DISCLAIMER : All Buffy : The Vampire Slayer and ANGEL characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox Studios. No copyright infringement intended, just a chance to share with my fellow fans and absolutely no money profit is gained on the part of the author. 4th Season Spoilers. Prior to the Buffy episode 'The I in Team'.
PG-13. SUMMARY : A demon attacks Cordelia, leading Angel back to Sunnydale.
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BC : BEFORE CHILDREN
Return to Sunnydale
Los Angeles was warm. On this particular night, the heat was on the verge of admitting the unwary to hospital. If you had any sense you wore as little as possible - unless you were Cordelia Chase, for who fashion was the be all and end all of the world. It was also because rather than despite the recent stint of murders and maulings, that she determined that nothing could spoil her celebrations, not even the weather. For these two reasons, Cordelia ended up wearing a fur-lined Doberman costume to Wesley's birthday party. The English national had so few friends in America, Cordelia organised the party but was forced to invite her own friends to fill up the space in the booked rooms. She intermittedly made attempts to ensure that Wesley and their vampiric employer, Angel, were enjoying themselves but after the first few failures, she concentrated on entertaining the rest of the guests.
Entertaining was one of the things Cordelia did best but as the heat rose, her attention began to waver. She occasionally paused to lean out a window and let the breeze in because leaving the window wide open sent the decorations into fits. Wearing her interested expression (which Angel often mistook for her disinterested expression), Cordelia listened to Marianne, ice skating queen, talk.
"So, have you heard the talk about the new private eye?" Marianne asked through a mouthful of olive.
"No, but I would just love to," Cordelia raised her drink glass so the paper umbrella hid her anxious expression. "Spill."
"Well," began Marianne in a conspiratorial whisper. "Carmel said that this guy who goes to her gym knows this girl who was being stalked by a creep... you know how it is, it's Los Angeles... and this guy comes out from nowhere... like superpowers or whatever. Saved her, sent the creep to jail. Everybody's talking about it."
"That's our police force - nothing stands in the way of justice."
Marianne paused, "He's not police, he's a private eye, Cordy. Hey, you work for a private eye, don't you? Maybe your boss knows him?"
"Maybe," Cordelia wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.
"Are you okay?" said Marianne. "You look a little shiny."
Cordelia flashed a winning smile, "Sure."
Marianne looked unconvinced, "You're kind of sweating... a lot. Are you sure you don't want to take your coat off?"
"No!" exclaimed Cordelia. "It'd ruin the effect of the outfit."
Marianne didn't look satisfied so Cordelia threw up her arms in mock resignation, "Alright, alright, it's just my makeup, I'll be back in a minute. Now, promise you won't let the house burn down in my absense."
Cordelia walked across the room to the bathroom, making sure everyone could see her sultry walk. As she shut the door, she made sure to flash Marianne another winning smile. As soon as the door was shut however, Cordelia gasped and slid to the floor. She fanned her face frantically with her hands and shed the heavy fur jacket. Gasping, she staggered to the sink to dampen a handtowel. She began to dab at the back of her neck with it, waiting for her temperature and heart rate to return to normal.
"Hot, hot, hot," she moaned quietly to herself.
She draped the damp handtowel across her neck and unlatched the bathroom window. She leaned out as far as she could, eyes closed in pure bliss as the cool air rushed past her skin. She fanned her face again and slowly opened her eyes to gaze at the skyscraper barely two metres across from her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, sending a familiar tingling feeling down her spine. Praying that it was just the cool breeze catching the attention of her hair follicles, Cordelia turned to her left. Clinging ambidextrously to the wall of the skyscraper in the very act of climbing it, were two black furred demons. They seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see them. One blinked a couple of times before continuing to scramble up the side of the building. The other got curious.
It began to move towards her. Cordelia gazed down at her furry costume which happened to be exactly the same shade of black as the demon's. Calmly, Cordelia flashed it a winning smile and, reaching up, closed the window. Shaken, she snatched up her coat and was reaching out to hang the handtowel on a rack as an afterthought when there was a fierce growl and the demon smashed through the window. It landed on top of her, raking her costume with it's claws but was stunned by Cordelia's incredible scream - three millimetres from it's large ears. She punched it in the head and tried to crawl out from under it. The demon recovered ard wrapped a clawed hand around her ankle, pulling her back down. Cordelia kicked out, catching the demon in the face with her high heels. Then she was free and sprinting out the bathroom door into the party, to crash into a concerned Marianne. The two of them sprawled on the floor.
"What the...?" began Marianne.
Then she saw the demon coming at her and Cordelia. Both girls screamed in unison as the demon leapt...
A chair, hurled by someone in the crowd, collided with the demon in midleap. The chair fragments rained down on the two girls and knocked the demon to the carpet. Feeling threatened, the demon turned back the way it had come, ignoring the astonished spectators. Cordelia looked up in time to see Angel clambering out of the bathroom window in pursuit of the demon.
"What's he doing?" Marianne asked, trembling.
Cordelia ignored her and limped painfully to the bathroom window. Above her, Angel was climbing awkwardly up a drain pipe, trying to catch the fleeing demon. The demon was moving too fast for him, and realising it, Angel ducked into the nearest window. As he did, there was a startled screech indicating that the room had already been occupied. She could just hear Angel's muffled, "Excuse me."
Swearing, Cordelia pulled back from the window and limped out to the hallway. She jabbed at the nearest lift button impatiently.
"Cordy...," called a guest, wrapping an arm about her shoulders. "Come sit down."
She was about to resist but was firmly guided into a chair. Instantly a knot of sympathisers formed around her. From their expressions, Cordelia knew they had enough sympathy to last all night. She hoped Angel was alright and then realised she had everyone's attention. Angel could look after himself.
***
By now the demon had reached the rooftop of the skyscraper where the second demon was waiting. They crossed the roof together in a half crouch. They paused to sniff the air, watching the skyline for a hint of what they were after. After a moment they found it, now they just needed to get there. Sensing that Angel had given up the pursuit, the first one straightened up and moved to the stairwell door. When he opened the door, he walked straight into Angel. Angel took advantage of the demon's surprise to grab it in a headlock. There was a sharp crack as the demon's neck broke. The second demon turned and ran with Angel close behind him. The demon reached the edge of the roof and scrambled down, head first. Angel stopped in a hurry, his momentum almost taking him over the edge. Looking down the building at the retreating demon, Angel jumped, catching hold of a window ledge before dropping gently to the next ledge and the next. The demon reached the pavement while Angel was still two stories up. The demon turned and headed along the busy street, frightening pedestrians as it went. There was a bright flash and the demon was now a doberman - just a stray dog loose on the street. Angel jumped onto the roof of a passing truck. As the truck driver was slamming on the brakes and beginning to swear, Angel was sliding down the side onto the ground. He ran down the street to the corner but the dog was gone.
***
When Angel returned to the office early the next morning, Cordelia and Wesley were already huddled by the computer. Cordelia was wearing a turtleneck sweater, pulled as far up her neck as it would go to hide the cuts and scratches the demon had inflicted. Wesley was leaning over her shoulder to see the computer screen. His closeness was bothering Cordelia who kept poking him in the ribs when he got too close.
"Angel," Wesley called in greeting, taking the chance to step away from Cordelia.
"So, is the big bad squished?" asked Cordelia, eagerly.
"No," said Angel, flopping onto the couch. "No, it's not. It got away."
Cordelia and Wesley exchanged a look at Angel's obvious irritation.
Cordelia leaned forward, "Well, we know what kind of demon it is."
"Let's hear it," said Angel, his irritation vanishing.
"I entered the description into the demon database and I got something... an atashak demon, a shape shifter."
Wesley took a few more steps away from Cordelia and continued the explanation, "Even better, we've found that the demon thrives on a certain type of mystical energy. There are few sources of this energy in this part of the world but I just happen to have a distribution map for the entire state."
Cordelia looked up at Wesley in surprise, "Where'd you get that?"
"My prior employment as a representative of the Watcher's Council required certain information be made available to me. I can get you the address."
***
The next night the three of them met at a construction yard. Angel surveyed the newly laid concrete critically, "Are you sure this is it?"
Cordelia glanced at Wesley, "This is the source of those mystical rays the demons chow down on? I was expecting candles and incense."
Wesley frowned, "It appears to have been built over. I doubt it would be much use to them now. Probably why they were climbing that building. It's not close to the centre of the city so it's away from the loudest sounds. From that height, they would be able to sense the next closest energy source."
"Where is the next energy source?" asked Angel.
Wesley brought a map out of his jacket pocket and unfolded it. Angel and Cordelia waited patiently, trying to ignore the unusual smell coming from a nearby dumpster, while Wesley ran his fingers along the map. He let out a heavy sigh and meticulously folded up the map again.
"What?" asked Cordelia. "Where is it? It's not like Australia or something is it?"
"I don't think you're going to like it," said Wesley.
He turned to Angel, shrugging apologetically. "It's in Sunnydale."
Angel was very quiet for about a minute. Wesley and Cordelia waited for him to speak but he turned and led the way back to the car. The other two exchanged uneasy looks and trailed after him.
Wesley felt a need to explain further as they drove back to the office, "The leakage from the hellmouth actually makes Sunnydale the largest source of mystical energy on the continent."
