Willow and Xander, who had finally caught up, dropped down beside Talia
and asked, between gasping breaths, where Buffy was. To the slayerettes'
dismay Talia's only answer was to start running. Willow and Xander
watched
with exasperation as the girl's form was swallowed up in the darkness.
"If she expects us to start running after her again--" Xander's complaint
was
cut off by a sharp gasp coming from the shadows where Talia had been
headed. "We damn well better," Xander finished, helping Willow up.
The two
ran with renewed energy and this time chose to stand beside Talia as
she
stared at something on the ground. Squinting to get a better look at
the
figure enveloped in the shadows, Xander and Willow saw Angel cradling
a
motionless Buffy in his arms.
"Tally what did you do?" Angel whispered in horror, looking at the blood
that
covered his hand, and the back of Buffy's head. The vampire and
slayerettes turned to stare at Talia accusingly.
"Umm...whoops?"
"WELL HOW WAS I S'POSED TO KNOW THE SLAYER WAS YOUR
GIRLFRIEND?" Talia yelled, a blast of thunder emphasizing her
words. With
a quick smile heaven directed, she returned her steely gaze to
Angel's angry
face. He had picked up one of Giles' books and was contemplating
throwing
it at her. Another blast of thunder quickly convinced him otherwise
and with
a grimace directed heavenward, he turned to face his best friend
of almost
fifty years.
"Tally, you just don't go flinging people against houses." Angel said
his voice
low and menacing. Talia raised an eyebrow and matched his tone.
"Well I intended to send her on a one way trip to Kentucky, the house
was
just in the way," she retorted icily. Angel was about to reply when
Giles
walked out of the living room. The sight of his face quieted the arguing
couple into complete silence.
"It...it's bad," Giles whispered, running a bloody hand through his
hair. "The
back of her head is..." The watcher faltered, sitting down on his couch
with a
dazed expression "...I would suggest calling an ambulance, but by the
sound
of this storm, I doubt they'd be able it get here in...in time." Talia
sighed
impatiently and stepped forward but was tackled to the ground by Xander.
"YOU KILLED HER--"A deafening rumble of thunder drowned out Xander's
scream as the entire house shook. Talia shoved Xander off her and the
thunder stopped. Willow her faced streaked with tears opened the door
leading outside, she expected to be hit with a shower of cold rain,
hoping it
would wake her up from whatever horrible nightmare she was trapped
in,
but was only greeted by a gentle wind. No rain, no lightening. She
turned
back in and saw Xander standing motionless on the floor where Talia
had
frozen him. Giles was still on the couch looking dazed and Angel was
leaning against the wall, arms crossed, intense anger etched onto his
handsome face. He looked ready to kill, Willow noted, and kill Talia
in
particular.
"It's not even raining. Maybe we could get her to the hospital?" Willow
said
hopefully.
"Kitalia..." Angel said, using her full name as an angry parent might.
"You
know what you have to do."
Talia glared at him defiantly. "And what would that be?" Thunder ensued
as
Angel stepped forward and quieted only when he stepped two paces back.
"Keep your family out of this." He snarled, his "game-face" in place.
"Is that s'posed to be scary?" Talia asked disbelievingly, ignoring
his last
demand. She turned away, still keeping her finger pointed at Xander
and
when she spun around her face had changed from long, dark red-hair,
brown eyes, into...Willow looked at her aghast for words, momentarily
forgetting her sadness. "Was that supposed to be ugly?" she thought.
Silky
black hair sprung around Talia's face in a mass of curls, her red lips
were
parted in a malicious smile, Willow stopped and stared in fascination
at
Talia's eyes. They were entirely black and empty, except for cat green
centers, glittering only with pure evil. Angel saw this and with a
growl
pounced on Talia throwing her to the ground. Xander, who was now free
to
move only stayed collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. The thunder
that shook the ground could have been an earthquake but it didn't force
Angel off of Talia. Willow grabbed onto the bookcase to steady herself,
and
only succeeded in getting hit with a shower of books falling from their
places
amidst the shaking. Talia, her true face back in place, kicked Angel
with all
her might and tried to stand. She kept getting knocked down by the
rumbling
floor. "ENOUGH ALREADY!" She screamed. With one last quake, the floor
lay still and the thunder ceased. As Talia tried to get up she was
once again
knocked down by Angel. Willow and Xander looked away as the vampire's
claws reached down for her. Expecting to hear screams of pain, they
were
startled with shrieks of laughter.
"OK, OK!" Talia gasped, trying to free herself from Angel's merciless
tickling.
"I do it, I'll do it!" Angel, his human face smiling triumphantly,
hauled Talia to
her feet and pushed her towards the room where Buffy was laying. With
a
melodramatic sigh, she entered the bedroom and closed the door with
a
resounding BANG.
"Wait a damn minute! Your girlfriend...the girl you're supposed to LOVE
is
dying and you're TICKLING her murderer?" Willow yelled disbelievingly.
Xander still weak, expressed his anger by throwing Giles' 'Demon Legends
and Lore' volume at Angel. He smiled as the book brought a satisfying
yell
from the vampire. Giles, who had remained on the couch undisturbed
during
the chaos, frowned at Xander and picked up his book. Looking at the
page it
had fallen open to the Watcher gasped and studied the book intently.
"Talia is a--"
"A tad over-protective?" Buffy said, interrupting Giles. She rubbed
the back
of her head and glared at Talia, who had followed her out of the bedroom.
"OK, now somebody has some SERIOUS explaining to do." She looked
pointedly at Angel and Talia. "Why in the name of hell...and I say
that
literally, is Hades telling me to say hi to you the two of you?"
"Hades, God of the Underworld." Giles muttered, looking at his book
and
then back to Talia. "Your brother...(?)"