CHAPTER FIVE

"You got it back," Kate said as Angel came into his office. He saw she was supervising the nearly finished repairs to his wall and safe. He was less thrilled to see Andrew was in the room but the young man was oddly silently. "It was getting a little tense in here." Her eyes canted to Andrew who glared back.

"You called the cops on me," he grumbled, turning his glower on Angel.

"No, we didn't. If you're ever going to be any good at this, you have to be aware of your surroundings," Angel said.

"In other words, you can't go into Millionaire Row driving a shit box car," Gunn added.

"We have more than just Gwen and her accomplice after the Alatyr," Wes said. "Ethan Rayne has entered the game for certain."

"With a demon," Spike said. "I think it was a Jesked demon. They're very strong but they aren't long on bravery or smarts. Pretty much just one step up from a Fyarl."

"They got to the Alatyr first," Angel reminded him.

"Yeah, I don't get why they didn't just walk off with it. Did we scare 'em off?" Gunn dropped wearily into a chair.

"There was a fear spell on the safe. It nearly scared me off," Angel admitted sheepishly.

"It did frighten me away," Wes said, an embarrassed expression on his pale face. "But what we found in the house probably confirms Spike's suspicions that it was a Jesked demon."

"Why?" Andrew asked then realized he was showing he didn't know something Wes did.

"Dogs, they had four guard dogs. Jeskeds are severely allergic." Wes didn't look at the new Watcher. His eyes were on the stuff from Angel's safe, now under Kate's watchful eye on the desk. He picked up a file box that read 'Connor' and opened it before Angel could stop him.

"Oh, well, yes, I didn't know they had guard dogs," Andrew said, trying to put his officious shell back together while Angel tried to get the box away from Wes without arousing suspicions.

"A fear spell." Kate drummed her nails on Angel's desk as Wes took out a picture of Angel and a baby from the box. Angel snatched it away and slammed the lid down on the box but he knew it was far too late. "I'd like to have one of those on this safe."

"As would I." Angel took a moment to try and get the snappishness out of his tone. He knew he had just aroused Wes' curiosity by taking away the file box. He should have removed it, with its incriminating photos and videos, mementos granted by Lilah after the spell had been cast, the moment the safe had been ruined. "Have spells and divinations get on that because it was a very effective defense." Angel clamped a hand down on Andrew's wrist as he reached for the Alatyr.

"I just wanted to see it," Andrew protested, rubbing his wrist after Angel let go. He flopped back on the couch.

"Like my dad always said, look with your eyes, not with your hands," Kate said. "I spoke to Mr. Giles. He'd like you to call him, Angel. I think he'd like Wesley to accompany the Alatyr to Russia along with Andrew since he's already here. Provided, of course, Wolfram and Hart is going to relinquish the artifact."

Angel nodded at Andrew. "That explains why you haven't escorted him out of here. I'll call Giles and set it up. I think we're agreed the Alatyr needs to be returned to Booyan Island."

"Hey, sounds like that thing being out from under the world tree is doing more to ruin the environment than the current administration," Gunn said. "Take it back. I don't wanna be responsible for the world dying."

"Well, if that's settled." Kate sidestepped the workers as they left, the wall now repaired. "Why don't you put the Alatyr in the new wall safe for now."

"I will. Kate, you've been up for nearly twenty-four hours. That goes for Gunn and Wes, too. Why don't you all go home and get some sleep. Spike and I can stick around for awhile to make sure the Alatyr doesn't go anywhere," Angel said.

"No arguments here," Gunn said, heading out.

"Call if anything happens," Wes added.

"I'm not leaving," Andrew said. "I have an obligation."

"Fine, sit out in Harmony's office. You can be the advance look out." Angel smirked.

"Just don't drive her too nuts, kid." Spike dislodged Andrew from the couch, stretching out before Angel could. "No soul, no chip, she might just snack on you."

"I'll be prepared," Andrew assured him and Kate escorted him to the outer office.

Angel hauled Spike off the couch. "My office, my couch." He tossed the smaller vampire on the floor and stretched out himself.

After a few minutes of alpha male posturing and fang gnashing, Angel had the couch and Spike had a place on the soft carpet with one couch pillow to his credit. Angel shuttered the huge windows. The rising sun couldn't hurt them here but there was no sense in trying to nap with it glaring in their eyes.

"Are you as pissed as me?" Gwen said, staring up at Wolfram and Hart's glass tower. They had parked inside the visitor's lot rather brazenly.

