Still Ensouled 18

The Adventures of Captain Peroxide and Deadboy

The Angel/Spike Zone of the BtVS Writer's Guild

Chapter XVIII - Letting Go

The day had slipped away in sleep and rest and left Angel more satisfied than he could remember being in months. He had slept so soundly that it took Wesley shaking him from his slumber to awaken him.

"What?" The vampire asked groggily, trying to shake off the hand that rocked him. "What time is it?"

"Angel, wake up, I need to talk to you." Angel pried his eyes half open and stared at Wesley.

"Right, I’m awake. Why am I awake?" He asked as he looked out the window to see the sun still shining. He lifted himself up against the headboard and pulled the covers up to his ears. "Okay, I’m naked, but I’m listening."

Wesley flushed a little before sitting on the edge of the bed to show Angel the book he was holding. "I think I’ve discovered the origin of the amulet that Lilah gave you. It looks to be an instrument capable of purifying light, the translation is a bit tricky to say the very least, but I think you should get it to Sunnydale as fast as possible."

"I should have just sent it with Spike." Angel said as he slipped from under the covers and grabbed a pair of boxers from his dresser. He pulled them up quickly before grabbing a pair of socks and sitting back down on the bed.

"No, you were right to keep it here, for all we knew it could have been a weapon of the First, not something capable of aiding Buffy in her fight. I think it will, but it won’t be you who bares it."

"Why not me, I thought the text said someone ensouled?" Angel asked as he stood to slip into his shoes.

"It does. It says someone more than human, but it also says it will be someone intimate with the Slayer." Wesley cast his eyes away from the hurt look in Angel’s eyes. "Someone recently intimate I mean."

"It seems likely, but Angel," Wesley rose from the bed and placed a hand on Angel’s shoulder, "it doesn’t say how recently. No need to suspect the worst."

"You’re right. We’ll just worry about helping Buffy. The rest doesn’t matter." Angel pulled a shirt from the closet and put it on as he left the room.

"There certainly is a lot to keep one’s mind occupied around here lately." Wesley said as he followed Angel into the hallway. "I don’t suppose you want to talk about Lilah’s offer."

"Not really Wesley. Right now I just want to say goodbye to my son and get to Sunnydale. We’ll talk about the rest of it when I get back."

"Back from where?" Gunn asked as they entered the lobby.

"Sunnydale." Angel answered.

"Popular place lately."

"Yeah, I guess. Has Connor come down yet?"

"No, you want me to run up and get him?" Gunn asked.

"He’s not there." Fred answered as she came bounding down the stairs with an armful of towels. "I went to check on Cordy and the room was empty. Both rooms I mean, they’re both gone."

Angel ran up the stairs to check the rooms for himself, but he could tell by the scents in the air that they were gone. And had been for several hours.

The sewers had been full of demons. More demons than Spike could remember ever having seen. Even during Adam’s mini-reign of terror there hadn’t been this many. All of them were being pulled by the hellmouth, maneuvered by the First into position. He tried to fight the urges himself, but the closer he got to the vineyard the stronger the feelings became. The urge to kill, hunt, hurt. He reminded himself the First no longer had a hold on him, nothing controlled him now except for freewill and soul. That was enough.

He had followed the sewers as far as he could before slipping into the dense forested areas that surrounded the vineyard’s out buildings. Under cover of Cyprus and coming dusk he had enough shade to peek through the heavily vine-covered windows of the main building. He saw a few of the First’s harbingers, but little activity inside. They guarded a staircase that led to the basement, the basement where Buffy and Faith had battled Caleb once before. The basement, where Xander had lost an eye and several potential slayers their lives.

Buffy’s smell was in the air, but it was faded. He knew she had been here within the last few hours, but he tried not to worry. It was the scent of the Slayer, but not of her blood, meaning she couldn’t have fared too badly. Spike watched for several more minutes as the sun set into the California hills and he felt it safe enough to head back into town and tell Buffy the bringers were in a holding pattern.

"Not leaving so soon are you?"

Spike turned around and saw Buffy. No, this was not the Slayer. The body was hers, the hair the same, even the sweet scent, but the eyes held something Buffy did not possess. There was a lingering evil in them that Spike recognized. Whatever form the First showed him it could not help but make that look, too many wheels turning at once to stay focused for very long.

"Yeah," Spike answered, "big date, can’t be tardy."

"Right, big day. So many to bury, so many to burn." The First spoke in a sarcastic voice that had always had a tinge of truth to it. Spike filed away the words for later examination and turned on his heel. The First called after him, taunting him to save them, but he closed his mind to it and headed for the Summer’s house.

