Taste of Life

Anthony was relieved to have Desiree back, safe and sound, with her voice and everything. However, he could tell there was a distinct change in the way that she was acting and it was hard for him to pinpoint exactly what it was that had upset her or was presently upsetting her. He knew that she would not quite be herself so soon after what had happened, but at the same time she was strong enough not to let herself be effected so much by something that she had been expecting in her life.

"You're pining," he finally accused, watching as she spun a glass of whisky on its bottom rim with one finger on the top rim, the amber liquid inside swirling around with the movement.

"Shut up," she muttered in response, looked away from him. Letting out a sigh he walked around the bar to sit down beside her, taking the glass from her hand before she broke it, spilt it or drank it. "Not a good time, Tony."

"Stop moping already. Just tell me what's going on, huh? You've been there for me my whole life, literally, now let me be here for you." Looking to him with upset blue eyes, Anthony leaned forward on his elbows, his folded hands tucked beneath his chin as an image of pure attention. Desiree couldn't help but the smile as he looked at her with large puppy eyes, dark and innocent looking.

Sighing heavily, exaggerated, she leaned back in her tall bar seat and spun to face him fully. "It's Angel."

"The vampire?" he asked in surprise, dropping the act and giving her his full attention, properly this time. She smiled and nodded, her eyes taking on that same sad tone. "Okay, what about him? I know that he saved your life and all, but please tell me you aren't crushing on the guy so soon."

Swatting his knee, she glared in mock annoyance before she snatched her whisky back up and took a sip from it. "It started before that," she defended. "When we got out of the ring and I actually had a moment to talk with him. He's a vampire with a soul, the only person of his kind."

"Like you?"

"Yes," she stressed. "And he kept me safe, when I couldn't speak and could barely heal. He was the one that I-" Anthony held up a hand to interrupt her, making a face that just screamed 'TMI' and Desire shook her head in amusement. "Anyway, the night he came here and got the antidote and the spell for my voice, when he came back to Cordelia's apartment he was…cold. Distant. Like he didn't want to be there solely because I was there."

"You're not used to guys not immediately wanting to have sex with you?" Anthony asked as his voice rose in pitch, actually showing surprise. She glared for real this time and swatted at him violently, getting a complaint in return as he scooted his stool away from her, realizing his mistake too late; it was meant as a joke, since Desiree may have been a physical person but was growing picky in regards to sexual partners. "So, what's the deal?"

"It was something that happened between when he left and when he came back. Before he left he was holding onto my wrist, touching my face. Afterword he could barely look me in the eye." Anthony straightened his posture as he frowned, he understood what she was saying but also concerned at the way she was taking everything. It wasn't often that she was bothered so deeply, but what Angel had done took a deep cut into her emotions.

"Good god, Anthony, you're terrible at this," Savannah declared as she marched over and shooed her fiancé out of his seat, ignoring his protests the entire time. "Get, go, off with you! We need girl time!"

Desiree sat back and watched the spectacle in amusement, taking the time to let the warm whisky settle in her stomach as she glanced from Anthony to his hard-headed love. Savannah slid up into the stood carefully, her hand settling on her very pregnant stomach. "Now I know where this little thing gets its persistence. Keeps using my kidneys as punching bags," she complained as she rubbed her side in agony.

"I could help," Desiree offered as she placed her drink to the side. "Hold still."

Leaning forward, she gently placed her ear against Savannah's stomach to listen to the baby for a moment before she began to hum a lullaby gently. The fetus that had once been wiggling about energetically calmed down considerably, letting the soft sounds it was hearing through the amniotic fluid calm it to sleep once more. Savannah sighed in relief at the removal of the pain and smiled to Desiree when she pulled away with a gentle expression in place.

"You would be the perfect mother someday," she whispered, seeing the sadness in the Siren's eyes. "But, let's work out this Angel problem first!"

As night fell, Desiree walked along the roofs of the abandoned buildings. Her hands tucked into her jeans, she walked along casually and without much cause as her eyes scanned over the area around her. She couldn't feel any demon energies that seemed threatening, just the odd one that was hidden away or stowed in a building to keep itself safe. The nighttime was the time of the demons, when they came out to play.

Stopping at the corner of a rooftop as she took a moment to listen carefully, Desiree truly wanted to be elsewhere. She had never had such a problem in the past. She always enjoyed her time patrolling the city to make sure that nothing happened without her knowledge. Huffing loudly, she stepped off the ledge of the roof and plummeted toward the ground six stories below, landing silently on her feet. She needed to find something more to do with her life.

