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 TWENTY-FIVE

Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – May 2004

A nagging feeling in the back of Buffy's mind was telling her something was missing and it eventually came to her what it was. 'I should be standing in front of a really big flag' she whispered to Willow who tried not to giggle.

Wesley hurried in carrying a notebook and the girls who had been with him in Pylea all immediately stood up as they had done when Buffy entered the room, he indicated they should sit back down and they immediately complied.

'Can you believe these chicks' Rona whispered to Amanda, the two of them sat at the back of the room.

'I think they blink in unison too' Amanda whispered back and they laughed causing several of the Pylean war veterans to turn around and give them a cold glare.

'What are you looking at?' Rona asked the closest tersely.

The girl looked her up and down. 'Not much' she replied dismissively. 'Just a couple of REMF's who should show more respect.'

'We're what?' Amanda asked.

'Rear Echelon Mother… well you can guess the rest' the girl explained with a smirk.

Rona started to spring up from her seat but Amanda grabbed hold of her. 'Listen up kid' Amanda told her, although the gunslayer might have actually been a year or so older than her if anything, 'We were in Sunnydale, we've had plenty of field time since then, don't think that because you got to play GI Jane for a few months you're anything special' she hissed.

'Wanna compare body counts?' the gunslayer asked smugly. 'Ever been shot?' she continued. 'Ever stuck a bayonet through the guts of a human being and had him scream for his mommy before you pull your rifle clear and blow his fucking head off?' she asked loudly.

'Tanya that's enough' Wesley ordered sharply.

The girl turned back in her seat her eyes snapped back forward towards the front of the room. 'Yes Sir, sorry Sir' she responded immediately.

'You will consider Rona and Amanda as equivalent in rank to Gunslayer First Class and behave accordingly' Wesley told her sternly.

The girl opened her mouth to object but snapped in back shut again after a moment's reflection. 'Yes Sir' she said. Equivalent in rank my ass, she thought to herself.

'Sorry about that' Wesley apologised to Buffy. 'They seem to have developed some rough edges.'

'They seem razor sharp to me' Buffy replied evenly. 'Alright let's get this show on the road' she declared, straightening up in front of the girls and trying to adopt a military stance. 'As you all know tomorrow we are heading for Cleveland' she began. 'We expect Baal Berith, the so-called "Lord of the Covenant", to rise any time soon and when he does we are going to be right there waiting, ready to put him straight back down again' she declared, turning to Willow who switched on the big plasma screen on the wall that was connected to her laptop.

'This is a digital photograph of the statue of Berith we found in the caverns near Cleveland' she told them. 'As you can see he is human in form though whether that is his natural state we don't really know' she continued. 'The statue itself was some twenty feet high but we don't know if it was life-sized, we assume not but we've met some darn big demons before' she told them. 'As you've probably heard we blew the statue to rubble and collapsed the cavern it was in with explosives but we don't think that will have prevented the demon rising' she said. 'Any questions so far?' she asked.

'How tough is this guy?' one of the girls asked.

'In demonology Berith was a soldier demon and a Great Duke of Hell' Wesley told them, opening up one of his books to the appropriate page to show them a centuries old artists impression. 'He commanded twenty-six Legions himself.'

'Only twenty-six?' the girl replied. 'Even that pussy Sebassis has over forty' she said. 'Well he did before we started up on him' she added with a grin. 'Not that many now' she noted to a chorus of approving, though quite unladylike, whoops.

Wesley let them continue for a while before eventually raising a hand to stop them. 'Unlike Baal Berith the Archduke Sebassis was never worshipped as a God' he pointed out. 'It could be that although numerically inferior to the armies of others Berith's troops make up for in quality what they lack in quantity' he suggested. 'Certainly the fact that Sebassis is merely affiliated with the Wolf, Ram and Hart and not directly associated with them, in itself would indicate that Berith is at a different level.'

