The infant laid staring at the new person in front of her, slowly tilting her head to the side as if surprised to see the face. "Bloody lil'..." Spike moans, rolling his eyes at her. Spike was, after all, not a domestic creature. Babies were sweet, cuddly, and *boring.* They slowed you down and they cramped your style- and that was the least of the damage they could do. He had little experience with them, nor did he want more. "Can't help but feel sorry for ya, though," he half-smiles, giving in to her cuteness as he reaches out to take Quinn's tiny hands in his own. "I know I wouldn't be too happy about having Peaches for my dad."

Quinn kicks a bit in her carry-cot, obviously enjoying the attention she was getting. Unable to resist, Spike reaches into the carry-cot and slides his arms underneath her, gently lifting her into his arms. He was still amazed that Buffy, whom he had always thought of as an aggressive and uncomprehensible bitch had a child. < With the big poof nonetheless. > "Strange...for being Angel's kid, you're pretty cute." Surprised to see her laugh in return, his smile broadens. "No worries though...with me around, I'll make sure him and your mom don't screw you up totally-"

"Continuing our lesson," Cordy says, walking back into the lobby, "here's your second person to avoid, Quinn. A whiny, macho vampire who isn't man enough to admit he actually likes babies."

"Well...she was...she started to cry, and..." he stares helplessly at the child in his arms, fumbling for an excuse for his behavior. "Well, she's not that bad...considering who her parents are." Seeing that the feisty brunette had no smart remark for him, Spike instantly knew that something was wrong. "Who was on the phone?"

Cordelia's face held a blank expression as she was still processing the news she'd received. Seeing her hesitation, Spike stands, walking over to her. "Cordelia- who was on the phone?"

"Wesley..." she breathes out. "He- he and the others have been searching around downtown all afternoon for those Caylus demons..."

"And...? Did they find them or what?"

"That's the thing...as soon as they tried attacking them, they just all vanished- right there in thin air. Weird huh?"

"You've gotta expect that with a bunch of Cayluses," a voice approaches them both from behind. Turning, ready to pummel whoever was at the door, Spike spins around, fists in the air as he stares at the stranger with a shocked expression. "Who the hell are you?"

"Down boy," Cordelia pats him on the head as she brushes past him to introduce their latest informant. "Spike, this is Kamien. He's been helping us with those dimensional tears. Kamien," she turns to pull Spike towards him, "this is Spike. He's been helping to drive us all crazy."

"Love the hair," Spike comments as he half-heartedly shakes the stranger's hand. "I think *she's* got more than you do," he smiles, running a hand over the infant's soft brown hair. Completely ignoring his insult, Kamien inches closer to the child. "Well how can anybody compete with this little beauty," he grins.

"So what's the what?" Cordy grabs his attention. "Find anything new about the missing dimensional tear?"

"Well, I've tried all morning," he lies, "but I haven't gotten your reader working yet. I just thought I'd stop by to see if I could maybe get Fred or Wesley to help."

"They've already left on another case," Cordy sighs.

"Where are all the others?"

"Some are shopping, some are hunting. Me- I'm stuck here with Mr. Personality," she smacks Spike across the chest.

"Hey- be careful when I'm holding Quinn!"

"Oh-" Cordy gasps, "you actually called her by her name. I think that's the first time I've heard you call her anything besides 'it'. You're softening, Spike."

"Oh..." he lets out a frustrated growl as he hands Quinn over to the brunette. "Just shut up and take her. You've got me so upset that I need a smoke."

"I thought you quit?"

"How do you ever expect me to be able to quit with *you* working here?" he yells as he marches towards the back courtyard, thankful that the sun had already set and he would be able to get some free time away from one of his favorite annoyances.

"Can I get you anything?" Cordy offers Kamien as she balances Quinn in her arms. "I'm sure the others will be back soon, so you're welcome to wait around-" The brunette lets out a curse under her breath at leaving her once again ringing cell phone in the kitchen. "Excuse me," she mutters, headed back towards the kitchen with Quinn still in her arms.

******

"Cordelia?" Angel shouts into his dying cell phone.

"Angel? Is that you? I can barely hear you."

"Don't...Kamien...hotel..." was all that came across from Angel's attempted plea for her to not let Kamien into the hotel. Making a sharp right turn in his benz as he and the others were speeding towards the Hyperion, he tries warning her again, this time trying to give her the additional instruction to leave the hotel. "Don't...Kamien...leave...hotel..."

"Don't let Kamien leave the hotel? How'd you even know he was here? Angel? Angel??" Guessing that his phone had finally went dead, the unsuspecting seer walks back towards the lobby.

"Dammit!" Angel yells, hastily tossing his cell aside. "Gunn- is your phone charged?"

"Yeah...but it's in my bag back at the hotel," he informs him, a wave of embarrasment crossing over his face. "I'm sorry, Angel."

"Just get some weapons ready," Buffy finally speaks, passing Angel a worried yet determined stare as they near the Hyperion.

