Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

Summary: Post AtS and BtVS, Faith and Xander are approached by a secret government agency. Surprises all around.

Rating: PG-13

Chapter 6: Portals

Connor got his bearings, glancing around. "Plain of Dead Things," he muttered, taking a necklace of bones out of his pocket and putting it on around his neck. "That means the Valley of Dying Things is...that way." He swiveled, glancing around.

Harmony and Spike flew through the portal, hitting the strangely colored ground bouncing and rolling. "Argh..." said Spike softly, looking around. "This is hell, isn't it?" The strange colors hurt his eyes.

"It's home," said Connor.

Buffy and Faith flew through the portal, and then it sizzled closed. As the two Slayers rolled to their feet Connor sighed. "I guess I'll have to give the guided tour now," he said.

"No, we're going right back!" said Faith, looking around and squinting.

"There is no way back," said Spike gleefully. "The portal's closed."

"What?" said Buffy, surprised.

Faith finished looking around the completely alien and hostile landscape. "This is Quortoth?" she asked uncertainly.

"This is home," said Connor firmly, pulling out a knife. "The land of the monsters. A place where the only rule is hunt. Or be hunted." He grinned. "This is where I earned the name Destroyer. Welcome to my world."

Spike chuckled, inhaling deeply. "Here we are, Buffy. The end of the world, like I always said. Are you ready to listen now? Or will you just complain about how evil Angel turned out to be?"

"He wasn't!" said Connor, a little angry now. "I mean, you know that, of course. But you two!" He gestured broadly at the two Slayers. "Ah, what's the use."

Faith was still holding her sword, and she carefully pointed at Connor's chest with it. "Angel's son, maybe. But you admitted to trying to kill him, didn't you? Don't push your luck, junior."

He scowled at her. "Push my luck?" He started to step forward, but Spike grabbed his arm.

"Well, we did it, didn't we?" asked Spike. "Big portal into hell. The very thing you were trying to stop us from doing. Feel better for having failed?"

Buffy scowled at him. "Okay, you didn't destroy the world. Got that. But you still haven't explained away any of the things you and Angel did. Or the Destroyer, there."

"Only demons call me that," muttered Connor.

"Ha bloody ha!" roared Spike. "Do we owe you an explanation? Angel didn't. Angel saved the bloody world, pretty often, even if I still think I did it more often, and died, was destroyed, for something you can't even understand! Something you don't even comprehend! Do you think that he died for nothing? For evil, perhaps? No, he found redemption by giving his away, by giving away his shiny new start! Do you think he was no hero? He passed it on to me like that, signing away his soul, because he knew he could do something with it! Something good! And you stand there and whine and complain that he wasn't good enough, that he was evil. Well, get this!" Spike carefully withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket, a folded and crumpled piece of paper. "Sod you, and welcome to hell." He opened the paper carefully. "Which way?"

Connor cocked his head carefully, watching Faith. "That way," he nodded to his right, towards a jagged field of even darker and more twisted color. "The Path of Pain. I don't think they're going to let us go." Spike looked away, at first thinking Connor was referring to demons blocking their path. It took him a moment to understand that Connor meant the Slayers.

Buffy shifted, once again preparing for violence. "Not until we get some sanity out of Spike."

"Sanity?" demanded Spike. "What sanity?" He pulled away from Harmony, who had been moving closer. "Don't touch me!" He screamed, and Buffy flinched back, surprised by his reaction.

"Why do you do that?" asked Faith, keeping her eyes on Connor.

"He does it because he died," replied Connor.

Buffy nodded uncomfortably. "I know," she said. "Burned to ash and then brought back by the same amulet. I know, Spike. Better than anyone else, I know. I died too, remember?"

Spike chuckled. "Right there at the end, you gave me such a pretty lie." His face twisted. "That's why I could never follow you, you know. I wanted to. I even went to Rome with Angel. But you lied." He sniffled, and looked down at his feet.

"He's starting to scare me," noted Faith.

"No," said Buffy. "That last part, that was pretty sane. When he was dying...when the Hellmouth was open, and we were the last two left there, I told him I loved him." Faith couldn't keep her gaze on Connor then, glancing at Buffy in surprise. "He dismissed it as a lie then, and again now." She was watching Spike. "I guess it was a bit of a lie. I certainly didn't love him in the all-consuming way he loved me."

Spike snorted, turning away from them so that they could only see his back, swathed in the black leather duster. "Love, hate, who cares," he muttered. "Connor?"

Connor sighed, still facing Faith. "Look, I know you don't believe me, but there's a heck of a lot of good reasons you should let us go. Besides, it's the only way you'll ever get back to earth!"

Buffy smiled, a predatory smile. "I think we could probably find a way back," she replied.

