DISCLAIMER : All Buffy : The Vampire Slayer and ANGEL characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox Studios. No copyright infringement intended, just a chance to share with my fellow fans and absolutely no money profit is gained on the part of the author.
SPOILERS: 4th Season. Prior to the Buffy episode 'The I in Team'.
RATING: PG-13.
SUMMARY : A demon attacks Cordelia, leading Angel back to Sunnydale.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

BC : BEFORE CHILDREN by Brightbear
Chapter One - Return to Sunnydale

Los Angeles was warm. On this particular night, the heat was on the verge of admitting the unwary to hospital. If you had any sense you wore as little as possible - unless you were Cordelia Chase, for who fashion was the be all and end all of the world. It was also because of rather than despite the recent stint of murders and maulings, that she determined that nothing could spoil her celebrations, not even the weather.

For these two reasons, Cordelia wore a fur-lined Doberman costume to Wesley's birthday party. The English national had so few friends in America, Cordelia organised the party but was forced to invite her own friends to fill up the space in the booked rooms. She intermittedly made attempts to ensure that Wesley and their vampiric employer, Angel, were enjoying themselves but after the first few failures, she concentrated on entertaining the rest of the guests.

Entertaining was one of the things Cordelia did best but as the heat rose, her attention began to waver. A smooth smile, a wide grin and a quick retreat to rest beneath the fan for a minute before she was off again. The fans were set on low and aimed away from the crowds because they sent the decorations into fits if anything else was done.

A slim young woman dressed as an ice skater snatched Cordelia's arm as she passed.
"So, have you heard the talk about the new private eye?" Marianne asked, through a mouthful of ice cubes.
"No, but I would just love to," Cordelia raised her drink glass so the paper umbrella hid her anxious expression. "So, spill."
"Well," began Marianne, in the tone of one imparting earth-shattering secrets. "Carmel said that this guy who goes to her gym knows this girl who was being stalked by a creep... you know how it is, it's Los Angeles... and this guy comes out from nowhere... like superpowers or whatever. Saved her, sent the creep to jail. Everybody's talking about it."
"That's our police force - nothing stands in the way of justice," chimed Cordelia happily.

Marianne paused, "He's not police, he's a private eye, Cordy."
Marianne cocked her head as if suddenly struck by inspiration, "Hey, you work for a private eye, don't you? Maybe your boss knows him?"
"Maybe," Cordelia wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "I can't really know without a proper description."
"Are you okay?" said Marianne. "You look a little shiny."
Cordelia flashed a winning smile, "Sure."
Marianne looked unconvinced. She even took a step backwards to look Cordelia up and down, finally realising how hot Cordelia must be.
"You're sweating... a lot. Are you sure you don't want to take your coat off?" suggested Marianne.
"No!" exclaimed Cordelia. "It'd ruin the effect of the outfit."
Marianne still didn't look satisfied so Cordelia threw up her arms in mock resignation, "All right, all right, it's just my makeup, I'll be back in a minute. Now, promise you won't let the building burn down in my absence."

Cordelia walked across the room to the bathroom, making sure everyone could see her sultry walk. As she shut the door, she made sure to flash Marianne another winning smile. As soon as the door was shut however, Cordelia gasped and slid to the floor. She fanned her face frantically with her hands and shed the heavy fur jacket. Gasping, she staggered to the sink to dampen a handtowel. She began to dab at the back of her neck with it, waiting for her temperature and heart rate to return to normal.
"Hot, hot, hot," she moaned quietly to herself.
She draped the damp handtowel across her neck and unlatched the bathroom window.

She leaned out as far as she could, eyes closed in pure bliss as the cool air rushed past her skin. She fanned her face again and slowly opened her eyes to gaze at the skyscraper barely two metres across from her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, sending a familiar tingling feeling down her spine. Praying that it was just the cool breeze catching the attention of her hair follicles, Cordelia turned to her left. Clinging to the wall of the skyscraper, in the very act of climbing it, were two black furred demons. They seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see them. One blinked a couple of times before continuing to scramble up the side of the building. The other got curious.

