Cage awoke with a start, sitting up in bed. Jess barely fluttered her eyelashes beside him. She’d eaten enough for 3 men and stayed up late laughing with the girls, she was exhausted. Finally, it was a good exhaustion, and he spared a moment to kiss her on the forehead before he hopped out of bed. He stole quietly to his study, and unthinking, walked around the circle that had trapped Peter earlier in the day. He’d pay for that one, and he knew it. More than he’d already given, maybe. He hoped the punishment wouldn’t be too harsh. Pushing that thought away, he climbed the step ladder and pulled out the book he’d been dreaming about. Sitting down in his chair, he opened it, and all worries drifted away as he did what he did best (okay, SECOND best…) study.
A ringing phone woke Giles at the hours before the dawn. He fumbled for the phone and his fiancée, younger & with better eyes, put it in his hand. He mumbled a hello and heard the lilt of The Cajun’s voice. “Brother, we got a problem.” He sat up, reaching for his glasses, and Christine put those in his hand as well. She was a gem. “Tell me” he answered. Cage explained that the demons Cookie & Charlie had killed were harbingers of a demon called Juni. The last they’d seen of him was in the 1700’s when he tried to open all portals and create hell on earth. The book was the important part, and the book had gotten away. Cage informed him that the best time to open a portal would be the following night, and the best place for that… the Hellmouth. Giles took notes as they talked, and waited while Cage faxed over pages for him to read. He trusted Cage, and made the call to Cookie before they’d even completed coming through.
Cookie was groggy when she answered the phone. “Thissa better be good, I’m still mad at you.” She began. He let the comment pass. “We need to go to Sunnydale, today.” A few rustles, and her voice was alert. “What’s up?” she asked, all business. He filled her in. She packed her bags.
Charlie was glad for a reason to take a long motorcycle ride with Cookie’s arms wrapped around him, though it made the decision he’d made last night all the more harder. He knew what he wanted – her – but he had a nagging feeling this just wasn’t the right time. With him just out of prison and trying to make his way, he just wasn’t in a place to provide for her. He wanted to be his own man, making his own way, not some guy who had to rely on the handouts of his brother. He also got the feeling that no matter what Cookie said, she just wasn’t ready for a relationship. If they got together now, it was sure to end quickly. If he could only get to know her better, let her get to know him, and have his Plan in place, he’d feel more like a man. She needed a real man, otherwise she’d BE the man in the relationship. She was already physically stronger than he was, and he didn’t think his ego could take having her pay his way, too. He knew that’s how it would go, Shawn had confided that her last boyfriend (Hell’s Hooker, as he liked to think of him) let Cookie pay the way. He wanted to make his own way.
He didn’t think she’d take the news well, and could only hope he wasn’t in for another bitch slap across the face. Damn, that girl was strong. Of course, if they failed, and all the portals opened at once, he wouldn’t even have to have that talk with her, because they’d all be dead! The thought only cheered him slightly.
Meg & Shawn followed in Cookie’s jeep, the back filled with Giles, a stack of books, and various weaponry. She knew it was bad when they were going back to Sunnydale and Cookie was more interested in the weapons she packed rather than what she was going to wear (in case she ran into Oz, for instance). She was glad for the day off from work but wondered if they would even make it back to L.A. for her job on Monday. What if she was late? What if she was… dead? Oh, man. Why had she gone again?
Cage met them at the front door and Meg had her answer. Hello, nurse! She was unable to form any sentence other than “Meg” when she shook his hand. Luckily, everyone was busy working on the whole “end of the world” thing, and no one seemed to notice she’d been temporarily dumbstruck. She was introduced to his wife, Jess, pregnant, glowing, and working up a storm in the kitchen. She found her niche, and fell into step with Jess. No one was going into battle underfed. Not on their watch.
Shawn & Giles got put on reading duty, while Cookie & Charlie went to hunt for signs of where the ritual would take place. Cage had 5 spots picked out and they were set to investigate them all while it was still daylight and the threat was less severe. Charlie decided to have his talk with Cookie at site #2. To his relief, she looked just as relieved as he felt. “I thought we had a connection, but I think it was just that night.” She confided. “It was hot. But I don’t think we’re relationship material.” He hid his disappointment. He agreed with her except for the last part. He thought they made a good team. He brooded about this until site #4, where he was about to open his mouth and say just that when he felt a hard knock to the back of his head, and darkness found him.
Jess was the first to notice that they weren’t back in time, already attuned to her maternal instincts. She set out to do a spell, trying to find their location. It was after dark, so Jess called Mel to help. She arrived, happy to see Meg again (and with SUCH a good looking boyfriend, hello~) and they took off to find her friends.
