Angel turned up at the crypt Buffy was fighting Caleb in, but stuck around bringing a few soldiers and the Fang Gang with him in a big military APC thing. They go home, introductions are made, and then the First appears to Angel as Connor and to Wes as his father and Lilah, making him lose it a bit. Buffy and Angel agree not to pursue any type of relationship (at least for the immediate future) and Angel has a talk with Spike and they sort a few things out, without saying many words.
Buffy tells everyone about a prophecy Giles and Wes find in a book Angel brought from LA but Angel confronts her, and the meeting dissolves into a big argument. Buffy finds out it’s actually the First, and that Angel has gone missing without anyone noticing. She gets pissed and tells everyone she’d going into the Hellmouth the next day.
Angel’s hanging over the Seal under the high school, haunted by visions of Darla and Connor, and the First has him bled over the Seal, but does a spell on it so it retains ‘sacrificial charge’ to build up for one big release. It has the idea of using the blood of innocents and Angel has to watch a load of little kids being killed and bled over the Seal.
Buffy tells the Potentials about the idea she’s had, but a rumbling in the distance interrupts and they all prepare to go out and meet whatever’s making the noise. Just as the Fang Gang are about to get ready, they all remember about Connor but decide to leave worrying about it until after they kill this new creature. Robin Wood hooks up with them just before they leave.
Angel is bled again and a creature made of shadow comes up through the Seal, and goes to find Buffy. The First is speaking as Connor about the Slayer who replaced Buffy when she died a second time when he disappears, reappearing as Darla and looking mightily displeased. Angel takes the opportunity to escape and heads to Buffy’s house. By a fluke he hears her talking to Willow as they go out to meet the demon and he follows them from the sewers.
A big fight ensues, and a soldier saves Buffy’s life several times before taking a bad hit from the demon to save her. A guy on a bike shows up and attacks the demon, while Willow uses dark magic to fight. Xander uses a grenade launcher to kill it, and Angel comes up through the sewers at the last minute to help finish it off. Buffy checks on the soldier and the biker reveals his identity to the Fang Gang.
The biker is Connor and the soldier Riley, but before Willow can use magic to help the mortally wounded Riley, he dies in Buffy’s arms in the middle of the road (hehe – the ‘much anticipated death’ of Riley Finn. No, I mourn his death. Honestly…). Buffy flips on Angel for not telling her Riley was here and Willow sedates her, and Angel passes out because of the strain of the past day or so, but not before Connor explains that half an hour ago he was the person Angel had made him but he’s come to terms with who he is in that time, because he’s got something other than Quor’Toth to relate to.
Willow snarls at Wesley and he goes off to calm down. Fred follows him and he tells her the First has been visiting him again, and they head back to the group when suddenly a sorcerer appears, speaking in Latin and decimating the Scoobies/Fang Gang. He sets a fire across the street and nearly kills Faith, Fred and Willow before a ball of light appears, and he attacks that instead and disappears.
Wesley, Connor, Angel, Fred, Xander, Andrew and Spike are all cut off from the rest of the gang on the other side of the fire. Spike tells them there’s a magical barrier spreading across the area; it starts where the fire doesn’t cover. Wesley and Spike enter a house to test how far upwards the barrier extends but find the owner dying on the floor of her bedroom. She dies in spite of CPR, and they find out that they can’t go over the barrier anyway. They head back outside and wait for sunset so the vampires can move around outside of the shadow of the house.
Angel wakes up and tells them about the earlier Slayer, and Wes almost tells them about the prophecy and Spike takes a sudden interest, but Wes doesn’t tell him any more. They set off down the road, unaware that the wizard, the Erus Veneficus, floats above the fire watching them.

Okay, now for the reviewer’s comments…

Tobert: Your guess was right but as for your hope don’t count on it for a few chapters!

