Shadow Over Hellmouth Chapter 89: Dead End, a buffy: the vampire slayer fanfic

"Dead End"

Based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode "Intervention" Written by Jane Espenson and the Angel Episode "Dead End" Written by David Greenwalt

Cordelia was sitting on a chair with Angel, Kate, and Gunn arrayed in front of her.

"He had to be crazy. But he didn't feel crazy. He felt normal, you know?" Cordelia asked. "Until he started stabbing himself."

Kate thought for a moment. "But you don't know where this occurred."

"I told you. It was in a house. It could have been in an apartment. In a kitchen."

Gunn shook his head. "We got to narrow it down a little."

"A nice kitchen?! I don't fucking know!" Cordelia yelled.

Angel put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. We'll figure it out."

Kate looked at the others. "Let's start by calling the hospitals."

"And say what? 'Did my uncle check in with a knife in his eye?'" Gunn asked. "They only give out information to relatives."

Angel and Kate looked at him.

"I just got the calling-the-hospitals job, didn't I?" Gunn guessed.

Kate looked at Angel. "I'll go to the morgues."

"All right. I'll hit the streets, roust some demons, see if there's a new terror in town."

Kate got her jacket. "Good idea."

Angel looked at Gunn as he got his own jacket. "Keep an eye on her, will you?"

"Sure."

Angel went over to where Cordelia was sitting and put a hand on her arm. "We'll be back." He left.

"Can I, uh, get you anything? A cup of tea?" Gunn asked.

Cordelia gave him a look.

"You'll let me know." Gunn sat down at the counter with the phone book and a notepad, then threw a look over his shoulder at Cordelia.

Cordelia now was sitting in her chair, one hand pressed up against her forehead, her hair obscuring her face.

Early that evening, Buffy, Tara, Katrina, and Sandy were standing on the stage at the Bronze, setting up their gear.

Tara turned on her keyboard and tested it. She looked at Buffy. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Buffy was tuning her guitar. "Yeah. I can do it."

Amy was standing a distance away, setting up the video camera that she'd just bought. Once she was confident that she had everything right, she looked up. "Buffy."

Buffy looked at her.

"Tell me when to hit Record."

"Go ahead. We're just about ready."

Amy pressed Record and then joined the others on the stage. She sat behind her drum set.

Katrina and Sandy looked at Buffy. "Buffy!"

Buffy looked at them. "What?"

Katrina and Sandy looked at each other.

Buffy smiled in amusement. "One at a time. Trina."

Katrina looked at Buffy. "This two-bass thing is confusing."

Sandy looked at Buffy. "Yeah, what band has two bass guitarists?"

"Strontium 90."

Katrina and Sandy stared blankly at her.

"It was a British band active in 1977 and included pretty much the same members as the Police. Mike Howlett and Sting both played bass guitar. For that matter, both Sting and Andy Summers - no relation - played regular guitar."

"How do you know this?" Katrina asked.

"I can't have layers?" Buffy asked.

Katrina stared at her skeptically.

Buffy felt embarrassed. "Giles sometimes geeks out about music. For some reason, I actually retain some of it. Anyway, both of you can play. It'll make the sound sound richer."

Katrina and Sandy shrugged and nodded.

Buffy turned on her microphone. "Hello. We're Buffy and the Slayerettes. I'm Buffy Summers, the lead guitarist. We got Tara Maclay on keyboard and Amy Madison on drums. Sandy Gray on bass guitar. And I'd like you all to give a big welcome back to our original bass guitarist, Katrina Silber."

The audience applauded.

Buffy stared playing her guitar and faced the audience as she sang:

"I close my eyes
Only for a moment, and the moment's gone.
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity.
Dust in the wind.
All they are is dust in the wind."

Tara, Amy, Katrina, and Sandy started playing their instruments. They added their voices, harmonizing with Buffy:

"Same old song:
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see.
Dust in the wind.
All we are is dust in the wind.
Oh-oh-oh."

The band went into an instrumental break. Buffy started crying. Eventually, they started singing again:

"Now, don't hang on.
Nothin' lasts forever but the earth and sky.
It slips away,
And all your money won't another minute buy.
Dust in the wind.
All we are is dust in the wind. (All we are is dust in the wind.)
Dust in the wind. (Everything is dust in the wind.)
Everything is dust in the wind."

