Chapter 9

"Okay, just make this next left, and the hotel should be on our right. Cordy said it doesn't have a sign. "

"Hel-lo. What's this then? Looks like a soddin' palace!"

"Well, it is a hotel, Spike."

"A hotel you said! You didn't say he owned the bloody Ritz!"

"You were expecting the Sunnydale Arms? It does look rather impressive in the moonlight, doesn't it?"

"Well…good old Peaches has certainly come up in the world, hasn't he? A hotel all his own, a boomin' business and a son. And what have I got? A blown up crypt, thank you very much. Bloody unfair, if you ask me," Spike shot a quick glance into the back seat of the SUV, "Of course, on the other hand, "his voice sank to a whisper, "he only got to shag you once."

"Spike!" Buffy hissed, jerking her head towards the back seat.

"Nibblet's asleep. Has been for the last hour."

"I don't care! Turn here, there's the ramp to the parking garage."

"Oh underground parking. Of course! Nothin' but the best for soul boy." He pulled the car into the garage, which was empty except for a vintage convertible, a beat up pickup truck and a couple of more anonymous vehicles.

"Spike…are you going to behave yourself, or do I have to leave you here in the garage?"

"I will be the soul of discretion."

Buffy leaned into the backseat where Dawn was sprawled out as much as possible, given the confines of a shoulder harness. "Dawn! Wake up. We're here."

Dawn yawned and looked around the dimly lit garage, "Where are we?"

"At the hotel. This is just the parking garage." The three of them got out of the car and headed towards what looked like the door to the lobby.

As they passed the convertible, Dawn cried out, "Oh, cool car!"

"Probably belongs to the Poof. Typical, " muttered Spike to himself.

"Did you say something, Spike?" Buffy inquired in a deceptively sweet tone of voice.

"Nope. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" He pushed open the lobby door.

The lobby seemed crowded with people. For a moment, Buffy thought she had walked into a functioning hotel, rather than Angel's private home. Then she recognized Cordelia, though her hair was quite different from those Sunnydale days. Angel was sharpening a fierce looking blade over by a very nice weapons cabinet, which had the glass broken out. She didn't see Wesley, nor did she recognize the muscular Angel look-alike doing calisthenics in the corner, or the young bald black man, the dark haired girl with the glasses or the strong looking redhead, who were drinking coffee at a small table. Not to mention the green guy in the maroon smoking jacket. In fact when was the last time anybody had even worn a smoking jacket outside of old Cary Grant movies? No less green guys with horns. As one, they all turned around when Buffy walked in followed by Dawn and Spike.

"We're here," she announced cheerfully," better late than never, I guess."

Angel put down his weapon and came over to embrace her, but stopped abruptly when he saw Spike. The temperature of the room suddenly dipped a few hundred degrees. Cordelia gasped, when she recognized him, but the others had no idea what was going on between Angel and the youngish blonde man in the long black leather coat.

"Spike. What a nice surprise! Get out." Angel said with ice in his tone.

"Peaches! Is that any way to greet your progeny?" Spike said mockingly.

"Look, I can't stop you from hanging around Sunnydale, though God knows why Buffy didn't stake you long ago. But I don't have to have you here. Get out!"

Buffy spoke up, "Angel…Spike gave Dawn and me a ride here. You know that I'm not much of a driver. He just wants to help."

Angel turned to Buffy, "Oh really. Did he bring his torturer with him?"

Buffy looked confused, but Spike answered, "C'mon Angel. You don't still hold a grudge about that Marcus thing, do you? You've done as bad to me, if not worse, back in the day."

"Look, I don't have time for this, just get the hell out of my hotel!"

"Wait one bleedin' minute, oh special one. If it comes to holdin' grudges, I could mention the fact that it was my ring of Amara, in the first place. But worse, after you stole it from me, what did you bloody do with it? Destroyed it, you bloomin' idiot! Then there's that little matter of you settin' fire to Drusilla! I could hold a grudge about that," he shot a look at Buffy, "if she were still my girl, which she's not," he added hastily.

Buffy looked at Angel; "You set fire to Drusilla?"

Spike smirked, "Her and Darla both. Right after feedin' 'em a yummy lawyer buffet! He ever tell you about that one? But then again, if my math is correct, that was right about the time he must have been shaggin' Darla, so I guess he didn't."

At that point Angel let out a growl and leapt for Spike's throat. In a flash, Buffy was between the two furious vampires, holding them apart by the sheer force of her will.

"Spike! Angel! Stop it!" she shouted, "Angel…Spike came here to help get your son back, remember him?" she then turned to Spike, "And You! You promised cooperation! And instead I get the clash of the Titanics!"

"Titans!" yelled both vampires, correcting her in unison.

