Disclaimer: Evil Dead and Angel don't belong to me, they belong to their respected parties, so DON'T SUE ME!!!!!!!!
Note: This pairing was originally created by DeBrabant, but I brought Cheryl into the equation.
What Evil Fears
By: Marcus
Ash, Xander and Cheryl were in the Oldsmobile finally entering the city of Los Angeles for a second time.
"So, who's this Angel guy?" Cheryl asked as she squirmed in her seat trying to get comfortable in her seat, they had been driving for hours and her butt felt sore in a big way.
Xander knew the feeling as he too was fidgeting in the backseat "Uh, he's a vampire, but not your average kind, he's got this really screwed up curse, he's got a soul." he said as he let himself lean forward and rested against her seat, Cheryl looked at him with a perplexed expression "How is that a curse?"
Xander took a breath as he put the words together in his head "Well, a long time ago, Angel was known as the demon Angelus, and he was the nastiest demon ever to walk the face of the Earth, even the other demons were terrified of him, well, one day he made the error of messing with a group of gypsies and they cursed him with a soul, not only that he feels all the guilt and pain from all the terrible things he did."
Cheryl looked away for a moment and thought for a moment or two "Wow, that's a curse alright.", Ash nodded "Ya damn right sister, but the good thing is that he's doing good these days, he's agreed to help us find that damned book, I swear that thing has a mind of its own."
"No kidding....are we there yet?" Xander asked for the hundredth time, Cheryl giggled at Ashes reaction to the question, Ash looked like her were about the bend the steering wheel with his mechanical hand "Xander! If you ask me one more time you can walk to L.A.!"
Xander looked totally unintimidated by Ashes words, he looked ahead and kept silent as he saw the lights from Los Angeles at night time, Cheryl looked at him once again "And I remember you talking about two others, uh...Cordelia and Wesley is it?"
Xander nodded with eagerness "Yup, Cordy and me....well, you don't need to know about that, but I hear that Wesley has seemed to have gotten a lot cooler in the past year, when we first met him he was a complete jerk off...so to speak."
Ash smiled lightly "He's ok, he's a little like Giles though, only he wants to work for a living." he said with sarcasm, Xander chuckled a little as did Cheryl "Hey, Giles worked a lot before the high school went 'kabloie'" Xander said in defense of their friend.
They were now driving in the streets of the city, it was a colorful place to say the least, nothing at all like Sunnydale.
"I tell ya, Buffy and the others would have a field day in this city." Ash commented as he saw a few vampires running off in a darkened alley, Cheryl looked around as well, the place didn't bother much considering where she had been before Ash and Xander rescued her from the realm of the deadites.
Ash parked the car around back of an old hotel "Ok kids, here we are." Ash said in his usual mix of sarcasm and cheer, the trio exited the car thankfully, while Xander and Cheryl stretched their weary limbs (not to mention rub their sore butts.)
Ash got their luggage from the trunk, he tossed a large duffle bag at Xander "Hey, catch kid." he said as Xander caught the bag and nearly tumbled to the ground, Cheryl laughed at the sight of Xanders face before the bag collided with him.
Xander looked at her with a fake cheerful expression "Oh, ha, ha, one more peep out of you and you get to carry your own bag missy." Xander said sarcastically, Ash chuckled at the situation remembering something similar from a long time ago before this life as he grabbed the last bag and closed the trunk.
Just as they turned to walk into the hotel they stopped at the sight of Cordelia and Wesley standing at the entrance "Hey you guys, good to see you again Ash, Xander....uh, who's that?" Cordelia asked motioning to Cheryl, Wesley elbowed her and gently spoke into her ear "I believe that would be Ashes sister Cheryl, remember Giles told us about her a few days ago?" he said in his calm British accent.
Cordelias face lit up as she dully remembered the phone conversation "Oh, hello Cheryl, sorry about that.", Cheryl smiled as she walked up and shook hands with Cordelia "It's ok, I've been out of touch for awhile, I'm used to it by now, pleased to meet you too Cordelia."
Cordelia looked her over as they all walked inside the hotel, Cheryl was wearing some dark cloths, her coat was leather going a little past her waist, her shirt was white and a little too large and her pants and boots were black and a bit too large as well, she sported a white bandanna on her head, it covered a few of her scars, made her look less scarred than she already was.
"Ok, first thing, aside from the coat and bandanna you need a change of wardrobe, tomorrow I take you out to shop, no offense but you look a little too....butch." Cordelia said trying to be as polite as she possibly could.
Cheryl chuckled lightly at the remark about being 'butch' "I know, I usually borrow some of my brothers cloths, I haven't been shopping much, I guess I forgot the joys of it." she said with a gleeful tone.
Wesley, Ash and Xander were at the front desk, Xander was looking around as Wesley and Ash were talking "Hey, where's Angel?" Xander asked, Wesley looked at him with eyebrows raised and ears open "Wha? Oh, Angel is asleep, he's been doing that a lot lately."
Xander jerked his head lightly "Wow, at least he isn't an insomniac anymore, that whole king of the night and stuff was getting kinda old." he said, Ash looked at the kid with a shaking of his head, Wesley shook his head as well "It's not just that, his behavior has altered as well, he wakes up for a while and he goes back to sleep 3 hours later, it's quite peculiar."
Ash grunted for a moment and had a smirk on his face "I guess he finally got tired, it took him 200 years but he finally got to bed."
"Gee, thanks." they heard from behind, the whole lot turned to see Angel standing there, Ash nodded at the vampire "Hey there, good to see you again Mr. Tall, dark and dressed in black." he joked.
Angel walked over to them displaying his usual smile which needed improvement as always shaking Ash and Xanders hand, he looked over to see Cordelia talking with someone he didn't know, Ash noticed Angel noticing Cheryl "Oh, c'mon, I'll introduce ya to my little sis."
They walked over to where Cordelia and Cheryl were talking, they stopped the moment the two walked up to them, Cheryl didn't see Angel since he walked up behind her (being his usual self), Ash smiled at Cordelia (reminding himself to keep the shot guns away from her) then turned to Cheryl "Hey, this is Angel." he said.
Angel being something of a master at being a fright said "Hi." abruptly making Cheryl jump and turn around to face him, they stared at each other for a few moments, Cheryl seemed mesmerized by his handsome features, as did Angel with her, finally after a few moments Cheryl broke the silence "uh...hello, you must be Angel."
Angel smiled lightly as he nodded "Ya, you're...." he was going to finish his sentence but the problem was that he didn't know her name, Cheryl immediately picked up on it "Cheryl, my name is Cheryl." she said, Angel laughed lightly in a few short breaths "Pleased to meet you Cheryl." he said with a grin.
Ash grabbed Cordelia and made away seeing as they were going to be talking for a bit, Cordelia resisted of course objecting and of course being clueless to what was going on.
A few hours later Ash and Xander went up to their rooms to get some sleep, they were obviously tired after driving for so long, Wesley and Cordelia passed out in the lounge seeing as it was a little late to be walking in L.A.
