Title: The Banshee's Wail 1/? Author: Skye Disclaimer: Not my show, not my characters, at least not Angel, Cordelia etc or anyone else from the Buffy/Angelverses. They belong to Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy and a whole bunch of people who seriously need to stand in the corner for their meaness to such good characters. Pairing: Not sure about everyone else just yet, but definitely C/D (well, eventually anyway) Summary: Not much just yet, read and ye shall find :) Archiving: If for some insane idea you actually want it, feel free, but do drop me a line so I can feel all nice and proud :) Rating: This part PG-13 for one bad word. * * * * * The autumn breeze whistled gently through the trees, breaking the silence of the night. A young woman walked quickly, the soft clicking of her boots echoing down the deserted street. She stopped to glance at the paper she held in her hand, straining to see the words that had been hastily written on it. Looking up again, she made her way pass a few more buildings finally stopping in front of one. Taking another glimpse at the address on the paper, she smiled triumphantly before folding and placing it back into her jacket pocket. Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, she moved to step forward, but a figure quickly slid in front of her, blocking her path. "A nice girl like you shouldn't be walking alone so late at night." A mocking voice intruded upon her ears. The young woman looked up at the man's face, his honey-coloured eyes laughing at her. "It's a rough city out there." He continued. She gave him a small smile. "Thanks for the concern, but I can take care of myself." The young woman said quietly, trying to sidestep the man, but he blocked her way again. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance; "I really don't have time for this." "But you could get hurt." Hearing the malice in his tone, she looked up and saw his grin widen, not at all friendly. Suddenly, the man's face transformed and the amber of his eyes glowed brightly. The moonlight glistened on his newly revealed fangs. The woman rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath "Great, just what I need." She looked up, irritation playing across her soft features. "Okay, now that we've established that you're in serious need of a tan, do you mind moving along?" She made a shooing motion with her hands. The vampire just stared at her, confusion registering in his eyes. The young woman sighed and rubbed her temple gently with a finger. "Look buddy, I don't think it's that hard to understand. You leave and I go on my merry way. That way, I get my business done and you don't get your sorry, undead butt wasted. It's a win-win situation." The demon laughed, showing the full effect of his sharpened teeth. "You're kidding right?" The woman merely crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "What, is that too much info for you to handle? Don't tell me that you're brain stops working along with the rest of your organs when you get turned. Or have you always been this stupid?" The grin vanished then, replaced by a snarl as he lunged at her. She quickly stepped aside, leaving nothing but the cold asphalt to break his fall. The vampire got up and faced her, the amber of his eyes flashing angrily. "So, you ready to take me up on my offer?" She asked, almost bored. He let out a menacing growl and went at her again, she quickly sent a swift kick to his midsection, sending him flying backward. He landed with a loud thud. "Why is it that even when they're dead, men are still impossible?" The young woman muttered under her breath before falling into a fighting stance. "You're so going to pay for that, bitch." He snarled. "Bring it on." He ran toward her throwing a punch that she easily ducked. His head snapped back with her swift, right uppercut. He recovered quickly and threw a left hook, catching her on the jaw. She reeled back, and tried to elbow him in the face, but he blocked the blow, sending her staggering back with a hit to her stomach. She jumped, and delivered a high kick to his nose, rewarded with a loud crack. He stumbled backward, covering his broken nose with both hands. The young woman stepped forward, wrapping both her legs around his left calf, and snapped upwards, bringing both of them to the ground. His head cracked against the road at the surprised attack. She moved so that she was straddling him, her breath coming out in short gasps. She pushed back a few strands of loose hair out of her face and glared down at him. "Why can't you guys ever do anything the easy way? I offered you a way out, but no, you had to be Mr. Stubborn Fangs." He grinned up evilly at her. "Come on, all you slayers like if rough." She rolled her eyes in disgust, and pulled out a stake from her waistband that had been hidden by her long jacket. The vampire's eyes widened in fear. "You know," She started easily, almost distracted. "It takes 42 muscles for me to frown, and only four muscles for me to raise this piece of wood and…" She struck the stake through his still heart, watching as he vaporized. "dust you." She got up and placed the stake back in her waistband. She straightened her clothes and took a moment to fix her hair, quickly re-pinning the strands that had come loose during the brawl. She jogged to the steps of the building she had been standing in front of earlier. Throwing a glance over her shoulder at the spot where the vampire had lain just moments before, she chuckled softly. "Slayer? Me? Boy, you couldn't have been more off." Her emerald eyes shimmered for a second with an eerie glimmer, then the light vanished. She turned back to the building and quickly bounded up the stairs. She walked through the front door and came to another at the end of the hallway. Before stepping inside the office, she took a moment to read the writing on the door, "Angel Investigations." *How original*, she thought with a grin. * * * * * The Banshee's Wail 2/? * * * * * "Tell me again how your head became a pinata. " Cordelia Chase asked as she handed the Englishman an icepack. He held it up to his forehead and winced as the sudden cold came in contact with the quickly swelling bump. "Quite simple really. The Goirak demons were beginning to swarm Angel, so I naturally offered my services to aid him." "In other words, you tripped and fell right into the leader?" The brunette asked, raising a finely tweezed eyebrow in amusement. He glared up at her, but sighed in defeat. "That about sums it up." "I told you to stay behind, Wesley." A low voice stated. A tall figure entered the room and leaned against the doorframe. "Well Angel, I couldn't just let you fend off those evil creatures by yourself could I…OW." Wesley scowled at Cordelia who had tried to put a bandage over one of the many cuts on his head. She just shrugged and continued to wrap his wounds. "I can take care of myself." "Yeah Wes, he's been doing it for over two centuries. I'm sure he's learned a trick or two." Cordelia added sensibly, but Angel just shot her a glare. He didn't enjoy being reminded about his very long existence. She pretended not to notice as she went to a small cabinet. "I mean he even managed to not get himself killed against that Mohra demon when he was mortal." Cordelia explained rummaging through a cabinet. Angel's eyebrows first rose with the surprise that Cordelia would bring up the topic at such an inappropiate time as this, and then his face darkened as the memories of those 24 hours in which he had been warm flesh and had a beating heart began to surface. He quickly buried them deep down again along with the remembrance of the person with whom he had spent that night. "What Mohra demon?" Wesley asked, confused. He was pretty sure he had never seen Angel fight one of those before, though he had heard of the species. And then the latter part of her statement penetrated through the hazy fog of his brain. "Mortal? When the devil was Angel mortal?" Now he was positive that he would have remembered their supernatural boss being…well natural. You tend to notice that kind of thing. "Where do you keep those damn cotton balls Angel…ah ha!" She cried triumphantly, turning around and heading back to the Englishman. "What did you say? Oh right, he lost the whole vamp thing during the day that the rest of the world can't remember. Now hold still." "What are you talking about Cordelia, what day…OUCH!" Angel rolled his eyes as Wesley's high-pitched screamed seem to echo off of the walls. "Over-exaggerate much Wesley? It's just a little rubbing alcohol." "But it burns." Cordelia sighed as she reached again for the first aid kit. "Men!" Angel chuckled a little as he walked further into the office and sat down onto the couch. He leaned against the cushions, his arms folded behind his head as he watched Wesley eye the medicine in Cordelia's hands worriedly. She was always fussing over them whenever they came back with cuts or bruises or bullet holes, in his case. One wouldn't think that of her at first glance but she had always been good to Angel and decent to Wesley, Cordelia was definitely more than met the eye. His brow furrowed in confusion as he vaguely remembered describing another person in much the same way, but before his memory could kick in, he heard an unfamiliar voice invade the comfortable atmosphere of the office. "Well would you look at that? We're just one big, happy family aren't we?" All three heads turned sharply towards the door. The speaker was standing in the front doorway. Her hands were resting lightly on her hips, pushing her long, gray coat back slightly. "Who are you?" Wesley asked suspiciously, getting up from his chair, the icepack now forgotten as it fell to the floor. Cordelia elbowed him and stepped forward as she plastered a fake grin onto a face. "What he means is, this is Angel Investigations and we help the hopeless. Well not right now we don't cause we're closed, but hey we'll be more than happy to solve your crisis tomorrow, if you'll just leave a down payment." The stranger ignored them both as she stepped over the threshold. "Not too shabby a place, I'll admit that much." She murmured, her waist- length braid swaying a little as she walked. The lights of the office made its raven colour shimmer. "Well duh! I mean we do have some sort of a reputation to keep up." Cordelia explained, and then added as an afterthought. "At least I do." The woman walked around the room, her fingers gently brushing along the desks, her long, well kept nails, dragging just slightly over the wood. "Pretty decent equipment too. Nice computers, I'm guessing they've got the whole online thing going for them as well." "Yep." Cordelia said proudly, then continued on as she stepped in front of the woman's path, finally bringing the other to a stop. The woman was about half an inch taller than she was and Cordelia felt a little uneasy having to look up. "Now that you've scoped out our offices and see that we're legit, well sort of, if you'd just tell give us your number we'll be sure to call you tomorrow." The woman simply smirked at her. "She's not a client Cordelia." She looked at Angel, and saw his lips turn down into a frown. "Huh? If she's not a client, then what..." Cordelia's voice trailed off as realization hit her and she quickly took a few steps back to stand next to Wesley, who's face was also grim. "She's not even human." Angel added. "Score one for the vamp." The woman said, her voice oddly cold. Both Cordelia's and Wesley's eyebrows shot up in shock. "Though, you're a funny one to say that like it were an accusation." "I never said it was." He threw back. "You didn't need to." "Okay time out." Cordelia called, gathering everyone's attention. She, along with Wesley, had been watching this little exchange and wanted in on whatever it was Angel thought he knew about this stranger. "Will someone please explain what's going on here? If she's an evil icky demon, can we just slay her already and get on with our lives?" Angel remained silent, so she turned towards the other woman, her arms crossed expectantly. "Sorry hun, but it's not that easy. First off, evil isn't as simple as you seem to think it is, but that's besides the point. See, I've got myself a little mission to complete and you're going to help me." Now it was Wesley's turn to speak. "Oh really?" He asked skeptically. "Really. Cause it sort of involves a major screw up on someone else's part and it's up to me to help make things fine and dandy again." Angel finally spoke up, his voice soft. "What kind of screw up?" The woman turned to him, her jaw set and her emerald eyes reflecting anger. "The kind that deals with the mistake of, now how do those poets say it? Taking someone before their time?" TBC