Cordelia and Gunn trudged up the walkway to their apartment building, dirty and tired, followed by Willow, Oz, Xander and Anya. Wesley, grateful for the opportunity to see his wife, Chelsea, took Giles, Spike, and Faith with him.
“Ok…so we’re all in agreement. Couple hours sleep, some showers, then back to the woods, right?” Gunn asked as he unlocked their apartment door.
His question was met only with weary nods as they walked inside and one by one collapsed onto the furniture. Anya seemed to fall asleep before her head hit the luxurious cushion of their love seat.
Gunn grinned. “Right. See ya.” Cordelia followed him back into their bedroom and fell onto their bed, snuggling up on her pillow.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired. But I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep,” she mumbled as Gunn joined her on the bed.
“No?” he asked, pulling her to him and snuggling her in the crook of his arm.
“No,” she repeated. “I’m worried. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Gunn closed his eyes and felt the pull of sleep. “Angel will figure out something. We’ll figure out something.”
“But that’s just it!” she whispered. “Angel’s gone…to do God knows what. And Gunn…you’ve never seen Angelus.”
His eyes came open. “Never seen ‘im? I beg to differ. Remember the Shroud? Five, six years ago?”
She rolled her eyes. “That was nothing. You’ve heard the stories. The legend of Angelus, it’s all true. It’s worse, actually. He will kill us. All of us. But first he’ll play a rousing game of Terrorize Anyone and Everyone I Ever Cared About.”
He hugged his wife to his side reassuringly. “It’s not going to come to that. He ain’t even turned. And he’s not going to be. We’ll figure out how to change back Buffy.”
She opened her eyes and arched her neck to stare up at him. “What if we don’t? What if something goes wrong? Imagine what vampire Buffy and Angelus could do…together.”
Gunn glanced at her worriedly but said nothing. Stroking her hair he kissed her forehead. “Try to get some sleep. We gotta go in a while,” he told her, a new fear entering his mind.
***
Angel took a breath and stepped through the portal to find himself in a sophisticated living area decorated in ornate gold and burgundy furnishings. Low-lit lamps cast a glow in each corner of the room, a comfortable couch flanked with giant pots of Asian ferns sat against a brick wall. Soft music was being piped in from somewhere.
He took a step in, noting his surroundings, his senses working overtime.
“You’ve changed the room since I was last here,” he said to the man in the shadows.
The man stepped forward, his face lit by a giant sconce on the wall next to him. “I have. Completely feng shui. You like?”
Angel’s eyes didn’t leave the man’s face.
“I see. You’re not here to discuss home décor, more’s the pity. I haven’t seen you in years…or is it days? It’s so hard to tell down here. Why are you here?” the man asked, crossing to him.
“I’m here to collect on a favor.”
“A favor. Hmm. And what is this favor for?”
“You know,” Angel told him testily.
The man circled behind him, thinking. “Another friend?”
Angel sighed and turned to face him. “I need the favor, and I need to go. Now.”
The man tsked. “No one wants to have conversation anymore. It’s all rush, rush, rush these days.” At the darkening of Angel’s eyes the man continued. “So, you need to collect on your favor. Where is the recipient?”
Angel glanced around uneasily. “She’s not here. I need you to come with me.”
The man laughed. “Come with you? I cannot. It’s not done.”
“It is now,” Angel growled. “I don’t have time for games. You have to come. You owe me.”
The man stared at him evenly, considering. “It’s never been done.”
“I don’t--”
“But that’s not to say it can’t be done,” the man interjected quickly. “I do owe you a favor. I did not put conditions on the favor. She meets the requirements?”
Angel nodded curtly, glaring.
The man sighed. “Very well. But you must tell me the details first.”
Angel grabbed the man’s arm. “On the way.”
***
Faith and Spike, never ones to sleep much, especially at night, wandered the streets of Los Angeles together, partly hoping to find a fight, partly hoping to clear their heads.
“This is really where I should be livin’,” Spike muttered, dragging harshly on an ever-present Marlboro Red.
Faith glanced at him, uninterested. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
He snorted. “You’ve lived in the ‘Dale. Nightlife leaves a bit to be desired, if you know what I mean. Here you’ve got…action…adventure…all-night coffee bars. Home’s boring.”
She grinned half-heartedly, looking around, her senses alert. “I do remember that. But a coupla years in the pokey will change your perspective on things.” As she spoke two vampires jumped down from a fire escape and she and Spike quickly moved into battle.
Spike looked interested as he blocked a punch. “What’s your deal? They don’t tell me anything,” he called to her as she kicked the legs out from underneath the vampire she was fighting.
She looked at him uneasily and stomped a foot down on the chest of her vampire, now flat on his back. “Killed a guy. Went crazy, got redemption, went to jail. Got sprung,” she ticked off each event on long fingers.
“Quite a checkered past,” Spike grinned appreciatively, grabbing the vampire by the jacket and twirling him in a circle before letting go. The vampire spun into the alley wall and sunk to the ground.
Faith retrieved a stake from the waistband of her pants. “My past is more of a plaid…what about you? Vampire and all…no soul…but a good guy? I don’t buy it.” With grace she bent down and staked the vampire then bounced up, turning back to him.
“You don’t buy it, but you’re out here with me now?” he asked, tearing away his gaze, however appreciative, from her rump.
She grinned. “Helps when you’ve got Vampire Slayer on your business cards.”
