Anne's trail grew cold suddenly in the middle of an abandoned building. He could smell her strongly until one spot and then nothing. She was just...gone.
Connor wouldn't accept that. People didn't just disappear into thin air. Not unless… He shook his head. No, he wouldn't accept that either. Anne would never end up in a place like that. He wouldn't let it happen.
She had to be somewhere. Somewhere close, since his senses told him she hadn't been taken any further. He tapped the ground with his foot and smiled at the sound it produced. Without bothering to look for the entrance, he punched through the wooden floorboards, jumping down into the hole he'd created.
Connor landed on his feet in a dark, musty room. Even with his heightened eyesight, he could barely see, but Anne's scent was back. That was as good of a guide as he'd ever known. He followed it through what appeared to be a long underground passage way, the walls feeling like dirt beneath his fingers.
Eventually, he saw light up ahead and knew he was getting close. And he could smell something else, too.
Anne's blood…
The scent made something inside of him scream in rage.
Sword raised, he prepared to fight for his mate.
*** *** ***
Angel could vaguely remember a time when Cordelia couldn't fight like she could now. Then, she'd been only human, and he'd had to worry about protecting her when things got rough.
He didn't have to worry about that anymore. If anything, she had a better chance of seeing the end of any given battle than he did. When she'd come back from the Higher Realms the second time, it had been without a hellgod on board, but with a whole new set of powers. Powers she was currently using to quickly dispatch the demons that had filled the lobby of his hotel.
She turned to him when the last demon fell, no sign of exertion from the fight apparent from looking at her. No sweat, no heavy breathing. She was calm and collected, ready to fight again at a moment's notice. A far cry from the cheerleader he'd first met in Sunnydale so many years before. "Okay," Cordelia said, "let's hunt down Spike and then round up the kids."
Angel couldn't help the small smile that crept to his lips despite the grim circumstances they were facing. She was amazing, and he was thankful every day for having her returned to him. But he could think about that later. Now he had his son to save. "Do you have any idea where Spike is?" he asked.
Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating. "Yes," she said as they opened again. "Let's go."
*** *** ***
Spike blinked when he saw Cordelia walk into the bar. He frowned, wondering what in the world she was doing there.
And then he felt a lump grow in his throat as he realized exactly why she was there. Something bad must've happened back at the hotel for her to take the time to track him down. "What happened?" he asked as soon as Cordelia approached him.
"The hotel was attacked. They got Anne," Cordelia replied.
Cold fear mixed with guilt gripped at Spike's insides. "This…I…I shouldn't have left…I…"
"No time for guilt trips now," Cordelia said. "Connor's already run after her, but that's not going to go well. Angel's waiting for us outside."
Spike got up. Cordelia was right. He could berate himself for abandoning Anne in a fit of anger after he had his daughter back. "Do you know where they took her?" he asked.
Cordelia shook her head. "No. All I know is…it's someplace dark. We can head back towards the hotel, and you can try to pick up her scent, see if you can track her."
Spike nodded. "I can do that. Know her scent as well as just about anybody's. We best get a move on."
"Yeah. We haven't got a lot of time."
Spike looked at Cordelia quickly. "You said Connor going after her isn't going to go well. You get a vision? Is something bad going to happen to Anne?"
"I don't know. It's not clear. I…" Cordelia stopped, gasping as her eyes grew wide. "We have to hurry. I know what they're trying to do." Cordelia ran for the door, Spike following closely behind her.
*** *** ***.
Connor stopped when found himself at a large cavern. He hid at the edge of the entrance as he surveyed the situation, deciding on the best course of action. Several of the demons were gathered around an altar, chanting in a language he didn't have to recognize to know they weren't up to anything good. He spotted Anne in a cage on the far side of the room and, to her credit, she looked more angry than afraid. Not that that really surprised him. Her strength was one of the things he loved most about her.
Connor decided to free Anne first, figuring the almost-certain fight would go a lot smoother with her at his side. He kept to the shadows, careful not to draw the attention of the chanting demons. As he got closer to her, Anne turned sharply towards him. She mouthed "key," pointing to a spot on the wall near the cage. Connor nodded, seeing the key hanging there and grabbed it, unlocking the door and letting Anne out. He allowed himself a moment to hold her, needing to assure himself that she was all right.
"We have to get out of here," Anne whispered. "They're opening a portal to a hell dimension over there. They want to send me in so whatever prophecy they're so afraid of won't come true."
Connor shook his head. "No. That isn't going to happen. You're not going to go to one of those places. You're not."
"Wasn't planning on it," Anne replied. "Though you know they're not going to let us just walk out of here."
"I just walked in," Connor pointed out.
It was then that the chanting stopped, and a large vortex appeared over the altar. "It is time to banish the vessel," one of the demons announced, rising to his feet.
Anne looked grimly at Connor. "You were saying?"
