CHAPTER FIVE
I didn't know the blonde sitting in Buffy's livingroom but I knew the sleek arrogant man with her, Lindsey MacDonald. This did not bode well. Yeah, we couldn't have stopped Wolfram and Hart's apocalypse without him but I didn't trust Lindsey as far as I could throw Dad. Okay, so I can toss Angel pretty far but he's getting hefty on me. Lindsey smirked at me and Faith.
"Heard you two were still together." He said it like it was totally unbelievable.
"I thought you were back in Oklahoma," I replied, resisting the urge to flash him an obscene gesture. "So what were you doing in Los Angeles?'
"I called him." The blonde came over to me, staring at me as if I'd turned purple or something. She was making me nervous. "When Wes contacted me to see if I had heard anything about the Fratelli or Ethan Rayne, I did some checking around. I found out that they both had contacts with Wolfram and Hart. Since the only one-time member of the firm I knew of who had survived their apocalypse was Lindsey, I gave him a call." She paused, glancing over at Faith. "You look well, Faith."
"Thanks. You back on the force, Kate?" Faith seemed cool to this woman which intrigued me. Faith didn't exactly like everyone but when she lost her casual attitude I knew something bad was going to happen or had happened.
"Actually Angel's allowed me to use his name to revive Angel Investigations," Kate said and something clicked in my memory.
"Kate? You're the detective Dad's told me about." I felt curious about this ordinary-seeming woman. From what Dad's told me, there had to be depths to her I wasn't seeing.
"I was wondering if you were Angel's son." Her eyes pinned me, taking a careful appraisal
"Yeah, lucky me." I flipped my braid back over my shoulder.
"I'm standing right here, son." Angel yanked my braid.
I rolled my eyes. "So, I'm guessing that you two know something important to tell us since you drove all this way."
"Yeah, he's still on a tear about this meeting. He was real busy when we interrupted." Spike smirked at me.
"Not busy enough," Faith said and I nudged her.
"That's as close to a poke I'm going to get all night, isn't it?" Faith nudged me back, knocking me into Angel.
"Please ignore her," I said, as Dad ping-ponged me back to Faith.
Lindsey snorted as I dragged Faith down on the couch. "Kate contacted me and I was really of a mind to say screw this. I've been out of this stuff for a long time and hey, with Wolfram and Hart destroyed that beyond-life contract I signed was null and void. I'm truly free and I didn't need to be involved with this."
"We get the point, Lindsey. What do you know about the Brothers?" Angel looked irritated. I don't blame him.
Lindsey scowled at him. "They have been slowly amassing power like Wolfram and Hart. They're much quieter about it though, extremely secretive."
"The Watchers knew this much," Hamish interrupted. Just like most Watchers, he couldn't just let someone say his piece.
"No doubt. But the real important part is that they're good at opening portals and exploiting other worlds or bringing things across. They're the ones who developed the spell that Lilah used to open a portal to Quor-Toth. It's the Brothers' fault you grew up in that hell, Connor." Lindsey looked almost apologetic.
I curled my lip. It never occurred to me I'd actually know how I ended in Quor-Toth. Oh, I knew it was a Wolfram and Hart spell but now I knew the true source. "Then I owe them something."
"What could happen if they opened the Hellmouth?" Buffy's face was grim.
"One assumes Hell on earth," Lindsey replied. "But I'm not sure that's their intent. They have more modest goals from what little I know. No need to get greedy and release something they might not be able to control. Wolfram and Hart should have taken a page from their book."
"Glad they didn't since being all 'hey look at what we can do' helped us to destroy them," Xander said then his face darkened. "Then again if they had been more modest I might have two good legs and a living wife." His eyes widened when he realized what he had said. He gave Willow an apologetic look. "Sorry, hon."
She squeezed his hand. "It's okay."
I did feel for them. I think from what I've been told, they had had feelings for each other since they were really young but things happened, tastes changed. Now they had gone full circle. I think they are happy together and there really was too little of that in our lives.
"Do you know what they want now, Lindsey? Why would they be in collusion with Ethan Rayne?" Wesley propped his chin on his hand, looking as tired as I was beginning to feel. It was nearly three in the morning.
