April 8, 2009
In the morning, Cassidy read though over Angel's overnight stats on her computer while sipping her coffee and nibbling on a blueberry muffin, both scored from the cafe upstairs while everyone else in the building was still in bed. One good thing about being on the early waking routine, was you skipped the coffee and breakfast lines when all the slayers in training were getting to the cafe around 7am.
After a quick shower in the locker rooms across the hall, she dressed in her usual scrubs and white lab coat before heading down to check on her patient. The open area of Med-Ward was empty save for the two toddles still sleeping on the cots by the wall. Satisfied they were still keeping out of trouble, she headed over to the far side of the room to check on their parents who'd spend the night in the intensive care room.
As expected, Angel was still hooked into all his equipment as he lay peacefully resting on his back, Buffy was pressed up against his side, held in place by his arms wrapped around her waist and back.
'Well, looks like they both got some rest at least.' Cass thought as she walked over to Angel's IV stand and checked the bags, 'Liquid nutrition and saline solution are just about empty, I'll fill those now.'
She must have made some sounds while opening the refrigerated cabinet that the solutions were stored in as Buffy stirred and lifted her head up off her husband's shoulder, which she'd been using as a pillow.
The medic nodded hello as she brought the two fill bags over and prepared to change them over.
Not knowing the doctor has removed Angel from the sedative last night, "Morning Cass, What time is it?" Buffy asked as she pulled herself into a more upright position, which wasn't easy with what little space she had available beside her husband on the small bed.
The red head immediately held her finger to her lips, gesturing somewhat wildly for the slayer to talk softer as to not wake her most stubborn patient.
Buffy didn't get the chance to ask why when he stirred against her, informing her he wasn't as sedated as she'd thought.
Angel stretched his legs as he shifted his weight to a comfier position as his arms pulled the warmth beside him closer. He fought the breathing machine a moment as he inhaled the scent of his wife in his arms. He felt her fingers brush though his hair and her lips on his cheek before he let himself sink back down where dreams were more preferable to reality, especially when that reality involved the Med-ward and tubing in too many orifices.
With a mix of relief and disappointment, Buffy felt when Angel drifted back to sleep before she turned to the medic and mouthed, 'No sedative?' The slayer was positive Cass said Angel would be drugged until he recovered, for his own good.
The medic shrugged and mouthed back, 'As needed.'
Being careful not to wake him, Buffy used every bit of slayer stealth skills she had to slip out of his grip and off the bed.
Now finished with replacing the IV fluids, Cass met Buffy outside the room and headed past the still sleeping children to Cassidy's office so they could discuss Angel without risk of walking him or the kids.
"He's doing better, right?" Buffy asked without preamble as she turned to face her friend, her eyes reflecting the hope she wanted to feel while also betraying the worry she could do without.
Taking a seat in the wheeled desk chair in her office, Cass motioned for Buffy to sit in the one across from her. The office was small, 10 X 12 in footage, but designed for comfort and equality, the two seats were on the same side as the desk, so the patients wouldn't need to look over it as Cass during consultations and were better angled so Cass could show status and results on her computer monitor.
After a few restless pacing steps by the door, Buffy somewhat reluctantly settled on the edge of the closest chair, sitting as if she expected to jump up at any time.
"In lieu of recent events in the Med-Ward, how are you feeling? Have you had any morning sickness or notice any uncommon pregnancy symptoms?" Cassidy asked, not quiet ignoring Buffy's question, but trying to steer the blonde's mind inward a little.
"What?" Buffy asked, caught off guard, "No, not really. I wouldn't even know I was pregnant if I hadn't seen the baby on the monitor." She answered quickly, blurring out some of the thoughts lingering in the back of her mind, "Besides, we're here to talk about Angel. I want to know he's improving and maybe a time frame I can expect him recovered by."
The medic leaned back in her chair and crossed her left leg over her knee, bouncing her foot slightly as she replied, "I'm not too worried about Angel right now, his stats look good and the second x-ray I took yesterday shows significantly less fluid buildup than the first. He's not yet at a level where I'd feel comfortable discharging him, but if all goes well I'd like to try weaning him off the ventilator and watch his lungs for half a day or so to make sure they're working properly. However, he isn't my only patient and by my calculations your are almost 8 weeks today, I'd like to set up your prenatal appointments and make myself available if you have any concerns or questions."
Buffy blinked a moment, still finding herself in the off-guard position. "Oh, I umm... we can do that, but you know I'm not new to this, I've been pregnant, I have two kids."
Cassidy met her eyes, "And you've also had a pregnancy that didn't make it out of the first trimester."
The color from Buffy's face drained away as she was forced to come to terms with that, "Did you really need to bring that up?" She asked, getting offensive.
"I did." Cassidy answered, "Because I can see it in your face that you've been thinking about it too. It's completely normal to be scared and worried for the first 12 weeks, the first trimester is when most losses happen and I understand you had a hard time coming to terms with that first loss and you might be carrying a little extra stress this time around. As your doctor, I just want to say it's okay to be worried but it's also unhealthy for your baby when you worry too much. Tell me, what did you have for dinner yesterday?"
The last question sounded a little out of place, but Buffy replied a little defensively, "I picked off the kid's plates." Which consisted of a few mouthfuls of mac and cheese and a half eaten chicken finger.
Cass nodded, "And for breakfast and lunch yesterday?"
Buffy's cheeks reddened, "Not much...okay I get your point. I haven't been eating much in the last few days, can you blame me?"
"No blaming, and it's good that you're not in denial about it like some living vampires we know and love." The medic agreed, "But the first step in taking care of your baby is taking care of yourself. I know you've been stressed about Angel, that's completely understandable, but you can't be skipping meals now when you're eating for two. This is a critical time for your baby's development, nutrition is key right now."
"I know I just..." The slayer's words died off as the fight drained from her. "Am I a bad mom?"
Cass shook her head, "Of course not. Maybe a highly distracted mom, but certainly not a bad one. Your life tends to have more stress than most people, and I understand some things will get put aside for others, but right now you also need some Buffy time. Take ten minutes a day, so some yoga or Tai Chi or have sex, whatever it is you need to do to relax and de-stress. That reminds me, have you been taking any vitamins?"
'I have plenty of sex already, thank you...granted you can never have too much, right?' Buffy thought before answering the last question, "Crap, no, I didn't even think of it. I was taking some last year, when I was hoping that maybe I'd conceive, but it kinda fell off the map."
"Okay, I'll get you some from the Med-Ward next time I'm in there." Cass scribbled a note to herself in her notepad, "But I am prescribing some decent meals from this moment on, and make some relaxation time. If you have a few minutes right now, I can record your weight and get you back to your family in time for breakfast."
Nodding, Buffy stood and kicked her sneakers off, so to not add even more weight to the scale, which she already knew would be bad enough...and this early in the pregnancy she couldn't blame it on the baby.
