Angel's Demon

by cwbitner

Charlie Morningstar is trapped on Earth, with no memory of who she is. She teams up with a Bounty Hunter & Witch to investigate and save lost, kidnapped & trafficked children. As her powers continue to evolve, they'll catch the attention of a vicious kingpin and his voodoo henchman, who seeks to take Charlie as their own personal demon.

17. Chapter 16

Reaching the apartment, Angel walked in to find Charlie already organizing their equipment taken from the van parked in the back out of sight. Cassie was pulling up information on the web, looking for floor plans for the warehouse and gave Angel a nod when he entered, who returned it in kind. He excused himself and went to bathroom to take care of business and freshen up. Once he was done, he joined the ladies in the living room.

"Cassie? Are you okay with us using your car, tonight?"

"It's yours as long as you need it. Charlie filled me in on everything. I'm gathering the floor plans as we speak."

"Didn't leave me with anything to do, did you, Charlie?" Angel went and sat in the chair next to the couch which was covered in their usual supplies.

"Cassie gathers intel, I arrange supplies, you make the plan." Charlie sat down in another chair, looking refreshed herself in the cool A/C of the apartment, "And two out of three are just about done."

Nodding, Angel pulled a large duffle bag to him that Charlie had not seen before until she'd helped him bring things up the night before. Opening it, Angel pulled out his trank gun and supplies and then something he'd been working on, and presented it to Charlie. When Charlie learned what it was, her eyes sparkled and new ideas started to pour into her imagination on how to use it. Angel smiled at her reaction and showed her how it worked before Cassie called them over to the computer. She showed them the plans and Angel pointed out the best options and Charlie absorbed it all. As the hour ended and the new one began, the sun had tucked in behind the clouds and dusk took hold. Angel checked his watch, and with everything as set as could be, he looked at Charlie, "Are you ready?"

Charlie's eyes turned red as she nodded firmly and it was the first time Cassie saw anything of Charlie's power, and the power in the room told her those assholes had no chance in hell.

Senses alert, Charlie slid along the outer wall of the warehouse, listening to the sounds of the men inside moving about on sentry, and the girl's soft breathing and occasional whimpers from some place deep inside. Reaching a boarded up window, Charlie used her claws to slowly pry one of the boards away so she could peer inside. Whichever area she'd reached seemed to be empty, and ripping the board away slowly, she created enough space for her lithe demon form to slip inside. Practice and experimentation had awarded her even more abilities, including altering her bodies shape, change her voice pitch, as well as being able to scale walls and structures with ease. If they saw her now she knew they'd freak out as she went up a wall to get a good viewing angle of the area she'd found herself in. Darting her eyes to inventory the various equipment, stairways and exits, Charlie attuned her ears towards each one of the doors to determine which way she'd go next. Clicking the button on her earpiece, Charlie updated Angel, following his request to skip protocol, "I'm inside. Entered from the south-side away from the bay doors the van had dropped the girls off at. No one in sight. I left a board free at the window for you." she whispered.

Angel's soft voice affirmed, "Understood. I'm sixty yards out, waiting on a sentry to finish his rounds. Thanks for the entry point, but I'm going to try to go in from the opposite end, that way we can take them out end to end. Any lead on the girls?"

"I hear them. They're on the Northwest side, so I think in one of the offices. From the plans you got from the net, I'll have to pass through five sections at least, depending on sentry movement. I'm picking up at least eleven moving in patterns."

"Your ears will never cease to amaze me, Charlie. Even with my night vision goggles, I'm limited to line of sight. If you can take out one sentry at a time and clear the first half of the rooms, I'll clear the outside and then head in from the north point."

"If they're spread the way I hear, and they're easily spooked, I'll have no issue with at least the first two. They sound far enough apart that they won't be in line of sight of each other."

"Good. Remember, these men are professionals. Likely military like I was, so be extra careful."

"I promise, Angel. I won't take any risks that could bring harm to the girls."

