Chapter Six
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Faith glanced up at the dark, stormy sky.
"My first day out of the slammer and it's dark."
"That's an apocolypse, Faith. It doesn't just change for you."
"Please don't go all watcherly on me."
"We're almost to the Hyperion."
"Thanks for springing me, Wes."
"No problems, as long as you keep up your end of the bargain."
"Kill Angelus. Won't mind that a bit."
"Are you still in shape or do we need to start conditioning you?"
"I'm five by five. Once a Slayer, always a Slayer."
Wesley stopped at the wooden door.
"You probably won't receive a warm welcome."
"Wouldn't expect one. Let's get a move on."
So, Wes opened the door for the rogue slayer and they entered the Hyperion.

Gunn stood as his former best friend and former Slayer entered the lobby.
"Hey." Faith called as she stretched out on the couch.
"Comfy. I've missed things like this."
Cordelia glared at the woman. Connor was the only one who didn't understand.
"Who's the kid?"
"Angel's."
Faith swung her legs around and she propped herself up with her elbows.
"A vampire's kid? He didn't have one when he dated B."
Wes sighed, "Connor was sent to another dimension where he grew up about 15 years in a couple months."
Faith smiled at him, "Cool."
Connor regarded her with cautious eyes.
"Don't worry, Kid. I don't bite, usually. That's your dad's MO."
Cordelia rolled her eyes in disgust. Gunn asked, impatiently. "How are you going to get Fred back?"
Faith tilted her head at the worry in his voice. She glanced between Wesley and Gunn a couple times before she started to nod. "Ah. Fred's very good."
Wes knew what she meant and almost protested, but that would clue Gunn in. Gunn shrugged unknowningly. He sat next to Faith on the couch.
"Wes, the plan?"
"We'll use a locater spell to find Angel and Fred. Then we go. I'll fight Drusilla and Faith will fight Angelus. They'll give up the most fight. Don't kill Angelus. Willow will be reciting the incantation to restore his soul. Gunn, Cordelia, Connor, and Lorne will fight some of the minions."
"You brought the geek here?"
"She's on her way."
"She's, uh, here."
The group stared up at the red-headed Wicca standing in the doorway.

Drusilla ran a razor-sharp red nail down Fred's cheek, drawing a long, thin line of blood to mar her white skin. "Such pretty color. You've going to be great, one of us!"
Angelus licked the blood off of Fred's cheek.
"Mmmmmm...tasty."
Fred held in her fear and spoke, to Angel.
"I know Angel's in there. He doesn't want this to happen."
Angelus started to chuckle.
"Angel is weak. He left with the soul, Babe. Now if Cordelia hadn't lied to me, I would be much happier. You wouldn't have to be here. You can thank the skank when you see her again."
Fred didn't understand.
"How did she lie?"
"She made so many delicious promises to me, but fell back on them. Guess you'll have to do. Innocence is good. Plus, it'll drive the watcher and the street kid crazy. Maybe I'll wait to kill them."
"Leave them alone."
"Leave them alone." Angelus mocked back. "Oh, but what fun would that be?"
Angelus tossed Drusilla a camera.
"Take a picture. I want them to see just what they're missing."
Angel vamped out, took a hold of Fred's terrifed face, and sucked on the blood from her cut. The flash snapped and the picture came out.
"Look! I'm just adorable. I like that charm. We should do it to the mirrors. I get so tired of never seeing myself. Send him to the hotel with the picture and make sure he doesn't get caught. That'd ruin everything."
Dru giggled and motioned seductively to a brown-haired boy. He hurried over, received his instructions and rushed to the hotel.

"Hi, guys!" Willow said cheerfully. She continued, "I don't know if your apocalypse is worse than ours. I can't tell. You have no sun. We can't tell if our person is the real person or just pretending to be them."
Wesley smiled at the optimistic Wicca in front of him.
"Why's she here?" Willow asked after she saw Faith talking under her breath to Gunn. "We need her to fight Angelus." Wesley answered.
Willow narrowed her eyes at the ex-Slayer with continued on inside. Lorne grabbed her bag. "Hey, Sweet Pea. I'll put this in your room."
"Thank you, Lorne. Hi, Cordy."
"How's everyone in Sunnydale?"
"Tired, confused, afraid, and sick of being over run by teenage girls."
"Same here. Except for the teenage girls thing."
Willow sat down on a chair and looked up at Wesley.
"When are we doing this?"
"I was about to start the locater spell."
Willow looked at the crystals, dust and map of Los Angeles. She nodded. A sharp knock on the door startled them all. Wesley opened it and found a photograph. He whispered, "Oh, Winifred, we'll find you."
He passed it to Faith who passed it along the circle. Mutters of "Fred!" sounded through the group. Lorne asked quietly, "How can we see Angel-Angelus in the picture? Vampires don't have reflections."
Willow and Wesley replied at the same time, "Some kind of charm."
Wes stared down at Fred's frightened face and Angel's evil glint. Angel really was gone. "We've got to hurry."
Willow lit the candles and Wesley stood at the base of the map.
"Incerro. Contre. Feledo. Samdi. Alexindofere." Willow repeated his words as they tossed the dust on the map. Wesley immediately picked the crystal up and swung it on the map. The dust started to shine, glitter and the crystal stopped in the middle of the city map. "Fifth and Olive. It's a warehouse district."
"It would make sense for him to take her to a ware house. More control."
Gunn nodded.
"Get the weapons. It's going to be a tough fight. Lots of vampires. Angelus has quite a fan club. Demons may even join his team. We have to be ready for anything.
The fang gang nodded solemnly. "Faith, Gunn, go get the weapons. Cordelia, help Willow set up for the soul restoration. Lorne, Connor, start looking for ways into the warehouses on the street. They're all identical."
Faith looked to Gunn, who led her to the weapon room. Cordelia asked, "What do you need?" Connor flicked on the computer and started to type up plans to the identical warehouses on Olive. Wesley sunk into his chair, unable to take his eyes off the photograph. How was Fred going to survive this? She was strong, but on top of the portal to Pylea being opened again by her professor and Gunn being so possessive of her, she might break. She was going to have some serious issues.