"Alright, which part of our deal gave you the impression that you could just drop by whenever you wanted to?" asked Kegan, brandishing her scalpel at Angel angrily. "I am in the middle of a very delicate procedure here!"
"And I'm in the middle of a fire pit, faced with an angry half-demon with a seriously disturbed thing for cutting things up, and yet I don't seem to care as much," said Angel pointedly. "What are you doing this time?"
Kegan's place was dark as ever, the walls blackened with soot and spot fires lit around the floor. Kegan herself was in her demon form, leaning over a metal desk with a middle sized creature, maybe a dog, lying open in front of her.
"Fido here has an extra limb, I wanted to see how that affected the rest of the body," said Kegan.
"You couldn't just put him through an x-ray?" asked Angel.
"What do you want?" Kegan growled. "And what's in it for me?"
"Do you have the Sight?" asked Angel.
"I might," said Kegan. "Why?"
"There's a guy that reckons he's possessed and-"
"He's not possessed," said Kegan at once. "Anyone who's truly possessed wouldn't be able to tell someone they're possessed. Did they say God at all?"
"Um...possibly."
"He ain't possessed. Could you pass me those tweezers?"
Angel located the implement and tossed it to Kegan, who began to shift the muscles in the dog's leg around.
"Okay, well, thanks for that. I'm just gonna-"
"Hold it."
Angel froze and Kegan straightened up, putting down her tools and coming over to him.
"There is no guy," she said knowledgeably, leaning against the door, completely blocking off Angel's exit. "So why are you here?"
"There was a guy," said Angel sincerely. "I promise you there was a guy."
"You know perfectly well that you're going to get nowhere if you keep that up. Fast," said Kegan simply.
Angel sighed.
"I need your help."
"Well, not so fast big guy," said Kegan, advancing on the vampire. "After all, there's plenty of time for me to help you. Why don't we have a little fun first? Take our minds off the job?"
"I...I can't," said Angel desperately. "And I really don't want to! Besides, you don't even know what the job is yet!"
Kegan smirked.
"That's what all the married ones say. You're not married, so I have even less incentive to listen."
Angel grabbed hold of her shoulders and held her back.
"I can't," he said firmly. "And even if I could, I wouldn't."
Kegan changed into her human form, and innocent look on her face.
"What do you mean, you wouldn't?" she asked, sounding timid and hurt. Angel swallowed. "Aren't I pretty enough for you anymore?"
"No, of course you're...pretty enough- Jesus Christ, you're not an innocent little girl! Quit it!"
Kegan dropped the innocent act at once, going instead for sexy.
"Why wouldn't you Angel?" she asked, licking her lips slightly, her hand running lightly down his arm. "You chicken?"
"I'm a vampire, I'm immune to your thrall," said Angel dangerously.
"Pretty wimpy vampire," said Kegan, still eyeing him seductively. "What's the matter? As far as I can remember, you have nothing to be shy about. And the last time you thought you were immune to my thrall...well, it didn't really turn out so well, did it?"
"Kegan, stop," said Angel firmly.
Kegan huffed and turned away.
"I'm not taking your stupid job. I have better things to do."
"I want you to steal something."
Kegan whipped around, her interest peaked.
"What sort of something?"
...
"You do understand what you're asking me to do, right?" Kegan growled, pacing in front of Angel's desk. From the next room, Cordelia and Doyle watched through the doorway. "I mean, you're not asking me to steal a wallet. You're asking me to steal the Sword of Garnor."
"Garnor?" Cordelia asked Doyle quietly.
"A sword forged to kill a very, very, very powerful demon," Doyle explained. "Think 'conquer the world' bad."
"I understand that it's a big job," said Angel. "But-"
"No, I don't think you do understand!" Kegan cut over him. "The Sword of Garnor is locked up, very securely, in Wolfram and Hart's strong vault. That sort of heist could get me killed. What possible use could you have for that sword?"
"I don't. But Wolfram and Hart do. They're trying to harness it's power."
"Let them!"
