A/N: need the reviews. Must have the reviews.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. You understand? Nothing. Jake owns himself.
The day began as any other I'd seen in that city. Granted the weather could have been a bit better, but who am I to dictate? I did enjoy the light drizzle on the back of my head as I walked across the street. My eyes watched the other pedestrians ducking their heads as they walked, trying to keep their faces dry I suppose. I kept walking, moving though the crowd without brushing against or even touching those around me. I finally reached my destination and turned into a large office building, cutting straight across the lobby to the elevator and pushing the button for the top floor. I left the elevator on my floor and walked down the hallway to a specific door where I walked past the receptionist and into the office. Sitting in his leather chair in a perfectly tailored suit was the man I was here to see.
"Mr. McBoom, I'm glad you're here." I reached across his desk to shake his hand and to get a mental image of him and what he wanted. He was legit.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Walters. What kind of job do you have for me exactly?"
"Straight to business, I like that. I look forward to working with you, indeed. This job is somewhat... strange. Point in fact if I went to the authorities with this they would probably throw me in the nuthouse. I need someone with your talents and specialties. If, that is, you are the man I am led to believe you are."
"You wouldn't have called for my services if you didn't know who I was, Mr. Walters. I only need to know three things from you: who and what is the target, local or international, and that you're going to pay half of my fee upfront and the rest upon completion."
"Well, you certainly present yourself as the professional I was led to believe you are, Sir. All the information I have is in this file. As for your fee, how much exactly are we speaking of?" He handed me a thick manila folder which held everything inside. The pictures of the target looked human.
"Well, now I have more questions. Is the target human? And what did he do to incur your wrath?"
"Half human, actually. He's hit my company more times than I can count, but those weren't anything to seriously cry over. Then last week he hit my family. My son was out late one night with his date when he was attacked, kidnapped, tortured and killed all in the same night. They found his headless body along with the sodomized remains of his date in a shallow grave in a local park two days after he was taken. My intelligence tracked down the thing responsible for all of this. He's half Anamovic demon, they tell me, whatever that means." He was silent for a moment as he brought his anger under control; I was still leafing through the folder. I waited until he had composed himself before I began.
"One demon, possibly more, local, just cause, I'd say you qualify for my nominal fee. As I mentioned before that will be half up front, the rest upon completion and an additional fee if you require proof of said completion. I get started as soon as I receive my five thousand dollars." He seemed reassured by my professionalism.
"Will you take a check?"
I walked into the hotel to see the usual disarray of the casual work environment. Wesley at the counter deep in thought and immersed in a book, Gunn reclining on the oval sofa and Cordelia typing away at the computer. I said hello to the group as I made my way to the coffee pot, not realizing until then how good a mood I was in. I guess clients paying me in cash have that affect on my. Pouring myself a cup and moving to Wesley's side so I could look over his shoulder, I asked him what he was reading.
"I'm still trying to puzzle out this code."
"Did somebody say code?" I jumped at the voice I didn't recognize coming from behind me. Turning quickly revealed that a skinny brunette owned the voice and the Texan accent that came with it.
"Look guys, I'm out of my room. What code are you talking about? I've always been good at codes." I didn't know who she was, but she seemed nice enough.
"Hi, I'm Jake. And you are?"
"Oh, I'm Fred. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to see you out of your room Fred; you should do it more often. Would you mind taking a look at this with me?" Wesley's voice was calm and supportive as he coaxed her to his side and got her involved in translating and breaking the code. I headed upstairs to my room to change shirts and grab an axe before heading back downstairs.
"Hey, you got some big evil brewing?" Gunn sounded eager to get out of the hotel.
"Not really man. Just one or maybe two half demons; no big."
"Mind if I give you a hand? I don't have anything else to do."
"Naw, I'm alright. Time for me to do what I get paid for." He stood up and his eyes told me he needed to get out of this place or he was in danger of going crazy. I nodded.
"I guess you can tag along though if you want to." He smiled at me relieved and followed me out. According to the file the target had last been seen at a dive downtown and that was where I headed. I told Gunn about the case on the way and he had the usual first timer response: he got mad. We hit the dive, splitting up and asking people if they'd seen the guy in the photos we carried. I finally got a hit with one of the regulars who even knew this guy's name. Unfortunately he didn't know much more. I made sure he thought we were collectors, looking for him so he could pay us back. We left the club and I made a phone call.
