A/N – Over the past week, I’ve been out of town for four days, and have also suffered the indignity of the mother of all migraine headaches… so forgive me for the delayed post!  But you shouldn’t be too upset… it is longer than any other post I’ve had!!!  So enjoy it while it lasts!

Trinity S…  I’m glad that you took the time to take a look at my story, and I’m happy you think it’s okay.  I hope you continue to read it…  As for the Cordy/Buffy comparison, I know what you are talking about.  Yet, I still feel that Cordy, despite her initial reaction and dealings with everything demon-like, accepts Angel for who, what and how he is more so than Buffy ever did.  Buffy and Angel had a torturous love and Buffy’s dealings with Angel’s vampire side (even in the beginning before Angelus) always seemed a little forced to me – which is totally understandable considering she’s the Slayer.  Cordy and Angel had moved on to that ‘loving the good and the bad’ part of their relationship which would have made them a super couple to rival the tragic affair that was Angel/Buffy.  Sadly, Angel and Buffy never got to that point and I don’t think they ever will… especially since they’ve been apart for 4 years and have grown past each other.  But that’s just my own honest opinion.  I don’t try to get people to subscribe to my point of view... so I welcome your disagreement! :)  Thanks for the review!

Diana Troy…  Whoohoo!  I’m glad you liked it!  This part was originally a combination of the part I posted before and this part.  But it was getting long and I was getting VERY anxious to post, as I’m sure all my readers were as well.  As for the C/B moments, Cordelia and Buffy have both matured (sort of) past their HS selves.  Rather than respond, I felt Cordy needed to walk away so that Spike’s speech would have a little more impact.  And Buffy is only acting out of hurt.  You’ll see a better Buffy coming up.  Let me know how you like it!

Genevieve719…  My yes, it’s been a while.  So sorry to leave everyone in the lurch like that!  As I said before, I was just brain dead for a long time there.  My Angel muse had taken a vacation and not included me.  Thank you for the kind words… and I really liked the Spike defense as well.  I hope ya like this part… :)

Queen C…  Welcome to Purgatory!  I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay so far!  And please let me know if there’s anything I can do to make your stay even more pleasant!  Thank you for the review & I look forward to seeing more!  I’m glad you like the story… :)

Kool-gyrl…  I’m really glad you seem to be enjoying it!  I hope you keep reading!

Toasterlicious…  What a name!  Love it!  And I’m glad you like this!  I can’t wait to write what happens next!

Anne…  You know what?  I make myself miss Cordy as well.  She was so great.  And yes… there is definitely more A/C to come.  I can’t live without ‘em…  

“Angel?” Wes inquired as he stepped into the vampire’s office.  There was no answer as the chair Angel sat it didn’t turn to face the newly arrived man.  Wes entered the room completely and closed the door behind him.

“I take it things didn’t go well with Buffy?” he ventured.  There was a short chuckled from the vampire.

“I don’t think we had a long enough conversation to rate it,” Angel said as he finally turned to look at Wesley.  The Englishman nodded in understanding as he approached the desk and took a seat in one of the empty chairs.

“I see,” he said.  “Well… then I suppose I should tell you that Buffy went on a slight war-path as she exited your office.  Cordelia being the focal point of her anger, as nature would course it.”  Angel let out a sigh.

“Well, that should accomplish pissing Cordy off more… enough where she’ll ultimately blame me for it,” he said.

“You two seemed to be on the mend since the whole issue with… Conner,” Wes noted, a slight waver to his voice at the mention of the boy.  “But I’m afraid you’ve most likely taken a few steps back in her regard since Buffy’s arrival.  May I suggest you talk to her?”  

“How am I supposed to do that, Wes?  Cordelia won’t even look at me… not really…” the vampire said, frustration evident in his voice.  Wes nodded once.

“I can understand your hesitancy to press the issue, since it is one of Cordy’s tender spots,” Wesley started, but Angel held up his hand.

“Listen, Wes, I’d rather not talk about Cordy right now.  And since you’re here, I know you’ve got something on your mind.  What is it?” Angel asked wearily.  Wes let out a sigh of his own.

“Well, part was about Cordy.  But since we’re not discussing her… then I’d like to discuss Conner,” the ex-watcher said.  Angel’s eyes snapped to look at him.

