Title: Rooks and Pawns
Author: DamnSkippy
Posted: 07-02-2003
Email: damnskippytoo@gmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Category: Post Season 4 – Angst, Humor
Content: C/A
Summary:
Spoilers: Just everything so far!
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Anywhere, but please let me know, k?
Notes: This is my version of Loveangel’s Challenge. For those who want to read the fic without preconceptions, I’ll put challenge as a spoiler. Cordy is still in a coma but the PTBs send her a vision. She must communicate the vision to the FG somehow to save the victim who is somehow connected to how she can be brought back. No Spike!
Feedback: Duh.
Thanks/Dedication:Act IV
Scene 1
“Here we come to save the day...” Lorne was singing his ever-lovin’ Mighty Mouse heart out from the back seat of Angel’s sleek, black behemoth. Angel was driving, of course, and Wesley was shotgun. They could’ve been in any of a dozen cars at Angel’s disposal, but Angel only drove this one. It was the last car Cordy had been in and he could still smell her here.
“I really don’t want to be joining Dennis anytime soon, Angelicious. Cordy will still be there if we go...oh, say...95 miles per hour instead of 120.” Lorne was having difficulty sipping much less keeping the pink liquid inside the glass until he could.
Angel wasn’t listening. He just needed to drive and get to her. He needed it badly. So it took some time for Wesley to finally get his attention after several attempts at yelling and tugging on his arm.
“Angel, stop!! We’re going the wrong way. Angel!” Finally the single-minded vamp turned to see where the annoyance was coming from and saw Wesley frantically pointing at his cell phone and signaling to pull over.
Angel did slow, but he refused to stop. “What? What is it?”
“Fred is on the phone. We have to go to the Valley to save a little girl. Cordy had a vision.”
“So, call for the back-up team and get them out there. I’m going to Cordy.” Angel pushed the accelerator all the way to the floorboard. Wesley almost lost his cell phone from the unexpected g-force. When he righted himself again, he slapped Angel’s arm and signaled once again for him to stop. Damn convertibles. Can’t even hear yourself think.
When Angel slowed enough for Wesley’s voice to project over the wind, he explained, “Cordy said you had to be there. To save the little girl. If you don’t, Cordy can’t come back.”
Angel stared confused. “What? Why?”
“She didn’t know exactly why. Just that the vision made it clear you had to be there and that it would help her get back.”
Angel growled in frustration. “God dammit! Where is this girl?”
“In the Valley. Hop over to Hollywood and get on the 101,” Wes instructed as he began to dial the offices.
“Uh, maybe you could just drop me off at the nearest corner, and I’ll call Keanu to pick me up. I’m sure he’s not busy.” Lorne hadn’t bargained on fighting anything tougher than a hangover in the near future.
“No time to stop,” Angel yelled. “If you want out, you’ll have to jump.” Since Lorne had left his jumping out of a moving convertible crash gear in his other pants, he decided to stay put.
Wesley had called in for back-up just in case. If this was as vital as Fred made it sound to getting Cordelia back, they should be fully prepared to succeed. He glanced at Angel and could see his anger at having to wait, once again, to be with her.
“Angel, it won’t be long. Just remember, this is for Cordy as well as this little girl. This is what we do.” It wasn’t meant to be an admonishment, and Wes hoped he didn’t take it that way. He wasn’t sure if Angel’s nod was agreement or acceptance, but it really didn’t matter. Either way, they were accelerating up the entrance ramp, racing to save two lives now...both innocent.
Scene 2
The small, two-bedroom home at 5455 Bellingham appeared quiet and settled in for the evening. From their vantage point across the street the two W&H investigators wouldn’t have given the place a second glance under normal circumstances. But inside they knew what was about to unfold. Screams and ripping sounds...blood... cold claws and jagged incisors...blood...slices of discarded skin plastered against pink walls...blood...desperate wails of agonized begging...blood...shredded, limp bodies...blood...death.
