Stripped Bare

Siren sat on one of the tables that were in the room, listening to the crowd as they roared with excitement, the fight between Angel and Tripcose already underway. She glared down at the ground, knowing that there was no way they'd both walk away from that fight alive. The crowd was louder than she had ever heard them, knowing that Angel—the new flavour—was going to be Tripcose's twenty first kill.

Manoeuvring her body, she laid herself out on the table as she tried to think. There was no way that she'd be able to get over the red line with two of the bands on and the last time when she was only wearing one she had been at full strength, taking the life of her first kill by draining all of their energy. There wasn't much chance that she'd get a chance to do that again. They monitor her too closely now.

"Excuse me, pst, come here," A male voice whispered. Siren's eyebrow twitched in curiosity as she lifted her head, seeing Crib making his way over toward where a man was poking his head through the bars of their cage. He looked like one of the men from the audience, dressed sharply in a black suit.

She kept where she was but listened carefully to what the man might want, probably hoping to rig a fight or something. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"I need to see Angel," The man whispered, catching her attention completely. She looked over to where Crib was standing before him, seeing the human man making motions as he described how tall Angel was.

"Yea, he's dead," Crib answered immediately, the stricken look coming to the man's face and the outrush of sadness and remorse that erupted from him nearly making Siren sick. She pulled herself off the table and brushed her pants, ready to beat down on Crib. Angel was still alive, for how long was still unclear.

"Dead?"

"In about twenty seconds he will be. He's fighting Tripcose and who da hell are you?" Crib demanded finally, looking irritated at the interference. There was no point in the man being there. Crib didn't like Angel, of course he wouldn't like those that were friends of Angel's.

"I'm a friend. Look, perhaps we could help each other. I have a key," the man said as he began to dig around in his coat pocket, Crib's attention solely on the man on the other side of the bars. He didn't even notice Siren crouching on the table, completely ready to pounce on him should be try anything. Crib would probably free himself and run. He pulled out a metal rob, maybe as thick as her pinkie finger and twelve inches long. Before he could say much more, Crib used his tongue to snatch the instrument away.

"Give that back!"

"Planning on running now?" Siren asked as she looked at Crib. The male turned in her direction, noticing the lethal position that she was in. He didn't answer her, but instead lifted the instrument that he had taken to his wrist, pressing the tip just light against the bracelet. With an electric pulse, it sprung open and fell to the floor with a clatter. Siren leaned forward slightly, placing a hand on the table to prepare to spring at him.

"Whoa there girly," he said quickly when he saw the change, holding up his hands. She glared at him with bright blue eyes, challenging him to just try and stop her.

"Angel, Angel, Angel," chanted from the ring, reaching their ears. Crib moved over to the crowd of Demons that were watching through the small windows at the base of the ring, looking in. Siren ran after him, pushing aside two men that were in her way. Angel had Tripcose on his back, the point of a broken speak against his neck. The crowd was chanting for him, urging him on to finish with Tripcose, take his life.

He threw the wooden stake aside, turning his back on Tripcose. Siren looked over to the shock on Crib's face as he watched as Angel gave the man life, refusing to kill him. He truly would die before he killed another man in that ring. She grabbed onto Crib's arm and spun him to face her, her hands burning at his skin with the dire need for energy.

"Give me that damned key, you bastard."

The crowd's chant changed when Tripcose began a renewed assault on Angel, using his fists to beat the afterlife from the vampire. Crib looked between her and the ring, knowing that he would die in there or at the hands of the upset demon that was branding his skin. He growled in irritation before he grabbed her wrist and pressed the tip of the rod against it, the band snapping open. The other demons all looked over at the sight of it falling away, soon rushing forward.

"Stop!" Siren yelled, all movement ceasing. "You'll get your band removed, but you have to take this fighting ring down," she growled out, seeing the sneers of pleasure that came to the men's faces at the thought of killing those men that had locked them down in the hell hole. Metal bracelets released and fell to the ground, clattering loudly. Siren jumped away from them and moved over to the door, looking in through the grate beside it.

Tripcose had stepped back.

Angel fell to the floor as the wounds that he had received took effect, weakening him too much. She could see the large stain of blood on his stomach where he must have been stabbed with the spear. It was a good thing Tripcose hadn't gotten to his heart. She looked back when she heard the other men quieting, the sound of dropping metal ceasing.

"Let's just end this bullshit already," Crib growled out from behind her, getting a sadistic grin from the woman before him that had all of the men wondering what it would have been like to fight in the ring with her for life or death. She had never been allowed to kill after her first, she was meant only to spark the crowd's interest before the matches began.

"Both of them!" A male yelled from outside the doors, the guards moving away on the outside. Siren's head snapped back in the direction of the doors before her hands hit against the heavy metal, pushing it open with a slight amount of work and charging out, the others rushing after her as they yelled in outrage.

