Chapter one: New kid on the Soul Block

Los Angeles was its normal dingy self lit up by the city lights. Angel and his team walked the street for one of the parks that had been getting some attention by the police not too long ago for supposed ritual like attacks. What had caught Angel's interest was that strange piles of ashes had shown up with wooden bullets. "Do you think it's another hunter out there?" Gun asked keeping his own personal weapon concealed; Wesley kept to the rear with Fred. Angel concentrated on his senses, listening and feeling the world around him and he picked up the scent of blood not too far away as it was picked up by the breeze. "Not sure but I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough once we get there."

Gun looked around as they walked and took him for his word as they got closer to where the fires were, there were definitely people nearby. Taking a vantage point they could see a few vampires and demons around with a small pack of humans that had rather been kidnapped on their lovely stroll or from their very apartment homes. Gun tensed and watched but a vampire jerked and looked at his chest. Fire started at a small point and started to spread as the rest of him paled and burned away to ash the object in his heart falling with it. The Demons looked around only to hiss as someone leaped from the trees landing inside the ring throwing back their arms ancient rune blades going deep and pulling out. Still in the dark.

Moving and using martial arts of the Far East staff hitting two off their feet spinning around gun out firing and hitting vampires who burned to ash. Angel watched the woman move and fight she kept to the darkness and just when he thought he would see her face she was back in the dark or moving too fast. Throwing out her arm it relocated while fighting head butting a demon breaking the cartilage of his nose. Turning bringing up the rune blade the demon's head slid from his shoulder. She walked away tossing a vial it broke landing on the body only for it to start to burn and purify. "Holy water," Wesley said watching beside Gun and Angel. "Wooden bullets and a boa staff but I can't tell from here what kind of blades she's using."

She was wearing black combat boots with black pants and black long sleeved tunic with black leather forearm bracers like the knights of yore. She fired semi automatic taking out a van of the feeling bastards and it flipped. She took out a cross bow and aimed firing to turn away. A demon hissed and caught the bullet only it wasn't a bullet. It screeched in its own language but too late the lead burned down into the dynamite that was packed with Holy water, blessed silver and wooden splinters among the gun powder. It went up her trench coat moved with the breeze and only her eyes showed in the light of blue before going gold. Still in darkness, Angel stared and if his heart could beat he knew it would have raced at the sight of how she hunted them.

She was like Buffy or any other Watcher, "are there any Watchers here in Los Angeles?" He asked leaning closer to Wesley. She flecked out her wrist knives whistled and hit the trees but the ropes were cut and the innocent people screaming as it were bailed. Angel moved to get in close and confront the hunter. "No there isn't a Watcher, I would have known about it." She moved ducking a punch and struck the demon to go down on a knee as it did. Its chin resting on the barrel of her shotgun she made a kiss gesture as it hissed and pulled the trigger point blank. Turning on her knee and pumping it to open fire on one huge guy. Angel took his sword and moved impaling the same guy that stumbled for her but not before she got hit and hit the tree. Angel separated to see her hanging from the ground impaled. Anger flared through him. He attacked the demon harder as Gun moved and opened fire keeping his back.

The Demon hit Angel he gasped from the pain but something leapt up and landed on the demon's back. His ears cleared only to see blood splash up on the trees and ground. The Demon went down on his knees then fell the woman arched up head back blood down her chin that wasn't hers. Flexing bullets and wood pushed out of flesh her fangs glistening in the night opening her gold eyes. Snarling at the other demons, she hissed and her ears were tipped. Gun kneeled helping Angel the woman was a vampire! She moved running and slid across and under clipping a vampire off his feet and her legs went around the other's shoulders to get around his neck pitching her body they flipped and she snapped his neck landing and taking it to throw out her arm letting the wooden stake fly taking the other off his feet he had just regained becoming ash.

She turned looking at them flicking her wrist catching sword knives twirling them as she walked to throw them out but they didn't hit Gun or Angel but two vampires. Eyes on Angel, the familiar gold but they faded to blue face now completely human. Looking up at the sound of sirens if there were any survivors they fled. She looked at them and turned but Angel had gotten on his feet and followed her. He wasn't about to let her go, he had questions he wanted answered. She was fast but so was he, able to stalk her. He was older than most vampires probably even her, it had advantages in experiences.

