[Gunnwesley] Fic: Out in the Open 1/2

[Katarina Hjärpe]

TITLE: OUT IN THE OPEN
AUTHOR: Katta ( head_overheels@hotmail.com )
RATING: PG-13 (mostly for violence, some for slashiness)
DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable characters belong to Mutant Enemy and others, 
not to me. I mean no copyright infringement by writing this fic.
SERIES/SEQUEL: Sixth in my Birthdayverse series. Previous stories can be 
found at http://geocities.com/katta_hj/fanfic/Angel/ under "Birthdayverse".
RELEVANT EPISODES: "The Ring", "Birthday"
SUMMARY: The rescue of Angel and its aftermaths.



Wesley handed his ticket to the doorkeeper and stepped inside. Despite the 
large poster in the brothel, he'd had a hard time getting a ticket, and the 
final price had been atrocious. He could have had a night at the opera for 
the money he had spent on this reconnoitre mission. Of course, he didn't 
have the clothes for such entertainment, while here his appearance wasn't 
noticeably different from that of many other customers.

	As he pushed through the crowd towards the large ring, he found himself 
wishing for one particular thing commonly found at the opera: a pair of 
opera glasses. He could see the demons fighting in the ring. There was the 
gleam of metal at their wrists, and he'd heard of such devices, bracelets 
that could force them to stay inside the ring, but he couldn't get a closer 
look.

	One of the combatants, that Wesley identified as a remarkably bloody and 
beaten howler demon, started making the most unpleasant sound. Although a 
first-hand experience of this kind should probably be cherished, Wesley 
wished that it would shut up. Apparently its opponent had similar wishes, 
because before the howler demon could get in as much as a last blow, the 
larger demon grabbed its neck and broke it. The crowd cheered but Wesley 
winced, wondering if Angel was even alive anymore. He found an empty seat 
and sank down, his lips dry and his hand sweaty.

	The announcer started speaking, and Wesley immediately paid attention: 
"From this exhilarating experience, we venture straight into tonight's 
second game, featuring a new favourite – a crazy, fearless fighter still 
fresh from his first kill. Angel the Mad Dog vampire!"

	Wesley leaned forward. The words "first kill" made him concerned that maybe 
what stepped into the ring wouldn't really be Angel at all, but rather his 
evil counterpart. If that was the case, how would he be able to tell the 
difference?

	But once the vampire entered, Wesley had no more doubts. Angel was very 
different from his time in Sunnydale, muttering to himself and throwing 
strange glances at nowhere, but as peculiar as his behaviour was, Wesley 
could see no evidence of evil in his appearance. Only hurt and confusion.

	"What have they *done* to him?" Wesley breathed to himself.

	He had no time to contemplate the question further. Angel's opponent was 
announced as well, and the combat began.

	At first it was more of a slaughter than a fight. Angel barely moved when 
the first punches came, sagged a bit maybe, but seemed to have his attention 
elsewhere. After yet another punch he looked up at the red line above, and 
Wesley's heart skipped a beat. Touching a line while wearing a bracelet was 
lethal, but he wasn't sure that Angel in his current condition would 
understand that – or care if he did.

	"Come on, Angel." Wesley's voice was still barely more than a breath, but 
Angel's eyes moved from the red line out over the audience, and though he 
showed no recollection, the increased puzzlement on his face when he got to 
Wesley was promising.

	The announcer dropped two wooden staffs in the ring. They were both 
pointed, and would work excellently for staking a vampire. Angel ignored 
his, but the other demon seized one immediately and attacked. It was very 
clear that he was going for the killing blow. Only this time, Angel spun 
around just before the strike hit, grabbing the staff and wrenching it out 
of the other demon's hands. He proceeded to attack, but still seemed 
strangely absent from his actions, and it took a while before the audience 
realised that the tables had turned. Angel very clearly had the upper hand 
now.

	"He is quite a fighter after all," an amused female voice said behind 
Wesley. "Hard to believe when you talk to him – he's definitely gone nuts. 
Of course, I happen to think he always was."

	Wesley tensed, both from what he heard and what he saw. Angel had floored 
his opponent, and Wesley silently cheered on him with all his heart. But 
even the cruel sport below wasn't nearly as engaging as the conversation 
behind him, and he wished there could have been a way for him to turn around 
without making it obvious that he was listening in.

