Angel twisted violently to one side, the extent of what he could do, and took the arrow in the left side of his torso, where it seemed to lodge between his ribs and puncture a useless lung. It hurt like fuck, but it wasn’t fatal. “Jesus, don’t you bad guys torture anymore?” he snapped, trying to bull through the burning pain in his chest. Wood hurt like a vampire’s worst nightmare, no matter where it hit. “At least try and bore me to death. What the fuck is this?”

“Do you really think I’m going to give your friends time to rescue you?” he replied, notching another arrow in the crossbow. “Yes, I know you have some, and I know you’re expecting to be rescued. It’s not going to happen.”

“So why not kill me while I was unconscious? Would’ve been easier.”

“True, but then I couldn’t have seen the look on your face.”

Angel stared at him, but Finch was still in shadow, so he couldn’t see much beyond his silhouette with the bow. But didn’t that tell him a lot? Angel snickered, unable to help himself. “What’s so funny?” Finch demanded, sounding annoyed.

“You’re afraid he’ll see me.”

There was a startled pause, and he knew he had him. “What the hell are you talking about? It’s a bit late for an insanity defense.”

“Ays. He isn’t here, is he?”

Finch was frozen, and Angel knew he had him. Oh yes, his plan was working perfectly. “You know the details, Angel. He’s always with me; we can’t be separated.”

“But he can sleep, and you made sure he was out before you had your lawyer bud come and get me. If he sees me, he’ll realize what a raw deal he got with you. After all, I’m immortal too, but look at me. I actually don’t look like a couch potato. Think of how many souls Ays could get if he was my jockey …”

"Shut up," he hissed, firing the crossbow. Even though he was closer now, his hands were shaking so much he actually managed to miss him, the arrow going wide. Yes, he had hit the sore spot.

"Ays! Hey, you ugly son-of-a-bitch, you see what your guy is doing?"

"Shut up!" Finch roared, and wielding the crossbow like a bat, smashed him on the side of the head. Something broke - luckily on the crossbow, not him - but the hit was hard enough that his mind reeled, and he could feel cold blood trickling down his scalp from the rip in his skin. Still, Angel chuckled.

Mainly because it was too late. It was a change in his dominant smell - bad but expensive cologne now being overwhelmed by a smell not unlike baking vinyl, and the slightest glow appeared in Finch's eyes, a type of lambent, foggy whiteness that let him know Ays was awake and ready to play.

"What is this?" Finch said, presumably to himself, in a voice far more deep and otherworldly than his usual tone. Finch leaned in and took a deep whiff of him, which was creepy enough on its own, as Ays said, "Ah, a vampire with a soul. Lovely. I'm hungry."

"Yeah, I bet this fat bastard makes you hungry all the time."

The glowing eyes simply stared at him, while Finch said, "Kill the fucker, would you? I'm bored."

But Ays remained where he was, and from the glow of his eyes, he could see a small smile creeping up his face. It was a deeply unpleasant thing. "You're afraid of him, Eli? Why is that?"

"Because my demon could kick both your asses," Angel shot back, figuring that the fallback position - goading the killer demon - was always a good one. "Eat my soul if you want, but it's your funeral. Angelus isn't going to appreciate finding an arrow in his chest, even if you do get rid of this pesky soul. He also isn't into bondage ... unless, you know, you were a woman in a corset."

Ays chuckled, but it was a noise that put a chill in the base of his spine. It reminded Angel of that movie Faith brought over to watch at his apartment, Ju-On, some Japanese horror film. (Faith liked to watch his flatscreen t.v. - he'd never mentioned the place was willed to Logan but Logan gave it to him, and now since they were involved he was glad he hadn't, as Faith would probably smack him upside his head.) While it was all right for a somewhat unrealistic thing, the filmmaker had given the angry female ghost one of the eeriest inhuman noises he'd ever heard in a film; it was like a wooden door on a rusty hinge swinging open as slow as possible, the creak drawn out into one monotonous bass drone. That was almost exactly what Ays's chuckle sounded like, a demonic click in the base of an inhuman throat. "As if I have any fear of a vampire. You're all parasites."

"And what the hell are you, huh? At least his host body looks better."

"Name calling, are we? How childish." Finch spoke up, or at least wrested control away momentarily. "Would you stop talking him to death and eat him already?"

But Ays ignored him, and ran a finger down his chest, examining his torso like a side of beef. Yeah, he really wasn't digging this part; he'd have preferred another arrow. "So proud of this host body, are we Angelus? It could be mine. Your cruelty is legendary, but mine is far worse."

