Title: Devastating Past
Author: Valerie
E-mail: funbreath@msn.com
Disclaimer: they don't belong to me
Summary: AU Angel is new at Sunnydale High. He meets Buffy and the gang. They think he's just a regular kid. Not likely.
Timeline: during season 2 of BTVS...sorta. Let's just say that Buffy and the gang are in their Junior year in Sunnydale High.
Spoilers: as far as alternate universe goes...almost nothing. References on demons from BTVS and Angel from time to time, but that's about it
Rating: R
Distribution: You can take it but ask me first please.
Feedback: That's a big big big yes!!!!! It's my first fic, so please?
*********
24.
When he explored Sunnydale for the first time, Angel noticed a few strange details. First of all, there were a lot of cemeteries. He didn't remember the exact number, but it was more than usual, that he was sure of. Also, for such a small town, he thought that three magic shops were a lot. No wonder Skip and Whistler didn't look upset that he had been sent to Sunnydale. There was an amazingly big population of vamps and demons. Why? He didn't know. Whistler, his messenger for the PTB and Skip, his guardian who was also directly linked with the Powers had only paid him a short visit in the psychiatric institution he had stayed in last summer after he had tried to kill himself, and they hadn't said much about the town. He'd have to ask next time he saw them. The only thing he knew was that here, where the demonic population was maybe even higher than in LA, people were as oblivious of what was going on in the night as in Los Angeles...maybe even more. Which meant a big deal. In LA, after about 2 weeks of living there, Angel had met quite a few kids who knew. He had been living in Sunnydale for month now, and still he hadn't met a living soul who didn't live in a land of denial, except the owner of this magic shop.
The main magic shop was located a block away from the Expresso Pump, so Angel went directly there after Buffy had left. It wasn't his first time in here, he came here almost every week or so, mostly to get new books on demons, since he had left half of his collection to his friends in LA, or to buy a new weapon...And since he came so often, the owner knew him very well (although he didn't really know about Angel's vampire side), and was able to help him out in his book research from time to time. When he entered the shop, Angel noticed that Mr Schreiber was busy with a client, so he went directly to the book shelves.
After a few minutes, another regular entered the shop and stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the dark-haired boy standing in front of the book shelves, concentrated deeply on the book he was holding. She figured he had been just curious and came here to have a little fun, so she was about to greet him, but she stopped once more when she saw the owner crossing the shop to go talk to him. She discreetly hid behind a shelf full of ingredients and witchcraft accessories, close enough to hear them.
"Hello Angel." The man greeted his regular friendly client.
"Hey Mr Schreiber, how's business doin'?" Angel replied while shaking his hand.
"I really shouldn't complain, but with Christmas approaching, I have more and more clients, which means more work. I'm an exhausted man! Well, at least an exhausted man who makes a lot of money." The small bald man answered with a sigh.
"Where's that hot employee of yours? Did she left you already?" Angel asked him with a grin. Mr Schreiber had discussed her employee with Angel a lot of times. She was a tall fat 50 year old with a horrible temperament and a bad breath, and poor old Schreiber was scared of her.
"Thank god she quit! I couldn't handle the pressure any more!"
"So you're alone now?"
"Sadly, yes. So much work is overwhelming."
Angel looked at Mr. Schreiber with a sudden idea. "Would you want me to work for you?"
The little man raised his eyebrows in wonder. "W-Would you like to?"
Angel smirked at him. "I could use the money."
"What an excellent idea! Come back tonight after I close he you can, we'll be able to talk a little more." Angel nodded, and Mr Schreiber eventually took interest in what Angel was looking at. "Do you need any help finding something?"
"I think I found what I was looking for." He showed him the few books he had picked up.
"Vampire cults...vampire traditional rituals...black arts demonic rituals...the journal of Sir Aguistin of Pearsanach..." Mr Schreiber read as he walked back to the counter, Angel behind him. "You do know that the journal of Aguistin is written in Gaelic, right?"
"Yeah, it's no problem I speak Gaelic." Angel answered as he opened his wallet.
"Really? Who taught you?"
"My great-father. He was Irish. He used to speak to me only in Gaelic when I was a kid. Although he died a long time ago, so I kinda forgot some stuff. But I can read it." Mr Schreiber looked deeply impressed as he wrote the price of the books and their name on a note book.
"Do you need anything else?"
"Oh yeah! I need a talisman."
"What kind?"
