Chapter 63
Cordelia realized her deception was over and she dropped the pretense. She faced off with Wes and Fred who held her at gunpoint, and Lorne, who completed the circle around her. Then she turned her attention to Buffy and Angel who looked at her with disdain.
"All this time, it was you.. wasn't it?" Buffy asked, a little heartbroken.
"Took you long enough to figure it out but nice turn with the Lorne-bait. You know, there was a time I would have seen that one coming eons before it ever crossed your tiny little mind."
"Because you're so clever." Angel said.
"On a scale of you to me? Pretty damn."
"Until now."
"All good things.. So what finally tipped off the great detective?"
"Tongue. Slip of. 'My sweet.' The same phrase the Beast's master kept using when he was whispering in Buffy and Angelus' heads. Thought it was a bit femme for the booming macho act."
"That's it? I get away with bringing the world down around you and two eensy words tingle your spider sense?"
"That plus, no pregnant woman in her right mind would wear shoes with that high of a heel." Buffy said. "Did you forget I carried an actual baby for nine months?"
"What we already knew, what Angel and Buffy found out when they were evil.. all the circumstantial led to you." Wesley said.
"We just needed to be sure." Angel said.
Cordy snorted. "A little late to the table but I might have a few scraps left."
"Why are you doing this, Cordy?" Fred asked.
"This thing isn't Cordelia." Angel said.
Cordy smiled. "Is that what you think, hero?"
"She would never hurt her friends like this."
"Or maybe you just don't know me very well."
"I don't want to know you." Cordelia whipped her dagger up to strike but Angel batted her hand aside and seized her by the throat. "Where's Cordelia?"
Cordelia's eyes bulged as he cut off her air supply. Suddenly the skylight above shattered and Connor jumped through and dropped to the floor. Buffy knew that he planned to take Cordy out of there. "Connor, wait! Cordy's not what you think."
Connor back-flipped up and over Buffy and Angel, then hurled them both into Wesley as he cocked his shotgun. They all tumbled to the floor. Lorne took aim at Connor with a crossbow and fired. The bolt flew wide and Connor kicked Lorne backward into a concrete column with devastating force. Lorne crumpled to the floor unconscious. Fred charged forward with her tranq gun as Angel got to his feet but Connor yanked her forward by the arm and swung the gun around, firing at Angel. The dart slammed into Angel's shoulder; the drug's effects were immediate. He swayed drunkenly on his feet as Connor turned around and viciously backhanded Fred. Buffy dove for Connor, but he kicked her in the stomach where Faith had stabbed her and then reached for Cordelia's hand.
"Come on!" He said.
Angel dropped to his knees next to a bleeding Buffy as Cordelia walked past them, smiling wickedly. "What.. are.. you.." He collapsed to the floor, unconscious. as Lorne's Magic 8-Ball rolled to a stop next to him. The cube inside rose to the surface in the answer window. It said, "Ask again later."
Buffy looked over at Angel, grasping her wound tightly. Connor's kick had reopened it and it was bleeding pretty badly. She felt the world start to spin, but she fought it back as she went over to Wesley and shook him. He came to a couple of minutes later only to catch a fainting Buffy. Wes tore off the bottom of his shirt and tied it tightly around Buffy's small waist to stop the bleeding.
Gunn walked in the front door to find the others dejected and nursing their wounds. Buffy looked a little pale and Angel looked seriously groggy. "Sorry, just got your message. Being close to Electric Gwen can really screw your equipment. What.. the hell happened to you?"
"Cordy's evil. Nice suit." Buffy said.
Angel walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her lightly to him. "It's not Cordy."
"We don't know that for certain." Wesley said, trying to help.
"Whoa! Back it up for the new guy. You're saying poppin' mama threw you a beating?" Gunn asked.
"Kid Vicious did the heavy lifting." Lorne said, sipping a Sea Breeze. "Cordy just mwa-ha-ha'd at us."
"Why?"
"Beastmaster." Angel said.
"You think she's working for him?"
"She is the Master." Buffy said. Her eyes went wide and she swayed a little, holding her stomach and covering her mouth. "I think I need to throw up."
"I think we all feel that way." Fred said.
"No, I think it's from the loss of blood and the really light headed-ness."
"Oh."
Angel put his arm around her waist to steady her. Gunn looked around at everyone. "Guy steps out for a few hours, half the place goes super- villain."