At least until Angel stopped popping back into her head every other second.

Stepping away from the building with long strides, Desiree fought against the urge to get away from her job and take a night to herself. She wanted to return to the Demon Club that she had first attended when Angel had claimed to act as her guard, hoping that maybe being surrounded by other people could possibly get the Vampire off of her mind.

"Haven't seen you in a while," Desiree called through the darkness as her glowing eyes fell upon the shadowed figure in a distant alley.

"Senses are as sharp as ever, my darling," Skylar said as he stepped out from the alley, dressed in a fine suit with his hair slicked back with gel. "You're making friends with a strange crowd these days. Are your human companions not enough for you?" he asked in amusement, dark eyes twinkling in the night.

Stepping threateningly forward, Desiree's power crackled in the air between the two as her eyes took on a darker, threatening hue. "You're going to die, very painfully, if I hear of you straying anywhere into the thoughts or territory of my family."

"And what of that deep and brooding vampire friend that you have," Skylar teased as he looked her directly in the eye, before skimming down her body. He wasn't fast enough to react before a hand was clutching at his throat tight enough to restrict not only airflow, but blood flow as well. Choking a moment, he glared at Desiree before she promptly released him to allow him a moment to adjust his suit properly, the redness of his cheeks fading gradually.

"We share an acquaintance," she corrected him.

"Really now?" Skylar appeared to be the cat that had caught the canary as he smirked at her with fanged teeth. "Because he was pretty adamant to claim himself as your protector. You have someone that threatens me, the direct link to a god, and you claim nothing but an acquaintanceship with him?"

"Do you want me to drain you?" she snapped, her eyes beginning to glow in preparation of a feeding. "You know that I can, and the temptation is just too much."

Skylar took a large step backward as he held up his hands in surrender. "Now, now, no reason to go and get hostile-"

"Either leave or make this conversation worth my time. I have better things to do."

With one last smirk, Skylar turned and strode back down the alley that he had wandered up, following after her along the rooftops from the ground. Desiree watched him until he disappeared around the corner before she turned as well and made her way in the opposite direction. If it were not for the power that Skylar had over other demons she wouldn't have hesitated to kill him in penance for what he had put her through by sending that demon after her.

Whisking through the rest of her patrol, she made her way to the same club that she had gone to that first night with Angel, disappearing through the bricks and immediately pushing herself amongst the bodies. The envelopment of energy and power embraced her like the arms of a lover and she found herself relaxing as she began to dance and hum with no restraint, letting go of her troubles as she caressed the bodies of demons around her. She could feel that other vampires were occupying the club, but the lack of a soul darkened their energy and made it so disturbing in comparison to the only other vampire she had fed from before.

Arms caressed her as they embraced her from behind, the body dancing against hers as she pulled at their energy slowly, humming more loudly as her hands touched the forms around her. More demons, male and female, pushed forward at the sound as their eyes became distant.

She needed to forget about Angel, and the best way to do that was to be reminded of what she was. What she could never be and what she could never be with.

Parting from the crowd as she felt the continued caresses of those around her but paid them no mind and instead headed for the sidelines to try and get some space. She was feeling overheated, overfull, which was a rarity for her. Had Angel's blood contented her so much that she didn't need to feed for so long of a period afterword? Leaning against the cold brick of the wall, she took in deep breaths to calm herself, closing her eyes as she listened to the pounding of the stereos in the club.

"Come now, let's keep dancing," a woman said to her in a sultry voice, caressing her hands along Desiree's arm. She was dressed in very little and there were markings scattered along her orange tinged flesh, but she did have an attractiveness to her that she was sure many people fell for. Desiree, however, had sworn off relations with women when the centuries saw to their increased greediness.

"Go on," Desiree purred as she caressed the demon's hand in return. "Continue without me." Unable to deny the command, the woman smirked and sauntered off to continue dancing, most likely to break more than a few hearts before the dawn.

Gliding effortlessly through the crowd, Desiree began to sing a song that contrasted with that of the club, wishing for some semblance of familiarity. The song that had once called her sisters to her shook her vocal cords and soothed her aching heart. Strong hands embraced her but she broke free, moving toward the door. Her voice cut off as she darted through the entryway, breaking free into the alleyway and taking off at a dead run deeper into the bowels of the city. She was over energized and she needed to burn some of it off before she hurt someone accidentally.