"Protection. My sister's freaking out because of her foster parents. She's paranoid, but I promised to pick one for her."
"How's this one?" The old man asked Angel, handing him a round old-looking golden talisman.
"That'll do. Thanks." As Angel was paying for his books and the talisman, and also chatting a little more with Mr Schreiber, the woman who was watching him decided to show herself and confront him...nicely.
"Jenny, how nice to see you!" The old man exclaimed as he noticed one of his favorite client coming their way. Angel frowned at the name and turned around, his eyes widening when he recognized his computer teacher(...and favorite teacher).
"Hello you two!" She greeted cheerily.
"Miss Calendar...h-hi!" Angel replied hesitantly. *Crap, what do I do now? Why the hell is she here? Shit, she's friend with Buffy, she's gonna tell her her boyfriend's a psychotic obsessive vampire fan! Shit, shit, shit!*
She smiled warmly at him. "It's Jenny outside of school."
"Jenny...right. What..."
"Am I doing here?" She finished, chuckling at his nervousness. "Shopping a little. I like that kind of shops. What about you? What's a young man like yourself doing in a magic shop?"
"Er...I...well..."
"Vampires, huh?" Jenny looked at the books he was holding, and he followed her eyes to see what she was talking about.
"Oh yeah. I like stories about vampires. I usually get books at a magic store cause the authors are a lot more lunatics than in a regular fiction novel. It's funny to see how they seem to believe in what they're writing about." He was amazed at how easy it had been to say that...huh, maybe he was a good liar after all...but still, it's bad to lie to your girlfriend. Bad, bad, bad!
Jenny frowned a little, confused, but then smiled again. "So you don't believe in vampires and demons and everything?"
"Let's just say that the idea of having them running freely into the world is a lot less appealing than reading about them in books." He answered with a half-smile. It wasn't a direct answer, and Jenny found herself more and more suspicious that Angel knew more than the average 18 year old. "Well, I guess I'll see you in class."
"Sure, if you suddenly decide to show up." Jenny teased him with a grin.
"Oh fuck!" Angel muttered under his breath as he was about to walk out of the shop. It was raining like crazy outside, and he expected a big storm to hit Sunnydale within a few minutes.
"Did you walk here?" Jenny asked Angel from where she stood next to him, the few things she had bought for a spell in her purse.
"Yeah. I had a date with Buffy and my bike's out of gas." He cursed under his breath, silently praying for the rain to stop. He didn't want to go home under that crazy weather, he'd be soaked, and so would his books.
"Want me to drive you home?" She suggested with a grin.
"You don't mind?"
"Nope, I don't have to be anywhere soon, I have time."
"Well that'd be great, thanks!"
Angel and Jenny ran quickly to Jenny's car, which was parked on the other side of the street.
"If you don't mind I need to drop a few things at home first. I just went grocery shopping and I should put the stuff in the fridge." Jenny told him as she started the car.
"Sure, no problem."
After a few minutes of silence, Jenny's curiosity kicked in. "How're you doing with Buffy?"
Angel looked at her with a frown, surprised that she asked, but answered anyway. "Fine I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well...the thing is, I wanna be with her all the time, you know? But either she has family issues, stuff to do at the library, or I gotta work to get money and be able to afford to actually go on a date with her." He confessed, feeling weird that it didn't feel weird to share that much with his teacher.
"Ah, yeah, it's tough. But Buffy's a very special girl, I think-"
"-she's worth it." Angel finished, a little smile appearing on his face at the thought of all the things that made Buffy so great.
They drove the next five minutes in comfortable silence, until Jenny parked in front of her house. The storm had only gotten worse, there were flashes of lightening in the sky, making this dark afternoon quite creepy. "Wait in here, it'll only take a minute." Jenny told Angel as she grabbed her bags on the back seats. She ran to her house to put her stuff away, while Angel remained in the car.
*What is it with that woman that makes me feel so weird? She's amazing! She's nice, sweet, caring...hell, she's hot! But there's something more that I can't help but feel attracted to...damn...* Angel was still deep in thoughts when suddenly, a familiar tingle ran up and down his spin. In full hunting mode, he scanned the area, trying to detect a sign of danger. Years of practice kicked in and he was able to feel (through the storm, and he was quite proud of it) two human presences not far, surrounded by two *no...three...four...holy shit, six! Six fucking vampires!* He rushed out of the car just as Jenny came out of the house. She stood under her front porch in surprise.
