Chapter 46

Wesley used a blowtorch to weld the thick bars of the cage together while Connor and Gunn assembled the cage door. Inside, Xander constructed a table with manacled restraints. Wesley finished as Angel approached and inspected the cage.

"That's it, then." Wesley said.

"You got it?" Gunn asked Connor.

Connor tightened the bolts on the door with a wrench. "Yeah." As he finished and stepped back, Angel took the wrench from him and checked his work.

"All right. Tell the shaman we're ready." Angel said.

Gunn headed upstairs to get him. Lorne walked up to Angel. "Hey, listen, Angelcakes, if it's all the same with you, I think I might sit this one out upstairs. You know how dark magick unleashing unspeakable evil gives me the heebies."

"It's okay. Tell Buffy, Cordy, and Fred they don't need to be down here, either."

"Gotcha, chief. Break a leg." He headed upstairs and Connor started to follow him with Xander.

"Connor."

"What?" Connor asked, stopping.

"Look, I know you like to think that I'm the enemy but if this works.. I will be. I'm going to become the one thing you were raised to believe I was. The thing I never wanted you to see."

"Yeah. I think I can handle it."

"Uh-huh. Well, just keep in mind that whatever Angelus says, whatever he does.. Remember, he's not your father. I am. No matter what happens or.. Happened, I love you." Connor started to leave again, but Angel stopped him. "Look, one more thing. Since I'm going to be out of commission for a while, I want you to, you know, take care of everybody. Keep them safe. Especially your mother. That means if anything should go wrong with Angelus, you're going to have to kill me. I don't know if Buffy can."

"Ok."

"If anything goes wrong."

"Dad, I got it. I'll take care of mom."

Angel nodded and watched Connor go upstairs. A few minutes later, Gunn and Wesley walked down with Connor and Xander. Angel walked over to the table and laid down. Gunn and Xander started to tie Angel up to the table.

"How sturdy is this thing?" Angel asked Xander.

"Well, my craftsmanship is pretty darn good. So I'd say, pretty darn sturdy." Xander said with a small smile.

"I know how much you must hate me right now."

"Buffy's my best friend. I saw what this did to her the first time. I only hate you a little right now Dead Boy."

"Keep her safe."

"You know I will."

"What's that?" Buffy asked the shaman.

"It is the muo-ping. The receptacle that will house his soul." Wo Pang answered.

"Buffy? I don't want you here." Angel said, straining to look at her.

"Yeah? Tough."

Connor and Cordy watched from the stairs as Gunn and Xander finished binding Angel and Wo Pang stepped inside the cage and closed the door. He looked at Gunn. "It would be wise for your safety to add the second lock to the door."

"Do as he says." Wesley said.

Gunn slipped a padlock through the hasp on the door and locked it. Cordy walked up to the cage and looked at Angel. "Angel, you don't have to do this."

"Now she tells me." Angel said.

Wo Pang placed his hand on Angel's forehead. He was about to speak, but Buffy stopped him. "Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. I just wanted you to know that."

Angel looked at her and smiled. "Always Buffy."

"Always."

"Close your eyes and don't speak now." Wo Pang said. He closed his eyes also and began the incantation. "Wo qing qui Wu xin zi li Kun, zhen, xun, kan, li. Ci wo ton ling Ji fao muo li." Wo Pang's eyes turned blood red. "Wo hao zhao Jue xin ze Wan cheng Ta de zi yuan." He leaned in close to Angel and whispered to him. "Time to say goodbye." He whipped a sword out from beneath his cloak with a flourish and brought it down in a flash toward Angel's neck.

Angel broke free and stopped the blade inches from his neck. Gunn frantically tried to open the lock on the door.

"Gunn!" Wesley said.

"Hurry!" Cordy yelled.

"Fool! Why would I help you? I serve the Awakened One!" Wo Pang yelled.

"A little help here, please.." Angel said.

