Dawn burst through the door sobbing and practically dove onto Spike. The vampire scrambled to make sure all his dangly bits were covered as his mate shook off his post-coital sleep.
"She's back. She's back. She's back." Dawn's whispered words had an oddly autistic feel to it and Spike feared they were going to lose her to the near catatonia that had claimed her after Buffy's death.
"Hold on, Nibblet," he said, pulling her into his covered lap and stroking her hair as Xander looked at him wide-eyed and helpless. "We're here. I've got you."
"Talk to me, Dawnie," Xander said, reaching for his jeans and trying to dress under the sheet. "Who's 'she'? What's got you scared? We'll take her down together, honey, just talk to me."
"Glory. I saw Glory. She got out of a limousine. Oh, God! I saw Glory," Dawn's voice rose in volume and in pitch.
Xander looked up as Willow and Tara came through the still-open door followed closely by Angel and Cordy. "What the hell happened?" he snapped at Cordelia as he stood and zipped his jeans, wishing he had had time to wash up and put on underwear. While part of his mind catalogued Tara taking Dawn into her arms while Spike dressed, unconcerned for his audience once Dawn's attention was off him and Angel's nose twitching at the musky scent of sex, the bulk of his attention was on Cordelia.
"This blonde got out of a limo, with one of the lawyers from Wolfram and Hart. She walked right by us and didn't pay any attention, just went into a story, but Dawn freaked. Who is she? What's going on?" Cordelia stepped back into Angel's arms and he pulled her back against his chest.
"Glory?" Angel's vampiric hearing had obviously caught every word Dawn had said. "I thought she was dead. Didn't you say Buffy had destroyed her?"
Xander snagged Spike's discarded tee shirt from the night before. "Hey," Xander said, his voice muffled as he put it on, "I saw you dust Darla - these friends of yours have issues with letting dead demons stay that way."
"Then it's a good thing you were planning to leave tonight," Angel said, seeming already lost in thought about what he was going to do.
"No way. You can't run from Glory. We tried that. We're taking her out. It's the only way to be sure." Xander shoved past the stunned vampire followed closely by Spike.
Angel and Cordelia followed, leaving the witches to look after Dawn. Still shadowed by his lover, Xander strode down the wide staircase into the lobby. Ignoring a cringing Fred he shouted, "Hey, lawyer-boy!" As Lindsey emerged from the library with Wesley he continued, "I need a core dump on everything you know about Wolfram and Hart."
~~~~~
Lilah rounded on Gavin, fists clenched at her sides. The boutique was oddly untouched, given the shambles the Diva had left of her quarters. An old woman, dressed expensively and obviously a customer was dead and the shop girl sat drooling in the corner, rocking back and forth, murmuring some nonsense rhyme. The Diva stood like a statue her - a beautiful and deadly work of art. Glorificus had her fingertips pressed gently against her temple, and had a look of rapture on her face. Not that after the last twenty-four hours Lilah wouldn't like some of whatever it was she was on, but the last thing she wanted to explain to Linwood was a stoned hellgod.
"You said to keep her amused." Gavin backpedaled in the face of Lilah's near-homicidal rage. Around them a cleaner crew from the firm was getting rid of the evidence. Hopefully, by evening the strange and mysterious disappearance of the two women wouldn't even be a blurb on the news.
"By which I meant anything up to and including your own ritual suicide, but I never gave you permission to remove her from a controlled environment," Lilah snapped.
The cleaners lifted the mindless shopgirl off the floor by her elbows, and as they dragged the limp form past her, Lilah heard her chanting, "Two Slayers, no waiting," over and over.
~~~~~
"Stop sulking," Cordelia said, and handed him a warm mug of blood.
Angel had no time to wonder when the impeccable Cordelia Chase had overcome her aversion to icky bodily fluids to see that he feed. He wasn't sulking, but thought he would sound like a four-year-old if he pointed that out.
He was irritated. Xander Harris had gotten more information out of Lindsey McDonald in the last hour than Angel had gotten in the entire time he had dealt with the lawyer. He refused to admit that it might be because Xander showed no emotional reaction to any answer, he didn't interrupt, and he had an uncanny ability to drill down on important details. Spike was taking notes on everything Lindsey said and making lists of information Xander told him they would need.
When Tara came down to update them on Dawn, Xander gave her the list and told her to have Willow power up the laptop. As she headed back upstairs, Angel felt a strange prickling sensation when Xander added, "Tell her we're going all out, and have her make up a shopping list."
"Xander," Angel said. "You can't declare war on these people. Lindsey, tell him..."
"Tell him what? That they're dangerous? I think he gets that better than you," Lindsey grimaced at the cold coffee he had just sipped.
"Listen, Deadboy, I get it, but you have been doing the whole diplomacy dance with these guys for what? Three years? Fine. You can go right back to dancing once I disarm the hellgod. The lawyers from hell are yours, but Glory is ours and we are not turning tail and hoping she doesn't hold a grudge." Xander rubbed his eyes.
"Xander?" Willow's voice came down from the gallery. "I started... stuff, and I can get most of what I need delivered 'cause hey, it's L.A., but can you get me five hundred gallons of holy water?"
"I'll make some calls - give me an hour," he said. At Angel's incredulous look he added, "What?"
~~~~~
Cordelia marveled as, true to form, a U-Haul showed up within the hour. "Oh, my God, Aura! How are you!" The former Cordette was a junior at UCLA, but they rarely crossed paths; Cordy had avoided her friend, ashamed to no longer be the Queen C everyone expected. Aura introduced her friends. One was a fellow coed, but the other two were aspiring young actress, one of whom - Janet - Cordy had met at an audition.
"We're part of the L.A. branch of C.O.T.H.," Aura said.
The young women shamelessly ogled Gunn and the commandos as they unloaded the truck and stacked its contents in the lobby.
"This been tested?" Spike asked as Graham sat down a ten gallon jug of Polar water.
