Chapter 6

HYPERION

JUST AFTER DAWN

"How much did you pay for this place?" Xander asked Gunn.

"Some kind of complicated installment plan with a down payment with proceeds from money that was stolen fifty years ago," Gunn said.

"And Angel found this hotel because he…"

"Stayed at it sometime during the 1950s," Gunn told him. "Which part of this story are you having the most trouble with?"

"Just trying to figure out if the banks in Los Angeles operate under the same force field of stupidity of all the one's in Sunnydale," Xander said with a shrug. "Everything else you told me makes perfect sense."

Gunn raised an eyebrow.

"Cordelia has told you how she spent our teenage years? It takes a lot to surprise me these days. The woman I'm going to marry used to be a demon, and that's the healthiest romantic relationship I've ever had, remember?" Xander reminded him.

"Hey, at least you're getting laid regularly," Gunn said. "I know that Angel seems to have taken a vow of celibacy, but I didn't think when I took this job, it would be mandatory for everybody who worked here."

Xander paused. "It's weird. Everything I've been through the last four years; I didn't realize until just now that the thing I've been missing the most is talking with another guy who gets the kind of stuff we have to go through."

"Cor said that you always seemed pretty tight with Buffy and Willow," Gunn told him. "Said sometimes the three of you had a bond she couldn't penetrate."

"I can talk to them fine. And it's not like I don't mind that being around all these smart, impressive women," Xander said. "It's just…" He trailed off. "Sometimes there are things that only guys like us can talk about."

"That's pretty bold talk from a white boy from the suburbs," Gunn joked half-heartedly.

"You know what I mean," Xander said. "There are just some things you can't share with women, no matter how much blood the two of you see spilled."

There was just something so matter-of-fact about that that almost broke Gunn's heart. Because, of course, he did know what the two of them had in common. "The hard part is that you don't even have a grave to go to when they're gone," he said sadly.

Xander nodded. "Every so often, I go up to Jesse's house. Me and Willow were in there almost every day when we were growing up. I haven't been able to knock on their door for nearly five years."

Gunn knew what he meant. "They're still living in Sunnydale?"

"His mother is," Xander said. "His father's gone. They got divorced two years after Buffy…came to Sunnydale." Even now, it was too hard to talk about what had happened to Jesse and the role Xander had played. "He knows he's not coming home. She still has hope. Every so often, I go by it. I know I should tell her that her son is never coming home, that he's been dead and gone for five years. But I always walk away. I've been to too many funerals to know better."

Gunn nodded. "I think that's why I ended up working with Angel," he told Xander. "After Alana died, it was just too painful to be with them. I tried hanging out with them a few times the last year or so, but it hurt too much and they knew it."

"Little advice, from one soldier in the supernatural war to another," Xander told Gunn. "You've got to find some way to deal with it, or it will come back to bite you. After what happened to Jesse, I went full on vampires are evil, no middle ground, no shades of gray, they must be destroyed mentality. I think that's why when I learned Angel was a vampire, I pretty much decided that no matter how times he proved himself to us, I was just going to hate him."

"He did lose his soul in your junior year, and he did kill a lot of innocent people," Gunn reminded him. "It's not like your concerns were entirely unjustified."

"Doesn't mean that I haven't got a clean conscience on that," Xander said.

Gunn looked at him. "Meaning?"

"Maybe someday when we know each other better, and we aren't try to rescue somebody," Xander shut the conversation down. "The point is, I let my bigotry get in the way instead of you know, trying to help Buffy when she needed it."

"And you think it's because of what you did," Gunn knew to talk around it.

"Every time I think about it, I tell myself it wasn't Jesse. It was a demon with his face. I have to tell myself that, because it's easier than saying that I was the last face my best friend saw." Xander swallowed. "I still see it in my nightmares. And I have more than my share of those."

Gunn couldn't argue because he had the exact same kind of nightmares.

"I got the last of the rooms," Tara walked in. "You guys finished?"

It had been clear to everyone that the Hyperion was vulnerable if whoever had taken Dawn decided to go on the offensive – which everybody thought would happen. They'd decided on a mix of technology and magic to shore up the places defenses on every floor. Tara and Willow would do the former; Gunn and Xander the latter.

