The Soul Chronicles 01--Emotions

by Hardra61

Angel/X-Files Crossover. Angel and his crew team up with Scully and hers to track down an elusive Vampire FBI agent. Also in *Angel* and *X-files* sections.

The Soul Chronicles--
#1 Emotions

By Hardra6

Hardra6@yahoo.com

Rated: PG-13 to R [Violence, Language, Sexual content]

XF/Angel X-over

Summary: Angel and his crew team up with Scully and hers to track down
an elusive Vampire FBI agent. Book 1.

Disclaimer: I disclaim claim of these characters; Half of them belong to
Chris Carter, and the other half.....not sure who made them up....but they
sure as hell don't belong to me. Oh yeah!! Agents Barnes and Harris, and
Cedar Jades belong to me. Barnes and Harris you can take and use and
stuff, but please don't touch Cedar. (she's had enough already, poor thing.)

*******
^^^^^^^
*******


THE SOUL CHRONICLES

Book 1: Emotions

1999, Los Angeles







Prolog


I didn't understand at first.

I mean, I understood most of it. I understood the lovely woman standing in
my office. I understood her accomplices, all grim-jawed and trying to look
more buff and self-assured than they were. This feeling was not similar
throughout her.

The woman wasn't exactly a young woman, but I was true to my word about
lovely. She had beautiful, natural red hair that played around her ears and
cheeks fashionably, toying at her neckline, shortish. Once or twice she
brushed a crimson strand out of her way.

There were three others, two women and a lanky blonde-haired man with a
nervous attitude towards nearly everything. They came into my office
without appointment; Cordy led them in and just shrugged from her position
behind them.

I couldn't tell what was wrong. I smelt fear on the three of them, but not on
her. She was unafraid, but with something weighing on her heart and mind
that I didn't need vampire senses to sort out.

"Can I help you?"

She stepped forwards, and a second later her gang followed suit. I smelled
new things now; I smelled several new things. From the woman to the left I
smelt lavender perfume; unimportant. The man smelled jumpy. The other
woman had nothing of interest.

I smelled a man on the red-haired one.

The scent was strong there, not only from her clothes and person but from her
eyes and soul.

But not just any man--after all, the other girls had the similar faint traces of a
male on them, and I could smell the tiniest amount of another's perfume on
the guy. But the small, fierce woman carried with her something
more...something that went deeper than the odd date and occasional
boyfriend. But of course, I also picked up several other things from just the
scent.

This was a dead man.

I knew the oh-so familiar scent that drew the line between the dead and the
living. Usually I have not only scent, but the lack of heart and lung beats to
follow. The first thing I smelled from the woman was a vampire; I heard her
vital signs, of course, so I knew it couldn't be her. The scent was strong, but
in a way that perhaps only a vampire could detect; I could deduct that she
either lived with him, or spent most of her time with him.

Something told me that my visitors were here for a reason resembling this
man.

"This is a P.I. service," the red-haired woman noted firstoff, looking around
my office critically and thinking for a moment. Her voice was crisp, with a
hint of a sneer. She turned partially towards the door. "I heard otherwise. I'm
sorry."

She was already halfway across the room, her companions confused and torn
between staying and following. "P.I.," she'd said. Only cops call it that,
sometimes kids that think the term is cool. But she didn't strike me as a cop
kind of person. Her friends, maybe. Just maybe.

"Wait. What did you hear?" I partially stood. Ready to keep them in my
office. Nobody walks out on me if they're in some kind of trouble. That
woman was in some kind of trouble.

She stopped by the door and snapped her head back to me, giving me an
almost judgmental stare before slowly winding her way back towards me.
The look she gave me was well-worn and suited her face perfectly; by the
way her eyes flicked across my features I would have guessed that her senses
were just as strong as mine.

"I don't think you'd understand."

"Try me."

She studied me some more, her friends looking me over but concentrating on
her, wondering what she was doing no doubt. Their senses of nervousness
were still on high; I got the feeling that, besides being introduced, they knew
little more about their partner than I did. The woman was cool around me,
though. It wasn't faked, either; I could hear her heart and lungs pounding loud
in my ears, and even they were calm and steady. Impressive. Very
impressive.

"A good friend of mine died," she began slowly, as if I wasn't going to
understand and she didn't want to repeat herself. "A year and a half ago.
However somehow throughout this he managed to remain animate, and so
has continued on 'living', with only several people aware of the whole thing."
She spoke as if even she had trouble believing it.

I blinked once. If she'd been expecting a skeptic movement from me she
wasn't going to be rewarded. "...and...?" I prompted. She just raised one
eyebrow. She was wondering if I was taking her seriously or not, taking time
to discern my true thoughts. "Your friend is a vampire, nobody knows he is
dead......what can I do for you?"

Her face barely twitched as she realized I was accepting her story, and I
shifted comfortably, nodding towards the chairs in case they were interested
in sitting down. Now that she knew I wouldn't laugh in her face, maybe she
would come out with her problem more easily. I sat down behind my desk
and clasped my hands before me, smiling softly. None of my visitors sat.

"My.....our problem is that a week and a half ago, something happened to him
and it completely changed his persona. He bit me, attacked friends of mine,
and took off. I threw together a team," a nod over her shoulder towards the
other three, "and traced him to Los Angeles." She took a breath slowly,
carefully, controlled. "Although it goes against my normal quota to say
so......I believe that something has......." Her voice did not fault, but she
looked like she was having a difficult time spitting it out. Against her quota?
She pressed her lips into a short, tight line and forced herself to say it.
".....*possessed* him."

I shifted a slight bit in my seat, blinking once or twice, sucking in carefully
timed but unneeded breaths of air, if only to create the illusion of my
breathing. Her statement had definitely caught my attention. It sounded as if
her "friend" had died, kept his soul, then lost it just now. That was some trick.

"We followed him here--he arrived the evening before last, we got here last
night. So far, we have had no luck whatsoever in finding him. We dug
deeper, searching for some kind of specialized help, and came up with Angel
Investigations. With you."

I smiled gently, trying to be gentle with the quiet but dangerous red-haired
ticking time bomb before me. "Who's we?"

Without so much as an apology at the neglection of a proper introduction, she
barely blinked and motioned one by one to the people over her shoulder,
never breaking eye contact with me.

"This is Cedar Jades, a close friend of mine, and columnist for the
_Washington Post_," she indicated the tall brunette over her right shoulder,
who was picking at a out-of-season scarf carefully tied around her neck, no
doubt to cover bite marks. She watched me with sharp brown eyes, biting her
lip. She couldn't have been more than twenty-two. "Special Agent Amanda
Barnes, Violent Crimes specialist, PhD in Behavioral Sciences," The blonde,
loitering with arms crossed behind her, was small but strong-looking, and
smelled faintly of sweat from an early-morning workout and jog. Her straight
blonde hair was pulled back in a tight braid, which was neatly coiled into a
bun behind her head. "And Special Agent Nick Harris, Computer Crimes,
Internet and Software tracking, former employee of the Bell Atlantic phone
company." Harris had noticeably bleached blonde hair and seemed more
nervous than the others put together. He wasn't all that tall, and he wasn't all
that buff, but he sure looked weedy enough to be a computer crimes expert.

Their leader maintained eye contact with me, and after a miniscule pause she
continued.

"My name is Special Agent Dana Scully--and you are Angelus, the vampire."


*****


I felt the muscles in my abdomen tighten at the mention of my former, more
infamous title and I couldn't help shifting a little. By now, Cordelia and
Wesley were flanking our customers and had heard most of the conversation.

"You're....FBI?" I guessed meekly, trying to take my unmasking with Dana
Scully's similar, unaffected stride. I'm afraid it didn't go exactly how I
pictured it to go. I noted that three heads nodded; Ms. Jades, I suppose, was
not. I quickly assumed that the agents couldn't possibly be here on official
FBI business.

Wesley dove in with questions, much to my distaste. He coughed lightly to
get the visitors' attentions, then focused on their leader seriously. "How
exactly did you come across that information, Agent Scully?" All right, I
guess I was a little interested there. Wesley had a point. I try not to let that
out too early in conversations; It tends to frighten the customers.

She barely moved a muscle, except for turning to look at Wesley and back to
me. "A little bit of research, a little asking around, and a few dead giveaways;
no pun intended." Apparently she was used to the undead; someone new to
the whole vampire thing would not joke so openly about it. Not that I thought
it was intended as a joke; but by her tone I'd guess she'd used it before in
lighter situations. But I was still wondering how she saw through my pseudo-
living thing.

Trying to take on a little humor of my own, I said, "Mind telling me what I
was doing wrong?"

Ms. Scully snapped from client mode into superior-information mode quickly
and easily, taking me a little too seriously. Keeping her same expression, she
said, "You don't move enough, you blink either too much or too little, and
you occasionally forget to breathe. The blinds are drawn in here as to keep
out most of the sunlight, and we noted that your car has unnaturally dark
tinted windows. You did not turn up in any of the surveillance photos Harris
took last night, and as I look around your office, even, I notice you have
every different kind of vampire-slaying mechanism ever created with the
exception of a cross or crucifix. Finally your skin is too pale and your lips are
too red, indicating that you have not been drinking much blood over the last
three days, and you have a cut on your cheek where you most likely had an
accident while shaving." She said all this casually. I rubbed my cheek
thoughtfully; damn.

"hm," I offered, feeling a little uncomfortable.

A loud "Ahuummph," from the corner of the room caught the clients'
attentions. "If I might venture far enough to ask, Agent Scully--I believe
what's happened to your friend is that he has--well--lost his soul. But you
seemed to indicate that he had it in the first place, which confuses me."
Wesley was making a show of his intelligence, as usual.

Yes, confuses me too. Ms. Scully looked from Wesley to me with a slight
look of confusion on her face, barely traceable from all the other blank
expressions she had been making a show of. "His soul? How would dying
affect his soul? He didn't even acknowledge he was dead until he was on an
airplane back to DC."

"When a vampire is sired, the person dies and a demon inhabits the body.
You didn't notice.......?" I asked carefully.

"No, nothing happened. I didn't even know about it for a month."

I sat back, puzzled. "So he died, and now a year and a half later, he's lost his
soul?"

"Something happened. Yes, I guess lack of soul could qualify," she said
stonily, maybe sarcastically. "Listen. I'm here so I can capture this thing that's
taken my partner and get it out. If you can't help me I'll take my business
elsewhere."

I stood up and walked around my desk, holding out my hand. She sighed,
realizing she'd won, and we clasped hands.

"Believe me," I said quietly, "there is no elsewhere."










Chapter One


Carmen smiled carefully at all the guys who passed her table.

Some were cute, some weren't, some looked really drunk, some looked lost.
She smiled at all of them, nursing a mug of beer and trying to
look....well....single.

The fact that she'd just been dumped was probably written across her
forehead, she thought angrily as none of the men stopped by her table. Jason
was such a nice guy--or until he met a nice girl. Which wasn't her. She
thought if she went to a local bar she would see the other pour souls there and
not feel so bad. Actually, more than half the people there looked a lot happier
than Carmen felt.

She looked into her Budweiser sadly and noticed a tear plip into the mug, all
on its own. She hastily wiped the tears out of her eyes; she didn't need them
right then.

"Hi."

Startled, Carmen looked up into a soft face; a man who had sat down beside
her, heaven forbid! She smiled to him and tried to laugh a little, but it came
out all wrong.

"Tough night?" He said quietly, leaning on the table with his elbows. He was
really cute. Handsome, even, after watching his face long enough. His smile
was cute, though.

"Yeah," Carmen mumbled through a smile. "Dumped."