“We don’t know anything about what’s going on with Conner,” Angel said, a slight edge of panic raising his voice slightly.  Wes took off his glasses to rub an imaginary spot off of them as he cleared his throat.  It was a nervous tic that his mentor, Rupert Giles, usually succumbed to when he was uncomfortable.

“Yes… well, that’s not what I wish to discuss,” Wes said finally as he placed his glasses back on.  “That is Conner of now… I want to talk about Conner of the past…”  Angel’s eyes went to the scar that was now prominent on the man’s neck.

“Wes, we don’t need to…” Angel started.

“Yes, Angel.  We do,” Wes interrupted.  “I never could understand it, you see.  The nonchalance… and the often-times veiled anger directed towards me.  But now… now that I’ve seen everything, I don’t understand why you’ve only tried to kill me once.”

“Wesley…” Angel started, but Wes didn’t hear him.  His blue eyes were unfocused and seeing the past in his mind.

“It was the ultimate betrayal.  I took your son – gave him to the enemy.  And to compound that sin, I secreted away all the information I uncovered about him thinking I could undo the prophecy on my own,” Wes said.  Angel stood and paced behind his desk.

“Wes… I may not understand your reasoning behind not telling us.  But after all the time I’ve had this to myself, I’ve come to understand why you took Conner.  You were looking out for him,” Angel conceded.  Wes finally looked up at Angel.

“After everything we’ve all been through, Angel, I should have known that one of us working on our own is not nearly as competent as us working as a team.  We learned that with Gunn and his gang, we learned that through you and your…” Wes started.

“Don’t mention anything that has to do with a color, Wes.  I’m warning you…” Angel growled.  Wesley let a small smile form on his face.

“Your… experience…” he continued.  Then, he sobered completely again.  “The past has taught us that we never do well on our own.  We do extraordinary things as a team, but as a single entity, we’ve done more than our share of harm.  And there has been one person that has always loyally hit that point home…”  Angel was silent for a second.

“We’re not talking about her, Wes,” he said after a moment.  Wes didn’t say anything as he thought over his words, his frustration.

“That’s what we agreed, but I’m going to have to disagree now.  As I think over everything, this is something we can’t afford not to talk about.  We almost lost her again, Angel.  And we didn’t fight for her.  We were lucky that we got this second chance.  It should be our wake up call.  We can’t afford to not fight for her again… for anyone again.  All of us failed Cordelia before…  but you most of all.  Don’t you see?  After she returned to us, we all should have known.  I chastised you after your epiphany for not knowing Cordelia all the while saying I did – but to be honest, you knew her more than we all like to think we did.  We all let her slip through our fingers, never really knowing that we were losing her.  We are all unexcused from that failing… but you… you loved her.  Or at least you gave the impression that you did,” Wes said forcefully.  Angel slapped his hands down on his desk.

“I did love her!  I still do love her, Wesley!” he said, his tone bordering on a yell.  Wes stood as well, a fierce look on his face. 

“Then don’t you think it’s time to fight for her again?  But then, you never really fought for her, did you?  Once you acknowledged your feelings, you stopped fighting for her… oh, it’s all quite clear now… the Groosalug, Conner, Jasmine, the Powers… They all took a part of her and you let them.  It’s funny how, before, no one could get away with touching her… even just looking at her without you turning vicious.  But then it seems you couldn’t care less…  No wonder why Cordelia never really believed in or trusted your feelings.  She had faith in you, yes.  Blind faith, in fact, in your inherent goodness.  But you know how it’s said… blind faith leads the lamb to slaughter.  That’s exactly what happened to her.  And it’s about time you…” Wes was cut off by the opening of the office door.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Lorne called, holding up his hands in defense of himself as the two angry men spun around to look at him.  “Whatever it is, I’m not a part of it…  I’m just here to impart that Fred and Gunn may have found something you both should probably see.  And can I say in passing mention that the vibes in here are downright nuclear?  May I suggest toning down the potential atom bomb a bit?”  Angel growled, sending a slight shiver through the green demon, but after a second the vampire calmed himself and stood up straight.

“What did they find, Lorne?” he asked.  Lorne assessed the vampire’s mood, and somewhat reassured by the not quite red, not yet white aura, he cleared his throat.

