A:N: Thanks to everyone for their reviews; mendenbar, spanishgirl, Elledreamer, Housaholic32, MysticWolf1, Sam, Lilith Lunatic, gopie, Swagman, heartfallen, and Cari7. Please continue with the reviews! I love them and you know it! Hopw you enjoy this next chapter.
Chapter Four
Return of the Living Dead
Are you lost
In your lies
Do you tell yourself I don't realize
Your crusade's a disguise
Replace freedom with fear
You trade money for lives
I'm aware of what you've done
No, no more sorrow
I've paid for your mistakes
Your time is borrowed
Your time has come to be replaced
I see pain
I see need
I see liars and thieves
Abuse power with greed
I had hope
I believed
But I'm beginning to think that I've been decieved
You will pay for what you've done
No, no more sorrow
I've paid for your mistakes
Your time is borrowed
Your time has come to be replaced
Thieves and hypocrites
Thieves and hypocrites
Thieves and hyporcrites
No, no more sorrow
I've paid for your mistakes
Your time is borrowed
Your time has come to be replaced
No, no more sorrow
I've paid for your mistakes
Your time is borrowed
Your time has come to be replaced
Your time has come to be replaced
Your time has come to be erased!
Angel staggered about to keep himself standing, but the force of the explosion had sent him, along with everyone else, back about fifteen feet before they had collided with something to stop them. All but Spike had hit something hard enough to stop them though. He had been sent back into a window and out onto the street. He had nothing nice to say as he limped back into the library.
Angel looked around terrified for the safety of Connor. The sudden blow from the explosion had probably done more damage to him than anyone else. He had been the closest to it compared to anyone else in the room. It didn't take long for him to find him. He had been thrown into a column and laid beneath it his hand gripping his left arm. Angel hurried over to him.
"Hey you okay?" He questioned him staring at him in horror. His face was bloody with a bruised eye from being in a fight or at least from the explosion. Angel could only question how much they had missed before they arrived.
It was then Angel was happy that Connor was stronger and a faster healer than the average human. He moved Connor's hand to have a look at his arm. He was happy to see it wasn't broken. Luckily for him it was a gash, nothing life threatening. Angel gave a sigh of relief nothing for him to get overly worried about. He helped Connor to his feet to huge him gently.
"Dad?" Connor questioned looking up at him with a grunt of pain; he pushed him away so he could look at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
"I always come here to study," He told him looking confused by his statement. "I've told you that."
"Why can't you study in your dorm?"
"Sock on the door," He informed him with a groan. He heard an 'oh' come from Angel's lips. "Yeah I didn't feel like watching either especially since my roommates gay. Which brings me back to what the hell you're doing here?"
Angel looked around the room, his gaze meeting all of his comrades then resting on Mara. She lay in the pool of her own blood; she looked so weak compared to the first time they had met only a couple hours ago.
Angel pointed to her as he moved over to her. "She did. We thought she was coming here to kill you."
The sound of movement made everyone look back to the second floor. Sparks were still flying but smaller and slowly beginning to degrade. Everyone stared up at it until the sparks were finally gone. Angel glared at Mara who didn't even return a glance instead she fell into unconsciousness.
He didn't feel like dealing with her at the moment. He was too pissed off at her for using his son for what appeared to be bait. He was the first to make a move to the stairs, followed quickly by everyone else. He moved rather quickly for not knowing what was up on that floor but his curiosity was out weighing his fears. His hand grasped tightly to the railing when he reached the top and saw what lay on the floor before him in the mass chaos of the destroyed second level of the library.
Two bodies that laid several yards apart from one another, both bodies where male and nude lying on their sides enough to keep themselves covered.
Angel moved closer trying in vainly to make out the men's faces. When he realized who they were he felt his jaw drop. He felt terror and shock grip him from what he saw.
This was impossible.
They were dead; they were supposed to be dead.
The others followed up behind him stopping short of the final step when they saw what Angel saw. They were all in shock of what they saw before them. Even Illyira seemed disturbed in a way that was unexplainable.
They were supposed to be dead. They had been gone for so long that it seemed like an eternity for those who knew them. One had been lost for almost six years; the other had been gone for only a matter of months. Angel felt his eyes swell at the sight of the body of his half-human half-demon friend that he met when he had first ventured to Los Angles.
Allen Francis Doyle.
The other was Wesley Wyndam-Pyrce.
Angel shook his head at the sight, unable to comprehend what he saw or what was happening. He could tell they were alive for he saw their sides' rise and fall as they breathed in the air that they hadn't tasted for so long. Even with such evidence he couldn't allow himself to believe they were real.
Angel walked over to Doyle first, amazed by the sight of him. He knelt beside his head and touched his shoulder to see if he was dreaming. His body felt real enough for him to believe this was reality. He leaned over to look at his face; there was no damage to him, no cuts or bruises. He had been killed in a brutal fashion.
"Doyle?" He questioned him trying to make sense of what was happening. He still wasn't sure if this was real or not even when he touched his shoulder to see if it was actually Doyle. "Doyle?"