Lindsey shook his head. "Not a clue. I've been out of the game way too long. I told Kate that this could have been done by phone for what little I know but Kate insisted."
"They might need our help," Kate argued. "It's just better this way."
Lindsey didn't look convinced. Personally, I didn't mind having help but reluctant help could be a hindrance instead. After a few more 'I don't know's' from Lindsey and we ended up calling it a night. Faith didn't even have the energy to accost me once we got home. We both just collapsed onto the bed and were dead to the world almost instantly.
* *
*
The next morning, I woke up with a pounding headache but at least Faith was still in bed spooned up in front of me. It meant two things, no breakfast of death and I might get some morning loving. And the parts of me that were obviously awake before my brain was would definitely appreciate that. I lipped the soft skin of her neck, sucking gently.
She woke stretching against me. "Hungry, baby?"
My answer was to nibble along her shoulder Her skin felt like warm silk. Faith shifted, dragged me on top of her. Her mouth met mine, her tongue slithering into me. All in all this was a nice way to start a morning and it was about time we could enjoy each other. Before I could even think of arousing her more, Dad thumped on the door.
"They need us at Buffy's," he called through the wood.
"Can't it wait?" I moaned. Faith looked ready to kill.
"Go take a cold shower and get dressed."
I heard him moving off. "Is he trying to punish me?"
"It doesn't look like he's getting much lovin' lately and if he ain't, you ain't," Faith said, rolling out from under me. "Then again, it's probably just another apocalypse."
"Oh, like we don't stop one of those every third Wednesday."
By now parts of me were no longer staring at the ceiling so the cold shower wasn't necessary. Once me and Faith dragged out of the bedroom, Angel tossed us a power bar and pointed to the door. I know they're full of carbo- goodness but frankly the dog biscuits would have had more taste.
We were the last to arrive at Buffy's, except for Kate and Lindsey and I'm not betting they were invited to this pow wow. Everyone looked a little like the living dead since it had been such a late night. Giles had tea waiting for us, good man. I sat on the floor, leaning up against the wall near the fireplace and Faith sat next to me, her hand dangerously on my thigh.
"We've heard from Ethan," Giles said without preamble, catching all of our attentions.
"Why would he do that?" I was stunned. What sort of villain advertized?
"He's taunting us. Ethan's in it for the fun as well as the money and power," Giles said, looking over his glasses at us.
"He's given us directions to a house. He said we'd be very interested in what we find there," Hamish added, brandishing a letter. How old fashioned of Ethan.
"A trap," Faith said.
Buffy nodded. "Probably."
"So how are we handling this?" Dad leaned over his knees, staring at Giles and Hamish.
"That's what we're trying to decide," Hamish replied. "One of the Slayers will have to stay behind. It'd be stupid to risk you both."
"Faith stays," Buffy said quickly and I felt my lover bristle at that.
"A little fast on the volunteering me, there, B." Faith smiled coldly. "It's you the Brothers want out of the way. I say you stay behind and let's give them a wild card."
"Normally I'd agree with Faith," Giles said. "However, the letter is quite specific as to what will happen if Buffy doesn't go."
"Death, a lot of it," Buffy said grimly.
"So we definitely know this is a trap for you, Buffy," Spike said.
"Or it's a diversion," Angel said. "It wouldn't be the first time Buffy's been lured away so her friends could be attacked. I know. I've done it to her before and it works well because she cares too much. That's supposed to be a weakness in a Slayer."
I knew what Dad had done to Buffy as Angelus but it was a shock to hear him admitting to it. Buffy looked so pained you would have thought it happened yesterday.
"So the trap could be for those of us staying behind." Willow didn't look worried. If I had her magic I wouldn't be either. "Fine, I'll stay behind," Faith said. "Just in case."
"Giles, Wes and I have discussed who we think we should go," Hamish said and I frowned. Once again I was the only Watcher not consulted. I was getting annoyed. I had survived things that they couldn't even guess at. I was more than muscle. "Willow, Spike, Angel, Connor and myself. Faith, I know that leaves only you as a person of power here. Still, Xander and Dawn can handle themselves. Dawn, Kate was asking for your help with her research into this. Willow's taught you enough tricks on the computer to assist Kate and Lindsey tracking down any of Wolfram and Hart's files on the Brother if they still exist. They'll be here soon. Wes and Giles will be doing the book work."
