SUNNYDALE
"Okay you guys, we need to figure this out fast, or something else oogy might happen, and it might not be pretty. Thus the usage of the adjective 'oogy'. Considering what coulda happened to me, I feel I was pretty lucky yesterday." Buffy said, standing in the living room in front of everyone.
Xander and Anya had showed up a few minutes ago and were sitting on the couch next to Willow and Tara. Dawn was slouched on the chair next to Buffy.
Buffy went over yesterday, counting the events off with her fingers.
"First, there was the trippy day at school were time literally went by pretty damn fast. I mean, you're probably thinking, a quick day at school not exactly a bad thing, right? But this was different. This was…creepy."
"Then after that at the site you said a few demons attacked some of my co-workers, but there wasn't any evidence." Xander spoke up.
"Right. These creepy things came out of nowhere and started attacking. I had to save a few lives, but afterwards, it was like they weren't even there. I went over to the Magic Box afterwards to do a little work and maybe clear my head a little, but then time kept repeating itself. I kept running into the same customers with the same problems time after time till I couldn't take it any longer."
"That's how it always is in the Magic Box. You'll get used to it. Just smile and take people's money and everything's good." Anya said. Buffy ignored her and kept going.
"After that nightmare ended, I may have gotten a little drunk so it was pretty much a blur. But I'm sure nothing else crazy happened after that, unless you want to count a crazy dream I just had. It involved Giles' singing at The Bronze and when he opened his mouth to sing, this disturbing goosebump-inducing sound came out of it."
"That wasn't a dream, Buff. That was Tuesday night." Xander said.
"Ok, but this wasn't the usual old-man-singing type of creepy, this was something else." Buffy added.
"So what do you think it could be?" Willow asked.
"Maybe it's how Giles seems so dry and British, but when he gets on stage he's a complete tenor." Xander said.
"I wonder how long he's been doing that for. I'm surprised we didn't find out about that earlier." Willow added.
"Oh, I asked him about it, he used to sing only in the summer, when we had more important things to do than hang out at the Bronze," Xander said. "It was just recently that he decided to be all 'I'm British and my voice must be heard.'"
"Guys, can we please stay focused?" Buffy interrupted.
Dawn raised her hand.
"Oh! Maybe it's another witch, or warlock! You know, somebody else who might know magick?"
"Dawn, go upstairs." Buffy said, resolute.
"Why? I want to listen to what's going on."
"I don't want you down here, just go. Go do your homework or something."
"I just want to help. I don't need to be the only person that doesn't know what's going on. It's for my own good. That is what you would want, right? For me to be safe? It's safer for me to know."
"Dawn." Buffy said sternly.
Dawn huffed loudly and stomped up the stairs. Buffy watched her go up. She knew Dawn was right in some way, she just didn't feel comfortable with her being part of the gang. Dawn was the only thing she had to hold on to after mom died, and she couldn't imagine losing her. If she did lose her, she didn't want it to be because she let it happen.
"You know, the little munchkin is right. It could be another witch around here somewhere." Anya said.
"Yeah, but we can't be too sure. We could just keep looking. We're bound to find out some way."
"There is a better way." Willow spoke up.
"Let's hear it."
"Whatever it is, a demon, a witch, anything, it has to be using spells to do all that to you. Magick leaves residue, and with the right knowledge of spells it can be tracked down. I know a spell that can locate the trail of anyone using magick. It can lower the search by a ton."
Tara, who had been quiet all this time, spoke up.
"No, absolutely not. Willow, you know you don't need to be messing with anymore spells. It's a good idea, but right now we're doing great without the use of magick. I don't want you to become lost in that stuff."
"Tara, this research is getting us nowhere. We can look on the internet and brainstorm all we want, but it's not doing anything. It's just one spell. I can do it real quick and be done."
"You have a point there, Will." Buffy agreed. "But Tara is right, you don't need to be doing anymore spells. We can do this without it. It'll be just like old times. We'll stick to research and brainstorming. Maybe even do a couple of spy missions to see if we can find anything that will lead us to our culprit."
"And if that doesn't work, we can keep the Magic Box open all night and kick the asses of anyone who walks in to buy anything witchy." Xander added.
"Sorry, Will." Buffy said softly.
Willow sighed and gave in. Tara squeezed her hand and gave her an apologetic look.
"Maybe some other time."
