"Oh ignore him," Willow shrugs off Spike's complacency. "You know how Spike is about showing affection. Him and his whole 'big bad' talk..."
"I still say she's too small..." Xander announces to the group, leaning over to place a soft kiss on the baby's forehead. "But she is gorgeous."
"Ignore him too," Tara adds. "You know how Xander is about...*everything* "
"Can I hold her?" Anya eagerly asks, already stretching out her arms.
"Are your hands clean?" Angel shoots back, clutching his daughter to his chest.
"Don't be offended, Anya," Dawn calls out from the kitchen. "He made me wash my hands six times before he let me pick her up."
Angel continued to nuzzle Quinn, completely ignoring Dawn's teasing. "We don't want anyone's dirty hands touching us, do we, Quinn?" Quinn appeared to agree with him, looking up at him and reaching for his face. Buffy could barely suppress her smile at Angel's gushing over their daughter.
After another hour of passing around Quinn amongst themselves, everyone decides to call it a night. As Buffy reaches to take Quinn from Angel, she's not surprised to have Angel turn her down, opting to hold onto their daughter for just a bit longer before settling her down to sleep as they climb the stairs to his old room. She could only smile, never tiring of watching the two of them together, knowing how much it meant to him that they now had a child.
"She sleeps better when she's being held," he explains as he sets her down in the other crib that had already been prepared in their room.
"She must've picked that up from me..." Buffy smiles, wrapping an arm around Angel's waist, snuggling into his side as they stood watching their daughter begin to drift off to sleep. The smile that seemed to be a permanent fixture on Angel's face since earning his humanity broadens as he gently caresses the side of his beloved's face, drawing her in for a tender kiss.
"This is amazing," she says as she places her head on his chest, listening to his beautiful heartbeat, smiling at the sound she never thought possible. He places his hands on her hips, sharing another kiss as he leans over and picks her up, making sure not to break their kiss, gently laying her on the bed. "You know..." Buffy's voice is hardly more than a sigh in the darkness, "it's a good thing Quinn is such a sound sleeper..."
"Mmm..." Angel smiles, lightly placing kisses along her neck. "That's another thing she must've picked up from you..."
******
"Ma'am...?" the young boy nervously tapped on her office door.
"What is it, Jason?" she barely glances up from her paperwork as she sighs, clearly irritated at the intrusion. "I've told you before to never come in unless I call for you!"
"I know- but...you told me to- to tell you when I tracked down-"
"You've found him?" she almost jumps out of her seat, amazed that the dimwitted young man she now called her page was able to find him so quickly. "Well where is he? Where did you find him?"
"I, um..." he finally feels at ease to fully enter her office, noticing the enraptured glare her eyes held. "I was able to trace his, um...the trail of dimensional plasma he left behind when he crossed over into this one. The uh, the tracer picked up his last whereabouts in, um...in Sunnydale."
"You found him in Sunnydale," she sighs, straightening out the folds of her skirt as she sits back down in her chair, pulling it back in under her desk. "Then why are you still here?"
"I...uh...well, I-"
"Take a few others with you and bring him back here! What exactly are we paying you for if you can't accomplish this simple task? Now go!" As the young boy goes to leave her office, he halts as she calls out one final warning to him. "Oh Jason? One more thing- if you don't come back here with him...don't even bother coming back...just know that you'll be dealt with in an expedient manner." Not wasting any more time, Jason speeds off down the hall, quick to grab anyone to accompany him to Sunnydale as soon as possible.
Returning to her deskwork, the vindictive woman's eyes widen as her latest item of acquisition suddenly appears before her eyes, seemingly emerging from thin air. "Well that's quite a shock," she grins, unaffected by the creature's display of power. She'd heard of his abilities of shape-shifting and teleportation, but could never fully grasp the idea of such a creature existing. "Never knew you'd live up to your hype."
"You'd be amazed at what can be accomplished these days..." he smiles, stepping over to her window, aimlessly looking down at the sleeping city below. "Not much has changed since the last time I was here...same humans...wasting away their lives..."
"And you're one to talk?" Surprised by her accusation, he turns to face her, his face still holding the same cold, stern look as always. "Now you didn't think that we weren't expecting you, did you? We knew your ritual would be set to take place next week, and I make sure to do quite a bit of research on those I plan on enlisting for help." She stands from her desk, carrying along the folder that contained his file.
"One of the only true demons left in existence," she begins reading, already anticipating the use she would get out of the powerful force. "A malevolent and fearsome assassin, a being that could go against any number of slayers and live. Your only mentality is to destroy and kill everything in your path. You were quite a force to be reckoned with, but failing to complete a task for your master, you avoided punishment by escaping to the Mekon dimension." She turns from her reading to pass him a small chuckle. "I'm guessing you didn't know that, uh, once you get in...it takes a few hundred years before you can find a way out, huh?"
Receiving only a sharp glare for a response, she continues. "There were never any attempts to rescue you because your master believed that your true salvation would lie in discovering what humanity means- that your time spent in Mekon would serve as sort of a guide to humanity. Hmm...sounds like a certain ex-vampire we'd both like to see dead. Only it's not really him or his precious little Buffy that we're going after this time, is it? It's the child we want..."
Supressing a laugh, his cold eyes penetrate her own as he faces her. "I think you're overlooking one minor difference between our intentions. You merely *want* the child dead...while I *need* the child dead. Her blood is my only way of remaining in this dimension..."
"That's right," she realizes. "We wouldn't want you having to return to that hell you've called home for the past few centuries, now would we? You're too much of an advantage to us, Kamien." Passing him a wicked smile, she sits back down in her chair.
"Just be sure that you're people have everything prepared for the ritual."