Tariq: Buffy thinks Spike is dead and Riley just shows up and then dies…plus she’s feeling a bit pissed generally cause the First snatched Angel, which is why she flew off the handle. She wants someone to blame for this whole thing – someone she can beat senseless, our Buffster likes things to beat the crap out of when she’s feeling down but she can’t do that to the First, as it’s incorporeal. So she’s looking for another candidate. And Willow has just used magic to fight that demon…she was afraid that magic would send her evil again…after she used it she’d a bit crabbier…? And I’ll try to work in some quality brooding for our fearless leader :)

Everyone else (Tariq and Tobert too, obviously), thanks for your great reviews, and this overly long summary ends! Please review!

*******

Faith tried to lift her hands to shield her from the intense white light that had just appeared in front of her eyes, but her arms were still pinned in place by that wizard thing. Suddenly she felt herself soar backwards and land painfully in a crumpled heap on the road, and when she looked back up the sorcerer was gone, leaving only the shattered glass and the fire as a reminder he was ever there. Oh, yeah, and the throbbing pain Faith felt in every bone of her body, that too.

She stood up, massaging her shoulders in turn, and then remembered something.

“Willow!” she cried, running the side of the downed Wiccan. She didn’t respond. Frantically the Slayer checked for a pulse, and was relieved no end that she found Willow’s blood still pumping strong through the vessel in her neck. She was still breathing, albeit very shallowly, but still steadily.

Faith breathed a sigh of relief then looked around to assess the damage. Several Potentials lay on the ground but weren’t injured, just dazed. Buffy lay where she’d been left. Giles was checking on the girls for broken bones and the like.

She wandered over to Lorne’s side as he shakily stood to his feet. He lost his balance but Faith reached out and easily supported him.

“Thanks, sugar bun, is it me or is the ground a bit uncertain?” he quipped.

“I think everything’s a bit uncertain right now,” replied Faith, half talking the comment seriously.

“You got that right. Any…uh…casualties?”

“Nah, I think everyone’s mostly in one piece…” She looked around then, taking a quick head count. They were about ten people down. She counted again, but still came up short. “Actually we seem to be missin’ a couple of people…” she said worriedly.

“Like Angel, Wes, Fred, Connor…” Lorne trailed off, slightly annoyed that Faith had lost track of most of the L.A. team.

Faith took off, checking behind cars and shouting Angel’s name. Lorne tagged along behind her, but then spotted Gunn lying on the ground. He shouted out to Faith and they tried to stir him from unconsciousness.

“Damn…” he muttered, sitting up. “That’s twice in like…twenty minutes…”

“Where’s Angel?” asked Faith. “Did you see him?”

“What, before or after I nearly put my head through a window?”

Faith just stared at him.

“No, the last time I saw him was when he passed out just before wizard guy appeared.”

Faith had vaulted to her feet even before Gunn had finished speaking and left Lorne with him.

She thought she was about to go insane with worry when she heard a familiar voice.

“Is everyone alright over there?”

She called out on reflex. “Wes?” Then she actually realised who was speaking. She walked the short distance to where he was standing on the other side of the inferno. “Geez, you all scared the crap out of us; we thought you were all dead.”

“No, we’re okay. Angel’s still unconscious though.” Faith felt relief once more that Angel was okay, even if he was still out like a light.

“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,” she answered. Then gave a thought to what their next course of action should be. “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.” She felt a pang of worry all of a sudden; she was going to be separated from several of the people who’d helped her achieve some kind of redemption – she’d been away from them before, but now she knew they were all in mortal danger. “Be careful Wes.”

“You too.”

She stepped away from the fire, not allowing herself to say anything else. She had to concentrate; it was all on her now that Buffy was out for the count. She didn’t realise she’d done it but her eyes fell on Giles as she considered what they should do next. She headed over to where he leant against a trashed car, staring at the ground in thought.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Oh, Faith,” he said, rousing himself. “I think it would be wise if we moved away from this location immediately.”

“Me too. Wes, Angel and the others are all trapped on the other side, there’s a magic barrier or something stopping them on top of the big burner there.”

He smiled at her speech. “That’s good to hear. I think it’d be best to head back to the house.”

