Fred gasped. A sound which could have been a word choked at the back of Gunn’s throat. But Angel only saw his son; his son who now remembered that which he had taken away.

“Connor…” he managed.

He stepped forward and Lorne unconsciously took a step backwards. Connor sighed.

“Listen, I know this is gonna sound kind of – okay, very weird, but half an hour ago I was sitting at home eating dinner so just bear with me, okay? This is as much of a shock to me as it is to you.”

He looked directly at Angel then. “First of all, I’m not gonna tie explosives to myself and take a sports store hostage. And I’m not gonna kill any of you, so you can stop worrying about that right now.”

He switched his gaze to Wesley. “Don’t feel guilty. I know you’re gonna worry about it all over again because you’ve got your memory back but if you hadn’t of snatched me I wouldn’t be standing here right now and that’s all that matters to me – try to make it all that matters to you.”

Wesley nodded and the word that had choked up in Gunn’s throat finally escaped.

“What in the name of all that’s good and holy is going on here?”

Connor smiled. “I’m back, as you can see, angst free and rearing to go, that’s what’s happening.”

Gunn stared at the younger man for a moment. “Oh.”

Connor continued. “Don’t you feel guilty either, Dad, you did give me a gift and I understand that now. I have another world to relate to, even if all of that stuff I didn’t do and they’re all false memories – now I remember Quor’Toth and how bad it was, and all it makes me think of is how much I want to be here.”

Angel’s eyes had clouded with tears. “Connor…all I ever wanted for you was…” His voice failed him and Fred put her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

“I know, Dad. You could say I’m a different person, but that’s not true at all – I’m me, and I guess I’ve grown up in the half hour it’s taken me to get from my house to here. Weird how the important things only take such a small amount of time, and the little things make up the majority of your life…”

Wesley smirked at Angel. “Looks like he’s turned into quite the philosopher, too.”

Connor came back to the present and smiled. “I’m Connor with an upgrade, and I guess that’s happiness. So don’t go thinking it’s all been wrapped up neatly with a quick fix, what you did to me worked, Dad – it’s just now I’m here with you and I can remember all that’s happened before.”

Angel was staring at his son. “Connor…I spent a century of torture in a hell dimension worse than I could have ever imagined…but you…you’re something else. That you can stand there now, unharmed by the return of all of those terrible memories…” He staggered to his feet with help from Fred and Gunn. He took an unsteady step towards Connor.

“I’m so proud of you, son, and I love you.”

Connor’s bottom lip gave the slightest twitch and Angel grabbed him into a bear hug, so tightly as if he wouldn’t let him go ever again.

“Long time no see,” gasped Riley Finn, as he lay broken and bloodied in Buffy’s arms. “I didn’t ever think I’d see you again, but…” Blood seeped up out of his mouth.

“Somebody help me over here!” yelled Buffy, and Giles jogged over to stand beside her.

“Dear Lord,” was all he managed, before running off shouting for Willow.

Riley smiled. “At least I got to see you again.”

Tears poured out of Buffy’s eyes. “Don’t leave me again, that’s an order, Finn!”

He choked on a mouthful of blood, and he tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace. “I don’t think I’ll be able to keep that order, ma’am.”

Buffy felt her fist tightening as she twisted the fabric of his jumper in her hand.

He let out one last gasp and then lay dead in her arms.

Buffy stared in disbelief at his body as Willow arrived, but she didn’t register what the witch was saying. Nor what Giles said, or any of the crowd gathering around her.

She just jumped up and scanned the surroundings for her target.

She saw him.

She sprinted towards him.

She tore him away from his embrace and slammed him up against the wall.

“You son of a BITCH!” she screamed, pummelling his chest. “How could you not tell me he was here!!!”

Hands grabbed her, so many pairs of hands, dragging her away from the person she blamed for this whole thing, this mess, pushing her to the ground and pinning her in place. She wanted to hurt someone so badly to just make the pain go away; she’d lost two people who she either loved or had loved in the space of a few minutes. She screamed for retribution of her dead lover and friend, before she felt a palm on her forehead and she passed out cold.

