Angel the series was created and is owned by Joss Whedon. (EAT AT JOE'S.)
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LICK THE DUST
(part three)
by Lamech
Cordelia's heels scraped against the pavement as she clicked along down the block. With every step she took she knew she was on the verge of toppling over at any moment. These were shoes made for show not for people chasing. With half of a gaze down at her feet, making sure every step was carefully planned and the other half of the gaze up at the young man who was storming down the street Cordelia began to whine. "Wes! Wesley, wait up!"
The young man refused to look at the woman. "Go back to the office, Cordelia."
Over the clicking of her heels she failed to hear Wesley's order. She continued to hobble, "Wes, I'm going to fall and twist my ankle. Slow down!"
Silence answered the girl. Wesley came up to his bike and fished out the keys from his pocket. He climbed on and only then did he see the girl stumbling down the street like a well-dressed drunkard. He frowned. "You are going to hurt yourself if you keep on walking like that."
The girl shot up a dirty look at the young man as if he was overstating the obvious. Which he was. With a disgusted huff she tore of her shoes and stormed down the street barefooted. Wesley stared on with an amazed look. He had to hand it to the girl, when push came to shove, Cordy was tough. And it was this action that gave Wesley pause enough for Cordelia to come up to him.
She smacked the side of his arm with one of her shoes. "And where the hell do you think you're going?" Her voice was curt. And her face matched her attitude. In fact her whole body looked like it had a desire to knee the man in where it counts.
"Out," the man replied back in an equally abrupt fashion.
"Out? OUT!" she yelled as her hands flew in the air, "Out means to me, "Look, I'm going out for a cup of coffee." Or "I'm going out to get some fresh air." What you are doing is what I like to call a suicide mission."
The young man rolled his eyes, "Cordelia."
"No, don't you "Cordelia" me," she said imitating his British clip. "I want you to get off this motorcycle and come back with me."
"And for what so Angel can…"
The girl raised her right hand, which still sported a heel. "Angel did not mean it. He was trying to look out for your skin. It was you who…"
"Needed to have some sense knocked into me," Wesley finished in an icy tone. He turned his gaze back to his bike and shoved the key into the ignition. A moment later the key was gone yanked out by Cordelia. She hopped back a good five feet away from the man.
"Hey," he snapped, "Give those back."
"No, not until you listen," the girl said as she held the keys in a tight fist, "You know, sometimes I do think you need some sense knocked into you."
"Well, then get Angel out here to slap me again. But wait, he can't now, can he? The sun's out. Perhaps Gunn should have a go at me. Or would you like to do the honors?" He gave the girl a vacant hallowed eyes stare. Climbing off his bike he walked up to her. With hands balled into shaking fists he continued, "But what if the slapping doesn't work? What if I am too stupid to realize what a fool I am? What will you do then?" He closed his eyes as obscene images began to drown his mind. Images of the beatings his father would give him. He could see the welts form across his pale skin. Red and raw like battered meat. He could the feel the pain afterwards. Just as harsh and violent as the welts. His nerves began to tense up as his nails dug deeper into the flesh of his palms. His eyes became narrowed slits of anger. "Perhaps you should shove me in a closet until I have learned my lesson."
Cordelia's back hit the front of the brick build behind her as she inched backwards. Her heart quickened. "Wesley, you're scaring me."
The man shivered as he closed his eyes. He turned away and held out an open palm, "Give me the keys, Cordelia. Now."
The girl pressed the keys against her chest in protest, "After that little Mr. Hyde speech?
Let me give you an answer in a phrase that I believe you will comprehend, hell no."
"Cordelia!" the man hissed as he glared at the woman eye to eye, "Stop this nonsense!"
The girl's face became calm which made Wesley hold his breath. He did not care for that expression at all. Her eyes seemed to look straight through him rather at him. As if his tissue paper soul was on display. His own eyes turned from anger to pain and then into humiliation, "Please, Cordelia." There was a quiver of fright in his frail voice.
With a soft sigh the girl spoke, "I've never seen you this way before, Wesley."
The young man fell silent as his eyes shifted as if he was trying to look for a way out. Any way out as long as he could escape from her gaze. His eyes became cloudy as if he wanted to cry but he could not do so.
"You're angry," the girl whispered.
"I've been angry before."
A slight chuckle fell from her lips, "Yes, you have. But it's always been that stiff upper lip, proper British anger. The type where you would kick your enemies' shins all the while balancing a saucer and teacup because heaven forbid you miss teatime. This… This is different. You're angry and hurt. Very hurt."