"Connor's not a part of this." Buffy said.
"Evidence upside my head to the contrary." Lorne said.
"He's just.. confused. Again."
"Now we know what she was doing with him all this time." Fred said. "She was grooming him."
"As her champion." Wesley said.
"She's the evil genius that's been two-steppin' all over us. How? And when?" Gunn grabbed Lorne's drink. "Give me a sip of that."
"Has she been like this since she got back from the higher.. wherever?" Fred asked.
"And what about that amnesia thing? Was that a fake-out?"
"Or a side effect. Descending to a lower dimension was probably disorienting." Wesley suggested.
"Or maybe this thing crawled deep inside for the trip on some kind of.. auto pilot. Look, all we know for sure is the real damage didn't start until after Lorne's spell."
"Oh, my god.. we woke it up." Fred said.
"That's what I read. That's what Wolfram & Hart sucked out of my noodle. It wasn't Cordelia's future. It was the smacker-jack surprise." Lorne said.
"Damn thing's been playin' us right from the start." Gunn said.
"From the inside.. where it can do the most damage." Buffy said.
"Everything the Beast couldn't have done.. it was this thing." Angel said. "Spiked my blood and Buffy's drink at Gwen's, snuck into the vault and killed Manny."
"Wait a minute. Faux-Cordy wasn't even there." Gunn said.
"It knew where we were." Buffy said. "It knew where we were going. And taking out the Svea Priestesses was a lot easier. Slip out while the heroes are chasing their tails.. Then slaughter the only hope of banishing her pet Beast. Then while everyone was reeling from that failure, it was making sure Angel's soul was off the market along with mine."
"How did she do that?" Gunn asked.
"A simple spell to shrink the soul away and give control to a Slayer's dark side. Giles told me about it a long time ago. Guess who was with me when he told me?"
"Cordelia. So it gets the memories too." Wesley said.
"Of course. There's no other way to stay on the inside and not be obvious without knowing everything Cordy knew."
"And the vision of the spell to re-ensoul you?" Fred asked Angel.
"Misdirection." Angel said. "Getting everyone to look over here.. while the real action was happening over there."
"That explains why my mojo's been gucked up. Queen Beeyatch put the whammy on me." Lorne said.
"Then it let the monsters out of the box." Buffy said. "And then with Lilah. Just more misdirection, more blood. All designed to keep us off balance."
"It was Cordelia.. she murdered Lilah." Wes said.
"We don't know if it's really Cordy." Angel said.
"Or what she's got baking in her oven." Buffy added.
"Evil and pregnant? I'm guessing it ain't cookies." Gunn said.
"So we need to find her and Connor. By the looks of her, I'm thinking we don't have much time before she pops that.. Whatever it is out."
"Buffy and I'll search the sewers. Try and find out some info in this from some of your contacts Lorne. The rest of you do what you can here." Angel said.
"You got it boss." Gunn said.
Buffy and Angel headed out. They searched all night with no luck. Finally, Buffy couldn't stand the pain throbbing in her stomach any longer and she and Angel headed back to the Hyperion. Wesley set a pencil sketch of Cordelia down on the desk among all his research as Buffy and Angel entered. He turned to look at them. "Any luck?"
"We swept the area until daybreak, checked the sewer tunnels in case they went underground, picked up their scent half a dozen times but.." Angel said.
"If Connor doesn't want to be found, he won't. Wasting your time."
"We're getting good at that, huh?" Buffy asked, flopping into a chair. She picked up the sketch and stared at it. "It was all there, right in front of us, and we couldn't see it. She had Connor wrapped around her little pinky and I never even.." She sighed, tossing the picture down.
"All of this did exactly what it was supposed to. Play on your emotions to cloud your judgment. Draw your attention away so this.. thing could continue to murder anyone it.. At least you two had a reason for letting it happen."
"Wes.. Lilah and us weren't exactly friends.." Angel said.
"You were mortal enemies. Why should you care what happened to her?"
"Because you did." Buffy said softly.
Wesley acknowledged her sincerity and nodded. Then he got back to business. "There's nothing here. If this thing could obliterate all references to the Beast, it's very unlikely it would leave its own bio lying about."
"What about pan-dimensional texts like the one Lilah.." Angel stopped himself. Wes ignored it. "Fred is upstairs going through Cordy's things. I have Lorne reaching out to the black markets but it'll take time."
