Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay- it was a combination of writer's block, finishing up college (which I finally did yesterday!) and finishing the CSI fic I was working on. What can I say - I'm a busy girl... :-)

As ever, thanks to everyone who reviewed - you guys rock! bluecarru - regarding your review for 'Belief' - I do have a sequel in the works, I just haven't had time to do anything about it yet. Working on two fics at once is tough - three would send me looney! I'll get 'Evermore' moved along a little way further, then i'll start on the Kathy/Belief sequel - sometime during the summer, I promise :-)

Anyway, I had a tough time with this chapter - again, it's kind of a filler, I still had people who needed to be manouvered into position - but I think we're there now... Let me know what you think.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (AGAIN)

Rieff looked around the ballroom of the Hyperion Hotel, feeling more and more beleaguered by the moment. Although they had suffered no fatalities, each and every one of those who had taken part in the fight bore some kind of injury. These were not slayers. These were not warriors of any kind. In the midst of the real battle that was coming, he did not think it likely that many would survive.

What compounded his despair was the fact that at least 30 of their number were missing. He guessed that the Anomovics who had disagreed with joining the fight had disappeared before the attack, accompanied by maybe a handful of the Kwaini. They had obviously taken their wives and children along with them. He hoped they had gotten well clear of the hotel before the Scourge had gotten there. He hoped they could run as far away as they could from harm.

As for himself, Rieff could run no longer.

Running had done nothing but demoralize his people. It hadn't saved them. Death came swiftly upon them whether they ran five hundred miles or five thousand. So he had come to decision. Others could continue to run, to evade, trying to survive as best they could. But he could no longer do so. He would stand and fight and defend his people as best he could. He wasn't delusional. He knew he probably wouldn't survive. But if it meant that even a handful of his people survived to carry on the clan, it would be worth it. Meeting Doyle and Angel four years ago had taught him one thing, and it was a thing that he had held sacred from that day to this.

There are some things worth dying for.

'The closest hot spot to open a portal is Caritas,' Angel said, eyeing Lorne. The green demon was looking less happy by the minute.

There were gathered in the office, talking strategy now that Cordelia had filled them in on everything she'd found out from Doyle.

'I don't want to split our forces up, Angel,' Buffy said apprehensively. 'This could be what they want. We're already outnumbered as it is.'

'Buffy, if we don't stop the Senior Partners in Pylea, it won't make a blind bit of difference how the battle goes here. We'll still have lost,' Cordy insisted.

Angel nodded at both women's points. 'We'll take a small force. There's only, what? Fifty demon guards or so?'

'Plus three unstoppable, all powerful, really really evil demons,' the Seer added.

'Ten Slayers, Buffy.' Angel looked at his former lover. 'That's all I ask.'

Silently, Buffy nodded.

A thought occurred to Cordelia. 'And Giles.'

'What?' Giles' head popped up. 'Why me?'

'Doyle told me, the key to stopping Wolfram and Hart lies in those books,' she told him. 'We need you to translate.'

'If we can find them,' Lorne said gloomily. 'They're somewhere is Pylea.'

'Damnit! I forgot about that,' Angel exclaimed. Off the confused faces of the Scooby Gang, he quickly filled them in. 'Books that open the dimensional portals from this end don't cross over to Pylea. And vice versa. So when we took the books from the palace to help us get home, they stayed behind when we went through the portal.'

'We'll just have to start from there and work our way out,' Cordy said, worried, but with other problems on her mind. Like how exactly they were ever going to stop the unstoppable force of the Senior Partners.

'Okay, we need to mobilize,' Faith stated, getting to her feet. 'I'll go see the troops. Pick nine girls who wanna party with me in another dimension.'

Buffy did a double take. 'You're… you're going? Faith… there's a couple thousand demons about to descend on us here. The girls need you…'

'They got you, B,' Faith told her. 'Kennedy can be your second in command for a change. The way I figure it, this war's being fought on two fronts. Time to divide and conquer.'

Kennedy smirked. 'Uh, Faith, I think whoever said that meant you should divide your enemy's forces… not your own.'

