The Circle Series: The Prophecy and the Traitor: Part Two
by Elf
"Nice jacket," Cordelia said as Angel hung Ash's jacket on their coat hanger. He slid out of his duster and hung it up beside it. Cordy studied the jacket and said, "But it doesn't look to be your size. It's a little small."
"Its Ash's," he told her in a way of an answer.
Cordelia stood up from her desk and walked over to him, her heels clicking softly on the tile floor. She asked, "Okay, why do we have articles of Bad Girl's clothing?"
"Because she left it," Angel answered her.
"Where did she leave it?" Cordelia asked, somewhere between annoyed and panicked.
Angel answered, "We fought. She took off her jacket before the fight. She ran. She left her jacket. I took the jacket. We're probably going to see a lot more of Ash. Soon." He spoke simply, patronizing Cordy. She frowned at him, her eyes glittering at him.
He chuckled and looked around. He asked, "Where's Wesley?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes and handed him a piece of pink paper that they used to write down messages on. Angel read a short note. It simply said that Wesley had went to a lecture on Magic Theory at the local Druaidic shrine. Angel frowned.
He placed the pink sheet of paper on the desk and looked at Cordelia. She shrugged and replied, "Hey, it just popped up tonight. Besides, Wes doesn't cast spells."
Angel frowned. He wanted Wesley to see if he could contact any of his former Council ties and see if they could dig up any information on Ash. He wanted to know when she was changed, who changed her, the details of her changing, her hunting habits, everything. Anything really that could give him some sort of incite in her character.
"Damn it," Angel cursed as he leaned up against Cordy's desk.
She asked, "What else happened during the fight?"
"Not much," Angel answered thoughtfully.
"Did she run because she knew you were gonna kick her ass, or what?" Cordelia asked him.
Angel didn't know. He just remembered the humanity in her icy blue eyes as she looked at him. The open vulnerability. Something was happening to her, and she didn't understand it.
* * *
Something was happening to Ash, and she didn't understand it. a clear voice rang out in her head. "Shut up," she crossly told the voice as she entered her hotel room. She rubbed her hands down her bare arms. On top of everything else, she had lost her favorite leather jacket as well. "Damn," she grumbled as she sat down on the overstuffed couch.
The door knocked. She cursed as she got up and opened the door. Jennifer was standing there, looking as wide-eyed and innocent as a little vampire could manage. Well, maybe more. Jennifer smiled, shattering the illusion. She said, "Hello Ash, can I come in?"
Ash gritted her teeth, stood away from the door and grumbled, "Sure, why the hell not? Make this night even more perfect."
Jennifer walked into the room. She looked around and said, "Nice room. Hunters went all out for you. As he did for all of us."
Ash asked her, "Do you want something to eat?"
Jennifer made a face and answered, "That refrigerated blood that you keep? No thanks. Besides, I already ate this evening."
Ash didn't want to know the details. She walked over to the small refrigerator and pulled out one of the bottles of blood. She uncorked it and started to guzzle the whole thing down. She felt her face change as she drank. Immediately, she made it change back to its human form. She didn't like to wear her vampiric features for some reason. The others didn't care, except for Damon, but that was purely out of vanity.
Jennifer asked her, "Why do you not let your face change when you feed?"
Ash drained the bottle, shut the fridge, and placed the bottle on top of the fridge. She answered with a shrug, "Vanity, I guess. Now, why are you here?"
Jennifer walked over to the balcony and looked out on the Los Angeles skylight. She answered, "Just to tell you of Hunters plan." She looked around and asked, "Where's Angel, didn't you catch him?" A cattish smile played on the child fiend's lips as she asked, "Or, is he recovering from you right now?" Her tone was mocking. Little bitch.
Ash snapped, "No, I didn't catch him." She lied, "I barely got away with my life, thank you very much." She was lying through her fangs, but she didn't want the brat to know what really happened. The prophecy was coming to pass. Damn it.
Jennifer smiled, shrugged and replied, "Well, if you fail, I'll get him."
