Gunn checked the winch. “Not long, maybe five minutes.” The seer nodded and peered over the side of the boat.

“I still don’t see what’s so important about that box that you need it in the middle of the night. You aren’t smuggling anything, are ya?” Asked the professional diver they’d hired.

“No, we’re not smuggling, and the rest is none of your business. We’re out of here as soon as the box is on our boat, ok?” Cordelia reminded him. They had to work it just right, so that he didn’t see what was in the box. From Connor’s rather reluctant description, there was a barred window for Angel to see out of—a place where the nosy diver could look into and see the vampire. Somehow Cordelia doubted they’d be able to keep him quiet. It had been hard enough getting him to take Gunn down with him—the vampire hunter had been certified to dive, but he hadn’t gone in years.

“I can see it!” Fred shouted, pointing into the murky water. She was standing on the other boat, the one that Gunn had rented out for this expedition. Gunn swung the boom over towards Fred as the box came out of the water. She guided it onto the deck and released the cables, letting them dangle free. Gunn brought the boom back and picked up his gear to take back to the other boat.

“So that’s it?” The diver asked as Cordelia and Gunn clambered onto the other boat. “You’re not gonna open it?”

“It’s full of old papers,” Cordelia lied. “We have to take it to one of those special restorers.” Gunn fired up the boat and motored away, leaving a well-paid but confused diver behind them.

Once they were clear of that boat, and any others they could see, Fred and Cordelia began to pry open Angel’s tomb. After a few minutes of work, they got the top off. Angel bobbed up to the surface, no longer held down by the lid. The reason why the diver hadn’t said anything about there being a body was clear—Angel had somehow gotten turned over, his clothes floating up to cover his head. Fred and Cordelia grabbed his arms and legs and hauled him out of the watery container, flopping him down hard on the deck. Then they backed up quickly, reaching for the fresh human blood they’d procured earlier. Fred carefully opened the spigot of one thermos and slid it on the deck, letting it stop right next to Angel’s head. Both women wanted to go help Angel, but he’d been underwater for almost a week, and there was no telling what condition he was in. If he was too weak to move, they’d be able to return to him and help him feed. If he’d retained some of his strength, though, they were afraid he might not recognize them and attack.

After about ten minutes, they figured he didn’t have the ability to do anything—he hadn’t even opened his eyes. Fred went to his side and levered him up so he was lying across her, head and chest tilted up. Cordelia picked up the blood and tipped it over a bit, working the spigot into his mouth. Some of the red liquid went in; the rest trickled down his face, mixing with residual salt water in a pinkish trail.

They watched, worried, as Angel didn’t respond. “Vampires do turn to dust when they die, right?” Fred asked Cordelia.

“Yeah, so he’s not really dead dead, just undead,” Cordelia confirmed. “Did he just move?” She asked, having seen what she thought was a twitch.

Angel was hallucinating. That was the only explanation he had for the delicious taste of human blood he found in his mouth. Even with the salt water pickling his insides, it tasted beautiful. He licked at it, wanting more even if it was an illusion. More and more poured into him, flooding his mouth. It warmed his throat, pooling in his stomach. Unfortunately, his stomach was full of sea water. As soon as the blood hit it, he began to vomit.

“Shit!” Cordelia cursed, yanking the blood away.

“What’s happening?” Gunn asked over his shoulder.

“He swallowed sea water,” Fred explained. “It’s coming up.”

“I think he breathed it too,” Cordelia added. “But at least he’s awake.”

Angel coughed and spat, cringing at the burn of salt in his nostrils and mouth. He had water in his lungs from trying to call out, to scream for help. It had been a stupid thing to do. He hacked some more, trying to get the last of the stuff out. Then he opened his eyes and looked around. “Cordy?” He moaned, seeing the seer standing over him.

“Hey, Angel,” Cordelia said softly. “You look like hell.”

