January 23, 2009
They were gliding down the highway in their SUV while the noon day sun shown steadily from above. Buffy was stretched out in the passenger seat, relaxed and happy while the two toddlers slept soundly in their car seats in the back, the steady motion of the car lulling them to dreamland.
She glanced over at her husband in the driver's seat, his dark eyes focused on the road ahead of them. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive for a while? You've been at the wheel for almost 15 hours now." She asked, offering so he could take a well deserved rest.
They'd taken frequent short stops for fuel and to just stretch their legs, but she couldn't understand how he could still be comfortable driving for so long.
He glanced over at her, a smile on his lips. "Nah, I'd like to make it there alive."
"Hey!" She yelped, "I'm not THAT bad a driver…look around at the wide open plains of Nebraska, other than tumble weeds we're the only thing on the road!"
"I'm just teasing you a chuisle, but honestly I'm fine. I like to drive. It's peaceful." He assured, not wanting to make her think he didn't trust her driving…even if he didn't…but she didn't need to know that.
"It's only peaceful while the kids are asleep." She countered, looking in her visor mirror at the two dozing children behind her with a loving smile.
He glanced in the rear-view mirror at them too, a smile on his lips too as he watched them dream.
The silence moved back in between the adults, a comfortable one. However Buffy being a mother of two found no sound a little unnerving and flipped on the stereo, filling the dead silence with the steady drone of rock & roll.
Not long later, Buffy felt her own eyelids drooping as the steady rush of the landscape blurred by.
…
Buffy's eyes slid open as the world slowly reformed around her. It took a moment to get her bearings, everything looked wrong. She discovered a moment later it look wrong because everything was upside down. Or correction, the SUV was upside down.
"Angel?" Her mouth barely functioned properly as her blurry eyes searched the drivers side…just to find that section of the car missing. 'Oh god, what happened?' Her mind raced, trying to piece together what had caused the wreckage. 'How did we crash?'
The truck was resting on it's roof, the driver's seat and steering wheel were both completely missing, the hood was a crumpled smoking mess.
A sound begin to filter into her shocked brain, the buzzing in her ears receding enough to realizing the sound was her children screaming in terror. The Slayer in her switched on, pushing away the fog and honing in fully on her babies. Ripping the seat-belt that held her upside down in the chair, she dropped awkwardly to the roof and turned around, carefully avoiding the strewn glass and jagged bent metal and plastic. "Katie? Liam?" She called, moving into the back seat to free the two still buckled in car seats.
Other that the damage to the front of the car, the passenger area and back seats were mangled but present, validating the truck company's claim to a five star crash rating, not that Buffy had wanted to know in person.
It took less than two minutes to unfasten the safety belts and kick the warped door open to pull the carriers free from the potential explosion hazard. It didn't sound like the engine was still running, but moving a safe distance away seemed like a smart idea regardless. She wasn't about to perform an inspection of the gas tank at the moment, not while her lover was missing and her children potentially injured.
Once out in the open, she quickly searched the two youths for injuries. Liam's forehead had a small bleeding cut while Katie's hand and arm had a few minor cuts and scraps from falling glass. Neither child showed signs of broken or fractured bones nor did they seem to be suffering from anything worse than a hell of a fright. "Shh, it's ok." She soothed her babies, kissing them as she tended to their minor injuries.
She'd pulled their car seats out with them still safely buckled in, after inspecting the kids and the seats for broken glass, she fastened them back into the relatively undamaged carriers to keep them from wandering off and into the road. After they were calming, Buffy's mind switched to finding her husband, who was still currently unaccounted for. "Momma's got to find Daddy, I'll be right back, ok?" She urged, kissing them again and still not over the shock she could have lost them.
Standing, she noticed the wreckage was far too smashed up to be just a simple accident, especially since it was only their vehicle and no other cars in sight. Something had to have attacked them. The size of the claw marks on the remaining side of the SUV where the driver's side was ripped off was a good hint it was something demonic...and big.
Picking up a jagged piece of the bumper to use as a weapon, Buffy slowly walked around the debris that had been their SUV. The road was elevated on the side she stood on, once past the guard rail, it gently sloped downwards about 15 feet, the bottom smoothing out to a vast open field.
A demon stood just in her line of sight, it was at least 12 feet from clawed feet to horned head, a dark tan in color. 'A demon toad.' Was her first thought, as the creature looked almost exactly like a common frog, in exception to being ginormous and evil.
The thing opened it's mouth, an impossibly wide and snake-like hinged mouth and snapped at something with a huge black tongue.
She had an idea what that something was.
Moving forwards to see over the embankment and get a better look, she arrived just in time to watch the beast lunge forwards, open that wide razor-tooth lined mouth, and swallow her husband in one bite.
