•••

“Where to first?” Fred asked as she parked Wes’s SUV at the mall. She and Cordy were spending their first free day since getting back home shopping. It was their way of bonding. After the events of London, everyone felt a bit disjointed.

Cordelia thought for a moment. “Hmm…let’s go to that little jewelry boutique near the food court.”

They were almost to the door when a car came to a screeching halt beside them. Even as they turned, demons poured out of the car. With nary a whimper, the two women were bound and thrown into the car, which sped away. There were no witnesses.

•••

“I can’t believe you gave them the day off—at the same time,” Xander whined to Wesley. “They’re gonna shop all day, and then come back and make us look at everything they bought.”

“Just because you don’t like looking at lingerie doesn’t mean we don’t,” Gunn replied, not looking up from his magazine. “Besides, I thought you promised to run over to that supply shop for Fred while Oz ran errands for Angel.”

Xander rolled his eyes and stood. “So I did. Anybody else want anything while I’m out playing gopher?” When no one responded, Xander turned to leave. It was a nice, sunny day, so he really shouldn’t be complaining. In fact, it was pleasant enough that the Raphe decided to walk.

He hadn’t gotten but three blocks from the hotel when something started niggling at his senses. He turned to look, but nothing was there…nothing more than a few other pedestrians and a bunch of cars on the road. Shrugging, Xander resumed his walking. A minute later, the sensation came back—he was being watched. Watched and followed. Shaking off his worry, Xander sped up, crossing against the light and taking off at a jog. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

The growl at his shoulder told him otherwise.

•••

Oz stared down at the engine compartment of his van and swore silently. He was sure he’d fixed all the shorts, all the frayed wires and old clamps. Apparently not, if the mess he was looking at could be trusted. There was no way the old clunker was going to make it back to the hotel. He felt around for his cell phone before remembering that it was still on the dresser. Oh well. He could either catch a cab or walk.

As he walked home, Oz thought about what was bothering him. Things had been unusually quiet since they’d gotten back two weeks ago. There’d been a vision here and there, and some minor side jobs. Wolfram & Hart had been unusually subdued, though. Actually, it had been kind of boring without their antics.

The werewolf looked up when he heard a car driving way too fast toward him. As it passed, he looked in the window—and saw a frantic Cordelia pressed against the glass. Cordelia? Oz turned and started running towards the car. He couldn’t hope to catch it, but he watched where it went, hoping to be able to follow eventually.

/I’m never, ever thinking the word boring again./

•••

Gunn was just about to go down to the kitchen for a snack when the power flickered, then went out. “Is Lorne working on the club again?” He asked Wesley.

“No, not that I recall,” Wesley replied. “Perhaps a circuit breaker tripped.” He got up to join Gunn and the pair went downstairs. While Gunn checked out the lobby, Wesley retrieved a flashlight and went into the basement to look at the circuits.

“Oh my,” Wesley whispered. Standing next to the destroyed breaker box were two dozen Zcer demons.

•••

Wil rolled over on top of Angel. It was far too early for him to be awake. “Go back to sleep, childe,” Angel murmured, patting Wil’s head.

“Sorry. Something woke me.”

“What?” Angel asked quietly, coming closer to consciousness.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Listen,” Wil ordered.

“I don’t hear anything,” Angel said. He listened closer. Actually, he didn’t hear anything. Anything at all—not even the normal background hum of electricity swirling through the walls. “Is the power out?”

Wil looked at the bedside clock. “Yeah.”

“I guess we should go downstairs then,” Angel groaned, getting out of bed. Wil followed him, looking for clothes. He was almost dressed when an inhumanly high scream froze him in place.

“Wesley.”

Angel followed Wil down the hall at a dead run.

•••

Cordelia struggled against the demons holding her down. She wasn’t sure what she was trying to accomplish, since she was both bound and gagged in a quickly moving automobile, but it didn’t seem right not to fight. Fred must have felt the same way because the young woman was also twisting and kicking with all her might. The werewolf was doing her best to ignore the intense fear that tried to paralyze her; these demons were strong, massive creatures that far outweighed her. If she couldn’t make a dent in them, Fred didn’t stand a chance.

The car made a sudden left-hand turn, cracking Cordelia’s head against the door. She moaned and blinked, trying to clear her vision. Fred used the jarring motion to catch her gag against one of the demon’s spiny arms. The cloth material was torn away and the quiet of the car’s interior was shattered by Fred’s screaming.

“Let me go!” Fred screamed as she kicked and bit. The biting didn’t last long because the demons tasted horrible. She was more than a little indignant that her best efforts didn’t even frustrate the demons. They just reached out occasionally and swatted her, which invariably broke something. So far she had a concussion and a broken hand, and she suspected they’d cracked several ribs.

The car slowed to a stop, but that didn’t make Cordelia feel any better. The demons opened the car doors and pitched the girls out hard onto the concrete floor of a warehouse. Cordelia flipped onto her back, only to find herself surrounded by more of the demons. They crowded around her, grinning evilly. Fred, too, was surrounded, and suffering, if her yells and shouts were to be believed.