"Angel? What are you doing?" She called at him with a frown.
"I'll be back in a minute. Stay inside!" He started to run under the violent storm, the wind blowing the sharp rain in his face, but he didn't care, he had lived through much worse. *What the fuck are six vampires doing outside at this hour??* He realized that even though it was the afternoon, the sun was completely hidden by the dark clouds of the storm. Vampires out in the day...that should be interesting. Following his sixth sense, he arrived at the entrance of a small forest, and out of nowhere a scream was heard. Using his vampire speed, he ran into the woods following the voice of the woman.
Soon, Angel saw the six vampires around the two girls, who were shaking in fear, one of them screaming madly. Angel grabbed his stake and walked closer to the group.
"Hey people! Shouldn't you be safe inside? If you didn't notice it's pouring non-stop out here!" Angel shouted so that they'd be able to hear him. The three vampires who had their backs at him turned around, snarling, showing fangs. "Did I interrupt something?" He asked innocently, but his smile gave him away.
"Who are you?" Growled one of the tallest vamps.
Angel made a mock-disappointed face. "You mean you don't know me? Damn, I've been around for months, I figured that now people would have heard of me!"
"I'm gonna rip your throat out for your insolence little boy" bellowed an other one.
"Wait!" The vampire who seemed to be the leader held his hand in the air, stopping his friend from moving further. "You're the new guy who killed one of the Gortch brothers."
Angel didn't know what he was talking about...but then, he didn't usually take time to ask vampires or demons for their names before he killed them. "That's possible." He shrugged with a smirk.
"He's the little fucker who's been helping out the slayer!" The taller vampire realized suddenly.
"Slayer?" Angel muttered, puzzled, but he didn't have time to think about it since two of the vamps jumped on him. He reacted quickly and blocked the first one's punch with his right arm, making sure not to lose his grip on his stake. Angel kicked the second vampire in the face, making him stumble backwards. With one fast move, he buried his stake in the first vamp's heart. Knocking the second one out with a powerful punch in the temple, he sprang on the four remaining. The tall one and the leader started the fight, while the two others were attacking the poor victims. Seeing that those women were in danger, he grabbed the two vampires he had been fighting with by the collar of their shirt and made their head collide with the other's. Taking advantage of their dizziness, Angel pushed them away and drove his stake in the back of the fifth vamp, piercing his heart from behind. He then kicked the sixth vampire away from the girl he had been drinking from, and dusted him before he could react. Before Angel could do anything, the last two vamps had recovered and kicked him in the back, making him fall on the grass. The young hunter leapt back to his feet quickly and dodged their next attack. He was facing two powerful vamps at the same time, and the rain didn't really help him. After a few minutes of kicking and punching an both sides, Angel delivered a front kick to the leader's head who fell on his butt. But at the same moment, the other vamp caught Angel's ankle and tossed him down on his butt as well. Angel then hooked his right foot behind the vamp's ankle, pulling forward so that he would lose his balance. With one kick in the knee, Angel brought the demon down as well. Angel rebounded quickly, picked up a dead branch and dusted the vamp as he was standing up. Once Angel was back on his feet, the last vampire charged at him, hitting him in the stomach with his shoulder and dragged him against a tree nearby. The violent collision between Angel's back and head against the trunk of the tree took his breath away and he felt suddenly like he was about to faint. The vamp punched him twice in the face then took a hold on his neck and squeezed with all his strength, his nails digging into Angel's flesh and drawing blood.
"Fine, if you insist, I'll fight like a girl" Angel managed to choke, always feeling the need to make a witty remark. The vamp frowned in confusion, until he realized painfully what Angel meant when he kneed him in the groin. The demon crouched backwards in pain, freeing Angel from his deadly grip on his neck. Without waiting any longer, Angel drove an other dead branch in the vamp's heart. "Don't underestimate a girl's technique." Another witty comment. He just couldn't help himself. Especially when he wasn't the one who had lost.
Taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Angel looked around to check if everything was safe. He noticed that the two girls were still there, a blonde one pressing her hand on the brunette's wound on her neck. He walked towards them to see how they were, picking up his stake on the way and tucking it back in the waistband of his pants. "You doing alright ladies?"
"I'm f-fine...b-b-but she's been b-bitten." The blonde stammered nervously.