"ANGEL!" She screamed, panic and anger and fear and worry kicking her off the road as she jumped down the hill and charged at the creature. "Nobody eats my husband!" She yelled out as the bumper in her hand swung out, clocking the big ugly across his big ugly face.
The demon yelped and swung a claw-webbed arm back in response, missing and receiving a complimentary hand breaking for the attempt.
"Spit. Him. Out.! She demanded as she rained blows over the demon, eager to make it hurl up her husband before he suffocated.
In conjunction, Angel's boot knife suddenly struck through the smooth but tough stomach wall, sticking out of the demon but unable to slice the thick hide back enough to make an escape hole.
The demon screamed and whacked Buffy hard as she paused to try and help Angel cut the creature's belly open. The blow knocked her back into a tree and for a few seconds she watched the little birdies dance around her head.
When her senses righted again, she shook the daze from her head and charged in full force, fearing Angel would be out of air by now. After a few more well placed hits, the demon stumbled back on wobbly legs and retched, voiding the contents of its stomach onto the grass.
Buffy's face went solid white as a human skeleton clamored to the ground at the monster's clawed feet.
"Angel?" She whispered quietly, horrified when she realized the creature's stomach was now empty. 'It digested him…oh god he's dead!' Her mind realized, seeing the lone human remains as could only be her husband.
Vengeance craving hazel green eyes focused on the battered but still standing toad, seconds later The Slayer was the only one left standing. She hadn't even given the creature time to jump away before trusting the broken fender into it's mouth and twisting the thick head until it snapped the neck.
Buffy walked in a trace to the skeleton, dropping to her knees beside it. Hot tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks, her mind not believing this was actually happening. Only moments before, she'd assumed the demon would just spit Angel out, they'd both be disgusted but laugh about it later…now her husband was nothing but a pile of bones.
Her hand closed tightly over her mouth, to stifle the scream she wanted to yell into the sky; to vent the unfairness of it all. A sob racked her form, soon followed by more. She sat hunched over the remains as her grief consumed her.
...
"Buffy? Are you Ok?" A weary voice asked from behind her.
Her eyes widened in recognition of the voice's owner, her head whipped around, completely at a loss for words at the man standing behind her. "But…you…" She stammered, wondering if her mind had just reached its final straw and she'd gone mad.
"Buffy, are you hurt?" he repeated, voice full of worry.
Buffy stood and socked Angel hard across the jaw, "I thought you were dead!" She yelled at him as he reeled back from the unexpected blow. Before he could even cup his sore cheek, she crashed into him, knocking them both to the ground. She hugged him to the point of barely able to draw breath as she let go of the nightmare reality she'd just been pulled from.
Despite the struggle for breath, his arms wrapped around her, quieting her silent sobs of relief. He had no idea what she was so freaked over, but then glanced over her shoulder at the bones strewn on the ground where she'd been sitting. 'Oh, she thought that was me.' He realized, and set to sooth his wife's nerves. "Shh a chuisle, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, promise."
Despite the demon's stomach juices seeping into her clothes from his drenched form, she didn't let go.
Couldn't.
Instead she buried herself further into him, "I didn't see it spit you out...I...I thought..." Her voice failed her as a fresh wave of tears overpowered her.
"I'm right here." He repeated, wishing he'd come around sooner and that she'd seen the demon regurgitate him. He assumed by the large bruise on her forehead the demon must have knocked her senseless a moment and threw him up into the bushes out of her sight while she was spinning from the blow.
Buffy felt her tears drying but still refused to let go of him entirely.
"Katie and Liam?" Angel asked after a moment, praying to any God, Goddess, demon, higher power…anything that would answer, that his children were unharmed in the crash as them demon attacked the vehicle.
"A few little scratches, but otherwise ok." She told him, easing his growing anxiety.
His eyes shot hatefully to the broken demon, mildly wishing Buffy hadn't killed it so he could have vengeance for daring to hurt even one skin cell on his kids.
She finally pulled back from him, realizing the kids were alone and more than likely totally freaking out over it.
He seemed to understand that too and rose, helping her up.
They looked one another over on the short walk back to their offspring, each sporting a few cuts and scrapes from the crash, but nothing serious or life threatening.
"So you're ok?" She asked him one last time, the shock of thinking he'd died still pumping though her heart.
"Breathing got a little tight for a while, but yeah, I'm fine. You?" He asked, turning her face to see the darkening bruise where the demon had hit her.
"I am now." She answered, squeezing his fingers as they reached the two anxious children fussing in their car seats. Her family was alive and mostly undamaged, that made her a lot finer than she should have been after such an ordeal.
Buffy unbuckled the toddlers from the seats to hold them and sooth their tears as Angel dug though the wreckage to find their bags. He desperately needed to change out of his ruined clothes, since the demon's stomach fluid was mildly burning his skin as it tried to digest him. Finding the kid's suitcase first, he brought it over so Buffy could change them out of the torn and fear soiled garments and into something clean.
