Chapter 22

Down in Misato's home office, Shinji dialed in the phone number on the card and switched it to speaker-phone. After several rings, Shinji heard the answering machine pick up.

"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless," said a man's voice, "leave your message after the beep."

"Oh, god," Misato gasped quietly. She pressed the "disconnect" button on the phone.

"What's the matter?" Shinji asked.

"That was him," Misato whispered, "Angel. I'll never forget that voice."

"Are you sure that was him?" Shinji asked, "You said yourself, it's been almost twenty years since you heard or saw anything of him."

"It was him," Misato said again, "There's no question in my mind."

"We should go and talk to them face-to-face," Rei suggested.

"That could work," said Shinji in agreement, "The address on their card lists them as still here in L.A."

"Shinji," Misato said seriously, "That card's as old as my story. There's only a slim chance that the address is still valid."

"Then let's go to the 'Net," Shinji said, reaching over and turning on Misato's computer.

Once it was on, Shinji accessed the Internet and web-searched for "Angel Investigations". He cross-checked his search with the address listed on the business card and came up with a successful match. Shinji was able to pull up a picture of their building.

"It looks like an old hotel," Rei observed.

"It's the old Hyperion," Shinji clarified, "I've read some things about it. There were several grisly murders in the past at that address, as well as a few suicides. There were several rumors that the place was actually haunted, or demon-possessed, or something crazy like that."

"How crazy can it be when vampires and werewolves actually exist," Misato pointed out.

"Good point," Shinji agreed, "Well, we can head there first thing tomorrow. How's that sound?"

"That's fine…I guess," Misato said hesitantly, "But if we're going anywhere, we're taking my car. Sorry, Shinji, but that Corvette is just too small for three people. You are coming, right Rei?"

"Of course," Rei replied, "Like it or not, I'm involved in this now, so I might as well go along."

"Cool," said Shinji.

"Let's get some sleep," Misato suggested.

"I'll get Rei some blankets," Shinji said, standing up.

"Don't worry about it, Shinji," Misato said, waving her hand, "I'll get 'em. You stay put."

Without giving Shinji a chance to reply or say anything at all, Misato slipped quickly out of the room, leaving him and Rei alone together. Shinji stood awkwardly next to the girl in the robe. Rei sidled closer to him and put an arm around his waist. Shinji felt himself drifting in and out of control of his impulses.

I hope Misato gets back soon, Shinji thought, because thinking about what Rei doesn't have on underneath that robe is driving me bonkers! If we're alone for too long together, I might do something that'll destroy what Misato and I have together. No! I have to keep control of myself…for Misato's sake.

Shinji's self control was strained further by Rei loosening the top of her robe, exposing a large amount of cleavage. Shinji had finally had enough.

"Rei," he whispered urgently, "what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Just making myself more comfortable," she whispered back.

"And making me really uncomfortable," said Shinji, "I can't do this, Rei."

"Do what, Shinji?" Rei said, turning to face him full front.

"This," Shinji said, indicating the nearly open front of Rei's robe, "This…temptation. I understand that you've still got feelings for me, Rei, and I'm not sorry for making you fall in love with me. What I am sorry about is that I can't return the same back to you anymore. Misato and I are together now, Rei. You're going to have to accept this fact. I'm sorry."

"It's hard to let you go, you know," Rei said suddenly. Her voice was torn with sadness and regret, "I really do love you, Shinji. I really did enjoy what we shared, that first day we met. Misato and I had it all worked out. She introduces us, and I lead you from there until we fall for each other. What I didn't count on was you falling in love with her. Don't get me wrong, Shinji. I love Misato. She's one of my best friends. But it's just hard to look at you two together and know that she and I had originally planned for it to be you and me together."

"I'm so--,"

"Sorry, yeah, I know," Rei interrupted, "I understand that, baby."

Shinji couldn't bear to be in the same room with Rei any longer. It hurt him too much. He turned and strode quickly out of the office, bound for his bedroom. When he got there, he collapsed onto his bed. He felt emotionally as well as physically drained.

"Shinji? You in here, honey?"

"Yeah Misato," Shinji sighed, "I'm here."

"You sound bummed, Shinji," Misato said, sitting down next to him, "What's going on?"

"It's Rei," Shinji said, "She's… still in love with me, Misato. And I'm not talking 'crush', either; I'm talking about a full-on infatuation."

"She's more persistent than I gave her credit for," Misato muttered.

"What's that?" Shinji asked.

"Nothing," said Misato quickly. Shinji quirked an eyebrow at her.

"My hearing's better at night than during the day," he said, "I actually did hear you right there. I was just wondering whether you were willing to be honest with me."

"What makes you think that I'm not honest with you?" Misato asked.

"Rei told me about a plot that the two of you had when I first moved in here," Shinji said, "I think you remember; the whole 'way to soothe a troubled teen' thing? What were your words again? 'You need to find yourself a girl', wasn't it? She told me about how you were trying to set the two of us up. You know what else? It hurt her when she learned about my feelings for you. I love you Misato, but I don't love that you've kept secrets from me. Through all my years of wandering, I never met anyone that I thought that I could truly trust. I thought that had changed when I met you. I thought you were different."