“Yeah…I guess it does. Ya see, I had this chip in my head…messed me up good. I was the sorriest excuse for a vampire you ever saw. I’ll admit it now. Stupid soldier boy and his mates plugged me up good. So I went the way of the Scooby,” he lamented, casually stepping back and dusting the vampire he had been fighting.
“And now?” she encouraged as they continued to stroll.
“De-chipped. But I have a thing for Ms. Summers. Or I did…for lil’ sis. I failed her…she died because of me,” he muttered.
“Dawn? She didn’t die because of you. She died because some crazy hell-bitch made Sunnydale her summer home.”
Spike looked into her brown eyes. “I told the Slayer I’d protect the munchkin and I didn’t. When you don’t accomplish something you set out to do, that’s called failure.”
“So you got your tubes untied but you’re playing by the rules now,” she said, easily changing the seriousness the conversation had taken on.
“I’m still the baddest,” he countered.
She glanced at him sideways. “Sure you are.”
“I am. I’d kick your ass right here and drink you down if I wanted to.”
“I believe you.”
“Dine on your innards, if I liked innards…make wine of your blood. Appetizers of your eyeballs.”
“Okay.”
“I would. I’ve killed two Slayers in my time. They call me William the bloody Bloody!”
“That’s nice.”
“I’m called Spike ‘cause I used to like to skewer my victims with railroad spikes,” he said desperately.
“Gross.”
“I’m evil!”
“Okay.”
They walked a few feet further and he glanced at her.
“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?”
“Oh no…not at all.”
***
The phone rang, waking Cordelia, and the brunette groped for the phone through the fog of sleep that was still trying to claim her.
“’ello?” she mumbled.
“Cordy, get up. We’ve got to get back to the mansion,” came Angel’s hurried voice.
“Huh?” She opened one eye and struggled to focus on the green LED reading of her alarm clock. “Angel, it’s three in the morning. I don’t come in for another six…oh. Oh!” she exclaimed, remembering. “Yeah, ok…I’m up…we’ll be there in a while.”
“Make it quick,” Angel told her and hung up.
“Nice talking to you,” she grumbled and turned to wake Gunn but found the bed empty. “Does no one sleep anymore?”
Wrapping herself in her robe she walked out into the living room to find Anya open-mouthed on the loveseat, comfortably snoozing on a throw pillow. Voices from the kitchen indicated Gunn and Xander’s location.
“Hey…was that Angel on the phone?” Gunn asked as she adjusted her eyes to the light.
“Uh…yeah. Yeah. We need to get up and moving, back to the mansion,” she informed them, yawning, plopping down in a kitchen chair.
“Castle,” Xander corrected, wrapping his hands around a mug of coffee. “I guess he found what he needed?”
She shrugged, waking up. “I guess so. Did you guys get showers already?” The men nodded and she stood up again. “Guess I’ll get going then. Someone want to try and get Anya to stop drooling on my leather couch?”
Xander straightened. “On it,” he said.
“I’ll call Wesley and the others, get them up and ready,” Gunn volunteered and the three sleepily parted ways.
***
An hour and a half later the cars pulled down the long and winding road that would lead them to the woods just east of the mansion. Angel was already there, pacing as they drove up.
“Where have you been?” he asked them.
“Gee boss, with that notice you gave us, not to mention the three hours of sleep we all got…” Cordelia drawled.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “But we’ve got to get inside. Daylight will be here soon.”
Spike raised his hand. “Here’s a question. What’s the plan?”
“Yes,” Anya chimed in grumpily. “Did you get what you needed and how much danger will it be putting us in?”
Angel ignored her. “I got what I needed. It should work. Here’s the deal.”
The group crowded around him listening intently.
Angel looked around. “To start with…some of you may have a problem with the plan…”
“Oh boy,” Xander said, letting out a deep breath. “You so have to work on your presentation. Starting out a pre-battle speech like that? Not winning over the audience…or the cavalry. Or whatever we are.”
Angel spared him a glance. “Ok…so…here’s the plan…”
***
“He’s almost here,” Buffy murmured as she stood, looking out of a window.
“You can feel him?” Rebecca asked.
Buffy nodded absently, staring out into the night. “I didn’t think I’d be able to...now.”
“You knew love before you were turned. You’re capable of it now,” Rebecca reminded her.
“Yeah…what’s going to happen to him?” she asked, turning to face the Watcher.
Rebecca considered. “If all goes according to plan he’ll come in here, guns blazing, and try to force us to change you back. We won’t, of course…and then Darla will change him.”
“Why Darla?”
Rebecca looked surprised at the question. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. But that part is her plan, not mine.”
Buffy looked pensive for a moment but only. “And then he’ll be a general in your army, right? What about me?”
Rebecca gave her a motherly smile. “You’re a key element, Buffy. Don’t let Darla make you believe otherwise. I figure Angelus’ change will help you decide what you want to do.”
Buffy stared at her for a moment before turning back to the window. “Yeah…”
***
The Scoobies broke into their assigned groups, a little more apprehensive than they had been moments earlier before Angel finished telling them the plan, before they had shouted and argued with him, before Cordelia began to cry. Before Giles’ jaw became set and Wesley closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. Before Anya and Xander began to hug each other and called home to talk to their children. Before Angel took Spike to the side and they had a heated argument that ended with Spike’s bowed head and a handshake.
Chapter Fourteen: Turn of Events
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