Angel fell against the wall as Willow sedated the enraged Slayer with some kind of spell or another. Connor stood by his side, asking him if he was alright, but all he could think of was what could have set off Buffy so badly.

He looked over the road and saw the abandoned corpse of a soldier; the uniform matched those he’d brought with him.

He sniffed the air and caught the scent of the blood which tainted Buffy’s clothing, then glanced with a knowing certainty at Wesley.

He looked back, puzzled. “What?”

Angel sighed. “It doesn’t matter. You wouldn’t have known who he was, even if you asked. That’s Riley Finn lying dead in the road, Buffy’s ex-boyfriend and that’s why she got mad, cause she thought I knew and didn’t tell her.”

He collapsed to the ground, the events of the past couple of hours finally claiming their toll on him. All of a sudden the pain and the weariness overcame him, and he joined Buffy in unconsciousness.

Wesley gave a puzzled look. “Who’s Riley?”

Willow looked up with fire in her eyes. “The guy who’s lying in the road, dead – let’s try to show a little respect shall we?”

“I’m not trying to start anything Willow, I just wanted to establish just what’s going on here.”

“I’d say it was a little late to establish anything, Wesley, now let’s try to focus on the problems we have right in front of us?” said Giles in a hurried tone.

Wesley was taken aback by the others’ tones and walked away, leaving them to it. Fred followed him leaving Gunn tending to Angel with Connor.

Faith was trying to help one of the injured Potentials but was the only one doing so. “Can I possibly get a hand over here? Injured girls a bit more of a priority than a sedated Slayer, yeah?”

Willow shot daggers at Faith but came over to help. Faith gave her a steady glare in return.

“Don’t go there, Red.”

“Well, like you said, injured girls more important than our best warrior being down for the count, right?”

“Excuse me? Vampire Slayer, standing right here.”

“Buffy is the most experienced -”

“Yeah, yeah, best, most experienced, I get that – kind of why I flipped four years ago, or had you forgotten already?”

“You just can’t handle the fact that someone’s better than you at something.”

“How about everything, Red? I’m over what I was in four years ago but if you’ve got something to say then go right ahead and say it!”

“Already said it,” said Willow in a low, dangerous voice.

Faith gave her one last stare and started towards the Wiccan. “Oh, that is it, I’m so kickin’ your ass!”

Luckily, before she got anywhere near Willow, a pair of arms grabbed her and dragged her away.

“Don’t, Faith,” said a voice by her ear. Giles gently placed his arm on Willow’s and talked quietly into her ear. Faith let the guy behind her take control and she stopped struggling. After a few seconds she was released and she turned to face him.

“Great,” she said, looking at Xander.

“No,” he started. “Not great.”

“I get ‘rescued’ by Harris so I won’t hurt his best friend, what a day this is becoming.”

“Faith, she could have, and probably would have, killed you there, you know?”

“No way, I could’ve taken her…”

“Faith,” said Xander in a firm voice. “You weren’t here last year. You haven’t seen what she’s fully capable of. We have. Let’s just leave it, shall we?”

She studied Xander for a few moments, then shrugged. “Fine, alright. Forgotten.”

But seeing the look she gave Willow as she knelt to tend to the injured Potential, Xander knew it was far from forgotten.

Fred caught up to Wesley when he stopped around the corner from the others. He took a breath and clenched his fists before Fred grabbed his arm. He jumped slightly.

“Oh…Fred. I didn’t see you.”

“Well, yeah, you had your back facing me,” said Fred, teasing.

When he didn’t smile she frowned, concerned. “What’s wrong, Wes?”

He looked at her with a haunted expression. “It’s been coming to me again, Fred.”

For a second she didn’t realise what he meant but then it hit her.

“The First?”

He nodded, looking exhausted by the confession.