Fred didn’t know why, but usually they didn’t have a lot of time to think about these things before a rescue. The sequence of events were mostly vision, grab weapons, race, race, race, get there in the nick of time, slaughter, tacos. The thinking about it was never a good thing. Which is why she babbled at times like these.
“How long do you think it’ll take ‘em to get here? It shouldn’t be long, right? There wasn’t much traffic, thank, God. I mean what if there’d been a twenty-car pile up and we’d got stuck in it? I don’t even want to think about what woulda happened then. You don’t think there was an accident after we got here and maybe they’re stuck in it right now? Because if Angel doesn’t get here, how’s Cordy gonna get back? She said he had to be here to help her, and I don’t think I can take it if we almost get her back and then just don’t for somethin’ as stupid as somebody’s tire blowin’ out. Because that just wouldn’t be right. Not at all. Or maybe Angel’s in such a hurry to get here he runs over a dog or a cat and the PTBs just say, ‘okay forget it buddy, you just can’t go killin’ innocent animals to save a human, so no Cordy,’ because that wouldn’t be fair either. I mean it’s not like he’d be runnin’ over one on purpose or anything...”
Gunn was on the edge. Man, oh, man. I can’t believe I thought this shit was cute. “Fred! Shut up, all right? I’m trying to concentrate here. We’re supposed to be looking out for a pretty powerful demon which I cannot do with you talking constantly. Now, they’ll be here any minute. Just stay here and wait for them. I’m going to check out the perimeter.”
He reached around and snatched his ax from the back seat. Quietly opening the door, he slid out smoothly, gently closing it without making a sound. All his precautions to surprise anything skulking were dashed as Fred called out behind him, “Charles, be careful.” He snarled at her stupidity but kept moving.
There wasn’t much use in crouching low to cross to the house because the streetlights made hiding in shadows impossible. So he walked upright, but on the balls of his feet, and scanned every dark corner as he strode, stealthily advancing toward the rear of the house.
He was sure the rear would be from where the attack would come. There wasn’t enough light behind the house to even see your hands in front of your face. There should be light pouring from the bedroom windows, but the occupants were evidently already asleep. If they only knew what was coming, the house would be ablaze. No one wants to die in the dark.
Gunn shivered at that thought. No, he didn’t want to die in the dark either. He wanted to face death eye to eye and spit in its face. Maybe it’d be tonight, but he didn’t think so. He had a job to do, and until that job was completed, he was pretty sure his butt was untouchable. After that, he didn’t really care as long as he could die fighting. Like a man.
Snap!
Gunn immediately crouched and jerked his head right to the sound. His eyes turned green, then gold and his irises reformed into vertical slits. In an instant he could see his surroundings in bright, shades of gray detail. He saw movement to his left. As he quickly searched the area, the wheel of a child’s bike turned slightly, disturbed by something unseen. Focusing his sight on the ground next to the tire, he tensed his muscles preparing himself to pounce the instant the creature appeared.
Scene 3
The little girl was tucked in and cradling her stuffed baby seal in her arms. She stared at the dancing shadows on the ceiling, cast by tree branches outside her side window. The man was crouching near the other window facing the backyard. He was more than a man, but not completely spoiled yet. The deed was still not done and the deal not consummated, so he was salvageable. The trouble was he didn’t want to be. Not yet.
Fala still had not decided how this evening would end for sure. But she did decide she would allow herself to be saved. Mostly for her mother’s sake even though in the soul sense, she wasn’t her mother. But her mother’s soul was important to her, and it was time for it to have some peace. The rest would depend on the actions of her rescuers. She had seen several ways this could play out, but many souls meant many decisions and many different outcomes. It was going to be a busy evening.
Closing her eyes, she sensed Nasulo was very close. She could smell the hell stench and hear his hisses.
She turned on Letterman in her head. Oh, good. Stupid pet tricks! Okay, so it was fun to pretend to be surprised some times.
