Fallen AngelsBy Kristi
Revolutions
@--Buffy--@
I thought I was done with the cravings. I thought I’d left all the traces of that life behind. I stand looking down into an empty pit and my skin starts to scream, my body begs and it pleads and it promises that a tiny bit of heroin will make this all go away.
“We’ve inspected the area. They tunneled underneath Acathla and took him back out via the same tunnels. It appears that they were dug by an Urkhan demon. They are very rare, extremely passive creatures that live deep in the bowels of the earth much like giant worms. They can eat through rock.”
“Why would a giant worm want Acathla?” Angel asks. I hear the patience in his voice wearing thin.
“I wish I knew. There is no known record of Urkhan stealing any artifacts. They are not known to be terribly intelligent beings, nor are they aggressive. It’s interesting to note, I believe these tunnels were dug sometime ago. Acathla has been missing for at least two months, possibly longer.” Wes said.
“So he was gone before we even had a heads up on this?” I say incredulously. “Before Willow put her alarm spell up?”
“I’m fairly certain, yes.” Wesley adjusts his glasses. It’s never fun giving a slayer information she’s not going to like.
“Why the hell would the Powers give Cordy a vision that we’re to late to prevent?” I ask.
“I don’t know. It’s happened before. They’ve sent us visions of people who are already dead by the time we get there, or even before. It usually means there’s more coming.”
“Cordy would call us if she had a vision though, right?” I look up at Angel.
“Yes, she knows to call if she has any visions.” Wesley says.
“Ok, so why are Drusilla’s minions still here?” I ask.
“Perhaps she doesn’t realize Acathla has been taken?” Wes suggests.
Angel is pacing near the pit. He’s got his brooding face on.
“What are you thinking, Angel?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’ve said from the beginning this isn’t like Dru. Maybe she’s not involved.”
“Dawn,” I feel the horror wash over me. “Whoever has Acathla needs blood to wake him up. Dawn’s blood, oh God, we’ve got to go back to LA, now.”
*
I don’t know how fast Angel drove, but it wasn’t fast enough. I had scratched bloody marks in my arms by the time we got to the Hyperion. My body was screaming at me to make this all go away. We ran into the lobby screaming for anyone to answer.
“Dawn! Dawnie!” My shouts echo through the grand old hotel.
“She’s not here.” Fred says quietly, walking down the stairs.
“Xander and Cordy took her shopping?” God, please, please let her be running up a bill on Angel’s credit card, I pray silently.
Fred’s eyes well with tears and I know she’s not shopping.
“There were at least ten of them. They had stun guns.”
I grab her by the arms and shake her. “Where did they take her?” My voice is hard and demanding.
“I-I don’t know. I was upstairs. I hid.” Fred’s voice trembles.
“You hid? They took my baby sister! Do you know what they are going to do with her?” I’m shaking Fred. Angel grabs my wrists.
“Buffy, let her go. We wouldn’t know anything if she hadn’t hid.”
I cover my face with my hands and begin pacing the lobby. I want to scream until I can’t scream anymore. I want to shoot something in my veins and make it go away. I want to kill whoever took my little sister.
“Ok, Fred, try to think. What did they look like?” Angel’s voice is calming and patient and I want to scream at him for it.
“They were human; at least I think they were human. They were dressed in all black. They came from the roof. We heard glass. Gunn yelled at me to stay in my room. I didn’t though; I peeked out through the banisters, after they’d gone down to the lobby. They had stun guns and they took everyone, Cordy and Gunn and Xander, and Dawn.”
“They sound like professionals. They wanted Dawn alive, that’s good.” He looks at me as he says this. I can’t stop pacing. “I think I have a good idea of who they are. Buffy, come on. I’m going to see if I can track her. Fred, stay here with Wes. Willow and Giles will be here in a little while. Tell them what happened. Call me on my cell when they get here. Have Willow try a locator spell once she gets here.”
Angel stops by the weapons cabinet and pulls several things out, handing me a stun gun of my own and a light weight battle axe. He grabs his favorite broadsword and a cross bow.
We’re back in the GTX within minutes of our arrival. “Who are these bastards, Angel? Who took my little sister?” I demand him to tell me what he knows.
“Wolfram and Hart, I think.” He says. He is concentrating on catching Dawn’s scent.
“The law firm?” I look at him wide eyed.
“You’ve heard of them?”
“Yeah, Dad did some contract work with them, before we moved to Sunnydale. Why would a law firm want my little sister, or Acathla?” I ask.
“They aren’t just a law firm. They are evil. Their clients consist of the lowest scum in this dimension and I’m pretty sure they aren’t just limited to this one. They’ve been bothering me since I moved here. They tried to drive me insane; they tried to bring Angelus out. They’ve got the resources to hire or bully passive rock eating worms into working for them.”
@--Angel--@
The Wolfram and Hart building loomed before us.
“Buffy, put your seatbelt on and cover your head with your arms.” I glance over at her.
“I take it we’re not going for subtle entrances?”
“Not tonight.” I answer.
I hit the gas. Buffy puts her head on her knees and covers it with her arms. I feel glass shatter and bite into my face. Tires squeal on marble flooring and the car skids right into the front desk. I grab Buffy from the seat and propel her forward into the emergency stairway. I kick through Lilah’s office door. I’ve got my game face on.
“I’m guessing you’re responsible for the scene in the lobby.” Lilah says.
“Good guess, Lilah. You’ve got something of mine. I want it back.” I growl.
“Oh, please, you can drop the intimidating act. You locked me in a cellar with worse, remember.” Lilah walks around her desk and stands in front of Buffy and I. “So this is the Slayer. She’s not as big as I thought she’d be.”
“Yeah, I hear that from everyone. They usually only say it once though.” Buffy glares at Lilah. I keep my grip on her wrist.
“I want my people back, now.” I say.
“I’m sorry; I really can’t arrange that, but thanks for stopping by.” Lilah says.
I’m behind her with my hands on both sides of her skull before she can move. Preternatural speed is a plus sometimes. “Lilah, I get my people back, all of them or I will crush your skull between my hands and eat your brains for breakfast.”
“Nice imagery, Angel, but this is more important then me. You can let go now.” One thing you have to say about Lilah, she keeps her cool. I put my hands down and step to the side.
Buffy grabs her by the throat and slams her down to the desk. “Then they really won’t care if I kill you, and every single person I can get my hands on until I get my little sister back.”
“Buffy, you might want to let her go.” I say.
“I died for Dawn once already. I’m going to hell anyway. She is going to have a normal, long life if I have to kill every single person in this city to make that happen.” Buffy never breaks contact with Lilah, who is beginning to turn purple.
“Buffy, look at me.”
She doesn’t let go of Lilah, but she turns her head and looks over her shoulder. There are 6 men with long wooden spears pointed at my heart. She goes pale and I’m afraid she’s going to faint. She moves in slow motion, releasing Lilah and turning around.
Lilah clears her throat and recovers remarkably well. “Now that you’re seeing things our way…”