AN: This chapter was written a long time ago. I recently was given all of my roommate's stories as well as her fanfiction account. Honestly I can't keep up with updating her stuff as well as keeping my account so all of her stuff is going to get posted to my account as soon as I can get it all straightened out. My pen name is duffjessica hope you're still interested in reading this.
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Angel woke with a sharp pain in his chest. A cross was gleaming red at the base of his neck. He sat up and rubbed his chest. He had been playing it safe for years now. What could have sparked the change now? He sprang up out of bed and ran to the next floor where the gym was located. Maybe working out would sedate the fire. It was early in the morning and he was sure that no one would be awake. He found a punching bag in a quiet corner and began beating it senseless. Every time his fist made contact with the bag the fire only grew. He had a deep desire to hurt something real, preferably a woman or a child. He wanted to cause pain immense psychological pain. In a surge of anger he grabbed the punching bag and ripped it from its supports in the ceiling.
"I'm not sure the inanimate object deserved that." Came a familiar voice.
"Go away James, I cant be held accountable to what I might do right now." Angel said turning to face his friend.
"Oh yes you will be. Have we not already established that you have always been in control. That it was you that did all those terrible things. True there is a beast inside of you but that does not mean that you loose control of who you are." Said the watcher as he strolled up to him leisurely. "Now if you must beat something up to quell the pain then by all means try me." He said extending his arms out.
"I tried to warn you James." Angel said rushing at the man bearing down hard his fist cocked back ready to strike.
James side stepped the large vampire placing a hard yet precise judo chop to the back of his neck. The vampire fell face first into the matted floor. "Now have we had enough or are you going to listen to me now?"
Angel grunted and slumped in defeat. "All right you win."
"Very good I'm glad we could come to an understanding. Now as I was saying you need to learn to better control these demons of yours. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would never let yourself hurt any of the girls here." James said squatting down next to him. "I think your afraid of starting a relationship with misses Summers. So your letting your demons surface out of guilt."
"So what do you think I should do." Angel asked looking up at his friend from his position on the floor.
"The answer is simple you should go to Buffy's room right now and confess everything." James said getting up from the floor.
"It's not that simple." Angel said standing up as well.
"The relationship the two of you share is only difficult because you make it so." He said walking from the room.
Angel stood alone in the gym scratching his head could his problems really be that simple. Could communication have made that much of a difference. Turning on his heal he made a mad dash for the elevator. He rode the car to the ground floor. He needed flowers he had no idea were he was going to get flowers at two in the morning but he knew he needed to give her flowers. He wasn't sure if he had ever given her flowers if he had it had been at least six years. He ran down the streets of Cleveland searching for a twenty-four hour supermarket. After running twelve blocks he found a store that was still open. He ran in searching the entire store before finding the floral department. He bought the biggest bouquet of bright coloured flowers they had and sprinted back to the council building. He made it back to the faculty floor before anyone had woken up he rushed to the door to Buffy's apartment and paused before knocking. He needed to calm down and catch his breath.
Angel knocked firmly on the door and shook the water out of the flowers. He could hear sound coming from inside the voice didn't sound like Buffy's but he had nearly forgotten about Illyria. When the door opened he wasn't surprised to see the blue veined woman.
"Hey." She said waving. She turned her head to face the inside of the apartment. "Hey mom, look who's here."
Buffy came around a corner her hair was a mess and from the state of her pyjamas she had just gotten out of bed. "Angel what are you doing here?"
"Well I wanted to give you these." He said holding up the bouquet. "That and I wanted to talk to you."
Illyria looked back and forth between the two and screwed up her face in confusion. "I'm going to go raid the kitchen downstairs mom." She said edging past Angel.
Buffy walked over to the door and took the flowers. "There pretty, I'm surprised you remembered that I like daisies."
"I didn't really. It had been so long that I wasn't sure what you would like so I picked the one that was the most cheerful." He said giving her a half smile.
"It's the thought that counts right?" She said walking into her kitchen.
"I guess, I wanted to talk to you and for some reason I had this nagging feeling that you needed flowers." He said joining her in the kitchen.
"Thanks it was sweet of you." She said setting the flowers in the sink. "So what did you want to talk about."
Angel sat down at the table and crossed his hands. "I haven't ever been the best person at starting a conversation, especially with you."
"Amen to that." Buffy said sitting down opposite him.
"Well I want to change that. I've been in love with you for a long time." He said focusing on a spot on the table. "I know I don't always show it."