"Lemme see." Angel demanded as he crouched next to the girl. He inspected the wound gently, making sure she could move her arms and legs easily. "She's gonna be alright, she didn't lose too much blood. Can you stand up?" The brunette nodded weakly, and Angel helped her get back on her feet. "I guess you might need stitches. You guys have a car?"
"No, but I've got a cell phone, I'll call for an ambulance."
"Come on, let's get you two out of the woods." Angel suggested, still holding the brunette by the waist, and they started to walk slowly (so the wounded girl wouldn't fall) towards the street.
"The ambulance will be here in 5 minutes." The blonde told Angel and her friend after she finished her phone call. "Er...I'm Clara. This is Tina." She introduced herself and her friend with a smile.
"My name's Angel." Angel replied with a smile on his own.
"Well Angel, thank you for saving our lives."
"My pleasure." *What the hell are you doing? Quit the flirting, you're with Buffy, you dumbass!!* He was just so used to this situation. He had picked up dozens of girls that way during the past 4 years. Pretty girls he rescued from demons...it was just too easy. "Hey, did they say...anything to you before they attacked?"
Clara thought about it for a second. "Well...they said something about us joining them for some kind of ritual...I didn't really get it. And what were they anyway?"
Angel looked into her eyes seriously for a moment. "They're dead now, they won't come after you again. I think it'd be better if you just left it there."
She thought about it for a second. "Yeah, you're right, I really don't wanna know." After a moment of silence, Clara started sneezing.
Angel smiled at her knowingly. "How long have you been out under the rain?" It was still pouring heavily on top of them, the three of them were completely drenched to the bone.
"Long. We were walking in the woods when the storm started and we got lost in the dark." Suddenly, Tina's legs gave way and she almost fell down, but Angel caught her in time. He carried her in his arms, advising her to keep her hand on her wound so that it would stop bleeding. "So, how old are you?"
"18."
"You're in college?" Clara guessed, a ounce of fascination for this guy in her voice.
Angel chuckled at this one. "Nah, Junior in High School. I'm not the scholar type."
"Do you go to Sunnydale High?" Angel nodded. "Oh, we're seniors there. It's weird, I didn't see you before on campus."
"I arrived a little while ago. Transferred from Hemery in Los Angeles." Angel explained as they stepped onto the pavement.
"Angel!" Hearing his name, the vampire hunter turned around, Tina still in his arms, and saw Jenny running towards them.
"Don't tell her anything about what happened, ok?" Angel whispered quickly to Clara, who nodded, inspecting the woman who was coming over.
"Miss Calendar! What are you doing here?" Clara exclaimed when Jenny reached them.
"Clara Morgan, right?" Clara nodded with a polite smile. "I was just..." Jenny stopped her sentence when she noticed the girl Angel was holding. "What happened?"
"Er...well...I heard a scream while you were in the house, so I went to see what was going on." Angel explained, trying to find a lie quickly. "There was a bunch of weird guys who were attacking them, I helped them out. The guys took off."
Jenny frowned, wondering if he knew more than what he had just said, but decided not to push the issue for the moment. "Is she ok?"
"Yeah, she's just a little weak from the loss of blood." Clara answered, looking over at her friend.
"One of them did something to her, on her neck. She's bleeding, I don't know what it is. Maybe he had a knife." Angel added, trying to act as if he was really confused. Jenny looked suspiciously at Tina's neck, recognizing a vampire bite. Before she could say anything else, the ambulance arrived, and Clara waved in the air so that they would stop in front of them.
"Thank you Angel." Tina murmured weakly as he put her back on her feet. He smiled at her warmly as the paramedics came over. They carried her into the ambulance.
"Yeah, thanks again." Clara repeated, hugging Angel a little too tight for just a friendly hug. She just couldn't help herself. He was totally drop- dead handsome, sweet, caring, and he was amazingly well built. You could see his nipples through his soaked shirt, which hugged sexily his muscles.
"Take care." He murmured with a smile as they pulled away.
"See you around campus." He nodded, and Clara turned towards her teacher. "I'll see you in class." With a last thank you to Angel, she climbed into the ambulance and they drove away.
"Are YOU ok?" Jenny asked finally Angel as they made their way back to Jenny's house.
"I guess."
"Are you hurt?" She pointed his ribs, where his shirt was torn. One of the vamps had slashed him with a branch.
"I'm fine."
"We'll check that when we get home. I, for one, can't wait to dry off."
