The Circle Series: The Gathering: Part Three
by Elf
Getting into the Lido was much easier than Cordelia had predicted. There were some advantages for being a vampire, he mused as he traveled through the den of people. A low, velvety song was blaring through a state of the art sound system as Angel made his way through the flashing lights and smoke.

A young woman stopped him and looked him over. It was Carley St. Augustine. She smiled and asked, "Angel?" having to shout over the loud noise.

Angel's smile was tense. It was a minute till midnight, and he fully intended to find Ash. Carley asked, "So, between killing bad guys and saving damsels in distress, you hang out at night clubs then?"

Angel shook his head and shouted back to her, "No, I'm just waiting on somebody."

Her face fell. Angel smiled at her, feeling sorry for her. Doyle had once told him that it was easier to form a bond with a dark, mysterious savor than a man doing a job. He was all too right about that. So, he continued to walk through the club.

Then, he sensed her. She had this powerful presence, and she was letting herself be known. Angel spun around. She was coming toward him, her movements purposeful and intense. Angel straitened up to his full height and glared. She smiled coyly at him as she kept coming.

There was something about her that Angel couldn't put his finger on. Something in her icy blue eyes that spoke to him. Spoke to his soul, rather. Ash kept coming, her coat swaying behind her.

She reached him and she moved beside him. She said, "Hello Angel, I see you've gotten my message." Angel didn't like her tone of voice, or the way she looked at him. But he was drawn to her none the less.

He shrugged and replied, catching her eyes as he did, "It was hard not to."

She raised an eyebrow and smoothed her long hair from her face. She probably had more ways to express herself with that silky, pale, ash blond hair than Cordelia did. Ash smiled at him, a cocky, lopsided smile. She said, "I have that effect on people."

"I don't doubt that," Angel replied to her. He was tense. He was ready to fight. She was doing something to him, and he didn't like it. She was getting to him, and he didn't know why. He asked her, skipping directly to the point, "What do you want?"

The only way to describe her smile was wickedly seductive. She watched him with a hungry interest, a look he had given many women over the years. It was a look that never bolded well for anyone. She answered by saying, "Come on, I'm gonna buy myself a drink, and I want you to join me." With that, she walked to the bar, her hips swaying provocatively behind her. Angel found himself thinking as he followed her to the bar.

In one swift motion, Ash swung up on a bar stool and perched herself very seductively it, giving any male a look at her long, supple legs. Angel wanted to slap himself for thinking that. She is evil. She is evil. He kept telling himself that, trying not to look at those long legs perched for everyone to see.

The bartender walked up and gave Ash the once over and smiled. Ash coyly smiled back and turned to Angel. Angel decided to settle himself on the bar stool and face her. She said, "Hi, could I have a . . ." she gave Angel a wicked smile, "Bloody Mary, and my friend will have a . . ." She looked at Angel quizzically.

Angel shrugged and said, not going for his obvious choice, "A light red wine." He smiled lopsidedly at Ash. She wasn't the only one who could play this game. She gave him a wavy smile in return. He had unnerved her, good.

The bar tender nodded and went to get their drinks. Angel asked, "So, what do you want?"

She smiled and said, "The red wine wasn't something I would have expected from you."

"You don't know me," Angel replied to her with a grin, "You know absolutely nothing about me."

The bar tender got their drinks. Ash took a drink of her Bloody Mary and smiled. She said, "I knew your sire quite well, actually."

Angel stiffened at the mention of Darla. He said, "How do you know about Darla?"

Ash smiled as she spun the liquid in her glass. She watched him closely, enjoying the edge she had on him. She mused, "Darla, good girl, really. She wanted to keep a tight hold on you, but, I don't blame her."

Angel glared, his fingers were gripped tightly around the glass. It could shatter in his hands at any moment. He asked her, his voice more quiet and holding a dangerous edge to it, "What do you know about Darla?"

She smiled at him and replied, "Well, Angel, I sired her."

Angel glared. Darla had never mentioned her sire before, but he knew that it wasn't the Master. Maybe that was why she was so flippant around the ancient vampire. The Master was attracted to her, and he had no power over Darla. So, Darla being Darla, used this at her advantage.

