Shooting Stars

Part 7

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Giles sighed, looking over to Oz, who had cleaned up most of the bits of the broken computer. It was interesting how all the teens had set themselves to a task of cleaning up without being asked to. One of the side effects of shock, the Watcher guessed.
"You don't have to do that," he said to Oz. The teen shrugged, tossing the pieces of glass he had in his hand into the trashcan.
"It's okay," Oz replied, glancing up to Giles for a moment before going back to work on the glass. Angel was standing against the far wall, staying out of the way as they cleaned up the mess that had been made by Chaos.
"Um, you can all go home and get some rest, if you'd like. There's really not much else to do here," Giles announced. Buffy and Willow stood, holding the bag full of Willow's spell stuff. There was wax stuck on the floor, but they'd gotten most of it cleaned up.
"Okay. Thanks, Giles," Willow said, saying goodbye to everyone. She stopped to give Oz a quick kiss before heading out the door.
"Well, it seems Chaos has somehow set back the clock," Giles muttered, looking to the clock. It was now only three in the morning.
"Happens. That's what demons like him do so everyone that wasn't directly involved won't remember anything ever happened," Angel said. Giles was surprised, and nodded.
"That makes sense," Giles said. He'd heard about demons that distorted time as an after-effect of an attack.
"Well, I'm gonna head home. Hopefully, I can come up with something to explain all this to my mom," Buffy said. "Although she'll never believe me."
"I'll walk you," Angel said. Buffy smiled, and the two of them left the library. Giles looked to Oz.
"I'll stay and help you clean up," the musician said. Giles nodded to say his thanks, and the two of them got back to work.
* * *
Xander pushed the gravel around with his toe. He'd gone to the hospital with Cordelia, but they had to put her in intensive care. And, when he tried to follow, they had kicked him out of the building. Or 'escorted him' as the security guard had phrased it before he threw Xander in the gutter.
Currently, the teen was sitting on one of the swings at the park, moving slowly back and forth as he pushed the gravel into shapes, demolishing them with his heels later as he swung.
Cordelia was almost dead. She might not make it out of this one alive. That much he knew. There wasn't really anything they could do to help her, considering how severe her burns were. There was nothing he could do to help her. Especially since they threw him out.
He sighed, wondering if she'd be all right. She had saved his life. They'd each taken part of the hit, but most of the flames hit Cordelia. There was a burn that none of the others had noticed. It was running up the side of Xander's leg. He'd have Giles look at it when he went back to the library. But, the point was that Cordelia had saved his life. They weren't just acting on out-of-control hormones.
He and Cordelia had fallen in love. That could've been why they were so into the arguing. They both felt something that neither one of them had understood. So, they tried to pretend that they didn't feel anything at all.
Too bad she might die before I have a chance to tell her, Xander thought, kicking the gravel angrily. Little rocks sprayed everywhere, making small clanking noises on the metal of the merry-go-round.
As he slowly swung back and forth, he found himself remembering all the things he and Cordelia had done over the summer in the daytime. At night, they'd been trying to kill the vampires, but the daytime was different. Especially before school had 'started'. They would go for long walks in the park; either talking or just walking quietly, holding hands. They'd make jokes and have picnics and they even went to the movies a few times, insulting each other all the while.
He leaned back on the swing, holding tightly to the chains to keep from falling off it. He continued to swing slowly, just watching the stars above him. The park wasn't well lit, like a lot of areas in Sunnydale, and he could see thousands of twinkling dots in the blackness of the sky. It was the one beautiful thing about the town, he'd decided.
After a long time, he didn't know how long he'd been thinking, he got up off the swing and headed towards his house. He guessed his parents were either passed out or at the bar. Or else they were screaming at each other and not paying attention to the fact their son had been missing for a few days straight. That was why he never had a problem coming home late. And, if they did yell at him, he just locked himself in his room and they forgot about it before morning.
