By The Light Of The Blood Moon

Man With A Plan

Alastor had just walked into the front foyer of the hotel when he saw Husker wave him over. The motion was small enough that Valentino probably hadn't noticed it, but as Alastor wasn't certain what Husker needed, he invited Valentino to have a seat on the plush sofa. Alastor crossed the room efficiently, as always, leaning over the bar to allow Husker to speak to him quietly. 

"What the fuck is up with the bug?" grunted Husker, his upper lip sneering in Val's direction. It wasn't that Husk wasn't aware that Valentino could still likely hear him. It was much more a matter of Husk really not giving a good goddamn. When Alastor's only answer was a very pointed look and a shake of his head indicating that this wasn't the time, Husker rolled his eyes. "Whatever." he huffed. "Message for you, while you were out." he said, not wanting to give more information than he should. Husk passed a folded piece of paper across the bar to Alastor, who swiftly picked it up and scanned its contents. 

Alastor sighed as he folded the small note and slipped it into his inside jacket pocket. He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, regrouping. He really didn't like the idea of Angel hanging out with Cherri right now, given the propensity of the two to always end up finding trouble. Knowing those two, they probably went looking for trouble. 

While he was standing at the bar he grabbed a couple of drinks, one for him and the other for Valentino, who seemed content to be sitting on the sofa, his eyes roaming around taking in the place. Alastor grinned to himself, it probably felt pretty damn good to be sitting down after being stuck in the pillory for the last few days. He crossed the room and handed the drink off to Val, lifting his own in salute. "To a fruitful partnership!" he said cheerfully, downing most of his own drink in one swallow. 

"If you'll excuse me, Val, I need to meet with Charlie momentarily and I may be a few minutes. Feel free to stay where you are, or if you'd prefer, you could always wait at the bar." He looked over his shoulder to Husker, making certain that the gruff chimera heard him. "He's my business partner, Husker, so please be sure to take good care of him." Husk grunted in response, and Alastor took his leave, heading to Charlie's office. 

After he had rounded the corner and made his way there, he was relieved to see that Charlie was in her office, so he didn't have to hunt her down. At least someone is where they should be, he grumbled to himself. Not only was he worried about what Angel might be into, he had been separated from his soulmate long enough that he was becoming edgy and just needed to be near him for a bit. Alastor very much liked the idea of not being forever alone anymore, but he was still trying to adjust to the feeling of needing someone else for anything. 

"Ah, dear Charlie!" he cried out as he entered the office. The young blonde smiled up at him, her eyes waiting for some hint of what was going on to bring Alastor to her office. "I'm afraid that I need your assistance, my dear. I want to send a message to Angel, but I do not have a hellphone to use. would you mind sending him a message for me?" 

"Sure, Al!" she replied cheerily. "You know," she added, "you should get a hellphone. Even if you have a hard time with the texting, you could always, you know, just FaceTime" 

Alastor grinned and nodded his head, although he had absolutely no idea to what she was referring, he knew that this would be faster if she didn't get sidetracked into trying to explain that nonsense to him. "Yes, yes, I suppose you are right" he agreed. "Could you please send a message to Angel that I would appreciate it very much if he could cut his outing a little short and return to the hotel at once?" Charlie tapped out a quick message on her phone and pressed send. It was a few minutes and there had been no response. Alastor was beginning to fear that something was terribly wrong for Angel to not answer when there was a buzzing from the phone. The message indicated that Angel would be home very soon and he was on his way. Alastor heaved a sigh of relief.

"Is that all you needed, Al? You seem to be a little tense today." Charlie inquired of the deer demon, who had decided to have a seat in the chair beside him. 

"Ah, yes, dear" he said, making certain that his smile was pasted exactly where it should be. "I simply have had a very busy morning. I do have things that I would like to fill you in on, but I had preferred to speak to both you and Angel Dust at the same time." he said, although he was beginning to wonder if perhaps he should speak to Angel Dust privately.  "I have brought Valentino back to the hotel with me." he said very matter of fact. Charlie tried (and failed) to hide her surprise at that revelation. Alastor held up a hand for her to give him a moment to explain his actions. 

"I know" he said "that you might think it strange and I understand that you might have reservations, but this is our best strategy for a good outcome." He gave Charlie a moment to digest this before continuing. "Valentino and I have an agreement." he said flatly. 

"He made a deal, then?" asked Charlie, pointedly.

"Yes, that is exactly correct" answered Alastor. "It is a deal that he will not be able to circumvent without losing everything that he holds important and losing it in the most painful ways possible." Alastor had a grim look upon his face, the smile appearing to become more malicious than friendly. "And although nothing would make me happier than to exact that fate upon him, I don't think that he will be foolish enough to make the decision to break the deal. Valentino is going to assist us in bringing Vox down and settling this entire business." Alastor sat back in his chair. 

Charlie appeared to be deep in thought for a few minutes. She had a question burning in her mind, Alastor was sure of it, she was trying to find a way to ask it, he supposed, so he gave her a little more time to vocalize her concern. "

"You know," she said slowly and rather quietly, "you and Angel Dust don't have to break the curse unless you want to. If you two are happy being together, then I don't see any reason why..." 

Alastor held up his hands to stop her before she went any further. "Don't you understand?" he said, a hint of hurt in his voice, "I  need to break the curse. We simply cannot remain as we are now." Charlie's face took on a look of equal parts surprise and horror. Alastor noticed that her eyes weren't trained on him, but the wall behind him. He turned to see a horrified Angel Dust standing in the door way. 

"Angel?" he whispered, "darling, how long have you been standing there?" 

Angel didn't answer, except for the tears in his eyes, and a small squeak as he turned and flew up the stairs.