"Well that's just… awesome." Gunn clutched his ribs in pain. He didn't know why, his whole body was in pain, what made his ribs so special?
"Excuse me," Kate said in a tone that implied she needed no excuse. "How do you know all this, and if you don't mind, how did you walk through that door."
"He's a ghost." Angel said, marveling at the insanity of it all.
"A ghost," Wesley hesitated. "Who works for Wolfram & Hart."
A few moments of perfect silence and then a burst of outrage. Rodney was the most vocal. "Bad enough to be working with demons, now we're consorting with the enemy!"
"Shut up!" Angel shouted, surprised when everybody obeyed. "Right then," Perhaps he should have thought of something to say before he silenced the room. "Wesley, you were speaking."
"Technically, none of us ever quit Wolfram & Hart. Don't worry though," Wesley said to Angel and Gunn's worried expressions. "The senior partners fired you both, but the new CEO offered to keep me on because she thought she could manipulate me. She offered to let me play both sides with the hope that at the crucial moment I'll slip up and reveal your hand. She's no delusions of where my true loyalties lie, but she plays her cards pretty close to the vest and has been able to trick me before. I guess she thinks she I didn't learn anything from the experience."
Angel sighed, he saw where this was headed. "Wolfram & Hart's new CEO is-"
"Lilah Morgan," Wesley affirmed. "Dead, but back in action."
"Awesome," Moaned Gunn.
"Hey guys," Lorne said, speaking up for the first time since his arrival bewildered, but pleased, Angel. "Remember the good old days when someone would die and you know… stay dead."
"No," Angel replied ruefully.
Wesley looked at Lorne, surprised to see him, when he said he wasn't coming back he had looked serious, more than that, dejected, as though he wasn't just leaving, but acknowledging he had nothing to come back to. Wesley knew the feeling.
"Speaking of where loyalties lie and what not," said Kate "Where do yours?" She glared at Wesley. "You say you're on our side, but you're on the enemy's payroll."
Illyria stood up, furious. "Do not question Wesley, he died for this cause, can you say as much?"
Angel felt the tension in the room thicken to an almost physical perceptibility. "Illyria sit down. Kate Illyria is right, Wesley's proven where his loyalties are, he doesn't have to answer your question."
"Proven to you maybe," Kate stood up and approached the ghost of Angel's friend. "You died, but who's to say you didn't know Wolfram & Hart would bring you back. Maybe this is all part of their master plan."
Wesley smiled at her, the smile frightened Angel, it reminded him of… Angelus. "I don't care what you think. Just because you were ahead of most of humanity in finding out the boogeyman lives in your closet doesn't make you special. You wear that scarf to hide the scar that reminds you every day what one slip-up can cost you. I've got a scar to, I got it the same way you did, trying to help someone. Every morning I'd envy the vampires who didn't have to see their reflections, because I got to see my failure every morning, just like you. You think that scar keeps you grounded, thinks it reminds you that in one moment you can lose everything. In one moment I did lose everything." Wesley put his hand to his neck, feeling the cold… something, not flesh, under which no blood flowed. He lifted his shirt to show her his fatal wound. "Wolfram & Hart orchestrated a grand scheme and that scheme destroyed my life, and you know what the worst part is?" Kate shook her head, more somber now. "They didn't even care. I was a pawn. My pain, my loss, wasn't even a pleasant bonus to them. I was nothing, a means to an end." Wesley touched the wound, the hole his life drained out of. "I died to stop them and am still as I stand here a means to an end, a monkey they think they can make dance. That's what they think of me, now," Wesley stared into her eyes and if hers were ice his were diamonds, hard, cold, unfeeling. "What do you think they think of you?"
