Starring:
Summary: Ava introduces herself to Angel, and offers some friendly advice.
Date It Happened: January 30, 2002
Friendly Advice
Hyperion Hotel - Lobby
The unfortunate thing about being a vampire investigator (that is, an investigator who is a vampire) is the being restricted to operating at night. Angel half-jogs down the stairs, pulling his coat on as he does so, and stops alongside the glass doors. He peers out, sees the fading sunlight still lighting up the courtyard, and turns back around to cross the floor towards the desk. He reaches over, flicking on the little portable television amongst the sparse clutter, and begins to turn the dial looking for something he can watch.
There's no bell on the door, but vampires have excellent hearing, and thus Angel will detect the presence of a new arrival. Perhaps one of the hopeless in need of help? "Gunn?" a young feminine voice calls out. "You here?"
"I think he's out," Angel answers, flicking off the television once the door is opened and putting it back in it's place on the corner of the desk as he looks up towards the source of the voice, "Not sure when he'll be back. Did you need something?"
A petite young woman stands there, clad in jeans and a blouse that looks like it was purchased in a thrift shop. She has a large patchwork bag slung across her shoulder. Dark haired and hazel-eyed, she's exotic, her features cast of an ethnicity that Angel is all too familiar with - gypsy. One of the Rom.
The girl is staring at him hard, her eyes clouded, lips set in a slight purse, like she was expecting something, well…more evil. "I had a vision." she states flatly. "He'd want to know." She looks to be in her late teens or early twenties…perhaps one of his crew.
The strange look from the woman is enough to give Angel pause but he's used to getting strange looks from time to time. Someone whose had a vision looking for Gunn? Angel seems to be meeting all the Team Gunn members lately.
"A vision of what?" Angel might want to know, too. From his experience they generally suggest something unpleasant that needs stopping in the very near future.
"Monster attack." she says, stepping in further and putting her hands on the counter. She continues to study him, gaze quite pointed, if a touch furtive in her approach. "What are you watching?"
"Kings game," Angel answers plainly, glancing at the now-off television for a second, "What kind of monst-"
He interrupts himself, shaking his head a little, "I'm not up to anything. Honest." He holds up the television so the woman can get a good look at it, "See? It isn't a secret demonic soul-sucking box."
"I know that." the girl says mildly. "I don't think they'd let a soul-sucking box into the building. I should hope not anyway, or else we'd be in real trouble."
"We would," Angel agrees, putting the television back down and turning his attention back fully to the girl, "So, what kind of monster? Horns? Scales? Killer fashion sense? All of the above?"
Ava's smile increases just a fraction. "You…really don't recognize anything about me, do you?" The question it would seem, is rhetorical. "I'd have thought you'd start to recognize members of my family, but what's two women on your killboard when you've got multiple digits to consider?" Her fingers trail along the counter. "Still, they were pretty epic moments for you." Who is this girl?
Oh great, another individual with a lifelong vendetta against him passed down from family member to family member through the generations. This isn't a new thing necessarily but it can certainly be unfortunate - especially since he's not interested in hurting one of Gunn's people. But who is she? She has the gypsy look about her, that's for certain? Kalderash, maybe? In truth, a lot of Angelus' more reprehensible activities are hazy to him - it's easy to not remember than to deal with them.
"I … " he trails off, no explanation there.
"Yannah Kalderash was my cousin." the girl says, with that mild smile on my face. "You knew her as Jenny Calendar." Which means yes, she in turn, is a descendant of the gypsy girl who gave him his soul-burden in the first place. "Don't worry." she says lightly. "I promised Gunn I wouldn't set you on fire or anything."
"I'll have to remember to thank him," Angel says quietly, although there isn't a whole lot of humor in his expression. The Kalderash girl was so long ago but he still feels it just as acutely as he feels guilty over what Angelus did to Jenny.
"For what it's worth," Angel begins, already realizing that it is most likely worth a big fat zero, "I'm sorry."
"Of course you are." Ava says carefully. "You have a soul. If you aren't, then I'd worry." For some reason, she's moved to be generous. Or her idea of generous. "For what it's worth, I'm not here doing what Janna was, making sure you kept on suffering. You've been managing that fine on your own. I'm just…here. It's as good a place as any, and Gunn needs what we bring to the table." By 'we' she doesn't seem to mean herself and Angel Investigations.
"Whose we?" Angel asks curiously, more than willing to move on from the discussion of Jenny and the rest of the Kalderash Clan, "And what do you bring to the table?"
You say, "Well, Gunn's got the crew, but part of that includes me and my man. He's more your basic sword wielding type, but me…" she trails off, cocks her head, and holds out her hand. The remote, lying on the inner desk, levitates and flies to her hand. She gives Angel a sweet grin, "Drabarne. Classic though, none of Jenny's technopagan stuff.""
Angel watches the remote hover about with the look of someone who, while not unimpressed, is not exactly surprised either. After all, he has seen a great many things far stranger than that. He is a thing far stranger than that.
"I suppose it comes in handy if you've got to keep a demon from watching his stories."
Alright, he couldn't help himself.
Ava lifts a brow. "Oh I'm sorry, should I go for the 'set a vampire's clothes on fire to impress him' spell instead?"
"Color me impressed," Angel says a little hastily, as one close encounter with almost being on fire this week is more than enough for him.
"I'll take your word for it." Ava grins, though her expression is still careful. "You know Gunn has a family, those kids in his gang, right? I don't mean Alonna."
"Are you talking metaphorical family or blood relatives?" Angel asks, although he's fairly certain he knows the answer already.
"Metaphorical. The gang." Ava says. "If he's not careful, he's going to lose them, but he already knows this."
"Lose them?"
Angel is curious, of course, but he's also wary. This is Team Gunn. Emphasis on the Gunn. They hunt vampires and as much as he believes Gunn trusts him, he knows he doesn't want him in there fighting his battles for him.
Ava nods. "Think about it. You have a family here, and upon returning, you've had to rebuild a lot of the trust that was left behind, haven't you? But if you were to stay away too long, your family would either break up, or it wouldn't need you anymore. Gunn walks in your path, but he also has his own, and it's a struggle that he can't always see."
Angel certainly knows about such things and while he hasn't really had time to speak with the rest of the Investigations team since he returned, that concern has been in his mind nonetheless. He says nothing in reply, however, simply giving Ava a look. A look which reads something along the lines of 'I can't tell Gunn what to do and I wouldn't try'.
Ava seems to get what he's saying. "Call it friendly advise." she says softly. "The more time he spends with you and yours - and I'm not saying it isn't valuable time spent - the more his potential chasm between him and his own people widens. If it stretches too wide, then he may no longer be able to plant feet on both sides. It will be bad for everyone."
"I'm not his boss," Angel answers flatly. Okay, he technically could be considered that but since when has he ever acted like it? He shakes his head slightly, "I think this is something you oughta talk to him about. You're not the blood-sucking creature of the night in this situation, after all."
"He's a member of your team." Ava says gently. "And I'm telling you the same thing I told him. Don't make it sound like you don't feel responsible for him, because on a level, I'm sure you do." She pushes herself away from the counter. "Consider the advice helpful or not as you like."
Angel simply gives Ava a long, even look as he sits at the desk and watches her move away. In his head he contemplates bringing things up with Gunn. He's got no idea how and he's not relishing the idea but it seems like it might be necessary now.
"I'll keep it in mind."