Or at all, he thought, surprising himself. Well, my life's better out here on my own than it is at my house, so why not? He sighed, turning around to find somewhere else to stay…
* * *
"Buffy! Where were you? I've been worried sick!" Buffy winced, stopping in the middle of the stairway. She'd thought about going in the upstairs window, but then decided that she'd just use the front door. Bad plan, she thought.
"Hi, mom," she said, turning to face her mother. She knew she looked horrible. Her hair was flat, there were big circles under her eyes, and there was a huge bruise on the back of her neck that was visible on the sides of her neck and shoulders.
"What happened to you?" her mother asked her. She reluctantly came back down the stairs, letting her mother lead her into the kitchen. She sat down, as Joyce continued to make her some tea.
"Well, it's a long story," Buffy said. Her mother wasn't accepting that.
"Then start at the beginning." There was a pause.
"Okay. Um, there was another demon here that we had to kill, and he's dead now, but… Anyway, I was patrolling, and-"
"Patrolling?"
"Yeah. Finding vampires so I could kill them?" Her mother nodded. "Anyway, one of them got my wrist, and it's broken, and then that demon threw me into the table, but… I just need some sleep and I'll be fine."
"Buffy, you can't just keep telling me you'll be fine, or that you already are. I want to know what happened. You at least owe me that."
"Okay. You're right. After I took off everyone chased me down to get me to come back and avert the apocalypse, and the demon was a little stronger than we thought. We fought it and killed it, and everyone's fine now, and we saved the world." Her mother set down a mug of tea for her daughter, and took a seat beside her.
"I'm glad you're all right," Joyce said. Buffy smiled, taking a sip of her tea. "What about your neck?"
"That's where I hit the table," she said, leaving out the parts about Angel and her dislocated shoulder. She'd just managed to tell her mother that Angel was a vampire, and didn't want to explain that she'd sent him to Hell and Willow had brought him back. More lying, the Slayer thought absently.
"Oh," her mother replied. She took another sip of her tea. "Why don't you get some sleep?"
"Good plan," Buffy said, leaving her mother at the table and going up into her room. She closed the door, collapsing onto her bed. What a long day, the Slayer thought as she drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Willow clicked off the television, wondering why there was nothing good on at night. It was mostly infomercials. Well, I guess the companies like selling stuff to the insomniacs, she thought with a yawn. Or maybe the insomniacs buy just about anything they see on television… Maybe it's both.
She sighed, rubbing her tired eyes. She'd been awake for about two days straight now, except for the hour of sleep she got in the library before Chaos showed up and the few minutes she spent unconscious after the spell she and Amy did. There had been so much happening in the same few days that there really hadn't been time to actually sleep. Restfully, anyway.
Until now, she realized. This was the first time chance she'd gotten to sleep since the whole mess with Chaos, but she wasn't tired enough to sleep. Or she was just overly tired. There was too much on her mind to be sleepy.
Like Xander. He had disappeared after the hospital kicked him out. She'd called the hospital and they told her that they'd had him taken outside so that he wouldn't cause a disturbance to the other patients or something. Willow had checked his house and all the places he'd go, but he was nowhere to be found. They'd been friends since they were kids, and they'd always been able to find each other. Until now.
Willow shuddered as the all-too-familiar possibility of Xander being dead entered her mind. That would be the only time they couldn't find each other. If one of them was dead. Which was always a possibility on the Hellmouth.
The redhead found herself wondering, again, where Xander might be. If he was still alive. She decided that he was, he was perfectly able to take care of himself, and he'd be fine. She reluctantly got up off the couch, heading up to her room to try and get some sleep. After she and Giles looked into her spell a bit, she'd be trying it. And, with Buffy and Angel killing fifteen or so vampires that night, they'd probably have school again the next morning…
* * *
Angel swung open the mansion's huge doors. It seemed like the best place for him to stay, considering it was practically built for vampires. This was where he'd brought Spike and Drusilla after Giles had burned down the factory with gas, a lighter, and a few Molotov Cocktails.
