Chapter Twenty-Two: Training
"Well, I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Joy surprisingly did not jump when she noticed Angel waiting in the shadows by her car after cheer practice a week later. "Did you need me to get rid of a vampire for you or something?" She rolled her eyes. "Or are there some demons bothering you? Because you know, supposedly as a slayer, I should be able to fight any sort of evil!"
"You sound like you've been talking to Giles." Angel said.
"You know Giles?"
"I've known him for a few years actually." He didn't want to get into his history with the old librarian, but if he expected for Joy to trust him Angel decided he would have to be entirely truthful. "See, I used to be pretty close to the other slayer and her gang, including Giles, the watcher." He paused and watched for a reaction from Joy. She leaned against her car, her arms folded across her chest, her eyes staring blankly at him. He couldn't read anything from her expression. "But, that's all in the past now, and I actually don't know them at all anymore. I've been living a completely separate life in LA and haven't been in Sunnydale for a couple of years now. I only came back here for you..."
"Which still confuses me, by the way," Joy interrupted. "Last time we talked, you mentioned the 'powers that be', and umm, I don't exactly get what these almighty powers are supposed to be." She shrugged. "Could you maybe explain it to me a little more?"
Angel nodded. He was pleased that she was at least showing more interest. Perhaps if he could help her understand the powers and what her true purpose was as a slayer, perhaps she could actually accept her fate and possibly enjoy it like Buffy learned to do.
Two hours later Angel, after at least the fifth time re-explaining everything to Joy, sat silently in the passenger seat of Joy's car watching for her expression to show some sort of acceptance or at least understanding. She was frowning and for a minute he thought she was going cross-eyed.
Finally she spoke. "So, how are you going to be training me?"
A hint of a smile crept over his lips. Joy had noticed before that he didn't smile much, and this was probably the most she had ever seen him smile. She figured that he was just moody. "Well, these nightly meetings seem to be going pretty well. We could just keep our regular time and meet here every night for your training."
Joy hesitated, "Does it have to be nights?"
Angel frowned, "Night is sort of the time for vampires, you know the darkness and everything."
"Oh, right, of course, I don't know what I was thinking." Joy silently beat herself up for forgetting that small but very important fact about the creatures she would be fighting. "So, night it is." She sighed and thought about how she could persuade her aunt and uncle to let her stay out even later than cheerleading practice. "Then I guess I'll meet you here tomorrow, same time as usual."
"See you then," He climbed out of the car and with a wave he disappeared into the shadows.
Two weeks later, after nightly workouts with Angel, Joy was congratulating herself on her surprising skill with fighting. Angel was a great training companion too, as well as an interesting enough friend. At first meeting, Joy hadn't expected to get along with the strange shadow-lurking man, however, after the couple of weeks she had known him, Angel had turned out to be an unexpectedly compatible guy. In fact, by the end of the two weeks, she found herself start to look forward to her nightly training sessions with him. Eventually, Angel turned the simple training nights into an actual night of real practice.
"So, what's the plan for tonight, coach?" Joy questioned as she pulled a pair of jeans out from the backseat of her car and pulled them on underneath her cheerleading skirt. She ignored the fact that she was standing in the open in the middle of a parking lot, facing a man.
He frowned. "Please don't call me coach, I'm not exactly a sports fan."
She grinned. "Me either, actually."
"And yet you're a cheerleader..." His tone was mocking.
"Shut up, coach," Joy held to her nickname for her trainer.
"Anyway, I figured that we've trained you long enough now and I think it's time for you to get some real practice in." Angel motioned for her to follow him. "We'll come back for your car later."
"Okay," Joy followed him obediently. "So, where are we going?" She zipped up the hoodie she was wearing over her the sports bra she wore for cheer practice. "The cemetery? I hear a lot of undead hang out there."
Angel thought for a minute about taking her to the cemetery but then decided against it because he realized that Buffy was probably patrolling right about now and he didn't exactly want to run into her. He hadn't seen her since he'd been back in Sunnydale, and he wasn't planning to any time soon. In fact, he had an unconscious plan to not see Buffy at all while he was training Joy. His plans consisted of training Joy and then bailing from the demon-city without ever seeing Buffy or anyone else from her group of slayeretts. So, he decided against a visit to the cemetery.
"We're not going to the cemetery tonight," Angel announced.
