Previously on Buffy and Angel...
(The Mayor-demon explodes in the high school, opening a crater beneath school grounds. Light pours in as multiple howls are heard, followed by a cloud of dust rising from the pit.)
Giles: Well, that's rather fortuitous. It appears the mayor took out the Hellmouth with him. And whatever else lay beneath its seal.
Buffy: Meaning?
Giles: Meaning that there is no longer any reason to remain in Sunnydale, Buffy. You are free to pursue other interests, provided that you maintain your Slayer duties wherever you travel.
Willow: Hey! Maybe it's not too late to get out of UC Sunnydale! You could go anywhere.
Buffy: (looks into the distance.) Anywhere...
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Spike: Dru dumped me. So I went looking for that bint what put me in this mess, only to discover she'd abandoned town to these soldier boys. Then I get a chip in my head which stops me from killing humans.
Adam: We will make them pay.
Spike: Actually, they said they wouldn't stake me if I led them to you. No offense, mate, but it's me versus you.
(Initiative soldiers storm into room.)
Adam: Regrettable.
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Holland: Angel, please. People are going to die.
Angel: And yet, somehow, I just can't seem to care. (shuts doors)
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Angel returned to the Hyperion directly from the party his girls had crashed. He could feel Angelus' cool approval but ignored it, as he ignored the last vestiges of conscience screaming at his actions. The world was better off without the lawyers and soon it would be minus two more vampires. But not tonight.
His three employees awaited his return in the lobby. "Well?" Cordelia's voice broke the silence just before Gunn and Wesley chimed in with their own questions.
Angel raised his hand and waited for them to quiet. "I didn't make it in time to stop Darla," he said calmly. "She attacked the special projects division of Wolfram and Hart before I could stop her."
"But you staked her and Drusilla as soon as you found them?" Cordelia demanded. "No more psycho vamps running around our city?"
He shook his head. "We need to regroup and think this through. We're dealing with two master vampires, not your run of the mill muscle. If we're going to beat them we need a strategy."
"What strategy? I'm thinking stakes and holy water." The seer crossed her arms and glared as Wesley spoke.
"Angel's right, we can't rush into this blindly. I will look into all of our texts regarding the Scourge of Europe..." He trailed off, looking awkwardly to Angel. "That is-"
"Why do the research when we have our very own show and tell subject here?" Gunn gave Angel a pointed look. "You know these chicks better than anyone. We just tap your brain and bam! we know their next move. I say we hit them hard and fast before they have time to regroup and make a plan."
"Gunn," Wesley began.
"No, man, these vamps have been stuck in our side for too long. Who knows who they'll go after once they're done with their wine tasting courtesy of Wolfram and Hart. It's time for action."
"And because they've been so consistently a pain in our butts we need to take this slow. Angel already tried to prevent Darla from rising and failed," Cordelia pointed out.
"Gunn's right," Angel murmured.
"I am? I mean, yeah, I am."
"We don't take them out now we've got more casualties. And next time it won't be someone we're glad to be rid of."
"Glad to be rid of? Angel, forgive me for saying so, but you make it sound as if this attack was a good thing. Certainly the lawyers brought this on themselves, but they are still human."
"And humans equal no killing," Cordelia chimed in. "Cut off hands, threatening, slapping them around, but not killing."
"They caused this, not me. They got what they deserved."
There was silence as this statement sunk in.
"Man, I can't say I agree, but it goes to show how bad we need these girls taken out. They're screwing with your judgment." Gunn hefted up a nearby axe to his shoulder. "I'm about ready for some good old fashioned slaying."
"Gunn," Wesley said, as Cordelia whispered Angel's name.
"Don't wait up," the vampire stated, following Gunn out the door into the night. Wesley and Cordelia stared after them, frozen in the gloom of the hotel's lights.
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The Host whistled as he traversed the bar and settled in next to the couple. "From your faces I take it you'll be wanting the drinks to keep coming. Rough night?"
Wesley finished his whiskey and waved to the bartender for another. "You could say that."
Cordelia fiddled with the straw in her drink. "Try rough few months. Ever since this Darla business Angel hasn't been himself."
The demon sipped at his Sea Breeze. "Or maybe he's back to his original self."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the girl snapped. "No leather pants so no Angelus." She considered. "A mixed blessing."
Wesley straightened on his stool. "Yes, he has been acting strangely but not in the strictest sense evilly. I am certain that he wishes to end Darla and Drusilla's reign of terror as much as we do."
"Ah, but for the same reasons? You two kids want to prevent further lives from being lost. To Angel, this matter is much more personal. He spent more time with these two ladies than he's known either of you. Did he really have no chance of stopping them tonight or is he unwilling to let go of the past? Soul or no soul, he has a connection to them, one which might be harder to release than he thinks."
"In which case he is putting Gunn in serious danger," Wesley said, eyes widening in horror.
"We have to find them!" Cordelia agreed. "Those two are alone against some of the most dangerous vampires in history. Who knows what evil they're getting up to?"
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"I shall call him Midnight," Drusilla crooned, waving the puppy above her head. "I've missed having a pet since we had to leave Sunnydale." A moan escaped her throat as she swooned onto a couch, Midnight in her lap. "My poor Spikey, metal soldiers in his head."
Darla looked up from the body on her own lap, lips red as blood. "We've both been abandoned by our boys, Dru. We need to move on into the next century; it's not the same world anymore."
Drusilla grinned. "But Daddy's come home. And he's brought a new friend for Midnight."
Darla started as the doors to the room burst open. "Next time warn me in time to be useful."
Angel and Gunn strode through the wreckage of the doors, weapons in hand.
"Daddy! Look Midnight, now Daddy and Grandmum and us are together! A new family just in time for the new century!"
"Don't get too attached," Gunn said, "Angel isn't much the family man these days."
"Darla, I'm sorry I couldn't save you." Angel advanced, sword in hand. "But I can do the next best thing."
"And I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing," she replied. "Or are you here to kiss and make up?"
"I know I like a kiss every now and then," Drusilla said, stroking Gunn's arm as she circled him. "I can get so cold and nothing warms me up like a body to snuggle up to."
Angel shook his head. "I'm done with games. This ends here and now."
"So sorry you think so, lover, but I beg to differ." Darla licked her lips, clearing the last of the blood from her mouth. "I simply adore games. Why don't we play one last one to decide who rules this city." She moved to block the remains of the door. "Because despite what you claim, I know you can find it in yourself to care, just a little."
Angel knocked down several crates which lay by the entry, effectively blocking the exit for the moment. "There's only one thing I care about right now, and that's making sure no one leaves until it's all over."
Cordelia and Wesley had barely left Caritas when the girl collapsed, clutching to Wesley for support. "I know where they are," she groaned through the pain. "It's an abandoned building not far from the Hyperion. We don't have much time, I saw Gunn in trouble!"
Wesley flinched at Gunn's name and tightened his grip on her arm. "Let's go before things get any worse."
