Chapter 29
Angel drove the van way beyond the speed limit, heading for Faith's apartment. All Buffy knew was she had to get to her friend and save her from a possible death. Suddenly, Angel's phone chirped loudly. As she ran Buffy ripped it out of his jacket pocket and picked it up.
"What?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy?" Lorne asked.
"Yeah."
"Are you in a car?"
"Yes."
"Trouble?"
"Big."
"Well, we have a little bit bigger problem up here."
"What?"
"Well, we're swamped with cases and some of them Gunn, Fred, and I just can't handle."
"Do you need us right now?"
"Most definitely cupcakes. And Cordy has been asking for Xander. Can you make a minor pit stop and pick the little Sugar up for her?"
"What I'm doing now? It's kind of important."
"So's the end of the world."
Buffy stopped dead. "What?"
"The cases we've been swamped with are end of the world material Blondie. So unless you want to die without another fight, I suggest you and Big Guy get over here now."
"We'll be there as soon as we can." Buffy shut the phone and handed it back to Angel.
"What?" Angel asked.
"We need to go to LA. Now."
"Why?"
"The end of the world is coming and it's starting with LA. Go to Xander's."
"Why?"
"Cordy wants him. And stop with the one line questions."
"Sorry." With a large U, Angel turned the van so that they were headed for Xander's apartment.
"He's in the apartment right now!" Faith said quietly into the phone.
"Well, get him out!" Buffy said into her cell phone.
"It's almost day."
"That's why you need to get him out now."
"You're saying that Spike may have sired this vamp you killed tonight and that Spike may have killed others?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. No. Maybe, just get him out."
"I can't send him back to Xander."
"Xander's with me. He called Anya. She's going to watch Spike. Just make sure she's ok. I got to go."
"So, you spend this hour and a half phone conversation warning me about Spike and I don't even get to fight him? I've been itching for a great fight lately."
"Faith.."
"Ok! Ok, B. Chill. Consider him gone."
"Thank you." Buffy hung up the phone and called Xander on his car phone. "Sorry to get you up for this."
"It's ok. Cordy's my friend. I want to make sure she's ok." Xander said.
"Well, we're almost there. Are you going to take her to the condo?"
"Probably."
"Good. I think she likes it there."
"It's a condo, Buffy. She's always loved that word."
"Yeah, I know. We're almost there. I'll talk to you when we get there."
Buffy and Angel walked down the stairs from their room with Lorne trailing them. They had gone up and changed clothes after Cordy and Xander had left. Gunn and Fred were picking up weapons from the weapon's cabinet.
"No." Angel said.
"Why?" Lorne asked.
"No."
"Why?"
"I said no."
"I said why. Now, let's meet in the middle with a 'why no?'"
"It's too soon." Buffy said.
"But she got her memory back. Aren't you a weensy curious if Cordy remembers anything about her little stint as a Miss Higher Power. Oh, say, maybe something about the thing-a-ma-bad that Wolfram and Hart sucked outta my noggin."
"We need to give her time to adjust before we start coming at her with a million questions."
"How bout one? One's good."
"In a couple of days when she's more herself." Angel said.
"Chime in any time." Lorne said to Gunn and Fred.
"Love to." Fred said.
"Really." Gunn added.
"We got a case."
"Need some backup?" Buffy asked.
"Nah. Woman out in Hancock Park's hearing spookies in her pipes. I don't know whether to bring my axe or a plunger." Gunn and Fred left.
"What? The worst thing we got going on is a haunted toilet?" Buffy asked.
"What about.." Lorne tried.
Buffy cut him off. "Let's give Cordy a little space. It's not like the world's gonna end right this second."
"I'm curious."
"And you know what they say it did to the cat." Buffy said, picking up the phone.
"Who are you calling?" Angel asked.
"School. Tell em I can't come in today."
"Oh."
