Part Thirty-One.

“If they’re not here, then where the hell are they?”

A chill swept through her at Grogan’s question, causing her to swear. The demons weren’t here, they were further away…

Which meant she had been wrong.

Shit! SHIT! “I don’t know, maybe they’ve gone after the others. Maybe they caught onto what we were doing and changed their minds. I don’t know.” The only thing she was certain about was that they were further away.

That wasn’t supposed to be happening.

Why the hell weren’t they coming here?

“Rosenberg, are you absolutely certain they’re further away; are you sure it’s not because we moved?” Kawalsky asked.

Willow closed her eyes and opened herself to the links again. Like all the times before, a stab of fear went through her as she connected to the demons. The links now… they were more real than ever.

Before, her links had been vague, unclear; these were more precise in some ways. She could tell who she was linked to, she could feel the evil inside the demons, and she could judge more accurately how far away they were but not with any exact measure. She could now feel her power now run through the link. The longer it took to reach the demons, the further away they were. It was something Willow had never been able to do with her power shielded – at least not this precisely.

The demons were definitely further away than they should have been. SR-1 had been heading TOWARDS the demons, they should be closer.

Damn it! Willow raised her arm and pointed in the direction she felt the demons. “They’re over in that direction, somewhere. I can’t tell in miles how far, but they’re far enough away to make me worry.” Willow opened her eyes and frowned at Angel’s expression. “Angel, what is it?”

“The hospital is that way.”

NO! “You think… you think they’re at the hospital?” Why? Why would they… “Do you think they’ve gone after the witches?” They were, after all, the biggest threat to them.

Aside from her.

Angel shook his head. “No, the demons don’t know about the witches.”

Angel was right. They didn’t know. God! This was all their fault! If they hadn’t forced their magic onto her and healed her, then she wouldn’t have unknowingly linked… shit! “I think they’re after the witches.”

Kawalsky, recognizing the tone in her voice, turned to her. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure, but… when the witches shattered my shields, my magic was released and I guess it did what it always did, it went looking for people I needed to locate. And my subconscious decided, for some unknown reason, to locate the demons.”

“Not for some unknown reason. Your military training would have told you to locate the enemy.”

So they could plan an attack… of course! “Exactly, but when the witches healed me, all of our power combined. Our power must have been combined when I linked to the demons.”

“So you’re linked to the witches?”

“No. My power combined with theirs and vice versa. I felt their magic inside me, which means maybe mine was inside them. If I’m right, that means when it linked to the demons, it wasn’t just linking from me…”

Grogan swore at what she wasn’t saying.

The demons were linked to the witches.

** ** **

None of them moved.

It was like none of them actually believed what they had heard. Daniel, not having heard the demons before, lived in hope that this was another attack of some other sort. He still lived in denial, even when the inhuman howl sounded a second time.

“Shit!” Faith yelled, extracting herself from Giles’ arm. She pulled the weapon from her belt and went to the door. Faith opened it slightly, and looked outside.

All of Daniel’s hopes were crushed by the string of curses she let out.

They were here.

** ** **

Angel kicked open the exit, running into the dark alley, the others close behind.

Willow’s heart couldn’t stop pounding and her mind was screaming with fear. No matter what they did now, they wouldn’t get there in time.

Even if Angel ran all the way from here, he wouldn’t make it.

Though it often felt like it, fights didn’t last long. If the demons attacked the hospital, it wouldn’t take long for it to end – one way or another.

“We’re not going to get there in time.” If Faith and the others were even at the hospital. They might have gotten away. God! Willow wished more than anything that she never used magic… ever. At all.

Nothing good every came of it.

Kawalsky swore. “I can’t get any service on my cell; I can’t reach Daniel.”

“We can’t get there by foot,” Willow agreed, pushing away her fear. She had to think! Daniel, the others… they needed help. “We’ll need a car.” Wasn’t much of an observation, but it was a start.

Angel shook his head. “Still won’t make a difference, its peak hour. It’ll be all over when we get there. We’ll have to call Cordy and Gunn, tell them to send some guys to the hospital.”

