Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Mercedes and Audrey.
CHAPTER 26-MEET AND GREET
"Any change in his condition," Roger asked gruffly with a busy tone to his voice as he kept writing away in his journal while not looking at his petite assistant.
"No sir, I called twenty minutes ago and he had yet to regain consciousness," Rhonda replied softly with a timid look of sadness on her face as she tried to read Roger's reaction to the news about Wesley's condition but his countenance remained impassive.
"Foolish boy, getting in over his head," Roger grumbled back with an irritated scowl on his face as he shook his head.
"Actually sir, we do have a witness that says that he saw The Immortal at the scene of your son's attack," Rhonda interrupted with a nervous look on her face as she then quickly looked back down at the letter that she was copying.
"Paid off undoubtedly, please Rhonda, do not bring such salacious gossip into this room, now if you would be so kind as to hand deliver this letter to a Mr. Robin Wood at the Belmont hotel room thirty three, it has to be done tonight," Roger spat out at first with an almost annoyed frown on his face before he handed Rhonda a heavy envelope.
"Yes sir," Rhonda replied with a skittish expression on her face as she put her things away and then left the room.
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"Are you sure this is the place," Gwen demanded with a tired glare in her eyes as she squinted against the sun on the way into the hospital.
"Yes I'm sure now get moving, Angel and the others are in there somewhere and we need to find them before it's to late," Kate stated back with a very clear and firm tone to her voice before she smiled at Groo as he stepped up in front of her so that the automatic doors wouldn't close up on her.
"My father is here, I can smell him," Connor added with a very serious look on his face as looked up the front of the hospital.
"I will be proud to fight alongside Angel once again," Groo said with a very excited smile on his face as he approached the front desk and then inquired about Angel while the others waited impatiently nearby.
"He probably didn't use his name you know, he wouldn't be that stupid," Gwen muttered softly under her breath as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and kept a watchful eye on everyone else in the room, making sure that no one had heard anything.
"You're right, Groo just forget about it, we'll find them on our own," Kate started to say with a frustrated and anxious sigh as she turned to stop Groo before the elevator doors opened nearby.
"Oh my God, Connor," Nina exclaimed with a flabbergasted look of relieved surprise on her face as she stepped out of the elevator and caught sight of him.
"Nina," Connor started to reply with a startled look in his eyes before Nina rushed to him and enveloped him in a tight bear hug, leaving him to look to the others for help.
"Do we know her," Gwen asked with a confused look of revulsion on her face at the display of emotion as she glanced over towards first Kate and then Groo, both of whom just shrugged and shook their heads.
"What are you doing here, how did you find us," Nina ripped off a couple of questions in a hurry as she let go of Connor and tried to remain calm.
"We were looking for you," Connor replied with a nervous smile on his face as he blushed a bit and stared at anywhere but Nina's face.
"Me, why would you be looking for…oh, you're looking for your dad, third floor…he'll be so happy, he needs something to cheer him up," Nina replied with a confused look on her face at first before she blushed with embarrassment at her wrong assumption before she smiled to cover up her mistake and turned to the elevator.
"Why…what happened," Kate asked with a concerned look on her face as she readied herself for anything.
"We were hiding out at a safe house across town when the Immortal and his goons found us, Wesley and Faith tried to fight them off but they got hurt pretty badly, if Angel and Spike hadn't come back with Illyria when they did I hate to think of what might have happened," Nina answered softly with a very serious look of concern on her face as she relayed the events of the past couple of days to Kate and the others.
"Who's Illyria," Groo asked with a confused look on his face as he found that he couldn't recall anyone named Illyria working with Angel.
"And Spike," Gwen stuttered out slightly with a reluctant look of confusion on her face as she anxiously balled up her hands into fists.
"I've never heard of Illyria but Spike was the name of a vampire that ran with Angel back in the day when he was evil, he was Angel's grandchilde," Kate said back with a deep in thought look on her face as she then took a moment to ponder this outcome.
"He looks a lot like Billy Idol, Illyria…uh," Connor added with a helpful half smile on his face before Nina jumped in.