"I still think that I should go with them," Giles said.
"We agreed that you were getting a little too...slow for the field work," Hamish said, a bit too arrogantly for my tastes. Especially since we all knew he meant Giles was too old.
"I think Giles should come," I said and Hamish glared at me. "He knows Ethan. He knows magic, too. He's the one who got me and Dawn unstuck from one another after what Ethan did to us. Giles knows best how Ethan's mind works. He'd be the first to spot a trap."
"I'm with Connor. Giles comes," Buffy said, giving her current Watcher a look that kept him quiet.
Hamish nodded, his shaggy blond hair falling over his eyes. "You make a good point, Connor." Well, there's a miracle; Hamish conceding a point. "Anyone else have any thoughts on this?"
No one did. We piled into Dad's and Hamish's cars and followed the directions to a very innocuous looking house in the middle of Sunnydale. It was an unlikely place for a trap. The for rent sign was still in the front yard. We hung back as Buffy went up on the white wood porch. There was something attached to the door, a piece of bright yellow paper. She brought it over to us.
"All it says is 'go on in and wake up the sleeping beauties'," she said. I could see the growing annoyance in her agate eyes.
Giles examined the paper, shoving up his glasses. "It's Ethan's hand writing but this seems like just a regular note, no hints it was a key to a spell."
"The trap could still be inside," Buffy said. "Angel, you, me and Hamish will go in the front. Connor, Spike, Will and Giles try the back door."
Spike was the first to the back door. It wasn't locked. "I have a bloody bad feeling about this," the blond ex-vampire muttered.
"We all do," Willow said, waving for him to go in. The place looked perfectly homey. Either it was a furnished rental or Ethan had gone to a lot of trouble. Our door led into the kitchen which was empty. My senses assured me of that but there was something odd. It tickled my nose.
"Smell that?" I whispered to Spike who nodded.
"A man's cologne, and something that smells girlie."
I flared my nostrils, taking another good whiff. "And that faint odor, like wet dirt," I said.
Willow glanced around. "I don't see any dirt."
Neither did I. We trailed through the downstairs and met up with the others at the foot of the steps.
"Nothing?" Buffy looked disappointed.
"Just an odd smell," I said.
"Like mud," Dad added.
"Yeah. Is there a basement? I asked.
"Not that we saw. Do we all go up?" Buffy pointed toward the second floor.
"In for a pence, in for a pound," Spike said, heading up.
There were four doors, two on either side of the steps. Buffy went to the first one and opened it. Nothing jumped out but the smell of earth and femininity strengthened. Someone lay on the bed, covered in what looked like gauze. It was just enough to keep us from seeing who she was. Giles, Hamish and Willow hung back as the rest of us went in.
"Sleeping beauty?" Spike asked.
"You do the kissing," Angel said with a wry grin and Spike shot him the bird. I think we were all half expecting sleeping beauty to be something demonic ready to kill the first person to touch her.
And none of us seemed to want to be the first to do so. I went to the bed and quickly snagged one end of the cloth, flipping it back. I almost went to my knees. I heard Dad saying her name but it didn't register with me. She was so beautiful lying there like a princess in white, her walnut hair longer than I ever remembered seeing it. Her skin was deeply tanned. The last time I saw her she was waxen grey with a horrible bruise around her neck, her eyes and tongue bulging from her skull.
"Cordelia?" I whispered. She stirred as if coming out of a deep sleep. She woke slowly, rubbing at her eyes. She sat up looking around uncomprehendingly.
"Giles, Ham, Will get in here!" Buffy screamed. I could hear the panic in her voice.
"Oh my goddess!" Willow cried.
Cordelia looked at her hands as if they didn't belong to her. "Where...I don't belong here. Wasn't I?" She looked up at us. "Why are you all here? I was dead. I remember dying!" Tears started flowing down her face. She startled me when she flung herself out of bed into my arms. "Connor!"
