"I thought the full moon wasn't-"
Wesley cut Angel off. "Killing moon, not the same thing; better for them worse for us."
Angel had more questions, but he didn't get to ask them. "Anne isn't the traitor Illyria is." Rodney said "Anne sang for Lorne, he said she was clean."
"She beat the test, it's been done before." Wesley said, referencing the Wolfram & Hart employee that had used drugs to avoid detection when he betrayed Nina to a club that wanted to eat her. "Lilah told me Anne's the traitor."
"She lied!" Rodney said, his hand tightening around the grip of his crossbow.
"Wes," Gunn said "Lilah is hardly a-"
Wesley interrupted again. "Check the rooms of the kids from Anne's shelter. Twenty-one are missing. I assume Anne was told they would be allowed to leave the city, unaware the place they would be sent to is a far worse hell."
Angel looked at Conner, he looked relieved. "Could you-"
"On it," Conner started down the hall but didn't get very far.
Rodney took a couple steps back, away from Kate and Gunn, then raised his crossbow and pointed it at Conner. "Stop," Everyone froze. Everyone turned to face Rodney. "Just stop."
…
"You're sure?" Buffy asked her computer monitor while Dawn and Andrew sat next to her. Andrew jostled Dawn, trying to get in frame. Dawn shoved him back.
"Willow and I are fairly confident." Giles said "Willow?"
"Yes," Willow still sounded shaken. "L.A. is becoming a portal to a hell dimension."
Buffy's heart sped up. "Angel?"
"I sensed him." Willow said "He's there, fighting."
"Fighting the forces of hell?" Buffy asked
"What about-" Andrew stopped himself mid-question and everyone ignored him.
"One would assume." Willow said "Right?"
"Duh," Faith said "What the hell else would he be doing?"
Buffy looked at the upper-left corner of the four-way split screen. Giles was sitting at his desk from which he ran the new watchers council in London. The next corner held Xander's lumpy couch, upon which sat Xander. Catty corner to Xander was Willow and Kennedy. Next to them was Faith and Robin. Buffy was sitting in her apartment in Rome, Dawn next to her, Andrew next to Dawn. Buffy waited for Giles to say what she couldn't.
"Some of our intelligence suggests Angel may have switched sides."
"You mean Angelus is back again?" Faith asked with an eye-roll. "If this is another spell I'm going to have words with English."
"Wesley's dead." Willow said "I felt him die."
Faith fell silent.
"What else?" Buffy asked
"One really weird thing I sensed was Spike."
"Is he all right?" Andrew cried out
"He's dead idiot, remember?" Dawn said
"He came back." Andrew said "He was in L.A. with Angel. He asked me not to tell you."
Buffy stared at Andrew, unbelieving. "Giles would I be setting a bad example for my fellow slayers if I punched Andrew's teeth in right about now?"
"Yes, but if Kennedy left the room for a moment that wouldn't be a problem." Giles said
"See no evil," Kennedy said "Go for it."
"You're telling me Spike is alive?" Buffy glared at Andrew. "You didn't think I needed to know this? Have you known since you were in L.A?"
"He said not to tell you." Andrew said "He came here looking for you once, but you were out and I forgot about it by the time you came back."
Buffy rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the screen. Her heart was pounding so fast she was sure Dawn could hear the rapid thumping. Spike and Angel were in L.A. together. Were they fighting the forces of hell, or had they reverted to their old ways? Either way, they needed her help. "Looks like I'm going to L.A. to avert another apocalypse."
"We can fly into San Fran," said Xander "Meet up there,"
Buffy shook her head. "I don't want you guys to risk-"
"I'll do all the research I can on demonic portals." Willow spoke as though Buffy hadn't said anything. "When we get there I might be able to work a spell to reverse this crazy mojo."
"When do we need to be in San Francisco by?" Faith asked
"Buffy?" Xander asked
"Oh I get to speak now?" Buffy snarked
"Only if the phrase 'to dangerous' doesn't pass anywhere near your lips." Willow said
"We meet at the San Francisco airport tomorrow at six. Giles I need you to stay in London to run the council. Don't fight me on this okay?" Buffy asked
"Your wish is my command." Giles said
"I also need you to find someone to take over Faith's, Willow's, and Xander's posts while we're gone." Buffy said
"Robin can handle Cleveland while I'm gone." Faith said "The girls are used to him."