"What's she so nervous about?" asked Cordelia. "I thought she liked stealing stuff."
"Well firstly, stealing from Wolfram and Hart is not your everyday average stealing," Doyle pointed out. "And secondly, the sword was forged to kill a demon that could have been her father."
"What?" Cordelia hissed. "That very, very, very powerful demon was her father?"
"Kegan, I'm not going to sit by and let Wolfram and Hart continue with some sort of plan that could well destroy a large amount of people!"
"Then don't! But don't involve me! You wanna put your life on the line, fine. But I'm not stealing the Sword of Garnor. No way in hell!"
"Are you sure he was her father?" asked Cordelia. "Really?"
"You don't really get just how powerful she is, do you?" asked Doyle. "Angel is actively scared of her. Her powers exceed that of a normal, pure blood Tor'Aal. There are all sorts of legends about her. One of them is that the demon was her father. The guy who forged the sword, Garnor, he made it for a slayer, who used it to slay a very powerful Tor'Aal demon around 300 years ago. She's just over 300 years old and she's far more powerful than any half blood demon ever should be. It's one of those legends that might actually be true."
"Stop talking about me!" Kegan snarled, fire flaring from her fingertips as she glared at the two of them. Doyle and Cordelia fell silent at once.
"Kegan, if Wolfram and Hart harness it's power, the result could be catastrophic," said Angel urgently. "I want to steal the sword and send it to the Watcher's Council where it'll be safe."
Kegan did not look pleased with that idea.
"The Watcher's Council?! Angel-"
She cut herself off as she realised that Cordelia and Doyle were still watching. She slammed the office door in their face and drew the blinds, making sure that they couldn't see or hear what it was that she had against sending the sword away.
Cordelia sighed and sat down at her desk.
"Guess she doesn't want us to get ideas," she said.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," said Doyle sarcastically.
...
"That sword was designed specifically to kill my father and any of his offspring," Kegan growled. "I'm his offspring! You think I'm just going to let you send it off to a big group of people who train slayers? No way Fang Face! I steal that sword, I want to see it destroyed."
"So it is true. I wasn't sure," said Angel. "Ku'Rorn was your father."
Kegan banged angrily on his desk, leaving burn marks on the wood and making Angel jump a mile.
"Concentrate dumb ass! I'll already be putting my life on the line just to steal the god damn thing! I wanna make sure that if it's removed from it's current secure location, where it's not hurting me, I might add, that it won't fall into the hands of people who do want to hurt me with it!"
Angel held up his hands in surrender.
"Alright," he said. "Fine. Once it's out of Wolfram and Hart's hands, we'll destroy it. Or throw it in the ocean or something. It will cease to be a threat to you, okay?"
"You better be paying me a hell of a lot to do this," Kegan growled.
"Ten thou?"
"Fifteen."
"Twelve."
"Angel, this is not up for debate," Kegan growled pointedly.
Angel sighed.
"Fifteen," he agreed.
"With a five thou advance."
"You have got to be kidding me! I can't pay you that much until I know you've done the job!"
"What? Don't you trust me?" asked Kegan coolly.
"Do you trust me?" asked Angel pointedly.
"Why to you think I want an advance numb skull?" Kegan snapped.
"Alright. You know what? Have the advance," said Angel, scribbling out a cheque. "We can start planning tomorrow. Just get out of here before one of us does something stupid."
Kegan curtsied sarcastically and snatched the cheque from his hand.
"Until tomorrow then."
...
"I can't go in there without being detected."
"You seemed to do alright last time."
"I had a distraction," said Angel.
"What was that?" asked Kegan.
"You," said Angel. "You can't get in there without being detected either, but since there are often demons walking in and out of there, you should be alright. They just don't like vampires there."
"So you want me to go in alone?" asked Kegan.
"Well, if you'd prefer to take Doyle or Cordelia with you, I'm sure-"
"I'm alright," said Kegan quickly.
"Hey, don't blow us off so quick love. We can hold our own," said Doyle.
"Convince me that you work for Wolfram and Hart," said Kegan, eyeing him with disbelief.
