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Angel: The Series > AtS - Season Five
Angel Season 5 (Redux) by Kevin
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“Ready?” Wesley said.

“Ready,” Angel nodded.

They kicked in the door and rushed into the room. “We’re not here to fight, but we will if we have to,” Wesley said quickly.

The room of Dungalla laughed. Dungalla lived to fight. More to the point, they had Angel and Wesley outnumbered.

“The Dungalla have heard of the prowess of the warriors of Angel Investigations,” Dunga Prime laughed. “But even you cannot fight thirty Dungalla.” The Dungalla drew their swords.

“Probably not,” Angel said. “But while you were hearing about our prowess, did you happen to hear we also took over Wolfram & Hart?”

“Meaning?”

“Thompson!” Wesley called. Behind him, three dozen well armed W&H SWAT troopers flooded into the room.

“Now,” Wesley said with a smug grin. “We can do this the easy way. Or the-”

“Charge!!!” Dunga Prime shouted.

“I wasn’t done yet!” Wesley shouted angrily. He raised his sword and charged. The SWAT troopers began firing electric bolts at the charging demon horde.

Angel leapt high and came down in the middle of the pack.

“Wait, sir!” Thompson called.

Angel spun, swung his sword in a broad arc and cutting down three Dungalla. Thompson fired two shots from his shock rifle and downed another Dungalla behind him.

Angel shoved two of the demons out of the way and found himself face to face with Dunga Prime. Angel swung his sword in a barrage of attacks and blocks. Dunga Prime was a flurry of movement as well. For a creature so large, he was extremely quick and nimble.

“Can we get this over with?” Angel quipped as he blocked a slash of Prime’s sword. “I have somewhere I need to be this afternoon.”

Prime laughed. He locked swords with Angel, then slashed the vampire with his jagged arm. Rather than pulling away, Angel moved into the spikes, impaling himself further. It hurt like hell, but it also threw Prime off long enough for Angel to drive his own sword into Prime, impaling the demon.

The demon screamed loudly as Angel threw his weight against the handle and pushed the sword from Prime’s gut, through its rib cage, and out the side of its torso. Nearly cut in half, Prime collapsed to the floor, dead.

Angel turned to see the Wolfram & Hart guards walking through a maze of collapsed demons. The guards decapitated the downed demons one by one as they passed. Angel frowned.

“Doesn’t seem very sporting, does it?” Wesley said, almost reading Angel’s thoughts.

“No, it doesn’t. But I guess it gets the job done.”

“That it does.”

Angel nodded toward a back door. “In here?”

“I believe so,” Wesley said, leading the way into the back room.

“I don’t think we should tell the others about this just yet,” Angel said as he followed Wes into the back room. “I don‘t want to get their hopes up until we know for sure.”

“Agreed. I imagine the orb is in the safe.” Wes pointed at a large safe in the corner. “Looks to be quite formidable. We’ll probably need-”

“Jackson, we need a charge!” Thompson shouted.

“Absolutely not!” Wesley shouted. He hadn’t seen the SWAT leader enter the room. “The artifact we’re after is extremely delicate!”

Angel looked at his watch. “Look, Wes, it looks like you have this under control. Any problem if I take off. I really do have somewhere I need to be.”

“What?” Wesley said, looking up distractedly. “Oh, yes. Of course. I’ll see you at headquarters tonight.”

Angel turned and left the room.


“Whoah,” Gunn said as he watched the figure move. “I know that hockey is the whitest of white man sports, but speed is speed. And that kid is fast!”

“Oh, hush, Charlie-pooh,” Lorne said. “The scouts might think you’re trying to influence them.”

Scouts for the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and San Jose Sharks were watching Connor’s practice on the ice.

Ace Bailey, head scout for the Kings, shook his head slightly. “Okay, he’s quick. Still, what do I care how the kid can play against scabs you put out there to make him look good?”

Jim Magee, Connor’s agent, laughed. “If you want, put Robitaille and Frolov out there with him. Just hope they don’t hold it against you when our boy makes them look like they’re the rookies.”

Colleen Reilly frowned. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this box full of strangers discussing her son like he was a piece of meat. Granted, they were saying he was a choice piece of prime rib. But they were still regarding him as meat.

