Chapter 31
Countdown:
2 hours
Pressing the tiny microphone into his ear with one hand Angel
half listened to the conversations going on around him.
He’d never before been a part of an operation as massive as
this one. His experience going into battle was with a maximum of four other
people. Prior to this day the only other largest one he’d been involved with
was the battle against the Mayor.
And even then he’d been mostly rear flank support as Xander
had gleefully informed him back then. If Xander’d had
his way back then those fighting in a support capacity would never even have
seen battle on that day.
He’d quite truly despised
the younger male back then.
And it hadn’t even been because he was leaving Sunnydale and
Buffy and Xander would be there to pick up the pieces of the shattered Slayer’s
heart.
“Dad…” Connor nudged him discreetly and Angel turned his eyes
to see Wesley looking around his circle containing his Warriors, a Hunter and a
Slayer.
Noticing that the others were nodding their heads Angel
jerked his once in agreement to whatever had been decided, he’d ask Connor or
Faith about it later, then leaned back in his chair.
“Xander?” Wesley turned to the Hunter sitting to Damon’s
right. “Do you have any suggestions on discreet entrances into the camp?”
“I don’t think discreet is going to work… they obviously know
that Buffy has escaped, most likely Dru and Oz as well. If not with her the
she’ll have gone back for them… if we go in heavy on the front and rear, it
might buy enough time for them to get from where they’re hiding to one of the
teams…” Xander turned to Angel, waiting for the other man to pick up the topic
before twining his hands together in his lap once more.
Drawing a deep breath, suppressing his amazement at being
able to accomplish that small task he studied those faces around him.
Each team was circled around their Watcher, all getting their
assignments much the same way they were… all sharing the information that he
and Xander had supplied.
“Angel…” Wesley prompted.
“We were
hidden deep within the compound… Dru’d been shot.” Buffy’s
voice rang through him. Where all his other memories of his dreams were strong,
the one that he needed the most... The one where Buffy had finally shared what
had happened to her, Oz and Dru within the camp was foggy.
Hazy.
Almost as if someone was keeping him from remembering…
perhaps afraid that he would have an unfair advantage?
He wasn’t sure anymore. Maybe the dreams had served their
purpose, helping to bolster sagging spirits and were now being removed so that
life could be lived without the constant sense of deja
vu.
“They’re hidden somewhere deep within the compound…” Angel
began. “She told me that Dru had been shot, poisoned… I believe…” his brow
furrowed as he tried to trap that elusive remembrance. “The poison that Faith
got me with.”
“The Killer of the Dead,” Faith supplied, wincing at the
memory. “I remember.”
“Yes…” for a moment their eyes met and Angel saw in hers the
sorrow of her actions, so much time wasted because of her anger and jealousy.
Angel had long since forgiven her for those actions; she’d apologized time and
again for what she’d done to him and Buffy on both the Mayor’s behest and for
her own jealousy. He’d actually been helping her in her search for redemption.
They’d become friends of a sort. She’d been the one person
that he hadn’t been afraid to mention Buffy’s name in front of when the other
Slayer was ‘dead’.
But Buffy… she’d never had the chance to apologize to her
Slayer-sister.
There’d never been a chance… Buffy had never come to see her when
she’d been incarcerated and Faith had never asked her to.
By the time she’d realized that time was running out on both
their behalf’s Buffy was embroiled within the nightmare of Anyanka’s
vengeance and then time had run out.
It had never been far from her mind that she could have been
fighting the good fight beside Buffy and Angel the entire time… she could have
been there when Anyanka ‘killed’ both Buffy and Xander and either fallen with
them or fallen in their place.
How different would their lives be if she had been there?
Would Angel still be under that spell, would Cordelia? Would Buffy and Xander
have been thought dead for the last year?
“It’s forgotten,” Angel said softly, “and we can’t change the
past.”
“
“I know you well enough after all this time…” the rest was
left unsaid; he knew the expressions of her face as well as he knew all his
friends. And he knew that she’d been beating herself up over past actions
trying to find a way to right what she’d done.
“Yes, well,” Wesley cleared his throat to draw attention back
to him. “What else do you remember Buffy telling you?”
“They’re deep in the compound, no cameras, she thought it had
been abandoned… and…”
“And what?” Jade asked softly her head tilting as she studied
the former vampire. He was holding up surprisingly well, Buffy’s whole
contingent was… though she wouldn’t be surprised if when this was all done and
over if they all didn’t collapse in hysterical tears.
