Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Chapter 13- Parting Gifts
The Scoobies had stopped crying by now, but they still didn't look very good. None of them had made a move to touch the remote and play the next recording. They just didn't feel like it.
But one of them then remembered just how important it was.
"Anyone going to pick that up?" Xander asked in a husky voice as he gestured to the remote.
"Anyone even feel like it?" Tara asked.
"I don't think anyone does after the previous one", Dawn shook her head as both Buffy and Tara stroked her hair.
"Yeah, but whether we feel like it or not, we…..we have to watch it", Willow said.
"Yes, Willow is right, Buffy", Giles agreed too.
Buffy sighed and said. "Maybe they also mourn him in the next one."
"So we can do it alongside them", Tara suggested.
"Yeah", Buffy muttered, finally starting the next one.
In the Oracle room, the man was angry at Angel was trying their patience as Angel begged them to fold time and bring Doyle back, but the woman said this would nullify his noble end and leave his atonement unfulfilled.
No one made a comment. While all of them wished Doyle could come back, it wouldn't make the situation better. Even if time was being folded, there was a price for this kind of stuff. If Doyle survived, then Angel could die instead, or the entire Listers Demons.
So as harsh as it sounded, Doyle had to remain….gone! It was unfair, but it was the truth.
The man said Doyle doesn't live so that Angel may, and the woman said Angel lives so that others may. "He's my friend", Angel begged. "If that is so, then so shall it ever be", the woman said. "But it is of no consequence", the man added. "The war rages on", the woman told him. "Do not come to us again on so self-serving a matter", the man warned.
"They find that self-serving?" Dawn asked incredulously.
"As much as I hate to say it, it is", Buffy said. "I wish Doyle comes back, I do, but it can't be done. Angel wants him back, but he isn't thinking of the unintended consequences this time. The last time, he had time folded for a selfless reason, not this time."
Dawn sighed, conceding her point.
"There is one consequence, even by your generous standards: Doyle was my sole contact to the Powers That Be. Without his visions – I'm fighting blind", Angel pointed out.
"He has a point", Willow said.
"All will soon be made clear. For every door that closes, another opens", the woman said. The man said. "And for everyone that opens…" He lifted his arm and they disappear in a flash of light.
"Such jerks", Xander muttered.
"They are higher powers", Tara said, and that explained everything.
A demon with two horn buds on each temple was running down an alley. A guy on a motorcycle, clad all in black leather was pursuing him.
"Now who would that be?" Giles wondered.
"If it was red leather he was wearing, I would be 100% sure it's Dante!" Xander joked as all chuckled for the first time since Doyle's death, other than Giles.
"The one who wrote the Divine Comedy?" Giles asked in confusion.
"You need to go out more", Buffy said to him.
At Angel's office, Cordelia was examining the coffee mugs, saying she was looking for Doyle's special coffee mug. Angel pointed out he didn't have one, and she said he should have had it, as it would be tangible evidence of him having been around, but there was nothing. Angel then told her to get out before clarifying he meant take the day off and live her life, while he could manage.
"He could have worded it better the first time", Xander commented.
"I don't think any of them are going to behave rationally while mourning", Buffy told him.
"He can't really manage by himself either in this state", Willow said.
Cordelia told Angel he was trying to push her away and shut himself off, and then told him all they had now was each other, saying sharing grief was the normal, healthy way to deal with loss, and she wouldn't go anywhere.
"That was…..touching", Tara said.
"Yeah, and she's right about sharing grief", Buffy said.
"By watching this one, we are kind of sharing our grief with them", Dawn pointed out.
Then the alarm on her watch went off and she realized she needed to go for a commercial audition, saying she'd blown it off if it hadn't been national.
"And now it's ruined", Xander muttered.
"I think she's just working like that to distract herself from the grief", Buffy said, relating to that obviously.
Angel started asking her to stay but she wasn't going to, though she told him to stay put till she returned, and then she opened the door just as the Demon from earlier was about to knock, making her scream.
"Oof!" Giles muttered.
"Her and Demons never get old", Willow said.
The Demon commented Cordelia had scared him, prompting her to incredulously tell him to look in the mirror and he said he did every chance he got.
"Add that to the list of Demons she scares", Xander said, making everyone chuckle.