"We use it all the time, and it's never failed before," said one of the girls.
"Open it." Spike nodded to Finn, who was putting down the container he had just carried in. Riley broke the plastic seal and peeled it off. "Stick your fingers in, " Spike commanded. Riley complied and Graham stood close. Holding out his forearm, Spike said, "Touch me." Riley extended one damp finger to the vampire's exposed flesh. A sizzle sounded as he made contact.
"Vampire!" The young ladies each reached for one of the large bottles.
"Hold it." Xander's voice boomed from above and he ran down the stairs to his lover. "He's with me," he said putting himself between Spike and the women.
"Oh, my God! You're like, him, right? You're that Spike guy! This is so cool! You killed a dragon and you're like five thousand years old and you killed that hell-god person and... this is so cool! Really, it's an honor," the tiny brunette gushed as her sidekick giggled and nodded.
Cordy looked at Xander, who shrugged. Interrupting Spike's fan club, which had grown to include the two other women now clustering around the blonde - who to be honest looked rather dazed - she said, "Not that I'm complaining, but where did you get five hundred gallons of holy water? Do you know how expensive this is?"
"Oh," Janet dismissed the growing pile of bottles, "Father Juan, down at IC, he's like a hundred and three. He doesn't say mass any more but he'd bless anything, including a truck, for a fifty-dollar donation to the orphans and hey, if the truck is filled with bottled water... "
After the girls left, Cordy lifted an eyebrow and said, "Five thousand years old?"
"Don't look at me," Xander said.
Gunn, Finn, and Miller started to move the water to where Willow had set up her magic lab. Xander dragged Spike up to their room to go over the plan. As they crossed the lobby and walked up the stairs Cordy heard Spike say, "What the hell was that about, Pet?"
"Hey, you were a legend long before you started dating me. You know legends... well, they grow a little with each telling." Xander sounded embarrassed.
"Yeah, not what I meant. I know why all your friends are birds - 'cause you're a nancy boy - but why are they all insane?" Spike drawled.
"Whoa, glasshouse-boy, you dated Drusilla for like a million years. I may have you beat on quantity, but you win, hands down - " Xander said.
"Right, don't go there, luv." Finally they were out of earshot.
~~~~~~~
Lilah watched Glory. The crew had simply picked her up as if she were frozen in place. The hellgod now stood in the center of her room. She hadn't moved so much as an eyelash since Lilah had burst onto the scene at the shop. This was more than some sort of intoxication brought on from her impromptu meal. After grilling Gavin about just what had sparked this episode, Lilah had determined that the Diva had fed not from hunger, but from boredom.
Gavin had sounded surprised that Glorificus hadn't even looked at the merchandise. The stupid boy had actually thought to amuse a god with shopping. The Diva's minions had most likely procured everything for her in the past, and if the hellgod had thought at all about why they were at the boutique, shopping would not have crossed her mind. Gavin had described the amused look in Glorificus' eyes as she slipped behind the women as they examined a handbag and how she had plunged her fingers into both skulls.
The idiot boy wouldn't live long enough to develop the ability to shrug off the habit of thinking of their clients as human. Lilah had long ago given up any surprise at the actions of the special clients. Gavin had made a fatal mistake in assuming that because the hellgod looked like a beautiful woman that she could be treated as such. Lilah was sure she could use this to get Linwood to terminate the obsequious young lawyer. Now, she just had to find away to cover up a dysfunctional hellgod, should Glorificus not emerge from contemplating her inner beauty.
Her earlier calls had not led to a connection who could generate portals at will, but a rumor that there was a player in town who might be able to deliver Angelus to the firm before the precogs indicated Darla would return, thus negating the need to open the portal. Her contact was going to set up a meeting with the one being who had survived several previous encounters with the souled vampire, and had almost as deep a connection to him as Darla.
~~~~~~
Faith rolled over, pushing her sweat-soaked hair off her face. Dim light streamed though the bars of her tiny cell and she opened all her senses to the stillness of the prison's night. There was none of the muffled sobs or nighttime ravings she had become so accustomed to and she cautiously lowered herself down from the upper bunk. Her cell, for the moment, was private.
The unnatural stillness was broken by the sound of the cell door, all the cell doors, rolling open. That in itself should have set off a multitude of alarms and brought guards running from all directions, but there wasn't a sound. There was a muffled feeling to the air that she had always associated with major magic. Remembering Wolfram and Hart owed her major payback, Faith crouched in the far corner of her cell and prepared for the worst.
The worst came in the form of a tiny bouncing blue spark. The spark zoomed straight for her and stopped instantly an inch above the tip of her nose.
"What the fuck?" She tried to pull back and see the spark without crossing her eyes but it followed.
"Come. Come." It hummed in a genderless buzz.
"What? Why? Would you back off?" She swatted at it, furiously waving her hand in front of her face.
It bounced back and continued bouncing about the cell and sort of giggled, all the while saying "Come. Come."
"I am not going anywhere - especially with you." Faith frowned and began to get dressed. If this thing was setting her up, well, she had fought naked before but no matter what she had told Buffy's little entourage, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The thought of the late Slayer gave her pause. Maybe this wasn't payback from the lawyers. Maybe the Watchers needed a new Slayer. As in brand new. As in whack Faith.
That gave her an uncomfortable feeling, to say the least. On one hand, she really didn't want to die. On the other, there were things out there, and while she was in here, dallying with redemption, people were dying. Maybe she owed it to her destiny to let the bastards kill her, to let another, better suited to the role, be called. The world was a fucked up place and without B. to watch over it, there was no telling how bad things could get.
"Who wants me to come?" she asked the still-humming spark.
"The seer says come. Come. Come." Its hum increased in volume and Faith got the impression that the spark was fond of this seer.
"What seer? Who does this seer work for?" She wondered if it could answer. Anyone trying to set her up would be hiding who they were - wouldn't they?