He cut her off and had his sword still and pointed it at her but she had her own, a katana of the shogun era style with reverse blade. "I don't want to fight you, who are you, why are you killing your own kind?" She stared back at Angel the silence was broken by a clap of thunder as rain started to fall. "If you don't want to fight then lower your weapon," She said strongly and had an accent to it. Australian. He slowly did ignoring the wetness that was seeping into his clothes against his skin. She slowly did so back watching him. "I am Morghaine. Morg for short." She answered eyeing him head to toe calculating fight scenarios most likely Angel thought. "I'm Angel," he said calmly hoping no public servant decided to come over here. "Why are you hunting vampires?" She got a look that screamed personal and she got a bit guarded. "I have my reasons but is it true do you really have your soul?" She asked it with a bit of curiosity.

He nodded, "yeah but if you want to keep the chat I think we should at least get out of prying eyes." He smirked and she blinked to sheathe her sword and nodded to run with him out of the park and into the public service way. Going down the street but he saw her veer off and jump up against the building turning and grabbing a ladder to pull herself up and toward the roof. Before he could ask he saw the flashing lights of cops converging on the park and ran and repeated her gesture. It wasn't as easy as it looked and he urged his body to go and move getting to the roof just after her but she didn't stop he saw her run and jump off arms moving she hit the other roof and tucked her body rolling and got up to turn. "Come on!" She urged and Angel groaning inwardly ran hard and jumped nearly faltering in his courage and barely cleared it to the other side he could feel his ankle pop and he gasped and sat up she helped him up and out of the range of helicopters and she grabbed his ankle and held it there giving him a splint so to speak as it started to heal. He could see her even better now her hair a dark auburn bangs streaking and a bit long needing a trim. She wore a tribal choker of the aborigine clans and he realized his guess had been right, Australian. She was pale now having lost the tan long ago, her eyes very blue.

Her face still had softness to it and he knew she had to have been turned at the tender age of sixteen or seventeen. Yet he really wondered how old she was. Moving a lock of her bangs behind her ear that really did have a point she looked at him. Eyes meeting, "How old are you really?" She blinked at that and sat back looking over the city still a bit on guard. "Twenty-nine," She looked to him. "I've been a vampire for Thirteen years." He nodded that meant she was actually eighteen when she had been made. "Who made you?" She looked at him. "I don't know her real name; she turned me and my brother when we came on visit during school leave. Been here ever since." He watched her, frowning, "on your own?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but why are you so interested in me anyway?" She didn't get him. Angel watched her and hesitated but touched her cheek wiping off a smidge of blood from a demon seeing her cut healing. "Because you are protecting humans and you're a nice person, I think you have your soul." She listened to him and felt a shiver she couldn't explain. "I do, after she made us I woke up to a Gypsy wannabe team and I got my soul back, not sure about my brother." She shrugged his touch off and helped him up. "Come on let's get you home."

Angel didn't argue any further but thought of everything he had just learned, by the time they got to the hotel Gun and Wesley were inside and Fred was gone doing something as usual. They tensed seeing her but Angel threw up a hand, "its ok. Morghaine is one of the good guys on our side." He went in and took off his jacket to hang it up it needed to dry, looking at her. "Hey Morg?" She blinked and looked to him and flinched to reach out and blink looking at her hand. The bag in her hand was a blood pack. Looking up at Angel, he only smirked at her. "For saving my ass, I would like it if you stayed here though." He looked at the clock. "It's almost dawn, the sun will be up." She also had looked at the clock and considered it, blue eyes calculating but she looked to Angel anyway. "Alright, I'll stay and thank you Angel." He hefted the blood pack in a sort of cheers way and smiled going to the corner watching the rest of the night.

Drinking it with straw she had snagged, Angel poured his in a glass and downed it before joining her and watching the rain to touch her back softly. "Come on I'll show you around and get you settled. I might have something you can change into." She looked to him and nodded going upstairs but when he showed her the weapons room she smiled and was all about detail in naming weapons and their specs that he had to say even he was impressed. She smiled. She was definitely the new kid on the block. He mused over the idea of her joining the team…well maybe he would ask tomorrow.