“My thoughts exactly,” she replied. “How long’ll Buffy be out for?”

“I’m not sure. If it’s what I think it was that Willow did to her, she won’t come back until Willow reverses the effects.”

Faith stared at the Watcher. “Red did a spell that only she can reverse?”

“I think so, yes.”

“That’s some top class magic, Willow…” she muttered. “So we can’t get Buffy back until Red wakes up?”

Giles nodded.

The Slayer snorted and went to round up the others, instructing Gunn and Lorne to pick up Buffy. She was going to see to Willow herself.

Dawn checked out the window for the hundredth time, both worried at Buffy and the other’s absence and annoyed that she hadn’t been allowed to go with them.

She huffed and stepped away from the window, going in to check on the injured Potentials she’d been left to care for. They were all asleep, and so headed into the living room and collapsed on the couch, preparing to channel surf her worries away.

“Even Andrew got to go…” she muttered.

“Dawn…” a voice whispered behind her. She leaped to her feet and looked around but couldn’t see anything. The voice whispered her voice again and she went to check on the Potentials once again, but they were all asleep.

“Dawn…” The voice seemed to be coming from upstairs. Dawn went and took a dagger from the pile of weapons left over from the preparations to go and fight that big rumbling thing and slowly walked up the stairs.

She breathed slowly and looked around, dagger raised in a striking position as Buffy had taught her.

“Dawn…” The voice was coming from the bedroom. She ran in and got ready to stab whatever was making the noise to death, but still couldn’t see anything.

She looked around meekly. “Hello…?”

“Dawnie,” said a voice from behind her, and she whirled around to come face to face with her mother once again.

“Mom!” she cried, but was instructed to keep quiet by the finger Joyce raised to her lips.

“I’m sorry I keep having to come see you like this,” her mother said. “But it’s difficult for me to break through…I think the First wants me to not talk to you, and I can only break through when it’s distracted, so I don’t have much time.”

“Okay,” said Dawn, taking all of this in.

“Dawnie…do you remember when I told you Buffy wouldn’t choose you? That there’d be a time when you’d have to make a choice one way or the other?”

Dawn nodded, apprehension growing in her stomach.

“Well it’s time to make the decision, honey. I told you I can see things before they can happen, didn’t I? Do you remember? Well I can see that when Buffy gets home there’s going to be a big argument and things will be said…and people are going to get hurt, Dawnie. You’re going to get hurt really bad if you’re here when Buffy gets home. Now, I don’t want that to happen, Buffy’s strong enough to take care of herself so I want to help you to get away from her, at least until she calms down and you can come back without any fear of getting hurt by your own sister.”

Dawn’s eyes filled with tears. “What do I have to do?”

Joyce looked concerned then. “Dawn…you have to walk downstairs and out of this house, right now. Buffy’s going to be back soon, and I need you to run so you can get a head start, okay?”

Dawn nodded, slowly. This thought had been building in her mind for some time now. Ever since Buffy had sent her away with Xander, she’d felt like she was unwanted by everyone else, and this only served to reinforce that belief. Buffy had more or less ignored her, and everyone else had been too busy with the arrival of Angel and the others or something else to even acknowledge she existed.

“But Dawn…I won’t have you running around out there alone with no protection. You need to get something to keep you warm, and you need something which will protect you no matter what. Something very powerful. Then I need you to run as far away from here as you can.” She looked around fearfully. “It’s found me Dawn, I love you, but I have to go. I’ll speak to you again as soon as I can…!”

With that Joyce disappeared as before.

Tears no longer stung Dawn’s eyes. A fierce resolve had been burning in her chest, and now she knew what she had to do.

Her eyes scanned the room for something to protect herself with, and they rested on an object lying on the bed.

Dawn smirked.

Faith walked along the road, suffering from the dead weight of the witch across her shoulders which she’d been carrying all the way from the inferno.