After he'd killed Jenny Calendar. Giles became so angry that he set the whole building on fire. Spike had been seriously pissed about the whole thing. He probably still was, knowing how he loved to hold a grudge.
This was the place where he had been sent to Hell, too. He wandered into the main room, seeing that Acathla was still there, the sword still solidly in his chest. Right where it had been for three months.
Like it had been in Angel's chest before the portal closed and sucked him into Hell for hundreds of years of torture. Time moved much differently down there than it did on Earth, so every day on Earth was about a hundred years in Hell. Luckily, that was all in the past now. It was nothing more than bad memories, like a lot of his life had been. But, there had been a few good memories.
Like Buffy. All the time they'd spent together, all the discussions they'd had before… Before he'd turned evil again. That was the one thing that kept him in this world.
* * *
Oz lay back in his bed, staring at the black ceiling of his room. Everything that had happened was a lot to think about, and that's why he was still awake. Cordelia was near death in the hospital, Xander had disappeared, and, to top it off, Angel had come back from Hell. Then, of course, they'd had to avert the apocalypse. Again.
And, Willow's mind was mostly on Xander. Oz didn't blame her, since they'd been friends for a long, long time. Since grade school, or earlier. Willow kept telling him she was worried about Xander as a friend, and nothing more. He had, of course, believed her. She liked her relationship with him, even if he was a werewolf.
He glanced over at his clock; pushing a soda can out of the way so he could see the bright blue neon numbers. It was 3:27 in the morning. It was still around four hours until school started again. He'd taken to hanging out with Giles in the library and helping him file books and things. He didn't have a job, really, and he had already graduated.
Reluctantly, he tore his eyes away from the neon numbers to go back to staring blankly at the ceiling. He was beginning to drift off when the phone started to ring. He sat up, using his toes to push junk around on the floor until he found the cordless extension. He picked it up, turning it on.
"Hello?" he asked, wondering who in the world, besides Willow, would call him at three-thirty in the morning. His mind started whirring with thousands of possibilities.
"Oz, man! It's Devon. Where are you?" Devon asked over the phone line. His speech was slurred, and Oz guessed he was drunk. It was a habit the lead singer of their band had picked up over the last month, especially after all of the attacks on the school.
"Devon? It's three o'clock in the morning. What are you calling me for?" Oz asked. Devon was silent for a moment.
"Huh? No way! But, listen, there's a little party we're all gonna have, and so I called to… I don't know, what's goin' on?" Devon stopped speaking to Oz and was clearly asking someone else what had happened. "Woah! Bar fight!" There was a pause, then screaming.
"Devon? What's going on?" Oz asked.
"Dude, what's with that guy's face? What the hell?" Devon wondered, still not talking to Oz. He assumed the singer was at the Bronze, and hung up the phone. He knew what was going on, and he'd need help…
* * *
At the Bronze, the vampires were attacking the few guests that were still hanging around. Mostly drunks. Devon stood by the payphone, looking at it in confusion for a moment before hanging it up. He shrugged, facing the fight again. One of the vampires saw him, smiling to reveal his sharp fangs. Devon's eyes widened, and he took a step back, tripping over the trashcan. He tried to crawl back and away from the fast approaching…
Pile of dust. As Devon was backing away, an arrow flew into the vampire's back, reducing him to a pile of ashes. Devon looked around to see Oz catch a small crossbow someone had thrown to him. He then turned towards Devon, running to him.
"Oz! Man, what the hell was that?" Devon asked, trying to get back on his feet. He just fell over again, disoriented. Oz grabbed his arm, hauling him up off the ground.
"Come on, Devon. We have to go now," Oz replied, helping his drunken friend out of the Bronze. The other guests were all outside, looking around in a confused stupor. The vampires were all gone.