Doyle's eyes opened sharply and widely to reveal the bright green eyes that Angel hadn't seen in so long. The only other one in the room that had known Doyle was Spike. Everyone else had come afterwards. Doyle lifted his head enough so he looked around the room, his breathing increased rapidly in shock at his surroundings.
His gaze finally fell upon Angel.
"Angel?" He questioned quietly staring at him. "What's going on?" He sat up quickly. "Where am I?" The sudden coldness that covered his body made him realize something was wrong and he looked down at his unclothed body. "Why am I naked?"
Angel shook his head removing his jacket and set it on him to at least cover him up. While everyone finished making their way up. He looked to where Connor stood in awe of what was happening.
Connor knew that Doyle had died years before he was born but seeing his body and him alive and talking was strange enough. He had also known Wesley and knew he had died the night the void had closed around demons. Everyone was in shock at Wesley's return.
Angel gave Doyle a pat on the back of reassurance then moved over to Wesley. He had begun to stir, his eyes had not opened yet but they would soon enough. Angel's eyes moved to his gut. The place where he had been stabbed was still there. Smaller but it was still there and bleeding a bit as well. His gaze went over to Illyria who stood her blue eyes staring at Wesley. She looked almost horrified to see him alive again.
"Illyria," He began and motioned for her to come over to them.
She hesitated at first but eventually walked over gasping at the sight of the wound. She remembered it all too well though she didn't wish too. Holding him in her arms as she watched him slip away. Worse for her though, she had done it in the form of his former love, Fred.
"Can you do anything about it?" Angel asked her.
Illyria looked at his wound while before she shook her head. "It is no longer mortal but he will need time to heal."
"Good," He muttered softly looking over to Spike. "Give me your coat."
Spike wrapped his arms tightly around his jacket. "No way in bloody hell am I allowing anyone who is naked as a jay bird touch my coat unless it doesn't have a penis."
Angel glared at Spike then turned his gaze to Gunn who walked over and handed him his jacket.
Doyle was still looking around at the catastrophe that was once a library before his eyes landed on Connor, Gunn and Illyria. He had looked at Spike briefly but he recognized him from the brief time he had met him as well as Oz. He pointed at the other three his face filled with confusion. "Who the hell are you?"
"Hey Dad," Connor began as his father helped Wesley to sit up and lean against the bookshelf that had been tipped over in the explosion. "What the hell's going on? Didn't you just stop an Apocalypse from happening?"
"Number one:" Angel began with a growl pointing to him. "No, I don't have a damn clue what's going on," He stood an moved to the edge of the second floor balcony to view Mara who had awakened and was beginning to crawl out of the pool of her own blood. "Number two: It wasn't the Powers That Be who made the void was it?"
She looked up at him blankly and weakly. Her eyes still pasty white but slowly fading back to the husky color they had been before that Connor had seen. She gritted her teeth in pain at the sound of her flesh and internal organs stitching back together. The sound alone was sickening to listen to but everyone could hear it. She was more than a demon, she had the scent of a vampire as well but there was something as well, it was confusing enough that she had the powers of a demon but the scent of a vampire but to have something else added into it seemed purely insane to him and probably Spike.
"Does it look like I have that kind of power?" She asked him weakly forcing herself to stand and lean against a column.
He motioned over to Wesley and Doyle knowing she knew they were up there. "Yeah it does."
"That wasn't me," She hissed at him her hand covering the major wound to stop the bleeding. "Nor do I care to explain it to you either."
"Why am I naked?" Doyle's voice chimed in once again from behind Angel. "Please explain."
Spike moved next to Angel to look over at Mara. His eyes glared at her as she gasped and choked on her own blood. He finally moved away from Angel to walk down to where Mara stood.
"Yes," He began grabbing a hold of her vest to hoist her up completely. "Please explain what the bloody hell is going on you godforsaken wench."
She glared up at him fading her eyes to a deep pitch black. "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you, William."
Angel raised an eyebrow at the way they had spoken to one another. She had called him William. Spike's human name from so long ago when he was mortal and for the beginning years of his vampiric reign. "You two know each other?"
Spike rolled his eyes, giving an exasperated sigh he released her from his grasp to look up at Angel. Still focused on him, Spike's arm lashed out to deliver a punch across Mara's face. She collapsed to the ground with a grunt and Spike turned back to her, one of his hands went to grab the back of her vest pulling her back up the stairs with him.
"No," Spike began with a groan of annoyance pulling harder on her vest. "I only told you five hundred bloody times that I knew the wanker and what did you do? You told me to shut my yap!"
Mara struggled more but stopped when she began to cringe in pain at the feeling of her vest digging against her wound that was still mending. Much slower thanks to the way Spike had a hold of her. He threw her up the rest of the way and made his way to the top of the stairs where Angel and the other stood. Her body curled up into a ball and she began to groan from the sudden shock of pain.
Spike looked to Angel in disgust. "This little bitch is the offspring of the one called 'The Left Hand of the Devil'.
Everyone looked at her where she lay curled up in a searing ball of pain. Everyone else seemed to understand what was going on but Connor. Even for all his time in another dimension he had never heard of anyone referred to as 'The Left Hand of the Devil'.
