Grimms and Gods

By Daniele-Marx

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Disclaimer: I do not own "Angel" or anyone from BtVS. I like writing this story. I would like to say that this one is complete in advance! YEA! I didn't know much about "Angel" until just recently.

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Angel rounded an alley corner, running into a trashcan and toppling it over; he almost lost his balance as he kept running through the darkened streets of Los Angeles but quickly steadied himself. The quarter moon was bright against the moist streets as he splashed through a small puddle of water to follow his demon. The suspect he was following either was a fast-paced creature or invisible. He had been trailing a mere scraping sound for the last ten blocks, and it sounded like honed wood against the rain fresh, rocky pavement. His legs were aching from the journey but he was so determined to catch the murderer this night that it didn't matter what he felt. The wooden relic had sounded like it was being dragged through puddles and bumping into small stones in the alley, not lifting up as it lightly dragged along the ground. Every time Angel thought he was closer, he found himself facing nothing. He concluded that he was on a wild goose chase and he needed to find it before it killed again. It no longer mattered what form the killer took because he was already chasing it. It would have been safe, though, if he found out what 'it' was before he went parading through the alleyways in search of it.

At first it seemed simple enough. The victims were sliced clean through from head to toe, leaving only one clue: a broken mirror. Angel stopped where he was, which left him next to a three story apartment building underneath the emergency escape. He was extremely stressed considering he had been chasing this creature for so long and he hadn't even been able to catch a glimpse of it yet. This was the first time he was able to trail the demon after it had appeared a few days ago. Every night another three victims were found and he was becoming very agitated and concerned because the creature wasn't leaving any sort of clues behind or even evidence that something unnatural had been the cause of death. The broken mirror had been the best lead but that could have been done by anyone. He had been walking down the street away from one of the victim sites not half an hour ago and heard a tapping sound coming from the exact location he had been surveying. The tapping had stopped as soon as he had looked over. Something inside of him told him to follow, thus he did. He knew now that he was on the trail of the guilty party.

Angel cursed and slammed his fist against the brick wall of the apartment building, feeling the grainy side dig into his knuckles. He was angry and getting nowhere fast, and looked over when he heard the sound of wood connecting with pavement. What followed was silence, and Angel had had about enough. He felt a chill down his spine and heard the scraping sound coming towards him. Turning once again to see who it was, he realized that no one was there, but the scraping sound was still coming towards him. "Come out where I can see you." No answer. Angel began to slowly approach the area where the sound was approximately. There should have been some kind of sign that someone was in his presence, like heavy breathing or footsteps of some sort. The sound echoed through his ears and he felt his eye begin to twitch.

Angel shut his eyes and tried to concentrate on what he was supposed to be chasing, but all he heard was the scraping as it continued to approach him. He could smell it, he realized, and that was something to follow. It smelled like blood, but it wasn't the creature's blood. This was the girl's blood from the most recent death. Angel guessed how far away the scent was and concluded that it was directly in front of him. "I will tell you once again. Show yourself." He transformed his face to apply his threat and the sound of the wood against the pavement made him begin to hesitate. The creature appeared to be sending a message. To whom Angel suddenly didn't want to know. The rhythm of the pounding made Angel even more anxious to rid himself of the thing. If he had a beating heart he guessed it would be racing, and he forced himself to act. The scraping stopped and Angel leaped to his left, hearing a gust of wind and the sound of metal clashing with pavement. He quickly made his decision and ran over to the fire escape he had been under earlier, grabbing the bottom rung and straining his muscles to pull himself up. The tapping started up again and Angel forced himself to concentrate. He succeeded in lifting himself up and grabbed the next rung.

There came the sound of wood connecting to pavement in the distance, adding its intonation to the one below him. It as well was approaching him. The sound made Angel even more aware of his situation. Another sound added itself to the tapping coming towards him. He hurried himself up and reached the next rung. He forced himself to concentrate on climbing. It had a pack. Great, he thought sarcastically. It couldn't get much worse than this, could it? How could he fight something he couldn't see? He knew he had to make it back to the Hyperion as soon as he could because he had a strange feeling that he had just pissed something off that wasn't to be pissed off. The number of tapping creatures multiplied as he heard them coming closer and he finally got his foot up to the bottom rung. Hauling himself up the ladder, he ascended until he reached the first level, following the path upwards. The tapping stopped and he looked down as he reached the second level, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see them. He forced himself to keep running and raced up the next incline, ready to start climbing the ladder up to the roof when he should reach it. He cursed as he heard the sound of metal clashing with metal. Reaching for the next handlebar up, he felt the fire escape lurch, forcing him to hesitate before continuing on. The fire escape suddenly groaned as if all the restraints holding it up had been disconnected. He found himself at the ladder finally and he scaled the rungs, reaching the roof in no time whatsoever. Whatever they were, he knew now that he had to book it or else he wouldn't make it back to the Hyperion before they caught him.