The curls of her red hair flew behind her as she ran to her apartment, hoping that it was going to be intense enough of a run to at least give her the peace to sleep. However, as the building came into view there was still a buzz throughout her veins and along her skin, making her heart race. Turning down her stairs, she was nearly trembling with the energy that it took not to keep running. She needed to burn off the energy as she would have on the island, as she would have with her sisters.

Stepping into her apartment, she rushed to her room to get changed.

The shrill ring of her phone stopped her in her tracks, for it was much too late for a regular phone call.

Lifting it from the receiver, Desiree held it to her ear. "Yes?"

"Desiree! Thank god you answered!" Cordelia cried out through the other line. Desiree had actually forgotten that she had given the woman her number, considering the odd circumstances of the night and that she had been focusing quite intently on Angel's actions. "You have to come here, it might be nothing but I think Angel's about to go mental and kill a lot of people and you could probably help, you know, a lot!"

Desiree was standing as still as ice as she stared ahead blackly, unsure of what to think at her words. What had she rambled on about? "Cordelia, what are you talking about? Why would Angel kill anyone?" she asked quickly.

"He's a vampire!" Cordelia nearly screamed into the phone. "It's what soulless things do! Get down to the office!"

The phone clicked dead and Desiree blinked for a moment in completely bafflement before she rushed to her room to get changed quickly. It seemed she was going to get that chance after all, considering it would take much too long to travel an hour by car.

Soulless?

Cordelia continued to tremble as she watched Angelus recover from the water she had thrown on him, realizing that she had indeed been bluffing about the water being holy. Looking up to her sharply, unsettling golden eyes stared at her before a growl erupted from his chest at being tricked. Screeching in fear she ducked to the side as Wesley rushed at Angelus from behind, roaring in a battle cry as he pushed the larger man forward toward the elevator. The angle was slightly off, however, and he simply ran into the side of it harshly and was sent sprawling on the ground.

Cordelia made another squeaking sound as she rushed out of the vicinity of the angered vampire, watching as Angelus rose to his feet with a distinct snarl etched on his face. Wesley stepped before Cordelia as Rebecca continued to hide in the corner of the office, tucked away and unseen.

"What do you know, maybe you did finally grow a pair!" Angelus laughed as he straightened up, flashing fangs and sharpened teeth. "Now, what to do with you?" he pondered aloud, stepped toward them as they each stepped back in turn. "Ms. Stardom over there is already going to be my head on a pike, but what to do with you two?"

Cordelia screamed sharply when she ran into someone behind her, knowing that it wasn't Wesley or Rebecca, and turned sharply to see that Desiree was standing in the doorway to Angel's office. Her eyes were glowing in the dark, the ring of blue looking like illuminated water as she stared forward at Angelus. The vampire perked up at the sight of her, his head cocking ever so slightly to the side to show his interest. "You weren't joking about the killing thing," Desiree said to Cordelia without actually looking at her.

"Desiree," Wesley gasped in surprise, pushing himself and Cordelia out of her way as well. She herself didn't look as inviting as she usually did. Her porcelain skin appeared more like marble than glass and her hair was in windblown disarray, the red curls loosened into waves and appeared more like fire than ever before. Her eyes looked wild, pupils dilated and intense.

"Just who I wanted to see," Angelus purred contentedly, clapping his hands in front of him before he opened his arms in a show of invitation. "Come for me, Desiree?"

The Siren narrowed her eyes as she looked him over. There was nothing left of the Angel she had known, this person was of only dark energy. The power felt like that of a vampire, the vampires that she was accustomed to knowing before she met Angel. This being had no soul, no conscience or remorse.

"And just who are you?" she asked, moving forward. Her heeled boots tapped on the floor, the black jeans and black halter-top showing off the slightest bit of skin along her navel while her matching leather jacket covered up the arms that had once been bare, her halter-top once revealing the open flesh of her back before she covered it.

"Angelus," he smirked, stepping forward at the same time and leaving the two to circle around one another. Desiree soon stood before Rebecca, glancing back at the frightened woman that was covered in human blood. The smell was strong and caused her to turn away and face blame on Angelus. "Please, she literally wanted it," he defended, motioning back to Rebecca.

"So this is the soulless version," Desiree mumbled, looking him over with demonic eyes. "Strange, like another person but an identical face." Angelus smirked, baring all sharpened teeth. His golden yellow eyes were fixated on her, allowing for Rebecca to slip over to Wesley and Cordelia. Angelus stepped quickly and was soon standing directly in front of Desiree, staring down at her intently. She didn't seem frightened at all as he stared her down.