Willow nodded. 'We are also taking Berith seriously because of where and when he was originally worshipped' she told them. 'It adds some credibility to the notion that he's big with the mojo that both he and Dagon were part of the pantheon of Gods of the Phoenicians and their precursor civilisations in the Levant' the witch continued. 'We know from prior experience that Dagon is the real deal because the symbol of his followers could hurt Glory which takes some doing' she noted. 'It's not that big an extrapolation to think that a parallel deity such as our friend Berith is also a major player on that basis alone' she reasoned. 'The kind of people that can put the hurt on Glory aren't to be taken lightly.'

'No shit' one of the girls affirmed, they'd seen the blond hellbitch in action during her brief spell in Pylea. 'Don't suppose Glory or Illyria know this guy personally?' she asked. 'Met at a Hellgod Mixer back in the Bronze Age maybe?' she joked.

'They say not' Wesley replied seriously. 'Glory was busy running her own dimension back then and Illyria was taking 40 billion winks in the Deeper Well.'

'I've tried to contact Astarte on the spirit plane for guidance but no luck as yet' Willow interjected.

'Who?' Buffy asked.

'Astarte' Willow replied, 'Another of the Phoenician Pantheon and also one of the goddesses called upon by the Wicca' she explained. 'She would know Berith and might be willing to answer some questions seeing as how I'm kinda one of her followers.'

'I thought you prayed to Hecate?' Buffy queried.

'Pays to hedge your bets' Willow replied with a smile.

'There's a transit of Venus on June 8th, first since 1882 I believe' Wesley remarked. 'If Berith hasn't shown up by then you might be able to contact Astarte then' he suggested. 'Astarte, Aphrodite and the Roman Goddess Venus herself were all associated with that planet, in fact it's likely they're just different names for her' he noted. 'The astrological alignment might improve reception as it were.'

Willow frowned and looked at him. 'How do you watchers get to know all this stuff?' she queried.

'We read a lot' Wesley replied with a shrug.

'Who won Gold in Synchronised Swimming at the 2000 Olympics' Willow asked randomly in an inquisitorial manner, looking him straight in the eyes as she did so.

Wesley looked at her very strangely. 'Russia' he eventually answered.

'Unbelievable' Willow said throwing up her hands. 'Sorry just ignore me' she told Buffy who was also now giving her a look.

'What hardware we bringing?' one of the girls asked.

'They've shipped a good selection from the armoury to Cleveland already so you should be at least as well furnished with equipment as you were in Pylea' Wesley told them. 'We're not sure how well the standard scythes or enchanted swords will work given that as I'm sure you've already heard, Berith can transmute other metals to gold, but that should not effect our rifle and pistol ammunition in one regard in that lead is already soft and dense to start with so changing it to gold once fired would have a limited effect in terms of kinetic transfer' he noted. 'However our M995 armour-piercing ammunition would of course be rendered much less effective if its tungsten core was changed to something far more malleable before, or at the point of, impact.'

'Better hope the dude don't wear a flak jacket then' one of the girls joked.

'Or that he doesn't have skin like the Blue Meanie' Rona observed, 'or that funky leather armour she wears.'

'If we can't shoot him, we scythe him or stick a fireball up his ass' Buffy declared. 'In any case the main reason we have for bringing you gun-nuts along is to keep any followers he might bring along with him off my ass if I have to introduce him to the custom scythe.'

'We're not gun-nuts' one of the girls protested.

'What kind of bullets does your rifle fire?' Buffy threw back.

'62 grain 5.56x45mm SS109 NATO ball' the girl answered instantly. 'Damn' she added after a short pause. 'I've been brainwashed.'

Wesley chuckled. 'If you want I can have the whole lot of them thinking they're a chicken by counting down from three and snapping my fingers' he joked.

'Save it for the next talent show' Buffy replied. 'We need something to give your girlfriend and her time stopping trick some competition.'

'I was going to juggle fireballs' Willow confided.

Flight Number CO 514 (LAX – Cleveland Hopkins) – May 2004

Glory was looking out of the window. 'I can't believe how slow this thing goes' she complained. 'I could get out and run faster than this' she declared.

'It's not even supersonic' Illyria agreed, trying to concentrate on her airline meal and not on the fact she was trapped in an aluminium tube. At least she was in First Class and not as confined as the girls travelling coach further back in the plane.

