Lost Angels: Soulmates: Part 5
by Angelisa
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, although they have been twisted for my own use. I apologize profusely to Joss Whedon for my butchering of his creation. Buffy The Vampire Slayer is owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Television Network. Wow, that's a mouthful!
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Part Five
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Angel left to see if he could find out anything about Dramoco on the streets. He left Whistler and Nathaniel to sort out details. He had been uneasy around Nathaniel anyway. There was something about the guy that bugged him. Maybe it was just because he was a watcher and reminded him of Giles. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Angel wasn't sure, but he wanted to find out.
Angel made his way to a local club called La Muerte. It was a common hang out of creatures of the night. Even though he didn't have an active informant, Angel often learned things just by listening.
The club was somewhat dark with brightly colored strobe lights flashing. It was enough to give anyone a migraine. Angel stood at the bar and kept his ears open. The bartender asked him if he wanted anything, but Angel turned it down.
"Hey hot stuff," a female voice said, "Wanna dance?"
Angel turned and saw the vampire from the night before. He remembered her name was Lissa. It was odd, he noticed for the first time that she had a softened British accent. It seemed faded as if it had been there long ago. He resisted the urge to ask her how old she was.
"No thanks," he said.
"Already have a sweetie? Come on it's just one dance."
"I said 'no thanks'."
"Suit yourself. Then can I join you?"
"Sure."
Lissa sat on a stool next to Angel. She looked out at the dancing couples.
"So many people," she said. "And so little time. Do you remember being mortal?"
"What?"
"Do you remember thinking you'd live forever, but fearing death? They look so careless."
"Not all of them out there are mortal."
"I know that."
Lissa turned and faced Angel directly. There was a sadness in her eyes that he had never seen in another vampire before. He didn't even know if the sadness was in his own eyes, since he couldn't check in a mirror.
"I remember being mortal," Lissa said softly. "Hell, it was so recent that my family is still alive out there. Now I can't believe I didn't want to age. I didn't want to go gray. Not that I had any danger of that any time soon. Now I'd almost give anything to go back to the way it was."
"What are you?"
"What do you mean? I'm a vampire, same as you."
"No, you're different. I have a soul. I remember being mortal, but most of all I remember the horrors I did as a soulless monster. I was death. And I regret it every day of my unnatural death. Unless some gypsies put a curse on you, you shouldn't have a soul. You shouldn't have any regrets."
Lissa looked back out at the dancers. She was quiet. He just didn't understand her. Angel looked at the dancers as well, and remembered the Bronze. Somehow, he had felt more comfortable at the Bronze than here. Maybe it had something to do with Buffy being there. A pang of loneliness struck him in the gut. It was hard to think about her without hurting.
"Ignorant," Lissa scoffed.
"What?" Angel asked, slightly startled.
"I was so full of myself. I didn't think a vampire would want to waste his time with me. Shows you how wrong I was. Anyway, I should be going."
Lissa stood up. She paused for a minute, then made her way across the room. Angel watched her. He stayed at the bar until he saw her pause next to a young man. The man followed her blindly. Angel stood up and followed, pushing his way through the dancers.
Once outside, Angel looked around. He didn't see Lissa, but instead he saw the back of Xander as he shouted, "Yeah you better run overbite breath!"
Angel couldn't quite figure out two things: one, why Xander was in L.A, and two, why Lissa would be running from him. Angel got the answer to his second question when Xander turned around. In his hands, he had a very large wooden cross. Angel backed up.
"Put that thing away before you hurt someone," he said.
"And wouldn't that be a shame Dead-boy."
"How many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me that."
Xander looked hesitant, but he finally put the cross back in the duffel bag he was carrying. It looked to Angel as if Xander was loaded, and ready to hunt.
"Xander," Angel said. "What are you doing here?"
Xander looked around.
"The walls have ears," was Xander's reply. "And the alley has eyes."
"What?"
"The walls have ears."
"What?"
"Excuse me for trying to be cryptic. Thought you'd be all over that." Xander sighed looking disappointed. "Just wanted to add something exciting to your otherwise boring life."
"Boring?"
"Ah...right. Anyway, this isn't the place to talk. Can we go back to your place?"
"Back?"
"Yeah, that's how I knew you were here. It's not the Bronze, but it looks fun. Plenty of undead customers to liven things up."
Xander grinned. Angel just looked at him dead panned. Xander sighed again, still looking disappointed.
"Gee, it must be something big if you've lost your sense of humor," Xander said.
Angel stepped in very close to Xander. He looked at him as if trying to size him up and said,
"Must not be big if they sent you."
Xander blinked at Angel in surprise. His face fell.
"Right," Xander said. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Well, just to ease your heavy mind, I didn't come alone. Giles thought you guys might need some help. Guess there was something he remembered about this Dark Lord of yours. So he sent me and Willow. So sorry he couldn't send Buffy, but you know, the duties of a slayer are more important than her slayerettes."
Angel could see that he had really hurt Xander's feelings, even though the boy was still hiding behind sarcastic remarks. The thing that somewhat bothered him was that he wasn't sure he cared.
"Come on," Angel said brushing past Xander and heading out of the alleyway. "Let's go back to my place."
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