December 13, 2004

Hyperion,

11.49am

"Hello, Angel Investigations..We help the hopeless?"

"Yes?"

"Yes?"

"Oh my God! YES! ANGEL!"

Shrieking in delight, Joyce waved the phone around her head as she jumped up and down on the spot. Tears streaming down her face, the excited woman continued to scream for Angel to come to the phone. Footsteps clattering towards her, Joyce shrieked into the phone again as both Riley and Graham came running from the kitchen.

"Joyce..are you alright? What's the matter?"

Heart beating a mile a minute, Riley stared as his former lover's mother as she continued to call for Angel.

"You have Doyle with you...Francis Doyle? Doyle who is a charming Irishman with dark hair and green eyes?"

"Your not sure about the green eyes...he does have black hair doesn't he? Oh my God! I can't believe it!"

Once again the tall blond male asked if the older woman was alright, only to be gestured at to be quiet for the moment. With a glance at an equally worried Graham, the two ex-soldiers waited until all would be explained.

"Thank you..thank you so much, you have *no* idea of how happy this makes us all. Sorry, what was that again?...Oh, your address, how silly of me...of course!"

Pen snatched from the scratched desk, Joyce made sure she wrote down the address correctly, reading it out for the caller a few times before making her final good byes.

"Thanks once again, may God bless you for this....what? No..no Cordelia isn't here at the moment but I'll make sure to give her the message when she gets back...Goodbye!"

"God bless you? What was that about?"

Wiping hastily at her still watering eyes, the sobbing woman sniffled a huge smile at the two puzzled men.

"That was Samuel Lapp on the phone. He says that a Doyle Francis is staying with him at the moment"

"Ah..don't you mean Francis Doyle?"

Graham easily dodged the oncoming slap that was aimed for his upper arm, allowing himself a broad grin at what was quite possibly the best news he had heard since the Magic Box incident. It was great news. It meant that they were a step closer to finding the rest of the missing friends. Even with the PTB inspired help from Drusilla, the newly established L.A. team had been unable to make any progress in their search.

"Smartarse! You know what I mean. Apparently, Francis is in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. That's why I told Mr Lapp that God would bless him"

"Uhhhh, why?"

The smaller soldier was unable to deflect the light punch from his friend, the chuckling from his two friends continuing to puzzle him.

"Lancaster County...you know 'Witness'?....Pennsylvania Dutch...not ringing any bells? No...Jesus, Graham - Surely even you have heard of the Amish?"

"Your shitting me right?"

"And we have a winner!"

Muttering that his best friend was an assehole at times, Graham found that he had to sit down. A few steps forward and he sat heavily on Joyce's desk, scattering some of the loose sheets of paper from the desktop. His smile grew wider as he watched Joyce finish hugging Riley. As the woman flew towards him, he stood up and gathered the smaller woman into his arms, neither of them noticing as Riley ran towards the hotel's main staircase. Without thinking he lowered his head, giving Joyce a lingering kiss on her lips, pleased when he felt a warm tongue edge its way into his mouth. Graham could taste vanilla and strawberries interlaced with camomile tea. It was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted and he knew that nothing would ever be able to take its place. Clasping the soft warm body closer to him, he felt the first stirrings of his cock as Joyce obligingly moulded her body next to his.

Finally the need to breathe got too much for them, both pulling away slowly, Joyce's tongue giving Graham's lips one last light lick. The blush exploded over the soldier's face and clearing his throat, he let his arms drop from around Joyce's waist.

"You do know where you have your hands now don't you?"

With a squeak and a deeper blush, Graham instantly took his hands off the older woman's buttocks only to be both shocked but pleased when Joyce deliberaetly replaced them and held them firmly in place. Unsuccessfully, the suddenly shy man tried to apologise for his actions, Joyce cutting him off in mid-speech.

"I like you Graham Miller...A lot. Don't apologise, if I didn't like it, I would have twisted your nuts by now...don't you worry, my daughter made sure that I was well prepared for the modern dating world when I told her that I was thinking of dating again"

"Ahhh! Nothing like having a Slayer to give you dating tips, huh?"

Both smiling at each other softly, they stood in the comfortable position even as they heard an excited Riley and a still sleepy Angel come towards them. Joyce tore herself from the comforting clasp with a tiny feeling of reluctance to envelop the yawning vampire in a hard hug.

