12: Cleaning up

Spike was hauling the werewolf over his shoulder as he led Erica across the grass and back toward the library. Erica had already ditched the shin-guards, which had proved useless apart from keeping her lower legs free of blood. She was tired, wet and covered with blood, but she kept up with Spike and looked around for the others. The window to the library had been broken, and Lawson stood outside of it with a huge furry mass on the ground in front of him. As they got closer Erica saw that it was another werewolf, tied up with the rope that Lawson had had.

It struck her that although she wasn't a werewolf or a vampire, she was a part of their world now. She was never going to be normal again. Like a werewolf, she could act as though she were ordinary for a while, but that would never change the fact that she was different. There was something inside of her that would one day make her change. At least she would become some kind of warrior, and not an uncontrolled monster like these poor people.

The one on the ground was still conscious and straining against the ropes. As Spike got close enough to recognise it he said, "Oh, hell!" He dropped the other werewolf down a few metres away, in case they tried to hurt each other.

"What is it?" Erica asked. Lawson was looking her up and down with some anxiety, but Erica, realising that he too was worried about the blood, shook her head and turned to Spike.

"That's Nina, the boss' girlfriend," he explained, gesturing to the snarling wolf.

"Angel dates a werewolf?" Erica asked, with her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Apparently, she's a very nice lady – most days of the month," Spike explained. Erica waited a moment to see if he would make the obvious joke, but he didn't.

"They need you inside," Lawson said to Erica. He was still staring at her bloody shirt.

Erica got a little nervous, "Is it safe to be walking around in front of vampires with all of this blood on me?"

"Yeah," Spike said, "you'll be right with us. We got self-control. Demon blood isn't too good for us anyway." Erica noticed that he wasn't really looking at her, and hadn't looked since he'd determined that it wasn't her blood. Lawson got the hint too and busied himself with the werewolf, trying to muzzle it with some remaining rope.

Erica's jacket wasn't as spattered, so she zipped it up over her shirt, trying to ignore the clammy feeling of it against her skin. She got the feeling that she'd been doing the equivalent of walking around alone in dark alleys in a little black dress and heels - tempting danger, even though it wasn't her fault that she'd gotten soaked with blood by the hellhound.

She used the broken window to get into the library and saw the results of the fight. Angel was busy throwing dead hellhounds back down the hole. The summoner's body was on top of a fallen bookcase. She wondered, but didn't ask, where the head was. All of the teenagers were in a corner out of the way, all alive, and most of them with sullen looks on their faces. Books and shelves had been thrown everywhere. The place was a mess.

Angel looked up and nodded toward the group of boys. Erica understood his order and went to see who was hurt. A blonde kid with hair to his shoulders had a long gash down his leg and a redhead had a big bite mark on his arm. The rest were limited to scratches and bruises. She sighed and knelt down beside the blonde, who was bleeding more than the other one.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked. He was one of the scowling boys. Erica blamed the rudeness on the pain he must be in and tried to be nice.

"'Doesn't matter, just sit still and let me help you," she said, pulling her lighter back out of her pocket.

"Hey, hey," the boy cried, looking alarmed. "Don't touch me with any fire!"

"I'm not going to burn you," she said with as much patience as she could muster. After all, it was their fault that she was covered in blood and had almost been eaten. But to be fair, she had wanted to come. "Pass me that candle, would you?" she asked one of the other boys, who was sitting next to a fallen pink candle. He gave it to her and she lit it, putting the lighter back in her pocket. She held the candle up in front of her and recited her Life litany under her breath.

When she felt the tingling start, she put the candle down and leaned forward to give the guy a peck on the cheek. He slapped a hand to his face as he felt the warm tingling. Erica sat back and held her stomach, hoping she wouldn't throw up. In front of everyone's eyes, the blood got sucked back into the wound and it closed.

"Oh, F-k," the boy said in amazement. Erica kept reciting the words in her mind to keep the Life running through her and gave the redhead a kiss too. She blew out the candle as the teeth marks in his arm disappeared. His reaction was a little more subdued; he just gasped.

Erica slowly got to her feet, severely disliking the nausea, but she was able to suppress it. The blonde got up too, testing his leg, which supported him easily. Suddenly he lunged at Erica. "Give me the lighter!" he demanded, his hands at her throat.

Erica didn't think; she reacted. Her hands caught one of his and twisted it at the wrist so he was forced to let go of her. She pulled his arm out straight and twisted so that he bent over. She pulled him closer and kneed him fast and hard in the stomach, and then she let go and gave him an axe kick to the back that dropped him to the floor. None of the other boys had made a move, and the one who seemed to be their leader was now lying in a ball on the floor and moaning. Erica stepped back out of reach in case any of them decided to retaliate.

"Okay, let me list the reasons why that was a stupid idea." Erica was very angry. "One: I just kicked your ass anyway. Two: I've got three vampire bodyguards, who, among other things, saved your life tonight. Three: I just helped you, you ungrateful son of a b-tch, and four: this is a cheap lighter that you can get anywhere, and on its own, it's worthless." The urge to kick the guy when he was down was tempting, but she clenched her fists and resisted it. Belatedly, she thought of the pepper spray that she could have used. She gave a mental shrug and started calming down.

She turned around and saw Angel halfway across the floor and staring at her. No wonder none of the other guys had moved; the vampire had been on his way to help her, but had probably stopped when he'd seen that she was handling it. She looked toward the window and noticed that the other two had seen it too. Spike was leaning against the frame and grinning, and Lawson looked pleased too. Angel's expression was closed, but it wasn't as if she expected any kind of praise from him.

"What else can I do?" Erica asked, taking a few steps away from the boys before turning her back to them.

"Nothing," Angel replied. "Just wait outside with Lawson."

Erica nodded and turned to go.