"Maybe we should have just told the buyer we lost the damn thing," Connor said.

"Why? You don't want to retrieve it?" Gwen's eyes narrowed.

"No, I want to get the stone, shove it up the vampire's ass and get it back from his ashes after I stake him," Connor grumbled.

Gwen caught his face with her strong hands and kissed him. "That's the man I married."

"Still, we should have informed the buyer there could be a delay."

"If we get it back, there won't be a delay. No need to worry the buyer unnecessarily," Gwen argued.

"Good point." Connor shrugged. He knew he was being ridiculous. "How's your back?"

"Sore but it won't be a problem," she assured him.

He let his fingers play in her long wavy brown hair. She looked as beautiful in her business suit as she did in any of her best gowns or that really hot bikini of hers. He glanced over his shoulder, thinking someone was watching but he didn't see anyone suspicious. "Let's do this."

They went inside, blending in with the crowd. There was nothing eye catching about either of their suits. Only a close look would reveal that their shoes had good rubber grips that dress shoes usually lacked. No one challenged them or even noticed the floating leaf that was leading them through the hallways as if that was an every day thing. Around this place, Connor didn't doubt it was.

"Damn, they brought it right back to his office," Connor whispered.

She nodded and peered into the outer office. "One guy asleep in a chair and the blond vampire is busy doing her nails. Her back is to the door."

Connor peeked in and saw the blond was in fact twisted in her horseshoe styled work station so that she was facing closer to the inner office. In one powerful jump, he cleared the distance between them and slammed her face down into the desk with a loud crack. She didn't move after that. He knew he should just stake her but he didn't want to cause himself more grief by pissing off her employer. Gwen moved in and briefly touched the young man who had just been aroused from his slumber by the noise of the head slam. The blond youth's back arched as his body did a little dance, as a light dose of Gwen's electricity coursed through him.

"He'll be out for awhile," she said, softly.

Connor nodded, wishing he could peer around the inner door with a mirror like he usual did to check out a room. It wouldn't do him any good if Angel was inside. He eased a squirt gun out of his jacket pocket just in case the vampire heard the sharp rap of the blonde vampire's head on the desk. He stepped inside and found himself faced with both Angel and a little blond man. Both looked drowsy but wary, obviously having heard the short attack.

"Shit." Connor sprayed both men, taking the chance that the blond was a vampire, too. He was closer to Connor than Angel was. Both men growled, smoked and sizzled as the holy water ate at them. Gwen heard the cries and ran in to back him up.

Connor didn't have time to wait for her to join the fray. Angel slammed him back against the desk. The creature's strength was amazing. Connor had killed vampires before but rarely had he wrestled with them. He tried to shoot Angel, too, but the vampire had his gun arm and crushing it against the desk until he dropped the squirt gun. Angel's fist shattered the gun. The vampire growled as the backlash splattered him.

Connor used that distraction and tried to kick the vampire in the jewels. The only reason the blow didn't split Angel open like a rotten tomato was he sidestepped at the last moment. Connor's foot hit but without a lot of force. Still, it was enough to send Angel to his knees with an abortive breathless bellow of pain.

Connor looked and saw Gwen taking on the blond. She shocked him across the room. He lay twitching as Gwen whirled away from him so she could fry the obviously repaired safe.

"Bloody...my heart..." the blond muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, it's beating. Won't last though." Gwen smirked, touching the safe. "We don't want to dust you but we will, if you keep getting in the way, Angel. All we want is the Alatyr."

Connor turned to help her open the safe and realized he had made a critical mistake. Angel wasn't as out of it as he thought. The vampire yanked his legs out from under him. Connor's chin smashed off the desk on the way down and he bit his tongue. Blood gushed into his mouth as Angel twisted harder on his ankle. Connor screamed, trying to free himself before tendon, ligament or bone gave way. Gwen hurtled over her lover and went to put both hands on Angel's head. The vampire let go of Connor's ankle and rolled out of Gwen's reach.

"That fucking hurt," Connor snarled, scrambling to his feet. Putting weight on that ankle caused a fiery pain to rip through his leg but he had to risk it in order to dodge a charge by the blond vampire. He used the desk as a brace to kick out with his good foot and not having to put strain on the bad. The vampire slammed into the glass which cracked.

"Spike," Angel shouted as the blond vampire hit the floor, glass showering down on him. Spike rolled immediately as a shaft of light knifed into the room.