"Well, thank you very much, Giles-es."

The tension immediately dissipated. Angel and Spike looked at each other, abashed.

Buffy pressed her advantage; "I don't know anything about this torture thing, Angel, or this lawyer buffet thing, Spike, though I would have to say that anything Angel did to Darla and Dru was probably deserved. But we didn't come here to rehash old times, did we? I thought we were here for a reason. Now Angel, Spike has come here to help you. If you can't accept that, well, then I really have to wonder which one of you has the soul."

"Hmmmph! Well, if you are really here to help out, then I guess you can stay, "said Angel with grudging graciousness.

Spike smiled, "By the way, congratulations on the kid. Kind of unexpected news."

"Tell me about it. Welcome Buffy and Dawn, " He gave them both a quick hug, "Come on, I'll introduce you to the gang."

Suddenly Buffy spun around, "Hey you with the stake! Yeah you…behind Spike! What's up with that?"

The redhead looked at the stake in her hand, then looked Buffy in the eye, "He's a vampire. I kill vampires."

"Not this one, you don't," Buffy snapped. She looked at Angel and Cordelia, "What's going on here? Is vampire slaying some kind of new hobby that everybody is taking up these days?"

"That's Justine," said Cordelia, "She's not really with us. It's a long story. Welcome Buffy," she gave Buffy a hug, "and Dawn. Dawn, do you remember me?"

"Well, duh, I'm not six, Cordelia." Cordelia laughed politely. Teenagers. Thank heavens she had never been like that.

"Hello Spike." Cordelia said coolly. "If Angel doesn't object to having you here, I guess I don't either. Groo?" The tall muscular man, who didn't appear quite human, appeared at Cordelia's side. "Maybe you could keep an eye on our guest."

"Certainly, My Princess," he replied before Cordelia could stop him.

"Princess," sneered Spike, "Now why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Watch it Spike, you're on thin ice, here."

"I'll behave, I promise…Princess."

Cordelia groaned. Spike was incorrigible. Hastily, she introduced everybody, and addressed the newcomers, "Listen guys, I know we have a ton to catch up on, and I really can't explain everything that's been going on the last three days, not to mention the last three years! Right now, I really want to get over to the Sixth Street Bridge and see if this thing works. Are you up for it Dawn?"

Dawn smiled bravely, "Sure. I want to do what I can."

"As long as no bleeding is involved." insisted Spike.

"No bleeding, Dawn. I promise," said Angel.

"Hey! What about Justine?" That was from Gunn. "We can't just let her go, even if her story does check out with that term paper that Wesley wrote."

Angel considered, "What do you think, Justine? We haven't forgotten what you did to Wesley. Lucky for you, he's going to be okay. If you want to turn yourself into the police, we won't stop you. But I think you'd better stay here for a while. Lorne, would you mind staying here with Justine?"

"Not at all, Angelcakes. I wasn't planning on going anyway. I've had enough of portals and alternate dimensions to last me the rest of my days. But, take care of yourself, you big lug, okay?" He gave Angel a big hug. Buffy, watching this, rolled her eyes.

Justine thought a moment, then said, "Look, uh, Angel. I'm not stupid. I know that you have, or think you have, some way of going after Connor, and that's why you're going back to Sixth Street. Well, I'd like to come along, if you'll have me. You…you're not the only one who lost somebody you...care about in that portal."

Gunn came up right behind Justine, "Justine, so help me, if you are planning any treachery, or if you are signaling somehow to the rest of your gang to attack us…"

"I'm not. I swear."

"Good," said Angel, "because you may be able to kill those run of the mill vampires you catch and torture, but not me, when I'm pissed off. Or my friend Spike, here. Am I right, Buffy?"

"Oh absolutely, Angel. You two are the Big Bads all right."

"Damn right, "Spike agreed, "And you don't want to mess with Buffy either."

"Okay everybody, let's get a move on…uh, ooooh." Cordelia suddenly froze and stood stock-still staring at something nobody else could see.

"What..." began Buffy.

"It's a vision," explained Angel, "Cordelia's having a vision." He watched anxiously as Cordelia slowly came back to the present.

"Ooh...Oh My God!"

"Headache?" asked Angel

"No," said Cordy, "I just haven't had a vision in over two weeks. It took me by surprise. There was an old man and a boy. Kind of raggedly dressed. I couldn't see where they were, but it was dark, and swampy. Strange lights in the sky. Weird noises. There…there was a kind of a fire demon. The boy and old man tried to fight it. The flames…oh God, it was awful!"

"But where, Cordy, and when?"

"I couldn't tell. It was no place I could recognize. But I did get one overwhelming feeling."

"What's that?" Fred had come up and put her arm around Cordelia.

"We have to get over to the Bridge...NOW!"

TBC