I wrapped my arms around her. I had no words for her. I couldn't comfort her. My mind was shut down, my hands moving soothingly over her back out of reflex, not conscious thought.
"How is this possible?" Hamish asked.
"More importantly, why?" Angel said.
"The letter said 'beauties'," Giles reminded us. Oh God, what had Ethan done?
I pushed Cordelia back down on the bed. "We have to check the rest of the house, Cordy. We'll be right back. We'll figure this out," I babbled.
"No, don't leave." She clawed at me, trying to hang on.
"I'll be right across the hall," I said, not sure why I just didn't let the others do the rest of the looking. I just couldn't be in this room with the resurrected first love of my life. I'm a coward. We all stumbled across the hall.
On the bed in this room were two women under the same gauzy cloth. Buffy tore the cover off and Willow fainted dead away. She would have hit her head on the end table if Spike hadn't caught her and lowered her to the ground. I recognized Anya but I didn't know the plain girl lying at her side.
"Tara," Buffy whispered and Willow's reaction made sudden sense. I had been told about Tara.
Buffy raced out of the room and down to the other end of the hall. We followed numbly. We left Giles by the third room as someone named Jenny started to revive. I thought the last room was going to kill Buffy. All she said was, 'mom' and collapsed on the bed with the older woman, dissolving into tears. Seeing Buffy's mom, Spike looked like someone had staked him.
I don't know how long it took for us to filter downstairs with five women back from the dead. Most of us were still fairly hysterical. No trap manifested itself but the emotional dagger these women represented was trap enough. "Why would Ethan and the Brothers bring back all of our loved ones?" Hamish asked. "This isn't a trap. It's more like a gift."
"I was torn from heaven once," Buffy said harshly. "This isn't a gift, it's a curse."
"The diversion," Angel said softly. "They found the perfect diversion."
I knew Dad was right. How could we concentrate on anything but the return of those who had meant so much to us? Even knowing this was meant to divert me, it didn't help me concentrate on figuring out what Ethan and the Brothers might be up to. Cordelia was still clinging to me and Angel both. I couldn't think beyond that and I knew how dangerous that was.
I didn't know the blonde sitting in Buffy's livingroom but I knew the sleek arrogant man with her, Lindsey MacDonald. This did not bode well. Yeah, we couldn't have stopped Wolfram and Hart's apocalypse without him but I didn't trust Lindsey as far as I could throw Dad. Okay, so I can toss Angel pretty far but he's getting hefty on me. Lindsey smirked at me and Faith.
"Heard you two were still together." He said it like it was totally unbelievable.
"I thought you were back in Oklahoma," I replied, resisting the urge to flash him an obscene gesture. "So what were you doing in Los Angeles?'
"I called him." The blonde came over to me, staring at me as if I'd turned purple or something. She was making me nervous. "When Wes contacted me to see if I had heard anything about the Fratelli or Ethan Rayne, I did some checking around. I found out that they both had contacts with Wolfram and Hart. Since the only one-time member of the firm I knew of who had survived their apocalypse was Lindsey, I gave him a call." She paused, glancing over at Faith. "You look well, Faith."
"Thanks. You back on the force, Kate?" Faith seemed cool to this woman which intrigued me. Faith didn't exactly like everyone but when she lost her casual attitude I knew something bad was going to happen or had happened.
"Actually Angel's allowed me to use his name to revive Angel Investigations," Kate said and something clicked in my memory.
"Kate? You're the detective Dad's told me about." I felt curious about this ordinary-seeming woman. From what Dad's told me, there had to be depths to her I wasn't seeing.
"I was wondering if you were Angel's son." Her eyes pinned me, taking a careful appraisal
"Yeah, lucky me." I flipped my braid back over my shoulder.
"I'm standing right here, son." Angel yanked my braid.
I rolled my eyes. "So, I'm guessing that you two know something important to tell us since you drove all this way."
"Yeah, he's still on a tear about this meeting. He was real busy when we interrupted." Spike smirked at me.
"Not busy enough," Faith said and I nudged her.
"That's as close to a poke I'm going to get all night, isn't it?" Faith nudged me back, knocking me into Angel.