Angel and Cheryl were talking in the lounge away from Wesley and Cordelia, "So, your last...headquarters was blown up?" Cheryl asked as Angel was telling her about his worst run in with the demon law firm known as Wolfram & Hart, "Ya, thankfully Wesley wasn't close enough to be killed by it, he obviously found the bomb and tried to get out before the place went up."
Cheryl looked over to where Wesley was sleeping on the couch "He's lucky, luckier than some people I knew." She said remembering her fateful trip to that cursed cabin, Angel saw the look on her face, it was a look of sadness "What happened to you?" he asked.
Cheryl looked up at him "For me it was when I died and when my brother became the keeper, when we went up to the cabin, Ash of course found the Neceronomicon, anyway, I was the first victim, I heard them outside my window when I was getting ready for bed, I was so sure it was someone, so, I went outside and started calling out for who it was, that's when the demons from the book did something....horrible to me, I ended up dying after it was over, I went to where they all reside, their realm, hell."
Angel looked at her with understanding, he too knew what it was like to go to hell "I know what it's like, I was in hell also, probably not the same place as you, but hell none the less."
Cheryl looked at him with a saddened expression, she shook as though she were so cold, "Are you ok? Are you cold?" Angel asked, concerned for her, Cheryl shook her head "No, just bad memories, what they did to me, and where I was after I died."
Angel knew that Cheryl was someone who needed helping, she resembled him in a way, only she was someone who had been wronged "It helps to talk about it." he said hoping she would open up to him, it usually worked, he must have one of those faces.
Cheryl shook her head "No, not today, I don't think I can, at least not now." she said wearily, she looked exhausted, they noticed the room begin to light up, they looked at the doors and saw sunlight illuminate them.
"It's morning already." Cheryl said as a smile appeared on her face, Angel smiled to as her mood rose from sadness, "Want me to show you to your room?" he asked, Cheryl nodded as she gave out a yawn from her tired body "Ya, I could use some sleep, Cordelia said she wanted to bring me shopping later."
Angel smiled lightly "Oh, then your gonna need all the sleep you can get!" he joked, Cheryl smiled matching him "Humor, gee, didn't know you had it in you." she joked, they rose from their seats "Yup, your Ashes sister all right." Angel said as he picked up her bag and lead her upstairs to where her room was.
The door opened and Cheryl walked inside the room, it was a little small but looked kinda cozy, yet old, she looked at Angel who remained at the doorway, Angel gave her a look with a blank expression on his face "We're still working on the place." he stated, Cheryl wondered why he was staying at the doorway "How come your not coming in?" she asked.
Angel looked at her the same as before "You need to invite me in, since your staying in here now, I need your permission to enter,.... it's a vampire thing.", Cheryl raised an eyebrow "Obviously." she said "Angel, by all means, I invite you in." she said.
She saw a ripple in the air just before he walked in, he placed her bag on the bed, it looked soft, it was a large bed too, Cheryl looked to the bed and to Angel, she quickly shook herself as she realized she just met the guy, not to mention that curse situation he had.
"I hope it's enough for you, if you need anything just ask me, or Wesley....Cordelia if you must." Angel said as he looked around the room checking it over, he was a little paranoid, but then again it didn't hurt in his line of work.
Cheryl eyed him as he looked around silently, Angel looked at her when he realized she was looking at him, he nodded with an embarrassed look "Everything looks fine." he said looking around the corner of his eyes.
He jerked into motion in the blink of and eye "Well, I'll see you later then, goodnight." he said as he made his way to the door, "Angel..." Cheryl said hoping he would stop for a moment, Angel turned to face her gladly "Yes?" he said, Cheryl smiled "Thank you for listening." she said smiling.
Angel nodded as he silently exited the room, Cheryl followed him until he left the room, she swore she saw Angel glance over at her one last time before she closed the door.
Cheryl leaned against the door for a few moments, she leaned her head back against the door, the grinned as she thought of him, she took a deep breath as she walked away from the door and dropped to her bed, normally she'd change out of the cloths she worn, but she felt far to tired for that at the moment, she closed her eyes and before she knew it, she was asleep with a smile across her lips.
Angel roughly and loosely walked down the stairs, he felt tired again, it had only been roughly 4 hours since he woke up, he walked downstairs to his room and decided to get some sleep, a few minutes later he was asleep and dreaming again.
He was somewhere familiar, somewhere he thought he wouldn't see again, it was in Italy, in a small house close to a town that no longer existed, he wasn't the man he is now, he was the demon he was then.
He sees a blonde woman, beautiful, her back towards him, her hair long and let loose and wild, he walked up to her slowly with a devilish grin on his face, when he was well withing reach of her he grabbed her roughly and spun her around, his smile left him immediately as he saw it wasn't who he expected it to be.
He backed away quickly as soon as he saw her, it wasn't Darla, the woman rose to her feet and walked towards him as he backed away, then, in the blink of an eye she was nose to nose with him, she looked into his eyes with an unnameable expression.
It was then Angelus was gone, it was Angel who was in the dream, it was as if she burned Angelus away and revealed Angel whom had been buried underneath.
"Who are you?" he whispered out fearfully, the woman brought her hand up to his face gently caressing his cheek, she brought her mouth to his ear "I'm your last hope." she whispered.
Angel woke up with a start, he breathed heavily as he looked around him as for a moment he didn't know where he was, his breathing slowed as he calmed down, he sat there, thinking about the dream, it was different, it was peaceful in a way, even calming, but it unnerved him.
He thought about the woman, trying to remember who she was, then he realized it, it was Cheryl, the woman was Cheryl.
He got out of bed and dressed himself, 'What was she doing in my dream?' he thought to himself, he put on his shirt and walked up the stairs.
As he left a figure walked out of the shadows, wearing a rode only she looked at him leave, she had a look of anger all over her face, the vampire known as Darla was upset over the fact that someone had an equal influence on him other than her, she looked up the stairs as Angel walked out of sight "You're not getting away from me that easily boy." she said in a grueling tone.
Angel walked into the lobby of the hotel to find Wesley, Ash and Xander looking over the newspapers looking for any ideas of where and who could have the book, Ash crumpled his paper and threw it across the room in a fit of frustration "Ah! Piece of crappy recycled paper, I ought to just buy a box of tissues, at least they're more helpful!" he said as he picked up another paper from the pile.
Xander looked up from his paper to see Angel "Oh, hey, how's it hanging fangs?" he said as a goofy smile appeared on his face as he finally created a nickname for someone, Angel waved as he walked over to get some coffee "Xander, glad to see you again too, still wielding a chainsaw like a psychopath?" he joked for a comeback that only came along once in a lifetime (in his case 3 lifetimes.)
Xander smiled with a nod as he went back to his paper, Ash looked up to greet him "Hey fangs, sleep well?" he said using Xanders new name for him as well, Angel walked off mumbling "Someone just stake me and get it over with."
He turned to Wesley as he just remembered about the book "Hey Wesley, anything on where the book might be?" he asked politely, Wesley looked up from his paper mindlessly for a moment "The what? Oh, the book, yes, well....no."
Angel nodded for a moment, he knew that conventional research wouldn't do jack for them "Ok, I'll check in with Dunn when he comes by, or knowing him he'll be here later on.", Ash and Xander looked up from their papers with a puzzled look "Who?" they asked in unison.
