AROUND AND ABOUT
Angel did his best thinking either during or straight after a fight. He reckoned it must be the extra kick of adrenaline to his brain that gave him his ‘eureka’ moments.
That being the case you’d think after dusting two vamp nests and unearthing and slaughtering a nasty troll like creature with truly atrocious eating habits, you’d think he’d have figured it out.
What the hell had gotten into him? He still found it difficult to believe what had happened in that warehouse office. True he hadn’t been expecting to find her there and had been totally blindsided by the emotions just seeing her again brought out, but still it was no excuse for the way he’d behaved.
All he knew was that when he’d seen her again, standing there rummaging around in that office, he’d gone a little mad, there was no other explanation.
He remembered her fury when he blocked her escape and then the horror on her face when she realised it was him. That had hurt and then brought out his own anger.
The funny thing was she didn’t know the half of it, thankfully. She hadn’t guessed the feelings roiling through his gut like some wild emotional storm. She had no idea that when he’d grabbed the knife from her, what he had actually wanted to do was grab her head, pull her close and plunder that soft mouth with his own, until she begged him to stop or maybe not to stop at all.
Thank god he hadn’t, as he seriously doubted he could have stopped with just a kiss.
He smiled without humour as he walked aimlessly down dark alleys and back streets, using all of his keen vampiric senses to scan the walls around him and the road before and behind.
He was desperate for a fight all he needed was for some big nasty and hopefully powerful demon to jump out at him or try and scamper off with a potential victim and he would be in business. He just needed something, anything so that he could beat and pummel and rip and gouge and maybe forget for a while that Cordy was back.
Every time he thought of their encounter, he felt it again, the arousal their confrontation had sprung to life inside him. Damn he wished he’d remained celibate, at least before his libido had been easier to control. Today it felt as if it had become a living thing, need and desire clawed at his guts, goading him.
His cell phone went off on his coat pocket and he cursed luridly as he searched for the damn thing, answering it with a barked out “Angel”.
He listened with one hand on his hip and a frown nearly drawing his slashing brows into one black line. It was Eve; he was needed for something blah blah blah, probably some stupid security problem.
Angel was almost sure that his new ‘liaison’ was under express orders from the senior partners to give him so much trouble he would either have no time for anything else or go completely crazy with the pointlessness of it all.
“Either take care of it yourself, see Wesley or Gunn or write me a memo, I’m busy”, he said and then promptly disconnected.
In fact he intended to be very busy for quite a few hours yet, he thought as he made an impulsive decision. The phone call forgotten, he headed back to the car, his car not theirs. The black convertible was parked some ways back from the main road, to avoid drawing attention. The Plymouth was pretty notorious these days but he refused to give it up.
ANGEL’S OFFICE – WOLFRAM & HART BUILDING
Eve looked at the phone in her hand for several moments before crashing it back into its receiver in temper. Her blonde hair was piled high, exposing her graceful neck and delicate ears. To look at her you would think she was a beautiful porcelain doll with big china blue eyes and full pouty lips. The lips weren’t pouting now though, they were drawn back in a snarl that was somehow more startling for appearing on that delicate face.
“Asshole”
Her voice was normally soft, coaxing but that one word came out in a sibilant hiss. So you’re not coming out to play today vampire, fine with me. “It just means more work and no play for you tomorrow”, she smiled at the thought, her eyes going dreamy as she invented all kinds of things to dredge up for the following day.
“Angel not willing to play your game, Eve? How disappointing for you”
The precise, mocking and oh so very English voice was coming from the doorway behind her, Eve whirled, her hand darting up to neck in a startled gesture.
“Wesley, I didn’t see you there”
“Obviously, otherwise you might not have shown your true colours, soooo eloquently now would you”?
Dammit he’d obviously overheard almost all of the conversation “Don’t you know it’s rude not to knock”?
She said it gently, making a slight frown appear as if she didn’t understand why he was acting this way. Her blue eyes were her best feature and she made the best of them, careful application of cosmetics, emphasised their size and colour. But not too much or otherwise spoil the image of doe eyed innocence.
“I would have knocked but I already knew that Angel is out. You do know this is Angel’s office don’t you, Do you think he’ll be pleased to know your snooping around here”?
If it wasn’t for the fact that she knew Wesley Wyndham Pryce, ex-watcher and stand-up guy had a taste for bitches she would think he was gay. But obviously innocence didn’t get his motor running, so she dropped it and became matter of fact.
“I wasn’t snooping I was making a call, to him actually, so why don’t you carry on and go running to him and snitch on me”?