He frowned. "Same here," he sighed wearily and ran a hand through his dark
hair. "What's your name?" he asked meekly a second later, changing the
subject. Carmen told him readily, not minding the change of topic. Obviously
they'd both been hit hard, and neither wanted to talk about it.

"What about you?"

He winced. "Eddy," he said with a vague wave. "You'd think two parents
could think of something more creative. Eddy."

"What would you rather it be?" Carmen asked, leaning her own elbows
against the table. She was starting to wish she'd worn her low v-cut shirt
instead of her old turtleneck. But then again, it was kind of chilly out that
night.

Eddy half-smiled and looked up, musing. "Well.....you like James? I mean,
James Bond, you know. Always kind of liked James."

"Okay," Carmen said with a small smile. "Then I'll call you James. How do
you like that?"

Eddy/James smiled a little more. His face crinkled a little as he did so, and he
looked down at the table. Carmen touched his hand with a smile of her own.
"What about me? I've always liked the name Fi--short for Fiona, but Fiona I
don't like as much."

"Fi."

"Fi," repeated Carmen dreamily.

"James and Fi," Eddy said firmly.


They talked for a while, holding an animated conversation about family and
relationships, how guys can be a bitch and girls you just can't trust, and
immediately forgot everything they were talking about. Instead they laughed
and talked more about sports or high school dates, basketball or baseball,
idiotic places for the future Olympics to be held--(The South Pole,
Liechtenstein, Rural West Virginia...."Winter Olympics right here in LA!"
Ed/James had yelled,)--and anything else that came to mind.

Closing time came, so Fi and James were made to leave. They left, hailed a
cab, pulled up by a hotel and--as they say--one thing definitely led to another.

Carmen was alarmed at first by her one-night-stand's almost immediate
affection--he caught her hand before she could hit the light switch and their
first kiss was probably the most intimate kiss the young woman had ever
received. They finally parted and, deciding more would be better, Carmen
snaked an arm around her partner's neck and asked.

He met her with another ferocious kiss, pulling her onto the bed with smooth,
fluid power and grace, and soon their clothes lay discarded around them on
the floor of the room.

Carmen--no, Fi, she told herself, tonight I am Fi--shuddered at the intensity
of his drive and in one corner of her mind wondered how a wonderful lover
like "James" here could possibly be dumped by even the most snobby of
girls. He certainly was nice and he *certainly* had the stuff.

Ed kissed her roughly, and although Carmen had never experienced this kind
of intimacy before, she figured she was liking it and didn't even try to back
down. In fact, she was beginning to like it more and more as his biting kisses
made their way down her face and neck and chest, and she began to think that
maybe this could go on a little longer than just one night.

She groaned into the darkness and the kisses returned to her lips, full force
and driving, and slowly began their way down again. He kissed her temple.

Carmen's heart fluttered and she closed her eyes. He kissed below her jaw.

She was feeling kind of dirty doing what she was doing, being raised by The
Church, always listening to her parent's preaches....but at the moment decided
that she would figure everything out later and live the moment. He kissed the
side of her neck, biting again.

She groaned again. This was *just* too good. He kissed her neck again.

Carmen/Fi felt something wet around her shoulders and for a second she let
one arm slip from her partner's back to see what it was. Even in the darkness
she could tell it was blood. Blood?

They were no longer kisses. They were sharp bites. Too sharp. Too friendly.

Every muscle in her body tensed, and the man above her continued his un-felt
caresses of her body. Carmen finally opened her mouth to scream, but her
throat did not oblige, and not even a squeak came from her throat.

He drank his full and got dressed, leaving the warm carcass of the woman
lying limply on the bed while he dressed and left the room, carefully wiping
his fingerprints from the doorknob and the blood from his lips before he left.

He climbed into a cab, looking over his shoulder at the quiet hotel with only a
hint of a smile on his face. They wouldn't catch him. They couldn't.

Fox Mulder, after all, knew how to get away.






Chapter Two



"No," she'd said.

I paused, my hand a few inches from my duster, which hung ready over the
coat rack, and turned around. "Excuse me?"

I'd just suggested we check up on some leads during the day and scour the
LA underbelly that evening. Agent Scully obviously believed otherwise. She
glared up at me. "I said no. Listen, I know this guy like the back of my hand--
he's going to sleep from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, then he's going to wake up
and start raiding the night clubs. If he doesn't kill somebody from nightfall to
10:00 PM, he's going to at least be eyeing female bodies--okay? After
midnight, through to 10:00 tomorrow morning, he's going to be looking for
his sire--someone he can connect with. We've got to either get to him, or find
her."

I just froze for a minute, beginning to think there was some sort of difference
between my species of vampire and this guy's. "Um, through ten AM?" I
said, "Isn't that a little bright and early, emphasis on bright?"

Agent Scully raised an eyebrow. "I can't go out in sunlight," I said in a
reasonable tone.

"Yeah, he'll like catch fire and be reduced to smoldering ash," Cordelia piped
up, twirling a pen over her fingers. Wesley and I shot her a 'not now, Cordy'
kind of look and she just shrugged. Besides, I didn't think Dana and her band
of makeshift Vampire slayers needed advice from "Flake Queen" over there
just then.

"Indirect sunlight is ok," I said, indicating the blinds that had darkened, but
not completely blacked out, my office. Scully took on the first confused
expression I'd seen her display that afternoon and turned to her friends in a
quiet conversation. I heard it quite well.

"Something's weird."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed. You said--"

"I *know* what I said, Harris! I also know what we're looking for. Angelus is
probably just a different species of--"

I didn't feel comfortable with their conversation, as loud in my ears as the
pounding of their heart and lungs, so I interrupted. "I prefer Angel," I said
calmly. Agent Scully looked away from her group and gave me a once-over
quickly.

"What's your line?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your....line. Breed. of vampirism."

"I....don't understand."

She half-nodded and tried again. "My partner's line is from a French group of
vampires, possibly former inhabitants of Transylvania, who immigrated from
Vichi in the seventeen hundreds. They drifted from New Orleans to Michigan
around 1913, then a band of them moved to Los Angels a year and a half ago-
-that drew my partner there for investigation, and they killed him." She
paused and swallowed as if she was giving a history lecture. "The breed's
name is _Chat de Vichi_, which translates to "Cat of Vichi"."

I paused her with my hand and motioned for Wesley, who was already
pulling out textbooks; Cordy had long since logged onto the Internet. I
listened further.

"His abilities and disabilities you may not be familiar with--the daylight and
so on." Agent Scully crossed her arms and closed her eyes for a second as she
cleared her throat. "He has no reflection, no shadow. His interaction with the
sun is hardly limited; he usually wears sunscreen, long sleeves and
sunglasses, hardly containing him to the night. He sleeps very little, he can
see in the dark and has perfect vision otherwise.

"He can cross moving water at any time, but with difficulty if not at the slack
or flow of the tide. The Cross and the Crucifix are heavily effective against
him, and garlic powder or salt can keep him contained and unconscious if
need be.

"He does not breathe, but can create the illusion of doing so, as you
demonstrated; he has no pulse, and the only ways of killing him to my
knowledge are the traditional staking and decapitation, and the rare sacred
bullet through his heart or spine--not that I'm all too sure what "sacred"
means."

She ended her speech and turned to me. "So?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head, clearing my mind. "Sounds
distinctively like _Dracula,_" I mumbled. She nodded.

"It was one of the first novels of its kind; like I said, this breed may have
migrated from Transylvania. Plenty of the facts are true. However, he can't
shapeshift or vanish, or control the weather. Basically, he's dead but can walk
and talk all the same. Not to mention he usually heals when you blow a hole
in him."

Her FBI teammates shifted uneasily at this.

I shifted my jaw. "There are other ways." I pointed out with a short nod.

She just nodded back, but right then the phone rang and Cordelia growled
something about being kicked off the net, and answered it. We fell silent.
"Angel Investiga--oh, hi. N--oh. Oh." The last 'oh' was considerably
important, seeing the color drain from Cordy's face until she was nearly as
pale as me. She eventually hung up.

"Who was it?" I asked, but I had a pretty good idea. Let's just say LAPD likes
to keep me informed of any....weird stuff.

"They found a body. Definitely vamped. Last night." Cordy sighed and shook
her head a little. Some of the color returned to her face.

"What happened?" Agent Harris asked--the first person besides Dana Scully
to speak. He had dark eyes that darted back and forth, just as nervous as
before, but excited that the game was going back into his field of play--not
this nonsense "vampire" stuff, right?

Cordy shrugged. "Kate got one look at the cause of death and wrapped it up
for us. Happy, happy, joy, joy."

I grabbed my duster and hurried towards the door of my office. It was about
noon, but overcast. I could probably make it to my car without turning into a
pile of smoldering ash. I turned to Agent Scully. "Dana--"

"Scully," she snapped. I had to restrain myself at jumping back from her, the
way she snapped at me. I just noted that and moved on.

"Scully--I'm going to need a picture of this guy."


************


"Cause of death, fatal puncture marks in major arteries, loss of blood. Body is
nude, no signs of struggle, no fingerprints. Shower was not run." Scully
seemed to be telling this to herself as she slowly navigated the room, eyes
flickering back and forth. I followed her a little, at least, until one of the
police officers still crawling around the area pulled back the shades and the
afternoon sunlight prickled against my skin. She paced around to the side of
the bed and suddenly shouted "NO ONE MOVE!"

No one moved.

She slowly knelt down, bending in one direction curiously. I moved around
to see what she was looking at, even if it was into the sun, and would have
gasped if I had needed the air.

A footprint.

A slight distortion of the rug in one direction, and the perfect lighting.
Looked like a shoeprint, from a boot or heavy tennis shoe. I watched my new
cooperative measure the size of the print with her hand, then look up to me.

"How tall are you?" I frowned, told her. "Shoe size?"

She marveled over the information and told me where to stick my foot.
Frowning, I made a similar impression next to the one in the rug and she
examined it.

Scully sighed finally, getting up from her crouch. "Well, I guess we know
*who* did it," She murmured to myself and her team, "but I don't know how
we're going to catch up with him. He could be anywhere by now; all we can
tell from this is that he might do it again."

She was disturbed, and had reason to. For the sake of her friends, however,
she did her best to hold her thoughts inside, where even my advanced senses
could not penetrate far. The agent pushed up the wall that enclosed her
emotions and shook her head at the hotel room. I noted her insensitivity at the
sight of the bloodied body entangled in recently crimson-colored sheets on
the bed; like this was routine. I knew that a strong person like her could
easily reference herself back into a different situation; it wasn't _necessarily_
her friend that killed this woman. And even if in her head she knew that he
did, she would continue to tell her heart that it was just another grisly murder
scene.

"Fingerprints?" I asked, indicating the light switch, doorknob, tv, and lamp.

All I received was a distinct shake of the head from Agent Barnes, her blonde
hair lighting up like a halo in the strange lighting. "Mulder is a Federal
Agent. He investigates murders just like the one you're looking at. He was a
top profiler in VCS. He got inside serial killers' heads. He knows *how* it's
done."

Scully nodded numbly. "And now we've got a Possessed Mulder, ransacking
Los Angeles and not giving a damn about it."

I felt something inside of her break and start to cry. It's hard to explain how
something inside someone cries, but it does. I knew. I understood first hand
what her friend was going through. If we ever got him back, if he understood
what it was he had done, he would feel the way I've felt for a long, long time.
Since I became Angel, not Angelus. Long, unbroken regret.

Here before me was a woman who had witnessed firsthand an evil; and she
knew that it was someone close to her who committed that evil.

She had told me he'd bitten her. Bitten, raped, beaten, tortured......I didn't
know. Didn't want to know. I got enough of that every day. I got it in my
dreams, and in my dreams I wasn't the one receiving it. I was the one dealing
it out. That hurt more than being abused. Having a soul.

