Chapter Three: The Tempter
Later, a few hours after the sun had set, the trio exited their headquarters, already knowing where to watch for the attack. After all, Caritas was where the Host was located, and where they frequently went for guidance...along with a few drinks on the side. "Angel." Hissed Cordelia from the passenger side of the car, "Shouldn't we go get Wesley or Gunn? I think they'd want in on this too..."
Angel shook his head once, turning the wheel with a practiced hand, "They're taking a break. I don't want to bug them about something as routine as this." Wesley and Gunn had been on their much needed vacation for a little less than a week now, and it was annoying the heck out of Angel, who was used to their constant company. Cordelia was alright...but she was Cordelia for Pete's sake! He didn't know of anyone alive on this planet that could put up with her alone for any amount of time.
Caitir quietly sat in the back, pondering her very near future. She knew she had arrived in the right place, but so far she didn't seem to be doing anything but causing dead weight. What did the Powers expect her to do without her battling capabilities? Of course she still had empathy and the ability to sense evil when others could not...but they wouldn't save her life if it came down to it. And how did they expect her to protect the human race from evil if she couldn't even manage a simple summoning of a weapon? This mission seemed nearly impossible–but then her thoughts were interrupted as the vehicle parked a block or two away from Caritas.
"Here we are." Commented Angel unnecessarily, glancing at the other two passengers, "Cordelia, you come with me...just...put Caitir somewhere that she won't get into trouble. I don't need to be rescuing more than one victim; especially one that wasn't in danger in the first place." He opened his door and stepped out, ambling over to the entrance to wait for the only seer on his team of ragtag fighters.
Cordelia scowled after him, then glanced back at Caitir. The seraph glowered at her, "Don't even think about leaving me behind in this–this–thing! I'm going inside as well." The car unnerved her, for all its rattling and bouncing and cavorting around. As a point of fact, everything about this human world unnerved her; its food, its people, and especially its transportation. Caitir didn't trust one thing about this race, and would've liked nothing better than to fly away and leave its smelly streets and polluted souls in her dust.
Cordelia sighed and nodded, "Fine, you can wait at the bar. Just–don't get into trouble. Got it? No smack-downs on people just because they look at you funny."An affirmative nod was all the response she could elicit from the newly made mortal, so she exited the car and followed Angel inside, taking a detour to seat Caitir at the bar, near the clock she had seen in the vision. "Here," She pressed a five dollar bill into Caitir's petite hand, "Buy a drink or whatever. This won't take long." Without waiting for a response, Cordelia left her to join Angel in his wait for the demon. The time was 20 minutes to eleven...
The dark haired man beside her ordered a drink, and then cast an appraising eye over her figure and features. His expression was one of faint approval, although Caitir had no idea why. "What's your name?" He asked when she glanced at him out of sheer discomfort. He was dressed in a mildly rumpled business suit, and his scent was that of alcohol mixed with a brand of Old Spice.
Caitir wrinkled her nose and sneezed loudly when someone nearby began smoking, replying with a slightly rueful look, "I'm called Caitir." The bartender pushed a glass full of clear liquid at her, and she picked it up cautiously, sniffing it delicately. "What do you call this?" She tasted it hesitantly. It was bland, but cool and refreshing. She immediately decided she liked this substance as opposed to the coffee she had been subjected to earlier that morning.
The bartender raised both of his bushy eyebrows at her and commented in a gravelly voice, "I call it tap water, compliments of the sink. You don't look like you can stomach a beer, let alone a pop." He walked away, wiping his sweaty hands off on his stained jeans as he filled another order for some other customer.
He listened to the bartender, and laughed loudly. The man gave her the most charming smile he could manage while severely drunk and replied, "Caitir? That's a pretty name. I'm Lindsey." His seafoam eyes, although glazed over with intoxication, were still entrancing to the formerly immortal seraph. "I haven't seen you in here before. You just start coming tonight?" Caitir stared openly at him for a moment, then nodded in that matter-of- fact way she had recently adopted, complete with a touch of naivete. "I came with two others. They are somewhere else in this...Caritas." For a moment, her crystal clear eyes scanned around the large area, searching for the two crime fighters who had seen fit to leave her somewhere 'safe'. Then, she saw Angel and Cordelia going after a shadowy figure in the back doorway, "I'm with them."
