Next Chapter
|
Chapter 28: The First 24 Hours “Yes, Anya, it's a cute baby”, Xander said to the phone with a tired voice. Then his lips turned into a humorous smile. “No, Anya, it's not as cute as ours will be”, he placated his girlfriend. Everyone's eyes turned to him. He looked around himself somewhat self-consciously and quickly added: “When that day comes. Someday. In the distant future.” Giles sighed in relief and removed his glasses, starting to clean them. It was a strange thought to think that the children were all grown up, having adult relationships, jobs, college and having children. Suddenly he felt old, but inwardly let out a sigh of relief that at least he wasn't the oldest one in the mixed group. His eyes turned to the stairway as Angel walked down them, there was a unusual bounce in the vampire's step. “How is the mother? And the child?” he asked crossing the distance between himself and the new father. “Tired”, Angel answered with a small smile. “They've been sleeping for couple hours, but I think they're starting to wake up. I'm going to fix Buffy something to eat.” “Let me help you”, Giles offered and followed the vampire to the kitchen. He glanced at the cleaning supplies on the floor, but didn't say anything. “Uhm... I have something to give you”, he stated and Angel turned to look at him. Quickly Giles fetched his briefcase and pulled two items from it, a bottle of whiskey and a Cuban cigar. Angel raised a questioning eyebrow. “It's twelve years old”, Giles explained and set the bottle to the tabletop. “It is not like I encourage you to drink it all and smoke the cigar, which is Cuban by the way, but they are appropriate tools for celebration.” “I think Buffy and Cordelia might have something to say to that”, Angel answered with a smirk and Giles nodded in agreement, smiling wryly. “Yes, I do believe the girls would have their say about the male rituals.” Angel chuckled and grabbed the bottle, turning it in his hand. “The truth is, I would have needed this when Buffy was in labor. Back in my day men weren't allowed to be there when their children were born, so I would have been drunk out of my mind in some tavern. Even now I wouldn't have minded a drink”, he stated and gently put it back to the table. “Somehow I don't think it would have made the situation any easier”, Giles stated with a sympathetic look. “Yes, I doubt it would have. But seeing her in so much pain was just killing me.” Angel turned his back to Giles and continued making the sandwiches, signaling that the discussion had ended. He wanted to be finished as quickly as possible, it had been nearly impossible for him to leave Buffy and his son sleeping upstairs. With swift movements he finished making the food and gathered the sandwiches and drinks to a tray. “I should get back before they wake up”, he stated and Giles nodded, stepping aside. “I understand. Perhaps I'll have a chat with her once she has eaten and is well rested.” “Yeah, sure”, Angel answered absentmindedly and hurried out of the room only to be stopped by Cordelia. The brunette had a determined look on her face and one hand firmly planted to her hip as the other pointed at him accusingly. “Okay, you've been keeping us out from seeing the baby with the excuse that he and Buffy are asleep, but I want to see him before the slutty slayer gets to!” Cordelia said not being able to keep the jealousy out of her voice. She was determined to become the boys favorite aunt and no slayer sisterhood was going ruin it. Angel just raised a questioning eyebrow. “What?” she asked with a irritated sigh, placing her hands to her hips. “Nothing. But both Buffy and Connor are still asleep”, Angel stated and Cordelia's eyes drew to the tray in his hands before raising her gaze back to his face, giving him a sarcastic look. “So you've decided to try solids.” “This is for Buffy once she wakes up”, he explained and tried to step past her, but she refused to let him go. “Excuse me”, he said and quickly walked around the woman. Cordelia let out a irritated huff and stormed into the kitchen. There was no way Faith was going to hold the little bundle before she did. Angel hurried back to the bedroom and a small smile rose to his lips as he found Buffy and the baby still sleeping peacefully. Gently without making any noise he set the tray to the nightstand and sat to the chair next to it, settling into just watching his family sleep. Watching Buffy sleep was one of his guilty pleasures and now he had a son to watch over as well. A son, he still couldn't believe it. His eyes traced the chubby features of his child and a warm smile rose to his lips, he truly was a miracle. “How long are you going to stare at him? He's not going to disappear you know”, Buffy said and Angel's eyes shot to her face. “I just want to make sure this is real”, he answered and got up from the chair, shifting to lay on the bed with Connor between him and Buffy. His fingers hovered over his face, but he didn't dare to touch the sleeping baby in fear of waking him. “He's real. This is real”, she said softly. Again his eyes raised to hers. A crooked smile rose to her lips. “I can tell you it's real because I was the one who had to push him out of me and let me tell you pal, you're lucky we have to settle for one”, she said with fake seriousness and he gave her a small half smile, his hand raising to brush her hair back. “You're a brave girl, love”, he said and gently kissed her lips. “Don't I know it”, she muttered and grabbed the back of his head, bringing his lips into another kiss. As she broke the kiss, her eyes landed on the tray that held the food. “Have I ever told you just how much I love you?” she questioned with a happy smile. “I think you have already shown it”, he answered and looked down to Connor who was still sleeping peacefully. “He's beautiful, isn't he”, she said in a whisper, it wasn't really a question. “I bet he's gonna look like you, see, he's already got a tuft of dark hair.” “I hope it's more easily controlled than mine”, he stated, looking at his son, he really did have a small patch of dark hair on the top of his head. She let out a soft laugh and ruffled the vampire's gel held hair.
