The Cage
The black convertible raced along the pavement a bit past the posted speed limit. The full moon seemed to chase it, catch up and keep pace with it. Unconsciously Angel stepped down on the accelerator, pulling away from his celestial pursuer.
Three nights ago he'd nearly killed his two closest friends. It wasn't something he could just shrug off. It wasn't something they could just shrug off either.
Oh, they were good at pretending- Cordy was still just as sarcastic, Wes came back to the office…They made the proper excuses: Wasn't his fault, it was the drug. Couldn't be helped. Everything was just as it was.
Except it wasn't. He didn't miss the way Cordy leaned away from him when he moved too close. Or how Wesley had not turned his back on him once, even to the point of nearly stepping on Cordelia several times in his efforts to keep Angel in his sight.
Angel sighed, glanced at the speedometer and eased his foot off it a bit. Tonight was really not a good night to be stopped by LAPD after all. Not that there really was a good time, but he had an appointment to keep. Taking the next off ramp, he followed the black ribbon of road up into the hills.
When the drug Rebecca gave him first hit his system, he tried to hang on. He felt the effects begin to wash over him… it felt so good. But good, was bad and he tried to keep from feeling it.
It had been useless. That part of him that kept the darkness in check, sat down and decided to relax. Take a breather. A little rest.
The demon came out to play and that which was Angel, the part that kept that demon caged, watched it all.
Angel shook his head slightly. He really didn't want to think about this anymore and besides, he was at his destination.
From the end of the long driveway Angel could see the mansion looming up against the night sky. As the front of the car reached the gate, it swung open to allow him through.
Climbing out of the car, Angel saw someone waiting for him at the top of the stone steps leading to the massive carved oak double doors.
"This way sir." The man said and as he turned toward the doors, they also opened at their own accord.
The front hall was dark. Pools of light shining down on the marble floor marked a path that Angel's escort followed. Try as he might, even vampire night vision could not penetrate the darkness on either side. All his instincts went on alert- he didn't like this place.
"The master will be with you momentarily." His escort told him as he ushered Angel into a room. "Please make yourself comfortable." With that, he shut the door.
The room was huge and lined with books from floor to ceiling on three walls. The forth wall was completely taken over by a window made up of individual panes and that appeared to have a metal screen over it. A large desk sat in front of it. The smell of leather and wood was predominate but there was something else. As Angel stepped farther into the room, he realized that the metal screen was in fact a cage and inside the cage was a falcon.
The bird had been staring out the window but now it turned and leveled its steady gaze at him.
Angel hesitated. Since rising as a vampire, he'd come to expect certain reactions from animals ranging from frightened cowering to rabid violence. The bird was caged and either reaction might cause it to injure itself. Angel didn't want that to happen.
To his surprise however, the bird simply blinked its golden eyes at him once and turned back toward the window.
Angel heard the door open behind him. He turned to see what appeared to be a middle age man enter the room. Appearances can be deceiving and although the man was human, Angel could smell magick on him as if it were cologne he wore.
Wizard. He thought.
The man looked at Angel for a moment with clear blue eyes. "So," he said closing the door after him. "You are Angel. I must admit, I did not know what exactly to expect."
Angel had no idea what to say so he remained silent.
The man swept past him and walked directly to the desk. He paused to exchange a look with the falcon then turned to look at Angel again.
"Please," he gestured toward one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Angel. I am Sarmatacus and I see you've already met Aidan."
It took Angel a moment to realize the man was talking about the bird.
"It's just 'Angel' actually." He said as he slowly approached the chair. He'd heard that most birds didn't have a very good sense of smell; maybe it hadn't caught his scent yet. And when it did…
"He knows what you are." Sarmatacus said casually as he straightened a pile of papers in the middle of his desk. Sitting down, he steepled his long fingers in front of him and studied Angel. "He is not going to, oh what is the word they use these days? Ah yes.. He is not going to 'freak' on you."
The falcon turned its silvery grey head once more and fixed its stare on him.
"I appreciate your concern." Sarmatacus said as Angel sat down. "You obviously have some experience with how animals are prone to react to a vampire in their presence."
Angel tore his gaze from the bird's. "And you obviously have some experience with mind reading." He said sharply. "You want to tell me what I'm doing here?"
Sarmatacus stared at him for a moment and Angel glared back. Suddenly Sarmatacus snorted what might have been a laugh through his nose. "Mind reading! Really!" He leaned back in his chair. "I can read minds, but I did not need to in order to know you were concerned about Aidan harming himself because of you." He paused and considered Angel for a moment. "You are very concerned about causing harm to others, aren't you?"
Angel shifted uneasily in his chair. "Look, my friend got a vision, said I was supposed to come here. Something about the Oracles."
Sarmatacus nodded. "Actually the female Oracle specifically is why you are here. She seems to have taken an interest in you."
Again, Angel didn't know what to say. His gaze traveled to the falcon once again and noticed that the bird had now turned all the way around on its perch and was facing him.
Sarmatacus stood up and walked over to the cage. "Aidan here was once a champion hunter. His owner had mantles full of trophies for his skill at killing."
Aidan's gaze never left Angel's as the wizard spoke.
"Death on the wing. Swift and always successful. A true artist in the medium of murder." The wizard paused and reached through the cage bars to stroke the falcon along its neck. "I've heard the same said of Angelus."
Angel flinched but his gaze stayed on the falcon. "Animals don't murder."
