Is There No Angel? ~ A Songfic Series to
Dido’s Music
The
Second Story: Hunter
Disclaimer:
I do not own anything, just the idea of this series.
Summary: AU. This is sorta about Joyce and the
relationship with Hank, but it’s also her, Buffy, Spike, and Dawn making an
escape plan to Angel’s. Angel will not
be in this story much, if at anytime at all, but that could change in due
course.
A/N: This takes place a few days after ‘Thank You’
I have no clue what Angel’s real father’s name was so I made one up . . .
Rating: Um…somewhere between PG-13 and R I would
say considering last chapter just scrapes a PG-13 (to me anyway . . .)
~*--*~
With one
light on in one room, I know you’re up when I get back
Joyce looked out the window and saw Hank arrive
home from his business meeting. She knew
now what would happen. He’d go in the
house, call for her and the children, drink his whiskey, and then beat them. She couldn’t stand to watch her precious
babies be beaten by Hank again. Oh, how
she wished she could divorce him right now.
But she couldn’t do that either, at least not yet.
“Mom,” Dawn stepped into the room, “Are you
alright?”
“Yes, sweetie, I’m fine,” she turned to look at
her daughter before smiling and turning back to look out the window. Dawn walked over to her mother and put a hand
on her shoulder.
“We’re gonna be alright mom,” Dawn reassured.
“I know,” Joyce began to cry, “It’s just sometimes
very hard to get through a day knowing the routine and letting it happen.”
“Spike’s in his room doing an outline,” Dawn
said.
“For what?”
“The…” Dawn thought before whispering it in her
mother’s ear, “The escape plan.” Joyce’s
eyes widened as she took Dawn’s hand and went to Spike’s room.
“Spike,” she came over and found multiple pieces
of paper in a different language written out carefully. “Spike, what’s all
this?”
“It’s part of my idea I had for my science
project,” Spike said knowing that Hank was behind.
“It’s good to see you working so hard, son,” Hank
said.
“You know bloody damn well that I’m not, and never
will be your son,” Spike said, gathering the papers and leaving, but being
stopped roughly by Hank.
“I never want to hear those words come out of your
mouth again boy,” Hank punched Spike in the eye.
“Spike!” Dawn screamed. Buffy, who was down the hall working on
another part of the plan, heard her scream and ran to Spike’s room. The door flew open to where she saw her
brother on the floor holding his eye.
Hank decided to bend down and read one of the
papers. Joyce looked very nervous and held Dawn. “A science project in a
different language?” Hank laughed. “It’s a good lie son, but not good enough.”
He kicked Spike in the stomach that let out another loud screaming groan.
“He’s telling the truth, Hank,” Buffy said
hatefully.
“Don’t you dare go against what I say,” Hank gritted
starting to move towards Buffy.
“I am because he’s telling the truth,” Buffy said.
“We’re working on a project on Italian linguistics. We’re writing down sentences to soon go out
and see people who don’t know the language pronounce it and people who know the
language. It’s quite interesting
actually.” Joyce stared at Buffy in amazement.
Hank looked hatefully at Spike and then Buffy before finally deciding to
leave. Buffy felt his cold eyes on her
as he swept past her. As he left, Buffy made sure that he wasn’t going to stay
and listen. He didn’t. Joyce rushed over to Spike. So did Dawn and
Buffy.
“Spike, sweetie, are you alright?”
“Yeah, mum, I’m fine, but when are you going to
divorce that prick?” Spike said.
“Soon, sweetie,” Joyce sighed, “Soon.”
With one small step upon the stair, I know your look when I
get there
Buffy quietly left her
brother’s room after seeing that he was ok and went downstairs to get one of
the schoolbooks she needed for tomorrow’s lesson. All of a sudden her father
was at the bottom of the stair when she was about halfway down. “What is it, Hank?” Buffy rolled her eyes at
him. “Come to hit me again?”
“Now, now, let’s not be so
hostile . . .”
“Like you been with us?”
Buffy yelled. Hank gritted his teeth and put his hands into fists when she said
this but was able to hold his temper.
“You know I’ll find Angel, Hank, you can’t stop me, and there isn’t anyone
who can.”
“That boy is bad for you,
Buffy, he may love you now, but in the future he’d you use you, and I don’t
want that to happen to you,” Hank lied.
He knew that Buffy and Angel had a powerful love that wouldn’t end, just
like Spike and Drusilla did.
“He’d never use me, Hank,
I know him, and I love him,” Buffy said coming down a few more stairs.
“If you come down another
stair I’ll . . . “
“You’ll what? Beat me? I
know that routine already, Hank, and besides I need a book for my lesson
tomorrow, but maybe if I was a normal person I would have all of my books in my
backpack and be in a college dorm studying right now,” Buffy gritted and came
down the rest of the stairs, passing Hank and going to the bookshelves to get
the book she needed.
“Goodnight, Hank,” Buffy
said, Hank still standing in the same spot where he first started talking to
Buffy.
“You will not call me
Hank, Elizabeth Anne Summers, you will call me ‘Dad’ or ‘Father’ like other
children do,” Hank seethed.