Giles tapped gently to the door in case Buffy and the baby were still asleep. He was quite certain he had heard voices coming from the room, but he still didn't want to take any chances. “You can come in, Giles”, Angel said and Giles stepped inside. Angel turned to look at Buffy, smoothing her hair back before he got up from the side of the bed. “I'll leave you two alone”, he said and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. “How are you feeling?” Giles asked as he neared the bed. “I'm good, a little tired, but good. We took a little nap and had dinner”, she answered with a soft smile and looked at the baby that was lying next to her, his eyes wide open and alert. Giles sat to the edge of the bed and took a closer look at the newborn before turning his gaze back to the mother. “Are you happy?” he asked and Buffy turned to look at him, a little surprised by the question. “Yeah, I'm happy. I never thought this day would come, that Angel and I would have a baby together. Of course I wasn't very happy with him when I was giving birth to him, but no amount of pain will ever make me want to change anything”, she answered and he nodded in understanding. “Do you wanna hold him?” He looked at her uncertainly. “Uhm... I... I don't know. It's been quite a while since I've held a baby”, he answered stammering. “You'll be okay, just support the head and don't drop him. If I can do it, you can do it”, she said and gently picked up Connor from the bed and carefully placed him to Giles' arms. “Hello there”, Giles said to the little boy in his arms and Connor stared at him like he had just stuck his tongue out. His lips parted and he let out a small noise before grabbing Giles' finger into a tight grip. Buffy couldn't stop a smile from rising to her lips as she watched the two interact. “Giles?” she asked after a while. He turned to look at her, Connor was still holding his finger in his tiny fist. “Yes?” “Angel and I were thinking... Uhm... Since Connor is a boy, and we hadn't decided on the second name yet and since you're more a father to me than my biological father is... I actually have a point with this”, she said with a embarrassed chuckle and he smiled. “So we wanted to ask you if it's okay with you if we name him after you. Connor Giles Summers.” Giles stared at her thoroughly moved, he had an urge to clean his glasses to keep himself from tearing up. “I'd be honored”, he answered with a gentle smile on his lips. “Are you certain? Giles is not the most modern of names.” “Yeah, I'm sure. Angel and I talked about it and we agreed on Connor that he liked and Giles after you”, Buffy assured him. “Uhm... Does – does your father know? That you have a - a child?” Giles asked carefully. The sad look that formed to her face was the answer to his question before she even said anything. “No. He's always too busy to talk to his daughter, or I get the voice mail. It wasn't something I wanted to tell him through a answering machine, so he doesn't even know I was pregnant.” “I'm sorry, Buffy”, he said sincerely and she gave him a small appreciative smile. “It's okay, I'm used to it by now”, she said with a shrug, trying to act like it didn't affect her. There was a fast knock on the door and only a beat later Faith walked in. Quickly Buffy blinked the moisture out of her eyes. “Sorry to interrupt the father-daughter moment, but I'm thinking of hitting the streets and I want to hold junior before I dish out some quality violence to the baddies”, she said and made a straight line to the bed. “Yes, well, I agree it might be wise for you to patrol. I'll just go now”, Giles said and gave Connor back to Buffy before getting up from the bed, Faith taking the spot. Buffy watched as Giles left the room while Faith leaned closer to get a better look of the baby in her arms. “He really is his father's son, just look at that big head”, she said with a smirk. Buffy rolled her eyes. “Enough with the forehead jokes”, she ordered with a small smile, smoothing her hand over the baby's head. “Okay. Now gimme the babe”, Faith ordered. Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow. “And this would not have anything to do with the rivalry with Cordelia of who gets to hold the baby first? I'm sorry to tell you but Giles beat you to it.” “That's okay, as long as I get to before the cheerleader”, Faith answered with a shrug and Buffy rolled her eyes, still not giving up her baby. “Are your hands clean?” she asked looking at the brunette suspiciously. “No, I just gave Spike a hand job before coming here”, Faith answered with sarcasm lacing her voice, but after seeing the glare Buffy was giving her, she sighed in defeat. “They're clean. I had to wash them three times and Angel even sniffed them, that was the only way I could get into this room”, she answered truthfully and reached out her hands. “Now gimme!” Buffy rolled her eyes again, but carefully placed Connor to Faith's arms, still holding her own hand supporting his head, not willing to lose