Chapter 9

"Do you have the gateway?"
"Yes my mistress." The creature moved to reveal Cordelia. She shivered and looked around her.
"Where am I?" She looked at Willow. "Willow?"
"Cordelia?" When she had evoked the doorway to the powers for her mystical ascension spell she had no idea the gateway would be Cordelia. But it was to late now. Everything was rolling and the alignments were on the way to becoming right. She trusted that it wouldn't hurt Cordelia, much, and it didn't matter.
"Put her in the cage." Willow had changed the bowels of Sunnydale High to suit her needs. It was a place she could go and not be bothered. Willow picked up a crystal that lay on a table and looked at it. Tara's face looked out at her, not seeing Willow. She palmed the crystal and left the building.
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"Still can't get through? Maybe they went out."
"Maybe." Angel had tried all the numbers a few times. He even left a message with phantom Dennis. (Talk about confusing phone calls.) He put the phone back in the cradle and looked at the others.
"You guys must be hungry. You should go out for lunch. We have to check with Xander and tell him what's up." Buffy looked at the clock. "I have to collect Dawn from school anyway."
"Dawn?" Angel cocked his head. Buffy couldn't believe the monks had overlooked giving memories to Angel. Dawn remembered Angel. She was also surprised he hadn't come across her in their few connections.
"My sister? How do I explain this. I died for Dawn. Her blood was the key to opening the dimensions, she was created by monks. Well not created. She was energy and they gave her form. She has all our memories and we remember her but it wasn't true." Angel shivered in sympathy. Her memories were implants. He had heard little bits of it but now he really understood.
"I'd like to meet her. Someone worthy of being a Summers."
"She's a chip right off the old Summers block." Spike said smiling. "We're good friends, me and her. Like me and Joyce used to be." Anya poked him in the ribs and he moved away from the counter, keeping his eyes on Angel.
"Why don't I take your friends to see Xander and Dawn. I'll bring her back here. Anya keep an eye on them since they can't go outside. Angel, keep calling." Buffy advised. She stared at Spike. "Be good."
"I am." He sat down in a chair and crossed his arms, a reprimanded child.
"Can we tour your town?" Fred asked.
"Sure." Buffy looked at Angel and raised a brow as if to say 'Where did you find her?' It wasn't a put down just an observation. They were beyond jealousy now.
"Has anyone seen Tara today?" Spike asked nonchalantly. Buffy paused by the front door.
"No. Have you guys? "They shook their heads.
"I don't mean to scare you but she usually shows up alone, since Willow started acting all ...grr?"
"No. Good thinking. We'll go check on her." They left and Anya was alone with the 2 vampires. They looked at each other with reproach, both with frowns.
"So Angel, how's LA?"
"It's fine."
"Any interesting cases?"
"We had a guy come last night who found out he had demon heritage."
"What kind?"
"It was- I don't remember." Angel took out his phone to call Wesley. He had been using the store's phone the first couple times and realized his was off. "Uh oh."
"What's wrong?"
"My phone was off. They could have tried to call and I didn't know."
"Wouldn't they have tried the store phone?"
"But if I was calling at the same time they wouldn't have been able to get through. Angel's cell phone rang to life in his hand. He turned it on. "Angel."
"Angel! It's Cordelia!"
"Calm down. What happened?"
"She had a vision of herself in danger and then was snatched away by this creature that called himself Fenris. I've been trying to call you."
"Do you know anything about this creature?"
"No. I was going to check. I'm worried about her."
"Check now. We can't find her until we know what has her. Try talking to Lorne. He might be able to help."
"Ok. Keep in touch."
"What happened?" Anya looked at him.
"Something took Cordelia."
"What kind of thing?" Spike finally chimed in, a concerned expression on his face. It was something that shocked Angel.
"Fenris."
"You didn't just say Fenris?" Anya turned pale. Angel nodded. "Fenris is a servant to Gods and other powerful people. He is used to retrieve things, sometimes between dimensions. He is like a lion at the circus and the person is the tamer. He's very disloyal and hard to control."
"Why would he get Cordelia? What's special about her."
"Isn't she a gateway to the powers or what have you?" Spike leaned on the counter.
"Someone's trying to get to the powers through her?" Angel looked at Anya in disbelief.
"Or something like that."
"I don't like the sound of this."
"Neither do I. whoever this person is, I wonder if they know what they are dealing with. Opening a gateway to the powers not only opens one to the good powers but to the bad. They work together."
"What can we do?"
"Find out who this person is first of all."
"How can we do that?"
"A spell..."