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Chapter 76- Sleep Tight
"Here we go", Buffy said grimly as she turned this latest recording on.
At Hyperion, Wesley was looking at 'The Father will kill The Son' again before closing it and walking to the bassinet where Connor was crying and then Angel arrived, sipping a glass of blood as he noted Wesley looked like the hardcore hell, before laughing at Connor. Wesley noted he was chipper as Angel said he'd a lot of energy. Wesley pointed out they'd no insurance but Angel said they could move to another room till that one was fixed.
"Pros of owning a hotel", Dawnster quipped.
"Yeah, so many rooms for sure, really I think all of them can live there if they wanted", Willow told them.
"Yup, that's an advantage of the Hyperion, if anyone needs it, the place can be a home for them too", Summers nodded.
Then they heard a woman singing as Wesley said Lorne had a client in the garden. Angel carried Connor to the garden court where a blonde woman was singing and playing the guitar, with Lorne trying to read her as Connor fussed so Angel opened the weapons cabinet, showing his favorite broadsword, and told Wesley they'd have to baby-proof the place as Connor would be crawling soon, handing Connor to Wesley as he said he loved Connor bunches but was English.
"Right now, that love is dangerous for you", Buffy muttered sadly.
"This could have gone very differently under different circumstances", Tara noted.
"Story of our lives", Maclay told her.
Fred was talking on her cell phone, and Gunn arrived, also talking on his cell phone, the two arguing about whose state was better before they stood face to face and smiled, closing their cell phones as Wesley noted they were using company phones for these important talks, while Angel decided to put a chain and lock on the weapons cabinet, and Wesley said he was thinking he could take Connor to a park or beach in a day or two.
"I believe he is not going to do that", Giles said in a grim tone.
"No, and wherever he goes, it'll be permanent", Rosenberg told them all seriously, and they could only prepare themselves to see the mess that was about to happen.
Lorne asked the guys to come to him and he introduced them to Kim before she sang the chorus and her face turned into an ugly gray-skinned Demon, with green drool dripping from her mouth before she turned back to normal and Lorne walked to her, comforting her while quipping to the rest it was a catchy finish.
The past people were startled as Xander asked. "What the hell was that?"
"Is she half-Demon who didn't figure it out till now?" Dawnster asked.
"No, she was infected by something which made her like this", Dawn explained.
"Well that can be cured", Tara told them and the past people sighed in relief.
Kim drank tea in Wesley's office as Lorne explained his history with Kim, and she said she'd met a band few weeks ago who seemed fine at first before Stevie got a 7th finger overnight (he already had 6), and Raw had a spiny thing on his back, before they started playing industrial raw trash and funk, before she asked if she'd turn into that but Wesley assured it was just an infection and Fred explained she'd to take 20 milligrams of Cylenthium powder twice a day for a month, Lorne saying it was a mystical antibiotic.
"Yeah, that will work", Willow agreed with a nod.
"So those other band guys are Demons? Well damn", Xander sighed.
"Yeah, but nothing world-endy, don't worry", Harris assured.
Fred said Kim's saliva had traces of Penloxia as Lorne realized they were Wraith-ers. Wesley explained they were Demons who could look human for a while before reverting to what they were. Gunn wondered why they wanted to look like musicians as Angel said musicians got the chicks, and Kim told them where they were, as Wesley decided Angel, Fred and Gunn could go fight, while Lorne would take care of Connor and Wesley had business to take care of.
"Does that business involve Holtz?" Buffy asked and the future people nodded. "Oh boy!"
"Not telling them I can understand, but going to Holtz behind their backs is a little too far", Willow told them all.
"He wasn't thinking straight at this point, not that it justifies his actions, but it's true", Maclay told Willow.
Fred said they could call Cordelia and Groo but Angel didn't want to disturb them as this was Cordelia's only break in years, and these were just a couple of Wraith-ers. Kim said they were 3 but Angel still called it a piece of cake, doing some shadow boxing, and said they'd kick their asses.
"I know why you really don't wanna call them", Dawnster muttered.