"Great. Another thing we don't have."
"Then let's go to the source. Whatever happened to Cordelia, it took place after her ascension to the higher planes. Maybe the Powers might be able to.."
"The last couple of times I asked the Powers That Be for help, they made it pretty damned clear they weren't in the business."
"But at least one of those was to save Darla's life. A mass-murdering ex- vampire dying of syphilis? A strong 'no' is hardly a shock."
"You think the Powers couldn't see this thing was masquerading as Cordy?" Buffy asked bitterly. "What it was doing to us? They didn't stop it because they didn't want to get their hands dirty. What we need is somebody who does. Somebody right in the middle of all this."
"Skip." Angel said.
"Honey, this really isn't the time for games."
"No. Skip was her demon guide. Cordelia told us after her birthday remember?"
"That demon guy that turned Cordy half demon?"
"Yeah! He should know something, right?"
"How're we.."
"The key and lock." Wes said. "I believe we still have that in the weapons cabinet."
"What key and lock thing?"
"You weren't here, you were.." Angel said. He didn't want to say it because he had come close to losing her again.
"Dead? When was this?"
"About a week or two before I found out you were alive.. Again. It sent me to Skip's dimension to save someone who was a little on the evil side."
"Ok. Is this Skip guy bad?"
"Not overly. But he could be considering he could be behind this."
"Yeah, good. Ok, then I'm going with you."
"We can't take weapons and you're injured. You are not going with me."
"Stop me." Angel poked her in the stomach. Buffy yelped, but she didn't sit back down. After a second she punched Angel in the face and made him sit on the desk. "Like I said, stop me."
Fred held out a box filled with things from Cordelia's room for Gunn's inspection while Angel dug through a box of his own. At the bottom, under some files, he found a metal seal inscribed with runes. "A bunch of candles, a couple of broken pieces of the muoping and some toiletries that smell way too pretty to be evil." Fred said. "Not much to go on. As insidious lairs go, it kept Cordy's room nice and tidy. I think it even vacuumed."
"Keep working on a way to locate this thing. If we're not back in a couple of hours.." Angel said.
"You're dead. We're screwed. End of the world." Gunn said.
"Or you could stay here with us! Here's nice." Fred added.
"I've done this before. Don't worry. A walk in the park." He tossed the key and lock down on the ground and it started to spin. Angel looked at Buffy. "You ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be for something like this." Buffy said. There was a flash and then they were standing in a stone room. Two demons attacked and Buffy and Angel brought them down quickly, taking their swords. Buffy looked at Angel. "A walk in the park, huh?"
"I really hate the park."
They descended a set of stone stairs and into a high-walled chamber lit by two flaming torches on the wall. In the center of the chamber, a demon sat with his back to them, gorging itself hungrily Buffy and Angel approached cautiously from behind and raised their swords to strike. At the least second, the demon turned around.
"Oh! Angel, jeez! Don't they knock in your dimension?" It asked.
"Sorry. Wasn't sure it was you." Angel said.
"Who is this?"
"This is Buffy. She's a Slayer."
"So you're Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Wow. This is an honor."
"You know me?" Buffy asked.
"Who doesn't? That thing with Glory.. That was amazing. Never saw that coming in a million years. The Powers thought you were going to be defeated by her, but to end up defeating her instead and THEN sacrifice yourself to save your sister and the world.. Can I have your autograph?" Buffy stared incredulously at the demon. " Oh! Sorry. Powerful demon Skip, at your service. Hey, I got some more buffalo wings and the game's on in five if you want.."
"Sorry. We're a little pressed right now. When was the last time you saw Cordelia?" Buffy asked.
"Who?"
"She told us you were her guide when she decided to become half-demon." Angel said.
"She did, huh? Okay, look. I wanted to give you the heads up but you know how the Powers are. Always making with the big hush-hush."
"What do you know?"
"It's going to be really hard for you to accept but Cordelia has ascended to a higher plane."
"We know. She's back."
"Back?"
"Or at least something that looks like her."
"Whoa, wait. Nobody comes back from paradise.." Skip looked at Buffy. "Okay, you once but.."
"So you haven't heard anything?"
"No, not since her ascension. Oh, it was beautiful. You should have been there."
"You were a part of that?" Buffy asked.
"It's in the job description. As Cordelia's guide, I'm there for all the important events."
"Except her welcome back party." Angel said. "So why didn't the Powers invite you to that one?"