“Like other normal
children? Well, I’m not exactly a normal child, Hank, and legally I’m not even
a child anymore so I can call you whatever the hell I want,” Buffy said just
going up the stairs without bothering to turn around and look at how red Hank’s
face was.
If you were a king up there on your throne would you be wise
enough to let me go
Joyce sat in her son’s room, thinking about
Spike’s question. She knew that if she
filed for divorce that Hank would never sign the papers, and if he did, he’d
ask for full custody of Dawn, since she was the only legal child, as Buffy and
Spike were both 22, and Joyce knew that he’d get custody, because of all the
connections he had and people he knew.
She couldn’t bear it if she wasn’t able to see her baby girl again. “Spike, I’ll be in my room if you need me, Dawn
I’ll bring you to your room.” Joyce attempted to smile.
“Mom, I think we need to start getting ready,”
Dawn whispered to her mother. Joyce knew her daughter was right.
“Go to your room, and start packing,” Joyce
whispered to her daughter. She knew if
they were going to leave they had to do it now.
She walked back towards Spike’s room, took out her cell phone, and speed
dialed 3 which was George’s number.
“What is it Joyce?”
“Bring the limo to the front of the house,” Joyce
said into the phone. “We’ll be out in
fifteen minutes.”
“Alright,” George hung up the phone.
“Spike,” she said going into his room. “Get ready, we’re leaving.” Spike’s eyes
brightened up and he ran into his closet and started packing. “Make sure you
pack clothes and your bathroom stuff, we may not be coming back for a while.”
“Alright, Mom,” Spike said poking his head out the
door. Joyce left Spike’s room and headed
towards Buffy’s. As she entered she
found Buffy crying on her bed holding a picture of Angel.
“Buffy,” Joyce rushed over to her daughter’s side,
“Stop crying.”
“I’m never going to see him again, Mom, am I? Just
tell the truth,” Buffy said through her tears.
“Sweetie, of course you’re going to see him again,
possibly in a couple of hours if things run smoothly,” Joyce calmed her.
“What things?”
“Pack your things, we’re leaving right now,” Joyce
said, kissing her daughter’s cheek. “Clothes, toiletry items, and anything else
you might want to bring.” Buffy immediately got her packed suitcase from under
her bed. “Buffy, how long have you been
packed?”
“For a very long time, Mom, a very long time,”
Buffy smiled.
For this
queen you think you own wants to be a hunter again
Joyce rushed from Buffy’s room to the master
bedroom. She immediately got out her
suitcase and threw completely random (but her . . .) clothes in it. She rushed into the bathroom and got her
shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush and dryer, and a few other items and
threw them in the bag. She was packing
her journal and some of her jewels when she noticed Hank’s desk in the
corner. She thought for a moment before
going over to it, opening one of the drawers and taking a stack of the papers
and throwing them in her suitcase too. Zipping
it shut, Joyce sighed in relief and left her bedroom, closing the door and
meeting her children, who had two suitcases each.
“OK,” Joyce said quietly, “Let’s go, but quietly
now.” They all tiptoed down the stairs
and were about to make it out the door when . . .
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” Hank shouted. “What in
God’s name are you trying to d . . .” Hank was cut off swiftly by a wine bottle
smashing into his head. He fell to the
floor, unconscious.
“Drake,” Joyce said in shock.
“I’ve wanted to do that for so long, madam, and
now was my chance, go, while you still can,” Drake smiled. He watched as the four of them left.
“Come on get in,” George met with them and rushed
them. They all quickly threw their stuff
in the trunk and got in the limo. “Where
to, Joyce?” George asked when he got in the car.
“Angel’s apartment, I believe you know where that
is,” Joyce said. George sped off. Spike,
Dawn, and Buffy just sat in shock.
“We made it,” Spike said, “Heh. We actually made
it.” Suddenly he went wild, “YES!!!!! WE
MADE IT!” He took Dawn and Buffy into a huge hug. After a few minutes Buffy was
having a little trouble.
“Spike,” she said, “I’m having . . . a lack . . .
of oxygen . . .”
“OH!” Spike said letting go. “Sorry, luv.”
Wants to see
the world alone again, to take a chance on life again
Hank still lay on the marble floor in the
foyer. All of a sudden, to Drake’s
disappointment of course, he jolted up.
He had an enormous headache. “Drake, get me some aspirin, and get Joyce
and the others down here.” Hank said not
remembering what had happened.
“Sir, I can get you the aspirin, but I can’t get
your family,” Drake said calmly.
“And why the fuck can’t you get them?” Hank
gritted, getting up from the floor.
“Because,” Drake started but then decided to lie,
“They wanted to go to the grocery store together.”
“AND YOU LET THEM GO WITHOUT TELLING ME?” Hank
yelled grabbing Drake by the shirt and slamming him against the wall. “YOU TELL ME RIGHT NOW WHERE THEY ARE!”
“I told you, sir, they’re . . .”
“THEY’RE NOT AT THE MARKET AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW
IT! TELL ME NOW OR . . .” Hank calmed
himself down and said to Drake, “If you can’t help me then I will find them on
my own.” He let Drake go and walked upstairs. ‘You’re not going to get away
with this Joyce’ he whispered to himself.
So let me go
Joyce and her kids had almost reached the
apartment when it started to rain.
