Part 7

Part 7

John had just picked up his bag from the counter when he heard a commotion at the other end of the store. Glancing over, he saw Chiana, Aeryn, and a scared kid staring at something on the floor. Oh God, he thought as he and Wesley rushed over to find Cordelia in an unconscious heap at their feet.

"What happened?" exclaimed the Brit, dropping his bags and kneeling over her.

"She…she…"the boy stuttered staring at Aeryn then running for his life out the door. John didn't have to guess what "she" had done.

"Aeryn, you didn't," he said looking into her eyes.

A small, dark smile crossed Aeryn's face. "Yes, I did. Coming?" she asked him, turning and heading for the door.

"D--n it, Aeryn," John muttered desperately wishing that this hadn't happened. Punching people out in public was not good and now Aeryn was in one of her I-am-superior moods. Silently cursing the pin-up girl for frontal assault, John furtively glanced around the store at the curious faces peering over clothing racks, grateful that no one had seen enough to merit calling the police.

"What happened, Chiana?" he asked the odd looking Nebari squatting across from Wesley.

"What does it look like?" she snapped up at him. "Aeryn punched Cordelia."

John clenched his teeth in frustration. "I know, but *why* did she feel inclined to give her a knuckle sandwich?"

"She said some stuff," she replied avoiding John's gaze.

"What stuff?" he persisted.

"I think she's coming round," interrupted Wesley.

"Is Buffy's mental sister gone?" Cordelia asked groggily, holding her head tightly and sitting up. Wesley handed her a couple of Tylenol from her purse that she always kept handy for vision-aches and explained to the panicked clerk that no ambulance was necessary for Cordy's "fainting spell".

Cordelia's return to the living ended both the conversation and the shopping trip. John never did find out what she said to push Aeryn over the edge, but he figured, given Aeryn's mood, it couldn't have been much.

An hour later, the tense group was back in Angel's building. Cordelia was holding an ice pack to her eye and glaring sharpened stakes at Aeryn as they entered the office. Aeryn glared back with a triumphant gleam in her eyes just daring the human girl to give her another reason.

"How 'bout lunch?" said John trying to ease the tension and failing.

Wesley nodded, uncomfortably glancing at Cordy. "Um... Cordelia, why don't you-"

"I'm not going anywhere with *this*," she snapped cutting him off.

"Right, then I'll just..." Wesley mumbled, "...pizza?" He looked around for confirmation, receiving only a quick nod from Crichton among the otherwise distracted crowd. "Pizza, then," he said. "Cordelia you better stay for calls..."

"Me an' Aeryn 'll go downstairs," spoke up John, nodding to Wesley's lifted eyebrow. "Chi, why don't you stay with Cordelia?"

The thief looked up at him quizzically. "What?...Oh, yeah I'll, I'll stay," she said glancing back and forth between her new friend and her angry shipmate, catching on.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Hey, Aeryn," John called from the refrigerator looking for something to drink. There was nothing except blood and an opened can of Pepsi that John chose to forgo. Grimacing, he decided that the idea of drinking blood was nastier than even Rygel's most prized delicacies.

"What is it, Crichton?" Aeryn asked walking into the kitchen.

John closed the fridge and pointing to his bag on the table, grinned evilly. "I got you something," he told her, enjoying the moment, anticipating the look on her face when she saw what he got her.

Giving him her trademark are-you-crazy look, Aeryn opened the bag and pulled out the most ridiculous thing she had ever seen. It was a pair of undershorts like Crichton's except these had patch sized, yellow smiley faces all over them.

"What's this?" she asked with a half smile and dancing eyes. John grinned even wider, knowing that she liked them in spite of herself.

"Your very own boxers, Sunshine, so you don't have to keep borrowing mine," he told her devilishly.

Holding her new, cheerful underwear up for closer inspection, Aeryn said, with a wry expression on her face, "I am never going to wear these."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Spruce!" Angel called into the dark, cluttered room, "you back here?" He and D'argo were in the back storage room of The Holiday Shop, a cheerful front for Spruce's illicit activities. Large crates and cardboard boxes were stacked up to the ceiling, leaving only a few narrow paths. Styrofoam worms and shattered Christmas balls and Easter eggs crunched underfoot as the two warriors made their way through the dark to the single, uncovered lightbulb at the other end of the room.

"What is this place?" D'argo asked quietly.