Doyle stared at her for a moment before sighing.
"Guess I can't," he muttered.
"What about me? I'm a bitch, I can pull off evil lawyer," said Cordelia.
"Can you fight?" asked Kegan.
"No," Cordelia muttered resentfully.
"You know, I would appreciate it if you didn't shoot down my team every time they opened their mouths," Angel snapped at Kegan.
"Well, when your team can actually prove to be of some use to me, I might consider that," said Kegan coolly. "Until then, live with it."
Angel clenched and unclenched his fists in silent anger, but didn't fight back.
"Alright, if I'm going in alone, I'm going to need a map," said Kegan.
"Oh yeah, that won't look suspicious, walking around Wolfram and Hart with a great bloody blueprint of the place," said Cordelia sarcastically.
"Well see, unlike some of us, I have a very reliable, photographic, memory," said Kegan. "If you lot can procure a set of blueprints, I'll have no problem remembering them."
"Show off," Angel muttered. "You're not the only one with a good memory you know."
"Aww, good for you," said Kegan condescendingly, patting Angel's face. "Your mother must be so proud. Oh, wait, you ate her."
Angel advanced on her and Kegan's eyes lit up at the prospect of fighting the vampire.
"Come on honey, I'll teach you how to fight like a man," she growled, gesturing him forward with flaming fingers.
"Okay children, come on," said Cordelia. "We have work to do and I'd kind of like Angel alive to help."
"That makes one of us," Kegan growled, flames on her hands going out. "Look, assuming I can get in and out smoothly and that I can somehow procure the security clearance to get down to the vault, we still have one major problem."
"Oh?"
"How do I actually get into the vault?"
"Get past the demon and swipe your access card," said Angel simply.
"Demon?" asked Kegan. "What demon?"
"Oh, didn't you know? Wolfram and Hart has a demon guarding their vault," said Angel, smirking slightly. "And you're not allowed to kill it."
Kegan glared at him.
"I hate you," she growled. "You're enjoying this."
"We don't know exactly what sort of demon it is, but we do know that it's big and poisonous," said Angel. "So, we'll get those blueprints for you and you're in the clear."
Kegan was so pissed off at him that sparks were flying from her eyes as she glared at him.
"Careful Kegan. Wouldn't want you to lose control now," said Angel coolly. "Why are you still here? Don't you have an animal to dismember? I told you, we'll take care of everything but the actual stealing of the sword. Go and play with your dead things for a while."
Kegan's eyes narrowed.
"I'm not the one that should be careful Angel," she said dangerously. "After all, you're one of my dead things."
Angel's smirk slipped off his face as she left the office.
...
"There's something you're not telling us," said Cordelia shrewdly. "No way would you two hate each other so much just from that one thing a few hundred years ago. There's something else going on between you two. A couple of legends and a once off encounter does not warrant you being so scared of her, or her being so pissed at you. So what if she had to leave the country? That's probably what she wanted to do anyway. No, there's something beneath all this. How many one night stands have you two had?"
Angel gave her an expressionless look.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Angel, don't you dare blow me off like that. We should know. And she's just gone to Wolfram and Hart so you're safe to talk about her for an hour at least."
"She's right man. It could affect us. And besides, you ought to open up more," said Doyle. "It's healthy."
"I'm dead," Angel pointed out.
"Mentally healthy," Doyle amended. "So tell us man, why such a rivalry?"
Angel sighed and sat down.
"Around ten years after I destroyed her reputation in England, our paths crossed again."
...
1856
"I do love the smell of vampire in the evening. It's such a nice ch- you."
Kegan glared at Angelus.
"I was hoping I would see you again," she growled.
"I'm afraid I can't say the same," said Angelus coolly.
"Do you have any idea who you dared to mess with?" Kegan growled.
"Kegan, correct? I know you're not fully demonic," said Angelus. "Half-demon swine."
"Watch your mouth!" Kegan snarled. "And may I point out, vampire, that you're not exactly a part of the pure-blooded demon club either."
"Fair enough. What sort of demon are you?"
