Just Another Night in the City of Angel(s)

Chapter One: Just Another Evening?

‘It was cold and dark in the city that night. Cold and dark and empty. The City of Angels, they called it. Should have been called the city of devils, for all I’d seen since arriving in L A. A breeding ground for the scum of the Earth, and beyond. Now, there was just one thing standing between them and the innocent people of this poor city. That thing was Angel. The biggest, baddest vamp you ever saw; and my boss…’

Doyle looked up from his notebook as Cordelia entered the kitchen. He quickly closed the book; he wasn’t ready yet to show anyone his writing, especially Cordy. It would have to be just right before she got to see it. Since he was now ‘in the know’ he thought he’d try his hand at writing detective stories. The detective work and the demon-hunting and all was great – when he wasn’t getting beaten up that was – but it didn’t exactly pay much.

"Uh, hi, Cordelia…" he tried, as she swept past him to make some coffee.

"Doyle", she stated. The touch of ice that had been in her voice all week whenever she spoke to him was as strong as ever. It was slowly driving Doyle mad. Surely she could have forgiven him for being a demon by now. Things were going so great, until Harry had turned up with her new boyfriend and blurted out his last, most closely-kept secret. Now, he was back to stage one with Cordy.

‘Ah, who are you trying to kid, Allen Francis Doyle. It was back to beyond square one. As if he ever really had a chance before, anyway, but at least she had treated him like a human being…’ he thought to himself.

He sighed, and stood up, leaving the room.

Cordelia watched his retreating back with sadness. Maybe she should forgive him. After all, it wasn’t his fault he was half-demon. And, Angel was a vampire, a demon. Yet he was one of her best friends. But with Doyle it was different. It wasn’t that he frightened her or anything. Who could be frightened of poor old, pathetic, bumbling, charming, Doyle? And that accent…

Cordelia felt herself go red. It wasn’t the first time that she’d thought about Doyle’s ‘merits’. But this was Doyle. She didn’t fancy guys like Doyle, didn’t date guys like Doyle. He was so beneath her standards….So, why did he have to do this to her?! Aghh, it was so annoying!

She forced her mind back to the whole half-demon thing. She didn’t mind the actual fact that he was a demon. She just thought that he should have told her. And he didn’t. And, that annoyed her. So, she was staying annoyed at Doyle. Simple.

Feeling better, Cordelia smiled to herself and finished her coffee.

"Cordelia." Angel greeted her from behind her, almost making her drop her coffee. You would think she would be used to his silent entrances by now. Fortunately, she recovered quickly, and turned to face her.

"Oh, hi! Do you want some coffee?" she asked, over-cheerfully.

"Um, sure. Thanks". To say that he was a man of little words was an understatement.

She put more coffee on.

"Was that Doyle I saw just leaving?"

"Leaving? Oh, er, yeah. He probably had to do...something Doyle-like".

"You two weren’t fighting again, were you?"

"Us? No, don’t be silly! Why, did he say something?"

She wondered just how much of the atmosphere between Doyle and herself Angel had noticed. Knowing Angel, probably everything…

"No. Why, was there something he could have talked about?" he replied, almost smiling. Cordelia smiled and handed him his coffee. It was just another evening in their strange little household.

 

‘I wandered through these mean streets alone. As lonely and empty as the streets themselves. They sure were empty at the moment. It had just gotten dark, and the creatures who prayed on the innocent citizens of this fair city would soon be out in force. They hid from the light and the warmth, the good and the pure. And that’s where we came in. To bring them into the light of day. Yet, something was wrong. It was quiet. Too quiet. Something was brewing; and it was up to me to find out what. I pulled my collar up against the growing cold, and strode into the darkness…"

An hour later, Doyle was still out, on his own and going nowhere in particular. He knew it was dangerous. But, besides wanting to avoid Cordelia, he was still stuck with the feeling that something was wrong. Something was about to happen. And that usually meant evil demons, or vampires, fighting, and, more often than not, much pain. Yet, he was still obliged to become involved. If he could get some information, tell Angel, maybe they could get a handle on whatever it was before it got too bad. He still had a few contacts from his less – or should that be more? – lucrative days. The feeling remained that this was going to more than just vampires out for a free meal, or a demon looking for a bit of fun and games at someone else’s expense. He upped his pace as an unnatural chill swept through him again. As if on cue, a very sudden, very strong and very vivid vision hit him. Vague swirls of images. Very intense, very dark. He saw vampires, hundreds of them, blood everywhere. Millions dead. It was awful, horrific, frightening. A massacre. Then, at the back, he saw himself, and Angel, and Cordelia. Dead.

