Chapter 4 10:40 A.M.
Even with all of their resources, it took Angel-Slayer Inc. nearly ten hours to find a link that led them to Earle and Cooper. They figured that the two former agents would be using cash instead of credit cards and that they would be in as obscure a motel as they could find. Buffy knew that if they waited, the murderers would make a move that would expose them. The problem was that when they made their move, someone was going to die. And she had no intention of letting that happen.
Ever since he had learned what Cooper and Earle had been doing Angel had been worried. Not about the demon -- although he had to admit he was troubled by it -- but by Buffy's reaction to it. Like Willow, he was personally familiar with the kind of horrors that Bob was capable of. Indeed he had brought down this kind of bloody slaughter for almost 150 years. It wasn't the actions that troubled him as much as who was carrying them out. t. Angel knew that if Bob had been a demon or a vampire or anything supernatural, she would have been able to adjust to it. The idea that in order to stop these things she might have to kill a man -- that was something Angel didn't think she could deal with. For all the horrors that had turned her into a battle-scarred veteran at twenty two, she had not taken a human life. She had come close many times but she had not yet crossed that final border. He wanted to spare her that if it were possible, but he didn't know if he could.
He had tried to bring it up with Giles or Wesley, but they had all been so fixed on tracking down Earle and Cooper that they had brushed his concerns aside. He had however, gotten assistance from a less likely quarter.
Since she had begun working with Angel, Faith had gone out of her way to do things above board. For all of the progress that she had made, she knew that she still had a lot of ground to cover. However, while the others had begun the process of tracking the rogue agents down she had deliberately pulled Angel into his office.:"I don't how to say this, so I'll just be blunt. Do you think that this demon Bob is as bad as Leonard says it is?"
Faith had been frank. Angel followed suit. "If Cooper is a demon, he's as bad as they come. If he isn't, he's worse."
Faith wasn't happy to hear this and started doing pacing before she asked her next question. "Do you think that we may have to kill him to stop him?"
"Probably."
By now Faith had walked to the window on the other side of his office. "We can't have Buffy on this case." Angel was actually relieved for what Faith had just said. Nevertheless, he put up the argument that Buffy would have made. "You want me to order Buffy to stop doing what she does?" He didn't think Buffy would take an order from him. She'd probably kick his ass for even suggesting it, but he had to at least put it out there.
"B's never taken an order willingly in her life." A small smile creased Faith's face. "If the President came down from DC and told her to 'Do something or I'll throw you in jail,' she'd be writing me for tips on how to survive inside." The smile disappeared. "She won't do it. Especially not this time."
Angel walked over to the window next to her ."You sure?"
"You saw the look in her eyes. She's gonna stop Bob no matter what .. And if that means killing Cooper, she'll do it."
"You got all this from half an hour of Fred and Willow reading the files?" Angel said incredulously
"No, I got it from one look at her face." Faith spoke with a passion that Angel hadn't thought she had. "You and I both know what the look of someone who is going to take a life. It's in her eyes." Faith took a deep breath. "I saw it when...when she tried to kill me. For some reason, she got an out for it. She shouldn't have been spared just to kill this... thing."
Angel knew what Faith was getting at, but he also knew about what happened if you got in Buffy's way when she made up her mind to do something. "How do you suggest we stop her?" he said without sarcasm.
Faith looked out the window. "One of us goes with her when we start searching for Bob. If an opportunity comes up, whoever's with her..." Faith took a deep breath. "... takes Bob out."
Angel, who had been willing to do exactly that before, suddenly became alarmed at the implications. "You really think that should be done?"
"You and I both know wha5t killing someone does to you. Do you really want to see that happen to Buffy? She's retired. She shouldn't have to deal with this anymore. Not over this abomination."
Faith didn't normally speak so eloquently. If she was that troubled --

"And we are?" said Angel.
Then Faith did something that Angel had not expected. She gave him a sad smile and put her hand on Angel's shoulder.. "We already have burdens. She doesn't need this one."
Angel didn't like it, but had silently vowed that if it was at possible, he would deliver the killing blow. After their computers spat out a possible location for Cooper and Earle, Buffy had announced she was going to find them. Angel had been about to insinuate himself into going with her when Giles announced that he was going too. Angel looked at him and saw that he shared the same concerns.