"But I thought we were going demon hunting!" Joy whined. It was strange when she realized that she was actually sort of craving a good fight.
"Believe it or not, but cemeteries aren't the only places where demons exist. In fact, they sort of tend to wander all over town, you know? Hunting for available prey wherever they can find it." Angel continued leading Joy down the dark streets towards Sunnydale's number one late night hangout for young people craving excitement, The Bronze.
"Are we going clubbing?" Joy asked with a raised eyebrow as the club came into view.
"You'd like that, I'm sure," Angel rolled his eyes and led her to the alley behind the club. "We're patrolling tonight."
"Patrolling? Fancy lingo!" Joy joked. "Is that an official term, or something that you made up to sound smarter than me?"
Angel shrugged. "Well, I am smarter than you, but it's also sort of 'official' if you'd like to call it that. It's what slayers call their nightly, well patrol, for vampires and demons and any other evil that they find." Joy looked confused. "Don't worry, you'll catch up. Soon, you'll be patrolling as expertly as Buffy." Angel comforted the overwhelmed new slayer. "Here we are," Angel indicated the back alley of the popular club.
Joy glanced around the dark, abandoned alley. "Yep, this place is swarming with evil creatures! I can definitely see why you brought me here," She pulled a cigarette and lighter out of her jacket pocket. "Oh wait, you brought me here to this dark, very empty place so that you could rape me!" She exclaimed dramatically.
Angel frowned. "That's not why...I wouldn't...I..." Her sarcastic words had obviously taken him off guard.
"Angel, chill, I'm just screwing with you." Joy grinned. "God, you're sensitive, and really bad at taking jokes!"
"Oh right, sorry," He cleared his throat and led me farther down the alley. "I assume you know The Bronze."
Joy shrugged. "Well, yes, I do love the party scene!"
"Yea, I'm sure you do," He grinned and pointed to the back door of the club. "Are you aware that The Bronze is a very popular hang out for vampires." Joy didn't respond. "The intoxicated girls are good targets for hungry vampires. See, the vampires find their prey and then bring them back here to the abandoned alley where they can feed in peace." He pulled her away from the door and into a shadow that hid them both easily.
"Trust me, all you have to do is wait." He glanced over at Joy who was silently leaning against the wall, her arms folded across her chest and her cigarette held between her lips. "Could you put that out?"
"Sorry, I didn't realize my smoking bothered you." Joy tossed the bud onto the floor and ground it into the concrete with the heel of her shoe. "Are you one of those health freaks? You know, the people that think that second hand smoke will kill them."
Angel shook his head, "No, I don't really worry about second hand smoke." He thought of his lack of breathing and grinned. "I just thought we'd be more discreet here in the shadows if you weren't smoking. Vampires have incredible noses. They can pick up any scent!"
"Good to know." Joy nodded.
They didn't have to wait too long. A few minutes later they back door swung open and a couple stumbled out through the open doorway. The man was dressed in the most unfortunate pair of tight, blue pants and a paisley silk shirt. The girl's fashionable red dress contrasted with his style extremely. Joy almost laughed at how awkwardly they fit together.
"What do you think Joy?" Angel whispered in her ear, being careful that they stayed hidden in the shadows.
"Well, he's obviously evil! I mean look at what he's wearing! No sane person would actually dress like that!" Joy whispered back decidedly.
"Whatever you say," Angel shrugged. "You're the slayer."
"So, what do you want me to do? Should I kill him now?"
"Just wait for a minute," Angel touched her arm when she started moving out of the shadows. "Watch."
Impatiently, she stood still, watching as he commanded. A moment later she realized why Angel had told her to wait. The 'evil' young man had been pushed up against the wall by the stylish young woman who was busily unbuttoning the guy's collar. Joy gasped when the woman's pretty face transformed into the too-familiar wrinkles and fangs that belong to vampires. Her eyes glowed yellow as she prepared to attack her victim.
"Damn," Joy sighed. "Since she's the vampire, then that means that he's just pitiful in fashion." She ignored Angel's exasperated sigh and hurried to intrude on the vampire's snack. "Hey, mind if I join in?" The vampire turned to Joy with a sharp glare. "I mean, he just looks so tasty!"
The pathetically dressed guy looked terrified but the vampire turned her attention confidently onto Joy, her fangs gleamed in the light from the single streetlamp. "If you'd really care to, I'd love to give you a taste!" The vampire laughed, sounding a lot like the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz, and returned her attention to her victim.