"Hey, where'd they go?" Devon asked, looking around like the rest of the Bronze's customers. Some were shrugging and stumbling off.
"We need to have a talk," Oz said, leading his friend down the street to figure something out.
* * *
Giles woke up to the bright sun on his face. He'd spent the night on the couch, looking into Willow's ritual. It seemed pretty simple, which probably meant there was a very serious and hard-to-find catch to it. Magick worked like that.
He yawned, stretching his arms out in front of him. He set the book on the table. It slid off, opening to a page covered in Latin. The book had said there was no Latin in it whatsoever, which confused him. He marked the page with his thumb as he lifted it off the floor.
"'Ritual of Life Return; details'," he read aloud, translating the text in his head as he read. "'Caution! Do not attempt the spell on a being of great power that could easily overtake the human host once he or she is resurrected. This ritual is seemingly simple to fool the unworthy into attempting it, and mistakes are fatal for both the target and the caster. Do not attempt if the being is too powerful.' Willow," he murmured, climbing off the couch and grabbing the phone off the desk. He quickly punched in Willow's number, waiting for her to answer…
* * *
Willow woke up to the ringing of the phone, somewhat surprised that she'd fallen asleep up in her room. She looked at the clock, seeing that it was after six in the morning. The sun had just come up, and she needed to get going anyway. At least she'd managed to get a few hours of sleep, which was nice. She grabbed the phone, yawning as she brought it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Willow? It's Giles. Did I wake you?" Giles asked.
"I needed to get up anyway. What's up?" Willow asked, wondering why Giles would be calling her. And, she was sort of depressed that it wasn't Xander. She hadn't heard from him yet.
"You haven't tried that spell yet, correct?" Giles asked. His tone was beginning to scare Willow.
"No, of course not. What's going on?" Willow questioned.
"Good. Um, meet me in the library in an hour, alright?" he asked, hanging up. Willow stared at the phone, wondering what was going on that had Giles so freaked out as she replaced the receiver. Her adrenaline kicked in again, tightening her nerves yet again, as it had been a lot recently.
She climbed out of bed, throwing her pajamas on the floor. She grabbed the jeans she'd been wearing the previous night and a new tee shirt. She pulled on her pink tennis shoes and went downstairs to get something to eat before going to school.
* * *
Xander lifted the lid of the Dumpster he'd been hiding in, seeing sunlight on the concrete in front of him. Just a little bit, but it was still sunlight. He sighed in relief, climbing out of the Dumpster. He picked the bits of trash out of his hair and off of his clothes before leaving the alley. He'd run into a bunch of vampires outside the town square area, and had to hide in the Dumpster to avoid dying. Luckily, there had been so much trash in it, the vampires couldn't smell him and had walked right past him. Unfortunately, now Xander smelled like the contents of his hiding place.
He sighed, digging in his pocket to see if he had any money. He found a gum wrapper, a pop can top, and six nickels. He sighed, shaking his head.
"Great. Thirty cents. I can't even make a stupid phone call," he muttered to himself, shoving everything back into his pocket. He was, however, glad he had a little money. He always paid Willow nickels to get her help in Math class, so he carried them around a lot.
He walked down the street, lost in his thoughts. He was wondering how he'd last out on his own, with no money, no clothes, no shelter, and no job. It was going to get annoying if he had to hide in trash Dumpsters all the time.
Well, if it wasn't for the vampires I'd be just fine, he thought, looking around at all the shops. Most of them were still closed. After all, it was still only six in the morning, and most places didn't open until seven or eight in Sunnydale. When it was guaranteed to be light outside.
He glanced over at the coffee shop; it's shades drawn and the lights off. The chains were up around the outside area, and the tables were all up on the chairs. It reminded him of himself; sad and empty.
He remembered his friends at that point, stopping on his way through the city. He obviously hadn't been thinking very clearly, which was understandable. With Cordelia in the hospital and his leg sore, he was mostly just wandering around. If he went to the library at the school, he'd probably find them…
* * *
Willow was surprised when school was actually in session. Well, that's what comes with saving the human race from vampires, she thought. A lot less free time.
