A/N: I am going to assume, because I really don't want to spend a lot of time on exposition, that everyone knows what is going on with both shows right about now. If not, there are quite a few summary and transcription sites out there you can go to and read the episodes. We'll be switching back and forth between both shows, so it helps to have some idea of where they are both at but it is not really integral to my plot.
A/N #2: Sorry for the delay in updating. RL has not been kind here lately and I've not been online or working on my writing as much. Also, I have 2 weeks to come up with something coherent for my Project Paranormal entry and I only have about 600 words of the required 5,000 actually written. :( I should get back to updating regularly in July. Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far, it warms the cockles of my fragile little ego. ;)
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The latest newcomer to the Hyperion seemed to be a teenage boy dressed in leather-like skins adorned with bones and teeth. He stood in the lobby with the decapitated beast at his feet. The huge, curved blade strapped to his forearm gleamed where it wasn't covered by gore from the dead monster and his other hand held some kind of projectile weapon bristling with sharpened stakes.
The boy pointed his weapon at Angel before giving him a grim smile. "Hi, Dad," he said sarcastically.
As soon as the boy raised his weapon, Gunn started running for the weapons cabinet and Groo moved around to get a clear path to the teenage Connor. Fred stayed kneeling on the orange couch, Lorne and Cordy standing and staring in shock beside her.
Angel turned and held his hand out to his team. "Wait," he shouted. He turned back just in time to dodge two stake hurled through the air at him. "No!"
Groo let his axe fly as Connor launched several more stakes at his father but Connor turned with it and smacked the axe away from him. Connor and Angel both stood looking at each other; Connor with the weapon pointed at Angel again and Angel looking at Connor in disbelief.
They both turned slightly at a shouted "hey, no," as the woman Spike was holding suddenly rolled out of his arms and stood slightly crouched, feet spread, hands clawed, looking at them both through a curtain of tangled blonde hair.
"Vampires," she growled and raced towards Connor in a blur.
Connor let three more stakes fly, this time in her direction. She dodged them easily and leapt at him, twisting in the air like a cat when he brought the blade on his forearm up. She landed on her hands and knees on the floor and swept her leg out in the air, catching Connor in the back of his knees.
He tucked his head down and threw himself forward. The woman grabbed a handful of skins as he attempted to roll past her and slammed him down onto the floor. She swung a leg over him, straddling his waist.
Connor moved to cut her with the blade and she grabbed his arm and tore the weapon off of it, sending it spinning across the lobby floor. She was growling softly as her hands forced Connor's chin up, trying to snap his neck, when Angel tackled her from the side and rolled her off his son.
Connor jumped up and ran towards the front door of the hotel, deftly evading Spike's half-hearted attempts at capture. Spike jumped back as the door swung wide and the boy disappeared into the sunlight. Groo and Gunn ran past him and stood on the sidewalk watching as Connor scrambled up the back of a passing bus and onto its roof.
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Anya finished ringing up a sale, smiling brightly at the shear volume of protection charms she had just sold and telling her customer to come back soon and please spend more money. She quickly sobered as the woman left and moved to join Giles at the table.
He was looking in consternation at the map spread out before him. "They have to be shielded or cloaked somehow."
"You haven't had any luck at all," Anya questioned.
Giles sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "See for yourself." He gestured to the road map as if wanting to push it away from himself or deny its contents. "I was able to locate a flicker here and here four hours ago, neither of which makes any sense, and nothing since then."
Anya moved up beside him and peered over his shoulder. "What does that mean?"
"It means, I still have no bloody idea where they are," Giles announced sharply.
Anya leaned over farther, pushing into Giles' shoulder. "What are these?" She picked up several envelopes off the pile beside the map and quickly flicked through them. "Bills?"
"Yes, well, I do imagine Buffy will want a home to come back to." Giles looked slightly uncomfortable under Anya's sympathetic gaze. "Besides, I would be paying these wherever I stayed."
Anya looked hesitantly at him. "I could…if you wanted to check on these, I could transport us there. After I close the shop, of course."
"Of course," he said wryly. "Anya, this is the second time you've offered to transport me. I thought D'Hoffryn generally frowned on Vengeance Demons using their powers for anything not involved with their, ah, work."
"But this is involved with my work." Anya slumped down into the chair next to Giles. "This is my main base of operations and it's starting to be overrun with demons. The humans are pulling together, looking out for each other, being all loving and concerned." The last was said with considerable disgust. "Hardly anyone here has called on me lately and my quota is way down."
"Yes, well, I'm not sure what any of that has to do with finding Buffy and the others."
"Between the Mayor scaring off anything too nasty- before he died- and then Buffy continuing to keep the demons in check afterwards, people felt safe." Anya looked at Giles excitedly. "If we get Buffy back, the demons either leave town, stop being so obvious or Buffy kills them; the people start to feel safer and they go back to acting like normal humans."
"Petty, foolish and vindictive."
"And wanting vengeance." Anya smile prettily. "Exactly."
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"…and so then we came here," Spike finished. He stood in Angel's office, leaning against door and flicking the top of his lighter open and closed. He didn't like this one bit but he didn't know who else to turn to. Spike had exhausted all his other contacts and resources and they needed help.
Angel rubbed a hand over his face, wincing when his fingers passed over the still oozing claw marks and the bullet holes in his back stretched and started bleeding again. "She only does that when she senses vampires?"
"Or demons," Spike sighed, "and then only about half the time. One minute she's," Spike waved a hand towards the window, "a lifeless shadow, the next she's Jackie Chan. Never know when it's comin' on or how long it's gonna last." And every damned time he hoped it was the time she'd come back to him for good.
