Chapter 2

Angel woke up on the timber floor with a dry mouth and a headache. He stayed there for a good ten minutes before his hunger became too apparent and then he crawled/clawed his way across the floor to the fridge and opened it before getting out some blood and not bothering to even open it properly stabbed at it aggressively and then began to drink. He finished half of it off and then was actually able to stand, well kind of. He was about to put the rest of the blood in the fridge before he decided that he needed it more than the fridge and drank it in one big swig.

He sighed again and almost felt like burping before he remembered a look he'd once gotten from Cordy when he did burp after eating (drinking blood). He couldn't think about the utter repulsion she felt for him in that moment. Instead he staggered over to the bed and flopped down onto it feeling spent. He started to get ready to go out before realising that he couldn't get properly dressed whilst lying on the bed. He rolled over in an attempt to not get up but he ended up almost tearing his only shirt so he just mumbled to himself angrily and gathered all of his energy before getting into a sitting position. He began doing up his shirt and then, when he was finished, tested the spring loaded stake out and, discovering that it was in working order he stood up and put on the jacket.

He picked up a dagger and threw it at the target across the room and found himself slightly off so, after retrieving it, he tried again this time really concentrating and not swaying. He got it spot on so he went out and tried not to think about his ever present head ache. He rubbed the back of his neck with the palm of his hand and tried to loosen himself slightly. He was still wound tightly and that was bad when going into a fight.

He straightened out his jacket and then walked out of the door. He closed the door behind him and looked around the hall. Okay so it was more of a space than a hall. A space that had a very narrow staircase that made up half of the space. He walked down the stairs, not bothering to walk fast but took his time. He walked through the brightly light corner store that was beneath Angel's studio. He winced at the bright fluorescent lights and walked through the store quickly, wanting to get out of the light as fast as he could. He already had a headache he didn't need to have it aggravated anymore.

As he stepped into the night leaving the fluorescent lights behind he felt his headache reduce slightly and he started down the street. Without warning he swerved into an alleyway at the side of one of the taller buildings and proceeded to climb up the drainpipe on the side of the building. He hefted himself over the side of the building and walked over to the corner and stood on the step that was the border of the roof.

He closed his eyes and felt the updraft take away the stress from his face and any lines disappear. He felt his neck muscles and other muscles (back, arm, etc) relax and his energy be restored to its normal level of operation. He then felt his face be ironed out into a calm and almost happy face. He opened his eyes again and stepped backwards off of the step and back onto the roof. He centred his concentration as he had learned decades ago from that tai chi master. Among other things that he was considered the master at.

He then started a fast paced walking to the side of the building and leapt across the small gap onto the next one and then the next and then the next after that until he reached the wall of the building that the woman had been attacked at the previous night. He bent down on one knee and watched as she passed by walking quickly. He felt some annoyance but also the feeling of recognition. Of course she wouldn't have changed her course, she would just buy a gun or try moving quicker or something completely mundane like that.

He saw a vampire step in behind her and keep in step with her just a few paces or so behind. He followed the two by walking above them on the buildings. She turned into an alleyway and saw the vampire approach her. She kept her calm and Angel wondered what was going on. Then, all of a sudden, she delivered a roundhouse kick that made the vampire fly backwards. Angel's eyes widened. He should have seen it earlier but her being in grave danger the previous night had stopped it.

The blonde girl fighting with the vampire in front of him was a slayer. The slayer. Or at least one of them. Probably had been trained by one of the new 'Watcher's who weren't really watchers and more slayers that taught others. Or was currently trained. Judging by her technique this girl had some tricks that she could yet learn.

Angel observed the fight unfolding in front of him. The slayer didn't seem to know herself, or her strength, well enough to fight as well as she could. She had this inexperienced air around her as well that would take some doing to remove. No wonder she'd been in that fatal position last night. But she was also smart enough to cover up by pretending that she was an innocent bystander when Angel had helped her. Angel was starting to like this girl.

After a fight which looked like it could go either way the slayer pulled through by managing to pull her stake out of her fluffy white and brown jacket and plunge it into the vampire in front of her. Even the way she staked him was uncertain. She had her shoulders up halfway to her ears and was obviously tensed up. It was really more of a poke than a plunge. When the vamp collapsed into dust she sighed and put her stake back in her fake fur jacket.

Then Angel felt them. Vampires approaching really fast. The two options were that they were travelling by car or flying. Okay, there was one option but it was fun to consider the other one. Okay, not really but anyway. There were four vampires an Angel could smell the stench of vampires ready to kill and massacre. He ran quickly towards them via the roof and then dropped silently onto the road.

The car came at him at quite a scary speed and, just in time, Angel jumped up into the air and then landed inside the car just behind the front seats. He quickly knocked out the vamps in the back with a strong kick to each of their faces and then the ones in the front with elbows to a part of the spine that rendered them incapacitated. He quickly jumped out of the car and watched as it smashed into a building. He then took out a lighter and dropped it onto the road where a constant line of oil had been dripping from the car. He watched as the flames quickly made their way to the car and engulfed it in flames. The car exploded and all the vamps in it were officially history.

He walked away from the blaze and off in a random direction to patrol the dark streets in an attempt to keep the LA population safe.

A blonde woman watched the whole thing in front of her and then, after a short inner debate, decided to follow the tall and dark stranger.