“No need for sarcasm Eve, just because you’re not getting your own way”, Wesley walked into the room and around the desk to stand behind it and beside the large leather chair, symbolically presenting a united front with the missing vampire.
“He knows what you’re up-to you know, we all do. You seem to be the only not seeing that”
“We’ll see” Eve left without another word, her back ramrod straight in the smart and not too revealing suit. Might as well wear a nun’s uniform thought Wesley, it would be more subtle.
Maybe he was just getting jaded, but after Lilah; that woman just seemed stupid, but then again never underestimate your enemy. He was definitely going to have to have that talk with Angel soon.
NIGHTCLUB
The music was thumpingly loud and the bodies of thousands of clubbers bobbed and swayed to the beat. It was hot and many of them wore almost no clothing in an effort to keep cooler and carry on dancing.
Heartbeats thundered from them, so excited and keyed up where they at being here and being young, drunk and carefree. It was a candy store for demons.
He’d come here the first time three weeks ago, they’d found out it was the regular hunting place for a bunch of local vampires. Normally he couldn’t stand the noise and press of heated bodies but right then he hadn’t cared, he was working, hunting his own kind. The pain and bitterness temporarily forgotten.
He hadn’t actually planned to do anything other than dust the vamps and go home. The fights had been almost too easy and for the most part the clubbers had remained oblivious to what was going on, that what was had made them such appetising targets for the monsters in the first place.
The girl had approached him afterwards, when he was doing a last sweep. They’d started talking or at least she had, he’d had been too busy trying to think of a kind way of getting rid of her. When she suddenly twined her warm and pulsing body along his front and reached up with warm lips and kissed him full on the mouth.
He’d frozen in her arms, but she didn’t seem to notice and carried on pressing kisses along his jaw to his neck. He’d stepped back intending to gently rebuff her when he looked into her smiling eyes. They were full of warmth and generosity, the sparkle in them more than a little mischievous, her wide smile was rueful. This was no predatory girl looking to pull a guy; she just wanted to enjoy herself and for some reason wanted him to as well.
Almost unwillingly he’d liked what he saw even though she was nothing special in the beauty department, except for the genuine sweetness that showed clearly on her face. Also tempting him was the smell of her aroused body. The musky scent weaving around him and making his nostrils flare. Her nipples were visibly peaked and a pulse throbbed in her throat, he could hear another pulse too, slow and heavy from deep inside her body. Impulsively he’d taken her back to her place and stayed. All the way there he had debated what he was doing, in the end he’d done it anyway.
He’d told her almost nothing about himself, she hadn’t asked for more and had been happy to just enjoy him and the pleasure he could bring her, without promises of another meeting. For his own conscience he’d had to make that clear first, no problem she’d said. It had brought him some small measure of peace for a while and so, his long period of celibacy had ended.
Now he was back again, he wasn’t entirely certain what he was looking for, or even if he was looking for anything at all. He moved to the stairs leading to the balcony and the upper floor, even they were crowded with clubbers passing up and down, drinks in hand or just groping their way along, almost blind with drink and fuzzy headed with an exhaustion they couldn’t feel yet.
Up top tables and chairs were sparsely spread around and many sat in circles on the floor. He ignored them; he wasn’t going to be joining any groups.
His search led him into the darker areas and he ended up finding himself looking down at the frantic dancers below as the music built to an even more deafening crescendo. A few feet away from him a guy and girl were necking, something about the set-up caught and held his attention, the girl was mewling in pleasure and clutching her lover as tight as she could, then suddenly she stiffened and the man’s hand covered her mouth to stifle her screams.
Typical, thought Angel as he moved behind her attacker, grasped his head in both hands and twisting HARD, the neck bone snapped with an audible crack. The vampire’s eyes blinked at him from the head he now held at a crazy angle. Angel grimaced at the sight and twisted again with all of his unnatural strength, his shoulders and arms flexing and bunching with strain until the head came clean off and the both body and head turned to dust.
The next second he found his arms full of a sobbing hysterical woman, he rubbed his hands over her back once, then spotting a passing security guard, signalled to him and gratefully handed her over.
Unexpectedly it hit him then, a bone numbing weariness that seemed to pull at his soul. He stood and let the room spin for a while before he blinked and centered himself again. He had to get out of here, as he was leaving he realised with a strange sort of exhausted clarity that he didn’t really want to be here anyway or in some stranger’s bed.
It had worked the few times before, only because he had believed that he would never see Cordy again and so none of it mattered.