contact with her child. “Support the head”, she instructed and this time it was Faith's turn to roll her eyes. “Yeah, I got it, I got it”, she said and slipped her hand under Buffy's, cradling the baby's head. Hesitantly Buffy drew her hand away, but still kept her eyes on Connor. He started to fuss and quickly she reached out to him. His hand grabbed her finger into a tight hold and immediately he calmed down. “He's a cutie”, Faith stated, watching the baby who starting to nod off. “He is, he's just perfect”, Buffy agreed. “I never thought this would happen, that I could actually have a family and for a long time it looked like I couldn't even be with Angel”, she added quietly, talking more to herself than telling it to Faith. “And you got your happy ending.” Buffy turned her eyes to Faith. “I better not say anything to that so I don't jinx it”, she answered warily, then her eyes fell to Faith's neck and only then she noticed the fading scar. It was a vampire's bite. “What?” Faith asked feeling self-conscious from the amount of staring. “Your neck. Uhm... Has he ever... uhm... when you... did he...” Buffy tried to get the words out, but it felt practically impossible. “Bite me?” Faith asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly amused by Buffy's struggle. She knew this was about Buffy asking if she had let Spike bite her. “No. I know it's a big rush and all that, but I don't trust him enough with my neck. Chip or no chip, he's still a vampire.” Buffy let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. “Oh, good”, she sighed in relief, she was still weirded out by Faith having a thing with Spike, but at least she was being sensible.
Lorne stepped through the main door, he was wearing a bright pastel suit and that was the first thing that caught Xander's eye. “Hello everyone”, he greeted airily. “A demon! Demon in the house!” Xander yelled as loud as he could and dashed across the lobby to the weapon cabinet. He tried to yank the doors open, but they didn't budge. He groaned as he saw the lock, but immediately started looking for a key. Who in their right mind would lock away the weapons? He froze as he saw the demon standing next to him, the bright suit was like a beacon. “Simmer down, pumpkin. If I came with evil intentions I would have gone all grr-argg already”, Lorne assured him, but Xander just stared at him like he had been speaking in Hebrew, the fear was gone and been replaced by confusion. “Lorne! What are you doing here?” Cordelia asked loudly and crossed the lobby. She had been alerted by Xander's yelling and armed with pepper spray she had come to look what he was screaming about. “Cordelia, my dear, polite as ever. I came to see the bundle, of course. Why didn't anyone bother to tell me he's been born already?” Lorne answered almost accusingly. “He was just born and no one really thought about calling you when Buffy was screaming her head off and threatening Angel. And how did you know he was born?” Cordelia placed her hands on her hips, impatiently tapping a finger against her side. “I heard some clients talk about it, they have their sources and they are up to no good, I might add. But we can talk about it later, now I want to see the little one, where is he?” “You can't, Angel says they're sleeping. Yeah, right! He just wants to hog them for himself”, she answered with a huff of irritation. The baby was several hours old and she hadn't even held him once. If this continued Faith would get to hold him before she did. “Well, I'll go see Wesley then, get the doom and gloom over with”, Lorne said and left the room in search of the former watcher. “Your new boyfriend?” Xander asked from behind her. She turned around, sending a evil glare at his way. “Shouldn't your money-hungry girlfriend be here to keep an eye on you so you don't start making out with Willow”, she shot back. “That was years ago! Can't you just get over it!” Xander cried out. “Besides, Willow's a lesbian.” “Oh puh-lease”, Cordelia snorted. “Willow is so not a lesbian. She was in love with Oz, they did the deed, she did wacky spells because she was so messed up after he dumbed her. I don't care how much she now loves Tara, she still loved Oz enough to make Buffy and Spike suck face”, Cordelia stated. Xander folded his arms and glared at his ex-girlfriend. “You haven't been part of our lives for years now so I don't think you have any authority to say anything that involves me or Willow.” “I don't care. I'm just stating a fact of you losers”, Cordelia said dismissively and turned around, heading to the office. Xander followed her, slamming the door closed behind them. “You make me so furious! You're always shouting out your opinions, flipping your hair back and taking shots at me. But I've had enough! I just can't take it anymore!” “What does my hair have to do with this, you dimwit?” Cordelia questioned, narrowing her eyes and flipping her long hair over her shoulder with her hand before placing it to her hip. “Like that! Some day