Title: More Than a Calling
Rating: A soft R
Author: Bastard Snow
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people, Buffy or otherwise.
Summary: Xander left Sunnydale after "The Freshman" on good terms with everyone. Sunnydale has now just fallen into the Earth, and the Sunnydale crew heads to Los Angeles to mooch off of Angel's hotel.
Author's Notes: Okay, here's the thing. Everything in Seasons 4-7 actually happened, just without Xander there (with the exception of some specific ones). How did this happen? Who knows? It's a mystery. But it did. Also, thanks as always to Drake for beta-reading this thing, and for constantly annoying me. "Write on that one, write on that one," blah, blah, blah.
Dedication: To whoever the hell it was who thought up this crossover whenever the hell they thought it up. I'd go back in the archives and find out, but I'm really lazy. Anyway. Story time.
"They're running!"
"How the hell did they get out up there?"
"Who cares, just follow them!"
And like that, four police officers shot off towards the fire escape of the multi-story bank. As the bottom three floors of an eight story building, the bank's roof provided easy access to the surrounding buildings. The pursuing officers were falling behind. The bank robbers sprinted across the roof, leapt off the side and landed roughly on the next building over.
"Shit!" yelled one of the officers, reaching the roof as the last of the criminals flew off of it. "They jumped!"
"Let's go!" yelled another, hopping up to the roof and sprinting across. The others followed him determinedly, only hesitating as he leapt across the gap to the next roof, still in hot pursuit of the crooks. The last of the policemen landed poorly and wrenched his knee. He dropped prone onto the rooftop, but as one of the others came back for him, the injured officer waved him off. With a nod, the man turned around and sprinted after his colleagues.
The bank robbers had leapt to yet another roof, and were gaining ground on all but one of the cops. That one – he actually seemed to be gaining on them. Overhead, a helicopter swung into action, following the chase from the sky. Above that, another helicopter bearing the letters KTLA followed the chase as well, broadcasting it for all who cared to see.
Rating: A soft R
Author: Bastard Snow
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people, Buffy or otherwise.
Summary: Xander left Sunnydale after "The Freshman" on good terms with everyone. Sunnydale has now just fallen into the Earth, and the Sunnydale crew heads to Los Angeles to mooch off of Angel's hotel.
Author's Notes: Okay, here's the thing. Everything in Seasons 4-7 actually happened, just without Xander there (with the exception of some specific ones). How did this happen? Who knows? It's a mystery. But it did. Also, thanks as always to Drake for beta-reading this thing, and for constantly annoying me. "Write on that one, write on that one," blah, blah, blah.
Dedication: To whoever the hell it was who thought up this crossover whenever the hell they thought it up. I'd go back in the archives and find out, but I'm really lazy. Anyway. Story time.
"They're running!"
"How the hell did they get out up there?"
"Who cares, just follow them!"
And like that, four police officers shot off towards the fire escape of the multi-story bank. As the bottom three floors of an eight story building, the bank's roof provided easy access to the surrounding buildings. The pursuing officers were falling behind. The bank robbers sprinted across the roof, leapt off the side and landed roughly on the next building over.
"Shit!" yelled one of the officers, reaching the roof as the last of the criminals flew off of it. "They jumped!"
"Let's go!" yelled another, hopping up to the roof and sprinting across. The others followed him determinedly, only hesitating as he leapt across the gap to the next roof, still in hot pursuit of the crooks. The last of the policemen landed poorly and wrenched his knee. He dropped prone onto the rooftop, but as one of the others came back for him, the injured officer waved him off. With a nod, the man turned around and sprinted after his colleagues.
The bank robbers had leapt to yet another roof, and were gaining ground on all but one of the cops. That one – he actually seemed to be gaining on them. Overhead, a helicopter swung into action, following the chase from the sky. Above that, another helicopter bearing the letters KTLA followed the chase as well, broadcasting it for all who cared to see.
-----
"Oh, thank God," Angel said as a group of weary travelers entered the lobby of the hotel he used as his offices. The group was lead by Buffy Summers, Slayer, and one of two women who had ever held his heart. Angel jumped up from his seat and embraced the young woman, a gesture done more from relief than any romantic reasons.
A line of young women followed her inside, including her best friend Willow Rosenberg, her sister Dawn, her mentor Rupert Giles, and the pain in her ass that was Andrew Wells.
"How is everyone?" Angel asked.
"Wiped," said Dawn. "And very happy you've got a hotel."
"Oh, yeah," Angel said looking around at the girls. "Is this all of them? Where's Faith?"
"No, it's most of them," Buffy said. "We've got a few in the hospital. Including Faith, who is there not for herself, but for Robin."
"Robin?" Angel asked.
"Her new... something or other."
"I see," Angel said. He turned around. "Wes, Fred, can you hand out room numbers for these girls?"
"Certainly," Wesley said from behind the desk. He grabbed a bunch of keys from under the desk and began handing them out to the girls.
"Hey," Willow said, drawing Angel's attention. "Where's Cordy?"
-----
Two more of the officers had fallen back, leaving just one to continue the chase. The helicopter overhead was blasting its loudspeaker, telling the bank robbers to stop, lay down their weapons and give up.
It wasn't working.
As the criminals started to veer off to the left, the officer pulled up short, whipped out his pistol and fired two rounds. The bullets ricocheted off of a small wall in front of the crooks. They quickly headed back the other way, leaping again to another roof. The officer holstered his pistol and took the chase up again, quickly gaining on the crooks, who were swiftly losing their energy.
