She shook her head slightly, realizing how insane that sounded. She was tied to the wall, being held prisoner by an insane vampire, and yet she felt peaceful. It made absolutely no sense, yet at the same time made perfect sense, at least to her. She just wished she knew why, why did she feel so calm, so relaxed . . . She tried to think back, but was unable to remember anything after the pain ending. It was all gone, all erased from her mind completely. She just felt . . . good. Better than she'd felt in a very long time. Buffy searched her memory, but couldn't recall anytime recently that she'd felt better.
"And I thought Dru was nuts," Buffy murmured, closing her eyes and once again worried for her sanity.
When his eyes opened the sun had already set at least twenty minutes before, and he felt more groggy, exhausted, and hurt than he could ever remember being. Which wasn't saying much, considering the state of his memories recently. Rising to his feet was an effort, but he knew he had to hurry. Angel wasn't at all sure he could protect her any longer, his last experience having drained him almost entirely of all energy. And he also wasn't sure how much longer he could go without feeding . . . he doubted he'd last more than another night before it became a necessity.
After waiting a moment for his head to clear and the dizziness to fade he walked towards the door of his temporary shelter and opened it, then stepped out into the dark night. The car was a few blocks away, and he was relatively certain Giles would be waiting and furious. It had, after all, been Angel who'd demanded that the Watcher be at the car as soon as the sun set, and now he was the one who was a half hour late.
Giles was, indeed, waiting in the car, with the engine already running. Angel got in, muttered an apology, and instead of waiting for Giles to reply began giving directions. Giles drove so slowly he wanted to scream, but managed to repress his urge and instead hastily told him where to go. If they didn't find Buffy tonight, he was sure whatever the outcome would be, it wouldn't be good.
"Cordy?" Xander's eyelids fluttered open as he stared at his girlfriend with a somewhat disoriented expression.
"Xander," Cordelia breathed, raising her hand to run her fingers through his hair. "It's about time you woke up," she continued. "You had us worried."
"W . . . " Xander shook his head in an attempt to clear it, then spoke again. "What happened?" he finally managed.
"There was a car accident," she explained. "Apparently the bond thingie that I thought of wasn't exactly a good idea after all." She bit her lip slightly, then shrugged. "Angel and Giles are still off trying to find Buffy," she continued, filling him in. "Giles called before, he said he told your parents some fake story, and that you were just fine."
"Good," Xander said, sitting up slightly. "Did he say anything else?"
"Um . . . " Cordelia trailed off and thought for a moment. "Well, he said that according to Angel they're getting closer to Buffy. And that the bond thing was making Angel just a little screwy. That's about it. Giles thinks they'll be able to find her by tomorrow night."
"Assuming she doesn't keep moving," Xander inserted.
"Xander . . . " Cordelia started. "Don't worry about it. You shouldn't be talking so much anyway, according to the doctors broken ribs aren't fun."
"No, they really aren't," Xander commented. "Still, I need to know she's okay."
Cordelia stood up from the chair quickly and walked towards the window, looking below at the streets, which seemed a great deal smaller from the third story of the hospital. "I'm sure she's fine, Xander," she said finally, looking back at him.
"I hope so," Xander concurred.
"I'm going to go," Cordelia told him. "You need to get some rest, heal, all that." She started towards the door, then looked back. "Xander?" she said softly. "I'm . . . I'm glad you're okay." She swallowed tightly before adding, "And I love you."
Xander's eyes widened at the confession, but he wasn't given the chance to respond as Cordelia disappeared, closing the door firmly behind her.
"He's awake," Cordelia told Willow as she emerged from Xander's hospital room. She smiled softly. "He should be fine."
Willow let out a relieved sigh. "Thank God," she whispered, leaning against her boyfriend as he wrapped an arm around her. "Did he say anything, or . . .?" she trailed off and looked up towards the cheerleader for an answer.
Cordelia nodded her head. "Yeah. He's totally aware and everything. He asked about Buffy, and what happened, I filled him in. I told him to get some rest, I'm sure he's ignoring me as always, so if you want to see him . . . " She shrugged slightly and continued down the hallway.
"Cordy?" Willow called out. "Where are you going?"
Cordelia turned and shrugged again. "A walk," she said flatly. "I need to get out of here. I'll be back in a couple hours, tell Xander I'll talk to him then."
"I will," Willow promised, watching Cordelia leave. As soon as she was gone Willow turned her attention towards Oz. "I'm going to go talk to him. Do you mind?"
"No, you go ahead," Oz replied. "I'll be right out here if you need me."
Willow smiled widely and kissed him on the cheek before standing. "Thanks," she said sincerely, before turning and walking into Xander's room. He was still far too pale for Willow's tastes, and he looked so vulnerable the hacker wanted to cry. Still, she forced herself to be strong and smiled at him wanly. "Hey," she said quietly. Then her smile turned more rueful. "This is familiar, isn't it?"
"Yup," Xander agreed, returning her smile. "Think we switched headquarters from libraries to hospitals," he added.
Willow grinned and sat down next to her lifetime friend. "Tell me about it," she concurred.
"Where did Cordelia go?" Xander asked suddenly, feeling a desperate need to discuss her confession. Their relationship, which Xander had always chalked up to hormones and maybe just the slightest touch of something deeper, had just taken a very serious turn; and he wanted to explore it.