He knew Cordy well enough to have no doubt that if she felt she had no choice, she was strong enough to put him out of her heart and mind and move on.
But he’d been wrong about her not coming back and now she was, things had changed again and he just couldn’t do it. If he wanted to release some tension he would just have to find another way of doing it. Urghh, just that thought alone made him feel even wearier.
As he left the club he didn’t notice the woman carefully keeping out of sight while watching him.
She seemed to droop with relief when he had left. Internally one side of her was berating herself for interfering; it wasn’t any of her business what he did. Well, she told her scolding inner self defensively, I didn’t actually influence him or anything, just made him feel tired, that’s all. Now he’ll go to bed to sleep, alone, no harm done.
Cautious by nature she waited a good ten minutes before exiting the club herself, just in case he hung around. He didn’t know her, had never met her but he might sometime in the future and in her experience it was always better to be safe than sorry.
THE NEXT DAY – BACK ON THE CASE
“Ewwwh, why do demons always have to make their hovels in the sewer” moaned Cordy as she gingerly lowered herself down.
It was all she could do not to hold her nose, some sewers were not too bad, like the ones Angel used, but then he knew them all like the back of his hand and probably avoided the stinky ones.
“Maybe because there aren’t many prehistoric caves in LA now” said the tinny voice from the cell phone she was clutching to her chest in one hand.
“ha ha, you should be the one down here and then see if you can joke about it”, she grumbled and switched on her trusty flashlight, oh for the ability to see in the dark.
“OK which way now” she said, pointing the flashlight around, over grey walls and deliberately avoiding the floor, she did NOT want to see what was squelching under her feet.
As directed she walked straight ahead, avoiding any extra sized slimy lumps she come across until she came to a junction with two tunnels leading off, she took the one on the right.
“I hope you know the way back out, cos I so don’t want to get lost down here”, she could have smacked herself; she should have brought some chalk and marked her way, just in case.
“Hey have a little faith OK; I can get you out again, trust me”
There was genuine hurt in the voice which came through despite the bad reception. Oh god, please don’t let me lose the signal she thought as she took a second left turn.
“Sorry, I know just ignore me OK, first case nerves”
“Nearly there now, so stop for a minute and let me have a look see before you go in” said the voice at the other end of the phone.
Cordy stopped and huddled back to the wall, at least it was a little less stinky here, either that or she was getting used to it, Ewwwh she thought, who wants to get used to that.
She pressed the phone to her ear again, waiting for Cathy to speak again; even so she jumped when she did.
“Right, were definitely on the right track. Up ahead, there’s a doorway on your left. It’s not a man-made door, looks like it’s been gouged out of the tunnel wall. Inside is a cave like place with our demon in it”.
Cordy gripped the phone tighter and tried to stifle the shivers that wanted to break out, nerves, if she gave into them now she’d soon be running screaming out of here and that would be the end of her fledgling solo career.
Not gonna happen.
“The demon is really big, larger than most men, it’s covered in shiny dark overlapping scales like some kind of natural armour, oh and its face is really gross, particularly its eyes; I mean yuck, milky white with some kind of weepy fluid running down its face. But saying that it doesn’t look so smart and its size has got to go against it in that confined space”
Cordy took a few deep breaths, OK some good news at least.
“Anything else I should know”
“Yeah when it first sees you it’s going to go berserk. Foaming at the mouth, snapping jaws, the works, so be prepared for a fairly nasty first look. From what I can tell the only way you will be able to kill it is to stab it in the eye, deep enough to pierce its brain”
“Right” said Cordy, patting herself for the weapons, dagger – check
“Don’t try and attack its body, you won’t have strength to get through the scales to do any damage, so don’t waste your energy”.
“From what I can see you’re most dangerous moment is when during the fight, you step back on some old bones and lose your balance and fall into it, it swings and smashes you into a wall and nastiness ensues”.
“Oh great, thanks”
“Think of it as advanced warning so you can avoid it, you should see it from my end”, was the slightly testy reply.
I used to; she thought but didn’t say it. Their situations were totally different.
“What about it’s attacking style”
“Swinging fists like battering rams and sharp claws, just avoid its arms and you’ll do OK”
“Thanks, better than a horoscope” said Cordy attempting light heartedness.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come down there? I might be able to distract it so it’ll be easier to kill”, it was not the first time the offer had been made and Cordy knew her friend was sincere. But having her here would only complicate things given her history.
