Part Three
Holtz had climbed down from his horse, and he approached Angelus. 'Where is she?' he asked. He wanted Darla… after what she and her boy had done to his family - he would not rest until he had them both. But he was forever stumbling across the idiot male vampire. His sire was more wily, more difficult to entrap. And it was her that Daniel Holtz wanted in his grasp.
The vampire hunter slugged Angelus across the chin. The vampire fell backwards and was hauled back to his feet by two of Holtz's men, who kept a tight hold of him. Holtz pulled out a stake, and held it against the demon's throat. 'There are worse things than death, Angelus. I can keep you alive for months - years if I've a mind to.' He lowered the stake so that it rested against the vampire's chest - right over his heart. 'Now you are going to tell me where she is.'
Angelus laughed, of course he was going to tell Holtz the whereabouts of his sire. He had no wish to suffer needlessly. He did not want to play the big, strapping hero of the piece. He nodded his head towards James, 'she's with his lass.'
'Shut your mouth you bloody coward!' Yelled James, infuriated and disbelieving that the older vampire would endanger the women so - and in order to save his own hide. Angelus chuckled, ruefully. James was in love, he told Holtz, it was all very passionate and befuddling. He offered the vampire hunter a deal. He'd give him James and the two women in return for his own freedom - the women were down at the docks, he added.
'I'll kill you!' James tore Angelus away from his human captors and hit him a hard right cross. Holtz picked up his crossbow and aimed it at the fighting vampires. 'Kill them,' he ordered his men. Bolts began to fly at them from every direction. Angelus was hit in the shoulder. He knocked a guard from his horse, and jumped up into the saddle. James scrambled on up, behind him, and the two vampires rode out of the square - the flying crossbow bolts following them as they fled.
They pulled up at the end of an alleyway. 'I think we lost them,' Angelus said. He had multiple bolts sticking out of his torso. He was bleeding heavily, but none of them had penetrated his heart. James pushed the injured vampire off the horse and slid forward in the saddle. Angelus landed in the street with a thump, yelling out as the force of impact drove the bolts deeper into his flesh.
'I'd kill you where you lay if I didn't have to get to Elizabeth,' the passionate young vampire told him.
'Excuse me. I'm lying here with various arrows stuck in me, saving your life,' Angelus said to him, still rolling down on the ground.
'I'll be sure to tell Darla the utter lack of concern you had for her.' He turned the horse and rode away. Angelus forced himself to his feet. 'Buy her a hat!' he yelled after the vanishing figure, 'she loves hats. Why are people always running off and leaving me?' he wondered to himself. He pulled an arrow out of his side, and looked at it. 'Am I such a bad bloke? I don't think so. Not once you get to know me.' He pulled the bolt from his shoulder, 'Oh I really need a doctor.'
Doyle sat in the waiting room and flicked through the months old copy of the enquirer that had sat on the plastic table, beside him. Tom Cruise was filing for divorce from Nicole Kidman… he was pretty sure that was over already, he seemed to remember Cordelia talking about it. There were worries about what would happen to Nicole's career now she was no longer hitched up to the brightest star in the Hollywood firmament. She had been filming some little musical down in Australia… but there were copyright issues getting it released… she had been pregnant when he'd filed for divorce. Doyle's eyes glazed over, and he put the magazine down, feeling sick once again.
He began to tap his feet against the floor, anxiously. He glanced at his watch. The doctor must be running late - his appointment should have started ten minutes ago. This is what happened when you were forced to go to demon clinics, and not normal hospitals, he thought to himself. The receptionist must have noticed his tapping, maybe it was irritating her, because she spoke to him. 'I'm very sorry for the delay Mr. Doyle, Dr. Gregson is just running a bit late - he's sloughing, you see.'
Doyle didn't see. He had no idea what that meant, but he nodded his head and mumbled that it was fine - he didn't mind.
