Ceremonies of Innocence

by Persephone

Angel, had he been human, would have been holding his breath as those three words left his lips. "I'm a vampire."

There was a moment of complete and utter silence. Then the human girl started shaking--at first, he thought it was in fear but then she started giggling. Peal upon peal of laughter issued from her. He didn't fail to miss the more than slight edge of disbelief there.

He sighed, "I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

Cat was too busy laughing to reply though he would give her credit for trying. Tiny squeaks escaped from her hand-covered mouth.

"It isn't that funny," Angel replied annoyed. It bothered him that he was being so open with this girl only to have it taken as a jest

But then, how should she react to his little declaration? With complete belief and trust? Not after what she had glimpsed. Her use of the word 'tannasaq' could be applied to a human as well as any supernatural creature--both could get their kicks out of death.

"Ye're right," Cat agreed, all traces of laughter fleeing from her voice, "It's not funny. It's sad, bordering on pathetic."

"I'm sensing you don't believe me here."

"Got it in one," she leaned closer, as close as she could get without her skin crawling, "I believe it's long past medication time for ye, Angel. "

She spun around on her heel, damning those instincts that urged her to stay, to hear him out and trust him. How could you trust someone like him? Someone who's mind was like walking through Jack the Ripper's fun house and who claimed to be a *vampire* of all things. The answer was simple: you couldn't. And you didn't if you knew what was good for you.

"Catriona."

She slowed, swinging back around as if she were being pulled. The old saying about there being power in names flitted her head for no good reason. Right now, she wished she hadn't even come back in search of him much less given him her name. However, it was too late to cry over that spilt milk now.

Angel skirted around the table, stopping just a few feet away from her, "I'm not crazy," he said earnestly.

Cat refused to adhere to the weakening she felt in her anger. "No, ye're a vampire, is that it?"

"Yes."

"In what sense are we talking about here? Renfield's syndrome?" She asked, almost hopeful. As a psychology major, that was actually something she could deal with. At least it would mean that Angel was mentally disturbed and not responsible for his actions. That would allow her to feel some sympathy for him. Hell, it would even explain the preoccupation with blood she had sensed in him.

"No."

"Oh, so ye're a vampire in the Bram Stoker sense. Or would Anne Rice be more update and correct these days?" she replied sarcastically.

"In a sense," Angel answered.

"In what sense is that?"

"In the sense that I turn into smoldering pile of carbon in direct sunlight, I'm immortal, and I drink blood."

"No," she shook her head in denial, "Sorry, I don't buy it. Ye should have tried ta pick up some Goth chick who would love ta buy inta yer dark little Grimm fairy tale. Blood is really not a turn on for me. I'm sure ye understand."

This time she didn't give him the time or chance to call out to her. Rapidly pushing her way through the crowd, Cat headed for the mall's exit. Once she was clear of prying eyes, she fully intended on teleporting back to Scotland as soon as possible. As she neared the escalator leading to the ground level and the parking area, she faltered a step, assailed by a mental buzz that was extremely similar to Angel's psychic signature. In fact, she thought it was him following her at first but the she realized something. There was a sharp difference in the feel of this mind and that of Angel's. This mind had all the darkness and sense of evil she had empathically sensed in Angel but none of the redeeming feelings of guilt, of remorse. There was only a vast, raging hunger to be sensed. She scanned the area until she finally decided on the source. It wasn't that hard, especially in lieu of the fact he was staring straight at her. She took him in as a series of images-- young, probably seventeen or so, brown spiky hair, and a lot of leather.

'Great, they're multiplying,' she groaned. 'What, is it the full moon or something?'

Her instincts told her to run. She could agree with that assessment. What she couldn't deal with was that they were screaming at her to run *back* to Angel. She opted for her original plan, only with increased speed.

***

Angel wasn't sure why he was following her or why he felt he had to convince her of the truth of his words. In a way, he had gotten off easy. She hadn't believed him and had run off instead of making a scene that he would just as soon avoid. Then again, what could she claim? That she had psychically glimpsed his murderous past? Yeah, the mall security would really buy that. More than likely, they would put her in the psych ward as soon as she got it out of her mouth. 'Which,' he reflected pragmatically, 'was probably why she hadn't made a scene.' Cat struck him as being smart enough to realize that.

Still, the knowledge she had now was dangerous. Not just for him, but for her as well. Besides, with all that psionic energy, she was a walking billboard for his kind. That kind of power only served to make the draining process more delectable since vampires fed off of emotions as well as the blood. With London rapidly becoming supernaturally active enough to draw both Buffy and Giles here, it wouldn't be long before some preternatural creature, be it vampire or something else stumbled upon her. And he didn't want to think about what would happen then. Correction, he didn't have to think about it. He knew from past experience what would happen.