The young man wanted to yell for her to stop but the words refused to come out. Instead he gritted his teeth and folded his arms.
"And this isn't about Angel anymore. Well, not entirely. Something happened to you a long time ago. Something I, myself, could never understand. And you feel a need to correct it."
It was then that Wesley spoke, "If you understand this then why won't you let me go?"
"Because it's a mistake to do whatever you have to do by yourself. Wes, Angel and I are your friends. No, we're more than friends, we're family. We should stick together."
"You will only get in the way and get hurt."
The girl frowned as she poked the lining of her cheek with her tongue, "And you won't? What? Do you have some sort of superpowers that I don't know about? If you do then that totally explains the Clark Kent look you're sporting."
Wesley smiled despite himself; "I am not getting those keys without a fight, am I?"
Waving the keys like a prize, the girl returned his smile, "You've got that right, Buster."
____________________________________________________________
Angel leaned against the wall as Gunn looked through the blinds. The vampire was practically jumping up and down with tense nervous energy. He knew that if he had any food in his stomach he would be bent over a toilet throwing it up because of his nerves. "Well?" he snapped at the young man.
Gunn sighed, "They're still down there talking. Look, do you want me to go down there and coldcock him because I can. And, personally, that would make me happy because we've got other things to worry about other than the Aaron Spelling knock off that's happening down there."
Angel shook his head as he sat down at Cordelia's desk, "No, then Wes would really be angry at me. He already has a fine reason to be. Don't add to it."
Gunn raised his brow. This was not exactly the Angel he had come to look for help. The Angel he wanted was a cold unemotional vampire who seemed to know how to do only two things; fight and brood. Instead the being in front of him was practically jumping out of his skin like a mother watching her child go off to the first day of school. Frankly, it was a pathetic sight. He scowled and stared out the window.
_______________________________________________________
Cordelia folded her arms, "Ok, how about this, I give you the keys only, and this is the only, after you've returned with me to the office. After that you can do whatever you want."
Welsey shook his head, "And as if Angel would allow me to walk back out. You have no confidence in me, do you?"
"I do so," the girl protested, "I have confidence with your role in this whole Powers that Be scheme. You're fact-finding, research guy. You do the research, Angel fights and I have the visions. It's a well oiled machine, Wes."
"So, you don't think I can fight."
"Wesley," the girl whined as she scrunched up her face, "I didn't say that."
"But you implied."
"I did not!" She stomped a bare foot on the ground, "Geez. Has anyone ever told you that you argue like a girl?" Rubbing her temple she sighed, "I've got such a headache."
Suddenly on the far-left side of the block a car's tires squealed. The sound of a roaring engine followed. A white classic Falcon peeled around the corner and raced down the street. The driver rocketed past the couple. Cordelia glared, "Where did he get his license from? A Cracker Jack box?"
Wesley did not answer. He skin was turning white with fear. The car continued down the road until it was right next to Gunn's truck. An object flew from the white car onto the bed of the trunk. Then the car twisted around nearly flipping it on its side. The smell of burning rubber filled the air.
"This is not good," whispered Cordelia to herself as she watched the car return back down the road.
Suddenly the auto began to slow down as it approached them. It still sped towards them at a rapid pace but the Falcon had dropped its speed enough for the couple to look into the car's front window. Two men in sharp dressed suits could be seen. Both were Asian with close-cropped hair. The driver waved a hand at Wesley and Cordelia in a typical American greeting fashion. Only the hand was missing its pinkie.
Wesley gasped as he grabbed Cordelia by her arms. "Get down," he yelled as the passenger of the car pulled out an MG0367-Uzi and began firing. A bullet ripped the skin of Wesley's arm just bellow his previous scar. His mouth opened to scream but he didn't allow himself the luxury. That second was too precious to lose. Cordelia dropped to the ground screaming as Wesley lied on top to shield her. He shoved a hand over her mouth and played dead. Bits of blown away brick from the building behind them rained down. The sound of the gun mimicked screaming thunder. Wesley felt like he was in the middle of a tempest rather than a gun battle. The Falcon sped away back around the corner.
Slowly, Wesley sat up. He pulled Cordelia up as well who was sobbing uncontrollably.
The young man hugged her, "It's okay, it's okay, they're gone."
The girl grabbed the young man his shirtsleeve trying to get a better grasp on him. She looked like a scared kitten all helpless and lost. Suddenly her hand felt wet. She looked at it and screamed. Blood was smeared across the palm. "You were shot! You were shot!" she wailed.
Grabbing the girl by the shoulders Wesley shook his head. "It's only a flesh wound. It will stop bleeding soon." He pushed back her hair around her ears and wiped her eyes. "Were you hurt?"
