Author's Note: This is my version of the post-Whedon Buffyverse. It is rated Mature for some dialogue, sexual themes (non-graphic), and violence. I assume you've seen or read all five seasons of Angel and all seven seasons of Buffy. I don't consider anything except aired episodes as canon.
My continued thanks to everyone who's put me on any sort of update list, and to the people who have posted reviews or sent a message.
By the way, I'm moving. So if I disappear for a while, expect me back in the first weeks of October.
Xander slammed the door to the tiny car, all he could afford. Dawn sat silently on the far side. They were quite a few miles into their trip; they'd just had to stop for gas. Xander had just about had it with Dawn's pouting. He knew that her bitch level was legendary, but this was just too much.
"I don't see anyone else here for you," he said, slamming the car into first gear. Dawn coughed and choked like Xander had just popped her clutch.
"What do you want from me?" she asked.
"A little respect," he said. "I've just traveled eighteen hours and several thousand miles to take you where you want to be. And you won't even talk to me."
"Why won't you stay with me?" Dawn asked. "I thought you said you were coming with me?"
"Spike's here," Xander said, taking the car back onto the freeway. "Angel's here. A bunch of good people are here already, Dawnie. They're gonna need me at the other Hellmouth."
"You're not going to stop until you get yourself killed," Dawn said. She idly picked at some loose vinyl near the window crank. "Is she worth it? Is Faith really worth it?"
"I'm not going there for Faith, I'm going for me." The tiny car sped along into the night, often getting lost in the darkness between streetlights.
"Why?" she asked. "What could possibly be worth risking your life again?"
"They need me."
"Not you," Dawn said. "You're super power would be getting your ass handed to you."
"No, it shouldn't," he said. "I saved the world once, you know. And you know that there're people who need anyone who is willing to help. To fight." He turned to her. "You could come with me."
"No I couldn't," she said. "I need help. I need Angel."
"What could Angel possibly do for you that I couldn't?"
"He helps the helpless. I'm pretty helpless, Xander. And you're too nice to tell me. Everyone is."
"No. You're one of the most resourceful young women I know."
"I'm not alive right now because I'm resourceful. I'm the Slayer's little sister. And that's all I'm ever gonna to be."
"Technically you're some sort of key." Xander said it softly, not intending to hurt her. But it didn't matter. Her face fell, she grew silent again. The miles ticked off as they sat together, each heading towards an unknown future.
"What did you mean by that?" Dawn finally asked.
"Nothing. Just because you were created like that doesn't mean you're any less real. I thought we went through all of this. Is this what you need Angel for? To tell you that you're actually better off because at least you know who or what made you."
"No, I need Angel for a lot more than that," Dawn said.
"I didn't even think you liked Angel," Xander said.
"That's exactly why I need him."
Gwen stood on the doorstep, not quite willing to go into the rain. "Why don't you look somewhere nearby, and I'll watch from here?" Gwen asked.
"Where do you think I should look?" Bethany asked, a big, clean trash bag in her hands ready to ward off the rain. "I don't see any restaurants."
"Me either, but that might be a house there," she said, pointing.
"Ok. You could come with me though, I can throw you loose if you get stuck again."
"Look, I'm electric girl!" Gwen said, completely flustered. "I don't go well with water, ok?"
"Fine," Bethany said. "Fine. No reason to bite my head off."
"That's like the fifth time you've asked me to go with you. I'd love to be able to go outside, la la la, and prance in the frickin' rain."
"Ok," Bethany said quietly.
"Just go see if that's someone's house there, and if they have any food in it or not." Gwen pointed her arm towards the driveway down the street. "If there's someone in there already, you scream and run and I'll come over and we'll see what happens then."
"Ok, jeez." Bethany held up the trash bag and started splashing out across the street. She'd found new shoes, and a pair of zip-lock bags were keeping them dry. Gwen stood under the porch, listening long after she'd lost sight of her new friend.
Bethany unlatched the driveway's gate from the inside. She walked up the grossly overgrown walkway, carefully stepping on each stone plate rather than the muddy, weedy spaces in between. For such a nice looking neighborhood, Bethany was rather surprised.