The door to the waiting room suddenly burst open with a loud bang, making everyone inside jump. A young man, who appeared furious - but whose eyes were red rimmed as if he had been crying, marched into the room. He ignored everyone, and headed straight for the doctor's office. Doyle sighed to himself - queue jumpers - was there any excuse? It was a good job Wesley wasn't here, he'd be clucking his tongue with impotent fury, as he seethed at the bad manners. He wouldn't say anything, though. You never said anything to line cutters. You just tutted. The half demon tutted. It made him feel better.
The nurse followed the angry young man down the hall, scurrying at his heels. 'You can't go in there,' she said to him. He ignored her, and flung open the door to the office. 'You can't go in there he's sloughing! Dr. Gregson I did tell him.' This last part was to the doctor, who was sat behind his desk moaning to himself as he pulled brown gunk off his face, peeling it off like a thick, viscous face mask.
Once he was finished, he threw the gunk in the toxic waste trash can at his side, and smiled at the nurse. 'That's quite alright, Sandy.' The nurse nodded and shut the door, and the demon doctor looked at the man in front of him. It was a vampire, and the demon could sense the rage and the heartbreak rolling off him in waves. 'I gather this is a matter of urgency?' he asked.
'I need it,' James said.
'It?'
'The cure.'
'You're aware of the price?' the doctor asked him, 'it's a steep one.'
But James was aware of the price - it was of no matter to him. 'I've already paid it,' he said.
'Very well,' the doctor shrugged and called Nurse Sandy back into the room. 'We need to prepare the patient,' he told her.
James took his shirt off and laid down on the silver gurney that acted as an operating table in this little demon clinic. Dr Gregson and the nurse put their masks on, and the doctor raised his scalpel. 'This shouldn't hurt,' he told the vampire, cutting into his chest, 'too much.'
...
Doyle heard the screaming out in the waiting room. His eyes flew over to look at the receptionist, in alarm. She tried to smile at him, reassuringly. He took some deep breaths. He was just here for some results, he told himself. Just a little chat, and being shown information… he'd already been through the tests and they hadn't caused him to scream out like that. They weren't going to be operating on him, today, he told himself - he was just here for some results.
Wes and Gunn sat at the bar in Caritas, and waited. Lorne was putting on a matinee performance. He was singing, 'I lost my heart in San Francisco,' and a whole host of older demons were sat out in the chairs, looking misty eyed at the renditions of the classics from their youth.
'He said he had something?' Gunn asked the watcher, Wesley nodded. 'So when's he gonna show?'
'Any time now.'
The song came to an end, and the elderly demon audience broke out in applause. As the clapping died away, and Lorne left the stage to take a break, Merl appeared - looking shifty. He glanced at the two men who were waiting for him. 'I'm not dealin' with you if the bloodsucker's around,' he said to them.
'Angel's not here,' Wesley told him, reaching in his jacket pocket to bring out the envelope of cash.
'Good,' Merl said, 'he's always beating me up, or hanging me upside down and he never pays likes he's supposed to.' Wesley laid the cash out in front of him. 'Jeez if I could've made a living in Akron I would never've come back to this smog pit,' the stool pigeon grumbled.
'Tick tock Merl,' Gunn's patience was wearing thin.
'Yeah well - this thing took a little more leg work than I anticipated, the price is gonna change.'
'Really?' Wesley raised his eyebrows and took the first bill back from the top of the pile. He folded it back into his pocket. 'Hey! Hey!' Merl protested. The watcher took another bill and the stool pigeon gave in, grabbing the money and spilling the info. 'This guy, James, you're looking for? He's alive, he's in town and he knows what Angel did to his heartthrob.'
The two men exchanged a glance. Lorne came up behind the small group and began to listen in - though he didn't say anything, for now.
'He's out for blood,' Merl told the two associates. Gunn took out his cell and began to dial.
'Yeah - OK - do that. I'll cover this end.' Angel put the phone down. Cordelia looked up from her desk, 'what's up?'
'He's alive. Wes and Gunn are gonna track him down.' He began to head over to his weapons cabinet. Cordelia got up from her chair and trotted after him. 'What if they can't?' she demanded. The vampire shrugged. 'Doesn't really matter - I know where he's headed.'