“What’s it been saying to you?”

He sighed. “Nothing really…you know when something builds up inside of you, but when you finally tell someone else it just sounds silly?” Fred nodded. “That’s kind of how I feel now.”

He looked as though he was going to head back to the others, a normal expression washing over his weary one, but Fred stopped him.

“No, Wes,” she said firmly. “This is not silly. I get that you try to keep everything together by pretending everything’s normal, or like you’re not affected by what’s happening to make everyone else feel secure, but if the First has been visiting you when you’re alone and you’re keeping it to yourself, it’ll…it’ll kill you, Wes, and not like your normal kind of dead. You’ll just become hollow but everyone else won’t notice because you’ll act like nothing’s happening. So don’t walk away from this, you need to tell someone about what’s happening or it’ll destroy you.”

Wesley looked into Fred’s eyes. He always made the mistake of forgetting that Fred had the resolve to survive five years in an alternate demon dimension, thinking of her as a naïve woman who he wanted to protect and care for, but it was at times like this when the Fred everyone else rarely saw came through – the Fred who, through willpower alone, survived that dimension, and the utter resolve that was deep inside of her, normally masked by Fred’s cheerful personality.

“So tell me about it, Wes,” she said, her voice softening.

He sighed again. “It’s been coming to me at times when I’m alone, and even times when there are other people around but I’m the only one who can see it. It comes as Lilah, Angel, my father…” His eyes had drifted down towards the ground as he recalled the visages of the First.

“That’s awful, Wes.”

“And with the memories we’ve just got back…it got me wondering if…if it knew what I did, and that’s why it’s been coming to only me. Because it knows that I’m the weak link.” He was almost overcome with emotion – grief and depression.

“You’re not the weak link, Wes. You’re anything but. You know what I think?”

He half smiled as he looked at her firm stance. “What’s that?”

“I think the reason the First has been coming to you is that it knows you’re the strong link, and it’s trying to break you because it knows that if it breaks you, then we’ll all go next. You’re the rock we all hold on to, Wes. You’re the one who does what needs to be done but can come back after doing it, without any kind of pride or self-satisfaction. And I do hate to say it, but taking Connor was a good example of that – you were willing to place your own life over the life of someone else’s and everyone understands that. I mean, we understood it before we got our memories wiped but we still get it now that they’re back. Wes…you didn’t see how much it affected everyone when you tried to shoot the First in the bedroom – it really shook everyone up that you were the first one to fly off the handle because of it. But we’re all expecting too much from you, and that’s our mistake. And that’s why the First is going for you, because it sees that you’re the…well, I guess you’re the spiritual leader, and Angel’s the warrior leader, at least out of all of us from L.A. anyway. Am I making sense here or am I rambling on like I always do?”

Wesley smiled. “Yes…I didn’t realise I’d affected anyone else that badly…but I admit I thought I’d last longer under the influence of the First. But it’s good to have someone to talk to about it, you were right about that, Fred.”

“Damn straight I’m right. Now are you all right?”

He nodded, and she smiled.

“It’s gonna be alright, Wes. We can get through this, but together. We have to all be together or it’s not gonna work.”

He looked back in the direction of the rest, then back at Fred. “Something gives me the impression that not everyone feels the same way.”

“I know, Willow kinda flipped out, didn’t she?”

“Think we can pull down the fences?”

Fred smiled again. “We can sure try!”

She held her hand out to him and he took it, walking back around the corner to meet the rest of the gang. Wesley drew breath to say something but an enormous pop sounded from above their heads and everyone looked upwards to see a black shadow appear above them. A deep rumbling started to shake the glass in the windows and Wesley took Fred’s arm and pulled her into the middle of the street to avoid any glass that might shatter from the houses.

A terrible voice echoed from above them:

“DENOMINOM ERUS VENEFICUS QUOD FORMIDOLOSUM - METTIS ME!”

With this, a sheet of flame flew from the figure’s outstretched hands and smothered the street, spreading across the road and Wesley was glad he took the precaution of moving away as every window on the street exploded.

