Part Two

Angel was lurking. Again. It was a good job he had got so much practice in his Sunnydale years because it was taking all his skill to go unnoticed. The Scourge were gathered in a big abandoned warehouse, listening to a rousing speech from their General.

'The other day I was asked, why hunt the mongrel? Doesn't his very inferiority guarantee that it poses no threat? Won't it die of its own, innate, mortal stupidity? Well I say NEVER! I say we will not stop until every single half breed has been erased and our purity rules this planet.' There were cheers from the crowd. The General continued 'Tonight, the Listers who have eluded us will be destroyed. And we know just where to find them thanks to this good man' A shifty looking, thickset human sidled to the front 'first mate on a ship that they think means salvation, not annihilation.' There were chuckles from the assembled pure blood demons, the human looked around, smirking, pleased with himself for his betrayal. Angel didn't hang around to hear more.

Meanwhile a giant glass structure was wheeled onto the platform behind the General. His vampire's hearing allowed Angel to follow what was being said even as he moved quietly to the door. 'Tonight we will unleash the beacon, the Listers, along with anything else contaminated with human blood will perish. When the beacon reaches critical mass, and detonates, its cleansing light will reach a quarter mile in every direction… wanna see how it works?'

As he moved through the door and out onto the street, Angel was aware of an intense glare behind him and the screams of a human man dying in agony. He needed to find a phone. He regretted, for once, refusing to accept one of those dreadful tinny little cellular devices that Cordelia was always pushing on him. Doyle had taken one. Fortunately she had at least insisted that he memorise both her and Doyle's numbers, and his memory was more than up for the job. He found a pay phone a block and a half away and rang Doyle.

'He said he was going to get blankets.' Cordelia was saying to the Captain when Doyle's phone rang in his jacket pocket once more. 'I told him we so didn't have time, he said we wouldn't even miss him,' she continued as her friend answered his phone.

'Angel man, where are y'?' There was a pause as Angel's voice buzzed away at the other end of the line. 'Uhuh …. Yuhuh…. OK, got it.' Doyle snapped his cell shut. 'We need to shove off' he told the Captain. 'NOW'.

'But I can't find my first mate'

'You won't, just do it. C'mon Cordy, we need to get off this ship.'

'But…'

'DO IT!' he yelled at the Captain, taking Cordelia's hand and pulling her down the gangplank.

'Shouldn't we at least say bye to the ..'

'No time' he interrupted tersely.

As they reached the slip, the Captain signalled the harbour crew to begin the process of launching them off. Doyle and Cordelia scrambled into the truck and drove off the slipway as the Quintessa was slid into the ocean and began to pull away. The pair paused to watch as the bulky ship began to move.

'D'ya think they'll make it?' Cordelia asked.

'I hope so' Doyle said 'but we need to get out of here too, that was Angel on the phone, The Scourge is comin'.'

'What are you waiting for? Drive!'

As the truck containing Doyle and Cordelia drove off in one direction, the trucks carrying The Scourge troops came roaring into the harbour from the other.

'GO GO GO' yelled Cordelia. Doyle floored it and, as the pedal hit the metal, their little truck disappeared around the corner and out of sight of the pure demon army.

As Doyle concentrated on driving out of the harbour and putting as much distance between themselves and The Scourge as possible, Cordelia watched the mirrors anxiously. 'If they know someone helped the Listers they'll come looking for us.'

'If we can jus' get far enough away we'll be impossible to track, Princess.'

They screeched out of the harbour and onto the roads, heading back inland into the city. 'If we can just put a few blocks between us…'

Cordelia screamed as a Scourge truck appeared in her mirror 'DOYLE! What do we do?'

'Hang on, Princess' Doyle took the next right at breakneck speed, tyres squealing. At the next intersection he turned right, again. The Scourge truck still seemed to be gaining on them.

'Aren't we headed back to the harbour now?'

'I'm jus' tryin' to shake 'em.' He replied, abruptly changing direction once more.

The truck raced through the streets, ignoring every traffic light it passed. 'If we live through this i'm gonna lose my license when all these tickets hit the truck hire place' Cordelia moaned.

