Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Wolfram and Hart Building – Los Angeles – March 2004

Sat in a chair in front of Lilah Morgan's desk Hamilton was acutely aware of two things. Firstly she had a better taste in furniture and art than he did, although he considered them roughly equal in clothes, and secondly he was less than happy to know that Hauser was behind him screwing a silencer into place on the barrel of an automatic pistol. Hamilton knew he was more than a match for the head of LA Special Ops in hand-to-hand but that wouldn't help much if the mercenary was ordered to add a new piece of art to the office décor and blow the brains of a child of the senior partners out all over the room in a pattern reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock.

Lilah looked the conduit of the Senior Partner's right in the eye. 'Did I, or did I not, tell you to keep me informed on any changes in policy?' she asked.

'If you kill me the folks upstairs, or should I say downstairs, won't be happy' Hamilton pointed out.

'Somehow I'm getting the impression they're already unhappy' Lilah retorted. 'I could have really done without finding out third-hand from a seer in our Cairo office.'

Hamilton leaned forward, meshed his fingers together and rested them on the desk 'I found out the same time you did' he told Lilah. 'I only know what the Senior Partners choose to let me know' he reminded her. 'I'm a conduit not one of the inner circle.'

Lilah leaned back in her chair and seemed to take an uncommon interest in the ceiling. 'Well are they letting you know anything now?' she asked.

'Yes' Hamilton replied. 'They were concerned that the operation on Earth leaks information like a sieve so they didn't want anyone here to know until the process of raising the associate was too far gone for anyone to intervene, it's now inevitable despite the efforts of the Slayer Organisation to forestall it.'

'At least it's not one of the big three showing up' Hauser observed.

Hamilton chuckled. 'That the Wolf, Ram and Hart saw fit to dispatch one of their closest and oldest associates should concern you quite enough' he said. 'Baal-Berith isn't a mere demon, he was worshipped by people of Canaan as a God' he noted. 'He has been a Senior Partner so long that on many worlds, including Pylea which has been causing us so much trouble of late, our representative bodies are named for him.'

'It's even worse than that' Lilah added. 'Unlike most of the others Berith is a warrior not a manipulator, a General not a Politician' she said. 'The days of the slow grinding apocalypse are over, the opposition threw a monkey-wrench into the machine so the Senior Partners are shifting onto a war footing and that's a whole new ball game.'

Hamilton nodded. 'If our efforts on Pylea had proven more fruitful this escalation likely wouldn't have happened' he said, 'but the Slayer forces there adapted too quickly to fighting against equally well armed, and more disturbingly human troops' he continued.

'Mea culpa' Lilah admitted. 'I just didn't think they'd be willing to kill people as well as demons without so much as a pause' she continued. 'Thousands of years of a Holier-Than-Thou "we don't kill humans" policy and they throw it out the window without so much as a seconds thought and start gunning them down as soon as the lead starts flying their way.'

'They're better than we expected too' Hauser stated. 'I've seen the reports from the skirmishes where our troops got away, the slayers use proper military tactics and they do it well' he said. 'Add in the strength, speed and reactions and they're a bitch to fight against, and I do mean bitch' he continued. 'From what we can tell they've only ever taken one prisoner, otherwise they finish off the wounded, usually with a bayonet or one of those short-swords they carry judging from the wounds' he explained. 'Human or demon doesn't seem to matter, if you're still breathing when the shooting stops they'll put cold steel through you before they move off.'

'And they're getting even better' Lilah pointed out.

'Nothing beats on-the-job training' Hauser responded. 'They're honing their infantry skills using the blood of my men to lube the grindstone' he said. 'We know we shoot them occasionally, we find their blood on the field too, but the rate they heal at means if you don't kill them outright they're back in action a couple of days later but only now they're pissed.'

'Nice metaphor with the grindstone' Lilah told him.

'I put some thought into it' Hauser replied honestly. He was a soldier not a poet but knew the value of a well put together phrase, it stuck in the mind better. 'It's causing a morale problem amongst our troops too' he admitted. 'They're mercs like me, most of them fighting for money not a cause and these slayers are starting to seem like fucking fanatics.'

'They always had a cause' Hamilton interjected. 'It's the methods and the lengths they'll go to in order to achieve their aims that's changed' he said.

'Evil's worst nightmare' Lilah wryly observed, 'the good guys wising up and playing for keeps' she said then laughed. 'If a seer had told me a year and a half ago I'd have fired his sorry ass for incompetence.'