A blast rippled from the shadow’s body and sent everyone tumbling to the ground, the wave echoing hollowly in their ears.

The figure flew down to rest above the inferno stretched across the middle of the road and Wesley saw Willow step forward, eyes black, hands outstretched, ready to take on the newcomer.

A deep, hideous laugh emitted from the centre of the shadow.

“HA, HA, HA! YOU DARE TO CONCEIVE OF DEFYING ME!?”

It lifted a hand and Willow’s neck bent at an unnatural angle, sending her crashing to the floor.

Faith, with one arm lifted to shield her face from the intense heat of the flames, stepped forward to check on the Wiccan but the figure looked at her, lifting her up into the air and towards the flames. Faith screamed in defiance and the figure roared in laughter once more, partially deafening Wesley.

A sword shot from Connor’s hand but without even looking around, the sword stopped on its way to the figure’s back, snapping in two and being hurtled back towards the thrower. Connor flipped backwards but was clipped on the arm by one of the jagged edges, collapsing to the ground in agony. Fred called in concern and headed towards the downed teenager but was lifted into the air as Faith had been, whose jacket was beginning to catch fire with the strength of the flames.

Wesley leaped forward and grabbed hold of Fred, but an unseen force thudded into his side, sending him soaring through the air to collapse in a garden off to the side of the road.

He looked up in desperation, but with Buffy and Angel still unconscious and Faith and Willow otherwise incapacitated he knew the battle wouldn’t go well at all.

The flames were licking around Faith’s body as she screamed in pain and desperation, and Fred was close behind her.

The figure was bellowing with a loud, all encompassing laughter, when suddenly it changed somehow, becoming even deeper and louder than before.

Wesley realised it was shouting in pain, and before he could add another thought to that one a bright white light shone from opposite the shadow. It roared at the light, obviously struggling with it.

All of a sudden Faith and Fred flew back onto the ground, and the figure flew forward at the light, and they both promptly disappeared.

Wesley’s ears rang with the sudden silence of the area. The only noises he could hear were the crackling of the flames and the groans of the injured, himself included.

He dragged himself up onto his feet and hobbled over to where Fred was lying, fearing the worst. But he feared without need, because she opened her eyes groggily when he rolled her over.

“Hey,” he said gently. “Are you alright?”

She nodded slowly and struggled to her feet.

“What just happened…?”

“I’m not sure, but I think the First has a few more friends than we first realised. Can you walk?” After receiving another nod, he put an arm under Fred’s and helped her to where Connor sat, tending to his leg.

“I’m okay,” said Connor before Wesley could ask. “But I think we’re separated from the others.”

Wesley looked up and saw the flames, higher and fiercer than he could remember them being.

“Looks like our new adversary left us with a parting shot,” he said, gesturing at the flames.

Connor nodded in agreement and Fred produced a piece of fabric from somewhere, tying it around the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Really, I’m okay,” he insisted. “Offspring of two vampires healing and all that.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Fred. “I kind of forgot about that whole thing for a second there.” She gave Connor a smirk to let him know she was being sarcastic and continued tying his leg up anyway.

Wesley stood up and assessed the damage. He couldn’t make out the other group that well from where he was standing but could make out Faith moving around, so at least there was still one Slayer who wasn’t out of it. He tried looking for Willow but couldn’t see her; he wondered if the sorcerer had killed her or knocked her out, he hoped that it was the latter.

Connor got to his feet and came and stood next to Wesley while Fred went on checked on the still-unconscious Angel. He spotted a couple of bodies on the other side of the street and ran to check on them. Wesley followed him.

“Oh, man, what the hell just happened…?” asked Xander, clutching at his head.

“We were attacked by some kind of wizard,” said Wesley. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I was just out of it for a minute there, I’m good.”

Connor was checking the other person, Wesley recognised him as that kid Andrew.

