~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The phone rang; Angel picked it up without interest. The former vampire looked awful, his clothing was rumpled, it had been days since he’d shaved and the dark circles under his eyes attested to very little time spent asleep in recent weeks.
“Angel Investigations,” he said.
“What happened to ‘We help the hopeless’?” Cordelia asked. At the sound of her voice Angel seemed to come to life, a frantic energy replacing his earlier exhaustion.
“Cordy! Where are you? What happened? Why didn’t you call?” Angel stammered. At his words Wesley jumped up off the couch and hurried to Angel. He switched the call over to the speaker so they could both hear.
“I did call,” Cordelia protested. “I left a message, didn’t you get it?”
“Yes,” Wesley said. “We came back and found you missing from the hospital, the only clue as to where you’d gone was a two minute blurb on the answering machine about a potential cure and then a month of nothing. We’ve been worried sick.”
“It’s been a month?” Cordelia asked. “How could it be a month? It doesn’t feel like a month.”
“Thirty-three days, four hours and twenty minutes since you disappeared off the face of the earth,” Angel said, his voice wavering between relief and anger.
“I’m sorry,” Cordelia said. “I really didn’t realize… it’s all been so intense. I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry. I’m better. I called because I had a vision, the first since that night. You wouldn’t believe how much it didn’t hurt. Anyway, I saw a gym; it was set up for a dance. I think their mascot is some sort of cat. The people looked pretty young, probably middle schoolers. There was something stalking them.”
“We’ll start looking into it,” Wesley said. “Now where are you Cordelia? We’ll come get you.”
“Not yet, okay guys? I’m better I promise, but I’m not ready to come home quite yet,” Cordelia replied.
“Give us a number, some way to contact you,” Angel pled.
“It’ll be just another week or so, I promise,” Cordelia said. “I miss you two.”
Wesley and Angel stared at the now dead phone.
“Something’s wrong,” Angel said.
“I don’t doubt it,” Wesley replied. “She’s hiding something, but what can we do?”
“Look into her vision,” Angel said. “At least it will keep us busy while we wait.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
“I found a middle school with a mascot to match Cordelia’s vision,” Wesley reported. “And their homecoming dance is scheduled for the night after tomorrow.”
“We’re going to look really out of place,” Angel said.
“We’ll pretend to be chaperoning parents,” Wesley said.
“I don’t think we look that old,” Angel argued.
“I think we can fake that more easily than if we claimed to be students,” Wesley replied. “I’m certain some of the parents are in their early thirties.”
“I was twenty-six when I was turned,” Angel complained.
“Wesley sighed, “You do realize that it’s just wrong for someone who’s seen the century turn more than once to be sensitive about their age. What are you going to do when you actually start getting older?”
“There are some drawbacks to humanity,” Angel said with a grimace. “It wouldn’t have been a bad thing if I’d stayed a vampire for a few more years, Buffy could have caught up. You don’t think I’m too much older than her?”
“Isn’t it a little bit late to worry about that now?” Wesley asked. “How old was Buffy when you started dating, fifteen?”
“She was sixteen, and it didn’t matter so much. I knew she’d catch up eventually…” Angel replied. “Besides she never really seemed younger. When I met her I was averaging decades between conversations. I’d forgotten just about everything I knew about socializing. Buffy thought I was being cryptic to annoy her, but the truth was I didn’t know how to talk to her. Plus I figured she’d realize what I was and kill me if I spent more than a few minutes near her.”
“And I thought talking to attractive women was stressful for me,” Wesley said with a smile.
_____________________________________________________________________________
“What the hell am I supposed to wear for this?” Kate demanded.
“Don’t complain to me Kate. Unlike me, you asked for this case,” Detective Jacks said.
“I didn’t realize it was going to entail chaperoning a junior high dance,” Kate replied. “When I passed the ninth grade I swore I’d never set foot in another one of those hell holes.”
“It wasn’t that bad Kate, and besides you’re the authority figure now, doesn’t that make it better?” Jacks asked. “And it’s called middle school now.”
“No, it just makes me have to ask what does an authority figure wear to a middle school dance,” Kate replied.
“I was going with a suit and tie,” Jacks said.
“I don’t see that working for me,” Kate said.
“How am I supposed to know what women wear to this sort of thing?” Jacks asked. “Wear something like the chaperones wore when you where a student.”
“Look, I didn’t go to dances in junior high, or high school for that matter,” Kate exclaimed. “I thought they were a waste of time. It never occurred to me that they could be considered research for future undercover work, okay?”
Jacks rolled his eyes. “Wear a dress, I remember you wore one to your father’s retirement party so you must own at least one. I’m sure that will work, so stop fussing already.”
