[Reviews - 66]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2169 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Buffy other but no really togetherness for them, just implied......
CHAPTER TWO


Las Vegas May 13th 9 a.m.

Andrew looked at his watch and realized it was 5 PM in London. He pulled out his cell phone, hoping to reach Giles at the office before he left. He just hated to catch the man at home with the news he had to deliver.

He couldn't help but think, "Well, at least I don't have to be the one to call Buffy."

Rhonda Stone had called him 30 minutes ago with the news. Seemed the Los Angeles based slayer had been trying to call him since early that morning, but for some reason his phone had not picked up any of the messages. She had finally remembered he was stopping off in Vegas, at the Pink Flamingo, for a little R & R before returning to London. He had an emergency to attend to in San Francisco concerning a watcher and slayer dispute.

"When are they going to realize that it's all about team work?" He mumbled, not realizing he sounded a bit like Giles.

He had been enjoying his time in Rome when he had gotten the call from Giles to attend to the issues in San Fran. He was pretty sure it was really the fact Buffy, Nick and Dawn wanted me out of the way. But he didn't ask as Dawn drove him to the airport, having packed his bags for him, smiling the entire time saying, "Sorry to see you go Andrew, was a real treat, but work, work, work. We have to keep the world safe you know."

"Well, a watcher's work is never done." He sighed as he dialed the head of the watcher's council.

*******

London May 13th 5 p.m.

Giles glared at the phone as it rang, wishing it would just disappear at least until tomorrow. He continued to gather his things, ignoring the annoying ringing, wanting to go home and call it a night. He’d spent the entire day trying to work out a training schedule that worked for the different instructors and students.

"Giles, Mr. Giles." Andrew's voice sounded upset as his voice came over the answering machine, "Please, Mr. Giles, pick up the phone if you’re there."

Rupert rolled his eyes and wondered what poor excuse of an emergency the boy was calling about now. "I'm here Andrew, what is the matter?" he asked as he picked up the phone.

"Were you ignoring me or just the phone?" Andrew squeaked.

Giles reached up, pinched the bridge of his nose, and then took a deep breath before replying, "I was on my way home Andrew, now what is the big emergency that has you frantically calling here?"

"Are you sitting down, but then maybe you aren’t the one who needs to sit down…now Buffy would need to sit down, but then maybe not since she’s with Nick now, and all," Andrew babbled.

The lead watcher bit his tongue to keep from voicing his lack of patience with the younger man's ramblings. "Could you get to the point, Andrew?"

"Oh, yeah…well I just got a call from Rhonda in L.A., you know the slayer we left in charge to watch Angel and his gang since we found out that he was working for evil law.com. I have to say that I am surprised, well maybe not surprised after thinking about it."

Giles being tired, hungry, and just ready to go home lost his patience. "Honestly, please get to the point, if there is a point to all of this."

"Oh, sorry…it seems Angel and his gang…well they're dead, if you can call Angel dead. Something about trying to go behind Wolfram and Hart's back and try to take control, Angelus returning and wanting to use their resources so he could take over the world." Andrew wondered to himself if Spike was involved, and if so, to what extent.

Giles grew silent, his thoughts going to Buffy, wondering how this news was going to affect her. It had taken a lot of convincing to get her to believe that Angel was no longer trustworthy, well at least until they found out more about his involvement with the evil law firm. "I see, well, keep me informed. Maybe you should make a special trip to L.A. and investigate this further."

"Sure, boss, I’ll get right to it," Andrew started, but unable to finish since the older watcher hung up the phone on him. "Well, he shouldn’t be the one involved in training phone etiquette to the newbies."

Andrew had kept all reports about the leather-wearing, blonde, hunk of a vampire out of all the L.A. Slayer's reports all these months for Spike's sake. He knew and understood where the vampire was coming from with wanting to keep Buffy from knowing he was alive for now. He didn't think it was going to fair well for the Sunnydale Champion when Miss Summers did find out, especially the part about how long Spike had been back.