The dark-haired slayer shrugged. 'Whatever.'

As she left the room, Buffy looked at Xander. 'Xand. Weapons, weapons, weapons.'

He looked eager. 'Ooh. Rocket launcher?'

She looked open to the idea. 'Whatever you can lay your hands on. Take a team. You got three hours.'

He nodded, getting to his feet. 'I'm on it,' he told her as he marched with purpose towards the door. Angel called out to him as he left.

'There might still be a flame thrower in the basement.'

'Thanks man,' Xander called over his shoulder as he left.

Dawn left the meeting in the 'war room' to find Willow, who had been conspicuous by her absence. She was surprised to find her sitting serenely in the garden, cross-legged and her hands stretched out over the grass.

She was even more surprised to see that her hair had turned to a shimmering white.

Not wanting to disturb the witch, but unable to tear her eyes away from the sight before her, Dawn stood, transfixed, until Willow opened her eyes.

'Hey Dawnie,' she smiled.

'Hey. What… uh…?'

Willow smiled again, knowing full well what Dawn was referring to. Folding her hands in her lap, she felt the glowing subside, and knew that her hair had now returned to its natural, red-headed state.

'I'm just recharging my batteries,' she explained. 'Tapping into the earth for power. This battle coming up? I'm going to need all the juice I can get.'

'I hear that,' the young woman replied. 'I'm heading out. Xander's on weapons gathering and I'm one of his recruits. You wanna come?'

The witch shook her head and gestured back at the ground. 'I'd better… you know.'

Dawn nodded. 'Yeah. See you later.'

Cordy reached into the weapons cupboard and took out her favorite sword. Setting it to one side, she proceeded to grab crossbow bolts from the shelf, to go with the crossbow she'd already packed into the bag at her feet. A small axe and dagger followed. She packed in a hurry. They needed to be out of there as quickly as possible.

'Hope you're not snagging my favorite broadsword,' a quiet voice teased from behind her.

Without turning around, she smiled broadly. 'Oh don't worry; I'd never deprive you of your favorite sword. You're really Freudian about it.'

His strong hands were on her shoulders then, pulling her a little closer. 'I feel like I've barely seen you since you've been back… And now we're heading into battle.' The sorrow and worry in his voice tugged at her heart. She turned to face him.

'Hey, we're going together,' she told him, flashing him a brave smile. 'We'll be fine. You've got to stop worrying. You'll give yourself frown lines.'

'Ha ha,' he smirked back. Immediately, his face became serious again. He brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and cradled the side of her face in his palm. 'You okay?'

Her expression was unwavering as she looked straight back at him. 'I will be a lot better if you stop worrying about me. We're going to get through this. We're going to go to Pylea, kick some demon butt and come home again.'

He still looked worried. 'How do you know that? We don't…'

'Hey buster!' she switched on her sternest voice. 'We're going to be fine because I say so. I'm Cordelia, remember? I always get my own way.'

Despite himself, Angel let out a laugh. Stooping, he picked up the bag she'd been packing. 'You ready to go?'

With a lot more bravery than she actually felt, she smiled and took his hand. 'You betcha.'

Buffy was trying to talk battle strategy with Kennedy, Rieff and Rondell as Angel and Cordelia approached them.

'Freakin' demons man,' Rondell was saying aggressively. 'I'm not surprised they turned tale and ran. What surprises me is that the rest of you didn't follow.'

'Is there a problem here?' Angel asked, giving Rondell his steely glare.

'Around 30 demons took off before the Scourge attacked,' Buffy replied before the street fighter could get any more insults in. 'You ready to head out?'

'Yeah,' Angel replied, his eyes still trained on Rondell. 'Buffy's in command of our entire army. That includes your guys, Rondell. So, follow all her commands to the letter. Are we clear?'

'Or what?' the street fighter drawled back. 'You gonna kick my ass?'

'No. But Buffy probably will,' the vampire replied, leaning closer. 'And just between you and me, she's a little stronger than I am. So I wouldn't piss her off if I was you.'

