A/N : Hey, all! Slight change of plans - this here chapter (edited and beta-ed by the Great One himself, Starway Man) is going to be split into 2 parts-with the second part coming around 7 p.m. on Friday night.
I would have uploaded the whole thing, but unless y'all have the patience to read 60-70 pages of a chapter in one sitting, I thought this might be the best option. Some of you might recognize the below scenario in this chapter from "Sacrifice", Episode 20 of Angel: Season 4. You'll see why later…
Special thanks to Judy, Angellufy, azerjaban, ashes at midnight, megagalvatron12, David Fishwick, Prodigious Singleton and Wolfram-and-Hart Sauron for their kind reviews. I know a lot of you out there, like me, probably do the reading thing and tag it on the alert or favourites list, sometimes. But if you drop me a line view review or IM, I'd definitely appreciate the feedback on this.
Anywho, It's time. It's time…it's time FOOOOOORRR-
Bring Me To Life- A Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel Crossover Event
Part 20 - Wake Me Up Inside, Part 1
Catholic monastery, shortly after the massacre - Gilroy, CA
One Night Later
Hmm, now that's odd, the man in the blood-red burgundy shirt, brown pants and long brown coat standing outside the monastery thought as the skies above him began to darken, and the rain began to pour down. I thought rain wasn't due to be on the menu for tonight.
Regardless, a little change in weather was not something that bothered Ethan Rayne very much. He had grown up in London - as such, one had to become accustomed to a bit of rain now and then.
Besides, if playing his part in this little game would grant him the kind of power that he had sought all his life, then the British man could easily withstand the presence of a little water pelting him here and there.
It had been a long road leading Ethan here, ever since that fiasco with Rupert Giles three years ago. I mean, all that was just a bit of a minor prank - no need for anyone's nose to get all bent out of shape over it. So what if Ripper got turned into a Fyarl demon for a little while? It's not like he didn't do worse, back in the good old days...
Unfortunately, the target of his 'prank' hadn't seen it that way, and neither had his Slayer nor Riley Finn, that uptight soldier boy she'd apparently been shagging. Getting arrested and sent to that place in Nevada hadn't been fun; neither was the re-education program he'd been forced to undergo during his imprisonment. Ethan had been at his wit's end, and had prayed to Janus for help...
Unfortunately, the Roman god of chaos wasn't interested. Neither had the other Chaos gods he had worshipped. However, Ethan's prayers had been heard by someone else. Something else, rather.
The First Evil.
Growing annoyed as the downpour grew stronger, Ethan opened up his umbrella; not so much out of concern for himself, but more to keep the information sealed in the manila envelope tucked under his left arm safe. Information was power, after all, and there was no need for poor presentation, even in the presence of lowly minions.
Not that Rayne would ever dare call the man he was waiting for anything like that directly to his face, of course. Ethan knew full well what that particular degenerate was capable of - knew well his volatile temper, and had seen the photographs of some of his…work. And while the twisted, anarchy-loving English warlock was many things, suicidal and foolish were not on that list.
Getting restless after waiting for what he considered long enough, Ethan strode impatiently towards the door of the religious haven. Just as he was about to force his way in, the large cedar door swung open…
…revealing an onyx-eyed Caleb, both hands coated in blood, and a bone-chilling, satisfied smile on his face.
Finding Caleb's appearance unsettling, even by his twisted standards, Ethan took a moment before coolly addressing the false preacher. "Well. I take it things went all right, then?"
"Depends on who you talk to - me or them dead Friar Tucks in 'ere," Caleb smirked with satisfaction. "Now, what in the hell do you want, Rayne?"
"To give you some information, old chap. Information that could be of interest to you," Ethan replied icily, gesturing to the envelope under his arm. "That is, if I can get out of this bloody rain before the ink smudges?"
Regarding the other man with more than a hint of disdain - there was something about foreigners, or maybe just this particular foreigner, that he simply hated - Caleb waited a long moment before gesturing for the Englishman to enter the monastery. "Mi casa es su casa. Or something like that."
Warily, Ethan crossed the threshold, his eyebrows raised as he took in the carnage within the desecrated monastery's walls. Bodies of dead monks were strewn in several places across the halls, and the stench of blood and gore was everywhere.
The former Chaos worshipper had to give credit where it was due; he might be a psychotic, rambling, redneck pillock, but this servant of the First Evil certainly knew how to carry out his work.
"I cleaned up real good around here, didn't I?" Caleb grinned, pleased with himself as he regarded the massacre.
"In a matter of speaking, yes," Ethan shook his head, casually stepping over the headless body of a monk as he stepped further into the monastery. "So, I take it you didn't find what you were looking for?"
"Would have had this little party if I did, anyway - but, no, I didn't," Caleb replied tersely, his temporary good mood immediately vanishing as he turned his attention to a dying monk, moaning in agony, his arms and legs bent at unnatural angles.
He turned to Ethan for a moment, almost apologetically. "Hang on a sec, Brit Boy -"
And then, in one savage motion, Caleb snapped the neck of the holy man, his body collapsing in a dead heap on the floor.
Casually, the ex-priest turned back to his 'guest,' leaning against the wall. "Now, you were saying somethin'?"
Ethan had to fight the surprise and shock that came as a consequence of the crazed Southerner's actions. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Yes. Well…as you now know, the weapon isn't here. But -"
The middle-aged Englishman flinched as he saw the ire in the younger man's eyes begin to fire up, the maniacal ex-preacher taking several menacing steps forward. "Rayne, I swear by all that is foul and unholy, that if you sent me here on a wild goose chase just for a laugh at my expense -"
"Oh, it was nothing of the sort, mate, I can assure you," Ethan said quickly, giving Caleb a smile that was way too phony to be genuine and far too shaky to be arrogant.
"I ain't your 'mate', limey," Caleb said menacingly. "And you'd do well to remember just who you're dealing with, lest I get…ornery."
Ethan sighed, feigning boredom to cover his growing dread of this deranged maniac. In Ethan's mind the sooner he could give Caleb the new intel and get as far out of his way as possible, the better. "Of course. Well, as I was saying, it turns out I'd been supplied with…outdated information."
At this point, he handed the envelope to Caleb, who rudely snatched the parcel from Ethan's hand before impatiently tearing the flap open to pour over the pages of pictures and documents.
After a minute of studying the pages, Caleb bitterly laughed to himself as he realized that the joke truly was on him. "You gotta be kidding me. After all this time, driving to just about every damn church and monastery in California…"
"…it was right under our noses, all along? Yes, I'm afraid so," Ethan smirked. "Apparently, the Shadow Valley Vineyard was built atop the remains of an old Sunnydale church, one of several swallowed up during the 1932 earthquake. The records had been lost for decades. Still, you know what they say - it's not about the destination, it's all about the journey."
Upon hearing that, Caleb immediately lunged at the Britain-born mage, clutching his throat as he held him high in the air, delighting in Ethan's choking sounds and bulging eyes.
"Did you just make fun of me, fella?" Caleb growled.
"Wouldn't…dream…of it," Ethan gurgled out. "I was…merely…making…mmgh…an observation…"
After several moments, Caleb let go of the British man, leaving him gasping and clutching his throat after Ethan dropped back down to the ground.
"There are several…workers, trying to - ahem! - excavate the weapon at the moment," Ethan rasped out, rubbing his tender windpipe. He noticed his hand stained with the blood of the monks afterwards, but ignored it as he added, "It's something of a chore, given all the layers of rock it's embedded in, but the job will be done. Plus, I've been instructed by you-know-who to inform you that your next task is to proceed to the vineyard, oversee the excavation of the weapon and await further orders. Retrieving that weapon is…of the gravest importance, apparently."
Caleb regarded his bloody right hand with interest, as he mulled over his new marching orders from the First. He didn't like getting those orders via a spineless little maggot like Rayne - he wasn't a true believer, like Caleb was. The Brit was just another power-hungry sinner looking to get in bed with the True Power for his own ends.
Just like that crazed vampire whore, or that goofy skinless kid and his magic-wielding whiny bitch.
Caleb wasn't here because he had to be...he was here because there was nowhere else on Earth he wanted to be. Nowhere except here, now, ready to lay the old order to rest and usher in a new kingdom…a kingdom where blood flowed as freely as wine.
