Paladin Project 11 - Eagle's Nest
"Hello lover."
Angel jolted as he heard a familiar voice behind him. Turning he saw the vampire he'd staked over a year ago. "Darla," he managed to croak.
The First changed to Drusilla. The insane vampire giggled. "Hello daddy."
The apparition changed again, to Spike. His grand-childe snarled at him. "You bloody bastard! I had a soul you know, but you didn't bloody give a -."
"Oh shut up Spike," Angel had managed to compose himself but the First's next change to Buffy shook him again. "Sorry about that Angel but you know how William gets. He never liked you."
"Don't worry about it," he replied with a casualness he didn't feel, "the feelings entirely mutual. I assume you have a reason to be here?" His tone remained steady, betraying none of his inner turmoil at being confronted by the demon who'd tried to first get him kill Buffy and then commit suicide.
The blonde shook her head. "You should have stood up for me when Xander attacked me," his ex smiled. "But don't worry Angel, I forgive you," her smile widened. "I could always forgive you anything - even mass-murder."
He winced at the reminder but managed to keep his face blank. "Why are you here?" he pressed.
"To warn you."
He raised an eyebrow. "Threats from an incorporeal being. I'm not exactly shaking with fear."
The First tutted. "Angel, Angel. You weren't listening now were you? I said warn not threaten. Xander will turn on you. You're just a vampire after all."
He shook his head. "Xander wouldn't, he's the loyal sort."
"Loyal?" Buffy\First laughed. "Just over a month ago he was heading to LA to kill you with a sniper rifle. If you hadn't been ensoulled..."
Angel laughed and shook his head. "You've no idea do you? I'd much rather die than kill any of my friends. I trust Xander with something far more than my continued existence, that of my friends'. Now get out."
* * * Blade cast his companion a furtive glance. He was still uncomfortable with the ensoulled vampire but the vampire's plan of the super-powered amongst them covering patrols while Xander and the others were gone made sense. Still, he didn't like him, he'd spent too many years, lost too many friends, hunting them to easily trust one.
As if sensing his disdain the vampire turned to him. "You don't like me much do you?"
Blade bristled at the thin grain of amusement he heard in the vampire's voice. "Not much no," he replied flatly, staring the vampire dead in the eye.
Angel shrugged and smiled. "Don't blame you. I am one of history's most feared vampires after all," the vampire paused and turned to face him, his eyes suddenly grim. "Angelus has done things that haunt my nightmares and stain my soul but what I Angel will never do is harm my friends. And Xander is my best friend."
Satisfied by the sincerity he heard in the vampire's voice he nodded. "Fine, then let's get this patrol over with." Even as he agreed he decided that he might work with the vampire out of respect for Xander but he'd never turn his back on him. He didn't trust anybody's judgement that much.
* * *
Draven leapt from rooftop to rooftop, glorying in being out of reach of the oblivious humanity on the crowded streets below. Even before his death he'd been a loner, preferring to split his time between Shelley and his music rather than waste it in rock 'n' roll parties.
Suddenly he stopped and smiled. Beneath him he could hear the sound of a group of men planning a bank robbery. He wasn't in Sunnydale to deal with criminals. "On the other hand," he smiled slowly as his face shifted into his white mask, "it doesn't hurt to keep my hand in." He felt a weight land on his shoulder and turned to look into the dark eyes of his spirit guide. "Relax," he grinned, "just going to have a little fun." The bird let out a disapproving caw before flying away, he chuckled, "kill-joy."
After glancing down into the alley three storeys below he stepped off the building edge, his legs bent to take the inevitable landing impact. The air whistled around him as he plummeted stone-like to the ground. At the last second one of the men looked up, his mouth opening in shock even as his foot slammed into the thug's mouth, sending teeth flying in a torrent of blood, and sending his head snapping backwards, his neck breaking with the impact.