"Yeah, he still can't bear to see them together", Summers sighed.
At Holtz's lair, Justine held a Vampire in a chain harness as one guy punched it but stumbled back after a swing as Justine called him out for his clumsiness before pulling the Vampire to face her. He swung but she kicked him and wrapped the chain around him, forcing him to his knees before tossing him over her back. One man hooked the chain to the wall as Holtz said he didn't like tea in these cotton cups so she decided to get him China ones, while also confessing she was unsure whether to kill the people who worked for Angel or not, but Holtz assured that people who worked for Vampires weren't good either, while taking out a knife in his concealed hand. Justine agreed choosing Angel made them enemy soldiers. "So I guess that makes it all right." Holtz turned to see Wesley again.
"There he is again", Buffy groaned. "Once again to see Holtz."
"Telling Holtz what he planned to do was his undoing", Rosenberg told them.
"Yeah, if he hadn't done that, then the matter could have been resolved better", Maclay nodded.
"I guess this is his biggest mistake", Tara realized.
"It's what he did with Faith all over again", Giles told them all.
"Guess in some ways, he's still the same", Willow now spoke.
"Yeah, in some ways he changed, in others he was still the same, and this time, it wasn't a good combination", Summers told the past people.
The 2 guys holding Wesley let go and left as Holtz used his knife to slice an apple and offered him one. Kim's band was playing music when a trashcan shattered one of the windows beside the stage and the music cut off. Gunn stepped through carrying a crossbow followed by Fred, and Angel, who was holding a blanket over his head to shield him from the sun's rays. The singer said they'd pay for the window but they refused as they thought those were the "A" and "R" guys but Angel said they were just here for the killing, though the singers still wanted them to pay. With that the drummer leapt off the stage. Gunn hit the drummer, sending him stumbling back against the stage as the groupies let out a scream. Fred took a hold of the two girls and ushered them out. Gunn raised his crossbow as the three Wraith-ers squared off against them and they suddenly came to a dead halt. Gunn was annoyed when a growl sounded and Gunn turned his head to see that Angel was snarling at them in full vamp-face. Angel leapt past Gunn onto the stage, tackling all three demons at once, then beat them all down, as Gunn stared and hit the occasional Wraith-er coming his way. Angel tossed them all like rag dolls as Gunn shot one of the Wraith-ers' in the throat with an arrow and glanced over at Fred standing back in the shadow of the entrance. All fell quiet as Angel tossed the last demon aside. Vamp-faced Angel was then standing on the cleared stage, still holding one of the demon's arms. "That was fun."
The past people were horrified now as Buffy asked. "What? What happened to him?"
"Did he get perfectly happy? Did he?" Xander rambled, clearly shocked.
"No, no, no", Dawnster shook her head.
"No, it's something Wolfram and Hart did", Summers revealed to them.
"What did they do?" Tara asked.
"We don't even wanna say it, just watch it", Rosenberg said, and they could hear the disgust in her voice at whatever the firm had done.
"Did they hit a new low?" Willow asked.
"The lowest of it", Harris scoffed.
Wesley told Holtz he didn't want anyone hurt and Holtz agreed, but he didn't think Angelus had been absolved due to a soul, and Justine said he was a Vampire so that ended the discussion, and stepped closer to Wesley with a knife, saying he'd stab them in the back. Wesley knew Justine had lost someone as she was in Holtz's army and Holtz revealed her twin sister Julia had been murdered by Vampires. "You lost family. I'm sorry", he stepped closer to Justine. "Angel and the people I work with are *my* family - and when I say I don't want to see anyone to get hurt..." He grabbed a hold of Justine's knife hand and twisted her around against him, grabbing her throat with his other hand. "...I mostly mean them." Holtz held up a hand to stop the rest of his guys from interfering as Justine gasped in Wesley's grip. "But I don't stab people in the back."
"What are you doing right now?" Buffy asked Wesley.
"He doesn't understand that he's messing things up", Maclay told her. "In his mind, it's right."