There weren't any lights on, or any noises coming from inside. So she figured it was safe enough to enter, and started working on the locks with her mind. It didn't take long to get everything open, and long before Gwen would have suspected Bethany was inside and looking around.
The lights worked so she followed her way through the house to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and loaded a bunch of perishables into a backpack she'd found in the hallway. Without looking around or waiting around for anything else, she beat feet back outside and towards the hotel.
She heard a screeching coming from the skies above and behind her as she ran back across the street, but she'd seen one too many horror movies to stop and look. She spun Gwen around and carried her inside with her as the canopy above the porch was ripped away. They put their backs against the wall and listened to the mighty beast roar it's frustration.
"What the fuck was that?" Bethany gasped.
"I have no idea, I didn't even see what you're talking about," Gwen said, terror obvious on her face. Little crackles of energy branched off her fingers and into the wall to the power cables that ran throughout the house. The lights were flickering and the walls behind them were shaking, but that part was more from Bethany's fear than the dragon's assault. In fact, before it even seemed to begin, there was nothing but silence around them.
"Oh my god," Gwen said.
"We've got to get out of here," Bethany said.
"Why? You know I can't go out there."
"If it's not trying to eat us, that must mean it's not for eating people."
"What's it for then?" Gwen asked, using Bethany's emphasis.
"Finding people."
Spike bashed something's head off the railing beside him. They were deep in the thick of it, wading up a stairwell together. Angel and Connor had drifted back to be a rear guard, and Spike and Illyria had remained up front to lead the way.
Connor had protested for a while, but finally gave in. There were bigger things than egos and pretty girls at stake here. Spike wondered how those two were doing back there but had no time to focus on them at the moment. Illyria's foot came swinging around over his head, as her fight spread into his.
"Come on," Spike said, ducking. "Get your own."
"This entire building is mine," Illyria said. "In fact," she smiled at Spike before turning to face the advancing horde.
Illyria's voice boomed impossibly loud. "Any being that wishes to leave now may do so, freely, with neither penalty nor offense so long as this building is MINE now!" She splattered the head of the nearest thing to her, and pointed back to the trail of devastation behind her. "I can do this one at a time, or all at once. You can't defeat me, but you don't have to face me. Know that I am Illyria, god-king of this place!"
"Bloody hell," Spike said, covered in greenish blood. "What'd you have to go and do that for?"
"Silence, half-breed," Illyria said, without turning or even flinching. "Your betters are speaking."
After a few minutes of quiet stewing Spike saw Angel push his way through the closest refugees. Sin Jinn was beside him.
"Everyone's leaving," Angel said. "Connor's back there checking things out, but it looks like they are just pouring out the other doors."
As he spoke, a demon was visible falling past the window behind them, the ones in the stairwell above finding the most expedient route around Illyria. Her laughter began to fill the hallway.
"Now to Vahla Ha'nesh," she said. "This way."
She wasted no time, and each enemy along the way was given a moment to consider before she attacked. The only one that tried to ambush the refugees from behind was now being dragged along as grim warning to anyone else with the same idea.
They all gathered in the lobby that now held the portal to Illyria's realm. No dust covered the surfaces, though it was probably more from constant use than fastidious cleaning. The demons that lived here were working hard to make a new life for themselves. It was almost a tragedy that they were being expelled, but it was Darwinism at work now. Survival of the strongest.
"I want to thank you for bringing us here," Sin Jinn said. "But I also want you to know that we plan to be active in our own defense. Patrols, traps, security footage if this building still has power. There are many things which we wish to do."
"And I wish you to do these things," Illyria said. "But I can not hold the portal open indefinitely. I should be able to open it twice a day, every twelve hours."
"That's not enough, what if something happens, if there's an emergency inside?"
"What happens if there's an emergency out here?" Illyria responded. "But there is a chime, inside, which they can ring if the need is truly dire. I shall rip apart the first person who does so inappropriately, however."
"Fair enough," Sin Jinn said. He turned to his people and began to issue orders. The weapons were gathered, and the true civilians, the mothers and the old, the weak and the dire, were all collected in the center of the room.