I looked down at the photo I'd been given of this man. This vampire. It was
taken some time ago, of course, before his death; we vampires don't exactly
come out on film. He was good looking; the kind of conservative, mild kind
of good-looking that movie stars tend to take on ever so often. He appeared to
be about in his late twenties to mid thirties, hard to be sure. He was looking at
the camera with a small smile and an expression that read "why are you
pointing that thing at me?"

My stomach churned, as inhuman as it was. He was good looking. And the
only problem with that was the more handsome he looked, the more likely he
was going to hook more and more women unsuspectingly.

I looked to Scully again and the pain her carefully-tuned monotone
expression fed to me. I tried to picture him beside her--behind her maybe, as
they conducted an investigation; I saw no romance, for some reason, which,
seeing how handsome a couple they were, was strange. No, there was a
stronger bond here than love; something that went beyond that. something
that I only had had a hint of in my long afterlife, and I had ruined that odd
relationship.

We left the hotel and split up--all seven of us, Scully's three and my Cordy
and Wesley--and each tackled bars in the local area, all making sure we had
each others' cell phone numbers. If we saw or heard from him, we would
make ourselves scarce, keep an eye on things, and call *then*.

It was about seven and I'd spent a long time sitting in a particularly dreary
and low-class bar, smelling the cheap booze off of other people--sometimes
vampires!--in the area. I looked at the photo again, putting the guy's face to
memory. It wasn't that hard; he had pretty distinct features--big nose, hazel
eyes, wide forehead, long face. I tried to remember the smell I'd gotten off of
Agent Scully, and figured I would be able to pick him up by the info that I
had.

But then again, it was one cheap bar out of many in Los Angeles. I really
should have been moving to a different site, but I got a strange kind of
intuition from this place.

Cordy walked in about fifteen minutes later and sat down next to me, a kind
of dazed look in her eye and a weak, distant sort of voice. "Angel. Wow. Talk
about luck."

"What's brought you here?" I sighed, feeling boredom creep up on me.
Maybe with Cordy here, I could go try someplace else.

She got a nervous sort of look on her face and leaned in towards me. "I got a
vision," she murmured, "I was going to call you or Wesley, but I came in here
first."

"What did you see?" I asked, matching her low tones.

"This bar," she said, gulping considerably, "the guy in that picture."

I looked around, making a check of the place quickly. Nothing. "You
armed?" I asked, keeping the tone low. She dug her hand into her jeans
pocket and brought out a pinch full of salt, letting it fall to the ground. She
showed me her holy water spray bottle in her purse and the silver cross she
had decided to adorn herself with, then patted the inside of her pea coat
where I knew she'd stashed a stake. Yeah, I guess she was pretty ready. I
myself had a good sized cross in my inside coat pocket; but I had gloves
ready and it was wrapped in a towel. From what I'd heard from Scully and
Wesley, this breed of vamp didn't like to be *anywhere* near the holy
symbol. Neither did I, but at least I could stand it with gloves on.

I was trying to remember Scully's cell phone number when Cordy jabbed me
warningly in the ribs. I looked at her; she was reading a newspaper boredly.

I sniffed the air; there it was.

Looked around. There he was.

Jesus, he looked just like the average person. Excited hazel colored eyes, a
pleasant smile, and on the tall side....nose maybe a little too big, but nothing
worth hiding. He wore jeans, what looked like a Nicks shirt and a black
leather jacket over that.

His face was something different than the photograph suggested; if I'd seen
him on the street in the right outfit I'd have guessed businessman; and in a
way that's what he was, an FBI agent. But the photo and the real thing shared
differences; he was brighter here, more cheerful, and there was no hint of
dark circles under his eyes.

Just a normal guy, right?

He walked past us casually, looking around and finally sitting down at an
empty table. I jabbed Cordy back, silently persuading her to hit it off with
that guy. The number one way to keep and eye on him, in my opinion. I
dialed Scully and told her I had him, my location, and abruptly hung up. I
was already on the line with Wesley as Cordelia sat down next to the enemy
and flashed a cute smile.

He smiled back placidly, not daring to show his teeth.

I had a feeling I'd be seeing them soon, though.

They started talking, and Cordy laughed a whole lot--that really fake laugh
that she sometimes uses in flirtation mode--at nearly everything, and
whenever she got the chance shooting me a poisonous glance reading, "DO
SOMETHING!" But there was nothing I could do; nothing, until we got him
out of the bar and somewhere secluded. I jerked my head to the door, hoping
she got the message, and she giddily and teasingly pulled him towards the
exit.

The vampire, acting modestly reluctant, followed Cordy out of the bar.

I stood up and left a minute or two later, keeping an eye on them as I
shadowed them down the street. He was a good actor; even from far-off I
could see how carefully he timed his movements. I could see his chest rising
and falling with every faked breath; he blinked at all the right times. I could
only hope Cordy knew when to make a break for it.

She didn't get a chance to.








Chapter Three


Maybe he caught her off-guard, maybe she was looking for me; maybe he
just smelled the wrong people on her person. Suddenly he looked around for
anyone following them and, although smoothly, he wrapped a super strong
arm around Cordelia's midsection and slipped his other hand over her mouth.
I could hear her muffled yells from my position and, as he slid into a dark
alley off to the side, I started running.

I slid around into the alley, noticing that even though my friend was well-
prepared for this kind of incident, she was helpless. Mulder had her pinned to
the wall and was hunched over her neck; I could see driblets of blood rolling
down her always-perfect skin.

Before I realized it I had the cross out, having already slipped the thick, black
leather glove over my hand. "Get away from her, now," I growled, advancing
with the cross held as far away from myself as possible.

The reaction was immediate. He drew back--"Shit!"--and wiped his lips on
his sleeve, already pulling away from Cordelia. I paused long enough to
make sure Cordy was all right--she was, nursing the two near-perfect cuts on
her neck--then advanced more.

Mulder stumbled backwards as I pushed the cross closer to him. The one
thing that amazed--simply amazed me was his face. It wasn't distorted, it
wasn't "vamped out" as it's been called, even though it should have been. I
could see his teeth--sharper, more precise than mine were.

Hoping to corner him I boxed him in against the wall, keeping him from
moving with the help of the cross, and as soon as he discovered he was
trapped he turned straight to me. He drew up as close to the wall as was
possible and tensed, and then--I swear it--he hissed.

Hissed. Not growled.

I kept my place and listened to the inhuman--and definitely not vampire--
sound, thinking of a cat cornered and ready to attack at any costs. We froze,
two Undead ready for whatever was to happen. If we'd had hearts, certainly
both of them would have been pounding like kettle drums.

"Who sent you?" he hissed. "It's that goddamned bitch, isn't it? She's going
to--"

"Shut up!" I growled, interrupting him, and pushed the cross closer to him.
He flattened himself up to the wall and hissed again, like a trapped animal.

"Here," Cordy said, stuffing her hand into her pocket and bringing it out with
a handful of salt. She sprinkled a circle around our prisoner, then took the
spray bottle out of her purse. "This is filled up with holy water--don't believe
me? Try something." She sprayed it over her shoulder for effect.

Mulder turned to me. His mouth was partially open and I could see the thin,
sharp canine teeth on either side of his mouth. He was silent for a while,
before he shallowly nodded towards the cross.

"Cut me some slack, buster." He nodded towards it again, but never left eye
contact with me.

I was wondering whether or not he knew of my own vampirism, but decided
it would be better if he didn't know my strengths or weaknesses yet. Seeing
how utterly uncomfortable he was, I let up about a foot and a half, knowing
he should be trapped by the salt, but kept the cross ready. The vampire eased
up a little, leaning against the wall instead of flattening himself to it. He put
his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket and smiled.

Damn. If it weren't for the fact that he smelled like a vampire, I might
actually believe it for a minute.

There wasn't a minute to believe it in, however, and sooner than later, Scully,
Agent Barnes, Ms. Jades and Agent Harris came dashing down the alleyway.
Scully stopped a good distance off, taking in the situation--Cordy holding a
Kleenex to her neck and prodding at her newly attained injury, me of all
people clutching a cross and her 'friend' leaning casually against the wall.

"Hi Scully," he said blankly, nodding in the direction of his former ally. She
said nothing, but motioned to her two team members to flank her as she
approached. Our captive continued, "Tough night." He smiled. "I know, I
know--'Mulder you should be sleeping not running around'....." He drifted off
and looked up at her again.

Dana Scully's face was a mixture of emotions, but the biggest one was
wariness. I couldn't have her start believing everything he said--he was smart,
but he was still a dangerous vampire minus a soul.

Cordy helped out, adding, "I got to play the bait, lucky me. I got him down
here and he pulled me in this stinky alley and started the whole blood-sucking
thing. Ow." She winced, picking at her wound again.

'Mulder' shook his head, looking at his partner with a hurt expression. "What?
Scully--you know I don't do.....*that*.....to people unless it's an absolute
emergency!"

I lifted the cross and he flattened against the wall again, hissing. Scully
gulped and walked over, unclipping a pair of handcuffs from her belt and
taking Mulder's arms, locking his wrists behind his back. "I don't know if I
can trust you right now, Mulder," she murmured, flipping him back around.
She motioned to the tall brunette to her side, Cedar Jades, and was handed a
spray bottle of her own along with what looked like a gun.

"Scully--I--what--"

She just kept her gaze locked with his and said quietly, "If you understand
me, you'll go along with it." She handed the holy water to me, and I carefully
held it along with the cross in my gloved hand.

Mulder, or more accurately, the demon playing Mulder, protested the whole
way as he was forced to his knees and his head bowed forward. He even tried
struggling towards the end, but we took care of it.

When Scully's weapon caught in the moonlight, I felt a wave of shock run
through me as I realized what she was doing. She took the gun and rested it
on his temple, then whispered something that only I was able to pick up.

"I'll never do this again," she whispered, and then she pulled the trigger.


*****


He woke up about half an hour later--the gunshot wound in his head healed
within the first ten minutes, but he remained unconscious as we brought him
back to my apartment.

We took every caution getting him there; and every caution once we got
there. My apartment suddenly seemed very small, with not only Wesley and
Cordy but agent Scully and her team.

I was sitting on the edge of my bed and watching the proceedings: Wesley
digging up ropes and chains and crosses and crossbows and basically any
other type of defense/control mechanism one could imagine; Agents Scully,
Harris and Barnes were securing their former co-worker with the appropriate
ropes or other various bonds; Cordy was complaining about the bite marks in
her neck, and Ms. Jades was standing off to the side quietly.

I approached the brunette slowly, thoughts crossing my mind. Why was she
the only one in the group that wasn't an FBI agent? Did she have some certain
connection to them, or Mulder, or did she know something?

"Hi," I said softly. She nodded towards me and looked down, like she was
extremely shy or something. I saw through it immediately.

Vampires are creatures of mixed issues; what folklore and Hollywood has
made them out to be....what they really are.....what some of them, like me,
are.....what people want to believe. So many people have been afraid of me.
And so many people have had right to be.

"You're....a vampire," she said after a while. Her voice sounded small, and
she avoided looking me directly in the eyes. I nodded sedately, watching her
nervously scratch at her neck under her scarf. Then she laughed, howbeit
nervously. "...Sorry. I don't....like....most vampires." Her voice was still
small.

"You have right to be. Most vampires are not to be liked." I nodded towards
Mulder. "And some change from time to time."

"You're ok," she told me, finally looking into my eyes. "you're not bad."

I tried, but I could not keep the weariness out of my voice. "Not now, I'm
not," I said sadly, and turned my gaze away.