"Xander and I are working on the last of the cameras," Gun said.

"I finished it while we were talking," Xander said. "It's just…"

"You wanted some male bonding?" Willow said with a small smile.

Xander looked a little ashamed. "I know this isn't the time or place," he said.

"Hey, no judgment," Tara said. "It's not like there've been ever been a lot of good options among the Scoobies."

"Everything Angel's done with this place; he could have at least fixed the elevators." Xander said as they headed out.

"Most of us stay on the ground floor," Gunn said with a shrug. "It's not like this place ever has guests."

LOBBY

"All right. We've got visuals on every level," Fred was looking through the computer system she and Willow had set up. "The spell you and Tara set up; it's basically the magical equivalent of a motion detector?"

"More or less," Willow said. "I think going forward, I'm going to try and balance magic and technology more. It'll probably help us going forward and it might help keep me anchored."

Fred and Gunn weren't entirely sure what Willow was talking about, but it seemed she was being accurate about her decisions on just how much of a risk magic was to Willow's long-term well-being. It was clear that both Tara and Xander sensed this, and based on their expressions, seemed to approve.

"For the next part, I think we will have to rely more on technology," Fred said with a frown.

"We're ready to go on offense?" Xander asked.

"That depends on where we go to attack," Fred said with a frown. She looked at the Scoobies first. "Based on what Wesley has told me, the Council does not believe in high technology."

"I have a feeling they look at the car as a passing fancy," Xander said with some disdain.

"That's probably true," Willow said. "I find it hard to believe that could have lasted for thousands of years and not evolved…"

"Remember the story Giles tells us about how the world began? These aren't the kinds of people who would emphasize the theory part of Darwin," Willow and Tara looked at Xander. "Hey, I may have slept through most of high school, but I remember when our class read Inherit The Wind."

"Let's leave the Watchers out for now," Gunn looked at Willow. "We're going to assume for now that the A-Team will get what they need from our least favorite lawyers."

"You have doubts that they can do it?" Willow asked.

"I'm just sorry that I'm not there to see it," Gunn said with a shrug. "Which leaves the military-industrial complex. I'm guessing the Initiative doesn't have a website."

"Considering that the government essentially invented the Internet, they'd be sure not to have it," Fred said. "You guys have any idea what branch of the military they reported too?"

"Probably none," Xander said. "This is the kind of thing that screams some kind of black-ops unit. "

"Riley did call the whole thing the Bay of Mutated Pigs," Willow agreed.

"I'm guessing he didn't tell you who he reported too," Gunn asked.

"Wouldn't matter. The Chain of Command pretty much got killed when their science project took over the asylum," Xander reminded them. "It's a good thing that Riley, Graham and the rest of the troops were willing to speak up for us. Otherwise, we all might have found our asses disappeared."

Willow and Tara did not disagree. Considering how much they knew about the military's involvement in something this secretive, the Scoobies all knew that they were lucky as hell to still be walking around the Hellmouth. Sometimes they wondered whether they were free because the government knew they were the last, best defense against saving the Earth – or whether the government thought that the Hellmouth might eventually save them the trouble of dispatching assassins. It would have been the kind of thing that might have kept them up at nights if they weren't up most nights saving the world anyway.

"This is the kind of thing they could wave under the wand of national security," Willow said. "So where should I start hacking? NSA? CIA? DOD?"

Fred looked a little shocked at how blasé Willow was about trying to breach a government firewall even in this context. "It's the most advanced encryption system in the world," she said carefully.

"Which Willow has hacked at least half a dozen times during our stint with the Initiative," Xander said proudly.

"Actually, it was eight," Willow said distractedly. "I had some free time after Buffy ran off chasing Faith, and I was bored."

"One of these days Bill Gates is going to hire you and we're all screwed," Gunn said.

"You know, there's a chance he may have tried junior year," Willow said. "I never did find out what that company was that came to Sunnydale Career Week. Anyway, where should we start?"

Fred considered this for a moment. "Well, the Internet was kind of primitive when I ended up on my little vacation in Pylea and I'm not sure if I'm the best judge, but I remember my history. It basically started out as computer banks in the Department of Defense."

"They called it DARPA-NET," Willow said helpfully.