"This is Spruce's storage room," replied Angel. "He's the best magic and drug dealer in LA. Anything you want he can get. I deal with him when I need ingredients for spells or when I'm looking for someone, like now. He's got a perfect memory and knows everything about his clients in case he needs to blackmail them to keep his cover."

"So he knows you're a vampire?"

Angel nodded. "He also knows I have friends in the police department and enough dirt on him to lock him away for fifty years."

Under the light, a little, redhead with glasses hunched over a rickety table covered in order forms. "Just a minute," he said not looking up from his forms and lists as the two approached.

"Happy Halloween, Spruce!" said Angel, jovially clapping the man on the back.

"Angel," the man said warily, putting down his pen and regarding his guests nervously. "What can I help you with today?" he asked.

"I need to know about a Langston demon by the name of LeCuinda," Angel told him. Behind the table, Spruce slitted his eyes, going through the filing cabinets in his mind. Angel watched, once again amazed at the brainpower of this little man and the power he held because of it.

"Yeah, I know him," Spruce said coming out of his trance. He didn't say anymore, just stared at Angel, while the vampire tried to figure out what the hell he was waiting for. "You know," said Spruce almost slyly, "blackmail or not, I know you're too honorable to not not pay me."

Why was everyone always pumping him for money? Angel wondered. "Don't push your luck," he said menacingly. Spruce sighed, disappointed and told them what he knew.

"A week ago I get a call from one of his flunkies for an order of Pleset, a drug that stimulates awareness. I had some in stock, another one of his dudes came and picked it up, I put it on his account. End of story."

"Where does he live?" asked Angel wondering why the demon would want an awareness drug.

"Big fortress of a place in Beverly Hills," Spruce said writing the address down on a blank form. "Mando security."

"Thanks," said Angel pulling out a twenty and handing it to the little man.

"Twenty bucks?" Spruce was indignant. "A lousy twenty bucks? Are you kidding me? That was worth way more than a measly twenty! I get seventy-five for half an ounce of toenail juice and you give me twenty for grade-A information?" Angel just gave him a feral smile and disappeared into the gloom of the storage room, D'argo following closely on his heels.

"So now we go to the Bevy Hills," said D'argo softly.

"We'll go tonight," replied Angel thinking of the sun, currently high in the sky. He wouldn't be much help to D'argo if he suddenly was a pile of ash, he thought.

"Cover of darkness," said the Luxan, misinterpreting the reasoning but agreeing with the timing. Angel idly wondered what John had told him about vampires.

"What is toenail juice?" the alien asked as they exited back into the ally where D'argo's mugger still lay unconscious.

Glancing at the closing door, Angel decided he really didn't want to know. "I have no idea," he said. "Magic's weird."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Meanwhile, in a certain Beverly Hills mansion, built like a fortress, a certain demon was talking on the phone.

"I'll take no less than 500,000...He's the only one of his kind on the planet, that's why. I'm not giving him away...I've already got plans for Kyff, he won't be leaving...Don't even think about trying that, I'm the only one who can understand his gibberish...Good luck finding another Langston demon. 500,000, take it or leave it. I hear Sanders is holding an auction in two weeks. I can wait if you don't like my price."

He hung up the phone, imagining the money that would soon be rolling in.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

When Angel and D'argo got back, everyone was at the kitchen table chowing down on three large pizzas - cheese, pepperoni, and supreme. Cordelia and John were swapping pizza stories from high school, and in John's case college and beyond, while the others ate and listened in eager silence.

Chiana marveled at the pure fun Crichton and Cordelia had had while growing up, desperately wishing that some of it had been present in her childhood. A repressed childhood that had ended when she woke up to the unpleasant facts of her life and run away at thirteen cycles. Slamming the door on those buried memories, Chiana glanced at Aeryn. The ex-PeaceKeeper was smiling at something John had just said, but it was a sad smile, not quite understanding what the human was talking about, but longing to know - longing, Chiana realized, to have known that kind of youth, as she did. Where had they been at sixteen, when Crichton was playing tricks in the science lab and Cordelia was the center of adored attention? Chiana had been in a street gang on some wasted planet, addicted to a drug that got her thrown in the detention center. Aeryn had probably been mindlessly killing people on one PK mission or another. Some childhood.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

For her part, Cordelia was surprised that the long, lost astronaut, in addition to being a total nerd, had actually had a life before leaving Earth. So her remarks that had earned her a black eye and a headache were a little off, but then she always said exactly what she thought even when she wasn't thinking. He was a little crazy, but in a good way, she decided after hearing about the time he and his friend had so many pizza boxes that they used them as a spare table.