Buffy shoved Gunn away and ripped the locks open. The door swung open and Wo Pang switched his attack from Angel to Buffy. While he was occupied, Angel worked free of his bonds. Wo Pang kicked Buffy out into the room where she landed on the table and shattered the glass receptacle. Wesley charged but ducked aside when Wo Pang's blade sliced the air inches from his head. Then Connor was there ducking and feinting, landing quick blows between Wo Pang's attacks. He leapt into the air and connected squarely with Wo Pang's chest, sending him reeling around to come face-to-face with Angel. Wo Pang looked around and found himself surrounded by Gunn, Buffy, Wesley, Connor, and Angel.

"So this was all a set-up? This whole soul colonic thing.. For what?" Buffy asked.

"That's what I'd like to know." Angel said. They began to close in on Wo Pang and he backed up until he was against the wall. "Why does the Beast suddenly want me dead? Did Angelus welsh on our pact, is that it?" No answer. "Okay, then maybe you can shed a little light as to what the Beast's plan is." Wo Pang waved his dagger threateningly toward Angel and the others. "Or maybe I should just start taking you apart now. Piece.." Wo Pang turned the dagger on himself and stabbed himself in the chest. He dropped to the floor, dead. "By piece."

"Well, so much for that font of information." Buffy said.

"Gunn, see if he has anything on him." Wesley said.

Gunn knelt down and pulled back Wo Pang's hood and robes. His entire body was covered with tattooed Chinese characters. "He's got something on him, all right."

"Gunn, Xander, move him on the table in there." Buffy said.

They nodded and picked the dead shaman up. Fred and Lorne came down, wanting to know what all the commotion was about. The guys got Wo Pang on the table. Wesley pulled the robes back to reveal Wo Pang's back. He examined the corpse with a magnifying glass while Fred held a light for him.

"Is there any part of this guy that doesn't have writing all over it?" Lorne asked. "Scratch that. I don't want to know."

"Can you translate it?" Buffy asked Wesley.

"Most of it. Definitely scripture. A recorded history of the Kun-Sun-Dai. They're acolytes of the Beast, all right." Wesley said.

"So that's why we couldn't find anything written about beastie-boy in the books." Gunn said. "These jokers are walking around with it on their asses."

Wesley folded back more of Wo Pang's robes. "Hang on."

"What is it?" Angel asked.

"There's a passage here. Difficult to.. Fred, could you?" She raised the light higher. "It's detailing the acolytes' victory over the Bosh M'ad sometime in.. I think in the 3 rd Century."

"What's a Bosh.. Whatever you said?" Buffy asked.

"The opposers of the Awakening. The Bosh M'ad forged something to destroy the Beast. The Tooth of Light."

"They made a tooth?" Xander asked.

"To the best of my interpretation, a weapon of some kind."

"How'd it work out for 'em?" Gunn asked.

"It was never used. The Awakening was centuries away. In the meantime, every last one of the Bosh M'ad was wiped out by the Beast's acolytes."

"So this tooth thing must have had them worried. What happened to it?" Buffy asked.

"Never found. The opposers kept it hidden."

"Great. So now we have to find a tooth in a haystack." Xander said.

"We don't even know what the weapon is." Angel said.

Cordy's eyes went white. "It's a sword. The Sword of Bosh M'ad. I can see it. Pretty." The vision ended and her eyes returned to normal. She took a deep breath and looked at the others. Xander walked over to her and put his arm around her waist. "I know where it is."

"Where?" Angel asked.

"It's here. Under the city."

"Well, that's a break." Fred said.

"Did you hear that?" Angel asked Wesley. "There's a sword. A sword to kill the Beast. And you wanted to turn me into Angelus by having an evil shaman cut off my head. Not that that wasn't a swell plan, too."

"Sorry." Wesley said.

"Was that an apology?"

"I was careless. I made a mistake that almost cost you your life. Would have made helping Buffy find you and save you a big waste of my time."

"Yeah, that would have been a drag. It's just the first time I've ever heard you apologize about anything."

"So we gonna go get the sword or what?" Connor asked.

"Yeah. Cordy?"

"Leading the way. Got it." Cordy said, walking up the stairs after Wesley. Once everyone left the room, Angel started to head upstairs also, but noticed Buffy was still downstairs staring at the dead shaman. "Buffy?"

She looked up. "Huh?"