"When I was going to high school, we had a neighbor who was convinced the Internet was basically another instrument for Big Brother," Fred said. "Let's take him at his word, and assume that ever since it evolved, the government's still tracking it. Which means we'd start in the DOD."

Gunn knew that he should be terrified because they were discussed a federal offense but considering some of the things he'd grown up doing to survive – and that was before he knew about vampires – he couldn't bring himself to care. "What would we even look for?"

"How about rather than breaking in, we try a door that might already be open?" Xander said. "You remember some of the codes you used to hack into the Initiative?"

"They shut down last year," Tara said.

"It's a bureaucracy. Why would they build something new when they can use something that was already there?" Xander asked cynically..

Willow chose not to argue. The next two minutes were silent as they all waited to see what she would find.

"I think we're on the right track," she said. "After the Initiative shut down, every month like clockwork, I would do some hacking to make sure they were still non-operational. Every month, radio silence. Well, internet silence, but you get the idea. Today…"

She pointed at the screen. There was clearly a lot of code.

"When was the last time you checked this, honey?" Tara asked

"Three weeks ago. Nothing there."

"Stupid question, but do you have any idea what that says?" Gunn asked.

"Not yet." Willow said. "I have some decryption software that can cut through this, but it's going to take at least half an hour."

"Anything I can do to help?" Fred asked.

"I thought you didn't know the Internet," Xander asked.

"No, but I'm great with math and this is just another version of it," Fred reminded them.

"The more, the merrier," Willow said. She looked up. "Check in with the gang. See if they're closing in on something."

RODEO DRIVE

"I appreciate you're seeing us this late," Anya said.

Lucrezia waved it off. "You do know my line of work doesn't usually cross paths with the ones you're asking about."

Lucille Moran was one of the top talent agents in Hollywood. For the last fifty years, she had always been one of the most successful vengeance demons in the world. The more cynical might very well say that there was little difference between the two and Lucrezia had been cynical long before she ended up in Hollywood.

"You sure you won't get in trouble for this?" Cordelia asked.

Lucrezia smirked. "What's the worst they can do? Exile me to the deepest, darkest dimension in the world? I've been running campaigns for the Golden Globes for the last twenty years. Anywhere else would be the Elysian Fields."

"It's that cutthroat?" Cordelia asked.

"You know how everyone says they'd sell their soul for a contract with a major studio? That's ninety percent of my business." Lucrezia told them. "Honestly, Hollywood has been keeping the demonic markets booming for the last century. Five of the major deadly sins operate almost exclusively out of this market."

"You know, I don't think that would have shocked me before I learned about the world of the supernatural," Cordelia said. "There were just too many people who became famous as a result."

"You always so many great clients over the years," Anya said

"Hey, it's not as glamorous as it sounds," Lucrezia said. "I've been so many places the last millennium: Milan under the Sforza's; France before the Terror; the Black Hole of Calcutta."

Anya nodded fondly. "Those were the days."

"But it wasn't until came to Hollywood that I realize we demons were amateurs when it came to utter and complete depravity." Lucrezia said. "Seriously, you don't want to know which demon Dick Clark makes sacrifices to every month to keep his complexion."

Anya looked at her thoughtfully. "I should really check up on him. He still owes me twenty rubles for leaving me with Rasputin after dinner that night."

Cordelia was listening with genuine regret. "You know, I really do wish we could spend more time here and hear your war stories, but as it is we do need to find Dawn and we are on a clock."

Lucrezia nodded. "I get it. Well, there might be someone who specializes in these things." The thousand year-old vengeance demon actually looked a little queasy.

"Bad guy?" Anya asked.

"Not compared to some of the demons we worked for," Lucrezia said. "But that said, I have spent time in the company of invertebrate slime demons who had a better moral compass and honestly, a less oily handshake than this guy. This is the twisted little alley he'd frequent in."

Cordelia was experiencing a similar uneasiness. "He does business in this field?"

"If it were just business, it would be horrible enough."

Anya clearly got the implication because she neither pressed for details nor came out with a blunt outburst. "I've had to act out a couple of vengeance spells like this over time. They never seemed horrible enough, and I'm an expert in bringing out misery."