"Yeah, Dave, it's me. I'm looking for a guy, LA, name of Peter Cummings." I waited while the guy on the other end did some looking in his database, before coming back with a match. I wrote down anything pertinent to me, ignoring stuff like his tax information or his parking tickets. I thanked Dave and shut the phone to look up at Gunn's somewhat puzzled face.
"You can do that? You get a guys name and you find out everything about them?"
"It doesn't always work out, though. Sometimes I get Fake names or more than one guy with the same name but most of the time it helps out a lot. C'mon, let's go check this place out." We got in the car and took off in the direction of the target's house. The place really didn't look that different than any other house I'd seen in this part of town. It was one of those 'we're gonna build a whole lot of houses off of one design to save money' neighborhoods. We drove by it once and parked down the street before getting out and seriously casing the joint. We had a problem, looked like a party was going on. I nodded at Gunn as we made our way to the front door. In this business, when the backdoor is blocked, you go for the front. I knocked and waited a few seconds before a red faced demon answered the door. Seeing it was two humans he paused and cocked his head slightly before asking what we wanted.
"I'm looking for someone. Do you live here?"
"Yes. Who are you looking for?"
"Peter."
"I'm Peter." Perfect. "Would you mind stepping outside so we can talk for a few minutes? You should probably tell your friends you'll be right back." He nodded and leaned around the corner of his entryway into what I assumed was his living room before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.
"What's this all about?"
"Would you mind showing me your human face please? This will just take a sec." He nodded and took a breath as his eye ridges faded and his reddish skin tone and scales became pink flesh. I knew without checking the picture that this was our guy.
"Who are you guys, do you work for Walters?" I nodded. Gunn had moved between him and the house, making sure not to show his back to the window.
"Would you like to tell me about what you were doing the night of the 12th?" He paused slightly before answering.
"I was out at a club with some friends."
Even with demons you can tell when they're lying. I noticed a very slight change in his odor and my psychic senses were screaming at the untruth he'd tried to pawn off with a calm voice.
"Are the friends you were there with here tonight?"
"Yeah, both of them are."
"We need to go get them too." I kept him in sight as he tried to go into the living room, but I pulled him back to keep him in the entryway as he asked two of his friends to join him. Standing behind him to keep my face in shadow I was able to count ten others in the room, but called it twelve for others that were probably there. I followed the three of them back out of the house and closed the door behind me.
"What's this all about?" The one on the left was looking around a little nervously as he assessed the situation. The one on the right, however, looked smugly down on us from a towering height of over six and a half feet easily.
"Where were you gentlemen on the night of the 12th a few weeks ago?" Peter tried to answer again, but the big guy answered easily.
"We were tearing up this dude who done us dirty and the bitch that was there with him. We did them right and proper too, in accordance with tradition. What's it to you?" I loved it when they confess. I glanced at Gunn and he nodded quickly before I looked Peter right in the eye.
"Thank you." He seemed about to smile before he saw the gun rising toward his face. The first round went off and my aim shifted to his tall friend before he could start toward me. The second round went off at the same time as Gunn's axe, which he'd pulled from behind him, found the neck of the nervous guy. I waited until all three were on the ground before I holstered the silenced pistol and pulled a small camera from my pocket and snapped two quick pictures of the scene in front of me. Gunn and I walked calmly down to the car, got in after making sure we weren't followed, and took off down the road. It was a couple of minutes before he looked at me and felt the urge to speak.
"So this is what you do?"
"More or less. This job was pretty easy; they're normally harder to find."
"And you get paid for this?"
"Oh yeah. This job will make me about eleven thousand."
"No shit? Eleven thousand for doing what I had to do to stay alive."
"Hey man, I used to do this for just criminals that outwitted the system. I'll tell you, though, that if you'd have called me with your problem, the next week you could have called that warehouse a condo. I do a lot of cases on merit; just hoping people can return the favor someday when I need it."
"I feel you, man, but Angel helped me out and I didn't like it very much. I probably wouldn't have asked if I did know you back then." We rode out the rest of the drive pretty much in silence as we made our way back to the hotel. When we got there I talked with angel a little bit before heading up to take a shower and then wiping down my jacket to get the little bit of blood splatter off before it had a chance to soak in. I headed back down and sat down in Angel's office across from him in my usual place. We started out talking about the hit, but after I assured him they'd had it coming we moved into other topics. I tried to bring the subject around to his trip to see Buffy, but he skirted past it and moved on. I did get him to talk more about his past, or rather part of his past. That night I got a true idea of the difference between Angel, the man he was now, and Angelus the demon inside him.