	"You've talked to him? Did you offer to get him out?"

	"To tell you the truth, I didn't see the point. He barely even registered 
me. Even if he managed to kill enough opponents to be set free, he'd be as 
mad as a hatter."

	"But Holland said…"

	"Twenty-one kills to get out. One or two matches per night. He won't even 
know the meaning of the words 'Wolfram and Hart', much less be able to cause 
any more problems for us."

	Wesley gasped, and then quickly clasped his mouth shut, hoping this 
carelessness would be written off as interest for the fight. It was quickly 
coming to an end, but even the view of Angel running the wooden staff up 
through stomach pit to shoulder blades, leaving it's point protruding 
bloodily out of the other demon's back, couldn't shock him more.

	Wolfram and Hart. The firm Anne referred to as her guardian angels. The 
people who had helped Chen Li out of prison. He couldn't make what he knew 
from the shelter fit this callous attitude, and he stood up, slightly dizzy, 
turning for the exit. He got a glimpse of the speaking woman, who was tall, 
slim and dark-haired, as well as her partner of conversation who was none of 
these things, and registered their faces.

	He needed to find out how those bracelets worked so he could get Angel out 
of this place. The lawyers could wait.

**********

	"Get out of my way," Angel growled. Someone was trying to use his head as a 
punchbag, which made it hard to concentrate, but he didn't take his eyes off 
Doyle.

	"Sorry, mate, no can do." Doyle gave a wide smirk, standing by the edge of 
the ring so Angel couldn't reach the red line. "See, I happen to love you. 
Meaning I don't want you to die. And that line? Very lethal. Of course, I 
don't have to tell you that."

	"I want to die. I don't want to kill anyone. I want to die."

	"Come on!" Doyle protested. "You're so close to help and you're just going 
to give up?"

	"Help?"

	"Help." Now Kate was the one standing by the red line, motioning towards 
the audience. "There was a one-armed man looking for you."

	Angel looked up at the audience. At first, he couldn't see what she was 
talking about, but then he spotted the one-armed man, sitting not too far 
from the ring. There was something familiar about him, but Angel couldn't 
figure out what.

	"I don't care. I want to die."

	"You do *not* want to evaporate." It was back to Doyle again, his face a 
lot sterner now. "It's not everything it's cut out to be. Trust me."

	Angel winced from the reminder, and then once again as Trepkos tried to hit 
him with a stick. Trepkos, that was the name of the demon who was fighting 
him, and he was a damn annoying one. Angel grabbed the stick and ripped it 
away.

	"Who's the one-armed man?" he asked Doyle. "Get Kate! I want to know who 
the one-armed man is!"

	"She doesn't know." Doyle's voice was disdainful.

	"Then who does? Do you know?"

	"I know who he is." Buffy. It was a long time since it had last been Buffy. 
Strange, really, seeing how she had been his whole life once. "He's a 
nobody. Unless you need someone to scream like a woman, you won't get any 
help from him."

	"You never were fair to him," Angel said. Trepkos was trying to attack 
again, and Angel had to put all his attention into the game, but it struck 
him that if he knew that much, he probably knew who the one-armed man was, 
too. But he didn't have the time to find out. He was struggling with an 
evil-doer – damn, the man was strong – and he had to bring him down fast.

**********

	Gunn stared silently at Wesley. Alonna, on the other hand, was more than 
willing to talk.

	"You don't even know that he's safe. And even if he was, how are you going 
to make sure he's the only one who escapes? If every demon there has to kill 
twenty-one to leave, we're talking about a pretty big supply. We have a hard 
enough time dealing with the demons that are already out there. Can you 
imagine what it would be like if we started messing with something this 
big?"

	"He's a good man," Wesley said, pained at the logic in Alonna's arguments. 
She'd have made a good Watcher.

	Gunn finally opened his mouth. "He's not a man at all, is he?"

	Despite the ominous silence, Wesley had hoped that Gunn could be persuaded 
to see things his way, but it appeared this was not the case. "Not 
technically, no..."

	"I'm not risking my neck for a vampire. I don't care if he comes with a 
halo and wings."

	Wesley gave Alonna a last pleading look. "I have to do this."