"Hello, Principal Wood? .. Hi, it's Buffy Summers. Listen, I can't come to school today. .. Why? .. Because I'm in LA. .. No, my other job called. Sort of an over load on cases. .. I work with a detective agency. .. Angel Investigations. .. They didn't? .. Did Willow say why? .. Both sick? .. No, I had to leave at four in the morning. .. It's a hard working agency! .. All right, I'll check up on them. .. Thank you. .. Bye." Buffy hung up and turned to look at Angel. "Conner and Dawn didn't go to school today."
"What?"
"Yeah. Willow called in and said they were both sick."
"They were fine when we left them."
"We never checked on them." Buffy picked up the phone again. She started to dial, but noticed a tiny voice calling from the phone. "Angel investigations, we help the helpless. .. Knocking noises? .. You called us because there's probably a cat in your walls? .. Listen buddy, I have more important calls to make. .. Well, call an exorcist. .. We don't do those! .. Screw you too!" Buffy hung up and rolled her eyes before picking up again. She dialed the house in Sunnydale and put the phone on speaker. "Willow?"
"Buffy!" Willow said on the other line.
"Yeah. Why are Conner and Dawn not in school?"
"They sort of had a traumatizing experience. I didn't see it necessary to send them since you or Angel wasn't here."
"Willow.."
"Buffy, are you sitting down?"
"No. Why?"
"You might wanna."
"Ok." Buffy still stood.
"Buffy. Sit down. I know your not."
Buffy groaned and sat down. "Ok. I'm sitting."
"Buffy.. No. I'm talking to her now. I'm getting to it!"
"Willow?"
"It was Faith."
"Oh."
"Anyways, Dawn and Conner went through something that would traumatize even you. And it's something that's going to hit home with you."
"Will, stop dodging and get to the damn point."
"Buffy, it's ok. They're ok. Not hurt. They're just exhausted. Finally fell off to sleep."
"What the hell happened?" Angel asked.
"Well, downstairs looks like hell happened? This big evil that's been promising to devour us.. well I think it's started chomping."
"Oh, God. And it started with Dawn and Conner?" Buffy asked.
"Both of us. Buffy, this thing knows us. It made us think that we were talking to people we knew. Mine said it came with a message from Tara. But Dawn actually saw.. your Mother. This thing.. it had me for a while.. I mean, before it started letting loose with the pulse-pounding terror. But before that, the lies were very convincing. It just seems real."
"Yeah I know. I saw my father. He came to tell me something." Angel said.
"What?" Buffy, Willow, and Lorne said.
"He came to warn me to stay away from the darkness. My darkness."
"Lies." Buffy muttered.
"I mean maybe-maybe to confuse us, to mess us up. Or maybe just to be cool." Willow said.
"Vampire I killed last night told me Spike sired him.. two nights ago."
"Faith told me. But, that's impossible, right? So maybe it was another one. A fake-out. You got one too. It wasn't a real vamp."
"It dusted real enough."
"Buffy, do you think Spike is.."
"I can't. I hope not for Faith's sake."
"Guys, I need to go. Faith and I are going to try to make a game plan."
"Ok."
"Bye."
"Willow?"
"Yeah?"
"Keep Conner and Dawn safe?"
"You know I will."
Willow hung up the phone and turned to Faith. "So, Anya's watching Spike at Xander's?"
"S'what B said." Faith answered. "Said Anya would call when Spike decided to leave."
"Good. And that won't be for a while."
"So, what? Are we going to sit around here like bumps on logs and wait?"
"I guess so."
"If we are, I need somethin' to do."
"How bout we clean? This place looks like.."
"A war zone. It's a nice touch."
"Let's get to work."
"Snakes? .. Uh-huh. And they came out of your what? .. Ok, ok, well did they get up there themselves, or is this part of a, you know, a thing. .. No, I'm not judging. .." Lorne put the phone to his chest and asked, "Do we fight snakes?"
"Only if they're giant." Buffy said.
"Or demons. Or giant demons. Are they giant demon snakes?" Angel asked.
"Well, unless this guy's 30 feet tall, I'm thinking they're of the garden variety." Lorne said.
"Oh. They could still be demonic. Are they making any kind of weird demon- y sounds?"