"Mysterious ways. They can really drive a guy nuts."
"Or maybe if you had known something, you might have warned us. No, but the only one not keen on that slipping out is the one pulling our strings."
"Not following you there, champ."
"You said it yourself. You were there, guiding Cordelia to her ascension, seeing her off to a higher plane, which is exactly where this thing needed her to be to make its move. So I'm thinking either you've been played for a dupe like the rest of us.. or you've been in on this from the start. Skippy."
"Angel, buddy, whatever's going on, I'm telling you true.." Skip raised his arm and a foot-long razor-sharp sheath of bone slid out of his forearm. "Not a dupe." He attacked and Angel raised the sword to defend himself but his blows glanced ineffectually off Skip's armored hide. Skip knocked Angel away and then kicked the sword out of Buffy's hand and seized her by the neck. "Not like last time, is it, monkey boy?"
"Let her go." Angel said dangerously.
"Hold on! I'm talking. You know, the worst part about signing on for this gig was having to take a dive when you rescued that runt Billy from his box of fire." Angel moved to attack, but Skip slammed his hand on Buffy's stomach. She screamed and grabbed her stomach, letting go of the thick arm around her neck which only got tighter. "I mean, come on. Do you really think a guy built like this would be so easy to drop? This time we'll do it for real, champion. This time.. you lose." Skip dropped Buffy to her hands and knees and attacked Angel.
Buffy held her stomach, checking to see if it was bleeding. Thankfully it wasn't, but it hurt like hell. She heard Angel grunt as he was thrown against a wall and dropped next to her. Buffy reached out to help him, but Skip grabbed her waist and tossed her away. She slammed against the far wall and dropped to the dirt, unconscious.
"Well, now.. this is just embarrassing." Skip said. "I finally get to meet the infamous Slayer and this is what it comes down to?"
Angel struggled to his feet, his face bruised and bleeding. "Tell me.. what happened.. to Cordelia."
"Or what? You'll bleed on me some more?" Angel attacked, punching and kicking but Skip easily blocked most of his blows and the ones that landed did no damage to Skip at all. Skip counterattacked with a series of crushing blows. "You know, I've always wondered how many chunks you gotta hack off a vampire before he goes all dust bunny?"
"Tell me what happened.."
"Yeah, heard that part." Angel gut punched Skip, then decked him, staggering the demon for a second. Then Angel leapt into the air and seized a dangling chain overhead. He swung out, kicked off the wall, then back toward Skip who merely extended his arm and clothes-lined Angel, dropping him to the ground. "What are you, Tarzan? See, this is the nefarious meat of it, pal. You die never knowing what really happened to Cordelia AND what I plan to do to the surprisingly weak Slayer over there. Gotta respect the classics."
Buffy rolled over, coughing up blood. "Great." A glint caught her eye and she found a sword. Standing on shaky legs, Buffy got to her feet and checked her balance. Wincing in pain, Buffy raised the sword as Skip advanced on Angel. Buffy snuck up behind Skip and brought the sword in a downward arc, slicing off the bone-skewer on Skip's wrist. Pressing her advantage, Buffy whipped the sword back and forth, striking Skip with punishing blows, punctuated with kicks and punches. Skip doubled over, trying to shield himself from the onslaught and Buffy brought the sword down on Skip's head, slicing off one of the scythe-like horns protruding from the side of Skip's head. Skip screamed in pain and held his hand to the hole in the side of his head to stop the leaking green ooze where his horn was moments before. "Who's weak now?"
Before Skip could recover, Buffy twirled the sword in her hand and brought it down to Skip's neck. Skip swung and Buffy blocked, then pounded her fist straight into Skip's face over and over with all of her strength. Skip staggered drunkenly as Buffy wound up for the killing blow from the sword.
"Do you really think that's gonna.." Skip started.
Buffy threw the sword down and punched Skip full in the face, knocking him down and unconscious. "Yeah, I do." She dropped the sword and wrapped an arm around her stomach. "Well, my abs are fried." Buffy helped Angel up. "Told you. Without me, you'd be a dust bunny."
"Glad I didn't try to stop you." Angel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You ok?"
"I'll live. Don't I always. Are you ok?"
"A little rough around the edges, but I'll be ok. Let's get this guy back to the hotel and see what we can pry outta him."
"Fine by me." Buffy said, staring at the unconscious Skip.
