Lunch was held at the mansion, Cordelia unwilling to crowd into Giles' loft apartment and Angel too stunned by the news from Whistler to move. Doyle went through the motions of calling everyone, and Giles delivered a calmer Willow and antsy Spike into the main room before going in search of the half-demon, having become concerned upon seeing Angel's almost catatonic stare. The half-demon in question simply shrugged.

"He hasna told us anythin' yet."

Giles shook his head to hide the paleness that had suddenly developed. "Then it cannot be good news."

Doyle shrugged, but the look in his eyes belied his nonchalant stance. "Prob'ly not, but ye never know. The auld demon might have had a wee bit o good news fer Angel mixed in wi' the bad."

The Watcher looked doubtful, but allowed himself the slightest amount of hope for all concerned, especially Buffy. Whatever this contact of Angel's had told him, the situation surely could not get much worse and he said as much, only to have Cordelia shriek in his ear.

"Giles! Don't say that, you'll just jinx it and then we'll never get Buffy back!"

Giles had the intelligence to look slightly abashed while comforting Cordelia, who wanted to hear nothing more, and ducked out of the room when he realized that the former May Queen would simply rant until she ran out of steam. Deprived of her prey, Cordelia settled for muttering about the lack of accouterments in the mansion's kitchen until a hoarse but steely voice interrupted.

"Since when have you ever really cared about Buffy?"

Doyle looked ready to jump in, but the look on Cordelia's face told him not to do so unless he wanted to lose vital parts of his anatomy. Instead, he watched as the object of his not-so-unrequited affections turned to face a bitter Willow, whose eyes were as red from crying as the hair on her head. They stared long and hard, neither looking away nor dropping their gaze, but eventually his princess broke the tense silence.

"I don't."

"Then why are you here?"

"I couldn't give a rat's ass about *Buffy*," Cordelia spat. "But I *do* care about Angel, and I will be damned if I will sit by and let him brood himself into a corner over her! Cause you know, he's out there right now wondering if HE could have prevented this if only HE'D been here. Slay Gal can take of herself, hell, she's probably having a ball in some other world!"

"You bitch," Willow hissed.

"You know it," Cordelia tossed her head back. "Only I'm not nearly as bad as your beloved Buffy, cause at least I admit it. She covers with all that holier than thou Slayer bullshit, and you know it."

Livid, Willow advanced on the brunette, her eyes burning with rage. "Slayer bullshit, Cordelia? I don't remember you calling it *bullshit* when it was saving your ass! Saving all our asses! She's the Slayer, damn it! She doesn't have a choice! She DIED for you, for everybody on this planet and all you can think of is how bitchy she was? Well, Cordelia, did you ever think that maybe you deserved it?"

Cordelia took a slight step back, a little surprised at the depth of Willow's anger and more than a little concerned at the rate the redhead's eyes were turning black. However, the core of Cordelia Chase had never been one to run from a fight and she would not start now. "Deserved it? Deserved it?! Maybe so, but she was *always* a bitchy, whiny little ex-cheerleader who never cared about anyone but herself! But for some reason, unknown to me, Angel loves her, really and truly loves her."

Black eyes narrowed. "So?"

The hairs on Doyle's neck rose as he felt the power in the room begin to arc, and tried to intervene. "Princess, meybe ye should just -- "

"No, Doyle," Cordelia said flatly. "I had enough of the Buffy and Angel Soul Angst Tortured Love Saga in high school, and I so do not want to go through it again. Okay, so he broods some in LA, but at least he does more than that, and he's not thinking of her every-damn-second of every-damn-day!"

Black eyes grew blacker still. "Again, so?"

"She hurts Him, damn it!" Cordelia exploded. "She hurts Him simply by *existing* but as long as She isn't hurting He can deal! And now that She's gone poof, to who knows where in some freaky other world, He can't deal! She's not even here and She's hurting Him *worse!* So maybe, just maybe, if we can get the whiny bitch back then He'll be better!"

Doyle's instincts had urged him toward the door as his love ranted and when the glass bowl on the table exploded, he was very glad he had moved. His princess looked shocked and a tiny bit scared, but she held her head up and faced the trembling witch. "That the best you can do?"

Willow's eyes, could she have but seen them, would have terrified her. As it was, the sight of them cut Doyle to the quick, so he was not surprised to hear her say, "Oh, no. I'm just getting started."

Just when Doyle thought he was going to have to grab Cordelia and run, Spike entered from the other side and raised an eyebrow. "Oi, Red. Keep that magic away from me, would ya? I don't fancy spending any time lip-locked with the boy wonder over here."

"Thank you, Spike," Xander replied, moving out from behind the vampire. Arms laden with boxes of fresh pizza topped with everything from three types of extra cheese to anchovies, he looked around at the slivers of glass before glancing at the room's other female occupants. Doyle shrugged and gestured towards the counter, where Xander deposited his burden with a sigh.