"So, we go to Sunnydale," said Cordelia grimly. "How exciting."
"You guys don't have to come if you don't want to. I'll go," said Angel.
"Angel, we're a team. Where you go, we go," said Wesley quickly.
Cordelia shrugged, "Or where you lead, we follow, whichever you prefer."
Angel smiled slightly and turned his attention back to the road.
***
Sunnydale. Angel looked around the familiar streets with an odd feeling of displacement. He'd lived many places in his life but he had never gone back to them because there was never anything to go back to. Cordelia had rung Giles before they came and Giles had insisted on warning Buffy of their arrival. Without much choice Angel had relented. He'd have preferred to disturb Buffy as little as possible, he wanted to arrive, do what they had to and leave. He wasn't sure he could handle seeing her again so soon after they'd broken up. He was also filled with an irrational desire to avoid her new boyfriend, Riley, like a radiation leak. Cordelia had handed Angel the phone and before he realised it, Buffy's voice was on the other end. What ensued afterwards was a brief phonecall during which he repeatedly pointed out that there was no need for them to see each other at all. Buffy's answers had been equally blunt and business-like, to the point of offering to help hunt down the demon. Angel had declined the offer, saying that with the stories about the Initative she'd already told him, it sounded like she had her hands full.
A nudge from Cordelia and Angel remembered to get out of the car. Wesley was already out of the car, with his bag of gear, and gazing up at the familiar mansion.
"Hmm," said Cordelia critically. "Wonder how long it'll take to fix it up?"
"We'll only be staying a few days," said Wesley.
"What makes you think it needs fixing up?" asked Angel.
Cordelia turned her head to give him a look that Angel had yet to decipher but was rapidly becoming familiar with. Angel approached the double doors, fishing a key out of his pocket.
"Seriously?" said Angel. "What makes you think that?"
"Firstly, you used to live here. Secondly, nobody has lived here for almost a year," said Cordelia primly. "I don't understand why we can't just rent a hotel room like anyone else."
"It would cost money and this place... that's odd. I thought I left a padlock on these doors."
"Come on, come on. I'm freezing my butt off here," said Cordelia, pushing past Angel and opening the doors.
The second she walked into the entrance way, she spotted the difference in decor from the last time she'd been here. Apart from the absense of Angel's furniture, which was now in his Los Angeles office, the pagan alter was the first thing she noticed. The second thing she noticed was the figures in black robes. They noticed her too and one of them raised a scaly knife. Cordelia turned around and ran daintly behind Angel and Wesley.
"This is new," said Wesley.
"No argument here," said Angel.
Wesley dipped his hands into his bag and tossed a mace to Angel. The reaction of the black robes was to reveal more scaly knives. Wesley dropped his bag on the ground in preparation for the fight. The black robes charged at them and Wesley and Angel went into action. Angel swung the mace high as he fought, aiming for heads and a quick knockout. Wesley, occasionally ducking Angel's mace, slashed with a fighting axe. Their opponents were not hard to overcome but there were a few of them. Eventually one of them slipped past Angel and Wesley, heading for Cordelia. She screeched and knocked him unconscious with Wesley's bag.
After the bodies of the demonic worshippers had been dumped in the river, Cordelia and Wesley began to think about food. Angel opted to go for a walk. The fight had left him restless and he was tempted to start hunting for the Atashak demon. Cordelia sensed his intent and made him promise to wait for them. So, instead Angel walked through the town, remembering. Remembering what it felt like to live in Sunnydale. He found a park bench and sat down, remembering a time he and Buffy had sat there together. She had been blaming herself for the death of... someone. She took so much responsibility for things she couldn't control.
Absorbed in his brooding, Angel didn't notice the atashak demon sneaking up behind him. When the atashak demon pounced, Angel was thrown headfirst onto the bitumen road. With the pessimist's attitude to small accidents, Angel kicked out with his legs. He felt something connect with his feet and as he righted himself, he recognised the demon. The demon straightened up on it's hindlegs, it's clawed paws morphing into clenched fists. It took a couple of swings at Angel, who ducked easily. Angel went in with a swing of his own but the demon dodged and tackled Angel around the waist. Angel flipped the demon over his head where it collided painfully with the park bench. The Atashak demon morphed again into the doberman and took off. Snarling, Angel sped after it, unhindered by pedestrians in the empty Sunnydale streets.
The atashak demon, still disguised as a doberman, cut across the park in his attempts to get away. The snarling of a werewolf in the distance was enough to spook it into altering it's direction. It instead headed for the woods near Sunnydale University where it knew it could easily loose it's vampiric pursuer. As it burst through a hedge onto the university campus, it collided with a camouflaged soldier. Instinctively the soldier froze and avoided making eye contact with what he assumed was a fierce canine. His blaster had landed a few feet away from him and he edged slowly towards it. He gave a surprised gasp as the dog morphed into a demon in front of him. The soldier dived for the blaster but the demon slashed at his chest, knocking him back. The soldier landed on his back, defenseless with the demon looming over him. Angel came bursting through the hedge and the demon abandoned it's attack to face him.
The soldier reached his blaster but had little to do but watch numbly as the vampire and the black demon fought it out. The vampire's fighting style reminded him of something but he couldn't quite pin it down. He knew he'd seen some of those moves before. The style was certainly effective when combined with the supernatural speed of a vampire, and finally the exhausted demon leapt at him in desparation. Calmly the vampire seemed to guide the demon past him but when the demon hit the ground, a knife hilt protuded from it's chest. The vampire seemed to regard the corpse with a certain amount of satisfaction. Then it turned to the soldier, it's face appearing as if human.
"Are you alright?" the vampire asked.
The soldier recovered enough to answer, "For the moment, yeah."
He attempted to raise his blaster but the vampire swatted it away from his hands.
"Good," said the vampire.
It picked up the blaster, tucked it's hands into it's coat pockets and walked off.
The soldier fumbled for his radio, acutely aware that he was unarmed, alone and vulnerable.
"Lilac one, this is Huckleberry three," said the soldier, using the familiar codewords.
The patrol he'd wanted responed almost instantly, "Huckleberry three, this is Lilac one. What is it?"
"Lost my blaster in an... unusual encounter with a hostile," answered the soldier, pausing to consider how to phrase the scene he'd just witnessed. "One hostile is down and needs to be collected, a second hostile moving on a heading of... 1,2, Alpha Niner."
"Huckleberry three?" asked the voice from the radio. "This is Lilac one. We will intercept second hostile. Contact control for a retrieval team, over."
"Thankyou, Lilac one," said the soldier, relieved.
The patrol he'd contacted cut across the shadow ridden paths of the university campus to intercept the hostile. Forrest, the team leader, gave a handsignal to the others and they all came to a stop in a garden bed two hundred metres from one of the squat buildings with the familiar ECU Sunnydale logo. He leant towards one of the other soldiers.
"What have we got?" he asked.
The soldier pulled out a tracking device, "Located missing blaster. Signal's moving fairly slowly. He's near one of the dorms... Stevenson."
Forrest raised his infa-red binoculars to his eyes and scanned the windows of the Stevenson dormitories. Each occupant was patterned in red, their temperature displayed on the screen. Each clocked in at 36.7 degrees Celsius - human body temperature. He lingered on one bedroom window before moving on.
Thermal output clocking in at exactly room temperature.
F: Vampire.
R: Call in a standard triangle flanking manoeuvre.
"The hostile?" the soldier asked when he paused.
"No, I'd forgotten that Buffy Summers has a dorm room in Stevenson. Riley's there with her," answered Forrest in disgust. "They're making a lot of heat."
The soldier decided it was best not to comment on that.
"Target sighted," said Forrest, at last. "Thermal output clocking in at exactly room temperature."
"Vampire," agreed the soldier.
Angel was climbing the steps to Stevenson. There was no one around and he was aware that it was oddly quiet. At the top of the steps, he paused. A distinctive smell had reached him and he was torn between searching it out or going to see Buffy. His sense of curiosity overpowered his nostalgia and he came back down the steps. The marine's blaster thumped against his leg and he paused again to change his grip on it. Concealed beneath his coat, the blaster was another curiosity.
"Take him down, Agent," said Forrest firmly.
The soldier raised a weapon. Much more subtle than the firework show that erupted from a blaster, the sniper rifle fired small tranquilizer darts. A professional sharpshooter, the Agent took aim. One of the other soldiers signalled insistently to Forrest. Forrest signalled to the sharpshooter to wait, before crawling to the see what was up.
"Movement in the bushes," the soldier whispered.
The soldiers spread out, eyes and ears only, as the infa red binoculars had been left with the sharpshooter.
"Nothing here," said Forrest. "We have to take the hostile down now."
They returned to the sharpshooter, who was still tracking Angel with his gun. Angel was milling around, not going in any particular direction. He was hoping to catch the sent again. It was faint, the wind direction was not good for this kind of tracking but he could tell something fairly large was fairly close. There was a simultaneous yell and a wizzing noise. Angel turned to see a tranquilizer dart embedded in a nearby plant and commotion in a nearby garden bed. Tightening his grip on the blaster, he sprinted to the garden. A werewolf was attacking a group of commandos in camouflage. At least one of them was dead and a second werewolf joined in the scuffle.