It began to move towards her. Cordelia gazed down at her furry costume which happened to be exactly the same shade of black as the demon's. Calmly, Cordelia flashed it a winning smile and, reaching up, closed the window. Shaken, she snatched up her coat and was reaching out to hang the handtowel on a rack as an afterthought when there was a fierce growl and the demon smashed through the window. It landed on top of her, raking her costume with it's claws but was stunned by Cordelia's incredible scream - millimetres from it's large ears.

She punched it in the head and tried to crawl out from under it. The demon recovered and wrapped a clawed hand around her ankle, pulling her back down. Cordelia kicked out, catching the demon in the face with her high heels. Then she was free and sprinting out the bathroom door into the party, to crash into a concerned Marianne. The two of them sprawled on the floor.
"What the...?" began Marianne.
Then she saw the demon coming at her and Cordelia. Both girls screamed in unison as the demon leapt.

A chair, hurled by someone in the crowd, collided with the demon in mid-leap. The chair fragments rained down on the two girls and knocked the demon to the carpet. Lacking the stomach for a full blown fight, the demon turned back the way it had come, ignoring the astonished spectators. Cordelia looked up in time to see Angel clambering out of the bathroom window in pursuit of the demon.
"What's he doing?" Marianne asked, trembling.
Cordelia ignored her and limped painfully to the bathroom window. Above her, Angel was climbing awkwardly up a drain pipe, trying to catch the fleeing demon.

The demon was moving too fast for him, and realising it, Angel ducked into the nearest window. As he did, there was a startled screech indicating that the room had already been occupied.
She could just hear Angel's muffled, "Excuse me."

Swearing, Cordelia pulled back from the window and limped out to the hallway. She jabbed at the nearest lift button impatiently.
"Cordy...," called a guest, wrapping an arm about her shoulders. "Come sit down."
She was about to resist but was firmly guided into a chair. Instantly a knot of sympathisers formed around her. From their expressions, Cordelia knew they had enough sympathy to last all night. She hoped Angel was alright and then realised she had everyone's attention. Angel could look after himself.

***

The demon reached the rooftop of the skyscraper where the second demon was waiting. They crossed the roof together in a half crouch. They paused to sniff the air, searching tensely for a just a hint of the right scent. One of the demons caught the scent and tugged eagerly at his older companion's paw. The older demon nodded sedately, trying (but failing) to resist the younger's contagious enthusiasm. The enthusiastic demon straightened up so that he was standing on two legs and led the way to the stairwell door.

When the door swung open, Angel was waiting for them. Angel took advantage of the demon's surprise to grab it in a headlock. There was a sharp crack as the demon's neck snapped. The older demon stared at Angel in shock for a moment before, turning and fleeing on all fours with Angel close behind him. The demon reached the edge of the roof and scrambled down, head first, without pausing.

Angel skidded to a halt, his momentum nearly taking him over the edge. Looking down the building at the retreating demon, Angel jumped. He caught hold of a window ledge before dropping gently to the next ledge and the next. The demon reached the pavement while Angel was still two stories up. The demon turned and headed along the busy street, frightening pedestrians as it went. There was a bright flash and when Angel turned back, the demon was now a Doberman - just a stray dog loose on the street.

Angel jumped onto the roof of a passing truck. As the truck driver was slamming on the brakes and beginning to swear, Angel was sliding down the side onto the ground. He ran down the street to the corner but the dog was gone.

***

When Angel returned to the office early the next morning, Cordelia and Wesley were already huddled by the computer. Cordelia was wearing a turtleneck sweater, pulled as far up her neck as it would go to hide the cuts and scratches the demon had inflicted. Wesley was leaning over her shoulder to see the computer screen. His closeness was bothering Cordelia who kept poking him in the ribs when he got too close.
"Angel," Wesley called in greeting, taking the chance to step away from Cordelia.
"So, is the big bad squished?" asked Cordelia, eagerly.
"No," said Angel, flopping onto the couch. "No, it's not. It got away."

Cordelia and Wesley exchanged a look at Angel's obvious irritation.
Cordelia leaned forward hopefully, "Well, we know what kind of demon it is."
"Let's hear it," said Angel, his irritation vanishing.
"I entered the description into the demon database and I got something... an Atashak demon, a shape shifter."