They stopped playing. Tara hugged Buffy. Buffy hugged Tara.

Gunn was sitting at the counter, talking on the phone. In front of him was a list of hospital names, all crossed out. Cordelia was cleaning the shelves.

"Yeah, he's my father; his name is Henry Addison."

"Are you a relative?"

"Yeah, I'm his son, Gunn-ter, Gunn Addison."

"There's no one here by that name."

"But - But if he's had a manic episode, he might not know his name or might think he's somebody else. It'd be a pretty serious knife wound or wounds in his eye. You sure?"

"I'm positive."

"All right. Thanks." Gunn hung up the phone.

Angel walked up to the counter. "How's she doing?"

Gunn looked over his shoulder at Cordelia dusting the top of a cabinet. "She's been pretty quiet. She grunted every once in a while, then got on with the maniacal cleaning."

Kate walked in. "Guess what I found. More nothing than usual. How about you two?"

Gunn held up the pad with the scratched-out hospital names, and Kate looked over at Angel.

"Nothing."

Kate sighed. "We need more to go on."

"Yeah, well, we'll just have to, you know, talk to Cordelia. Get her to-"

"Dig a little deeper?" Gunn asked.

Kate clapped Angel on the shoulder. "Go ahead. Probably best not to crowd her."

Kate and Gunn walked away from the counter, leaving Angel alone, looking at Cordelia. Throwing a glance at them, Angel stepped around the counter, towards Cordelia, while Kate and Gunn watched from the other end of the lobby.

"Hey."

Cordelia slowed in the polishing of the black-and-white picture hanging on the wall but didn't turn around.

"Boy, I mean you could see your reflection in that glass." Angel whistled.

Cordelia sighed, her back to him. "What do you want?"

"We need help. We're not getting anywhere."

Cordelia looked down at her rag. "I'm sorry. He's probably dead by now."

Angel stepped a little closer. "We don't know that for sure. There could be others."

Cordelia rubbed her forehead. "I wish it would stop hurting." She turned around to face Angel. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Maybe you can...look again? You know, inside."

"That's all I've been doing...all day." Cordelia walked away from Angel, over to her desk, rubbing her forehead.

Angel threw a look at Kate and Gunn.

Cordelia held up a hand and closed her eyes. "A guy in a kitchen. A normal guy. And he picks up a knife and..." She paused. "Oh, God. I think he had kids."

"How do you know that?" Angel asked.

"Cereal bowls...on the table, and, um, there was a bookbag. It has a name of a school on it. Uh, D-something. Delaney or, uh..." Cordelia opened her eyes and looked at Angel. "Delancy Schools."

"That's good. That's great. Anything else?"

Cordelia put her hands to the sides of her head, then moved them to cover her face as she got another flash of the man dropping to the floor, face down, a trail of blood running down the side of his face from his right eye.

"I just keep seeing it."

"Okay. Get some rest. Kate and Gunn'll look into it first thing in the morning."

Cordelia nodded.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?!"

Angel slowly backed away, shaking his head a little. "No reason."

Later that night, in the Summers' kitchen, Buffy was washing dishes while Dawn wiped them dry. Tara walked over with some more dishes.

Buffy smiled. "Sweetie, you don't have to help. You cooked."

Tara smiled. "It makes me feel useful."

Dawn smiled. "Wanna clean out the garage on Saturday? You can feel indispensable."

"Hmm, how tempting."

"Dawn, if there are any plates in your room, let's have them before they get furry, and we have to name them."

"Hey, I was, like, five then." Dawn left the kitchen.

Tara took up drying the dishes. "How's she doing?"

Buffy gave her a look.

"And you?"

"I'm okay. Well, some minutes are harder than others."

"I'm so sorry. All I can say is i-it will get better."

"It has to." Buffy stopped washing dishes and began drying her hands. "We're holding up, though, you know, getting into a routine."

"Good, routine's good."

"In fact, Giles suggested we might...return to our training schedule."