"That's an understatement." She said leaning back in her chair.
"To be honest I have had trouble accepting the fact that we could even have a relationship. For some reason I have always felt like I didn't deserve it. That's why I hurt all of those people seven years ago." He said wiping his brow.
"You didn't just hurt them you killed an innocent woman." She said crossing her arms.
"I know and for that I can never fully atone. That's why I was so distant when I came back. I didn't think I was worthy of even speaking to human beings much less you." He stated getting up and pouring himself a cup of coffee. "You helped bring me back to life and in return I up and left."
"Yeah I hated you for a long time for that." She said tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
"You had every reason to hate me. I ran because you made me whole again I was afraid of hurting you. I thought that if I started over I could put Angelus behind me." He sat back down and took a sip out of his mug. "I knew what I did hurt you and every day that abandonment tore at my heart until I let myself get conned into believing that I had lost my soul. I went mad and nothing would stop me from causing pain. When I finally did come out of it the people who I thought were my friends turned their backs on me just like they had in Sunnydale. Over the course of a few years I came to realize who and what Angelus is." Angel got up and walked over to the door. "I'll understand if you don't want to speak to me ever again. I just needed to tell you the truth. I'll always be there for you." Angel walked out of her kitchen and closed the door on his way to his office.
An hour later Angel sat behind his desk reviewing a memorandum from the Cleveland police. Picking up his phone Angel dialled the number he had been provided.
"Hello?" Came a burly voice.
"Hello, is this the captain in charge of police central?" Angel asked reclining in his chair.
"Yes this is captain Polanski." He said through the earpiece.
"That's wonderful, this is Liam Angelus over at the Watchers Council." Angel said trying to remember how to speak with an Irish lilt.
"Ah yes, I believe we had a runner send over some information to your office yesterday." The captain replied.
"Yes I received your packet." Angel smiled he was having fun speaking like an Irishman again. "How would you feel about sending an inspector to act as an observer."
"That sounds wonderful. I can send a detective over later today." The captain volunteered.
"Yes well one of my agents had a run in with a Detective Malarkey." Angel asked.
"I understand you'd rather use someone who is already aware of your organization. That's really not a problem when do you want him?" The captain asked.
"We usually have afternoon tea at about two o'clock." Angel smiled broadly as he hung up the phone. Shortly after there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." He said.
It was Rachel Dawson pushing a tea trolley. "Hello sir. Would you like a cup of tea?" She asked.
"That would be lovely." He replied taking the proffered cup.
"Is everything all right sir you sound off?" She asked pulling out a tray of English biscuit.
"Sorry about that I was on the phone with the chief of police. Since we are governed by the crown they expect me to be speak like I'm straight from Britain." He said selecting a handful of jammy dodgers from her tray.
"I see, does that mean I have to start speaking like I'm British whenever we have guests over?" She asked with a coy smile.
"Not unless you want to." He said smirking.
"Well have a nice day sir." She said pulling her trolley down the hall.
Angel finished his tea and went out to mingle with his slayers.
Two o'clock came and Detective John Malarkey found himself standing outside a tall professional building in downtown Cleveland. The detective shook his head wondering how he got himself in these kinds of situations. Stepping through the front doors John was shocked at how normal the place looked. The front lobby had marble floors that matched to large marble receptionists desk in the middle of the room. A young girl dressed very business professional sat behind the desk with a perky smile plastered on her face.
As the detective made his way to the counter another woman came out of the elevator. She was slightly older than the girl at the desk but not by much. She had shoulder length brown hair and held herself as if she ran the place.
"Hello you must be the detective I was told about." The brunette said offering him her hand. "My name is Rachael Dawson I'm the Executive Manager here at the Watcher's Council."
"It's nice to meet you Ms Dawson." John said taking her hand. "I'm Detective John Malarkey."
"I need to have you sign some things in my office and then the Assistant Director expects you for tea." She said leading him to the elevator.
Once they entered her office John was taken aback at how lavish it felt. The walls were palled in mahogany and lined with mahogany bookshelves. The young woman's desk was also mahogany and the outside wall was a full bank of windows looking out over the city.
"Impressive isn't it?" She said noticing the look of awe on the detective's face.
"That it is, you must have worked very hard to get a position like this at your age." He replied.
"I like to think that I was destined for this job." She said pulling a folder out of a set of file cabinets. "I need you to sign these non-discloser forms and fill out this payroll form and then we can go see Mr Angelus."