“Feel it,” He muttered. His eyes lighted on the thermos. That was where the blood had come from. If only she’d give it back to him…

“I bet you’re starving,” She said, reading his mind. “Here.” She tipped the thermos again, using it like an oversized baby bottle. He grimaced at the idea of being hand-fed, but he didn’t have much choice—his arms weren’t working very well. The blood was still good, still fresh and still human. They must have paid a lot to get that quantity of good human blood.

Fred held Angel steady while they finished feeding him. Once he was done, the vampire stood on his own, albeit on shaky legs, and looked at his friends. “Thanks. How did you know where to find me?”

“Connor,” Fred whispered. “He told us, finally.”

“Oh,” Angel said, sinking onto a cushioned bench.

•••

“So now that Lorne’s gone, who’s gonna be the comic relief around here?” Gunn asked as he strode through the lobby. Fred grinned and stood to greet him.

“I dunno,” She replied brightly. “Angel, maybe?”

Connor growled menacingly at the young woman and buried himself deeper in the sofa. He’d buckled under the relentless pressures of Gunn, Cordelia and Fred trying to get him to fess up to where he’d put Angel, but he wasn’t happy about it. The dark vampire had immediately resumed his attempts to befriend the boy, but it wasn’t working. Connor actually believed Angel now, when he said that he hadn’t killed Holtz. The teen could well see Justine doing it; especially after what she did to Wesley and others. However, that didn’t change the fact that Angel was a monster. A demon. He put up with Cordelia because she was this weird demon that made him feel ok, and she never made an evil face or fed off people. She just glowed and told Angel to go help people and floated around sometimes. He didn’t understand why she was so hung up on Angel, though. That made him sick to his stomach. A person as nice as she was should’ve been able to find a guy willing to put up with the demonic parts.

“Shut up, Connor,” Gunn snapped. “Where’s Angel?”

“In the office, trying to figure out We—the filing system,” Cordelia chirped. “Waiting on a— well, one of these, actually,” She said, reaching for a pad of paper. While the others watched, Cordelia took detailed notes on the vision she was having. “Someone go get Angel, hmm? This one is nasty.”

“What did you see?” Angel asked from the office door. He’d heard her orders from in there.

Cordelia smiled at the vampire. “Demons. Lots of them. They were killing people—mostly kids and old people and moms and pets and stuff.”

The others stared in shock. “How many?” Gunn inquired.

“Demons or people?” Cordelia asked. “Really, though, lots of both. At least fifty of the demons, and I can’t even count the number of people I saw die, but it was a lot. And they weren’t all in one place. It was more like a bunch of individual pictures strung together.”

“What did the demons look like?” Angel asked hurriedly. If there was a big clan in town, they needed to get going.

Cordelia frowned slightly. “About your height, but not as big. Grayish skin, smooth, black hair. Dark eyes. Claws, no horns. They hissed a lot, and ate their victims…” She closed her eyes, concentrating. “They all carried the same type of knife—long and thick, single-edged, with a weird handle. Looks like bone or something.”

Angel immediately went to the book collection. “A large clan you said?” He began to flip through books. “Gunn, you and Fred may want to pitch in. This could take a while.”
“Anything?” Cordelia asked an hour later. She and Connor had joined in the searching, although the teen wasn’t really doing anything. “I’m not finding squat.”

“This looks promising,” Fred murmured, pushing a book over to Cordelia. “What do you think?”

Cordelia studied the drawing and description. “It certainly fits—very well. Especially the knife. It’s exactly what I saw.”

Angel reached for the book. “You’re sure?” He asked, his voice almost desperate.

“Yeah,” Cordelia confirmed, nodding. “Why? Is it bad?”

“Vraiyl demons,” He hissed. “They’re not native to this dimension. And yeah, they’re bad news. Very bad.”

“Oh,” She murmured. “So they got here how?”

“One guess,” Gunn spat. “They needed legal advice?”

“I hate them,” Cordelia said vehemently. “How do we get rid of them?”

Angel shook his head slowly. “I don’t know,” He admitted. “I’ve never heard of anyone actually encountering one and surviving. They’re powerful.”