"Who?"
"The Left Hand of the Devil has no equal to him besides the Devil himself," Spike began to explain rather annoyed again at the fact no one had seemed to pay attention to him. His gaze turned back to Mara then she delivered a blow with the tip of his boot to her face when she began to move. "No creature in this realm or anyone other one is more powerful than he is."
"So he's a demon?"
"No," He told them glaring down at Mara. "One hundred percent vampire power. He's most powerful vampire known to humans and the damned. She is as you have noticed though is part demon," Mara bared her teeth at him through her split lip that was allowing more blood to spill onto her chin. More than the busted nose she had received earlier thanks to the fight or the sword through her gut. "Am I right? Considering you got three bloods mixed inside that buggered up body of yours?"
Angel moved between Spike and Mara so he wouldn't strike out at her again. "So what is she Spike?"
"Stop speaking as though I'm not here," She growled at them as she rolled onto her back briefly before attempting to stand. Blood seeped over her hands from where she covered her wound and she moved herself closer to the railing of the balcony. "It's considered rude to do that."
Illyria knelt beside Wesley, her hand brushing over his cheek. He was still unconscious, almost like he didn't want to wake. His body was still healing though so she understood that. "This is not an illusion."
Mara looked over to her, leaning against the railing of the balcony that helped her to stand and shook her head. "No. It's not."
"Why am I naked?" Doyle repeated yet again but stopped himself from continuing when he saw Mara standing before them.
Her face showed just as much surprise as his. She didn't know who was being brought back from beyond but it was a shock to see Doyle standing before her, a jacket wrapped around his waist like a towel that he held onto tightly so it wouldn't slip.
"Mara?" He began and she moved away from them until Spike moved forward to grab onto her arm. "How..what's going on?"
"Great," Gunn began raising his hands in the air in utter annoyance as to what was going on. "Does everyone know who the hell she is but doesn't care to explain how they actually know her?"
Angel moved to grab her away from Spike. His hand grasped her by her forearms and shook her so she'd focus on him. "What the hell is going on?"
He saw her eyes shift from husky to black once again. Her face was turning pale as she used what remained of her strength to strike back at him. The eclipses formed in her eyes and her wounds began to open again. The blood slowly drained from her lacerations but as her eclipses formed larger in her eyes. She cried out in excruciating pain as the eclipses began to escape her eyes.
Angel turned to run from her but it was too late.
The light came from her eyes but not as powerful as before, obviously she was too heavily wounded to do any real damage, powerful enough to send him into the air to smash into his son. As soon as the light left her, she turned stumbling and running from them. Deeper into the belly of the destroyed library she ran trying to escape them despite her injuries. Gunn and Spike moved quickly following after her to keep her from leaving without an explanation.
The blow from her power had not harmed them that much and they were ready to know what was happening.
Connor helped Angel back to his feet. "What the hell?"
"I'm wondering the same thing," Angel muttered rubbing his head.
"You okay?"
Angel nodded. "Yeah I'm fine," With that answer Connor ran off to find Spike before he decided he'd kill Mara. "Connor!"
He shook his head then looked over to Doyle who was staring off in the direction that Mara and the others had left in. "Old girlfriend?"
Doyle gave slight shake of his head and let out a soft sigh. "No, old friend," He told him looking down at his feet then back to Angel. "Again, why am I naked?"
"Trying to figure that out too," He told him with a shrug. "What's the last thing you remember?" Doyle looked at him confused. "Before waking up here I mean."
Doyle shook his head trying to think over what he could remember. "A bright..a bright light..I was pulling the cables off of the..of the Scrouge. My skin was burning. Every part of me was burning," His eyes grew wide when he realized what had happened. "I died..I died that night, didn't I?" Angel nodded to him grimly recalling watching his death. "If I died then why am I here?"
"Another thing that we're still trying to figure that out," Angel told him with a sigh.
Doyle looked around the room as if he was searching for someone. Angel knew the person he was searching for. He felt a weight settle on his heart, he didn't want to be the one to tell him what had happened to the woman that he had one had such deep feelings for.
"Where's Cordelia?" Doyle finally questioned him after looking to Illyria and Wesley. Angel stared at the floor and Doyle understood what he meant. He looked blankly forward. "She's dead. Isn't she?" Angel nodded to him. Doyle began to choke on his tears as he spoke. "How?"
"After giving birth," Angel told him softly. "She slipped into a coma, she never woke from it."
Doyle nodded slowly trying to gather himself. "What happened to the child?"
"Well if you want to call it that," He muttered recalling Jasmine before he continued: "She was killed," He told him with another sigh of regret. He didn't want to tell him all this off the bat. Why did he have to? The way his face was so torn from the noise. "You know..we don't have to talk about her or what happened right now."
Doyle nodded looking around the room over at Wesley then back to Angel. "So..what's going on?"
"Apparently you've come back from the dead to help us prevent yet another Apocalypse."
"Great who started it now?"
A:N: Once again thanks for all your reviews! I'm always open for their ideas for songs at the beginning of the chapters so please send some ideas in! Thanks and don't forget to review!