Kate stood there for a moment, and then turned and walked back to her seat. "Make no mistake, with a few notable exceptions," Wesley looked at Angel and Illyria. "None of us means a thing to the senior partners. At most you are a pawn to them, a puppet to be played with. Accept this, because even though the concept in daunting, this is our greatest strength. Anne,"
Anne almost jumped out of her seat in terror at hearing her name called. "The senior partners don't know who you are. Even Lilah who you've met has probably forgotten all about you. You're invisible Anne, you can do anything and they won't even notice. Angel takes two steps outside this door and Wolfram & Hart has eyes all over him." A disturbing notion Angel hadn't fully considered. "You leave and they don't bat an eye. The senior partners see us as lesser beings and when we rally to prove them wrong they will be caught unawares. This is not just our greatest strength, it is our only strength. So trust me, don't trust me, I don't care. But you will listen to me because if you fail to exploit this strength to its fullest potential you will die, not ghostly dead, dead dead. Is there anybody who doesn't understand?"
The silence that enveloped them all was complete, and heavy. Lorne felt it like a thick blanket weighing on him, hunching his shoulders. Wesley was different somehow, changed, death will do that to a person he supposed but…
"You should all get some rest." Angel said
One by one the denizens of the lobby headed upstairs to claim rooms. Somehow Lorne knew he was supposed to stay. He clutched Teresa's hand and squeezed it, hoping she would to, hoping she would anchor him. Looking at the remainders he saw Angel, Spike, and Wesley as the obvious candidates. Kate was the outlier, she stayed not because she should, but because she wanted to, and maybe that was why she should. Lorne was surprised Gunn and Illyria had left. Gunn left because he needed to heal and that was understandable. Illyria left perhaps because she sensed she should, or maybe she was bored. The violence appealed to her more than the planning of the violence. The six of them appraised each other, two demons, two vampires, a human and a ghost. Lorne knew a joke with that set-up, but he sensed it wouldn't be appropriate.
"I don't believe we've met." Angel said, looking at Teresa.
"You haven't met me." She said "But I know you. I'm telepathic, and I have many memories of you from your friend who met you as you journeyed to save one prophesized to do great good. That's a good first impression."
Angel gave her a skeptical look, then looked at Lorne and shrugged. If he trusted her she must be okay. "Is there anything you didn't want to say in front of the group?" Angel asked Wesley. "Any sensitive information we need to keep quiet."
"Yes," Wesley said without hesitation. "But I can't tell you here or now."
Angel nodded.
"So to recap," Said Spike "Wolfram & Hart plan to enter this dimension by blurring the boundaries between it and their own with demonic energy. The process has already started and gotten to the point where no human can leave L.A. though they can still enter. Soon L.A. will be in phase with their dimension enough for one of them to cross over where he can complete the sacrifices necessary to bring over the other two. Then they plan to rule our dimension with an iron fist spread suffering, disease, untold horrors across the globe. I miss anything?"
"The Wolf, who I believe will be the first to cross over is not human, but takes the form of a beautiful woman when it wishes to appear as such, so if you're going to refer to it with gendered pronouns she would be more accurate." Wesley said
"Right," Said Spike "But other than that I'm spot on."
"Don't forget the inspirational speech." Lorne joked, aiming for levity and falling short of the mark.
"Ra, ra," Spike couldn't sound less enthused.
"They need something to hope for," Wesley whispered "Otherwise…"
"They'll end up like you." Spike spoke with a startling bluntness.
"Spike," Angel said with a voice full of anger.
Wesley remembered the sharp pain, the spreading numbness, the knowing, the peace, the terror. In that moment he admitted to himself that he had been wanting to go for a long time, and in that moment he admitted he wanted to stay. Illyria had showed up to help him move along, to give him his lie that would ease the passing. But there was no passing. Wolfram & Hart got in the way, just like they always did. "We have to stop them Angel."
Angel was stung by the bitterness he heard in Wesley's voice, so much pain in every word. "We will."
"They'll destroy the world."
"We won't let that happen."
Wesley nodded, appeased. If anyone could do it… "I should be getting back, I'll return tomorrow."
Angel nodded, wanting with all his heart to say something, unable to think of anything.
"Wesley," Lorne called out.
Wesley stopped, but didn't turn around.
"I'm glad you're back."
"We're all glad you're back." Angel added.