Laurence Reilly was more concerned with the agency itself. The head of the Entertainment division wore makeup to make him look like an alien. Security Director Charles Gunn moved about the building with an armed escort that put the President’s Secret Service detail to shame. And all of them seemed to be wary of the firm’s enigmatic director, called only “Angel.”

Lorne looked down from the skybox to see Eve sitting in the first row of the stands in the empty ice rink. “What’s she doing here?”

“Must be a hockey fan,” Gunn said off-handedly.

“What about the big guy?” Lorne nodded to another sky box across from their own. In it, Angel sat in darkness, watching Connor skate around the rink.

“Well we know he likes hockey. Remember when he bought those little hockey sticks and we played floor hockey?”

“I must have been out that day.”

Son of a bitch,” the scout from the Sharks whispered to himself.

“Yeah, I know,” the Anaheim scout sympathized. “Why didn’t we draft him when we had the chance?”

“How’d we never hear of him?” Bailey from L.A. threw in.

“Please,” the Sharks scout waved them off. “This kid was on a semi-pro team right in my own city. If I don’t land him, I’ll be laughed out of town.”

“Ah, Don,” Bailey said with a laugh as he patted the Sharks scout’s back. “There’s always a job for you in L.A.”

“The kid wants to stay in California,” Lorne said excitedly. “He had a 4.5 GPA in high school, scored 1550 on the S.A.T.’s, and is currently a student at Stanford.”

“Prepare to start your bidding on my son,” Colleen muttered.

“If you could all just put your bids in writing within the next twenty-four hours,” Magee said. “We’ll review them and, based on the money and the location of the team, Connor and his family will make their decision.”

Don from the Sharks and Lee from the Ducks were looking at Magee as he spoke. Ace’s eyes never left the rink. That alone was the reason he saw it. The move. A feint right and move left that happen so fast it was almost like an optical illusion. The other two would offer a contract that was generous. But Bailey’s would blow them out of the water.


“Angel?” Wesley said, quietly creeping into the dark sky box. “I didn’t know you were such a hockey fan.”

Angel didn’t turn around. He could see Wesley’s reflection in the glass between the rink and the skybox. He could already see it was bad news. But he couldn’t abandon hope until he heard Wesley say the words.

“Cordy?” Angel said quietly.

Wesley shook his head no. “The orb wasn’t sufficient.”

Angel nodded sadly.

“I’ll go back to the books.”

Again, Angel just nodded sadly. Connor was done skating now. Angel turned away and left the skybox.


Connor skidded to a stop and stepped off the rink. “Hockey fan?” he asked, dropping into the seat next to the only other person in the rink.

“Wolfram & Hart fan,” Eve replied with a smile.

“Really? I don’t know. This place seems kind of creepy.”

“That it is. But when it comes to looking out for clients, no other firm in the world can match it.”

Connor pulled off his skates. “So are you a lawyer or an agent or something?”

“Liaison. Between the people handling the day to day operations of this branch and the senior partners.”

“Sounds important. What are you doing hanging out with a lowly teenage hockey prospect?”

“You’re the one who sat down next to me.”

Connor smiled nervously. His witty retorts dried up. Later, he’d think of a dozen. For now, he just smiled at the cute liaison in a short skirt that revealed perfect legs. Finding a place to rest his eyes on Eve was difficult. No matter where he looked, he felt like he was ogling.

“Sorry,” Connor said nervously. “You’re probably busy and stuff.”

“Never too busy for a new client.” Ev glanced at the skybox where Angel had been. Up until now, she could claim that she was following Angel’s wishes by talking Connor into leaving Wolfram & Hart. But that was about to change.

“Here.” Eve scrawled something on the back of a small card. She handed it to Connor. “This is my business card. Call me any time. My home number’s on the back.”

Connor raised his eye brows slightly and shifted uncomfortably. He had to remind himself that he was a client that was probably about to make hundreds of thousands of dollars for their firm. Of course she was being nice to him.

“Thanks,” Connor said, taking the card.

“You may only be here for a few days, but L.A. can be a lonely place. I know your parents are going home in a couple days. If you need company after they leave, I’d love to show you around the city.”

Connor smiled and exhaled nervously. “Um, Yeah,” he stuttered. “I’d love that, too.”

