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How to Treat Your
Lover
by Tami
Chapter 50
Chapter 50-B: Step 3 – Estrangement (Part 17)
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel, Angel’s Suite
Angel lay on his back staring at the ceiling. Fred was curled up along his side with her head on his shoulder, looking extremely sated in her sleep. Angel caressed his fingers along her back as he contemplated the last few hours. He definitely wasn’t happy about what had happened. He also knew he couldn’t fault Fred for that. He should have stopped it before it began. Now here he was. Spike was God knew where and he was in bed with someone else.
“This was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened,” Angel spoke to the room. All that came back was mocking silence.
Fred murmured in her sleep and shifted to a more comfortable position. Her eyes blinked open and it took a moment to figure out where she was. Her eyes widened when she realized how she got there. She had come to tell Angel about what happened between her and –
“Charles!”
Angel looked at her in confusion. Not exactly the name he was hoping to hear after sharing the most intimate experience with a woman. Though, he’d been called worse things by Darla, Drusilla and Spike after sex.
“What about him?” Angel asked curiously.
“I think he’s in terrible danger,” Fred said anxiously.
“What makes you think that? Did you have a nightmare or something?”
“No. He broke up with me,” Fred said.
“Yeah, I got that part. That’s how we ended up here,” Angel commented.
Fred looked down at the sheet that covered her bare body and Angel next to her, equally naked. This was a huge mistake. What was she going to say to Charles? How could she face him again? How could she face Spike if he returned? Then there was Cordelia, Lorne and Groo.
“Oh God,” Fred said as she scrambled out of bed, taking the sheet with her. She frantically searched for her clothes. Angel watched her mimic an acrobat as she tried to hold the sheet up and put her underwear on at the same time. “Oh God, Charles can’t know about this. What am I supposed to tell him? How can I face him knowing that I . . . that you and I --”
“Had sex for four hours,” Angel filled in as he sat up, reached for his pants and pulled them on.
“Oh God,” Fred despaired as she paced the room in her bra and panties, trying not to trip on the sheet finally wrapped around her torso. She was trying not to look while Angel got dressed.
“Look, Fred,” Angel started to say as he buttoned and zipped his pants. “Gunn doesn’t need to know anything about this. Cordy doesn’t need to know. Spike’s long gone to parts unknown by now. We can keep this a secret between us.” He finished putting on his shoes. He went around the bed and drew her into a platonic hug. It felt awkward after having just made love to her not twenty minutes ago. After a few uncomfortable moments, he drew back and asked, “Now why do you think breaking up with you means Gunn’s in trouble?”
“Because he didn’t really break up with me,” she said.
“Oh, but I thought you said he said --”
“I know I said he said those things to me,” Fred cut in. She touched her forehead afraid that a headache might be coming on. It may have sounded like Gunn had broken up with her but . . . “He would never say those things to me.”
“Those things you said he said?” Angel asked confused as hell. It felt like he was talking to a mime. Everything that’s come out of his mouth so far was aped by the other person.
“Exactly! That’s how I know he’s in trouble!” Fred insisted. She pulled away from him and gestured with her hands as she explained, “Don’t you see? He hurt me! And the only reason he’d do that is to protect me from something! And whatever it is, it’s gotta be bad because . . . this hurts like hell.”
“Okay, Fred, okay. We’ll gather the team and help him. We’re not losing another member of this family. You just get dressed and meet us downstairs.” He squeezed her shoulders gently and kissed her forehead. “Everything will be okay.”
With that he grabbed a clean shirt, shrugged it on and left the room to look for the others. Fred heaved a deep sigh and started to pull her clothes on.
**************************
African Village
Inhuman screaming, screeching and fists hitting flesh could be heard in the deepest recesses of the cave. Suddenly an object went flying out of a tunnel and rolled across the ground. It was the head of a demon with pointed ears. Spike strolled out of the darkness bare-chested and bruised, holding other parts of the demon.
“Well, that was a bloody doddle and piece of piss,” Spike commented as he threw the body parts at the demon overseer’s feet. With a sneer, he asked, “Got any more ruddy tests for me, you ponce? I’ll take anything you can throw at me, if it’ll get me what I need to deal with my Sire.” He sniffed angrily. “So, go ahead, bring it on. Bring on the whole --” He should have known he spoke too soon when he heard a skittering sound. “Bloody hell.”