The Southern-born fanatic recalled a quote from St. Augustine of Hippo that he'd learned as a boy, one that had always stuck with him, regardless of which road he walked in life: "He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms that it is far off, nor is it he who says it is near, but rather he who, whether it be far off or near, awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love."
And Caleb certainly had faith, all right. Oh, did he ever, as all his mind was focused on that twisted 'faith' that the True Power he served would offer him the deliverance that he had sought from this prison of a world for so long.
"Is there anything else?" Caleb asked, now wanting to be rid of the smarmy Englishman so that he could collect his thoughts before heading for the Hellmouth.
"Actually, yes," Ethan said, knowingly. "There's a photograph at the bottom of the picture collection that our employer thought you might find…attention-grabbing."
His curiosity piqued - part of him hoping it would be the picture of this Slayer he had heard so much about - Caleb sifted through the photographs until he found the picture in question…
…a still photograph of Lindsey McDonald. Loading a duffel bag into his old navy-blue 1956 Chevy pickup truck.
For a moment, Ethan could see Caleb's eyes widen, and the right corner of his mouth twitch in amusement, his normally blue eyes clouded with some unreadable thought, perhaps a flicker of a memory.
"Rayne, when was this here picture taken?" Caleb asked, not taking his eyes off the picture.
"Approximately twenty-one hours ago, by my count. In a town called Clarity, out in the MidWest," Ethan replied casually. "I take it the place and/or the person in the picture has some special…significance to you?"
Caleb regarded the picture with great interest. "That was another lifetime ago, Teatime Boy," he replied absently. "Might as well have been a whole 'nother person."
"Well, I suspect your lifetimes are about to meet head-on, and sooner than you think," Ethan said cautiously. "That particular person was last seen in the company of a balance demon, a messenger for those ever-annoying Powers That Be, and a werewolf that used to be a part of the Slayer's little Sunday knitting club. Whoever that man is, apparently he's aligned himself with the other two, and for my money they're all probably on their way to Sunnydale right now."
As he took a harder look at the younger man, Ethan tried to gauge what was going on in the warped mind of this crazed faux-cleric. "I trust that's not going to pose a problem?"
After several moments, Caleb smirked, folding up the picture and tucking it into his pocket. Walking towards Ethan, the man thoroughly tainted by the First Evil smiled broadly as he gave the Englishman a hearty whack on his left shoulder…one that left Ethan clutching his shoulder tenderly.
"Naw, no problem at all. Matter of fact, shoot, ya just made mah day, you little English muffin, you! After all this time out on the road, all alone, what else does a man need to unwind a little…"
Caleb smiled sinisterly, staring out the door and off into the distance of the rainy night.
"…than to get a mite closer to family?"
LA - The Sewers
Now
Angel stared in shock at the woman in front of him. "Kate," he said, sounding even more breathless than usual.
Kate offered him a smirk, amused at Angel's astonishment. "You were expecting someone else, hero?"
From the corner, in Spike's grip, Golden watched the interaction between the ex-cop and the immortal detective with great suspicion. "Kate, you know this fool?"
"We'll ask the questions 'ere, Sonny Jim," Spike retorted gruffly as he held the teen firmly against the wall.
With a roll of her eyes, Kate holstered her firearm. "You wanna tell your boy to back off, so I can do the same?"
For a moment, Angel was about to call out to Connor, until he realized that Kate was referring to Spike - which immediately made him grimace. "He's not my bo - no, never mind. Spike! Drop him. Everyone else, back off."
While it annoyed him no end to appear as if he took orders from Captain Cranium without question, Spike opted for the safer solution for Dawn's sake as he shoved the glowering Golden away, the rest of the combatants standing down as well.
"'Spike'?" Golden asked, eyeing the platinum-blonde man skeptically.
"Yeah, that's me name. What of it, punk?" Spike daringly replied.
Golden bristled, as he moved threateningly towards Spike. "What'd you call me?"
"Golden. Stand down," Kate sternly warned him, even though she never took her eyes off Angel. "No need to start a bloodbath - yet."
With a sigh, Faith helped the girl called Holly to her feet. She'd gone through three major fights within the last hour, and while she loved a good throwdown as much as the next Slayer, even her strength had its limits.
The two groups shuffled into their respective neutral corners, each member guardedly eying the other side, as Angel and Kate continued to converse.
"So. Kind of a motley crew you've got going here," Angel said, regarding the street kids flanking Kate.
The ex-policewoman scoffed. "You guys taken a look in the mirror lately?" Kate paused, reconsidering that statement. "All right, I guess personally you don't bother. But you can't be much better off than us, with a couple of kids…" she looked at Connor and Dawn. "…a guy with radioactive hair…" She looked at Spike. "And…hey, wait a minute…"
Kate gave Faith the evil eye, finally recognizing her. "Didn't I lock you up for murder-two?"
Faith smirked sardonically at the ex-cop. "Yup. But I decided to bust out. Y'know, things to do, worlds to save, and so on. Does that count as good behaviour?"
Off Kate's questioning, very cop-like stare, Angel pseudo-sighed. "Long story, possible end of the world…be a lot easier if you could just buy the DVD."
Connor, who had positioned himself closer to Dawn (who didn't mind his proximity in the slightest) was still on guard. Without thinking of the implications he asked, "Dad, you know these people?"
Again, Kate turned very curious eyes to her old associate and one-time crush, her long eyelashes blinking in confusion. "Did that kid just call you 'dad?'"
With a groan, Angel rubbed his right temple. This was getting ever more complicated by the second. "Again…long story, DVD."
To his surprise, Kate gave the Champion an amused smirk. "Well, obviously someone's been a busy little beaver in the last two years."
As he regarded her outfit - a durable, yet very form-fitting navy blue LAPD S.W.A.T. Team uniform with chest-plated armor, black combat boots, a firearm to her right hip, a small crossbow on her left hip and what appeared to be the handle of a small battle-ax behind her - Angel raised an eyebrow.
"I could easily say the same for you," Angel pointed out. And to think, I thought you left town...
Kate shrugged. "Yeah, well, not all of us have superpowers to fall back on when the sun decides to do a disappearing act. But enough of the small talk - what the hell are you and your posse doing down here?"
"Like I said, lady, we'll ask the questions," Spike gruffly cut in, earning him a hard glare from Kate.
Suddenly, a loud, eerie clattering sound echoed in the tunnels, drawing everyone's attention.
Dawn nervously looked at Angel. "O-okay, while we're on the subject of questions - what the hell was that?"
The young red-headed boy answered with a grim, somewhat frightened reply, "It's back!"
As Angel turned to Kate for answers, the ex-cop shook her head. "No time to explain. If you want to live, all of you, get your asses in gear, and follow me!" Kate then took off with her entourage immediately following her.
Turning back to the others, Angel nodded his head in Kate's direction, motioning for Connor, Dawn, Faith and Spike to follow her; both groups heading down through the dark tunnels. Thus it wasn't all that long until they reached their destination, a grated-off and fenced-off alcove in the heart of the sewers.
Spike took a long look at the bleak surroundings. It was more like a hunted animal's nest than anything else; nothing but cement walls, liquid stains in several corners, that ever-so-aromatic sewer smell…it was all starting to make that Yorkshire mineshaft he and the other Whirlwind members had been stuck in a century ago look like the Trump Plaza Hotel.
"Well. Gotta say…really like what you've done with the place," Spike said in his typical sarcastic way.
"Yeah, um, real…comfy," Dawn offered politely, although unconvincingly.
Meanwhile, Angel and Kate sealed off the grates at the entrance, the meticulous police detective inspecting the opening carefully and checking it for any weaknesses.
"So, you're sure it's secure?" Angel questioned, to which Kate nodded.
"It's held so far," she replied, proudly adding, "Built the defenses from scratch myself."
The words offered Angel, who muttered an unconvinced 'uh-huh,' little comfort as he scanned their makeshift hideout. The place might be good as a temporary pit stop; but to be frank, it simply wasn't up to the task of holding out over the long term - especially not against 'it,' whatever 'it' was.
Which meant that, sooner or later, they were going to have to find that thing before it found them.
"Not to be a worry-wart here, but…held against what, exactly?" Faith wondered aloud. She hated not knowing anything about whatever beastie she would face. At least with vampires, it was simple - stake to the heart, cut off their head, or set 'em on fire if there was no sun present. Other demons had so many variables. So the sooner she knew what was hunting them, the sooner, Faith hoped, she could figure out how to kill it.