One of the commandos drew a knife and drove it between the shoulder blades of the second animal. Angel raised the blaster in his hand, looking up and down the unfamiliar panels. A young man in black, his feet slipping on bloody soil, lurched to his feet yelling "Pull out! Retreat!"
The remaining werewolf dove at him. Angel aimed the blaster and fired. Aided by a healthy helping of luck, the blaster succeeded in sending a shot of blue energy slamming into the creature's chest. It was knocked backwards onto the ground. So was Angel, unprepared as he was for the weapon's recoil. The black man turned and spotted Angel barely two metres from him. Angel scrambled to his feet and took off, abandoning the blaster. Forrest was about to follow when he noticed the condition of his team. The sharpshooter was dead and three other soldiers were injured. There were also two werewolves to be taken care of, one dead and one stunned.
"Call for back-up," Forrest ordered.
"Who got the second wolf?" asked one of the dazed marines.
"I... don't know."
Angel had put distance between him and the marines but he remained uneasy. He was confident he could take the patrol by himself if he had to, but he didn't want to chance that one of the taser blasts wouldn't find it's mark. Buffy had told him of Riley's involvement in the Initiative and Angel was anxious to avoid complications. He headed straight for the crowded streets (as crowded as a Sunnydale street could be) and the Bronze, where he wouldn't leave any trail for the soldiers to follow. He hung around in the shopping mall for about half an hour before setting out to return to the mansion. Behind him, a plain clothes patrol followed.
The team leader spoke softly to his companions, lessening the chances of someone overhearing their words. Angel walked ahead of them down the footpaths, presently in full view of witnesses but heading to more deserted streets.
"Reid and I will take point, the rest of you set up on the flanks," said the team leader.
Angel reached the street behind the Bronze, his ears almost visibly pricking up at some sound. He changed his mind and walked down the shady alley to the side of the Bronze. At the team leader's signal, two of his men strolled past the opening of the alleyway, talking casually. Angel turned to watch them but satisfied they were just passerbys, continued down the alley towards a dumpster and a familiar sucking sound in the shadows.
Once on the other side of the alleyway entrance and out of Angel's sight, the two men stopped and pressed against the wall. The team leader motioned to two of the other soldiers to go around to the other end of the alleyway to block Angel's retreat. The team leader began a silent countdown for the men on the opposite side of the alleyway entrance.
"Five, four, three, two..."
Before the countdown finished, a vampire roared. Taken by surprise, the soldiers almost ran into the alleyway before they saw what was happening. Angel was wrestling with another vampire. Contrasted to the desparate, wild flurry of the other vampire, Angel was surprisingly calm and efficient. The team leader was too far away to see the stake in Angel's hand but he did see the other vampire crumble into dust.
The team leader realised that if Angel turned he would see them. The team leader motioned to his men to get back. Trying to calm his heartbeat and gather himself for his next action, the team leader pressed himself against the wall.
If the night had not been so clear, he might not have been able to hear Angel's voice, "Are you alright?"
A watery, high pitched voice that crackled occasionally, answered "Oh, my god. Oh, my god."
"It's okay. He's gone now."
"Gone? You mean..."
"Forget about him. You should get some rest. Do you have some friends who can take you home?"
The team leader didn't hear her reply but a few moments later, Angel spoke again.
"Here. Apply some pressure to that. Make sure you get plenty of water to drink. You'll be fine."
"Thankyou."
There was the sound of high heels pitter-patting into the distance.
The team leader peered around the edge of the alleyway to watch Angel who was watching a young woman walk out of the other end of the alley. Angel looked after her for a minute, then tucked his hands in his coat pockets. The team leader motioned for his men to hide and they spread out from the alleyway entrance. Seconds later, Angel emerged from the alleyway and continued on his way. After he passed, the team gathered together again.
"Did what I think happen, just happen?" asked one of the soldiers.
"I'm not sure," said the team leader.
Running footsteps came up behind them and they spun to confront the two soldiers sent to cover the other end of the alleyway.
"That was quick," said one of them pleasantly.
"What was quick?" asked the team leader.
"Disposing of the vampire."
"We didn't do that."
"Who did?"
The team leader indicated the rapidly disappearing Angel. The team began to follow him again, talking quietly amongst themselves.
"What happened at your end?" asked the team leader.
"We were slow in getting to the other end - there were a lot of people outside the Bronze. Luckily, no one else was close enough to the alleyway to hear the fight. Later, a girl walked out with a handkercheif pressed to her neck. She walked up to some other people and asked to be driven home."
The end of that report was too open for the team leader's liking. The disgruntled patrol trailed Angel for the rest of the night.
The sky beginning to get light when Angel returned to the mansion. Cordelia was awake and shooting up from the couch as soon as he shut the door.
"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
"Angel!" said Wesley angrily, emerging from the other room. "You promised you wouldn't go out hunting the demon by yourself."
Angel looked a little sheepish as he answered, "I didn't hunt the demon... not exactly. I went for a walk and it attacked me. What was I suppossed to do, let it get away?"
"Yeah, now there's an idea," said Cordelia sharply.
"You could have at least called us on your cellphone...," Wesley paused at Angel's expression. "Did you remember that you had it?"
Angel paused and searched his coat. It was a few seconds before he managed to even find it.
"Alright, I'm sorry," said Angel at last. "It won't happen again."
"You're right, it won't. You can't do that to us...," began Cordelia.
"Okay, I get it. I won't make you guys worry again," interupted Angel.
"Well, good."
Cordelia marched into the next room and with no small amount of relief, Angel flopped on the couch. Wesley walked up to him.
"Angel, it took you all night just to hunt the demon?"
Angel looked up at him, checking Cordelia was out of earshot before he answered, "No. Before I killed the demon it attacked one of those commandos Buffy was telling me about. I was going to tell Buffy about it but then an entire patrol of them got attacked by these werewolves..."
Angel yawned and stretched out on the couch.
"You realise when you didn't return, Cordelia and I went out to search for you. We found some action of our own... there is more than one atashak demon in Sunnydale. In fact, from what we saw there's at least ten of them," said Wesley, cleaning his glasses like he always did when he was nervous. "We fell into a nest of them and were lucky to get out alive."
"Then we stay in Sunnydale until we've gotten them all," answered Angel sleepily.
Wesley dipped his head in aggrement but when he looked up, Angel's eyes were closed.
"Angel?"
When he didn't get a reply he covered Angel with a blanket and left the room, hoping the smell of roof mould wouldn't wake him up again.
In a less dark and damp but equally covert setting, the Initiative continued to work with efficiency. The routine had been shifted slightly to include the funeral of their fallen companion. After three days of inquiry and formal explanations, Dr Walsh finally got the opportunity to talk directly to her men. She stood before them, her chin raised not by height but by university degrees.
"Alright gentlemen," she began sternly. "I want to hear the full story, your official reports were hesitant and sketchy. You have more information? I want to hear it."
Forrest began, "Three nights ago, Agent Graham Millar witnessed two hostiles engaged in a fight."
"Any idea why?"
Forrest shook his head, "One was the previously unknown species that we brought in. The other was a vampire. Agent Millar contacted Lilac one..."
"I've already heard all that," said Dr Walsh testily.
"If I may interupt?" asked Graham.
"Agent Millar?"
"I believe the vampire may have been trying to protect me. Later on, C Team testified that he saved the life of a civillian."
Dr Walsh made no attempt to hide her irritation, "C team's report was inconclusive. That is simply an assumption."
"True but, what about you, Forrest?"
"Agent Gates?" asked Dr Walsh, switching her attention.
Forrest shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "None of my team have admitted firing the shot that brought down the second werewolf. Agent Millar's blaster was stolen by the vampire and when we recovered it, it showed signs of having recently been fired. It's likely the vampire did it, it's just nobody saw him doing it."
"Where is that vampire now?" asked Dr Walsh, tiring of the subject.
"He was trailed by C team to a shopping complex. When he moved again, he passed the Bronze - that's where the incident they reported occured. They then trailed him to a vacant mansion, where he's been staying since."
"I trust there's a good reason for not bringing him in, I don't like dangerous creatures roaming my streets, gentlemen."
Another one of the soldiers from Forest's team spoke up, "Maam, there is a potential for the situation to change, that's why surveillance has been going around the clock."
Satisfied with that answer, Dr Walsh moved on, "Anything else we know about him?"
"He's atypical for a vampire, maam," said Forrest.
"How so?"
"Firstly, his lives in a building. Not unheard of but not the established norm of vampire in sewers. Secondly, we have never seen him associate with other vampires, except in combat. He has two companions who are both human. One Cordelia Chase who grew up in Sunnydale, current residence in Los Angeles, and Wesley Pryce, an English national who lived briefly in Sunnydale before moving to Los Angeles. Thirdly, each night, he's been seen hunting the same kind of hostile that originally attacked Agent Millar."
"Not to mention the butcher's account," added Graham.
"The butcher?" said Dr Walsh.
"Yes, maam. We tracked him to a butcher's store where he made a purchase. We obtained some details from the butcher. He's known the vampire for four years but we're assuming he's unaware of the fact that he is a vampire. According to him, this 'customer' of his goes under the name of Angel. Orders a fairly regular supply of fresh pigs blood. At one stage, the customer just disappeared for a while and the butcher thought he had been cheated because a minor debt was left unpaid. Later, a blonde woman of approximately eighteen or seventeen years began to purchase blood and pay off the debt. She claimed Angel had been sick and she did not realise that there was a debt to be paid off. He returns and purchases blood again on a regular basis until the end of last year, when he leaves town. He wasn't seen again until the day we tracked him to the butcher store. He's apparently said he's on a business visit."
Dr Walsh considered this, "He's unaware he's being trailed. He may be showing you what you wish to see."
"It is possible," agreed Forrest.
"Alright, tail him for one more day, then bring him in."
Dr Walsh, a university professor of psychology and the senior scientist at the Initiative, watched her boys leave with a certain amount of anxiety. Frowning, she returned to her work station. Dr Inggelman appeared behind her, a cup of coffee in his outstretched hand. She took it with a brief smile.
"So," he prompted. "What's your opinion on the vampire?"
"I'm not sure," she told him honestly. "None of them want to commit to saying the vampire isn't dangerous but they keep hinting at it. There's also..."
"What?" asked Dr Inggelman.
"You heard the report?"
Dr Inggelman nodded and pointed to the listening piece in his ear. Dr Walsh contined, "The butcher identifies one of his companions as a young blonde woman."
"The woman with him now could have dyed her hair."
Dr Walsh shook her head, "I'm thinking blonde girl, probably about nineteen now, who might still live in Sunnydale and might have cause to associate with vampires. Do you know how long the Slayer has lived here?"
"You think it's her? We can get a photograph to the butcher to confirm that. In the meantime, do you want to bring Agent Finn in on this mission?"
Dr Walsh looked up sharply at the mention of her favourite teacher's aid. She considered a moment before answering, "No. He can keep an eye on the Slayer and it will give Gates and Millar a chance to demonstrate some leadership ability."
"If that's your decision."
"It is."
Dr Inggelman left to return to his science team down in the pit. Dr Walsh leant back in her chair, tapping her fingers against the sides of her coffee mug. She shrugged off an uneasy feeling before focusing on what she was paid to do. The day continued as usual, the sun went down and the monsters emerged. Forrest and Graham, dressed in civillian clothes, led a team to replace the one who had been watching Angel all day.
As per usual, their topic of conversation was far from their task.
"I can't believe Ri didn't show," complained Forrest.
"Give Riley a break," said Graham gently. "With a girl like Buffy, he's bound to forget a few promises."
"A few? This is the fourth time he's said he'll meet us at the Bronze and not shown!"
"You're saying you don't enjoy being team leader in his absence?"
Forrest turned to glare at him, "Stop changing the subject. It's just not right... wait, we've got some movement."
Graham fell silent. As the team watched, Angel and Wesley left the mansion in a car. Cordelia stood on the top of the stairs to watch them leave. The patrol piled into Riley's car. They followed the impressive convertible into the dark part of town. The car slowed down outside a cheap bar with Willy's Place written over the top in neon lights. The patrons in the place slinked and slided in the doorway, as if not even normal movement was permitted.
Angel got out of the car and approached the bar, scattering the patrons like a load of cockroaches. Wesley drove the car on again. The team parked the car in a nearby alleyway, waiting for Forrest's decision.
"Taggart, you're with me. The rest of you hold position in case he doubles back. Reid and Stabros, go around and see if there's an exit around the back. Use your radios only as a last resort."
Graham noticed with chagrin that he wasn't accompanying Forrest and was the last to get out of the car. Before leaving, Forrest couldn't resist one last word, "Try not to get yourselves killed as soon as yours truly is out of sight."
Graham grunted in response as Forrest and Kevin Taggart strolled into the bar. The remaining marines spread out along the street. Graham ended up on the far street corner, pausing to stare randomly at shop windows whenever a stranger walked past him.
A car alarm went off in the distance. Wesley sprinted away from a parked car at the other end of the street. On reflex, half the team set off in pursuit. Graham was the furtherest away, which was why none of the other soldiers noticed Angel appearing on the far sidewalk behind them. They didn't see him seize an unsuspecting Graham from behind. With a hand placed firmly over Graham's mouth to stifle his cry, Angel dragged him out of sight and shoved him against a wall.
"Alright, to cut a long story short, I don't like being followed everywhere I go," said Angel.
He released his grip on Graham and took a couple of steps back.
"We all have to do things we don't want, sometimes," said Graham carefully, rubbing his jaw.
Angel grunted, "Yeah well, funnily enough, I'm getting sick of it. So, tell whoever it is you work for, that I am not amused. I don't want you getting in my way in the middle of the crisis."
Graham opened his mouth to retort but Angel grabbed him roughly and threw him to the ground. When Graham looked up, Angel was gone. Graham released the breath he'd been holding and wandered back into the street to tell the others what had happened. By the time he got there, an annoyed Forrest was waiting for him.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Worried that the vampire was targetting him, for the following two nights Graham's superiors sent him on routine, even mundane patrols in an attempt to keep him away from Angel. Angel was still tailed by a patrol but he began to periodically loose them, irritated by their presence. It took three nights before Graham and Forrest found themselves on the same mission. Their team was sent to the cemetery to prevent the rising of a new vampire. It was only ten o'clock when the soil on the grave began to move. It was not new to them and the vampire was staked without an incident.
"Alright, let's go," Forrest told the team.
"What was that noise?" bellowed a strange voice.
The entire patrol hit the dirt, backing up against tombstones with their blasters at the ready. There was the sound of someone approaching.
"You're imagining things," answered a raspy voice.
"I am not," replied the first voice. "I suppose next you'll be telling me the demon hunter that killed Tharg was in my imagination, too."
"Oh no," said a third voice. "The demon hunter is real alright. That's why we have to deal with him tonight - the sooner, the better."
There were murmurs of agreement. Graham manoeuvred his infa-red scanner about until he could get a reading from behind the tombstone. He held up nine fingers to Forrest, to indicate nine demons. The group of demons argued about the demon hunter for a few minutes before moving away. As they did, the patrol moved out of hiding.
"What do you think about this demon hunter?" whispered Graham.
"The demons lead us to him. He could be friendly to our cause," decided Forrest.
"Like the Slayer?" asked Graham.
Forrest grunted, his dislike for Riley's newest girlfriend once again surfacing.
"If those demons go anywhere near populated areas...," said Forrest. "We kill every one of them."
The patrol moved out, easily trailing the noisy, disorganised Atashak demons. The demons carried an almost homemade assortment of weapons, among them several blades tied to handles with fishing line, a stolen fireaxe and a collection of molotov cocktails in glass softdrink bottles. They had almost wandered the whole length of the cemetery when one demon jabbed the other in the side. At the first demon's insistence, all the demons stopped to sniff the air. They seemed to have caught a scent. The demons changed direction sharply, their body language revealing that they had found their prey. They were aiming straight for a mausoleum. As the patrol crept closer, even the patrol could hear the sounds of a struggle and the snarling of one... no, two vampires.
The atashak demons waited, low to the ground. One held a cigarette lighter to a molotov cocktail and hurled it through the slightly ajar door to the crypt. There was the sound of an explosion and then the roar of a vampire as it died. Smoke began to curl out the crypt doorway. Coughing, Angel stumbled out, bent over and on the point of collapse. The atashak demons attacked but Angel was not as unprepared as he looked. He stopped mid-cough to straighten up and deck the first two who came at him. He swiftly disarmed the third and used it's weapon to continue the fight. Within a few minutes he'd killed two of them and wounded another that crawled away from the fight. The wounded demon crawled straight into the Initiative patrol who finished it off.
"Do we join in or not?" Graham asked Forrest urgently.
"Wait," began Forrest. "...Oh, what the hell!"
The patrol charged at the demons, killing some of them even as they were preparing to throw more molotov cocktails. While they fought, two of the atashak demons (one with a makeshift spear and the other with the stolen axe) pushed Angel backwards into the crypt. In the confined space, Angel was forced to start dodging. The patrol finished off the ragtag Atashak demons without casualties. Forrest and Graham slipped forward to see what was happening in the crypt. Angel was holding his own and once again, there was something familiar to Graham about the way the vampire fought. Some of his moves were based on technique but some were just pure brute force that almost knocked his opponents offbalance.
Finally, Angel managed to run through one of the demons with it's own spear. In that split second of distraction the second demon swung at him with the axe. Angel didn't see the axe coming and doubled over as it embedded in his stomach. The momentum of the swing unsteadied his feet and he fell, still gripping the end of the spear with the demon impaled on the end. A taser blast enveloped the surviving demon, slamming it into the wall. Angel watched it in a sort of dreamy haze as Forrest approached him. Angel's eyes were half-closed but his bloody hands twitched every couple of seconds. Forrest remained suspiscious and not without good reason.
"You think he's our demon hunter?" asked Graham, coming up behind him.
"He can't tell us if he's dead," muttered Forrest.
"How much vampire first aid do you know?" asked another of the marines.
"Not much," admitted Graham.
"So then, we'll just have to take him to someone who does," said Forrest.
"Control?" said the marine, uncertain.