She pressed through the seemingly endless crowds, finally reaching her locker. She could see Xander's from where she stood, but he was not there. She sighed, wondering if he was still around somewhere. And not dead yet.
Plus, she needed to talk to Giles about that spell. He had been seriously panicked when he'd called, and she still didn't know why. But, it had her very curious, considering.
"Hey," someone said from behind her. She turned to see Oz, who looked like he didn't get any sleep. She shut the door to her locker, falling in step with him as they headed to the library.
"Hi," she replied, as the two of them pushed through the crowds to the library hallway, where there were considerably fewer people. No one liked the library much. Too freaky for them. "You look tired."
"Yeah. That's sorta what I needed to ask Giles about. You?" Oz replied.
"Well, he called me this morning. He told me not to try that spell thing, and said to meet him here I have to ask him what's going on," Willow said, pushing open the door. Giles was sitting at the study table, still in the same clothes he'd been wearing for the past three days. There was a pile of books beside him, and he didn't look up when Willow and Oz entered the room. "Giles?"
"Oh, Willow," he said, looking up. "Hello Oz," he added.
"Hey," Oz said in reply, standing slightly behind Willow.
"You said to meet you here…" Willow hoped that would be enough to jerk his memory. She still didn't know what the big deal was.
"Oh, yes. Um, I-I was looking through one of my volumes, and found something this morning. This spell of yours is quite the double edged sword, if I may say," Giles said, leading Willow over to the study table.
"Really? What's wrong with it?" Willow asked. Giles nodded to the book, and the translated text sitting next to it. Willow sat down to read what he'd found.
* * *
Giles turned to Oz, wondering why he was still standing there. Usually, Giles had something for him to do, as a sort of library assistant, and Oz would find something if there wasn't anything for him to do right off. But, he was just standing there.
"What's wrong, Oz?" he asked.
"Well, I needed to relay a little information. We had a vamp attack at the Bronze last night. Devon called to invite me to their little party, but the vamps played crashers," Oz said. Giles' forehead creased.
"When did this happen, time wise?" Giles asked.
"About three or so. I went down there, but I needed help so I got-" Oz was interrupted.
"Me," Buffy said as she came into the library. Giles had to smile, guessing that his earlier talk with Snyder had really helped. "Oz got me, we killed the vamps."
"Oh, good," Giles said. "And Devon?"
"No problem. He was so wasted he didn't remember even calling me. Buffy and I got him home," Oz explained.
"And he didn't say anything?" Giles probed.
"Aside from telling Oz and I all about the 'fluffy, pink bunnies and how they made him do it', whatever that meant, no," Buffy said, causing Giles to look to her, confused. "As Oz said last night, he's Devon and he was drunk."
"Oh," Willow said, looking up to the others. She'd finished reading the translated passage. "I can see why you freaked, Giles."
"Giles freaked?" Buffy asked, looking to Willow, then back to Giles. "How come you freaked?"
"W-well, it seems that, um…" Giles couldn't seem to form the right words.
"The spell I was gonna do? It has a catch. Not to be tried on powerful vampires, or…" Willow couldn't explain either.
"Or Angel doesn't need a happy to go all psycho-vamp again?" a male voice asked from the doorway. Everyone looked to the door to see Xander.
"Xander!" Willow exclaimed, surprised at seeing him. "You're here!"
"Well, you know, it's either hanging here or hiding three inches deep in trash Dumpsters for the rest of my young life," Xander said, making jokes, as usual. "Plus, I knew you guys would be here."
"It's good to have you back," Giles said, amazed that he had missed Xander's annoying side comments on absolutely everything that anyone said. Willow smiled, and Oz nodded in reply, as did Buffy.
"Anyone want doughnuts?" Xander asked, getting everyone laughing.