Suddenly, a swarm of black beetles started crawling up his body. They scurried up his chest, neck and face as he squeezed his eyes shut and grunted in distaste.
**************************
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel, Lobby
“There’s still no answer at his place or his cell.”
Cordelia hung up the phone as Groo, Angel and Fred, who was now dressed in a new shirt and jeans, joined her at the reception desk.
“Oh God,” Fred said anxiously.
“This does not bode well,” Groo said, stating the obvious.
“Okay, then we’ll have to split up,” Angel suggested.
“To cover more ground,” Groo elaborated with nod. “That is a good plan. I agree.”
“Fred and I can hit Gunn’s old gang haunts, see if maybe they’ve heard from him,” Angel said. He didn’t look at Fred when he issued the idea, so he didn’t notice the guilty look on her face as she looked to see if anyone else read into what he’d said and piece together what happened between them.
“Or if they know of any old enemies he might have,” Cordelia added.
“Exactly. Cordy, you and Groo go by Gunn’s place, just to make sure he wasn’t injured,” Angel suggested.
“Maybe we could report his truck as stolen,” Cordelia thought aloud.
“It’s not a terrible idea to get the police involved if none of this pans out,” Angel agreed.
“We should leave a note here for Lorne, let him know what’s going on,” Fred said as she grabbed a pen and a message pad.
“If none of us come up with anything, we’ll regroup back here at midnight and --” Angel started to say.
Groo held up a business card. “And perhaps as we search, we could leave these small rectangles behind us – as did that creature that came by yesterday inquiring after Gunn.”
“Right, good,” Angel nodded and then Groo’s words hit him. “What?”
Groo handed the business card over to Angel. “Small rectangles with telephonic digits . . . as a way for people to get in touch with us should they learn anything.”
“Somebody came by here looking for Charles?” Fred asked apprehensively.
Groo nodded. “Yesterday. Please remind me to give that rectangle to Gunn when we find him. I am confident we shall.”
“The guy works for Jenoff,” Angel said as he read the name on the card.
“Who’s Jenoff?” Cordelia asked.
“The soul sucker,” Angel replied as he retrieved his coat and a weapon.
**************************
Los Angeles, Jenoff’s Casino
Two demon bouncers dragged away the corpse of a guy in a track suit as Gunn stood with a Repo Man and watched as Jenoff descended the stairs, flanked by his bodyguards. They moved through the crowd towards Gunn. The vampire hunter stood motionless as Jenoff stepped up with an ugly sneer.
“Charles Gunn,” Jenoff addressed. “I’m impressed. Not a lot of guys come in through that door of their own free will – not the second time, anyway. She must be pretty special, this girl you were getting ready to give my merchandise to.”
Gunn scowled. “I’m here to make good on my debt. You don’t even talk about her.” His lips thinned in anger when Jenoff seemed amused. “Once we’re square, you don’t even think about her --”
“She was never part of the deal,” Jenoff commented and then order the Repo Man, “Hold him.”
When the man went to grab him, Gunn turned on him and threatened, “I’m not going to run. But touch me and you’d better.” The man backed away as Gunn looked at Jenoff. “Let’s get this over with.”
Jenoff raised his hand and was inches away from sucking Gunn’s essence out through his eyeballs when suddenly the door was kicked in and Angel came through wielding a battle axe, followed by Groo carrying a sword, Cordelia and Fred.
Three demon bouncers immediately attacked the group. Angel hit the first demon in the stomach with the handle of his axe, slugged the second demon in the face. The third demon met up with Cordelia’s mace, before he collapsed on the floor.
Fred burst through the chaos, spotted Gunn and called out, “Charles!”
“Fred?” Gunn’s first instinct was to go to her, but another bouncer restrained him.
Another demon made a leap for Fred, but Angel knocked it back with his axe in mid-air. As the team moved further into the casino, the demon patrons circled around them.
“Angel . . .” Cordelia prompted worriedly as she saw the sheer number.
“I know,” Angel replied.
“We are surrounded,” Groo pointed out.
“I know,” Angel said agitated.
“We have to save Charles!” Fred cried.
“I know!” Angel growled in exasperation. He reached out and grabbed a demon around the throat and held him in a headlock, ready to snap his neck at any moment. “Who’s a guy got to kill to talk to the boss around here?”