"Oh?"

Buffy paused. "I don't know. I was, um, thinking about...maybe...taking a break or something."

She put down her towel and walked into the living room. Tara followed.

"Just ease off for a while. Not get into full slay mode."

They sat on the sofa.

"I'm just...starting to feel...uneasy about stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Training. Slaying. All of it. It's just...I mean...I can beat up the demons until the cows come home. And then I can beat up the cows...but I'm not sure I like what it's doing to me."

"Doing to you?"

"I'm starting to feel like...being the Slayer is turning me into stone."

"Turning you into stone? Buffy-"

"Just...think about it." Buffy got up and paced. "I was terrible to Dawn."

"At a time like this-"

"No."

"-it's normal to feel emotionally numb."

"My mom is gone...and I loved her...a lot...and...I don't know if she knew."

"Oh, she knew." Tara got up and put her hands on Buffy's shoulders. "Always."

"I don't know. To slay, to kill...i-it means being hard on the inside. Maybe being the perfect Slayer means being too hard to love at all."

Tara smiled. "You've done pretty well so far."

Buffy gave her a small smile.

Tara kissed Buffy on the lips. "Maybe talk to Mr. Giles about this?"

Soon, Buffy was on the phone with Giles.

"How serious are you about this?" Giles asked.

"Ten. I'm serious to the amount of ten."

"There is something...in the Watchers' diaries...a quest."

"A quest? Like finding a grail or something?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Not a grail. Maybe answers. It would take a day, perhaps two."

"I'm not leaving Dawn. Not with Glory about."

Dawn entered in time to hear this. "Sure, you can." She sat next to Buffy. "What's the deal?"

"Some Slayers before you found it helpful in...regaining their focus, learning more about their role. There's a sacred place in the desert. It's - It's not far."

"But I can't go." Buffy looked at Dawn. "I'm not leaving you, Dawn."

"If you have to go learn...I mean...if it'll help you out...I think you should do it. I can hang with the gang. I'll be okay."

Buffy put an arm around Dawn. "I love you, Dawn. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I love you, too."

Buffy stared at her intensely. "I love you...really love you."

Dawn gave her a nervous grin. "Gettin' weird."

"Sorry. But it's important that I tell you. Weird love's better than no love."

They hugged.

The next day, Giles drove Buffy out to the desert. There were sandy dunes with some scraggly bushes and one tree. Heat waves shimmered in the air. Giles' convertible came around a dune, pulled up, and stopped. Giles and Buffy got out. Giles went to open the trunk. Buffy followed. She wore a long brown coat over brown pants and a brown turtleneck. Giles wore jeans, a black shirt, and a brown suede jacket.

"What's in the trunk?" Buffy asked.

"Supplies."

Buffy leaned into the trunk. "Supplies? I was wondering about that. Like food, water, maybe a compass?"

Giles straightened up, holding stuff. "What about a book, a gourd, and a bunch of twigs?"

"I don't think I'll be that hungry."

"They're for me. Come on, this way."

He walked off with Buffy following.

"You see, the location of the sacred place is a guarded secret. I can't take you there myself."

They began to climb up a dune.

"I'll have to perform a ritual to...summon a guide. This'll do." Giles stopped and began putting the stuff down.

"A guide but no food or water. So it leads me to the sacred place, and then, a week later, it leads you to my bleached bones?" Buffy asked.

"Buffy, please. It takes more than a week to bleach bones."

Buffy grinned.

Giles kneeled on the ground and began arranging the twigs around himself. "Go quest."

Buffy walked across the sand, heard a growling noise, stopped, and looked to her left. She saw a mountain lion sitting on the sand about thirty feet away. "Hello, kitty."

The lion began to walk, and Buffy followed it. They went through a passageway made by two large outcroppings of rock. They came out on a large expanse of sandy desert dotted with small bushes and trees.

Buffy went over to a rock and sat on it, looking around. "I know this place."

Inside the Hyperion's lobby, Angel accepted a box from a delivery guy, handing him some money. "Thanks. Keep the change."

The delivery guy made his way out. "Wow. A whole dollar just for me. I'm the luckiest delivery man ever."