Joy sighed, "Fine, if you wish to play it that way..." She looked back to the shadows where Angel was waiting patiently to see how Joy performed, then Joy took hold of the vampire girl's arm and pulled her away from the nervous man.
"Do you really want to start something with me, little girl?" The vampire growled.
"Well, the cable's out, so I'm a little bored tonight," Joy shrugged.
The vampire frowned, obviously confused about the strange intruder. "Don't go anywhere." She demanded of the young man who was now literally shaking with fear. The vampire grinned at Joy and then leaped upon her suddenly. Joy pretended to be frightened for an instant before flipping the vampire onto her back and pinning her down to the ground. "Well, well, the little girl's got guts. I've got to give you props for bravery, I suppose." The female vampire laughed again and pushed Joy off of her. "Unfortunately for you, it won't last long." She raised her hands up as though she were a cat preparing to pounce with claws and a strange hissing sound escaped through her sharp teeth.
"You're pretty cocky for a chick." Joy smiled teasingly and ducked an attempted attack from the vampire. She then tried her own attack, much more successful; she actually managed to knock the vampire off her feet with a forceful jump kick.
"Just a chick? I'm a damn vampire, what can you brag about?" The vampire was beginning to remind Joy of a slightly stronger version of Kelly from her old school in LA. Joy couldn't wait to stake the bitch.
"Well, I'm not usually one to brag but since you asked so nicely..." Joy picked up a piece of wood of the ground and broke it into a small stake. "I'm the new slayer!" And while the vampire stood still, stunned at Joy's announcement, the self-declared new slayer staked the vampire perfectly in the heart. She spun around with a grin of victory. "I showed her!" She declared to Angel who was clapping as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Miss Peters, I think I've taught you very well!"
"Mr. Angel, you are a very good coach." Joy was in an exceptionally good mood and feeling very proud of herself. Even though she had staked several vampires before, this particular night seemed like a special achievement since it was the first time she had staked a vampire with Angel's training, and it was definitely the fastest she had ever slayed. "You know, this whole slayer thing isn't as bad as I imagined it would be. It's actually kind of fun!" She linked her arm with his and looked up into his brown eyes. "Where to next, coach?"
"If you're nice and you stop calling me that I just might let you go home early tonight." He grinned at her.
"Early? It's almost eleven!" Joy laughed. "Okay, I would like to go home early considering I have a test tomorrow in History, and at the rate I'm going I won't be able to remember the difference between George Washington and George of the Jungle!" She yawned.
"You're a freak, you know?" He put his arm around her waist as if to hold her up. "You're also tired. Am I working you too hard?"
"No, but you shouldn't have taken away my cigarette!" She mock-glared and leaned against him for support. "I'm warning you, if you make me stop smoking you have to at least give me a redbull or some sort of caffeine to keep me conscience."
"I'll make a note."
"Thank you."
"So, how would you like tomorrow off?" He asked.
"Really?" Joy smiled. "You're like an Egyptian slave-driver, and offering to give me a night off must be very difficult for you..."
"Well, I thought you could use the break. You know, catch up on homework, or sleep, or go out on a date or something young and fun like that." He suggested. "Of course, if you don't want a night off you can try patrolling at..."
"No thanks! A night off would be very appreciated!" Joy interrupted before he changed his mind. "I've barely seen my boyfriend for a couple of weeks..."
"You have a boyfriend?" He seemed surprised.
"Yea, I have a boyfriend, is that so hard to believe?"
"No, actually not at all. You're a very pretty girl Joy." He sounded so sincere.
"Thank you, Angel." Joy smiled. "So, what about you, any girls in your life?"
Angel cleared his throat. "Uh, no not at the moment." He tried to change the subject. "So, when do I get to meet this boyfriend of yours? You know, I have to make sure I approve of him."
"Okay, I'm going home now!" They had reached the parking lot where her car had been left. She unlinked her arm from his and started walking away from him.
"Come on, I'm serious!" He called after her.
"Goodnight!" She waved and he headed back, into the shadows. I like him. Joy decided as she climbed into her car and started the short drive home. He's not at all how he seemed at first. I mean I had him pegged as a moody, boring weirdo! But he's super nice, and totally the big brother type. Plus, he's really good with the whole fighting thing!