Finch turned away sharply, and Eli's voice came through, strangled and angry. "It's a trap you stupid shithead! He's planting the idea in your head! He wants you to do it. How suspicious is that?! His friends -"

But Ays's voice interrupted, Finch's body straightening up. "Can do nothing to me, idiot. I'm perfection, a true demon, so hold your tongue if you wish to keep it."

"We had a deal," he said in a strangled whisper.

How weird was this to see a man literally arguing with himself? The sad thing was, this wasn't even in the top fifty of the weirdest things Angel had ever seen.

"And I kept my end of the bargain, Eli. But I'm getting bored." Finch turned back to face him, the whiteness of his eyes now glowing like headlights. "And I've just had a grand idea."

His hand tightened reflexively on the broken crossbow, but then the fingers went slack and he dropped it; the last fight between Eli and Ays, and Eli had lost. "Is this a trap, Angelus? How? You can't fight me."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Angelus is pretty protective of his territory." His demon was a nightmare, inside or outside, and the older a vampire was, the stronger and meaner they were; that was just part of the vampire life cycle. But Angel knew that if Ays jumped in him that Angelus couldn't fight him off. He'd try like hell, maybe buy a few seconds, but he would lose, as Ays was right - he was a pure demon, and vampires, no matter cruel, were simply half-breeds. But if anyone could find a weakness in him, it would be Angelus - it was the only damn thing this fucker was good for.

Ays gave him that unpleasant smile again, made that low clicking noise. "This is a horrible plan, Angelus. How can you let your Human ride you like this?"

"He really has no power, not with my soul in the way. Although, he does have a message for you," Angel replied, and quickly reared up, pulling himself up with his hands, and kicked Finch square in the face with both feet.

He fell backwards, sprawling on his ass, as Angel said, "Actually, that was from me. Angelus only said "Eat me," for whatever that's worth." It was both an insult and an invitation, but there was no benefit in pointing that out.

The noise that Angel thought he heard overhead, a faint sort of falling sound, repeated, this time the ceiling of the killing floor falling away in chunks as a figure dropped down on the floor in front of him, between him and Ays. Angel could only see his back, but just from the black leather and Kevlar jacket he was wearing, he knew it was Saddiq. Angel glanced up at the neat Human sized hole in the ceiling, and wondered if he'd dropped down all the way. Sure, he was reasonably indestructible, but that seemed kind of extreme.

Even Ays was stunned by this surprise entrance, which was probably the whole point of it. Saddiq had probably picked up a bit of strategy or two from Logan. "Who the fuck are you?" Ays asked, although it sounded like Finch had come back as well, said it with him.

"Saracen," he replied flatly. "Sorry about your dog." And while Ays hopped right back up to his feet, Saddiq was on him, moving so fast he couldn't be a normal Human. He landed a solid kick in his stomach, making Finch double over, and then he grabbed his left arm and stepped under it, almost a dance move, except when he came out from beneath it he was behind Finch and gave a final wrench, both breaking the arm and popping the shoulder out of the socket. He then stomped down on the back of Finch's leg, just below the knee joint, breaking the calf bone with a loud crack. Just for good measure, he grabbed Finch’s head and pulled it back suddenly as he delivered a hard, straight kick to his back. There was a muffled, dull kind of noise, but it sent a shudder of revulsion through Angel. Once you heard a spine snapping, you never forgot the noise, and it never got any easier to take.

Finch went down on his knees as his legs buckled, and Saddiq said robotically, "I have broken your arm, your leg, and your back, and I will break your skull if you persist. Stay down." And he'd done all of this in five seconds, too fast for Ays to react.

Okay, yeah, Angelus was pretty impressed with him. That was scary.

Finch was shaking, his skin flushing and his eyes glowing even more, but it wasn’t out of pain; it was out of sheer fury.

Angel didn’t have time to warn Saddiq, although it wouldn’t have done any good anyways. Finch simply flicked his (good) hand and Saddiq went flying across the room, back to where Angel couldn’t see, but it sounded like he hit the wall hard enough to have pieces of it collapse on him. “Arrogant little whelp,” Ays roared, getting to his feet as Finch’s skin seemed to bubble, and his bones snapping back together with a sound not unlike Rice Krispies in milk. (Okay, that was super freaky.) “You think you can hurt me? I’ll swallow your soul, you little bitch.”