If Ash was telling the truth, then she was Angel's grandsire. A prospect that Angel wasn't looking forward to. He took a swallow of the wine and set the glass back on the bar before he broke it. He felt numb. It was all connecting now. What Jennifer had said to him, and what Ash was saying to him now.

Ash said, "Despite your handicap, you could join the Circle. We have a witch that can help you."

Angel laughed. It was sharp and bitter, and Ash jumped. Not much, just jerked back slightly. He smiled coldly at her. He said, "If you're talking about breaking the Curse, and making me loose my soul again, there is only *one* way to do that. And, that isn't going to happen."

Ash shrugged as she downed the last of her drink. She said, "Fine, have it your way then. But, Angel, you will join us, painfully or pleasurably, it's your choice."

They stood up at the same time, their eyes locking. It was a silent battle of wills. She slammed some money on the table, signifying that Angel had won. She spun on her heel, telling him, "This isn't over by a long shot."

"Good," Angel replied, seething as she walked away. He turned to the opposite direction and left the club the same way he snuck in.


* * *
"The bastard refused me. He actually refused *me*!" Ash shouted at Jaquline while she paced the confinement of her hotel room. Jaquline watched her, awed by her. Ash was one of a kind, and didn't harbor the same feelings that Jaquline did for her. And this Angel had hurt Ash, had refused what Jaq would have gladly taken and cherished for all of eternity.
For her part, Jaq didn't like men. She couldn't stand them. She could do just as well on her own than without a man. But, Ash was different. She craved things that she could control, or very rarely, wanted to.

Jaq asked, "Now what?"

Ash spun around, her long hair flying in a wild, beautiful manner around her face. Her icy blue eyes were snapping as she snarled, "Oh, we're gonna get him. Definitely."

Jaq watched Ash as she continued to pace, her supple, lithe body moving gracefully around the plush room. Jaquline asked, "All right, that has been established, now what?"

Ash turned to face her. Jaquline's breath would have caught at that moment if she still breathed. Ash was so beautiful, so deadly and dangerous. An exquisite creature of the night. Her smile was wicked as she said, "Oh, that's simple enough. We're gonna catch him."


* * *
"Ash is Darla's sire," Angel told Cordelia and Wesley as he continued to pace his apartment. As he walked by his punching bag, he slammed his fist in it twice. He turned and looked at them. He said, "I think she's telling the truth."
"She is," Wesley said, showing Angel an engraving of Ash and Darla standing together, dated August 17, 1596. Wesley read on, "Ash, not known as anything else, sired Darla, who inturn went to serve on Heinrich Joseph Nest's court for a short time. She, on occasion, ran with Ash before she became board with both the Master and her sire." Wesley looked up from the book and said, "It's rather elusive on anything else about this Ash."

Angel ran a hand through his spiky hair. He started to pace again, and took another hit at the punching bag. He asked, "Anything about the Circle?"

Cordelia beamed this time, tossed her hair, and answered, "Yeah, there's been a number of vamps during the centuries. But, there are always some regulars on the Circle: The Leader, The Seducer, The Warrior, The Innocent, The Scholar, The Witch, and The Hunter."

"I don't think Ash is either the Witch or the Innocent," Angel said as he remembered their encounter in the night club. Besides, witches usually gave off some sort of power. Willow had long before she started casting spells and things. Now, her being the Hunter or the Seducer was a very different matter.

Wesley picked up the slack, "Yes, it seems the Leader has been the same vampire for over the past thousand years."

Cordy whistled and said, "Pretty well preserved for a dead guy." Then she had the grace to look at Angel and say, "No offence."

"None taken," Angel told her absently mindedly as he thought for a moment. He was focused on Ash.

He remembered what she told him. That he would join. Not he would join or die, just that he would join, no other alternatives. He asked, "What other members have the Circle held?"

Wesley continued to read the leather bound tome, answering, "Ah, the Butcher, the Horror, the Terror, and" he paused and looked up at Angel, his blue eyes widening, "Good Lord, the Scourge."

