Following the Scent
He waited until her back was turned and she had taken a few steps in the opposite direction, the beam of her flashlight was hitting the curved roof of the tunnel and he could estimate how far away she was from that. His heart began to hammer inside his chest - with Angel captured and them on a deadline to find the ring, he needed to speed things up, needed to use his … enhanced abilities. But he was in close quarters with Cordy - he hadn't told her about his demon half, never wanted to have to. He certainly didn't want her turning round and seeing.
She would be disgusted if she saw - he was sure of it. Just like Harri had been. Just like he was. And he couldn't blame her, his demon face was an ugly way of looking - all those spikes spreading across his face like a disease.
But, Angel needed help and Doyle's demon side could help - so he had to use it, whether he wanted to or not. He just needed to make sure Cordy wouldn't see. At least it was dark down here.
Keeping an eye on her, watching her progress as she moved further and further away, he steeled himself and then morphed into his demon face. In his stronger form, the stink of the sewers was almost overpowering - but he forced himself to take a deep sniff … and there it was. Angel's scent - just a trace of it, heading down the opposite tunnel to the one Cordelia was searching.
Glad to return to his human face, and dull his senses - and glad not to have been found out - he retracted his spikes and headed down the tunnel. There was a brick lying to the side of the pathway and he shone his torch on it, thinking it was out of place.
It wasn't a great hiding place, truth be told. If Doyle had managed to track Angel's scent down here then Spike would have been able to, had he bothered to try, or any other demon with an interest for that matter. It made Doyle wonder if Angel was maybe not thinking straight when he came to the ring.
He'd refused to put it on, he'd hidden it away from himself instead of using it - choosing to keep it outside of his home rather than close to himself, and then he'd just dumped it where anyone with an inclination to could pick it right up. It made Doyle wonder if maybe Angel was hoping the ring would get stolen, he certainly didn't seem to want it for himself. Doyle wondered if this was just sulking because Buffy hadn't delivered it herself - or if there was something deeper at work. He would have to find out - that was his job now; work out what was bothering Angel and help him cope with it.
Flipping the brick, he uncovered the ring - just lying on the tunnel floor. The beam of his flashlight made the gem gleam in the dark. 'Hey - I found it!' he called out.
Cordelia came running. 'How did you do that?' She sounded impressed.
He didn't really have an answer. Not one he could give anyway, not if he wanted to keep his secret... 'Hey - we have to get lucky some time.'