"So long as you have the child...consider it done." With a final soft laugh, and a small profusion of smoke, its stench reminiscent of burning brimstone, the figure disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived in Lilah's office. "Now there's something you don't see everyday...though I have the feeling I could get quite used to it."
Part 3
Angel couldn't draw his eyes from the miracle before him. He'd often observed that most men took it for granted that they would someday marry and have children. It was this one simple thing that Angel most dearly desired, something he had never quite allowed himself, or Buffy, to believe would ever be possible. Marrying Buffy had been the greatest gift he could have ever imagined. And now to be married to his soulmate and to be a father? Just the thought had the power to send his head reeling with bliss.
At some time during his musings, Quinn had awakened. Cooing softly, the infant gave an instant smile as her father picked her up from her crib. "Hey..." Angel softly whispers to her, grabbing hold of her hand. "How's my little girl?" Quinn's response came in a loud gurgle, waking up her mother in the process.
As she reaches out an arm, only to find an empty space where Angel should've been laying beneath her, Buffy sits up to see Angel returning to their bed, taking a seat beside her as he continues cooing at Quinn in the crook of his arm. Reaching over in a familiar gesture, he gently caresses her cheek with his hand. "Good morning..." he whispers. Reaching for her daughter, she returns his embrace with a kiss, smiling sweetly. "You just getting up?"
"Mmm...both of us," he reaches in, tickling Quinn's stomach lightly. "Mommy sleeps in late, doesn't she?"
"That's only 'cause daddy keeps her up late..." she nudges him softly, climbing out of bed with her daughter. She gives Quinn a quick kiss before placing her back down in her crib to get dressed. To keep himself busy, as well as keep his eyes off of his lovely wife while getting dressed so that they don't wind up being late for an early breakfast, Angel first tends to getting Quinn ready and finishes getting dressed himself just as Buffy does, and they head downstairs.
"Whoa..." Willow playfully jumps back in her seat upon seeing the couple enter the Hyperion's kitchen. "Buffy and Angel up early...and on a Saturday?? Hell must've frozen over. Either that, or the world's coming to an end."
"Again?!" Cordy shouts as she comes trudging into the kitchen, suddenly waking up fully upon hearing the news. "What is it this time??"
"Nothing, nothing..." Buffy puts her fears to rest as she takes a seat alongside Angel. "Just another one of Willow's attempts at an early-morning joke."
"Oh...well in that case," the brunette reaches over to extract Quinn from Buffy's arms, "come here Quinn. Did we have a good night's sleep...even with mommy and daddy in the same room doing god knows wh-"
"Cordelia!" Buffy shoots her a look as she tries stifling her own laugh. "What're you doing up so early yourself?"
"Figured I'd try to get on Wes' good side by getting an early start on whatever it is he was rambling on about last night."
"The dimensional tears," Angel informs her, passing a glance to the stairs as most of the others slowly came down.
"What's for breakfast?" a tired Xander yawns.
"Whatever you can make-" Cordy snaps him to attention. "Which, if I remember, is *nothing*..."
"Xander is quite good in the kitchen," Anya corrects her. "Well, except for that one time when we slipped off of the counter during sex...but that's only because of all the pancake batter he spilled-"
"Please!" Cordy yells, causing Quinn to stir in her arms at the loud noise. "You've already warped Dawn, as well as the rest of us- but I'm not about to let you warp Quinn!"
"They didn't warp me," Dawn smiles, crossing the kitchen to place a soft kiss on the top of her niece's head. "Spending a few nights in the same house as Buffy and Angel did that just fine-"
"Okay- new rule," Buffy outstretches an arm across the table to stop their talk. "No more inappropriate comments in front of our child, okay?"
As the friends eat, Angel spends most of the meal holding Quinn, cooing at her and watching her eyes dart from family member to family member, carefully observing each face as her father begins whispering each of their praises. "And that's Cordy...she's a little high-strung...and that's Willow and Tara...they'll do a lot of magic for you- when you're older. And there's Anya and Xander...but, uh...don't spend too much time with Uncle Xander- he can really be trouble-"
"Hello?" Xander blurts out. "I'm sitting right here next to you- how am I not going to hear that?!"
"And Gunn and Fred...Fred's really smart, just like Giles and Wesley?" he lifts his head to address the table. "Where are Giles and Wes anyway? And Spike?"
"Spike's still asleep..." Gunn answers, standing from his seat to grab another carton of orange juice from the fridge. "And the two brits left a little while ago to meet with some guy who called last night. Supposed to be some sort of expert on dimensions."
"Anyone we know?" Angel asks, intrigued by the two former watchers' early meeting.
"They didn't say," Gunn shrugs. "The guy called last night saying that he'd seen a dimensional vortex. Thought we might be interested."
"I guess our advertising really paid off if we've got people calling with tips for us," Fred beams, her face lighting up even more as she sees Giles and Wesley come through the front doors, a third man following behind them.
Though she was sure he was a few years older, Fred observed that the man could've easily passed for her own age. In his loose-fitting gray button-down shirt and slacks, he made quite an impressive sight. Somewhat thin, but with a solid build, only two things really stood out about him. The glare from his finely shaped but completely shaved head was almost blinding under the hotel's lights, and the silver of his belt cast an unrelenting glare as its strange symbol seemed to stare out at her. "Hey ya'll...just in time to grab some breakfast-"
"If Xander hasn't eaten it all by now," Dawn pipes up, sticking her tongue out affectionately at him.
"Oh...quite good," Giles says, "but we already ate. Oh-" he moves aside, almost forgetting that their latest informant had returned to the Hyperion with them. "This is Mr.- um...I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your last name."
"Never gave it," the stranger replies.
"Well then how about a first name?" Angel presses, not yet impressed by what the supposed 'expert' had to offer.