"Are you finished arguing now?" Anya asked, dropping the cases of cold drinks next to the pizza after having entered with Xander. "Xander said we should stop it, but Spike said you two needed to get it out and bitch at each other and since -- "

Anya glared at Xander as his hand covered her mouth. "Anyway, you two done?" he asked.

"Almost," Willow whispered, advancing on Cordelia until the two stood practically touching. "Think what you like. Think it all you want, but if I ever hear you say that again -- EVER -- I will personally make sure that you can never talk again. And if you try to poison Angel with your vitriol, if you ever try to mess them up or keep them apart because of *your* issues, I will make you wish the vamps had eaten you years ago. Understand?"

Cordelia looked ready to retort but Anya beat her to it. "You really should believe her," the former demon said as she opened the drinks. "During Willow's last spell, D'Hoffryn came up from Arashmahar to offer her my old job as the Patron Demon of Scorned Women. Even left her a calling talisman if she ever changed -- "

"Ahn, honey, stop helping," Xander begged.

Anya turned to berate her erstwhile boyfriend, when the door opened to admit a distraught Giles and stoic Angel. Doyle looked ready to explain the mess, but Angel didn't even appear to notice the glass that crackled under his feet as he crossed the room to sit at the table. He cradled his head in his hands as Giles took stock of the mess and tension in the room, not to mention the residue of magic in the air. The Watcher opened his mouth to ask, but closed it with an audible snap when Xander's head jerked towards Cordelia and Willow.

"Well," Giles said, pulling off his glasses. "Pizza, anyone?"

"Nothing," Angel stated.

Cordelia started. "Huh?"

For the first time since dawn Angel looked up and actually seemed conscious of his surroundings. His dark, bleak eyes swept the room, lingering a bit on Willow and Cordelia before taking in the glass on the floor; he did not retreat back into his shell, but rather stood and faced the assorted mix of humans, half and former demons and magic users in his kitchen. "I called Whistler this morning."

"Who?" Xander asked.

"He's a demon," Cordelia shrugged.

"But a good demon," Willow interjected, surprised by the stares she suddenly received. "Buffy told me once about how she met him when ... well ... "

As Willow trailed off and turned sorrowful eyes on him, Angel continued. "He's a balance-keeper. Buffy met him after I ... my demon raised Acathla, but he's the one who took me to see Buffy for the first time."

"In LA," he clarified, seeing the blank looks on the faces around him. "Before she was Called."

Several mouths opened at this admission, but Angel plowed on. "All he could tell me was mostly what we already know: Buffy and another Spike switched places, and during the reversal something went wrong ... or another spell was worked on the fringes of the other."

Xander grimaced. "Recap so not helping."

Angel merely nodded, much to everyone's surprise. "He did tell me this -- we cannot go after her. If we do, the walls between the timelines will break down and bleed into one another."

"Well, can't he go after her?" Cordelia pushed.

"No," Anya stated.

Cordelia glared. "Why not?"

Anya nibbled absently on a piece of pizza. "Because he's a demon."

"What's that got to do with -- "

"Everything," Angel stated. "It's ... it's complicated and hard to explain, but ... "

Doyle drummed his fingers on the counter for a moment, then picked up on what Angel was trying to explain. "It's like this. Walls between demon dimensions an' Earth are pretty thick -- think of brick wall -- not unbreakable, but pretty damn close. On the other hand, the walls 'tween the various timelines -- dimensions, universes, whatever ye call 'em -- that exist on Earth are thinner. Kinda like tissue paper."

"And?"

"And if you make too many holes in the tissue paper wall it will fall apart," Giles said wearily. "From what Angel's source has told him, the portal that opened between this timeline and the other was a large one, and was further enlarged when Buffy was pulled back through it the second time."

Angel nodded. "Adding to that ... Whistler went through to see her, to find out what happened. He wasn't very specific -- "

Giles and Spike kept their faces neutral.

"But he did say she seemed okay ... shaken up, but okay," Angel said.

Willow shuffled her feet a bit and glared at Cordelia. "So ... how do we get her back?"

Giles replaced his glasses and considered his young protege with new eyes. Her power was growing steadily stronger, which in and of itself was not unusual, but the twin losses of Oz and Buffy had apparently awakened a tremendous reserve within her center ... or simply snapped the walls guarding that wellspring. Either way ... "We have to wait. In six and half days, on the correct date, Willow and I will again try the portal spell as will someone in the timeline Buffy now inhabits. There is, however, a codicil that has been added to both spells that will ensure not only Buffy's safe return, but prevent the opening of any future portal between this world and that."

"But only if Buffy's on the Hellmouth," Angel whispered.

"Only if ... "

The End

Note: Although the scene between C and W may seem to come from out of left field, I think that given the situation and the development of the characters (and their baggage/issues) at that time it makes sense.