Cordelia realized her deception was over and she dropped the pretense. She faced off with Wes and Fred who held her at gunpoint, and Lorne, who completed the circle around her. Then she turned her attention to Buffy and Angel who looked at her with disdain.
"All this time, it was you.. wasn't it?" Buffy asked, a little heartbroken.
"Took you long enough to figure it out but nice turn with the Lorne-bait. You know, there was a time I would have seen that one coming eons before it ever crossed your tiny little mind."
"Because you're so clever." Angel said.
"On a scale of you to me? Pretty damn."
"Until now."
"All good things.. So what finally tipped off the great detective?"
"Tongue. Slip of. 'My sweet.' The same phrase the Beast's master kept using when he was whispering in Buffy and Angelus' heads. Thought it was a bit femme for the booming macho act."
"That's it? I get away with bringing the world down around you and two eensy words tingle your spider sense?"
"That plus, no pregnant woman in her right mind would wear shoes with that high of a heel." Buffy said. "Did you forget I carried an actual baby for nine months?"
"What we already knew, what Angel and Buffy found out when they were evil.. all the circumstantial led to you." Wesley said.
"We just needed to be sure." Angel said.
Cordy snorted. "A little late to the table but I might have a few scraps left."
"Why are you doing this, Cordy?" Fred asked.
"This thing isn't Cordelia." Angel said.
Cordy smiled. "Is that what you think, hero?"
"She would never hurt her friends like this."
"Or maybe you just don't know me very well."
"I don't want to know you." Cordelia whipped her dagger up to strike but Angel batted her hand aside and seized her by the throat. "Where's Cordelia?"
Cordelia's eyes bulged as he cut off her air supply. Suddenly the skylight above shattered and Connor jumped through and dropped to the floor. Buffy knew that he planned to take Cordy out of there. "Connor, wait! Cordy's not what you think."
Connor back-flipped up and over Buffy and Angel, then hurled them both into Wesley as he cocked his shotgun. They all tumbled to the floor. Lorne took aim at Connor with a crossbow and fired. The bolt flew wide and Connor kicked Lorne backward into a concrete column with devastating force. Lorne crumpled to the floor unconscious. Fred charged forward with her tranq gun as Angel got to his feet but Connor yanked her forward by the arm and swung the gun around, firing at Angel. The dart slammed into Angel's shoulder; the drug's effects were immediate. He swayed drunkenly on his feet as Connor turned around and viciously backhanded Fred. Buffy dove for Connor, but he kicked her in the stomach where Faith had stabbed her and then reached for Cordelia's hand.
"Come on!" He said.
Angel dropped to his knees next to a bleeding Buffy as Cordelia walked past them, smiling wickedly. "What.. are.. you.." He collapsed to the floor, unconscious. as Lorne's Magic 8-Ball rolled to a stop next to him. The cube inside rose to the surface in the answer window. It said, "Ask again later."
Buffy looked over at Angel, grasping her wound tightly. Connor's kick had reopened it and it was bleeding pretty badly. She felt the world start to spin, but she fought it back as she went over to Wesley and shook him. He came to a couple of minutes later only to catch a fainting Buffy. Wes tore off the bottom of his shirt and tied it tightly around Buffy's small waist to stop the bleeding.
Gunn walked in the front door to find the others dejected and nursing their wounds. Buffy looked a little pale and Angel looked seriously groggy. "Sorry, just got your message. Being close to Electric Gwen can really screw your equipment. What.. the hell happened to you?"
"Cordy's evil. Nice suit." Buffy said.
Angel walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her lightly to him. "It's not Cordy."
"We don't know that for certain." Wesley said, trying to help.
"Whoa! Back it up for the new guy. You're saying poppin' mama threw you a beating?" Gunn asked.
"Kid Vicious did the heavy lifting." Lorne said, sipping a Sea Breeze. "Cordy just mwa-ha-ha'd at us."
"Why?"
"Beastmaster." Angel said.
"You think she's working for him?"
"She is the Master." Buffy said. Her eyes went wide and she swayed a little, holding her stomach and covering her mouth. "I think I need to throw up."
"I think we all feel that way." Fred said.
"No, I think it's from the loss of blood and the really light headed-ness."
"Oh."
Angel put his arm around her waist to steady her. Gunn looked around at everyone. "Guy steps out for a few hours, half the place goes super- villain."
