The two hours between nine and eleven seemed to fly by in a frenzied blur
of activity. Each member of the gang was busily making their own
preparations for the coming expedition.
The only one not to have a role to prepare for was Spike. He was as organised as he could be in the present circumstances so he made do with following Angel until it was time to leave.
"Couldn't you just pretend to have something to do?" Angel almost pleaded.
"This is more fun, anyway you need me and I'm enjoying the thought that you're going to owe me. Payback's going to be a bitch, you do know that don't you?" Spike was walking in a wide circle around Angel's desk.
"There's no justice in this world." He sighed as Wesley and Lindsey walked through the door. "Good news please, Wes?"
"Good and bad. Savages offices are heavily guarded, but he only has one body guard. He doesn't trust anyone else." The Englishman informed him, Lindsey sat in the corner sullen and silent.
"So what's the bad news?" Gunn strode to Wesley's side dressed in a grey t- shirt and baggy Levi's, all he needed was his cross-bow to complete the ensemble.
"The police found the body of Father McBride two hours ago, preliminary autopsy reports state cause of death to be some kind of heart attack. My source at the coroners office told me he looked terrified, he also said there was something odd about it. The internal organs appeared to have been cooked. He said if he didn't know better he'd have thought they had been micro-waved." Wesley shrugged wishing he'd had something better.
"Nice." Spike could always be trusted to say something totally inappropriate.
"That wasn't my first thought, but under the circumstances I believe he deserved it." Wesley nodded, allowing himself a guilty smirk.
"Any clue what did it?" Angel enquired, returning the conversation to their more serious problems.
"There's wasn't much to go on, Angel. Lindsey gave me some interesting information regarding Savage which gave me place to start. The man has a fascination with the Ancient Egyptians, more specifically their occult. He mentioned the two college students who Savage managed to drive insane, apparently overnight. That was a ritual favoured by Semerkhet, who reined between 3050BC and 2899BC. ."
"Skip the history lesson Wes." Angel gave the ex-watcher a not so subtle hint.
"Yes, of course." Wesley nudged his glasses further onto his nose, a gesture which was due more to nerves than necessity. "Semerkhet was the second King of the first dynasty. Something I imagine Savage could sympathise with. He was also well known for his vicious nature and an aversion for "mess". In other words he liked to kill people, but not to get his hands dirty. His sorcerers gave him a crystal endowed with magical properties and when used in conjunction with a curse this crystal is able to incinerate a person from the inside out. I'm guessing that he tried to use it on Father McBride, but the man died before the ritual was complete."
"The prick's a total nut, ain't he. An anally retentive control freak with a fetish for being number one." Spike giggled childishly as he appeared to sit cross legged on Angel's desk.
"That sums him up rather well." Wesley admitted smirking at Spikes fitting synopsis.
"So why didn't Savage just use that on me in the first place?" Angel asked simply.
"I'm not psychic, Angel." Wesley informed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gang met in the car park, Angel opting for the Viper as his preferred mode of transportation. Though it was far from inconspicuous even for LA he figured there was no need to hide. Spike and Lindsey joined him, the others opting for the less ostentatious alternative, one of the ops teams black MPV's.
"We all know what we have to do, there's no need for me to go over it again, is there, Spike?" Angel drawled.
"Shove that up your flippin arse. Of everyone here I'm the last one you should be worried about." Spike quipped, offering an obscene finger gesture in Angel's direction as he disappeared into the side of the car, sulking.
"I still don't see what you want me there for." Lindsey questioned for the fifth or sixth time, Angel had lost count. He sighed and rolled his warm brown eyes heavenward as though praying for patience.
"We don't have time to go over that again. Gunn you know where you're going, right?" Angel asked as the man swung into the drivers seat.
"Sure." Angel smiled, it was classic Gunn, why use five words when one will do.
"Alright, be careful." He slid behind the wheel of the Viper and gunned the engine, listening to its deep growling for a second before pulling out of the parking lot.