He regretted not telling Buffy of Angel and Spike's visit. He felt at the time it was the last thing Buffy needed, having Spike's resurrection sprung on her, on top of a Spike and Angel doing their 'who loves you more' and 'you love me more than him,' competitions.

The watcher couldn't help but think, "Well, it seemed logical at the time to imply she loved them both but had moved on."

Andrew still never really fully understood why he had said that to both the vampy boys. His statement made Angel cry like a baby, and had him mumbling about baking cookies and someone eating said cookies. Spike expression was first a sad acceptance and then shocked as he watched his grandsire crumple before him.

The newly appointed watcher was now somewhat happy that maybe it was for the best that Buffy didn't know Spike had come back, only for him to die again. Only this time possibly, on the wrong side of good and evil. He found it hard to believe that the blonde vamp had turned evil. Sadly, he had heard the report that a blonde male fitting Spike's description had been seen fighting beside Angel as part of his gang.

Andrew called and made airline reservations that would get him into L.A. that evening. He planned on stopping by Spike's apartment and making sure there were no mistakes concerning his involvement with Angel/Angelus uprising silently praying to himself, 'Please Spike, be there and tell me it's all a mistake.'

In his gut, he knew it was Spike, and that somehow his friend had been seduced over to the dark side. "Just like Luke's father tried to bring him over to the ways of the Sith, well except young Skywalker was able to ward off the dark evil and stay in the light, Spike didn't." Andrew reasoned the only way he knew how.

*******

Rome May 13 6:30 p.m.

Buffy and Dawn planned tonight as a movie night, since Nick was away on a business trip and would return the next evening. It gave them some sister bonding time.

Dawn had gone up to take a nap not too long ago, and she was left with the job of setting everything up, instead of taking a little nap herself, feeling unusually tired for some reason. She jumped when the phone rang and a feeling of dread came over her.

"Damn Slayer intuition." She muttered to herself as she reluctantly reached for the phone saying, "Hello."

"Buffy, it's me, Giles." The sound of his voice told her he called to give her some bad news.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she sighed.

"Buffy, is Dawn or Nick there?" he asked, this time his words telling her whatever news he had it was really bad.

"Dawn is, Nick is out on business. Why?" She felt her knees weaken. "Has something happened to Willow or Xander?"

"No, nothing has happened to either of them. But could you have Dawn come down and join you?"

"Giles, you’re scaring me."

"Please, Buffy, call Dawn to join you." The sternness to his voice telling her he would not continue unless she complied and called her sister down.

"Fine, hold on." Buffy placed the receiver to her chest and yelled, "Dawn! I need you to come down here, please."

She felt her heart begin to speed up as she waited for her sister to come downstairs. "Dawn, did you hear me?"

"Yeah, I heard you." Dawn rubbed her eyes as she came down the stairs giving her sister a look that said, 'this had better be good'.

"Dawn, Giles is on the phone and I think he has bad news." Buffy returned the phone to her ear and spoke softly, "Okay, Dawn's here and I warned her it's not good news."

Dawn's heart began to race as she moved closer to her sister, taking her hand as she began to think. 'Just when things were looking up, bam, and shit again hits the fan.'

Giles closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Buffy, I have sent Andrew to L.A. to find out more about it."

"Get to the point Giles, please," Buffy whispered as she squeezed her sister's hand tighter. With the mention of L.A., she had an idea it was concerning Angel.

"It appears that Angelus may have returned and tried to take over Wolfram and Hart in order to take over the world." Giles hated to be the one to tell Buffy this news.

"Where is Angel, I mean Angelus, now?" Buffy asked, her voice wavering.

Dawn eyes grew big as she prayed that her sister would not have to deal with taking down the vampire who had been her first love. Not now, just when she's finally getting over the Spike thing. "Now this has to happen, damn vampire assholes." She fumed quietly, not wanting to make things harder on Buffy.