"You ok?"

"Fine. Just.. Thinking."

"Come on. I need you too."

"Coming." Buffy followed him up.



Cordy led Angel, Connor, Buffy, and Wesley through the sewers. Everything was dark and dank and stinky.

"I don't get this." Angel said.

"What?" Wes asked.

"How is it that a sword from the 3rd Century is conveniently located here in Los Angeles?"

"I don't think it is. I mean, I get the impression that somehow it's accessible from like a hundred points all over the world." Cordy said.

"How's that work?" Connor asked.

"I don't know. I just get the visions, not the Cliff Notes."

"Over there. What's that?" Buffy asked.

Cordelia stopped at a hole in the wall of the tunnel and shined her light inside. "The way down."

"That's a steep grade down there. Going to have to take it a little slow. Watch our steps and stay.." Buffy and Connor shoved their way past and headed down. "Together." Angel sighed and went after them with Cordelia and Wesley following behind. They descended a steep set of stairs made out of the rock. Suddenly Connor popped out of a side passage, startling Cordelia.

"Connor!" Cordy said.

"We found something." Connor said.

They emerged into a large chamber with hundreds of thin leather straps dangling from the ceiling. Attached to each strap was a small bell. Cordelia and Wesley moved forward, shining their lights on the bizarre arrangement.

"Easy.." Angel said, holding Buffy back.

"What are those? Holiday decorations left over from some S&M bondage party?" Cordy asked.

Angel reached out and flicked one of the straps. The bell rang and a set of massive wooden spikes shot out of each wall, slamming together in the middle right where the bell hung. Cordelia stumbled backward with a gasp as the spikes withdrew back into the wall.

"Wood. Why did it have to be wood when I don't have my damn ring?" Angel said.

"We have to pass through the corridor without ringing any of the bells." Wesley said.

Cordy looked down at her breasts. "I knew you two would get me in trouble someday."

Connor and Buffy started forward and the others followed single file, inching their way past each dangling strap, twisting and contorting their bodies to avoid disturbing any of the little bells. Connor was the first to make it through to the other side, then Buffy. They turned back to watch the others just as Wesley shouted to Cordelia.

"Cordelia, freeze! Your sleeve."

He inched his way over to Cordelia and slowly unhooked a snagged strap from Cordelia's coat sleeve. She let out a nervous breath and navigated the final few straps to stand by Connor and Buffy. Wesley steadied his hand, then released the strap from his fingers and shared a look of relief with Angel before moving on. He saw the end approaching and in his eagerness, he knocked his lantern into one of the final straps. The bell jingled loudly.

"Oh fu.." Wesley started.

"Move!" Angel dove into Wesley, pushing them both clear just as dozens of wooden spikes shot out of the walls on either side. After a stunned beat, Cordelia turned down the corridor only to find it went nowhere. It ended in a wall.

"Oh no!" Cordy said.

"It's a dead end." Angel said.

"Who booby-traps a dead end? That's just not right."

Wesley held his lantern up to reveal many of the stones in the wall were inscribed with runic letters. "There's something here."

"Assyrian?" Angel asked.

"Hebrew. Rashi script."

"Can you read it?" Buffy asked.

"It's just random letters, one on each stone. Unless.." Wesley reached out and pushed one of the stones with a letter on it. The stone receded into the wall and the wall began to rise.

"This is it! You did.." Cordy was cut off by the wall slamming back down. "You didn't."

"There's a pattern. Hebrew letters have numerical values. Aleph is one. The letter with the next highest numerical value would be.. He, five." Wes found the corresponding stone and pushed it in. Instead of raising the wall, a spike shot out of the stone and impaled Wesley's hand. He ripped it free with an agonized scream.

"What happened?" Angel asked.

"He was wrong." Connor said.

Buffy ripped a strip of cloth from her shirt and bound Wesley's wound. Wesley looked at her gratefully. "I don't know.. I don't know what else.. Nine stones. Yes, that's it. It's not their numerical value. These are the first letters of the nine antediluvian patriarchs in Genesis."

"That would have been my next guess." Cordy said.

"So what which one do we press?" Angel asked.