“No, with the way demons act around you it will probably just go crazy and be even more dangerous, thanks anyway”
She heard a deep sigh and a softly spoken, “All right then good luck”.
Less than 5 minutes later and she was wishing she hadn’t been so determined to do this alone. Damn the thing was huge and twice as ugly as she had expected. Just seeing it had seriously grossed her out and knocked her concentration for those first precious seconds.
She ducked and weaved around it, grateful for the years of dancing and cheerleading that made such moves as natural as breathing. Even training with Angel hadn’t been this bad but then he hadn’t actually been trying to smash her apart, so big dif!
She was tiring and every kick she’d managed to land barely even fazed it, her knife just glanced off it and there was no way she was risking her knuckles by being dumb enough to try and punch it.
She stepped back and at the same time jerked her head back to avoid a particularly vicious swing. Damn this thing was really getting into its stride now, she had to end it soon or she was lunch.
Just as she was thinking this she felt her foot twist on the suddenly uneven floor and knew what was coming, she started to overbalance and fall towards the demon with its snapping and snarling face getting closer, too close.
Desperately she dived to the left, pain shot up from her foot as it protested being forced to propel her in the opposite direction from how she originally started to fall. She landed on her side but managed to avoid smacking her head on the unyielding floor, she so didn’t need to be seeing stars right now.
Then it was on her, meaty arms with clicking claws on either side of her shoulders, its head looming over her, drool dripping onto her neck.
OH GROSS, nauseated beyond belief she grabbed its chin with one hand, managing to stay its descent for one precious second, then slammed the dagger with her other hand into its eye socket.
Then she lay there, pinned as it slumped over her, dead. She had to wait a few minutes to get some strength back before being able to heave it even the slightest amount off her, so she could slither out from underneath.
Then she just stood there aching all over and covered in the most disgusting grime and smiled, unable to stop herself she whirled around, if she knew how she would have danced a jig, she thought then changed her mind when her ankle gave an indignant twinge.
She’d done it, killed the thing that had attacked her client. It was official there was now one less demon to attack the helpless in LA and she was the one who’d done it, OK with a little help from a friend and secret weapon.
She grinned, Team Cordy rocked.
The phone tucked, safe and protected in her inside pocket rang shrilly causing her nearly jump out of her skin after the utter silence of death.
A sense of foreboding nearly made her fumble and drop it before she could answer it.
“Hello”
“Get out of there now” was the frantic message. Uh oh
she didn’t wait to hear more but made tracks out of the demon made cave, back the way she’d come, only when she had some distance did she put it back to her ear.
“What is it, what do you see”?
“Two more of them on the way, nearly at the cave, run NOW, don’t stop for any reason, don’t even look back”
Cordy ran, her lungs pumping oxygen in and out as her feet pounded out a rapid tattoo on the walkway. By the time she reached the first intersection her chest felt on fire and her legs felt like lead weights and the foot she had nearly turned was throbbing like a bitch.
“How am I doing”?
“Keep going, they’ve got your trail but helps coming, just keep running straight on, don’t worry about finding your way back, just run straight”.
Too frightened to truly panic, she just lowered her head to her chest and pumped her arms faster, trying to get every ounce of speed out of her tired and battered body.
Until she ran into a solid and unmoving obstacle that should have knocked the wind out of her the speed she’d been going, but instead it swung her up and around, slowing before stopping her.
She was in Angels arms, held up high before he let her slide down, she didn’t care about that or anything else that wasn’t life or death at the moment. “Two demons on my tail, they’re coming right now”.
She was immeasurably grateful when all he did was nod and pick up the sword he’d dropped when she had barrelled into him. He braced himself, hearing them now; they were coming hard and fast.
Within seconds the two demons were on them, their speed outside of the confining cave astronomical. Angel moved forward to head them off, stepping in front of Cordy and meeting their charge with a swinging, flashing blade, cutting through their incredibly tough hide and causing them to howl and retreat before charging again, maddened by blood lust.
She could only watch in morbid fascination as he swirled and kicked, dodged and swung, one managed to swipe the sword from him. He didn’t even pause or look to try and retrieve it but waded back in with his fists. In this kind of situation she was the first to admit he was poetry in motion. She could only envy him that fact that even without the sword he was inflicting some serious damage.
Then one managed to catch him with powerful blow to the chest and he sailed into the air heading for a crash into the opposite wall, but he’d seen it coming even if too late to stop it and braced a leg to propel himself back almost before he hit it, the sword back in his hand, how the hell had he found it in this light?