******

"Everything alright?" Kamien asks as he sees Cordy reappear.

"You must've made quite an impression on Angel," the brunette smiles. "That was him- he told me not to let you leave the hotel. I think they're on their way back right now. He probably wants to talk to you some more," she says as she sits back down, softly cooing at Quinn, who was smiling happily in her arms.

"You know," he begins walking over to her, a sly smile across his face, "Quinn and I haven't been properly introduced yet. May I?" he smiles hopefully, already holding out his arms to receive the child.

"Oh..." she stares at the infant for a moment before lifting her in the air and placing her into Kamien's arms.

"Cordy- no!!" With a startled and desperate cry, Angel leads the others as they come charging through the hotel's front doors. Wasting no time, he makes a diving lunge for Kamien but to his surprise winds up spearing Cordelia to the ground instead as the creature teleports out of the way. "What the hell?!" Not even bothering to help Cordelia up, Angel races to Buffy's side, readying to fight.

"What happened?" Buffy frantically pleads. "Where did he go? Where's Quinn?!"

"Having a little problem, slayers?" The voice comes from the top of the massive stairway as Kamien reappears, slowly shifting back to his true form. Shocked for only a moment to see the dapper young gentleman they'd trusted shift into a large, sinister warrior, both Angel and Buffy race up the stairs in a futile attempt to attack him. Buffy charges first, leaping in the air to deliver a sharp sidekick to his head but again, the figure disappears, and the slayer goes flying over the banister.

"Buffy!" Angel screams, almost leaping over the rail himself until he sees Gunn and Fred rushing to her side to help. Scanning his surroundings for Kamien, Angel's eyes finally fall upon the assassin's form materializing again right behind him.

"Awake down there?!" the demon cackles, laughing wholeheartedly at the sight of Buffy and Cordelia layed out a floor below. "What happened to all of that warm hospitality?"

Without a word, Angel charges for him again only to have his fist break through the marble wall behind where the creature had been standing only a second ago. "What the hell are you?!" Angel cries out, running down the stairs without a clue as to what was going on.

"What's all the noise?" Spike finally emerges from outside, his eyes quickly picking up on the unusual sight of Buffy still trying to get up from her fall. "Angel-"

"Where'd he go?!"

"What?" Spike's eyes widen in confusion. "Who do you mean-"

"Kamien!" Angel screams, racing helplessly around downstairs.

"You know, Master would be so proud of me," Kamien's voice echos off the walls but his form is still nowhere to be seen. "He'd never believe how easy this all was!" The evil finally appears by the front doors, only this time, Quinn is not resting in his arms.

"Believe this!" Angel looks over his shoulder at the shout, only to see Buffy stumbling to her feet, making a mad dash towards the demon.

"Now isn't this charming?" are Kamien's final words before teleporting a final time, leaving the slayer to go crashing through the doors and the others to only stare on in disbelief at the reality of the seemingly unbeatable evil they were now dealing with.

******

Do you pray in the night?
Can you appreciate the winds?And I won't care, I won't fight
I need you close to sing, it's the same beginning

As Angel wandered aimlessly around downstairs in the large hotel, trying unsuccessfully to calm down long enough to think logically, Giles and Wesley were frantically searching through their volumes of demonology, hoping to find any information pertaining to Kamien. Shortly after the creature's departure, the others had returned to a scene they could never have anticipated. Blood was splattered on the floor, pieces of wood from the doors had splintered, and furniture had been thrown about, though whether this last feature was a result of Kamien's attack or Angel's ensuing rage was not clear, and none of the Scoobies dared to even ask.

"So what are we doing?" Xander was pacing almost as much as Angel was in anticipation of launching any kind of counterattack. "I mean, come on! Why're we just standing around here doing nothing when we should be out looking for Quinn?!"

"Xander..." Giles sighs as he lifts his glasses, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Just calm down...we can't very well go after something that we can't see."

"It wasn't that we couldn't see him..." Angel whispers, trying to get a firm grip on his emotions. "He just...kept disappearing and then reappeared someplace else."

"Teleportation..." Wesley surmises.

"He...he changed..." Buffy sighs, touching a hand to her bandaged forehead. "He changed his- his face. He just...changed..."

"A shape-shifter as well," Giles says, consulting a separate volume of the books he was currently searching through.

"So how do we fight this thing?" asks Gunn, his arm slung over Fred's shoulders as he tries comforting her, noticing the young girl staring helplessly at Quinn's crib. "Did you even get a good look at him, Angel? Angel? Did you get a good look at him?" The young fighter pauses in his questioning as he spots his boss sitting on top of the lobby's counter, head hung over as he runs a shaky hand through his hair.

Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life in words

"Angel?"

"No..." the ex-vampire finally answers his friend. "I...I didn't see..." his voice cracks as he hops down from his seat, moving back over to one of the couches, gathering Buffy in his arms once again.