Cordelia clapped her hands and said, "Well, no wonder then. They want Angel because of the Scourge quality that he use to have. Well, buddy, they ain't gonna get it." She looked over at Angel as she went unheededly on, pouring salt into old wounds, "Besides, there's only one way to break the Curse, and she's in Sunnydale. And, the last time I saw, Buffy Summers wasn't too happy to be around our boy."

Angel gripped the table, his fingers digging into the particle board. He had told Ash the same thing, well, without all the gruesome details. He looked up at his ragtag team and said, "That isn't going to happen."

Wesley said, "Of course not. You know better."

Angel felt a half smile form on his face at the complement. Cordelia said, "Yeah, besides, you could do *so* much better than Buffy Summers."

Angel's laugh was self-depicting. Cordelia, God love the girl, may not have an ounce of tact in her soul, but she did protect those she cared about. Angel would feel sorry if some vampire came after Wesley, or even himself, because Cordelia would give them holy hell. He looked at her, and she shrugged and said, "Well, you know, that's what I've been saying since I first saw you at the Bronze." Then a puzzled look crossed her face as she mused, "But I also said that you would need oxygen after I was done with you, but since you don't breathe . . ." She looked at the look of confusion and hurt that was most likely playing on Angel's features at the moment. She said, sounding exasperated, "Well! I didn't know you were a vampire then! Geeze, give me a break!"

Wesley looked shocked as he looked from Cordelia to Angel. Angel shrugged and said, "Don't worry, Wesley, the feeling wasn't mutual, and I'm sure she got over that fact along time ago."

"Damn strait," Cordelia added as she walked over to the computer.

Wesley sighed, obviously relieved. There was still some spark between the two, just hidden deep. Besides, Angel thought that there was more than some spark was where Xander and Cordelia was concerned. He mused for a moment what would happen if Xander walked into this office and looked into Cordy's eyes to see how she had changed over the past months.

Oddly, Cordelia really didn't grow much as a person with Buffy, Xander, and the others, but, here, working with Angel, had improved her for the better. That made Angel a little proud and gave him some amount of joy to know that he had changed one person for the better so drastically.

Cordelia said, "Hello? Guys? We've got a group of nasty vampires to research." Angel smiled as he picked up one of the books and started to read.


* * *
"We capture him," Ash said to the Circle. Jennifer smiled wickedly and leafed through a comic book. Damon's face fell, his sulky mouth drooping. Dais just looked impassioned, board almost. Umbra nodded in agreement with a knowing smile. Irons looked distant, and Hunters just looked thoughtful.
Jaquline spoke up, "But he kills other vampires. We can't have a Wild Card like him on the Circle."

Jennifer smiled and replied, "That's just his souled alter ego, not the demon. The spell shouldn't be that difficult to cast. Umbra is very talented." Then Jennifer added, "You forget your place as well. If I wish it, your death will occur."

"Over my undead body," Ash sneered at the little fiend. She hated Jennifer more at that moment than ever in her long unlife.

Hunters stood up, raising his long, pale hands. He snapped, "Enough, you are acting like children. Jennifer, do not threaten your sister's servant, and Ash, do not threaten your sister. Despite Jennifer's childlike appearance, she is quite capable of handling herself."

Ash narrowed her eyes. She was becoming slowly fed up with this crap. She gripped the table and sneered, obeying but still defiant, "Yes sir, I understand."

Jennifer just smiled and said, "Got it."

Hunters' smile was transcendent as he said, "Excellent. Now, Ash, what is your plan?"

Irons spoke up, "He was partially responsible for killing my Slayer. I have no qualms with him joining. Besides, he is already thick in the blood anyway. Ash is his grandsire. I would be ecstatic for him to join us. Besides, along with his crudity, he is a very intelegent vampire, as well as very seductive, when he was still with us."

"Seductive?" Damon squeaked uncertainly.

Ash chewed on her lip. She remembered their encounter in the club. She had wanted him to take her right then and there in front of all those humans. He sparked sensuality. He was as much of a hunter as she was. It was a different type of seduction than what Damon promised. Damon promised pleasure ,but Angel promised danger. Wonder where Ash was leaning to right now?