Cass check the numbers on the scale as she adjusted the sliding beads on the old fashion looking balance beam scale, what it lacking in beauty it made up for in accuracy. "As I suspected, you're a little under weight."
"Under?" Buffy questioned, noticing she was down a few pounds, "How? I already feel like a bloated cow?"
Cass raised an eyebrow at the woman standing beside her, the petite blonde had never, in her medical opinion, been anything even remotely close to overweight or obese, even while 9 months pregnant she'd been all baby belly, not even distinguishable as pregnant from the back. "A bloated cow? You?"
Buffy moved off the scale and sat on the chair again so she could re-tie her shoes, "It is possible you know, I barely exercise anymore. Being married and a mom, teaching classes and working full time at AI really doesn't leave a whole lot of patrolling time."
"You miss slaying." Cass ventured.
"No." Buffy auto responded before thinking it over, quietly she sighed and whispered "Yes." After a beat she explained, "I don't miss having to spend every single night of my life out staking vampires instead of you know, having a social life, and I love spending time with Angel and the kids, but I do miss the thrills, I miss being on the front lines and I miss helping people. I know I still help people, we send slayers out when people come to us with paranormal problems, but it's not me going out, it's me assigning another slayer, someone else to do the job."
"Someone else having all the fun?" The medic threw out there.
"Yeah." Buffy nodded, "I think that's been adding to my stress lately too. Now that we've moved back to LA, I'm back home again. This is where I grew up, where I was called. I feel like I'm living in someone else's shoes now being back here but not being the one to defend my city. It's like being the football champion or homecoming queen in your glory days, then realizing years later you'll never achieve that again. For the first time in my life, I'm starting to feel old." Buffy admitted.
"Buffy." Cassidy addressed the younger woman, "You're 28, you're not some old hag in a retirement community bragging about your glory days, you're a young woman who's had a hard life and now you're taking some me time to enjoy your marriage and grow your family, that's nothing to be ashamed of, it's an honor. You're the oldest slayer ever on record, you've survived everything the Hellmouth has thrown at you, that's amazing and something no one else in the world can claim. Be proud of that. And if you decide you still need to get your feet wet, you and Angel did some patrolling back in Ohio, you used it as exercise and to get some time away from each other, there was nothing wrong with that and if that's what worked for you, I'll support your choice in doing it again. I will however revoke that support while in your second and third trimester, no fighting while in mid to late term pregnancy, that's a flashing hell no."
Buffy had tears in her eyes for the love and support from her friend when Cass finished, "Just so you know, it's the raging hormones that are making me cry."
"Of course." Cass agreed, with a slight smirk on her lips, "Now go get something to eat for crying out loud."
The slayer was half was to the door when she stopped and turned to Cassidy, "Thank you, for everything. I don't know if you hear that often enough and I'm sorry for snapping at you yesterday. I really don't know how you haven't quit yet, this job puts so much stress on you." 'The majority from Angel and me.' She added silently.
Cassidy sent her a knowing smile, "Same reason you never did. Some are called to slay, others are call to heal."
"Right." Buffy smiled back at her, understanding completely.
Sometimes you don't chose what you do, it chooses you.
...
While Cassidy and Buffy were down the hall in the office, Katie stirred and woke on her cot in the Med-Ward.
Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the she noted her little brother was still sleeping and mommy wasn't in her bed. 'Maybe she went to see daddy?' She thought, studying the door to the small room in the far corner of the Med-Ward. She wanted to go see daddy too, but mommy said he was sick and they had to stay away so he could get better.
The nearly four year old slipped off the cot and slowly walked towards the Intensive care room, telling herself she'd just peak inside. Once at the doorframe, she inched to the side enough to see into the room. It was dim, the lights were turned low and there were tubes and wires all over her daddy, who lay very still on the small bed, surrounded by scary looking machines.
Her mommy wasn't there.
Her dark brows turned down in concern, 'How come daddy's all alone in the scary room?'
Taking a few hesitant steps forwards, she looked around to make sure she wasn't being watched then snuck into the room. 'If daddy was really contagous, Cassy and mommy wouldn't have been in here too, right?' She thought as she moved closer, not seeing any barriers preventing her entrance.
"Daddy?" She asked quietly, her dark brown eyes wide as she looked up on the bed at him, seeing the tube in his mouth. She'd seen him on the ventilator before, she didn't know what it was called or why he had it on now, but she did know if helped him breathe.
Slowly, Angel's eyes slid open. He blinked a time or two before turning his head and seeing his daughter staring back at him, her small face pale in the dull lighting.
'Hi Sweetheart' He wanted to say, his lips tried to smile around the tube but found it difficult. Instead, he held his hand out to her, eager to feel her warmth after so many days being denied access to his kids.
Katie smiled when her daddy looked at her, she could see the happy in his eyes. She moved to take his hand when she noticed the red bumps along his arm, then saw more of his chest.
"Daddy got chicken pops too?" She asked, suddenly unsure if she wanted to touch him. Her own skin was still covered in the red marks, but hers were popped and healing now, Cassy said she wasn't contagous anymore.
'Among other things.' Angel thought as he reached back out, hungry for her touch. He missed his kids, not being with them was worse than any headache or itch or pain.
Katie took a hesitant step back, "Mommy said you were sick, no touchy." Her little mind spun quickly, "Mommy said no touching when I was sick too, but I did. Now you got chicken pop too." 'That's why daddy is sick, I touched him.'
Angel blinked at her, 'What is she saying? Baby come over here.' He wanted to tell her it was coincidence, that she didn't make him sick. He opened his hand, indicating he still wanted her to take it.
The little brunette took another step back, shaking her head, "I made you sick, It's all my fault you can't breathe good." That had to be it, he was in the Med-Ward because he got sick, and now he was getting sicker. 'I heard her talking to grampa Giles, Mommy was afraid Daddy was going to die. When people die, they go away and you don't see them anymore, I don't want daddy to go away.'
'No, no it isn't.' Angel cursed the tube in his mouth. He shook his head, sitting up so he could reach out again.
Tears started flowing down Katie's cheeks, "Mommy's been sad cus I made you sick." 'If I didn't have bad dreams, daddy wouldn't have picked me up and got my germs on him. I make both mommy and daddy sad.'
'Damn it Katie, do not inherit my guilt complex.' Angel shook his head again, getting worried she was going to run from him. He waved her over again, pleading for her to come sit with him, to let him chase away her tears.
"I'm sorry daddy, I didn't mean for you to get sick. It's all my fault." Katie said quietly before she turned and ran from the room, cheeks wet with tears of guilt.
'No!' Angel struggled to sit up, tearing off the wires as he went.
That lost look in his little girl's eyes, the tears, that sad face was worse than a sword to the chest.
Liam hurried into the doorway, looking sleep ruffled while he rubbed his eyes. "Daddy, Katie's runnin away."
'What! No, I need to go talk to her, now!' He pulled the last wire off, by then the machines were screeching like a stopping car with bad brakes.