In the end five of them went to the Veronica Lake Motor Lodge, Willow and Gunn choosing to come along as well. Since dawn had long since passed, Angel had had to use one of the specially modified vehicles from Wolfram and Hart that, like his office, had glass which did not reflect the sunlight. It seemed all of their manpower would be for naught, however, when they arrived at the room the clerk had said was Cooper's to find nobody there.
"I suppose it would've been too much to hope for to find them waiting for us," said Gunn.
"What," said Willow with the slightest trace of humor in her voice, "you figured we'd show up and the two of them would be here eating honey- roasted peanuts and watching Cinemax?"
"Three," said Buffy. She looked at them with a mixture of rage and frustration. Giles sensed this because he walked towards her slowly.
"I hardly think they would be here for recreational purposes," he said.
Buffy looked up. "One of them is." That killed any building conversation.
Without speaking, the five of them searched the room for any sign of where these madmen could be headed or where they had gone.
Before long Giles stopped. "Well I think I know why Earle and Cooper chose this motel."
"It wasn't for the mint under the pillow," replied Gunn. He had just started to look under the bed and wasn't wild about going through this particular laundry.
"No." Giles held up a matchbook. It was black with the words 'Veronica Lake Motor Lodge' written on it in white. "I guess this is what they consider subtle among psychopaths."
"An insane reason is just as valid as anything else." said Angel.
After a few more minutes of investigating, Gunn spoke: "Exactly what are we hoping to find here?"
"Some information that might tell us who they intend to target" Buffy said.
"We know who they intend to target. They're not going to leave us a bunch of names, pictures and phone numbers. "Gunn responded.
"They're lunatics, Gunn," said Angel. "By definition they don't think like normal people. For all we know that's exactly what they have done."
"Yeah but, unless the information we have is wrong, they're not stupid lunatics." said Gunn. "They're not going to leave any hints except the ones they want us to find.".
Giles sighed. "You're probably right, Charles, but right now our only advantage is that they don't know we are on their trail. We have to press it as much as we can."
"Small chance of that." Everyone turned to Buffy. She had been going through the closet and pulled out a brown manila envelope.
"How come?" said Willow. She walked over from the bureau to the closet
"Because of who this envelope is for."
Angel took the envelope pretty sure of what he was going to see. For the yellow haired killer and the man who dominates, was written on it in blue ink.
"I know who the yellow-haired killer is but what's dominating have to do?" said Gunn. "They're not talking about..."
"I'm begging you not to finish that sentence." said Willow. It was clear that she had already gotten a mental snapshot and it upset her.
"A 'domination' is one of the lower orders of angels," said Giles.
"That sound you just heard was our slim advantage going 'poof,'" Willow quipped.
For a moment there was an awkward silence. Then Angel began to open the envelope.
"You're sure this is a good idea?" said Giles.
"I think if they were going to kill us they'd use something more personal." Angel replied. "Besides, it's not like we have a lot of options."
The only thing in the envelope was a mini-cassette recorder. On it was a piece of paper that said simply, 'PLAY ME.'
The five looked at the tape player. None of them liked the idea of doing what these lunatics wanted but like Angel said, they didn't have a lot of choices. Buffy pressed the play.
For several seconds there was silence. Then a quiet laughter began. None of them particularly liked the sound, but only Gunn would later be able to explain just what was wrong with it. When he'd witnessed Angel's reversion to Angelus, the first sign that something evil had been in the driver's seat was when he had begun to laugh. It had an overtone of evil that chilled the blood. This wasn't exactly like that, but it was close enough to make his skin crawl.
About ten seconds in, it stopped. Then a voice -- Angel would have bet any amount of money that it was not the person who had been laughing -- began to speak: "Friends, Romans, vampires...lend me your ears." The voice was full of horrible happiness. Angel recognized it. He had used one like it frequently when he was torturing people.
"As you no doubt know by now, my name is Windom. And the happy gentleman you just heard is Bob. But enough pleasantries, let's get down to brass tacks." The good humor left his voice. "From what I understand about your operation, you represent the interests of the white. That alone would seal your fate. But you have repeatedly and vehemently attempted to destroy the black lodge -- an action that, if accomplished, could have brought about the eradication of both sides."
Angel and Buffy exchanged a glance that mirrored confusion and a certain kind of understanding. They still had no clear idea of what the black lodge was, but they both knew that this madman was talking about it for a reason.
"Now I'm all for destruction and chaos and Bob here is a big fan of it. But , you are clearly on the wrong side of it, and so you must be destroyed."
Buffy exhaled, relieved.
Willow looked up at her in surprise.
