Part 8
As the two cars containing Angel and the Scoobies pulled up outside Sunnydale General, they were greeted by dozens of police cruisers. Officers in black Kevlar and carrying automatic rifles scurried about the perimeter. News vans were setting up all through the parking lot.
“What the hell?” Xander asked. “Did someone forget to tell me they were remaking ‘Die Hard’ in Sunnydale?”
“Xander, you’re a moron,” Angel said.
“Got you again, mate,” Spike agreed. “But obviously we are too late.”
“Yeah, I knew that,” Xander mumbled.
“I need to find a way in there,” Angel stated.
“What? Why?”
Angel glared at Buffy as if she were an idiot. The answer should have been obvious. “Because Cordelia is in there. She’s in danger.” He looked at the rest of the group. “Anybody have any suggestions?”
“Electrical access tunnels leading to air vents in the basement,” Spike answered. The Scoobies stared at him strangely. “What? Sometimes a bloke gets a hankering for something other than pig’s blood.”
“Spike, you’re sick.”
“Xander, you’re a dick.”
Willow and Buffy each grabbed onto an arm and held Xander back. Chip or no chip, Spike could probably beat his ass. Angel grabbed onto Spike and led his grandchilde to the side.
“Can you lead the way into the tunnels?”
“Lead the way?” Spike asked.
“I want you to come in with me,” Angel explained. Spike looked like he wanted to protest, and Angel knew what he would say.
“Cordelia’s in there and while I deal with the kids, I want somebody with superpowers to protect her in case something goes wrong. I know Buffy would do it. It’s in her job description. But she’d bitch and moan the whole way, especially after all the cutting remarks we’ve both made. I just need someone in there to keep innocents from getting hurt.”
“What are you going to do about Joshua and Jordan? And don’t even pretend like you could kill them. I know you, Poof. Once upon a time you loved the little buggers. And I’m betting you still think you’re at fault for mommy dying. Add one and one and you get two. And two equals you couldn’t bring yourself to kill them even if it costs your own life.”
Angel shook his head and smiled slightly at Spike. “Since when the hell have you been so rational?”
“Right around the time you became someone I could relate to,” Spike quoted.
“Smart ass. Now are you going to help me?”
Spike grinned and pointed to the hills on the far side of the hospital. “That way. There’s an access tunnel for city workers.”
As the Scoobies argued amongst themselves about whether Xander could take Spike, the two vampires slipped away from the group. They avoided the rolling patrols of police officers and climbed the hill to the tunnel on the far side.
Nobody noticed the absence of the duo until they were already in the tunnel.
“Uh, where did Angel go?” a disappointed Willow asked.
“Where did Spike go?” Xander interrupted. “Guess he chickened out, huh? Wuss.”
***
It took a few seconds for vampire vision to adjust to the dim tunnels underneath the hospital, but once it did, Angel and Spike were able to move quickly.
“Will I be able to enter into the ICU?” Angel asked.
Spike stopped a moment as he tried to remember which fork in the tunnel to take. “No. We’ll enter the basement under the pediatric wing. We go up to the main floor, then we just crawl around in the ceiling for a bit and we can drop right in.”
Spike remembered that he needed to take the left fork. The two walked in silence for several minutes as they wound through the corridors. Finally, Spike couldn’t stand it anymore.
“What’s on your mind, Angelus?”
“What?”
“I can feel you staring at me. So what’s on your mind?”
“Just wondering when you turned into a decent bloke.”
“Maybe I always had it in me,” Spike answered.
“Or maybe you getting that soul finally made you realize you could show it,” Angel countered. “Anyway, I like it. One day you will tell me the story about how you got it.”
“That sounded distinctly like an order,” Spike smirked.
“It was. Maybe you could use that soul and that Romeo lesson I gave to woo Buffy.”
Spike glared at him as he climbed a steal ladder up to a grate. “You are not going to tell me how you know about Buffy, are you?” Angel grinned at him. “Fine. Be an ass. I guess I’m going to have to settle for Buffy. She’s the only damn woman in this town who doesn’t want to jump your bones.” Spike pushed aside the grate to the basement. “Ready to save your chit?”