"Don't know. Never gotten close enough for a good look. But it's not like anything I've ever seen," Golden explained.
Angel turned his eyes to Kate, determined to get some answers. "Kate, uh, look. I'm kind of in the middle of something pretty big right now. As in end-of-the-world, big. I promise - if we can help you, we will. But you need to tell me everything. Starting with how the hell you ended up here."
Kate bristled at Angel's take-charge attitude. "You're playing twenty questions with me, after you and yours wandered onto my turf?"
"Kate," Angel said a little more sternly, before softly imploring her, "Please."
After a beat, Kate sighed somewhat guilty. While she and this undead private detective had had their differences over the years, she had eventually come to understand that no matter what, all Angel wanted to do was help. So, she started at the beginning.
"I did a lot of soul-searching after you saved my life, that night after I got kicked out of the force," Kate said, recalling those very difficult beginnings. "Between the money from the insurance policy my dad had left to me in his will, and my LAPD severance package, I was pretty well off financially. I thought about leaving LA for good, starting again somewhere new. Somewhere less crazy. Maybe New Mexico, or some place like that. Nevada. Maybe even Ohio.
"But, in the end…I couldn't do it. I just couldn't leave town. Felt like after meeting you, I'd started something I had to finish. So I stayed, opened up a small antiquities business on the corner of 35th and Hixon Avenue. Developed some connections, learned more about the darker side of life…the side where things go bump in the night. Kicked up my fight training; stocked up on a lot of weapons, too, and learned how to use 'em. Still wasn't sure what I was planning on doing with my life, though."
Kate then motioned to her young companions. "One night when I was out for a walk on Terrace Avenue, I ran into Golden and these other kids here; they were knee-deep in a vampire attack. Golden's older brother, Tommy, he was running a demon-hunting crew; kinda like your friend Gunn. Well, I decided to join in the fight, dusted all the vamps…and it became the start of a beautiful friendship. I offered them a place to stay, food and water, and all they had to do was keep fighting the good fight with me every night. Things were actually going pretty well..."
Kate broke off, bitterness suddenly etched all over her face. "And then, we lost the sun. That's when everything went to hell."
Angel nodded, recalling the fallout of the Permanent Midnight. "I know the feeling," he said quietly.
"We stayed topside as long as we could, tried to hold onto our turf," Golden broke in, equally bitter as he recalled the endless fighting that had ensued during the Permanent Midnight. "But there were just too many of 'em. We go out every day and check the traps, but I don't think we've caught anything today…not countin' y'all, of course."
Bored with all the small talk, Connor walked over to one of the grates. Angel wasn't the only one worried about security in a dump like this. If there was one lesson he had learned well from Holtz, it was this - always be mindful of your surroundings.
Concerned as she watched her boyfriend's actions, Dawn broke off from the conversation, walking over to the handsome, yet broody teenage boy.
"Connor?" she asked cautiously. "You okay?"
Taking notice of her presence, Connor gave Dawn a brief smile before resuming checking the sturdiness of the grates. "Fine. I'm just…I've got a bad feeling about this."
Dawn sighed, thinking she knew what he meant. "Yeah, well, there's strength in numbers. Whatever this new 'creature feature' is, we can handle it. You'll see."
"Not that," Connor shook his head. "Or at least, it's not just that. It's…about Cordy."
Dawn raised her eyebrows, a hint of insecurity creeping into her voice. "Oh."
Catching the slight note of jealousy in his new girlfriend's voice, Connor quickly clarified his statement. "Uh, no! Not that! It's just…the baby. I've got a bad feeling that whatever's coming…it's going to be really bad. And…" he looked down, feeling guilty. "And basically, it's all my fault. That thing exists in this world because of me. Because I...I gave in to the Beastmaster's tricks during a moment of weakness, and now, it's going to kill Cordelia and everyone else. And it's all because of me."
Dawn's eyes softened as she saw the forlorn look in Connor's eyes. She reached out and gently took hold of one of his hands, busily inspecting a grate.
"Hey. Look at me."
As his eyes met hers, Dawn gave Connor a soft smile. "That's not gonna happen, because we're gonna stop it. Whatever the 'baby' is, it can't beat all of us. Especially if you're on our side. We're going to beat this thing, Connor. I know it looks bad right now, but it'll get better. I promise you, it will."
Dawn's heart melted at the small half-smile he gave her, as his fingers intertwined with hers. Connor was quickly oblivious to everything else, staring into the bottomless blue eyes of the girl standing opposite him.
That was why neither of the two lovebirds noticed the small red-haired boy approach them, until his small, raspy voice startled them both.
"You guys are together. I can tell…" the smiling boy's eyes flitted to Dawn, who stared curiously at the child clutching his spear close to him like a favorite toy.
After giving her a shy smile, the boy turned back to Connor, eying the Destroyer with undisguised fascination. As if Connor was ten feet tall or something. "I saw how you fight. You're strong. I'm Matthew."
"Dawn."
"Connor." After giving the boy a brief nod, the son of two vampires resumed checking for any weaknesses in the bolt-hole's defenses.
"Nice to meet you," Dawn smiled politely at the little boy, who she found really cute, in a lost innocence, post-apocalyptic kind of way.
"You guys really know how to live," she overheard Faith reply to Golden, who replied, "It's alright."
"It's okay. All the other ways in are grated off. We checked," Matthew assured Connor, but the young warrior didn't make eye contact.
"I prefer checking things out personally. Helps keep me alive," Connor replied curtly as he continued to look around, not noticing the hurt look on the boy's face.
Dawn was surprised at Connor's suddenly cold behavior, especially towards this adorable little boy. Is he really this worried that this is all his fault? she wondered. Is that why he's acting like this?
"Kinda young, isn't he?" Faith asked quietly as her observant eyes fell upon Matthew.
Dawn also found herself watching the young boy curiously, as he trailed behind Connor. Like a young child hanging around an older brother. "Younger than me, even," she noted sadly.
Unfortunately, Dawn could relate to Matthew right now. Growing up in the same house as a Vampire Slayer, she, too, had to learn to grow up quickly, had to learn that the things that went bump in the night were more likely to tear out your heart than just be figments of your imagination.
"We found him in a pile-up on La Brea," Golden informed them, briefly glancing over at Matthew.
Kate, responding to another inquisitive glance from Angel, further elaborated. "A few nights after the sun went out, some vamps laid tire traps on the road, decided to have themselves a little car-wreck picnic."
Spike sagely nodded. "Oh, yeah, that old gag. Used to call it the 'Yogi Bear', if I recall right. That's more for the newbie vamps, though, the ones that still haven't learned how to hunt. Kinda low rent for my tas - OW!" Spike yelped as Faith elbowed him sharply, her burning brown eyes urging him to keep quiet as Kate eyed the British vamp suspiciously before continuing her tale.
"The poor kid watched them murder his parents. They were coming after him too, when we showed up." Kate's eyes hardened, as she recalled how her own father had met his death at the hands of vampires three years ago. "Hadn't had that much pleasure dusting vampires in a while. Even set a few of them on fire."
Surprised and saddened, Dawn bit her lip, her heart breaking for the boy. That poor kid. He's had to deal with so much.
She wasn't the only one who heard, Connor's supernaturally acute hearing picking up every word said. Connor suddenly felt guilty, as he thought about how he'd just brushed off the boy's interest in him. Connor had been able to kill almost any demon when he was that age in Quor-toth - he'd had to, if he and Holtz were to survive, and eat. But he'd had his vampire-inherited speed and strength to fall back on.
All Matthew had to fight with was his spear…and he didn't even have that, when those undead bastards had killed his parents.
Taking a look at his soiled hands, dark with soot from checking the grates, Connor saw an opening to make amends with the boy.
"Hey, uh, Matthew, right?" Connor said absently, turning to the redheaded male with a small smile. "You got any water in this place?"
The boy's expression brightened. "Yep! We tapped a clean water pipe right over here," he replied, eagerly heading to the other side of the makeshift lair.
As Connor washed the hands with the clean water streaming from the pipe, he never noticed Dawn giving him a warm smile, silently proud of him for making such a gesture to Matthew.
"Anyway, I knew about this place. I used to crash here some nights when the missions were full," Holly shrugged, guardedly sharing a small piece of her back story.
"So we hit a supermarket that hadn't burnt down yet, got some supplies and went underground," Golden explained. "Been down here ever since. About two weeks and change."