Angel found their bag after a few minutes and stripped, using a t-shirt to clean his skin as well as possible of the corrosive stomach acid. He quickly slipped on a fresh pair of pants and another t-shirt, then joined his family to help with the clean up.
"Angel? You're skin..." Buffy addressed with a tight voice and wide eyes when she noticed her husband's skin was tinted a light shades of red.
He shrugged, trying not to draw attention to the burning sensation on his flesh. "Been worse, stings, but I'll live."
She frowned but nodded, her mind unable to keep the image of the skeleton from jumping to the forefront. She'd really thought he'd died, and here he was sitting beside her whole and mostly intact...a little weary and raw...but very much alive.
If they weren't stranded beside the road hundreds of miles from home, in fading sunlight, with the kids, she would have been humping the crap of him right now just to assure to herself how very alive he still was, but due to current circumstances, that would have to wait.
Once the kids were settled, Buffy changed out of the shirt she'd worn while hugging Angel earlier, since she could feel the juices starting to irritate her skin as well. Soon after they began to search the wreckage for a cell phone.
Angel took a few minutes to bury the human skeleton since he'd seen Buffy's gaze drifting towards it for the last half hour and started moving some of the larger debris out of the road as they both looked for one of the two phones.
They were in the middle of nowhere (AKA the middle of Nebraska) and still had over 1,000 miles before they reached their destination. There had been a rest stop, but about 30 miles back, and the next one wasn't for almost 25 miles. Neither really wanted to walk, especially not with the toddlers.
Their only food and water supplies were strewn across the road in the ruined remains of the SUV.
They really needed to find a phone.
"Got it!" Buffy cheered as she dug under the mangled dashboard and pulled the mostly intact electronic device from where it was wedged in the console.
Angel looked up from his search, hopeful. "Please tell me it has power."
She flipped open her phone and the image of Angel holding the kids, all sporting big smiles, popped onto the slightly distorted cracked screen. "We have power." She relied excitedly, but almost immediately her smile dropped, "but no signal."
Angel cursed.
"Watch your language around the kid, Hun." She scolded him as she moved the phone around, trying to pick up reception.
He looked sheepishly down at the children, both watching their parents intently from their car seats resting under the shade of a guard rail. The unnatural quiet from the two was a little unnerving.
Kneeing in front of them, he gave him best smile, "Hey, don't worry, we'll be out of here in no time."
"Our car got eaten." Katie replied blandly, her little brother nodding, "Truck all smash."
Angel didn't have a reply for that on hand, but tried to sound hopeful for their sakes.
His attention was drawn back to his wife when she began to chant something in a language he didn't recognize. "Buffy?" He questioned both curious and a little wigged as he stood and walked up behind her, his eyes scanning around her and looking at the phone in her hand.
Buffy wasn't a magic user…most assuredly not a magic user.
A few seconds later the chant finished and the phone beeped twice. "Got it!" She smiled; glad as ever that Willow had taught her the spell to magically boost cell signal. "It only lasts for a minute or so, so I gotta be quick." She told her lurking husband as she speed dialed Willow.
After a few rings the Wicca picked up and Buffy quickly explained their situation.
"And here you were so adamant about not using teleportation with the kids." The red headed witch joked into the phone.
"Will, just get us out of here." Buffy sighed, not in the mood for an 'I told you so'.
"Ok, ok, just give me a few minutes to set up the spell, see you in five." The witch promised then hung up to work her magic.
"She's gunna teleport us." She informed Angel as they grabbed the kids carseats and what was left of their stuff.
A few minutes later the spell washed over them and they found themselves disorientated but standing in the hotel in LA where they were intending to meet up with the rest of the gang.
"You guys could have just flown like the rest of us." Xander commented as the couple shook off the dizzying rush that often accompanied travel via magic.
True, they could have flown, but Buffy insisted a family road trip would be more fun. It actually had been, until about half way to LA when a demon toad ripped their car apart...she should have known better than to think the trip would have gone smoothly.
Didn't matter now. They made it and all were alive.
Liam and Katie both began to cry, and a moment later both voided their small stomachs from the rush of disorientating magic.
"Just what I had been trying to avoid." Buffy frowned, taking some paper towels from Willow as she unbuckled the tot and wiped the mess off her daughter. Angel took an offered towel from Xander and began cleaning the vomit off his son.
"Sorry about that." Willow apologized, feeling responsible.
Giles walked into the room, surprised to see the family of four suddenly here. "Oh, you made it in record time." He then noticed the motion sick tots, Angel's haggard appearance and the scowl on Buffy's lips and realized they hadn't arrived via car as intended. "Trouble?" The watcher asked, interesting in what had happened to make Buffy succumb to using teleportation with the children...not to mention the bruise of her forehead.