Meg crawled along the dirty, wet floor of the abandoned slaughterhouse. She really, really didn’t want to know why the floor was still wet, especially when the smell informed her that it wasn’t just water. Ew. She thought of Shawn back at the house, the worried look on his face when she left. She’d told him she would be fine, and at the time she meant it. Now, she wasn’t so sure. She and Mel had split up and now she wished she hadn’t done that, either. She was currently crawling through the bay where they used to send the pigs for slaughter. It would only be a matter of time before she found the doorway out of there. She hoped. Mel had been sure she smelled them, but how could she possibly over all this filth. She stopped to retch, as quietly as she could. Man, they were SO going to owe her if she saved them.
Charlie woke to a light, and a boot prodding him. “If you’re Thor and the lightening delivered you, I’m keeping you, I don’t care what Jack says.” He blinked up at the woman speaking to him. She had red hair, it was almost glowing in the light like an episode of “Touched by an Angel”. She kneeled down, and he saw the pale skin as she touched his arm with a cool hand. He started away from her, but his head throbbed. “Slow down, Cowboy. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re the rescue party. So, where’s your girlfriend?”
Meg found her first. She had rope coiled around her wrists and it was looped over a hook suspended from the ceiling. She looked battered, as if someone had given her a beating, but her eyes were open and clear. All Meg could think was that this reminded her of some action movie. Wasn’t this how the bad guys always tied up the heroes? Cookie blinked a few times, as if she wasn’t sure Meg was really there. “Megs?”
“It’s me! I’m here. Um… let me get you down.” She tried lifting Cookie’s legs up, hoping to unhook her. “Hey, Braintrust… use your head.” Meg blinked, not knowing what she meant at first, and then letting Cookie’s legs go as she understood. “Oh yeah!” The chain snapped, and Cookie plummeted to the floor, landing in a heap. “Nice & gentle, just how I like it” Cookie moaned. “Oh, stop being a baby.” Meg replied “We’ve got a world to save.”
The demon, Juni, was halfway through the incantation when they arrived. Meg & Charlie waited outside, as no human could enter. It was weird to think of Cookie as a non-human, that is, until she got that look in her eye. Meg never wanted to be on the other side of The Look. She half-carried Charlie out to the Jeep and got him in the backseat. She crawled up front (oh man, Cookie’s gonna be so mad I got old pig guts on her upholstery!) and drove to the doors of the slaughterhouse. She hopped out, and upon hearing a loud, wrenching sound (like a million trees being uprooted, and screaming as they did), she flung open both doors of the Jeep and got into the driver’s side, waiting with the engine idling.
Moments later, Mel came out, carrying Cookie. She slung her unceremoniously in the backseat next to Charlie and was in the passenger side in a flash. “DRIVE!” she instructed, and Meg floored it, feeling a strange tugging from the back as if she was going in reverse instead of forward. The Jeep gave, and they flew across the gravel of the parking lot as the slaughterhouse started to implode behind them, sucking in everything nearby. Trees, chunks of sidewalk, signs, an old picnic table out back for the former employees (who could eat lunch at a slaughterhouse?!) Meg didn’t even let herself believe that the Jeep had almost been sucked back into the mass until they reached the highway. Her hands shook, and Mel reached over and took the wheel. “I can drive from here.” she said, cool as a cucumber. Meg nodded and put it in park on the side of the highway. She got out and rubber-legged, holding onto the Jeep, made it to the passenger side and climbed in. She looked in the backseat, Charlie blinking as if he was still loopy, and Cookie still out entirely. “The hospital.” Meg whispered.
Mel filled them in when they were all present and accounted for in the waiting room, the two patients being checked out by the fine doctors (who had learned not to ask too many questions) at Sunnydale Memorial. Shawn kept his arm around Meg, even though she stunk to high heaven, as Mel regaled him with the story of how they’d just closed (permanently) every portal to Hell & back. She even managed to make it sound like an adventure. Giles was listening to every word, asking questions, and Cage was jotting down notes in a notebook as fast as he could. Meg wished she could add to the story to make Cage just look at her once, but just the thought of it closed her throat.
*********************
The next night, Sunday night, they rode out of Sunnydale as heroes. Of course, no one knew they were heroes but each other, but that seemed like a good price to pay when you were still living. Cookie rode back in the backseat next to Giles, her injuries not making the motorcycle seem like a good idea for the few hours it took to get home. She’d been shaken enough for a few days, thanks so much. She wasn’t talking much. She’d just entombed Lance, wherever he was, and ensured that he’d never get home. Talk about a bad girlfriend. She was relieved Charlie had ended things, because she just didn’t think she could keep up the façade of being okay long enough to be someone’s girl. Only Giles fully understood her grief. She rode home with her head on his shoulder and his arm around her, the event settling things between them back where they should be. Friends. Always.
