Chapter 6

"Spike with a soul." Angel said.

"I'm still processing." Buffy said. She and Angel were on patrol the next night. Conner and Dawn were at home with Xander. That afternoon was the first chance Buffy had gotten to actually talk to her husband. There was a power outage the night she had told Angle about Spike's soul and everyone had woken up late. Buffy, Dawn, and Conner had been in a huge rush and hadn't even had time to eat. They had barely made it to school on time.

"It's a lot to process."

"I remember."

"I do too."

"I love you."

"What? That was out of nowhere."

"I love you Angel. Faith made me realize that I have the best family in the world and I don't want to ever lose that." Buffy stopped and faced Angel. He wrapped her in his arms. "I love you."

"I love you." Angel kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. "I wouldn't give my family up for the world. I'd sacrifice myself for each and every one of you."

"Then please do." A gravelly voice said behind Angel.

The lovers broke apart and turned to face the pack of demons. They were now surrounded by demons with bowling ball shaped heads. Their faces were small and stuck in the middle. Their bodies were large and ripped with muscles. Garlock demons. Buffy remembered reading about them in some text Wesley had given her back in High School.

Suddenly a screeching noise above them made Buffy and Angel look up. Three demons glided down and closed the circle around Buffy and Angel, blocking their only escape. Toolian demons that looked more like a miniature pterodactyl. They were about two feet high on the ground, but they had a large wingspan of about a dozen feet. Their wings were used mainly for gliding. Buffy remembered that they could change form and pass as little people, but when they were in this form, their faces held long, narrow eyes spaced too close together and a large, heinous beak that could probably stab someone completely through with one jab.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Angel asked politely.

"We're after the vampire with a soul. I'm sniffin' and I smell a vampire in the vicinity. Vamp stink is pourin' off in waves off you. And the way you're huggin' on the Slayer there, well, that pretty much tells me you're that vamp we're lookin' for." The lead Garlock said.

"I'm sorry, but my husband isn't available for interviews at this time. Get a hold of someone who cares." Buffy said.

"We were sent to do our job and that's to get rid of this vamp."

"Sent by who?"

"Sent by me." A woman's voice said. Buffy recognized the voice just as the owner stepped through the ranks of demons. The voice belonged to Justine. "So, we meet again Slayer bitch." Justine was sporting a wicked looking scar on the side of her face. She noticed Buffy eyeing the scar. "It's nothing like yours, gotta admit, but it does seem to stand out a bit. Thanks to you anyway."

"I didn't do that."

"Sure, right. And I'm guessing that wasn't you that kicked in my face in on that boat?"

"Oh, well, I did do that."

"I'm just here to give Angelus what he deserves. We're going to finish what we started that night I got my pretty new scar. Boys."

Four of the demons stepped aside and allowed three more Garlocks to step into the circle. They had long tri-pointed spears aimed at Conner, Dawn, and Xander's guts. Their hands were bound behind their backs and Conner had a black eye. He must have put up one hell of a fight to get that.

"Mom! Dad! You're ok!" Conner said.

"Conner." Buffy said. "What happened?"

"They attacked us. Sorry about the mess in the house. We'll clean it up."

"Don't worry about it. How'd they get in?"

"They just sort of burst in."

"It's ok. We're gonna get out of this."

"Shut up!" Justine said. "Tuez, take the Slayer and that bastard son of hers out and give me the vampire."

"What about the others?" Tuez, the lead Garlock asked.

"We'll deal with them later. Right now I want to show this filthy vampire what's waiting him at the bottom of the ocean."

The demons attacked. Buffy jumped and flipped over a demon's head, landing behind him and kicking him in the small of the back. He cried out as he fell, Buffy burying a stake in the demon's head. It didn't die and Buffy stared at it as it ripped the stake out.

"Silver!" Angel called.

"What?" Buffy asked, fending off a Toolian's sharp clawed feet.

"Garlocks can only be killed by silver!"

"Ok! Well, I don't have any of that handy! Well, except.." Buffy was cut off by the talons of another Toolian demon digging into her back. The talons ripped through the cloth of her shirt and Buffy screamed as they tore her flesh.

"Buffy!"

"Mom! I'm coming!" Conner yelled. He had broken free of his bonds and managed to get Xander and Dawn to the safety of a nearby crypt. With a flip he had learned from Buffy, Conner grabbed the Toolian's wings and pulled the demon away from her and tumbled end over end until they slammed into a large headstone. Before the demon could react, Conner grabbed the beak and the back of the demon's narrow skull and twisted violently, breaking the Toolian's neck.

