Part Three

Merl was thrown against a chain link fence, he grunted as he hit it, feeling the wire cut into his skin. 'You're not on protected ground tonight, Merl!' Angel said furiously, grabbing the skinny demon by his shirt front and almost lifting him off the ground. 'Why'd you lie about the Prio?'

'I told you where to find him!'

'You told me he was a killer,' Angel slammed the smaller demon back into the fence. 'The price was never out on the Prio's head was it?' he asked, thinking of the information Doyle had given him, and how it had tallied with what Merl had said. 'The price is on the woman?' He slammed Merl again, Merl nodded his agreement with Angel's words. 'Or the baby?' Angel leaned in close, menacing.

'Yeah, OK ..it's the baby!' Merl confessed. 'A daughter. She's supposed to be some powerful, benevolent … something or other. I don't know exactly . But the dark ones want her out of the picture - so it's two for one on the mom. The brokers are offering hard cash ...but no one could get close with that Prio around. You did everyone a real favour.' He was slammed into the fence for the fourth time. 'Ow, man!'

'Where is she?' Angel snarled. Merl held his hands up in protest. 'You think if I knew that I'd be standing here getting strangled by you?'

'Put the word out, nobody touches the woman.'

'It's too late for that. You any idea how many beasts are after her by now?'

'Where'd the Prio live?'

'I don't know.' He was slammed again. 'Exactly ...I don't know exactly. Around Boyle Heights. Underground. Near the power and water.' He was thrown against the fence for a final time, and then Angel stormed off into the night.


A guy in a sharp suit crossed the road and made the way to his car, a Mercedes CLK320, his pride and joy. It was just a shame that he had to come to this part of town and park it here, this neighbourhood was really crappy. As he pointed the keys, ready to unlock it - four youths rounded the corner. They were tall and shadowy, with hoods pulled over their faces, and were carrying baseball bats. The man took one look at them and fled. 'Just take the car!' he yelled over his shoulder as he ran. The four men began to run after him, he picked up his pace…

The man collided headlong with a vampire. The vampire grabbed him and pulled him in close, ready to bite. One of the four youths pulled him away and hit the demon. Gunn pulled his hood down, span the baseball bat round to the sharpened end, and plunged it into the heart of the vampire. It exploded into dust. Suit guy just stared, pointing at where the vampire had stood. 'You should probably go home now,' Gunn told him. The man continued to stare, and Gunn moved his eyes towards the Mercedes, indicating which way suit guy should go. Taking the hint, finally, the man ran away back to his car. 'You're Welcome,' the young street fighter yelled down the street after him.

'People nowadays...no manners.'

Gunn spun around. Angel was stood there. 'Angel - look at you dog! You haven't aged a bit!'

'You keeping well?'

'Picture of health and harmony.'

'I've got a situation.'

'So much for the small talk.' The young man turned to his three friends, giving them orders about where to hunt next and telling them that he would meet them back at home. Home had actually taken a step up from the old days of abandoned buildings. They now had a place off eighth where their landlord waived the rent in lieu of their demon killing services. It was just a shame Alonna hadn't lived to see them make it off the streets. The young man looked at his vampire ally, he tried not to think too hard about how those two words didn't really fit together, it made his head hurt. 'What's up?' he asked.

'You ever heard of a Prio Motu?'

'Is that like a '62 Chevy with the big cam?' Angel just gave him a look, Gunn shrugged. 'OK, I could've just said no.'

'It's a warrior demon. He was living down here but ...he died. I want to find out where he was living. It'd be underground somewhere, near the D.W.P.'

'Well I know all the pockets,' Gunn told him. He noticed Angel's anxious demeanour. 'And I'm getting the sense that you wanna do this now?'

'It's kind of urgent,' the vampire agreed.


Doyle was sat at Cordelia's computer trawling the Demons Demons Demons Database for any mention of the tribunal. Wesley and Cordy were sat over on the sofa, each had a pile of ancient tomes and were working their way through, seeing if there was any reference to any sort of tribunal, in them.

The Database was drawing a blank and Doyle sighed, dispiritedly. He wanted to be the one that found the tribunal, he wanted to do something to help this now unprotected pregnant lady, and make up for sending Angel out to murder her protector. But it wasn't meant to be. 'D'ya think Angel's mad at me?' he asked the other two.

'Why would he be mad at you?' Wesley asked, not even looking up. Doyle scuffed his feet along the floor before he answered. 'Because I shouldda known why I was sending him out to find the Prio. Because we got bad information from my contacts, lots o' reasons.'