"The seer of the unbreathing warrior of light. Come. Come. Hurry. Come." It bounced out the door to the cell and back in like a tiny dog trying to coax a walk out of its owner.
Faith knew only one unbreathing warrior of light, but the spark hadn't said Angel sent it. Why would Cordelia want her to come? Glancing around the cell, she grabbed a few personal items - there weren't many - and followed the spark.
The reason for the eerie silence was evident in her trek out though the open doors. Every being in the prison - guards, prisoners, other staff - was stock still in place, like a giant game of freeze tag. Each one was paused between one instant and the next. All the doors were wide open and as Faith finally stepped off the prison grounds, she heard each and every one swing shut in unison.
"Hurry. Hurry. Come. Come." The spark urged her by zipping around her head and dashing off repeatedly into the darkness. Faith followed the spark at a jog for almost a mile before looking back to see all of the outer lights, which had been noticeably absent, blink on. "Hurry. Not stand - come." The spark began its zipping again.
"All right already, I'm coming." she said with irritation. After another mile she saw it. Sitting in the middle of nowhere, without a light or a building in sight was Angel's great big old boat of a car.
*****
Part 13:
McDonald had to admit he was impressed. Angel had invited Lorne over to pick his brain about any rumors concerning this Glorificus. Xander, however, had latched on to Lorne with the same tenacity he had used in questioning Lindsey. Xander asked questions that never seemed to occur to the souled vamp. The human appeared to be better versed in the subtle dealings of the demon world; he not only asked who was doing what and who was talking to whom, but would ask how another, unrelated third party felt about certain recent alliances. He seemed to realize that a single change anywhere could set off a wealth of consequences. The young man would have made a great lawyer.
Xander had, at first, appeared willing to just listen to Angel question Lorne, until the Pylean had mentioned that someone had been asking for Spike that afternoon. The person had been a half-breed from whom the firm occasionally bought information, and had only heard that Spike might have been there the night before. Given that Spike and Xander had left early, the snitch was unaware that Spike had been with Angel's party. The informant seemed to think it had been a chance meeting of Sire and Childe and that only the location -- Caritas being magically-enforced neutral ground -- had prevented one of their legendary dust-ups. Upon hearing this, Xander's eyes had lit with unholy glee and he had started interrogating Lorne about the snitch. He had even somehow co-opted Lindsey to play secretary, since his lover was off on some errand for him.
"Xander, I don't think..." Angel said. The detective was shifting uncomfortably in the doorway of the library as Lindsey, Wesley, Lorne and Xander sat around the conference table. The notes on the prophesy had been usurped by schematics of the firm's office building, detailed charts of the surrounding buildings and underground structures, along with various lists in Xander's nearly illegible handwriting and Spike's precise clerk-like script.
"No, no. I can work with this..." Xander bounced in his chair and clicked the speed dial on his cell phone. "Are you done?" He asked by way of greeting. "Well, what's taking so long?" Lindsey thought that the young man sounded like an anxious lover rather than someone plotting to invade the devil's law firm. "Well, hurry up... I got an idea! We're gonna have so much fun." Angel groaned and Lindsey smothered his smirk in his hand. "Uh huh," Xander said. "No, go as fast as you can, Angel will understand if you get a ticket. Hurry back."
"Why will I understand..." Angel started and stopped when the young man disconnected the call and batted his long lashes, while giving him an innocent smile. Lindsey lost it and made an odd snorking sound when the vamp said, "Where's my car?"
~~~~~
Cordelia bit her lip and sorted through the pile of clothes. Xander had asked her to put together something stealthy. Of course, being a man, when she had asked him what size he had blinked in confusion and then said "About your size". Her brief sojourn into working retail had shown her that every man answered that question the same way. She had taken in returns size two through twenty for women who brought in birthday presents she had sold their husbands. Thankfully, Tara and Dawn had donated clothing and spilled the beans about who would be wearing it. In addition to wondering if there was anything here slutty enough, Cordelia now had to anticipate Angel's reaction - not to mention Wesley's.
Abandoning her task, Cordy decided that although she had promised to let Xander break the news to Angel, it would be best if she had a word with Wesley herself. She left the third-floor bedroom and stopped next door to see if Fred knew where he was, and ask if she had extras of shampoo and stuff for their 'guest'.
~~~~~
Gunn waited in the cab of his pickup. He had adopted the spy system which had worked so well for the C.O.T.H. when the Initiative had shut down all the cell phones. Miller had been impressed with how the kids had passed messages via joggers from civilians loitering in the area. Gunn had borrowed the manpower from his crew. He felt a little guilty in disrupting their regular patrols, but as his buddy Carl had pointed out, it all balanced out in that this way they didn't feel as indebted for all the commando training.
He noticed Carl rounding the corner, and wondered if anyone would notice that this was the third time this evening that this guy had stopped to tie his shoe by his truck.
"They're still lapping the lobby. It's odd - all the foot patrols. All that should be on their monitors. They have a guy checking all the cars - not that any are let into the garage, but he's waiting at the entrance. He sent two away. " Carl took his time, not looking up as he tied.
"Anything else?" Gunn asked.
"Yeah, I just noticed. That upscale bar off the lobby - it's closed, on a Saturday night," he said.
~~~~~
Lilah sank into the chair behind her desk. She was getting too old for this. She lifted her purse out of a drawer and removed a bottle of pills. She had a prescription, so that there could be no question as to her right to have them, but she rarely permitted herself this weakness. It would too easy for someone like Gavin to exploit. But, as this looked to be her second sleepless night, she shook out two of the tiny white tablets and rinsed them down with cold coffee.
It was just possible that all her phone calls would pay off. She had someone working on setting up a meeting, which would be tonight if fortune smiled. Hopefully she could make Glorificus obsolete before upper management realized the expense this defunct project was going to generate. How does one disposed of a used hellgod?