“Mom, we’re going to Angel’s apartment?” Dawn asked, “Does it have a bathroom where I
can take a shower without being interrupted?”
“Dawnie, of course it does,” Buffy smiled. “We’re here.” Her smile became even brighter
as she got out of the car. “Mom, I’m gonna go up. It’s on the top floor.” Buffy ran into the building and pressed the
elevator button up. The elevator
immediately opened and Buffy got in, pressing the penthouse button a few times
before the doors quickly. As the
elevator door opened she saw all of the familiar settings except Angel wasn’t
there to meet her. Then she heard a
voice from his den.
“They’ve left?” Angel breathed. Buffy quietly entered and decided to play a
game. She covered his eyes.
“Guess who?” she attempted to disguise her voice.
“Holy milkshakes!” Dawn shouted from the foyer.
“Buffy!” he turned around, got up and kissed her
with a heavy loving passion.
“Oh my God, Buffy, you’re alright, I was so
worried about you.”
“I can finally breathe again,” Buffy leaned
against Angel’s chest. “I felt so empty and lost, Angel, I need you so much.”
Angel ran one hand through her hair. “We should go see the others,” Angel
said. “We have so much to do, and so
little time . . .”
“Whoa, wait, what stuff do we have to do?” Buffy
asked half-giggling.
“Well, I was thinking a small wedding with just a
few people . . .”
“Peaches, this place is awesome!” Spike yelled.
“A small wedding . . .”Buffy smiled. “Possibly on
a beach?”
“Yes, we could do that,” Angel sat on the desk,
taking Buffy into his lap.
The unread
book and painful look the TV’s on the sound is down
“Angel, Dawn’s going to use the shower!” Joyce yelled.
“Tell her I said go ahead,” Angel yelled
back. “And you guys don’t have to ask.”
“We’ll be in bare feet by the ocean,” Buffy
dreamed aloud, “You’ll be very handsome in your tux . . .”
“And you’ll be the most beautiful woman on this
earth in your wedding dress.” Angel
complimented. Just then Spike came in.
“You two are making lovey-dovey already, sheesh,
pretty soon you’ll be getting married.” Spike said and turned to leave when
Buffy let out a small giggle. “Wait a minute! You are getting married! Congrats
by the way, Peaches, if you break her heart I’ll kill you, but anyways let me
rephrase the married phrase, pretty soon
you’ll be havin’ kids!” Then Spike turned and left.
“What would we name him or her,” Buffy
thought.
“Well, I was thinking possibly Winifred, Anna, or
Anya if the baby’s a girl, and Aiden, Tom, or John if the baby’s a boy.”
“You really have this planned out don’t you?”
Buffy said kissing him lightly. Angel
turned her body so if faced him and cupped her cheek.
One long
pause, then you begin oh look what the cat’s brought in.
The elevator door suddenly opened to three
people. A short man with gray hair, a
taller-then-the-man woman with graying brown hair, and a girl of about Dawn’s
age stepped out of the elevator to get a better view of the apartment.
“Hi,” Joyce said coming into the foyer, “I’m Joyce
Summers.” She put her hand out for the man to shake.
“Does Angel O’Connor live here?” The man ignored
Joyce’s hand and asked her rudely. They
both heard laughing from the den. The
man quickly walked over to the door and opened it.
“And then Drake took one of my father’s favorite
wine bottles and smashed it on my father’s head,” Buffy and Angel were laughing
about her father. The man cleared his throat to get their attention. They both immediately stopped laughing.
“Dad . . .”
“Liam Angelus O’Connor, I told you to stay away
from this girl,” Angel’s father scolded.
“Well, I don’t give a flying fuck what you say, I
love Buffy,” They both got off the desk and Angel placed Buffy behind him,
protecting her.
~*--*~
“I’m Anna O’Connor,” the woman put her hand out to
Joyce. Joyce graciously took it. “And this is my daughter Katherine.”
“Hello, Mrs. Summers it’s nice to meet you,”
Katherine said.
“Oh God, I hope he doesn’t do anything rash,” Anna
said worriedly. “Angel’s been the only
one brave enough to stand up to him. I
wish sometimes I had the courage he has.
He takes so much of the abuse in our family. But look at you, you’re a beautiful woman
with a beautiful daughter and probably a wonderful husband . . .”
“Hank? Wonderful? We just escaped our house hours
ago. My husband was beating my kids and
depriving them of a normal life,” Joyce said. “And thank you for your
compliment; you know you’re very beautiful too.”
“Hey, Mom, I can’t find my cucumber lotion and I
know I packed it do you know where . . .” Dawn entered with her bathrobe on and
towel on her head. “Oh, I didn’t know we had company.”
“Honey, this is Mrs. O’Connor and her daughter Katherine,”
Joyce smiled at her daughter to introduce herself.
“You can call me Kathy,” Katherine grinned at her.
“I’m Dawn,” Dawn smiled back, “It’s nice to meet
you.”
~*--*~
“Liam, you will do as I tell you,” his father
commanded.
“I don’t have to listen to you anymore, Dad, you
know I don’t,” Angel gritted.
“Yes, you do, because I’m your father, and I’m
older and smarter,” his father retorted.