"We ran into someone like him last year," Cordelia said in a determined way. "Only he did it to his own daughter."

"I'm not saying this is your guy," Lucrezia said. "But let's say that it's the kind of field he'd know some of the players." She took out his business card. "This is one of the places he hangs his hat. I'd take you there but last time I saw him, I made it very clear that I would hang him by something far less comfortable if I saw him again."

Cordelia took the card. "We beat the traffic we can be there in ten minutes."

"Once we get there can we beat him as well?" Anya asked casually.

"If he puts up resistance," Cordelia had a grim expression. "I hope he does."

HOLLYWOOD AND VINE

"I'm cooperating. Is this strictly necessary?"

"No." Angel didn't even look in the back seat. "It's for your protection."

"How does tying me up and throwing me in the back seat with two Slayers protect me?" Lilah asked.

"You want us to gag her again?" Faith asked casually.

"We could put her in the trunk," Spike said.

"You're enjoying this too much," Lilah said.

"I'm driving a soulless attorney who has been responsible for making my life miserable for the last two years. A person who in no way can be mistaken for being trustworthy and prides herself on not being so." Angel said slowly. "This same individual works for a firm that has played a part in the abduction of a fourteen-year old girl. This same individual will turn on anybody to gain a momentary advantage and no doubt will do so the second it suits her purposes again. I have a huge capacity for torment and suffering; why would I willingly inflict myself to more of it by spending any more time listening to you than I possibly could? Lilah, it is taking every ounce of self-restraint I've developed in the last century to not hit the brakes, open the back seat, and snap your neck."

"So the two slayers in the back seat are here to protect me from you?" Lilah said in a calm tone.

"No, we're here because we care for Angel and we want to spare him the agony." Faith said calmly. "The rest of his fellow passengers, if he were to ask, we'd do it without a second thought."

"Well, maybe a second thought," Buffy said. "It wouldn't be a long second thought, of course."

Faith raised an eyebrow. "Digging this whole bloodthirsty side of you, B," she told them. "Coming back from the dead agrees with you."

"The disadvantages do outweigh the advantages," Spike said. "But there's the occasional fringe benefit. By the way, is this the address we were supposed to go to?"

It was clearly taken all of Lilah Morgan's considerable effort to maintain her reserve in front of so many people causally discussing her murder. "That's where he lives, yes."

Angel hit the brakes with just enough force so that Lilah alone would jerk forward.

"This is where the cleric lives." Spike blinked. "Gotta say that when either me or the ponce was in Sunnydale, we lived in crypts with more ambience."

Angel couldn't exactly argue the point. They were on one of the poshest streets in one of the biggest and richest cities in the country. The cleric who had helped subcontract Wolfram and Hart in the abduction of Dawn Summers lived in what was a clearly shabby looking antique store.

"If this guy was hoping to be inconspicuous, he's really doing a crappy job," Buffy said softly. "The only way this could be less subtle was if there was a sign upfront that said: 'Evil Lair.'

"It's Los Angeles. I guess here slum is basically considered chic by some rich people," Faith said dismissively. "'Oh darling, it has the original mold."

"'With the original fungus and spider webs still growing out of it," Spike in similar mock rich tones. "Honestly, the Magic Shop was wrecked by vampires half the time, and it still looks better than this."

"Anya does believe in making people look comfortable when she's taking their money from them," Buffy agreed. "Now what exactly does this individual want with my sister?"

Lilah Morgan had worked at Wolfram & Hart caging the terms of the most reprehensible types of depravity in as diplomatic terms as possible. She was not entirely sure if that work had prepared for using those kinds of euphemisms to refer to Dawn Summers as anything that would not cause a woman the ability to destroy demons to not take out her considerable outrage on her.

"Krieger is a shaman," she began. "He is capable of detecting when immense amounts of energy – such as the kind that the Order of Dagon was protecting – become available. Last year when certain dimensional fluctuations began and Glorificus appeared in Sunnydale, he realized that the Key had been sent there. He informed certain parties about it; however, Manners said that considering Sunnydale was out of our jurisdiction that we would be best served leaving it be."

"Meaning that you were already busy working on me with my first ex-girlfriend and you didn't want to make things more complicated by the presence of my latest," Angel said in a tone that didn't even bother to withhold his contempt.