Taking a look at the dingy den, Faith wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Uh, no offense, but two weeks down here, and I'd be ready to head straight back to the slammer."
"Yeah, well, it might not be deluxe accommodations, but we were holdin' our own," Golden countered. "Occasional baddie lookin' for a place to sleep, nothin' we couldn't handle. Till that…thing…out there moved into our territory. It's been pickin' us off ever since."
Both Golden and Holly suddenly grew solemn, sad.
"It got Tommy almost a week ago. He was out resetting the traps," Holly said quietly and Dawn gave the girl a sympathetic glance.
"Gotta give you lot your due, stayin' down 'ere this long," Spike said pensively. Even his old crypt was like a posh hotel suite, compared to this place.
"Worse up there, ain't it? The world is ending. What does it matter where we go?" Holly replied, morosely.
"Besides, whatever that evil son-of-a-bitch is, it killed our people. Killed my brother. So we're gonna kill him right back," Golden declared, a determined look in his eyes.
Upon hearing that, Angel turned to the former Detective Lockley. "Kate. A word?"
Nodding, Kate followed Angel to the far end of the makeshift stronghold as they began talking in hushed whispers.
"You can't last much longer down here," Angel told her quietly. "Only a pipe for water, and six people to feed? You and the others will be dead in days; if not by starvation, then by that thing out there."
"Well, what do you expect me to do, Angel?" Kate replied defensively. "Try to make peace with…whatever the hell that thing is? Not all of us have the luxury of being immortal and nearly invincible. We're all alone down here. What, are you expecting me to grab a magic ladder, reach into the sky and somehow turn the sun back on? All I can offer these kids now is a little bit of comfort, for however much longer we've got."
"You mean…you don't know?" Angel suddenly got a look of astonishment on his face.
"Know what?"
"Kate…the sun's been back for days now," Angel clarified, drawing a wide-eyed look of shock from the former police detective. "Well…it's not shining right at the moment, I mean it's just past midnight, but whatever, you get what I'm saying."
"Wha…How-?" Kate demanded, still looking utterly shocked.
"Uh, I killed the thing that had blocked out the sun. Well, Angelus did anyway," Angel uncomfortably admitted. "Whatever, the point is, it's back. So you don't need to stay down here anymore."
Kate mulled over the sudden good news, before she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Even with the lights back on, we can't reach the nearest manhole to the surface any longer. Once we get any further than a hundred feet of here, that's when that thing strikes. We used to be a unit of twenty fighters; but we lost three of our people during the blackout and twelve others, including Tommy, to that creature over the last eight days. We're running out of options and running out of time."
"Then let's rush it. Together, all of us," Angel said, a plan formulating in his mind. "We strike fast and hard, and we don't let it get away."
"Are you crazy?" Kate hissed, regarding the vampire as if he'd just declared he was joining Wolfram & Hart. "That thing has already taken out three-quarters of my crew, and we haven't been able to so much as get a good look at it! What makes you think you can do better?"
"The fact that you have four of us here now with some…otherworldly abilities, and at least one of us - namely me - does this sort of thing professionally," Angel replied, meeting the skeptical blue-eyed gaze of the former cop. "Kate…this might be your only shot at survival. So, if not for yourself, do it for the people who are counting on you to keep them alive. Besides - aren't you tired of living down here like a sewer rat, waiting to die at that thing's hands? Aren't you tired of being afraid?"
Angel was passionately trying to convince Kate to take action. Whatever this thing was, it was now standing between him and reaching Buffy, Cordelia and his friends back at the hotel. Therefore, that meant that whatever this thing was…it had to go down, hard. Besides the fact, Angel always had a soft spot for helping the underdog. And this group of ragtag kids fit that description to the letter.
Kate sighed as she mulled her options. Unfortunately, Angel was right. They were running low on supplies, and both she and her crew were living on borrowed time being holed up down here. But she had seen what that thing could do. How swiftly it could strike, and how deadly the results were. Even with Angel's assistance, how could they realistically expect to stand up against that thing?
Still, something that the Champion had told her did hit home. She was tired of being afraid, tired of running, tired of…of being tired. Wasn't dying on their feet better than living on their knees, waiting for that thing to pick them off at its leisure?
Kate sighed as she quietly recalled something that Angel once told her years ago. "If nothing that we do matters, then all that matters…"
"…is what we do. Because that's all there is," Angel finished the quote for her, giving her a small, encouraging smile. That last bit of assurance was all Kate needed as she nodded in consent.
With that, Angel quickly strode to the other corner of the lair, swiping a sword off the floor. Outraged, Golden took several aggressive steps in front of Angel.
"Hey, that belonged to Tommy." he growled.
Angel nonetheless stood his ground, unintimidated as he took command. "Yeah? Well, for now, it belongs to me." He turned to the others. "All of you, load up. Let's go get professional on that evil son-of-a-bitch's ass and then head back to the surface."
The Irish-born vampire saw the expressions on the faces of Kate's people and quickly explained, "The sun's been back for a while now, so the nightmare's almost over. Grab your weapons and let's go."
Without another word, Angel began walking out into the sewers, the black leather duster flapping behind him.
"Well, now we're talking," Faith chirped up as she and the others began following Angel out into the sewer passage.
"Is it true? About the sun being back?" Golden asked Kate in awe.
"Apparently," Kate replied.
"Kate, level with me. Do you trust this guy?" Golden asked, still doubtful.
After a moment, Kate nodded. "Yeah, Golden. I do."
"Still don't like him grabbing Tommy's sword like that, though. Or being ordered what to do like some kinda robot," Golden grumbled.
Empathically, Spike turned to Golden just before they headed out to join the others. "Yeah, well, he does that a lot, mate. A real Johnny BossyBoots, that one. Personally, I think the Big Pouf just needs a good hard shag from some bird or other, to get it all outta his system...like a colon cleaning for the soul."
Armed with spears, swords and a variety of other weapons, Angel's and Kate's crews walked through the tunnels - Angel, Connor and Spike scouting up ahead, tracking the demon with their supernaturally heightened sense of smell. Dawn was in the center with the others, and Faith took up the rear of the group next to Kate as added muscle, while the rest of the crew kept a sharp lookout for their quarry.
While the others were busily scanning the tunnels for any signs of life, Dawn, who noticed how close Angel was, looked back sadly at the youths Kate had taken under her wing. "They're just kids."
"Strength in numbers," Angel said shortly.
Dawn could not help protesting, "Yeah, but Angel..."
"They just wanna strike back, Dawn, at something. Anything," Angel replied, briefly musing over the frustration that he'd been feeling over the last few weeks. "I know how that feels. And I'm sure you do, too, what with everything that's been happening with the First in Sunnydale lately."
Dawn couldn't argue with that. All those Potentials the Bringers have been killing lately, not to mention that attack on the Winnebago as we tried to get to LA...
"This is where Tommy got taken," Matthew said as they rounded the corner, coming to a stop at one particular large open area.
"What the hell's that smell?" Faith asked, revolted by a strong chemical odor that for some reason, reminded her of that Stockton prison.
"It's ammonia," Angel said. Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something else. Something that definitely wasn't a rat, or human…
Connor tensed, brandishing his sword as he scanned the area, no doubt having smelled it as well.
"I reckon we've got company, kiddies," Spike said warningly.
A growling sound was heard, and the next thing they knew, Golden was crying out as he was snatched up into a vertical pipe.
"Golden!" Holly cried out.
"NO!" Kate shouted, aiming her pistol before she stopped, realizing that a bullet would most likely kill Golden from this angle. "Angel, do somethi -"
No sooner had he seen the youth disappear up into the pipe, though, that Angel, in another burst of supernatural power, leapt upwards, flying up into the pipe after him. A clash of steel, two loud, inhuman growls and several loud crashing noises were heard for a few moments before Golden dropped down out of the pipe onto the floor.
Immediately, Kate and Holly went over to his side, checking him out for injuries.
A few moments later, Angel jumped down out of the pipe, his back turned. Matthew, smiling in admiration, walked up to thank him…
…only to be greeted by the sight of Angel's vampire face, fangs and all.
The boy's expression immediately changed from admiration to one of abject horror. Instantly Matthew ran for it, frightened out of his wits.
Dismayed, Angel shouted out to him, "Matthew, it's okay!"
"Matt!" Kate called out.
"Matthew, wait!" Connor yelled, running after the kid with Angel right behind him.
