"That is not your name,"Angel replied,smirking at the guy's gall.Actually,if there was a shortage of gall on the market,he knew exactly who to blame.

"It's what I go by,"he protested,retreating into a disgruntled silence.After a block or so,he added,"My name's Logan,but don't call me that."

"Whatever you say,Logan."Angel tried hard not to smile at the evil look he was giving him out of the corner of his eye.Sometimes it was just to easy.

"What the hell's your name?"He asked.

"Angel."

Logan snorted derisively."Yeah,sure it is."

"It's what I go by."

The silence was actually quite nice,even though the smell of blood was about to drive Angel crazy;damn he was hungry.He knew he shouldn't have skipped lunch.But he'd live until they
returned to the Hyperion.

Logan broke the peace by asking,"Who was the girl?"

"Cordelia.The man was Wesley,not Van Helsing,by the way."

"She's a mutant,isn't she?"

"No,she's a messenger for the Powers That Be."

"A what for the who?"He sounded doubtful,and really he couldn't blame him-obviously he didn't know vampires existed either.

"I'll tell you later,"he said,pulling to an abrupt stop by the curb.

Across the street,the alleyway Cordy had been referring to was blocked by a large black van,a type with heavy tires,the kind it would be almost impossible to shoot out.And there was something about the matte sheen of the metal that suggested the body of the vehicle was impervious to bullets too."They're ready for war,"Angel muttered to himself.

But Logan heard,and as he jumped out of the car,he said,"So am I."

Angel quickly followed him,unsure about getting a civilian involved in this,but he wasn't your ordinary civilian,which became clear as they crossed the street.Logan threw his hands down by his side,and the claws emerged once more.Angel had to admit to himself that looked pretty cool-it would be kind of nice to have weapons like that,built in and ready to decapitate any vampire or demon he came across.But he didn't know if he'd heal quite that fast.

Angel raced ahead of Logan and jumped up on the roof of the van,trying to get an idea of how many soldier boys they'd be facing this time,and saw a chilling scene.About a dozen of them
clogged the alleyway,but beyond them he could see the vacant lot,and at least a half dozen more of them were attacking someone,ringed around the victim, using those electrical weapons he'd seen earlier,and...clubs?They looked like long wooden clubs,and as he heard them thud against flesh,he also heard inhuman noises,growling and snarling.

This girl wasn't a mutant this time-she was a demon.

Logan vaulted over the van's hood and landed on the other side,right behind a commando,whom,as he turned,got a vicious headbutt that instantly knocked him cold.But as soon as his body hit the pavement,all the remaining soldiers had turned to look at them.

The man Angel presumed to be their leader,grizzled looking and about ten years older than the rest,with hard grey eyes and a livid scar on his left cheek,smiled grimly as he looked between
him and Logan."Look at this boys,"he drawled,his voice betraying his Midwestern roots."We've hit paydirt."

They swarmed towards them like attack dogs,and Angel jumped right into the center of the fray,punching and kicking a path through the soldiers in hopes of reaching the girl before they
could kill her.He didn't look back to see how Logan was doing,but he didn't need to;the screams and heavy thuds told him he was holding his own.In fact,his punches sounded a lot meatier than most,and he remembered how heavy he was to carry.He really was full of metal,wasn't he?Why?

Angel made it to the end of the alley and broke for the vacant lot,ripping a club out of one of the soldier's hands and smashing the end of it into the base of his skull,taking him out for the better part of an hour.As he threw him aside,another soldier pulled out a canister of something,and only when he threw the contents did he know what it was:holy water.

It hit him right in the face,splashing in his eyes,and he wheeled away screaming,clawing at his face as he could feel it eating away at his flesh like acid,melting through muscle and bone.He was hit hard from behind,and he couldn't help but drop to his knees.

Even blind he lashed out,hitting his attacker in the knee and taking him down as the bone shattered,the man's screams sickening and yet somehow satisfying. But then the group was on
him,and he felt the shock of the electrical weapons he had seen them using earlier,felt three or four of them hit him at once,and as much as he wanted to move he couldn't;he was paralyzed.