Lilah didn't confirm or deny this. "After what happened to Manners and most of the LA Branch" she met Angel's eyes "something you were very aware of the ramifications of, the powers that be were reevaluating everything. After Buffy died last spring, the decision was apparently made to locate and obtain the Key."

"And Krieger knew how to find it and what form it was in," Spike's tone was even colder now. "Little legal query, was this operation okayed before or after Buffy was resurrected?"

"Does it make a difference?" Lilah actually snapped. "It was a stupid idea either way. Even if she was still dead, everyone who knew anything about Sunnydale should have known that it was in no one's best interest to abduct the last remaining link to Buffy Summers from her nearest and dearest. "

Buffy looked at them. "Xander's going to be so thrilled that the Scoobies are in your files."

"Anyone remotely connected with Wolfram and Hart knows about the Hellmouth," Lilah said. "There's a running debate in our office as to whether to root for you or against you."

"And which side are you on?" Faith asked.

"Whatever side keeps me alive the longest," Lilah said.

"Considering where you are right now, you might have been on the wrong side whichever one you chose to be on," Buffy countered.

"I'm smart enough to know that I don't want to be on your wrong side," Lilah agreed. "Which is why I would have argued that this was a horrible idea if anyone had floated this by me. But Mercer apparently decided this was in the firm's best interest, which just shows that he doesn't have much of a shelf life one way or the other."

"So that's why the firm had her taken?" Angel had grown even quieter.

"I don't know all the details. What I do know for sure is that this project is far bigger than just one group." Lilah looked at Buffy. "You're not going to like hearing this next part, so remember I'm just the messenger."

Everybody in this car knew that no one could call Lilah Morgan that, but they let it go for now.

"Given the potential energy the Key represents, there are many interested parties in possessing Dawn. There was the potential for a struggle and bloodbath so epic it could very well have made LA look like Sunnydale after Glory's little reign of terror." Lilah paused. "My firm worked out a compromise. All of these parties would work together towards the common goal of taking Dawn Summers and…"

"…what? Seeing how much they could drain out of her before she withered up and died?"

Lilah didn't answer Spike. They all knew that her silence meant as much.

Faith grabbed Lilah by the scruff of her neck. "You know, when I held Dawn hostage before I went to prison, at least I was doing because Buffy had hurt me."

"You didn't actually do that, Faith," Lilah was trying to remain calm in the face of a killer.

"Lilah, if you really wish the arrangement to end quickly, you would do well to not question my sister's existence," Buffy's voice was even colder than Faith's.

Lilah finally lost her composure. "You think any part of this makes me happy?"

She didn't wait for Angel to utter a blanket denial. "Whatever Dawn Summers was, she is a fourteen year old girl who in the past year has lost her mother, been kidnapped by an insane hell-god, nearly sacrificed, and watched her sister commit suicide to save her life! Everything else aside, Dawn is as close as to an innocent person as I get in my line of work!"

"Angel, roll up the top. The stink of manure is beginning to become overwhelming," Spike said coldly.

"I went through this crisis of confidence before," Angel said. "It's starting to get dull now."

"I'm trying to tell that every part of this from beginning to end was a complete and utter shitshow!" Lilah shouted. "But this is who we are. We're not concerned with the individual only the big picture—"

Faith released Lilah. Then hit her twice in the face. The second time she clearly broke her nose.

"Two things, Lilah," Faith said calmly. "You work for this firm. That means you agree with their mission statement. Second, stop the crocodile tears. We all know the only individual you've ever cared about is you. And right now, she's in the middle of a shitshow of her own."

"Now, this is how things are going to go Lilah," Buffy said very quietly. "You're going to go inside and ask Krieger where my sister is being held. But here are the rules. Angel and Spike are going to be standing outside. You are very familiar with how good their hearing is."

"You think I'm going to do something stupid like yell for help or burst into tears," Lilah said.

"No, but we you know might send some kind of coded message," Angel said. "You do that, we'll forget decorum. One of us will enter and you will never walk into another place under your own power."

"You think I'm afraid of dying?" Lilah tried to maintain defiance.

"Did you know that Holland Manners is still working for Wolfram and Hart?" Angel said casually.

