Merry Christmas Eve everyone.
Ellie Bishop: Oh no kidding, Bucky/Wanda could have been the new Steve/Nat. Glad to hear it. Oh no kidding on Ross, it's like they just forgot the kind of man Ross is.
Hyperion Hotel
Night
Angel, Connor Fred, Lorne and Faith were cleaning up the destruction caused by the demon when the door to the hotel opened. They all looked up as Spike walked inside.
"You're supposed to be distracting Hamilton," Angel said annoyed.
"And he's thoroughly distracted. He thinks I'm planning a coup against you. Usurp you so I can get your power and all that," Spike said as he noticed Connor. "What's the boy doing here?"
"Helping out," Connor said simply.
"He remembers," Fred explained and merely Spike nodded.
"You're Spike, right?" Connor asked.
"The one and only," Spike said with a smirk.
"Wasn't he part of your vampire group way back?" Connor asked as she turned to Angel.
"He was. Now he's with us. He, um, has a soul to," Angel said uncomfortably.
"Oh," Connor said as he turned back to Spike. "Cool."
"What happened here?" Spike asked as he looked around. "Last time I saw this kind of mess was when Glory attacked Buffy's dorm."
"Angel and Willow went to the Netherworld. Consequence of that was we unleashed a demon into our world. Faith killed it," Lorne explained and Spike nodded in understanding.
"Always consequences," Spike muttered as he noticed something. "Where's Willow and the nibblet."
"Little D is checking on Willow. She's um…she's in a bad way," Faith said awkwardly.
"Did something happen?" Spike asked as he noticed an awkward look on everyone but Connor's faces.
"We met the Netherworld Coven," Angel paused briefly. "Spike…Tara was on one of them."
"…Oh," Spike said heavily, only able to imagine what Willow was going through.
In the room Angel had shown her to, Willow sat on a bed, staring ahead without seeing anything. After almost two years, wishing for another moment with Tara, Willow had gotten her wish. And she really wished she hadn't; because now the open wound she'd been carrying for two year had been ripped open. The sting of Tara's death was as fresh as the day she'd lost her.
So consumed in her thoughts, Willow hadn't noticed someone else enter the room until she felt someone sit down on the bed with her. Turning her head, Willow saw Dawn sitting next to her. Seeing Dawn's sad, compassion filled eyes, the dam broke. Willow lowered her head, her shoulders shaking as she wept openly. As Dawn wrapped her arms around her, tears falling from her own eyes, part of Willow was glad it was Dawn comforting her and not someone else. Because Dawn had loved Tara almost as much as Willow had.
Downstairs, after they had finished cleaning up, Spike was rummaging through the fridge when Angel walked up behind him.
"What are you doing?" Angel asked perplexed.
"Looking for any booze. Because I could use a drink," Spike grumbled as he slammed the fridge shut.
As Spike turned around, Angel eyed him oddly. He could see Spike was bothered by something. And it wasn't Hamilton, that much Angel was certain of. It didn't take Angel long to figure it out.
"Tara," Angel said and Spike stiffened. "You liked her?"
"Not in the way you're thinking. She was…she was the best person I'd ever met. I was an evil, soulless monster who would have killed her if I'd had the chance and she still treated me like I was worth something. She was the only one of Buffy's friends who never treated me like a monster, like a freak," Spike said with a heavy sigh, a haunted look in his eyes. "When I found out…she deserved better, and Red deserved better than to lose her. Did you find what you needed?"
"Yeah, we did. Willow can probably explain it better than me though," Angel said and Spike nodded.
"Good. If the Powers are gonna torture Red like that, it better damn well be worth it," Spike said darkly.
"There might be some bottles in Wesley's old room," Angel said after a moment. "Second floor, go to the left, third door on the right."
Spike nodded before walking passed him, looking for something to numb his thoughts. Angel looked after him for a moment before sensing someone behind him.
"You used to be better at stealth," Angel noted as she turned around to face Connor.
"I'm a little rusty. I'll work on it," Connor said as he looked over Angel's shoulder at Spike's retreating form. "So, that's the big bad William the Bloody."
"Holtz told you about him?" Angel asked and Connor nodded.
"He is not what I expected," Connor admitted.
"Spike is…different with a soul. I will of course deny having ever said that," Angel said and Connor chuckled.
"What is it with you two? You act like you hate each other but you seem to care about him," Connor pointed out.
"Spike and I have a…complicated history. He and I will never be friends. But, at the same time, we would die for each other. Like I said, complicated," Angel paused. "Connor…you should go home. This isn't your fight."
"From the sounds of it, its everyone's fight," Connor argued. "You aren't the only ones who lost people. I lost friends that day to, people I cared about."
"Connor-" Angel started.
"You told me once that I wasn't ready for this. I didn't get what you meant then, but I think I do now. I just wanna help Dad; I'll follow your lead and everything. Just let me help," Connor almost pleaded.