'So now our side throws in a nightmare of its own' Hamilton replied. 'The Senior Partners believe they must contain or mitigate the threat before it spreads to more dimensions.'

'Cold War's hotting up' Lilah said. 'Shit' she swore. 'I was hoping to keep a lid on it, so much for the balance of terror.'

'We're still a long way from all-out war' Hamilton told her. 'When the Wolf, Ram and Hart personally lead every legion at their disposal to Earth that'll be the time to find somewhere else to be but we're not there yet' he told her. 'The Lord of the Covenant isn't here to conquer' he explained, 'he's coming to restore the balance '

Lilah blinked. 'Okay now that's role reversal.'

Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – March 2004

Buffy and Angel looked up as the office door opened to reveal a slightly bemused looking Faith. 'B you ain't gonna believe what we found in the sewers near the Hotel access' Faith told her, stepping in to the office followed by a familiar face. 'I've told him if he causes any trouble we'll get Illyria to rip his arms and legs off.'

Angel practically snarled. 'I was hoping we'd seen the last of you' he declared, 'always turning up like a bad penny.'

Lindsey McDonald smirked. 'Ruining your day is what helps get me through mine' he replied. 'Sorry to cut and run but I'm not here to talk over old times' he said. 'I just want to collect Eve and go.'

Angel smirked back. 'Okay just pay off the rent she owes and she's yours' he told him. 'She's been living in my Hotel here since September, ask at reception and they'll tally up the bill.'

'Seven months' Faith noted, 'gonna be pricy, and she eats a lot for a skinny chick too' she pointed out, playing along.

Lindsey glared. 'You're kidding?' he responded angrily.

'Yeah' Angel admitted smugly, 'to be honest I'd pay to get you and your girlfriend out of my life' he told Lindsey. 'I just wish you'd been just a bit more of an asshole so I wouldn't feel bad if I killed you. As it is do yourself a favour and never darken my door again, or I might decide a little more remorse is worth it.'

Buffy got off her chair. 'Wasn't really sure you were ever going to come back for her' she told Lindsey, 'she's been waiting a long time but you did so you've gone up in my estimation, but take the hint from Angel and don't show up on our radar again' she warned him. 'Come on, she'll be in the kitchen, I'll take you there' she offered. 'Faith could you ask Anya to work out what we owe Eve in wages and get Diana to take it out of petty cash?' she asked the other slayer.

'Sure thing B' Faith replied.

Buffy smiled. 'I'm feeling generous' she said, 'stick in an extra thousand and call it a bonus for not taking a carving knife to Andrew.'

Faith nodded. 'She deserves a medal' she replied. The little twerp was infuriating and Eve had been putting up with him day after day for months.

'Wages?' Lindsey queried then frowned 'Who the hell is Andrew?' he asked.

'Andrew is our erstwhile chef, general assistant and sometime hostage' Buffy answered, indicating for Lindsey to follow her as she headed out of the office. 'Eve has been earning her keep, plus a few bucks an hour extra, working as his assistant because we weren't going to let her freeload and we couldn't trust her with anything more important.'

Lindsey followed the slayer across the lobby heading towards the kitchen. 'I suppose I should thank you for protecting her from Wolfram and Hart' he said begrudgingly.

'We did it as much to annoy them as anything else' Buffy told him, 'besides which you should thank Angel not me, this is his house not mine' she reminded him.

'I'll send him a thank you note in the mail' Lindsey replied sardonically.

'So why'd you show up now?' Buffy asked, leading him through double doors into a corridor.

'Had to lay low until Wolfram and Hart stopped looking for me so hard' Lindsey replied. 'And I needed somewhere safe to take Eve to' he added. 'I knew she'd be okay here, you good guy types wouldn't have given her up, goes against the code right?' he asked wryly.

'We're a little more flexible these days to be honest' Buffy responded cryptically. 'What really helped decide the matter was that her replacement turned up and demanded we turn her over to him' she explained. 'It'll be a cold day in the hottest of the hell dimensions before some Wolfram and Hart lackey gets to step onto our turf and give orders' she declared. 'So where are you planning to take her that's safe?' she asked. 'Got to be worried that Berith might decide to clean house on other Wolfram and Hart business while he's here?'

'I've got somewhere' Lindsey replied, then winced as Buffy stopped dead in her tracks and grinned at him.

'Seemed like way too much of a coincidence you showing up now what with a head honcho from Wolfram and Hart expected to drop into our dimension' she told him. 'Thought you'd better pick up the girlfriend and hightail it out of here before it got dicey?' she asked.