"Please ignore her," I said, as Dad ping-ponged me back to Faith.
Lindsey snorted as I dragged Faith down on the couch. "Kate contacted me and I was really of a mind to say screw this. I've been out of this stuff for a long time and hey, with Wolfram and Hart destroyed that beyond-life contract I signed was null and void. I'm truly free and I didn't need to be involved with this."
"We get the point, Lindsey. What do you know about the Brothers?" Angel looked irritated. I don't blame him.
Lindsey scowled at him. "They have been slowly amassing power like Wolfram and Hart. They're much quieter about it though, extremely secretive."
"The Watchers knew this much," Hamish interrupted. Just like most Watchers, he couldn't just let someone say his piece.
"No doubt. But the real important part is that they're good at opening portals and exploiting other worlds or bringing things across. They're the ones who developed the spell that Lilah used to open a portal to Quor-Toth. It's the Brothers' fault you grew up in that hell, Connor." Lindsey looked almost apologetic.
I curled my lip. It never occurred to me I'd actually know how I ended in Quor-Toth. Oh, I knew it was a Wolfram and Hart spell but now I knew the true source. "Then I owe them something."
"What could happen if they opened the Hellmouth?" Buffy's face was grim.
"One assumes Hell on earth," Lindsey replied. "But I'm not sure that's their intent. They have more modest goals from what little I know. No need to get greedy and release something they might not be able to control. Wolfram and Hart should have taken a page from their book."
"Glad they didn't since being all 'hey look at what we can do' helped us to destroy them," Xander said then his face darkened. "Then again if they had been more modest I might have two good legs and a living wife." His eyes widened when he realized what he had said. He gave Willow an apologetic look. "Sorry, hon."
She squeezed his hand. "It's okay."
I did feel for them. I think from what I've been told, they had had feelings for each other since they were really young but things happened, tastes changed. Now they had gone full circle. I think they are happy together and there really was too little of that in our lives.
"Do you know what they want now, Lindsey? Why would they be in collusion with Ethan Rayne?" Wesley propped his chin on his hand, looking as tired as I was beginning to feel. It was nearly three in the morning.
Lindsey shook his head. "Not a clue. I've been out of the game way too long. I told Kate that this could have been done by phone for what little I know but Kate insisted."
"They might need our help," Kate argued. "It's just better this way."
Lindsey didn't look convinced. Personally, I didn't mind having help but reluctant help could be a hindrance instead. After a few more 'I don't know's' from Lindsey and we ended up calling it a night. Faith didn't even have the energy to accost me once we got home. We both just collapsed onto the bed and were dead to the world almost instantly.
* *
*
The next morning, I woke up with a pounding headache but at least Faith was still in bed spooned up in front of me. It meant two things, no breakfast of death and I might get some morning loving. And the parts of me that were obviously awake before my brain was would definitely appreciate that. I lipped the soft skin of her neck, sucking gently.
She woke stretching against me. "Hungry, baby?"
My answer was to nibble along her shoulder Her skin felt like warm silk. Faith shifted, dragged me on top of her. Her mouth met mine, her tongue slithering into me. All in all this was a nice way to start a morning and it was about time we could enjoy each other. Before I could even think of arousing her more, Dad thumped on the door.
"They need us at Buffy's," he called through the wood.
"Can't it wait?" I moaned. Faith looked ready to kill.
"Go take a cold shower and get dressed."
I heard him moving off. "Is he trying to punish me?"
"It doesn't look like he's getting much lovin' lately and if he ain't, you ain't," Faith said, rolling out from under me. "Then again, it's probably just another apocalypse."
"Oh, like we don't stop one of those every third Wednesday."
By now parts of me were no longer staring at the ceiling so the cold shower wasn't necessary. Once me and Faith dragged out of the bedroom, Angel tossed us a power bar and pointed to the door. I know they're full of carbo- goodness but frankly the dog biscuits would have had more taste.
We were the last to arrive at Buffy's, except for Kate and Lindsey and I'm not betting they were invited to this pow wow. Everyone looked a little like the living dead since it had been such a late night. Giles had tea waiting for us, good man. I sat on the floor, leaning up against the wall near the fireplace and Faith sat next to me, her hand dangerously on my thigh.
