The Path To Redemption
Chapter 2
Author: twin who likes to travel
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The already mentioned Angel crossover begins in this chapter. The survivors reach L.A. and show up at the Hyperion Hotel, surprising Angel and his friends. The crossover takes place after the season four finale "Home". So Angel's son, Connor, has already been forgotten by the L.A. crew when the gang reaches the hotel. However, I'm going to have Faith and Willow still remember him.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.
Reviews: I would like them. Constructive criticism is ok.
Author's notes: Since I didn't bring it up in the author's notes for chapter one, I will do that here. Right now, the only things it will go along with what's happened in the comics so far are that the Watcher's Council headquarters and slayer training school is set up in rural Scotland, the appearance of Satsu, and Satsu's feelings toward a certain blonde. I also made slight changes to "Our Love" and "She Saved The Best For Last" to go along with what's going to happen in this story later on. It's nothing that major though. Like I said in the author's notes for my other stories, feel free to offer ideas. I can't guarantee I'll use them though. Thanks to Daryl and mg78 for their reviews. Daryl, of course there will be more. mg78, I'm sure there will be things you will want to comment on.
A few minutes later, outside the hospital
As Faith was staying at Robin's bedside, the rest of the group filed out of the hospital and got back on the school bus. They all went to their original seats on the bus as Giles got behind the wheel again.
"So what do we do now?" Dawn muttered before anyone else could open their mouths.
At seeing all eyes focus on her, Buffy answered, "We go to L.A. and see if we can stay with Angel and the gang while we try to decide what to do next."
Everybody nodded in agreement with her. When that was settled, some sat in quiet contemplation while others decided to have light conversation with the people closest to them. Buffy would occasionally glimpse at the now empty seat that was previously occupied by Faith. Dawn and Willow were the only ones to notice since Xander was thinking about Anya and Giles was busy concentrating on driving. Xander had taken a minute away from his thoughts about the former vengeance demon to smack Andrew upside the head for mumbling repeatedly about why he made it while others didn't. The sound of the smack and Andrew's following whine momentarily brought out smiles and some laughs from the rest of the passengers. After warning her girlfriend about her urges, Willow caught Buffy glancing back over her shoulder to the back of the bus again.
"What's wrong, Buffy?" Willow questioned when she heard the blonde sigh and turned to her right to face her best friend.
"Nothing," Buffy lied.
"You're lying," Dawn rightfully assumed, "You're thinking she's going to run again, don't you?"
"No, she said she wouldn't, and I want to trust her. It's just with our past history, I'm not sure if I can just yet."
"Well, if she does run, she can be tracked down by a simple locator spell," the redhead assured with a smile.
"Thanks, Will."
"You're welcome."
"Is that all that's bothering you?" Dawn added when Buffy almost peeked back over her shoulder again.
"Yes," Buffy lied again and could tell the other two didn't believe her.
"You're jealous that Faith chose to stay at the hospital with Robin instead of coming with us, aren't you?"
"Why would I be jealous?" the blonde inquired as she tried to act like that idea wasn't possible.
"Because there's a chance that you and her could become friends again if you both tried and maybe even more. If she gets together with Robin and they end up going to Cleveland without you that might not happen. At least the 'even more' part," Dawn stated.
"You're crazy; I don't like Faith in that way," Buffy insisted as she inspected the wound and torn shirt she was currently wearing.
"Yeah, right," Dawn muttered as she successfully hid the slight jealousy she had going on at the moment too.
"I don't," the blonde squeaked before eyeing them and Kennedy as well.
"Oh, come on, Buffy, Faith oozes sex appeal," Kennedy said while resting her head on Willow's left shoulder, only for it to be pushed off by the redhead.
When Buffy just sighed and stared at the road in front of them, the trio smirked at her. Then they all got lost in their own thoughts.
Sometime later, the Hyperion hotel lobby
It was silent once again as the bus pulled up in front of the hotel, but that changed the moment they entered the building. Angel and his crew were happily surprised when the group walked through the door.
"Buffy, girl, how are you doing?" Lorne began as he strolled up and hugged the blonde slayer.
"Good, just saving the world…You know…the usual stuff," Buffy declared with a smile.
"Hi, Willow," Fred greeted the witch with a smile and a hug before stepping away at the sight of Kennedy glaring at her.
"It was just a friendly hug," Willow claimed as she tried to calm down her angry girlfriend.