“Oh yeah?” Angel stood up to face his father. Angel only received a punch to his right eye
in return.
“Yes, boy, now pack your things you’re coming with
me,” Mr. O’Connor gritted.
“No, you’re not taking him away from me,” Buffy
started to cry.
“I don’t care what kind of relationship you have
with my son, but it ends right here, right now! I don’t care how much you two
say you love each other,” Mr. O’Connor threatened moving towards Buffy.
“If you touch her, I swear to God I’ll kill you
myself,” Angel fumed. He grabbed his
father and threw him against the wall.
Mr. O’Connor cowered, slightly afraid of his son’s strength.
“You’re still coming with me you know,” Mr.
O’Connor evilly laughed, “Either that or jail, since you threaten to kill me.”
“You and Hank are two of a kind,” Buffy shook her
head in disbelief. “You two should be
best of friends from what you put us through.”
“Oh, believe me, dear girl, I’ve met your father
before, and what a disgraceful man to society he is,” Mr. O’Connor spat.
“You’ve met my/her father?” Angel and Buffy both
asked at the same time.
If you were
a king up there on your throne would you be wise enough to let me go
Hank paced in his office, waiting for news on if
his men had tracked his family yet. As a
‘Good Man of Society’ he had to keep his reputation up, which meant having his
family behind him. What a scandal this
would cause if the press ever found out.
Finally the phone rang.
“Summers, here, Finn is that you?”
“Yes, sir, we found your wife and kids, they’re in
the same place as they were last time, except they’re not alone, they seem to
have guests. From the heat detector
there’s a man where Buffy and . . . her boyfriend are. He seems to be threatening them.”
“Well get in there! I don’t want to see a finger
on any of my family, especially from strangers.”
“Yes, sir, should I use . . .”
“Use whatever you can to get them out of there and
back here as soon as possible.” And with those words Hank hung up the phone.
“Joyce, why do you do this to me?” Hank spoke to
himself. “You know you can win against
me. Why do you even try?” Hank started
to laugh insanely. Drake was listening
outside the door and thought that Hank had gone mad with a hate, but he knew he
had to call Joyce and make sure she knew that Hank’s men were coming after
them. Drake ran to the nearest phone and
started dialing Joyce’s cell phone.
~*--*~
Joyce was talking to Anna when she heard her cell
phone ring.
“Joyce here, Drake what’s the matter?” Joyce
said. “Slow down you’re talking too
fast. Wait, what about Hank? He knows
where we are? He’s bringing his troops in? Oh my Lord, we need to hide.”
“You son of a bitch!” a scream came from the
room. The next thing they heard was a
smash against the door.
“Leave Buffy alone,” came another scream.
“She’s just a whore to you,” Mr. O’Connor said
from the doorway. “You and I both know
it.”
“Buffy’s not a whore, she’s going to be my wife,
now get out of my house,” Angel gritted.
Buffy cowered behind Angel’s desk.
“Liam, this isn’t over yet and you know it,” Mr.
O’Connor shouted. All of a sudden there
was a banging at the front door and Joyce came running into the room.
“Buffy, your father’s men, hide quickly,” Joyce
panted, “Mr. O’Connor I suggest you hide too.”
Mr. O’Connor looked at her quite in shock.
“What about my wife and daughter?” Mr. O’Connor
said coolly.
“They’re already hiding now come on!” Joyce
whispered as they heard the banging get louder.
“We know you’re in there! Open up!” Riley shouted
from the door. Buffy, Angel, Joyce, and
Mr. O’Connor hid in the closet in his office.
Angel noticed that the door for the attic was right above them.
“Everybody outta the way for a sec,” Angel said,
getting out a step ladder, climbing up it and lightly pushing the door open so
the soldiers wouldn’t hear. “Come on,”
he said once he was up there, “Everyone get up here.” Buffy stepped on the
ladder first and Angel grabbed her and pulled her up. Next was Joyce. She got a little afraid, but was still able
to do it.
For this
queen you think you own wants to be a hunter again
Mr. O’Connor was having a little trouble because
he was the shortest of the four. Joyce
stuck her hand out for Mr. O’Connor to grab.
He did with great reluctance, but, Joyce and Angel helped him up.
Finally the men broke in the apartment. Alarms started to go off. They had their guns out and pointing at where
the noise was coming from.
In the attic, Buffy and Angel were covering the
door they came up in with heavy boxed and other items. Joyce noticed some people standing at the
other end. “Who’s there?”
“Joyce,
it’s only us,” Anna whispered back.
Spike, Dawn, and Kathy were also there, covering the entrance that
they’d found up with heavy boxes.
“Wait, a minute,” Angel strained his ears. He had the attic soundproofed inside and
out. “Are those alarms I’m hearing?” Buffy shushed everyone and listened.
“Angel, when did you put an alarm system in?”
Buffy asked him.
“I didn’t,” Angel said, baffled, “Wait a minute .
. .” Angel thought for a moment. “Mr.
Bedford, the landlord of the building because most of these apartments are
rented, said he was installing a new security system, I guess he forgot to send
me the notice that he did.”
“Oh, thank God,” Joyce looked upwards.
~*--*~
The police came running into the apartment. “Freeze!”