His vision started coming back;his eyes still burned,but he could see fuzzy things,vague shapes and haloes of light,even as the soldiers pummeled him,trying to keep him down even though his only movements were involuntary muscle spasms.

Angel thought he heard some rather loud cursing,and an electric snap of the modified taser weapon firing,but the human scream that followed confirmed it hadn't hit him.From the inhuman,almost cat like snarling ahead of him,he knew the girl was fighting back,and from the continued cursing and thuds behind him,he knew Logan was working his way through the rest of the commandos in the most painful way possible (for the soldiers,at least-it didn't sound like Logan was doing the majority of the cursing).

Concentrating at what little muscle control he had left,Angel managed to kick out and take one of his attackers down,but that earned him a solid boot to the side of his head that sent his consciousness reeling.

Then he heard the bone chilling noise of a wooden club being cracked in half.

He rolled into the legs of the nearest commandos,taking them down,but he felt the paralyzing sting of the taser weapons,leaving him numb once more.

There was noise all around him,scuffling,the hum of a motor,and then someone grabbed him from behind,lifting him up to his still unsteady feet.Angel snapped his head back hard,hoping for a reverse headbutt,but his target dodged the blow."Easy,bud,it's me,"Logan said,setting him back on his feet.He stumbled,but he managed to keep his balance."Our asshole friends decided to make a tactical retreat."

Belatedly,he wished he'd ask Logan to slash their tires."The girl?"He asked,rubbing his eyes.They still stung enough to make him want to claw them out,but it was lessening slightly.Even as the skin beneath them felt like it was smoldering,and he could make out the blurry shapes of the building surrounding them.

He could also make out a shape rising from the tall weeds before them,two tiny phosphorescent green lights accompanying what appeared to be a very feminine silhouette.

"And they say chivalry is dead,"the woman purred,her voice all silk,as the green lights that were her eyes died down to a more normal,human color.But even through the veil of burns occluding his vision,Angel was pretty sure he knew exactly what she was.""Thank you,boys.How can I ever repay you?"

Logan cleared his throat,seemingly distracted,and that confirmed she was what he thought she was."Did you-uh-did you know those guys?"

"I should say not.Oh,you poor thing,are you hurt?Why don't I kiss it and make it better?"

As she approached,Angel grabbed out at her blurry shape,catching her arm and stopping her."Kitsune,I wouldn't."He warned.

"Kitsune?You know her?"Logan asked,sounding like he was starting to snap out of the trance she was attempting to weave.

She laughed,a deep throaty sound that was undeniably attractive,but Angel shrugged it off,and told him,"No,it's her species-she's a Kitsune,also known as a 'fox spirit',but actually she's a kind of demon.A seductive trickster,but physically harmless."

"I don't have to be harmless,"she said,in fluent Japanese."Tell me what you and your friend like.I'll try anything once."

"I know your tricks,so don't bother,"Angel replied,also in Japanese.He felt her tense slightly,and figured that meant she hadn't expected him to know the language.Another con?

"Hey,can I be let in on this conversation?"Logan asked brusquely,sounding like his normal self.
"Wait-fox spirit?Demon?What are you-crazy or Catholic?"

The Kitsune yanked her hand from his grasp,and made a noise of annoyance."You vampires are never any fun."

"Vampire?You mean he...okay,did I inhale some sort of toxic chemicals?What the fuck are you people on about?!"

Angel ignored him,focusing as best he could on the shadowy figure of the demon woman."Did you try and lure one of the commandos,and he had too many buddies for you to entrance at once?"

"Of course not-military types are no fun either.I was just taking a shortcut to this nightclub when I suddenly realized I was surrounded,and when I saw how they were dressed I figured the stories were true.I thought I was a goner."Her voice became velvet again,smooth and soft."But then you two knights in shining armor showed up.I'm not sure what your human friend's deal is,but you are the handsomest vampire I have ever seen.No wonder someone chose to turn you."

