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On his way down into the depths of the town, Angel was surprised to encounter Cordelia of all people wandering the streets in a sort of daze. He climbed back up from the manhole quickly, calling her name to alert her. She turned at the sound of his voice, her eyes full of disbelief; Angel guessed it was a normal reaction to seeing her hometown destroyed. However, approaching him, Cordelia quickly informed him otherwise.
"A gang of vampires attacked the Bronze after you left," Cordelia said in a near whisper. "I'd never seen so many gathered there before... And to make things worse, Stefanie was trapped there, and Jenny went in to rescue her when the earthquake hit!" Cordelia let loose a sob, shaking ever so slightly. "Oh, God, what if they were both killed?!"
Angel held Cordelia at arm's length, tilting her head up so her eyes met his. "What if they weren't?" he countered. He paused, then added, "This isn't the time to fall to pieces, Cordy... Now, Buffy's somewhere in the tunnels, and she might need our help... I'm gonna need you with me on this. Think you can pull yourself together enough for that?"
Cordelia bit her lip, suppressing another sob, then slowly nodded. The two of them descended into the sewers right away, and they hadn't even gone a few paces when Cordelia started mindlessly rambling. Angel let her do so, figuring it was the best way she knew to deal with this.
"Sunnydale's survived so much," she started off. "There were so many incidents over the years that could have demolished this town long ago." Cordelia laughed, carefully climbing over a large piece of concrete. "I heard a police officer talking to someone on his car radio earlier, saying that this has to be the biggest quake our town has ever seen... God, nothing's going to be the same after tonight."
Angel stopped in his tracks, interrupting her reverie. "Things can be rebuilt, Cordelia," he said, using a tone meant to comfort. "Lives can go on. People can overcome even the most dire of circumstances... What I mean is, despite how bad things may seem to you now, you can recover from it given time."
"Even if two of our friends may be dead?" she asked, looking at him. "How are we supposed to get past that?"
Angel sighed, his prayers going out to Stefanie and Jenny's safety. "Just take it one day at a time," he replied. "That's all I can offer you." He glanced up, catching sight of the vamp closing in behind Cordelia just in time, a makeshift stake clutched in its hand.
He pulled her behind him quickly, removing a stake from his jacket sleeve at the same time. In seconds, their opponent was dust, but the attack still had Angel worried. "They seem awfully determined now to do in one of us," he commented.
"Maybe because of Ethan," Cordelia blurted out, surprising him further. When Angel looked at her questioningly, she added, "I saw him, in the aftermath of... I would have killed him then, but I didn't have any weapons on me... Either way, maybe he's got the locals thinking they'll manage to kill one of us given a chance."
Angel nodded. "Sounds like something he would do. Although..." He remained silent for so long, lost in his thoughts, that Cordelia feared he wouldn't go on. Finally, he added, "Ethan prefers to use his magical abilities whenever he can. Unless the vampires around here suddenly developed a death wish... It's possible that Ethan performed a ritual to increase their strength slightly."
"But why?" Cordelia asked, hurrying after Angel as he ran down the corridor. "What's he hope to gain from it?"
"Buffy," Angel answered simply. "If Ethan isn't given the opportunity to kill her, there's a chance that one of his minions might."
In his haste, Angel almost missed the tunnel that his wife was trapped in. Cordelia, however, did not. "Angel," she called, pointing to the adjoining corridor. "Down here."
Buffy swore she was never so glad to see either of them in her life, as she quickly told them her plight. "Think you guys can help get me out of here."
Angel nodded, positioning his hands underneath one end and motioning to Cordelia to take the other. It took a lot of effort of behalf of all three of them, but eventually, they got the piece of broken concrete moved aside.
Buffy stood slowly, testing her legs. They were a little sore where she had been pinned, but she knew they would heal in no time. She quickly told Angel and Cordelia as much, then asked how things looked above ground. "More importantly, did you find out who we're facing this time?"
Angel paused, exchanging a look with Cordelia. Cupping Buffy's face in his hands, he replied, "It's Ethan. He's a vampire now, and he's here in Sunnydale... Blatantly said that his goal this time was to take away the one thing Giles treasures most. Meaning you, Buffy."
Buffy's expression hardened. "The hell he will," she blurted out, her anger for her old enemy shining through. Then, with a dangerous gleam in her eye, she added, "At least this time, I'll get to do more than beat him into a bloody pulp. After all the trouble he put me through, he's got it coming big time."
Despite himself, Angel smiled. "Well, first things first, honey. Right now, we've got to get back to the library. Giles is waiting there for us."
"Lead the way," Buffy told him, her hand held firmly in his as she, Angel, and Cordelia made their way back to the surface...