He followed the red glint of her hair, nearly losing her in the crush of people. She reached the escalator before he did and was well on her way downstairs when he reached the mouth of it. From his vantage point, he was able to follow her progress and ascertain where she was heading. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the man following her, trying to be 'oh, so casual' about it and not succeeding in his eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was. Not when Angel could feel the aura that was the tell-tale signature of his kind.

'Damn,' he swore, thrusting his way down the moving stairs. Praying he got to Cat before she became the soup of the evening.

***

Okay, she was beginning to get a serious case of the creeps.

Cat clenched and unclenched her fists as she hurried through an another aisle of cars. The underground parking garage was silent but she knew he was there. Following her, stalking her, just at her back. Several times, she had turned around in fear of being surprised only to find nothing. Each stutter of the light fixtures made her freeze. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped down here in the dark with whoever it was following her. There was no way she could teleport. Not with tiny black cameras in the corners of the walls recording her every move.

She was beginning to realize that coming down to a near empty parking garage was perhaps not the brightest thing she had ever done. Or could have done.

Slipping behind one of the concrete pillars, Cat held her breath and made herself as still as possible. Although Tomorrow People were unable to kill, she could inflict enough damage on her pursuer to make him wish she had killed him. And there was no way she was going to lay down and die like a lamb to the slaughter. 'No sense in wasting all that training in Twae Kwan Do that Conner paid for,' she thought rather grimly. 'Or all that 'repressed' anger the shrinks tell me I have.'

A shadow crossed the floor and she didn't even think. She reacted. With a low roundhouse kick, she knocked the person off their feet before fluidly rising into battle stance. Her eyes widened.

"You know," Angel said with a long-suffering note in his voice, "I sort of miss the good old days when all girls did was scream a lot and ask stupid questions. It was a lot less painful--for me."

"Angel! Oh my goodness. Here let me help you," She extended a hand out to help him up. Cat was so happy to see him that she momentarily forget why she had run off in the first place

He pulled himself to his feet, looking a little surprised. 'Probably thinks I'm a little crazy or something,' she realized. It was just that Angel seemed to be the lesser of two evils at the moment. She wasn't thrilled with what she had learned about him but she didn't sense any malevolent intentions from him. 'Okay, let's try going with my instincts and see what happens. After all, how could things get any worse? '

Her eyes narrowed. If Angel was here then where was...

Cat felt herself fall forward as something broadsided her from behind. Unfortunately, she was close enough to Angel that she fell on top of him. "This is awkward," she muttered. Even she heard the edge of hysteria in that statement.

'This is so not the time ta wig out,' she barked at herself, making herself get up. 'God, dinna be such a girlie girl. Ye've dealt with Immortals and mad Watchers, what could possibly top that?'

She turned, felt her knees go weak and give way from under her as she stared into the face of death. Her throat tightened, unable to even form a scream as two cold, yellow eyes bored into hers.

It was the boy she had glimpsed before. Only, only his face was contorted into a horrible parody of a human face. The cold sneer she saw there made her blood run cold and the fangs that brushed his upper lip made Angel's earlier words hit home.

I'm a vampire...

Vampires were real, did indeed exist. It was too much to take in all at once. And now was really not the time to deal with it. Not with every instinct in her body screaming at her to run. Scrambling to her feet, she got not more than two steps before something seized her by the hair and drug her back.

'Note ta self,' she thought weakly, 'cut my hair ASAP--provided I get the chance.'

The feel of breath against her neck made her flesh ripple and she couldn't help but cry out. Visions of really bad horror movies danced through her head. She was going to end up as the stupid, helpless sheep who got slaughtered and there didn't seem to be a damned thing she could do about it.

The hell there wasn't. She struggled, kicking and lashing out with feet and arms as hard as she could manage. All that earned her was a really smashing blow to the face. Reeling, she felt herself being pulled closer to a body that was unnaturally cold. Then she fell again, the grip on her hair loosened, then lost. She rolled away, scuttling as far into the shadows as she could. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black clad blur barrel into the vampire.

Angel.

As the young vampire attempted to sink his fangs into Angel's arm, her would be rescuer snapped his head back with a punch to the creature's face that sent him backward. On a human that move would have killed or seriously injured a person. The young vampire simply shook his head, growling as he swung a blow towards Angel's breadbasket. Angel caught it but failed to see the switchblade the vampire produced from seemingly nowhere. It caught him across the abdomen, causing him to double over. The vampire then kicked him into a wall. There was a sickening thud as he slid to the floor.