"Gwen, go for the glass. It's protecting them," Connor said, leaping on Angel who moved to stop her. He spat a mouthful of blood in the vampire's eyes as he buried a fist in the creature's stomach. "That's for the ankle." He slammed Angel into the wall. "That's for being a real pain in the ass." Connor fell back a step as Angel's fist caught him in the face. Out of the corner of his tearing eyes, he saw Spike knock down Gwen as she tossed a chair out the window. The vampire shrieked as she tried to fry him. Connor grabbed Angel and threw him into the wall for all he was worth. The wall shattered, revealing the safe. Angel collapsed, leaving a bloody streak down the wall. "And that was for hurting my Gwen." Connor punched a fresh hole in the safe and snatched the Alatyr out.

He tried to run but his ankle was refusing to cooperate. He shoved the Alatyr into Gwen's hands. "If I fall behind, leave me. I can handle them."

"No way, Connor."

He pushed her in front of him, out of the office before Spike or Angel could recover. The young man in the outer office tried to stop them and Connor laid him out flat with one barely even trying punch. The hallway was swarming with security. He snagged a fire extinguisher on the run, ignoring the pain in his ankle. Connor laid down a dense fog with it, hearing gun fire. Something burned along his ribs. Seeing Gwen was to the stairwell, he tossed the extinguisher and dashed after her. The pain became blinding but he couldn't let it stop him.

"Up!" he cried once inside the stairwell.

They climbed and went out onto the roof, sprinting for the edge.

"You can't carry me across. God, Connor, you're bleeding all over. I think you were shot." Gwen's eyes were huge as her hands tugging at his blood-soaked shirt.

"I'll be fine. I can help you across," he assured her.

Gwen bit her lip but nodded. She took a running start and he gave her a super-powered push across to the neighboring rooftop. He made the jump himself just as security figured out they had headed for the roof. His ankle gave out as he landed and he skidded across the roof. The sheer hotness of the surface burned him. Gwen dragged his battered body up and they ducked into the stairwell of the building.

Shoving back his suit jacket, she lifted his shirt, tracing the gouge cut along his chest. "It just grazed you. The bleeding is already slowing. How's your foot?"

"I don't think it's broken." Connor had never broken a bone to his knowledge, in spite of being in some bad accidents like the one that killed his family. "He might have torn some ligaments though. It hurts like a bitch."

"We'll get you to a hospital as soon as we're in the clear," she said and he didn't argue. They went into the third floor down and road the elevator the rest of the way.

They had a clear shot back to their car. No one was in the parking lot yet. Connor managed to sprint there but Gwen took the wheel. They didn't make it out of the lot before a Hummer slammed into them full force. Connor's vision dimmed with pain, his side taking the brunt of it. The metal was crushed around him and for a moment he relived the accident that took his whole family from him.

When his heart stopped thundering in his ears, he queried, "Gwen?"

"I'm okay. What does that idiot think he's doing?" Gwen managed to open her door. "Are you okay, baby?"

"No. I'm a little trapped."

Gwen's hands went around him, checking for damage. Connor managed to plant his feet on the floorboards and kicked, bending the metal back away from him. Gwen helped him out. He was cut and bruised but he didn't think he was any more seriously hurt than he had been. Gwen steadied him against the car. That's when he saw the duo.

"Oh, damn, Gwen, it's the guys I saw in the corridor the first time we stole it. Run." Connor pointed them out then went for the shorter of the two. The blow knocked the man's head back and his hat slipped off, revealing the horns. "Oh shit!" Connor fell back a few steps. "Come on, if you want the Alatyr, take it from me."

"Get it, Kippendragr," the taller man said.

Connor watched Gwen run, knowing she had the stone. To his horror, three SUV's with the word 'security' on them entered the parking lot. Either they were more poorly equipped or Angel had ordered the guns to be put away because they had bean bag launchers. One of them clipped Gwen in the head and she sprawled on the sidewalk. "Gwen!" Connor screamed as the guards poured out of the car with something that looked like a rubber mat and leather cuffs. They knew how to protect themselves from her. Connor took two steps towards his wife then found himself flying. He had forgotten, in his fear, the demon he had been facing. He landed in the street, nearly getting run over. He belly-crawled a few feet and yanked a man hole cover up. He slammed it over the demon's head as the creature reached for him then dropped into the sewer. He couldn't help Gwen, not injured like he was, unarmed. He needed to stop the bleeding, brace his ankle and come up with a plan.

"I'm coming for you, love," he promised in a whisper.