"You're not going to a hell dimension, Anne," Connor said, determination clear in his voice. He reached behind his neck, fumbling with the clasp there before removing the thin chain and placing it on Anne. Anne fingered the cross as Connor pulled away, giving him a puzzled look. "For luck," he explained with a quick kiss before handing her his sword. Anne raised it with a nod as Connor drew his dagger.
The demons had spotted them by then and were charging towards the couple, determined to stop their escape. Anne and Connor both moved quickly, standing back to back, falling into synch as they always did. Even with the danger facing them, fighting by Connor's side seemed right for Anne, natural.
As a demon came towards her, she ducked under its arm, slashing it across the stomach as Connor drove his dagger into its neck, the large body crumbling to the ground. The two lovers shared a momentary look, the fire that always burned when they were together strong in their eyes.
Connor felt almost like another part of her as they moved in tandem, Anne cutting the demons down with her sword as they advanced and Connor delivering the deathblow with his dagger.
The demons began to move more quickly, rushing Anne and Connor at once, trying to break their deadly rhythm. But the pair just switched tactics, fighting back to back as the demons came at them from all sides, fending off the attacks together. Anne could almost feel him inside her mind, his presence melding with hers, making them like one. She turned slightly to catch Connor's eye, and she knew he felt it, too.
Anne had just decapitated one of the demons when the scent of Connor's blood hit her. She turned to see him standing opposite a demon, his chest slashed by the creature's large claws. Connor remained on his feet, but the amount of pain he was in was evident on his face. It felt like an almost physical blow for her as well, and Anne felt her concentration falter. She started towards Connor, only to have a demon grab her, using her distraction to make its move. The demon kept her arms pinned to her sides, Anne's sword falling to the ground as she futilely struggled to get free.
The demon had her almost to the portal when suddenly they hit the ground, the demon's grip loosening as they did. Anne rolled to the side, seeing that Connor had tackled the demon. They both rose to their feet, Connor refusing to show weakness despite the blood he had lost. "You won't take her," he growled.
"So be it," the demon replied. It lunged at Connor, taking hold of him and pulling them both into the portal.
Anne screamed as the portal closed behind them. She felt something inside of her snap and any control she had of the demon inside gave way. Her eyes changed from blue to yellow, the bones of her forehead shifting slightly, and she lashed out, attacking the remaining demons with nothing but fists and fangs.
When she'd killed them all, Anne sank to her knees, her features going back to normal as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing. She felt someone kneel beside her, familiar arms wrapping around her, and she slumped forward.
"They took him, Daddy," she said, her voice laced with both physical and emotional pain. "They took him."
"Where, baby?" Spike asked, gently cradling his daughter.
"Hell," Anne replied, the word followed by a heartbroken wail. Her entire body was shaking, and Spike picked her up, carrying her over to Angel and Cordelia.
"We weren't fast enough, were we?" Cordelia asked softly.
Spike shook his head. "No." Anne trembled in his arms, her eyes staring forward but unfocused. "I need to get her out of here."
Angel nodded. "I'm going to stay, see what I can find. I heard...I heard where she said Connor went."
Spike met Angel's eyes, and it was one of the few times he'd ever felt compassion for the man. He held his own child a little tighter, grateful she was in his arms now, even if she did look broken. She was there—he hadn't lost her the way Angel had lost Connor. "I'll see you back at the hotel," Spike said simply.
Angel walked past Spike and towards what was left of the demons' altar.
*** *** ***
Anne clung to Spike as they walked back to the Hyperion, her whole body still trembling. Spike wanted to comfort her, to say something to make it all better, but what could he do? This wasn't something that a band-aid and a kiss was going to heal.
"It's my fault," Anne said, her voice barely above a whisper. "He got taken away because of me."
Spike stopped in mid-stride, looking down at her. "No, baby. Don't blame yourself."
"They wanted to send me. Connor wouldn't let them. He told them they couldn't take me so they took him instead."
Spike's breath caught in his throat. Had Connor honestly sacrificed himself for Anne? Did the boy love her that much? "He wouldn't want you to blame yourself," Spike told her gently, trying to calm her. "If he did that for you, it's because he'd want you to keep going on, to live a happy life."
Anne looked at him, her eyes wide and tear-filled. "Like…like what you did for Mom in Sunnydale?" she asked.
"Yeah, pumpkin. Like that."
Anne gripped Spike's shirt, her sobs starting again. "I want him here. I…I want him to be okay. He…he was hurt. He was bleeding when they took him and a demon went with him and…" Anne's whole body shook harder with the force of her tears. "He could be dead now. He could've died…alone…in that place."
"No, sweetheart. He's not dead. We'll…we'll get him back. He came back from a hell dimension once. He'll get out again." Spike wasn't sure if he was telling her the truth, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything else. His baby was hurting, and he couldn't stand it. He'd go into hell and bring Connor back himself if it would make her pain go away.
"He shouldn't be there at all. He's suffering. He has to be…He…" Anne couldn't talk anymore, the pain too much. She collapsed against her father's chest again, crying as he carried her the rest of the way to the Hyperion.
*** *** ***