I'm just gonna... gonna...” Xander said getting angry. “Gonna what? You don't got the cojonies to do anything, you're just a loser with superhero friends”, Cordelia said staring him down, she too was ready to snap. “You drive me crazy, woman! Grrr-Aargh!” Xander growled and for a moment it looked like he was ready to strike her, they were both staring at each other in fury and suddenly he grabbed her face, kissing her hard. Without even thinking, she responded into the kiss with just as much suppressed anger. A moan escaped her lips. Her hand made its way to his hair, balling into a fist as he backed her against the desk. Papers and other items fell to the floor, but neither noticed. She was already laid against the surface when they both seemed to realize what they were doing. Xander stopped kissing her, pulling back to stare at her in shock. They were both panting hard. Her eyes widened and she slapped his chest, kicking him off of her. “God! What's wrong with you!?” she yelled accusingly and stood up from the desk, smoothing her clothes. “What's wrong with me?!” Xander cried out. “Haven't you done enough damage! What more do you want from me, punch another hole into my side?! I could buy stocks on Maybelline with the amount of make up that scar takes to cover!” “You kissed me right back! So I think we're both guilty here”, Xander said back, glaring right back at her. “I must have been temporarily insane. I'm so not going though that again and what is it with you that you always want to sabotage your relationships?!” She didn't wait for respond before she fled the office, grabbing her purse on the way to the bathroom. What had just happened? She couldn't believe she had just kissed Xander, she could stand him now even less than before they dated in high school. She needed to fix her make up and just pretend it never happened. Xander nervously ran a hand through her hair, he couldn't wrap his mind around what had just happened. One moment she wanted to bitch-slap Cordelia and the next he was kissing her. Why had he done it? Was Cordelia right and he intentionally sabotaged every relationship he was in? But he loved Anya. He actually *loved* Anya and not because of the sex, so why had he just kissed Cordelia. He shook his head and again ran his fingers through his hair while wiping the lipstick off his lips with the other. It had been just a small slip, he decided, it would never happen again and Anya didn't need to know, nobody needed to know because it never happened. With that thought he left the office.
Giles had returned to Buffy's and Angel's room to give Faith some instructions before her patrol. He had few news papers with him, the headlines had peaked his interest and he suspected they might be done by demons. “I do not know Los Angeles very well and I assume you do not either, so I suggest you should take a map with you”, Giles said placing the papers to a table. “And look like a freaking tourist! No way!” Faith protested. Giles let out a tired sigh and took off his glasses before starting to rub the bridge of his nose. “Faith”, he started to say, but didn't finish when the door opened and Angel walked in with someone following him. Giles jumped as he realized it was a demon, although the clothes looked more frightening than the gently smiling demon that made a beeline to Buffy. “So here's the bundle of joy”, he said, not taking his eyes off of the baby as he sat down to the edge of the bed and started to tickle Connor's stomach. After a while his eyes turned to Giles who had been staring at him the whole time. “Oh my, where are my manners. I'm Lorne”, he said and offered his hand to Giles. “Uhm... Giles... Rupert Giles”, Giles stammered and shook the green skinned hand. “You are of peaceful breed, I assume”, Giles said looking at the green demon, he didn't look very frightening, only his clothes did. He was suspecting they were radioactive. “Yeah, Lorne's a analogic demon”, Buffy answered and Giles turned to look at her, puzzled. “Analogic?” Lorne smiled gently and patted the back of Buffy's hand. “Sweetie, you can drop the act, I'm not buying it and the dumb blond act isn't convincing your honey either. You don't need to drop yourself down to make you seem less than you are so people won't expect too much. Remember, I'm the anagogic demon, the one who knows about your inner stirrings, you can pretend to forget every demon name, but it doesn't make any difference”, he said looking straight into her eyes. Then his eyes turned to Giles, raking over his body. “And I'd love to hear 007 here sing”, he added, making Giles remove his glasses and start to polish them. “Uhm... Maybe – maybe some other time”, he stammered and put the glasses back on. “I have some unfortunate news that might put a little damper on your happy day. I heard a group of demons talking about the little bundle here and their plans didn't sound very good. And I doubt they are the only ones after him”, Lorne said turning more serious. Buffy's eyes