“I’m the boss,” Jenoff said as the crowd parted to let him through. Behind him, Gunn came forward, followed by the Repo man. “Mind telling me why you’re disrupting my business?”
“Actually, it’s you who’s disrupting my business,” Angel countered. “You’re about to deprive me of a very valuable employee. Charles Gunn there,” Angel nodded in the direction of Jenoff’s captive. “He works for me.”
“A good business man looks into the backgrounds of potential employees,” Jenoff instructed. “Had you done that, you might’ve learned that he was strictly short-term material.”
“Then I’ll make a deal with you --” Angel offered.
Jenoff raised an eyebrow in interest, though he didn’t know what the man in front of him had to offer that he could possibly want.
“You release him, forget what he owes you – and I’ll let you live,” Angel said menacingly.
Jenoff appeared to consider the offer. “Thank you. Turning to his bodyguards, he said, “Kill them.” He started to walk away and let his henchmen have the interlopers when he heard –
“Double or nothing!”
Jenoff stopped in his tracks and looked back at Angel. He raised a hand to stop the converging demons. “Are you offering me your soul?”
Angel shrugged. “A chance to win it anyway.”
“How stupid do I look to you? You’re a vampire. I can smell it from here.”
“Take a bigger whiff. I’m a vampire with a soul.”
Groo, Cordelia and Fred looked shocked at Angel. They weren’t expecting this turn events to happen. What were they going to do if Jenoff ended up with Angel’s soul and they were left with a soulless Angel?
Jenoff studied him for a moment. “Oh. You’re that vampire.”
When it looked like he was interested, Angel laid the stakes. “I choose the game. I win, we walk out of here and Gunn’s debt disappears. If you win, you get us both.”
“You have a deal,” Jenoff said ominously.
Hearing the terms of the deal, the demonic patrons started taking bets on who would win. Angel sat at a vacant gambling table shuffling a deck of cards one-handed. He was beginning to feel confident for the first time since Spike left. Cordelia, Fred and Groo stood behind him, warily watching Jenoff’s smug expression across the room.
“Brilliant stall tactic, bought us some time,” Cordelia said. “Now what’s the plan?”
Angel gestured with the cards. “This is the plan.”
Cordelia glanced over at Jenoff, already seated at the High Roller’s table. “Really?”
“Really,” Angel replied. “We’re going to win Gunn’s soul back.”
Across the room, Gunn was held hostage near the High Roller’s table by a demon bouncer on either side of him. He glanced at Fred but couldn’t hold her gaze. He was ashamed he’d gotten them all into this predicament.
Fred turned to Angel. “This is so wrong in so many ways. I mean it isn’t money or a stuffed bunny Angel’s playing for. It’s my boyfriend.”
Angel cringed inwardly as she reminded him of what they’d done. It wasn’t more than an hour ago they were engaged in the biggest mistake he’d ever made – scratch that – one of the biggest mistakes he’d ever made, and she was already referring to Gunn as her boyfriend again after crying on his lap – never mind, not going there again. He’ll just win Gunn’s soul back, Fred will go back to him and he can go back to his misery over Spike leaving him.
“Fred, I understand you’re nervous. Don’t be. I’ve been around a long time. I’ve played a lot of cards and won a lot of bets,” Angel assured her.
“See, that’s where we’re different,” Fred said anxiously ringing her hands. “I tend to get lost and lose things. And I can’t lose Charles.”
Why not? I lost Spike and I’ve been just great at handling it – barricaded in my room and sulking where I should have been earlier instead of drowning my depression in your body only to have you worried about the guy who dumped you because he made a irreversible deal with his soul that I now have to pay for with my own – probably.
Angel looked at Jenoff and reassured Fred, “I’m not going to lose.”
Groo scanned the casino, watching the demons. The room was abuzz with wagers placed on the impending game. He stepped up to Angel. “Angel, if we must rely on luck, I prefer the odds of my sword. We should fight our way out.”
Angel shook his head, “Got to disagree, Groo. Fighting puts all of us at risk. My way’s safer.”
“If you win,” Fred panicked. “But if you lose your soul, won’t you go evil and start killing everybody – including us?” Addressing Cordelia, she asked, “Am I wrong . . .?”
“Well, you’re not wrong in theory, but I got to go with Angel on this one. Sorry,” Cordelia replied.