Before the man had hit the ground, Eric was on the other two. One of the hoods lunged at him, his arm shooting up, gun in hand. Eric's hand snapped out, grabbing hold of the gun-man's wrist and squeezing, the bones snapping like a dry twig. Sensing the other man coming up behind him, he spun round, and punched out with his free hand, sending his fist slamming through the left side of his chest even as he yanked with his other arm tearing the other man's arm off his shoulder. Blood spurted out of the gaping wound, spraying out all over the alley, covering Eric in his viscera. Grabbing the man's head he twisted violently ripping it from the shoulders. Even as he tossed the man's head to the ground, he saw a trio of armed men appear at the mouth of the alley and hear a door open to his right and the sound of footsteps. "A trap."
* * *
Blade glanced towards Angel. "What's wrong?"
"There's a woman screaming in that warehouse," the vampire nodded towards a shadowy building in the distance.
It was a change for him to be working with someone with better senses than him. "You realise that it could be a trap," he commented as he loosened his guns.
"Can't take that chance," the vampire started towards the warehouse.
Blade nodded in approval, maybe there was something to Angel after all. "Let's get this done then." He allowed Angel to lead the way, leaving it to the vampire to force the locked sliding door open. He glanced across at the vampire; he'd been able to hear the screaming since they'd reached the doors, the tortured sound chilling his blood. "How many?"
"Four, five heartbeats towards the back."
Damn, it was a trap. Reaching into his twin holsters, he drew his guns. "Get your guns ready," his eyes widened as the vampire pulled out a pair of stakes. "No guns?"
"Don't use them."
Sighing, he passed one of his pistols over. The vampire looked embarrassed. "What's wrong now?"
"I've never used modern guns."
He bit back the urge to curse. "Sorry but I left my flintlocks at home." After quickly showing the vampire how to use the gun he said. "You ready?" the vampire nodded. "Let's get this over with."
"Oh shit." They'd found the woman - or at least the tape recording of her screams. If there was a woman she was long dead, Blade glanced towards his companion. "Let's get out of here before -."
Suddenly a wall of boxes towards the back of the warehouse was knocked over to reveal a line of five gunmen. Blade let out a grunt as Angel threw himself into him, knocking them both behind some near-by boxes and away from the bullets tearing through the air where they'd been stood. "Thanks," Blade gasped as the gunmen changed their aim to send bullets peppering the air above them, "any idea what to do next?"
"Wait until they run out of bullets?"
"I've got a better idea," he explained his plan in a few terse sentences.
The vampire's face grew incredulous. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"There might be more of them, we can't afford to wait," he pointed out.
After a second Angel sighed and nodded. "Fine. On three. One, two, three!"
On 'three' Angel burst from their cover, rolling to the right, firing at their attackers as he went. As soon as the five men turned to fire at the vampire, Blade surged to his feet and began firing. He put three of the gunmen down before the remaining pair started to turn towards him only for Angel to blow their heads off.
Blade turned to thank the vampire only to see Angel lying on the ground his face twisted in pain. Surprised at the concern he felt, Blade made his way over to the vampire, his movements hurried but still graceful. "You shot, Angel?"
After a second the vampire rose, shaking his head, his face even paler than usual. "No they missed. It's just," the vampire paused, "it's just been a long time since I killed humans," he replied, his eyes haunted.
Blade was once again surprised, this time by the sympathy he felt. "They were trying to kill us," he gruffly pointed out, "they made their choice." Killing humans had never worried him; to him evil was evil and needed eradicating.
"I know but -."
Whatever the vampire had been about to say was lost in the crackling into life of the radio attached to his belt. "Hello," it was the vampire's friend Gunn, his voice tight but control. "Eagle's Nest is under attack. Repeat, we're under attack -." The radio went dead.