"What the hell is going on!" Cass came storming in, furious he was yanking off all her expensive equipment, which she'd seen on the display in her office as the alarms started ringing.
Angel reached for the breathing tube, finally having enough of the mime act and pulled the hose out of the coupler. The piece still lodged in his throat stayed stubbornly in place, but he'd fix that in a moment.
"No don't!" Cass yelled, but it was too late. A rush of air whoosh out of the open tubing, making Liam smile as it sounded like a fog horn.
"Angel, damn it stop!" Cassidy tried to push him back onto the bed, but the living vampire easily redirected her with a light shove so she fell onto the bed behind him instead.
'Not now Cass, my daughter is in trouble.' He took about two steps before he realized his lungs weren't doing the job he had expected them to do. In fact, he was rapidly realizing he couldn't breathe in very well at all. 'I did not forget how to breathe.' He told himself as the tightness speared throughout his chest.
He didn't have time for this, from the look on Katie's face and how her brother had said she had run away, Angel knew he had to get to her before she got outside. This was LA, it wasn't safe for a child to run loose, especially not in the neighborhood AI was now located in. It didn't have to be dark to be dangerous.
He didn't have time for this.
...
Buffy was in the elevator, just about to the cafe floor when her stomach tightened painfully. For one brief terrible second, she thought she was about to miscarry, but then it changed, it became more familiar. It said one thing, trouble.
'So much for Buffy time.' Crossed her mind as she began slamming her finger on the button for the basement.
If there was one thing she could always count on, was her instincts for trouble.
...
Angel tried to cough, but the tube pressing against his voice box made it impossible. 'That's it, eviction time.' He grabbed the tube with his right hand with every intention of ripping it out. 'I'll be able to breathe once this is gone.' He reasoned.
Cassidy practically tackled him to keep the tube in place. She'd be able to hook him back up as is, but not if he yanked the tube out, he'd likely cause damage to his throat if he did, which would make reinsertion difficult or impossible. If he stopped breathing again, she'd had to give him a tracheotomy.
"Damn it Angel, what is wrong with you, stop!" Cass grabbed his arm and practically sat on it, trying to keep him from yanking the tube out.
With the rush of adrenaline, Angel shoved Cass off him, trying to be a gentle as possible. He didn't want to hurt her, just get her off him long enough to get the fucking tube out of him so he could breathe and to go find his daughter.
Before he could yank the tube you, another arm grabbed him and yanked it behind his back. "What the hell is going on!" Buffy yelled as she man handled her struggling husband, looking to Cassidy as she was the only one with speech abilities.
"I have no idea, he was ripping the equipment off when I came in." The medic informed the slayer as she got to her feet, heading straight for the sedatives.
Angel was struggling with both his wife and lack of breath, he needed to get this tube out and tell Buffy what was going on, but her firm grip was proving difficult.
"Just relax Angel, you're not getting that tube out so quit trying." His wife told him as she stood behind him, his arms locked behind his back.
'Try me.' He thought before he let himself drop to the floor, which hurt like hell when his arms were wrench up, but it was effective enough to break her hold with the unexpected direction of movement. He immediately regretted it when he roll back, knocking her legs out from under her which caused her to fall to her knees.
'Sorry baby.' He thought, for both his wife and their fetus.
As soon as his sore arms were free he grabbed the tube again. That when he felt the needle stab into him arm. 'Shit, no, no, no.' He twisted and kicked his leg around, knocking Cass off her feet and to the ground again, but the time delay was enough for Buffy to pop back to her feet and tackle him again. 'No!, I can't be sedated yet, I have to tell you about Katie!' He fought hard again, but not very well, his lungs were screaming by now, his inhales nowhere near enough to support his muscles while in combat mode, but he was stubborn and his child's life was on the line.
Somehow he managed to throw them both off, 'Finally!' From his knees, he reached for the tube, but Liam was suddenly in his face, his little hands reached up and touched the tube, "No, daddy, no touch."
The delay was enough for Buffy to tackle him to the floor again as Cassidy snapped a set of enchanted handcuffs around his wrists, rendering his demonic strength to nothing. 'No! Katie!'
With one last burst of energy, he forced his legs up and tried to run towards the door, it was a vein attempt, but his brain wasn't getting much oxygen by now.
Buffy just managed to catch him as his legs finally gave way.
The edges of his vision were getting ringed in darkness while the rest was beginning to blur, his heart was pounding in his chest, painfully, almost as bad as his lungs were burning. Inside, the demon was still supporting his fight, it didn't show on his face, but it was the only thing that had kept him on his feet for so long.
Buffy was screaming his name into his ear, but he barely heard it. 'Katie.' He thought in failure before the world faded out completely.
"Drag him over here!" Cass yelled as she rapidly tried to piece her equipment back together. Thankfully Angel's rampage hadn't caused much damage to the expensive and delicate instruments, but the smaller wires and tubing were junk.
Buffy dragged her unconscious spouse over as Cass tried to reattached the breathing tube coupler. "Son of a bit..." The medic curbed her curse at the last second, remembering Liam was standing stock still and wide eyed just off to the side. "It's broke." The finished her thought, unable to properly seal the coupler to the endotracheal tube still protruding from his mouth. Angel's lips were a dark shade of blue now, he didn't have much time before oxygen deprivation became fatal. 'Fuck it' She took a breath and blew it into the end of Angel's tube like a kid blowing bubbles in the bottom of a cup. "Do that for as long as you can." Cass pulled back after a few breath as she realized this wouldn't work for very long, she was just buying time.
Buffy took over immediately as Cass got up to rummage for another coupler piece. It only took a few seconds to find, but as she twisted it onto the thick tubing attached to the wall, she realized it was the piece on Angel's tube that was broken. 'Damn it!' Her options were to remove his tube and replace it with a new one, or cut a hole in his throat with the neck tube. Neither option were all that appealing and had only a few seconds to figure it out as he wasn't getting enough oxygen.
Looking down, Cass noticed by her hand on the floor was a roll of duct tape, 'Well, it's worth a shot.' A fix didn't have to long all that long, just long enough to get him stabilized. "Liam, come here quickly." Cass asked the toddler, who looked terrified.
Despite the fear, he ran over, his little body was shaking. "Here, hold these two pieced together just like this as I tape it, okay?" Cass handed the boy the two ends of tubing as she wrapped them with most of the roll of tape.
It didn't look pretty, but it was enough to keep the air in.
Angel's chest started rising and falling again as the ventilator's air was properly directed though the tubing and into his needy lungs.
"Cass." Buffy sounded overly panicked, a moment later she saw what Buffy had seen.
Blood was splattered inside the tubing that was breathing the needed oxygen into Angel's body.
'Can this day get any worse?' The medic thought as she examined what she could. "It doesn't seem to be filling up any, oh here, he bit his lips around the tube. He likely scrapped the inside of his throat when trying to pull it out too, but the bleeding is minimal at best."
