"Aw, fuck!"

"Language!" Cordelia shouted at Xander, who was rubbing his eyes and muttering under his breath. Fran and Thalia giggled as the Raphe demon flipped their mother off and stomped off in search of Wil.

"Hey, fang-boy," Xander growled, sticking just his head inside the library. "You'd think that we'd get a break from these goddamned visions, but no! Some stupid girl is about to sacrifice herself to a horde of Dgan'."

Wil blinked. He hadn't even considered the possibility of visions being sent whilst they were deeply mired in the process of finding Buffy and Dawn. This was not good, not by any stretch. Who could they spare to go after this girl? Cordelia and Gunn were working full-time with the cubs, who had turned into a basketball team's worth of hell-raising little monsters. Lorne was trying to keep Caritas open, but that wasn't going so well, even with Xander and Oz's help. Willow was regressing, so Fred was taking care of her. That left Wesley, Angel, and Wil himself to do the bulk of the work.

"Come on," Wesley said impatiently. "Xander, fetch the silver daggers. Wil, do you recall where we hid the 'Uthlamion ars Uthul'?

The blonde vampire finally broke out of his paralysis and stood, walking over to Buffy's desk. A minute or so of shoving aside scrunchies, Tic Tac boxes, and stale goldfish crackers produced an old cigar box. Inside was a tattered little book, wrapped in rose-pink plastic wrap and bound with a lime green shoelace. "She never uses that drawer, remember?"

"Yeah," Angel whispered. "Let's get going," He continued. "Get this over with."

Wesley drove, mostly because Xander and the vampires were busy sorting out the details of the vision. The faun kept one ear tuned to the conversation, though most of his mind was consumed with thoughts of Buffy and Dawn. He had a sinking feeling that no matter what the gang did, they would never see the two young women again.

That rather grim prediction was based on Wesley's experience with vampires and their warped sense of humor. A master vampire would get a good laugh out of bringing someone like Angel to his knees, and then depositing the corpses of his friends right in front of him. Besides, what did Vincenzo have to gain by letting the two women live? Once they were returned, the group would only attack the Order of Evmiri with everything they could. The only way Vincenzo's ploy would work was if he kept them all strung along indefinitely, always promising to return them but never fulfilling the agreement. It was that logic that put Wesley in the extremely unpopular camp that believed that they should all continue their work full-force while also trying to locate Buffy and Dawn. If they weren't coming back, it was better to simply eradicate Vincenzo before he gained too much power.

Besides, Wesley didn't want to move again. One decade on the road was enough for him; he liked his home where it was. Warm, soft bed. Fred.

"Pay attention!" Xander screamed, jerking at the steering wheel. Wesley looked around, realizing with a start that they'd arrivedand he had been on the verge of driving them through a rather large brick wall. In front of them sat an abandoned shoe factory.

"Er, sorry," Wesley murmured.

"Right," Wil sighed. "Dgan', remember? Wesley, you sing the chant," He said, thrusting the brightly wrapped book at the faun. "We'll slice and dice."

Without further ado, Angel broke down the main door and barged into the building, the others right behind him. Wesley read from the now-open book, chanting a brief rhyme over and over. The Dgan' attacked, but Xander and the two vampires quickly overcame them. The spell Wesley was reading destroyed the demons' magickal defenses, leaving them vulnerable.

Wil wiped his hands on one of the demons' cloaks and looked around for their victim. All too soon, he found her.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you asshole!" She screamed, tiny fists striking the blonde vampire square in the face. "You killed them!"

Angel grabbed the girl before she actually did something painful to Wil. "They were going to kill you," He growled, pushing her away.

"So?" She retorted, flipping him off. "My life, my choice."

Xander stared at the girl for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Let's go," He said, gathering the troops. There wasn't anything they could do here, not with that kind of attitude slapping them in the face.

"Come back here!" The girl screamed after them. "I'm not finished with you!"

Wesley backed out onto the street and pulled away, tossing the book to Angel. "Some nights, I hate this job."

"Some nights?" Xander murmured. "Which ones? The nights were we get the shit beaten out of us, or the ones where ungrateful people pummel us after we save their sorry hides?"

"Yes," Wil replied, leaning heavily against Angel. The dark vampire nodded wearily, silently agreeing with his childe.

"""

Vincenzo watched Buffy and Dawn as they played with their supper--a trio of college freshmen with less common sense than a chicken. At the moment, his two youngest childer were hiding their vampiric natures as they pretended to flirt with the young men. All three humans were slightly inebriated, which made their task even easier. The two women used different tactics in tandem; Buffy's more upfront sex appeal caught the men's eyes; while Dawn's more subtle, dewy girlishness sealed the bargain. The humans didn't stand a chance.