Angel saw Jenoff motion him over. He nodded and turned to the trio behind him and assured them, “I’m going to win.” He started to walk off as he reached under his jacket and pulled out a stake. Handing it to Cordelia, he instructed, “If I lose . . . you know what to do. Just make it quick.”
“You know I will,” she said, taking the stake from him.
The crowd parted for Angel and his team as he walked through to sit down next to Jenoff. Cordelia, Fred and Groo circled around him while a dealer stood nearby.
Gunn watched the table as the Repo man stepped up behind him and cheerfully said, “You know, Jenoff lets me have the bodies when he’s done with them.”
Gunn glared at the man but the bouncers held him in place so he couldn’t attempt to beat the smug bastard to a pulp like he was itching to do.
Jenoff held up a hand and the last-minute betting stopped and everyone got quiet. Addressing Angel, he said, “One hand of cards. If you win, this man,” he gestured towards Gunn, “walks free. If I win, I keep his soul, and I get yours.”
Angel nodded confirming the terms of the deal. The team – including Gunn – watched apprehensively.
“Name your game,” Jenoff continued, “Omaha, Texas Hold ’Em, Seven Card Stud . . .?”
Angel looked from Jenoff to his dealer who held a deck at the ready then looked back at Jenoff, “How about a simple cut of the deck? High card wins.”
Impressed with the choice, Jenoff commented to the amusement of the patrons, “Vampire’s not only got a soul, he’s got guts.” Jenoff nodded to the dealer who shuffled the cards and set the deck on the table. “Feeling lucky?”
“After you,” Angel said.
Jenoff smiled, reached out, made his cut of the deck and turned the card over, revealing a five of clubs.
A murmur rippled through the room. Jenoff’s smile faded at the possibility that he could lose this game and his merchandise. Cordelia, Fred and Groo all breathed a sigh of relief. Angel still had a fighting chance. Fred glanced over at Gunn. He gave her a hint of a smile.
Angel liked the odds. He was moments from victory. He raised his fingers to his lips and blew on them for luck. He cut the deck and turned the card over to reveal the three of hearts.
“A three?” Angel looked at the card in disbelief. Spike left him and now this? What the fuck? Did the Powers That Be hate him that much?
With his soul hanging in the balance, Gunn couldn’t believe it either and echoed, “A three?”
Jenoff’s smile returned and became wider. “A three! You lose.”
Angel’s eyes locked with Cordelia’s as she raised the stake. She appeared to aim for Angel’s chest, but instead slammed it into Jenoff’s hand, pinning it to the table. Angel’s almost wished she had plunged it into his chest as Jenoff roared in pain.
“Was that quick enough?” Cordelia inquired.
“Works for me,” Angel grabbed his axe and swung it at Jenoff, cutting his head off.
The room was engulfed in stunned silence as Jenoff’s head rolled across the floor and his body hit the table. Yellow blood spilled from the neck onto the felt tabletop. The group looked around to see what the demons would do in retaliation, but the only thing that happened was a mad exchange of money as the demons settled their bets.
Gaining a second wind now that his soul wasn’t much of an issue anymore, Gunn swung around and smashed the Repo man in the face with his fist and sent him crashing into one of the many slot machines.
When he turned back to see Angel, Fred rushed over and hugged him. Tucking her under his arm, he prompted, “Angel . . .”
Pleased with himself, Angel addressed the room, “It’s over. No need to say thanks.”
“You’re right,” Gunn scoffed. “If killing himself was that easy, I would’ve done it myself.”
That sobered Angel up. He looked at the table to see the yellow blood percolate as something began to grow out of the neck of Jenoff’s headless body. The body sat up as a new head emerged. It’s larger, slimier and more grotesque than the previous one. The mouth opened and let out an ear-piercing shriek. The group raised their weapons, ready to attack.
“Now we fight . . .?” Groo asked.
They had to find a way out of here quick. Angel looked back at the other demons. “So, who else in here owes this guy?”
Realizing they were better off with Jenoff dead, the demons turn en masse and attack the casino’s owner. The group snuck out the back as the patrons ripped Jenoff apart.
**************************
Los Angeles, Night
Gunn and Fred sat in his truck outside the hotel. He had taken her back to the hotel himself so that he could spend time with her and figure out what he could possibly say to make it up to her for the way he had ended things the last time they saw each other.
