Chapter 21

While Buffy was in the shower two days later, Angel had sat down in his big comfy chair with a sketchpad. He let his hand go on its own and wound up sketching the Beast. Someone knocked on his door, but Angel didn't answer it. Lorne opened the door and walked in, carrying a tray with two mugs on it.

"Room service. Hey. I brought you some nice O-positive here, freshly nuked for that right out of the jugular taste. And I brought the little blonde strumpet a mug of hot tea."

"Just put it on the table." Angel said without looking up.

Lorne put the tray down and looked at Angel's drawing. "Mmm. Good likeness. You wouldn't mind if I ran screaming from the room, would ya?"

"Shut the door on your way out."

"Oh, all right. You want to play it this way, we'll play it this way."

"Play what?"

"Angel, sweetie. Why so down? Don't interrupt me, I'm brooding."

"I'm not brooding, I'm researching."

"The apocalyptic Beast who's turned our city into his personal abattoir? Yeah, so's everybody else. Wesley included. Downstairs. Together."

"I work better alone."

"Oh-ho-ho. That's it. I see. It's all about you. Silly old Lorne, thinking it was about saving the world from ending. Welcome to the big leagues, Angel. You're a champion. You don't get personal days."

"There's nothing on this Beast, Lorne. I fought it once, it nearly decapitated me with my own stake. It's killed hundreds of people that I couldn't save. And it keeps showing up around my kid, my kid who's…."

"Not entirely unmaking with the moves on the girl who owns your heart still?"

"You want to shove that into English for me?"

"You're still worried that she's going to choose Connor over you." Angel shook his head. "Yes you are. Well, she's not. She wants you to the maximum, not Angel Jr. By saving that kid, she feels like she's saving a part of you. And in a way, she is. Connor's different. His aura's changing. He's happier. He's accepting. He's still angry with you for whatever reason, but he's getting over it slowly but surely." Lorne glanced at the bathroom door where he could smell Buffy's vanilla bubble bath floating on the steam from under the door. "I thought that you and Cordelia had kyrumption…. But then that little blonde goddess walks in the door and I was planting my foot firmly in my mouth, Miracle Grow and all."

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see. That Slayer of yours is going to lead you to your reward. Why you left her in the first place is still a jumbled mess to me." Lorne shook his head. "You'd be in trouble if I thought for a second she liked demons."

"She does…."

"She doesn't love a demon, Angel. She loves a man. She loves you. And she's waiting for you to make your move."

"I can't…. I can't make a move, Lorne."

"Angel, you're hiding behind your curse. Make your move. You don't have to make sweet love with her. Just hold her and love her and let her know you won't leave her or hurt her again." Lorne patted Angel's shoulder and walked out.

Buffy opened the door to the bathroom and came out wrapped in a towel and glowing in the light from the water that still clung to her. "Hi." Angel choked out.

She smiled. "Hey you. What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Angel walked over to Buffy and stood there for a minute.

"You sure?"

"Huh?" He realized he'd been staring at her. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's something Lorne just said."

"What's that?"

"It's nothing. Really."

"Ok." Buffy started to head back into the bathroom with her pajamas.

"Buffy?" She turned back. "Do you…. Never mind."

"What is it Angel?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"No. Go ahead and change."

She watched him for another minute. "Ok."

Later that evening, Buffy couldn't concentrate on the book she was reading as she sat on the bed. Angel was in the bed beside her with one arm thrown over the book over his eyes and his other hand holding her thigh. She slipped quietly out of bed and walked down to the lobby to get something to drink and see how Gunn and Fred were doing. They weren't down there, but she saw Connor standing at the doorway staring out into the nighttime. Buffy was about to say something when Cordelia walked out of the office with two mugs.

"Close one?" She asked when a siren could be heard outside.

"Four blocks over." Connor said.

"They're getting more frequent. Couple times I even dreamt I heard…."

"Screaming. It wasn't a dream. Things are falling apart out there."

"It's not your fault, you know."

"They don't want me here, do they? Angel doesn't want me here. It's because they think I'm connected to the Beast. That's why Buffy doesn't want me either."

"Buffy doesn't want you because she wants Angel. She's just using you."

Buffy lifted an eyebrow and was about to say something, but Cordelia gasped and her eyes went white. "What is it?" Connor asked. "A vision? What do you see?"

"Nothing. I…. I have to see Angel." Cordy turned and headed up the stairs.

Buffy dodged back into the shadows and Cordelia rushed past her without seeing her. As soon as the brunette was gone, Buffy headed downstairs. "Connor." He looked at her. "Don't give me that look. Cordelia's wrong, you know."

"About what?" Connor asked.

"I'm not using you."

"You're not?"

"Of course I'm not. I'm trying to raise you to be a good kid."

"I've already been raised."

"By a man poisoned with hatred for your true father who loves you very much and doesn't want to hurt you." Buffy paused and glanced at the way Cordelia had gone. "Connor….. Cordelia…. What has she been saying to you?"

"Nothing."

"Connor, have you…. Have you done anything with her?"

"No. I haven't. But since nobody wants me except her…. Maybe I will."

"Connor, there's something not right about her."

"Are you jealous?"

"What? No."

"Yes you are. You can't stand that another woman is showing me attention."

Buffy shook her head. "Whatever she's been saying to you is a lie. You're the closest thing to a son I'll ever have. I wish you would see that." Connor shook his head. "Do you trust me?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do."

"Yes, I trust you."

"Can you promise me something?"

"Depends."

"No. I want your word now."

"Fine. I promise to do whatever it is you're asking of me."

"If Cordelia tries anything with you…. I want you to tell me."

"Why?"

