OK, firstly, I'd just like to clarify something I had forgotten to mention on my previous entry – not mine, please don't sue.

Right, with that out of the way, can I once again plead for some reviews! This is my first fic so I need feedback to know whether it's worth me carrying on with this story or whether I just shouldn't bother.

Sorry the first part was a bit bland, bit I had to set the scene. Stuff starts happening from now on, I promise! Thanx you guys. J

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PART 2.

Cordelia burst through the Hyperion doors, a huge cardboard box in her arms, closely followed by Gunn who was precariously balancing a load of magical junk under his chin, kicking the door out of the way with his foot.

"I still can't believe that any of that stuff could be legal," Gunn moaned as he wobbled down the steps, "I mean, bat wings in jars? Come on, that's just sick. And I don't even wannna know what they've got stashed behind that counter."

He looked at some of the objects he was carrying with distaste.

"Why couldn't this have been a rare vegetable spell or something? You know, magic roots, essence of garlic, bunch of herbs. Oh, and I'd just like to say now that I am NOT touching that yellow goo in the bottle. It looks nasty. What with the smell an' all, I just don't wanna go there."

"Quit complaining, you're giving me a headache," said Cordelia with passion, "Besides, we don't have to worry about that. Wesley'll probably do the whole preparation bit. We'll just have to do the odd bit of candle lighting and inane chanting, that's all."

Cordelia dumped her box on the reception counter with a grunt.

Angel emerged from Wesley's office with a load of files and started putting them back into their respective cabinets.

"What're you doing with those?" Cordelia asked absently whilst closely examining her fingernails. She had come * this * close to snapping one, and she would not have been pleased. She ignored Gunn as he struggled to put everything down without breaking certain fragile items.

Angel slammed the cabinet drawers home and came over to scrutinise the goods.

"You get everything?" he asked in his usual disinterested tone.

"You didn't answer my question," Cordelia stated defensively, "So I'm not going to tell you."

She pulled out her tongue at him and put her hands on her hips.

"I was just checking previous cases to see if anything like this had come up before. Just wanted to see if I could find out who might be capable of pulling a stunt like this. I don't know, I guess it was the way Harris had shrugged it off before. It just seemed… weird. Like some kind of personal vendetta or something. Maybe I'm just being overly cynical and suspicious, but something doesn't add up and I don't want to find out that we've done all this for the wrong reasons."

"Oh, who cares about all that, Angel, just remember the money…" She rubbed her thumbs and fingers together in an 'I-wanna-be-rich' gesture.

Angel's expression turned serious for a moment and he looked as though he was going to give Cordy a lecture.

"Oh, I know," she said before Angel could start going on at her about being responsible and sensible. "I suppose it doesn't hurt to be careful."

Gunn, having brushed all of the filth off of his jeans from artefacts that had been left alone on the shelf too long, looked slowly around the lobby and then back at Angel.

"So, where are we gonna do this? In here?"

The vampire nodded in reply.

"The book said something about needing a large enclosed space, so here should do fine.

"Wesley's doing the spell though, right?" Cordelia asked, remembering some of the strange words in the incantation. She wasn't sure if she trusted anyone else to do it, and certainly not herself, especially if it was going to be performed right here in their hotel. "Speaking of which, is he OK?"

"Yeah, I gave him a spare room. I'll leave him for a couple more hours, but then we'll need him to get things ready for when our demon arrives."

It was 6.00 am now. Angel had told Mr. Harris to come back at about 9.30 am to see what they had come up with. He probably wouldn't be expecting them to have found a cure so soon, or for it all to be done right there and then, but hey, the sooner they got this cleared up, the sooner they'd get their cheque.

"Well…" Cordelia stretched her arms over her head and yawned. "As much as I'm looking forward to the big magic show…"

"Whoa, wait a second. Where are you going? We've got ingredients to prepare," Angel interrupted.

Cordelia glared at him.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Gunn inquired. "I thought Wes would do it. I already said that I was not gonna touch that stuff, it's just not… healthy."

"Hey, come on you guys," said Angel, sensing their unwillingness to participate and dreading what was to come. "It'll be fun…" He said that last part more as a question than a fact, trying to persuade them to have more enthusiasm.

"Nope. Sorry. No can do. I already stayed up all night AND did the shopping. You two can do it. I'm gonna catch some, upstairs."

And with that, she turned and left the two boys to their work.

"I guess it's up to us then," said Gunn with resignation.

They both got stuck in, Gunn cringing occasionally when he came across some of the more unsavoury items. Between them, they managed to concoct the necessary powders and vials, as well as set out an area of the lobby floor with candles, (there are always candles, Gunn thought), and some pretty looking sparkly dust.

All they had to do now was kill a few of hours and wait for their client to arrive.