"Frog demon ate me and wrecked the car." Angel responded only have listening as he pulled the smelly shirt off Liam so he could wash his chest.
He looked up when the room went silent. "What? It spit me out. The car wasn't so lucky." He added when Buffy sent him a bland look.
"You got…eaten?" Xander asked, half impressed, half grossed out by the thought.
"Well, more like swallowed; luckily for me it wasn't big on the chewing." The living vampire reiterated with a shrug.
...
A short time later, Angel had taken a quick shower and speed bathed the kids while Buffy updated everyone. Once the kids were cleaned and settled he rejoined the group as they settled down over dinner to discuss the reason for the improve trip to LA on such short notice.
"So what's the big bad G?" Faith asked as she lounged in her chair, balancing dangerously far back on two legs but showing not even the slightest glint of concern about it. "There some big beasties that needs duel slayer action?"
Giles shook his head, "I'm afraid not Faith, this is much more than some run of the mill demon and far more serious even than an apocalypse."
"Wait...more serious?" Buffy exasperated while nearly dropping Liam's chicken fingers as he sat munching in her lap, knowing the situations they faced were never anything less than 'world at stake' material. "Like what exactly?"
The watcher took a deep breath and began to speak, "I've many sources over the globe, and they all agree this is the approximately right time and place."
"For what?" Xander interrupted, a slight case of panic setting in.
The Englishman looked at those seated around him, the familiar faces that had become his stronger than blood family over the years. Without softening the blow, he simply spoke, "The imminent birth of a new Hellmouth."
Silence overpowered the room for a few seemingly endless seconds as Giles words slowly sank in, forks and chewing ceasing entirely except for Katie and Liam, who where oblivious to the discussion as they hungrily chowed down chicken fingers.
"What!" Xander yelped to break the cloud of tension, "But we squashed the last one! What is this some twisted Whack-A-Mole game? Every time you knock one down another takes it's place?"
"Ahh...well...essentially…yes. I do believe it's a possible analogy." The watcher agreed, however not exactly enjoying the phrasing. Of course having known Xander nearly a decade, he had adequate time to adjust to the snappy young man's odd references.
Catching a 'please continue' glance from Buffy, the former librarian resumed speaking. "Once the Sunnydale Hellmouth collapsed, the energy usually surging from it had been diverted to the next nearest, that being Cleveland's Hellmouth. However, like a river, the flow tends to search out the easiest path, and Cleveland is a far and difficult route. LA had been a hot spot for demonic energy for centuries, Angel having front line knowledge to that. Buffy herself was called here, the Powers summoning a Slayer where she is needed most. It is little wonder that LA would be the next easiest route for Hellmouth energy to convex."
The group was quiet a moment, busy digesting the news and trying not to un-digest their meals.
"So why is this new Hellmouth opening now? It's been almost 5 years since we shut Sunnydale down in the permeate way, why the delay?" Buffy asked Giles as he scanned the ever present book in his lap.
He flipped the tome over so it was laying face down on his leg, saving his spot, thus his hands were free to clean his never actually dirty glasses. "Buffy, things like this don't happen overnight. Much like a volcano, the pressure can steadily build for years, thousands even, before finally erupting. Granted Hellmouths are not geological events, rather mystical anomalies by nature, if they can be deemed natural at all. In truth, the Coven and others can feel the changes in the universal power flow, but they have no idea what to expect; no printed record exists of a Hellmouth birth. Essentially, we're running blind."
No one in the room took any comfort from that.
"So we could all be blown to Hellmouth in a few days? Swell, glad I came." Xander muttered sarcastically. "Best vacation ever."
"And my babies are here why then?" Buffy demanded, terrified she may have inadvertently brought their kids into the danger zone. Leaving them home with neighbors in Ohio had seemed like a bad plan to begin with, as who knows what could have tried to kidnap them, but now the thought of not seeing them for an unknown amount of time way outweighed the potential of them being hurt or worse.
Her children had already been risked during the failed cross country drive, almost being shredded by a demon or hurt in the resulting car crash, now they could be swallowed by a newborn Hellmouth?
'So turning out to be a shit day...'
Spike raised his hand, an unusual jest on his part. "Just to make things clear, I'll not be wearing any bloody necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings or any jewelry or clothing of any kind. Burnt to a crisp closing a Hellmouth once, this vampire's quota has been met."
Angel rolled his eyes at the souled vampire, but knowing had Buffy not sent him away that fated day, it would have been his neck sporting the deadly necklace that finally destroyed Sunnydale...being with Buffy for that final battle was pretty much the only thing he could really say he was grateful to Spike for.
"Don't worry Billy." Faith addressed her husband, "We've only been hitched for a couple of months, I ain't geared up to be a widow just yet, so nothing's going to be dusting you on my watch."