Holtz got up and stepped closer, and took Justine's knife, saying he trusted Wesley. Wesley let Justine go and she spun away to stand behind Holtz, who assured Wesley could trust him, but Wesley said he didn't as Holtz said right now it was Connor he needed to worry about, and Holtz assured he wouldn't let a child be murdered, but he wouldn't endanger innocent lives till forced either, giving Wesley one day, saying he trusted him to do the right thing, and after that, all would be hurt. Wesley walked past Holtz without another word.
"The right thing to you is the wrong thing to everyone else", Dawnster sighed.
"Again, he doesn't get it yet", Summers said. "He won't get it till he hits rock bottom."
Lorne was playing with some stuffed animals in front of Connor when Angel, Fred and Gunn arrived, Angel pouring himself a glass of blood as Lorne said Connor needed some papa-love, but Angel was annoyed, saying Connor only needed to grow up, and eventually his ranting made Connor cry as Angel yelled at him to shut up, Fred telling him not to as he was a baby, and Angel angrily smashed his glass at the wall, splattering blood everywhere as Fred picked Connor up while Gunn told Angel to get a grip. Angel now stared at the blood and the rest. "What's wrong with me?"
"He'd never behave with his kid like that", Xander of all people said. "Something has been done to him."
"Yeah, something really bad, we don't even wanna say it", Dawn said angrily.
"You're about to find out in a minute", Rosenberg told the past people.
Angel knew something was wrong as Lorne asked when he'd started drinking this much blood, and Angel said few days ago, having gotten it at the same butcher's place, but this last batch of pig's blood seemed much more tasty. Gunn knew something was up, Fred comparing it to alcohol addiction but Lorne realized Angel's drink had been spiked. Fred handed Connor to Gunn, deciding to find out.
"What did they put in it?" Buffy asked.
"Don't ask, just watch", Harris said.
Wesley walked down a sidewalk in a residential neighborhood. He saw a child running to his house, greeting his father, as his dad lifted him up and the mom welcomed them in. Wesley then said to someone that they could follow people better than this, and turned to see Justine step out from behind a tree as she said she wanted to talk about Holtz alone, but he just walked down the sidewalk, not buying it as she hurried after him, Wesley telling her Holtz wasn't noble and good. Justine said he worked with a Vampire, who Wesley pointed out was noble and good, while Holtz wanted revenge and called it justice. Justine said he'd no idea what Holtz had done for them but he just called them a cult.
"That's the right word for them", Willow shrugged.
"Yeah, but they're too brainwashed to really see it", Summers spoke up.
"Imagine if Holtz had reached out to Kate when she was blaming Angel for her dad", Xander suddenly said and all were creeped out thinking about that. [1]
"Sounds creepy", Dawnster said.
"Let's forget it", Dawn agreed, and so did the rest.
Justine called Wesley blind, saying it was easier to hate Holtz than himself for what he was about to do to his friend, but Wesley said there was enough around for them both before walking off as Holtz appeared behind her, saying he hadn't heard her leave.
"So, is she really betraying him?" Xander asked.
"No, she's not", Harris shook his head.
Gunn asked if Angel wanted to hold Connor but he refused due to what had just happened, and Fred said there was a trace there, Angel realizing it was human blood, and it was Connor's, because the past couple of days he'd felt like food, Lorne realizing they'd been feeding him his own son's blood so he could get a taste for more. Fred asked who 'they' were and Angel knew.
"Those bastards!" Buffy snapped, clutching her fists so hard it looked like they would start bleeding. "They fed him his son's blood? Who do they think they are?"
"That is so, so messed up", Dawnster said in disgust, cringing in horror.
"My God!" Tara covered her mouth.
"Just when I thought they couldn't hit a new low, they do this", Willow shook her head angrily.
"And here I thought no humans could be worse than Demons", Xander said, angry at Wolfram and Hart obviously, and seeing just how wrong he had been at times.
"I…I have…" Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them hard, this revelation too horrifying for even him.
"Yeah, that's why we didn't want to say it", Summers told the past people, as angry as her younger self but better at controlling it.