Ash gritted her teeth. There was no way on this Earth that this little brat was going to get her grubby, little paws on Angel. No way in Hell. She asked, "So, what's Hunters' plan?"
Jennifer smiled and answered, "Well, after we get everything completed, world domination. Humans and demons will bow to us, and we shall rule. Everyone will answer to us, and there is nothing they can do about it."
In her mind's eye, Ash could see what Jennifer was so aptly describing. She could see herself on a throne, with humans, vampires, and demons bowing to her, asking her what she wanted them to do for her. She could see lines of slaves marching down endless rolls doing meaningless tasks. She could imagine someone like Angel being beat and broken.
No. Damn it. She gritted her teeth.
Jennifer asked, "Problem?"
Ash stood up, started to shove Jennifer out the door, and said, "I don't like you here, you little demon brat, and Hunters isn't around to stop me from kicking you little ass." She shoved Jennifer out the door, sneering, "Get out you little freak." Then she slammed the door in the other vampire's face.
Ash stalked back to the couch and sat down. She looked hard at the ring on her finger. If she betrayed the Circle, they try would hunt her down, torture her, and, finally, kill her. But, if she joined forces with Angel, then she might have a chance to live, and there was the whole thing with the world wouldn't be dominated.
She twisted her ring off of her finger. It came off with some difficulty. She stained at the blood red garnet and frowned. It mocked her. She slipped the finger back onto her finger and stood up.
Now, the problem was, how was she going to convince Angel that she was now on his side? That she was a damned white hat.
"Oh, shit, this ain't gonna be easy," she groaned as she sank back on the pillows of the couch.
* * *
Angel walked into the L.A. Police department like he belonged there. Dawn wasn't until a few hours, and Kate might still be on duty. He saw her familiar, unruly blond head and smiled. She was here. She was talking to a uniformed officer.
Angel waited patiently in the shadows as she finished her conversation. She started to walk to her office, and Angel met her there. She jumped and almost dropped the file she was holding. She glared at Angel with her huge blue eyes. Angel had almost had enough with huge blue eyes tonight. She asked him, her voice a hoarse whisper, "What the hell are you doing here, Angel?" She sounded cross and angry with him.
Angel motioned to her office and whispered back, "I think it'll be better if I told you in private."
She glared up at him, fury among grief evident in her turbulent eyes. That look hurt Angel a lot. He valued Kate as a friend as well as a good contact. He had tried to help her father, but, as always seeming with his unlife, things fell through and mistakes happened.
They walked into her office. She asked, "Spill it Angel, I don't have the time."
Angel pulled out a sketch of Ash. He handed it to Kate. Kate inspected it and said, "Pretty girl, what did she do?"
Angel felt extremely bad about lying to Kate, but if he was going to get to the bottom of Ash and the Circle, he was going to have to. He answered, "Nothing. She's just someone I just want to talk to. She has information on a case I'm working on."
"Vampires?" Kate asked angrily.
Angel couldn't lie about that, "Yeah. Vampires. But, Kate, before . . ."
She held up her hand to quiet him. He fell silent and sighed. She said, "Angel, I know you're trying to do good, but you better tell me the whole story before I have your ass hauled to the lock- up."
Angel sighed and said, "A powerful Circle of vampires is in L.A. I'm trying to stop them. This girl has information that I could use against them."
Kate nodded, satisfied. She said, "Fine, I'll give you a call if I see her."
"Thank you," Angel told her. He meant it. And he was sorry to the depths of his soul that he couldn't save her father.
"Your welcome," she told him as she opened up the door for him to leave.
Angel took one last look at the police detective, nodded respectfully at her, then walked out of the office. As he was walking away, he swore that he felt Ash's presence.
* * *
Ash smiled. She watched Angel leave the cop's office. Kate Lockey was the cop's name, and, better yet, she was connected to Angel, but not as a girlfriend, thank goodness. Besides, she really didn't seem Angel's type, or Angel wasn't her type, but there was definitely a type involved. It probably wasn't tall-dark-handsome-and-undead.
Ash's smile grew. A plan was forming in her mind. She had a few hours before dawn, but she needed some time to put her plan togther, as well as her speech. Yeah, that would sound *great*.