Xander raised his hand, his mouth following before anyone could actually call on him, "How do we stop a Hellmouth opening? It there some kind of magic plug or whatnot?"
Giles shifted in his chair, "I'm afraid not Xander, no matter what we do, this event will happen regardless of our actions to prevent it."
"So if we can't do anything, why are we even here?" Faith shot out, a little pissed at being rendered useless already.
"You miss understand." Giles addressed them, "I did not call you here to prevent the Hellmouth from forming."
"Then why?" Willow piped in, as worried and confused as the rest of them as she looked around worried at her friends, wishing her husband was here with her tonight.
The older man looked to each of his friends and extended family as they watched him with fearful eyes.
It was Angel who answered, "We're damage control."
Slowly, Giles nodded and exhaled a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding, "Precisely. The sad truth is this city will not likely survive the process if left unattended. The surge in demonic energy will draw evil in from all over the globe. It will take every resource at our disposal to counteract the effects...and even then, the loss of life could still be staggering."
"Maybe not." Buffy said quietly, her face blank with focus and thought. Liam wiggled out of her lap and went to join Katie on the floor to play with a bag of toys.
"Buff?" Xander asked when after a moment she didn't continue and no one else had spoken.
Looking up at the numerous anxious eyes watching her, Buffy rose and began to pace as her brain worked over her plan and slowly processed out her mouth. "Ok, so we can't come right out and say 'Leave the city before the Hellmouth opens' to the media, but we can stage a diversion to get everyone out of LA, a bomb threat or something, then we just need to handle the demony stuff, which we can do."
"I could hack into the police database and send out some phony reports, get the law to cooperate with the evacuation." Willow suggesting, thinking on what she could write and where to post the lies, "And I could even cast a few delusion spells to help convince some upper officials."
"I know how to work this." Xander jumped in, "I've seen every movie about huge cities being attacked, I know how to run this."
Buffy nodded, "Good, then you two work on setting up the evacuation." Turning to her watcher, "Giles, we need a list of all the slayers we have contact with, even those currently on leave. We need to sort out those who are combat ready and those who aren't. Fighters can be assembled here while non-combats can help support the evacuation and start gathering inventory and supplies."
"What are we gunna do?" Faith asked, already anxious for a battle and no longer able to sit still, she needed to DO something.
"Patrol. You and Spike and start working the streets, see what you can find. There's always someone someplace that knows something. Look for anything that could give us a clue where this is going to happen."
The dark haired slayer nodded, eager to get out and get moving.
"Hold up." Angel called to Faith before she could hurry out the door, "I spent six years battling demons all over this city, I can point out some of the more likely hot zones we can expect." Angel offered, grabbing a pen and some paper to start listing and sketching out potential active zones based on what he'd experienced while living in LA.
"And what will you be doing in all this excitement?" Spike directed the question to Buffy as the blond slayer was pacing again, her eyes kept drawing back over to her two babies that were playing with their plastic toy dinosaurs in the corner.
Pulling her eyes off her children and glancing into Spike's piercing blue stare, "I'm going to start some rudimentary battle planning. This isn't the kind of fight we jump into blindly, we need to be prepared and determine how to keep the fighting concentrated in as small an area as possible." She stated as she took a map of the city from Giles and began looking over it.
"You expect me to know where this is?" Faith huffed out as she looked over Angel's shoulder and down at the drawing, it was beautifully done, but she had no idea where the place was.
Spike sent Angel a smirk, "Looks like we'll be trading birds for the night. You know LA better than any of us, take Faith with, you two can dig up our answers, I'll work the planning stage with The Queen here."
The eldest slayer sent the blond vampire a sharp look, but realized he was right. Angel was more useful out on the streets with Faith at the moment, not cooped up inside and looking over a map. She would prefer him cooped up right now, his 'death' was still fresh in her mind and he'd be safer inside with the kids than out on the streets.
"We should all go, cover more ground that way." A voice spoke from just outside the door.
Angel frowned as he recognized his eldest son's voice, "Your're supposed to be at school."
Connor shrugged as he walked into the room, "Apocalypses trump homework every time and what's the point of studying for finals if the world ends?"
"The world isn't ending." The tall living vampire shot back, annoyed and grateful at the same time.
"Not while we're here anyways." Dawn spoke as she walked in after Connor, sending Buffy a wave and a smile when her sister sent her a death glare.
"We didn't say you could come." Buffy grumbled out to Connor and Dawn as they kissed the toddlers hello.
"Well it's a good thing we did." Connor stated as he eyed his father and step-mother, "You guys obviously need all the help you can get."
Dawn slipped the map from her sister's hand, "And now you have a baby-sitter and a command central. I brought my colored flag pins, so you five go out patrolling and report back to me if you come across any activity, I'll flag it on the map and by the end of the night we'll be able to see the hot zones."