Wesley took a few more steps away from Cordelia and continued the explanation, "Even better, we've found that the demon thrives on a certain type of mystical energy. There are few sources of this energy in this part of the world but I just happen to have a distribution map for the entire state."
Cordelia looked up at Wesley in surprise, "Where'd you get that?"
"My prior employment as a representative of the Watcher's Council required certain information be made available to me. I can get you the address."

***

The next night the three of them met at a construction yard.
Angel surveyed the newly laid concrete critically, "Are you sure this is it?"
Cordelia glanced at Wesley, "This is the source of those mystical rays the demons chow down on? I was expecting candles and incense."
Wesley frowned, "It appears to have been built over. I doubt it would be much use to them now. Probably why they were climbing that building. It's not close to the centre of the city so it's away from the loudest sounds. From that height, they would be able to sense the next closest energy source."
"Where is the next energy source?" asked Angel.

Wesley brought a map out of his jacket pocket and unfolded it. Angel and Cordelia waited patiently, trying to ignore the unusual smell coming from a nearby dumpster, while Wesley ran his fingers along the map. He let out a heavy sigh and meticulously folded up the map again.
"What?" asked Cordelia. "Where is it? It's not like Australia or something is it?"
"I don't think you're going to like it," said Wesley.
He turned to Angel, shrugging apologetically. "It's in Sunnydale."

Angel was very quiet for about a minute. Wesley and Cordelia waited for him to speak but he turned and led the way back to the car. The other two exchanged uneasy looks and trailed after him.
Wesley felt a need to explain further as they drove back to the office, "The leakage from the hell mouth actually makes Sunnydale the largest source of mystical energy on the continent."
"So, we go to Sunnydale," said Cordelia grimly. "How exciting."
"You guys don't have to come if you don't want to. I'll go," said Angel.
"Angel, we're a team. Where you go, we go," said Wesley quickly.
Cordelia shrugged, "Or where you lead, we follow, whichever you prefer."
Angel smiled slightly and turned his attention back to the road.

***

Sunnydale. Angel looked around the familiar streets with an uncomfortable feeling in his gut. He'd lived many places in his life, including most of Europe and North America and had even spent a short time in South America. He'd never felt particularly attached to any of them, with the exception perhaps of Ireland. In any case, there had never been anything to go back to.

Cordelia had helpfully phoned Giles before they had set out from Los Angeles. Giles had, in turn, helpfullyinsisted on warning Buffy of their arrival. Outnumbered, Angel had relented. He still remembered the last time he had visited Sunnydale without warning her.

Cordelia had handed Angel the phone and, before he realised it, Buffy's voice was on the other end. What ensued afterwards was a brief phone call during which he repeatedly pointed out that there was no need for them to see each other at all. Buffy's answers had been equally blunt and business-like, to the point of offering to help hunt down the demon. Angel had declined the offer, saying that with the stories about the Initiative she'd already told him, it sounded like she had her hands full.

Angel would have preferred not to worry her at all. He was all for doing what they had to and then leaving as quickly and quietly as possible. He wasn't sure he could handle seeing her again so soon after they'd broken up. He was also filled with an perfectly rational desire to avoid her new boyfriend, Riley.

A nudge from Cordelia and Angel remembered to get out of the car. Wesley was already out of the car, with his bag of gear, and gazing up at the familiar mansion.
"Hmm," said Cordelia critically. "Wonder how long it'll take to fix it up?"
"We'll only be staying a few days," said Wesley.
"What makes you think it needs fixing up?" asked Angel.
Cordelia turned her head to give him a look that Angel had yet to decipher but was rapidly becoming familiar with. Angel approached the double doors, fishing a key out of his pocket.

"Seriously?" pressed Angel. "What makes you think that?"
"Firstly, you used to live here. Secondly, nobody at all has lived here for almost a full year," said Cordelia primly. "I don't understand why we can't just rent a hotel room like anyone else."
Angel rolled his eyes, once more on familiar territory, "It would cost money and this place... that's odd. I thought I left a padlock on these doors."
"Come on, come on. I'm freezing my butt off here," grumbled Cordelia, pushing past Angel and opening the doors.