____________________________________________________________________________
He combed his hair carefully, checking the picture in the in the magazine from time to time. His cloths were laid out on the bed already. Sure he’d been hunting LA for about a month now, but it always paid to take a few extra lengths to make sure everything was right.
Teen, especially early-teen, fashions were just so variable and looking dated wouldn’t do.
He pulled out a strand of hair and checked that the frosting was still present. He hated his hair; it was always the hardest thing to get right.
Oh well, he thought, it could be worse; he could have been a girl. Then he’d have to worry about make-up too.
He dressed in slacks and dark blue button down shirt that the sales lady swore brought out the color in his eyes. He ran a comb through his hair one last time and then grinned at the empty mirror.
_____________________________________________________________________________
“How can anyone think with all this noise?” Angel asked, yelling to be heard over the music.
“I don’t believe thinking is on anyone’s mind tonight,” Wesley yelled back. “I wish the lighting was better, do they do this on purpose to make chaperoning impossible?”
“As long as they keep the strobe off I’m fine,” Angel said.
“I don’t see how, you don’t have a vampire’s enhanced senses anymore,” Wesley said.
“I know, but my night vision is still much than average, in fact my eyes haven’t really adapted to daylight yet,” Angel replied. “I’m just as happy most of our cases happen at night.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
“This is what the fuss was all about?” Kate yelled to her partner looking around the darken gym. “I actually thought I might have been missing something.”
Jacks sighed. “I just hope the killer shows before I get a migraine from all this racket.
“He’ll show,” Kate replied. “There’s been at least one body at almost ever middle school event this month. The only ones he’s missed were because he couldn’t be in two places at once. This dance is the only event tonight. He’ll show.”
____________________________________________________________________________
“Are you new here?” a girl asked.
“Just started classes last week. I’m Matthew,” he said.
“Josey,” the girl replied. “Wanna dance?”
With a smile Matthew lead her out on the floor.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Angel stared at the couple working their way toward the door. The girl stared adoringly up at her companion, who leaded close to her ear and said something that made her giggle.
Angel tried to ignore the cropped hair with bleached tip and focus on the face beneath it. The secretive dark blue eyes and confident, cocky smile hadn’t changed in the last hundred and fifty years.
“Matty,” Angel said putting a name to the face. “Come on Wes, we’ve got our demon.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
“Come on,” Kate said, recognizing Angel as he stepped into the well-lit hall.
“You saw something?” Jacks asked.
“A PI who’s always neck deep in some kind of trouble,” Kate said.
Together they worked their way across the gym as quickly as possible. Even so, by the time they reached the hallway it was empty.
“I’ll take the left,” Jacks volunteered.
“Sounds good,” Kate replied.
_____________________________________________________________________________
“Wes stay back, be ready to get the girl to safety,” Angel whispered as they trailed the couple into the school band room.
“You’re sure this boy is a vampire?” Wesley asked.
“Matty’s the only one I ever turned by accident,” Angel replied. “That made him fairly memorable.”
“Accident?” Wesley asked.
“He was supposed to be a snack, only he bit me back,” Angel explained. “Wait here.”
Angel swaggered boldly into the darkened room, imitating Angelus’ manner. “Matty, it’s been a long time,” he said.
Matty looked up from his prey in surprise, his eyes already glowing yellow, giving Josey her first good look at what she had been necking with. Whimpering she struggled futilely in his grasp.
Matty smiled broadly, revealing a mouthful of jagged fangs. “Angelus!” he cried happily.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Peering into the band room Kate pressed her hand to her mouth holding back a gasp as she saw the boy’s demonic visage.
“Angelus!” he greeted the older man in pleased recognition and Kate knew that if Angel were to turn toward her his handsome face would also be distorted into something monstrous. But he didn’t turn; all she could see was the back of his head.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Angel ordered. “This place is a dump.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Matty replied. “It’s not like I can hunt bars looking like this. Couldn’t you have waited a few years?”
“Come now, did you think I wanted my own Peter Pan tag-along?” Angel said with the good-natured familiarity of someone entering into an old, old argument, one carried on for tradition’s sake with all the sting long gone. “You should have kept your teeth to yourself boy.”
“You’re one to talk,” Matty snorted. “If you wanted someone who’d lay down and die for you, you should have stuck to Gentles like Dru’s pet and left street rats to their devices.”
“And yet William was always the one to embarrass me when we went out in public,” Angel commented.
“Is Will still trying to compensate for having been a unmatched prig when he was human?” Matty asked.
“He was having a punk phase last time I saw him.” Angel said and Matty laughed.
“How are the others? Does Dru still talk to that doll?”
“Yes, and before you ask Miss Edith is still a very bad girl and gets punished regularly. Penn got dusted…”
“Penn always was an idiot. That serial kill schick of his was bound to get him more attention than he could handle. I saw Darla not a decade ago. What the hell happened between you two that she’d go back to old Bat-Nose?”
