Rupert Giles sat his bag on top of the counter. He unzipped it and took out some candles, setting them on the desk. Cordelia reached in the bag and took out a pair of brightly-colored wooden masks.

"Ugh! Do you have to use these for the ritual?" she asked him.

"Yes. They have some form of mystical energy. When they are worn, the wearer is able to keep the host in a state of peace, so the ritual can be done successfully."

"I don't have to wear one of them do I?" she held one of them in her hand, staring at it disgustedly.

"No, Cordelia. If you don't want to participate in the ritual, then sit out, be my guest." He said, irritated.

He looked up at her to see her smiling at him.

"Glad to see you again, Giles." She said warmly.

Right then, he noticed just how much she changed over the years. She didn't appear to be the same Cordelia that he had known. The one who always came in complaining about something. Arguing over pettiness, and lashing about at everyone. She seemed a lot more mature. Not to mention the haircut.

"T-thank you Cordelia. I-it is a pleasure to see y-you again as well." He said bashfully.

"I just missed seeing you get all worked up and uptight. I just wanted to push your buttons…but I'm still not wearing that mask." She said, sitting up from the counter.

"Very well then."

"Are we all ready?" Angel asked, coming up.

"Yes, just a few more things. Do you have the talisman?"

"Yeah."

Angel pulled took out a small leather satchel. He opened it out to expose the Tedarke talisman. It still emitted a powerful glow. Though not as bright as it did a few years back. He handed it to Giles.

"So how is this supposed to work?" he asked.

"We'll lay Drusilla on the floor, while two people will wear the masks and wave their hands in front of them on each side of her. It is supposed to keep her in a sort of, calm state."

"That shouldn't be much of a problem, she's out cold. Which means we may not have much time." Angel said.

"Well, v-very well then. We must hurry. I'll use the talisman and connect with its power, using it to banish Laibach from her body. But the spell requires total concentration. I'll need it to be very quiet."

"Sure thing. I'll go and help bring her down now. Good luck, Giles."

Angel ran upstairs.

---

Lilah stood outside the Hyperion, watching intently as the events inside unfolded. Angel cradled the limp form of Drusilla in his arms, his partners, Wesley Price and Charles Gunn, following closely behind. Lilah rubbed at her neck involuntarily, remembering the night that she had almost lost her life in the hands of Dru and her partner Darla. The both of them slaughtered a room full of Wolfram & Hart employees, including Lindsey and herself. The both of them had been spared, but the rest were killed. Their leader, Holland, was amongst the ones who didn't make it. But that was in the past now. She didn't matter to her anymore. Her main concern was Laibach. Drusilla getting lost in the process would be killing two birds with one stone.

Along with Angel and the other two was the girl with the visionary powers, Cordelia Chase, and the green-skinned demon Lorne. Two other people were there that Lilah wasn't too familiar with. A skinny brunette with a blue sweatshirt and jeans, and an older man with graying hair and glasses, dressed in a grey sweater and jeans as well. She assumed this was Giles, the one from Sunnydale here to banish Laibach, which meant she would have to hurry soon. The troops were behind her by the trucks, waiting for her signal. She took another look back into the hotel to see them starting the spell. Wesley and Gunn were performing some incantation besides Drusilla as she lay dormant on the tile of the lobby. Giles was cross-legged on the desk, in a trance. The Tedarke talisman was glowing in the palm of his hand.

Lilah spoke into her radio.

"All set, gentlemen."

---

Angel watched intensely as Giles, Wesley, and Gunn performed the ritual. Cordelia, Fred, and Lorne stood by quietly. The spell required absolute silence so Giles could concentrate. The talisman allowed Giles to focus on Dru in his mind and pull the demon out of her body. Willow did the same thing to him and Dru the last time Laibach made an appearance. Drusilla's body remained still as Wesley and Gunn stood over her. Angel didn't know how much longer it was gonna take for Giles to be done, but as long as she stayed that way, everything would be fine.

Something caught his attention at the corner of his eye. He turned towards the front of the lobby, and saw Lilah peering through the window, a radio in the palm of her hand.

What is she doing here?

"Angel!" Cordelia yelled. He looked at her to see what the problem was. She was staring behind him in shock, pointing towards Drusilla. Fred leaped up, wearing the same expression. He turned around just in time to see Drusilla leap up off the ground, vamped out. She grabbed Gunn by his shirt and flung him off to the side. His head crashed into the wall by the office and he fell out cold. Wesley retaliated quickly. He ran up to her and swung his fist. She blocked it with her right forearm and came back with a punch to his lower jaw, causing him to bite his lip. He fell back in pain as blood spilled from his lip. Angel tried to come in, but she was too fast. She headbutted him in the forehead as he came close, then raked her sharp nails across his face. He backed up and tripped as he ran into the couch. Drusilla then ran up to Giles, who was frantically trying to finish the spell. She came in at full force and pushed him off the desk. She grabbed the talisman and with all her strength, smashed it against the table. A sudden bright wave of red energy emitted from the talisman as it shattered into pieces. She glared at them with her insane, yellow eyes, and took off. She ran out the front door and into the night.

Cordelia, Fred, and Lorne ran to help the others up. Angel and Wesley were already up on their feet. Cordelia had to help Giles up, and Gunn was still out cold.

"You okay Giles?" Cordelia asked.

"I'll be okay, don't worry about me. Laibach is our main concern right now."

"Giles is right. We have to hurry."

"What about Gunn?" Fred asked.

"Stay in here and watch him. We'll be right back. She couldn't have gone far."