While that happened, a large group of Garlocks dog-piled Buffy and she yelled when pain ripped through her as she felt one of her ribs crack and heard a loud pop. Someone grabbed the demon that had sat on her rib and yanked him away. There was a loud snap and then a scream that sounded like Angel. Buffy cried out for her husband, but no answer came. Kicking furiously and using all her strength, she managed to dislodge enough of the large Garlocks and get to her knees.

Buffy stood shakily as Conner rushed over to her and helped her up. "Mom, you're hurt bad."

"I'm ok. We need to help your father." Buffy said.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. Angel?" Buffy called.

"Dad?"

A few of the Garlock demons lay unconscious on the ground, some with broken necks, and others were climbing to their feet. Buffy looked all around, but Angel was nowhere to be found. Neither were Justine and Tuez.

Conner sniffed a bit and then looked at a spot on the ground. Buffy saw it too and walked over to it. She bent down and gently wiped her finger across the ground. Her fingers came back wet and dark red.

"It's dad's." Conner said.

"How do you know?" Buffy asked.

"I'm the son of a vampire. It smells like part of my blood."

"Oh."

"That's creepy." Xander said, walking up with Dawn.

"You get used to it." Buffy stood up. "Ok. It's still early in the night. We're going to split up. Conner and I are going to see if we can follow Angel's blood. He was obviously wounded pretty badly for him to bleed like this. Xander, you take Dawn and try to get one of these guys to talk. Get Faith to help."

"What about Spike?" Dawn asked.

"Spike.. Is out. We can't use him."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now I want to get to my husband before that hell bitch hurts him even more and hurts me."

"How's she gonna hurt you?" Xander asked.

"She's going to take my husband from me and finish what she tried to get Conner to help with. She's not gonna make it this time either. Not if I have anything to say about it." Buffy turned on her heel and walked off, Conner following.



Justine had obviously taken Angel somewhere away from Sunnydale. Conner and Buffy had been looking for a while now and still no sign of her husband. They had asked everyone in Docktown if they had seen a red headed woman with a tall man with dark spiky hair and wearing all black. No one had seen anything. After one in the morning, Buffy decided they should go back to the scene of the fight and see what other clues they could pick up.

Buffy bent and rubbed her fingers back over the darkened grass. Her finger came up dry. "The blood's dried. Harder to follow a trail when the water's run dry."

"We'll find him mom. I promise." Conner said.

Buffy stood and didn't face her son. "Did you do this?"

"What?"

"Did you have Justine finish the job? Take your father away from me when I least expected it. Pretend that you actually cared about us."

"Mom, I would never. I had no idea that Justine was in town. I didn't give myself this black eye."

"Conner, I'm sorry. It's just my nerves. And the last time she tried to put my Angel in the ocean forever, it was kind of your idea."

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I know."

"Buffy!" Gunn called. Buffy and Conner turned to find Gunn and Fred running up to them.

"Gunn!" Buffy said. They shared a hug and then her and Fred before Buffy got serious. "Angel's missing. There was a fight and he got taken. It was Justine."

"We know. Xander told us. That demon they captured? He isn't talking. Not to discount the fact that Faith killed him."

"Damn it."

"We'll find him." Fred said.



Angel was completely out of it. Justine had hit him with some sort of calyinthia powder. Not to mention that he had lost a lot of blood and was probably still losing more because he kept getting woozier by the minute. One of the demons had stabbed him deeply in the side and it had hit one of his big arteries. Not that it beat, but a lot of his blood stayed there and it was all spread out through Sunnydale Cemetery and wherever he was now.

Delusions filled his mind, sometimes even his vision. At one point he was at the Hyperion having Christmas dinner with his family at a huge dining table. Conner and Buffy sat to each side of him as he sat at the head of the table. Dawn, Lorne, Fred, and Gunn sat beside Conner and Cordelia, Xander, Giles, and Willow sat next to Buffy. At the other side of the table, Wesley was there. Everyone was happy and he and Buffy were expecting another child. It had been pleasant, but, like all his other hallucinations, it ended horribly. Wesley tried to kill him, Buffy lay bleeding on the floor because she had had a miscarriage, Conner sat next to her crying, and the rest of the family was nowhere to be found.