"Connor's not a part of this." Buffy said.
"Evidence upside my head to the contrary." Lorne said.
"He's just.. confused. Again."
"Now we know what she was doing with him all this time." Fred said. "She was grooming him."
"As her champion." Wesley said.
"She's the evil genius that's been two-steppin' all over us. How? And when?" Gunn grabbed Lorne's drink. "Give me a sip of that."
"Has she been like this since she got back from the higher.. wherever?" Fred asked.
"And what about that amnesia thing? Was that a fake-out?"
"Or a side effect. Descending to a lower dimension was probably disorienting." Wesley suggested.
"Or maybe this thing crawled deep inside for the trip on some kind of.. auto pilot. Look, all we know for sure is the real damage didn't start until after Lorne's spell."
"Oh, my god.. we woke it up." Fred said.
"That's what I read. That's what Wolfram & Hart sucked out of my noodle. It wasn't Cordelia's future. It was the smacker-jack surprise." Lorne said.
"Damn thing's been playin' us right from the start." Gunn said.
"From the inside.. where it can do the most damage." Buffy said.
"Everything the Beast couldn't have done.. it was this thing." Angel said. "Spiked my blood and Buffy's drink at Gwen's, snuck into the vault and killed Manny."
"Wait a minute. Faux-Cordy wasn't even there." Gunn said.
"It knew where we were." Buffy said. "It knew where we were going. And taking out the Svea Priestesses was a lot easier. Slip out while the heroes are chasing their tails.. Then slaughter the only hope of banishing her pet Beast. Then while everyone was reeling from that failure, it was making sure Angel's soul was off the market along with mine."
"How did she do that?" Gunn asked.
"A simple spell to shrink the soul away and give control to a Slayer's dark side. Giles told me about it a long time ago. Guess who was with me when he told me?"
"Cordelia. So it gets the memories too." Wesley said.
"Of course. There's no other way to stay on the inside and not be obvious without knowing everything Cordy knew."
"And the vision of the spell to re-ensoul you?" Fred asked Angel.
"Misdirection." Angel said. "Getting everyone to look over here.. while the real action was happening over there."
"That explains why my mojo's been gucked up. Queen Beeyatch put the whammy on me." Lorne said.
"Then it let the monsters out of the box." Buffy said. "And then with Lilah. Just more misdirection, more blood. All designed to keep us off balance."
"It was Cordelia.. she murdered Lilah." Wes said.
"We don't know if it's really Cordy." Angel said.
"Or what she's got baking in her oven." Buffy added.
"Evil and pregnant? I'm guessing it ain't cookies." Gunn said.
"So we need to find her and Connor. By the looks of her, I'm thinking we don't have much time before she pops that.. Whatever it is out."
"Buffy and I'll search the sewers. Try and find out some info in this from some of your contacts Lorne. The rest of you do what you can here." Angel said.
"You got it boss." Gunn said.
Buffy and Angel headed out. They searched all night with no luck. Finally, Buffy couldn't stand the pain throbbing in her stomach any longer and she and Angel headed back to the Hyperion. Wesley set a pencil sketch of Cordelia down on the desk among all his research as Buffy and Angel entered. He turned to look at them. "Any luck?"
"We swept the area until daybreak, checked the sewer tunnels in case they went underground, picked up their scent half a dozen times but.." Angel said.
"If Connor doesn't want to be found, he won't. Wasting your time."
"We're getting good at that, huh?" Buffy asked, flopping into a chair. She picked up the sketch and stared at it. "It was all there, right in front of us, and we couldn't see it. She had Connor wrapped around her little pinky and I never even.." She sighed, tossing the picture down.
"All of this did exactly what it was supposed to. Play on your emotions to cloud your judgment. Draw your attention away so this.. thing could continue to murder anyone it.. At least you two had a reason for letting it happen."
"Wes.. Lilah and us weren't exactly friends.." Angel said.
"You were mortal enemies. Why should you care what happened to her?"
"Because you did." Buffy said softly.
Wesley acknowledged her sincerity and nodded. Then he got back to business. "There's nothing here. If this thing could obliterate all references to the Beast, it's very unlikely it would leave its own bio lying about."
"What about pan-dimensional texts like the one Lilah.." Angel stopped himself. Wes ignored it. "Fred is upstairs going through Cordy's things. I have Lorne reaching out to the black markets but it'll take time."