Angel turned to look as the door closed behind the guy, then went and set the box on the counter.

"What's all this?" Cordelia asked from her desk.

"Lunch. I was hungry." Angel set wrapped sandwiches out in a row on the countertop.

Cordelia got up and walked over. "You don't eat food."

"Oh, I can. It doesn't keep me alive, but, you know, sometimes, I get a hankering."

"You had a hankering for turkey, ham, and roast beef sandwiches?"

Angel pointed to one. "You missed the vegetarian."

"Soup and salad, too? What is going on here?"

"I forgot what you liked."

"Why didn't you ask me?"

"Well, you said why is everyone asking you if they can get you anything, and - and I didn't wanna do that..."

"So you did this...instead."

"Yup."

Cordelia smiled. "I love you."

Angel's worried look changed into a big smile as Cordelia picked up two sandwiches.

"And you ought to do that more often." Cordelia went back to her desk.

"Buy you food?"

"Smile."

Cordelia reached her desk and hunched over as she had a flash of the man stuffing a piece of muffin into his mouth while reading the paper.

Angel came over to her. "What?"

"Okay, this is weird. Before he put the knife in his eye, he was happy. He was happy about his eye. Like it was new or...something."

"New?"

Kate and Gunn walked in.

Kate looked at them. "I think we found him. A man named Joseph Kramer, has two kids, age twelve and nine; they go to the Delancy School."

Gunn nodded. "The kids didn't show up for school yesterday. Their mom called, sayin' she was taking them out of the country. Their father supposedly got a promotion in the Seychelles."

Angel put on his coat. "Did you get a home address?"

"We've already been there. Gunn stood look-out; I went in."

"And?"

"No trace of the family or any personal belongings. The place had been cleaned from top to bottom. The floors were polished; the carpet was still wet."

"To get rid of the blood."

"There was a little piece of molding that they missed up under the pantry." Kate pulled a piece of blood-smeared wood out of her pocket and held it out to Angel. "You want to sniff?"

Angel reached out and gently pushed her hand down. "How about I just believe you, huh?"

"What do we know?" Kate asked.

Cordelia looked at her. "We don't know anything. The guy's gone; the family's gone. Someone or something has the power to make them all disappear in a day."

Gunn sighed. "We're at a dead end."

Kate sat down on the edge of the desk. "I thought we had more than that."

"There is only thing we can do now." Angel looked at Cordelia.

Cordelia frowned. "Oh, God. Oh, no."

Kate frowned. "Karaoke."

"Angel's gonna sing?" Gunn asked.

"Isn't there some other way?" Cordelia asked.

"There has to be. Think, damn it!" Kate yelled.

Angel looked from one to another. "Hey! Wha..?"

Faith was behind the counter, watching a guy up on the stage, playing guitar and singing. It was Lindsey:

"Pretty girl on every corner.
Sunshine turns the sky to gold.
Warm, warm, it's always warm here.
And I can't take the cold."

Cordelia and the others walked in.

Cordelia looked at Angel. "You should pick something short."

"I was thinking about 'Stairway to Heaven'."

Kate shot him a dirty look. "Don't even fucking joke about that."

Cordelia noticed Lindsey. "Oh, my God, look who's-"

"Lindsey?" Angel asked.

"This whole world shines so brightly."

Angel frowned. "Looks like he's got a new hand."

"Pretty as a picture, she's..."

Cordelia stared in awe. "Wow. He's good."

Gunn nodded. "Lawyer's got some pipes."

"Settles me with love and laughter."

"You think he's good?" Angel asked.

Cordelia didn't take her eyes off Lindsey. "Shh."

"And I can't feel a thing."

Gunn nodded to the music as Angel looked up at the ceiling.

"The sky's gonna open.
People gonna pray and crawl.
It's gonna rain down fire..."

"What is that? Rock? Country? Ballad?" Angel asked. "Pick a style, pal."

Cordelia frowned. "Angel, don't make me ask you to leave."

"The sky is gonna open;
People gonna pray and sing.
Oh, I can't feel..."

He ended the song with a chord, and the audience started to applaud and cheer. Cordelia was clapping as well, her eyes still fixed on Lindsey.