~~~~~
Faith was almost to the car when a light flared in the deepest shadows off to the left. A sharp, aristocratic face was highlighted by the flickering flame of a lighter. Definitely not Angel, but her senses screamed 'vampire'.
"Get in - now," he said. William the Bloody, dressed in black jeans and a tee shirt and looking like a wet dream. She remembered him from her brief sojourn in Buffy's body. He hadn't seemed dangerous that night in the Bronze; she had even toyed with him. God, she thought, had she really been that stupid or just incredibly naive? She hadn't thought she had much to lose then, but he wasn't some freshly risen minion - she must have been fucking suicidal.
"Well, don't just stand there," he growled, "get in!" He nodded toward the passenger side. It had been so long since she had been this close to any vamp but Angel. Angel no longer sent her instincts into Slayer mode, but she had no idea how long she could stay near this... creature, without doing something stupid.
He said nothing on the ride into LA. He drove fast but safely and didn't appear to be watching her. Of course, if she staked him going ninety down the freeway she'd be a pile of ash too, or worse. As he parked across from a creepy old hotel she asked, "What's going on?"
"Innit obvious?" He pinned her with his laser-blue gaze and said, "It's the end of the world."
The vampire followed her up to the hotel entrance in a silent glide. As Faith opened the door she heard raised voice. One she had almost expected, and one which made her want to squirm with guilt.
"You can't just make a decision like that," Angel shouted. From the entryway Faith could see Cordelia pulling on Angel's arm while Xander held a sobbing Dawn tucked under his arm.
Dawn. How could she have forgotten Buffy's kid sister? She was obviously the girl from the dream, but until that moment Faith had somehow completely erased the girl from her memory.
"Made and done, Deadboy - and if not me, who?" Faith was stunned at the aggressive growl in the young man's voice; this wasn't the Xander she remembered.
She hadn't really paid any attention when she was last in Sunnydale. She vaguely remembered a girl hanging on him... Ann? Anna? He looked good in clothes that molded themselves to his body. And what a body; this wasn't the same skinny boy she had known. He stood toe to toe and eye to eye with Angel. His shoulders were just as broad as the vampire's and even though Xander was only human he radiated a restrained violence that was new and exciting.
"Glory is our responsibility," Xander insisted as Willow's quiet girlfriend took Dawn from him and ushered her up the stairs.
~~~~~~
Gavin slammed the door to his office, which was six floors below where he deserved to be. Lilah had suggested he go home and get some rest. He knew she was up to something, but with the security system still sporadically on and off line he couldn't bribe a guard to leak any information to him. She had gone so far as to imply she would need his help with Glory tomorrow, which almost guaranteed that something was going down tonight. Using his private line he called his contact at Caritas.
~~~~~
Gunn had left Carl in charge of the surveillance. He had a feeling that Harris was only going to use his own people, but wanted to see if he could get dealt into the game. It was probably smart to stick with faces that Wolfram and Hart weren't familiar with but he had enjoyed working with the Sunnydale crew and wanted to again.
As he entered the hotel, Gunn noticed a big-eyed girl looking like she would like to bolt right back outside lingering at the doors. Spike was nearby, but it was unclear if he were her guard or just an amused member of the audience. The girl was a pretty, fragile-looking thing that reminded Gunn strongly of Fred.
"It's okay," he said to her, hoping to put her at ease. "They butt heads all the time but it doesn't mean anything."
She turned a stunned look on him and then smiled tentatively. She really was beautiful. Without any sign of make-up and in nondescript gray attire she still radiated an energy. She wasn't the only one startled by his comment. Spike snickered and Angel gaped and said, "Faith?"
"I... I understand that the world's going to end, again," she said. She pushed back her long brown hair and twisted her fingers around a lock in a nervous gesture.
"I can't believe you did this," Angel said to Xander.
Xander ignored him and nodded to the tiny brunette. "Faith," he said.
"Xander," she said, looking down and shuffling her feet.
Gunn tentatively touched her arm and asked, "Are you all right?"
Xander cleared his throat and seemed to shake off whatever tension the girl's presence had added to the room. "Gunn? Cordy has a room ready for Faith, next to Fred's. Would you show her the way? Faith... you may want to clean up; we're going to go dancing. Your kind of dancing."
As they went up the stairs, Gunn noticed that the arguing was much more subdued.
~~~~~
Tara had taken Dawn out of the battle zone. Willow was frantically preparing for the rest of the evening and Tara needed to rest after what they had just pulled off. It was one thing to see the 'Omega Plan' on paper, and quite another to implement it.
Willow had been right; most of the work had gone into the preparation. The actual spells done tonight had mostly involved setting off other spells that had been primed by ritual all through the summer. She was almost grateful for all of Xander's contingency plans. Willow really needed an outlet to stretch her powers and to hone that clever mind of hers, and preparing for the worst kept her busy, and prevented her from meddling with more dangerous magics out of boredom.
Up on the third floor she and Dawn settled into a cozy alcove, much more like a living room than the spacious lobby. She was unsure where to start and Dawn was tensing up in anticipation.
"Ah... Dawn. Willow wanted me to ask you, just... How much do you remember about Faith?"
"Well, Mom liked her. Buffy was jealous at first. Willow used to defend her and then... something happened, besides the Mayor, because Willow was really angry..."
"Yeah, about that... Listen, it's really important that we don't mention Faith and Xander around Spike. Willow... well, I agree with her, she thinks that we should try to leave the past in the past," Tara said.
Tara was twisting her fingers together and focused on her hands in her lap, so she missed Dawn's shocked look until the girl gasped, "Faith and Xander dated!"
"No! Well, not exactly dated. It's just better if Spike doesn't know -" Tara broke off as one of the old floorboards creaked. She was sure that with the luck of the Hellmouth, Spike would be standing there.