"Kamien..." he replies, extending his hand to the formidable frame of the slayer.
"Kamien?" Angel repeats, shaking the newcomer's hand as he raises a eyebrow at the name.
"I know, I know," he says with a small laugh. "What can I say...it's an...old...family name."
Part 4
For as quiet and mysterious as he seemed, the stranger made no attempt to hide his appreciation of the Hyperion. Remarking that it was quite impressive, he succeeded in having Wesley and Giles give him a full tour, leading him in and out of room after room, somewhat bedazzled by the keen interest their informant was showing the the hotel's design.
"The Omen..."
"And other than a really creepy movie, that would be what, exactly?" Xander glares at his ex, wondering just what the brunette was talking about. "Or is it too far above us little people to be able to comprehend your weirdness?"
"That kid- in the Omen...he was named Kamien," she replies, sipping at her juice as the others remained downstairs during the newcomer's tour. "Just a simple observation- take it as you will."
"Damien, Cordy," Willow corrects her. "The kid's name was Damien. I've never even heard of anyone named Kamien."
"Well if you wanna go that route, who's ever heard of anyone named Willow?" Cordy snaps back.
"Like your name's a flavor of the week," Xander defends the red-head, leaning closer to Cordelia for emphasis.
"I think the only ones around here with normal names are Tara, Dawn, and Quinn," Fred speaks up.
"I've never heard of anyone named Quinn," Xander blurts out, quickly noticing Buffy and Angel's annoyed stares. "N- not that it's a- a bad name. I've just...nev- never heard it before," he nervously smiles. "Very original...I like that in my nieces."
After his tour, and an hour's worth of discussion with the newcomer, Angel's wariness had subsided, but not vanished. Chalking it up to the new level of overprotectiveness that came with the birth of his daughter, he sets his apprehensions aside, focusing instead on whatever else his team could learn from the stranger.
"The young lady was telling me that your dimensional reader has suffered quite a bit of damage?" Kamien nods his head towards Fred.
"We've had our share of experiences with other dimensions," Wes informs him. "After our return from the Pylea dimension, we were...or rather, *I* was anxious to discover more about it's origins. I suppose our reader just burned out from the overextended use."
"Perhaps I could be of some help," he offers, reaching for the small device Wes held in his hands. "I could take this back to my lab- see if I can get it working again."
"So you're a scientist as well?" Buffy asks, so far modestly impressed by the stranger.
"Guilty as charged," he smiles at her. "I started out as merely an archivist, doing mostly research and such. I've always loved science though. I became fascinated by dimensional vortexes."
"Where exactly did you see the vortex?" Cordy asks, pulling up her chair a little closer to the stranger.
"Actually I saw two. My lab is up the coast a few miles, and I just recently I was doing a bit of research in Sunnydale when I saw the other-"
"Now who would've guessed that?" Xander chuckles, trying to lighten everyone's mood a bit. "Freakiness- thy name is Sunnydale."
"Why do you think I was doing the research?" Kamien grins back at him. "My own reader picked up on a tear. Thought I'd look into it."
"No offense," Gunn slouches back in his chair as he addresses him, "but don't you think you should leave all this stuff to professionals...like us?" There was an eerie hesistation on Kamien's part before the sly smile crossed his face.
"I can handle myself fairly well," he replies, standing as he prepares to leave. "Just thought I'd give the, uh, 'experts' a head's up. I'd better be going though- I'll have my hands full this afternoon at the lab. It was a pleasure meeting all of you," he grins, reaching for Angel's hand once more as he bids the friends goodbye. "You will be sure to let me know what you find?"
"Yeah," Angel nods his head. "We'll probably-" Angel lets out a small sigh as he's cut off by the blaring sound of the phone. Excusing himself, he goes over to answer it, leaving Buffy and Giles to speak with Kamien. "Oh-" he turns with a smile towards the petite blonde. "I've been meaning to congratulate you. Mr. Giles was telling me about your daughter. How old is she?"
"This little beauty is three months old," Anya answers, carrying the small child towards the front doors. "Isn't she just adorable- even if I still say she's too small. And quiet," she adds as an afterthought. "The only time she ever makes any noise is when she's being held or played with. I don't think I've heard her cry once."
"Really?" Kamien grins, intrigued by the information. "Well that's some gift you've been given."
"Hey guys-" Angel calls over to them as he hangs up the phone. "That was Mrs. Williams. She wants us to come check something out for her at her apartment."
"Of course," Giles answers, motioning for Gunn and Fred to come over. "Do you two think you could head on over to Mrs. Williams' apartment? She's having-"
"Actually," Angel interrupts him, gently lifting Quinn out of Anya's arms, "she insisted that Buffy and I go too. You know Mrs. Williams..."
"I swear that woman makes up half of this stuff just to get you to go over there," Buffy insists, nudging him lightly with her hip.
"She's 74 years old, Buffy."
"I don't care- she's got wandering eyes, and they seem to prefer wandering all over you."
"Well then you can keep *your* eyes on her when we go over there," he smiles, giving Quinn a quick kiss before laying her back down in her crib. "Guys-" he turns to the others at the breakfast table. "Can you-"
"Angel, relax," Tara answers. "Quinn will be fine."
"I know. I just...okay. We’re going..." Watching as his wife leans over to kiss their daughter goodbye, he's startled when he feels a cold hand come to rest on his shoulder.
"You have a beautiful daughter," Kamien smiles, his eyes lingering on the small child.
"Thank you." As he clasps hands with Buffy, he gives the newcomer a gesture to follow them, as well as Gunn and Fred, outside. "Come on, we'll walk you out." As they reach their car, they give their new friend one final wave goodbye before heading off to the old woman's home.