"Whatever," Kennedy grunted.
"Buffy!" Angel called out from the shade in the room.
The gang turned around to see a hesitant smile on the face of the vampire.
"Hi, Angel," Buffy replied as she almost ran to her ex.
"I'm glad you made it out," he responded as they hugged. Then he did a quick check and noticed the group was kind of small considering how many people had been staying at the Summers' home, "Are you the only ones who made it? I mean what about Faith?"
"Faith is back at a hospital just a little bit outside of L.A."
"Why, is she ok?" Angel interrupted with worry clearly showing on his face.
"She's fine. She's there with Robin Wood. He got hurt during the fight, but the doctor said he would probably be ok. They wanted to keep him overnight for observation just to be sure," Buffy announced as Giles and the rest of the Scooby gang smiled at his concern for Faith.
Buffy, however, knew what was coming next from him.
"And Spike?" Angel continued, making Buffy roll her eyes and sigh.
"He didn't make it. I gave to him that medallion thingie you gave me. We were fighting, and it suddenly started to do what it was supposed to do. The rest of us got out of there as soon as we could. He saved us all," Buffy revealed as a tear ran down her cheek before turning back around to face everyone else, "I think we should bow our heads in a moment of silence for those who we lost in the fight."
Everyone immediately followed her lead. When they all looked back up a small tear could be seen on Xander's face but chose not to comment on it. For the third time since leaving the hospital, it was quiet. Willow was the one who chose to speak first this time.
"Hey, Angel, where's Connor?" Willow quizzed when she noticed someone was missing.
"Who's Connor?" Wesley cut in as the rest of them waited for an answer.
Angel gawked at her before indicating that the witch should come closer so they could talk privately. Nobody said a word as the witch moved toward the vampire and talked softly enough that even the slayers couldn't hear them well enough. When it was over, she went back to stand by her aggravated girlfriend. What they didn't know was that Willow had quickly recited a spell to make them forget her mentioning Connor.
"So I'm guessing that you're hoping that you could crash here for a bit, or at least until you decide what you're going to do?" Angel began to get everyone to start talking again.
"Yeah," Buffy told him.
"Ok, then. You're free to use any of the empty rooms we have. So if you want to get cleaned up, rest, or both; go right ahead. Unless you'd rather get something to eat first," Angel offered with a smile.
"Yeah, I think we all might be a little hungry," Willow guessed casually,
"Among other things," Kennedy confessed as she wrapped her arms around the redhead.
After deciding on pizza and Wesley telling them which rooms belonged to Angel and his crew, the gang ran upstairs to find a room to claim and get cleaned up. Around half an hour later, all of the guests were downstairs and filling up from the two large stacks of pizza and assorted drinks. Between slices, the group decided to hit one of the local clubs that night, which made most of them think about how great it would be If Faith was there right now instead of with Robin. Buffy was feeling the second h but couldn't act on it right now for reasons she didn't want to deal with at the moment. They agreed to get some rest for a few hours before going out to the club later. When that was over, they all got up from where they were sitting.
Then Kennedy picked up Willow, laid her over her shoulder, and smirked at the rest of them while smacking the witch on her butt before dashing up the stairs. Everyone was speechless for a second. Then it seemed to cause a chain reaction. Buffy, Angel, Lorne, and Fred observed in shock as Rona and another newbie dragged Gunn and Andrew up the stairs with them while Vi grabbed a surprised Xander and led him up to her room. It got even more shocking when another newbie had whispered into Dawn's right ear. Dawn gasped and gaped at the other girl who was giving her encouraging nods towards the stairs. When Dawn shook her head no repeatedly, the rejected girl then tried again with one of her sister slayers. Her attempt was successful, and the two girls used their slayer speed to get to the selected room.
Meanwhile, Robin's hospital room
As she heard the bus leaving the parking lot, Faith gazed at Robin. She sighed at the unconscious smile on his face. Then she decided to watch something on the overhead TV to distract herself from the thoughts of the Summers girls that the post slaying urges had caused. When that failed, she searched for the cafeteria. If she couldn't cure her craving for sex right now, at least she could cure the one for food.