"Angelus is dead, as are the rest of his people it would seem," Giles sighed. "That would mean Wesley and the others were involved as well."

"Are you sure about all of this?" Buffy asked as she started to cry.

"That’s why Andrew is going there himself to get more detailed information," Giles answered, wishing he were there in person instead of telling her this over the phone.

"Please let me know what you find out," Buffy started feeling dizzy and needing to lie down. "I'm going to hang up now.

"Okay, I will let you know something as soon as I know…I'm sorry, Buffy. I know how much you wanted to believe he was doing something good by working there."

Buffy stiffened and her voice hardened. "We don't know everything yet. Goodbye," she said before hanging up.

Dawn stood quietly waiting for Buffy to tell her the details of what was going on. She wished Nick were here, so her sister would have him to lean on. The one thing she was glad about with Nick's involvement with them was he cared about making sure Buffy was happy and safe.

"Dawn, Giles doesn’t have all the details, but it would seem that Angelus returned and was going to take over the world by using Wolf and whoever." Buffy looked out the window, wondering what else could go wrong. "Seems he and his gang were taken out by the partners or something…Andrew is on his way now to L.A. to get more information."

The tall brunette moved closer to her sister and said, "I'm sorry about Angel."

Buffy stiffened as she pulled slightly away. "Well, we don't know everything, yet, so maybe it's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be."

"Maybe," Dawn agreed, feeling hurt that again Buffy was pulling away from her.

"Well, I'm tired and I'm going to try to get some sleep. See you in the morning," Buffy stated as she let go of her sister's hand and moved quickly to the stairs.

Dawn watched her sister until she was no longer visible, listening as she opened up her bedroom door and then close it shut before going to the phone to try to call Nick's cell phone number.

"Hello," a deep accented male voice answered.

"Nick, its me Dawn."

"Hello, Sweet One," Nick said as he wondered what would have Buffy's sister calling his cell. "How is my Bella? Getting ready for movie night?"

Dawn wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing, but she felt she had to do something. "Nick, Buffy had some bad news today. Seems Angel may have gone evil and is dead now. We're waiting for more information to confirm it either way."

Nick sighed. "Where is she now?"

"Upstairs in her bedroom."

"Little one, don’t let her know you called. I will be home soon and will come over to see her tomorrow," he promised.

"Okay, Nick….just be careful."

"I will see you tomorrow, now go and get some rest yourself, little one," he calmly instructed.

"Okay, until tomorrow," Dawn replied right before she hung up the phone. She felt much better after calling him, knowing he would be here tomorrow and would be here for Buffy. She always thought it funny he would call her little one, when she was taller than Buffy.

"But he calls her Bella. Wish I had someone to call me Bella." She sighed, wishing Buffy would appreciate what Nick did for her.

*******

Nick felt an urge to hurt something come over him. He had hoped to be there when Buffy heard the news about Angel. It angered him when he realized that for some reason she must have been monitoring the damn pain in the ass vampire behind his back. They had discussed the vampire's interference in her life when she had found out he had someone watching her. She promised him that she was not going to worry about her ex-lover, just concentrate on her future.

"I will not let the Slayer slip through my fingers." He chuckled as he reminded himself the reason he was with Buffy to begin with. "She will be very useful for when it's time for me to take over the world."

He was glad she never found out about Spike, but now with his death on record, he didn't care if she found out or not. If she learned he'd had come back, it would make it easier to manipulate her through her grief, and become more dependent on him.

*******

London May 13th 7 p.m.

Giles sat at home with a glass of scotch in his hand. He had just hung up from talking with Willow who had called Xander prior to tell them of Angel's supposedly turning evil and of his demise. The next call he figured was going to be the hardest, and he needed time to recoup. Other than Buffy, this news would hit Faith the hardest. She had developed some ties with Angel and his group.

