Author: Kate
Pairing: Ares/Joxer-Angel, Cordellia/Spike, Giles/Ethan/Willow
Rating: PG-R (I think for now)
Summary: The Gods awaken
The Warrior Found? 2: The Gods Awaken
By Kate
Willow stared in shock as Angel carried Ares easily to one of the bedrooms near Spike's. The man looked like he was sick...or...or tired. Willow thought. She brought Angel the blanket he asked for and listened to his continuing hum. It was a tune but she couldn't figure it out. It was
nothing he listened to with her. Willow heard Spike whimper in the next room and watched Angel get torn between Ares and his son. Willow sighed and went in to Spike's room. She carried the underfed Vampire back into Ares' bedroom and laid him on the bed next to the God. Angel smiled at her in thanks.
Willow nodded and went to get some water so Angel could clean the dirt off of Ares' face. The God looked like he'd been buried for a very long time. Willow watched as Angel gently cleaned the dirt and grime off Ares' face and arms and chest.
Ares moaned as if in pain at the touch and Willow sent a quick prayer to him. Being a Witch meant she could pray to most pagan deities and most of the time it worked. As Giles had said, anything would do in a pinch.
Speaking of Giles, Willow thought as someone knocked on the mansion's door. Willow ran to answer it and found Giles holding an unsteady Ethan Rayne against his side. Ethan was bleeding from several cuts on his face and arms as Giles led him into the house.
Angel came out of the joint bedroom smelling blood. The instant he saw Ethan trying his best to stay on his feet, he moved. He led Ethan and Giles to the room next to the one Spike had been in until just recently.
"Who did this, Giles?" Angel asked as he got Ethan's shirt off revealing livid bruises going down to the waist of his pants and vanishing under it. He cursed as he got Ethan to lie on his side so the injuries to his back and chest could be looked at. Ethan hissed in pain as Angel applied
a cool compress to his back.
"Buffy did it," Giles said. "For once Ethan had done nothing to merit any kind of beating. Not that he ever did. I never hurt him like this."
Ethan groaned as Angel's touch got heavier for an instant. Angel pulled his hand back quickly.
"Tell me Wills," Angel said. "Should we be expecting any other guests tonight? First Ares, now Ethan and Giles."
"Ares is here?" Ethan gasped suddenly. Angel looked down at him seeing hope in his eyes. Hope for what he did not know.
"Yeah, he's in there with Spike," Willow blurted forgetting Giles had no idea Spike was there. She blushed but Giles didn't seem to notice.
"Can...Can you...T-take me to..h-him?" Ethan gasped out around the pain from his broken ribs.
Angel nodded and lifted Ethan from the mattress easily. Giles followed Angel and Willow to the bedroom Angel had come out of and stared at the God and the vampire laying on the bed.
"Ares..." Ethan whispered. "Brother...So good to see you again."
They all watched as Ethan's form changed to that of someone only Giles recognized.
Hermes. God of Tricksters, Thieves and Liars. He looked at Giles from his still bruised and bloodied face and smiled.
"My Ripper," Hermes said weakly. "Thank you. Stay with me?"
Giles nodded slack jawed as Hermes turned his focus on Ares.
"Come on big brother," Hermes said. "Take the energy. You're needed again."
The God of War seemed to shudder and shake as his body absorbed the energy Hermes was offering him. A few moments later, he woke up.
"Hermes?" Ares asked dazed. He looked around the room in this strange place and saw someone he never thought he'd see again. "JOXER?!?"
Angel stared a moment in complete shock as he realized Ares was looking at him as he spoke. He felt a rush of energy from his soul just as the floor rushed up to meet him and he fainted.
END PART 2