"I was under the impression I would also be going." Robin sounded aggravated.
Buffy didn't want anywhere near that hornet's nest, she had her own to deal with. "I'll see most of you tomorrow." Buffy logged off.
"Buffy-"
"You and Andrew are staying here to look after the slayers in Rome." Buffy said
"But Buffy," Andrew whined "I was very recently in L.A. and I've seen the inside of Wolfram and Hart. Plus I have a great report with Spike." Buffy and Dawn stared at him incredulously. "I'll go clean the kitchen." A dejected Andrew said
"Dawny-"
"How's it feel to be interrupted before you get to say two words?" Dawn said
Buffy sighed. "Go ahead,"
"You're going to be so proud of me when you get back and see what a good job I did taking care of the slayers." Dawn said "And Andrew," She added as an afterthought.
Buffy embraced her sister. "I'm already so proud of you."
…
"Nobody move." Rodney said "Nobody move a muscle."
"I think we should all take a moment to calm down." Said Lorne
"There isn't time." Wes said and then turned to Rodney "So how about you put down the bloody crossbow and help us save the twenty-one innocent children who are about to be sacrificed to a demonic entity." His voice was cold and furious.
"I'm not going to let you set Anne up as your fall guy." Rodney said
"Rodney," said Gunn "Nobody wants to set up Anne."
"You heard the ghost!" Rodney was becoming increasingly agitated and the crossbow swung right and left, landing on different people. "I was a fool to come here, to think I could trust a bunch of demons!" He looked at Kate. "You know I'm right!"
She shook her head. "I don't actually."
Rodney laughed. "You're just like them." He pointed the crossbow at Kate and then Gunn. "Both of you are. Demon lovers, traitors to your species!"
Rodney grabbed Anne's arm. "Let's go Anne."
Anne shook her head. "I can't." Tears ran down her cheeks.
"Let's go!"
"Now Son," Conner's dad spoke up from the other end of the hall. "I don't know much about all of this, but I think we could all benefit if everyone just calmed down for a second."
Rodney swung the crossbow in the direction of the voice. Maybe his finger slipped, maybe he did it on purpose, but an arrow embedded itself in Teresa's chest.
Anne screamed. Gunn grabbed the crossbow and punched Rodney in the face, causing him to fall to his knees. Kate grabbed his right arm and twisted it so that he couldn't rise from the floor without intense pain. Everyone else ran toward the fallen demon.
Teresa lay on the ground, arrow imbedded in her like a tombstone in the earth. She coughed and blood poured from between her lips. "I saw it." She said
"Shhhh," said Lorne "We need a doctor!"
"I'm a nurse." Conner's mother rushed forward.
"Conner," Angel said "Check the rooms." Conner rushed off to do so. "Wesley lead us to where the sacrifice is going to take place. Spike, Gunn, Kate, Rodney, let's go."
"You're taking Rodney?" Lorne couldn't believe his ears. "He just shot someone!"
"And now he's going to help us save twenty-one someones." Said Angel
…
Willow closed her laptop and before she heard the click of the lid touching the keyboard she heard Kennedy. "I'm going Willow, that's that."
Willow looked at Kennedy, shocked. "I know baby, I need you. I can't do this without you. I need you there to keep me anchored, to prevent the demonic energy from affecting me."
"And to protect you from the bad guys." Kennedy reminded her.
Willow smiled at her lover and leant in for a kiss.
…
"Illyria!" Conner bounded up to the cage with a big smile on his face. "You've been cleared. Anne's the traitor, I locked her in her room and posted a guard."
Illyria frowned. "This news is meant to please me?"
"Yeah," said Conner "I can let you out." He looked around the room. "Do you know where the key is?" He walked over to a table and started moving stuff around.
"Angel has it." Illyria said
"Oh," Conner stopped and walked over to the cage. "When Angel gets back the first thing he'll do is let you out." Conner promised "I'm sorry he locked you up."
Illyria considered this. "It was not your fault."
Conner smiled. "Thanks for saying so."
"He will not release me." Illyria said "I will have to escape."
"He only locked you up because he thought you were the traitor. He knows you aren't now, and he'll let you go. I'm sure he's sorry about the misunderstanding."