"In nature? No." Sarmatacus continued to stroke Aidan's neck. The bird continued to gaze at Angel. "No, in nature there is always a reason for killing. Its not done out of spite or anger or greed. Only when necessary. Its never… personal." The wizard sat on the edge of the desk and leaned slightly toward Angel. "Murder belongs to the so called 'higher life forms'. Humans, demons…those that actually think anyway." He made a gesture with his hand to include himself and Angel. "Only beings such as we murder. Only we have greed and spite. Only we can take real pleasure from it. As a rule. But there are exceptions to every rule, as the saying goes."
Angel found he did not want to take his gaze off the bird but he forced his eyes to meet Sarmatacus'. "So what are you saying? This bird is different? This falcon murders people?"
Sarmatacus sighed and shook his head. "No boy, you've gone right past the point I was getting too. In fact you've gone past it, over the hill, across the desert and have kept right on going."
"Then why don't you explain it to me?" Angel practically growled. He told himself this was getting tiresome. That this guy was just yanking his chain and that he should just leave. But then there was the vision… and the bird. In spite of himself, he wanted to know about the bird.
Sarmatacus gave a soft chuckle. "All right. Aidan was the champion. He hunted doves and pheasants, quail and rabbits. Whatever his master asked of him, he did. He never missed a command and all the other falconers were most impressed with his master. But then they had no idea what his secret was."
"Magick?" Angel said taking a wild guess.
"No, no. Something far more human than that. Aidan was abused. Severely. From the time he was hatched apparently. His master forged him into a weapon of pure hate. Unable to strike down his master, Aidan took out his fury on those he hunted. The kill became all to him. The taste of blood his only joy. The only thing he wanted to do. He became a murderer. A murderer of rabbits and rodents, but a murderer none the less."
Angel felt a chill go thru him. Images of Angelus washed thru his mind as he stared at the seemingly peaceful falcon and it stared back.
"Then one day Aidan was injured during the hunt. I don't know what happened for certain, all I know is he laid on the ground, wing injured, unable to fly. I happened along in time to see his master kicking and cursing him. I saved him, took him home. Nursed him back to health."
"And… he became your friend?"
Sarmatacus laughed out loud. "Oh heavens no! He tried to kill me more than once! I was not his master, there was no need for him to fear me, and so he hated me. It was all he knew- fear and hate.
"They say once you get a taste for murder, it stays with you," he said softly. "Is that true?"
Angel swallowed. He thought about what had happened three nights earlier. How he had sat inside himself, soul fully intact, and watched as Angelus played a deadly game with his friends. He thought about what he had refused to acknowledge until now: He had liked it.
"Yes." He said softly. "It does stay. No matter what, it's there, inside you."
"Ahhh. I thought so." Sarmatacus nodded his head thoughtfully. "Angel, would you step over to the window please?"
Angel came to stand by the wizard and looked out over the manicured back lawn. The moon was high and it cast a bright white glow over everything. Sarmatacus pointed to a small structure off to one side and Angel could see it was a coop containing doves.
"Doves, their feathers, sometimes their blood, are very important in many of the spells I cast." Sarmatacus explained. "These are very special, the way they are raised, the food they eat, everything is especially done to insure that they are fit for what I need them for. They are delicate creatures; they must be handled with great care. I knew nothing of falcons when I brought Aidan home, I only knew doves. So that is how I treated him."
"So you made him a dove." Angel heard the flatness of his tone and realized that he was disappointed that the proud, beautiful falcon was not at all what it appeared to be.
But Sarmatacus shook his head. "Nothing like that at all." He scanned the trees for several moments. "There," he said finally, pointing to one of them. Angel looked at the treetop and saw an owl perched there.
"For many years, that owl has plagued me, poached my doves from right out of their coop. As owls are magickal in themselves, I certainly could not kill it. Even enchanting it might have caused harm. But I have something better than that now."
The wizard gestured toward the falcon. Angel suddenly realized that the bird was not in a cage at all, the metal screen was open in the back- and what's more, the windowpane before it had been open all along.
At Sarmatacus' gesture, the falcon spread it's wings and leapt out the window with silent grace. It swept down over the dove coop and straight up toward the startled owl. The owl flew away with Aidan in pursuit.
"Aidan is a falcon, Angel. I treated him with kindness, but nothing in the universe can change him into a dove. His inherent predatory instincts were twisted. It wasn't his fault but he was a monster nonetheless. Now, he has been shown another way and now he has turned from predator to protector. What is in his heart of hearts, I cannot say. No one can know what thoughts dwell inside another, after all. I can only judge him by his actions. It is all anyone can, and should be judged by. Don't you agree?"
Angel was silent for a moment. As he watched, Aidan came back in through the window and settled back on his perch. The bird gazed at Angel briefly, then turned back to watch over the dove coop once again.
"Yes, I do." Angel said finally.
"Good, good." Sarmatacus said with a nod. He put his hand on Angel's shoulder and began guiding him to the door. "Now then, the sun is going to rise soon and you have quite a drive ahead of you."
As soon as the door closed after Angel, a white light filled the room.
"You've done well." The Oracle of The Powers That Be told Sarmatacus as she stroked Aidan's feathers.
Sarmatacus sat down in his chair with a sigh. "Animals are fortunate in that they do not have guilt." He shook his head slightly. "A vampire with a soul. Who would have thought? Are you sure though? Still seemed a bit down to me."
"The Champion's mind rests easier." The Oracle said absently. "He is just… broody."