New Blood

(Angel's POV)

We're here and now, but will we ever be again

'Cause I have found

All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade

Away again

(Lyrics to Song: Shimmer: Artist: Fuel)

I stood at the window, staring out at the clearing and forest beyond, my mind mired in thoughts of recent events. I had never in all of my years as a member of the living undead encountered a coven of vampires, as they were calling themselves, well more like a family, that took no human life and seemed far different from myself or any others I had knowledge of. I wasn't certain but deep down I had hope that they might be able to help Buffy and I find and rescue our daughter and friends before the monster that was Kale, caused further detriment to the known world.

"Angel, are you okay?" A small voice questioned from somewhere nearby.

My muscles twitched, startled out of my thoughts, and I turned to find the youngest member of the Cullens standing near me, her face plastered with only the slightest of smiles. I grimaced as the act of making such quick movement set the still healing puncture wounds on my upper torso on fire. I felt what color I had gained drain from my face in response to the sudden wave of pain and weakness that came with the sudden motion.

"You should sit down," Ness insisted motioning me toward the nearest sofa and putting her hand against my arm in an effort to guide me. It was plainly obvious that even though she was young in vampire years, she was wise far beyond her age.

I moved and slowly sat down, the pain and weakness preventing me from any sudden motion. I smiled faintly placing my hand against her shoulder and squeezing my eyes shut against the fiery discomfort. "I think I'll survive." I admitted feeling the need to put my head back against the sofa as I leveled my half squinted gaze upon her. "Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to Jake's? I thought I heard your Mom tell you to gather your stuff earlier." I pushed the thoughts of my own child and our own predicament into the background and tried to mask my concerns. There were few living undead that were truly gifted, as they were sometimes called, and I knew that at least one if not two members of this family knew my thoughts and feelings even though I was attempting to keep them to myself.

"All of my stuff is together," She admitted watching me intensely as I struggled to overcome what had turned out to be a lingering bout of pain and growing weakness. "You look like you need a friend. Buffy told me about your daughter being missing. My grandpa will tell my daddy and my aunts and uncles and we'll try and find her." She admitted, a reassuring smile now gracing her features, the tone of her voice confident in her family's ability to locate and rescue Angelica.

I nodded, unsure that even they would find her and wondering if I really wanted them risking their own existence just to find my daughter. "Is Buffy awake?" I questioned, the pain subsiding enough that I could at least focus even if I found myself too weak and still in to much discomfort to move from my current position.

"Not sure," She answered her expression growing concerned in response to my slowly worsening weakness and pain. "I know she's okay though but…" Her voice trailed into sudden silence and it was obvious even though I was far from focused that she had been distracted. There was what seemed like a long silence before another voice actually answered my question.

"Buffy is currently sleeping but her condition is stable and she is now alert enough for you to visit."

"Good news," I admitted my voice fading towards the end as I forced myself to remain at least somewhat focused through the overwhelming weakness and pain.

"Dad, where's grandpa?" Ness questioned embracing her father briefly before turning her concern back toward me. "He's not feeling well. I think he stood too long or maybe…" She released her embrace as Edward moved to gain further insight into my current condition.

"Ness, go find your grandpa for me," He motioned for her to do as she was told and she didn't hesitate but disappeared into another part of the house. I felt his hands as he carefully examined me and tensed in response to the fiery pain as he pressed against the two sutured wounds down low on the right side of my abdomen.

"Pain and weakness came on all of a sudden," I revealed grimacing as the discomfort seemed to come in waves that only exacerbated the overall weakness. The resulting lack of focus was enough that I had forgotten about the fact that I still had a feeding tube in my nose and my time outside of the medical center was limited to only short periods.

"It looks as though you've torn some internal sutures which are causing the pain, as for the weakness, you're in need of another feeding and the medication from it should ease the symptoms." Edward assured finishing the exam. "Do you think you can stand?" He questioned as Carlisle entered the room and moved to provide assistance.

I managed a tired shrug unable to focus through the weakness enough to really be aware of whether I still harbored enough strength to stand on my own.

"Edward, give me a hand," Carlisle insisted as he carefully helped me to my feet. "Easy, let's get you downstairs."

"But Buffy…, we have to find Angelica," I mumbled, my muscles tensing as the motion once again aggravated the pain. "It's…"

"One thing at a time, and first priority is getting your strength back," Carlisle assured, "Once you've had another medicated feeding you should feel much better and then we can talk about your daughter's predicament and you can visit Buffy."

…

"Really worried about the well being of their daughter isn't he?" Edward questioned watching Carlisle monitor the active feeding that I was now receiving as he worked to repair the torn sutures in my abdomen.

"Yes, whoever this Kale is, it seems as though he poses a great threat, maybe even greater than the Volturi." Carlisle agreed keeping a close eye on my condition as I drifted in and out of the pseudo-sleep brought about by the infusion of medicated blood.

"It's apparently not just their daughter that is missing, he mentioned friends of theirs that needed to be found as well." He admitted his concern for the situation growing ever more intense by the hour. Both Buffy and I had been in their midst almost four days and still they knew almost nothing about how or why they had appeared in the yard. The threat of both Kale, whom they had almost no information on, and the Volturi was growing by the hour. "If the Volturi get wind of this…"

"Most likely they are already aware that one vampire of unknown origin and one very gifted female are in our midst." Carlisle admitted placing a firm hand on my shoulder as I began to once more become fully aware of my surroundings.