LOS ANGELES
Winifred Burkle looked around the lobby of the hotel. Angel was looking back at the pale woman, a look of shock worn on his face. Wesley and Gunn didn't look as stunned, but they looked back at the pale woman with a look of anger, weapons held closely. Cordelia sighed heavily from behind the counter.
"Oh boy." Cordelia said.
"Drusilla. What's going on? What are you doing back?"
"I can feel 'im, Angel. He's making my head spin like the wheels of a bicycle as the little boy lies bruised and bloodied on the street, helpless as the bus crushes him under its wheels. He speaks to me, saying naughty things. He wants to open his portal into his home. He wants it to merge with our world, to become one. The Master had been a bad boy. He doesn't need him to play anymore." She replied. Fred didn't understand what she was rambling about, but apparently Angel did.
"Laibach."
"Who's Laibach? Who are you?" Fred asked the lady. The woman seemed to sway a little, staring blankly at each of them, as if not really seeing them.
She seems kinda crazy.
"Fred, this is Drusilla. She's a vampire, like me. I turned her a long time ago after driving her insane, and she's been driving me insane since." Angel answered.
"Yeah, yeah, we've heard the story." Gunn replied. "The real question is, who the hell is Laibach?"
"Laibach is a very bad boy. He remembers you, Angel. I can feel 'im shiver with madness at your presence. He has come back. He is not done playing with his toys."
Fred stood there, confused. Clearly this vampire was mad. She still didn't know who this Laibach guy was, and from the look of it, she wasn't gonna get the answer from her.
"I got this one." Cordelia said. "Laibach is a demon who was bent all over trying to open up a portal into his demon dimension. He showed up in Sunnydale a few years back when I was in high school with Buffy. Apparently he was in Drusilla's body and used that as an advantage to resurrect The Master, one of the strongest vampires of all time, I guess. But Buffy, Angel, and a handful of their friends including yours truly stopped him and killed The Master."
"And now he's back." Angel added.
Drusilla closed her eyes and began to moan, rubbing her temples.
"I need your help, Angelus. He's swallowing me whole. He wants to take over my being, leaving me helpless and empty again. He wants my music, my birds, to make it his."
"I say we kill her." Gunn said, holding up his axe. Wesley held his hand up.
"We cannot risk it. There's still a lot we don't know about this demon. Killing Drusilla might only release him into the open. Our best bet is to keep Drusilla alive and find a way to get rid of him."
"Wesley's right." Angel said. "We can't risk letting Laibach escape. We need to keep Drusilla safe somewhere and find a way to get rid of him."
"As long as she isn't staying at my place. One night of that insane babbling and I'll put a stake to my own heart." Cordelia said.
"We'll keep her here. Wesley, you, me, and Gunn will keep close watch on her. We'll keep her locked up in one of the rooms heavily guarded till one of us can come up with a solution."
"How much longer do we have before this demon guy comes out?" Fred asked.
"We don't know. Let's just hope not soon. Right now, just find everything you can on him. Where he came from and how to get rid of him."
"What about that talisman thing that Willow used last time he came around? Maybe we can use that." Cordelia said.
Angel nodded his head.
"I still have it locked up somewhere. Buffy gave it to me afterwards to keep it safe, in case we need it again. I'm not sure how to use it though. Call Willow. See if we can get her down here and fast."
Cordelia nodded and ran for the phone.
"Angelus, I'm feeling dizzy. Tiny candles are flickering before my eyes, and there are ringing bells and dissonant music; and I think it means I'm getting married, but I still haven't hired a caterer."
She closed her eyes and began swaying back and forth. Angel could tell that she really wasn't well – or not as well as someone as mad as Drusilla could get. Angel moved towards her carefully, motioning for Gunn and Wesley to follow.
"Come on, Dru. We'll keep you somewhere safe."
She stared at him in a puppy-like fashion. She extended her arms out, allowing him and Wesley to take her from each side. They turned around and took her upstairs, Gunn following behind, axe bared. They had to find a resolution and find it fast. There was no telling how much longer they had.
SUNNYDALE
Willow hung up the phone just as Buffy walked in.
"Hey Will, doing okay?"
Willow looked up worriedly.
"Buffy, we have a problem."
---
"Laibach? Willow, are you sure?" Giles asked, bemused.