"Well Illyria…it's a long story, I'd better let Angel explain," Nina said softly with a curious look on her face before she smiled weakly and walked back over to the elevator and pushed the up button.
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"Does it hurt," Vi asked softly with a concerned and hesitant look on her face as she cautiously sat down on the couch next to Andrew.
"Sometimes when I…uh I mean no…doesn't hurt a bit," Andrew started to reply with a weak smile on his face before he switched gears and tried to sound tough. Trying to further prove his point he struck his leg with his cast and had to instantly bite his lip to keep from crying out in pain.
"You sure, it looks pretty bad," Vi asked with a sympathetic look of concern on her face as she inched a bit closer to Andrew.
"What this…nah, it's fine," Andrew started to say back with a proud and strong look on his face before he couldn't help it any longer and his eyes started to tear up.
"If it's fine then why are you crying," Vi added with an impatient look in her eyes as she laid a hand on Andrew's shoulder and tried not to smile.
"Because I…well um I," Andrew stammered out, initially trying to avoid Vi's gaze, before he glanced briefly up at her and became locked in and couldn't escape.
"You want me to kiss it and make it better," Vi asked softly with a slightly husky tone to her voice as she closed her eyelids a bit and smiled sweetly at Andrew, who was now looking at Vi like she had been replaced by a clone.
"N…no, that's okay…oh uh Xander hi, how's it going…good, yeah that's great," Andrew suddenly stammered out with a thoroughly embarrassed look on his face as he vaulted up out of his seat on the couch and began to quickly stumble back towards the nearest doorway just as Xander walked in.
"What's with him," Xander asked with a confused look on his face as he turned to look first at the departing Andrew and then at Vi.
"Beats me, I just asked him if his hand hurt and he started balling and then ran out," Vi replied with as innocent of a look as she could muster at that moment before she stood up and hiked up her jeans a bit.
"Weird guy…anyway I have a job for you and Rhona, I want the two of you to find this girl and then come back and tell us, do not let her know that you're there and do not confront her, we just need to know where she lives," Xander answered softly as he shook his head in dismay before he handed Vi a black and white picture of Audrey when she had looked up into one of the security cameras long enough. Vi scrunched up her face in concentration for a bit before speaking up.
"You have a thing for this girl, I know you haven't…much…since Anya, but there has to be other ways," Vi stammered out her question with a confused and scared look on her face as she didn't know how Xander would respond.
"What…no, she's a slayer, she showed up out of the blue this afternoon and left before Giles could," Xander began to reply with a startled look on his face before he shook his head in frustration and tried to explain.
"Gotcha," Vi shot back with a cheesy smile and a mock salute before she gave Xander a quick wink and then spun around on her heel and took off out of the room.
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After finally getting bored Spike had sat up and left the room, rather rudely elbowing Mercedes in the ribs before he got up. She thought about snapping at him but by the time that she opened her eyes he had already sat up and had his back to her. Groaning in frustration she pushed herself up and then tried to flatten her hair. Spike left the room without a word to her and rather than rush right out after him she remembered Willow's reaction to seeing her and thought better of it. She hesitantly went room from room, making sure that Willow was nowhere in sight before she'd move to the next room. By the time that she got back to Wesley's room Groo and Illyria had taken up guard duty outside of the room.
"I am sorry but I cannot let you pass," Groo said with a very soft but firm tone to his voice and look on his face as he held his arm across the doorway.
"I think you should know that I'm not good at taking directions," Mercedes started to say back with a sly and sarcastic grin on her face as she laid a hand on Groo's arm and then started to duck underneath it, but he intercepted her and bodily got in front of her.
"Please step back, I do not want to hurt you but if you do not step back then," Groo started to say with a firm but anxious look on his face as Mercedes started to pout a bit as she took a step back, allowing some hair to fall forward over her face and cover up her left eye.
"Look buddy, I don't know who the hell you think you are but I am going in there, you can try and stop me if you want but," Mercedes started to snap back with a very determined and frustrated scowl on her face as she glared up at Groo before the door opened and Angel's voice called out.