Scene 4
“Oh, that is just not right. Did you see what that guy did with that lizard? Ewwww.” Cordy and Dennis were passing time with some Letterman, when suddenly Dennis turned off the set.
“Hey, I was watching that!”
“He’s home! You know, the guy who lives here and isn’t you. Bob the boob.” Dennis doused all the lights that he’d forgotten were on just as the key turned the lock and the door opened.
“Yeah, but he knows he’s got a ghost, so what’s the problem?” Even Soul Cordy could whine with the best of them.
“He hates it when he comes home and the TV’s on. It freaks him out, and I don’t want to hear it right now.”
Dennis had already told Cordy that Bob was thirty-seven, kind of short and not a babe magnet. He was also an accountant which Cordy figured didn’t help. When she saw him she thought Dennis had maybe been a bit harsh. He wasn’t handsome in a Hollywood way, but his face had character in a crazy Jack Nicholson way. And the fact that he was able to put up with Dennis, said he couldn’t be all bad.
Bob crossed immediately to the TV and felt that it was hot. “I thought I heard voices in here. I told you not to watch my TV when I’m gone. I’m the one who has to pay the power bill. Do you hear me, ghost?”
Ghost? Cordy was livid. Maybe he could be all bad. “He calls you ghost? He doesn’t even have the courtesy to ask you your name? What a jackass.”
Dennis could sense Cordy’s outrage and feelings of protectiveness and he loved her for it. “To be fair he did ask ‘who the hell are you’ early on when I was trying to get him to leave. But I never told him. He wasn’t nice and he wasn’t you.”
“Don’t worry. We’re going to get you out of here, and if we can’t then we’ll get this guy out of here and I’ll move back in. I won’t leave you again.”
“Fine, don’t respond, you idiot. If this happens one more time, I really will stop threatening and get that exorcist in here to evict you for good.” Bob slammed his briefcase down on the dining room table and stormed into the kitchen.
Cordy was sure her colorless, formless soul was turning red. It was time for some serious Chase payback. “Dennis? I’m in the mood for a little haunting extravaganza. You ready to party on this guy’s ass?”
She didn’t hear him respond, but she definitely felt the satisfied, wicked, boyish grin course through Dennis’s spirit. She hoped Bob had insurance.
Scene 5
Fred screamed, jumped and grabbed her chest. Turning around she saw Angel pounding on the window with Wesley and Lorne standing behind him. Pushing the button to roll it down, the first thing she did was slap his hand.
“Jesus, Angel, don’t do that. Terrified girl alone in a dark car here.”
“Sorry. Where’s Gunn and why are you here alone?”
“He left a little while ago to scope out the place. I was waitin’ on you guys to fill you in.” Fred unlocked the door and Angel opened it letting her out.
“Wesley already told us. Little girl about to get slaughtered. Evil demon, spiked tail, woozy eyes, requisite sharp claws and teeth. Got it.”
“Did he tell you about the speed and disappearing thing ‘cause Cordy said that was real important. We need to split up and surround it.”
At the sound of her name, Angel couldn’t help but lose focus for a moment. “Fred. Was it really her? Are you sure?” He searched her eyes in the dim streetlight for the truth.
Fred’s face lit up with the biggest smile she’d worn since...he couldn’t remember when. Her eyes glistened and danced as she said, “Hell, yeah! That was Cordelia Chase all right. Dennis wouldn’t have done that for anybody else. Besides she gave me a message for you. She said, quote, ‘Tell that dumbass, Angel...”
“Aaaaaaahhhhhh.”
The piercing scream of a terrified child set them racing into the dark.
Scene 6
Dammit! I wasted too much time. Angel stopped at the side window to the girl’s room and saw a pitch black, slithering, half-snake, half almost human entity advancing toward a petrified, trapped child. The problem was it was already inside the girl’s room and that was one place he couldn’t go without an invitation. All he could do was stand by and watch his friends try to subdue the monster.
The window behind the girl had already been crashed through and Gunn stood between her and the demon. He had the ax handle poised across his body to block the claws that swiped at him.