Faith pursed her lips, knowing that things had just got a whole lot more complicated; what with their forces being split up like this. "Damn. That's not goo - aah!"
Faith cried out in pain as something suddenly reached from behind the grated sewer walls and grabbed her, trying to yank her through the flimsy grating and into the walls.
Immediately, Spike turned, sword in hand, and swung at whatever had grabbed Faith, hacking away at the creature's oddly sick-green arms and claws.
Realizing that the demon wasn't about to let go, Spike knew he needed more power.
"Alright, Green Bean, you wanna play rough?" His handsome, well-angled features shifted, and out came Spike's demonic game face. "Fine by me..."
With that, the ensouled vampire grabbed the arm strangling Faith and, in one motion, ripped it clean off, rewarded with the invisible creature's howl of pain before it clattered away, releasing its hold on Faith.
Faith fell forward, bowling over Spike as the two came tumbling down together, Faith suddenly finding herself on top of Spike as his face returned to its human guise.
Despite the gravity of the situation, when Faith's brown eyes met Spike's blue ones, both of them froze. Spike swore he could have felt his undead heart nearly beat for a moment as Faith stared down at him, dark locks of hair dangling above his face, feeling the firmness and softness of her toned-to-perfection female body lying against his own.
Faith, meanwhile, stared down at Spike, surprised by how well-muscled the undead guy beneath her was. And just how blue those eyes were when viewed up close like this…
"Um…thanks," Faith said, suddenly a little unsure of herself.
"Welcome, pet, anytime," Spike smirked, which allowed Faith to roll her eyes as she helped him up.
Kate turned and looked at Angel, now in human face, who was returning with Connor from their fruitless pursuit of Matthew. "That thing's still out there. We can't let Matthew roam around alone in the tunnels, it'll kill him!"
"We'll find him, Kate," Angel assured her.
"Bloody hell," Spike pseudo-sighed, as he grabbed Faith's hand. "Come on, then, luv, we've got us another missing kid to find. It's that kind of bloody night, innit?" he asked rhetorically, darting a look at Connor who just scowled back at him.
"We'll be back," Faith called back to the others as they ran off after the boy.
Angel growled, seriously annoyed. He was through pussyfooting around with this particular enemy; it was time to get serious. "That thing is really pissin' me off. Connor, Dawn..."
He trailed off, suddenly realizing that Buffy's little sister was not present any longer. She wasn't…anywhere.
Connor, suddenly panicked, turned to Angel in concern. "Dad…where's Dawn ? ?"
Squealing in fright, Dawn was tossed against the wall of another sewer, the lair of her unseen captor.
"Ow, ow, ow - my head," Dawn groaned, taking a moment to gather her bearings before she looked up…
…and gasped, recoiling in fright at the sight of her captor - a sickly green, three-prong clawed, spike-headed, insect-like demon.
The demon stalked closer to her and snarled in an inhuman, almost jealous voice, "We loved her first!"
Dawn, rather amazed that this demon could speak English, and completely frightened, could only stammer a confused response: "W-w-w-what?"
The demon angrily clicked its talons, hissing at the pretty female teen. "We. Loved. Her. FIRST!"
The former Key was bewildered. Her? Who was 'her'? Whatever this ugly-bugly was, it wasn't making any sense.
"I, I don't understand. Who - what are you t-talking about?" Dawn asked, unsure what to say.
Growing more irate, the demon plunged his claws against the wall opposite both sides of Dawn's head, causing her to scream in fright. The creature then leaned in, its breath stinking of something putrid and rancid which caused Dawn's stomach to wretch, as the demon shouted its strange mantra:
"WE. LOVED. HER. FIIIII-RRRST!"
Panting in fear, Dawn tried to process what was going on. Crying out for Angel, Spike, Connor, Faith or the others would more than likely get her killed. And there was no way she could fight her way out of this situation. But she had a hunch that they'd be able to track her down by scent; especially her new boyfriend. Dawn had heard it mentioned that Connor could track down anything, anywhere, anytime.
That being said, she had only one option in order for that to happen - stall for time.
"O-o-okay," Dawn said, her voice wavering as she attempted to calm herself. "R-right. You…loved her, um, first." Whatever 'her' it is you're talking about, you ugly freak show!
"Before your kind was, my kind loved her," the demon explained indignantly. "Stood on stone, built the temple. Always making ready…" Suddenly, the demon began to squeal and then, it began to cry mournfully. As if grieving a dead loved one.
"Ohh…but she came here. Came to be born to this world. Wretched world. Filthy world," the insect-like thing said to the Key.
"Born to this…?" Dawn suddenly realized what this crazy creature was talking about. "You mean - Cordy's baby?"
The demon cocked its head to one side. "Eh?"
"Uh…the…vessel for the…the 'she' that…you loved first. Um, before us. Way, waaay before us," Dawn clarified, trying to placate the creature.
Snorting, the demon regarded her disdainfully. "Pfah! You not even comprehend what she is. Filthy little mice!" The insect-like creature broke off, staring to the ceiling in reverence. "She is the devourer…the song…the peace…the whole. And you not even comprehend what she is!"
The demon suddenly snarled as it began to menace Dawn again…only to be distracted when a glob of bloody viscera fell to the ground in front of a now-horrified (even-more-so-than-before) Dawn. Oh, God - gross, gross, gross!
Annoyed, the insect-like thing groaned. "Work to do," it shrugged its grotesque shoulders, moving to resume whatever task it was performing - before it suddenly snapped its head back to Dawn.
"We loved her first!" it shouted out jealously, suddenly leaping up with amazing agility up a wall on its hind legs, grabbing a torch as it moved about a wall…a wall covered in what appeared to be human remains, flesh, organs and other viscera strewn around and sewn in an abhorrent, ungodly pattern.
For a moment, Dawn felt the urge to vomit, but she managed to force herself to calm down. Panicking now would only get this thing angry. And an angry insect whatchamacalit almost certainly meant a dead Dawn Summers.
So, taking a few deep breaths, she tried to keep her captor talking. Talking meant no killing, hopefully. "So, um…how does…how do, um, you a-and the others like you…define love?"
Without so much as a glance, the creature replied as it continued working on its macabre flesh puzzle, "Same as all bodies. Same as everywheres. Love is sacrifice."
The word 'sacrifice' did nothing to soothe Dawn's already frayed nerves. She'd reached her sacrificial lamb quota for this lifetime long ago, thank you. And she certainly didn't plan on sticking around to become another stain on this demon weirdo's homage to 'Silence of the Lambs'.
And yet…something that thing had just said tickled her mind. About the 'baby' in Cordelia's oven. Women's intuition told Dawn that maybe this thing knew the answer, or at least part of the answer, needed to get Cordelia back. But if she died, she'd never find out. That meant she had to keep this thing talking.
Meanwhile, the demon was fast at work, carving up the bodies hung on his cave wall. Probably the bodies of those missing kids Golden was talking about, Dawn realized in horror, before looking to the left and spotting an open door.
"Um, that door's open," she said cautiously, before gesturing carefully. "Aren't you…y'know, worried that I'll run away?"
"Hm. Not worried," the demon said, without a glance back. "Good at catching furries."
Nervously, Dawn cleared her throat. "Obvious, much?" She tried again. "So…you're not from around here…are you?"
The insect-thing stopped its work and briefly turned around in a huff. "No. Other world. Older world."
A light blue orb off to the left, near the base of the wall where the demon was, caught Dawn's eye as the teen inched closer to it, the pretty trinket standing out like a sore thumb in this horrid place.
Sensing her movement, the creature laughed as it saw what Dawn was doing. "You go. Go on. Use my key. Visit. What we breathing there burn out little mouse lungs before you can make a peep."
Gulp, Dawn thought, as she quickly edged away from the orb. "Ooo-kay. No problem here."
"No problem here. No problem here-here," the demon parroted back her words in a mocking voice as it resumed its 'work.'
Dawn was taken aback by the bizarre creature's actions. Hey, did Insect-Boy just make fun of me? I think he did! Oh, God - I just got insulted by a reject from the cast of 'Aliens'. I'm officially a loser now...
Shaking off her musings, Dawn played close attention to the alien creature's flesh puzzle. "Um…what are you doing, exactly?"
"Spell," the demon replied. "Mmm, this blood magic. Flesh magic. Older than words. More much power. This magic, she will hear. When she born. She will hear and remember her true ones."