"His regrets are not my concern." Illyria said "I swore vengeance on Angel, which I will have." She stared at Conner. "He knows this, and will not let me out."
Conner looked down. "I think we all made a lot of mistakes today. What Anne did… We were all scared, and maybe a little, maybe a lot, paranoid. You know a thesulac demon used to live here." Conner remembered Gunn telling him about it the summer Conner lived with him and Fred. "I did some things I'm not proud of. I hope I can be forgiven for them."
"What did you do?" Illyria seemed genuinely curious
"I hit Teresa a couple times." Conner confessed
"That half-breed bothers me, I find her voice grating."
Conner chuckled. "The thing is at one point or another we all do unforgivable things to each other. Forgiveness is a part of humanity. I said I would teach you to be human. If you're going to keep learning you need to forgive Angel."
Illyria stared past Conner at some unseen thing. "I'm not sure I still desire to learn more of humanity. You are a treacherous lot and what you call forgiveness to me seems very much like weakness." She looked at Conner again. "I am better than this." But she sounded unsure.
"That's what forgiveness is." Conner said "It's being better than someone, being above them. Betrayal is a weakness, forgiveness is a strength."
"I do not understand." Illyria said "I do not comprehend the meaning of your words."
"Do you trust me?" Conner asked
Illyria considered this question. "Trust leads to betrayal."
"Yes, but I won't betray you. Illyria if you trust me I won't let anything happen to you. I trust you Illyria. I trust you with my life. Will you do the same for me?"
Illyria nodded. "I accept your trust and give you mine also."
"Will you forgive Angel?"
"I will forgive your father." Illyria said
"I promise when he gets back he'll let you out. I'll wait here with you until then."
"You can teach me new human things." Illyria suggested "I wonder about this practice of speaking without volume that I saw your fake sister use the other night. It seems very efficient, but she is the only human I have seen do it. Also, the word freak is not one which I know the definition of. Furthermore I wish to know more appropriate dining behavior so that I may eat with your family and cause them to know what to make of me, preferably a liking."
Conner grinned. He sat cross-legged on the floor and looked up at Illyria. "Okay,"
…
Faith shut off the computer. "Faith we need to talk about this."
Faith looked at her boyfriend, at his warm concerned eyes. "Okay, talk."
He grasped her hands. "I'm a big boy, I don't need you to protect me."
"I need you to stay here and look after the girls, you're the only one I trust them with."
Robin gripped her hands tighter. "Look me in the eye and say that's the only reason you don't want me to come to L.A. with you and I won't say another word about it."
Faith sighed. She looked him in the eye and considered saying it. He would keep his word, but be pissed at her for lying. He always knew when she was lying. She wanted to leave on a good note. "The truth is I fight better when I don't have to worry about watching anybody's back. I like your back don't get me wrong, and your front," She said with a sly grin as she started to slide her hands down his thighs.
Robin grasped her wrists and lifted her hands. Faith was of course strong enough to ignore him pulling on her hands and keep going where she wanted to go, but she cared too much about Robin to treat him like that. "Faith this is serious."
"Sorry," She said "It's just that I can't be accountable for anyone but me out there. If something were to happen to you it would be because of me." Faith saw his brewing objection. "You want to go because of me." She insisted "I can't have that on my conscience, it's full."
"And I can't have letting you go off by yourself and getting killed on mine."
"But yours has more room." Faith said
"Faith this isn't about atoning for past sins." Robin said
"Yes it is," She insisted "It always is and always will be. If you can't handle that-"
"Cut the crap Faith!" Robin was frustrated. "Every time we disagree about something you say that if I can't handle it I can take a walk. Are you still so afraid of having a real connection with someone that you try to push me away at every opportunity?"
Faith shook her head. "You're making a deal out of something that isn't-"
"You still haven't said it Faith."
"Said what?" But she knew and Robin's glare said he knew she did. "Not this again,"
"Not what Faith? We live together, we eat dinner together every night, we sleep together, we have mind-blowing sex together," Robin paused for a moment on the last one as he and Faith reflected on just how mind-blowing last night had been. "You've told me things you never tell anybody, why can't you tell me you love me?" Robin asked
"It's not something you think about, it's something you do." Faith said
"And you haven't once."
