Part Four

Doyle heard the sound of glass smashing, of something heavy hitting the floor, and then he heard Rebecca cry out. He frowned. That didn't sound like the kind of noises he'd expected to hear at all. Much as he didn't want to get in the way of his friend's big night with a famous actress, he still decided it was probably best if he checked that everything was OK. If everything was OK; he'd apologise, slink back into the bedroom and continue pretending not to be there. If everything wasn't OK …

He opened the door; everything wasn't OK. In fact, much to his alarm, it seemed like the evening had taken a twist for the leather pants wearing worst. He saw Rebecca flung across the room and land heavily in a crumpled heap by the trapdoor they used to access the sewer tunnels. She struggled to right herself and, as she sat up, Doyle realised that she was already covered in blood. 'You're crazy', she said, looking up fearfully towards the man that was bearing down on her.

'Oh no. I'm a vampire' he laughed. Doyle had never seen Angel look like this, had never seen a look of such pure cruelty on his face, or the light of gleeful insanity in his eyes. This was not his Angel, but Rebecca still did not understand what had happened.

'This isn't you', she told him.

'They always mistake me for the character I play', Angelus sneered back at her. 'They never see the real me.'

Doyle began to edge out of the bedroom, he needed to get Rebecca away from his friend, but he didn't want the crazed vampire realising he was there before he was ready. He needed something, a weapon, anything that could help.

'I'm … I just wanted..' Rebecca was gasping her words out, trying to reason with Angel, trying to make him see sense.

'To be like me? I don't blame you. I'm one happy fella.'

She ran, but Angelus was too quick for her, and cut off her exit. Doyle continued to sidle towards them, not making any sudden movements, staying out of Angel's peripheral vision. He could only hope that the terror, which flowed off Rebecca in waves, would overpower Angelus' senses enough that he would not notice his best friend until it was too late.

'I tell you what', the vampire said to the actress, in a facsimile of reason, 'I'll torture you for a few unbelievably long hours and then you can tell me if this is really the lifestyle for you.'

She made a break for it, and ran up the stairs, but again she was no match for vampire speed and Angel caught her and threw her back down. She stumbled against the table and then pulled herself up. Behind her back, she reached for the candelabra she had seen there.

As Angel bounded back down the stairs he caught sight of his friend stood, frozen, in the kitchen. 'Doyle!' he said, sounding pleased to see him. 'I'd forgotten you were here! You don't mind if I kill Rebecca before I kill you, do you? Ladies first and all.' Doyle said nothing, but gripped the one weapon he had managed to find behind his back.

'Whatever you're going to do... Do it. I'm not running anymore.' Rebecca stood facing the vampire, he approached her slowly, like a cat stalking its prey. She stood still until the last moment and then, just as he was within biting distance, she hauled the candelabra up and smacked him across the face with all her strength.

Angelus stopped, surprised. 'Now that I respect!' She hit out again and he fell backwards into the chair behind him. She ran for the elevator, and Doyle followed her.

Angel was quick, as always, and pounced across the room to stop them escaping, but as Rebecca struggled to get the gate closed, Doyle lifted the weapon he had found. It was the cross Cordelia had taken to the actress' house the other morning, she must have left it in Angel's apartment when she had been tending to Doyle's wounds later that night.

The Irishman pushed the cross right into Angel's face and the vampire hissed and recoiled. Rebecca was able to slam the gate closed, and the elevator began to creak its way upwards.

In her panic, Rebecca forgot to stop the elevator and it continued to ascend above the office. Between the two of them they managed to force it to a stop, halfway between the floor and the ceiling, and push the unyielding gates open. Doyle then helped the actress slither down through the small gap that was left. But as she did, she felt someone catch hold of her legs and she began to scream. Doyle tried to pull her back into the elevator.

'It's okay!'

The voice was British, and the half demon was relieved to realise that her assailant was Wesley come to help, not Angelus come to kill.

'Oh thank God, he's trying to kill me!' Rebecca collapsed into the arms of the watcher.

'What did you do to him?'

Doyle groaned. That was Cordelia's voice, why had she come here and put herself in so much danger? He wriggled out through the tiny gap himself. It was far more of a squeeze for him than it had been for Rebecca, and for once in his life he was glad to have been built along decidedly small lines, Angel could not have made it through this gap. He landed on the floor with a thump and was pleasantly surprised when Cordelia threw her arms around him. 'Thank God you're OK, I was worried!'

'What are y' doin' here?'

'I told Rebecca all about how you sire a vampire! Wesley and I realised what she meant to do and had to come and stop it!'

'I really wish you hadn't!' Doyle told her.

'He's insane!' Rebecca interrupted. 'He's a psychopath, he's trying to kill me!'

'And what exactly did you do to him?' Cordelia stopped fixating on Doyle and rounded on her former shopping partner. She sounded very angry.

'I didn't do anything!' Rebecca protested.

'With respect Ms. Lowell, you must have done something,' Wesley said to her.

