A/N: Ya'll are going to hate me… I'll start my apologies now, just to soften the blow a little bit for later on… :)
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"What does that smile mean?" Angel asked Doyle. The man cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
"It means exactly what I told you. Your choice is to save your son or kill your son. I'm not mincin' words about it or bein' cryptic. The catch is, because there always is one, is that in order to save your son, you will have to sacrifice who you are. Either that, or you can just kill the nipper here and now. It's really up ta you…" Doyle said. Angel frowned as he thought over Doyle's words.
"Ah, the frown… Can't say as I've missed the frown," the half-demon chuckled.
"Sacrifice who I am? What is that supposed to mean?" Angel asked. Doyle looked over at him.
"Not ta be a downer, oh Ye of Eternal Brooding, but what do ya think it means? It's not a simple case of sayin' farewell ta your morals, or your humanity… hell, it's not even askin' ya ta die…" he said. Angel looked at him. Doyle held up his hands, "… at least not in the actual dyin' sense, anyway…"
"My soul…" the vampire said. Doyle grinned.
"Ding ding! We've got a winner folks… tell him what he's won…" he said.
"Eternal damnation," Angel replied. Doyle gave him a look.
"If that's what you're thinkin', then I'm afraid I'll be putting in a bit of overtime on this here mission," he said.
"If not eternal damnation, then what?" Angel asked. "I'd be giving up my soul. The Powers simply wouldn't let Angelus run around L.A after I'm gone…"
"Depends on what your definition of damnation is, me friend. Yes, you'd be givin' up your soul. Yes, you'd be givin' it up ta save the world and your son in one fell swoop. And, of course, everythin' else you'll be givin' up. But damnation? You of all people know what that feels like, and I doubt this would rival it," Doyle said. At Doyle's words, Cordelia's face, Cordelia's voice, and her laughter filled his head. Wes' 'eurekas', Gunn's sarcastic comments, Fred's wordy explanations, and yes… even Lorne's spontaneous combustions he called song filled his ears. He would be giving up his family. He would be giving up all chance of his redemption. He would be giving up the chance of his shanshu.
"I know what I'll be giving up. And you may not call it damnation, but I do," he said. Doyle shrugged.
"Who am I ta say what's what. I'm dead… So, I'm assumin' that you've come ta some sort of conclusion then?" he asked. Angel looked at his son.
"I can't kill him, Doyle. That's asking the impossible of me. If my soul will save his, then I'll do it," he said.
"Nothing is as pure as a parent's love for their child…" Doyle commented with a shake of his head. "… or in this case, a vampire's love for it's hell-spawn…" Angel gave a small growl. Doyle held up his hands in surrender.
"Fine, fine… the former, then…"
"What about the others?" Angel asked. Doyle smiled.
"They'll be alright. Spike, Buffy and Cordelia each made their choices; they each made their own sacrifices. Those choices allowed you ta make yours," he said. Angel's frown deepened.
"I don't understand," he said.
"Well, I was hopin' you'd be taken me word on it, but I guess it's story time… The way it worked was that the dark o' their souls were banished away if they so chose, and in doing that, banished the Senior Partners from unitin' that dark. If they'd chosen different, any one of them, it would have given the baddies the power ta control Conner's soul. In destroyin' Conner, they would have succeeded in destroyin' the world by unleashin' his particular brand of dark," Doyle told him.
"What… what did they sacrifice?" Angel asked, worry tingeing his voice. Doyle shook his head.
"Can't tell ya that, Angel," he said with regret.
"If I'm sacrificing my soul here, don't you think I deserve something? Peace of mind, maybe?" the vampire asked.
"Did ya not hear me earlier when I said they'd be alright? Is that not enough peace of mind for ya?" Doyle asked. Angel thought for a second. More than anything, he wanted to know if Cordelia was going to be alright.
"I guess not," he answered.
"Well, you're out o' luck. Mum's the word and there's not a thing I can do about it," the half-demon said. Angel couldn't help the ache he felt at those words, but he knew that he wasn't going to get anything else out of his old friend.