"Worried Damon?" Dais queried with a slight grin. Ash chuckled and Umbra laughed.

Jennifer said, sounding like the teenager that she wasn't, "He's as sexy as hell." She chuckled, "Great ass, really great ass."

Ash glared. If, rather *when*, Angel joined, Ash wasn't about to let some demon trapped in a dead brat's body have him. If anyone would have that great ass, it would be her. Ash tapped her fingers on the table once more.

Hunters asked, "What is your plan, Ash?"

Ash looked up at each of them. She felt strangely out of place for a moment. Even Umbra looked threatening, and Umbra was her friend. She answered, "Well, it's simple, really. Jaq captures him and Umbra works her mojo to make him soulless. That's it."

Jaquline stiffened. She looked rather uncomfortable about the situation. Ash smiled up at her and said, "Jaq, you could take him. Just bring him back in one piece." Then, with a throaty chuckle, she added, "Well, the important pieces anyway."

Jaq shrugged and said, "Sure, no problem."

Ash smiled at her friend and said, "Atta girl. I'll be at my hotel room, waiting."

She stood up. Damon asked, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Dais shrugged and slipped into his leather jacket. He said, "It's Ash. She can pull it off."

Ash smiled. She had kicked Dais' ass in a battle of domince a few hundred years ago. So, Dais respected her and backed her up on almost everything she did. She said, "Damn strait. Let's go."


* * *
"The first vampire I met on the Circle was probably the Innocent," Angel told his group.
"A kid vamp?" Cordelia asked. Angel nodded at her. Cordelia shuttered and said, "Creepy, ankle bitters with fangs."

Wesley asked, "What did she look like?"

Angel shrugged and remembered Jennifer. He answered, "Small, around five feet or so, long dark blond hair, grey eyes. Elfin in appearance. Intelligent, and very old."

"How old?" Wesley asked as he thumbed through a book.

Angel shrugged and answered, "Don't know. She said she remembers the Plague fondly, so she's more than six hundred years old."

"Ancient brat," Cordelia murmured. Angel wasn't having problems with her age, just the fact that she was remembering the Plague fondly. That fact that she had raged on the sick and dying formed a knot in his stomach. That was disgusting. One of the Master's fondest sayings was, "We must watch what we eat. If we eat the sick and dying, then we shall become like our prey." To Angel is was slaughter. Helpless human, even though most humans were helpless anyway, but to attack someone who had no chance of defending themselves was another story.

Wesley began to look through the different tomes that Angel had collected over the years. Angel stood up. He was getting tired of sitting here. Maybe he could find Jennifer again. She seemed eager to talk, and, despite Angel's distaste, she had found the curse amusing.

He slid into his leather jacket and walked to the weapon's closet. He slid on his ratchet stake devices and tested them. Satisfied, the vampire walked to the elevator. Wesley stood up, asking, "Would you like any help with this, Angel? It could be very dangerous."

Angel pulled the elevator cage door down in front of Wesley's face, saying, "No, that's why I want you to stay here. I can take care of myself."

Cordelia snorted at that. Angel ignored her as the elevator lurched to life.


* * *
Jaquline had been watching for some time. She was getting board with standing in the same place for such a long time. Her body craved to move, to act. She allowed herself the luxury of streaching. She reached down and touched the toes of her steel toed boots. She rose back up and streached her arms, to see Angel leaving his place of buissness.
Gracefuly, Jaq jumped off the roof to carefuly follow the other vampire.


* * *
Angel felt someone following him. Another vampire, female. He kept walking. Rule Number One when someone is following you: Don't let them know that you know that they are following you.
But, he knew it wasn't Ash. It didn't have that same feel to it. None of the blow to the gut feeling Ash brought with her. He slowly walked in streetlights, keeping the other vampire more wary. It was harder to sneak around in full light than shadows and darkness. Personally, he would have rather moved in the shadows, letting the darkness envelop him like some entity.

Then, he felt the vampire in front of him. Damn. "Damn it," he cursed softly as he began to stalk her. He didn't know what she looked like, and he was going on sense alone. He followed her into the industrial, shipping section of town. He sensed a presence in one of the many abandoned warehouses, so, cautiously, he entered the storage building.