"These are the ones going inside," Sin Jinn said. "Thirty seven of them."
"And how many shall remain outside?"
"Eleven, myself included."
"Very well," Illyria said and waved her hand.
The air in front of her began to shimmer, and the portal opened fully. She stepped through to show the way but kept it open behind her. As the refugees stepped in, they couldn't withhold their gasps. Such a strange looking place, dead, desolate. It hardly seemed like salvation, but what other option did they have? No other supernatural beings seemed willing to offer sanctuary.
The soldiers remaining outside split up into smaller groups to better handle their specific tasks. Some of them set about restoring booby traps, either brought along or salvaged from the previous inhabitants. Others went to find the security room and see what bounty it offered.
Sin Jinn remained in the lobby with Angel and Spike, but Illyria and Connor had both disappeared.
"When will your people be ready?" Angel asked.
"By midnight," Sin Jinn said.
"Where is everyone?" Spike asked. He looked around, but only two other Gunn-men were working nearby.
"We've got it under control," Sin Jinn replied.
The battered little car pulled to a stop in front of the hotel. The wipers futilely tried to clear away the rain which had grown steadily worse all along the drive up the coast. The headlights peered out into the downpour, not really able to do much besides give away their position.
"Here we are," Xander said, pressing the clutch and putting on the parking brake.
"It doesn't look like anyone's here," Dawn said.
"There are lights on. And the law firm was in ruins." Xander looked out the window. "You got any better ideas?"
Dawn opened the door and then opened her umbrella before stepping out. She'd found it at one of the gas stations they'd stopped at, and it had tiny kittens on a pink background. Xander had the same one and stepped around from the other side to stand next to her on the sidewalk.
"Who's there?" Bethany called from a second floor window.
"We're looking for Angel," Xander called back.
Bethany sat in Cordelia's old chair. Gwen was on Wesley's old desk. Xander stood leaning on the far side of the counter. Dawn sat on the round chair, as far away from the group as she could get while still seeming a part of it. Their body language was all carefully neutral, except for Gwen who seemed perfectly at ease, sitting cross-legged upon the wooden surface she occupied, with her hands folded in her lap.
The layer of dust covering everything seemed almost holy, the untouched remains of Angel Investigations and its myriad people and cases. The place had a distinctive smell as well which wasn't quite repugnant to the nose, but was certainly unique.
"I won't go out there," Gwen said. "Not until the rain stops."
"But we can't stay here," Xander said.
"Why not?" Bethany asked, playing devil's advocate to hear Xander's opinion. "There's food nearby, this place is pretty good to hole up in."
"But didn't you say you were found out?" Dawn asked, not quite speaking up but still quite easily heard.
Xander spun around to look between everyone, like a twisting tennis match. "You mean the dragon? You think that was real?"
"If it wasn't real, what was it?" Gwen demanded.
"Maybe 'Carrie' here made it out of trash? You said she was shaking the walls…"
"It doesn't matter," Bethany interjected. "If we stay here, they'll be back."
"But we don't know where to go," Gwen added. "Unless Angel comes back…"
"Maybe I can help," a voice called across the lobby. Xander spun around just as Connor stepped into the light. It seemed like he actually traveled from one shadow to another but it was just careful showmanship. As the closest thing to a male Slayer on the planet, taken and raised on a demon world, it was hard to say what Connor could really do, other than that Buffy could beat him after what Willow did. After the Slayer line was broken.
"Who are you?" Gwen asked. Her hair almost began to stand on end, but it was tied back in a tight ponytail.
"I'm Angel's son." Connor said. He hated saying it but it was the easiest way he could identify himself.
Dawn looked him up and down before saying, "I think I remember you."
"That's strange," Connor said. "But the spell is wearing off so maybe it's getting easier."
"The last time I saw you, you were a baby," Gwen said.
"Oh baby," Bethany said, a sultry ice in her tone.
Connor raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"What exactly are you planning?" Willow asked, stepping into Giles' office.
"Ah, Willow. You're back. I assume you already know what I'm talking about." Giles waved towards the open chair, wide enough for both her and Kennedy's slender hips.
