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_______________
Angel took the lead, as was his right. The others
stood behind him watching as the countless horde of demons approached.
"Let's go to work," Angel said, swinging his
sword at the first demon. There was a clang as the sword passed through the demon and hit the ground. Angel fell forward as
his momentum carried him off balance.
He looked up in surprise. The demon horde had disappeared.
"What the
hell?" Spike gasped in shock.
"They were an illusion," Illyria said flatly.
"An illusion?" Gunn asked.
"Yes.
An old trick. Get your enemy to quit the field. Win the war without engaging in battle. It appears that when we destroyed
the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart's agents here, they lost their ability to bring a real army into this plane of existence.
I am unhappy. I wish to do more violence," she repeated in anger.
"Yeah, me too, Blue," Spike said dryly. "But frankly,
doin' battle with tens of thousands of demons ain't exactly great odds, even for me."
Turning to Angel he asked, "What
now?"
"Now we bury our dead, recover from our wounds, and return to the fight."
"I will get Wesley," Illyria
said. "Where should I bring him?"
Angel glanced at the building by which they stood. "Here. Home."
"Home?" Gunn
asked. He was sitting on a crate again, hunched over and holding his bleeding side. "Angel, we gave up the lease on The Hyperion,
remember?"
"Yeah, well now we own it."
"Huh?"
"Call it part of our severance package. I bought it and
put it in all our names when I started planning all this. Figured if by any chance we did survive the battle, we'd need a
base of operations."
"How come I didn't know this?"
Angel shrugged. "Didn't really think we'd survive, and I
didn't want to give anyone false hope."
"So," Spike said, "we move into this place and take up the battle again then.
Is that the plan?"
"That's the plan." Angel said, walking toward the back door to the hotel. "You in?"
Spike
shrugged walking alongside Angel. "Don't have anything else on my dance card for the next century or so."
"Well then,
come on, Ginger. Let's face the music and dance."
"Oh, so now you think you're Fred, is that
right?" Spike scoffed.
"I thought I was Fred," Illyria said, confused.
The two vampires turned as one and said,
"Different Fred."
"You know that Ginger was the better dancer, don't you?" Spike was saying as they entered the hotel.
"She could do everything Fred could do only backward and in heels."
Angel made a comment in reply, but the two in the
alley couldn't hear it. Gunn stood up painfully. "Uh, Illyria, do you think you could drop me off at the hospital on your
way to get Wes?"
"Those two are very odd," Illyria said as she casually gathered Gunn up in her arms.
"Yeah,
but they're never dull." Grunting in pain as Illyria jogged down the street, he added, "I wonder if Angel remembered to include
medical insurance in our severance package."
The End
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