He looked around, street lights filtered dimly from the broken, fogged glass on the windows. Angel moved slowly around, looking up at the upper level. The boxes were a perfect place to hide behind. He moved cautiously to the steps. Then, from out of nowhere, something kicked him in the head.

He fell to the ground. It was a hard kick. He growled deep in his throat and stood up, not letting his face vamp out. The other vampire was a tall female. Tall,and big, almost as big as Angel. She had shaggy, short, auburn hair, dressed in cammo fatuges, steel toed boots, which exsplaned the fact why Angel's head was still ringing, dog-tags, and she was severely pirced. Her left eyebrow was nothing but silver rings, her right ear was just nothing but gages and hoops circling the cartlige, her lip was pirced as well as her nose.

She placed her hands on her hips and snarled, "You bastard."

Angel blinked and replied, "Okay, that was rude."

She shrugged and sneered, "I'm Jaquline, Ash's servant. I'm supoce to bring you back alive and in one piece." She paused, "Even though you don't deserve it you bastard."

Jaquline, didn't like him, had some emotional attachment for Ash, and Ash had ordered her to bring Angel to her in one piece. Great. Just something else to top off this perfect night. Angel straitened to his full height, he could take her. "Well," he slowly drawled, "You can try."

She moved before he did, sending a snap kick to his head. The steel-toed boot connected, feeling like Angel had just gotten bashed in the head with a baseball bat, and his head snapped back. Taking advantage of the moment, Jaquline snapped her foot right between his legs.

It HURT. Angel went down on his knees in an instant. Through the pain, he thought, He gagged silently in pain, his stomach twisting in knots. He heard Jaquline's demonic laughter as she landed another blow to his head.

Angel collapsed to the hard concrete floor. For a moment he was glad that he couldn't have children. Jaquline took the opportunity to kick him in the ribs. Angel cried out as he felt several of his ribs crush. He couldn't move, couldn't think. Jaquline took out some more of her anger out on him.

She hissed, "You bastard, I'm gonna make you suffer." Angel rolled over in pain, gathering himself. Jaquline smiled and raised her foot. She was about to stomp him between the legs when Angel caught her leg.

Her eyes widened in surprise as he threw her off of him. He flipped up to his feet just as Jaquline charged at him. They traded vicious blows. Jaquline was about to try her infamous groin kick again when Angel growled. He was ticked.

He reached up and grabbed one of the rings on her eyebrow. He pulled slightly, she whimpered and went still. Angel backed her against the wall. He told her quietly, "No, you're gonna tell me what I wanna know, or I'm going to hurt you. You already know I'm gonna kill you, so you don't have to worry about that, but *how* I kill you is a different matter." To prove his point, he pulled on the loop.

She cried out. He asked, "Where are you meeting Ash?"

"Go to Hell!" she growled.

"Been there, done that, deja' vu isn't what it use to be," Angel told her as he tugged on the steel hoop again. He asked her, very calmly, "Where is Ash?"

"F*** you," she spat.

"I really don't like your language," Angel told her simply as he ripped the hoop out of her eyebrow. Jaquline cried out as blood welled up from the spit skin. Angel simply slipped the hoop in his jacket. He told her, "Ash, you know where she is, so tell me."

"Never," she hissed.

"Fine, I can do this for a long time," Angel replied as he grabbed her ear cuff. With a simple pull, it came off in his hands, attached with it bloody bits of cartilage and dripping blood. Jaquline's scream was shrill.

He grabbed the one on her lip. He mused, "After those two hurt so badly, I'll wonder what this one will fill like when I rip it out."

"Die," she told him.

He ripped out the lip piercing. Jaquline screamed, growled and sobbed as her lip was nothing more than a bloody, pulpy mass of flesh. "I'm being serious," he told her.

"Fine! She's at the Ramada hotel!" Jaquline cried out as Angel took hold of her nose ring.

"Thanks," Angel told her as his stake rammed into the vampire's back. She screamed as she turned to ash, various pieces of jewelry falling to the ground. Angel bent down and picked up the bits of jewelry on the ground.


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