"I'm not," Wesley admitted "But thanks; that means a lot." He was gone.
"He changed." Kate whispered, thinking of the man who used to work for Angel, a man she would have described as naïve, a term she could never apply to the man who just left.
"We all did." Angel said
"So fearless leader, plans?" Lorne asked
Angel opened his mouth to speak before he realized he had nothing left to say.
"We need to get the civilians to safety." Kate said
"Right," said Angel "We rest tonight. In the morning we break into groups, search and rescue operation. They can't leave L.A. so we bring everyone back to the hotel, and hope it's big enough to hold all the refugees. Once we've got the innocents situation under control we can worry about where Wolfram & Hart plans on finding this demonic energy. I can't imagine the side effects will be anything lovely."
"I can't imagine the side effects of the thing that's going to cause the apocalypse will be good." Kate sarcastically echoed him.
She was starting to get on his nerves and Angel had half a mind to set her straight on who was in charge and who was just along for the ride. "Kate," When she looked at him Angel saw something shocking. Beneath the bravado, mistrust, anger, there was fear, pure and plentiful.
"Yes Angel," Snide as ever
"Welcome to the team."
…
"I felt like I had to come, something was calling me. I figured it was my werewolf instincts." Nina nodded as she listened to the stranger's story while they ate the ice cream from the freezer before it melted.
"Maybe that's why I stayed when my family left, my werewolf instincts."
"Your family knew something was coming?" Oz asked
"No, I did." Nina bit her lower lip. "It's complicated."
"I understand." Oz said in the most genuine way she'd ever heard that phrase said.
"I know it sounds like B.S.-"
"It's cool," Oz assured her. "You'll talk about it when you're ready."
"How did you know I was a werewolf?" Nina asked
"I could smell you." Oz tapped his nose to illustrate."
"Is that a werewolf thing, I mean can all werewolves do it?"
"If you're trained." Said Oz "I learned how in Tibet."
"Can you teach me?" Nina practically begged, unsure why she was so eager to learn about her werewolf heritage. Of course there wasn't much else to do here anymore.
"Sure,"
Nina smiled. "Thank you Oz."
"No I-" He frowned, as though unsure about what he was about to say. "I think I'm supposed to teach you. Maybe that's why I'm here."
…
Illyria did not enjoy having the stranger as her partner. She had no fighting skills and her words were annoying. She spoke of things Illyria had no knowledge of, books, songs, and movies. Illyria barely knew these things existed as concepts, much less of the individual ones. She wished to silence the annoying creature who was prattling on about something called spin with allowed the universe to work by stabilizing electron clouds. Illyria remembered her promise to Wesley not to kill. Yet killing demons had never been a problem and this troublesome creature was part demon.
"There is someone in that house." Teresa pointed ahead.
"How can you be sure?"
"I sense their fear." Teresa started to run. "Come on!"
Illyria hoped a demon, an evil one that she could definitely kill, was praying on the person inside. Killing something would relieve her anxiety.
…
"I want to know what happened to Fred, the truth."
Lilah looked up from the paperwork spread out on her desk, none of which she had to proofread, and there was no blood in sight. What an excellent day, she thought. Here was Wesley to make it even better with his pathetic mewling. "Did you finish translating the text I had sent to your office?"
"No, and I don't give a damn if I ever do. Fred. Answers."
Lilah smiled, how was the rest of the day going to compete with this excellence? "The truth is complicated and has many parts. I don't know all of them."
"Well why don't we start with what you do know and work from there?"
Lilah chuckled. "I'll tell you one part now, one when you finish translating that text, and one when you feed Angel some false information to throw him off the scent of what we're really doing." Lilah opened a file and placed it in front of him. "It's enchanted like your books, the pages will turn when you wave your hand over them." She said, aware he couldn't touch anything corporeal. "I didn't want you to see this file, you snuck a peak, yada, yada, and Angel goes running of on a wild goose chase."
Wesley considered. "I do this, you tell me how to save Fred."
"Everything I know."