Kegan smirked slightly.
"Wouldn't you like to know? Get out of here vampire, before I make you."
Angelus scoffed.
"You? I'm more powerful than most pure-blooded demons. What makes you think a half-blood such as yourself could possibly defeat me?"
The girl's hands set fire at once and Angelus watched as flames appeared behind her eyes.
"Because the element you avoid...flows through me," she growled. "Would you like to taste real pain, Angelus?"
"You're in your human form."
"Does it surprise you? Some lowly half-demon such as me can use power such as this while in her human shell?" asked Kegan, advancing on the vampire, a small, cruel smile playing her features. "That such a weak form could produce something so powerful?"
Never before had Angelus backed away from a threat the way he was backing away from this demon. The power she radiated had no aura. It was not good or bad power. It was just potent energy. This demon wasn't good or evil. She was just looking for amusement. Angelus knew how to deal with good beings and evil beings, he did not know how to deal with neutrals, and he had never really striven to find out. There was not an evil being he knew that didn't warn against tangling with those just out for themselves. There was no predicting their movements, no guarantee of truth or deceit in their words. They existed purely to make evil beings look like cuddly dolls, and good beings look like devils, depending entirely on what they felt like. They had no sense of right or wrong, only their own twisted views.
"Are you scared Angelus?" asked Kegan softly. "Of a whore?"
Angelus ran up into the wall of the alleyway behind him, keeping a close eye on the flames on her hands.
"You...you should learn your place," he stuttered.
The fire on her hands petered out, and she looked slightly worn out. Angelus realised that though she may be able to use her powers in her human form, they clearly drained her. She came right up to him, looking up at him slightly innocently.
"My place? Where would that be?"
She ghosted her fingers over his chest.
"Kneeling at your feet? Tending to your every whim?"
She pressed her hand hard into his sternum. Angelus winced as he felt her digits heating up.
"Obeying your every command?" she hissed.
"I...I...no...I...I just...you are too...too forward."
"I'm too forward? You followed me Angelus."
Her hand was getting continually warmer, heating to unbearable levels as Angelus struggled to find a reply.
"I wanted to...talk."
"About what?"
Angelus realised far too late that letting his defenses fall for that one moment, when she had looked so innocent and pure, so...corruptible, had possibly been a fatal mistake. Kegan's hand was glowing red hot, and his clothes were disintegrating around it.
"I wanted to...ah...see if...perhaps...ungh...you wanted...to drink..."
"You wanted me to drink you? Oh. You enjoy it. Where's your usual slut?"
Angelus' eyes flashed.
"Do not call my sire such things," he growled dangerously.
"What would you like me to call her then? A c-"
Angelus snarled and slapped her hard across the face before taking advantage of her shock and pressing her up against the wall, arm to her throat.
"Darla is not currently available," he hissed. "You are."
Kegan started laughing, despite Angelus choking her.
"You think I'm...available for you? After what you did to me?"
"I don't think you care what I did to you. I'm offering myself to you."
"Whore!" Kegan spat.
Angelus chuckled.
"You could say that."
"Let me go."
Angelus paused for a moment before removing his arm. Kegan straightened her coat, frowning up at him.
"I don't want to see you ever again after this," she said firmly.
"Of course not."
Kegan sighed.
"Follow me."
...
Kegan looked around carefully as she entered Wolfram and Hart. The security guards in the room were all listening intently to radios and Kegan tuned herself into them.
-A demon has entered the building. This brings the demon occupants up to thirty-seven. Remain alert for suspicious behaviour-
Knowing that she had been detected and yet they were not closing in, she allowed herself another look around the lobby. There had to be someone she could swipe an access card from. Her eyes fell on a young looking security guard, looking slightly overwhelmed by the people and creatures walking around. Clearly, he was new here. Kegan put on her best lost face and hurried up to him.
"Excuse me mister? Could you help me? I'm lost. Is this Wolfram and Hart?"
The guard jumped slightly when she first addressed him, then stared at her with wide eyes.