"This was their plan to get Angel off his rocker again", Rosenberg snarled angrily.
"Trying to fulfill what the prophecy said", Maclay sighed sadly.
"If Angel didn't have other stuff to deal with, he'd have killed them right there", Dawn told the past people.
"Wouldn't have minded if he did", Harris shrugged. "They deserved it."
"Tell me about it", Buffy snarled, shaking in rage. She still hadn't given up her 'don't kill humans' policy fully, but Wolfram and Hart were making a compelling case against her policy already. Guess that was to be expected by lawyers, she thought in dark humor. "Bastards."
Lilah was in the bar again as Angel arrived, saying he'd broken her assistant's arms already, and was angry at her for what she'd done to him and Connor, but she simply called it her job, and Angel sat down beside her, wondering if she ever got tired of the femme fatale act, asking her to talk to him like a person for once. Lilah said she'd be to be better, smarter and quicker than all men at Wolfram and Hart so Angel wondered if it was a feminist thing, seeing the bartender give him a drink which he said was on her. Lilah said it was a survival thing as she'd made a lot of bargains and stuck to them, living dangerously but comfortable, her mother who no longer recognized her being cared for in the best clinic while she put on her game face and went to work, but Angel said a game face stopped being something one could take off and put back on if it was put on long enough.
"Why isn't he hurting her?" Buffy asked.
"He just realized what was happening to him, so he's trying to subdue himself after that", Summers explained. "Lilah got lucky."
"So she turned from semi-decent into this", Willow sighed. "And yeah, a game face stops being a game face after a while."
"Lilah knows that, and she has accepted it", Maclay told her.
Lilah said he was quite dense, and said she'd become her game face years ago, and Angel had become simpering and good from his, saying she didn't want it, but Angel apologized for hitting a nerve, speaking as one non-human to another. Lilah said he couldn't awaken any spark of decency in her, and she wasn't helpless either, so she'd just make the rest of his eternal life miserable. She clinked her glass to his, saying they could drink to that when Sahjhan arrived, calling her a traitorous bitch for drinking with his sworn enemy, but Angel was confused as they hadn't even met, and Lilah told Sahjhan that Angel had found her, Angel finally putting the pieces together as Sahjhan said Angel would learn nothing from him, but Lilah explained he'd brought Holtz here and when that hadn't worked out, he had approached her.
"And that's working out, right?" Buffy asked.
"Not really, they have a different agenda", Summers told her.
Sahjhan said he was only getting visuals, no audio as Angel asked why Sahjhan wanted him dead, but Lilah didn't know either and didn't need a reason, and she realized Angel really didn't know Sahjhan, who told Angel he'd pay before disappearing as Lilah said whatever the grudge was, Angel had made him madder.
"What is his grudge?" Dawnster asked, confused.
"It's not with Angel", Rosenberg said cryptically.
"Then why?" Xander asked.
"Just wait and watch", Harris told him.
Wesley arrived at the Hyperion's lobby, hearing Connor fuss in the bassinet before retrieving his diaper bag and stuffing things into it, and then Lorne arrived with a bottle as Wesley said he was taking Connor to his place for the night, and they'd go to the park in the morning. Angel knew all about it, and Lorne started mentioning the blood incident before deciding not to, and Wesley eventually bounced baby Connor in his arms and started to hum to stop him from fussing. He looked up to see Lorne staring at him, and stopped humming. Lorne's eyes went wide. Wesley slowly put Connor back down into the bassinet then launched himself at Lorne. Lorne ran from him and into Wesley's office. Wesley tackled Lorne to the floor. Lorne struggled back up, and in the scuffle ended up tipping over Wesley's desk. Wesley scrambled after him and hit Lorne across the face a couple times, then picked up a statue from the cabinet behind his desk and knocked Lorne out with it.
"No!" Buffy snapped, everyone now even more horrified and shocked at what was happening.
"Poor Lorne, he always gets the short end of the stick", Dawnster said sadly.