"Seems the little Nibblet has well earned the honor of 'key'-player again." Spike commented, feeling a bit of pride in how grown up the younger Summer had become over the years.
Buffy scowled but knew a good plan when she heard one. "Fine, as long as your're here and not out there."
A few minutes later, everyone had made sure they had cellphones charged and that their routes were settled.
Buffy and Angel spent a few minutes putting the toddlers to bed while Faith and Spike headed out to take advantage of the darkness, come morning Spike was useless above ground so he only had a few hours on the street before his efforts were strictly subterranean.
The dark haired living vampire exited the bedroom in time to see his elder son heading out. "Connor, keep your eyes open out there, we have no idea what to expect." Angel warned his boy, not entirely comfortable allowing his offspring to risk himself in the unknown conditions of the demonic underground now that LA was being converted to a Hellmouth.
The younger man sent his father a smile, "Who, me? Hey, I am the careful one here, you're the one that usually needs the warning." He added with a smirk to break the tension.
"Don't push it." The father threatened the son, but he did it with a smile himself.
"What he said." Buffy jested with a serious tone as she exited the bedroom the kids were sleeping in and walked between her husband and step-son, "We all need to be on double alert from here on out."
"Yes, dear." Angel auto-piloted as Connor replied, "Yes, mom."
When she elbowed her husband, he bend down and kissed her cheek, "I'll be careful if you will be too."
"Deal." She answered, and pulled his lips in for a real kiss.
She wanted so much more than a kiss from him at the moment. Spending the night making love to her husband would have been much more preferable than spending it patrolling LA for leads.
"Ok, leaving before I lose my dinner." Connor remarked as he didn't want to watch his parents getting mouthy with each other.
When the short but meaningful kiss ended, they nodded to one another and headed out their separate ways.
Purposely, they never said goodbye.
Dawn settled into the big comfy chair at the head of the meeting room table, watching Giles pacing on the phone in one corner and Xander gesturing wildly while Willow was typing quickly over her laptop in the other.
Not long after her phone starting ringing and her little red, yellow and blue flags were being placed all over the map.
...
The night seemed to fly by to Buffy, before she knew it the sun was creeping over the ocean in a steady blinding orange ball. She stood there a moment watching it, fascinated how something as simple as the sunrise could be so beautiful.
She leaned back when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist from behind.
"How was your night?" Angel asked as he stood behind his wife, watching the sun rise over her head.
"Hopefully worse than my day will be." She sighed, feeling both exhausted and energized at the same time. Battling the increased demons had been tiring, but it also rushed excitement to the slayer in her, just the kind of energy burn that made her feel alive. "How about you?" She hadn't seen him since they left the motel hours ago and had only heard snippets from Dawn about how his night had gone.
"Long." He sighed out, nuzzling against her ear as he basked in the warm sunlight and the feel of his wife's body.
She looked down at his arms around her waist, seeing one of his sleeves was damp with drying blood. With a frown, she lifted the tear in the garment she found a long scratch running the length of his forearm. "You're hurt." She stated, not happy to see him bleeding again so soon.
"A scratch." He muttered, holding her closer and resting his chin on the top of her head.
Buffy could feel the exhaustion in his arms, but knew that was from pulling an all-nighter, not from injury. The scratch was just that, she could see it was mostly closed already and would heal completely in a few hours.
"Let's get back to the hotel, the kids will be up soon and I want to know how everyone else made out tonight." She told him as she regretfully pulled out of his embrace and began walking, holding his hand tightly in hers as they quickly walked back towards 'base-camp'.
...
After a shower and a quick bite to eat, the 5 that spent the night patrolling the entire city met in the meeting room and got their first look at the map Dawn had spent the night updating from their reports.
"Well." Spike spoke first, "That doesn't leave too much for the imagination, does it?"
The entire map had a mix of red, yellow and blue flags poking out of each of the multiple sub-cities within LA, the blues and yellows were mostly around the outer edges of the map, while the reds dominated the center.
Buffy took one look at the map and shook her head, "We should have known."
"Known what?" Faith asked not understanding and squinting at the map, "There's miles and miles of red zone, how the hell are we supposed to know where the big ugly mouth to hell will open?"
The blond took a few steps forward and pointed to one of the clusters of red towards the center of the map, "This right here, that's Hemrey High School."
"Of course." Angel sighed out, understanding Hellmouths tended to form under high schools more often than not, at least two for two that he knew of, and possibly a third now.
"Willow, Xander, can you guys concentrate your efforts on evacuation the area around Hemrey?" Buffy asked, hopeful her friends could actually pull off such an undertaking.
