"So... You're telling me Buffy's been running around closing Hellmouths?" Spike said, looking dazed.
"Well, yes. And actually, she's in Cleveland right now. Bonus, hey?" Taywen smirked.
Illyria glared at Taywen. "There is something you are not telling us," she stated.
"Illyria, I'm all hurt inside," the girl said mockingly, clutching a hand over her heart. "Really, I knew you didn't trust me, but trying to corrupt others against me..."
"Spare me the theatrics," Illyria snapped, her tone icy.
"All right, I'm leaving a couple of unimportant little details out, so what? The just of it is that the Slayer needs your help," Taywen retorted caustically, all traces of a smirk gone.
"So we should leave, now," Spike interjected, against his better judgement. He got the feeling a person would find themselves in a very uncomfortable position if caught between the two.
"Yes," Taywen said, all calm and collected once again. "I've got a car, but it hasn't got tinted windows or anything."
"That's what blankets were made for," Spike remarked.
The girl looked slightly disturbed. "I thought they were made for... Never mind," she mumbled.
"Wait," Angel said, speaking for the first time in a while. "Does she need anything? I know you said it was hypothetical, but you never know."
Taywen looked thoughtful. "Well, unless you want to bring the amulet. You could always wear it, Angel," she said innocently, but he didn't notice the gibe.
"Do you really think it'll help?" he asked uncomfortably. He didn't really want to become ethereal, like Spike had, and Lindsey wasn't around to do some magick spell to make him corporeal again. Lorne had seen to that. He wondered where the green-skinned demon had gone. Not Vegas, surely, but maybe to another city in California... San Francisco, maybe? Didn't really matter.
"It was a joke. Ha ha?" Taywen said drily.
"Oh. Right. Let's go." Angel started towards the front doors, but stopped when she caught his arm.
"As I said before, sunlight!" she said, looking amused. "Maybe Spike's suggestion would come in handy?"
Angel blinked, then went over to the hook behind the counter and put on his black leather coat. Taywen raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She looked amused for some reason.
"Cleveland," Illyria said. "This... city has a Hellmouth? Why was I not brought there?"
"No idea. If I'd've had any say, you wouldn't have been brought anywhere."
Illyria ignored that and strode out, followed by Spike.
"Coming?" Taywen asked Angel. He stood silently, staring at the bodies of Wes and Gunn. "I can freeze them in time, if you want. So no moldering and whatnot."
Angel looked up, startled. He had been deep in thought, apparently. "Yeah, please," he said distractedly, then walked past her, through the doors. Luckily, it was cloudy outside, so no risk of bursting into flame for the souled vampire.
Taywen smiled grimly and mumbled a couple of words under her breath. A silver light spread over the two corpses and they disappeared. Then she too walked out, leaving the hotel empty behind her.
--
Cleveland, Ohio
Spike didn't know how long they'd been driving – too long, that was for sure. He was crammed in the back seat of a Mini Cooper, beside Illyria, and it sure as hell wasn't comfortable at all! His legs were cramping and he was crushed like a tiny sardine next to the Old One who had first called him her pet, and then her guide... And then Angel wondered why he was so strange.
"Are we there yet?" he groaned, shifting slightly, trying to find a better position. Of course, Angel was in he front seat, perfectly comfortable. The stupid git got everything.
"A couple more miles," Taywen replied without turning, although he saw her eyes flick up to regard him briefly through the rear view mirror. That was a blessing, he supposed – having a reflection.
Angel's voice was muffled by the fact that he was huddled under his coat, but still audible. "How much longer until we get there?"
"I don't know, all right? Soon," was Taywen's annoyed reply. She'd had to answer those questions gods knew how many times throughout the ride. "And the sun's gone, so take off the coat."
"Gone?" Angel pulled his coat off and looked out the window. A huge black circular cloud spread for several miles around the upcoming city, making it seem like midnight. "It's like Jasmine all over again," he said, then realised no one present had been with him when the Power had tried to take over the world, with the possible exception of Illyria, but he wasn't sure if she remembered that or not.
"Almost makes a fellow wish he were still a vampire," Spike remarked, shifting again.
"Stop moving," Illyria said. "It is uncomfortable enough without you bumping into me."
A muffled chuckle came from Taywen's direction, but it was cut off as they entered the city. Fires raged in the streets, demons ran rampant, terrorizing the people who remained. There was no power, and bodies lay rotting, left where they'd fallen.
"You were bloody well right the girl needs our help," Spike said from the back. He was the first to recover from the shock.
"Over there," Illyria said. "Slayers, fighting Turok-Han." Spike glanced over and saw that she was right.
"Stop the car," he snapped, shoving Taywen's seat to make her stop.
"All right, all right!" she growled, slamming the brakes. She practically fell out of the car, and Spike emerged a moment later.
Angel appeared beside them, followed shortly by Illyria.
"What are you lot waiting for? What if Buffy's--"
"She's not. I would be able to smell her," Angel stated, crossing his arms. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to help the five Slayers who were battling a score or so of Turok-Han.