“Yup.”
***
Deanna was surprised to find that she didn’t panic when the first rifle blast echoed through the halls of the ICU. She was busy changing Cordelia’s IV when the shot was fired. Her first instinct had been to lock the door and flip off the lights.
As calm as she might have been, a now very lucid Cordelia Chase was like an ice cube. While nurses and patients alike began to scream, Cordelia immediately ceased her end of a conversation regarding the Spring line of Gucci shoes. The few words she did speak were in a hushed whisper.
“I assume that was a gunshot?” Cordelia asked.
“I assume so, yes,” Deanna answered as she crawled into a nearby corner.
“That’s bad.”
“Yup.”
Several more gunshots were heard as Joshua systematically shot out all the security cameras. Silence then reigned for several minutes before loud crashing was heard. A beat of silence. Then another loud crash.
“What the hell is that?” Deanna whispered.
“Someone is kicking in the doors,” Cordelia replied.
“Why?”
“Because they are looking for someone. And I’m guessing it’s me.”
Deanna stared at her in confusion. “You? Why you?”
Cordelia just stared at the door, expecting it to break down any moment. “Weird shit. Long story. I don’t even know most of it. Not that I ever do.”
Cordelia wasn’t disappointed. The lock to the door was rattled violently. When whoever saw that it was locked, a shotgun blast blew the handle off. Cordelia wasn’t even surprised to see the man that had beaten her and murdered her cousin standing in the doorway.
“I’ve been vaguely wondering when you would show up,” she said calmly.
“That all you have to say?” Joshua snapped. “I’m the guy that beat the shit out of you, killed that little ass you were with, and I’m the guy with the gun. You’re not even going to cringe in fear?” Cordelia could clearly tell that he was disappointed with that.
“No. Now I don’t know you, but I think that Angel does.” Cordelia saw his eyes fill with rage at the name. She took a deep breath. “You’re human. I can smell it. So it confuses me as to what grudge you could possibly have against him. All his major enemies are over one hundred years old.
“What the hell are you?” Joshua asked. This woman wasn’t quite…right.
“Someone that cares for Angel very much. Now you can do whatever it is that you want with me, but don’t hurt Angel.”
Joshua snorted in contempt. “That bastard is a liar. He deserves to be hurt.”
Cordelia merely stared at him. “I can’t talk you out of this, can I?”
“Nope.”
“Then we have a problem.”
***
After popping up in the hospital’s basement, the vampires quickly found their way to the main floor. They were mindful to avoid the police SWAT teams that were busily forming in strike positions.
With inherent vampire stealth, it wasn’t a difficult task. Finding an access panel in the ceiling, the duo deftly hoisted themselves up.
“I don’t suppose I need to tell you that it would be bad if the SWAT teams are forced to attack?” Spike whispered as they crawled quietly about.
“I know. But I’m going to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”
“So am I to assume you have a plan?”
“I’m flying by the seat of my pants,” Angel answered.
“Lovely.”
***
Joshua continued to point his shotgun at Cordelia. Deanna tried to burrow herself further into the corner in which she occupied, but she stayed relatively calm.
Cordelia stared almost sympathetically at Joshua as he detailed the reasons why Angel deserved to die.
“He lied to us!” Joshua screamed. “He promised to protect mom! But he didn’t! Why shouldn’t he die? Why shouldn’t others feel the pain that we’ve felt?”
“Because it doesn’t justify anything,” a voice called from behind him. Joshua spun around to find Angel holding tightly onto a very disarmed Jordan. Angel pointed the pistol at the young man.
Joshua sneered at him, the distaste clearly evident on his face. “You killed our mother, now you’re going to kill me. How fitting.” Jordan squirmed mightily in Angel’s grip. This was so not what was supposed to be happening.
“What are you waiting for?” Joshua taunted. “Go ahead and shoot.”
Angel leveled the gun and pulled the trigger.