'Don't worry, If we live through this, I won't make you take the fall. I'll tell em I was driving.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah' The two of them shared a smile, as they ran another red. Horns of the crossing cars blared at them, but it didn't matter. They were headed into busier traffic and that was allowing distance to build up between them and their pursuers. As they hit civilisation, they saw the Scourge truck pull back. The pure blood demon army did not want to operate in the middle of the human world. They talked a big game, but they preferred to dwell in the shadows.

'We just need to find somewhere we can abandon the truck' Doyle said, breathing heavily from all the exertion.

'Oh hey, no, what? Abandon? We're not abandoning it! It's one thing to get so many tickets I won't drive again 'til I'm 30, but I'm not being accused of stealing a truck!'

'Just for now, we can reclaim it in the morning, I just don't want it parked outside the office all night in case The Scourge keep on looking'

'Oh, that's OK... I guess.'

He screeched the truck into an alley beside a nightclub and the two of them jumped down from the cab. Cautiously, they peered around the edge of the alley, checking that their tail was in fact lost, and then together they melted into the street scene, two humans amongst many. Safety in numbers.

As they made their way back to the office, the more distance they put between themselves and the truck, the safer they felt. Cordelia had threaded her arm through Doyle's as they walked and their pace had slowed; becoming less a mad dash and more a comfortable amble, as time went on. Doyle was enjoying imagining that any passersby would be mistaking them for a couple. Cordelia had other thoughts on her mind.

'Doyle? Where did you learn to be a getaway driver?'

'Ah, d'ya really want to know the answer to that one, darlin'?'

She laughed 'I guess I probably don't, no. Doyle? Could we just ring the truck place tomorrow and tell them it was stolen? We wouldn't have to go back for it and you wouldn't have to lose your license.'

'Y'know that's not a bad idea, you're quite the Machiavelli, y'know that?'

'Duh! I bet cop Kate could handle the police paperwork for us, so we'd be barely making a false claim.'

'You're as brilliant as you are beautiful, Princess.'

'Doyle, pay attention'

'I am payin' attention, you've just saved me from a six month driving ban, I could kiss ya!'

She swatted him on the chest in faux annoyance, and they were both still laughing as they climbed the steps to the office.

Inside, Angel was waiting for them. He looked surprised to see how happy they appeared. 'Well, you two seem to be having a good evening.' He said sardonically, eyebrows raised. 'I was worried.'

'We got into a car chase with the Scourge, but we're OK now, man.'

'Yeah, it turns out if you ever need someone to drive the car when you rob a bank, Doyle, here, is your guy. And I thought I was badass driving my car through the school halls and up to the library that one time.' There was a pause whilst the two men digested this tidbit of information about Cordelia's past and wondered what to do with it. Doyle shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. 'Did you check the harbour after the scourge left?' He asked 'Did the Listers get away?'

The ship had sailed successfully. Angel had watched it disappear into the distance. The Lister clan would find safety on Briole. But The Scourge would still need taking care of.

'Well I'm beat' Cordelia announced 'Can we take care of the uber evil tomorrow? I need some beauty sleep.' And yawning, she left the office, leaving the two men alone.

'Well, I guess I should be heading off too.' said Doyle, hauling himself up off the green sofa.

'Doyle.' Angel spoke just as the smaller man was about to leave, he whirled back around in the doorway.

'Yeah, man?'

'We need to find out where The Scourge are headed next and stop them. I didn't say in front of Cordelia, but they have a weapon of mass destruction. We can't let them disappear into the underworld with it.'

'Well, we'll find them, but … tomorrow, yeah?'

'Doyle, I hate to ask it, but…' Angel left his sentence dangling, waiting for his friend to work out the ending.

'You need me to get in touch with my old contacts, right?'

'I wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary.'

'OK, bud, but if this stirs up any... past resentments, I'll be relying on you to help me out.'

'Count on it.'

The two friends exchanged smiles of understanding; of recognition of the dangerous lives they led and the rocky path to redemption they were both following. Then Doyle left the office to head back out into the night, and Angel took the slow elevator downstairs to his underground sanctuary.

A/N OK, so That's the setup out of the way. The story, proper, starts next chapter. The next episode (Parting Gifts) will be ready to post at the end of the week, so I'll post the first part on Friday and the next parts over the subsequent days, same as this week. Thanks to everyone who has read so far...I hope you come back for the next part at the weekend!