Angel frowned, the emotions that he remembered pouring off
Buffy as she’d made her confession on the floor of their unborn child’s nursery
flooding him. Confusing him slightly with the emotions that he could feel
pouring off her now.
“They were scared… scared of getting recaptured… scared of
dying…”
“Well then we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,”
Damon muttered. “Because to be honest as much as I don’t believe that you’ve
been seeing the future in your dreams… I like your future better than the one I
envision if we don’t succeed.”
**************************************************************************************
Dawn sat on the edge of Spike’s bed, one trembling hand
stroking his hair as she blinked away tears.
“Is he…?”
“I think he’s asleep…” Dawn whispered. “Or catatonic… it’s
kind of hard to tell on vampires and I really don’t want to try and wake him up
to check,” she scowled at
Not that either would.
If they had a choice between heartbroken wailing or catatonia
they would choose catatonia every time.
“Is there any news?” she asked quietly, she kept one hand
stroking Spike’s hair as her eyes remained focused on the silent duo.
“No… their getting ready to move in… that has to be good
right? If they’re still planning on a rescue attempt then they have to still be
alive…”
“Right…” Dawn whispered as she glanced down at the unmoving
vampire. His brow wrinkled, a frown crossing his face and Dawn realized that
even unconscious he was seeking out his mate.
And not finding her was agitating him.
“What are we going to do if…”
“I’m sure that she’s fine,” Giles said softly. “If something
had happened to one of the three I’m sure we would have heard by now. We just
need to… wait.”
“Right,”
“If something’s happened to Dru,” the teen started. “If she’s
really gone I don’t think there’s any way that we’ll be able to stop him from
staking himself.”
“Then we’ll just have to make sure that he doesn’t do
anything rash until we know for sure,” Giles said sternly. “I would hate to
have to explain to Druscilla or Angel how we allowed Spike to dust himself.”
“Actually I don’t think Angel would mind, Dru might, but
Angel…”
**************************************************************************************
Gunn sighed as he stood in the doorway to the control room.
Silent as a tomb, all operations were being run from where the Warriors were
stationed awaiting the signal to move.
Cordy was sitting silently in that room at the moment,
staring with unseeing eyes down into the room below. Perhaps hoping to see
Xander reappear, having changed his mind about being included.
If she’d asked he could probably have told her that the
chances of anyone coming back before the mission was complete was nil.
If he’d a choice in the matter he would have been right there
with them. But with no super strength or military experience he had been
relegated to hand holding.
“When was the last time you slept?” he asked, quietly moving
up behind her, although he must have made some noise as she didn’t even jump at
his arrival.
“Sleep?” she laughed harshly. “Who can sleep?”
“Well everyone but you it seems… you plannin’
on waitin’ here the whole time they’re gone?”
“I… What if he doesn’t come back?” she whispered.
“Cordy?” Gunn kneeled before, confusion on his face as he saw
the strained sadness on hers. And he didn’t even have to ask who she was
worried about… she’d been worried about Angel before, but he’d only seen this
sort of despair after Xander had died. “Did you have a vision or something?”
“No… it’s just… I find him again after all this time and he
just left, it’s just like high school all over again… Buffy’s in trouble and
everyone runs off…”
“He’s doing his job…”
“His job is to be with me.”
“Cordy,” Gunn frowned at her.
“If she gets him killed I’ll never forgive her.”
“You don’t mean that,” Gunn murmured. “I know you’re worried,
I know that you’re scared… But don’t you think they are to? That I am? Faith
went with them, didn’t even give a second thought about staying here. And
Angel… don’t you think Angel felt the same way when Buffy went on that first
rescue mission? She was rescuing Xander, and a lot of other Hunters that would
still be there, would still be in pain. Don’t you think he’s terrified that he
went through all of this and is still going to lose her?”
“I guess…”
“And Connor, he just gets his mother back…”
“Not that either of us knew about that,” Cordy muttered under
her breath.
“And Dawn… finally getting her sister back only to lose her
again.”
“I know… logically I know all this… but my heart, it screams
that it’s not fair.”
“And its not, but hey… Angel got Buffy back. English isn’t
dead after all…”
“I forgot to ask how Fred was dealing with that?” she glanced
over at the black man, a hint of smile on her face.
“She’s not pleased… he’s got a girlfriend, and she looks to
be the possessive type… Can’t wait to see what Lilah’s
reaction is going to be.”
“I forgot about Lilah,” Cordy smiled thinly, eyebrows arching
as she pictured the female lawyers reaction in her mind. “I think it would only
be right if someone called and let her know.”
“You’re a cruel, cruel woman Cord.”
