Ch.20
Angel was somewhat startled by his phone ringing because his office had been silent for over a half an hour. But now the phone rang relentlessly. The vampire picked it up and was somewhat surprised to hear Gunn on the other line.
"Angel, we've got Sair."
"Good, is she alright?" Angel asked.
"She's fine, but no trace of Spike. Sair thinks she knows where Dorian took him though," the lawyer said.
"Where?"
"It's a-hold on a minute Angel."
The vampire waited on hold until Gunn came back on the line.
"We've found it."
"What?"
"We found the place where Sair thinks Dorian took Spike to. Should we go in?"
"No, come back here so we can plan this out."
"Will do," the lawyer said as he hung up the phone.
Angel did the same and was trying to think of their next move when Fred came walking into his office with an armful of papers. She came in and set them all down immediately, Angel just looked at them dumbfounded.
"What's all this Fred?" the vampire asked, indicating to the papers.
"Okay," the scientist said as she regained her composure from the news she had, "So far, we've just heard bits and pieces of the history behind Dorian and Mina, well now I've got the whole thing."
"Tell me then."
"Alright." she took a breath to calm herself, "Dorian was really born sometime in the early to mid 1800s. He lived until he was in his early twenties when the picture came in."
"Picture?"
"Dorian used to sit for portraits made by a painter named Basil Hallward. According to one of the entries in the painters' original diary," she held up a small leather bound journal, "He said that Dorian was so distraught upon learning that he was going to get old and lose his beauty, that he wished that the painting could age, and he wouldn't."
"So, in essence, the painting would take all the age from Dorian, keeping him youthful and alive."
"Yes, and in this case, immortal."
"But by a wish?"
"That's exactly what I looked up next," the girl searched through her papers, "Now apparently, Wolfram & Hart used to buy Basil's paintings for pretty good money back then and would receive a few with Dorian. They cast a spell on the canvas Dorian was painted on, giving him immortality."
"Ah."
"Unfortunately, Dorian didn't go through the plans Wolfram &Hart had for him-"
"That's surprising."
"Yeah, instead he killed Basil Hallward and fled to London where he lived in secret, keeping his painting with him."
"Why'd he do that?"
"He found out what the Senior Partners did to the canvas and he knew that they would destroy it first chance they got."
"Oh."
"Dorian lived in secret for awhile until a man named James M. Moriarty sought him out."
"And just what did he want with Dorian?"
"His help," Fred answered, "He wanted Dorian to join him in his quest for great profits made from weapons he would make for the upcoming war he was trying to cause with the whole world."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Angel said as he sat forward and plucked the picture of James from her folder and studied it for a moment, "So you're saying that this guy wanted to create World War I just so he could get a profit?"
"Yes."
Angel shrugged, "Okay, go on."
"He wanted to sell weapons that no one had to the opposing countries. He created a plan to get them, but he needed Dorian's help."
"Why?"
"I'm going to get to that. Dorian declined the professor's offer and retreated back to his home in London, but when he did, he found that the professor had stolen his painting. The one with his aging portrait."
"There's a twist."
"James threatened to destroy the painting and Dorian thought this was the only thing keeping him from death and life so he agreed to help."
By now, Fred was pacing the office in her frantic explanation and recounts.
"They assembled the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, containing seven members. Captain Nemo, who had amazing scientific discoveries and technology. Tom Sawyer, who had amazing marksmanship. Dr. Henry Jekyll, who had a formula that could transform him into a super-powered beast named Hyde. Alan Quatermain, who also had amazing marksmanship and hunting skills. Rodney Skinner, who was completely invisible and could be stealthy. And then there was Mina Harker the vampire and Dorian Gray."
"So what happened?"
"Dorian was set with them on a fake mission."
"Why?"
"So Dorian could collect what James needed from them to make his weapons. Mina's blood to create more vampires because she refused to do so herself, Jekyll's potion for more beasts, pictures of Nemo's ship to replicate more for battle uses, and Skinner's skin to make invisible assassins. All the while, the people never knew what was going on."
"I see," Angel said as he leaned back, "That would make for one hell of an army, even now."
"Exactly. James wanted the profit from the arms he could sell, if he could do it, he would've made billions of dollars."
"But let me guess….something went array?"
"Yes, the League found out about it and took out the whole factory that was producing these things."
"What happened to Dorian? To James and the rest of them?"
"Well, James was killed by Tom Sawyer before he could escape the place. Alan Quatermain was killed in action."
"And Dorian?"
"The vampire, Mina, thought that she had killed Dorian by showing him the painting of himself, but it just ended up as a very big piece of torture for him."
"What?"
"Dorian had to feel the pain of the portrait, it killed him in a sense, but that didn't override his immortality."
"What about Mina? What connection does she have with Dorian other than she tried to kill him?"
"Umm…well the two were lovers at one time."
"Oh, do you think that's why Dorian was after her in the first place?"
"A lost romance? Who knows? He could have a thousand reasons, but he most likely isn't after her anymore."
Angel leaned back in his chair, "So we fast-forward to now. Dorian stole a whole high-ranking business, kidnapped and brainwashed the only heir, and now he has Spike?"
"That's basically it in a nutshell," Fred said as she sat down in fatigue.
"Now, the question is, what does Dorian want with Spike?"
"I don't know."
Angel thought for a moment, "This is tough, we'll have to wait until Wes and Gunn come back with Sair to figure out a plan."
"They found her?" the scientist said as she got up from her seat.
"Yeah, we'll need all the help we can get at this point to save Spike. Fred, do you think you can find anything that can bind Dorian?"
"Why?"
"Because Sair claims that she knows where he's holding Spike."
"Oh, I can go check."
"Go ahead and do that," the vampire ordered and stood up, this was getting more and more complicated.