"Maybe I did and you didn't notice." Faith said
Robin took Faith's hands and held them in his own. "Faith I love you." She tried not to, but she flinched. "Every time," He said with a sigh as he dropped her hands.
Faith looked at him and knew what she needed to say to protect him, to keep him here where he would be safe. It was going to hurt. "Do you want to know why I never say it?"
"I ask you all the time, so I'd say yeah."
"I'm afraid to say I love you because I love you." She flinched at hearing herself say the words. "If I say it, it's real. If I love you, really love you, then you'll…" She thought she could finish, but she was wrong. She could slay vampires, but not her own inhibitions.
"I'll leave you." Robin finished
"Even if, especially if, you don't want to. Loving me's no good."
Robin pulled her to him and she let him. "It is for me. Loving you is good for me. Being loved by you would be even better, but this is good enough."
Faith closed her eyes. "I love you Robin." She pulled away and looked into his eyes again, still so warm, still so comforting. "I love you and I need you. I need you to be here when I get back, waiting for me. I need you to hold me and help me forget the horrors of what I'll have seen. I need you not to have seen them, so that you'll be separate from them and I can lose myself in you. Can you do that for me?" She asked her lover, her best friend.
"I'll do that for you." He kissed her on the top of her head, gentle, sweet.
"Hey remember that mind blowing sex we were just talking about?" Faith asked
"Yes please," The sex wasn't gentle, but it was sweet.
…
Angel stared at the tall building and the cross that extended from it to even greater heights. He began to sweat. "The building will be destroyed in the process of the sacrifice." Wes explained. "It was originally the manor home of a wealthy land baron who kept small children locked in the basement for horrific purposes. He was driven out by the local community when his atrocities were discovered. The property was donated to the church and converted to an abbey where the nuns took in orphans and unwed mothers. They provided education and job-training to those whose only other options would have been manual labor and prostitution, allowing them to have a better life. The stipulations for where the sacrifice takes place say the ground must have housed a great evil that tainted the land with innocent blood. The evil must have been cast out by those with good intentions and the land repurposed for those who do good works." Wesley led them to the doors upon which was engraved in Latin and English 'We are all children of God.'
Gunn pushed the doors open. "Should we call out or something?" Rodney suggested
"No but you can shut up." Spike said
"I'm sorry about-"
"Rodney," Angel said "If you get us caught, I'll bleed you dry."
There was silence for a few minutes as Wesley led them deeper into the abbey. "Can I do it instead?" Spike asked "I haven't had human blood in so long I don't even remember."
"Shut up sicko." Kate said "Before I stake you." The silence held for longer this time.
Wes stopped in front of doors with similar engravings to the ones at the front of the building, but these said 'Welcome, all children of God.'
"So everyone's welcome." Spike said "A little redundant,"
Kate stepped forward and Spike jumped back, wary of the vampire hunter, but she just pushed the doors open. "Pussy," She mumbled under her breath
"Hey!" Spike loudly objected "Who're you-"
"Shhh!" Angel, Kate, and Wesley exclaimed.
They entered the chapel. "Are we sure this is where the sacrifice is going to take place?"
"Yes," Wesley responded to Angel's query "Just ignore the crosses."
"Not as easy as it sounds mate." Spike muttered despite Kate's death glare.
The group was startled by a terrific bang that came from the front of the abbey. "That would be the front door." Wesley said "They'll be coming in with the sacrifice."
"The door was open." Gunn recalled "Why'd they knock it down?"
"Maybe they took offense to being called children of God." Kate suggested
"Yeah," Rodney snarked "I bet most demons are atheists."
"I'm catholic." Angel said casually
"Really?" Kate said
"Focus," Wesley hissed
Angel headed for one side of the chapel doors. "Kate, Gunn," He gestured for them to follow. Spike and Rodney took the other side. Wesley sat at one of the pews.
"Can't you throw some furniture or spew goo?" Rodney requested
"Not that kind of ghost," Wes's voice was completely deadpan.
…
Teresa gasped as she sat up, causing pain to radiate from her chest. "No!"
"Teresa!" Lorne tried to push her back down. "Lie still,"
She turned her wide eyes to Conner's mother, the only other person in the room. "Your son is in danger." She whispered "His fate is unstable." She extended her hand. "Take it."
Conner's mother took her hand. "What do you mean? What's going to happen to him?"