“Never said I was anything else.”
**************************************************************************************
Buffy fiddled with the tiny ear mike in her hands. When she’d
been in the Medical Lab getting the Mohra blood for Dru she’d seen the tiny
transmitters that she and Colin had been wearing when they’d been captured.
Obviously these demons were waste not, want not types and had
put them aside. Probably assuming that they could eventually tap into the
signal that the Warriors used.
If she’d been asked she would have told them that would have
been pointless. When she and Colin had fallen, regardless of how they felt the
Warriors would have changed all frequency points.
She hoped, although she knew chances were slim, that she
could either find the one they were transmitting on or find one that they were
at the very least monitoring.
Near her, using the few minutes of down time Oz was leaning
against a wall, eyes closed as he catnapped.
Dru was twirling, her wounds healed, her face a smiling
picture of humanity and strangely enough sanity.
With a frown Buffy focused on the other woman for a moment
before shaking her head. She never in a million years thought that she would
use Dru and sanity in the same breath.
“How do you feel Dru?” she asked quietly her eyes once more
straying to the tiny mike in her hand. She’d done all she could do, now she
could just hope that someone on the other end was scanning old frequency points
for radio noise.
“Strange,” Dru stopped twirling, her skirts settling around
her legs with a swish as she stared down at her. “I can’t feel the sun or the
moon… is this what it’s like to be human?”
“Yep,” Buffy popped the p as she took a deep breath then
pushed the ear mike within her ear.
“What are you doing?” Oz’s eyes had opened a crack at the
sound of their voices and now as he watched Buffy’s movements his eyes
narrowed.
“Its little ears,” Dru whispered confidentially. “Shh,” she murmured pressing a finger to her lips.
Buffy frowned up at her, maybe Dru was still insane after
all, closing her eyes she drew a deep breath and began speaking in a low soft
voice.
“I don’t know if anyone is listening to this point… we’re
alive, all of us… we’re going to move shortly… if anyone is listening… some
assistance would be great.”
“Do you think they can hear you?” Oz asked as he pushed
himself to his feet, watching as Buffy released the breath she had been
holding. “And do you think they’ll understand the message even if they hear
it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well you didn’t really give them that much information.”
“And if god forbid someone else is listening to the
transmission… say nasty demons that like to play with us, they won’t know where
we are.”
**************************************************************************************
Countdown:
0 hours
The Wolf led the way; Oz didn’t let him out much to play
anymore. Usually he only got to run free and hunt when the three nights of the
Full Moon rolled around. He had kept him especially tight under when they’d
been trapped within the small cell with a bleeding, dying vampire.
He’d known that the Wolf would have seen Dru as the weakest
member of their little pack and attacked. Food was food after all, even if it
was food of their small group.
He’d kept the Wolf under tight guard, never allowing him
totally to the surface… but now…
Now they needed the predator and protector that the Wolf was,
the vampire was human and healed, the Warrior was their leader and had told him
to protect her if by some horrible chance she fell.
And he would, because their leader trusted him to do so.
Right now though the Warrior was in fine health, moving with
stealth and ease behind him, her body shielding the vampire-human even though
she was slighter than the darker female.
With a growl he ceased moving, nose sniffing he could smell
demons closing on them.
He snarled in anger, a trap, they’d moved right into a trap.
The Warrior moved up behind where he was prepping for the
leap into battle, a gentle hand staying his motion. He knew that she could feel
them surrounding their pack, could feel it in the tenseness of her muscles,
could see it in the way her eyes flitted in the darkness.
The vampire-human cried out as they moved in, the Wolf and
Warrior remaining silent as they were pushed and prodded.
“Well lookie what we found,” a
demon, class unknown to the Wolf forced the Warriors eyes up to meet his and
laughed at the defiance that he saw.
“She’s human,” a vampire sniffed at the other female, his
demonic face scowling in disgust. “What a waste.”
“No worries,” the demon still holding the Warriors eyes
stated. “She can be remade.”
That got a reaction from the Warrior and the Wolf had barely
a second before she moved forward. Planting the small shard of metal that she
had liberated from their tiny hideaway in the demon’s stomach.
With a cry she fought, with a snarl the Wolf joined her.
Protect the vampire-human he’d been told and so that’s what
he did. As the Warrior moved forward the Wolf moved back, tracking the vampire
that had pulled a resisting member of his pack away.
He leapt at the group that surrounded one of his females…
snarling the whole time he barely felt the kick that caught him in the stomach.
A strong kick that caused pain, massive pain and he flew away a startled whine
escaping him as he hit the wall and crumpled unmoving the ground.