"No."
"Damn."
"Wanna train?" Buffy asked.
"Sure." Angel turned and walked upstairs. Buffy followed. Twenty minutes later they were dressed in training clothes and moving furniture around in the lobby. Lorne continued to answer calls as Buffy and Angel sparred against each other. Sometimes they used weapons, but most of the time they used their bodies. Eventually, they got tired and went back upstairs to change back to their regular clothes. They started going through the weapons cabinet out of sheer boredom.
"No, no, that certainly doesn't sound normal for a boy his age. Look, we'll send someone out as soon as we can. Just, um.. just don't poke it." Lorne hung up as Gunn walked in.
"Hey. How'd it go?" Angel asked.
"Where's Fred?" Buffy asked.
"Bad. Out." Gunn answered as the phone rang. "I got it."
"Bless you and all your parts." Lorne said, handing Gunn the message log.
"Angel Investigations. .. Uh-huh. .. And what is the nature of your manifestation?"
"Business is really humming, huh?" Lorne asked, walking over to Buffy and Angel.
"Yeah, big Apocalypse coming, I guess." Angel said. He turned and looked at Buffy. "You think I should keep these alphabetical, or rearrange them by how much damage they inflict?"
"Damage. Nomenclature goes out the portal when, uh, hacking's afoot." Lorne answered for Buffy.
"Still, good to know what you're using. I mean, what if I'm fighting a Glurgg, and I ask for a Khopesh to finish him off. What would you throw me?"
"EW! A towel. Glurggs are, like, 90% pus." Buffy said.
"Yeah, uh, not speaking of sticky fluids, maybe we should get some help around the office. A certain somebody with a good understanding of higher dimensions. And could tell me what got hoovered out of my head. Um, name starts with a 'C.'" Lorne said.
"Xander."
"Well, that doesn't start with a 'C', but ok."
"Hey." Buffy said as she and Angel walked over.
"Hey." Xander said.
"How's Cordy?"
"Hanging in there. She's pretty tough."
"Yeah. She is."
"She wants to go back to Sunnydale for a while, but I'm not sure that's a great idea.. What with 'from beneath' boy lurking around up there."
"She needs a place she can feel safe. Give her a chance to work things out. A couple of days, everything'll be back to the way it was." Angel said.
"You guys should talk to her."
"Now's not a good time. After everything she's been through, the last thing she needs.."
"Angel. Please?"
"He's right." Buffy said. "We should go."
Cordy sat on the floor in a darkened bedroom. She was wrapped in a blanket and staring straight forward. "I'm gonna kill him."
"He's just worried about you. We all are." Buffy said, moving closer.
"Is that the royal we, or the populous?"
"I always wanted to be a prince." Angel said. He sat next to her and held her hand. "I hear you gotta be born into it."
"How do you do that?"
"What?"
"Make everything feel like it's not spiraling apart."
"He has that affect on me too." Buffy said moving to sit in front of Cordy. "You all right?"
"Getting there. When I got my memory back, everything came rushing in. Sunnydale, moving to Los Angeles, meeting you again, Buffy coming back in. I wanted to tell you guys, but it was just too much."
"Tell us what?"
"I'm sorry Buffy."
"For what?"
"What I remembered when I was a higher being. All that pain you experienced. All the joy that was taken away from you when you were.."
"Ripped from heaven?"
"Yeah." Cordy looked at Angel. "And I remember seeing you.. your past.. when you were Angelus."
"I never tried to hide who I was or what I've done. You already knew." Angel said.
"Knowing's different than living it. When I was up there, I could look back and see everything you ever did as Angelus.. more than see, I felt it. Not just their fear and pain. I felt you and how much you enjoyed making them suffer. I love you, Angel, but.." Suddenly, Cordelia started hyperventilating and convulsing, and her eyes turned white. Angel grabbed her shoulders to steady her.
"Cordy!?" Buffy yelled.
"He's coming. He's coming now." Then Cordy went limp. Angel moved her over to the bed and laid her down. Xander came over and sat down with her.