Seeing the black benz turn the street corner, it takes only a split second for Kamien to shift back to his true form and reemerge in the familiar offices of Wolfram and Hart.
"Oh!!" Lilah nearly falls out of her seat as he materializes in front of her desk. "You've got to stop doing that! Or at least give me a warning!"
"Do you have everything in order?" Skipping their meaningless formalities, he approaches one of her glass cabinets, carefully eyeing the various weapons on display.
"And where have you been all day? I thought we agreed that you should be conserving your energy for the ritual tomorrow night."
"Do you and your people have everything in order??" he asks again, his tone more striking than Lilah anticipated.
"We'll be ready with everything by tonight," she assures him. "Now answer my question- where've you been?"
"Observing," he answers, his simple word laced with a coldness and determination Lilah had never experienced before. "You wouldn't believe how trustworthy and naïve humans can be...well...present, sick and twisted company excluded, of course," he tilts his head slightly towards her, earning a wicked smile from the young woman in return. "And besides, you know the limits of my powers. You know that I won't risk teleporting into any unfamiliar areas...had to get used to the place beforehand."
"When are you going back in?"
"Well...I figure with mom and dad gone on *assignment*..." Lilah's laughter at the remark dances off of the walls alongside Kamien's own. "By the way...this Mrs. Williams...I do hope nothing's happened to her?"
"I wouldn't consider our crew murdering some old lady as anything to lay heavy on your conscience..."
"Then we're all clear."
"You've gotta be kidding? In broad daylight, you're just going to go crashing into that hotel, with every single one of Angel's little mindless drones protecting the kid, and you just expect to swipe her? I mean, I know you're fast with that whole 'poof' thing you do, but come on."
"Now there's an idea," he says quietly, to no one in particular. "Why use all of my force when I can just make use of theirs. What better way to shake up the slayers even more than to have one of their own just hand me the child." Turning to face her with a boastful grin, he shifts back into the attractive and impressive human form he had taken on upon first meeting the slayers. "I think this is one scientist they all really liked."
"Awww...did we make some new friends at Angel Investigations?"
"I can't help it..." he strolls past her desk. "I just love fucking with people's minds..."
In another instant, the creature is gone, not much to Lilah's surprise, as she sits back, grinning wildly behind her desk. "Poor Angel and Buffy..." After a brief moment, a thought crosses her mind, adding even more to her delight. "Jason!"
"Ma'am?" the young boy races into her office, thankful that she'd had him brought back from Sunnydale alive.
"Have a few of those Caylus demons that stopped by this morning for coffee cause a little chaos downtown, would you? Oh- and I'd like you to make a run to the store for me. I'll be needing a sympathy card- something to send my condolences for a severe loss. Make sure it's sweet...comforting, but not too insincere...afterall, this is for two of my closest friends..."
Part 5
"Are you sure you're alright?" Wesley kept pressing the brunette, his level of anxiety heightened all the more by her latest vision.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Look- Spike's still upstairs, so he'll be with me. Just go!"
"Alright...alright, but if you need us-"
"Go!" With her final shout, Wes, Giles, Xander and Anya left in search of the seer's latest vision of a pack of demons on the rampage near downtown. With Willow and Tara having already taken Dawn out shopping for the day, Cordelia found herself alone with Quinn, a bottle of extra-strength aspirin, and unfortunately, Spike.
"At least he's still asleep," she pouts, popping two pills into her mouth. "I don't think I could tolerate much of him right now." She leans over the carry-cot resting ontop of one of the lobby's tables to peer at the sleeping little girl with some anxiety, and then sinks back into the leather sofa, positioning herself so that she could keep her eyes on the baby.
Quinn gurgles in her sleep for a few seconds and Cordy reaches over to touch her gently. She looked so contented, she thought. Quinn really was a beautiful baby, with the fair and beautiful looks of Buffy and the dark and compassionate eyes of Angel. She had tried to figure out who the baby looked more like but, so far, she wasn't sure.
She turns to look over at Quinn for a moment and watches the gentle rising and falling of her chest as she slept. She looked so peaceful. "Sweetie, I hope you have a lot of fun in your life," she whispers. "With the way things always are with us, I'll have to make sure you do. Your daddy's a sweet guy and your mom's a bright girl, but they can both be a bit *intense* sometimes." Sitting back on the sofa, she takes another sip of her water, chasing down another two painkillers.
Quinn starts to whimper at that moment, and Cordy automatically reaches forward to pick her up, cradling her carefully in her arms. Quinn opens her eyes and blinks at her, her mouth forming a small, round circle. Cordy rocks her lightly and Quinn looks at her with interest. "You know, there's a lot you have to be aware of, sweetie. For one thing, you have to get to know your parents really well- not just what they want you to know. They're my friends and they'll always help anyone in trouble, but there are things about them that you should know. When the time's right, of course." Quinn's gurgle encouraged Cordy to continue.
"Your dad is going to be too protective. Just look at how he is now. You should've seen him when him and your mom first got together. For the life of me, I can't understand why he preferred her over me all those years, but...you have no idea how overprotective he is of her. I mean- he's literally marked her...but that's a whole different story for you to hear about.
"Let's see...who else do you have to watch out for around here? Xander-" she gently taps the tip of Quinn's small nose to emphasize her point. "Stay away from Uncle Xander- he'll be a bad influence on you if you're not careful. Trust me- I dated him for longer than I'd like to remember and he can be so annoying. You don't need that kind of stress in your life."
Noticing that Quinn's eyes had wandered to the sparkle of her earring, she removes one of the hoops and dangles it in front of her, smiling as the curious infant reaches out, her tiny hand trying to touch its shiny surface, her eyes opened wide. Cordy laughs softly. "You are such an amazing little thing." She puts her earring on the table and continues to rock Quinn gently, wondering briefly what it would be like to be a mother, to have a child, to have a love like Buffy and Angel did.