"Yeah, these events eventually had an impact on him", Summers said sadly as she remembered him finally having had enough after shooting Lindsey.
He was a good soul once, but his innocence had been stripped away by all of this. Shooting Lindsey wasn't the only thing that made him quit, it was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
Lorne had suffered almost as much as the rest, and they hadn't been able to notice it till the end.
"I get he's not in the best state, but hitting Lorne like that went too far", Willow said, feeling sad for Lorne.
"Yeah, poor guy got caught up in this mess", Tara sighed in sympathy.
Wesley hurried back to the bassinet and picked up Connor, but ended up being face to face with Angel, who asked where the rest were, and Wesley explained, telling the truth about Fred and Gunn but lying Lorne had gone out to meet a client, and reminded of taking Connor to the park, saying he'd like it there with the kids, and that Connor could spend the night with him. They just stood there looking at each other silently for a moment, before Angel agreed to the idea, Wesley letting him say goodbye as he kissed his son, and asked if Wesley had the pediatrician's number and the baby formula, which he did, and then Angel mentioned Sahjhan, asking Wesley to watch the books for him.
"He's not gonna do that for you for a while now", Rosenberg said, knowing what was about to happen now.
"This is the last time they're gonna be friends for months now", Harris told the past group. "Savor this all you want."
"Why?" Buffy asked herself, already feeling her sadness at the fact that this friendship between Angel and Wesley (which she'd come to like a lot) was about to break.
Wesley watched Angel sit down on the settee in the lobby. The doors opened and Fred and Gunn came in, asking for Lorne as Angel said he'd to go out, and Wesley said he didn't know where Lorne had gone and didn't know exactly, and also told Angel he'd better reference materials at home. Angel slowly let Wesley take the baby, and his hand lingered on Connor as Wesley slowly stepped away. "I guess, ah - I'll see everyone tomorrow." Angel jumped up. "Hey, Wes?" Wesley half turned back. "What's the closest emergency room to your place?" Wesley said after half a beat. "Drew Medical. One minute away." Wesley half-hurried towards the doors, curled around Connor. "Top infant care center. Don't worry." Wesley hurried down the sidewalk with Connor.
"And there it goes", Xander realized, sighing.
"If only he had learnt from his previous mistake", Giles muttered.
"Yeah, that was something he should have learnt from", Maclay agreed.
"After what happens next, he will, but it'll be too late by then", Dawn said sadly.
Angel put Connor's stuffed toys in the bassinet as Fred and Gunn watched him, and he said now Connor could bond with his uncle Wesley while he could get rest, and Gunn assured they'd stay up with him, for which he was grateful, but then they heard a moaning from Wesley's office. Before they could check the front doors opened and Holtz strode in. At the same time several of his people appeared from different places all around the lobby. One even came halfway down the stairs from above.
"What a timing", Buffy scoffed, cursing the fact that if Holtz and his people hadn't appeared, Lorne could have informed them in time, and Wesley could have been stopped.
"Yeah, things just went south real fast now", Summers agreed with a sigh.
Holtz asked how fatherhood was treating Angel and he said he liked it while mentioning Sahjhan, asking why that guy hated him, but Holtz didn't care, while they noticed Connor wasn't there, and Holtz noted Angel had made a nice life for himself. Angel asked if Holtz was here to fight or if he could make him some tea, to which Holtz said he wanted Angelus alive but not well. Holtz's men attacked and Angel and Gunn fought back. Gunn punched two down as Angel tossed one guy into the weapons' cabinet, breaking the glass doors, and threw another down before punching one away, then tossed the one he'd thrown into the weapons cabinet away while Gunn punched another, and Angel tossed him a sharpened baseball bat which he used to block a guy's strike and throw him down. Angel picked up the broadsword, but only used it to fend off the men's weapons. Neither he nor Gunn were trying to kill, just to disable. One man managed to put Angel on the ground and lifted a wooden stake but Fred shot him in the back with a crossbow bolt. As she picked up another bolt to reload, one of the men tackled her to the floor.