"Then I guess that's really all we need to talk about then, isn't it?" he asked, straightening his shoulders.
"You've made your decision?" Doyle asked, eyes wide. The vampire nodded.
"I have…" he said. The half-demon studied his friend for a moment or two with troubled eyes. But then he, too, straightened and put on his game face.
"That's why all of us up here call you the Champ, Champ…" Doyle said with a smile. "You know what you have to do…" Angel nodded as he looked over his still son.
"Do it," Angel said. Doyle snapped his fingers and disappeared. Angry Conner suddenly burst back into motion, his sword crashing down. But rather than deflect it, Angel let it follow its path. It went right through the vampire. Conner's eyes went wide in shock as the metal of his sword met the stone floor with a loud 'clang.'
"What have you done? Who are you?" the boy asked. Angel looked back to where the other form of his son still stood, waiting. Then, the vampire directed his attention to the Conner standing in front of him.
"I'm your father… and I'm going to take you home," he said. With that, Angel put his hands on his son's shoulder and a light enveloped them. Conner's eyes widened as Angel led him down the long hallway. They met up with the other Conner and without much pause, the two Conner's became one.
"Where are we going?" Conner asked, all anger, all hardness completely gone from his visage. Angel smiled as his arm went around his son's shoulders as they walked towards a door that the vampire hadn't seen there before.
"We're going somewhere nice… away from all of this…" The door closed behind them.
"Good luck to ya Champ…" Doyle's voice floated through the now-empty room.
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"Well, this was a crappy place to bring me back to!" Cordelia complained as she suddenly found herself behind the group that was surrounding her friends.
"You can say that again, luv. Couldn't they have at least gotten rid of all the baddies? You know, as a 'thank you'?" Spike's voice startled her. She turned to look at him.
"Where'd you come from?" she asked. Spike shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine," he said.
"Are you two just going to stand there and chat all day, or are we going to go help them?" Buffy's voice asked. The two spun to look at the blonde standing slightly off to the side.
"I suppose we can go save them from certain death," Spike answered. Cordelia looked around.
"We don't have any weapons," she commented.
"Well, Fists of Fury here can lead us off and we can follow in and tidy up," Spike suggested. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Thanks," she said. Cordelia eyed the group of vampires who had yet to know they were there.
"It's the best we got. And we have the element of surprise. Plus, Buffster's the Slayer and Spike… you're a ghost. The only person I'm really concerned about is my human self," she said. Buffy let out a snort.
"Typical…" she said. Cordelia gave her a look.
"Well, we can continue on with this clever conversation or we can jump into the fight," she said.
"Fine, let's go," Buffy said, leading the charge. She tapped two vampires on their shoulders and waved to them before she pummeled them to the ground. Spike and Cordelia followed suit. It took Cordelia a bit longer, but with the staving tactics Angel had showed her she finally got the upper hand and took the vampire down. Spike easily dispatched two vampires as well, but caught a hard blow to the face from a vampire that had snuck behind him.
"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed as he recoiled. His hand went up to the corner of his lip and it came away with blood. His eyes went wide and he hissed as the pain radiated from the injury. With a growl, he wiped the blood off and rushed the vampire that had attacked him.
After a few minutes, the three of them joined the others.
"Ah, reinforcements!" Lorne cried out from under one of the zombies that was trying to choke him to death.
"Nice of you to join us," Wes called out as he dusted one of the vampires with a broken torch.
"Sorry we're late… life altering decisions to be made and all that," Cordelia said as she kicked the zombie off of Lorne. She gave him a helping hand to stand up and he quickly straightened his suit.
"Good to see you in one piece, Cordilicious… in your fully human, non-Seer, no-death-imminent self…" he said. Cordelia shrugged before she reached over and picked up a still flaming torch.
"I have other things to live for," she said. Lorne smiled.
"Good to see you've figured that out… finally," he said.