He then walked to Angel, already knowing he was the Vampire with a soul, asking him to help as he helped the 'helpless'. Cordelia asked if Angel wanted to stay but he was fine, and the Demon told her to 'break a leg', asking her to picture everyone, and she finished, saying she'd picture all in their underwear, but the Demon meant 'dead', making her leave.
"I am pretty sure it was naked", Xander said and all shot him looks. "Which doesn't matter. Different people, different tricks."
Angel and the Demon walked into his office as he introduced himself as Barney, asking why Angel wasn't in his coffin, and Angel commented how he hated that stereotype, shocked that a Demon like Barney didn't know anything about Vamps, who said he'd only seen about them on TV, and Angel explained the actual scenario.
"Coffins, didn't think we'd hear about that after all these years against Vamps", Buffy quipped.
"That too by a Demon of all things", Willow said.
"Some people are just ill-informed", Giles said, rolling his eyes.
At the audition, Cordelia was about to start, it being over a commercial of removing stains, and while talking about stain-be-gone, she started sobbing, the people at the able being surprised, and saying it was good, but said they wanted it to be happy and uplifting due to the stains being gone, as no one liked them.
"They really thought she was acting?" Xander wondered.
"Some people are tone deaf like that", Tara told him.
"Plus, it's a commercial audition, anything can be mistaken for acting", Dawn pointed out.
Cordelia tried again, doing decently until she was hit with a vision like Doyle, though she tried to continue in spite of it, eventually yelling and stamping her foot, and there was stunned silence for a moment before the people at the table lamely passed comments.
"She just had a vision!" Buffy said, everyone surprised other than Willow.
"None of you really kept in touch with her, did you?" Willow asked, and they realized they really didn't, though no one missed the irony of Willow and Cordelia of all people being phone friends.
"So, Doyle passed is visions into her?" Xander asked.
"Looks like it", Tara said.
"I just remembered, when they were kissing in the previous one, a white light passed from his mouth to hers", Giles said, and now everyone remembered.
"Guess the intensity of the moment made us miss it at the time", Dawn pointed out.
"So now she has the visions. This is what those Oracles meant", Buffy said, all watching with interest. "This will be interesting."
The motorcycle guy rode down a street in Korea town as Angel inquired to Barney about his hunter, and he said the guy was an unstoppable machine who had been after him in quite a few States since Phoenix, saying he must be an assassin. The guy in leather got off his motorcycle.
"He looks cool", Dawn commented.
"And dangerous too", Tara added.
Angel asked if he was a Demon and Barney said he could be as he knew a lot of stuff, while the motorcycle guy looked through a black bag holding swords, stakes and other weapons. He took out a crossbow. Angel asked Barney what he could do, and after some questioning Barney said he was an empath Demon so he could read emotions, using them to have an advantage at cards, saying he just used his strengths that way rather than calling it cheating, while also saying he wasn't 'Evil' evil.
"What every cheat says", Xander said about Barney's 'strengths' comment.
"Yeah, but still, doesn't really seem like a guy who deserves to die", Dawn told him.
"The bike guy is after him, so whatever it is, it might be serious", Buffy said.
The motorcycle guy examined yellow slime at the corner of a building as Barney told Angel that he couldn't please everyone before asking for help, and a little later Cordelia inched through the door into the office, Angel greeting her as she walked to him with a strange look on her face. Cordelia then put an arm around his neck and kissed him, to his confusion, before he pushed back, saying she was acting out of grief and thinking of their friendship as something more.
"Did she just try to pass on her visions?" Dawn asked.
"Looks like it", Buffy said.
"Considering how painful they look, it is kind of understandable why she is trying to get rid of them", Xander said.
"Yeah, who would want to split their head all the time?" Willow asked, remembering the times Cordelia had ranted to her on the phone about the painful visions.
"Painful way to live", Tara agreed.
Cordelia realized nothing had happened, and finally revealed Doyle had used their kiss to pass them onto her, Angel wiping his lips and looking at his fingers as she ranted it could have been mono or herpes.
"I do not think anyone wants that either", Giles muttered.
Cordelia ranted about not wanting the responsibility and said the PTB better stay out of her head, and then Angel realized she had got a vision as she told him they were even more painful than they looked. Angel remembered the Oracles' words, realizing Cordelia was his link to the PTB now, though she didn't want it, saying she had lost control of her nervous system during her first audition in weeks and drooled a little.