Angel leaped down to the roof from the ledge and ran towards the opposite side of the building. There was another groan coming from the escape and he heard it collapse loudly, making him jump at the sound of the escape caving in and falling noisily to the street. After a few moments of silence following the catastrophe, the tiny noise pierced his eardrums, honing on his senses. The tapping was now surrounding the small apartment complex and he felt he needed to act quick. They weren't following him up, but he knew they had to have a plan. There had to be around fourteen of them from the sounds alone, but then they were in synchronicity in their rhythm, which made him realize that he should have just kept his proper distance until more was discovered about these creatures. He never thought that there could be more than one working together for a common goal.

Looking around the ragged rooftop, he ran towards the roof entrance and heard the tapping around the building get louder. He threw open the door and headed down the stairs. There was a screech and the tapping stopped. The sound of magic flying and exploding reached his ears and he ran faster down towards the bottom. Reaching the third door corridor he heard metal clashing with brick and another screech. The stairway was built to accommodate long range rail jumpers and Angel leaped over the railing, falling quickly towards the first floor landing. Landing with a heavy thud he rolled forward so his feet wouldn't take the full force of the fall. Without delay he got to his feet and ran to the front door, where he stopped and looked outside for any sign of battle. A blast of blue light rushed past the window and he moved backwards as he heard something crash heavily into one of the brick walls outside.

Suddenly a woman ran into the apartment entrance and grabbed his arm, beginning to pull him out onto the street. "Come with me if you want to stay alive." Angel stopped as she pulled on his arm and she turned towards him. The woman was short, about 5'4, dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a green mock turtleneck that matched her eyes. Her eyes were determined to help him and she acted as though she had been around these creatures before. He looked down to examine her further, noticing that she wore broken in shoes that had once been white. They were now a dirt-covered anomaly. He wondered how they were held together but looked up to conclude his study of the woman. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and reached down into her shoulders. Before he knew it, he was standing on the sidewalk outside the apartment building facing the street. The sky had a violet tint to it, signaling the approaching morning, and he pulled his arm back and sensed that she was a vampire, making him trust her less. Her intentions seemed fair at the time, which were to save him, but he wasn't sure he would accept her reasons. She glared at him and looked around them. The two were now facing the street and the bright streetlamps were doing nothing to help his search for the creatures.

"Who are you?" The woman seemed to focus on something but when he looked over to what she was seeing, he saw exactly what he saw before: Nothing. Her eyes searched the area and he concluded that she couldn't see the creatures either, but then again, since she was the only one there, he assumed that she was the one who threw the magic. That didn't explain how she could have hit some of them.

"I will explain later but right now we have to get to safety." The tapping began again and the vampire woman looked around her again. She held out her hand towards one of the creatures on her left and concentrated. "Forces unite!" Her hand began to glow blue and there came several balls of light from her hand which flew across the street, throwing something back that let out an ear-shattering screech as it impacted the light post.

"Come with me." He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the middle of the street where he had spotted a manhole that would lead to the sewer. He let her drop into the darkness and followed shortly after, pulling the manhole lid over the entrance before falling to the bottom. She stared at him as he landed and waited for his directions. "This way." Angel assumed that she was new in town by the way she followed him or had never thought to take the sewers to get around. "Who are you?" Angel took care in questioning her, because people who save you, especially most vampires, weren't the type to go around helping out unless they wanted something in return.

"I thought you would be more concerned in what they were instead of my name." She seemed slightly irked at the gesture.

"I'll be concerned later when we get back to my place. Until then, you can start by telling me your name." Angel noticed a slight reluctance on her part and turned to face her. Her features were expressing rational thoughts and she apparently didn't trust him either. At least they were mutually agreeable in some aspects. She watched him stop and did so herself, looking up to challenge his expression.

"I told you I would explain once we got somewhere safe."

"I don't trust you."

"And you won't trust me anymore in five minutes unless I tell you who I am?" Angel gave her a borderline glare and she chewed on the inside of her cheek as she became somewhat agitated. "I'll take that as a 'yes,' then. My name is Hannah Denierre Thatcher. I go by the name Deni by most acquaintances. Now that you have my name, even the score with yours."