“Damn piece of crap shadow demon…next time…I meet one of those guys…I’m gonna…rip out its liver…and make it eat it…” she gasped in an attempt to keep herself going. People had offered to help carry Willow but she was the only capable one left in the group, as Lorne and Gunn were carrying the other Slayer.

“And you, Red…don’t…get me started…on you…first of all…you need to go on a diet, man…second…no more of that damn magic…I think I’m carrying that, too…”

Giles, without Faith seeing him, appeared at her side and grabbed hold of Willow’s legs, bringing them down from Faith’s shoulders and making her stop.

“What you do that for…G?” she asked breathlessly.

“Faith, you’re the only person here capable to fight anything which might appear and I’ll not have you exhaust yourself by carrying Willow. I’ll help you from here.”

“I can handle it,” she said, going to hoist the Wiccan back onto her shoulders.

“No,” said Giles firmly. “I’ll help you from here.”

She stared at him, fully aware of the attention they were attracting. Not wanting to make a scene, she nodded and let him grab one of Willow’s arms, and together they lifted her up and carried her between them.

Giles looked up at the sky after a few moments silence. “It’ll be dark soon.”

“Well we’d best get a move on then,” said Faith, and they led the others back in the direction of the house.

“Are you absolutely sure we haven’t been this way before?” asked Wesley for the eleventh time.

“I’m sure mate, why would I be bringin’ us around in circles?” retorted Spike.

Wesley shrugged and they carried on down the road as before, this time in silence as Spike led the way.

Fred glanced at a passing house. “No, we’ve definitely been past this house before.”

Spike looked back at her. “No offence, love, but you don’t live here, I do.”

“Yeah, but I live here too, and I say we’ve been down this road before,” said Xander.

Spike glared at him. “Fine then, let’s see how well we do with you leadin’ the bloody way then, shall we Harris?”

“Alright then!” exclaimed Xander, and he stepped forward.

“Try not to bump into anything, by the way,” said Spike in a reassuring tone, gesturing to his eye patch.

Xander clenched his teeth and pretended not to hear. He looked around and everyone waited for him to start off, but he just kept looking at his surroundings.

“Is the other one alright?” asked Spike.

Xander ignored him. “It all seems…different. I don’t know where we are.”

Angel looked incredulously at the younger man. “You don’t know where you are…? Sunnydale’s the size of a postage stamp, and you’re lost?”

Xander looked fiercely at Angel. “Alright Dead Boy, I know you’ve turned up to save the day again but how about we leave the sarcastic remarks to the side for a minute? I think something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?” asked Fred.

“I think maybe…I don’t know…it seems like someone’s guiding us somewhere, and I’m not talking about Spike. Like we keep seeing the same houses, the same landmarks, and now I don’t even know where we are.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to mention anything because it’d be an affront to my male pride and all but I’ve not known where we’re goin’ for a while now, I’ve been tryin’ to follow my nose instead,” added Spike.

“Maybe it’s that Erus…Ven-something,” said Andrew.

Everyone turned to look at him, and he planted both hands firmly under his arms in a nervous posture.

“What do you mean?” asked Angel.

“Well if Xander doesn’t know where he’s going and neither does Spike, maybe he’s using some kind of glamour to make us think we’re somewhere than we already are, like that movie Sphere, when they think they’re in the lab at the end and they’re really in the sub and they have to break the hold of their new alien powers to escape before they all get blown up.”

Angel was gaping at him. Wesley shrugged. “Movie reference aside, I think Andrew might have what’s happening to us.”

“Why in the hell isn’t he lifting us up into the air and tearin’ us limb from limb then?” demanded Spike of the other British man.

He shrugged. Xander spoke up. “When Will turned all Dark Mistress last year she had to find time to recharge her energy before she did any more heavy magic.”

“Or maybe it’s because he wants us somewhere else than we are,” added Angel.

“Well what do we do?”

“I’d suggest staying still but we desperately need to get back to the house and rejoin the others, but then again if we carry on going we’ll just be walking to wherever he wants us to go…” Wesley rubbed his eyes. “This is hopeless. This is a no-win situation.”