Spinning fluently, Siren's boot connected with the jaw of one of the guards, sending him to the side as he dropped his weapon and fell unconscious against the wall. One of the guards made for Angel on the ground, but had barely even the time to activate the electric shock before a hand gripped onto his neck and he suddenly fell to the ground, unconscious.

Angel looked up in surprise at the sight of Siren standing above him, one hand still raised from where it had grabbed the back of the man's neck.

Crib appeared beside her, kneeling down and taking hold of Angel's wrist. He mumbled out a 'loser' as he was releasing the band, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter. The demons were quickly making their way from the ring after they had exacted the revenge they sought, killing many of the guards and some of the spectators.

She looked over at the sound of someone falling into the pit, seeing that it was the man in the suit, the brother to Jack, that had been pushed inside. He was holding out a gun at Tripcose, cursing him as a slave. He circled around Tripcose, making the mistake to ignore the other three in the ring as well.

"You had your twenty one, then you had to go and ruin it for everybody else," he mocked loudly, holding the gun up at the demon. Siren kicked out a foot to knock the gun up into the air, flying out of his hands and a shot missing Tripcose by a couple of feet. Crib took hold of his wrist and snapped on the band that had fallen off of Angel's, sealing it.

"Tripcose," Crib said as he looked over to the other demon, pushing the large man away and over to him. "Catch." Tripcose didn't hesitate to take hold of the man before hefting him up and throwing him into the air, over the railing that held the red caution on it. With electric bright lights, dust flew through the air where the man had once been. Siren wrinkled her nose at it, the stench of burnt human flesh filling the room.

She couldn't stop herself from feeling free, relaxed, at the thought of him finally being gone.

She looked over to Angel in time to see him stumble and moved over to let him fall against her, wrapping on arm around his back as her hand moved to the injury in the side of his stomach. It was definitely a stab from the wood. Using the energy that she had taken from the guard, she placed her palm over the injury and pressed down, getting a hiss of pain from Angel.

He tried to move away from the pressing hand on his injury, not sure why she was doing it. She knew he was a vampire, she knew that he would heal. The pain and discomfort only lasted a moment, however, before there was a sharp burn and then nothing. He blinked in surprise as he looked down at her, seeing that her blue eyes were glowing as she concentrated on his stab wound.

"It was a good fight," Tripcose said as he came up to Angel, clapping him on the back. Siren's hand fell away, showing the hole in his bloody shirt and the perfect skin beneath. No injury lingered behind. He looked at her with shock, but she just smiled faintly. Crib stepped up to her and tapped the metal rod against the band around her neck, letting it fall open and clatter to the ground.

Angel was soon supported by Cordelia and Wesley, leaning on them heavily as they walked him from the building. The other demons were still filing out, rushing off into the night as soon as they were free from the prison they were put it. They watched as one group rushed off out of the area, looking back a couple of times toward Angel and his friends.

"I find it very curious that there was a woman down there. I have never heard of them putting women into fights," Wesley commented as he looked at Angel, seeing the fatigue on the man's face.

"I wasn't really one of their contestants."

All three turned around so quickly that Cordelia nearly tripped in her shoes. The woman stood a couple of yards back, closer to the entrance of the building where she had exited behind them. Angel noticed the weariness in her own eyes, as well as the drop of her shoulders and that she was favouring one leg over the other. She was hurt and tired, just like he was.

"You healed me," Angel mumbled out, still unsure of how to take in that part. He had only ever known for one demon to heal and that was when its blood turned him human for a day.

"Your friends saved all of our lives," she replied back, smiling softly. She was a different person outside of the building. He didn't even know how long she had been down there. Long enough to learn the routine.

Angel pushed away from Cordelia and Wesley when he saw her stumble in her place, her legs refusing to keep her upright. She winced in pain as her hand moved down to her stomach as though covering an injury, the exact place that he had been stabbed. He wrapped an arm around her torso, letting her lean on him to regain herself. Before she had a chance to protest, he had moved her shirt up to reveal his injury on her stomach.

"That's how you did it," he mumbled to himself, letting her shirt fall down again. "Wesley, got get the car," Angel demanded. The other man nodded and quickly rushed off with Cordelia in tow, not wanting to be left behind to stand there awkwardly. Angel looked down at the woman that was leaning against him, a complete mystery. "What are you? A Siren?"

"In a sense," she mumbled back, turning those strange eyes to him. "Although, the meaning and description behind the name has changed much since I was born. I hear that you…you are a vampire with a soul?" Angel stood still, frozen, before he nodded his head in answer. She smiled, though, and nodded her head back in understanding. "Looks like we're both alone out here, huh?"

Angel knew that she did not mean that they were alone in the alley.