"Angel." The woman didn't seem surprised at the abruptness of his tone and there came a tapping from above them. Angel grabbed her arm and lead her away as if he were pulling a child away from a stranger and she kept up with him with no hesitation whatsoever. He realized that she trusted him and pulled her around a corner, heading north from the street they were on towards the Hyperion, which was still a few miles away. The tapping faded away and Angel heard Deni sigh of relief as if she knew they weren't going to follow. "What brings you to L.A.?"

"I won't amuse that remark with an answer." Angel began to slow down and Deni took her arm back. Both had a feeling that neither of them were going to speak for awhile. She unconsciously rubbed her wrist and followed him while sighing again, frustrated. Angel wondered how much she knew about these creatures and merely led her towards the Hyperion. It wouldn't take long for them to reach their destination at this pace, but he wanted to know more about them. It was a straight line from here so he knew they had the time to spare. "You're a vampire I take it?"

"Aren't you?" He looked at her expectantly, and felt his eye twitch as a response to the events of the night. It was all starting to sink in now and he began to calm down. The weird thing was that Deni wasn't reacting the same way he was. She was quiet, calm as if she had all the time in the world; she was wise. This made him wonder how old she was and how much she knew about the creatures. He would have to question her later.

"Yeah, but I never went traveling via sewer pipes. Life gets simpler and more advanced by the century, doesn't it? The pipes where I come from are much smaller. All hunting has to be done at night. You could have been anything." She listened for noises above them and remained calm as she heard nothing. "Why were you out there alone?"

"Found something to follow so I followed it." Deni watched the moist walls of the sewer as they moved along the passage and smelled the foul water. Most vampires weren't able to smell things, but the very few who could used it to the best of their ability. All vampires were able to smell blood naturally, but she wondered why they couldn't sense other things like gas and sewer water, for lack of a suggestion. She also realized that the large tunnel system would have been very useful back home.

"You probably hear this a lot but that was really stupid." Deni assumed she was correct when he didn't respond and didn't have the urge to query further. There were more important things than idle conversation, she reasoned. The creatures were in Los Angeles and they had to act fast. In truth, she had just arrived this night and had no idea what the latest news was. She took a moment to word her sentence right. "How much trouble have they caused here so far?" Angel stopped and turned around, staring at her blankly.

"Enough. If you were trailing them how could you not know?" Angel began to get irritated and he waited impatiently for an answer. His presence and upfront kind of attitude seemed to throw her off and almost intimidate Deni, so he forced his emotions down. After a moment, she closed her eyes as if trying to recall what she was going to say exactly. He let her take her time.

"I do know about these creatures. I was trailing them but they hide during the day as much as I do. This being is my first time in L.A. It doesn't help that you got in the way. It has been a long time since I've seen a vampire fight for something other than it's carnal bloodlust and so you can see why I don't trust you. You also being the first person I have come across since I first got here I think I have the right to know who you are or where you are taking me--" Her eyes didn't waver from his and Angel sighed of frustration, then realized that she was right. He was the total stranger she branded him as.

Angel stared at her a bit more closely, trying to take notice of her clothing or any kind of relic that could tell him about what sort of place she was from. Deciding to start from the beginning, he recalled her lack of knowledge of large sewer pipes, which put her in the small town areas, or someplace not as large as Los Angeles. And she probably wouldn't know about him if she were from a small town or something of the like. There was a string loosely hanging around her neck and he put up his finger to signal her patience as she stared at him angrily for looking at her in such a manner. He reached for the necklace and began to draw it out from under her mock turtleneck. Deni's hand came up and pushed his wrist up from below and planted her palm firmly over his heart, pushing him away effectively and without much resistance. There was apparent shock on his face as he mulled over how she managed to push him as far as she did with a single hand. He didn't seem hurt but he did seem to take a defensive pose as if she were going to attack him.

"I would prefer it if you kept your hands to yourself or at least ask permission before you make a move like that again." Angel seemed to the point of becoming very irritated with her and she brought out the necklace, hesitant to take it off but doing so anyway; she extended it out for Angel to examine and his anger began to sift away. So, she was going to cooperate with him. Taking the necklace carefully into his hand, he stared at it as if he was familiar with the artwork. The necklace had a red jewel at the end of the black leather string, a salamander-like creature wrapped around the small orb, holding it there securely, and Angel realized that it seemed more than familiar. Thinking back, he tried to recall something he had read in one of his books at some point in time, but couldn't put his finger on it as he handed it back to her. She immediately put it back around her neck as if it emitted some sort of protection only when she wore it. He stepped back to give her space and she pulled her hair over the cord and hiding the necklace again. "Try and steal it and I won't show mercy."