"Hey look, you have a better idea?" demanded Forrest. "Looks like we get to bring him in, anyway."
TO BE CONTINUED...
PG-13. SUMMARY : A demon attacks Cordelia, leading Angel back to Sunnydale.
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BC : BEFORE CHILDREN
Return to Sunnydale
Los Angeles was warm. On this particular night, the heat was on the verge of admitting the unwary to hospital. If you had any sense you wore as little as possible - unless you were Cordelia Chase, for who fashion was the be all and end all of the world. It was also because rather than despite the recent stint of murders and maulings, that she determined that nothing could spoil her celebrations, not even the weather. For these two reasons, Cordelia ended up wearing a fur-lined Doberman costume to Wesley's birthday party. The English national had so few friends in America, Cordelia organised the party but was forced to invite her own friends to fill up the space in the booked rooms. She intermittedly made attempts to ensure that Wesley and their vampiric employer, Angel, were enjoying themselves but after the first few failures, she concentrated on entertaining the rest of the guests.
Entertaining was one of the things Cordelia did best but as the heat rose, her attention began to waver. She occasionally paused to lean out a window and let the breeze in because leaving the window wide open sent the decorations into fits. Wearing her interested expression (which Angel often mistook for her disinterested expression), Cordelia listened to Marianne, ice skating queen, talk.
"So, have you heard the talk about the new private eye?" Marianne asked through a mouthful of olive.
"No, but I would just love to," Cordelia raised her drink glass so the paper umbrella hid her anxious expression. "Spill."
"Well," began Marianne in a conspiratorial whisper. "Carmel said that this guy who goes to her gym knows this girl who was being stalked by a creep... you know how it is, it's Los Angeles... and this guy comes out from nowhere... like superpowers or whatever. Saved her, sent the creep to jail. Everybody's talking about it."
"That's our police force - nothing stands in the way of justice."
Marianne paused, "He's not police, he's a private eye, Cordy. Hey, you work for a private eye, don't you? Maybe your boss knows him?"
"Maybe," Cordelia wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.
"Are you okay?" said Marianne. "You look a little shiny."
Cordelia flashed a winning smile, "Sure."
Marianne looked unconvinced, "You're kind of sweating... a lot. Are you sure you don't want to take your coat off?"
"No!" exclaimed Cordelia. "It'd ruin the effect of the outfit."
Marianne didn't look satisfied so Cordelia threw up her arms in mock resignation, "Alright, alright, it's just my makeup, I'll be back in a minute. Now, promise you won't let the house burn down in my absense."
Cordelia walked across the room to the bathroom, making sure everyone could see her sultry walk. As she shut the door, she made sure to flash Marianne another winning smile. As soon as the door was shut however, Cordelia gasped and slid to the floor. She fanned her face frantically with her hands and shed the heavy fur jacket. Gasping, she staggered to the sink to dampen a handtowel. She began to dab at the back of her neck with it, waiting for her temperature and heart rate to return to normal.
"Hot, hot, hot," she moaned quietly to herself.
She draped the damp handtowel across her neck and unlatched the bathroom window. She leaned out as far as she could, eyes closed in pure bliss as the cool air rushed past her skin. She fanned her face again and slowly opened her eyes to gaze at the skyscraper barely two metres across from her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, sending a familiar tingling feeling down her spine. Praying that it was just the cool breeze catching the attention of her hair follicles, Cordelia turned to her left. Clinging ambidextrously to the wall of the skyscraper in the very act of climbing it, were two black furred demons. They seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see them. One blinked a couple of times before continuing to scramble up the side of the building. The other got curious.
It began to move towards her. Cordelia gazed down at her furry costume which happened to be exactly the same shade of black as the demon's. Calmly, Cordelia flashed it a winning smile and, reaching up, closed the window. Shaken, she snatched up her coat and was reaching out to hang the handtowel on a rack as an afterthought when there was a fierce growl and the demon smashed through the window. It landed on top of her, raking her costume with it's claws but was stunned by Cordelia's incredible scream - three millimetres from it's large ears. She punched it in the head and tried to crawl out from under it. The demon recovered ard wrapped a clawed hand around her ankle, pulling her back down. Cordelia kicked out, catching the demon in the face with her high heels. Then she was free and sprinting out the bathroom door into the party, to crash into a concerned Marianne. The two of them sprawled on the floor.
"What the...?" began Marianne.
Then she saw the demon coming at her and Cordelia. Both girls screamed in unison as the demon leapt...
A chair, hurled by someone in the crowd, collided with the demon in midleap. The chair fragments rained down on the two girls and knocked the demon to the carpet. Feeling threatened, the demon turned back the way it had come, ignoring the astonished spectators. Cordelia looked up in time to see Angel clambering out of the bathroom window in pursuit of the demon.
"What's he doing?" Marianne asked, trembling.
Cordelia ignored her and limped painfully to the bathroom window. Above her, Angel was climbing awkwardly up a drain pipe, trying to catch the fleeing demon. The demon was moving too fast for him, and realising it, Angel ducked into the nearest window. As he did, there was a startled screech indicating that the room had already been occupied. She could just hear Angel's muffled, "Excuse me."
Swearing, Cordelia pulled back from the window and limped out to the hallway. She jabbed at the nearest lift button impatiently.
"Cordy...," called a guest, wrapping an arm about her shoulders. "Come sit down."
She was about to resist but was firmly guided into a chair. Instantly a knot of sympathisers formed around her. From their expressions, Cordelia knew they had enough sympathy to last all night. She hoped Angel was alright and then realised she had everyone's attention. Angel could look after himself.
***
By now the demon had reached the rooftop of the skyscraper where the second demon was waiting. They crossed the roof together in a half crouch. They paused to sniff the air, watching the skyline for a hint of what they were after. After a moment they found it, now they just needed to get there. Sensing that Angel had given up the pursuit, the first one straightened up and moved to the stairwell door. When he opened the door, he walked straight into Angel. Angel took advantage of the demon's surprise to grab it in a headlock. There was a sharp crack as the demon's neck broke. The second demon turned and ran with Angel close behind him. The demon reached the edge of the roof and scrambled down, head first. Angel stopped in a hurry, his momentum almost taking him over the edge. Looking down the building at the retreating demon, Angel jumped, catching hold of a window ledge before dropping gently to the next ledge and the next. The demon reached the pavement while Angel was still two stories up. The demon turned and headed along the busy street, frightening pedestrians as it went. There was a bright flash and the demon was now a doberman - just a stray dog loose on the street. Angel jumped onto the roof of a passing truck. As the truck driver was slamming on the brakes and beginning to swear, Angel was sliding down the side onto the ground. He ran down the street to the corner but the dog was gone.
***
When Angel returned to the office early the next morning, Cordelia and Wesley were already huddled by the computer. Cordelia was wearing a turtleneck sweater, pulled as far up her neck as it would go to hide the cuts and scratches the demon had inflicted. Wesley was leaning over her shoulder to see the computer screen. His closeness was bothering Cordelia who kept poking him in the ribs when he got too close.
"Angel," Wesley called in greeting, taking the chance to step away from Cordelia.
"So, is the big bad squished?" asked Cordelia, eagerly.
"No," said Angel, flopping onto the couch. "No, it's not. It got away."
Cordelia and Wesley exchanged a look at Angel's obvious irritation.
Cordelia leaned forward, "Well, we know what kind of demon it is."
"Let's hear it," said Angel, his irritation vanishing.
"I entered the description into the demon database and I got something... an atashak demon, a shape shifter."
Wesley took a few more steps away from Cordelia and continued the explanation, "Even better, we've found that the demon thrives on a certain type of mystical energy. There are few sources of this energy in this part of the world but I just happen to have a distribution map for the entire state."
Cordelia looked up at Wesley in surprise, "Where'd you get that?"
"My prior employment as a representative of the Watcher's Council required certain information be made available to me. I can get you the address."
***
The next night the three of them met at a construction yard. Angel surveyed the newly laid concrete critically, "Are you sure this is it?"
Cordelia glanced at Wesley, "This is the source of those mystical rays the demons chow down on? I was expecting candles and incense."
Wesley frowned, "It appears to have been built over. I doubt it would be much use to them now. Probably why they were climbing that building. It's not close to the centre of the city so it's away from the loudest sounds. From that height, they would be able to sense the next closest energy source."
"Where is the next energy source?" asked Angel.
Wesley brought a map out of his jacket pocket and unfolded it. Angel and Cordelia waited patiently, trying to ignore the unusual smell coming from a nearby dumpster, while Wesley ran his fingers along the map. He let out a heavy sigh and meticulously folded up the map again.
"What?" asked Cordelia. "Where is it? It's not like Australia or something is it?"
"I don't think you're going to like it," said Wesley.
He turned to Angel, shrugging apologetically. "It's in Sunnydale."
Angel was very quiet for about a minute. Wesley and Cordelia waited for him to speak but he turned and led the way back to the car. The other two exchanged uneasy looks and trailed after him.
Wesley felt a need to explain further as they drove back to the office, "The leakage from the hellmouth actually makes Sunnydale the largest source of mystical energy on the continent."
"So, we go to Sunnydale," said Cordelia grimly. "How exciting."