“Wes, Lorne. Go through the front door and enter her room behind it. Fred, go around back and try to get the girl out through the window.” They each took off running leaving Angel to stand and stare. The girl’s pleas for her mommy were making it difficult for him to concentrate. “Think, think!”
He saw Fred reach in the window trying to grab her. “C’mon, honey. Give me your hand”. But the girl only yelled louder, scrunched into a tighter ball and retreated further into the corner away from the strange arms.
Gunn wasn’t making much progress. The animal’s talons and tail were moving at amazing speeds and keeping Gunn on the defensive unable to do any damage. He’d heard Fred behind him. “Fred, where’s everybody else? This thing is not cooperating with my manly attempts to kill it.”
“Hang in there, Charles. Wes and Lorne should be here any second.”
The door to her room burst open. A woman of about thirty, dressed in a tank top and jogging shorts ran in. She screeched “Fala!” and reached towards the huddled girl in the corner but Nasulo’s deadly appendage blocked her. The girl heard her and yelled, “Mommy, mommy, mommy,” through her sobs.
“Not the rescue I was hopin’ for, but it’ll do.” The monster was momentarily distracted by the mother’s entrance which gave Gunn a chance to dodge a poorly executed right hook and ram the end of the ax handle under its chin forcing it to sway momentarily off balance.
Before Gunn could manage an arc of the ax, the demon recovered and easily deflected the assault. It aimed its spiked extremity at the intruding parent and lashed out. But it missed, attacking only air as Wesley’s arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her out of the room.
“Lorne, keep her out of here,” Wesley ordered as he passed the mother over to his care.
Lorne held onto the hysterical, kicking woman trying his best to keep her out of the fray. “Let’s go sweet cheeks. The men folk will take care of this.” The woman tried to bite and scratch her way free all the while protesting, “Let me go! Fala! Fala! I’ve got to get my daughter!”
Wesley shut the door after they were clear and brought his sword down attempting to strike at the perpetually shifting, impaling instrument. But no matter how swift his swing, he couldn’t make contact.
Gunn was facing a buzz saw of claws and fangs in the front. “Where the hell is Angel? Shouldn’t he be like helping or something?”
“He’s stuck outside. No invitation.” Wesley managed to eek out between attempted and missed blows.
Gunn growled at the stupidity of it. Worthless demon. I won’t miss his ass.
Fred had found something to put under the window to climb onto and was sliding through the opening to reach the girl.
It looked like a standstill. Gunn fending off blindingly fast nails and teeth on the left and Wesley playing miss the tail on the monster on the right. And then it disappeared. But just for an instant. It reappeared behind Gunn right next to Fred.
Fred screamed and fell into the room trapping the girl behind her. Gunn immediately pivoted and spun, pulling the ax with him to chop at its torso. The blade caused a slight breeze as it sliced through nothing. It had vanished again, but not before it managed to slice open Fred’s arm that she’d raised above her in self defense.
In a second, feral keening behind Wesley forced him to step toward Gunn. Now the two fighters were in a clump in the middle of the room while the demon kept vanishing and reappearing all around them. It had managed to keep them surrounded and apart from the now defenseless Fred and child.
Fred was bleeding badly, but she tried to get the little girl to scoot behind her and out the window. The frightened child had moved once but the entity had hissed at her and she cowered even lower.
Sensing his moment had come, it appeared in front of Fred. Swiping its sharp barbs at Gunn and Wesley as they tried to approach from behind, it kept them at bay while it lifted Fred up by her arms. Jagged pinchers clamped around her upper arms and tore at her skin. She yelped in agony but kept kicking desperately at its head and body never seeming to make contact.
Crash! Thwack!
At the same instant the window shattered, a dagger lodged in the demons neck. Enraged, red, scorching eyes sought the source of its pain.
Angel. His heaving body filled the window frame. Arms outstretched, deadly nails digging into the siding, yellow eyes flashing, ridged brow pulsating, baring fangs and roaring in frustrated rage. As close to the brink of Angelus as the soul could allow.