snapped to Angel's and a moment later down to the baby in her arms. “They want Connor?” “Yes, it seems the word has got out that a slayer and a vampire had a babe, something as unusual as that is bound to bring out the baddies”, Lorne answered, looking at the mother with sympathetic eyes, he could feel the emotion rolling off of her and the vampire behind him. “Maybe it's better that you don't patrol tonight, Faith. It appears we might need you here”, Giles said and Faith nodded, she didn't say anything because there was nothing to say in a situation like this. She just hoped she hadn't just jinxed it with her 'happy ending'-talk. “Giles, could you get Willow and Tara?” Buffy requested, turning to Giles. He gave her an 'Of course' and left the room. Lorne looked around the room, his face turning into a frown. “What's that humming? It's giving me a headache”, he complained. He rubbed his forehead and again looked around the room, his eyes running over the walls. “Could I have some paper and a pen, sweetie? I need to write this thought down before I lose it”, he asked and Buffy took a notepad from the drawer of the nightstand and handed it to him with a pen. “Thanks, honey.” Lorne quickly scribed something to the paper, then turned it around, showing it to Buffy. “Is that how you write it? This humming is making my head a little full”, he asked and Buffy's eyes snapped to his as she saw what was written on the paper. “Yeah, that's how you write it”, she answered turning her eyes to Angel who crossed the distance and sat next to her. His eyes quickly scanned the paper, then turned to Buffy. To Lorne it looked like they were having a conversation without words and he was still amazed by the connection the two shared. The door opened and Giles walked in with the two witches following. “Hey”, Willow greeted brightly, then her eyes landed on Connor. “Aww. He's so cute”, she cooed and made a straight line to the baby. “You wanna hold him?” Buffy asked and Willow's face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Could I?” she asked hopefully, but then a deep frown formed to her face. “But what if I can't hold him right? What if he doesn't like me? What if I drop him?!” she question nearly hyperventilating. Tara placed a gentle hand to her shoulder, trying to calm the nearly panicking redhead. She couldn't help but think that it was yet another cute character trait her girlfriend had and she shared a small understanding smile with the new mother. “Willow, breathe”, Buffy reminded her friend. “Okay, breathe, breathing's good”, Willow said and hesitantly sat down to the edge of the bed. “Okay, clean hands, support the head, don't drop him”, she said to herself, but stopped as she noticed everyone staring at her. “Just reminding myself of the basics”, she explained. “I think that pretty much covered it”, Buffy stated and carefully placed Connor to Willow's arms, still keeping her own hand under his head. When she tried to take her hand away, just like with Faith the baby started to fuss, making Willow even more nervous than she already was. “I think he's tired”, Buffy stated looking at her son who was stretching his arms and legs, throwing them about. “He does seem a little cranky”, Willow agreed with a nervous grin and looked around the room for help. Angel stepped in and took his son from Willow's arms, rocking him in his arms so he would calm down. After a while Connor was sleeping against Angel's chest, looking like the picture of innocence. Buffy smiled at Angel, the scene in front of her was just perfect. But she needed to come back to the hard reality. “We should go straight to business. This conversation shouldn't go out of this room”, Buffy said pointedly and Willow nodded, understanding her meaning. She said few words under her breath and a pulse appeared to go through the room. “Okay...” Buffy started but no sound left her. She turned her surprised eyes to Willow who sheepishly looked back at her. 'Sorry', she mouthed and again said something under her breath, no sound leaving her, and then another pulse went through the room, looking like thick walls set around the room. “Sorry, I mispronounced a word, some spells are really tricky that way”, she said looking at the floor. “Lorne heard video signals, so now nothing leaves this room?” Buffy asked ignoring the small blunder. “Yeah, you can't even hear us through the door”, Willow answered. “Wolfram & Hart has probably bugged this whole place, what is it with people that they don't respect privacy”, Buffy said getting rightfully angry as she thought about it, hadn't it been enough that Riley had bugged the place but now there were video cameras. “I should probably tell you now that the spell that went wrong, it probably broke every radio, tv and telephone in this building. Sorry”, Willow said apologetically, then added more cheerfully, ”But it also broke the spy cameras”. Buffy decided to say nothing to that, they had more important things to think about than a broken TV.