'Does that taste as bad as it looks?' Glory asked, indicating the tray in front of Illyria.

The God-King looked around to make sure nobody was watching and then broke off a piece of the tray and stuck it in her mouth. The sound of splintering plastic as she chewed caused Wesley sat to her other side to look up from his book and frown as she swallowed. 'It's the only appetising thing there' she told him breaking off another piece as he rolled his eyes and went back to his novel.

'I miss teleportation' Glory said with a sigh.

'Me too' Illyria agreed. 'I used to be able to do it back in my original form.'

'You can still portal' the Hellgod noted.

'Uses too much power' the God-King replied. 'If you only want to move around in one realm teleportation is far more efficient. Even the witch can do it' she continued popping the plastic into her mouth.

'You know what else I miss?' Glory said, 'minions.'

Illyria swallowed her second mouthful of plastic tray and nodded. 'I used to have some truly first-class minions' she said sadly.

Buffy stuck her head over the top of the seat directly in front and looked at them. 'You've got to be kidding' she said looking from one to the other. 'Is this some sort of bonding session? Former tyrants anonymous?' she asked sardonically.

'Mortals' Glory said shaking her head.

'No idea whatsoever' Illyria agreed.

Buffy rolled her eyes and dropped back into her chair, Faith sat beside her was wearing headphones and moving in time to what she guessed was some truly appalling music as she picked up her magazine again. They were fortunate that most of first class was empty because anyone listening in wouldn't know what to think.

'Feeling nervous' Glory asked Illyria expectantly.

'Hoping to get the opportunity to forcibly restrain me without the prospect of being scythed on landing?' Illyria asked wryly.

'Yes' Glory admitted.

'I am not close to the point of irrationally as yet' Illyria told her. If anything the conversation was taking her mind off things though she wasn't about to let Glory know that.

'Damn' Glory replied. 'Not going to drag scruffy there to the toilet and join the Mile-High Club?' she asked after a pause.

Wesley looked up with interest.

'An even more enclosed space is the last thing I need' Illyria replied.

Wesley sighed and went back to his book.

'It was worth a try even if the thought of another deity coupling with a mortal is revolting' Glory said.

'I do still have one worthy minion and I could always order her to perform a "revolting" act with my consort' Illyria noted.

Wesley's eyes widened and Buffy's head appeared over the top of the seat in front again. This was interesting stuff now she thought.

'Please tell me that's some kind of primordial demon joke' Glory responded nervously.

'I saw you drag that mercenary away with you after your performance of that puerile song and dance routine in Pylea' Illyria told her. 'Do not pretend that the entire concept is an anathema to you.'

'I did not have sex with that… thing' Glory responded.

Illyria smirked. 'I know' she said. 'The next morning I confronted him and told him that since you were my property I would be in my rights to kill him for coupling with you without my permission' she said. 'After he decided I was being serious he told me the whole story, turned you down didn't he?'

Glory snarled. 'Who was he to reject me?' she asked angrily. 'I nearly ripped him in half for his temerity' she said, failing to add that what she had actually done was pleaded to no avail. She was certainly not drinking again, it completely addled her mind and made the most abhorrent actions seem pretty appealing.

'You were drunk, he's got principles on things like that, that's how Jailbait got her nickname' Wesley interrupted. 'If you'd been sober, or maybe a little less drunk I sincerely doubt he would have done so' he continued. 'Ashton carries quite the torch as I'm sure you realise.'

'Well of course he does' Glory responded conceitedly. 'I've seen myself in the mirror.'

Buffy snorted and dropped back into her chair again. 'Maybe the problem was he wasn't drunk enough' she said.

Glory wondered what Illyria would do if she punched through the back of the chair and on through the girl and decided it wasn't worth finding out. 'And when was the last time you had a guy pining after you slayer?' she said to Buffy instead. 'One with a pulse I mean' she added.

'Hey Macarena' Buffy responded with a grin causing Glory to go bright red despite herself. One day she swore she was going to destroy every copy of that damn DVD. What if it somehow ended up back in her home Dimension? She'd never be taken seriously again.