Angel shook his head, his patience wasn't what it usually was "He's a guy from the streets, he fights demons like us, he's a friend." he said plain and all out.
Ash nodded with understanding as Xander smiled and went back to his paper, Angel looked around as he noticed someone wasn't present "Where's Cordelia?" he asked, Wesley looked up from his paper once again to look at the vampire "She took Cheryl out shopping, something about being too butch.", Angel smiled lightly as he walked off to get a cup of coffee.
Cordelia and Cheryl walked along the street, they were looking through the market for cloths and such things, Cheryle was wearing some of Cordelias spare cloths and still sporting the bandanna and leather coat, "Oh, the last time I was here I left in an ambulance." Cordelia said as she looked through a pile of tasteless T-shirts, Cheryl looked at her with a disturbed expression "What? How hard do you shop?" she asked jokingly.
Cordelia looked up from the pile wondering what she was talking about for a moment "Wha? Oh, no, I was... 'affected' by this demon who made my visions go non stop, I was catatonic for a while after." she explained, the two kept walking as Cheryl nodded, but still had questions in her head "Visions?" she asked, Cordelia looked at her smiling radiantly and nodded "Ya, from the P.T.B., the Powers That Be, they give me one, and its about whatever Angel has to do, basicly it's one of those 'need-to-do' things."
Cheryl gave a fake frown as she thought about that "Wow, what are they like?" she asked, Cordelia let out a breath violently "Oh, they are painful, you can tell by the vein in my head that's popping out."
Cheryl winced momentarily "Ugh, ouch."she said with an pitied look on her face, Cordelia nodded in agreement "Oh ya, damned right 'ouch'." she said sarcastically, he attention ended when she saw a group of cloths that she found fashionable.
Cheryl smiled as she followed her new friend to the new cloths stand, Cordelia picked out a white shirt and brought it up in from of Cheryl to see how she'd look good on her, Cheryl raised her eyebrows and looked down at the shirt "Oh, I am NOT wearing that." she stated, Cordelia looked up at her with her eyebrows curled upward and a slight frown on her face "What's wrong with it?" she asked.
Cheryl took the shirt "It's too low cut, this thing's practically a bra!" she said with a small grin, Cordelia laughed sharply for a moment "Oh Cheryl, welcome to the 21st century."
A few hours later Cheryl and Cordelia were driving back to the hotel with four bags full of cloths, three of which belonged to Cheryl!
Cheryl was wearing a new pair of sun glasses Cordelia had bought for her, she also wore a new pair of cloths as well, a pair of black leather pants and the white shirt she complained about earlier.
"So, what else is there to do in L.A.?" Cheryl asked, Cordelia smiled "Oh, there's plenty at night time, trust me." she said, the smiles ended when the car was struck from behind, their heads went back violently but they were thankfully unharmed, "What the hell?" Cheryl said as her head spun back to see who was behind them.
Cordelia looked at the rear view mirror as they were struck again, she pulled to the side of the road and brought the car to a complete stop, they quickly exited the car as their unknown attackers did the same.
Cordelia walked over to Cheryl to see if she was alright "You ok?" she asked, Cheryl nodded "Yes, I'm fine." she said, they watched as two men dressed in black exited the car, Cordelia recognized the one on the left immediately "What the hell is your problem Lindsay?" she yelled, the lawyer simply smiled at her as he walked over to them "A pleasure to see you again too Mrs. Chase."
"What do you want?" Cheryl demanded angrily, Lindsay glanced over to her with narrow eyes "Ah yes, you must be the one and only Cheryl Williams, your brother Ashley has something of a reputation for a wise-cracking S-Mart employee, not to mention connections with a certain book our law firm is in the process of locating."
Cheryl and Cordelia immediately knew what he was talking about, the neceronomican "What do you want? I'm not going to ask again." Cheryl demanded, Lindsay looked at her still with a meaner expression now "Just here for a warning, to Angel, and your brother and his little sidekick, don't get involved with this one, get out of L.A., today." he said harshly.
"Go to hell, you're too much of a bitch for this world." Cheryl retorted, Lindsay grabbed her arm with his only hand as she tried to walked away from him "Who do you think your talking to?" he yelled, Cheryl stood silent for a moment, Cordelia saw a grin form across her mouth.
Without warning Cheryl spun around, forming a fist with her right hand she sent Lindsay spinning back and crashing to the ground looking rather stunned and surprised at how much power such a small looking woman had, Cheryl scowled at him "Keep your fucking hands off of me." she growled.
She turned to see a surprised Cordelia standing next to the car "C'mon, lets go." she said as they got back into the car, Lindsay watched as the car drove off and he rose to his feet.
"Where did you learn that?" Cordelia asked amazed by the display Cheryl showed, Cheryl still looked angry and shook her head "I've been around." she said hiding the fact that she didn't like to be touched by people who served an evil.
For the rest of the drive to the hotel Cheryl remained silent, Cordelia tried to start up a conversation with her but saw she wasn't in a mood for talking.
The car pulled up in the back of the hotel and Cheryl grabbed the bags and headed inside with Cordelia following right behind her.
Cheryl blew past the others who were standing around looking into more research on how to find the book, "Hey sis, have fun?" Ash asked, Cheryl walked past them hurriedly "Fine, just fine." she said as she went up the stairs, Angel walked out and saw her attitude as she brushed past them.
Xander looked up and then to Cordelia who just entered behind her "What was that about?" he asked, Wesley nodded "Indeed." he said, Cordelia put her bag down and put the keys on the desk "We had a rather rough run in with Lindsay." she stated, Wesley rolled his eyes in the back of his head , Ash looked at Xander then they looked back to Cordelia "The lawyer? From Wolfram and Hart?" Xander asked, Cordelia nodded.
"And I'll tell you, your sister has one hell of a back hand on her, she sent him flying on the ground in 2 seconds!" Cordelia said complementing Cheryls tough abilities.
Ash looked at her wide eyed as did Xander "She beat the crap out of him?" they said in unison, Cordelia nodded, Wesley turned around to face her "What did he want?" he asked, Cordelia thought for a moment and then shook herself to clear her head "Ya, he told us to tell Ash and Xander to get out of town, apparently they're looking for the book also."
"Unless they already have it." Wesley said depressed and unsettled, they looked around to talk to Angel but saw he wasn't around at the moment "Aw, now where'd that undead Goth go?" Ash retorted as they looked around.
Cheryl was standing in her room with the lights out and standing in front of the window, she watched as the sun set over the horizon and out of view, her arms were folded and she seemed to hold on to herself tightly, her thoughts were disturbed when she heard a knock on the door, she looked around and across the room to the door "Come in." she called out.
She faced back out the window to see the city lights, Angel walked into the room silently and closed the door behind him "Cheryl?" he called out softly, he saw her head turn a little at the sound of his voice "Angel?" she said softly.
Angel nervously took a few steps towards her, "Don't come near me...please." Cheryl said, she seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, or maybe she saw him in the windows reflection, Angel took a seat on the foot of the bed "Are you ok? I heard what happened with Lindsay." he asked, Cheryl looked back out to the city, Angel took a breath and continued "Does a part of it have to do with what happened at the cabin?" he asked.