Lindsey pretended to dismiss this information with another gulp of his drink. "Is that right?" He asked casually, recognizing them despite his intoxication. What would she be doing with them? Something worth discovering, certainly. An annoying buzzing sensation interrupted them from his coat pocket, and he pulled out a furiously ringing pager which read: URGENT MEETING: 7:30 AM TOMORROW AT HOLLAND'S OFFICE. He glanced at the clock on the wall through blurred eyes and noted the time was 11:00. Lindsey nearly cursed, but the curious gleam in his bar companion's eyes froze it in his mouth. "I've got a meeting tomorrow, so I oughta get going." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a business card without a second thought, scrawling a number on the back. "Call me later. We can do lunch, maybe."
Caitir accepted the piece of paper curiously, looking at the scrawled numbers with curiousity. "Call you?" She asked, not entirely sure what he meant. It was amazing at times how powerful she once was, and yet so naive she had turned out to be. The clock ticked cheerfully until it reached a minute past 11.
Lindsey nodded, "Yeah, anytime." He spotted Angel and Cordelia rapidly approaching out of the crowd, and took to his heels, stumbling his way out the door. Caitir watched him go, noting with a mild amount of annoyance that for some odd reason, her heart was beating irregularly. Was it the presence of the human named Lindsey, or something else? Regardless, the deed they had come to prevent had been handled.
Cordelia reached her first and tugged gently on Caitir's elbow, "Come on, we're done. Let's go find a place for you to crash." Her eyes caught onto the number on the blank back of the card, and she laughed, "Got yourself a beau already, huh? Time to go, lover girl." It would have been to everyone's benefit if she had flipped the card over and seen to whom it belonged, but fate didn't twist that way. For whatever obscure reason, it was slipped into Caitir's pocket, an innocent seeming instrument of destruction.
Later, a few hours after the sun had set, the trio exited their headquarters, already knowing where to watch for the attack. After all, Caritas was where the Host was located, and where they frequently went for guidance...along with a few drinks on the side. "Angel." Hissed Cordelia from the passenger side of the car, "Shouldn't we go get Wesley or Gunn? I think they'd want in on this too..."
Angel shook his head once, turning the wheel with a practiced hand, "They're taking a break. I don't want to bug them about something as routine as this." Wesley and Gunn had been on their much needed vacation for a little less than a week now, and it was annoying the heck out of Angel, who was used to their constant company. Cordelia was alright...but she was Cordelia for Pete's sake! He didn't know of anyone alive on this planet that could put up with her alone for any amount of time.
Caitir quietly sat in the back, pondering her very near future. She knew she had arrived in the right place, but so far she didn't seem to be doing anything but causing dead weight. What did the Powers expect her to do without her battling capabilities? Of course she still had empathy and the ability to sense evil when others could not...but they wouldn't save her life if it came down to it. And how did they expect her to protect the human race from evil if she couldn't even manage a simple summoning of a weapon? This mission seemed nearly impossible–but then her thoughts were interrupted as the vehicle parked a block or two away from Caritas.
"Here we are." Commented Angel unnecessarily, glancing at the other two passengers, "Cordelia, you come with me...just...put Caitir somewhere that she won't get into trouble. I don't need to be rescuing more than one victim; especially one that wasn't in danger in the first place." He opened his door and stepped out, ambling over to the entrance to wait for the only seer on his team of ragtag fighters.
Cordelia scowled after him, then glanced back at Caitir. The seraph glowered at her, "Don't even think about leaving me behind in this–this–thing! I'm going inside as well." The car unnerved her, for all its rattling and bouncing and cavorting around. As a point of fact, everything about this human world unnerved her; its food, its people, and especially its transportation. Caitir didn't trust one thing about this race, and would've liked nothing better than to fly away and leave its smelly streets and polluted souls in her dust.