"It's okay Groo let her pass," Angel stated with a clear tone to his voice as he held the door open.
"See…told ya," Mercedes quipped with an amused smirk on her face before she winked at Groo and then started to turn to Illyria to send a glare her way but was stopped when Angel grabbed her arm tightly and yanked her back into the room. "Hey…easy, hands off," Mercedes growled with an unhappy and combative tone to her voice and scowl on her face as she wrenched her arm free and backed away from Angel, all the while glaring venomously at him.
"Easy luv," Spike whispered harshly into her ear as he walked up behind her and laid a restrictive hand on her shoulder. More than anything she wanted to argue with him about the matter but the next few words, and their tone, that he whispered into her ear caused her to come to the conclusion that arguing was futile.
"Fine…what's going on, who are they," Mercedes grumped with an unhappy pout on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and then lightly glared over at Kate and Connor.
"Family," Angel finally replied with an anxious and slightly confused look on his face as he turned and looked at each and every one of the group that had come with Kate before finally his gaze landed and lingered on Connor, letting his feelings be conveyed that way.
"And you would be," Kate asked with a slightly impatient frown on her face as she looked mostly straight over at Mercedes, but glanced over at Angel out of the corner of her eye so as to gauge his reaction to her question.
"An old friend, one that's in a right bloody mess, ever heard of the Immortal," Spike stated quickly with a bored shrug of his shoulders before Angel could speak as he sat down on the foot of the bed that Faith had been sleeping in as she was now sitting in the chair beside Wesley's bed. Kate, Gwen, and Connor all looked back at first Spike and then Angel with looks on their faces that told him instantly that they hadn't a clue who he was.
"Consider yourself lucky, he's this demon…we think, anyway he's says that he's Immortal and he's been around for longer than either Angel or Spike, he's Buffy's new boyfriend but," Nina started to say with a nervous look on her face as she blushed a bit while trying to explain before Mercedes cut in with her teeth gritted and her fists clenched.
"He murdered a friend of mine and tabbed me as the guilty one, now that blonde…Buffy and all of her friends are hot to hunt me down and drive a redwood through my chest," Mercedes grumbled out in explanation as she tried not to let to much bitterness and anger show through into her words before she managed to force a smile across her lips.
"And he's got a penchant for killing anyone that pisses him off," Faith added with a tired but angry scowl on her face as she threw in her two cents on the subject at hand.
"Sounds like a real gentleman, you two must have been real good friends back in the day," Kate stated with a slightly joking smirk on her face as she looked up from Faith and towards Angel, before his look darkened and the smirk slipped instantly from her face.
"Hmm…I smell trouble in paradise, what'd he do anyway," Gwen slipped in with a sarcastic and biting tone to her voice as she sided up next to Angel and winked at him, drawing a scowl from Nina.
"He…," Angel started to say with a very serious look on his face before Spike's gaze caught his and at first he stood there completely confused by the look in his eyes. It wasn't until Spike shifted his gaze to the side a bit and landed it on Connor, with Angel following his line of sight, that Angel understood. "He took something very valuable from us and then rubbed our faces in it," Angel continued with a somewhat hesitant look on his face, as had he been able to blush he would have been doing it terribly, before Spike opened his mouth.
"Though while he was stealing from us he chained me and Angel up in the dungeon for a little bit of torture, let's just say that we didn't take it very well," Spike interjected with an almost bored look on his face smiled calmly at Gwen and Kate.
"He never told me that he knew either one of you, guess he was lying to me from the start," Mercedes groaned with a foolish look of anger on her face as she mentally kicked herself for being so stupid and buying into everything that the Immortal had told her when she first came into his employ all those years ago.
"Join the club luv," Spike joked with a self-mocking grin on his face as he walked over and threw an arm lazily around Mercedes' shoulders before giving her a tight one-arm hug.