"It took me nearly sixteen years," replied Connor. "And a tear in reality caused by a very, very dark magic being cast back on earth. Do you think anybody back on earth is trying to rend the very fabric of reality to get you back? Even if they are, that's sixteen years from now."

Faith made a face at him. "Right," she said. "So we just follow the crazy vampire, the ditzy vampire, and the Destroyer into a hell dimension."

Spike turned back around as Harmony prepared to say 'Hey!'

"That's hardly fair, love," he said smoothly. His face was calm, and he looked much more collected. Buffy blinked, surprised by the change. "We have a mission, you know, and you could help us. We're talking about killing some of the demons who infest earth, some of the demons who really drag earth down. Are you really against that?"

Faith scowled at Connor, not willing to take her eyes off him. "And we're just supposed to believe you on that one?"

Harmony didn't hesitate to speak. "Hey, not to throw a wrench into a Mexican standoff, but don't you think we should be a little more concerned about the demon masses here?"

Connor shrugged. "Give me five minutes alone with the demon masses, and we won't have any concerns at all," he said calmly. "Look, Faith, I know you have trust issues going on here, but look at Spike. Just look at him. He's hardly a threat."

Faith's gaze swiveled to Spike, and Connor struck, leaping forward, one foot crashing into her legs, sweeping her to the ground, both hands grabbed her sword and wrenching it away. She smashed into the ground, the world dissolving for a second into stars.

When the world resolved itself again he was holding the sword in a professional grip, a very dangerous grip. "Broadsword," he noted with a smile. "My dad's favorite toy."

--

Eve backed away from Angelus as her hired mercenaries moved in to try and stop him. He lashed out quickly and efficiently, killing them quickly.

"So, where did my darling little Slayers run off to?" he asked, nodding at the sizzling spot on the floor. "And with my wayward son and Childe, no less," he added, sniffing at the air. Then he frowned, shaking his head. "Not to mention my secretary. What is this, some kind of plot? If it is, it's certainly evil." He smiled at her, a smooth smile. "Come on, Eve-y. You can tell me."

"Now, before you kill me, just remember, I'm on your side," said Eve quickly.

"But I've slept with you," pointed out Angelus. "I have something of a track record there. If I didn't at least try to kill you, what would I tell Buffy?"

Eve made a face. "Oh, come on. I could be a great asset to you."

"And you talk like an eighty-year-old accountant with no sense of fun whatsoever," sighed Angelus. "Look, can we just cut to the chase? Emphasis on the cutting." His mouth curved in a smile that was far more entertained than Angel had ever been. And far scarier than Angel had ever been.

Eve smiled shakily. "Quortoth."

"Quortoth?" Angelus was stumped. "Didn't the kid just get out of there? What could possibly possess him to go there? Not that I care, mind you, I just would have liked to have killed them all myself."

Eve's smile was thin, but as genuine as she was. "Angelus, maybe we can make a deal."

Angelus shook his head. "No, not really. I'm just interested in some good old-fashioned chaos and death. I thought I'd start with family, but they don't seem to be interested." A smile played around his face. "I hear that there's a lot more Slayers around these days, just ripe for the picking." He advanced on Eve. "Now, try not to scream." His eyes flashed golden. "That makes it more fun when you do start screaming."

--

Connor stood over the fallen Slayer with the sword, a smirk on his face. "Kind of rocks, doesn't it?" he asked Spike, backing up.

"Eh?" said Spike. "Oh, very good work, you hit a Slayer. Ha bloody ha. Been there, hit her, and I think I may have had more of an impact than you."

"What'd you do next?" asked Connor curiously. "After hitting Faith, I mean."

"Stormed out to find Buffy," replied Spike. "It was kind of a thing. Look, let's just get moving, all right?"

"Don't worry. Time here is different," said Connor. "We won't run out of time here."

"No, it'll be a thousand bloody years here and a few weeks on earth! I know the routine," Spike shot back. "That's not my worry. I'm just bored. Come on."

Connor backed away from Faith, sulking just a little bit. "Well, now that we've established the pecking order here...are we all ready to save the world?"

Buffy lashed out, throwing a leg at his wrist. He absorbed the impact by spinning with the crushing blow, keeping a tight grip on the sword and backhanding her with his off-weapon hand, sending her crashing to the ground.

Faith spun, kicking at his legs. As she kicked his legs out from under him he did a flip in midair, landing on his feet again and backing away from the two Slayers.

"Wow!" he said. "I can see pretty easily why you fell in love with one of those, Spike!"

"Not quite like anything else, are they?" asked Spike smugly. His eyes found Buffy's, and for a second he frozen, standing stock-still, and she could see fear and pain behind his eyes. Then he gave himself a shake and started watching. After a second Connor followed him.