"You're bringing back the Watchers," Willow said, definitely not a question.
"I assume you're drawing power to your side, resurrecting the ghosts of the White Witches." Giles stared at Willow, this otherwise pleasant conversation suddenly turning into some kind of showdown.
Willow refused to flinch. "I'm going to Cleveland."
This was clearly not what Giles had been expecting. "Cle… Cleveland?"
"We have to stop in L.A. first," Kennedy added, almost as an afterthought.
"Dawn just left for Angel's care. Xander accompanied her."
Andrew had sat silent this whole time, but now he suddenly sat forward. "And Buffy and the Immortal had it out."
"Where is she now?"
"Gone. She went after Dawn," Andrew said. He leaned back in the chair and steepled his fingers, drumming two of them together.
"Oh knock it off," Giles snapped, before turning back to the powerful lesbians. "I assume you understand your place in all of this?"
"Yeah. You're bringing back the evil empire and it's my job to be a pain in your ass about it." Willow said this with a smile, but they all could tell it wasn't a joke.
Connor led the four of them back towards the new hideout. It was awfully cramped, but Connor didn't complain from the back seat, with Bethany on one side and the barely dressed Gwen on the other. Dawn sat comfortably up front, although she was a little cramped because of her chair being slid so far forward.
"Ok, let's go," Connor said.
Xander stalled it trying to get started, but finally headed out. "This wet is a pain in the ass," he said.
There were times when they had to drive on the wrong side of the street, or back up and make detours, because of debris or overturned cars that were on the way. Several times Connor thought it would be faster to just walk. But Gwen was adamant that she not be exposed for too long, protected (such as it was) by the insulation of four rubber tires.
"What are you doing here?" Connor asked, looking between everyone.
"We're all … pretty much … looking for Angel," Xander said. Bethany and Gwen nodded, but Dawn didn't bother.
Bethany kind of snuggled in against Connor's shoulder, her thigh riding his hip gently, bouncing with every pothole. He was afraid that Gwen, on his other side, would surely notice his growing reaction.
"Connor's bringing people in," Sin Jinn said, standing between Angel and Spike.
"How many?" Angel asked.
"Four of them. Apparently civilians he found outside. He's downstairs now."
"Bring them up here," Spike said.
Sin Jinn called something over the walkie-talkie and Gwen, Bethany, Dawn, and Xander were led into the room.
"What are you doing here?" Spike asked, looking at Dawn. He felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck.
"I'd rather talk to Angel about it," Dawn said. "Alone."
"Well this really isn't the time, can it wait Dawn?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, it's not really a rush thing if you don't mind me sticking around for a while."
"Not at all," Angel said.
"You can stay inside the portal," Spike said. "Illyria should be here to change the guard soon."
"We need somewhere to shack up, too," Gwen said, stepping forward to present herself.
"Yeah, sure," he said. "Bethany, how have you been?"
"I was doing great until yesterday," Bethany said. "Then everything went dark."
Illyria came into the room, stopping dead in her tracks to stare at Dawn. Everyone kind of milled about uncomfortably as the minutes dragged on. Illyria cocked her head to one side.
"What are you?" she asked.
Dawn swallowed before answering, "What do you mean?"
"I mean you are…" Illyria paused, crinkling her brow. She charged forward and grabbed Dawn by the wrist.
"Hey, let go of me," Dawn yelled.
Angel tried to grab Illyria, but she tossed him away with a judo-like throw. Spike, determined not to fail this time, swung without hesitating. Illyria made a left turn and took a step into nothingness. Dawn was completely helpless against that vice-like grip and she had no choice but to follow along. Spike's fist passed through empty air.
Sin Jinn didn't seem to have noticed, for he came walking over. "Why didn't she open the way to Vahla Ha'nesh?" he asked.
"No!" Spike fell to his knees, screaming. Angel started to get up behind him.
"What the hell just happened?" Angel asked. "Where'd she go?"
"Hi, everybody," Willow said, Kennedy standing beside her. "Sorry for just popping in like this, but it was easier to just come to a person than trying to look all over the city for you…" Her light, sweet voice trailed off. "What just happened?" she asked.