"That's what Cordelia said. She said Drusilla stopped by the hotel, claiming to have Laibach in her again. They don't know how long, but it's not a lot of time before he fully emerges. Cordelia called about the Tedarke talisman. They want to use it to extract Laibach from Drusilla again." Willow said. Anya raised her hand.
"Hello? Mind filling in those who just tuned in? What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'll fill you in later, sweetie." Xander said.
"So what are we gonna do?" Buffy asked. Giles took his glasses off.
"Angel doesn't have the magickal experience to work with the talisman, nor does he know anyone trustworthy who has even heard of it. Somebody will need to go to Los Angeles to perform the ritual. With the current situation with our two witches, I'm afraid it will have to be me."
Nobody argued. They understood the levity of the situation. Willow was trying to cut down on the magick, and Tara didn't know much about the talisman.
"Do you need anybody to go with you?" Buffy asked him.
"No, that would be quite alright. I'll handle this myself. I-I'm sure this is no big deal. I'll just dispose of Laibach once more and be done with it. If anything goes wrong, I'm sure Angel can take care of it. Otherwise I can always give you a call. First I need to go to the Magic Box to collect some things for the ritual."
"Good luck, Giles. Give us a call when you arrive." Buffy said.
"Of course."
"I'll go with you to the Magic Box." Willow offered.
Giles nodded his head and started for the door. Willow walked up to Tara.
"You want to come with us?"
"I'm okay, sweetie. T-there's still a lot of r-research to be done. I'll keep looking; get more of a head start for tonight." Willow nodded.
"Good idea, I'll see you in an hour, ok?"
Willow gave her a peck on the cheek. Tara blushed and stroked her hair. Willow smiled back, and backed up from her to follow after Giles. Tara, still blushing, watched as her sweetie left. She wasn't gonna regret doing this for her.
---
Tara walked upstairs into her room, and locked the door. She went over to the bookcase and pulled out a spell book Willow had got from the Magic Box a few weeks ago. She found her place in the book and set it down. She opened up her top drawer and pulled out the clear crystal needed for the spell. She pulled out a match from the box on the bookcase and walked around the room, lighting each of the wicker candles set about.
Tara went to the center of the room, and sat down, legs crossed, crystal in her open palms. She stared at the glimmering crystal, and cleared her mind of everything, burning the image of the crystal in her mind. She then allowed her mind to be filled with magick. She opened herself up, allowing her to peek at her own power. The crystal began to glow. The blinding light forced her to close her eyes, but she held back. Her eyes watered from the pain. Her head was starting to pound. It was becoming to the point of unbearable. She couldn't do this anymore. She wasn't powerful enough. She didn't know how much more she had to take before the spell would take effect.
She decided enough was enough. With all her strength, she slammed the crystal onto the ground, shattering it to pieces. The light disappeared, and the room was blanketed into darkness. All of the candles had gone out. Tara took a deep breath, and lay back onto the carpet, staring up at the ceiling, the headache still lingering. The spell wasn't worth it. She made the right decision not allowing Willow to do it, it was way too powerful. They would have to stick with the plain old research for now.
After I lay down first. Not feeling too good.
The headache was still bothering her, and she was starting to feel really dizzy. The ceiling was spinning above her head. The spell had taken a lot out of her. She slowly rose from the carpet and went to her drawer to slip some pajamas on. She went over to the bed and lied down. Willow was gonna be upset with her trying the spell behind her back. But it was worth keeping her away from any spells. Magick was dangerous and was known for consuming people who used it too much. If it was going to hurt anybody, she would rather it would be herself than her Willow.
Tara closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall into a deep sleep. Hopefully she would feel much better after getting enough rest.
LOS ANGELES
"Right this way, sir." Fred said, leading the plumber into the bathroom. He was a short, stocky guy with a mustache and slick, greasy hair. He wore light-blue coveralls with the name "Dan" stitched right below his left lapel. Dan followed her into the bathroom.
"Christ, lady, what did you do to it?" he asked incredulously, staring at Cordelia's attempt to fix the toilet. She smiled nervously.
"You think you could fix it?" she asked him.
"No problem. I'll take care of it." He said with a smile. Fred smiled back warmly and went back into the lobby. Cordelia was talking to Angel at the desk. Lorne was standing nearby, in a loud yellow outfit that clashed with his skin color. But there was something about Lorne that made it work for him.
"So, I guess this Lego guy is back, huh?" Cordelia asked.