He shifted as he lay there, Oz once more dominating the body
they shared, the Wolf crawling into himself to regain strength.
Buffy cried out as she felt hands and feet on her body.
The hallway they were in was small and they were only three and
they were more. As a group they came at her, with kicks and punches and she
fell, curling in on herself as she tried to conserve strength for fighting
back.
Dying was not an option. Not for any of them.
She could hear Dru screaming and inside she herself joined
those screams.
What would she tell Spike if Dru died after everything she
had done for her and Oz? The one thing that had held him together in a time
where he was slowly going insane was thoughts of his princess. And if Buffy had
been able she would have dragged Dru to Sunnydale and delivered her to Spike.
When Dru was silent Buffy felt silent tears stream down her
cheeks, so huddled in her misery she didn’t even acknowledge that punches and
kicks were no longer landing on her body.
A gentle hand touched her shoulder and she winced even as her
eyes rose.
“Sorry we’re late,” a smiling face beamed down at her and
over his shoulder she could see Dru leaning heavily on one of his counterparts’
shoulders. Hand pressed to her neck, but otherwise still alive.
Her eyes flew to Oz, saw that another counterpart was helping
him to his feet, handing him a pair of pants, obviously commandeered for him,
to put on.
“Brendan?”
**************************************************************************************
Angel unleashed his fury at the fates with his fists. He’d
wanted to be the one to rescue her. The one to burst into wherever she was,
wanted to be the first Warrior to lay eyes on her beautiful face.
But he’d been held back, straws drawn by the leaders of the
remaining teams to see which team would have the honor of leading Buffy, Oz and
Dru out of the Prison.
He’d voiced his displeasure, his anger echoed by Damon, Jade,
Xander, Faith, Connor… Wesley and the other Watchers had stood strong in the
face of their anger.
Brendan had drawn the short straw, his face beaming
satisfaction as he’d held it high and waved it in the air.
And then they’d moved… swiftly. Brendan’s team going solo in
the back way… the rest hitting the Prison in frontal and side assaults
simultaneously.
While the teams surrounding him, all in fighting motion could
be heard chattering into their radios the team that he wanted to hear from,
Brendan’s team, was strangely silent.
And had been for almost ten minutes.
He continued to try and reach Buffy through their shared
bond, but there was nothing. He could vaguely remember Brendan mentioning that
once the Warrior’s shield were activated (and hadn’t that made him feel silly
as hell, saying that word in unison with a crowd of 50+ others) that the bonds
between teams and the Warriors as a whole went dormant.
As he waited he could hear Buffy’s voice, soft and sweet,
trembling slightly with fear, ringing in his ears.
If Damon hadn’t set the radios to scan all previously used
frequencies they would have missed the broadcast.
Would have missed her announcement that they were all alive,
that they were getting ready to move.
Wesley had been satisfied, he’d thought that the signal for
entry and rescue would come from Buffy and he had not been wrong.
“We’ve got
them, extracting now.”
Brendan’s voice was barely heard as the whoops of joy that
let loose from those fighting. Off to his right Angel could see Xander’s face
turn up in a smile just as he swung out one fist and sent a demon flying back
through the air.
“Copy… all
teams fall back, charges of been set, detonation in five minutes.”
Wesley’s voice that time, Angel could swear he could hear the
smile within it.
“Copy.”
The team leaders echoed each other, Damon’s voice followed by
those in the other teams. And with a last minute fling of his stake Angel
finished off his final opponent and turned.
Made sure that Xander was safe and alive still, a grinning
Connor was keeping pace with Damon as they raced from the camp.
He was keeping a promise… and bringing them all home.
**************************************************************************************
The explosion didn’t even startle him, he didn’t have the
time to be startled as he pushed his way through the crowd of Warriors,
Hunters, Humans to get to his loves side.
He was almost tempted to snarl… just to see if it would get
anyone to move out of his way.
He could just barely see the top of her blonde head, could
see the brown top of Oz’s, and Dru’s black almost a head taller than both of
them all leaning together.
Then finally he broke through, saw Brendan talking quietly to
the three, his team surrounding them. One bandaging what looked to be bite
marks on Dru’s neck… with surprise he glanced up at the sun and back to the
non-dusted Dru… who had just noticed him and was apparently laughing at him.
With a soft smile she leaned her head down to Buffy’s once
more and they exchanged quick words, his love’s head suddenly jerking up
noticing his closeness for the first time.
“Angel,” she breathed and pushing Brendan aside raced into
his waiting arms.
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