Angel drove the van way beyond the speed limit, heading for Faith's apartment. All Buffy knew was she had to get to her friend and save her from a possible death. Suddenly, Angel's phone chirped loudly. As she ran Buffy ripped it out of his jacket pocket and picked it up.
"What?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy?" Lorne asked.
"Yeah."
"Are you in a car?"
"Yes."
"Trouble?"
"Big."
"Well, we have a little bit bigger problem up here."
"What?"
"Well, we're swamped with cases and some of them Gunn, Fred, and I just can't handle."
"Do you need us right now?"
"Most definitely cupcakes. And Cordy has been asking for Xander. Can you make a minor pit stop and pick the little Sugar up for her?"
"What I'm doing now? It's kind of important."
"So's the end of the world."
Buffy stopped dead. "What?"
"The cases we've been swamped with are end of the world material Blondie. So unless you want to die without another fight, I suggest you and Big Guy get over here now."
"We'll be there as soon as we can." Buffy shut the phone and handed it back to Angel.
"What?" Angel asked.
"We need to go to LA. Now."
"Why?"
"The end of the world is coming and it's starting with LA. Go to Xander's."
"Why?"
"Cordy wants him. And stop with the one line questions."
"Sorry." With a large U, Angel turned the van so that they were headed for Xander's apartment.
"He's in the apartment right now!" Faith said quietly into the phone.
"Well, get him out!" Buffy said into her cell phone.
"It's almost day."
"That's why you need to get him out now."
"You're saying that Spike may have sired this vamp you killed tonight and that Spike may have killed others?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. No. Maybe, just get him out."
"I can't send him back to Xander."
"Xander's with me. He called Anya. She's going to watch Spike. Just make sure she's ok. I got to go."
"So, you spend this hour and a half phone conversation warning me about Spike and I don't even get to fight him? I've been itching for a great fight lately."
"Faith.."
"Ok! Ok, B. Chill. Consider him gone."
"Thank you." Buffy hung up the phone and called Xander on his car phone. "Sorry to get you up for this."
"It's ok. Cordy's my friend. I want to make sure she's ok." Xander said.
"Well, we're almost there. Are you going to take her to the condo?"
"Probably."
"Good. I think she likes it there."
"It's a condo, Buffy. She's always loved that word."
"Yeah, I know. We're almost there. I'll talk to you when we get there."
Buffy and Angel walked down the stairs from their room with Lorne trailing them. They had gone up and changed clothes after Cordy and Xander had left. Gunn and Fred were picking up weapons from the weapon's cabinet.
"No." Angel said.
"Why?" Lorne asked.
"No."
"Why?"
"I said no."
"I said why. Now, let's meet in the middle with a 'why no?'"
"It's too soon." Buffy said.
"But she got her memory back. Aren't you a weensy curious if Cordy remembers anything about her little stint as a Miss Higher Power. Oh, say, maybe something about the thing-a-ma-bad that Wolfram and Hart sucked outta my noggin."
"We need to give her time to adjust before we start coming at her with a million questions."
"How bout one? One's good."
"In a couple of days when she's more herself." Angel said.
"Chime in any time." Lorne said to Gunn and Fred.
"Love to." Fred said.
"Really." Gunn added.
"We got a case."
"Need some backup?" Buffy asked.
"Nah. Woman out in Hancock Park's hearing spookies in her pipes. I don't know whether to bring my axe or a plunger." Gunn and Fred left.
"What? The worst thing we got going on is a haunted toilet?" Buffy asked.
"What about.." Lorne tried.
Buffy cut him off. "Let's give Cordy a little space. It's not like the world's gonna end right this second."
"I'm curious."
"And you know what they say it did to the cat." Buffy said, picking up the phone.
"Who are you calling?" Angel asked.
"School. Tell em I can't come in today."
"Oh."
