Part 56<\/b><\/p>\n
Duncan pulled at Methos’ arms, holding him back from following Wesley and the others into the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Cassandra have to do with Cordelia being in danger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Methos sighed. \u201cI\u2019d hoped that my suspicion was wrong. I asked Wesley to interpret one of the spells in the book she sent you for. Obviously, he came to the same conclusion, a lot quicker than I did, but then again, he didn\u2019t want to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll explain better than I can, I imagine, and possibly you\u2019ll believe him.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Wesley pushed at the papers on his desk, pulling out a legal pad from the stack.<\/p>\n
\u201cMethos asked me to translate a spell of Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga was an Eastern European witch, attributed to myth\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWesley,\u201d Angel\u2019s patience was riding thin. He needed hear the part where he could go find Cordelia not a lecture on witches.<\/p>\n
Wesley nodded seeing the balance the vampire was trying to maintain. \u201cThe spell once performed would not only give the enchanter immortality but ultimate power over the day and night, or in other words everything, the world and beyond. In most tales, she commands the \u2018Other World\u2019 as well as the day and night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel interrupted Wesley. \u201cI don\u2019t have time for this. I have to find Cordelia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWes, man, I got agree, what\u2019s a wicked witch got to do with Cordy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBaba Yaga\u2019s wickedness is the fabrication of folklore, in fact\u2026Right,\u201d Wesley stopped at Angel\u2019s growl. \u201cThe spell requires certain ingredients, one the eyes of a seer\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy eyes,\u201d Gabriel squealed. \u201cAngel, you have to save me.\u201d She lurched onto his jacket.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet her off me,\u201d he shoved the woman. Fred happily tugged at the woman\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t shut up right now, I AM going to lock you in a closet. This is about Cordy, not you, so be quiet.\u201d Fred gave another yank for good measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Angel\u2019s seer, not Cordelia, I\u2019m the one in danger, not her, she just got herself killed by vampires, I\u2019m the one that could lose my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGET HER OUT.\u201d Angel growled ready to take his anger out on the woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cHappily.\u201d Fred dragged the blonde seer out of the office, her slight form hiding a surprising strength. \u201cI warned you.\u201d Fred pushed the blonde towards the utility closet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t.\u201d Gabriel squealed digging her feet in.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, but I will, if you so much as look in that office again.\u201d Fred glared her arms crossed against her chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is so mean to me.\u201d Gabriel ran up the stairs crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod, she just isn\u2019t normal.\u201d Fred mumbled and hurried back into the office to hear the rest of what Wesley had to say.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\u201cGabby\u2019s got a point,\u201d Gunn backed up. \u201cNot about Cordy being killed, whoa.\u201d He said quickly at Angel\u2019s growl. \u201cBut, Gabby is the seer in this picture, not Cordy, which is cool \u2013 so no one will be wanting her eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley shook his head. \u201cThat was my first thought, but these words CHIJIa, ObJierYeHHe, OrHeBaR MOIlLb<\/b>, fire power, lightening, power,\u201d Wesley translated for the room. \u201cTheir placement in the spell emphasizes their importance. It\u2019s describing a Quickening.\u201d Wesley shot a look at Methos. \u201cYou had to realize this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could\u2019ve been wrong. My familiarity with ancient Slavic languages and spells is limited and I hoped I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cQuick what?\u201d Gunn asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Quickening- it happens when one Immortal takes the head of another. A surge of power that leaves the decapitated Immortal and effuses the winner, it\u2019s best understood as an Immortal\u2019s life force, energy. It’s his or hers power. It\u2019s transferred at the moment of death. And it\u2019s a phenomenon that only occurs when an Immortal kills another Immortal. Taking Gabriel\u2019s eyes then killing her would not create the requisite Quickening needed for the spell to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duncan shook his head, \u201cYou\u2019re not suggesting Cassandra wanted to use that spell? No. Hell, she could be the one in danger, she has the sight. She doesn\u2019t need a spell to be Immortal, she already is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe does to be all-powerful,\u201d Methos said quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought about that to,\u201d Wesley responded. \u201cBut this word, IiyXoBHblH<\/b>, other worldly. As both you and Methos pointed out, Cassandra\u2019s gift isn\u2019t from the Power\u2019s- which could be classified as \u2018other worldly\u2019, Cordy\u2019s was, and Cassandra did want this book.\u201d He held up the Baba Yaga text.<\/p>\n