*****

"C'mon fang boy, let's see something. Come on. Come on! You give me half
a second and you're head'll be lyin' across the floor. Yeahh come on tough
guy, show some gut. Show some fuckin' sport. S'ave a little fun you sorry--"

I was growing weary of listening to our prisoner rattle on and on about how
he was going to suck Cordy and Scully dry and chop my head off, so I glared
at Wesley, who was looking through some old books across the room. He
seemed to have tuned Mulder out, however, so I just sighed and returned my
weary gaze across to the bound-up former Federal agent.

Cordy and Agent Scully had long since tired of researching dead ends, and
had eventually struck up a game of War, which neither of them were winning
at. Mulder's obscene chatter had, from time to time, faded and come back
again, and faded again, until now it was going full blast. I wanted to suggest
stuffing his mouth with garlic but I wasn't sure Scully would be too fond of
that.

".....Come on ladieees! Three feet to your left you've got the hottest dead guy
on planet earth! Scully!--Scully. tell me you don't want it bad, huh?.....you
want me, you really want me baby. Yeah.....come oooon I can show you
how'ta--"

"Shut. The Hell. Up." Cordy growled, pausing with her card half-drawn.
There was a half-second of silence.

"Howabout you baby? Come on I know you liked it. I could see through
you......ah-ahhh you like it! Come on, come on, I can give you just what you
want, I can be yours...you can be mine....you want it...you like it...come
on...."

"Quiet!" Cordy snapped, snatching up the blue spray bottle and squirting him.
I watched his mocking and teasing expression instantly become one of agony,
as he squirmed in his bonds to try and rub some of the holy water off of
himself.

Ouch, I thought, wincing a little of my own. Cordy and Scully both kept
water bottles close at hand; that would have been the third time they'd had to
use them.

His tone changed dramatically. "Scully....I'm....I'm sorry....I didn't
mean....God, I've done so much to hurt you and I didn't.....God....Please, I'm
s--"

"Would somebody stuff his trap with garlic?!" Scully snapped towards
Wesley and I. I felt silent prayers of relief go through me, and Wesley turned
around at the sharpness in her tone.

"Excuse me?"

"Minced garlic. Get some minced garlic," Scully said darkly, staring holes in
her dead partner, who was now looking truly regretful. He had fallen
completely silent the first time she'd suggested it and was now going slightly
paler than he originally had been.

"You're sure?" Said Wesley.

All of us answered this time. "Yes!"

Wesley got up to go look for some garlic (turns out I didn't own any; imagine
that, a vampire that doesn't own garlic) and a whimper from the other end of
the room signified that we'd hit a note with our prisoner.

"Please, no, I swear I'll be quiet," Mulder said quietly. Scully frowned angrily
at him for a long time, then stood up, shaking her head and turning to
Wesley.

"You know, I think I've got some in my duffel bag. Duct tape, too, I think."

I winced again; I'd never really thought about it, but having minced garlic
stuffed into your mouth probably isn't a dead person's idea of fun. It had
never happened with me, but only because Dracula reads that first you stake,
then you do the garlic and the head-chopping, and I would turn to dust after
being staked.

I assume it's not a very comfortable situation, mouth stuffed with garlic.

"Mulder a la Garlic?" Cordy giggled.

"Shut the fuck up, you bitch."

"Language," Cordy said smoothly, and pulled the trigger on her spray bottle.







Chapter Four


Muttering under his breath, he braced the length of rope with a heavy boot
and grimaced as he slipped a rope-burnt wrist from the binding. There, he
was out.

After he'd managed to get his hands around his legs, the first thing to get off
was the stupid garlic gag--the duct tape had been flung across the room and
the minced vampire repellant choked out. Stretching his untied limbs, he
pulled himself to his feet and tried to ignore the nasty-tasting sting in his
mouth.

Carefully looking around the room, he sniggered quietly and stepped over
Cordelia's sleeping form, wishing there was some way to hurt *her* with
holy water. Shuddering at the thought of the stuff, he rubbed the side of his
face viciously to remove any remnants that happened to be lingering.

He started for the living room, but paused as he saw movement, flattening
himself to the wall instead. Peering through the hinges of the open door, he
cursed under his breath to see Angel pacing calmly around the other room.

Backing away slowly, Mulder checked out his options. No windows, the only
escape was through the living room.

He selected a taught crossbow and checked its aim carefully. He would have
one likely shot, on account of the weapon wasn't that easy to load.

Casting a lustful eye on the sleeping form of Dana Scully, sprawled
uncharacteristically on the bed, he forced himself to stick with his more
immediate plan and do her later. Besides, she would put up *quite* a fight,
being FBI, and would make a ton of noise.

So instead, he turned away and prepared to take on the *other* vamp.

***

I heard something in the other room, but figured it was the girls fighting for
sleep and kept up my circular pace. I know that some people tend to get
restless when faced with danger; and the women probably wouldn't want a
guy walking in on them. Wesley had crashed on the couch after taking first
watch; I had felt that Cordilia and Wesley should go back to their apartments,
but they insisted, saying our new friend could cause trouble and we had
safety in numbers.

But while everyone was asleep but me, there was only one of us.

The shaft suddenly protruded from my chest, surprising me quite a bit.
Before I could even initialize the pain, I'd been tackled from behind and a
strong hand had clamped down over my mouth.

Prisoner has escaped, I thought, feeling rather stupid all of a sudden.

There was a long period of silence; I knew better than to struggle, but I also
wondered just what Mulder might do to keep me from waking the others.
After the pause, assured that everyone was still asleep, the x-federal agent
shifted on top of me. "Not a sound," I heard in a whisper, and obliged readily,
now feeling a burn where the arrow had gone through me. A second later
there was a clinking noise, and I could feel the cold steel of the handcuffs
against my skin.

I listened intently, knowing I had a good chance of being assassinated, and
that I had to do something fast. He shifted backwards--reaching? I
remembered Scully's bag being propped up against the wall, and I could hear
it as he pulled it back towards us both. I strained my ears--I couldn't see him
from my position, so I had to rely on other options. There was a clanking of
items together as Mulder searched the vampire hunting bag for anything
useful, and then a painful hiss--loud at first but instantly hushing as he
realized the noise he was making. There was another long pause for signs of
activity, then the rustling continued.

The first thing that happens when this is over is I'm teaching Cordy and
Wesley how to wake up easier, I thought to myself, trying to look over my
shoulder to see what was going on and ignore the pain in chest at the same
time. There was a satisfied grunt from behind me, and I began drastically
hoping that Agent Scully had not had a stake in her duffel bag.

Turns out she didn't--but she had duct tape and a bunch of minced garlic.


******

"Agent Scully--Cordelia--Ms. Jades--"

All three of them sat up from their sleeping places, immediately awakened by
Wesley's urgent tone. Scully's eyes snapped first to the floor next to the bed--
empty--then to the doorway where Wesley stood wide-eyed. "He's gone!!"
the ex-watcher cried, pulling anxiously at a tuft of his bed-head hair.

Scully leapt from the bed, taking a longer look at the abandoned ropes on the
floor, then pushed past Wesley into the living room. With a short gasp, she
knelt down next to an extremely agitated Angel and set to work unlocking his
handcuffs.

"Call Barnes and Harris," She snapped to Cordelia, who was up and ready to
complain, (but chose against doing so seeing the situation they were in.)
Cordy snatched up the telephone and started dialing the other agents' hotel
room numbers while Scully finally got the blamed restraints off of her dead
comrade.

Angel tore the duct tape from his mouth and choked out a mouthful of garlic,
seemingly immune to the arrow sticking out of his chest. Finally he sat up
and groaned. "Nasty stuff," he mumbled, pulling a wry face.

"Let me help you with that," Scully said breathlessly, touching the shaft
gingerly. Angel winced. "Wesley, hold him upright."

Rummaging around in her ever-so-handy duffel bag, the agent came out with
a bottle of yellowy stuff and a stake. Angel eyed the arrangement wearily, but
the pain in his chest was resurfacing. Better sooner than later.

To his surprise, Agent Scully half-shoved the stake into his mouth, and,
catching on, he held it in his teeth. Still not knowing what the yellow stuff
was for, he prepared to do a lot of biting. "Okay, hold still. It's going to hurt,
but if I know my vampires you'll be okay in an hour or two." Angel closed
his eyes; he never was one for physical pain.

Scully opened the bottle and dabbed some of the yellowy stuff onto a paper
towel, then went about dousing the back end of the arrow shaft. The pressure
applied only stung more, and the vampire was suddenly glad he had a stake to
bite into.

"Okay, on the count of three, I'm going to snap this thing in half, all right?
This might be painful." *Might*, sneered Angel to himself, then prepared
himself for it.

"One...."

SNAP!!

"AAAHHHH!!"

Scully worked fast; even before Angel had recovered from the first sting, she
was already at work tugging the remainder of the shaft out of his chest. A
second later, Wesley was dabbing at the blood on both sides of his friend, and
Agent Scully was inspecting the broken, bloody arrow.

"What happened to two and three?" he complained, touching his wound and
wincing again.

"Couldn't have you tensing up." Scully responded dryly, wiping blood off the
arrow and handing it to the now-healing vampire. "Well, it's out. You did
good."

"*You* did pain," Angel snapped. But indeed, he was feeling better.

"Harris and Barnes are on their way. They wanted to know what was making
that awful screaming sound, so I told them it was a ghoul." Cordy knelt down
beside the others and inspected Angel for herself. "So, where are we going to
start looking for this guy? I mean, again?"

They fell silent for a moment. Angel stood up and grabbed a black tee from
the back of a chair, noting the amount of blood covering the one he was
wearing. Hoping none of the ladies would mind, he peeled off the soiled shirt
and quickly pulled on the new one. (Nobody minded; he wondered why
nobody ever minded when he took his shirt off?)

"I guess we'll just have to watch the night clubs again," Scully said tiredly.

"I've got some contacts," Angel added quickly, "Some of them are reliable, at
least."

"Guys....." It was Cedar Jades, hugging herself and loitering around the
doorway. "Um.....I'm not an investigator or anything....."

Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. Cedar blushed and looked
down.

"Well.....I just have this feeling.....that he's not going to be too hard to find."

"Why not?" Wesley asked.

Cedar didn't look up, but she looked at the door rather warily. "Because I
think this time....he'll be after us......"

******

He watched them split into teams from a rental car across the street; the
vampire, who staggered along and resisted assistance--he went with Agent
Scully. Mulder squinted dangerously as they climbed into his car, which was
parked neatly out of the sun on the curb outside the apartment. No. That
bastard lowlife could hold crosses towards him any day--but Scully was
*his*.

The one with the English accent went with the Brunette. Ahh, Cedar, the
vampire recalled, sitting back a little. She was good. What little time he'd
spent with her was a satisfying memory. If only she felt the same way.....

But ohh, no, she had to go running to Scully. She had to be on *their* side.

Growling to himself, making a personal note to figure out how to Embrace
vampires, and pulling the car out of the parking space, he started to trail the
unknowing duo down the street.

******

We walked side-by-side, sticking to the shadowed side of the street for my
sake. Ever so often I'd catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye; I
didn't want to be caught looking at her, though.

Her character was one that had to be noticed. She carried with her an air of
confidence, and my senses told me it was more than just air. She was strong
and brave and proud for a woman; not that women could not be strong and
brave and proud, but I have met few like Dana Scully. Without even
watching her go through it, I could see her refusing to cry. She was not a
child, as I have before been drawn to.....this woman was a very grown-up
individual; a very orderly, religious, and by-the book *brave* individual.