"Hurry along; we have business tonight," Vincenzo told his charges. On cue, the two women bared their fangs and struck--Buffy holding the third man down while the other two became the first course. Once those two men were dead, the sisters turned on their final victim. The slurping sounds of blood pouring down their throats drowned out any final protests their victim might have made, silencing him permanently.

"Mm-good!" Dawn said with a smirk, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "What's next, Sire?" Buffy reached over to catch a stray droplet of blood that had escaped Dawn's efforts.

Vincenzo pulled his childer to him, smiling at the way they fit so easily at his side. "Tonight, dears, we're going to learn all about the business of city council."

Buffy frowned thoughtfully. "But I thought you already owned a city council member."

The elder vampire smiled indulgently. "Two, actually. Remember, childe, that any possession will grow unruly if you do not care closely for it. Thus, we need to make sure that our council members are still happily within our stable."

"""

"What happened?" Cordelia inquired as Wil, Angel, Xander and Wesley stormed into the office. "I'm guessing it wasn't good."

"Ungrateful bitch!" Xander shouted, throwing down his weaponry and racing back out the door. The occupants of the office heard heavy footfalls on the stairwell, followed by a loud smack as a door slammed shut. A moment later, someone else walked across the lobby floor.

"At least Oz is going after him," Wesley murmured. "And to answer your question, Cordelia, our victim was less than appreciative."

"I gathered as much," She said dryly, turning her attention back to extracting a set of data chips from some green play-dough.

Angel and Wil wandered away, figuring that any filing they needed to do could be done later. The vampires retreated into their apartment, needing to feel the cavernous security of familiar walls.

"Give me a reason," Wil murmured, flopping back on the bed.

"For what?" Angel replied, carefully removing his shoes.

"For doing this," The blonde said quietly, staring at the ceiling. "Times like this, Indianapolis starts to look good again."

Angel joined Wil on the bed, wondering if he should say something or just hold Wil until this mood passed. "You know," He started conversationally, "We've had some form of this conversation quite a few times lately."

Wil glanced over at Angel. "Are you saying that I'm getting repetitive?"

"Not exactly repetitive," The dark vampire replied. "Just a bit...well, you seem to be ruminating on this a lot."

"Rumination is a key part of my personality...and yours, if I'm not mistaken," Wil muttered. "But you're right. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record."

"Oh, no!" Angel denied. "You manage to come up with a new way of saying the same thing every time. Very imaginative."

Wil rolled over, bringing himself tight against Angel's left side. "You know...if I recall correctly, we usually end these conversations with sex."

Angel pretended to ponder that comment. "Yeah, we do."

Slender fingers teased open Angel's shirt. "I suppose we could change that as well," Wil whispered. Angel growled and twisted, pinning Wil underneath him. "Or not," He added, grinning.

"I don't care if you moan about the same thing every night for the next century," Angel hissed. "It's part of your charm."

Wil let Angel distract him, more than willing to not think about anything for a little while longer. "And yet somehow I've still got you in my bed," He commented as Angel's fangs brushed against his neck. The dark vampire laughed, just before pulling Wil under the covers.

"""

Oz walked into the training room to find Xander hurling himself at the heavy bag. "Helping any?" He asked as his lover tried desperately to dismember the object.

"No," Xander heaved, dark stripes spreading down his body. "But if I do this enough, I'll pass out and won't have to think about it."

The werewolf nodded and took a seat nearby, where he could watch Xander wear himself out. It took quite some time; Xander was in very good condition. Finally, however, the Raphe fell to the floor in a sweaty heap. Only then did Oz approach.

"Make it go away, Oz," Xander begged breathlessly.

"Make what go away?" Oz inquired softly, studying the other man's pained face.

"This...feeling. It's like I know they're already dead but I can't say it because Willow and Lorne are there and if I say they're dead then I'm not being a good friend or I'm giving up on them or something and I'm not giving up on them it's just that the laws of probability state that they're probably dead and that sucks so much that I don't know what to do because they can't be dead Oz they just can't be--" Xander's amazingly long verbalization was cut off when Oz slipped his hand over the Raphe's mouth.

"It's ok," Oz said simply. He knew how Xander felt, because it was the same way he himself felt about the situation. They'd been working for almost a month to find Dawn and Buffy, all the while working against Vincenzo in the most low-key methods possible. So far, they'd turned up absolutely nothing. It was as though the earth had swallowed their friends whole.