"Xander? School," Willow said, picking up her backpack. "We actually have it today!"
"So? We can blow it off for a day! I mean, that spell thing didn't work, so we gotta have a little research party and find another one, right?" Xander asked.
"Well figure it out later, Xander. Come on," Buffy said. "We'll see you later, Giles." She smiled at her Watcher in the form of a 'thanks' for getting her back into the school. He nodded, smiling back.
"Can't we look stuff up now?" Xander pleaded. Willow laughed, taking Oz's hand so he could walk with them to class. "And how'd Buffy get back?"
"Question number one, no. Question number two, Giles," Buffy said as the four of them left the library.
Well, Giles thought as he went about cleaning up the books he had piled all over the study table, at least things are slightly normal again…
* * *
Buffy decided that she'd never been so happy to hear a school bell in her life when it rang, dismissing her from French class. There were a lot of things she'd missed when she was in LA. School was most definitely not one of them.
"So, you had to help Oz out last night?" Willow asked her, as they packed up. Buffy was glad she had a few classes with her friends, so they could help her catch up on what little work she'd missed so far. There had been three days of actual class while she was gone.
"Yeah. I need to tell Giles more about that, too, so thanks for saying something," Buffy replied, as the two of them headed for the library.
"Really? What?" Willow questioned.
"Well, the vampires from last night were familiar. From before. I think they were some of Spike's guys from before. When he and Drusilla were still here."
"That makes sense. I mean, Spike's missing, right? So his little lackies would be free to do what they want. Including attacking the Bronze if they want to."
"I'm not sure. Did you guys see anything from them over the summer?"
"No. But, we really didn't see much at all, honestly."
"Yeah, that makes sense. I don't know, though. Usually they don't come out that late. It's like going out to dinner at eleven thirty at night."
"Hmm. I guess I see your point," Willow said, as they entered the library. Giles was nowhere to be found, so they took a seat at the table. "Well, we have to deal with first things first, right?"
"Right," Buffy said. "So, what about that spell? We really didn't get to finish the discussion this morning, 'cause of classes and all."
"Well, we can't do the one I found the other day because of what Giles found out about it," Willow replied. Buffy nodded. They'd had a chance to talk a little at lunch, but there were still a few points they had to cover. "But, Giles should find another spell for us." Buffy was silent for several minutes. "Maybe…?" Willow tried again, her voice falling.
"I don't know. Maybe this whole thing with me and Angel just isn't meant to be, you know?" Buffy said, knowing that the only way her friend would understand her point of view would be if she told her.
"Why not? I mean, what makes you think that?"
"It's just… I don't know. Everything that's happened practically screams that this just… Isn't right. Just a feeling, I guess."
"Like what 'stuff', exactly?"
"All of it. There's been so much, and all of it kinda points here. It just makes me wonder, that's all." Willow nodded, understanding her friend's feelings.
"Sometimes, I wonder if I'm really supposed to be where I am in life, you know? Like, maybe I'm supposed to be somewhere else with my parents, or dead or something," Willow said.
"Will, stuff usually happens because it's supposed to. I mean, if you were supposed to be dead, you probably would be. Right?" Buffy asked.
"Well, if this whole thing with you and Angel isn't supposed to work out, then why do we keep coming up with ways to give you guys another chance?" At this, Buffy was silent. "Just saying." Buffy nodded, looking to the door as Xander came in.
"Well, we do live on a Hellmouth," Buffy said. "That has to account for some of it, at least."
"True. We could leave, though!" Willow replied.
"What're we talkin' about?" Xander asked, sitting at the table, across from, Buffy.
"Right now? Reasons to leave the Hellmouth," Buffy replied.
"It's the Hellmouth. What other reason do we need?" Xander asked.
"Not sure," Willow replied, as the door to Giles' office opened. He stepped out, looking very tired, and very panicked.
"We have to go on a small 'field trip'," he said, looking very serious.