"Cut the crap.What stories?"Angel said impatiently,his vision fading in more,but his skin still burning.What he wouldn't give for a sink full of cold water right now.

"I am not his friend,and does he look like Dracula to you?"Logan interjected,then paused."Well,okay,maybe from certain angles..."

"I'm not telling you here.If they're the Omegas,they might be coming back with reinforcements."She smiled slyly,and he had enough recovered vision to see it."Maybe the three of us could go back to my place."

He saw Logan out of the corner of his eye,looking at something in the grass,nudging it with the toe of his boot."Commandos with wooden sticks?"

"Clubs of willow,"he replied,before shooting a smirk at the woman.Supposedly,the wood of certain willow trees had a negative,weakening effect on fox demons."And I don't think so,Kitsune.What's your name?"

"Fenna.What's yours,sweetheart?"

He sighed,and grabbed her arm once more,turning back towards the now open alleyway."Okay,Fenna,we're going back to my place."

"Ooh,I like the sound of that.I bet you have a lovely crypt."Even though she sounded perfectly sweet,he was sure she was being sarcastic.

He dug his car keys out of his pocket and tossed them towards Logan,who proved he had superior abilities by managing to catch the keys even though he never actually saw them coming towards him."You're going to have to drive;my vision hasn't completely returned yet."

"Drive where?"Logan wondered,finally looking at the keys.

"Back to the Hyperion,the hotel."

"A hotel?Even better."Fenna cooed.

"You're supposedly a vampire,and yet you own a hotel?"He asked in disbelief.

"I don't own it;I'm leasing it."Angel started down the alley with Fenna,disappointed but not surprised that the commandos (the Omegas?) had collected their injured before running off.He should have thought to grab one from the carnage around the florist's shop.

"Oh,well that makes much more sense,"Logan said sarcastically,following them.

"You two are certainly a fun pair,"Fenna remarked,sounding genuine for perhaps the first and last time of her life."What did you guys do,lose a bet?"

It certainly felt that way.

Angel's vision had returned,more or less (fuzzy haloes of light remained around most things,but they were slowly fading away),although from the way Cordy had grimaced at his face and offered him her ice pack,the burns on his face weren't healing fast enough,and must have looked pretty bad.Logan had asked him if they tried to hit him with acid,but when he said it was holy water he snorted in disbelief,and added a completely unnecessary "Yeah right".He really hoped 'Wolverine' left as soon as possible.

Right now,he was sitting around the front desk with Fenna and Wesley,as Cordy had convinced Logan he couldn't go anywhere covered in blood unless he wanted a less than friendly meeting with the L.A.P.D.,and Cordy was now upstairs raiding his closet,as she insisted Logan couldn't wear what was left of his shirt (once he was gone,she added,"Besides,he looks like a lumberjack.With really,really bad hair.").

Wesley was attempting to look up any references on groups of armed men-certainly there had been demon hunters almost as long as demons,and several 'secret societies' had sprung up around the practice-but he was constantly being sidetracked by Fenna,who relished using her powers on him even though it accomplished nothing.He had a feeling she was just doing it to annoy him,which wouldn't have surprised him since he was a 'spoilsport' vampire.

She was an attractive young woman,beyond any doubt:with a heart shaped face,flawless ivory skin,and almond shaped brown eyes framed by glossy,shoulder length hair as black as night,she was beauty personified,and had a long,curvaceous body to match.But,being Kitsune,she could alter her appearance to a certain degree,and you could never trust your eyes.

They had no idea what she actually looked like,and probably never would.

Wesley logically knew this,and tried his best to avoid being entranced,but he was only human,and Fenna knew it;she'd laugh silently when Wesley lost his train of thought in mid-sentence,became so flustered and red in the face he almost dropped his book.Angel wished he could kick her under the desk,but it wasn't that type of desk,so he was out of luck.