Buffy and Angel explained the situation, that demons were after Connor and they probably weren't the only ones. Giles left in search of Wesley so they could hit the books and Faith just went to get the weapons ready. Buffy turned to Willow. “Willow, can you do the de-invitation spell like you did with Riley in Sunnydale?” Buffy asked and quickly glanced at Angel, his whole being had darkened from the mention of her ex. He barely suppressed a growl. “You want to ban Riley from the hotel? But I thought he just went poof”, Willow questioned slightly confused. Buffy smiled at her. “Yeah, he went all poof and we think the Wolfram & Hart took him and it probably is a good idea to do the spell for him too and I'm so straying from the point”, she rambled, kicking herself for not going straight to the point already. Angel smiled and took her hand into his, placing a soft kiss to her knuckles. He loved it when she rambled. “Can you do the spell for a certain group of people, like who ever works for Wolfram & Hart can't walk in through the door or something?” she finally got the question out and nervously waited for Willow's answer, she looked like she was considering it very carefully. “Yeah, I think it's possible but why do you want to do it, I thought you had the sanctuary spell in here?” “Yeah, we do. But we figured it might be more harm than use since if someone, say Wolfram & Hart comes and just takes Connor, there is nothing we can do to stop them until we're out of the hotel”, Buffy answered and Willow nodded in understanding, realizing the spell really was a double-edged sword. “That really puts a damper on it, doesn't it”, she agreed. ”I think Tara and I should take the sanctuary spell down and then create a protective field around the hotel so the demons can't come in”, she suggested and looked at the clock. “The sun is going to set soon and that's when they'll come”, Angel stated, he didn't need to look at the clock because he could feel the sunset closing in. “Oh, we better get cracking then”, Willow said and turned to look at Tara. She couldn't hide the excitement she felt on doing the spells and aside from that she was feeling useful again. After Willow and Tara had left the room, Buffy got up from the chair she had been sitting in and walked to the window. She pulled the other curtain to the side and made a small crack to the blinds, she could see the last rays of sun disappearing. With a sigh she pulled the curtain back to the window and turned to look at Angel, he was wearing a similar worried expression on his face. “This is exactly what I was always afraid of if I'd ever have children. Connor is less than a day old and already there are demons and evil lawyers after him”, Buffy said with a soft voice. Had she been selfish to want Connor? His life would be as dangerous as hers was. Angel crossed the distance and pulled her into his embrace. “We're going to keep him safe, no matter how many demons come after him I'm not going to let anything happen to him. Or to you”, he assured her. She looked up to him with a sad smile on her lips, she knew he meant it. “I love you, I just want you to know that”, she said softly, her eyes memorizing every feature of his face. “And I love you, nothing is ever going to change that”, he answered and framed her face with his large hands before leaning into a kiss. The kiss grew more passionate. But finally he had to pull back to let her breathe. They both could feel a change in the air. They shared a look before going to the window and pulling up the blinds. There were a handful of demons circling the yard, it appeared they were trying to find a way to the door since the protective field was stopping their progress. “It's started”, Buffy stated, her voice belonging to the slayer.
Buffy walked to the window and looked outside, her frown deepened as she saw the vampires and demons waiting for a chance to get in to the hotel. There were more of them than there had been an hour ago. Angel stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “The vampires can't come in without invitation. This is your home”, he reminded her with a reassuring tone. “I know. But the demons can”, she answered not taking her eyes off the group on the street. “Not if Willow keeps up the protective forcefield.” “She can't keep it up forever”, Buffy stated and Angel chuckled. He turned her around to face him, he was still wearing an amused half smiled. “When did you become such a pessimist?” “Just stating the facts. I think we should take the fight to them instead of waiting for Willow to tire and them to come to us. We've got two slayers, a vampire and a rogue demon hunter”, Buffy's lips turned into a wry smile as did Angel's from remembering Wesley's rogue demon hunter phase, “and a vampire hunter, I think we can hold our own against vampires and a bunch of demons”, she stated. “I know we can. And I was thinking the same, we can't just wait for them to go away”, he answered and brushed a soft kiss to her forehead. There was a loud crash, like glass breaking. Immediately Connor started to cry and Buffy hurried to him. As she took the baby into her arms, she looked at Angel and like they had just agreed on something, they both headed to the door. Everybody jumped from the sound of breaking glass. “What was that?” Cordelia asked, getting up from the chair and looking around herself. “A glass broke somewhere”, Xander answered and walked out of the room. “I heard that, genius, but where and who broke it?” Cordelia snapped and followed him to the lobby. “You're soft as a marshmallow these days, aren't you, Cordy”, he said with sarcasm dripping from his voice. Gunn rolled his eyes, quickly putting some distance between himself and the couple. “Look, Harris, this is my town, you might be the man to go to when someone wants donuts in Sunnydale but...” Cordelia said jutting her finger at the man, but she didn't get to finish when Giles stepped in. “Children, please. Can't you behave yourselves even for one moment?” he chastised the two with irritation clear in his voice and went to where the chattered glass littered the floor. Gunn and Faith were already there with weapons in hand. “He started it”, Cordelia muttered and Xander's eyes shot to the brunette. “I did not!” he cried out. Giles cleared his throat and sent a disapproving glare at the pair. “Alright, alright, we're behaving”, Cordelia sighed with her arms raised in surrender. “As long as he keeps his face out of my sight”, she muttered to herself as she put some distance between herself and her ex-boyfriend. Buffy and Angel hurried down the stairs, she was holding Connor in her arms trying to calm him down. “What happened?” Angel asked as Buffy was too busy shushing and gently rocking the crying baby in her