"So, what's up then?"

"You mean Riley didn't tell you?"

"Well obviously not if I'm asking?"

Refusing to let the vampire's crankiness get to her, Joyce felt the tears start again as she told Angel about the phone call. Angel stood stock still for a moment, letting his brain process the new information. Finally, after all this time, something had gone their way. The vampire felt his legs wobble and with Joyce's guidance, he sat on her desk in the spot that Graham had so recently vacated. Like the smaller soldier, Angel asked if the human woman was serious about the Amish being involved.

"Yes I am, I don't think Mr Lapp has even used a phone before, I mean, he was yelling into the phone and speaking so slowly, I thought he was a bit..you know...*special* until he told me where he was calling from"

"What the hell is Doyle doing all the way in Pennsylvania, and Lancaster County in particular?"

"Who knows? But I can book a plane for you as soon as you give me your credit card"

In a daze, Angel pulled out his wallet, passing it to Joyce without question. His friend had been found. Doyle was coming home. He joined in the excited chatter with the two ex-soldiers as they all listened to Joyce make travel arrangements for the vampire.

"Angel, which one do you prefer...Philadelphia or Baltimore? Both are less than two hours drive from Lancaster County"

"Whichever Joyce, just book me on the first one after sunset"

"OK, Baltimore it is then"

Making the final arrangements for a plane leaving L.A. at half an hour past the estimated sunset, the woman asked for a rental car with extra dark window tinting be available for the vampire at Baltimore airport. Lincoln chosen for the large trunk space just in case Angel found himself out in the open during daylight hours, she reeled off the Mastercard no. from memory, only looking at the card for the expiry date. A small thing but she could never remember it. Details gone over once again, Joyce confirmed that all were correct before hanging up. Computer switched on, she joined in the happy gossip while waiting for the hard drive to warm up.

"Do you want me to go and tell Wesley? This is going to be such good new for him, God only knows how much progress he's going to make once he hears this...just imagine how he'll be after a visit from Doyle?"

"Yeah..yeah I would. Thanks Riley, I appreciate it. I know you all still think that I'm making a mistake allowing Wesley to stay in the hospital but please bear with me, OK?"

At the suddenly serious looks on his three friends' faces, Angel knew that today was the day something else was going to be delivered from his still missing Childe. All were hoping that it wasn't going to be too bad for the bleached blond. The vampire was ringing the hospital morning and night, enquiring about his lover's health. So far it had been pretty good news. Wesley's confused state of mind and personality change had been put down to a clash between the anti-rejection drugs for his tongue, mild prescription anti-depressants and a concoction of Xander's left over herbal stress release tablets. Angel had been informed that if taken separately, all the tablets had the ability to do a lot of good but when taken together and in such large unsupervised amounts, the clashing side-effects were patently obvious.

Anne, the hospital therapist assigned to Wesley, had been pleased to discover such a simple solution to a major problem, but wanted the malnourished man to stay in hospital until all traces of the herbal tablets left his system and Wesley had put some weight on. The only real problem left was the ex-watcher's almost non-existent self esteem and inability to speak properly. With speech counselling, Anne was confident that Wesley would be speaking close to normal eventually, the distorted image of self-worth however, was going to take longer.

At the nods from his friends, the vampire sighed in relief that there would be no arguments just yet. With a small smile, he asked Joyce to pack a bag with some of Doyle's clothes and toiletries, giving the smaller woman a brief peck on the cheek as she passed him. Turning his attention back to the two ex-soldiers, he asked them if they would be able to handle their mysterious employer's requests if they got a phone call.

"Yeah Angel, you know we can handle it. This is such good news...the others won't be far away now"

His grin getting larger as Graham echoed Riley's sentiments, the three men were distracted from their happy thoughts as the phone rang. Crossing over to the hotels front counter, Angel absently scratched at his inner elbow. Intent on getting the opening spiel right for once, the vampire didn't take any notice as his sleeve rode up while scratching, baring his track marked skin to the horrified ex-soldiers.

With a look between them, Riley and Graham made their way into the kitchen, Riley miming a 'drinking' motion at Angel. A shake of his head, Angel concentrated getting the details of a paying client.