"Damn it!" the vampire morphed into his demonic face giving Blade an uncomfortable reminder of his true nature and fearful reputation. Angel started towards the doors only for it to slide open revealing a half a dozen gunmen. Cursing, Blade dropped his hand to the gun he'd just holstered even as Angel's own empty gun clattered to the ground and the vampire drew his sword from within his jacket. A split-second later Angel dived into the gunmen, his sword flashing left and right, tearing limbs from bodies and heads from shoulders even as he twisted out of the way of their bullets. Finally the last gunmen fell to the ground, his head rolling away from him. Blade shuddered as the blood-drenched vampire turned towards him. "Well he got over his human-killing phobia quickly," he muttered before raising his voice, "why didn't you do it with the others?" he nodded towards the five men at the back of the warehouse.
"They were too far away, by the time I cleared their barricade, they'd have had me," the vampire replied. "So are we going?"
"Let's."
* * *
Draven looked around the viscera soaked alley, the blood dripping down the walls and the bodies of his attackers littering the ground. He'd been sickened - not by what he'd done, he'd gotten use to dispensing punishment to street scum, but by the images he'd gotten of their misdeeds. Even by the standards of the lowlifes he dealt with they were despicable.
His musings were cut off by an explosion of static from his radio. He listened to the message and then began running. He had to get back to base and fast.
* * *
Gunn kept shifting his gaze from the command room monitor he was supposed to be watching to the impassive man sat beside him. He couldn't believe it; he was sat next to an alien. He was surprised at his amazement, he'd met vampires, seers, Slayers, mages, and demons but this alien had thrown him. He suspected it was how human the man looked that was confusing him, hell they could almost be brothers.
The alien turned towards him. "I sense you have questions?"
"Only about a thousand," he muttered under his breath. After a second organising he spoke. "If you don't mind?" The alien nodded. "Where are you from?"
"A planet called Chulak. I was raised there after my father was killed for failing the Goa'uld Cronus."
"Goa'uld? They're those aliens we remember as Egyptian gods right?"
"Indeed." Teal'c nodded. "Master Bra'tac trained me to be a Jaffa and brought me to the attention of Goa'uld Apophis. I rose quickly in my lord's favour and soon became First Prime, but all the time Master Bra'tac was whispering in my ear that the Goa'uld were not gods but I never truly believed him until I was ordered to kill a friend of mine, Va'lar. Instead I banished Va'lar to a small village. When Apophis did not discover my trick I began to believe he was not a god and started to work in the resistance with Bra'tac."
"So how come you came to Earth?" "In '97 I met Colonel O'Neill. In my hundred years," Gunn blinked, hundred years - he wouldn't have believed the man was thirty-five years old, "I have never believed anyone who said they could stop Apophis. O'Neill was my prisoner and yet," there was a note of wonder in the alien's previously impassive voice, "I believed him and helped him escape. Since then I have fought beside the Tau'ri to end the System Lords' rule."
"Tau'ri, that's humans right?" Gunn was reeling at the story he'd heard.
The alien opened his mouth to speak only for his companion's eyes to widen imperceptibly as he pointed at the monitor. "What's that?"
"Damn it," Gunn stared at the figures climbing over the grounds' wall. He hit the general emergency button. Nothing happened. "Shit!" Grabbing his walkie-talkie he began to talk into it. "Eagle's Nest is under attack. Repeat, we're under attack -."
* * *
"Ready yet?"
Hans Axel let out a breath at the tech's nod. His plan was coming to fruition, Angel, Blade and Draven were occupied, if not dead, due to the traps he'd set. With the house's internal security compromised his troops could go in, wipe out the Project's back-up troops and deal with an isolated Demonsbane upon his return. Smiling to himself, he turned his walkie-talkie on. "Troops we're a go."
* * *
"Eagle's Nest is under attack. Repeat, we're under attack -."
Alarmed, Xander glanced across at Wesley. "How far out from Sunnydale would you say we were?"
"Twenty-five minutes," came the Watcher's terse reply.
Xander shook his head, too long. "Make it in fifthteen."