Xander rolled his remaining eye and gave her a 'duh' look, "Aw come on Buff, I once saved the world with a 'Yellow Crayon' analogy and Willow single handedly activated thousands of Slayer with a glorified ax, we got this."
The blond nodded her head and fought back the rush of appreciative tears that threatened her, grateful beyond measure for the constant support of her friends. She knew without a doubt, had Xander, Willow and Angel not been in her life that first tentative year in Sunnydale, Giles would have lost his slayer within weeks.
"So if we know where the party's goin' down, why don't we nab some invites and go check the place out before the show starts?" Spike suggested from the far corner of the room, where he was leaning against the off-white wall and sipping a container of pigs blood.
"Yeah, I'm down for party crashing." Faith added enthusiastically, still wired from the all night slay-a-thon.
"We will." Buffy jumped in and turned to Giles, who was paging though a thick tome as he sipped his terribly insufficient but good enough for the moment motel tea, and from a Styrofoam cup no less. "Giles, we have a time frame?"
The watcher gladly put down the brown liquid filled cup and rose, "Yes well that is one of the problems, we do not have a specific time frame I'm afraid."
"Two nights from now is the full moon, do you think it could happen then?" Willow asked, having a werewolf for a husband made that ingrained knowledge.
Giles nodded and muttered, "Perhaps."
"Well as our best option at the moment, I say we shoot for that and course correct if something else comes up." Buffy suggested, "Until then, we need to keep up our strength. We'll get some rest now and go out in shifts when the rest of the slayers start getting here, which speaking of, do we know when that is?" She directed the question to the former librarian.
"Hmm? Oh right, this afternoon." He answered, half absorbed in his book again.
"I ain't tired yet, so I'm going to grab a look around that high school." Faith announced as she jumped down off the table she'd been siting on.
Spike sent her a look of disapproval. "It kinda sunny at the moment, Love."
She gave her vampire a flirtatious smirk, "Then you best be finding a sewer tunnel, or you can just hang here and wait for me to come back?"
"Like hell." He snipped, under no circumstances was he going to sit around while his wife had all the fun.
Instead of arguing, Buffy let them bicker/flirt with one another on the way out. She knew they wouldn't listen to her anyways and it was easier for everyone if she just let them be.
"Yeah, sleep sounds like a great plan." Dawn yawned as she headed towards the door, "Wake me if there is an apocalypse."
"I second that." Connor added, stifling his own yawn as he left for his own room.
Buffy took a few steps and leaned her weary body against her husband, his arms automatically wrapping around her waist, "Giles, get some sleep too, you've already been up like a zillion hours."
"34, to be exact." The Brit remarked, making no signs of moving.
Sighing, Buffy stepped out of Angel's arms and strode purposefully to her watcher, "Don't make me take your book away. I need you functional later, not zombified."
After a short argument and Buffy threatening to toss her watcher over her shoulder and deposit him in bed, the older man finally retired to his room.
Buffy looked across the hall from the meeting room to their door, she was more than ready to let her head be buried in a pillow for the next few hours. Being a mom, she was used to all-nighters, but those being in fussy baby form, not demon hunting in a huge city.
Granted both could be just as demanding.
"So much for sleeping." Angel muttered under his breath as he stood in front of the door to their room.
Buffy looked up at him with a questioned glance but discovered what he meant when she heard her son crying for attention.
"Great." She sighed out, trying to work up the energy for mom-mode.
"Get some sleep Beloved, I'll take the first shift." He offered as they entered the room.
"Angel." She began to protest, knowing he was tired too, but he cut her off.
"No protests." He stated, leaning down to speak quietly into her ear he added, "Or I'll drag you to bed, and I promise you wont get any sleep."
With wide eyes she slapped his arm and gasped at him.
Grinning his wolfish grin, he turned and picked Liam and a now awake Katie up from the roll-a-way cribs. "Come on my little monsters, let's give Mommy a chance to rest."
Shaking her head, Buffy rolled her eyes at her spouse and took the offered gift of sleep, she didn't know when she'd next get the chance.
...
It couldn't have been more than two hours when Buffy awoke to the feeling of Angel sliding in behind her.
When she rolled over to ask him who had the kids, he informed her "Oz arrived with the first wave of slayers, they offered to babysit." Yawning he added, "Actually I wasn't given the option, they were kidnapped. The girls love them."
"That's good, as long as we get them back later, all tired out and ready for bed." Satisfied her offspring were in good hands, she snuggled back into her lovers arms and finally fell into a restful sleep.
...
The earthquake stuck abruptly and with unrelenting force, the once solid ground beneath their feet cracking and buckling as the Hellmouth's energy surged upwards from the depths, stretching the earth as it fought to be born.
Buffy nearly fell out of bed as the whole room and joining building shook with the furiosity of the quake. Angel grabbed her hand and yanked her into the doorway to their tiny bathroom, figuring the door frame would be the safest point in the room.