Clicking the button off, Charlie slithered up and took to the rafters, gripping the steel girders with her claws, leaving impressions from her strong grip as she swung and floated between each one till she reached the first door. Crawling down like a lizard on a tree, her blackish hair floating around her from her power, she sunk her forefinger claw into the door's metal to secure enough grip to pull it open slowly. Peering into the next room, she saw the first sentry turn at the creaking sound and she moved her head up out of sight but pulled the door just a bit more as bait to lure the man into the room with her. As he heard him move her way, she let go of the wall and landed softly, again thankful for the cotton shoes she kept on and she slid backwards to lay under a staircase across from the door. Shifting her demon form, she took on the frame of a small girl, shadowed under the staircase. Let him think one of the girls had somehow gotten free and make him come to her. She watched through the strands of her hair as the man pushed the door open and peered inside. Charlie whimpered through her lips, imitating the sound of a scared child, and she heard the man swear quietly and she took note of the click of the safety going off on his semi-automatic. Whimpering a little louder, Charlie modulated her voice into a mix of a scared little girl and something unnatural and frightening, "Please….mister…. Don't hurt.. meee."

Coming to a stop, the man shifted his body in a defensive stance, "How did you get in here, kid? And what's wrong with your voice?"

Moving her body in a way that wasn't human, she slithered slightly out from under the staircase, the shadows joining in on the performance, twisting her waist and head in opposite directions "Don't hurt me.. please."

Swallowing, the man forgot his gun and backed away, "What the fuck are you?"

"Help me…" Charlie pitched her in a high pitched whining whisper, "It hurrrrrtttttts."

Remembering his gun, the man started to lift it when he heard a low guttural screech and the 'girl' lunged, claws grabbing him by the shoulders, piercing his flack jacket and a foot kicking his arm aside causing the gun to slip from his grip and go clacking to the concrete floor. Eyes wide, he saw a flash of white sharp teeth come down and he tried to scream but another hand clamped on his mouth and sharp white pain exploded on his neck. Thinking the girl-thing was ripping out his throat, he choked in terror and fell on his back, barely registering his head smacking the concrete before his vision and conciseness faded away.

Strewn on the floor, out like a light from the trank dart that Charlie had plunged into his neck, the man convulsed once and then went still. She knew that her feigned bite would scare the hell out of him. Breathing hard from the thrill of the 'kill', Charlie pulled the empty dart out and dropped it into an empty pouch on her waist, and then dragged the drugged man effortlessly under the staircase. Moving some nearby boxes in front to hide him from sight, Charlie checked her left arm where a Velcro wrap holding five more darts were stored in individual pockets, each one with a rubber stopper protecting the sharp tip. She grinned at the gift Angel had given during their planning at the apartment, giving her this new advantage. Pulling a stopper off she prepped the next dart for use. With a tensing of her leg muscles, Charlie jumped hard and up, catching a rafter girder and scurrying back to the same door, now wide open.

Moving down and through the frame of the door, Charlie crawled up to the rafters and crouched on one long beam, holding onto another and scanning the area. Focusing her senses on the next door, she heard the next sentry moving in her direction. Licking her lips, Charlie let out an eerie moan, pitching her voice to mimic the man she'd just taken out, just loud enough to reach the sentry's position.

"Skeet? You okay in there?" The second sentry came through the door, gun at the ready with a bright LED light illuminating the distance in front of him. Carefully surveying the area at eye level, he called out, "Skeet, where the fuck are you man? You know you can't leave your post."

Cursing, the sentry took a walkie-talkie off his belt, "Skeet, this is Parker, come in. What's your twenty? Over?"

Silence greeted him and he stepped further into the room. From above, Charlie moved through the rafters towards the sentry's location, purposely clicking her claws on the steel beams and she watched the man's head whip up and follow the sounds as they moved from the far door to just above him. She stopped quickly, though, as the sentry's walkie squelched, taking his attention from her position, she heard a new voice over the radio, "Parker, report. Over?"

"This is Parker. Skeet's off his post. I'm canvasing his section now. Over."

"Well, forget that lazy prick. Samedi wants everyone in the main office, stat. The barge is arriving in twenty to move the girls."

"Roger. On my way." Patrick clicked off the talkie and turned around, when the shuffling above recaptured his attention, "What the hell is up there? Raccoons?"