"Well, isn't this cosy." Spike commented, he was squeezing himself into the space between the front seats, alternating his impish gaze between Angel and Lindsey. He was like an impatient child asking if they were almost there yet.
"Are you on something?" Lindsey queried, still unsure of the ghost.
"Nope, I'm just high on unlife." Spike gave the lawyer a theatrical wink.
"Really, you hide it so well." Angel muttered almost quietly enough to be ignored.
"Like you're not getting a kick out of this." Spike shot back at him.
"Oh yeah, cause this day's just been the best so far. What more could I ask for than to end it in a face-off with a maniac attorney." Angel looked at Spike, his eyes ablaze. There was much more he wanted to say but he was storing up his rage to use against Savage.
"You know hanging around with you guys has been truly enlightening." Lindsey remarked, his tone mocking. "You spend more time sniping at each other than actually doing anything constructive. How on earth did you manage to avert the apocalypse and take over Wolfram and Hart?"
"Have you ever noticed how some people really don't like to admit their own ineptitude, Angel?" Spike sneered, eyeing Lindsey coldly.
"Now you come to mention it." Angel smirked to himself, keeping his eyes on the road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Get this out of here," Savage motioned to the prone figure on his office floor in disgust. "Have her taken to the beach house. I'll collect her when I've concluded my business." Savage informed David. The man was a lumbering Neanderthal but he did as he was told without question, a trait Savage valued in his operatives.
David merely grunted his response unintentionally reinforcing Savages opinion. He lifted the limp body of the unconscious girl, she appeared boneless in his arms. He noticed she was still bleeding and some of the ruby fluid had spread onto the carpet of Savages office. He shrugged inwardly dismissing the detail, deeming it unimportant.
He couldn't see what was so interesting about this one. She was dying, that much was obvious, at least to him. What did he care, all he needed to know was the body was his when it finally gave up breathing, then he could have all the fun he wanted.
Saliva ran in his mouth and his breathing became laboured at the thought of the joyous entertainment he could have with this girls carcass. For someone with his limited intelligence he could be very creative when his interest was piqued.
Ariane clung grimly to consciousness, she couldn't risk blacking out and losing any chance to escape.
Her mind was filled with the sickening images of what this man planned to do to her. It came as no comfort that the thing intended to wait until her life had expired to perform these debased acts. Compared with the intentions of the other man, she would much rather have her corpse molested. Somewhere, in the deepest reaches of her mind she considered either of the options to be a fitting punishment for her sin.
"But still you think of escape? You are a wicked coward, who cannot accept the fate you have bought with the blood of your master." The voice in her head yelled, and she could find no fault with its comments.
"Yes wicked, yes a coward too, but would I be any less of these things if I were dead?" She considered.
Black flowers bloomed behind her closed lids as she was thrown into the back of a car. Sweeping waves of unconsciousness crashing over her like an incoming tide. She pushed the welcoming abyss away, the act sapping more of her fading strength than she could afford. She couldn't stop the groan from escaping through her gritted teeth, though she tried to muffle the sound in the soft leather upholstery of the cars back seat.
"You're a stubborn little bitch, I'll give you that." David's face contorted into something approximating a grin, his voice was as rough and coarse as she had imagined. Its tone thought flat was filled with a vicious life, betraying more of his sick yearnings.
"I am more than your puny mind can fathom." She spoke quietly, but defined every word so he was sure to understand.
"I couldn't give much of a crap what you are, right now you're a job. You're all shot to hell, why don't you just die, that'd make things really simple and I wouldn't have to send you ass all the way to the god damned beach." He spat, leaning into the car so as not to be overheard.
"Yes, die, that would give you what you want. You could have your way with me after I am cold, that is your intention is it not?" She struggled to keep her tone conversational, trying not to aggravate him further. He was not the kind of man who could hold his temper in check for long and she could ill afford more physical punishment.
"How do you know that?" He leaned heavily on her shoulder with one of his meaty hands. Again the black flowers flew across her eyes.
