Numb fingers closed around the crossbow as I turned to glare at both Cordelia and Gunn. I couldn't believe those two. When had they gotten so careless? "Both of you should've know those were eggs. You're not stupid, either of you." Slamming the door of the weapons cabinet closed, I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Great, headache too. Bloody marvelous.
"I'll be fine," I told Angel, wonder what he had to smile about. Sure he got out of his room. And that still didn't seem to matter one bit. I was still the boss, and I still, apparently, had a couple of dimwits for employees. I was cold, I was miserable, I had a headache and I wanted to go home and... what felt like be sick. But no, we had to go destroy some eggs.
Growling, I turned around on the balls of my feet and stomped up the stairs. "Let's get moving. God only knows how far along those eggs are. For all we know there could be young, very hungry, demons crawling around the city." Blast, hellfire and damnation. Why the hell do I have to do everything myself around here? Pushing through the door, I walked straight for the car, not even looking if anyone followed.
"Ooookay," I heard Cordelia say. "What's with him?"
I watched, slightly taken aback as Wesley stormed out the door, looking beyond irritated.
"I don't know," I said to Cordelia. "I think he's mad you didn't call him, and didn't know they were eggs." Cordelia frowned, turning her glare on me now.
"Well, ex-cuse me for not knowing that the demon didn't just like to collect round rocks. I mean, it didn't break when I dropped it or anything- they sounded and felt like rocks!"
"Fine, Cordy," I said, picking up a flame thrower. "Let's just get this taken care of, okay?"
I walked out of the door with Cordelia, meeting Gunn out front with the car. He had already moved into the back, knowing without asking that I was driving. Cordelia was still behind me, and I wondered vaguely who was going to get in the passenger seat first.
As we got out of the parkinglot and into the road, though, I heard a small sigh, and glanced at Cordelia. She smiled at me, and I returned the smile.
"So what brought you out of the Brood Cave?" She asked me, and I rolled my eyes. "Did you just come out so you could kill something?!" She sounded like she was accusing me now, and I shot her a Look.
"No! I came out to... to see you guys," I said, hearing the uncertainty in my own voice. I had come out to see them, but I had come out when I knew only a few people were around... I hadn't wanted to be bombarded with accusations like this just yet. I knew that I had been irresponsible, staying locked in my room, but...
I had had a reason. The girl who I had considered my soul-mate had died. It wasn't exactly something that happened everyday that someone got over really quickly. No one else really knew the extent of what she meant to me, and mostly these days, it was... It was the fact that Buffy had shown me that I could make a difference, that I could even have friends. After all, without her, I wouldn't have friends right now- I would have just turned them all away, and they would have been hurt or worse by now. I owed all that to her, and she deserved that much.
"We're here," I said after another moment, pulling over to where Cordy and Gunn had said they'd found the nest. Shooting Wesley another glance, I hoped we could get this taken care of pretty quickly. He didn't look too good, and I wanted to make sure he was okay. I hadn't meant to jump right back into getting everyone hurt so quickly...
I had quietly snuk into the backseat, not wanting to deal with any of them right now. I just wanted to go home and curl up in bed for a few decades. But not, a demon hunters work is never done. Apparently. Especially since I recently acquired idiots as associates. After all we've seen, I cannot believe it wouldn't even occur to them that those may be eggs.
Closing my eyes, I leaned against the cool window, letting the coldness seep into my skin. Maybe it would help my headache somewhat. Doubtful, but I could at least focus on that. And not having to hear Cordelia drill Angel as to why he'd come out of his room. Honestly, you'd think the girl would be pleased by that. What the hell is going on with those two?
I jolted up and blinked when Angel announced we were here. I must've dozed off somewhere along the ride. Dammit, I have to stay focused here. I can't afford any more mistakes. Sighing, I got out of the car and gave my surroundings a weary look. "Alright. Where is this nest. Let's get this over and done with." I looked over at Cordelia and Gunn, my look telling them that I was *not* in the mood for their normal banter and things. I was certainly glad that Angel had come along as well. That would speed things up considerably.