“Maybe not,” said Connor. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned while I’ve been here it’s that magic isn’t at all stable; it’s just as easy to break it or for it to go wrong as it is to cast a spell, except maybe that Sanctuary spell you put on the hotel that time…”

Wesley sighed. “That’s an insightful observation Connor but unfortunately there isn’t anyone here magically powerful enough to take on the Erus Veneficus, and even if Willow were here, I doubt even she could do it.”

Connor stared coldly at Wesley for a brief second but then his face softened, returning to his now usual expression. Only Wesley spotted the subtle change in expression, the others were still absorbed in the conversation.

“Maybe we shouldn’t fight fire with fire then,” Fred was saying. “Maybe we should hit him with something else entirely.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know…like fighting fire with a fire extinguisher…?”

“Again, Fred, that’s a lovely metaphor but it doesn’t really help us.”

“Well what about science? Scientists have been fighting with God for the past few centuries and at the moment they seem to be winning, why should magic be any different?”

“Alright then, Fred, you’re the resident scientist, any other thoughts?”

“Well…magic is basically a person drawing in power from around them and then releasing it as whatever their mind wants it to be released as, as far as I know.”

“No,” corrected Angel, “It’s a little more complicated than that. They borrow the power and yeah, they release it as what they will it to be but it depends on the type of spell they’re doing; just like the laws of nature they have to follow rules and guidelines which only the most powerful mages can break.”

“Yes,” added Wesley, “The laws of magic were established almost at the beginning of time and magic users have to abide by them. They either memorise a spell or incant some words to invoke the spell, and then, like you said, draw in power from around them to actually do it.”

“Usually they have to return the power, but unlike what you might think, the return is greater than the cost, because you have to put a lot of personal energy into it and unless you bring it back to return it, often you’re left exhausted.”

“I don’t follow you,” said Fred.

“Well floating a pencil isn’t that draining, which is why you see Willow doing it…or at least she used to do it all the time, without any kind of drain. But if you wanted to, oh, I don’t know, spread a raging fire across a street then you’re gonna be pretty exhausted afterwards because you’ve used all of the energy from the places you borrowed it from but had to return it from your own personal energy because you’ve left the stuff you borrowed spread across the road. At least,” said Xander, looking around for approval, “That’s the way I follow it.”

“That’s pretty much accurate. However the incantation for fire isn’t that difficult, which makes me wonder why it exhausted the Erus Veneficus,” pondered Wesley.

“Well he levitated me and Faith and then flew off to fight that ball of light, maybe that’s what finished him off. Plus, he was levitating himself the whole time, so now he’s back maybe all he’s capable of is a simple glamour.”

“So did he defeat that ball of light or not?” asked Andrew, and they all looked at each other, unsure of the answer. So far, that light was the only thing to have countered the Erus Veneficus, and if it’d been killed or otherwise defeated it left them in an extraordinarily compromising position.

“Either way, we’re not even sure that that’s why he’s only casting a glamour, even if it is him. There’s still a lot of speculation here,” stated Angel.

“And either way, I’m getting’ a bit bored, so can we decide what we’re goin’ to do please?” asked Spike.

Wesley shrugged at Angel, blanking Spike. “I don’t see any other alternative than to carry on going, at least then we might defeat the Erus Veneficus on his own terms and we might even be heading in the direction of the house.”

Angel pondered the decision carefully before nodding at Wesley and continuing down the road.

Faith hammered on the door, eager to drop off the witch and get back into action. When no response came, Giles pushed on the door handle and the door swung open. Concerned, he glanced at Faith who slowly dropped Willow to the ground and propped her on the porch wall. She nodded at Gunn and Giles, who busted the door open the rest of the way and charged into the house, Faith in close pursuit. They did a complete search of the whole house but there were no nasties to be found, just a couple of Potentials who’d they’d been forced to keep behind. Faith met with Gunn and Giles in the hallway and shrugged.