"Connor."

"All right, I promise. I promise if Cordelia tries anything with me, you'll be the first person to know."

"Thank you."

Connor shrugged. "Whatever."

Buffy watched as he turned and headed towards his room. She hoped that Cordelia was still occupied with telling Angel about her vision. Gunn and Fred walked down the stairs and stopped dead when they saw Buffy standing there staring at nothing, her eyes slightly glazed.

"Buffy?" Fred asked quietly.

"What time is it?" Buffy asked, shaking off the uneasy feeling she had.

"A little after six." Gunn said. "You ok?"

"Just…. Thinking."

"Good thoughts or bad?"

"Not sure." Buffy's stomach rumbled. "I know I'm thinking that I'm hungry, though."

"Well, since it's still chaos out there, I'm guessing a trip to IHOP is out." Fred said, disappointed.

"Hey, if you're willing to fight the hordes of demons out there, go for it. Me? I prefer to make my own IHOP."

"You cook?" Gunn asked.

"I can make breakfast mostly. There's a couple of other things, but don't ask me to experiment. The last time I did that…. Well, let's just say that stain's not going anywhere and I'm glad my mother wasn't around for it."

"Maybe with all this stress, that'd be something to cheer everyone up." Fred said.

"What? Stains?" Gunn asked.

"No. A big feast for everyone."

"No time." Angel said, walking down the stairs with Cordelia right behind him and Lorne yawning behind her.

"What's going on?" Gunn asked.

"The Powers are sending us a wake-up call."

"Oh. Good. Cause I was wondering…." Buffy said.

"Sure, we've been…. I don't want to say demolished…. beaten. And sure, it's slightly…. demoralizing. But from here on out, we're on the offensive. We're gonna find out this thing's weaknesses, we're gonna go in prepared, and we're gonna fight smart. It's time to take down the Beast."

"Uh, we're all behind you, Angel, a hundred percent, but how can we be prepared when there's nothing on this thing." Fred asked.

"And weaknesses? It's not a sure bet El Destructo has any." Lorne said.

"Everyone has an Achilles' heel." Angel said.

Gunn shrugged. "Yeah, but until we find his, we're gonna be coolin' ours, cause we got nothing without a new lead." Everyone stopped and looked at the front door where Gwen Raiden had just entered.

Angel glanced at Buffy. "Gwen."

"Hi there. Long time, no hand-to-hand." She walked into the lobby and looked at Buffy. "I remember you."

"The woman you killed?" Connor asked sharply. "Yeah, that's her."

"Kicked you in the face, too, didn't I, cherry? Sorry 'bout that. I really do try to avoid contact." She glanced at Angel. "Mostly."

Buffy noticed the private exchange. Angel didn't notice Buffy watching him. "Cordelia, this is…."

"I know who she is." Cordelia said. "Caught your little show on the omniscient higher plane channel. Thanks."

Gwen looked at Cordelia. "So, you must be the girl who makes his heart go pitter-pat. Figuratively, at least." She looked at Angel. "You must be so happy."

"I am." Angel said. "But she's not the…. That's Buffy."

"Blondie over there?" Gwen made a mildly surprised face. "Hmm…. Thought she was your little sister or his girlfriend." She pointed at Connor then switched her gaze back to Angel and Buffy. "Now I really do see the resemblance to Barbie and Ken."

"Listen, Gwen, we're not having the best week, to be honest."

"Tell me about it. I mean, really, tell me. Freak to freak. Is the world about to end, or what?"

"Something happen to you?"

"Met with a client last night in the oil fields, which is odd, cause I bagged for this guy six years…. big money…. and he never wanted to meet before."

"Fascinating as these details must seem to you, we're dealing with much more important stuff right now." Cordelia interrupted. "Apocalypse. End of the world."

"Also, while we were talking, he, um, got his chest punched out a big demon with a head made of rock. Demon, ok? The whole nine…. cloven feet and horns and teeth…." She glanced at Lorne. "He wasn't wearing lame though."

"Yeah, the evil ones can't pull it off. It gets camp." Lorne retorted.

"This client of yours, was anything removed from the body?" Wesley asked.

"Didn't see." Gwen said. "But you are, hands down, the weirdest person I know, so I figured I'd ask you what's going on."

"Um, excuse me." Fred said. "Not that I don't still bear a grudge against you, because I do…. but your client didn't happen to be a skinless saber-tooth tiger or composed entirely of light, maybe?"

"Light came out of his chest. How did you know?"

"You wanted a pattern. That makes three." Gunn said.

"He's killing the Ra-tet." Fred said.

"What's a Ra-tet?" Gwen asked.

"A mystical order. Each totem representing a stage in Ra's journey across the sky." Wesley pointed to a diagram in the book. "Here's your client. Two others, these, are dead."

"That means there's two totems left: Manjet and Semkhet." Buffy said, reading over Fred's shoulder.

"The last sighting of Majet was rumored two years ago in Belize, and Semkhet is said to live in a cave in Death Valley." Fred said.

"Then that's easy." Angel said. "All we have to do is find Semkhet and…. protect him."

"Yeah, well, won't that be a hoot." Lorne said, browsing through a book. "Looks like Semkhet is puddy-tat to the world's scariest six-year-old." He held up a drawing of Mesektet with her arm around a huge cat.

"It could be dangerous." Cordelia said.

"I'll take Buffy." Angel said.

"Well, shouldn't we all go? It might…."

"We can handle it. Super powers." Angel put his arm around Buffy's waist and escorted her toward the door.

"It's a four hour trip, both ways."

"I'm sure we'll find something to talk about." With that, Buffy was ushered out the door and into Angel's car.