Panning his gun up, the LED light tracing along the wall and into the rafters above, Parker gasped as two bright red eyes, shaped like slits, glared back at him in the beam of his light before disappearing completely. Finger on the trigger, Parker darts his eyes all over, trying to re-track what he just saw. Raccoons do not have eyes like that, so what the hell was up there?

Clicking sounds appear behind him, above and he spins, focusing the light at the sound and he sees a shadow scurry just out of the beam's focused glare. Nerves on edge, Parker again tries to track the mysterious animal, intent on identifying it. Shock races through his senses when a long tail with a spade like tip drops right in front of his face. He looks up sharply, greeted by a nightmare of teeth, red eyes and a growl no natural creature could produce falling towards him. The tail wraps around his gun and rips it away from him before the creature drops on his shoulders, knocking him to the ground. A single cry escapes his mouth before he feels a hot clawed hand wrap around his face and breath, hot and sulfuring, blows across his cheek and an unholy voice reverberate against his ear, "See you in hell, asshole!" followed by a sharp piecing pain in his neck, and instant darkness takes him.

Letting her weight sit on the man's back, uncaring if it leaves him bruises or broken bones, Charlie clicked her radio, "Angel. A ship's coming in now to move the girls. I could only clear two sentries, and most are moving towards the area of the girls. We're running out of time!"

"I took out two sentries patrolling, Charlie, but if that's true, then when they don't report in, suspicions are going to be high with the rest."

"What's Amanda's ETA?" Charlie asked as she pulled the man's body under a machine and out of sight.

"Ten minutes, tops, and once she's on sight she's radioing the rest, so we have twenty-five, thirty minutes at most to clear out."

"I understand, Angel. What do I do? If the sentries are all in the rooms with the girls?"

"How many darts do you have left?"

"Used two, have four left. We each took out two, that leaves seven left."

"Seven in one spot, possibly on alert when the others don't arrive in short order." Angel paused, "And they're heavily armed."

She waited, knowing his mind was organizing options quickly and concisely.

"Charlie. I'm going to try to lure as many out of the room as I can. When I do, go in dark and take out the stragglers with the darts and get the girls out through the north window."

"You'll be outnumbered!"

"I know, but we don't have time for anything intricate. This is a divide and conquer. I have enough darts to take out whomever I can lure out, but I'll be pinned down. Once you got the girls out, go full demon and save my ass!"

"Angel?"

"That's an order, Charlie. Now, move!"

"Be safe!" Charlie knew not to argue further and moved with a purpose. No longer worried about being sneaky she ran through the door and through two more large areas, cutting the distance between her and the area where the girls and sentries would be at. Turning a corner, she stopped short and her eyes widened and covered her mouth gasping. On the floor next to a few dirty mattresses, laid the burned, charred body of a teen-age girl. Approaching with soft steps, Charlie dropped to one knee and reached out, stopping short and she let out a sharp cry. Taking breaths to steady herself, she examined the body, noticing the ravaged throat and a low guttural growl rumbled in her throat. Whomever did this was sadistic and enjoyed their work, and she knew no mere sentry was the cause for this torture. Standing, Charlie stood, shoulders shaking and growled loudly, her tail whipping, horns sparking with power and her blackish hair flowing as if she was underwater. She now was enraged and had no qualms with the pain she was soon to inflict on those monsters. Stepping far around the girl's body with respect she moved through the far door, fading out of sight as she did.

"Interesting." Samedi thought to himself as he stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room, caressing his amulet he had used to mask his presence from the demon's senses. When it had first crossed the magical boundary that he'd cast days before, he knew it wise to hide himself and survey from the darkness, which only worked because the demon was not seeking him out, specifically. Bible's merchandise no longer interested him. This was no ordinary demon, certainly nothing like the ones he's summoned in the past, and Samedi found himself singularly intrigued by its presence. Who called it here and why? Why did it look sad when it found the dead girls body? Demons seek and kill humans, it's what they're made for, after all. At least the ones he called certainly had endless blood lust. Following quietly, Samedi now hunted the demon that had invaded the warehouse, considering the possibility of capturing it for himself.