Instead, Gunn nodded and smiled. "She's going to shower. I didn't want to hang around outside her room so... if you could just send her down, I'll go see if we have any leftovers. She shouldn't go on whatever Xander has planned without eating."
As Gunn headed down the stairs, Dawn leaned over to Tara and giggled. "He has it bad."
~~~~~
It had been heaven to shower alone. Faith had changed into a pair of workout pants and a black camisole. She assumed Cordelia had supplied the toiletries. Most were trial-size samples, but she had been grateful for the mascara and lipstick, even though they were obviously the free gifts offered with a fragrance purchase. She had felt naked without makeup and could now face Buffy's team and their justified hostility.
Faith heard the music as soon as she left her room. She followed the soft guitar and a sweet smoky voice to a small parlor in front of the now-defunct elevators. It had a homey look but she figured Angel spent few of his daylight hours there since wide floor-to-ceiling windows looked down over the front drive. The singer had his back to her and his audience consisted of Willow's girlfriend and Buffy's little sister.
He sang, "Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you [1]"
"Faith." Dawn interrupted his song and Faith couldn't have been more surprised when she saw that the singer, who turned quickly, was Lindsey McDonald.
The lawyer looked ten years younger without his corporate suit. He was well-tanned and his sun-streaked hair fell into his eyes. As he pushed it back, she noticed a beaded turquoise bracelet around his wrist.
"Um, hi," Dawn said, with a ghost of her sister's smile. She waved nervously and looked to the blonde beside her.
"You're looking well," Lindsey said. He appeared relaxed as he watched her step further into the room, but Faith could almost see the wheels turning behind his eyes. Apparently she was a bit of a surprise to more than just Angel.
"I'm Tara. We met before... when... you weren't yourself," the blonde woman said with a sly smile.
Faith returned the smile. The shy girl had hardly been able to speak to Faith when she thought Faith was Buffy and Faith appreciated Tara's attempt to lighten the atmosphere. The dark Slayer felt awkward and she was consciously trying not to make fists. Circling around Lindsey, she still hung back, not wanting to appear threatening and unsure of just how relaxed she should try to act. She put both hands behind her and clasped them tightly together so she wouldn't look as nervous as she felt.
Desperate to break the growing silence Faith said, "So... does anyone know what's going on?"
"Being an ex-evil lawyer," Lindsey drawled and winked at Dawn, "I'm kind of out of the loop. But I think that the out-of-town team is planning to take down Wolfram and Hart."
"Oh, no." Dawn bounced. "We... " She looked at Tara and at her nod continued, "That's not in the plan. Xander promised Angel the lawyers are his. We're just going to use the Olaf maneuver on Glory."
"Okay," Lindsey said to the nodding, bouncing teen. He looked at Faith, who was now in front of him and a little to the left of the sofa that Dawn and Tara were on. Faith answered his raised eyebrow with a shrug.
"Glory..." she said. "Angel said that she killed Buffy." Faith winced as she saw pain in the girl's eyes.
Tara put an arm around Dawn's shoulder and said, "No. Buffy defeated Glory - we all thought she was dead. Buffy died to keep the walls between the worlds intact. Glory had already started to lower them and Buffy used her life force to heal the breach."
"But now this Glory is back?" Faith asked.
"Having a hellgod in your debt could be useful in many ways. It looks like the firm has either taken her on as a client or has a client in need of her abilities," Lindsey said.
"So, why am I here?" Faith perched tentatively on the arm of the sofa.
"You and Xander are going to bust Glory out, Spike is going undercover, and once we get her out of their wards, Willow and Tara are sending her to the world without shrimp," Dawn said.
"Huh?" Lindsey and Faith said together.
"Oh, there's a world without shrimp, and a world of perpetual Tuesday, but Willow thought that would be too cruel even for Glory." Tara said.
~~~~~
Lilah stationed the remaining four Anubians inside Glorificus' chamber. There was little danger of her wreaking havoc in her earlier manner as she still stood in the center of the room in almost the same position as earlier. The building was almost as secure as normal so Lilah's biggest concern was that some internal threat would use the hellgod's vulnerability to discredit her. She knew Gavin had remained in the building, so she gave orders that permitted him to visit but that would prevent the Diva from being taken on anymore unauthorized field trips.
The silent jackal-headed demons had refitted the room after her earlier morning tantrum. It was once again an elegant boudoir filled with frilly amenities. Almost as an afterthought as she left, Lilah ordered the demons to place Glorificus on the divan.
She decided to stay close. Besides, she thought, this floor was much better warded. Lilah ordered a sycophant to set up the conference room for her meeting. Once everything was to her liking, she sent the last of the staff home. It was hard to train help and she didn't want her 10:30 mistaking anyone for an appetizer - his file said he was impetuous.
*****
Part 14:
Gunn sat in awe as the tiny brunette polished off her third roast beef sandwich. She licked her fingers and flirted shamelessly, asking if he had said something about dessert. Faith seemed less defensive once she had showered and changed. Or maybe it was just seeing old friends, although there was something up with her and the Sunnydale crew. He was glad he had overheard Tara briefing Dawn on Faith and Xander's history. It put the awkwardness he sensed into perspective. Gunn mused that Harris had been really chancing it to send his current to pick up his ex, but apparently no harm had come from it. He still wasn't sure where Xander had sent the vampire, having skirted the muted muttering coming from the library when he had been hunting up some food for their guest. He hoped that Faith was going to stick around once Xander had taken care of this Glory. Since Xander seemed to have gotten custody of the friends after their break-up, maybe Faith could be persuaded to join the agency.
~~~~~
Lorne disconnected the call on his cell phone . He looked at Spike, sitting next to him at the darkened conference table, and said, "She is expecting you at 10:30. Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Spike," Angel interjected before the blonde could answer, "this isn't a game. This firm is made up of, and deals with, demons of all natures, including vampires. The building has unimaginable wards and security systems-"
"Covered, Deadboy," Xander said and nodded to Willow.