"Angel," her voice was shrill. 'Oh, please dinna be dead,' she prayed, 'not because of me.'

Apparently satisfied that he had vanquished his opponent, the teenage vampire turned his attention back to her. She wanted to retch at the ravenous expression she read in his eyes. She could all but see herself with an apple in her mouth and spread out like some kind of butchered ham. 'Great imagery,' she castigated herself. As he advanced on her, she fell into stance and delivered a blow aimed at his neck--something she sincerely hoped would make him have second thoughts about biting her own. He caught her arm, absorbing the blow as if it were nothing at all. She winced as he cruelly twisted her arm back with one hand, using the other to bare her vulnerable neck.

'I am so dead,' she thought bleakly.

A low snarl of rage and pain caught the attention of both vampire and human girl. Angel was slowly rising from the floor, face twisted into an animalistic sneer. Wide-eyed, Cat scarcely noticed the other vampire releasing her, backing away in obvious dread of the dragon he had awakened. All she could do was stare at Angel in a mixture of horror and disbelief.

I'm a vampire.

More than that--he was a bloody angry vampire, she recognized. So did the other vampire. He was moving cautiously, eyes glued to Angel as he kept backpedaling. Angel stalked him, obviously toying with him as he made a few rapid darts and dodges towards him. He showed no signs of pain though Cat could see the blood continuing to seep through his white shirt. She made sure she was well out of his path though couldn't help but trail him in concern as he backed the other vampire further and further into the shadows of the garage.

Suddenly, he launched himself at the teenage vampire with all the grace of a panther. For a second, he almost seemed to hang in mid- air before he caught the other vampire, one hand closing around the hand holding the switchblade. She heard the crack of bones and a howl as Angel wrenched his wrist. There was a clattering. The switchblade, she guessed. Cat watched as Angel reached one hand into the folds of his jacket whilst holding the squirming vampire and producing a long, sharply pointed stick.

A stake, she realized, remembering the legends surrounding vampires. And she had a pretty good notion of what he was going to do with it.

He didn't disappoint her. The stake rose and struck its target swiftly. A soft moan. Then the vampire in Angel's grasp exploded into dust.

Angel stood with his back to her for a long moment, then swayed in obvious weakness. She didn't question the emotion that sent her bounding to catch him from falling. Ducking under his arm, she staggered trying to hold him up. He tried to remove himself from her grasp. Cat held tight, commanding in irritation, "Stop that."

He subsided and she helped him lean back into a sitting position against the wall. Then she pulled at his jacket. He caught her hand, causing her to glance up. Much to her relief, the animalistic visage had disappeared, and he was human once more. Correction, he looked human once more--they both knew he was more than that.

He stared at her and she flinched at the coldness she read in his dark eyes. Then she squared her shoulders, "Ye're injured and unless ye like bleeding all o'er the floor, ye'd better let me have a look."

His jaw tightened, but he didn't say anything. Nor did he release his death-grip on her hand. Instead, his eyes continued to bore into hers. The pain and self-loathing she read there made her feel a wave of sympathy for him. Obviously, he didn't like his current undead state and was uncomfortable about her having witnessed what she just had.

"It doesna matter," she said quietly. And it didn't; what did matter was that he had saved her life.

"Doesn't it?" There was more bitterness in those two words than in anything she had ever heard.

"Not ta me," Cat shook her head.

"Then you're a fool."

Instead of being offended by that, she actually felt a small smile spread across her face, "Aye, well. 'Tis no' the first time I've been called such and I verra much doubt it will be the last."

"This isn't a laughing matter," he snapped.

"Of course it's not. But then neither is bleeding ta death," she replied sarcastically, then paused. 'Can vampires bleed to death?,' she wondered. "Um, Angel?"

"What?"

"I would really appreciated ye letting my arm go. I'm starting ta lose feeling there." She wiggled the fingers of her captured arm at him.

Surprise crossed his face. Evidently, a few things had slipped his mind. She sighed in relief as he released her, a sensation of pins and needles creeping up her arm as she massaged life back into it.

"Thanks. Now, I am going ta take a look at that cut. One way or another, whether ye like it or not. Should ye feel the urge to grip something, I have a hand here ye can hold. All right?" Cat asked.

Angel regarded her silently. "And what if I don't want you to."

"It would seem ta me, that there's not much ye can do to stop me at the moment. Being injured and all," the Tomorrow Person retorted, "Dinna be difficult."

"I can stop you."