The other one charged again and he bent himself double, crouching so that his knees were almost touching the floor. The demon couldn’t stop or change the height of its slashing swing and it started to topple on top of the vampire, just as its chest touched his back, Angel snapped upright, using all of the power in his thigh and shoulders to heave the thing up of its legs and send it crashing back behind him.
Whirling he raised the sword in both hands and stabbed it deep into, where in a human, the heart would have been. It gurgled a howling scream, high pitched enough to make Cordy want to cover her ears, but she didn’t have time, the other one was just behind Angel now and he was struggling to get the blade free of the one he’d downed.
She gave a howl of her own and leaped at it. Luckily for her it had been standing by small stepped ledge and she managed to cause it to fall, its weight making it impossible to correct and stop the fall even as it swung to face her, it continued to topple and then landed with a meaty splat on its back.
She didn’t hesitate but jumped on it, straddling it as she raised her own dagger high in both of her hands to give impetus to the blow she intended to inflict. She brought the blade down and felt it go into the demon’s flesh, but it hadn’t gone in far enough, she had pierced the eye almost right through but not the brain. The tip must have hit some kind of eye socket bone or something.
It writhed beneath her and she would have been bucked off if she hadn’t suddenly found herself airborne again as she was plucked off the thing. She didn’t take her eyes of it and saw Angel’s boot beneath her own dangling feet as he stamped it down on the end of the blade handle protruding from the demon’s face. There was an awful crack and the rest of it slammed into the demons skull and it went unearthly still.
Silence fell, well except for her harsh breathing, Angel still hadn’t put her down and now he turned her still in his arms so that she was facing him. Hesitantly she looked into his face expecting, god knows what, but he was smiling at her, she smiled back relieved and found herself fighting an urge to wrap her lags around his hips rather than ask to be put back on the ground.
He lowered her gently before she could decide to take the crazy option.
“Where’s the third one”?, he asked, his voice unusually gravelly even for him.
“It’s dead, I killed it back at its cave thing”, she grinned at him thoroughly pleased to be able to tell him that. But wishing she had known there was three and not just the one.
“So that IS why you’re down here, you came here to kill it ALONE”, he was frowning blackly at her now, incredulity in his voice.
She decided to take the bull by the horns, “Yeah”, as casual as she could make it.
“Oh and just so we’re clear, I solved this case first OK?” She poked him the chest with one finger as she said it.
He just looked down at her, they were so close she was craning her neck to maintain eye contact, she watched as he clenched his jaw and then took a deep but unneeded breath.
God, she looked so adorably determined, standing there glaring at him, covered in all kinds of grime. He could help it, he leaned down and did what he had wanted to from the first time he’d set eyes on her again.
His lips settled firmly on hers and gently forced them open to let him in, his tongue slid inexorably inside, stroking along hers rhythmically. His hand cupped her chin to stop her from turning away from the intimate invasion.
Cordy’s own breath froze as she felt an electric shock start from her lips and spread down her body, to settle with a sunburst of warmth between her legs. Her knees threatened to buckle at the sweet draining sensation.
The kiss carried on and on, he changed the angle to be able to go deeper and then he retreated only to suck on her bottom lip and then gently nip at the sensitised area. She felt dizzy and only dimly, she heard her cell phone start to ring.
She groaned deep in her throat but managed to pull back enough to push at his shoulders a silent request for release, he did and watched with brooding intensity as she walked a little away before answering the call.
“Hello”, please don’t let it be another warning of impending danger.
“Hey there, sorry to interrupt honey, but I thought you might wanna take a breath before you pass out, ya know”.
There was a definite snicker behind the words and Cordy felt herself blush as she realised her friend had seen her all but melting in Angel’s arms.
WOLFRAM & HART BUILDING
Eve closed the door to her office quietly although she wanted to slam it to release some of the tension she was desperately hiding from her co-workers.
Once she was alone and no one could see her, she clenched her fists and screamed silently, that done and feeling no better she stalked over to the phone on the desk and stabbed out the number with a stiff finger, agitation in every line of her body.
The call was answered almost immediately and she went pale, knowing what she had to say was not going to go down very well, still she steeled herself.
“I’ve just found out something that going to be damaging to the plan” her knuckles went white and her face paled at the sounds coming from the other end of the line. Quickly to get it over with she went on.
“Visionless girl’s back and I need to know what I’m authorised to do about it”?
She nodded after the other party had finished speaking, her mouth set in a grim line. It was what she had expected to hear. She would have to move fast before things progressed beyond her ability to retrieve the situation in her favour.