After using most of the money Giles had given her to last until she and Robin arrived in L.A., Faith re-entered Robin's room to find him still asleep. She almost growled when she saw that. The uncured urge had gotten worse. Even if he had been awake, it wouldn't have done much good. She still remembered what the doctor said about "strenuous" activity regarding Robin. While she was waiting for Robin to be released, the rest of them were going to be able to do what she REALLY wanted to do right now. This brought back thoughts of Buffy and Dawn.
When she couldn't take it anymore, she made sure Robin was asleep and headed for the bathroom. About half an hour after Faith had returned from the bathroom, Robin woke up.
"Faith, where are we?" Robin mumbled as he sat up too soon in Faith's mind.
"Whoa, slow down, yo. We're in a hospital outside of L.A.. The doc knocked ya out so he could check to make sure you're ok. He said that he wanted you to stay overnight, for observation or somethin'. He also said that you shouldn't be doin' anythin' strenuous or whatever for awhile."
"We'll see about that," Robin challenged as he hit the button for the nurses' station.
Less than a minute later, a nurse came into the room.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Wood?"
"As a matter of fact there is. I'm fine and want to leave," Robin explained before motioning to Faith, "She says that the doctor told her that he wanted to keep me overnight for observation, and that I shouldn't do anything strenuous for awhile."
"That's right. I'll go get the doctor for you."
A few minutes later, the nurse came back with a man in his early forties.
"I'm Doctor Harrison," the man informed Robin before sharing a smirk with Faith.
"Long time no see, doc. So would ya mind telling him the same thing ya told me earlier?"
"I would be happy to. Mr. Wood, you suffered some deep cuts that came very close to some vital organs. We obviously stopped the blood loss, but I want you to stay where you are for the rest of the day. If things don't change, you can be released in the morning. I strongly advise you to not do anything remotely strenuous for at least a week."
"But I'm fine," Robin argued as he tried to get out of bed but was held down by Faith.
The doctor was clearly impressed by the surprising strength the brunette had.
"I'm serious, Mr. Wood. An inch or two to your left, and we wouldn't be talking like this right now. Your beautiful girlfriend or friend here would be saying goodbye to you and so would have the rest of the people who had come in with you too."
"Fine; I'll stay, but I won't like it," Robin complained.
"Not to be nosy, but where did they disappear to?" Dr. Harrison exclaimed.
"They had to meet up with some people in L.A.," Faith confirmed as she tried to act unaffected by the term "girlfriend".
"Ok, then. Somebody will come by every so often to make sure everything is ok. I need to check up on some of the other patients. If you need anything, just buzz the nurses' station."
After the doctor left, Robin focused on the beautiful brunette to his right.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm five by five. Why do you ask?"
"You seemed a little uncomfortable when he called you my girlfriend."
"Nah, it's cool."
"Good, because I don't want either of us to rush into anything. I just want to prove to you that there are some pretty decent guys out there. If we work out, that's great. If we don't, then that's ok too. Whatever happens between us, we'll always have Sunnydale," he concluded with a chuckle.
This brought a smile to Faith's face; and before she knew it, she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. This was followed by an awkward pause. To get rid of what she was feeling at the time, Faith decided that they should watch some TV. The rest of the day was spent viewing various movies, TV shows, and games. They would make comments about what was on from time to time. She had been having enough fun just hanging out with him that thoughts of the sisters were forgotten. Everything was going great until she felt him gently grab her left hand with his right.
"What do ya think you're doing, yo?" Faith almost snapped while facing him.
"I was just going to hold your hand. Is that so wrong?"
"That's a thing couples do; we're not a couple."
"Sorry," he asserted as they went back to staring at the TV.
Much later that night, the lobby of the Hyperion hotel
Like the group had agreed to earlier, they had gotten some rest before heading to the nearest all ages club. They spent around three hours there before leaving. As much as they tried, clubbing wasn't the same without Faith being there to make sure they had fun. The only ones left behind when the gang took off were Angel, Giles, Wesley, and Lorne.
"So did you have fun?" Angel asked as the girls, Xander, and Andrew made their way into the lobby.
"It was ok, but it probably would have been better if Faith could have been here to join us," Dawn divulged as most of the crowd headed to their rooms.
'We'll just have to go out again when she gets here tomorrow," Kennedy commented before leading her girlfriend upstairs.
Angel just watched in silence as the rest of the Scoobies followed the couple climbing the stairs. After the group had left for the club, he and Wesley debated on whether or not to mention the offer that they had accepted from Wolfram & Hart. After a minute, they agreed to wait until everyone they knew was there.