"You guys don't have to come if you don't want to. I'll go," said Angel.
"Angel, we're a team. Where you go, we go," said Wesley quickly.
Cordelia shrugged, "Or where you lead, we follow, whichever you prefer."
Angel smiled slightly and turned his attention back to the road.
***
Sunnydale. Angel looked around the familiar streets with an odd feeling of displacement. He'd lived many places in his life but he had never gone back to them because there was never anything to go back to. Cordelia had rung Giles before they came and Giles had insisted on warning Buffy of their arrival. Without much choice Angel had relented. He'd have preferred to disturb Buffy as little as possible, he wanted to arrive, do what they had to and leave. He wasn't sure he could handle seeing her again so soon after they'd broken up. He was also filled with an irrational desire to avoid her new boyfriend, Riley, like a radiation leak. Cordelia had handed Angel the phone and before he realised it, Buffy's voice was on the other end. What ensued afterwards was a brief phonecall during which he repeatedly pointed out that there was no need for them to see each other at all. Buffy's answers had been equally blunt and business-like, to the point of offering to help hunt down the demon. Angel had declined the offer, saying that with the stories about the Initative she'd already told him, it sounded like she had her hands full.
A nudge from Cordelia and Angel remembered to get out of the car. Wesley was already out of the car, with his bag of gear, and gazing up at the familiar mansion.
"Hmm," said Cordelia critically. "Wonder how long it'll take to fix it up?"
"We'll only be staying a few days," said Wesley.
"What makes you think it needs fixing up?" asked Angel.
Cordelia turned her head to give him a look that Angel had yet to decipher but was rapidly becoming familiar with. Angel approached the double doors, fishing a key out of his pocket.
"Seriously?" said Angel. "What makes you think that?"
"Firstly, you used to live here. Secondly, nobody has lived here for almost a year," said Cordelia primly. "I don't understand why we can't just rent a hotel room like anyone else."
"It would cost money and this place... that's odd. I thought I left a padlock on these doors."
"Come on, come on. I'm freezing my butt off here," said Cordelia, pushing past Angel and opening the doors.
The second she walked into the entrance way, she spotted the difference in decor from the last time she'd been here. Apart from the absense of Angel's furniture, which was now in his Los Angeles office, the pagan alter was the first thing she noticed. The second thing she noticed was the figures in black robes. They noticed her too and one of them raised a scaly knife. Cordelia turned around and ran daintly behind Angel and Wesley.
"This is new," said Wesley.
"No argument here," said Angel.
Wesley dipped his hands into his bag and tossed a mace to Angel. The reaction of the black robes was to reveal more scaly knives. Wesley dropped his bag on the ground in preparation for the fight. The black robes charged at them and Wesley and Angel went into action. Angel swung the mace high as he fought, aiming for heads and a quick knockout. Wesley, occasionally ducking Angel's mace, slashed with a fighting axe. Their opponents were not hard to overcome but there were a few of them. Eventually one of them slipped past Angel and Wesley, heading for Cordelia. She screeched and knocked him unconscious with Wesley's bag.
After the bodies of the demonic worshippers had been dumped in the river, Cordelia and Wesley began to think about food. Angel opted to go for a walk. The fight had left him restless and he was tempted to start hunting for the Atashak demon. Cordelia sensed his intent and made him promise to wait for them. So, instead Angel walked through the town, remembering. Remembering what it felt like to live in Sunnydale. He found a park bench and sat down, remembering a time he and Buffy had sat there together. She had been blaming herself for the death of... someone. She took so much responsibility for things she couldn't control.
Absorbed in his brooding, Angel didn't notice the atashak demon sneaking up behind him. When the atashak demon pounced, Angel was thrown headfirst onto the bitumen road. With the pessimist's attitude to small accidents, Angel kicked out with his legs. He felt something connect with his feet and as he righted himself, he recognised the demon. The demon straightened up on it's hindlegs, it's clawed paws morphing into clenched fists. It took a couple of swings at Angel, who ducked easily. Angel went in with a swing of his own but the demon dodged and tackled Angel around the waist. Angel flipped the demon over his head where it collided painfully with the park bench. The Atashak demon morphed again into the doberman and took off. Snarling, Angel sped after it, unhindered by pedestrians in the empty Sunnydale streets.
The atashak demon, still disguised as a doberman, cut across the park in his attempts to get away. The snarling of a werewolf in the distance was enough to spook it into altering it's direction. It instead headed for the woods near Sunnydale University where it knew it could easily loose it's vampiric pursuer. As it burst through a hedge onto the university campus, it collided with a camouflaged soldier. Instinctively the soldier froze and avoided making eye contact with what he assumed was a fierce canine. His blaster had landed a few feet away from him and he edged slowly towards it. He gave a surprised gasp as the dog morphed into a demon in front of him. The soldier dived for the blaster but the demon slashed at his chest, knocking him back. The soldier landed on his back, defenseless with the demon looming over him. Angel came bursting through the hedge and the demon abandoned it's attack to face him.
The soldier reached his blaster but had little to do but watch numbly as the vampire and the black demon fought it out. The vampire's fighting style reminded him of something but he couldn't quite pin it down. He knew he'd seen some of those moves before. The style was certainly effective when combined with the supernatural speed of a vampire, and finally the exhausted demon leapt at him in desparation. Calmly the vampire seemed to guide the demon past him but when the demon hit the ground, a knife hilt protuded from it's chest. The vampire seemed to regard the corpse with a certain amount of satisfaction. Then it turned to the soldier, it's face appearing as if human.
"Are you alright?" the vampire asked.
The soldier recovered enough to answer, "For the moment, yeah."
He attempted to raise his blaster but the vampire swatted it away from his hands.
"Good," said the vampire.
It picked up the blaster, tucked it's hands into it's coat pockets and walked off.
The soldier fumbled for his radio, acutely aware that he was unarmed, alone and vulnerable.
"Lilac one, this is Huckleberry three," said the soldier, using the familiar codewords.
The patrol he'd wanted responed almost instantly, "Huckleberry three, this is Lilac one. What is it?"
"Lost my blaster in an... unusual encounter with a hostile," answered the soldier, pausing to consider how to phrase the scene he'd just witnessed. "One hostile is down and needs to be collected, a second hostile moving on a heading of... 1,2, Alpha Niner."
"Huckleberry three?" asked the voice from the radio. "This is Lilac one. We will intercept second hostile. Contact control for a retrieval team, over."
"Thankyou, Lilac one," said the soldier, relieved.
The patrol he'd contacted cut across the shadow ridden paths of the university campus to intercept the hostile. Forrest, the team leader, gave a handsignal to the others and they all came to a stop in a garden bed two hundred metres from one of the squat buildings with the familiar ECU Sunnydale logo. He leant towards one of the other soldiers.
"What have we got?" he asked.
The soldier pulled out a tracking device, "Located missing blaster. Signal's moving fairly slowly. He's near one of the dorms... Stevenson."
Forrest raised his infa-red binoculars to his eyes and scanned the windows of the Stevenson dormitories. Each occupant was patterned in red, their temperature displayed on the screen. Each clocked in at 36.7 degrees Celsius - human body temperature. He lingered on one bedroom window before moving on.
Thermal output clocking in at exactly room temperature.
F: Vampire.
R: Call in a standard triangle flanking manoeuvre.
"The hostile?" the soldier asked when he paused.
"No, I'd forgotten that Buffy Summers has a dorm room in Stevenson. Riley's there with her," answered Forrest in disgust. "They're making a lot of heat."
The soldier decided it was best not to comment on that.
"Target sighted," said Forrest, at last. "Thermal output clocking in at exactly room temperature."
"Vampire," agreed the soldier.
Angel was climbing the steps to Stevenson. There was no one around and he was aware that it was oddly quiet. At the top of the steps, he paused. A distinctive smell had reached him and he was torn between searching it out or going to see Buffy. His sense of curiosity overpowered his nostalgia and he came back down the steps. The marine's blaster thumped against his leg and he paused again to change his grip on it. Concealed beneath his coat, the blaster was another curiosity.
"Take him down, Agent," said Forrest firmly.
The soldier raised a weapon. Much more subtle than the firework show that erupted from a blaster, the sniper rifle fired small tranquilizer darts. A professional sharpshooter, the Agent took aim. One of the other soldiers signalled insistently to Forrest. Forrest signalled to the sharpshooter to wait, before crawling to the see what was up.
"Movement in the bushes," the soldier whispered.
The soldiers spread out, eyes and ears only, as the infa red binoculars had been left with the sharpshooter.
"Nothing here," said Forrest. "We have to take the hostile down now."
They returned to the sharpshooter, who was still tracking Angel with his gun. Angel was milling around, not going in any particular direction. He was hoping to catch the sent again. It was faint, the wind direction was not good for this kind of tracking but he could tell something fairly large was fairly close. There was a simultaneous yell and a wizzing noise. Angel turned to see a tranquilizer dart embedded in a nearby plant and commotion in a nearby garden bed. Tightening his grip on the blaster, he sprinted to the garden. A werewolf was attacking a group of commandos in camouflage. At least one of them was dead and a second werewolf joined in the scuffle.