Having secured two sentries he'd darted outside the warehouse with the zip ties, Angel worked out the plan with Charlie and moved up the steel steps towards the entry door on the north side of the warehouse. He tensed, hands gripping his dart gun, knowing in a few moments he'd be pinned down and in a fire fight with any of the sentries that Charlie could scare out of the back offices. At least they'd narrowed down where the girls were likely being kept and which way the sentries would come from, but with limited darts, Angel sighed in frustration at the idea he'd have to go live and use his gun. Pushing the door open, he stepped in quickly and to the side, pointing the dart gun at any possible targets. So far, it was quiet, and he saw light at the far end of the warehouse where the offices and storage rooms were staged. Surveying the area, he was grateful to see a few places he could use for cover and selecting one that was about half way between the door and back areas, he moved to it and confirmed he could see the open door and the sentries moving inside. Just as he thought, they looked tense and animated, likely trying to contact the fallen sentries, and having no luck. He was about to make his move, when he saw movement in the shadows to the left of the room, and cursed quietly as Charlie snuck up to look in the window on the side of the room. He cursed even harder, watching her step around to the main door. "Charlie," He thought, "What are you doing!?"

Working to control her emotions from seeing the poor girl's dead body, Charlie came to a stop outside the storage room where the sentries had gathered and she peered through the window. Inside, she saw three large cages, each one holding some of the girls, with the sentries talking and sometimes leering at the frightened children. She listened as they were trying to radio their fallen comrades, and tensions were growing fast. One of the sentries clicked his radio off and swore. "I can't get a hold of Skeet, Parker or the others."

Another sentry, who Charlie could tell was the one giving orders, cocked his gun, "Something's wrong. Get the girls ready to move, now!"

Charlie watched one of the men fish out some keys from his pocket and move towards the first cage. She watched the girls cower and Charlie's anger boiled over. Eyes moving fast, Charlie took in the room, where the door was compared to the sentries positions, sizing up the best way to attack and knowing she was going to piss Angel off big time. Plucking the rubber stoppers off the last four darts. Charlie moved towards the entrance and got an idea. So far, her tactics had been fear based, using her demon powers to frighten her victims. Why not just use her womanly charms? Pulling her demon form in and reverting to human form, Charlie shed her cloak and stepped right into the open door of the room, leaning her sexy body against the door frame, she smiled at them, "Hey, boys."

As one, they all turned, lifting their guns and then stopped, looking perplexed, suspicious and horny all in one take. How do men do that, Charlie quipped in her mind, as she swayed her hips and backed away from the door, "I don't suppose any of you can help a lady out? I'm lost."

"Who the fuck are you?" The lead sentry snapped, pointing his gun at her as he and two other sentries followed him out through the door to surround her. Shit, she had hoped all of them would have followed, but she had to do with what she had. Three were out of sight of the girls cages and that's what she had wanted.

Smiling at the three men, even as they had their weapons pointed right at her, Charlie licked her lips seductively, "Lil ol' me? I'm just a lost little demon hungry for some big, handsome men. That's all."

The three looked at each other and the lead one laughed, "Lost little demon? What the fuck does that mean?"

Stepping even further back away from the light pouring from the room and into the shadows, Charlie let her eyes bleed red as her body faded from sight, "It means your lives are about to end, assholes."

Yelling as one, the three pulled the triggers on their weapons, firing rounds into the darkness where the girl had just been, fear seeping into their bones. Charlie had anticipated this and as she finished going dark, launched into the rafters, safely out of the line of fire. Pulling three darts out and into her hand, she watched the men go into a defensive three point stance, their backs to each other, still firing into the dark and that left a perfect spot for her. Stepping off the beam she'd perched on, she dropped to the ground inside their defensive circle and in quick succession, stabbed a dart into all three necks. As they dropped, she pulled each out and dropped them into her bag, staying invisible as two of the other sentries ran out of the room at the sudden commotion. As they saw their comrades drop to the ground, seemingly from nothing, they looked at each other and that's when Charlie exploded into sight on their left, in full demon form and let loose her loudest, cruelest, most demonic scream she'd ever let rip from her soul, fueled by the pain of seeing the poor dead girl. The two men screamed and ran off towards the exit, where she knew Angel would be waiting.

