Where do we go from here: CALLING ME

Angel glared at Wesley and look at him hard. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. To him, this was not true. "That's not going to happen, Wes. You translated it wrong."

Wesley sighed. He knew this was going to be hard. "Angel, it's true. I even went back and checked it again through different roots. This is going to happen, Angel, it's been prophesised for thousands of centuries. The fact that it will happen is inevitable unless we find a way of preventing it."

"You mean it could be stopped?"

"The father didn't kill the son, did he? Buffy died and came back," Wesley replied quietly and Angel looked at him, realizing what Wesley was saying. The prophecies could be altered but it was still possible to alter them.

Conner stood up from the stairs and looked at them. "I'm not going to die," he said. "I can take care of myself. I've been out there day and night fighting trying to keep these streets safe. I know there's something coming so don't try and hide it. I don't need protection."

Wesley sighed tiredly. "Conner, for once just listen to us. Prophecies about death are not just a vampire will catch you by surprise and kill you. They mean, real evil coming and it is meaning to come and kill you. It's mission will be to come and kill you so don't say that you need protection. You're not even going to leave this hotel."

"What—"

"Wes is right," Angel said. "You're not going anywhere, Conner. So go back up to Cordy or something. But I find that you've left this hotel I will track you down and chain you up downstairs in the basement, you understand me?"

Conner looked around the lobby and seeing that no one was going to stand up from him, shook his head and walked up the stairs again. From one of the rooms, they heard a door slam and suddenly the lobby was filled with silence. Spike looked up at his sire. "God, you're son's a right little bastard, isn't he."

"Yeah," Angel replied softly. "Great, now we have this on our hands."

Gunn frowned. "I thought you said that demon of Lorne's said there was another evil coming. Maybe this evil is gonna come within the next and kill Conner. Maybe that's the evil that's gonna do it."

Angel nodded. "It seems possible but we don't know anything about it." He sighed in annoyance.

"There's nothing you can do, mate, until it makes the first move," Spike muttered.

Willow stood up. "Maybe…maybe we should stay. I mean, Conner's probably going to die. We could try and prevent it. I mean, Faith can…kick, slay and all that slayers do and I could use magic if it ever came to an enchanted type of death…if the death ever happens that is."

Angel shook his head. "Don't worry, Willow. You should go back to Sunnydale. Buffy probably needs you."

"But Conner…" Willow continued.

"Aw, geez, we actually have to stay here and save the pip squeak." Faith looked apologetically at Angel and then looked around. She spotted Spike looking at her and she glared back but didn't say anything. The last she needed was more stirring up of trouble within the group. Angel and Spike already had tension and the news about Conner didn't seem to make things easier.

"Willow, go home," Angel said firmly. "We'll be fine. Spike's not going anywhere, are you?" Spike shook his head mutely and stole a glance with Willow for a moment. "There you go; we have an extra pair of hands."

Willow shook her head. "No," she insisted. "If this is within a week, it'll be fine, Angel, I promise."

Angel sighed in frustration and Gunn and Wes couldn't help smiling slightly. "All right, then stay. But right now, I don't know where to stay. We have a Beast's Master that…" he paused. "How could we have been so blind? The Beast's Master, that must be the evil. It wants to kill Conner."

"If it wanted Conner, why did it need Angelus?" Wes asked.

"Maybe to kill Conner himself. Maybe the Master is incapable of doing that himself because he's enclosed. Maybe that's why he needed the beast."

Gunn sighed. "That's a helluva lot of maybes."

"Some of it's right, though." They turned towards the door and saw Justine standing there. She swayed slightly as she looked at them and began to fall. Angel and Gunn began to move towards her but Wesley stayed where he was, not offering to help at all. Faith saw this out of the corner of her eye but still didn't say anything.

"Justine," Angel said. "You came back."

The woman laughed. "God, I don't know how she managed it."

"Who?"

Justine suddenly started crying on the floor and she tried to get to her feet. "Your vision girl. This is horrendous. I've never had to cope with any of this, the pain is terrible. I can't even fight a fucking vampire without a sudden explosion in my head." She took a deep breath. "I've fought in my time, real monsters, vampires, you, I've even faced what Wesley did to me. Angel, I can't take this anymore. Take them away."

Angel looked down at her and for the first time, truly felt sorry. "I can't, Justine. I don't have any power to take them away. They're yours. You just have to learn to manage with them. The Powers that Be gave them to you for a reason. The sooner we take care of what you saw, the visions stop. What did you see?"

