Caitlin had been knocked unconscious more times than she cared to think about. She'd been thrown into walls, trees, boulders, even over a cliff once or twice. Every single inch of her had been bruised, bloody, whipped, slapped, burnt, you name it, it had happened to Caitlin at some point.
But she had never been kissed before.
She was fairly certain, though, that a simple kiss was not supposed to leave her feeling like she'd gone six rounds with a Grox'lar beast. Caitlin kept her eyes shut and stamped on the pain, driving so far down into herself that it thudded in time with her heartbeat.
Trying to stand up proved a little premature. She ended up on hands and knees, trying to cough up her own lungs. It wasn't until she spat out a mouthful of blood that she could breath again. Giving up on standing, Caitlin crawled to Connor, shaking him.
"Con? Connor, wake up," she said. "Come on! Wake up!"
Brown eyes, so like her own, opened to look blearily at her for only a second before closing again.
"No way, no way in Quor'toth are you leaving me like this, Connor," Caitlin muttered, pulling herself up, using the wall for support more than her legs.
Getting Connor upright was doable, using the helpful wall and by yelling orders at him in a voice that cracked. Connor would obey orders in his sleep, for crying out loud, would obey orders when he was dying, when he should be dead.
Finally, the twins stumbled from the alley, each clinging to the other for support.
xxx
Gunn slid off the hospital bed, the pain in his leg stabbing deeper with each step he took. Angel was at the door in an instant, looking ready and willing to knock Gunn out himself.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"Angel, I gotta find Erin."
"The girl from earlier? Why?"
"I just do." Gunn ducked under Angel's arm; he was not lying down again.
"Wes went to see her; she's fine."
"I gotta talk to her. Now."
Angel looked at the expression on Gunn's face. "Fine. But I'm driving you." His tone said that, a) he fully expected Gunn to argue and that, b) it wouldn't do any good.
"Dude, no way am I walking that far."
xxx
Erin didn't own much. Some clothes, a single photo of her family that Mr Reilly had found for her, one or two books, no more jewellery than the stuff she wore every day. No mementoes. No weapons. It all fitted into a single backpack, and right now it was all packed up.
As she pulled on a combat jacket that was just slightly too large, like most of her clothes, Erin tried not to think about what she was about to do.
"Erin," Doyle said to her back. "Just wait a minute."
"No," she replied steadily. "No more waiting. This is gonna end. Now. I'm ending it."
"Ending what?"
"They took everything from me. Took everything I had and then they killed me. Now I'm here again and I know how to kill them right back," Erin said, meeting his eyes steadily.
"The Clan."
"Bingo. Bastards are going to pay for everything they did to me and all the other girls over the years."
"You don't know how-"
"Yes, I do. Neela knew everything about them. Now I know, because of you. Thanks for that, by the way."
"Erin, this isn't what was meant to happen. You're needed here."
"To protect Caitlin? What I'm doing will save her and hundreds of others. Tell me that's wrong."
"Revenge won't win this!"
"Do I look like I care?" she snapped back. "I know everything Neela did. Everything Jo'Nekra did. A decade of blood and death and screaming, because of me. Because of what they did to me. And I will not wait for them to do it to another innocent."
"You can't do this alone."
"I don't have anyone left."
"What about John?"
Erin paused. Those were the memories of Neela's that hurt her the most. How much her brother still loved her. Still mourned for her, when they hadn't seen each other for years even before she'd died. He'd helped her come back from the dead, she knew. She'd heard him yelling in her first moments back on this earth and waking up to learn that he wasn't there, that no one knew where he was, had felt like losing him all over again. Contacting him, working with him, hell, just seeing him again...
Then she shook her head. "He's got kids, Doyle. Sons with O'Neil blood and magic in their veins. The Clan would kill them in an instant if I get Johnny involved. And I won't do that to my brother. Besides," she said with a faint smile. "I don't play well with others."
"You're just a kid, Erin."
"That didn't stop them," she said. "Why should it stop me?" She swung the backpack over her shoulder and crossed to the door.
"Please, kid," Doyle said. "Just... please."