Angel watched Charlie lead the men out, disappear and then attack with a drop down maneuver and while he was angry at her for switching up the plan but he admitted her move took out half the men without risking his position. She was adapting quicker than he was even able to plan, and that made him a bit uncomfortable. If they were going to succeed, there was going to have to be a very serious talk about following orders. He watched the men drop hard, and two others come out to investigate. When Charlie exploded into sight and scared the men to half to death, he tensed as they ran in his direction, and as they approached, he targeted each one and took them out with darts. Five down, two to go, he thought. His radio buzzed and he answered, "Charlie, what the hell was that about?"

"I will explain later, "Charlie's voice was tense and short, "I have one more in the room who didn't come out. I need to take him out to get the girls free."

"Understood." Angel responded and then a frightening thought hit him, "Did you say one, Charlie? One in the room?"

"Yes."

"Shit! We're missing one!"

A sound of a gun cocking and a muzzle pressed hard against his back answered the missing equation and a deep guttural voice ordered, "Don't move, asshole."

"Angel?" Charlie's worried voice carried over the earpiece

"I'm fine." Angel lied, "Save the girls!"

He managed to get the order out before the headpiece was ripped off his head. Angel tensed as the man behind him grabbed his dart gun and threw it hard and he heard it clatter off into the darkness.

"Who the fuck are you?" The missing sentry barked at him.

Angel didn't answer as his mind was racing to put together his options. He hoped Charlie listened to him this time, as they girls were far more important, and he could take care of himself. He felt the nuzzle press harder into his back, as the sentry radioed the last man in the room.

"I got the prick. Get the girls out, now!"

Angel heard the reply, "On it, Giles!"

"Last chance, dickhead, or I splatter your guts all over the floor." The sentry called Giles warned.

Taking a deep breath, Angel was about to answer when a different voice replied instead from behind them both, "Do it, and your brains join them."

Angel let a smile ghost his lips, recognizing Amanda's firm, commanding voice come from the doorway. He felt the muzzle ease from his back, as Giles turned his head towards Amanda's voice and it was all Angel needed. Spinning hard, Angel lifted his forearm and knocked the gun aside as Giles fired, bullets ripping against the wall and throwing a punch, Angel knocked him back four steps. A swift round house kick followed, knocking the semi-automatic out of Giles hands and he threw another punch, but Giles blocked it.

"Get your hands up, now!" Amanda ordered as she moved in, gun squared in on Giles, but Giles ignored her and swung at Angel, clipping his jaw. Angel back peddled and steadied himself.

"Amanda, let me have this one." Angel felt the years of pain of losing lives well up in him and for once, he wanted to let it all out. He also needed to stall Amanda from seeing Charlie. "Someone needs to learn a few lessons!"

"Angel. The Director and everyone are on their way, only minutes out." Amanda warned.

Angel grinned at Giles, who grinned in turn, saying in a mocking voice, "Come on, Angel.. let's see what you got!"

"Gladly!"

Charlie heard Angel's command and turned towards the room, putting her fear for Angel on hold, as they both knew the girls safety came first. Switching back to invisible, she entered the room to see the last sentry following his own orders and unlocking the cages. Ushering the girls out and barking orders to move quickly towards the door. Sizing up the situation, Charlie opted to let him lead the girls towards the backside of the warehouse and the exit to the docks, away from Angel and Giles. Following as quietly as possible as they moved about twenty five yards into the shadows, Charlie reached for her last dart and started, feeling for it but it wasn't there. It must have been knocked off her armband when she struck the last three men. With no way to knock the sentry out without revealing herself to the girls, who were shuffling slowly and crying, Charlie licked her lips and tried to figure out what to do. With the distance closing to the dock doors and the sound of the barge arriving, which means even more men to contend with, Charlie threw caution to the wind and dropped her cloak and shouted.

"Hey, Asshole!"