He snapped his fingers in front of Wes's face,startling him out of the trance he was falling into."Wh-what?"The Englishman asked,blinking rapidly and sitting up straighter.

Angel glared at Fenna."Stop it now,or I'll find my willow cane."

She sulked obviously,as Wes,still looking bewildered,asked him,"Did she do it again?"

He just nodded,and Wes flushed with embarrassment,glancing back down at his book.

"Fenna,just tell me the story,"he sighed,on the verge of giving up."Then you can enrapture Wesley all you want."

"I beg your pardon?"Wesley exclaimed.

Fenna smirked,a single corner of her perfect mouth quirking upward."You want me and you know it,Angel."

"I want you to talk before I decide I like the taste of Kitsune blood."

Her eyes narrowed to deadly slits,briefly flashing phosphorescent green."You wouldn't dare."

"I'm a vampire-try me."

She studied his face for a minute,and Angel was still hungry enough that she believed him.Pouting even more,she rolled her eyes,and crossed her arms over her chest."Look,people talk-you never know what's truth and what's shit.I just assumed it was shit.There's been talk of a group of guys in black-Ghrenik calls them the Omegas-that have been rounding up demons and randomly nabbing or killing human mutations over the last couple of weeks.No one grabbed by them has ever been seen again."

"Why Omegas?"Wesley asked,looking up from his book,but he only glanced at her askance,not daring to look directly at her;he'd be entranced in a second if he did.In fact,he'd made that mistake when they first returned,and he was distressingly zombie like until Cordy hit him in the shoulder hard enough to make him stagger.

She shrugged."I don't know.He just makes up names for people."

"Who is this Ghrenik?"Angel wondered.

"He runs a pawn shop...er,a mercantile exchange on the West side.Out of a coffee shop."

"I swear I've seen a reference to Omegas,"Wesley insisted,getting to his feet and pacing over to the bookshelves.As he searched for a specific volume,Fenna leaned over the desk,and asked seductively,"Why don't you and me go have some fun while Poindexter's busy?"

"You wouldn't like my idea of fun,"he warned her,willing Wes to hurry up.

Where the hell was Cordy?

Still,she managed to find a nice black shirt among all of Angel's nice black shirts,and brought it to the room where Logan was cleaning up,just down the first floor hallway.She knocked on the door,but when there was no answer,she figured he was in the bathroom and barged in.

"Okay,I've got the shirt-"she began,but stopped abruptly,as Logan was standing in the open bathroom doorway.His hair was still dripping wet (and it looked normal!She knew it couldn't have been natural!),and he was standing there half dressed and pissed off,naked from the waist up,his jeans loosely pulled on and still undone.

"You call that a knock?"He groused,turning away to zip up his jeans and grab a towel from the rack.

"Sorry,"she replied,but actually she wasn't.Wow:it was almost a shame to give him the shirt.

She put the shirt on the bed as he towel dried his hair,and she glanced at him out of the corner of his eye,watching rivulets of water run down his well defined chest.Why she couldn't find a body like that on a guy with a good job and a fat bank account,who wasn't undead,a demon,or just a narcissistic asshole?Obviously it was too much to ask.

"I also brought you something else,"she told him,holding out the cannister she'd also brought.

He looked at it,his brows knitting together in confusion."What the hell is that?"

"Mousse.I'm sure Angel won't miss it,and I know it could do wonders with your hair.In fact,I'll be happy to-"

"What is it with you and my hair?"He interrupted testily,draping the towel around his shoulders."My hair is my hair.Leave it alone,will ya?"

She offered him the can of mousse once more,and he gave her a remarkably dirty look that seemed unwarranted under the circumstances-she was trying to do him a favor-so she set it on top of the nearest table,hoping he'd take the hint and use it after she was gone.Men and their machismo.

"Hey,I was wondering-is Logan your first name or your last name?"