Her eyes were…curious.

"Angel, stop," Wesley tried to command, seeing the vampire's intent toward the redhead.

"Sleep," Desiree hushed, never looking away from Angelus's eyes. Wesley, Cordelia and Rebecca dropped to the ground like corpses, hitting the hardwood floors slightly more roughly than Desiree had intended, but she could only do so much for them. Angelus only seemed to find amusement in the scene, however, as he looked over to them and laughed.

When his eyes snapped back to her, there was a new interest in his eyes. "Nice trick, was that meant for me, too?" he mocked, stepped closer still until only a hair's width separated them.

Smirking in return, Angelus was surprised to see the sharp canines that were peeking out between her lips. They weren't quite fangs, but they were more deadly than the average human's. "Of course not," she assured, her voice tugging at Angelus's mind but there wasn't as much an effect on him as there had been on his other self. Tipping his head to bring their lips a breath away from one another, he paused briefly and smirked.

"I know how you feed, don't forget. And I've seen you use it as a weapon," he reminded. Snatching her wrists, but careful to only grab the leather sleeves, Angelus spun her around to face her toward the window. Moonlight was streaming through to create lines along the floor, bringing light to the otherwise dark room. "Can't touch your skin just yet," Angelus purred into her ear as his cheek caressed along her soft hair.

"Yet?"

"It's just this drug," he said dramatically, opening his mouth as though he intended it bite her but instead exhaled deeply across her exposed throat. "It'll wear off eventually. But I know you've got some kind of trick tucked up these sleeves of yours. You wouldn't have just run in blind, that's not your style." Inhaling the scent of pheromones from her hair, he growled contentedly. "He's tasted your blood, you know? I've tasted your blood."

"Oh?" Desiree asked, turning her head toward him just slightly to look him in the eye with one bright azure one. "I think I'd remember that."

"The spell that returned your voice," Angelus reminded. "Some got on his finger when he was pouring it into the glass. Oh, he tried not to but you are just too tempting. He licked the blood off while all eyes were on you and it was divine. Nothing like those blood packs that he drinks; your blood is like drinking the pure essence of life. It was…riveting." Chuckling against her hair, he used his grasp on her wrists, their arms crossed over her chest, to spin her around once more and have her face him. "It took all the will within him not to keep that little bottle of your blood, get more of a taste."

"What do you think you're trying to do?" Desiree asked as she leaned up until she was nearly kissing him. "Turn me against him? We're not exactly close," she replied. "I mean, he helped me, I helped him, he helped me again. It's kind of just an ongoing cycle of who saves who. But, you know what he knows, so you're aware that he's quite uninterested."

"Because of me," Angelus sneered, looking every bit the predator that vampires were known to be. "It's all because of me; if dear little Angel gets too close to those he loves, I come out to play." Without another word, Angelus silenced further conversation with a harsh and demanding kiss, keeping a tight grip on her wrists as he pushed her down onto the surface of his desk while knocking several books off in the process. His lamp smashed on the floor and an empty coffee mug soon met the same fate.

Desiree immediately pulled at his energy, feeling that there was so much more with this side of him. She could only take so much because of the amount that she had fed at the club. Angelus knew it, too, as he pulled away from her with a bark of laughter and grasped her hair roughly. Her hand moved to his neck, not to choke him but to get at more of his skin, and he sneered down at her. "Performance issues?" he teased.

Snarling at him, Desiree pulled at his energy harshly and Angelus immediately felt the drain because of her strength. Pulling roughly on her hair, Desiree's concentration was momentarily broken as her head collided with the desk. Growling was her only warning before fangs tore into her throat, drawing forth her ancient blood. Desiree was in near pain at the grip that he had on her wrist and hair, but there was a numbness around the area in which he was biting her. Clenching her teeth, she tried to free her hand as her fingers dug into his throat in faint retaliation. He only groaned in response, angering her as she began to feel the effects of his drinking.

Thinking of no other way to get the vampire to release her, she threw her head back and let out a sharp keening sound that nearly caused the glass of the windows to crack, but it was enough to disorient Angelus's enhanced hearing and throw him back as he covered his ears, blood coating his lips. Kicking out, her boot caught him under the jaw. The strength she put into it would have been enough to break a human's jaw and neck, but it simply snapped Angelus's head back hard enough to knock him unconscious.

Breathing heavily, she looked down at his fallen form before she collapsed back onto the desk as the blood-loss clouded her mind, her body putting her to sleep so it could heal faster.