“He’s alright,” said Connor after a moment. “He’s just knocked out.”

Xander helped the teenager pick up Andrew and they lifted him across to where Angel lay. Fred looked up at them when they arrived.

“Is this everyone on this side?”

“Yeah,” said Xander. “They were all checking on…uh…Riley…when that thing attacked. We went to check on the weapons. Oh, and Wes…I think those soldier guys got burned when it all went down.”

Wesley nodded slowly, feeling sorry for the loss of more people. “It couldn’t be helped…at least they wouldn’t have felt much pain, these flames are too intense to keep anyone alive for too long.”

“That wizard’s somethin’ else, though,” continued Xander. “I thought Willow was powerful…that thing blew her away though. At least, that’s as much as I made out before I went to unconscious-land.”

“At least it’s gone now,” said Connor. “I don’t think we would have survived much longer if it had stayed.”

“I wonder why the First didn’t just send him out to attack us instead of that demon…?” wondered Wesley.

“Maybe it doesn’t answer to the First,” suggested Fred. They all looked at her. “Well,” she continued, a bit flustered. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? Like Wes said, it would’ve just sent him out instead of that demon…which means either the First kept him in reserve for some reason we don’t know about or it isn’t working for the First.”

They all wondered about this point for a few moments, thinking of the implications of having another foe to contend with, when Andrew groaned and stirred on the ground.

“You okay?” asked Connor.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Good. Now, we have to figure out a way to get through that fire and back with the others.”

“I don’t think there is one,” said a familiar voice behind them. Spike stood there. “I’ve checked the sewers, the houses…if it isn’t the flame then it’s some kind of magical barrier I can’t put my fists through.”

“That complicates things then,” stated Wesley. “Does it completely surround us?”

“No, just stops us from goin’ the place we want to go,” said Spike, pointing at the flames, and towards the others.

Wesley nodded. “Alright then.” He walked as close as he could to the fire without burning himself, then shouted through it. “Is everyone alright over there?”

“Wes?” answered Faith. “Geez, you all scared the crap out of us, we thought you were all dead.”

“No, we’re okay. Angel’s still unconscious though.”

“Same with B, and Red’s out for the count with whatever that thing did to her.”

“That’s unfortunate. We can’t get back to you because there’s a magical barrier which prevents us from joining you. I think we’ll have to find a way around elsewhere.”

“Sure thing, I think we’ll be heading back to the house, so if you head there…I guess we’ll see you soon.”

“Yes, it’d be best if we started to move on right away.”

“I hear you. Be careful Wes.”

“You too.”

With that, he stepped away and called out to Spike.

The vampire whirled around, the tail of his coat sweeping in a dramatic motion. Wesley rolled his eyes.

“You’re sure there’s no way we can get through?”

“Positive,” he answered.

Wesley nodded and went over to where Angel lay, picking him up by one of the arms. “Can you give me a hand?”

Spike snorted and walked away, and Xander sighed and grabbed the vampire’s other arm.

“Alright, we’ll head down this street and take the next turning, we should try to move in a large circle to get around the perimeter of the barrier.”

Spike was looking up at the sky. “Uhm…Wesley? Hate to put a downer on your big plan, but…”

It was still daylight.

“Oh,” said Wesley. “Well, I guess we should stay here until sunset, then.”

“No, I have a better idea. I reckon I could make it through those flames, but Angel you’d have to throw through them. How about we get up onto the second floor of this here house, open up one of the windows and chuck our fearless leader here up and over the towering inferno?”

“Spike…that’s possibly the worst plan I’ve ever heard.”

He shrugged. “Better than ‘wait and see’. That sorcerer could be back any minute, and there you are sitting right on top of where he appeared!”

“Spike, you’ve just said it yourself, we can’t go anywhere because of the sunlight and the barrier probably extends up onto the second floor anyway!”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t try does it?”

“How the hell are we supposed to throw Angel across that pillar of fire?”

“Well, you’ve got Brood Junior, he could pack a fair punch I’ll wager.”