'Okay, so he's breathing, but what's his heart doing, it better be beating...' Cass suddenly feared as she reached for her stereoscope, which had been knocked off in the scuffle. When she placed it against Angel's chest, she was very unpleasantly surprised.
Being both oxygen deprived and heavily tranquilized, his heart should be working in slow motion and in need of adrenaline, instead it was racing. That made no sense, unless..."His demon is fighting the sedation, flooding Angel's body with adrenaline. At this rate, he's going to have a god damn heart attack and go into cardiac arrest."
Buffy shook her head in fearful confusion, "I don't understand. What happened, what is he fighting?"
Suddenly she couldn't help but wonder, "Wait, where's Katie?" If there was a reason for Angel to be going nuts to the point of bodily harm, his child could be it.
Liam looked up from his crouch on the floor where he'd been sitting quietly while his mommy and Cassy jumped on daddy, he bit his lip as he told him mommy, "Katie said she made daddy sick, she cried and ran away."
Buffy exchanged a look with Cassidy before asking her son, "Liam, where did Katie go? Is she upstairs?"
The little blond shook his head and pointed in the direction of the back of the Med-Ward, which led to a driveway for ambulance use.
"Outside?" The mother panicked, "She left the building?"
Liam nodded, "Runned away."
"She what!" Buffy almost run out the door before she realized her husband was laying in her lap, 'Oh Angel, my love, I'm so, so sorry.'
"Angel wasn't fight us, he was trying to remove the tube to go after Katie, or at least to tell us what was going on." Buffy told the medic, who still looked lost.
"Oh." The red head suddenly felt bad for tackling him, but still, removing the tube was a bad, bad idea. After the fact, a pen and paper would have save a lot of energy and aggravation.
"I have to go after her." Buffy realized as she was already slipping out from under Angel, lifting him back onto the bed after Cass righted it.
Cassidy saw the terrible choice in Buffy eyes, between being with her critical condition husband or finding her not quite four year old who was out wandering the street of LA alone, in a bad part of town. "Go. I'd do what I can to stabilize him."
"Thank You." The told the medic before bending down and speaking right into her husband's ear, "Angel, I'm going to get Katie, you hear me, I'm bringing her back. Don't you dare die while I'm gone." Giving him quick but heartfelt kiss on his cheek, she gave her son a quick reassuring kiss before heading out the door, forcing herself to not look back.
...
It was a weekday morning, the streets were full of cars, which in turn were full of people trying to get to work on time. The sidewalks were filled with just as many people, most hurrying along with coffees and cell phones in their hands.
None seemed to notice the little girl walking alone, staying close to the tightly spaced buildings as busy pedestrians zoomed past. Those that did notice, instantly assumed she was with the closest adult, and gave it no further thought.
Katie was lost already.
It had only been ten minutes since she raced out the back of the Med-Ward, she'd seen the door there a few times when her mommy or Daddy needed to get help quick from Cassy. The moment she left the parking lot, everything was different.
All the adults had talked about moving from Ohio to Cauliflower, but she didn't know where it was, and imagined it wasn't very good judging by the veggie itself was gross.
'I want to go home.' She thought, holding her stuffed piggy Gordie Jr. tighter while looking at the unfamiliar streets and wishing she was back in Ohio. There was a park near her house there, she used to walk there with her mommy and daddy and little brother, that park wasn't here now.
There were some streets off to the left that were less crowded, she quickly headed in that direction to get away from all the stomping feet that had been threatening to squish her if she didn't keep out of their path.
Her nose wrinkled as she walked past a knocked over barrel, the spoiled contents of old food containers and used diapers rotting in the LA sun, something was glittering among the trash, it looked like what Cassy used when they needed to get a shot, which she hated cus they hurt. 'Yucky.' There hadn't been so much trash in Ohio.
As she wandered along and left the people behind, she noticed it was messier here. 'Bet their mommy doesn't clean up after them.' The layout wasn't too dissimilar to the living room after her and Liam played with all their toys.
Katie almost screamed when a pile of cardboard boxes suddenly moved, and a stinky hairy man appearing from within them like a butterfly crawling out of a cocoon, just not as pretty. "I like your fort." She said as he turned to look at her, his face pulled back into a scowl.
"Fort." He scoffed, "Aen't no fort girly, now git off my corner." He swatted at her like she were nothing but an annoying fly.
Moving quickly away from the mean man, she walked past a series of houses that could have been haunted. Doors and windows were left open, some had curtains and blinds, most didn't. There was more trash around, Katie noticed a lot of spoons and more needles. There were a lot of colorful words and pictures spray painted on any blank surface, none of the words or images she understood.
A voice startled her, coming from one of the unlit and open doorways. "Katie, sweetheart, what are you doing out here?"
Katie stopped short at the sound of her father's voice.
When she turned, her daddy was standing in the shadows within the doorway of the house across from her. The house looked different from the others. All the windows were blocked; boards, silver tape and black paint covered all the glass. Except for the door, the house looked completely closed off.
"Daddy?" She asked, confused but also very happy to see him. 'Daddy heals fast, he must have gotten better and come to find me.' She asked him that out loud, walking closer, holding back the run she felt like doing into his arms.
"Of course I came to find you, your my little girl." He replied, going down onto his knees, "Now come over here and give daddy a hug."
Her reluctance shattered as she darted forward and up the stairs to him, it wasn't until she was close enough to almost touch him that she stopped short. "Daddy?" She asked, her tummy getting fluttery, "How did you get here so fast?" He'd been in the Med-Ward when she ran off, how did he get into this house before her, how would he have known she was even going this direction?
Something didn't feel right.
He smiled at her, it was her father's smile, it looked and smelled and sounded like daddy, but something was...off. Something in his eyes. They were the same chocolate brown as hers were, but inside wasn't the warmth and love he always looked at her with, there was something cold. "I'll always find you."
Her belly tightened again as she took a step back, "You're not my daddy." Whoever this was looked the part, but nothing could fake the way her daddy made her feel. The man in front of her made her feel scared, her daddy never made her feel scared, even when his demon was controlling him.
"I insist Katie, I'm hungry for company." His voice changed as he laughed, and she screamed as she tried to get away from the bad man who looked like daddy, but he moved towards her too fast to escape, his arms wrapped around her small body, lifting her up and back towards the shadows.
No one around seemed to noticed as the little girl was dragged though the open door, which then slammed shut, cutting off the sound of the short scream.
...
Angel's eyes snapped open as the golden glow filled them, switching to the eyes of the demon.
Cassidy jumped back as his arms yanked suddenly on the enchanted chains that bound him to the bed. Despite the tube in his throat, a fierce growl accompanied the thrashing.
'Shit, shit, shit.' Cass paced as she tried to find a solution to keep Angel sedated without overdosing and killing him. The demon was wreaking havoc on any drugs she administered, burning though everything she tried. The next step would be to up the dosage, but if she gave him too much and the demon didn't metabolize it with the same speed, she risked putting him into cardiac arrest.