	"So do it," she said. "It's not like we can stop you."

	But they could, and rather efficiently at that. This wasn't something he 
could manage alone, and he knew that if they said no, that no went for the 
rest of the gang as well. Their attitude towards demons was simplistic to 
say the least, and he couldn't blame them – their only experience of demons 
was from combat situations, and even the long training and education of 
Watchers hadn't given the Council a more nuanced approached. But he knew 
Angel, and this was not right.

	It struck him that perhaps this was the time to call in a few favours, and 
he headed for the nearest bus station. The bus to the promenade slowed to a 
halt as he rounded the block, and he had to run the last few steps to catch 
it.

	The bus was half-empty, and apart from the stuffy and rather smelly air the 
ride was quite comfortable. Since he'd been forced to sell his bike, he had 
spent a lot of time on public transport, and knew how rare an occurrence it 
was for him to get enough space to think properly. And he definitely needed 
to think now.

	He'd been trained to think of the supernatural as something that should 
only be dealt with by experts, while the ordinary people were protected from 
it. Sunnydale had taught him differently, Gunn and Alonna even more so. But 
still, it was nothing to be taken lightly.

	He stepped off the bus and headed down the promenade, still in deep 
thoughts. He promply ignored salespeople and performers demanding his 
attention, although the girl playing three trumpets at a time did make him 
stop for a brief moment. In the crowd, it took him a good half hour before 
he managed to spot a small, black-clad figure bending itself into a pretzel.

	"Li," he said, stopping before the boy.

	"Oh, hi Wesley." Li's chin was pressed hard against his ankle, but he still 
managed to talk. "What's up?"

	"I need a favour, actually. Is there some place we can talk?"

	Li slowly untangled from the mess he had made of himself and rolled up on 
his feet. With a final chivalrous bow he picked up the beret he'd used to 
collect the money, and nodded towards Wesley. "No problem. I was longing for 
a break anyway."

	The promenade didn't permit for anything even resembling actual privacy, 
but they sat down on a bench by the waterfront, and Wesley told Li what he 
had told Gunn. He tried to phrase himself somewhat better this time, but 
wasn't the least bit sure that he succeeded.

	Li sat listening while Wesley argued, explained and persuaded. Finally he 
said, "So he's a vampire?"

	"Ah... yes," Wesley replied, thrown by the polite curiosity of Li's 
question. "But he has a soul."

	"You said." Li scrunched up his face, which was just as rubberlike as the 
rest of him. "How does that work?"

	"He was cursed by gypsies."

	"Wow." Li seemed to ponder that, and then shrugged. "Okay, then. What do 
you want me to do?"

	Wesley was dumbfounded, and it slowly dawned on him that the child was more 
innocent than he had thought. While Gunn might have done something like this 
regardless of the danger, Li didn't seem to understand that there was a 
danger.

	"After I have figured out how to work the bracelet, we'll go back to the 
fight club on a night when Angel is in the ring. Then on my command, I want 
you get into the ring, free Angel from his bracelet and get the two of you 
out of there as soon as possible. I'll be covering you."

	Li nodded. "Sounds reasonable."

	It was *not* reasonable. It was foolhardy and likely to go wrong, and if it 
did, Li would be the one paying for it, not Wesley. Li's failure to 
understand that made Wesley very concerned.

	"It will be very dangerous. You could get killed."

	"But it's for a good cause, right?" Li wasn't naturally equipped to appear 
wide-eyed, but the naivety in his voice was unmissable.

	This was preposterous. He'd have thought that Li was familiar with the 
demon world, but of course, a friendly arena like Madam Dorian's was quite 
unlike what they would be going up against now. Furthermore, and probably 
more important, Li was still enough of a child to think himself immortal. 
Though his life had certainly been far from easy, he'd probably never faced 
death first-hand, and Wesley certainly wasn't the one to introduce him to 
it. Not in this fashion, in any case. Wesley had to find another way, 
perhaps try to persuade Gunn once again, or make the attempt on his own.

	"Very well then," he said, managing to smile even though his face felt like 
dried plaster. "I appreciate your help. Mind if we start right away?"

**********

	Madame Dorian gave Wesley and Li a very friendly greeting, but when she 
heard why they were there her eyebrows flew up and she hurried to pull 
Wesley into her office.