The soldiers put their hands up.
“I don’t think you want to arrest us, officer,
we’re soldiers of the
“Prove it to me,’ the officer said angrily.
“I think these men have broken in and entered my
home,” Angel popped out of nowhere. “I
wouldn’t believe anything they say.”
“You,” Riley barred his teeth.
“You live here, sir?” The officer asked.
“Yes, I live here with my soon-to-be wife, and her
family,” Angel told the truth.
“There were more than five people here,” Riley
gritted.
“That was my family who came to visit me,” Angel
said honestly.
Wants to see
the world alone again, to take a chance on life again
Joyce and the others were still hiding in the
attic. “You know this could be used as
an extra room. It would make a great
spot.” Joyce pointed out to Buffy.
“I’ll ask Angel about finishing it soon,” Buffy
said, more worried about her future husband being downstairs.
“”What’s taking Peaches so long?” Spike
asked. “Shouldn’t he be back up here by
now?” Then, Joyce’s cell phone rang.
“It’s Joyce here.”
“JOYCE!” A voice bellowed so loudly that Joyce had
to hold the phone away from her ear.
“You get yourself and my kids back here to this house right now, or I
will come and get you all myself.”
“Hank, we’re not going back to any place where you
are, me or my children. Come and get if you want because we won’t be
here when you come.” Joyce snapped into the phone.
“If you dare try and escape, I’ll kill you all,”
Hank rasped. Joyce hung up the
phone.
“We have to get out of here now,” Joyce said. They all flew down the attic stairs. Spike and Dawn got their stuff from their
rooms. Dawn quickly changed into some
clothes and met up with the others who were interestedly watching Angel, Riley
and the policemen.
“Angel, we . . .” Buffy tried to interrupt.
“Sweetie, hold on just a sec,” Angel said to her.
“I can’t hold on just a sec! We need to leave now!” Buffy yelled.
“You guys can go, I’ll hold these guys back,” the
police man said and motioned for the other two men to secure Riley and the
others. The eight of them ran out the
door. Mr. O’Connor to everyone’s
surprise was very quiet and obeyed what Buffy, Joyce, and Angel said. They went down to the garage.
“George, get the limo ready,” Joyce called to
George who was sitting on the side lounging with a cup of tea. He jumped up, spilling the tea, and ran to
the car. “OK, everyone, not a word said
until we’re a safe distance from here.”
“What about us?” Anna asked about her, Kathy, and
Mr. O’Connor.
“Well,” Joyce sighed and thought for a moment
before answering, “You have to come and stay with us for the time being. I’m sorry to say staying with us has gotten
you three into a very terrible situation.”
“Do we have money?” Dawn asked as George brought
the limo around.
“Hold on, sweetie we’ll talk about that in the
car, put your things in the trunk, you too Spike.” Joyce ordered. The others got in the car, followed by Dawn,
Spike, then Joyce, taking one last look before getting in. “Drive,” Was her final word. Angel was holding Buffy and running his hand
through her hair. Anna held Kathy close
to her. Mr. O’Connor just sat in a state
of shock of what had just happened.
“OK, now we need to go over finances,” Joyce said.
“I brought some money with me,” Buffy motioned to
her purse. “I don’t know how much but .
. .”
“I know I brought my credit cards and some cash,
and I can access my bank accounts so I think we’re fine,” Angel said.
“We can give some money right?” Anna asked Mr.
O’Connor.
“No, absolutely not,” Mr. O’Connor stated
firmly. Angel just stared at his
father.
“But we should help them, daddy,” Kathy asked.
“It’s alright, Katherine, I think we’ll be fine,”
Joyce smiled at Kathy.
So let me
go, let me leave
Hank was furious beyond everything. He’d just learned that his men were caught at
Angel’s apartment and were immediately arrested for breaking in. The last Riley got from him was that Joyce
and the others had escaped. He stormed
up to his room to his desk, where he opened the drawer to find a bunch of
papers he had, but they were missing.
“JOYCE!!!!!” Hank bellowed to no on in particular.
~*--*~
Everyone in the car was silent right now. George, who was driving, put the separator
down. “Joyce, where are we going to?”
Joyce sighed now in frustration, “Take us to a
hotel in
“
“I know you, Dawn, and Spike haven’t, but I have,
many times,” Joyce admitted to her. “Mr.
O’Connor do you wish to be dropped off somewhere else?”
“Well, I really don’t have a choice in the matter
now don’t I?” he snapped.
Joyce sighed yet again, “Mr. O’Connor, I would
appreciate that you don’t have an attitude with us right now. All of our lives are endangered by one man
who refuses to just let us go. If you
don’t want to come with us then just say so.”
“Mommy, I want to stay with Dawn and her family, I
want to help them.” Kathy said to Anna.
Mr. O’Connor looked at his daughter, seeing something he never opened up
to before, and that something was called care and love. He saw how fast she and Dawn became friends
and how badly she wanted to help her brother.
“So this is what it’s like,” Mr. O’Connor sat back
in shock. “Anna, I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” Anna said taken aback. Mr. O’Connor had never apologized for
anything in his life.