* * *
Sunlight was creeping over Los Angeles. Angel retired to his basement apartment and was about to get ready for bed when Cordelia exited the elevator and approached him. She told him, "I couldn't find anything on your girlfriend, but I did find some stuff out about the Circle." She handed him some print out pages.
Angel could only glare at her just a bit at the off hand Ash as his girlfriend comment. She shrugged, stretched and yawned. Angel told her, "Go home, get some sleep." Then, remembering, he asked, "Don't you have an audition today?"
She nodded as she showed her shiny, white teeth. She answered, "Yeah. Day, Angel."
"Bye Cor," he told her as she rode the elevator back up into the waking world. He sat down on his favorite easy chair and began to read through the pages. He read about how the Circle always had one vampirc witch on it at all times.
Angel thought with dismay as he read about how powerful some of the witches were. Some of them were visionaries, like Drusilla was, and others were pure practicers of the Black Arts. One of them had even been a Druid. Her name was Patricia. She was killed by a Slayer.
Cordelia had made a mistake. They did mention Ash, briefly. She had an emotional tie to the witches that held the position of the Witch. Not much, but that could mean that Ash had some skills in the Black Arts. Which, could mean very badly for him, or maybe very good. He was going to see what kept him from killing Ash. What the humanity in her eyes meant.
Did she have a soul?
Angel wasn't sure. As far as he knew, he was the only vampire with a soul, and that was brought on by magic. There was an odd chance that the demon that inhabited her corpse was good. Rare, minute, but, from what Angel had seen in Los Angeles and Sunnydale, he wasn't gonna totally erase the possibility.
He put the printouts on his bookshelf. He thought for a moment about the situation before he climbed into bed.
* * *
Ash moved gracefully, quickly, and effortlessly. She spun into a roundhouse kick, kicking only air. The work out would be much more efficient if she had a punching bag, but the hotel room wouldn't be too keen on her hanging up a bag from their ceiling. So, she was kicking and punching at air.
She flipped backwards effortlessly. She did an ariel, kicking her legs into the air, spinning then landing smoothly on the carpet. She did a back hand spring effortlessly and landed in the Cross stance.
Over the years Ash had trained well, both physically and mentally. She had studied countless forms of martial arts, gymnastics, weapons, and, even dancing. She was a very adept ballet dancer, but no one was going to find out that interesting bit of information.
She moved in time with the Kid Rock CD playing right now. The music was fast paced with a beat that one could move to. It was the sort of music that one would be riled up just listening to. She did a back flip and landed firmly on her feet. She wiped the sweat off her brow and looked at the clock. An hour before sundown.
* * *
Ash was walking around her hotel room with a white towel wrapped around herself. She brushed her waist length hair as she walked, feeling better after the long shower. She placed the brush down on her night stand and picked up the manila file folder. She opened it, scanned through it and read its contents.
She was looking for the worse scum in here. Something that would get the police woman's attention, then, which, the cop would call Angel, telling him that he had found his witness. Of course, she wasn't going to let the cop know that she killed that scum, even thought Angel would probably know.
She read through some of the files. They were horrifying, even to her. What sort of monster would do this? She had read about files from everything from canilblism to child molesters. Her mouth went dry. Some humans were just as bad as vampires, but she knew this. So, that was why she killed these humans.
She was protecting the innocent because there was no one there to protect her when she needed it. Her hands crumpled the files in anger. She loosened her grip just a bit so she wouldn't destroy the files, but her fingernails were making little cuts into the heavy paper.
She found two really nice scumbags, real monsters, and they hung out together. Dead Eye Dan and Sweet Boy Chuck. Psychos in every since of the world. Dan was convicted of a double rape and murder, but he got out on a technicality, while Chuck was convicted of 15 cases of drugged date-rape in two states, but, like Dan, he got out on a technicality.
Ah, the American justice system at it's finest.
She stood up off the bed and got dressed.