	"I don't think you should take the boy to that place," she said. "It's bad 
enough for adults."

There was a certain irony about a woman in her position saying something 
like that. "You don't seem to object to having minors *here*," Wesley 
snapped, already feeling guilty and lashing out on instinct.'

	"It's not the same." Madam Dorian scowled hard and walked up to a small 
table, pushing the vase standing on it a few inches. Evidently that didn't 
please her either, because she pushed it back right away. "That's simply 
business between consenting people who happen to be of separate species. I 
don't deal in slavery."

	"If you don't mind me saying so," Wesley said, trying to keep control of 
his anger, "sponsoring slavery is also a form of 'dealing' in it."

	She kept fidgeting with that vase, clearly not satisfied no matter how she 
placed it. "It's a legal thing. And also, I might add, none of your 
business."

	Wesley felt his body go numb. "Legal as in Wolfram and Hart?"

	Madam Dorian finally took her full attention off the vase. "They're 
excellent lawyers. Naturally, their price is somewhat high."

	Wesley looked straight into her eyes. "I'm afraid it's absolutely essential 
that Chen Li goes to the fight club in my company, on a night when Angel is 
fighting."

	Madam Dorian stared at him for a moment, and something in her edginess 
hardened. It surprised him when she nodded curtly. "Of course. I'll arrange 
for your tickets right away."

	"There's another thing." He was pressing his luck with this, but he had to 
ask. "Those bracelets – do you know how they open?"

	"No, I don't." The answer came quickly, but not too quickly. She was most 
likely telling the truth.

	"Then, do you know where to get one?"

	Her nod was almost invisible, as if even here they couldn't speak openly, 
but it was there.

**********

	Once again, Wesley took a seat near the ring of the fight club. Li was by 
his side, looking in every direction, in no way resembling anything but a 
curious boy on his first visit to a special event. Even Wesley had to look 
hard to find the bulk of a rope under Li's jacket, despite the large metal 
hook he knew was tied to it. His own gun felt much more obtrusive, and he 
had been certain that the guard outside would stop him – but no such thing 
had happened.

	He looked down at his ticket. It only offered basic information about the 
night's game, but he felt oddly comforted by Madam Dorian's sponsor ad on 
the reverse. She could have betrayed him if she had wanted to, and yet he 
was certain she wouldn't. And certainty was something he had too little of.

	Li was currently leaning backwards in a way that had to strain his muscles 
ferociously, but Wesley turned his attention to the ring, knowing from last 
time that the fighters would soon be called out. He could see the announcer 
slouching against the wall, presumably waiting for everyone to sit down. 
Eventually, the hall went somewhat quiet. The announcer straightened his 
back – and Wesley straightened his, tugging at Li's jacket to make him pay 
attention.

	"Ladies and gentlemen, for the third time tonight..."

	Wesley didn't listen to the morbid praise the announcer rattled off, but he 
listened for the name "Angel". When he heard it and soon after saw the 
vampire step into the ring, he gave Li a hard shove in the back, whispering, 
"Now!"

	Wesley had seen Li in action twice before but was still surprised at the 
ease with which the boy hooked the rope onto the wall and jumped down. If 
Angel felt any surprise at seeing the small figure land before his feet, he 
didn't show it. Instead, he stood perfectly still while Li brought up the 
small key and released him from the bracelet.

	He was the only one. People had started to rise from their seats, and the 
announcer was reaching for his inner pocket. Wesley took forth his gun and 
fired. Perhaps it wasn't a weapon the man had reached for, but there was no 
time to find that out.

	The second demon had already entered the ring, and Wesley prepared to fire 
again, only to see Angel pull Li behind himself and slug the demon. The blow 
was only enough to stun, not to kill, but it gave Angel and Li some respite, 
and Wesley a chance to turn his gun towards the crowd. He neither could nor 
would kill them alll, but the threat of the weapon kept people back in case 
someone would try an act of heroism.

	A thud behind him very nearly made him bite his tongue off, until he heard 
Angel say, "Oh, there you are," as if this had somehow been expected. Apart 
from the odd comment, he seemed more collected than last time, and Wesley 
was entirely grateful, seeing how guards were beginning to draw closer. 
There were still too many people in the crowd for a clear shot, but that was 
likely to change.