Willow set down her mocha and started to tap out a key sequence on her laptop. A wire ran from the computer to a slide projector and schematics appeared on a screen fastened to the front of the far set of bookshelves. She bounced in her chair as she outlined the information she had borrowed from the firm and added the addendums Lindsey had supplied. "Fortunately for us, they had some sort of accident last night."
"Accident?" Angel asked.
"Glory is notoriously hard on property," Xander said.
"I've been tweaking their system, both magically and software-wise, off and on. It appears to them as if the problems are improving, but I can control the level of surveillance their system will offer and shut it down entirely if you need," she said.
As she reached for the coffee again her hand encountered Tara's. "I think you've had enough for now," the blonde said, having slipped in during Willow's rapid fire lecture.
"How's Dawn?" Willow, Xander and Spike said in unison.
"She fine," Dawn said from her seat near the door.
Angel chuckled and smirked at his Childe. Spike growled and said, "You shouldn't be here, Nibblet. What say the Seer takes you to her place?"
"I'm staying. It's bad enough you're walking right in there... I can't be expected to just not think about it. I want to be here so I'll know... if anything..."
Spike was by her side in a instant. He knelt next to her and whispered, "Hush, now. None of that."
A few tears had slipped out and she wiped them away and said, "I saw what she did... before. You were... God, you couldn't see, you could hardly move... she ... "
Xander left his lists and rose from his seat. He crossed cautiously to Dawn and looked down at the frightened girl. "I swear to you, I won't let anything happen to him... Dawnie, I ... " He cupped her cheek and she threw her arms around him, pressing her face to his stomach.
"It's all right, luv. I'm not taking her on alone this time. Got Red watching my back, " Spike said. "You trust us, Nibblet. We'll make sure the nasty bitch never frightens you again."
"It's just... when I thought about you using the Olaf maneuver on her, I never thought you would be up close and personal. This," she said and gestured to the projection, "all seems too real."
~~~~~
When the time came, there was organized chaos. Last minute instructions from the witch, Xander going over the plan one more time, Spike wrapping Dawn in his duster even though it was almost ninety degrees outside. Gunn pulled back his people and he, Angel, Miller, and Finn each took a compass point one block from the firm and waited. Faith followed Xander and Spike, hoping they had a chance in hell to pull this off without someone dying. Riley hadn't so much as looked her in the eye and his friend looked ready to kill her.
They walked swiftly down the sidewalk. Outwardly, she guessed she looked as if she were being protected, flanked as she was by the two larger men. They ducked down into the entrance of the parking garage. Xander bounced and babbled about calling the Triple A while Spike took the guard out, snapping his neck with a eerie calm. The vampire buttoned up the shirt of the blood-free uniform over Xander's broad chest. While the corpse cooled, he looked deep into the young man's eyes and whispered, "No heroics, eh? Generals're supposed to think up the plans, not die on the field of battle."
Faith got the shock of her life when the lethal blond pulled Xander's face down to his and kissed him with an intensity that could melt asphalt.
Xander laughed and said, "Don't do that - you know my brain shuts down for sex." He was still smiling when he traced the angular line of the vampire's cheek. He sighed and said, "Okay, from here on in it's by the numbers. Give me 20 minutes - that'll make you 10 minutes late for your meeting and she'll expect at least that - then go in the front. I'll be back here in 30 and let Faith in. You stall, be annoying, pretend she's Angel, but keep her talking. Wait for the signal-"
"What signal?" Faith said.
"The scent of my blood. He can sense it... well, pretty far," Xander said.
"I can't give that signal. What if something happens to you?" Faith said.
"Don't let anything happen to him, Slayer," Spike hissed, shifting to gameface.
"Do I have to separate the two of you? Because I will. I mean it, I'll turn this car right around." Xander poked Spike in the chest as he spoke.
Spike gave him a rueful smile and said, "You're not indestructible, Pet."
"I'm a hell of a lot harder to kill than I used to be, and I survived fine before I became your snuggle bunny," Xander said. "I need you two to work together. If I come down here and find one of you dead or dusted, the one still standing is going to wish Glory was all they had to worry about."
Faith nodded and looked down. Peeking up under her lashes she saw William the Bloody capitulate to please his human lover and be rewarded with a deep kiss, heedless of his fangs. They broke apart, eyes wide and lips kiss-bruised. Spike had shifted to his human guise during the kiss. Xander seemed to waver for the first time since she saw him in heated debate with Angel, but shook off whatever doubts he had and stepped through the service access to the building.
She wished she had more information. Which, when she thought about it, was pretty amusing. She had spent most of her career as a Slayer just wanting to be told what to kill and how. Now, basically that was how she was being treated, and surprise, she didn't like being treated like a weapon.
Patience was not one of the vampire's virtues, if he had any. Spike paced and smoked and whirled on her suddenly and hissed, "Slayer, quit your wool-gathering. You be ready when my boy comes back. Anything happens to him and I'll make you beg to die."
"Some of us have never fought hellgods. I'm just trying to be prepared, okay?" Faith was feeling cornered. In the past, running had always solved that problem, but she doubted she would be able to run from the witches who had basically erased her existence. Willow's girlfriend had provided the clearest translation of Sunnydale-speak to explain that although everyone in the Scoobies and Angel's little family would remember her, only those carefully warded would remember any previous encounters. That might cover some of the Watchers; Willow wasn't sure. Lindsey thought it might cover some of Wolfram and Hart's upper echelons.
Spike seemed to be considering her closely. She doubted it was pity. More likely he felt the knowledge would protect Xander, but he began to detail Glory's strengths--she was like Superman in drag--and weaknesses-she had none. He told her how she fed and what the results were.
Soon it was time, and he left to enter the building through the front entrance.