"Aleph was Adam so, in ascending order, Shin for Seth." Wes pointed. "That one."

Angel stepped over and pressed the indicated stone. Once again, the stone receded and the door rose a foot before slamming back down. "Now what?"

"Kaf for Cainan."

"Which one's Kaf?"

"Maybe that one."

"Maybe?" Buffy asked, getting agitated. "I don't have enough shirt to bandage both of you."

Angel pressed the stone and it receded. The wall rose higher, about three feet this time, and Angel and Connor wedged themselves beneath it, holding it up so the others could duck beneath it.

"Come on!" Angel said. Wesley, Buffy, and Cordelia ran under and Angel looked over at Connor. "Connor, go."

"Both of us." Connor said.

"Now!" They timed their release together and let the wall drop, rolling into the next passageway as the wall slammed down behind them. The tunnel before them split and ran off in two directions. "Which way now?" Angel asked Cordy.

"Don't look at me. I'm not a Thomas Guide." Cordy said.

"We should split up." Wes said.

"Right. Connor, go with Wes and Cordy. Buffy and I will take the one on the left." Angel said.

They nodded and headed off. Buffy was silent most of the way, but then she stopped and looked back at Angel. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's ok Buffy."

"No, it's not. I didn't have any right to say that I hated you."

"You did."

"I wish I could take it back, but I don't know if I ever could.." Buffy stopped as she spotted something.

"Could?" Angel asked. He looked at her expectantly but her attention was suddenly drawn by what she saw at the end of the tunnel.

"Whoa."

"Could what? What could you ever.." He followed Buffy into a large circular chamber. It was well lit but there was no visible source of light. A stone pedestal stood in the center of the room.

"This has got to be the place. So where's the sword?" Buffy asked. "Okay, great. It's gone."

"Maybe."

"What maybe? I don't see it. Do you?"

"No. But the light must be coming from somewhere." Angel extended his hand toward the space above the pedestal and it suddenly disappeared into a shimmering energy field.

"Angel.."

"It's some kind of dimensional hub. That's why the sword can be in a hundred places at once. Ah.." He smiled as his hand closed on the sword and he withdrew it from the glowing energy sphere. Buffy's face broke out into a huge smile as Angel waved the sword in front of him. "There. I'd say things are starting to look.." The energy sphere suddenly turned blood red and dropped onto the platform. The cavern around them trembled and pitched violently.

"Umm.. Angel.. can we get out of here now?"

The stone pillars lining the room started to tumble over, slamming to the ground with an ear-splitting crash. Flames sprung up, cutting Angel off from Buffy.

"Buffy!"

"Angel!"

The flames rose higher, seeming to engulf Buffy. All Angel heard was her yelling for him. He desperately looked for a way around the flames.

"Angel!"

"Hang on!"

He leapt into the air and sailed above the fire, landing next to Buffy and pushed her out of the way and into the passageway just as the remaining pillars came crashing down around them. He tackled her to the ground just as a roiling fireball shot through the tunnel over their heads. Buffy coughed and gasped and raised her head to find her face mere inches from Angel's. There was a beat as they shared a meaningful look, then Angel gasped slightly.

"Oh! Are you.." Buffy started.

"No, no, I'm good." Angel said. He sat up with a groan as Buffy checked him for injuries. "I'm good, see?" He pulled the sword out from beneath him and dropped it on the ground. "I missed the pointy end." Buffy smiled at him but her smile turned to tears as she embraced Angel and sobbed into his shoulder. "What? Shh.."

"We could have died." Buffy said.

"But we didn't."

"What if we had? What if we'd been deep-fried trying to save the world again and I.. You almost went away again."

"Shh.. It's going to be all right."

"No! You almost went away. We both did! I can't lose you Angel. Not now, not ever."

"Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop talking."

"Ok."

She leaned into him and they kissed deeply, passionately only to break off when a light shone from around the corner. They looked up to find Connor, Cordy, and Wesley standing there watching.

"Are you guys ok?" Cordy asked.

"We're ok." Angel said.

"Can we get out of here now?" Connor asked.

"Yeah. Yeah we can."