* * *
They were known as Dead Eye Dan and Sweet Boy Chuck, and they were lucky bastards. Dan knew this for a fact. Both of them gotten out of jail on a technicality, and were able to prowl the streets once more. But tonight, at the Watering Hole, Chuck and Dan were just getting sloppily drunk.
Someone walked into the bar. Someone really pretty. It was a woman in her early twenties with the greatest pair of legs that Dan had ever seen, and a body to go with the legs. Her face was great as well, but Dan wasn't really concerned about her face. No, Dan was paying attention to how the short, black, clinging, silk slip dress moved across her pale legs as she moved.
She walked up to the bar and the bartender walked over to her. She asked, in a slightly nervous voice, "Do you have a phone book I can see?"
The bartender looked her over and asked, "Lost, honey?"
She smiled nervously and answered, "A tad. I just need an address, and I think I can get to where I need to go."
He pulled a phone book from under the bar and handed it to the girl. She smiled thankfully at him as she flipped through the pages. Dan felt Chuck nudge him in the ribs. He was thinking the same thing as Dan was. They watched the beautiful blonde as she told the bartender thank you, gave him back the phone book, stood up and left the bar. Dan smiled at Chuck.
They got up and followed her. She was walking at a very good pace, but the streets weren't crowded, and in this part of Los Angeles, no one was going to come rescue her when she screamed.
So, the pair got up to her, wrapped their arms around her slender waist, clamped her mouth shut and drug her into an ally. They tossed her to the ground, and she looked up at them, stunned. Dan laughed as he went for his belt buckle. Then, she started to laugh as well.
It was a frightening laugh. Bloodthirsty. They took a step back. She stood up smoothly and gracefully. She laughed some more at them.
She said, "You idiots. You really don't know what you're messing with."
Dan sneered, not letting some *bitch* get the better of him, "Listen Sweetie, we're gonna get what we want, and there's nothing you can do about it."
She threw back her head and laughed. She told him, "No, I'm gonna get what *I* want, and there is nothing you can do about it." Then her lovely faced changed into something ridged and horrible.
She was a monster.
Yellow eyes glowed as she looked at them, and she ran her tongue over sharp, gleaming, white fangs. Fangs, the bitch had freaking *fangs*. They took off running, but she was far faster than they were.
She jumped over their heads. JUMPED OVER THEIR FREAKING HEADS! She grabbed Chuck and ripped his throat out. Dan couldn't move, couldn't act, and his last thought was when she grabbed him was this was how every woman he had killed must have felt. He didn't like it.
Then, the last thing he felt was sharp fangs driving deeply into his throat and quickly draining him of blood.
* * *
Ash let the body drop to the ground. She licked any traces of blood off her mouth as her face returned to normal. She ran her fingers through her long hair and sighed. That was too close for comfrote in Ash's book. But, she had to let them attack her first just to get the set up right.
She fell to the ground and screamed. The bartender ran into the ally to see a disheveled Ash sitting beside two corpses. Ash looked up at him, hoping to portray the look of absolute terror.
The story for the cops was this: The two guys saw her go into the bar and followed her out. They drug her into the ally and she screamed. Then, this *monster* (emphasis on the word monster) attacked the men and left her alone.
That was her story. She just hoped that she could be convincing enough to play it.
* * *
Kate got the call and drove to the site. It was about a half a block away from The Watering Hole, not the best place to be at night. She saw two uniforms talking to a girl. She was tall, slender, wearing a black slip dress and had pale ash-blond hair that fell down to her waist. She turned to look at Kate as she got out of the car.
It was the girl from Angel's drawing, every exact detail. Kate walked over to them and asked, "What do we have?"
The younger of the uniformed officers turned to look at Kate and said, "Double homicide. Same pattern as before."
"Both rapists?" Kate asked as she looked at the bodies. She recognized them, Sweet Boy Chuck and Dead Eye Dan. Both had been charged and released on technicalities. That was just great, some vampire was going around and offing criminals. Angel?
No, Angel wouldn't do something that radical, would he?
The girl spoke, "They jumped me, and this *thing* came out of the darkness and attacked *them*."
"Can you describe this thing?" Kate asked as she got out her notebook.
