Disclaimer: Hello all! chappie 5, you know the deal by now. I don't own any of the Buffy or Angel characters and any demons that I put in probably belong to the genius, Joss Whedon. My OC's are in my bio if you want any info about them. Please R&R, reviews keep people like me from writing sucky stories. Happy reading! :)
Chapter 5: A Success of Sorts
The next day was spent lazing around their hotel room and preparing for another night of searching. It wasn't long before the more active members of the crew became restless.
The crew was spread out around the large apartment; some were in the lounge room and others in their own bedrooms or their friends bedrooms. Taft, Ena, Bren, Seth and Spike had taken over the lounge room and were lying on the various sofas and armchairs. Spike had brought a game boy with him and was now playing one of his many games while Taft attempted to look over his shoulder and not annoy him at the same time (a very tricky business). Ena was keeping a close eye on Bren as her twin sharpened one of her beloved knives, Ena knew Bren's habits of allowing her knives to slip from her hand to someone's head and she didn't think it was going to help their project if Bren accidentally hurt someone. Seth was going over Bren's stripper clothing and fitting it with hidden slits for her to put her knives in without making them noticeable.
Walking through the room on his way to the kitchen, Angel looked at the black haired boy and raised an eyebrow, "Having fun there?"
Seth looked up at him and made a face, Spike was the one who commented, "Bren's taken mate, you should know that. I'm waiting my turn maybe you should get in line and wait yours instead of showing off."
Bren looked at all three males and frowned, "You know I am right here and as much as I enjoy causing conflict I would appreciate it if you lot would keep your thoughts to yourselves."
Angel returned from the kitchen with his cup of cow blood and guzzled the lot much to Bren, Ena and Taft's disgust. The three of them looked at each other and made faces before returning to their previous pursuits. Bren finished sharpening her knife and took careful aim at the dart board she'd set up across the room where four other knives already stuck out making the target look slightly like a pin cushion.
Watching in fascination as Bren sent the knife flying at the number five on the board Angel remembered where they were, "Bren please refrain from doing that, if you miss we'll have to pay for the damage."
"Bren doesn't miss, ever," Ena said calmly from her seat next to Bren.
"Then why are you watching her so closely?" Angel asked the younger of the twins.
"Because she doesn't always stick to her target," Ena answered, a dangerously sharp edge to her voice.
Angel opened his mouth to return fire when Bren intervened, "Ena never mind, I'll stop throwing the knives around. That was the last one that needed sharpening anyway."
Ena slowly settled back on the sofa with a final death glare sent in Angel's direction as a warning for future debates. He looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face then returned to his room shaking his head and muttering about how difficult twins were and how they were always supporting each other.
Bren watched him go from her seat on the sofa, when he was safely in his room she turned and looked at her twin raising an eyebrow and looking thoroughly amused. Ena shrugged lazily and picked up a magazine, flipping easily through its pages until she found something of interest. Smiling to herself Bren retrieved her knives and examined them before putting each one into its sheath.
--
By nightfall Angel and Ena had finished their moody disagreement and were on friendly terms again. Everyone split up into the groups they'd been in the previous night and they set out again to continue the task of information gathering.
It was a disappointment to the group in the main strip club when their hours of work were unrewarded for the second night running. The girls had already managed to get into a routine of checking in with Pancho, setting about their nights work, as much as they disliked it, excusing themselves at a reasonable hour (for workers in a strip club that is) and then heading out to meet their male escort in the alley next to the club.
So every night for the rest of the week they followed this routine with little to show for their efforts. All that they'd gotten about Mara was that she occasionally made a visit to the club. Their one great achievement was that they found that Mara's daughter, Petula, Blaze's only full sister came in when it struck her fancy. Apart from this no one knew much more about the vampire attacks, most of the inhabitants of Nogales were quite happy to ignore the threat unless it threatened them.
It was on the first Friday night after the crew had arrived in Nogales that the effects of going in to the club on every night seemed to be taking their toll on Bren. Angel was impatient to go and see if they would actually make some progress tonight and Spike was impatient as always to get to the club.