Whatever was igniting the fight in him had flared a few minutes ago, he'd been fairly docile until then.
Suddenly, he'd turned into a man possessed.
With the medications being next to useless, she switched tactics to pump as much fluids and nutrients into him as possibly to help the demon and his body maintain strength.
The medic feared that once his demon's energy failed, the human body would too.
'Buffy, hurry up, please.' She silently prayed as she added another bag of saline to the IV line.
...
Buffy jogged down the side of the road, narrowly avoiding cars stuck in traffic to her right and mobs of commuters rushing past towards the subway or coffee shops to her left.
'Katie baby, where are you?' Buffy thought as she scanned the busy streets, her eyes sweeping at ground level in order to see her little girl. Part of her wanted to start screaming Katie's name, but that was unlikely to draw the attention she wanted.
Moving out of the path of LA's early morning workers, Buffy followed her gut as she headed towards the less crowded streets and towards the sketchy parts of town. 'Just like her dad.' Buffy thought as she jogged down the trash lined roads, 'Being drawn to danger must be hereditary.'
It had been at least thirty minutes since Katie had left the building, it was a long enough head start when you weren't even sure where to start looking.
Getting extremely worried, Buffy pulled her cell from her back pocket and dialed as she jogged along the road.
"Willow, I need you to locate Katie." The near panicking mother begged to her friend over the line.
The Wicca was already in motion with gathering what she needed from her supply closet, "Okay, can do. I put together some kits for this type of 'need right now' conditions. I'll be under a minute." The red head didn't even stop to ask why her friend needed this or how serious it was, she could hear it in Buffy's voice how scared she was.
'A minute is too long.' Buffy thought impatiently as she continued to search everywhere at once with her eyes while listening to the witch perform the spell from over the line using one of the little girls toys as a link.
What felt like an eternity went by when Willow responded, "That's odd. It looks like she'd about half a mile from AI."
"Which direction, I need as close as you can direct me." Buffy insisted, eager for a direction to narrow her search into.
Reading off the street names where the little glowing light shown on the map to Buffy did little good, she didn't know LA like she used to, and even then, she hadn't known every single street.
"Okay, here, I'm texting the location to your phone, use the directions feature to find a route towards the coordinates." Willow might be a witch now, but she was a nerd first and foremost.
"Got it!" There wasn't much time for small talk, she'd thank her friend more thoroughly after Katie was found safe.
Following the phone, Buffy quickened her pace, still moving in the general direction she'd been going before, but faster with increased confidence it was the right way.
...
It was dark.
So dark.
Katie was afraid, but she wouldn't cry.
She was too scared for tears.
The bad man wasn't daddy, she'd known that the moment she got close, but by then it had been too late.
'I shouldn't have run away, I should have stayed with mommy and daddy...I'm gunna get eaten' and the worst part she thought, 'and then Liam's gunna take all my toys.'
Katie looked up in alarm when she heard a sound, something scuffing the floor a few feet in front of her. Suddenly the blanket that had been tossed over her was pulled off, not only allowing her to see into the room she was lying on the floor of, but also giving her a zing from static discharge.
"Peek-a-boo, I see you." The bad man smiled with his cold eyes. He didn't look like daddy anymore, he didn't even look human. The only thing that remained constant were those cold eyes, they were all black, no trace of white or iris. He had sharp teeth like a wolf or lion, jaws that could open wider than any person. It was hard to tell much else about him, his skin kept changing. It was rough brown like gravel one moment, then light green scales the next, after another second it looked like dark blue feathers covering his form.
The little girl looked up at her captor, her body shivering in fear but with her voice kept steady she asked, "Are you gunna eat me?"
The bad man made a strange noise, it look a moment for Katie to realize it was a laugh, "Not much of you to eat." The creature pointed out as he walked a loop around her, all the while his body morphing. For a moment, he walked on four legs like a dog, then two as a ape might, then straightened to the gate of a man again. His skin doing much the same, kaleidoscoping from one shade to the next, even his limbs would shift from hands to claws to fins, and everything in between.
Just watching him move was making Katie dizzy.
She wasn't feeling very brave at the moment, but she remembered watching her mommy and daddy fight bad guys, knowing they were scared but fighting anyways cus that what they did. They were superheroes, Katie wanted to be one too. Pulling her shoulders back and staring down the ever shifting demon, she looked where his eyes had been, and would be again in a moment, before demanding, "Why did you grab me? And how come you looked like my daddy?"
The creature grinned, at least as much as it could with a ever changing shaped mouth, with a tilt to its head, the shape shifter took a few steps closer, the once hoofed foot becoming a webbed fin before flattening out to resemble a human shoed foot. "Inquisitive little morsel, aren't you?"
Katie was surprised but kept it in check as he shifted again, his features morphing back into those of her father.
"I was able to become this form from your thoughts, you were thinking of him when I read your emotions." He crossed Angel's arms over his broad chest, liking that way this body moved, "I became what you wanted so you would come to me."
The little girl frowned, "Why did you want me to come to you?"
Her father's brown eyes had none of his warmth when the creatures smiled with his lips, "You're a very special little girl Katie, the child of a slayer and a living vampire...there are many who would pay handsomely for a piece of you."
"A piece of me?" Katie gulped. "Like a finger nail or cut of hair?"
The man-like creature masked as her father laughed, a cold very non-Angel sounding cackle, "More like blood, a leg or an organ. There are those who would use your body parts in recipes for food and spells alike."
Katie dark brown eyes filled with anger, "No! My pieces are mine, you can't have any. You're mean and my mommy and daddy will make you dead!"
That terrible laugh again, "You're parents have no idea where you are sweetheart, do they? No, you're pieces are mine now, to be sold to the highest bidder. It won't take long for my contacts to arrive with my money." As the demon stood, it's body began to shift again, rotating between so many shapes Katie lost count at 7.
"Why do you keep changing?" Katie asked, curious even in her nervousness.
"It's what I am, it's what I do." He answered, having already called his potential customers, he figured there wasn't much else to do than entertain himself with the soon to be sold merchandise. He didn't care much if one bought the whole package, or if several left with individual portions, he was going to make out big on this one, maybe even retire? Seeing the little girl wandering down the street was the best luck he'd ever had in his life.
Katie blinked at him, her young mind sharp for her age as she watched his constantly shifting features, "How come you don't just be you? How come you have to be someone else?"
At the moment, the shape shifter was wearing a goat-like head, which shrank down into a more oblong shape, like a football. He'd never had his motives questioned before, but he found it annoying, "Why stay with one form if you can benefit from the strengths of many?"
She shook her dark head, "Looks hard, having to keep being different all the time." The dark haired toddler threw back, wondering when her parents would get there and beat the bad man up. 'Will they come? Daddy is sick and mommy is with him...do they even know I'm gone?'