"Hello, Principal Wood? .. Hi, it's Buffy Summers. Listen, I can't come to school today. .. Why? .. Because I'm in LA. .. No, my other job called. Sort of an over load on cases. .. I work with a detective agency. .. Angel Investigations. .. They didn't? .. Did Willow say why? .. Both sick? .. No, I had to leave at four in the morning. .. It's a hard working agency! .. All right, I'll check up on them. .. Thank you. .. Bye." Buffy hung up and turned to look at Angel. "Conner and Dawn didn't go to school today."
"What?"
"Yeah. Willow called in and said they were both sick."
"They were fine when we left them."
"We never checked on them." Buffy picked up the phone again. She started to dial, but noticed a tiny voice calling from the phone. "Angel investigations, we help the helpless. .. Knocking noises? .. You called us because there's probably a cat in your walls? .. Listen buddy, I have more important calls to make. .. Well, call an exorcist. .. We don't do those! .. Screw you too!" Buffy hung up and rolled her eyes before picking up again. She dialed the house in Sunnydale and put the phone on speaker. "Willow?"
"Buffy!" Willow said on the other line.
"Yeah. Why are Conner and Dawn not in school?"
"They sort of had a traumatizing experience. I didn't see it necessary to send them since you or Angel wasn't here."
"Willow.."
"Buffy, are you sitting down?"
"No. Why?"
"You might wanna."
"Ok." Buffy still stood.
"Buffy. Sit down. I know your not."
Buffy groaned and sat down. "Ok. I'm sitting."
"Buffy.. No. I'm talking to her now. I'm getting to it!"
"Willow?"
"It was Faith."
"Oh."
"Anyways, Dawn and Conner went through something that would traumatize even you. And it's something that's going to hit home with you."
"Will, stop dodging and get to the damn point."
"Buffy, it's ok. They're ok. Not hurt. They're just exhausted. Finally fell off to sleep."
"What the hell happened?" Angel asked.
"Well, downstairs looks like hell happened? This big evil that's been promising to devour us.. well I think it's started chomping."
"Oh, God. And it started with Dawn and Conner?" Buffy asked.
"Both of us. Buffy, this thing knows us. It made us think that we were talking to people we knew. Mine said it came with a message from Tara. But Dawn actually saw.. your Mother. This thing.. it had me for a while.. I mean, before it started letting loose with the pulse-pounding terror. But before that, the lies were very convincing. It just seems real."
"Yeah I know. I saw my father. He came to tell me something." Angel said.
"What?" Buffy, Willow, and Lorne said.
"He came to warn me to stay away from the darkness. My darkness."
"Lies." Buffy muttered.
"I mean maybe-maybe to confuse us, to mess us up. Or maybe just to be cool." Willow said.
"Vampire I killed last night told me Spike sired him.. two nights ago."
"Faith told me. But, that's impossible, right? So maybe it was another one. A fake-out. You got one too. It wasn't a real vamp."
"It dusted real enough."
"Buffy, do you think Spike is.."
"I can't. I hope not for Faith's sake."
"Guys, I need to go. Faith and I are going to try to make a game plan."
"Ok."
"Bye."
"Willow?"
"Yeah?"
"Keep Conner and Dawn safe?"
"You know I will."
Willow hung up the phone and turned to Faith. "So, Anya's watching Spike at Xander's?"
"S'what B said." Faith answered. "Said Anya would call when Spike decided to leave."
"Good. And that won't be for a while."
"So, what? Are we going to sit around here like bumps on logs and wait?"
"I guess so."
"If we are, I need somethin' to do."
"How bout we clean? This place looks like.."
"A war zone. It's a nice touch."
"Let's get to work."
"Snakes? .. Uh-huh. And they came out of your what? .. Ok, ok, well did they get up there themselves, or is this part of a, you know, a thing. .. No, I'm not judging. .." Lorne put the phone to his chest and asked, "Do we fight snakes?"
"Only if they're giant." Buffy said.
"Or demons. Or giant demons. Are they giant demon snakes?" Angel asked.
"Well, unless this guy's 30 feet tall, I'm thinking they're of the garden variety." Lorne said.
"Oh. They could still be demonic. Are they making any kind of weird demon- y sounds?"