"I have no intention of stealing things I don't need and apologize for making you wary of my presence." Angel was beginning to see how she functioned; she seemed like a noblewoman who had broken away from the family tradition but kept the manners. He wondered once again how old she was and reasoned that she might even be older than he was himself; for someone who looked that young, she sure did take care of herself in order to survive. Usually the younger vampires never lasted more than a decade of two unless they had the training from a stronger vampire. "I'm part of a team of investigators who work on paranormal cases such as the murders that have been going on recently. This one has been hard and the coincidence of you showing up with information is very convenient. I am taking you to the Hyperion, where we are stationed." He stared at her as if waiting for her confirmation to continue on towards and she nodded solemnly as if he had given her a sufficient enough answer. He began walking again and she followed. He did give her the information she wanted, she reasoned, following suit as Angel stepped over a wayward pipe. She knew he was telling the truth; after awhile one sort of figures these things out of sheer curiosity and lack of trust. There was also some sort of 18th Century charm to his attitude. He could very well be over two hundred years old, she thought. Although what he was like before he was a vampire was something different altogether. She didn't want to know who he was in case he asked the same in return; most personal issues were usually well kept in the dark. She turned her thoughts to something else.

"How many investigators are in your group?"

"Five, and that's plenty for what we do." Deni's first response was to ask how they took care of every paranormal crime in Los Angeles, but realized that even she had the power to watch over a large population without much agitation; yes, five investigators working together were enough. Of course, there were too many problems in the world to take them all on. Then again, she hadn't begun to fight the evils released in the world until they became so bothersome to her recently that she had no choice but to keep track of everyone now. The world was full of stupid demons. She was perfectly content with being a shadow dweller with no real troubles until she got into a fight with a creature that wielded a scythe and was as invisible as her in a mirror.

"I agree." Angel looked back as if surprised that she agreed with him. Deni looked perfectly calm about what she said and brushed it off. "Are you well known around here?"

"Yeah."

"Then five's enough. Ever heard of a Grimmace?" Deni needed to think. She knew he had no idea what a Grimm was but she needed allies and her list was where she left them--back home. There was an eerie silence to the sewer they were walking in with only the sound of their footsteps to keep them company. She would have been happy if there were even a rat where they were, but there wasn't. That struck her as strange as well; they were in a giant sewer, and there were no rats. Angel did seem to be cleaning up the town.

"No." Deni didn't bother to look surprised. Angel didn't like the sound of the name 'Grimmace' so he hurried their pace up a bit. The sooner they were safely in the Hyperion the better. Then they could start researching and drilling her for information. These creatures weren't in any of the books he had read over the decades, but knew he would be surprised if she found something that he couldn't see. Though she looked like a teenager, he knew she had to be older by the way she was acting; then again as he thought before, there weren't many vampires who were turned young living very long, either.

Deni felt the urge to hurry him up but knew he wouldn't take to that authority very well considering she was in his city. She felt she was in good hands for now and wondered how much the creatures had done so far. In packs Grimms were very deadly but they were disposable with strong magic. The complete spell, however, would take the work of a very powerful witch, and unfortunately she was tracking them into California by this time and the witch she knew was too far away to contact on low necessity traveling. She sent a few electronic messages home at a local office and found out that they had found an evasion spell that worked on the Grimms, but were unable to translate more than two words from it so she began to use it; it worked pretty well, but it wouldn't last forever. It took awhile for her to get it right, but as soon as she did, it worked like a charm; not too much later, an enemy destroyed the spell and the book it was in so all she had was a weak counter spell. The necklace, though, was another story altogether. Deni didn't talk about it usually, and preferred not to bring it up, figuring that if anyone knew, her secret would come out and she would find herself in a whole world of trouble--at least that's what she believed--because she didn't want attention. "How many victims are there?"

"Nine so far." Deni seemed concerned about something then.

"Sealed slice through the body?" she said.

"Yeah."

"Broken mirrors?"

"Yeah."

"That's the work of a Grimmace, or for the shorter term, Grimm. It's like a reaper, only invisible unless seen in a mirror. They travel in packs unfortunately. The packs seem to spread throughout a mile radius. They were able to call in reinforcements quickly when you attacked them. It's weird, though."

"Why is that?"

