of here." Angel managed.
"No!" Cordelia told him. "I had a vision, I saw this happening…I'm just…"
"Too late." Eve finished Cordelia's sentence as she stuck the crossbow into the pregnant woman's back.
"Get away from her!" Angel growled, pulling the sword out of his gut and tossing it aside.
"Now here's the vampire I came to kill." Lindsey smirked. "The fires back in those big old eyes of yours."
"Shut up, Lindsey." Angel picked up his sword again.
"I'd put that down, or Eve over there might accidentally let that arrow fly into your wife and kid, if you catch my drift." Lindsey grinned over at Cordelia who had panic written all over her face.
"Let her go." Angel told Eve.
"First you make the choice, Angel." Lindsey told him. "Your life, or Cordelia's and the kids? You can't win here."
"Wrong." Jess entered, her game face on.
Lindsey looked over at the young half-vampire, shock playing on his face. "Well that's interesting. Like father like daughter, I guess. Eve!" He motioned for her to throw him the crossbow.
Eve complied and chucked the crossbow right into Lindsey's hand.
"Jess, get your mom and get out of here!" Angel ordered, turning back to Lindsey with his sword held at the lawyer.
"No…" Lindsey said to Jess although he was looking at Angel. "Stay awhile." He then pulled the trigger, releasing the crossbow square at Jessica's heart and turning to see what happened next.
It was like slow motion for Angel. He watched the arrow drive itself into Jessica and then watched his daughter fall back from the impact of the blow. He then watched Cordelia hurry over to Jessica, kneeling down as best as she could with her huge stomach, and cradling Jessica in her arms like she had done when Jess was just a baby.
"Well, she didn't turn to dust, so she isn't completely a vampire, right?" Lindsey turned back to Angel with a grin on his face, but his grin faded as he felt the cold blade slice through his stomach. The ex-lawyer then collapsed onto the floor, and Eve rushed forward to him.
"He won't die." Angel told Eve, not even looking at her. "But you need to get him out of here fast. And don't ever even think about coming back."
The vampire then walked over to Cordelia and Jess, helping Cordelia to her feet and giving her a passionate kiss before picking up his daughter and carrying her out of the room, his wife's hand attached to his free one.
Spike carried Gunn into Angel and Cordelia's penthouse with Lorne close behind him to find Wesley asleep on the couch, and Fred asleep on the floor next to him. The room had become brighter as the morning sun had begun making its presence known. Spike placed Gunn down gently in a chair, only to hear the lawyer groan.
Gunn's groan woke up both Fred and Wesley who quickly shot up.
"Who's there?" Fred jumped, and then relaxed when she saw Spike, Gunn, and Lorne. "Oh, its you guys."
Spike nodded. "Yep, it's us. Sorry to wake you."
Fred shook her head, smiling at Wesley. "We must have just dozed off."
"And I must have gotten hit with a truck." Gunn said, holding his head.
"Lindsey gave me and Gunn a nice smack down earlier tonight." Lorne explained.
"I got the same as well." Wesley smiled. "It's good to know we are all alright though."
"We're not all here." Spike noticed. "Where's Angel and Jess and Cordelia?"
Fred looked around, the smile fading from her face. "They aren't here. They never made it back!"
"Calm down." Wesley said, placing a hand on her shoulder and loving the fact that she put her opposite hand right on top of his. Something was officially going on between them. "I'm sure they're alright."
"What if they aren't?" Fred asked. "What if Cordy never got to Angel in time and…"
"And nothing, sugar." Lorne tried to keep the girl calm. "Angel's a champion, no little weasel of a lawyer would be able to stop him."
"Damn right." Angel's voice filled the room as he entered with Jessica swung over his shoulder and Cordelia next to him.
"Geez, what happened to her?" Lorne noticed the arrow in Jess.
"She got shot by Lindsey." Angel told him. "Wesley, can you get up?"
Wesley nodded, moving so Angel could lay Jess down. The young girl let out a gasp of pain as Angel's shirt accidentally brushed against the arrow, moving it slightly.
"Sorry…" Angel mumbled.
Cordelia was at Jessica's side in a moment's notice. "Now, Jess, sweetie, I need to get this arrow out of you, okay? Just try not to move."
Jess just gave her mother a weak version of the famous grin she had possessed since she was two months old before reaching up and ripping the arrow out of herself. "Damn! That hurt!"
"Looks like we all took a beating." Angel said, looking around the room.
"What happened?" Wesley asked.
"Lindsey tried to destroy me. He thought by hurting everyone I cared about he could break me down, and you want to know something? He probably could have if he had succeeded in hurting you guys, but he didn't because you were all strong and brave in your own right." Angel told the group. "Lindsey and Eve will no longer be a problem to us, but things around here have to change. We took over Wolfram and Hart for a million different reasons…" His eyes fell on Jessica. "Some of those reasons I still don't know, I may never know them, but I don't care. We have an obligation to keep this world safe, and now we have the resources to do it as well, so no more games. We fight the good fight from the inside. No more cutting deals with evil, no more compromising our morals. We fight for what we believe in from now on, understood?"
Everyone in the room smiled at the vampire. They understood. They had taken over Wolfram and Hart, and now things were going to change around the law firm.