"We've heard from Ethan," Giles said without preamble, catching all of our attentions.
"Why would he do that?" I was stunned. What sort of villain advertized?
"He's taunting us. Ethan's in it for the fun as well as the money and power," Giles said, looking over his glasses at us.
"He's given us directions to a house. He said we'd be very interested in what we find there," Hamish added, brandishing a letter. How old fashioned of Ethan.
"A trap," Faith said.
Buffy nodded. "Probably."
"So how are we handling this?" Dad leaned over his knees, staring at Giles and Hamish.
"That's what we're trying to decide," Hamish replied. "One of the Slayers will have to stay behind. It'd be stupid to risk you both."
"Faith stays," Buffy said quickly and I felt my lover bristle at that.
"A little fast on the volunteering me, there, B." Faith smiled coldly. "It's you the Brothers want out of the way. I say you stay behind and let's give them a wild card."
"Normally I'd agree with Faith," Giles said. "However, the letter is quite specific as to what will happen if Buffy doesn't go."
"Death, a lot of it," Buffy said grimly.
"So we definitely know this is a trap for you, Buffy," Spike said.
"Or it's a diversion," Angel said. "It wouldn't be the first time Buffy's been lured away so her friends could be attacked. I know. I've done it to her before and it works well because she cares too much. That's supposed to be a weakness in a Slayer."
I knew what Dad had done to Buffy as Angelus but it was a shock to hear him admitting to it. Buffy looked so pained you would have thought it happened yesterday.
"So the trap could be for those of us staying behind." Willow didn't look worried. If I had her magic I wouldn't be either. "Fine, I'll stay behind," Faith said. "Just in case."
"Giles, Wes and I have discussed who we think we should go," Hamish said and I frowned. Once again I was the only Watcher not consulted. I was getting annoyed. I had survived things that they couldn't even guess at. I was more than muscle. "Willow, Spike, Angel, Connor and myself. Faith, I know that leaves only you as a person of power here. Still, Xander and Dawn can handle themselves. Dawn, Kate was asking for your help with her research into this. Willow's taught you enough tricks on the computer to assist Kate and Lindsey tracking down any of Wolfram and Hart's files on the Brother if they still exist. They'll be here soon. Wes and Giles will be doing the book work."
"I still think that I should go with them," Giles said.
"We agreed that you were getting a little too...slow for the field work," Hamish said, a bit too arrogantly for my tastes. Especially since we all knew he meant Giles was too old.
"I think Giles should come," I said and Hamish glared at me. "He knows Ethan. He knows magic, too. He's the one who got me and Dawn unstuck from one another after what Ethan did to us. Giles knows best how Ethan's mind works. He'd be the first to spot a trap."
"I'm with Connor. Giles comes," Buffy said, giving her current Watcher a look that kept him quiet.
Hamish nodded, his shaggy blond hair falling over his eyes. "You make a good point, Connor." Well, there's a miracle; Hamish conceding a point. "Anyone else have any thoughts on this?"
No one did. We piled into Dad's and Hamish's cars and followed the directions to a very innocuous looking house in the middle of Sunnydale. It was an unlikely place for a trap. The for rent sign was still in the front yard. We hung back as Buffy went up on the white wood porch. There was something attached to the door, a piece of bright yellow paper. She brought it over to us.
"All it says is 'go on in and wake up the sleeping beauties'," she said. I could see the growing annoyance in her agate eyes.
Giles examined the paper, shoving up his glasses. "It's Ethan's hand writing but this seems like just a regular note, no hints it was a key to a spell."
"The trap could still be inside," Buffy said. "Angel, you, me and Hamish will go in the front. Connor, Spike, Will and Giles try the back door."
Spike was the first to the back door. It wasn't locked. "I have a bloody bad feeling about this," the blond ex-vampire muttered.
"We all do," Willow said, waving for him to go in. The place looked perfectly homey. Either it was a furnished rental or Ethan had gone to a lot of trouble. Our door led into the kitchen which was empty. My senses assured me of that but there was something odd. It tickled my nose.
"Smell that?" I whispered to Spike who nodded.