The next day I hit the workout room downstairs for about an hour before showering and getting ready to collect the rest of my money. I made my way down the same street but in slightly different weather from the day before. I walked past the same receptionist and into the same office. The man behind the desk, however, was not the same. A skinnier man with brown hair instead of gray was leaning forward over some paperwork on the desk.
"Where is Mr. Walters?" The man looked up at me in mild amusement.
"I'm Mr. Walters." I put my hand out for him to shake. He took it quizzically, but I figured it out quickly enough.
"Mr. Walters I don't need to know why you changed your appearance yesterday, but I am here to collect my money." I reached into my pocket and he put his hands up. I pulled out the camera and he relaxed a little.
"This should be all the proof you need." I turned it on and handed it to him. He looked through both pictures on it a few times before looking up at me and smiled.
"I wasn't expecting you so soon. Will there be an extra charge for that? Sorry about the glamour, by the way, but I don't normally deal with your profession and it seemed safer at the time for you to not know what I look like."
"Don't worry about it. Yes there will be an extra fee. Here is your bill." Mentally shaking my head, I handed him a formal looking invoice; whatever he had to do to feel safe. Some of my former clients and employers had found a way to write off my services on their taxes, so I went the extra half step and did this to help them out a little bit. He stood up and went to his wall safe same as he did the day before. I like it when things stay the same, especially when its people giving me cash.
"I'm rounding up on this so I don't have to separate wraps and because I appreciate your speedy solution to my problem." He handed me a pile of wrapped bills which I counted and tucked into pockets inside my pants and jacket. He folded back up the bill and put it on one of the piles on his desk after I signed it paid in full. We faced each other as we shook hands and I wished him well before I left his office and headed back down. I followed the same routine as yesterday, making sure I wasn't followed as I made my way to the bank to deposit the cash on my way to the hotel. I walked in whistling as I made my way up to Gunn and asked him if we could talk.
"Look, I don't know how you'll feel about this, but you helped me out with my job last night and put yourself at risk so I've got some money here for you."
"This isn't pity money, is it?" He looked down at the rolled up half stack in my hand. Five hundred wasn't too much, but I figured I owed him something for having my back. Besides, I got more than this in addition to my fee so it wasn't like I was hurting or anything.
"No pity, just money. I want to give it to you, but you don't have to take it."
"Oh, I'm takin it." He took it out of my hand and counted it quickly before stuffing it in his pocket. "Thanks man, this is nice." We shook hands and I walked over to the coffee pot to pour myself a cup.
"Where's Wesley?"
"I don't know, out somewhere I think. Cordy didn't come in and Angel's downstairs." He went back to his magazine as I headed downstairs. I nodded at Angel as I took my jacket and then my button up shirt off and then asked him if he felt like going a few rounds. He shook his head and went back to his sword drills and I went over to the heavy bag to start out with. About an hour later I went upstairs to find Cordelia and Wesley in the office area behind the counter and said good morning to them on my way to the much needed shower. I came downstairs and volunteered to make the lunch run for the group, saying it was on me. I got back from the pizza place around the corner with the food still hot and the number of the girl behind the counter in my pocket. When I have a good day it keeps getting better, I can't control my vibes.
We enjoyed the pizza while Cordy talked about the new case she took for us. As soon as he had eaten his fill Wesley went back to working with his book intently. I asked him if he'd gotten any more leads, but he just shook his head and wrote something down. Cordy looked up at me.
"Don't worry about him; he gets testy sometimes when he's in book mode. When he finds something out, you'll know."
"I've got something!"
"See?" I nodded and with a grin on my face I asked him what was up.
"I believe I've narrowed down the timeframe of the danger to Buffy."
"How long do we have?" I was suddenly bumped out of my good mood.
"Not too long, but we do have some time yet."
"How much time are we talking about?"
"Well I can't be certain. But, more or less, it is still there."
"How about the identity of the other people in that prophesy?"
"Nothing concrete as of yet, but I'm working on that next." I sighed.