"So all we have to go by is that weird circle with the design?" Cordy speaks up, a certain lilt in her voice that struck Angel as an accusation in his direction. He feels a sudden rage as if he wanted to beat the hell out of both her and Spike for being so careless with his daughter, but something inside makes him keep his distance, content to be sitting with his beloved, trying to keep both her and himself calm. Spike stumbles around past them both, sliding on his leather duster.

"Wonderful...a circle. That oughta get us far-" Angel's face changes from one of remorse to hate and disgust as he lunges at his childe. "This is *your* fault to begin with so I suggest you keep your mouth shut!!" Angel screams into Spike's face as he holds him against the wall. As the others can only look on, Buffy hops up from the couch, hurrying over to them. "Angel, don't. He didn't know-"

"He didn't *care*!" he corrects her, tightening his grip around Spike's neck. "He couldn't give a damn about Quinn, or anyone else for that matter, and you all know it!!"

And I can't breathe when you cry
But I'll be there to hold you tight
And I would kill, I would fight
To keep you close, I'll keep singing the same way

"This isn't going to- to help us," she begins to shudder, but hurriedly suppresses it as she finally succeeds in pulling Angel off of Spike. They start to walk away until Spike makes one more of his comments.

"Sure- blame it on ol' Spike just like you always do. It's not my fault you don't have enough sense to know who's a demon and who isn't-" Before Spike can finish, Angel releases Buffy's hand and meets Spike's face with his fist several times.

"Angel! Angel!!!" Buffy, along with the others, is pleading with him to stop, but deep down wanting to do the exact same thing.

"I said shut the hell up or I swear to god I'll stake you myself!!" Angel screams as he finally gets up off of him, walking with Buffy towards where Giles and Wes were still rooting through their books.

The hotel is silent as Cordy nervously makes her way over to them, placing a tentative hand across Angel's back. "I'm sorry..." she whispers, the only thing she can possibly think of to say. "I don't...I don't know what else to say. Is there anything I can do?"

I won't live if you die
If I can't feel you in the wind
This is me, it's my life
I need you close to sing, it's the same beginning

"No," Angel answers for both himself and Buffy, eyeing the brunette with a look of detestation. "Just...don't bother...with anything."

"Angel," Cordy sighs, the tears that she'd been holding back since Quinn was taken threatening to be unleashed. "I didn't know-"

"You handed...our daughter, *our child*, right over to a demon we know absolutely nothing about," he gets out between gritted teeth. "You've done enough." Cordy can only stare, dumbfounded as to how to respond to the accusation that was partially true. She'd delivered their beautiful child, a child they'd hoped for but never thought possible, into the arms of a new and very elusive evil. As she wordlessly returns to her seat, she says yet another prayer to whoever was listening for Quinn's safe return as well as the eventual forgiveness of her two friends.

A few hours later and the gang at Angel Investigations was still nowhere closer to figuring out just who or what had stolen Quinn, but more importantly, why. With midnight quickly approaching, Angel and Buffy were ready to just head out on their own searching the streets, but knew that it would be a waste of time. Finally, after a feverish search through some of his older collections, Giles recognizes the strange circular symbol that was their only clue to his origins, leaping up from his desk, racing over along with Fred to where Angel and the others were still looking through their own materials.

"Mekon dimension," he blurts out, removing his glasses before he explains their findings any further. "That's where he came from. All those dimensional tears...*he's* what was trying to get out."

"He was banished there from this dimension by his Master a few hundred centuries ago," Fred continues. "He's an assassin. One of the only true demons still alive, though no one ever thought he'd be able to free himself from Mekon."

"What kind of demon is he?" Buffy asks.

"That's just it-" Giles lets out a heavy sigh. "We don't know. Theoretically, he's the only one of his kind. A creature with the abilities of teleportation and shape-shifting- a morphological being.

"How is he able to do all of this?" Tara reaches for the book Fred had carried over, leafing through its pages herself. "Does he use magic?"

"Or is someone else supplying him with his powers?" Willow follows her lover's trail of thought, pulling out a book she had already looked through, giving it another look over.

"All the information that we've found seems to suggest that he's able to perform these feats on his own," says Giles. "He teleports by displacing himself into another dimension, the nature of which is unknown, traveling through it, and then returning to the previous dimension he teleported out of at a certain distance from his point of departure. He consciously determines his point of return. The entire process occurs so quickly that Kamien is unaware of being in another dimension at all."

"So why weren't we able to pick up on this from him?" Angel demands. "I mean, Cordelia didn't even have a vision. Why couldn't we sense it?" Giles turned to face the second slayer he'd come to love as his own, unable to even begin to imagine what hell he and Buffy were being put through with their precious daugher's disappearence.

Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life in words

"I suspect your senses were thrown off by the instability of Kamien's energy. The more that he teleports himself, the harder and more exhausting it is for him to maintain the energy balance he needs to remain in this dimension. In a sense, he drains a part of his own being with each teleportational jump. This is probably why Cordelia never received a vision-"

"Because he doesn't have enough lifeforce to fully sustain himself," the brunette finishes for him, a little bit of the guilt she was feeling beginning to melt away. "

"But none of this is going to help us any," Angel lets out an angry groan as he begins pacing once again. "What good is this going to do us if we can't get him to stay in one spot long enough to attack him?"