“Everything I may have done wrong, the mean way
that I treated you and Katherine, and for everything else that wasn’t treated
in the correct manner. Forgive me?” Mr. O’Connor begged. “Liam . . . Angel . . . I wan t you to know
how proud I am of you.” Angel looked at
his father with wide eyes at what he had just said.
For the
crown you’ve placed upon my head feels too heavy now
“What is with all of you?” Hank yelled at his
staff. “When I tell you to find my find
I mean find my family!”
“Sir, we don’t know where they are and we can’t
find them, it’s impossible,” Drake coolly told him.
“What do you mean it’s impossible?” Hank gritted
and narrowed his eyes at Drake.
“What I think Drake means, sir,” squeaked Martha,
a cook in the household, “is that we don’t want you to find them because you’re
very ill-mannered towards them and to us, and we’d rather not work for someone
who treats us that way.”
“You dare contradict my way of manners?” Hank
turned so red and clenched his fists so much you thought they would explode.
“Sir, I’m sorry to say that she is correct,” Drake
told him timidly, “We don’t like working for a person who treats us with such .
. . erm . . . cruelty.”
“You don’t want to work for me?” Hank shouted.
“Then fine! You’re all fired! I want you
out of here all by tomorrow.” And he turned and stormed out of the room,
grabbing his coat and his keys. “If you
don’t want to help me then fine, I’ll find them by myself.” Hank mumbled before
slamming the front door.
~*--*~
George arrived at a Hyatt (I don’t know if there
really is one in
“Hello, do you have a room available for eight
people?” Joyce said very quickly.
“Umm . . . let me see . . .” the clerk said,
typing in a few numbers on her computer.
“We have one suite, but it’s $750 (I don’t know
how much Hyatts cost either) per night.” The clerk told her
“We’ll take it,” Joyce stopped her and took out
her credit card. Angel came up behind
her.
“Joyce, you shouldn’t, I’ll pay for it,” Angel
told her.
“No, really it’s alright, Angel, I can handle it,”
Joyce said. “Here you go,” she said
handing her American Express card to the woman.
Joyce then put her hand to her head.
“Are you alright?” Angel saw her wobble slightly.
“Yes,” Joyce said pulling herself up straight,
“Yes, I’m fine, I just need to . . .” But before she could say rest, she fell
to the floor.
“Mom!” Buffy screamed running over to her
mother. She kneeled down next to her,
“Mom, Mom can you hear me? Mom?”
“I’ll call an ambulance,” Anna said running to the
nearest phone. Spike and Dawn couldn’t
believe what had just happened and were staring at their mother on the floor in
shock. Angel saw that she was still
breathing.
“Someone get some paper towels soaked in cold
water,” Angel ordered. Kathy immediately
ran off to the bathroom. “Ma’am,” he
said to the clerk, who was staring in total shock at what had happened to Joyce,
“Ma’am can you get some apple juice and graham crackers?”
“Yes,” she said coming out of her state of
shock. “Yes, I’ll get them.” And she ran into the back to find them. Angel went over to Joyce and carried her over
to a chair where he sat her down properly.
Kathy came running back with the wet paper towels and handed them to
Angel, who patted them onto Joyce’s forehead. He kept patting the over and over furrowing
his eyebrow because it wasn’t working as well as he had hoped.
“Come on, Joyce, come on,” Angel quietly mumbled.
“Angel, let me try,” Buffy said, gently taking the
wet towels from him and lightly patting her mother’s head. Joyce started to come around. She moaned a little bit before opening her
eyes.
“What happened?” Joyce barely said in a
whisper.
“You passed out, Mom, it’s ok,” she calmed her
mother as the ambulance came up to the hotel.
The medical team brought in a stretcher.
“OK, someone explain what happened,” one of the
EMTs asked.
“Well, we were all about to check in here and my
Mom passed out,” Dawn explained pointing to her mother.
“Ma’am,’ another EMT went over to Joyce, “Are you
feeling alright?”
“A little dizzy,” Joyce put her hand up to her
head again.
“Ma’am I think you should come with us to the ER,”
the third EMT recommended.
“Mum, they’re right, you should,” Spike sincerely
said.
“Come on, let’s get her in,” the first EMT said,
bringing the stretcher to the area. They
helped Joyce onto the stretcher and then took her to the ambulance.
“We need to come with her,” Buffy stopped them.
“Only one of you can come,” the EMT told them.
“I’ll go,” Buffy said reluctantly. She hated hospitals. She got into the ambulance with great
hesitation, but sat next to her mother.
~*--*~
“I hope she’ll be okay,” Anna said with great
worry in her voice.
“She will be, Mom, don’t worry,” Kathy hugged her
mother.
“Buffy’s going with her,” Angel said coming back
in to hotel lobby, followed by Dawn and Spike.
“We better check in, they’ll be back in a little while.”
“No, son,” Mr. O’Connor said. Everyone turned to
him in shock. “We will all go to that hospital and see Mrs. Summers, and if
none of you want to come then I’m going by myself.” And Mr. O’Connor got up and left.
And I don’t
know what to say to you but I’ll smile anyhow
Hank furrowed his brow in frustration as he tried
to dial Riley’s cell phone. ‘Why doesn’t
he have this damn thing turned on?