'I gave him a little something is all, something to loosen him up, but now he's…'

'LOOSE?' shrieked Cordelia.

'Yeah.'

'What did you give him?' the British man wanted to know.

'Doximal', Rebecca told him. 'It's really good stuff.'

'What does Doximal do?' Doyle asked, having a horrible feeling that he already knew the answer.

'It's a powerful drug that induces a feeling of contentment … bliss' Wesley told him.

'Bliss? As in perfect happiness?' Cordelia was not impressed with what she was hearing.

'He hasn't turned', Wesley assured her in soothing tones. 'It's an illusion, it isn't real.'

'He bit me.'

'Still, perhaps we had better leave the premises until after the effects have worn off.' The watcher concluded.

The lights went out. Cordelia jumped into Doyle's arms. The situation was really too terrible to enjoy that, but he was dreadful person and so he still really enjoyed it, anyway. He held her tightly. But he also maintained a strong grip on his cross. Rebecca backed away into a corner and slumped down onto the floor.

'He's cut the power' Wesley said 'That means he's gone outside.'

'Someone forgot to pay the electric bill … Cordelia.' Angelus' sing song voice floated across the office and the vampire appeared in the doorway. Doyle tightened his grip on Cordy and edged his body around so that she was behind him. 'Who wants to bet that the phone line's dead too?'

'Angel, I want you to listen to me…' Wesley was forcing himself to sound calm and rational, and was slowly moving forwards towards his boss 'What you are experiencing is not genuine. You have been fed a drug, it's simulating bliss. This is all just chemical suggestion ...Angel?'

'The name's Angelus.'

'I don't wish to resort to drastic measures, but unless you listen to me, I warn you…'

'You're warning me? What happened Wes? Did you suddenly grow a pair? That's the root of it all, you're inferiority complex isn't it? Well good news, Wes old boy, you don't have an inferiority complex, you're just inferior.' He grabbed hold of the British man and threw him as easily as if he were a ragdoll, across the office. Wesley's head smashed against the wall and he was knocked unconscious. Cordelia screamed.

'Angel, man…' Doyle began to say, but the vampire turned on him next.

'Talking about inferiority complexes, here's Doyle! You gonna fight me Doyle? Demon to demon? In front of Cordelia? God, Cordy! The whining and agonising I had to listen to over him trying to grow the balls to tell you about his demon half. What does it even matter?' The vampire laughed again, it never got less frightening. 'But then I worked it out, Doyle. It was Cordelia that made me realise, well her disgusting little 'Stain Be Gone' skit, actually. It isn't only sneezing that forces you into demon face, is it? I guess the real question though, is: are those spikes just on your face?'

Doyle launched himself at Angel, brandishing the cross, but Angel was ready for him, and threw him across the room as easily as he had done Wesley. The cross clattered out of his hand and across the floor, Doyle slumped against the wall. That was stupid Doyle realised as he slipped out of consciousness: now Cordelia was unprotected.

'Doyle! No!' Cordelia cried out horrified, and she began to back away from the oncoming vampire.

'And then there were two' he said to her.

'Angel, why don't we just … just …'

'Just ...just…' he mocked her fear. 'Just what? Hey I know, why don't you get on top of the desk and bargain for your life by whoring yourself out to me? That's what you do, isn't it? Demean yourself and prostitute yourself for your career: Russell Winters, Billy Cassidy - why not for me? I am your boss, after all. Maybe you'll be so good I won't just spare your life, I'll give you a pay rise!'

'Stop it!' she turned her face away from him, stung by his words.

'Why? You didn't. I mean I've been to hell, but watching you on that show was something else. If you sell yourself for your career, why shouldn't I get some of the action?'

She backed away as far as she could go, but she finally hit up against the coffee stand and knew she could back away no further. So here she was, without anymore protectors or friends, without a weapon. Without hope. Take all that away and what did she have left? Actually, she knew full well what she had left. She was Cordelia Freaking Chase from Sunnydale, she took crap from no one. She grabbed the bottle of water that stood by the coffee maker and brandished it at her boss.

'What are you going to do with that? Melt me?' That cruel laugh again, sounding more delighted than ever.

'One more step and you'll find out. You think this is just water?'

'You're bluffing!'

'Am I? You think I haven't prepared for this? You think I don't think about this every single day? Why else do I have a stake in my desk or a cross in my bag?'

'That's just drinking water.'

'Fresh from a mountain spring, delivered right to our door and then blessed every second Tuesday by Father Mackie, our local parish priest, whilst you're down in the bat cave, sleeping through the better part of the day. You don't believe me? Try some!' She threw it right into his face and he screamed and turned away, but then stopped. She had been bluffing. But she had bought herself a few more precious seconds of life.

And it was enough. Doyle was back on his feet, his cross back in his grip. He lunged towards the vampire again and Angel, thrown off guard by the water, stumbled backwards in the face of the religious icon. And then Wesley was awake, and with a terrific yell he flung himself at Angel, and pushed the already wrong-footed vampire down the empty elevator shaft. The three team members peered down the shaft and saw their boss lying there at the bottom, knocked out cold.

