Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Mercedes and Audrey.
CHAPTER 25-NEW PROBLEMS
"That went well," Gwen grumbled with an unhappy scowl on her face as she glared over at Kate, who was busy trying to get Groo to explain what he and Connor had found after following Angel's trail. After losing the trail the four had slid into a bar and taken over one of the back tables. Reluctantly Gwen had agreed to pay for the tab.
"Well maybe if you hadn't come off as the world's biggest bitch then maybe we could have gotten something, now thanks to you they think we're either crazy, or the enemy," Kate shot back with an equally unhappy glare as she started to rise up out of her chair but Groo held her back.
"Please Kate, fighting amongst ourselves will not help us find Angel any faster," Groo pleaded to Kate with an earnest expression on his face before she relented and sat back down in her seat, taking the beer that Connor offered her.
"He's right, we have to find my father before anything worse happens," Connor added with a serious and impatient frown on his face as he leaned back in his chair and tried not to notice the stares that he was getting from some of the other patrons.
"We will find Angel Connor, do not despair," Groo said back with a confidant smile on his face as he beside him Kate wanted nothing more than to wipe that stupid grin off of his face. After he had left LA after realizing that Cordelia was not in love with him he had traveled the globe, often taking whatever job would pay well enough for him to survive. He had been to every continent in the world and had been traveling through London on his way back to the states when on night he had helped save a young woman who had taken the wrong back alley to get home. He had almost missed noticing that she was in danger, but the gunshots had alerted him to her plight. When he had raced to the scene he had been surprised to find a blonde woman barely holding off a Fyarl demon with a gun. He had started to proudly proclaim his intent to help but the demon had other ideas and slapped him back into a pile of trash bags. He had recovered quickly enough and had used a large pry bar to finally kill the demon, but not before both he and the blonde woman that had been holding the demon off with her gun received a few injuries. He couldn't remember the name of the young woman that they had saved that night but he would always remember the night that he ran across Kate Lockley.
"Easy for you to say, how do you do it huh, the whole eternal optimism shtick," Gwen shot back with an annoyingly confused frown on her face before she took a sip of her drink.
"Fear and despair are not emotions that I allow to control me, I have found that it one keeps a positive mental outlook that," Groo started to eagerly explain with an excited smile on his face before Kate intervened.
"Have any of your contacts found anything yet," Kate asked with an impatient smile on her face as she slid one of her hands under the table and landed it on Groo's knee, giving it a hard squeeze, their code to tell him to be quiet and let her talk.
"Nothing yet," Gwen started to reply with a concerned frown on her face before a haggard looking man burst into the pub.
"Miss Raiden," The man shouted with a very serious and hurried tone to his voice as he rushed to the bar and then frantically began to scan the crowd.
"Walter…what the hell is going on, what are you," Gwen started to sputter out with a very surprised and confused expression on her face as she stood up but only pushed the chair back a bit, staying in her place, as she stared straight at the man.
"I did it, I found them," Walter announced after sighing heavily with relief as he wiped some sweat off of his brow and then raced up to their table.
'That's the first good news that we've heard all night," Connor grumbled with an impatient pout on his face before he grabbed the nearest beer, drained it, and then followed the others out of the pub.
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"Where the bloody hell have you been," Spike asked with a very calm and casual tone to his voice as he stayed in his position in the hallway outside of Wesley's room.
"I needed some time alone," Mercedes hesitantly replied with a nervous tone to her voice as she slowed her step down and almost slinked up to stand just behind Spike, almost like a person who was approaching their monarch and told to kneel would.
"Fair enough luv, but the next time that you fancy a bit of me time…don't," Spike growled back more harshly than he had originally intended and without turning around to catch her reaction he could tell that she flinched at his statement.
"Sorry, I went to Kristine's apartment…some men came but I took care of them, then Kennedy showed up and slapped some sense into me, so…what'd I miss," Mercedes replied with a nervous at first and then almost bored look on her face as Spike finally turned around and she could tell that he hadn't eaten or slept in many hours.
"Not much, other than Faith pullin a Lazarus on us, yeah she's in there with him right now, one minute she's in recovery and the next she's shoving nurses out of the way left and right, but you really don't care about either of them do you," Spike answered the question with a soft smile on his face as he recalled the look on Angel's face when he had ushered Faith into the room.