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Cordelia, despite feeling dog-tired and being really anxious to avoid setting up the spell downstairs, found it hard to get much rest. It was the same thing that happened when she knew a vision was due, except that this was slightly different; she just couldn't relax. Like something was going to happen. Well, duh, she told herself and she shook the feeling off. After about two hours of tossing and turning, she decided to give it up. So much for that nap.

It was around 8.00 am now and the demon guy would be here soon anyway. Having no spare clothes to change into, she used the en suite bathroom to the room she'd been using to freshen herself up.

Considering herself to be at least moderately presentable, she made her way down to the end of the corridor to find Wesley. He needed to get up now so that he could check that everything was in order.

She found his room with the door ajar and entered, knocking softly.

"Wesley, are you up yet?"

When her eyes had adjusted to the dimness of the room, she noticed Wesley curled up on the bed, having only managed to kick off his shoes before falling asleep.

It was a shame to wake him so early, but they had work to do. She opened the drapes to let in some of the early morning sunshine and he stirred at the noise they made.

'He's a light sleeper', Cordelia thought to herself, knowing that it would have taken a herd of elephants trampling through her room to wake her up if she was that tired. Maybe it was just because he was on edge.

He rolled over and squinted at her, smiling and stretching when he had retrieved his glasses and realised it was her.

"Morning already?" he asked, somewhat disappointedly, in a quiet, sleepy voice.

"Sorry, Wes, but we need you downstairs now."

"OK, I'm coming", he said, hoisting himself up off of the duvet. "Just give me five minutes to get ready."

"Sure thing", Cordelia replied, closing the door after her.

When she had almost reached the ground floor, she could her Angel and Gunn joking around. She discovered that they had pulled a pack of cards out from some dark crevice somewhere and were playing a game that, surprisingly, Angel knew the rules to.

Gunn must have won the last hand, the smug grin he was wearing telling all.

"I. Am. On. Fire!!" he cried triumphantly, slamming his cards down in front of an appalled looking Angel. "Unlucky my friend!"

Angel frowned at his cards and decided that it was a stupid game anyway. He collected them up and gave them a professionally executed shuffle. He delt them out again.

"This time, I'll choose the game", he told Gunn.

He had played enough in his time to know that he was good at some of the more 'old-fashioned' games, so if he picked, he would win.

Cordelia looked down at the lobby floor in approval.

"You guys have been busy. All done?"

"Don't worry 'bout us", Gunn boasted, "We are now the official spell-masters of the company."

"I knew if I left for too long that my post would be stolen from under me", said the familiar British accent coming from the staircase.

"Yo, English!" Gunn greeted, seeing his friend coming towards them. "You're just in time for a game with this fine gamblin' man." He patted Angel on the back, clearly enjoying his chance to tease.

'Not for long', Angel thought to himself with a sinister smile.

Wesley approached their table and pulled up a chair, saying,

"Well, I'm knackered, and there's still work to be done, but I suppose there's time to give you both a quick thrashing before we get started."

"Hey, that there's fightin' talk", said Gunn in an accent that even he did not know the origins of.

"Fine," said Cordelia, feeling a little left out, "If you'll even let Wesley play, then I'm in too."

"I believe you under-estimate me, Cordelia", he retorted with a smirk.

"We'll just see about that."

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True to his word, Wesley had beaten them all at their game, leaving Angel feeling slightly annoyed that his many years of experience hadn't succeeded of pure brain-power. Wesley was now the proud owner of $32.75, and one hell of a nice watch.

Having amused themselves for a short while, they'd gone on to make the last few checks before Wesley had been satisfied that everything was in place.

As it happened, Mr. Harris was half an hour late for his 'appointment'. Not only that, but he had given them a hard time when Wesley had tried to explain the spell to him. Right now, this little albino demon was not one of Cordy's favourite people.

OK, so he wasn't expecting something quite like this so soon, but he wasn't exactly being co-operative, or even civil. Everyone's patience was being worn thin, and Cordelia was exactly renowned for being one of the most easy-going of people.

"Here, drink this", Wesley ordered, handing the demon the vial of liquid that Angel and Gunn had prepared earlier,

The demon examined it carefully and sniffed at it, turning up his nose and demanding,

"What is it?"

"It's a safety feature to ensure you don't feel any pain or discomfort during the procedure. Any sudden rush of energy such as this spell produces is likely to give those on the receiving end a rough ride." Wesley managed a calm, polite voice despite his obvious annoyance. He was doing this guy a favour when he could probably use a bit of pain, Cordelia mused.

The demon drank it cautiously, finding the taste most unpleasant, much to the amusement of the others. He handed the tiny bottle back to Wesley and stepped into the middle of a circle lightly traced on the lobby floor.

Lighted candles had been set up around them in a much larger circle that took up nearly the entire lobby, and everyone was stood within it at their own strategic points.

"Do we have to hold hands now and sing?" Gunn joked, trying to relieve some of the building tension.