“Put. Her. Down.” He spat out the words with as much venom as he possessed.
It hesitated. The child. Must destroy the child. Like a bag of chips, it tossed Fred over its head. She flipped and tumbled into Wes and Gunn. All three were stunned and slid across the room stopping in a pile against the far wall. Sensing easy victory the black hands reached for the cowering child’s throat.
Thwack.
The blade of Angel’s hurling ax landed just below the home of his dagger. It whirled its body around and hissed in torment. Angel just stood his ground and forced it to lock gazes with him. In only took a few seconds for Angel to feel disoriented. His head began to loll back and forth, but he couldn’t blink and break contact with those red, mesmerizing orbs. They enveloped him with warmth and peace. All he wanted to do was be inside them.
It slunk closer and closer to the vampire. The trance was not difficult to maintain but it did require concentration. Especially with this one. The vampire had some hypnotic powers of his own. Nothing in comparison, but still a challenge.
Its snout was now only inches from Angel. It dragged a sharp hook down his chest, opening a fissure of spouting blood. Angel didn’t flinch. Too bad I don’t have more time. I would love to shred you inch by inch. Its tongue wisped out and gathered some of his blood to taste. Mmmmm...cold but refreshing on a warm day. Oh, well. I must go now and so must you.
Five razor edged claws extended while the spears of its tail impaled Angel’s side holding his body rigid for the final blow. Nasulo arched back to swipe at Angel’s throat...
There was a high-pitched howl filled with anticipation, rage and satisfaction and then...
The head separated from the body. Death was instantaneous.
Scene 7
The back-up, now clean-up, crew arrived six minutes after the final blow. Monster parts were stuffed in plastic containers already on route to the Wolfram and Hart labs for study. A white-gloved medic was stitching Fred’s numerous gashes while another cleaned the extremely deep, but already healing, puncture in Angel’s right side inflicted by Nasulo’s spike.
Angel couldn’t take his eyes from the woman and her daughter. The little girl was no longer crying or afraid which Angel attributed to shock. The mother, however, was clinging to the girl, trembling and mumbling something to herself so low even Angel couldn’t hear it. And her eyes bore into him like cannon fire.
He still wasn’t sure what had happened. The last thing he remembered was taunting the demon into a staring match. He’d hoped he could withstand the hypnosis and maybe even throw a little of his own mojo in that area back at it. At the very least, he wanted to lure it away from the girl and Fred and give someone an opening to kill it before it killed him. Apparently, the plan had succeeded but he still didn’t know how and by whom.
The medic pressed a little too hard taping the bandage to his side. The jab brought him back to the present and out of his mental cocoon.
“Who killed it?” It was a simple question but no one was coughing up an answer. Angel looked at his friends. They looked at each other and then back to him. Each one just shrugged.
“Gunn? What happened?” Angel thought it had to have been Gunn.
“I wish I knew. Last thing I saw was Fred’s boot coming straight at my head and then lights out, man.” Gunn tested the spot on his temple where the heel landed and winced in pain.
“Wesley, didn’t you see anything?”
“I’m afraid I was as in the dark as Gunn after my head connected with, I think, Fred’s shoulder or possibly very hard elbow. It all happened extremely fast and was mostly blurry.”
“Fred? Lorne?” He didn’t truly think either one had beheaded it, but who was left?
Fred just held up her bandaged arms and lamented, “I was too busy being flying head butt girl and member of the unconscious people pile in the corner. Sorry.”
Lorne, one hand on his hip and the other scratching the back of his neck just as confused as the rest chimed in. “You know me, Angel cakes. I’m a diva not a decapitator. We all thought you’d managed to do it.”
Angel was flummoxed. “I was apparently too busy being impaled and mesmerized to....”
“Kate did it.”