The sentry turned, startled and raised his weapon, firing wildly. Charlie dropped flat to the concrete floor, and lifting her hand, folded all but her pointer finger and shot out a blast of demon fire into the man's gun, causing it to burn in his hands and he dropped it in pain. The girls screamed but didn't run, which confused Charlie at first, but the memory of the dead girl had her wonder if she'd been an example. Fucking monsters, she growled, and it hurt her badly to think of the fear the girls were feeling and now they wouldn't run. Charlie bounded up off the floor and charged the man, her claws coming out and control was nearly gone and she swiped at the man, cutting his cheek and twisting her body to take his legs out with her tail. As he dropped, Charlie debated for the first time on taking a life, and immediately hated herself for it. Instead, Charlie folded her features in and she spun to the girls, "RUN!"

"But the monster!" One of the girls cried out in fear.

"Monster?" Charlie thought. So, there was someone else! It would have to wait, she needed the girls out, now! Charlie ran up to the girls, who recoiled at first which made her sad and grateful at the same time she didn't kill the sentry and pointed to a window to their right. "The monster's gone, I promise you! See that window?"

Her ears picked up sirens coming down the side road to the warehouse and breathed a sigh of relief, "The good guys are coming! They'll get you out of here. Get to that window and climb though. Go, now!"

The older girls gathered their bravery and nodded, grabbing the younger ones to rush the window and escape. Charlie breathed in hard, watching the ten little girls make it to the window when her senses picked up a whimper, and turned, scared. The sentry was back on his feet and in the confusion, had managed to grab one of the girls that Charlie hadn't seen in her rush and held her in front of him with a pistol he apparently had tucked in his back pocket, pressed to the little girl's forehead, "I don't know what the fuck you are, but if you try anything, I'll spill this little bitch's brains!"

Charlie's body burned to release her inner demon but the fear on the girl's face held her in check.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Charlie's mind raced, "Angel, where are you?"

Lip split and the taste of copper on his tongue, Angel shuffled his feet in a semi circle as Giles, in as bad shape as he was by now, spit out a glob of blood and mucus on the floor, wiping his broken nose and glaring back at Angel, mirroring his movements. Sims heard the roar of cars and copters closing in from a distance and scolded Angel, "Can you finish this? Why are you playing with him like this?"

"Shut up, bitch!" Giles growled, "This wimp's barely standing."

Amanda actually smiled through her frustrated sigh, "Oh, the charms of the naive."

Giles roared and threw a focused punch directly at Angel's jaw, missing as Angel turned ninety degrees and caught Giles arm with both hands and brought it down hard on his knee as he lifted his leg hard and fast. The loud crack of bone followed by a scream of pain told Amanda that Angel was finally getting serious. Angel sent a back elbow into Giles nose, shattering the already broken bone and twisted with a leg sweep, putting Giles on his back with a hard thud. Feeling sadistic in the moment, feeding on the flood of rage he'd been holding in for years coupled with worry for Charlie, Angel brought his military issued boot down full force into Giles crotch. The resulting scream and vomiting that came from Giles was reward enough, and Angel skipped back three steps, taking up a ready stance just in case.

"Jesus." Amanda awed, dropping to secure Giles with her FBI issued handcuffs, looking up at Angel as she secured them to find Angel running off towards the back of the warehouse, stopping to pick up his abandoned trank gun, and she assumed he was going for the girls. Calling out loudly, "Hurry, Angel. Everyone's about here!"

"Move, bitch!" The small framed sentry commanded, and Charlie obliged with hands up, moving to the side as the man dragged the crying girl with him towards the back, where the barge was in the process of docking. With no darts and keeping her demon form in check, Charlie kept pace with them as they backed towards the exit, "Don't you fucking follow me!"

"You're not taking the girl." Charlie's demon voice seeped into her human one and the sentry lifted his gun towards her, threateningly.

"I don't know how you took out everyone else, or what the fuck you are, but you take one more step and I'll shoot the both of you, you got me, bitch!?"

The girl sobbed, causing the man to look at her for a moment, placing the barrel of the gun against her forehead again, "Shut up, cunt!"