"And Erica?" Angel added. Erica turned back and listened. "Nice work," he told her.

Erica smiled. "Thanks. You guys can call me Rika if you like." She addressed this to all three, as she knew the other two would have heard her.

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Cordelia had waited at the office for them, and they got back a few hours before dawn. It took two trips, because they had to take the werewolves back with them as well. Three had been caught alive, including the one Erica netted. One had been severely injured to save the life of one of the kids and had died of its wounds. Two more had gotten away; they'd disappeared into the night when their master had died. They had burned the bodies of the hellhounds, and had cleaned up the blood. The vampires covered over the hole with a spell that Cordelia phoned up with. They had left the rest of the mess, which the authorities would probably attribute to vandals.

"How come no one came when I set off the fire alarm?" Erica asked, while she and Lawson waited at the office for the others to bring back the werewolves. "I mean, like police or firemen?"

"It was after dark during a full moon." Lawson said to her. "Nowadays the cops know better than to get killed. They wait until dawn."

"You mean if somebody was in danger at night it would be useless to call the cops?" Erica asked.

"Only nights like these," Lawson assured her. "Otherwise, they'll do what they can to keep the streets from going to hell. Besides, Angel has given them our number. They'll direct the call to us. Cordelia actually got sent the call tonight when the alarm went off."

"I thought that not a lot of normal people knew about demons and things." Erica asked.

"Up until recently, most people didn't. Things changed when Wolfram and Hart went under. The government and the authorities now know, and so does anyone who has witnessed anything to do with it. There's still a debate going on as to whether or not the public should be informed that they never really knew the world they lived in. Whatever is decided, we will continue to play our part."

When Angel came in he was quiet – not unusual – but Erica could feel the tension stemming from him. She assumed it was because they were carrying the 'boss' girlfriend' back with them, and she wisely decided not to ask questions. She was very tempted to comment when Angel pulled a bunch of chains out from a back room, but she still didn't say anything.

"Lawson?" Angel asked, as he secured Nina.

"Yeah?"

"Take them home please." Angel said, his eyes not leaving the still struggling Nina. "It's been a long night."

Cordy stretched and got up from her desk, and then grabbed her bag. "You might want to start leaving a change of clothes at the office if you work with us," she commented to Erica, whose bloodstains were still partially visible.

Erica was standing in the doorway, looking from one mound of fur to another, and then back to Angel. "I'll be back tomorrow," she said before turning away.

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It had been a rough few hours before morning. Erica's werewolf woke up and started trying to gnaw through the nets. Nina struggled and howled until Angel tightened her rope muzzle. The third one stayed unconscious until morning. As the sun rose, Angel set down the bell on the desk in front of Nina. He left the room to get her a coat to wear and when he came back he saw the human woman desperately trying to get to the bell.

"It's true," he said when he caught her at it.

Nina immediately stopped and pleaded with her boyfriend as he covered her up, "Please, let me out. I, I don't know what's happened. I thought I was locked up."

"Stop it Nina." Angel ordered. "One of the kids said a blonde woman gave him the bell and the ritual. He described you. I'm guessing you didn't tell him that when the wolf-master rose he would want human sacrifices. Only a werewolf would have known where to find the bell to summon him. It is said that with it, the wolf-master had the power to grant his children the power to turn at any time, and to be stronger than normal. To never be human again, if they chose. Is that what you wanted?"

Nina sighed. "You'd think with a vampire boyfriend I'd get to do something exciting every once in a while. But when the slightest hint of danger arose, you sent me away. I realised I don't want to be with a neutered vampire anymore. I want to live, as free and wild as I should be. With you I'd always be caged."

"But you want to hurt people now?"

"They're not like us Angel. They are meat. It just took me this long to realise that I'm above them now."

"What about the other werewolves with you?"

Nina sneered. "Most were new; I don't think they realised they were being summoned. The one you killed was aware, but the others are still learning what they are. What they can be."

"They're innocent." Angel concluded.

"Don't misunderstand me," Nina scoffed. "They've killed, but their pathetic human sides haven't realised it yet. Now are you going to let me up, or keep me tied up forever? You're too noble to hurt me when I'm human, aren't you?"

"Yes," Angel said, as he started loosening the ropes "I won't kill a human."

Nina got to her feet and pulled the coat around her, her mouth stretched into a superior smile. "But if I ever catch you hunting again," Angel warned as she turned for the door, "I will kill you Nina, while you're in your other form and have a fair chance of fighting back. You know what you're doing and you enjoy it. That makes you one of the things I hunt." Nina hesitated, shrugged, and kept walking. "And I'll want my coat back!" Angel called after her as she went out the front door.

He sat down at his desk and buried his head in his hands. He knew that he'd had to let her go, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"No wonder you've been no fun lately," Spike said from the doorway. "Not that you're a bag of chuckles anyway. Did you know she'd gone AWOL?"

"Shut up, Spike," Angel said.

"No offence meant, big guy." Spike said, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. He was making it clear that he wasn't going anywhere. "Tell me about it."

Angel looked up at him and saw an honest, inquisitive stare. He sighed. "Her mother wrote to me. Nina hadn't chained herself up the last full moon. Her sister disappeared that night and Nina went missing. Her mother found evidence of Nina's research on the wolf-master, and sent it to me. I just didn't know we'd be facing it tonight."

"Cordy can't See everything," Spike said, "the PTB are trying to go easy on her brain. But we should have known that it was important if they sent us after it."

Angel nodded.

"Are you going after her?" Spike asked.

Angel shook his head. "Not yet. It was the third night of the full moon last night. She's got a month to rethink what she's doing, a month trapped with humanity. If she doesn't come around …"

"And you'll want to do it yourself, right?" Spike asked.

Angel paused, then nodded again.

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