Eve knew she would be under surveillance later. She didn’t want to press too much, but decided it was probably best to get everything set up as soon as possible. “Tell you what, why don’t I come get you and take you around the city the night after tomorrow? You’re staying in our suites next to the law firm, right?”

“Yeah,” Connor managed to get out through his surprise.

“How about five o’clock?”

“Yeah,” Connor repeated.

“Great.” Eve entered the information in her palm pilot. “It’s a date.”

Eve stood and walked away, pretending not to hear Connor whisper, “Date?”


Gunn hit the next button. “This one was put in by Wesley. We’re referring to the artifact as The Urn of Sahjhan. As you might guess, it’s the urn in which Justine Cooper trapped the demon Sahjhan. Justine is considered the primary lead for locating the urn. Locating Jusitne, however, has been complicated. Still, acquisition of the urn is very, very high priority.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s that important,” Wesley offered.

“You don’t need to know. I’m head of security. I know. And I say it’s a high priority.”

Wesley frowned at having been put I his place. Still, things had been so strained between him and Gunn that he didn’t want to start a territorial battle over an urn.

“I’m with Gunn,” Angel said, clearly having his own reasons. “We need to get that urn and we need to lock it up somewhere very, very safe.”

“I hired an outside private detective to track down Justine,” Gunn said. “I told them it was over missed rent payments. It’s a good cover story since she does owe three different landlords back rent. I didn’t want to set off any alarms by letting word get around that Wolfram & Hart is looking for Justine Cooper.”

“So far as anyone else knows,” Wesley said. “She’s not a player. Wolfram & Hart expressing interest in her would naturally cause others to express interest in her, just by association.”

“Okay, guys,” Angel said distractedly. “Looks like we’re all caught up for this week.” He turned to Lorne. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure chief,” the affable green demon said.

“How’s the sports agent stuff going?”

“I’m so glad you’re taking an interest. You really didn’t seem that interested before. It’s going great.”

“What’s up for today?”

“We’ve gotten two offers on Connor Reilly. When the L.A. Kings turn in their offer in about a half hour, we’ll sit down with Connor and his parents and decide which is best for him.”

“So he’s not just going to take the highest contract?”

“All the offers are going to be for obnoxious amounts of money. He’s more interested in making sure he can go to school and be near his family.”

Angel smiled. If Lorne didn’t know better, he’d swear Angel was getting choked up. “Good,” Angel said. “If I had a son, that’s how I’d want him to think.”

Lorne, totally missing the significance of the statement, patted Angel on the arm and beamed, “You got that right, chief.”


Just as Angel started his conversation with Lorne, Fred was arranging a private conference of her own. She fell into step next to Gunn and walked out of the room with him. “Charles,” she said, looking forward and maintaining a casual air. “Wesley and I found something we think might be a security issue.”

“Refer it through my office,” Gunn said taking out his cell phone.

“At the moment, none of us are comfortable enough with the departments to send sensitive matters through them. Wes and I prefer to do things directly.”

Gunn smiled condescendingly. “Fred, I’m not sure I can express the extent to which I don’t care how you and Wesley prefer to do things.”

“I guess we’re just worried this place will pull us apart,” Fred snapped. “Thank god that’s not happening.”

Gunn came to a stop and looked at Fred. “Come on, Fred. You, me, and Wes were falling apart long before we came here.”

Fred put her hand on Gunn’s arm and stared into Gunn’s eyes. “However far apart we’ve grown, I still trust you. And that makes you one of only four people in this building I can say that about. Please. Will you come down to the lab when you get a chance?”

Gunn frowned and looked at his watch. “I’m going to Lorne’s office for a little. How about we meet in the lab in two hours?”

“Thank you, Charles.”

“You know I’m a sucker for those pretty brown eyes.” But Gunn’s own eyes were cold, as if he didn’t mean a word of what he’d just said.


Gunn and Eve exchanged curious looks as they entered Lorne’s office. Each wondered what the other was doing there, but they couldn’t discuss it there.

“Hey,” Connor said in a voice that was a combination of shyness, happiness, embarrassment, and a bad attempt to hide all three.

Gunn followed Connor’s gaze to Eve and smirked. Looks like he wouldn’t need to ask why Eve was there after all. She was nursing the poor kid’s school boy crush. “Mean,” he whispered to Eve, feigning shock.