One of the commandos drew a knife and drove it between the shoulder blades of the second animal. Angel raised the blaster in his hand, looking up and down the unfamiliar panels. A young man in black, his feet slipping on bloody soil, lurched to his feet yelling "Pull out! Retreat!"
The remaining werewolf dove at him. Angel aimed the blaster and fired. Aided by a healthy helping of luck, the blaster succeeded in sending a shot of blue energy slamming into the creature's chest. It was knocked backwards onto the ground. So was Angel, unprepared as he was for the weapon's recoil. The black man turned and spotted Angel barely two metres from him. Angel scrambled to his feet and took off, abandoning the blaster. Forrest was about to follow when he noticed the condition of his team. The sharpshooter was dead and three other soldiers were injured. There were also two werewolves to be taken care of, one dead and one stunned.
"Call for back-up," Forrest ordered.
"Who got the second wolf?" asked one of the dazed marines.
"I... don't know."
Angel had put distance between him and the marines but he remained uneasy. He was confident he could take the patrol by himself if he had to, but he didn't want to chance that one of the taser blasts wouldn't find it's mark. Buffy had told him of Riley's involvement in the Initiative and Angel was anxious to avoid complications. He headed straight for the crowded streets (as crowded as a Sunnydale street could be) and the Bronze, where he wouldn't leave any trail for the soldiers to follow. He hung around in the shopping mall for about half an hour before setting out to return to the mansion. Behind him, a plain clothes patrol followed.
The team leader spoke softly to his companions, lessening the chances of someone overhearing their words. Angel walked ahead of them down the footpaths, presently in full view of witnesses but heading to more deserted streets.
"Reid and I will take point, the rest of you set up on the flanks," said the team leader.
Angel reached the street behind the Bronze, his ears almost visibly pricking up at some sound. He changed his mind and walked down the shady alley to the side of the Bronze. At the team leader's signal, two of his men strolled past the opening of the alleyway, talking casually. Angel turned to watch them but satisfied they were just passerbys, continued down the alley towards a dumpster and a familiar sucking sound in the shadows.
Once on the other side of the alleyway entrance and out of Angel's sight, the two men stopped and pressed against the wall. The team leader motioned to two of the other soldiers to go around to the other end of the alleyway to block Angel's retreat. The team leader began a silent countdown for the men on the opposite side of the alleyway entrance.
"Five, four, three, two..."
Before the countdown finished, a vampire roared. Taken by surprise, the soldiers almost ran into the alleyway before they saw what was happening. Angel was wrestling with another vampire. Contrasted to the desparate, wild flurry of the other vampire, Angel was surprisingly calm and efficient. The team leader was too far away to see the stake in Angel's hand but he did see the other vampire crumble into dust.
The team leader realised that if Angel turned he would see them. The team leader motioned to his men to get back. Trying to calm his heartbeat and gather himself for his next action, the team leader pressed himself against the wall.
If the night had not been so clear, he might not have been able to hear Angel's voice, "Are you alright?"
A watery, high pitched voice that crackled occasionally, answered "Oh, my god. Oh, my god."
"It's okay. He's gone now."
"Gone? You mean..."
"Forget about him. You should get some rest. Do you have some friends who can take you home?"
The team leader didn't hear her reply but a few moments later, Angel spoke again.
"Here. Apply some pressure to that. Make sure you get plenty of water to drink. You'll be fine."
"Thankyou."
There was the sound of high heels pitter-patting into the distance.
The team leader peered around the edge of the alleyway to watch Angel who was watching a young woman walk out of the other end of the alley. Angel looked after her for a minute, then tucked his hands in his coat pockets. The team leader motioned for his men to hide and they spread out from the alleyway entrance. Seconds later, Angel emerged from the alleyway and continued on his way. After he passed, the team gathered together again.
"Did what I think happen, just happen?" asked one of the soldiers.
"I'm not sure," said the team leader.
Running footsteps came up behind them and they spun to confront the two soldiers sent to cover the other end of the alleyway.
"That was quick," said one of them pleasantly.
"What was quick?" asked the team leader.
"Disposing of the vampire."
"We didn't do that."
"Who did?"
The team leader indicated the rapidly disappearing Angel. The team began to follow him again, talking quietly amongst themselves.
"What happened at your end?" asked the team leader.
"We were slow in getting to the other end - there were a lot of people outside the Bronze. Luckily, no one else was close enough to the alleyway to hear the fight. Later, a girl walked out with a handkercheif pressed to her neck. She walked up to some other people and asked to be driven home."
The end of that report was too open for the team leader's liking. The disgruntled patrol trailed Angel for the rest of the night.
The sky beginning to get light when Angel returned to the mansion. Cordelia was awake and shooting up from the couch as soon as he shut the door.
"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
"Angel!" said Wesley angrily, emerging from the other room. "You promised you wouldn't go out hunting the demon by yourself."
Angel looked a little sheepish as he answered, "I didn't hunt the demon... not exactly. I went for a walk and it attacked me. What was I suppossed to do, let it get away?"
"Yeah, now there's an idea," said Cordelia sharply.
"You could have at least called us on your cellphone...," Wesley paused at Angel's expression. "Did you remember that you had it?"
Angel paused and searched his coat. It was a few seconds before he managed to even find it.
"Alright, I'm sorry," said Angel at last. "It won't happen again."
"You're right, it won't. You can't do that to us...," began Cordelia.
"Okay, I get it. I won't make you guys worry again," interupted Angel.
"Well, good."
Cordelia marched into the next room and with no small amount of relief, Angel flopped on the couch. Wesley walked up to him.
"Angel, it took you all night just to hunt the demon?"
Angel looked up at him, checking Cordelia was out of earshot before he answered, "No. Before I killed the demon it attacked one of those commandos Buffy was telling me about. I was going to tell Buffy about it but then an entire patrol of them got attacked by these werewolves..."
Angel yawned and stretched out on the couch.
"You realise when you didn't return, Cordelia and I went out to search for you. We found some action of our own... there is more than one atashak demon in Sunnydale. In fact, from what we saw there's at least ten of them," said Wesley, cleaning his glasses like he always did when he was nervous. "We fell into a nest of them and were lucky to get out alive."
"Then we stay in Sunnydale until we've gotten them all," answered Angel sleepily.
Wesley dipped his head in aggrement but when he looked up, Angel's eyes were closed.
"Angel?"
When he didn't get a reply he covered Angel with a blanket and left the room, hoping the smell of roof mould wouldn't wake him up again.
In a less dark and damp but equally covert setting, the Initiative continued to work with efficiency. The routine had been shifted slightly to include the funeral of their fallen companion. After three days of inquiry and formal explanations, Dr Walsh finally got the opportunity to talk directly to her men. She stood before them, her chin raised not by height but by university degrees.
"Alright gentlemen," she began sternly. "I want to hear the full story, your official reports were hesitant and sketchy. You have more information? I want to hear it."
Forrest began, "Three nights ago, Agent Graham Millar witnessed two hostiles engaged in a fight."
"Any idea why?"
Forrest shook his head, "One was the previously unknown species that we brought in. The other was a vampire. Agent Millar contacted Lilac one..."
"I've already heard all that," said Dr Walsh testily.
"If I may interupt?" asked Graham.
"Agent Millar?"
"I believe the vampire may have been trying to protect me. Later on, C Team testified that he saved the life of a civillian."
Dr Walsh made no attempt to hide her irritation, "C team's report was inconclusive. That is simply an assumption."
"True but, what about you, Forrest?"
"Agent Gates?" asked Dr Walsh, switching her attention.
Forrest shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "None of my team have admitted firing the shot that brought down the second werewolf. Agent Millar's blaster was stolen by the vampire and when we recovered it, it showed signs of having recently been fired. It's likely the vampire did it, it's just nobody saw him doing it."
"Where is that vampire now?" asked Dr Walsh, tiring of the subject.
"He was trailed by C team to a shopping complex. When he moved again, he passed the Bronze - that's where the incident they reported occured. They then trailed him to a vacant mansion, where he's been staying since."
"I trust there's a good reason for not bringing him in, I don't like dangerous creatures roaming my streets, gentlemen."
Another one of the soldiers from Forest's team spoke up, "Maam, there is a potential for the situation to change, that's why surveillance has been going around the clock."
Satisfied with that answer, Dr Walsh moved on, "Anything else we know about him?"
"He's atypical for a vampire, maam," said Forrest.
"How so?"
"Firstly, his lives in a building. Not unheard of but not the established norm of vampire in sewers. Secondly, we have never seen him associate with other vampires, except in combat. He has two companions who are both human. One Cordelia Chase who grew up in Sunnydale, current residence in Los Angeles, and Wesley Pryce, an English national who lived briefly in Sunnydale before moving to Los Angeles. Thirdly, each night, he's been seen hunting the same kind of hostile that originally attacked Agent Millar."
"Not to mention the butcher's account," added Graham.
"The butcher?" said Dr Walsh.