***************************
A ringing phone woke Giles at the hours before the dawn. He fumbled for the phone and his fiancée, younger & with better eyes, put it in his hand. He mumbled a hello and heard the lilt of The Cajun’s voice. “Brother, we got a problem.” He sat up, reaching for his glasses, and Christine put those in his hand as well. She was a gem. “Tell me” he answered. Cage explained that the demons Cookie & Charlie had killed were harbingers of a demon called Juni. The last they’d seen of him was in the 1700’s when he tried to open all portals and create hell on earth. The book was the important part, and the book had gotten away. Cage informed him that the best time to open a portal would be the following night, and the best place for that… the Hellmouth. Giles took notes as they talked, and waited while Cage faxed over pages for him to read. He trusted Cage, and made the call to Cookie before they’d even completed coming through.
Cookie was groggy when she answered the phone. “Thissa better be good, I’m still mad at you.” She began. He let the comment pass. “We need to go to Sunnydale, today.” A few rustles, and her voice was alert. “What’s up?” she asked, all business. He filled her in. She packed her bags.
Charlie was glad for a reason to take a long motorcycle ride with Cookie’s arms wrapped around him, though it made the decision he’d made last night all the more harder. He knew what he wanted – her – but he had a nagging feeling this just wasn’t the right time. With him just out of prison and trying to make his way, he just wasn’t in a place to provide for her. He wanted to be his own man, making his own way, not some guy who had to rely on the handouts of his brother. He also got the feeling that no matter what Cookie said, she just wasn’t ready for a relationship. If they got together now, it was sure to end quickly. If he could only get to know her better, let her get to know him, and have his Plan in place, he’d feel more like a man. She needed a real man, otherwise she’d BE the man in the relationship. She was already physically stronger than he was, and he didn’t think his ego could take having her pay his way, too. He knew that’s how it would go, Shawn had confided that her last boyfriend (Hell’s Hooker, as he liked to think of him) let Cookie pay the way. He wanted to make his own way.
He didn’t think she’d take the news well, and could only hope he wasn’t in for another bitch slap across the face. Damn, that girl was strong. Of course, if they failed, and all the portals opened at once, he wouldn’t even have to have that talk with her, because they’d all be dead! The thought only cheered him slightly.
Meg & Shawn followed in Cookie’s jeep, the back filled with Giles, a stack of books, and various weaponry. She knew it was bad when they were going back to Sunnydale and Cookie was more interested in the weapons she packed rather than what she was going to wear (in case she ran into Oz, for instance). She was glad for the day off from work but wondered if they would even make it back to L.A. for her job on Monday. What if she was late? What if she was… dead? Oh, man. Why had she gone again?
Cage met them at the front door and Meg had her answer. Hello, nurse! She was unable to form any sentence other than “Meg” when she shook his hand. Luckily, everyone was busy working on the whole “end of the world” thing, and no one seemed to notice she’d been temporarily dumbstruck. She was introduced to his wife, Jess, pregnant, glowing, and working up a storm in the kitchen. She found her niche, and fell into step with Jess. No one was going into battle underfed. Not on their watch.
Shawn & Giles got put on reading duty, while Cookie & Charlie went to hunt for signs of where the ritual would take place. Cage had 5 spots picked out and they were set to investigate them all while it was still daylight and the threat was less severe. Charlie decided to have his talk with Cookie at site #2. To his relief, she looked just as relieved as he felt. “I thought we had a connection, but I think it was just that night.” She confided. “It was hot. But I don’t think we’re relationship material.” He hid his disappointment. He agreed with her except for the last part. He thought they made a good team. He brooded about this until site #4, where he was about to open his mouth and say just that when he felt a hard knock to the back of his head, and darkness found him.
Jess was the first to notice that they weren’t back in time, already attuned to her maternal instincts. She set out to do a spell, trying to find their location. It was after dark, so Jess called Mel to help. She arrived, happy to see Meg again (and with SUCH a good looking boyfriend, hello~) and they took off to find her friends.