Wesley stopped his research to look at the half demon. 'You feel guilty,' he stated. Doyle shrugged. 'So does Angel', Wesley continued. 'It was a tragic mistake, but half the time we're fighting blind here. We do what we can.'

'But we're not supposed to be blind! That's what my visions are for, but they're so vague half the time that …'

'I always said your visions were a bit lame,' Cordelia said, tracking her finger down the page of her book as she spoke. 'Remember that time they just sent us to a bar, with no other clues? And it turned out we were searching for a sex changing, body swapping, tear-out-your-innards demon? Thanks for the heads up guys! I've always said it, you should get one of those self destructing video tapes that comes with a dossier.' She turned the page over 'Aha! Tribunal.' She showed the book to Wesley. 'I found the word, now you do the hard part.' The watcher took the book off her and began to scan for information, nodding along as he did. He then reached out for another book, in order to clarify something. As he worked, Cordelia left the sofa and went to sit on the empty chair next to Doyle. She put her arm on his shoulder and rested her chin on it. 'This isn't your fault.' she whispered to him, like she had before, 'You're doing the best you can.'

'What if my best isn't good enough?'

'It always has been, before. We'll sort this, Doyle, you'll see.'


Angel and Gunn had found the tunnels that Merl had told the vampire about and were walking through them, cautiously, alert for any danger. 'This Prio Motu,' Gunn said 'What was he up to?'

'He was protecting a pregnant woman.'

'He was on our side?...Did you find the scumbag that killed him?'

'I'm the scumbag that killed him,' Angel admitted.

'Oh.' They walked on for a bit, in silence, until Gunn noticed a vent on the wall. 'That was never here before,' he told the vampire. The young man held his hand out. 'And I don't feel any air coming out. Do you?' He felt around the side of the air vent and grinned with triumph when he found a latch. The air vent swung forward, it was a secret door. 'After you,' Gunn told the older man.

Inside, the room was neat and spotless, but didn't have much in the way of possessions. It was Spartan, a real warriors home. Angel picked up a book, it was a book of ancient Buddhist writings - the demon must have had an epiphany, found religion and meaning in the writings of the east. 'Kamal' Angel said, looking at the frontispiece. Gunn turned to look at him, 'what's that?' The vampire replaced the book exactly where he had found it, 'it was his name.' He walked around the room, opening a box and then closing it again.

'We meant to be looking for something?' Gunn wanted to know. Angel pulled out a hidden drawer, and took out a brass, circular disc. 'Like that?'

'I hate to ask…' the vampire asked 'but …'

'The night's still young, what you need?'

Angel handed Gunn the disc and took out one of his business cards. 'Take this to my people at that address. Tell them to look into it - it might have something to do with something called the tribunal.'

'Will do. What you gonna do? Sit here and soak up the guilt?'

'Something like that.'

Gunn nodded and left. Angel looked around the apartment. He saw a statue of Buddha, a burned out candle stood in front of it. He took out the box of candles he found and lit a new one. Then he sat on the bed and brooded for a good, long while.

He was interrupted by the air vent opening again, and the pregnant woman coming into the room. 'You!' she said. 'You shouldn't be here, you don't have the right.'

'I have to be here. Kamal's mission is mine now.'

She let out a short bark of disbelieving laughter. 'You sound just like him. You noble protectors with your missions and ancient laws and medieval codes of honour. I just want to be left alone. I just want to protect my daughter.'

'That's what I want too,' Angel assured her.

'Right, because she's some seer, or healer or Joan of Arc. Well, you know what she is to me? My daughter. Not someone's holy mission.'

'No - it's not that exactly,' Angel told her awkwardly. 'It's kind of my job.' A sudden thought hit him and he rooted in his pocket. 'See, I have business cards, and an office and a team. We help the helpless. I was sent to help you. Let me put this right.'

The woman took the card and looked at it. 'What is this, a lobster?' she asked, frowning at the image on the card.

'It's an Angel,' Angel told her, 'that's my name. Angel Investigations is my company. We help people like you all the time.'

She nodded her head, finally agreeing to let him help. 'OK, we need to find the coat of arms, Kamal said if I gave it to the tribunal, then maybe they would call this whole thing off.' Angel nodded. 'This coat of arms wouldn't be a circular, brass talisman about yay big, would it?' He demonstrated the size with his hands. The woman nodded excitedly, her face lighting up. 'You've found it?'