“Well… going off of the English stud-muffin’s earlier transcribings, we may have found the link between our new text and the… oh… Nyazian scrolls…” the demon said with a bit of unease.  Angel looked slightly confused in thought, but Wesley’s mind came back to one thing.

“Conner…” he said.  Lorne pointed a finger at the man.

“Right-o amigo…  Fred said something about a Destroyer…” he said, causing both Wes and Angel to look at each other.

“Well, gee… isn’t that just terrific?  Now we have two ancient texts that talk of Conner being the Destroyer.  I’m sensing not-so-good things to come,” Cordelia said from the doorway.  All eyes turned to her as she stood next to Gunn and Fred.  Wes cleared his throat uncomfortably, the old but still slightly unfamiliar memories sitting uneasily with him.

“Yes, well… we’ll have to do everything in our power to make sure that whatever deals with Conner never comes to pass,” the Englishman said, emphasizing the ‘our’ as his eyes found something intriguing on the carpet.  Cordelia crossed the room to where Wes sat and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

“What else have you two found?” Angel asked Fred and Gunn.  Fred crossed the room as well and handed a book she was holding to Wesley.

“Well,” the small Texan started as she pointed to a passage.  “This part here says something about the human vessel of two vampires… that’s about as far as we could get translated without our heads exploding.  I still don’t remember everything from… before… but I remember the baby.  And I know enough that this passage is referencing him.  Right?”  The uncertainty on the girl’s face mirrored everyone’s thoughts.  Well, everyone except for one.

“The gang’s all here…” a voice interrupted everyone’s musings from the door.  “It seems that you’ve taken my reading suggestions to heart.  It kinda makes me feel like one of the gang… I think I’m getting a little teary-eyed…”  Angel stood up straight and crossed his arms.

“What are you doing here, Lindsey?” he asked.  Cordelia looked shocked at the new arrival.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” she said, crossing her own arms.  Lindsey smirked as he gave Cordelia a once over.

“Back in the flesh, I see.  Stellar choice.  And it was good to see the Powers step in for you, for once.  If they hadn’t… the Senior Partners would have.  And it wouldn’t have been pretty,” the ex-lawyer said.  Cordelia approached the man with a frown on her face.  She stopped a few feet away from him.

“Are you saying that it was the Powers that took my body before I woke up?” she asked.  Lindsey gave her an actual smile.

“Couldn’t have evil wreaking havoc on our pretty, young, ex-Seer, now could we?” he asked, with a quick glance around the room at the four very uncomfortable forms.

“Why would the Senior Partners want to have anything to do with me?” Cordelia asked.  Lindsey smiled again as he sat himself in one of Angel’s less-than-comfortable office chairs.

“Let’s just say distraction is the key right now, okay?  The Senior Partners have had a hand in things since the beginning.  And right now… I get some sort of maniacal glee from telling all of you that you’ve been their little puppets from the get-go of this little End of Days plot.  Kinda makes me want to break out into song…” the ex-lawyer said as he sat back, smugly, in the chair.

“You’ll get no complaints from this end of the room, my sweet-voiced sugar muffin.  Your voice is the gift that keeps on giving,” Lorne’s voice broke in.  “But… we don’t have time for that right now. What we may have here, folks, is a situation that warrants monitoring… and possibly, dare I say, a bit of research?”  The green demon pointed to the very busy doorway to where Conner and Spike stood – the kid sending out aura waves equivalent to a tsunami.

“What are you talking about, Lorne?” Fred asked.  Lorne gave the girl a wavering smile.

“What I’m saying, Fredikins, is that the earlier attack may not have accomplished exactly what they wanted… but it may have come close…  They may not have gotten Conner, but they may have gotten something else they wanted,” the green demon said evasively, trying not to give the whole pie away.  What he read from the nipper wasn’t his to tell.

“Spit it out, Lorne.  What’s have you read?  What have they got?” Angel asked, impatient at the demon’s long-winded answers.  Lorne rolled his eyes as he pointed to the boy.

“Go ahead, kiddo.  Time to spill the beans for all the non-destiny readers…” he told him.  The young man looked one part shocked and two parts uncomfortable as he tugged nervously at the cuffs of his shirt.  He looked back at Lorne, who waved his hands for him to continue.