"Yes, maam. We tracked him to a butcher's store where he made a purchase. We obtained some details from the butcher. He's known the vampire for four years but we're assuming he's unaware of the fact that he is a vampire. According to him, this 'customer' of his goes under the name of Angel. Orders a fairly regular supply of fresh pigs blood. At one stage, the customer just disappeared for a while and the butcher thought he had been cheated because a minor debt was left unpaid. Later, a blonde woman of approximately eighteen or seventeen years began to purchase blood and pay off the debt. She claimed Angel had been sick and she did not realise that there was a debt to be paid off. He returns and purchases blood again on a regular basis until the end of last year, when he leaves town. He wasn't seen again until the day we tracked him to the butcher store. He's apparently said he's on a business visit."
Dr Walsh considered this, "He's unaware he's being trailed. He may be showing you what you wish to see."
"It is possible," agreed Forrest.
"Alright, tail him for one more day, then bring him in."
Dr Walsh, a university professor of psychology and the senior scientist at the Initiative, watched her boys leave with a certain amount of anxiety. Frowning, she returned to her work station. Dr Inggelman appeared behind her, a cup of coffee in his outstretched hand. She took it with a brief smile.
"So," he prompted. "What's your opinion on the vampire?"
"I'm not sure," she told him honestly. "None of them want to commit to saying the vampire isn't dangerous but they keep hinting at it. There's also..."
"What?" asked Dr Inggelman.
"You heard the report?"
Dr Inggelman nodded and pointed to the listening piece in his ear. Dr Walsh contined, "The butcher identifies one of his companions as a young blonde woman."
"The woman with him now could have dyed her hair."
Dr Walsh shook her head, "I'm thinking blonde girl, probably about nineteen now, who might still live in Sunnydale and might have cause to associate with vampires. Do you know how long the Slayer has lived here?"
"You think it's her? We can get a photograph to the butcher to confirm that. In the meantime, do you want to bring Agent Finn in on this mission?"
Dr Walsh looked up sharply at the mention of her favourite teacher's aid. She considered a moment before answering, "No. He can keep an eye on the Slayer and it will give Gates and Millar a chance to demonstrate some leadership ability."
"If that's your decision."
"It is."
Dr Inggelman left to return to his science team down in the pit. Dr Walsh leant back in her chair, tapping her fingers against the sides of her coffee mug. She shrugged off an uneasy feeling before focusing on what she was paid to do. The day continued as usual, the sun went down and the monsters emerged. Forrest and Graham, dressed in civillian clothes, led a team to replace the one who had been watching Angel all day.
As per usual, their topic of conversation was far from their task.
"I can't believe Ri didn't show," complained Forrest.
"Give Riley a break," said Graham gently. "With a girl like Buffy, he's bound to forget a few promises."
"A few? This is the fourth time he's said he'll meet us at the Bronze and not shown!"
"You're saying you don't enjoy being team leader in his absence?"
Forrest turned to glare at him, "Stop changing the subject. It's just not right... wait, we've got some movement."
Graham fell silent. As the team watched, Angel and Wesley left the mansion in a car. Cordelia stood on the top of the stairs to watch them leave. The patrol piled into Riley's car. They followed the impressive convertible into the dark part of town. The car slowed down outside a cheap bar with Willy's Place written over the top in neon lights. The patrons in the place slinked and slided in the doorway, as if not even normal movement was permitted.
Angel got out of the car and approached the bar, scattering the patrons like a load of cockroaches. Wesley drove the car on again. The team parked the car in a nearby alleyway, waiting for Forrest's decision.
"Taggart, you're with me. The rest of you hold position in case he doubles back. Reid and Stabros, go around and see if there's an exit around the back. Use your radios only as a last resort."
Graham noticed with chagrin that he wasn't accompanying Forrest and was the last to get out of the car. Before leaving, Forrest couldn't resist one last word, "Try not to get yourselves killed as soon as yours truly is out of sight."
Graham grunted in response as Forrest and Kevin Taggart strolled into the bar. The remaining marines spread out along the street. Graham ended up on the far street corner, pausing to stare randomly at shop windows whenever a stranger walked past him.
A car alarm went off in the distance. Wesley sprinted away from a parked car at the other end of the street. On reflex, half the team set off in pursuit. Graham was the furtherest away, which was why none of the other soldiers noticed Angel appearing on the far sidewalk behind them. They didn't see him seize an unsuspecting Graham from behind. With a hand placed firmly over Graham's mouth to stifle his cry, Angel dragged him out of sight and shoved him against a wall.
"Alright, to cut a long story short, I don't like being followed everywhere I go," said Angel.
He released his grip on Graham and took a couple of steps back.
"We all have to do things we don't want, sometimes," said Graham carefully, rubbing his jaw.
Angel grunted, "Yeah well, funnily enough, I'm getting sick of it. So, tell whoever it is you work for, that I am not amused. I don't want you getting in my way in the middle of the crisis."
Graham opened his mouth to retort but Angel grabbed him roughly and threw him to the ground. When Graham looked up, Angel was gone. Graham released the breath he'd been holding and wandered back into the street to tell the others what had happened. By the time he got there, an annoyed Forrest was waiting for him.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Worried that the vampire was targetting him, for the following two nights Graham's superiors sent him on routine, even mundane patrols in an attempt to keep him away from Angel. Angel was still tailed by a patrol but he began to periodically loose them, irritated by their presence. It took three nights before Graham and Forrest found themselves on the same mission. Their team was sent to the cemetery to prevent the rising of a new vampire. It was only ten o'clock when the soil on the grave began to move. It was not new to them and the vampire was staked without an incident.
"Alright, let's go," Forrest told the team.
"What was that noise?" bellowed a strange voice.
The entire patrol hit the dirt, backing up against tombstones with their blasters at the ready. There was the sound of someone approaching.
"You're imagining things," answered a raspy voice.
"I am not," replied the first voice. "I suppose next you'll be telling me the demon hunter that killed Tharg was in my imagination, too."
"Oh no," said a third voice. "The demon hunter is real alright. That's why we have to deal with him tonight - the sooner, the better."
There were murmurs of agreement. Graham manoeuvred his infa-red scanner about until he could get a reading from behind the tombstone. He held up nine fingers to Forrest, to indicate nine demons. The group of demons argued about the demon hunter for a few minutes before moving away. As they did, the patrol moved out of hiding.
"What do you think about this demon hunter?" whispered Graham.
"The demons lead us to him. He could be friendly to our cause," decided Forrest.
"Like the Slayer?" asked Graham.
Forrest grunted, his dislike for Riley's newest girlfriend once again surfacing.
"If those demons go anywhere near populated areas...," said Forrest. "We kill every one of them."
The patrol moved out, easily trailing the noisy, disorganised Atashak demons. The demons carried an almost homemade assortment of weapons, among them several blades tied to handles with fishing line, a stolen fireaxe and a collection of molotov cocktails in glass softdrink bottles. They had almost wandered the whole length of the cemetery when one demon jabbed the other in the side. At the first demon's insistence, all the demons stopped to sniff the air. They seemed to have caught a scent. The demons changed direction sharply, their body language revealing that they had found their prey. They were aiming straight for a mausoleum. As the patrol crept closer, even the patrol could hear the sounds of a struggle and the snarling of one... no, two vampires.
The atashak demons waited, low to the ground. One held a cigarette lighter to a molotov cocktail and hurled it through the slightly ajar door to the crypt. There was the sound of an explosion and then the roar of a vampire as it died. Smoke began to curl out the crypt doorway. Coughing, Angel stumbled out, bent over and on the point of collapse. The atashak demons attacked but Angel was not as unprepared as he looked. He stopped mid-cough to straighten up and deck the first two who came at him. He swiftly disarmed the third and used it's weapon to continue the fight. Within a few minutes he'd killed two of them and wounded another that crawled away from the fight. The wounded demon crawled straight into the Initiative patrol who finished it off.
"Do we join in or not?" Graham asked Forrest urgently.
"Wait," began Forrest. "...Oh, what the hell!"
The patrol charged at the demons, killing some of them even as they were preparing to throw more molotov cocktails. While they fought, two of the atashak demons (one with a makeshift spear and the other with the stolen axe) pushed Angel backwards into the crypt. In the confined space, Angel was forced to start dodging. The patrol finished off the ragtag Atashak demons without casualties. Forrest and Graham slipped forward to see what was happening in the crypt. Angel was holding his own and once again, there was something familiar to Graham about the way the vampire fought. Some of his moves were based on technique but some were just pure brute force that almost knocked his opponents offbalance.
Finally, Angel managed to run through one of the demons with it's own spear. In that split second of distraction the second demon swung at him with the axe. Angel didn't see the axe coming and doubled over as it embedded in his stomach. The momentum of the swing unsteadied his feet and he fell, still gripping the end of the spear with the demon impaled on the end. A taser blast enveloped the surviving demon, slamming it into the wall. Angel watched it in a sort of dreamy haze as Forrest approached him. Angel's eyes were half-closed but his bloody hands twitched every couple of seconds. Forrest remained suspiscious and not without good reason.
"You think he's our demon hunter?" asked Graham, coming up behind him.
"He can't tell us if he's dead," muttered Forrest.
"How much vampire first aid do you know?" asked another of the marines.
"Not much," admitted Graham.
"So then, we'll just have to take him to someone who does," said Forrest.
"Control?" said the marine, uncertain.
"Hey look, you have a better idea?" demanded Forrest. "Looks like we get to bring him in, anyway."
TO BE CONTINUED...