“Say it again. A little slower this time,” Fred teased.
Gunn leaned closer and slowly enunciated, “I was terribly, terribly wrong to break up with you and say those mean, untrue things.”
Fred basked in the apology. She hadn’t thought much about what happened between her and Angel since she got Gunn back from Jenoff. She didn’t want to think about her moment of weakness when she was with Angel and had the fleeting thought that they should have ended up together. It was an impossibility that she couldn’t afford to dwell on. Angel had promised her that what transpired would stay between them and no one else would know. She had to be satisfied with that and put it out of her mind.
“Good,” Fred held out her hand as if she were holding a microphone. “Now say it into the tape.”
Gunn gently took her hand in his. “I’m really sorry and I’ll never do it again.” He sealed the promise with a kiss to her hand.
“I’m just glad you’re all right,” Fred said solemnly.
“I’m only all right if you and me good,” Gunn replied. “We are, aren’t we?”
Shaking the last memory of being with Angel out of her mind, Fred nodded. Gunn smiled, leaned over and gave her a kiss.
“Just one last thing,” Fred prompted.
“Name it.”
“Who did you trade your soul for?”
In was a long moment before Gunn answered. “It was a long time ago . . .”
“I know. But I want you to tell me and we’ll never talk about it again,” Fred promised, feeling her stomach churn at what a hypocrite she was. She was never going to tell him what she did when she thought he’d broken up with her for good. “Who was she?”
Uncomfortable with the turn of conversation, Gunn pulled away and put his hands on the steering wheel.
“Charles . . . ?”
“It was way before I met you,” Gunn said defensively.
Fred slid closer to him. “You must have wanted her pretty bad to trade your soul. Just tell me.”
“You’ll think it’s stupid.”
“I won’t,” she smiled.
“It was a truck,” he blurted out and then looked at her. “Happy now? I was seventeen years old and I sold my soul for a truck.”
“Not this truck,” Fred said in disbelief.
“Don’t go dissing my girl,” Gunn shot back.
“Oh, Charles,” Fred chuckled. “Your soul wasn’t worth air conditioning?”
“Look, back in the day this truck kept me alive,” Gunn explained. “It helped me save other lives too. I know it sounds dumb, but a soul didn’t seem like such a big deal. I didn’t think I had a future then.” He looked into her eyes. “Now I do.” He leaned closer and kissed her, soft and sweet.
“What is it about you that makes me melt?” Fred asked breathlessly.
“Maybe it’s that I love you?” Gunn grinned.
“That’s got to be it,” she agreed and leaned in for another kiss.
**************************
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel
Cordelia and Groo were filing away paperwork when suddenly Cordelia cried out and fell to the floor with a vision. There were flashes of Holtz, Justine and Angel, followed by a bit of their past encounters and Holtz wounding Spike and finally of what was to come between Angel and Holtz. Groo abandoned the files and rushed to her side to comfort her.
“I-I-I got to go. I have to find Angel and warn him,” Cordelia said after she recovered.
Angel had left earlier saying he needed time alone away from the hotel. Luckily, he mentioned going to the bluffs before he left. Groo helped Cordelia to her feet. She asked him to stay behind while she went in search of Angel and left the hotel.
When he was alone, Groo pulled a duffel bag out from behind the reception desk and walked out of the hotel without so much as a look back.
**************************
Point Dume
The waves rolled up the beach and crashed against the rocks of the cliff. Angel pulled his convertible up to the metal pillar with engraved letters reading ‘POINT DUME’ in the side. He got out of the car with a sigh and sat on the edge of the engine hood looking out over the surf.
**************************
Los Angeles, Pacific Coast Highway
Cordelia drove down the crowded freeway honking her horn at the car in front of her and then pulled all the way from the right, across the middle and into the left lane.
“Slow poke!” Cordelia yelled at the driver. “I’m in a hurry. It’s a matter of life and death!”
**************************
Point Dume
Angel looked out over the vast ocean wondering where Spike was now. What was he doing? Did he miss him? Was he coming back? Was he in trouble and possibly hurt again? Angel pulled out his cell phone to see if he could figure out his voicemail and find out if Spike had left a message. He flipped it open and began to dial, but the phone slipped out of his hand and tumbled down the side of the cliff.