Angel looked from Cordelia to Gunn, who was nodding his head. Cordelia looked over at Angel as Faith met Lindsey halfway from the stage, carrying a drink.

Faith handed Lindsey the drink. "On the house."

Lindsey took the drink but only smelled it. He looked at Cordelia. "Vision girl. Look, I got a crazy man's hand here who wants to kill...someone, maybe me, I don't know. What do you see?"

"Questionable fashion sense?" Angel guessed.

Lindsey frowned. "Look. I need help."

Angel smiled. "I'll say. You might want to start with his singing." He laughed.

Cordelia slapped the back of her hand against Angel's chest and stepped up to Lindsey. "Hi. You probably don't remember me. Cordelia. I know you're evil...and everything, but that was just so amazing."

Gunn smiled. "That was kind of tight."

Kate smiled. "Terrific, really."

"Is everyone drunk?" Angel asked.

"What are you looking at?" Lindsey asked him.

Cordelia shot them both glares. "Easy, easy, children. I don't allow violence in my club. Two enemies, one case. Get. The fuck. Along."

"They supposed to work together on this?" Gunn asked.

"Work with him?" Lindsey asked Cordelia.

Cordelia nodded. "Am I the only one that saw 48 Hrs.?"

"I've got a murder hand on me, and you're telling me to team up with the guy who cut mine off in the first place?" Lindsey asked.

Cordelia shrugged. "I'm telling you what's what. What you do with it is up to you."

Lindsey huffed and took a sip from his drink before setting it down on the bar and walking out past Angel. "If I see outside of the club, I'm gonna kill you."

"If Lindsey's the lead, shouldn't we be following him?" Gunn asked.

Angel looked at Cordelia. "You said the guy in the vision just got a new eye. And Lindsey just got a new hand."

Kate thought for a moment. "Right. Then we should find out where the transplants took place."

Gunn pointed towards the door. "So we're following him, right?"

Kate gave Faith a high five and picked up Lindsey's glass. "Actually, what we need to follow is his new hand." She held the glass up and looked at the fingerprints left on it. "Wonder who it belonged to."

Kate walked into the Hyperion, carrying a brown manila folder. "I got it. The hand belongs to a thirty-year-old white male named Bradley Scott; served two-and-a-half years at Soledad for embezzlement; paroled last month."

"Did he have a life before prison?" Cordelia asked her.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you just look him up on-"

Cordelia sat down at her computer and began to type. "I am."

They waited while Cordelia searched.

"Bradley Scott. Guess where he worked while he was dumping bearer bonds on the black market. Wolfram & Hart."

Gunn thought for a moment. "I wonder if he's still alive."

Kate looked at him. "Well, according to his records, he reported to his parole officer once...then he disappeared."

"He goes to jail. They wait for him to get out, then whack!" Gunn made a chopping motion at his right wrist. "Wolfram & Hart gives his hand to Lindsey. I guess they really want to give their boy everything."

That evening, Tara closed the front door. She turned away with a vial in her hand. She walked away from the door, into the living room. "Okay. Warning spell's all set."

Katrina was sitting on the sofa. Dawn sat on the chair, reading.

"So that's it? We're all protected up for the night?" Katrina asked.

"Well, i-it's probably not as good as Amy could do."

"So, when she gets back from class, I'll ask her to bulk up the spell a little, and we can go do a quick patrol."

"So, guys, if this is a real slumber party, where's the pizza?" Dawn asked.

Tara smiled. "Coming right up. Extra everything?"

Dawn grinned. "Fuck yeah. Especially the anchovies."

Tara made a face and looked at Katrina. "Two pizzas."

Katrina nodded enthusiastically.

Cordelia was sitting at her desk with her head buried in her arms, sniffling, as Kate and Gunn peeked in through a crack in the door. They carefully pulled the door shut again and stepped away from it.

"Is it me, or are these vision hangovers getting longer and longer?" Kate pointed to her head. "It's like she can't rest in there until it's done."

"I know. She inherited these visions from Doyle, but he was half-demon. I'm not sure the human body can carry..." Gunn paused. "Last year, a demon unleashed a slew of these visions on her. She wound up in a hospital, out of her mind."