"Alright, man. Good work, I just hope we have more time instead of less." Do you ever have one of those thoughts that just kicks you in the head? That was the kind of thought I had at that moment. I stood up and went upstairs to gather my things; I would leave for Sunny-dale tonight. It wasn't long before my bags were packed and stowed in the back of my car. I found Angel downstairs working out but he stopped as I spoke.
"Hey."
"Hey. So where you going?"
"You know where I'm going and you know why." He nodded and we were silent. Finally I had to ask him what he believed about it all.
"Do you really think the other guy in that prophesy is me?"
"Yeah, I think it's you, but it doesn't matter what I think. Prophesies are like guidelines, warnings. If you do that then this will happen, kind of a thing. What really matters here is what you believe. If you believe you can help her, then you should go. That's what's important here." I nodded and crossed the room to shake his hand.
"Good luck around here." His handshake was cool and strong.
"You take care of yourself... and her." I nodded and then he followed me upstairs so I could say goodbye to the rest of the gang. We were standing around the lobby and I started to make my rounds when a glass bottle shattered against the front door. We looked around in surprise as a group of demons rushed in. One of them had a gun but the rest seemed just to be armed with swords and axes. We stood in tableau for half a second and then burst into sudden motion.
Angel dove for the weapons cabinet as my pistol appeared in my hand. The demons gun went off a second before mine did but he missed; I didn't. I fired three more times, and the group fell back from me. They charged forward and I turned to catch the sword Angel threw at me as he attacked from the side. I noticed Gunn and Wesley grappling with their own demons and Cordy hitting one of them over the head with a book. I started working my way through the fight in her direction. I almost didn't make it in time as a demon approached from her back. I parried and cut the one attacking me to turn and shove my blade in the path of the one attacking her. I succeeded in turning his attack aside and went to shove my blade through his gut when I felt a slash against my back. I staggered forward and fell into the demon in front of me. I turned as I fell and slashed across the face of the one who'd cut me. Still lying on the ground I grabbed for the sword arm of the demon beside me. I finally got the sword out of his hand, had to break his arm to do it. I stood up and cut the demon coming at me and had the opportunity to look around.
Angel broke the neck of the last demon standing and looked around as well. I turned and helped Cordy up from the ground as Wesley and Gunn brushed themselves off. None of us seemed too much the worse for the fight. The demons on the other hand couldn't say the same. The two that were still alive were quickly separated and questioned.
"Why did you attack us?"
"We came here to find and kill him and his friends." The demon whose arm I'd broken pointed at me with his good hand.
"Why would you do that?"
"He killed our clansman. Tradition and honor dictate that we must exact our revenge." Angel looked at me but I had nothing to say. I had gotten them involved in what had just turned into a clan war. I could have gotten someone seriously hurt or even killed. That just would not do. I pulled with my head toward the next room and Angel stood up and came to talk with me.
"They attacked you and your friends in your house so this is your call. But if it were me I'd let them go. I'm leaving and they shouldn't come back here after they got beaten this badly this time. Like I said, it's your call." He was silent for a minute and then walked back into the room. I heard him warn them never to come back here or he would kill them all for threatening his friends. They were shaky and looked like they believed him. Then he opened the door and told them to leave. They helped each other up and walked to the door, outside I heard the sound of a van pulling away. I looked around the room and at the faces of those I'd fought beside.
"I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean for you to get involved with my work." They looked at each other for a second before Cordelia spoke and the others followed in close succession.
"Don't worry about it."
"Not like it's never happened before."
"Kind of used to it by now."
"Another day in paradise." Angel spoke last and then looked at Cordelia as she walked up to me.
"Take off your jacket." I did and she moved around to my back as I checked out the damage.
"It's ruined." I tossed the jacket that was almost cut in half onto the sofa and then winced as Cordelia probed the cut with her fingers.
"At least it took most of the damage. Take off your shirt." I followed her to sit down as I pulled my shirt off. Angel walked over to inspect my jacket where it lay. Cordelia went behind the counter to pull out medical supplies and come back to begin cleaning my back.
"How bad is it?"
"Just a scratch, really; shouldn't even slow you down."
"When you get done I'd like to see you in my office." Angel walked past us on his way there and didn't look back to see my acknowledgment. With the skill borne of many years of practice Cordelia finished securing the bandage on my back and patted my to signal I was done as she turned to Wesley and the scratch on his forehead. I checked the pockets of my jacket and moved their contents to my pants pockets as I made my way into the office and took my usual seat.
"What's up?"
"When you go, I'd like you to take a few things with you."
Disclaimer: I own nothing. You understand? Nothing. Jake owns himself.
The day began as any other I'd seen in that city. Granted the weather could have been a bit better, but who am I to dictate? I did enjoy the light drizzle on the back of my head as I walked across the street. My eyes watched the other pedestrians ducking their heads as they walked, trying to keep their faces dry I suppose. I kept walking, moving though the crowd without brushing against or even touching those around me. I finally reached my destination and turned into a large office building, cutting straight across the lobby to the elevator and pushing the button for the top floor. I left the elevator on my floor and walked down the hallway to a specific door where I walked past the receptionist and into the office. Sitting in his leather chair in a perfectly tailored suit was the man I was here to see.
"Mr. McBoom, I'm glad you're here." I reached across his desk to shake his hand and to get a mental image of him and what he wanted. He was legit.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Walters. What kind of job do you have for me exactly?"
"Straight to business, I like that. I look forward to working with you, indeed. This job is somewhat... strange. Point in fact if I went to the authorities with this they would probably throw me in the nuthouse. I need someone with your talents and specialties. If, that is, you are the man I am led to believe you are."
"You wouldn't have called for my services if you didn't know who I was, Mr. Walters. I only need to know three things from you: who and what is the target, local or international, and that you're going to pay half of my fee upfront and the rest upon completion."
"Well, you certainly present yourself as the professional I was led to believe you are, Sir. All the information I have is in this file. As for your fee, how much exactly are we speaking of?" He handed me a thick manila folder which held everything inside. The pictures of the target looked human.
"Well, now I have more questions. Is the target human? And what did he do to incur your wrath?"
"Half human, actually. He's hit my company more times than I can count, but those weren't anything to seriously cry over. Then last week he hit my family. My son was out late one night with his date when he was attacked, kidnapped, tortured and killed all in the same night. They found his headless body along with the sodomized remains of his date in a shallow grave in a local park two days after he was taken. My intelligence tracked down the thing responsible for all of this. He's half Anamovic demon, they tell me, whatever that means." He was silent for a moment as he brought his anger under control; I was still leafing through the folder. I waited until he had composed himself before I began.
"One demon, possibly more, local, just cause, I'd say you qualify for my nominal fee. As I mentioned before that will be half up front, the rest upon completion and an additional fee if you require proof of said completion. I get started as soon as I receive my five thousand dollars." He seemed reassured by my professionalism.
"Will you take a check?"
I walked into the hotel to see the usual disarray of the casual work environment. Wesley at the counter deep in thought and immersed in a book, Gunn reclining on the oval sofa and Cordelia typing away at the computer. I said hello to the group as I made my way to the coffee pot, not realizing until then how good a mood I was in. I guess clients paying me in cash have that affect on my. Pouring myself a cup and moving to Wesley's side so I could look over his shoulder, I asked him what he was reading.
"I'm still trying to puzzle out this code."
"Did somebody say code?" I jumped at the voice I didn't recognize coming from behind me. Turning quickly revealed that a skinny brunette owned the voice and the Texan accent that came with it.
"Look guys, I'm out of my room. What code are you talking about? I've always been good at codes." I didn't know who she was, but she seemed nice enough.
"Hi, I'm Jake. And you are?"
"Oh, I'm Fred. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to see you out of your room Fred; you should do it more often. Would you mind taking a look at this with me?" Wesley's voice was calm and supportive as he coaxed her to his side and got her involved in translating and breaking the code. I headed upstairs to my room to change shirts and grab an axe before heading back downstairs.
"Hey, you got some big evil brewing?" Gunn sounded eager to get out of the hotel.
"Not really man. Just one or maybe two half demons; no big."
"Mind if I give you a hand? I don't have anything else to do."
"Naw, I'm alright. Time for me to do what I get paid for." He stood up and his eyes told me he needed to get out of this place or he was in danger of going crazy. I nodded.
"I guess you can tag along though if you want to." He smiled at me relieved and followed me out. According to the file the target had last been seen at a dive downtown and that was where I headed. I told Gunn about the case on the way and he had the usual first timer response: he got mad. We hit the dive, splitting up and asking people if they'd seen the guy in the photos we carried. I finally got a hit with one of the regulars who even knew this guy's name. Unfortunately he didn't know much more. I made sure he thought we were collectors, looking for him so he could pay us back. We left the club and I made a phone call.
"Yeah, Dave, it's me. I'm looking for a guy, LA, name of Peter Cummings." I waited while the guy on the other end did some looking in his database, before coming back with a match. I wrote down anything pertinent to me, ignoring stuff like his tax information or his parking tickets. I thanked Dave and shut the phone to look up at Gunn's somewhat puzzled face.
"You can do that? You get a guys name and you find out everything about them?"
"It doesn't always work out, though. Sometimes I get Fake names or more than one guy with the same name but most of the time it helps out a lot. C'mon, let's go check this place out." We got in the car and took off in the direction of the target's house. The place really didn't look that different than any other house I'd seen in this part of town. It was one of those 'we're gonna build a whole lot of houses off of one design to save money' neighborhoods. We drove by it once and parked down the street before getting out and seriously casing the joint. We had a problem, looked like a party was going on. I nodded at Gunn as we made our way to the front door. In this business, when the backdoor is blocked, you go for the front. I knocked and waited a few seconds before a red faced demon answered the door. Seeing it was two humans he paused and cocked his head slightly before asking what we wanted.
"I'm looking for someone. Do you live here?"
"Yes. Who are you looking for?"
"Peter."
"I'm Peter." Perfect. "Would you mind stepping outside so we can talk for a few minutes? You should probably tell your friends you'll be right back." He nodded and leaned around the corner of his entryway into what I assumed was his living room before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.
"What's this all about?"
"Would you mind showing me your human face please? This will just take a sec." He nodded and took a breath as his eye ridges faded and his reddish skin tone and scales became pink flesh. I knew without checking the picture that this was our guy.
"Who are you guys, do you work for Walters?" I nodded. Gunn had moved between him and the house, making sure not to show his back to the window.
"Would you like to tell me about what you were doing the night of the 12th?" He paused slightly before answering.
"I was out at a club with some friends."
Even with demons you can tell when they're lying. I noticed a very slight change in his odor and my psychic senses were screaming at the untruth he'd tried to pawn off with a calm voice.
"Are the friends you were there with here tonight?"
"Yeah, both of them are."
"We need to go get them too." I kept him in sight as he tried to go into the living room, but I pulled him back to keep him in the entryway as he asked two of his friends to join him. Standing behind him to keep my face in shadow I was able to count ten others in the room, but called it twelve for others that were probably there. I followed the three of them back out of the house and closed the door behind me.
"What's this all about?" The one on the left was looking around a little nervously as he assessed the situation. The one on the right, however, looked smugly down on us from a towering height of over six and a half feet easily.
"Where were you gentlemen on the night of the 12th a few weeks ago?" Peter tried to answer again, but the big guy answered easily.
"We were tearing up this dude who done us dirty and the bitch that was there with him. We did them right and proper too, in accordance with tradition. What's it to you?" I loved it when they confess. I glanced at Gunn and he nodded quickly before I looked Peter right in the eye.
"Thank you." He seemed about to smile before he saw the gun rising toward his face. The first round went off and my aim shifted to his tall friend before he could start toward me. The second round went off at the same time as Gunn's axe, which he'd pulled from behind him, found the neck of the nervous guy. I waited until all three were on the ground before I holstered the silenced pistol and pulled a small camera from my pocket and snapped two quick pictures of the scene in front of me. Gunn and I walked calmly down to the car, got in after making sure we weren't followed, and took off down the road. It was a couple of minutes before he looked at me and felt the urge to speak.
"So this is what you do?"
"More or less. This job was pretty easy; they're normally harder to find."
"And you get paid for this?"
"Oh yeah. This job will make me about eleven thousand."
"No shit? Eleven thousand for doing what I had to do to stay alive."
"Hey man, I used to do this for just criminals that outwitted the system. I'll tell you, though, that if you'd have called me with your problem, the next week you could have called that warehouse a condo. I do a lot of cases on merit; just hoping people can return the favor someday when I need it."
"I feel you, man, but Angel helped me out and I didn't like it very much. I probably wouldn't have asked if I did know you back then." We rode out the rest of the drive pretty much in silence as we made our way back to the hotel. When we got there I talked with angel a little bit before heading up to take a shower and then wiping down my jacket to get the little bit of blood splatter off before it had a chance to soak in. I headed back down and sat down in Angel's office across from him in my usual place. We started out talking about the hit, but after I assured him they'd had it coming we moved into other topics. I tried to bring the subject around to his trip to see Buffy, but he skirted past it and moved on. I did get him to talk more about his past, or rather part of his past. That night I got a true idea of the difference between Angel, the man he was now, and Angelus the demon inside him.
The next day I hit the workout room downstairs for about an hour before showering and getting ready to collect the rest of my money. I made my way down the same street but in slightly different weather from the day before. I walked past the same receptionist and into the same office. The man behind the desk, however, was not the same. A skinnier man with brown hair instead of gray was leaning forward over some paperwork on the desk.
"Where is Mr. Walters?" The man looked up at me in mild amusement.
"I'm Mr. Walters." I put my hand out for him to shake. He took it quizzically, but I figured it out quickly enough.
"Mr. Walters I don't need to know why you changed your appearance yesterday, but I am here to collect my money." I reached into my pocket and he put his hands up. I pulled out the camera and he relaxed a little.
"This should be all the proof you need." I turned it on and handed it to him. He looked through both pictures on it a few times before looking up at me and smiled.
"I wasn't expecting you so soon. Will there be an extra charge for that? Sorry about the glamour, by the way, but I don't normally deal with your profession and it seemed safer at the time for you to not know what I look like."
"Don't worry about it. Yes there will be an extra fee. Here is your bill." Mentally shaking my head, I handed him a formal looking invoice; whatever he had to do to feel safe. Some of my former clients and employers had found a way to write off my services on their taxes, so I went the extra half step and did this to help them out a little bit. He stood up and went to his wall safe same as he did the day before. I like it when things stay the same, especially when its people giving me cash.
"I'm rounding up on this so I don't have to separate wraps and because I appreciate your speedy solution to my problem." He handed me a pile of wrapped bills which I counted and tucked into pockets inside my pants and jacket. He folded back up the bill and put it on one of the piles on his desk after I signed it paid in full. We faced each other as we shook hands and I wished him well before I left his office and headed back down. I followed the same routine as yesterday, making sure I wasn't followed as I made my way to the bank to deposit the cash on my way to the hotel. I walked in whistling as I made my way up to Gunn and asked him if we could talk.
"Look, I don't know how you'll feel about this, but you helped me out with my job last night and put yourself at risk so I've got some money here for you."
"This isn't pity money, is it?" He looked down at the rolled up half stack in my hand. Five hundred wasn't too much, but I figured I owed him something for having my back. Besides, I got more than this in addition to my fee so it wasn't like I was hurting or anything.
"No pity, just money. I want to give it to you, but you don't have to take it."
"Oh, I'm takin it." He took it out of my hand and counted it quickly before stuffing it in his pocket. "Thanks man, this is nice." We shook hands and I walked over to the coffee pot to pour myself a cup.
"Where's Wesley?"
"I don't know, out somewhere I think. Cordy didn't come in and Angel's downstairs." He went back to his magazine as I headed downstairs. I nodded at Angel as I took my jacket and then my button up shirt off and then asked him if he felt like going a few rounds. He shook his head and went back to his sword drills and I went over to the heavy bag to start out with. About an hour later I went upstairs to find Cordelia and Wesley in the office area behind the counter and said good morning to them on my way to the much needed shower. I came downstairs and volunteered to make the lunch run for the group, saying it was on me. I got back from the pizza place around the corner with the food still hot and the number of the girl behind the counter in my pocket. When I have a good day it keeps getting better, I can't control my vibes.
We enjoyed the pizza while Cordy talked about the new case she took for us. As soon as he had eaten his fill Wesley went back to working with his book intently. I asked him if he'd gotten any more leads, but he just shook his head and wrote something down. Cordy looked up at me.
"Don't worry about him; he gets testy sometimes when he's in book mode. When he finds something out, you'll know."
"I've got something!"
"See?" I nodded and with a grin on my face I asked him what was up.
"I believe I've narrowed down the timeframe of the danger to Buffy."
"How long do we have?" I was suddenly bumped out of my good mood.
"Not too long, but we do have some time yet."
"How much time are we talking about?"
"Well I can't be certain. But, more or less, it is still there."
"How about the identity of the other people in that prophesy?"
"Nothing concrete as of yet, but I'm working on that next." I sighed.
"Alright, man. Good work, I just hope we have more time instead of less." Do you ever have one of those thoughts that just kicks you in the head? That was the kind of thought I had at that moment. I stood up and went upstairs to gather my things; I would leave for Sunny-dale tonight. It wasn't long before my bags were packed and stowed in the back of my car. I found Angel downstairs working out but he stopped as I spoke.
"Hey."
"Hey. So where you going?"
"You know where I'm going and you know why." He nodded and we were silent. Finally I had to ask him what he believed about it all.
"Do you really think the other guy in that prophesy is me?"
"Yeah, I think it's you, but it doesn't matter what I think. Prophesies are like guidelines, warnings. If you do that then this will happen, kind of a thing. What really matters here is what you believe. If you believe you can help her, then you should go. That's what's important here." I nodded and crossed the room to shake his hand.
"Good luck around here." His handshake was cool and strong.
"You take care of yourself... and her." I nodded and then he followed me upstairs so I could say goodbye to the rest of the gang. We were standing around the lobby and I started to make my rounds when a glass bottle shattered against the front door. We looked around in surprise as a group of demons rushed in. One of them had a gun but the rest seemed just to be armed with swords and axes. We stood in tableau for half a second and then burst into sudden motion.
Angel dove for the weapons cabinet as my pistol appeared in my hand. The demons gun went off a second before mine did but he missed; I didn't. I fired three more times, and the group fell back from me. They charged forward and I turned to catch the sword Angel threw at me as he attacked from the side. I noticed Gunn and Wesley grappling with their own demons and Cordy hitting one of them over the head with a book. I started working my way through the fight in her direction. I almost didn't make it in time as a demon approached from her back. I parried and cut the one attacking me to turn and shove my blade in the path of the one attacking her. I succeeded in turning his attack aside and went to shove my blade through his gut when I felt a slash against my back. I staggered forward and fell into the demon in front of me. I turned as I fell and slashed across the face of the one who'd cut me. Still lying on the ground I grabbed for the sword arm of the demon beside me. I finally got the sword out of his hand, had to break his arm to do it. I stood up and cut the demon coming at me and had the opportunity to look around.
Angel broke the neck of the last demon standing and looked around as well. I turned and helped Cordy up from the ground as Wesley and Gunn brushed themselves off. None of us seemed too much the worse for the fight. The demons on the other hand couldn't say the same. The two that were still alive were quickly separated and questioned.
"Why did you attack us?"
"We came here to find and kill him and his friends." The demon whose arm I'd broken pointed at me with his good hand.
"Why would you do that?"
"He killed our clansman. Tradition and honor dictate that we must exact our revenge." Angel looked at me but I had nothing to say. I had gotten them involved in what had just turned into a clan war. I could have gotten someone seriously hurt or even killed. That just would not do. I pulled with my head toward the next room and Angel stood up and came to talk with me.
"They attacked you and your friends in your house so this is your call. But if it were me I'd let them go. I'm leaving and they shouldn't come back here after they got beaten this badly this time. Like I said, it's your call." He was silent for a minute and then walked back into the room. I heard him warn them never to come back here or he would kill them all for threatening his friends. They were shaky and looked like they believed him. Then he opened the door and told them to leave. They helped each other up and walked to the door, outside I heard the sound of a van pulling away. I looked around the room and at the faces of those I'd fought beside.
"I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean for you to get involved with my work." They looked at each other for a second before Cordelia spoke and the others followed in close succession.
"Don't worry about it."
"Not like it's never happened before."
"Kind of used to it by now."
"Another day in paradise." Angel spoke last and then looked at Cordelia as she walked up to me.
"Take off your jacket." I did and she moved around to my back as I checked out the damage.
"It's ruined." I tossed the jacket that was almost cut in half onto the sofa and then winced as Cordelia probed the cut with her fingers.
"At least it took most of the damage. Take off your shirt." I followed her to sit down as I pulled my shirt off. Angel walked over to inspect my jacket where it lay. Cordelia went behind the counter to pull out medical supplies and come back to begin cleaning my back.
"How bad is it?"
"Just a scratch, really; shouldn't even slow you down."
"When you get done I'd like to see you in my office." Angel walked past us on his way there and didn't look back to see my acknowledgment. With the skill borne of many years of practice Cordelia finished securing the bandage on my back and patted my to signal I was done as she turned to Wesley and the scratch on his forehead. I checked the pockets of my jacket and moved their contents to my pants pockets as I made my way into the office and took my usual seat.
"What's up?"
"When you go, I'd like you to take a few things with you."