That was it! Charlie apologized silently to the little one and she let her demon form spill out, and in a way she'd never felt before… not only did her claws, horns, tail and energy pout out, but she felt her body grow and spread out… filling the space she was in in a way she'd never done before, her face contorted as her fangs grew past her lips and she screamed a full on banshee roar. She wanted this pathetic human dead and it burned in her heart how this made her feel and it scared her to death but she let that pain fuel her need in the moment.

The man screamed and turned his gun on the demon before him.

BANG!

Charlie flinched. She'd let herself forget that she was mortal and even in this form if his shot was true, she was dead. God, Angel, I'm so sorry! But she didn't feel any pain, and instead saw a bead of blood form on the sentry's forehead. A second later, his arm dropped and the gun spilled onto the floor and it as mixed with the little girls' own scream at seeing Charlie in her true form! Charlie spun and there, kneeling with arms extended and gun in hand, with the barrel smoking, was Angel.

Standing, Angel walked right through the massive flowing black hair of Charlie's demon form, coming out of it as if from the shadows and he scooped up the screaming girl and pressed her face into his chest, whispering that she was safe and he wouldn't let the mean monster hurt her. Turning with a mix of angry and sad eyes at Charlie, his tone was punishment enough, "Charlie, get out of here, NOW!"

Tears welling up, Charlie turned and fled through the warehouse, her hair following like trails of seaweed caught in the wake of a boat, and clawed up a wall and out a vent that should have been too small for her and into the darkness. What neither of them knew in that moment was the audience they had in Samedi, who's smile was full of crooked teeth and eyes shone with eager desire. Rubbing his amulet, a wisp of smoke shrouded him and he made his way out of his own secret exit to an arranged escape that was meant only for him.

"Angel!" Amanda ran up a moment later, coming from the dark, "Director Stefon is here! They're pouring into the warehouse and others are out back securing the barge. You gotta go!"

Angel settled the crying girl into Amanda's arms, "The rest of the girls got out the side window over there! Make sure they're rounded up before any other creeps that may still be running free. How are you going to explain everyone knocked out? I though we'd have more time!"

Amanda caught the 'we' again as not being about her, and she was going to get answers, and pushed Angel with a free hand, "I'll deal with it! Get the fuck out of here, now!"

Taking the order in as much as he gave Charlie the same command, Angel turned but stopped suddenly, and turned back, "They're going to match the bullet with my gun."

"Give it to me!"

Angel handed it to her, looking perplexed.

"I'll get the license changed to my name."

"How!?"

"Go!" Amanda pushed him, "You're out of time!"

The loud sirens told Angel the same thing and he ran, choosing an exit he had pre-planned and hoped that Charlie remembered to be there when he got out, as he would need her help to escape the scene. Since he'd yelled at her, he feared she may have taken off in full. Easing out of a side window, he dropped down out of site of the circling copters, seeing as most of the FBI units were converging on the barge that had tried to leave port, the confusion gave him the cover to move away from the warehouse and drop behind an abandoned shipping container. Catching his breath, he went to click his earpiece to call Charlie before remembering that Giles had ripped it off of him.

"Shit!"

It was then he felt a warm presence and looked up and fell on his ass. Charlie, still in demon form, hung upside down on the side of the container and looked at him with glaring red eyes, her claws having ripped into the metal of the container and her tail whipping menacingly.

"Charlie?" Angel whispered, worried she may have snapped and gone full demon on him.

Without a word, Charlie swooped down, a fierce growl escaping her lips and Angel put his arms up in defense, fear filling his soul as he thought this was the end.

"Agent Sims!" Director Stefon barked in anger as he came stomping up through the gravel road, towards Amanda Sim, who sat on the side of the warehouse's concrete entrance by the steel steps, smoking a cigarette and watching the children get attended to by medics. She looked his way and took another long pull on the butt, the orange tip lighting up in the dark.

"Hello, Director."

"Explain yourself! Why did you go in before backup and how the fuck did you secure eleven suspects by yourself?"

Letting the smoke flutter out her nose and mouth, Amanda shrugged, "Luck."