Xander melted, tears running down his face. Oz lifted his hand, moving to pull Xander close to him. "I want them back," The Raphe sobbed, gripping Oz's shirt tightly. "They're not supposed to be gone."

Oz rocked Xander, cradling the Raphe tightly. The alpha werewolf layered loving, stoic concern for Xander over his deeper worries. The absence of Dawn and Buffy was putting enormous strain on the pack. The werewolves' instincts were to pull together, to bolster their defenses against this new enemy. The others, particularly Xander and Wesley, needed them. Also, all of the adult members of the pack were acutely aware of the cubs' role in this crisis. They were torn between the need to protect their young and to discern the important details of what was going on.

"Can you make me forget, just for a little while?" Xander pleaded. "I can't get them out of my head. Everyone in this building is thinking about them... and peanut butter-and-peach smoothies, but the cubs are just odd."

"Yeah," Oz murmured, knowing what his mate needed. The empathic demon's mind was overwhelmed with everyone else's worry. Xander should've been blocking it, but his own concerns were short-circuiting that safety mechanism. The simplest, short-term remedy involved an hour or two in a tub full of warm water. "Let's go upstairs."

"""

"We should have told them."

Thalia glared at Julian, who was stringing pony beads. "It's too soon," She replied shortly. "You know that."

Fran and Mischa sighed, sounding like a pair of put-upon parents. "Once the last one has become, we can tell," Mischa explained patiently. "We've known that since the beginning."

"This just sucks," Rhiannon whined. "I hate acting like a baby all the time."

"We all do," Fran agreed. "Then again, we *are* children."

The other four cubs shot dirty looks at their youngest sibling. Sometimes Fran was just too...Fran.

*****
Part 10:

"Buffy?"

The former Slayer glanced over at her sister, who was curled up on their shared bed. "Hmm?"

"It's wrong," Dawn whispered sadly, pursing her lips. "I mean, can't you feel it? It's all wrong."

Buffy moved across the room to sit next to her sister. "Yeah, sometimes it feels kinda ucky. But... Vincenzo... Well, what else are we supposed to do?"

"Be good?" Dawn offered. "There *are* other ways to be besides evil. We didn't used to kill people."

"We weren't vampires then," Buffy pointed out. "And Vincenzo wasn't our Sire."

"I know," Dawn lamented. "Sometimes I wish we had a different Sire. Then we wouldn't have to kill people."

Buffy simply nodded and held Dawn until the younger girl fell asleep. Being a vampire wasn't easy on the ex Slayer--or her sister. Despite the months that had passed, they were still struggling to find themselves in a sea of strange urges and constant fealty to Vincenzo. However, one of the few constants they had was that their lives now felt *wrong*, as though something they were doing was offending who they once were. Buffy wished she knew what it was, though. For some reason, every time she killed someone, she felt horrible. The same went for Dawn. They both hid their reactions from Vincenzo, who had no use for squeamish childer. Lilah was also watching them constantly, so any show of weakness carried heavy consequences.

Perhaps tomorrow would bring more answers. Tonight had been a total loss.

"""

Xander was helping Fran and Julian braid ribbon when Oz returned from his errand run. Though he was pretty well engrossed in keeping ribbons straight, the Raphe couldn't help but sense his mate's unease. "What's up?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Gonna find Angel," Oz said softly, heading out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Xander wrapped up the craft project as quickly as he could and carried his charges up to their apartment. Once they were settled with Lorne--who had pulled babysitting duty for the day--Xander returned to the office.

When he arrived, the rest of the gang was assembled and murmuring frantically about something. "What'd I miss?" Xander asked Cordelia, who was hissing at Gunn.

"He wouldn't talk until you got here," She said, gesturing to Oz. "Maybe he'll spill now."

"So, Oz," Angel began slowly. "I'm assuming you found out something?"

Oz nodded. "Heard something from Onsho. Vincenzo's got two new childer. Both female."

All of a sudden the office was a crowd of shouts and screams. Xander wondered if he could escape out the back--and throw himself off the rooftop. "You think it's Buffy and Dawn?" He murmured to no one in particular.

"Why would he turn them? Can Slayers even *be* turned?" Gunn asked Wesley.

"What about Dawn?" Willow screeched. "She's not human either!"

Angel glanced over at Wil, who was paler than he'd ever seen. "Wesley, see what you can find out about Slayers being turned. Contact Giles if you have to. Willow, help Wesley. Xander and Oz, go back to Onsho and find out more."

"What about the rest of us?" Cordelia inquired. "We're just going to sit around here and do nothing?"

The dark vampire grimaced. "I get the strange feeling that we won't be doing nothing for long."

"""

"Lilah..." Vincenzo paced the floor in front of his desk. "Remind me again, what exactly did I order you to do last night?"

Lilah put on her best contrite/honest face. It wasn't pretty. "I was supposed to oversee the most recent shipment of heroin's arrival, and then swing by the 14/40 Club and kill the bartender with the annoying voice."

"Exactly," He snarled. "So why did Freddy spot you coming out of the sewers on the other side of town? I've been pondering this for hours, but I can't seem to figure out why you would need to be in the sewers near, of all places, City Hall, when I gave you specific orders to be elsewhere."

"Sire, I finished my duties for the evening and went to check out a lead I'd heard at the 14/40 about a potential insider in the Assessor's Office," Lilah replied evenly. "I was just doing some advance scouting."

"Advance scouting?" Vincenzo's eternally young face wrinkled as he scowled. "In the future, Lilah, don't do me any favors. Your presence spooked one of my more important purchases within City Hall. It will take weeks to bring him back down."

Lilah nodded and left her Sire's office. Normally she would be angry at the way he treated her like an idiot, but today was far too good a day for such things. After all, unless Onsho was more of a fool than she estimated, Angel and his lackeys already knew about Vincenzo's two newest childer.

And once her favorite enemies removed Vincenzo, Buffy and Dawn from the scene, the entire operation would be hungry for a leader--something that Lilah would be more than happy to provide, in the form of herself. After that, it was only a matter of time before Wolfram & Hart was on its way to regaining its place in the city. Only this time, Lilah would be in charge.

"""

"Hi there, Onsho!" Xander's too-cheerful voice made the scaly demon jump straight up in the air. Merl's older brother never ceased to amuse the Raphe; he made their usual snitch look placid by comparison.

"Oh, Xander," Onsho gasped. "Do you always have to scare me? I've got a weak heart!" Oz watched as the clumsy demon hid a wad of cash behind his back. "I was just on my way out the door. Something I can do for you?"

"Hey, Oz?" Xander called out.

"Yeah?" The werewolf murmured.

"How much did you have to hurt Onsho here before he told you about Vinnie's new kids?"

Oz pretended to think about it. "None," He replied, grinning. "Didn't have to lift a finger."

Xander paced over to where Onsho was cringing. "Now that's kinda odd, don't you think?" He snarled. "Usually ol' Onsho needs a good thrashing before he'll give you the time of day."

Onsho flinched. "Hey, maybe I was giving out freebies!" As he tried to evade the Raphe's glare, he didn't notice Oz sneaking up behind him. Only when the werewolf retrieved the money he was hiding did the demon notice. "And hey, that's mine!"

"Funny, I don't remember paying you," Oz said absently. "And even if I did, it wasn't this much money. Xan, he must have three grand here."

"Anything you want to tell us, Onsho?"

"Will it keep me from getting beaten up *again*?" The demon asked tremulously.

Both Xander and Oz shrugged. "Doubtful, but you might survive if you fess up now," Xander muttered.

"""

"I'm getting a headache," Willow moaned. "Why are all these journals in such small print?"

"So that no one but Watchers would ever consider reading them," Wesley replied dryly. "I trust you've found nothing useful yet?"

"Slayers can't get constipated, never pass out from sunburn, and seem to have a high tolerance for scorpion venom. Wesley, how do the Watchers know these things?" Willow inquired.

"Do you *really* want to know?" He asked. "Some of my compatriots are not overly concerned with ethics."

Willow's face twisted into a grimace. "Let's leave it at that, hmm? I think I need some tea. You?"

"Yes, thank you," Wesley murmured, turning back to his books.

When Willow arrived in the kitchen, she found it full of cubs and an overwhelmed Lorne. They were braiding each other's hair, twining brightly colored ribbons throughout. "That's just lovely!" She told Thalia when the girl showed off her head, which was striped in watermelon and lime. "So pretty!"

"Mischa did it," Thalia confided. "Are you making tea?"

"Mm hmm," Willow confirmed. "Would you like some?"

"Yes, please," All five cubs said. Willow heated up plenty of water, using it to steep Earl Grey for her and Wesley and a nice raspberry flavoured herbal drink for the cubs. So long as it didn't contain caffeine, Cordelia was pretty easygoing about tea for the cubs. When she left them, the children were sipping at heavily milk-laden tea and complimenting each other on their new hairdos.