*********
Author: Valerie
E-mail: funbreath@msn.com
Disclaimer: they don't belong to me
Summary: AU Angel is new at Sunnydale High. He meets Buffy and the gang. They think he's just a regular kid. Not likely.
Timeline: during season 2 of BTVS...sorta. Let's just say that Buffy and the gang are in their Junior year in Sunnydale High.
Spoilers: as far as alternate universe goes...almost nothing. References on demons from BTVS and Angel from time to time, but that's about it
Rating: R
Distribution: You can take it but ask me first please.
Feedback: That's a big big big yes!!!!! It's my first fic, so please?
*********
24.
When he explored Sunnydale for the first time, Angel noticed a few strange details. First of all, there were a lot of cemeteries. He didn't remember the exact number, but it was more than usual, that he was sure of. Also, for such a small town, he thought that three magic shops were a lot. No wonder Skip and Whistler didn't look upset that he had been sent to Sunnydale. There was an amazingly big population of vamps and demons. Why? He didn't know. Whistler, his messenger for the PTB and Skip, his guardian who was also directly linked with the Powers had only paid him a short visit in the psychiatric institution he had stayed in last summer after he had tried to kill himself, and they hadn't said much about the town. He'd have to ask next time he saw them. The only thing he knew was that here, where the demonic population was maybe even higher than in LA, people were as oblivious of what was going on in the night as in Los Angeles...maybe even more. Which meant a big deal. In LA, after about 2 weeks of living there, Angel had met quite a few kids who knew. He had been living in Sunnydale for month now, and still he hadn't met a living soul who didn't live in a land of denial, except the owner of this magic shop.
The main magic shop was located a block away from the Expresso Pump, so Angel went directly there after Buffy had left. It wasn't his first time in here, he came here almost every week or so, mostly to get new books on demons, since he had left half of his collection to his friends in LA, or to buy a new weapon...And since he came so often, the owner knew him very well (although he didn't really know about Angel's vampire side), and was able to help him out in his book research from time to time. When he entered the shop, Angel noticed that Mr Schreiber was busy with a client, so he went directly to the book shelves.
After a few minutes, another regular entered the shop and stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the dark-haired boy standing in front of the book shelves, concentrated deeply on the book he was holding. She figured he had been just curious and came here to have a little fun, so she was about to greet him, but she stopped once more when she saw the owner crossing the shop to go talk to him. She discreetly hid behind a shelf full of ingredients and witchcraft accessories, close enough to hear them.
"Hello Angel." The man greeted his regular friendly client.
"Hey Mr Schreiber, how's business doin'?" Angel replied while shaking his hand.
"I really shouldn't complain, but with Christmas approaching, I have more and more clients, which means more work. I'm an exhausted man! Well, at least an exhausted man who makes a lot of money." The small bald man answered with a sigh.
"Where's that hot employee of yours? Did she left you already?" Angel asked him with a grin. Mr Schreiber had discussed her employee with Angel a lot of times. She was a tall fat 50 year old with a horrible temperament and a bad breath, and poor old Schreiber was scared of her.
"Thank god she quit! I couldn't handle the pressure any more!"
"So you're alone now?"
"Sadly, yes. So much work is overwhelming."
Angel looked at Mr. Schreiber with a sudden idea. "Would you want me to work for you?"
The little man raised his eyebrows in wonder. "W-Would you like to?"
Angel smirked at him. "I could use the money."
"What an excellent idea! Come back tonight after I close he you can, we'll be able to talk a little more." Angel nodded, and Mr Schreiber eventually took interest in what Angel was looking at. "Do you need any help finding something?"
"I think I found what I was looking for." He showed him the few books he had picked up.
"Vampire cults...vampire traditional rituals...black arts demonic rituals...the journal of Sir Aguistin of Pearsanach..." Mr Schreiber read as he walked back to the counter, Angel behind him. "You do know that the journal of Aguistin is written in Gaelic, right?"
"Yeah, it's no problem I speak Gaelic." Angel answered as he opened his wallet.
"Really? Who taught you?"
"My great-father. He was Irish. He used to speak to me only in Gaelic when I was a kid. Although he died a long time ago, so I kinda forgot some stuff. But I can read it." Mr Schreiber looked deeply impressed as he wrote the price of the books and their name on a note book.
"Do you need anything else?"
"Oh yeah! I need a talisman."
"What kind?"