Angel turned his head to the voice with the answer. The girl. She had stepped away from her mother and was next to Angel. This close to her, he suddenly sensed an other-worldliness about her. Her icy blue eyes held the confidence and wisdom of more than one lifetime. He hadn’t had this kind of sensation since he’d looked into the eyes of the Oracles.
Whatever this girl was, he didn’t want anyone from Wolfram and Hart to know about her. Those people tended to like to dissect things. Gesturing to the medics and guys still picking up stray demon goop, he said, “Anyone not involved in the fight that just happened here get out. Now.” The crew looked at him strangely and hesitated. “Yes, you guys. Out. Now.”
After the room cleared and the flunkies were out of earshot, Angel turned to the girl. “Are you Kate?”
The child suddenly giggled and became eight years old again. “No, silly, I’m Fala” She pointed to her mother. “She’s Kate. Don’t you recognize your own sister, Liam?”
Liam? My sister? What the hell? I must still be hypnotized. I’m dead.
The little imp just giggled more at this thoughts. “No, you’re not dead. Look at her. Really look.”
Completely missing the fact that she had heard his thoughts, Angel turned his glance to the woman sitting on the edge of the bed. She was still shaking and mumbling, but that wasn’t all he noticed now. In her right hand, the one that had been hidden by the child’s body earlier during their embrace, was Wesley’s broadsword. Her fingers still gripping the hilt so fiercely that all blood had left her extremity.
She was still staring at him only not. Her focus seemed to be somewhere inside him. He searched her eyes for any confirmation of this strange girl’s statement. Kate? Mary Kathryn is that you? Nothing. He saw only the wild, dazed eyes of shock. Maybe it had been too long. Maybe he didn’t remember his sister well enough any more.
Angel looked at his friends for something...anything. “Wesley, do you know what she’s talking about?”
“Well...uh...I can only...uh...imagine...
“Wesley Wyndham-Price. Would you like to know who you used to be?”
Fala crossed to Wesley still hugging her stuffed seal. He was on the floor, propped against the wall, so they were eye to eye. She reached into him and found what she needed.
“You question fathers and their place in their sons’ lives. You will discern the answer during this life because of your past connection to Angel.”
Wesley gulped and cleared his throat before speaking. He was astonished at her reading of his turmoil. It’s a ruse. Simple 1-800-psychic, vague babble. What man doesn’t have questions about their fathers?
“Do I look like Miss Cleo, mon?”
Wesley’s mouth dropped open. “How did you...you couldn’t...who the hell are you?”
“Wouldn’t you rather know who you are? Tell me, Wesley, do you know much about Angel’s father?”
Wesley looked at Angel for subtle permission to speak on this subject. Angel was fascinated by her and this particular question so he didn’t mind giving it.
“It’s okay, Wes,” Angel assured.
“I know some things. The Watcher’s diaries are quite thorough.”
“You know more than you think. How would you say Angel’s father and yours compare?”
Wesley wasn’t sure he liked where this was heading. Especially not in front of the entire gang. He shifted uncomfortably and found he was having difficulty looking at Fala as he spoke.
“I’d say they have their similarities. Both were demanding and cruelly so at times. Neither seemed able to show compassion or express any feelings except disappointment and loathing. Towards their sons he wanted to say, but stopped short.
“Then it might surprise you to learn that the soul that torments you in this life once belonged to Angel’s father?”
Angel was stunned. But no more than Wesley. They couldn’t take their eyes from each other looking for some sort of confirmation or denial of what this strange girl had revealed.
Gunn snorted. “Oh, man. What kinda messed up crap is that?” He laughed but stopped short when he noticed no one else thought it was funny. “What? You can’t tell me that’s not some freaky ‘gotcha sucka’ joke?”
“It is kind of a cosmic tit for tat thing. A soul makes mistakes in one life, and in this case some horrible ones, and it gets on the other end of the stick in a subsequent life to, hopefully, learn a lesson or two. And, in your case, Wesley, you have done well by your soul and learned much. You should be proud.”