"Yeah, well, I can be pretty slow when it comes to important things," she commented as she reached out and set two vampires on fire when their attention was diverted. Lorne let out a snort.
"Hello, operator? The obvious has just been stated…" the demon said. Cordelia just smiled at him. After a moment or two of smoldering, the vampires both exploded into dust. The remaining vampires, seeing that they didn't have the advantage any more, ran from the chamber. The zombies, on the other hand, continued to approach.
"We need to find where the zombie's hearts are being kept. Otherwise, we'll never get out of here without them coming after us," Wes said as he hacked one of them to pieces. Lindsey straightened his shoulders.
"I'll do it," he said. The AI gang looked between them in surprise.
"Do you know where they keep them?" the Englishman asked, turning to the other man. Lindsey nodded.
"I used to work here, you know. In fact, before I became the 'golden boy', as you so put it, I used to be on the harvesting squad," he said.
"Starting young, were we? Some kids have sports, some have after school programs, and some kids have parents… Lawyer-boy had the 'harvesting squad'," Gunn said. Lindsey gave the other man a look.
"Have I told you how much I don't like you?" he asked. Gunn reached up to put a hand over his heart.
"My heart's breaking…" he said. Reaching out, Lindsey snatched Gunn's axe from him.
"Hey…" the black man started.
"Trust me. I'll be needing it more than you will," the ex-lawyer said. Gunn, not sure whether to take that in a good way or a bad way, stayed silent.
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Second level of Wolfram and Hart…
It was weird for him to be wandering around Wolfram and Hart as a part of the "good" side. It wasn't that he was "evil" during his time within these walls… it was just that he'd been younger and a little less without a conscience. If only he'd known that he'd be somehow tethered to this place after he'd left it behind, he never would have stepped into the Armani suits and expensive Italian leather shoes.
He should have known that this was the way it was going to end up. Lindsey McDonald was a good ol' boy from south Texas supplanted in big city L.A. Ambition brought him here at an early age… too early an age, if he were honest. Ambition drove his father to an early grave, and if he wasn't careful, it was going to do the same thing to him – albeit not quite the same way it had Pop.
Lindsey's grip tightened on the borrowed axe. He'd help Angel and his little gang of do-gooders and then go back to his comfortable, north-side apartment where his girl was waiting for him. Life could go back to normal without the headaches, the surveillance, the threats, the never-ending reminders… No more living life case to case, wondering if he was going to be able to wake up the next morning. From the moment they defeated the damned Senior Partners, he would go back to being normal Lindsey McDonald.
One more turn and he knew he was only a corridor away from where he remembered Wolfram and Hart held the zombie unit. He remembered his first day on that specific squad. The firm required them to scour the graveyards for fresh graves – and in L.A., they were not difficult to find – and perform the spells to bring forth the zombies. Then they had to harvest the organs before they rose. It was a grueling, often disgusting job. But it had gotten him his foot in the door at Wolfram and Hart. In the space of just a few months, he was placed in charge of the unit. His numbers greatly improved and the Senior Partners, pleased with his initiative and diligent work, had him placed under Holland Manners at Special Projects as an intern. The rest, they say, was history.
He knew this room like the back of his hand, yet being here when there was no one else around was slightly intimidating. Especially since he was here for an entirely different reason than why he'd been here before. His eyes wandered and he couldn't help but be curious as to who they put in charge of this show. But that thought was only fleeting as he approached the rows upon rows of urns specially made for the purpose of holding zombie hearts.
Learning from past mishaps – the zombie "project" at the LAPD, to be exact – Lindsey knew that there was now a magical barrier around the urns to protect them from anyone wishing to destroy them. A key pad beckoned to him from across the room and he approached it with the confidence only a former lawyer from Wolfram and Hart could possess. He typed in the password that he'd used in the past. It was wrong of course. But Lindsey knew the way the firm worked and with a smirk, he typed in the six letter replacement. Lights went on and there was a flash as the magical barrier was removed.
With a tight grip on the axe, Lindsey could only think that it would have been smarter for Wolfram and Hart to kill him.