"I admit, he is powerful," Wesley speaks up, reading from his own book. "But he's not indestructible, Angel. Kamien's power of teleportation is based on line of sight- he must be able to invision or physically view the location he wishes to port to. He has a very limited unconscious extrasensory ability that prevents him from teleporting himself so that his feet, for example, would materialize below the surface of the local ground. But because this ability is so limited, Kamien will not teleport into any place that he cannot see or has not seen in the past."

"Thus explaining his eagerness to take the grand tour," Anya surmises, eyeing the walls of the hotel with a newfound uneasiness.

"If Kamien teleported himself into an unfamiliar area," Giles cuts in, "he would run the risk of materializing partially or entirely within a solid object. If too much of his body materialized within a solid object, he would be killed. If we could somehow manage to get him to teleport into an area with some sort of solid box or cage, then maybe we could hold him long enough to-"

"Ohhh...guys?" Willow lifts her head from the book she was going back over, anxious to share her findings. "Giles- ha- has there ever been a child born to a pair of slayers?"

"Well, considering the fact that Angel has only recently been called as a slayer, I don't believe so," the brit answers her. "Unless, by some means beyond my recognition, such a thing was ever possible between two female slayers-"

"Not needing that mental picture right now," Xander mumbles.

"What did you find, Will?" Buffy leans over her best friend's shoulder, letting her eyes skim over the page the redhead was reading.

"It mentions something called the Mozez Prophecy- 'The child born to the two chosen slayers shall be the ultimate key to the Powers. When the time comes for the ultimate battle, she will be the force that the Powers unleash to strike down the indomitable evil- an evil unknown to man that threatens to rid the world of humanity...' "

Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life

"Okay-" Gunn approaches the table after Willow finishes reading. "So Quinn's gonna be a big player- what does any of this have to do with why Kamien took her?"

"Her power only is reason enough, Gunn," Wesley says. "It takes an incredible amount of power to be able to escape a dimension such as the one Kamien was banished to- let alone remain outside of that realm. If he wishes to remain here, his best way of doing so would be..." The former watcher's eyes widen as he begins to realize what Kamien was surely planning.

"Wes?" Angel's voice knocks him out of his thoughts. "What is it?"

"Lhasa," he breathes out before fumbling around to find the book that contained the information pertaining to the ritual. "It occurs only once every 500 hundred centuries during the Autumnal Equinox..."

"Tomorrow night," Tara announces to the group, seeing Wes;ey nod his head before continuing.

"It involves the sacrifice of a child- a newborn more specifically. Upon drinking the blood of the child, the being becomes a sort of shadow of the child, absorbing the child's yet-to-be reached capabilities- power, strength, stamina?"

"How did he know?" Cordy asks. "I mean- how could he have possibly found out about this Mozez prophecy about Quinn?"

As if on cue, Dawn returns from her walk to the front door, carrying with her a stack of envelopes, one of which she'd already opened. "Guys? The uh, the mail's here."

"Dawn-" Buffy snaps at her sister, "I'd hoped you held the well-being of my daughter above some stupid phone bill!" Simply brushing off her harsh response, Dawn turns to Angel, handing him the opened envelope. "Actually, I think you'll want to read this one." Letting out a frustrated sigh as he snatches the paper away from the teen, Angel opens it up, reading its contents to himself before divulging them to the rest of the gang.

Mr. & Mrs. O'Halloran,

I wish to express my deepest condolences on the loss of your beloved daughter. I know this must be devastating for the two of you, so please make no hesitations in consulting me for any help that I may be able to offer you at such a painful time.

The letter wasn't signed, but Angel immediately knew its author. Tossing the paper aside, he grabs his jacket, headed towards the door.

And I can't see
And I don't know
How far I'll go
And I can't see
And I don't know
How far I'll go

"Angel- what is it?" Willow is the first to speak up at his sudden shift in behavior.

"Where are you going?" Buffy pleads with him. "Angel!" As he slams the door behind him, Buffy kneels down to retrieve the letter he'd tossed aside. Quickly reading through it, she draws the same conclusion as to who sent it, turning to instruct the others before taking off herself after him. "Find everything you can about this ritual. And the dimensional reader-"

"Kamien," Fred reminds her, "he still has it...if he hasn't already destroyed it."

"That's going to be our only way of sending him back. Can you build another one?"

"I don't know, Buffy," the young girl solemnly replies. "Even if I can...interdimensional spot technology is extremely delicate. I can't guarantee its stability. Even if it works, there's no telling whether we'll be able to keep Kamien contained in the Mekon dimension."

"Just get one up and running," Buffy demands, reaching for the door knob to leave. "Let us worry about keeping the bastard contained."

Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life in words
Gone away
It's the same old, same old song
Gone away
It's my whole life

******

"Excuse me, sir?" The young guard that was on duty stood from his desk to approach the incoming visitor. "May I see some form of identification?"