Angel and D'argo came into the kitchen then, the doom and gloom look in her boss's eye warned Cordy that something was definitely up. "Did you find the lair?" she asked getting up and grabbing a mug out of the cabinet.

"We-what happened to your eye?" Angel demanded as soon as he saw the purple bruise.

Cordelia turned away, once again embarrassed and miffed about the little incident in the store and what it had done to her face. "Aeryn hit me for no reason," she told him.

"What?" the vampire turned to the very tense people sitting at his kitchen table. Wesley looked decidedly uncomfortable, Chiana as if she were about to bolt at the first sign of trouble, and John was holding an angry Aeryn in her seat with both hands. Angel decided that now was definitely not the time. "I'll look at it later," he said meaningfully, turning back to Cordelia.

Before she could protest, Wesley spoke up and pulled the conversation back to the matter at hand. "So what did you find out?" he asked.

"We have the address to the Langston's mansion, but Spruce said it's built like a fortress," Angel replied accepting the mug Cordelia practically slammed into his hand then pouring himself some pig's O-positive.

"We're scouting it out tonight," added D'argo, gingerly accepting a plate of pizza from John. "What is this?" he asked as he gave the plate a careful sniff.

"Pisa" Aeryn told him around a mouthful of gluey cheese, her bad mood somewhat dissipated.

"It's tasty. You'll like it," Chiana added grinning up at him through her lashes.

The tall Luxan almost dropped his plate, eyes wide, jaw dropping to his knees, when he saw her altered appearance. He worked his mouth trying to get some words out while John and Aeryn snickered and Wesley and Angel exchanged amused smiles behind his back. Cordy rolled her eyes trying to surpress a totally inappropriate grin, but he looked so adorable when he was flustered that she just couldn't help it. "You look...strange," he finally managed.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Chiana replied impishly, stripping away the last shreds of dignity D'argo possessed.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Part 8

John Crichton whistled softly through his teeth at the sight before him. "And I thought the Gammak base was bad," he muttered into the darkness.

The remote, Beverly Hills mansion that arrogantly stared down a gentle hill at its five observers was indeed, as Spruce said, built like a fortress. First there was the wrought iron fence, twelve feet high buzzing with a current that would light up downtown Los Angeles, the security cameras every thirty feet around the perimeter, and the security hut on the inside of the wired gate. Then fifty yards of open lawn, sans trees, to a thirty-foot stone wall, with guardhouses, that surrounded the mansion. To complete the image of impregnability, guards and who-knows-what-else roamed the grounds, some with dogs and guns, others with just guns.

John turned to the others standing with him in a copse of palm trees across the street from the fort. "Are you sure we're not in a James Bond movie?" he sarcastically asked Angel, thinking of all the tight spots the infamous ladies man got himself into and out of.

The vampire's eyes flickered to John's face before returning to their study of the mansion. "Possibly," he replied. "One reason LeCuinda got rich so fast was because he rented this place out to a couple of studios. I don't know which ones - though Cordelia could probably tell you if it was Bond or not."

Surprised, John looked back at the mansion and tried to place it in a movie he'd seen, but it wouldn't fit. He thought it ironic that here he was, in Hollywood, on a Hollywood like rescue mission that was never going to hit the box office. He even had aliens, spaceships, and vampires in this insane situation, even romance maybe, he thought glancing at Aeryn.

"See anything else, Wes?" Angel's voice pulled John out of his deteriorating thoughts.

The Brit shook his head, taking his inferred binoculars from his eyes. "Just more guards on the far parapet," he said dejectedly.

"We better go then," said Angel, turning away from the mansion and silently fading into the shadows as he walked back to his car.

On the lawn John saw something that definitely had horns and a tail walk by with what looked like a mutant lion. "This is so creepy," he muttered, shivering at the freaky sight before hurrying after the others

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Back on Moya, Zhaan was worried. Aeryn hadn't contacted them for almost a day and as a result, Zhaan was feeling helpless. She knew something was wrong because something always went wrong-there were maybe four commerce planets they had landed on that had not gotten them into some sort of trouble. Zhaan sighed and left command for her quarters, in desperate need of meditation. Just the thought of her four crewmates on the surface gave her a headache. The only good thing about the whole expedition was that Rygel was not on it. Instead, she thought, gritting her teeth as a crash resounded through Moya's hallways, she was stuck with him.