"Laibach." Angel corrected. "We shouldn't have to worry much this time, though. Last time, we didn't know what we were doing before it was almost too late. We didn't know about the talisman's power until Willow researched it, after I was already possessed with The Master. Together, there was no telling how much damage they could have caused if they succeeded to get the portal open."
"Okay, let's say that we run out of time and Laibach manages to escape and take the talisman; do you think he would bring back The Master to open this portal again?" Cordelia asked.
"I'm not sure what he would do. It's possible that over the years, he might be powerful enough to do it himself. Let's not worry about that now, though. As long as the Tedarke talisman works, and Giles uses it to exorcise Laibach from Drusilla, then we have nothing to worry about. Did you get any word from him?"
"He's on his way from Sunnydale now. He should be here in an hour or so."
"Hopefully that hour isn't all Laibach needs."
"Don't be such a worry wart, Angel Cakes." Lorne said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I went to go check up on the deranged princess a minute ago to read her. Laibach is in there, all right. But he doesn't seem to be planning anything soon. He's dormant right now. Besides the usual insane babble, she's doing okay."
"Good. Then we still got time."
Dan came out of the bathroom, soaked.
"Okay, all done. Might want to get a few mops in there, though." He stopped to take a look at Lorne. "What in the hell are you?"
"Oh, um, I'm in the show. You have to excuse me, I didn't realize I still had my makeup on." Lorne chuckled.
The plumber looked back at him, strangely, oblivious to the humor. Lorne cleared his throat nervously and took a sip of his apple martini.
"So, how much will that be?" Angel asked, breaking the uncomfortable moment.
"That'll be $150, sir."
Angel winced at the price. He looked at Cordelia.
"Don't look at me! I'm not the one handing out stingy paychecks."
Angel sighed and pulled his wallet out. There was nothing left in there but a crumpled twenty-dollar bill.
"Do you accept MasterCard?"
---
BEEP!
"Ma'am, a Mr. Carthello is waiting to see you." The secretary said calmly on the machine.
"Good, send him in." Lilah replied.
She waited patiently at her desk, tapping her pen lightly against her shoulder until a soft knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
Dan Carthello stepped inside. He looked a mess. His black hair and blue coveralls were soaked.
He bowed graciously, despite his informal appearance.
"You have something for me?"
"Y-yes. While I was spying at the hotel, I overheard them mention something about a demon that goes by the name of Laibach. They said he was trying to open a portal of some kind. He appears to be holed up in the hotel; in the body of a woman they called Drusilla."
Lilah recognized that name. Laibach was a very powerful demon, or so she heard. Wolfram & Hart had records of him appearing in Sunnydale a few years back. Apparently, he had summoned the ancient vampire known as The Master to open up a portal into his dimension, to unleash Hell-on-Earth. The Slayer that resided at the Hellmouth managed to somehow banish him, and from what this man was telling her, he was back, and in Los Angeles. She couldn't imagine the respect she could gain from the Senior Partners if she could capture this demon her self and convince it to become a client to Wolfram & Hart.
Not to mention I'll show that little son-of-a-bitch Gavin who's boss. That little snake has been trying to steal my shine since the firm hired him.
"Anything else you would like to add?"
"They said a man from Sunnydale named Giles was coming there to use something called a Tedarke talisman. It's supposed to be able to exorcise the demon from the host. He's on his way."
She didn't know who Giles was, but since he was coming from Sunnydale and possessed the skill it took to work the Tedarke talisman, he must have had a connection with the banishing of Laibach earlier. She would have to research him later on. Right now, her main goal was to get Laibach from the hotel before Angel and his lackeys managed to get rid of him again. She would have to gather up a team to attack the hotel. It was risky, but it would be worth seeing the look on Gavin's face when she was awarded by the Senior Partners.
"Okay. Will that be all?" she asked him.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good."
She pressed the button on her desk. Security was right on cue and two guards came in and stood beside him, silently.
"What about my money?" he said, confused.
"Thank you for your help." She said coldly.
Dan looked at the guards on either side of him and then back at Lilah, who was smiling carelessly, and his face took on an expression of realization.
"You bitch," he said, breathing heavily, almost without the strength to say the words.
"Kill him," she ordered.
They held onto him roughly as they pulled him out the door.
"No!" he pleaded. "No! No!"
After the door closed, Lilah sat up and gathered her stuff. She had work to do.