Shouldn’t he have been released by the police by now?’ Finally he gave up his worthless trying. Just after he threw the cell phone down, it
rang.
“Summers, here,” he growled.
“It’s Finn, look I can’t help you right because
I’m stuck in jail, the police caught us breaking into O’Connor’s apartment, but
I do know that they are far gone from
“You let them escape?” Hank yelled into the phone,
almost swerving the car he was driving off the road. “God dammit Finn, you
could have put up some form of resistance.”
“They had guns pointed . . .” Riley said.
“I DON’T GIVE A FLYING FUCK IF THEY WERE POINTED
AT YOU!” Hank bellowed at the top of his lungs. “YOU HAVE GUNS TOO!!”
“OK, Hank, alright, just get us outta here and
we’ll help you,” Riley bargained.
“Where are you?”
~*--*~
Buffy entered the hospital with her mother and the
EMTs very cautiously.
“Miss, you’ll have to stay out here,” the nurse
that came to help them said.
“No, I have to go with her,” Buffy said.
“I’m sorry you can’t, just please be patient and
we’ll let you see her as soon as possible,” the nurse said. They took Joyce into the ER. Buffy sat down in defeat in one of the
chairs. Soon after, Mr. O’Connor came
in.
“Mr. O’Connor,” Buffy said standing up again. “You
came.”
“Well, I felt it was necessary since your mother
was so very gracious to me and I also wanted to get to know my future
daughter-in-law a little more.” Mr.
O’Connor smiled.
“Thank you,” Buffy was able to meekly smile.
“You know, I always thought that Angel would never
find the perfect girl,” Mr. O’Connor walked over to where she stood and sat
down, motioning her to sit down also. “But it turns out I was very wrong. You are the best woman he could have ever
found.”
“Thank you, Mr. O’Connor,” Buffy blushed. She was very flattered.
“Please,” Mr. O’Connor interrupted, “Call me
James.”
“OK,” Buffy giggled slightly, “James.’
“Buffy,” Angel ran into the entrance, “How is
she?”
“They took her into the ER,” Buffy changed to a
serious tone, “I haven’t heard yet.”
“The others decided it was best to stay behind,”
Angel told her, “Personally, I think it’s safer in case your father . . .”
“Her father what’s?” Hank came in with Riley and
the others trailing behind him.
“Hank Summers,” James narrowed his eyes.
“James O’Connor,” Hank smirked, “We meet again.”
“You two know each other?” Angel and Buffy said at
the same time.
“Move away from my daughter, both of you,” Hank
muttered under his breath, clenching his fists.
“If you think I’m moving away from my wife you’ve
got another thing coming,” Angel moved in front of Buffy, blocking her from
Hank’s view.
“Wife?” Buffy popped her head over Angel’s
shoulder and Hank said at the same time.
And all the
time I’m thinking, thinking I want to be a hunter again
Riley and the other soldiers (who would be Graham
and Forrest but I don’t feel like mentioning names) pointed their guns at
Angel.
“When did you two get married,” Hank yelled.
“The day I proposed to Buffy,” Angel said
coolly.
“The day you proposed to me?” Buffy whispered in
his ear.
“I’ll explain later,” Angel whispered back. Hank was fuming at this point so he threw
himself at Angel throwing himself, Angel, and Buffy against the wall.
“OW!” Buffy yelled as she was rammed against the
wall.
“I want my daughter released you mother fucker,”
Hank started to strangle Angel.
“Hank, no!” Spike ran in and jumped his father,
sending him to the side. “You bloody poof!
Leave them the hell alone!”
“Stay out of this son,” Hank growled. He pushed
Spike off of him and went back towards Angel, who was seeing if Buffy, who had
tears in her eyes, was okay. All of a
sudden Hank felt a pull on the back of his jacket.
“You stay away from my son,” James pulled Hank out
of Buffy and Angel’s way, “You want her, you’ll have to get through me first.”
“And me,” Spike said.
“You won’t touch Buffy, Hank,” Angel spat. “You
think you can beat all of us?”
“”I don’t think I can, but I know Riley and the
others can,” Hank smirked, “Riley.”
“Yes, sir,” Riley came into the room.
“Shoot the boy and his father,” Hank ordered, “Not
Spike.”
“Yes, sir,” Riley first pointed his gun at Angel.
“Angel, no!” Buffy dodged in front of him just as
Riley fired a bullet. It hit her
stomach.
“BUFFY!” Angel was able to catch her before she
hit the ground, “Oh my God, Buffy, SOMEBODY HELP!!!!” he cried as a bunch of
police men, doctors and nurses ran into the room.
“What is going on here?” one of the doctors said.
“Oh my God,” he said noticing that Buffy had been hit. “GET HER IN NOW!” The nurses rushed to get a stretcher. They quickly came back out with the stretcher
and security had arrived, ensuing in a fight with Hank, Riley, and the other
soldiers. Angel went with Buffy into the
ER.
Want to see
the world alone again to take a chance on life again
Joyce was being wheeled down the hallway when a
bunch of nurse came running down the hallway, rushing to get to the ER. When Joyce saw Angel running with the
stretcher, she immediately knew that Buffy was on it. She scrambled out of her wheelchair. Finally Angel couldn’t stand seeing Buffy
bleeding anymore so he stopped running with the stretcher.