Angel was torn between bursting with pride and keeping his son safe. As proud as he was of Connor in that moment, the last thing he wanted was Connor involved in this fight. But, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Cordelia whispered in his ear, Connor was an adult, he couldn't make this decision for him. After a few moments, Angel finally sighed, giving in.
"You remember where your old room is at?" Angel asked and Connor nodded. "Go get some sleep. We'll all discuss where we go from here in the morning."
New York, next day
Morning
Bruce sat down in his seat, ready for the next meeting of the support group. As he looked around at everyone else, he spotted a familiar face. It took him a moment to place them though. It was Happy Hogan, Tony's old driver Bruce realized with a start.
Bruce was so shocked that he didn't even notice when the meeting started until he heard the leader ask Happy to introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Happy," Happy greeted awkwardly.
"Hi Happy."
"So what brings you here Happy?" the leader asked.
"Well, I've just…been having a real hard time the last few months. My best friend was…one of the people lost in The Snap," Happy sighed heavily as Bruce noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "I turned to drinking to cope and…and I know it was stupid but it made me feel better, it was an escape I guess."
"We all deal with what happened in our own way," the leader told him kindly. "But clearly, you're trying to find a way out of the escape."
"About a month ago, my boss put me on leave, gave me sixty days to get my shit together or I'd be fired. But I just…didn't care. Then, last night, I was in a bar and a news report came on, talking about Sam Wilson's speech. And I don't know, it just…it made me realize that there had to be a reason I survived. I don't know what that is but I want to find out."
"It's all we can do; try to figure out why we're still here while they're gone. But coming here was a great first step," the leader told Happy soothingly.
Hyperion Hotel
Same time
Willow laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling as Dawn slept silently beside her. She still felt hollow, like she had since the day Tara had dropped to the floor with a bullet in her chest. She'd never understood before about what people meant about dying while they were still alive. She did now.
Feeling Dawn shift beside her, Willow turned her head to see the younger girl's eyes flutter open.
"Hey," Dawn said sleepily.
"Hey," Willow echoed.
"Are you okay?" Dawn asked as she sat up slightly.
"I'm the one who's supposed to be asking you that," Willow said guiltily.
"You don't have to be strong all the time," Dawn told her soothingly before pausing. "Was she…"
"She was exactly as I remember her," Willow said softly, tears springing to her eyes. "We should have been forever."
"I know," Dawn said gently, pulling Willow into a hug again.
For a moment, it was silent in the room. Then, someone knocked on the other side of the door.
"Willow? Dawn? You up?" Angel's voice asked.
Dawn pulled back, glancing at Willow curiously. Willow took a deep breath before nodding as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She had taken enough time to mourn and breakdown, it was time to get back to work.
Dawn got out of bed and walked over, opening the door to see Angel standing on the other side.
"Hey Dawnie," Angel said before looking passed her, at Willow in bed. "You feel up to bringing the others up to speed?"
"No. But I think we've wasted enough time," Willow said, throwing the covers off and getting to her feet. "Time to get back to work."
About twenty minutes later, everyone stood in the lobby, looking at Willow as she described what happen when Tara had kissed her.
"It's hard to explain," Willow said. "At first, it was just a normal kiss. Then, I felt this…energy pass into my body. I think Tara gave me some of her power. But that's not all she gave me."
"What are you saying Willow?" Fred inquired.
"I saw these…images. It was like a movie, playing in my head," Willow paused, trying to put it into words. "Lindsey was right, Thanos didn't destroy the stones. He did something worse. He gave them to the Senior Partners."
"I'm sorry, come again?" Lorne asked as they all stared at her in silence.
"Thanos met the Senior Partners centuries ago. He was on a mission on Earth when the Circle of the Black Thorne sought him out on behalf of the Senior Partners. They're the ones who told him about the Infinity Stones. Thanos made a deal with them: Once he completed his goal, he would send the stones to six dimensions, six dimensions that the Senior Partners controlled," Willow finished as they all took a moment to digest this.
"Well, it makes sense," Angel mused. "The Senior Partners ultimate goal has always been control. With the stones, if they ever needed to use them, they could accomplish anything."
"Okay, so now we know where the stones are. So why aren't we going to get them?" Faith asked.
"Because it's not that simple," Spike pointed out and Willow nodded in agreement.
"He's right Faith. You've seen how difficult it is to open just one portal to another dimension. We're talking about opening six. And even If I could do that, there's no guarantee we would be able to get you all back," Willow reasoned.
"Not to mention the Senior Partners would probably know the moment we took just one," Connor added and Willow nodded her agreement.
"Connor's right. So we have to be smart about this," Willow said.
"Then I guess there's only one thing we can do," Angel said and they all looked over at him. "It's time to bring in the Avengers."
One of the biggest injustices of season seven is that they never showed Spike's reaction to Tara's death. But then again, they largely acted like Tara didn't exist in season seven ad when they did; it was usually to advance Willow's relationship with she who will not be named. *Vomits*
Hope the explanation about why the Stones weren't destroyed makes sense.
And now, after seventeen chapters, its finally time for our heroes to meet.