Title: Be Still My Heart
Author: Becky Sonnenfeld
Email: doyleworshipper@yahoo.com

Part Three

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"Feeling better?"

"Well. I guess that depends on what the definition of better is in my case,
yeah? I mean, its all calmed down somewhat, but it could suddenly take a
turn for the worse, you know?"

Cordelia nodded. "If you would have rather stayed back at the office-"

"And miss all the excitement?"

"If that's what you consider topping fun," she responded sarcastically,
glancing out at the world around her, as she sat beside the half Irish
demon in the backseat of Angel's car. "Hanging out with them."

"And under what circumstances did I deserve that comment, may I ask?"
Wesley questioned, obviously a bit hurt. He then turned to Angel. "Am I too
dull?"

"Wesley, that really isn't relevant-"

"But really. I mean, honestly. The truth," Wesley interrupted.

"Honestly?" Doyle asked, a smile crossing his face. "You really kind of
remind me of those librarian types."

Angel and Cordelia had to offer a laugh on their part, as they immediately
thought back to the days of Giles. Wesley had worked in the library then,
even if he had been just a watcher at best. But the personality had
obviously stuck with him a little more so than he'd hoped. And if that was
the very air he'd been giving off, it didn't seem like such a surprise that
the number of female clients had decreased at Angel Investigations as of
recently.

Wesley looked in Angel's rearview mirror, his gaze focused on Doyle,
nothing at all nice about it. "Should I even go as far as to state my
opinion of you?"

Doyle returned the former watcher's expression dead on. "If it would
physically hurt you in any way, don't even bother, right?"

Wesley's hands tightened around the weapon he carried on his lap, his anger
increasing even more so. "How....how....how dare you," he nervously
replied, not quite knowing what to say right then and there.

Doyle lowered his voice, looking at Cordy. "Good comeback, yeah?"

"I heard that!" Wesley objected, outraged, as well as sensing his
opponent's sarcastic tone.

"So did I," Angel told Wesley, deadpan. "Could the two of you please stop
it? You'd think this was a revised version of 'Grumpy Old Men.' "

Cordy wrinkled up her nose. "Eww. What's that?"

"I don't know either, but I'm sure it was yet another insult," Wesley
assured her.

Doyle laughed at the sight of the typical clueless aspect. "Good one, Angel
man."

Instead though, the good vampire frowned. "Hey. I think we're here."

"Well, it's about time," Cordelia proclaimed.

"Does this look familiar?" Angel asked Doyle, referring to the half demon's
vision.

Doyle surveyed the area, observing the numbers that shot up around him.
They were a little hard to make out at first, considering the night factor
blanketing them in darkness. But the buildings definitely struck some sort
of chord. "Yeah. This has got to be it."

"Okay. What now?" Cordelia had her hands on her hips, a stern expression
crossing her face.

"Don't be afraid, Cordelia," Wesley advised. "There is no cause for alarm."

"Yet," Angel responded, and moved away from them, walking toward the
nearest structure that loomed in front of him.

"Hey! Who said I was scared?" Cordy protested. "I'm completely scare-free.
In fact-"

A low growl transpired through the air then, causing her to shiver
tremendously. Without paying any mind to it, she fell right into Doyle, who
appeared just as taken aback as she now looked. Smiling softly, he pulled
off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. "It's okay," he assured
her. "We'll get to the bottom of this." But in truth, he seemed just as
frightened of the situation as she was.

Wesley caught up to wherever Angel was headed, absentmindedly swinging his
weapon in the process. Which turned out to be yet another axe. "Do you
smell anything? Is it closeby?"

"No," the vampire told him. "But I can still feel its presence. It's
definitely here. It's just hiding."

"As demons often do," Wesley observed, now acting extremely proud of
himself for his statement. "How big do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe the size of you...or me...possibly. It can't be that
advanced in height, if it can stay out of our range so well, with just the
slightest hint of a whereabout."