"That can be arranged…" a voice said. Lindsey's eyes shot to the door.
"Happen to be a mind reader back in your hey day?" he asked
one of the four zombies standing at the door.
"Yes," the zombie answered. Lindsey
shook his head.
"Did you not sense the sarcasm in the question?" he asked snottily. "I really don't care whether you were or not…"
"It makes no matter to me. You will die either way," the zombie said before closing in on the ex-lawyer.
"Time to take out some aggression," Lindsey muttered to himself as the zombies approached him. One of them reached for him, but with a swing of the axe Lindsey took off its arm. Then, he reached out and gripped the zombie's shirt and flung him into one of the shelves. All the jars that sat there fell to the ground and shattered. Lindsey smirked.
"I guess we'll just play eenie-meenie until we get lucky," he said before he reached out and grabbed the second zombie's shirt and immediately flung him into the other row of urns. That, too, crashed to the floor. The first zombie writhed on the floor for a moment or two before he went still.
"Well, one for four," he said. The third zombie growled as he reached for Lindsey and the fourth moved around to flank him from the opposite side. Rather than try to hit the zombies, Lindsey spun around with the axe, the wide blade hitting a large number of urns. A number of them shattered as they hit the marble floor. The zombie that had been stealthily moving closer fell to the ground and his eyes closed.
"Two for four… not doing too bad," he said. A fist caught him on the side of the face, forcing the cockiness to take the back seat for the moment. Lindsey's ear rung a little bit from the zombie's blow, but he immediately sliced it in half. With a quick kick, he shoved the other zombie down to the floor. Taking advantage of the freedom, Lindsey ran to the other row and immediate began smashing the line of jars. He finished one side and was about to start smashing the other side when the last zombie grabbed a hold of his throat.
Using everything in him, Lindsey swung his arms and legs hoping one of them would find purchase as he dangled from the zombie's grip. His finger brushed the cool clay of one of the urns and he swung for it again. It fell to the ground and shattered without incident. Lindsey struggled harder as the zombie's grip tightened, hoping to hit another target. After a moment or two, one of his legs connected. There was another crash as a jar met its unfortunate end. Still, nothing. With a growl of frustration, Lindsey swung the axe up and it connected with the zombie's face. The grip at his throat lessened and Lindsey took advantage as he pulled the zombie with him a few steps down. His arms flung out and took out two more jars. Nothing. Hoping to get lucky, Lindsey flung the axe down the row. It took out six urns in its path. Closing his eyes, he knew that the zombie would either finish him off or drop dead. It took a second or two, but it was finally the latter. The grip dropped away from his throat and Lindsey fell to the floor, gasping. He took a moment to regroup before he stood up and looked around.
He let out a sigh as he saw all of the jars on the floor. It was done. Without a backward glance, he walked to the exit. As he made his way out, Lindsey picked up the sword that hung near the door. Before this was all over, he was pretty sure he was going to need another weapon.
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The gang was about to start out but the fire roared back to life and a horrendous gale of wind started to whip around the chamber.
"What the hell's happening?" Cordelia cried as the wind picked up even more, her hair whisking painfully into her face.
"The world's ending," Lilah's voice rang through the room over the sound of the wind. Everyone spun around to see Lilah standing at the doorway with three others - a normal-looking man in a suit, an ancient-looking vampire, and a three-horned, dark blue demon that looked to be about eight feet tall.
"How does it feel to be only a few seconds from the end of your very existence?" the man in a suit asked.
"I could ask you the same question," Cordelia said. The man smiled and lifted a hand. The entire AI gang was suddenly lifted off their feet in an invisible choke hold.
"Let… me guess… the… Senior Partners," Gunn choked out as his hands scrambled to his throat.
"Got it in one. Impressive," Lilah said with a cold smile.
"You've been playing us, haven't you? You were never working with us before," Wes said, hand at his throat as well. Lilah looked at him, a colder smile in place.