“Damn it,” Angel cursed as he watched it descend helplessly. “I hate those things.”
**************************
Los Angeles, Pacific Coast Highway
As Cordelia raced down the highway, she began to glow from the inside.
“Oh, no! No, no, no! Not now!” Cordelia whimpered. This was so not the time to be glowing.
White light streamed out of the car windows as she pulled across traffic and onto the left shoulder while everything around her slowed down and came to a stop. Once the glow faded, Cordelia looked around and saw that the other cars and drivers seemed to have been frozen in time. That was never a good sign.
**************************
Point Dume
Angel stood at the edge of the cliff looking down into the dark abyss where his phone had disappeared. Suddenly, there was a crunching sound. Angel turned around only to see Holtz appear out of nowhere.
“Holtz? How did you find me?” Angel asked.
“It wasn’t as hard as you might think,” Holtz replied.
They stared at each other, waiting to see if the other would make a move. One minute there was several feet between them and the next Angel had closed the distance and had a hand around his throat. He pinned Holtz to the trunk of his car and started to slowly squeeze his windpipe.
“You put my childe at death’s door,” Angel said menacingly.
“I only wounded him severely which is less than you deserve. You murdered my child,” Holtz choked.
Angel released his hold and stepped back. “I was different then.”
Holtz reached up to massage his throat. “Yes. So was I. You feel remorse? You think you feel remorse for what you’ve done to me and yet you can’t express it. I wounded your demon offspring. Did you mourn his impending loss?”
“Is this your way of forcing me to apologize for what I was?” Angel asked.
“For what you are ,” Holtz corrected. “And the others you’ve made just like you.”
“Why would I? It wouldn’t mean anything. It won’t undo the past. It won’t bring your family back,” Angel replied.
“That’s true,” Holtz agreed. “It would mean very little. Not much at all, really, but it would be something.”
“Fine then, I’m sorry. For whatever little it might mean. We’re even,” Angel sneered.
Holtz lowered his hand. “We will never be even. You still have your demon spawn. I thought that by mortally wounding him I would have a measure of justice. But all I have is an empty ache gnawing at my insides.”
“Hunting Spike down and fatally wounding him as you did was never justice. It was vengeance, pure and simple.”
“Maybe vengeance is all I have left now. You cannot feel acceptable remorse for what you took from me and I will not apologize for maiming an abomination of God and man. However, you cannot retaliate in kind since you’ve already slain my family in cold blood,” Holtz said.
Angel slugged Holtz on principle. Holtz touched his lip and came away with blood on his fingers. Suddenly, he launched himself at Angel. They both tumbled over the edge and down the side of the cliff onto the beach below. Angel shook his head to clear it before scrambling to his feet. He’d barely got to feet before Holtz barreled into him, knocking him down again.
**************************
Los Angeles, Pacific Coast Highway
Cordelia got out of the car and walked over to look in the window of the car adjacent to hers. A woman sat in the driver’s seat, frozen in time in the act of fixing her lipstick.
“Don’t be . . .” Cordelia jumped and gasped at a voice behind her, “Frightened.”
“It’s a little late for that!” Cordelia admonished as she turned around to face her companion.
“Sorry. Do you remember me? I’m . . .”
“Yeah, Skip,” she finished. “You tend to remember your demon guides. What is going on?”
“I think you know,” Skip said cryptically.
“I’m dying?” she surmised.
“No,” Skip chuckled. “No, you’re not dying.”
“I’m not?” she asked skeptically.
“Nope.”
Cordelia punched him in the arm. “Say that part first!”
“Sorry!” Skip said. “It’s not the end. It’s the beginning. You’re a great warrior, Cordelia. The battle that we’re all a part of is fought on many different planes and dimensions. You’ve outgrown this one. You’ve become . . . a higher being.”
“Me?” Cordelia inquired in disbelief.
“You. You took on the visions, and even when you could have traded them in for a happy, normal life, even when they were killing you, you wouldn’t let them go,” Skip explained. “The big test came when the Powers made you part demon. They bet the farm on you. Power corrupts and they gave you a lot of power.”
“The glowy thing!” Cordelia said in wonder.
Skip nodded, “Which you used well – to fight evil.”
“And only that one time as a night light,” Cordelia added. When he gave her a quizzical look she replied, “Bad dreams. Skip, I don’t understand.”