"Is that so? Do you think-"

"Wesley," Angel suddenly threw out, as he turned around, nearly bumping
right into the rogue demon hunter. "I could work a lot better, if you'd
just go and help Doyle and Cordelia. You should have strength in numbers."

"But what about-"

"I'll be fine. I'm not exactly human, remember?" Angel said that last
question with much sarcasm plaguing his voice, hoping it would strike some
kind of a note with Wesley.

"Right, right. Very good. Yes. I'll just...find the others....then."

"I'll catch up with you in a little while."

Wesley nodded, and went off to search for both Doyle and Cordy. "Very good.
Mmhmm. Sounds like a plan."

Doyle and Cordy, meanwhile, had entered one of the deserted buildings
they'd come across. Aside from the usual supply of rats, there didn't seem
to be anything inside the place. Doyle raised his crossbow, preparing
himself for any oncoming obstacles. Cordy in turn raised the stake she
carried, intent on destroying anything that should dare to cross her path.

"Uh...Cordy?"

"Yeah?" Her eyes continued to roam around the area, scanning it profusely.

"Sorry for intrudin' here...but...uh...what exactly are you plannin' to do
with that stake there?"

"I'm going to kill...something," she offered, flipping her hair back over
her shoulders, and a little too nonchalantly.

"I hate to break it to ya, but I have a feelin' that what we're gonna be
fightin', won't be anything with fangs and the word vampire attached to
it."

"Oh....well. I...I knew that. I...I thought your were stronger in demon
form. Why the crossbow?" she asked him, suddenly wanting to take the
attention off of herself at the moment.

"Well, judgin' by previous reactions, it's obvious you don't prefer my
demon face, yeah?"

"But I never said that," she immediately pointed out.

"Hitting me repeatedly with a fairly large serving plate at a certain
Bachelor Party would explain it though."

"Oh my God." She put a hand over her mouth, completely surprised.
"That...was 'you'?"

"It isn't that hard to distinguish Bracken demons from a room full of
Anomovic," he filled in, a bit of annoyance lingering in his voice. "For
one, we don't feel the intense need to eat some innocent guy's brains to
bless our marriages."

"Obviously," she scoffed, and moved somewhat ahead of him, going further
into the rundown place.

"Cordelia? Allen? Are you here?" Wesley had most likely narrowed things
down, and had now discovered where it was that they were. His voice made a
strangely eerie echo, as it cascaded off the great abundance of empty walls
surrounding them.

"Yes Wesley! We're over here by the front door!" Cordy shouted back.

"What'dya do that for?" Doyle asked, somewhat angry. "You didn't have to
answer him, you know. Now he's gonna find us."

"And that's a bad thing? I mean, isn't that the idea? Shouldn't we be
sticking together?"

"If you put it that way. But I mean...think about it. He can't do anything.
He's useless in this situation, Cordy."

"You really dislike him a lot, don't you?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it, weren't you? Look. Just ignore him, Doyle. Don't
get yourself all upset."

"I wasn't upset!" he claimed. "Did I say I was upset? Nope. Nobody's upset
here."

"Oh, whatever." Cordy gave up.

"There you are," Wesley finally caught up to them, nearly out of breath.
"The two of you running away on me like that. I nearly felt a need to
worry."

"It's called explorin', yeah? And the name's Doyle now."

"Sorry," Wesley told him, sounding sincere enough about it. "But as I came
in, I noticed something that may not be on the side of good news. Someone
has obviously been here very recently. Whether it was human or not, I'm not
sure. But I think-"

"So?" Cordy questioned. "What does that mean? Tell us already, Wes."

Another loud growl erupted, this time sounding awfully closeby. Upstairs,
floorboards creaked noisily, threatening to cave in. The growl became
continous then, haunting the three of them with its very presence.

"I believe it means that whatever it is, is still here," Wesley told her.
"And that it knows we're here now as well."