"A man's cologne, and something that smells girlie."
I flared my nostrils, taking another good whiff. "And that faint odor, like wet dirt," I said.
Willow glanced around. "I don't see any dirt."
Neither did I. We trailed through the downstairs and met up with the others at the foot of the steps.
"Nothing?" Buffy looked disappointed.
"Just an odd smell," I said.
"Like mud," Dad added.
"Yeah. Is there a basement? I asked.
"Not that we saw. Do we all go up?" Buffy pointed toward the second floor.
"In for a pence, in for a pound," Spike said, heading up.
There were four doors, two on either side of the steps. Buffy went to the first one and opened it. Nothing jumped out but the smell of earth and femininity strengthened. Someone lay on the bed, covered in what looked like gauze. It was just enough to keep us from seeing who she was. Giles, Hamish and Willow hung back as the rest of us went in.
"Sleeping beauty?" Spike asked.
"You do the kissing," Angel said with a wry grin and Spike shot him the bird. I think we were all half expecting sleeping beauty to be something demonic ready to kill the first person to touch her.
And none of us seemed to want to be the first to do so. I went to the bed and quickly snagged one end of the cloth, flipping it back. I almost went to my knees. I heard Dad saying her name but it didn't register with me. She was so beautiful lying there like a princess in white, her walnut hair longer than I ever remembered seeing it. Her skin was deeply tanned. The last time I saw her she was waxen grey with a horrible bruise around her neck, her eyes and tongue bulging from her skull.
"Cordelia?" I whispered. She stirred as if coming out of a deep sleep. She woke slowly, rubbing at her eyes. She sat up looking around uncomprehendingly.
"Giles, Ham, Will get in here!" Buffy screamed. I could hear the panic in her voice.
"Oh my goddess!" Willow cried.
Cordelia looked at her hands as if they didn't belong to her. "Where...I don't belong here. Wasn't I?" She looked up at us. "Why are you all here? I was dead. I remember dying!" Tears started flowing down her face. She startled me when she flung herself out of bed into my arms. "Connor!"
I wrapped my arms around her. I had no words for her. I couldn't comfort her. My mind was shut down, my hands moving soothingly over her back out of reflex, not conscious thought.
"How is this possible?" Hamish asked.
"More importantly, why?" Angel said.
"The letter said 'beauties'," Giles reminded us. Oh God, what had Ethan done?
I pushed Cordelia back down on the bed. "We have to check the rest of the house, Cordy. We'll be right back. We'll figure this out," I babbled.
"No, don't leave." She clawed at me, trying to hang on.
"I'll be right across the hall," I said, not sure why I just didn't let the others do the rest of the looking. I just couldn't be in this room with the resurrected first love of my life. I'm a coward. We all stumbled across the hall.
On the bed in this room were two women under the same gauzy cloth. Buffy tore the cover off and Willow fainted dead away. She would have hit her head on the end table if Spike hadn't caught her and lowered her to the ground. I recognized Anya but I didn't know the plain girl lying at her side.
"Tara," Buffy whispered and Willow's reaction made sudden sense. I had been told about Tara.
Buffy raced out of the room and down to the other end of the hall. We followed numbly. We left Giles by the third room as someone named Jenny started to revive. I thought the last room was going to kill Buffy. All she said was, 'mom' and collapsed on the bed with the older woman, dissolving into tears. Seeing Buffy's mom, Spike looked like someone had staked him.
I don't know how long it took for us to filter downstairs with five women back from the dead. Most of us were still fairly hysterical. No trap manifested itself but the emotional dagger these women represented was trap enough. "Why would Ethan and the Brothers bring back all of our loved ones?" Hamish asked. "This isn't a trap. It's more like a gift."
"I was torn from heaven once," Buffy said harshly. "This isn't a gift, it's a curse."
"The diversion," Angel said softly. "They found the perfect diversion."
I knew Dad was right. How could we concentrate on anything but the return of those who had meant so much to us? Even knowing this was meant to divert me, it didn't help me concentrate on figuring out what Ethan and the Brothers might be up to. Cordelia was still clinging to me and Angel both. I couldn't think beyond that and I knew how dangerous that was.