Angel watched through the window as Cordy, Lorne, Groo, and Gunn stood by the couch next to a once again docile Buffy. Buffy's face was expressionless and her eyes stared off into nothing while Fred sat next to her and chattered away.
Angel was reminded of how Buffy had looked just after she'd come back. She'd sat across from him in the truck stop full of a quiet despair that he didn't know what to do with or how to talk her out of. Neither of them had gone back home reassured.
"You haven't talked to Giles?"
"Can't get hold of him. I've left message after message at his flat." Spike started to pace in agitation. "Told him she needed him; told him I didn't know what to do. Why do you think I've been chasing around after every whisper of a cure? Why do you think I'm here?"
Spike threw himself down in one of the chairs in front of the desk and stared at Angel somberly. "You know I wouldn't come to you for help if it wasn't for her." Spike paused until Angel nodded that he understood. "You owe me--"
"What? I owe you? Just who's tried to kill who in this room?" Angel glared across his desk at the younger vampire. "Who had who tortured?"
"Oh, I really don't think you want to get into the subject of torture and killing, do you Angelus?" Spike glared right back at him. "And who left who to take care of two women by himself, mate? Who got a soul, skipped out without a word and switched sides?"
"Spike, aren't we on the same side now? You know, after you switched sides- quite a few times I might add. And who came back here to help you instead of staying with his son?"
Spike tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "Thought you were moaning on before about the boy not wanting anything to do with you." Self-righteous git always could twist everything around to suit himself. "Seems you didn't have a choice on that one, Peaches. You owe me, both of us know it, both of us know why, and now 'm collecting."
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"So…this is the famous Vampire Slayer." Lorne took a sip of something light blue and smelling vaguely like fruit. "I always thought she'd be…" He languidly waved his glass towards Buffy.
"Yes, it does seem she--" Groo started, only to be cut off by Cordelia.
"I'd watch how I finished that sentence if I were you," she said. "Fellow person of the demon hunting persuasion here, and also, female." She was watching Buffy's slack face closely, looking for any signs of life in those vacant, staring eyes. It was strange, Buffy had always seemed almost larger than life, certainly larger than her actual 5'4", and now she looked so small and fragile.
"I just thought, as a renowned warrior feared by evil, she'd be…larger and more muscular," Groo explained.
"Yeah." Gunn nodded. "And less with the Fay Wray entrance. Doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. Well, except for that whole almost-took-the-freaky-teenager's-head-off thing. That was pretty damn cool. And almost clawing Angel's face off, twice. That was also pretty damn cool."
"Charles," Fred scolded. "She's obviously not well. And it wasn't that long ago that I was writing on walls and talking to myself." She looked off in thought. "Well, I still talk to myself sometimes." Fred looked around quickly. "Not crazy-woman talk," she assured everyone. "Just normal, everyday 'where'd I put that double-bladed axe or differential calculus book' talk."
"Of course, my little poppy seed. Crazy is as crazy does, I always say." Lorne looked thoughtfully at Buffy. "I just hope Angel-cakes knows what he's getting himself into with this big, heaping bowl full of fruit loops."
"Angel-cakes? Why, Peaches, you sly devil you." Spike threw a smirk over his shoulder at Angel as they both came out of the office before turning to look at Lorne. "I'm not calling you Gran'mum, though."
"Perish the thought. I'm much too young and well-toned to be a grandmother."
"Peaches?" Gunn eyed Angel speculatively. "I'm guessing there's a story behind that that no one here wants to know about."
"Speak for yourself." Cordelia kept her eyes on Spike. She didn't trust him farther than she could throw him, which, considering he could probably kill her before she could lay a hand on him, wouldn't be very far at all. "So, not here to kill us all I'm assuming."
"I already did the karaoke bit for ol' red eyes there. You know why I'm here. Besides, had more than enough chances sitting here with you lot waiting for the big git to get back."
"Spike, stop it. He can't. He's been neutered and can't hurt humans anymore." Angel ignored Spike's indignant posturing and moved slowly towards Buffy. She'd reacted violently to his presence when he'd returned to the hotel after tracking down Connor and he didn't want to startle her again. "Buffy needs our help and, unfortunately, that seems to mean putting up with Spike."
"She's had a long day. Didn't sleep much on the drive over here. Just show us to a room and we'll let you lot get on with finding her a cure." Spike reached out to pick Buffy up and was halted by Angel's fingers grinding into his wrist.
"I'll take her up to her room. You can pick out whichever one you want." Angel forgot his previous hesitation and scooped Buffy off the couch, cradling her tenderly in his arms. "Except mine."
"Oh, no you don't, you bloody prat," Spike spit at him. "Give her here. I've been taking care of her, I've been the one by her side day and night, and I'll carry her up to our room."
"No, you won't. She's not sharing a room with you, Spike." Angel turned and started towards the stairs. "This is my hotel and you came to me for help. She's got me to look after her now."
"Oh, yes, because you've done such a bang-up job looking after her these last few years." Spike stalked after Angel and grabbed his arm, swinging him around and poking a finger in his face. "Where were you when her mum was sick? Where were you when Dawn got taken by that bint Glory? Where were you when soldier boy left her? Where were you when she died?" Spike voice had steadily risen until he was shouting. "I was there, Angel, and I'm not leavin' her on her own now. She can't stay in a room by herself; she's bloody catatonic, you stupid git!"
"Uh…hey. I, ah, thought I'd come by like you said." Everyone turned to look at Connor standing uneasily on the lobby steps. "Is this a bad time? I-I could come back later."