They had searched the hotel quickly and when that had proved fruitless they had split up. Fred and Gunn had gone to the abandoned apartment Connor and Cordelia had shared, Lorne had gone to a few mystics he knew that might be able to hone in on Connor’s supernatural aura, and Wesley and Angel had gone to Wolfram and Hart. It had seemed a logical place to start.

"I’m looking for Lilah Morgan." Angel told the man in the lobby.

"You do know she’s dead right?" The man had answered.

"Um, yeah. I also know she’s here, and I want to talk to her. Now."

"Maybe I can help you?" A nice looking young woman in a summery dress had joined them at the desk. She pushed a long lock of blonde hair behind her ear and then extended her hand to Angel. When he did not respond she moved her hand to Wesley. "I’m Eve."

"Wesley Windham-Pryce."

"Of course." She said with a smile. There was genuineness in her that was lacking in the other Wolfram and Hart employees Wesley had met, she didn’t even look like a lawyer. "Lilah was brought back as a sort of liaison because you were already familiar with her. I’ll be the one working with you now that she is gone."

A crushed look swam across Wesley’s face. "Gone." He repeated.

"Well you wouldn’t believe how expensive it is to keep someone as bright as Lilah animated on this plane. I mean just wait until you get the light bill." She gave a small laugh and then turned her attention to Angel. "I expect you are here to find your son."

"What did you do with him?" Angel asked, taking a threatening step closer to the woman.

"We didn’t do anything to him. We have, however, just had word that he is holding fourteen people hostage in a sporting goods store on Third and Ash."

"And of course you were just heading for a phone to call me when this news came in."

"Naturally, but here you are, so you just saved me some cell phone minutes. Would you like me to call a car for you?"

"I have my own car." Angel answered.

"Now you have twelve."

"What am I going to do with twelve cars?"

"Anything you’d like, I imagine."

"I don’t need a thing from you, for all I know Wolfram and Hart set this whole thing up, or you know who did."

"Well, we do have some idea." She said, returning Angel’s stare.

"Wesley, let’s go."

"See you on Monday Mr. Angel." Eve called after him.

"That," Angel said, gesturing over his shoulder, "is going to make me insane."

"You could always tell us your real last name." Wesley said as they hopped into the GTX.

"Not likely." Angel responded.

"I’m starting to wish I hadn’t leant Spike my car, we might have been more effective split up."

"No, it’s better that we’re together." Angel said as they pulled away from the curb and into traffic.

"Because it’s time this ended."

"Connor." Angel said as he pressed down on the accelerator.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Spike asked as he entered Buffy’s house. There were girls everywhere, bleeding and screaming in a dozen different octaves of pain. Anya and Andrew ran frantically from room to room placing band-aids on open wounds and pouring water into mouths that cried out.

"There was an explosion at the school." Anya yelled at him as she wrapped a crying girl’s battered arm in bandages.

"Where’s Buffy?" He asked, feeling the panic grow in his stomach.

"She’s upstairs with Faith. She’s hurt pretty badly."

"Buffy?" Spike asked racing up the stairs.

"No, Faith." Anya called after him.

Spike entered Buffy’s room without knocking and let out a large sigh when he saw her standing there, relatively unscathed, at least compared to those downstairs.

"Honey, you’re home." He said in nonchalant mode.

"And you’ve got a new toy." He said gesturing to the wicked looking axe she held.

"It’s some sort of Slayer thing, you like?" She asked holding it up.

"A little wooden and pointy for my decorating tastes, but it looks like it could be handy in a battle." He said through a half-choked sob.

"What’s the matter?" Buffy asked, laying the axe next to Faith and coming to his side.

"I was at the vineyard, checking that all was quiet on the western front and such. Then I walked in downstairs, and you weren’t there." He made a loud sniffling sound and straightened up. "Oh, I’m such a ponce. Of course you’re fine."

"I am, I’m fine." She squeezed his hand as assurance. "See, right as rain."

"All’s mended then? No more sleeping in strangers’ beds?"

"Well, I’m not leaving again."

"And her?" Spike asked, pointing at Faith.

"She’s going to be fine, she just needs a few hours’ rest and she’ll be right back in the fray."

"So we have a plan then?"

"No, we have a location. Willow found something about a pagan temple on unconsecrated ground. I’m going to look into it a bit more tonight, after I get some sleep."

"You were up bright and early this morning." He said with a half-smile.

"I was. I’m sorry about that. I just didn’t know what to say."

"It’s okay. We’ll just chock it up to confusion, no need to make a big deal." He went to exit the room and Buffy followed him into the hallway.

"You’re a dope." She called after him.