"They're only trying to disable, but I doubt Holtz's people can see the difference", Willow sighed.
"They are all brainwashed soldiers", Maclay told her.
Lorne's green hand came up behind Wesley's desk as Gunn got battered back into the office by two of Holtz' men. Lorne levered himself to his feet, and seeing Gunn getting battered down, let out a high shrieking that had everyone cower down, covering their ears. Lorne kicked one of Gunn's attackers in the face as he broke off his 'musical' assault, and Gunn knocked the other one out. Holtz quietly turned away and walked out the front doors. Angel sent the last attacker flying over the counter, looked at where Holtz was standing and saw the open doors, then walked over to pull the guy lying on Fred's back off her and helped her up, telling her to call Wesley, and noticed Lorne, and thinking he'd been hit in the fight, asked him to sit down, but then Lorne revealed Wesley had done this to him, shocking them. "Well, earlier when he came to pick up the baby, Connor started crying and Wes hummed a little lullaby, and I read him and... - I don't know why he did it." "Did what?" Angel asked. Lorne revealed. "He - he's been to see Holtz behind your back. Twice. And he's not taking the baby overnight. He's - he's taking the baby away - for good."
"Only, it won't be him", Summers muttered to herself in rage and sadness.
"I'm really wishing he's stopped soon", Dawnster groaned. "This is horrible."
"That would be an understatement", Giles commented grimly, disappointed in Wesley's poor decision once more. He had made horrible ones too, but none of them were this bad, he thought to himself.
If only he knew what he'd done when Angel had called for help regarding Illyria taking over Fred.
Wesley walked out of his apartment building, carrying Connor and a suitcase. He pushed a button on his key chain and his car unlocked. He loaded the suitcase into the back. As he opened the side door he heard a moaning sound and turned to see a woman, arms wrapped around her middle, stumbling towards him through the park across the street. Still holding Connor with his left arm, he pulled a gun with his right and aimed it, but Justine then stumbled to her knees and looked up at Wesley through her disordered hair, crying, shocking him as she said Holtz was a monster like he'd said. Wesley slowly lowered his gun and stepped closer, asking what had happened as he put the safety on his gun and put it away, while Justine stumbled closer and said he'd gone after the baby. Her lip was bloodied and face bruised. She said she'd tried to question him and he'd done this, and asked him to get out of here. She fell against Wesley, who decided to take her to the hospital. Justine then pulled out a knife and sliced it across the side of Wesley's neck. Wesley fell to his knees, pressing one hand over the cut, as Justine pulled the baby out of his grip. Wesley watched Justine run to the car, put Connor in the passenger side then get in the driver's side, before toppling over onto his side. Blood was seeping through between his fingers as he lay there, watching her drive off.
"NO!" Dawnster screamed in horror, while Xander put a hand to his throat, and Buffy's and Giles' eyes widened, with Willow gasping and Tara covering her mouth.
While they all wanted to smack Wesley's head for his stupidity, they still cared about him, and were now worried sick over what had just happened to him.
"He survives", Summers said grimly. "His warmness doesn't."
"He became a badass, but this is what it cost", Harris said with a sad sigh.
"I wouldn't wish this on anyone", Tara shook her head. "Not even my dad and brother."
"So that's how he became the man I met a year ago", Willow said, now finally knowing the majority of the story.
"Please tell me it's not too bad", Buffy begged.
"He is sent to the hospital", Maclay assured, but the future people winced as they remembered what had happened in there.
Gunn was confused, saying Lorne had read Wesley wrong but he said he'd read him right, and had a gash to prove it. Fred said Wesley wasn't answering anything, as one of Holtz's guys inched to the door. Angel realized Holtz was stalling and wasn't after Connor, and Lorne added he was buying Wesley time to get Connor away. Angel was angry now as Gunn tried to calm him as they didn't know the full story, and eventually Angel grabbed Gunn by the collar, pushing him back. "He took my son!" Gunn asked Angel to get his hands off him as Fred pushed them apart, saying what mattered was where Connor was.
"Yeah, that's the priority", Xander sighed.