"It's over here," I heard Gunn say, as he led the way over to an empty building. I followed, Cordelia trailing behind me as Wesley caught up with Gunn. I hadn't missed Wesley sleeping on the way here, and I frowned. He shouldn't be that sleepy... was he getting sick?
"So, how long will it take to kill these things? 'Cause ER is on soon..." I heard Cordelia say, and I rolled my eyes. It was the kind of banter I was used to, but right now it seemed out of place, seeing as how we were after a nest, and she was worried about a TV show.
"Shouldn't take long," I said quietly. "I mean, the eggs usually aren't that hard to destroy."
"Even if they're like rocks?" I nodded slowly, edging forward to the doorway of the building, then pushing it open slightly. The door creaked, and I stepped in cautiously. No one had lived here for a long time... it smeeled musty and old, abandoned... a perfect place for a demon to live.
Stepping inside, I heard the others come in, and I thought briefly that we should have brought the flashlight for them, but we had forgotten it... oh, well. Too late to worry about that now. I stepped forward, at the last minute just barely managing to avoid tripping over an egg. And yeah, Cordelia was right- they did look like rocks...
"So, we ready to get rid of these?" I asked rhetorically. "Just be careful not to burn the house down, okay?" The last thing we would need would to be trapped in a burning house with authorities rushing in and getting in the way. not to mention how it would remind me of when my first apartment had blown up...
Following the lot inside the building, I let the usual banter slide past me. I wasn't in the mood, and I hadn't the energy anyway. I was cranky, cold and tired. I knew anything that would come out of my mouth when I did finally open it, wouldn't be very pleasant. And really, I was *not*, I repeat *not*, in the mood for the Cordelia and Gunn show couple.
I still didn't understand how they could be so casual about this. Brushing them off as rocks without really thinking about it further. Wining about some telly show. Moping about whether or not they'll be hard to destroy. They're bloody eggs! Just hit on them hard, Gunn, you never had a problem with that before.
Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose, and gave the so called eggs a weary look. "Lets do this," I muttered. Gripping the axe in my hand and move over to the first egg. A few well placed strikes, and all that was left was a broken shell and a lot of dust. And once again with the gore. Bloody lovely, I was going to need another shower. God, I'm so tired, and this headache doesn't seem to be going anywhere either. Worried, I glanced over at Angel, wondering if our little sewer adventure had some nasty side effect on him.
I glanced up, surprised slightly as Wesley irritably began whacking at the demon's eggs, before everyone else followed suit. Within a few minutes, the demon's eggs were all destroyed, leaking gore across the dusty floor.
Ignoring Cordelia griping about the spatters of blood on her outfit, I glanced over at Gunn, who was just turning off the flame thrower and leaning against a wall. I stepped aside, just in tome to avoid getting a puddle of thick green stuff on my shoes.
"So, they're not going anywhere anytime soon, huh?" I asked, aiming for casual, but even I could tell that I had failed miserably. I looked back at my axe, wondering how hard these things would be to clean off when we got back to the hotel...
Meanwhile, Wesley was still looking pretty bad- he was irritable and he looked pale, a little tired. He would be the first one I would drop off at home, then... I could take care of the weapons myself, let the others get some sleep. After all, I owed them that much, after making them do all of the work over the summer, right?
"You ready to go, then?"
"Duuuh," Cordelia said, and I watched Gunn roll his eyes. "I wanna go home and get this gunk off. Do you know how much this outfit cost?"
"Cordy, you just went shopping... you must have at least six more outfits to replace that one," I said patiently, starting to move toward the door. "Ready, Wes?"
I just kept destroying those eggs with no real purpose other then to destroy those eggs. And an axe certainly does a good job of that. It also tends to help getting some of the anger I felt toward Cordelia and Gunn. I couldn't understand why they had just left it here, why they hadn't called us, why... a lot of things.