Wesley looked at the pages, the people in the photographs looked so innocent, was that really necessary for a fake file only he would see? "Fine,"
Lilah sighed. "You can't just agree, you have to actually do it."
"I will," Wesley said. "He'll show up and chase some wild non-existent geese."
"Oh these geese exist." Said Lilah "These people really are going to be sacrificed, just not to for any real reason. Angel has to think your information is good. While Angel is distracted saving this bunch the real sacrifice will be taking place. He won't be looking for it because he thinks he already found it."
Wesley hated how pleased with herself Lilah looked. "Sort of over-complicated everything didn't you? Angel wouldn't even know there was going to be a sacrifice unless you had me tell him."
"I figured you already did. Smart guy like you knows there aren't many other ways to conjure forth that kind of demonic energy." Lilah said. She had no intention of hiding the enjoyment she derived from mocking him.
"Fred," Wesley demanded
"No human soul can survive the fires of rebirth ignited to clear the way for Illyria."
Wesley was outraged. "But you-"
"Wasn't finished," Lilah cut him off. "Fred's did. Her soul is not intact, but it is complete. Every piece no matter how big or small, every piece of her mind and soul is there. That's why Illyria was and is defective. She should have killed you all by now and claimed this world as her own. Illyria has been tainted by Fred's humanity, which also caused the glitch in her powers that necessitated you taking them from her. This world survives only because of the strength of Fred's goodness and if that isn't enough to make a person ill I don't know what is."
Wesley was silent for almost a whole minute. "Does Illyria know this?"
"No," Lilah said "Why does it matter?"
"It just seems like she would know."
"Illyria knows her own mythos, knows a soul surviving her rebirth is impossible. Why would she suspect the impossible?"
"I suppose," Wesley thought over his interactions with Illyria. All of them were colored by Fred, all of them affected by her humanity. Was it possible Illyria knew and hid the truth to avoid giving up her new body? "If it's impossible-"
"I don't know how Fred's soul survived and that's all you get until I get a perfect translation of my fun new text." Lilah said, putting an end to Wesley's questions.
"Yes mam," As Lilah watched Wesley storm off she regretted her death for the first time since she came back. If they both had a pulse she would be all over him.
"Can't have everything in life." She mumbled to herself. "Or death," she amended with a chuckle. What an excellent day she was having.
…
"So," Rodney aimed his crossbow at a pool of shadow, but it was devoid of any dark creatures as the rest of the area, which on an overcast day such as today Rodney expected to be covered in vampires. "How do you know the bloodsucker?"
"We go way back," Rodney heard the unmistakable bitterness in her voice.
"So he's you ex?"
Kate turned to look at Rodney, her face contorted in an expression of horror. "What? No, that's disgusting. He's dead." Kate shook her head as though trying to dispel unwanted images. "Me and Angel…I'd rather stake myself."
So maybe not absolutely unmistakable. "Sorry,"
"Whatever, let's just focus on the job."
Rodney nodded. He tried to think of a way to appease the woman he would be spending the rest of the day with. "So are you single then?"
"Wooden stake, in my heart."
This day was going to suck.
…
"Instructions on how to properly perform the sacrifice. You should have told me you knew the subject of the text, it would have made translation easier."
"Oh but how I enjoy watching you squirm lover."
Wesley was furious. "Every moment you waste is a moment-" Wesley cut himself of with an internal reminder that not only did Lilah not care about Fred, but his suffering was just further enticement for her to draw out the whole affair.
"Come on sweetie, absence makes the heart grow fonder."
Wesley tried to bite his tongue. "If that were true you'd think I'd at least like you by now." He failed.
Lilah's smile widened. "You're so cute when you're indignant."
Wesley was ready to pull his hair out and had a brief moment of wonder if he could do that in his incorporeal form. "You owe me information."
"I don't owe you anything, you work here, you draw salary, you were just doing your job." Lilah leaned forward, trying her best to look seductive. "Everything else is just extra."