"You know me to well…but you're right, I don't really give a flying fuck whether they live or die…well except unless they want to…can we talk, alone I mean," Mercedes started to reply back with a sly and innocently guilty smile on her face as she brushed some hair back behind her ear before her tone grew serious and almost scared.
"Of course, just as long as you don't ask me what Angel's going to do next, because I don't have a clue and neither does he," Spike grumbled back with an impatient shrug of his shoulders before he followed Mercedes off to an empty hospital room nearby.
"Don't worry that's not it…um, what's it like, having a soul I mean," Mercedes stuttered out with a nervous and curious look on her face as she closed the door behind them.
"Why do you want to know, you had a soul once…can't you remember what it was like," Spike shot back with a less than enthusiastic tone to his voice as he turned back to look at her as he hopped up to sit on one of the beds.
"Kind of…when I became a vampire losing my soul meant nothing, I entered into a whole new world, where I could do whatever I wanted and not feel guilty about any of it, it was perfect…no rules, no right…no wrong, but then I just started to feel like there was something missing, nothing seemed to really affect me that much anymore, I couldn't have fun after a kill," Mercedes solemnly started to reply with a sad look on her face as she slowly walked over to the other bed in the room and slid up onto it.
"So you think that if you get your soul back then you'll enjoy killing again, sorry luv but it doesn't exactly work out like that…trust me, when you get your soul back you remember every kill that you ever made, every single damn detail, but rather than excite you…give you a bit of pride, it tears you apart, you can't think straight, all you see is their faces, all you hear is their voices, vampires weren't meant to get their souls back," Spike replied with a very soft tone of voice as he stared hard at a bit of lint that he brushed off of his jeans before he lifted his gaze up to meet Mercedes' and it very nearly bored a whole right through her with its intensity.
"But you did, Angel too," Mercedes said back with a curious edge to her voice as she looked like she was almost smirking but kept herself from going that far, out of what she didn't immediately know.
"Hardly luv, it's apples and oranges, Peaches soul was forced onto him and he paid for it, me…I wanted my soul because I thought that it was what I needed to make her love me, I thought that if I had a soul she'd have to see that I was worthy," Spike joked back with a sarcastically amused half grin on his face as he swung his feet up onto the bed and then made a scene of laying out onto the bed with his feet hanging over the edge at the foot of the bed.
"But," Mercedes sputtered out with a look on her face that prompted Spike to think a few steps ahead of her and he cut her off at the pass.
"If you don't have a better reason for wanting your soul back than what you just told me then you should look elsewhere, a soul isn't a cure all pet, it only causes more problems," Spike reiterated his earlier point with a very clear look on his face as he laid back a bit more on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
"I understand that Spike, it's just when the Immortal first told me about it I thought he was crazy, why would I possibly ever want my soul back, as time went on I couldn't get it out of my head, being evil is easy, you just kill someone and don't give a fuck, but with a soul…besides, there's this prophecy about a," Mercedes
"Vampire with a soul that becomes human again as a reward if he plays by the rules, sorry but it's a lost cause for you, Angel and I are already mixed up in that damn thing, the last thing that we need is for you to join the party," Spike grumbled back with an annoyed groan as he rolled his head and shook his head at any mention of the Shanshu prophecy.
"Maybe you're right, but come on…for all of the power and abilities that one gets when they become a vampire no matter how hard they try, how high they rise, in the end they just end up as dust, we've been at this for centuries Spike, we're still just the things that go bump in the night, stories that people tell around the campfire to scare each other, I want something more than that, I want a chance to make my own future, my own destiny, not listen to some idiot rant and rave about vampire pride, God…vampires…the whole lot of us…are such posers," Mercedes calmly answered with a serious look on her face as she began to slowly unravel the edges of the blanket that was lying on top of her bed before she cautiously got up out of her bed, walked across the small gap between beds, and then laid down beside Spike, curling up next to him and staring up at the ceiling, all the while hoping that he wouldn't think that she was crazy.
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"We're going to need a scorecard to keep up with all of Angel's friends you know," Xander grumbled with an embarrassed and impatient frown on his face as he and Buffy rounded the corner and the front of the building that housed Giles' office came into view.
"I know what you mean, they seem to pop up out of the woodwork every few days, but Connor…could he really be Angel's…son," Buffy replied softly with a tense smile on her face at first before her expression grew much more serious and concerned as she stopped walking long enough to step up and onto the sidewalk.