Lilah went still.

"Turns out your law firm really is Hotel California," Spike took this in very well.

"If I were you I would be afraid of dying," Angel said softly. "Because I'm pretty sure that's when you really begin to do the work at your firm."

"Don't worry, Lilah, we have no intention of killing you if you betray us," Buffy said. "That would be too good for you. I've never hurt a human being before." She looked at Lilah. "But there's a first time for everything."

Lilah listened. "How do I explain the face life Faith has just given me?"

"Improvise. It's what you do." Angel now seemed bored.

Faith and Buffy untied Lilah. "You're on the clock, by the way," Buffy said. "From the moment you walk in, you have exactly two minutes to get the information from Krieger and get back out. One second over that, and we all come in."

"So by all means, take your time," Spike said. "I could use the exercise."

Lilah looked around, clearly saw nothing resembling help, and got out of the car. "In a weird way, I'm glad this happened," she told them. "You finally showed your true colors."

She walked in the door.

"How do you think she's going to fuck us over once she's inside?" Spike asked the moment she was indoors.

"It'll be something creative, no question," Angel looked at Faith. "Get in the front seat."

Faith nodded. "You want her to drive?" Buffy asked.

"Buffy, we may need a quick exit." Angel said. "You behind the wheel, we'll be driving on the sidewalk in five seconds."

Buffy looked a little hurt. "I've gotten better since then."

"Dawn told me your last driving instructor took an early retirement after your last lesson," Spike said.

"Miss Morgan, I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow," Krieger said.

"There has been a change in the timetable," Lilah said calmly.

Krieger remained stone-faced. "The instruments necessary for the task at hand are delicate and hard to find. Halston won't be able to get here for another day."

"How quickly can you reach him?"

Krieger looked at her. "What happened to your nose?"

Lilah looked at him. "I expressed my objections to the project. The partners told me to keep my opinions to myself."

Krieger hesitated for a long moment. "I'll give you his number."

Lilah took out a card. "How'd your meeting with Reynolds go?" she asked casually.

Spike shifted to game face. "I think she's not following the script."

"Give her a moment," Angel said.

Krieger shrugged but didn't look up from his writing. "Fine. The contract was drawn up last week."

Lilah nodded. "Well, that's some good news."

Krieger handed her the card. "Halston doesn't like interference with her rituals. Don't try to handle her"

"We all have to adapt."

Lilah walked out the door. "What kind of demon is Halston?"

"She's not a demon. She's a geophysicist," Lilah said as she gave Angel the card. "Something of a prodigy. Apparently she wrote her senior thesis on sources of energy that could potentially alter the course of science."

"You sought her out for this work?" Buffy asked.

Lilah shook her head. "She found us. We still don't know how."

Angel took the card. "Who's Reynolds?"

Lilah looked at him. "He handles private insurance for all of our clients."

Angel was puzzled by this. Spike wasn't. However, he was further away from Lilah. As a result by the time he had flung himself at her, she had already thrown the paperweight she had taken with her through the security window.

The alarm was already sounding by the time Spike had hauled her to her feet.

"You bitch," he snarled as he hauled her to her feet.

The evil grin that Angel was familiar with was on Lilah's face. "If the security system we installed works according to schedule, you have maybe three minutes to get out of here before the LAPD shows up. Assuming they haven't already been called."

"Spike," Buffy warned.

There were already people on the street and more were gathering quickly.

"These are my terms. You let me go right now, and when they show up, I'll convince them that this was a misunderstanding." Lilah said serenely.

"And if we take you with us?" Spike said.

"You can hope that when the cops get here, they'll be as sloppy as they are in your hometown," Lilah said. "That said, do you really want to take that risk that a random bystander doesn't notice that among the four passengers in your car, one of them happened to be a convicted murderer who escaped from prison yesterday morning?"

Buffy walked up to her. "How do I know you won't rat us out to them anyway?"

"Because it's in the firms best interest not to have the cops looking closely into this," Lilah said.

"The firm will know we're on to Halston," Angel said.

"They'll know that anyway," Lilah said. She looked at her watch. "Ninety seconds."

Angel and Spike leapt into the car. Buffy took a moment longer. "I agree with Cordelia. You are a vicious bitch," she said before she got inside.