'You're trickier than you look' Lindsey told her.

'It's the hair colour, people underestimate me' Buffy told him. 'Okay you'll find Eve in there, you can have your romantic tear-filled reunion but after that we're going to have a talk' she told him then paused. 'If you were planning to sweep her off her feet and carry her away you really should be wearing a white navy uniform' she observed with a smile, holding the door to the kitchen open for him.

Eve turned as the door opened and immediately dropped a tray laden with crockery as she saw who stepped through.

It was a tearful reunion but Andrew provided most of the tears when the tray landed on his foot. The howling took some of the gloss of the romance of it all Buffy told everyone later.

Vahla ha'nesh – Location Inexplicable – Date Irrelevant

Ben started pacing up and down. 'Can't you hurry up?' he asked. 'I've been stuck in this dump for months' he complained. 'I just want my own life and to get out of this nightmare.'

Illyria scowled. 'My Temple is not a dump' she told him angrily. 'I designed the buildings myself and devoted more than a human lifetime to its construction' the God-King declared.

'Oh come on Blue, even you've got to admit its seen better days' Faith interjected, absent-mindedly swinging her scythe around.

Illyria looked around. Okay so it was looking past its prime but Vahla ha'nesh still looked pretty impressive, she thought. It was probably the humans inability to appreciate good architecture. Ben did make one valid point though. 'Knox what is the delay?' she asked.

Knox looked up from the machine he was calibrating, it was the size and approximate shape of a washing machine and connected by two large insulated cables to both a small rod held on a camera tripod and a gas generator that was feeding it electricity. 'I'm just making final adjustments to the booster system Great One' he replied. 'We're feeding a lot more power into the Ferula-Gemina Rod than it would normally take and we have to be sure it won't explode and either clone the lot of us or blow us into chunky kibble' he explained.

'You've been working on that thing six months, how can it not be ready yet for gods sake?' Ben retorted.

'Because in real life research and development of a major piece of scientifically revolutionary equipment does not take a couple of hours like it does in the damn movies' Knox retorted curtly. 'Especially when you've only two an R&D team of two people who are also working on other projects at the same time' he added. Most of Fred's time was still being devoted to the development of Portal Generation technology based off her own research, the Orb that was a key to Jasmines world, and the ongoing study of Dawn's blood.

Fred stood nearby nodded. 'It may have only taken Wesley and Willow a few weeks to sort out the magic side of the equation but the power booster needed designing from scratch' she pointed out, 'and when I mean from scratch I mean from base scientific principles' she continued. 'That thing violates both the uncertainty principle and the laws of thermodynamics for Gods sake, do you have any idea of how much hard work that is?' she asked rhetorically.

'For my part yes' Illyria replied flatly.

Fred muttered something under her breath. 'I wish you didn't have so many of my memories' she told Illyria.

'So do I' Illyria responded. 'Though the scientific knowledge has proved useful the other stuff is problematic especially emotionally' she said. 'To love Wesley is bad enough but the affection I feel towards Feigenbaum the Master of Chaos is incredibly demeaning.'

'Mitchell Feigenbaum the mathematician?' Knox asked in surprise. Fred had a crush on him,he wondered?

'Not the man himself, the stuffed toy animal Fred named for him' Illyria explained. 'I told you it was demeaning.'

Fred fought back laughter, it was Illyria's earnest delivery of lines like that which made them so funny. 'Umm, I'll let you borrow him if you like' she offered

'It would not be wise' Illyria replied. 'Anya often visits and she would be alarmed at the presence of Feigenbaum given that he is a representation of a bunny' she told Fred. 'I would not cause her such distress' she added. Anya's friendship was important to Illyria, it had initially been based upon the formers manner which was forthright and lacked evasion and deceit but there were other reasons too. Anya had been a vengeance demon for many years, well "many" by human standards anyway, and did not judge Illyria on purely human terms which was appealing, but most importantly perhaps the Shell had not known Anya so Illyria did not have to worry she only liked her because of imprinted memories of friendship. Her amity with Anya was Illyria's and hers alone and that made it special.

Faith finished playing with her scythe, she felt like a fifth wheel somehow but knew it was important she be here in case a certain Hellgod needed making a head shorter once she was released from her Ben shaped prison. As a former inmate herself Faith sympathised with Glory for being incarcerated but you had to admit she was a good candidate for the death penalty on the principle of public safety alone. 'So what do you and Anya talk about anyway?' she asked Illyria curiously.

