A World On Fire.

[shanshu_angel]

The pavement came rushing towards me as if it were moving and I were stagnant in the air. I braced for the impact but regardless of how much you try to prepare for something so momentous with such extreme velocity; it's never going to be enough

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[quietkindocrazy]

For the first time since Pylea I was scared. Back then I had lost everything that was most dear to me in just one day, and it almost felt like life was repeating itself. I didn't want to lose any more people that I love. I wasn’t prepared to be alone again... not ever. I was concerned for Angel; he looked like he had just been run over by a truck, or worse. But, I guess he sorta was. The beast had been so strong- too strong for us to stop. And now, now it had succeeded. I looked up at the skies and saw that it was literally on fire.

Were we in some type of hell now? Probably.

"I need some bandages and a few pints of pig's blood for starters. Then, we have to devise some plan, consult some book to figure out what the Beast wants and how to stop him."

I nodded and between Wesley and I helped him away from that god awful place and to the Hyperion. As we walked we couldn't help but notice how things looked. It almost resembled a war zone. It was like, everyone thought the world was going to end- and maybe it was. But Angel was right. We had to get back to the hotel and do some research.

Maybe there was something in those books that we missed. Maybe there was something we hadn't thought about. We had to regroup. I wondered how Cordy was doing, wondered if she and Connor were okay. I hoped they were.

I wondered again how things could have gotten so bad. And I also wondered about Charles... thought about how much I missed him. Wondered if he had been in pain when he died. I couldn’t help but be a little mad at him. Why couldn't he come to me and talk to me about what was going on? Why didn't he trust me? Why didn't he trust his friends? He shoulda had a little more faith in me. But as much as I wanted to be angry at him for- well, everything, I couldn’t. How could I? And now I was even mad at myself for being mad at him in the first place! I had to get a grip on things.

Picking up the pace, we raced through the streets of L.A., I needed to take a look at Angel's wounds and then look through some of the books we had back at the hotel to see if we could find anything else on the beast, or the ritual that had turned the skies into a rainy fires.

I peered over at Wesley, wondering what he was thinking. I wondered if he was maybe angry with me for what I had said to him at the hospital, wondered if he trusted any of us anymore. I had missed him a lot, missed his company, and missed another brain like me that would understand what the heck I was talking about when I went of on one of my scientific rants. But most of all, I just missed him. But I guess him being here with us meant something, right?

[pryce_less]

Once we reached the Hyperion, a place that not too long ago, I had left for what I thought would be the penultimate time, Fred took Angel to the couch, doubtless about to tend to his injuries.

Me, well I was consumed not with the past and all of the distrust that might still linger between all of us, but rather, I knew that research was prudent and worse then that, I had no idea where to continue looking.

The Beast was a mystery to me. I had never studied him at the Watcher's academy and hadn't had the distinct pleasure of coming across him while working with Angel, Cordy, Gunn and Fred here in Los Angeles.

I wished to God that I didn't have to research him because though I had now seen it in the flesh and had indeed tried to kill it and thus knew what to look for physically in the countless texts in what used to be my office...this wasn't a pleasurable research assignment.

The Beast was something that seemed virtually impossible to stop and though I had learned in my time working on the hellmouth and indeed with Angel that nothing was undefeatable...this research seemed futile.

How much more could we throw at it that we didn't already tonight? Angel nearly died and had to be sore and for my own efforts, my body felt like one enormous bruise.

In the interim...while I tried to figure out where to look for the Beast...for some tidbit of information or chapter that would give us the upper hand against him, I went to the refrigerator and fetched a large mug of pig's blood for Angel.

I brought it out and handed it to him, barely looking at him as I proceeded back into the office that used to be mine. When I had been here, I had a system of filing and stacking my books which was now completely altered.

This was destined to be a perilous and monotonous time for all of us here in Los Angeles and especially to those of us who fought the Beast and whatever came next with him.

[shanshu_angel]

Having Fred tend to my wounds reminded me of when Cordy would fix me up...

Not that I needed to feel any worse right now, but thinking of her made me think of her right now with my son doing who knew only what? They might not even be safe and there was residual guilt for being mad at them, but something told me that they were okay. Connor was more capable then his size made him appear and I knew that first hand considering that he tried to bury me under the ocean forever.

I couldn't hide the scowl on my face, and I could only think of Connor and Cordy more as Fred bandaged my neck and as Wesley brought me blood, which I accepted into shaking hands.

I am certainly weak and immediately tipped the blood back, not worrying about Fred watching me drink, considering that we're family now and I knew that she didn't mind.

Wesley went into my office, no doubt to research, but maybe he wasn't researching so much as he was trying to get away from us? Not that I needed to be worrying about anything right now but making sure that Cordy and Connor were okay and then dealing with the Beast, but I wondered if he liked being around us. I am pretty certain that he's only here because of the dire nature of things right now and that he didn't like it.

I had apologized to him twice for threatening to kill him when he was in the hospital. I truly regret that and in hindsight, know that he only did what he did to protect Connor from Holtz and even from me...though he should have trusted me enough to come to me before making any decisions.

He hadn't gotten along with Gunn before he left and never had a chance to make amends with him before...before Gunn was taken from us.

I tried to clear my head as I continued to sip, if not gulp the blood that Wesley had brought to me. I looked up as Fred slapped ice on my cheek, which was slightly cut in my fall.

She followed my eyes into the office at Wesley and I got the impression that we needed to get things right at home before dealing with the Beast again, though I knew that was a daunting task to say the least. Cordy and Connor weren't seeing eye to eye with me and then there was Wesley...

"I think Wesley's not exactly enamored with being around us right now, Fred. What do you think?"