Teresa smiled. She pushed the covers aside and sat up. "I was so hungry." She said "I feel much better now. I was going crazier than I already am."
A realization struck Lorne. "You need memories, to sustain your psychic energy."
Teresa looked at her hands. "I'm lucid now, as lucid as I can be."
"Your species aren't supposed to require the memories, only enjoy them."
"I know." Teresa said "But we both know the Powers don't recruit demons with nothing to atone for. I was foolish in my youth, and after it. There were so many lives out there that I could live without having to do anything. So I did nothing. I touched, I got addicted. My life was nothing, I did nothing, and I was nothing. I didn't balance the scales, didn't tip them in either direction. I was just a waste of space. The powers gave me a chance to be somebody, but the withdrawal does strange things to the mind. I need the memories to keep me going. But I need to stop." Teresa looked at Lorne, she expected to see hate or disgust, but she saw only sympathy.
"So you're like a drug addict but with memories?" Conner's mother asked
"Yes," Teresa turned red "Or more like an alcoholic since most members of my species can handle it. My mom says that maybe my human half is what caused me to get addicted. She said maybe I enjoyed the memories more because of the human in me, could feel them more."
"Now you've got the visions to boot." Lorne said "There's a lot going on up there huh?"
Teresa nodded. "I had a vision."
"About Conner?" His mother asked
Teresa nodded. "He was fighting Angel. Angel didn't want to fight, but Conner was so angry and kept hitting him. He was in so much pain."
"I'll talk to him." Conner's mother said "Maybe I can figure out what happened."
"It hasn't happened yet." Teresa said
"Then why was he so upset earlier? Why did he hit you?"
"You have to ask Conner, it is his story to tell you." Teresa explained
"I'm going to look for him. Will you be all right?"
"Yes, thank you," Teresa touched her bandage. "You would have made a great doctor."
Conner's mother smiled and patted Teresa's clawed scaly hand as she left. "Get well,"
"She wanted to be a doctor," Teresa said when Conner's mother was gone. "Didn't have the grades for it. She did nursing instead. She's happy where she is."
"Would she have made a good doctor?" Lorne asked
"No," Teresa was suddenly tired, probably due to her wound. "But she should die happy, thinking she got to have it all." Teresa laid down. "I'm tired, but if I go to sleep I won't be as lucid when I wake up." Teresa felt her eyelids growing heavier but suddenly they snapped open. "Rodney is dead." She said "Why'd Cordelia show me that?"
"I don't know." Lorne said "Get some sleep." But she was already asleep.
…
"Best seats in the house," Lilah said as she walked through the battle to sit next to her ex-lover. "Great view of the action." She watched Angel plunge a sword into a puss-filled demon, its acidic puss spraying Gunn and burning his arm. "Classic,"
Wesley looked up at the ceiling. "Huh,"
"What?" Lilah looked up
"I just figured you would have been struck by lightning by now. This is technically a church." Wesley shrugged. "Guess God's busy."
Lilah gave Wesley the mock disapproving look girls give their boyfriends when he's found a quirky witty way to call her pretty. "Lighting comes from the ground."
"I was being poetic." Wesley spoke with as little inflection as Illyria.
"Do you still believe in God?" Lilah asked
"Do you?" Wesley replied
Lilah watched Kate get smacked across the room by a demon with giant fangs. It then turned its attention to Spike who had to dodge its many teeth. "If he exists he's not on my team."
"That's not an answer." Wesley reprimanded
"So, what's your excuse for how they found this place?" Spike was thrown into the adjoining pew and a wayward splinter lodged itself in Lilah's neck. She pulled it out and threw it toward the pulpit. "Let me guess, Anne cracked under pressure."
"She was guilt ridden by Illyria's unjust imprisonment."
"I bet you were all tore up about it to." Lilah said
"Devastated," Wes remained completely deadpan "The love of my life's murderer imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit instead of one of the many she did, I'm going to lose a lot of sleep over it." Spike charged the many toothed demon.
Lilah set her briefcase on her lap and opened it, pulling out a file. "Everything you need to know about saving Fred is in this file." Lilah explained "If any of your friends survive they can take it back to the Hyperion for you. If not I'll send Harmony over when I get back to the office." She set the file down between them and put her briefcase back on the floor.
Wes waved his hand over the file. "This one isn't enchanted."