Eve raised her eyebrows, as if silently bragging.

“I’m going to need to talk to Knox in a few hours,” Gunn said. “We might have a situation in science he can help with.”

“I’ll let him know,” Eve said.

“Looks like everyone’s here,” Lorne said excitedly.

“Again with the make up!” Connor said, seeing Lorne. “Do you ever take that stuff off?”

“Look, sweetie. I could make up some story about me falling into a vat of radioactive chemicals when I was a kid or we could find out how rich you’re going to be.”

Laurence squeezed Connor’s shoulder. It was an exciting day for his son, but Laurence couldn’t help but feel he was losing the boy. Emma looked up at her brother excitedly. Colleen just looked down, still feeling like she was auctioning off her son.

“Okay, Jim,” Lorne said to Magee. “Lay some numbers on me.”

Magee sat at a small conference table across from the Reilly’s. “The first offer came in from Anaheim. They’re offering $2.8 million dollars over two years.”

Connor’s jaw dropped, yet he still somehow managed a huge grin.

“Also,” Magee continued. “Wolfram & Hart would like to note that we will gladly continue to house Connor in our executive suites without rent should he chose to stay in the area.”

“It’s a nice suite,” Connor said to his parents.

“The next is from San Jose,” Magee proceeded. “Three years, $3.3 million. Although it’s less money per year, it’s a longer contract in a smaller market. It’s also closer to Stanford, if you want to continue your studies there.”

“He wants to continue his studies,” Colleen said.

“If he chooses Anaheim or L.A.,” Lorne said. “We can get him admitted to UCLA. It’s not Stanford, but it’s still a world-class school.”

Connor smiled at his dad. “That’s exactly what you said when you saw Stanford’s tuition.”

“San Jose is closer to us, too,” Colleen said.

“Yeah,” Connor nodded. “I think I like San Jose better.”

“The final offer is from the L.A. Kings,” Magee said.

“UCLA and free rent at the Wolfram & Hart suites,” Eve said quietly from behind Connor. He felt a rush of excitement at the thought that Eve seemed to want him around.

“Five years,” Magee started. “Fifty million dollars. Twenty-five up front in the form of a signing bonus.”

Holy Cow!” Lorne exclaimed.

Connor’s mouth dropped. “The first thing I’m doing is buying a yacht,” he gasped. Colleen lightly slapped Connor on the back of the head. “Kidding,” the boy said defensively. “I’m kidding.”

“Connor,” Laurence said worriedly. “That’s an awful lot of money.”

“An awful lot of money is good thing, daddy,” Emma offered.

Connor glanced back at Eve, who was grinning seductively. “UCLA and a free suite,” Connor added.

“That’s right,” Magee said.

“So, I guess we better discuss this as a family,” Laurence said.

Connor knew he was being played. The L.A. contract meant $7.5 million for Eve’s firm. And she was going to get Connor to take the contract using her legs and his hormones. He didn’t care. “L.A.,” Connor said, looking forward. “I want to sign with L.A.”


“What’s up, brown eyes,” Gunn said, taking a seat next to Fred.

“Watch this,” Fred said, hitting a button. A video monitored displayed a patch of red absorbing something.

“You do realize that has no significance for me whatsoever, right?” Gunn asked.

Fred looked at Gunn sternly. “What you just saw was blood, outside the human body, overcoming a weaponized version of the Ebola virus.”

“Is that special?”

“It’s impossible.”

“Whose blood is it?”

“I don’t know. We pulled blood samples from almost all our employees for testing. The labels were all removed from the plates if we tested and didn’t find anything odd.”

“I thought you said that was odd,” Gunn said, indicating the screen.

“No. I said it’s impossible. And we didn’t check for the impossible. We need a security sweep of every employee who gave a blood sample between September 29 and October 2.”

Gunn nodded. “And that list is with security. I’ll get it for you.”

“Thank you, Charles.”

“Don’t thank me,” he said, smiling and removing his cell phone. “Thank those puppy dog eyes of yours.”

Gunn left the room and dialed the control room. “Hey, Moriarty,” he said. “Pull the list of security screens we did for September 29 to October 2. Don’t include any blood tests we did of clients.”

Gunn glanced back at the lab where Fred was now working alone. “Got it? Good. Now kill the security cameras in the science lab.”


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