MCA #0: Early Wednesday Morning
Xander and Mel: Angelus Plot
It was a tired and frustrated Mel who showed up at the door of MCA #0. With two nights of patrolling and zip to show for it, Mel decided the only to catch this creep was to go to an expert. With Dawn in Scotland and Faith out of town, that left one other person on the island that knew him best.
Hence the pounding on the door.
It'd been a long night here too, though he wasn't slow in answering the door because he'd been sleeping in. Xander opened it carrying a hot cup of coffee, and looking like he could use two. "Hey. Was gonna call you today."
"Got a problem," Mel said. "Name of Angelus. I think you've heard of him?"
"He put Willow in a coma Monday night," Xander said, his voice flat. He stood aside for her to walk in, and held out the coffee, if she wanted it.
Mel was about to take the coffee when Xander's words sunk in.
"Tell me where he is," she said in a no-nonsense tone.
"In the sewers, last time I saw him, but he didn't stay put for long." Xander tasted the coffee, made a face, and set the mug on the nearest shelf. He scruffed his fingers through his bangs, debating how to say it in a way that didn't give him a case of WTF, let alone Mel. "We're not looking to dust him. Not if we don't have to. Bag and tag."
Mel gave Xander a look. "You're kidding me, right?"
And of course it wasn't going to hit her in a pretty way no matter how he said it. "If we can, the plan is to do the soul curse on him."
"Because that's worked so well before," Mel snapped. "And then we get to wait around before he becomes evil and attacks one of our friends again."
Xander shook his head. "It does work on him. When he's got a soul, he's actually..." And here he trailed off less because he couldn't come up with a description than because all of the many available options sort of made him feel like he was sucking lemons. "One of the good guys." Ooh, lemons with battery acid!
"Until he has a moment of happiness," Mel replied. "And then we're back to the bloodsucking."
"Maybe," Xander acknowledged. "You want somebody to tell you Angel's not a walking timebomb, you came to the wrong apartment. But if we killed everybody who could go bad, let's just say we'd be pretty spoiled for choice around here." Starting with half the people currently staying in this apartment - and the girl sleeping across town in the clinic.
"He's bad now," Mel argued. "And he hurt your closest friend. What if Willow doesn't wake up? Because I can tell you right now, soul or no soul I'm killing him."
Xander's first instinct was to tell her what he'd said to Logan - that she'd have to get in line behind him and a pissed-off English king. But the last part of what she said made him twitch in the part of his head where things scuttled into corners if you shined a light. "Buffy had to do that; kill him even after he had a soul. And it pretty much broke her."
"I won't have that problem," Mel snapped.
"No, you wouldn't," Xander said, and it came out hard no matter how soft he tried to say it, because it just was. "He's not your brother."
Mel flinched and gave Xander a harsh look. "That's completely different."
Xander discarded yeah, right as an appropriate response with reasonably good timing for a guy who used to style himself the King of Cretins. "There's a lot of people who'd try as hard for him as you did for Harth."
It took a moment or two for that to sink in. "Fine. But if it comes down to it... if it's him or me, I'm not pulling any rutting punches."
"If it's him or you, send the bastard down in flames," Xander answered, with maybe a trace too much gusto. "He might be worth saving; he's not worth you."
Mel nodded and rubbed her own arms a bit as she looked away. "Fine," she said in a tone that clearly meant she wasn't "fine". "I'll hit the sewers and some of the darker places during the day and patrol the town at night. I'll let you know if I find anything."
"Hey." Xander reached out to touch her on the arm. "I mean it. Be careful. He doesn't get to hurt any more of my people."
Mel gave Xander a small smile before giving his hand a small squeeze. "I'll be fine. I'm not going to let him get away with this." she said and headed for the door and a long day of patrolling ahead of her.
[ooc: Preplayed with the fabulous needsaparrot NFI, OOC-OK, ABC-123, WTF, OMG, MMM-BBQ]
It was a tired and frustrated Mel who showed up at the door of MCA #0. With two nights of patrolling and zip to show for it, Mel decided the only to catch this creep was to go to an expert. With Dawn in Scotland and Faith out of town, that left one other person on the island that knew him best.
Hence the pounding on the door.
It'd been a long night here too, though he wasn't slow in answering the door because he'd been sleeping in. Xander opened it carrying a hot cup of coffee, and looking like he could use two. "Hey. Was gonna call you today."
"Got a problem," Mel said. "Name of Angelus. I think you've heard of him?"
"He put Willow in a coma Monday night," Xander said, his voice flat. He stood aside for her to walk in, and held out the coffee, if she wanted it.
Mel was about to take the coffee when Xander's words sunk in.
"Tell me where he is," she said in a no-nonsense tone.
"In the sewers, last time I saw him, but he didn't stay put for long." Xander tasted the coffee, made a face, and set the mug on the nearest shelf. He scruffed his fingers through his bangs, debating how to say it in a way that didn't give him a case of WTF, let alone Mel. "We're not looking to dust him. Not if we don't have to. Bag and tag."
Mel gave Xander a look. "You're kidding me, right?"
And of course it wasn't going to hit her in a pretty way no matter how he said it. "If we can, the plan is to do the soul curse on him."
"Because that's worked so well before," Mel snapped. "And then we get to wait around before he becomes evil and attacks one of our friends again."
Xander shook his head. "It does work on him. When he's got a soul, he's actually..." And here he trailed off less because he couldn't come up with a description than because all of the many available options sort of made him feel like he was sucking lemons. "One of the good guys." Ooh, lemons with battery acid!
"Until he has a moment of happiness," Mel replied. "And then we're back to the bloodsucking."
"Maybe," Xander acknowledged. "You want somebody to tell you Angel's not a walking timebomb, you came to the wrong apartment. But if we killed everybody who could go bad, let's just say we'd be pretty spoiled for choice around here." Starting with half the people currently staying in this apartment - and the girl sleeping across town in the clinic.
"He's bad now," Mel argued. "And he hurt your closest friend. What if Willow doesn't wake up? Because I can tell you right now, soul or no soul I'm killing him."
Xander's first instinct was to tell her what he'd said to Logan - that she'd have to get in line behind him and a pissed-off English king. But the last part of what she said made him twitch in the part of his head where things scuttled into corners if you shined a light. "Buffy had to do that; kill him even after he had a soul. And it pretty much broke her."
"I won't have that problem," Mel snapped.
"No, you wouldn't," Xander said, and it came out hard no matter how soft he tried to say it, because it just was. "He's not your brother."
Mel flinched and gave Xander a harsh look. "That's completely different."
Xander discarded yeah, right as an appropriate response with reasonably good timing for a guy who used to style himself the King of Cretins. "There's a lot of people who'd try as hard for him as you did for Harth."
It took a moment or two for that to sink in. "Fine. But if it comes down to it... if it's him or me, I'm not pulling any rutting punches."
"If it's him or you, send the bastard down in flames," Xander answered, with maybe a trace too much gusto. "He might be worth saving; he's not worth you."
Mel nodded and rubbed her own arms a bit as she looked away. "Fine," she said in a tone that clearly meant she wasn't "fine". "I'll hit the sewers and some of the darker places during the day and patrol the town at night. I'll let you know if I find anything."
"Hey." Xander reached out to touch her on the arm. "I mean it. Be careful. He doesn't get to hurt any more of my people."
Mel gave Xander a small smile before giving his hand a small squeeze. "I'll be fine. I'm not going to let him get away with this." she said and headed for the door and a long day of patrolling ahead of her.
[ooc: Preplayed with the fabulous needsaparrot NFI, OOC-OK, ABC-123, WTF, OMG, MMM-BBQ]