"They really couldn't tell she was in pain?" Xander asked incredulously.
"Like I said, some people are tone deaf", Tara told him.
Angel then asked about the vision and she said she had seen an ugly, gray, blobby thing, Angel pointing out it could be dangerous since she had a vision of it, but Cordelia only wanted the visions out and would smooch every frog in the kingdom to make sure.
"Some frogs are about to get lucky", Willow quipped as all chuckled.
Then Barney came out of a door, buttoning his sleeves, and Angel started introducing Cordelia when she kissed Barney too, before saying not every frog as Barney commented he liked the way they treated their clients.
"There's your first one", Xander said and all chuckled again.
"Though I do not think the visions are going to pass on just like that", Giles commented. "There must be some emotional connection behind it too I believe."
"Yeah, I think that's why Doyle's kiss did it", Buffy agreed.
Cordelia asked Barney to excuse them, and he walked to the outer office as Cordelia kept spitting while asking Angel if he was a client, and he handed her a paper and pen to try to sketch the thing she had seen, and also asked her to babysit Barney till her returned. She asked where he was going and Angel said to check out his apartment as the thing chasing him might be there, and also asked her to behave herself as he didn't want to find them necking on the couch when he came back.
"With how much she was spitting, I don't think that's gonna happen", Xander said.
"Someone's jealous", Willow said and all chuckled again.
"Yeah, he might be", Tara agreed with a smirk.
Near a brick building at night, a motorcycle was parked by the street as Angel stepped out of an elevator into the hallway with one of the lights on the fritz. The boots of the motorcycle guy walked up the stairs. Angel walked up a door while the silhouette of the motorcycle guy with his crossbow was illuminated by a blinking light next to elevator.
"Same place, same time", Buffy muttered.
"Let's see who beats up who", Dawn said.
Angel touched the door frame and examined his fingers, then spun around as the door opposite opened. It was a maid pulling a cleaning cart. She smiled at Angel and he smiles back, then opened the apartment door, only to get pushed into it from behind. He turned around to find a crossbow aimed at him by a dark figure. The guy in black leather stepped forward and it was none other than Wesley Wyndam-Pryce! "Hello Angel", he greeted.
"Wesley?" Buffy, Xander, Dawn and Giles went together.
"Huh?!" Xander then said.
"Motorcycle guy got much less cooler now", Buffy commented.
"Can't believe I was finding him threatening earlier", Giles muttered.
"Well, with how he was being presented, it would look that way", Dawn said.
"So, he's that incompetent Watcher you guys mentioned?" Tara asked and they nodded.
"Yeah, but last time I saw him, he looked like, you know, a badass, broody, sexy guy", Willow said and all shot her looks. "Hey, I have no other idea how to describe him!"
"Seriously? He looks like that?" Xander asked, not being able to believe that.
"Yeah, that's how he looked last I saw him, and he was pretty competent too, since he and Faith went out into dangerous zones together", Willow told him.
"Well, he would have improved for sure", Buffy said. "I mean, it's been years since we saw him."
"Now I wish I tried to improve myself earlier instead of relying on a bunch of army memories", Xander muttered. [1]
Angel put his hands in his pocket. "Wesley." "I wager you thought, you'd never see me again", Wesley said. Angel started. "To tell you the truth I hadn't given it much thought one way or the other. What are you…" Wesley pointed the crossbow at Angel's face. "Hup-up-up! I'm the one asking the questions here. I think it only fair to warn you, any sudden movement and I'd be forced to…" Angel casually batted the crossbow out of his hand. "Right. You had a question?"
Everyone laughed as Dawn said. "So, that is an epic fail."
"Yeah, while he did improve, he was really clumsy back in the day", Willow agreed with the rest about him. "I had almost forgotten that."
"Guess that would make his growth into this badass you describe even more interesting", Tara told her.
Angel suppressed a smile, noting Wesley's look and asked if the Watchers' Council was trying out a new image.
"If only", Giles muttered and was shot looks. "All right, I admit it! People in trench coat on bikes have a certain…..air around them."
"See! I knew you liked that kind of stuff", Buffy said and all chuckled as he held his head in his hands.