“And what about you, Spike?” asked Connor.

“Me? I’m not bloody well helping Angel, that’s for sure. What’s he ever done for me?”

Wesley sighed. “We are not throwing Angel through the window, however I will go into the house with you to see how far up the barrier extends.”

“Well, it’s a start…”

Wesley turned to Fred. “Keep an eye on him, do all the obvious things like keeping him out the sun.”

Fred rolled her eyes and smirked at him. “Gee, thanks, I would’ve forgotten about that one.” She reached over and draped the coat which was abandoned on the ground over Angel’s chest.

He smiled back and went to the front door. Naturally, it was locked, so he tensed his leg and kicked the door down.

Spike walked in after him, glancing about the place. “Brilliant, now let’s go upstairs.”

He walked ahead of the ex-Watcher and Wesley trailed along after him.

“Let’s try this one,” he said, pushing in front of the vampire and opening the door to the room to discover a young woman lying on the floor of the bedroom surrounded by broken glass.

Wesley rushed forward and checked the woman’s pulse, but it was failing quickly.

“Spike, I need some help here,” he said quickly, but when Spike just stood in the doorway, he huffed impatiently and checked her wound – caused by broken glass – which was bleeding heavily.

“Come on…” he whispered to whoever might be listening, but the woman’s breathing grew shallower, and despite the CPR Wesley administered, eventually stopped.

The Englishman sighed after witnessing yet another death today, and laid the woman on her bed, unable to provide a better burial.

“Stiff upper lip, Wes, let’s check on the window, shall we?”

Wesley turned and gave Spike a long, calculating look, then nodded and headed towards the shattered window frame.

“It must have been destroyed when the flames started,” he suggested, but Spike just grunted and gestured that he should try to breach the barrier.

Wesley stooped and picked up a piece of glass, hurling it as far upwards as he could manage, but it bounced off an invisible barrier and shot off over the house. Wesley looked at Spike.

“Satisfied?” The vampire just shrugged and walked out of the room. Wesley gave one more look at the deceased occupant of the house and followed him.

A few hours later, the group lay slouched on the grass, having moved Angel to around the side of the house, and Spike lurked around by his still-unconscious grandsire, boredom reducing him to play with the corners of his duster. The others had headed back towards the house from the other side of the fire.

Wesley, Connor and Fred had passed the time talking about things that had happened and things that could have been, while Xander and Andrew slept off their headaches. The threesome had been talking about Connor’s previous life. He had told them the relatively boring details of his day to day life, but that because he understood now how everyone else had been brought up, he could relate to the previously foreign world for the first time.

“That’s incredible, Connor,” said Fred. “I mean, I knew you survived the Quor’Toth, but coming back after having your memories put back…”

Connor looked over to Wesley. “Do you have any idea why that happened?”

He shook his head. “I can only speculate at this point, but perhaps our magical friend had something to do with it.”

Fred shuddered at the recent memory. “What did it say, anyway? I mean, before it spoke in English.”

“It was Latin of some form,” said the ex-Watcher. “Something like…’I am the Master of Magic, fear me’.”

“So does it have a name?”

“Erus Veneficus I think is what it referred to itself as.”

“Brilliant,” called Spike from around the corner in the shadows. “Now can we get the bloody hell away from this bleedin’ enormous bonfire and that Latin bloke before he comes back and flays us all alive!”

“Spike, I don’t remember you being so obnoxious, maybe it’s the concussion talking but for a minute I thought you were an okay kind of guy,” said Xander without moving or even opening his eyes.

“Nobody asked you, Harris. And you don’t have a concussion, you just got whacked on the head.”

“I still say we could’ve made it through the sewers,” reiterated Connor.

“Well as the opening’s bathed in the afternoon sunshine, I’d rather take my chances over here thank you very much.”

“Spike, if you’re just going to contradict yourself then I’m sure everyone here would prefer it if you didn’t say anything,” said a weary Wesley.