Duncan\u2019s shaking head became more aggressive. \u201cShe wanted it for research, she had no idea that we would even find Cordelia here in LA and Cordy\u2019s isn\u2019t a seer any more. It\u2019s just a coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne that we can\u2019t afford, one that Cordy can\u2019t. We need to know where Cassandra is. The fact that Cordelia is no longer Angel\u2019s seer may not matter. Her experience as one is embedded in her being, it is part of her life essence, her power.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s in Russia, half the world away.\u201d Duncan refused to believe what he was hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMac, we don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believe this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like coincidences, Duncan, and if it\u2019s true then all Immortal\u2019s are in danger, not just Cordelia. She\u2019s cheating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care about any other Immortals, just Cordy.\u201d Angel swung around to face Methos. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell us sooner. I would\u2019ve never allowed Cordy to leave this hotel.\u201d He growled. \u201cYou put her in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel.\u201d Wesley held out his hand, a weak gesture to be sure in preventing the vampire from attacking but Wesley wasn\u2019t up to full strength. \u201cWe need to find Cordy and Cassandra. Duncan, I would suggest calling Joe again, find out if his search has come up with anything.\u201d Wesley braced his arms against the desk lowering his body back into the chair. \u201cWhy would vampires take Cordelia, would Cassandra employ vampires?\u201d saying out loud his one unanswered question.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know that Cass\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Methos laid a hand on Duncan\u2019s arm. \u201cCall Joe again, find her then we\u2019ll know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duncan shook his head and stormed out of the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumans, also.\u201d Angel said suddenly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPardon me.\u201d Wesley adjusted his glasses looking at the vampire.<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed Cordy\u2019s scent to an upper level of the sewers, there the scents were a mixture of human, vampires and Cordy. It led to another room, closer to the surface there I found dust, headless human bodies and no Cordy. I lost her to the daylight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t vampires that shot us up.\u201d Methos commented. \u201cBut, I can\u2019t see Cassandra working with vampires.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHumans with guns, vampires, all powerful potential baddie, danger to Cordy, leave out the live forever bitch, I\u2019d be saying it screams of the evil ass lawyers.\u201d Gunn slumped on the edge of Wesley\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n
Wesley considered. \u201cIt could be possible, maybe they\u2019re working together. Angel.\u201d But the vampire was already gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cGunn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take the car, you coming,\u201d the black man nodded to Methos.<\/p>\n
The Immortal jerked his head up and down.<\/p>\n
Gunn and Methos stopped as Duncan came back in. \u201cWhere\u2019s Angel going?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvil lawyers, it seems.\u201d Methos shrugged. \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe heard from the watcher he sent to Russia. Cassandra\u2019s watcher has been located- in a morgue. Found headless in the woods, a victim of bizarre hunting accident. No one knows where Cassandra is.\u201d His brain finally accepting what his feelings were still fighting.<\/p>\n
Wesley rubbed his forehead. \u201cGo, Gunn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going.\u201d Duncan grabbed his bloodied jacket and Cordelia\u2019s sword as he followed Methos and Gunn out of the hotel.<\/p>\n
Fred chewed on her lips. \u201cWesley, you really should lie down, there\u2019s nothing more you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can still worry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fred shrugged. \u201cYou can do that in bed, right?\u201d The paleness of Wesley\u2019s complexion made Fred uneasy.<\/p>\n
Part 57<\/b><\/p>\n
Lilah knocked her head on her desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cA sign of weakness, not attractive.\u201d Lindsay leaned up in the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you read this?\u201d She held up the folder.<\/p>\n
Lindsay waved an identical folder. \u201cGot it and the memo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the chances that this isn\u2019t going to come back and bite us in the ass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay settled in the chair. \u201cWe should be okay, there\u2019s nothing to link us to the Immortal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lilah nodded. \u201cSo, we\u2019re just pulling out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what the memo from the higher ups says, after we prevent the spell from occurring. No body wants an all powerful Immortal, that’s too much of crossing the lines for the senior partners.\u201d Lindsay threw a piece of paper on the desk. \u201cWe found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lilah knocked her head on the desk again. \u201cI can\u2019t believe that we\u2019re going to save Cordelia Chase.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do. But leave the saving to me. Good choice, pulling out otherwise it would\u2019ve been regretful, thanks for the hand,\u201d Angel nodded to Lindsay. The vampire strode in snatching the address from the desk. Angel was gone as quickly and silently as he appeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod damn, do the vampire detectors ever work?