"Are you feeling all right?" Spike asked. He thought that Angel would have been the first to jump at helping a Slayer.
"I'm fine," Angel snapped. "You want to help them? Go help them!"
"Well all right then," Spike muttered, starting toward the battle.
"Wait." Taywen caught his arm. "You're human, remember? Weakened, blah blah blah. Get it?"
Spike sighed. "Oh, right." He looked at Illyria. "Will you...?"
Illyria studied him silently for a moment. "You assume much of me," she said. "Yet something inside me wants to go help the two Slayers. Very well."
"Now I feel obliged to help," Angel muttered angrily. If Illyria helped and he didn't, how would that look?? "What are those things anyhow?"
Taywen grinned. "That's the spirit," she said mockingly. She went over to the car and opened the trunk, revealing an impressive array of weaponry, considering the location. "They're superstrong vamps. Harder to stake, behead, etc. You've got to really poke with the stake. Plus, stronger than your average vampire," she explained. Angel nodded.
Illyria selected a heavy-looking broadsword and a stake, while Angel opted for a double-headed axe. He tucked a couple of stakes into his pockets.
Taywen didn't take anything, but offered a cross, a bottle of holy water and a stake to Spike.
"I feel useless," he said, accepting the items.
Taywen smiled. "Ready?"
"Not in the least," Spike said dismally. "Shall we?"
"I believe we shall," Taywen said. "They seem to have noticed us."
From farther down the street, another group of Turok-Han were running towards them.
"They think they can defeat us," Illyria remarked. "How stupid they are, worse than humans." She raised her sword.
Angel rolled his eyes and raised his axe as well.
"You should stay behind them, Spike," Taywen suggested, drawing an ornate sword from seemingly no where. Spike saw a leather belt with several blades strapped to it flash into being. He blinked, and it was gone.
"Yeah, right," he agreed, quickly turning. "Er, maybe not." The other Turok-Han had dispatched three of the five Slayers and the bulk of the group were making their way towards them.
"Hmmm... All right, me and you get to take these, hey?" Taywen said, smirking. "Want a sword?"
"Seems like a sound suggestion."
She took a katana out of the trunk and handed it to him.
"Ok, I'll take the ten on the left, you take the four on the right," she ordered.
"Hardly seems fair," he protested.
Taywen scoffed. "To them, maybe."
Then the Turok-Han were on them.
--
Angel and Illyria stood back to back, close, but not touching.
They seemed to anticipate the other's moves, ducking when needed as they hacked and slashed at the Turok-Han. Angel could hear the sounds of Spike and Taywen fighting somewhere behind him, but they were too distant to make out.
He smiled grimly, however, whenever he heard the tell tale dying hiss of a Turok-Han collapsing into dust.
--
Spike ducked as a Turok-Han struck out at him with those vicious claws. He remembered all too well when he had been tortured by the First, through a Turok-Han. He swung his katana at the creature's head, lopping it off. It collapsed into dust.
Beside him, he could hear Taywen swearing under he breath as her sword worked furiously to repel the super vamps, punctuated by the sound of the strange, clicking language that the Turok-Han spoke and by the shriek of a dispatched vampire.
--
They fought for many minutes, although it seemed like hours, before all that remained of the Turok-Han were piles of grey dust.
Taywen glanced over at where the two remaining Slayers had been fighting and saw that only one was left. She looked at Spike, who was leaning against the car, breathing hard. He would be fine. Illyria was standing impassively beside him, looking no worse for the wear, and Angel was seated on the hood.
"Do you want to go see if she's okay?" she asked him.
Angel looked over and got up. Without a word, he walked past.
"Well fine," Taywen said.
The girl looked up as Angel approached. She couldn't have been over seventeen, and although he smelled her fear, she raised her sword wearily. Her hair was dark brown, as were her eyes. Her clothes were too dirty to tell their color.
"It's all right," he said. "We're here to help."
She studied him warily. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"Angel."
Her eyes widened slightly. Apparently she recognized his name. "I'm Meghan."
He nodded. "Is Buffy here?"
"Yeah... I'll take you to her if you help me with..." She couldn't finish, and he saw tears in her eyes.
"Of course," he agreed. He waved for the others. "If we help her carry the other Slayers, she'll take us to Buffy," he explained.
"Wonderful," Taywen murmured, but he couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
"That's Taywen, the blue-haired girl's Illyria and the blonde guy's Spike," Angel told Meghan, who gave a small wave.
She bent to pick up one of the dead Slayers, a red-haired girl who looked about eighteen. "Anita," she mumbled.
Angel picked up a girl with purple-dyed hair. "That's Josie," Meghan said to him. Then she pointed to the next girl, whose hair was the exact same shade as Buffy's. "Carla." A girl with short, dirty blonde hair. "Lauren."
Taywen took Lauren, while Illyria Carla.
Meghan then led them deeper into the ruined city. To Buffy.