“You really like picking on kids, don’t you?” Angel commented sourly. Well, he did seem to have an affinity for the younger set.

Ays turned his nuclear gaze on him. “Don’t think you can spare your little sidekick by distracting me,” he said, taking a step forward as his leg popped and shifted back into place, and his shoulder reset itself with an audible “pop”. Oh yeah, that was creepy.

But then suddenly he was hit with a bolt of what seemed like lightning, lighting him up from behind before the sheer power of the charge sent him flying off his feet. He landed in a twitching heap just a few feet to the right of where Angel was dangling. “I think that’s my job,” Naomi pointed out, coming in. There was still enough electricity buzzing around her hands that it lit up the room somewhat. She looked Angel up and down, and grimaced. “Damn. Didn’t bring a knife.”

He would have shrugged, except to do so would have separated both his shoulders. She glanced up at the hole in the ceiling, and commented, “I knew he was supposed to be the first in, but I had no idea he was going to do that.”

“Logan taught me that,” Saddiq said, sounding a little dazed. Armor skin or not, the impact had to have given his internal organs quite a jostling. “He told me that whenever possible, attack from above. No one ever expects that.”

Angel nodded, as that sounded like classic Logan all right, while Naomi blinked a couple of times, and admitted, “The more I hear about this man, the more scared I get.”

“A common reaction,” Angel assured her.

Finch shot his arm back and Naomi went flying out of the room. He didn’t see where she went, but she collided with something, ending in a dull but hard thud. “Are all your people morons?” Ays snapped, getting back up to his feet. His jacket was still smoking a bit. Saddiq probably tried to go back on the attack, but before he could even enter Angel’s line of vision, Ays had sent him flying back into the wall. “They are, aren’t they Angelus? Only idiots work for -”

But Saddiq must have made himself a deliberate distraction, as Faith slipped into the room while Ays’s back was turned. He must have sensed the Human presence, as he suddenly turned around, but that’s when she attacked. She jumped up and grabbed his neck with her feet, twisting in mid-air and using both the momentum and the helpfulness of gravity to send him sailing across the room as she landed on her hands on the floor. Finch landed head first against the side wall, making the shackle restraints rattle. “What is it with bad guys who talk too much?” Faith wondered, as she jumped back up to her feet and pulled out the one adamantium knife they had left after that whole Ananga debacle. She threw the knife, high and horizontal, and as it sliced through his ropes like hot butter, a growling, clicking Ays sent Faith flying up towards the ceiling, where she smashed a new hole through it before he brought her thudding back down to the floor. She was unconscious at the very leas! t; he honestly hoped that was all. Ays must have known she was a Slayer, and wanted her out of the picture as fast as possible.

“I’m invincible - exactly what part of that don’t you people understand?” Ays carped as he climbed back up to his feet.

“You’re just so annoying, people can’t help but wanna kill you,” Angel said, ripping the last of the ropes off his hands and vamping out as he lunged for him.

But it was an abortive effort at best, as Finch was back up on his feet, and Angel felt himself rooted to floor as his spotlight gaze turned on him full force. It was like that vise spell the lawyer threw on him, but a thousand times worse; he could feel it breaking the arrow still lodged in his chest. “Let’s make this funnier,” Ays said, and he knew it was the demon alone because the voice was all gravel. “What’s say we kill all your friends together, Angelus?”

He hesitated, Finch breaking through just briefly. “No! You can’t leave m -” He made a slight choking noise as Ays reasserted himself, shutting down Finch’s weak protests. “You’ve had your fun, Elias. Now it’s time for my fun.”

The creaking noise continued, but grew louder and more intense, slowly shifting into something like an insectoid buzz, while Finch’s prodigious gut started to swell … only it wasn’t just his gut. It was his chest too, his throat puffing out like an overstuffed sausage casing, as Finch opened his mouth to scream and nothing came out but the clicking drone of Ays.

Suddenly Ays seemed to emerge at once, as if blasting out of all of Finch’s pores at the same instant. Finch toppled to the floor as Ays remained, and he wasn’t impressive. He appeared as nothing so much as red mist, or perhaps smoke, something curling and twining on its own currents of air, living vapor that smelled like burned iron and tasted like sour skin. The crimson cloud took on a sinuous shape and headed straight for him just as a vial of salt water was smashed down on the floor, and Giles began reciting something in Armenian.