"Oh yeah- sure," the guest's voice replied, sounding deeper than his usual tone, as he reaches a hand into his jacket. "Just a minute." As the guard was glancing about, a balled up fist came flying at his face. Surprised to find himself on the floor, he stares up to see the stranger nearing him, the bottom folds of his leather jacket swaying in beat with his stealth approach. On instinct, he reaches in his holster for his gun, only to have it quickly knocked aside.

Angel began punching away at the still-shocked guard, finally knocking him out after three solid blows to the head. He backhands some of the young man's splattered blood from his own cheek as he makes his way over to the stairs. He held his purpose clear in his mind, but his intentions were still somewhat unclear to him. Whether his visit to Wolfram & Hart would end in bloodshed or merely a few solid beatings, the only thing he knew for cetain was that Lilah would soon learn the price at which her actions would come.

******

"Listen to what I'm saying to you- I want what I ordered!" Lilah barks into her phone. "This thing that you've sent me is a completely different color than what I ordered. Now I'm bored with talking to you," she pauses, noticing her young page standing in her office doorway. "I'm *bored*- I'll call you back!"

"Problem ma'am?"

"The people I have to deal with just to get things done around here."

"Unsuccessful in getting everything Kamien needs for the ritual?"

"What? Oh no...we've already got everything we need for tomorrow night. That was the company that sells me my hair dye."

"I...didn't know you dyed your hair," he squeaks out in between chuckles.

"I don't- they're highlights. They sent me Strawberry Dawn instead of Summer Rasberry. Any fool knows that it's two shades lighter. She said 'why don't you try a change?' I don't want a change, I want what I ordered!" She puts aside a few of her files as she lets out an exhausted sigh. "What are you doing here anyway? I told you to keep an eye on Kamien upstairs."

"I was...but I can't take anymore of that little brat's crying," he sighs, slumping down on her couch. "If he's supposed to be so powerful, how come he can't come up with some sort of spell to keep her quiet? And why are you worried about me keeping an eye on him? Don't you trust him?"

"I don't trust anybody farther than I can throw them," she retorts, standing from her seat to grab him up by the arm, ushering him back towards her door. "Now get your worthless ass back upstairs and keep a close watch on him. I don't want to see you again until I make my way upstairs tomorrow night for my front row seat to the ritual." She slams the door behind him, rolling her eyes as she turns back to her desk. The sudden knock at her door catches her by surprise and she lets out an angry growl as she spins on her heel to pull open the door.

"Jason, I'm warning you- I am not someone you should piss off-" as she pulls back on the knob, a mixed look of shock and pleasure crosses her face as her eyes take in the sight of Angel. "Well isn't this a surprise?" She moves aside, to let him in, slowly shutting the door behind him. "To what do I owe the honor of this late night visit, hmm?" Relaxing back in her desk chair, a small grin forms at the corner of her mouth as she observes the slayer, leaning against the row of windows behind her desk, arms crossed in a defiant manner.

"I thought it only fitting that I respond to your lovely card immediately," he murmurs.

"How are you and the missus holding up? I can only imagine what it's like to lose a child. Who would do such a horrible thing?" The vindictiveness that she didn't even bother trying to hide in her voice only enraged Angel more, but somehow he managed to keep his anger in check.

"I figured I'd offer you the chance to fix all of this," Angel smiles weakly. "Cause see, if you won't, *I* will, and you do *not* want me to fix this, because if anything happens to my daughter, I am going to beat you so badly that there won't be anything left to identify you with."

He takes a few steps towards her as he lets out a small chuckle. "See Lilah, I don't care how often you and your little lackies try and kill me- in fact, I always enjoy dashing your hopes to finally be rid of me. But the second that you go after Buffy, our child, or anyone else in our family...you know you're going to pay for this." Lilah couldn't contain her laugher at his threat, turning her back to him as she spins back around in her chair to finish up her paperwork.

"Not likely. I think the eventual grief that you'll be experiencing after tomorrow night will be enough to keep you occupied and prevent you from attempting anything rash. You still don't get it, do you Angel? Ya see, there are these things called morals and ethics which you and Buffy seem to have a lot of. Thank god I've been blessed without them-"

In an instant, Lilah's head was pressed against her glass desk, Angel's hand firmly planted behind the base of her neck as he leans over her helpless form to speak into her ear. "You're about to see my ethics and morals disappear because I swear to you...I am going to tear this entire building apart until I find my daughter. And once I find her, my suggestion to you would be to run, hide, and pray," he emphasizes his last word by slamming her head straight through the crystal clear glass of her desk, eliciting a sharp cry from her as she was sent reeling to the floor.

"Funny you should mention praying, Angel." Surprised that the impact hadn't knocked her out, Angel glances down to see Lilah pulling herself to her feet, holding a shaky hand over the large gash above her eye. "Do you think prayers are gonna help poor Buffy downstairs?" she points to the security monitor resting on one of her shelves as the image of an assortment of vamps and demons surrounding Buffy down in the lobby comes flashing across the screen. "Decisions, decisions...what're you gonna do, Angel? Beat up on me some more to find out where Quinn is, or save your precious little Buffy?"