"Spell, huh?" Dawn asked, cautiously, her interest piqued. "So…you have an incantation ready?"
Looking offended, the demon scoffed, "Word magic? No words. She no give care about words. Pfah! Word magic."
"Oh," Dawn replied, as if intrigued, as she continued to pump the demon for information. "Does the one you, uh, loved first…does she really not care about the whole talking thing?"
"Only one word she -" the demon stopped, as if suddenly realizing it had said too much.
Dawn sensed it too. "One word she…what?"
The demon turned and hissed menacingly at her. "You is talky meat! Don't make me come down there."
Suddenly, a groan of pain caught their attention…a groan that came from the wall of flesh. From a recently-awakened vampire.
"Aah! My God! What is it with you, man? This is disgusting," the undead thing complained to the demon that had butchered it.
"You!" the insect-like demon cried out, surprised.
The vampire moaned in pain. "Will ya just drop the cliché serial killer crap, and just stake me already! Please!"
Confused, the insect-demon stared at the vampire. "I tear your guts all inside out. I stitch your guts every all over. Why don't you go dead?"
Just as the angry vampire cursed, "Why don't you go fu -" the insect-thing reached over and tore the vampire's tongue out, casually discarding it just a few feet from Dawn.
"Pssh! More talky meat," the demon groused as it went back to work.
As the bloodied tongue landed in front of the youngest Summers woman, a grossed-out Dawn immediately thought, Okay, this is now officially the most disgusting night of my entire life!
Shaking off the thought, Dawn kept talking. "You can't kill him, y'know, not that way. Because he's already dead. He's a vampire."
"Hmm, vampire. Like one with angry steel?" Insect-thing asked. "Or one that hurt me in tunnels?"
Angry steel?...Oh. "You mean Angel. And Spike." Dawn realized.
"Eh?" the demon uttered.
Dawn sighed. "Those are their names, the vampires who attacked you."
Yet again the demon scoffed, looking disgusted. "Stupid mouse creatures! Throwing names all over place all the time! That's why you so weak. Too many are knowing your names, take your power away."
What the hell is Bug Boy talking about now? "Look, I think you might be a little confused," Dawn explained slowly. "I mean, it doesn't work that way here. It doesn't matter who knows your name, it's just a word…"
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Dawn's brain as she realized that she might have just figured out the key to this whole situation. "That's it, isn't it? What you said before. The word that this 'she' you loved first cares about?"
The demon suddenly whirled around, angry red eyes blazing at the youngest Summers girl. "Shut."
"The baby's name. My God, that's its weakness?" Dawn realized in amazement. She hadn't been there for Whistler's little history lesson at the Hyperion earlier tonight, after all.
Still, Dawn knew that it wasn't all that far-fetched; in the days before the Magic Box had been destroyed, she remembered Giles lecturing the Scooby Gang once about Kabbalistic theology, how people of that faith believed that naming God somehow took away His power...
"Shut! Shut! Shut! Shut!" the demon shouted furiously as it suddenly moved at incredible speed, shoving a surprised Dawn against the wall. "Shut! Shut! SHUT!"
"How could this happen?" a frustrated Connor demanded as he paced in the open sewer, angrily throwing his sword down. "There were ten of us, and nobody saw anything? We just let it take Dawn?"
Throwing his son a sympathetic look, Angel undertook a quick scan of the area - lest the demon rear its head again and try to grab someone else - and then he squatted down on the floor, checking the area where Dawn had been.
"It must've looped its way around, come up on her from behind," Angel said grimly, trying to keep a cool head despite the fact that he was just as worried about Dawn as Connor was. The brunette female teen was someone special to Angel, and besides he had promised Buffy that he'd get her back safe and sound before he'd left the Hyperion. "It knows these tunnels better than we do. And it's fast."
Kate shook her head sadly, as she looked up at the ensouled vampire. "I'm sorry, Angel. But odds are, your friend's already dead. When that thing latches onto you, you're never seen or heard from agai -"
Upon hearing that Connor angrily approached the ex-cop, fear and anger rippling in his clear blue eyes. "Don't! Don't even think that. Dawn is not dead! Do you hear me?"
Angel laid a restraining hand on the boy. "Connor. Enough," he said sternly to the fruit of his loins. "You're right, Dawn's not dead. And she won't die either, not if I have anything to say about it. Look, I'll go track it down; you take the others back to their bolt-hole. Wait there for Spike and Faith."
"No! I'm coming with you," Connor protested immediately.
"Connor," Angel said, his voice becoming harder. "You're upset and angry right now, you're not in the right state of mind to hunt this thing down -"
"I said, I'm. Coming. With. You," Connor angrily snarled, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. "I'm not playing babysitter in some stinking sewer, while some damned demon kidnaps my girlfriend!"
Girlfriend? Angel thought in surprise, thrown by Connor's sudden revelation. Girl…where have I been, when the hell did this happen?
Her gun locked and loaded, Kate told the vampire, "Kid's got a point. Best bet is for all of us to follow it to whatever hole it crawled into. Besides," she gestured at the dismembered claw-arm laying on the floor, "that's the first piece of this bastard we've ever gotten. It's finally wounded, so we should press the advantage. End this once and for all."
Kate had made a logical, rational argument. Still, Angel didn't like the idea of putting his son, Kate and the others in harm's way - but if they insisted on coming along, well, he couldn't stop all of them.
So Angel quickly relented, as he started for the nearest sewer. "Okay -"
But all of a sudden, he was met by a phalanx consisting of Golden and all the other street kids, all of them holding sharp wooden poles directed at Angel.
"Nuh-uh, Nosferatool. Not okay. You think we didn't see it just now? You're one of them. You and that Billy Idol wannabe who bugged outta here, a few seconds ago," Golden eyed Angel angrily, his spear held fast, pointing straight at the undead detective's heart.
"Golden, what the hell are you doing?" Kate demanded.
"Do you know what he is?" Golden barked, looking at his female leader with suspicion written all over his face.
Kate exhaled wearily. "Yeah, I do. He's a vampire."
In shock, Golden stared at Kate in confused betrayal - yet the attractive ex-cop did not flinch, even with the boy scowling menacingly at her.
"Okay, then you and me are gonna have to have a little talk about that later. Right now, stand aside, 'cause I'm about to turn this bloodsucker to ashes," Golden replied coldly, returning his narrowed eyes to Angel.
"He just saved your life, remember?" Kate reminded him, looking to the others for support, but finding none in the eyes of the wary street youths.
Scoffing, Golden replied, "Sure, 'cause he wanted me for dinner later on, along with the rest of us!"
"Golden, it's not like that," Angel started.
"Yeah, he's telling you the…truth," Connor finished uneasily, suddenly realizing that he was actually defending his biological father - who also noticed it, and felt slightly grateful for his son's halfhearted defense.
Golden rudely brushed off Connor's words. "Excuse me? Not talkin' to the angry emo kid; talkin' to the vampire, thank you."
"All right, you saw what you saw, yeah, I can't deny that, but - " Angel said.
"But what?" Golden angrily demanded.
No sooner did the words leave his mouth than did Kate suddenly cock the hammer on her gun, aiming it straight at Golden, her eyes hard and serious. "But, if you don't put that thing down right the hell now and let Angel go save that girl's life, I'll hold you just as responsible for her death as that demon. Got that?"
In surprise, Golden's stunned dark eyes clashed with the level blue-eyed gaze of the former LAPD detective. "You gotta be kidding me! Kate…after everything we've been through, all the times we had your back, you're siding with this…undead leech?"
"I don't want to take sides, Randall, but that doesn't mean that I won't," Kate replied, using Golden's first name with her hands holding the firearm rock-steady. "Now listen carefully; I've known this guy for nearly four years. Angel has a soul, he's on our side, and like it or not, he's our best bet of making it out of this alive. Look, I don't expect you to understand, not without hearing the whole story - but trust me when I tell you to stand. Down."
Tired of the standoff and short on patience, Angel's dark brown eyes grew hard and cold as they bored into Golden.
"I don't blame you for feeling the way you do about me, but I'm not going to justify my existence to you. I wouldn't be able to, even if I tried," Angel said quietly, before his voice turned sharp and icy. "But what I can do is take that spear away from you, snap it in half and then break your neck in about half the time it would take for you to give it a good push. Or you and the others can just step aside, and let me go save Dawn. Your call, kid."