The girl shrugged and said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Kate's smile was bitter. She was sympathetic. She told the girl, "Try me."
She answered, "Its face was horrible. Really bad. Fangs and these glowing eyes. It just happened so quickly."
"Can you give me more details?" Kate asked.
The girl shrugged, "It wasn't very tall. It was shorter than I was, slender. That's about it."
Kate rolled her eyes and said, "All right, lets get you back to the police station for a statement."
The girl obediently nodded as she was led to the squad car.
* * *
The phone rang. Angel waited as Cordelia picked it up. She said, "Hello . . . Hey Kate, sure, Angel's right here."
Cordy peered into his office and said, "Its Kate."
Angel nodded as he transferred the line to his phone. He said, "Hello."
"Angel, I found her. She's right here," Kate said.
Angel froze. Ash in a crowded police station. That was like having a time bomb waiting to go off. He swallowed and said, "Whatever you do, don't let her out of your site."
"It was a vampire killing, Angel," Kate told him.
"Yeah, I know," Angel replied woodenly.
"Another two rapists," Kate informed him sharply.
"Doesn't surprise me," he mused aloud, remembering his encounters with Ash. Then he said, "Never mind that. Just keep her there. I'll be there as quickly as I can."
"Angel, has this girl done something? Is she a vampire?" Kate asked him, suspicion rising in her tone. Damn it. He was making this bad habit of keeping things from Kate that he had to break.
Angel answered simply, "It's a long story, just keep her there. Please."
He could imagine Kate shrugging over the line as she said, "Sure Angel. Just be quick about it, damn it."
"Thank you," he told her simply.
"Bye," she said as the line went dead.
Angel placed the phone back into its cradle and stood up. He walked out of his private office, strait into Cordelia and Wesley. Wesley asked, "What did Officer Lockey want to speak to you about?"
Angel slid into his duster and grabbed Ash's jacket. A waif of lavender along with the scent of leather drifted up to his nose. He ignored it for the moment as he answered, "Ash is at the police station, I think she wants to talk."
"Good lord, Angel, what will she do?" Wesley asked.
Angel shrugged and answered, "Probably nothing. She's waiting for me."
Wesley suggested, his voice anxious, "Angel, you're playing strait into the Circle's hands. Who knows what they will do to you if they ever got their hands on you."
Angel dismissed the thought of what he knew what Ash would do to him. He replied, his voice signaling there was no room for argument, "Well, I just won't let that happen, will I, Wesley?"
Cordy got out of his way as Wesley gaped at him as he walked out of the office.
* * *
Angel walked to Kate's office. The police detective was waiting for him, sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup. Kate said, "Your witness is pretty shaken up."
Angel thought wirerly as he said, "Thanks Kate." He walked into the office and stopped in shock.
Ash was leaning against Kate's desk, her head and back arched back and her long legs stretched. She was wearing a clinging, short, black silk, slip dress that covered what decency commanded, but left little to the imagination. She rolled her head to face him, her icy blue eyes no longer uncertain.
She stood to her full height and smiled. "Hello Angel."
Angel swallowed and managed, "What do you want Ash?"
"You want to go to a place more private? I don't want Cop Lady to hear us," Ash told him with a winsome smile. Angel thought distantly, almost banging himself in the head at feeling even remotely attracted to her.
Kate walked in. Ash dropped the seductive tease act and looked around nervously. She said, her voice filled with false uncertainty, "You mean you want to help me?"
Angel had to admit as Kate looked at her sympathetically.
Angel played along, "Yeah, I can help you." he thought as she walked over to him, swaying her hips ever so slightly.
"Oh," she sighed in relief, "Thank you so much." She gave him a wide-eyed stair as they walked out of Kate's office.
Angel looked at Kate and told her, "Thank you."
She turned away and shut up her office. Ash watched and said, "Well, that was interesting."
Angel didn't say anything until they got out to the underground parking lot. He pulled out her jacket. He noticed the smell of lavender even more heavily than the first time. He handed to her and said, "This belongs to you."
"Good observation," she replied as she slid easily into the jacket. Despite covering up more of her body, it made her even more attractive than before. She leaned up against Angel's car and looked at him.
He knew that she wanted him to start the conversation. He asked, "What do you want?"
Ash looked around nervously, her whole demeanor becoming serious. She answered, "I don't trust it here. Someone maybe watching. Somewhere a little more private would be helpful."
* * *
Angel had driven them to an abandoned building, one that he often came to think. They were standing on the roof now, looking down at the glittering corruption that was L.A. He asked, "We're alone, now what were you wanting to talk about?"
She turned to him and took off her Circle ring. She tossed it to him and said, "I want out. The Circle is planning to take over the world, and that really doesn't appeal to me."
"Why not?" Angel asked, perhaps getting some incite into her character.
She shrugged and snuggled into her jacket, almost as if she was cold. She said, "The world is a living thing. It's free. Then there are those who are free as well. Like you. And, if the Circle takes over, they will be broken. I don't want that to happen. I don't really like the innocent dying."
"Why?" Angel asked her.
"I don't know. I was sort of forced into being a vampire," she answered him with a shrug.
Angel looked hard at his grandsire. She looked down at the city, her eyes distant in memory. She added, "So, I make sure that others don't go through the same thing that I did."
Angel was even more puzzled than before. She was as different every vampire on the planet as he was. He asked, "Then why do you kill at all?"
"I can't stand those *monsters* that I kill. And if I don't kill them, they will eventually die anyway, or justice will be served. Or not. Those two I killed tonight were relaced because the loopholes in the mortal justice system," she answered him bitterly. Then she sneered, "I *hate* loopholes."
"I know the feeling," Angel replied as he remembered the loophole in the Gypsy curse.
She looked at him curiously and asked, "What do you mean?"
He answered her with a shrug, saying, "It's a long story."
Ash rolled her eyes and said, "If we have one thing at all Angel, it's time."
Angel ignored that truthful statement and asked, "Why did you turn to me?"
Ash's smile was mischievous. Angel didn't like it. She answered him simply, "Because you're the one who's gonna beat them, and I don't want my ass kicked."
"What makes you think that I'm gonna be the one to stop the Circle?" Angel asked her in disbelief. This wasn't your band of everyday vampires, so why did she think that he would stop them?
She smiled and said, "That is a bit of knowledge that I'm gonna hold for another time."
Angel almost growled in frustration. She was frustrating. He almost picked her up and threw her off the side of the building, but he curbed the urge. He replied, "Or, I could just stake you now and be done with it."
She grinned and taunted, "But you won't. You know a good ally when you see her. You won't kill me." She stepped closer. Angel didn't move. She smiled and placed her hand on his chest. No other parts were touching, just her cool hand on his chest.
Angel looked down at her hand and glared. She was invading his personal space. She was not some damsel that needed comforting. She was seeking something a bit darker and dangerous than that. He told her harshly, "You can take your hand off me now."
She lightly caressed him. Her fingers barely dancing on his skin. He didn't back away. He glared at her. She was tall. He was use to bending down slightly to talk to women, with Ash he didn't because she was so tall. Her smile became darker and said, "There are other reasons as well."
Angel growled in warning. She just looked up at him with wide, guiltless eyes. Angel said, "Get off me now."
She didn't move, she only smiled and moved closer. He could smell her, like lavender and leather. There was also a little blood mixed into the mix, enough to flare his senses and tease him. He swallowed and quipped, sounding surprisingly flippant, "Sorry, Ash, but you're just not my type."
She chuckled and stepped back, her heels clicking softly on the concrete. She replied, "I'll just have to change that." Then she turned away from him, saying, "The reason I know that you're gonna stop the Circle is because you're a vampire yourself. A Slayer couldn't handle all seven of them. Sure, she could go one on one, but she doesn't think that way. She couldn't handle the planning of Hunters."
Angel almost smiled. She didn't know Buffy Summers. He asked, "So why me? Why now?"
Ash shrugged and said, "I don't know."
They started to walk to the exit of the building. Ash looked at him and commented, "Besides, the world wouldn't be any fun if the Circle took over the world."
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