In the seconds after the tremors ceased, both were pulling on their clothes and grabbing weapons.
In a few minutes, most of the gang were back at the meeting room, all having been woken by the quake.
"Report!" Buffy snapped as she entered, quickly scanning the room and mentally checking off everyone was present and unhurt.
"The news is reporting it as a 5.9." Dawn announced, "A lot of spooked people but not a lot of damage...yet."
Connor stepped forwards, "Anyone care to guess where the epicenter is?"
Giles was the last to speak, "I fear this is only the first of many, the process had begun."
Xander looked around at the stern and worried faces, in order to crack the tension he resorted to humor. "Boy, nothing like the adrenaline of thinking your going to die to wake a guy up, works a million fold better than coffee."
"We should start making our way to Hemery." Angel suggested, "It's 35 miles from here, we need to get moving before police shutdown the roads. I know a few short cuts that should make the trip smoother and avoid traffic."
Oz came into the room with Liam and Katie in his arms, "Hey. Little help?"
The parents claimed their offspring and talk began about which route was best.
When the plans were finalized and everyone was heading out the the vehicles, Angel called after his son and Buffy to her sister.
Instantly both youths were defensive, "We're not sitting this out." Dawn urged as Connor shook his head, "I'm in this."
With his mouth set in a grim line, Angel moved towards them with Liam sitting on his hip, "We know you want to fight but we need you for something more important right now."
"What's more important than saving people from a Hellmouth?" Connor shot back.
"Your little sister and brother." Buffy stated, walking closer with Katie holding her hand and tapping her feet to a song no one else could hear.
"Babysitting duty again?" Dawn snapped, angry she was always getting pulled from the action to watch her niece and nephew. "You know I love them Buffy, but you can't keep doing this to me!"
"Dawnie." Buffy started but the younger Summers cut her off. "No, no I wont. Not saying anything else." Dawn folded her arms over her chest and put on her most determined face.
Angel looked at his elder son then at his sister-in-law. His gaze then traveled to his children and then to his wife. Turning back to the first two he told them softly, "Buffy and I could die during this."
When Connor made to say something Buffy raised her free hand to silence him, "No, just listen. We could die, we all could be swallow by this thing and never come back, and where would that leave Katie and Liam? Angel and I don't get a decision, fighting is what we have to do, it's our duty, not our choice. You and Dawn have a choice and it's amazing that you'd choose to stand and fight when so many others wouldn't, but you can't base that choice on pride. You don't go to battle just to prove you can or you're brave or strong, you go because your being there will make a difference. This isn't a win or lose fight, this is holding the line. I'll admit, your help would be a benefit, but not being here will not turn the tide. That's why Angel and I are asking you to sit this one out. Not because we don't think you can handle yourselves, but because we're afraid for our children. If we die, they'll have no one. You are their blood, the only other family they have left, that's why we want you to go. They could loose their parents, but there is no reason why they should also loose their godparents too."
Both youths were startled into silence, neither knowing what to say to that.
Buffy moved to stand beside her husband, "Please Dawnie, I want Katie to know who mom was, to know the things we did as kids and the fun we had. She wont get that from anyone but family, and it's not like we can expect dad to be in her life. I want my kids to know who Angel and I were if we don't come home one day, so that's why we ask you two so often be take care of them, so they'll be comfortable growing up with you if we can't be here for them."
Slowly, Dawn nodded her consent, finally realizing the big picture and how the fate of her sister and brother-in-law was so uncertain they had to be prepared everyday to never return home again.
Without a word, Connor walked forwards and wrapped his arms around his father and little brother. He hated his dad for being who he was sometimes, for being a champion of the powers and not having his own life to live without being a slave to destiny. In the same breath, he also loved him for it, he had such pride in his father for being able to sacrifice so much for the greater good. Connor knew his own life was a result of one of those sacrifices. Had Angel not taken the offer from Wolfram and Hart to alter time, Connor would have been lost to madness and despair. Angel gave him a chance at a real and normal life, instead of the chaos existence he'd known in the hell dimension he'd been raise in by Holtz.
"Ok." Connor whispered against Angel shoulder, "But I'm only agreeing until you and mom come back, since I'm totally not ready to be a dad yet."
Despite the seriousness of the moment, Angel snorted. "Trust me, I'm not ready for you to be a dad yet either."
Dawn moved forwards and hugged her sister, agreeing with Connor that she'd only play mom until Buffy and Angel came back safe and sound.
Once the tears and emotions had been reigned in and goodbyes said without the words themselves, Dawn took the toddlers while Connor went to grab the kid's things.
Giving their loved ones one last look, Buffy slid her hand into her husbands and headed off to the school bus's full of slayers waiting to take them to the Hellmouth.
...TBC...