*****
Part 14:

December 13, 2004

Hyperion,

7.18pm

With one arm wrapped around Wesley's waist, Riley helped the exhausted man up the Hyperion's main flight of stairs, Joyce trailing a few steps behind them. Pausing for a few moments at the top of the first flight of stairs, Wesley nodded for them to continue forward. Shown into his old room, the ex-watcher silently mouthed his thanks to Joyce for getting all the destroyed furniture and soiled linen cleared away. Deposited on a bed that replaced his own broken and battered one complete with clean sheets and blankets, the weary man sighed as he was once again home.

With a wave at the two hovering friends, he indicated for them to go as he rested before attempting to undress.

"Would you like a cup of tea, something to eat? One of your milkshakes maybe?"

"No thanths Joysh..but tiwrd...mihiit shweep"

"No thanks Joyce..bit tired...might sleep"

Resisting the urge to give a nervous giggle as she echoed Wesley's words in a perfect pitch and accent, she did however give in to the next temptation and gave the tired man a quick peck on the cheek. Riley's arm clutched, she steered them both out of the room, closing the door behind them so Wesley had some privacy.

Fingers shaking as he fumbled with his shirt buttons, Wesley debated with himself as to whether it was worth getting undressed. It had been a long day for them all, Wesley in particular. As he thought back to the day's events, he was sure that he was going to sleep for the next week or so. The morning had been annoying, he had been subjected to a therapy session with Anne. There had been no escape for him as he had been forced to listen to the dark woman repeatedly tell Wesley that he still had a lot to offer the world. Something the still painfully thin man had denied each time until his lunch had been delivered and Anne had left. Never had he been so thankful for the tasteless muck the hospital called food.

Reluctantly, he had drunk the vitamin-rich milkshake and had forced himself to eat every last spoonful of a butterscotch pudding that was allegedly jam-packed with essential amino acids after being threatened with being tube fed if he didn't. Only having just gotten rid of the bothersome tubes the day before, he had been choking down the last of his gelatinous pudding when Riley had poked his head around the door to his room. Wesley had been overjoyed to see the man, not having seen him since being admitted to the eating disorders ward at the hospital, attempting to apologise at once for his previous behaviour at the Hyperion. The ex-watcher had told the taller blond about being able to think clearer now that he was off everything except the medication for his tongue. The tortured sentences of regret had been waved off as Riley had informed the ex-Watcher of the mornings events.

Wesley had been grinning like a madman about Doyle being found until Riley had told him of Joyce's new found abilities. Something that he hadn't believed until Joyce had been called into the room. Both of them had cried as the woman had repeated everything that Wesley had said in the man's own voice. It had been decided that Joyce had to be within a certain radius for her to display her abilities, not having done it since Wesley had been admitted to the hospital. The knowledge of what Joyce was capable of had given him a glimmer of hope that he wasn't totally useless after all. After a deep discussion, complete with Joyce echoing Wesley's every word, it had been decided that the ex-watcher would attempt to train the older woman in a series of simple magic skills, hopefully leading to bigger and better things. Admittedly, Joyce was nervous about getting the delicate hand and finger actions wrong even if she would be getting each word right.

As far as Wesley was concerned, the first thing was to find a way for her to block the ability unless it was completely necessary. Once the agreement had been reached, Joyce had left to go to the supermarket, leaving Riley to inform Wesley about Spike's latest dismemberment. After Angel had told their mystery employer that Wesley would be staying in the hospital, a tiny gold and mauve package had appeared on the hotel's front desk. Once opened, all had been horrified to see two elongated canine teeth nestled in the box, fresh blood and flesh still covering them.

With a shudder at the thought of Spike having his game face fangs ripped straight from his mouth, the weary ex-Watcher hurriedly lay on the bed as a dizzy spell threatened to tip him from his sitting position and onto the floor. It had taken all of his newly restored concentration to listen as Riley had told him of both ex-soldiers suspicions that Angel was using drugs, something that Wesley had started to laugh about until the taller blond had described the vampires frequent naps that had gotten to the point that they were almost every second day. What had stopped the strangled laughter had been Riley quietly telling him about seeing the track marks that decorated the pale flesh that morning.