My head was spinning and aching, hell my entire body was aching. And I was once *again* covered in that slimy substance. Why had I even bothered to take a bloody shower. Then again, if I hadn't that other slime would've been so hard by now, I'd have torn my skin of to the bone, instead of just superficial I suppose.
Sighing, I lowered my axe and glanced over at Gunn and Cordelia as they bantered on in the usual fashion. I was just to tired to join in, and still more then a little angry. No to mention that was just about ready to fall down right here and sleep for a few decades. But no, I needed to shower again first, put some bandages over some cuts and *then* I could finally fall into bed. Hopefully for some undisturbed sleep. No wait, I had to do some research first. Find out if this slime wasn't dangerous for humans and or vampires.
"Yes," I muttered, bending down with a groan to pick up the axe. "I need to do some research. So if you can drop me off at the hotel again?"
As Cordelia headed outside to the car, Gunn grabbed my axe, heading out the door after her. I glanced at Wesley, as he started to follow, and frowned.
"I was going to drop you off at your place," I said, concerned. "You don't look so good- and the research can wait until morning." I looked at him again, as we pushed out the door.
Cordelia called out as soon as she saw us, "Come on, guys... I want to get home!" I rolled my eyes, as Gunn stowed the weapons in the trunk quickly and effectively- it wouldn't be a very good thing to have someone walk by and see all sorts of weapons in the hands of normal people.
"We're coming," I called out, watching as Gunn slammed the trunk shut, then got into the car with Cordelia. Both of them took the backseat, which surprised me. Usually it was a fight to get to the front seat first, a competition which never failed to amuse me in how they argued their way into the seat.
"You're going home," I told Wesley firmly, before I got in the car. He was sick, and he looked like he really needed sleep, my boss now or not. Meanwhile, Cordelia was shooting looks my way- I had forgotten how much she wanted to watch that one show... EW or something?
Frowning, I followed Angel out toward the car. Gunn and Cordelia had already taken place, obviously in a hurry to get home. And under the shower no doubt. And why is it they're less covered up with this goo then I am? Did I stand in the line of slime fire again? Getting very tired of that. Especially twice per day. Good lord, I'll be so very happy when this day is finally over.
Sighing, I moved toward the car and blinked at Angel as he all but ordered me home. I don't think so. Who's the bloody boss around here? That would be me, and not him. Why does he keep doing that? Bloody hell, and I'd almost blindly do what he told me to as well. No more of that.
"Wes! Come on now!" Cordelia rolled her eyes at me and I narrowed them back at her.
Scowling, I got into the front seat, hoping I wouldn't drip too much slime around. "I'm going back to the hotel," I said equally as firm. Or well, I hoped it was firm. It sounded a bit weak maybe...tired. "I need to research this demon and figure out if the slime might be poisonous."
"What?" Cordelia shrieked in my ears. Swallowing hard, I sighed and closed my eyes.
"Poisonous?" I asked, alarmed as he got into the car. I looked at him, concerned, and realized that he had taken the most slime out of any of us... which was really not good if it was poisonous.
"Okay..." I said slowly, looking as Cordelia freaked out in the backseat, "So you are coming back to the hotel after all." Not what he needed, but... better than sending him home poisoned.
"You let me get stuff on me that might be poisonous?!" Cordelia asked incredulously from the backseat. "You couldn't just let Gunn set them on fire, you had to have us swim in possibly poisonous stuff?" She demanded, smacking Wesley in the back of the head. I rolled my eyes, starting to drive back to the hotel, and accelerated enough to press Cordy back to keep her from hitting Wes again.
"Cordy, he said it *might* be. Doesn't mean it is, and I'm sure we can fix this if it is," I said calmly, trying to calm her down. Inwardly, though, I was worried. Not much affected vampires, but humans? They were mose susceptible to this kind of thing, and now I had to worry if they were all going to get sick now, instead of just Wesley...