"Bren would you bloody well hurry up," Spike yelled angrily down the hall, his disinterested attitude to so many things completely gone.
"Yes, just a minute," Bren answered in a tired voice.
"Spike," Darla said, just as he opened his mouth to yell again, "She's the only one out of us four girls not to have had a night off from going to the club."
"And your point is?" Spike with a flourish of his hand.
"Her point being that Bren's naturally going to be worn out," Kitty said calmly, coming to Darla's rescue, Darla may have been bold enough to stop Spike from yelling at her friend, but yelling at her was another matter.
"Why the hell would she be worn out, it's only a few hours a night," Spike didn't lower his voice one bit, refusing to follow Kitty's lead.
"Maybe it's not tiring for you mister wise guy but for us it is, all you have to do is ask pretty ladies sitting in your lap if they've heard any gossip about two particular women," Darla was angry at Spike's disrespect for her and her friends.
"Darla's right," Kitty said standing behind the ash blonde and adding height to her argument, "You get it easy, we're the ones who actually have to do something other than sit down to get answers."
"Oh? Would you kindly inform me exactly what it is that you do that demands such energy?" Spike said in mock politeness.
"That's enough," Angel interrupted, "Bren at this rate we'll be late, maybe you should stay here tonight."
"No, I'm perfectly fine," Bren said, finally emerging from her bedroom, "Just a little tired, that's all."
"So stay here and sleep if you're going to be this slow," Spike mumbled.
Angel turned to Spike with an angry look and Spike mumbled something about shutting up.
"If you're tired then I'm sure that your boss will understand you taking a night off, get a bit of rest and you can keep helping tomorrow night," Angel prompted.
"Yes but I don't want to take the night off," Bren said heatedly.
"Why not? We won't hold it against you," Angel said.
"You might not, but I would," Bren retorted.
This stopped Angel from arguing as he thought it over, he knew Bren well and had known her in her past lives also, if that was what you could call them. Each time she felt that she seemed to not be ageing enough then she would disappear to her beloved Cloud Realm for a while and then allow herself to be reborn again. She did this because she didn't want someone to start suspecting her for being something that she wasn't, namely a vampire as they were most commonly linked to unnaturally long lives. He realised with a jolt that he'd allowed his thoughts to wander and sharply brought them back to the present.
No, he couldn't stop Bren from coming to the strip club no matter how tired she was. The girl standing defiantly but worn-out in front of him would always find a way to do her will. It was her nature to do so just as much as it was the nature of a vampire to kill and mutilate. But looking at her Angel knew that if she came with them tonight then she wouldn't be much help to the crew when they needed her most.
"Bren you really should stay here tonight," he said speaking calmly to the seventeen year old standing before him.
"Angel I'm supposed to be on stage to night," Bren countered.
"Do you enjoy that so much that you can't miss it for one night?" Zev asked finally joining the argument.
"Zev I don't enjoy it and I don't mean to sound conceited but if I'm not there then you're going to lose at least half of your crowd," Bren said matter of factly.
Angel pursed his lips, thinking over his options, in the end it was Bren who found the best one, "Why don't I stay back here and rest up a bit and then come along later tonight when I'm not so tired? That way, you get plenty of people to question and I get a little extra sleep."
"I don't know," Angel said although it was the best solution.
"Nonsense, you know very well that if you leave me here I won't sleep a wink until you get home unless I can come along and help even for a little while," Bren said.
Angel sighed and looked at her, it was clear that she'd have none of it if he said no, "All right, you can come but Zev I want you to stay here and then you can escort her into the strip club and make sure she gets there safely."
"Yes Angel," said Zev easily as he turned to shoo Bren to her room so that she could rest for a while, "We'll come along on the bike in a few hours."
Angel nodded, "Take good care of her now or there'll be serious consequences."
Zev rolled his eyes, "You sound like a mother, of course I'll take good care of her, she's my girl friend remember?"