“No Turok-Han, demons, vamps, nothing. And…no Dawn.”

“I didn’t see her either,” admitted Giles.

“So what, little sis skipped the house? Why’d she do that?”

“Dunno, don’t care. What we have to do is get out there and find her before something feasts on her.”

“Alright,” said Gunn. “I’m itchin’ to get back into action so I’m gonna head out, see what I can find.”

“Me too,” said Faith. She looked at Giles. “With shadow-beast all slayed and all I don’t see the First makin’ another move for a while, you hold the fort here and me and Charlie-Boy’ll sweep the area for the brat. Besides,” she added. “I don’t wanna be the one to tell B that her sister’s missing when she wakes up.”

Giles smiled and nodded, and the pair headed out for a couple of supplies. The others had wandered in after they’d given the all clear after searching the house, and Giles wandered off to find a Potential to help heal, or even better, Buffy or Willow to try and revive.

Faith led the way outside followed closely by Gunn.

“Know what we’re lookin’ for?”

“Nope, I’m just gonna walk, see what comes up.”

“Fair enough then.”

They walked along in silence for a fair distance.

Gunn didn’t look at Faith when he spoke. “It’s not the only reason I came out here, you know.”

“Thought you signed up a bit eagerly.”

“Yeah…I lost my sister to vamps the other year. Don’t wanna see the same thing happen to anyone else.”

Faith regarded Gunn for a moment.

“So, you do have hidden depths, I was startin’ to worry I’d never be able to see them.”

He huffed. “Yeah, real hidden, real deep, that’s me all over.”

Faith didn’t really know what he meant, so didn’t say anything in reply.

Gunn stopped walking.

“What’s up?” asked Faith. Gunn just stared past her down the street. Puzzled, she glanced down the road, following his line of vision.

A Turok-Han stood, glaring at them.

“Uh…” managed Gunn. “What’s one of those?”

Faith glared back at the demonic creature. “A Turok-Han, I’ve heard the others goin’ on about them but I’ve never actually seen one for myself.”

“They tough?”

“Hard as nails.”

“’Fraid you might say that. You wanna try to head back?”

“Oh, no,” whispered Faith, unconsciously taking a step forward. “I’m takin’ this bad boy down, right now.”

It snarled at them. Faith smiled at it.

“Hey!” she called. “Yeah, you, where’d you come from? Cause if I were you – not that I’d ever wish that on anyone else – I’d back the hell off, run into some of that nice warm sunshine!”

It ran at them. Gunn didn’t expect it to move so fast and before he knew it, it had plunged a fist into his chest, sending him soaring down the street. Faith – quick as a flash – grabbed its arm and jammed it under her arm, bringing her leg up and striking it in the stomach. Its arm gave an unhealthy crack and it stumbled backwards, Faith ready to take on some more.

They stood watching each other for a few seconds longer, and Faith lunged forward only to be grabbed and thrown forcibly to the ground. It walked casually up to her and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards.

“At least no barrels this time,” she muttered, and leaped to her feet. It was walking towards her when it lurched forward and spun around to face Gunn, leaving the stake he’d just tried to place in its heart facing Faith, still sticking out of its back.

Gunn blocked one of its attacks but it drove him to his knees, the second attack left him on the ground again. Faith kicked the Turok-Han in the back and it staggered forward, tripping over Gunn and landing face first on the concrete. Faith was immediately on its back, pummelling it viciously with her fists. It tried to get up but Gunn was there, stamping a foot down on its head. She leaned backwards and Gunn swung his axe in a lazy arc, bringing it down onto the Turok-Han’s neck. Faith dropped the few inches to the street as the super vampire crumbled into dust.

She drew air breathlessly into her lungs and let out a sigh of relief.

“Figured those guys’d be tougher than that…” she said.

“Or maybe we’re just so mean we make the bad guys weep,” grinned Gunn, offering her a hand, which she took and was hoisted to her feet. She smiled back at him.