Erin shook her head, just once, and slipped out of the door.
xxx
Lilith held the last werewolf still and used her fangs to rip its throat open. The blood of a werewolf was beyond disgusting, even worse than pig's blood, but the noises the creature made as it bled to death were fairly amusing. Just to be thorough, Lilith pulled a silver blade from the corpse of another wolf and sliced the beast open from stomach to collar bone, revealing the organs below. As the werewolf twitched and whimpered, she reversed her grip on the blade and plunged it into the heart.
"Such an untidy dolly."
Rolling her eyes, Lilith turned to face Drusilla. "They are taken care of, ma'am."
"Party's not over yet, Miss Edith. Still waiting for the big finish."
Lilith gestured to a few vampires to take up defensive positions near the doors and windows. She did not like the sound of a 'big finish'. The quiet, bloody finish was more to her taste.
Drusilla tutted softly. "Bad dolly. Must be courteous to our guest. Her last party must be a special one."
The vampires traded glances, each clearly thinking, do you have any idea what's she talking about, 'cause I really don't.
Any doubt they had in Drusilla's abilities vanished as the huge, solid steel door rocked with some huge force.
"Oh, crap," Lilith muttered. "What the hell is it now?"
The doors rocked again, most of the vampires were starting to back away. They were immortal, not suicidal. Lilith flinched slightly as the door snapped inwards, bent completely out of shape.
Empusa stepped in.
"Time's up, cutie."
xxx
Lorne surveyed Erin, his normal, cheerful demeanour in tatters. The backpack over her shoulder would've told him her plan even without the empathy, and the look in her eyes said there was no arguing with her. Not that he wouldn't try.
"You shouldn't go alone."
"Well, I am," she replied.
"Does Liam know what you're planning to do?"
"Not planning to do. Doing. And, no, he doesn't and no, I'm not going to tell him. Lorne, he never told me about Neela."
"What?" Lorne had made the connection the moment he'd read her at the airport, but he'd never thought that Erin knew nothing about Neela's time in LA or her relationships with Angel and the others.
"He was in love with her. At least, I think he was. Or Neela thought so." Erin paused, confused. "Anyway, you get the point. Telling him that I have her memories? That I know how she felt? Not going to happen."
"What will you tell Gunn?"
"Nothing. I'll be out of town before he realises." She caught the look Lorne was giving her. "Look, just tell him... I don't know. Think up something nice, tell him I said it."
"Good luck, Erin," Lorne said, hugging her.
She smiled and nodded, turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "That night, in the alley," she said quietly. "When you didn't turn away from her. It meant a lot to her."
"Thank you. I wish I could've helped her."
"You did. See you around, Lorne."
Leaving Caelum, Erin kept her head down and hurried along the street. Neela's memories pointed to a Clan holding in Romania, so she'd start there. She had a perfect fake passport under the name Nadine Woods, so flying into Romania wasn't out of the question. But then again her family had always avoided travelling in any way which could be easily traced.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the black car containing Angel and Gunn drive past.
xxx
Empusa wiped bloody hands on her shirt, but there was so much blood on the shirt that it made next to no difference. Giving up on improving her appearance, she sighed and knelt before the sheet of crystal propped against one wall. She didn't know exactly how it worked, just that she could be viewed through it, but not see anything herself. Her boss didn't want Empusa to know what she looked like in this dimension or whatever.
So she knelt there until the booming voice echoed from the crystal.
"Is it done?"
"The werewolves are all dead." No need to mention that the vampires had done that for her. "But several vampires escaped, including Drusilla."
"What? How could you let her escape? The Staff of Pandora must be destroyed before I can manifest!"
"It'll be done."
"And the girl? Has that been dealt with?"
"Yes."
"And you did not harm the boy?"
"Well, he's still alive. Does that count?"
"You will not harm him. You will start the next phase."
The voice reverberated through Empusa's bones, making her essence ache.
"Is that clear?"
Oh, yeah, the boss was angry.