"What are you saying, Shinji?" Misato asked, sounding worried.

"I'm saying, I don't like being lied to," Shinji said, sitting up, "I'm tired of being led around blindly. I don't like people trying to plan my future for me. And it hurts me badly that you went behind my back before I'd even met you and tried to set me up with a girl I had never even heard of."

"I tried to ensure that you'd have a friend here waiting for you," Misato insisted, "I only had your best interests in mind. Shinji, after that vampire killed my parents, I had no one, just like you. I didn't have any brothers or sisters to live with, no grandparents by that point, and all of my aunts and uncles lived too far away to call on. I was so alone. I didn't want to see that happen to anyone else, so I tried to find you someone you could call your own."

"Call my own?" Shinji repeated, incredulous, "Misato, Rei's not a piece of property. She's not a 'thing' to be possessed, she's a person."

"I know."

"No, I'm not sure you do," Shinji said, beginning to get angry, "Misato, I'm leaving. You don't own me, either."

"No! Please Shinji, don't leave me!" Misato begged, "I need you!"

"Do you?" Shinji asked fiercely, getting up, "Are you sure you don't just need someone beside you in your bed, to fill up some empty part of your life? Is that it? Are you just using me?"

Shinji stripped down to his boxers and packed a small satchel of clothing. He transformed and crossed the room over to his balcony and stood for a long moment. Then, without a sound, he propelled himself up over the roof and onto the street in front of Misato's house. Misato raced down the stairs, attracting Rei's attention with the loud clatter she was making. Rei followed Misato out to the street, getting to the sidewalk just in time to see Shinji lope off around the corner.

"Shinji, come back!" Misato screamed. She broke down into tears and fell to her knees.

"Please," she pleaded between sobs, "Please Shinji, come back…"

Rei did her best to pull Misato to her feet and guide her back into the house. Misato cried herself to sleep that night, as did Rei.

Shinji raced through the streets of the City of Angels, trying to outrun his own grief. He reached the downtown area of the city and stopped. Something seemed familiar to him.

I know this street, he thought, I've seen it before. This is the street I see in my dreams. Is this the night I keep dreaming about?

Shinji heard a scream. It echoed for an eternal moment before it was forcibly cut off. Shinji's werewolf hearing pinpointed the source location in a heartbeat, and his body moved to transport him to that spot. He came to a red brick building.

Seven stories tall, Shinji noted, This is it.

Shinji pushed himself into the air and vaulted over the top edge of the building, landing solidly on the roof. On the far ledge, he saw a large figure holding something over its head. The figure was about as tall as Shinji's werewolf body, and looked to be only slightly lighter in build. It had thick, scaly skin and Shinji smelled a thick, sulfurous odor coming from it. The form that it was holding over its head looked like a woman. She was trying to struggle, but the creature's large, powerful talons held it tightly. It was preparing to throw her off. Shinji roared loudly, making the lizard-creature turn and face him in surprise.

Its eyes were glowing and red. Its mouth was filled with razor-looking fangs that looked capable of shredding a man to confetti in an instant. The creature uttered a horrible, hissing shriek that made Shinji's sensitive ears ache. His hands instinctively shot up to cover his ears.

"That's enough out of you," came a calm, male voice from behind Shinji.

Shinji turned around fast to see who had spoken. Standing there were two men, one was a bleached blonde wearing a long, leather coat, and one had dark, spiky-looking hair and was wearing a similar style of trench coat. With them was a woman who was blue; literally. Even in the dark, Shinji could see that her skin and hair had a bluish hue, as did her eyes; they were ice-colored. It had been the dark-haired one who had spoken. Shinji recognized his voice.

The man from the answering machine, Shinji thought, That's Angel.

The blonde man leaped forward, producing a broad sword from under his coat. Angel drew a battle axe and rushed forward. The woman merely joined in the fray, moving so fast that even Shinji's werewolf eyes had a hard time following her movement. After she had rescued the civilian and pulled her safely to the sidelines, the blue woman rejoined the battle and the three of them worked together, hacking and slicing the lizard-creature to pieces. Angel noticed Shinji standing stock still. He hadn't moved from the spot during the entire event. He had been in too much shock.

"Illyria," Angel said, "You didn't mention anything about a werewolf being here when you told us about your vision."

"That is because I did not see a werewolf in my vision," the blue woman replied, her tone level and almost…cold, "Its appearance here is…unexpected."

"Well," the blonde piped up, his voice a thick, British accent, "I don't see the harm in takin' out a werewolf, eh? How 'bout it, Angel, got any silver on ya?"

"Let's find out whether it's friend or foe before we go hacking anything else up, Spike," Angel said, holding up a hand. He walked over to where Shinji was standing.

"Can you understand me?" Angel asked.

Shinji nodded.

"Whose side you on?" Spike asked.

"Spike," Angel said testily, "How many times have I told you to shut up when I'm trying to interview someone?"

"Who died an' made you king of the bloody castle?" Spike drawled, "I'm just tryin' to get a straight answer out of 'im. You know, takin' the more direct route, an' all that."

Shinji shed his werewolf form and became human again.

"How about I save you guys the trouble and just talk with you face-to-face?" he asked.