“Well… when those… things… jumped me, they stuck something in my side.  It wasn’t a needle.  It was something larger than a needle, but not like a knife or anything… I don’t know why they did it.  It wasn’t to kill me.  It wasn’t even to hurt me.  And I can’t tell you what it did to me either, except leave a painful hole in me,” he said before lifting his shirt to show everyone the small, quarter-sized hole that looked to be healing quicker than normal on the side of his abdomen.  Fred knelt down slightly to get a closer look at the wound.

“Why didn’t you say anything?  I could have bandaged it for you,” she said.  Conner let his shirt drop as he looked around the room.

“It was worse before we came here.  It’s stopped bleeding and it seems like it’s going away,” he told them.  Something the boy said caused Wes to stand up quickly and run out of the office, much to the confusion of his colleagues.  He then ran back into the room, carrying the scroll and placed it on Angel’s desk.  He then grabbed the text that Fred had given to him and placed it next to the scroll.  His fingers ran over the phrase that the scientist had pointed out earlier to him, and then seemed to cross reference it to something in the scroll.  Everyone stayed silent, waiting for a cue from the Englishman as to what was going on.  Lorne suddenly cleared his throat.

“Am I sensing a silent ‘Eureka’ here, my strudel?  Because if I am, I won’t hesitate in saying that it will be much more fun if you share with the rest of the class,” the demon said.  Wes muttered to himself for a second, trying words out on his tongue.  And after a few more seconds, he stood up straight, his finger on a word he’d found. 

“The word in this text… ‘foleolfor’… I believe it to be a combined word of the ancient languages.  ‘Fola’ in Celtic means blood.  ‘Heolfor’ in Anglo-Saxon means blood as well.  So, from the loose translation, ‘foleolfor’ would mean blood as well.  And it makes sense, since the Celtic words ‘taghaim’ and ‘taidhbhse’ are used in conjunction.  One means ‘calling of the dead’ and the other means ‘spirit of the dead’.  So… I’m going on a limb here to say that blood is needed to call upon some form of evil,” Wes said as he searched out more words on the scroll that could shed light upon the mystery at hand, his glance occasionally falling on the teenager in front of him.  The sound of clapping caused everyone to turn.  Lindsey sat, lounging in Angel’s chair as he continued to applaud them.

“By George, I think you’ve got it,” he said.  “You’re on the right track, boys and girls… demons and vampires…”  Angel glared at the man.

“Lindsey, if you know what’s going on, why don’t you save yourself the eventual pain and tell us,” he said.  Lindsey smirked.

“Now why would I do that?  I hate you guys…” he stated simply as he stood up.  “By all rights, I shouldn’t even be here imparting my wisdom upon you…”

“Then why are you?” Cordelia asked.  He turned to look at her.

“Well… I may not like all of you… and Wolfram & Hart certainly hasn’t won my affection… but I do like the world.  And I like living in the world…” he said.  Cordelia let out a snort.

“Of course you do, so you can try to take it over eventually,” she said.  Lindsey stepped closer to her, eye-to-eye.

“Do I really look like a world-domination threat?” he asked.  Not liking the way Lindsey addressed her, or how close he stood, Angel growled low in his throat as he insinuated himself between the two.  Cordelia, sensing Angel’s temper about to snap, reached up and laid a restraining hand on his shoulder as she stepped by him.

“No, Lindsey, you don’t look like a threat at all.  But they say looks can be deceiving.  And you’ve never been an ‘all for one, one for all’ sort of snake, so there’s an agenda here.  We’re not stupid enough to think that this ‘friendly guidance’ of yours is anything but.  So… you should just tell us what it is we need to know and get the hell out,” Cordelia said harshly.  Lindsey looked around the room at everyone who seemed to be mesmerized by the exchange, and then back to Cordelia.

“Such hostility…  You’re a smart one, Miss Chase.  The Senior Partners need to look out for you,” he said, pointing a quick finger in her direction before he turned and headed towards the door.

“Or do they need to look out for you?” Cordelia asked, causing him to stop and turn to look at her at the door.

“The kid is important.  There’s a reason why he’s talked about in two ancient texts – granted one was… altered… slightly by Sahjahn’s hand.  But he was still a reckoning force the world would have had to deal with.  The word ‘Destroyer’ isn’t just a title… it’s a prophecy all its own,” he said before exiting.  The room was silent as everyone thought over the lawyer’s words.