Empusa managed a weak grin. "Crystal."
xxx
In the airport bathroom, Erin tried not to look at the mirror as she splashed water on her face. The emotions that had sprung up with Neela's memories had faded now, leaving her feeling tired and drained. But she wasn't getting cold feet or anything. Lorne and Doyle acted like wanting to annihilate the Clan was a sudden decision, whereas really she'd made it ten years ago, standing over her Uncle's body. And now she had the information, she had a destination, even a flipping plane ticket to get her there. Neela's memories also seem to include body-memories and Erin suspected that she could kick ass just like Neela used to. Actually, it would be best to check that out before walking into a Clan stronghold.
She cupped her hands under the tap, watching the water collect in her palms and letting it run out. Once, when she was still a kid in mind and body, a priest had told her that God would wash her sins away. That night it had started to rain, drenching her as she tried to keep up with Paul. And she had loved every second of it.
How old had she been? Five or six, no older, certainly. When little Erin O'Neil hadn't understood what was going on or why she had to fight with her Uncle and try to hurt him, why she had to fire a gun that scared her. When innocence was still there, innocence and blind faith. But faith in what, she had no idea.
Idly considering trying to scrub her brain out while she was here, Erin ducked her head. She always opened her eyes before chucking water in her face, a quirk would which probably give a psychiatrist a field day, but right now it was the best quirk in the world.
Erin leapt back from the basin, hands held out in front of her. There was blood on them, blood in the sink, blood running out of the tap.
Oh, no. No, no, no!
xxx
Gunn held the phone close to his ear, counting the rings. Finally, just as he was about to give up, someone picked up the other end. Someone who was clearly tired and most likely grouchy.
"What?"
"Liam?"
"Oh, I don't believe this," Liam muttered. "Is that the street rat? What the hell do you want?"
"It's Erin. She took off."
"What? What the hell did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything to her! Lorne said she told him she had some family business to take care of."
Liam started to swear.
"What is it?"
"Gunn, if you see Erin, do not let her leave LA, alright? This is a bad time for her to start some sort of crusade."
"Crusade against what?"
"Just do it! And tell Angel to keep his kids alive."
Gunn let the phone drop back into its cradle. That had been informative. He shifted position on the reception desk slightly, his leg protesting.
"Well, Liam knows squat," he said to Angel and Wesley.
"I'm sure Erin will be ok," Angel replied. "Lorne didn't seem too worried about her. It's probably just a little family drama or something."
"Yeah, you're probably right. It's just, I don't know. Something's bugging me about this whole thing, you know? Like we're missing something really important?"
"I think you lost me there."
Gunn shifted again as his leg started to ache. "Well, yeah, we did. Something tried to take you out of the game. While you're gone, situation in LA starts escalating, we don't really notice, because we're trying to find you. Pretty good distraction for us, plus no more resident Champion. My- My boys start taking out more vamps, something takes us out. All of those people going missing, people who maybe could've helped us. Feels like something big is starting. Something we don't want to see the end of."
"Another apocalypse?"
"You tell me. I've never been in an apocalypse."
"If this is the beginning of the end, I don't know who's doing it. The Master, the Mayor, even me once, there's always someone co-ordinating everything. The end of the world doesn't normally happen on its own."
"Well," Wesley said, pushing one book away and picking up another. "I don't think it is this time either. Caitlin did mention this Silverfang character. A werewolf with an alleged alliance with vampires? It's unprecedented. Whoever he was, he must have had a great deal of power."
"Or been backed by someone with a great deal of power."
"If it's the former, we might be ok, with Silverfang's recent demise," Wesley continued. "But if it's the latter, we still have a problem."
"There's our mystery woman," Angel offered. "A three-storey drop without a scratch doesn't exactly point to her being normal."
"Definitely not normal," Caitlin said from the hotel's front door, her voice little more than a croak. "Positively abnormal, even."
She had her arms around Connor, taking more of his weight than she could really deal with. Angel's mind had just processed, what the hell happened to them? before he was standing by Caitlin, Wesley next to him. Gun tried to take Connor from Caitlin's grip, but she wasn't letting go. Angel took her chin in his hand and made her look at him.
"It's okay, Cait."
Reluctantly, she let Gunn pull Connor away from her. He was still unconscious, barely breathing.