John took the forms and looked them over with a weary eye. "In this day and age I can understand the extra security but why the payroll form?" He asked as he signed the non-discloser agreement.
"There are certain hazards that come with this company and the Director likes to know that everyone involved with the Council is adequately compensated." She replied taking both forms from the detective once he finished.
"I understand." He said nodding his head. "What kind of compensation are we talking about?"
"That depends on how involved you chose to be." Rachael said showing him out of her office. "After you and Mr Angelus talk we'll finalize everything."
At the end of the hallway stood a large door with a gold plaque that read Assistant Director. Rachael opened the door and ushered the bewildered man inside.
The office was larger than Ms Dawson's but had many of the same mahogany themes. "You people seem to really love wood." He said offering his hand to the large Irishman behind the desk.
"You have no idea." Angel said taking his hand. John noticed the Chladagh on his right hand and grinned.
"You really are from the old country." He said gesturing to the Chladagh and holding up his left hand showing off a similar ring.
"I figured you were Irish though your family must not have been very well liked." Angel said thinking about the man's name. "Having bullshit for a last name must be pretty annoying."
"Not many people around here seem to notice." He said with a shrug. "since you already know my name what's yours"
"David Liam Angelus." Angel said. "Though most people just call me Angel."
John looked at the man in front of him with a raised eyebrow for several seconds. "You go around using the same name as a gay character from Broadway?"
"Some of my more cultured friends have pointed that out to me before." Angel laughed. "To be honest though I started being called Angel a long time before Jonathon Larson ever named his character that." Angel took the detective by the arm and led him from his office. "I asked for our tea to be served in the conference room."
The conference room felt to Detective Malarkey like a stark contrast to the other rooms he had been in. The laminated table stood out against the white walls and black executive chairs. A silver tea tray sat on the table next to a set of tactical gear.
"What's all of this for?" John wondered as Angel poured them both cups of tea.
"This is standard equipment worn by all of our agents." Angel responded. "A natural part of observing our operation is accompanying us in the field. So I had Ms Dawson requisition you a locker and a full set of gear."
"That's what she meant by hazard pay." He said looking over the flack jacket lying on the table.
"What kind of weapon do they issue you at the police station?" Angel asked once he had finished his tea.
"Smith and Wesson six shooter." The detective said still looking over the weave of the vest.
Angel shook his head in disappointment. "That just won't do at all." Walking over to the black duffle bag containing the other gear he pulled out a black ceramic Glock. "This is specially made to shoot eight millimetre bullets marked with the Ministry of Intelligence emblem. You cannot be charged for the death or injury of anyone shot with this weapon." Angel handed the pistol to John and pulled a set of clips form the bag. "The bullets we use are hollow point made from silver-nitrate laced titanium." Angel handed him two clips and a Kevlar holster. "Our Agents all carry Beretta's but I thought the Glock would look better for a cop to carry."
"Good I idea, people might get suspicious if I started carrying Military ordnance." John agreed. "This Vest is pretty thin what's it made of?" He asked holding up the flack jacket
"The micro-fibre of the vest hides a thin layer of dragon scale." Angel said making Johns eyes bulge.
"This stuff must cost a fortune." The detective said astonished that he was being issued that kind of equipment so easily.
"I like to know that my people are safe." The vampire said handing John the duffle bag. "Why don't I take you back to Rachael's office and you can negotiate your pay."
After a few minutes John found himself in Ms Dawson's office again. Apparently his status as an observer was just a cover so that the city government would feel better about having the council working in the area. In reality though he was expected to report directly to the Director of the council and reveal nothing whatsoever about what really went on behind the council's doors. He was even being given a salary higher than what he received at the department to help coerce him from leaking their secrets. Not that he had been told what these secrets were. He decided not to complain though as the raise in pay would help he and his wife with their newborn girl.
"You seem to be taking all of this in stride." Rachel said once all of the confidentiality forms had been squared away.
The detective shrugged his shoulders. "After what I saw of your people in the field I would rather be on the inside of whatever you're doing then hanging in the dark." He smiled weighing the ordinance bag in his hand. "Plus there has to be more to this than you're letting on. From what I've seen so far you've got a big operation going here and I plan on keeping an eye out for this burgh."
The detective left and Rachel could hold back a smile. The police officer was in for a shock once he saw what the watchers council was really fighting.