Angel smiled but he couldn't help noticing that Zev had said a mother and not referred to his own mother. It was a sad event when a boy couldn't relate something that his friends were doing or saying to an action of his own mother in order to make fun of them. At this point Angel stopped himself, realising that he was thinking like a teenager, or what he remembered to be teenaged thoughts.
/I need to find some older friends/ he thought as he left for the strip club /I went through that age once and once will do fine./
When Bren and Zev finally made their way into the strip club it was already ten thirty and the crowd in the club was getting impatient. Pancho hurried Bren to the stage and signalled for the music to start as the crowd roared approval.
Zev watched from his dark corner as Bren made her way through a familiar routine. He frowned as he looked closer, cocking his head to one side. Bren was different tonight; it was almost as if the chain weighed ten times her own weight, small as it was. She finished her dance and then simply stood and waited for Pancho to come and take the chain off instead of pacing up and down the stage like a caged wild animal as she usually did. She accepted a hand down off the stage from one of the very few male strippers who worked in the club; they talked for a moment before she went off in search of a customer. Zev followed Bren's movement through the night as much as he could, not wanting anything to happen to her and also worried because of her strange behaviour.
It was one in the morning when Angel found Zev and told him that it was time to go back to the apartment. Happy to be heading home to where Bren could actually get some proper rest Zev immediately made his way through the crowded club to where Bren could see him and motioned that it was time to go.
She pushed her way through the crowd and snaked long, delicate arms around him, putting on a show for anyone who might be watching. She knew that Pancho had noticed her leaving every night with the grey eyed, muscular youth and had asked her about it she'd simply winked a reply and giggled. But had been extra careful after that to make sure it seemed like she was leaving on business after that.
Now Zev turned and led her away through the crowd towards the green exit sign and the doors. They were only halfway there when Bren paused and looked wildly around her, any traces of sleepiness had left her as she searched the room to her left.
"Bren? What is it?" Zev asked, turning and coming to stand behind her, her breath was coming fast and he knew something had upset her, "What's wrong?"
Standing on her tip toes Bren bit her lower lip as she searched the room for the girl who she'd seen just a moment ago.
"Bren?" Zev repeated.
Bren looked at him and smiled, it was forced and Zev knew but Bren wouldn't worry him further, "It's nothing, I just thought that I saw someone I knew."
Zev seemed unsure if he should question her more about this but as Bren's lethargy returned he quickly decided that now was definitely not the time,
"If you're sure," He said and waited for her to nod before leading her out.
--
In the alley Angel pushed off from the wall where he'd been leaning casually so as not to attract attention.
He looked at both Bren and Zev before he asked, "What took you so long to get out?"
Zev opened his mouth to speak but Bren got there first, tired as she was, "Sorry, I thought I saw someone who might know where Mara was but when I stopped to look properly she wasn't there."
"Who did you think it was?" Angel asked.
"Just someone I once knew," Bren answered vaguely, "Are we going home or not, I'm really tired now."
Angel nodded and led the other six members of his group back to where the van and the bike where parked. They were only half way to the vehicles when they saw a dead hobo, mangled almost beyond recognising that he was human. Angel stopped and looked down at the man lying on the pavement, he looked absolutely disgusted at the hobo's condition. The others slowly made their way to check out the damage and possibly find out who he'd been. Spike approached the body but stayed just behind Angel, it was plain from the look on his face that the smell of blood was arousing the demon within, but Spike knew the consequences of him harming a human so he stayed behind Angel looking longingly down at the mutilated body.
Bren knelt beside the corpse and gently began the task of searching the hobo for any clues as to who he was or who had done this. Everyone present knew that it had been vampires but most of the Mexican vampires from around here left a mark to show who had done it. Like most vampires they liked to strike fear in the hearts of the weak little mortals that they shared the planet with. Carefully moving the torn clothing around so that she could see every mark left by the vampires Bren suddenly gasped and pulled back with surprising speed.