The newly-activated slayers were dropping their bags off in their rooms – what bags they were able to cram onto the lone school bus that made it out of Sunnydale. This entailed placing the bags in the rooms, testing out the beds, using the bathrooms and dealing with various other feminine needs. The Scooby Gang, used to getting ready on the run, spent significantly less time in their rooms. After a while, the whole group met back down in the lobby to solidify plans.
"I want to go home," said one girl.
"We're going to take care of all of that," Buffy assured them. "First, we need to make sure we've accounted for everybody, and get contact information for everybody who wants to go home. We also need to solidify plans for those who don't want to go home, and are of legal age to make that decision."
"What if our guardianship was turned over to the council?"
"In that case," Giles said, stepping up, "it will technically be my decision, however I assure you that your wishes will be taken heavily into consideration. It is my intention that anybody wishing to go home does so, whether or not the council has legal rights to you."
As the young slayers continued to ask questions, Willow, Dawn, Andrew and Faith, who had arrived from the hospital minutes earlier, were talking to the staff of Angel Investigations about Cordelia and the events of the past year. Charles Gunn came down from his own room in the hotel where he had been watching television. Out of view of the Sunnydalers, he handed Wesley a pistol. The British man surreptitiously glanced at it and, realizing the meaning of Gunn's gesture, slipped it under his shirt and into his waistband.
"Hey, does anybody hear that sound?" Faith asked, looking up.
"What sound?" Gunn asked. "I don't hear anything."
"No, she's right," said Willow. "I hear it too."
"Hey," Dawn said. "You know who I miss? Who I haven't seen in months?"
Angel smiled at the girl and, having caught the exchange between Wesley and Gunn, wandered casually towards the weapons cabinet.
-----
The bank robbers found a ladder on top of the roof of their current building, and laid it across to the next roof. Quickly and nimbly, they made their way across, hitting the other roof as the only officer still in pursuit landed on the building they had just left. Smiling to themselves, they pulled the ladder over to their side, leaving no way across the gap. They stood there for a moment, catching their breath and watching the officer behind them.
He wasn't slowing down.
The three men looked at each other, looked back at the officer, who was now accelerating, and turned around. They saw a door and, upon testing the knob, found it open. The three men dashed inside just as the police officer took flight from the previous building. The door slammed shut just as he hit the ground, rolling on the roof and popping back up to his feet.
He ran across the roof and followed the men through the door. Once inside, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, spoke into his radio, then descended the stairs at a leisurely pace.
-----
Angel looked over to Wesley and Gunn. He tapped his ear twice, indicating that he had heard something.
"Okay, that's definitely a helicopter," Dawn said. "And it's really close and really low."
"You wanna go outside and see it?" Willow asked.
"No," Gunn said, pulling the gun out from behind his back. "Y'all are stayin' right here."
Wesley whipped his gun out as well, as Angel opened the weapons cabinet and pulled out his favorite axe. Gunn and Wesley jumped over the counter, drawing the attention of the whole lobby.
"What the hell is going on here?" Faith asked.
Angel walked over to the wall under the balcony and leaned up against it. Above him, three men wearing masks appeared. Seeing their salvation before them in the form of hostages, they took heart from the pursuing officer and leapt over the railing, hitting the floor rolling. The first two popped up to their feet and promptly backed away from the sight in front of them – two angry looking men brandishing semi-automatic pistols directly at their heads.
The third rolled up and, assessing the situation, reached for his own weapon. He found his arm caught behind him in a vice-like grip.
"On your knees!" Angel yelled, releasing his grip on the man and dropping into his native Irish brogue.
"You men are evil," Angel said, as all three fell to the floor.
Wesley and Gunn each chambered a round into their barrels, fear entering the eyes of the criminals. Angel strode to the front of the trio, twirling the double-headed axe in his hands. The new Slayers and all of the Scoobies watched in confusion at what they saw.
"And as evil men," Angel said, snarling, "you must be punished." He nodded to the men beside him, and all three began to chant in Irish accents. Some better than others.
"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. We shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be."
"In nomine patri," said Gunn
"Et fili," said Wesley.
Angel released his demonic visage, and each of the criminals before them gasped.
"Et spritu sancti," he said.
As one, the three men stepped forward. As Angel thrust the butt of his axe onto the head of the middle man, Gunn and Wesley each bludgeoned the others with the stock of their guns. The three men fell unconscious to the floor.
The lobby erupted into confusion as Slayers and Scoobies alike questioned what had just happened. They were quickly silenced by the sound of slow, almost sarcastic clapping echoing throughout the lobby. Almost as one, they looked up to the second floor balcony and saw a man dressed in a policeman's uniform.
"I bet you think you're pretty special don't you?" he said, addressing specifically the three armed men in the middle of the confusion.
Around the crowd, various smiles broke out, but Angel, Gunn and Wesley stood there, stone faced. As the owners of the smiles saw this, the smiles vanished.
"Well I have news for you," the man said. "If I were to describe any of you, 'special' is not the word I would use."
He planted his hand firmly on the railing and vaulted over the side, landing behind the unconscious criminals. He walked straight up to Angel.
"No," he said, scowling. "Special wouldn't even enter my mind."
A goofy grin broke out on his face.
"You guys kick ass," he said, laughing. Wes, Gunn and Angel stepped forward and exchanged familiar greetings with him.
"Damn, Xander," Gunn said, as the pair exchanged an overly complex handshake. "You sure know how to make an entrance."
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End Chapter 1