“He was talking about me, wasn’t he?” Conner finally said.  No one answered.  “I have no idea who any of you people are, I have crazy people in robes following me, there were flashbacks to a life I never led, and that guy was talking about me…  I want to know what’s going on!”  All eyes went to Angel, who looked like he had just swallowed a porcupine.  Who’d have thought the vampire would have to deal with a demanding teenager only a year or so after he came into being.  Wes, knowing he was going to be of no assistance, picked up the scroll and the book.

“I’m… going to go… find the rest of the translation,” the man stumbled uncomfortably as he rushed out the door.  Gunn pointed towards the door as well.

“Somewhere in the building there’s a melancholy Slayer… I’m going to go see if she wants to beat something up,” he said, quickly taking the path that Wes took.  Fred looked worried.

“Well… I’m going to go see if Wes needs any help,” she said, pausing once on her way to the door.  Lorne took the girl by the arm and continued the walk to the door.

“I’ll go see what my almighty contacts have to say about all this hubbub.  Tootles!” he cried as he all but ran out the door, dragging Fred behind him.  Cordelia stayed behind, waiting to see if Angel would ask for her help.  But father and son could only look at each other.  Conner’s sharp features were set in an expression of confusion and wariness as he looked at the man he didn’t know.  Angel’s own face was a mixture of emotion.

“Cordelia…” Angel’s voice called her.  She straightened up as she approached him, but stopped as she caught the look in her eyes.  He wasn’t asking for her help.  He was asking for her to leave.  “Conner and I… need to… talk…”  The words stumbled out of his mouth in a way that made Cordelia wonder exactly how he was going to say all the difficult stuff to his son.

“Okay…” she said, keeping the slight hurt she felt under control.  “I’ll go see if Wes needs me to do something.  If you need anything…”  She left the rest unsaid as she made her way out of the office without looking back.    

“Well, whatever Wesley is looking for… it isn’t in this book,” Cordelia said with a frustrated sigh.  “I’ve been through it cover to cover and there is no mention of anything falafel-like…”  Spike chuckled.

“Oh yes, because when the Watcher said ‘world-ending catalyst’, he really meant ‘world-ending snack’…” the ghost said.  Cordelia frowned.

“That’s what falafel is?  Wow… never would have guessed that,” she said as she flipped open the cover of another book.

“I’m guessing that Wesley knows what ‘feleolfor’ means, he just wants to make sure it’s correct.  And in the meantime, he wants the two of us to feel useful.  With Nancy-boy explaining what’s what to junior, the green guy off conferring with the mystics, Gunn and Buffy off wielding sharp objects, and Wes and Fred being their genius selves… there was nothing left for the talented ones of the group,” Spike said as he propped his booted feet up on Wesley’s coffee table.  Cordelia let out a sigh and set the book she was pretending to read down.

“I should have stayed and helped him,” she said suddenly.

“Wes had all the help he needed with Fred there,” Spike told her.  Cordelia shook her head.

“No, not Wes.  Angel.  I should have stayed and helped him explain things to Conner.  Conner doesn’t know Angel…  doesn’t trust him… and he doesn’t know the extent of his abilities.  One of them could end up hurt,” she explained, worry evident on her furrowed brow.

“What?  And get your human self in the middle of two tense, supernatural beings?  I don’t know if I call that intelligent, luv,” Spike commented.  Cordelia shrugged.

“When have I ever done intelligent?  I’m just saying… re-hashing everything is only going to cause Angel pain… and Conner more confusion.  And then Conner will get angry and lash out at the father he doesn’t remember.  It will hurt Angel more.  I’ve always been there to help diffuse things in the past… it just doesn’t feel right that I’m not there now,” she said sadly.  “I guess it just goes to show how much things have changed since… well… Jasmine…”

“I don’t think it was a slight against your marvelous person, luv.  I think it was something dear ol’ grandpap needed to deal with on his own.  Plus, the less people around to see the sure-to-be-violent reaction from either of them the better, I’m sure,” the ghost said.  Cordelia let out a huff.