"Rygel, what are you doing?" she demanded a moment later at the doorway to Chiana's quarters.

The little dominar hovered an inch above the floor over broken jar and various trinkets Chiana had collected, looking very pleased with himself. "I'm inspecting all the rooms looking for valuable trade goods," he told Zhaan not looking up from his find. "Ah, a torlkle," he murmured picking up a shiny piece of twisted metal. "This will go very nicely in my collection."

"Rygel," Zhaan snapped walking over and pulling him out of the room. "This has gone far enough. By the time the others get back, I suggest you had better have all their things back where you found them."

"I am a dominar of-" Rygel began pompously.

"Rygel, do you *wish* to die?" Zhaan asked exasperated but not surprised. Of all of them, Rygel was the one who had changed the least. He remained the greedy, self-serving toad she had first met when they had escaped. Would he ever learn, Zhaan wondered as she turned away to her quarters, shedding her robe as she did so.

Rygel hastily looked away from the offensive sight and zoomed to his own room with Chiana's torlkle still in his hand. "No," he said softly to himself in response to her query. "But sometimes I wonder."

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

"Tea, anyone?" Angel asked as he and the scouting party tromped into his kitchen at two a.m.. He got a couple of nods from Aeryn and Wesley so he put the kettle on.

"So what do we do now?" Wesley asked what was on all their minds. D'argo and Aeryn looked at John who just shrugged and rubbed at his tired eyes. They all just sat there for a while, thinking, trying to come up with any weakness that could be exploited. It wouldn't be easy with security that tight. There were not many places Angel couldn't sneak into and the mansion was one of them. With all the wards and technology against him he would be lucky to stay in one piece long enough to heal. Shaking his head, Angel tried to think up a couple of ideas that might work.

From the expressions around the table, no one else was having much luck either. Poor Wesley was falling asleep, exhausted from working since before dawn. The ex-Watcher was good at research and paperwork, even if his "rogue demon hunting" skills left a little to be desired, Angel thought with a smile. Next to him, Aeryn traced imaginary diagrams with her finger on the tabletop. Her brow creased as she thought hard, and the vampire could almost hear the cranking of the wheels in her head. D'argo suddenly got up and started pacing, clearly impatient for action instead of thought while John's eyes followed D'argo back and forth in front of the stove, his head resting on his crossed arms on the table.

"What if we get an appointment to see him?" John asked suddenly. "Say were from a studio wanting to rent the place for a movie, and just walk in?" His eyes darted around the table looking for reactions while his head stayed still. His two shipmates and Angel looked at him without any expression on their faces and Wesley had succumbed to sleep. It was possible though, Angel mused, but it wouldn't work for all of them. How would they get D'argo in, for instance?

"Crichton," said Aeryn, before Angel could voice his objections, "these types of plans of yours never work. They always backfire on us."

"Yeah, but it was never *my* fault," the human said defensively. "And we're not dead yet, are we?"

"No thanks to you," D'argo muttered clenching and unclenching his fists, as he and Aeryn gave the poor guy the intergalactic get-real look. John lifted his head up with an outraged expression on his face.

"We could cut through the outer fence," Angel said quickly, leaning forward to distract them. He did *not* want a repeat of this morning's fight. "If we do it in a secluded spot, the guards won't be able to hear it. Then Wesley can cast a fog spell and we can get to the inner wall. From there we just bust our way in." Aeryn and D'argo nodded, immediately liking the plan but John shook his head.

"Won't work," he said, sitting back in his chair. "That's a high voltage fence, the potential difference is probably high enough to electrocute you while you're cutting out a hole, insulation or not."

"Like that's going to kill me," Angel replied sarcastically, a little miffed that his plan was being shot down.

"But it will still knock you out, right?" John asked. Angel gritted his teeth and nodded reluctantly. "Thought so. But that's not -"

"Crichton," D'argo testily interrupted, "if that's the only option we have, then we must take it. It's an acceptable loss in fire power."

"But-" John tried again.

"Damn it, that's my son in there!" D'argo snapped slamming a fist down on the table.

Wesley woke up with a start at the noise and sat up still half asleep. "Have you got a plan yet?" he asked no one in particular. Aeryn shook her head no.