"Protection. My sister's freaking out because of her foster parents. She's paranoid, but I promised to pick one for her."
"How's this one?" The old man asked Angel, handing him a round old-looking golden talisman.
"That'll do. Thanks." As Angel was paying for his books and the talisman, and also chatting a little more with Mr Schreiber, the woman who was watching him decided to show herself and confront him...nicely.
"Jenny, how nice to see you!" The old man exclaimed as he noticed one of his favorite client coming their way. Angel frowned at the name and turned around, his eyes widening when he recognized his computer teacher(...and favorite teacher).
"Hello you two!" She greeted cheerily.
"Miss Calendar...h-hi!" Angel replied hesitantly. *Crap, what do I do now? Why the hell is she here? Shit, she's friend with Buffy, she's gonna tell her her boyfriend's a psychotic obsessive vampire fan! Shit, shit, shit!*
She smiled warmly at him. "It's Jenny outside of school."
"Jenny...right. What..."
"Am I doing here?" She finished, chuckling at his nervousness. "Shopping a little. I like that kind of shops. What about you? What's a young man like yourself doing in a magic shop?"
"Er...I...well..."
"Vampires, huh?" Jenny looked at the books he was holding, and he followed her eyes to see what she was talking about.
"Oh yeah. I like stories about vampires. I usually get books at a magic store cause the authors are a lot more lunatics than in a regular fiction novel. It's funny to see how they seem to believe in what they're writing about." He was amazed at how easy it had been to say that...huh, maybe he was a good liar after all...but still, it's bad to lie to your girlfriend. Bad, bad, bad!
Jenny frowned a little, confused, but then smiled again. "So you don't believe in vampires and demons and everything?"
"Let's just say that the idea of having them running freely into the world is a lot less appealing than reading about them in books." He answered with a half-smile. It wasn't a direct answer, and Jenny found herself more and more suspicious that Angel knew more than the average 18 year old. "Well, I guess I'll see you in class."
"Sure, if you suddenly decide to show up." Jenny teased him with a grin.
"Oh fuck!" Angel muttered under his breath as he was about to walk out of the shop. It was raining like crazy outside, and he expected a big storm to hit Sunnydale within a few minutes.
"Did you walk here?" Jenny asked Angel from where she stood next to him, the few things she had bought for a spell in her purse.
"Yeah. I had a date with Buffy and my bike's out of gas." He cursed under his breath, silently praying for the rain to stop. He didn't want to go home under that crazy weather, he'd be soaked, and so would his books.
"Want me to drive you home?" She suggested with a grin.
"You don't mind?"
"Nope, I don't have to be anywhere soon, I have time."
"Well that'd be great, thanks!"
Angel and Jenny ran quickly to Jenny's car, which was parked on the other side of the street.
"If you don't mind I need to drop a few things at home first. I just went grocery shopping and I should put the stuff in the fridge." Jenny told him as she started the car.
"Sure, no problem."
After a few minutes of silence, Jenny's curiosity kicked in. "How're you doing with Buffy?"
Angel looked at her with a frown, surprised that she asked, but answered anyway. "Fine I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well...the thing is, I wanna be with her all the time, you know? But either she has family issues, stuff to do at the library, or I gotta work to get money and be able to afford to actually go on a date with her." He confessed, feeling weird that it didn't feel weird to share that much with his teacher.
"Ah, yeah, it's tough. But Buffy's a very special girl, I think-"
"-she's worth it." Angel finished, a little smile appearing on his face at the thought of all the things that made Buffy so great.
They drove the next five minutes in comfortable silence, until Jenny parked in front of her house. The storm had only gotten worse, there were flashes of lightening in the sky, making this dark afternoon quite creepy. "Wait in here, it'll only take a minute." Jenny told Angel as she grabbed her bags on the back seats. She ran to her house to put her stuff away, while Angel remained in the car.
*What is it with that woman that makes me feel so weird? She's amazing! She's nice, sweet, caring...hell, she's hot! But there's something more that I can't help but feel attracted to...damn...* Angel was still deep in thoughts when suddenly, a familiar tingle ran up and down his spin. In full hunting mode, he scanned the area, trying to detect a sign of danger. Years of practice kicked in and he was able to feel (through the storm, and he was quite proud of it) two human presences not far, surrounded by two *no...three...four...holy shit, six! Six fucking vampires!* He rushed out of the car just as Jenny came out of the house. She stood under her front porch in surprise.