Wesley gratefully accepted his tea, noting that as usual, Willow forgot that he didn't like sugar in it. "Hey, Wes?" She asked over her cup, letting her fingertips tap against the porcelain. "Have you ever noticed that sometimes the cubs are so kid-like you could almost cry, but sometimes they're eerily..."

"Old?" He finished for her. "Yes, I have noticed their unusual behavior patterns. Perhaps it is due to their unusual environment."

Willow shrugged and sipped at her tea. "Maybe," She murmured.

Several more hours passed before Xander and Oz returned. By that time, the other investigators had gathered in the office and were pouring over the few notes Wesley and Willow had compiled.

"Well?" Cordelia demanded as her alpha and the Raphe stepped inside.

Oz scowled. "It's them," He confirmed.

"Someone paid Onsho to leak the information," Xander added. "We couldn't find out why, though."

"He turned them?" Wil asked softly. "Vincenzo turned the Slayer and the Key?"

"It would appear that way, yes," Wesley confirmed.

"What are we going to do?" Cordelia asked. "We can't just leave them out there!"

"We find them," Angel began, his voice shaking, "And we bring them home."

"Then what?" Gunn inquired. "After we have the two soulless vampires back, that is."

"Then we fix them," Willow whispered, her eyes turning into swirling pools of black.

"""

"Why do I always get stuck with the shit jobs?" Lorne asked himself. The rest of the hotel was planning how to find his wife and her sister. He, on the other hand, was getting ribbons put in his formerly well-coiffed hair by five little demons. From the way Wil had explained it to him, he'd be stuck with the cubs for the foreseeable future--Cordelia and Gunn were necessary for their plans to hunt down the errant investigators. Lorne wanted answers. Why was his wife a vampire? Where was she? Would she still love him when she got back? Would Cordelia be mad at him if he locked the cubs in a dungeon and forgot about them for a few weeks?

"And how am I supposed to run the club? I can't have kids in there when it's open!" Lorne whined. "That breaks big rules..."

Fran came around to face Lorne, a serious look on the cub's face. "We can stay in your office. We'll be good."

"Define good," Lorne said dryly. "As in 'we won't burn the place down', or 'we won't reorganize your quarterly taxes by ink color'?"

"Can we have Play-Dough?" Julian inquired. "The glow-in-the-dark kind?"

Lorne shrugged. Then he winced--his hair was being pulled in directions hair should never have to go. "As long as you don't put it anywhere you shouldn't, yeah."

"Then we'll be really good!" Siobhan promised. "And we'll even go to sleep."

"Eventually," Mischa said under his breath. "Please?"

Lorne stared at the ceiling for a long minute. "As though I have any choice in the matter." With a great sigh, he nodded. "But you have to take these things out of my hair."

"But they're pretty!"

"Nooooo!"

"We just got done!"

"I like them!"

"Alright."

"Fran!" Came a chorus of irate children. The smallest cub simply shrugged.

"""

"Why does this feel pointless?" Gunn asked Cordelia. "We're walking the streets, looking for them. Does Angel have any idea how *big* LA is?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "I'm fairly sure he does, Gunn. If you have a better idea, you should have brought it up when he said, 'Does anyone have a better idea?'"

Gunn growled, but said nothing. What was there to say? Combing the streets of Los Angeles wasn't the most efficient way of finding Buffy and Dawn. In fact, it had a pretty high probability of failure, but no one could think of a better way. They'd been unable to find Vincenzo's new headquarters, and aside from Onsho's paid-for information, no one was forthcoming with the news. Even what little Onsho could provide about his source had been of little use. A female vampire in gameface, that he knew wasn't Dawn or Buffy.

Meanwhile, Angel and Wil were quickly approaching Moe's. Wil thought that they ran a better chance of finding Buffy and Dawn near one of the places they knew Vincenzo controlled--and despite their earlier efforts, the nearby coffee shop was firmly in the vampire's grip.

"What are we going to do with them when we do find them?" Angel asked Wil. "Restore their souls? Then what? They're barely fledges."

Wil knew what Angel was implying. The women would be strongly tied to Vincenzo, a bond that having their souls returned wouldn't break. He could well imagine the torture it would be for all involved to have to keep Buffy and Dawn quite literally prisoner. Even if the women wanted to stay with their lovers and mates, they would be compelled to be with Vincenzo. After all, he was their Sire. "Kill Vincenzo," He offered. It would hurt them, but it might be for the best.

"Perhaps," Angel murmured, "If it doesn't drive them insane."

"Leaving him free would be worse," Wil warned ominously.

*****
tbc