“NO!” the ferocity in Willow’s voice startled him. “No….” Willow wasn’t going to stand here and do nothing. Daniel, Faith, Tara, and Annabelle, they were all there because SHE had ordered them to go there. She couldn’t send more people.

Oh God, she had told Daniel to go with them… she had sent Daniel – all of them – to their death! “NO! I… I have to go there.” She wasn’t going to lose anyone else… shit! What had she done?

“How? We’re not going to get to them in time.”

“Yes we will,” Willow pointed to something at the end of the alley, on the street. “On that.”

A motorcycle.

** ** **

“We gotta get out of here, NOW!” Faith yelled. “They’re just down the hall; we’ll have to make a run for it.”

Run? “Giles is too weak.”

“I-I’ll be fine,” he assured them.

“I’ll hold them off. Just get everyone to the car, I’ll meet you outside.”

What? “Faith, you can’t hold them off.” It only took two of them to take her down the first time, how was it going to be any different here?

“Don’t argue with me. All you gotta do is get Giles and the witches to the car, if I’m not there two minutes after you, get the fuck out of here.”

NO! They couldn’t leave Faith behind.

Daniel tried to argue again, but he was stopped when Faith threw open the door, screaming for them to run.

** ** **

Angel was elated and slightly concerned when the bike revved to life. When this was over, he was going to ask where Willow learned to hotwire bikes.

“Rosenberg, are you sure you don’t want one of us to go with you?” Kawalsky asked as Angel got onto the bike behind Willow.

“No, Sir. Angel’s the fastest and strongest, he’s our best chance,” Willow told him. “Call Faith and Gunn, they’ll come and pick you up. Keep in well lit and populated areas, and keep trying to call Daniel. We’ll meet you at Caritas as soon as we can.”

“Call us if Faith and the others are already there,” Angel asked.

Kawalsky didn’t seem happy, but he stepped away, giving her silent approval to go.

Willow revved the bike again. “Hold on tight,” she warned him. “I’m going to push her as far as she can go.”

Angel held on as Willow sped away from the curb.

** ** **

“Faith!” Daniel yelled out to Faith as she bolted towards the demons, greeting one of them with a kick to the face before dropping to the floor and knocking the legs out from beneath another.

She moved fast, faster than anyone Daniel had ever seen, but he still didn’t think it would be enough. There were too many demons; he counted nine, maybe ten. There was no way Faith was going to make it out of there alive.

“We have to get out of here,” Giles yelled, pulling at his arm. “She’ll be all right, she’s the Slayer.”

So what? They didn’t leave their people behind to fight alone. He refused to leave without her. “No, they’ll kill her.”

And as if proving his point, one of the demons struck Faith and she crumbled to the floor, the sword in her hand slipping out of her grasp.

NO! Oh God, one of the other demons was going for the sword! “No!” Daniel screamed, pulling out his own weapon and running towards it.

“Daniel!” Tara, Giles, and Kyle all screamed his name.

He ignored them; instead he made a beeline for the demon with the sword. His heart pounded as he swung his sword and blocked the demon’s attempt to stab Faith. His sword fell from his grasp at the force of the blow, but before Daniel could pick it up, he heard movement behind him.

Daniel cried out as something hit him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

“Daniel!”

Daniel’s eyes shot open at the sound of Faith’s voice and he froze as Faith’s attacker once again raised its sword to stab her. But, before it could deliver the blow Faith swung her legs, kicking the sword from its hands.

Faith caught the sword as it fell towards the floor, and then stabbed the demon. When the demon screamed in pain, Faith flipped onto her feet and reared the sword back and struck at its head, decapitating it.

The other demons howled in fury as it fell to the ground.

“Oh shit.”

** ** **

Sweet Jesus.

During his time as a vampire, Angel had seen some of the scariest things imaginable. Hell, he had faced half of them – and been responsible for some of them.

But nothing scared him more than being on this bike with Willow.

She rode without regard to anyone else on the road. She weaved in and out of traffic, mounting the sidewalk whenever it was needed – all at an incredible speed. It was a miracle they hadn’t been killed yet.

But, there was a bright side to this.

If Willow kept riding like she did, they would be at the hospital in less than twenty minutes.