"Kid?" Gunn said, placing him on the sofa. "Kid, wake up!"
"I think she broke his arm," she whispered. "We've never been broken."
Angel steered her towards a chair. "What happened?"
"We were trying to find what killed Gunn's friends," Caitlin said. "And the woman, the weird one, she attacked us. Kicked Connor in the head, must have feet of iron though 'cause he's barely woken up since. And, uh, then she said she served the one who would bring our world to its knees." She wiped the back of her head across her mouth. "She said hell was coming to us."
Wesley stood up, staring out of the window. "I think it may have arrived."
The swarm of gnats billowed against the window.
xxx
"Liam Reilly."
"What the fuck is going on?" Erin hissed down the phone.
"Erin? Where are you?"
"I'm in LAX. My flight got cancelled due to a friggin' rain of frogs and there's blood coming out of the taps, not to mention the infestation of gnats which mysteriously disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Tell me this isn't what I think it is!"
"Erin, find Angel, now. Tell him everything. I'm going with Mr Giles to Sunnydale. I'll find you."
"Is it... you know, that?"
"The signs have all aligned. It happened a few hours ago. Now get you ass over to that hotel and get the Fang Gang together."
Erin dropped the phone and ran.
xxx
Connor's mind, as it tended to do when he regained consciousness, ran through the standard wakeup check. Legs, checks, arms, aching but there, last thing I saw was-
Oh, hell.
He went from unconscious to on his feet in under two seconds, making Gunn jump.
"Whoa, kid, slow down," he said. "And sit down before you fall down."
Okay, Gunn meant hotel. Could be safer, but still safe, so Connor sat back down and tried to make the world stop spinning.
"Where's Cait?"
"She's here, she's fine," he hastened to reassure the boy. "Downstairs, talkin' to Wes. They're trying to figure out what's going on."
Connor nodded slowly. When the world didn't immediately splinter, he risked standing up again. That was better. Gunn, rolling his eyes, followed as Connor made his way downstairs.
"What's that noise?" he asked Gunn.
"Flies. Millions of them, all over LA. They're part of the 'what's going on?' moment."
"You mean there's more?"
"Frogs, gnats, slaughters, your attacker, the list goes on," Angel said from the lobby. "You feeling better?"
"I heal fast," Connor replied. "Thanks to you." But it was said with the faintest of smiles, which Angel returned.
Before he could test this uneasy truce, Angel heard someone pounding on the cellar door.
"It's me!" Erin yelled. "Let me in already."
He hurried to the door and yanked it open. "You always travel by sewer?"
"With weather like this, sure I do, Angel," she answered. "And, in case you haven't noticed, we have a very serious problem. I have information for you."
"Thought you were leaving town," Gunn said.
"Trip's been delayed, not cancelled," she replied, trying not to look at him. Neela's memories were worse here, more vivid and much more painful, in this place that had felt like home for her. "Can we get everyone together?"
It only took a few moments before Gunn, Wesley, Cordelia, Angel and his children had all assembled. Lorne was in Caelum, but no one knew where Fred was.
"Well, someone can let her copy their notes later," Erin said. "Wes, tell me you can see the pattern with our freaky occurrences. Which, now, also include dead cattle and boils."
He nodded. "The Ten Plagues of Egypt."
"Precisely. Assuming you all know your Bible, you can see the problem."
"Wait, isn't the last one the death of the firstborn?" Gunn asked, going pale.
"Yes. We have to stop this, or every first born male in LA will die." Erin's face and tone were completely serious. "Which includes you guys."
"The last time this happened, it was because God Himself got involved to try and free His people," Wesley said. "Are you saying we're dealing with a deity?"
"Not a deity, not exactly. More like a PTB. Old, powerful, beyond human. But not God god, you know?"
"Wait, the guys who supply my visions want to kill their Champion?" Cordelia said.
"Your visions are more likely supplied by a Power That Is, singular. And not all Powers want the same thing. Like your PTB and the Senior Partners. Really, most of them don't give a shit about us on this here mortal coil."
"Well, I don't know how we can fight something that big," Caitlin said. "Demons, fine, but a god?"