For some reason,that made him pause and look thoughtful."My first,I think.I'm pretty sure."

"You don't know?"That was weird.What,did he have amnesia?

He seemed equally startled and embarrassed by the question,and sat on the edge of the bed,his back to her.He even had a really nice back."I don't have a lot of memories.They...did something to me,I think,to make me forgot what they had done,but I have a few...flashes every now and then."

"What who had done to you?Do you mean the claws?"She replied,curious about the change in his voice and demeanor.For the first time since he'd shown up,he'd finally dropped the 'tude,and almost seemed like a real human being.

He shook his head,and said,"Forget it.It's a long story."

"So you keep saying.But I have time."She came over and sat on the edge on the bed,not too close so as not to make him uncomfortable."The claws weren't your idea?Who would do that to you and why?"

He sighed wearily,his back tensing,but he seemed to make the decision to give up and just get it out in the open."They were military,I think,or affiliated with a similar type of group-I have the dog tags to prove it,but I have no idea who they are.I wasn't the only one they fucked with,although I suspect I was one of their more ambitious projects.I think I was supposed to be a human weapon,a super soldier,or at least that's the explanation that makes the most sense.

"I've been trying to dig up more info on my past,on the people who did this to me,but they covered their tracks well...and so did I.But I did find out about a man who,most likely,had been in the project with me,which is why I came here.He'd come here with his family,running from something by the sound of it,and I can't help but think they caught him anyways."

"You think these commandos are part of the group that...altered you?"She tried to think of a nice way to put it,but it was difficult,especially since she was angry for him.What kind of evil bastards would do that to a person,mutant or not?

Hesitantly,he said,"At first,when they attacked me at Wra-Metcalfe's place,I thought so.But after seeing them go after that girl,I'm not so sure.They seemed unprepared,disorganized somehow."

"Probably because they were the demon hunting unit-the ones at the flower shop were the mutant hunters,I guess."

He looked at her sharply,his eyes full of suspicion."Why do you say that?And what's with all this demon shit?"

She sighed wearily,rolling her eyes,wondering how a theoretically smart man could be so stupid."Look-there are mutants in the world,there are also demons in the world.Is it really so hard to believe?And let's get this out of the way now too-Angel is a vampire,but because he has a soul,he's a good guy;other vamps aren't.Yes,he drinks blood,but no,not from people,and he can't go out in sunlight or he'll go up like the human torch,and if you have a cross,don't wear it around him,okay?And that woman you saved is some sort of demon I've never heard of,but she's one of the annoying but harmless variety-not all demons are bad.Some are-Angel can tell you which is which if you need to know,but,in general,if they're trying to kill you,they're bad.Now stop this skeptical crap before i find a creative place to put that can of mousse."

He stared at her for a moment,then snorted in an aborted laugh."So that's what you do around here?Have visions and kick everyone's ass?"

"That's about the size of it."

"You're very good at your job."

She smiled at the compliment,and to her surprise,he smiled back...for a millisecond.But it proved he could do it if he had to,and it looked good on him.If he'd only cooperate long enough for her to make him over,she could make him gorgeous.He looked away quickly,though,and she returned to the previous topic,whether he liked it or not."You said you had flashes-what do you remember?Did you remember Metcalfe?"

He shook his head,still looking down at the floor as if he'd found some fascinating pattern in the dust layer on the old beige carpet."No.I haven't remembered anything useful...I just see shadowy men-I think they're mostly men-and a strange room.Mainly I just remember the pain-I felt like I was being flayed alive."His wide,smooth forehead furrowed as he considered what he had just said,and he admitted,"I think I was flayed alive when they put this adamantium skeleton in me.They knew I'd heal;I always do."

"Oh god,"she gasped,and out of reflex,she reached out and touched his shoulder to comfort him.But as soon as she touched him he jerked away like she was made of electricity,and he got to his feet,snatching the shirt off the bed as he suddenly stalked off to the bathroom.

He must have admitted too much;he figured out he'd dropped the macho facade farther than he'd intended too.Men were so queasy about that kind of thing.But she couldn't help but feel a bit queasy herself-had he really been flayed alive?And he had a metal skeleton?

She really hoped demons were somehow responsible;she hated to think humans would do that to another human being.But she'd lived in L.A. long enough to believe it.

"Is everything he owns black?"He carped,shrugging on the shirt.

"Pretty much."

"Is it a vampire thing?"

"No,it's just an Angel thing.He's way into the mopey,broody stuff."She managed to keep the 'like you' comment to herself:he probably had good reason for it,and he hadn't been at it for nearly a century,like Angel.Had he?

He came back into the room,buttoning up the shirt,which seemed like a small crime."Has he got anything useful out of the girl?"

She shrugged,getting to her feet.If he wanted to pretend the previous conversation never happened,fine,but she knew it did,and she couldn't forget it even if she wanted to."When I left them,she was busy trying to work her mojo on Wesley-god knows why-and Angel kept having to snap him out of it."

"Why doesn't it work on him?Whatever it is she does."

"I don't know.Maybe demons are immune,or vampires,or just old fogies."

"Old fogies?How old is Angel?"He wondered,grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair.

She sensed another long and pointless conversation,so she waited until she was by the door before she told him,"Two hundred and forty seven years old,give or take a year.Sometimes I lose count,and it's not like he celebrates his birthday."

He didn't bother to hide his dubiousness."You're making that up."

"I am not. Ask him if you don't believe me."She left his room,and he quickly followed her out,muttering to himself,"The world gets weirder every goddamned day."

He didn't know the half of it.

"Purification?"Logan repeated,and they all turned to see him coming down the staircase,trailing just behind Cordelia.He looked more human now that he had cleaned the blood off his face,and his hair seemed to have straightened itself out,at least for now."That's a polite way of saying genocide,isn't it?"

"Oh,hey cutie,"Fenna purred at him,and Angel cleared his throat impatiently,shooting her a warning glance.She wrinkled her nose and briefly stuck her tongue out at him in what could only be considered a spasm of maturity.

"Er,quite,"Wesley agreed,continuing to scan the passage in the book."They slaughtered more than a few demons-they rendered three species technically extinct,to the best of our knowledge-but their reputation attracted demons wanting to make a name for themselves,and the last of the Omegas were slaughtered by Berserker demons fifty years ago.They were never heard from again."

"Until now,"Angel mused,running a hand through his hair.He had no idea why he was so tired,but tonight had felt like the longest night of his life."So someone's decided to pick up the mantel once more."

"But this time they've added mutants to their hit list,"Logan agreed,coming up to the desk and standing beside him.He had glanced at Fenna,who smiled and leaned farther over the desk,displaying as much cleavage as possible (and Angel would swear she had developed larger breasts in the last ten minutes),but Logan was careful not to look at her directly again."How do we start tracking them down?"

"We?"Angel asked.

Logan scowled at him."You don't think I'm just walking away after all that's happened,do you?"

"No,"he admitted wearily,mentally adding,But I wish you would."There's a Scaflok demon named Ghrenik who runs a black market business out of a coffee shop,and seemed to know who the commandos were.It's not much,but it's a place to start."

"Great-we rolling?"Logan asked anxiously.

Angel nodded,suppressing a sigh."Might as well.You can go now,Fenna.Thanks for the help.I think."

"Go?Why would I go?I rather like it here,"she insisted,smiling as smugly as a cat.

Cordy cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest,staring daggers at Fenna."Hit the bricks,Foxy Brown,before I chase you out with a broom."

Fenna rolled her eyes extravagantly,but she took the hint."Be that way.In that case,boys,can I get a lift?"

Angel shook his head and walked towards the door, Logan right beside him.

Fenna harrumphed loudly,and called after them,"You dead guys are such killjoys."

Logan was sure it had to have one somewhere,unless this was a costume attached with velcro.