Walking over to her closet, she pulls out a small medical kit, already knowing what his choice would be, and begins tending to her wounds as Angel races out of her office back downstairs.

******

"Wes, hand me that pair of pliers, will ya?" Beads of sweat began to form above Fred's brow as she was carefully assembling the few parts she had at the Hyperion to create another dimensional reader. Another hour had passed without a word from Buffy or Angel. Fred was too deep in concentration that she barely even noticed, however the others were nervously pacing, still skimming through whatever materials they could find about the Lhasa ritual or Kamien.

"Aren't you finished yet?" Xander's grip around Anya's waist tightened in anticipation as his eyes shifted between Fred and Wesley, both working on what looked to be their only solution for getting rid of Kamien.

"Almost. Be patient," Wes snaps back.

"And once we finish up with these few things," Fred lifts her head to fully face them, "we're still missing a lot of parts. Someone's going to have to-"

"Just tell me what you need," Cordelia stands from her seat, a determined look gleaming in her eyes as she approaches them. Nodding softly, Wes scribbles down a few things on a piece of paper, including an address. "Go here and ask for Gavin- tell him that I sent you and that we're in a hurry." Without a moment's hesitation, Cordy leaves, intent on gathering everything needed to be rid of the evil that had stolen her precious niece.

"I hope she hurries," Fred sighs. "I'd like to try this thing out before we have to actually use it. I mean, this technology is so unstable. If we were to-"

"Spare us the warnings, will ya?" Spike growls back at her. "Just get the bloody thing together!" Surprised by his own outburst, Spike recollects himself, hopping up onto the counter. "Any word from Peaches or blondie?"

"Buffy called a few minutes ago from Wolfram and Hart," Gunn answers him.

"Now who would've guessed that our dear friends were somehow involved in this?" Wes smirks, turning his attentions back to the device. "I just hope she and Angel aren't already in over their heads."

******

"Okay...maybe I'm in a little over my head here." Buffy takes her stance, wooden stake in hand as the swarm of demons and vamps begin their attack on her. Managing to hold the first three off, she's knocked to the ground by another behind her. Flipping back to her feet, she plunges her stake through the closest one, turning to attack the others.

Caught off guard after dusting another two, Buffy is kicked from behind to the marble floor. She groans and falls back as the demon picks her up by her short, golden-blonde hair. He kicks her in the stomach twice, leaving the slayer in the middle of the lobby, hunched over, grabbing her stomach.

The snarling creature chokes Buffy on the floor with his boot. Stunned for only a moment, Buffy grabs her throat and tries to breathe as the demon grits his teeth and digs in with his foot even harder. Finally, a huge gasp escapes from Buffy's mouth as the creature is hurled backwards by Angel.

The angered demon goes to strike Angel in the face, but the slayer counters and nails him with his own right hand, surprising the creature with his quick comeback. He continues to counter his blows with his own punches, finally getting the better of him as he withdraws one of his favored daggers for beheading, slicing the demon's head to the floor.

"What are you doing here?" His eyes alone convey his anger at seeing that Buffy had followed him as he helps her to her feet.

"Where did you think I'd be?" she yells back as she dusts herself off, surprised by his question.

"You shouldn't have followed me here, Buffy. It's too dangerous. Just look at what happened now!"

"Excuse me, but you're not the only one who does the ass-kicking in this family! I can handle myself, dammit! Now come on!" She turns to head up the stairway but soon finds that her arm is caught in Angel's firm grip.

"Go back to the Hyperion until you get the reader working!" As her glare turns from worried to angered, she pulls back her arm, pushing him slightly away as she begins scaling the steps. "Either we both go or you can stay here and argue with yourself, but I'm not leaving here without Quinn!"

"Buffy, listen to me!" he grabs her around the waist, spinning her around to face him. "If something happens to the both of us, then what? Then what??" he shakes her suddenly, seeing the same unshed tears that were in his eyes beginning to well up in her own. "I can handle things here, but I can't..." His head lowers and for the first time since watching his daughter being snatched away right in front of him, he allows his tears to flow. "I can't lose the both of you...I can't."

Buffy's face lowered into his hair as her arms close tighter around him. The two are shrouded in silence until Angel finally speaks again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Don't..." she whispers softly, grabbing his hand tightly in one hand as she brushes away her own tears with the other. "Let's get Quinn..." Wordlessly he begins to follow her up the stairway, only to find another swarm of creatures that Lilah had summoned waiting for them on the next floor.

"Here are our visitors," one of them smirks. "Let's welcome them properly."

"Actually, we'd rather skip the tour," Buffy smiles as she and Angel, seeing that they were clearly outnumbered, took off in the opposite direction down the massive corridor.

"Do you know where you're going?" she asks him as they turn a corner.