"Vampires," Justine answered. "They're all coming, they're already in the city and they've been coming from everywhere again. When the sun came out they all left, cause I wasn't fighting as much. But now they're coming back and I don't know why."

Angel frowned. "Why would the vampires all come back?"

"They can sense something evil is coming again," Spike answered.

"Is that the reason you came?" Faith answered and Spike glared at her.

"Where are they?" Angel continued asked.

"I didn't see all that much. It's just vivid pictures everywhere. Could I have an aspirin…? Well, what I saw was a whole group of vampires in this nest. There are thirty of them or something and they're all hanging out. Dawn's coming so they'll be hiding out."

"Fred," Angel said to the girl who had been in the office. "Look after Justine. Faith, Spike, Gunn, Wes, we're going now to sort them out. Willow, I want you to stay here and make sure Conner doesn't go anywhere. He wouldn't dare leave if we were still in the hotel but I don't want him to go when we're gone."

"You got it. Do want me to cast a spell."

"I don't care if have to paralyse his legs, but he doesn't go anywhere."

*  *  *  *  *

Cordy panicked at the sound of footsteps at the top of the stairs. Someone was coming. Not many people came up here these days. Sometimes she could hear them in the lobby talking, discussing. News from Conner had told her that Justine now had the visions. She cursed the Powers that Be, wondering why they had been transferred from her. Was it because she was evil. Then there was the news of Spike arriving which really made things worse. Spike was a good vampire now, he did good things and no longer killed humans.

Cordy held a knife, like she usually did under the bed, just in case. But the door opened and in came Conner, looking furious. He slammed the door loudly and looked around the room. "Oh, no, please, don't kill me," she said sarcastically to him as he turned around. "What happened to you? You look…annoyed."

"I am," Conner said, striding towards the window and sitting on the windowsill. He looked out of the window at the floors below and the still darkened sky that was beginning to lighten up, just at the horizon.

"Well, are you going to tell me or do we have to play twenty questions?"

"There was a prophecy."

"Oh, them again."

"About me."

"Yet again."

"I'm going to die."

"Dare I say it," Cordelia paused and shrieked, "Again!" She sat up in her bed, her hand unclenching on the knife and she thought of the possibilities. "Why are you going to die?"

"Do prophecies ever tell you that. All it said was that I was going to die. Now I'm locked up under this stupid hotel because I can't go out. I can't fight, I can't do anything. God, I hate this."

Cordelia sighed. "Life's like that."

"This isn't even life," Conner muttered. "This is not what I wanted. I was happier in QuorToth than I was here. Being around the most vicious and barbaric monsters and demons is worse than living here? This is the hell dimension not QuorToth."

Cordelia shook her head. "None of that matters now, Conner. We're going to be a family. As soon as the baby comes we can just get out of here and not have to worry about Angel or any of them downstairs because we have love and they don't. They're all too preoccupied with their end of the world to care about us but don't let that bother you. We care about each other."

Conner sighed. "How am I supposed to get out of here when they're all going to be watching me wherever I go."

Cordelia smiled. "There's always a way around those sorts of things. Don't panic so much, Conner. You take too much upon yourself. How about you go and see what they're saying downstairs. I'm sure they'll let you go for a quick fight nearby. Dust a couple pf vampires."

Conner nodded and walked out of the door, leaving Cordelia to relax a little bit although she was slightly worried about the prophecy. She could not think why there would be a prophecy to kill Conner. "The forces of goodness are trying to destroy my little plan. You think you can kill my boy! I'll not be killed and destroyed that easily."

A laugh came from somewhere nearby and Cordelia turned to look at someone sitting on a chair nearby. She brought the knife out from under the covers as she stared in amazement at the person sitting there. "No, this is a lie. This is some kind of lame attempt to knock me off track. Get out."

"Aw, Cordelia, don't get all worried now." Doyle stood up from the chair and sat up on Cordy's bed. "I haven't come here to hurt you. I can't hurt you." He lifted her hand out to her and Cordelia tried to touch it but her hand passed right through his. "I can't take corporeal form, my dear."

"Doyle?" Cordelia asked in confusion.

Doyle shook his head. "No, not me, darlin'. I just look like Doyle. I thought it'd be easier if I took a form that you could relate to, considering I have no form myself."

"What are you?"

Doyle laughed. "Well, that a tricky question. I wish I could answer that for you. I'm the First."

"The First what?"

"The First Evil, Cordelia. Now, but it's really Cordelia now, isn't it." He crept closer to Cordelia stomach. "It's that little tyke in there isn't it? You're the one controlling your mummy, aren't you? You evil little child."