A still-sleepy Spike strolls down the stairway over to where Cordelia was in deep conversation with Quinn. It was the child's small coo at his appearance that gave him away, as Cordy turns in her seat to spot him approaching from behind.
"Ohhh...were we making too much noise down here for poor Spike to get some sleep?" Cordy addresses both him and Quinn as she gives Spike a quick once over. "You look awful."
"At least I have the excuse of lack of sleep," he mutters. "What's yours, princess?"
"Seeing you this early in the day, that's what! You're usually not up and about until 5. What gives?"
"Well how am I supposed to get any sleep around here listening to the lot of you foolin' around with that...that thing..." he makes a wave of his hand towards the child, walking by to slump down alongside Cordelia on the couch.
"Don't even get me started, Spike. If I wasn't holding Quinn, I'd-" The sudden ringing coming from the kitchen cut the brunette off before she could make her threat. "That's my cell- here..." she makes an attempt to hand Quinn over to the blonde vamp, not totally surprised to find him less than eager to hold her.
"Put 'er in that little hunch-buggy. I'm not holdin' her." Not wanting to argue, she gently puts Quinn down and races after her ringing phone.
******
"Buffy- it's okay." Angel tries his best comforting her after they'd arrived at Mrs. Williams' apartment, only to find the poor elderly woman already decapitated.
"I just still can't believe it," she breathes out. "I mean, one minute I'm complaining about how she has the hots for you, the next minute- she's..." Unable to complete her thought, she wraps an arm around his waist as Angel takes her outside, waiting for Gunn and Fred to finish investigating the scene. Both Buffy's and Angel's only thoughts were focused on returning to their daughter, still apprehensive about leaving her to go on assignment together for the first time.
"Did you guys find anything worth interest?" Angel looks up to ask Gunn and Fred as they finally exit the apartment building.
"Just a lot of blood..." Fred sighs, distraught herself at the sight of the poor woman, brutally murdered.
"There was one thing I found-" Gunn says, handing Angel a small piece of paper, a design hastily scribbled on it. "Along one of the back walls, there was this weird circle with a symbol in it smeared in blood. Looked something like that-" he points to his sketch, motioning for Fred to take a look as well.
"Wait a minute-" Fred pauses, retracing the day's images in her mind before saying anything more. "I saw that today. That guy, Kamien, on his belt there was this circle that looked just like that."
Looking back in his own mind, Angel's wariness returns in full as he realizes that he too took notice of the intricate design that adorned the stranger's silver belt. Hoping against hope that he would receive a positive answer, he frantically looks up to address Gunn. "Where are the others? Are- are they back at the hotel?"
"Yeah-" Angel lets out a noticeable sigh of relief, but panics once again upon hearing the young man continue. "Well, Cordy and Spike are. Wes called a little while ago. Cordy got a vision and him, Giles, Xand, and Anya went out in search of some pack of demons. And he said Will and Tara took Dawn shopping."
"Angel!" Buffy cries, nervous panic overpowering in her voice. "Angel- Angel, Quinn!!"
Part 6
The infant layed staring at the new person in front of her, slowly tilting her head to the side as if surprised to see the face. "Bloody lil'..." Spike moans, rolling his eyes at her. Spike was, after all, not a domestic creature. Babies were sweet, cuddly, and *boring.* They slowed you down and they cramped your style- and that was the least of the damage they could do. He had little experience with them, nor did he want more. "Can't help but feel sorry for ya, though," he half-smiles, giving in to her cuteness as he reaches out to take Quinn's tiny hands in his own. "I know I wouldn't be too happy about having Peaches for my dad."
Quinn kicks a bit in her carry-cot, obviously enjoying the attention she was getting. Unable to resist, Spike reaches into the carry-cot and slides his arms underneath her, gently lifting her into his arms. He was still amazed that Buffy, whom he had always thought of as an aggressive and uncomprehensible bitch had a child. ‘With the big poof nonetheless.’ "Strange...for being Angel's kid, you're pretty cute." Surprised to see her laugh in return, his smile broadens. "No worries though...with me around, I'll make sure him and your mom don't screw you up totally-"
"Continuing our lesson," Cordy says, walking back into the lobby, "here's your second person to avoid, Quinn. A whiny, macho vampire who isn't man enough to admit he actually likes babies."
"Well...she was...she started to cry, and..." he stares helplessly at the child in his arms, fumbling for an excuse for his behavior. "Well, she's not that bad...considering who her parents are." Seeing that the feisty brunette had no smart remark for him, Spike instantly knew that something was wrong. "Who was on the phone?"
Cordelia's face held a blank expression as she was still processing the news she'd received. Seeing her hesitation, Spike stands, walking over to her. "Cordelia- who was on the phone?"
"Wesley..." she breathes out. "He- he and the others have been searching around downtown all afternoon for those Caylus demons..."
"And...? Did they find them or what?"
"That's the thing...as soon as they tried attacking them, they just all vanished- right there in thin air. Weird huh?"
"You've gotta expect that with a bunch of Cayluses," a voice approaches them both from behind. Turning, ready to pummel whoever was at the door, Spike spins around, fists in the air as he stares at the stranger with a shocked expression. "Who the hell are you?"
"Down boy," Cordelia pats him on the head as she brushes past him to introduce their latest informant. "Spike, this is Kamien. He's been helping us with those dimensional tears. Kamien," she turns to pull Spike towards him, "this is Spike. He's been helping to drive us all crazy."
"Love the hair," Spike comments as he half-heartedly shakes the stranger's hand. "I think *she's* got more than you do," he smiles, running a hand over the infant's soft brown hair. Completely ignoring his insult, Kamien inches closer to the child. "Well how can anybody compete with this little beauty," he grins.