“Joyce,” he panted, being out of breath of
running, “She was shot, Hank came, and he had his soldiers and he was about to
shoot me when Buffy dodged in front of me.
She took the bullet for me and she shouldn’t have. This is all my fault.”
“And where’s Hank now?” Joyce quietly
breathed.
“Security’s trying to hold him and the other guys
down,” Angel said. Then he sat down on
the cold, tile floor and did something he’d never done before. He cried.
“Sir,” the nurse who had been wheeling Joyce’s
chair finally said something. “Sir, you can’t stay here, this is the emergency
room, only one person can be with her.”
So let me go
Spike and James had stayed in the ER waiting room
after security had arrested Hank, Riley, and the other soldiers. They were being detained.
It was a while before Dawn, Kathy, and Anna
arrived. They found Spike and James
talking to each other.
“What happened?” Dawn said, immediately
recognizing the look on Spike’s face. “Did something happen to Mom?”
“No, bit, nothing happened to Mom,” Spike said to
her. “It’s Buffy.”
“Buffy? What’s the matter? What happened to her?
Is she alright?” She flooded Spike with questions.
“You should sit down, bit,” Spike calmly told
her. Dawn sat down, bracing herself for
what Spike was going to say.
“Dawn, Buffy’s been shot,” Spike said as Dawn
gasped and tears formed in her eyes.
“No,” Dawn cried, “No, you’re lying! She’s fine! She went into see Mom that’s
all.” She pushed Spike away from her, and it finally hit her that Buffy had
truly been shot.
“Listen, Dawn, Hank and his little groupies have
been taken downstairs for questioning.
They might now even be downstairs right now. Security might have had them transferred to
the police station.”
“So it was Hank who did this,” Dawn gritted
through streaming tears.
“Verbally speaking, yes, but physically, Riley
delivered the shot. It was originally
meant for Angel, but Buffy loves him so much that she dodged in front of him
and took the bullet for him.” Dawn just sat there and cried. “He doesn’t want to let go, bit, he doesn’t
want to be defeated. We all know he
hates defeat”
I want to be
a hunter again, want to see the world alone again
Joyce sat back in her wheelchair, sobbing. Her little girl was sitting in one of those
horrible emergency rooms, on the brink of life and death. She couldn’t bear the thought of it. She knew what she had to do. She stood up out of the wheelchair and walked
out to the waiting room where her family was sitting and sharing their
grievances.
“Joyce,” James got up, “How are . . .”
“Where he is?” she interrupted.
“They might still be detaining him downstairs but
I don’t . . .” Spike started to say but Joyce was already out of the room when
he’d said where Hank might be, “. . . know if they transferred him to the
police station.”
~*--*~
The doctors had successfully gotten the bullet out
of Buffy’s stomach, but she hadn’t regained consciousness.
Angel was watching through a window outside of the
room.
~*--*~
Joyce was banging her way down the stairs, scaring
anyone who was in her way, out of her way. She found where security was and
slammed the door open.
“Where is Hank Summers?” she narrowed her eyes at
them.
“He’s in our office, being questioned by the
police,” the security guard who was there said. “Ma’am you can’t go in there
he’s being . . .” but the guard found the door to the conference room being
slammed in his face as Joyce went in.
~*--*~
“Joyce! Oh thank God you’re here, see gentlemen
she’s my wife,” Hank sat back comfortably in his chair.
“Don’t dare think for one minute I’m here to get
you out you son of a bitch,” Joyce growled.
“Is this true, ma’am, that you’re his wife?” the
detective asked, putting the file in his hand down on the conference table.
“Soon to be former,” Joyce gritted. “I want a
divorce Hank, RIGHT NOW!”
“Now, Joyce calm down . . .”
“YOU BEAT MY CHILDREN, YOU TREAT ME LIKE I’M DIRT,
AND NOW YOU SHOT BUFFY, AND YOU’RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN?!”
“Ma’am, he’s beaten you?”
“Now, Joyce let’s be rational,” Hank made an
attempt to get up but was immediately thrown back into the chair by the
policeman by his side.
To take a
chance on life again, so let me go, let me leave
The doctor came out by Angel.
“We were able to get out the bullet and stitch her
up (A/N: I don’t know how a hospital would actually take care of a bullet.) but
she still hasn’t regained consciousness.
It’s all up to her now,” the doctor said to him.
“Thank you,” Angel said and turned back to the
window. The doctor turned and left. “Come
on, Buffy, you can make it.”
~*--*~
Two security guards carried a screaming Joyce out
of the room while Hank and the others were secured being removed from the
hospital to go downtown for more interrogation at the police station.
~*--*~
Spike, Dawn, Kathy, Anna, and James all sat in the
waiting room together, crying, for Buffy.
~*-(A/N: I’m gonna turn into a TV transcript right
here . . . so sorry if you don’t like it.)-*~
We come in on a close up shot of Buffy in the
hospital bed. Her eyes are closed but she is still breathing. All of a sudden her eyes slowly open.
“Angel?”
TBC . . .
~*-End of the second
story-*~
Hehe . . . I love keeping
you guys in suspense. ‘My Life is the
next story in the series and it’s coming soon!