Angel woke up from the dream/ hallucination and cried out at the pain in his side. He looked around, but there was nothing to look at. Concrete walls surrounded him and nothing but a metal chair sat in the corner. Angel could smell blood and knew that it was his own. He didn't know how long he'd been in there, but it had been quite a while. Every now and then, someone would come in and wipe up the blood. They had taken his concealed weapons and destroyed his favorite leather duster Buffy had gotten him for Christmas last year.

The door opened and Justine stepped through with a bunch of people Angel recognized from Holtz's old group. She crouched in front of him and looked into his glazed eyes.

"He's lost a lot of blood. He's not going to be a problem anymore. Hopefully, we'll dump him tomorrow. We're still trying to find that metal coffin that his little whore dumped in the ocean."

"She's not a whore, bitch." Angel whispered, barely audible to anyone.

"Let's go. I just wanted to make sure that he hadn't tried to kill himself."

"With what? You got rid of everything." One of the men asked.

As they walked out, Justine argued with the man. Angel watched them as his vision fuzzed then he blacked out into another hallucination.



"It's been a day since he was taken! She's probably already dumped him." Buffy sobbed. "I'll never see my husband again!"

"Yes you will." Gunn said. "I'm not going to let you lose him again. We're going to find him."

"He's fading fast. I can feel it in my soul. I'm going to lose him forever this time."

"Buffy, please don't say that." Fred said. "Gunn's right. We are going to find Angel and he's going to be ok. Maybe he can look forward to the time you get to spend nursing him back to health."

"Fred? Can we back off with the dirty images?" Gunn asked.

"Sorry."

"He's slipping. My soul is dying with his." Buffy sobbed softly.

Gunn pulled her into a tight hug and allowed her to cry. Fred gently rubbed Buffy's back and said soothing words. After a while, Buffy's sobs turned into silent tears. She pulled away from Gunn, but he didn't let her go. He looked down into her wet, red eyes and said, "I promise you: Angel is not dead and he's not going to die. We are going to find him and get him back for you. For all of us. You both are my best friends and if anything happened to either of you, there'd be hell to pay."

"Where's Wesley? He was supposed to be here by now." Fred asked.

Buffy looked up and then back at Gunn as he released her and walked to the desk in her bedroom. "You called Wesley?"

"We had too. He's the only one keeping tabs on Justine. He should know where she'd've taken Angel." Gunn said.

"You called the man that stole my son and handed him over to our enemy to my house?"

"Buffy, it's really time you start forgiving. Conner's back. He's happy. Your family is together."

"That's not the point. I'm not ready to forgive him. He had an equal part in stealing my son's childhood."

"I understand that! I'm sure he's.."

"Sorry? I don't really care what he is. I'm sure Angel doesn't either. Sure, I'll admit it! A part of me does WANT to forgive him, but a much, much bigger part of me says 'HELL NO!'" Buffy stormed out of her and Angel's bedroom and bounded down the stairs. She grabbed her coat and yanked open the door. Wesley stood on the other side; finger an inch away from the doorbell.

"Buffy!" Wesley said.

Buffy crossed her arms. "Do you know where he's at or not?"

"I may."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. It's not. I'm speaking from personal experience: it's not smart to piss off a Slayer."

"You just now got that lesson through your head?"

"I don't know if Justine has stayed in the same place or not, but if she has, I know where to find her."

"Then take me there."

Conner rushed up behind Buffy. "I'm going too."

Buffy turned to her son. "No. You're staying here."

"He's my father. I want to help find him."

"I know that. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Mom, I'm already hurt." Conner pointed to his black eye.

"Ok, I don't want you any more hurt."

"I'm going."

"No, you're not."

"Just let him Buffy. He's got a will like his mother's." Xander said.

Buffy sighed and looked Conner in the eyes. He had a look of resolve on his face that would shame Willow's resolve face. "Fine. Grab your coat. Xander, stay here with Dawn. Gunn and Fred are coming with us."

"Right."

"We'll be back one way or another. I promise."

"Buffy, be careful." Dawn said.

"I love you Dawnie. Be safe, all of you."

Buffy, Conner, Fred, and Gunn followed Wesley out. Buffy jumped behind the wheel of Angel's convertible and revved the engine. Conner climbed into the passenger seat and Gunn and Fred climbed in back. They followed Wesley out of town and about an hour away to a warehouse far off the main road and near a hidden dock.