"Hello lover."
Angel jolted as he heard a familiar voice behind him. Turning he saw the vampire he'd staked over a year ago. "Darla," he managed to croak.
The First changed to Drusilla. The insane vampire giggled. "Hello daddy."
The apparition changed again, to Spike. His grand-childe snarled at him. "You bloody bastard! I had a soul you know, but you didn't bloody give a -."
"Oh shut up Spike," Angel had managed to compose himself but the First's next change to Buffy shook him again. "Sorry about that Angel but you know how William gets. He never liked you."
"Don't worry about it," he replied with a casualness he didn't feel, "the feelings entirely mutual. I assume you have a reason to be here?" His tone remained steady, betraying none of his inner turmoil at being confronted by the demon who'd tried to first get him kill Buffy and then commit suicide.
The blonde shook her head. "You should have stood up for me when Xander attacked me," his ex smiled. "But don't worry Angel, I forgive you," her smile widened. "I could always forgive you anything - even mass-murder."
He winced at the reminder but managed to keep his face blank. "Why are you here?" he pressed.
"To warn you."
He raised an eyebrow. "Threats from an incorporeal being. I'm not exactly shaking with fear."
The First tutted. "Angel, Angel. You weren't listening now were you? I said warn not threaten. Xander will turn on you. You're just a vampire after all."
He shook his head. "Xander wouldn't, he's the loyal sort."
"Loyal?" Buffy\First laughed. "Just over a month ago he was heading to LA to kill you with a sniper rifle. If you hadn't been ensoulled..."
Angel laughed and shook his head. "You've no idea do you? I'd much rather die than kill any of my friends. I trust Xander with something far more than my continued existence, that of my friends'. Now get out."
* * * Blade cast his companion a furtive glance. He was still uncomfortable with the ensoulled vampire but the vampire's plan of the super-powered amongst them covering patrols while Xander and the others were gone made sense. Still, he didn't like him, he'd spent too many years, lost too many friends, hunting them to easily trust one.
As if sensing his disdain the vampire turned to him. "You don't like me much do you?"
Blade bristled at the thin grain of amusement he heard in the vampire's voice. "Not much no," he replied flatly, staring the vampire dead in the eye.
Angel shrugged and smiled. "Don't blame you. I am one of history's most feared vampires after all," the vampire paused and turned to face him, his eyes suddenly grim. "Angelus has done things that haunt my nightmares and stain my soul but what I Angel will never do is harm my friends. And Xander is my best friend."
Satisfied by the sincerity he heard in the vampire's voice he nodded. "Fine, then let's get this patrol over with." Even as he agreed he decided that he might work with the vampire out of respect for Xander but he'd never turn his back on him. He didn't trust anybody's judgement that much.
* * *
Draven leapt from rooftop to rooftop, glorying in being out of reach of the oblivious humanity on the crowded streets below. Even before his death he'd been a loner, preferring to split his time between Shelley and his music rather than waste it in rock 'n' roll parties.
Suddenly he stopped and smiled. Beneath him he could hear the sound of a group of men planning a bank robbery. He wasn't in Sunnydale to deal with criminals. "On the other hand," he smiled slowly as his face shifted into his white mask, "it doesn't hurt to keep my hand in." He felt a weight land on his shoulder and turned to look into the dark eyes of his spirit guide. "Relax," he grinned, "just going to have a little fun." The bird let out a disapproving caw before flying away, he chuckled, "kill-joy."
After glancing down into the alley three storeys below he stepped off the building edge, his legs bent to take the inevitable landing impact. The air whistled around him as he plummeted stone-like to the ground. At the last second one of the men looked up, his mouth opening in shock even as his foot slammed into the thug's mouth, sending teeth flying in a torrent of blood, and sending his head snapping backwards, his neck breaking with the impact.