"Great. Another thing we don't have."
"Then let's go to the source. Whatever happened to Cordelia, it took place after her ascension to the higher planes. Maybe the Powers might be able to.."
"The last couple of times I asked the Powers That Be for help, they made it pretty damned clear they weren't in the business."
"But at least one of those was to save Darla's life. A mass-murdering ex- vampire dying of syphilis? A strong 'no' is hardly a shock."
"You think the Powers couldn't see this thing was masquerading as Cordy?" Buffy asked bitterly. "What it was doing to us? They didn't stop it because they didn't want to get their hands dirty. What we need is somebody who does. Somebody right in the middle of all this."
"Skip." Angel said.
"Honey, this really isn't the time for games."
"No. Skip was her demon guide. Cordelia told us after her birthday remember?"
"That demon guy that turned Cordy half demon?"
"Yeah! He should know something, right?"
"How're we.."
"The key and lock." Wes said. "I believe we still have that in the weapons cabinet."
"What key and lock thing?"
"You weren't here, you were.." Angel said. He didn't want to say it because he had come close to losing her again.
"Dead? When was this?"
"About a week or two before I found out you were alive.. Again. It sent me to Skip's dimension to save someone who was a little on the evil side."
"Ok. Is this Skip guy bad?"
"Not overly. But he could be considering he could be behind this."
"Yeah, good. Ok, then I'm going with you."
"We can't take weapons and you're injured. You are not going with me."
"Stop me." Angel poked her in the stomach. Buffy yelped, but she didn't sit back down. After a second she punched Angel in the face and made him sit on the desk. "Like I said, stop me."
Fred held out a box filled with things from Cordelia's room for Gunn's inspection while Angel dug through a box of his own. At the bottom, under some files, he found a metal seal inscribed with runes. "A bunch of candles, a couple of broken pieces of the muoping and some toiletries that smell way too pretty to be evil." Fred said. "Not much to go on. As insidious lairs go, it kept Cordy's room nice and tidy. I think it even vacuumed."
"Keep working on a way to locate this thing. If we're not back in a couple of hours.." Angel said.
"You're dead. We're screwed. End of the world." Gunn said.
"Or you could stay here with us! Here's nice." Fred added.
"I've done this before. Don't worry. A walk in the park." He tossed the key and lock down on the ground and it started to spin. Angel looked at Buffy. "You ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be for something like this." Buffy said. There was a flash and then they were standing in a stone room. Two demons attacked and Buffy and Angel brought them down quickly, taking their swords. Buffy looked at Angel. "A walk in the park, huh?"
"I really hate the park."
They descended a set of stone stairs and into a high-walled chamber lit by two flaming torches on the wall. In the center of the chamber, a demon sat with his back to them, gorging itself hungrily Buffy and Angel approached cautiously from behind and raised their swords to strike. At the least second, the demon turned around.
"Oh! Angel, jeez! Don't they knock in your dimension?" It asked.
"Sorry. Wasn't sure it was you." Angel said.
"Who is this?"
"This is Buffy. She's a Slayer."
"So you're Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Wow. This is an honor."
"You know me?" Buffy asked.
"Who doesn't? That thing with Glory.. That was amazing. Never saw that coming in a million years. The Powers thought you were going to be defeated by her, but to end up defeating her instead and THEN sacrifice yourself to save your sister and the world.. Can I have your autograph?" Buffy stared incredulously at the demon. " Oh! Sorry. Powerful demon Skip, at your service. Hey, I got some more buffalo wings and the game's on in five if you want.."
"Sorry. We're a little pressed right now. When was the last time you saw Cordelia?" Buffy asked.
"Who?"
"She told us you were her guide when she decided to become half-demon." Angel said.
"She did, huh? Okay, look. I wanted to give you the heads up but you know how the Powers are. Always making with the big hush-hush."
"What do you know?"
"It's going to be really hard for you to accept but Cordelia has ascended to a higher plane."
"We know. She's back."
"Back?"
"Or at least something that looks like her."
"Whoa, wait. Nobody comes back from paradise.." Skip looked at Buffy. "Okay, you once but.."
"So you haven't heard anything?"
"No, not since her ascension. Oh, it was beautiful. You should have been there."
"You were a part of that?" Buffy asked.
"It's in the job description. As Cordelia's guide, I'm there for all the important events."
"Except her welcome back party." Angel said. "So why didn't the Powers invite you to that one?"