She shook her head as her face tightened. With every ounce of strength in her she tried to hold her emotions in. But the dam burst with another wail as she buried her head in Wesley's chest. The young man held her again and whispered soothing words of comfort.
A moment later the block shook.
An explosion came from the opposite end of the block. The object the strangers in the car had thrown into Gunn's truck turned out to be a bomb. And the time had ended. The windows of all the cars around the truck exploded in a tsunami of glass. Car alarms roared like upset children. A flying piece of debris landed at Wesley's right foot. It was Gunn's right side view mirror. The sticker Objects are closer than they appear was still on the glass. Wesley fell back from the force of the blast and Cordelia lied right next to him. The event was over before they could react. Like a slap across the face from a stranger, they were in shock.
"Cordelia!" the young man yelled as he sat up and looked over the girl. Shaking her head as if someone had thumped her the girl whispered something incoherent.
She coughed and spoke again, "Wes, what happened?" Her eyes flickered as the reality that she was lying on the ground began to sink in. Her ears rang with pain. Her sight registered the world around her in shades of gray. She shut her eyes and opened them again. Pastel hues greeted her and then the rest of the colors began to follow. She picked up a piece of glass that was laying next to her on the pavement. Looking it over with profound confusion she asked, "That was the Yakuza, wasn't it? Wes? That was them, right?"
The young man frowned as he glared at the burning remains of Gunn's truck. Anger began to burn in his chest. This whole thing, every last piece of it began to feel like Kobe all over again. Only one thing was different. He was not the same. He was not afraid to fight. Turning back to the girl he looked around her. There a few inches from her open left hand was the object of his desire. His keys. He snatched them up and helped Cordelia to her feet. She wobbled for a bit but steadied herself. Suddenly she felt herself being hugged by Welsey. His embrace was strong and loving like that of a brother. She felt his warm breath on her cheek. A soft kiss followed. A confused look came over the girl as she watched Wesley let go. He raced back to his bike and turn it on before she could react.
"Wesley," she mumbled as she took a tired step forward. Glass from the shattered car windows cut into the flesh of her feet. She winced and let out a helpless whine.
For a moment that he was watching her, Wesley felt the urge to hop back off his bike and carry the woman back into the office. But he knew the instant he did that Angel would never let him back out. Instead the young man closed his eyes and prayed that not only would the girl forgive him but Angel as well. With that he pulled out his bike and drove off in the direction of the Falcon.
Cordelia screamed after him until her voice was sore. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Slapping her shoes back on despite have a piece of glass still stuck into her flesh she ran back to the office as fast as her uneasy hobble would let her.
_______________________________________________________________
Gunn was already halfway out the door when the explosion happened. He had heard drive-byes before. How could he not have in L.A.? Shootings were as common place here as were the chirping of songbirds in the south. By the time the last bullet rang out he was up on his feet and heading towards the door. Then a few seconds later, the explosion happened.
Luckily the blinds on the window were thick. They kept most of the exploding glass in place. Still Gunn fell back in the hallway in shock. He looked at Angel who was a few feet in front off him, shaking like a guilty madman. The vampire and the young man exchanged confused and then scared glances. Suddenly Angel sped up to Gunn and grabbed him by the shirt yanking him violently him to his feet. Angel knew very well he could not go outside so Gunn had to be his eyes.
Gunn understood and ran out the front entrance. The first thing he spied was the burning pyre that was his truck. His baby. "THEY BLEW UP MY TRUCK!? GODDAMMIT!" He approached the fire wondering if there was anyway to save it. Fat chance.
"GUNN!" Angel yelled from the shadow of the building's entrance. The vampire was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. His nerves were on the verge of snapping. Over and over again he heard the sidhe's words like a cackling joke in his head. Angel knew that this was going to happen. His old beliefs told him so. No one can stop fate. I should have know that better than anyone else. But I hoped. And I prayed. He pounded on the wall. Fist after fist against plaster and concrete until potholes marked the surface. Why do you have to take away everything and everyone I have ever cared about? Is every life you take a payment for every life I have taken? He slid down to his feet in a tired heap. Why do they have to suffer? He turned towards the door, "WESLEY! CORDELIA! ANYONE ANSWER ME!" His voice began to break. "please. please, answer me……"
Suddenly Gunn came into the light with Cordelia in his arms. The girl looked so frail and beaten up but there was a hint of disgust in her eyes. She was all right. Gunn walked back into the office and settled her on the couch. Angel was right behind him, hopping up and down. "Where's Wesley? Is he okay? Is he still alive?"