'Here,' Cordelia surmised, 'for you.' She looked less than impressed. Angel opened the cabinet and peered in. 'This looks different.' He glanced back over his shoulder, 'I want you to get out - head home whilst it's still light out and stay there.'
'Hmmm - no.' She folded her arms and glared at him. He sighed to show his frustration. 'Yes', he told her. Cordelia never did as she was told it was infuriating...and completely endearing. It was one of the things he… He shook his head. 'Where's my hurling axe?' he asked, scanning all the weapons that hung there. 'This is different!' he accused.
'I moved some stuff around when you were away,' the office manager told him. He rolled his eyes. 'They were dust catchers!' she protested. 'They kept making Doyle sneeze - and you know how grouchy he gets when he's all green and spiky. One time - we were making out - and he nearly took my eye out! And then came all the fussing, and the apologising and the guilt - ugh! Those weapons had to go, buster.'
'Well I'm sorry if my demon hunting business is getting in the way of your love life, Cordelia,' he did not sound sorry at all, 'but now I really just need you to go home.'
'I'm sticking with you,' she told him.
He felt some of the annoyance he had felt at her talking about how she had rearranged his weapons, to better facilitate her intimacies with Doyle, melt away at that. 'I appreciate your courage,' he told her. He did - it meant a lot that she wanted to stay with him when he was in danger. That was the kind of thing she usually only did for the half demon. 'But I don't wanna see you get hurt!'
'Neither do I!' she replied. 'I go home, he'll come after me because I'm home alone - that's what they do! They come after you when you're alone.' She remembered all too well the time Angel had sent her away to safety only for her to find a mad vampire slayer in her living room. 'Oh sure, Cordy, go home. Be a hostage with the torture and the fear and the tort…'
'Cordy! Will you, just once, do what I tell you without arguing about everything, OK? Hurling axe? Basement?' He began to walk towards the basement door, and she scurried on after him.
'I'm not arguing! I just know I'd be a lot safer by your side rather than all alone at home.'
Angel reached the door and opened it. James stood on the other side. He slugged Angel across the jaw and sent him flying backwards. 'Why did you do it?' He demanded.
After another hour, Doyle was called into the doctor's office. Finally! If he had known that the appointment was going to run this late he might have stopped off at a bar for a couple of belts first - stiffen his nerves. He frowned to himself. No he wouldn't have done that, he told himself. Morning drinking was a thing of the past for him, something he had done at the very depths of his despair. He wasn't going to fall down that rabbit hole again - not before he even knew there was anything to despair about. And even after... He knew what he was like now, maybe he could control himself. For Cordelia's sake, if not for his own.
Dr. Gregson greeted him with a smile and shook his hand. 'I'm sorry for the delay,' he said. Doyle mumbled that it was fine, again. He sat down, and the doctor fixed him with a kindly stare. 'Now you're paying in cash?' he said, glancing at his notes, 'is that correct?'
'Um - yeah… yeah it is.' He had had to scrimp and save over the summer to be able to pay the demon's fees. He knew Cordelia would have gladly handed over the money she had made from her latest commercial - the suntan lotion one that had upset her so much - but they didn't know when she would get any acting work again, or if she would even audition - after the disaster of her last shoot, so he didn't want to take that money off her. She had given him so much already. And he gave her so little in return. And now it seemed there was one less thing he was going to be able to provide her with.
'It's a shame,' the doctor was saying. 'I collect rare items… and I hear you have an unusual and rare gift?'
'The visions?' Doyle said, he shook his head. 'I'm not that fussed for knowin' that I'll sell my eyeballs to find out. I'd go to a normal clinic only …'
'Only you're not normal. And therein lies your entire problem. Well, pity, but cash will do.'
Doyle reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope. He had paid half on the day he had had his tests, and was paying the other half for the results. Dr. Gregson took the envelope and pulled out the notes, counting them all. 'Well...all this is in order, so...' he shuffled his files and began to look at Doyle's records. 'You were here a few weeks ago for fertility tests, that's right isn't it?'