Ten minutes later, a small army of vampires marched past an almost-hidden young man, collapsed in a corner and still with visages of pain etched across his face.

 

Chapter Two: How to get rid of invited visitors

When Doyle hadn’t returned after an hour and a half, Cordelia started to get worried, and whiney. She was still at the office, and without wanting to actually tell her to go, Angel really wished she would leave for the evening.

"He wouldn’t be out this long without telling us where he is!" she exclaimed, for about the tenth time. Angel, attempting to read, put down his book, again.

"Cordelia, I’m sure he’s fine. He can look after himself."

"But what if there’s vampires or…or demons…And it’s getting late."

"Will you relax. It’s not so late. He’s probably just in some bar somewhere".

"Why…? Oh, right. This is Doyle we’re talking about. Ha, ha…" But she continued her frantic pacing.

"Cordy, stop already, you’re not helping anyone".

"Oh, God, I know. But I have a bad feeling…"

Exactly what the bad feeling was, Angel didn’t get to find out, as at that moment the doorbell of the office rang.

"Doyle…!" Cordelia exclaimed. Angel didn’t even bother to remind her that Doyle had keys, and instead just wearily followed her as she rushed to the door.

"Does this belong to you, ma’am?" an LA police officer gravely asked her, as she flung open the door. One hand was attached to a rather beaten-up and out-of-it looking Doyle.

"Oh my God, Doyle!"

"Found him in the park…"

"Oh, thank you. Why-why don’t you come in?" she asked, stepping forward to help Doyle. He vaguely stepped in her direction, and she manovered him past her, hoping Angel would appear to help her with him.

"Why thank you, ma’am", the officer replied as he was joined on the doorstep by another two cops. Cordelia smiled as she let the three of them in. After all, cops had good prospects.

"Cordelia, no!" Angel called, as he finally happened upon the scene. He grabbed Doyle, who still looked to have no real idea of what was going on and sat him safely in a chair. He turned back to Cordelia. She was frowning at him, still waiting for him to explain his outburst. In response he gestured to the cops.

"They’re…" he began, as she followed his gaze. Just in time to see the three cops suddenly sport vampiric features.

"…vampires".

"Why didn’t you tell me before I let them in?" she asked, grabbing her always-to-hand bottle of holy water and cross.

"Well, I tried!"

"Yeah, he tried…" sneered one of the vampire cops.

"Oh yeah. And what do you know?" she asked, holding him off with her cross.

"Only that your boss here is gonna die…real soon".

"Huh. Well, you’re a bit late for that", she countered, sarcasticly. What was it with these stupid LA vampires? No-one had any style. These guys even made Spike look cool. And Spike was pathetic.

"Shows how much you know".

"Cordelia. Mind on the job." Angel warned, as he launched a couple of strong punches at the nearest vampires.

"Oh sure", she shrugged, and dosed her ‘friend’ with holy water.

"Aaagh! What do you have to go and do that for?" he cried.

"Um, because you’re a vampire. This is holy water. The two don’t work well together. Get the idea?" She smiled sweetly.

"You know," he growled, "we were thinking about leaving you alive…for now. It’s only Angel we want."

"Oh yeah", Angel replied, as he replaced his fist with a stake, dusting his opponent. The third one, who so far had looked as if he knew when they were outmanned and outwitted, grimaced and made a half-hearted attempt at attacking Angel.

"Well, I don’t go quietly", Angel stated, grabbing the vampire and shoving him up against a wall.

"Yeah, but it’ll be worth it", Cordelia’s vampire retorted, starting to attack her again.

"Oh enough", she stated, "You talk to much", she told him, finally staking him before he even took another step. Hmm, she thought, maybe I did learn something from Buffy, after all.

"Ok, why the sudden attack? Who wants me, and why is it worth it?" Angel questioned the remaining vampire.

"Beats me, man".

"Wrong answer". Angel hit him a couple of times, then tried again.

"Alright, alright. Jeez, this really ain’t worth it. There’s a price in your head. A thousand bucks. You know how much blood that can get you, one way or another?"

"Who wants me?" Angel asked, hitting him against the wall.

"I don’t know, honest! All I know is that there’s something big going down, and they want you, alive".

"That’s all?"

"That’s all. I swear. Now, can I just go?" he asked as Angel released his grip on him.

"Oh, sure. You can go", Cordelia replied, approaching him as he stumbled towards the door.

"To Hell", she finished as she staked him.