~~~~
Willow sat in front of her laptop, her hand phased into the keyboard. Images flashed across the screen, reflected in her mirror-like eyes. Her hair lifted in a gentle breeze that blew from the screen. Tara stood behind her. The blond held her palms inches away from her lover's temples and a soft blue-green glow surrounded her fingertips. Wesley turned way from the images frantically flashing across the screen when Willow whispered in an unearthly voice, "They're in."
~~~~
Xander opened the door to the deserted office with his pass key. He closed and locked it as soon as Faith slipped in behind him. Lindsey had been sure that that the firm's 'guests' would be held on the next floor up. Above that one, only the senior partners had space. After the Darla incident, Lindsey had been sure they wouldn't let any acquisitions out of the building's most secure areas. Which, Xander thought, didn't explain the shopping. He jumped on a desk and removed the air conditioning vent cover. Cupping his hands, Xander silently offered Faith a boost. She gave him an odd look before placing her foot in them and pulling herself up into the vent. Turning around, she had the same puzzled look when Xander handed her up the vent cover. He then climbed up after her and used a few precious minutes reattaching the cover. They followed the vent to a vertical shaft and began the grueling climb up to the next floor. The sides were smooth and slick and the only way to move was by keeping pressure on either side of the vent as they slowly shimmied up. Faith reached the next floor's ceiling long before Xander and when he pulled himself up she was already down at the access a good fifty feet away, laying in a glow of light. He slowly crept closer and heard voices before he reached the light.
"Oy, I am not bleeding Drusilla. You cannot pay me off with dolls and ribbons. If I help you on this, the poof is mine." Spike growled.
"Master...Spike. Be reasonable. The firm can't have you dusting Angel - that would defeat the purpose," a woman's voice said.
"Dust him? Who said I want to dust him? What kind of monster do you take me for? He's my Sire. I'm not some soul-having poofter, nancing about doing good for puppies and children and sugar plum fairies. Just want to tie him up, burn his hair and beat him senseless... 'til he loves me again." Spike ended by putting his feet up on an expensive desk. His back was to the vent the woman who was facing him looked as if she didn't like her job at the moment.
Faith was stifling a snicker. Whether it was at the mental image of Spike beating Angel, or of Angel with burnt hair, Xander wasn't sure, but he nudged her and they moved on down the vent. So far the plan was holding together - that had Xander worried.
The sight of Spike's lean form lounging with his back to the vent had gone a long way to relaxing Xander's screaming nerves. With a practiced eye he had evaluated the well-dressed lawyer meeting with his lover. She looked old. Older that Lindsey had made her sound, if this was the Morgan woman who had scheduled the meeting with Spike. Not that he would have bet on Lara Croft against William the Bloody, but then Willow didn't look all that dangerous either.
~~~~
Gavin dismissed the Anubian demons and shut the door. Glorificus lounged on a backless couch, her eyes unfocused and her features slack. She was humming tunelessly. That was new; something was wrong. He wouldn't have been concerned if he could have been certain that Lilah would get the blame, but Lilah had an irritating habit of coming out of these debacles smelling like a rose. After all the time and resources the firm had invested in this project, he shuddered to think what would happen if the senior partners found out they had a malfunctioning hellgod.
When he had stumbled onto Lilah's plan, it had seemed well worth weaseling his way onboard. Although the window of opportunity for Glorificus to return to her own realm was forever gone, her ability to access other worlds was invaluable. From the files he had pilfered it seemed that the cost in keeping the hellgod fed had been deemed a fiscally sound investment. The shopping incident was unfortunate, not in the mundane people who had served as lunch, but in this unexpected result.
The dossier that Wolfram and Hart had on Glorificus indicated that without draining the minds of mortals she would become weakened and disoriented, but after feeding she was strong and in control of her not inconsiderable power. Yet this feeding had seemed as painful for Glorificus as it was for the worthless humans. Glory had neither moved nor spoken since feeding. This deficit was not something Lilah could sweep under the rug, and Gavin was here to make sure he didn't take the fall.
Glory's couch was surrounded by fresh flowers and a fruit basket was on a low table next to it. She showed no recognition of the lawyer and did not acknowledge his presence. She sat, still in the short blue shift from earlier.
"Well now," Gavin attempted to sound unconcerned, "I hope everything is to your liking." He crossed to her and lifted a chilled bottle of champagne from its icy home in an ornate silver holder. "If there is anything you need, you must let me know and it will immediately be provided." He filled a glass and gently placed in next to her lax hand.
He started in shock when the fingers twitched and for just an instant blurred. The hand that lifted the glass from his was smaller and lacked Glory's red lacquered nails. Gavin looked up, stunned, into now-hazel eyes. This blond was unexpected. Glory had hidden for years in the mortal she had been bound to, but that one had been male. Confident that the pretty young girl was no threat, he pulled out his phone, intent on informing the upper echelons of this development. The shock of seeing the stranger in place of the hellgod was nothing compared to the astonishment he experienced when that slender young woman's hand moved like a striking cobra to first grab and then crush his phone to fragments in her delicate grip.
"This place..." The woman spoke hesitantly. Looking around with dazed eyes, her forehead scrunched up confusion. "This place feels...bad." She turned hard eyes on Gavin and looked as if she would say more but cocked her head at the sounds of a scuffle outside.
~~~~
"Er, hello?" A distinctly British voice called out from the lobby.
"Giles!" Dawn jumped up and rushed to the Watcher.
Cordelia turned in astonishment from the show Willow was still putting on and followed her out of the library. "Giles?"
Wesley was in his office and looked up from his phone call to nod a greeting.
"Not that we're not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Cordelia asked.
"I called him. He brought the thing. In case, well, it looks like the thing that worked on Glory before... and... I was worried, all right?" Dawn stomped her foot and sat down heavily. Fred crept out from a dim corridor that lead off the lobby and sat next to her.
"Hi," Fred waved. Cordelia did the introductions and was in the middle of bringing Giles up to speed on Xander's plan. It wasn't long before Fred and Dawn brought in a tray of tea.