"I’m a what?" He asked, turning around to face her.

"A dope. Didn’t last night mean anything to you?"

"Of course it did. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been for me to come back here? I didn’t exactly want to leave Angel just then, and then I come back and instead of finding you moving on you pull me back in."

"I’m sorry." Buffy said, looking apologetic.

"I’m not. Being with you, oh, I’m such a jerk. It was the best night of my life, and don’t you mock me, or tell me I can’t love, because you know I can."

"But you can’t love two people at once."

"Maybe not, but I imagine I could love one person, and one demon." He smiled down at her. "Later though. There’s too much going on for us to figure any of this out right now."

Buffy took a quick step forward. "Are you letting me go?" She asked.

"Never in a million years." He said. He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and then went down stairs. "Back to work now." He called over his shoulder before heading to the basement for some much needed alone time.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to get in."

Angel had found a back door to the store and left Wesley outside to keep the police from charging in.

"Connor? Son?" Angel said softly as he looked around the store. The people scattered throughout the store were all tethered to a crude bomb; each one tried to comfort those sitting next to them. "Where the hell did you learn how to do this?" Angel asked, eyes wide in terror.

"You told me I should try to be a normal teenager. Isn’t his what normal teenagers do?" He asked, adding an insane laugh.

Angel took a step toward his son, but as soon as he did he felt a string cross his ankle and several mannequins behind him exploded. The hostages screamed out and several began to cry.

"You might want to watch your step. You never know who you’ll set off next. Maybe me." Connor said pulling back his shirt to show that he too was wired to the explosives. "Maybe her." He said moving to his left. Behind him lay Cordelia, still comatose, wired to a group of propane bottles.

"Connor." Angel pleaded. "Please don’t do this. You don’t want to die. You’re just starting out in life."

"No! Dad." Connor yelled. "I’m not, I’m eighteen. You just weren’t there to see my start. Do you wish you were? So you want me to tell you about it? Can you even fathom what that place was like?"

"No, I can’t, and I’m sor..."

"Do not say you are sorry!" Connor screamed. "It’s all lies. It doesn’t change anything."

"Connor, I love you. Please don’t do this."

"You don’t love me. I mean, I think you tried to, but you’re a demon. You aren’t capable of loving me. My own mother couldn’t love me, how could you?"

"Oh, Connor," Angel cried, "she loved you. She loved you so much she sacrificed herself so you could have a chance."

"And that chance was taken away from me. You let me go once, and now you’re going to do it again." He reached for the switch that was taped to his chest, but Angel was on him in a second, pulling the wires from his grasp. Angel pounded at Connor’s chest, trying to knock the wind out of him long enough to free the other people. After a moment of parrying his punches Angel grabbed a bowling ball from a nearby table and hit his son upside the head with it. Finally Connor was knocked to the ground and Angel ran to the hostages and helped them remove the explosives from their chests. Wesley called to the crowd and ushered them out the back door. Once they were all safe he came and stood by Angel’s side.

As soon as they approached, Connor lunged at Angel again, forcing him backward into a display case. Glass rained around them as they crashed to the ground. Angel reached into the display’s remains and grabbed a hunting knife. He pushed Connor off of his legs and when the boy flung himself at the vampire again he sent him flying with a hard kick. Angel threw the knife at Connor, landing the blade deep in his son’s thigh. Connor fell to the ground and pulled the knife out. He then tossed the blood-soaked weapon back at Angel’s feet, where it ineffectually landed.

Connor lay on the ground next to Cordelia whispering to himself. Angel could barely make his words out as coherent, but one phrase he did understand completely. "You can’t save someone with lies."

"Connor?" Angel asked.

"You told me the prophecy was a lie. Didn’t you?"

"The prophecy?" Angel asked, not understanding.

"The father will kill the son. You told me it was a lie, well it wasn’t."

"I’m not following you Connor."

"You watched me kill my child. My child." He lowered his voice. "Now you’ll have to kill me."

"I’m not going to kill you Connor."

"What if you have no choice?"

Faster than Angel could react Connor flipped himself to the other side of Cordelia’s supine body and tried to trigger the bomb that sat on her chest. Angel reached to his feet and picked the knife up before flying through the air and tackling the boy.

"I love you Connor." Angel said as he pinned his son to the ground.

"So!" Connor cried. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I’m going to prove it." Angel said through his tears.

"Let me go." Connor cried.

"I’ll never let you go." Angel said just before he raised the knife over his head and brought it back down, slicing through Connor’s throat.

People asked "When did you get so cruel, Tania?"

Violators will be beaten to death with a shovel

(A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend)