THE LABOUR & THE WOUNDS
By Allegra

NOTE : I have amended bits of Part One because, having just seen 'Spin The Bottle', I realised I couldn't feasibly set this story between 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem' & 'Supersymmetry', so instead, this story is set between 'Spin The Bottle' and 'Rain Of Fire' (formerly 'Apocalypse Nowish'). Basically, the changes are to the scenes with Cordy, so you might (not) want to re-read that part :)

See Part 1 for all other disclaimers, notes etc.

CHAPTER 2

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"You're out of your mind. We'll have the police on our backs before the fight's even begun." Cole Ferguson was getting cold feet about this whole deal. He had always known if he ever made it out of Arkansas he would get into trouble. Los Angeles had turned into a whole heap of trouble that he just couldn't get clear of. It didn't help that his demon face had a habit of rearing itself at the strangest of occasions. His mother used to make him practise in the basement, turning it on and off at will rather than randomly. It figured that the only place he'd ever be accepted was in the criminal underground of the city of angels. At least he wasn't the only demon. Hundreds thronged to the basement on Kneppler Street every night to take part and bet on the show of a life time. It had seemed like a great deal at the time - food and board in exchange for a little crowd control and money lending beside the ring. Then again, all good things come to an end and Cole could see this happening sooner than he'd hoped.

Fax Torrance, the big boss man, leaned back in his battered leather chair. "Take it easy, Cole. It's just another contender."

"Yeah, but it's a kid! A human, Fax! I thought the deal was we don't kill innocents. It's not much of a sport when they get ripped limb from limb in the first five minutes. It puts people off, you know."

"Relax, Cole. He ain't human." Fax's mind was already on his new publicity angle - The Kid versus Bolgar the Bloody. He chewed absently on his pencil, occasionally jotting down ideas for eye-catching headlines. The crowd were going to love this.

Cole paused in his pacing in front of the desk, letting his heart slowly calm to a more natural pace. "He's not human? Well, why didn't you say so? Jeez, you know how to scare a guy."

"I don't know what he is, but he sure as hell ain't human. There's something in him, some demon entity or something. I dunno, but it's going to be fun finding out."

Cole felt his heart speeding up once more. Had Fax lost his mind? "Man, you don't know what he is?! We've got policies, you know. You can't just stick him in a ring and wait for tentacles to pop out of his head or poison darts to shoot from his knuckles! No one's going to get in that ring with him unless everything's up front. You know that!"

Fax shrugged as if none of this mattered an ounce to him. "Cole, give me a break here, it's been a long day and it's going to be a long night. I've got publicity to prepare."

"You're letting this 'kid' fight tonight? Great, another riot on our hands." Cole put his hands firmly on the desk, forcing Fax to give him his full attention. "People and demons alike don't like this kind of thing. You've got to build him up, give him some time to get the crowd's interest. They'll flay him alive if you send him in there raw like this."

Fax sighed wearily. "Oh, god damn it, Cole! Which is it, 'coz I sure as hell can't tell? Are you worried about the crowd or the fighters? You're forgetting the fundamental reason why folks gather here. They want a fight and they want blood, in the name of sport. Now, all it takes is one willing contender to go up against this kid and we're away. Now, scat! Go get in the beer for the night or we really will have a riot."

Recognising a lost argument when he saw it, Cole slouched out of the office, muttering under his breath.

**********

"Angel. I hate to interrupt but...we've got kind of a situation." Fred dug her hands into her pockets and rolled her eyes meaningfully towards the office.

Angel gave her a blank expression in return. He had spent the evening chatting to Cordelia about pretty much everything that came to mind. She had been eager to piece together some of the jigsaw that had lately become her life and the time had just flown by. As he glanced towards the window, he was surprised to see how dark it had become. "A situation?" he asked bluntly.