"What's up?" Xander asked. Buffy and Willow both looked to Giles, also wondering what was going on…
* * *
Xander stared intensely at Giles, wondering what had him so freaked out. His jacket was somewhere else, who knew where. His shirtsleeves were rolled up and the top buttons of his were shirt undone. He had his glasses off, and his hair was a complete mess.
"We have a problem. We must leave right away. Everyone go get packed but be back here by sundown. Someone call Oz, get him here as well," Giles said, searching the area for his jacket as he spoke.
"Giles, speak. What's with the dire?" Buffy asked, looking slightly frightened.
"I'll explain later," Giles replied, finally seeing his jacket inside the book cage where he'd left it when he had Oz help him look for the Codex, since he'd lost it again. That had been first thing that morning.
"Explain now," Xander insisted.
"Go get your things and be back here by sundown, and if you have a problem, don't bother to come," Giles said. Xander knew by his tone that something was very wrong.
"Gone. Come on, Will," Buffy said, the girls getting their backpacks and standing. She didn't want to get into an argument with her Watcher, who was so obviously freaked out.
"I want to know what's going on," Xander said, making no move to leave the library. Giles glared at him, taking several quick steps towards Xander so he could get right up in the teen's face.
"Get out, get packed, and be back here at six. This is an order, Xander, from an authority figure, so unless you have a problem, do exactly as I say," Giles said. Buffy walked up to the two of them.
"Damnit, Giles, what the hell is going on?" Buffy asked, as her voice rose to match Giles's. He looked to her, angry and sort of wild looking. She'd seen him like that before - it was his darker side that usually only showed when Ethan Rayne was in town. Either that or when the Watcher was severely panicked about something.
"Later!" he practically yelled, going back to his office. The harsh slamming of the door marked the end of the discussion. Xander looked to Buffy, who was obviously surprised, and hurt, that her Watcher had snapped at her like that.
"Now what?" he wondered aloud, causing the Slayer to look to him.
"Do what he wants. Something is seriously wrong, he knows, and he isn't gonna tell us until we do this," Buffy replied, and the three of them left to pack.
* * *
Angel was awakened by a loud ringing noise. It was the phone in the other room that no one knew existed. So why the hell is it ringing? he thought, getting up to see what was going on. He went to the phone, looking at it curiously for a moment before picking it up.
"Hello?"
"Angel. Good. Dru, he's alive!" It was spike. The last part was yelled to Drusilla, who was now singing or something in the background. Angel was now wide-awake.
"Spike?" he asked after a while, wondering why he had called.
"Lemmie guess, surprised? See, me and Dru figured you killed that sorry bitch of a Slayer and decided, what the hell, don't wanna end the world," he said. "I like that. See I told that damn girl that I liked this world, and I do. I don't wanna wreck it or anything. But, I do want to have a little fun. See, I was thinkin', we all gather in England, and open their Hellmouth. Get some laughs."
"Why don't we just open the one here in Sunnydale?" Angel asked, hoping his tone would make Spike think that he was still evil. Apparently, it did. Spike seemed to fall for it, anyway.
"Well, me and Dru are already in England. Besides, why would we want to come back to Sunnyhell?" Angel had to laugh at Spike's nickname for the town.
"Well, why not?" Angel asked, enjoying Spike's fear as he somewhat slipped into the evil persona. "I mean, I killed the Slayer, and that equals no threat. Plus, we've got the Council in England, and who knows if they'd get in the way."
"They won't. Not their policy to interfere with us, remember? That's the Slayer's job. Plus, all three of us? They wouldn't stand a chance in Hell. And, I don't like that town. If you don't want to attend, no need to. I'm sure we can have a hell of a show without you," Spike said. Angel knew that the only way to stop Spike would be to play by his rules.
"I'll be there," Angel said. Before hanging up, he added, "and Spike? Don't start the fun without me."
* * *

Part 8

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