Title:
"Glitzy Changes"
Spoilers: Post "Waiting In the Wings".. right after Groo
arrives. Everything after that? Didn't happen.
Rating: PG-13.. to be safe. Nothing that couldn't happen on the show.
Distribution:
Ask me. I'd probably be flattered. :P
Disclaimer: Joss, Mutant Enemy, Greenwolf, and UPN own the show and
it's characters.. all that jazz.
Summary: Angel Investigations is lead to investigate a strange vision;
Cordy and Angel are inadvertently effected.
Feedback: I welcome constructive criticism. And praise, if any. :D
Note: This
is my second fanfic of all time, and my first one for Angel. Make of that
what you will. :)
---Hyperion Hotel | Room 216 | Circa 1928---
A handsome man with slicked back brown hair a la Grease and clothes reminiscent of two decades prior sits statically on his bed. A knock at the door is heard, and a millisecond after he instinctively whips his head toward it with a low growl. The fellow lets the knocker in without question. It's a woman. He shuts the door behind her, and personality shines on his face out of nowhere. With a smirk written all over him and a low voice, he greets her.
Man: "Hey there sheba, took you long enough."
Woman: "Don't play a line on me, I'm only here for business, and you know it."
Man: "Don't flatter yourself, doll.. it's just that I wouldn't want my renting out this ritzy joint go to waste."
His smirk is intensified with an even higher eyebrow, and the woman rolls her eyes with disinterest.
Woman: "Turn it off, alright Johnny? Just --"
She was cut off once Johnny was in one swift moment pinning her to the wall. He grabbed the manila envelope out of her hand and tossed it on the floor. She whispered..
Woman: "I ain't interested.. Johnny, please.."
Johnny: "You'll be wishing you were interested soon enough, not that it's any skin off my nose."
He grinned and stepped back, only to stretch his arm out towards her and hover his left hand flat an half an inch from her chest.
Johnny: "Anazeteo!"
At that, light burst from his hand and into the woman. Johnny sealed his eyes and smiled from pleasure, continuing the stream. After a moment of this, the flow of the light reversed and Johnny radiated a sol-like glow. Then it ended, and the woman dropped.
---Hyperion Hotel | Angel's Room | Present Day---
Angel lies on his bed, still in the evening's gruntled attire, cradling the sleeping Conner. His eyelids fall, and already he reminisces the night. With a frown, he takes a deep unneeded breathe of air, and forces his eyelids to lift. The fallen vampire watches his resting child, and musters a grateful attitude.
The door is opened, and the sea green demon enters.
Angel: "Lorne."
He's half disappointed and half miffed; an unruly combination. Lorne understands the man as he reads his cheat sheet, Angel's aura.
Lorne: "Hey there champ. So, how are we?"
Angel: "We're fine. Why would we be any different?"
It sounded more like a statement than a question, as Angel was eager to dismiss the guest.
Lorne: "Heh. Don't even try to play that game, Angel-cak.. Angel."
The demon sighs, as if annoyed by Angel's emotional blockade.
Lorne: "Just know that.. I know how you're feeling right now. But don't let your heart break just yet, this Groo guy seriously isn't looking like long-term loving, if you ask me."
Angel put up his shield a long time ago, and so he stares impatiently at the plant colored lunatic.
Lorne: "Alright!.."
..he says with two hands up surrendering himself.
Lorne: "I'll leave you be. Just.. just feel better, dark avenger."
He exits, taking his concern with him and shutting the door.
--Next Day--
Angel jogs downstairs, fresh from a night of brooding and greeted by a scene of the diligent machine that is Angel Investigations. Wesley is thumbing through a thousand or so years old ancient text of some kind, Fred is charting the trajectory of a fluid dimension through the universe's assumed mass distributions on the whiteboard, and Gunn is going through the weapon cabinet. Cordelia is writing a description of a pending case in a new file with.. with the Groosalug by her side.. grinning and glowering at her beauty.
Angel fumbles when this catches his eye, and he struggles to mask his repulsion with something he hasn't much practice of using.. a very faux smile. He approaches Cordelia, once he realizes that she is the one he would need to talk to in order to get himself started on whatever work they have.
Angel: "So! What are we doing today?"
Cordelia: "Good morning to you too, Angel."
Groo: "Ah yes! Good morning my fellow warrior!"
Angel fumbles again with his psuedo-smile as the other 'warrior' gives him a hearty pat on the back.
Angel: "Yeah. Morning."
The rest of the group greets the seeker of atonement in practical unison.
Cordelia: "Actually, I just got a vision this morning. Wesley can give you the lowdown."
Angel: "Oh. O.. Okay."
He waltzes over to the fellow heartbroken man.
Wesley: "Ah.. yes of course, Angel."
He clears his throat a bit.
Wesley: "Cordelia envisioned a young woman being attacked in the nearby hotel, that expensive Hilton establishment.. room 216. It'll take place tonight."
He straightens his glasses.
Wesley: "The attacker is supposedly human, with some sort of power within. His abilities, however, are difficult to match up with those of the Wiccan variety. We're still not sure what exactly we're up against."
Angel: "What are his powers?"
The vampire was set in all-business mode now.
Wesley: "The vision was obscured by a bright light apparently emitting from either the man or his victim. This is all we know."
Angel: "Oh.."
He spins around toward the physicist.
Angel: "Fred? Any insight? Science-wise?"
Fred: "Well.."
Angel braced himself for a long ranty explanation. Fred smiled and shook her head entusiactically.
Fred: "No."
Angel: "Oh."
Gunn approaches the discussion, stealing a smile with Fred. Wesley does a good job of hiding the fact that his heart just plummeted into his stomach.
Gunn: "So what do we do? Doesn't sound like your basic hack and slash."
Wesley: "Well.. we research some more. And if we can't find any useful information, we go anyway. We all stand a better chance than that girl does."
Angel: "Fine with me."
Groo: "I will go as well. I am prepared to vanquish the light!"
Cordelia: "And that's why I love you so much."
As the girl radiated the room with a gigantic grin, Angel pouted all the more.
Cordelia: "So I guess we've got a lot of dusty bookage to get through, then. Cause glowy people? Not all that original."
--Later--
Gunn checks his watch.
Gunn: "Times up. We're gonna have to leave with what we got."
Cordy: "Which is absolutely nothing. I'm thinking extra man-power needed? I could come along since we've been training for a while now. And Fred could watch Conner with Lorne."
Angel: "N--"
Groo: "No, my princess! The body of a woman is meant to stay as soft as possible and far away from danger. I cannot allow it!"
Angel: "Well you see that right there is just old-fashioned thinking, Groo."
The vampire pats his fellow warrior on the back with sly intentions.
Angel: "Cordelia is a fine.. fine warrior. How could you do anything but expect her to fight well?"
Cordelia: "My sentiments exactly! I think I'll go with the saber today."
Angel: "A fine choice for a fine warrior."
Gunn: "...okay then. Let's hit it."
Groo: "It's here?"
[pause]
Gunn: "Oh! Nah man, that's just a... I meant.. let's just go to where we need to be, alright?"
Groo: "I am prepared for battle!"
The group of fighters exit the Hyperion.