	"One one-armed man to go," Li said, sounding somewhat out of breath. "To go 
*fast*, I hope!"

	That was when one of the guards fired his first shot. Wesley fired back and 
turned to Angel: "Cover us!" It was hardly fair to ask the vampire to take 
the bullets, but at least it wouldn't kill him. And a large proportion of 
the crowd was now beginning to panic. Although the mass of human bodies kept 
their distance to the vamped-out Angel, there were still enough of them to 
stop the guards from getting a clean shot.

	The three of them were almost by the door when a shriek was heard from 
within the hall and the pushings of the crowd became even stronger. Wesley 
filled with a ghastly suspicion, but he had to dispose of the doorman before 
he could turn to Li and ask, "What did you do with the key?"

	The boy was considerably pale as he replied, "I... I think I left it on the 
floor..."

	They got out the door and headed for the car. Wesley let a noticeably 
shaking Li into the driver's seat before hurrying to join Angel in the back. 
He was shaking himself. What was supposed to be a rescue mission of one 
vampire with a soul had turned into the release of bloodthirsty demons. The 
best case scenario was that the demon in the ring had taken the key with 
him. The worst case scenario...

	The worst case scenario would have to wait. The immediate disaster seemed 
to be over. There were no cars following them, and although Angel was full 
of bleeding bullet holes, it didn't seem to slow him down any, and there 
were still hours left before sunrise.

	"How can he be the one-armed man?" Angel asked.

	Wesley blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

	"Of course I remember him. We met in Sunnydale. But he wasn't one-armed 
then."

	"He was talking like that before, too," Li said, looking at the two of them 
- well, Wesley anyway, and the void where Angel was - in the rear view 
mirror. He was still shaking badly. "Asking for the one-armed man."

	"I was hurt by a Kungai demon," Wesley told Angel, wondering if this was 
what the vampire wanted to know.

	"Shut up, that's not funny!" Angel snapped. He leaned in against Wesley in 
a conspiratorial manner, whispering, "How did Doyle know about you?"

	"Is Doyle the police woman?" Wesley tried to put the pieces of the puzzle 
together. He *thought* that last comment had been aimed at him, but it was 
hard to tell.

	"Kate! You're right, it was Kate! Doyle just spoke of help."

	"Was Doyle one of the demons?"

	"Only the half that didn't matter."

	That didn't seem like much of an answer, and perhaps it wasn't one, either. 
Wesley stopped trying to make sense of Angel's talking and focused on Li, 
who was shaking even worse now.

	"Li, are you all right?"

	"He's bleeding."

	Wesley didn't know what made him so sure this comment wasn't just more 
crazy talk from Angel, but he leaned forward between the front seats and 
pulled the brakes before piling out of the car as fast as he could. When he 
opened the driver's door, he noticed for the first time the cramping grip Li 
had on the steering wheel, as if letting go would make him fall. On a closer 
look, he saw dark red blood seeping out from under Li's black jacket.

	"Good Lord!" Wesley leaned in closer and found the bullet hole in the 
jacket, and after lifting up both that and the shirt he saw the wound 
itself. Fortunately, it didn't seem deep, and the blood was seeping, not 
gushing. "Why didn't you tell me?"

	"Didn't think it was too bad," Li said, his teeth clattering. "Don't know 
why I'm shaking."

	"You're in shock, that's why." Wesley hauled Li out of the front seat as 
cautiously as he could, which wasn't very, and he got a low moan in 
response.

	"It's dark and pure," Angel said from the back seat. "He'll be okay."

	"Yes, but he can't *drive*. Would you..." But if Angel was only half sane, 
letting him drive would be a decidedly bad idea as well. Should he call an 
ambulance? Angel's appearance would be *very* hard to explain. "...please 
look out for him while I drive to the shelter?"

	Li sat down by Angel in the back seat without arguing. All he said was, 
"Anne will be mad at us, huh?"

	"Of course not," Wesley said, shutting the back door and sitting down in 
the driver's seat. How the hell was he supposed to manage this one-handed? 
He muttered to himself, "Though it's quite possible that Anne will be mad at 
*me*."

**********


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