Wesley couldn't contain his vexation. "You said-"
Lilah threw her arms in the air. "I give up. You're a man with a one track mind. Does he care about old lovers rising from the dead? No. Does he care about the sacrifice of dozens of innocents? No. All he cares about is poor sweet little Fred trapped inside the big bad Illyria."
"My information,"
Lilah sighed. "Not a bite, not even a nibble." She leaned back in her chair looking at the man whose bed she had laid in so many times. She always knew it wasn't her he wanted and to be honest that was part of the appeal. She enjoyed playing the temptress, steering Wesley away from the path of righteousness and the miss. Goody two-shoes who represented it for him, and into the dark brambles that were, well… that's where the images get a little to smutty for the workplace; they still had psychics working here after all. The virgin-whore complex, which she had first read about in intro to psych back when she was eighteen and a gifted college freshman, fascinated her. Lilah enjoyed being the whore, though in truth she hadn't been with many men. She enjoyed being the bad girl because, well, it made her feel free. No one expected her to be good, to be kind, or to put other's needs before her own. Wesley least of all expected that. He knew at the end of the day he would only get what was convenient for her to give him. The whore may get screwed a lot, but at the end of the day Lilah knew how to screw back, and twice as hard.
"There is no magic in this dimension or any other the senior partners know powerful or delicate enough to find all the pieces of Fred within Illyria, much less put them together. Before you demand a loophole save your breath. That's all you get until you complete your mission at Angel's." Lilah smirked.
"Fine," Wesley said "I'll leave now."
Lilah waited until he was almost out the door, pretending to be busy reading a file. "No you won't."
Wesley stopped. "Why?"
Lilah waited for him to turn around and look into her eyes. She put her elbows on her desk and rested her chin in a cup formed by her palms. She smiled like a silly school girl. "Sacrifice isn't for another three weeks, we don't want Angel informed until the last minute, so he doesn't have time for preparation or research."
Wesley knew what she was doing. He had fallen for it and he hated himself. "I have to wait three weeks to hear how to save Fred."
"That's right." Lilah couldn't contain her sunshine smile.
Wes stormed through the door, past Harmony's desk, and into the staircase.
"Wait! Wait up Wesley!"
Wesley ignored the blond vampire running after him.
"Hey wait."
Wesley cursed himself as she caught up.
"Didn't you hear me?"
"Yeah, I was ignoring you."
Harmony faltered, but continued to follow Wesley. "I want to tell you something."
Wesley withheld his biting comment. He was for all intents and purposes a corporate spy. Any information, even dribble from the likes of an idiot like Harmony could be useful. "Go ahead."
"I miss the way things used to be."
That caught Wesley by surprise. "What, when you were human?"
"What, no way! I love being a vamp. Eternal beauty and all that, it's great. I just mean… That is to say…" Harmony sighed. "I liked W&H better when Angel ran the joint. Yeah he never let me drink human blood, but I don't know, the place was just a lot more homey back them. People were friendlier. Not it's all 'apocalypse this' and 'apocalypse that' and a girl gets sick of hearing about the apocalypse pretty fast. Plus I mean, what's so great about the apocalypse? If all the humans are dead I won't get to drink any anyway so we might as well just have Angel back."
Wesley now knew it was possible for ghosts to have headaches. "Harmony," he sighed "Was there a point in there… somewhere?"
"Watch the p-word mister, but yeah. What I'm trying to say," Harmony lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Is I want to join you guys, I'm anti-apocalypse."
"Wow," Wesley couldn't resist the sarcasm. "This might just be the turning point in the battle between good and evil."
"You really think so?" Harmony gushed.
…
"So what's the deal with the telepath?" Spike asked as he and Lorne roamed the streets. The original plan had been for Spike and Angel do keep their search underground until nightfall when they could surface, but when morning came and dark clouds covered the sun they decided to hit the streets like everyone else. Angel tried to evenly distribute the big muscle, putting the vampires and Illyria with the three members of their group that had no or very little combat experience. Spike had ended up with Lorne.
"She helped me find my way."
Spike nodded as though that were a satisfactory answer. "She seems a bit off."
"You're a vampire trying to save the world, how more off can one be?"