Wesley walked further inside, saying he didn't work for the Council and would work better autonomously while stumbling on the edge of the bed, though Angel realized he had been fired, but Wesley said they hadn't, he just didn't need to function as Watcher as Buffy was unwilling to follow the Council. So he had become a rogue Demon Hunter.
"Oh really?" Xander muttered. "Well, he does dress up like it."
"But the act leaves a lot to be desired", Dawn agreed with him.
Angel was incredulous as Wesley said he was on the trail of a particularly nasty bugger, advising Angel to stay out of the way, but Angel said he was making a mistake and if they were talking about the same one, the Demon was harmless. Wesley said he had left behind a trail of mutilated corpses, human and Demon both, saying all the victims had possessed unique powers like telepathy, poison tongues, healing hands, etc., and the physical sources of the powers had been ripped from them, Angel realizing he was collecting powers.
"So Wesley is actually after someone who is after Barney", Tara said in realization.
"So, it was just an honest mess, everything will be fine", Willow said.
"Once they get this killer", Buffy reminded.
Wesley said the Demon had cut a swath across half the continent and he'd almost caught up with it in Phoenix, saying it had a fair look. Angel started describing Barney but Wesley said it was enormous and powerful, being yellow-green, and it was also secreting some sort of viscous, yellow fluid. Angel saw a yellow blob on Wesley's jacket and asked if it was like that.
"Uh-oh!" Buffy said as all tensed.
Another blob landed beside it and they both looked up. The Demon that had been clinging to the ceiling dropped down to land on his face between them.
"There it is", Giles said as all watched.
It shoved Angel back, then hit Wesley and threw him across the room. Angel and the Demon were a bit more evenly matched as Angel deflected some blows and spin kicked him back, but after a short exchange of blows it knocked Angel to the ground as it turned around Wesley hit it in the chest with a crossbow bolt. The Demon screamed and jumped out of the window. Angel and Wesley watched it run away.
"And now it has escaped", Willow said as they groaned.
"But there are two of them to catch it now", Tara added.
"Unless Wesley is going to turn into badass Wesley overnight, I don't think we should count all of him", Dawn commented.
"Yeah, but he can still be some use", Buffy said.
"He's a former Watcher, he would have knowledge", Giles pointed out.
"Good point", Xander sighed.
At the apartment, Cordelia was trying to sketch what she'd seen as Barney said drawing could be therapeutic while grieving, revealing his empath abilities to her, though Cordelia said she wanted to keep this private, telling him not to nose around, and he apologized, saying he was trying to make conversation.
"Bringing up grief ain't the best way to do it", Xander said.
Cordelia apologized, saying she'd lost someone, and so Barney asked her to tell him about him. Cordelia talked about Doyle. "Doyle? Well, he drank too much and his taste in clothing was like a Greek tragedy. Barney chuckled. "And he could be really sweet sometimes." Cordelia swallowed hard. "You'll like this: he was half Demon. A secret he kept from me for – like- ever. I guess that's the reason he sometimes smelled weird? You know, you remind me a little of him." Barney laughed and said he'd take it as a compliment.
"Now that's more like it", Xander said.
"Guess he learns quickly", Buffy said.
Angel and Wesley then came down the stairs, making Barney bolt as he recognized Wesley while Angel ran to stop him, telling Wesley where the books were. Wesley then noticed Cordelia, and started greeting her when she walked to him and kissed him, with him pulling her close as he kissed her back, and then she pulled away as he finished his comment of finding her a nice surprise.
"True lovers reunited", Willow quipped as all chuckled other than Tara, remembering their attraction to each other.
"Is there a story there?" Tara asked.
"After me and Cordy broke up, Wesley came, and well, they had a thing for a bit, or something like a thing", Xander said.
"They did dance together at the Prom", Giles remembered.
"But they weren't talking to each other much before the final fight", Buffy remembered.
"Maybe something happened in between", Dawn suggested.
Cordelia shook herself as it hadn't worked while Wesley said it had been better than last time.
"There was a last time?" Xander said in surprise.
"Maybe that is what happened between prom and the fight!" Buffy said.
"Could be it", Willow agreed.
"So they kissed, it was bad, and they stopped talking", Xander said. "Funny."