Before the man had hit the ground, Eric was on the other two. One of the hoods lunged at him, his arm shooting up, gun in hand. Eric's hand snapped out, grabbing hold of the gun-man's wrist and squeezing, the bones snapping like a dry twig. Sensing the other man coming up behind him, he spun round, and punched out with his free hand, sending his fist slamming through the left side of his chest even as he yanked with his other arm tearing the other man's arm off his shoulder. Blood spurted out of the gaping wound, spraying out all over the alley, covering Eric in his viscera. Grabbing the man's head he twisted violently ripping it from the shoulders. Even as he tossed the man's head to the ground, he saw a trio of armed men appear at the mouth of the alley and hear a door open to his right and the sound of footsteps. "A trap."
* * *
Blade glanced towards Angel. "What's wrong?"
"There's a woman screaming in that warehouse," the vampire nodded towards a shadowy building in the distance.
It was a change for him to be working with someone with better senses than him. "You realise that it could be a trap," he commented as he loosened his guns.
"Can't take that chance," the vampire started towards the warehouse.
Blade nodded in approval, maybe there was something to Angel after all. "Let's get this done then." He allowed Angel to lead the way, leaving it to the vampire to force the locked sliding door open. He glanced across at the vampire; he'd been able to hear the screaming since they'd reached the doors, the tortured sound chilling his blood. "How many?"
"Four, five heartbeats towards the back."
Damn, it was a trap. Reaching into his twin holsters, he drew his guns. "Get your guns ready," his eyes widened as the vampire pulled out a pair of stakes. "No guns?"
"Don't use them."
Sighing, he passed one of his pistols over. The vampire looked embarrassed. "What's wrong now?"
"I've never used modern guns."
He bit back the urge to curse. "Sorry but I left my flintlocks at home." After quickly showing the vampire how to use the gun he said. "You ready?" the vampire nodded. "Let's get this over with."
"Oh shit." They'd found the woman - or at least the tape recording of her screams. If there was a woman she was long dead, Blade glanced towards his companion. "Let's get out of here before -."
Suddenly a wall of boxes towards the back of the warehouse was knocked over to reveal a line of five gunmen. Blade let out a grunt as Angel threw himself into him, knocking them both behind some near-by boxes and away from the bullets tearing through the air where they'd been stood. "Thanks," Blade gasped as the gunmen changed their aim to send bullets peppering the air above them, "any idea what to do next?"
"Wait until they run out of bullets?"
"I've got a better idea," he explained his plan in a few terse sentences.
The vampire's face grew incredulous. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"There might be more of them, we can't afford to wait," he pointed out.
After a second Angel sighed and nodded. "Fine. On three. One, two, three!"
On 'three' Angel burst from their cover, rolling to the right, firing at their attackers as he went. As soon as the five men turned to fire at the vampire, Blade surged to his feet and began firing. He put three of the gunmen down before the remaining pair started to turn towards him only for Angel to blow their heads off.
Blade turned to thank the vampire only to see Angel lying on the ground his face twisted in pain. Surprised at the concern he felt, Blade made his way over to the vampire, his movements hurried but still graceful. "You shot, Angel?"
After a second the vampire rose, shaking his head, his face even paler than usual. "No they missed. It's just," the vampire paused, "it's just been a long time since I killed humans," he replied, his eyes haunted.
Blade was once again surprised, this time by the sympathy he felt. "They were trying to kill us," he gruffly pointed out, "they made their choice." Killing humans had never worried him; to him evil was evil and needed eradicating.
"I know but -."
Whatever the vampire had been about to say was lost in the crackling into life of the radio attached to his belt. "Hello," it was the vampire's friend Gunn, his voice tight but control. "Eagle's Nest is under attack. Repeat, we're under attack -." The radio went dead.