"Pretty sure."

"Just how far have you traveled in this building?"

"Not sure. Maybe about half-way."

"Already I'm loving our odds of getting out of here alive," she lets out a small laugh as Angel pulls them to a halt, glancing down their two possible paths of escape.

"Which way?" Buffy tosses out a glance herself down the two stretches of hallway, looking helplessly to Angel for his input.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." As he was deliberating, Buffy glances over her shoulder to see the group of demons quickly catching up with them.

"Could you possibly do that a bit more quickly?" Seeing the sources of her impatience, Angel pulls her along down the side hall, finally reaching one of the few sealed off passages he knew to be in the building. As they enter the vicinity, Angel reaches for the lever to shut the metal doors behind them, leaving the pack of creatures on the other side.

"Great," Buffy breathes out, pausing for a moment to steady herself after all their running. "So now where are we?"

"No clue," Angel sighs. "Looks like some sort of lab."

"Angel, look." Buffy's arm stretches out as she notices a faint bluish hue illuminating the back wall.

"It's worth checking," he responds, carefully walking with her towards it. Without warning, a steel frame comes crashing down from the ceiling, trapping the two slayers against the wall. Both frustrated and angered at their carelessness, Buffy throws her arms in the air. "Okay- so we're gonna be a little late getting home."

"You don't know the half of it." A raspy voice emerges from the shadows, as its owner slowly materializes in front of the slayers. As the figure's full appearance comes into clear view, the couple takes notice of the small sleeping bundle he held firmly in his arms. Buffy reaches out to steady herself on Angel's arm as she lets out a startled gasp.

"Oh god...Quinn..."

******

"Amazing what advances have been made in technology, huh?" Kamien takes a step towards the steel bars, smiling as he sees the looks of fear streak across the two slayers' faces. For several moments, Angel and Buffy were in the grip of a panic so complete that they were literally unable to function in any way. It was amazing that either was able to still breathe. There in the arms of the feared assassin was their daughter, sleeping quietly as she was being carried over to them, just out of arm's reach.

"Shhh...she's sleeping so peacefully. I couldn't disturb her." Taking a few steps backwards, he places the infant ontop of the lab table, turning his attentions back to his captives. "Did you really think I'd pass up an opportunity to have the two of you bear witness to my success? What kind of a fool do you take me for?"

"Personally, I'd never call you a fool," Buffy finally regains her speech, her eyes still locked on the sight of her daughter, safe and sound for the time being. "That would be an insult to fools everywhere." She begins assisting Angel in trying to free themselves from the makeshift cage, only to hear Kamien's maniacal laughter bouncing off of the walls.

"You two can try as hard as you like to get out of their. Actually, I'd prefer you to both keep up your attempts...that blue glow coming from the wall behind you is an energy draining beam of my own device."

"Don't expect applause," Angel snaps back, still pushing against the steel.

"The harder you try, the more fun it is for me to watch you both reduced to weaklings. Though I'm sorry to say, I won't be sticking around for long. I've got a kid to kill." He paces over to the doorway, pushing the button for the intercom. "Lilah dear, how'd you like to babysit our guests?"

"I'm a little busy at the moment," her voice comes back over the speaker. "Ontop of patching myself up after Angel's rude outburst, we've got other company to deal with downstairs." Kamien flips on the switch to the monitor in his lab to see just who she was talking about. Finally picking up on the image being projected from outside the back entrance to the building, he smiles wickedly to himself in eagerness to dispose of the three individuals who dared to try interfering with his plans.

"I'll deal with our friends myself," Kamien informs Lilah back over the intercom. "These two up here aren't going anywhere soon." Stepping back towards where he'd laid Quinn down, he goes to pick her up but after a moment, he decides against it. "You know, I don't think I've made you two suffer enough. So why don't we let the happy little family share a few final moments together?" He turns, grabbing a few of the weapons he'd carried over with him from Mekon, and prepares to greet the three new intruders. "Not that any of you will live long enough to appreciate your time together."

Buffy and Angel were left in their cell, encased in shock so deep it felt like ice as they had to stand idly back, powerless to get to their daughter, just inches out of their reach, and get her to safety. "Oh my god," Angel says in a trembling, watery voice. He had suddenly never been so terrified in his life.

"Oh my god," Buffy repeated in a voice that was filled with horror and terrible wonder. In all of the different scenarios that had played out in her mind going into this, she had never anticipated such an irony befalling them. Quinn layed silent before them, and for a brief moment, Buffy's fears shifted from whether her daughter was hurt to whether or not she was wearing enough to protect her from the bitter coldness of the sterile lab.

She stares down at her hands, completely worthless in their current situation, as breaking down the steel bars proved as difficult a task as Kamien had mentioned. Both she and Angel were nearly drained, yet still they fought in vain to break free of their restraint.

******

The sound that was produced from the impact of the lead-lined door crashing to the ground was immense. After several attempts, the warrior had succeeded in busting down the obstacle, gaining entrance into the building.