It had been this knowledge that had convinced Riley and Graham that Angel wasn't capable of making decisions regarding other people anymore, let alone himself. With that, Wesley had been informed that he was coming back to the hotel as soon as Angel boarded the plane for Baltimore, Graham giving the vampires room a complete overhaul to see where he was hiding the drugs. As Wesley had pointed out, Angel was living in a hotel with four floors and countless rooms, there was no guarantee that he was keeping them in his room if he was indeed on drugs. Nevertheless, he had agreed with the ex-soldier, saying that it couldn't hurt to scratch the possibility off the list.

The ex-watcher hadn't argued, only nodding that it was a good idea. His heart had clenched at the possibility of Angelus getting free again. Logically, he knew that it wasn't possible after Giles and Willow had bound the vampire's soul to the Griffin tattoo that decorated his shoulder, but when dealing with demons and magic, anything could be made possible. It had been a suprisingly simple task, as long as just a single speck of the tattoo ink remained upon Angel's body, his soul was permanent.

His head clearing a little, Wesley was jerked out of his thoughts as there was a knock at his door. He smiled tightly as he heard his invite to come in get echoed by Joyce. As Riley and Joyce came in, he nodded a hello to Graham who gave him a little wave, his stern expression never changing. Without a word, all three came forward as one, just stopping in front of the bed.

"Whath thu mather?"

"Whats the matter?"

Joyce's echo dying off in a spate of tears, Wesley stared at the needles, large tablets and two vials being held in Graham's open hand. With a shaking hand, the ex-Watcher gathered up one of the vials, vision blurring as he tried to read the label, tears making their way down his face. He couldn't believe that Angel had sunk so low, to reach a stage that the only escape for him was to stick a needle in his arm.

"I'm going to get one of the tablets analysed tomorrow but judging from the vials, its probably some animal thing...not sure what though"

"Makths thenth, thu animul dwugth. Angleth isth a vwampire und bwug un ath thath"

"Makes sense, the animal drugs. Angel is vampire and a big one at that"

Nodding at Graham's words, Wesley leaned into Joyce's arms as she sat on the bed beside him, body shuddering with the effort not to start howling in front of the other two men. He knew that the proverbial shit would hit the fan as soon as Angel stepped through the Hyperion's doors. Wesley spoke everyone's immediate thought, echoed by Joyce.

"Heth on dwugth und weth leth hum go unth geth Dooyl"

"He's on drugs and we've let him go and get Doyle"

*****
Part 15:

December 14, 2004

Elder Lapp's farm, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

8.01 pm

"What the fuck do you mean he's discharged himself?"

Pacing back and forth, the angry vampire kicked at the stray bits of straw that had fallen from the huge bales that occupied one half of the feed shed. His previous reluctance to be exposed to the chilly night was gone, only to be replaced with an anger that was doing it's best to burn him from the inside. His whole euphoria of being re-united with Doyle was rapidly fading to an idle flicker.

"How can you possibly allow an obviously sick man to just walk right out....HOW?"

"NO! I won't fucking well calm down..I..I just can't understand it. What did he do? Throw on some clothes and give you all a wave goodbye as he walked through the doors?"

Head throbbing, Angel continued to pace, his long legs covering the width of the shed with ease. As the nurse on the other end of the phone continued to try and calm him down, the brunette felt his face ridges rise, the placating tone of the woman doing nothing to ease his fear of Wesley's condition.

"Evaluation? He passed it? Wesley wasn't even in your goddamed hospital long enough to warrant an evaluation..you stupid fuc...hello? HELLO?"

The brunette's body trembled with the need to destroy something, his eyes yellowing as the emotion of pure anger flowed through him. Mobile phone creaking in his hand as he tightened his grip, Angel very slowly and deliberately put the small device on the stone floor next to him and with a sedate kick, sent it skidding across the floor before he gave in to the temptation to bite it in half. Counting down from ten, the vampire found that as he reached the number two, he really wasn't in the mood to be calmed so quickly. As the distant bellows of the farm's cows reached his ears, the brunette wondered if Elder Lapp would miss a cow or two, the idea of ripping one apart in sheer rage suddenly appearing very tempting.