Cordelia sighed and nodded, "Fine, you can wait at the bar. Just–don't get into trouble. Got it? No smack-downs on people just because they look at you funny."An affirmative nod was all the response she could elicit from the newly made mortal, so she exited the car and followed Angel inside, taking a detour to seat Caitir at the bar, near the clock she had seen in the vision. "Here," She pressed a five dollar bill into Caitir's petite hand, "Buy a drink or whatever. This won't take long." Without waiting for a response, Cordelia left her to join Angel in his wait for the demon. The time was 20 minutes to eleven...
The dark haired man beside her ordered a drink, and then cast an appraising eye over her figure and features. His expression was one of faint approval, although Caitir had no idea why. "What's your name?" He asked when she glanced at him out of sheer discomfort. He was dressed in a mildly rumpled business suit, and his scent was that of alcohol mixed with a brand of Old Spice.
Caitir wrinkled her nose and sneezed loudly when someone nearby began smoking, replying with a slightly rueful look, "I'm called Caitir." The bartender pushed a glass full of clear liquid at her, and she picked it up cautiously, sniffing it delicately. "What do you call this?" She tasted it hesitantly. It was bland, but cool and refreshing. She immediately decided she liked this substance as opposed to the coffee she had been subjected to earlier that morning.
The bartender raised both of his bushy eyebrows at her and commented in a gravelly voice, "I call it tap water, compliments of the sink. You don't look like you can stomach a beer, let alone a pop." He walked away, wiping his sweaty hands off on his stained jeans as he filled another order for some other customer.
He listened to the bartender, and laughed loudly. The man gave her the most charming smile he could manage while severely drunk and replied, "Caitir? That's a pretty name. I'm Lindsey." His seafoam eyes, although glazed over with intoxication, were still entrancing to the formerly immortal seraph. "I haven't seen you in here before. You just start coming tonight?" Caitir stared openly at him for a moment, then nodded in that matter-of- fact way she had recently adopted, complete with a touch of naivete. "I came with two others. They are somewhere else in this...Caritas." For a moment, her crystal clear eyes scanned around the large area, searching for the two crime fighters who had seen fit to leave her somewhere 'safe'. Then, she saw Angel and Cordelia going after a shadowy figure in the back doorway, "I'm with them."
Lindsey pretended to dismiss this information with another gulp of his drink. "Is that right?" He asked casually, recognizing them despite his intoxication. What would she be doing with them? Something worth discovering, certainly. An annoying buzzing sensation interrupted them from his coat pocket, and he pulled out a furiously ringing pager which read: URGENT MEETING: 7:30 AM TOMORROW AT HOLLAND'S OFFICE. He glanced at the clock on the wall through blurred eyes and noted the time was 11:00. Lindsey nearly cursed, but the curious gleam in his bar companion's eyes froze it in his mouth. "I've got a meeting tomorrow, so I oughta get going." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a business card without a second thought, scrawling a number on the back. "Call me later. We can do lunch, maybe."
Caitir accepted the piece of paper curiously, looking at the scrawled numbers with curiousity. "Call you?" She asked, not entirely sure what he meant. It was amazing at times how powerful she once was, and yet so naive she had turned out to be. The clock ticked cheerfully until it reached a minute past 11.
Lindsey nodded, "Yeah, anytime." He spotted Angel and Cordelia rapidly approaching out of the crowd, and took to his heels, stumbling his way out the door. Caitir watched him go, noting with a mild amount of annoyance that for some odd reason, her heart was beating irregularly. Was it the presence of the human named Lindsey, or something else? Regardless, the deed they had come to prevent had been handled.
Cordelia reached her first and tugged gently on Caitir's elbow, "Come on, we're done. Let's go find a place for you to crash." Her eyes caught onto the number on the blank back of the card, and she laughed, "Got yourself a beau already, huh? Time to go, lover girl." It would have been to everyone's benefit if she had flipped the card over and seen to whom it belonged, but fate didn't twist that way. For whatever obscure reason, it was slipped into Caitir's pocket, an innocent seeming instrument of destruction.