'You know the mercenary even went so far as to ask me how one handles a relationship with a higher power' Wesley remarked. 'I told him I didn't think that personality wise you and Illyria were similar enough for any advice I could give to be valid.'

'He wants a relationship?' Glory blurted out.

'No I can't quite figure that one out either' Wesley replied. 'I can certainly see the surface attraction but after that… well you don't exactly have Illyria's depths.'

'Are you calling me shallow?' Glory responded, glaring at him.

'Well if he's not I will' Buffy interjected.

'You mortals are just incapable of comprehending how deep I truly am' Glory declared and then looked to Illyria for support.

'No I think you're shallow too' Illyria told her. 'All you want to do is look good, and eventually go home and rule a dimension full of sycophants telling you constantly how wonderful you are and how good you look' she observed. 'Your concept of self-worth is entirely based around the veneration and worship of others' she said. 'There is nothing less appealing than an insecure deity.'

Glory pouted. 'You said you missed having minions too' she pointed out.

'Not merely in order to have them kiss my blue ass twenty-four seven' Illyria replied, causing Buffy to start laughing. 'I wanted obedience and worship so they'd do what I wanted not because I needed the ego-boost.'

'Plenty of ego already' Buffy said causing Illyria to wonder what Wesley would do if she punched through the back of the chair and on through the girl and decided it wasn't worth finding out.

Glory crossed her arms. 'This Berith guy had better be worth beating up' she said. 'I've got this really strong desire to kick the shit out of something.'

'I am having a clearly positive influence on Glorificus' Illyria told Wesley with a smile.

Warehouse District – Cleveland – May 2004

'Welcome to the Hellmouth' Kennedy greeted Buffy with a smile as she opened the door. 'You too Faith' she added to the other girl stood next to her.

'Almost makes me homesick' Buffy replied stepping on through into the apartment which was already half full of slayers before she entered leading the others in.

Faith looked around. 'Nice place' she said. 'B we need to have words about my room at the Hotel' she added.

'Hi Ken' Rona said stepping forward and gave her a quick hug before Amanda took her place.

'Pity we haven't got Vi and Molly here too' Kennedy said.

'You're entirely too young to be getting nostalgic' Wesley told them.

'And you're also standing in the way' Glory added.

Kennedy looked from Wesley to the Hellgod. 'We don't usually tolerate her type around here' she told him. 'And if she gets up to her old tricks I haven't got to try out my scythe on something really worth it yet' she added. 'Stephen taken Illyria out to the wide open spaces?' she asked.

Wesley nodded as he entered the apartment leading the other girls with him. 'She was getting tetchy' he said.

'So these are the famous Pylean Gunslayers?' Kennedy asked.

'We prefer "infamous" gunslayers' the first of them responded. 'Where's our gear?' she asked.

'Pile of crates down there' Kennedy told her.

'Permission to gear up Sir' the girl asked Wesley.

'Go ahead' he replied and they started to troop past him ignoring the looks directed their way by the other slayers already there. They were used to being looked at funny, their reputation apparently preceded them which they thought was for the good, most of them were starting to revel in their status as being mad, bad and dangerous to know and a good number played up to it too.

'Look's like they have it tough here' one of them observed to the others. 'Nice apartment, hot and cold running water, no MRE's' she continued. 'Really lives up to the name "hell" don't it' she said sarcastically.

'Yeah, ship 'em to a hell dimension, teach 'em what the word really means' another replied as they closed in on the crates and dropped their bags to the floor. 'Wish Rika was here with that cannon of hers' she said.

'Jailbait just wishes the merc was here ain't that right Char?' another joked.

'I'm going to get in his pants if it's the last thing I do' Charlotte replied with a grin. She had long since decided to accept the jokes, it was a lot easier to go along with it than blush or bite back. 'You know I think Vi has a thing for Silent Bob.'

'Can you imagine how tall their kids would be?' one said reaching down to open a crate of rifles which she started passing out.

'Or how well they'd shoot?' Charlotte added. 'Seven foot tall redheads that could blow the balls off a mosquito at twelve hundred yards and speak eight languages.'