“I think you do,” Skip said.
“It’s ridiculous. I’m just a somewhat normal girl who has visions, glows, and occasionally blows things up with her crazy new power.” Skip watched as she paced in front of him. “I’m a higher being?”
“Yes.”
“And when you say I’ve outgrown this level that sort of implies . . .”
“You’re moving on to a new one,” Skip finished.
“Now I’m really scared,” Cordelia said apprehensively.
“I know,” Skip replied. “But I also know you’re ready.”
“Oh, no, I’m not,” she protested. She had things to do, places to be. She should be on her way right now to warn Angel about the vision she had.
“Ah, the universe begs to differ,” Skip commented. “And deep down inside I think . . .”
“Yes! All right,” Cordelia cut in. “Stop saying ‘I know’! Maybe I do know. Maybe, if given enough time, I might even get used to the idea, but --” she saw the telltale look in his eyes. “I don’t have enough time, do I?”
**************************
Point Dume
Angel finally had the upper hand in the fight. He towered over a fallen Holtz. He had a grip on Holtz’s coat and was punching him in the face. Suddenly, he felt a jolt of electricity immobilize his body. Holtz had zapped him with a tazer to the side of his stomach. When Angel wouldn’t let go, Holtz slammed the tazer into his chest repeatedly until Angel released him and fell back into the surf.
Holtz used the opportunity to jump on Angel and punched him in the face. A wave rolled over them and Angel used its momentum to roll Holtz over. He held Holtz’s head under the water for minute and then pulled him back up sputtering water.
Holtz gripped the tazer and slugged Angel across the face with it. Angel toppled over and Holtz scrambled to zap him repetitively until Angel collapsed facedown in the water. Holtz struggled to get to his feet, pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and used it to signal a boat waiting off shore. The boat responded and moved closer to the shore.
**************************
Los Angeles, Pacific Coast Highway
Cordelia and Skip stood in the middle of the road amid cars frozen in time. She still couldn’t believe that the Powers chose this moment when it was the most crucial to warn Angel about impending doom to make her a Higher Being.
“No, of course not,” Cordelia said to herself more than Skip, “Why would the Powers give me time to warn Angel about something that may kill him? I’m on my way to . . .”
Skip only stared at her, watching for her to come to the inevitable conclusion.
“I have to warn him!”
“What you’re being called to do is more important,” Skip said simply.
“How is that fair? I can’t leave without telling him that the man that tried to kill Spike is also out to kill him! Why does this have to be now?”
“There is work to be done in the higher realms, Cordelia.”
“Can you at least warn Angel for me?”
“Sorry,” Skip said sincerely. “That’s not allowed.”
“Then I’m not going,” she sounded like a petulant child. “How can they do this to me now?” Then it finally dawned on her. “This is the last test, isn’t it?”
**************************
On a boat, just off shore of Point Dume
Angel woke to the sound of a screw-gun. He found himself on his back inside a metal casket. Thick steel cables around his chest, abdomen, thighs and ankles bound him inside the box. Above him, Holtz and Justine were tightening the screws on the frame.
“Holtz?” Angel inquired.
The two of them ignored him. That left him with the option of listening to their conversation.
“I told you I would do anything for you,” Justine said. If Angel didn’t know better, she sounded triumphant. “I’d follow you into hell if you let me.”
“No need to go to such lengths,” Holtz said casually as if he strapped enemies into coffins and dumped them offshore every day. “After this, I shall finally be done with vengeance. I find the taste of it bitter and unsavory.”
That comment left Angel perplexed. Why didn’t Holtz just stake him already? What did he hope to gain by tossing him in the ocean? Spike was no longer around. What did he have to live for anymore? If he knew he’d spend the rest of his existence like this, he would have staked himself after he read Spike’s brief note.
**************************
Los Angeles, Pacific Coast Highway
“Cordelia,” Skip prompted.
She turned around and looked at him. He tapped his left wrist as if to say that time was up. She had no choice anymore.
“If I ever come face-to-face with those Powers That Be, we are going to have a big talk,” she said resignedly.
“You’re doing the right thing,” he assured her.
“I’m scared,” Cordelia admitted. “But I know it’s right. I know somehow it’s all going to be all right.” She sighed and looked at him. “What do I do?”