"Angel? What are you doing?" She called at him with a frown.
"I'll be back in a minute. Stay inside!" He started to run under the violent storm, the wind blowing the sharp rain in his face, but he didn't care, he had lived through much worse. *What the fuck are six vampires doing outside at this hour??* He realized that even though it was the afternoon, the sun was completely hidden by the dark clouds of the storm. Vampires out in the day...that should be interesting. Following his sixth sense, he arrived at the entrance of a small forest, and out of nowhere a scream was heard. Using his vampire speed, he ran into the woods following the voice of the woman.
Soon, Angel saw the six vampires around the two girls, who were shaking in fear, one of them screaming madly. Angel grabbed his stake and walked closer to the group.
"Hey people! Shouldn't you be safe inside? If you didn't notice it's pouring non-stop out here!" Angel shouted so that they'd be able to hear him. The three vampires who had their backs at him turned around, snarling, showing fangs. "Did I interrupt something?" He asked innocently, but his smile gave him away.
"Who are you?" Growled one of the tallest vamps.
Angel made a mock-disappointed face. "You mean you don't know me? Damn, I've been around for months, I figured that now people would have heard of me!"
"I'm gonna rip your throat out for your insolence little boy" bellowed an other one.
"Wait!" The vampire who seemed to be the leader held his hand in the air, stopping his friend from moving further. "You're the new guy who killed one of the Gortch brothers."
Angel didn't know what he was talking about...but then, he didn't usually take time to ask vampires or demons for their names before he killed them. "That's possible." He shrugged with a smirk.
"He's the little fucker who's been helping out the slayer!" The taller vampire realized suddenly.
"Slayer?" Angel muttered, puzzled, but he didn't have time to think about it since two of the vamps jumped on him. He reacted quickly and blocked the first one's punch with his right arm, making sure not to lose his grip on his stake. Angel kicked the second vampire in the face, making him stumble backwards. With one fast move, he buried his stake in the first vamp's heart. Knocking the second one out with a powerful punch in the temple, he sprang on the four remaining. The tall one and the leader started the fight, while the two others were attacking the poor victims. Seeing that those women were in danger, he grabbed the two vampires he had been fighting with by the collar of their shirt and made their head collide with the other's. Taking advantage of their dizziness, Angel pushed them away and drove his stake in the back of the fifth vamp, piercing his heart from behind. He then kicked the sixth vampire away from the girl he had been drinking from, and dusted him before he could react. Before Angel could do anything, the last two vamps had recovered and kicked him in the back, making him fall on the grass. The young hunter leapt back to his feet quickly and dodged their next attack. He was facing two powerful vamps at the same time, and the rain didn't really help him. After a few minutes of kicking and punching an both sides, Angel delivered a front kick to the leader's head who fell on his butt. But at the same moment, the other vamp caught Angel's ankle and tossed him down on his butt as well. Angel then hooked his right foot behind the vamp's ankle, pulling forward so that he would lose his balance. With one kick in the knee, Angel brought the demon down as well. Angel rebounded quickly, picked up a dead branch and dusted the vamp as he was standing up. Once Angel was back on his feet, the last vampire charged at him, hitting him in the stomach with his shoulder and dragged him against a tree nearby. The violent collision between Angel's back and head against the trunk of the tree took his breath away and he felt suddenly like he was about to faint. The vamp punched him twice in the face then took a hold on his neck and squeezed with all his strength, his nails digging into Angel's flesh and drawing blood.
"Fine, if you insist, I'll fight like a girl" Angel managed to choke, always feeling the need to make a witty remark. The vamp frowned in confusion, until he realized painfully what Angel meant when he kneed him in the groin. The demon crouched backwards in pain, freeing Angel from his deadly grip on his neck. Without waiting any longer, Angel drove an other dead branch in the vamp's heart. "Don't underestimate a girl's technique." Another witty comment. He just couldn't help himself. Especially when he wasn't the one who had lost.
Taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Angel looked around to check if everything was safe. He noticed that the two girls were still there, a blonde one pressing her hand on the brunette's wound on her neck. He walked towards them to see how they were, picking up his stake on the way and tucking it back in the waistband of his pants. "You doing alright ladies?"
"I'm f-fine...b-b-but she's been b-bitten." The blonde stammered nervously.