'You and the others, world events, our respective boyfriends, sex' Illyria replied. 'Many different topics, I will miss her companionship when she moves to Shadow Valley with Xander.'

'Sex?' Faith asked noting a slight twitch from Knox. He didn't seem to approve of some guy sticking it to his God, whether that was piety or a desire to do so himself was an issue to think about.

'Yes' Illyria answered. 'We compare notes' she told the slayer. 'Wesley appears more adventurous than Xander from what I can determine, although Anya maintains that Xander is a Viking in the sack.'

'He got trained up properly' Faith responded with a grin. 'Adventurous?' she asked slyly.

'I will not go into details as it might embarrass my Wesley to do so' Illyria replied. More to the point he might decide to retaliate and tell people that she liked to be dominated in bed sometimes, that was something she hadn't even told Anya. 'I am gratified you are talking to me' she told Faith. 'Many of the others have been acting very strangely towards me recently, I would have thought they were plotting against me but their overall attitudes do not suggest that.'

Faith flinched. They had decided to keep the whole "Once and future God-King" thing from Illyria for now, better to let Wesley handle that issue when he got back. 'Not planning to introduce you to my friend here so you can relax on that score Blue' Faith told her.

'It is unpleasant to be in the dark as to what is going on' Illyria observed.

Faith burst out laughing. 'Welcome to the other side of the fence Miss "I know the future but I'm only telling you what you need to know".'

'The irony is not lost on me' Illyria told her.

'Ready' Knox announced. 'Stand there' he told Ben, pointing at a temporary mark on the floor.

'Here too' Fred added, hefting a piece of machinery from the stone plinth where it had been resting.

'Showtime' Faith said stretching her muscles. 'Bitch is way too fast for me so if she makes a move stick close.'

'I will envelope both of us in the temporal distortion field as required' Illyria replied. 'Just do not miss with the scythe if you have to use it, freed from her jailer Glory will be far stronger than I' Illyria told her. 'You may fire when ready Knox.'

Ben closed his eyes, he suspected he was going to die but even that looked more appealing than spending the rest of his life in this decaying stone ruin.

Knox took a deep breath. 'Charging now' he said flicking a switch. The machine began to hum as large capacitors began to build up power, the hum building to a point where it was far louder than the nearby generator itself. The rod held on the tripod began to glow and spark, it wasn't meant to have this both energy shunted through it but they weren't splitting a carpenter in half here.

'Firing rod in three' Knox said, 'two one. FIRING' he bellowed.

A gigantic bolt of energy blasted from the Ferula-Gemina Rod and slammed into Ben sending him flying through the air. The flash of the discharge was almost blindingly bright and Faith saw dots in front of her eyes despite having closed them, her eyelids just weren't thick or dark enough.

Glory found herself lying on a cold stone floor. 'What in the hell is this shi…' she began, turning her head and finding herself looking at her brother cutting her off mid-sentence as her jaw dropped.

'So just because Ben knows she doesn't?' Faith asked stepping forward looking down at her.

'They are very separate beings' Illyria replied. 'Now more than ever' she added.

Glory got to her feet. 'You split me and Ben' she declared incredulously. 'How the hell did you do that?'

'Smarter than you I guess' Faith told her.

'I'm free' Glory said holding out her arms as if to stretch after being confined in a small place too long. 'And now you're going to pay' she said, clenching a fist.

Illyria smirked. 'I was aware than freed of your own shell you would regain more of your power as a Hellgod' she said.

'More fool you Old One' Glory told her. 'Nice scythe' she told Faith. 'You won't get a chance to use it.'

'Didn't think I would' Faith replied with a wink.

A beam of blue lighting hit Glory square in the back and she fell to the ground screaming as the beam continued to play over her for a few more seconds though to Glory it felt like an eternity of pain.

'Thanks Fred' Faith told the young woman standing behind the Hellgod hefting a large gun-like object.

'No problem' Fred replied.

Glory raised her head. 'What was…' she asked grimacing from the pain.

'Mutari Generator' Illyria explained. 'Drained some of your power to another dimension' she explained. 'Just enough to make you compliant, I didn't want you too weak to be useful, merely insufficiently strong that I would be unable to beat you senseless again if the situation called for it' the God-King continued. 'When it was done to me in the original timeline I found the experience excruciating, albeit necessary at the time'.

Glory sat up and started to cry. 'I'll never go home' she said sinking her face into her hands.