He shrugged, his broad shoulders shortening to a narrower frame on the smaller body, "I'm used to it, barely notice it now." With that said, he moved to the far side of the room, opening a book on a lonely table against the wall and jotting down a few calculations on how much to sell each piece for with a well chewed blue inked pen.
After a few long silent moments, Katie's curiosity flared, "Are you ugly?"
The creature stopped writing and turned to look at her, a rising of what could have been an eyebrow. "What did you say?"
Katie was little, but she knew a pissed off look when she saw one, she'd hit a nerve when she called him ugly, she wanted to do it again. "Well if you have to keep looking different, it makes me think the real you is ugly...or maybe just dumb looking...so you change all the time instead."
The pen and notebook forgotten, the shape shifter moved back towards her, "So you think my true form is ugly or dumb huh? Well take a look for yourself."
Just then his body shifted into a shape she hadn't seen yet, something her mind just couldn't even describe, too much in fact to look at for more than a few seconds as it hurt her eyes. In a wave of panic as he moved closer, Katie screamed.
...
She was at the location the phone called for, on Ringleader St, but it brought her to a general area, not an exact location.
Buffy blew out a frustrated breath, her hazel green eyes darting up and down the street and along the houses in an effort to find a clue to where her headstrong child had gone.
"Katie?" Her voice called out, not screaming loudly, but a worried mom voice if ever she heard one, "Katie, where are you?"
Moving on, she was just about to call Willow back for a spot check when her eyes caught a flash of unusual color in the shadows of the house across the street.
A few quick steps brought her to number 66, the front porch of a very neglected looking residence, and there on the second step down, was Katie's beloved pink stuffed piggy, Gordie Jr.
"Katie?" Buffy called as she grabbed the pig and rapped on the door, "Are you inside?"
When no answer came, she tried the handle, finding it locked.
Grabbing the pig, Buffy made up her mind to not bother with the knocking or being calm and polite anymore and just kicked the door in, "Knock, knock, whoops, there goes the lock."
Pushing the broken door open, Buffy took a few steps inside the unlit hall, which quickly turned into a living area, at least it would have been with some furniture. The boarded windows blocked all outside light, leaving the room in an eerie dull glow from the sparse light pouring in from the open front door.
The sound of her child screaming was a good indication she'd found the right place.
A second later, Buffy was shooting off like a bullet in the direction of whatever was causing the sound.
...
Katie had never been more scared in her life.
But then, it was over. Everything was calm and quiet again.
It was dark, the dark kept everything bad away, especially the bad man.
He couldn't get her here, no one could get her here.
...
Buffy charged down the hall, her normally lithe movements hastened with mom-induced worried panic.
Knocking open a partly closed door, her heart jumped in her throat as she saw Katie standing in the center of the room, her small body shaking with sobs as she stood with her face in her hands, weeping.
"Katie!" Buffy cried out in relief, not seeing anything else in the room and quickly rushing over to her distressed daughter. The blonde dropped to her knees and swept the child up into her arms and against her chest, whispering that everything was okay.
The moment only lasted a second, but even with Katie in her arms, Buffy felt no relief. In fact, it still felt like her child was missing.
"It's okay Mommy." The little brunette said against her neck as she wrapped her arms around Buffy, "I've got you now..."
In her ear, Katie's voice changed, the last words sounding more masculine and deeper...and completely inhuman.
Suddenly Katie's arms tighten around her, with far more strength than her daughter should be capable of, in fact, her arms were lengthening, twisting around her and trapping Buffy's arms under the coiling limbs.
It was all too clear to the slayer now that it wasn't Katie she was holding, in fact, whoever it was, was now holding her, and it wasn't a hug.
"Where's Katie? What do you want?" Buffy spat out as she struggled against the rope-like material now encasing her arms and snaking around her legs, effectively incapacitating the warrior.
"I'm surprised you don't know me." A voice spoke from around her, seeming to travel in multiple directions at once, like it was being spoken from multiple mouths simultaneously. "I'm famous you know."
"For your last words I hope." Buffy growled out at him, trying to find a single source of the voice as she struggled to free herself.
Forcing herself into a sitting position using just her abs, Buffy turned to see the shape of a man walking towards her, his arms snaking out into long noodling coils, which she could see and feel encasing her body. That wasn't exactly comfortable and did have a fairly high 'eww' factor.
For a second, he looked like Angel, but then the face changed, becoming someone else...no...becoming something else. "I'm going to be famous for being the one to kill Buffy Summers." He grinned wolf-like teeth as another loop of ropy flesh covered over Buffy's nose and mouth.
...
Angel pulled hard against his restraints, his head whipping back and forth as he tried in vain to pull his arms free. The chains were enchanted, making breaking them unlikely even with his demon fueled strength, which was peaking in his distress.
Katie was in trouble, it was something he knew, not with his head but in his heart, he could feel it. The demon could too, and it was driving them both crazy. Not only that, but Buffy was in distress too, he could feel it in the same place in his heart as Katie.
"Angel, stop fighting, you're going to hurt yourself, or me!" Cassidy commanded as she pushed a wheeled table out of the way and grabbed at his clenched right fist to try and wrap it in gauze to keep him from rubbing his skin raw against the steel security cuff ringing his wrist. "Buffy's getting Katie, you don't need to fight."
Her words did nothing to dampen the demon's fight and flight actions, which did nothing to calm the racing heart rate that was alarming on her monitors. "Damn it, you're going to give yourself a heart attack if you don't quit fighting me!"
He hadn't been truly conscious in a long while, but that hadn't dampened his struggles any since being drugged earlier, to the point where Cassidy was considering throwing Liam on top of Angel to try and calm him down.
So when the living vampire's restless scuffle with the restraints suddenly came to a halting dead stop, it took her a second to realize it really was a dead stop.
Angel's heart wasn't beating.
...
Katie walked aimlessly in the bright nothingness of her world, the perfect whiteness. There were no walls, floors, ceiling, no sky or ground or horizon, just a pure white expanse of nothing.
No bad man, no scary city, or strangers or monster or demons.
Nothing could hurt her here.
There was also nothing good either.
No Mommy, or Daddy, not even her annoying little brother.
Just nothing.
'I don't want to be alone.' Katie thought, feeling a tear pulling at her left eye. She rubbed her hand over it before the droplet could slide down her cheek.
"Katie?"
A voice startled her, she was supposed to be alone here, the shock of not being the only one was intense.
She spun around then gasped as she backed away.
The bad man had found her.
"Katie, baby, what's wrong?" The bad man asked, looking like her father again, walking towards her, looking at her with those warm brown eyes.
'Warm eyes?' She thought, the moment before she felt it. The bad man had looked like daddy, but he hadn't felt like daddy.
This did.
"Daddy?" Katie asked, looking up at the tall man walking steadily towards her. It didn't make sense, Daddy was at the Med-Ward with Cassy, he had a tube in his mouth, he was sick.