“This is just going to make him brood more.  And wear black.  All my hard work to finally get him into colors… down the drain with the snap of a prophetical finger,” she said in exaggerated offense.  “Man… I used to be a bitch.  There are days where I miss the whole ‘I don’t care about anything but myself’ attitude.  I didn’t care about other people’s pain.  Then, I came to L.A. and bam… smack dab in the middle of caring.  I wish I didn’t care, I wish I’d never come here…”  Spike smiled.

“No, you don’t,” he said.  Cordelia let out a breath.

“No, I don’t.  You’re right,” she said, smiling softly back at him.  Spike let out a breath of his own, his blue eyes clouding over slightly.         

“Pity you weren’t around earlier, luv.  I could have used your pretty shoulder.  Now, pain is all I have left anymore, it seems.  Buffy’s made it clear that she has no concern for me.  Yet I still can’t seem to stop wanting the chit, and it hurts… and it certainly doesn’t help matters that I can’t hold a corporeal form,” Cordelia’s heart broke at those words.  There wasn’t much she could say to the ghostly vampire to help him through his obvious distress.

“I’m sorry Spike,” was all she could offer.  But he looked over at her and smiled gratefully, his eyes still slightly troubled.

“I used to think that once I had my soul everything would turn out roses… that Buffy would see me for something other than a bloody monster…” the ghost said, pacing slowly.  Cordelia looked up to him from where she sat on the floor.  Spike looked to the girl when she let out a dry chuckle.

“You know, people always thought I was the shallow one… that I was always the one lacking because I would always look out for myself or be enamored in the superficial.  And to a point, that was true.  But for all of their world-saving abilities and their do-good attitude… the Scoobies were never really ones for looking below the surface either.  They dug down below the shell for each other, but never for others.  I thought I had a chance with Xander.  I thought he was finally seeing the girl beneath the bitch.  Angel thought he had a chance to be something with Buffy.  You thought you had a chance to be something with Buffy… but in the end, we all got burned because they all saw the monster on the outside rather than the living, breathing, feeling person inside,” Cordelia said as she wrapped her arms around her knees and laid her chin on them.  Spike stopped pacing and looked down at her.  She looked so young as she sat in front of Wesley’s fireplace, the light from the flames playing over her skin.  Her flawless features were relaxed, caught in the past.

“That’s why they love you, you know,” the ghost said finally as he sat down on the couch she leaned back against.  Cordelia turned her face to look at him, her cheek resting against the material of her jeans.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.  Spike smiled softly, the resulting look almost foreign to his chiseled face.

“It’s why you are their heart, Cordelia.  Wesley, Gunn, Fred… Angel…  You see below their surface.  You see more than what they think they are and what they are in reality.  Wesley isn’t the failure he thinks he is.  Gunn isn’t the failure he thinks he is.  Fred is more than the skinny, crazy girl.  And Angel… he’s not just the vampire… Angelus… everyone else sees him and judges him as.  The same goes for me as well, luv.  If I were able to bloody echo as I walked, then I know you’d see me as more than William the Bloody.”

“He’s right, you know,” a voice said from the doorway.  The two looked back to see Buffy standing in the open door.  Cordelia stood up quickly and looked around the room uncomfortably.

“How much of that did you hear?” she asked.  Buffy smiled sardonically as she made her way closer to the two.

“Oh, just the part where you were calling us small-minded.  Fred wanted me to come find you,” she said, resting her hands on the back of the couch.  Her blue eyes met Cordelia’s uncomfortable dark ones.  “I never thought I’d say this to Cordelia Chase of all people, but you were right too.”  Cordelia hid her shock well, but the girl was stunned to her toes to hear such a concession from the Buffy Summers.

“Oh?  And what, pray tell, was I right about?” Cordelia asked icily, hiding behind the past.  Buffy chuckled.

“Don’t try that on me, Cordelia.  I know the truth.  I know the real you… I’ve been told all about the real you,” the blond said.  Cordelia relaxed and let her eyes fall to the ground.

“Angel…” she muttered, answering her own internal question.  Buffy chuckled again as she came around the couch and placed herself on the opposite side from Spike.

“Among other people,” the Slayer said, quickly looking at Spike and then back to the girl in front of her.

“What was I right about?” Cordelia suddenly asked.  Buffy sat forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

“You were right with the whole ‘shallow’ speech…” she conceded.

“But…” Cordelia started until Buffy held up her hand.