After a second, Golden and the rest of Kate's crew – albeit very reluctantly - lowered their weapons.
"Thank you." Turning to Kate and Connor, Angel motioned to the nearest sewer opening. "Come on. We have that thing on the ropes, time to deliver the knockout punch."
"All of you, head for the surface. You know where the nearest manhole is, and it should be safe enough now that that thing's wounded - I'll catch up with you later," Kate told her crew as she followed Connor and Angel off into the darkness.
Golden glanced at Holly, Trip and the others in turn, as the street kids just stared at one another indecisively.
Insect-like demon's lair
A few seconds later
Dawn was terrified as the demon held her fast against the wall, yet she continued to press onwards. She was onto something, and she knew it. She just needed to keep pressing and confirm her suspicions.
"This 'she' has a name, and it has power over her! That's why it's a secret!" Dawn said, growing more fervent as she began to connect the dots.
Suddenly, the insect-like demon staggered backwards, holding its grotesque claws over its head, like a child refusing to hear an unpleasant statement.
"La-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la! Not listening!" the creature sang, shaking its head.
Now, Dawn really knew she was onto something. Despite the danger of the situation, she continued to speak, and press for information. "Th-that's it, isn't it? That is what its weakness is! Is that how we can destroy what's possessing Cordelia?"
Suddenly, the demon seized her throat, Dawn squealing in horror as it slammed her against the wall.
"What it matter, eh?" the demon snarled at a wide-eyed and struggling Dawn. "Eh, talky meat? I don't keep the name. High priest keep the name! And you about to go dead, about to be a smear on my flesh spell."
It reared its deadly claw back, ready to punch it right through Dawn's chest. "I just messenger from the ones who love truly."
Dawn closed her eyes and waited for the fatal blow. Connor, Buffy…I'm sorry…
"Well, then…" a familiar voice rang out, "I guess it's time we shoot the messenger."
The demon and Dawn both turned to see the owner of that voice - a scowling Angel, brandishing a sword, flanked by an angry-looking Connor and a gun-wielding Kate.
"Or, you know, chop the messenger into little bitty pieces, whatever," the undead Champion shrugged.
"Less talking, more killing!" Kate shouted as she took aim and fired two shots into the demon's sternum, drawing thick, black blood.
Hissing in pain, the demon dropped Dawn before it angrily charged towards the white hats. Angel and Kate - holstering her gun in favor of using her battle-axe - kept the demon at bay, while Connor immediately rushed to Dawn's aid.
"You okay? Did it hurt you?" he asked, concerned as he checked Dawn out for injuries.
Briefly taking comfort in his strong embrace, Dawn slowly got to her feet. "I'm fine. Hey, don't worry about me, go do that sexy hero thing you do and kill that thing. Hurry!"
"You should get out of here, go find the others," Connor told her, referring to Spike and Faith as his eyes took on their familiar killer-like glare and he jumped into the fray.
The creature was faster than he'd expected, however, as it grabbed Angel and threw him across the room into the wall next to Dawn. While it was distracted with his father, Connor took the opportunity to hack away at the creature's tough, scaly skin with his sword.
"Tough little bastard, aren't you?" Connor grunted as he wound up for another attack. But the demon was ready for him now, batting aside the sword before using its powerful tail to hurl Connor aside, sending the teen warrior sprawling onto the ground.
Kate stepped in, unloading on the creature with seven well-aimed shots that pierced its torso, arms and two of its hind legs. The creature only growled in annoyance at her, ready to attack…
…when Kate switched back to her battle axe, spinning out of the creature's reach before taking a good, hard chop at one of its legs, the creature crying out in pain as Lockley took part of its leg off.
As she reared the axe back for another blow Kate balefully glared at the creature, unbridled hate in her eyes. "You killed Tommy, and you killed a lot of my people. But all that stops here, ugly. Say good night, you -"
Kate never noticed the creature's tail slowly snaking its way around her ankle until it was too late, the tendril sweeping her leg out from under her and hoisting her up into the air, the surprised ex-cop dangling helplessly.
The creature smiled, full of evil intentions, as it eagerly clamped one of its pincers around her gullet, ready to tear out the gagging ex-cop's throat. "Good night, mousie."
Suddenly, Angel's fist appeared out of nowhere to connect with the demon's face, causing it to drop a dazed Kate onto the floor, head-first, knocking her unconscious.
Armed once again with his sword, Angel and the insect-like demon did battle, the Champion delivering several sharp stabs into the creature's body, drawing a sickly dark-colored blood with each slice. But the fanatical demon was too resilient, and too stubborn to cease its assault. Finally, after evading a lethal swipe at its head, Insect-thing lashed out and knocked Angel to the far end of the room with a powerful blow.
When Angel stood up again, the demon stabbed him through the gut with his sharp pincers, causing Angel to bellow in pain as he was impaled upon the creature's claws.
"Angel!" Dawn screamed, as she saw the creature lift the hero up in the air on its arms.
Unbeknownst to Dawn, her blue eyes suddenly, briefly, sparked with a jade-green hue…
Insect-thing laughed at Angel's pain. "Stupid little mice. They always soft inside."
Without warning, Connor did a somersault roll through the air and attacked the demon's arm with his sword, cutting off that part of his pincer as Angel fell to the floor, wounded.
The angry creature snarled at Connor. "Wretched little..."
Connor delivered another angry swipe with his blade, trying to go for the head. The creature blocked the blow, however, and backhanded the male teen across the mouth, following up with a hard, clubbing blow to the head that knocked the dazed Connor down.
"No…" Dawn whispered as she saw her boyfriend fighting for his life against the monster. Angel was down, Kate was unconscious, and now, Connor was alone and losing the fight. If she didn't do something soon, they were all going to die, and she knew it.
For the second time, flecks of a jade-green light briefly lit up in Dawn's eyes…
Struggling to catch his breath as he lay on the ground, Connor tried to get in one last swipe at the demon, a last-ditch effort to obtain some breathing space. But the demon simply batted the sword away from the Destroyer of Quor-toth.
Staring down at the disarmed, defenseless boy, Insect-thing smiled wickedly as it raised its claws for the final death blow. "Time to go dead, mouse."
Dawn felt a scream rip out from her throat… "NOOO!"
…just as a dazzling burst of green energy, now fully illuminating her eyes and her mouth, burst forward from within her, bathing the demon from behind with its brilliantly bright and incredible power.
Angel, as he struggled to get his bearings, was utterly stunned at what he perceived was transpiring.
As the insect-like demon screeched in pain, its molecules shifting between various random dimensions which was literally tearing it apart from the inside out, Connor stared in complete awe at the scene before he registered that this powerful bolt of light was actually coming from his girlfriend. How…how is that possible?
As the green energy blast finally died down, Dawn suddenly swooned and fell to the floor, dazed and barely conscious.
Growling, the injured demon set its sights on the now vulnerable girl. "Wait your turn, talky!"
The moment of distraction, that small opening, was all Angel needed as he quickly picked up the pincer that Connor cut off the demon and plunged it deep into the demon's throat, twisting it to make sure the wound didn't close. Black blood spurted out from the mortal wound, as Insect-thing gasped in shock.
"Looking a little soft yourself in there, aren't ya, fella?" Angel snarled quietly.
The fatally wounded demon lurched and finally fell to the floor, rasping out one last, desperate, unholy prayer, "Devourer…this meat…I give…unto theeee..." And then it fell forever silent.
Staggering as he clutched the terrible wound in his stomach, Angel managed to make his way over towards his son, managing to help him up despite his injuries.
"Connor, are you -?" Angel asked anxiously.
"I'm fine," Connor assured him as he wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth, suddenly taking notice of Angel's wounds. "What about you? Are you okay?"
Angel groaned. "Uh, not really. But it'll heal. Go check on Dawn, I'll get to Kate."
No sooner did he say those words than did Connor rush towards Dawn, kneeling alongside her as he cradled her into his arms.
"Dawn?" he asked worriedly. "Dawn, please, wake up…"
Slowly, Dawn's eyes, now their regular deep blue color, fluttered open as she stared into her boyfriend's worried face, allowing Connor to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Is…is it over?" Dawn asked, her voice slightly groggy.
With a small smile, Connor nodded. "Yeah. At least, it is for Bug Face, anyway."
He took another long look at the tired teenage girl. "Dawn…how did you do that?"