Gunn shook his head as he grabbed a cup of water for Cordelia. "I didn't see him."
"What do you mean you didn't see him?!" Angel's voice was curt and sharp almost to the point of being rude.
Gunn took offense. His own voice mimicked Angel's. "When I said 'I didn't see him', I mean I didn't see him. He wasn't out there."
"He left," Cordelia suddenly spoke as she sat up on the couch. She took the cup of water and sipped at it. A moment later she slipped out of her heels. Blood soaked her right heel. She winced at the sight and looked at her flesh. A rather large shard was protruding from her skin. Biting her lip she yanked it out. "He went off after them."
"Them?" Angel asked.
"The Yakuza?" Gunn added.
The girl nodded. Her eyes began to tear up. She looked like she was on the verge of having another fit but she held herself together. "There were two of them. Asians in suits in an old white car. Like your style of car. The 60's type. They first tossed the bomb into Gunn's truck and they came back for us. All the bullets missed me. It was lousy aim and the fact that Wesley shielded me. He took a bullet in the arm. He was bleeding. He still is bleeding. Oh-oh, I don't know." She paused and took another sip. "I tried to stop him. He was just so mad. Angel, he's going to get himself killed."
In a soft voice that was barely louder than a whisper Angel spoke, "I know."
The response confused Gunn and Cordelia. They were expecting Angel's usual battlecry of "Not if I can help it." Or at least something along the lines of it. He was after all the war hero in the undead battle. His job was supposed to rally up the troops and take them charging into the good fight with all the hope and confidence that one's soul could give. What Angel gave them instead sounded like acceptance of defeat. Cordelia dropped her head and began to cry. Gunn refused to have the same reaction. Anger came to the surface. This was not his Angel at all. This was a coward who needed a good punch in the mouth. The young man gritted his teeth and grabbed Angel by his shirt.
"Are you going to give up just like that?!" Gunn yelled, "I thought he was your friend."
Angel looked away. "He is my friend. And you don't understand."
"You're right I don't understand. Now will you explain to me why the hell I don't understand?" He shoved Angel back down right next to Cordelia on the couch.
The vampire stared at the floor. He refused to look at anyone in the eyes. Cordelia wiped her tears away. Angel was indeed acting odd. Finally she was picking up on this. "Angel, you know something, don't you?" The vampire remained cold. Cordelia suddenly grabbed the vampire by his chin and made him look her in the eye, "Tell me! Tell us!"
Shrugging her off Angel sunk further in the couch. Silence filled the room. Gunn couldn't take it. He threw his hands in the air, "This is such a waste of my time. I don't know Wesley all that well but I know I am not going to let him die when there is a chance to save him. Cordelia, are you with me?"
The girl shot a look at Angel who was still sitting like a stone statue. She turned to Gunn and nodded. "Let's go." She hopped off the couch and went to her desk to grab Angel's keys.
"It's no use," Angel suddenly spoke. His voice lacked any emotion. "He's dead. Or at least he will be by the time you find him. And all you will find is his body."
"Stop it, Angel," Cordelia hissed as she glared at the vampire. "I can't believe what I am hearing. I looked up to-"
Angel raised his head. With a stare so cold that it froze the girl in midsentense he spoke. "Do you know what a Bean Sidhe is?"
"A banshee?" the girl responded with a shrug of her shoulders.
Gunn took a step foreward, "I do. It's a death messenger ghost or spirit. It would cry and wail before someone was about to die."
Cordelia's eyes went wide as something clicked in her mind. "Sidhe? Sidhe!" She slapped the keys back down on the desk, "That Leanhaun Sidhe yesterday, she was talking to you in Irish. You told me she was insulting you. But she wasn't, was she?"
The vampire shook his head softly and began to rub his hands together. "No, you're right. She wasn't insulting me at all. Instead she was allowing me to see her sister, the banshee, who was standing over Wesley's unconscious body."
A gasp came from Cordelia as she sunk to her feet. "What? What do you mean?"
"Wesley is going to die soon and the banshee was there to bring the message,"
"No," the girl whispered as refused to believe it. She shook her head softly and then harshly until her head looked like it was about to snap off. "That can't be true. It was a trick by that creature."
"Those spots on Wesley's shirt last night," Angel continued, "those were tears from the banshee. She was weeping for him."
"STOP IT!" Cordelia yelled. She covered up her ears and balled up.
Angel did not obey. "Wesley is going to die and there is nothing we can do about it."