"David, I know many things." She delved into the black pit of his mind searching him for something she could use. "I know that you detest the man you call "boss". You only follow his orders because without him you would have no-one to supply bodies to sate your vile cravings." She sent him a memory, enhancing the emotions until she could feel he was engrossed. He grunted and ground himself into her, simulating the act she was projecting to him.
Her strength faltered, she could no longer sustain the images and the man almost leapt from her, backing out of the open door. This time when oblivion came to claim her she had no energy to fight it.
David stood panting and sweating, leaning on the roof of the car trying to calm his jangling senses.
"You sick or something?" A voice from behind shocked him. David turned on the owner of the voice raising his fist without being aware he was doing it.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" He shot, the boy was no more than twenty with badly cut red hair, scrawny and wearing a suit at least two sizes too large for him.
"Nothin, man. You just looked like you were gonna throw up." He stood several paces back from the larger man, hoping the distance would give him time to run if the need arose.
"Yeah, sick, right." David sighed with relief, he unclenched his fist and ran a shaking hand over his clammy face. "Who are you?"
"Names Rick, boss told me I'd be taking a trip to the beach tonight. This the cargo?" Rick asked motioning to the Mercedes they stood beside and it's prone passenger.
"Yeah, this is it. Where's the other one?" David asked, it was procedure to have two vehicles in operation when a cargo was being transported.
"Andy's in the clone car." Rick pointed to his left to an identical S600 silver Mercedes closer to the exit.
"Then get your ass behind the wheel and get the hell out of here. The sooner that creepy bitch is out of my sight the better."
"Fine by me, man." Rick slid into the seat and grinned, running his hands eagerly over the steering wheel, "Never get enough of driving these things." He stated as he pulled the door closed and turned the key in the ignition, paying no attention to his fellow traveller.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry this took so long everyone, but what with the holidays and family commitments I'm afraid something had to suffer.
Not to worry I'm back on track and have already completed chapter 17. It's in the process of being edited and should be posted in a day, or two at the most.
Thanks for your patience and Happy New Year.
Just Another Angel
Note to Celtic Cat I haven't read too much of Fume of Sighs. I was getting caught up and couldn't concentrate on this. Don't worry as soon as I'm done I'll read the whole thing.
The only one not to have a role to prepare for was Spike. He was as organised as he could be in the present circumstances so he made do with following Angel until it was time to leave.
"Couldn't you just pretend to have something to do?" Angel almost pleaded.
"This is more fun, anyway you need me and I'm enjoying the thought that you're going to owe me. Payback's going to be a bitch, you do know that don't you?" Spike was walking in a wide circle around Angel's desk.
"There's no justice in this world." He sighed as Wesley and Lindsey walked through the door. "Good news please, Wes?"
"Good and bad. Savages offices are heavily guarded, but he only has one body guard. He doesn't trust anyone else." The Englishman informed him, Lindsey sat in the corner sullen and silent.
"So what's the bad news?" Gunn strode to Wesley's side dressed in a grey t- shirt and baggy Levi's, all he needed was his cross-bow to complete the ensemble.
"The police found the body of Father McBride two hours ago, preliminary autopsy reports state cause of death to be some kind of heart attack. My source at the coroners office told me he looked terrified, he also said there was something odd about it. The internal organs appeared to have been cooked. He said if he didn't know better he'd have thought they had been micro-waved." Wesley shrugged wishing he'd had something better.
"Nice." Spike could always be trusted to say something totally inappropriate.
"That wasn't my first thought, but under the circumstances I believe he deserved it." Wesley nodded, allowing himself a guilty smirk.
"Any clue what did it?" Angel enquired, returning the conversation to their more serious problems.
"There's wasn't much to go on, Angel. Lindsey gave me some interesting information regarding Savage which gave me place to start. The man has a fascination with the Ancient Egyptians, more specifically their occult. He mentioned the two college students who Savage managed to drive insane, apparently overnight. That was a ritual favoured by Semerkhet, who reined between 3050BC and 2899BC. ."
"Skip the history lesson Wes." Angel gave the ex-watcher a not so subtle hint.