Doyle nodded, he opened his mouth to say something; but his throat constricted and his mouth dried up, all of a sudden, so all he managed was a small choke of assent. He had had to come and find out - ever since Silas, the evil priest, had told him the half breeds could not have children, he had needed to know. He couldn't live with the uncertainty - the nagging doubt - no matter how much he wanted to tell himself that a demon from another world couldn't possibly know that about him. So, once the money was saved, he had come for the tests.
'Now you're half demon,' Dr. Gregson said, 'human mother and ...Brachen demon for a father - that's an unusual combination. Humans don't tend to go for the spikes.'
The half demon looked down at his shoes, he didn't suppose his mother had 'gone' for his father at all. He had never dared ask - it wasn't the sort of thing you talked to your mother about. And he already hated his demon father enough without having to know the full, grisly truth of his own conception.
'Yes, well,' the doctor continued, seeing the small man's reticence to comment on his own parentage, 'Your mother - as a human, had 23 chromosome pairings. A total of 46 chromosomes in each cell… this is what all full humans have - allowing for occasional abnormalities that show up as medical conditions - such as Downs Syndrome, of course. But your average human - 23 chromosome pairs per cell. 46 total.'
Doyle nodded. He was no great shakes at science, but this seemed fairly straight forwards. Dr. Gregson continued. 'Brachen demons, however, have 26 chromosomal pairs - resulting in 52 chromosomes per cell, total. Demons often have higher pairings than humans - it accounts for what appears to be their supernatural strengths or abilities. Often, there's nothing mystical about it - just different biology to what the humans are used to.'
Doyle nodded again - he was not good enough at either biology or math to see where this was headed. Dr. Gregson turned the file around so that the half demon could see the DNA patterning his own results had yielded. It meant nothing to the Irishman - but the demon doctor spelled it out. 'You - as a hybrid between the two species - have ended up with a mixed bag of chromosomes. Halfway between your mother and father. She has 46, he had 52 - you, on the other hand have 49 chromosomes per cell.'
Doyle frowned, 'but that's not an even number,' he pointed out.
'Exactly,' Dr. Gregson told him, snapping the file shut. 'You have 24 pairings of chromosomes and then one left over. In every cell in your body, I'm afraid. Now the extra chromosomes do account for your extra abilities - added strength, though not as great as a pure demon, your ability to break your bones and pop them back in - and the strength to bear the visions without the contents of your skull imploding. But the extra - unpaired - Y chromosome?' he shook his head. 'I'm sorry to tell you that that abnormality leaves you completely unable to produce sperm… as it does in any male hybrid creature, with an odd number of chromosomes, I'm afraid.'
Doyle hung his head, 'Completely unable … So I can't ever…?'
The Doctor smiled at him, a comforting, pleasant smile. For a demon he really wasn't a bad bloke. He had a good bedside manner, as it were. 'I'm sorry to have to tell you, Mr. Doyle, that the test results show us that you are unable to father children of your own. I know this news - whilst perhaps not completely unexpected - must be very distressing to hear.'
Doyle's eyes blurred with tears, but he forced himself to blink them back. His legs felt like dead weights, his stomach felt like a cannonball had been dropped right inside of it, and he was aware of the sound of his own blood pounding inside his ears. It was just as he feared. One more thing his demon half had taken from him. One less future he could offer Cordelia...
Angel hit back; and Cordelia screamed, as her vampire friend was thrown bodily across the room, landing out in the lobby. 'Was it because I had something you could never have?' James demanded, bearing down on the fallen man. Angel forced himself back to his feet and struck out again, he yelled at Cordelia to get back, and she ran to hide behind a pillar. And then the two vampires fought. James was barely a decade younger than Angel - he was old and strong - and fuelled by grief and burning hatred. He landed every blow, responded to every punch in kind. Nothing seemed to slow him down, nothing seemed to stop him. Angel was fighting all out, and still he was making no headway, as the other vampire tossed him around; smashing him against the floor, and the walls, and the pillars.
...
Upstairs, Fred heard the sound of voices. There was someone new in the hotel, she thought - not someone from Pylea - someone who had never travelled to another world, someone who belonged resolutely in this one. And he was talking to Angel. Angel. Now would be a good time to show him how brave she could be, show him that she had listened to what he said and was willing to take the steps to get better. She opened her door and crept down the landing. 'Angel?' she called out.