"So, you're the first evil. Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"I don't expect something as evil as yourself to be so frightened. Actually, you kind of amaze me. You're a different sort of evil, aren't you. Not a spirit, not a force, but some kind of entity that is so old, it only comes by giving birth to itself. And yet the damage you can cause is incredible. I've seen what you've done in other worlds."

"The ones where I destroyed the world or those that I manipulated?"

"Wow, it just gets better and better, doesn't it. Well, I have a proposition for you because I'm on a conquest. I'm in a conquest against a Slayer in Sunnydale and her band of merry rejects that are attempting to destroy me. And yet they seem to be managing to cripple me every time. I thought that joining forces with you, when you take a form would benefit both of us."

"Really? And how did you think that?"

Doyle/First shrugged. "I hadn't really got an idea but we have different qualities. I have huge armies lying in wait for the appropriate time. You will have incredible power within yourself. After all, most of your power through the Boy came from evilness within QuorToth, didn't it? You're not an evil from this dimension."

"You're very knowledgeable. How did you know I was not from this dimension?"

"Let's just say it was an inkling. Well, what do you say?"

"I have to make a decision now?"

"Let's just say it would assure me. You'll not be disappointed. We could do great things. This world could be ours. Once we conquer the Slayer and her friends, we could move into the rest of the world. America, Europe and tear it apart. Or just do what we wish."

"Tempting offer." Cordelia thought for a moment. "All right, I'll accept."

"For a little embryo, you're a smart little evil thing," Doyle/First said. Cordelia glared at it as the apparition simply disappeared into thin air.

Cordy thought for a moment and looked around her room. Something knew about her. The First Evil. The reason for evil. That must have meant something big. Although the little evil that it possessed was probably no match for the firsts, it might come in useful. She thought she made the right choice.

*  *  *  *  *

Faith held her stake at the ready. She was with Gunn, which she didn't mind. The man was strong, he was a fighter with his wits about him. Faith understood how he felt. Angel, Wesley and Spike had gone around the other side of the building to the back where most of the vampires would be hiding. Faith and Gunn took the front to diverse them towards the back.

"So, what's her deal?" Faith asked Gunn as they approached the house.

Gunn frowned. "Who?"

"The girl. Justine. She looked even more messed up than I was…and I was a real wreck, I'll tell ya."

Gunn laughed. "Justine has issues. She's hasn't really resolved them yet. She was all part of the kidnapping Conner and Holtz thing. Justine and Holtz…well, they shared pain of losing people to vampires and I still don't think Justine has had enough vengeance yet."

"What, after stealing Conner and seeing Angel go through misery of never seeing him grown up. Man, hard to please, isn't she."

"Got that right. But I don't know her that well."

Faith looked around her as if expecting a vampire to suddenly appear from nowhere. It happened often but now, she realized, was a good opening for the question that burned her curiosity. "What's up between her and Wes. If it got any colder hell'd freeze over. Could you see the dirty looks."

"Justine and Wes have a history as well. To cut a long story short, I think it had something to do with the whole slitting throat thing."

Faith's eyes widened. "That's the bitch that cut his throat?" Gunn nodded, surprised by the reaction she gave. "Man, I'd take a knife to her throat as well if it weren't for the mission."

"Once the mission's over, you can have all the pleasure of slitting her throat."

They crept in to the front of the house. The door was open and not even guarded so there was no worry about the security measures. The place was dark and smelt musty. Draping and old curtains covered the windows from any sunlight from seeping through. The smell of a dead body hung from somewhere. Faith and Gunn didn't need to be vampires to smell fresh blood like this. So far, there were no vampires in sight. The place wasn't exactly big. In the dark and seeping sunlight, it seemed incredibly small.

"Faith, look out!" Gunn suddenly shouted, as a vampire jumped silently from the stairs towards Faith. The Slayer jumped out of the way so the vampire lay on the floorboards. She was quick to push down her stake as the vampire disappeared into a million pieces of dust. Gunn looked up, hearing growls. "I suppose we just woke up the other vamps."

Faith grinned. "Oh goody, let's have a picnic."

"I think that was there idea."

As soon as the vampires descended, the doors from the other side burst open, revealing Angel, Spike and Wesley. Spike grinned at the vampires around him and for a moment, Faith froze, wondering whether she looked or felt like Spike when that feeling of the kill came into mind. She shook that out of her head. She was a slayer, he was a blood thirsty vampire—only, with a soul. Like Angel and he wasn't a blood thirsty vampire. All this thinking lead to late reactions and Faith soon found herself knocked over.