"It's gotta be a lie, we all know that vampires can't have children, otherwise we would have been overrun with little vamps years ago," Xander said back with a sheepish grin on his face before the two got to the front doors of the building and he stepped in front of her to open the door for her. She smiled her thanks as she walked through the door.
"But what if it isn't, then we have to face the fact that if Connor is who he says that he is then…Angel is his father, but who is his mother," Buffy added back with a very serious and almost scared look on her face as the two started to walk up the first flight of stairs but were both almost knocked over by a pink haired woman rushing out of the building.
"Well that was rude," Xander growled with an angry scowl on his face as he steadied himself on the step and then turned to Buffy to make sure that she was okay as well.
"Who was that," Buffy asked with an annoyed pout on her face as she momentarily thought about following after the woman but stopped when Giles' voice interrupted her thoughts.
"A colossal blunder by the old council, and our newest problem, her name is Audrey, several years ago she was contacted by an old friend, she's a slayer, unfortunately shortly after contact was made she and her parents were in a horrible car crash, both of her parents were killed and we thought that she was as well," Giles interjected with a very clearly upset and anxious tone to his voice as he came stepping down the staircase until he got to where Xander and Buffy were, almost out of breath by the end.
"Looks like you were wrong," Xander joked with a sly grin on his face before it fell immediately from his face when Buffy glared at him.
"Painfully so…she believes that she was abandoned by the council after the crash, and I'm afraid that there's little that I can say to prove her wrong," Giles sadly responded with a glum frown on his face as he let out a sigh and slid his hands into his pockets.
"Well that's all really exciting Giles…really, but we have some bigger news," Buffy started to reply with an anxious half smirk on her face before Xander spoke up.
"Vampires can't have kids right," Xander interjected with an over anxious expression on his face as he turned from looking at Buffy to stare straight at Giles.
"What…of course not, why would you ask such a silly question," Giles asked with a perplexed frown on his face as he stared at Xander as if he had gone mad.
"Because just a few minutes ago we met a young man that said that he was Angel's son, he was about Dawn's age…but that can't be right Giles, it's not possible," Buffy reiterated with a nervous and slightly scared look in her eyes as she silently hoped that Giles would answer everything quickly.
"You're right Buffy, it's not possible…at least it shouldn't be possible, I should do some research and see if there's anything in the archives, meanwhile please refrain from discussing Audrey with anyone…at least for the time being," Giles replied with a nervous look on his face as he knew in his head that it wasn't possible but in his gut he had a different feeling.
"Sure Giles, whatever you say," Xander slowly stuttered out with an unsure shrug of his shoulders before Giles turned and walked back up the stairs towards his office.
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"The doctor's said that he's going to be fine Faith, you don't have to watch him every second until then," Angel said softly with a concerned look on his face as he laid a hand on Faith's shoulder as she sat in a chair that was pulled up beside Wesley's bed.
"I know, but I just need to be here, I could never forgive myself if something happened and I wasn't there when he needed me," Faith replied back with a calm look on her face though the look in her eyes told a much different story or fear and doubt.
"You really should get some sleep Faith, you look terrible…Angel and I will watch Wesley, you can use the empty bed behind the curtain, you won't be more than a few feet away, anything happens and we'll wake you up," Nina said to Faith with a worried look on her face as she walked around to the opposite side of Wesley's bed that Faith and Angel were on.
"No I," Faith began to protest with a tired look on her face before she couldn't help but yawn deeply and fight to keep her eyes open.
"Nina's right, you can't do Wesley any good if you can't even stay awake for more than a few minutes, they've pumped him full of enough drugs to keep him out for a long time, by the time that he wakes up and wants to talk you'll both be up," Angel added with a sincere look of concern in his eyes as he knelt down beside Faith before she mumbled harshly under her breath and nodded her head, allowing Angel to help her over to the empty bed.
"Remember, anything happens you swear that you'll wake me…up," Faith mumbled out softly with a very tired look on her face as almost the second that her head hit the pillow her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep before Angel could answer her in the affirmative.
"I gotta say, this is not what I expected, Wesley and Faith…that's got to be the surprise of the decade," Dawn interjected with a pleasantly surprised smile on her face as she and Willow walked into the room but kept their voices down as they saw Faith softly snoring away on the other bed.
"None of this makes any sense anymore," Angel glumly replied with a tired look on his face before Willow shut the door behind them and then spoke up softly.