"Mysterious ways. They can really drive a guy nuts."
"Or maybe if you had known something, you might have warned us. No, but the only one not keen on that slipping out is the one pulling our strings."
"Not following you there, champ."
"You said it yourself. You were there, guiding Cordelia to her ascension, seeing her off to a higher plane, which is exactly where this thing needed her to be to make its move. So I'm thinking either you've been played for a dupe like the rest of us.. or you've been in on this from the start. Skippy."
"Angel, buddy, whatever's going on, I'm telling you true.." Skip raised his arm and a foot-long razor-sharp sheath of bone slid out of his forearm. "Not a dupe." He attacked and Angel raised the sword to defend himself but his blows glanced ineffectually off Skip's armored hide. Skip knocked Angel away and then kicked the sword out of Buffy's hand and seized her by the neck. "Not like last time, is it, monkey boy?"
"Let her go." Angel said dangerously.
"Hold on! I'm talking. You know, the worst part about signing on for this gig was having to take a dive when you rescued that runt Billy from his box of fire." Angel moved to attack, but Skip slammed his hand on Buffy's stomach. She screamed and grabbed her stomach, letting go of the thick arm around her neck which only got tighter. "I mean, come on. Do you really think a guy built like this would be so easy to drop? This time we'll do it for real, champion. This time.. you lose." Skip dropped Buffy to her hands and knees and attacked Angel.
Buffy held her stomach, checking to see if it was bleeding. Thankfully it wasn't, but it hurt like hell. She heard Angel grunt as he was thrown against a wall and dropped next to her. Buffy reached out to help him, but Skip grabbed her waist and tossed her away. She slammed against the far wall and dropped to the dirt, unconscious.
"Well, now.. this is just embarrassing." Skip said. "I finally get to meet the infamous Slayer and this is what it comes down to?"
Angel struggled to his feet, his face bruised and bleeding. "Tell me.. what happened.. to Cordelia."
"Or what? You'll bleed on me some more?" Angel attacked, punching and kicking but Skip easily blocked most of his blows and the ones that landed did no damage to Skip at all. Skip counterattacked with a series of crushing blows. "You know, I've always wondered how many chunks you gotta hack off a vampire before he goes all dust bunny?"
"Tell me what happened.."
"Yeah, heard that part." Angel gut punched Skip, then decked him, staggering the demon for a second. Then Angel leapt into the air and seized a dangling chain overhead. He swung out, kicked off the wall, then back toward Skip who merely extended his arm and clothes-lined Angel, dropping him to the ground. "What are you, Tarzan? See, this is the nefarious meat of it, pal. You die never knowing what really happened to Cordelia AND what I plan to do to the surprisingly weak Slayer over there. Gotta respect the classics."
Buffy rolled over, coughing up blood. "Great." A glint caught her eye and she found a sword. Standing on shaky legs, Buffy got to her feet and checked her balance. Wincing in pain, Buffy raised the sword as Skip advanced on Angel. Buffy snuck up behind Skip and brought the sword in a downward arc, slicing off the bone-skewer on Skip's wrist. Pressing her advantage, Buffy whipped the sword back and forth, striking Skip with punishing blows, punctuated with kicks and punches. Skip doubled over, trying to shield himself from the onslaught and Buffy brought the sword down on Skip's head, slicing off one of the scythe-like horns protruding from the side of Skip's head. Skip screamed in pain and held his hand to the hole in the side of his head to stop the leaking green ooze where his horn was moments before. "Who's weak now?"
Before Skip could recover, Buffy twirled the sword in her hand and brought it down to Skip's neck. Skip swung and Buffy blocked, then pounded her fist straight into Skip's face over and over with all of her strength. Skip staggered drunkenly as Buffy wound up for the killing blow from the sword.
"Do you really think that's gonna.." Skip started.
Buffy threw the sword down and punched Skip full in the face, knocking him down and unconscious. "Yeah, I do." She dropped the sword and wrapped an arm around her stomach. "Well, my abs are fried." Buffy helped Angel up. "Told you. Without me, you'd be a dust bunny."
"Glad I didn't try to stop you." Angel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You ok?"
"I'll live. Don't I always. Are you ok?"
"A little rough around the edges, but I'll be ok. Let's get this guy back to the hotel and see what we can pry outta him."
"Fine by me." Buffy said, staring at the unconscious Skip.