She knocked the vampire off, staking him before he had the chance to rise again. Faith looked around as she got up. Spike was grinning, shaking off two vampires with his coat flapping around him as he landed on the ground and staked them both at the same time. They both disappeared around him. "Now, this is a carnage," he shouted at loud, thrilled.

"Spike, just kill them all," Angel said sternly. "The victory party comes later."

"All this redemption and no satisfaction," Spike replied, kicking a vampire as it came forward. "I may not have had this soul as long as you, but at least I know when to feel good 'bout it. And killing this is good."

"They're not different to us."

Spike pushed Angel. "Yes, they are! We're vampires with souls. We're reformed. I don't know how long it's taken you to realize that with your whole tortured self. Angelus may have been a sadistic bastard but all vamps have done something bad. This soul helps me. I don't feel like a demon with it."

Angel dusted the vamp and turned towards Spike. "I know you haven't had the soul for a long time. Wait another hundred years, then you'll know how I feel."

"Guys, lose the testosterone," Faith cried at them. "Some of us are actually working here." Spike and Angel glared at each other but continued working. Faith looked around. Gunn and Wes were doing well holding their own for two people who relief on their own human strength, no vampire or slayer power. Faith began to wonder when Wes became so good. Sure, the firs time she met him, he couldn't have hurt a guinea pig. The second time he landed a punch at her.

Now…he could take on two vamps, without blubbering and squeaking and still manage to get them killed. Faith watched as another vampire came up behind Wesley, kicking him and sending him into the other vampire. He was grabbed and Faith ran forward as the vampire moved his neck to the side preparing to bite. She dusted the vampire holding Wesley, sending him backwards and fought the other one. Eventually, she staked him, but not before falling backwards.

She landed right on Wesley. "Err…" she said, for once incapable of saying anything witty or comprehensible.

"Faith," Wes said, staring at her for a moment, lying on top of him.

"I think that's all," Angel said, standing up with his sword. He looked around at the piles of dust on the floor. "That was too easy."

"They're vamps, Angel. There were a dozen of them and five of us," Gunn remarked.

Angel shook his head. "That's not what I meant. We're right bang in the middle of an apocalypse. The Powers that Be have spent their time giving cryptic messages to us through Cordy, most of which failed and now they give them to Justine and they're telling us to burn out an average nest of vampires?"

"It does seem pointless in these extreme times," Wes replied distractedly as Faith helped him to his feet.

"So, what're they doing?" Gunn asked.

"Good question."

Arriving back at the hotel, the mood was a mixture. Angel was preoccupied with the details as to why the Powers that Be were sending them on wild chases. He seemed to be the only one. Strangely enough, Gunn and Spike seemed to get along, talking about the steam they let off during the battle. Gunn was especially happy after beating down a giant beast that refused to react to a huge kick. Wes and Faith on the other hand, were both quiet. Sure, kicking the hell out of vampires had stress relieving qualities but they were more reeling from the shock of their sudden contact—and liking it.

Angel was so distracted he didn't even notice that there was something in the middle of the road. "Angel!" Faith cried out as the body hit the car and flew over the roof. All five of them got out of the car to see who it was. The figure got up from the middle of the road and glared at them, his face disfigured. "Vampire."

Gunn looked around. "Make that vampires, plural."

They all looked around. There were vampires coming from every direction. The sun was almost coming up but they didn't seem particularly worried. They probably wanted to carry on killing. Either that or they noticed the Slayer was still in town and everybody wanted a piece of her. "We can't take them all," Wes said, looking around as he pulled out a stake. "They're coming from everywhere."

Angel looked around. He knew he was right. "In the car, quickly before they get closer."

Spike growled and hit the vampire that was coming towards him with his fist. Another one approaching and he hit him again but he knew he was in trouble when three of them came towards him. He jumped, trying to hit them with his feet but they only dragged him down. "Angel!" he cried loudly as could but Angel was preoccupied with his own vampires.

"This doesn't bow well!" Faith cried as she staked one and was jumped by another.

"Slayer," the vampire hissed.

From somewhere though, there was a roaring sound. What came next was the small of burning and in an instant; all the vampires around them had turned into dust anyway. They all got up from the floor of the car and looked around, wondering what was going. "Seems kind of pointless really," a familiar voice said to them approaching them from the shadows. "Why would vampires come out at this time of day? It's a risk for them. I mean, it's four minutes until sunrise."

Angel looked as Lindsey came from the shadows, holding his left hand and flexing it. To his amazement it was glowing. "Hello again, Angel."