"So what's the what?" Cordy grabs his attention. "Find anything new about the missing dimensional tear?"
"Well, I've tried all morning," he lies, "but I haven't gotten your reader working yet. I just thought I'd stop by to see if I could maybe get Fred or Wesley to help."
"They've already left on another case," Cordy sighs.
"Where are all the others?"
"Some are shopping, some are hunting. Me- I'm stuck here with Mr. Personality," she smacks Spike across the chest.
"Hey- be careful when I'm holding Quinn!"
"Oh-" Cordy gasps, "you actually called her by her name. I think that's the first time I've heard you call her anything besides 'it'. You're softening, Spike."
"Oh..." he lets out a frustrated growl as he hands Quinn over to the brunette. "Just shut up and take her. You've got me so upset that I need a smoke."
"I thought you quit?"
"How do you ever expect me to be able to quit with *you* working here?" he yells as he marches towards the back courtyard, thankful that the sun had already set and he would be able to get some free time away from one of his favorite annoyances.
"Can I get you anything?" Cordy offers Kamien as she balances Quinn in her arms. "I'm sure the others will be back soon, so you're welcome to wait around-" The brunette lets out a curse under her breath at leaving her once again ringing cell phone in the kitchen. "Excuse me," she mutters, headed back towards the kitchen with Quinn still in her arms.
******
"Cordelia?" Angel shouts into his dying cell phone.
"Angel? Is that you? I can barely hear you."
"Don't...Kamien...hotel..." was all that came across from Angel's attempted plea for her to not let Kamien into the hotel. Making a sharp right turn in his benz as he and the others were speeding towards the Hyperion, he tries warning her again, this time trying to give her the additional instruction to leave the hotel. "Don't...Kamien...leave...hotel..."
"Don't let Kamien leave the hotel? How'd you even know he was here? Angel? Angel??" Guessing that his phone had finally went dead, the unsuspecting seer walks back towards the lobby.
"Dammit!" Angel yells, hastily tossing his cell aside. "Gunn- is your phone charged?"
"Yeah...but it's in my bag back at the hotel," he informs him, a wave of embarrasment crossing over his face. "I'm sorry, Angel."
"Just get some weapons ready," Buffy finally speaks, passing Angel a worried yet determined stare as they near the Hyperion.
******
"Everything alright?" Kamien asks as he sees Cordy reappear.
"You must've made quite an impression on Angel," the brunette smiles. "That was him- he told me not to let you leave the hotel. I think they're on their way back right now. He probably wants to talk to you some more," she says as she sits back down, softly cooing at Quinn, who was smiling happily in her arms.
"You know," he begins walking over to her, a sly smile across his face, "Quinn and I haven't been properly introduced yet. May I?" he smiles hopefully, already holding out his arms to receive the child.
"Oh..." she stares at the infant for a moment before lifting her in the air and placing her into Kamien's arms.
"Cordy- no!!" With a startled and desperate cry, Angel leads the others as they come charging through the hotel's front doors. Wasting no time, he makes a diving lunge for Kamien but to his surprise winds up spearing Cordelia to the ground instead as the creature teleports out of the way. "What the hell?!" Not even bothering to help Cordelia up, Angel races to Buffy's side, readying to fight.
"What happened?" Buffy frantically pleads. "Where did he go? Where's Quinn?!"
"Having a little problem, slayers?" The voice comes from the top of the massive stairway as Kamien reappears, slowly shifting back to his true form. Shocked for only a moment to see the dapper young gentleman they'd trusted shift into a large, sinister warrior, both Angel and Buffy race up the stairs in a futile attempt to attack him. Buffy charges first, leaping in the air to deliver a sharp sidekick to his head but again, the figure disappears, and the slayer goes flying over the banister.
"Buffy!" Angel screams, almost leaping over the rail himself until he sees Gunn and Fred rushing to her side to help. Scanning his surroundings for Kamien, Angel's eyes finally fall upon the assassin's form materializing again right behind him.
"Awake down there?!" the demon cackles, laughing wholeheartedly at the sight of Buffy and Cordelia layed out a floor below. "What happened to all of that warm hospitality?"
Without a word, Angel charges for him again only to have his fist break through the marble wall behind where the creature had been standing only a second ago. "What the hell are you?!" Angel cries out, running down the stairs without a clue as to what was going on.
"What's all the noise?" Spike finally emerges from outside, his eyes quickly picking up on the unusual sight of Buffy still trying to get up from her fall. "Angel-"
"Where'd he go?!"
"What?" Spike's eyes widen in confusion. "Who do you mean-"
"Kamien!" Angel screams, racing helplessly around downstairs.
"You know, Master would be so proud of me," Kamien's voice echos off the walls but his form is still nowhere to be seen. "He'd never believe how easy this all was!" The evil finally appears by the front doors, only this time, Quinn is not resting in his arms.
"Believe this!" Angel looks over his shoulder at the shout, only to see Buffy stumbling to her feet, making a mad dash towards the demon.
"Now isn't this charming?" are Kamien's final words before teleporting a final time, leaving the slayer to go crashing through the doors and the others to only stare on in disbelief at the reality of the seemingly unbeatable evil they were now dealing with.
Part 7
Do you pray in the night?
Can you appreciate the winds?
And I won't care, I won't fight
I need you close to sing, it's the same beginning
As Angel wandered aimlessly around downstairs in the large hotel, trying unsuccessfully to calm down long enough to think logically, Giles and Wesley were frantically searching through their volumes of demonology, hoping to find any information pertaining to Kamien. Shortly after the creature's departure, the others had returned to a scene they could never have anticipated. Blood was splattered on the floor, pieces of wood from the doors had splintered, and furniture had been thrown about, though whether this last feature was a result of Kamien's attack or Angel's ensuing rage was not clear, and none of the Scoobies dared to even ask.