“Just say ‘yes’,” Skip replied.
“I already have.”
Suddenly golden flecks of light surround Cordelia as she started to float up in a shaft of white light.
**************************
On a boat, just off shore of Point Dume
Justine tightened the screws on Angel’s coffin. She glanced at Angel and for a split-second he thought he could see remorse in her eyes. But then they hardened and the glimmer was gone. He couldn’t read anything from Holtz expression outside of weariness and exhaustion.
Suddenly, his captors were gone only to return a moment later with the lid to the metal coffin. Holtz and Justine slid it into place and then he was looking up at them through the wire-mesh and glass window that was conveniently positioned at head-level. Soon, Angel heard them slide two rods into place that locked the lid down. Justine welded them into place.
Justine looked to Holtz for approval as they moved to one end of the coffin and pushed it off the back of the boat and into the sea. They stood together and watched as the coffin floated for a moment and then started to sink straight down, leaving behind a small trail of bubbles.
**************************
Los Angeles, Pacific Coast Highway
Skip still stood in the middle of the highway full of vehicles that were stuck in time. He looked up at the sky and watched Cordelia ascend in the ray of light from the otherwise dark heavens until she was nothing but a speck of light that flashed out.
**************************
On a boat, just off shore of Point Dume
Justine steered the boat away from the scene of Angel’s demise just as Angel’s coffin descended deeper into the abyss of the sea. She headed towards the beach but stopped about a hundred yards away before slowing the boat to stop. Letting the boat drift with the current, she walked back out to the end of the boat where Holtz slumped with his feet hanging over the side.
When she was within reach, Holtz grabbed her hand and shoved the handle of an ice pick into it. Forcing her to hold the instrument, he brought her hand closer to his throat.
“Don’t make me do this,” Justine cried, genuine tears sliding down her cheeks. “I can’t.”
Holtz tightened his grip on her hand and the awl she held. “We already know you can. You promised me. You said you’d do anything for me. Come on, Justine. I’m not asking you to follow me into Hell, just help send me there.”
Sobbing, Justine continued to shake her head in denial even as her fist – still covered by Holtz’s hand – stabbed him in the side of the neck. She had managed to nick his jugular vein. Holtz slumped over on her lap. It could have been a minute or an hour that she sat on the end of the boat and held her mentor. He was the person that taught her more effective ways to fight. She gave one hard shove and watched with a blank stare as Holtz’s body rolled off her lap and fell off the end of the boat into the ocean. She stared at the black water as the boat drifted on the current.
**************************
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel
Gunn walked down the stairs to the lobby with his cell phone in hand.
“Angel still hasn’t come back?” Fred asked.
“No. What about Cordy?” Gunn inquired.
“No. She’s still gone. Groo disappeared as well. Maybe Lorne would know . . . no, because Lorne doesn’t live here anymore. He left after Groo disappeared. Not used to that yet. I tried to get a hold of Cordelia but she isn’t answering her phone. Spike isn’t answering his either.”
“I’ve been trying to reach Angel and he isn’t answering,” Gunn said, gesturing with his phone before pocketing it.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Fred commented apprehensively as she looked around the empty lobby of the vacant hotel. “Where did everybody go?”
**************************
Cave in the African Village
Deep in the darkness, Spike lay motionless on his back on the cavern floor, spent from the grueling combat he’d gone through the last several days. A pitch-black shadow moved across the wounded vampire. It was darker than the gloom of the grotto.
“You have endured the required trials,” the demon intoned.
“Bloody right I have,” Spike grumbled more to himself than to the demon. Slowly, painfully, he rolled over and pushed himself up onto his knees. His face was swollen and bruised. His chest and arms were no different, having sustained burns, lacerations and other multitude of injuries.
“So you’ll give me what I want. Make me what I was. So that Angelus remembers what he was mated to,” Spike said. It came out in a more derisive tone than he intended, but at this point he couldn’t care less.
The demon’s eyes flared green. “Very well.” Spike watched nervously as the demon came closer. “We will return . . . your soul.”
Spike tried to back away as the demon’s hand reached out towards his chest. But before he got two inches, his body jerked with the force as the demon’s hand touched his chest. His insides took on a fiery yellow-orange glow. When the searing pain became too much, Spike let out an ear-splitting scream until the demon released him and he collapsed, unconscious, on the ground.
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