"Sorry about not being able to get the book, with what happened to Wesley and Faith and Kennedy spilling her guts I," Willow started to apologize with a guilty and embarrassed expression on her face before Nina shook her head and gave her a quick hug.
"It's okay…right Angel," Nina said with a very honest smile on her face after she let go of Willow and then turned to Angel.
"Huh, oh yeah…besides we wouldn't have been able to pull off the distraction and the plan would have been dead in the water, though now we're two down and time's running out, The Immortal is planning something and we have to find out what it is," Angel answered with a very serious look on his face as he unceremoniously sat down in the chair that Faith had been sitting in and rubbed his eyes.
"So what's the plan now," Dawn asked with a curious tone to her voice as she checked her watch before edging a bit closer to Wesley's bed.
"Beats me, Illyria's somewhere in the hospital, Wes and Faith are out of action, that only leaves me and Spike…and Nina," Angel replied with a nervous and defeated shrug of his shoulders as he slumped down a bit in the chair.
"Besides, we still have to find Mercedes, she's the only one that really knows what's going on," Nina started to say with a worried look on her face as she leaned a bit on the wall beside Wesley's bed before the door opened.
"Someone looking for me," Mercedes asked with a slightly cheesy grin on her face as she poked her head into the room before Willow's immediate emotions got the better of her and she fired off a spell that struck Mercedes square in the chest and sent her flying back out into the hallway.
"Bloody hell," Spike exclaimed loudly from somewhere out in the hallway before everyone in the room heard the sound of one body colliding with another and the shattering of glass.
"Willow," Dawn shouted in alarm with a very surprised and scared look on her face as she ducked underneath the nearest sturdy piece of furniture and dared not come out until the coast was clear.
"Sorry…it just happened, I didn't mean to," Willow stuttered out with a guilty look of sadness on her face before she made a point of jamming her hands into her pockets and sitting down on the floor on the far side of the room away from the door that Mercedes had just been blasted out of.
"What the hell was," Mercedes started to snarl back with her game face firmly in place as she stormed back towards the door but Angel cut her off at the pass and caught her in a tight bear hug.
"Stop it right now, Kennedy told her everything, so unless you want to die for real I suggest you and Spike go find Illyria," Angel stated with a very determined and clear tone of voice as Mercedes calmed down and stopped struggling against Angel.
"Told you it'd come back and bite you in the ass," Spike quipped with a darkly amused grin on his face as he sat up on the floor and stared up at Angel and Mercedes.
"Bite me," Mercedes replied in a huff as Angel let her go before she growled softly and then headed off down the hallway, not looking back to see if either master vampire was following her.
"Let the games begin eh Peaches," Spike added with a sly grin on his face as he hopped back up to his feet, patted Angel on the back, and then took off after Mercedes, leaving Angel doing his best to keep from ripping Spike limb from limb in frustration.
END OF CHAPTER 25
Author's Note: Mercedes wants her soul back not because she wants to be one of the white hats, she's bored being bad, part of her is possessive because it's her soul, part of her wants a challenge, and there's a part of her that doesn't like staying the same while everyone that she knows grows old and dies, basically that being a vampire isn't all that it's cracked up to be, at least in her eyes. Audrey showed up, met with Giles, and then left in a huff with Giles adding her to the list of people that have a beef with the new council and that they have to work on mending fences and repairing the bonds of trust with. More work for the weary pretty much. Buffy doesn't want to believe that Angel has a son, as she, Xander, and Giles know enough about vampires to know that they can't reproduce but haven't yet fully thought through Connor's statement and they don't know his back story. In their scene in the empty hospital room Spike and Mercedes didn't have sex there at the end, Spike was just lounging on the bed because he was bored and Mercedes climbed up beside him, hoping that he wouldn't get mad and kick her off immediately.
Groo and Kate met one night when Groo helped Kate save a young woman from a Fyarl demon, the kind that Giles got turned into and got Spike to help him. After that they of course talked and once the subject of Angel came up…they had a lot to talk about, and seem to be a bit friendly. Kate is trying to be diplomatic about all of this though in this chapter I tried to show that she still is a fighter, she just picks her spots better than Gwen does. At the end of the chapter Willow's actions are more about that she just saw the "other woman" so to speak and her emotions got the better of her. Angel's order to go find Illyria was more a way to get everyone to calm down. In closing thanks to J for giving me my record breaking sixtieth review and here's hoping that I get a good many more. Btw, I have a forum up if anyone wants to ask any questions about this or any of my other stories.