I swallowed down on a lecture about the fact that any substance she got in contact with for the first time could give her an allergic reaction. Theoretically speaking that is, she could have. But I was to tired, and besides, after that move they made I wasn't in the mood for our normal banter.
"It's probably not, Cordelia," I sighed. "Otherwise I'd be sick by now." Which I was, but that was probably because I didn't get much sleep. Hopefully. Besides, the slime from the eggs was different then that from the mother demon. Father demon? I've no idea, and I'll probably find out when I do research.
"Oh," she said.
I glanced in the mirror, watching her mouth go open and closed several times. Gunn was looking as well, expecting some...snarky remark. Gunn looked very calm about this tough.
"Well okay," Cordelia continued, prodding my should with her nail. "That had better be the case, Buster!"
Wrinkling my nose, I rubbed my shoulder and gave her a tired look. "Ow?"
"Sorry." Giving me a sheepish look, she held up her finely manicured finger, including the lethal looking nail. "Keep forgetting how hard these are."
Nodding at that, I leaned my head back against the cool window and waited for us to get back at the hotel. Whether Gunn or Cordelia get dropped off first or not, I'd have to go look in books. Again. Well, that's my job I suppose. Unlike 'being the boss'.
"I'll be fine," I told Angel, wonder what he had to smile about. Sure he got out of his room. And that still didn't seem to matter one bit. I was still the boss, and I still, apparently, had a couple of dimwits for employees. I was cold, I was miserable, I had a headache and I wanted to go home and... what felt like be sick. But no, we had to go destroy some eggs.
Growling, I turned around on the balls of my feet and stomped up the stairs. "Let's get moving. God only knows how far along those eggs are. For all we know there could be young, very hungry, demons crawling around the city." Blast, hellfire and damnation. Why the hell do I have to do everything myself around here? Pushing through the door, I walked straight for the car, not even looking if anyone followed.
"Ooookay," I heard Cordelia say. "What's with him?"
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"I don't know," I said to Cordelia. "I think he's mad you didn't call him, and didn't know they were eggs." Cordelia frowned, turning her glare on me now.
"Well, ex-cuse me for not knowing that the demon didn't just like to collect round rocks. I mean, it didn't break when I dropped it or anything- they sounded and felt like rocks!"
"Fine, Cordy," I said, picking up a flame thrower. "Let's just get this taken care of, okay?"
I walked out of the door with Cordelia, meeting Gunn out front with the car. He had already moved into the back, knowing without asking that I was driving. Cordelia was still behind me, and I wondered vaguely who was going to get in the passenger seat first.
As we got out of the parkinglot and into the road, though, I heard a small sigh, and glanced at Cordelia. She smiled at me, and I returned the smile.
"So what brought you out of the Brood Cave?" She asked me, and I rolled my eyes. "Did you just come out so you could kill something?!" She sounded like she was accusing me now, and I shot her a Look.
"No! I came out to... to see you guys," I said, hearing the uncertainty in my own voice. I had come out to see them, but I had come out when I knew only a few people were around... I hadn't wanted to be bombarded with accusations like this just yet. I knew that I had been irresponsible, staying locked in my room, but...
I had had a reason. The girl who I had considered my soul-mate had died. It wasn't exactly something that happened everyday that someone got over really quickly. No one else really knew the extent of what she meant to me, and mostly these days, it was... It was the fact that Buffy had shown me that I could make a difference, that I could even have friends. After all, without her, I wouldn't have friends right now- I would have just turned them all away, and they would have been hurt or worse by now. I owed all that to her, and she deserved that much.
"We're here," I said after another moment, pulling over to where Cordy and Gunn had said they'd found the nest. Shooting Wesley another glance, I hoped we could get this taken care of pretty quickly. He didn't look too good, and I wanted to make sure he was okay. I hadn't meant to jump right back into getting everyone hurt so quickly...