Xander had taken the news without a tear, only saying, "And this surprises you about Dead Boy?"

There had been no love lost between Harris or the brooding vampire, who had lost his soul before and created havoc in their lives in the past. The older watcher felt comfort in the fact that one other person had felt toward Angel as he did- unforgiving hatred. Xander had also expressed his understanding and agreement after hearing of his and Wood's attempt to kill Spike that dreadful night.

Now Willow was a different story- she had ripped him up one side and down another, when she had found out about it after leaving Sunnydale behind. Reminding him of her evil past, and the fact she did have a soul at the time. That with the help of the coven and her friends she was able to reform and became good again.

She also explained they should not have judged Spike for what The First had programmed him to do. Especially since when it came down to killing Buffy, he had chosen to save her instead. Then he gave up his existence on earth, to close the Hellmouth for good. For how do you really kill someone who's already dead?

Tonight she had heard the happiness hidden in his voice concerning Angel's death and had called him on it. Telling him that he had better not have even hinted any of these thoughts to Buffy, and had better not in the future. Telling him if he wanted to mend the wrongs between him and his slayer, he had better keep his true feelings to himself and not in any way gloat about them. She had even gone so far to inform him she was going to issue the same warning to Xander and Robin.

Deep down he knew that Willow was right, that the only way for Buffy to get over this was not to make it personal. To let her find closure he needed to support her and be a friend. His concern was that she might never let him get close to her again.

He was surprised when he had heard Buffy had become involved with the Immortal. There had been whispers that he was secretly working for evil, but could never find anything or anyone that would say anything definitive or substantial. He had met him once on his last visit to Rome and found him to be a good influence on both Buffy and Dawn. But couldn't remember how he came to feel that way.

The scotch was having its usual effect, as he felt relaxed to make his last call to Cleveland before retiring for the night. The news was going to hit home to the Cleveland slayer hard. She held a special place for Angel in her heart as well. It was a good thing that Robin was going to be there for Faith and she was no longer alone. He knew tomorrow was going to be full of his usual activities, and now with all of this on top of it, well his day was going to be stressful to say the least.

*******

Africa May 13th 9 p.m.

Xander sat and looked out into the night. Since coming to Africa, he had learned more about evil than he cared to know. All this time he was sure the Witchdoctors where truly a product of Hollywood film industries overactive imagination. Lately, he found that they truly did exist and so far, they were all were evil.

His first night looking for a new Slayer, his last report had her in a small village in Kenya, brought him in contact with Morobee. The man was the leader of a tribe of what he called devil worshippers, who had just sacrificed the newly produced Slayer. The tribe wise man had said he could feel the power inside her that would destroy them and what they believed in. It had been a pleasure killing the man.

Hearing that Angel had indeed turned evil and died trying to take over the world made him a happy man, but yet leery. He couldn't help but think the undead had a way of coming back when you thought he was finally in Hell to stay.

"Hell kicked him out once before," he mumbled to no one but himself.

He knew he would not be able to face Buffy for a while. Knowing his hatred of Dead Boy would far exceed his ability to keep his mouth shut on the subject of the bastard being truly evil, as they had suspected. He was expecting a phone call from Willow telling him the same thing. She would tell him to keep all contact with Buffy to only as needed and vampire subject free. Especially avoid talking about vampires with souls that she had intimate connections.

His need to be in Africa was about to end. There was only one more new slayer to contact, and then he would be returning to England for some R & R. This village was on the coastal region and one of the guides had told him strong magic existed there. Various sources told him a demon that could give you your hearts desire lived there and held trials to see if you were worthy to receive such a gift.

It was time for him to retire; he would be leaving early in the morning for the coast. He hoped that he would hear the great news of Angel's demise come this time tomorrow. This was the one time he wished he had Andrew's job. He would love being the one to be able to find the truth that Angel was evil all along.

*******





You must login (register) to review.