Wesley and Giles both grabbed swords out the cabinet and followed Angel out.

---

Lilah called her men back and told them to wait as she watched what went on inside. Drusilla had suddenly jumped up from her trance and attacked the hotel. She took out Wesley and Gunn first, before knocking Angel on his ass and destroying the Tedarke talisman. She then took off and ran out the hotel. Her men tried to stop her, but she got away, incapacitating a couple of them in the process.

Shit, I wasn't expecting this kind of resistance. The firm is gonna have my ass for this.

The doors swung open again and out came Angel, along with Wesley and Giles. Her men retaliated quickly. Angel vamped out and took on a couple of them bare fisted, while the other two had swords. Lilah watched as the three of them took on the soldiers, knocking them out one by one. Giles had wounded one as he pierced him in the thigh, while Wesley took out another as he cracked one in the side of the head with the butt of his weapon. Angel had knocked out another two with a swift kick to the side of the face and a vicious uppercut to the jaw.

As she watched, she could hear Gavin laughing at her, the little prick. She would never hear the end of it. She was gonna have to come up with a better plan. Hopefully she could get another team to chase her down before the firm found out. As if on cue, her radio sounded. One of the soldiers spoke on the other end.

"We found the host, ma'am. She's headed towards Sunnydale. Over."

"On my way."

---

Angel kicked the guy in the side of the face, knocking him out. He heard a radio go off and looked to see Lilah holding hers up.

"She's headed towards Sunnydale." The guy on the radio said.

He had to get to Sunnydale then, and he wasn't gonna let Lilah get in the way.

He walked up to Lilah and lifted her up by her shirt, pushing her up against the wall.

"Stay out of this Lilah! Laibach is planning to open up the portal, releasing things that you couldn't even imagine. The last thing we need is for you getting in our way! This is none of your business!"

"And what if I make it my business?" she asked, impudently. "The firm is interested in Laibach. We don't want anything to do with you except get to him."

"Why do I have the feeling there is no 'we' in this?"

"I can help you, Angel." She offered.

"We don't need your help."

He let go of her and went back into the hotel, where everyone including Giles and Wesley waited after the soldiers retreated. They had to hurry.

"We're going to Sunnydale." Angel said as he stormed into the hotel. Gunn sat on the couch, holding a warm towel over his head while Cordelia checked on him. Fred stood nearby watching. Lorne stood by the counter inspecting the broken pieces of the Tedarke talisman.

"How are you doing, Gunn?" Wesley asked.

"Pretty banged up, but I'll be alright. Don't mind the attention Ms. Chase is giving me, though." He said, looking up at Cordelia. She slapped him on the chest.

"Angel, we should hurry." Giles said, frantically.

"Definitely. Who's coming along?"

"Count me in." Cordelia said. "I wouldn't mind checking out things in Sunnydale, see how things are going. Beats the hell out of waiting in this place all day waiting for something to happen."

Angel nodded his head.

"Sure, what about you, Wes?"

"I am going to stay here. If you're gone, someone is going to have to stay behind and keep watch for things. Plus, with Buffy out there, you shouldn't have much trouble without me."

"Agreed. Gunn, you stay behind too. If anything goes wrong out there, I don't think you'll be in much shape to fight."

"Plus, I want you here with me. If you think you're okay, you'll be much better use here in case something happens." Wesley stated.

Gunn looked like he wanted to protest, but stopped after seeing the resolute looks of Wesley and Angel.

"Fine." He sighed.

"I'll stay here with the Deadly Duo." Lorne said. "I wouldn't be much of a help out there. Plus, I can't leave the Caritas behind. I gotta lot of work under my horns. You kids have a good time at the mouth of Hell."

Fred raised her hand eagerly.

"Oh, can I go? I'm not that good with the fightin' and all, but I don't want to stay behind. What if something happens to you?"

"Fred, I know you're worried, but I wouldn't feel safe with you out there in case something happens. Wesley and Gunn can take care of you."

"Ah, let the little snapper go, Angel Cakes." Lorne said. "I can see all the determination and spirit in her right now. She can be quite the fire cracker when she wants to be. Let her tag along."

"Fine. We don't have much time to argue anyways. Let's go."

Cordelia, Fred, Giles, and Angel headed for the weapons cabinet. They grabbed a handful of stakes, crossbows, knives, and axes, and went to the front of the hotel.

"Giles?" Wesley called. Giles turned around.

"Good luck, old man." He said with a warm smile. Giles returned it.

"Godspeed." He replied. He turned around to follow the others.

"What the hell does that mean, anyways?" Cordelia asked as they left the building.

---

"Lilah?" Gavin called as she strolled through the halls back towards her office.

She spun around to see the little creep smiling back at her.

"How'd it go out there? Was Angel all-to-happy enough to hand over the demon to you?" he mocked.

Lilah stared back at him in disbelief.

"How did you…"

"You didn't think I would find out sooner or later? The radios are issued by the firm. It didn't take much but a request to tap into the system and listen to your little escapade. I applaud you, Lilah. You did an excellent job. You might be giving me a run for my money."

"You could do better? What would you have done? Corner him with building codes? I want you to know this is not over. I'm not letting something this big slip from my hands. I'm going back out there. Join me or ridicule my efforts all you like, but if you think I'm gonna sit here all day and rely on health violations to get the job done like you, you have another thing coming."

She stormed off, leaving him behind speechless. She was going to assemble another team. Angel's words, like always, meant nothing to her. If it meant a trip to Sunnydale, then that's where she would be. She wasn't gonna let an opportunity like that escape.