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Closing my eyes, I leaned against the cool window, letting the coldness seep into my skin. Maybe it would help my headache somewhat. Doubtful, but I could at least focus on that. And not having to hear Cordelia drill Angel as to why he'd come out of his room. Honestly, you'd think the girl would be pleased by that. What the hell is going on with those two?
I jolted up and blinked when Angel announced we were here. I must've dozed off somewhere along the ride. Dammit, I have to stay focused here. I can't afford any more mistakes. Sighing, I got out of the car and gave my surroundings a weary look. "Alright. Where is this nest. Let's get this over and done with." I looked over at Cordelia and Gunn, my look telling them that I was *not* in the mood for their normal banter and things. I was certainly glad that Angel had come along as well. That would speed things up considerably.
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"So, how long will it take to kill these things? 'Cause ER is on soon..." I heard Cordelia say, and I rolled my eyes. It was the kind of banter I was used to, but right now it seemed out of place, seeing as how we were after a nest, and she was worried about a TV show.
"Shouldn't take long," I said quietly. "I mean, the eggs usually aren't that hard to destroy."
"Even if they're like rocks?" I nodded slowly, edging forward to the doorway of the building, then pushing it open slightly. The door creaked, and I stepped in cautiously. No one had lived here for a long time... it smeeled musty and old, abandoned... a perfect place for a demon to live.
Stepping inside, I heard the others come in, and I thought briefly that we should have brought the flashlight for them, but we had forgotten it... oh, well. Too late to worry about that now. I stepped forward, at the last minute just barely managing to avoid tripping over an egg. And yeah, Cordelia was right- they did look like rocks...
"So, we ready to get rid of these?" I asked rhetorically. "Just be careful not to burn the house down, okay?" The last thing we would need would to be trapped in a burning house with authorities rushing in and getting in the way. not to mention how it would remind me of when my first apartment had blown up...
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I still didn't understand how they could be so casual about this. Brushing them off as rocks without really thinking about it further. Wining about some telly show. Moping about whether or not they'll be hard to destroy. They're bloody eggs! Just hit on them hard, Gunn, you never had a problem with that before.
Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose, and gave the so called eggs a weary look. "Lets do this," I muttered. Gripping the axe in my hand and move over to the first egg. A few well placed strikes, and all that was left was a broken shell and a lot of dust. And once again with the gore. Bloody lovely, I was going to need another shower. God, I'm so tired, and this headache doesn't seem to be going anywhere either. Worried, I glanced over at Angel, wondering if our little sewer adventure had some nasty side effect on him.
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Ignoring Cordelia griping about the spatters of blood on her outfit, I glanced over at Gunn, who was just turning off the flame thrower and leaning against a wall. I stepped aside, just in tome to avoid getting a puddle of thick green stuff on my shoes.
"So, they're not going anywhere anytime soon, huh?" I asked, aiming for casual, but even I could tell that I had failed miserably. I looked back at my axe, wondering how hard these things would be to clean off when we got back to the hotel...
Meanwhile, Wesley was still looking pretty bad- he was irritable and he looked pale, a little tired. He would be the first one I would drop off at home, then... I could take care of the weapons myself, let the others get some sleep. After all, I owed them that much, after making them do all of the work over the summer, right?
"You ready to go, then?"
"Duuuh," Cordelia said, and I watched Gunn roll his eyes. "I wanna go home and get this gunk off. Do you know how much this outfit cost?"
"Cordy, you just went shopping... you must have at least six more outfits to replace that one," I said patiently, starting to move toward the door. "Ready, Wes?"
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My head was spinning and aching, hell my entire body was aching. And I was once *again* covered in that slimy substance. Why had I even bothered to take a bloody shower. Then again, if I hadn't that other slime would've been so hard by now, I'd have torn my skin of to the bone, instead of just superficial I suppose.