"Damn it!" the vampire morphed into his demonic face giving Blade an uncomfortable reminder of his true nature and fearful reputation. Angel started towards the doors only for it to slide open revealing a half a dozen gunmen. Cursing, Blade dropped his hand to the gun he'd just holstered even as Angel's own empty gun clattered to the ground and the vampire drew his sword from within his jacket. A split-second later Angel dived into the gunmen, his sword flashing left and right, tearing limbs from bodies and heads from shoulders even as he twisted out of the way of their bullets. Finally the last gunmen fell to the ground, his head rolling away from him. Blade shuddered as the blood-drenched vampire turned towards him. "Well he got over his human-killing phobia quickly," he muttered before raising his voice, "why didn't you do it with the others?" he nodded towards the five men at the back of the warehouse.
"They were too far away, by the time I cleared their barricade, they'd have had me," the vampire replied. "So are we going?"
"Let's."
* * *
Draven looked around the viscera soaked alley, the blood dripping down the walls and the bodies of his attackers littering the ground. He'd been sickened - not by what he'd done, he'd gotten use to dispensing punishment to street scum, but by the images he'd gotten of their misdeeds. Even by the standards of the lowlifes he dealt with they were despicable.
His musings were cut off by an explosion of static from his radio. He listened to the message and then began running. He had to get back to base and fast.
* * *
Gunn kept shifting his gaze from the command room monitor he was supposed to be watching to the impassive man sat beside him. He couldn't believe it; he was sat next to an alien. He was surprised at his amazement, he'd met vampires, seers, Slayers, mages, and demons but this alien had thrown him. He suspected it was how human the man looked that was confusing him, hell they could almost be brothers.
The alien turned towards him. "I sense you have questions?"
"Only about a thousand," he muttered under his breath. After a second organising he spoke. "If you don't mind?" The alien nodded. "Where are you from?"
"A planet called Chulak. I was raised there after my father was killed for failing the Goa'uld Cronus."
"Goa'uld? They're those aliens we remember as Egyptian gods right?"
"Indeed." Teal'c nodded. "Master Bra'tac trained me to be a Jaffa and brought me to the attention of Goa'uld Apophis. I rose quickly in my lord's favour and soon became First Prime, but all the time Master Bra'tac was whispering in my ear that the Goa'uld were not gods but I never truly believed him until I was ordered to kill a friend of mine, Va'lar. Instead I banished Va'lar to a small village. When Apophis did not discover my trick I began to believe he was not a god and started to work in the resistance with Bra'tac."
"So how come you came to Earth?" "In '97 I met Colonel O'Neill. In my hundred years," Gunn blinked, hundred years - he wouldn't have believed the man was thirty-five years old, "I have never believed anyone who said they could stop Apophis. O'Neill was my prisoner and yet," there was a note of wonder in the alien's previously impassive voice, "I believed him and helped him escape. Since then I have fought beside the Tau'ri to end the System Lords' rule."
"Tau'ri, that's humans right?" Gunn was reeling at the story he'd heard.
The alien opened his mouth to speak only for his companion's eyes to widen imperceptibly as he pointed at the monitor. "What's that?"
"Damn it," Gunn stared at the figures climbing over the grounds' wall. He hit the general emergency button. Nothing happened. "Shit!" Grabbing his walkie-talkie he began to talk into it. "Eagle's Nest is under attack. Repeat, we're under attack -."
* * *
"Ready yet?"
Hans Axel let out a breath at the tech's nod. His plan was coming to fruition, Angel, Blade and Draven were occupied, if not dead, due to the traps he'd set. With the house's internal security compromised his troops could go in, wipe out the Project's back-up troops and deal with an isolated Demonsbane upon his return. Smiling to himself, he turned his walkie-talkie on. "Troops we're a go."
* * *
"Eagle's Nest is under attack. Repeat, we're under attack -."
Alarmed, Xander glanced across at Wesley. "How far out from Sunnydale would you say we were?"
"Twenty-five minutes," came the Watcher's terse reply.
Xander shook his head, too long. "Make it in fifthteen."