"Oh." Kate paused. "Well, she's been a little cranky lately, but it's not like she's-"

"Angel? Where are you? I-I can't..." Cordelia paused. "Are you there?"

Gunn and Kate looked at each other.

"Crazy?" Gunn asked.

They looked towards the door.

Cordelia, phone in hand, jumped as they suddenly kicked her door open.

"What was that?" Angel asked.

Cordelia exhaled. "Nothing. I'm fine. It's just Gunn and Kate playing with the doors." She looked at them. "I'm trying to work here. Okay. We'll wait here."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Angel asked her.

"I'm fine. Just...get it done."

In SoHo, Manhattan, Kennedy was laying on her bed in her large bedroom in her family's mansion. She was naked, and she wasn't alone. Emma was with her, equally naked. Emma was laying on her back with her head on Kennedy's pillow. Kennedy was laying between Emma's spread legs and eagerly eating Emma's pussy.

Emma moaned in pleasure. "Oh, that's it, sweetie. Just like that."

Kennedy took a very quick break from licking her girlfriend's pussy in order to speak. "Quiero lamerte hasta que te vengas en mi boca mil veces." That she resumed licking her.

"Oh, God, I'm gonna cum!" Emma exclaimed.

Seconds later, Emma had a massive orgasm and started squirting cum. Kennedy opened her mouth wide and drank it, determined to not let any of it go to waste. Emma's orgasm subsided. Kennedy moved up, lay on top of Emma, and kissed her on the lips. Emma tasted her own cum on Kennedy's lips and gently licked her lips clean.

Kennedy stared down at Emma and smiled. "I love you."

Emma smiled. "I love you, too."

Kennedy got off Emma and lay down next to her. The two of them snuggled together.

Kennedy licked Emma's neck. "I can stay like this all night."

Emma smiled. "Hmmm, me, too. But don't you have-"

Kennedy's cell phone started ringing.

Kennedy groaned. "Fuck! I forgot!"

"Wanna blow it off?" Emma suggested.

"Then he'll come here and lecture me." Kennedy groaned, got out of bed, and started getting dressed. She winked at Emma. "Besides, I'm not really much for the blowing."

Buffy was still sitting on the rock. She hugged her arms and shivered, then let her head drop and her eyes close.

There was a noise like an owl hooting. Buffy jerked awake and sighed. There was a fire burning nearby.

Buffy sat up. "Hello? Who's there?"

On the other side of the fire, Buffy saw the black woman that she remembered from her shared dream with the others. Buffy stared at her through the flames, which sometimes obscured her entirely.

"I know you. You're the first Slayer."

"This is a form. I am the guide."

"I have a few questions...about being the Slayer. What about...love?"

"You think you're losing your ability to love."

"I-I didn't say that." Buffy sighed. "Yeah."

"You're afraid that being the Slayer means losing your humanity."

"Does it?"

"You are full of love. You love with all of your soul. It's brighter than the fire...blinding. That's why you pull away from it."

Buffy was surprised. "I'm full of love? I'm not losing it?"

"Only if you reject it. Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain. Love...give...forgive. Risk the pain. It is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift."

Buffy paused. "What? I-I'm sorry, I-I'm just a little confused. I'm full of love, which is nice, and...love will lead me to my gift?"

"Yes."

"I'm getting a gift? Or - Or do you mean that - that I have a gift to give to someone else?"

"Death is your gift."

"Death..."

"...is your gift."

Buffy grew angry. "Okay, no. Death is not a gift. I know this. My mother just fucking died. If I have to kill demons, because it makes the world a better place, then I kill demons, but it's not a gift to anybody."

"Your question has been answered."

She, as well as the fire, disappeared. All that were left were cold gray rocks and sand. Buffy frowned in confusion.

Later, Angel walked up to Cordelia. "How is everything in your head?"

"What?"

"Any vision aftermaths?"

Cordelia took a deep breath. "I-It's better."

Kate could tell something was wrong. "What?"

"It's just...they're starting to take their toll." Cordelia shrugged and gave them a smile. "It's part of the job, right?"

No one said anything.