"The one time when Aro doesn't need to know everything..." He muttered, "We couldn't possibly get that lucky." The rustling as I shifted my position and allowed my gaze to survey the room caught their attention, stopping the conversation in mid-stream.

"Relax, how do you feel?" Carlisle questioned keeping firm pressure against my shoulder in an effort to prevent further injury due to my sudden return to awareness.

I managed a nod, "How's Buffy?" I asked my voice scratchy and my words a bit slurred from the lingering grogginess.

"Still sleeping," Edward answered before Carlisle could find the words. "Buffy will be fine and as soon as your strength returns you're welcome to sit with her but for now just relax."

"Sure," I agreed relaxing back against the pillows and allowing Carlisle to examine me. "I'm still a bit weak but in no pain."

"The lingering weakness is normal. For now you need to remain here until the medication that I'm currently giving you finishes. Once the treatment is complete and you have regained your strength then you can be out of bed once more." Carlisle insisted adjusting the flow settings on my still active feeding. "Give yourself another couple hours; the medication should prevent you from being in pain."

I shifted my position again, struggling just to push myself into a more upright position on the bed only to find that the concentrated effort left my head spinning and made the overall weakness much worse. I laid my head back against the pillows, squeezing my eyes shut briefly in an effort to make my immediate surroundings stop moving.

"Easy, just rest," Edward insisted pulling up a chair and sitting down next to me. "We can talk until you feel the need to sleep again. The medication will continue to affect your awareness at least until your body is able to heal enough for you to regain your strength. "

"Let the treatment run its course, fighting it will only further weaken your overall condition." Carlisle adjusted the settings on the equipment controlling the medication that was being infused into my feeding. "Angel, what do you know about this Kale? You seem to be very concerned about his presence and the possibility that he has abducted your daughter." Leave it to Carlisle to be blunt and up front when it came to uncovering the details surrounding situations of grave importance.

"Kale, the Soulless, is a hybrid demon hunter. He has the ability to cross dimensions." I paused, my color draining in response to a sudden spell of dizziness. "He siphons life energy and or souls to continue his own existence." My voice cracked then and my awareness diminished as another wave of lethargy and weakness brought about by the medication temporarily overwhelmed me.

"Angel," Edward called giving me a gentle shake in an effort to revive me. "Easy, calm down." He soothed as Carlisle adjusted the flow of medication, integrating another bag into the stream. "His weakness is rather abnormal." He admitted putting a firm hand on my shoulder as my sudden restless panic attack only seemed to worsen.

"Strong reaction to the medication sequence," Carlisle answered adjusting the sequence again before beginning to further examine my wounds. It was apparent that even he was concerned that my condition had suddenly seemed to worsen considerably. "Relax," He insisted restraining my limbs with padded restraints so that I didn't further injure myself in my fit of semi-consciousness.

"Wound infection would be the only reason that the medication would cause such a sudden- onset reaction." Edward admitted helping Carlisle to reopen the puncture wounds and thoroughly flush the wound tracks with strong antiseptic and saline, "Infection?"

"Yes or so it seems," Carlisle answered surgically removing the infected tissue and closing the wounds this time placing drainage ports so that no infection would remain trapped internally. "Easy Angel," He soothed as I once again began to regain my awareness. He added another bag of medication to the infusion, "Relax and rest, let your body adjust to the medications."

I shook my head and pulled weakly against whatever was holding me still. After what seemed like several hours, my head finally cleared and the spinning dissipated allowing me to once again open my eyes. My gaze drifted to take in my surroundings before once again coming to focus on Edward who was still sitting in the chair next to my bed. "What happened…I mean I was fine and then…" I tried to shift my position only to find myself to lethargic to really move and unable to lift my arms more than a few inches from the mattress.

"You had an abnormal reaction to the medication caused by a wound infection. Now that your wounds have been flushed surgically and the infected tissues removed, your awareness has returned." He answered adjusting the blanket covering my lower body. "Just relax and let the medication work, we'll continue our conversation. Once you're not so lethargic and in and out of semi-consciousness then Carlisle will remove the restraints, for now just rest,"

I managed to nod in response to his encouragement, not feeling well enough to provide him with an argument even though I was in no real pain. "Kale has Angelica." I insisted my awareness beginning to once again flicker slightly. I shook my head, forcing back the sudden urge to sleep. "He will use her to trap us so he can siphon our souls and use them to his will. Buffy and I have to find him and destroy him before…"

"Before what?" I felt a gentle pressure against my shoulder, the shaking that followed once again pulling me out of the beginnings of a restless pseudo-sleep. My gaze once more focused upon Edward whose expression was one of calm confidence in my survival along with apparent concern for my current condition and the situation.

"He harms Angelica by using her to open the portals to the Plane of Souls and or Hell." I finished before blackness overcame me. My muscles relaxed and I felt his hand lift from my shoulder before I drifted into total unconsciousness.

"Let him rest Edward, give the medication a few hours to clear up the residual infection." Carlisle insisted, placing a damp rag across my forehead to try and ease the sweats that had been brought about by the medication as it fought against the infection. He adjusted the flow sequence and examined my wounds once more before they both exited the room.