But he wasn't because he was right here, standing in front of her, bending down to kneel at her height.
"What's wrong Kit-kat, why are you crying?" He repeated softly, looking like he wanted to reach out, but kept his elbows on his knees.
"I made you sick Daddy, I was scared you'd be mad at me or that you might get sick more, so I ran away so you wouldn't. Then Mommy came to find me, but the bad man got her, I know he did." Tears ran down her cheeks, she wanted to launch herself into his arms, but something told her that wouldn't work here, wherever here actually was.
He smiled at her, his classic daddy smile, nothing and no one could fake that. "You didn't get me sick Sweetheart, I would have got sick even if I didn't pick you up. It was a virus, not you, but because my demon didn't know how to fight a virus."
"I gave you the virus." Katie countered.
"No." Angel counter-offered, "the air gave it to me. Even if I never got near you, the virus was in the air, at the park, at AI, on the street and in the store...it was everywhere. You're not responsible for that baby, I promise."
"I didn't make you sick?" Katie asked, relief glittering in her big brown eyes.
"No, you didn't." Angel agreed, smiling back at her with the kind of loving smile only a parent could have for a child.
"Okay." She replied, feeling better already, until her remembered, "but Mommy is still with the bad man..."
Angel's smile faded, "Yeah, she is."
Katie looked up at him, hopeful, "Oh, you're here to save us from him?"
Angel's face fell, a guilty sorrow filling his eyes, "No baby, I can't help you right now. As much as I want to, my body...isn't here." He wasn't sure, but he had a bad feeling his body was a lot closer to being dead than he wanted to admit to his child...or himself. He wasn't ready for death yet, he had way too much to live for right now.
"You're still in the Med-Ward, still sick." Katie answered, a pout filling her cheeks.
"Yeah." He answered, "But you are here."
Katie looked up at her father, questioning his words, "But what can I do? The Bad Man locked me up, I can't get out."
A mischievous look crossed Angel's face, "And since when does a lock stop my little Houdini?"
Katie shook her head, "I can't."
"You can." Angel insisted, his desire to help straining his face, "You have to baby, Mommy needs you right now, and so do I."
The little girl sat biting her lip for a moment, unsure of herself. "I'm scared of him."
"I know Katie, it is okay to be scared. Being brave doesn't mean not being scared, it means doing the right thing anyways."
The little brunette nodded, still scared but wanting to help, wanting to be brave like Mommy and Daddy, "Okay, but how?"
Angel felt something pulling at him, he couldn't stay here much longer.
"I know you'll think of something, I believe in you." He said, fighting at the pull, but it was stronger than him, "I have to go now Katie, I love you, I'll see you soon. I promise!"
The pull grew too strong to fight, and Angel was pulled out of wherever they were, leaving Katie alone again.
...
The heart monitor was flashing and blaring a monotone of its most critical alarm, snapping Cassidy into action. Confused but in motion, the medic raced to the crash cart as she cursed Angel under her breath the whole time. "No, you are not dying on me right now damn it, do you hear me! You are not dismissed yet!"
Cassidy hadn't been expecting an Asystole flatline from the monitor, but here it was, and it wasn't the kind of arrhythmia in the heart's electrical system that could be fixed with a defibrillator. Grabbing the vile of epinephrine from her crash cart drawer, the medic was siphoning out a dose into a syringe to inject into Angel's IV when his eyes abruptly popped open. They weren't his usual shade of rich dark brown either, but were blazing a demonic shade of yellow.
With a gasp, Cass dropped the needle and jumped back, not knowing what to expect.
...
Katie opened her eyes, finding the comforting light had been replaced by the scary dark again.
It was hot, and something was surrounding her, at first she wanted to scream and fight, but she kept still and moved her hand a little, finding her captor was made of fabric, so it wasn't the bad man.
It took a few minutes, but she found she'd been rolled in a sheet, after squirming around she managed to untangle and break out of her cotton prison.
Once out, the warmth of air escaped, leaving her shivering in the large but dark and empty room. From the pale light leaking in from under the door, it looked like a bedroom without furniture, just a wooden floor surrounded by grungy peeling floral wallpaper that had seen better decades.
Hurrying over to the door, Katie tried the knob, she was disappointed but wasn't surprised to find it locked.
She missed the feeling of her Daddy being close, but she knew her Mommy was nearby, she wanted to get to her before the Bad Man hurt her.
Slipping her red bow hair pin from her long dark locks, Katie stuck the pointed end of the barrette into the keyhole on the knob and started to move it around. She thought the lock popped open, but was horrified when the stick part broke off in her hand. She was about to scream and pound on the door, but tried to remember what her Daddy had said, that he believed in her. She took a breath and stuck her finger against the lock, feeling for the broken piece.
'Ouch' she thought as the sharp piece of metal poked her fingertip, but she managed to feel it and pulled it free from the tumblers inside the knob. Kneeling to better see in the dull light under the door, Katie smiled as she realized it hadn't broke, just separated. She quickly stuck the end piece back into the clip if popped out of and tried the lock again.
This time, the tumblers turned, the button on the other side popped out and the knob moved freely.
Stuffing her joy at succeeding down until later, Katie looked around the hall before sneaking off towards the far doors, she could hear noises from that direction and figured that's where the Bad Man was with her Mommy.
...
Buffy was more frustrated than she'd been in years, which remembering her life in general, what as a feat of itself.
Being furious with Angel or dealing with domestic frustration for so long, she'd forgotten what true battle created frustration could taste like, not in the actual taste bud way, but how the anger, fear and overall helpless feelings swirled around her nervous system.
This wasn't the most pleasant reminder.
The one good thing Buffy had going for her, was this overgrown yarn ball seemed more interested in bragging about killing her than actually doing so.
Pride commeth before a fall, and she had every intention of being the cultivator of that fall. Perhaps a shove into her nice sharp stake?
If only she could reach her stake...
Her back was pressed against the wall, at least the coils surrounding her had her back against the wall, there wasn't much of her body touching anything but the flesh rope bounding her. The twin strands of elongated skin ran along her whole body from neck to toes, tightly spaced to prevent even her bottom from touching the cold floor...now considerate of her captor to prevent her from catching a chill.
Not that she'd have time to catch a cold, the plan was to kill her, she just wasn't so sure when.
At least fifteen minutes had gone by since he'd first claimed to be her murderer.
Not that she much minded the delay.
More time to escape and slay him...maybe pace the slaying with a little torture for making her sit here like a flesh wrapped mummy, which but the way, so gross!
What really irritated her the most, was this son-of-a-bitch was wearing her husband's face.
She could take being cocooned, it came as part of the slayer job description for dealing with demons, but this asshole was doing it while looking like her beloved...and that wasn't going to fly.
Buffy shifted and twitched as she fought to move her arms. They were pinned down tight, but she wasn't trying to get free, just migrate her hand around to grasp the wooden stake in her waistband. Her arms were pressed to her sides, the distance she needed to move her hand was just inches...if she could just twist her palm a little to the left and pull up about two more inches...