"Bullshit. Where is he?"

"Who?" Amanda stared blankly back.

Sighing, giving up on the cat and mouse game for the moment, Stefon looked over at the girls, "Did we get them all?"

Sighing in sadness, Amanda took a last drag, and crushed the end onto the concrete by her side, "No. We found one body."

"Fuck." Stefon closed his eyes for a moment, then looked squarely at Sims, "You didn't do this alone. I know it." He paused, "And I will be damned if I believe you took most of them out without harm. All but two, it seems."

"I ran out of options."

"Uh, huh. As I said before. Off the record, I am glad the girls are safe and we have suspects to interrogate. We may get some real intel on Bible because of this bust."

"Glad to be of help" Amanda was not stupid, the other shoe was about to drop, "And on the record?"

Stefon held out his hand, "Badge and gun, Sims. You're suspended indefinitely pending review, and I'll be talking to your boss in Washington about your actions."

Knowing this was going to happen, Sims didn't argue and handed both over, "Am I under arrest?"

"No. Just get out of here. Go rest, drink, get laid, whatever. You saved a lot of lives, tonight, and I'm not going to waste time dragging you in when I have a lot of reports to process. But, do not leave town, we still have a particular rogue to discuss."

Stefon turned and walked off towards the ambulances and Sims sighed. She didn't regret calling Angel in and she didn't regret the results. What she did regret, however, is she may no longer be able to cover for him whenever he skirts the lines, and there were far too many innocent lives at stake for Angel to be taken off the board.

Angel closed his eyes, ready for death when he felt Charlie's embrace as she him into her arms, her long flowing blackish hair wrapping around them both and she pushed hard, lifting herself into the air and bounding over the large fence separating the warehouse from the cement warehouse next door. Landing with cloven hooves bare from her missing cotton shoes, Charlie pushed again into the air to land up between two of the concrete mixing towers and pushed Angel against one of them on the opposite side of the busy FBI presence at the warehouse. Letting him go in a safe spot on one of the walkways, she bounded up the side of the round mixing tower to take her same position upside down and looked at Angel and then over the fence next door. Angel saw her sway in a predatory dance and he felt real fear, even though shed just moved him to safety.

"Charlie?" He asked again, quietly. Red eyes looked back to him, and this time there were actual tears on her demon face. She didn't move, but he saw her shoulders shake, "Charlie."

She stopped him with a shake of her head, her demon voice came out soft and mixed with sadness, "You saved my life by taking a life."

"Yes." Angel agreed as his fear lessened. Charlie's rage wasn't at him, but for making him kill.

"I forced you."

She started but Angel cut her off this time, "No, you did not. I was not going to let him kill you, Charlie, and no matter what situation we're in, I won't let anyone hurt you. You're my partner."

"You didn't tranquilize him, though?" Charlie didn't mean for it to sound accusatory, but it was against Angel's belief to take a life, though she had felt similar rage when she clawed the one man's cheek.

Angel pulled out his trank gun, the barrel busted, and gave a humorless smirk, "In that regard, I didn't have an option."

Charlie sniffed, and Angel reached up with his free hand and Charlie laid her clawed hand in it gently, "The girls are safe, all of them, Charlie. You did good."

Shaking her head, Charlie's glaze looked back to the warehouse, "Not all of them, Angel. I found one girl, dead, throat cut and burned as if in a fire."

"Jesus." Angel whispered, sharing her look to the warehouse, "How?"

"One of the girls mentioned a monster, Angel, and that was before anyone saw me. There's someone we didn't get. Someone with power, similar to Cassies', to witchcraft."

Angel didn't say a word about that, and turned his head up to Charlie, "Let's go. We'll figure that out after we're safely away from here."

Nodding, Charlie let her body drop down and take Angel in her arms and with all her strength, pushed and bounded them some forty yards from the tower, landing between two parked semi-trucks and they worked their way through the darkness back to Cassie's car they'd parked four blocks away. They saved lives tonight, but now they faced something larger than anything they'd ever faced before, and Angel knew that if Charlie existed and had this kind of power, what was out there waiting for them?