"We don't need to fight a god," Erin interrupted. "Remember Egypt? God acted through a chosen representative, Moses."
"You want us to kill Moses?" Gunn asked.
"Not literally. But the Big Bad must have a representative who is causing the plagues. Find them, solve the problem. Or kill the problem, whatever. But the representative has to be more than human, you know, have a little demon or maybe even deity in the mix."
"Oh, we found our attacker," Caitlin offered suddenly. "Name's Empusa, we think. Sucks the life out of people, daughter of Hecate, and talked a lot about working for someone who wants world destruction."
"So we have a target," Angel said. "Wes, can you knock up a locator spell?"
"I think so."
"Get on it. Cait, any weaknesses that you know of?"
"When we fought, I didn't spot any," Cait began. "But I think it's her feet."
"Huh?"
"When she kicked me in the ribs, the first time we fought, it felt like a tree had fallen on me or something. She kicked Connor in the head once and he was out for a couple of hours. The books make some reference to her feet being made of brass. Fred told me that brass is a good electrical conductor."
"So we need to, what, hook her up to the mains?" Cordy suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Connor said.
"Not that he's holding a grudge or anything," his sister added.
"When we've knocked her out of the game, what about her boss?"
"Well, Liam thinks, and I have to agree with him, that whatever it is we're dealing with, we can't deal with it yet. If something that powerful had manifested, we'd know about it by now. Or a mage would've picked up on it, someone would've noticed." Erin shrugged. "Killing Empusa is probably the easiest way to sever the link between this world and the Big Bad, which might stop all this. That's a fairly unlikely 'might' though."
"But what does it want?" Angel asked.
"Well, judging by all the portents, it's not good news for us," Wesley offered.
"Realistically, if this thing comes forth, and Liam suspects that is its goal, we're screwed," Erin said. "Powers are not like us. Whatever it wants, we'll be safer if it never gets it."
Angel nodded slowly. Four years of being the Power's personal whipping boy made him agree with Erin. "Right. Wes, get started on the spell. Everybody else, gear up."
Wesley looked up from a spell book. "The locator spell won't work on a demi-goddess, Angel, not in the time we have."
"How long?"
"I'd need about eighteen hours."
"Which we don't have." Angel frowned. "Okay, we do this the old fashioned way."
"Split and search?" Gunn said. "Pairs?"
"Seems the way to go. Erin, you in?"
"Looks like."
"I'll take that as a yes. Go with Gunn. Wes and Cordy, ask around. Someone this big has to be making ripples. And try to find something we can kill her with." Angel hesitated, eyes fixed on the twins.
They were standing next to each other again, but that was hardly news. Their default setting seemed to be as close to the other as possible. But Connor stood fractionally in front of his sister and met Angel's eyes evenly. He was protecting his sister, yes, but not from Angel. This time, it was from everything else.
"She keeps coming after us," Connor said, still looking at his father. "And she's beaten us before. Mind watching our backs?"
It was said so lightly, casually, as if Connor just wanted Angel to pass the salt or something. And Angel had been around people long enough to understand what Connor was doing. By keeping things casual, he was giving Angel an opportunity to refuse. How often, Angel wondered, had Holtz made the twins face enemies on their own, without even allowing them the thought of asking for help? But Connor was asking for help. Angel's help, to be precise. And that was quite good enough for Angel.
"If you think you can put up with me," he replied.
Connor was too controlled to allow relief to show on his face, but Angel could tell he was pleased. Turning to the others, the vampire added one last warning.
"And no heroics, people. You see her, you call for backup and wait for backup."
"The next plague, which should be hitting in the next hour or so, will be really bad weather. Thunder, hail, the whole nine yards," Wesley said. "Stay under cover if you possibly can."
"What's hail?" Caitlin asked.
"Large chunks of ice, falling like rain," Erin explained. "Sting like hell, even the little ones. The bigger ones can break things, kill people."
"And there'll be an eclipse soon," Wesley added. "Right after the locusts. The eclipse in the ninth plague."
"So Empusa goes out before the sun."
"And we're already on the sixth plague. Let's move."
xxx