"Because they're slow for the kill, but not that slow. They could have had at least twenty dead in three days." Angel looked back to see her, his face reflecting anger. Deni merely looked up blankly and waited for him to get the feeling back in his face because it wasn't her place to force good people to do what she wanted on their turf; for someone who appeared to have the knowledge of a two hundred year old vampire with much time to look forward to, he sure wasn't up to par with his emotions. Maybe he had a soul?…Not likely for someone who seemed to do as much good as he was doing. Anything is possible, and that meant that his soul must've been given to him somehow. There were instances where demons had been killed for having guilt but there were many spirits out there who would do anything to get what they want in exchange for a simple soul. Then again, Angel did good, but maybe that's because he was once bad. Something inside of her agreed. It wasn't a gift then. Witches have such power, but so do gypsies. Deni decided to dismiss it for the meanwhile since her prying usually gave them permission to pry as well. She stared at him until he saw the look on her face, bringing both of them back to reality. He didn't like the sound of these Grimms--he hadn't even heard of them until now. It took Angel awhile to register the thought of these creatures wreaking havoc as she had suggested, and he turned around, beginning to run down the tunnel towards their destination; she followed without hesitation.

"How do you know so much about these creatures?" Deni kept up with him and recalled what she knew from her journey. There wasn't much to discuss.

"I've been tracking them for awhile. They go through a process when they reach a city, then repeat the process the next time they reach a new destination; they take what they want, then leave to the next city. I haven't been able to kill one yet so all one can do is get information." They fell into a silence again and Angel slowed down, looking upwards. There was a ladder that led to the topside and Angel began to climb it, Deni standing below. "You're the first vampire I have ever met in three decades that didn't attack me on sight." Angel looked down and sighed of the frustration of a bad night's work.

"You don't have to trust me. You should trust my cause because it is the same as yours." He opened up the manhole above him and hoisted himself up into the dark passageway behind the Hyperion. He looked down the manhole and waited for Deni to come up. "You're the first client who hasn't trusted me in a long time, Deni." Angel stared down at her somewhat sympathetically and Deni saw something that she had never seen in a vampire before. She climbed up after him, stopping as she saw his hand extended out for her. Deni took his hand firmly; he pulled her up and she stepped up to stand on the street; she stood up on her own and they looked around as if examining their current status. At each end of the alley was a bright street with hoards of people hurrying towards their workplace. They had both survived the night.

"You're in safe hands." Angel looked down at her and smiled slightly.

"You had better be right," she said with a knowing smirk. Angel led her into the back way and stepped foot into the Hyperion Hotel. Deni looked all around her, trying to memorize everything she saw so she could be at ease in case of danger. She wanted to be able to use what she had access to, and from the looks of the hotel he had escorted her to, it seemed to be like a fortress in disguise.

"I only have pig's blood stored here so I would appreciate it if you kept to that menu."

"I don't drink anything that walks. There won't be any trouble." Angel looked back at her as if stunned that she would be so tame about it, even tired of the thought. A vampire who didn't crave blood? It didn't make any sense. Unless she was very old or just didn't have the gene, it was impossible, wasn't it? There wasn't such a vampire, he thought. All vampires had the bloodlust because of necessity otherwise they would starve to death. That made him wonder if she were a god of some sort. Even he craved blood, but he had a soul to keep him under control; did she have the same restrictions? He would have to bring this to Wesley's attention as soon as possible. They entered the main hall and in trotted Wesley and Gunn involving an interesting conversation involving the cause behind the murders. When they saw Angel and his guest, they stopped their conversation.

"This is headquarters." said Angel, looking back to see Deni exploring the room with her eyes. That pendant was interesting; it looked old enough without her looking like a fifteen year old, but her eyes were different. They were aged beyond her apparent years, but she acted as though she didn't have any power of her own to be blunt. She may not show it, but he knew better than to underestimate demons, though he forgot this lesson more times than he was worth at times. "Wesley, Gunn, this is Deni. She has vital information on what the murders involved. Where are Fred and Cordelia?"

"Fred went to update our victims list to accompany two more victims. Cordelia is on food run."

"We've got research to tend to. Look for anything on the Grimmace, that's with two 'M's. I ran into one and more showed up."

"More?" said Gunn, who looked at Deni, then back at Angel. "And she helped you?"

"She was able to fend them off herself with a counter spell. She's also been following them for awhile." Deni seemed interested in a wall hanging near her; it was a portrait of an ocean with an island in the center of what looked like a tree. Deni saw this, but then looked near the base of the portrait of the tree, and saw a snake's head; when she examined the picture further, she realized that the snake was the tree. This picture was no stranger to her; she recognized it from somewhere. Remembering that she was as old as she was, she knew that the painting could have been anything she glanced at in the least likely of places. She tuned herself back into the conversation.

"You might also want to look up the Grimm or even Reapers."

"Why Reapers?" asked Angel. Deni tore herself away from the wall hanging and looked at Wesley. The man looked at Angel as if he were the boss of this outfit, and she guessed that it could be so.

"Grimmaces use fiery scythes to kill their victim. What kind of books do you have that I could sift through?" Wesley waved them into research mode.