Angel's head hurt and everything was black, he was also suffering from a tight, binding sensation all across his body. If he breathed, it would be suffocating. He could hear the voices of his friends floating through the darkness and he tried to make sense of them…

'Pretty sharp moves, Wesley, I'm impressed.' she sounded it, as well.

'It was nothing.'

'Don't sell, yourself short, bud. And you, princess, you did a great job, keepin' him talking.'

'Please! He isn't the first demon I've shouted into submission. I once threatened Lyle Gorch until he ran away, when Buffy was incapacitated, and he was a mass murderer before he was a vampire! And don't forget the time I exorcised the ghost from my house just by yelling at her.'

'There's no one more fearsome than you, Princess'

'And don't you forget it!'

Angel groaned.

'He's coming round!'

He opened his eyes, and saw the faces of his three friends, they did not look altogether pleased to see him awake. He also saw all the chains and bolts that tied to him to the bed, that explained the tightness. Then he remembered. He groaned again. 'I am so sorry!'

'Is he still evil?' Cordelia asked Wesley.

'It's hard to say.'

'Really really sorry, guys. Did I mention that?'

'How can we know for sure, man? He hasn't changed his pants all evening... Though I did get a bit of a gun show when he swapped shirts earlier.'

'Like I said to Rebecca, total poser!'

'yep'

'Super sorry, really super sorry with a cherry on top!'

'He's probably not evil.'

'Thanks, Doyle. I'm not. Rebecca, is she…?'

'She's gone' Cordelia informed him 'and, no … she won't be keeping you on retainer as her personal bodyguard. I think it was that whole 'trying to kill her' thing that lost you the gig.'

'I have to apologise. To all three of you..'

'There isn't a need.' Wesley told him.

'Uhh… hello?' Cordelia was less forgiving.

'It was the drugs', the watcher clarified, 'it couldn't be helped. Things were said … it's true. But I think it's all for the best if we just move on.'

'Thank you.' Angel was relieved that Wesley, of all his friends: the trained watcher, was taking this so well.

'You walk a fine line, Angel. I don't envy you.' He got up and began to leave.

'Hey, Wesley?' Wesley looked back at him. 'Cordelia was right, sharp moves up there.' Wesley smiled, a little sadly, and left the apartment. Angel looked at his other two employees, his original team, the ones who had built everything they had up from nothing. He hoped he hadn't destroyed all that in just one night.

'I don't believe I'm saying this but … Wesley's right.' Cordelia told him 'forget about it.'

'I really didn't mean …'

'Yeah, you did. Angelus might not be the most relaxing company but at least he says what he's really thinking. What you're really thinking.'

'Cordelia ...I-'

'My world isn't your world Angel, and you don't get what has to be done. Or how much I might hate doing those things. I'd much rather you just said what you thought, than lied to me, so I could put you right. I don't deserve to have you thinking those things about me Angel, and I should be able to rely on honesty from the not evil version of my friends.'

'So we're OK?'

'I'm too big a person to let such a petty little thing get in the way of our friendship.'

'You're not going to untie me are you?'

'Pfft! As if!' and she followed Wesley out of the apartment.

'Doyle?'

'I don't know what you said to her man, what with being unconscious and all, but I think you really hurt her.'

'Long story short? I called her a whore for what she did on the Billy Cassidy show. If doing that bothered her as much as it bothered me … why would she do it?'

Doyle fixed him with a very stern look. 'Helping the hopeless doesn't exactly pay all the bills, you know. It certainly doesn't keep the hustlers and card sharks off my back.'

Angel was confused. 'What are you saying?'

'She's given all her commercial money to me, to pay off my creditors. I'm payin' her back, but she's still gotta make up the shortfall. She's still gotta live her life, and that takes money. She can't turn down publicity if she's gonna be an actress, it's the way the game is played. Some people, mostly men, take advantage of that. There's no one in the world more determined than our Cordy, she'll do whatever it takes to get what she wants, she'll play the game and win. But that's her greatest strength, man, I guess maybe you just don't get that. The world is a very different place for those of us who can't just punch away our problems.'

The vampire groaned. 'Oh God, I didn't know she'd done that for you…'

'Yeah, well you're gonna have to make it up to her … and Wesley as well, just don't make it too obvious what you're doin', yeah?'

'What about you?'

Doyle grimaced 'Well… you might have said... some stuff... that I would rather was never said out loud. But I promised to kill you if you ever went evil ... and I didn't... So I guess we're even.'

'But you're not going to untie me, right?'

'No that isn't going to happen, I'll be off now, Cordelia says I'm all healed and, thanks to her, there shouldn't be any loan sharks hiding at my place waiting to kill me.' He went off up the stairs, leaving Angel bound to the bed.

'Doyle! Hey! Doyle? ….guys?'

A/N OK so it's one of the fan favourite episodes next week - on account of a certain rogue slayer blowing into town.

Part one of 'Five by Five' will be posted on Friday - see you then :)