'Don't mention it to Illyria, or she'll be thinking about breeding programs again' Wesley told them walking over. 'She's talked about it before.'

Kennedy's cell phone went off and she answered it. 'Clear the centre of the room' she said and everyone stepped aside. 'Go ahead' she said into the phone and immediately a flash of bright light made everyone blink as willow teleported in laden with various items.

'Some help' Willow requested as she started to tip backwards with the weight of the canvas bag slung over her shoulder. Kennedy dived in and balanced her before taking the bag off her. 'Faith's Rona's and Amanda's scythes in the bag' Willow told her. 'Buffy this is yours' she said handing over the original.

'Where's the plastic one?' Kennedy asked, she was dying to see it.

'Other bag' Willow told her. 'It doesn't weigh a third of what the others do' she said unhooking it from her other shoulder. 'Can't put it in with the other's they might scratch it.'

'You can scratch it?' Kennedy responded in surprise.

'Only with one of the regular scythes' Willow reassured her. 'Wesley this is yours' she said handing him a satchel.

'Thank you' he replied taking off his jacket and then taking his double shoulder-holster rig with his twin automatics in it from the satchel and putting it on. 'It doesn't feel right not wearing them' he said happily as he tightened the straps.

'So everyone else is staying in LA?' Kennedy asked. 'I thought you might bring Connor or one of the vampires along too.'

'Best to have something in reserve just in case' Buffy told her letting the power of the scythe flow through her. 'If Wolfram Hart decide to cause trouble back in LA Angel, Spike and Connor should be able to put the hurt on them' she continued.

'Surprised Giles isn't here' Kennedy opined.

'Already got two watchers here with Stephen and now Wesley and besides which he's got a date' she added, 'some waitress he's been seeing.'

'Restaurant Manager' Faith interrupted. 'He nearly bit my head off for calling her a waitress.'

'Nothing wrong with being a waitress' Buffy said. 'I was a waitress for a while.'

'You also flipped burgers at the Doublemeat Palace' Willow pointed out.

'I got promoted to work on the tills serving customers' Buffy protested.

'Oh yeah, you were a high flyer there B' Faith joked.

'I run a multi-million dollar international and inter-dimensional operation with hundreds of staff what's your career highlight Faith?' Buffy asked smugly.

Faith blinked. 'Sometimes I deputise for you' she said eventually.

'I ran an entire plane of existence' Glory pointed out. 'Don't get ideas above your station' she told Buffy.

'And now you're the bitch of the girlfriend of the scruffy English guy with the drink problem stood over there' Buffy retorted. 'How the mighty have fallen' she added sarcastically.

'I get no respect' Glory moaned.

'Stop feeling sorry for yourself and earn some' Buffy advised. 'You're supposed to be a God so act like one instead of being a whiney bitch' she told her.

'You've got no idea what it's like being stuck here like this' Glory told her.

'Bullshit' Buffy retorted. 'I was dragged out of paradise and bought back here' she said. 'Every day was a fucking nightmare but I got over it because I've got willpower and self-dignity' she said. 'Life is hard and then you die' she said, 'or maybe you don't, but one way or the other grow up.'

Glory was rendered utterly speechless as a few of the girls cheered.

'Harsh' Faith observed. 'True' she added, 'but harsh' she said. 'Is there a decent bar around here?' she asked Kennedy.

'How would I know I'm under twenty-one' Kennedy responded.

'Oh yeah like that's an issue with the high quality fake ID's we give out' Faith replied.

'End of the block turn left, first one you come to' Kennedy told her.

'Come on Blondie, let's get a drink and I'll tell you about my evil past' Faith told Glory.

'I'd given up drinking' Glory replied.

'Shit girl I do that every time I wake up with a hangover' Faith told her. 'Hey Wes tell your chick when she gets here that I've borrowed her slave.'

'Will do' Wesley called back. 'Don't lose her they're hard to get.'

'Depends on how much she's had to drink from what I've heard' Buffy said.

'At least I draw the line at necrophilia vampire-layer' Glory snapped back.

'Oh there's definitely hope for you' Faith told the Hellgod appreciatively.

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