\u201d Lilah pounded her head on the surface again.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t that give you an headache?\u201d Lindsay concentrated on flexing his Playtex fingers. \u201cLook on the bright side, bad joke, minimum implied threat, the all powerful out of our hands and into Angel\u2019s, Gabriel still in position, her cover solid as long as the big headed freak keeps the brain juice flowing. We\u2019re golden.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are sick, you know that,\u201d Lilah peered up from the desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, come on, Lilah, the glass is always half full.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil someone drinks it.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Cordelia struggled for consciousness, a buzzing penetrating the fog the clouded her brain. What the hell? She winced. She felt like she was swimming a losing battle against mud. Cordelia groaned raising her hand to her head.<\/p>\n
She squinted open her eyes, her hands weren\u2019t moving. She squirmed. Now what? It took her mind a minute to identify the problem. Her hands were tied behind her back. The return of her ability to think didn\u2019t make her jump for joy. It only upgraded the now what<\/i> to What the Fuck?<\/i><\/p>\n
Cordelia searched for the source of buzzing, hoping to see Duncan or Methos. \u201cWho are you?\u201d She stared at the woman before her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, hi, nice to meet you, blah, blah, and all the hypocritical BS pleasantries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t think I\u2019m happy to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia squirmed again, jerking her back up against the wall. \u201cI guess that depends, are you happy that I\u2019m tied up and most likely your prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I guess you are.\u201d Cordelia sighed. \u201cHow many rules are you breaking?\u201d Cordelia eyed the sword in the woman\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t holy ground and we\u2019re not fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou seem to know me, I don\u2019t know you. Who are you and what did you give me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe name\u2019s Cassandra and just a little drug to keep you immobilized, it seems to be wearing off.\u201d The woman smiled going over to a long table.<\/p>\n
\u201cCassandra? Duncan and Methos\u2019 friend?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMethos, never.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, heard about your history. Why am I here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you see there\u2019s this spell and I need your head and your eyes, not exactly in that order.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s got to be against the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cassandra shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ve been alive for a long time. I\u2019ve come to learn that the only rules that should be followed are your own. Methos was the first one that taught me that as he killed my family, raped me, kept me as his slave and then gave me to Chronos.\u201d Cassandra poured a bag full of power into a clay colander.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re just stock full with issues aren\u2019t you. Have you tried therapy?\u201d Cordelia\u2019s fingers tugged at her shirt, grateful for the paranoid, overprotective, obsessive vampire that she loved. If it weren\u2019t for his insistent nagging and need to always be prepared her fingers wouldn\u2019t have found the small blade tucked in the waistband of her jeans.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t analyze or try to chat,\u201d Cassandra shot over her shoulder. \u201cYou won\u2019t be alive long enough for us to be friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s an option. I tend to like friends that don\u2019t want my eyes or me dead.\u201d Cordelia\u2019s nimble fingers worked overtime trying to pull the blade from its holster. She kept her face blank as the blade slid out. Cordelia sawed at the ropes that made her helpless. Now all she needed was her sword but she\u2019d settle for getting the fuck out of there.<\/p>\n
Part 58<\/b><\/p>\n
Gunn slammed on the brakes pulling half on, half off the curb in the circular drive in front of the Wolfram & Hart building.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow what? Just walk in and ask where the vampire happens to be threatening a bunch of evil lawyers.\u201d Methos leaned up over the seat, studying the imposing multi-story high-rise.<\/p>\n
Gunn shrugged. \u201cSounds like a plan,\u201d vaulting over the driver’s door.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not a plan.\u201d Methos followed Duncan out.<\/p>\n
Gunn stood in the doorway of the big glassed in lobby. \u201cI\u2019m saying Angel\u2019s come and gone.\u201d He jerked his head towards the security guards armed with guns and crossbows that poured into lobby, most going to the elevators, the others heading towards the front glassed in doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir, we\u2019re going to have to ask you to leave,\u201d a guard pushed at Gunn. \u201cWe\u2019re closed.\u201d The guard slammed the door, initiating a metal door that clanked down over the glass securing the lobby.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think your plan is no longer an option.\u201d Methos watched the building become a metal fortress. He half expected the drive to disappear into a moat equipped with the requisite flesh eating fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlan B,\u201d Gunn pulled out his cell phone. \u201cLet\u2019s just hope the vamp remembered his.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSurprise, he did, cool.\u201d Gunn nodded to the Immortals, turning back to the phone. \u201cAngel, Whatcha got.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDone.\u201d Gunn flipped his phone closed. \u201cHe\u2019s got an address. We\u2019ll meet him there. He’s sticking to the sewers. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Angel clenched the small piece of paper tightly in his fist. The address was burnt into his brain as soon as he saw the letters that made up the words, just as the path along the sewers he would need to take was flashing along with those words guiding his feet to his destination.<\/p>\n