Sighing, I lowered my axe and glanced over at Gunn and Cordelia as they bantered on in the usual fashion. I was just to tired to join in, and still more then a little angry. No to mention that was just about ready to fall down right here and sleep for a few decades. But no, I needed to shower again first, put some bandages over some cuts and *then* I could finally fall into bed. Hopefully for some undisturbed sleep. No wait, I had to do some research first. Find out if this slime wasn't dangerous for humans and or vampires.
"Yes," I muttered, bending down with a groan to pick up the axe. "I need to do some research. So if you can drop me off at the hotel again?"
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"I was going to drop you off at your place," I said, concerned. "You don't look so good- and the research can wait until morning." I looked at him again, as we pushed out the door.
Cordelia called out as soon as she saw us, "Come on, guys... I want to get home!" I rolled my eyes, as Gunn stowed the weapons in the trunk quickly and effectively- it wouldn't be a very good thing to have someone walk by and see all sorts of weapons in the hands of normal people.
"We're coming," I called out, watching as Gunn slammed the trunk shut, then got into the car with Cordelia. Both of them took the backseat, which surprised me. Usually it was a fight to get to the front seat first, a competition which never failed to amuse me in how they argued their way into the seat.
"You're going home," I told Wesley firmly, before I got in the car. He was sick, and he looked like he really needed sleep, my boss now or not. Meanwhile, Cordelia was shooting looks my way- I had forgotten how much she wanted to watch that one show... EW or something?
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Sighing, I moved toward the car and blinked at Angel as he all but ordered me home. I don't think so. Who's the bloody boss around here? That would be me, and not him. Why does he keep doing that? Bloody hell, and I'd almost blindly do what he told me to as well. No more of that.
"Wes! Come on now!" Cordelia rolled her eyes at me and I narrowed them back at her.
Scowling, I got into the front seat, hoping I wouldn't drip too much slime around. "I'm going back to the hotel," I said equally as firm. Or well, I hoped it was firm. It sounded a bit weak maybe...tired. "I need to research this demon and figure out if the slime might be poisonous."
"What?" Cordelia shrieked in my ears. Swallowing hard, I sighed and closed my eyes.
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"Okay..." I said slowly, looking as Cordelia freaked out in the backseat, "So you are coming back to the hotel after all." Not what he needed, but... better than sending him home poisoned.
"You let me get stuff on me that might be poisonous?!" Cordelia asked incredulously from the backseat. "You couldn't just let Gunn set them on fire, you had to have us swim in possibly poisonous stuff?" She demanded, smacking Wesley in the back of the head. I rolled my eyes, starting to drive back to the hotel, and accelerated enough to press Cordy back to keep her from hitting Wes again.
"Cordy, he said it *might* be. Doesn't mean it is, and I'm sure we can fix this if it is," I said calmly, trying to calm her down. Inwardly, though, I was worried. Not much affected vampires, but humans? They were mose susceptible to this kind of thing, and now I had to worry if they were all going to get sick now, instead of just Wesley...
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"It's probably not, Cordelia," I sighed. "Otherwise I'd be sick by now." Which I was, but that was probably because I didn't get much sleep. Hopefully. Besides, the slime from the eggs was different then that from the mother demon. Father demon? I've no idea, and I'll probably find out when I do research.
"Oh," she said.
I glanced in the mirror, watching her mouth go open and closed several times. Gunn was looking as well, expecting some...snarky remark. Gunn looked very calm about this tough.
"Well okay," Cordelia continued, prodding my should with her nail. "That had better be the case, Buster!"
Wrinkling my nose, I rubbed my shoulder and gave her a tired look. "Ow?"
"Sorry." Giving me a sheepish look, she held up her finely manicured finger, including the lethal looking nail. "Keep forgetting how hard these are."
Nodding at that, I leaned my head back against the cool window and waited for us to get back at the hotel. Whether Gunn or Cordelia get dropped off first or not, I'd have to go look in books. Again. Well, that's my job I suppose. Unlike 'being the boss'.
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