Fred nodded, fiercely, and Angel slowly began to cotton on to what she was saying. Getting so comfortable again with Cordelia had almost made him forget that she was still struggling to come to terms with this shadowy life. Fred was just trying to save her from some of the more grizzly bits.

Cordelia, however, had other ideas. "You know, you can just say it, Fred. I'm not as fragile as you might think. I do remember all this stuff, I'm just not sure I'm ready to face it again quite yet. Just because I kicked my amnesia and have to deal with my higher purpose in this world isn't a reason for you guys to tiptoe around! Although, now I say it,...." Cordy looked Fred's sheepish face and lowered her hysterical tone to a pitch humans could hear. "Besides, I can take care of myself. Connor reminded me of some of my kick-ass skills when we were out and I..."

Angel couldn't contain himself. "Connor was teaching you to fight?!"

Cordelia chose to ignore the incredulous interruption. "As I said, more 'reminding' me. All the staking, kicking, hurting.... So, you really don't need to shelter me so much anymore. I guess I'm still adjusting but, hey, a girl's gotta earn her keep, right? I can still throw a punch every now and again."

Angel tried to hide his concern and fascination with what had gone on behind closed doors between Cordelia and his son. It was hard enough that she had chosen to live with someone else for a while but it was so much worse when that person was the very one who had betrayed him and sunk him to the bottom of the ocean. He cared about Cordelia, very much, and Connor knew it. It was like another chance to twist the knife in Angel's unbeating heart.

Fred's shoulders slumped into an obvious sign of relief. "So that means you want to know the sitch?" Cordelia nodded. "Oh, well, okay. Angel, you know that funny, bile eating demon you used to hang out with?"

Angel cleared his throat uncertainly, noticing the disgusted expression crossing Cordelia's face. "Um, well, we didn't exactly hang out. He was a contact, more of an acquaintance really..."

Fred wasn't being to quick on the uptake. "You told me you used to play cards with him all the time."

Angel frowned, pretending to cast his mind back over all the many benevolent demons he had encountered in his life. "Oh, right, yes, I remember now! Called himself Brian. He never did like the sound of his demon name."

Fred shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Well, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but Brian's dead."

All embarrassment melted away with the 'd' word. "Dead?"

Fred pulled a torn page of the newspaper out of her back pocket and thrust it into Angel's hands. "Yeah, he's in a side column of today's paper. I figured you'd want to know, him being demon and all."

Cordelia tried to forget her own horror at the images conjured up on Angel exchanging bile-covered cards as some scaly, horned demon coughed up phlegm balls in some seedy joint. She rubbed Angel's back soothingly. "I'm sorry, Angel."

While he was enjoying the light touch of her fingers along his spine, Angel's mind was already on work. "It says here that he wasn't the only casualty. Two men were killed, too. The police say there were unidentified liquid deposits found on the ground at the scene."

Cordelia's brow furrowed in concentration. "So what does that mean?"

Fred's eyes widened and she pushed her glasses further up her nose. "It means we've got a case."

Angel stood up, scanning the brief article once more. "A column in the paper, two human casualties. Most demons are more careful that that; they like to keep to the shadows. I get the feeling there's more here than meets the eye."

Cordelia nodded, trying to convince herself that she understood the implications of all this. "Right, so...that means it's a job for Angel Investigations!"

Angel smiled absently at her, his mind racing with possible leads to follow up on. "Fred, you and Gunn pull up anything you can find on the incident. Past records, history of the victims, addresses, the lot. I'll check out some of local hang-outs, see if I can find anything of use." He glanced at Cordelia. "Cordy, maybe you should rest a bit. I know you're up for this, but there's really nothing solid yet. I'm sure we could use you a bit later." Cordelia opened her mouth to protest but the pair were already out of the door and halfway down the corridor. Forlornly, she sighed, "Right! Yes, good plan. I'll just...stay here."

**********

DON'T WORRY, I PROMISE THE CONNOR FIGHT IS COMING SOON! HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING IT. ANY FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOMED.