Monday night, in town NFB

[marsheadtilt]

Veronica arrived back in Fandom Town Monday evening. She was frustrated because the airline had screwed up her reservation and she missed a day of classes. She was also worried about Logan. She stopped in her dorm room long enough to dump her bags and then headed into town to see him. She didn't stop to consider that walking through the streets in the dark, alone, might not be the smartest thing to do.

She was anxious as she approached Logan's house. He had sounded odd during their phone conversation and she was worried that there was something he wasn't telling her about the attack.




Belthazor had been seeking out Veronica around the school, but so far she had proven elusive. He knew she was close to Echolls, so he'd taken to watching his house, waiting to see if she would leave the possible hiding place. He was not disappointed, though he spotted her coming to the house rather than leaving it.

He waited until she was between street lights, deep in the shadows, then shimmered quietly behind her. Before she could realize he was there, he clamped a hand over her mouth and wrapped his other arm around her waist, shimmering them both to the empty basement of a warehouse on the edge of town.

Once they reappeared, he roughly shoved Veronica to the ground. "Time for you and I to have a little chat, Veronica," he said, his pleasant tone contradicting the cold smile on his face.



Way to go, Veronica, you were so worried about visiting your ex-boyfriend that you completely forgot about the demon after you.

"I don't mind chatting with you, Belthazor," she finally said, attemping to mask the fear in her voice as she strugged to sit up. "But an empty warehouse? So cliche."



He grinned at her. "It works well enough for what I want to do. The real cliché? No one to hear you scream."



"What is it exactly that you want to do? Yell at me for finding out that your BFF is a cold-blooded killer?" Veronica's bravado was mostly false, but she hoped if she could keep him talking, she could get to her cell phone and call for help.



"Do you think I didn't know what he is?" Belthazor said, circling around Veronica. "I'm a cold-blooded killer, too. That's why we had so much fun together. Except I made sure to keep it away from the school so little Miss Detectives wouldn't find out about my extracurricular activities." He stopped, cocked his head, and looked thoughtful. "I suppose I'm being a hypocrite then for just bringing you here, but I wanted it to be a short trip to show Angelus just what I did to you."



"Does your bright one know about your extracurricular activies?" Veronica asked, hoping that the mention of her friend would throw the bastard off.

"And where is your dear friend, Angelus? Too afraid to come after me himself? Had to send out his flunkie?"

Don't bait the demon, Veronica.



Belthazor faltered almost imperceptively at the mention of Phoebe and something unreadable flashed through his eyes. "Leave Phoebe out of this," he said in a low voice. "As for Angelus, he'll be here soon enough. I just have a few arrangments to make, and he'll be back to his old self in no time." He conjured a fireball in his hand. "The only question is do I leave enough of you for him to have some fun with, or do I just kill you tonight?"



Veronica was perceptive enough to notice that her mention of Phoebe provoked some sort of reaction.

"Don't you think Phoebe will be upset if you kill one of her friends?" she asked.

"And as for Angelus, well, I'm sure you've heard all the gossip about me. The more, the merrier, right?"



"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Belthazor said. "And trust me, she's not going to know. By the time I'm done with you -- or by the time Angelus is -- there's going to be nothing left to find. And this time, no pesky witnesses to clean up."



"I bet Angelus said the exact same thing after he killed Kitty," she responded, her voice definitely faltering. "But I still managed to find proof that he did it. If you do kill me, someone will figure it out. You won't get away with it. Let me walk away now and we'll forget this ever happened."



Belthazor pretended to think it over. "I could let you go and try to atone for my wicked ways," he said, "but that just sounds so boring. No, I think we'll stick with plan A." He hurled the fireball he'd conjured toward Veronica, purposely aiming right above her head.



Veronica's eyes widened in terror when she saw the fireball. She ducked when it came at her, but it was so close that she felt the heat radiating from it.



"It's just so convenient that you're afraid of fire," Belthazor said, almost bouncing with glee. "I don't even have to bring out the knives. You know, most people get sick when they smell burning human flesh. I kinda like it." He threw another fireball at Veronica, this time straight at her to force her to dodge.



Veronica dropped flat and rolled out of the way of the second fireball. She was shaking and tears were streaming down her face. The smell of the smoke made her feel like she couldn't breathe and she started coughing.



Belthazor crouched down beside Veronica. "I'd forgotten how much I love it when a woman cries," he said, touching his hand to her cheek, then bringing his fingers to his mouth to taste her tears.

"The exit's right over there, you know," he said, inclining his head toward a door about two hundred feet to her left. "If you run fast enough, maybe you'll be able to get away."



Veronica shuddered at his touch. She swallowed hard and tried to determine if he was really allowing her the chance to run or if it was some kind of trap.

Deciding she didn't much care if there was any chance of getting herself out of this situation, she struggled to her feet and attempted to run, her weak legs buckling underneath her.



Belthazor shimmered in front of Veronica, blocking her path. "Not fast enough!" he hissed, grabbing her by the throat. In his free hand he summoned another fireball, bringing it close to her face.



There was a sound of shattering glass as Angel leapt through the window. In a moment he saw all that he needed to see. With vamp speed he raced to the struggling pair, grabbed Belthazor by the wrist that had conjured the fireball, and aimed a punch directly for his face.

"That fast enough for you?"



For a second Belthazor was confused. Why was Angelus attacking him? He should be joining in the fun, not trying to put a stop to it. The fist coming at his face overcame the brief second of denial. This wasn't Angelus anymore, it was Angel. And of course he was playing the hero.

Reeling back as Angel struck him, he threw Veronica at the vampire, giving him the moment he needed to free himself and take a few steps back and get some space so he could hurl the fireball in his hand at Angel.



Angel caught Veronica, immediately turning around so he could place her low to the ground and behind him.

"Stay down," he told her.



Veronica felt herself gently placed on the ground and tried desperately to figure out what the hell was going on. Belthazor had just thrown her at Angelus and, instead of deciding she was a tasty bedtime snack, he was telling her to stay down?

She backed away, scooting on her backside, wondering if she could get past them to the door to make a break for it.



"You're early," Belthazor said to Angel, bouncing the fireball in his hand. "Tell you what, why don't you let me finish here and then I'll give you a call when it's okay to come over."



Angel kept his eyes locked on Bel. He slowly moved to the left, trying to draw Bel's fire away from Veronica. "Funny thing about doing this in a public place. I don't need you to give me an invitation."



Belthazor shrugged. "True enough. But, well, you'll thank me for this later, trust me." He threw the fireball at Angel.



Angel dove out of the way, but wasn't fast enough to avoid getting nicked on his right shoulder. He fell to the ground, then aimed a kick at Bel's legs. "What's next? This'll hurt you more than it hurts me?"



Veronica cringed when Bel threw the fireball and was shocked to realize he was throwing it at Angelus, not her.

Her brain desperately tried to come up with any plausible reason for this and it failed miserably. She didn't think they were doing this to lull her into a false sense of security.



Belthazor had always wondered what it would be like to go up against Angelus. Hardly seemed fair. He could reduce Angel to ashes with just a flick of his wrist. While he'd rather find a way to restore Angelus, if he had to destroy Angel, well...Angelus had said he'd rather be staked than have a soul forced into him again. Maybe he could incapacitate him and lock him up until he and the rest of the JA could figure out a way to remove the soul. He could always throw Veronica in there with him so he wouldn't starve while he waited.

He dodged Angel's kick and summoned another fireball to his hand. "It'll hurt you more than it hurts me," he said with a grin. "And maybe you'll kick my ass for it later, but you'll appreciate everything I've done later. Especially dealing with small blonde detectives who accuse you of murder." He threw the fireball at Angel, then quickly conjured another one and threw it at Veronica.



Angel thanked whatever Power had created vamp speed as he pushed himself off of the ground, dove for Veronica, and managed to get her out of the way before the fireball hit.

He felt the flames strike his back, but fortunately he had on his leather jacket.

"Not seeing a reason to wait on kicking your ass," Angel said, watching for any opportunity to strike out at Bel.



Summoning an athame to his hand, Belthazor shimmered behind Angel and thrust the blade toward his back. Not a wooden stake, but it would do for now.



Angel immediately tensed as Bel shimmered. He sensed Bel behind him but not fast enough to completely avoid the blade. He twisted, feeling it cut through his clothing and even his skin, and aimed the heel of his left hand directly at Bel's face.



Belthazor's head snapped back as Angel hit him. He shimmered again, this time appearing behind Veronica. Might as well use Angel's hero instincts against him. He threw a fireball toward Veronica, then prepared another to toss at Angel when he would predictably push the girl out of the way.



"Down!" Angel told Veronica. He pushed her to the ground, then leapt over her, trying to tackle Bel at the waist.



Belthazor dodged to the side, letting Angel dive past him and crash into some wooden pallets. Laughing, he said, "Angelus was right. You really are pathetic. No wonder he'd rather die than be you."



"I'm pathetic?" Angel asked as he stood again. "I'm not the one who used my amazing teleportation powers to take a girl three blocks over so I could hurt her."



"What can I say, I was in a hurry to get to the fun part," Belthazor said, smirking. "Just trying to be the cruel vicious killer you wanted me to be."



Angel winced, but continued to circle Bel, watching for an opening. "Big talk. As usual. If I remember right you didn't have the guts for killing. Angelus laughed at you for that."



Bel twitched. "Things have changed since then," he growled. "Thanks to you."



"No," Angel said, locking eyes with Bel. "See, because Angelus is still in here. I know everything he knows, I can do everything he can. So what this means is that you're still the pathetic half-demon who's too in love to be worthy of his evil, and I'm still the vampire who can make you cry like a little girl."



Belthazor tensed, fighting back his temper. "Were you crying like a little girl last night when they stuffed that soul back into you?" he shot back. He put his hand over his heart and went on dramatically. "Oh, no, what horrible things I've done! All the people I've killed! How can I live with it! I know! Maybe if I save enough puppies and kittens and babies I'll be forgiven."



"Least I had the balls to do the actual hurting," Angel came closer. "Unlike you. Man, if I'd known there'd be this much yapping instead of fighting I'd have brought some ear plugs. No wonder Angelus was the leader, and you were the wanna-be."



"You have no idea what kind of hurting I've done," Belthazor snapped, the control over his temper fading. Angelus knew exactly what buttons to push to get to him, so of course Angel knew as well. Fueled by his anger, fireballs formed in his hand, and he threw them in rapid succession toward Angel.



This time Angel's muscles remembered exactly what to do. He evaded the fireballs easily, coming out of the move in a defensive crouch.

"Wow, Angelus always thought of you as a walking cigarette lighter," Angel taunted him, "but I forgot how literal that was. C'mon, Bel. That the best you can do?"



"Fuck you," Belthazor snarled. He shifted into his demon form, throwing a pair of fireballs toward Angel's left, then shimmered behind him to where he knew the vampire would have to dodge, athame poised again to strike.



"For the record," Angel said as he dove down. Remembering the earlier attack on Veronica, he aimed a roundhouse kick behind him, "that was never going to happen."



"Yeah, just in your dreams," Belthazor shot back. "Must still be on your mind since you brought it up." He jumped back to avoid the kick, then threw the athame at Angel.



"Says the guy who couldn't wait to get into my pants. Literally." Angel snatched the athame out of the air. He flipped it around and threw it at Belthazor, moving too fast for eyes to track.



"And again with the dreaming," Belthazor said. "Your obsession is showing."

He caught Angel's movement and tried to dodge out of the way, but wasn't fast enough. The athame sank into the right side of his stomach, and he staggered back against the wall. He yanked the athame out and pressed his hand over the wound.



Knowing he needed an extra boost of strength to finish this, Angel decided to do what he had to do. He quickly turned to Veronica, "Don't be scared."

With that he game faced, then vamp speeded it over to Bel. He grabbed Bel by the shirt and slammed him into the wall.



Belthazor grunted as he hit the wall. The wound was deep and shimmering out of Angel's grasp might take too much energy now. He bluffed, however. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shimmer you into the middle of the Sahara desert at high noon," he said, grinning despite the pain.



"I'll snap your neck before you could try," Angel replied. His lips curved into a not wholly un-Angelus like smile. "Don't know if it'll stop you, but I bet it'd be funny."

He slammed Bel into the wall again. "Understand this. This is my island now. You hurt anyone on it, you touch anyone under my protection, you even think of stepping out of line - I'll kill you."



Belthazor shifted back into human form. "You talk like that, you remind me of Angelus," he said, smirking through the pain. "There's hope for you yet. He's still in there, waiting for a chance to get free. And you know as well as I that he will."



Angel let go of Bel, looking disgusted. "Get out of my sight."



"As you wish, Daddy," Belthazor said. "I'll be seeing you soon." His tone made it clear what "you" he was referring to. He gathered his strength and shimmered out of the warehouse.



Once Bel had left Angel let his fangs and ridges fade. He turned to face Veronica, trying to project as much calmness and concern as he could. He kept his hands where she could see them.

"Are you okay?"



Veronica swallowed hard. "Maybe," she said, her voice shaky.

"Did you chase him off so you could kill me?"



"No," Angel said at once. It wasn't easy to make over six feet of solid muscle try to look small and non-threatening, but Angel tried it anyway. "No. I swear to you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry."



"I... I don't understand," Veronica said, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. "I heard the recording of you killing Kitty. You know I'm the one who found it and turned you in."



"I know," Angel squatted down so he could at least get at eye level with her, if not come closer. "You did the right thing. Thank you."



Veronica flinched when he got closer.

"You think I did the right thing by turning you in?"



"Yes."



Now that Belthazor and his fireballs were gone and Veronica wasn't dead, she felt her anger building. She pushed herself up to stand on her still shaky legs and met his eyes.

"Angelus, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'm out of here."

She walked over and grabbed her stuff from where it had fallen when Belthazor first knocked her down and headed for the door.



He knew he should let her go. She hated him, she had every right to, and he deserved absolutely no forgiveness for the danger he'd put her in.

But, in spite of all that, something inside of him that had nothing to do with pride made him say, "Angel."



Veronica stopped when he spoke. She wasn't sure why, but something in the tone of his voice made her curiosity overwhelm her survival instinct.

She turned and said, "Excuse me?"



He stood up, putting his hands into his coat pockets. The movement tugged at the rip in his jacket which distracted him and made the standing come off far less suave than it might have otherwise done.

He abandoned pockets for talking. "My name. Angel. I'm not Angelus anymore."



"You think changing your name by two letters is going to get you out of being punished for what you did?"



"That is the punishment for what I did," Angel said. "It's a gypsy curse. It gives me a soul. That makes me suffer for everything I've done to my victims as though it had happened to me."



Veronica closed her eyes and tried to process that information.

"So, does that mean you're good now?"



Angel shrugged. "It means I can be good now. Up to everyone else to decide if I succeed."



Veronica's eyes narrowed.

"So if you end up killing again, it won't be your fault? That doesn't fly, Angel," she put a strong emphasis on the name. "If your soul gives you the opportunity to choose, then I'd say it's up to you."



"It is," Angel agreed. "But it's not up to me to demand that people like me or forgive me. I've done unforgivable things. I don't deserve that from anyone, least of all the people I've hurt."



Veronica nodded slowly.

"Are you sorry about what you've done, or just sorry that you feel the guilt for it now?"



"I am sorry for what I've done," Angel said. "The crimes I've committed shouldn't have happened to anyone."



"You... he... a lot of people got hurt," Veronica said, still obviously thinking about something. "How do you plan to go about atoning for that?"



"Helping those I can," Angel said. "Using my skills to make things better. But understand this, Veronica, I can't ever atone for what I did. This isn't about earning a gold star or a pat on the head. This is about trying to remove evil from the world, because that's all I can do."



Veronica nodded. "So that's what tonight was about? Why you fought the demon that was Angelus's best friend and kept the girl who turned him in for murder from becoming toast?"



Angel nodded. "Something like that."



Veronica looked him in the eye. "Well I guess I should say thank you then."



"Didn't do it for thanks."



"But you didn't have to do it at all."



Angel's mouth curved into a half-smile. "There we disagree."



"How did you end up here anyway?"



"Figured Bel wouldn't be smart enough to jump dimensions," Angel said. "Beyond that - I spent the last week hiding out in this town. I know all the places somebody could go - " he swallowed the words to kill someone " - for true privacy. Just had to narrow it down."



"But how did you know that... I was in trouble?"



"I saw him take you."



"Oh."

Veronica was quiet for a minute, going through the events of the evening and the information she had learned.

"Thank you for coming after me. If you hadn't gotten here when you did..." she trailed off, starting to shake again remembering the fire balls.



Angel hesitated. Then he decided to take a chance and come over to her. He reached out to place a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Veronica, you don't have any reason to trust me. It's probably best that you don't. But I want you to know that as long as I'm here, I'll do what I can to protect you."



She saw the sincerity in his eyes and offered him a half smile.

"I would say that saving my life gives me pretty good reason to trust you, actually," she corrected.



Angel took his hand back. He wasn't yet ready to accept that kind of praise. Not from someone who'd not only known Angelus, but had been hurt by him.

"Promise me you won't if I turn again," Angel said. "I can't keep you safe if I'm evil."



"I'll start carrying a wooden stake in my purse," she promised.

Her expression turned to a puzzled one. "How did you end up with the soul? And how could you lose it?"



"I get the soul because of a curse," Angel said. "I lose it either through magic, or perfect happiness."



"So you're cursed with the guilt of everything you've done when you were evil and if you find perfect happiness, you become evil again? That's a hell of a catch-22."

Something occurred to her suddenly. "Where are we? Still on the island?"



"Gypsies weren't exactly aiming to make my life easier," Angel pointed out. "And yeah. We can walk back to the school. Are you okay? Need me to get you a ride?"



"I can walk," she said. She looked up at him. "If you'll walk with me. I wouldn't want him to grab me again."



"If he does I'll punch his face in again," Angel promised. There was a hint of a grin on his lips. "That was fun."



Veronica smiled at that.

"Let's go."

[ooc: Locked slowplayed post. No IC interaction but OOC welcome. Any icons missing are due to LJ hacking hairballs. Stupid LJ.]