"I'm a bitch like that." Lilah wore a beautiful smile.
Wesley sighed. Outwardly there was no change. Inside he was doing cartwheels. He tried not to allow himself too much hope. But it was infectious, clawing its way into his heart, his mind, his soul. "One of the things I love about you Lilah." Where did that come from? Wesley regretted the statement the second it was out of his mouth.
Lilah laughed, pretending the words didn't shred her insides and put her heart through a juicer. "Aren't you in an exceptionally good mood?" How could he not see her insides were a bloody mess? How could he fall for her ruse? "I can't believe what I was missing while I was alive." Lilah said, trying to disguise her feelings. "This is great."
"For you, because you have no stake in this fight." Wesley said "It's just entertainment to you. Those are my friends." Angel was held down by a demon's tail as it reared its head to decapitate him. Kate promptly lopped its head off with a sword. The beast collapsed, freeing Angel. He ran back into the fray without hesitation, despite the welt running across his chest.
"Are they really?" Lilah asked "Aren't we both beyond that? Aren't we beyond good and evil, friends and enemies? Haven't we reached the level of enlightenment that supersedes such notions?" Lilah looked at Wesley but his attention was directed at the battle. "Wes,"
"We're dead Lilah, not higher beings."
Lilah rolled her eyes. "Not like your friend Saint Cordy or her demented daughter,"
"That wasn't really-"
Lilah waved her hand dismissively when she cut him off. "Please Wes, the story was boring enough the first time."
"You think your murder was boring?" Wesley was incredulous.
"No, I think the dynamics of your little family are boring. Especially the love triangles, those are terrible. You were in love with Cordelia back in Sunnydale, but came to L.A. and fell in love with Fred, who Gunn was also in love with. Fred chose Gunn over you so you kidnapped Angel's son by one of his dead blond ex-girlfriends. So the son comes back and sleeps with Cordelia who forgot she was in love with Angel who you coincidentally are also in love with."
"I'm not-!" Wesley looked around before realizing how stupid that was considering that everyone was distracted by the epic battle they were taking part in. "I'm not in love with Angel."
"I'm just teasing lover, sheesh. I'm a very tolerant person, but I don't do guys who do other guys, it's a preference thing. Of course I haven't gotten any since the whole," Lilah made a stabbing notion toward her neck. "Every great deal has its drawbacks."
Wesley watched a demon knock down part of the wall. The wall and the one of the crosses attached to it hit Angel. He shouted as he tried to pull himself out from under it. Spike looked over at the sound of his grand-sire's screams and rushed over to help him out from under the wall. The many toothed demon knocked Rodney down. He struggled to rise. The demon sliced across his chest with its many teeth. Rodney howled in pain. The demon slammed its clawed hand into his chest cavity, crushing his heart.
Wesley stared in horror at the scene unfolding before him. While he was sitting here powerless his ally had been slaughtered. He felt as though he were going to be sick, but didn't think the physiology of a ghost would allow it. Angel thrust his sword into Rodney's killer. The beast turned and Angel drew out his sword and decapitated the beast. The last demon, with an exterior much like an exoskeleton, was killed when Gunn swung his ax into the space between its neck armor and chest plate. The four remaining warriors stood bloody and battered, surveying the scene of destruction.
"Rodney!" Gunn ran over to his friend. "Rodney man wake up," Gunn knew his friend was gone but he couldn't face it. "Get up dummy, we won."
"You didn't win." Lilah said "You may have killed many of ours, but we have a near infinite number of soldiers, this one man cost you more than a hundred soldiers cost us. You got maybe ten." Lilah began to count. "Fourteen, wow," She stood up to go. "Anyway, you can pick up your twenty-one innocents at the front of the abbey." Lilah headed for the back.
"Lilah!" Angel shouted
She looked at him, waiting. "I'll find a way to bring you down."
"I'm terrified." She said in the least convincing terrified voice possible. "Bye-bye now."
The four dejected warriors and one ghost trying to tastefully conceal how happy he was headed for the door, Angel flipping through the file Lilah gave them. Wes didn't have to conceal his joy for long. It fled when they left the abbey and saw twenty-one teenagers lying on the street. No longer useful as the sacrifice had been postponed to the full moon again, their throats had been unceremoniously cut and they had been left on the ground for the flies.
