I own and claim no part of Angel, the series. Only the characters unfamiliar to the Angel series are created by me, and sorry if this fic is similar to anyone else's.

.......

The Deal

.......

All heads turned to the front door of the Hyperion, as Angela stood poised above the lobby steps.

The whole group stiffened in shock. "What is the matter? I thought you would be happy to see me! I am the person you have been looking for, right?"

"Angel, I think I found something on how to destroy the demon women!" Fred said happily, as she ran down the hotel room stairs, book in hand. She stopped halfway down, as she noticed the girl for the first time. "Oh. I guess that wasn't the best time to say that."

"Oh don't worry on my account. I am not surprised. This being your dimension and all, you have to save it from demons like me. Quite understandable. I am not here to kill any of you, though I doubt you will believe me."

"Why should we?" Wesley demanded. "We know your history." He waved the book in the air.

"Oh really?" Angela asked. She walked cautiously forward, as Angel, and Connor stood ready to attack. She took the book carefully from Wesley's hands, and looked down at the page. Her face crinkled in horror. "That is the ugliest sketch of me I have ever seen," she whispered. Her eyes flew down the page, to the two paragraphs that described her life, and smiled. "History sucks. No matter what you know about it, there are always the little, or even sometimes big details that are left out. History is written by men, and the winners. Though this history of mine is the closest I've seen so far to the truth."

"And what is the truth exactly?" Connor asked.

"The truth is, I could care less about this pathetic little dimension you call home. Though it is quite nice compared to some of the dimensions I have visited, it is not exactly a place I would want to rule over much less fight for. So," she said a huge smile on her face, "how about we make a deal?"

"We don't make deals with murderers, and a demon murderer at that," Fred called out, as she joined the others, and was safely positioned behind Angel.

Angela's smiled disappeared, and her more familiar expression of nothingness reappeared. "How about you hear the deal first, little girl, before you dismiss it."

"Little girl?" Fred demanded, obviously offended. A little annoyed that she was always seen as fragile, and helpless, Fred at least knew that she looked older that the girl before her.

"Though in this dimension I am technically only 199, in the other dimensions I have lived for over a thousand years. Either way, I am older than you child."

Fred blushed. "Point taken." She turned away, a surprised expression on her face as she mouthed 'a thousand years!' Connor caught her actions, and suppressed a smile.

"What is the deal?" Angel asked calmly, in his brooding tone.

"Simple. I kill all the demons and vampires in my mother's army, and then hand over my mother to you do deal with."

"What do you want in return?" Suspicion had entered into Angel's voice.

"Also very simple. Two vampires of my choosing, one human--" she watched as Angel shifted in agitation and opened his mouth to immediately deny her request. She quickly rushed on, "that will not be killed. The human is only needed for a small ritual. Two vampires, a human, and the blood of a specific empath demon."

"Why not get the blood yourself?" Angel asked.

"Meyrith is a little...sensitive, toward me. He and I met on one of my journeys, and I know for a fact, that seeing me will definitely not make him happy. I couldn't get within 50 yards of him without him knowing." She sighed. "After I get what I need, the human will be released, I will disappear, and never," she looked toward the front door, "darken your doorway again."

"This is all you want?" Angel asked. The girl nodded. Angel pondered for several moments.

"Angel, you don't mean to give into this thing's demands, do you?" Wes asked incredulously. Angel looked at him for several more seconds, then looked back to Angela, who was eyeing Wesley furiously over the 'thing' comment.

"Done," Angel said, and as Angela's face broke out in a triumphant grin, he added, "But if anything goes wrong, or you betray us, no matter where you go, I will find you, and kill you!"

"Angel, you can't be serious!" Fred cried.

Angel turned to his family. "Look, it is the easiest way to get rid of this whole business. Besides, we have nothing to lose. A lot of people are dying already. I don't want this to turn into another massacre like with the Beast. If I can solve this with a minimum of bloodshed, then I will." He turned back to Angela. "We'll keep our end of the bargain, as long as you keep yours."

Angela smiled wistfully. "Don't worry...Angel, is it? Don't worry, when this is all over, you'll never see me again. Meet me behind the Mandocks Warehouse tomorrow night at 10 pm. Come fully armed if you want. Just be prepared for a battle. Some vampires and demons might try to escape the slaughter." With that, the girl turned and left through the front door.

Connor turned to Angel. "Are you crazy? She will never keep her end of the bargain!"

Angel shrugged. "I don't know. She just might. She didn't kill you. Besides, I don't see any other options."

"Why don't we just kill her?" Connor asked. "It is what we normally do."

"Hey, if it were that easy, why hasn't anyone been able to do it before?" Angel asked. Angel and Connor turned toward the basement door when they heard a whooshing sound.

"Did you hear that?" Connor asked.

Angel went over to the basement door, opened it, peered down, then walked down the steps. Everyone waited in tense silence, then almost sighed in relief when Angel reappeared. "Nothing. Maybe it was a draft or something."

Lorne finally piped up, after leaning against the front desk, a thoughtful look on his face. "Did she just walk out the front door in clear daylight?"

Cordelia Chase chose that moment to walk through the door, Gunn following close behind, both with grocery bags in their hands. "Hey ya'll, what did we miss?" Cordy asked. She took in the shocked faces of the hotels inhabitants. "What?"

........

Angela walked into the underground hideout, unable to suppress her elation. Her smile faded as she noticed her mother sitting on a flat rock, watching her every move. Elizabeth smiled bitterly. "And what are you so happy about?"

"Well, mother, if you must know, everything is finally working out for me. Soon I'll have exactly what I have always wanted, and you'll have no reason to run from Lysos anymore."

"Ah. So you have found a way to achieve your goal?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. In less then two days, everything will be perfect," Angela announced happily. She turned to move down the corridor to her 'room.'

"You bitch."

Angela paused, mid-step. "Excuse me?" she demanded, whirling around.

"After everything I have done for you! I gave birth to you for Chrissake! I followed you around like a god damned puppy for centuries, taking care of you, loving you, and you would betray me like this? To Him!" Elizabeth screamed.

Angela's face became stony, and frighteningly dismissive. "Give it up mother. You followed me around because you knew that as long as I was there, no one would touch you...as for the loving me part. Don't make me laugh. Let's see how much you have loved me so far, shall we? You gave birth to me, then abandoned me when you discovered I was not of Lysos' blood. You only accepted me back when a seer told you how important I was. You didn't even name me, the seer did. When I was barely a decade old, you allowed your husband to submit me to torture---"

"I did not! I don't know how he was able to---"

"Bullshit mother...only you and that seer knew about my weaknesses, and you made sure the seer wasn't alive to reveal anything to anyone now didn't you?" Angela interrupted. "Even if it wasn't your fault, you waited five centuries---five hundred years, to free me from that torment. Now I will get what I have wanted since the day I was born."

"And what is that exactly?" Elizabeth asked, her pale face livid.

"Freedom." In the blink of an eye, Angela was at her mother's side, and using both of her hands, she hit the stunned vampire on head in such a way that knocked Elizabeth unconscious. She grabbed her mother's falling form. "Sorry mom. You are just getting in my way far too much."