"Hey!" yelped Harmony, realizing she was being left with the Slayers. She turned and ran after the two men striding away.

Faith crawled to her feet. "Well, that went well," she said tightly, glaring at the other Slayer. "You know what, why don't we just, next time, tell each other all about the little background garbage that goes with the territory, huh?"

Buffy clenched her teeth, shaking her head. "I...I'm sorry, Faith. I didn't think it was important."

"It's not," admitted Faith. "I just don't like being left out of the loop."

Buffy frowned at her, and then turned back towards Spike and Connor, who were running off. "Hey!" she yelled after them, and then turned back to Faith. "Why do I get the feeling we're going to end up getting beat up again?"

"Gee, let me think," said Faith, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Could it be because Spike, the one of those two who's actually killed Slayers, hasn't even bothered joining the fight yet?"

"That's the one," said Buffy with a deep sigh.

They followed the dangerous trio deeper into hell.

--

Xander lay on his hotel bed staring at the ceiling, trying to sleep. It was pretty hard to get to sleep, especially with his Slayer out on a mission.

His Slayer. The thought alone made him want to dissolve into a fit of giggling and shaking, all at once. Whose crazy idea had it been to pair him up with the psycho-Slayer who'd tried to kill him?

Giles, of course. He could hear Giles in the other room, arguing with Dawn about some obscure point of prophecy. The old man was surprisingly adept at making you do things you didn't want to do.

Xander hadn't wanted a Slayer. He especially hadn't wanted Faith. Yet somehow Giles had twisted his arm, speaking of duty, and preserving Xander's special knowledge (what special knowledge?), and somehow Xander had been taken in.

He rubbed his nose, wondering just how difficult it would be to get Faith to kill Giles.

Riley entered the room without knocking. "Hartney reports we have a problem," he said grimly.

Xander sat up quickly. "Problem?" He was dimly aware that Dawn and Giles were silent, and had followed Riley.

"First we lost Buffy and Faith's signals. I mean, I don't mean they went dead—they vanished." Riley's face as he spoke was completely blank. "Then Hartney saw another vampire go in, and now he says the place is empty, except for bodies."

"Another vampire?" asked Xander, his eyes widening. "Does he...was it...?" He was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "I don't suppose there are pictures?" he asked finally.

Riley shrugged. "I've told Hartney to investigate the site, see what they can find...maybe you'd better come have a look at it."

Xander nodded, standing up. He was still fully clothed, a habit he'd fallen into recently, since Faith had no real plans to start knocking on doors just because he might be behind them.

As he followed Riley out he noticed that Giles and Dawn were both very silent. "So," said Dawn quietly. "Buffy vanished. Does that mean...? Did he see?"

Riley shook his head. "There was a portal opened, we know that much," he said grimly. "At this point, we think they went through it. That's all we can think, at this point. But this third vampire...Hartney? What?" He pressed a hand to his ear. "Slow down! I can't...what?" He looked around in shock. "Pull them out! Pull them out!"

Xander could feel the heavy feeling in his gut intensifying, in a way that he wished could have been lunch-related. "We need to get out of here, now."

"We can't run!" said Riley, shocked.

"We have no choice!" snapped Xander. "Do you understand what's out there? I know, you've fought vampires, but any vampire that can take out your commandos is not just another minion, not just another scrapper!"

"Xander is right," said Giles quietly. "This will be a master vampire, no doubt tracking Spike and Connor for some reason, or else in league with them. It will be dangerous, and deadly, and without our Slayers we have nothing capable of fighting it."

Riley looked at them both, a surprised look on his face. "We can handle this!" he insisted.

Dawn shook her head. "Then you go out there and face it," she said. "But you're not a Slayer, and neither are any of us." She glanced at Giles. "It's time to go to plan B," she said, lowering her voice a notch.

"Plan B?" asked Riley, surprised.

"We were going to do this your way," said Giles calmly. "Let your organization deal with it. Now, though, with Buffy and Faith missing and a vampire turning the operation into chaos, it's time for us to step in. I have Slayers ready to move in, some as near as the ruins of Sunnydale."

There was a knock at the hotel door. "Come—" Xander started to say, but Dawn turned and elbowed him in the stomach quickly. "—Oof!" he finished.

There was silence outside the door. "Does that count as an invitation?" asked a familiar, smooth, petulant voice.

"No!" yelled Dawn, leaping for her duffel bag, pulling out a bottle with a stopper in the shape of a cross. "Angelus?"

There was a deep chuckling, and the door opened slowly, pushed open by the vampire. "Ah, little Dawnie." The vampire's face was in shadows, but his hands were held calmly in front of him, crossed. Spots of blood covered them both. "And Riley. This must really be a get-together of people who've slept with the little blonde, isn't it? And the people who wished they had...hello, Rupert, Xander."