Spike considered that for a moment. "That's a good point." He sniffed the air, falling back into his hunter's instincts with ease. "But I didn't just start fighting the good fight for no reason. There were factors. I'm wondering what hers were."
"Being able to experience a lifetime with a touch probably does strange things to a person's development. That being said, don't touch her." Lorne warned "The death and mayhem can't do her psyche any good, especially since we're already in hell, or close enough."
Spike looked around. "Yeah, but the beasties seemed to have cleared out of this area."
"I wasn't going to come back you know." Lorne said
"That's what you said." Spike recalled
"I'm not a fighter. Violence is part of what I was trying to escape when I left Pylea. I guess it's sort of ironic that I had to sacrifice one of the things I love most about this world in order to protect it." Lorne mused "I didn't want to be this. I'm a singer!"
Spike stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse. "We make sacrifices for the things we love, sometimes saving them means never being able to have them, or in your case enjoy them as you did before. That's okay though." Spike kicked down the door to reveal seven terrified people huddling in the corner. "That's love."
Lorne watched Spike enter the warehouse and tell the people within of supposed safety at the Hyperion. He knew what the vampire was really talking about, Buffy. Buffy was what had started these changes in him, she was the one he had sacrificed to save. His greatest sacrifice turned out to be Buffy herself, who he couldn't have. Lorne considered telling him she was coming. No, better to let it be a surprise.
"So where are all the monsters?" Lorne asked.
…
Angel picked up a metal pipe and swung it into the snake-like creature trying to get past him. Angel didn't know if its fangs were poisonous or if the poison could affect vampires if they were, but he had no intention of finding out. Angel threw his trusty stake at the beast, which lodged itself just below the head. Angel ran toward the creature, swinging the pipe at its teeth, hoping to shatter its most dangerous weapon. The snake creature used its tail as a whip to knock Angel flat on his back.
As the creature reared up to impale the vampire with its fangs it let out a cry of pain. Standing on the monster's back as it flailed to and fro was Conner, having stabbed the creature's eye with Angel's stake. Conner pulled the stake out again and used it to remove the beast's head. It fell to the ground dead, while Conner stood up and tossed Angel back his stake.
"I'm sure you could have handled that without me." Conner teased "But I felt like a good tussle." Seven refugees emerged from behind Conner. One of them, who Angel recognized as Conner's other father, was helping Anne to her feet.
Angel couldn't hide his grin. "Conner,"
"I can see this is a bad time." Angel turned around to see Wesley. "But "I have some very important information."
"Of course," said Angel "Conner I-"
The boy smiled and shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."
Angel was still grinning as he followed Wesley to the alley where no one could see or hear them. "Lilah wants me to feed you false information."
Angel nodded "Naturally,"
"We need her to think I did."
Angel was confused. "You don't think she'll suspect you tipped me off?"
"Lilah thinks she has me on the ropes, we need her to keep thinking that."
Angel frowned. "Is this what you couldn't say last night? Can you tell me now?"
Wesley nodded. "But you should keep it to yourself."
When Wesley finished explaining about the two sacrifices and what Lilah had promised him Angel was speechless. "Wes…"
Wesley was silent. He knew what Angel was going to say, knew it needed to be said, but he didn't want to hear it.
"Do you think we can trust Lilah?"
"I think she's telling the truth, and even if she isn't we have to take the chance."
"Of course," Angel agreed without reservation. "If there's even the slightest chance that we could save her we have to take it. We have to risk it."
"I'll figure out what I can about the second sacrifice, but come that day you need to be at the fake sacrifice saving those people."
Angel nodded. "Understood,"
"I have to get back, oh-" He remembered Harmony, hardly worth mentioning, but he might as well. "And Harmony wants to join our side."
Angel couldn't withhold a chuckle. "Harmony, well she could be useful."
"You never know." Wesley said with little conviction.
Wesley left and Angel went to rejoin his son. Angel wished Conner was anywhere but in L.A. but if Angel said he wasn't ecstatic to see his son well, that would be a lie.