"Lemme see." Angel demanded as he crouched next to the girl. He inspected the wound gently, making sure she could move her arms and legs easily. "She's gonna be alright, she didn't lose too much blood. Can you stand up?" The brunette nodded weakly, and Angel helped her get back on her feet. "I guess you might need stitches. You guys have a car?"
"No, but I've got a cell phone, I'll call for an ambulance."
"Come on, let's get you two out of the woods." Angel suggested, still holding the brunette by the waist, and they started to walk slowly (so the wounded girl wouldn't fall) towards the street.
"The ambulance will be here in 5 minutes." The blonde told Angel and her friend after she finished her phone call. "Er...I'm Clara. This is Tina." She introduced herself and her friend with a smile.
"My name's Angel." Angel replied with a smile on his own.
"Well Angel, thank you for saving our lives."
"My pleasure." *What the hell are you doing? Quit the flirting, you're with Buffy, you dumbass!!* He was just so used to this situation. He had picked up dozens of girls that way during the past 4 years. Pretty girls he rescued from demons...it was just too easy. "Hey, did they say...anything to you before they attacked?"
Clara thought about it for a second. "Well...they said something about us joining them for some kind of ritual...I didn't really get it. And what were they anyway?"
Angel looked into her eyes seriously for a moment. "They're dead now, they won't come after you again. I think it'd be better if you just left it there."
She thought about it for a second. "Yeah, you're right, I really don't wanna know." After a moment of silence, Clara started sneezing.
Angel smiled at her knowingly. "How long have you been out under the rain?" It was still pouring heavily on top of them, the three of them were completely drenched to the bone.
"Long. We were walking in the woods when the storm started and we got lost in the dark." Suddenly, Tina's legs gave way and she almost fell down, but Angel caught her in time. He carried her in his arms, advising her to keep her hand on her wound so that it would stop bleeding. "So, how old are you?"
"18."
"You're in college?" Clara guessed, a ounce of fascination for this guy in her voice.
Angel chuckled at this one. "Nah, Junior in High School. I'm not the scholar type."
"Do you go to Sunnydale High?" Angel nodded. "Oh, we're seniors there. It's weird, I didn't see you before on campus."
"I arrived a little while ago. Transferred from Hemery in Los Angeles." Angel explained as they stepped onto the pavement.
"Angel!" Hearing his name, the vampire hunter turned around, Tina still in his arms, and saw Jenny running towards them.
"Don't tell her anything about what happened, ok?" Angel whispered quickly to Clara, who nodded, inspecting the woman who was coming over.
"Miss Calendar! What are you doing here?" Clara exclaimed when Jenny reached them.
"Clara Morgan, right?" Clara nodded with a polite smile. "I was just..." Jenny stopped her sentence when she noticed the girl Angel was holding. "What happened?"
"Er...well...I heard a scream while you were in the house, so I went to see what was going on." Angel explained, trying to find a lie quickly. "There was a bunch of weird guys who were attacking them, I helped them out. The guys took off."
Jenny frowned, wondering if he knew more than what he had just said, but decided not to push the issue for the moment. "Is she ok?"
"Yeah, she's just a little weak from the loss of blood." Clara answered, looking over at her friend.
"One of them did something to her, on her neck. She's bleeding, I don't know what it is. Maybe he had a knife." Angel added, trying to act as if he was really confused. Jenny looked suspiciously at Tina's neck, recognizing a vampire bite. Before she could say anything else, the ambulance arrived, and Clara waved in the air so that they would stop in front of them.
"Thank you Angel." Tina murmured weakly as he put her back on her feet. He smiled at her warmly as the paramedics came over. They carried her into the ambulance.
"Yeah, thanks again." Clara repeated, hugging Angel a little too tight for just a friendly hug. She just couldn't help herself. He was totally drop- dead handsome, sweet, caring, and he was amazingly well built. You could see his nipples through his soaked shirt, which hugged sexily his muscles.
"Take care." He murmured with a smile as they pulled away.
"See you around campus." He nodded, and Clara turned towards her teacher. "I'll see you in class." With a last thank you to Angel, she climbed into the ambulance and they drove away.
"Are YOU ok?" Jenny asked finally Angel as they made their way back to Jenny's house.
"I guess."
"Are you hurt?" She pointed his ribs, where his shirt was torn. One of the vamps had slashed him with a branch.
"I'm fine."
"We'll check that when we get home. I, for one, can't wait to dry off."
*********