Waking up
by Lost
Finding the truth
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There she was on the ground, laying nearly subconscious next to his feet, and all he wanted to do was kick. How much more could her little body take? He wasn't sure, but he knew there was one thing he could still do to her.
Willow's eyes fluttered open and she looked through the darkness. She hadn't seen Buffy except for that once, and she was worried about the blonde. She had only been in the man's presence for two days and all ready she was just about to crack. But at least here the voices couldnt get to her. She sighed as she sat up and pulled her knees to her, only to feel a jolt of pain shoot through her body. Looking down she knoticed her knees, bloody and trying to scab over, but she had just nearly ripped what had healed open again.
Suddenly a shaft of light appeared as though originating from a door, or really the opening of a door. "Good to see youre awake Strawberry." The voice said before he walked over to her. She tried to see his face, to recognize who he was so that when this was all over, after she had survived, because she would survive, she could convict him. But the backlighting proved too much for her light sensitive eyes. He reached her, and bent down, pulling her up by her elbows, and groaned in dismay when he saw her whimper. "You know, your little girlfriend took this much better than you have. She didn't whimper at all, well, not until the last days." And then she could see him.
Although he wore a baseball cap, that didn't change the fact that she could see his face, and look right into his eyes. He had a long scar running up his cheek and over where his eye was, and up to the base of the cap, but his eye was milky white; his hair was long and mousy brown, and looked like it hadn't been washed in over a week, and his teeth were crooked and tar stained and he stank of cigarettes. He let go of her for just one minute before he reached back and backhanded her so hard she fell, hitting the ground with a jarring crack as pain shot up her arm.
*****************Back in the dark*********************
Buffy sat up slowly. How long had they been there? Where the hell was there? And who had hired the man with the baseball cap? She whinced in pain as she sat up. She was healing, slowly but surely. She would have scars from this ordeal, but only if she made it out alive. She leaned back and pain blurred her vision as her back rested against a wall. Slowly, she moved her hand to her back, and felt the mark. A tattoo of sorts. She had been branded with an iron, and now she would forever have this mark on her back.
****************With the rest of the world***************
Xander was getting groceries for the rest of the gang, minus one redhead and one blonde. He pushed the shopping cart along the cereal aisle and looked for Lucky Charms. It seemed like they were getting no where fast. The detective had all but told him to stay out of it, and although Cordy told him that she understood him searching for his best friends, he knew that she was growing tired of never knowing if he was safe. And to top things off, Xander had neither heard from or seen Angel. It was tearing him apart inside that he couldn't find the girls, but it was making him even more angry that he couldn't find Angel. He went through the rest of his shopping preoccupied and made his way through the line before he moved the groceries out to his car.
The ride home was a short one, but just as he was about to turn onto main, there on the opposite side of the road was Angel. And he was going the direction that Xander had just come from. He checked his review mirror before slamming his car into reverse and then drive, making the worlds fasted u-turn.
Meanwhile Angel hummed as he made his way towards the show. It was nearly time for the grand finale and he couldn't wait to air the tape on the school televisions.
***************With Willow*******************
She woke up again, and this time when she looked around, there was Buffy. Her Buffy. She nearly cried with joy, or she would have if she wasnt so dehydrated. She reached over tentatively and touched the blonde, who instantly recoiled in her sleep before her eyes popped open. "Oh Will." She said before pulling the redhead into her arms.
*************Outside**********************
Angel pulled up to the warehouse and parked his car. Checking the mirror to make sure his hair was just the way he wanted, and while doing so spotted Xander as he pulled up. Angel stepped out of his car and stood facing Xander. And as he got out of his car to face Angel, Xander was suddenly reminded oddly enough of an old western movie as the hero and the villian would come to a face off, here he and Angel were about to come to blows.
"Where the hell are they Angel?" Xander demanded, keeping at least six feet bwtween the two of them.
**********Back at the Summer's Residence*******
Detective Lockley burst into the front door without even knocking. "We've found them!" She announced loudly.
"And? Where are they?" Joyce asked excitedly. "Have you gotten them yet? Can I see them? Are they okay?" The stream of questions poured out of her mouth so quickly that Kate had trouble remembering the order.
"In Sunnydale. No. No. And yes, I believe so." She said. "We're watching the building right now, and they-" Her sentence was cut off as her radio buzzed something vaugly intelegable. Kate looked down and grabbed the radio. "I'm on my way." She said before looking at Joyce. "Something's happened, I have to go." She said and took off.