A/N: Just to clarify, this story takes place in Season One, after Lonely Hearts and before Hero.
Disclaimer: See chapter one.
The smell of bargain coffee wafted around Angel's office as the drenched huddled form sipped quietly at the polystyrene cup, thankful for the distraction away from the three pairs of eyes fixed upon her. Sitting opposite was a tall dark figure with a creased brow and a deep stare. He wore a black ensemble that appeared to match the colour of his eyes and she couldn't shake the impression that he was looking a little deeper than most would.
To her left, perched on the desk top was younger man with green eyes. The accent denoted an Irish heritage but the look was purely L.A; a battered leather jacket over a dark blue shirt and dark jeans. The look was softer than his companion but there was still the feeling of scrutiny in his dark features. Lastly there was the slim brunette sat in the chair next to her, scribbling notes down in a dog-eared yellow pad. Hair piled up in a loose pony tail, she gave the impression of looking great without even trying, but the wide smile she wore did nothing elevate the visitor's apprehension at the groups' stoic silence.
"So, Miss Yeva, what happened in that warehouse?" The catalogue model opposite spoke up and she couldn't help but swallow visibly in his presence. The action didn't not go unnoticed and his hard gaze softened somewhat, "There's no need to be afraid. We're here to help you."
"At a very competitive fee of course" The brunette piped up, but the quick glance from her employer stopped any further interruptions. She felt a pang of sympathy for the other girl, not wishing to cause conflicts when she'd only been there fifteen minutes,
"It's just Yeva and I can pay you, that's no problem…" Her voice trailed off, maybe this was a mistake?
The Irishman picked up for her, "So, what is the problem?"
She took another sip of her lukewarm coffee before replying, "I'm not even sure you can help me. I mean, I've heard things, about what you do, but I wasn't even sure it was true. It all sounds so crazy."
The first man, surely the 'Angel' of Angel Investigations, spoke again. "Just start at the beginning and we'll see what we can do."
Taking yet another steeling gulp of the bitter liquid from the cup in her hand she began, "It started about a month ago, after I moved to L.A. Nothing much at first, shadows in alleys and noises in parking lots, that sort of thing. But then, recently, it got worse. Something was following me and I really didn't think it was your run-of-the-mill stalker"
"What makes you say that?" The girl, Cordelia, had adopted the same frown as her boss.
"Well, firstly, you should see the state my car is in. The police said it was vandals but seriously, unless they were equipped with chainsaws, I really doubt it. There's other things too, growls in the dark when I'm walking home, strange smells hanging around my apartment doorway, stuff like that."
Doyle gave her a quizzical look, "Smells? What kind?"
Yeva turned her eyes on him, frowning in thought, "Um…I'm not really sure. It's not something most people would pick up; just a scent I know shouldn't be there."
At the mention of scents, both men in the room leaned forward slightly, suddenly more interested. Angel spoke first, "Scent, not smell?"
Cordelia's voice denoted her confusion, "Aren't they the same thing?" But Angel's stare never left their clients face.
"Not really," Yeva continued. "Anyway yesterday I decided enough is enough. I was sick of running straight home each night out of fear. So when I thought I saw it, I followed. Wish I hadn't though; it led me straight to that bloodbath. It was coming for me when you showed up." She gazed up through eyes smeared with mascara, "I didn't thank you for that by the way."
Angel gave her what he hoped was a non-intimidating smile, "It's what I do." Doyle coughed in the background and he added, "What we do."
Yeva flashed him a weak smile but her eyes turned serious moments later, "You know why I've come to you don't you? You know that the police can't help me, not that they would believe me anyway. Even if they did get over the whole 'demon' thing, I'm not really comfortable with them. Old habits I guess"
Angel caught the meaning in her words and simply asked, "What are you?" Blunt. At least it saved time.
"Angel?" Cordelia, embarrassed at her boss's outburst, sounded unusually shrill in the quiet office, "I'm sorry, he can be a bit rude sometimes, I blame his wardrobe…"
The other girl cut her off, "It's okay, he's obviously good at his job. And he's right; I'm not really what I appear. I mean, I am human, for a part. Half a part that is, my father's half. I…um…" Her uncomfortable moment was eased by Doyle who stepped in to finish,
"You're half demon?"
She nodded. "Trellick demon."
"You're a demon!" Their conversation had obviously breezed past far too quickly and casually for Cordelia, who was suddenly looking rather nervous.
Yeva nodded, "A half-demon, it's not that uncommon. I mean, I would have thought you'd be used to it after all…" She turned to address Doyle as he stood near the desk, expecting a look of amusement on his face but instead caught only a brief look of panic.
The sentence died on her tongue but Cordelia had already latched on to the exchange, "After all what? I know we may deal in the slightly strange but we're typically more on the human side of things"
"I'm sorry, I only meant that you must see weird things every day," Yeva recovered quickly. "I must be pretty low down on your freaky-meter." She dared a look at Doyle again and hoped she hadn't just overstepped a line.
With the now-dry and clean client, who was currently catching a nap on the sofa in the front room, Angel, Cordelia and Doyle had sequestered in the boss's office, attempting to dry themselves off.
"So, we have a big angry demon that's hunting a half-demon for god-knows-what-reason and Angel just made him mad. Well, madder" Cordelia tossed her now damp towel onto the back of her chair, gesturing to her boss with her free hand.
"Mad or not," Angel frowned, "That thing needs stopping."