Illyria snorted. 'Stop whining and act like a God' she chided. 'You're making us look bad in front of the mortals' she added.

'Benny boy is coming around' Faith pointed out. 'Hey Doc snap out of it' she said reaching down to him and hauling him to his feet as his eyes opened.

'Holy Shit' Ben swore, finding himself looking down at his sister sitting on the floor starting to bawl her eyes out. 'It fucking worked.'

Illyria nodded and turned to Knox. 'You are a worthy subject deserving of my praise and have it' she told him. 'I will formulate an appropriate title for you in the Old Tongue.'

'I live to serve, God-King' Knox replied, beaming as he bowed his head at her.

'Good work on the Generator' Illyria told Fred. 'We'll go out to dinner, my treat.'

'I live to be served Mexican Food' Fred joked.

Ben seemed able to stand on his own two feet so Faith stopped helping and let him go. 'Give your Sis a hug' she told him. 'I think she needs it.'

Feeling more than a little disorientated Ben knelt down next to Glory and to his surprise she almost fell against his shoulder, still crying. 'So what about me?' he asked.

'You are free' Illyria told him. 'I will return you through the portal and you may go where you wish, as a Doctor you should have little trouble finding a useful and rewarding place in human society, a Hospital perhaps.'

'Best not to be honest about the missing time on your résumé' Faith advised. 'Or you'll end up in a Psychiatric Hospital instead, and not as staff' she told him.

Ben rocked his sister gently as he considered the future, he almost wept himself too in happiness.

Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – April 2004

Buffy almost dropped her fork, she'd only just sat down in the dining room to eat when Illyria walked in and came straight over to report. 'You bought Glory back with you?' she asked Illyria. 'You split up Ben from Glory and came back with both of them?' she continued. For her part Dawn was simply looking at the God-King wide-eyed.

'Yes, Ben is now free and Glory of no use left in Vahla ha'nesh so I have returned with both' Illyria replied.

'You can't let Glory run free' Willow stated. She had only just teleported back from Cleveland and was sharing Buffy's chocolate gateaux. 'She might try to take Dawn.'

'What's this shit I hear from Faith that you bought the Hell-Bitch back with you' Spike demanded to know, stamping over towards them. 'She nearly killed Buffy, she's a threat to Knibblet, why not scythe the bitch now Ben's out of the way, or at least let her rot.'

'Not often you'll hear this from me but Spike's right' Xander agreed, approaching from the other direction.

'You are all being narrow-minded' Illyria told them. 'Glory is extremely powerful and would be a great asset against our enemies.'

'What the hell are you talking about?' Buffy asked, nonplussed.

'A great asset' Illyria repeated. 'I plan to bring Glory with me to Pylea and have her fight at my side against the forces of the Wolf, Ram and Hart then we return to prepare to counter Berith.'

'You've got to be kidding?' Xander exclaimed.

'She is more than willing' Illyria told them seriously. 'In fact she was despondent before I made the offer but is now apparently very happy.'

'What "offer" are we talking about' Buffy asked suspiciously.

Illyria shrugged. 'The war against the Wolf, Ram and Hart and our other foes across the multiverse will go on for centuries, possibly millennia' she said. 'Glory like myself however is immortal so that is not an issue, her only interest in returning home and regaining her position as God and Ruler of her home dimension.'

'I don't like where this is heading' Buffy said quietly.

'In order to obtain Glory's aid I have offered to assist her in conquering her former realm once our enemies are defeated' the God-King declared.

'You offered her what?' Dawn asked aghast.

'Empire and Glory' Spike murmured, then turned to Buffy. 'What Dru said about the future, Empire and Glory, she didn't mean it would be glorious she meant the bloody blonde Hellbitch.'

'Yup' Illyria agreed with a grin. 'Glory come here' she said loudly.

Every eye locked onto the Hellgod as Glory entered the dining room, from where she had been waiting outside, and walked over to Illyria's side, a beaming smile on her face and an upbeat demeanour in her carriage. 'So what are you doing just sitting here eating dessert?' she asked. 'Come on' she enthused. 'Senior Partners to fight, vampires to dust, worlds to liberate' she said, 'the sooner we kill the long damn lot of them the sooner I get to go home' she declared.

Spike stared at her for a moment then shuddered. 'Whoa, déjà vu' he said.

'Right there with you' Willow told him, Xander nodding in agreement.

Note from the Author:

This fanfic runs on reviews.

Much action and mayhem next chapter!