"D'argo's right," Angel said to John, ignoring Wesley. "The boy is the only thing that matters."

John held up a hand for silence. "I know, but shut up and listen. With that kind of voltage, electrons will be jumping the gap and *we'll* be Kentucky fried if we try to go through that hole," he explained.

"Then what do you suggest, Crichton?" Aeryn asked tiredly. "Jump over the fence?"

John shook his head, "I don't know. There just has to..." His words trailed off as he looked at Aeryn, eyes flickering back and forth as he stared through her. Suddenly he smiled, "Aeryn, you're a genius!"

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Part 9

Angel stood on the roof gazing at the lighted city. It was about four in the morning; the others had gone to sleep after they had discussed and fought over John's plan, but Angel couldn't sleep. He felt guilty that he had to have their help to help them. It was an odd situation and one he wasn't comfortable with since he didn't know them that well. But he couldn't not help them. How was he to atone for all those he'd killed if he didn't help people because he didn't trust them? The problem was, he did trust them on gut instinct.

Angel sensed someone behind him and gathered his muscles in case he had to fight before realizing that it was only Aeryn. Quietly, she came up and stood beside him looking out over the city. They stood together in silence for a long while, just looking and thinking their own thoughts.

"Couldn't sleep?" Angel finally asked quietly.

Aeryn continued to look at the lights of Los Angeles debating whether or not to tell him anything. She was silent for so long that Angel thought she had decided not to, but then she spoke very softly, almost telling the lights, "I had a dream."

Angel recognized the unspoken pain in her voice and didn't say anything. He knew the power of disturbing dreams and the raw wounds they could open. So he remained silent and just wondered what wounds they had opened in the woman beside him.

"You're not saying much," Aeryn said, surprising Angel into looking at her.

"Should I?"

"No," she answered speaking quietly.

"I just figured that if you wanted to talk you would." They lapsed into silence again, but his time it was more comfortable.

"Why are you helping us?" Aeryn asked, suddenly breaking the stillness. "We meet you in a bar, you follow us, let us stay in your home, and we haven't even discussed payment." She looked at him questioningly and Angel could smell the slightest tinge of fear rolling off of her. Fear of the unknown.

His lips quirked into a half smile as regarded her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you or anything as payment," he told her. Aeryn relaxed slightly but still waited. Angel sighed and looked back out at the lights, the smile fading into his creased, brooding brow. Before he even realized he what he was saying, he started to tell her. "For a hundred some years, I was the Scourge of Europe, the most viscous vampire in the world. I tortured and murdered countless people in the most horrible ways imaginable and I loved every instant of it." Angel glanced at Aeryn to see how she was taking the news. Her face was expressionless, but she hadn't jumped back in disgust or fear, in fact her fear was completely gone. "Then I killed a gypsy girl," he continued, "and her people cursed me. They restored my soul with a clause that said if I was ever perfectly happy it would be gone again. So for the last hundred years, I've had live with all the terrible things I did and now I'm trying to pay it all back by fighting against evil." He looked back at Aeryn to see her once more staring at the lights digesting his story.

"At least you can repay them," she finally said quietly and Angel realized with a start that tears glistened in her eyes. "All I can do is live with myself." Caught off guard, Angel had no reply to her simple admission. What had she done? he wondered, but then remembered the way she handled her gun and punched out Cordy. She was a soldier.

"What happened?" he asked in a low voice, curious but not wanting to push too hard.

"I was a peacekeeper soldier my whole life until my contact with Crichton labeled me 'irreversibly contaminated'," she said briefly. "He's my curse." Angel nodded remembering all the wars he'd seen in his lifetime. "And my blessing," Aeryn added so softly that if Angel hadn't had enhanced hearing he wouldn't have caught the words that drifted almost silently into the night.

"So," said Angel racking his brain for a change in topic, "what did you mean when you said that John's plans always backfired?"

"Not all of them, just the ones where we pose as other people," Aeryn corrected him. "Those always manage to get us almost killed. Or worse." A flash of pain crossed her face as another painful memory surfaced in her mind. "How much did Crichton tell you about us?" she asked suddenly.

"As little as possible," Angel replied wondering where this was going. "All I really know is that you're shipmates and you're looking for D'argo's son."

"Did he tell you we're fugitives?" she asked staring straight ahead. Angel could only shake his head, surprised, yet not. It fit them, he thought, the wariness, the attitude.