"So I take it we hit the books, find out what it is and then send Angel to finish up?" Doyle chimed in.
The vampire looked slightly insulted at being spoken about in the third person, "I'm not a maid service you know."
Cordelia snorted, "Too bad, you'd probably bring in more money than you do now. And speaking of which, not that I'm sorry about the money we'll get for this, but are we sure we want to help? I mean, she's a demon!"
"Half-demon, princess, there's a difference" Doyle interjected.
"What difference? For all we know this is some demon dispute that is best sorted out between themselves."
Angel could see Doyle struggling to keep his temper in check, after all, it wasn't Cordelia's fault she didn't know about his 'other' side. He interjected on his friend's behalf before things got heated. "That thing out there is killing people who are half human too remember? People with families and lives to live."
He turned to Doyle once Cordelia seemed to quieten, "I think you should go and do a little reconnaissance. Ask around and see if any other demons or half-demons have been having similar problems. Maybe there's a connection? Plus this demon is not exactly crowd-friendly, someone must know where its hiding." Doyle nodded in response, hefted his jacket off the hook and was gone.
"And me?" Cordelia piped up.
"You get the books." She gave him a 'yippee-for-me' sarcastic grin, "And watch Yeva, keep her here for now until we get a lock on this demon. Try and see if you can get anything else out of her."
He rose and headed for the elevator shaft. Cordelia called out after him before the doors slid shut, "Wait, where are you going, aren't you going to help me?"
"I need to make a stop first." And he was gone.
The precinct was busy, as usual. Angel worked his way across the room, skirting the various ne'er-do-well's that were being herded by the officers of the LAPD, most of them contesting their innocence as they went.
Kate Lockley was sitting at her desk, her pale blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail as she leaning over the wad of papers in front of her. Absentmindedly, she chewed viciously on her pen, the fingers of her free hand drumming on the varnished wood and a cold cup of coffee sat nearby. So absorbed in her work, she didn't even look up at Angel as he approached, forcing him to cough slightly to receive attention.
"Angel." She attempted to hide the surprise in her voice, hoping he wouldn't mistake it for embarrassment, "What brings you here?"
His grim face told her it wasn't a pleasure call, "I need your help"
She'd heard it all before, but for some strange reason, it didn't matter. "What's up?"
The man took the seat next to her and leaned in close, like a lover going for a kiss.
'Stop it Kate Lockley, stop it right now!' Her inner voice berated.
He continued, oblivious to her musings, "I need some information, anything on any recent murders that are unsolved and seemed very…unusual" He stumbled slightly over the last word, as if thinking that it didn't quite fit.
Kate straightened in her chair at the mention of murder, "Unusual how? And what have you got to do with it?"
"Unusual like over-the-top violence and no suspects." He replied, ignoring her second question. "Bodies torn apart, like an animal attack"
She gave him a deeply quizzical frown, the intense look in his eyes echoing his determination, "How did you know about them?"
"So, there have been others?" he asked.
She wasn't sure she liked where this was headed. "Angel, you know I can't give you case information, but if you know something you have to tell me"
"Please Kate; I just need to see the files, only for a second."
It was the please that caught her attention, guessing that the haunted twist on his face was something other than needing information. "Alright."
She stood up and he followed her down to one of the side offices, stepping to one side as she locked the door behind her. "If anyone asks, we're making out."
"Sure," he smirked, a smile spreading across his face.
The amused half-grin stayed with him as Lockley heaved a cardboard box off of the shelf and dumped it onto the small table. As she lifted out file after file, Angel scooped one up and flicked it open. The image of blood was the first thing he saw; a crime scene photo of a murder dated two weeks ago, in an alleyway near the dockland. The victim had been ripped apart and only a hand and a few entrails had remained, the rest either taken or eaten by the various night-time creatures of L.A. 'And I don't think it was just rats' Angel thought grimly.
"This starting to looking familiar?" Kate was hovering at his shoulder, "There's five more, all the same M.O, different location each time and no evidence of the killer that we can find. So, what's your angle?"
"There's six now" His statement dropped like a stone in the small room.
Kate visibly swallowed, mental images already playing through her mind. "Where?"
"An abandoned warehouse on sixth and Weston. I found it last night, exactly the same." He left out Yeva, feeling that the hybrid wouldn't want the police on her case as well as the demon.
"I'll get a team down there, see what we can find." Kate sighed, a headache forming behind her eyes.
"Make sure you go in the day." Angel added softly.
She was sure the simple sentence was weighted with some more than friendly concern. "Why?"
"Because there's a better chance you won't run into what did this. I've seen it Kate, and it's not something you can handle." The moment he said it, he knew he should have rephrased it.
Her face turned stony and her voice took on a hard edge, "How dare you tell me what I can or can't handle! In case you hadn't noticed Angel, I'm a police officer and have been for quite some time. I know how to do my job."
He didn't doubt that for a second. "I know."
Somehow the soft words dissolved her anger pretty quickly but she still knew where she stood.
She sighed, not in the mood for a fight with a friend. "Look, I'll do my job and you do yours. I know I won't be able to convince you to stay out of it but believe me Angel, if you interfere with my investigation I will be forced to stop you."
He didn't doubt that either.
Sorry for the delay, and the short chapter, but work keeps stealing all my free time.
Thanks for reading. Reviews make me so happy and I welcome all constructive feedback. Let me know if there's room for improvement!