'Yes,' Angel shuffled his feet a little awkwardly.

'Let me see it.'

'I don't have it on me right now.' Her hopeful expression dropped, she looked exasperated now. 'But I can get it,' he reassured her. But she just shook her head. 'No, do me a favour and stop helping me.' She turned and made as if to leave the room. Angel chased after her. 'I can't do that,' he told her, 'I have to protect you.'

'Stay away from me.'

As she exited out into the tunnels a large demon pounced, taking a swipe at her. She screamed. Angel pulled the demon off her. 'Can I kill this one?'

'Yes!'

'You're sure?'

'Just kill it!' Angel broke the demon's neck. But a distant growling told them that this was not the only monster hunting in the tunnel. 'Let's get out of here!' Angel said. The pair of them ran.


Wesley and Cordelia were drinking coffee and waiting for Angel when Gunn stepped through the door. 'This Angel's office?' he asked. Wesley frowned, he recognised this man from the hospital, he had seen him out in the waiting room back when Doyle had been being attacked by his own visions. 'Do you know Angel?' the watcher asked.

'Sure do, he sent me down here, to give y'all something. Name's Gunn.'

'Right!' said Cordelia, understanding dawning, 'you've heard Angel talk about Gunn,' she said to Wesley, 'he's a really great guy with a really fly street tag.'

'What's he fly?'

'It's how they know him on the street, Dorko. Gun. Lets them know he means business.'

'It's my name.' Gunn corrected her. 'Charles Gunn. Two N's.'

'Oh good lord will someone make me shut up.'

'Ah but is it a strong, masculine name that feels good in your mouth, darlin'?' Doyle asked as he walked into the office from downstairs, where he'd been putting books away .. and brooding alone. He put his arm around her, and squeezed her, playfully, as she turned on him in annoyance: 'We said we were going to forget that!' Doyle only laughed and held out his hand to shake Gunn's. 'Hey, man, good to see you again.'

'You too, glad to see you got out of the hospital.'

'Wait!' Cordelia asked, 'you two already know each other?' The two men nodded. 'We broke into Wolfram and Hart together.'

'Man, that was a trip! Good times.'

'What is it that Angel asked you to give us?' Wesley interrupted their walk down memory lane.

'Yeah, well I was hoping for some demon fighting tonight, but I ended up on delivery boy duty. Angel asked me to give you this.' He held out the coat of arms and Wesley took it from him, examining it closely. 'He said it might be linked to something called the tribunal' Gunn added.

'It could be an emblem, or some kind of amulet,' Wesley frowned. Gunn walked further into the office and examined their whiteboard. 'These all your cases? Looks like a well oiled machine.'

'Yeah we set 'em up and knock 'em down,' Cordelia told him. 'Or at least we did until Angel knocked down the wrong …' Doyle looked at her, reproach in his eyes. She patted him on the arm: 'Not your fault, sweetie…'


Angel and the woman ran through the sewers. He found a grate and took her upwards, they came out in a basement. 'Where are we?' She wanted to know, but Angel just took her by the elbow and led her up the stairs. 'This way.'

They came out in the deserted lobby of an abandoned hotel. The room was huge, with a grand staircase leading upwards, and a high ornate ceiling. It had an air of crumbling, decaying decadence. The furniture was covered over in dust sheets and the atmosphere was thick, and still, and heavy. The woman watched as Angel looked around, 'You've been here before,' she said, but he didn't answer. She shuddered, 'ughh, it feels creepy.' There was something there, in the sweet, rotten smell of the room, in the dense and suffocating air. Something was whispering. As the dust motes danced in the air, visible in the light that the street lamps outside threw inwards, it was easy to believe that it was the dust that whispered, like a malevolent spirit. She wanted to leave, But Angel was still staring.

'Let's go,' she pulled on his sleeve and he seemed to break out of his reverie. 'What's the tribunal?' he asked.

'It's some kind of otherworldly court. You go before them and maybe they can stop this. Kamal said that he would be my champion ..you know what? Screw this, I'm leaving.'

'You can't'

'Try and stop me.' She turned to run and collided headlong into a couple of demons. She screamed and Angel pulled her away from them and threw a right hook at the closest monster. 'Go!' He told her. 'The address on the card, go there. My friends have your talisman. We can stop this thing.' The woman ran out of the lobby and into the night. Angel turned back to the two demons that had attacked them. He vamped out...