"No."
"Damn."
"Wanna train?" Buffy asked.
"Sure." Angel turned and walked upstairs. Buffy followed. Twenty minutes later they were dressed in training clothes and moving furniture around in the lobby. Lorne continued to answer calls as Buffy and Angel sparred against each other. Sometimes they used weapons, but most of the time they used their bodies. Eventually, they got tired and went back upstairs to change back to their regular clothes. They started going through the weapons cabinet out of sheer boredom.
"No, no, that certainly doesn't sound normal for a boy his age. Look, we'll send someone out as soon as we can. Just, um.. just don't poke it." Lorne hung up as Gunn walked in.
"Hey. How'd it go?" Angel asked.
"Where's Fred?" Buffy asked.
"Bad. Out." Gunn answered as the phone rang. "I got it."
"Bless you and all your parts." Lorne said, handing Gunn the message log.
"Angel Investigations. .. Uh-huh. .. And what is the nature of your manifestation?"
"Business is really humming, huh?" Lorne asked, walking over to Buffy and Angel.
"Yeah, big Apocalypse coming, I guess." Angel said. He turned and looked at Buffy. "You think I should keep these alphabetical, or rearrange them by how much damage they inflict?"
"Damage. Nomenclature goes out the portal when, uh, hacking's afoot." Lorne answered for Buffy.
"Still, good to know what you're using. I mean, what if I'm fighting a Glurgg, and I ask for a Khopesh to finish him off. What would you throw me?"
"EW! A towel. Glurggs are, like, 90% pus." Buffy said.
"Yeah, uh, not speaking of sticky fluids, maybe we should get some help around the office. A certain somebody with a good understanding of higher dimensions. And could tell me what got hoovered out of my head. Um, name starts with a 'C.'" Lorne said.
"Xander."
"Well, that doesn't start with a 'C', but ok."
"Hey." Buffy said as she and Angel walked over.
"Hey." Xander said.
"How's Cordy?"
"Hanging in there. She's pretty tough."
"Yeah. She is."
"She wants to go back to Sunnydale for a while, but I'm not sure that's a great idea.. What with 'from beneath' boy lurking around up there."
"She needs a place she can feel safe. Give her a chance to work things out. A couple of days, everything'll be back to the way it was." Angel said.
"You guys should talk to her."
"Now's not a good time. After everything she's been through, the last thing she needs.."
"Angel. Please?"
"He's right." Buffy said. "We should go."
Cordy sat on the floor in a darkened bedroom. She was wrapped in a blanket and staring straight forward. "I'm gonna kill him."
"He's just worried about you. We all are." Buffy said, moving closer.
"Is that the royal we, or the populous?"
"I always wanted to be a prince." Angel said. He sat next to her and held her hand. "I hear you gotta be born into it."
"How do you do that?"
"What?"
"Make everything feel like it's not spiraling apart."
"He has that affect on me too." Buffy said moving to sit in front of Cordy. "You all right?"
"Getting there. When I got my memory back, everything came rushing in. Sunnydale, moving to Los Angeles, meeting you again, Buffy coming back in. I wanted to tell you guys, but it was just too much."
"Tell us what?"
"I'm sorry Buffy."
"For what?"
"What I remembered when I was a higher being. All that pain you experienced. All the joy that was taken away from you when you were.."
"Ripped from heaven?"
"Yeah." Cordy looked at Angel. "And I remember seeing you.. your past.. when you were Angelus."
"I never tried to hide who I was or what I've done. You already knew." Angel said.
"Knowing's different than living it. When I was up there, I could look back and see everything you ever did as Angelus.. more than see, I felt it. Not just their fear and pain. I felt you and how much you enjoyed making them suffer. I love you, Angel, but.." Suddenly, Cordelia started hyperventilating and convulsing, and her eyes turned white. Angel grabbed her shoulders to steady her.
"Cordy!?" Buffy yelled.
"He's coming. He's coming now." Then Cordy went limp. Angel moved her over to the bed and laid her down. Xander came over and sat down with her.