Meg crawled along the dirty, wet floor of the abandoned slaughterhouse. She really, really didn’t want to know why the floor was still wet, especially when the smell informed her that it wasn’t just water. Ew. She thought of Shawn back at the house, the worried look on his face when she left. She’d told him she would be fine, and at the time she meant it. Now, she wasn’t so sure. She and Mel had split up and now she wished she hadn’t done that, either. She was currently crawling through the bay where they used to send the pigs for slaughter. It would only be a matter of time before she found the doorway out of there. She hoped. Mel had been sure she smelled them, but how could she possibly over all this filth. She stopped to retch, as quietly as she could. Man, they were SO going to owe her if she saved them.
Charlie woke to a light, and a boot prodding him. “If you’re Thor and the lightening delivered you, I’m keeping you, I don’t care what Jack says.” He blinked up at the woman speaking to him. She had red hair, it was almost glowing in the light like an episode of “Touched by an Angel”. She kneeled down, and he saw the pale skin as she touched his arm with a cool hand. He started away from her, but his head throbbed. “Slow down, Cowboy. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re the rescue party. So, where’s your girlfriend?”
Meg found her first. She had rope coiled around her wrists and it was looped over a hook suspended from the ceiling. She looked battered, as if someone had given her a beating, but her eyes were open and clear. All Meg could think was that this reminded her of some action movie. Wasn’t this how the bad guys always tied up the heroes? Cookie blinked a few times, as if she wasn’t sure Meg was really there. “Megs?”
“It’s me! I’m here. Um… let me get you down.” She tried lifting Cookie’s legs up, hoping to unhook her. “Hey, Braintrust… use your head.” Meg blinked, not knowing what she meant at first, and then letting Cookie’s legs go as she understood. “Oh yeah!” The chain snapped, and Cookie plummeted to the floor, landing in a heap. “Nice & gentle, just how I like it” Cookie moaned. “Oh, stop being a baby.” Meg replied “We’ve got a world to save.”
The demon, Juni, was halfway through the incantation when they arrived. Meg & Charlie waited outside, as no human could enter. It was weird to think of Cookie as a non-human, that is, until she got that look in her eye. Meg never wanted to be on the other side of The Look. She half-carried Charlie out to the Jeep and got him in the backseat. She crawled up front (oh man, Cookie’s gonna be so mad I got old pig guts on her upholstery!) and drove to the doors of the slaughterhouse. She hopped out, and upon hearing a loud, wrenching sound (like a million trees being uprooted, and screaming as they did), she flung open both doors of the Jeep and got into the driver’s side, waiting with the engine idling.
Moments later, Mel came out, carrying Cookie. She slung her unceremoniously in the backseat next to Charlie and was in the passenger side in a flash. “DRIVE!” she instructed, and Meg floored it, feeling a strange tugging from the back as if she was going in reverse instead of forward. The Jeep gave, and they flew across the gravel of the parking lot as the slaughterhouse started to implode behind them, sucking in everything nearby. Trees, chunks of sidewalk, signs, an old picnic table out back for the former employees (who could eat lunch at a slaughterhouse?!) Meg didn’t even let herself believe that the Jeep had almost been sucked back into the mass until they reached the highway. Her hands shook, and Mel reached over and took the wheel. “I can drive from here.” she said, cool as a cucumber. Meg nodded and put it in park on the side of the highway. She got out and rubber-legged, holding onto the Jeep, made it to the passenger side and climbed in. She looked in the backseat, Charlie blinking as if he was still loopy, and Cookie still out entirely. “The hospital.” Meg whispered.
Mel filled them in when they were all present and accounted for in the waiting room, the two patients being checked out by the fine doctors (who had learned not to ask too many questions) at Sunnydale Memorial. Shawn kept his arm around Meg, even though she stunk to high heaven, as Mel regaled him with the story of how they’d just closed (permanently) every portal to Hell & back. She even managed to make it sound like an adventure. Giles was listening to every word, asking questions, and Cage was jotting down notes in a notebook as fast as he could. Meg wished she could add to the story to make Cage just look at her once, but just the thought of it closed her throat.
*********************
The next night, Sunday night, they rode out of Sunnydale as heroes. Of course, no one knew they were heroes but each other, but that seemed like a good price to pay when you were still living. Cookie rode back in the backseat next to Giles, her injuries not making the motorcycle seem like a good idea for the few hours it took to get home. She’d been shaken enough for a few days, thanks so much. She wasn’t talking much. She’d just entombed Lance, wherever he was, and ensured that he’d never get home. Talk about a bad girlfriend. She was relieved Charlie had ended things, because she just didn’t think she could keep up the façade of being okay long enough to be someone’s girl. Only Giles fully understood her grief. She rode home with her head on his shoulder and his arm around her, the event settling things between them back where they should be. Friends. Always.
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