"Like hell there is," Gunn interrupted. He took Cordelia by the shoulders and lifted her to her feet. Wiping her tears he settled her down at one of the chairs that stood by the desk. "Now I might not be as old as you, Ancient, but I have learned and seen some pretty amazing things over my life time. And one of which is that you can cheat death. Case in point, you. Look at you. You should be decomposing in a pine box in some peat bog somewhere. But no, you are here. Walking and talking. And I don't see any strings on you." He sighed as he tried to make his point. "And if we can't find a way. Then at least his body should have a proper funeral. With a priest or rabbi or whatever faith he belongs to. At least give him that. Which was more than I could give to my sister." His voice trailed off at the last sentence.
He looked at Angel with eyes that were drained of any real emotion. He looked tired. But he also looked like he was not about to let another person go through the agony he went through with his beloved sister. Sticking his hand out for the vampire he spoke, "So, what do you say, Angel?"
The vampire looked at the empty hand and then at Cordelia. The girl was back up on her feet. Gone were the tears and panicky look on her face. She had the keys to the Plymouth in her hand and looked as ready to go as she could ever be. The only thing she was looking for from the vampire was his okay. But Angel knew that despite his blessing or not she was going. She was just testing him. For what answer? Angel could not understand completely. Closing his eyes he thought of Wesley dying alone. And staying dead alone. The vampire knew how that felt. He remembered the endless number of nights where his tainted soul wore heavy on his body. The weight was so unbearable that he felt like he was being smothered underneath it. Dying every night only to be reborn the next night and die again. The cycle was maddening. He would not wish such a fate on his worse enemy let alone his friend.
His friend.
I should have told him. I should have told Wesley everything from the beginning. Perhaps things would have been different. No. They would have been different. He could feel his eyes began to ache as they yearned to cry. That sidhe was right. Wesley is going to die by my own hands. He opened his eyes and looked at Gunn's hand once more. But I can at least give him this, a death with dignity. He grabbed the young man's hand and rose to his feet.
"We're going to need guns. A lot of them," the vampire said as he began to head towards the elevator. "Stay here."
Gunn and Cordelia obeyed and stayed behind. The young man smiled while shaking his head. Angel never failed to amaze him. The look on his face confused Cordelia.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's nothing. Angel's a trip, you know," he said as Cordelia walked passed him to the file cabinet. He watched the girl pull out a mini crossbow and several stakes. "It's just I could have sworn he was gonna lick the dust."
The girl stopped cocking the crossbow for a moment and gave Gunn a funny look. "'Lick the' whahhh?" She pulled back the string and slipped in a stake. "What does that me?"
"'Lick the dust,'" the young man replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's expression my grandmother used to tell me all the time. She would say "Even if the outlook appears dim if the cause is just, then it is better to fight than to lick the dust". It was one of those rhyming proverbs that the older generation loves to say. Anyway, it simply means to abandon or give up. With the way V-man was acting I thought he was actually not going to put up a fight for Wesley."
"Well, you don't know Angel all that well. At least not the way I know him," the girl said as she placed the crossbow in her bag. "Angel would never give up on someone he cares about." She paused realizing she was lying to herself. For a moment back there she even had her doubts about Angel's loyalty. And she felt awful about it. Shaking her head she promised herself that such doubts would never arise again. Change the subject. "Gunn, I've got a question. No offense now."
The man sneered, "Which means I am going to take offense."
"Anyway…I just want to know, how did you know about the banshee? You don't seem like the woodsy fairy type."
Gunn narrowed his eyes and gave the girl a deadpan stare. He looked as if someone had just question him about his manhood or his street credit. Suddenly his defensive wall broke down with an amused laugh. "'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'. That movie would come on TV every Saint Patrick's when I was little. I'd never missed it."
Cordelia laughed. "How cute! I love that movie!"
"So do I." He came up close to the girl and gritted his teeth, "But if you tell this to anyone I will pretend that you've turned into a vampire and stake you. Got it?"
"Mums the word." she said as she made a zipping motion across her mouth.
Suddenly the elevator door swung opened and out walked Angel with every weapon he could carry in his arms. He dropped the guns, stakes, battleaxes, crossbows, water guns filled with Holy Water, swords and just about everything else that was sharp and pointy on the desk. "I figured not only are we going to come across vampires but oni and kappa as well. Something here should kill them."
Cordelia picked up a battleaxe, "God, I wish Wesley was here. He could be telling us right now which one of these would work and which ones would make us an demony laughing stock. He is so good at these things. I wish I could see him."
"Don't worry," Angel said as he slipped a sawed off shotgun into the folds of his coat, "We will."
END OF PART THREE