Again he received no response, he looked down in discouragement and rose to leave her alone, as soon as he touched the door knob Cheryl broke her silence "I was the first the spirits decided to take, after the translation from the recorder was spoken I went to my room and got ready for bed, I was combing my hair when I heard them, they were right outside my window." she stopped and turned around to look at Angel face to face, he had moved away from the door.
Cheryl was still holding on to herself horrified of a memory long ago "I thought it was someone in the woods spying on us, on me, I ran outside looking for that would be person, when I think of it now, I wish it was a person, I went into the woods, it was stupid of me, that's when it happened, when the woods came alive, the spirits...they...violated me."
Angel looked at her, he knew what she meant by 'violated', he was horrified to hear of such an act, even by demons, this was going way too far "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." he said as he moved closer to her, but she moved away hastily and quickly "No, please, don't touch me."
Angel respectfully backed away from her, she sat down on the bed, she breathed heavily for a few moments "I think about when that bastard touched me, for a moment I was happy he did, it gave me an excuse to kick his sorry ass, but after it was done, I felt the same feeling as I did after I was hurt in those woods, I felt violated in some way."
Angel looked at her, he wished he could take all the pain she felt onto himself, he sat down on the bed next to her and slouched down staring at her "You never did get past that event in the woods did you? You've gotten past being in hell for 5 years, but that, it was too hard to accept wasn't it?" he said with compassion.
Tears began to slowly seep from her eyes as she curled up and rested her head on his lap "It's not accepting, it's the fear, when that jerk touched me I became so afraid, like I wasn't in control, I thought he was going to do something to me." she sobbed quietly, Angel rested his hand on her shoulder, she jerked for a moment, but relaxed a few seconds after.
"Then you have to know that you are in control, that no person or anything can do that to you again, your stronger now, in more ways than one according to Cordelia." Angel said, Cheryl smiled as her tears seemed to lessen, she gently took hold of Angels leg for comfort as they but remained there watching the lights of Los Angeles in the clear night sky in the dark yet dimly lit room.
Back in the lobby Dunn had just walked in, he gave a tough looking nod to Cordelia as he walked up to the desk where Wesley was working on some numbers for the building "Hey, where's Angel." he asked in his usual 'let's get to business' tone of voice.
Wesley looked at him "He's upstairs I'm betting, but I'd wait until he comes down." Wesley said, just them Ash and Xander walked in, they had just returned from a bar that wasn't far from the place "Ok, that place has terrible service, beer sucks, and the waitresses are all guys." Ash said upset by his lack of a good time, Xander walked behind him "Ya, and what's with all the guys staring at us?" he asked.
Cordelia looked at the two keepers trying to hide her smile "Uh, you guys went to that bar 3 blocks away, on that dark street?" she asked, Xander and Ash nodded "Yeah, so?" Ash asked, Cordelia let her smile and few chuckles out as she walked up and leaned on the desk next to Dunn "Uh, well, that's a gay bar." she said, Dunn laughed out as he slammed his hand on the surface of the desk, Wesley shook his head and went back to work.
Ash and Xander looked at each other with a shocked expression on their faces, Xander looked at Ash "Whoa, your just full of surprises aren't you?" Xander said to his father, Ash gave a goofy look and shook his head around as Xander walked down the steps.
He walked to the chair and took a seat and lay his head back "I never thought I'd say this, but, I miss Sunnydale." he said.
That's when Angel walked down the stairs and joined them in the lobby, Ash stood up as he saw him "Is Cheryl...." he trailed off as he was sure Angel knew what he was talking about, Angel nodded "Ya, we just talked, she's asleep now." he said.
Dunn walked up to him then "Hey, I did as you asked me, there has been something going on with the demons lately, there are barely any of them around." he said wondering as to why this was, Wesley gave a few fake coughs as he was fairly sure he knew what was going on "Actually, I was able to find a bit of info on the book, apparently the evil it contains is powerful, and quite dark, dark enough for demons to fear it, intensely I might add."
Angel looked around the room, he was tired again but he wasn't letting it show "Ok, obviously Wolfram & Hart don't have it yet, it's somewhere, Dunn, I want you to look for places where the demons seem to be the most scarce, if you find places like that then that's close to where the book might be.", Dunn nodded, he was about to leave when he remembered a question he wanted to ask "Hey, who are those two? And whose Cheryl?" he asked.
Angel glanced over to Xander and Ash "They're Xander and Ash, Cheryl is Ashes sister, they protect the Neceronomicon." he said, Dunn looked over to Xander and Ash peculiarly "You sure that's a good idea?" he joked as he walked out and back to where he stayed.
Ash looked at Dunn as he walked out "Well, he's a cheery guy now isn't he?" he said as he lay back to relax.
Angel said goodnight to Cordelia and Wesley and went downstairs to his room to sleep, as before he undressed and fell asleep as he lay down in his bed.
His dreams overtook him once again:
'Hello again' came a voice next to him, he looked around to see he was in the lobby again only it was empty, he looked to see who was laying next to him on the couch, it was Darla, for some reason he felt happy to see her, and he felt nothing odd about it.
'So, how are things with your guests?' she asked playfully, Angel lay his head back and rolled it from side to side slowly 'Not bad, sometimes I wonder about them.' he said with a low tiresome voice.
'You really ought to stop letting them get to you like that, you are their boss after all.' she said as she shifted her position so she sat on him and they were face to face, Angel grinned lightly 'I don't mind it, it's...' he was cut off when she began to kiss him.
Upstairs, Cheryl herself had finally dozed off to sleep, her eyelids began to move as her eyes did, her dreams began to come to her as she lay peacefully on the bed where Angel had set her down when he left.
She found herself in the hotel lobby, it was empty but still well lit from the lamps, she found herself on the steps at the entrance, sitting, she was wearing her new leather pants and tanktop Cordelia had bought for her, her hair was pulled back into a tail.
She began to hear sounds, kissing, she began to panic as she felt she was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, she stood up and looked around the lobby, it took only a few seconds to see where the sounds where coming from.
She saw a blonde woman on someone on the couch, her clothes looked as though they were about to fall off, obviously it was one of those moments, she couldn't tell who was under her on the couch, they hadn't seemed to notice her so Cheryl circled around at a distance to see who this woman was kissing.
Angel remained still where he lay in bed, but a figure came over him like a snake, Darla had obviously been paying him another house call, she spoke to him in her hypnotic tone of voice "Oh my boy, don't worry, I'd never hurt you." she said deviously.
Angel felt completely overwhelmed by the experience with Darla, but something felt wrong, like it wasn't just the two of them there, he opened his eyes and looked to his side, his vision was blurred, but he knew there was someone standing there.
She was beautiful, but he couldn't clear his vision, 'who is that?' he thought to himself, Darla removed his shirt at this point and was still attacking him with kisses 'What's wrong?' she asked seductively, 'Angel, get away from her!' they heard.
Cheryl began to move back and forth and side to side in her bed, she moaned uncomfortably as her dream was becoming all too unpleasant.