The Key looked at him with confused and dazed eyes. "Hmng…do what?"
"You don't remember?" Connor asked, frowning. "That big green light show that came out of your face? How'd you do that?"
It took another moment before Dawn remembered the sudden surge of power that had unexpectedly blasted out of her, as she saw Insect-thing about to impale Connor. She had no idea what had happened...although the concept that she had tapped into a hitherto-unknown aspect of the Key energy to save her boyfriend's life did eventually occur to her.
What's that really mean, though? Dawn asked herself. Do I finally have a power now, like Buffy? Or was it just a one-off fluke? Could I do it again? SHOULD I do it again?
Worried, she looked back up at Connor and said in reply to his question, "I…I don't know."
Meanwhile, Angel managed to help a groggy Kate to her feet. "Easy there, Kate, I've gotcha."
The ex-cop clutched her head in pain. "You get the license plate number of the truck that just hit me?"
Angel looked down at his stinging and bleeding ribs. "Yeah, well, better a headache than evisceration. Trust me, personal experience talking."
Making his way over to the two teenagers, Angel's eyes swept over both of them for serious injuries. "You two alright?"
Looking over a now steadier Dawn, Connor nodded. "I think so."
Remembering the green light of death that burned Insect-thing, Angel eyed Dawn curiously. "Dawn…what was…?"
"I don't know, I don't know!" Dawn exclaimed semi-angrily as she shook her head. "That never happened before. But that doesn't matter right now..." She suddenly darted over to the blue orb in the corner of the room, clutching it tightly as she returned to the group.
"Guys, from what I've learned, Bug Breath here was connected to the thing possessing Cordy," Dawn told the group.
That statement immediately drew the vampire's full attention. "What?"
"That demon, it came from a world that's worshipped…whatever the heck is possessing Cordelia…for, I think, years, maybe even centuries. A world that we can reach through this," Dawn said, holding up the blue sphere.
Connor was amazed. "Dawn, how do you know that?"
"Because that demon told me. Well, in so many words," explained the youngest Summers girl, who then turned to Angel. "It gave away something about its weakness, the...baby, or whatever it is that's in Cordy's oven. It's its name, Angel. If we can get the name of the Big Bad, we can stop it!"
Angel sighed, not hearing anything he didn't already know. "Yeah, I know, Dawn. Whistler and Lindsey already told us this -"
"Wait, just listen!" Dawn interrupted him, as she pressed on. "That demon said something about a…a high priest! He's the one who keeps the name. And the odds are this high priest guy's located in Bug-Demon World, which we can access through THIS!" the Key held up the blue orb. "Which means we can take the fight directly to Evil Cordy on two fronts, right?"
Angel's eyes widened, as he considered Dawn's words. Not that he doubted Buffy and Darla's ability to fight through and reach Cordelia's soul, learn what she knew...but what if Cordy didn't know the unborn Power's true name, after all? Whistler hadn't said that that was an absolute certainty, and it couldn't hurt to have a Plan B up his sleeve if worse came to worst as far as that ritual went.
Angel and Connor exchanged looks of realization, as they were each thinking the same thing; the universe just handed them their first real break.
"Angel?" a puzzled Kate asked. "What the hell's she talking about? What does all this mean?"
Taking the small globe from Dawn's hands as he held it in his large right palm, Angel stared at the trinket as all the implications of Dawn's revelations flashed through his mind.
"It means we might finally have what we need to save Cordy…and the world," Angel murmured.
"Yeah. Just one problem…how does this thing work?" Connor asked, staring at the inanimate globe.
As the other three stared at Dawn, the pretty brunette teen's cheeks flushed red. "Um…I'm not exactly…clear on that?"
Angel groaned, as he suddenly realized that they were back at Square One again. Without a way to activate this thing, there was no way he could get to this high priest demon to get that name. And without that name, that meant that Buffy, Cordy, and Darla could very possibly die a horrible death.
The undead detective's keen eyes scanned the blue trinket for any clues on how to get it working. "Hmm. No inscriptions, no markings of any kind; no moving parts, far as I can tell."
"Well, it looks like a big snow globe. Maybe if you just give it a good shake?" Kate offered.
Connor snorted. "With our luck, that'll open a gateway to Hell."
"That's kinda the idea, isn't it, kid?" Kate replied facetiously.
"Don't call me 'kid!'" Connor groused; he was really starting to hate that nickname.
As they argued among themselves, Dawn mind drifted back to what Insect-thing had revealed to her. No words. No word magic. No word magic, powerless. Much more power in...
"Blood magic?" Dawn whispered quietly. With that, she reached over and touched Connor's still-bleeding lip, which immediately caught his attention. Wordlessly, Dawn took her blood-matted fingers and gently laid them onto the globe.
Suddenly, the blue sphere began to glow, lightning crackling around it before a lightning bolt shot out and opened a swirling purple and blue vortex.
Instinctively, Angel pushed Connor behind him - the scene far too much like when that gateway to Quor-toth opened through which Holtz had taken his infant son - as the others stepped away from the portal.
"Whoa!" Connor breathed as he saw the portal crackling angrily.
Kate nodded to Dawn in approval, as she reloaded her semiautomatic firearm. "Nice work, kid. Let's go," she said as she started towards the portal.
"No!" Dawn shouted, which stopped the ex-policewoman in her tracks. "We can't go in there. Only Angel can!"
"What? Dawn, what are you talking about?" a stunned Angel asked.
"Something that Bug Breath said, uh, how the atmosphere in that world is poisonous to human beings. It'll kill us if we breathe it. But that won't be a problem for you, since y'know, you don't need to breathe," Dawn said, her eyes apologetic. "I'm sorry, Angel. But if you're going in there, you have to do it alone."
Mulling over his options, Angel concluded that Dawn was right. If her information was correct, the only other person who could come with him safely was Spike, and he wasn't here right now. Besides, the odds were that if his irritating GrandChilde did accompany him on this journey, one or both of them would kill the other.
Angel wouldn't have been inclined to take his son, Buffy's kid sister and his former cop friend through that portal into a demon stronghold even if the atmosphere wasn't an issue, anyway. And if there was even the slightest chance that this high priest held the key to saving Cordy and preventing the end of the world, then the vampire knew that he had to take it.
With that, Angel turned to Kate. "Kate, I need a favor."
"Name it," she replied without hesitation.
"Catch up with the rest of your crew, and escort my people back to the Hyperion. If everything at the hotel goes south for whatever reason, they're going to need some backup. Don't stop for anything, just get there as fast as you can."
Kate nodded. "Done."
"Dawn," he turned to the Key. "If I don't make it back…tell Buffy and the others -"
"Angel, don't. Please," Dawn pleaded with him, her bottom lip quivering. "Promise me…just promise me that you'll be back once you find what you're looking for!"
Angel wanted to tell her that he couldn't make such promises, that nothing was guaranteed during apocalypse season. But one look into those pleading blue eyes and those words died in his throat.
Pressing a tiny kiss to her forehead, he nodded. "Okay, squirt. I promise."
"Dad, I -" Connor started to say, about to tell Angel to be careful - despite the teen's still-conflicted feelings about him - when he was cut off with a crushing hug from his father, which caught the male teen completely off-guard.
Just as Connor was about to hug him back, Angel pulled away, looking him square in the eyes. "Connor? You take good care of your mother if I…you know. Look after her. And Dawn. Look out for all of them, as best you can."
Struggling to find the right words to say, Connor could only utter, "Yeah. I promise."
Nodding, Angel picked up his sword and the globe and started towards the portal. He took one last look back at the others, before he disappeared into the crackling wormhole…
…and then Angel reappeared in a barren, cloudy, mountainous demon dimension-where an entire legion of creatures similar to Insect-thing slowly approached him, eyeing the Champion with snapping claws and angry red eyes.
At that moment, an astonished Angel muttered two words that summed up his perilous situation perfectly.
"Oh, hell."
To Be Continued…
Next: Buffy and Darla finally come face-to-face with the Beastmaster and the mysterious Power. Can they revive the real Cordelia before the fallen PTB can finally bring about her dark plans? Or will they both die trying?
And when Skip quits yapping and actually starts threatening the lives of everyone back at the hotel, the only one who can save the day is - Xander? ? God help all the good guys in there...
Well, that's it for now, kids! And remember - Part 2. Friday. 7 p.m. Only on F F. N E T! Be there!
Later!
Jean-theGuardian