"Subtlety's not your strong point, is it Spike?" Dawn asks him, as she, Gunn, and the blonde vamp quickly enter into the offices of Wolfram & Hart in search of their slayers.

"Hell, I can't even spell the word," he smiles back, taking an axe from Gunn as the three began their ascent up the stairway.

"I still think we should've all just stayed together and waited for Fred to finish building the reader," Gunn murmurs, not particularly fond of the idea of splitting up their group.

"While your lil' hick girlfriend is busy playing tinkertoys with some machine, Peaches and blondie could already be dead." Receiving a sudden hard slap from Dawn, Spike retracts his last few remarks. "I mean, they're probably not, but still- don't you feel better coming to try and help them?"

"You know when I'll feel better?" Gunn shoots back as they reach the second floor. "When I'm feeding Quinn some strained bananas, now come on." As they proceed down the long hallway in search of Lilah's office, they come across a small robust man wandering around, briefcase in hand. Trying a gentle approach, Dawn calls him over to them, turning on her best smile, the smile that always worked on Buffy and Angel, and tried getting some information out of him. "Do you know where we can find Lilah Morgan?" Receiving only a sly smile for an answer, Dawn steps aside to let Spike try his own approach.

"I'm tired of being diplomatic, old man," he growls, changing into his game face as he lifts the man up by the throat, slamming him against the wall. "Now tell us where the big mean bitch is, okay?"

"Fourth floor," he chokes out against Spike's grip. "Right by the elevators- room 437."

"Now was that so hard?" Hastily tossing him aside, Spike leads Dawn and Gunn down the hall towards the elevators, hoping that Angel had saved at least a little of Lilah's broken body for him to play with. "We don't have time for these games," he yells back at the fallen party, but he halts in his tracks as he hears a new voice in response.

"Good," the old man stands to his feet as his face begins to shift. "Cause I'm not playing any." His features twisted and contorted until his true form was fully revealed to them.

"Oooo goody," Spike lifts his axe over his head as he prepares to charge. "I get first strike at the bastard!" Easily dodging the vamp's attempt to harm him, Kamien reappears behind Gunn and Dawn, grabbing the young girl and tossing her into a nearby office. Gunn however was not so easily moved, actually managing to make contact with the demon's face with a solid punch.

Stunned only briefly by the blow, Kamien teleports again, this time emerging from behind Spike. Grabbing hold of him around the waist, the creature ports, disappearing for only a second before returning to the hallway without his passenger.

"You two kiddies should've stayed home," Kamien smiles, racing towards both Dawn and Gunn. After a brief struggle with the stronger of the two, Kamien overpowers Gunn, wrapping an arm around his neck from behind. "Now should I just break your neck, or actually pull it off? Which would you prefer?" Seeing Dawn staring on in terror, he makes her an offer. "Of course, your friend here can keep his head right where it belongs. And to think, all you have to do..." he stretches out his free arm to her, "...is take my hand." Silently she complied, grasping his cold hand as he takes the two of them along with him for his final port.

Startled and shaken by the exhausting experience of porting between dimensions, Dawn and Gunn take a minute to observe their new surroundings. The walls were a blinding silver, a thin glare spilling from the corners of the immense area. The only thing that stood out besides all of the equipment and machinery was a softly glowing blue light emanating from right behind them. Standing to their feet, their eyes finally fall upon their fellow cellmates.

"Lo and behold our saviors," Buffy mutters, her head still leaned against the steel frame she'd been trying to bust open.

"Just how did you two get caught?" Spike asks his sire as he begins trying his own hand at freeing them all from their cage.

"That's what I keep asking myself."

******

"Is it okay?" Cordelia was the first to ask the question that was on everyone's minds as soon as Fred and Wesley had announced that they'd finished building the new dimensional reader. Already well past noon on the following day, they only had a few more hours until the ritual was set to begin, and they'd still received no word from the slayers or the three friends who'd already went out in search of them.

"Who cares?" Xander quickly snatches away the device from the young girl, racing over to Giles' side. "So how does this thing work?"

"Xander-" the ex-watcher tries reasoning with the impulsive young man, "perhaps we should test it before making any attempt to-"

"Look- while we're around here playing Mr. Wizard with all of this junk, our friends could already be dead!" He grabs Anya's hand, not wanting to listen to any arguments regarding the matter. "So let's just grab some gear and get going, alright?!" Both stunned and impressed by Xander's bold behavior, Willow is the first to back him up.

"He's right guys." She stands from her seat, Tara following right behind her as they join the rest of the group. "How does it work?" Fred grabs back the device from Xander, muttering her objections to herself as she turns on the reader. A huge black vortex appears where she projected it's beam, a gentle humming escaping from the dark portal.

"I've already set it's frequency. This should lead us straight to them, but don't blame me if we all wind up in some evil clown dimension." Still without any hesitations, the friends make their way into the vortex's encompassing darkness, a silent prayer being said by each that they would indeed be led to their friends' whereabouts.

Go to the Next Part