The second she walked into the entrance way, she spotted the difference in decor from the last time she'd been here. Apart from the absence of Angel's furniture (which was now in his Los Angeles office), the satanic altar was the first thing she noticed. The second thing she noticed was the figures in black robes. They noticed her too and one of them raised a scaly knife.

Cordelia neatly turned around and scampered back to Angel, Wesley and the bag of weapons.
"This is new," said Wesley conversationally.
"No argument here," said Angel.
Wesley dipped his hands into his bag and tossed a mace to Angel. The reaction of the black robes was to reveal more scaly knives. Wesley dropped everything he'd been carrying on the ground in preparation for the fight. The black robes charged at them and Wesley and Angel went into action.

Angel swung the mace high as he fought, aiming for heads and a quick knockout. Wesley, occasionally ducking Angel's mace, slashed with a fighting axe. Their opponents were not hard to overcome but there were a few of them.
One of them slipped past Angel and Wesley, heading for Cordelia. She watched him coming calmly, reassured that he was only human. He grinned triumphantly at her seconds before she knocked him unconscious with Wesley's bag.

After the bodies of the demonic worshippers had been dumped in the river, Cordelia and Wesley began to think about food. Angel opted to go for a walk. The fight had left him restless and he was tempted to start hunting for the Atashak demon. An unusually perceptive Cordelia made him promise to wait for them.

So, instead Angel walked through the town, remembering. Remembering what it felt like to live in Sunnydale. He found a park bench and sat down, remembering a time he and Buffy had sat there together. She had been blaming herself for the death of... someone. She took so much responsibility for things she couldn't control.

Absorbed in his brooding, Angel didn't notice the Atashak demon sneaking up behind him. When the Atashak demon pounced, Angel was thrown headfirst onto the bitumen road. Head spinning, Angel kicked out with his legs. He felt something connect with his feet and as he righted himself, he recognised the demon. The demon straightened up on it's hind legs, it's clawed paws morphing into clenched fists. It took a couple of swings at Angel, who ducked easily. Angel went in with a swing of his own but the demon dodged and tackled Angel around the waist.

Angel flipped the demon over his head where it collided painfully with the park bench. The Atashak demon morphed again into the Doberman and took off. Snarling, Angel sped after it, unhindered by pedestrians in the empty Sunnydale streets.

The Atashak demon, still disguised as a Doberman, cut across the park in his attempts to get away. The snarling of a werewolf in the distance was enough to spook it into altering it's direction. It instead headed for the woods near Sunnydale University where it knew it could easily loose it's vampiric pursuer. As it burst through a hedge onto the university campus, it collided with a camouflaged soldier.

* * *

Instinctively, the soldier froze and avoided making eye contact with what he assumed was a run away dog. His blaster had landed a few feet away from him and he edged slowly towards it. He gave a surprised gasp as the dog morphed into a demon in front of him.

The soldier dived for the blaster but the demon slashed at his chest, knocking him back. The soldier landed on his back, defenceless with the demon looming over him. Angel came bursting through the hedge and the demon abandoned it's attack to face him.

The soldier reached his blaster but had little to do but watch numbly as the vampire and the black demon fought it out. The vampire's fighting style reminded him of something but he couldn't quite pin it down. He knew he'd seen some of those moves before. The style was certainly effective when combined with the supernatural speed of a vampire, and finally the exhausted demon leapt at the vampire in desperation.

Calmly the vampire seemed to guide the demon past him but when the demon hit the ground, a knife hilt protruded from it's chest. The vampire seemed to regard the corpse with a certain amount of satisfaction. Then it turned to the soldier, it's face appearing as if human.
"Are you alright?" the vampire asked.
The soldier recovered enough to answer, "For the moment, yeah."

The soldier attempted to raise his blaster but the vampire swatted it away from his hands.
"Good," said the vampire.
It picked up the blaster, tucked it's hands into it's coat pockets and walked off.

