Subject: [BA_Gutter] Fic: Together Again 31/31 - It's finished! Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 14:05:58 -0000 From: "sunnyd_lite7" Title: Together Again Author: SunnyD_Lite Spoilers: Follows 'Tangled Webs' which has spoilers to Shells, then goes on its merry way. Rating: PG but there is Spike language – you have been warned. Disclaimer: Joss, ME, Sanddollar, and other corporate types own every conceivable copyright and interest in the characters. They stopped playing with them, so I thought I would. No profit, no foul, right guys? A/N: First off, hugs and doughnuts to my betas Pattyanne, desota_hia_873, and Colleen! They made sure my ideas resembled sense. Well folks, it's been a bit of a ride, two months of postings! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. To those who've given me feedback - THANK YOU, it let me know that I was on track with these quirky ideas! Feedback: Yup Yup love the stuff. Really. CHAPTER 31 This time the pain wasn't as bad. He saw another group of seniors being menaced by a demon. It was shaped like a fat emu, but with a yellow lizard's skin and claws at the end of its flightless wings. This time they were in a park, one that looked familiar. It was the park with the tree demon he and Groo had fought. And studying the images more closely, he realized something he'd been missing. "Guys, I don't think we're to chase down these demons. I think we're after the seniors. It's the same group in all three visions." "Well, that would explain the lack of carnage in the news. A thing like a death wave among the elderly would generally grab some sensationalist's notice. Make their career." Gunn turned to look at the weapons on the wall. "I guess we can't go all mediaeval on their wrinkly asses, now can we?" "If they ARE the evil we are being warned of, I would not assume they would be easily dissuaded from their course. I wonder what they are up to?" Wes grabbed one of the books in front of him, and began pouring over it looking for answers. "Sounds all cocoon-y to me," was Harmony's input. "What did you say, Harmikins?" Angel saw the bemused look Lorne was wearing. "That silly movie from like the 80s. It was all about old people who grew young by swimming with aliens. We saw it with my grandmother. Wrinkly bodies, yuck. Glad that won't happen to me. You'd think those stars would have heard of plastic surgery or something." Angel didn't find her extended answer any more enlightening. However, Spike, the movie-lover that he was, said, "I remember that one. So you think the oldies are seeking a demonic youth potion? Wouldn't be the first time." "This vision was at that park with the demon tree, Gunn.. .you remember it?" "Yeah, being eaten by a tree is memorable, even in this line of work." "This time it was at night. And it felt urgent. So we should probably swing by this evening. Wes, any idea how they might be doing this?" Angel knew that he needed the team's joint effort; that he couldn't leave any of them behind. Not anymore. Or he might be the one left out. Fred looked up from the computer. "I've plotted the three visions. They form a triangle. Some rituals involve a sacrifice at the points of a sacred shape to invoke the powers. Do you think that's what's happening here?" "It's as good a bet as any. So if we stop the sacrifice..." "It should bugger up their plans mightily. Then we can either talk them out of it or," here Spike reached for HIS ax, "persuade them to change hobbies." "We've a few hours," Wesley noted. "I'll see if I can find anything about the sacrifice of innocent demons. By the way, Angel, what did this one look like?" "A featherless Big Bird, still yellow, with a more pointed beck and claws on its wing-tips." He saw the looks the team gave him, "Hey, Sesame Street is education television, I wanted Connor to get a head start on letters and things." "Do y'all think that Henson knew a lot more about demons than he was letting on? This isn't the first muppet reference." Fred sat a moment, pondering those images. "Oh, he was a high level mage. Did some contract work with the Council, on and off. He actually died from a curse that only looked like pneumonia. That's why they couldn't cure it." Wes rattled off this information to a stunned crowd. "Right then. That explains how Fraggle Rock got on the telly," said Spike with the satisfied air of someone solving one of the universe's mysteries. Angel looked at the team, at HIS team. Things were feeling right in a way they hadn't for a long time. Funny, a change in perspective, like realizing it was the demons, not the seniors who needed saving, could make everything fall into place. Like realizing he belonged to the team and not them to him,. They were focused on a common goal. They were together again. Maybe it WOULD work. Angel turned looking at each of them in turn. "So team, ready to help the helpless?" And they were off. -finis- And they lived happily ever after....in some alternate reality! We're still in the Jossverse here, folks. The power structure hasn't sorted itself out at Angel Investigations. Will the two team approach work? Will Lorne be able to get a building permit and find a new contractor? What DID Lorne learn from the song? Will Fred have to dress up as Lilah for an exciting sex life? Will Gunn find someone to love? Will Nina find the hotel, before the next full moon? And that doesn't even touch on the Sunnydale gang. I'll let you know once the muse has filled ME in! Feed the muse!