"I'm assuming that since you haven't dusted me yet you aren't going to," the vampire said lightly, not really caring what they had been imprisoned for. He trusted them enough that it didn't matter.

Aeryn turned to him and almost smiled. "I wanted to at first, but Crichton wouldn't let me and since it was his planet I figured I could kill you later if I had to."

"Thanks, I'm glad I made such a good first impression," Angel said wryly.

"At least you didn't frell up the second one," Aeryn replied, grinning contagiously, and Angel felt a smile slowly transform his face, banishing his depressed mood as the sun banishes the darkness.

###############################

"Crichton, I think there's one detail you forgot," said D'argo, walking just behind the astronaut.

"Oh and what's that?" John demanded as they reached their destination.

"How are we all going to fit?" Angel, Crichton, Aeryn, and D'argo were in the dump at midnight, again, standing in front of Aeryn's Prowler.

"Oh, my God!" breathed Angel as he saw the fighter for the first time. "That's yours?" he asked no one in particular, staring at the beat up, yet sleek machine with a bemused smile on his face.

"It's mine," Aeryn said emphatically coming to a stop next him.

"She's beautiful," Angel commented and Aeryn smiled, pleased that he liked her ship.

"You know, the three of us fit in after the we blew up Scorpy's moon," John answered D'argo, wondering just how they *had* managed that after all.

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, there's four of us now!" D'argo snapped.

"Gee, you think?" Crichton snapped back, starting to get really pissed off at Mr. Attitude. D'argo glared at him, but before either of them could do anything both Aeryn and Angel stepped between them.

"Crichton," Aeryn said grabbing his attention. "We're just flying over the fence, not at high altitude, right?" she asked. John nodded wondering what she was thinking. "Then one of you three can ride outside the cockpit."

The three men stared at her in disbelief wondering if they had just heard what they thought they had. "Are you insane?" John demanded when he finally managed to pick his jaw up off the ground.

"No more than you are," Aeryn replied. She turned away then and climbed into the cockpit of her ship to get ready for take-off.

John looked at the other two men who hadn't moved. Which of them got the joyride? John hoped like hell that it wouldn't be him, but with his luck he would be the one on the outside without a parachute.

"I'll do it," said Angel unexpectedly. John could have kissed him; D'argo just stared. "What?" the vamp asked him. "It sounds like fun."

They walked over to the Prowler and John snickered when he heard D'argo mutter "I'm surrounded by Crichtons."

#############################

LeCuinda was in his office on the top floor of his mansion when he heard the sounds of engines, yells, and gunfire. Rushing to his window, he saw a strange and frightening sight. A black fighter plane had landed inside the stone wall and was firing explosive energy at his guards who screamed and fell with burning holes in their chests. Even his demons were slowed by the firestorm. A man in black suddenly dropped from the top of the plane and three more leapt out of the cockpit, weapons drawn. By the time LeCuinda had gathered his scattered wits, the four intruders were already in the building.

#############################

Once inside the building the four rescuers split up; Angel and D'argo went left, Aeryn and Crichton went right. Each pair was looking for a way to the basement where Jothee was most likely to be held.

There were just two problems with the Crichton's plan: they didn't know where the stairs down were, and there were humans and demons inside attacking them. Stealthily, D'argo and Angel slid down the hallway, opening or breaking open every door they came to. Then the sound of pounding feet reached them from the end of the corridor. With only a glance between them, the two warriors turned into a low, servants' hallway and let the feet pass by. When silence reigned again they continued their search.

Their first encounter came as soon as they rounded the next corner. Two scaly, drooling demons jumped back in surprise, a hesitation that cost them their heads as both Qualta blade and sword swept them from their hunched shoulders.

Ten minutes, and several dead guards later, they found the stairs. Cautiously, Angel led the way down the dark passage. Halfway down, the wooden stairs gave way to concrete and D'argo knew they were underground. There was a light at the end of the passageway and as they drew nearer to it, D'argo's hearts began to beat twice as fast. Jothee was at the end of the tunnel.

So were five human guards and a very smug sebacean. Two bullets hit Angel as he and D'argo exploded from the tunnel. The vampire vamped out and slashed the neck of the nearest guard as he kicked another across the room. D'argo shot a third with his rifle then shifted it back into blade mode to spear the panicked guard running at him as Angel disarmed the fifth.