The soldier fumbled for his radio, acutely aware that he was unarmed, alone and vulnerable.
"Lilac one, this is Huckleberry three," said the soldier, using the familiar code words.
The patrol he'd wanted responded almost instantly, "Huckleberry three, this is Lilac one. What is it?"
"Lost my blaster in an... unusual encounter with a hostile," answered the soldier, pausing to consider how to phrase the scene he'd just witnessed. "One hostile is down and needs to be collected, a second hostile moving on a heading of... 1,2, Alpha Niner."
"Huckleberry three?" asked the voice from the radio. "This is Lilac one. We will intercept second hostile. Contact control for a retrieval team, over."
"Thankyou, Lilac one," said the soldier, relieved.

The patrol he'd contacted cut across the shadow ridden paths of the university campus to intercept the 'hostile'. Forrest, the team leader, gave a hand signal to the others and they all came to a stop in a garden bed two hundred metres from one of the squat buildings with the familiar ECU Sunnydale logo. He leant towards one of the other soldiers.
"What have we got?" he asked.
The soldier pulled out a tracking device, "Located missing blaster. Signal's moving fairly slowly. He's near one of the dorms... Stevenson."

Forrest raised his infa-red binoculars to his eyes and scanned the windows of the Stevenson dormitories. Each occupant was patterned in red, their temperature displayed on the screen. Each registered 36.7 degrees Celsius - human body temperature. He lingered on one bedroom window before moving on.
"The hostile?" the soldier asked when he paused.
"No, I'd forgotten that Buffy Summers has a dorm room in Stevenson. Riley's there with her," answered Forrest in disgust. "They're making a lot of heat."

The soldier decided it was best not to comment on that.
"Target sighted," said Forrest, at last. "Thermal output clocking in at exactly room temperature."
"Vampire," agreed the soldier.

Unaware of the attention he was attracting, Angel was climbing the steps to Stevenson. There was no people around and it was oddly quiet. At the top of the steps, he paused. A distinctive smell had reached him and he was torn between trailing after it or meeting with Buffy. His sense of curiosity overpowered his nostalgia and he came back down the steps.

The marine's blaster thumped against his leg and he paused again to change his grip on it. Concealed beneath his coat, the blaster was another curiosity.
"Take him down, Agent," said Forrest firmly.
The soldier raised his weapon. Much more subtle than the firework show that erupted from a blaster, the sniper rifle fired small tranquilliser darts. A professional sharpshooter, the Agent took aim.

One of the other soldiers signalled insistently to Forrest. Forrest signalled to the sharpshooter to wait, before crawling to the see what was up.
"Movement in the bushes," the soldier whispered.
The soldiers spread out, eyes and ears only, as the infa red binoculars had been left with the sharpshooter.
"Nothing here," said Forrest. "We have to take the hostile down now."
They crawled back to the sharpshooter, who was still tracking Angel with his gun. Angel was milling around, not going in any particular direction.

He was hoping to catch the scent again. It was faint, the wind direction was not good for this kind of tracking but he could tell something fairly large was close by.

There was a simultaneous yell and a whizzing noise. Angel turned to see a tranquilliser dart embedded in a nearby plant and commotion in a nearby garden bed. Tightening his grip on the blaster, he sprinted to the garden. A werewolf had burst out of the undergrowth and was attacking a unit of commandos. As the werewolf struck down one of the commandos in a flurry of claws, a second werewolf joined in the scuffle.

One of the commandos drew a knife and drove it between the shoulder blades of the second animal. Angel raised the blaster in his hand, looking up and down the unfamiliar panels.
Forrest, his feet slipping on bloody soil, lurched to his feet yelling "Pull out! Retreat!"
The remaining werewolf dove straight at him. Angel aimed the blaster and fired. Aided by a healthy helping of luck, the blaster succeeded in sending a shot of blue energy slamming into the creature's chest. It was knocked backwards onto the ground.

Unprepared for the weapon's recoil, Angel was also thrown to the ground. Forrest turned and spotted Angel barely two metres away from him. Angel scrambled to his feet and took off, abandoning the blaster.

Forrest was about to follow when he noticed the condition of his team. The sharpshooter was dead and three other soldiers were injured. There were also two werewolves to be taken care of, one dead and one stunned.
"Call for back-up," Forrest ordered.
"Who got the second wolf?" asked one of the dazed marines.
"I... don't know."

TO BE CONTINUED...