arms. “It appears this was thrown through the window”, Giles answered and handed Angel the rock with a paper tied around it. He unwrapped the paper and read it out loud, “Hand over the baby and no one gets hurt.” He let out a humorless laughter. “Why do I find it hard to believe?” he scoffed and crushed the paper in his fist. “Oh, someone's going to get hurt. Who ever, what ever tries to take Connor will be missing body parts”, Buffy threatened with a dark voice and no one doubted her words, she was like a lioness whose cubs were under a threat. “What I don't get is why did they throw a cliché threat note through the window, why not just stomp inside and take the baby?” Cordelia questioned and all eyes turned to her. Soon she noticed the weird looks she was getting. “Hey, I'm on your side. Just wondering”, she defended herself. “Because Willow and Tara are keeping a protective forcefield around the hotel and the demons can't get in”, Buffy answered patiently. “Oh? That makes sense. Kinda”, Cordelia said more to herself than to others, her eyebrows furrowed together as if she was thinking real hard. Buffy frowned, then turned her eyes to Connor who had just quieted. “Maybe we should take him upstairs to sleep”, she suggested, her voice soft not to startle him. “I can look after him!” Cordelia volunteered immediately. Buffy sent a glare at her way since the loud voice had made Connor jump and now he was looking like he was going to cry at any moment. But the glare went unnoticed by Cordelia and she continued, “You know I'm just the vision girl, you guys handle all the gross stuff.” Buffy looked around herself, her eyes landing on Willow and Tara who had just arrived to the lobby. “Did you get the sanctuary spell down?” she asked. Willow nodded with a quirky smile on her lips. “Yes, it was really a fun challenge. You know, since it's a protecting spell it's not supposed to be taken down and we had to try to figure out how to get our hands into it...” As she noticed everyone looking at her, she glanced around herself self-consciously and didn't finish her excited rambling,. “Yeah, we got it down”, she added somewhat sheepishly. Tara took her hand and gave her a soft smile to which she responded with its twin. “Okay, that's good”, Buffy said, then let her eyes go over everyone else in the room. “Here's the plan.” Again she turned to direct to Willow and Tara, ”I need you to go to the nursery and keep the protective field around it while letting it down from the hotel, you'll keep Connor safe with you. Cordelia will be there too and probably Lorne since I doubt those guys will let him just leave.” Her eyes turned to Xander who shook his head. “I'm not backing from a fight, I'm with you all the way”, he said and Buffy gave him a small grateful smile. “Just try not to get hurt”, she instructed. “That's usually my game plan. Not to get hurt.” “So we're going to fight?” Gunn asked for clarification. “Yes”, was the simple answer Angel gave him. “Great. I was itching for a good fight anyway”, Faith said with a smirk and raised the axe she had been resting against her shoulder. Gunn's eyes raked over her body, appreciating the tight low slung jeans she was wearing. “I have new flamethrower I have been wanting to try”, Wesley stated to himself and the Sunnydale crew turned to look at him strangely. “Our boy, Wesley is all grown up”, Xander said and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “Just don't aim it at Angel”, Buffy said to Wesley. “And kill only vampires with it or the whole building will be on fire with demon torches running around”, she added as a afterthought. “Buffy, I am not dull witted”, Wesley stated somewhat defensively. “I didn't say you were”, Buffy defended herself. “Okay, everyone get ready for a fight because not one of those things is leaving here alive”, she said gravely, then turned her eyes to Connor who had just fallen asleep. She and Angel shared a look and as if they had just agreed on something, he nodded and they headed upstairs with the two wiccas, Cordelia and Lorne soon following. Buffy and Angel tucked their son to bed and said a silent farewell just in case they didn't make it. “Give us five minutes, then take the forcefield down. And don't let anyone or anything inside this room no matter what you hear”, Buffy said to the people in the room. “Okay. Good luck. And be careful”, Willow said biting her lower lip, her hand was squeezing Tara's as if seeking for strength she didn't have. “We will. See you in a while”, Buffy said and turned around to go to the door. “You better get back in one piece or I'm so gonna kick both your asses, unemployment line doesn't suit me”, Cordelia said after them. “We'll try to keep that in mind, Cordelia”, Angel said with a barely noticeable smile on his lips before he and Buffy left the room. As the door closed, a brick wall put itself together where it was. “Less than 24 hours ago I had to go through the most physically painful experience of my life and now I'm fighting to keep him safe, don't the demons have any consideration, they could have at least given me few days to recover”, Buffy grumbled as they walked down the hall towards the stairs. “Demons aren't known for their consideration, but I'm sure if they had know, they would have given you time to get back to your full strength”, Angel answered with a wry smile. She looked at him with narrow eyes. “Are you mocking me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe.” “LA has had a bad influence on you. I don't think I like this humorous side of you”, she stated and he chuckled. “Too bad, because you're stuck with every part of me”, he said, then turned more serious. He took a hold of her hand and gently pulled her close to him. Their eyes met, both holding great sadness and worry. “I love you”, he said staring into her eyes. “Don't say it like that”, she whispered, her voice cracking. “Just in case, I want you to know it.” “I love you too, but you're not allowed to talk like we're gonna die. Cause we're not! I am not letting Connor grow up as an orphan and no demon is gonna get its hands on him and if you even think about getting killed Cordelia's threat will be the least of your worries”, she said passionately, staring him down as if challenging him to contradict her. A crooked smile rose to his lips and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “We better get downstairs before we miss the fight”, he said and together they returned to the lobby. They took weapons from the cabinet and got ready for the demons to swarm inside. There was a change in the air as the forcefield came down, Angel and the slayers could feel it. “Let the fun and games begin”, Faith said and raised her axe, attacking the first demon that came through the door.