She stopped suddenly and looked up. I followed her eyes to a large but
boarded up warehouse, whose entrance was down an alley a little ways up.
"What?" I asked, looking to see if there was something I'd looked over.

"What's in there?"

I rolled through my memory.....I knew that at least three or four vamp gangs
had been known to hide out there; I rarely checked it because they always
seemed to know when to split. "Nothing, really. Sometimes vampires hide
out there. Why?"

But she was already following the wall around towards the alley, giving the
narrow road a thoughtless once-over and taking long strides towards the
entrance. I had to hurry to catch up; by the time I was peering into the alley,
she was already busy with the lock on the door, holding an electronic
lockpick in one hand.

I hoped she knew what she was doing, but I wasn't about to disagree. There
could be hundreds of run-down warehouses in this area; but then again, she
was pretty sharp with details. She could have easily picked up something I'd
missed.

The inside of the warehouse was dark; my counterpart took out a flashlight
and checked out the ground floor. I noted that she had left her weapon in its
respected holster, and had instead taken on a bottle of Windex filled up with
holy water as we made our way into the dark environment.

There didn't seem to be anything on the first floor, which was basically an
oversized, barren room with supports sprouting up into the ceiling, boards
nailed to the windows to filter out nearly all of the light, so we headed for the
metal staircase in the corner. The second floor was slightly different: it was
not as roomy, and although the windows remained covered, piles and piles of
boards lay stacked on the floor, creating a thick maze that was difficult to
navigate without tripping over.

"Okay, you take that side, I'll be over here." Agent Scully glanced at me and I
nodded, carefully stepping over a pile of 2x4's on my way towards the
opposite end of the room.

I will admit that I did worry about her. It was nature to, I guess. If he was
even in the building, he would probably go after her. Not that I thought he
would because she was less intimidating than myself; I knew she could hold
her own. But this Mulder guy.....he did mean something to her. And as
terrible as it may sound, she meant nothing to him.

After a few minutes of searching around, I sighed and stopped. As high as
those piles were, Mulder and I could be three feet from each other and
following each other around in circles without knowing it. Halfway through
our search, Scully and I ran face-to-face with each other, and she sort of had
this reflex--

"AAHHHHH!" I clutched my face and wiped the stinging droplets away with
my sleeve, hardly noticing the flecks of blood that had come off with them.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!"

"I'm okay. Sorry."

"Sorry...."

"I'm, really it's okay--"

"So sorry, I didn't--"

"You don't have to--"

"I guess I'm a little tense....are you bleeding? God, I am so sorry...."

"Don't be, I should have--"

Finally we both shut up and stared at each other silently; I could hardly blame
her, of course. It was really my fault; I should have heard her coming by the
beating of her heart and lungs--pounding now, because of the inevitable
anxiety that comes from this kind of thing.

"At least we know you're well armed," I said lightly. She cracked into a smile
and looked away, laughing nervously.

There was a sudden crash and I whirled around, just in time to intercept the
board flying toward my head. Luckily its flat side collided with my upper
torso as opposed to my head, and I in turn collided with Dana Scully, who
pulled the trigger on her bottle (out of reflex) again. There were a few
moments of darkness before I came back to my senses, pushing myself back
from the agent's motionless form. My stomach tightened as I saw blood, then,
realizing it was mine, I looked around for more trouble before checking her
out.

Nothing serious. We'd crashed into a thick pile of boards directly behind us,
and as we fell to the floor she'd hit her head and knocked herself out. I
promised myself I would call an ambulance as soon as the coast was clear,
and began looking around the coast.

Nothing.

Shuddering ever so slightly, I pulled a glove out of my pocket and, pulling it
on, reached to pick up Scully's water bottle.

It was gone.

"Looking for this?"

THUNK!

The impact was not impressive, save for the fact that the lid of the bottle had
been screwed off. I skipped backwards in time to see a cascade of water
splash to the floor and the empty Windex bottle land with a soft *doink*,
rubbing my head and immediately snapping my attention back to my
attacker.

Mulder considered the damp spot on the floor, and the empty bottle at my
feet, and me, rubbing my head (somewhat annoyed.) "Oops," he muttered,
then took off.

I was after him in instants; he was fast, be he also made the mistake of
wearing a constantly ticking Rolex. It worked for me like a personal, audio
tracking device—a substitute for a heart. I headed him off and knocked him
to the floor as we intercepted.

I heard a loud snarl and something hard connected with my spine; I arched
my back instinctively while rolling out of the way in time to see my
adversary jump to his feet and whirl in my direction. Using a pile of boards to
help support myself, I twisted to the side and the punch directed toward my
face hit instead into a stack of wood. "SHIT!!!"

Swiping him off his feet, I tried to remember if I had anything useful on me. I
did not have the cross, but I did have a stake or two. I remembered that I
wasn't supposed to stake the guy; but the idea certainly crossed my mind as
he twisted out of my grip and kicked me over again.

I braced myself against the wood pile again. My chest was hurting from my
previous impaleation, my eyes were starting to sting as the smallest amounts
of Holy Water were mixing with sweat and dripping into them, and I had the
feeling I'd broken a collar bone. Nothing that couldn't be fixed, but that kind
of thing takes time. I had very little of that, and I happened to be a little low
on energy, too.

Mulder's fist caught my jaw this time and I dropped down to the floor, hoping
to take his legs or something. But this guy was extraordinarily tall and thin,
and I seemed to have trouble taking *any* of him. Not to mention my gut
figured that *his legs* would be taking *me* instead of the other way
around. I watched his foot come back and tightened my stomach to take the
blow.

I heard a rib-cracking crunch, rather than felt it, and instinctively snapped the
stake from out of my coat pocket and stabbed it into his calf. I heard the
resolving vampiric scream and withdrew it, stumbling to my feet and
ignoring the pain. Using a wood pile to brace myself from, I threw myself
onto his hunched form and stabbed this time into his right side. There was
another scream.

I raised the stake and prepared to plunge it again, but one of his arms
whipped out and caught me in the middle, throwing me backwards. I watched
him fall to the side, bracing himself against a wood pile, and I began thinking
fast on when where and how.

"--Only counts--" he had to work to get the air for the words "--if you hit
home--"

I had a sudden intuition to get away, but found myself frozen like a deer
caught in a pair of headlights, not sure what to do. Sure enough, I watched as
if in slow motion as he reached above his head and yanked a securing cable
out of its home, then twisted himself in the opposite direction.

If I had owned a working heart, it would have stopped beating.

I watched the boards falling.....





Chapter Five


She woke up exhausted. Not only did she have a throbbing headache, but her
arms were sore and there was a dull, white pain in the back of her skull.
Images looked blurry, like she was looking at them through black cellophane
wrap.

Shortly she discovered the reason why her arms hurt; they were tied. And
tightly. She felt a pole behind her back, but when she tried to turn to see how
she was bound, a flaming hot pain came over her and she froze on instinct.

Slowly the room got brighter and she figured out where she was; some kind
of run-down building, with scarcely any furniture except for a long table and
three mostly-broken chairs. Carefully, as to not upset her head, she slid
herself up into a sitting position and carefully aligned her back with the pole.
She knew she had to make sure she was all right before she even considered
escaping.

It was a minute or two later before she even noticed him; he was sitting with
his back to her, trying mostly in vain to bandage his left leg, muttering dark
things under his breath and hissing ever so often. Fox Mulder was not
seriously injured; he had lost considerable amounts of blood earlier, but
had......replenished it since then.

Scully gasped and breathed in sharply as she realized she was not alone; it
drew his attention from his leg back to her and she froze, not sure what else
she could do.

"Oh, guess who's up," He said casually, even lightheartedly, while walking
past her to the other side of the room. Dana felt her stomach sinking, and her
head flamed even more. "Thought you'd never get up. Feeling ok, Scully?"

She wanted to retort, to scream, to hiss to do anything, but didn't have the
strength to do it. Instead her eyes searched the room further; there was a
window in the other wall; it was dark outside, and her holster and gun lay on
the other end of the table, safely out of reach. She heard the being that looked
and spoke like her partner moving around somewhere behind her, and shifted
uneasily.

He limped back into view, holding his side with one arm and carrying a glass
of ice water in the other. Scully eyed it, tempted, and he set it on the floor,
sitting down cross-legged straight across from her.

He smiled.

Dana moaned softly, her head pounding now. She felt her numb wrists start
to shiver.

"Glad you're awake," he said in a soft, dangerous voice. "You lost a lot of
blood." He listened calmly as her heart beat just a little faster at his words.
Fear. "Sooner you're up and about, the better. I feel like crap."

The corners of his mouth twitched upward.

He watched placidly as the woman's eyes darted from his face to the window,
to her gun and back helplessly. He leaned in towards her and heard her heart
rate rise quickly. "What's the matter, huh Scully?" He murmured, moving
over her slowly, his face inches from hers. Her heart pounded faster and he
slowly tilted his head, moving in to whisper into her ear. "Are you afraid?"

She whimpered almost inaudibly and prayed to God that it was not her best
friend who was speaking to her.

*******


It took forever to wake up; then it took another forever to fight my way out of
the mountain of boards. Anyway, when I was free, he was gone. So was
Scully. Dark stains around the floor where I had left her told me that he had
fed from her to recover, then taken her with him.

I groped around in my jacket for my phone, and waited impatiently while it
rang. It was dark out; I'd been out for a while. I only hoped that I could find
Scully in one piece.

One live piece.

"Angel! Where have you two been?! We've been looking everywhere!"
Wesley complained into the phone. I silenced him quickly.

"Look, Agent Scully and I were attacked. I just woke up. He's taken her."
That got a load of silence. Finally, from the other end--"do you know where
he's gone?"

"No," I sighed into the phone, heading towards the staircase. I was feeling a
lot better than I had been, with the exception of some bruises and cuts from
being avalanched in heavy wood. "Listen, you've got to find her and fast. I
already know he's fed on her, and I know he'll try to keep her alive, too. We
have to find them both before he finishes her off."

"We're on it. I'll call Agents Barnes and Harris. Where are you?"

I told him and we disconnected, and I left the warehouse and returned to the
street. It was just a normal, late spring evening in Los Angeles. Nothing was
out of order or strange; and after a brief questioning round, nobody in the
area had seen anything weird, either.

Wesley pulled up in my car a minute or so later, and I let him drive,
collapsing in the back seat as the passenger was occupied by Cordelia. We
roared off and I gratefully leaned my head back against the headrest, rubbing
my head and aching ribs in turn. Wesley began a steady torrent of speech:
"Harris has gotten into the airport system and is running some sort of
program that may be able to pick them up if he tries to leave the area. Barnes
has faxed his profile to all local hotels and lodges, and we were in the middle
of watching the local pubs. I have a feeling he might try to stay someplace
close by; he'll want to taunt us with Agent Scully for as long as he can."

I interrupted, "Wait a second, you guys are here, Barnes and Harris are doing
their thing, who's with Ms. Jades?"

Cordy and Wesley exchanged glances in the mirror. "Uh, when I got your
call, we had re-grouped at the office. Cedar offered to stay behind in case you
came back there as we looked for you."

I closed my eyes. Great. "Okay," I said, annoyed, "turn around, come on,
now. Back to the office. _Now_."

"Certainly she'll be all right," Wesley stated in a slightly worried tone. I
rolled my eyes. I wasn't feeling up to much at this point; all I wanted was to
find Mulder and find him fast.

"Of course she's all right, Wesley," I growled, drumming my fingers
impatiently on the armrest and giving him a good glare, "But have you
looked at the girl? Even the word 'vampire' freaks her out. She might have
offered to stay behind, but Lord, you shouldn't have left her alone!!"

Wesley cowered back and sunk into his seat a little, making a U-turn, but did
not say anything.