But the crumpled paper gave him assurance. The feel of the paper was real in his palm. It was a tangible link to finding Cordelia. And Angel would find her. She would be alive, he would eradicate the threat, and he would take her home.<\/p>\n
There was no other option. Except, Angel would have to make a return visit to Wolfram & Hart, he hadn\u2019t wanted to waste the time to emphasize to the lawyers that putting Cordelia in harms way, would result in an equal and opposite harm to them.<\/p>\n
Once Cordelia was safe, he would make sure they realized the inevitability of his own particular law of nature.<\/p>\n
Part 59<\/b><\/p>\n
Cordelia kept her fingers working. Soon she would be free- then what? She glanced at the other Immortal. Duncan never mentioned that his friend was insane. She scrunched up her nose at the pungent sweetness of the incense that was burning. Cordelia wasn\u2019t an expert on spells, but incense and candles always seemed to signal the final stage.<\/p>\n
Well, the Immortal said she needed Cordy\u2019s eyes and they were still in her head, so Cassandra wasn\u2019t quite at the final stage.<\/p>\n
Cordelia inwardly groaned, eyeing the nasty looking thin dagger and forceps resting near the candles. It wasn\u2019t fair. She wasn\u2019t Angel\u2019s seer anymore but people still wanted her eyes. Cordelia quickened the pace of the blade, hiding her wince as the sharp edge sliced into her wrist.<\/p>\n
Cordelia studied the layout of the room as she worked. She had no idea where she was. Obviously, the dirty floor, the bare walls, the big industrial windows broken through years of disuse, the crisscross metal beams creating a make shift second floor indicated that she was being held prisoner in abandoned warehouse. But, that really didn\u2019t help her; LA was filled with dilapidated old buildings. Well, she would worry about where she was once she got out of there.<\/p>\n
Cordelia glanced up at the high windows. It would be really wonderful to see Angel crashing through. She frowned. Actually, that would be horrifying as she saw the beams of sunlight dancing along the ground. Angel would be a crashing fireball before he even landed.<\/p>\n
Cordelia took a deep breath. She would just have to save herself this time. There was no possible way Angel could even know where she had been taken. God, she hoped Angel got Wesley out of the sewers in time. Please God, let Wesley be alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re awful quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia blinked away her worry and raised her brows in an elegant question. \u201cNow you want to chat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cassandra chuckled. \u201cQuiet means thinking, thinking means plans of escape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have any ideas, I\u2019m listening. But, actually, I was thinking that I\u2019m definitely letting my hair grow out, get it back to its natural color.\u201d Cordelia jerked her chin to Cassandra\u2019s long thick dark hair. \u201cI used to have great hair. Short, highlights, I don\u2019t know what I was thinking, it had to be that damn migraine medicine, you should\u2019ve seen some of the outfits I was wearing. Embarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were thinking about your hair?\u201d Cassandra was momentarily flabbergasted.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot to think about something.\u201d Cordelia shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about your death?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, don\u2019t like to think about that. Anyway, I\u2019m not going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking that Immortality thing a little to seriously, aren\u2019t you. Don\u2019t you even care why I want your eyes and your head?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo to both. I haven\u2019t been an Immortal long enough to rely on it, but I have been threatened, tortured, and kidnapped more times than I can count for more reasons than I can count, it gets old after awhile. I used to ask, scream, and yell a lot, but the answers never seemed to help, and the screaming only worked when someone could hear me, or my kidnappers have a low tolerance for such stuff. I don\u2019t think either would help too much now and you don\u2019t want to chat, so talking you out of it doesn\u2019t seem to be an option, so I\u2019m left with thinking about my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re serious, you were thinking about your hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, well, that and escaping.\u201d Cordelia snapped the remaining thin pieces of rope as she rolled to her feet.<\/p>\n
Cassandra had her sword out in an instant.<\/p>\n
\u201cKilling me before you get my eyes, I don\u2019t think the spell works that way.\u201d Cordelia dropped to the ground swinging out her legs. Cassandra was knocked to the ground only to jump back to her feet, her sword held high ready to attack. But, Cordelia was already running, she dodged past the Immortal, knocking the long table over destroying Cassandra\u2019s careful preparations.<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn you.\u201d Cassandra glared at the useless, meaningless ingredients of her spell littering the floor.<\/p>\n
Cordelia didn\u2019t even bother to stop running.<\/p>\n