Spike had to pull out of her way to prevent her from colliding with him and then snarled. He let out his game face and was about to jump for her to make her pay when Angel grabbed the back of his jacket. Angel shook his head at the younger vampire and then proceeded to walk over to Bren who'd slammed full force into the brick wall behind her and was now pressing herself as close to it as she possibly could. Kitty and Darla frowned at Bren's odd behaviour and knelt to see what it was that had their friend so worked up. Lani snorted and looked quite disgusted at the reaction that Bren was having, in Lani's opinion this was just a corpse, they'd seen much worse and Bren was acting like a baby.
Zev frowned and bent so that his eyes were on the same level as Bren's, "Brenny? Are you okay? What was it?"
Bren's eyes never left the corpse as she shook her head, whimpering frantically. Her breath was coming in short, sharp gasps again and Zev, not knowing what else to do gently started shaking Bren's shoulders.
"Bren I want to help you, but I can't if you won't tell me what's wrong, I'm not a mind reader," Zev coaxed.
Bren took her eyes off the dead hobo for the first time since she'd started searching him and looked Zev in the eyes. He was shocked to see the haunted look in her sapphire eyes.
Angel, now crouching over the body and looking at the place Bren had been examining before her little bout of fear found a strange brand on a patch of skin that hadn't been mauled. There were two overlapping letters written in a calligraphy style but it was barely visible unless you looked closely.
"Zev," Angel said turning around and looking at the youth.
Reacting to his name, Zev turned to Angel, leaving his hand on Bren's shoulder, "What is it?"
"Come and look at this," Angel said, beckoning for the teenager to join him next to the corpse.
Zev seemed uncertain about going even those few metres away from Bren when she was this scared, but he couldn't look at what Angel had found and stay here with Bren at the same time. Spike provided the solution to this, shaking his head as he pushed Zev in Angel's direction and began attempting to calm Bren.
"What did you find?" Zev asked Angel as he came to stand beside the body.
"Take a look," Angel said, kneeling down and pulling away the torn clothing to reveal the brand on the dead man's skin.
Zev frowned, "MP what could that…" his voice trailed off as he realised something. He rushed back to Bren and took her by the shoulders looking into those frightened eyes, "Bren, did Mara arrange this? Is that Mara's brand?"
Bren looked even more scared at the sound of her step mother's name but she nodded a reply before she began to tremble uncontrollably.
Zev pried her away from the wall and put his arms around her, speaking as calmly as he could, "Sshhh, I won't let her hurt you, you're safe with us, don't worry."
"You don't understand," Bren said finally finding her voice, "Mara wants revenge and she won't stop until she has what she wants."
"Well we should get home Bren," Zev said calmly, "We are kind of vulnerable to attacks out here, we can talk about this at the hotel okay?"
Bren nodded and allowed Zev to turn her in the direction of the cars, she looked back at the body of the dead hobo sadly but turned her head around quickly and didn't look back again. The others looked at each other and shrugged, leaving the body where it was, knowing that he'd either be eaten by some stray or wild animal or someone would take pity on him and put him in some hole in the ground far away they left him to his sad fate.
Bren fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel, her head resting on Zev's powerful chest, snuggled under his arm. When the car stopped Zev picked her up as if she were a five year old and allowed Kitty to open the car door to let him out. He smiled his thanks to the girl and fell into step beside her.
"Thanks for volunteering to go on the motorbike with Spike," Zev said as they walked slowly up the steps together, "I wouldn't've asked you to but Bren looked as if she was going to go to sleep no matter how scared she was and I didn't want Spike to work her into a tizz."
"You think Spike would do that?" Kitty asked looking playfully at the slightly older boy beside her.
Zev smiled, "Let's just say that I wouldn't put it past him."
There was silence for a few moments then Kitty asked, "So what was it on that poor man that made Bren so scared?"
Zev looked musingly at Kitty before he replied, "I think Angel will tell you in good time."
"But Zev," Kitty protested as she stopped.
Zev who had walked a few paces ahead stopped and turned to face the ginger haired girl being mindful not to raise his voice in case he woke Bren, "Look, Kitty it's not for me to tell you. Like I said Angel will tell you when he thinks it's the right time to tell you and no sooner. Until then I suggest you forget it because I won't be the one to tell you when Angel means to wait."
With that Zev continued up the stairs with his girlfriend held across his muscular chest. At the door of the hotel room Angel was waiting for Zev and Kitty. When both of them emerged from the stairwell Angel smiled and knocked on the door, signalling for the others to let Zev through first. They obeyed, allowing Zev to pass them, moving aside so as not to get in his way.
When Clarissa opened the door she let out a small squeak and pulled back to let Zev through, a look of complete and utter shock on her face as her hands flew up to cover her mouth.
Angel let everyone else through the door and then closed it after him, this done he turned to Clarissa and took a firm grip on her shoulders, "Ris, it's okay, Bren's fine."
Clarissa looked up into Angel's eyes, "But then why did Zev have to carry her like that? She didn't look fine to me."
"Trust me, she's just tired," Angel said calmly, "She fell asleep in the car on the way back here."
"Well anyway, why are you so late? It's two thirty in the morning," Clarissa said.
"I'll tell you in the morning when I tell everyone else," Angel said, "Are Blaze and Ena still awake?"
"Yes," Clarissa said, "Ena wouldn't go to sleep until Bren got back and Blaze decided to keep her company, they're in the kitchen."
"Thanks," Angel said as he headed for the kitchen.
As Clarissa had said, Blaze and Ena were in the kitchen, Blaze was leaning against the bench with his back to Angel and Ena was talking to him. They didn't notice Angel for a moment but when Ena turned to refill her mug with Milo she saw him and smiled. Angel did his best to return the smile and half managed, it appeared a little forced despite his efforts to make it seem real.
How could he do this? The three Divino siblings had been through so many problems over the last few years and he was about to tell them that there was more trouble with their family.
"Hey, where's Bren?" Ena asked.
"She's in bed," Angel replied, "She fell asleep in the car on the way here."
"Fair enough," Blaze said, "As long as she's alright."
"She's fine, she had a bit of a scare earlier but she's fine," Angel seemed uncomfortable on this topic.
"What do you mean, a bit of a scare?" Blaze asked, abruptly standing up off the bench.
"Maybe you should sit down," Angel suggested uneasily.
"What if I don't want to sit down?" Blaze said, his voice menacing as he began to advance on the burly vampire.
"You should at least back off, I need to talk to you about the project," Angel said.
"But I don't want to talk about the project," Blaze said, "I want to talk about why my sister was scared."
"If you would back off then I'll get to that," Angel said in a heated tone.
"Blaze," Ena said, "Sit down, Angel will explain why Bren got scared when he's finished talking about the project, I'm sure it won't take that long."
Blaze settled back against the bench and took a sip of his Milo not taking his eyes off Angel as he obeyed the younger of his two half sisters.
Angel explained to them about the dead hobo and how Bren had thought that she'd seen someone in the club who could've actually given them a lead on where Mara was. At this Blaze had allowed himself to look slightly interested and asked Angel who it had been. Angel replied that Bren hadn't told them and then continued more carefully to tell Ena and Blaze that it had been Mara who'd sent the vampires to attack the hobo and that this was why Bren had gotten scared.
When Angel had finished Blaze nodded his understanding but sank down against the kitchen bench, "You know what this means? I'm going to have to face my mother again, I don't know if I'm ready for that."
"Sorry to be the one to tell you Blaze," Angel said, "But I think you're going to have to, whether you're ready or not."
"Great," Blaze said sarcastically, "How I love this project."
Ena sighed, "You do know that we're going to have to be way more careful now don't you Angel? Mara is not a force to be taken lightly, this isn't something that we can have an easy time at. She's going to use all the fire power that she has."
"Then we'll have to fight fire with fire won't we?" Angel replied, "I want you two to go to bed, anyone who's still up will be in soon, I want everyone rested before we tackle Mara."
"Oooh," Ena said happily, "I love tackling."
Angel really did smile this time, "Go on, bed, now."
"Yes Mummy dear," Ena said as she heaved Blaze to his feet and pushed him out of the room.