Wesley joined them and confirmed that the warehouse where they planned to do the transport spell was set up and secure. It was only two blocks away and they would move the witches as soon as they had confirmation that their people had left the Wolfram and Hart's building.
~~~~~
So much for the plan, Xander thought. Faith was in her element, waling away on some dog-headed guard. A slam into the wall had given Xander a nose bleed, which had brought Spike barreling down the hall. His overprotective lover had remembered enough of the plan to bring his lawyer friend with him, but apparently the sight of Xander fighting of one of the dog-demons had Spike embracing his inner demon. He dove into the fray.
The lawyer woman was turning gray. Xander wasn't sure if it was the sight of the carnage, or the fact that until the last second, even Xander hadn't thought Spike was going to let go of her arm before engaging the guards.
The door that the demon-guards had been stationed at was the most likely place to find Glory. The melee left the door unguarded and Xander kicked it open. Pushing the lawyer in ahead of him, he figured that at least it would be out of the bloodbath in the corridor.
~~~~~
Gunn kept the binoculars trained on the entrance to the parking garage. Miller and Finn had a van, rented for the transport to the warehouse. If everything went according to Harris' plan he would call them for the pick up and that tiny girl and the vamp would help shove the hellgod into the back. The witches had put up a field that had contained the god briefly before and they hoped it would work until they could teleport her to another dimension. Xander had mumbled "without the van, please" when detailing that part of the plan since he had rented it with his credit card and was not looking forward to reporting it stolen.
~~~~~
Lilah wished she had time to savor the smug look on Gavin's face turn to shock as she was hurled though the doorway to the floor to his feet. He had no time to enjoy her submissive position before the tall, dark-haired security guard followed her into the room.
"What is the meaning of..." As Gavin stood, the sounds of fighting in the corridor consisted of low grunts and the unmistakable sound of flesh against flesh. Dark blood splattered the door and continued to splurt in decreasing arcs. A severed limb of one of the demons dropped into view in the partially open door way.
"Sit down, shut up and don't move," the guard said.
Lilah tried to reach for her phone and had it kicked out of her hand by the guard's heavy boot. There was a cracking sound when her fingers broke. Gavin tried to use the distraction to reach for his gun. He fell back onto the couch with a scream of indescribable pain. Lilah had been told once that a broken kneecap felt like your leg from the knee down had been dipped in molten metal. His gun had landed on the floor over by the wall, there was no way she was going to try and get it. She hadn't seen the man kick, hadn't seen that heavily-booted foot connect with Gavin's knee cap, although the result was apparent. As the sobbing lawyer lay on the floor, she idly wondered if he would ever walk again; provided, of course, he lived though this - whatever this was.
"I thought lawyers were supposed to develop listening skills?" the guard asked.
Gavin could only manage to whimper. Lilah was in pain but she wasn't as afraid of the hard-eyed young man as she was the vampire who strolled into the room. William the Bloody. She had reviewed the file on him - first when they had contacted Drusilla and then again when she had set up her meeting. In the hallway, Lilah had thought that the Lady Drusilla had accompanied her paramour on this invasion. But Drusilla had barely consented to modern fashion, and then only long dresses, and the tiny blood-covered brunette who followed the vampire in from the battle was in skin-tight leather pants and a black camisole.
"Oh, God. Faith," Lilah whispered.
Gavin had thankfully missed the firm's venture into contracting a Slayer, but Lilah was willing to bet he had heard the tales. The night had just gotten worse, she thought, and it took a lot to make a shattered kneecap the upside of the evening.
"B., is that you?" Faith said.
The tiny blond turned toward the dark slayer. Gavin's crushed cell phone was still in her hand. She held out the remnants, palm up, like a child with a sticky candy. The guard, who was obviously not a guard, took the shattered pieces and stroked the side of the girl's face. "What have they done to you?" he asked, before turning hard eyes onto the lawyers.
The girl moaned softly and was replaced by the Glorificus. The guard drew back quickly and ended up on his ass, swearing under his breath. Glory's eyes were still unfocused. The vampire helped the human stand and the dark Slayer stepped close to them. "This changes the plan, right? What do you want me to do?" Before the man could answer, Lilah watched the god's strong, delicate fingers grab Gavin's head and his face contort with excruciating pain as they slipped inside.
Glory's scream drowned out Gavin's and Lilah tried to crawl away as his corpse hit the floor. This was not in the profile. They had expected have to living beings after she fed on their minds. Her proposal had shown that Glory could feed off of those individuals scheduled to be deposited into the now-reestablished body bank. The fiscal viability of this venture would change drastically if they couldn't recycle the victims. First the shopkeeper and the old woman, and now Gavin. Not only was her feeding changing styles but it was more rapid than predicted. Glorificus' body convulsed. The 'feedings' were hurting her as much as her prey. Suddenly the host was back, panting and blinking in confusion.
"Spike, carry her. Do not let her hands near your head, drop her if you have to. Faith, grab the lawyer." The two killers followed the human's orders. As they headed down the service corridors, he continued, "Stealth is out. Spike, take them both to the pick-up site. Faith, try and keep the lawyer conscious. I want her to deliver a message."
"Xan..." the vampire whispered and leaned into the human, seeming to ignore the almost catatonic host in his arms.
They crowded into a service elevator and the human dressed as a guard used a passkey to control it. Lilah wasn't sure which was more frightening; the fact that William the Bloody was not only obeying but concerned for this human, or the fact that her only hope of escaping Faith's homicidal tendencies was to hope that she would listen to this Xan.
"Let the Slayer take..."
"Once these two are in the witches' care - make sure you tell Wills the change in the plan," he said, pausing to brush back the long hair of the new host, "... just get them out of here and see that Gunn gets everyone out of the area. Now go, I have a building to level." Lilah didn't have time to gasp as he shoved them out into the parking garage before taking the elevator back up.
*****