"H...hi," he stuttered. "Uh, yes, this is Wolfram and Hart."
"Oh thank goodness."
Kegan spied his access card hanging from his belt and slid slightly closer to him.
"See, I wasn't sure, because I was told they helped people, but not everyone here looks like a person to me."
Kegan knew the guard seemed to be tossing up his chances at getting laid tonight.
"Is there any way you could help me? I'm looking for Lindsay McDonald, but it scares me just to think about going through this big building all by myself when there are so money strange creatures here."
The guard puffed himself up slightly proudly. Kegan's hand whipped out and snatched the badge off his belt too quickly for him to catch.
Idiot.
"Of course Miss. Allow me to escort you."
Kegan followed the guard into one of the lifts and waited until the doors had closed before slamming her forearm down on the back of his neck. He crumpled at once and she opened the doors, putting on a scared, worried face.
"Help! He just collapsed! Somebody help!"
A selection of guards and people hurried into the elevator as Kegan moved away and slipped into the emergency stairwell undetected.
Gotta love young guards.
She reached a door at the bottom of the stairs and swiped the card through the scanner. The door buzzed and she was let through. There was a short corridor beyond it, with blank wooden doors leading off into other rooms, but Kegan had her eyes set on the large armored door at the end. There wasn't any demon to be seen.
"Stupid vampire. Trying to rile me up," Kegan muttered, making her way towards the door.
She was about three steps away when the demon materialized in front of her. The vampire had been right. The demon was big, and it certainly smelt poisonous. Kegan took a step back, grimacing at the demon.
"Hi," she said through gritted teeth. "My name's Kegan. What's yours?"
The demon didn't answer, just glared at her.
"Not a talker, alright," said Kegan. "So, just how poisonous are you?"
The demon snarled at her and droplets of green liquid flew from it's mouth, dropping to the ground and burning the floor.
"That poisonous," Kegan muttered. "Look, I'd really appreciate if you didn't kill me, because I have a vampire to kill when I get back so..."
Kegan tried to step around it but the demon growled, flexing fingers with long, razor sharp claws. Kegan sighed.
"I'm not going to get out of this without fighting you, am I?"
The demon growled again.
"Well in that case..."
Kegan transformed in the red-brown demon she was and her hands set alight.
"...let's dance."
The demon swung at her with it's claws and she ducked out of it's way, rolling behind it and lashing out at its legs with her feet. The demon was big, but it was slow and heavy, and was sent crashing to the floor. It roared in indignation and sent a stream of the burning liquid at Kegan, who only just managed to dodge it, though a few drops did land on her arm, burning the flesh.
Kegan hissed in pain and brought a flaming fist down on it's skull. The demon howled as she burnt through its face, but it was still conscious and it swiped at her leg with both its clawed hands, cutting the flesh like butter. Kegan screwed up her willpower against the pain and pressed a flaming hand to the wounds, trying to heal them as the demon got back to its feet.
"Well done," she hissed. "But we're not finished yet."
She hit the demon in the stomach and it grunted before spewing up more of its poison, showering the walls and floor with acid, and causing Kegan's leg even more pain as it splashed up on her. But Kegan didn't think on this and instead held her hand to the puddles of burning liquid. They lit up at once, setting a large amount of the floor around her on fire. The demon, standing just outside the fire snarled, but it didn't try to make it through the flames.
"Let it be known, that had I been allowed to kill you, you'd be on fire, not the floor!" Kegan snapped, turning to the door and swiping the card again as she changed back into her human form.
The door opened and Kegan limped in, staring around her. Her face lit up in a grin as she took in the valuable items around her.
"Now this is what I call heaven."
...
"That doesn't sound like the sort of thing Kegan would hate you for," said Cordelia.
"Yeah, demons like vampire blood."
"There's more to this story," said Angel. "So, she drank my blood and we had a very, very intense night, and then I may have tortured her and...tried to kill her."
...
"You two-faced, lying, cowardly, bastard!"
Angelus smirked slightly as Kegan jerked against the chains.