"Well done, Luxan," the sebacean complimented drawing a pulse pistol and firing at Angel. D'argo's companion flinched as the little yellow bolt of light hit his shoulder and sent him to the ground with the guard he held. "Pathetic monsters they have here on Earth," the sebacean told D'argo conversationally.

The Luxan glanced down at Angel, his face normal again, who nodded toward the cell door behind the sebacean. D'argo had the distinct feeling that a Crichton Plan was about to happen, and he realized that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing at the moment.

"Where is my son?" D'argo growled, focusing on the bounty hunter.

The sebacean leered back at him. Angel inched himself toward the cell door.

"He's locked up in there," the bounty hunter said nodding his head at the door behind him. "And there is no key down here. If you kill me you never get through that door to your son. Ever."

Panic oozed into D'argo's bloodstream at an exponential rate. Was that the truth? Must he spare the creature that had murdered his old friend and kidnapped his son? Blind hatred for the being before him and the fear that he would never see his Jothee again drove D'argo to attack. He charged the sebacean and knocked the pulse pistol out of his hand before he had a chance to fire. The two fell to the ground, D'argo on top with his hands around the other's throat, squeezing out his life.

#############################

"Down!" Aeryn yelled at Crichton who dropped to the floor immediately so the ex-peacekeeper could fire at the man behind him. Aeryn didn't wait for him to drop, dead, as she and Crichton continued through the maze of hallways. They checked every door for stairs or anything else that might lead to Jothee, knocking off any-thing- that got in their way.

"Aeryn, look at this," said John after he kicked open another door and shot something inside. Aeryn glanced inside and saw electronic and video surveillance equipment.

"It's not stairs," she said moving back into the hall, but Crichton grabbed her arm and dragged her in with him.

"No, but we might be able to turn off the fence from here and that sure beats busting through it with an extra person," he told her closing the door that had a hole instead of a doorknob. "Can you cover me while I figure this thing out?" he asked turning to the gray panels laden with switches and dials.

Aeryn rolled her eyes and took up a position by the door. Guard duty was not her favorite occupation, but since Crichton wasn't going to leave...

All of a sudden, an alarm went off, and Aeryn nearly jumped out of her skin. She watched the door carefully, pistol straight out in front of her ready for anything. Then the glaring ringing stopped.

"Guess that wasn't it," Crichton muttered. Aeryn could have killed him but as that wasn't an option, she glared at his back instead.

John fiddled around for a few more minutes - no more alarms went off - while Aeryn tensely watched the door getting bored. She wanted to be out in the halls searching for Jothee, doing anything but stand and wait while John played with the electronics.

"Okay, I think I got it. I got it," Crichton finally said, much to Aeryn's relief. Cautiously, she opened the door and poked her head out. It was clear in both directions. "Which way?" John asked just behind her. Aeryn shrugged and led the way down the hall to the left.

#############################

As soon as he saw D'argo charge, Angel jumped up, vamped out tore down the heavy cell door. The crack between the doorjamb and the door on the hinge side was big enough for him to get his fingers in, so with a mighty roar he pulled. The two hinges twisted and broke under the stress and the door opened wrong side out.

Still vamped, Angel rushed in and found a skinny, miniature D'argo chained to a rough bed with a look of complete joy on his ragged face. He entered slowly and changed his face back to human so as not to startle the boy but he did anyway.

"I'm here to help," he said, reaching for the chain that held the Jothee prisoner. As he did so, the boy recoiled. Not sure what to make of it, Angel broke the chain.

"@!& $%& %^* ^#$@#%%&?" Jothee asked.

"I have no idea what you just said," Angel replied, sitting on the bed confused. It took him a moment to remember that Jothee did not have the universal translation spell cast on him. But before he could wonder what to do about communication, Jothee wrapped his thin arms around him and sobbed into his shirt.

A minute later, D'argo rushed in and Angel found himself enveloped in yet another set of Luxan arms.

###########################

"John? Aeryn?" there were tears in D'argo's voice over the comms.

"Yeah, Big Guy," replied John breathlessly awaiting news as he and Aeryn stopped short in the hall.

"We found him," both Aeryn and John let out their held breath. "But he's sick and hurt. We must take him directly to Moya."

"We're on are way," said Aeryn turning to retrace their steps. "The fence is off, so tell Angel to call Wesley. And, congratulations, D'argo."