Cordelia started telling Wesley what she was doing before asking him if he was working with Angel, but he said he was a lone wolf and only allowing Angel to assist him, calling himself a rogue Demon hunter as she asked what a rogue Demon meant.
"I think the rogue is more to describe himself", Giles pointed out.
"Titles can be misleading", Xander said.
Angel and Barney returned as Wesley went to look at the books, Barney asking if Wesley was after what was after him, and Angel said that was the size of it.
"Yeah, looks like it", Buffy agreed.
Angel told Barney it wanted to steal his empathetic abilities, and Wesley walked out with a book, saying it was Kungai Demon, of Asian origin, very deadly, and had a Tak horn capable of consuming an opponent's life force, saying they were lucky to have escaped.
"So a Kungai is what attacked them", Giles noted, now realizing it. "Yes, now I remember, it was one."
"Now they know what they're up against", Buffy said.
Barney said he knew Kungais were killers, asking Angel to take it out. Angel tried to take the book from Wesley, who didn't want to let go, and there was a little tug of war with Angel as the victor.
All chuckled again as Willow said. "Okay, Wesley is trying way too hard right now."
Wesley said he had tracked the Demon in an Asian district north of here, and Cordelia remembered it as Korea town, so Angel decided to look there, refusing to take Wesley as the man at his side had died.
All winced as the memory of Doyle burning up with a scream came back to them, but managed to control their emotions in time.
Angel then walked up, and Wesley began sitting down before changing his mind with a grimace of pain, Cordelia asking what was wrong, and he said these pants tended to chafe the legs, and he walked off weirdly.
"Still want that look?" Buffy asked Giles naughtily.
"No", he said and all chuckled again as he sighed.
At the Lotus Spa, Angel and a man called Soon talked in Korean, Angel paying him a little to let him have a look around, and he agreed.
"Guess knowing a lot of people works wonders", Xander said.
"It does", Willow told him.
Angel was walking through the spa. There were curtains of cubicles with steam rising from behind them. Angel used his fighting axe to push one of the curtains a little aside and looked behind it. He was almost at the end of the hallway when one of the curtains behind him was suddenly pushed aside. Angel spun around, axe ready as an ugly green, horned demon with a white towel wrapped around his waist stepped out, asking where the Shiatsu massage was, and Angel blinked a couple of times before walking.
"Well, that was anti-climactic", Dawn said.
Cordelia had finished her drawing before ripping it off, Barney noting her frustration as Cordelia said his talent was spooky and amazing. Cordelia asked him to explain why she had to suffer such visions now, and Barney inquired about them as Cordelia told him about Doyle, the PTB, and the visions, Barney realizing he had left those to her as an inheritance. Cordelia said she would never forgive him, but Barney reminded she had been chosen by him for a rare and important gift and given a responsibility. "I get the impression that Doyle didn't have much by way of possessions?" Barney inquired. "No. No he didn't", Cordelia said. "Seems like he gave you the most valuable thing he had", Barney pointed out. Cordelia considered.
"When he puts it like that", Xander said.
"He handed over his important part to her, to remember him by", Buffy realized. "Painfully."
"But having those visions is an important responsibility too", Giles said.
"I am sure she knows it", Willow said. "Or will know."
Angel walked into a back room, finding the Kungai Demon lying with an old lady wiping its brow, telling Angel he was dying.
"But that wound Wesley gave him wasn't fatal", Buffy said, everyone surprised.
"There's more to this than we think", Xander realized.
"Yes, something doesn't add up", Giles said grimly.
At the apartment, Cordelia looked through the fridge, asking Barney what kind of coffee he wanted and he said black would do, and as she made it, Barney walked off and pulled out a cell phone, calling someone and telling him he had the Kungai horn in a safe place, then glanced at Cordelia and said now he had something even more valuable.
Everyone's jaws dropped, the truth hitting them.
"I liked this guy!" Xander then snapped.
"Yeah me too!" Willow agreed.
"He seemed nice!" Dawn said too.
"Why do the sweet ones turn out like that?" Tara wondered.
"Uhhhhh, not Clem!" Buffy reminded, still trying to get over the shock.
"So he's an exception", Giles said with a sigh. "And it looks like this Barney is the one who was the bad guy all along here."
"Yeah, he just deflected blame onto Wesley and the Kungai", Willow said.