"Sorry." I said after a while. "Just get back there."

******

Cedar Jades bit her lip and leaned against Angel's desk, rocking back and
forth and rubbing her arms. It was cold in the office; and dark, too. She'd
taken liberty of pulling all the blinds and locking the windows and door, and
had, since she'd been left, revolved around the spare handgun that Agent
Harris had thoughtfully left with her.

The heater came on with a loud hum and Cedar jumped, shivering as the
goosebumps popped up on her arms. Hoping that the stylish lady who worked
with Angel wouldn't mind, she hurried to the door and paused just long
enough to snatch Cordy's extra overcoat off the coat rack. Scampering back
to the desk, she pulled the jacket on and buttoned it up, then carefully picked
up the gun and slipped around the desk, leaning against the wall.

If an attack was coming, she would definitely know it.

With a forced laugh, Cedar lifted the heavy metal weapon and held it with her
arm bent. Much like James Bond, she thought nervously and forced another
half-laugh. Her eyes darted from window to glass separator to window again.

Her fingers played over the weapon, re-gripping it every few seconds: "This
is the safety," Harris had told her before he left, "this is how you load it, and
you pull the trigger to fire." Well, she figured to herself, unlocking the safety,
don't want to forget to unlock that.

Cedar looked around the empty office and started to feel very silly. If the
vampire was still around, why would he come to his enemy's office? She
laughed halfheartedly. That would be a real stupid thing to do....

She still tensed as the heater shut off.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

She tensed her finger against the trigger, then relaxed. A moment or two
later, she tensed her finger again.

Ohh, when are they coming back? She glanced at the door again.
God, if only Dana was here. The agent wasn't really close to Cedar; but
unfortunate timing had brought them together. And they were meaningful to
each other. Cedar wished Dana was there because she knew her. Not to
mention the girl had gone through a rigorous training course at Quantico and
had a 95% accuracy with her weapon.....

Man, even that nice vampire guy would be ok, so long as I 'm not alone.

The gun was heavy. She lowered it slowly and took a deep breath, scanning
the office. Looking down at Angel's desk, she gave an exasperated sigh. His
phone was sitting *right* *there.* She could have just called somebody.

But then, where would that put her? Cedar's too scared to be alone. I guess
one of us will have to stay with her. It's your turn. No, I stayed
with Cedar last time. *You* do it.

Cedar let out a huff, collapsed into Angel's office chair and gripped the gun
again. Back to her previous schedule of scanning the room for signs of
intrusion. She was still alone. The woman relaxed in the chair, sighing again
and fingering the gun.

Of course, she figured, Maybe when I'm done this would make a nice
story. Not for the paper, of course, but I've always kind of wanted to write
freelance....

There was a click at the door.

The knob turned. She squared her attention at the door and straightened her
back, even as the door was opening. As if in slow motion, she jumped to her
feet and swung the weapon around, baring her teeth and widening her eyes as
the door swung open, revealing her attacker.

She shrieked; the shot was louder than she'd expected, a lot louder, and the
weapon jerked in her hands. She dropped it and stumbled backwards into the
desk, shielding her face with her arms and beginning to sob in terror.

Angel cradled his stomach, and looked down at her with surprise on his
features.




Chapter Six


I was lying on the couch, holding my stomach and trying to focus on nothing.
Not only had four hours gone by with a grand total of zero leads, but I had
been mortally wounded again.

Such is death.

Cordelia walked in from the kitchen and handed me a tall glass of blood,
which I accepted quietly and began to drink as she continued about asking the
others if she could get them some tea. I think Wesley was making his best to
keep Ms. Jades looking in the opposite direction as I drank, though.

The young woman had slightly recovered; she was speaking again, and had at
least stopped shaking a little. Damn it, though, I should have said something
about her to the others. She should not have been left alone. I mean, what if it
wasn't me, Mr. Immortal, who'd walked through the door?

After I drank the whole glass, though, I did feel better. Wesley had found
some kind of "Vampire Textbook" in Agent Scully's bag, and had been
looking through it. He had constantly been reading phrases from it that
seemed of great interest to him. (i.e., "The Vampire of Vichi, also commonly
known as _Chat de Vichi,_ has a seemingly natural life cycle as do human
beings, save for the fact that to this species, Blood is both a re-generator and-
-so to speak--fountain of youth, so that not only health but age can also be
restored.....") Apparently the book was one of those New Age books
published for the general public, although Scully had gone through and
systematically edited everything from A to Z, writing in the margins and
crossing out paragraphs and stuff. I reminded myself to give her some actual
hardcore truth to read out of when this was all over.

Then I told myself that when this was over, we couldn't be sure she would be
with us.

Pushing that out of my mind, I tried to listen to Wesley as he quoted some
more of Scully's cliff notes, these apparently newly-added and concerning my
own "breed" of vampirism. Or whatever. I was feeling generally crummy.

I looked around the room, first at Cordy and Cedar, who were talking softly
under the droll sound of Wesley's pointless speech. Cordelia was doing a fair
job of cheering the tall brunette up, and I was happy to notice that the girl
was actually sipping tea now.

Agents Barnes and Harris were not speaking; Barnes was rubbing her temples
as she drank strong tea and crouched over several layers of textbooks, no
doubt trying to profile her way into our enemy's mind. Harris was lost in
thought, sitting at the computer and staring intently at the screen. The agents'
handguns had been concealed under their jackets carefully, having caused
enough traumas already.

At seven o'clock, about when we were deciding whether we should split up
on the streets again, the phone rang. I looked at Wesley, who darted for the
phone before Cordy could get to it. "Yes?" he said after a few seconds. The
room was silent.

My English-accented friend gulped and went slightly pale before extending
the phone towards me. "It's for you," he murmured.

I took the phone. "Yes?" I said in a low voice.

"Yo," greeted me on the other end. "Wassssupp?"

Glancing at Wesley, I thought quickly for words. "Where are you," I said
calmly into the phone. I strained my ears for any sign of....well, life. Scully.

"What? That's all you can say, where are you? Your little mistress is being
held captive in the claws of evil and yet, where are you?" His voice was
lighthearted. I knew where it came from. I have been evil. I knew it was all a
game, all just for fun. I knew that you had to pull tricks, to play games, to
wind the weak around your finger before destroying them. I knew what he
was doing.

I also knew Scully was still alive. She had to be. Why would he call, if she
had already been killed? The game goes on.

"So, where are you," I repeated calmly.

"Oh, around," he sighed into the phone. "You're soooo not fun to play with,
y'know that? you suck."

"Why are you calling?"

"Frankly? I'm bored."

"What have you done with her?"

I knew it was what he wanted me to say. But the truth was, there was nothing
else that I could say. I just had to hope. Maybe we could find out something
more. But we had to keep him talking. I looked around the room at all the
blank expressions. Agent Barnes was motioning for me to hand her the
phone, looking angrily determined, but I couldn't let a mortal handle this
situation. Even though she was a psychologist, I was the one who understood
the enemy.

"I messed around, but then it was kind of dull, 'cause she's not messing back,
the bitch."

"Why are you calling?" I asked again.

"I just said it, dumbass, I'm frickkin' BORED. 'Sides, you're fun talkin' to,
know that? Would you believe I've never met another frickkin' vampire in my
death before? Death? Get it?" he chuckled to himself. "Oh okay, you're not
one of those guys with a sense of humor. Okay. Cool." A pause. "Oh, ooh,
oh, get this."

My stomach tightened as I heard a soft groan in the background. Tired and
hurt, and possibly emotionally disturbed....Dana Scully was still alive. There
was a slight shuffling sound, then Mulder's voice again. "She's not feeling
well......Damn shame she doesn't heal faster. Hmmmm......"

I had to restrain a growl. "What do you want, Mulder? What is it we have to
do? You've called us for some reason. Or is there?"

"Maybe." He said lightly, "Maybe there is. Maybe there's not. Hard to tell.
Especially with Scully here, you know. She kind of needs a lot of attention.
Not feeling well......"

I closed my eyes a second. "What have you done to her?"

"Not much. Yet."

The line clicked and I heard the dialtone buzzing in my ear. Putting the
receiver down, I looked up at Agent Harris, who was scanning a printout
eagerly.

"I got the whole thing," he said stonily, "Mulder was using Scully's cell
phone, so we can't trace the call. But......" he showed us the chart, ".....But,
there was a lot of background noise. We might be able to distinguish his
location from the area sounds."

I nodded. "You heard Scully?"

Harris looked grim as he nodded, indicating the chart again. "At least we
know she's alive."

I pulled myself to my feet and, testing my stability, I picked up my coat. "For
now," I said, "he could decide to change her at any time. We've got to move
fast. I picked up a few background noises myself; I think I have a pretty good
idea where they are." Still feeling woozy, I stopped by the fridge and quickly
took out two pints of blood, screwing off the top and downing about half of it
before I headed towards the door. "Come on. Let's move."

Silently, my team came.


******

It was just luck that I had happened to hear the faint whistle in the
background of our conversation; that limited our search area to the north side
of town. Every evening at 7:05 sharp it sounds; the release whistle for the
workers at Sharper's Wood, Inc. As we drove towards the run-down factory,
we saw some of the workers laughing and talking as they walked home.

"Some break," Cordy muttered, shaking her head as she looked out the
window, "I mean, he just happens to call at seven oh five? I mean, what if
this is a setup or something?"

I looked over my shoulder to face Wesley and Cordelia. Even if it wasn't
exactly right to do, I hadn't told the FBI agents about our breakthrough.
They'd be safer alone; not like any of them had ever fought a vampire before.
Besides, I couldn't leave Cedar alone again, and they knew how to take care
of her.

"Okay, let's get out. He's around here somewhere." I parked next to the curb
and we hopped out, Wesley looking down the shaft of a crossbow and Cordy
figuring out how to fit her spray bottle into her waist pouch. I peeked into the
back seat of my car and extracted a well-worn battle pike from the tangle of
weaponry, then locked the door and nodded down the street. "Empty houses
down this way. Let's check them out for signs of break-ins."

It seemed like hours were passing by as we tediously went door-to-door on
the ancient, mildew-smelling houses to see if any doors were broken in or
unlocked. Some were--but further searching proved nothing.

"Could you have heard wrong?" Wesley asked, wiping his brow and looking
down the dark street as we emerged, yet again, unsuccessfully from an
abandoned house.

"I know what I heard," I muttered, "he's here somewhere."

"Angel, it's midnight," Cordy complained, "We've been walking for five
hours! My feet are so sore they hardly fit into my shoes."

I thought for a minute, pausing on the sidewalk. "You guys go home, then. I'll
keep looking; I'll be back in the morning." I turned and kept walking.
Sometimes I forget about human needs--such as sleep during night hours. I'd
actually thought that Cordy and Wes had gotten over that; we were out late
all the time, right? But to my surprise, I found them walking on either side of
me in silence a moment later.

We walked for a few minutes. Yes. My friends were loyal to me; and we
were loyal to *our* friends. Dana had become something more than a statue
of hope and prevail, of determination and promise. She was a permanent part
of all of us, now.

Our minds are like one.

"Scully's out here somewhere," Wesley said quietly.

We walked on.


*********


It was four in the morning when we first found something.

We'd been walking nonstop. We'd busted three groups of demons,
interrogated each and every one of them. They knew nothing.

But at four fifteen...ahh, relief in sight. Or not. "Look, light," Cordelia
murmured, dog tired and leaning on my shoulder. She pointed up ahead to
where a dim light echoed softly off the walls of yet another abandoned
building.

"Vampires don't need light," Wesley observed tensely.

"Let's go, then," I said.