"So what are we doing?" Xander was pacing almost as much as Angel was in anticipation of launching any kind of counterattack. "I mean, come on! Why're we just standing around here doing nothing when we should be out looking for Quinn?!"
"Xander..." Giles sighs as he lifts his glasses, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Just calm down...we can't very well go after something that we can't see."
"It wasn't that we couldn't see him..." Angel whispers, trying to get a firm grip on his emotions. "He just...kept disappearing and then reappeared someplace else."
"Teleportation..." Wesley surmises.
"He...he changed..." Buffy sighs, touching a hand to her bandaged forehead. "He changed his- his face. He just...changed..."
"A shape-shifter as well," Giles says, consulting a separate volume of the books he was currently searching through.
"So how do we fight this thing?" asks Gunn, his arm slung over Fred's shoulders as he tries comforting her, noticing the young girl staring helplessly at Quinn's crib. "Did you even get a good look at him, Angel? Angel? Did you get a good look at him?" The young fighter pauses in his questioning as he spots his boss sitting on top of the lobby's counter, head hung over as he runs a shaky hand through his hair.
Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life in words
"Angel?"
"No..." the ex-vampire finally answers his friend. "I...I didn't see..." his voice cracks as he hops down from his seat, moving back over to one of the couches, gathering Buffy in his arms once again.
"So all we have to go by is that weird circle with the design?" Cordy speaks up, a certain lilt in her voice that struck Angel as an accusation in his direction. He feels a sudden rage as if he wanted to beat the hell out of both her and Spike for being so careless with his daughter, but something inside makes him keep his distance, content to be sitting with his beloved, trying to keep both her and himself calm. Spike stumbles around past them both, sliding on his leather duster.
"Wonderful...a circle. That oughta get us far-" Angel's face changes from one of remorse to hate and disgust as he lunges at his childe. "This is *your* fault to begin with so I suggest you keep your mouth shut!!" Angel screams into Spike's face as he holds him against the wall. As the others can only look on, Buffy hops up from the couch, hurrying over to them. "Angel, don't. He didn't know-"
"He didn't *care*!" he corrects her, tightening his grip around Spike's neck. "He couldn't give a damn about Quinn, or anyone else for that matter, and you all know it!!"
And I can't breathe when you cry
But I'll be there to hold you tight
And I would kill, I would fight
To keep you close, I'll keep singing the same way
"This isn't going to- to help us," she begins to shudder, but hurriedly suppresses it as she finally succeeds in pulling Angel off of Spike. They start to walk away until Spike makes one more of his comments.
"Sure- blame it on ol' Spike just like you always do. It's not my fault you don't have enough sense to know who's a demon and who isn't-" Before Spike can finish, Angel releases Buffy's hand and meets Spike's face with his fist several times.
"Angel! Angel!!!" Buffy, along with the others, is pleading with him to stop, but deep down wanting to do the exact same thing.
"I said shut the hell up or I swear to god I'll stake you myself!!" Angel screams as he finally gets up off of him, walking with Buffy towards where Giles and Wes were still rooting through their books.
The hotel is silent as Cordy nervously makes her way over to them, placing a tentative hand across Angel's back. "I'm sorry..." she whispers, the only thing she can possibly think of to say. "I don't...I don't know what else to say. Is there anything I can do?"
I won't live if you die
If I can't feel you in the wind
This is me, it's my life
I need you close to sing, it's the same beginning
"No," Angel answers for both himself and Buffy, eyeing the brunette with a look of detestation. "Just...don't bother...with anything."
"Angel," Cordy sighs, the tears that she'd been holding back since Quinn was taken threatening to be unleashed. "I didn't know-"
"You handed...our daughter, *our child*, right over to a demon we know absolutely nothing about," he gets out between gritted teeth. "You've done enough." Cordy can only stare, dumbfounded as to how to respond to the accusation that was partially true. She'd delivered their beautiful child, a child they'd hoped for but never thought possible, into the arms of a new and very elusive evil. As she wordlessly returns to her seat, she says yet another prayer to whoever was listening for Quinn's safe return as well as the eventual forgiveness of her two friends.
A few hours later and the gang at Angel Investigations was still nowhere closer to figuring out just who or what had stolen Quinn, but more importantly, why. With midnight quickly approaching, Angel and Buffy were ready to just head out on their own searching the streets, but knew that it would be a waste of time. Finally, after a feverish search through some of his older collections, Giles recognizes the strange circular symbol that was their only clue to his origins, leaping up from his desk, racing over along with Fred to where Angel and the others were still looking through their own materials.
"Mekon dimension," he blurts out, removing his glasses before he explains their findings any further. "That's where he came from. All those dimensional tears...*he's* what was trying to get out."
"He was banished there from this dimension by his Master a few hundred centuries ago," Fred continues. "He's an assassin. One of the only true demons still alive, though no one ever thought he'd be able to free himself from Mekon."
"What kind of demon is he?" Buffy asks.
"That's just it-" Giles lets out a heavy sigh. "We don't know. Theoretically, he's the only one of his kind. A creature with the abilities of teleportation and shape-shifting- a morphological being.
"How is he able to do all of this?" Tara reaches for the book Fred had carried over, leafing through its pages herself. "Does he use magic?"
"Or is someone else supplying him with his powers?" Willow follows her lover's trail of thought, pulling out a book she had already looked through, giving it another look over.
"All the information that we've found seems to suggest that he's able to perform these feats on his own," says Giles. "He teleports by displacing himself into another dimension, the nature of which is unknown, traveling through it, and then returning to the previous dimension he teleported out of at a certain distance from his point of departure. He consciously determines his point of return. The entire process occurs so quickly that Kamien is unaware of being in another dimension at all."