"Who said I was?" she asked. Wes' face went stony. Any emotion he may have ever felt for her was completely wiped away. "I never does any good to assume, Wesley. Just because we were sleeping with the enemy doesn't mean that things change. I never assumed you would join Wolfram and Hart… why would you think a heartless bitch like myself would ever change?"
"Angelus did good to kill you," Wes said, jaw clenched as he struggled against the invisible grip. Lilah just smiled again.
"Ah, but it wasn't Angelus. It was Cordelia…" she said, looking at the girl. Cordelia's face didn't change from its hateful stare.
"It wasn't me. You of all people know that," she said with surprising evenness. Lilah shrugged.
"It really doesn't matter much anymore, no does it?" she asked. "I must say, I do enjoy watching you squirm. Too bad I couldn't watch a little bit more…" The woman then turned to the other three.
"Finish it. Kill them," she said.
"We must wait. The end of the world is near… let them perish with the rest," the demon said. Lilah rolled her eyes.
"Why take any chances. Just kill them all right now…" she said. The vampire nodded.
"I agree with Ms. Morgan. Kill them now," he said in his gravelly voice.
"No. We will wait. It will be symbolic that the soul they tried to save will end up bringing their ruin," the man said with an evil smile. Suddenly, the wind stopped and everyone was dropped to the ground. The man gave Lilah a feral look.
"What's happened?" he asked her before trying once more to control the gang. The former lawyer glared around the room to where everyone was now getting to their feet slowly.
"What's happened!" the man asked again, except a little more impatient with the lack of answers. Cordelia laughed.
"What's happened is you're ass is grass. You've got nothing… The world isn't going to end today," she said. Lilah glared at the other woman.
"You haven't won. It may be a delay, but we will see the end of the world… today. Kill them and then let's finish this," she sneered to her counterparts.
"I don't think so," a voice said. Lilah spun around, only to have a sword pierce her stomach. Her eyes went wide.
"Lindsey!" Lilah sputtered out, blood coating her lips. He gave her a wry smile.
"I'd say bon voyage, but where you're going I doubt it's going to be anywhere near pleasant," Lindsey said as he pushed the sword deeper into the mortal Lilah's abdomen. With a last look at the woman who'd been his partner in crime yet not, he pulled the metal from her dying body. He looked to where everyone stood, eyes gaping, and tossed Gunn his axe.
"They're mortal…" he said. "Whatever mojo just happened made them mortal…" Buffy, taking no chances, flipped up a make-shift stake and let it sail through the air, hitting her vampire target directly in the heart. His stunned face was the last they saw of him as he evaporated into dust. The other two looked between themselves and immediately ran for the door.
Spike grabbed the sword from Lindsey's hand and whipped it through the air. It caught the demon in the middle of the back and pinned him to the wall. Spike smirked as he made his way over to his query. His fist smashed into the demon's face, rendering it unconscious.
"Bollocks!" he yelled as pain from hitting the demon's deceptively hard exoskeleton radiated through his fingers. Buffy sucked in a breath as she made her way to him.
"You're… you're completely solid," she commented. Spike winced as he flexed his fingers.
"With pain and everything else… but it's best saved for a rainy day, luv. We've got other things to worry about right now…" he said. Gunn grunted as he swung his axe and quickly took off the demon's head.
"It's kind of surreal that we've just pretty much defeated the Senior Partners," Fred commented, dusting herself off.
"Yeah, but we've got to find that other guy," Gunn said. "Who knows where he's run off too."
"Yes, well, let's be off. We'll probably have to split up to locate him," Wes said.
"Let's finish this," Cordelia said, removing the sword from the wall and heading for the door. Just as they were about to make their way back up into Wolfram and Hart, an invisible force flung them all backwards and into the stone wall. Everyone was suitably knocked unconscious.
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A/N – One more chapter… just ONE (thank the Powers)! How cool is that? As I said in the previous author's note, you are probably going to hate me when this is all through, but I've prepared myself for this (not really, though). Hate me all you need to after the next (and final) part…