He didn’t know why, but he was. Just listening to her and looking in her eyes brought him some measure of peace. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Liam?” The weak voice was barely audible, but Angel heard it. He turned his attention back to the mother. She appeared much more calm but was still focusing somewhere inside him. “Liam? Liam? Liam?”
She kept saying it like a mantra. She rose from the bed trancelike and slowly walked toward Angel. The sword dragged behind her, the tip gouging and gutting the wood floor. She fell on her knees at Angel’s side. Finally able to loosen her hold on the instrument of her salvation, she brought her hands up to cup Angel’s face.
Silently sobbing, breath catching, her question sounded like a desperate prayer never spoken lest it be never answered. “Did I save you Liam? Did I finally save you?”
Scene 8
Fred was standing with Gunn and Lorne in a corner watching the strange scene between Wesley, Angel, and the mother. Father, son and daughter in a bizarre 250 years-too-late reunion. Fala was sitting on the bed hugging her seal not interfering and letting out a little yawn.
“I don’t think she’s gonna be up for any soul healin’ tonight,” Fred commented as she watched the girl’s yawn turn into two.
Lorne had filled Fred and Gunn in on Wesley’s idea about healing Cordy’s soul. Fred whispered, “Does anybody else think it’s a bit coincidental she’s some kind of spirit guide and Cordy just happens to need one right about now?”
“Fred, munchkin, what show have you been watching? Of course, it is. But coincidence is what we’re best at. Right after dumb luck, fate, and a whole bunch of whoa Nelly what the fuck just happeneds.” Lorne brought his hand to his mouth to take his obligatory pointed slurp, but realized at the last second he didn’t have a drink to sip.
Gunn was less impressed with recent developments, although he’d be glad to have Cordy back in her body. He’d been waiting a long time for that. Not much challenge offin’ a corpse, and she needed to see it comin’. That was the deal, and he was all about the deal. Get rid of half-demon, Lilah-murderin’ bitch and then dust Angelus.
Gunn wasn’t sure if Lilah had the approval of the senior partners for her little scheme, and he didn’t care. He does her dirty work, which was actually cleaning up lose ends as far as he was concerned, and the power was all his. The power to smite the evil in this town with the mighty blow of a Wolfram and Hart army. Just like the good old days before he was corrupted by soulful demons. Funny how it took an evil law firm to show him the error of his gray-like goodness.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the feeling of prying eyes. Hot beams drilling inside him. He looked around and saw Fala staring at him intensely. What the fuck is she starin’ at? Gunn shifted his weight uncomfortably as he felt some prickly heat on the back of his neck.
I must be tired and losin’ it. He assessed the problem as lack of protein and rest. “So, what do y’all think will happen tonight? I mean I’m pretty played out and not in the mood to attend a soul healin’.”
“Why don’t you go on then? I’ll catch a ride back to my car with Angel. I’m sure he’ll want to talk to Cordy tonight even if they can’t do the ritual now.” Fred started to pat Gunn on the arm and grimaced in pain.
“Are you sure, because I’m not so sure you should be drivin’ with arms as shredded as yours are. They might just fly apart the next sharp turn you make.” Gunn grinned at her with genuine warmth. The first she’d felt from him since before the last apocalypse.
“Don’t worry about out little Fredakins. I’ll drive her car for her. I’m so sober now I could pee a straight line while doing an Irish jig on a trampoline.” Lorne pictured it and shivered. “Sorry about that. I just got the image, and I never want to be that sober.”
“You and me both. Okay, then. I’m takin’ off. I’ll see y’all tomorrow.” Gunn swung his ax over his shoulder and sauntered out the door.
Once he got outside and the cool night air hit his face, he stopped and turned. “What the hell was that?” His eyes flashed yellow and then back to brown. Glad to be out of that demon hellhole. I need a bath. In a matter of minutes he was in his ride and careening toward the cleansing strokes of his feline goddess. In hours he would be back to his old self again and on the righteous path.