"So why weren't we able to pick up on this from him?" Angel demands. "I mean, Cordelia didn't even have a vision. Why couldn't we sense it?" Giles turned to face the second slayer he'd come to love as his own, unable to even begin to imagine what hell he and Buffy were being put through with their precious daugher's disappearence.
Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life in words
"I suspect your senses were thrown off by the instability of Kamien's energy. The more that he teleports himself, the harder and more exhausting it is for him to maintain the energy balance he needs to remain in this dimension. In a sense, he drains a part of his own being with each teleportational jump. This is probably why Cordelia never received a vision-"
"Because he doesn't have enough lifeforce to fully sustain himself," the brunette finishes for him, a little bit of the guilt she was feeling beginning to melt away. "
"But none of this is going to help us any," Angel lets out an angry groan as he begins pacing once again. "What good is this going to do us if we can't get him to stay in one spot long enough to attack him?"
"I admit, he is powerful," Wesley speaks up, reading from his own book. "But he's not indestructible, Angel. Kamien's power of teleportation is based on line of sight- he must be able to invision or physically view the location he wishes to port to. He has a very limited unconscious extrasensory ability that prevents him from teleporting himself so that his feet, for example, would materialize below the surface of the local ground. But because this ability is so limited, Kamien will not teleport into any place that he cannot see or has not seen in the past."
"Thus explaining his eagerness to take the grand tour," Anya surmises, eyeing the walls of the hotel with a newfound uneasiness.
"If Kamien teleported himself into an unfamiliar area," Giles cuts in, "he would run the risk of materializing partially or entirely within a solid object. If too much of his body materialized within a solid object, he would be killed. If we could somehow manage to get him to teleport into an area with some sort of solid box or cage, then maybe we could hold him long enough to-"
"Ohhh...guys?" Willow lifts her head from the book she was going back over, anxious to share her findings. "Giles- ha- has there ever been a child born to a pair of slayers?"
"Well, considering the fact that Angel has only recently been called as a slayer, I don't believe so," the brit answers her. "Unless, by some means beyond my recognition, such a thing was ever possible between two female slayers-"
"Not needing that mental picture right now," Xander mumbles.
"What did you find, Will?" Buffy leans over her best friend's shoulder, letting her eyes skim over the page the redhead was reading.
"It mentions something called the Mozez Prophecy- 'The child born to the two chosen slayers shall be the ultimate key to the Powers. When the time comes for the ultimate battle, she will be the force that the Powers unleash to strike down the indomitable evil- an evil unknown to man that threatens to rid the world of humanity...' "
Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life
"Okay-" Gunn approaches the table after Willow finishes reading. "So Quinn's gonna be a big player- what does any of this have to do with why Kamien took her?"
"Her power only is reason enough, Gunn," Wesley says. "It takes an incredible amount of power to be able to escape a dimension such as the one Kamien was banished to- let alone remain outside of that realm. If he wishes to remain here, his best way of doing so would be..." The former watcher's eyes widen as he begins to realize what Kamien was surely planning.
"Wes?" Angel's voice knocks him out of his thoughts. "What is it?"
"Lhasa," he breathes out before fumbling around to find the book that contained the information pertaining to the ritual. "It occurs only once every 500 hundred centuries during the Autumnal Equinox..."
"Tomorrow night," Tara announces to the group, seeing Wes;ey nod his head before continuing.
"It involves the sacrifice of a child- a newborn more specifically. Upon drinking the blood of the child, the being becomes a sort of shadow of the child, absorbing the child's yet-to-be reached capabilities- power, strength, stamina?"
"How did he know?" Cordy asks. "I mean- how could he have possibly found out about this Mozez prophecy about Quinn?"
As if on cue, Dawn returns from her walk to the front door, carrying with her a stack of envelopes, one of which she'd already opened. "Guys? The uh, the mail's here."
"Dawn-" Buffy snaps at her sister, "I'd hoped you held the well-being of my daughter above some stupid phone bill!" Simply brushing off her harsh response, Dawn turns to Angel, handing him the opened envelope. "Actually, I think you'll want to read this one." Letting out a frustrated sigh as he snatches the paper away from the teen, Angel opens it up, reading its contents to himself before divulging them to the rest of the gang.
Mr. & Mrs. O'Halloran,
I wish to express my deepest condolences on the loss of your beloved daughter. I know this must be devastating for the two of you, so please make no hesitations in consulting me for any help that I may be able to offer you at such a painful time.
The letter wasn't signed, but Angel immediately knew its author. Tossing the paper aside, he grabs his jacket, headed towards the door.
And I can't see
And I don't know
How far I'll go
And I can't see
And I don't know
How far I'll go
"Angel- what is it?" Willow is the first to speak up at his sudden shift in behavior.
"Where are you going?" Buffy pleads with him. "Angel!" As he slams the door behind him, Buffy kneels down to retrieve the letter he'd tossed aside. Quickly reading through it, she draws the same conclusion as to who sent it, turning to instruct the others before taking off herself after him. "Find everything you can about this ritual. And the dimensional reader-"
"Kamien," Fred reminds her, "he still has it...if he hasn't already destroyed it."
"That's going to be our only way of sending him back. Can you build another one?"
"I don't know, Buffy," the young girl solemnly replies. "Even if I can...interdimensional spot technology is extremely delicate. I can't guarantee its stability. Even if it works, there's no telling whether we'll be able to keep Kamien contained in the Mekon dimension."
"Just get one up and running," Buffy demands, reaching for the door knob to leave. "Let us worry about keeping the bastard contained."
Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life in words
Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life
TBC...
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