** ** **

Dear lord! Giles watched in horror as the demons advanced on Faith and Daniel. Faith used her sword to stop another demon from attacking Daniel, but it was hopeless. They were dangerously outnumbered. There was no way the two of them would be able to get away.

Daniel and Faith would die if they didn’t intervene, something that Giles couldn’t let happen.

“Sword! I need a sword!” He was weak, he was well aware of that, but he couldn’t stand back and do nothing.

“No! It’s suicide.”

Daniel let out a scream of pain as one of the demons lifted him up and slammed him against the wall. He landed on the floor with a sickening crack and he screamed out in pain again.

“Daniel!” Faith screamed Daniel’s name again and raced for him, but just as she reached him, a demon hit her, sending her flying across the hall into the wall with such force that, for a moment, he thought it would collapse.

Giles started to go towards them but Annabelle pushed past them and held her hands up, whispering something to herself. Giles was stunned as the demons staggered backward as some invisible barrier crashed into them.

“Get them,” Annabelle muttered through gritted teeth. “I can’t hold the demons for long.”

Without hesitation, Giles, Tara, and Kyle ran towards Faith and Daniel. Kyle and Tara rushed to Daniel’s side, while Giles went to Faith. “Faith?”

Faith’s face contorted in pain as Giles helped her to her feet. It took far more strength than Giles realized to just to help her up. He looked over to Daniel, relieved to see Tara and Kyle helping him towards Annabelle.

“Come on, we have to move – ”

Faith swore as one of the demons smashed into the barrier, breaching it.

“Run! Now!” Faith yelled.

Annabelle shouted the spell again, forcing the demons back again but the strain on her was obvious.

She wouldn’t be able to hold them for long.

With renewed strength, Giles and Faith ran, as fast as they could, towards the witch, both of them leaning on each other for support. Tara and Kyle had already taken Daniel past her, Annabelle was just waiting on them. When they reached her, she didn’t drop the barrier; instead she started walking backwards with them. “I can hold it a few moments more, go. Get as far ahead as you can. I’ll catch up.”

Reluctantly, Giles moved forward. He and Faith wouldn’t get very far with Faith so injured and Giles weak. Any advantage Annabelle could give them might mean the difference between life and death. Annabelle would be able to catch up to them –

His thought were cut off when he heard Annabelle’s scream.

Both he and Faith spun around at the sound. The demons had once again breached the barrier and were advancing towards her faster than she could get away. The spell had weakened her, she couldn’t…

“Annabelle!” Faith screamed her name, but it was too late.

They both watched helplessly as one demon snapped her neck, then dropped her lifeless body on the floor.

“W-we have to get out of here,” Giles pulled on Faith’s arm.

They only had a moment or two before the demons came after them, and Giles refused for them suffer the same fate as Annabelle.

** ** **

Hurry, please hurry, Tara silently chanted as they helped Dr Jackson into the back seat of the car.

Dr Jackson grimaced in pain as he settled into his seat. “Faith? Giles? Annabelle? Are they coming?”

“They’re coming,” Tara assured him as Dr Whitwood climbed into the back of the car with Daniel. She couldn’t see them yet, but she was sure they were coming.

Tara couldn’t think otherwise.

Dr Whitwood looked at her. “Are you okay to drive?”

Drive? Yes. Hastily, Tara climbed into the front seat. “I don’t know the way to Caritas and I don’t have the keys.” They didn’t have keys!

Oh Goddess, Faith still had the –

“Start the car!” Mr Giles bellowed.

Tara’s head spun to see Mr Giles and Faith running towards them, the demons close behind. Tara’s hand shook uncontrollably as she turned back to the steering wheel. God, she couldn’t stop shaking, she couldn’t –

“Tara!” Dr Whitwood shouted to her.

“I’m trying, I’m – ” Tara closed her eyes and focused the last of her power. A second later, the car sprang to life. The car engine started just as Faith dove into the passenger seat and Mr Giles into the back seat. Now they just had to wait for –

“Drive!” Mr Giles ordered.

“Annabelle?” she looked around and bile rose in her throat when she realized she wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Tara, drive!”

The tires squealed as she sped out of the car park.

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