As Cordelia turned to face Barney, he dropped the façade, showing his true colors, and called her pathetic, saying she knew she was a terrible actress, and he was a fine one as he had fooled her, cutting her off from escape as he said she felt she had let Doyle die, and that if she had been a little nicer or cared for anyone beside herself, it wouldn't have happened. He grabbed her by the arms, saying he would love to rip out her pretty little eyes, and threw her against the table.
Everyone was unnerved and worse, caught off-guard by the sudden change in Barney's attitude, and this was what he was really like.
"This is what the really smart serial killers and other criminals do. Put on a nice façade to gain your trust, then reveal true colors when you're at your most vulnerable", Buffy said, chiding herself for actually buying that Barney had been a good guy instead of suspecting him a little.
"Looks like it worked, since we were all fooled by him too", Giles said.
"Yeah, what an actor this creep is!" Willow snarled at him angrily.
"So now he is going to take Cordelia, and Angel and Wesley are both away", Tara groaned.
"Life sucks", Xander muttered.
"Tell me about it", Dawn said.
Angel picked up the crossbow bolt at the spa, smelling it as the Kungai tried to tell him something but he couldn't understand the language, and then Wesley arrived in a white suit instead of the black leather, saying he understood the dialect.
"Now that looks more like Wesley", Xander said.
"Yeah, that is a familiar look", Buffy agreed.
Wesley wondered how his wound was fatal, but Angel pointed out his horn had been ripped off, and then Wesley tried to converse with him. At the apartment, Cordelia lay on the table as Barney tied her hands, loving the terror she was feeling.
"I am looking forward to your terror before Angel snaps you in two", Xander snarled, not surprised he was actually rooting for Angel here, as the recordings made him dislike the guy less than before.
Wesley tried to translate the Kungai's words, though he didn't know what the Klu-click-ka meant, though they still couldn't get much as the Kungai was about to die and Wesley wasn't fluent.
"Why is everything so difficult?" Dawn muttered.
Cordelia suddenly said she was having a vision of him, Barney lifting her up and asking if he was in danger, but she kneed him and said he was in pain, running, but Barney caught her, saying bruises brought down the price, before hitting her as she fell down, adding not by much.
"If you get bruises, it would bring up the satisfaction of you dying", Willow said to Barney.
"I am sure it will not be pleasant for him", Buffy said, worried for Cordelia.
Wesley still had struggle translating and the Kungai then died as Wesley said the Kungai's description of his killer was- 'Demon, heart, reader.' Angel realized it meant an empath Demon, which would be Barney.
"Finally they figured it out", Giles said.
"But it's too late", Tara said grimly.
Cordelia woke up, bound and gagged in a storage room, seeing a gray sculpture, which was the blob she'd been trying to draw, noticing labelled body parts including a still beating heart under a glass cover. Barney and his friend Hank arrived, Hank wanting to pop out the eyes but Barney said eyes intact would give them an extra thousand, and asked him to catalogue gypsy flesh as Cordelia lay down, horrified.
"Good god!" Xander said, horrified at this business Barney and Hank seemed to run.
"They sell body parts of people?" Buffy wondered.
"You heard that story where you go to a foreign country, pass out, and wake up to see your kidney in a jar?" Willow asked and all nodded. "This is the supernatural version of it."
"Well, I hope they don't actually take anything out of her", Dawn said, voicing everyone's worry for Cordelia.
"I have heard a little about this, but never seen it, till now", Giles growled.
"And I hope we never have to, or this ends somehow", Tara sighed.
Angel and Wesley returned to the apartment to find both missing, both blaming themselves as Wesley said he had been tracking the wrong Demon, but Angel told Wesley he could join and help him, though Wesley groaned he was a fool and been fired, as one of his Slayers had gone evil and was now in a coma while the other was a renegade, so firing him was a mercy compared to chopping off his head.
"They would do that?" Tara asked.
"I think they would", Buffy said.
"You're not wrong", Giles told them as they felt chills run up their spine over how many times they had encountered the Council.
Angel found Cordelia's drawing from earlier, voicing her description of 'ugly, gray blob' and Wesley who had been badmouthing himself agreed before realizing what it was, and Angel said this was a sculpture by Van Gieson called 'Maiden with Urn', saying this could tell where Barney had taken Cordelia, eventually convincing Wesley to help, saying he could translate Klu-click-na, and Wesley got up, now deciding to help.