I looked around for my pike but realized Cordy had long ago accepted it as a
walking stick. Instead I checked to be sure I still had all my stakes accounted
for, and Cordy's crossbow (which I had been laden with) was loaded and
ready for action.

We approached the building silently, like the numerous other times. I twisted
hard on the knob and whatever lock might have been there was gone. Lifting
the door slightly off its hinges, I pressed inward to keep it from squeaking.
We entered unnoticed.

All activity, if there was any, would be on the top floor. Silently we made our
way across the creaky floorboards towards the stairs; Wesley guarded our
rear with his own crossbow, Cordy had commandeered the battle pike and I
was ready for action in the lead.

But when I peeked over the railing on the top floor, the light illuminated the
room perfectly. It was completely empty, except for the huddled form in the
center by the lamp.

"Scully," I breathed, quickening my pace to kneel down beside the shaking
woman. The others were not far behind. She turned to look at me at the sound
of my voice and she gave a very shallow whimper at my touch.

Violated.

Her hands had been tied behind her back, and there were more than a few
scabbed-over bite marks around her neckline. My hands flew over the ropes,
moving fast and constantly so there would be no time for them to start
shaking. By the state of her clothes and body, it was not hard to tell what had
taken place here tonight.

I ripped the ropes away and she fell against me, her head lolling. I lifted her
up and turned around; the room was still empty. Cordy still clutched her
battle pike and was checking out Agent Scully from afar. "We've got to get
her out of here," I muttered.

"Good God," Wesley murmured, shaking his head. "Come....Come on.
Downstairs."

"Right." I craned my neck to try and see into Scully's eyes. From her
breathing, I figured she'd fallen asleep at last. I headed towards the stairs,
where Wesley was waiting. Cordy came as rearguard, but she looked around
the room as if she'd left something behind.

She touched my shoulder. "Angel, where's the cross--"

A sudden crashing noise both caused us all to jump and also bathed the room
in complete blackness. With the jolt my stomach tightened and I steadied my
grip on the fallen agent. We weren't getting off so easily after all.

As my eyes instantly adjusted to the dark, I saw that an arrow had very
accurately shot through the light bulb of the lamp. That explained the
darkness.

Wesley and Cordelia were looking around frantically for him, their eyes not
yet adjusted to the overwhelming darkness. I looked out the window and
watched him lower the crossbow to his side and grin mischievously before
leaping from the neighboring rooftop to the broken windowsill.

"Nice shot, don't you think?" He drawled.

"Cordy--Mulder, ten o'clock," I hissed. She whirled towards him and
squinted, then readied her battle pike as he strode across the floor towards our
group.

Ex-Agent Mulder grinned again, but with malice this time. "Yeah. Nice shot.
It's too bad these things don't load faster, though."

He jumped towards Cordelia. Wesley fired his crossbow.

In an instant, I watched him step past the flying arrow, slamming his arm into
Cordelia's side at the same time and sidestepping past Wesley. Still clutching
agent Scully close to me, I watched Wesley take a profound step back and
Cordy fall to the side almost simultaneously.

I had lost Mulder for a second, but a sturdy kick in my side alerted me of his
position. I jumped across the room to put some space between us, and gently
laid Scully on the ground. She was still breathing evenly, which was good.
By Wesley's pulse, he was okay, and by Cordy's....well.....we'd lost one of our
numbers, at least for the time being. She was out cold.

"I don't think I ever cleared this up with you," Mulder said under his breath in
my direction, "but you've been a little too physical with my girl, know what I
mean? I mean she's mine, you shithole. Hands off."

"I don't think your hands are all that fit, either," I snarled back, losing myself
for a minute. The rapid clicking to our left reminded me that Wesley still had
a crossbow, and even though it was tough to load it *did* load. "Listen, I
know she's yours, Mulder, I do. But you've got--"

"Damn straight," he spat--

"--to straighten yourself out before you have her back. I'm just here to set you
straight. That's all. Then I'll leave you alone. Just--"

"Ha!" He laughed, his eyes sparkling brighter than what seemed right, "I'm
not straight. *I'm* not *Straight*. *You* listen, pretty-boy, I'm more straight
than I have been since the day I died."

KSSHT! THUD!

Mulder jumped with surprise for a second as the arrow shot through his right
arm, but the surprise seemed to give up and die, replaced immediately by
hatred. He ripped the shaft out of his bicep and threw it across the room,
already rushing at Wesley.

I dove for him, trying to intercept him halfway there, and caught a glimpse of
a distressed Wesley darting in an opposite direction, already re-loading the
crossbow. An instant later Mulder's crossbow (or Cordelia's, more precisely, I
guess,) glanced off my forehead. Another instant later and the both of us
collided headfirst.

By the time I managed to roll to the side, away from the kicking and
struggling ex-FBI, he was up and after Wes again. My brainy friend had
braced himself against an old bookshelf and managed to finish loading the
weapon instants before it was too late.

The shaft let loose three inches wide of his head.

Wesley gasped. I was running towards him, but it seemed like I was frozen in
place. I was just too far away....and things happen so quickly.....that....

Mulder batted the crossbow away as if it were a balloon and dealt him a
quick punch in the jaw. The agent gripped Wesley's throat in one hand,
pinning his arm down with the other. I got there far too late, but I had to do
something. Swinging back, I hit the other vampire straight on in the temple,
causing him to recoil and swing at my stomach in response. I pulled back,
jumped back, and kicked him away from both Wesley and I, sending him
rolling along the floor a few feet.

We still had very little time to act in, however. He was up in ten seconds,
rolling towards the crossbow he'd discarded (thrown at me, actually) and
while he was getting back to his feet, he began to wind the weapon up.

Getting sick of this crossbow business, I dashed over to Cordelia's
motionless body and snatched the pike that lay beside her, discarded. I had
hardly stood up when I found myself on my face again, Mulder leaning over
me and the crossbow's shaft prodding into my back.

Almost as soon as he was on me, he was off. Wesley came at him from the
side and brought his own crossbow down—hard—on the vampire's head.

I scrambled to my feet, clutching at the war pike. Wesley stood beside me,
Cordy lay at our feet, Scully lay across the room and Mulder was righting
himself not far away.

I looked at Wesley and he looked at me; we had weapons and Mulder was in
brief disarray. We nodded to each other and charged.

Several things happened at once.

Mulder fired his crossbow.

Wesley halted his charge.

I turned partially to see what the problem was.

Wesley looked up at me with a look of confusion, his left hand clutching a
bloodied crossbow shaft and his right still holding the loaded weapon. My
friend staggered for a moment, then fell over backwards.

I paused for a split second; I wanted to help him. I took a step towards him.
He would still be alive if it caught his stomach.

I turned my back completely to my opponent, and then everything fell into a
vast empire of darkness.





Chapter Seven


It was dark and the three people crowded in the stairwell felt hot, sticky and
cramped, standing so close together that none could properly move.

"It's okay," the man said to her, "Everyone will be okay. Don't worry. Stay
here."

She hugged herself and shivered, despite the closeness of her companions.

"Now."

He jumped up with his gun aimed and she felt herself running into the open
along with him. She'd taken upon herself to bring an ancient sword that she
found in Angel's office; she had strapped the sheath across her back because
of the weight.

She was a journalist, after all.

She looked across the room and he met her gaze. They were on different
sides of the room; it felt like they were from different worlds.

His eyes gleamed and he smiled to her; but there was nothing but malice in it.
She shuddered. Around the room she saw the others; Cordelia looked dead;
so did Dana and Mr. Wyndam-Price, and Angel….well, he looked dead, too,
but she knew that he was supposed to be dead already.

But Mulder smiled at her.

He stood in the center of them, arms crossed. Bring it on, she could
imagine him saying. The FBI on either side of her unholstered their guns.
They were going to bring it on.

"Make my day," said the enemy, stroking his weapon slowly.

Agent Barnes started firing and did not stop until the round was completely
empty; six shots. Agent Harris was busy weaving his way towards Scully,
who was nearest to them.

Things happened in a flash for her; she saw him look up at her again and
move his bow towards her. Dashing across the room to free herself from his
gaze, she noted how his shirt had become bullet-ridden and blood soaked,
despite the way he still moved like a mortal being.

Barnes put her gun aside and yelled out, crashing into Mulder and trying to
wrestle his arms safely away. Instead, she found herself crashing into the
boarded-up window and falling to the floor—another fighter, suddenly out of
the picture.

Maybe he planned it. He probably didn't.

Agent Harris was there a second later, and he was there to bring his elbow
down hard on the Undead agent's neck. Mulder gasped sharply and fell
forward—his eyes flashing into the square of morning sunlight piercing
through the window that Barnes had accidentally opened up.

Cedar was running. It seemed like she was moving so slowly, like she was
going in slow motion, or that everything else was, one of the two. There was
a table right in front of her; on it, lay Agent Scully's handgun, put safely out
of her reach by her tormentor. She picked it up and turned.

Mulder was on his knees, covering his eyes and yelling something. Cedar
didn't hear.

Harris had fallen backwards, was rolling out of the way.

Cedar picked up the weapon and turned around.

She had a very clear shot.


*****


Dana Scully opened her eyes and saw light. She shifted herself, realizing that
her arms and legs were free, and found herself embraced in the soft sheets of
Angel's bed.

She sat up. Her head hurt a little, but otherwise she felt much better. She was
wearing her green silk pajamas, and although she could still feel the tiny bite
marks on her neck, she felt much better and wondered how she got to Angel's
apartment in the first place.

As she was standing up, wobbly at first but gaining energy quickly, Cordelia
come in bearing a tray of breakfast and a cup of tea. "Ooh, you're up," Cordy
said lightly, setting the tray down on the bed, "How are you doing?"

"What happened?" Scully murmured, rubbing her eyes and sitting down. She
jumped to her feet again before she'd even finished sitting. "Where's
Mulder?!"

"He's fine," Cordy said with a small smile, pressing Dana back into a sitting
position. "Better than I am, in fact. Oww. And I'm not the one who got shot
in the head." She rubbed a visible bruise on her forehead and smiled again.
"Well, Wesley's even worse off than me, so I guess we should all be
thankful. Oh," she looked back into Dana's eyes with sudden interest. "How
are *you* doing?"

Scully relaxed a little and sighed. "My head hurts," she admitted after a
while.

"Drink this," Cordy suggested, handing her the cup of tea. "It's strong green
tea. Perk you right up."

Agent Scully partially grimaced but accepted the tea, taking a sip and raising
her eyebrows, then taking another sip. "Where is he," she said after a few
minutes. It wasn't a question of whom she was speaking about. It was hardly
a question at all.

"Don't worry about him. We are so totally not making the same mistake
again. We've got him under complete observation. He won't get away again.
And," Cordelia took on a superior sort of expression. "Wesley figures he's
got a cure for you guy, now."

Scully stood up again and put the tea aside. "Let's get going, then," she said
loudly, heading for the door. "The sooner he's back, the sooner we can forget
about this. Where's Wesley?"

"Woah, slow down." Cordy stood up and moved between Scully and the
doorway. "The ceremony can't take place for two more days. The moon has
to be in….in….." She took on a deep voice, mimicking Wesley's. "'the
absolute vertical position, for total authority of the inner soul of the possessed
demon in question.'"

Dana sighed and pulled Cordy out of the way, touching the doorknob.
"Anyway, I still want to know what's going on. Now."

She partially opened the door, but Cordy closed it again.

"Then put some clothes on," she grinned.



*******


They sat in a long oval, their hands joined and candles spaced evenly around
them. He lay unconscious in the center of them, arms crossed over a bare
chest and a silver cross. Wesley had said that the more souls participating the
better; so three FBI agents and three others sat around the nonmoving
vampire and waited.