Buffy tried not to smile at Angel's last comment, and instead looked to Kennedy. 'Round up around four girls to relieve the ones watching the enemy camp. Then make sure everyone's got weapons.' She turned her attention to the other two Captains within her newly formed army. 'The two of you brief your troops. They take command from you; you take it directly from me. Make sure you're all armed and ready. This could go down any time now.'

She turned her attention to Cordelia and Angel. 'Come on. I'll see you off.'

'Faith, I told you. I went back once. I'm not doing it again.'

'Come on, big guy. Who's gonna hold my hand as we go through the portal?'

Angel and Cordelia exchanged worried glances. From the sounds of things, Lorne really wasn't relishing the prospect of returning to Pylea.

'Last time I went home, I got my head chopped off! Not to mention the fact that I had to see my mother – which is infinitely worse.'

Faith spotted potential allies coming her way and immediately attempted to enlist them. 'Angel! Help me out here.'

Lorne turned to face the vampire, his eyes almost daring him to give an order.

Angel looked him squarely in the eye, keeping his face as neutral as possible. 'Lorne, I'm not going to tell you to do this,' he sighed. 'I want you on my team. We need you. But if you don't want to, or can't… then I'll have to respect that.'

Without waiting for a reply, he walked over to his son, who was near the front door of the lobby.

Lorne looked at Cordelia in surprise. 'Who is that, and what have you done to Angel?'

Cordy smiled. 'Come on. Grab a crossbow or something. He might not be prepared to force you to come, but I sure as hell am.'

Admitting defeat, Lorne slunk off towards the weapons cabinet. Cordy could have sworn she heard him mutter, 'The gods save me from feisty women,' under his breath as he went.

Cordelia went to join the others at the door as Buffy was charging Angel and Faith with Giles' welfare.

'I'm not utterly helpless, Buffy,' Giles told her indignantly. 'I can defend myself, you know. I seem to remember that it was I that trained you.'

Any further tirade was cut off when Buffy hugged him tightly. 'Just be careful.'

'Nine companions,' Andrew intoned tearfully. 'Or… er, that is 15 companions…' he corrected as Lorne joined the group. 'Set out on their quest…'

Giles cut him off abruptly. 'Do not start quoting the Lord of the bloody Rings,' he told the young watcher. Andrew opened his mouth to say something else, but the Englishman got in first. 'Or Star Wars. Or Dungeons and Dragons.'

Andrew was still pouting when they left the hotel.

The charred ruin of Caritas came into view as they drove up the alleyway to the service entrance at the back of the club.

'This is so depressing,' Lorne moaned from the back of the van. 'I haven't seen this place since the last time you blew it up.'

Faith shot Angel a look of surprise. 'You blew up his club?'

'It wasn't me!'

'You say potato, I say po-tah-to,' the green demon quipped back.

Angel rolled his eyes as he got out of the van. He gestured to Connor to give him a hand. Together they broke open the loaning bay doors into what used to be Lorne's bedroom. The fire had gutted the building, and a wall no longer blocked their way from the back room to the main room of the club.

Climbing back into the driver's seat, he cast a glance to one side, looking at Cordelia and Connor. 'You guys ready?'

'Oh sure. Cuz jumping into other dimensions via portals? Always goes well,' the brunette quipped. 'Let's do this before I run screaming for the nearest exit.'

Shifting the van into gear, he drove into the building and pulled up a few feet away from where the stage had once stood.

'Giles. You're on,' he announced to the Watcher, who moved forward towards the front of the vehicle, the scroll clutched in his hand.

'Krv Drpglr pwlzchkwrt strplmt dwghzn prqlrzn lffrmtplzt,' he read, a hint of incredulity in his voice.

'Let's hope it's not out of batteries,' Angel said under his breath, before the swirling began. The room shifted, and the whirlpool grew until it was large enough to admit the van they were in.

'Hold on to your hats,' Angel said over the noise, as he drove towards the portal.

'Here we go again.'

TO BE CONTINUED...