"Finally", Xander said as all felt a little better now.
Later, they found the sculpture while searching on the computer, seeing it had been sold to the Ramsay Hotel Chain in 1982, and there were 12 between here and Diego, so it had to be one of them, and Wesley translated the word, realizing it was an auction.
"Auction?!" Willow said, outraged. "They sell body parts at an auction?!"
"That's the lowest you can sink too", Tara agreed. "No matter who you are."
"Such creeps", Dawn muttered in agreement.
"And it is happening out in the open", Xander pointed out something even more disturbing.
"Let's just all agree this is horrible, and must be stopped", Buffy said.
"That we can", Giles agreed.
At the auction, there were many Demons and humans, including a sleek businesswoman with 'Wolfram and Hart' on her briefcase.
"So they joined the party too", Giles noted.
"So surprised…..not!" Buffy said.
Barney managed to sell the horn, joking about stabbing enemies and even one's own wife with it, saying the power to drain life force was an investment in the peace of mind, and Cordelia was lead in, her gag being taken off as Barney said she was a rare find. Cordelia started she wasn't a seer and had one vision of something she had eaten, making Hank cover her mouth.
"She's making it even worse for herself", Willow muttered.
Barney hyped Cordelia, saying she had the eyes of a seer and there were many possibilities, the bidding starting and managing to go up to 11,000 already. Angel hung up the phone back at his place, telling Wesley, who was taping a knife to his knee, that Hotel Ramsay in LA had redecorated and the Van Gieson sculpture used to be in the lobby.
"Now they know where to go", Buffy sighed in relief.
"Betting in an auction on a living person", Tara noted in disgust.
Cordelia started hyping herself, trying to increase her value to stall, listing out all her eyes could do as a white haired guy and another one both kept raising the values, before the other one beat the white-haired guy, ending it at 20,000, while the lawyer from Wolfram and Hart was instructed to do as she decided.
"Now Cordelia's getting it", Xander said.
"Yeah, but that can only go on for so long", Giles pointed out.
The lawyer then said 30,000, sealing the deal.
"And there it goes", Buffy said as all groaned.
Later, people were picking up their stuff in the storage room, as the woman said they only wanted the eyes, and Barney managed to bargain for an extra thousand, asking Hank for the extractor though he wanted to do it himself but eventually gave it to him, while a gagged Cordelia whimpered.
"Oh crap! Damn Wolfram and Hart!" Dawn said.
"Reach quickly!" Willow said.
Angel and Wesley arrived, an usher pointing them to the convention hall, and there Angel asked an employee about the auction, who feigned ignorance, making Angel vamp out and grab him by the lapels as he told them the location.
"Now they're here!" Buffy said.
Hank pushed Cordelia down with the chair as Barney hit and taunted her, the lawyer watching while Angel and Wesley arrived at the auction room, a guy walking from behind a curtain and asking if they had a number, and a second later, in the storage room, the guy came sailing through the door, distracting Barney as Angel and Wesley ran in.
"Now they're gonna get theirs", Tara said as all got excited.
Angel battled the security people as Wesley tried to get his knife but fell down due to it being taped, a guy heading for Angel falling over him.
That drew some chuckles.
Angel was held back by two guys as he kicked the stake out of the hands of a third, asking Wesley to get Cordelia as he crawled to her and removed her gag, inquiring about her well-being before trying to get his knife and failing.
"Why did you tape it so tight?" Willow wondered.
"He thinks he is Sean Connery, but he is George Lazenby", Giles said, and no one could disagree. [2]
"You watch movies?" Xander suddenly asked.
"Of course I do!" Giles said, making all chuckle again.
During that time, Angel smashed one security person through a case and beat another back as the lawyer woman walked off. Wesley saw a claw lying on the floor and used that to cut the ropes as they started running when Barney punched Wesley back. Wesley fought back, deflecting some blows. "You! Butcher and innocent girl, will you?" He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I'm going to thrash you to within an inch of your life", Barney smirked while he added. "AND THEN I'M GOING TO TAKE THAT INCH!"
All wondered whether to be impressed or amused, as the line was quite cool, but Wesley's delivery made it comedic instead.
