Chapter 7 You drive, I'll ride.

Angel sped to 130 Willowbrook Park, the address Cordelia had given him. Although he usually would rather to fight alone, for a brief moment, he wished Wesley was there. The man could easily get on one's nerves but he did know his way with weapons. He had improved greatly since he first came to L.A. as a rouge demon hunter. Suddenly, Angel heard a noise and looked to see a black motorcycle flanking him on his right. The rider was dressed in black jeans, a leather jacket, and a shiny black helmet with a dark visor. He let go with one hand to give Angel a thumbs up, and the bike almost swerved into the passenger door. Angel smiled in spite of himself. He did have Wesley by his side, though he had no idea how Wes knew he needed him. They finally arrived at the address and pulled up in front of a duplex. Angel parked the car and got out, looking over at Wesley who was having trouble with the bike's kickstand. He finally just let it fall on its side and pulled his helmet off.

"That was good timing, Wes," Angel remarked grabbing his axe from the passenger seat. "How'd you know what I was doing?"

"Well, I would like to say that it was my superior sense for danger and evil, however I must admit that it was pure dumb luck. I was out for a ride to clear my head when I saw you drive by. I figured you were on to something and thought I'd be of some assistance," Wesley said dropping his helmet on the bike. "You didn't happen to pack an extra weapon, did you?"

Angel gave the man an amused grin and handed him a dagger. As they approached the house, Wesley whispered, "What are we looking for?"

"Thermopoli demons, two of them. They can see in pure darkness by picking up on body heat. No trouble for me there, but they will easily see you."

Angel approached the door and knock softly. When there was no answer, he took a step back and sent the door crashing in with a might kick. "Humans first," he said with a grin. Wesley went in first to check things out. Angel tried to walk though the doorway, expecting to be stopped by the mystical force field that makes it necessary for vampires to be invited into one's house. He stumbled right though. That was not a good sign. That meant that the homeowner was already dead, or it was not the home of a human. There was no rule against vampires entering demon and other vampire homes.

The house was completely dark and the only sound that could be heard was their footsteps. Angel looked around, his eyes usually adjusted quickly, but he was still virtually blind. He knew Wesley was no better off. "I have to vamp," he whispered to Wesley. His vampire senses emerged and his golden eyes cut through the dark like someone had turned on a light. Both men found it odd that a house located in the middle of a city could be so dark. They searched around downstairs when they heard a slight shuffle coming from the upstairs.

"Did you hear...?" Wesley started under his breath. Angel nodded and pointed upstairs. The two men crept up the stairs and down the hallway. They spied a dim strip of light coming from under one of the doors. Angel put his ear up to the door to hear what was going on. He heard a man talking desperately in a hushed terrified voice.

"I told you I don't know. I can't help you..." he sobbed.

"You can help us and you will," came a voice that was definitely not human.

"No…you can't…" the man gasped.

"You have no idea who or what you are dealing with human," the demon started.

"He may not, but I do!" Angel kicked in to door and stood face to face with Thermopoli Demon #1. The demon was over six and a half feet tall with a face that looked like a bad combination of crocodile and rhino with a flatter face. His skin was the color of liquid mercury and his horn was a bright green. Both demons wore red cloaks with hoods. The horn is where they take heat readings, Wesley recalled from the doorway.

"Help me! Please help me!" the man, Angel now assumed to be Simon, pleaded from the corner.

"I think it's past your bedtime," Angel taunted the demons. "Lights out!"

At that signal, Wesley flipped the light switch and the room was shrouded in darkness. He then quickly crawled across the floor over to Simon to help him out of the room. The Thermopoli Demons could see him, but if they stayed close to the ground, the two men would be harder to detect. Without light and without a body heat register, the demons were blind, but Angel was not. He made short work of Demon #1 and sent Demon #2 crashing into a wall. He had kept them distracted from Wes and Simon who were now out in the hallway scrambling down the stairs.

"Leaving so soon are we? We didn't even get to know each other yet," came the voice of a third Thermopoli Demon who was lurking in the darkness. Wesley pulled out his dagger and leapt toward the voice, but was easily deflected into a granite mantel across the room. He laid there stunned, trying to catch the breath that had been completely knocked out of him. Slowly, he got up on his knees and shakily stood up.

"Wesley?" Angel called into the darkness. He had gone out to the car, but neither man was there. "Simon?"

"In here, Angel," Wesley gasped. "Simon's gone."

"What?"

"There was a third Thermopoli down here. I tried to stop him, Angel. Honestly I did!" Wesley pleaded. This had not been his first screw-up and one of these times it was going to be his last. Angel was going to fire him.

"We'll find him, Wes" Angel said with conviction while helping Wesley out to the car. "Can you ride?" Angel asked nodding toward Wesley's bike.

"Of course," Wesley retorted as he let go of Angel and nearly fell over. The world was spinning and he couldn't make it stop.

Angel shook his head. "You drive, I'll ride." A thrill of excitement flashed through him and he had to work to hide the big grin that threatened to spread across his face. He had always wanted to ride Wesley's motorcycle, but never felt it was the proper time to ask.

"Oh, and Wes," Angel said with a smirk as he straddled the bike and slipped on the helmet. "Don't crash my car." He pulled down the visor and finally let that smile show on his face.

After searching blindly for the missing man and demon, Angel and Wesley called it a night. Wesley was still recovering from the attack that left his equilibrium completely out of sync. They both drove back to the office and crashed at Angel's for the night.