'Angel, get away from her!' she warned, that's when the blonde woman snapped her head at her, she saw her eyes, they were like a cobra, hypnotic.
'What are you doing here?' the Cheryl said 'Get away from him.' she warned as she rushed over to him, 'I'm Darla, and I'm staying right here.' Darla said as she left Angel and tried to get rid of Cheryl, Cheryl gave the half naked witch a punch to the stomach as she sent the witch to the ground away from her.
Angel was now moving uncomfortably, Darla was trying to calm him but he seemed to be resisting her, it wasn't a lot, but it was growing more and more.
Angel got to his feet, his mind was clouded, he was confused, he didn't know what was going on, he heard two voices calling his name, they were coming from both each side of him, his vision began to clear, he saw the woman again, she was calling out to him, to his right was Darla, she called him with her soft hypnotic like vioce 'Angel, come here, come to me, help me get rid of her, she's evil.' she said.
He looked back to the woman to his right 'Angel! You have to hear me, come here, she's evil, I know it, I can feel it, she's doing something to you.'
Darla had now lost her control over him, he was almost thrashing at her touch "Cheryl?" he called out, she grabbed her robe and hid in the shadows away from view moments before he woke.
Angel sat up abruptly in his bed, he was sweating lightly and was confused and unaware of what he had just experienced, he got out of bed and walked around a little, his memory returned shortly after as he remembered seeing a woman, then his memory became much more accurate, it was Cheryl.
"Angel?" he heard from the doorway, he spun around to see Cheryl standing at the doorway wearing next to almost nothing, she wore a robe, it was loosely tied and she worn a pair of boxers and a small shirt underneath it all.
"Uh, Cheryl." Angel said as he rushed to get a pair of pants on, Cheryls eyes widened momentarily at the sight of him in the buff 'wow' she thought.
"I'm sorry to just walk in like this, but I had something of a disturbing dream." she said as she walked into his room, Angel nodded, embarrassed at being 'unprepared' for a visit "Join the club." he said.
He walked over to the kitchen to get something to eat "Please, come in, you hungry?" he said, Cheryl followed him inside "A little, you have anything good?" she asked, she stopped dead in her tracks when she thought she saw someone or something in the shadows, when she looked there was nothing there.
She looked at Angel who was looking through his refrigerator, Angel looked around, there wasn't much aside from a few blood packs "Uh, you wouldn't happen to like type 'O' negative would you?", he looked to see Cheryls reaction to his question, "Didn't think so." he said.
A half hour later Angel was serving Cheryl some reheated takeout pizza Cordelia had ordered a few days ago "Sorry, it isn't the best, but It's the best I've got in the fridge." he said apologetically as Cheryl took a bit of her pizza, she nodded her approval as she began to chew.
"It's good, not bad." she said as she swallowed her food, Angel sipped his mug of microwaved blood, Cheryls features contorted as he took a sip "Ugh, I don't know how you can drink that!" she said with a disgusted look on her face.
Angel grinned lightly as he shrugged and took another sip, Cheryl leaned on the table resting her head on her hand "You know, watching you drink is like a car crash, its disgusting, but so cool to watch." she joked as she kept her sights upon him.
Angel glanced over at her "Want to go for a walk?" he asked, Cheryl took a bite of her pizza again as he asked her his question, she looked up at him with a string of melted thin cheese dangling from her lips, she nodded quickly before gathering the melted string of cheese and ate it up.
Angel smirked "Great, go get dressed and I'll meet you in the lobby in 20 minutes." he said, Cheryl took off with her pizza and went to get dressed.
15 minutes later Angel walked into the lobby to find Cheryl waiting wearing leather pants, a black shirt that was a little tight and her leather coat, Angel looked at her stunned for a moment at how good she looked.
Cheryl smiled as she looked him over as well, long black coat, black pants and dark blue shirt, she smiled at his handsome appearance "Are we going or what?" she asked playfully as she waited for him to walk to her side.
"So, where are we going?" she asked, Angel thought about it for a moment "The promenade, it's a nice place, lots of people, good place to go for a walk." he said, Cheryl smiled as they walked out of the hotel through the back entrance and to the sidewalk.
It didn't take them long to get there, there were plenty of people there, it was a surprise to see so many at such a late hour, she saw a person dressed as a hotdog, she giggled at that as they walked past them, "So, do you usually walk around here?" Cheryl asked, Angel put both hands in his pocket and thought "Not a whole lot actually." he said plainly.
They walked up to a popcorn booth, Angel decided to buy her a small bag of some, they continued to walk slowly along the crowded street "So, what do you want to talk about?" Cheryl asked as she skipped a little into her walk as she moved in front of Angel, he shrugged as he looked like he needed an idea desperately "I don't know."
Cheryl moved back to his side and slide her arm around his elbow and held the popcorn "How about...demons, what's the kind you're most afraid of?" she asked playfully, Angel glanced over at her through the corner of his eye "Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything." he said trying to sound tougher and more macho.
Cheryl gave a sharp scream like laugh much like Cordelia would "Yeah right! Everyone's afraid of something, me, it's a deadite obviously, now come on, spill it, what are you most afraid of?" she said playfully yet a hint of seriousness.
Angel sighed as they turned a corner and continued to walk "I'm telling you I'm not afraid of anything." he repeated, Cheryl gave him a hard poke to his ribs, he jerked a moment and snapped his head to look at her surprised "Ok, ok, I'm officially afraid of you, Cordelia wasn't kidding, you are tougher than you look." he said jokingly.
Cheryl shook her head smiling "Nope, I don't count, I can't seriously hurt you." she said as she gave him a few kernels of popcorn, he chewed and nodded to her question "Ok, anything with telekinesis, once not too long ago I was impaled by a girl who we helped, she didn't know how to fully control herself, I tell ya, it's kind of hard to think straight when you've got a iron rod through your torso."
Cheryl grimaced at the answer "Ouch, what's it with you people and pain, do you like...go out looking for it?" she asked, Angel chuckled "No, usually pain finds us." he said, he realized that he was in a better mood than he had usually been in.
Cheryl took a seat on a bench and watched the lights fill the air, she looked up to see the moon and the stars, Angel sat down next to her taking a few pieces of popcorn at the same time, Cheryl hadn't seen this sight too often since her return to the real world.
Angel looked up at the sky, it was beautiful the moon, the same moon he looked up to more than 200 years ago, it looked relatively the same yet different, he looked over to Cheryl who was still staring up.
"What are you tied to?" she asked, Angel looked over to her wondering what she meant by that "What?", Cheryl smiled and looked over to him "What I mean is, some people are tied to the earth while others are tied to the stars, spiritually I mean, which are you?"she explained.
Angel looked upwards again, thinking "Well, which are you?" he asked plainly and with an uncomfortable tone, Cheryl looked at him once more "I'm tied to the Earth, simple as that." she said calmly and collectively.
Angel thought again as to which he was, then he knew "Come with me." he said calmly with a note of cheer in his voice.
Not long later they were standing on the roof of a skyscraper looking out to the city, Cheryl had this look on her face, it was a blend of amazement and awe, Angel looked out to the city "What do you think?" he asked her.
Cheryl looked up to him "Both, you're twice blessed." she said, Angel looked outward still, he didn't move, there was the ever constant look of sadness in his eyes "I'm not blessed, but just cursed." he said sadly, Cheryl took her eyes off the star like lights and turned to him "That depends on how you look at it." she said.
Angel turned to her and looked at her squarely in the eyes "How do you look at it?", Cheryl brought her hand up to his face and gently touched his cheek "You're twice blessed, you have a soul, because of it you can appreciate what others have forgotten about life, and you can make it your cause to help those who need the help they cry out for."
She looked forward again with a hesitation about it "That and you've got a great ass and a amazing bod." she said jokingly.
Angel smirked as he shook his head with closed eyes, Cheryl chuckled as she gave him a playful punch to his shoulder making him move away a little, he too was chuckling a little as they looked back out to the star lit city together.
At Cordelias place Wesley was talking about the book and seemingly boring Cordelia to death, Dunn had showed up also as Cordelia had invited him over as part of her own personal mission to help him out with his life.
"Enough already Wesley, does the term cruel and unusual punishment mean anything to a watcher?" Cordelia whined, Dunn had remained silent enjoying this seemingly humorous argument, Wesley began with a mocking remark about her wardrobe as she took it personally and came back with an equally offending remark about belched blondes.
"Guys, give it a rest, you're acting as if your married." Dunn said as he took a drink of his soda, Cordelia and Wesley immediately stopped arguing and turn to look at Dunn in unison, Cordelia leaned with one hand on the table "What? Ugh, yeah right." she said as she stomped off into the kitchen, Wesley took a seat opposite to Dunn as she made off.
"Well, I wouldn't put it like that, but yes we do argue excessively on occasion." Wesley said, Dunn shook his head "Oh please, it's pretty obvious, you two like each other." he retorted, Wesley snapped his head at the warrior "Excuse me? Yes, as a friend I like her." he said defensively.
Dunn smiled as he shook his head, just then Cordelia walked back in with some cheese burgers, she placed them down on the table and she sat down next to Wesley.
She looked over to Wesley "I'm sorry, so, what do we do about getting that book?" she asked, Wesley took a sip of soda before he answered her "Well, Ash and Xander are out right now checking out the firms headquarters as we speak, their idea is to storm the building, decapitate anything in sight and find the book."
Cordelia put some ketchup on her burger and put the bun back on top "Well, you gotta admit, their plan is plain and simple." she said as they all took a bite of their burgers, they all stopped as they took a bite, Dunn brought the burger back and looked at Cordelia "You made these didn't you?"
Wesley put his burger back on the plate as did Cordelia "Take out anyone?" he asked aloud.
In the blink of an eye they all bolted for the door to go out for some GOOD food.
Meanwhile Ash and Xander were parked outside of Wolfram & Hart checking out the security system the demonic law firm possessed.
Ash looked through his binoculars as Xander was eating some Chinese food he went to get awhile ago, Ash lowered his binoculars and looked over to Xander "Well, Wesley was right, 15 guards, a load of surveillance cameras, and I'm betting good granola that there's a load of demons in there waiting to be hacked to bits."
Xander put down the box of noodles he was eating when he noticed someone coming out of the building, he loosely slapped Ash on the arm and pointed at him "Hey, isn't that guy that lawyer who ran Cheryl and Cordy off the road?" he said, Ash looked across the street to where Xander pointed too.
He looked through his binoculars to see a man with longish hair and a fake right hand "Yup, that looks like that Lindsay jerk, wait." he paused as he saw someone else come out to join him, a blonde woman shorter than Lindsay "Whose that?" Ash asked, Xander took the binoculars from Ash and looked at what he saw "Oh crap, I know her, that's Darla."
Ash looked questionable at the mention of her name "Who?" he asked, Xander gave the binoculars back to Ash "She's Angels sire, but he staked her almost 4 years ago, think we ought to follow them?" he asked.
Ash nodded in agreement "Yeah, we'd better call Wesley and the others to tell them." he said as he tossed Xander the cell phone and started the car.
Wesley picked up his cell phone as it began to chirp to life, he picked it out of his pocket and brought it to his ear "Hello?" he said with a mouth full of food, he heard Xanders voice immediately 'Wesley, we're following Lindsay and guess whose with him.', Wesley didn't need to think about it much as he immediately answered "Darla."
'Wow, good guess!' Xander replied, Wesley then had Dunn and Cordelias attention at that time "Where are they heading" he asked, 'They just got out at some park, it's closest to the firms building.'
"We'll be there soon." Wesley said as he cut the connection, he looked at the others who were impatiently waiting for him to tell them what Xander had told them "We have to hurry, Lindsay and Darla are possibly about to obtain the Neceronomicon."
The three bolted from their table leaving barely enough to pay for their meal, as they exited the diner "Darla, god I hate that bitch." Cordelia remarked as Wesley hailed a cab, Dunn didn't bother to ask who Darla was as seeing he would find out eventually.
Ash and Xander had armed themselves with their shotguns and chainsaws, Xander had brought his sword as well, hell, you could never be too over prepared, they watched as Lindsay and Darla were just standing around waiting for something to happen.
They ducked back behind the bushes they hid behind "I guess killing them now is out of the question." Ash joked, Xander for once seemed to be actually unamused "While Darla I wouldn't mind killing, Lindsay is a human, and..." he was stopped when Ash finished for him "Yeah, yeah, you won't kill a human, you get that from Buffy I'd imagine eh?", Xander raised and eyebrow and shook his head vigorously as if he had told Ash this more than a few times.
"Did you try to call Angel?" Ash asked, before Xander could answer Angel and Cheryl arrived "Already here." he said, the two keepers looked at them in question, "Wesley called us." Cheryl said as she crouched down next to Angel.
As if on cue Wesley, Cordelia and Dunn arrived "Did we miss anything?" Cordelia asked, no one answered her as usual as they kept watch on Lindsay and Darla, Darla however seemed to be acting odd, like she knew they were there.
They all watched as she stepped forward away from Lindsay she looked around wit this smug all knowing look "Come out my boy, no need to hide from just me." she said coyly, as if on Cue Angel and the others came out of the bushes and walked up to the two dark souls.
"What are you two waiting for?" Angel asked seriously, he didn't want them to try and wiggle out of the situation, Lindsay walked up in front of Darla and came face to face with the vampire "We're just here waiting for a simple courier." he said smugly.
Just then a figure came from the shadows, a demon obviously judging by its size, it moved quickly towards them, he (or she, who can tell) carried an object wrapped in old cloth and tightly in his arms (yes there was more than 2 of them.)
"Who's here for the book?" he asked as he saw the whole group, Lindsay moved forward "I am, don't mind these people, my friend and I are here from Wolfram and Hart to receive what we hired you to obtain for us." he said as Darla moved next to him.
The demon looked at them, suddenly his appearance changed from a nervous appearance to a smug and demonic expression "No, here's the deal, I want what your people have, POWER, and I'm going to get it or else." he said with a threatening tone.
Ash moved up with his chainsaw now attached to his stump where his gauntlet usually was "Listen up jabaronni, give us the book and you can keep the body parts you got at the moment, otherwise its gonna get very messy around here." he said pointing the chainsaw at the demon who didn't even flinch or blink.
"Oh, not me, you won't even get close." the demon said as a wicked smile grew across his face, Lindsay turned to the scarred keeper in anger "You listen, that book is coming with us, I...." he stopped when Cheryl stepped in front of Ash holding Xanders sword, unsheathe.
Lindsay gulped at her scowling expression, he backed off as she turned to the demon, she quickly brought the tip of the sword to the demons nose "Hand over the book." she demanded.
Just then as if on cue (hey it's a fic and tv show, it's all good) there was a rustling sound from the bushes around them, they were horrified to see a small army of deadites walk in on them from all directions, Cheryl quickly backed off nearer to Ash and Angel who quickly brought up their weapons, Cheryl took a defensive stance as well (Giles had taught her a thing or two.)
"Well, ain't this just cozy." Ash said sarcastically as he and Xander started their chainsaws and brought their 'boom sticks' to bear, Dunn had his Axe that his team made for him as Cordelia and Wesley were left with no choice as to fall back as this situation was about to become quite messy.
Everything looked as though it were frozen for a moment, like the calm before the storm, it happened in the blink of an eye, 3 deadites rushed toward Ash as 2 came for Cheryl and Angel, 2 attacked Xander and 1 came after Dunn, the demon controlling them was well protected behind a wall of demons as Lindsay and Darla tried to get past them.
Wesley and Cordelia took notice of the distracted controller and decided to circle around quietly, Angel was having trouble with trying to kill a deadite with his bare hands, Cheryl who managed to get lucky and beheaded hers easily tossed Angel her sword "Angel, catch!" she yelled as her sword flew through the air.
Angel caught the razor sharp sword and disemboweled the deadite gruesomely, it fell to the ground sliced it two pieces, Xander was going almost nuts with his chainsaw on the two deadites coming after him as was Ash screaming lewd remarks out loud.
Lindsay and Darla had managed to get past the group of Deadites the controller demon had been hiding behind, they staggered past them as Lindsay pulled out a gun and pointed it at the demon "Give us the book!" he demanded with a scowl, Darla was behind him, she had been terrified for the most part, she as well as all demons knew that this book and the spirits were a force of darkness to be feared.
The demon moved towards them, he handed him the book, just as Lindsay was about to take it the demon sucker punched him and sent him crashing into Darla.
"Fool." he said as he backed away, his smug smile vanished as he turned and came face to face with Wesley's crossbow, the demon instantly became intimidated by the sharp, sudden turn of power, "Call them off." Wesley ordered him.
A moment later the deadites (or what was left of them) ceased their attacks and backed away from the group of demon fighters.
Angel, Cheryl and Dunn, along with Ash and Xander joined Wesley and Cordelia who happened to be holding the demon and gun point, Cheryl walked up and snatched the book from his hands "We'll be taking that." she said with a dark and deadly tone.
The demon looked at them all with utter fear, he no longer had control, he was seriously out numbered and he was ten seconds away from having a full body make over "Uh, there isn't by any chance I could just walk away....is there?" he asked nervously.
Xander and Ash cranked their chainsaws to life, they roared with a menacing buzz, they kept a straight face as they began to walk past Cheryl towards the terrified demon "Get ready for a lobotomy." Xander said as Ash and he began to chase after him.
A few minutes later after a few screams and wise cracking remarks on both Ash and Xanders part, the two keepers emerged from the darkness looking a little messy, like out of a bad horror movie.
"Well, what about them?" Cheryl asked as she pointed at the deadites, the group looked at the possessed humans which were now beyond all help, Lindsay and Darla tried to sneak away quietly, but Cheryl eyed them viciously "Don't go no where, unless you two want to live." she said hauntingly.
Lindsay and Darla darted away quickly and as fast as they could afraid of the group and what they witnessed them do just a few minutes before, Cheryl looked at the others who were gawking at her "Was it something I said?" she asked.
The group shook themselves loose of the situation and returned their focus to the remaining 4 deadites, "Ah, fuck it, be back in a minute, I'd turn around if I were you guys." Ash said aloud as he once again cranked his chainsaw and moved towards the mindless controlled deadites "Ok, who's first?" he sarcastically said as he went to work.
The rest of the group winched and made odd facial contortions as they witnessed Ashes handy work, Wesley ran off behind a bush as Cordelia watched in a limited expression of horror, Angel, Cheryl and Dunn looked rather untouched by the scene since they had witnessed worse acts.
Ash walked back to them covered in small pieces and an odd looking 'thing' that no one seemed to know what it was "Ok, that's it, we're done." he said as he walked past them and back to his car, Angel and the others looked at each other "Does anyone else feel like there ought to have been more to this?" Xander asked, everyone began to nod in a rather shy fashion, "Just checking." Xander said with his usual goofy attitude as he too walked off behind Ash.
An hour later they were all at the hotel sitting in a circle staring at the book, Ash looked at the others "Guys, there's nothing we can do about getting rid of the book, it'll just come back, hell the things been around since before the middle ages." he said as he grabbed the book "Destroying this thing wont do a bit of good, it'll come back too."
Wesley sat back in his seat next to Cordelia "We can't keep it here either, Wolfram & Hart will be continuously hunting for it, it can't stay here." he said as he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his sore nose.
"Why don't we just send it through one of those rift thingies?" Cordelia asked lamely, Dunn looked at her with a degree of impatience "Then this whole little get together happens again somewhere else." he said rudely.
Cordelia rolled her eyes and shook her head as she just ignored his rude answer, Cheryl took the book from Ash "Then I guess it stays with us." she said, "I'll keep it on me at all times." she said as she tucked it away in a sack she had and flung it over her shoulder.
Angel stood up, he was unsure of her decision "Cheryl, think about this, your life will be in a serious situation for as long as you carry that thing around." he said as he moved close to her, Cheryl looked around to the others, she saw that Ash and Xander did have objections to her decision "I know, but I can't go off living a normal life knowing what's out there, what needs to be fought."
She smiled at her brother and nephew "Besides, I'm tired of following these two around and have nothing to do." she joked.
"So we can't talk you out of this?" Ash asked, Cheryl shook her head "Nope, you'd sooner move the earth than change my mind."
"So will you be staying here or going back to Sunnydale?" Xander asked, Cheryl glanced over to Angel who looked at her with a sly grin, a smile stretched across her face "I think I'll stay here." she said smoothly.
Ash looked at his sister then to Angel, he pretty much figured out why she was going to stay, he shook his head "You do realize that this will make me and Xanders job a hell of a lot harder." he said with a grin and loose tone, Cheryl gave him a defiant look "Is that my problem?" she joked, Xander rose from his seat "You know L.A. isn't all that far from Sunnydale if you travel by bus of plane even, then again if you drive with Ash it'll take a few days." he said.
Ash looked at him looking quite annoyed "I told you I thought that was a short cut." he said aggressively, Cheryl slapped him on the shoulder "Ash! You drove us into the next state!" she said eccentrically.