The Slayer cringed as the coils around her suddenly constricted, pushing air painfully out of her aching lungs.
The creep holding her hostage walked closer, his stretched out arms stringing out at his sides. "Now, now Slayer, there's no use struggling. My clients will be here momentarily, then they will witness the death of the world most famous slayer at my hand. One of them is a soul sucker, I'm sure he'll pay a fortune to suck yours as I squeeze the life from you. Perhaps your famous spouse will come to rescue you? I know many who would pay to watch him bleed."
"Listen you casting reject for Mr. Fantastic..." Buffy began, but the rest of her threat was cut short as a loop of flesh covered her nose and mouth again. Panic bloomed in her mind as it did the first time he'd suffocated her, her body in spasms as she fought for oxygen.
The jarring was enough to mask her hand inching desperately towards the stake again.
Just as darkness began to creep into her vision, her face was released and her lungs gasped for breath as she coughed and inhaled.
"Leave my mommy alone!" Katie's voice yelled out from behind the demon, his interest in watching Buffy suffering had kept him from noticing the little girl creeping closer.
He turned, but not before Katie grabbed hold on his leg and bit deeply into his pants.
Teeth were the only weapon she had, and Liam wasn't the only Summer's child with a hell of a bite.
With a yelp, the demon thrashed his leg in an effort to dislodge her, then thought better and began to morph into another shape.
While this was happening, Buffy managed to use the distraction to get her hand around her stake.
There wasn't much blood flow in her arms from the creature's tight hold, Buffy's limbs were asleep and a small explosion of pins and needles accompanied nearly every move. However, right now was one of those 'now or never' times and her life, so she ignored the pain and redirected it towards someone else, namely the fleshy rope jerk she was tangled in.
"Katie, get back!" Buffy warned as she began stabbing at every skin rope she could reach, bringing a wail of enraged pain from the shape shifter.
As Buffy assaulted the coils around her, the demon automatically began to reel in his wounded appendages, which dragged Buffy closer as the retreating flesh unwound and caught in her flailing limbs.
Now lubricated with slick black blood, the blonde slipped free of her captor and rolled to her feet, charging the demon as he finally managed to kick Katie off him.
The little brunette cried out in pain as she was thrown off and rolled painfully across the room.
With a roar of anger, Buffy slammed into the demon, stake first as she fought to defend her child.
Slayage was a high priority, but a higher one was getting to Katie, and slaying this demon was proving to be far more challenging than Buffy had anticipated.
It was nearly impossible to stab something in the heart if it could keep changing what its chest looked like.
Recovering from the initial assault, the demon morphed into something wolf-like, dropping to all fours and putting a mouth full of razor sharp teeth between his internal organs and Buffy's stake. "Slayyyer" He growled, spiked tail twitching as it stalked closer, no longer caring if his contacts witnessed Buffy's death or not, he just wanted the bitch dead.
Luck had brought him Katie, it was her he was planning to sell, Buffy was just a secondary spot bonus that would have earned him extra fame and fortune.
Just before he lunged at her, there was a commotion in the hall; someone was coming, actually, it sounded like a lot of someone's.
The creature's customer's had arrived, and Buffy had no pipe dreams she'd be able to slay them all right now. Not only was she so not in the mood, or dressed for it, nor did she have the artillery...but most importantly Katie was likely hurt and she needed to get back to Angel.
It wasn't her usual style, but this time when the demon did lunge at her, instead of facing off, she ducked under his jump, rolled and popped to her feet in a dead run in the direction of her daughter.
The demon seemed confused a moment that she was running away, and laughed that she was heading further into the room instead of towards the door, but then he realized she'd been running to get her child.
"Foolish Slayyyer." He growl and gave chase, "You've nowhere to go."
"How about though and down?" Buffy called out as she scooped up Katie and plowed into a boarded up window.
Wood exploded as Buffy's shoulder smashed into it, her arms and body absorbing the impact and shielding Katie as they broke though and out, light erupting into the dark room as sunshine surrounded them.
A second later, Buffy dropped a few feet and hit the pavement, rolling to deflect the impact and coming to a stop a moment later.
They'd broken though the second floor window facing a back alley, which was convenient for being less conspicuous, but not as great as landing in a grassy backyard would have felt. Despite the road burn on her elbows and knee, Buffy felt relief at being outside.
At least until the demon reached out the broken window and wrapped a clawed hand around her neck. "Slayyer!"
Buffy quickly pushed Katie out of her arms and towards relative safety as she was yanked backwards towards the smashed open window, the shape changing demon hanging half outside as he grasped for her with a long stretched out arm.
"Sorry freak, factory recall." Buffy snapped out as she spun and slammed the stake she still held into his shifting eye socket.
He screamed as she pulled away, his hands shifting uncontrollably as he tried to pry the wooden shaft from his head.
Buffy didn't stick around to see if he managed it, by then she could hear other demons filling into the room, all sounding angry.
"Outside!" She heard the demon roar as he pulled himself back into the room, "Slayyer is outside!"
Grabbing Katie up, Buffy sprinted down the alley and towards the busy city street.
"Outside?" One of the new demons asked the shape shifter as he pulled the stake from his eye, "So that means you don't have the merchandise?"
"I do, they are right outside, just wait one moment!" The shifting demon said, his features morphing closer to that of a man as he prepared to go after the two escaped females.
A clawed hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"What are you..." The question wasn't finished as a fist impacted hard with his face, black blood splattering the floor as another demon moved in, this one looking like something akin to bigfoot. "You promised us a vampire/slayer child."
"I had her right..." He started to defend, his features becoming more beastly.
A Bohg'dar demon with its three horns atop a bald head grabbed the shifter by his neck with a thick arm and hand, the shifter turning red and blue as he tried to morph again. "Yeah, I'm hungry, you said I'd be eating slayer/vampire kid right now."
The soul sucker moved forwards, his vacant black eyes hovering in an empty white face, "I was promised a slayers soul to suck!"
The shifter tried to break free, to calm the angry mob, "You will, you will." His efforts didn't do much.
Five more demons surrounded him, a Pockla demon with his long red robe swaying beneath invisible feet, "I was promised body parts!"
From the back, a Torto demon moved forwards, with a curved ram horns and green scaled skin, the parasitic head on his chest growled, "We were promised a slayer death!"
A general consensus when though the mob, the shifter growing scared, "You'll all have your merchandise! I just need a little time!"
"No time." The Bohg'dar snapped, "You call us here for nothing, waste our time, you die for this!"
A roar of agreement went though the group of demons as they attacked the shifter.
His screams were short lived.
Buffy never heard them, she was already half way back to Angel Investigations.
The demon threat might have been over, but Katie was too still and quiet in her arms, something was wrong with her little girl, she was hurt.
Getting back to Cassidy was now priority number one.
TBC...