Tripping over an uneven edge of a stone paving block, Angel felt his headache take a turn for the worse as his nerves frayed just a little more. As he steadied himself with a hand on a hay bale, the vampire gave the prickly bundle a solid punch with a clenched fist. Jaw tightening, he gave the defenceless stack another punch with his right fist..another with his left, which led to it being lashed at again with his right. Angel punched the nurses who let Wesley leave the hospital, he lashed out at the soldiers who had maimed and murdered his friends, delivered a punishing kick to his unnamed employer but most of all he vented his rage at those who had taken his best friend's eyes.

Soon the brunette was punching at the bale with all his strength, ripping out handfuls of the light yellow straw. The cold floor was sprinkled with shredded feed as Angel continued to take out his anger on the huge stack. The vampire was shocked out of his concentration at a loud bellow that seemed to come from right beside him, his anger and headache starting to dissipate as he realised just how stupid he must look. Panting with un-needed breath, Angel turned to see a cow standing only a few paces behind him, staring at him curiously. For a good long few minutes, the cow and Angel contemplated each other, the breath of the large animal frosting in the chilly winter night's air. At another mooing sound, the cow snuffled at the vampire before putting it's head down to gather up the straw covering the shed floor.

With all his anger dying down to a warm billowing trapped behind his ribcage, Angel walked past the feeding cow to his phone as his face melted back into his human features. Picking it up, he dialled the Hyperion. Absently, the vampire rubbed his unoccupied hand along his muscled arms as the cold threatened to creep under his skin. Phone ringing, the brunette looked as his watch, astonished to see that he had been out in the feed shed for a good hour. Hoping that his absence wouldn't worry his host's too much, Angel waited for someone to pick the phone up on the other end.

"Graham, it's me"

"Fine...he's sleeping at the moment. He..he isn't in the best condition. Eye's...some...*prick* took his eyes. Took them out and sewed him up"

"No..no, that's the worst but his demon side must have taken over at some stage as he's sort of trapped between human and demon state. His skin is greeny blue but he doesn't have his usual spikes...hmmm? No, not really. It's more like smooth blue skin"

"Elder Lapp? Uhhh, that's sort of a weird story that I still can't wrap my head around and you how strange things can get...Yep. Look, I've just rung the fucking hospital and they've decided to inform me that Wesley has checked himself out...just shut up for the minute and listen!"

"Graham..shut it! I want you and Riley to find him..I don't give a flying fuck about any damn phone call..I want him found and returned to the hospi...what?"

Stopping in midpace, the vampire found himself weak at the knees as the smaller soldier explained how Wesley had been released into Riley's care after being evaluated as able to leave under supervision. Riley...Riley took Wesley from the hospital?

"Explain to me just what Riley did? NO..*All* of it!"

"Right...right..Really? He did that? Joyce cleaned the room for him...mmmm. And..what did *you* do while all this was happening? Really, sat at the desk just in case the phone rang? So..you didn't think to give Joyce a hand with cleaning Wesley's room...and I'm guessing you didn't bake him a fucking welcome home cake either?"

"I'll be home...no, no..don't talk anymore Graham. I'll be home with Doyle in a few days. We will *all* discuss this then"

Wesley was home from the hospital. Riley *took* him from the hospital. He was to blame for Wes leaving the hospital. As the rage exploded into full bloom again, Angel felt a dislike for Riley being dredged up from a place in which he thought he had buried it forever so long ago. That bastard, who the hell did he think he was? Meddling in something that didn't involve him...and come to think of it, it wasn't the first time it had happened either. Call disconnected, the vampire slid the phone into his pocket with a shaking hand.

With a cool smile, Angel realised that this was the second time the younger man had interfered with one of his ex-lovers. Indeed, the first one had been Buffy and now the man had his sights set on Wesley. Riley had obviously taken advantage of Angel being away for a few days, plenty of time for the ex-soldier to start planting ideas in the ill man's head. Just like Buffy. She had been at a vulnerable stage of her life as well when Riley had made his move on her. Wesley was his and always would be.

"MINE!"

Suddenly, the vampire shivered as his rage turned ice-cold, something that only rarely happened, as his roar echoed around the feed shed. Cow startled into trotting away, Angel snapped his game face into place as he turned to follow the bovine, his stomach rumbling with hunger and anger.

Riley.

Something to be dealt with later.

*****