She froze at those words, the threat implicit in them. Cat had no problem recognizing the truth in those words. Even weakened as he obviously was, Angel could stop her--probably with a hell of a lot more ease than he had dealt with the other vampire. It was an unsettling thought.

Finding her voice, Cat forced a hollow laugh, " 'Twould be a waste, do ye not think? Ye going ta all that trouble ta save me only ta...ta ..." She fumbled for the words.

Angel exhaled heavily, his dark head falling back to softly thud against the wall. "You don't give up, do you?"

"No. Not on the important things," she replied honestly.

There was no reply to that. Hesitantly, she turned back to his injury, one hand hovering over his bloodied shirt uncertainly before slipping a few of the lower buttons undone. She darted her eyes at him nervously. His dark eyes were nearly black as they stared the sputtering light above their heads. 'That's as good a 'go ahead' as I'm likely ta get,' she realized.

Lifting the now scarlet dyed cloth gently aside, Cat winced at the depth and the size of the cut. 'This is bad,' she thought, running the tip of her finger around the upper edge of the damaged flesh, feeling the muscles of his abdomen ripple under her touch.

"Ye need a doctor," she said at length.

"I'm dead," Angel replied derisively, "Don't you think that might be a little suspect?"

"Oh," she hadn't thought of that. "Will it heal?"

"Eventually," he replied evenly.

"Eventually," she repeated. So vampires could heal despite the fact that they were supposed to be little more than animated corpses. Cat filed that fact away from future reference. "Well, in the meantime, we should probably get ye somewhere and bandaged up. Um, where exactly do ye live?"

"I can find my own way home," he protested, "It isn't necessary for you to escort me."

"Oh, I think it is. Ye can barely stand, much less walk ta wherever it is ye live. Ye could, of course, take a cab," she admitted practically, "But then the blood would be hard ta explain, do ye no' think? So would passing out during the ride--could ye imagine what would happen if the cab driver were ta take yer pulse?"

She crossed her arms and leveled a knowing gaze at him. Waiting.

His lips thinned in displeasure, but didn't dispute her words. "I can manage."

"For God's sake, Angel!," she lost her temper completely. All the fear of this evening came crashing back, fueling her anger, and it was all she could do not to scream in his face. "This is no time for a male ego. Take help when it's offered. Besides, it's not likely I could harm ye, now could I? Not when ye're three times as strong as me."

"You'd be surprised," he replied with some irony, but she noticed he was studying her. He closed his eyes with a sigh, "Help me up."

"Angel--" She was fully prepared to argue him down.

"Or were you planning on carrying me back home?" he cracked his lids.

Cat blinked. Oh. Oh, she started, realizing that Angel had just given in. Before he could change his mind, she slid an arm around him and carefully helped him to his feet. He groaned and she felt guilty. He really didn't need to be walking right now. Even if he was a vampire, even if he would heal, it was still going to hurt like hell for him to move around. More than likely, he was going to be very, very sore tomorrow.

She could save him that pain. Casting a veiled glance at the wall camera, she considered taking Angel outside, maybe finding somewhere secluded, and teleporting them to his place. It would save him some pain and after so badly misjudging him, Cat was eager to make amends. However, there was one small problem: it wasn't just her secret she would be giving away. It would affect the others as well. As much as she might want to trust Angel, she had no right making this decision without talking it over with them first. And then there was the fact that she would have to explain about Angel. That wasn't something she was sure she wanted to deal with. Or wanted to. She had the distinct feeling that Adam would not be pleased about revealing their secret to a vampire--not with his strong aversion to any kind of violence. And vampires ... well, if vampires, if the legends held true, lived off death. No, Adam would not be pleased--she wasn't sure that she was all that happy with this situation at the moment. Vampires and Tomorrow People--it seemed like a paradox. Like life and death, matter and anti-matter. Still, she felt that she could trust him and not trusting her instincts had gotten her into this mess in the first place.

She owed him that much. Owed him more than that--she owed him her life.

And she fully intended to start making up that debt as soon as possible.

"So, Angel," Cat asked casually, "What sort of digs do vampires have? Anne Rice mansions or horror story crypts?"

To her delight, he rewarded her with a painful chuckle and a slight smile. 'There that wasna so hard, now was it?' she thought. 'Not quite as closed off as ye'd like to believe, are ye, Angel?' Her smile faded. 'Maybe 'tis something we both have in common.'

'Don't go there,' she warned herself. It was not something she could share. Not something she felt anyone could understand. Some things were better left dead, she knew, and the past was one of them.

Unfortunately, the past had an unamusing way of coming back to haunt you.

She should know better than anyone.

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