Her voice floated downstairs to where the two vampires were still sparring. 'I thought I heard company,' she said appearing by the balustrade. 'I came out of my room - small steps - like you said.' She couldn't see the King. That was good. She had picked a good time to try leaving her room, she thought to herself.
But then Angel appeared in the lobby beneath her. He had been locked in battle near the weapons cabinet, but on hearing her soft, Texan voice float through the air, he pushed James away from himself and ran to the centre of the foyer, where he would be visible from the landing. He looked up at the tiny, lost little woman who had chosen this moment, of all moments, to try and be brave. 'Fred - go back to your room and stay there!' he commanded her.
Her hopeful expression faltered. 'Oh - OK then,' and she turned to scuttle back to her room. Maybe the handsome man didn't want her around company yet - maybe he didn't think she was ready - she'd probably just embarrass herself, anyways - or him. She shut her door, and picked up the marker and began to write on the walls once more - listening for the click that would make everything clear and make her brain work the way it used to.
...
James launched himself at Angel once more, knocking the vampire off his feet yet again.
'I don't know where he is now,' Merl was telling the others. 'But I know where he was going. Same place your half breed friend's been asking about - Dr. Gregson's.'
'A doctor?' Gunn asked, 'what kind?'
'The demon kind,' Lorne told him, 'he's a slod demon.'
'Slod demon?' asked Wesley - he had heard what the stool pigeon had said - had intimated about Doyle - but he didn't understand. And he didn't understand why Doyle and this heart broken vampire would go to see the same doctor. 'What does he do?' he wanted to know.
'Anything you ask of him,' Lorne told him, 'he's a collector.'
This was worrying news. Gunn took out his cell in order to ring the Hyperion for a second time.
The phone was ringing, but things were a bit busy down in the lobby for anyone to answer at that exact moment. Angel was still fighting. His technique was better than James' - but the other vampire was fuelled by hatred and raw grief - it made him stronger. It made him keep getting up, even when the blows were so hard they should knock him out cold. Angel was using everything he knew, throwing everything he had into this fight; he punched, he span and kicked out, knocking James backwards, he jumped off the sofa and landed on top of the other vampire, he jumped to cling onto the chandelier and propelled himself forward so he kicked James across the room. Nothing was working.
James was back up, and he had Angel by the throat. Cordelia picked up the fire extinguisher and hurled it at the back of the vampire's head. She was a good shot, and it hit him, knocking him away from his opponent. Angel straightened back up and glared at her, 'I told you to…'
Cordelia rolled behind the counter, she grabbed the stake she kept in her desk drawer and tossed it towards the complaining vampire. 'Just shut up and stake him,' she said. But this time, she was less lucky. James got in between her and her friend, and intercepted the stake mid air. He then brandished it at the man he had come here to kill. 'Oops!' Cordelia said, and ran out from behind the desk to rectify her mistake.
James was trying to bury the stake deep into Angel's chest, and it was taking all the vampire's strength to hold him off and keep him at arm's length. 'You never loved anything,' James snarled at him, lunging in for the kill, 'go to hell!'
Cordelia jumped on his back and tried to yank him away from her friend. He was much too strong for her; but it did offer Angel a moment's respite, as James pulled away from him in order to fling Cordy across the room. She went flying, and crashed down onto the lobby floor with a loud thump. As James was distracted, Angel grabbed the stake from his grip and buried it into the other vampire's chest, plunging it straight into his heart. Then he abandoned the fight, and ran over to where Cordy lay.
She was picking herself up off the floor, bruised and beaten - but at least nothing was broken. He began to help her get to her feet. 'It's alright,' he said to her, as he helped her up, 'it's alright - it's all over.'
But behind him, James had not exploded in a cloud of dust and, as the pair of them straightened up, they noticed the other vampire also getting to his feet. He pulled the stake out of his chest. 'Uh - over in what sense?' Cordelia asked. The two of them looked on in horror, as James' chest wound healed up and vanished before their very eyes.