"She went for a walk," Willow replied. "Said she needed to get out of here for awhile. Understandable, she hadn't left your side since we got here," she confessed, believing that Xander needed to hear that.
"Yeah, I got that impression," Xander responded. "Any word on Buffy?" he queried, changing the subject.
Willow shook her head. "We haven't heard anything since Giles' phone call before. I think they'll find her though. I mean, they will. They have to."
"I hope so," Xander said, echoing his words from before.
"They will," Willow repeated. "I'm sure they will. So . . . what happened? With you and Cordy, I mean?"
"Nothing," Xander said hastily, knowing that Willow didn't particularly approve of his relationship with the cheerleader. "Nothing worth mentioning, anyway." Xander winced slightly at the blatant lie.
"How're you feeling?" Willow asked.
Xander shrugged, then winced again, that time in pain. "Like a guy who just broke a few ribs," he replied with a weak smile. "Any word on when they'll let me outta here?"
"We're kinda pretending to be your family," Willow confessed. "Giles thought it best if your parents knew as little as possible. If you want me to call them, though . . . ?"
"No," Xander answered quickly. "He's right, the littler they know, the better off we'll be. But me getting out?" he reiterated.
"Oh. Um, a week or so, I think they said. Lots of pain killers too, and you re-broke your arm, so that'll take even longer to heal. And . . . " Willow stopped when she realized she was babbling, and bit her lip slightly. "That's about it," she finally said after a long pause. Xander nodded back at her. "Okay, well, um, I'm going to go," she told him softly. "Let you rest. Oh! Cordelia said to tell you, soon as she gets back, which should be in a couple hours, she'll come talk to you again."
"Good," Xander answered. "Bye, Will."
Willow hesitated for a moment, then finally stood and walked towards the door. "Bye, Xander," she said, a little wistfully, before leaving.
Angel knew they were getting closer to Buffy and Drusilla, he could feel it as surely as he could feel the draining fatigue of hunger, as surely as he could feel her pain in every particle of his own body. "Turn right," he said quietly, his voice growing lower and lower the closer they got to the Slayer.
Giles' eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but he obediently turned to the right and continued to drive, deciding it was best not to question Angel. Obviously the vampire's instincts regarding Buffy's location were dead on accurate, he had no doubts about that. Still, he couldn't keep himself from asking one simple question. "How is she?" Well, maybe the question wasn't so simple, after all.
"She's fine," Angel replied quietly, and it was the truth. Buffy was fine, even though her body was hurt Angel was making very certain that she felt nothing of the pain. However he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up, or how he was going to keep Drusilla out of the way of their rescue plans. After a moment's thought he admitted to himself that he was in absolutely no shape to stop the insane vampire.
"How are we going to deal with Drusilla?" Giles asked, voicing Angel's own concerns.
The vampire shrugged slightly. "I'm not sure yet," he replied quietly after a brief, uncomfortable silence. "Turn left at the next exit."
Giles did as asked, and then thought for a moment about their options. Angel was getting weaker and weaker as they drove into the night, and the Watcher was very certain he'd be of absolutely no use in stopping Drusilla. Beyond that, Giles himself wasn't exactly a match for her either. And with Buffy being held prisoner, that didn't leave them a whole lot of options. In fact it left them pretty much empty of any and all options. He remained deep in thought for quite some time, only pulling himself from his reverie to listen to Angel's directions as to where to turn and where to go. He was still thinking about what to do when they found where Drusilla was hiding when Angel spoke again, his voice practically inaudible, "We're there."
Giles slammed on the breaks hastily and looked out the window, to see that they were parked in front of an abandoned warehouse. Wood covered each of the windows, and obviously it blocked out the sun in such a way that the vampire was protected. "So we are," Giles murmured. Then he glanced towards Angel, to see that he looked even weaker than he had when he'd gotten into the car a few hours before. "You alright?" Giles finally asked, unable to stop himself despite his tumultuous feelings towards Angel's role in Jenny's death.
Angel closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "Fine," he whispered in reply.
"Now what?" Giles wondered. Then his eyes widened slightly when he saw Angel was already beginning to get out of the car.
"Now we get her out," Angel answered, leaning against the car for support.
"But how?" Giles asked.
"I have a plan," Angel confided quietly. "I need you to wait out here." He paused for a moment, knowing it was entirely possible Giles wouldn't trust him. "If Buffy's not out in thirty minutes, come in."
"No," Giles replied firmly.
Angel looked at him silently for a moment. "Giles, I understand why you don't trust me, believe me, I understand, but this won't work if you go in with me."
"It's not about trust!" Giles practically shouted, more than a little frustrated with Angel's attitude and brooding. "It's about the fact that you can't even stand up straight. I have a hard time picturing you rescuing Buffy in the state you're in."
"I don't need strength," Angel answered. "Not if this works. And if it doesn't, if you're in there you won't have a chance in hell of saving her. This is the only way."
Giles frowned, then sighed and nodded. "Fine. Thirty minutes, and I'm coming in. Are we understood?"
He nodded. "Perfectly." He waited a moment longer, long enough for Giles to get back inside the car, then he turned and unsteadily made his way towards the door.