"Yes, of course." Wesley nudged his glasses further onto his nose, a gesture which was due more to nerves than necessity. "Semerkhet was the second King of the first dynasty. Something I imagine Savage could sympathise with. He was also well known for his vicious nature and an aversion for "mess". In other words he liked to kill people, but not to get his hands dirty. His sorcerers gave him a crystal endowed with magical properties and when used in conjunction with a curse this crystal is able to incinerate a person from the inside out. I'm guessing that he tried to use it on Father McBride, but the man died before the ritual was complete."
"The prick's a total nut, ain't he. An anally retentive control freak with a fetish for being number one." Spike giggled childishly as he appeared to sit cross legged on Angel's desk.
"That sums him up rather well." Wesley admitted smirking at Spikes fitting synopsis.
"So why didn't Savage just use that on me in the first place?" Angel asked simply.
"I'm not psychic, Angel." Wesley informed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gang met in the car park, Angel opting for the Viper as his preferred mode of transportation. Though it was far from inconspicuous even for LA he figured there was no need to hide. Spike and Lindsey joined him, the others opting for the less ostentatious alternative, one of the ops teams black MPV's.
"We all know what we have to do, there's no need for me to go over it again, is there, Spike?" Angel drawled.
"Shove that up your flippin arse. Of everyone here I'm the last one you should be worried about." Spike quipped, offering an obscene finger gesture in Angel's direction as he disappeared into the side of the car, sulking.
"I still don't see what you want me there for." Lindsey questioned for the fifth or sixth time, Angel had lost count. He sighed and rolled his warm brown eyes heavenward as though praying for patience.
"We don't have time to go over that again. Gunn you know where you're going, right?" Angel asked as the man swung into the drivers seat.
"Sure." Angel smiled, it was classic Gunn, why use five words when one will do.
"Alright, be careful." He slid behind the wheel of the Viper and gunned the engine, listening to its deep growling for a second before pulling out of the parking lot.
"Well, isn't this cosy." Spike commented, he was squeezing himself into the space between the front seats, alternating his impish gaze between Angel and Lindsey. He was like an impatient child asking if they were almost there yet.
"Are you on something?" Lindsey queried, still unsure of the ghost.
"Nope, I'm just high on unlife." Spike gave the lawyer a theatrical wink.
"Really, you hide it so well." Angel muttered almost quietly enough to be ignored.
"Like you're not getting a kick out of this." Spike shot back at him.
"Oh yeah, cause this day's just been the best so far. What more could I ask for than to end it in a face-off with a maniac attorney." Angel looked at Spike, his eyes ablaze. There was much more he wanted to say but he was storing up his rage to use against Savage.
"You know hanging around with you guys has been truly enlightening." Lindsey remarked, his tone mocking. "You spend more time sniping at each other than actually doing anything constructive. How on earth did you manage to avert the apocalypse and take over Wolfram and Hart?"
"Have you ever noticed how some people really don't like to admit their own ineptitude, Angel?" Spike sneered, eyeing Lindsey coldly.
"Now you come to mention it." Angel smirked to himself, keeping his eyes on the road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Get this out of here," Savage motioned to the prone figure on his office floor in disgust. "Have her taken to the beach house. I'll collect her when I've concluded my business." Savage informed David. The man was a lumbering Neanderthal but he did as he was told without question, a trait Savage valued in his operatives.
David merely grunted his response unintentionally reinforcing Savages opinion. He lifted the limp body of the unconscious girl, she appeared boneless in his arms. He noticed she was still bleeding and some of the ruby fluid had spread onto the carpet of Savages office. He shrugged inwardly dismissing the detail, deeming it unimportant.
He couldn't see what was so interesting about this one. She was dying, that much was obvious, at least to him. What did he care, all he needed to know was the body was his when it finally gave up breathing, then he could have all the fun he wanted.
Saliva ran in his mouth and his breathing became laboured at the thought of the joyous entertainment he could have with this girls carcass. For someone with his limited intelligence he could be very creative when his interest was piqued.
Ariane clung grimly to consciousness, she couldn't risk blacking out and losing any chance to escape.