“Save it Cordelia,” the Slayer said, looking the other girl in the eyes.  “You were no treat to be around back then, but then again, neither were we.  I see that now… I know how hurt you were about Xander, and I know how hurt you were about being the outsider.  And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”  Cordelia crossed her arms.

“Wow.  An apology from the Slayer… what is that worth?” she asked rhetorically.  Buffy gave the girl a small smile.

“You’re just not going to let go, are you?” she asked of the brunette’s façade.  Cordelia was silent as she studied the floor for a second.  Then the dark eyes rose to lock on the Slayer’s.

“Old habits die hard, Buffy… if you get my drift…” she said, thinking of more than the old high school rivalry.  Buffy nodded, understanding the girl’s underlying meaning.

“I know that one real well, Cordelia.  And trust me when I say that they die very hard.  It took for Sunnydale to be blown to bits and for me to come here to L.A. to finally understand some things.  The past is the past…  That’s where it should be when two people change and grow apart,” the Slayer said with a wistful sigh.  Cordelia watched the blond girl as she came to grips with what she had just said.

“Or grow up…” Cordelia said back but then stopped to think.  “… if a 250-some year old vampire could possibly grow up.”  Buffy let out a small laugh, but sobered quickly.

“You and I… we could never say we were friends.  And at this juncture in our lives, I don’t know if we ever could be.  With that said, I am sorry for my part in our past,” she said.  It took Cordelia a moment before she spoke.

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry too.  I know I was the definition of unpleasant.  Plus, you saved me a whole bunch of times when I’m sure it would have been easier to let the big bad have a go with me.  So, thanks for that,” she granted with a smile.  Buffy gave her a smile in return.  Then, there was a clearing of a distinctly male throat.

“Hate to break up this hugs and kisses moment, but I believe that this ghost has just had a vision…” Spike’s voice broke into what even the most cynical person would call bonding between the two girls.  Cordelia’s eyes snapped to the blond man.

“What did you see?” she asked.  Spike’s eyes lost focus as he pictured the flashes in his mind again.

“Big bad, naturally… and when I say that, I mean heavy on the ‘big’.  Four horns, kind of a purple-gray color, black eyes…  It’s not here yet, it’s being called… the damned bloody monks again…” he imparted in a ramble.  Spike turned to look at the two girls, each watching him closely.

“We don’t have long…” he said.  Cordelia nodded as she rushed to the door.

“Let’s get the others and get going,” she said, nodding to Buffy, who was grabbing one of Wesley’s stored weapons.  Spike sat down on the couch and put his feet up.

“Come on, Spike.  You’re coming with us,” Cordelia called.  The ghost rolled his eyes.

“What good am I going to bloody do, luv?” he asked.  Cordelia shared a quick look with Buffy and the blond girl spun to toss the weapon she held to Spike.  The ghost’s hand came up and caught it.

“If Phantom Dennis can wield a weapon, you sure as hell can too,” Cordelia said as she opened the door.

“Plus,” Buffy added.  “We could always use an invulnerable pair of eyes.”  Cordelia grinned in agreement as she and Buffy went out the door.  Spike looked down at the weapon he was holding.

“Lap dog to the cute, blond, superhuman Slayer and a beautiful, dictator-like brunette… this ghost could well have it worse…” he said before he stood and followed the girls.

  

“It’s going to be a nasty mess should the horned bloke get there before us,” Spike said from where he was perched in the back seat of the full convertible.

“Hopefully, we’ll be there before they call it,” Angel said, gripping the steering wheel tightly as he spun the car around the corner and brought the car to a screeching halt.  Cordelia, Wes, Gunn and Buffy were over the side of the car before it came to a complete stop.  It took Spike, Lorne, Conner and Fred a little longer to find their way out of the vehicle.

“You realize we probably just broke every rule in L.A. by riding with this many people in that hunk of metal, right?” Lorne asked.  No one answered him as he looked around the abandoned industrial compound.

“And why is it the big baddies always chose places that reek of third-world rated décor?” Lorne asked with a put upon sigh.  “It I were a big baddie, I’d choose somewhere funky, colorful and with good music… that way the people unfortunate enough to encounter me could all have a lighthearted approach to whatever I so choose for them, be it dying or just fighting me.  Even I, the baddie in question, wouldn’t be able to complain at the irony of going out in this world to the soulful melody of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’ or the strong, poppy anthem of Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’…”  Cordelia turned to the demon with an arched look.