“You know how it goes, a guy develops a few new interests and your girl takes it all wrong,” Angel fabricated.
“Don’t tell me,” Matty laughed. “I’ve got a gorgeous new little sister and you paid more attention to her than Darla. So dearest Grandmumma stormed back to her sire in a jealous rage, right?”
“Something like that,” Angel said. “Ready to be leaving yet?”
“If you hadn’t noticed I was just about to have dinner,” Matty replied gesturing to the girl still cowering in the back of the room.
“Don’t you ever get tired of teeny-boppers?” Angel asked with a distasteful glance at the girl.
“Again, not much selection what with looking thirteen and all,” Matty complained.
“What say you forget her and we do a joint hunt,” Angel offered. “With my help you could do better.”
Matty grinned. “For old time’s sake and all. Let go ‘Gelus.”
As the pair left through the far door Kate hurried to the young girl’s side. “Go back to the others, don’t let anyone get you alone,” Kate ordered then hurried after Angel and Matty.
_____________________________________________________________________________
As Angel led Matty past Wesley’s hiding place he turned and grabbed the child vampire. Pinning Matty’s arms to his sides. In that moment before Matty could free himself or even react to the warmth of Angel’s now human touch, Wesley staked him.
The feel of the body of his accidental child crumbling to dust in Angel’s arms sent a wave of guilt and even sadness through him.
“Matty actually bought it,” Angel said tiredly. “All of the others knew I’d changed. He didn’t even fight. How could he not know? I’m more different now than I ever was before. How could he not realize I was going to betray him?”
“It had to be done,” Wesley said.
“I know,” Angel replied. “It doesn’t change how I feel about what I just did.”
“Where is he?” Kate demanded breaking into the quiet hallway, her gun held before her.
“It’s taken care of Kate,” Angel said tonelessly.
Kate pointed the gun squarely at Angel. “Where is that creature, Angelus?”
“Forget him Kate, you’ll only hurt yourself chasing myths,” Angel replied. “Matty will never kill again, be satisfied with that.”
“I can’t do that,” Kate said. “There’s something going on, something I should understand and don’t think I won’t figure it out.” Reluctantly she pointed her pistol past Angel and continued down the hallway looking for Matty.
Angel and Wesley turned and left.
_____________________________________________________________________________
As Angel and Wesley walked back toward the car Angel sensed someone behind him a second before a pair of delicate, powerful hands gripped his shoulders and lifted him up into the night sky.
“This is so great!” Cordelia exclaimed. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t let LaCroix teach you to fly. I adore it.”
“Cordy?” Angel’s voice was filled with a disbelieving horror. “What did he do to you?”
Cordelia set Angel back on the ground then moved to face him before answering. “I chose to save myself,” she said firmly.
“Let me see,” Angel ordered, though he dreaded having this be real.
Cordelia didn’t have to ask him to clarify his request. She closed her eyes for a moment when they opened they gleamed gold.
Angel stepped closer and tilted her face up to the light, scrutinizing every change; the faint hint of fangs pressing against her lower lip, the molten gold of her eyes, but looking beyond that there was no change. Her features were smooth and lovely; her skin was human, not the more leathery vampiric version. For a long moment he stared deep into her eyes, trying to see his best friend’s soul in their golden depths.
“Is it that awful?” Cordelia asked worriedly, her eyes turning back to brown.
“No, you’re beautiful,” Angel reassured her. “Exotic even.”
“But I’m a vampire,” Cordelia finished. “I swear Angel, I’m still me inside.”
“Are you?” Angel asked uncertainly still staring into her eyes.
“Really truly,” Cordelia promised. “I mean okay, there is the whole bloodlust factor. That’s why I had to stay away at first, but look at me. Here I am, sure I’m aware of the blood in your veins, of your pulse, especially with your thumb pressing against my jaw and all...”
Angel dropped his hand and stepped away from her quickly.
“But I’m in control,” Cordelia finished a little forlornly.
“I’m sorry,” Angel said. “I should know, better than anyone, the things that make dealing with mortals harder.”
Cordelia smiled sadly, accepting the apology but not able to ignore the spark of fear in Angel’s eyes. She understood it, no matter how much she trusted Angel she had never forgotten that he was, by nature, a predator of humankind. Now the situation had been reversed and it was Angel who exhibited a trace of caution in dealing with a creature that, even though she was his friend, was still designed to hunt him.
“I know you don’t like what I did, but I didn’t have a choice Angel. I’m only twenty, I didn’t want to die,” she said.
“And it’s my fault you were put in that situation,” Angel replied.
“It’s not your fault!” Cordelia exclaimed. “And it’s not that bad either. Just, please don’t push me away.”
Angel took her hands and squeezed them warmly. “Never,” he promised.
next