Scene 9
“I just can’t thank you enough for saving my daughter,” Tekla said for the hundredth time. Everything that had happened between the beheading and Kate’s declaration to Angel was now just missing time to her. But she felt strangely exhilarated and lighter. Like she could walk on air.
Angel was, understandably still confused and disappointed by her sudden inability to recognize him as Liam. But he hoped that Fala could explain things better to him over the next day or two. That is assuming she would allow her daughter to help them.
“Mrs. Bal...uh...Tekla. I know this is going to sound strange, but I think you’re daughter can help us with a problem. A very close friend of ours is in trouble, and we believe Fala can...well...”
“Is your friend’s soul in danger?” Tekla asked.
More than one, now that you ask. “Yes. Great danger.”
“Then I’m sure Fala will help you. She’s a very unusual child, but I think you’ve already figured that out.” She looked at her daughter wavering on the brink of passing out and thought it best to shoo everyone out for now. “Call us tomorrow and we’ll arrange things then. Right now my unusual daughter is about to fall off the side of her bed.” She squeezed Angel’s arm and then went to Fala.
Wesley looked at Angel and felt suddenly uncomfortable without a third party there. “Ahem. Well, I guess we’d better leave these people alone for now.”
Angel watched Tekla tuck the girl under her covers, smooth her hair and bend down to kiss her forehead. “Uh, yeah. We should go. You guys head to the car, I need to ask Fala something.”
Wesley was about to caution him to leave it for now, but he knew it would be pointless. When Angel needed an answer, there was no stopping him. So he just nodded and watched him cross to the bed and ask the mother for permission to talk to Fala. When he saw him sit on the bed and the mother leave them alone, he turned to gather the others.
Angel gazed at this beautiful girl for a second. Only moments ago she seemed more like a thousand year old man with silver hair to his knees talking of souls and lessons and transitions. Now, hugging her stuffed seal and barely able to keep her eyes open, she just looked wonderfully normal.
“You want to ask many things, but tonight you only get to ask one question. What do you need to know,” she asked stifling a yawn.
She was so right. He had hundreds of questions, but what he needed to know before he could sleep was easy. “Why am I here?”
If she wasn’t so sleepy she would have laughed uncontrollably. But instead she just sniggered. “I’m not God. I only know there are paths to travel that you either stay on or veer from. And which path you take is the reason for your being there.”
Angel was confused. “I’m sorry, I have a problem expressing myself according to a lot of people. I meant, why did I have to be here tonight?”
“Oops, mybad. Sometimes I get bogged down in my own self-importance to see the simple things. I’m not a perfect soul yet either.” She yawned again and shifted a little on her side to get more comfortable before answering. “You had to be here tonight for Kate to save you. It was time for her to leave that guilt behind.”
“But what does that have to do with Cordelia? I mean other than you’re not dead and now will hopefully help us. Any one of my team could have saved you.”
“It’s all connected. You had to be here for Kate.” Her mouth grew wide with an intake of oxygen that seemed to last forever, and her eyes fluttered shut as she said, “In sacrificing yourself, you proved you are ready....for.....the...............healing.” And then she was fast asleep.
Angel desperately wanted to shake her awake for more. He needed so much more than that. But at least she had mentioned the healing. She knew and she seemed ready to help. He had proved he was ready, so she had to help. It was really going to happen. Cordelia was coming home.
“Cordelia!” With all the eerie soul revelations, he’d forgotten he still hadn’t spoken to her. Rising carefully from the bed so as not to disturb Fala, he was out of her room and at the car in a vampire second. Everyone was already packed up and ready to head out.
“Lorne, buckle up. I’m about to set a new land speed record.”
Lorne scrambled for the life-saving apparatus. “Seat belt, seat belt, where the hell’s... Holy Space Mountain, Batman. This car’s too damn old to have....”
His plaintive cry was drowned out by a force twelve hurricane wind snapping his head back and mouth shut as Angel sped to his friend and maybe his whole future.
End of Act IV
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