The fight had been long and gruesome, but not one of the things that came after Connor had reached the staircase or left the hotel alive. The lobby floor was littered with dust and dead demons. Xander had been knocked unconscious in the middle of the fight, now he was in one of the hotel rooms being taken care of by Willow. During the fight Faith got slashed across the chest by a row of sharp nails, but she retaliated by cutting the demons neck. And when Gunn got stabbed to the leg and the demon was about to finish the job, Faith stepped in, getting a shallow cut to the arm by the demon's sword, but still managing to kill it thus saving Gunn's life. Wesley broke his eyeglasses when he got a wide fist to his face, but otherwise he survived with just a split lip and various cuts and bruises as Giles was the one that had the most luck, he came out of the fight looking like he had been in a bad bar brawl, but at least his glasses were still in one piece. Everyone was getting patched up and Buffy and Angel resided to the bedroom, moving sleeping Connor there with them. Buffy pushed Angel down to sit on the edge of the bed and went to the bathroom to get the medicine kit. She placed it to the nightstand and reached out, starting to unbutton his torn shirt, but he took her hands into his seizing the action. Her eyes raised to his, looking at him questioningly. “Angel, I need to take your shirt off, you've been stabbed through the stomach and it's a little hard to bandage with your shirt on”, she said like talking to a five-year old. “I'm not going to bleed to death so you're going to be attended to first”, he argued, nodding to the gash on her side. “It's already closing while you still have a hole in your stomach”, she tried, but he gave her a look that she wasn't going to win the argument. “Humor me.” Buffy sighed and reluctantly handed him the medicine box. He guided her to sit on the bed and started to clean the wound with a gentle, loving touch. “We should clean the lobby from the dead demons before someone sees them”, Angel stated, trying to take her mind off of the sting that the cleaning of the wound caused. “Yeah, I know. Why couldn't they just go poof, it would be so much easier. But still, I'm more worried about how we're gonna get the soot out of the lobby floor. I knew there was a reason why you can't play with fire indoors”, Buffy said and Angel let out a soft chuckle. “Wesley did get a little carried away with the flamethrower”, he agreed. The front yard of the hotel looked even worse than the floor of the lobby. Another good reason why Angel wanted to clean the lobby from the dead demons since someone was bound to wonder why the yard was covered with dust and black stains. Angel finished cleaning the wound and put a bandage on it before starting to clean the cut she had in her forehead. “That really can wait, now it's your turn”, Buffy said and pulled his hand down, she grabbed the cotton ball from his fingers and threw it to the trashcan. She gently peeled his shirt off his body and started to clean the wound. It was already healing, but that didn't make it look any less disturbing. “We should take Connor to his check up late tomorrow evening, maybe then we don't look like the aftermath of bad case of domestic dispute”, she stated and dropped the bloody rag to the water bowl. Angel's eyes went to the sleeping boy in the crib. “Yes, I don't think it would give a very good impression”, he agreed. “Do you think the demons will come after him again?” she suddenly changed the subject. Angel turned his gaze to her, they both knew what the score was. “Not any time soon, they need to regroup”, he stated and silence fell to the room. Not one of the demons that attacked the hotel had left alive, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be more of them. But both parents had made up their minds that none of them would ever be able to touch Connor.
|