“Suit yourself.”

Wesley sighed and went back to poking holes in the lawn.

Suddenly Angel moaned and opened his eyes groggily, shifting the coat draped over him and attempting to stand up.

Fred and Connor were instantly at his side, with Wesley close behind them. He leaped over Spike’s legs and the vampire shifted his legs quickly, getting out of the way.

“Oh, sodding hell! Watch it, this leather bruises easily you big English ponce!”

“No, it doesn’t,” said Wesley, not even looking at the vampire. “I imagine it’s been around even longer than you have.”

“Actually,” said Spike with some air of righteousness, “I picked it up in New York.”

Wesley didn’t respond, instead fixing his attention onto Angel and placed a rolled up piece of clothing behind Angel’s back to make him more comfortable.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” said Angel, putting a hand to his face and rubbing. “Just a bit tired is all.”

“Well you’ve slept for about three hours, Dad!”

“I have?”

Connor nodded, and suddenly it all came back to Angel as he looked more awake than before.

“I have to tell you all something about the First!” he exclaimed, then noticed the enormous pillar of flame stretching across the street.

“What’s that?” Then he looked around, taking in all present. “Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re all right,” replied Fred. “We had a bit of a run in with a powerful wizard guy called…uhm…”

“The Erus Veneficus,” completed Wesley. “I suspect he may have had something to do with your disappearance.”

“Tall guy, dresses in black, speaks in Latin, master of the dark arts?” asked Angel. After seeing the nods, he said, “Yeah, that sounds like the same guy.”

“Anyway, he created this big fire, nearly kills me and Faith, then jets off to fight with a big ball of white light.” Fred completed her story with a sigh.

“We got stuck on this side while Faith and the others headed back to Buffy’s house,” added Connor. “And we’re waiting for sunset so we can move you and Spike safely.”

“Which,” said Wesley looking at his watch, “Should be any minute.” He put his arm back down, looking puzzled. “What do you have to tell us?”

“That I think that it gave us back our memories,” said Angel. “It appeared to me as Connor, then it disappeared…it’s kinda hard to explain. Also, it told me how it’s exploiting the Slayer line to kill them all off, but not why it’s wasting it’s time trying doing it.”

At some point during the conversation the sun had dipped below the horizon, plunging the street into dim but more importantly indirect sunlight.

“I can explain it all later though, once we meet up with the others.”

“I have an explanation I want to share with everyone about why the First’s in this dimension, too, although it can wait until later,” agreed Wesley.

“Why wait?” asked Spike. When he received puzzled glances, he stared back. “What, I can’t be interested in a few ancient prophecies for a change?”

He was ignored.

“Alright then,” said Angel, rising to his feet. Without missing a beat he said, “I’m going to need a shirt,” as he realised he was still half naked.

Fred blanched when she saw the slashes cut into his chest where the Bringers had cut him for his blood, and Wesley quickly led Angel into the house.

When Angel waited at the door, Wesley looked back and said, “It’s alright, the owner’s dead.”

“Oh,” was the response, and they headed upstairs to raid the bedroom.

Angel headed back out onto the street with a black shirt across his back.

He smiled at Fred. “What do you know? My size, and my favourite colour!”

Fred grinned in return, and Wesley appeared from the door.

“We should probably get going.”

Angel had been filled in about the magic barrier, and he nodded.

Spike leaped forward in front of him. “I’ll take point,” he said, and smiled as only Spike could.

Angel shrugged and gestured for the other vampire to lead the way, and he started after him, Fred, Connor, Xander and Andrew tagging along behind him. Wesley gave one last glance around and followed them. They walked on down the road, completely unaware that the Erus Veneficus hovered in the air, watching them from above the towering inferno of the street.

*********
I know that last bit dragged on a while, but I have the perfect camera shot in mind for that last part! Sorry, it’s the film-maker in me coming out. And yes, I’m a film-maker I’m not just saying it, lol. Please review!