Xander glowered at the tall vampire, hating him so much that for a minute it really, really hurt. He backed up to Dawn, reaching into her duffel, searching for more weapons. He came up with a cross. "Get out of here," he hissed at the vampire.

Angelus chuckled. "Get out of here? Oh, Xander, where've you been? I've been killing people all up and down the west coast. Did you miss that?"

"I didn't," said Giles tightly. "People saw you die, you know."

"They saw Angel die," corrected Angelus. "Funny thing, that. I don't fully understand it myself. I woke up a few days after he had died, lying naked on a beach in the dark somewhere. Which is kind of lucky, considering what would have happened to me if the sun had been up when I woke up. Anyway, I've been getting reacquainted with the world, and the destruction I can cause. Death, destruction...it's been fun. But what I really wanted was Buffy. And Spike. Dead. And not necessarily in that order." He pressed a hand against the invisible barrier in front of him. "Now, I've got to run and kill a few Slayers, but you be sure to tell Buffy, when she gets out, that I'm waiting for her. In LA. Okay?"

"We'll send her after you so fast..." muttered Xander.

"She'll come to you," said Giles quietly. "I'm sure she will."

"Good," said Angelus. "By the by, let her know...he moved on."

"What?" asked Xander.

"Angel," smirked the tall vampire. "He moved on." He glanced to Dawn. "And by the by, Dawnie, why don't you try throwing a spell on me? Give me my soul back?" He smirked, loving the way she started to tremble. "Won't work, not any more."

He vanished quickly, turning and stalking away. Xander fumbled an arm around Dawn's shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "It's all right," he said quietly.

She shook him off. "No, it's not!" she yelled, loudly and angrily. "Not even a little!"

--

Buffy and Faith were behind the others when they found what they were looking for, and it took them a minute to catch up.

They stared at the square portal, and the short, green demon talking to Harmony. "What is this?" asked Faith.

"Portal to another hell dimension," muttered Connor. "Just be quiet, here, and try not to kill this one. We sort of need his help."

The demon was droning on while Harmony nodded, pretending to listen. "And you understand that there is no return from the dark dimension, and you forfeit any right to..."

As he went on Buffy turned to Spike, tentatively reaching out for him. "Spike..." she said softly. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, moving out of her reach with a quick step. "Not now!" he hissed. "This is sort of important!"

The demon hesitated. "Do you mind?" he asked, annoyed. "Where was I?"

"Death," replied Connor. "And something about vampires."

"Oh, yes. No vampires allowed, I'm afraid. And, ah, Destroyer, I'm afraid I can't let you through either."

"What?" said Faith, suddenly completely alert. It was an exclamation, not a real question, and she glared around at Spike. "It was a trick," she growled, understanding. "This is what you meant to do all along!"

Spike stared, not getting it. "What?" he asked, confused.

Buffy got it then, as well. "No vampires allowed, and no Destroyer, leaving Faith. And me." Her voice was cold, the warmth of a moment ago gone. "You want us to go in there and ... and do what, exactly?"

Spike glared at her, and then turned back to the demon. "Why not Connor?" he asked.

"The boys upstairs heard about his little quest to rescue his father. Touching, isn't it?" The demon gave a genuine-sounding sniff. "And so I can't let him in."

"How do you plan to stop me?" asked Connor, his words short and clipped, his eyes narrowed and his chin starting to move up.

"Well, the portal is keyed to destroy you. And any vampires that try to get through—I think the vampire rule is actually out of date, now that Angel is dead," confided the demon. He glanced to Faith, who noticed the sticky phlegm running from his mouth down his chest and shuddered. "Slayer? We've never seen a slayer here before."

Spike shook his head, turning to Connor. "Sorry, old chum," he said quietly. "I tried."

Connor was scowling. "No! No!" His roar of anger held no trace of whine, and quite a bit of promise of bloodshed.

"Nothing I can do about it!" complained the demon.

Spike turned and dove through the portal, not hesitating. Buffy let out a shriek, half stepping after him, but Connor was already in motion, cutting the head off the demon with one lop of his sword, the impact hurling the severed head through the air away from the portal.

Faith dodged back as the demon fell. "Bummer," she said morosely.

Connor turned, grabbing her arm. "More than you know," he sneered, turning and rolling, hurling her into the portal.

"Faith!" yelled Buffy.

The portal fizzled and sputtered, dying out, and Connor glanced at her. "She'll be fine," he said. "Spike's there with her, after all."

"Spike's dead!" snapped Buffy.

Connor thought about that for a moment. "Oh," he said finally. "You think he's still a vampire."