Her mind was filled with the sickening images of what this man planned to do to her. It came as no comfort that the thing intended to wait until her life had expired to perform these debased acts. Compared with the intentions of the other man, she would much rather have her corpse molested. Somewhere, in the deepest reaches of her mind she considered either of the options to be a fitting punishment for her sin.
"But still you think of escape? You are a wicked coward, who cannot accept the fate you have bought with the blood of your master." The voice in her head yelled, and she could find no fault with its comments.
"Yes wicked, yes a coward too, but would I be any less of these things if I were dead?" She considered.
Black flowers bloomed behind her closed lids as she was thrown into the back of a car. Sweeping waves of unconsciousness crashing over her like an incoming tide. She pushed the welcoming abyss away, the act sapping more of her fading strength than she could afford. She couldn't stop the groan from escaping through her gritted teeth, though she tried to muffle the sound in the soft leather upholstery of the cars back seat.
"You're a stubborn little bitch, I'll give you that." David's face contorted into something approximating a grin, his voice was as rough and coarse as she had imagined. Its tone thought flat was filled with a vicious life, betraying more of his sick yearnings.
"I am more than your puny mind can fathom." She spoke quietly, but defined every word so he was sure to understand.
"I couldn't give much of a crap what you are, right now you're a job. You're all shot to hell, why don't you just die, that'd make things really simple and I wouldn't have to send you ass all the way to the god damned beach." He spat, leaning into the car so as not to be overheard.
"Yes, die, that would give you what you want. You could have your way with me after I am cold, that is your intention is it not?" She struggled to keep her tone conversational, trying not to aggravate him further. He was not the kind of man who could hold his temper in check for long and she could ill afford more physical punishment.
"How do you know that?" He leaned heavily on her shoulder with one of his meaty hands. Again the black flowers flew across her eyes.
"David, I know many things." She delved into the black pit of his mind searching him for something she could use. "I know that you detest the man you call "boss". You only follow his orders because without him you would have no-one to supply bodies to sate your vile cravings." She sent him a memory, enhancing the emotions until she could feel he was engrossed. He grunted and ground himself into her, simulating the act she was projecting to him.
Her strength faltered, she could no longer sustain the images and the man almost leapt from her, backing out of the open door. This time when oblivion came to claim her she had no energy to fight it.
David stood panting and sweating, leaning on the roof of the car trying to calm his jangling senses.
"You sick or something?" A voice from behind shocked him. David turned on the owner of the voice raising his fist without being aware he was doing it.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" He shot, the boy was no more than twenty with badly cut red hair, scrawny and wearing a suit at least two sizes too large for him.
"Nothin, man. You just looked like you were gonna throw up." He stood several paces back from the larger man, hoping the distance would give him time to run if the need arose.
"Yeah, sick, right." David sighed with relief, he unclenched his fist and ran a shaking hand over his clammy face. "Who are you?"
"Names Rick, boss told me I'd be taking a trip to the beach tonight. This the cargo?" Rick asked motioning to the Mercedes they stood beside and it's prone passenger.
"Yeah, this is it. Where's the other one?" David asked, it was procedure to have two vehicles in operation when a cargo was being transported.
"Andy's in the clone car." Rick pointed to his left to an identical S600 silver Mercedes closer to the exit.
"Then get your ass behind the wheel and get the hell out of here. The sooner that creepy bitch is out of my sight the better."
"Fine by me, man." Rick slid into the seat and grinned, running his hands eagerly over the steering wheel, "Never get enough of driving these things." He stated as he pulled the door closed and turned the key in the ignition, paying no attention to his fellow traveller.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry this took so long everyone, but what with the holidays and family commitments I'm afraid something had to suffer.
Not to worry I'm back on track and have already completed chapter 17. It's in the process of being edited and should be posted in a day, or two at the most.
Thanks for your patience and Happy New Year.
Just Another Angel
Note to Celtic Cat I haven't read too much of Fume of Sighs. I was getting caught up and couldn't concentrate on this. Don't worry as soon as I'm done I'll read the whole thing.