The lawyer walked off some stairs, telling her employers their merchandise had been taken off the market, joking '3 guesses by whom'.
"This war continues", Buffy commented.
Angel beat down the security people, elbowing one down as Wesley rammed into Barney, sending him to the floor and ramming his head on it before Barney turned him over, beating him when Cordelia grabbed the Kungai horn and stabbed him in the back. Barney gasped, getting off of Wesley, looking pained, and tried to reach out to Cordelia as he jumped before he fell down, disintegrating into nothingness as only his clothes remained.
"So, killed by the horn of the Demon he killed to sell by a woman whose eyes he tried to sell", Willow noted.
"Seems fitting", Tara agreed.
"Yeah, and it was painful too", Xander said, satisfied.
Angel came running up as Cordelia hugged him. "I never doubted for a minute that you'd find me."
"That looked cute", Tara said about Cordelia hugging Angel in his Vamp face.
"Tell me about it", Willow agreed.
Angel said he was lucky due to a rogue Demon Hunter by his side, Wesley liking being appreciated as he said he was glad to be of service.
"Yes, he did help", Buffy agreed.
Back at the apartment, Cordelia ironed her wrinkled drawing, all agreeing Barney had it coming, and Cordelia also said he had started her bidding at 2000 dollars.
"She is priceless", Xander said and all nodded.
Cordelia put the picture in a frame, saying it was for saving her life, and as a reminder of Doyle.
"Nice way to remember him", Dawn said as all sighed sadly on remembering him, but knew they had to go on. He had died, and watching more of these could be a way to honor his sacrifice by them.
Wesley decided to go off, saying he would be where evil lurked, while Angel set up the table and poured orange juice for Cordelia who asked Wesley to keep in touch, and he picked up his bag, looking at the two people as he said he was going, Cordelia asking him to take care. He slowly disappeared around the corner to go up the steps. But after a moment strolled back into the room. "No rest for the wicked fighters. Through storm and rain – heat – famine", he looked at Angel putting some scrambled eggs on a plate, "deep, painful, gnawing hunger – I go." Angel looked over at him. "Breakfast?" Wesley quickly put down his bag and took off his jacket. "Ooh –", he eagerly hurried to the table. "I suppose so."
"You could have just asked directly", Willow said, all shaking their heads in amusement.
"He is too proud for it", Giles said.
Cordelia told Wesley. "One of the perks of the job. After an all-nighter of fighting the lurking evil – we get eggs." Angel set a plate of eggs down in front of Wesley. "Toast?" "Please!" Cordelia commented. "I'm famished. He's a good cook for someone on a liquid diet." "Astonishing, really", Wesley said. "Mhm-mm." He turned to Angel. "Did you say something about toast?" Angel set a plate of toasted bread on the table, and both Cordy and Wesley grabbed a slice. The screen went black.
"So there, a new member joins Angel Investigations", Buffy said. "Which they needed."
"Well, this one was much needed after the previous one", Xander said.
"Can't disagree", Tara nodded.
"We are going to watch two more today, right?" Dawn asked.
"Yes, two more would do", Giles agreed.
"Yup", Willow nodded too.
"All right then", Buffy said, moving to the next one.
Man, Barney really had us all fooled, didn't he? Him turning out to be a sadist was so horrifying.
[1] Anyone else found it annoying that Xander didn't pick up much in the way of fighting skills up until the final Season? I mean, before that, in Seasons 2 and 3, he had some fighting skills due to his army memories, and could fight, but Season 4 onwards he clearly started losing them, and completely lost them by Season 5, so one would think he would try to pick up some skills during that time as he is part of the Scooby Gang, but he only showed fighting skills in the final Season and then the comics, where his military mind did come into play.
[2] This is Wesley's description from the script of 'Bad Girls', in which he first disappeared, and it says there that Wesley thinks he's Sean Connery while being George Lazenby actually.
Speaking of Wesley, nowhere else have I seen a character who starts out as comic relief and then turns into a hot, sexy, rugged, broody badass completely by the later Seasons. Seriously, his brooding can give Angel a run for his money.
Also, anyone think that lawyer woman was a prototype version of Lilah? Like they planned to do something with her before shafting it. Whatever it was, I'm glad they didn't do it, since this show won't be the same without Lilah.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with….HAWKEYE! HELL YES! Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!