"I just realized. We're going to get the usual rant: Gonna to kill you, make you wish you were never born... your usual James Bond-Spiderman talking-villain stuff. Nothing to get stressed about."
"I'll bet you're saying that you've been through this before."
Buffy did a double take.
"That you could eat people like me for lunch. Well, I'll tell you something. You might be able to stop me."
"But you're gonna have a problem with me." A different voice was speaking now, and Angel knew that it was the man who had been laughing on the tape. "Hello, Anne."
Buffy had looked surprised before. Now she looked alarmed.
"Mind if I call you that? I know you that you haven't used it since the first time you came to L.A. Never really did tell Ripper about that little side trip, did you?"
Now Giles looked alarmed.
"That would have made a great essay: 'How I spent my summer vacation by Buffy Summers: I spent it in a coffee shop in L.A. after I sent my boyfriend to hell!' It's gotta be hard to forgive that, Angelfish. Maybe that's the real reason you got horizontal with Darla!" Cooper/Bob laughed. "By the way, she sends her love and says she's proud of her son."
By now the group was exchanging looks of amazement. How did this...thing know their private fears? Angel might have been more upset if he hadn't played variations of this game as Angelus. However, he didn't like the expressions he was seeing.
"But I'm getting off the track." The laughter disappeared from the rogue agents voice. "Believe me, I know better then to kill you, Anne. That's only seems to piss you off. No I have something a little more...damaging in mind. "
"I'm going to make you wish that you were never born. I will remove every thing that you find precious. All that you prize I will eliminate. And when I'm finished, then I will come for you. Because then you will have been destroyed more completely than any mere death could." Cooper/bob laughed again. "You'll beg for it."
"We'll be seeing you soon enough so I'll let you go. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds." Hearing this, Angel grabbed the recorder and threw it out the window, then they all hit the deck. Five seconds passed.
Then ten.
Then fifteen.
They heard Bob's voice. "Psych!!!" and more laughter before the tape came to a stop.
Everybody got to their feet, and they were pretty pissed. "Great," Gunn said, "So not only is this guy insane, he has a really warped sense of humor."
"How the hell did they know all that?" Willow asked.
"Maybe Bob is one of these lower beings that sees everything. Maybe they've got a spy in our offices. I don't know and I don't particularly care." Buffy seemed agitated . "We have to figure out a way to back on their trail. Before they start whatever twisted plot they've got going on."
Angel was becoming alarmed at the level of agitation in Buffy's voice but knew better than to try and calm her down.
"What do you suggest we do? Wait here and hope that they come back?" Giles asked.
"No, they've obvious got a leg up on us. They're probably long gone."
Angel would never understand how the events of the next twenty seconds really happened -- starting with his own actions. His hearing was good -- excellent, in fact -- but there was no way that he could have been able to hear something that was taking place across the street. Perhaps it was some kind of survival instinct that was magnified whenever Buffy was near.
Whatever it was, he ran away from the window towards Buffy and the others shouting: "DOWN!!" He had a vague memory of Willow and Gunn both standing a few feet away from Buffy looking amazed, but moving as well. Right before the first bullets broke through the window.
Angel wasn't sure how many shots were fired. He thought that it could have been as many as a dozen , but he wasn't sure how rational he was at the moment. All he remembered clearly was the sound of rifle-fire echoing through the room like explosions.
And then it was over. No one was sure how long they remained flat on the ground. But Angel did remember Gunn getting to his feet and asking if everyone was all right. But he knew without looking that someone was not all right. He knew it even before he got to his feet, before Willow screamed, "GILES!"
Then he turned and saw Giles standing. There was a little spot of blood just above his chest, like a red period. He saw Giles put his finger to it and take it away with a look in his eyes as if he couldn't believe what had just happened to him. His mouth formed a word, it might have been 'Buffy,' before he fell backward into the wall.
"No! Giles!"
Angel didn't have time to move before Buffy nearly knocked him down in her haste to get to her Watcher. He knew that having people crowd the man probably wasn't going to help, but he also knew that it would take an army to pull her away. Willow looked even worse. There was a blankness in her eyes that he had never seen before.
Only Gunn still seemed able to act. "Call 911!" Then, as Angel seemed to be hesitating -- he didn't know what bringing the authorities would do -- he grabbed the cell phone from Angel's jacket pocket: "Give it to me, goddamnit!"
As Gunn began to dial for help for Giles, Angel swore he could hear Earle or Bob, possibly both, laughing at them all.

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