Much to her surprise, Cordelia’s bindings were released. She jumped up to fight. Before she could land her first punishing blow, a mind-shattering pain ripped through her head. /Now? And what’s with the pain? My visions--/ Her thoughts were interrupted by another vision, quickly followed by another. It was like the time Wolfram & Hart had tortured her, only far worse. She fell to her knees as the vivid images of blood and death and decay kept coming faster and faster. The visions were so strong she barely felt hands on her until they demons had almost finished ripping her clothes off. Fear and rage battled the pain in her mind. She tried to control them, and the visions, but felt her tenuous grasp slip. The wolf howled and snapped, trying to escape. Cordelia couldn’t keep up with everything that bombarded her and she felt her mind crack.

Fred hissed as one of the demons banged into her ribs. There were several kinds, all dancing around her, taunting. Some she recognized—Fyarl, Zcer, Hacksaw. Others she didn’t, which only made her more frightened. They yelled and snarled, poking and prodding. One grabbed her shirt, tearing it off. At that point Fred knew what they planned and dug within herself for more strength. There was no way they were getting their hands on her. She tried to get up, now that her bonds had been broken. As soon as she gained her feet, another demon kicked her hard in the kidneys and she went down again. Then they were on her.

The young woman tried to fend them off, but they kept slapping, hitting and pulling. She felt her left shoulder pop out of it’s socket, even as another crushed her right foot. They dragged her over the rough concrete floor, ripping the skin of her back to shreds. She screamed in pain—until one of them backhanded her. The blow cut her tongue on her teeth and her mouth quickly filled with blood. She spat it out, only to be accosted by a demon that licked the fluid away, biting at her face. Two demons grabbed her legs, pulling them apart. “No, no, no, no, no…” Fred moaned, twisting and straining to get away. Her vision dimmed when the first touched her. In an effort to keep from passing out she pushed herself further back into her mind, returning to the cave she’d built there when she was stuck on Pylea. By the time the second demon was finished, she was oblivious.

•••

Wesley screamed high as one of the Zcer demons grabbed him. They were far stronger than fauns and he knew he stood no chance. They swarmed around him and he was swept along as they ran upstairs. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gunn go down under three of the huge, scaly demons. One of the things punched him hard in the stomach and he collapsed. They let him fall onto the lobby floor, where they began to kick him viciously.

The next thing he heard was the roar of an outraged demon as someone removed hit’s arm, which landed right in front of Wesley’s face. He looked up to see Angel and Wil, both only partly dressed, battling the throng. They were wielding long swords against the Zcer demons, who were trying to back the vampires into a corner. The faun struggled to his feet, despite the pain in his torso, and tried to reach Gunn. The human was bleeding but still conscious. Two Zcer intercepted Wesley, but he feinted right and ran left, ducking behind the counter. He grabbed a long dagger and Gunn’s axe, hoping to be able to get it to the vampire hunter.

Wil saw Wesley run behind the counter, but was distracted by his opponents. Zcer demons were massive and strong, but weren’t good at organized attacks. They mostly used numbers and brute strength. He and Angel hacked and sliced through them, going for major wounds instead of kills. It didn’t matter if they were dead or not, so long as they couldn’t fight.

Wesley managed to make it over to Gunn, who was getting pummeled. The ex-Watcher used his dagger to slice a deep gash into one demon’s side, giving him enough time to pass the axe over to Gunn. The larger man took the weapon and went after the demons with a vengeance, beheading two in quick succession. Then he noticed the vampires’ technique and started aiming for limbs. The Zcer didn’t seem to like fighting once they’d lost an arm or leg. Once enough were down, they’d finish them all off.

Much to Wesley’s relief, the tide soon turned against the Zcer demons, although all of them were sustaining heavy damage. Both Wil and Angel were covered in blood, and Wil’s right arm was hanging at an odd angle. Wesley knew he had broken ribs and probably a fractured hip. Gunn, too, looked rather bad off.

•••

Oz caught sight of the car just as it pulled into a warehouse about half a mile away. He ran faster, panting, afraid of what he might find, afraid for his beta and his friend. A feral howl stopped him dead. He knew that sound—it was Cordelia. That realization spurred him back into action. He reached the warehouse and ran inside, only to be confronted by six demons, covered in blood and gods knew what else.

The normally placid werewolf glanced quickly at Cordelia, who’d wolfed out at some point and was surrounded by demons. She’d done significant damage and the demons were keeping their distance. Oz’s attention was drawn back to the ones near him as they got bolder and began to strike. At first he wasn’t sure if they were in it for pain or death. After a couple more minutes, though, he knew they wanted him, and the girls, dead.

The demons swarmed him as one, dragging him down to the floor. He let the wolf go in self-defense, knowing he stood a better chance of surviving and helping the others if he fought that way. The demons were certainly easier to defeat in that form, as he bit and clawed his way out from under them.

Meanwhile Cordelia took down yet another demon. The werewolf made note of their lack of skill in fighting her kind; they didn’t protect their necks well enough and she had no trouble grabbing that weak spot and breaking their spines. She smelled blood and sex off to one side and ran over, seeing Fred surrounded by a group of howling demons. She immediately attacked, pulling them off the girl. Fred didn’t move, which bothered the wolf. Her pack-mate needed to get away, or she’d die from those wounds. Cordelia brought down three more demons before going to aid the girl. The werewolf grabbed her by the forearm and dragged her nearer to Oz, who was almost free of his own attackers. She was infinitely grateful for her alpha’s appearance, although she wasn’t sure where he’d come from.