"Wrong," Lilah said as they drove off. "I'm a survivor."

"You think she'll tell the cops that she saw me?" Faith asked.

"You're not going to ditch us now, are you?" Buffy asked.

"Dawn's our first priority," Faith said simply. "Anything that gets in the way of that is a distraction you don't need."

"Don't go all Sydney Carton on us now." Angel nodded at this but Faith and Buffy looked blank at Spike's remark. "Sorry, forgot most American high schools don't have Charles Dickens on their required reading list."

"Spike's telling you not to throw yourself on a grenade for us," Angel said. "And he's right. This is an all hands on deck scenario. Cops come after us, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Mind giving me the number than Benedictine Arnold gave you?" Buffy asked. "I'm going to call tech support, see if they can find a location."

Angel had no sooner handed Buffy the number when his cell phone rang. He took it out. "I really wish I'd paid more attention on the crash course for these things," he said.

"Here," Spike said, taking it. "You drive; I'll hope it's some telemarketer I can vent on."

It wasn't. "Please tell me Angel's all right."

"We're all intact," Spike said. "Considering that we've suffering our first double cross of the day, that's a relative term."

"I could have told you it was only a matter of time," Cordelia said knowingly.

"Based on what you told us, I'm kind of shocked she held out two hours before she finally betrayed us," Buffy said into the phone.

"Did she give you anything worth a damn?" Cordelia clearly didn't believe she had.

"She gave us a lead. If it's actually valid is another question," Buffy said. "How about you and Anya? You get anywhere?"

"That's actually why I called." Cordelia said. "There's a good chance we have eyes on the man who knows where Dawn is."

Buffy tried not to swallow. "How sure are you of this?"

WILSHIRE BLVD

"Anya and I are standing outside a talent agency which seems to be a cover for the worst kind of casting couches imaginable," Cordelia said. "And honestly, what I'm looking at really seems to be the auditioning place for a practicing serial killer than any studio lot."

"You haven't answered my question," Buffy said.

"Because unless the monks did a really weird job with your head last year," Cordelia said looking at a wall of photos. "I'm pretty sure Dawn never auditioned for the most recent Disney movie."

Buffy took this in. "Where's the address?"

Cordelia gave it to her.

"It's thirty minutes away. I'll be there in ten."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Xander Harris has taken a fair amount of shellacking from Buffy fans in recent years. I actually think part of his problem was that he never did really have any guy friends to talk to about some of the darkest things in his life. I also think how Jesse died in the Pilot had to have a large effect on how he saw the world going forward, and I think it might give an explanation for a lot of his attitude going forward, particularly towards Angel.

Fred and Willow collaborating. The internet doesn't stand a chance.

Okay, now this is me really taking some swipes at Hollywood. Especially given what we've recently learned about the Hollywood Foreign Press, I think demons being part of the membership would be a little too accurate. (I was tempted to make some jokes about Oscar winners of that era being Faustian deals but that would be too much inside baseball for fanfic.)

And yeah, the depravity in Hollywood is pretty much a description of the world prior to MeToo (I was really tempted to make some jokes about Miramax but that was too close to home for this fic.) The rest of it is already pretty dark.

Angel is being far less diplomatic with Lilah than he was in the series and honestly, I think he treated her far too nicely in the series. That's why I dropped the reference to Holland Manners, as a reminder of Lilah's inevitable fate. (Something I'm pretty sure she didn't know going in.)

I'm relatively sure that Wolfram and Hart did not want to involve themselves with the Slayer if it could help it; certainly Manners wouldn't. There was no one quite at his level for the rest of the show's run (until Season 5) and I think they might very clearly blunder like this. Lilah would have been smart enough not to get Angel's significant other involved in this.

I think Lilah does have something resembling a heart. It's a tiny sliver of coal, but its there. And I don't think she would have wanted a fourteen year old child abducted. That said, no one in the car needs to have any sympathy with her.

Remember William was educated and like all 19TH century Englishman, he has read his Dickens. The reference is from Tale of Two Cities, which Angel would also have gotten.

Another in-joke. Michelle Trachtenberg made more than her share of Disney films growing up. And I couldn't resist closing with a Tarantino reference either.

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