Angel then tried to interrogate one of Holtz's men and on not getting an answer, threw him across the lobby and picked the next, pushing him against the wall and holding up a crossbow bolt, and the guy told him where Holtz was as Angel dropped him and picking up his broadsword, went off while Fred and Gunn decided to look for Wesley and find him before Angel, while Lorne decided to wait in Hyperion, holding a baseball bat and saying he'd be ready now.
"You won't be seeing him in there for a long time", Rosenberg told him.
"Or baby Connor", Summers added sadly.
Lilah and some paramilitaries were now working together, having gotten 2 stragglers from Holtz's group but they didn't know where Holtz had gone, so Lilah had her men lead the guys away, and the commander tried to explain they'd lost Holtz, but then picked him up again near the Sixth Street Bridge. As one of the commandos got ready to get into his Hum-vee, Angel jumped out from behind a tree, smashed him into a post, then a tree, knocking him out. The driver of the Hum-vee looked over towards the passenger side when his partner didn't get in. The driver's side door opened and Angel threw him out on the street, got in and drove off after the rest of the cavalcade.
The past people hoped he reached in time, but seeing their future selves' reactions, they knew he wouldn't.
Holtz stepped into a darkened street as Justine arrived in Wesley's car and he got in, with her quipping he'd to pay for her dental work. Holtz looked at Connor and said now his name was Steven Franklin Thomas, and they were his parents. He'd grow up with them in a ranch in the middle of nowhere, and Justine assured Utah was pretty, so they started driving off.
"He is not your son, you bastard", Buffy snarled in anger, now finally realizing why her future self hated Holtz so much.
A Hum-vee overtook them and cut them off. The car turned off the road, but was quickly blocked in by more Hum-vees. Angel jumped out of one of them and charges at the car. Holtz got Connor out of the back while Justine tackled Angel only to get thrown aside. Holtz then threatened to snap Connor's neck if Angel came closer so he stopped. All around them commandos were jumping out of their vehicles, cocking their machine guns as Lilah arrived, saying he'd give the baby to them, and said these guns would kill him easily. Angel told Holtz they wanted the baby alive so they wouldn't use those, Holtz noting they all had that in common, but then Sahjhan appeared, telling Lilah their arrangement was to have the child killed, but Lilah said she was a lawyer so they'd a new arrangement now, and she'd keep the baby.
"Holtz wouldn't hurt him I guess, while Wolfram and Hart would experiment on him, but either way, they're taking him away from his father", Willow said in shock, realizing how brutal this was for them all.
"Holtz would probably abuse him too and gaslight him into accepting it like my dad and brother did to me and my mom", Tara scoffed.
"That's exactly what he did", Maclay said in disgust at Holtz, and everyone only felt their hatred for him go up.
Lilah told her men to ignore Sahjhan as he was impotent in this Dimension, and tried to stop Holtz as a commando stepped closer but Angel knocked him down, taking the weapon away from him and turning it on Lilah, saying he wouldn't be killed by the bullets but Lilah would. Angel looked over at Holtz and Connor. "He'll be dead before I hit the ground." Angel agreed. "I know." Holtz pointed out. "So. I'm going to leave now, right? With me, he gets to live, anyone tries to take him, he dies." Angel reluctantly said after a long beat. "Take him." Sahjhan was furious. "Woah! No! What is wrong of you people?" Holtz assured Angel. "I will take good care of him, as though he were my own son. He'll never even know you existed. Don't come after me. - You will though, won't you? Maybe I should just..." Angel begged. "No. Please." Justine looked from Holtz' hand moving closer to Connor's neck to Angel and back. Angel begged. "Take him." Sahjhan raised his hands and chanted. There was a big explosion with bright sparks and a hole opened in the air. Past the burning edges there was a turbulent, blood red sky. Sahjhan announced. "What you are looking into is the Quortoth, the darkest of the dark worlds. So - I can widen the portal and you can all be swallowed up by a world you cannot begin to imagine - or you can keep your word and kill that child." He turned to Lilah. "Now!"