“Great,” Cordelia moaned. “Why couldn’t it have been Fyarl demons? I mean they’re easy to—“ She stopped talking as another vision hit. “Whoa. This is majorly weird. Angel? Got some paper?”

Angel handed over Cordelia’s notepad and waited impatiently as she began to write. “What did you see?” He asked fretfully.

“Makes the last one seem normal,” She muttered. “First it was more of these demons. Lots more, everywhere. I don’t think all of the scenes are in LA; I’m sure I recognized places in Sunnydale.” Angel’s eyes narrowed. “But that’s not really the weird part. I saw Wesley,” She continued. When Angel made to interrupt her, she pressed on. “And Spike, and Xander. They were fighting the demons—and winning. Actually, they were doing well against them. But none of us were there,” She added. “Just those three. And a lot of demons.”

Angel scowled. He did not like the idea of Wesley—or the other two men—being involved in Cordelia’s vision. That meant that they played some role in it, either as a victim to be saved or someone who’s help was necessary. From the way Cordelia described it, it was the latter. “Let’s see what we can find out about these demons.”

Cordelia nearly kicked something. Angel could be so dense sometimes. It was rare that The Powers sent her helpful hints and tips—usually the visions were just bloody, gory pictures. Now he didn’t want to use that help because the people involved weren’t his favorites. “Fine. But if we don’t find a good, easy solution in an hour, we’re tracking down Wesley and driving to Sunnydale.”

“Excuse me?” Angel grated out. “We’re doing what?”

His tone of voice really pissed Cordelia off. Nobody talked to her like she was some sort of idiot. “I said we’re gonna get Wes and go to Sunnydale. Angel, I saw what these demons are capable of. They like children—for dinner! I’m not going to stand by and let a bunch of innocent people die because you don’t like Wes, Xander and Spike. I don’t like them either, in case you’ve forgotten. That doesn’t mean they aren’t important to this. The Powers don’t send me these damned visions for their entertainment value.”

Angel knew the look in those eyes. If he didn’t capitulate, she’d go behind his back—and tying her up wasn’t an option. “Fine. If we don’t find anything.”

•••

Wesley opened one bleary eye to glare at the door. How dare it bark like that? Hells, he knew someone was there, he just didn’t want to see who it was. They didn’t leave, though, even when he refused to answer. Finally the man got up and went to tell whoever it was to go the hell away.

“Wes,” Angel growled, seeing the hated man’s face appear. “You stink.”

“Why, thank you, Angel. You needn’t feel compelled to come all the way over here to tell me that, though,” Wesley replied, already closing the door.

“Wait!” Cordelia shouted, shoving her foot into the doorway. “We need your help.”

“No, you don’t,” Wesley replied, nudging her foot out of the way. He slammed the door shut and bolted it. Then he ran to a bookshelf and found his already prepared de-invitation spell. The strength of his newly-fortified door would keep the humans out, and a simple spell would ensure that Angel never stepped foot in his home.

“Please!” Cordelia called out. “I had a vision. You were in it.”

“I can save myself, or die myself, without your aid,” He snarled, casting the spell quickly. He heard Angel pounding on the door and finished before the vampire actually broke the thing down, relishing the yip of pain the vampire gave when the spell zapped him.

“It’s not that, Wes. There are demons, bad ones. Vraiyl demons. After kids and stuff. I saw you fighting them, and winning,” Cordelia begged through the door. “Please?”

Wesley slumped to the floor as the words registered. Vraiyl demons? How had they gotten here? No, he wouldn’t weaken and capitulate. He would never crawl back to them, just to be kicked to the curb when the current crisis was averted. “Go away. I’m not helping you.”

“A spell and a solid wood door won’t keep us out,” Angel threatened. “The Powers say you’ve got some role in this. Either you come with us now, or you wait until a lot of people die and still help us anyway.”

Wesley cursed himself even as he stood. He knew he’d be going, even before Angel had spoken. He had no pride, really. Besides, maybe Lilah would leave him be, at least while he was with the others.