"Now, that wasn't very nice," he said disapprovingly. "And here I was thinking you had learnt to start talking nicely to me."
Kegan bit back a cry of pain as Angelus ran her shoulder through with a long blade.
"After all, the nicer you are to me..."
Kegan hissed in pain as he twisted the blade.
"...the nicer I am to you."
The demon spat flames at him and Angelus snarled as they burnt his face.
"Why you-"
He drew a hot poker from the flames behind him and ran it straight through her leg. Kegan howled in pain before closing her eyes and letting her head flop back on her shoulder blades, her mouth hanging slightly open. Angelus thought for a moment she had fallen unconscious, but then she looked back up at him, flames in her eyes, an open mouthed grin on her face.
"You may be strong vampire, but you clearly don't have a brain in that pretty little head of yours. See, I can't always control me power..."
Angelus' eyes widened as Kegan's entire body seemed to heat to an unbearable temperature and he dived behind the first thing he could find as flames erupted from her body, filling the entire room with a searing heat. Angelus waited until the flames had deceased and then some before daring to come out from his hiding place. The half-demon was gone.
...
"Yeah, that might have been something she wouldn't have liked," muttered Cordelia.
"It was worse for him than it was for me...in the end," said Kegan, walking into the office and grabbing hold of Angel's shirt. "You and I have a date."
"What? Why?" asked Angel
"We have a sword to destroy," said Kegan simply, pulling him towards the door. "And you two ought to stop nosing into my past. You won't like the result."
"Why not?" asked Cordelia.
Angel groaned and Doyle winced.
"Why not?" Kegan repeated, letting go of Angel and getting up into Cordelia's face. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't like people talking about me. And I really don't like people talking about my past. I've had fun, yes, but I don't need a group of amateur demon detectives digging around my life."
Kegan held a flaming hand right near Cordelia's face.
"Don't. Try. To. Find. Out. About. Me."
Cordelia stared at her with fearful eyes and Kegan smiled slightly.
"Good talking to you," she said, turning on her heel and dragging Angel out of the office.
"I can't believe you asked why!" said Doyle, his eyes wide. "Are you insane?"
"I just thought...maybe...she'd be nice," said Cordelia, staring after the demon. "Guess that was a stupid idea."
"Ya think?"
...
"Happy now?" asked Angel.
Kegan into the kiln.
"Yep," she said, scooping up a handful of ashes and tossing them in Angel's face. "Cough up."
Angel coughed away a large amount of the ash. Kegan scowled.
"Oh, you mean money," said Angel, pulling a roll of bills from his pocket. "Here."
Kegan unrolled the bills and began counting them.
"So, do tell, what else did you take?" asked Angel.
"Oh you know, this and that," said Kegan casually. "I'm now the proud owner of another Tegnar horn for one."
Angel stared at her.
"Why did you want that?" he asked. "What possible value could it hold?"
"It looks pretty on my wall. And they don't catch fire so it's one of few things that will survive in my apartment. Plus, if you cut them open, they're individual to each demon. I have about twenty different horns now."
"Don't you have anything better to do than cut things open?"
"Drinking and gambling," said Kegan simply. "And planning my inevitable rise to power."
"Really?" asked Angel.
"Hey, my father almost got there. And in this society, where people who make swords to kill very, very, very powerful demons are very, very, very rare, I'm even more likely to do so."
Angel swallowed.
"And when I do, my first port of call will be to toast your dead, little arse," said Kegan frostily. "You didn't tell them the half of it."
"I figured it would be better to leave them in the dark than get staked just for telling a story," said Angel, shrugging.
Kegan snorted.
"Wimp. Well Fang Face, see you around."
Angel turned as she passed him.
"Kegan."
The half-demon paused.
"I know you know about my curse."
Kegan smirked.
"What about it?"
"It wouldn't benefit you to have me lose my soul, and based on my thinking, letting you do to me what you'd like to do would cause me to lose it, so...can I actually...?"
Kegan smirked.
"Well, let me try, and you'll find out."
Angel swallowed.
"Guess you'll never know then," said Kegan, leaving the building.