“Let’s get back to findin’ the brat,” she suggested, and he nodded as they headed back down the road.

Angel’s senses were on fire, every little movement making him jump slightly, but what concerned him the most is that the only noises he could hear were coming from himself and the others; he’d figured it was because the town had been all but abandoned, but now he started to wonder if it was the wizard and his glamour.

“There’s something up ahead,” called Spike. Angel followed his pointing hand and saw a figure sprint away from them into an alleyway. He took off, closely followed by Spike, and plunged into the dimness of the grimy alley.

Dawn stood before them, looking terrified.

Angel raised his hands, seeing what was in her hands and the look in her eyes. “Dawn…are you okay?”

She glared ferociously at him and growled. The fear turned to anger. “I’m not listening to you anymore!”

Angel was unsure of how to proceed. “Dawn…look…I’m here to help you.”

“Like hell you are, now stay away from me!” She turned to run down the narrow entry and Angel leaped forward and grabbed her, causing the object she was carrying to clatter harmlessly to the ground.

Angel hurried after the Slayer’s little sister, but ran into another energy barrier, cutting him off. “Dammit!” he exclaimed.

“What is it?” asked Spike.

Angel spun around to confront him. “And where the hell were you? Maybe I could’ve grabbed her if you’d been here to help…”

“Who was it?”

“Like hell you don’t already know. You could probably smell her before even I could, you were further up the road than me.”

“Angel!” called Wesley as the others clattered into the alley. “Who was it?”

Angel glared at Spike for another second before glancing at Wesley. “It was Dawn.”

“Buffy’s sister?” he asked, perplexed. After Angel’s nod, he asked, “Why was she here?”

“Don’t know. She ran off before I could get any answers out of her, but I got stopped by one of those barriers we keep running into.”

“And she left this pretty little thing…” whispered Spike as his eyes rested on the item Dawn had dropped.

“Oh, yeah, don’t know why she had that,” dismissed Angel.

“Well…I don’t see how staying here will benefit us, as we can’t follow her,” suggested Wesley.

Angel nodded and stooped to retrieve the item on the floor, when a howling wind forced him backwards and sent the others stumbling. He looked up, fearful of what he might see, and there hovered the Erus Veneficus, blocking their only exit out of the alleyway.

Spike stood defiantly and shouted at it. “Go on, piss off will you?”

It merely smiled at Spike and the wind stopped. Angel could hear Fred gasping for air.

The wizard raised both of his arms, then clenched his fists.

The brick walls exploded above them as the buildings on either side of the alley collapsed. Angel wrapped himself into a ball and felt the dust and shrapnel hit him. He couldn’t see the others, just a thick cloud of dust.

The Erus Veneficus floated towards him and smiled again. He pointed at Angel then into the remains of the building to his left, and Angel flew through the air, tumbling onto the pieces of mortar and metal.

He moved onto Xander, who valiantly tried to attack the sorcerer. He thudded into a wall and passed out.

Wesley had been shielding Fred’s body from the onslaught of the bricks but stood to face what he was sure was his last moments.

He pointed at Fred and she collapsed onto the ground, and again at Angel who had tried to sneak up behind him. The vampire crumpled onto the floor.

He smiled at Wesley, who hadn’t broken eye contact even when the others had been incapacitated. He lifted his chin slightly.

The Erus Veneficus frowned.

Wesley drew in a breath. “Why?” he asked simply.

The wizard smiled again, extending his hand. Wesley soared forward and his neck rested in the sorcerer’s hand. It brought him close and squeezed, making Wesley gasp for breath. His feet didn’t feel the ground any more as he dangled helplessly in the Erus Veneficus’ grasp.

His mouth was inches away from Wesley’s ear, and he whispered, “Very well, little man. I’ll tell you.”

Wesley’s eyes widened as he listened to the wizard.

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Another brief thing here. I’m leaving it here because I have a couple of things I want to be in one chapter, and this’d be immensely long if I included them in this one, so I’m putting them all in the next one. Again, please review!