"What is your play?" Buffy snapped at Sahjhan.
"Quortoth is the worst world", Rosenberg agreed grimly with a nod, having been there after the End of Magic, and Connor had gone with her too.
"You've been there?" Willow asked her.
"Yeah", Maclay nodded. "Long story, we'll tell you later."
"Right now, there's another problem", Summers said, looking at the screen, and so did the rest.
When no one moved Sahjhan spread his arms. "Don't say I didn't warn you." The opening in the air grew bigger. The commandos and Angel stood there with the weapons aimed at each other. Holtz grabbed a hold of Justine and pushed her away from him then headed for the hole in the air. Angel dropped the gun and charged after him. Justine screamed. "Daniel! Daniel!" Angel screamed. "No! NO!" Holtz jumped into the roiling red air of the portal and disappeared from view. Angel jumped after him, but was thrown back by a lighting bolt lashing out from the portal and hitting him full in the chest. Angel flew backward, landing with a hard thud and rolled to look back at the portal. Sahjhan quipped. "Wow. I didn't count on that. Kinda takes care of my problem." Justine and Angel stared at the portal from the ground as Sahjhan closed it. "All right then." He looked down at Angel, who was still staring at where the portal used to be. "Have a good summer." With that Sahjhan disappeared into thin air. Lilah looked down at Angel who hadn't moved. "Hmph! Well, I'm looking at a mountain of paperwork." She turned to go. Justine got up and stumbled towards Wesley's car. Commander asked. "Should we do something about..." Lilah looked back at Angel. "Yes, we should. - We should let him suffer."
Buffy was clutching her fists in a rage, struggling to control herself while Dawnster was close to tears on Angel's pain, and the rest were too shocked to respond.
Angel rolled over onto all fours and looked around him, seeing Justine drive off in Wesley's car and collapsed back onto the hard ground, once again facing towards where the portal used to be, close to tears. "Connor." The screen went black.
That was it for Buffy! With a roar of rage, she kicked the table in front of them, and it flew at the TV, shattering the screen as smoke went up.
Everyone was startled by her outburst as she tried to look around for something else to punch, and got up, but Summers grabbed her hard and fast, restraining her. "Hey, calm down. Hitting things isn't gonna change a thing."
Buffy took deep breaths, slowly coming to her senses.
"Happy now?" Rosenberg asked dryly as she looked at the smoking TV.
After a beat, Buffy shook her head. "No."
"All right then", Maclay said as she telekinetically pulled the table away and put it back into position, then she and Rosenberg chanted as a glow surrounded the TV and it was fixed again.
Summers finally let her past self go as she collapsed onto the couch with the rest.
"Here I thought I was having the worst week", Xander muttered to himself in self-depreciation, as he had walked out on Anya at the altar this very week, and had thought he was having it the worst.
But Angel had lost his son, possibly forever, and nothing could match his pain, since he actually loved his son dearly.
"Wanna take a break?" Maclay offered.
"Yeah, yeah", Dawnster nodded, looking at her sister. "Come on."
After a beat, Buffy got up and walked off to the dining room.
"Think she's gonna break anything again?" Willow asked.
"No, she won't go that far", Tara said.
"Hopefully", Harris added.
"We should go just in case", Dawn said.
"I agree", Giles nodded as they all got up and went after Buffy, but it was Angel's pain at losing his son that hurt all of their hearts the most.
Angel had lost his son, and he'd never get him back the same way after this.
Well, the ending was something to write, but hope Buffy reacting with anger made sense, since while I've made it clear I don't support Bangel one bit, I do acknowledge they care deeply for each other, so I can see Buffy reacting like this to the ending of this episode.
[1] In case you don't know, originally Kate was gonna be Holtz's apprentice but Elisabeth Röhm was unavailable due to 'Law and Order' so the character of Justine was created. Good thing they didn't do that to Kate, since while she became very obnoxious after her father's death, I think she departed on a good note in 'Epiphany', so this would have ruined her even more.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed (or not, considering what happened) and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!