Angel could not be a part of it.

"The Being will not recognize you as a soul," Wesley had said edgily. Angel
had sighed it off and tried to look busy.

But the truth was, he was a bigger help than any of them. Because of the time
involved, he had suggested that they tie each other wrist to wrist--in case
someone accidentally broke the connection.

Mulder did not move. The Crucifix that held him down kept him more than
silent; it was as if he had died again. Wesley was sure they wouldn't have a
problem with him, this time.

As Angel read the text from a ways off, each of the participating slayers or
agents was lost in his or her own world. The events of the past week had been
nothing but a blur; but it was more of a whirlpool for Dana Scully.

She gazed silently at the body that lay only inches in front of her. Her hands
were tied on either side to Barnes's and Cordelia's, and she thought that if
they weren't, she might not be able to control herself not to touch him.

Just a week ago. Just one week, he'd been normal. He'd been Mulder, the
normal, dry humor, brilliant partner, stupid jokes, guy who chased aliens his
whole life, doesn't care squat about his image Fox Mulder.

Who was this?

Dana closed her eyes and saw the image of him blazed into her eyelids. Not
the bad one. The Mulder that she knew. That she loved. And she told herself
for the thousandth time that he was coming back soon.


*****


Cedar stared sullenly at the monster laying before her and tried to let emotion
slip away. She'd been random, she knew. It could have been anyone; there
was no grudge or hate involved. He had taken her because she was at the
wrong place at the wrong time, nothing else.

Still, she knew, that even when his soul had been restored, even if Fox
Mulder was an okay, nice, funny, considerate, gentle sort of guy, she would
never think of him as anything more than a host of evil.

She closed her eyes and listened to Angel's voice, repeating the enchantment
again. There was nothing more she could do.

*******

I felt my voice going and downed a few gulps of water. After the brief pause
I started reading again.

Countless times have we relied on spells, witchcraft, enchantments to do our
work for us. Sometimes.....it's the only way a monster can be stopped. This
was one of those times.

I stood behind Cordelia, who sat next to Wesley. I had to keep an eye on him
so he could signal me what to do; not to mention in case he fainted on the
spot. He'd been fired through with an arrow only two days ago and hadn't
been to a hospital. I wasn't usually the one reading and enchanting, and I
didn't want to screw it up.

I have screwed up so many times.......most of them, although my conscience
continues to tell me otherwise, were not my fault, but the effects of a demon
who inhabited my own body, who nullified my soul until it was released
years ago. There are some types of demon that do not overpower the soul;
they simply destroy it. If only it had destroyed mine, because I have seen
myself do the worst of sins, and I know that in my mind I enjoyed doing
them.

I memorized the next two sentences and cleared my throat, closing my eyes
to repeat them. Several times in a row I read and repeated with my eyes
closed, until my mind blanked and I could not. I read on with a continuously
droll voice, looking down at the fallen vampire that we had imprisoned.

I felt pity.

I read on and tried my best to think of nothing. But I kept looking down at
him, knowing how he would feel when he was back; the things he had done
to those he cared for....who cared for him.....

I do not like remembering the first few decades after my soul was returned.
All I felt was hate of myself; and fear. I was lost; I had nothing anymore. All
that I owned was a broken heart and a conscience that hated me more than the
people I had hurt.

The pain never faded; I just got better at hiding it.

Please, let him not remember it, I whispered to myself.

Pity.






Chapter Eight


"...let the dead be dead, but let the soul be free."

Seven bodies tensed as the prone form they surrounded jerked to life.

Wesley was already busy snapping the string that held their wrists together,
and once free, Cedar backed off as far as the walls would allow. The many
candles surrounding them crackled and the flames grew three times their
ordinary size before sizzling out.

Mulder jerked again Scully stumbled to her knees and reached forward.
Wesley caught her arm, holding a still-aching stomach with his other and
pulled her away from the circle. "Don't pass the candles!" he yelped,
snatching up a crossbow that lay against the wall and aiming it at Mulder's
chest. "Not until we can be sure," he added more mundanely.

A rippling groan and then a vampiric shriek echoed through Angel's
apartment as the agent in question buckled and finally moved his arms and
legs. The shriek was apparently due to the Crucifix because in the next
instant he brushed it off of his chest, disrupting a set of candles and sending
liquid wax rolling on the floor.

Mulder, creating a low rumbling noise as would a threatened cat, flopped
onto his side and then chest, kicking away still more candles as he fought an
invisible tormentor. A moment later he stopped moving.

"Okay," Wesley said, waving agent Scully in.

She was on her knees in a flash, kneeling in rapidly-cooling wax puddles as
she rolled her partner over again, holding his head up. She paused a second
later; it's kind of hard to tell if a vampire is dead or not. The room was silent;
the others watched from afar as Scully waited for a sign of animation.

Angel closed his eyes and looked down.

There was a groan. Human this time.

Scully's heart started beating again and she made a silent prayer as Mulder's
hand clenched and his head turned a little. "Mulder. Mulder?"

He blinked then let his eyes focus on her in the dark. "Mmhn." He murmured,
reaching up and responsively grabbing her coat sleeve. "Scuh-uhhh."

"Are you okay?" Dana asked slowly, noting how her friend was definitely
moving more now. "Mulder?"

"Scully," he reached behind him and, after a moment, propped himself up
into a sitting position. Licking his lips for a second and looking around, he
added, "Uhhh, where the hell am I, and, uhhh, how the hell did I get here?"

******

There was no jealously involved. I just took it. I said it was no big deal when
Cordelia mentioned it, and it wasn't.

I did not feel jealous that Fox Mulder had no memory of his actions. I don't
know why. Maybe it's because I'm so used to this by now. Maybe it's because
I'm just glad he didn't have to know what he did.

The others didn't tell him. Well, they told him some. They let him know he
had been inhabited by a demon. That was about it.

He regarded me with interest, but not in the naturally friendly sort of way.
Fox Mulder certainly wasn't a bad person; but he wasn't a very good social
one. As for my vampirism, he gave me some long stares that sort of made me
feel like I was in a museum and asked me questions like "So have you ever
killed a living person to feed?" Which I answered the best I could without
feeling like a complete idiot. It must be an FBI thing.

He didn't seem all that nice. Well, I mean, he didn't go out of his way to be
nice. The day after the ceremony, while Scully and Wesley were exchanging
notes and everyone from DC was preparing to go back to DC, Mulder stayed
to himself, either quietly asking questions to anyone he could corner into it,
or reading Wesley's books as if feeding information into a computer. As
much as Agent Scully was interested in vampires and ancient spells, Agent
Mulder seemed so tenfold. Towards the end of the FBI's brief stay, he
approached me with a rather large Latin textbook and a blank, passive look
on his face. "Would you mind if I borrowed this for a while? I'd mail it back,"
he said, his voice quiet and slightly hopeful, in a natural way. I told him it
was Wesley's, and watched him march off in the ex-watcher's direction.

Everything was so odd. It was as if nothing had happened......at all. Maybe
we were simply supposed to forget it.

In fact, the only thing that actually showed that something terrible had taken
place wasn't even a thing; it was Cedar Jades. The tall brunette looked
smaller than ever before, she had lost nights of sleep and she never was to be
seen in the same room as Mulder. We saw little of her; except for when she
stopped by after coming from her hotel room. Mulder either did not notice
her or did not care; he didn't remember her, anyway.

Scully was all right.

She was more shaken up than any of us that past week, and yet she seemed
perfectly fine. Her steel exterior was working strongly against any hurt that
Mulder might have caused; a wonderful, wonderful talent to possess. The
first few times, I saw her flinch at his touch; but then it was as if nothing had
ever happened.

It was absolutely amazing.

How could she recover like that? I didn't know the extent of what the demon
had done, but what I did know was enough to make even the toughest steel
shell turn to ash. Here, not a week after he had tormented her.....and he was
holding with her whispered conversations. Guiding her by the small of her
back. They fit each other like spoons, they act like nothing had happened.

Maybe to Mulder, nothing had.

I admire her so much. I admire her firm handshake, the way she holds herself,
the words she chooses to explain, the bravery, the tough. I admire her eyes;
the only place where the steel blue armor shows through.

But never mind that.

She's taken.








Epilogue


The four FBI agents left in a group on a late flight back to the capitol. Cordy
had suggested to Scully that Cedar take a different flight; we thought it was
best that she never see Mulder again. It was something that she could recover
from.

I was surprised when Ms. Jades came up to me and asked if I would drive her
to the airport. I agreed, although wondering why she would want me, of all
people to take her, and she shouldered her purse. I told Wesley I was driving
her and grabbed the girl's suitcase before leading her out to my car.

We were quiet for about half of the trip. I eventually said, "I thought you
didn't like vampires."

"I don't," she said on a beat.

"I'm a vampire," I reminded her.

"I know."

There was more silence.

"You're different," she finally said. "You're special."

I didn't respond. Of all people, I am not special.

"You like Mulder?" she continued after a moment. "I mean, the new
improved one."

"Do you?"

"Not really." She sighed. "I mean, I like him better than the old Mulder."

"You're right about that," I agreed, my eyes on the road. Answering her
question, "No. Really. I didn't think he was all that interesting."

"A little spooky." She nodded. "Not that I saw that much of him."

I thought for something to say. "You, uh....You have someone you can call?
Just to, er, talk to?" I caught her sidelong questioning glance and added,
"Just....in case...."

"I've got friends," she said quietly, gazing out the window. "And Dana."

I nodded. It was good that she had someone to talk to. Sometimes it's all you
need. "I'll, uh, I'll give you Cordy's number. And Wesley's, too." I paused.
"Oh, yeah, and mine too."

She laughed, still looking out the window. I entered the airport drop-off lane
and pulled up to the curb.

She got her bag and I got out to get her luggage out of the trunk. We stood on
the sidewalk, and I handed her the suitcase. "You'll be okay going back?" I
made sure.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Cedar smiled as I handed her the sticky note with all our
numbers on it, then folded it and stuck it in her pocket. She reached out her
hand and I accepted it, and we shook professionally.

"Have a safe trip," I said quietly, "and if you ever run into any, er, creatures
of the night..."

She picked up her suitcase and smiled at me. "I've got your numbers now. I
know." She turned and headed towards the terminal, then turned around. "and
Goodbye!"

"Bye," I said quietly, waving a little. To my surprise, she suddenly dropped
her bags and ran back to me, colliding with my chest and wrapping her arms
around my neck just like in soppy romance movies. I thought, What
the? Until I saw her face.

She pulled away from me with a strained smile and took a step back. "And I
wanted to thank you," she said, her voice uneven, as if tears were threatening.

"What for?" I asked, frowning a little.

Cedar pushed a strand of brown hair out of her eyes and started backing
away.

"For being who you are," she whispered, and then she was gone.





The End


*__*
Thank you! Thank you! I love you!
I love feedback too! (hint, hint!)
Feedback to hardra6@yahoo.com
*__*

Author's notes: I would like to thank.....A) Ashley for getting me hooked on
this "Angel" thing....B) Jagg_War for the encouragement....C) Alternagoth
because.....ummm.......D) Maggie because........she likes reading my stuff and
vice versa I guess........and E) All the X-Philes who had to put up with that.
(i.e., "Who the hell is Angel? Who the hell is Cordelia? Who the hell is
Wesley?")

While I'm on the subject, I'd like to add that I've seen a grand total of *six*
Angel eps and have never ever ever written BTVS. Or Angel. And yet I
wrote a narrative, ahahahahahaaa!! BITE ME!!!!!!!!!! Okay don't really..... I
love you people!!! Send me stuff to read!! And above all, POWER TO
MULDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!