“When you’re through with your info-mercial, could you maybe shut up?” she asked.  Lorne scoffed.

“Well excuuuuuse me for trying to bring a little culture into the group,” he said before falling silent.

“Actually, Lorne… evil entities usually choose locations such as these because of their abandoned status and their remote locations.  It makes it harder for screams of the tortured and dying to be heard,” Wes said stoically as he gripped the handle of his axe a little tighter as he followed Angel through the door he’d opened.  Lorne gave the back of Wes’ head a stern look.

“Well thank you for the imparting of that information Mr. Britannica,” he said before turning to Spike.  “How big did you say this… thing… was going to be?”

“Big,” was all Spike said.  Lorne took a hard swallow.

“Wonderful.  Well… I think I’m feeling a bit… green… so I’ll just meet y’all in the car, okay?” he said, pointing to his face and then attempting to scurry off to the awaiting vehicle… but Gunn’s strong arm stopped him and pulled him back into the procession.  

“We’re going to need all the firepower we can get on this one, twinkle toes…” the black man said before taking a stake from the waistband of his jeans and handing it to the demon.  Lorne just looked at it dejectedly.

“I thought you said the thing was, to quote, ‘big’… what good is this going to do?  Give it a splinter?” he asked.

“You could always just talk it to death,” Gunn commented causing Fred to let out a giggle.  Conner stopped walking and looked between the tight knit group.

“It concerns me a little bit that you are treating this situation so lightly… like you’ve done it before,” he said, still wondering silently what his purpose in the jaunt was to be.  The gang slowed down as they emerged into the large, empty center room of the building.

“Well, Conner… saving the world is something we’re good at.  It’s a weekly event,” Cordelia told the boy as she surveyed the room with the others for any sign of evil doing.

“Yeah,” Spike couldn’t help but add.  “… sometimes, it’s bi-weekly…”

“Okay, so it’s obviously not happening here… You said you saw an altar and those monks again, right?” Cordelia asked.  The ghost looked around for familiar points in his vision.

“It’s happening in the back…” Spike pointed.

“Oh, yes… couldn’t just happen out here in the big open space where minimal contact between opponents could be made… has to happen in the small confines of a death box they call an office or whatever,” Lorne scoffed as he followed the hurrying gang towards the back.  The group reached the door and Angel, in his patented burst of violence, kicked in the door.

“We’re too late,” Cordelia commented with a sharp inhale as she came to a halt just inside the room.  A dozen of the robed figures turned to confront the A.I. gang as a strong wind picked up.  “They’ve already called it… whatever ‘it’ is.”  Spike watched warily as the group of figures seemed to protect the stone altar that sat behind them.

“From what I could gather from the vision, it is a spell to bring about a being that feeds off the evil of human kind.  You could say it is evil incarnate,” he said.  And it was as if he’d called down the thunder as there was a sudden flash of light and a large, echoing roar.  The robed figures scattered as the altar they’d worshipped at was picked up by the large, gray demon from Spike’s vision.  It’s angry black gaze turned to the gang and after a moment, it tossed the heavy stone object at them as if it were nothing but a rag doll.  Everyone scattered before the object them and it shattered into pieces as it struck the ground.  The gang reconvened together and took their fighting positions.

“Evil incarnate, huh?” Cordelia scoffed, unimpressed.  “I was expecting Richard Simmons…”  Angel’s eyes traveled up the form of their 10-foot-tall foe.

“Well, I was expecting it to be taller…” he said dryly.

A/N…Whew, that was a lot of work.  In all my story chapter posts, this is the fourth longest!  Kinda got sick of looking at it after a while… so I threw in a Joss Whedon-like commercial break!!  Muahahahahahahahahaha!  I’m evil, I know.  Sorry… but this was getting quite long and my brain wasn’t ready to script out a fight scene.  All the action yet to come... plus, more behind the mystery of… well… everything.  evil music Duh… duh… duuuuuuuuuh…  The plot’s a’rollin’ now, folks!  Can’t wait to see how this is going to finish up since we’re over half way done (or so my muse says)!  Let me know if you liked it!