"Angel…what did Willow say, about the book," Wesley interrupted weakly with a very tired and weary expression on his face and look in his eyes as he sought to change the subject before he caught the worried look on Faith's face and fell silent.
"It was a no go, she couldn't get close enough to get the book or figure out exactly what the Immortal is, Kennedy ambushed her with the truth about her affair and well…our plans kind of took a back seat," Angel stuttered out with a dark look of seriousness on his face at first before his look grew to one where he wasn't quite sure how to explain the rest of it without being to blunt about it.
"Makes sense, learning that someone that you love has been unfaithful would certainly throw one for a loop, Willow especially with how she throws her heart so completely into every relationship," Wesley said back with a pained sigh as his shoulders slumped a bit and he then hissed in pain and immediately started to reach for a spot on his ribs but Faith was just a bit quicker and her hand was there seconds before his, with a very worried look flashing in her eyes.
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Audrey could tell that they were watching her. Despite the fact that she hadn't had the formal training that Buffy had received she had spent a lot of time on the streets after her recovery and with her heightened slayer senses few could sneak up on her. She thought about blowing their cover and informing them that she knew that they were there but she thought that she'd see just how good they were first. She led them on a long chase through the city, making her pursuers think that she was just out on a run. When she finished she slipped out of sight into an alleyway and waited.
"Where'd she go," Vi asked with a nervous look on her face as she raced up to where they had last seen Audrey and began to look all around.
"Who cares, I say that we call it a night," Rhona replied with a bored and tired yawn as she stopped running beside Vi and leaned back up against the wall.
"What about Xander," Vi asked with a scared look on her face as she stopped looking around long enough to look back at Rhona.
"What about him," Rhona shot back with an unhappy scowl on her face as she crouched down and tried to calm her breathing down.
"He told us to keep track of her, we were supposed to see where she lives," Vi reluctantly replied with a nervous look of desperation on her face as she climbed up a few rungs of a nearby fire escape.
"We'll just tell him that she lives in some rundown apartment building, he'll believe us…or he'll believe you," Rhona grumbled back with a sigh and shrug of her shoulders as she stood back up before she grinned back at Vi as she finished speaking.
"I do not have a crush on Xander," Vi exclaimed with an upset scowl on her face as she jumped down off of the fire escape and glared at Rhona, who at first only replied with a smile.
"Oh…so it's Xander now to huh, having a crush on Andrew wasn't enough," Rhona jabbed in with an amused smirk on her face as she couldn't help but rib her best friend a little.
"I don't like either one okay, come on…let's go," Vi exploded with an angry tone to her voice, though her face was beet red with embarrassment, before she stomped her foot and started off back towards the hotel.
"That girl has issues," Rhona mumbled out sarcastically under her breath while shaking her head before she hurried off, easily catching up, never looking back to see Audrey step back out of the alley and begin to follow them.
END OF CHAPTER 26
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, let's keep em coming. Anyway this was a middle chapter that got Kate and Groo and Connor and that group to meet Angel and the others and get acquainted with what's going on. Roger knows about Wesley being hurt and almost seems to care about him, though he doesn't show it much. I kind of always felt kind of sorry for Vi in the series, sure until the end she was the wallflower, with at the end she was barking orders like a drill instructor, but I see her as the quiet character that Willow used to be, besides I needed some romance or attempts at it other than my main ones. I had Kate know about Spike because of her studies about Angelus, with me guessing that in all that she read Spike would have been at least written about a little bit. After the dream Faith was mostly healed, though she still felt like she had been put through a wringer, her whole body hurt and she was lightheaded. She was out of immediate danger but it'll still take her awhile to heal. With Wesley he won't be doing much fighting anytime soon, but then again when has that ever stopped him. Though I did slip a little something by everyone over the last few chapters, something that'll come up again and have some significance after this story is over and if I do a sequel to this story it'll definitely factor in. A few questions though, should I hook Vi up with Xander or Andrew, or neither, should Audrey find love, Kate and Groo, Connor and , Gwen and , should I have Willow forgive Kennedy and them two stay together or should the two be with someone new…as always thanks for reading my story.