Ays curled in the air, reeling as if about to head straight for him, but Giles was also holding what he called a “pallidar”, a special type of crystalline formation that Ays would be drawn to - and trapped in, assuming the spell worked to plan. That was why Ays was actually so dangerous; he was a demon in pure spirit form, meaning there was no physical body to hurt or kill. But if they could get him in something corporeal but not permeable to him - the pallidar - he would be trapped.

The living cloud that was Ays was starting to be drawn towards Giles and the vase sized isosceles triangle of sapphire crystal that he held, making a pitiable noise that could barely be heard; it was a long, drawn out hiss of air. Angel felt himself released and stumbled, almost losing his balance, but he managed to stay upright. And even though he knew it would hurt, he braced himself, and ripped the arrow right out. He swallowed back a scream as he tossed the damn thing aside.

Giles was shouting the same Armenian phrase over and over again, as Ays attempted to fight it, but ultimately he couldn’t; the thing that was him, the red mist, was pulled into the pallidar like inhaled smoke. Something red began to glow in the heart of the slender blue pyramid, and while Angel’s first impulse was to smash the damn thing, he knew that would be counterproductive. Ays still had no body to hurt.

“Faith,” he said, turning his attention to her. He dropped to his knees, and instantly smelled blood. He had to brush her hair aside to see it, but her scalp must have been cut badly, as there was blood running down her face, making tendrils of her hair stick over her mouth like a gag. She was very unconscious, and yes, possibly more, although she was still breathing.

“How is she?” Giles asked, coming over. He was still holding the crystal, with glowed fiercely, as if the energy inside it was somehow agitated. It was.

“Hurt. She needs a hospital, now.”

He cast a quick glance over her injuries and nodded in agreement. There was a shadow in the archway, but it was only Brendan in his Brachen form, holding a hand to his left temple. Angel could smell the blood on him, as well as see it running down his face in little rivulets. “You know, the next time I get knocked out, someone could do me a favor and drag me t -” he paused as he saw Faith. “Oh shit. Is she gonna be okay?”

“She’s a Slayer,” Giles told him, which was both a “yes” and no answer at all.

“What about Ays?”

He briefly held up the pallidar, and Bren nodded in understanding, then winced at the pain of the gesture.

There was a funny noise across the room, a sort of breathless panting, and Finch struggled up to his feet, sweat dotting his pallid brow as he waved and nearly fell over a half a dozen times. His eyes were wild, big and completely bloodshot, and he made a high keening noise in his throat before he began to form actual words. “Not like you, not like you! Not weak, I am not weak, I am not mortal, you’re the monsters! You don’t belong here, this is my house - my house! - it is my blood, we can’t have my blood, it’s your blood, we need your blood! Yes, yes, all will die, all must die - I am not like you! You are cattle and I am a king -”

A shadow loomed behind Finch, and he was too drunk on pain and his own insanity to notice. He didn’t even seem aware of the hands grabbing his face from behind until the very last second, a solitary moment before Saddiq twisted sharply, and his neck snapped like so much rotting timber. Finch didn’t so much fall to the floor but sag, finally shuffling off the mortal coil that had, in all honesty, run out a very long time ago. He didn’t have to tell him to stay down this time.

“Are we done here?” Saddiq asked unemotionally, although there seemed to be a hint of steel in his voice.

Angel looked at Giles, wondering if this was going to be a problem. Ays demons usually left their victims hopelessly insane, and then the aging process caught up with them all at once - he was going to die, and die horribly, but there was a slight chance he could do some real damage before he expired. Angel had planned on killing him, but hadn’t told Giles, as he had no idea how he’d react to it. Yes, Finch was a Human monster even without his demon, but he didn’t know if that would be enough.

But Giles’s expression was flat, his eyes hooded, rendering him almost unreadable. After a tense moment, he replied, “Yes, I believe we are. Go get the car, would you? Drive it as close to the front door as you can. Brendan, go fetch a blanket.”

“For Faith?” he asked curiously, as Saddiq walked past him, following orders without question.

“For Angel. If you haven’t noticed, it’s sunny out there. We need to get him into the car without getting caught by the sun.”

“Ah.” Bren wandered off, still slightly dazed, but recovering as fast as his Brachen nature would let him.

As soon as they were alone with Faith, Angel shot him a quizzical look. They’d known each other long enough that he didn’t need to say it; the question was obvious. Giles met his gaze levelly, and said, “He was going to die anyways. Saddiq saved me the job of killing Finch myself.”

And he wasn’t lying either. Wow, Giles really had gotten hard core in his old age. Wesley probably would have told him it was about time.

Funny how the two Watchers would finally have something in common after all.