Ash lowered his head with a smile "Alright sister, I can live with it...I hope." he said oddly, Cheryl put her hand on her brothers shoulder.
An hour later Cheryl was in her room getting ready to get some sleep, Cordelia said she would be able to move into her place, be roomies, Cheryl agreed, but said she wanted to give it some thought.
She looked around, she rather liked the hotel, it was a nice large place, perfect for hiding anything, like the book, but she worried that it would be found by some demon intruder, she felt better if it was with her, right where she could get at it.
She sat on the bed and held the bag close to her as she felt the book within it, she knew her choice would have a consequence on her, but she was prepared for it.
She hung the book on the hook next to the headboard of the bed as she stripped out of her clothes and into a pair of black jogging pants and an old T-shirt, she tied her hair back into a tail as she went to the bathroom to quickly wash up before she laid down to rest.
She let the water run for a few moments as she looked herself in the mirror, she playfully posed a little trying to get a look of how she looked, grinned and giggled as she gave it up and realized she was acting like a little teenager.
She ran her hands through the warm water and ran her hands across her face, her hands slowly and gently washed away the dirt and stress wrapping her body and she relaxed.
As she finished and dried her face she noticed the mirror on the bathroom door, she looked at her reflection, she moved in closely and moved the parts of her shirt where her body was scarred, she ran her fingers across her face, touching the rough scar that was along its side, and for a moment she wondered why she was so happy.
She shook off the feeling and walked back to her room, she stopped when she noticed the window was open, as her instincts commanded she rushed for her bag and checked for the book, she was relieved to find it still there wrapped in the red cloth Wesley had given her.
"Thanks, I knew you'd go right for it." a voice came from behind her, Cheryl spun around with a powerful motions and saw Darla standing in the darkness, their eyes narrowed to thin slits as they eyed each other, "This book is going nowhere without me." Cheryl said with a tone of absolution.
Darla walk in a circular pattern around the front of her, she smiled wickedly as was her usual trademark, Cheryl kept eyeing her as she tried to move them both away from the book.
The silence was broken when Darla rushed at her with a look of rage, Cheryl forced her away as she gave Darla a vicious right hook to the jaw, Darla staggered back, blood tinkled from her lower lip, before she could react and act again Cheryl ran up to her and kicked her hard enough to send her through the door and into the hall way.
Darla put her fists together and hit Cheryl as hard as she could in the face, Cheryl fell to the floor hard, her vision dazed and blurred for a few moments, Darla grabbed her by the tail of her hair and pulled Cheryl to her feet "Sorry, but that book is out of your hair now." Darla sadistically said as she ran Cheryl into the wall.
Cheryl hit the ground with a thud, Darla licked the blood off her lip as she walked back into the room quickly to get the book and get out of the building and back to the law firm, she reached into the back and pulled the Neceronomicon out of the bag, she looked afraid of the book wrapped in the red cloth, she closed her eyes and shook off the feeling and turned to walk away.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Cheryl standing less than 3 feet behind her, her eyes reached deep into Darlas darkened soul, Darla looked at her wide eyed while Cheryl looked as though she were on the verge of insanity "You'll have to do better than that!" she growled as she lunged forward with a kick to Darla.
Darla went flying back to the wall and put a rather large hole in it, the book fell to the ground as Cheryl grabbed Darla and threw her against the wall again with enough force that she went THROUGH the wall.
Cheryl growled as she leaped through the hole and at Darla who was already on her feet and ready for Cheryl.
Angel and Ash were downstairs talking over a drink, Ash as always had Heineken and Angel had a mug of Type O negative, both were wondering how on earth they could stand drinking the others drink.
"Angel, I'm pretty sure why Cheryl wants to stay here, I just want to ask you, how far is it?" he asked trying to be as discreet as possible, Angel shrugged "Ya got me, I'm still wondering myself." he answered.
Ash chuckled as he nodded "Well, as long as you don't end up losing your soul and going after her like a horny vamp, I'm cool with it." he said in his usual joking manner.
Their conversation was interrupted when a loud bang echoed through the air and a piece of plaster from the ceiling came crashing down on their drinks, Angel and Ash looked at each other and then to where their drinks used to be.
They ran from their seats and headed toward the stairs in unison, they stopped and jumped out of the way as they saw Cheryl flying down the stairs, Angel moved back to her and caught her a few moments before she landed "You ok?" he asked as Cheryl shook her head, she looked up to him "Ya, I'm ok." she said as she got back to her feet.
Angel saw Darla land not far from them, she may have been human but a part of her was still demon or she would never have been able to have landed in such a way, Cheryl leaped from Angels arms and back at Darla who now held the book "Give me back that book you little bitch!" she cursed as she cloths lined Darla and letting the book fly into the air and land on the top of the stairs.
Darla rolled back and let her foot collide with the back of Cheryls head, Cheryl almost hit the ground and collapsed, but she regained her footing on the fly and turned to try and put Darla down for the count.
Darla got up only to be thrown off the stairs and to the lobby floor, when she regained her vision and rose to her feet she saw Cheryl standing next to Angel with the book clutched close to her chest, Darla smiled evilly and wickedly, it went blank in the blink of an eye when she heard a click from behind her.
Darla turned around to see Ash with his shotgun pointed right at her "See ya later she-bitch." he said as he pulled the trigger, the rounds hit Darla and she went flying as Angel and Cheryl ran out of the way!
Her body went flying through the front doors and into the streets, both Angel and Cheryl looked at Ash "Jeez Ash, what the hell did you put in that gun of yours?" Cheryl asked amazed by the sight, Ash looked at his gun and shrugged as he placed it on his shoulder and walked with them to the door.
They looked out the door to see only broken shards of glass from the door but no body, Ash looked around as Angel and Cheryl walked back inside knowing that Darla was going to be visiting again sometime in the future, Angel looked at Cheryls face, she had a few scraps and a bit of blood, there would definitely be a few bruises in a few other areas of her body, but all in all she looked ok.
Angel gently took the book from her grasp and unwrapped it, his jaw dropped when he saw it was a copy of one of Wesley's research books, he looked at her in question "Where's the book?" he asked frightful that Darla may of gotten it, Cheryl smiled "Don't worry, it's in a safe place." she said as she patted him on the cheek and kept walking.
The next day Xander and Ash had said their goodbyes and headed back for Sunnydale, Cordelia had also moved Cheryl in with her on the same day.
By the end of the day Cordelia and Cheryl were in front of the T.V. watching Star Television, "So, where did you hide the book?" Cordelia asked, Cheryl simply looked at her and smiled.
Cordelia turned back to the television and thought for a moment, she looked back at Cheryl who knew what she would ask "Ok, I did hide the book, but as long as they think I have it on me, they won't go around looking for it and they'll come after me instead."
Cordelias face lit up as she fully understood her plan "Well, I'm not telling anyone." she said as they went back to watching the show, "Good thing too, otherwise I'd have to kill you." she said not taking her eyes off the screen, Cordelia snapped her head to face her, "Just kidding." Cheryl said smiling.
Cordelia watched the tv while glancing over to Cheryl every few seconds with a lingering childish fear, "I'm glad you're on our side." Cordelia mumbled.
The End