Wesley looked anxious, but Gunn assumed that he'd feel the same way, were the roles reversed. Everyone was depending on him. None of his feelings were betrayed in his voice, however. He spoke, as ever, in the cool and collected British tone, unwavering under the pressure.

"This should only take minute", Wesley explained to the demon in his reserved English manner. "I'm afraid after completion it may take a few hours for the restoration to fully take effect, so we won't know immediately if the spell has been successful."

The demon would probably have made another testing remark to this, but Wesley began before he could object.

With the book held open in one hand and, yep, you've guessed it, a glowing crystal in the other, Wesley began the incantation. He read in demon tongue from the book, and then repeated a certain phrase three times. At this point, he stopped and looked up at Cordelia.

That was her cue.

She snapped herself out of her daydream and reached into the pot she was holding, pulling out a handful of purple dust and sprinkling it on the floor in front of her.

Wesley continued. Everyone remembered the routine, both Angel and Gunn taking their turns to add to the ever-growing film of dust on the floor.

'This is going to take forever to clean up', Cordelia thought to herself as Wesley came to the climax of the spell.

Broken shards of light began emanating from the glass in his hand. They spread outward, reaching up to the ceiling of the room and then falling down beside each candle, forming a dome of light that surrounded them.

Wesley approached the middle of the room where the demon was standing, looking upwards to the area where the light joined and shone the brightest, saying in English,

"We beseech you, return what is lost and re-forge a connection back to the ether!"

The others shielded their eyes with their hands as the room was filled with a searing white light. An electric taste stung the air and their ears rang with a fizzing sound that died into a gentle hush not unlike steady rainfall or wind-rippled grass.

The, in an instant, it was gone, leaving behind a sudden suction that hurt their heads.

It took Cordelia a stunned second to realise what was happening. Something wasn't right.

Wesley gasped in pain and dropped the book and crystal. It smashed when it made contact with the hard floor, sending tiny glass jewels jingling across the lobby. He staggered backwards until his back met the banister, forcing him to stop.

Angel and Gunn ran to aid their friend, unsure of what was wrong. The terror etched across Wesley's face rooted Cordelia to the spot. It was all she could do to stand, watching in horror as an unearthly feeling crept over her heart.

One by one and in an eerily well-timed sequence, each candle snuffed itself out with a sizzle. Cordelia followed its progress with her eyes until every last one ceased to produce anything more than a wisp of smoke. A short, sharp gust disturbed the dust on the floor and swept past her, chilling her to the bone when it ran through her hair. She waited for something menacing to happen, but only silence followed.

She released a breath she didn't know she was holding and glanced at their demon client. He was shaking with shock, his hands balled into fists at his sides. He closed his eyes for a second and endured a final shiver, smiling when he opened them again. He brought his palms up in front of his face and flexed his clawed fingers.

"This is great, what a rush!" he cried. "It's all come back, I can feel it. The energy… the power!"

He was pretty much preoccupied with himself for the moment, so Cordelia turned her attention back to Wesley, finally summoning up enough strength to move herself.

She ran over to where Angel and Gunn had huddled round him like mother hens, pushing them aside to get close.

"What happened?! Is he alright?" she asked, a hint of panic seeping through her voice.

"I'm fine", Wesley said, rather distantly, passing a trembling hand over his eyes. "I just… I need to…" He took a deep breath. "I don't feel so g-"

His legs gave way before he could finish his sentence. Angel's quick reactions not failing him, he reached out a strong arm in support, catching him before he collapsed to the ground.

An irrational fear gripped Wesley, and he cried out, clutching onto Angel's shirt in desperation.

"Whoa, whoa, hey, it's OK, I've got you", Angel assured, touched by his obvious plight.

 Angel lowered him down gently before spasms of pain ripped through his body, contorting his face and reducing him to flailing around wildly, thrashing against the invisible assailant.

Gunn helped Angel to pin him down, preventing him from injuring himself in his struggles. When it seemed that the agony had ended, Wesley was left a shivering wreck, hyperventilating and sweating profusely. His eyes squeezed shut; he was shaking his head from side to side, repeating 'nononono' over and over again.

"Angel, help him" Cordelia pleaded, choking down the sobs as she stood feeling frightened and useless.

Gunn looked into Angel's eyes, confirming that both of them were thinking the same thing. The spell must have gone wrong, terribly wrong, and this was a side effect. They couldn't take to a hospital. How would the explain this? And they had no idea what to do either, this kind of thing was in Wesley's area of expertise, not theirs. They had only one choice. They would have to do the best they could with their limited resources and wait, hoping for the best.

Leaving their client to his own devices, Angel picked up Wes in his arms and carried him away up the staircase, closely followed by Gunn and finally, Cordelia, who cursed the day that demon had ever walked into Angel Investigations.

To be continued…