Part 18

Doc watches as the Gentlemen hover over by their box. "The only two that you will not harm is the witch and the vampire, the rest are yours. Make sure your minions know this, they are not to touch those two. Is that understood?"

The Gentlemen nodded and turned back toward the box.

Doc would let them free tonight to wreck havoc on the residents of the

Hyperion. Since the Witch of the Mirror failed him he knew the Gentlemen would not or there would be hell to pay, literally. A twinkle appeared in his eye as he turned back to them, "I know you need more hearts than the others can provide. IF you succeed, there is a law firm that you can use."

Doc smiled as he thought of the horror that Wolfram and Hart would feel when their voices disappeared and the Gentlemen showed up. When this phase was complete the law firm would be no longer needed. Not that they were needed now but they were easier to manipulate when they thought their agendas coincided with his.

~~~~

It had been a couple of hours since they awoke with no voices and so far the research was coming up nothing. Wesley thought the Gentlemen looked familiar but he couldn't place where it was. Willow was trying to come up with clues from Cordelia's poem that she had said over and over. Fred and Cordelia were intently searching through books for any kind of clue.

Fred set another large leather bound volume down on the table and stood to stretch her muscles. It was eerie that the only sounds to be heard were the turning of the pages, the shuffling of feet and the normal daytime sounds from outside.

She walked around the room and idly picked up a book on fairy tales. 'This will make a nice diversion' she thought. Casually flipping through the pages her eyes opened wide and she started flipping back to what she had seen.

With a broad smile she ran over to Willow to show her the picture. Willow's mouth formed an 'O' when she realized what it was that Fred was showing her. By now the commotion the two women were silently causing roused the attention of the others in the room.

They gathered around Fred to see what she found. Wesley's eyes widened.

{That's it!} He quickly went to the pile of books and began looking through them. Finally he came upon the volume he was looking for and opened it. He turned it around for the others to see.

{The gentlemen need hearts. They come to a town and steal their voices so no one can scream.}

Gunn mouthed to the others, {Okay, so how do we kill them? Decapitation? Staking?}

Wesley sadly shook his head, {No sword can kill them}.

{Then how are we supposed to do it? My magick?}

{It says, the princess screamed once and they all died}

{So Cordy screams and they die?}

{I think they mean any human voice, Gunn}

{Okay, so how do we get our voices back? And where are they?}

{I'm afraid I don't have the answers to that.}

{In my vision I saw them around here so I know they'll be coming here if we don't find them first.}

{Holland. Doc and Astrote are at Holland Master's house.}

{You think they're behind this?}

{They were the ones behind the Witch in the Mirror and Balein, they're probably behind this as well.}

{Do you think the Gentlemen are there?}

{Probably.}

{Okay, tonight Angel and I will go to where Doc is and you guys stay here in case the Gentlemen aren't there. We at least know they're coming here eventually and we'll be ready for them}

{How do we get our voices back to kill them?}

Cordelia's eyes widen, {The BOX!} she pantomimes opening the box. {The girl in my vision held a box in her hand while saying that verse over and over.} She looks to Wesley to see if he agrees.

Wesley nods his head, {I think Cordelia is correct.}

{Yea, me.} She smiles.

Angel pulls Willow aside, {You are not going tonight. This is exactly what they want, me to bring you to them and I won't do it.}

Willow softly smiles, {This is the beginning of the end. We need to end this. No more supernatural occurrences all over the world. No more increase in demonic activity. I heard from Buffy and Xander and they are very busy with Hellmouthy activity. We need to end this, Angel. I'll do a binding ritual before we leave tonight so I can draw on the power of the coven, everyone here and especially you.} She reaches up to caress his face, {Don't worry it'll be a piece of cake. I mean look how many apocalypses we've stopped already. It's so been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. We can probably do this in our sleep.}

Angel leans his face into her hand, {I can't lose you, Ionúin. I just found you again.}

{A year and a day and then eternity. I'm holding you to it buddy.}

Angel smiles and softly kisses her.

~~~~

Since Willow couldn't talk she sent an IM to her coven in England and the Sunnydale gang to let them know that she was doing the binding ritual and to prepare for the tug they might feel.

Cordelia, Gunn and Angel were weapons training for the upcoming battle.

Swords might not kill but they can definitely wound. It was agreed that after the Gentlemen were defeated, the rest would head over to where Doc was staying and help Angel and Willow in their fight.

Wes and Fred were discussing (writing) how to slow the Gentlemen down and if they had any one helping them. In the fairy tale there were helpers. Strange little men that did the Gentlemen's bidding. They had no way of knowing if they were coming as well.

Fred had suggested using a stroboscope that used Xenon to distract them. She thought they might be sensitive to the flashing light. If not, they would definitely by distracted by it. She could get one from the UCLA lab since she had a friend that would loan it to them. Wesley thought that it was a good idea so while Willow was gathering all she needed for the ritual they would head over to UCLA.

Willow filled Angel's bath with herbed water to cleanse both mind and spirit before Spellcasting and especially before her fight with Astrote if it was to be tonight. She slowly slipped into the water and thought about all the blessings that have occurred in her life.

Mentally letting the tension go down the drain along with the water Willow was ready to start the ritual.

Angel watches from the shadows as she casts a protection circle around the area and then carefully sets her candles along the five points of the pentagram. Willow sits in the center and mentally begins the ritual. A slight pulling sensation grips Angel's torso and he casts a worried glance towards Willow.

Willow's eyes pop open and her head flies back. The protective barrier stops Angel from getting to her side. {Willow!}

He silently growls in frustration in not being able to get to her and not being able to yell to get her attention. He sees her head rise back up and she smiles at him. {I'm fine.}

She slowly rises to her feet and mentally thanks the Goddess for her kindness and then waves her hand to extinguish the candles and release the barrier.

Once the barrier is released Angel quickly moves to pull her into an embrace. Moving her head back slightly so they can see the other's lips.

{Sorry I worried you. It was the rush of all my bonds strengthening.

Especially yours and Buffy's, kinda knocked me for a loop.}

{But you're okay?}

{I'm ready to kick some hell god ass.} She smiled.